Author: Berean Baptist

Last year in April, I was quarantined at home due to COVID concerns. In the early part of this year, I was at home recovering from back surgery. I did not have the opportunity to preach although I prepared several messages for future series. Preparing outlines and manuscripts for future sermons is not the same as being prepared to step into the pulpit at any moment. When the last words are typed, the sermon is not ready as I must contemplate, meditate, adjust, and finesse what I want to say and have it settled in my mind. Too often it may not sound as if there is this much preparation, but I assure you it is quite time-consuming. In 20 years behind this pulpit, I have never preached a spur-of-the-moment sermon.

            Some years ago, I heard a pastor explain the different types of sermons. He indicated there are times when he would stand to preach that he did not need to study or prepare. He claimed the Holy Spirit would inspire him as needed and the sermon would flow from the Spirit through Him. I recognize there are times we must speak spontaneously as Peter encourages us to be ready to answer those who inquire about our faith (1 Peter 3:15). I can also imagine Paul the missionary probably did not carry a suitcase filled with sermon manuscripts for every occasion. Yet I believe spontaneous preaching should never be the normal course for a pastor in the pulpit of his church.

            In the Forum Class, I answer questions on many Bible topics without preparation but rarely is any of it organized in a structured format that fits the description of a sermon. There are some with highly organized brains that may speak extemporaneously, but I have never claimed to have such a gift. There are days I sit at my desk preparing a new sermon and thoughts flow quickly in rapid succession. The sermon goes down in minimum time. This is not normal and most require hours of reading and sifting information and organizing to bring the message to you. I admire the gift in others, but I am content to be the plodding preacher. My days at home recovering were not vacation days. When able, they were spent plowing and painstakingly hoeing the rows of future sermons. Precisely because I am not spontaneous, I must work ahead to be ready for unusual occurrences that may interrupt study time.

            I believe a preacher might be able to fake his way through a few simple subjects but eventually, lack of study will show up in the growth of his people. Paul encouraged Timothy to read and meditate on doctrine and scripture. He would profit from it and so would those who heard (1 Timothy 4:13-16). I am most pleased when I hear that what we do in Bible exposition at Berean is not common among area churches. I am pleased for us that we try to give a good in-depth analysis of scripture, while I am displeased that others receive only a few Christian platitudes that are the milk of the word and not conducive to making them skillful in the word of righteousness (Hebrews 5:12-14). This explains the lack of holiness and sanctification among most Christians.

            None of this I write is to applaud me. The Lord knows I have much to learn and have not attained the stature of many of my peers. I write to encourage you to make knowledge of every Bible subject your quest. Spend the necessary time. Our dearly departed Brother Lew often said, “Fake it until you make it.” He was not talking about the Bible! If I can assist in your spiritual journey, praise God for allowing me to have a part. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John v. 4).

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

(2 Thessalonians 3:16)

The closing words of Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians are a final appeal to the stability of a troubled church. They are appropriate for us as these two letters are instructions concerning the Lord’s return, renewed hope in the promises of the gospel, and restoration of peace in the discouragements of living in a sin cursed world. Peace is Paul’s final plea for the Thessalonian church.

                Typically, Christians believe peace is based on our feelings at the time and is determined by the circumstances we face. With this understanding of peace, we believe we are in control by making changes to our circumstances and turning them in ways that will best accomplish our desires. Our text verse disproves the method that how we think will accomplish the peace Paul desires. In Paul’s mind, peace is not subjective but rather depends on the actions of the Lord of peace who will give peace by all means—all means He Himself provides.

                I must admit that in the past year I have struggled to find peace and contentment. Circumstances have been awful and as much as I would like to change them, I have no power over them. I fail especially when my peace is disturbed by the disappointments of politics and the declining moral values of our country. I despair with the nightly news that applauds every decadence of the culture and celebrates every insane wickedness pushed on us by this ungodly administration. It is obvious the peace Paul speaks of is much less connected to government and societal activities than our own since Christians in Paul’s time were without hope of modern democracy to affect a change (assuming enough godly people would ever be gathered to agree). Neither does our dissatisfaction have the added dimension of intense persecution.

