As I continue to contend for the faith of and in Jesus Christ, I am covering some serious topics because there is division in the body of Christ and it should not be so. Nowhere, in the Bible, are we told if we believe in Jesus our lives will be totally free of suffering and hurts of the world…. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We are however, to count the sufferings as joy which doesn’t make sense to a natural or carnal person. But it is the very doctrine of suffering which perfects us. We learn obedience through suffering. Our trials is the trial and testing of our faith, which is much more precious than gold.
The following questions are designed to help us “consider” in the day of adversity:
(1) How am I responding to it?
(2) How should I respond to it?
(3) Am I learning from it?
(4) Does my response demonstrate faith, love for God and for others, Christ-like character, values, commitment, priorities, etc.?
(5) How can God use it in my life?
Suffering Defined
What is suffering? What are these bends in the road that God puts in the path of life that we are to carefully consider? Simply stated, suffering is anything which hurts or irritates. In the design of God, it is also something to make us think. It is a tool God uses to get our attention and to accomplish His purposes in our lives in a way that would never occur without the trial or irritation.
Illustrations of Suffering
“It may be cancer or a sore throat. It may be the illness or loss of someone close to you. It may be a personal failure or disappointment in your job or school work. It may be a rumor that is circulating in your office or your church, damaging your reputation, bringing you grief and anxiety.”40 It can be anything that ranges from something as small and irritating as the bite of a mosquito or the nagging of a gnat to the charge of an elephant or having to face a lion in the lions’ den as with Daniel (Dan. 6).
General Causes of Suffering
(1) We suffer because we live in a fallen world where sin reigns in the hearts of men.
(2) We suffer because of our own foolishness. We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-9).
(3) We sometimes suffer because it is God’s discipline. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son He receives.” (Heb. 12:6).
(4) We may suffer persecution because of our faith--especially when we take a stand on biblical issues, i.e., suffering for righteousness sake (2 Tim. 3:12).
Of course, all of these do not apply at the same time. All suffering is not, for instance, a product of our own foolishness, self-induced misery, or sin. It is true, however, that rarely does suffering not reveal areas of need, weaknesses, and wrong attitudes that need to be removed like dross in the gold refining process (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6-7).
The Nature of Suffering
SUFFERING IS PAINFUL
Suffering is hard. It is never easy. Regardless of what we know and how hard we apply the principles, it is going to hurt (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6--“distressed” is lupeo meaning “to cause pain, sorrow, grief”).
SUFFERING IS PERPLEXING
Suffering is somewhat mysterious. We may know some of the theological reasons for suffering from Scripture, yet when it hits, there is still a certain mystery. Why now? What is God doing? In this, it is designed to build our trust in the Almighty.
SUFFERING IS PURPOSEFUL
Suffering is not without meaning in spite of its mystery. It has as its chief purpose the formation of Christ-like character (Rom. 8:28-29).
SUFFERING PROVES, TESTS US
“Compare 1 Pet. 1:6-7 where the same Greek words are used along with the verb dokimazo which means, “put to the test,” “prove by testing as with gold.”
SUFFERING IS A PROCESS
“We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, proven character; and . . .” (Rom. 5:3-4). “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam. 1:3-4). As a process, it takes time. The results God seeks to accomplish with the trials of life requires time and thus also, endurance.
SUFFERING IS A PURIFIER
No matter the reason, even if it is not God’s discipline for blatant carnality, it is a purifier for none of us will ever be perfect in this life (Phil. 3:12-14).
SUFFERING PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY
Suffering provides opportunity for God’s glory, our transformation, testimony, and ministry, etc. (See reasons for suffering given below.)
SUFFERING REQUIRES OUR COOPERATION
Suffering requires the right response if it is to be successful in accomplishing God’s purposes. “We all want the product, character; but we don’t want the process, suffering.”41 Because of our make up as human beings, we can’t have one without the other.
SUFFERING IS PREDETERMINED AND INEVITABLE
1 Thessalonians 3:3 so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.
1 Peter 4:19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
The question we must each face is not, “if” we are going to have trials in life, but how will we respond to them.
SUFFERING IS A STRUGGLE
It’s going to be a battle all the way. That’s why they are called “trials” and “testings.” Even when we understand the purposes and principles of suffering, and we know the promises of God’s love and concern given in the Word of God for handling suffering, dealing with the trials of life is never easy because suffering hurts. Trials simply give us the capacity to cooperate with the process (Jam. 1:4). They allow the process to work and allow us to experience inner peace and joy in the midst of the trials.
In order to handle suffering with inner joy and tranquillity, we must be able to look ahead to God’s purposes and reasons for suffering. This requires faith in the eternal verities of God.
Compare the blessings of affliction as seen in the testimony of the Psalmist in Ps. 119:
Before affliction: | Straying and ignoring (vs. 67a) |
During and in affliction: | Learning and turning (vs. 71, cf. vs. 59) |
When under affliction we need to: | Determine Causes if we can (Is it because of something I have done?) Determine Objectives (What is God wanting to do in my life or in others?) Determine Solutions (How does God want me to handle this?) |
After affliction: | Knowing and changing (vss. 67b, 97-102) Resting and valuing (vss. 65,72) |
We must understand God’s chief purpose for our lives is to be conformed to the image of Christ and He has determined in His plan to use suffering for our spiritual development. If we are going to endure suffering and the trials of life, however, we must also understand and believe in the other purposes and reasons for suffering as they are related to the chief purpose.
