CHRISTIAN SUFFERING
INTRODUCTION
“Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for
the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you: on their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet
if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify
God on this behalf” 1 Peter 4:12-16
"The Son of God
suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings
might be like his" George MacDonald
Suffering has to do with enduring pain, sorrow, distress,
grief, travail, misery and anguish. 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. We may suffer persecution because of our
faith, especially when we take a stand on biblical issues that is suffering for
righteousness sake [2 Tim. 3:12]. It is through many tribulations that we shall
enter into the kingdom [Acts 14:22]. Suffering is inevitable! “That no man should be moved by these
afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto” [1Thess.
3:3]. Peter says that our sufferings have two components:
First, we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Secondly,
our suffering does not destroy us, but purifies us. It purges out the old
leaven and make us pure and cleansed. Suffering transforms our inner man to
become more like Jesus and conforms us to the standard of the scriptures. Godly
suffering is purposeful, painful, purifier, perplexing, proves our faith in the
ability of God to deliver us and it is a process that requires time and
endurance [James 1:2-4]. Suffering provides opportunity for God’s glory, our transformation,
testimony, better physical and spiritual abilities and even ministry.
SUFFERING, TRIALS,
PERSECUTION, TEMPTATION AND TRYING OF OUR FAITH
Suffering requires the right response if it is to be
successful in accomplishing God’s purposes. If you want the godly character and
blessings that accrues, then you must first go through the suffering process. Trials
simply give us the capacity to cooperate with the process, the proof of our
faith is that despite all, we are still standing and fruit of the spirit like
patience is developing in our inner man [James 1:4]. We must allow the process
to work and experience inner peace and joy in the midst of the trials. Godly
reward awaits those perfected through suffering. This make our continued
dependence and walk to be on the grace, provision and the power of God, rather than
on our own resources but unto His. [2 Cor. 11:24-32; 12:7-10]
“…comforts us in all
afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4
We must bear each other burden when another brethren is going
through the valley of the shadow of godly suffering, encouraging and helping
them as deem necessary per time. We are graced to comfort brethren suffering
especially when we ourselves have suffered such affliction and now in a wealthy
place. When you have gone through your own fiery trials, and God has gone
through to deliver you, you have real help to offer to those going through
theirs.
You have firsthand experience of both his sustaining grace
and his resolute scheme. God has kept you through pain and agony; He has
reshaped you through transformation to look more like his image. Suffering in
itself does not remove the impurities in our lives, but is a tool God uses to
cause us to exercise faith in the provisions of God’s grace to deny all
ungodliness and have a Christ like nature [Titus 2:12]. Then we can give godly
comfort that we are experiencing with increasing measure to others that needs
to be comforted. We are learning both the tenderness and the clarity necessary
to help sanctify another person’s deepest distress.
“But we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with
glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings” Heb. 2:9-10
Trials, temptations and sufferings should be understood from
a temporary action stand-point. It will soon fade away no matter how hard or
how long it is. Jesus was perfected through the act of suffering so shall we can
be like Him if we endure like a good soldier. Grace is available in God to die
to the old carnal nature so that like Jesus we can be perfected.
“There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” 1 Cor.
10:13
First of all, we recognize that in God’s will, Jesus
suffered. His sufferings were totally unlike ours in that he suffered not for
himself, but for the sins of others. But now we are invited to share in
Christ’s sufferings. Now, while this is mainly focused on sharing in the
persecution Christ suffered, it is not limited to that. There is a suffering
“according to the will of God” [1 Peter 4:19]. Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution [2 Tim. 3:12]. If we suffer as Christ
suffered, we shall also reign with Christ [2 Tim. 2:12].
“Blessed are they which
are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you“. Matt. 5:10-12
In other words, we should never choose suffering for
suffering sake, but commit ourselves to doing the will of God, even if it means
we suffer. And there are times when doing the will of God means that we will
suffer. “For as we share abundantly in
Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” [2
Cor. 1:5]. We partake of his sufferings not by sharing in his atonement,
but by following Him in a sinful world where we will suffer in this world
bearing his shame. 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]. Those who have been trained by suffering learn to
praise God more even in their adversity. We are hereby restored to fellowship
and our sins are purged out if we erred. Our response in suffering must demonstrate
faith, love for God and for others, Christ-like character, values, commitment, and
godly priorities.
