Evan (who is a celebrity because of his work on Table Talk Radio) preached yesterday about Hope. His topic was suffering and spiritual warfare, and he pointed out two temptations that come with suffering.
The first is despair that sounds like this, “I’m suffering because I’m a sinner.” The devil tempts us to think that God doesn’t love us, that He couldn’t love us, we are too bad, to unclean. That is temptation number one.
The second temptation is pride, and it sounds like this, “I’m suffering because God is a sinner.” God has sinned against me, treated me unfairly, cast me off for no good reason.
Both of these temptations are dangerous, and both are wrong; both are answered by the Lord’s cross. In the death of Jesus the love of God and the forgiveness of your sins is established as an eternal reality.