                The peace Paul advocated is discovered in the Hebrew word shalom. It means to be whole and sound—to be safe and secure. His prayer for peace is that it would come in all the ways God alone provides for the church which are often termed His means of grace. These means are greatly diversified as we have found one of the least expected ways recently in our articles on church discipline. Peace is restored when wayward church members are brought back through the discipline of rebuking sin. The wholeness and wellbeing of peace comes to the church when all parts are in harmony with the others.

                Primarily, peace in the New Testament conveys the reconciliation made by God through the reconciling work of Christ on the cross. This is God’s action as described in Colossians 1:19-20: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” When I think of this peace, I am drawn to two cherished lines in one of my favorite hymns, His Robes for Mine. This thought is striking: “He as though I, accursed and left alone; I as though He, embraced and welcomed home!” This is peace obtained by Christ being rejected by the Father so that we might take His place as the Father’s own. Truly it is peace that passes all understanding. Likewise, Stuart Townsend in his hymn, How Deep the Father’s Love wrote this compelling line: “Why should I gain from His reward, I cannot find an answer; but this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.” This line reflects a meaningful exposition of our theology. Christ’s reward is the promise made by the Father to give Him a people for His name. Those that are ransomed, redeemed, and reconciled to God receive from Christ’s reward the benefit of perfect peace with the Father.

                Thoughts of present circumstances and earthly disappointments fade into oblivion when the incomparable peace of God is rightly considered. Reconciliation is the fountain of our peace in which God showers many simultaneous streams. These are beyond our ability to analyze. “The Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.” It is the apostle’s simple ending, but no doubt carefully considered overcomes all disappointments.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

My past few articles were focused on discipline in the church which might very well be the first subject of discussion in how a church works. We function as Christ’s body in the world as we are sanctified for His service. He will not use us unless the requirement of holiness is met. Paul explained to the Corinthians that he needed to restrain his sinful impulses lest he should be disqualified from the ministry (1 Corinthians 9:27). Discipline is an appropriate segue into the other workings of the church.

Paul was unquestionably a church man who concentrated his missionary efforts upon the establishment of churches throughout the Roman Empire. His major reason is quite clear from many examples in his letters, such as Ephesians 3:21 where he wrote that Christ receives glory through the church. A careful reading of Ephesians shows this glory is not achieved through a mystical ethereal, impotent invisible entity but through the concrete efficient means of local, visible assemblies. Accordingly, he writes in chapter 4:11-13: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: [13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…” This perfecting of the saints is obviously the church considered in 5:27 that glorifies Christ and is presented as spotless, holy, and without blemish. This is accomplished through the work of ministry entrusted to the leaders of local congregations to which individual Christians make their commitments for fellowship and instruction.

We must be careful not to believe the work of Christ can be satisfied by an invisible entity that cannot preach, cannot participate in ordinances, cannot send out missionaries, nor effectively do any of the ministry ascribed to the church in the word. Least of all can an invisible entity be the support pillars of the truth as envisioned by 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” What could Paul have meant by “behave thyself in the house of God” unless his meaning is the visible assembly of God’s people? This is the church of the living God and the church that is the pillar and ground of the truth.

The visible church (as opposed to the nonentity invisible church) cannot be minimized, ignored, nor considered inconsequential for the development of God’s people. I must come back to Paul’s inspired proclamation concerning the glory of Christ. As noted, the critical nature of the local visible church is found in scores of New Testament references. The apostle’s doxology of praise in Ephesians 3:21 is the expression of church’s worth to Christ: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” To this we add our hearty approval—AMEN! We too are churchmen and church women.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

My last blog post was prompted by a series of four messages preached in March and April of 2021. These messages were from the last part of 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 entitled Order in the Church. Primarily, our focus was church discipline and the importance of the holiness of God’s people. Discipline is a tough subject and one that most churches strenuously avoid. The lack of commitment to it is the driving impetus behind the shameful lives of many of their church members. Not only does it affect members personally and individually, but every bad practice in the church can be linked to someone’s failure to address sin with a biblical response. Whether we speak of the sin of unholy worship, of heresies in the pulpit, or sin in personal lives, it stems from bad discipline. Sin is not abstract, but rather all sin is committed by someone. It is concrete refusal to heed God’s word in any area.

          I believe failure of church discipline is failure to recognize God’s viewpoint of sin. This is a serious illogical error by anyone redeemed by the grace of God. Dr. R.C. Sproul was fond of calling sin “cosmic treason.” And yet, I think very few see their sins as a terrible affront to God’s holiness or see that it constitutes turning their back on the extreme payment made through Christ our Lord to satisfy the penalty of sin.

