Suffering in Christ

Suffering in Christ

Suffering in Christ is God's way to bring us to perfection and holiness in Him.

This whole subject of suffering goes completely against the ways of the world. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

This teaching will completely change your whole attitude towards persecution and suffering.

If you do actually abide in God's Word, then you will receive His power, His glory, and His grace to overcome and endure.

The fire of God will refine you and purge out the leaven (which is evil) and bring you into the place where God can trust you. If God can trust you with little, then He can bring you into the place where He can trust you with much.

It is so important how you handle suffering. Suffering is something you need to learn to cherish.

The flesh will resist and complain because it detests suffering. Suffering denies the flesh.

1 Peter 2:18-21 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.  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

You want to make sure that you are actually suffering for righteousness' sake. If you are going to suffer make sure it as Christ suffered. No guile was found in his mouth. He suffered being innocent. He was falsely accused. In the flesh, Jesus Christ suffered.

The Word of God instructs you to endure suffering as Christ himself endured suffering.

1 Peter 2:22-23 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:

When you suffer, how often do you slide into the flesh?

How often do you blame or accuse others?

Or even threaten others?

How often do you slide into self pity and all the things that are an abomination to God, displaying the fruit of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit?

In your suffering it is very important to commit your suffering to Christ.

When you suffer you must abide in Him. It is important for your faith. Righteousness comes by faith.

You need to repent if your suffering has been self-inflicted. Repent and then suffer in Christ.

Don't suffer on your own. If you suffer on your own then it will be a fruitless activity. Then it becomes your works and not His works.

You must allow Christ and His grace to come and work through you.

Suffering brings out the worst in you. This has to be dealt with through the Message of the Cross.

It is the Message of the Cross that is the power of God to change and transform you. It is not through psychology or human effort, but through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

This applies to all believers everywhere. This is the gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ. When you read this passage of scripture in 1 Peter, then you can start to understand what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus.

You must deny yourself. Your suffering needs to be accompanied by self-denial.

Jesus gave things to the Lord, who judges righteously.

He did not fall into the flesh.

When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked God if it were at all possible to avoid the cup of suffering and to have it removed from Him.

He drank that cup of suffering willingly and obediently.

Likewise, when you partake in Christ's suffering and the cup of suffering, God brings perfection through us. Suffering brings out Christ in us.

1 Peter 3:14-15a But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:

It is essential that you remain Christ focused when you suffer. Identify your emotions and the flesh quickly.

When you take up your cross you must deny yourself. You need to die.

1 Peter 3:14-17 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

Make sure that your suffering is in the will of God by basically being blameless. You will be persecuted in all types of ways.

Learn to rest in the Lord. Give things to Him and don't take on burdens yourself.

Jesus Christ carried id your burdens for you. Give them to Him.

But, when you suffer make sure that you are suffering in Him.

In the past I ministered to someone who was suffering for someone else. The Lord said to me to tell that person to give that burden to Him.

When you take on burdens yourself it can make your suffering worse.

Just give it all to Him

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Your suffering must be in the Spirit. Do not let the flesh have dominion over you when you are suffering.

Suffering is a good test because it brings out your idols and all sorts of evil things hidden in your flesh. It reveals secret things. Basically, it exposes the worst in you.

If you abide in the flesh, then those things will overcome you.

But, if you abide in the Spirit, God in His grace will give you power to overcome those things.

When you deny yourself those things no longer have power over you. Satan won't have power over you, demons won't have power over you, and you will overcome.

Look at suffering as a blessing. Suffering purges you of things that you are not even aware of.

Look at suffering as brining forth this awesome fruit of God. After your season of suffering, God in all His grace will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5:10).

Suffering with the Mind of Christ

1 Peter 4:1-2 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

When your flesh is not getting it's way then you are not sinning. Coming out from under the flesh and walking in the Spirit is the awesome blessing that you can walk in during your season of suffering.

Be not obedient to the lust of the flesh, but arm yourselves with the mind of Christ in the perfect will of God.

It is awesome when you understand the mechanics of suffering. God brings perfection through suffering as He did with Jesus.

Jesus went to the Cross and suffered, and then God perfected and glorified Him.

He was already perfect, but He also overcame the flesh for you.

