Suffering of believers

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Believers ought to expect to suffer as an inevitable part of their calling. To believe is not to evade suffering; it is to face it with new confidence and hope. Rightly approached, suffering develops the character of believers, equips them for more effective service, draws believers closer to Jesus Christ and prepares them for eternal life.

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Believers must expect suffering

Jesus Christ foretold it

Matthew 10:22 NKJV
And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
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The apostles foretold it

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The experience of the OT shows it

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The experience of the NT shows it

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Suffering for Jesus Christ is commendable

Matthew 5:10–12 NKJV
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Suffering is profitable

It affirms believers’ adoption

Hebrews 12:7 NKJV
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
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It is the price of godliness

Hebrews 12:11 NKJV
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
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It is a condition of service

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It develops trust

2 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV
Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
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It develops character

Romans 5:3–4 NKJV
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
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It deepens fellowship

1 Corinthians 12:26 NKJV
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
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It draws believers to the Lord

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It prepares believers for heaven

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:4 NKJV
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
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