Why God Appoints Suffering for His Servants
Notes on John Piper's Book - Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Chapter 4.
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 are—yet 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 faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may 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.