Purposes and Reasons for Suffering
(1) We suffer as a testimony, as a witness (2 Tim 2:8-10; 2 Cor. 4:12-13; 1 Pet. 3:13-17). When believers handle suffering joyfully and with stability, it becomes a marvelous testimony to the power and life of Christ that we claim and name. Suffering provides key opportunities to manifest and magnify the power of God through His servants in order to verify and confirm the messenger and his message. It provides opportunities to reveal our credentials as ambassadors of Christ (1 Kings. 17:17-24; John 11:1-45). This includes the following areas:
- To glorify God before the angelic world (Job 1-2; 1 Pet. 4:16).
- To manifest the power of God to others (2 Cor. 12:9, 10; John 9:3).
- To manifest the character of Christ in the midst of suffering as a testimony to win others to Christ (2 Cor. 4:8-12; 1 Pet. 3:14-17).
(2) We suffer to develop our capacity and sympathy in comforting others (2 Cor. 1:3-5)
(3) We suffer to keep down pride (2 Cor. 12:7). The Apostle Paul saw his thorn in the flesh as an instrument allowed by God to help him maintain a spirit of humility and dependence on the Lord because of the special revelations he had seen as one who had been caught up to the third heaven.
(4) We suffer because it is a training tool. God lovingly and faithfully uses suffering to develop personal righteousness, maturity, and our walk with Him (Heb. 12:5f; 1 Pet. 1:6; Jam. 1:2-4). In this sense, suffering is designed:
- As discipline for sin to bring us back to fellowship through genuine confession (Ps. 32:3-5; 119:67).
- As a pruning tool to remove dead wood from our lives (weaknesses, sins of ignorance, immature attitudes and values, etc.). The desired goal is increased fruitfulness (John 15:1-7). Trials may become mirrors of reproof to reveal hidden areas of sin and weakness (Ps. 16:7; 119:67, 71).
- As a tool for growth designed to cause us to rely on the Lord and His Word. Trials test our faith and cause us to use the promises and principles of the Word (Ps. 119:71, 92; 1 Pet. 1:6; Jam. 1:2-4; Ps. 4:1 [The Hebrew of this passage can mean, “You have enlarged, made me grow wide by my distress]). Suffering or trials teach us the truth of Psalm 62:1-8, the truth of learning to “wait on the Lord only.”
- As a means of learning what obedience really means. It becomes a test of our loyalty (Heb. 5:8). Illustration: If a father tells his son to do something he likes to do (i.e., eat a bowl of ice cream) and he does it, the child has obeyed, but he hasn’t really learned anything about obedience. If his dad, however, asks him to mow the lawn, that becomes a test and teaches something about the meaning of obedience. The point is, obedience often costs us something and is hard. It can require sacrifice, courage, discipline, and faith in the belief that God is good and has our best interests at heart regardless of how things might appear to us. Regardless of the reason God allows suffering into our lives, rarely does it not reveal areas of need, weaknesses, wrong attitudes, etc., as it did in Job.
Suffering itself is not the thing that produces faith or maturity. It is only a tool that God uses to bring us to Himself so we will respond to Him and His Word. It forces us to turn from trust in our own resources to living by faith in God’s resources. It causes us to put first things first. Ultimately, it is the Word and the Spirit of God that produces faith and mature Christ-like character (Ps. 119:67, 71).
In James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-7 the key word is “proof.” “Proof” is the word dokimionwhich looks at both the concept of testing which purifies, and the results, the proof that is left after the test. The Lord uses trials to test our faith in the sense of purifying it, to bring it to the surface, so we are forced to put our faith to work.
(5) We suffer to bring about continued dependence on the grace and power of God. Suffering is designed to cause us to walk by God’s ability, power and provision rather than by our own (2 Cor. 11:24-32; 12:7-10; Eph. 6:10f; Ex. 17:8f). It causes us to turn from our resources to His resources.
(6) We suffer to manifest the life and character of Christ (The Fruit of the Spirit)(2 Cor.4:8-11; Phil. 1:19f). This is similar to point (4) above with more emphasis on the process and defining the objective, the production of the character of Christ. This has both a negative and a positive aspect:
- Negative: Suffering helps to remove impurities from our lives such as indifference, self trust, false motives, self-centeredness, wrong values and priorities, and human defense and escape mechanisms by which we seek to handle our problems (man-made solutions). Suffering in itself does not remove the impurities, but is a tool God uses to cause us to exercise faith in the provisions of God’s grace. It is God’s grace in Christ (our new identity in Christ, the Word and the Holy Spirit) that changes us. This negative aspect is accomplished in two ways:
(a) When out of fellowship with the Lord:Suffering becomes discipline from our heavenly Father (Heb. 5:5-11; 1 Cor. 11:28-32; 5:1-5). This involves known sin, rebellion and indifference to God.
(b) When in fellowship with the Lord: Suffering becomes the loving and skillful handy work of the Vine Dresser to make us more productive. It involves unknown sin, areas we may not be aware of, but that are nevertheless hindering our growth and fruitfulness. In this case, suffering often constitutes mirrors of reproof (John 15:1-7). - Positive: When believers live under suffering joyfully (i.e., they endure and keep on applying the promises and principles of the faith), Christ’s life or character will be more and more manifested as they grow through the suffering (2 Cor. 4:9-10; 3:18). This means trust, peace, joy, stability, biblical values, faithfulness and obedience in contrast to sinful mental attitudes, blaming, running, complaining, and reactions against God and people.