          Before we came to Christ, we were in the darkness of sin not understanding its consequences. We were not motivated to forsake sin because we had not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit to the danger of it nor to the cost of God’s provision of grace to save us from it. While there are many who profess salvation but do not possess it, the only true believers are those who before their salvation were enlightened to their fast track to the awful fires of hell. They realized they were guilty before God and justly deserving of it. The truth of our condition is that God’s kingdom was shut to us. The door was locked and could not be pried open. It was our sin that shut us out of God’s kingdom. Once we are saved, the heinous nature of sin does not change. In fact, for those enlightened to the gospel, sin after salvation should incur more punishment because we are more stubborn in consideration of our knowledge of what God did for us. The only way eternal punishment is averted for those who know Christ is by Paul’s declaration that “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” In other words, when we sin, we impose more upon God’s grace after we are saved than we did when we were lost.

          Now consider that we should have a church filled with people who are so callous about God’s work of redemption that they continue to live in sin. How do we judge ourselves superior to the worst criminal on death row? I think this helps us understand why Paul was distraught with sin in the church. In his own life, he said he beat his body into submission to keep from hindering God’s work.

          When the church practices discipline, I hope you see it is a sincere desire not to be judgmental, but to do as Romans 12:2 commands. We are not to be conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. A pure heart is the same as a renewed mind, and Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Thank the Lord He does not reward us according to our iniquities. Otherwise, no child of God would survive the taxing of God’s grace.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

           

Many consider church discipline as one of the most unpleasant acts a church can do. It is a scary thought to some as it conjures up thoughts of church councils, trials, judgment, and torture. We speak of discipling our children and most of the time we mean we have given them some sort of punishment to modify their behavior. This is not the way the Bible uses the term.

Discipline is related to disciple which in its verb form means to teach. In the noun form, it is a person who is taught. The purpose of discipline is to instruct and to correct through instruction. It is not necessarily a form of punishment. In fact, as a church exercise, discipline is not punishment at all. The goal of church discipline is always to correct, to restore to fellowship, and to bring an offender back into harmony with the Lord and his fellow church members. Thus, discipline is not considered punitive but formative.

We become confused about discipline when it must be stepped up to the next level. Sometimes we must protect the church by removing members that are involved in serious sins. We always remember that each of us is sinful, but there are some sins that are categorized as too harmful to the testimony of the body to let them go unanswered. These offenders must have their membership rescinded until they repent of their sin. There is no greater temporal judgment we can pass than to remove someone from fellowship.

We learn this biblical and effective method from Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5. A man in the church was guilty of a sexual sin and had to be removed. Paul was concerned about the reproach on the name of Christ and how it would harm the church’s testimony. Later in 2 Corinthians, we learn the discipline worked. The man repented and was restored to fellowship. This is the expected result when a believer is confronted with his sin. If he does not repent as a response to this serious action, we are to assume he is an unbeliever. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to draw His people to Him. If this does not happen, what are we to assume but that they do not belong to Christ?

Removing members for sexual sins should not be a point of contention between us. The scriptures are clear what needs to be done. However, some offenses may not seem as serious, but they too warrant excisive discipline. We remove members for non-attendance which is often seen as an inconsequential action. It is merely procedural and does not carry the same weight as removal for other reasons. Is this true? I do not believe so.

The reason for removal does not change the eternal weight of the Lord’s most important institution. Non-attendance shows contempt for the Lord’s work. This contempt is also a sign of unbelief. We cannot love Christ if we do not love His church. The church is not helped by members that do not attend. Often, they are involved in a deep sin of which we are not aware.

Our duty is to protect our church. The Lord expects the purity of the body. Therefore, we will follow the instructions in the Bible. When we obey, we reflect the proper understanding of discipline. Christ wants only dedicated people in His church, and so do we.

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) 

Each week, we begin with a church service, which should be indicative of our intentions to serve God faithfully throughout the week. Although we enjoy meeting for corporate worship, our service to God must not be confined to the few hours of weekly gathering. Worship is an ongoing process each day as we live out the faith of Christ in our daily lives.

