“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9
“When you’re suffering, God doesn’t promise you all the answers you’re seeking, what He promises you is way better, He promises you Himself.” -Paul Tripp via Twitter
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” -1 Peter 3:18
“When you’re suffering, God doesn’t promise you all the answers you’re seeking, what He promises you is way better, He promises you Himself.” -Paul Tripp via Twitter
“But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.” -Jeremiah 39:17
When the Lord’s faithful ones are suffering for Him, they shall have sweet messages of love from Himself, and sometimes they shall have glad tidings for those who sympathize with them and help them. Ebed-melech was only a despised Ethiopian, but he was kind to Jeremiah, and so the Lord sent him this special promise by the mouth of His prophet. Let us be ever mindful of God’s persecuted servants, and He will reward us.
Ebed-melech was to be delivered from the men whose vengeance he feared. He was a humble… man, but Jehovah would take care of him. Thousands were slain by the Chaldeans, but [he] could not be hurt. We, too, may be fearful of some great ones who are bitter against us; but if we have been faithful to the Lord’s cause in the hour of persecution, He will be faithful to us. After all, what can a man do without the Lord’s permission? He puts a bit into the mouth of rage and a bridle upon the head of power. Let us fear the Lord, and we shall have no one else to fear. No cup of cold water given to a despised prophet of God shall be without its reward; and if we stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand up for us.
[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]
“For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit…” -1 Peter 3:17-18
Have you ever suffered for doing something good and then have somebody fuss at you or curse at you or complain about you, and you’ve made this comment: “I don’t deserve this”? Have you ever felt like you don’t deserve certain suffering? We deserve so much more.
We sing, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned unclean.”
-Pastor Steve Wainright (excerpt from Sunday Morning Sermon “Vindicated in Suffering” from 1 Peter 3:18-4:1)
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” -1 Peter 1:6-9
“With God as our help, we must finish our journey with a great love for Christ and a joy that is inexpressible, even in the hardest times of suffering in life, knowing that God is sovereign and on the throne, and that He’s working all things together for our good and His glory.” -Pastor Steve Wainright (excerpt from Sunday Morning Sermon from 1 Peter 1:6-9)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” -1 Peter 1:3-5
“When you start praising God, it changes your focus and outlook.” -Pastor Steve Wainright (excerpt from Sunday Morning Sermon from 1 Peter 1:3-5)
“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” -Hebrews 12:14
We do not pray for a life set apart from suffering, we pray for a life set apart from sinning.
-Kevin DeYoung via Twitter
“In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” -Hebrews 5:7-10
The audience was about to face severe persecution, so what does the writer write to them about? Their Great High Priest. The storm was coming and was coming stronger. The writer was showing by the Spirit of God that Christ is the sure and steady anchor.
-Steve Wainright (excerpt from Sunday Evening Sermon from Hebrews 5:1-10 “Our Great High Priest“)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” -1 Peter 1:3-4
“I’m not suffering from anything that a good resurrection cannot fix.” –D.A. Carson
“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” -2 Corinthians 1:5
God blessing you with the grace of His comfort should not be confused with him making your life comfortable. The God of all Comfort will lead you into what is uncomfortable in pursuit of what is best. -Paul Tripp via Twitter
New Life Baptist Church 