The Fourth Fantastic Fruit of Faith - Suffering!
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Me - Bitter Fruit Example
Why does fruit taste bitter sometimes?
The bitterness is caused by chemicals, called cucur-bita-cins, that are always present in the roots, leaves, and stems of these plants. When the plant becomes overly stressed, it increases the production of cucur-bita-cins, which then make their way into the fruit.
Suffering is a bitter tasting fruit for sure. I hate to suffer
We - How about you? Do you enjoy suffering? I highly doubt it. Yet the Apostle Paul tells us in verse 3 something very strange...
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Huh? Believers are to REJOICE in their sufferings? How is that even possible? Well, if that is the question you are asking, I’m glad you are hear to study this passage with us this morning.
God -
Bottom line - Only Faith In Jesus Can Make the Bitter Fruit of Suffering Taste Sweet!
For the Christian, God starts a domino effect with your suffering to create some dynamic results!!
John Piper put it so powerfully...
God so values our wholehearted faith that he will, graciously, if necessary, take away everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on — even life itself. His aim is that we grow deeper and stronger in our confidence that he himself will be all we need.
He wants us to be able to say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26).
For the sake of review and getting the context right, let’s start in chapter 5 and read verses 1-5...
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Now we spent last Sunday working through verses 1-2 and we discovered three Fantastic Fruits of Faith that we can all, as believers, rejoice in...
Peace with God
Grace in which you Stand
Hope in God’s Glory
We are to rejoice in these wonderful truths,
But we are also to rejoice in our sufferings. Let see how faith in Jesus helps us to rejoice in our suffering...
1. Faith in Jesus Causes Suffering to Produce Endurance (vs. 3)
Remember, only faith in Jesus can make the bitter fruit of suffering taste sweet!
I get it, this is a counter intuitive concept. Nobody likes to suffer. Suffering while painful, also seems pointless. Why is there suffering?
Interesting that biblical Christianity get nailed by this question and often times we feel so hopeless in answering it well. Well there are good answers available (see Pastor Tim).
But there is one thing that I will encourage you to do before you are confronted with the question, “Why does a good God allow suffering?”
Before you jump into that discussion, remember that every worldview - including worldviews that require atheism, have to answer forms of this question as well. Why is there suffering.
I’ll submit to you this morning that I think Biblical Christianity offers the best explanations for why there is suffering in this world.
Sin causes suffering - Adam and Eve’s fall recorded in Genesis 3 plunged the human race into the curse. And imbedded in the curse is suffering. Man suffers, and women suffers because of sin.
Creation causes suffering - We live in a broken and dangerous world. Dog bites, cancer, car accidents, etc all result in suffering.
Ideological differences causes suffering - Throughout the centuries wars have been waged over conflicting ideas on what ought to be.
No doubt there are more, but the point I want to make is two fold. God allows for these sufferings and uses these suffering for His good purposes.
And Paul gives some of those purposes for us right in this passage.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
So, not only are we to rejoice in the fact that we have PEACE with God, that we stand in His GRACE, and that we can HOPE in God’s glory bur we are called to REJOICE (boast in, exalt) in our SUFFERING! What?
And, by the way, God doesn’t owe you any explanation as to why you suffer.
Check the book of Job out if you don’t believe me. The natural question that comes from Job’s plight is why did God do this to Job. Job even asks this question of God.
And do you know what the book of Job never answers? Why God caused Job to suffer. Not once. He just wants Job to trust Him because of who He is and what He has done and continues to do.
The great temptation of suffering is to let your pain become the whole world and to start believing that all that ever was, is and will be, is your private hell. God’s frontal assault on Job’s egotism really liberates him from the notion that his suffering is the whole world. It tells him that there is a great big world out there, a world that is infinitely greater than his suffering.
Taken from Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent by Ben Patterson Copyright (c) 1989 by Ben Patterson. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
So what kind of suffering are we to rejoice in? Paul isn’t clear on this. It could be various sufferings that James refers to in James 1:2-4...
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Or it could be sufferings directly related to our identification with Jesus.
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
I see no reason why it can’t be both. Certainly Paul was concerned for the church at Rome - life was becoming more challenging for them as they followed Christ. We know from history that they would be persecuted more and more under the Emperor.
But, because Paul doesn’t specifically state it, he could be referring to any suffering from living in a sin cursed world.
Suffering happens in this life and it is used by God for the believer in profound ways.
And the first way is it builds our ENDURANCE! Some translations use the word PERSEVERANCE.
So, how does suffering produce ENDURANCE or PERSEVERANCE?
MacArthur says,
Perseverance. Sometimes translated “patience,” this word refers to endurance, the ability to remain under tremendous weight and pressure without succumbing
John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1701.
Suffering FORCES us to ENDURE a trial.
Angie SUFFERS from LADA - Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. This condition has forced her to go from “Living to Eat” to “Eating to Live.” Everyday she is forced to manage this disease so that she doesn’t die a premature death.
She has to remain steadfast under tremendous pressure without succumbing.
Angie’s has a physical example of suffering. There are many more that understand this. Those suffering from cancer, etc.