The epistle of James enjoins us to have an active faith. James writes in 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Those that claim Christianity because they attend church and listen to preaching have not yet gone far enough to substantiate their claim. If all they do is attend and hear, and consider this enough, they are deceived about the depth of their faith. Real faith causes a Christian to actively pursue the good works that God demands from His people.   

Christ’s example is that of a faithful servant. A servant is not idle; he is always busy about his master’s work; and certainly, Jesus was not idle as every day was filled with tasks given by the Heavenly Father. He did not teach only by His words; He taught by the example of a God-centered active life. His disciples listened to His words, but they learned as much from His example as they did from His profound grasp of scripture.

The epistle of James is a great place to study the composition of real faith. James does not teach that we are saved by our works, but he emphatically makes the point that a person without good works cannot be a Christian. If Christ truly lives in the heart of the believer, the evidence of His presence cannot be suppressed. It will make itself known because the desire of every believer is to serve as Christ served. An example of this is given in the 27^th verse of the first chapter. ”Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this…” and from there follows the examples of a living faith. Visiting orphans and widows and trying to stay out of sin is not the sum of our religion, and neither does James intend this to be a full definition of pure, undefiled faith. The point is that saving faith always demonstrates itself. It will do much more than what is mentioned in verse 27, but it will not do less.

Does this mean we must seek out orphans and go find widows or else we cannot have real faith? If this were so, then eternal life would be dependent upon orphans and widows! The gist of the message is that wherever we see those in need we must show our love for them. Your orphan or your widow may be a homeless person or a struggling person in this congregation. If you ignore their need, how have you demonstrated the life of Christ in you?

These are the kinds of considerations we must have to serve the Lord in a better way. Take your worship beyond the walls of the Berean Church. We worship God by obedience. He wants this far more than your “sacrifice of praise” if it comes from a falsely pious, cold, unconcerned heart (cp. 1 Sam. 15:22). Do your best to make each week a week of active obedience not only in attending church, but in being a beacon of the Saviour’s love in word and deed.

                                                            Pastor V. Mark Smith

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalms 32:1-2) 

            All of us are familiar with the life of David. The two major events that usually stand out about his life are the victory he had over Goliath as a very young man and the terrible sin of adultery he committed with Bathsheba after he became king. This sin only worsened as he tried to cover it up by murdering Uriah her husband. These two notable events show in the first an incredible demonstration of faith, and in the second a despicable demonstration of failure. Even though David defeated the giant Goliath, we would more remember him for his failure than his faith if not for this one important factor—God is merciful and He is always willing to forgive our sins.

            This psalm is a psalm of forgiveness. It is possible in the worst of our failures, in the deepest poverty of our sins, to find God’s forgiveness. The key is repentance. The joy of forgiveness David found was not until he uttered the words, “God, I have sinned.” It was then and only then that David was restored to happiness and fellowship with the Lord.

            The beginning of this psalm is an expression of the forgiveness found: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” “Impute” is not a word we often use but it simply means “to charge to the account of.” “Blessed is the man whose sins are not charged to him.” This statement begs further explanation. How and why does God not charge sin to a person who is as obviously guilty as David was? If God is a God of justice and true righteousness, how can He overlook sin? This is a very good question and one which has a rock solid answer rooted in the divine satisfaction of justice. God never lets sin go unpunished. Every evil deed must receive a just recompense of reward.

            If this is true, how was David granted forgiveness? The only answer is that somehow sin was punished by being meted out upon some other who bore the guilt of David’s sin. The New Testament has the answer for this: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). This is in response to the Old Testament teaching of Isaiah 53:6:  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The death of Christ on the cross provided the means for double imputation without which none of us could be forgiven. Second Corinthians expresses it by saying Christ was made sin for us (our sins imputed to Him) and He is made righteousness for us (His righteousness imputed to us). This is the way God’s justice was satisfied for David’s sin and is the basis for his forgiveness. Our sins were punished in Christ and the merits of His righteous life are given to us. This all takes place by faith which was displayed by David when he recognized his sin and repented. He expected that God would do what He always promised—when there is sincere repentance, God always forgives. Later in the Psalms, David wrote: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:9-10). 

            Today we rejoice as David did because the same God that forgave him will also forgive us. You may have failed God deeply and you wonder if you can be forgiven. The answer is “yes.” Repent of your sins and place all your confidence in Christ. Trust Him as the redeemer of your soul and His death as the satisfaction for your sins. When you have done this, you will know the joy of David when he said, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven.”

