SUFFERING

Our LORD and Savior JESUS CHRIST suffered intensely,

to save us. He suffered physical pain, suffered the labor of His soul 

and suffered spiritual oppression and affliction by carrying our sins upon Himself.

Who has believed our report? 

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. 

He has no form or comeliness; 

And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; 

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; 

Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; 

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; 

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; 

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, 

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 

He was taken from prison and from judgment, 

And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; 

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 

And they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His death, 

Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. 

When You make His soul an offering for sin, 

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, 

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. 

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, 

For He shall bear their iniquities. 

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, 

And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, 

Because He poured out His soul unto death, 

And He was numbered with the transgressors, 

And He bore the sin of many, 

And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:1-12

46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, 

and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer 

and to rise from the dead the third day,

Luke 24:46

12 Therefore Jesus also, 

that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, 

suffered outside the gate.

Hebrews 13:12

Suffer for the sake of CHRIST 

29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, 

not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

Philippians 1:29

Since the LORD JESUS suffered for our sake, 

we also must be willing to suffer for His sake.

10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. 

Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, 

and you will have tribulation ten days. 

Be faithful until death, 

and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:10

Suffering in the process of spiritual growth

and Christian walk

Our LORD JESUS did only good and yet suffered at the hands of sinners. 

It is inevitable therefore for us as His followers,

to face persecution, tribulation and suffering in this world.

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, 

you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, 

and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 

for you had compassion on me in my chains, 

and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, 

knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, 

you may receive the promise: 

"For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 

Now the just shall live by faith; 

But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

" But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, 

but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:32-39

Suffering with others in the Body of CHRIST

26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; 

or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 

1 Corinthians 12:26

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

2 Timothy 1:8

Suffer for doing good 

17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, 

that He might bring us to God, 

being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

1 Peter 3:17-18

20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, 

this is commendable before God. 

 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, 

leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

1 Peter 2:20-21

Suffering as a consequence of Foolishness or sin

15 He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, 

But one who hates being surety is secure.

Proverbs 11:15

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, 

a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters.

1 Peter 4:15

Suffering permitted by the LORD to keep us from being elated

When we receive spiritual revelations and spiritual gifts, we also become vulnerable to step on the platform of pride and be exalted. Hence, the LORD permits some form of suffering to keep us from this snare.

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, 

a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, 

lest I be exalted above measure. 

8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times 

that it might depart from me. 

9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

 for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 

Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, 

that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, 

in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. 

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

 suffering in the process of the testing of our faith 

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, 

you have been grieved by various trials, 

 7 that the genuineness of your faith, 

being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, 

may be found to praise, honor, and glory 

at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

1 Peter 1:6-7

Suffering in the process of loving selflessly

4 Love suffers long and is kind; 

love does not envy; 

love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

1 Corinthians 13:4

Suffering before the revelation of glory

17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, 

if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Romans 8:17

26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things 

and to enter into His glory?"

Luke 24:26

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy 

to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18

Suffering before the resurrection from the dead 

 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection,

 and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 

  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11

We must suffer the loss of all things To gain CHRIST

8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss 

for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, 

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 

and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:8

Suffer in the flesh to Cease from sin

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, 

arm yourselves also with the same mind, 

for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

1 Peter 4:1

Eternal suffering in hell

7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, 

are set forth as an example, 

suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jude 1:7

GOD permits suffering on earth so that we could be transformed

and be made fit for Heaven and escape eternal suffering in hell.

Through every trial or testing, GOD teaches us something.

If we listen and learn and yield to the LORD, we will come through changed.

Then, we have not suffered in vain!

4 Have you suffered so many things in vain-

-if indeed it was in vain?

Galatians 3:4

10 But may the God of all grace, 

who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 

after you have suffered a while, 

perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

1 Peter 5:10

Therefore when we go through suffering of poverty, 

or physical suffering,

emotional or even spiritual oppression, let us seek GOD 

and so that we may learn from Him 

through the process of our suffering.

 Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Even though our outward man is perishing, 

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

  while we do not look at the things which are seen, 

but at the things which are not seen. 

For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18