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Suffering. Is that a part of our Christian experience, part of the genuine Christian life? Hmm. I'm your guest host, Dr. Greg Hennett, and we're going to talk about suffering today.
Now, if you haven't suffered before as a Christian, don't turn that dial. You stay right here because we're going to talk about some things you need to hear. If you don't need them now, you're going to need them soon. And if you are suffering, of course, you will stay with us because these truths are going to comfort you and enlighten you in your darkness. You know Some don't think that Christian the Christian life involves suffering.
And uh they just say it's not a part of the genuine Christian life.
Well, is that true? Do we not have to suffer? because Jesus suffered for us.
Well, we want to make a distinction right now. Yeah. Jesus' sufferings were redemptive sufferings. They purchased our salvation. Our sufferings, though, are developmental.
They're used of God. to mature us. That is, if We react the proper way. And we'll talk about that a little later. First of all, I want to say.
That you may already have a question that's been on your mind about Christian suffering.
So, we're just waiting to hear from you at the Truth Network. That's 1-866-348-7884.
So, you can get on that phone and call us, and we'll stop and talk about what you want to talk about regarding Christian suffering. You know, Paul taught all Who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Second Timothy three, verse twelve.
Well, are we? That is, are we living godly? That is, like the godly one, Jesus Christ. If we are, then we're going to have some form of Christian suffering It may vary as far as the length It may vary as far as the type of suffering, but we will have some experience of suffering in our life. Peter wrote this: After you have suffered for a little while, The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, that is mature, confirm, that is ratify or reassure, strengthen, that is strengthen you in your spiritual core, and establish or found you, that is, make you fixed and dependable, a reliable servant of Christ.
1 Peter 5, 10, with my explanation attached.
Now anyone who stuff who has uh studied Christian history knows Without the shadow of a doubt, that indeed suffering is part. Of the true Christian experience. Church history shows time and again when God was working among his people, his work was always opposed, and that meant suffering in one form or another for God's people.
So, since we're going to talk about this term, let's define it. What is suffering?
Well, simply anything that causes us distress, hopefully, Hardship. or pain. whether physical, emotional, or psychological. That's suffering. Suffering is also simplified by the term adversity.
We could just define it as adversity, and that means, of course, trouble. The wind is blowing against you. You're swimming against the current. You know, Jacob cried out in Genesis forty two, thirty six, All these things are against me, and it certainly seemed like that was the case. Yeah.
But God was using those g things to lead him into a much better place. He found out about that a little later on. The same with our sufferings, friend. You could be suffering today injustice.
Someone has been unfair to you. That could just be some unfair treatment you've received from someone, or it could be a. legal injustice. Perhaps you went to court and you didn't get your Fair shake in court. Or rejection.
Hey, we all like to be accepted by people, and when we're rejected by people and they let us know it, you know, go out of their way to let us know it, hey, that's no fun, is it? We don't uh we don't feel good about that. And then there's failure. When we try to do something and we give it our best shot, but it just falls flat. And we fall flat on our face.
Wow. Sale year. That is clearly one form of suffering. And then unrequited love You know. Boy loves girl, but girl doesn't love boy back.
Well, I'm sure all of us have experienced that at some point in our life, and that is certainly a wound. When we don't have the love that we have for someone else, when that love is not. reciprocated.
So, this is the definition of suffering, and it gives you some idea of what we're talking about during this segment today of Truth Talk Live.
Now, be sure to call us now if you have any question regarding Christian suffering or any other questions. Question about the genuine Christian experience, give us a call at 1-866-348-7884.
Now Any honest discussion of suffering, I believe, should begin with acknowledging some vital truths. You know this is the truth network. And this program is Truth Talk Live, so I think we should be truthful. And With that said, I think we should all acknowledge that suffering is universal. There is no place on planet Earth where humankind do not experience suffering of one kind or another.
No place. Also, suffering is unavoidable. It is going to be Something that people face whether they're a Christian or not.
Now today we'll be specifying uh Christian sufferings. And perhaps you're listening, you're not a follower of Christ yet. What we're going to talk about has to do primarily with those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And the. peculiar difficulties they face because of their faith.