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

            A few years ago, in a Sunday morning sermon, I recalled a story told by one of our members in the Sunday Morning Forum class. She told of a person in her former church who asked if her husband was a new Christian. Of course, he had been a Christian for many years, but the question was prompted because on that Sunday he did not wear a suit to church. The assumption was that not to wear a suit was to show immaturity in the faith.

            We were amused by the story and we wondered where people get such ideas. They believe they are more spiritual or better Christians than others because of what they wear or other things they do, and they judge others inferior if they don’t meet their standards. We needn’t look too far for the source of these erroneous teachings, for as they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The tree in this case is a pastor who teaches the church in ways that promote his power over them. This is termed spiritual abuse.

            This definition of spiritual abuse was given in an article I read recently: “Spiritual abuse occurs when an oppressor establishes control and domination using scripture, doctrine, or their leadership role as a weapon.” This is the methodology of rules-oriented ministries. They misuse scripture and develop doctrines to enforce leadership positions. This enables them to maintain control over their congregation.

            The spiritually abusive pastor over emphasizes authority. He is an authoritarian whose reach often penetrates the relationship between husbands and wives. In this way, the pastor rules the family. As he rules the family, so he rules the church. This authority is taken by virtue of the office he occupies such as when Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees “sit in Moses’ seat.”

            In this amusing yet all too common story, the pastor establishes rules to keep the standard he wants to enforce. Not to obey the pastor is to be judged an inferior Christian. The worst forms of this are when people are convinced Christ loves them more or loves less depending upon their performance. They are taught God is pleased or displeased according to their ability to keep the rules. This is a terrible misuse of scripture, of sanctification, and of salvation itself. Yes, it is true God wants obedience and He surely blesses our lives because of it. No, it is not true these blessings are guaranteed by keeping the laws that are power plays by the preacher. Neither does God love them because they keep these laws or any others. God loves us because of Christ. He sees us in Christ, and nothing increases or diminishes His love for us. He loves us because of what Christ did, not what we do. This is fundamental to understanding salvation.

            When spiritual abusers attack weak Christians by misusing scripture, it seems the attack comes from God. If the pastor sits in “Moses’ seat,” we respect his use of the word because we think it is the word of God. I remember a similar type story of spiritual abuse. When some members decided to leave the church, the pastor visited them and tried to convince them—even ordered them to stay. They were told they would be severely chastised for leaving and God’s judgment would be on them. After they refused to heed the pastor, he promptly went to the door and shuffled his feet on the doormat, telling them he was shaking off the dust of his feet against them. Does this sound like the pastor had heartfelt concern for their spiritual welfare, or was he angry because his authority was defied?

            Intimidation is the method of cults. God forbid that Baptist churches would use the tactics of cults. Yet sadly, the cult of personality and authoritarianism is alive and well in many independent fundamental Baptist churches. I am sad to report they are seriously ethically challenged because of misuse of scripture and unbiblical authority.

            Beware of these practices and understand your liberty in Christ. The church is a mutual body of fellowship. This involves the pastor’s respect for the members as well as their respect for the pastor.

                                                                                                Pastor V. Mark Smith

Psalm 72

            Last week in our study of the coming kingdom of Christ, I read from Psalm 2 which is a descriptive passage supplementing the return of Christ in Revelation 19. In reading the psalms, it is remarkable how the hope of the Kingdom continues to be a major topic of the psalmists. We can scarcely believe the Kingdom is a myth or that it is purely mystical or that the references to it are simply metaphors for spiritual blessings.

            It is readily apparent that the psalmists, the prophets of the Old Testament, and authors of the New Testament fully expected God would do precisely as He said and establish a kingdom on earth in which the Christ would be its glorious monarch. A most enlightening proof of the literal reality of this kingdom is found in verses 5 and 17 of Psalm 72: “They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations…His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.” The first phrase of verse 17 says, “His name shall endure forever,” while the second says, “His name shall be continued as long as the sun.” These two phrases cannot speak of the same manifestation of God’s kingdom since one is eternal and the other temporal.

            The first phase of God’s kingdom is earthly. It is a time sensitive rule which lasts only as long as the current universe exists. We know the cursed creation has a short shelf life as God intends to destroy it and begin anew. Second Peter tells us, “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). This will, of course, end the existence of the sun and all other heavenly bodies.

