1 Peter chapter number two. For today's reading, 1 Peter chapter two, Hebrews, James, and 1 Peter chapter two. And if you take your eye to the 18th verse, we'll begin there, our reading. And so it's 1 Peter chapter two and the verse number 18. And let's read the word of God. It says, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. even here on to where ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps or his steps who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered He threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, whose own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live on to righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were a sheep going astray, but are now returned on to the shepherd and bishop of your souls. We'll end our reading there. It is a short reading today. Let's just unite around the open word of God and a word of prayer, and before we bring the message that God has given for this meeting. Our heavenly Father, O God, we thank thee for the truth of the hymn that we have sung. We thank thee that God will take care of his children casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. And Lord, we come, dear Father, into this house with many of our cares. Lord, we want to cast them upon Thee, casting our burden upon the Lord, aware and fully conscious and assured that He will sustain us. Lord, we cry, O God, that Thou wilt bless in the preaching of Thy Word. May it be a word, O God, in season for some soul. Grant, O God, our hearts to be alert and our minds to be active, O God, in this part of the worship service. Let us not drift in to a daydream, we pray. Grant, O God, our minds to be centered on Thee and bring every thought into captivity. We cry, O God, that great glory and praise and honor might be brought to Christ. I pray, O God, that thou wilt be with us, and fill me with thy Spirit, I pray, and give power and liberty. In the preaching of the word, we offer prayer in and through Jesus, precious and worthy and holy name. Amen and amen. Loneliness, depression, insomnia, fear, anxiety and worry, sickness and death have all been addressed over the last number of weeks and months. As we have considered together some of the issues that people face, on their journey through this world. As I attempt to minister to such people who face such problems, I find myself to be wholly inadequate for such a task. For at best I am but a man who at times myself struggles with these great life issues myself. However, though I feel myself to be inadequate at times, thank God there is a God A God who is termed in scripture as the God of all comfort, who I can direct the suffering child of God to, who has counsel and comfort contained within his word that will help and sustain the believer who battles with these various life issues. As I thought about what we have been considering, I thought about one final message that I would bring to your heart and to your attention today. To conclude then this series of messages, I want us to think about the life issue of suffering. suffering. It really is an umbrella issue, for really it does take in what we have already considered together, because surely there is a kind of suffering in our loneliness, there's a time of suffering in depression, there's a time of suffering connected with anxiety and fear and worry and sickness and in death. The issue of suffering. As I think about this matter of suffering, I hardly need remind you when suffering first entered into this world. As with many of the issues that we have been considering together, the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, that fall from his state of innocency into sin is the culprit of much of the heartache and the trouble and the suffering that we face in this life. Our first parent sin brought in with it all the suffering that we now endure in this fallen and this sinful world. Sin is the cause of our sufferings. There are a number of matters that I want us to consider together when we speak of this topic of suffering. I want you to firstly think with me the mystery of suffering. The mystery of suffering. Why am I going through this? Why do I have to endure this? I wonder, have you ever found yourself asking those questions? If you haven't, just wait, for surely there's going to come a time when you're going to be faced with something in your life that will cause you to ask that very question, why am I going through this? You know, at times, as children of God, we are at a loss. to give an adequate answer to why God permits suffering in the lives of His children. And what often happens is that we often come and we often foolishly look to secondary causes to explain a person's suffering in this world. Job's friends did that. When they looked at the suffering of Job, the loss of livestock, the loss of servants, the loss of family, the loss of health, they wrongly concluded that there was some sin that Job was guilty of in his past, that resulted in his present sufferings that he was now facing. Job's friends were unable to understand the mystery that is associated with suffering, and so they jumped to the wrong conclusion. They believed that there was sin in the life of Job. Job's first friend, a man by the name of Elipaz, he acknowledges that Job was a source of strength for many an individual who went through difficult times, but whenever it came upon himself, we find Elipaz saying these words in Job chapter 4 and the verse 7 to 8, Remember I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent, Or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen they that plough iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same. In other words, Job, you're reaping what you have sown. And those that sow iniquity and those that plow iniquity and those that sow wickedness reap the same job. There's some sin in your life that has brought this suffering into your circumstances. Job's second friend, a man by the name of Bildad, said the same in Job chapter 8 in the verse number 20. Behold, God will not cast away the perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers. And in a roundabout way, Bildad is saying to Job, Job, there must be something wrong. God has, as it were, cast you away. You're not a perfect man, you're not an upright man, and God's not going to help you. who is an evildoer. His third friend, Zophar, he repeats the same refrain in Job chapter 10, the verses 14 and verses 15. If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot. Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear Job, if ye only would but put away your sin. If you'd only repent of your sin, whatever that sin is, Job, then God would raise you up again. Remember, Job was covered in boils from head to toe, and he says here, then, thou shalt lift up thy face without spot. Job, God will bring recovery on your confession of sin, whatever that sin is. You see, Job's friend's reasoning was as follows. God sends calamities upon wicked people only. You have suffered a calamity, Job, therefore you must be wicked. That's the equation that Job's friends had come up with. Now the Bible does present cases where such happens. where men suffer because of sin. We only have to go to the commencement of the biblical narrative to realize that in the days of Noah, there was a generation who had disobeyed God, a generation who had rejected God's law, a generation who had lived for sin, and as a consequence of their sin, God punishes their sins by bringing them into the worldwide flood and judging them for their sin. Fast forward a few generations and we find the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, those wicked cities of the plain, and God judges them for their sin, for their licentious and their wicked living. But to conclude that all suffering is because of sin is an overgeneralization that the Scriptures and the teaching of Jesus Christ do not support. Let me direct you to three New Testament passages that affirm what I have just said. All calamity, all suffering cannot be placed at the door of sin within the life of a particular person or a particular grouping. If you turn to Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 13. The Savior addresses the crowds here. Let me read the opening verses. And there were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering him said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay. But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Are those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell? And slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay. But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Hear the Lord Jesus Christ. He takes two incidents out of the local, as it were, news round. things that had just happened within the community, and there were those within the Jewish society who were saying, they had concluded that these things must have happened to these particular people because they were great sinners. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he puts to bed such false thinking because he says, nay, nay, that is not the case. These things did not happen to them because of particular sins. These disasters were not necessarily a sign that these people were great sinners, that this is God's judgment upon them for sin, but they were used by Christ to remind them that they too will perish. They too were going to come to death, and they too needed to repent of their sin. And so we find the Savior speaking here and reminding us that the sufferings of these Galileans and the sufferings of the ones upon whom the Tower of Siloam felt were not the consequence of sin within their lives. I think another incidence during the earthly ministry of Christ that I believe that shows that we cannot attribute suffering to sin in the life of the suffering one or their family. And I believe that's seen in John chapter nine. You turn there to John chapter nine, and I'll again read from the opening verse. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest. in him I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work here the disciples they look at this blind man and they automatically look at his disability and they say there's a sin There's either a sin in his life, or there has been a sin that was committed by his parents. And as a result of that, he is suffering this blindness. But Jesus Christ said, no, that is not the case. Neither did this man sin, or neither did his parents sin. That's not saying that they were sinless beings, sinless people. We know that we're all born in sin. What Christ was saying here was that they were not suffering as a consequence of sin. This wasn't judgment for sin. Some sin committed. And so the Lord Jesus Christ puts the disciples' wrong reasoning to bed. Suffering or sin equals suffering? No, because neither did this man, but this man was born blind so that the works of Christ would be made manifest in him. And we understand from John chapter nine that those works were manifest by God touching the blind man and making him to see again. The last instance in the New Testament, I want you to turn to his Acts chapter 28. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter number 28. Acts chapter 28. Now you'll remember that in chapter 27, the Apostle Paul is making his way to Rome to die the martyr's death. He's taken himself to a ship, or he has been taken on a ship, and whilst that ship has sealed, that ship is caught up in a great storm in the Mediterranean Sea. As a consequence of that storm, the ship runs aground. All the passengers and the crew, they are safely brought to land. Some swim, others get on to the debris of the broken boat and they make their way to a little island. That little island is called Miltia. The little island called Miltia. 1 of chapter number 28. