Stephen Kong begins with a reading from Romans 5:1-5.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
through Whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh steadfastness;
and steadfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope:
and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.
Now, in the New International Version, it says, “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
The second reading is from 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.
For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Dear heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for the privilege of gathering around Thy table to remember Thy beloved Son and what He has done for us. Our Father, if it were not because of Him, we would not be here. We do praise and thank Thee, knowing that everything comes from Thee, and to Thee we give our thanks and worship.
Now, Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we pray that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt open Thy Word to us and open our hearts to Thy Word, that Thy Word may become life and spirit to us; that we may be strengthened; that we may be able to glorify Thy name while on earth. We commit this time into Thy hands, trusting Thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Recently, it has been upon my heart, this matter of the mystery of suffering. I think suffering is always a mystery. It is a mystery to unbelievers, of course, and it is a mystery to believers.
We often hear people of the world ask this question: “If there is God, and God is loving, how can all these sufferings happen in this world?” They try to put the blame on our God, as if He has brought all these sufferings we see around us upon this world.
Not knowing that, if you read the Word of God, you find that suffering is not God’s original purpose for mankind. On the contrary, you find that God’s original thought for man is glory, not suffering.
After God created man in His own image, He gave them dominion over all the created beings. There is not one word of suffering. We also find that He put man in the Garden of Eden, and the word Eden means pleasure. In other words, God’s intention for mankind is pleasure—real pleasure. Not pleasure of sin, of course, but real pleasure.
So God’s intention, God’s original thought towards man, is not suffering at all. You remember the psalmist David in Psalm 139. He says, “How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God!” God’s thoughts towards us are very precious, and there are many of them.
But, of course, for man to really enjoy pleasure and dominion, there is one condition: obedience. God put man in the Garden of Eden for pleasure, but on the condition that man should obey God. That is what man should be.
But unfortunately, we find that man rebelled against God and sinned. Because of this, suffering has come into this world. So, to put it very frankly, suffering basically is the result of sin. The wages of sin is death, and of course that includes all kinds of sufferings.
We have to see that man has brought suffering upon himself. We ourselves ought to be blamed, not God.
But I think this is not what we really want to talk about. What we really need to understand before God is this: Why is it that we, as believers, suffer?
You know, oftentimes we have a wrong idea, thinking that after we have believed in the Lord Jesus, after He has saved us, surely now, being our loving Father who cares for us, He will never allow us to suffer anymore.
So when suffering comes to a believer, oftentimes we think it is strange. Sometimes we rebel against it. We murmur, because we have the wrong concept that we as Christians should not suffer and that God will never allow us to suffer. But that is wrong.
In order to understand this matter of suffering, I think we have to go back to see our Lord Jesus.
You know, our Lord Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Slain—that is suffering. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Why? Because God, in His foreknowledge, knew that the man whom He would create would rebel against Him. Because of this, suffering became a necessity.
But instead of letting man suffer as he should suffer, God Himself suffered for us. Now, brothers and sisters, we have to see that because of our sins, God Himself suffers. He suffered in the sense that He spared not His only beloved Son.
Now, if we only think a little bit, God has only one beloved Son, Who has pleased Him always. They are one, absolutely one, together from eternity. Yet you find that God had to give up His Son and make His Son the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. How much suffering must be involved with God?
The suffering of God far, far surpasses any suffering that we ever pass through or can ever imagine. God is the first One Who really suffers. Even before He created man, He knew He had to suffer. Before the foundation of the world, He knew that, and from the foundation of the world His Son was destined to be the Lamb slain.
Think of our Lord Jesus. How much suffering He must have gone through. He Who was equal with God emptied Himself. Now, there is suffering. If you are very full and then you have to be emptied, what suffering that must be.
He emptied Himself, and He became a man. He humbled Himself even unto death, the death of the cross. Suffering.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that even though it is not God’s original purpose for man to suffer, after sin has come into this world, suffering is unavoidable. It is a necessity. For this reason, God Himself suffers, and His only begotten Son suffers. So suffering should not be something strange to us today.
