Devotionals on Suffering

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• If he succeeds to rob us of that sense of purpose in our life, to make us doubt with regard to our testimony, our work, or the value of the suffering we have to go through, we shall lose our strength and the enemy will get the upper hand.

• As members of God’s family, we are heirs of riches beyond our power to estimate, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order… that we may also be glorified with Him.

• Yes, 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.

• Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.2 Timothy 4:2

• Gracious God Once He set His heart on redemption, it exploded into myriads of additional graces: Love; Joy; Peace; Long-suffering; Kindness; Goodness; Faithfulness; Gentleness; Self-Control.

• Long-Suffering I believe, with all my heart that in the fullness of time we will understand why the Bridegroom ‘tarried’… for we know that all things work together for good to those that love God. All things – even things we don’t understand and the things that grieve us: all things; ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
• Rom.8:28. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to US-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

• We are each to be endued with a full measure of Christ in every area of life – and like Him we are to learn obedience through suffering.

• The promises were never intended to be a matter of personal pleasure, either in the case of Israel or in our case.... As the Lord's children we are often found in situations of personal embarrassment, personal difficulty, personal suffering, in a place where things for us are hard.
• In a certain situation, by reason of some difficulty, trial, suffering, some adversity, you have gone to the Lord, taking His Word and pleading it before Him for a change of the situation, a deliverance, the bringing to pass or the removing of something, and you have found that you were up against a stone wall.

• It is the most spiritual things which suffer the greatest shocks in this matter, and again we say this carries its own satanic significance.

• And like so many before him, Paul was used of God as a sign to point to Christ. And like others before him he was required to suffer greatly – to be a ‘sign’. ”for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” 1Corinthians 4:9
• Christians: Set Apart And He too, the great Creator of the universe became a ‘spectacle’ to men – a sign of suffering, affliction and ridicule, but also a sign of wisdom; a sign of power; a sign of great resurrection glory.
• As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” John 17:18,19 The Lord wants us to be signs to the world – signs that His grace is sufficient. He desires His own to go the way of the cross – and to suffer and die. Maybe in the physical, but predominantly and principally in the spiritual..

• Godly Suffering He tells us..

• Learning Obedience Like Christ, they also had to learn obedience through all they would suffer, and they were to learn that Christ’s grace would be all-sufficient for them – they would need to imitate their Master and say, 'Thy will not mine be done'.

• Are you prepared to suffer the loneliness of the Patmos experience..

• Eternal Perspective And so we are reminded that in this world there will be trials and suffering, but Scripture urges us to view the trials of life in light of God’s wider plan of His great salvation, in the eternal ages to come.

• A true witness is born out of suffering and pain and anguish of heart.

• Permitted Trials We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is suffering with us. It may be that we shall see Him only when the trial has passed, and the pain has gone.  But we must dare to believe that He never leaves the crucible.

• If you are going to take this line you are going to repudiate organized Christianity, going to repudiate Christendom as a traditional system, going to repudiate that order of things which is made, and going, therefore, to suffer reproach and be outside of the camp suffering His reproach.

• Let the fellowship of your suffering be your Job experience and count it all joy… now thanks be unto God Who ALWAYS causeth us to triumph – in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:14

• In suffering He would be their abiding grace.
• In disappointments – He is our abiding hopeIn dark times – He is our abiding lightIn suffering – He is our abiding graceIn sickness – He is our abiding healthIn poverty – He is our abiding treasureIn death – He is our abiding lifeWe know that nothing can disturb us when we are abiding in Him.

• Hopes have precarious life; They are oft blighted, withered, snapped sheer off In vigorous youth, and turned to rottenness; But faithfulness can feed on suffering, And knows no disappointment.

• Many saints have been happy to assert that they would not have missed for anything the exercises of prolonged illness and suffering!

• Those who suffer from chastening ought to be before the Father, owning His hand; and He who has wounded will heal.

• Suffering Afflictions From start to finish, Job is a wonderful type of God’s whole plan for man.
• James tells us Job is for an example of suffering affliction, and of patient endurance.  And so for a second time we are told that again Satan smote Job.

• An Eternal Love At His tender age of thirty-three, He bore the accumulated pain and grief of all humanity.  His was not the anguish of a typical, three-score years and ten lifespan.  His was the excruciating heartache and bitter torment, meted out and endured by ALL through history.  He did not suffer affliction at the hand of God for a few brief hours on the Cross as some seem to imply.  His pain spanned the culmination of every single filthy, foul, disgusting sin.  His pain spans 7000 years of sin that the world has ever amassed.
• A Godly Love In His heartache, torment, suffering, and distress, He stretched His arms of love – a reach from eternity past to eternity future.  The anguish, desolation, loneliness, and rejection poured on Him was the totality of humanities amassed evil – and the outflow from Him was forgiveness; hope; compassion – love.  All Satan’s tempestuous fury was concentrated and condensed into one brief breath of time.  All the Father’s undiluted wrath and rage was poured out in full measure upon His sinless head – and in the midst of this, He called out, Woman, behold thy son!

• that was stored up for him in heaven. Despite His many difficulties and trials, Paul was able to rejoice that he was counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ..

• You might be secretly attempting to correct and improve yourself, and suffering a good deal of private vexation and disappointment on account of the futility of your struggles.

• Purpose of Suffering The process of sorrow and pain and disappointments and grievings, effects the sanctifying, sweetening, ennobling grace upon grace upon grace.
• The purposes of Christian suffering are manifold.
• The process of Christian suffering is the refining of the soul.
• The product of Christian suffering is a likeness to Jesus:- that Christ be formed in you - that Christ be formed in me.
• Fires of Suffering If the understanding love of the Lord is to be shed abroad through your mean life; if you long for patience of spirit and humility of heart, you must needs be tried in the fires of suffering.
• If you desire to be fruitful... to bestow on others His gentleness and grace; His compassion and mercy; His long-suffering and goodness; His love - you must learn through tribulation and trial.
• Process of Suffering But the purposes of your suffering and the process of your refining, reach ever upward and ever higher..
• Pain in Suffering Deep in fallow soils of past experience, and oft-times found lurking in dark corners of the soul, are polluted attitudes; deep resentments; concealed rebellion; hateful anger. Deep in the dungeons of our forgetfulness, are ofttimes repressed wounds from past pain - Pain from rejection; criticism; indifference; loss.
• By this My Father is glorified.  John.15:1ff. So be fruitful through suffering.

• I want a testimony that delivers me from the things I am occupied about in myself when I am suffering from them.

• Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1 Pet. 4:19).

• If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for what they say and do amiss, this is really better, though for the present they are painful as wounds. It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed, if in love to our souls, they will not suffer ill upon us, nor let us alone in it.

• Salvation by grace through faith is certainly the most wonderful news that any sinner can be told but the Christian life is not an easy path to tread and all too frequently suffering and pain comes in its wake.
• A Reality Check Pressure and suffering is a reality for every Christian.
• We are not promised to be removed from our suffering but to be enabled in our sufferings.
• A Sin Check Suffering and pain is indeed a reality but sin is also a reality in a believer’s life.
• Humble in Confession We all need to face the truth that sin and suffering is a part of this fallen world and Christians are not exempt.
• When suffering is a consequence of our own sin – we should go immediately, boldly and yet humbly to the throne of grace and confess our faults, knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us of our unrighteousness and to return us into fellowship with Himself.
• Joyful in Tribulation But when suffering is the consequence of living in a fallen world we should be joyful in tribulation knowing that suffering produces patient endurance..

• Therefore we must often suffer defeat.

• It is not that they suffer from want of light, but they are suffering very much because they have not got their light properly adjusted and balanced.

• Their consciences play a large part in this constant effort, and for this reason they suffer many fears and fail to experience the promised joys.

• There are times when, in recognition that a certain course is the Lord way, we have to wait for the Lord time and see to it that our strength of will coming into alliance with some purpose of God is not jeopardizing the fruitfulness of that thing, and doing other people harm and making other people suffer.
• There are times when we have to come back to the Lord and say, Lord, You have shown me that is Your way for me, but I can see that it is going to involve others in a great deal of suffering.

• If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf (1 Pet. 4:16).

• We also exult in our sufferings, knowing as we do, that suffering produces fortitude; fortitude, ripeness of character (Rom. 5:3, Wey.).

• he refused to confess, and the consequence was an increase in his suffering.
• God did not cause the suffering.
• David took responsibility for the suffering he’d gone through..

• to suffer and to redeem you.
• To suffer and to redeem ME too!

• There are two hearts that we learn in the process of suffering: our own sinful heart, and our Father's loving heart.
• There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by human reason.
• There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering.
• When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask the Father to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown. -T.W.

• His life was also developed and honed and made perfect through suffering.

• Do not fret or worry over poverty or loneliness – of suffering or loss.

• Many teachers, but not many willing to suffer, and to bear others on their hearts, until they are borne through their babyhood stage to maturity.

• LOVE:joy,peace,long-suffering,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness,self-control.
• Common Suffering Suffering is an experience common to man. The child of God is not exempted from suffering, nor was the Son of God immune from pain - knowing that suffering produces the fruit of the Spirit.
• Oh, what numerous kinds of suffering can afflict us, and how many various levels there are to cause us grief.
• There is much physical suffering that can affect this feeble mortal frame, reminding us that we have this treasure - in earthen vessels.
• Consequences of Suffering So much mental suffering can cause even greater anguish of the soul.
• Testings by Suffering But remember that the testing of your faith produces long-suffering and gentleness.
• Blessing of Suffering How intense the searing heat.

• If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me.
• We must face the fact and we must seek help from God always to bear in mind that we are going to have a path of suffering if we are in fellowship with the Lord Jesus.... There has to come a point when we sit down and do some calculating and come to a definite conclusion on this matter that, although very often we may not be able to see that our suffering is because of our relationship to Him (the sufferings are so manifold and diverse, and very often they look as though they have no relationship at all with our Christian life) at the same time, whether we can discern it or not; the fact remains that the pathway of the child of God, of the fellow of Jesus Christ, is the pathway of suffering.
• The very first thing to remember when we take this cup is that while we are taking it as the cup of salvation, while we are remembering the atonement which is in the Blood, and all the wonderful redemption which is ours because of that Blood, the cup does also speak to us of fellowship with His suffering....
• Yes, there is something which is going up to His praise and glory as Christ is being formed through the fires of adversity and suffering.
• If you are praying for full and final deliverance from adversity and suffering and difficulty and all that sort of thing, let me tell you your prayer will never be answered.
• Forms of suffering may change, but in some form or another we are going on to the end in a way of adversity.

• We want fellowship with the Lord Jesus in His peace and joy, and naturally fear and seek to avoid suffering.
• The Lord must one way or another teach us fellowship with suffering, or we cannot be of much use.
• We shall err if we think that life in the Sanctuary, hidden with Christ in God, means freedom from suffering, sorrow, and trial.
• Our Father can advance His children into conformity to the image of His Son, more by suffering in one day, than in many years of ease from trial.

• And self-dependence only comes to its end, with most of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness where we throw ourselves upon our Father in seeming utter helplessness and defeat.

• when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans, and lost hope bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat.

• The commission given to the apostles was to make disciples, not just converts,' of all nations; and we can never set aside our Lord's commands without laying up for ourselves a whole store of unnecessary suffering and frustration.

• Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good... as to a faithful Creator.1 Peter 4:12,19
• Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.2 Timothy 3:12
• Man’s Suffering The pain and heartache and bitterness of suffering has spanned the millennia.
• Personal Suffering Those who seek to explain suffering give the clearest clue that they have never suffered, but those who bear shattering blows often cry out in grief – “Why?” and “Wherefore, Oh God?” And they join the anguished cries of the suffering saints under the altar crying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?
• Christian  Suffering But the mystery of the fiery trial that distresses the godly can leave him wild with distress.
• Christ’s Suffering CONSIDER HIM.Who endured the cross, despising the shame.

• Heavenly Abundance We should all desire to know Christ’s resurrection power in our own life, for because He died we too have life, eternal life – HIS life more abundantly. But the path to the cross was strewn with suffering and sadness – pain and sorrow - but unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone.
• The life of Christ, in the believer, is to be a reproduction of the life He Himself lived – a life that walked in spirit and truth – a life that learned obedience through suffering.

• Be willing to suffer, knowing that He Who began a good work in you will complete it.
• It was the night of my sister’s marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself and which caused me the most severe mental suffering.
• God’s Love The hymn, O Love that wilt not let me go, was the fruit of that suffering:-

• And so, strangely enough, many have come to find the love of God through the dark way of suffering to discover that God was not their enemy but their friend, when they thought that He was pursuing with the object of destroying them....

• through the manifold wisdom of God. Creation alone would never have brought out the nature and character of God. There was infinitely more than the power and the wisdom reflected in creation. There was LOVE, MERCY, PATIENCE, TENDERNESS and GENTLENESS. There was HOLINESS, GOODNESS, GRACE and LONG-SUFFERING.

• Role of Christ Christ is shown as One that must suffer - One Who has a glorious future.
• Christ, the suffering servant, is destined to become God’s great king.

• Divine Purpose Paul had to come to realise that behind intense suffering, was as a divine purpose and Paul led the way for us all to understand that, My grace is sufficient.
• Why was Paul given this reply from God, when he asked the Lord to remove his suffering?
• Sufficient Strength But Paul like us, had to come to an understanding that our strength in is Christ and not in ourselves and Paul like us, had to learn the many spiritual blessings that flow from suffering.
• In His grace, God knew that suffering would develop and mature Paul’s faith, which is more precious than gold in God’s sight.

• Waiting upon the Father is not a matter of long-suffering, but of expectant faith - quiet, restful, confident dependence upon One who is fully trusted.

• “Fear Not – God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear – but will make a way of escape, so that you will be able to bear it.

• I am quite sure that in the case of the apostle, with all his suffering and all he had to meet, the thing that kept him going was that flame of love in his own heart for the Lord Himself.
• Through the suffering, nothing but a strong love for the Lord will keep us going.

• There is a universal misapprehension that godliness means immunity from suffering.
• It is so often expected by believers that they will not go through suffering as other men.
• It is a part of the calling of saints to show men how to suffer: how, even in the midst of the hard and bitter experiences of life, the Lord Jesus is sufficient to give joy and comfort. -H.F.
• The child inherits the boons of life, love, and light from the suffering of the mother.
• Our suffering is cruel.

• At the back of a lot that we suffer in body, and in mind, there is so often a secret, hidden restlessness, something deep down in our subconscious being of a fret, an anxiety, something that is not rest.
• There are hidden secrets to a great deal of our weakness and defeat, and unnecessary suffering.

• He let people know that to “follow Him,” as He put it at that time, involved them in difficulty and suffering and persecution and trial and a lifelong thing.

• Sufficient Grace What of that noblest of all suffering?
• Some suffer exhaustion or emotional pain; rejections; isolation; desertions.

• Suffering to give us life, and conquering through sacrifice.

• Tokens of Hope But how God loves one that is cheerful and gracious, thankful and long-suffering.

• Go back to the place where, for the time being, the Lord has put you, where He has called you to live your life and do your work in all the trial and difficulty and suffering of it, and do not strain to get out of it.

• Ignorance and Unbelief But amidst the filth and hatred of this suffering sin-soaked sordid world..  the joy of His mercy is of-times shrouded behind unbelief or ignorance. Perceptions of a distant God, playing sport with His hurting children ferment.. and God is blamed for the ills that befall us all in this fallen world.

• Love suffers long and love goes on suffering.

• Riches of God’s Grace But why would God allow His dearly beloved Son to be treated so cruelly and suffer?

• He lived a life amidst folk who despised Him – but He leant obedience through suffering.

• a life that learns obedience through suffering..

• Other than the deep sufferings of Christ, Who alone is worthy, Job’s experience, suffering, purging, and ultimate understanding stands alone, for this is the most detailed records of one of God’s servants in Scripture.

• Suffering Son So God is drawing a people unto Himself and saving those that believe – He is perfecting those that have submitted to His ruler-ship over their lives.
• That Son, Who Himself was made perfect through suffering – for it became Him, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the Leader of their salvation – through sufferings.

• I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection… and have fellowship in His suffering. Philippians 3:10
• Paul’s Desire Paul was a man that met and worshipped the glorified Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was a man that was caught up to the third heaven and shown unspeakable things. Paul was a man who was shown the many things he would have to suffer for Christ.

• It is the throne above, mediating grace for need and suffering as it is required. -T.

• We live in a world full of trial and suffering.

• Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering..Col.3:12
• They often hide behind the skirts of faith, forgiveness, peace and long-suffering.
• in fastings.  By purity; by knowledge; by long-suffering; by kindness – by the Holy Ghost; by sincere, genuine, agape love; by the word of truth; by the power of God; by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left;  by honour and dishonour; by evil report and good report.

• A Full Study Of JOB Question of Suffering Why do I have to suffer, I am upright in all God’s ways?  This was Job’s argument.
• He seeks to influence man’s heart against His Creator through Self-government..  so that believing man cries, whydo I have to suffer? I am upright in all God’s ways.

• Remember: All who live Godly will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12– just like Job….

• Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Philippians 4:12 Whatever our station in the physical realm, whether 'full or hungry' remember that your spiritual food is of the greatest importance to you.

• Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. (2 Timothy 1:8 ESV)

• All things.. towards which His lowly birth and suffering life pointed.
• Earlier He refused this callous temptation to dull the senses and thus render scripture void – for we are told that He was to drain the cup of suffering to its entirety.

• for if we suffer with Him – if we patiently endure, we will reign with Him..

• It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering; it is to be thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering.

• Sustaining Peace Just because we are Christians does not exempt us from the problems in this life. Indeed, not only did Paul remind us to be patient in tribulation… but in order to be one with Christ, we need to participate in His suffering - the fellowship of his sufferings, with patient endurance.

• We suffer in many ways:- pain, wounds, hurts, sickness, disappointments, and more pain.

• unto all patience,' I shall be long-suffering toward others.

• Have you not desired the treasured attribute of long-suffering – so evident in His own dear life?

• I AM meek and lowly of heart, long-suffering and of great goodness.

• At Thy feet I fallYield to Thee my ALLTo SUFFER, LIVE or DIEFor my Lord, crucified

• A Peculiar Nobility Have you faced death to self – the crucifixion of your soul? Only if you have, will you see life and living in its true perspective. Only then will a peculiar nobility, with its roots in humidity be displayed in you.. as a stately strand of godly meekness, ribbons through into your entire character. Death to self often comes through suffering and there are two outcomes of suffering.
• Two Results A man’s heart and soul may be perfected through suffering – or suffering may make that same man’s soul bitter and rebellious. For through suffering we come to an end of self – to the extremity of me – or, through that same suffering selfishness may increase as “I” takes control – and God, not the old sin nature is blamed for the problems and pain that engulf us.

• Heirship with Christ We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ, reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading - kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself 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. Romans 8:17

• Through Suffering He is indeed our hope, and faith develops through patient endurance.

• those prepared to suffer the consequences – to be conformed into His image.
• or suffer loss?

• And self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat.

• If He were to break the power of sin and death in Adam’s seed, He must suffer and die.

• If we are sick, we are to call mature believers or elders of the churches to pray for us and if we are troubled or happy, suffering hardships or experiencing joy, we should pray at all times to our heavenly Father.

• For such a manifestation will, by a necessary principle, be the unfolding within him of every needed element of joy and sorrow, of suffering and triumph. -A.J.G.

• We should like by purity; by knowledge; by long-suffering; by kindness; by the Holy Spirit; by sincere, genuine agape love.

• yes rejoice that you are worthy to suffer with Him.

• Divine Love This love is not the frothy romance of novels – nor the passion of a paperback. It speaks of strength and stamina, pain and long-suffering patience. It speaks of heartache and endurance. It speaks of deep disappointment, and yet an abiding forgiveness. It speaks of love that never fails, despite the grossest betrayals. It speaks of tenderness, regardless of the most ruthless duplicity. It speaks of forbearance and grace, in spite of deception and disloyalty. It speaks of the deepest affection – a love that never gives up – that never ever fluctuates, no matter what. It speaks of His precepts and promises through poetry and prophecy.

• By trial our Father reveals whether we can suffer His will as well as do it.

• Trusting Obedience Today, as for the Lord Jesus, we live the life of sorrow and suffering.

• It is a painful process, but it is a blessed issue; and those amongst us who may have had the greatest agony along this line would, I believe, testify that what it has brought to us of the knowledge and riches of the Lord Jesus has made all the suffering worthwhile.

• Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ - if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom. 8:17).

• Our Father is a very present help in trouble.' We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is with us in it.

• through demands made on our own long-suffering and gentleness – how often are we made aware of our own frailty of nature?