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Meltea. And notice what happens. As they come on to that little island, they gather themselves around a fire. They gather themselves around a fire in order to keep themselves warm. The barbarous people of that particular land shows them kindness in the midst of their trouble. Paul realizes that the little fire is going to go out. The Apostle Paul, remember this now, the Apostle Paul, we read in verse three, and when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, the great Apostle Paul, the great missionary, the church planter, the theologian, and yet we find him doing this menial task. Child of God, nothing should be beneath us within the work of God. Remember one man who said to me, brother, don't forget to gather the sticks. Don't forget to gather the sticks. And if the apostle Paul saw a need to gather the sticks and to do the menial task, well then, ought we not to do the same within the work of God? But that's just a side issue. You'll know that whenever he gathers the sticks, Paul goes to place those sticks on the fire. And what happens? A viper comes out and fastens itself to the hand of Paul. Now notice the conclusion that the barbarous people, the islanders, jump to as they look at that viper attached to Paul's hand. Notice the verse number four. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer. whom though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. These people thought that Paul's present suffering was divine vengeance upon some hideous crime that he had committed in the past. But brethren and sisters, their thoughts couldn't have been further from the truth. The apostle Paul was a man who walked with God, and yet they looked at the circumstance and they came to the wrong conclusion. Paul's suffering as a consequence of this viper is because of some sin in his life. But that was not the case. J.R. Miller, the preacher, remarked, sin does indeed bring curse and calamity to many lives, but it is a fearful mistake to say to everyone who has trouble that he has committed some sin and that his trouble is in punishment for it. Nor should a godly man say when he is visited by affliction, I wonder what I have done that God is punishing me so. And maybe you're here today and you feel like that. You're suffering whether in body, whether in mind, and you're wondering why is God punishing me? But this is not the case. Because, brethren and sister, there is a mystery to our sufferings. There is depths that we cannot understand, God's ways we cannot, they are past finding out. And with the mystery with regard to our sufferings, we need to remember in our suffering times to rest on the truth that God's ways are higher than our ways. And that his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and that his thoughts towards his people are of peace and not of evil. and to give us an expected end. Jeremiah 29 and the verse number 11. You know, there will be times of suffering in our lives when even family and friends and the minister will be at a loss to answer the question, why? Why you're suffering? Why you're enduring what you are enduring? But as someone has put it, the why belongs to the Father. He knows. Let him answer and let us trust and be still. God is love. He makes no mistake. The hidden mystery of suffering will be revealed to us at a later date. It is simply for us as we go through times of suffering for us to trust in God and to believe that he knows what is best and that he doeth all things well, even in our days of suffering. The mystery of suffering. But the second truth that I want us to consider today is the Christian and suffering. The Christian and suffering. Now the Christian, like every other member of the human race, will endure at times some kind of suffering. That suffering might be physical suffering, that suffering might be mental suffering. We'll all endure it. We are members of a fallen race, a cursed race. We have within our bodies the very seeds of death. We're going to suffer in this world. But the believer has an added suffering. A believer has to contend with an extra form of suffering that the unbeliever knows nothing of. And the suffering that I speak to you of is the suffering that comes from us being members of the family of God. There is a particular suffering that comes to us as being a member of the family of God, and there are various Bible texts that remind us that we will suffer in this world when we identify ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 3, verse 12 declares, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution shall suffer persecution. 1 Peter 3, verse 14, but and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. And then 1 Peter 4, verse 16, yea, if any man suffer as a Christian, Let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his or this behalf. This is what Peter has been speaking here in 1 Peter and the chapter number two. These individuals who suffer from living their lives in accordance to the will of God and to the word of God. Servants be subject, verse 18, dear masters, not only the good and gentle, but to the fruitful. For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief suffering wrongfully. This has brought us into the case of employer-employee. Here's a believer and they suffer wrongfully because they are living their lives in accordance to the will of God. For what glory is it if when ye are buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently? But when ye do well and suffer for it, take it patiently. This is acceptable with God. There is a suffering that comes to the child of God. And so it's very evident that a Christian is going to suffer in this world because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Suffering will be the case, the common lot of all who endeavor to serve their Redeemer and Savior and friend faithfully. It's part of the cross. Child of God, it's part of the cross that Jesus Christ told us about when we became followers of Jesus Christ. to take up the cross and to follow Him. And we're going to suffer if we live our lives according to the statutes and the commandments of this book. We're going to suffer in this world. People are going to laugh