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Dear Brothers and Sisters, Shalom.
I am Won KIM, voicing Pastor Caleb Soo Lee Chong. Today, we’ll look into the topic “Suffering View of the Disciple”.
Suffering is a mystery to which no philosophy or religion has been able to provide a perfect solution. Why do the just ones suffer, while the evil ones seem to have it all? Why are some babies born with disabilities right from the beginning? Why do good guys have to go through so much suffering, while some incorrigible person can enjoy his sunset years in peace and health to face death when his time is up? Since times of old, no satisfactory answer to this question has been found. When faced with suffering, very often we would ask “why”, only to deepen our anguish to no avail. The wiser ones will ask “how” instead, as in “how” do you face sufferings when they come, instead of asking “why” do I have to go through so much suffering?
Some people even go on to posit three categories into which everyone on this earth can be slotted. Category 1 people suffer before they feel the pain; Category 2 people go into pain before they suffer, and Category 3 covers those who do not suffer even when they are in pain. Now, let us put our heads together and look into this topic today.
Types of Suffering
Suffering includes physical, mental and spiritual sufferings. Where do their differences lie? Which of these do you think to be most unbearable?
Physical suffering refers to the bodily pains felt by someone, or results from injuries inflicted externally upon him. On the other hand, mental sufferings are those of the mind, such as worries arising out of financial woes, pressures from work over the year, or even from school work. Spiritual sufferings may emanate from emotional setbacks, frustrations from attempts to straighten out the issue, spiritual burdens as in a marital breakdown or infidelity, cheating on a partner, loss of a loved one and other similar cases of spiritual agony.
Which is worse, mental or spiritual suffering? Why not physical suffering? I am afraid the answer varies from person to person. The Chinese often use a term (心痛) that literally translates as “heart ache”, which certainly does not include physical suffering, but it is about the anguish of the spirit. The excruciating pain makes one believe that even his spirit is not spared – a very real feeling on his part. In short, it is extreme torture to bear any of these three sufferings. We plead with our Heavenly Father to give us the ability and wisdom to cope when such suffering befalls us. Of course, we hope that this does not happen to us. But, honestly, can you avoid suffering when it crashes into your path?
Have you ever been through any of these situations? If so, in what way has your life been impacted by it?
All of us would have been through one or two, if not more, of the above scenarios in our lives. Some of us may become demoralized, grumbled against heaven and blamed other people, while others have become more mellowed as a result of such unfortunate turns in life. Yet, there are others still who are deeply grateful despite these nasty experiences. It all depends on how you see suffering; I hope that this session will help you to understand things better.
Where Suffering Come From
First, let us look at the Bible in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 12 verses 7-15.
“7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.”
David went through suffering after suffering following this. Now, where did his suffering originate from? We note that he committed adultery and went to bed with the wife of Uriah, one of His own mighty men. After that, he sent him to die using underhanded tactics.
This led the prophet Nathan to warn him, saying, “…the sword will never depart from your house…” In the end, David lost his son and left his home in pieces, even to degenerate into a refugee under pursuit, making Nathan’s words come true. We see that David sinned and had to eat the bitter fruits of his own sin.
We need to repent and confess to God the sins that we have committed, as David did in the book of Psalms chapters 51 and 32. These two psalms spoke of his deep repentance for these misdeeds, and allowed the Israelites to become aware of the great sins committed by their king. David’s open confessions were real and humble. And God showed His mercy through His pardon. In the same manner, God would also pardon us when we likewise show our repentance in front of Him. Streams of mercies are flowing forth from His Seat in Heaven.
At the human level, however, the outcomes of committing a sin may carry on and on. If a person guilty of murder confesses his sin, repents and accepts Christ as his savior, God will pardon him too. He still has to answer to the law of the land, however, such as accepting capital punishment. It is clear that in this case, the so-called suffering is brought about by his own sins.
(2) Suffering Comes From Human Desires
For this, we now turn to the Bible in the book of 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 9-10 in the New Testament.
“9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
It says here that “some people…pierced themselves with many griefs.” Why is that so? It is clear here that they wanted to get rich and fell into temptation. We see how greed has plunged man into ruin and destruction. He who is blinded by greed may run hither and thither in search of more wealth, even via unscrupulous means, such as drug trafficking and finally end up into the deep lairs of the devil. His relationship with family starts to break down, as with his relationship to people around him. Families are ripped apart, and even human lives are lost as calamity takes its toll. Such stories are not unfamiliar to us.
This is the greed of Man, a kind of terrible personal desire that is totally insatiable. Man is led into suffering. While he is aware that gambling is bad, he will still try to win the jackpot with a small sum of money. Alas, again and again he hopes to recover his losses, only to widen them at each attempt. Didn’t he know the wise saying, “nine attempts out of ten in gambling would result in losses”? He ends up stripped bare of all his worldly possessions. He would then get involved with loan sharks, and drag his own family into more unspeakable woes! Such is the endgame of a greed-driven man!
Let’s visit the Bible in the book of Psalms chapter 41 verses 7-9
“7 All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying,
8 “A vile disease has afflicted him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.
In these lines, the psalmist laments how his friend has turned against him. Dear brothers and sisters, it is obvious here that suffering comes from friends, or in other words, his fellow men. These could be his friends, relatives and also his enemies. The enemies will stop at nothing to attack you and throw you into deeper suffering. They will attempt to slander behind your back so that you will never be able to get back on your feet again. They will hatch new plots to snare you….an act that is as scary as it is despicable. The psalmist had such experiences before; perhaps there are people in our midst who may have been through similar experiences too – you have been good to people, but now they remember you no more. Not just that…they have turned their backs on you as well. These are incorrigible ingrates, no less!
We call on our Heavenly Father to help us, so that we will never ever back down when we go through endless sufferings but will, instead, be looking up to God nonetheless. Let us see more clearly that our Rock of Salvation is God Himself, and resolve to take more positive and proactive steps to return to His Fold. May I never give up my trust in God, never mind whether my suffering has come about because of my own sin or those of others. I vow to focus on Him and Him alone, because He is a Lord who does not change -- and never will.
Let’s pray
Dear Heavenly Father,
We know that this world is full of suffering. However, let us lift our heads and look up to you. No, we will never allow ourselves to be overtaken by suffering even as we are wading in it. On the contrary, we will let suffering temper us into people who look up to Him, to work together towards a nobler and more peaceful character. Hear our pleas, O, Lord, may you listen to our prayers. Be with us, confer upon us your blessings, comfort and power. In the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!
Recommendations by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong
The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong are worthy books to bring up disciples. In order to minimize differences in the qualities amongst Christians, our churches need to set up basic courses to address these issues. In turn, this will enable all disciples to incorporate their faith into their lives and allow changes to take place through renewal of minds. May God make use of these basic courses to edify more disciples to strengthen His soldiers and claim victory on His battle-ground!
The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” are suitable course materials for anyone who wish to acquire understanding of the Christian faith in a more comprehensive manner. The contents are easy to grasp and relate to the real world that we are living in. They are written with an eye for the man-in-the-street and explore how to make our faith come alive in our daily social interactions.
In particular, these are suitable if you
1. are someone who wants to understand the Christian faith or,
2. are someone who has just accepted the Christian faith or,
3. have been a Christian for many years but still hungering for a firmer grounding in the faith or,
4. are a pastor or co-worker who plans to use these materials for teaching purposes.
If you need to take up learning or use these materials in a systematic manner, please us contact at this email address.：[email protected]