We Must Suffer, but Only a Little

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—" (Philippians 3:8-9).

Suffering is certain in this life, even for the Christian. Perhaps I should say especially for the Christian. The types of sufferings we might experience in this world are limited only by experience and the imagination. People suffer terribly of sickness, hunger, from the beast of war, and death. There are infinite ways to break the heart, but there is really only one way to heal it.

This is why the "prosperity" gospel fails so spectacularly. This is why "name it and claim it" theology is so heart-breaking. This aberration of the gospel, which is really no gospel at all, tells the unwary that if you only believe God enough, then he will prosper you in this life. This is fine in good times. It kills in the bad. It kills faith when one is diagnosed with terminal cancer, when a beloved child is struck and killed crossing the street, or when a spouse betrays marriage vows. Then, the person is inevitably left twisting in the wind, thinking that all these things have come upon them because of a lack of personal faith. This is not so. It cannot be so!

Our Lord Jesus left infinite riches to become a pauper with no home. He was a King, a sovereign despot, who died with only eleven close subjects. And my, how he died! No one ever believed in God as Jesus did, and yet he was stripped of his only worldly goods, the clothes on his back, and he was nailed to a tree. The testimony of Jesus utterly overthrows the notion that we will not suffer. The Lord Himself said, "Take up your cross and follow me." Follow him where, you may ask? To calvary, of course. We must follow him up that lonely road and die there with him. It is the only way to live.

So, we will suffer. We will suffer scorn for righteousness sake. Some of us will contract diseases and waste away in the flesh. Some of us will spend many days in agony as life drains from this mortal coil. Some of us will suffer betrayals of the worst kind, from those whom we dearly love, and we will mourn. Ah me, how every Christian will mourn here! Anyone who fights in a war knows grief. We will see casualties of Satan, we will be wounded ourselves, and we will mourn the darkness. Our mourning and our cries will ascend to high heaven, and God will treasure up our tears by number. We will suffer. We will mourn. Some will grow old and go down to the grave with gray hairs. We will walk feebly on walkers. We will be fed Ensure with a spoon held by others. Our pride and strength will be wasted. We will return to the dust.

And after all this, after all this suffering, we will see the King of Glory. He will greet us as sons and daughters. He will delight over us. He will usher us into his joy. He himself will wipe away our tears. He will clothe us with his own robes. He will give us a crown. He will make us whole in every way. We will know that he heard our cries. We will know that he knew our sorrows, and that he cared. And in that day, we will look back upon the canvas of our lives and say with Paul, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!" We shall say it was worth it?! It is true indeed that Christian people are a strange lot. We are mad, actually. We are mad with hope. It is why our elderly, our infirm, and our sick can suffer so valiantly. We are crazy with hope. This is why we can call death gain, and this is why we do not mourn like the world.

I grieve for the world, and I know I must suffer. I am sorry to say that you must suffer as well. It is the way of this fallen world. But I will tell you this, dear child, you will only suffer a little compared to the glory that will be revealed in you. You must suffer...but only a little.

Suffering as the Means to Endurance

I know that you have probably heard the old addage, "Don't pray for patience because God will give you trials to make you patient." While I agree that it takes a trial to make us enduring, persevering Christians, I vehemently deny that we should avoid trial for the sake of ease. The reason, if not explicit in the last post, is that if we do not learn to endure, we will lay hold of no other virtue..

Notice the progression of these two verses:

We glory in tribulations, know that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-3).

So we see that trials and troubles are to be rejoiced in, not because we are masochistic weirdos who love to suffer for suffering's sake, but because we are big picture Christians. That is we know that every difficulty that comes into life is a tool in the hand of a gentle God to shape us into His glorious image. We also see in James that trials are a "when" issue, not an "if" issue. You will have trial, prayer prepares the heart of faith to be ready to grow in them.

From what I read here in these passages and others like them, I understand that patience and spiritual fortitude are foundational for spiritual growth and personal holiness. I also see that trials are instrumental in bringing about patience and spiritual fortitude, and therefore I rejoice in them. I confess that I pray daily for patience with the expectation that I will be heard and my request granted. I also confess that I know this means enduring hardship, and so I pray that I may benefit from difficulty and become by them a Christian of virtue.

Here's the thing that I believe most Christians miss; there is no circumstance in your life right now that is not a potential trial of your faith. Not one. I pray that God will grant me more children; if He doesn't, then I must endure life with no more children. Could such a circumstance lead to bitterness on my part or my wife's? Certainly it could.

