Untitled Sermon (2)
we frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering gproduces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
and if children, then lheirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, mprovided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.
3 aSuffer hardship with me, as a good bsoldier of cChrist Jesus.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves obut on God pwho raises the dead. 10 qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
fBlessed be the gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and hGod of all comfort, 4 iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in jChrist’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1
Suffering comes for many reasons:
— Suffering may come as a result of personal sin and failure. For example, some people may suffer financially by not carefully budgeting their money or by being wasteful. Some people may suffer the loss of friendship through their hurtful words or gossip.
— Suffering may also arise due to other people’s sin and failure, such as the drunk driver who causes an accident and creates suffering for others.
— Suffering can arise from forces outside of our control. For example, a tornado or hurricane can create great suffering for many people.
— Suffering can come as a result of a person’s faith—standing for Jesus in some parts of the world is an invitation to persecution.
The Bible is replete with passages that describe why suffering is a part of life:
— Deserved suffering occurs when we sin or act foolishly—1 Peter 4:15.
— Undeserved suffering is part of following in Jesus’s footsteps—1 Peter 2:21.
— Suffering encourages growth—2 Corinthians 12:9–10.
— Suffering may be for testing and to demonstrate God’s glory—John 9:1–3.
— We may suffer to help others—2 Corinthians 1:3–5.
1. the endurance of pain and affliction
2. Anything causing pain or distress; calamity. From the biblical viewpoint, affliction began with the entrance of sin into the world.
Suffering is the disruption of inner human harmony caused by physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional forces experienced as isolating and threatening our very existence. As the deprivation of human good, suffering is inseparable from the mystery of evil. However, suffering and evil are not caused by God, the author of all good (Genesis 1), but are inherent in the universe’s natural processes and in the uniqueness of human freedom, in the misuse of free will that is the moral evil of sin. The reasons for and meaning of the suffering apparently inseparable from human life have been the subject of questioning throughout history.
SUFFERING. In the Bible suffering is regarded as an intrusion into this created world. Creation was made good (Gn. 1:31). When sin entered, suffering also entered in the form of conflict, pain, corruption, drudgery and death (Gn. 3:15–19). In the new heaven and earth suffering has been finally abolished (Rev. 21:4; Is. 65:17ff.). The work of Christ is to deliver man from suffering, corruption and death (Rom. 8:21; 1 Cor. 15:26), as well as from sin (Mt. 1:21). Though Satan is regarded as having power to make men suffer (2 Cor. 12:7; Jb. 1:12; 2:6), they suffer only in the hand of God, and it is God who controls and sends suffering (Am. 3:6; Is. 45:7; Mt. 26:39; Acts 2:23).
It is useful to keep in mind that suffering is of three main types. Punitive suffering, also called retributive suffering, is tragic suffering (see Tragedy)—the deserved punishment for a mistake that a person has made. Innocent suffering is unmerited suffering. Both can become redemptive suffering, either for the sufferer as he or she is refined or ennobled by it or for the benefit of others (the suffering servant motif).
While the suffering to which believers respond aright contributes to their spiritual growth and fellowship with Christ, it is also a form of witness—to each sufferer of his own salvation; to the unsaved for their conviction; to fellow Christians for their edification, encouragement and comfort; to principalities and powers in accordance with God’s mysterious purposes. Thus, suffering ‘produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it’ (Heb. 12:11). The Christian’s capacity to receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit in the midst of suffering is commensurate with an appreciation of the paternal sovereignty of God, who is the ultimate cause of a bewilderingly diverse variety of proximate causes that can impinge upon their lives, until God ‘will wipe every tear from their eyes’ (Rev. 21:4).
I. Introduction
II. Suffering - 2nd quote by Spurgeon
III. Our response:
Someone else said, “Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart.” C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
—C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
1. John 11:4
2. John 9:1-3
1. Make a list of all the things that you would consider suffering in your life.
2. Spend time alone worshiping the Lord over this list.
3. Boldly declare to the Lord your commitment to Him, come what may.
4. All the Lord to show you what He’s trying to teach you through your suffering.
5. Lastly, when the time is right, share with another brother what you’re learning, and what the Lord is doing in your life.
But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated hat Philippi, as you know, iwe had boldness in our God jto declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much kconflict.
And iafter you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, jwho has called you to his keternal glory in Christ, will himself lrestore, mconfirm, strengthen, and establish you.
16 So we do not lose heart. fThough our outer self4 is wasting away, gour inner self his being renewed day by day.
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing dto be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we esent Timothy, four brother and God’s coworker1 in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that gwe are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, hjust as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, iwhen I could bear it no longer, iI sent to learn about your faith, jfor fear that somehow kthe tempter had tempted you and lour labor would be in vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But mnow that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of nyour faith and love and reported othat you always remember us kindly and plong to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers,2 in all our distress and affliction qwe have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you rare standing fast in the Lord.