http://bible.com/events/48864357
He Learned Obedience
Hebrews 5:7-9
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
Would you be willing to think about suffering this morning? Your suffering?
You may have the faith to be healed but do you have the faith to continue on even if you’re not.
David Guzik: Though Jesus was God and is God, yet He learned obedience. God, enthroned in heaven’s glory, can only experience obedience by casting off the glory of the throne and humbling Himself as Jesus did. Surely, there is no need for “obedience” in Heaven because there is no “disobedience.” As God, Christ had access to divine omniscience and omnipotence. However, according to Scripture, He chose to experience human weaknesses such as hunger and fatigue. He also chose to experience learning and growth. In Luke, Jesus is said to have “learned” through His struggles. In the context of the original writing, the concept of “learning” is intimately tied to the idea of “experiencing.” The focus is not so much on Jesus becoming aware of what suffering is, but Jesus actually putting into practice what He was called to do. He suffered.
1 Peter 4:12-13
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Romans 8:17-18
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
None of the glory we so desire is birthed without suffering:
Not freedom from sin
Not strength for the journey
Not peace that passes understanding
Not the joy of the Lord
Oswald Chambers: To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Take for instance God’s so-called ‘waste’ of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in some of the most useless places. We say, ‘God intends me to be here because I am so useful.’ Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him most, and we are no judges at all of where that is.
About Suffering: One question never to ask and two questions always to ask:
Never ask: Why?
Always ask:
1. What does obedience look like today?
2. Who needs me today?
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.