Why God Appoints Suffering for His
Servants
Notes
Return to Main Page
Loss and suffering, joyfully
accepted for the kingdom of God, shows the supremacy of God's worth more
clearly in the world than all worship and prayer:
1. Suffering deepens faith and
Holiness -- it weans us from reliance from this world and puts our focus on God
alone...
- We suffer for a reason:
- Hebrews 12:10 - 10Our fathers
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his
holiness.
- Jesus suffered:
- Hebrews 5:8 - 8Although he was a
son, he learned obedience from what he
suffered
- But Jesus did not suffer from
His sin- Jesus never sinned:
- Hebrews 4:15 - 15For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we areyet was without sin.
- Paul said God ordained his
sufferings for the deepening of his faith:
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 - 8We do not
want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the
province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure, so that we despaired even of life.
9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But
this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the
dead.
2. Suffering makes your cup
increase - by enduring suffering with patience, the reward in heaven
increases.
- There is a connection between
the suffering endured and the degree of glory enjoyed:
- 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 - 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an
eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.
- And the glory outweighs the
suffering endured infinitely:
- Romans 8:18-Future Glory- 18I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
- Jesus concurs:
- Matthew 5:11-12- 11"Blessed
are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
3. Suffering is the price of
making others bold
- God uses the suffering of his
missionaries to awaken others out of their slumbers of indifference
- Philippians 1:14 - 14Because of my
chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word
of God more courageously and fearlessly.
- A story was told of he execution
of Wycliffe missionary Chet Bitterman by a Columbian guerrila group on March 6,
1981. In the year following Chet's death, applications for overseas service
with Wycliffe Bible Translators doubled.
- John 12:24 - 24I tell you the
truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a
single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds.
4. Suffering fills up what is
lacking in Christ's afflictions - the sufferings of Christ messengers ministers
to those they are trying to reach and may open them to the Gospel.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 - 5because
our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the
Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your
sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in
spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the
Holy Spirit.
- 2 Corinthians 1:5-6 - 5For just
as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ
our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and
salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you
patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
- Christ's afflictions are not
lacking in their atoning sufficiency but are lacking in that they are not known
and felt by people who were not at the cross-- that is what is meant by
"fills up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions".
- Colossians 1:24 - 24Now I
rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my
flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of
his body, which is the church.
- 2 Timothy 2:10 - 10Therefore
I endure everything for the sake of the elect,
that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal
glory.
5. Suffering enforces the
missionary command to "Go"
- The effect of the persecution
of Stephen - the persecution sent the church to Judea and Samria (Acts 8:1) and
to the nations (Acts 11:19):
- Acts 8:1 Acts 8 1And Saul was
there, giving approval to his death. -- The Church
Persecuted and Scattered - - On that day a great persecution broke out
against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria.
- Acts 11:19 -The Church in
Antioch- 19Now those who had been scattered by the
persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
- Hard times and persecution
produce more prayer, more open purses than during easy times.
- Matthew 19:23 - 23Then Jesus
said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Mark 4:19 - 19but the worries of
this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires
for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
- Jesus' words:
- Luke 21:12-13- 12"But
before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute
you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and
you will be brought before kings and governors,
and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your
being witnesses to them.
6. The supremacy of Christ is
manifest in suffering - suffering shows the supremacy of God in the lives of
the missionaries/martyrs.
God's purpose in our sufferings
is to solely rely on Him first and foremost....
- God ordains suffering because it
displays to the world the supremacy of His worth above all other treasures. The
supremacy of God's worth shines through the pain that His people will gladly
bear for his name.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - 9But he
said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That
is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- The reason we can rejoice in
persecution is that the worth of our reward in Heaven is so much greater than
the worth of all that we lose in our suffering on earth.
- Acts 5:41 - 41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had
been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
- Hebrews 10:34 - 34You
sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your
property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting
possessions.
- 1 Peter 4:13 - 13But rejoice
that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed
when his glory is revealed.
- The reason for our joy is that
God's love is more valuable than life itself:
- Psalm 63:3 - 3 Because your love
is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
- Suffering, with joy, is the way
the worth of Jesus shines most brightly.
- Philippians 3:7-8 - 7But
whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is
more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Hope in
God must be made visible in our lives - if our lives aren't lived differently -
- who would ask us about our hope?:
- 1 Peter 3:15- 15But in your
hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect,
- 1 Peter 1:7 - 7These have come
so that your faithof greater worth than gold, which perishes even though
refined by firemay be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and
honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
- 1 Peter 4:13 - 13But rejoice
that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed
when his glory is revealed.
Return to Main Page