You know our master said we must take up our cross daily and follow him. That is, if we want to be His true disciples, His deeply committed, serious followers. But you know we just don't like suffering. And uh I think for that uh fundamental human Reason That reaction of our old nature to anything that's displeasant. Our generation of American Christians.
Has despised Christian sufferings. This is just not a topic that we want to talk about. You don't have a lot of bestsellers on this subject. And we've removed it from the body of our teaching. At least.
A large section of the body of Christ has. And in doing so, we have created our own kind of Christianity. I would call it a cross-less Christianity. Christianity. Again, Jesus said, we must take up our cross.
Daily. If we're going to be true followers of Him. And if we don't? What do we have? We have something less, something other than genuine Christianity.
I think it's crossless Christianity.
So this just simply is not the New Testament kind. And it's impossible for Christ to be pleased with us when we have to be able to. have that attitude. and have that response to sufferings in life.
Well, When we're suffering, We should ask some serious questions. The first thing we should do is ask, Lord, why am I suffering this difficulty, this hardship, this pain? Why have you permitted it to come into my life? What is your purpose in this situation?
Well, again, if we're going to be truthful, A lot of sufferings are caused by sin. You know, this nature that we are born with, this sin nature. It's prone to disbelieve God. and to disobey him. In a nutshell, The old nature Is Full of rebellion.
So Oftentimes as Christians we're taught what we should do, we're taught how we should live. And ye know we just don't do it.
Now that's going to cause problems for us immediately, and those problems are going to continue until we stop sinning.
So we'll be back in a few minutes, and we're going to be talking about Christian suffering. Call us at 1-866-348-7884. Truth Talk Live You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Suffering is our theme today on Truth Talk Live. I'm your guest host, Dr.
Greg Hennett. And we've just said that When suffering occurs in your life, the first thing you should do is to ask God why.
Now, this is it in a rebellious way. This is From a basis of humility, truly wanting to discover. Because if you don't know why you suffer, you're not going to grow from it. There's no question about that.
So the first reason. Suffering comes into our life as a Christian is sin, disobedience to God, to His revealed will. We just didn't do what we knew to do and what we had been taught.
Well, for instance, Sampson why did Sampson have his hair cut? Which drained his supernatural strength from him and just brought his ministry to a halt?
Well, he was. Sleeping with a harlot?
So sin was the direct cause. There's not much question about that. Then uh we should ask if Perhaps selfishness is the cause of our trouble.
Sometimes our relationships don't go well and you know upon closer examination. a humble examination, we realize that, you know, we really haven't been thinking about the other person very much. We've just kind of been set on our own ways. You know, I want what I want when I want it, the way I want it. And um And we just haven't been thoughtful of the other party.
So selfishness can cause trouble, particularly again in relationships. And then there's disobeying the call of God. You know, we each have a call of God on our life. We are called to walk with Him and be serious disciples of Christ. to seek to know Christ.
But then each one of us has a specific calling on our life. And God will give gifts. that fit that calling.
Well, if he's called you to be a missionary, and you're trying to serve as a pastor here at home, it's just not going to work out. You're going to have additional troubles that need not be in your life because. You're disobedient to the call of God. On the other hand, if he's called you to be an evangelist, But she'd rather stay and do a pastoral work, because that's more comfortable than being on the road all the time, or so it is in your mind.
Well, you're going to have some troubles that come up because you're not Getting out there. in the field and sowing the word of the gospel all over the country. We have the case of Jonah. None none could be clearer than this example. God called him to go to Nineveh.
Instead he went to Tashish. What happened?
Well, you know the story. And he found himself on a distressful Mediterranean cruise, Not the kind you and I would like to go on. And not until he surrendered Did he get out of his trouble? Which brings up the point. if you realize that your sufferings or for sin's sake, Or selfishness' sake.
or because you've disobeyed the call of God? or the guidance of God, There's not but one thing to do: go straight to God in prayer and Tell him that. Tell him the truth. The truth will make you free. and he'll release you from that difficulty, that adversity, That suffering that is coming to your life.
because it's a chastisement, It's a it's a uh corrective Punishment. It's not penal. He doesn't hate you. He doesn't want to destroy you. He loves you.