Now, of course, when we think of the sufferings of Christ, we know that the sufferings of Christ are of two kinds. This is something that we must distinguish.
The sufferings of Christ can be vicarious—that is, atoning. There is also the other kind: non-vicarious, non-atoning suffering.
If you read Isaiah 53, you will find that in that prophecy concerning the sufferings of Christ, you can see the two different kinds.
For instance, in Isaiah 53:5:
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.
And then in Isaiah 53:10:
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He hath put Him to grief:
when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin.
Now, that is vicarious, atoning suffering. In other words, His suffering is to atone for us, for our sins. There you find our Lord Jesus, the One Who knew no sin, was made sin for us.
He offered Himself as a sin offering. Because He offered Himself as a sin offering, you find that God Himself crushed Him on the cross. It is because He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
There on the cross, we know that the time when our Lord Jesus was on the cross was approximately six hours. He was crucified at nine o’clock in the morning, and He expired at three o’clock in the afternoon. But the Bible says that from twelve noon, suddenly you find the scene completely changed. There was darkness. The sun hid itself.
Our Lord Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” It was during those last three hours that God accepted His beloved Son as the sin offering for the sin of the world. It was these three hours that God crushed Him, bruised Him, on the cross. There He tasted death for everything.
There is atoning suffering, and in that suffering He was alone. Nobody could be with Him. He trod the winepress alone. He suffered alone. You and I cannot have any share in that. All we do is accept and receive the good of His suffering—His atoning suffering.
He is the only One Who suffered in our stead. There is the atoning suffering of Christ, and in that we have no fellowship. We can only believe, receive, and be in the good of it.
But you find that the sufferings of Christ have another kind, and that other kind is non-vicarious, non-atoning suffering.
It can best be illustrated during the first three hours He was on the cross. He was crucified by the Roman government, by the Jewish nation, by the world. The world crucified Him. Man did it.
You find that not only did man mock Him while He was on the cross, but in the unseen world all the evil forces surrounded Him. If you read Psalm 22, you will find that all the unseen evil forces, together with the world, mocked Him, deserted Him, and crucified Him.
He suffered not from the hands of God. He suffered from the hands of man and of the enemy because of the conflict.
Now, this kind of suffering we as believers are called into fellowship with. You remember in Philippians 3:10, it says:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.
We are called to fellowship with the sufferings of Christ—not the vicarious kind. We are not called to that, because we cannot atone for other people, not even for ourselves. Christ alone does it. But we are called into the fellowship of His suffering of the non-atoning kind.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, you find in the Word of God, “Think it not strange” when you suffer, when there is tribulation upon you. In the world you have tribulation, but the Lord said, “Do not be afraid, because I have overcome the world.”
Now, if we believers think that we are only called to go to heaven, to be saved, and are not called to have fellowship with the sufferings of Christ, then we are really in a very dangerous situation. We are not mentally and spiritually prepared to suffer, and that is the hardest part.
But if we feel that we are called to have fellowship with the sufferings of Christ, then your whole outlook will be different. You will see suffering from a very different perspective.
When you think of the suffering of Christ in the non-vicarious sense, if you read the Gospels, you will find that it includes a number of things.
Number one, you find Christ suffered in order to learn obedience. You know, as God, He never knew obedience. You cannot think of putting God and obedience together. You can only put God and command together. God is to command, never to obey.
So, as the Son of God, as God Himself, He never really knew obedience. He learned obedience while He was on earth, in the days of His flesh. You find that in Hebrews 5.
Hebrews 5:7-9 says:
Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear,
though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered;
and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the author of eternal salvation.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, in the days of His flesh, for thirty-three years, He learned one thing: obedience from the things which He suffered.
Now, of course, we know that our Lord Jesus, while He was on earth, was perfect—not like us. We have a fallen nature in us. Our flesh is ugly. We want to do our own things in our own way, but it is always opposing God’s will and God’s way.
But our Lord Jesus, as a man, was perfect. Even with His sinless human nature, His self was sinless. If He desired to do anything out of His own self, there would be no sin involved. He could do it. Not like you and I: when we try to do something out of ourselves, you find that we sin against God.