(7) We suffer to manifest the evil nature of evil men and the righteousness of the justice of God when it falls in judgment (1 Thess. 2:14-16). Suffering at the hands of people (persecution, violent treatments) is used of God to “fill up the measure of their sins.” It shows the evil character of those who persecute others and the justice of God’s judgment when it falls.
(8) We suffer to broaden our ministries (cf. Philippians 1:12-14 with 4:5-9). In the process of producing Christian character and enhancing our testimony to others, suffering often opens up doors for ministry we could never have imagined. Paul’s imprisonment (chained daily to Roman soldiers in his own house) resulted in the spread of the gospel within the elite imperial praetorian guard. The Apostle was undoubtedly continuing to rejoice in the Lord, but if he had been complaining, sulking, and bitter, his witness would have been zero.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
1 Peter 4:1–6
How can believers be prepared to suffer for righteousness’ sake?
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 that the Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God maybe thoroughly equipped for allrighteousness. The Word of God is useful to equip us to have a godly marriage, to be a good son, a good daughter, a good employee, a good employer, to become a follower of Jesus Christ, etc.
Repentance: Suffering is a call for us and others to turn from treasuring anything on earth above God. Luke 13:4–5:
“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Reliance: Suffering is a call to trust God and not the life-sustaining props of this world. 2 Corinthians 1:8–9:
We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Righteousness: Suffering is the discipline of our loving heavenly Father so that we come to share his righteousness and holiness. Hebrews 12:6, 10–11:
“The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Reward: Suffering is working for us a great reward in heaven that will make up for every loss here a thousandfold. 2 Corinthians 4:17:
This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Finally, Reminder: Suffering reminds us that God sent his Son into the world to suffer so that our suffering would not be God’s condemnation but his purification. Philippians 3:10:
. . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings.
So, it is understandable that the Christian heart would cry out in suffering, “Why?” since we don’t know most of the micro reasons for our suffering — why now, why this way, why this long? But don’t let that ignorance of the micro reasons cause you to overlook the massive help God gives in his word by telling us his macro purposes for us.
“You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).
Life on earth is a time of testing. It is a probationary period. What is the purpose of the troubles we experience continuously in the world? These pains and dreads discipline us; they teach us obedience to the Father; they drive out of us the love of the world. Obedience! We learn obedience to God through the things we suffer. As was true of the Apostle Paul, when we are faithful in our prisons and sufferings other people are blessed.
We Christians suffer many tribulations and pains throughout our discipleship. It is a comfort to know that when we are serving the Lord diligently our troubles are not chance occurrences or pointless harassments but are the disciplining hand of the Lord.
LEARNING OBEDIENCE THROUGH SUFFERING
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? (Hebrews 12:6,7)
We Christians suffer many tribulations and pains throughout our discipleship. It is a comfort to know that when we are serving the Lord diligently our troubles are not chance occurrences or pointless harassments but are the disciplining hand of the Lord.
We are God’s children. God is our Father. God is teaching us obedience—perfect obedience to Himself. God will not tolerate disobedience in any of His sons.
King Saul lost his throne through disobedience. The Lord had commanded Saul to totally destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock. But Saul spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites, plus the best of the livestock.
When the Prophet Samuel came, Saul blamed the people. Saul protested that the people had kept the animals alive in order to sacrifice them to the Lord. When we disobey God we often put the blame on other people.
Samuel declared to Saul that obedience is more important than sacrifice:
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of sorcery, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (I Samuel 15:22,23)
So it is today. There are many who are “praising” Jesus and calling Him Lord, Lord but are not doing what He says. They are not obedient to God but are hoping to make up for their disobedience by praising the Lord.
Fervent, enthusiastic worship is one of the most important activities of an assembly of saints. Fervent worship is necessary if we are to please the Lord. But strict obedience to God, to both His written Word and specific, personal guidance, is more important even than praise.
Obedience to the Father is the basis of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is manifested in doing God’s will in the earth as it is performed in Heaven.
Obedience must be learned and it often can be learned best through suffering.
Life on earth is a time of testing. It is a probationary period. The main lesson we learn on earth is the knowledge of the Holy One of Israel, that is, complete trust in the faithfulness of God and stern obedience to His will. The result of trust and obedience is the Presence of God, which is the only true holiness.
Iniquity can be removed from our personality in a moment while we are on earth or in the spirit realm.
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. (Zechariah 3:4)
But it appears that only during life on the earth can the knowledge of the Lord, perfect trust in and obedience to the Father, be wrought in the soul.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Offspring of God. Christ is filled with the Father. He is the Word from eternity. He always does the Father’s will. His Spirit and Character are flawless. He is the express Image of the Father’s Person.
Yet even Jesus had to learn obedience through suffering during His life on the earth.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8)
If Jesus, who is altogether above us in every way, had to learn obedience through suffering on the earth, it is no wonder we who are completely undone in our sins and rebellion are chastened continually. We are sent tribulation after tribulation. Our Father in Heaven is disciplining us. He is teaching us obedience to Himself.
There are three primary realms of disobedience in the believer: the love of the world, the love of sin, and the love of self. These three loves are in us, and this is why every one of us is deeply rebellious against our Father in Heaven. God deals with each of these three areas by means of suffering.
The love of the world that abides in us presses us continually to disobey the Lord. The world calls to us with a loud, enticing voice. The world projects to our minds a glamorous future filled with delights of all kinds. But it is a siren call inviting us to the rocks of destruction, to the bleached bones of those who have succumbed before us.