He's trying to instill in you godly character. Chastening is moral training to perfect character.
So if you confess your sin, He will forgive you, and He will set you back on the path. that you never should have left from.
Now, we want to hear your calls here at Truth Network. That's 866-348-7884. Tell us about some situation you've had in your past, or perhaps you're going to right now, and you realize it's a chastening from God. He's correcting you. Maybe this is a come to Jesus moment for you, even though you've come to Him through evangelism, you've received the gospel.
You need to come to him again. with a confession of truth so he can forgive you and restore you.
Now, suffering also may be caused by Righteousness. This is the other side of the coin. If you're going to be a Christian. You're gonna suffer When you don't disobey God. You're going to suffer for righteousness' sake.
Why in the world? Why in the world? did Cain kill Abel? What had he done? Not one thing.
except be right with God.
Now we know the story how the two were instructed to bring an offering to God, and the Bible doesn't say so, but it implies that they had been instructed in the proper way God wanted to be approached, that is, by blood sacrifice.
Well, Abel, Humbly. and in faith complied. And he brought God the sacrificed. He asked for. On the other hand, Cain, in his pride, is rebellion.
and in his unbelief. Did not.
So he was furious with God. And with Abel. How dare God approve of Abel? And not of himself.
So he took it out on his brother. And we have the first case here of sibling robbery. That's a whole nother. Can of worms? What is sibling rivalry?
Well, it means simply that One child hates his brother or sister for no more reason just than the fact that they're in the home and they get mom's attention and dad's. And this begins in the childhood. And it extends through adult life if it's not recognized and dealt with, and it's a very, very damaging thing.
So. Abel was killed because he was right with God. Kane could have been, but he didn't want to be.
So he took it out on Abel. Maybe you're suffering that right now where you're listening to this broadcast. You know, at the at the office, people just reject you. The only difference is that you're the only one there that's really born again. You haven't done anything to them.
They just reject you.
Well You're suffering for righteousness' sake. Or we may suffer for the word's sake. There comes a day in every young Christian's life when he or she must get serious about Bible study. It is imperative that you know the Word of God in order to practice it. And it's imperative that we practice the Word of God for us to live a God-pleasing life.
We're not talking about salvation here, we're talking about being pleasing to the Lord as a Christian.
Now, when you get serious about studying the Word of God, you're going to get. A little calling card from the devil. Adversity, trouble, suffering of some kind is going to enter your life. to try to break up that Bible study. to try to spoil that for you.
So You don't want to study the Bible anymore because you're all put out with God or with some person or some situation that has arisen.
So, if you recognize that you are suffering because of your commitment to study the Bible. That should encourage you. You should think well. Good. Game on.
Game on. You know, God's looking for Christians to be, he doesn't want us to be wimpy. He wants us to be competitors, gods of competitors. In the book of Job, you know. Psh.
Satan came to him about, came to God about Job, and he said, you know, and I'm just paraphrasing this: he said, you know, of course, Job serves you. Look what he gets. What was he really saying? He was saying, God, Job, and others won't serve you because you're. worthy to be served because they love you, they just serve you for what they get.
You know what God said? He said, All right, have at him Again, I'm paraphrasing. but then he limited the attack.
So God's a competitor, and He wants competitive children. In that We're not wimpy. We're ready to accept a challenge.
So if you're suffering because you've picked up your Bible study, praise God for it and go right on. Or because you're obeying the Lord. You know, sometimes we have certain areas in our life. And we haven't obeyed God there before. We know it.
God knows it, and the devil knows it. God in His love keeps putting that situation before you again and again and again, and He's waiting for you to pass that test. And when you pass that test, you just move from one Season of spiritual growth to the next.
Well, we're continuing to talk about Christian sufferings today, be sure to give us a call. At eight. 1-866-348-7884. Let us hear how you have experienced Christian sufferings and what you've learned from it. Truth Talk Live You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.
Suffering. Is it a part of the genuine Christian life? Do we not have to suffer because Jesus suffered for us? That's what we're discussing today. And we'd love to hear from you at 1-866-348-7884 to share some experience you've had or perhaps are going through right now.
of suffering. As a Christian.
