A Biblical Understanding of Suffering - Part 2 of 5

Continuing on in our Biblical understanding of suffering... type number two is Corrective Suffering – It is when we are disciplined by the Grace of God.  Chastened by the Lord.  It is suffering that is meant to get us back on the path of righteousness.  A practical example would be spanking our children rightly.  Why do we do it?  Because their behavior has strayed from Godly behavior and the spanking is a jolt… a painful reminder… to get the child’s head on straight.  And beyond the age where you feel you can spank them, we correct them in other ways.

We have to teach them that when they do what is right in their own eyes that there are consequences.  We do it because we love them and so it is with the Lord.

Hebrews 12:5-11 - and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”  7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.  11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

I know I’ve had times in my life where God has had to thump me to get me back on the path to righteousness.  This type should truly be at the front of the list because every time we go through any type of affliction, the first thing we should do is a heart check to see if we need to confess and repent of a sin and return to the path of righteousness.

We need not to confuse this with punishment from God.  It is correction.  Discipline.  Punishment from God is the final judgment from God.  Punishment is the wrath of God poured out on all who reject Jesus.  Punishment from God is condemnation.  Condemnation will come on the unbelieving world.  The believer in Christ does not come under condemnation.

John 5:24 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

God does deal with the sins of believers, but because of Christ we are not cast out.  He deals with our actions by chastening us; disciplining us.  You see, when God saved and forgave you, He also placed you under His Lordship by giving you His Holy Spirit.

The call to salvation is a call to discipleship.  Submitting ourselves to Christ and His Lordship in our lives, and when we step out of line, He will discipline us to put us back in.  Think of the Disciples.  When Jesus said to them ‘Follow Me’, they didn’t just acknowledge it and then go right on living the way they wanted, nope, they dropped what they were doing and followed Him.

He doesn’t discipline us in an evil or mean spirited way.  But for our own good.  To protect our joy and lead us down the narrow path.  God’s corrective suffering removes the impurities in us.  Puts us through the Refiner’s fire to produce Godly living in us.

Sometimes, even, chastening is preventative.  Remember Psalm 139.  God has searched and known us.  He is intimately familiar with all our ways.  He knows what sins we are prone to stumble into.  That was the case with Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:7 - Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!

This thorn was intended to hold Paul where he needed to be.  Kept him humble where the tendency of the flesh was to boast.  God does this purifying work in us to make us more holy.

1 Thessalonians 4:7 - For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

When we suffer at all, we need to see if it is corrective suffering… chastening… however, we are not God and do not know His mind fully and so we cannot nor should we ever point at suffering in someone else’s life and accuse them of some sin because of afflictions in their life.  We can go to someone who claims Christ, but is living in sin and, in love, confront them about it.  However, we cannot then look at their life and say that God is judging or chastening them because of the presence of some suffering.  That determination is God’s to reveal to that person, not ours.

Guest Blogger: Melanie Gatlin - Secular music and my pursuit of Godliness

Melanie Gatlin is a young lady that I had the honor and privilege of having in my student ministry during my time at First Baptist Graham.  She frequently amazes me with just how much God is using her and growing her in holiness to be more conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

There came a point in Melanie's walk with Christ where God clearly convicted her to rid her playlist and CD case of secular music.  She was obedient and the fruit produced as a result has been apparent.  I talk about folks needing to rid themselves of these type of things frequently but with teens I know that sometimes it helps if this comes from a peer.  Someone their age and someone who is facing the same pressures that they are.  The following is a blog I asked Melanie to write.  It is essentially her testimony on why she felt so convicted and the results of it.  Thanks for guest blogging for me Melanie!

Enjoy,
j
--------------------------------------------
It's funny that Jason asked me to write this when he did. Coming up this month is my 3-year anniversary of giving up secular music. Also, during the past week, in the midst of chewing on what all I wanted to say in this, God started a conversation among a few friends and myself about secular music. Becuase of this conversation, I got a refresher on the excuses I gave and the ones I now hear all the time when this topic comes up.

