Treasures of Truth
19 The Carpenter's Tools
Suffering: Worth Its Weight in Gold
Perspective on Suffering
There is a battle raging in the unseen
that is clearly perceived
by the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies.
Paul states this in his letter to the Ephesians.
“In order that the manifold wisdom of God
might now be made known through the Church
to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
Again, the writer to the Hebrews
pictures the corporate church and the individual believer
in an observable arena before a host of onlookers.
“Therefore,
since we have
so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Something is accomplished through
this vehicle of suffering
which is expediting the purposes of God
on an eternal dimension
and making known His infinite love and wisdom.
“We must be clear exactly what we mean
if we say that God ‘could have stopped’ Job’s suffering.
We may indeed accept that He had the sheer power
to stop or even destroy Satan.
The problem is that in this case,
even as Satan sank under God’s wrath and destruction,
he would have gone with a sneer on his lips
as though to say, ‘I told you so.’
Such a ‘solution’ would have left,
forever unanswered,
Satan’s accusation that God’s kingdom
was based (like his own) on force and expediency.
It was not lack of power
that prevented God from crushing Satan –
it was a matter of principle.
It is, perhaps, comparable with
that moral restraint
which makes it impossible for God to lie.
Satan’s accusations must be answered,
and they cannot be truly answered
by a force that crushes the accuser.
They can only be fully answered
by the method God adopts,
by allowing Satan to remove Job’s privileges.
He must show that the servant in whom he trusts
loves him for Himself
and not for what he can get out of Him.”
God’s Strategy in Human History by Roger Forster
The Purpose of Suffering
The Greek word for suffering is dokimazo which means
“to put to the test for the purpose of approving,
and finding that the person tested
meets the specifications;
to put one’s approval upon him”
(Wuest).
God chooses for many reasons
to use suffering in the life of the believer.
Suffering refines our character
and causes our faith to be made more precious than gold.
Suffering….
• Perfects and hastens
our completion in Christ (I Peter 5:10; James 1:2-4)
• Is producing for us
eternal glory (Romans 8:18)
• Promotes fellowship
and comfort in the Lord (Philippians 3:10; II Cor 1:3-4)
• Teaches us obedience (Hebrews 5:8)
• Produces perseverance, proven character,
and hope (Romans 5:3-4)
• Manifests the life of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 4:11)
The Refining Process
“But God is not interested in brokenness
primarily for its temporal value,
great as that may be.
His bride elect is in training for the throne.
She is in the school of suffering
to learn agape love
to qualify her for rulership
in an economy where the law of love is supreme.
There is simply no way to explain the Biblical teaching
on the glory of suffering and tribulation,
except as an apprenticeship for the throne.
No love without suffering.
No rulership without love.
Therefore,
ONLY if we suffer shall we reign with Him.
It is easy to doubt
that one’s present particular suffering
qualifies to serve this high purpose.
Some day one may come to understand
that the very sorrow which he thought
most irrelevant
was the one God used
for His most glorious end…”
Don’t Waste Your Sorrows by Paul E. Billheimer
"But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner's fire
and like launderer's soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer to the LORD
an offering in righteousness.” Malachi 3:2-3
“I will bring the one-third through the fire,
will refine them as silver is refined,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say,
'This is My people';
and each one will say,
'The LORD is my God.'" Zechariah 13:9
The refining pot is for silver
and the furnace for gold,
But the LORD tests the hearts. Proverbs 17:3
However,
the actual refining process is not as poetic
as the purpose it is going to achieve.
Edith Schaeffer describes the silversmith’s methodology
of refining silver and compares it
to how our Heavenly Father refines our lives.
“In the refining process the silversmith heats the silver
to an intense degree
and then skims off the top of the liquid silver
that has floated to the surface.
The silver is not considered pure
until the silversmith can see
his face reflected in the liquid silver.”
One of the necessary elements
in the refining process is the quality of...
Endurance
What does our Lord say about endurance…?
ENDURANCE
Seeing That Which is Unseen
Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God
than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt;
for he (Moses) looked to the reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king;
for he endured
as seeing Him who is invisible. Hebrews 11:25-27
Following are some verses
dealing with this subject of endurance.
God’s ultimate goal for your life
as a believer is your individual transformation
into the likeness of Jesus Christ…
“For whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8:29)
Through this element of endurance,
our lives begin to take on the fullness
of the character of Christ.
• Be patient in tribulation…. Romans 12:12
• Let us run with endurance (patience, perseverance) the race that is set before us… Hebrews 12:1
• But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who,
having heard the word with a noble and good heart,
keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15
• I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ… Revelation 1:9
• Now may the Lord direct your hearts…
and into the patience of Christ. II Thessalonians 3:5
Biblical Character Studies in Endurance
• Joseph Genesis 45:4ff; 50:20, 24
• Moses Exodus 14:22-29; Hebrews 11:24-29
• Elijah I Kings 18:41-46; James 5:17-18
• Hosea Hosea 1:2-3; 3:1-3
• Jeremiah Jeremiah 15:10-16:21; 20:10-13
• Hannah I Samuel 1:6-15
• Job Job 2:7-10
• Paul II Corinthians 4:1, 8-11, 16-18; 6:3-10
Affliction
It is important to keep in mind
a balanced understanding
of suffering, affliction, hardship, and tribulation.
In her book, Edith Schaeffer compares
suffering to a small part of the symphony
that God is orchestrating in our lives.
“All through the Word of God
there runs a thread of silver
that speaks of a very real preparation within us.
We are being prepared for something ahead,
but the complete scope and the rightness
of what it is all about is beyond us… I Corinthians 2:9-10…
What God is preparing for us
is greater than anything He has yet given us to experience.
However,
it seems clear that He is letting us know
that He is not only preparing something for us,
He is preparing us for something.”
Affliction by Edith Schaeffer
HARDSHIP,
SUFFERING,
AFFLICTION,
TRIBULATION
ARE WORTH THEIR WEIGHT I N GOLD………..
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold... I Corinthians 3:12a
II Corinthians 4:7-10...
TRIBULATION
Grief, Pain, Suffering, Sorrow, Hardship
PERSEVERANCE
(to abide under,
not passively,
courageously with steadfastness.)
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” II Corinthians 4:8
APPLYING DILIGENCE
Romans 5:3-4
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOUL
ETERNAL RESULT
For so an entrance will be supplied to you
abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:11
Overcome
• Christ’s warning to endure (Matt 24:13; Mark 13:13)
• In bringing forth fruit. (Luke 8:15; Matt 13:23)
• To be coupled with hope and love (Rom 2:7; 5:3; Col 1:11; I Thess 1:3)
• As a quality required
of Christian workers (I Tim 6:11; II Tim 2:12; 3:10; Titus 2:2; I Cor 15:58)