•   World of Suffering Fallen man lives in a fallen world..
• a world of sin and a world of suffering.
• Suffering is due to other people’s sin or it may be self-inflicted but all suffering needs to be addressed.
• Self-inflicted suffering is often the result of our own volition – our own wrong life-choices.
• Wisdom in God’s Word While ever we live in this fallen world of sin and suffering we will face mounting pressures, but we have the written word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit of God to guide our path and to guard our ways and Christ has promised that His grace is sufficient.

• Spiritual Fruit This is the man that brings for the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit; Love in times of Hostility; Joy in times of Pain; Peace in times of Trouble; Long-suffering in times of Frustration; Gentleness in times of Oppression; Goodness in times of Evil; Faith in times of Testing; Meekness in times of Irritations; Temperance in times of Temptation.

• Why are the people of God suffering? - that they may be conformed to the image of His Son.

• And we need have no fear, for He knows how to apportion our suffering.
• He exactly matches the suffering to our condition.
• Let suffering come from any cause in the universe, if we give it over entirely into the hand of our Father, and sink ourselves into His blessed will, with the desire for Him to work His purpose in us, He will make every pain, every tear, every particle of our suffering work in us a death to sin and to the old man, and to all things on earth which will be for our highest development and for His glory. -G.W.
• It is ever through suffering to glory, through the Cross to the Crown. -O.S.

• And Jesus said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness, and then he suffered Him.Matthew 3:15
• Walk With Jesus And now we take up the mantle that fell from His shoulder, and walk the walk that Jesus walked, and talk the talk that Jesus talked, and love the love that Jesus loved – and suffer the sufferings that Jesus suffered.

• Then you discover that there is something there which is more than all your suffering, and which makes suffering worthwhile, and which robs suffering of its deadly sting.

• And so the book of Job is not only a great comfort to the suffering believer..
• Job is not suffering because he has displeased God.
• Job is not suffering because he has sinned – indeed the opposite is the truth, as we are instructed from the start of the book.
• Yes, the book of Job is the most powerful encouragement to any suffering man.

• Spiritual Maturity Suffering is not a question of sin, for Christ was made perfect through suffering. Christ, the innocent, sinless man was made perfect through suffering.
• Maturity is connected with suffering.
• Christ was made perfect through suffering.
• Jesus the Man, came into maturity through child-training – through suffering.
• Spiritual maturity and suffering appear to be opposite sides of the same coin. Spiritual maturity and suffering are often the badge of the intercessor, and the intercessor needs to be one that is spiritually maturing.
• And this I know – Jesus reached maturity through suffering, deep suffering – and too many Christians fail, for they want a cushy life on a feather-down pillow, but those that reach true maturity will be ones willing to participate in His lot.
• Intercessory prayer is praying into the will of God and it can be painful...  because intercessory prayer can only be founded on the love of God – a love that is perfected through suffering.

• The object of suffering is that there may be a full and abundant ministry. . . .

• Whatever, therefore, may be the nature of the suffering or trial through which we have to pass, let us ever account that God is able to fulfill all His promises.

• It means living, weeping, suffering, loving with infinite patience, infinite tenderness, unwearying love for every member of the Body of Christ.

• That is how nature would have it, but I must take this attitude: The Lord stands to lose, the Lord's Name stands to suffer, the Lord's interests are involved in this; I must get on top of this; I must get the better of this; I must shake this thing off and not allow it to affect my attitude, my conduct, my feelings toward this brother or sister!

• We should not be far wrong if we said that most, if not all, of the troubles from which the world is suffering, are traceable to that root, namely, blindness.

• The trouble will focus itself upon us, and we shall have to suffer for it.

• Man’s Questions “How can a good God allow this to happen?” argue disbelieving religious skeptics. “How can our Father allow His children to suffer?” is questioned by confused believers.

• Heirship We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade.  God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself 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.

• If, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God (1 Pet. 2:20).
• Affliction and suffering are the lot of all men, the privilege of all believers.
• Blessed promise!If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy; if you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart; if you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain; you must be content to pay the price of a costly education - like Him, you must suffer.
• There are blessings which we cannot obtain if we cannot accept and endure suffering.

• Suffering takes us in condition where truth has us in position.
• Action, as it were, nerves us to the conflict; but quiet endurance of wrong, or suffering of any kind, which neither friend nor foe sees, but only God, this indeed needs divine power, and without God's support none would bear the strain.

• Suffering of Faith But it pleases Him Who is sovereign, Who gives according to His own pleasure, to bid our patience develop into long, long-suffering, Into the long, longer..
• and the longest-suffering.

• What more satisfied and appyperson is there even amidst suffering and sorrow than he or she who is most perfect in patience, love, faith, and the other fruits of the Spirit?
• The solution to the problem of suffering does not lie in being philosophical; it is not in fatalistic resignation his is my lot; I suppose I must accept it.It is not in passive or active suppression of desire.

• it is the lifelong uniform of a believer in this world of suffering and sin.

• God’s Long-suffering How important that we pray that they hear and believe.. that God would show the lost their own sinfulness..
• that He remove any strongholds, thought patterns, and religiosity – that He shows them the folly of materialism, of fear and of self: for the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9

• The reckoning believer is to meet every proposal of self-gratification armed with the mind to suffer in the flesh.
• But there will be no response to the suggestion or temptation if you stand armed with the mind to suffer in the flesh.
• It is suggested that you should be pleased and gratified in the very thing in which you are fully minded to suffer.
• You are now in conflict with sin - not going along with it; you suffer in the flesh, and have ceased from the practice of sin. -C.A.C.

• If it was suffering for righteousness' sake, then I would, but I am suffering for my sin; and can I, in the integrity of my heart towards God, take my sorrows to Him, knowing I deserve them?

• Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ - sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory (Rom. 8:17, Amp.).

• Stunning Prophecy The rebellious nation had disobeyed their long-suffering God, and Israel was under the yoke of the cruel Roman Empire – but God had not forgotten His chosen people. And filled with the Holy Spirit, Zacharias started to sing praises to the God of Israel for the time had come for God Himself to visit and redeem His people.

• Heavenly Things Hebrews 8:5 tells us that the terrestrial, serves as examples and shadows of heavenly things, and become an example of suffering affliction, and of patience, we should bear..

• Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:10 NLT)

• For you have had the privilege granted you on behalf of Christ - not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf (Phil. 1:29, Wey.).
• Unto you is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake' (Phil. 1:29).
• Yea, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him' (2 Tim. 2:12).
• The gracious gift of suffering is as distinct and specific a gift as any other of God's gifts.
• If we suffer, we shall also reign with him (2 Tim. 2:12).

• When death has exceeded every other evil power sin, suffering, sorrow, and destruction, then God's unique and exclusive answer is the only hope, and the one answer.

• This apprehension may only come as necessity is laid upon us by reason of suffering and trial.
• Capacity will increase by the stretching of suffering (see Hebrews 12, and read child-training for chastening).

• John 16:33 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution in this world. 2 Timothy 3:12 Satan has blinded the hearts of those that are perishing and lost in their sins, but the venom of Satan’s spiritual realm is specifically targeting two creations – Israel – the old creation in Jacob; and the Church – the New Creation in Christ.

• Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulnessColossians 1:10-14
• Long-suffering Patience Often we see the farmer as patient, who unhurriedly waits for the harvest to ripen – and being quiet and calm under the stroke of adverse fortune, can demonstrate a patient spirit. There are also elements of patience seen in the ongoing grind of daily duties. All such demonstrations of patience are worthy examples of long-suffering.
• Standard of Patience The Lord Jesus is our pattern and example of patience – our model and our standard. His life is a true example of perseverance, tolerance, long-suffering – and patience.

• If you only know the work of the Lord Jesus you are prepared to make sacrifices, but if you know Him as your life then you are ready to suffer for Him.

• The service declares its virtue and aim by the suffering which is endured in rendering it, for what can be done at one's ease is generally done without much concern for the one to whom it is rendered, and thus the true quality is lost.

• Act of Consecration This beautiful act of consecration may be a result – but is not a condition of salvation Paul tells us that if it is not by faith – then it is not of grace. A carnal believer will certainly suffer loss of rewards – but never his eternal salvation, which is always and only by grace – through faith – in Christ.

• Physical, mental, and spiritual suffering are all involved to some degree in our matriculation.
• The truth is that those who serve the Lord most, truly go through the deepest suffering.
• Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1 Pet. 4:19).

• If we follow and note the history and ways of any true servant of the Lord, we shall see, that on the one side they, like Moses on the Mount, or Paul in Arabia, are entranced with the brightness and most marvelous display of divine glory; yet on man's side, those who know most of the divine ways, suffer most because of the indifference of those who have professed to be the Lord's people.
• For every real servant, be he evangelist, teacher, or anything else, there must be the side of suffering, burden, and humiliation.

• The school of suffering graduates rare scholars.

• There is nothing wrong in times of great joy and spiritual blessing; in fact we long for more of them, and look back perhaps to some days of much blessing in our lives or in the work of the Lord; but in the securing of Christ in greater measure in our lives, we find that it is by the things which we suffer that we learn most.

• For this our light and transitory burden of suffering – is achieving for us a weight of glory”2 Corinthians 4:17

• That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death (Phil. 3:10).

• You cannot help anyone who is suffering from growing pains, and you must stand aside and see them going through.
• We do learn through suffering.
• Even the Lord Jesus was made full grown in this sense, complete, through suffering.

• Perhaps we shall suffer all the more because of the defects and imperfections, the strengths and the weaknesses of one another naturally.

• There was holiness, goodness, grace and long-suffering.

• …..partakers of Christ’s suffering.1 Peter 4:15
• Christian Challenge We too are called at such a time as this, to accept this self-same challenge. We too are called to such a place as this, to be despised of the world and rejected. We too are called to come out from among them and be separate. We too are called to obey His commandment, to love deeply, and suffer long.
• This is the task of all who would follow in the footsteps of the Messiah… For all who live godly will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12  and Jesus prayed: the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 17:14

• Godly Suffering Indeed, His grace multiplies when the burdens grow greater: for My grace is sufficient for thee.

• Paul tells us in Colossians 3.12 therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies; kindness; humility; meekness; long-suffering.

• He too endured a life of shame and suffering.
• Why did He have to go through suffering, pain, and rejection?  Well, He patiently endured – for the joy that was set before Him.

• Christian Testimony Qualities of character that reflect a true Christian testimony – not only in word alone but in disposition and in deed; in mind and in motive; in action and in attitude; in conscious thought and unconscious thinking; in gentleness of spirit and long-suffering of heart.

• They are suffering in a related way, they are suffering for the Body sake, they are entering into the battle; the conflict of this one great testimony.
• Be open to the Lord to be checked up on anything, but do not always take it that the things which are happening to you and causing you trouble and suffering are due to your own failure or wrong.

• It touches man, and the material world and all that is tainted by suffering and sin: for God not only loved the world – God SO loved the world…..

• The passion of the Cross is the way of our release, and if you consider your own spiritual experience, those of you who have any experience of a walk with God, you know quite well that it has been through times of deep and acute suffering that you have found fresh releases; fresh releases in your spiritual life.
• Yes, we pass into a time of excruciating spiritual and soul suffering.
• We do not know what the Lord is doing, what He means by this, what He is after, but we know the features of our experience and know what it is that we are suffering, and it goes on.

• Be filled, or go on being filled with the Holy Spirit, as we read in Ephesians 5:8.  But even this is a choice for the believer.  Paul tells the Colossians the great desire of his heart toward all the believers. Paul longs that all believers are filled to overflowing, be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.

• He was consecrated unto God, and like many before him – Paul was a sign that points us to Christ. Like the other apostles before him, Paul was required to suffer greatly..as a sign.

• Fathomless Love The love of God stoops down to the sin-encrusted earth from His hallowed heaven. The love of God scrapes up from humankind the sick, suffering, sin-stained sinner. The love of God rakes from the pit of hell, fallen sons and daughters of Adam.

• There is nothing that is precious to the Lord, and which He would make the property of His people, but there will be suffering for it.
• It will only become their property in that sense as they suffer for it, and then woe betide who criticizes that!
• Suffering is a great purifying thing.
• Yes, suffering purifies, and suffering makes this deep, inward link.
• When we suffer together, what a lot we get over!

• Surrender of  Will These words of our Lord point to a far greater deed than calming the storm or raising the dead. Prophets and apostles could work wondrous miracles, but they could not always suffer the will of God.
• To do and to suffer His will is the highest form of faith. To bear a daily burden..
• Cup of Suffering To be pinched by poverty; to be maligned by loved ones; to be fettered by some disability. To be stripped bare of loving comfort; to stand alone in the shocks and quakes of life; to be overwhelmed by man's indifference to man and man's hatred of God.
• Cross to Carry Great faith is not so much seen in the ability to do. Great faith is exhibited in the willingness to suffer with patient endurance. To have a God of compassion and empathy we need to have a suffering Saviour, Who in all points was tested like as we are, Yet without sin, for Who but the heart of Him could understand the suffering we choose to bear.
• Baptism of Suffering We cannot do good to another, save at a cost to ourselves. The afflictions we bear are the price we pay to bear each other's burdens. He who would be the helper must first be the sufferer. He who would seek to help and save, must first bear the pain and the cross. We must drink of the cup that Jesus drank from.. and be baptised into the baptism that He was baptised in.
• is the tool to shape you.. it is the chisel in the Father's hand..  to train you for His millennial rule.. to perfect you for the eternal ages that are to come. Suffering does have its reward... for if we patiently endure, we shall also reign with Him...

• deliverance from Sin.. deliverance from all Sin..  deliverance from all the effects of Sin.. deliverance from all the power of Sin.. deliverance from all the effects and all the power of all sin – deliverance from sin, which is the great cause of shame, guilt, misery, suffering, damnation and death.

• It simply works out in this way: the larger our apprehension of what the Lord has done for us in His Cross, the more generous we ought to be to others the more longsuffering and forbearing, the less ready to quickly return evil for evil, more ready to bear and to suffer wrong.

• I have tested you in the furnace of suffering. (Isaiah 48:10 GW)

• Lonely Road Should not we, who seek to know Him more and more, follow in His path - HIS path of humility; HIS walk of suffering; HIS trail of rejections and pain?  Should we not submit to the penetrating eye of the Holy Spirit in our life - asking Him to identify pride and self-interest, that so readily tracks our earthy walk?  Should we not seek Him, where He is found – on the lonely Road of Humility?  Should not we seek to cover ourselves with humility as Jesus did – covered with the cloak of humility; clothed with the garment of grace.

• Fleshly Crucifixion Crucifixion involves suffering.

• suffering and grief..

• Perfected Thru Suffering But wait and watch and follow the ensuing journey of this humiliated tree..

• For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
• but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God (1 Pet. 2:19, 20).
• With my eye turned from man to God, suffering wrong is not as hard as it seems.

• Come out of her, My people, so that you don't participate in her sins and also suffer from her diseases. (Revelation 18:4 ISV)

• If Israel in the wilderness had taken this attitude Well, this is a very difficult experience, but the Lord is after something, the Lord wants something, and He evidently knows that that is the best way to get it; all right, I am with Him, I may lose everything, I may suffer the loss of all things, but it is what the Lord wants that matters.

• If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. (1 Corinthians 12:26 GW)
• I may be going through a very great deal of suffering without you knowing anything about it so far as the natural life is concerned, you are not affected by it, but beloved, there is a realm where if one member spiritually suffers the whole Body is involved in that suffering, which shows this Body is a heavenly thing and its relationships are not natural, they are spiritual, and that the unifying factor of the Holy Spirit operates apart from the natural consciousness.... You see what is involved, you see what a motive we have in our relationships for keeping them on a high level.

• The first part was the revealing of the Father’s perfect likeness in the Son:- He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” John 14:9 The second part is His process of conforming you into the likeness of Jesus. Moulding us and conforming us to become like Christ – often through suffering.

• He let people know that to follow Him, as He put it at that time, involved them in difficulty and suffering and persecution and trial and a lifelong thing.

• Things that enter into our history we cannot always fathom, but the explanation which we can give is that, whatever there may be as second causes, the Lord is Sovereign and He thinks it worthwhile sometimes to allow what the world would call the most terrible thing to overtake for the time being, and it would seem that His Name and interests suffer through that thing, but through that thing He brings His people to a place of maturity and they get to know the Lord for themselves.

• Real light is experimental: that is to say, it is the fruit of experience, the experience of suffering.
• It is through suffering, it is through the difficult way the Lord has led you, it is through the work of the Cross that He has wrought in you.
• It is the Lamb, always the Lamb-principle, the way of suffering and sacrifice and self-emptying, that brings us into the knowledge of the Lord.

• Representative Servant And Paul also said: I rejoice in my sufferings for you. I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for His body – the church.
• by suffering His humiliation in this world. Jesus said: be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

• Very often it may seem but poor comfort to us in times of suffering, times of trial, times of adversity, times when Satan is pressing hard, to be told that, while we can see nothing of the meaning of all this, God is instructing angels, and that principalities and powers are deriving the benefit of it all.

• Usually for such ministry there is a long and deep history with God, a history full of mystery and suffering.

• I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Philippians 3:10,11 NLT)

• He begged no release from His suffering.

• Revelation only comes through suffering and limitation, and to have it experimentally means sharing the cost in some way.

• Lifelong Journey One writer puts it this way: The Husbandman’s method for true spiritual growth involves: pain as well as joy; suffering as well as happines;  failure as well as success; inactivity as well as service; death as well as life.

• Why are the people of God suffering?

• Why – because God is gracious, long-suffering, and of great goodness.

• As you trust your life into His hands, He will show you a way of escape, for there hath no trial taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tried above that ye are able, but will with the trial also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

• Consider His Grace Consider His good temper, for He said:  “suffer little children to come, and forbid them not, and then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put His hands on them, and prayed”.

• I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His Body. (Colossians 1:24 NLT)
• Paul knew something of that suffering for His Body's sake; filling up that which was lacking of the sufferings of Christ.

• Behind all our suffering is a Divine Purpose to show us that “My Grace Is Sufficient..”

• He visits those that are sick and suffering, to offer grace in time of need.

• If we are to fulfill this true, living ministry, it will only be through suffering, through the winepress, through pressure and through breaking.
• It may be passed on to others through preaching, or through teaching, or through living, but if it is His Life it will come out of experiences of suffering.
• The best doctors and nurses are those who know something about suffering themselves.
• If you ask why, you may find that they have a background of suffering themselves.

• It also means that He will not permit you to suffer more that you are able to bear, and it means that in ALL things you will be a conqueror, if you remain in Him.

• Too many Christians suffer from attempting to juggle a variety of purposes.

• Remember – this life under this world system, is one of humiliation and suffering..

• I am willing to suffer what You inflict – and do as You command.

• Spiritual maturity embraces pain and joy, suffering and happiness.

• And many, like Demas and Orphah, turn back to the world. But this is God’s take on that issue: 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 trial also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1Cor.13:10

• If children, then heirs - heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ - if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom. 8:17).

• Trials and suffering are the heart of growth.
• It is the fellowship of His sufferings'; and the knowledge of suffering with Him, what can it not sweeten?

• And He too – the great Creator of the Universe, became a ‘spectacle’ to man..  a sign of suffering, affliction, and ridicule, but also a sign of wisdom, a sign of power... a sign of great resurrection glory – the sign of a life consecrated to God.
• He desires His own to go the way of the cross – to suffer and die to self.

• But Simeon’s patient, long-suffering waiting puts my own vigil to shame.

• How we hate how we suffer being emptied of ourselves!

• Suffering is not meant by God to be loss and deprivation.
• God means suffering to result in increased spiritual capacity, which is the basis of added responsibility, trust, and fruitful sharing.

• No, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2Peter 4:9

• At the first, He came as a suffering servant..
• learning obedience through suffering.
• Suffering and Joy On earth, we glorify God by obediently submitting to His will – no matter what.
• And, as we sit together with Him on His throne we will judge men and angels!  Here we have tribulation and suffering for we too must learn obedience through suffering.
• Fellowship of Suffering Should we not similarly be prepared to be overcomers and not lie down in despair?  Should we not love the fellowship of His sufferings for this brief span?
• Knowing that He walked this self-same path of suffering – only for love of us - so that with Him we may spend an eternity in the fellowship of our Beloved?