But there are Spiritual pressures we must bear up under as well.
The wife that lives with an unbelieving husband who mocks her for reading her bible and going to church
The young believer who is ridiculed by his or her teacher for believing in God who is “just a myth.”
The business person who has to walk away from lucrative business deal because it doesn’t match up with his biblical values and convictions and suffers a great loss.
The new christian who loses her lifelong friend because she shared the gospel with her.
The follower of Christ who loses his life because he converted and then baptized publically in the middle east.
All of these suffer from the same thing - following Christ. Jesus said this will be the case.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And it is the genuine follower of Jesus who will endure! Who will bear up underneath tremendous pressure! Because it will be Christ who bears this pressure through them...
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
And it is this knowledge that helps us endure any suffering we might face.
Illustrate - Unlike most competitions however, running the race in spiritual terms is not to try to be first, but to be faithful and finish! The Christian race is not a competitive event to see who comes in first, but an endurance run to see who finishes faithfully.
It’s like the experience of Bill Broadhurst, who entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-meter road race in Omaha, Nebraska. Ten years earlier, surgery for an aneurysm is the brain had left him paralyzed on his left side. But on a misty July morning in 1981, he stood with 1,200 lithe- looking men and women at the starting line. The gun cracks! The crowd surges forward. Bill throws his stiff left leg forward, pivots on it as his right foot hits the ground. His slow plop-plop-plop rhythm seems to mock him as the pack fades into the distance. Sweat rolls down his face, pain pierces his ankle, but he keeps going. Six miles and two hours and twenty-nine minutes later, Bill reaches the finish line. A man approaches from a small group of bystanders. Bill recognizes him from pictures in the newspaper. He’s Bill Rodgers, the famous marathon runner. "Here," says Rodgers, putting his newly won medal around Bill’s neck. "You’ve worked harder for this than I have." Broadhurst had also been a winner. He didn’t win but he was faithful and finished the race.
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/73896/endurance-by-sermon-central
Apply - What kind of suffering are you facing in your life right now? Is it physical suffering? Is it is suffering for the Lord?
God is using it to grow you, to strengthen you, to make you endure this race of life so that you will finish strong.
If, on the other hand you grow bitter because of the suffering you are facing you’ll miss the beautiful work that God is trying to do in your life.
We need to understand that God allows this suffering in your life for His glory and your good. And in this we can rejoice!
Review - Only Faith In Jesus Can Make the Bitter Fruit of Suffering Taste Sweet
Faith in Jesus Causes Suffering to Produce Endurance
2. Faith in Jesus Causes Endurance to Produce Character (vs. 4a)
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Okay, so what do you get when you are forced to endure suffering as a Christian? Character! Not just any kind of Character, but the greek word is actually PROVEN CHARACTER.
The Gr. word simply means “proof.” It was used of testing metals to determine their purity.
John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1701.
This is why people in the past would bite a coin or metal.
Traditionally, as gold is more malleable than other metals, biting down on it was a way to check its authenticity. This is because teeth marks would have left an indentation.
The teeth marks would prove out that the metal was authentic.
Suffering also proves out whether someone is authentic as a follower of Christ.
Jesus makes this point in the parable of the Sower...
Seeds fell along the path...
Seeds fell on the rock ground...
Seeds fell among the thorns...
Seeds fell on good soil...
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
The point of this parable is there is one person in this parable that is the authentic believer in Christ - the one who bears fruit.
The second soil - the rocky ground soil - this person lacked the character to continue when the going got tough. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Suffering does something very important. It reveals our character.
It will reveal those who are and are not His.
“The same sun that hardens the clay softens the butter.”
Suffering can either harden our hearts in bitterness or soften them into tenderness for God Himself.
For the authentic follower of Christ, suffering reveals that you are His because an authentic follower of Christ, regardless of adversity and suffering, will persevere to the end.
This is exactly what Jesus tells his disciples. He makes no bones about the fact that they will suffer because of Him.
1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
This begs the question, what does christian proven character look like?
Lexham Theological Wordbook δοκιμή
The noun dokimē is used to describe Christian character as the quality of being approved/proven or of having stood the test (Rom 5:4; 2 Cor 2:9; 9:13; Phil 2:22).
And if you want an example of someone standing the test and proving his godly character, consider...
Pastor J. H. Crowell, when about sixteen, shipped on a sailing vessel, where he was the only Christian, in a crew of twelve. Before leaving his mother he promised to meet her three times a day at the throne of grace. So regularly he went below and prayed aloud. He thought he must. They threw wood at him and poured buckets of water over him, but could not put out the fire in his soul. Then they tied him to the mast and laid thirty-nine stripes on his back. Still he prayed. They tied a rope around his body and threw him overboard. He swam as best he could, and when he took hold of the side of the ship they pushed him off with a pole. At last his strength gave way, and, supposing they meant to kill him, he prayed that God would forgive them, and called out: "Send my body to my mother and tell her that I died for Jesus." He was then pulled on deck unconscious, but after some time came to. Conviction began to seize the sailors. Before night two of them were gloriously converted. Inside of a week everyone on board, including the captain, was blessedly saved.—Sunday School Times.
