Doctrine of Spiritual Growth through Suffering

The goal of spiritual growth is not only formation of Christ-like character and thinking, but ultimately influencing others for Christ (GREAT COMMISSION). Suffering prepares us for bearing fruit. General Causes of Suffering (1) We suffer because we live in a fallen world where sin reigns in the hearts of men. (2) We suffer because of our own foolishness. We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-9). (3) We sometimes suffer because it is God’s discipline. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son He receives.” (Heb. 12:6). (4) We may suffer persecution because of our faith--especially when we take a stand on biblical issues, i.e., suffering for righteousness sake (2 Tim. 3:12). Of course, all of these do not apply at the same time. All suffering is not, for instance, a product of our own foolishness, self-induced misery, or sin. It is true, however, that rarely does suffering not reveal areas of need, weaknesses, and wrong attitudes that need to be removed like dross in the gold refining process (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6-7). The Nature of Suffering Suffering is Painful Suffering is hard. It is never easy. Regardless of what we know and how hard we apply the principles, it is going to hurt (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6--“distressed” is lupeo meaning “to cause pain, sorrow, grief”). Suffering is Perplexing Suffering is somewhat mysterious. We may know some of the theological reasons for suffering from Scripture, yet when it hits, there is still a certain mystery. Why now? What is God doing? In this, it is designed to build our trust in the Almighty. Suffering is Purposeful Suffering is not without meaning in spite of its mystery. It has as its chief purpose the formation of Christ-like character (Rom. 8:28-29). Suffering Proves, Tests Us “Trials” in James 1:2 is the Greek peirasmos and refers to that which examines, tests, and proves the character or integrity of something. “Testing” in this same verse is dokimion which has a similar idea. It refers to a test designed to prove or approve. Suffering is that which proves one’s character and integrity along with both the object and quality of one’s faith. Compare 1 Pet. 1:6-7 where the same Greek words are used along with the verb dokimazo which means, “put to the test,” “prove by testing as with gold.” Suffering is a Process “We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, proven character; and . . .” (Rom. 5:3-4). “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam. 1:3-4). As a process, it takes time. The results God seeks to accomplish with the trials of life requires time and thus also, endurance. Suffering is a Purifier No matter the reason, even if it is not God’s discipline for blatant carnality, it is a purifier for none of us will ever be perfect in this life (Phil. 3:12-14). Suffering Provides Opportunity Suffering provides opportunity for God’s glory, our transformation, testimony, and ministry, etc. (See reasons for suffering given below.) Suffering Requires Our Cooperation Suffering requires the right response if it is to be successful in accomplishing God’s purposes. “We all want the product, character; but we don’t want the process, suffering.”41 Because of our make up as human beings, we can’t have one without the other. Suffering is Predetermined and Inevitable 1 Thessalonians 3:3 so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. 1 Peter 4:19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. The question we must each face is not, “if” we are going to have trials in life, but how will we respond to them. Suffering is a Struggle It’s going to be a battle all the way. That’s why they are called “trials” and “testings.” Even when we understand the purposes and principles of suffering, and we know the promises of God’s love and concern given in the Word of God for handling suffering, dealing with the trials of life is never easy because suffering hurts. Trials simply give us the capacity to cooperate with the process (Jam. 1:4). They allow the process to work and allow us to experience inner peace and joy in the midst of the trials. In order to handle suffering with inner joy and tranquillity, we must be able to look ahead to God’s purposes and reasons for suffering. This requires faith in the eternal verities of God. We must understand God’s chief purpose for our lives is to be conformed to the image of Christ and He has determined in His plan to use suffering for our spiritual development. If we are going to endure suffering and the trials of life, however, we must also understand and believe in the other purposes and reasons for suffering as they are related to the chief purpose. Purposes and Reasons for Suffering (1) We suffer as a testimony, as a witness (2 Tim 2:8-10; 2 Cor. 4:12-13; 1 Pet. 3:13-17). When believers handle suffering joyfully and with stability, it becomes a marvelous testimony to the power and life of Christ that we claim and name. Suffering provides key opportunities to manifest and magnify the power of God through His servants in order to verify and confirm the messenger and his message. It provides opportunities to reveal our credentials as ambassadors of Christ (1 Kings. 