• Measure of Training 'Suffering' is a word with many meanings – each understands suffering differently.
• What is intense suffering to one is not considered to be much suffering by another.
• Some suffer with little apparent distress – others suffer intolerable agonies. The Lord knows His own, and to each He brings that measure of training required. He brings each one to their point of distress – to bring each a knowledge of Himself.
• Suffering and Salvation Whatever form of suffering God’s training takes, it will do His work in each one.
• But let us no longer regard suffering as penalties, punishment, or judgments.
• The Lord selects suffering that will bring His children to the fullness of Christ and like their Lord, to make their salvation perfect through sufferings.
• Blessing in Suffering Some are blessed to discover the treasures of Christ through the hour of suffering. He comforts us in all our sufferings, so that we can comfort others who suffer -so that we will be able to give them the same comfort that God has given us. 2Cor.1:4  It is as each of his own reaches the extremity of their own suffering and pain..
• that each arrives at his own deeper understanding of Paul’s exhortation:-  that through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus – so that the Life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” 2Cor.4:10
• Fruit of Suffering The fruit of suffering and training is the drawing closer and nearer to Christ. The outworking of sufferings are the benefits this closeness to Him gives to others. The learning and knowledge of Christ in a life, is through the school of suffering. The exercise and outworking of Christ in a life, is enhanced and refined through trials. Paul reckons we should embrace trials: for the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in us.
• Suffering Creation The whole universe..
• The whole of creation is waiting for the time when our suffering in this world is over, for like us the whole of creation is in the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, so the whole of creation eagerly awaits for the revealing of the sons of God.
• Benefit of Suffering As parents and grandparents we know, only too well, the end result of a child that is not disciplined and trained in the admonition of the Lord.
• Suffering now produces the fruit of righteousness for later.
• Author and Finisher Let us in this life accept His child-training – His chastening – our sufferings: looking unto Jesus, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the suffering of the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb.12:2.   Yes, Jesus..

• Be long-suffering and forbearing with one another -in love – Oh, and endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace – and love each other.
• And be humble in mind, gentle, long-suffering and very patient, and make allowance for each other's faults.

• Sufficient Grace Remember this principle as you face the fiery trials that beset you. Remember that sufficient grace and new power comes from the Lord through conflict. Remember Christ’s life was developed and honed and made perfect through suffering..

• He was prepared to suffer the loss of all things, and regard everything that the world holds dear, as rubbish - in order to gain the closest, possible communion with his God and Saviour.
• And so he urged us to maintain utter devotion and a willingness to suffer and die for His name's sake.

• Eliphaz reasoned that all suffering is a result of sin and because his friend was afflicted, he questioned Job's integrity and concluded that his friend had sinned against the Lord, which Job strongly refuted.
• Eliphaz reasoned that the innocent never suffer, while the guilty are always afflicted.
• However, this is unbiblical for throughout God's Word it is often the righteous that suffer, while the guilty remain unscathed.
• We are reminded by the Lord Jesus that in this world we will suffer trials and pain, but we also know that those who fellowship in His suffering will receive a wonderful, heavenly reward.
• Paul encourages us to be patient in affliction and to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, while James instructs us to consider the trials and suffering we go through as a great joy, knowing the testing of our faith produces endurance, which brings our hope and trust in the Lord to its completion.
• Every evil in this world is a result of sin, and although suffering may result from our own sinfulness, we can also be afflicted through the sins of others or by an assault from the enemy of our soul.

• They expected a warrior who would come with a battle-plan to save Israel from Roman oppression... not a suffering Servant Who would give His life to redeem the world from sin and Satan, death, and hell.

• We are to stop being bottle-fed with the simple justification truths of Scripture and are to start to wrestle with the tougher aspects of our Christian faith, where we learn obedience by the things that we suffer, through a process of ongoing sanctification - where we are being conformed into the likeness of Jesus, Himself.

• Paul was a man who was equipped to comfort and encourage other Christians through the difficulties and dangers of life, because Paul was a man who understood the significance of suffering for the sake of Christ.

• Israel was looking for a conquering King Who would sit on the throne of David, save them from Roman domination, and set up the promised kingdom; not a suffering Servant Who had to die for their sins first.

• He rejoiced when the gospel of Christ was proclaimed, and wanted to demonstrate that suffering for Christ in this life, would bring his Saviour great praise and glory.
• And God used his night of suffering to be turned into many mornings of joy, for those who have treasured the words he wrote.

• The whole of Psalm 50 is a song that shows forth the greatness of God, His never-ending righteousness, and His long-suffering grace, but it is also one that is a severe rebuke to His people, Israel, for their disinterested complacency and hypocritical attitude into which their external acts of sacrifices had fallen.
• It is never too late for any believer who has adopted a form of complacency or put on a necklace of hypocrisy to change his ways, for God is gracious and long-suffering.

• God was fully satisfied when His only Begotten Son took on human flesh, lived a sinless life and drank the cup of suffering on our account and walked to the cross, to die in our place - to pay the price for OUR sin.

• Why does God allow so much evil and suffering?
• But this is often asked by sinners, who do not understand that evil and suffering is a consequence of man's sin, or believers who are trying to live by fleshly works and earn God's favour.
• God is the Father of mercies and Giver of all good gifts and the evil and suffering of today is an indicator of the shocking effect of sin, in individual lives and the world at large.

• The beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, is closely linked with earlier chapters where we are encouraged not to lose heart because of the inevitable suffering and pain we all experience in our fallen, dying bodies.
• The present suffering and pain we experience in this mortal frame can never be compared with the great glory that is awaiting us because we are in Christ: For we know that if this earthly tent which is our house is torn down (through persecution, worldly oppression or death), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, which is eternal, and kept for us in the heavens.
• Paul describes this as living in a temporary earthly tent which will one day be torn down, and as the previous chapter indicates, this may be due to persecution or suffering inflicted on those who are saved.

• Jesus may have been the Son of God through Whom heaven and earth were created, but He also came into this world as the Son of Man, the suffering Servant of Jehovah Who would give His life as the ransom price for the sin of the whole world.He had come to set up God's kingdom on earth, but His own people rejected Him and He finally set His face as a flint towards Jerusalem and the Cross.

• Indeed, he even exhorts us to consider our various trials as a joy and blessing from our Father, while Paul warns that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, but that God Himself will comfort us in our suffering and pain so that we can comfort others in their suffering and pain.

• However, in his distress hope was revived as Jeremiah looked away from himself to the Lord, and called to mind the loving-mercies, deep-compassion, and long-suffering of God for all His rebellious people.
• But only as we look away from ourselves, our problems, and our own limited perspectives, and call to mind the greater reality of His loving-mercies, deep-compassion, and long-suffering, do we recognise the steadfast love of the Lord which never ceases.

• He came to live a life of humiliation, rejection, suffering, and pain, and finally to be cursed and condemned to the cruellest method of execution imagined by the evil minds of wicked men so that fallen humanity could be brought back into full fellowship with Himself and one day see God face to face - one day live with Emmanuel, God with us.

• This is the time when toil will be replaced with rest, sickness with health, need with plenty, and suffering will be overtaken by glory.

• The evidence of this lovely transfiguring process is not only an outward disassociation from an ungodly world and the works of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but a life that is good, acceptable, perfect and pleasing to the Father - but note, that transformation is perfected through trials, difficulties, suffering, and sorrow.

• When He walked by the way He was hungry and tired, and our Great High Priest was not exempt from the human emotions of hope and fear, of joy and pain, of anger and grief, nor was He free from suffering and sorrow, but lived a life of humble obedience to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

• We are reminded to live in unity with one another, to live in lowliness of heart, gentleness of spirit, and to endure suffering with patience throughout this earthly life.

• And there is a legitimate reason that we are called upon to live godly in Christ Jesus, to walk in spirit and truth, to submit to the teaching and training of the Holy Spirit, and to learn obedience through suffering: To love one another as Christ loved us, for by this all people will know that you are my disciples.

• What a long-suffering and gracious God we have.
• His dealings with Israel is a great comfort to all God’s children, for we know that despite the times when we also wander away from the Lord; getting swept into worldly ways or adopting a careless attitude, His initial response may well be discipline or chastisement, but He is also long-suffering towards us, even when we stray from His path of righteousness and follow our own foolish ways.
• What a long-suffering and gracious God we have – for as He has dealt in grace toward His erring nation, so He will deal with Christians who have wandered far from His outstretched arms of love or when faith wears thin and life seems too much to bear.

• Paul had taught them that Rapture of Church-age Christians (which included both the resurrection of Christians who had died and the catching away of Christians who were still alive), would happen before the Day of the Lord because God did not appoint us to suffer His wrath which is to be out-poured at the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

• Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? What the Psalmist recorded 3000 years ago, mirrors the happenings of today, as many continue to ask, Why does the Lord seem to remain silent while the innocents suffer?

• Jesus revealed that He would deal with poverty, sorrow, bondage, suffering, and oppression.

• A Christian who shows no mercy towards others will not lose his salvation, but will be judged by God and suffer loss of reward in the ages to come, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3.

• And we are all to fellowship in the suffering of our Saviour, to share in His shame and to learn obedience by the things that we also suffer.

• BUT GOD Who is loving, gracious, long-suffering, and faithful, pronounced His bitter rod of severe chastening due to their apostasy, which would also prove to be a blossoming staff of sweet comfort and peace, grace and mercy, love, and hope, and joy.

• After his long treaties on our call to be holy, the need to submit to authority, the different role of family members, and a section on Christ's example of patient endurance in suffering, Peter finally begins to sum up his epistle with a series of short, simple statements on living a submissive Christian life.

• It is because of this sure hope of the glory of God that Paul can continue with the words: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident HOPE.
• If suffering causes us to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth - if suffering causes us to fall on our knees crying out to the Lord; if suffering causes us to put our hope in the Lord and the sure promise of His return, then shouldn't we also rejoice in our sufferings?
• This confident, future hope of the glory of God is the eternal fruit of today's patient endurance in our present sufferings – and so let us rejoice in our suffering KNOWING the glory that will be revealed.

• What encouragement and joy must have flooded their hearts when this little group of suffering saints heard those words for the first time.
• Do not fear what you are about to suffer, Christ wrote to His little flock, Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.
• Paul tells us, all who live godly lives will suffer persecution.
• Do not fear what you are about to suffer, are His reassuring words.
• Faith in the truth of God's Word should be the watchword of every suffering saint, for faith in God's promised Word puts fear to flight.
• The Lord in His grace, kept every one of those saints in Smyrna in the suffering and persecution - even to the point of death, and beyond.
• The persecution, pain, imprisonment, mocking, and satanic sifting, may bring some saints of God to the point of death, but the crown of life awaits these suffering servants.
• However long we may suffer, however many days or years we may be incarcerated behind prison bars or how often we are used as the target of ridicule or slander, we know that Christ is with us, and we are sharing in His suffering, just as we will one day share in His glory.

• In the Gospels, He came to earth as the suffering Servant Who was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and by Whose stripes we are healed.

• But how different from God's design for His children, for it was through suffering that the Lord Jesus Himself learned willing obedience to the Father and it is through the same pathway that we too grow in grace and come into deeper knowledge of Him.
• Paul was no stranger to suffering, and he catalogued his sufferings in 2 Corinthians in this way: I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
• And so when he writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to rejoice in suffering, and to count it all joy when you meet trials, we can be assured that he is speaking from a place of deep personal understanding.
• May we choose, from this day forward, to rejoice in our suffering, and count it all joy when we meet trials of any kind, knowing that when we are weak, He is strong, to the glory of the Father forevermore. 

• The story of Samson is a very sad tale that clearly shows the long-suffering grace and mercy of God towards his servants, as well as a warning that there may come a time when God's hand of blessing and protection is lifted for a season when sin crouches at the door.

• We discover that the aging apostle Peter, who denied His Lord at the start of his Christian walk, came to an understanding that suffering precedes glory in the life of a believer, sadness comes before joy, and the darkest night of mourning will finally turn into the brightest noon-day sun: For after you have suffered for a little while, Peter informs his readers, After you have suffered... the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
• Peter made it clear that suffering was inevitable, unavoidable, and inescapable.
• Suffering as a Christian is not a matter of choice, but the certain consequence of our faith in Christ.
• Jesus entered this world as the suffering Servant of God.
• The Lord Jesus Himself learned obedience by the things He suffered, and after His time of suffering, Christ came into His eternal glory and willingly and joyfully shares it with all who trust in His name.
• Peter also came to understand more fully, that after we have experienced suffering for a little while, God in His grace will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. 
• Although suffering is not something we relish, God has promised to strengthen and support us, to restore and establish us, and to bring us into HIS eternal glory, in Christ.
• James regarded those who endured suffering as 'blessed', while Paul considered: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
• Like Paul and the other apostles, Peter was ready and willing to identify with Christ's suffering and warned us not to be surprised at any fiery ordeal we face, or consider them strange, because life's difficulties and dangers are there to test us.
• Peter reminded us that when we suffer for Christ, we share in HIS sufferings; we identify with HIM, just as He identified with us.
• We participate in His suffering because we are His Body; the Body of Christ.
• Today we have to suffer a little.
• Suffering with Christ is simply a portal which translates His blood-bought believers into His eternal joy, and as sinners saved by grace, we have peace with God for the forgiveness of sin and the peace of God in our heart.
• Peter knew that those who are heirs of the kingdom and joint-heirs with Christ must first suffer a little while.
• But he also knew that suffering has eternal benefits for it establishes, strengthens, perfects, and matures the believer, as he grows in grace and as he perseveres on his journey to his celestial home.

• We read of death and destruction and we grieve to hear of the intense suffering, persecution, and slaughter of many martyrs of the faith throughout this God-hating, Christ-rejecting, anti-Semitic, Christian-despising, sinful world.

• As maturing believers, we can only go through God's training programme of ongoing sanctification successfully, as we learn obedience by the things that we suffer and as we willingly submit to the deep work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

• The disciples still thought of Jesus as their conquering King rather than God's suffering Servant Who takes away the sin of the world, and so... dismissing Christ's warning of His fast approaching passion, each developed his own specific expectation of their own, elevated position in the new administration.
• Jesus also knew that as the Head of His Body, the Church, in a new dispensation, His followers would be required to follow His example and experience the same suffering and distress that He was to go through.
• He knew that those who followed Him would need to pick up their own cross and follow Him in the way of suffering and pain, problems and persecution.

• But he also reminds us that we are being prepared for glory by the things that we suffer in this temporal and passing life.
• The paradox of our faith is that we can rejoice in the midst of our suffering and distresses.

• What confidence should flood our soul and what joy should illuminate our hearts, for the long-suffering, faithful God of Israel Who redeemed them out of the Egyptian bondage and restored them from their Babylonian captivity, is the same Saviour Who is faithful and true, Who clothed Himself in flesh, and came to earth in the likeness of human flesh and bled and died that you and I might also be redeemed from the captivity of Satan, and rescued from the bondage of sin.

• Paul however, rejoiced to suffer on behalf of Christ's Body.
• And I am sure that those earth-shattering words which he heard on that road to Damascus, must have often rung in his ears as he became the target of such intense suffering: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me!
• Paul's life certainly demonstrated one who was filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, no wonder he penned those poignant words: That I may know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.

• Job is an amazing example of unjustified and undeserved human suffering... but we are given a remarkable peep behind the scenes of the terrible trauma and pain he underwent.

• Creation itself was brutally subjected to frustration, bondage, corruption, and decay due to man's sinful rebellion, and creation continues to groan and suffer under God's curse until it too is liberated from its bondage to decay.
• Until that time, the whole of creation will continue to groan and suffer the increasingly intense 'labour pains' of childbirth.

• Peter had learned firsthand what it means to suffer for Christ, how vital it is to resist the devil, the importance of feeding the flock of God, and the need to willingly wash the feet of others - all of which are reflected in his wise instructions.

• In writing to Timothy, a beloved son in the faith, Paul explains in the opening words of this epistle that he is suffering deeply because of the gospel of Christ.
• But far from complaining, he is reminding Timothy that all who live godly lives in defence of the gospel of Christ, will suffer in this world.
• When Paul uttered these words, he was suffering for Christ.
• But his suffering only caused his faith to grow stronger, as he set his mind on the sure and blessed hope of Christ and of eternity to come.

• The Lord is patient, long-suffering, and loving toward all He has made.
• The scornful scoffers and deriding mockers that belie the fast approaching Day of the Lord, are unaware that every passing moment is not slackness or disinterest on God's part, nor is God's acceptance or indifference towards man's sin, but just another expression of His long-suffering grace and His unwillingness that any should perish, but that all should turn from their sin to Jesus as the substitute offering for their sins and their glorious Saviour.
• Every day that passes is one more example of God's long-suffering grace towards the children of men.

• The central theme in the book of first Peter is HOPE for the Christian in the midst of tremendous suffering.
• And he exhorts us to appropriate all that is ours in Him and to translate this into our everyday life so that we are enabled to greatly rejoice in the God of our salvation - even in the midst of tremendous suffering and pain.
• We are to bear the burdens of each day without complaint - and we are even exhorted to accept unjust suffering without complaining, for when we suffer unjustifiably, we gain the approval of our Heavenly Father.
• However, he adds, when you do what is right and suffer for it, without complaining..
• It is often hard to go through unjustifiable suffering and persecution for the sake of Christ, but Peter wanted to teach us that no matter what situation we are in, it is not only important to be good and gentle, but to be prepared to suffer wrongfully - for when we are moved by our consciences to honour God in this way, it is a fine and honourable thing to do in the sight of the Lord.
• If, for Christ's sake, we endure wrongful suffering, it is an honourable thing.
• However, if we suffer for doing the right thing and accept it with grace and patience, God is pleased with us and honoured by our life.
• May we be willing to suffer with patience for our God and Saviour in these perilous times, knowing that this brings honour to His name.
• And let us remember what the apostle Paul wrote: For if we suffer for Christ, we shall also reign with Him.
• For our light affliction and unjustifiable suffering for Christ's sake, will only last for a moment, but will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, and bring honour to our Father in heaven.

• Job lamented his loss and questioned his misfortune, and after 7 days of silent grief, a series of lengthy debates developed between him and some 'friends' who were shocked at his wretched condition and determined to discover the reason for his suffering. They erroneously considered that only sinners suffer while the righteous are blessed.
• He suggests Job deserved greater grief because he was questioning his own suffering, and he pompously suggests that Job should stop sinning!
• This suffering servant of God wanted his friends to listen to his complaint and comfort him.
• He wanted to plead his case before the Lord and find out why he was suffering, but his friends accused him of terrible sins and refused to hear his defence.
• What lessons we can learn about human suffering from Job?
• God knows all about our suffering and is our ever-present help in times of trouble.
• Some suffering may result from sin, but bad things often happen to God's children for no reason and without explanation.

• David was justified when he was a young shepherd-boy tending his father's sheep, but the more he discovered of the long-suffering faithfulness of God, the more his heart overflowed with thanksgiving and praise.

• We stand in awe as we contemplate that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, for by the suffering and death of his beloved Son and His resurrection to life ALL who would believe on His name would be redeemed.

• Although not listed as a messianic psalm, there are certain verses that are highly evocative of Christ's suffering and pain, with particular parts being reminiscent of His rejection and grief, with others that demonstrate Christ's unsurpassed zeal for the Lord - events in this psalm that are clearly identifiable characteristics seen in Christ's earthly life.

• We are told in the Scriptures to rejoice greatly in the Lord, even though for a time we may have to suffer much grief and all kinds of difficulties.

• Although the quality of the meat was not affected and false idols have no power over those who consumed it, eating meat offered to idols often caused psychological suffering for new converts, causing them to falter in their faith: Therefore, Paul writes, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so I will not cause my brother to stumble.

• It is because He was willing to suffer the Cross, tasting death for every man, woman, and child who has ever lived, that God has crowed Him with glory and honour.

• Paul is able to rejoice in his sufferings because he was counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ.
• We too can fellowship in His suffering: Filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
• And the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ Jesus our Lord.
• We know that in this world we will have troubles, but may we, like Paul, rejoice in our sufferings knowing: Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

• He is long-suffering and full of mercy as well as being holy, righteous, just, and a principled judge.

• So much in the Christian walk seems to be diametrically opposite to all that the Word of God says, and the suffering that we face in this world is no exception.
• We are told in many places the reasons and benefits of suffering, and are given many examples of people who faced severe trials in their lives, but who came through as gold.
• It may be Satan who throws suffering our way in an attempt to bring out the worst in us and shipwreck our faith in the Lord, but it is God Who takes our suffering and turns it into a test for good, for our faith is always tested by God in order to bring the very best in us.