Convicting, huh?
How did this young man have such a tenacious and proven character?
Why could God depend on him to be what He called him to be?
His FAITH in Christ!
Perhaps you are accessing you own self right now and you are thinking, “How can I grow in my character?”
The same way - in order to grow in you character, you must grow in your faith. The more your faith grows, the more your character grows.
How can you grow in your faith?
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
This verse isn’t just for salvation, it is for your growth in Christ as well.
Saturate your mind in the Scriptures. See how people of faith lived. See how Jesus, the God/man lived life.
God will grow your faith as you spend time in His word. As your faith grows, so will your proven character.
Review - Only Faith In Jesus Can Make the Bitter Fruit of Suffering Taste Sweet
Faith in Jesus Causes Suffering to Produce Endurance
Faith in Jesus Causes Endurance to Produce Character
3. Faith in Jesus Causes Character to Produce Hope (vs. 4b-5)
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
As you can see in these verses the result of PROVEN CHARACTER is the production of HOPE.
If you remember from last week, when Paul speaks of HOPE, he speaks of CERTAINTY, not HOPE-SO!
Our HOPE is CERTAIN because our God cannot lie (cannot utter falsehood, cannot and will not lead us astray).
Our God has said that those who places their faith in Christ have the HOPE/the CERTAINTY of Eternal life.
In fact, Paul clarifies in verse five that this “hope does not put us to shame.”
Well, what does this mean?
I like how the NLT renders this verse...
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Shame/Disappoint - Can you imagine dying and arriving in heaven, opening our eyes on the other side and saying - “Seriously, this is it? This is the best you could do, God?”
NOPE! Your hope in heaven and in all of the promises of God will not disappoint! NEVER!
Why will this HOPE we have in Christ not disappointment? Because of God’s love for every believer in Christ!
Paul says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts - the idea is that our hearts are continually flooded with the love of God. Which comes in handy because Jeremiah says that our hearts are a mess!
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Without the Love of God continually being poured out into our hearts we would be without hope.
Where does this love come from specifically? It comes through the ministry of the Holy Spirit - the third person of the Trinity - God Himself!
This constant flow of love comes from the God who is constantly dwelling within you!
Your HOPE comes from the God of HOPE who continually pours His love into your heart.
And this, my friend is Paul’s point...
When you have your faith-filled, spiritual brain on correctly, you begin to see your suffering from a different perspective and you realize...
Only Faith In Jesus Can Make the Bitter Fruit of Suffering Taste Sweet
Suffering no longer devastates you, but instead it causes you to long for the culmination of your faith, the salvation of you soul.
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school. - Parade Magazine.
Apply - Do you live your life as a Christian who has HOPE overflowing in their heart because the love of God is being poured out and overflowing in your heart.
So many of us focus on the awful circumstances around us instead of the God dwelling in us.
God never promised in His word that your Christian life would be free from suffering. Quite the opposite - Time and time again He tells us plainly that we will suffer and especially we will suffer as followers of Christ.
But you can face that suffering boldly because the God of the universe is living inside you - He promises to never leave you nor forsake you!
And He is not passively living inside you, rather He is constantly pouring out His love into your heart.
God really does love you! I mean He REALLY loves you.
You can face a lot of suffering for Him if you know this about Him.
So, do you HOPE in him?
or do you place your hope in yourself, your money, your stuff, your talents and abilities?
Those things will only end up disappointing. They will just be bitter fruit.
However...
Review - Only Faith In Jesus Can Make the Bitter Fruit of Suffering Taste Sweet
Faith in Jesus Causes Suffering to Produce Endurance
Faith in Jesus Causes Endurance to Produce Character
Faith in Jesus Causes Character to Produce Hope!
Faith in Jesus is the key to dealing with suffering.
There is purpose in suffering - Faith in Christ helps us to see it properly.
You - So, Christian, Are you able, in light of this passage, rejoice in your suffering?
We - I want to be honest with you this morning, friends. The way I read our culture, suffering for the church in America isn’t far away. We will be persecuted. Will we face persecution with fear, anger, and revenge welling in our hearts?
Or, will we suffer well? Actually rejoicing like Paul and Silas when they were beaten and chained in prison?
Suffering will come to this body and if we are not prepared by what Paul is challenging us with, we will look at suffering as a burden instead of a blessing.
C. S. Lewis - They say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. - The Great Divorce, Macmillan.
Friends, we must entrust our entire lives to our creator and savior...
John Wesley’s covenant prayer demonstrates a level of sacrifice and devotion to Jesus that has been rarely matched. How many of us have asked for suffering, in order to experience the humility and the poverty of spirit that Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount? This prayer forces us to ask how committed we are to God’s will in our lives. Are we willing to suffer for Christ? Are we willing to submit other desires, goals, achievements to the larger purpose of Christ transforming us?:
“I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.”
Amen.
Connection Group Reflection Questions
1. What do these verses teach me about our character?
2. What do these verses teach me about God and his character?
3. Because these words are from God, they are TRUTH! What truth is he asking me to believe?
4. What do I need to do to obey him?
5. With whom can I share these truths?