17:17-24; John 11:1-45). This includes the following areas: To glorify God before the angelic world (Job 1-2; 1 Pet. 4:16). To manifest the power of God to others (2 Cor. 12:9, 10; John 9:3). To manifest the character of Christ in the midst of suffering as a testimony to win others to Christ (2 Cor. 4:8-12; 1 Pet. 3:14-17). (2) We suffer to develop our capacity and sympathy in comforting others (2 Cor. 1:3-5) (3) We suffer to keep down pride (2 Cor. 12:7). The Apostle Paul saw his thorn in the flesh as an instrument allowed by God to help him maintain a spirit of humility and dependence on the Lord because of the special revelations he had seen as one who had been caught up to the third heaven. (4) We suffer because it is a training tool. God lovingly and faithfully uses suffering to develop personal righteousness, maturity, and our walk with Him (Heb. 12:5f; 1 Pet. 1:6; Jam. 1:2-4). In this sense, suffering is designed: As discipline for sin to bring us back to fellowship through genuine confession (Ps. 32:3-5; 119:67). As a pruning tool to remove dead wood from our lives (weaknesses, sins of ignorance, immature attitudes and values, etc.). The desired goal is increased fruitfulness (John 15:1-7). Trials may become mirrors of reproof to reveal hidden areas of sin and weakness (Ps. 16:7; 119:67, 71). As a tool for growth designed to cause us to rely on the Lord and His Word. Trials test our faith and cause us to use the promises and principles of the Word (Ps. 119:71, 92; 1 Pet. 1:6; Jam. 1:2-4; Ps. 4:1 [The Hebrew of this passage can mean, “You have enlarged, made me grow wide by my distress]). Suffering or trials teach us the truth of Psalm 62:1-8, the truth of learning to “wait on the Lord only.” As a means of learning what obedience really means. It becomes a test of our loyalty (Heb. 5:8). Illustration: If a father tells his son to do something he likes to do (i.e., eat a bowl of ice cream) and he does it, the child has obeyed, but he hasn’t really learned anything about obedience. If his dad, however, asks him to mow the lawn, that becomes a test and teaches something about the meaning of obedience. The point is, obedience often costs us something and is hard. It can require sacrifice, courage, discipline, and faith in the belief that God is good and has our best interests at heart regardless of how things might appear to us. Regardless of the reason God allows suffering into our lives, rarely does it not reveal areas of need, weaknesses, wrong attitudes, etc., as it did in Job. Suffering itself is not the thing that produces faith or maturity. It is only a tool that God uses to bring us to Himself so we will respond to Him and His Word. It forces us to turn from trust in our own resources to living by faith in God’s resources. It causes us to put first things first. Ultimately, it is the Word and the Spirit of God that produces faith and mature Christ-like character (Ps. 119:67, 71). In James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-7 the key word is “proof.” “Proof” is the word dokimion which looks at both the concept of testing which purifies, and the results, the proof that is left after the test. The Lord uses trials to test our faith in the sense of purifying it, to bring it to the surface, so we are forced to put our faith to work. (5) We suffer to bring about continued dependence on the grace and power of God. Suffering is designed to cause us to walk by God’s ability, power and provision rather than by our own (2 Cor. 11:24-32; 12:7-10; Eph. 6:10f; Ex. 17:8f). It causes us to turn from our resources to His resources. (6) We suffer to manifest the life and character of Christ (The Fruit of the Spirit) (2 Cor.4:8-11; Phil. 1:19f). This is similar to point (4) above with more emphasis on the process and defining the objective, the production of the character of Christ. This has both a negative and a positive aspect: Negative: Suffering helps to remove impurities from our lives such as indifference, self trust, false motives, self-centeredness, wrong values and priorities, and human defense and escape mechanisms by which we seek to handle our problems (man-made solutions). Suffering in itself does not remove the impurities, but is a tool God uses to cause us to exercise faith in the provisions of God’s grace. It is God’s grace in Christ (our new identity in Christ, the Word and the Holy Spirit) that changes us. This negative aspect is accomplished in two ways: (a) When out of fellowship with the Lord: Suffering becomes discipline from our heavenly Father (Heb. 5:5-11; 1 Cor. 11:28-32; 5:1-5). This involves known sin, rebellion and indifference to God. (b) When in fellowship with the Lord: Suffering becomes the loving and skillful handy work of the Vine Dresser to make us more productive. It involves unknown sin, areas we may not be aware of, but that are nevertheless hindering our growth and fruitfulness. In this case, suffering often constitutes mirrors of reproof (John 15:1-7). Positive: When believers live under suffering joyfully (i.e., they endure and keep on applying the promises and principles of the faith), Christ’s life or character will be more and more manifested as they grow through the suffering (2 Cor. 4:9-10; 3:18). This means trust, peace, joy, stability, biblical values, faithfulness and obedience in contrast to sinful mental attitudes, blaming, running, complaining, and reactions against God and people. (7) We suffer to manifest the evil nature of evil men and the righteousness of the justice of God when it falls in judgment (1 Thess. 2:14-16). Suffering at the hands of people (persecution, violent treatments) is used of God to “fill up the measure of their sins.” It shows the evil character of those who persecute others and the justice of God’s judgment when it falls. (8) We suffer to broaden our ministries (cf. Philippians 1:12-14 with 4:5-9). In the process of producing Christian character and enhancing our testimony to others, suffering often opens up doors for ministry we could never have imagined. Paul’s imprisonment (chained daily to Roman soldiers in his own house) resulted in the spread of the gospel within the elite imperial praetorian guard. The Apostle was undoubtedly continuing to rejoice in the Lord, but if he had been complaining, sulking, and bitter, his witness would have been zero.