at us. People are going to ridicule us. People are going to isolate us. They're going to put us out of their company. They'll not want us to be in their company. We're going to suffer in this world. All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Be in no doubt about it. This is the journey of the believer through this world. There will be suffering. Maybe you suffer. Maybe you suffer in your family for being a Christian. Family members have shunned you. There have been those in your family circle who have ridiculed you for leaving the church that your father was born into and your father sat in the pew for many a long year and now you've forsaken your father's church to come to a gospel preaching church, maybe there's now a coldness, a distance has opened up between you and your brothers or sisters, your siblings because of your conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may suffer in your school for being a Christian. You're the butt of the joke, the target off, the school bully. Untrue things may be circulated about you on social media all because you stand for Jesus Christ in your place of education. Maybe you suffer in your place of employment for being a Christian. You're laughed at for being a Christian. Job promotion is withheld because you have got Christian beliefs. Maybe you do not succumb to the PC culture that has come into your place of employment, but rather you stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ. We will suffer for righteousness sake. But as we do so, brethren and sisters, we are to rejoice in our sufferings. We are to rejoice in our sufferings. Why? Because they are the evidence that the Spirit of Christ dwells in us. Christ dwells within us. The Lord Jesus Christ said this to his followers in John 15 verse 18 and 19, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were off the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not off the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Let me say that if your unsaved friends, work colleagues enjoy your company, there's something wrong with your profession of faith. There's nothing wrong with being friendly, nothing wrong with being kind and benevolent, but if they want you to socialize with them, there's something wrong with your profession of faith. The world hated Christ, and the world hates us. those who are off Christ, those that have been brought out of this world, this world of sin. The world hates the genuine Christian, and the world will make life for the Christian difficult, because the world hates Christ. It always has hated Christ, and it always will hate Christ. We find examples in the Word of God of men and women who suffered greatly. for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. James 5 verse 10, the Old Testament prophets are held forth as examples of those who displayed great patience as they suffered affliction. James 5 10, take my brethren the prophets Elijah and Isaiah, Elisha, the prophets of God who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. Acts chapter 5 in the verse 41 we find the apostles. They've just spent the night in the local prison. They've been beaten by the Jewish council. And what do they do? It says, they depart from the presence of the council, having been told not to preach in Christ's name, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. To suffer shame for His name. Think of men like Job, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Stephen, Paul. They all suffered as Christians. When you suffer as a Christian, remember you're in good company. You're in good company. Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 11 and 12. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. You're just in the line of the prophets. If you're being reviled at school, If you're being laughed at, if you're suffering for being a Christian, you're in good company. The prophet suffered, but Christ suffered. Christ suffered. And if Christ suffered and suffered he did, then we who belong to him will have to tread the same road as he once trod. We too will suffer. Peter holds Christ forth as the example to the suffering saints there in 1 Peter 2. For hereunto ye were called because Christ also suffered for us, but his sufferings were a greater suffering. His sufferings were the sufferings that procured atonement for sin. His sufferings were the sufferings that bring us nigh to God and reconcile us to God. Those sufferings involved the blood-shedding of His own blessed Son. He suffered in body, in soul, in mind. His soul was sorrowful unto death even before He got to the tree. And by His sufferings He has secured redemption for us. So what is our sufferings compared to his? When we're laughed at school for being a Christian, for not going to the school disco, for not going to the school formal, for standing up for Christ. What's our sufferings compared to those who laughed maybe at a handful, and it was only a handful, who walked behind that banner last night in Portrush? What was it? Compared to his sufferings, he wasn't ashamed of your eye when he hung in the tree, was he? And yet we as Christians, we cower. We don't want to identify with Jesus Christ. We don't want to endure the sufferings that will come our way as a result of saying, I'm a Christian. Oh, for boldness in these days, when men and women stand up for Christ, Let's move on to third consideration. Think about not only the mystery of suffering and the Christian, think about the gift of suffering. Yeah, you heard me correctly. The gift of suffering. Philippians 1, verse 29, the Apostle Paul, he said these remarkable words, and remarkable they are. Philippians 1, verse 29, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Paul said, for unto you it is given in behalf of Christ to suffer for his sake. It's given. God gives us it. He gives us suffering. It's a gift from God. Now God has given us many wonderful gifts. I suppose the greatest of the gifts that he gave us, I don't suppose I know, is the gift