Jesus commands us through the Apostle John:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (I John 2:15)
But many find obedience to Christ so difficult and the world so attractive!
Therefore God pours tribulation (chastening) on us in order that we may not be condemned with the world.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:32)
Notice how the Lord calls us to Himself, “In me ye might have peace.” In the world we shall have tribulation but in Jesus we shall have peace.
It is human nature to turn away from what is painful and to seek joy and peace. By sending tribulation on us God causes us to turn away from the world and to find rest in His Son. We learn obedience through the things we suffer.
Should we get married? Should we work in the world? Should we participate in the world? Many times it is God’s will that we marry and participate in the world.
But then we run into trouble in the flesh. There is incompatibility. There is anxiety. There is that boss who is perverse. Our Eden is plagued with weeds, mosquitoes, and serpents. Trouble!
What is the purpose of the troubles we experience continuously in the world? These pains and dreads discipline us; they teach us obedience to the Father; they drive out of us the love of the world. This present world is not our rest, our inheritance, and God reminds us of that fact every day.
The current doctrine that through “faith” we can escape the tribulations God sends to us is erroneous and destructive. It is of the False Prophet. It is contrary to the Scriptures and seeks to prevent our progress in the Lord.
When we are sick, or otherwise in distress, we are to pray and seek God, using the faith and trust He gives us. In numerous instances the Lord heals our diseases and delivers us from our troubles. All experienced saints know this is true. Going to the Lord for help in our hour of need is scriptural.
But believing that if we have faith we never will experience suffering or sickness is not scriptural. It is the spirit of the False Prophet attempting to emphasize the immediate happiness and welfare of people at the expense of God’s will for them; at the expense of God’s will being done in the earth; at the expense of bringing the light of God to the nations of the earth; at the expense of the eternal joy and blessing of the believer who is being seduced by this humanistic teaching.
The Lord Jesus suffered much in the world and is an example to us. We must share His sufferings if we desire to experience the power of His resurrection.
The love of the world is in us, causing disobedience. Also, the love of sindwells in our flesh.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:20)
God causes us to turn away from our sins by sending fiery sufferings on us.
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (I Peter 4:1)
If we commit acts of lust or covetousness or violence or drunkenness or sorcery Divine judgment will fall on us and our sin. We may become violently ill or lose our job or hurt someone or end up in prison. Calamity may fall on our household. We may die before our appointed task has been completed.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [die physically]. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:30-32)
God is teaching us obedience. God does not want us to be conformed to this world, which is of the devil, or to sin; and so He sends pain to us continuously—enough pain, dread, perplexity, and sorrow that to live a righteous, holy, obedient life becomes preferable to sinning.
There was no sin dwelling in the flesh of Christ. He did not have to learn righteous behavior. But He took upon Himself our sins and suffered the terrible penalty.
We now are learning through suffering the peaceable ways of righteousness.
He who would obey God must, through Christ’s grace, gain victory over the love of the world and the love of sin. Finally, the love of self must be overcome. The love of self, and trust in self, may be the deepest, most resistant aspect of the believer’s rebellion against God. Perhaps it is in this realm that even the holy, righteous Christ had to learn obedience through suffering.
The world and sin are obviously evil. Even the unsaved can understand that much of what is practiced is wicked and destructive, being contrary to the law of conscience that dwells in every person.
But the love of self and trust in self are not always deemed to be wicked and hostile to God. Neither the world nor the Christian believers, for the most part, understand the monster of evil lurking in the cavern of self-love. It may be true that the love of self is a more horrible serpent than the world and sin combined.
The individual who is free from self-love is far along on the path to the Father’s heart.
Since the love of self is the most vicious of all forms of rebellion and the most firmly entrenched in the human personality, so it is true that the sufferings required to dislodge it, to cleanse it from the soul, are the most intense, the most fiery of the tribulations the believer experiences.
There are in the Scriptures two dreadful portrayals of God dealing with self-love. One is found in the Old Testament, the other in the New. One took place in the land of Moriah, the other in Gethsemane—both within the boundaries of Jerusalem.
God “tested” Abraham in the realm of self-love, self-will, trust in self. This trial had nothing to do with the world or with sin. It had to do with Abraham’s trust in God.
God promised Abraham that his descendants would be in number as the stars and as the sands of the sea. Then He made Abraham wait for the birth of Isaac for a quarter of a century. You can imagine the patience involved in waiting twenty-five years for something desired so intensely.
Finally the promise was kept, as God’s promises always are. The glorious, impossible hope became flesh and blood. Abraham’s future was all joy now. Or was it?
One day, out from the darkness came the most frightful words Abraham had ever heard or ever would hear again. “Offer up Isaac as a burnt offering.”
This was a perfect, comprehensive test of Abraham’s self-love. His whole soul was wrapped up in Isaac. To slay Isaac was to slay himself.
Had Abraham refused to surrender his soul to God, neither Abraham nor Isaac would have become the ancestor of Christ. God will not tolerate disobedience in His children—and no excuses are accepted.
The greatest testings are reserved for those whose destinies are the highest. Abraham learned obedience through suffering and thus became the father of many nations, the father of all who are part of Christ. God disciplines every son whom He receives. If we are without chastening, God is not our father. The extent to which we are brought under discipline depends on our particular calling.
Christ is destined to be Lord of all, the King of kings, the Center and Circumference of all things. The love of the world was not in Him, neither did sin dwell in His flesh.
