Suffering and Hope

A. Understanding suffering through Scripture.

1. Suffering Refines and Strengthens Faith

·      James 1: 2-4 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

·      1 Peter 1: 6-7 – “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

·      Romans 5: 3-5 – “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.”

·      Proverbs 17: 3 – “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.”

2. Suffering Draws Us Closer to God

·      Psalm 34: 18 – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

·      2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

·      Psalm 119: 71 – “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”

·      Hosea 6: 1 – “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”

3. Suffering Produces Compassion for Others

·      2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.”

·      Galatians 6: 2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

·      Romans 12: 15 – “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

·      Hebrews 13: 3 – “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

4. Suffering Glorifies God

·      John 9: 3 – “Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”

·      1 Peter 4: 16 – “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

·      2 Corinthians 4: 17 – “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

·      Philippians 1: 29 – “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”

5. Suffering Teaches Dependence on God

·      Job 1: 21 – “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

·      Deuteronomy 8: 3 – “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone.”

·      Psalm 46: 1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

·      Isaiah 41: 10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you.”

6. Suffering Prepares Us for Eternal Life

·      Romans 8: 18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

·      2 Timothy 2: 12 – “If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.”

·      1 Peter 5: 10 – “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

·      Revelation 21: 4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

7. Suffering Disciplines and Corrects

·      Hebrews 12: 6-7 – “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure.”

·      Proverbs 3: 11-12 – “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

·      Lamentations 3: 31-33 – “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”

·      Psalm 94: 12 – “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law.”

8. Suffering Demonstrates God’s Sovereignty

·      Isaiah 45: 7 – “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

·      Romans 9: 22-23 – “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”

·      Genesis 50: 20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

·      Daniel 4: 35 – “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”

B. The Hope of Resurrection and Eternal life.

1. The Promise of Resurrection

·      John 11: 25-26 – “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’”

·      1 Corinthians 15: 20-22 – “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”

·      Romans 8: 11 – “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

·      Daniel 12: 2 – “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

2. Eternal Life Through Faith in Christ

·      John 3: 16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

·      1 John 5: 11-12 – “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

·      John 17: 3 – “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

·      Titus 1: 2 – “In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.”

3. Victory Over Death

·      1 Corinthians 15: 54-55 – “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’”

·      2 Timothy 1: 10 – “And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

·      Revelation 21: 4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

·      Isaiah 25: 8 – “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

4. The Resurrection of Believers

·      Philippians 3: 20-21 – “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.”

·      1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

·      John 5: 28-29 – “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

·      Acts 24: 15 – “Having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”

5. Assurance of Our Heavenly Inheritance

·      1 Peter 1: 3-4 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.”

·      Colossians 3: 4 – “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

·      2 Corinthians 4: 17-18 – “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”

·      Hebrews 9: 27-28 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

6. Living in the Hope of Resurrection

·      Romans 6: 5 – “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

·      2 Corinthians 5: 1 – “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

·      John 14: 2-3 – “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself.”

· Revelation 22: 5 – “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”