of his only begotten son, his unspeakable gift. But here is a gift that God gives us that you may not think is a gift, especially if you're suffering at this present moment of time, whether it be bodily, whether it be spiritually, whether it be in your home, whether it be in your place of employment, you may not think that suffering for Jesus Christ as a gift, but Paul says that suffering is given to us by God. It's God's gift to us. It's God's gift Whenever you suffer, I want you to remember the words that we have in Lamentations 3, verse 33. They are words concerning God and they say, this is what it says, Lamentations 3, 33. For he, speaking of God, doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. For he doth not afflict willingly or grieve the children of men. God is not some sadistic despot, He takes pleasure in afflicting suffering upon his creatures. He does not use our sufferings to break us, but to better us. He uses our sufferings to school us in many things that could never be learned in days when we do not suffer. And so, as we see the benefits that are derived from sufferings, we come to the conclusion, yes, Though it is against popular belief, suffering is a gift. Now let me quickly suggest to you a number of things, a number of truths, benefits that come to us by our sufferings. Can I say in the first place that suffering verifies our profession of faith? Suffering verifies our profession of faith, writing to you, The saints in 1 Peter 1 and the chapter 6 and 7, the apostle Peter writes, wherein you greatly rejoice, for now, for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations, but the trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Peter uses the illustration of the refining fire, the refining process within gold to speak of the faith of the child of God. That trying process proves the genuineness of the faith. In the Christian sufferings, yes, their faith is tried, of course it is. At times we find ourselves shaken, but the anchor still holds. Though the storms around us beat, thank God for that. The anchor for the soul still holds steadfast upon the Rock of Ages. And as it does so, it authenticates our faith, our profession of faith. But what happens to those who go through sufferings and times of trial, and they find themselves forsaking the faith, leaving the house of God? and denying the very God who saved them. Well, it only proves that their faith was never of the genuine sort. They've gone out from us, having not been of us. And so our suffering, it proves where our faith, it verifies that our faith is genuine and authentic. Suffering does something else. It authenticates or it confirms our sonship, our sonship. At times we suffer because God has to chasten us. At times we are wayward. At times we are guilty of backsliding. But the chastening process, though it brings suffering, of course it does. It brings suffering into our lives when God chastens His wayward child, and yet that chastening and that suffering that accompanies the chastening is evidence that we are sons and daughters of God. Hebrews chapter 12, verse five to seven. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth. He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Our sufferings as a result of our chastenings confirm our sonship. I am his child. God has saw fit and has loved to chasten me. Something else, suffering produces patience. James 1 verse 2 and 3, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, trials, troubles, adversity. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. We've already spoken about the prophets there set forth to us as an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. The prophets' increase in the Christian grace of patience was the end product of their sufferings. That's the end product of it. God's going to give us patience. And too often we're found impatient in our lives, and that's why God brings us into times of suffering. And as we suffer and as we endure the affliction, we'll find God developing the Christian grace of patience within our lives. Something else, suffering promotes self-examination. When everything's going well in your family, is it not true that, well really, We fail to assess where we are in our Christian lives. We drift on in our Christian experience. That's the case, is it not? But place, or have God to place us on a bed of suffering. Let trial beset us, let sickness come, let troubles envelop our home and our family. And what do we do? What are we found doing? We're found searching our hearts and making sure that there's nothing between us and God. Times of suffering, I can say, can be times of profound spiritual discovery, and can be times of extraordinary growth within the believer's life. Something else, suffering clarifies our priorities. We get caught up in this world. There's a danger that, like the children of Israel, we can forget the Lord our God when things are going well. We allow the things of the world to consume our thinking, but whenever we suffer, whether it be physically, whether it be mentally, life's priorities, they undergo a realignment so that we clearly see where our priorities ought to lie. Suffering also can do something else. It can encourage other suffering scenes. God can take our sufferings to encourage others who are suffering, because as those suffering saints, as they consider our sufferings, they come to this realization, you know, my sufferings aren't just unique to me. And that's what happens whenever we go through times of suffering. We think our sufferings are unique to ourselves and our home and our family, and surely no one could suffer as I am suffering. But as we see others suffering, it encourages the saints of God to realize, this is not unique only to me. And they also see, as God upholds us in our sufferings, that there is sufficient grace for our days of suffering. But something else that you may not have thought about suffering, can benefit unbelievers? From a prison cell, the apostle Paul was able