But Christ learned obedience to the Father through the things He suffered.
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; (Hebrews 5:9)
God has promised Jesus the nations for His inheritance and the farthest reaches of the earth for His possession. The kingdoms of this world shall be His to do with as He will.
Satan offered a short cut to his inheritance, which Christ quickly rejected.
Christ was tested in the wilderness. He was rejected by His neighbors. He was persecuted by the Jews. He was accused falsely. He suffered perplexity, perversity, loss of dignity, spiritual and physical pain.
But none of these approached the agony of Gethsemane.
“Gethsemanes” cannot be evaluated as to the intensity of their pain except by those who are experiencing them.
The enormity of Jesus’ suffering is indicated in a few sentences:
And there appeared an angel unto him from Heaven strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:43,44)
Christ’s unequaled strength, courage, and obedience are evident. But what was taking place in His soul that was causing such extreme agony of heart and mind?
The testing was somewhat similar to that of Abraham. Christ possessed the fullness of the Presence of God and the hope of a truly marvelous inheritance. His future was spread before Him—golden, glorious, wonderful—the dream to end all dreams.
Now this apparently was being taken from Him. Not only the golden dream but the very Presence of God. Christ was losing His salvation, His eternal life, His very soul, because this is the penalty of sin against God.
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me (Psalms 18:4,5).
“Oh,” we say, “but it was only for a few days. Christ knew that soon He would be raised from the dead and enter His inheritance. The Presence and Glory of God would be restored to Him. There actually was no basis for His extreme agony!”
How did Christ know His travail was but for a brief period? From the Scriptures? We too have the promises of God. Do they make our “Gethsemanes” less excruciating?
The fact is, Christ, as is true also of us, had to lean totally on the faithfulness of God. During those dark hours in Gethsemane, Christ was being required to give back to God His inheritance, His glory, His very eternal Life in the Presence of God. Would they ever be restored? How could He be certain? After all, He was bearing on Himself the sins of the whole world.
What if He was doomed to spend eternity among the demons? What if God did not raise Him from the dead? The demons to the present hour claim that Jesus is chained to a rock in the underworld and is hurling profanities at God. This is what they threatened Him with that night in the garden of Gethsemane.
This is why Christ sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. This is why a holy angel was sent to strengthen Him. Christ was being cut off from God. He was bearing our sins on Himself and paying the penalty for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. He became the bronze serpent that was lifted up.
Christ understands, as does no one else, the extent of God’s wrath against sin and rebellion.
This was the moment of supreme obedience, the obedience that reversed the effect of Adam’s disobedience.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)
Christ drank a frightful death from the cup. In doing so, He surrendered His will to the Father in absolute obedience.
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42)
Obedience! We learn obedience to God through the things we suffer. As in the case of Abraham, Joseph, Christ, the Apostle Paul, and countless others less well known, when we are faithful in our prisons and sufferings other people are blessed.
Will there ever be an end to our sufferings? Yes, there shall indeed be an end. As soon as we are perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, perfectly obedient there will be no more need for chastening.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (I Peter 5:10)
We are chastened more severely than is true of the world. We receive of the Lord’s hand double for all our sins. The sailors were not swallowed by the fish, only Jonah, only the man of God. But as soon as our “warfare has been accomplished” the Lord speaks comfortably to us.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:2)
What a blessed thought it is to realize we shall not be chastened forever! If we remain faithful, praying in our afflictions, there will come a time when the chastening is concluded. It shallcome to an end!
God will not be forever scolding us. One day we will walk in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. (Isaiah 57:16)
We can prolong our sufferings by refusing to learn obedience; or we can shorten the program by being quick to learn, quick to obey.
But in no case can the sufferings of the righteous be avoided, for obedience must be formed in us so deeply, so perfectly, that God will be able to trust us with the power and glory of the ages to come.
We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God.
The High Cost of Disobedience
It takes only a moment’s reflection to realize that the cost of disobedience has been high. The world as we know it is not the good world God originally created, nor do we human beings much resemble the image of God in which we were first made. Tragically that image has been shattered, and the world is filled with sin, sorrow, and suffering. The “break” began with one act of disobedience by our first parents. By a deliberate choice, rooted in pride and unbelief, they acted in defiance of God’s revealed will. And their self-centered drive for autonomy has passed down to every human being. Perhaps Woody Allen spoke for us all when he famously said, “The heart wants what it wants.”
With our own hands, we forged the chains that bind us, and we now lack the power to free ourselves from them. We want to do what we want to do and cannot escape.
Our only hope lies outside ourselves, in the One who loves us and gave himself up for us.
The Blessings of Obedience
When we grasp an understanding of the blessings of obedience, we find them utterly astounding. Because of his great love, God has made a way for us to be reconciled to him and freed from our bondage to sin and self. Our predicament can be reversed if we will forsake our rebellion and return to him. And this is now possible because God has sent his only Son to rescue us. Jesus came to earth and lived a life of perfect submission and obedience to the Father’s will. The supreme expression of his obedience was submitting to the shameful, humiliating, and excruciating death of crucifixion, which was also the supreme expression of his love for the Father (John 14:31). In this act of self-sacrificing love, he “who knew no sin” became sin for us “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). His perfect obedience to God’s law as God’s loving and faithful Son can now be imputed to us, and our disobedience can be laid upon him, setting us right with God, if we choose it.