That's why it is so important for you now to suffer in Christ. When you suffer in Him then you receive His victory, because He did it for you!

It's so important for you to understand how perfection comes in Christ through your suffering.

It's awesome when you understand the trials that come through suffering. It is a crossroads.

When you come the crossroads, you have to choose to lay down yourself. You must lay down your Old Man and your idols.

There may be things that are very precious to you that you might have to give up. You will be confronted and challenged.

But, when you do honestly acknowledge and repent from your sin, then God is able to purge the leaven out of you. Leaven is evil.

Suffering brings forth the fruit of the Spirit. After you have endured, it becomes your friend to bring you to holiness.

You must pull down the lie of the enemy that it is to be avoided at all cost.

Don't neglect or run away from suffering. Rejoice and embrace your suffering.

This is contrary to the flesh. It goes right against the flesh.

Rejoice when suffering comes.

Suffering goes against the carnal mind. The carnal mind is an enemy of God, but the Christ mind is the one that brings forth the revelation of the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Longsuffering brings forth this fruit. The root and foundation of this is love.

Jesus is love.

When you actually suffer and make Jesus Christ your rock then that is walking in agape love.

Agape love comes from God.

Love conquers all.

When you abide in Christ, deny self, and come into the perfect love of God, then you will receive the grace of God to overcome.

The key to overcoming is laying down your life and taking up your cross.

That brings forth awesome fruit. The fruit includes gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things.

The New Testament tells us that the Law is fulfilled in love now.

Jesus said if you love God and love your neighbor as yourself then you will do well. You will fulfill the Law.

You will come into the perfect Law of Liberty through denying yourself.

Suffering, if it is in Christ, must be accompanied with denying yourself.

You need to expect suffering when you abide in Christ.

As a new creation you are fully clothed in Christ and the armor of God. It is very important for you to understand the armor. The armor is Christ. It is the fullness of Christ.

Your covering is Christ, not man.

The helmet of salvation covers the mind of Christ. You are fully protected.

You must suffer with the full armor of God clothed in Christ.

The shield of faith quenches all of the fiery darts of the evil one. it also includes the Sword of the Spirit, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, and the full anointing power of God, surrounded by angels.

It is awesome when you come to understand the Kingdom of God.

The Joy of the Lord Is Not Dependent on Circumstances

So often Christians think they are only going to be happy when things are looking bright and rosy.

That is not faith!

Faith is the surety and certainty of things that are unseen.

It is very important for you to abide, by faith, in your suffering.

Faith is a big key here with suffering.

Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God. Suffer for God's glory.

1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

This joy is revealed when you participate in Christ's suffering.

 1 Peter 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Suffering brings forth God's glory. It is commendable and precious to God when you suffer.

Don't think it's anything strange. Rejoice and be glad! Praise God!

The disciples when they were whipped and beaten, rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's name.

Do you have that mind?

This is the mind of Christ.

Let this mind be in you also.

1 Peter 4:15-18 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

You must walk in humility when you read and understand this text. There is nothing that you can do on your own. you must humble yourself and understand that it is only by the grace of God that you are saved.

It is nothing that you did. Cast down the pride and anything that you've got that would cause you to become self-righteous in any way, shape or form.

1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

When you suffer, be sure to suffer in Christ Jesus and not in yourself.

Suffering must be in Christ.

Suffering brings His glory. That's why you need to rejoice.

Romans 5:3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Faith, hope, and love are essential.

The hope from God is not the world's hope. It is a hope that is immovable. It is surety and certainty. That is the type of hope, grounded in faith and in love, that you need to have when you suffer, knowing that your reward will be great.

Suffering will bring you into Christ's nature.

It is awesome when you grasp and understand this.

It is all accomplished in God's power. It is supernatural. It is not psychology. it is God's power.

The Kingdom of God is not in words, but in power.

This is not about trying to overcome sin in your own strength or the flesh. This is about overcoming sin in the power of God.

Don't waste your opportunity to suffer in the flesh. This will only rob you of God's glory!

If you are suffering in the flesh, then you are allowing demons to rob you of your reward and God's glory.

When you sin, even though you are forgiven, you are allowing the devil to rob you and steal part of your inheritance.

