"Whenever we don't obey, it's always because we are not trusting some promise."
That was an eye-opening statement for me, found on the Living By Faith Blog.
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May our Lord Jesus bless you.
October 21, 2013
October 15, 2013
1st Corinthians 6:11 (NASB) wallpaper
Here is a Scripture wallpaper based on 1st Corinthians 6:11 (NASB), reminding believers of who we were -- and who we are -- in Christ Jesus.
Download this wallpaper here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WY5aRTJww25i9hkz5
View all of the Scripture wallpapers and images and download for free: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kLbvK5TJZaqYUA447
January 22, 2013
Believers suffer (Discipleship part 3)
Dear believers,
Recently I have experienced a measure of suffering in my life, which has caused me to consider how I should respond to that suffering.
Some teach that all suffering is evil and there is no reason for a believer in Jesus to suffer. If we suffer, they say, we must be doing something wrong. Probably there is sin in our lives that we are being punished for, or maybe we don't pray enough, they say. If we just have faith, we should never suffer, they assert.
But, is this a Biblical view of suffering in the life of a believer? I don't think it is.
A few days ago, the Lord graciously led me to make a discovery with respect to suffering, simply by studying the different ways that one Greek word in the New Testament was translated.
It turns out that the Greek word translated "witness" is the same word translated elsewhere in the New Testament as "martyr." The King James Version translates this word as "witness" 29 times, as "martyr" 3 times, and as "record" twice.
However, modern translations such as the New King James Version translate those two occurrences of "record" as "witness" (my guess is that "record" is an archaic way of referring to a specific type of witness). So we end up with 31 occurrences of "witness" and only 3 occurrences of "martyr."
So, there is no difference between the Greek word used to mean "witness," which is generally defined as someone who sees an event take place (for example, Jesus' resurrection), and the word used to mean "martyr," which means someone who is killed for his or her beliefs (for example, that Jesus Christ is Lord and the Son of God). "Witness" and "martyr" are the same word in Greek.
What is the significance of this discovery?
Let's look at the three occurrences where the word is translated "martyr" and try to find out.
If you like, you can also go here to view the page I was looking at for this study.
Here are the three passages, from the New King James Version:
And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. (Acts 22:20 NKJV)
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas [was] My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Rev. 2:13 NKJV)
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (Rev. 17:6 NKJV)
In the first passage, the Apostle Paul is praying to Jesus. He is acknowledging that he consented to Stephen's death and that he guarded the clothes of those who stoned him to death.
Now, Stephen was a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, described as being "full of the Holy Spirit" even just prior to being murdered (see Acts 7).
Stephen's faithfulness to Jesus was evidenced by the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ opened Stephen's view into heaven and allowed Stephen to see Him just before he was murdered!
Even while being violently stoned, Stephen prayed to Jesus, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."
Therefore, Stephen was not suffering for anything spiritually amiss in his life. On the contrary, he was a faithful and honored follower of Jesus, one who was privileged to see His Lord before he departed this earth. That is an awesome honor indeed.
In the next passage (Rev. 2:13 NKJV), the Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke, after His resurrection, to one of His churches. Here it is again:
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas [was] My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Rev. 2:13 NKJV)
Here, Jesus called a man named Antipas "My faithful martyr" and acknowledged that he was killed among them, where Satan dwelt. In this time of great persecution, the Lord Jesus Christ commended these believers for holding fast to Jesus' name and their refusal to deny His faith.
Antipas was called Jesus' "faithful martyr" and was killed in a place where Satan dwelt. If believers are not to suffer, how is it that the Lord Jesus would refer to Antipas as being faithful even in his death?
The third passage (Rev. 17:6 NKJV) is from the perspective of John (I believe he is the Apostle John who wrote the other books named after John). Here it is again:
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (Rev. 17:6 NKJV)
This passage refers to a woman, who is identified in the following passages:
"So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast [which was] full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name [was] written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Rev. 17:3-5 NKJV)
"And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." (Rev. 17:18 NKJV)
This woman, then, is described as being "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (from Rev. 17:6 NKJV). It is clear then, that this woman, this city which reigns over the kings of the earth, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth, was in a very strong way connected to the deaths, the murders, of believers in Jesus.
What I get from all of this is primarily one thought. That is:
Not only do believers suffer, but suffering could be considered the expected, or normal, state for a believer.
Unlike the Apostles and early believers, we did not technically witness the risen Christ. But we are witnesses in the sense of being able to testify to the name of Jesus. We can tell and show others what He has done for us. We can acknowledge His presence in us and seek to do the things that honor His name.
And so, if we want to be witnesses for Jesus, we can expect to suffer with Him. Given the examples we have seen in Antipas and Stephen, it should not surprise us if we suffer. The more faithful we are to the name of Jesus, the more we should expect to suffer. Stephen and Antipas were highly commended by the Lord Jesus, and they were killed. They proved their faithfulness because they were willing to die for Jesus.
So when we suffer for His name, how do we respond? Are we angry? Fearful? Resentful? Do we feel that we have done something wrong when we suffer? Rather than being upset, we should rejoice. Our suffering, if it is for the name of Jesus, is something to be proud of!
What if we rarely, or never, suffer for Jesus' name? It might be because we are afraid to speak up for the name of Jesus. If that is so, we should repent. We should pray and ask for the strength and grace and wisdom to be bolder witnesses to the glory of our Savior.
Look at the words of Jesus Himself.
Then He said to [them] all,
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His [own] glory, and [in His] Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
The Apostle Paul wrote:
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.