Our freedom begins when we respond to the love of God as it meets us in Jesus’ call to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). In Greek, these two verbs are in the imperative mood and thus are commands to be obeyed. They summon us to turn from the disobedience of unbelief to the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5). And the gift of faith makes this possible for us. Confident trust in Jesus and his message gives us life, turns us around, frees us, and sets in motion a great reversal in our lives.
This transforming reversal progresses as we follow Jesus Christ, who says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Following Jesus means taking steps forward in what might be called “the obedience of faith”—moving steadily away from our former areas of disobedience and back into the will of God. The power to do this comes from the Holy Spirit, whose work it is to conform us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:13, 29). Though there will be times when we disobey, there is forgiveness as we repent and return to the Lord. This process of discipleship or sanctification, which restores the image of God in us, takes a lifetime and is completed only in the world to come. But we can make great progress in this world, which should be our highest priority.
The Key to Obedience
C.S. Lewis said, “Obedience is the key that opens every door.” But how do we obey without falling into legalism? Through love. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Just as Jesus’ love for the Father was expressed in his obedience, so our love for Jesus is expressed in our obedience (John 14:31; 15:9-10).
Ours is not the obedience of one who seeks to justify himself before God but the obedience of one who, in grateful love, seeks to please him “who loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2; Gal. 2:20). Thus we may speak of “the obedience of love.” As with faith, the source of this love is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Sonship, who draws us to the Father’s love. And Jesus has promised his help: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16). To the one who, by the Spirit, embraces the obedience of love, Jesus goes on to say, “I will love him and manifest myself to him” (14:21), and, “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (14:23). Thus, as John Stott once said, “the test of love is obedience and the reward of love is the self-manifestation of Christ.” This promise of personal intimacy with the Father and the Son enabled by the Spirit takes us to the very heart of the trinitarian life, a life of grace that is free from law. A life in which we joyfully will to do the will of God and to please him in all things.
This is the heritage of all who have come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. If we would enjoy the fullness of this life, let us embrace the obedience of faith and love and daily seek to walk by the Holy Spirit, through whom all these blessings come (Gal. 5:16–25). And in prayerful meditation upon Jesus’ words, let us ask the Sprit to teach us and transform us more and more into his image.
In the Book of Job we are told that “man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” I’m sure that all of us have experienced that life seems short, and most of us have had plenty of troubles. We are living in a world of trouble. This world is filled with heartaches and suffering of all kinds. No one is immune from troubles. The rich suffer as well as the poor. The proud suffer, and so do the humble. The sinner suffers, and so does the saint. Wherever one turns, he finds suffering and sorrow and heartaches. There’s suffering from sickness, suffering from the infirmities of advancing age, suffering from disease, suffering from poverty, suffering from mental anguish—and on and on one could go.
There’s the suffering of the young wife who is lost in despair, because of the cruelty of a drunken husband. There’s the mother whose only daughter “had” to marry the young man she was dating. At seventeen years of age (when other girls are still in high school) she is far away from her parents, cramped into a small apartment, caring for a husband and a new baby. All this brings on mental anguish, which is perhaps one of the most severe forms of suffering. There’s also the suffering that comes from parting from those whom we love. We clasp hands and walk together, and work and laugh and weep together—but after a while, we must separate. Some day we’ll meet those we love, face to face for the last time here in this life. Some day we’ll work together, and sit down at a meal together—and although we feel the same as ever—the messenger of death will be lurking in the background, and there’s going to be a heart-rending separation. There’s the suffering of the young boy who is a victim of polio. He has to spend the rest of his days, scarcely even able to turn over in his bed. All these are experiences of suffering that we face.
Why is there so much suffering here in this life? The Bible teaches that suffering in general came into this world as a result of sin. In other words, if there had been no sin in the world, we would have reason to believe there would never have been any suffering. This doesn’t mean that all suffering is the result of one’s own sin, nor does it mean that the person who suffers isn’t leading the right kind of life. Job’s comforters made this mistake. They reasoned that suffering is the result of sin (and so it is; suffering was part of the curse that God pronounced upon mankind after the fall). But these men reasoned that because Job was a great sufferer, therefore he must be a great sinner. One of Job’s friends said, “Who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?” (Job 4:7). In other words he said, “The innocent don’t suffer, and therefore because you are suffering, you must be guilty.” But listen—Job’s suffering was not because of his sin, but rather to prove that the devil was a liar, and to verify the claims of God. The truth of the matter is that many people suffer not because of their own sins, but because of the sins of other people. There are wives who suffer because of the sins of wayward husbands. There are children who suffer because of the sins of their parents. There are whole nations that suffer because of the sins of wicked leaders. And so we say that not all suffering is the result of one’s own sin.
However, some suffering is the result of our own sins. When Paul wrote the Church of Corinth about their abuse of the lovefeast service, he said, “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you” (1 Corinthians 11:30). Sickness and even death in some cases, are due to the Christian’s failure to confess sin, and to judge wicked habits in his own life, and God sends the suffering as a punishment for sin.
On the other hand, we repeat again that while all suffering is the result of sin, suffering is not always the result of specific sin in one’s own life. If you’re suffering from sickness, or from heavy burdens, or from persecution—and you’ve honestly confessed all known and doubtful sin in your life, and you’ve searched out your own heart before God (and you still continue to suffer)—you can rest assured that God has some greater purpose in mind for you, and that His plan can only be accomplished in the school of affliction and suffering.
