Take A Stand For Jesus Series

Suffering for Jesus has its purpose in the life of faith. David Curtis from Berean Bible Church lists seven of these purposes for us to consider:

Suffering matures us. James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Suffering weans us from self-reliance. 2 Corinthians 1:9: “Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Suffering is an evangelistic tool. Philippians 1:12: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”

Suffering increases our eternal reward. Matthew 5:12: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Suffering helps us minister to others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

Suffering helps keep down pride. 2 Corinthians 12:7: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”

Suffering shows we belong to Christ. Phil 3:10: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” ([url=http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org])

This is the gift that suffering is to us.

b) Sharing the common struggle – Paul relates to the Philippians in their suffering saying that is his struggle too. “…you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have” (30). If one suffers for Christ you can be sure that someone is going through the same thing somewhere. Peter said, “Resist him (the devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).

One woman wrote, “A peach tree stands in our back yard. Unpruned, the tree grew big and leafy. And it was loaded with peaches, although the fruit was disappointingly small and tasteless.

The year he was out of work, Larry went to work on the tree. When I came home from school one day and saw how far back he had pruned it, I stared in shock. “You’ve killed it,” I cried. “Now we won’t have any peaches at all.”

I was wrong. That spring the pruned branches burst forth with a beautiful blanketing of pink blossoms. Soon little green peaches replaced the blossoms. “Leave them alone,” I begged. Larry ignored me and thinned the fruit.

By the end of the summer the branches were so heavily laden they had to be propped up. And the peaches—oh, how large and sweet and juicy they were. There was no denying it: the tree was far better off for the painful cutting it endured under Larry’s pruning shears.