Many things we face in life are scary: learning to walk, learning to interact with other people, illness, death of a loved one, rejection, abuse, etc. When we encounter challenging situations, we either bravely face them or we flee to a safe place. It is our basic human nature to despise difficulties, but this may be the challenge we need most for our spiritual growth. One of the God-intended benefits of suffering is to purge from our minds wrong thinking. We have expectations of God and expectations in life. Most often our expectations are self-centered, thinking that God will allow us to sail smoothly through life and arrive unscathed at the shores of eternity. After all, we are heir of God and fellow heirs with Christ – and we will be glorified with Him! What could go wrong?

The thing that can interrupt our coasting through life is also recorded in Verse 17: “provided we suffer with him.” In this verse Paul wants us to understand that suffering is normal for the child of God. Matthew Henry titles his commentary on this section of Scripture as “The Believer’s Privileges”. Suffering doesn’t seem much like a privilege to those who expect an easy life free of discomfort. In one sense, it is right for us to find suffering repulsive because it was not part of God’s original creation. The effects of Adam’s sin continue to rumble throughout the world today. To embrace suffering as privilege is possible only for the child of God. Non-believers have no interest in being conformed into the image of Jesus, and thus find suffering to be completely foreign and abhorrent. The doctrine of suffering is so important to our spiritual life that we must allow it to saturate and marinate within our hearts.

The eighth chapter of Romans begins to show us how to life the Christian life, how to handle sufferings, and how to overcome sin in our life. In this section of scripture we see unmet expectations and a wrong understanding of suffering are the root of all conflicts we face in life, whether in friendships, marriage, family relationships, or employment, etc. Unmet expectations creep in when we face illness, temptations, disappointments, etc. When facing trials, we tend to ask God, why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong? Such questioning reveals that we have the wrong expectations of life and of God. We are easily disillusioned and overwhelmed by suffering, but we need to accept that, for the Christian, suffering is the life that God has called us to, it is a high calling. This is especially true when we suffer for the gospel. In Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Suffering is something that cannot be understood before we believe in Christ, and we don’t want to understand it when we do believe; it is uncomfortable to us. Through the lens of our Western culture and the great American dream, we view suffering as a violent attack against our peace and comfort, and it needs to go away. True believers understand that this mindset is antithetical to the gospel and detrimental to our sanctification. Properly understood, being joint heirs with Christ means that we are joint heirs with a suffering servant. Isaiah 53 describes in graphic detail the suffering of Jesus. Since believers are in Christ and identified with Him, we are joint heirs of His suffering also. Suffering is crucial to our maturation as a believer. We must come to expect that suffering is a part of our being identified with Christ. 

We have great expectations of God and He has great expectations of us. We need to examine these expectations thoroughly, so that we can live a life worthy of the calling He has placed on us. These expectations will help us focus our mind and heart on the right perspective, so that we can see clearly the comparison between suffering in this life and the glory to come. In this understanding, we find the power to live victoriously over sin, and the power to overcome temptations, and the power to endure great suffering that is going to come into our life. 

Romans 8:16-18, helps us gain the correct perspective of suffering, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I. Weighing the Evidence (V. 18a)

For the person who is suffering greatly, the pain is real, and it is of no help to glibly say that they should be able to muster up the needed strength or that their faith should enable them to not be overwhelmed by the suffering. A proper application of the principles in this Scripture will enable us to effectively minister to those we encounter who are suffering greatly. When Paul says, “I consider”, he is not thinking of a brief, cursory consideration of earthly suffering and heavenly glory. It is not a subjective feeling or thought. Consider is a term that reflects an in-depth study of the facts, a calculation, a thorough examination of the data; it means to strategically and systematically work through data, and it implies hard work.

• Finding the Balance

Paul has given us a glimpse of the glory to come; we will be given new names and they will be written on the pillars of the temple in the New Jerusalem and we will receive authority to rule with Christ. Paul is asking us to consider a set of scales, where sufferings at the present time, including past, present, and future, are in one pan of the balance and eternal glory is in the other. The future glory far outweighs the present suffering. We mistakenly set up false expectations, believing that we are only going through a brief season of suffering. However, Paul wants us to understand that suffering for the believer is never over until we reach glory. Though it may wax and wane, suffering is ever present for the believer, and it comes in various forms. While we go through various sufferings, we need to hold fast to the facts that there is no condemnation and there is no separation. In Romans 8:35, Paul reinforces the no separation and lists some types of suffering we will experience: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”

Below is a partial list of some of the types of sufferings we will face.

• Corruption Suffering – Our own sin and the sin of a fallen world (Romans 5:12-21; 8:20)

• Demonic Suffering – We battle against the spiritual forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12)

• Collective Suffering – As the Hebrews experience in Egypt (Exodus)

• Corrective Suffering – To correct wrong thinking and wrong behavior, God disciplines His children in love (Hebrews 12:6)

• Emphatic Suffering – As we walk beside someone who is suffering, we also suffer as we help bear their burdens (2 Corinthians 2:4) 

• Righteous Suffering – When we stand for the truth of the gospel, persecution and suffering will come in many forms.

• Providential Suffering – Such as when Joseph suffered in Egypt (Genesis 50)

• Consequential Suffering – Suffering resulting from foolish decisions.

• Apocalyptic Suffering – End times (Matthew 24:3-44)

Those who receive Christ do well to expect suffering, knowing that it is our lot in life. These sufferings are real, and there are many emotions, many tears, and inner turmoil. If we feel overwhelmed by suffering, we need to remember the scales, weigh the evidence, and see that the future glory far outweighs the suffering we face. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Beyond all comparison! This is the perspective we should have regarding our present suffering.

