God's Unique Design In Suffering: A Portrait Series

"The passages of Scripture which prove that the instrument of our sanctification is the Word of God are very many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds the precepts and doctrines of truth, and applies them with power. These are heard in the ear, and being received in the heart, they work in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure. The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We only progress in sound living as we progress in sound understanding. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Do not say of any error, “It is a mere matter of opinion.” No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God." [Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, July 4 AM (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), electronic edition]

Jesus is teaching the disciples in the laboratory of life. The lessons have already been many, but in some ways, they were just beginning to learn how God is glorified in life and in death.

Let me close with an excerpt from a book entitled The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd by John Piper. In this book, the inspiring lives of these three men are viewed through the lens of their suffering and the great contribution each of them made to our Christian heritage. I will read several excerpts over the next few weeks as we continue to look at the incredible miracle of our Lord’s resurrection of Lazarus from the tomb, but in closing this morning I would like to read a portion from the section on John Bunyan.

* * * * *

"In all my reading of Bunyan, what has gripped me most is his suffering and how he responded to it, what it made of him, and what it might make of us. All of us come to our tasks with a history and many predispositions. I come to John Bunyan with a growing sense that suffering is the normal and useful and essential element in Christian life and ministry. It not only weans us off the world and teaches us to live on God, as 2 Corinthians 1:9 says, but also makes ministers more able to strengthen the church and makes missionaries more able to reach the nations with the Gospel of the grace of God.

"I am influenced in the way I read Bunyan both by what I see in the world today and what I see in the Bible. As you read this page, the flashpoints of suffering will have changed since I wrote it. But the reality will not—not as long as the world stays and the Word of Jesus stands. “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matthew 10:16). Today churches are being burned in some countries, and Christian young people are being killed by anti-Christian mobs. Christians endure systematic starvation and enslavement. China perpetuates its official repression of religious freedom and lengthy imprisonments. India, with its one billion people and unparalleled diversity, heaves with tensions between major religions and with occasional violence. The estimate of how many Christians are martyred each year surpasses all ability to weep as we ought.