But with our Lord Jesus it is different. He is the Holy One. His self is a holy self. He can do things out of His own self, and God would not hold Him as sinful. But even with His sinless self, His holy self, you find that He needed to learn obedience from the things which He suffered.
In other words, again and again in the Gospel of John, He said, “I can do nothing of Myself.” “I cannot say anything of Myself.” “I do not judge of Myself.” You find that again and again throughout His life, He denied Himself.
And you know, when you deny yourself, suffering is involved. I think there is no suffering greater than denying yourself. But in denying Himself, even His holy self, His sinless self, He was willing to be in such obedience to the Father. He suffered in that sense. Yes, He learned obedience through the things which He suffered.
Now, do not think that our Lord Jesus, in obeying the Father, did not suffer. He did. He did suffer. Many things He could do.
For instance, even when He was twelve years old, He knew for sure that He must be occupied with His Father’s business. He stayed back in Jerusalem for that purpose. But when His earthly parents found Him, they could not understand. The Bible says He obeyed them and went with them, and stayed there until He was thirty years old.
Now, someone made the suggestion that during those years, from twelve years old to thirty years old, there He was hidden in Nazareth. There He was a carpenter, making things. Probably He made many coffins while He could raise the dead.
What suffering it must have been to Him. He could easily raise the dead, but now He was there making coffins for them. Why? Because the Father’s time had not yet come. He had to learn obedience through the things which He suffered.
During those years, you can see that He looked around and saw people. He saw things that should not be. He could easily do something about it, and when the time came He would, but He could not act before the Father’s time.
Think of Moses. When he was forty years old, he went out and thought God was going to do something through him, and he started to do something. He could not wait, because there was that inward conviction.
But think of our Lord. He had the same conviction, stronger than Moses, and yet you find there He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Throughout His life, you find that He denied Himself—His holy self—for willing obedience.
Man, through disobedience, enters into something. But here you find a Man Who suffered to learn obedience. I think this is one of the sufferings of Christ that we are called to fellowship with.
If you read 1 Peter, you will find that Peter speaks a lot about suffering. In 1 Peter 2:21, he says:
For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps.
The vicarious suffering of Christ is not a model or an example for us to follow. It is salvation and redemption. But you find there is a part of Christ’s suffering which He sets before us as a model, as an example, for us to follow in His steps.
Brothers and sisters, we are called to suffer with Christ in this particular sense: that we are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
Who wants to do that? It is not because we are constrained by the love of Christ that anybody wants to do that. And it is not because of the sufficient grace of God that anybody can do that. But it is very clear in the Word of God.
The Lord Jesus said, “Unless you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple. You cannot be where I am. And if you are where I am, then you are honored and respected by the Father.”
Even though we are saved, we know that this fallen nature, this self, is deeply rooted in us.
Now, why must Christians suffer? Why does God allow suffering to believers? One reason is that through suffering we may be delivered from this self-centeredness, and we may learn obedience. Through obedience, through suffering, character may be built in us.
We will come back to that later on. But then you find that in the non-vicarious suffering of Christ there is another thing: His tremendous sympathy towards mankind.
Our Lord Jesus’ heart is so big. He literally embraces the whole world. If you read the Gospels, you will find that no matter who you are—whether you come from high society or from the lowest place in the world, whether you are grown-ups or children—you find that our Lord Jesus had tremendous sympathy with mankind.
That is one reason why He was so active. He touched the leper. He touched everybody. He would not say no, because His sympathy was so full and so open.
Because of such sympathy, He suffered. You know, if a person is cold-blooded, he can look around at all the sufferings of the world and it is nothing to him. He does not feel anything. But the more sympathetic you are, even though the suffering may not be directly upon your life, you suffer. You suffer with those who suffer.
Our Lord Jesus has compassion for us. In Hebrews, it says that our High Priest is full of sympathy for us because He has been tempted in all things, without sin. Everything that human beings have ever gone through, or will go through, He has gone through. He was tempted in all things without sin.