            We can see how this corresponds to the end of the Millennial Kingdom. It will last until this great cataclysmic event occurs, and at this point Christ’s kingdom on earth will end. However, this is not the end of the kingdom altogether. It is only the end of the temporal form as the kingdom will be transitioned into its eternal form. Thus, the first and second phrases of verse 17 are both wondrously true.

            In addition to this noteworthy proof, there are references in the psalm to the dominion of Christ, the servitude of all nations, the righteous character of the government, the economic prosperity, and the abundant provision of food. Each of these are repeated promises in multiple passages of scripture. In none of these is any indication they are purely symbolic.

             The last verse of the psalm says, “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” This psalm must have been written near the end of David’s life, as the beginning of the psalm says it was written for Solomon. David was relying on the promise God gave him years before that his throne would be established as an everlasting throne. David knew Solomon’s rule would not be everlasting, so we see how the psalm quickly moves from Solomon to another King who has the power of endless life. The final King is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            The kingdom of Christ on earth is a real unmistakable event. Its focus is Israel as the fulfillment of the promise made to them. However, it is also a promise for Christians today. We will rule with Christ in this kingdom. The church is not a replacement for Israel—we do not take over their promises. Instead, we will stand side by side with her and praise the glorious King forever and ever!

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

Among the many interesting parts of the book of Romans is Paul’s remarks on the change that will take place in the entire creation when our Lord returns to establish His kingdom. In the 8^th chapter, Paul wrote, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” The subject of suffering occupied our afternoon sessions as we considered this question—is the suffering of the present worth the anguish we go through as God’s people? Paul was convinced there is no contest. Of course, it is worth it because future glory so far supersedes present pain.

            Another question we considered is the false teaching that suffering Christians are out of God’s will and their struggles are caused by lack of faith. According to these false teachers, suffering is abnormal for those who trust God completely. They say God does not want His people to suffer. We find this is distinctly the opposite of the apostles’ and our Lord’s teachings. Notice how Peter supports Paul’s position in Romans about the glory that will be revealed in us. He wrote in 1 Peter 4:12-13: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
            The tone of 1 Peter makes it clear that suffering for Christ is not to be unexpected. Peter says, fiery trials are not extraordinary for God’s people. It would be strange not to have them. The explanation for these trials comes in verse 13 and is attributed to the sufferings of Christ. To paraphrase Peter, he tells these persecuted Christians, “Don’t be surprised when people hate you and want to kill you. If you desire to follow Christ, you will not receive better treatment than He received.” The reason for this should be easily discernable even if we don’t consider the natural negative disposition of men towards the gospel. We can approach the problem from another angle which is simple deductive reasoning in the comparison of our lives to Jesus Christ.

            What kind of man was Jesus? He was kind, compassionate, considerate, supremely loving, temperate, patient, self-sacrificing, perfectly righteous, and a dozen other superlatives that could be added. How was He treated? He was abused, accused, told He was from Satan, and run out of town. He was called a glutton and a drunkard; He was accused of sedition and finally cruelly crucified. All of this happened to the perfect God-man.

Now consider your life. How do you compare to Jesus in any of these areas? I am sure you have some good traits, but each of us even at our best falls far short of Christ’s example. So, how will we be treated being imperfect as opposed to the perfect Son of God? Not for a minute should we expect better treatment.

You may say, “How depressing! Is it really worth it?” This is when you should remember both Peter and Paul’s answer to this question. 1 Peter 1:6 says present suffering is a temporary condition. In 4:13, he says Christ will appear in His glory and you will be exalted and honored with Him. The worst trial you face for the cause of Christ will be worth it when you realize your final salvation. Never fear what anyone can do to you. As Peter says in the last verse of the fourth chapter, you can commit the keeping of your soul to Christ. He is the powerful Creator who speaks the word and vanquishes all enemies. The trials are there to prove your faith not to prove you don’t have faith.

If you don’t have trials, I would be very concerned whether you are born-again and living your faith. Why? Because the devil does not persecute his own. Much more can be said on the subject. To hear more, come to the Romans class. It’s hard on the flesh to get out on Wednesday night. If you can’t take that much conflict with your flesh, you surely don’t understand anything you’ve just read.

                                                                                    Pastor V. Mark Smith