Perfection of Suffering

H

HeartSong Aug 21, 2008

"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8).

There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown.

It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me?"

The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good.

Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus. –Soul Food

The great thing is to suffer without being discouraged. --Fenelon

"The heart that serves, and loves, and clings,
Hears everywhere the rush of angel wings."

Streams in the Desert
by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

sermonindex Aug 21, 2008

There is indeed a deeper truth here; one that is lost in the hub bub of everyday life and the bustle of man providing for himself and his, and industry. It is the cross given full authority by two parties; both the one who does now suffer, and the One who has indeed suffered. It is the only path to christian Maturity, and the only way obedience is attained. "He learned obedience through the things that he suffered."

So indeed must we, however, as the word spoken to Peter, "When you are old, you will be carried away to a place you do not want!" speaking of the manner of death Peter was to accomplish.

God must choose the path of our death, and the means of our suffering. We cannot touch it, for to do so, would implement a false cross, a lying cross, a self sacrificial cross, created by our own religious natures, stemming from our own romantic views of self sacrifice as the core of ourselves pleasing the Father. We bear the fruit of holiness by ~~[b]~~Abiding[/b] in the Spirit, and "following the Lamb wheresoever He may go. In this, we will surely be confronted, in HIS timing and circumstance, with a suffering...one so profound, that it will prove to ourselves, heaven and angels that we really love Him...and when death has her perfect work, we discover that we indeed have surrendered.

The mystery here, as I see it , is that it supersedes our will; goes beyond our ability to endure. Death goes beyond our will.

"We had the sentence of death within ourselves, ~~[b]~~So That[/b] we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead."

Somehow there is a bewilderment..."Why have you forsaken me?"...and a "~~[b]~~faith[/b]" united, but never an act contrived. We cannot create our own suffering or death, but are commanded to follow and abide.

Asceticism, is the great enemy of true faith, and seeks to set man upon the throne of his own obedience, to act upon a contrived self-sacrifice in order to attain his own credentials of spiritual attainment. This produced the terrible heresies of the Catholic monastic system, which is founded upon the principles that mortal man can create holiness through his own disciplines and self sacrifices. It is blasphemy, for it reduces the One holy sacrifice, and the only holy sacrifice of Jesus's Blood, into a formula set in the hands of men.

"If you abide in me, and I in you, you shall bear fruit, and your fruit shall remain."

It is this submission that is Paramount to God...not the idea that the high road is the one of Suffering. This is a lie. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Abraham, the father of faith, suffered only in his committment to extreme submission and obedience to his God. Everything, was on the alter for him. Ishmael, Issac, and all that he was. He was otherwise unnaffected physically, and lived to be 175, with many more children and another wife or two.

Job, before him, was given another road, seemingly harder. God gives the path, and they are different to each of us, and contingent on Him alone. We must ABIDE and FOLLOW.

S

sojourner7 Aug 21, 2008

"I believe that if we could only see beforehand
what it is that our Heavenly Father means us to
be--the soul beauty and perfection and glory; if
we could have a glimpse of this, we should not
grudge all the woes and pains He is taking with
us now to bring us to that ideal of holiness;
which is His will for us. We know that it is
God's way to work slowly, so we must not wonder
if He takes a great many years of discipline to
turn a mere mortal being into an immortal
glorious being."

ANNE KEARY

R

Ruach34 Aug 21, 2008

Hey all,
I was reading this morning the end of Leviticus. Lev 27: talks about valuations and redemptions of both man, animal and things...
However verse 28 has some very interesting words.

Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the Lord. (NASB)

Is this why it is pleasing to the Lord the death of His saints. When we offer up ourselves as living sacrifices is it in essence saying, "Lord, unto death."?

Any thoughts on this scripture and what it may be referencing. This is what was in my mind when reading it.

Also, i have heard it said that there was no offering/sacrifice for willful sins...is that true?

G

growingholly Aug 22, 2008

hey ruach!

as far as the offering for willful sins, i would refer you to hebrews 10. you are right, it is true. look over the context of the whole Bible, and the whole book of hebrews also specifically. check out also hebrews 6.

in regard to the leviticus passage, i read it over in the chapter...here's what i see, and i could be terribly wrong, so please take this to the Lord!!

i believe that He is showing here that His children, along with all that we may "have", are not our own, and that all of our best (in particular in this passage, but really, all of everything) is to go to the Lord, no man can have what is set apart for the Lord alone (v. 26, no man may consecrate it). these things set aside for destruction in leviticus are the sacrificial animals, the best of the best, and they were going to be sacrificed to God, and we know from our own flesh that it is most difficult to trust in God in giving Him everything we think we need (money, job, family, etc.). only in giving the best lamb or cow or whatever it was, could the israelites be tested in their faith (hope in things not seen-hard to imagine giving up your meat and milk source and wondering how you'll feed all your children...). they were a poor, nomadic, farming people. and they didn't have all this modern farming stuff like today; everything was person by person and animal by animal. to give up the biggest and best cow was to cut off a huge supply of meat and dairy and leather to the family. but oh, what faith He must have built in the obedient!! that is what i see in the text of leviticus, that the items devoted to destruction are most holy because it is what we think we can't live without, and we instead give it to the Lord, that He would be all we lived for and with, instead of trying to make ourselves able to live by our own resources.

this is my heart on this. again, please test this against the Scripture and pray over it, and don't dare take my word for it. i hopefully the Lord has used me today.

also, if you can get your hands on george muller's autobiography, this is a man who, by God's grace, lived out this passage; he served God in faith for the provision of several hundred orphans, giving away money to missionaries and those who needed it, asking only God for the money to house and feed the children, only to be provided for by God for the welfare of all the precious children in his care. God tested this man daily, and God provided daily. often his diary states how God gave enough to feed the children that day. and then He would show up the next day and feed them again, someone would bring just enough money or milk or whatever it was they needed.

God is so good.