Gift of Discernment: In Detail

Discernment is an important spiritual gift but at the same time, most churches do not allow or even have this gift within the local church. This is why false teachings often come into and without discerning, the local Church will be turned upside down from false teachings. Pros of using gift of discernment: To identify false prophets - Deuteronomy 18:21–22; Jeremiah 23:25-30 To identify the heart motives of others- Luke 6:8; John 2:24-25 To distinguish our heart motives - Job 38:36; Proverbs 21:2 To lead one in the ways of the Lord - Hosea 14:9 To empathize with weak and strong - Romans 14:1–8. To distinguish right from wrong doctrine - 2 Peter 3:15–18 To identify false spirits / apostles - 1 John 4:1–6; Revelation 2:2. What would happen if a church do not use the gift of discernment? Leads to a nations fall - Deuteronomy 32:28. Leads to spiritual dullness - Matthew 12:1–8 Leads to misinterpretation - Mark 14:58 Leads to rejecting Jesus - Mark 15:29–30; 14:58 Leads to confusion - Luke 9:7–9. Leads to foolishness - 1 Corinthians 3:18–20 God gives gifts as He sees fit, not how we see fit. One reason is a lack of discernment. But the problem is not with God and Him not being willing to give discernment to His saints. The problem is with us, because we have divided hearts. The Holy Spirit has been so quenched that they can no longer discern the more subtle tactics of the enemy. We are like those Old Testament saints spoken of in the book of Judges, "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (17:6). EVALUATING THE SPIRIT The basic Greek root for discern, diakrino, means "to judge through, to see through to the truth, to truly evaluate something." Diakrino ( Strong's #1252). This word means "to separate, discriminate"; and "to learn by discriminating, to determine, decide."So, discerning spirits is simply to evaluate the spirit -- whether it is God, or a spirit other than the Holy Spirit. The gift of discernment (1 Cor. 12:10) is a supernatural ability to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, between holiness and evil. We live in a world in which there is a great spiritual battle raging (Ephesians 6:10-18). There is another aspect of our lives that makes this gift of discernment necessary. As human beings we do not always know whether or not our thoughts, words and deeds are from God. Discernment is the means God uses to literally divide light from darkness, truth from falsehood, right motive from wrong motive, selflessness from selfishness. Another, in Hebrews 5:14 we are told that discernment comes with spiritual maturity that the Spirit works in us (diakrisis - Strong's #1253). The next greek word is anakrino (Strong's #350) and literally means, "to distinguish, or separate out so as to investigate (krino) by looking throughout (ana, intensive) objects or particulars," hence signifies "to examine, scrutinize, question, to hold a preliminary judicial examination preceding the trial proper." This word was used of Pilate's examination of Jesus (Luke 23:14). It is also the word used of the Bereans who "searched" the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The necessity of being born again of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to have discernment is stated by Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:14). The last Greek word translated "discern" is dokimazo (Strong's #1381) which means "to test, prove, scrutinize." This term conveys the thought of "to decide." It is translated "discern" in the King James Version of Luke 12:56. Gift of discernment is a whistle-blower that is never very popular. Anyone who has this gift has to walk a fine line. They are compelled to expose heresy, false doctrine, and untruths, but they must do so tactfully or lose credibility as an “overzealous heresy headhunter” or simply a highly judgmental person. Care must be exercised to expose untruths with clarity and kindness. This special ability that God gives which enables a person to know with assurance whether certain behavior purported to be of God is in reality divine, human, or Satanic. This gift can motivate a believer to seek God’s will and purpose and apply that understanding to individual and congregational situations. It provides the ability to distinguish between truth and error, to know when a person or act is of God. Sometimes the gift of discernment is referred to as “discerning of spirits.” Jesus warned us to beware of false teachers and prophets, and the gift of discernment plays a critical role in helping the church stay the course of true doctrine in the face of error and untruth. Church members with the gift of discernment are responsible for keeping false teachers and teachings from influencing and possibly perverting the church. The Scriptures teach not only that there is a gift of discerning of spirits but that we can also learn to discern. This can only come as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. But the learning is a result of the Holy Spirit teaching us, and discernment being a spiritual ability, one must be spiritual as opposed to carnal. 1 Tim. 4:1 says that in latter days, deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons will come, so the important role of the gift of discernment is to identify those spirits and doctrines. A discerning spirit tests the spirits with this rule of scripture: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God." (1 John 4:2,3)