• We are exhorted to follow the example of Paul, Christ's apostle to the Gentiles, who was not only ready and willing to live for Christ but was equally prepared to suffer and die for His name's sake.
• Paul was a pattern of the 'perfection' to which we must strive - for although we will not be totally conformed to Christ until the resurrection/ rapture, nonetheless, spiritual maturity is attainable and those that are spiritually mature should be willing to suffer and die for Christ, as exemplified by Paul.
• It is an attitude of self-denial - a willingness to suffer, whatever the cost.
• It is even being prepared to suffer persecution and death for the sake of Christ Jesus our Saviour, about which Paul is speaking.
• But Paul understood this and explained that although there will be those that balk at the prospect of suffering for the sake of Christ, he continues reassuringly and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.
• For centuries, the normal Christian life has been that of suffering, pain, persecution, and death... and for many generations, Christians have sacrificed much for the sake of the gospel.
• However, for the last century or so, the west has been living an abnormal Christian life with little real suffering and not much pain - but the tide of hatred towards Christians is turning... and the normal Christian life of suffering, self-sacrifice, persecution, and martyrdom, is already evident in certain countries and has been for some considerable time.
• But rather, let us that are spiritually mature, adopt Paul's attitude and be prepared to suffer for the sake of Christ - and if any of us have a different attitude, we pray that God will reveal that also to us as well.

• Jesus told us that in this world we will suffer tribulation at the hand of our enemies and through the wiles of satanic forces in high places.

• He had already told them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation, that He would be handed over to the elders, the chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and after three days, rise again.
• We are called to fellowship in His suffering here on earth, which often causes us confusion, perplexity, anguish, and sorrow, but never forget that the joy of the resurrected Lord is our strength, and often the darkest winters we are called upon to endure, turn into the brightest summer imaginable.

• First: When He came as the suffering Servant and Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, when He was initially despised and rejected by His own people.

• The suffering of God's chosen Servant was well documented in the Scriptures, as was His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, for it was foretold by prophets of old including Israel's great patriarch, King David.
• David had prophesied that the coming holy One of Israel, Who was both his Lord and his offspring, would be pierced in His hands and feet but would not suffer the corruption of the grave.

• It was through His incarnation, obedient life, humiliation, and suffering, that He was made perfect.

• Indeed, we are told that God has prepared good works for us to do, and we are also told that we will be rewarded on our works (or suffer loss) at the Bema Seat of Christ.

• David was a man whose life illustrated much of the suffering service of Christ's ministry during his sojourn on earth.

• Why should God the Son suffer the concentrated horror of those three eternal hours?

• We see the Lord Jesus suffering and condemned by evil men.

• Earlier in Israel's history, Isaiah spoke of the suffering Servant Who would be: Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and He shed his blood as the ransom price for the sin of the world.

• The comforting words of Jesus were given for a reason, to sustain us in times of doubt, to strengthen us in times of weakness, to support us in times of suffering, to light up this gloomy world in times of darkness and to raise us up when we falter and fall.

• Intermingled deep within His eternal character of love, there is a multiplicity of godly attributes and divine graces, for He is good and gracious, He is patient and kind, He is long-suffering, and abundant in truth.

• David acknowledged that in this world we will suffer trials and tribulations and the enemy of our soul will use every opportunity to depress our heart and shipwreck our faith, but this man of God never forgot that the Lord is in control, and the mischief of the oppressor will finally return on his own head.

• But it also reminds us that the joy of the Lord often comes through much suffering and pain, but we who are united to Christ by faith in Him, have the assurance that His grace is sufficient, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
• Abiding in Christ is often displayed as a service of suffering.
• Abiding in Christ and sharing in His suffering produces much good fruit, and is the means to lift us high above the storms of life.
• The man or woman whose life is a service of suffering, is the one that has been prepared to die to self and live to Christ - presenting their body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord.
• That I may know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, is the heart cry of all who desire to produce much fruit to the glory of God.
• The one who can take up their cross daily, renounce the things of this world, and leave the old self nailed to the Cross, is the one that understands what it means to abide in Christ, to fellowship in His suffering, to bring forth much fruit to the glory of God, and to experience abundant life and fullness of joy.
• Christ spoke many things to His disciples so that His love and peace could reign in their hearts and that their joy might be full to overflowing, but the joy of the Lord is often couched in the fellowship of His suffering and pain so that the good purpose of the Lord is fulfilled to their eternal benefit and to the glory of God.

• The Spirit-inspired words of Isaiah were an encouragement to the people of Israel, who were suffering affliction during their Babylonian captivity, and it is the same Holy Spirit that speaks to us and gently leads the body of Christ through the peaks and pitfalls of this worldly system. 

• But while being reviled Jesus did not retaliate, and while suffering He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to the One Who judges the heart.
• We too are called to suffer for righteousness sake and we are to patiently endure the unjust treatment that we receive at the hands of sinful men in this fallen world, for this is acceptable to God and well-pleasing in His sight.

• There can be no shadow of change in His decrees, for God is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness; and the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

• We discover that His is a love that is beyond human comprehension, and a love that is rooted and grounded in His eternal righteousness, justice, long-suffering, and grace.

• How could it be that the Father was willing to wound His beloved Son, to crush Him, and cause Him to suffer death on the cross so that we might live?

• The spiritual life to which we are all called is not an easy path to tread, and Christ Himself warned us that in this world we will have tribulation, while Paul reminds us that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
• Many believe that becoming a Christian will guarantee a life of simplicity and ease, affluence and comfort, but we are warned in many passages that those who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life will meet with persecution and will be made to suffer because of their stand for Christ.
• Indeed, John not only tells us that we will suffer but informs us that as Christians we were called to suffer for righteousness' sake.
• He explains that suffering is our mission in life, because Christ Who committed no sin and lived a perfect life, suffered on the Cross for our sake.
• Just as the Lord Jesus suffered without complaint for doing good on our behalf and for the glory of God, we too are called to suffer for righteousness' sake, which also glorifies our Father in heaven.
• He laid aside His glory to suffer and die so that we might believe and be saved, and it is Christ's character and conduct that we are to emulate, for He committed no sin nor was any deceit found in His mouth.
• Let us seek to emulate our Lord Jesus in all things, by keeping our old sin nature nailed to the Cross and appropriating all that we have in our new life in Christ, for we have been called for this purpose: to suffer for Christ's sake Who left us an example that we should follow in His steps.

• Paul's illustration follows a section on Christian suffering that encourages us to hold on to our blessed hope in Christ.
• He reminds us that although we are living in a deteriorating, mortal body which may have to endure persecution or even premature death, our inner man is being renewed daily, and the passing nature of our present suffering and persecution is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory; a splendour that is far beyond any comparison.
• It is as he speaks of the suffering of a Christian that he brings up the subject of death, but rather than instilling fear and uncertainty in our heart, he enters into a comprehensive discourse that suggests that death is simply a dismantling of this earthly body.

• Her suffering resulted from the sin of her unrepentant people.
• And although the suffering city of Jerusalem is not identified as a 'type' of Christ, there is a clear parallel with the untold pain and suffering He underwent when He gave His sinless life as the ransom price for the sin of the whole world.

• As we reflect on Israel's fractured history, their rebellious past, and God's long-suffering grace, we are brought face to face with the truth that our words and deeds are recorded in God's book.
• Praise God that He continues to be long suffering and of great goodness towards all His children - but surely, as we think back over Israel's faithlessness and ingratitude, there is much for us to learn from the lessons of their past failure.

• How appropriate, therefore, that despite the indescribable grief of our suffering Saviour Who willingly became sin so that all that trust in His name might be saved, the very next words of this beautiful Psalm that demands our eternal praise and worship proclaims, But You are holy - O You that inhabit the praises of Israel.

• To watch the Son of God suffer so cruelly on the Cross, must have broken the heart of so many people who loved this holy Lamb of God Who had come to seek and to save that which was lost.We are told in Mark, that Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council who was also awaiting the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus, which he wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb.

• Jesus Himself warned us that in this world we would have tribulation and Paul added that all who live godly lives will suffer persecution.

• The beautiful perfume of frankincense is said to signify His sacrifice, priesthood, and perfection, while the bitter taste of myrrh depicts Him as Prophet and represents His suffering and death on the Cross.Whatever their symbolism, these gifts from Gentile sages who had journeyed from the east to find Jesus, gave Joseph the means to provide for Mary and Jesus during His sojourn in Egypt – as Herod carried out his murderous attempts to destroy His life.However, the beautiful picture of these Gentile sages arriving from faraway lands with gifts, was one that was foretold by Isaiah the prophet, centuries earlier, for he wrote that Gentiles will come bringing gifts of gold and frankincense and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.

• And Paul learned that he must suffer much for Christ's name's sake.

• And even in these times of deep sadness and distress, we can, like our Saviour, gain a closer intimacy with our Father through the things that we suffer in obedience to His will.

• The Lord is long-suffering and of great goodness and He knows that doubts and discouragement can be triggered by so many things that mar our lives, and so He often expands His words of comfort with a beautiful postscript, underlining and emphasising His great goodness and loving-kindness: Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

• When considering the choices Abraham was required to make between accepting God's permanent promises of eternal reward and great blessings through faith in the Person of Christ, and taking the temporal treats and passing perks of this fallen world system, we understand that the renouncing the things of this present life, and the suffering we may have to face, are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred upon us.

• He is merciful, kind, long-suffering, and of great goodness.

• The only alternative is to refuse to believe on the only begotten son of God, in which case those who refuse God's offer of salvation by grace through faith in Him will suffer the full force of God's anger, wrath, and condemnation because they did not believe on the only begotten Son of God.

• They remembered His compassionate mercy and long-suffering kindness, when their forefathers were subjugated in the land of Egypt and the Lord redeemed them from the hand of their enemy.

• However, discipleship means that day by day we are to be identified with Christ's suffering.

• Peter instructs servants to be submissive to their masters, irrespective of whether they are good and gentle men or unreasonable overlords who cause their slaves unjust suffering.
• And he used Christ's own suffering as the perfect example of someone who when reviled, did not revile in return, and when suffering, did not respond with threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.
• It was in this context of godly submission in the midst of suffering, that Peter moved from the conduct of slaves to the conduct of wives and their husbands, and for six whole verses he addresses the virtues of a godly wife, before attending to the conduct of Christian husbands.

• Today believers are having to endure much suffering at the hands of the ungodly, but when we can recognise that God takes the trials of the enemy, and uses them as tests of our faith, we can identify the sufferings we undergo as godly discipline, which the Lord is using in our lives for our eternal benefit.

• On the one hand, he is a jealous, avenging, wrathful God Who is protective for the well-being of the ones He loves, while on the other hand He is shown to be long suffering and of great goodness.
• The Lord was long-suffering with the antediluvian population of the earth, but the wickedness of pre-flood people became so intense that the Lord finally poured out His judgement on a God-hating, evil world - but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and He protected Noah and his family with a godly jealousy.
• The Lord was long-suffering with the city of Nineveh, and 100 years before Nahum pronounced God's vengeance and wrath over the wicked city of Nineveh, God had sent Jonah to preach the gospel of salvation to the evil men of that nation.

• Christ is appointed one day to sit on David's throne and reign as Israel's King of kings, but first He had to come as Israel's suffering Servant as prophesied of old.

• There may be times when we are being tempted and tried... times when we think that we are unique and that the assaults of the enemy are focused on us alone - but we must never forget that every born-again child of God knows the same experience of suffering - and like them, there is no temptation that will overtake us that is not common to everyman.

• He is the ever-present immutable God today, Who remains the same through all our 'todays', for He chose the cup of suffering, pain, and death so that we might be made whole, be healed, and have life eternal.

• I am sure that Paul had a special place in his heart for these brothers and sisters in Thessalonica who received the message of salvation with joy and peace, who believed despite the severe suffering they were undergoing, and whose exemplary faith was talked about across Greece and beyond: Brethren, beloved by God, he wrote we recognise and know that He has selected you; He has chosen you.

• We live in a fallen world with a spiritual enemy who prowls around as a roaring lion – or appears to us as an angel of light – seeking to devour, destroy, or deceive us.Jesus clearly told us that in this world, those who believe in Him would suffer persecution and pain, and Paul expands that truth by adding that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
• James encourages us by explaining that those who persevere under trial, on the journey to maturity, will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him, and He exhorts us to... consider it all joy, when we encounter various trials.There is an urgency in this final letter that Paul wrote before his death, to remind us that ALL who live godly lives in Christ will certainly suffer persecution.
• But we have also been supplied with many precious promises which reassure us that His grace is sufficient, His strength is perfected in our weakness, that suffering for Christ's sake is a privilege for the child of God, and that no amount of trials, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword, is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.May we grasp this truth in His strength, and remember that in this world we will have tribulation… but that if we fellowship in the suffering of Christ, we will also be glorified with Him Who loved us so much that He died for us, that we might live for Him – forever.

• And yet he also wrote of God's long-suffering patience, His loving-kindness, and His never-failing tender-mercy towards His errant people.

• God knew Israel would reject their Messiah from the beginning, which is why prophets foretold of both His First Advent, when He came as the suffering Servant, and His Second Coming, when He will return as Israel's conquering King.

• The person who does the will of God will abide forever, while the one who does not do the will of God, by hankering after the transitory things of this fleeting world which are here today but tomorrow are thrown into the fire, will suffer eternal loss - loss of their life for the unbeliever and loss of their reward for the carnal Christian.

• The prologue sets the stage for the entire dialogue that would follow, but only the reader knows the reason behind Job's suffering.
• Even in the early stages of the drama, we recognise that Job's suffering attracted friends who preferred to gloat over his pain rather than fulfilling the role of a godly comforter and true friend who draws close to a suffering brother and fulfils the law of Christ: Bearing one another's burdens. 
• Instead, we gain a greater understanding of the importance of prayer, the nature of God, the reason behind much human suffering, and how the Lord deals graciously with His servants.

• The barbaric suffering and humiliation that accompanied Christ’s cruel death at Calvary was designed to bring to completion God’s foreordained redemption plan which He purposed would bring many condemned sinners back into a right relationship with God, by faith, and adopt them into His family as His children.The death of His only begotten Son was acceptable to the Father, because He alone was worthy to pay the price for the sin of the world.
• God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts, but it demonstrates His divine wisdom - for Christ's suffering fulfilled the righteous requirements of God’s justice and exemplifies the superabundance of His goodness, His grace, His love, and His merciful-kindness.Only the shed blood of a perfect Man was sufficient to satisfy God's wrath against sin.
• But to achieve this God-ordained intention which was planned and purposed in the eternal council chambers of God, our precious Saviour had to suffer.

• He then poured out a series of questions to Israel's long-suffering God: Will You be angry with us forever?

• Nobody wants to endure suffering, pain, or persecution.
• Yet too often, we are influenced by the world and can become tainted with a humanistic mindset. Secular things that are exalted by man are often despised by the Lord, yet elements that are abhorrent to men... like suffering and persecution, are of the greatest value to our Father and bring to fruition abundant blessings and a joy beyond human comprehension.There is a vast difference, however, between the suffering that comes because one is a Christian and the suffering that comes through evildoing.
• The suffering we endure for Christ's sake today, has a purifying effect.
• The suffering the ungodly will face are the fires of judgement which will serve as punishment for their rejection of the truth.
• The hatred and revilings we receive because we are His should not surprise us - rather we should rejoice, for when we suffer on His account He is glorified and because we are identified with our Saviour, the Spirit of glory and God rests upon us.In the early days of the Church, it was considered to be a privilege to be considered worthy to be persecuted for the cause of Christ, and believers rejoiced that they could suffer shame for His name’s sake.
• Suffering for righteousness sake is an indication that the Spirit of Christ rests upon us and although the name of Jesus is blasphemed by the persecutors of His blood-bought children, nevertheless our Saviour is glorified by the sufferings of His persecuted saints.Should we not consider it our greatest privilege to be insulted for Him?
• Should we not identify with Christ as partners in His suffering and rejoice since we are partakers in His humiliation?Although we do not glorify God FOR the suffering we have to endure, we ought to glorify God IN our suffering and we should glorify Him for all that He will accomplish THROUGH our pain and persecution.
• Those of us that do are blessed, indeed.What a joy to know that the suffering and insults we take on behalf of Christ are, in fact, a heavenly blessing given to us from above because the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon us.

• None of us want to suffer.
• Often we actively resist suffering, and sometimes we view it as correction or punishment from God, especially if it is a fellow believer who is suffering!
• And yet in his first epistle, Peter tells his readers that if we suffer at the hands of ungodly people for righteousness' sake, we are blessed indeed.
• Paul reminds us that believers are not only called to trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation but also to be ready to suffer for His name's sake.
• And as we go through life, we are even called to rejoice in our adversities, knowing that adversity and suffering works endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
• Indeed, in his first letter to Timothy, he explains that ALL who live godly lives WILL suffer persecution for the sake of the gospel.
• Suffering for righteousness' sake must never be confused with the suffering we experience as a consequence of our sin or wrong choices.
• If we suffer for doing what is wrong, we may have to face some serious repercussions.
• But if we suffer for doing what is right in God's eyes; obeying His Word, holding fast to that which is good, proclaiming the good news of the gospel, or simply placing our faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour, we may well have to face mocking, threats, persecution, and death. 
• We should not shrink back from suffering for righteousness' sake, but regard it as a privilege and honour to be worthy to suffer for Him Who died for us and rose again to save our soul.
• Peter tells us that suffering for the sake of righteousness is a blessing that brings with it great reward and immense joy.
• Paul said that the intimidation and trouble Christians face because of our faith in Christ, is sharing in His suffering: That I may know Christ, was Paul's prayer.
• That I may fellowship in His suffering.
• Oh not Christ's suffering on the Cross, only HE could pay the price for sin, but we can be identified with the One who endured the Cross for us.
• Suffering turns into a blessing, when we realise that we are being identified with Him and we are favoured by the Father if we suffer for righteousness' sake: Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake, are Christ's astonishing and comforting words.
• And let us remember that if we are willing to suffer for Him, we have the immense joy of reigning with him in heavenly places.

• God is long-suffering and of great goodness, but the day is getting closer when every knee will bow down to the Lord and every tongue will give praise to God: At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• He wanted to experience the power that came through Christ's Resurrection and he desired to participate in his Saviour's suffering and become like Him in His death.
• ot the substitutionary suffering for the sin of mankind which Christ alone could achieve but Paul was content to suffer for Christ's sake in order that he might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

• He knows that unless our Christian life produces the fruit of the Spirit; long-suffering, patience, love, and joy, as well as humility, goodness, kindness, and self-control, it will profit us nothing and will not glorify our Father, Who is in heaven.
• We are to suffer patiently for HIM and to follow the example of Christ Himself, the suffering servant Who learned obedience by the things that He suffered.
• May we be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might so that like Christ, we too may learn obedience by the things that we suffer and patiently endure in this evil day with joy, knowing that His grace is sufficient, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

• What godly lives we would live if it were not for the foibles of others!But this life is fraught with disappointments and disturbances and we are warned that murmuring is the consequence of unbelief, while disputing is the product of a discontented heart which brings in its wake grievances, disease, envy, and sin, as exemplified in Israel’s forty-year long wilderness wanderings when the people murmured against God's wisdom and complained about His gracious provision.God, in His wisdom, knows that patient-endurance, humility of heart, and a soul that trusts in the Lord, does not spring forth from a stress-free life but is the out-working of a man or woman who has received God’s sufficient grace to face any temptation or trial which may happen along the way.Paul knew that a Christ-like character is not birthed from a bed of ease and that blameless integrity and spiritual maturity takes many long years, if not a lifetime, to fully develop as one is tried like silver or honed in a millstone of suffering. God uses the storms, sadness, disappointments, and dangers of everyday life, as well as the difficult people that cross our path, to conform us into the likeness of Christ.Let us, therefore, resist the temptation to enter into murmurings and disputes with one another and let us trust the Lord in all things so that our lives will be a living sacrifice that becomes, to Him, a sweet fragrance and we will become blameless and pure children of God, without fault in this warped and crooked generation.

• The suffering Servant of the Gospels, Who was so gentle and meek at His first coming, is revealed as King of kings and Lord of lords Who will strike down the nations and rule them with a rod of iron, as He treads His enemies underfoot in the wine-press of God's fierce anger.

• And so He was made a little lower than the angels so that through His suffering and death on behalf of all mankind He might taste death for everyone and bring many sons to glory.

• In Job, we read of a man whose spiritual character and understanding grew when he was placed under extreme pressure, and Israel's king David discovered the trials he faced only served to develop his understanding and appreciation of God's long-suffering faithfulness towards His people.

• Nicodemus knew the familiar story where a deadly bite from the fangs of fiery serpents was Israel's fatal punishment for their foolish rebellion and their grave sin against their long-suffering God.

• He was the one who would suffer and die on a cruel Roman cross.

• Paul longed to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection, but his heart was also to share in Christ's suffering, for he desired intimate association with the Lord Who bought him, in the everyday circumstances of his life.

• The saving the soul and our eternal victory in Christ is diametrically opposite of shrinking back to perdition and eternal destruction. Because we have been eternally redeemed by the blood of Christ, let us live by faith - to the saving of the soul so that we may reap a reward and not suffer loss of reward.