So He sympathizes with those who are being tempted, and because of that He suffered. Dear brothers and sisters, we are called into fellowship with His suffering in this manner.
As the Bible says, as one suffers, we also suffer, for we are members of one body. When one member suffers, how can the rest of the body feel nothing? Even in our physical body, if a little finger is stricken, the whole being, the whole body, suffers. How much more in the spiritual reality.
Now, oftentimes we think that the church is as the body of Christ, but actually the Scripture never puts it that way. It never says that the church is as the body. The church is the body. This spiritual reality is much more real than the physical reality.
So, the body of Christ, the church—the body of Christ—if one member suffers, as we find in 1 Corinthians 12, then the whole body suffers. If one member is glorified, then the whole body shares in that glory. That is sympathy.
We are called into that kind of suffering: to suffer for that reason.
In connection with that, you find that Christ suffered for the church. He loved the church and gave Himself for it. How He desired to sanctify it, purify it by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present it to Himself as a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.
So we find that for the church, our Lord Jesus suffered. He gave Himself for the church, and we are called into fellowship with Him in this area.
In Colossians 1, you find the Apostle Paul saying:
I fill up on my part in my flesh that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church.
In other words, you find that Christ suffered for the church. He gave birth to the church. But there is a part of that suffering which He calls us to enter into with Him. That part is to fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the body’s sake.
You find in the life of Paul how he labored, how he travailed, how he worked, how he prayed, in order to present everyone perfect in Christ; in order to see that the church is really built up to the glory of God. You find that the suffering of Paul in that area was tremendous.
We are called into fellowship with that kind of suffering—not only in sympathy with people, but for the completion of the body of Christ. We may give ourselves to travail, to pray, to labor in love, and to bear with our brothers and sisters.
In doing that, you find that you do suffer. You have to bear people in your heart and prevail for them. This is part of the suffering that we are called into.
Again, another thing in the sufferings of Christ of the non-vicarious kind is that He suffered from the world because He was so different. He is not of the world. He is otherworldly. Therefore, the world could not understand Him.
Because He did not belong to the world, the world persecuted Him and cast Him out. So you find there is a great area of the sufferings of Christ that came from the world because He was otherworldly.
Brothers and sisters, of course we know that in that area we are also called to share with Him in His suffering. He said we are not of the world, as He is not of the world. Because we do not belong to the world, the world will hate us.
If anyone desires to live a godly life, he will be persecuted. The Apostle Peter said, “Think it not strange when fiery trials come upon you.” If you suffer because you are a Christian, if you suffer for Christ’s sake, if you suffer for the sake of righteousness, if you suffer for the kingdom of God, rejoice.
We are not only called to be saved; we are also called to suffer. Are we prepared for that?
You know, sometimes we suffer a little bit from the world, and we already feel uneasy and strange. If we do not suffer with Him, we cannot reign with Him. Christ must suffer first and then enter into glory. This is an area, again, that we are called into fellowship with Him.
Of course, there is another area. Our Lord Jesus was engaged in a tremendous battle, a conflict. It is the battle of the ages—the conflict between God and the enemy.
You find that the enemy, throughout His life, tried to kill Him and get rid of Him. He suffered a great deal from that. In a sense, we are called into fellowship with His suffering.
Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that there is a spiritual conflict going on. In this period of conflict, we are not spectators. We are very deeply involved in the conflict.
Whether God is to get His kingdom, or whether the enemy is able to frustrate and delay the kingdom of God from coming upon this earth, is an issue. This issue is very real in our daily life—not only in big decisions, but in the small things of our lives.
In such warfare, every little thing counts. The enemy is trying to move us away from standing for God and for His kingdom. Because of this, if we stand, we suffer.
You know, sometimes you wonder why there does not seem to be any visible reason, any rational reason, to suffer. But there is a reason. In the unseen world, something is going on.
Think of Job. It is a good illustration. Something was going on in the unseen world, and Job had to suffer because of it.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember that to us believers, suffering is nothing strange. On the contrary, you find that there is good reason why God allows believers to suffer.