The enemy is a thief that comes in and steals just like Jezebel and Ahab stole Naboth's garden and planted herbs in it.

When you sin you are allowing the devil to plant herbs and tares in your vineyard. 

Don't allow the devil to steal anymore.

Suffering manifests the fruit of God in your life. Praise God!

When you suffer, you should respond, "Hallelujah! Praise God! Bring it on!"

Suffering Brings Perfection in Christ

1 Peter 5:8-11 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter refers to the grace of God, which is needed to resist the devil.

How do you resist the devil being steadfast? In the faith!

Remember, that you must suffer in Christ.

If you are suffering, then the first thing that you need to do is take up your cross, deny self, crucify the Old Man, and then give the situation to the Lord.

Abide in Him. Abide in His Word. Take up the awesome shield of faith. Draw up the Sword of the Spirit.

The sufferings that you endure will be established in Him.

When you suffer this way, the sting of it will be taken away! It is incredible how it works. I've personally tested this and proved that it's true.

If  you are suffering so badly that you can't stand it and it becomes unbearable, then that is an indication that you are suffering in the flesh.

God has promised not to tempt you beyond what you can stand.

Sometimes you've got to learn a lesson. That lesson will produce patience.

It will establish you, strengthen you, and settle you.

Be sure that you are suffering Christ knowing that great is your reward.

The devil will flee! He will cower under the faith and Word of God spoken by the Man of God.

2 Timothy 3:10-12 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

The Lord delivered Paul out of all of these things (suffering, persecutions, afflictions). So, don't be concerned. If you are in Christ, then God will deliver you. That is His promise and that is what you must have in your mind.

The mind of Christ is that God will deliver you and that you will come out of it perfected in Him.

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall 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.

Don't be surprised by suffering. This is all part of your walk with God. Your walk with God is for His glory, not for yours.

If you are suffering unnecessarily, then you really are looking backwards and not forwards.

Is your heart really rooted in Christ or self?

It is really important for you to understand this. You've really got to get this down because many people have been persecuted to death in the past.

Again, suffering brings forth the fruit of the spirit after you have endured. It becomes your friend to bring you to holiness. You must pull down the lied of the enemy that it is to be avoided at all cost.

How many Christians avoid persecution? How many Christians fear persecution?

Some Christians do not share the Gospel because of fear of persecution.

The truth is persecution will bring forth the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.

You are blessed when you are persecuted for righteousness sake.

You must lay down your idols in order to receive the victory in Jesus Christ.

When you look at your situation, you must not fear suffering.

You must not be afraid of suffering. Suffering brings forth Christ. it brings forth fruit in your life.

God's method of deliverance is suffering. Praise God!

God uses Satan and demons to bring you to your Cross for the purpose of bringing you to maturity in Christ.

When you understand this you can understand how suffering brings you to your Cross.

Suffering brings you to the place where you allow Christ to rule and reign through you.

When you do that it completely takes away the suffering.

You can choose the long way or the quick way.

The children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for forty years complaining and murmuring. They did not enter God's rest. They never entered the Promised Land. They died.

The same thing will happen to you.

If you keep murmuring and complaining with your suffering then you will never receive a reward. You will never arrive.

You can make the choice.

Are you going to obey the Word or are you going to be in rebellion to the Word?

Are you going to be in rebellion to God or are you going to lay down your life, follow Him, and take up your Cross?

If you truly follow Jesus, then the devil will flee.

The Man of God will command Satan to go in the name of Jesus, using His authority over the situation and the circumstances with the Sword of the Spirit.

Suffering Purges Out the Leaven of Sin

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Don't waste the suffering you go through in rebellion.

Rebellion is a big key to robbing you and making your suffering go on and on.

How many people need deliverance continually?

A lot of people are like revolving doors. They don't receive their deliverance because they have to learn not to abide in the flesh, stop listening to demons, stop listening to the lies of the enemy, stop listening to self, and stop listening to the flesh. They must stop complaining, murmuring, having malice, abiding in wickedness, self-pity, discouragement, fear, disappointment, and anger, etc.

If you endure suffering with obedience to Christ, God will purge you of the enemy and leaven (evil).

Jesus didn't run from suffering, but committed himself to the Lord. He drank the cup of suffering, denied the flesh, and was glorified.