Now, we're talking about the reasons why we may suffer. We've said we may suffer for sin's sake, for selfishness' sake, for disobedience to the call of God or to the guidance of God. And now we're looking at the other side of the coin. We can suffer for righteousness' sake or for the word's sake, for studying the word of God with greater determination and regularity, or obeying the word, where before we've not obeyed God in a certain area, but now we've made a breakthrough and we've obeyed him. And we know that we're moving forward and Satan's going to come after us.
Those are his attacks. There's no question about it. He's watching you. to see your Obedience and He will attack you.
Now God will control that attack. There's nothing to fear. as long as you're staying close to the Lord. But uh that's why it happens. And then um adversity can come and suffering can come because of our uncompromising stand for God's righteousness.
You know, friends, God does not want you to compromise His moral standards of righteousness. Jesus said that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not the righteousness of our culture, not even the righteousness of the church of our generation, but His righteousness as taught in the New Testament.
Well, if you're going to do that, there are times when you're going to be the odd duck or the odd bird, the speckled bird, maybe in your office or in a conversation with a mixed group of people, some believers, some not believers. And the issues of our day, the moral issues, are so stark. We our nation right now in America is a dichotomy. We're made up of two halves of very, very different types of people. One side wickedness is prevailing.
in an extreme way. On the other side, there's righteousness found only in Jesus Christ. And so we are not supposed to compromise what Christ taught us Because the crowd is doing something different. We can't just Go along to get along. That That doesn't cut it with the Lord.
We've got to be uncompromising. I can think of no better example of uncompromising righteousness than Daniel. And his three friends It would have been quite easy for them when they were Take a laugh. as exiles to Babylon. Their nation had been defeated and humiliated.
And of course, in that day, when your nation was defeated by another nation, it was understood. that the other nation's God was greater than your nation's God.
So they were in the depths of humiliation. They had every reason to compromise. But When Daniel and his three friends were in the Kings special training program. And they were asked to eat foods that had been dedicated to the Babylonian gods, Bel or Marduk, or. Neebo.
They refused to do so. And they asked to have the right to eat vegetables which were acceptable to the Torahic law, and that was granted. But they took a great risk in doing so. I would say they risked their very lives, because they were defying the instructions that came down from the great Nebuchadnezzar the Second. king of Babylon.
But they were not going to compromise. And of course, we know what happened in chapter 3. When Nebuchadnezzar built his giant ninety foot idol. Gold covered. which some believe represented himself, and perhaps it did.
And he commanded every one of the kingdom to bow down, and everybody bowed down except. These odd Jewish Boys. Young men by that time. They just were not going to bow down. Why?
Because God said, You are not to have any other gods before me. And then he said, You're not to make a graven image. and of course bow down to it.
So they were going to keep God's law no matter what. Nothing blesses the heart of Jesus Christ better. than to see his people willing to suffer Willing to have hardship and pain if necessary. Rather than sell him out, So there's suffering that comes for an uncompromising stand for God's righteousness and then for fruitful ministry. You know, if your ministry is making a mark On the kingdom of darkness, you will hear from the Prince of Darkness in some way or fashion.
He will send his displeasure into your life through one of his servants. And I would just add this, and this may come as a surprise to some of you.
Sometimes the worst suffering we endure comes from Christian sources. In case you didn't hear me, I'll say it again.
Sometimes the worst suffering we endure as believers comes from Christian sources.
Sometimes in the ministry, Our worst attack will come from a carnal minister, a minister who doesn't has has not formed the mind of Christ. Oh, he can deliver a sermon all right. But he has envy, ministerial envy. And he doesn't like you because he thinks your ministry is more important than his, so he takes it out on you.
Well, if you have a fruitful ministry of any kind, You will be opposed for that. You have to learn to accept it. Hey, it's part of the plan. It goes with the turf. Paul is the greatest example of this.
When you study his life in Acts 13 through 28, It's Very rare that you see Paul in a completely placid setting. where everything around his life is peaceful and calm and Tranquil I can think of only one instance really, and that was when he was ministering on Malta. And he had that time there. For three months, we had wonderful peace, quite successful ministry, and he seemed to be relieved for the moment from sufferings for the ministry's sake.
