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The Advance of the Gospel
Our suffering for the sake of Jesus is actually an occasion for great joy, not for the pain in itself but because it is at our weakest points that God decides to show Himself the strongest. As we consider those ...Read More
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Anchoring Your Soul
Is your soul anchored to the biblical hope of the future, the new heaven and earth, where there will be no more sin and suffering?Read More
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Arm Yourselves
When Peter says that those who suffer in the flesh have ceased from sin, he is not teaching that sinless perfection is possible in this life. Until we are glorified we will still sin. However, as John Calvin writes, if ...Read More
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Bearing Witness to Christ
Today’s passage, while it had an immediate fulfillment two thousand years ago, continues to have relevance for us today. It shows us that faithfulness to Christ may lead to our arrest and trial before the governing authorities. Are you prepared ...Read More
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Belief and Suffering
If we are surprised when persecution comes, then we will find it more difficult to endure it and experience the grace of God in our suffering. Yet as we remember that both belief and suffering are granted to us by ...Read More
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The Benefits of Trials
Have you ever been through a time of suffering that left you a milder, more sober, more “centered” person than before? What “bad” aspects of your life were refined and what good aspects of your life were strengthened? As hard ...Read More
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Be Not Ashamed
John Calvin writes, “it is no common kindness from God, that he calls us, freed and exempted from the common punishment of our sins, to so honourable a warfare as to undergo for the testimony of his Gospel either exiles, ...Read More
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Be Not Surprised
Biologically speaking, Cain and Abel were from the same family. However, they did not share the same spiritual heritage. Though we might think they were brothers, in an ultimate and eternal sense they were not. The church can also be ...Read More
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Blessed are the Persecuted
While we are certainly not called to seek out persecution, there is also a sense in which we should expect people to make fun of us or even beat and kill us when we faithfully proclaim the gospel. As in ...Read More
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Blessed are Those Who Mourn
Though Jesus was a man of sorrows, He was able to endure suffering and pain because He knew that “out of the anguish of his soul” He would “see and be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). We will never have to go ...Read More