We don’t have much trouble understanding why wicked people suffer. We know that “the way of the transgressor is hard,” and that “whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” But we find a different problem when we see God’s saints passing through trials and troubles. Why do some of the most noble people of God have to wear sackcloth on their hearts almost continually? This is a big question (and there are some things we’ll never understand until we’re safe in the arms of Jesus), but the Bible does give some light on this vexing question, “Why do the righteous suffer?” We invite your attention to four Scriptural reasons why a righteous person may be called upon to suffer.
1. Suffering Gives Jesus a Chance To Get Glory.
You remember the account in John 9, of the man who was born blind, and how Jesus had opened his eyes. The disciples said to Jesus, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). You see, like many of us, they thought this affliction was brought on because of his own sins, or perhaps because of the sins of his forebears. But Jesus answered the question: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). The Lord didn’t mean that this man never committed any sin, nor that his parents were perfect, but He was simply answering their question—and in this particular case, the suffering was not a punishment for his own sin, but rather, the affliction came upon him to give Jesus a chance to reveal His power and glory.
It was for this same reason that Lazarus was permitted to die. Jesus said in John 11:4 (when He had first heard that Lazarus was sick): “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” When Lazarus was sick, his sisters called for Jesus, but Jesus did a strange thing. Instead of coming immediately, He waited until Lazarus was dead and had been buried four days. When He got there, Jesus merely spoke the word, and Lazarus came back from death. As a result of this miracle, many of the Jews were convinced that Jesus was really the Son of God, and many believed on Him. Of course the death of Lazarus meant some heartaches for Mary and Martha, and the fact that Jesus didn’t come immediately—must have been even more disturbing—but think of the glory Jesus got out of it. People were saved through it.
Many of us have never experienced prolonged and terrible suffering. But listen, one of the grandest opportunities you will ever get to glorify God, will be in the hour of distress and suffering. When everything is rosy, and the pastures are green, and the waters are still—and you look up and say, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” the world won’t be especially impressed. They’ll say, “Why shouldn’t he be thankful, everything’s going his way?” But listen brother, when the shadows deepen, and the clouds begin to gather, and the sorrows pour in—if in such a time, you can look up through your tears and like Job, say, “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord,” the world will be convinced, and they’ll say, “There must be something to this Christianity after all,” and Jesus will get glory.
You see, your suffering and sorrow and troubles—these are the raw materials out of which you can weave a garment for the glory of God. God often permits His children to suffer, so that the world can see the sweetness with which they are able to bear it. The hymn writer says:
“Some through the waters; some through the flood;
Some through the fire; but all through the blood.
Some through great trial—but God gives a song.
In the night seasons, and all the day long.”
Christians are called upon to suffer as well as non-Christians. Jesus told a story about two houses, one built by a wise man, the other by a foolish man; one built upon a rock, the other upon the sand; but the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against both those houses. Serving Christ does not free us from suffering, but it does give us strength and grace to bear the trials, and to become more than conquerors over every test of life. If you can sing praises to God in the hour of suffering and trial, you’ll bring glory to Jesus.
2. Suffering Is Chastening To Make Us Holy.
The nature of divine chastening is described in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. We’re told here that God chastens (punishes) because He loves us, and He does it for our good. Verse 10 says that He chastens that “we might be partakers of His holiness.” One of the primary objectives that God has for all of us, is that we might be holy. Ephesians 1:4 says “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7 says “God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” 1 Peter 1:15 says “But as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” These Scriptures make it clear that God’s purpose for us is that we should be holy. And God accomplishes His purpose in one of two ways. His first plan is that we should willingly make a complete surrender, gladly willing to do His will, and to do what He says. But if we become stubborn and rebellious, sometimes God has to lay us on our backs, in order to get us to say, “Not my will, but thine be done.”
When we punish our children, we do it not because we hate them and want to punish them, but because we love them, and want the best for them in life. And just so God chastens us—not because He hates us and takes pleasure in punishing us, but because He loves us too much to let us go on, and make shipwreck of our lives.
There are some fine qualities of life, which many times are learned only as one walks in the dark valley of suffering. The poet says:
“I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne’er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her,
When sorrow walked with me.”
Sometimes we suffer in order that God might teach us some lessons in prayer. All of us know that we call upon God much more earnestly and much more frequently when His chastening rod is on us, than we do in the day of prosperity. The 107th Psalm repeatedly says, “They cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.” We know that many times we don’t really pray; but when trouble comes, then we call on God from the bottom of our hearts. Sometimes we suffer in order that God might teach us lessons in humility. Most of us tend to think that we’re a little bit better than certain other people, and we secretly flatter ourselves that we’re “not as other men.” Suffering cuts the props from under us, and gives us a sense of need and dependence upon God, and we see that we’re only poor worms of the dust. These things are good for us.
Children usually don’t appreciate correction when they are getting it, but in later years, they often come to see the value of discipline, and recognize that it made them stronger and better characters. And just so we should accept chastening as coming from the hand of an all-wise God, who molds us and makes us a thing of beauty for His own glory. The Psalmist knew that he was a better man because of his affliction. He says that before his experience of suffering, he was going astray, but suffering was God’s way of bringing him back. I’m sure that hundreds of others down through the centuries could testify of a similar experience. Afflictions are designed to make us partakers of God’s holiness.
3. Suffering Fits Us For the Ministry of Sympathy.
God gives special comfort to His own children in the hour of suffering, and Paul says that we receive this strength and help from the hand of God, so that we can extend sympathy to others in the hour of trouble. The Bible says, “Blessed be God . . . who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” 2 Corinthians 1:4. The comfort we receive from God is to enable us to impart comfort to others.