Now let us go back to Romans 5. Romans 5 is a transitional chapter. In other words, before Romans 5, you find justification; after Romans 5, you find sanctification. Romans 5 stands in the middle, bringing us from justification into sanctification.
It brings us from being saved into being conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son. Romans 5 stands in the middle. In other words, it makes the transition.
It says, “Therefore, having been justified on the principle of faith.” Now we are justified by faith. We have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for that. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. There is nothing between God and us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
By Whom we have also access by faith into this favor in which we stand. Today we stand in favor. In other words, we are accepted. We have been accepted in the Beloved. God has accepted us, and we stand in God’s favor now.
We boast in hope of the glory of God. Having been justified, having peace, and being in favor with God, what is our hope? We boast of a future hope, and the hope is the glory of God. One day there will be glory.
You know, that is the ultimate. Glory is the ultimate word. Justification is not the ultimate; justification is the beginning. Being justified, we look forward to the glory of God.
Now you read verse 3: “And not only that, but we also boast in suffering.” You see, when we are boasting of the hope of the glory of God, at the same time we need to boast in suffering. Boasting in suffering.
Now, we do boast of the hope of the glory of God, but do we boast in suffering? We cry at suffering.
It does not mean that we try to court suffering. In other words, we try to make ourselves suffer. That is foolish. Some people are doing that. Even Peter said, “Do not suffer because you did something evil.” If you did something evil and you suffer, there is nothing to it. It is just vanity.
Even among believers, you find that some mystics try to court suffering, as if suffering has merit in itself. Suffering does not have any merit in itself.
But why do we boast in suffering? Suffering itself has nothing to boast of. When you suffer, you suffer. But we boast in suffering because suffering works something out. Now, that is where the boasting is.
Suffering works endurance, or in other versions, patience or perseverance. Perseverance works experience, or character. Dear brothers and sisters, this is something very important.
What is the purpose of God in allowing His children to suffer? We say that suffering is not the original purpose of God for mankind. Mankind suffers because of sin, and they do suffer. But why do Christians suffer?
There is one reason: through suffering, God is to work character in us.
You know, God’s eternal purpose is that we may be conformed to the image of His beloved Son. In order that we may be the eternal bride of the Lamb, that is God’s purpose.
God’s purpose is glory. One day His beloved Son will lead many sons into glory. But you cannot get into glory without character.
Now, do not think that because you are saved, you simply go to heaven. Yes, you go to heaven. But think: if you walk on the street of gold, that is wonderful—but it is transparent gold. In other words, everything in your heart is exposed. Do you dare to walk on that street? Everybody will see your heart.
Probably you will try to find a place to hide yourself. You will not enjoy heaven if you do not have the character. Brothers and sisters, what God intends is to build up character in us.
The best way to build up character is suffering. Isn’t that wonderful? We do not want to suffer. In other words, we do not want glory.
To a believer, suffering is entirely different. It is not because of sin. It is because God is determined to work character—that is, Christ’s character—in us, that we may have that character and may be fit to be His bride, to enter into eternal glory.
That is the meaning of suffering.
Throughout history, you can see that people who suffer more seem to be deeper in their life of Christ. Now, of course, sometimes suffering can crush a person. That is true. But God has really measured our suffering.
If we only trust Him, you find that He will never allow us to suffer more than we can bear. In other words, He measures it beforehand. He puts His grace in us, enough to endure and overcome.
Endurance simply means that you can outlast it. If that temptation or suffering lasts ten days, then you can stand for eleven days. That means endurance. You endure it. You outlast it.
You see, the grace of God in us—the Christ Whom He has put in us—God knows how much Christ there is in you. He was tempted in all things without sin. So God knows how much Christ is in you, and He will measure your temptations and measure your suffering.
He knows that the grace is sufficient for you to endure it, to outlast it, if you trust Him. But if you do not trust Him, of course, you fall.
Actually, you find that suffering works out character. Christ’s character is being built in you.
How was our old character built up through the years before we were saved? After we were born, we had an old life, and that old life had an old nature. Because we always lived according to our nature, gradually we developed all kinds of habits. Put the habits together, and you have a character. That is what we were.