So these are some of the reasons why Suffering comes into our lives. You know, the book of Job shows us that the different areas or categories of suffering Possessions Job lost all his possessions.
Now, it's rare that we lose all of ours. And then family. He lost his children, all of them. Again, it's very rare that any Christian would lose all his children, but Sometimes Christians do lose a child. And then We should look to the scripture.
Which tells us what David did, how he reacted when he lost a child. He said, He shall not come to me, but I shall go to him. In other words, he won't come back. into this life, but I'm going to go be with him. and eternity.
Yeah. And then in marriage, you know, when Job had all his sufferings and they all just compiled and just fell in on his life. His wife. who should have supported him, said, You know, Job, Do you still fear the Lord? Curse God and die.
So I don't know what happened, but I'm sure he didn't have a very blissful marriage at that particular moment.
So his marriage took a hit because of his Christian suffering well, suffering for righteousness' sake. More accurately. And then relationships. You know, his friends came to him and for a whole week they sat and gave silent support because they could see his suffering was so great. By that time he had lost all his possessions, all his children.
He had lost his wife's approval, and now he'd lost his health. He was covered from head to foot with terrible balls, and you and I had never had even one boil of the kind Job had. And his friends sat there and comforted him, and Then they begin to do what our friends too often do. They begin to exercise their gift of misjudgment.
Now, in case you're going to rush to your Bible and look for that gift, you won't find it there. It's not an inspired blessing. It's not a charismatic. It's not a grace gift, but it is a gift nevertheless. I guess it's part of our own nature, and many Christians choose to exercise it.
And when you suffer, they're very, very occupied trying to figure out what's wrong with Brother Bill or Sister Sally. And they just know that suffering is coming to your life for this reason or that reason.
So that compounds your suffering when your friends. turn on your or don't give support. And then of course some suffering in the health. You know, this body's a wonderful thing, but when it's out of whack, Well, we have pain, we have distress and makes it harder To get on.
So the book of Job is telling us these are the kinds or categories of tests that may come. The believer's life. You know, we're just. We're just waiting to hear from you, Truth Network, at 8-1866-348-7884.
So please give us a call and let us know what kind of an experience you've had of Christian suffering. I see Mike is calling from Dayton, Ohio. Hello, Mike. You're on Truth Talk Live. Hello.
Hi. Uh Christian.
Okay. What is that? I'm sorry, my brain just all of a sudden. That's okay. We all have that at times.
Yeah. I didn't expect you to take my call this fast. Um Of Corinthians? Corinthians 10:13 here. Yes, yes.
The God won't let you endure or suffer. Yes. I would say that with a good word for me. Yes. More than you can handle.
Right. Um You know, um Over the years, you know, I have suffered for all those things you've talked about all throughout this whole program. you know, for sin. For standing up for God, carrying my Bible in high school. You know, I mean, I mean, I suffered tremendously.
Whole nine yards, yes. I'm 60 years old, so there's a lot of suffering going on down through those years, especially if you follow God. You know what I mean? Especially if you king, my savior, you know, and you're bold enough to say, hey, this is, you know, this is not true, or this is, you know, I mean, you're bold enough to do that. Yes.
But the thing is, I've always relied on is God has always been faithful through my years. Right. Oh, yes. Please always take take care of me in the long run. You know what I mean?
I can always see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know what I mean? Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, that text that you brought up is so key.
So key. That's one of the verses that I include in five different verses that I believe help the Christian overcome virtually any adversity. That's one of them. Because that text is telling us that. God won't let a Come into your life that he sees that you cannot handle in him.
So he is assessing where you are in your spiritual growth. He is assessing the difficulty of the trial, and he's not going to let it come until you're ready to handle it in him. We'll be back in just a moment on Truth Talk Live. Give us your call at 1-866-348-7884. Hang with us, Mike, and we'll continue after the break.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Suffering. Is that a part of the genuine Christian life? Or do we not have to suffer because Jesus suffered? Did he do all the suffering?
That's what we're talking about today on Truth Talk Live. I'm your guest host, Dr. Greg Hennett. And we have Mike on the phone from Dayton, Ohio. And go ahead, Mike, and finish your comments there.