This old world is filled with suffering and heartaches, and one of the greatest needs such people have, is for someone who can comfort them and sympathize with them in their trouble. And the only way we can really learn to comfort others and to sympathize with them, is to suffer ourselves. We can’t comfort others until we ourselves have been comforted of God. We can’t sympathize with those in sorrow, unless we have suffered ourselves. We can’t understand the loneliness of others, unless we have been lonely ourselves. We can’t weep with those that weep, unless we have been bereaved ourselves. There are some things in life that can’t be learned in the schools, and this is one of them. We have to learn how to sympathize with others by actual experience. Most of us have already learned that the person who can help us most in the hour of trial, is the one who has already passed through an experience somewhat like ours. This is another reason God permits righteous people to suffer. The fires of affliction make us tenderhearted, and sympathetic toward others—and this results in a greater compassion for other people.
4. Suffering Turns Our Attention Toward Heaven.
One of the besetting sins of the saints, is earthliness. Most people live as though they were never going to die. They follow business and pleasure and politics and science, as if this earth were their eternal home. They plan and scheme for the future like the rich fool in the parable Jesus told. And many of us have a tendency to do exactly the same thing. Thank God, He sends affliction and sickness. This takes our eyes away from money and pleasure and position, and makes us think seriously of God. The Lord often permits suffering so that we don’t become too much in love with this world, and the things of this world.
Sometimes it takes sickness and sorrow and disaster and vanished hopes and shattered dreams to bring us to the end of ourselves, and turn us to God. The suffering and sadness that we experience often gives us a desire to leave this world, and to enter our rest in Heaven. Even the loss of a loved one in the hour of death—while it brings heartaches to us—often turns our attention toward Heaven. Most of us have had this experience. We know that Heaven is a place, and that it is being prepared for those who love God. But we only come to really appreciate Heaven when one of our own dear loved ones crosses the border into the eternal world.
Heaven seemed closer to King David after his little child had died. The Bible says (2 Samuel 12:18) that for seven days and seven nights, David fasted and wept and prayed that God would spare his sick child—but finally he received notice that the child was dead. Two little eyelids had been gently closed; two little hands were folded over the silent bosom; one little heart was forever still. David wiped away the tears from his eyes, and ate food, and found comfort in these words, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” David was looking forward to seeing his child in Heaven, and certainly, from that day on, Heaven was closer to David than ever before. Someone has written:
“Even death has a wonderful mission
Though it robs us of those that we love;
He draws us (from our surroundings here)
To think of meeting above.
No matter how deep our loss is,
No matter how deep our despair,
Doesn’t Heaven seem nearer and dearer,
To know that our loved ones are there?”
God permits sorrow and suffering, to turn our attention toward Heaven.
From the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, we learn that there are three different attitudes we can take toward trials and afflictions.
(1) We can despise them. “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Many people despise their troubles, and lash out violently against suffering, and blame others, and even blame God. This is a dangerous thing to do; it will make you cynical and hard; it will poison your soul, it can even wreck your life. Never despise your sufferings.
(2) We can merely endure them. “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.” A great many people take this attitude toward their sorrows. They just grit their teeth and make up their minds they’re going to bear it the best they can. They say, “We’ve all got our troubles, other people bear theirs, and I’m going to take mine like a man.” This may be better than despising suffering, but it’s not the best way.
(3) We can be exercised by them. “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” That is, you can profit by your sufferings. And instead of accusing God, you can search your heart, and as a result, you’ll grow in faith and patience, and you’ll manifest the fruits of righteousness in your life. No matter how severe the trial is, we should accept it with thanksgiving, and submit to it without a murmur, because we know that God has a good purpose. The poet says:
“The cloud you so much dread,
Is filled with mercy, and will break
With blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.”
I believe that if you continue to maintain your faith in God, some day you’ll look into His face, and thank Him for every sorrow that drove its sharp edge through your soul. You’ll thank Him for every stroke of affliction, for every night of loneliness, for every day of pain—because, like Jesus, you will have learned obedience through suffering.
God permitted Satan to afflict Job with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. His property was gone, his children were taken, and then even his wife turned her back on him. And then finally his friends came, but instead of bringing comfort, they accused him, and tried to get him to doubt his own religious experience. Truly this was a dark hour for Job. I doubt if any other mortal man has ever been put to such a test. But brother, he stood the test, and cried out, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him.” He glorified God by bearing suffering in the right way. This is the way we need to bear suffering.
May we point out finally, that one of these days the tests and sufferings of life will be over, and the Bible says that God Himself will wipe away our tears, and take us to that place where there is no more suffering. Children of God are headed for a world in which pain and suffering will be gone, and gone forever!
If you are yet unsaved, it could be that suffering and trouble is God’s way of calling you to salvation. When the wicked king Manasseh (of Judah) was so godless and wicked that he was carried away into Syria, he repented, and cried out to God. God answered tenderly, and brought him back to his kingdom. Here is the account in God’s Word: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.” (2 Chronicles 33:12,13).
Take Jesus as your Saviour today, and surrender your life to Him. The promises spoken of in this message are not for the unsaved. If you have never known Jesus, there is only one promise for you, and that is mercy, if you’ll pray, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner.”
If we suffer we shall reign with Him, oh blessed thought,
When into Christ’s lovely presence we shall be brought;
There in His glorious likeness ever to be,
We will spend rapture filled ages of eternity.
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