• In this verse, he made it clear that he was ready and willing to undergo all kinds of suffering, sadness, difficulties, and dangers, for the certain hope we have in our glorious resurrection from the dead; when this mortal will put on immortality and this perishable body, that is progressively decaying and wasting away, will put on the imperishable.

• They are already clothed in spiritual honour, glory, immortality, and Christ's righteousness, and will also receive rewards for any good work carried out in spirit and in truth, but they will also suffer loss of reward for fleshly works.

• And just as He honoured His Father, by suffering on our account, we are to be similarly motivated to live for Christ and do only those things that honour Him, especially as the time for His return daws ever closer.
• But as a good steward of the manifold grace of God, through faith in Christ, Peter urges us to live a God-honouring life, reminding us that as a soldier of Christ we should not be surprised when we suffer for His sake, but consider it both a privilege and an honour.
• Having reminded us that the time for behaving like unsaved Gentiles is behind us and living for God should be our priority, Peter gives a very important perspective on suffering for Christ: Beloved, he entreats us, don't be surprised at the fiery ordeal you go through, as if something strange were happening.
• Suffering is not strange, we are told by Peter in this passage.
• Suffering should be understood as part of a normal Christian life and when we understand and accept this, our whole attitude towards suffering will change.
• If we could simply alter our outlook and accept that the persecution of Christians in this world honours Christ and that any suffering we endure for righteousness’s sake brings glory to our Father in heaven, then we would be able to rejoice in the midst of our suffering, knowing that name of Christ is lifted up and the Spirit of glory rests upon us!
• Suffering for righteousness' sake brings glory to Christ, but when we suffer for our unrighteous deeds or bring condemnation on ourselves because of some ungodly behaviour, we bring no honour to our Heavenly Father and Peter exhorts us: Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler.
• In this verse, Peter lists a few of the dishonourable ways that cause a Christian to go through suffering and shame.
• Unrighteous deeds must be punished, and although the sins of every believer, past, present, and future, are forgiven at the Cross, there are serious consequences for Christians to face when we bring suffering upon ourselves, due to our own, foolish wrong-doings.
• The only suffering and shame that brings glory to God is when we are persecuted for Christ, when we suffer for righteousness' sake.
• Although Peter specifically mentions the suffering and shame that results from murder or theft, and warns against committing ANY evil deed or disgracing ourselves as a troublesome meddler, he makes it clear in the context of the entire passage, that ALL works of unrighteousness dishonour the Lord Who bought us.
• How vital, therefore, to take to heart the perspective on suffering that Peter presents in this verse.

• God used His life as a living illustration of Israel's spiritual adultery and gross apostasy, as contrasted with the long-suffering mercy, boundless love, and inexhaustible grace of God.  

• Just as Christ suffered on our account, for the joy that was set before Him, so we are to suffer for His sake for the joy we find in Him.

• This was in tribute to God's long-suffering, praise for His goodness and grace, thanksgiving for His everlasting mercy, and demonstrated a united reverence towards His holy name.
• Like Israel, we too give grateful thanks and praise to Him for His faithfulness to His children, and we too rejoice in His long-suffering forbearance towards us: His goodness, His grace, and His everlasting mercy.

• Long-suffering and patient endurance in the midst of provocation, and a kindness that looks first to the needs of others, are the first two evidences of love that Paul pens to this unspiritual crowd - for love is patient, and love is kind.

• We should be long suffering and make allowances for the faults and failures of others and we should endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

• Paul also understood that in the measure that we suffer for the sake of Christ, so also are we given abundant comfort and sufficient grace, no matter what we may have to face.
• Paul came to understand that when the Body of Christ (the Church) is suffering, so too is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
• When we suffer in this world, we are sharing in His suffering and He in ours.
• Like Paul we need to come to a deep understanding that willing submission to suffer for Christ's sake is the singular path to real strength, true joy, and a peace that passes human comprehension: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation and comfort also abounds through Christ.

• Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

• While he never cursed God for the terrible suffering he was facing, Job cursed the day of his birth.
• It was at this point that Eliphaz, one of his three, silent friends, felt compelled to respond to Job's long, defensive, soliloquy of self-pity about his suffering.
• Eliphaz pointed out boldly, that despite Job's apparently impeccable character, the reason for his shocking downfall and the suffering he was going through, was his own lack of integrity.
• He reasoned that Job would not complain in this way unless he was in some way guilty of some sin, that his guilty conscience was the root of his suffering.

• They were warned, however, that should they be disobedient to Him and break their promise, they would face God's chastening hand and would suffer the consequences of their foolish rebellion - which would result in curses and death.

• When we recognise what amazing grace the Lord is showing to this group of unspiritual Christians who were engaging in such ungodly pursuits and divisive arguments, it should cause us to humble ourselves before our long-suffering Father, Who demonstrates equal grace and patience towards every one of His children.

• But through His obedience to suffer and die for the sins of the world, God has highly exulted Him and given Him a name that is above every name: That at that name of Jesus every knee should bow.

• While the other Gospels often portrayed Jesus as the suffering Servant and Son of Man, John presents Him as Son of God and God the Son.

• It is a beautiful demonstration that the goodness, grace, and mercy of our long-suffering God, remains open to ALL who will simply trust in His Word, remember His goodness, genuinely return to Him with heart and soul - and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

• In order for Him to be qualified and equipped to become man's representative and a merciful High Priest, He had to be perfected through suffering, even the death of the Cross.

• Similarly, Christians who are genuinely saved by God's grace through faith will not lose their salvation, but will suffer loss of a promised reward.
• Those that are truly redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, but live in unbelief are saved, yet as though by fire and will suffer loss of reward.

• When the nation revered and honoured the Lord, the land was peaceful and the crops were plentiful, but when rebellion against the Lord and unbelief filled their hearts, they had to suffer the consequences of their disobedience.

• Praise God for the grace He provides for living, for the grace to suffer, the grace to face persecution, and for dying grace at the end of our pilgrimage.

• Before Jesus could be enthroned as the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords, He must first die the cruel death of the Suffering Servant, so that by His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, He could smash Satan's spiritual authority over the earth and man, destroy the works of the evil one, crush the serpent's head as prophesied in Genesis, and claim victory over the current realm of Satan.
• He came as a suffering Servant and our kinsman-Redeemer to defeat Satan and sin and death and hell, so that all who believe on HIM would not remain chained in Satan's snare and perish, but would be redeemed - bought and paid for with His blood.

• To suffer at the hands of an enemy and yet to unfailingly bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things, and to confer blessings on their heads of those that despitefully use us or threaten us, can never be achieved by a person that is not in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God... and is in a right relationship with the Father.

• He often referred to his own suffering and difficulties as a living example of a faithful soldier, a diligent farmer, or a long-distance runner who is required to press on to the goal of their calling no matter what difficulty, dangers, suffering, or abuse they may receive.
• And Paul was able to rejoice in his suffering for the Body of Christ, for in so doing he knew that he was sharing in Christ's suffering: And was filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His Body's sake, which is the Church.
• He made no complaint about the suffering and pain he endured in order to ensure that the gospel of grace was proclaimed, for he knew that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed hereafter.

• So Paul became an itinerant preacher who would suffer many things in sharing the gospel of His Saviour and Lord.

• But as one continues to read the book of Micah, we discover that God is long suffering and very merciful, and that blessings will one day flow... following His anger.

• The final section of the epistle to James, encourages prayer in times of suffering, in times of rejoicing, and also in times of sickness.
• Whether we are in good health of suffering some malady, whether we are an elder in a church assembly or not, let us remember that prayer is a great privilege for all Christians, but let it be the 'prayer of faith'.

• They came to understand that Christ was the suffering servant about whom Isaiah spoke, as well as the triumphant King Who would sit on the throne of David.
• All those that follow the Lord Jesus will go through tribulations and suffer persecution for their faith.

• Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.
• But Jesus also told them that just as John had suffered and died at their hands, as a result of his being rejected, so also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. John, the forerunner of Christ, suffered and was killed... and in like manner, Jesus, the Son of Man would also suffer at their hands - and be crucified.

• We who gain Christ by faith may suffer much persecution and derision and we may lose everything that is valued by the world.

• The sun hid its light as three hours of oppressive darkness shrouded the blackened sky, until Christ screamed in horror as He met the deepest point of suffering possible - separation from the Father.The price of sin had to be paid by the One and Only Sacrifice for sin, and it demanded that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit pour out the wrath of God upon the holy Son of God, by turning their face away from the One Whom They had loved for an eternity.No wonder that the Son cried out in anguish: My God!

• Instead of the self-congratulatory attitude of his critics and the way they bragged about their strengths and achievements, Paul chose to boast about the things that highlighted his feebleness, his weakness, and his suffering.
• When we are humble before the Lord He will exalt us, and when we suffer for righteousness' sake we can be joyful, for Christ is our Head and in Him, when we are weak, we are strong.

• The benefits of sleep are not confined to righteous men, for God is good and gracious - long-suffering and of great kindness to all humanity.

• Although we may face physical suffering, financial hardships, material deprivation, other deep losses, and even death, we have God's absolute assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, including tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, poison, the sword... and even the perils of the 21st century.

• Because of the suffering his letter of admonition had caused them, Paul was keen to re-visit these Corinthian brothers in Christ, but was reluctant to do so in case they were still smouldering from the severe scolding they had received from his earlier communication.

• The spiritual believer sows his life unto the Spirit by knowing Christ, fellowshiping in His suffering, and pressing on to the end, and in so doing will reap a good and fruitful harvest that is well-pleasing to the Lord.
• The carnal believer chooses not to die to self and does not take up his cross daily and will therefore sow his life as unto his own flesh, resulting in him losing heart and suffering loss.

• Much of the epistle deals with suffering in the Christian life.

• He knew that he was sharing in the suffering of the Lord, Whom he loved so dearly and Who arrested his heart on that road to Damascus.
• However, he was sharing in the ongoing suffering that is the birthright of ALL who believe.
• Paul knew that every believer is identified with Christ and those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake are a partaker in Christ's suffering.
• Paul was partaking in Christ's suffering.
• Paul was willing to suffer for Christ, so others would know the truth.
• He recognised that suffering for Christ was a privilege, and we who are born again should be willing to do the same.
• For if indeed we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified with Him.

• Why should he suffer so much, was his questioning murmur.

• They broke their covenant with God and had to suffer the consequences of their sin.
• The little remnant of faithful men and women were well aware that the nation of Israel would have to suffer captivity and be dispersed from their homeland, because of the sin of their fathers and the people's continued apostasy.

• Job is introduced to us as a righteous man whom the Lord allowed to undergo some severe suffering that affected him financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
• Job was further afflicted with painful boils that covered his entire body, and only the reader of the book of Job is aware of the reason for his suffering.
• Job's reaction to his suffering not only served to confirm his integrity before Satan and validate God's perfect character.

• It speaks of deliverance, pardon, comfort, and restoration, and tells of the rejection of their Messiah; the suffering Servant of God, and the amazing sacrifice of Himself for sin.
• God is not mocked, and He has clearly told us that the just shall live by faith, while those that deny His name and reject His Christ will suffer the eternal consequences of rejecting the one and only sacrifice for sin.

• Christ prayed if there was any other way to accomplish our great salvation, but the answer was 'no' and He was required to drain His cup of suffering on our account.

• Those that do not produce spiritual fruit by not abiding in Christ shall suffer loss, and while they are still saved, their fruit is gathered up, thrown in the fire, and burned.
• If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

• But carnal believers that seek to use their gifts and carry out the works the Lord has prepared for them to do in the power of their own flesh (or simply ignore them), will live a life that is unfruitful and in the end, they will suffer loss.

• It was from this point forward that the Lord set His face as a flint towards Jerusalem and Calvary, for we read: And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
• Jesus did come as the conquering hero of their expectation at that time. First, He must suffer many things.

• He is a patient God Who is long-suffering and of great goodness; an immutable God Who is unchanging and unchangeable; a God Who will never go back on His Word, either the earthly promises which He gave to nation of Israel or the many precious promises which by grace through faith in Christ, He has given to the Church, which is His Body.
• May we lift up our voices in praise and thanksgiving that He is the unchanging and unchangeable God Who is faithful and true, long-suffering, of great mercy, and Who changes not.

• Repeatedly, Jesus had told his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things: that He would be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and that He would be handed over to the Gentiles and delivered into the hands of sinful men.

• Gifts must flow from the fruit of the Spirit, which is rooted in LOVE and which overspills into joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.

• Often we read of the foolishness, fretfulness, disobedience, and rebellion of sinful man, but then in contrast we read of the faithfulness, graciousness, and long-suffering of the Lord.

• Promises of blessing for obedience and warnings of curses for disobedience had nothing to do with salvation, but had everything to do with victory and future rewards - or suffering defeat and the loss of rewards.
• A faithful steward who lives a life of trust in God will be rewarded with gold, silver, or precious stones, while one that produces works of the flesh will suffer the loss of reward.

• However, there are a number of warnings designed to prevent the spiritual believer from suffering the loss of reward, by reverting into a carnal Christianity or legalistic practices, and here we are warned: We are the Household of God, if we hold fast our confidence and the rejoicing of our hope, firm until the end.

• SECOND, we are to identify with His suffering and death.
• However, to take up our cross is to identify with the suffering of Christ - NOT His sacrificial work on the Cross which He alone accomplished.

• Paul is not the only Christian that has had to suffer much for the Lord Jesus Christ because of his Christian faith.

• They were so stricken with grief and pain, that they were unaware that the Lord was with them – talking to them, comforting them, helping them to understand, and enquiring of them, Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory?
• They had also forgotten that He had told them many times that He would rise from the dead on the third day, and that Old Testament Scriptures gave ample evidence that the Christ of God must suffer and die if He were to rise again and enter into His heavenly glory.
• Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and enter into His glory?

• Suffering for the sake of Christ is the inevitable consequence of trusting the Lord Jesus for our redemption, but Peter reminds us that if we stand firm in our faith, relying on the Lord and proclaiming His name, we can resist the devil.
• We can even rejoice in our suffering, because when our faith is tested God will be with us, and His grace is perfected in our weakness and our helpless estate.

• Israel were to be God's mouthpiece to tell the nations of God's goodness and grace, His long-suffering and mercy, His plan of redemption and offer of salvation to all who would trust in His name.

• The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, but He is also a God of justice and Israel's disobedience had to be punished.

• The Lord Jesus was sent by God to be the suffering Servant for the sin of mankind, and throughout His earthly life He became the perfect example of dignity, greatness, humility, and gracious service.

• However sin must always be punished, and when God's plan of redemption is traced from Genesis to Revelation, it is the long-suffering and merciful nature of God that is clearly identified in all His wonderful works, and His goodness and grace towards the rebellious heart of man is clearly seen.

• He was tempted and tried like we are, yet without sin, and Jesus was also required to suffer deep pain in the fires of earthly affliction and false accusations.
• His weight of suffering was a refining ministry that the Lord had permitted to overtake His faithful servant, with a purpose in view.

• Jesus warned that while on earth we would suffer tribulation and be hated of all men because of Him.

• Comfort escorts those crushed by suffering and sorrow, as the promises of God's messianic kingdom begin to be proclaimed.
• While this entire section begins with suffering and pain, it touches on many emotions as David remembers the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendents.

• Yet restoration was promised to the nation when they turned from their wicked ways, while gracious redemption is pictured through the life-story of Hosea's adulterous wife when she was brought back into fellowship with her long-suffering husband - which will happen for Israel at the close of the 7-year Tribulation Period.

• He was also instructed to reprove, rebuke, exhort, and encourage the flock of Christ in two particular ways: with all long-suffering, and with sound doctrine.

• Although we are exhorted to share in one another's suffering and sorrows and help to restore those that have fallen, we are also to pay attention to our own responsibilities, recognising that one day we will stand alone before the judgement seat of Christ to give an account of the life we lived on earth.

• Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had informed them that He must suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes.

• And in this section he is seeking to comfort them in the pain they had to endure, and to re-establish their close communion and mutual love by commending them for their changed behaviour, and empathising with the hurt and suffering they had endured.

• What a wonderful example of God’s loving-kindness and gracious patience towards His people is discovered in the pages of Isaiah, and what graphic details are painted of Jesus, the suffering Servant, Who was despised and rejected of men.

• God is long-suffering and full of loving-kindness and mercy, and it is not His desire that any should perish, but that all men should repent and turn to Him, but when wickedness and evil is multiplied, when superstition and immorality abounds, when idolatry and idol worship has contaminated a society, and the repeated call to repent is ignored and ridiculed, there comes a time when God must carry out punishment on an evil and perverse generation.
• the call for Israel to repent of their sin and turn from their idolatry, or suffer the consequences of their ongoing rebellion.
• And although God remained faithful, long-suffering, and full of loving-kindness towards His chosen people, they became unfaithful, blasphemed His name, ignored His commands, refused to trust His Word, and fell into shocking idolatry and apostasy.

• He came as the suffering servant of God, Whose death, burial, and Resurrection would be good news for all who would trust in His sacrificial death for salvation.

• God is faithful to His people, Israel, even when they go astray and despite their prolonged rebellion against their long-suffering, covenant-keeping God.

• He remembered the solemn covenant that the Lord made with His people, and Joshua wanted to instil in their hearts the goodness, faithfulness, and long-suffering of their Creator God and gracious Saviour.

• But although we are called to put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering, where gracious consideration and genuine forgiveness of others are identified as vital qualities of the believer, it is love ruling the heart and peace protecting the soul that is given the main emphasis here: But above ALL, put on love which binds these things together the unity of the Spirit, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

• For many centuries, God was long suffering towards His people, Israel, who refused to listen to His voice and turn from their wicked ways.
• The long-suffering God of Israel Who sent His only begotten Son into the world to bring His chosen nation back to Himself and bring forth much good fruit - found none.

• Bitter suffering and significant poverty had to be endured by the persecuted believers in the church at Smyrna, but unlike His letters to the other six churches in the book of Revelation, Christ gave no rebuke to this little Christian community.
• Smyrna means 'myrrh', which refers to the sweet-smelling perfume used to embalm the dead... and like their suffering Saviour, these believers in Smyrna were going through some of the worst persecution that any Christian community had faced.
• Christ warned that even more suffering and persecution was ahead.
• What encouragement to discover that enduring suffering and faithfulness to the point of death, would also secure for them the coveted Crown-of-Life - which the Lord has promised to all that love Him.
• We are to walk in spirit and truth and to suffer persecution and even death, for the sake of Christ - and when this is done as outlined in this epistle to the church at Smyrna, it will qualify us for an additional reward - the glorious Crown-of-Life!

• Paul gives additional detail about this coming Bema-seat judgement of believers, where rewards will be handed out to those that lived spiritual lives... while carnal believers who lived for self and not for Christ, will suffer loss.
• they will be eternally saved yet as though by fire, but they will suffer loss of rewards.
• However, Christians who choose to live selfish, fleshly lives that dishonour the Lord, will suffer loss of reward.

• Likewise, those that hunger after the Lord, weep for their sin, and suffer for righteousness’ sake, will be blessed.
• Though God is a God of justice and must punish all sin, nevertheless He is a God of love and mercy, kindness and compassion, long-suffering and of great goodness, and as His children, we are instructed to display the same godly qualities and merciful attitude that He has shown to each one of us who has been saved by grace through faith in Him.

• However, those that lust in their heart have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and will suffer the eternal consequences for their rebellion against the Almighty and their rejection of His eternal love.
• But God in His long-suffering, loving-kindness, and great mercy, has extended the period of His gracious forgiveness to include you, and to include me, and to include all who will turn from their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, Who alone deserves our eternal praise and worship.

• He details their past history (chapter 9), their present status (chapter 10), their future salvation (chapter 11), and the long-suffering mercy of God towards His chosen nation.

• Every Member of the Godhead is merciful and kind, long-suffering, and of great goodness, and as history unfolds through the pages of Scripture, we can see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, having distinct duties and tasks in the great unfolding work of salvation.

• Instead, he rejoiced that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ, blessed to be able to fellowship in the suffering of the Lord, Whom he loved so dearly.

• Paul was never ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for he knew it was the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes and so he reminded Timothy, and us, that suffering for Christ's sake is a heavenly badge of honour, and encouraged us: Join with me in suffering for the sake of the gospel, according to the power of God.
• May we never forget that suffering is part of the course, and that there is laid-up for us a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous Judge, will give all who love Him and long for His return.

• Did you not understand that Christ had to suffer these things in order to enter into His glory? And then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them ALL the things concerning Himself in ALL the Scriptures.
• They came to understand that the Messiah had to suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day, if the plan of salvation, which God ordained in eternity past, was to accomplish its great work of man's reconciliation to God, the redemption of human-kind, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting, for all who would believe on His name.

