WHY THE GODLY SUFFER----A LETTER TO A FRIEND.

COPYRIGHT JANUARY 14, 1996 L.T. Ministries
by L. Tyler
P.O.Box 734, El Centro, CA 92244
P.O.Box 620763, San Diego, CA 92162-0763
oldservant@delphi.com
lovenchosen@hotmail.com

Dear Friend,
Please let me share some more with you from our talk
Tuesday. Please remember the point about 1 Cor. 10:13, He
doesn't allow you to be tried more than you can bear,
because you are stronger, have a better understanding of
spiritual warfare and a deeper faith, the trials will be
greater--but never more than you can bear. Consider the
trials of John the Baptist and all the apostles except John.
They all died violent deaths at the hands of those who hate
them, but never more than they could bear.

An exercise is no exercise if it doesn't challenge you at the
point where you have to strain and go aerobic, sometimes
painfully. The same with "spiritual" muscles, the trial has to
produce stress, strain and even pain for you to become
stronger, more capable, more useful and fruitful. The
fruitful vine looks terrible when it is pruned, and it would
feel terrible if it could feel, but because it is pruned it has
the potential of being more fruitful, and I know you want
more fruit of the Spirit in your life. I know that you want to
compassionately cherish God and others even more than you
do now, and that's how you get there.

This life is boot camp and a war, which, thank God, is
shortened for our sakes. Our resurrected life with Jesus
Christ is worth the struggle. All of our experiences in this
mortal life can be used of God to prepare us to help, comfort,
teach, encourage, edify etc others better when we are given
the opportunity to be his delegated agents on earth as he
rules from Jerusalem in fulfillment of His promises to King
David. To rule the earth with Him enthroned in Jerusalem
for a 1000 years (Revelations 20: 2-7 see below), to walk around as His agents enabled to raise the dead, open the eyes of the blind, to bind
up the broken limbs and hearts, to counsel the broken
hearted with wisdom inspired of God, to feed the hungry, to
clothe the naked, to free the captives, to teach in power the
lost how they can be found etc etc etc etc. I can hardly wait!
Revelations 20: 1 And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
3 And he cast him into the abyss and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little time.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And [I saw] the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received [his] mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Please consider attending a Christian divorce/grief
recovery support group. You are still deeply grieving inside
over your ex and those "saints" that so deeply and carnally
broke your heart. I know that I desperately needed and
greatly benefited from the free one I attended at D. C.
So. Bapt. Church. It was critical in my recovery and in my
readiness to be healed and in my learning how and where I
needed to grow, to forgive my ex, and to prepare my heart
for my next. Many churches and ministries have free
support groups that are usually extremely helpful. Please
call around for times and places and pray about attending
and let the Lord minister to you through the saints.

But why does He allow us to suffer, to grieve so deeply
and have hearts so broken than you can feel the pain
throughout your chest, so depressed that it seems a struggle
to survive, grief so deep that you never know what will
cause the tears to flow next? Here are some that I have
become aware of and they are all for our good. Please
consider them and, in each, ask if its goal was accomplished
in your life.

WE HAVE SUFFERED ----

1. So that we can know that we belong to Christ. If the

world hated Him, it will hate us too----if we live like He

wants us to live.

2 Tim 3:12 Yea, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.;
1 Pet. 2:19 For this [is] a grace, if for conscience [toward] God anyone endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory [is it] if you patiently endure [while] sinning and being buffeted? But if you suffer [while] doing good, and patiently endure, this [is] a grace from God.
21 For you were not called to this? For Christ also suffered on our behalf, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps,;
Mat. 13:21But he has no root in himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately stumbles.
22 And that sown into the thorns is this: he who hears the word; and the anxiety of this world, and the deceit of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But that sown on the good ground is this: "he who hears the Word and understands; who also bears fruit and produces" one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty; and one thirty.

  1. Because we are followers of Christ who was tortured

and executed by the world. If they did it to Him, they'll

surely do it to us too.

John 15:19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept My saying, they will also keep yours.

  1. So that evil doers will not come to God just to escape from Hell and suffering in this life. He wants sinners to come to Him because they love Him who first loved them, not because they forgot to join the Noah's Ark Club. The promise that all who live godly in Christ Jesus is often enough to scare away the superficial and shallow

pretenders.

Noah's flood Genesis 9 + Rev. 21:27 And there shall in no way enter into it anything that defiles, or any making an abomination or a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be straight, and the rough ways [shall be] made smooth.
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
7 Then he said to the crowd that came forth to be baptized by him, O generation of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
9 And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.

  1. So that we wont miss (be homesick, want to look/go

back like Lot's wife did) this social-economic-political system

when we are in Heaven or ruling with Christ on earth. To

love the world's social, political, and economic systems is to

be God's enemy.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,
16 because all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.;
Heb. 11:l3 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of [them] and embraced [them] and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they who say such things declare plainly that they seek a fatherland.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that [country] from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they stretch forth to a better [fatherland], that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered up his only-begotten [son],
18 of whom it was said that in Isaac your Seed shall be called,
19 concluding that God [was] able to raise him up, even from [the] dead, from where he even received him, in a figure.