Solomon's Wisdom

Solomon had GREAT WISDOM, he probably have the GREAT gift of wisdom of all (other than Christ). 1 King 1:29-34 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom. This is what he said in Ecclesiastes 1:16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." Experience is part of spiritual maturity along with the Word of God. People can take the Word and don't do anything about it while those who TAKE the WORD and practice (experience) the spiritual activity that God have given.

Nathanael

An example of a disciple who have great faith compare to other disciples. John 1:50-51 Jesus said Nathanael, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Now Nathanael is the guy you want to follow an example of FAITH. Nathanael did not REQUIRED Jesus to prove with miracles to prove that Christ is the Messiah. Nathanael...... Great Faith other Apostles.......normal faith like the rest of us Thomas..........Doubtful

Gift of Discernment

And people complaining about cessation of spiritual gifts? There are people who want to eliminate knowledge, wisdom, and discernment. They have a problem, because if they eliminate discernment, then what do they say the people are teaching who proclaim the Word? If they eliminate knowledge, what are those who dig out deep truth with their skill doing? And if they eliminate wisdom, what are they going to call the gift of taking the truth and applying it to life? Spiritual gifts have been mentioned in the WORD and like some say, no such thing. That each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Everybody who has the gift of teaching doesn't teach the same way. Everybody who has the gift of exhortation doesn't counsel the same way. Everybody who has the gift of helps doesn't help the same way. It's sort of like DNA that there are no two alike. 1 Corinthians 12 wisdom knowledge healing miraculous powers prophecy distinguishing between spirits speaking in different kinds of tongues interpretation of tongues All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and God gives them to each one, just as God determines. Ephesians 4 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) apostles prophets evangelists pastors teachers prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Romans 12 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. prophesying serving teaching encouraging contributing to the needs of others leadership mercy hospitality Back to gift of discernment: Discernment (of spirits) (diakriseis pneumaton), is a gift to judge or evaluate the spirits so as to distinguish whether something is from God or from an evil source. Similar to the natural talent of intuition but of course more reliable and consistent. Basically means to clearly distinguish truth from error by judging whether the behavior or teaching is from God, Satan, human error, or human power. Of all spiritual gifts mentioned, Gift of Discernment is the least appreciated gift that many want to remove this gift.