I'm not trying to make myself look better or more Godly than anyone else. And I'm not trying to condemn anyone who listens to secular music. I don't believe it's a sin to listen to secular music. When I used to listen to it, it wasn't a sin for me. However, when God began to tell me to rid my life of it and I didn't obey, the secular music then became a sin in my life (James 4:17). For example, when God first convicted me to delete any music that didn't specifically glorify Him I said, "okay, Lord". But when the time came to actually do it, it was a lot harder than I expected. I made compromises, only deleting the worst of my music. For about six months I was trapped in the sin of my secular music because God told me to get it out of my life and I didn't listen.
The impact: My walk with Christ has grown. It definitely would have been hindered had I continued to spend my time searching for Godless music just so I could show off to my friends. This sounds lame and like a generic answer, but it is extremely uplifting. In my car, I plug my iPod in and listen to it without any worries about filtering the songs when my little brother is in the car, or when a non-Christian is in the car. Yeah, I am left out of some conversations from time to time and people don't understand why I don't listen to the secular music, but isn't this life all about glorifying the Lord? Isn't that why I am here on this earth? Am I here to be in on all the conversations about the newest, hottest band? This is my only life, my only opportunity to make a stand for Christ.

Every time I'm in my car I am listening to music and singing along. Because of that time in the car, when you add it all up, I spend so much time daily praising Him and glorifying His name. I am not saying all of this to glorify myself and make myself look good. The only reason I even deleted my songs in the first place was because God made it so heavy on my heart that I finally decided to give it a try. It's all because of Him that I am now able to experience Him everytime I get into my car; to Him be all the glory. I can honestly say I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not listening to the music that "everyone else listens to." Instead, what I listen to now uplifts me. Also, because I don't listen to secular music, I don't sing it either. This creates a sort of, I guess "pure" voice between the Lord and myself. It's become like a romantic type of thing, strengthening our relationship. In the same way we save ourselves physically for our spouses, my voice is something I save only for the Lord, making music so much more personal, sincere, and beautiful.

The excuses:

1.) "I'm just singing the song, I don't really pay attention to the lyrics. All I pay attention to is the beat." James 3:10 "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." This verse applies 100%. There is no, "I'm just singing the song, I don't really pay attention to the lyrics." Why would you speak not knowing what you're saying? 2 Timothy 2:16. I promise you, whether you are intentionally listening to the lyrics or not, the message the song is sending is leaking into your mind. You can say all day that the lyrics don't affect you, but after listening "only to the beat" of a song say 15 times, you'll still be able to sing it word for word, even if you weren't focusing on the lyrics. I understand, I gave this excuse too. For six months I gave every excuse I could imagine, but after finally submitting, I have experienced a more pure relationship with God than I ever had before.

2.) "He is so talented! I am praising the Lord for the talent God has blessed him with." You're still filling your mind with useless, meaningless things. There are thousands upon thousands of talented, Christian musicians. I promise, God didn't only bless the secular musicians.
 
3.) "I listen to the musical aspect of it and Christian songs aren't all that musical, just lyrical. Besides, I can't get into any of the Christian music, it all sounds the same to me." This may be 2 excuses in one, but nonetheless, it's an excuse. I personally can promise you that there is atleast one band in which you can "get in to". I have 1060 Christian songs in my iTunes alone, just imagine how many more songs there are out there than that! And because God is placing this decision on your heart, I promise He will provide for you accordingly.

I understand giving the excuses, I did it too. I blocked the Lord out for 6 months when He was wanting me to purify my life from secular music. I'm not asking you to completely get rid of secular music, that's all up to God. I just want to plant this seed and let God grow it (1 Corinthians 3:7). From here, it's all up to God to impress the desire upon your heart to purify your iTunes.
 
The benefits of having a pure iPod: the answer is in the subtitle-pure. Listening to only Christian music is the most mind-purifying thing I've ever experienced. Rather than pulling me down or planting unclean thoughts in my head, Christian music uplifts me on a daily basis. I don't regret deleting my secular music, and I haven't regretted it once in the past 3 years.

Also music is no longer an idol for me. When I listened to secular music, I would split up my God time from my music time. I would set aside a time for my music and then maybe ten minutes before bed for God. This separated my day, and I spent much more time saturating myself in the world rather than in God's beautiful presence. But now with Christian music, I don't have to put God on hold when I want to listen to music. When I'm busy driving in my car, I am still praising Him because I have my iPod full of uplifting, God-honoring music. This decision has strengthened my relationship with my Savior.