• We are exhorted, as children of God who are born-again in Christ, towards purity of heart, the pursuit of peace, compassion, mercy, and godly living... and yet this epistle is written during a time of severe suffering and increasingly intense Christian persecution.
• Peter cautioned the Church that in the midst of this heightened hatred for God and escalating animosity towards those that are His, we are to maintain a clear conscience in thought, word, and deed, and to endure the inevitable suffering, with a dignified, Christ-like courage.
• We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and one Christian characteristic that is pleasing to the Lord, is the one who can demonstrate the long-suffering goodness of God in the midst of the trials and tribulations they face.
• May we who have received the over-abounding mercy and grace of God in our lives, demonstrate a Christ-like character in our daily living - through purity of heart, the pursuit of peace, the compassion of Christ, the mercy of God, and a life that is walking in spirit and truth... even during these increasingly difficult days of severe suffering and increasingly intense Christian persecution.

• To be patient in tribulation is to know and accept that in this world we will have tribulation, but to wait patiently in our suffering without murmurings.

• But those that trust in His holy name discover Him to be faithful, trustworthy, long-suffering, and of great goodness.

• This final chapter of Zechariah, gives a detailed picture of a future day when the Lord Jesus will rescue His people Israel. Behold, the 'Day of the Lord' is coming, Zechariah writes, when your goods will be forcibly taken from you and divided in front of you... for I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem...  Israel must first suffer punishment for their sin, before their night of weeping will turn into a glorious morning of joy.
• Because Israel rejected their Messiah at His first advent, the kingdom was postponed, and the Nation is destined to suffer the consequences of crucifying the Lord of Glory.

• Peter and all who believe on Him will suffer persecution, but Christ won the victory at Calvary, and there is laid up for Peter and all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ a Crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.
• Identification with Christ means suffering in this life, but in the world to come, life everlasting.

• He may have imagined he was courageous enough to suffer martyrdom for Christ, but he had not yet been given the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit.

• There is much need for prayer and intercession in this suffering world, and there is much cause for praise and rejoicing... for God's gracious sufficiency.
• Suffering is the segment of life that should cause us to engage in much prayer and earnest entreaties, while Christ's gracious provision should elicit much rejoicing and cheerfulness of heart.
• No surprise, therefore, that James asks, Is anyone among you suffering?

• Nevertheless, the Lord is gracious and long-suffering towards His people and exhorted them to turn from their wicked ways before the fierce wrath of the Lord came upon them.

• He explained that they had acted in ignorance when they crucified their Messiah and pointed to numerous prophetic Scriptures foretelling His suffering, death, and Resurrection.

• However, an unbelieving world must suffer the consequences of rejecting the God Who created them and Who paid the price for their sin with His own blood.

• It is not only knowing that Christ has identified with our sins (sonship), but that we are to identify with Christ (discipleship). We are to identify with His surrender, His sacrifice, and His suffering.
• Our life is to be a life of surrender, suffering, sacrifice, and service to Him.
• Following the Lord in surrender, suffering and service is a daily discipline, but with wonderful benefits not only in this life, but in the eternal ages to come.

• And so, we see Jesus suffering death on our account... but we also see Him having faith that He would be raised from the dead with honour and great glory.

• In an attempt to save others from the coming devastation, he became a preacher of righteousness who started to forewarn his neighbours of impending judgement, but they scoffed at his invitation to save their soul and spurned the long-suffering patience of the Lord Who is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, for the Lord is not slack in fulfilling His Word.

• Paul told Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel nor to be afraid to testify about our Lord Jesus, adding: And don't be ashamed of ME, Christ's prisoner! Paul had been imprisoned many times for the sake of the gospel and considered it an honour to suffer for the sake of his Saviour, while relying on God's sufficient strength to bring him through victory: It was for this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, Paul reminded Timothy, as he urged him to imitate his way.
• Paul had been called and chosen as Christ's apostle to the Gentiles, and had been shown how much he would have to suffer for His sake.

• Stop questioning God's goodness because of the suffering you are going through.

• God's children will be rewarded for the good work they carry out in spirit and truth, but will suffer loss for those times when they were walking in the flesh or living for their own selfish reasons.
• Only works which are carried out in the power of the Spirit will be rewarded, while those undertaken through one's own power will suffer loss.
• Those who live by biblical standards through the power of the indwelling Spirit, will receive the reward of their inheritance, while believers who do not, will suffer the loss of heavenly reward that could have been theirs - for he who does wrong (whether a wife, husband, child, parent, master or slave) will receive the consequences of the wrong he has done - and that without partiality.

• May we be prepared to suffer the disdain of others for Christ's sake, Who loved us and gave Himself for us.

• Their lack of faith and foolish choices caused them to feel the sting of God's chastening fist, but He is long-suffering and kind, merciful, and of great goodness, and His providential hand was always there to protect and guide them back into the way of peace. 

• He prophesied that the coming Messiah would be a suffering Servant-King Who would be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, that our punishment would be upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed.

• Rejoicing in suffering may not seem the normal reaction to trials and tribulations.
• He is teaching that suffering for the sake of Christ, is a badge of honour for the saint of God.
• We are not called to rejoice because we are suffering.
• We are to rejoice IN our suffering.
• We are to maintain an attitude of thanksgiving and praise in the midst of our suffering.
• Let us take to heart this exhortation to rejoice in our suffering, for as members of the Body of Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing - not only in this world, but in the ages to come - praise His holy name.

• He looked back at all that God had done for his nation and praised God for His loving-kindness and long-suffering towards them.

• He warned that those who are called by His name will receive the same treatment from religious worldlings, for in this fallen world-system we will suffer tribulation and trials.

• He would come in holiness and righteousness to bind up their wounds and heal His people from the sin and the suffering that has plagued this world since the fall of Adam.

• Paul was ready and willing to suffer the loss of all things for the sake of Christ.
• He was prepared to give up everything for Christ's sake and was willing to suffer pain and loss for love of His name's sake.
• Paul was calling for the Philippian Christians to follow His own example of Christian living and become imitators of his life of self-sacrifice, suffering, and praise.

• But he was further emboldened by God's long-suffering mercy, to make one further request of the Lord Who shows mercy to whomsoever He will, I beseech You, Lord, was his request, show me Your glory, I pray.

• Paul was prepared to suffer great loss and endure harsh condemnation from his critics so he could be a living example of godly conduct to the Body of Christ.

• Jesus came to earth as the suffering Servant of God, so that He could save His people from their sins, by means of His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection.

• John also records: It is finished, that great cry of victory when Satan, sin, death, and hell had been forever defeated, after Jesus had endured 3 hours of the most intense physical suffering, followed by three more hours of the most terrifying time, when He underwent spiritual separation from His Father and the Holy Spirit (i.e.
• That sword of which the old man spoke would certainly have been piercing her soul to breaking point, as she watched her firstborn Son suffer on that wooden cross.
• And so, in the midst of His suffering, as He faced the full force of God's wrath by becoming the substitute for OUR wrongdoing and paying the penalty for OUR sin, Jesus knew there was one more special duty to perform, before He breathed His last.

• Paul warned us that all who live godly will suffer persecution, while James adds that we should embrace our various trials with joy, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patient endurance which will bring us into spiritual maturity and Christian completeness.
• In general, we expect to receive discipline from our imperfect, earthly fathers, but as legitimately adopted children of our Heavenly Father - how much more should we expect to be corrected by Him and trained through the things that we suffer for our greater good.
• We should not cave in, therefore, when faced with adverse circumstances, but should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God... and learn obedience by the things that we suffer so that, day by day, we may be transformed into the image and likeness of the lovely Lord Jesus.

• Both Peter and Paul recognised the importance of praying for unsaved people as well carnal Christians who are out of fellowship with the Lord, for He is long-suffering and desires that: All should be brought to repentance.

• Indeed, the Lord Jesus Himself reminded us that in this fallen, groaning world we will suffer tribulation.
• Paul also informs us that all who live godly WILL suffer persecution.

• But the tears of His people are precious to the Lord, for they are sharing in Christ's suffering and pain.

• However, bad deeds; works of unrighteousness that were undertaken by the old sin nature, will suffer a loss of reward.

• Having appeared as the suffering Servant Who was sent by the Father to expiate sin, once and for all, through the sacrificial offering of Himself on the Cross, He is revealed in the book of Revelation as the risen, ascended, glorified Son of the most High God.

• But the things that were carried out in the flesh, for personal gain or prestige, not fulfilling the good work that God prepared for us will suffer loss; eternally saved, but a loss of reward with these works being burned up as wood, hay, and stubble.
• There is no punishment for believers at the judgement seat of Christ, for there is NO condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus, although those who choose to live carnally in this world, rather than living godly in Christ Jesus, will certainly suffer the loss of their reward.
• They will suffer the loss of the reward that God desired to give them.

• Although our salvation is secure in Christ, Paul wanted us to be fully aware that all His blood-bought children will either be rewarded for the good we have done by faith, or suffer loss of reward for our worldly ways and fleshly deeds.
• We all live in a fallen world, and every one of us will suffer trials and tribulation, but if in His power and grace, we remain sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil our ministries courageously, and become a living sacrifice unto the Lord, we too will be able to rejoice in the Lord always, and articulate the joy that is ours in serving our great God and Saviour. 

• He is faithful and long-suffering, and His compassion reaches from one generation to another and will remain into the eternal ages to come.

• Indeed, God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to come to earth to suffer and die in order to pay the enormous price for our sin, so that we might be forgiven of our sin and receive eternal life.

• Jesus suffered and was afflicted for the sake of righteousness, and He warned that in this world we too would suffer tribulation.
• He too experienced much pain and suffering because he was faithful to his calling, sharing the good news of the gospel of God throughout Asia.
• But Paul understood that all who live godly, share the good news of the gospel of Christ, and challenge those that are perverting the truth, will suffer persecution.
• Paul recognised the wonderful outflow of consolation and salvation that his brothers and sisters in Christ received because of his own suffering, and wrote, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.
• Just as the sufferings of Christ brought salvation (justification) and comfort to those who believe - so too the suffering and pain that we endure for the sake of righteousness, will be beneficial for the sanctification and comfort of others in their spiritual growth.
• When we are called upon, by our heavenly Lord, to suffer persecution and pain, may we also, like Paul, have the grace to be joyful in our tribulation and allow the beautiful comfort that we receive from our heavenly Father to freely flow-out to others from us - so that they too may be comforted with the same comfort that we have received - so that they too may be enabled to patiently endure whatever difficulties they may have to go through - as together we journey through life, towards our heavenly destination.

• It is for Christ's sake that we are content to be insulted and to suffer persecutions, and it is by His grace that we can be content in the middle of the difficulties and distresses that assail our lives.
• For Christ's sake, we should be content to suffer various persecutions, pains, and difficulties, knowing that He not only gives us the necessary strength to endure, but that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

• When Peter writes: Christ also suffered for sins once, he points to the Lord Jesus as the perfect example of One Who through His suffering, fulfilled the will of His Father in heaven.
• Should we not similarly be willing to suffer for His name-sake in a world that, in the main, has rejected His amazing gift of salvation, by grace through faith.

• He was told at the start of his ministry that he would suffer many things for the name of the Lord Jesus, and what a catalogue of trials and tribulations have been listed in his various epistles.
• Then comes the reminder that trials and tribulations, suffering and pain, is all part of the course of a mighty man of God.
• The badge of a disciplined soldier and faithful steward is suffering for Christ Himself learned obedience through His suffering.
• Paul was an example of a man that endured suffering for the sake of the gospel.
• We do not have to go on long missionary journeys, spend time in prison, or pastor a church to enrol in the army of believers that endure suffering in order to become a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• But our life will be filled with suffering of some kind, if we are living for the Lord, as Jesus Himself promised.
• Let us learn obedience through suffering, and let us endure hardship with patient endurance in the place where the Lord has placed us so that we can join the army of Christ as a good and faithful soldiers and servants to our life's end.
• For suffering is often the badge of honour of a faithful man or woman of God.

• By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Micah tells how God Himself would once again gather his people from exile, emphasising a future hope for the nation and demonstrating the long-suffering grace of Israel's God and King.

• Isaiah paints the most astonishing picture of Jesus, as the suffering Servant of God Who was despised and rejected by those He came to save.

• May we recognise that every day that passes is one more day of grace that God, in His long-suffering mercy, has permitted so that other lost souls may be brought into the kingdom of Christ, through their faith in Jesus Christ.

• For instance, he points out that the suffering we undergo for Christ's sake, brings with it great reward and equips us for the ministry of comfort, in that when we are weak in ourselves we are strong in the Lord, but when we are proud of our self-sufficiency, we will suffer a tremendous fall.
• In this chapter, Paul moves from comparing the distresses of Christian suffering with the joys of our future glory in heaven.

• He had not shrunk back from declaring the entire purpose of God, even the difficult things about suffering for Christ's sake, and the satanic attack on Church members that would inevitably come from the enemy of their soul.

• Let us faithfully heed the instructions of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and obediently carry out our duties to His praise and glory, knowing that such a servant will receive a wonderful reward, while the unfaithful servant will suffer great loss.

• His first coming portrayed Him as the suffering Servant of God, who would be rejected by men and led as a lamb to the slaughter, while His second advent spoke of His return in power and great glory as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to set up the promised kingdom of heaven on earth.

• Paul knew that Timothy could be timid and was sometimes intimidated, and so he encouraged him not to be embarrassed to testify of the Lord Jesus, nor to be ashamed of Paul, his father in the faith: Rather, share in suffering for the gospel, by relying on the power of God, were Paul's encouraging words.

• They were not to see the full impact of their prophetic voice, for much of their message was for those who were to live in the time period between the advent of their promised Messiah, His suffering, and His glorious return to earth in power and great glory, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
• They were to see the twin-peaks of Calvary, where Christ was to suffer and die for our sins and Olivet, where He will one day place His feet on that glorious day, when He returns to set up His coming Millennial Kingdom.

• Timothy is then instructed: Endure suffering.
• He is not to search out afflictions and distressing situations, but should be willing to suffer whatever hurt or hardships come his way.
• Suffering afflictions for Christ's sake should be considered as part of our service to the Lord Jesus.

• Paul even rejoiced in his suffering for Christ's sake and recognised that such hardships are short-lived when viewed from an eternal perspective.
• When any of God's children are called upon to suffer hardships for the sake of Christ, we should seek to adopt the same godly attitude that Paul displayed in his letter to the Philippians: to rejoice in our sufferings for the sake of Christ and for His glory, knowing that the difficulties of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will one day be revealed to all who suffered for His name's sake.

• Those who had ears to hear would respond, while those who refused his message would suffer the consequences. 
• It also demonstrates the long-suffering goodness of their covenant-keeping God; His mercy, faithfulness, goodness, and grace.

• We are not only to believe in Him and submit our lives to Him but also to suffer for His sake... knowing that this is the will of our heavenly Father.

• It was not only Jesus Who explained that the Christian life would entail much suffering but also Peter, James, and the apostle Paul.
• Suffering for Christ's sake and enduring many trials and tribulations on His account is part of the worthy walk of the normal Christian life, for we have not only been given the wonderful advantages of trusting in Christ for salvation, but also the holy privilege of suffering for Him.
• For it has been granted to us on behalf of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, not only to believe in Him for salvation but also to suffer for Him as we journey through life in a Christ-rejecting sinful world that is lost in their trespasses and sins and is at enmity with our Heavenly Father.

• Suffering is part of our passage through life.
• Suffering, pain, and death is the stark reality of living in a sinful world and there is no-one exempt from suffering, for we live in a fallen world that is: Lying in the power of the evil one.
• Suffering is part of our passage through life, but when we willingly suffer for Christ (Who Himself suffered so that we might be forgiven of our sins and freed from the pain of eternal death to the joys of eternal life), it can become an opportunity for rejoicing, an opportunity to glorify His name.
• Like Christ's other apostles, Paul could rejoice that he was worthy to suffer as a Christian, to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ, his Redeemer and Lord.
• But Paul also rejoiced that he was able to suffer on behalf of other Christians.
• Paul was given sufficient grace to rejoice in his suffering, and this can be a reality in the lives of all believers.
• But only when a man or woman has Christ at the centre and circumference of their lives can they discover joy in pain, and rejoice in their suffering.
• Paul himself reminded Timothy: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.

• The loving-kindness and long-suffering of the Lord is beautifully expressed in this little verse, but the final part of Isaiah's utterance is very disturbing: BUT they would not listen.

• These dear saints of God had to come to an understanding that suffering is often a clear indication of God's righteous 'judgement' on them - not a judgement of condemnation, but one that proves them to be worthy of their heavenly calling, in the kingdom of God.
• The suffering of the saint is often a badge of honour, for in this age we are called to share in the suffering of Christ but will one day rejoice and exult when His glory is revealed.
• None of us likes it when suffering and persecution knocks on our door, and we can start to wonder if God is punishing us for some wrongdoing or lack of commitment.
• If these Christians felt that they had missed the Rapture, because they had not been 'spiritual' enough, Paul removed their fears by telling them that he boasted to other churches about their exemplary spiritual growth and their patient endurance in the midst of the severe suffering which they were going through.
• These suffering servants needed to hear this great encouragement from the apostle Paul, but they also needed to understand that it is not what WE did that saves us, but what Christ did at Calvary, on our account.
• But because of the suffering they were going through, he needed to remind them of things he had already taught them that the suffering or persecution we endure in this life is for Christ's sake, for we are 'identified with Christ, in His sufferings'. 
• The child of God Who lives for Christ is the one who will suffer for righteousness’ sake.
• But suffering is often an indication of God's righteous 'judgment', and wise child-training.
• Just as Jesus identified with US, and suffered for righteousness’ sake, so we are identified with HIM and will suffer for righteousness’ sake - so that we will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, which is a reason that we suffer in this fallen world.

• Despite Israel's apostasy and rebellion, God... in His long-suffering mercy was prepared, to wait patiently on high, in order to have compassion on, them.

• Not only will He support those who trust in Him in the midst of their dangers and distresses and strengthen them with His almighty power, but He has promised that all who suffer persecution for Christ, will reap the joy of ruling and reigning with Him in His future kingdom, when the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

• He warned others about false teachers, doctrines of demons, and the inevitable persecution that Christians will suffer in this world.

• But we will not suffer God's wrath during the Great Tribulation for Christ took the punishment on our account.

• The Lord is long-suffering and of great goodness, and His desire is that all men come to a saving faith in Christ, His only begotten Son.

• Jesus set aside His own desires and needs because of His love for His Father in heaven, but He also had to suffer the reproaches of men because of His relationship to His Father.
• Jesus was the chosen Servant of God who had to suffer the reproach of sinful men who transferred their reproach, loathing, and hatred of God, onto a reproach, loathing, and hatred of Christ.

• On the contrary, God often permits sickness and suffering to display His glory in our lives, which frequently results in our spiritual growth and godly fruit.

• Christ, the eternal Son of God, set aside His pre-incarnate glory and was born into a race of sinners, to live and to serve, to suffer and to die so that fallen man might be given eternal life by believing on His name: God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

• The Seed of the woman in Genesis, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Shepherd King of David, and the suffering Servant of Isaiah.

• We can search Paul's writings so that we too may know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.

• Sorrow may well be our lot in this life, for we have been told that in this world we will suffer trials and difficulties, but we must be of good cheer, for we have His indwelling Holy Spirit.

• Sometimes we have to face a baptism of suffering, where we are surrounded by suffering and pain, and those who do not believe in Christ, will eventually be baptised with the fires of judgement. 

• Paul reminds us that all who live godly will suffer persecution, while Jesus Himself told us that in this world we would be hated, mistreated, and killed by sinful men.
• When we live godly lives, bear the rejection and unkind behaviour of others worthily, and when we suffer as a Christian, we are not to be ashamed of the gospel of God.
• Let us be willing to recognise that when the world persecutes God's children, we have the privilege of 'fellowshiping' in the suffering of Christ Who did so much for us, and in so doing, we glorify His holy name.
• we never share in His suffering on the Cross, when He paid for the sin of the world through the shedding of His own blood for our sake!
• But when we suffer in this world because we are Christians and belong to Christ, we share in His earthly humiliation.
• When we suffer in this world because of our faith we participate in His pain.
• Suffering for righteousness' sake brings eternal and lasting glory to our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Whom He sent.
• May we never forget that when we suffer as a Christian, it is for Christ's sake that we suffer.
• May we never be ashamed of our great God and Saviour but rejoice that our suffering glorifies His holy name. 

• Compassionate Christian conduct, a humble Christ-like attitude, godly and gracious service, and a childlike faith that finds its strength in the Lord when faced with suffering and pain, brings Peter to the point in his epistle where he charged Church elders with new and important responsibilities, Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder, and witness of the sufferings of Christ, to care for Christ's flock.

