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NASB | Acts 8:2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:2 ¶ Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss]. |
Subject: The Suffering of the Church |
Bible Note: Mike, In the “Faith Dome”, some years back, I heard Pastor Fred Price introduce a sermon on the Death of Stephen with, "Christians aren't supposed to suffer," claiming Stephen's beatific vision in support. I’ve also heard Price say that if your disease isn’t getting cured, your faith is weak, which lays too much responsibility on a person's failings and too little emphasis on God's grace. Though suffering results from our first parents’ rejection of God’s covenant love, suffering isn’t characterized as evil or Satanic in the bible. In the following verse, Paul writes to the Colossians that he has actually discovered joy through suffering: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, (Col 1:24 ESV) Would Paul be rejoicing if suffering were evil? Christians don’t rejoice in evil. Suffering has enabled Paul to see it’s salvific meaning, it’s goodness, and it’s this insight he wishes others to see: …If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort… for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2Co 1:3-7). Paul even asserts that by avoiding suffering we avoid sharing in Christ’s eternal glory: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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. (Rom 8:16-17). In short, to the degree that we suffer with Christ we share in his eternal glory. What was good enough for Him must be good enough for us: Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (Heb 5:8) Suffering, as elucidated in the above verses, has salvific meaning, inherent goodness, insofar as it brings us closer to God. |