But now we have to be remade. We are a new creation. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, and all things are new; all things are of God.
Therefore, with the new life in us, having a new nature, we need to learn to follow that new nature and let that nature be developed into character. But, of course, there is conflict between the old nature and the new nature.
That is why we need to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the Lord. Then you find that the character of Christ will gradually be built in us. That makes us fit for the kingdom and fit for the glory.
Now, the wonderful thing is verse 5: “And hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.”
All the time, you find that when we suffer, the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us is shedding abroad in our hearts the love of God. In other words, it is only by the power of love that we are able to suffer, able to endure, able to have character built, and able to have hope.
Without the love of God in our hearts, suffering will crush us. But thank God, the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God.
Even though we suffer outwardly, inwardly we are flooded with the love of God. We know that God loves us, and because He loves us, He chastens us. That love gives us endurance and eventually works out character.
Now you find in 2 Corinthians 4, it is said, “For our momentary and light affliction worketh for us in surpassing measure an eternal weight of glory.”
The sufferings we have today are momentary—that is, short-lived, temporal—and light. Now, of course, when we suffer, we think it is very heavy. But when you think of glory, suffering and glory go together.
When you try to measure the weight of suffering and glory, one version says that glory outweighs suffering. Glory is heavier. It outweighs suffering. Why? Because suffering is momentary and glory is eternal. One is light; the other is heavy.
We are not looking at the things that are seen. If we look at the things that are seen, we will faint; we will be crushed. But we look at the things that are unseen, because the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are eternal.
Dear brothers and sisters, what are we looking at? What are we looking for?
If we are looking at the temporary, the seen, then there is one way to live our life: we try to escape and avoid as much suffering as we can. We try to compromise with the world so that we will not suffer in that area. We will not suffer for righteousness’ sake, and so on and so forth.
Because we are so useless, even Satan does not care about us.
But if we are looking at the things unseen, and we are looking for eternal glory, we will be involved in all these sufferings. Yet God is working out something glorious in us.
You look at the Old Testament or the New Testament, and you can pick up anyone who was used of the Lord. You find invariably in their lives something of this principle.
For instance, Joseph. How much Joseph suffered. He suffered not because of his fault; he suffered because of his good, because of his righteousness, because he feared God. Yet you find tremendous suffering, long suffering. But out of the suffering came glory. You see glory in Joseph.
Think of David. How much he suffered. If you read the Psalms, you can see the sufferings that David had gone through in his life. But through this suffering, God worked character in him. The kingly character had to be worked out.
Saul did not suffer as much as David, but there was no character in him.
Think of Paul. You read 2 Corinthians, and he mentions all the things that he suffered, and also how he suffered for the church. Such a character Christ was building in him. He could say, “There is the crown of righteousness waiting for me.”
Think of Peter. How he suffered. You find that eventually he became one of the foundations of the New Jerusalem.
So whether you look in the Bible or throughout the centuries at all the men and women of God, you find that suffering is part of their life. But because their attitude toward suffering was not negative, because their attitude toward suffering was positive, they gave God the opportunity to work in their lives something which will register in eternity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, as we live in this world full of sufferings, and as we think of believers who suffer, or we ourselves have gone through many sufferings of all kinds—not only physical suffering, sickness, affliction, weakness, mental suffering, and spiritual suffering—all kinds of sufferings, I feel that we need to settle it once and for all.
We need to know deep in our hearts that it is the love of God. He loves us as sons; therefore, He chastens us, that we may be made partakers of His divine nature.
Because this is the purpose of God: that we may be conformed to Christ and be His bride forever. So let us remember: suffering is unto glory.
If this is true in the life of Christ, certainly this principle must apply to all of us. Shall we pray?
Dear heavenly Father, we just ask Thee to give us a right attitude towards this whole mystery of suffering, that we may not be like the people of the world, blaming Thee for their suffering.
But instead, may we submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, knowing that after we suffer for a little while, Thou wilt establish us and lead us into glory.
Oh, how we do pray that the character of Christ may be built in us through the fire of suffering, to the glory of God. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.