Suffering & Glory
I.
Suffering and the glory
are connected because suffering is a manifestation of you honoring him and
glory is a manifestation of him honoring you
A. 1 Peter 4:1-2-The Bible
definition of suffering
1.
He that has suffered in the
flesh has ceased from sin-Suffering is simply you not giving your flesh what it wants
and you not pleasing yourself and not living by your human appetites and
desires, but living for what God wants and pleasing Him
a. Hebrews 2:18-Jesus
suffered, being tempted and not giving into what his flesh wanted; the
suffering is being tempted and not giving your flesh what it wants; When you
stop pleasing your flesh, you started suffering
b. Jesus did suffer for us
on the cross, but he also suffered in the flesh by not giving into his flesh
2.
Arm
yourself with the same mindset that Jesus had about suffering
a. Arm-In
preparation of warfare, furnish with arms; Take on the same mind
b. Mind-The same resolve, the same determination, the same attitude,
the same thinking, the same feeling
c. Suffer rather than fail to please God-That’s the mindset,
that’s the attitude and that’s honor
1)
Whatever it takes to
please God I’m going to do it; if I have to wake up early, stay up late, miss
meals, be inconvenienced
2)
That mindset is a weapon
you use against the adversary
3.
The
life of honor is simple: I do whatever pleases Him b/c He is the biggest thing
in my life and pleasing Him is what a value the most
a. John 8:29-You always do what pleases Him? Even when it’s hard, uncomfortable, inconvenient? Why would you do that?
1)
When
pleasing God is more important to you than pleasing your flesh that’s you
honoring God above your flesh
2)
When living for what God
wants is the most important thing in your life you’ll will be living a life of
honor
b. Why would you live like
that? Because what God wants is the biggest thing in your life
4.
This
is where you find your life and your fulfillment-John 4:24, Matthew 10:39
a. When you start living like this the glory follows, the honor
of God follows and that is life
B. 1 Peter 1:11, 2
Corinthians 4:17, Romans 8:18-There is a principle in the Word of God that says
glory follows suffering
1.
That’s
easy to understand because suffering is you honoring God and glory is Him
honoring you
a. Sufferings-Enduring, Affliction; Glory-Honor, excellence, most glorious condition, most exalted
state
2.
1
Peter 5:1,10-This is you honoring God and him honoring you
a. God making you perfect,
establishing you, strengthening you, settling you is God honoring you
b. Suffered-To feel, Have sensible experience, to under go (The idea is
that your flesh is having some feelings that the you don’t need to be yielding
to)
C. 1 Peter 4:12-16-What to
do when you suffer?
1.
12,13-You’re
supposed to rejoice when you’re being tempted and suffering
a. Hebrews 2:18-Christ’s
sufferings was that he was tempted and didn’t yield to the temptation
1)
You
don’t partake of the suffering he partook of on the cross; you’re not qualified
to take part of that suffering
b. Rejoice when things come
to try your character and pressure is being put on your flesh
1)
This
has not be our attitude when in times of pressure
2.
13-Rejoice
when you honor him (through suffering) and you’re going to be rejoicing when he
honors you (through glory)
3.
14-Being
reproached for the name of Christ would be you suffering as long as you don’t
yield to flesh when you are reproached
a. The spirit of glory rest
upon you-That’s God honoring you
b. On your part he is
glorified-That’s you honoring him
4.
15-You
can experience a different kind of suffering because you gave into the flesh
a. Many times when people
think about suffering they are thinking about stuff that’s happening to them
because they disobeyed God and that’s not suffering, that’s righteous judgment;
Suffering is you doing what God wants and not giving the flesh what it wants;
had people done that they wouldn’t be experiencing so much so-called
“suffering”
5.
16-When
you’re suffering the Bible instructs you to glorify God
a. NOT tell everybody how
hard it is and what a great price you’ve paid, NOT put a sad look on your face
to get attention
1)
Ex:
God told you to get up at five and pray everyday and it’s not enough to just do
that you have to put it on twitter
b. Glorify-Praise, magnify, celebrate, honor; Be thankful that you were
deemed worthy to suffer for his name
c. 1 Peter 1:7-These situations of suffering are too precious to
just give to anybody because of the potential glory attached to them; When God
has put you in a situation where your flesh is being pulled on in every
direction and there’s so much pressure on you to just give in and give up and
quit and leave; When God has entrusted you with that type of suffering be
thankful because not everybody gets to do that and also there’s some of him
honoring you attached to that that not everybody gets to partake of
II.
If you magnify the price
you paid you devalue what you obtained and you judge yourself unworthy for
greater
A. Philippians 3-He valued
knowing Jesus, being found in him, having his righteousness, the power of his
resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings and to him it was worth
everything he gave up and in comparison to what he got, what he gave up was
dung
1.
If
anybody could have magnified the price they paid it was him
2.
All
things-Everything and Everything he
gave up he called it dung-worthless
B. Matthew 13:44-For joy thereof
goes and sells all that he has and buys the field – Joy in paying the
price is a manifestation of honor because it reveals that what you obtained in
exchange for the price you paid was well worth it (Joy-Gladness, the cause or occasion of joy)
1.
Why
would he be so joyful? Why so happy? He gave everything for this treasure and
this field yet he’s happy so why so happy?
a. Because in his mind what
he paid was no comparison to what he got; He paid the greatest price he could
pay and was happy to do it because of the greatness of what he got
2.
He
didn’t lament the price he paid and he didn’t do it begrudgingly; He was happy
to pay it
3.
Romans
8:18-Don’t compare suffering with the glory because they are not to be compared
a. Don’t make a big deal
about what you’re giving up because compared to what you’re getting it’s dung
C. The tendency of the
carnality and immaturity is to magnify the suffering, magnify the price you
paid
1.
When
you act like the price you paid was so great you are devaluing you what you got
(It makes it sound like it was barely worth it)
2.
When you really value
something and honor it and esteem it you’d be willing to pay any price for it
and you’d be glad to do it because the thing you got means so much to you that
the price you paid means nothing to you in comparison to what you got
a. EX: If I lament to Amber
how much I gave up to marry her it’s going to make it sound like she was barely
worth it
3.
Some
believers have the attitude that they do so much for the Lord (Is He not worth
it, barely worth it?) and to act this way is to act as if He is not worth it
and you are judging yourself unworthy to have more because you don’t value what
you got to be apart of
a. You don’t got to do it, you get to do it and you’re glad to
do it because it’s worth it
D. It’s not that it’s too
hard or that the price is to great it’s that you don’t value it enough; If you
value it enough no price would be too great, nothing would be too hard
1.
“You’re
making it too hard” – I’m not making it anything, I can’t make it harder
or easier, it is what it is; maybe it seems too hard for you and the price
seems too great because you don’t value it enough