“In the day of
prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider—God has made the one
as well as the other so that man may not discover anything that will be after
him” Eccl. 7:14
COMPLEXITY OF SUFFERING
Suffering are multifaceted as Apostle Paul wrote “We are afflicted in every way but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not destroyed”
[2 Cor. 4:8-9]. There are many types of suffering including mental, physical,
emotional and spiritual. Suffering is an instrument that God uses to get our
attention and to achieve His purposes in our lives. It is intended to build our
trust in the Almighty, but suffering requires the right response if it is to be
successful in accomplishing God’s purposes. Suffering forces us to turn from
trust in our own resources to living by faith in God’s resources.
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. We often suffer to keep down or annihilate pride like
Paul [2 Cor. 12:7]
There are plenty of
examples: A
Christian on break at work prays over his lunch and he was jested over by
unbelievers. A school teacher is mocked and laughed at while at School because
of his Christian stand and principles, a Christian football player prays before
a game and all the guys are laughing and telling crude jokes about him. A young
lady in college is mocked for her virginity. A young Muslim woman is threatened
by her father that he will kill her if she doesn’t renounce her new found
Christian faith.
APOSTOLIC SUFFERING
“And to him they
agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and BEATEN THEM, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they
departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were COUNTED
WORTHY TO SUFFER SHAME for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” Act 5:40-42 emphasis
mine [also Matt. 23:34]
The God pleasing courage and faithfulness of the apostles in
the midst of all these injuries and humiliations done to them is commendable.
When they were dismissed, the Apostles departed from the council rejoicing
counting themselves worthy to suffer for the cause of the Lord Jesus, and we do
not find one word they said by way of the unjust treatment given to them. When
they were reviled they reviled not again; and when they suffered they
threatened not; but committed their cause to God who Gamaliel referred to, even
to a God who judges righteously. All their heartbeat was to serve God in truth
and in spirit, and to make full proof of their ministry, notwithstanding the
opposition or cruelty meted to them; and both these they did to admiration and
very commendable.
Christian persecutions is for our purification [1 Pet. 4:13].
These things are not limited to times we are persecuted, but include trials of
many kinds. Peter uses a Greek word for burning “purosis” translated as the
English word “fiery” trials, from which the word “purify” is derived. Peter is
saying that God is using difficult and different trials for our purification.
Peter says these things are coming upon us to “test us” or apply pressure to
our Christian stand.
COUNT IT ALL JOY
James agreed with Peter: “Count
it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you
know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” [James 1:2].
Paul also agreed with Peter:
“More than that, we
rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope” Romans 5:3-4.
Both of them said we must know something about our trials;
God is using them to purify us, to change us, and to conform us to his holy
image. Suffering acts as a pruning tool to eradicate dead branches from our
lives (weaknesses, sins of ignorance, weight and sin, immature attitudes and
values, sexual vices.) God wants to break that outer shell, the flesh that
prevents Him from being all He wants to be in and through us through the
process called brokenness. He wants to break off things like pride, rebellion,
selfishness and independence. God wants us to be totally dependent on Him, and
suffering seems to bring us to that point. Our loyalty to the Lord is often
tested in the fire of affliction. 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). God can only enlarge us and make me
grow wide by distresses we go through and the word of the Lord that we imbibe
in order to be free from these trials. Trials test our faith and causes us to
use the promises and principles of the Word, quickening of the Spirit and
intense agonizing prayers to produce faith and mature Christian man and womanhood
[Psalms 119:71, 92; Psalms 4:1].
That’s why Peter can tell us along with Paul and James that
far from being brooding and disheartened about our trials, we should rejoice in
them and thank God for them. First of all, they are evidence that we really
belong to Jesus in that we are given to share in his very own sufferings. It’s
not that He has his sufferings and we have ours; we are sharing in his very own
sufferings. There is another reason we can and should rejoice in these things:
they are preparing us for a far greater weight of glory to come, so said
Apostle Paul.
SUFFERING AND GLORY
“For this slight
momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison” 2 Cor. 4:17.
Paul says it another way in the book to the Romans
”The Spirit bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in
order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time and life are not worth being compared with the
glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on
us!”” Romans 8:17-18.
There is a glory to be revealed in those who have suffered
with Christ in this life. We are destined to bring glory to God (1 Peter 4.14-16).
Peter tells us the ultimate reason we suffer; so that we can bring glory to
God. Peter reminds us of what Jesus told us, that we are blessed when we are
reviled for the name of Christ. Insults or abuses cannot drive the blessing of
the Spirit from Christ’s disciples. Peter says when believers suffer because
they are Christians, God is glorified.
