Sermons on Suffering
Matthew 16:24-28 (Part 2)
In Matthew 16:24-28 Christ calls on His disciples to pick up their crosses and follow Him. This may appear to be a foolish thing to do as it leads to death. Christ, however, shows that it is in fact the only wise thing to do because “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:24-28 (Part 1)
In Matthew 16:24-28, after shockingly predicting His own death, Christ calls upon His disciples to pick up their own crosses and follow Him to that death. The call to follow Christ is a call to a life of self-sacrifice.
Hebrews 12:4-13
In Hebrews 12:4-13 the author shows the positive element of suffering. Because God loves you and sent his Son to die for you, the things you suffer come to you as fatherly discipline. This is a benefit of adoption that all of God’s children enjoy. If you are outside of Christ, you do not have this benefit. The author to the Hebrews says that the one who does not experience discipline from God is an illegitimate child. Why do the…
Matthew 10:34-42
In Matthew 10:34-42 Christ says that he has not come to bring peace but a sword. How can this be? Though there are many ways in which Christ does come to bring peace, one of the effects of his coming is that people come divided against each other. This is because Christ demands absolute devotion and obedience. There is to be nothing in life that challenges this, even one’s family. This is the cost of following Christ. In the end,…
Matthew 10:16-23
In Matthew 10:16-23 Christ tells the disciples that they will be persecuted as they bring the message of the gospel to the Jews. As it was then, so it is now. The church has been given the task of making known the gospel to the ends of the earth, but it will not come without persecution. Christians must be willing to suffer as they hold out the word of life to a lost world.
Psalm 39
The Scriptures often encourage believers to consider that their days are limited. We are often reminded of this truth in suffering or when we see another suffer. How does the knowledge of the brevity of our lives help us? What good does it do for us to know we will soon die? It is the first step towards wisdom because it helps us to see God’s eternity by contrast and to take refuge in him that we ourselves might have…
Romans 8:31-39
How can you endure the trials of this world? Where do you go when grief comes? In Romans 8:31-39 Paul shows how the great truths of the gospel prove that the christian is more than a conqueror even when it appears he is overwhelmed by grief and trials on every side. The truths of the gospel prove that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God, and therefore christians in the end will conquer all the trials of…