  1. So that we can know how and why to choose

between the good and the evil. We don't seem to be so

inclined to do evil if we know it is going to hurt, and hurt us

specifically.

Deut. 30:15 Behold! I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,
16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, so that you may live and multiply. And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
17 But if you turn away your heart, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,
18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong [your] days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,
20 so that you may love the LORD your God, [and] that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers 6. Because of our own sins. 1 Cor. 5 and 1 Cor. 11:30-
32; Hebrews 12.

  1. To cause us to learn to be humble.

    2 Cor. 12:7 and by the surpassing revelations, lest I not be made haughty, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be made haughty.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me.
9 And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.
10 Therefore I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am powerful.

  1. To caution us against arrogant or ingnorant

presumption in prayer and to exhibit to us His all-sufficiency

in the affairs of our personal lives.

2 Cor.12: 7-10 again; Rom5:3And not only [this], but we glory in afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience,
4 and patience [works out] experience, and experience [works out] hope.
5 And hope does not make [us] ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through [the] Holy Spirit given to us.
6 For we yet being without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will with difficulty die for a righteous one, yet perhaps one would even dare to die for a good one.
8 But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now just

  1. To learn and acquire patience, experience and hope

in the compassionate cherishing of God in the midst of trials

and suffering.

Rom. 5:3,4 again

  1. Becasue of His Name- Because of His Truth -

Because of His Life - Because of the shining Light of His

Truth, an honor to be counted worthy of His sufferings if God

permits.

Acts 5:Then indeed they departed from [the] presence of the sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be shamed for His name.; Rom 8: 17 And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with [Him], we may also be glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the coming glory to be revealed in us.

11. So that we may have the honor of being glorified

together with Him who suffered so greatly at the hands of

this world's social system.

Rom. 8:17 again

  1. So that we may be perfected, completed, and

matured spiritually.

Hebrews. 2:10; 1 Peter. 5:10 But the God of all grace, He calling us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, [He] will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish [you].

  1. So that we may learn to Love Jesus and His Way

enough to obey Him even when it hurts.

Hebrews. 5: 7* [For Jesus], in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared,
8* though being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9* And being made perfect, He became [the] Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him,;
Psalm 15:4

  1. So that we may be established, strengthened and

settled in Christ, pruned of all the dead wood.

1 Peter 5: But the God of all grace, He calling us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, [He] will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish [you].
11 To Him [be] the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

  1. Because they hated and killed Jesus they will hate us

and try to kill the Jesus in us.

Luke. 6:22; John 15:18 18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before [it hated] you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept My saying, they will also keep yours.
21 But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

  1. To end the cycle of hate and violence in our lives at

us, we being shock absorbers for the evil around us, so that

it will stop at us and we will learn not to pass it on. He has

called us to turn the cheek, go the second mile and bless and

pray for those who curse and abuse us.

Matthew. 5; Luke 6;
Romans 12: 9 [Let] love [be] without hypocrisy, shrinking from evil, cleaving to good;
10 in brotherly love to one another, loving fervently, having led one another in honor.
11 As to diligence, not slothful, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction, steadfastly continuing in prayer,
13 distributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with rejoicing ones, and weep with weeping ones;
16 minding the same thing toward one another, not minding high things, but yielding to the lowly. Do not be wise within yourselves.
17* Repay no one evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If [it is] possible, as far as [is] in you, seeking peace with all men.
19* not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance [is] Mine, I will repay, says [the] Lord."
20 Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For [in so] doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
21* Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
; 1 Corinthians. 6

  1. So that our enduring and genuine faith may bring

praise, honor and glory at His appearing in the presence of

all the angels, demons, cherubim, seraphim and those with

Christ.

1 Peter. 1:7 3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through [the] resurrection of Jesus Christ from [the] dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you
5 by [the] power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;
6 in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little [while], if need be, grieving in manifold temptations;
7 so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 whom having not seen, you love; in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you exult with unspeakable joy, and having been glorified,
9 obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of [your] souls.

  1. So that we could experience God's solutions and

faithfulness and comfort for our griefs and trials so we will

have learned how to share His comforting solutions with the

others He leads us to who are experiencing similar grievous

trials. Preparation for ministry now and for ministry in the 1000 year

reign of Christ on earth.

2 Corinthians. 1: 3 Blessed [be] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,
4 He comforting us in all our trouble, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in every trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ.
6 And if we are troubled, [it is] for your consolation and salvation, being worked out in [the] endurance of the same sufferings which we also suffer; if we are comforted, [it is] for your consolation and salvation.
7 And our hope of you [is] certain, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also of the consolation.