Earlier in this chapter (vv. 7-12) Paul says, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.” The treasure that Paul speaks about is our future glorified self, now imprisoned within mortal flesh. All the suffering that Christ endured and was crucified was for us. We carry in our body the death of Jesus, so that His life might be manifested in us. Our suffering means death to us but life to the world. When a parent endures suffering for his or her family, it is death to the parent but life for the family. Living in a way of death to us but life to others is the gospel in action. As the elders at Southside pour out their lives for you, giving their time and their energy, meeting the needs of the congregation, this represents death to them but life to the congregation. 

Paul continues in verses 13-16, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” As believers go through life, their energy is being expelled, they are dying to self, sometimes to the detriment to their own health; literally their body is wasting away for others. While all this is happening to our bodies, our inner self is being renewed day-by-day. Paul’s life reflected this better than any other man, and in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30 he lists some of the hardships he endured for the sake of Christ. Even after enduring such great suffering, he considered them “slight momentary afflictions” compared with the glory to be revealed – and he didn’t even mention that God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being too elated. (2 Corinthians 12:7) It is only in God’s strength and for His glory that Paul could endure any of these afflictions. We, too, must rely on the Holy Spirit as we pour out our life for others.

Why is it so hard for us to live like Paul? It is because we fail to exercise the divine comparison between slight momentary affliction and the eternal weight of glory. C. S. Lewis said in his book, The Weight of Glory, “If we consider the unblushing promise of reward…promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Whenever we are far too easily pleased, our afflictions are neither light nor momentary. It is all consuming, overwhelming, we can’t see the top, we don’t know how to take the next step. We need some practical steps to help us make the comparison between momentary afflictions and eternal glory.

Practical Considerations:

• Read Truth (John 16:33)

We make the correct comparison by reading the truth. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." We need to fill our minds with Scripture, so that as we endure tribulation in this world, we can have peace.

• Prayer (James 5:13)

We also make the correct comparison through prayer. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.”

• Other Believers (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

We also make this comparison by surrounding ourselves with others who make the correct comparison. “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” We need encouragement and we need to be encouragers ourselves.

• Focus on Glory (Hebrews 12:1-2)

We need to keep the balance by keeping the glory of heaven before us and the sorrows of the world behind us. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Keep your focus on the glory to come!

When we weigh the sufferings correctly, we will not be identified by our suffering, it will not overtake us. Suffering is hard and tears are real, and it is good that suffering often drops us to our knees. Hard times remind us how much we need God. It is okay to seek answers as to why we are suffering; what is God teaching us; what is He working around us? God intends that suffering have a real and dramatic impact on our life, but it does not have to influence our heart attitude in a negative way toward God. Our emotions do not have to control us.

II. Grounding Your Spirit (v. 18b)

Paul wants us to be grounded in “the glory that is to be revealed to us.” This grounding is revealed by God as we examine Scripture and seek to understand all the theology around heaven and glory. The Scripture we are examining actually levies a charge against our mind. When we don’t weigh the evidence we are being willfully ignorant. 

• Glimpses vs gazes

We willfully take glimpses of glory while we willfully gaze and focus on suffering. We pray much about suffering and little about glory. We talk much about suffering and little about glory. When we abandon our willful ignorance and set realistic expectations, then we will be weaned from the worldly attitudes. Then we will find ourselves more dependent on God and less dependent on the comforts in life. This is the purpose of suffering. 

III. Greater Glory (v. 18c)

We will experience the power of God in new ways as we encounter tragic and difficult circumstances, we will be in closer communion with Him. We will have greater insight into truth, greater clarity of wisdom, better discernment, and we will love to be around those who have walked the long path of suffering. Focusing on greater glory will aid in the grounding of our spirits. As we suffer in this life, we are building up greater glory for eternity. Also, God will reveal how our suffering builds up greater glory for Christ.  1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” We need to understand that this verse holds true if we suffer willingly. Unwilling suffering, bitterness toward God, and turning to sin will rob us of the glory to come.

Willing suffering implies, persecution, dying to self, holiness, living for God, upholding truth, enduring hardships, remaining steadfast in pain, upholding good, being opposed by other Christians, unjust treatment, harsh words, false accusations – all this suffering will result in more glory for Christ. Not one moment of our suffering is overlooked by God. These sufferings grant us more intimacy with the Father, more fullness of love, more perfect joy, and everything in eternity to come. For the non-believer, suffering is pointless, and at the end of life comes only God’s wrath. Non-believers will see how Christians were victorious over sin and suffering, but it will then be too late. Repent and turn to Christ now, for “now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

This is the first Sunday in Lent, a period when Christians are encouraged to pray and fast as we look forward to Resurrection Sunday. During this period, we are urged to seriously consider what attracts us to the world, what sins we excuse, what we love more than God, what we are not considering about glory, what embitters us. Do we see suffering the way God sees suffering? What keeps us hyper-focused on the things of earth rather than the glories of heaven? We need to ask God to show us what we need to give up so that we are less attached to this world. What are we willing to fast from in order to be more focused on Christ?

Selah:

1. What has caused the most suffering in your life?

2. How have you reacted to this suffering?

3. What do you need to do to focus more on future glory and less on present suffering?

4. How do you understand Pastor Ben’s statement that our suffering builds up greater glory for Christ?