Well, uh, thank you. Um You know, like I was saying, you know, God won't let you suffer more than you can handle. Right. And soon as I'm in some suffering, that's. I go, okay, here we are.
You know what I mean? Right. And then I say, God, okay, what is the problem here? You know, why why am I suffering? You know?
Excellent. Is it because of sin or is it because of uh you know, lack of uh relationship with you. It could be a lack of commitment to what God wants you to do in your life. Right. Over the years, I've learned this, and I'm not perfect, don't get me wrong.
I've learned more and more every day. You know, the closer I get to God, the more you, the more you want God, the more the devil comes and tempts you. Right. I mean he is And you know, and a lot of times it's our renewing of our mind, and everybody wants to blame the devil. On our renewingness or you understand what I'm saying.
Yes. Yeah. We've got to be spiritually minded toward the situation. Right. Yeah.
Right. And by being spiritually minded, it helps you to get through the suffering. Oh, absolutely. In fact, it's essential. It's essential because it's how you see it.
Paul said, to be carnally minded is death. That is, that separates you from the grace of God. You don't lose your salvation, but it separates you from conscious fellowship with Him. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
So in the same adversity, when you're spiritually minded, you're at peace. All is well, even though you're still in the trial. Right. And then you feel really good about it. Oh, yeah.
Yep. Because you're going to grow. Right, it's it's it's it's You know, people are saying, oh, your car broke down. Yeah, well, the devil's after me a little bit right now, and who cares? Yeah, you know, again, if we get back to that.
God will provide. Yeah. When we start accepting the challenges God puts before us, truly, it's a contest. It's a contest. And so, you know, we actually can really benefit from knowing that the devil is after us.
It's just a real confirmation that all is well at the time. Right. And um um people ask um How do you get to know God?
Well, get to knowing God helps you get through those trials as well. Right. And you go through those trials. Yeah. Go ahead.
I'm sure. Prayer and letting God speak to you. You know what I mean? That's how God speaks to you through the prayer. And believe me, it's not an easy thing to do.
I'm preaching to myself right here. You know what I mean? I really am. I'm letting God by getting on my knees and getting in my prayer closet. Tells us, say, okay, God, where do I need to grow?
What do I need to do? What is going on today? How can I help you? Where are you leading me? You know what I mean?
Yes. And you know, and then because the Holy Spirit is in charge of our lives. And so He is, if you will, He's our trainer.
So when you give him that, this is great, Micah. You've got a willing heart, you've got an open heart, a childlike heart toward him. Then he has your full permission to go right ahead with your training, and you will grow, and you will grow far more rapidly than someone who's not looking for God to be training them. Yeah. Absolutely.
So that's great. Keep it up. Yeah, thank you for telling me. But again, I want to encourage other people that are listening. You know what I mean?
Yes. I mean, because it's just. You know, it took a while. When I got up in the morning, it doesn't feel like, oh my gosh, I want to look at my phone. You know what I mean?
Why would I want to pray to God and say, God, this is the day that the Lord has made, and I will be glad in it. And you say to God, What do you want me to do today? Where are you leading me today? That's the first thing you should do when you get out of the day. Absolutely.
Absolutely. It's His day. We're His service. It's not easy to do. It's not easy to do, is it?
Well, it's a matter of easy. It's not easy, but then, you know, it's a matter of training ourselves. And once we get into that new groove, then it becomes a delight. It becomes just a joyful it just radically changes our whole outlook toward life. Because we see everything has a purpose from God, and our part is just to see it according to Scriptures, react that way, and everything that comes against us is just pushing us up.
Pushing us up. We're growing and pushing us closer to the Lord. Yeah, thank you very much, Mike. We appreciate you calling today. Thank you for those insights.
You're welcome, sir. Thank you for speaking on this. People need to hear this. Absolutely. I believe it.
It is a needed, needed, much-needed subject. Thank you. Amen. And now we have James from Dayton, Ohio. Yes, James.
You're you're on Truth Talk Live. Oh, I'm on now. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, sir.
Awesome. All righty.
So I'm James. I just I was thinking I was listening to what you were saying about suffering on the radio here. Um so I've had a long religious journey throughout my life. I'm only 21, but I've, you know, I've been through the ringer. Yeah.