Of course, God could grant my request and give us children. Yet, is it not possible that a little bundle of joy could distract me from my devotion to the Lord? Is it not true that every child's rearing brings pain to the heart of a parent? A rebellious child is certainly a trial to a parent's heart, and I believe that every child is born with a sinner's heart. So I will face trial if God grants or denies my request. How, then, shall I pray?

Some pray for financial deliverance. If they get money, then it may tempt them to pride and to forget their Provider. If they go poor, they may become bitter and curse God (see Proverbs 30:8-9). We may learn patience and endurance no matter the circumstance if we learn that every worldly thing is a potential obstacle between us and our Savior.

I am also convinced that I experience trial as I walk with my family in in the body of Christ. The Bible commands us, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). If one comes to me in mourning, should I not mourn with him? When one rejoices, should I not rejoice? The alternative would be sinfully selfish and repugnant for a believer in Jesus Christ.

I conclude, then, that we are not to say things as silly as the old addage about not praying for patience. Trials are an inevitable part of this fallen world. But patience is a holy virtue that not everyone can obtain. Only those who seek wisdom by faith in Christ will grow to have proven character and virtue.

A Very Encouraging Sermon

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:21-23).

That was our text this Sunday as we make our way through the book of Acts. I was very excited to preach this message of Paul's because it is a stark contrast to what we see on television and hear in most evangelical circles. The Bible says that Paul encouraged the people by telling them that they must suffer, and apparently they took encouragment from such a sermon. Isn't that wild? How long could a person stay on TBN preaching that kind of message?

It is a gospel fact that we are ordained to suffer as Christians. There is no avoiding it, and we should not avoid some suffering even if we could. Paul compared suffering for Christ to rejoicing in God Himself. Here's the quote in case you don't believe me, "We have acces by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice int the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations" (Romans 5:2b-3).

Was Paul some sort of masochist? He actually gloried in his suffering? If he was, I guess we will have to add James to that category as well. He wrote, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2). Here's part of Peter's take on it, "Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13). It looks like Paul is not the only one who experienced and gloried in suffering, but also that of the entire line of inspired writers.

Can you imagine this sermon being preached?:

"Oh that I may know Him!" (Hoots and amens)
"Oh, that I may know the power of His resurrection!" (More hoots and amens)
"Oh, that I may know the fellowship of His sufferings!" (Couple mistimed amens and more than a few confused looks)
"Oh, that I might be conformed to His death!" (What does he mean, conformed to His death?)
"And finally, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead!" (Amens all around, though perhaps less enthusiastic)

Of course, that's taken from Paul's letter to the Philippians in 3:10-11. How is it that suffering is encouraging, and why should we remind one another and encourage one another with this? And why is this idea so alien to the American evangelical church?

Honestly, this may not be so encouraging at first, but it pays large dividends for the suffering servant of Jesus Christ. Beloved, we are in the all-powerful grip of God's grace. He loves us with an everlasting love that never fails nor frowns. So when we find ourselves suffering, whether it be bodily illness, hostility because of the gospel, or whether it be the death of a loved one, we can know that it certainly isn't because God is angry with us. He loves us in the trial and He is close in the dark place of despair. And He uses the fire and flame of trial to mold us into the glorious image of His Son. The worst terror of Satan and the greatest heartbreaks of the world are gentle tools in the hands of a loving Father to make us shine. What do we lose that isn't rubbish in comparision to having Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Friend?

So this sermon of Paul's is encouraging for those whose hearts have been broken and are being mended by God. It is encouraging for the pastor who sheds tears over the state of the congregation. It is a balm for all those who suffer, and we need to remember that God walks with us in the dark valley of the shadow, and that no pain is wasted on the saint of God.

That is why prosperity preaching is an abomination and a dismal failure. It is an empty promise that cannot deliver the package. It promises success and wealth and delivers despair and pain. How many of God's sheep have struggled in trials because they believed that the pain came because they were personal failures and faithless Christians? How many of God's children have faced death without comfort because they believed that they died because their faith was weak? Instead of facing death with the boldness of a lion, they were reduced to whimpering like dogs because they thought the Lord had abandoned them because they were pitiful and faithless? Even death, despite its raging and bluster, is God's tool to free the saint from the body of sinful flesh and escort them into the joy of the Master.

So hold on, dear brother or sister, we do not suffer in vain. Our groanings are heard by the Lord, and He will not lay on us more than we may bear. Look to the promise with which Paul concludes this thought, "We also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Rom. 5:3-5). Hope for what? What does the Holy Spirit do in trials and groanings? "You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Rom. 8:15-17). He tells us that we are His, and the we will be glorified and sit with Him on His throne. Our suffering leads to our glorification. Now that is an encouraging message!