HEBREWS 13<\/b><\/p>\n
And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood<\/i><\/p>\n
(Heb. 13:12 niv)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Sometimes God calls certain people to suffer and perhaps even to die. We discover this truth in the lives of at least three people in Scripture: Job, the blind man in John 9, and Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
In the face of suffering, Job concluded that we should accept not only good from God but also \u201cadversity\u201d (Job 2:9\u201310). Despite his pain, Job said, \u201cThough He slay me, yet will I trust Him\u201d (13:15). Job did not understand why God was causing him to suffer, but he knew that he could trust God and that He would deliver him. Sadly, Job\u2019s friends were not much help. They assumed Job was suffering because he had sinned. Job\u2019s friends made judgments they had no business making. God allowed Job to suffer so that he would come to know his Lord more fully, that he would deepen his faith and trust in God\u2019s righteousness.<\/p>\n
The blind man in John 9 learned more of God\u2019s character through his suffering as well. When the disciples saw the blind man, they asked \u201cwhose sin caused his blindness?\u201d Like Job\u2019s friends they assumed the blindness was some sort of punishment. But Christ showed that suffering serves purposes other than punishment. Jesus explained to the disciples that this man\u2019s blindness was intended to show God\u2019s power. Through the man\u2019s blindness, God was able to manifest His power in healing him. If we do not face sickness and pain in this life, we will know nothing of God\u2019s power in overcoming these afflictions. Time and again Jesus revealed His power and authority through healing the blind, sick, and lame.<\/p>\n
Jesus not only revealed His power through His miracles, He revealed it through His death. The entire purpose of His life was to die. His life was plagued with suffering, which culminated in death on the cross. Yet through His death, His power was revealed in the resurrection. He showed His abundant mercy and goodness in taking the place of sinners, dying on a cross, and purchasing eternal life for His children. Jesus could face suffering and death because He knew He was doing His Father\u2019s will. We, too, can face suffering and even death because we are called to carry out the will of our Father who provides us with the grace to endure all things.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Job 32\u201333<\/p>\n
Acts 13:1\u201325<\/p>\n
How do Jesus\u2019 sufferings relate to someone today who is enduring trials or facing adversity? (see Heb. 4:14\u201316). Make a list of specific trials Christ faced. How does this comfort you in your trials? Thank Christ for being a suffering servant and for providing comfort to His people.<\/p>\n
For further study: Isa. 53 \u2022 2 Cor. 4 \u2022 Heb. 2 \u2022 1 Peter 3:8\u201322<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
july<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HEBREWS 13 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood (Heb. 13:12 niv). Sometimes God calls certain people to suffer and perhaps even to die. We discover this truth in the lives of at least three people in Scripture: Job, the blind man in John … Continue reading “SUFFERING: A VOCATION”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}