• It is those that are walking worthy of their calling in Christ who are lowly of heart, gentle in spirit, long suffering in body, and of great kindness.

• His ministry would not be an easy task, but one that would entail much hardship and suffering.
• No surprise that the Lord told Ananais: I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake.

• History not only illustrates God's long-suffering mercy towards His people but also records Israel's ongoing infidelity and their incredible fall into apostasy, for we read: But My people did not listen to My voice.

• In his final letter to Timothy, he reminded us that he had suffered much mistreatment and warned, YES, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
• These questions are often asked... why do the righteous suffer so much?

• His rescue from the pit of destruction and release from the slimy clay, brings to mind the terrible suffering of Joseph whose brothers flung him carelessly down a deep pit of desolate before selling him as a slave to the passing Midianite traders.
• No matter what pit of suffering and shame we may be required to endure, and no matter how deeply we sink into the quicksand of destruction, we have His assurance that He will set our feet back on the Rock of our Salvation and establish our goings out and our comings in, from this time forth even for evermore.

• We can choose to live our life in spirit and truth, honour the Lord in all we do, and receive a reward, or we can deny the Lord Who bought us and suffer loss of reward at the Bema seat of Christ - eternally saved but suffering loss of reward.
• We can grow in grace as we abide in Christ, (and receive a reward) OR we can spend our Christian life in spiritual infancy as we ignore His Word and grieve the Holy Spirit, Who indwells us. (and suffer loss of reward at the judgement seat of Christ).

• Since Christ had suffered in the flesh for him, Peter wanted to dedicate his life to his Lord no matter what cost or how unjust the suffering he himself had to face.
• We who have been bought with the precious blood of Christ Jesus our Lord, should arm ourselves with the same courage and determination and to accept suffering in this life for the sake of our God and Saviour.
• We can choose between living for self or suffering for the sake of Christ - where we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord.
• We can take the easy route in life and compromise the truth of the glorious gospel and indulge in worldly ways and ungodly alliances or we can take the path of purity and righteousness by eschewing all that is evil and bearing the reproach of Christ in our suffering and shame - for how can we continue to be slaves of sin when the Lord Jesus, Who died for us and rose again, has set us free from slavery to sin and broken its suffocating hold on our lives?

• Throughout history there have been wars and famine, starvation and plagues, death and great suffering, but the shocking happenings that are to take place in this coming time of trouble, will be a period unequalled in the history of the world.
• While there are those today, who suffer and die as a result of war and starvation, the black horse and his sinister rider will bring to the world a famine that has far-reaching effects, as the finely balanced ecology of the world crashes down, and plunges the globe into a period of scarcity, hitherto unknown in our current world of plenty.

• Paul summed up this beautiful picture of a servant suffering for the sake of his Lord with these words, that I may know CHRIST, and the power of His Resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.

• He was a suffering servant, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and yet before we were saved by grace through faith in Him we just couldn't care less.

• Other areas included Christ's rejection, suffering and death, His Resurrection, Ascension, and Glorification, the Rapture of the Church, the great and terrible 'Day of the Lord', His Second Coming, and our blessed hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Both men urged their readers to be diligent to grow in grace, mature in the faith, be found in Christ, and to understand that any perceived delay in Christ's return points to God's long-suffering kindness towards men, for it is not God's will that any should perish but that all come to repentance and find peace in Him.
• Both men were given different roles and responsibilities by God in the early Church, but both taught the same gospel of grace and both endured much suffering for righteousness' sake. 

• Paul was shown at the start of his ministry, all the things he would be required to suffer for Christ's sake, and he wanted Timothy to remain faithful to his calling, in spite of the hardships he would also face.

• The suffering, pain, misery, and distress they were evidently experiencing from the hands of their enemies, brought them to the precipice of despair, but it also caused them to cry out to the Lord a prayer of desperation.

• Had it not been for the long-suffering mercy and grace of God, the entire nations would have disintegrated into a most perverse and immoral people: Unless the LORD of hosts had left us a few survivors, is the shocking conclusion, Israel would be like Sodom, and would have become like Gomorrah.

• At His first coming, Jesus came as the suffering Servant and Lamb of God Who was despised and rejected of men.

• May we be ready and willing, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His name's sake - so that whether we live or die, we do all to the glory of God.

• Jeremiah had witnessed God's long-suffering mercy, but also understood that God is both righteous and just... and must therefore, punish evil.
• No matter what we may be called upon to suffer in this transitory life, we KNOW that God is faithful and will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear, but will make a way of escape so that we may be able to bear it.

• They knew that God is long-suffering and not willing that any should perish, but they also knew (like us), that a day was coming when God would finally pour out His wrath on a God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world.
• Like us, they knew that they had to: Wait for His Son from heaven, Whom God raised from the dead, that is Jesus Christ the righteous, Who rescues His children from the wrath to come. Like them, we know that we are not appointed to suffer the wrath of God, because Christ took the punishment that we deserve.

• Each one longs to escape the pain, suffering, and disappointments that are the inevitable product of a fallen race living in a cursed creation - separated from their Creator.Man was made in the image of God, Whose perfect character and eternal attributes encompass all that man desires and needs, but the world in general, and man in particular, is separated from the one source that gives meaning to this life, and in the eternal ages to come... life everlasting.

• It is when we arrive at the epilogue of this important letter, with its comprehensive warnings to live righteously in Christ Jesus, not to fall short of the grace of God, and to avoid the many pitfalls into which Israel fell... that we arrive at the final section which offers some very specific instructions on brotherly love, suffering in adversity, and holy living at home and in the wider community.

• Moses reminded them of their historical past, of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the nation of Israel - and He brought to their remembrance the long-suffering faithfulness of their good and gracious God - despite their own rebellion and apostasy.

• The dedication of God's Temple was perhaps the high point of Israel's history (which is more correctly called His Story), but from Abraham onwards, the one unchanging fact is the goodness, grace, long-suffering, and faithfulness of God to all His people, for even when we become faithless, HE remains faithful.
• God is good, gracious, long-suffering, and kind, and will faithfully fulfil all His promises to both Israel and the Church not for our glory, but for HIS glory.

• Jesus Himself warned us that in this world we would suffer tribulations and trials, but He also urged us to remember that He has overcome the world: For greater is He that is in us that he that is in the world.

• They had heard that the Son of Man must be lifted up and suffer many things, and yet they knew that this was the Messiah of Israel who had come from God to set up His kingdom - the kingdom that the Jewish nation had been promised so many years before.

• Christ had no option but to drain the cup of suffering to its very dregs, for only the shed blood of the sinless Son of God - our perfect Kinsman-Redeemer - could pay the enormous price for the sin of the whole world.

• God knows that suffering produces fortitude, builds character, and develops our faith and hope in Him.
• God knows that through pain and heartache, our faith is fine-tuned and our trust in Him is sharpened through seasons of suffering.

• Death to self, persevering in prayer, identification with Christ's suffering, and a life of sacrifice for the glory of God, has been replaced with enjoying your best life now, living for self, and making great spiritual proclamations and positive confessions (where self-incited 'faith' becomes a force that creates one's own reality, or commands God to carry out everything that you speak forth!!) This is not biblical Christianity.

• Jesus had come to set up His earthly kingdom, but first He was to suffer and die for the sin of the whole world, for before the establishment of His earthly reign in Jerusalem, Jesus must also become: The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
• Before Christ could set up His earthly rule, Jesus was to become a suffering Servant.
• Jesus suffered on the Cross, but He rose again the third day in glorious fulfilment of many Old Testament prophesies: After His suffering, Jesus presented Himself to His disciples with many convincing proofs that He was alive, appearing over a span of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

• God's goodness and grace, His kindness, His forgiveness, and His long-suffering mercy, was available to you and me when we were sinners, and we should respond with the same kindness, forgiveness, long-suffering mercy, and godly grace.

• We are to reflect the character and attributes of our Father in heaven Who is tender-hearted, long-suffering, full of kindness, and of great goodness.

• Prophets were raised up to warn the people to repent of their sin and return to the Lord, or suffer the consequences of their disobedience... and in this second chapter of Jeremiah is a condensed synopsis of Israel's incredible unfaithfulness, which is enumerated throughout the entire Old Testament history.

• Saved 'through the skin of their teeth' but suffering loss of heavenly reward.

• But Peter references two types of faith: Faith that has not been tried in the furnace of affliction, and faith that has been through the purifying fires of suffering and pain.

• We live in a fallen world where men of faith will always suffer trials and tribulations, but the Psalmist offers hope for all who trust in the Lord, even though there may be seasons of lack or times when we feel forgotten or afflicted.

• If a Christian fails to abide in Christ, he will live a defeated life and suffer loss of reward, in the ages to come - saved, yet as though by fire.

• God, in His long-suffering kindness, promised that He would send a messenger who would prepare the way of the Lord.

• Like his first epistle, an important element of second Peter is to remind his readers of the fundamentals of our faith, establish believers in the truth, and feed the flock of Christ, while addressing issues such as suffering, false teachings, and standing firm in the sufficiency of God's grace.

• These singing pilgrims were hoping that the Lord would hear their prayer and rescue them from the arrogant men who were causing them such suffering.

• He was identified with the sin of sinful man and not with the sin of fallen angels, who must suffer the consequences for their own sin - and the almighty God has already purposed an irrevocable judgement upon those angels that left their first estate.

• The book is presented through an ongoing series of interactions between the suffering of Job and his so-called 'friends' or 'comforters'.

• And God in His mercy, grace, long-suffering, and great love intervened in the chronicles of history when He sent His only begotten Son to die on the Cross so that all Who believe on Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

• Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble, and in his final epistle to Timothy, the apostle Paul reminds us that all who live godly will suffer persecution.
• Paul's comforting words to these suffering saints in Thessalonica, gave great assurance to them in their affliction - and also reassures us that a day is coming when God, Who is the righteous Judge of the earth, will one day repay the very people who afflict His children.
• Often we consider that we suffer alone in times of trouble, but this passage assures us that God is a righteous Judge Who is with us in our pain, and will repay with tribulation those that persecute us.

• And in Hebrews, we are similarly admonished to endure suffering as a discipline, because God is dealing with us as sons, mature sons, adult sons, blessed inheritors of His heavenly promises.
• Like Christ, we learn obedience through suffering, for although suffering may appear unpleasant for a time, the benefits that hide beneath its feet are overwhelming.
• Paul refers to suffering as a light and momentary affliction, which is achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs all the hardships they inflicted, and God is using all such trials to train us in all godly graces, knowing that suffering produces patient endurance, endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens the confident hope of our salvation in Christ, and His heavenly rewards.
• The enemy wants us to view suffering as the heavy rod of God's wrath and displeasure, as he spews his contemptible lies on the good and gracious character of our Heavenly Father.
• But we must recognise suffering as God's loving rod of correction and His staff of comfort.
• Let us endure suffering as discipline, knowing that through it, God is dealing with us as sons, for our eternal benefit, and to the praise of His Holy name.

• He explains how God uses the suffering in our life as a way to test our faith, for James knows that faith in God must be exercised, even when we do not see or understand the reason for our pain: For the testing of our faith produces patient-endurance, which must flourish and develop so that as we grow in grace, we may become spiritually mature - perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, complete and lacking nothing.
• So often when we are suffering, we cry out to God for help and strength which is a natural thing to do, but too often we forget that the Lord has given us all we need for life and godliness, and we tend to forget that God uses these times of suffering to develop our faith.
• And so the next step in James' spiritual journey is that during times of suffering, it is not simply God's strength for which we need to plead, but His wisdom also.
• Let us travel our journey of faith-in-God and learn the lessons of suffering so that we may grow in grace and mature in the faith.

• We are urged to be long-suffering and to patiently endure (with thanksgiving) the difficult life-circumstances in which we may find ourselves.

• One will be rewarded with gold, silver, and precious stones at the judgement seat of Christ, while the other will suffer loss; eternally saved but having forfeited any spiritual reward for good works carried out in the power of the Spirit.

• But they also foretold of a suffering servant who would be wounded for our transgressions, scoffed at and mocked by His own people, Israel.

• As believers, we are all saved by grace through faith, but if we live our Christian life in our own strength and not in dependence upon the Lord Jesus, we will still be saved but we will suffer loss, for the wood, hay, and stubble that results from works of the flesh will be consumed in the fire that tests each of us.

• Rather, we are to imitate the beautiful life that Christ lived by living our life in the same way that Christ did – by walking in spirit, sharing the truth in love, growing in grace, and learning obedience through the things that we suffer. 

• While we live in this mortal body, suffering and pain is inevitable, but Paul offers us some great encouragement in this passage, by telling us that all Christians will one day receive an immortal body.
• We groan because of sin and death, suffering and pain, disease and disappointments.

• Christ suffered greatly in His earthly life... and as members of His Spiritual Body, we too are likely to be called on to suffer - individually and corporately.
• We will also have to face fierce mental anguish, physical suffering, or emotional pain.
• Peter calls on us to develop a godly attitude towards suffering - even encouraging us to rejoice in our suffering and keep on rejoicing.
• Instead of fretting when we face difficulties, we are to recognise that in suffering as a Christian, we are partaking in the suffering of Christ.
• Oh... not His anguish on the Cross, for He alone could suffer and die for the sin of the world.
• As believers, we suffer from men's hatred of God and their rejection of Christ.
• When we do become partakers of His suffering, Peter exhorts us to, rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, for there is a depth of meaning in this verse that touches every member of the world-wide Mystical Body of Christ Jesus, which is the Church.
• When WE are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we suffer for HIM, as Paul discovered on the road to Damascus. The Lord is the Head of His Mystical Body but the world hates those that are His, and Christ understood this. Indeed, as the time for His crucifixion drew ever closer Jesus warned us that in this world we will all have tribulation, simply because we are His followers.
• But, however painful and distressing life may become, we can also rejoice in the midst of our suffering, knowing that when His glory is finally revealed, we will rejoice with exceeding great joy.Paul tells us that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us, while James adds that suffering in this life develops, in us, a godly character and patient endurance, which is honouring to the Lord.
• As members of Christ’s Mystical Body, should we not joyfully identify with Christ’s earthly suffering – knowing that He lived and died so that we might be identified with His heavenly glory and live eternally?Yes, we should rejoice - exceedingly, that we as members of His Body and partakers of His sufferings – for it is by faith in His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection that we have not only been forgiven of our sin and clothed in His righteousness, but we are His blood-bought children, who have a blessed hope, a glorious future, and life everlasting - amen.

• None of us want to invite pain and suffering into our lives and Paul is an example of a man who went through much suffering in this world for being a Christian. At times he despaired even of life, and yet despite his terrible persecution and many imprisonments, Paul willingly endured his suffering with godly grace, patient endurance, and unspeakable joy.
• He did not enjoy his suffering at all, but he knew that the pathway of affliction was the same route that the Lord Jesus Christ had to take on our behalf, when He set his face like a flint towards Jerusalem and walked to the Cross.
• Before the Crown, comes the Cross and Jesus was ready and willing to endure the Cross and despise the shame, for the joy that was set before Him, and the Bible makes it very clear that when the people of God suffer with Christ, we will also share in His glory.
• Scripture makes it clear that the suffering servant of Christ brings honour to His name. 
• The coming glory that awaits us, far outweighs any afflictions we suffer today.

• Such love is long-suffering and kind.

• Much of Peter's epistle, which was addressed to believers who had been scattered abroad due to severe persecution in those early days of the Church, was on the subject of suffering for Christ's sake.
• One of the main messages of the ageing apostle Peter in his first epistle, was to endure suffering with a Christ-like faith and an unbreakable trust in God's Word, so that believers may be further identified with their suffering Saviour, Who when He was reviled, did not retaliate, and when He suffered, did not threaten His abusers, but gave Himself over into the hands of Him Who judges all things, righteously.
• Because the Lord Jesus suffered, we are also called to suffer for His sake, for this brings glory to His name.
• At the end of his life, as he faced death for Christ's sake, the apostle Paul's deep desire was, that I may know Christ, and the power of His resurrection and fellowship in His sufferings. Paul was ready to be identified with Christ's suffering and shame - and we should seek to follow his example.
• Like Peter, the apostle Paul was ready and willing to endure suffering and persecution for the sake of Christ, knowing that his soul was secure in His hand and that His grace was sufficient in every affliction he faced.
• Like Paul, the apostle Peter also knew that those that endured suffering according to the will of God, bore ongoing witness to the unsaved, who are dead in their sins.
• Our suffering becomes a testimony of the hope of salvation we have in Christ Jesus, and the peace that comes through faith in Him.
• We have a firm hope in Christ and the expectation of His soon return to take us to be with Himself, and so in this verse, we find Peter offering comfort, encouragement, courage, and instruction, to all who endure suffering for the sake of Christ.
• Therefore, Peter wrote, those also who suffer according to the will of God, shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator, in doing what is right.
• In this verse, Peter was contrasting the suffering of Christians for Christ's sake, suffering according to the will of God, with the suffering of the ungodly.
• Whether we suffer as a result of persecution or through God's chastening rod, we have the assurance that our suffering is short-lived and not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be ours in the eternal ages to come - for our soul is entrusted into God's safe-keeping.
• Christ did not deserve to suffer, but meekly submitted to the punishment He received, for He had been called and appointed to suffer, according to the will of God, so that by His stripes we may be healed, and through His shed blood on Calvary's Cross, we may be redeemed.
• Should we not be prepared to suffer for His sake?
• The future life of all believers will be free from sin and Satan, death and hell, but for this brief span on earth, we are called to share in the suffering of Christ - for righteousness sake.
• Those who believe will suffer according to the will of God, but will not be condemned, while those who do not believe in Him, will be judged and found wanting... and will suffer the consequences of their unbelief forever.
• and suffering according to the will of God, will bring honour to His name.

• They will be eternally saved, yet as though by fire (as Paul explains to the Corinthian Christians), for they will have lived an unfruitful life and suffer loss of reward.

• It is through the Word of God that we gain knowledge and understanding, and it is as the message of Christ richly dwells within our heart that the beautiful attribute of long-suffering is able to develop and grow, for our eternal benefit and to the glory of God.

• James began his lesson on wisdom by pointing out that the suffering of this life produces patient endurance, which will furnish us with spiritual maturity.

• It is wonderful to know that all who have trusted God and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ will take part in this glorious 'first resurrection' but how sombre to realise that all who have rejected God's offer of salvation will have to take part in the 'second resurrection' and will have to face the second death - the lake of fire and eternal separation from their long-suffering God and gracious Saviour.

• In His gracious-kindness, loving-mercy, and long-suffering: God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses and sins against us but entrusting all who believe in Him the wonderful message of reconciliation.

• Our long suffering God Who strives with fallen man has opened a door of salvation, which invites all guilty sinners to look to Christ and live - but it can only be accessed by the Door of grace - through faith in Christ's sacrificial work at Calvary - and that Door is still open today, for Jesus is the Door and Jesus is the Way - and Jesus is the good Shepherd who is still seeking that which is lost.

• Elijah came to a deeper understanding that men's hearts will never be compelled to believe in God, but the long-suffering, gracious nature of God will draw all men to Himself.

• His apparent delay is simply a manifestation of His long-suffering goodness and grace towards sinful, rebellions man, for He is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance through faith in the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

• As members of Christ's Body, we are His representatives here on earth and are called to suffer hardship as good soldiers of Christ.
• Paul is teaching the important principle of hard work, willing obedience, and patient endurance in the Christian life - even in the midst of suffering and pain.
• Paul tells of the paradox that death leads to life, weeping comes before joy, the cross is carried before the crown is worn... and suffering for Christ leads us to reign with Him in glory.
• But every believer has the free-will to choose to either 1) suffer hardship as a faithful servant of Christ or 2) to try to escape life's problems by denying the Lord His right to govern their life.
• The first results in a victorious Christian life while the latter leads to a defeated Christian life - saved but suffering loss of heavenly rewards.
• Sadly, believers who are not prepared to suffer for Christ's sake deny the Lord Who bought them.
• We can be saved by grace through faith (justification) while being denied the wonderful reward that we have been promised when we suffer for His sake (through the sanctification process).
• And if we suffer with Christ, we will reign with Him.
• None of these things are easy but God has promised to reward all who suffer for His name's sake.
• Let us take this severe warning to heart, live our lives to His praise and glory, and to be prepared to suffer for love of our Saviour Who bought us with His precious blood.

• Despite his hardship and suffering, Paul rejoiced that he had not laboured in vain with these dear Philippians Christians, who had not only embraced the glorious gospel of Christ by faith, but were themselves living sacrificially for their Lord.

• It happened when the Lord began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
• Paul followed the example of Jesus, by setting aside all fleshly pursuits and being prepared to suffer for His name's sake.

