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In the first coming of Jesus
Christ, our Lord used miracles to prove he was the Messiah, God in the
flesh. But he didn’t heal people just to remove their suffering. Otherwise
He would have healed everyone.
At one time the apostle Paul had
the gift of healing, but it appears that gift was removed from him once
his ministry was established.
God gave Paul the gift of
healing to prove he was from the Lord, so his New Testament writings would
be accepted. God never intended the gift of healing to heal everyone. Phil
2:27, 2 Tim 4:20
Some Christians think the gift
of healing is still around today. If that is so, why did Paul’s gift of
healing stop? In the following verse he couldn’t heal his dear friend
Epaphroditus:
Phil 2:25-27
But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother
and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and
minister to my need; because he was longing for you all and was distressed
because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick to the
point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on
me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
Paul could not heal his friend
Trophemis either, but he had to leave him behind, even though he needed
him for the work of the Lord.
2 Tim 4:20
Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.
God often provides illness as
means of divine discipline, 1Co 11:30, as a loving father disciplines his
children.
Good health is not a sign of
spirituality or salvation. Beware of judging those who have lost their
health. Don’t assume it is God punishing them for their sins!
Job is the perfect example of a
believer who lost his health, but it was suffering for blessing, to give
glory to God in the Angelic Conflict.
Job 2:1-10
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present
himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come
from?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the
earth and walking around on it." 3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you
considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a
blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he
still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to
ruin him without cause." 4 Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for
skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 " However, put
forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You
to Your face." 6 So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power,
only spare his life."
7 Then Satan went out from the presence of
the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the
crown of his head. 8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was
sitting among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still
hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You
speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from
God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job was a mature believer,
blameless and upright in chapter 1. But God allowed him to be tested, to
show Satan how a member of the human race could be faithful to God, even
under severe testing.
God can always heal if He wants
to, if it is in His plan.
But testing is necessary in the
invisible spiritual war called the Angelic Conflict. The greatest way we
can glorify the Lord today is by staying faithful to Him while in the
suffering.
Do not go to your pastor for
every problem. You may be praying for healing when it is against the
Father's will.
I say this to you out of love,
so we can become mature believers for the Lord Jesus Christ, not baby
believers who refuse God's calling on their lives. And God's calling, will
at times, include suffering.
There are many reasons for
suffering and testing.
1. Sometimes we simply reap
what we sow, because of our own bad decisions. Gal 6:7-9
Gal 6:7-9
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from
the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from
the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for
in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
2. Sometimes we are under
divine discipline, for the Bible promises God will discipline every
son at times, because He loves them.
Heb 12:4-11
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving
against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed
to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE
DISCIPLINES,AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7 It is for
discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son
is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without
discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline
us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the
Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time
as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may
share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be
joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it,
afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
3. Sometimes we go through
Undeserved Suffering, or Suffering for Blessing! Job 1,2, 42:10-17,
James 1:12, Rev 2:10
This is when we suffer something
due to no fault of our own. Often this comes in mistreatment from others.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has
stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to
those who love him.
Rev 2:10
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the
devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer
persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I
will give you the crown of life.
God doesn’t want you to run away
from suffering.
Don’t just pray for healing,
pray for God's will in your life!
There are several things to
realize about praying for healing and the truth about suffering.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we
are all priests and can go directly to God in prayer. In fact we are
commanded to go boldly to the throne of grace in prayer, because of our
union with Christ. Heb 4:16
With the testing God promises
a way of escape, so that you will be able to stay in the suffering and
endure it!!
1 Cor 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are
able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that
you will be able to endure it.
He will give you the power to
handle it. He is teaching you about His power when you are suffering.
Suffering is only unbearable
when we are reaping what we have sown, or when we are suffering under
divine discipline from God.
If we are stubborn and arrogant,
and we refuse to get back into the plan of God, then the suffering could
be agonizing.
But if we rebound (by confessing
our sins to God the Father) and we get back on HIS path, then God is
faithful to provide the strength needed to endure the testing.
If you stay faithful to the Lord
and His plan in your suffering, you can be a witness for God, against
Satan.
You prove that God is fair and
just, no matter what you go through. Job 1&2, 2Cor 12:7-10
This is why God wouldn’t answer
Paul’s prayer in 2Cor 12. Paul realized God wanted him to suffer, to
realize that God’s grace was enough to get him through the suffering.
2 Cor 12:7-10
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this
reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the
flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting
myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might
leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for
power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather
boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with
distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for
when I am weak, then I am strong.
He calls us to remember why we
are on this earth. The true meaning of life is to glorify Him, even in
your suffering.
2Tim 2:3-4, Joh 19:17, Gal 6:5,
Heb12:2-3, Mat10:38, Luke 9:23
2 Tim 2:3-4
3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good
soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself
in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who
enlisted him as a soldier.
All believers in Christ are
saved, that is a promise guaranteed to us by the grace of God. So what can
we do for Him?
He has already done everything
for us, paying the entire price for our sins on the cross. But we have
the chance in this life to suffer for His Name. We will never have that
chance once we get to heaven.
Only a few believers will stay
faithful in suffering. Those believers will become spiritually mature and
will be rewarded for their faithfulness to the Word of God.
Many crowns await believers who
live in God's Plan and endure suffering without complaining, Rev 2:8-10.
They thank God for the
suffering, because they realize this life is the only time we will be able
to suffer for Him.
Suffering has value in God's
eyes. You have a purpose in your suffering or testing. Men and angels
are watching you. And so is the Lord who has trusted you to handle the
test.
If you are not a believer, then
you are not saved. You must trust in the Lord’s sacrifice for your sins:
Acts 16:30-31
..and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?"
They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you will be saved, you and your household."
He suffered for us on the Cross,
so we would not have to pay the price for our sins:
Heb 10:17
"AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
And one day there will be no
more suffering for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Rev 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death
or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away."
But for the one who does not
believe in Him, there will be eternal condemnation:
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son
will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
If you have never
believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we beg you to be
reconciled to God:
2
Cor 5:20
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled
to God.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
* For further study on the Doctrine of Suffering and
Solutions, please visit
www.gbible.org and read the Trees of Life from
March
1, 1998 through
April 12, 1998. Or order the series on cassette
tapes at no cost to you.
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