Jesus took that cup and through his suffering He won the victory for you.

You can suffer with him. That's why it is so important that when you suffer, you suffer in Christ.

When you suffer in Christ then you are abiding in Him and in His victory.

What happened at the Cross two thousand years ago?

You inherited His victory!

You will receive His comfort. You will receive His fruit and what He accomplished on that Cross.

When you take up your cross and suffer with Him and in Him, then you abide in His victory.

With salvation comes all the benefits of the Cross. It's not just that your life is saved.

Salvation encompasses everything that Christ won on that cross, which is your inheritance.

When you suffer you must die to self and abide in Christ. He is your sanctuary now.

Are you suffering in the sanctuary or are you suffering in self-pity outside the sanctuary, not in the Rock, but in the mud?

You don't want to be in the mud. The prodigal son was in the mud. But, what did he do? He repented and went back, and decided to abide in the Father's house.

The sanctuary is the Father's house. It's under the shadow of the Almighty. It is also being hidden in Christ.

When you are in Christ's sanctuary then you are hidden in Him.

Jesus became perfect through His suffering. Likewise, you must also be imitators of Christ by taking up your cross also.

Taking up your cross involves crucifying the Old Man.

It is important that you learn patience from your sufferings. Then, God will richly reward you.

When He can trust you with little things, then He can begin to trust you with much.

There is a testing. Suffering brings testing.

You have to embrace suffering.

Do you see how awesome suffering is?

Are you smiling and completely looking forward to the next round of suffering, and saying in your heart, "Bring it on!"?

Going under the flesh wastes your suffering and allows the enemy to steal your reward.

You can see this with the children of Israel who did not enter the Promised Land because of complaining.

Jesus said, "You shall not enter my rest".

Why?

Because that is rebellion.

If you are not speaking the Word and abiding in the Word, then that is rebellion.

You Learn to Agape Through Suffering

The outworking of love occurs through suffering. Suffering brings agape love.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Laying down your life requires suffering. As Christ suffers, you must also suffer.

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

We know God through love.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

This is what being born again is. It is love. To be born again is to abide in love. it is to abide in Christ.

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 5:3-4 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

This awesome love causes us to overcome the world in Christ.

1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

In your suffering, you must abide in the love of God.

When you abide in love, then you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

When you understand suffering, then you can truly understand 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

If you are suffering and getting provoked, or are walking in the flesh, and abiding in the fruit of the flesh, then you are not in Christ.

In that case there will be no benefit or gain, and you will suffer unnecssarily.

There is no reward in that.

1 Corinthians 13:5-8 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

The love of God is the foundation for your suffering.

When you abide in the victory of your suffering you are not seeing evil.

Love does not see evil.

It will not entertain the flesh at all.

This love comes from Christ. It comes from God.

It is this love that comes from suffering and brings forth the awesome fruit of the Spirit.

How do you overcome?

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

This is the big key to overcoming suffering.

You must not love your life unto death. You must not be afraid of death.

You must know, by faith, that you are saved and that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

There must be suffering in order to put the Old Man to death.

Suffering really does deal with the Old Man and the sin nature.

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

You must embrace suffering and understand that it is God's method of deliverance.

Suffering brings forth love when you deny self. Then you receive agape love, not eros or philos love. Eros is sensual love and philos is the world's type of love.

Agape love, that the Bible speaks of, only comes from knowing God. By knowing God you receive agape love.

This kind of love suffers long and is kind.

This is the light that is in you.

• Is the light in you suffering long?

• Is it kind?

• is the light in you causing you not to envy?

• Is it not parading itself or puffed up?

• Is the light in you not behaving rudely?

• Is it not seeking its own?

• Is it not provoked?

• Does it think no evil?

• Does it bear all things?

• Does it not rejoice in iniquity, but in truth?

• Does it bear all things?

• Believe all things?

• Hope all things?

• Does it endure all things?

With this agape love of Christ, which you receive when you embrace Him, turn over your suffering to Him, and abide in perfect faith, then you will be waling in this love.

Then, you will know that you are truly walking in the Spirit and no longer under the Law, but free in the perfect spirit of liberty in Jesus Christ.

Then you will be united with Him and glorified together in Jesus's name, amen!