I've, you know. I've been in every part of it, and what you're saying about suffering is just really resonating with me. What would you say is. Is the main pillar of suffering and its role in a Christian life? The main pillar of suffering and its role in the Christian life?
Well, I think it's essential to spiritual growth. It accelerates, and this is something that I had on my comments that we would have gotten to a little later, but it accelerates your spiritual growth. In other words, your growth is determined by both the watering you get from the water of the Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The nutrition you get, spiritually speaking, and then also the hot sunshine. You have to have both to have a healthy plant.
If you water a plant, you can water it to death if it doesn't have enough sun. And then, on the other hand, if it doesn't get enough water, The sun will destroy it, whereas God created the sun to bless it and to cause it to grow.
So, in our lives, the The water, the spiritual water comes from the Word of God, the water of the Word, and from the Holy Spirit, whom we receive fresh. endurements of every time we draw near to the Lord in prayer. And then on the other side, we need the hot sun of adversity. We need testing to give us spiritual exercise, and that's necessary to grow. There's no growth without that.
Okay, yeah, yeah. I I love that answer.
So it's it's for growth.
So I also remember you saying that everyone suffers Everyone and everything. Everybody born, you know, Job said, man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. Meaning, when you sit around a campfire, you watch those sparks, they all go up. The heat carries them up. And just as surely, anybody born of woman made of clay in this world is going to have sufferings.
Now, what do you think is the root of our suffering? Would you just pin that on original sin alone? Or yes, theologically, that's clearly the onset of suffering. Because in the garden, there was no suffering, there was no pain. There was the bliss of fellowship with God and with unbroken fellowship with one another.
Adam and Eve had a wonderful relationship. The first occasion that we know of that they had strife was after they sinned when God was dealing with them in judgment. And as you know, Adam blamed the woman, the woman blamed the serpent.
So that was the first division in their marriage that we are aware of.
So in the beginning, there was no pain. Pain came as a result of the fall.
So, can we end our suffering? I mean, can you ever end your suffering once and for all on this earth, or is that only once you're in the kingdom of heaven with our great Lord? Yes, I would say clearly, only when we're in the kingdom of God. Because there we know, as Revelation tells us, speaking of the eternal day of God, that is the eternal state, New Jerusalem on the new earth, there God will wipe away all tears and we will not have any experience of sorrow in his presence forever in New Jerusalem.
So that's something really to look forward to. But I want to bring out something I think that Mike hit upon there earlier: is that when you're suffering for Christ's sake and you know that, and then you learn how to stay close to the Lord in that difficulty, you're going to experience the shalom of God. The peace, the deep, permeating, settling peace of God is going to be with you in that trouble. Right in the middle of Nebuchadnezzar's fire, right in the middle of the flooding Jordan in your life, you're going to have the strongest peace you've ever had because you learn to accept that as from the Lord and then you continue. And this is key now, this is very important, James.
You continue your way with the Lord. You keep seeking Him, you keep studying that word, you keep obeying that word, you continue to do your duty or serve God in the way He has called upon you to in your church and whatever ministry you may be either helping with or already engaged in. You continue your walk with God. unaffected. This is because you see, Satan's object is to break up your fellowship with the Lord and then to quench your service for him.
So when you continue faithfully, you pursue God, you continue to do so, you are learning endurance, and endurance is invaluable to God.
Now, one more thing that that kind of leads into is if you if that peace comes once you get into heaven, can you touch that piece? On earth, or are you just suffering for life until you can touch that piece while you're here? Yes, I can do that. What's the process? Do we have the formula to do so?
Well, I don't know if we have a formula, but David gave us a great clue in Psalm 16 because he said, in his presence is the fullness of joy.
So by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the born-again Christian, when you seek the Lord in the morning, in the evening, whenever you seek Him, I seek Him first thing in the morning, and you draw near to Him, and there's no active sin in your life, that peace is a little touch of heaven. On earth, you can experience that wonderful peace now in this world, even in the midst of great trouble going around you.
Well, we're glad you called today. Thank you so much, James. And tune in tomorrow again at 4:05 for Truth Talk Live. Mm-hmm.
