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Am I a Suffering Christian?
READ: 1 Peter 2
1 Peter 2:21 (ESV) “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
As we’ve have discovered in this study several times, the true believer is “destined” for “afflictions” (1 Thess. 3:3). What’s more, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (1 Tim. 3:12).
But what does it mean to suffer as a Christian? Do you realize you can suffer, like the thief on the cross, for your own sin and shame? Did you consider that you can give yourself as a martyr for Christian virtues and ideals and never truly know the Lord Jesus as Savior?
Thomas Watson, the great Puritan writer, lists three short points about what it means to suffer as a Christian:
You suffer as a Christian when you suffer for a good cause. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake” (Matt. 5:10a). “When we suffer for the truth… this is to suffer for righteousness' sake.”
You suffer as a Christian when you suffer with good conscience. “A man may have a good cause—and a bad conscience. He may suffer for 'righteousness sake'—yet he himself be unrighteous. Paul, as he had a just cause, so he had a pure conscience (Acts 23:1).
You suffer as a Christian when you have good ends in your suffering. “That we may glorify God, set a seal to the truth, and show our love to Christ. The primitive Christians burned more in love, than in fire. When we look at God in our sufferings and are willing to make his crown flourish, though it be in our ashes—this is that suffering which carries away the garland of glory.”
(Source: Thomas Watson, 1660, “An exposition of Matthew 5:1-12: Concerning Persecution”)
Faith Lesson:
“For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”—1 Thess. 3:4
In Christ,
Darin Smith
Submitted by Richard
READ: 1 Peter 2
1 Peter 2:21 (ESV) “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
As we’ve have discovered in this study several times, the true believer is “destined” for “afflictions” (1 Thess. 3:3). What’s more, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (1 Tim. 3:12).
But what does it mean to suffer as a Christian? Do you realize you can suffer, like the thief on the cross, for your own sin and shame? Did you consider that you can give yourself as a martyr for Christian virtues and ideals and never truly know the Lord Jesus as Savior?
Thomas Watson, the great Puritan writer, lists three short points about what it means to suffer as a Christian:
You suffer as a Christian when you suffer for a good cause. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake” (Matt. 5:10a). “When we suffer for the truth… this is to suffer for righteousness' sake.”
You suffer as a Christian when you suffer with good conscience. “A man may have a good cause—and a bad conscience. He may suffer for 'righteousness sake'—yet he himself be unrighteous. Paul, as he had a just cause, so he had a pure conscience (Acts 23:1).
You suffer as a Christian when you have good ends in your suffering. “That we may glorify God, set a seal to the truth, and show our love to Christ. The primitive Christians burned more in love, than in fire. When we look at God in our sufferings and are willing to make his crown flourish, though it be in our ashes—this is that suffering which carries away the garland of glory.”
(Source: Thomas Watson, 1660, “An exposition of Matthew 5:1-12: Concerning Persecution”)
Faith Lesson:
“For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”—1 Thess. 3:4
In Christ,
Darin Smith
Submitted by Richard