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected [it] in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Not only [that], but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for [it] with perseverance.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit [is], because He makes intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [can be] against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? [It is] God who justifies.
Who [is] he who condemns? [It is] Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And finally, it is written:
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Recently I have experienced a measure of suffering in my life, which has caused me to consider how I should respond to that suffering.
Some teach that all suffering is evil and there is no reason for a believer in Jesus to suffer. If we suffer, they say, we must be doing something wrong. Probably there is sin in our lives that we are being punished for, or maybe we don't pray enough, they say. If we just have faith, we should never suffer, they assert.
But, is this a Biblical view of suffering in the life of a believer? I don't think it is.
A few days ago, the Lord graciously led me to make a discovery with respect to suffering, simply by studying the different ways that one Greek word in the New Testament was translated.
It turns out that the Greek word translated "witness" is the same word translated elsewhere in the New Testament as "martyr." The King James Version translates this word as "witness" 29 times, as "martyr" 3 times, and as "record" twice.
However, modern translations such as the New King James Version translate those two occurrences of "record" as "witness" (my guess is that "record" is an archaic way of referring to a specific type of witness). So we end up with 31 occurrences of "witness" and only 3 occurrences of "martyr."
So, there is no difference between the Greek word used to mean "witness," which is generally defined as someone who sees an event take place (for example, Jesus' resurrection), and the word used to mean "martyr," which means someone who is killed for his or her beliefs (for example, that Jesus Christ is Lord and the Son of God). "Witness" and "martyr" are the same word in Greek.
What is the significance of this discovery?
Let's look at the three occurrences where the word is translated "martyr" and try to find out.
If you like, you can also go here to view the page I was looking at for this study.
Here are the three passages, from the New King James Version:
And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. (Acts 22:20 NKJV)
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas [was] My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Rev. 2:13 NKJV)
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (Rev. 17:6 NKJV)
In the first passage, the Apostle Paul is praying to Jesus. He is acknowledging that he consented to Stephen's death and that he guarded the clothes of those who stoned him to death.
Now, Stephen was a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, described as being "full of the Holy Spirit" even just prior to being murdered (see Acts 7).
Stephen's faithfulness to Jesus was evidenced by the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ opened Stephen's view into heaven and allowed Stephen to see Him just before he was murdered!
Even while being violently stoned, Stephen prayed to Jesus, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."
Therefore, Stephen was not suffering for anything spiritually amiss in his life. On the contrary, he was a faithful and honored follower of Jesus, one who was privileged to see His Lord before he departed this earth. That is an awesome honor indeed.
In the next passage (Rev. 2:13 NKJV), the Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke, after His resurrection, to one of His churches. Here it is again:
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas [was] My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Rev. 2:13 NKJV)
Here, Jesus called a man named Antipas "My faithful martyr" and acknowledged that he was killed among them, where Satan dwelt. In this time of great persecution, the Lord Jesus Christ commended these believers for holding fast to Jesus' name and their refusal to deny His faith.
Antipas was called Jesus' "faithful martyr" and was killed in a place where Satan dwelt. If believers are not to suffer, how is it that the Lord Jesus would refer to Antipas as being faithful even in his death?
The third passage (Rev. 17:6 NKJV) is from the perspective of John (I believe he is the Apostle John who wrote the other books named after John). Here it is again:
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (Rev. 17:6 NKJV)
This passage refers to a woman, who is identified in the following passages:
"So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast [which was] full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name [was] written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Rev. 17:3-5 NKJV)
"And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." (Rev. 17:18 NKJV)
This woman, then, is described as being "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (from Rev. 17:6 NKJV). It is clear then, that this woman, this city which reigns over the kings of the earth, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth, was in a very strong way connected to the deaths, the murders, of believers in Jesus.
What I get from all of this is primarily one thought. That is:
Not only do believers suffer, but suffering could be considered the expected, or normal, state for a believer.
Unlike the Apostles and early believers, we did not technically witness the risen Christ. But we are witnesses in the sense of being able to testify to the name of Jesus. We can tell and show others what He has done for us. We can acknowledge His presence in us and seek to do the things that honor His name.
And so, if we want to be witnesses for Jesus, we can expect to suffer with Him. Given the examples we have seen in Antipas and Stephen, it should not surprise us if we suffer. The more faithful we are to the name of Jesus, the more we should expect to suffer. Stephen and Antipas were highly commended by the Lord Jesus, and they were killed. They proved their faithfulness because they were willing to die for Jesus.
So when we suffer for His name, how do we respond? Are we angry? Fearful? Resentful? Do we feel that we have done something wrong when we suffer? Rather than being upset, we should rejoice. Our suffering, if it is for the name of Jesus, is something to be proud of!
What if we rarely, or never, suffer for Jesus' name? It might be because we are afraid to speak up for the name of Jesus. If that is so, we should repent. We should pray and ask for the strength and grace and wisdom to be bolder witnesses to the glory of our Savior.
Look at the words of Jesus Himself.
Then He said to [them] all,
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His [own] glory, and [in His] Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:23-27 NKJV)
The Apostle Paul wrote:
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.
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected [it] in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Not only [that], but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for [it] with perseverance.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit [is], because He makes intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [can be] against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? [It is] God who justifies.
Who [is] he who condemns? [It is] Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:16-39 NKJV)
And finally, it is written:
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
(Acts 5:40-42 NKJV)
Lord Jesus, help we who believe in You and trust in Your Name to be bold witnesses and even, if You will, martyrs for Your Name. Amen.
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