to write these words. He said that the things that had happened to him had fallen out rather onto the furtherance of the gospel. Now remember, he's in prison. He says, these things have fallen out for the furtherance of the gospel, and that was clearly seen. in the life of the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16. You know the events that led to Paul and Silas being incarcerated in Philippi's jail. They have been arrested, they've been beaten, they've been thrown into the inner prison, their feet and their hands are held fast in stocks and in chains. They suffered greatly, they were beaten, they were bruised. They were suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ But what happened? Well, you know what happened. A Philippian jailer was converted. A Philippian jailer was converted on the result or as a result of their testimony and of their witness for Jesus Christ in that jail. Because he comes in and he asks Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? Paul's sufferings led to another being converted, to Jesus Christ. They benefited the unsaved healer. All those sufferings would lead to his conversion. And so your sufferings, and as the ungodly look on at your life and they see God's grace, or through your time of bereavement and they see God's grace, they understand, if I was in that crucible, I could not endure, but God has given them grace, grace to carry them through. That has brought many a person to Christ. All of these benefits and many more come through our sufferings, and so we must resign to God's wisdom in these things. knowing that he, in his own good time and way, will yield those blessed outcomes in our lives and in the lives of those that we live among and those that we serve among. The mystery of suffering, the Christian in suffering, the gift of suffering, and very quickly, the release from our suffering, the release from our suffering. Romans 8, verse 18. The Apostle Paul, he says, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Paul was aware by his understanding of the gospel that the Christian sufferings are temporary. They're only temporary. Their duration is not forever. And though at times on earth, yes, we do suffer, there's coming a day of release. There's coming a day of deliverance. There's coming a day of salvation. When all of our sufferings will be over, for a death, those things which cause us to suffer will cease. Heaven's saints know nothing of suffering. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, 17, that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. This is what it's leading up to. Listen, child of God, your sufferings are the precursor of glory. They are but the precursor of glory. Samuel Rutherford, as he thought about that, he put our present sufferings into perspective with this statement. He said this, our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to heaven. Our little time of suffering here on earth is not worthy of our first night's welcome in heaven. What a glorious prospect. And we will find that out to be true. Those who are united to Christ, when we find ourselves surrounded by the glories of heaven, we're going to look at our sufferings on earth as a price that was worth paying for what we are going to enjoy throughout all of God's great eternity. Redemption draws nigh, believer. Redemption draweth nigh, suffering saint. Soon you'll be delivered from your sufferings. Take heart, don't despair. There's coming a day of release, a day of deliverance. But for you, sinner, who know not Christ, you suffer in this world. But your sufferings in this world are nothing compared to the sufferings that you will face in God's eternity. The sufferings of the abandoned soul, the sufferings of the Christ-rejector, the sufferings of the gospel-denier and the God-denier, they're in the everlasting burnings of a Christless hell. What sufferings you'll endure, there'll be no release, there'll be no rescue, there'll be none of those things for you. O sinner, come to Christ, come to Christ, because your sufferings, they are not the precursor of glory. Your sufferings on earth are the precursor of eternal suffering, magnified a million, billion times. In the place where the worm dieth not, the fire is not quenched, all the sufferings of the Christless soul. We have been thinking about our sufferings today, the Christian sufferings, but what are they, as I've said, compared to Christ's sufferings? They are but light. If placed in the balances, they are but light. They are but light afflictions, which is but for a moment. But thank God they are working. They are working for us so that we might enter into a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The sufferings of Christ and our sufferings. Sinner, receive Christ who suffered for you. Reach out the hand of faith and take God's salvation that is freely offered to you in the gospel, lest you suffer eternally and you be lost forever. We will suffer, but thank God our suffering is but for a moment. Heaven awaits the child of God. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our loving Father, we thank Thee today for the Savior, the Savior who suffered for our sins, the one who suffered in such a manner that it's beyond human explanation, it's beyond human understanding, when Christ became sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And Lord, we realize that we suffer in this world because of our identification with Jesus Christ. But we cry, O God, that we may be given the grace to stand, and the patience to do so, and to stand up for Thee in these days, though it cost us dearly. Grant, O God, the saints of God to look at their sufferings from the viewpoint of eternity, that they would understand that these things are but for a moment, and soon we'll leave our sufferings behind and we'll go to be with Christ, which is far better. Answer prayer and take that which has been of thee For we pray this, our prayer, in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Thank you.