I don't mean to preach at you, I just want you to hear the benefits of a pure iPod. You should try it yourself. No, you don't have to delete all of your music, but make a playlist of only Christian songs and challenge yourself to listen to only that for a full week. You'll see a difference. If you don't listen to your iPod in the car, change the radio station to a Christian one, I promise you can find one. And if all else fails, just try turning off the secular music altogether, even if you don't have Christian music to replace it. You won't be missing out on anything for those 7 days, trust me. It's been 3 years and not once have I regretted my decision to rid secular music from my life. I pray you'll try it. Oh the wonders God will do when we take a break from the messages the world wants us to hear and just listen to Him.

What the Gospel is...

I put together a list of 20 things that the Gospel is. You may be able to add some others to this that you’ve seen in Scripture, but this is my contribution to that list and I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible.

The Gospel IS…

1.) The call to repent and Believe on Jesus Christ – Mark 1:14-15 (NASB) - Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

2.) The call to deny self thereby saving your life – Mark 8:34-35 (NASB) - “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

3.) The proclamation of Christ as the ONLY way to Salvation – John 14:6 (NASB) - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

4.) A declaration of God’s existence and Sovereignty – Acts 14:14-15 (NASB) - But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

5.) To be believed – Acts 15:7 (NASB) - After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

6.) The Grace of God – Acts 20:24 (NASB) - “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

7.) The POWER of God unto Salvation – Romans 1:16 (NASB) - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

8.) The revealing of God’s righteousness – Romans 1:17 (NASB) - 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

9.) Able to establish you – Romans 16:25-27 (NASB) - Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

10.) The preaching of the Cross of Christ and in its fullness – 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 (NASB) - For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. 18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

11.) The complete work of God alone removing our boasts in self – 1 Corinthians 9:16 (NASB) - For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

12.) Clear – 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NASB) - Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

13.) Veiled to those who are perishing – 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NASB) - And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Peter 2:20 (NASB) - For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

14.) Worth dying for - 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:9 (NASB) - But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death works in us, but life in you. 13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. 6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

15.) NOT to be altered. – Galatians 1:6-12 (NASB) - I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. 11 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

16.) High and Exalted, unifying believers in one mind and one spirit – Philippians 1:27 (NASB) - Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

17.) The Word of Truth – Colossians 1:4-6 (NASB) - We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;

18.) The only means of escaping the judgments of God on our sin and only means of forgiveness of those sins – 1 Peter 4:1-6 (NASB) - Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. 4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

19.) The divine truth of Christ, our propitiation – 1 John 2:1-2 - My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

20.) The Gospel is Love – The most loving thing you can do for someone is to tell them of their sin, its consequences, and need for forgiveness. God could have left us here to die and go to hell and we would have deserved it! But because of His love. To demonstrate His love, He made the way through which we can be saved! – Romans 5:1-9 (NASB) - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Ephesians 2:1-7 (NASB) - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There is a love out there, God’s love, that reveals the love of this world to be truly hateful. – Kyle Schiff

I go to this length to define the Gospel so that we begin to see how the Gospel displays all of God’s characteristics in some form or another. Which ought to bring us to praise Him. You could though sum up all of this list by saying that GOD IS THE GOSPEL!

God is the Gospel. All aspects of the Gospel, any on this list… and any you could come up with from Scripture, if sound, would ALL point back to the Glory of God!

The fact that God created us, knowing we would sin and fall, still He pours out His love for us out of His great mercy and goodness by sending Jesus Christ, His One and Only Son, who stepped out of Heaven, putting His royalty aside to live on earth and to die on the cross, absorbing the wrath of God onto Himself as our substitute, that wrath that was due to each one of us and then He rose from the grace three days later having satisfied Divine Justice and defeating death once for all those who would turn from their sins in repentance and place their trust in Him for forgiveness! For Salvation! That God would then pardon our sin our impute the righteousness of Christ to us so that we would be seen as righteous now, by the Blood of Christ and that in Heaven we will be made instantly righteous!

So it is vital that we draw some lines of Gospel Clarity and hold fast to them! (1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 (NASB) - But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.) and defend them ferociously! (Jude 3-4 (NASB) - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.)