Peter tells us that suffering not only leads to glory one
day, it tastes of glory now as the Spirit and glory of God is on us. Of course,
the suffering that brings glory to God is never suffering due to crimes that we
commit. “Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a
meddler” (1 Peter 4:15). Suffering due to our own wrongdoing is not to be
tolerated or permitted. But we may suffer as a Christian. Peter says rejoice
because you glorify God in that name when you are being treated the way this
world treated our Lord derogatorily.
PURIFICATION AND PURGING
Behold, I send my
messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you
delight, behold he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the
day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a
refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and
silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Malachi
3:1-3
When God purifies he sends his fire. It starts with those in
his own house. At new birth, we are like raw gold gotten from deep underneath
the earth that must be heated up and purified with high intensity fire. These
are the fiery trials that we must presently endure. You should thank God for
these fiery trials; they will spare us the judgment to come. Paul says it this
way: “When we are judged by the Lord, we
are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” 1 Corinthians 11:32.
The fiery trials the Christian endures are the refining fire
of the Lord who has come to His temple who we are. If we, the righteous, barely
survive these trials, what will happen to this world when God’s fire comes?
Peter is not calling into question our security in Christ. The word translated
“scarcely” is best rendered by the word “difficulty”. It does not imply
uncertainty of the outcome, but the difficulty of the road that leads to it.
One author responded that: “God’s purging of his people is not a process that
takes place in purgatory after death, nor is it a punishment that atones for
sin. Rather, his purging is the discipline of suffering and trials by which the
faith of his people is purified, as gold in the furnace.”
There is only one thing left for us to do. It is to keep
entrusting our souls to God knowing that he is faithful, and continue to do
good without growing weary. That means you actively keep turning over your life
and your life circumstances to God, knowing that if you are doing his will,
then you can bear anything. And you view it all as an opportunity to bear your
cross daily.
“Wherein ye greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” 1 Pet. 1:6-7
You are not meant to fail but to grow by the trials and be
purified by it, trials that you go through in life will help you also to run
your Christian race better.
DESPISE NOT CHASTENING
“Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet
resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the
exhortation which speak unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the
Lord love he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receive. If ye endure
chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chastens not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards, and not sons” Hebrews 12:2-8 [Check
also Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 3:18, Heb. 10:33, 1 Peter 2:22, 4:14-16]
If Christ suffered we also should have
the mind to suffer. The reward of Christ’s suffering was that he sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God, He was exalted to a position of the
highest honor, of the greatest power and influence; he is at the right hand of
the Father. Nothing passes between heaven and earth but by him; he does all
that is done; he ever lives to make intercession for his people.
We must aim high for the same kind of
glory! We must continue to look at His works and live like He did, despising
any shame or reproach. All Christians must set him continually before us as our
example, and our great encouragement and reassurance; we must look to him for help,
direction, assistance, and for acceptance, in all our sufferings. We must
consider him, meditate much upon him, and reason with ourselves from his case
to our own.
If we dare compare Christ's
sufferings and ours; we shall find out that His sufferings far exceeded ours,
in the nature and measure of them, so his patience far excels ours, and is a
perfect pattern for us to imitate. It is called becoming like Jesus in all
things. Focusing on Christ will be a means to prevent our weariness, exhaustion
and fainting [Heb. 12:3]. If we don’t, we will be weary and faint in your minds
under these trials and afflictions, especially when they prove heavy and of
long continuance.
LAST WORDS
Faith in God and meditation in the
scriptures will procure fresh supplies of strength, boldness, confidence, comfort,
and courage; for Christ has assured us, if we suffer with him, we shall also
reign with him: and this hope will be our cover against the onslaught of our
adversaries.
Suffering establishes us in the truth
[II Peter 1:12], establishes us in our faith [Thess. 3:2-6], establishes our
hearts in good words [II Thess. 2:16-17], establishes our hearts un-blamable in
holiness [I Thess. 3:13], and establishes our hearts in patient waiting for the
return of Christ [James 5:7-11].
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you.” I Peter 5:10
Through suffering, God perfects,
establishes, strengthens, and settles believers. Perfection in the above
scripture means to complete thoroughly, to render fit, complete, to put a thing
in its appropriate condition, or to mend aright. All brethren can only be
perfected through suffering to become like Master Jesus
“The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect
shall be as his master” Luke 6:40.