• He is long-suffering, merciful, and of great goodness, and His grace is extended to all humanity, from generation to generation.

• The heavens declare the glory of God to humanity, and the scriptures increasingly unveil His perfect character and holy attributes to all the children of men, as we see multiple examples of His loving-kindness, His long-suffering mercy, and His gracious faithfulness to all generations.

• Rather, let us learn willing obedience and joyful surrender to do His will and follow in His ways, by the things we suffer - so that at the last we may stand before His throne - unashamed.

• Despite all the suffering, pain, hurt, and distress that the prophet Jeremiah faced in life's school of affliction, the Lord was teaching him many lessons about the great faithfulness of the Lord and His never-failing mercies, which are new every morning.

• There he discovered that God was not indifferent to the suffering of His people, but came to understand that the Lord had appointed a glorious time when He would save His people from their sins, rescue them from their enemies, and wipe away every tear from their eyes.

• For example, on one particular Sabbath day, we discover Jesus returning from the synagogue to the home of Peter, only to find that Peter's mother-in-law was sick, suffering from a high fever.
• The Lord Jesus died so that by faith in Him, we would not suffer the eternal dictates of breaking God's Law (death) but would find grace in the eyes of the Lord - by faith.

• We do not know the exact nature of Paul's 'thorn' but we do know that in addition to this satanic 'messenger' God permitted His bond-servant to experience significant suffering, dangers, hardship, and rejection.

• He recognised God's gracious goodness and long-suffering kindness on countless occasions..

• Christ came to fulfil God's will and to drain the cup of suffering and death which was given to Him by the Father.

• When Christ was on the earth, He represented the Father in all things, doing only those things that He learned from the Father, and He learnt obedience through suffering, even the death of the Cross.
• But this little word 'IF' tells us the end of the story; though we suffer with Him in life, we will also share in His glory.

• They had forgotten Paul's teachings that although we are not appointed to God's wrath, the Church will suffer during our waiting period: All who live godly lives WILL suffer persecution.

• He was a godly man who knew the power of the resurrected Christ in his life, and was ready and willing to fellowship in the footsteps of His Saviour's suffering.

• He is a faithful, forgiving, and merciful God, Who is long-suffering towards those who believe in the wonderful name of the only begotten Son of God.

• These same historical accounts also demonstrate the gracious character of our long-suffering Lord, as He unfolds His wonderful plan of salvation and reminds us all, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and trusting His Word is the only choice to make... if we are to glorify Him in our personal walk.

• In each of his six oracles, Malachi speaks of God's long-suffering mercy while addressing issues of Israel's sinfulness, unfaithfulness, and failure.

• He suffered just like we suffer and was faced with the same tough choices that all of us are faced with every day - but He did not sin. In so doing, He was equipped to come to our aid and to help us, comfort us, support us, and encourage us in our times of need.
• He was a Man who looked to the needs of others and One Who had to go through much pain and suffering, rejection and betrayal, hatred and bitter grief so that by His death, burial, and resurrection, He could save us from our sin and bring many sons to glory - by grace through faith in Him.
• Since Jesus Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is also able to come to our aid, and help those who suffer when they are tempted.

• While God shows Himself to be long-suffering and of great mercy towards sinner and saint alike, He is the righteous judge of the earth and He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. 

• It is new every morning because He is a good and gracious God, long-suffering and of great kindness.

• Our great Shepherd is long suffering and of great mercy, for He recognises that His sheep have become scattered afar and dispersed abroad by their enemies.

• God is long-suffering and not willing that any should perish but desires that all come to repentance.

• How quickly and easily God is blamed when we suffer some calamity or fall into sin.

• We are also exhorted to recall to mind the great men and women of faith who maintained their trust in God despite the suffering and pain they had to face in their lifetimes.

• However, the Bible teaches that believers who live their life in carnality will suffer the loss of any reward, which they could have won, by living as the Bible instructs - i.e.
• they will suffer the loss of reward and be denied the praise that Christ could have given them by acknowledging them before His heavenly Father and the holy angels - if they had only been obedient to their calling.

• But one issue that seems to thread its way throughout his epistle, and which is equally relevant for Christians today, touches on the need for unquestioning, patient-endurance during difficult trials and tribulations - and the glory it gives to God when we endure suffering for His sake. 
• He used the story of Job to show that the end result of our suffering brings joy to God's servant and honour to the Father.
• And you have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings in his life - that the Lord is full of compassion and is most merciful. Yes, the ultimate result of Jobs suffering was a revelation of God's character.
• And through his suffering, Job's faith was increased, and the Lord used Job to teach the angelic host some important lessons about His holy character and His plans and purposes for the race of man whom He had made in His own image and likeness.
• James used the Old Testament story of Job as a picture of the suffering Christian who overcomes in this present age.
• But he also used the painful experience of His servant to exhibit the never-changing character of our good and gracious God Who is long-suffering and tender-hearted, faithful and of great goodness, Who is brimming with compassion, and Whose mercies are new every morning.
• If James considered it so necessary to emphasise the godly benefits of suffering for the sake of Christ - perhaps we should take heed.
• Although we may have yet to endure some shocking pain and persecution in the future, and although we may never understand the reason for our suffering, we have an assurance that we will be drawn into closer communion with our heavenly Father as we trust in Him and patiently endure.

• Suffering for Christ was nothing unusual for this apostle to the Gentiles who had come to learn that our present troubles, our momentary afflictions, and our short-lived sufferings are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory, which far outweighs any trials or tribulations we may have to face on earth.

• If Moses and the children of Israel had received from the Lord what they truly deserved, they would have been scattered and destroyed in the wilderness forever, but God is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and of great goodness.

• They could not acknowledge a suffering Servant, brought up in the despised area of Galilee, Who would be wounded for their transgressions, bruised for their iniquity, and would willingly give His life as the ransom price for the life of many.

• He did this through His willing obedience and joyful submission to His will by draining the bitter cup of suffering and death.

• But he was informed that there was an unbridgeable gap between the paradise that Lazarus enjoyed and the misery the rich man was suffering.

• The challenge in each case is to display a Christ-like attitude before a world of unsaved people, so that our life honours the Lord, and stands as a witness to His goodness and grace - especially when His servants go through times of suffering for righteousness sake.
• Peter points out that the Lord Jesus is the precious example of patient endurance and perfect submission, under unjust suffering.
• He is not only our perfect example, but His suffering was expiatory, for His sacrifice on the Cross paid for the price of our sins.

• He set aside eternity's glories to be clothed in humility, in poverty, in suffering, and in death.
• He chose to honour the will of the Father and drink His cup of suffering and humiliation.
• The attitude of Jesus should be mirrored in the life of every believer, and yet His was a life of deep pain and intense suffering.
• But His life of humiliation and death preceded His glorious Resurrection and exaltation, and we too must share in His suffering, and die to self if we are to live in newness of life and become a lovely reflection of the beautiful Lord Jesus Christ.

• The pain and suffering he was inflicting upon members of Christ's Body on earth, were felt by the Lord Jesus Himself, the true and living God Who is the Head of the Body in heaven.

• There are many lessons that can be learned from the book of Job and the immense suffering he underwent.
• It provides us with an understanding of how God relates to man and His long-suffering kindness towards us.
• It helps us grasp what the Lord desires from His people and gives us a greater appreciation of the spiritual benefits of suffering in our lives, even when His actions seem to contradict His character.
• Why do God's servants have to suffer when the ungodly seem to have a problem-free existence?
• Every character in the book of Job, including Satan, had developed an incorrect perception of God's character and nurtured a faulty understanding of human suffering.
• Let us not only consider the sufferings of the man who lived in the land of Uz, who was blameless, upright, feared God, and eschewed evil, but let us also rejoice in the immeasurable grace of God, His never-ending goodness, His long-suffering mercy, His perfect justice, and His everlasting righteousness. 

• He knew that in Christ, we are sons of God and eternally secure and yet during our sojourn on earth, we will face many many difficulties, dangers, suffering, and pain: we will be constantly delivered over to death...
• Paul knew that when we suffer for Christ's sake, God is glorified.
• When we suffer for righteousness’ sake in this fallen world, we discover God's grace is sufficient grace.
• When we suffer for Him, the greater the spiritual strength we receive from our Heavenly Father.
• Jesus Himself told us that those who follow Him WILL suffer persecution - before the glory comes the Cross.
• The enemy of our soul has many ways to keep us from a knowledge of the truth, but just as Paul was ready to be delivered over to death for Christ's sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in his mortal flesh, may we also be willing to suffer for the sake of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, so that His life may be manifest in us and work through us, for God's greater glory. 

• Paul knew that His great salvation was a result of God's amazing grace and long-suffering mercy towards him - no surprise that Paul got to the point where he recognised that it was only by God's grace that his final destination had been changed from eternity in hell to everlasting life with Christ in heaven.

• The human spirit is God's lamp in a dark world of sin and suffering.

• Timothy was to stand fast to the gospel of truth, to be patient in suffering, and to be faithful to the calling that God had on his life.

• They brought all who were ill and suffering to Him and He healed them all.

• The Cross before the Crown: the night of suffering before the morning of joy.

• Throughout the Old Testament, the Messiah of Israel is portrayed in two very distinct roles: 1) the suffering Servant of God and 2) the conquering King of Israel.
• But here in this forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, we take a glimpse into one small aspect of the rejection, humiliation, and pain of the suffering Servant, the Holy One of Israel.
• The Son of God alone was the suffering Servant Who would save His people from their sin.
• The day is approaching when God's suffering servant will be hailed as Israel's Messiah... the King of kings and Lord of lords.

• Little did they know that God's long-suffering mercy towards His people would eventually bring His judgement upon them, not only by means of Assyria and Babylon but through their coming Messiah: Therefore... thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a Stone... a tested Stone; a costly Cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

• In his customary introductions, which, as always, included the lovely salutation, grace and peace to you,  Paul used himself as a role model, to show that the comfort and grace of God, brought him amazing consolation and strength, in the midst of his severe suffering and persecution - and Paul assured his listeners that the Lord is no respecter of persons and would provide the same comfort and strength for each one of them.

• Let our hearts desire be to reflect the yearning desire of the ageing apostle Paul, who near the end of his life cried out, That I may know Christ and the power of His resurrection and participate in the fellowship of His suffering, so that our Christian religion may be pure and undefiled, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus become increasingly intimate.

• Christ was the perfect example of what a perfect Man should be, but He had to learn obedience through all that He was called upon to suffer throughout His life, as He kept the goal of His calling forever in His sight.
• Christ was perfected through all that He had to suffer, and we too are to walk the same path of suffering.
• We must keep our eyes fixed firmly on Christ, our perfect example, and learn obedience through all that we are called on to suffer for His sake.
• And as we submit to the leading, guiding, and correction of the Holy Spirit, He will use all things, including our suffering and pain, to work together for good to His praise and glory, as did Christ our perfect, obedient, example: That I may be conformed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Throughout the book of Ezra, there are lessons that each one of us can learn and opportunities to serve our long-suffering and faithful God when we are willing to be used to fulfil His plans and purposes.

• He had to drink the bitter cup of suffering for all humanity.

• And so, like Moses before him, Paul was prepared to suffer the loss of all things and to regard them as utter garbage, in order that he might gain Christ.

• But in addition, Peter tells us that all Christians are being prepared FOR glory through the things that we suffer.
• Like Christ, Who is our superlative example, we are being perfected by the things that we suffer and through our response to the various trials and tribulations we face in this life.

• There are passages within its pages that contain detailed descriptions of Christ's suffering, sorrow, rejection, and death, as well as some beautiful illustrations of God's never-failing grace, His long-suffering mercy towards His people, Israel, and their final repentance and restoration.

• We should walk in spirit and truth as directed by our Father in heaven, delighting to do His will, and learning obedience by the things that we suffer.

• Paul longs to be with the Lord, knowing that the suffering and pain of this present age will one day give way to the unimaginable glory of being with Christ forever.

• He Who walked this earth and Who learned obedience by the things that He Himself suffered, is more than adequate to identify with our hurt and pain and to empathise with our sorrow and suffering.

• Just as Christ identified with us and became sin for us so we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, we too are to identify with Christ in His rejection, suffering, shame, loss, and death, so that in Him we too may rise to newness of life - a life of faith - a life lived in the power of the Spirit - a life lived in submission to the will of God - a life that says: Thy will not mine be done.

• As His Body, Christians are called to know Christ, to identify with Him, and to partake of His suffering.
• Jesus, Himself, informed us that in this world we will have tribulation and in his letter to the Romans, Paul explained that suffering with Christ is a necessary part of a Christian's journey.
• But he also encouraged us greatly when he wrote: We suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
• He identifies with all our suffering and pain such that when WE who are His BODY suffer persecution, Jesus - Who is our HEAD suffers along with us.

• The Church of Smyrna is forewarned that they will suffer much persecution for the sake of Christ and are encouraged to be faithful... to the point of death.

• It is to live for Christ and to fully identify with every aspect of His rejection, shame, suffering, and death.
• But never forget that the suffering we bear for our Saviour will one day lead to glory.

• But until we reach our heavenly home, we must march through the suffering, disappointments, trials, and tribulation that this world affords for all its inhabitants, knowing that our hope is in Christ and is established forever.

• And although justified, will lose any heavenly reward and suffer loss at the Bema seat of Christ. 

• Paul knew that the plans and purposes of God would never be thwarted, even though believers may be called upon to endure suffering and persecutions inflicted by fellow-believers.

• The grace of God is never terminated because His compassion never fails, His tender mercy and loving-kindness are new every morning: Even though He may permit suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant and faithful love.
• But we also have the assurance that even if we are walking in holiness, as was Jeremiah, and are called to suffer for righteousness' sake, we KNOW that He will never leave us nor forsake us, for He is true to His Word.

• Paul was thankful for Timothy's spiritual heritage, and although he warned that the Christian life was not always easy, he reminded him of his holy calling and that the suffering and shame God's people have to endure in this life must be understood from God's vantage point (an eternal perspective).

• In this letter to the young pastor, we discover that Paul was suffering greatly for the sake of the gospel of Christ.

• While walking with the Lord of glory on His sacrificial journey towards the Cross and the glorious Resurrection, and having been forewarned by Jesus of the future suffering and tribulation both He and all His followers were to face, we discover the disciples squabbling about who was be the most important person in Christ's coming kingdom!
• They were expecting the Lord to set up His kingdom on earth at that time, and the bewilderment they must have felt when He announced that He was to suffer and die, only adds to this pitiful scenario.

• He had to be born into a fallen world, live as we live, and be made perfect through suffering.
• And yet for a time, He was made a little lower than the angels, in order to obey His Father, carry out the will of God, and complete His perfect plan of redemption, which necessitated His suffering and death as our Kinsman-Redeemer.

• Like Jeremiah, we also see the results of individuals and nations who put their trust in men, suffering the consequences of their ungodly choices.

• It was Israel to whom this promise was first made, at a time when the nation was rebelling against her God and had wantonly lusted after the false gods of the pagan nations, causing God to liken her to an openly adulterous wife who was flaunting her unfaithfulness in the face of her long-suffering husband.

• God is long-suffering to all people and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

• And we know and have full assurance from God that the sinless Son of Man came to earth in order to take away our sins, to suffer and die on our behalf so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

• However, the glorious sacrifice of the new covenant was made through the sinless blood of the eternal Son of God (the perfect Son of Man) Who made one, single offering of Himself through the shedding of His own blood on the Cross, putting away forever the sin of all sinners: Otherwise, as we read in Hebrews, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world.

• But the grief, apprehension, sorrowing, and suffering that accompanies those seemingly timeless labour pains, soon evaporate when the little baby is born into the world.
• In this world, we are surrounded by grief, disappointments, sorrowing, and suffering, but we have an eternal hope set before us, when grief will be turned into gladness and sorrow will be turned into joy.

• No doubt the war that precedes the famine, will compound its destructive effects, causing both rich and poor to suffer tremendously, as panic spreads and the evil activities of the Antichrist places colossal economic element and cripple constraints throughout the whole world.

• He explains how our present suffering and future glory links in with God's sovereign redemptive plan to grant forgiven sinners eternal security and to make us into a new creation in Christ.
• It also touches on God's long-suffering mercy towards His people Israel and the great grace and merciful kindness He has towards the Gentiles who were dead in sin, at enmity with God, and without hope in the world.

• The book of Job has been an inspiration and encouragement to many saints down through the ages who themselves have had to go through some terrible trials and horrific persecutions, as well as enduring the day to day problems that all humanity has to face in a fallen world where God has been rejected by the vast majority of mankind. Valuable lessons can be learned from Job's trials, even though the mystery of suffering is not totally fully understood by any of us.
• We learn from Job that suffering is not always a result of sin, nor that the righteous are exempt from tribulations and trials.
• We learn that this evil enemy influences the actions of the wicked against the righteous, but the devil's actions are always subject to God's permissive will Who, in His goodness and grace, uses all things, including our own personal suffering, to work together for the good to those that love and trust Him and for His eternal glory.
• We also learn that God is not obliged to tell us why we suffer, nor to remove our sorrow and grief.
• We also see how human reasoning misunderstands suffering and pain, while God alone offers comfort and succour to those that are suffering.
• Indeed, suffering develops the spiritual fruit of patient endurance, which produces a crop of godly righteousness and peace in the lives of those who have been trained or exercised by it.
• Satanic accusations against the goodness and grace of God are still being whispered into the ears of believers today as we, like Job, continue to be compassed about by many forms of suffering and misfortune, persecution and pain, destitution and danger, heart-aches and affliction, the sword and a martyrs death.

• Peter finished his godly advice to husbands and wives with guidance on suffering for the sake of righteousness.

• By Him His Bride has all things richly to enjoy, and He has promised never to leave or forsake her, but for now she must make herself ready as she passes through a world of pain and suffering, ever looking for the day when Her Bridegroom will come to claim her as His own.

• In His grace, He tells us the end from the beginning so that everyone can choose the good or suffer the consequences of choosing the evil.

• Like Timothy, we too are to live by grace through faith, knowing that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be rewarded with gold, silver, or precious stones for the good works we did by grace through faith, or suffer loss for the ungodly works we did in the flesh.

• The Lord is long suffering and of great goodness.
• Let us be faithful to our calling and thank the Lord that He is a good and faithful God, and is long suffering and of great kindness.

• God is long-suffering towards the fallen race of man and is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to faith in Christ Jesus.

• We live in a fallen world and every one of us will suffer some form of persecution.

• He was willing to suffer, even to the point of death, for love of his Lord.

• And although our salvation is a free gift of grace that can never be lost, we all need to be aware that we can suffer loss of reward when we at last stand before the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 

• Indeed, Paul writes to Timothy: All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
• Suffering is placed alongside great glory, sadness is contrasted with lasting joy, despair is put in contradistinction with the glorious hope that is set before us, while death is forever swallowed up in the abundance of everlasting life.
• Suffering in this world also helps us to keep our eyes off the things of this world, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
• It is in times of suffering that we are inclined to lean upon the Lord, to entreat Him in prayers and petitions, to stay very close to the shelter of His wings.
• And Paul reminds us that suffering produces perseverence, perseverance, character; and character, hope. 
• But here, Paul is exhorting us not to keep our eyes on what suffering in this world is doing in us, but to lift our eyes and fix our gaze on Jesus and the glory that is to be revealed to us.
• Suffering and all its aggressive associates pale into blinded insignificance when placed in their correct eternal perspective, for when laid alongside the truth of the gospel and the glory that shines forth from its eternal pages, they are not even worthy to be considered in the same breath as our reality in Christ and our eternal heavenly future.

• Indeed, the Lord Himself told us that in this world we would have tribulation and would be called upon to suffer for His names sake.
• But as members of His Body, we know that the more we suffer for righteousness sake the more we are comforted by this great God of all-comforts, Who has purchased us with the precious blood of His only begotten Son, and has graciously adopted us into His heavenly family.
• As members of Christ's Body, we are called on to suffer for His names sake, and as Paul continues in this second epistle to the Corinthian Church, his prayer is that all believers will stand fast in the evil day and be counted worthy of the high and exalted position to which we have been called.

• Throughout our life the enemy of our soul causes much suffering, pain, persecution, and distress to believers, but the Bible tells us that suffering is part of the Christian course and in Christ we can become victorious, no matter what difficulties and hardships are strewn in our path, for no matter how fierce the trial and how severe the test, the full and final victory is already ours in Christ.
• He will make us steady as we patiently endure suffering for His name's sake.
• He has provided us with spiritual armour that will keep us from falling so that we maintain an unwavering defence against suffering for righteousness sake: For we are of God, and through Christ we have overcome the evil one - for greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world.

• He suffered greatly at the hands of his brothers, and yet God used his suffering to save many souls from destruction.