SUFFERING – GOD’S ONLY PLAN FOR YOUR PERFECTION

NKJ 1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

To cease from sin is to reach sinless perfection.  How is it obtained?  Through suffering in the flesh!

NKJ Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Jesus did not bring obedience with Him, when born in Bethlehem, but rather learned it through the things He suffered.  Let me clarify.  Jesus was, is, and shall always be God.  However, He chose to set aside His authority or rights as God to become a man born of a virgin.

NLT Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.

Consequently, Jesus had a human body with desires just like ours.  So what did He suffer?

NKJ Hebrews 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Jesus suffered resisting the desires or lusts of His flesh body.  What are those desires? 

NKJ 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world.

These three primary areas of temptation were faced by Jesus when His ministry was started at the age of thirty.

Lust of the flesh (the desire for pleasure):

NKJ Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,  2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

Lust of the eyes (the desire for everything we see):

NKJ Luke 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  7 "Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

Pride of life (the desire for the praise of men more than the praise of God):

NKJ Luke 4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  10 "For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,'  11 "and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "  12 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "  13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. 14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

An opportune time was found in the Garden of Gethsemane:

NKJ Luke 22:39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed,  42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus resisted the temptation of not going to the cross to the point of blood coming from His body.  We have never been tempted to that level.  Remember we are never tempted beyond what we are able to withstand – thank God (1Cor 10:13).  Jesus was able to withstand the full force of temptation from Satan and its effects were seen in His body sweating blood.

NAU Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

Jesus was completely successful at resisting sin – He never sinned!

NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Note that Jesus went into the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit and came out in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Obedience is what releases the anointing or power of God in our lives.  Want more of the power of God in your ministry?  Become more obedient.  You must love what God loves (righteousness) and hate what God hates (lawlessness or rebellion against God).

NKJ Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

So where does that leave us?  We are to face the temptations that cause us to suffer with the Word of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  When we chose God during the middle of the storms of temptation, rather than anything else, we learn obedience and grow up spiritually.

In summary:

Physical growth is function of time.  Mental growth is a function of study.  However, the only way you grow spiritually is when you choose to obey God in the midst of suffering temptation.

You say, oh but I do not like temptation!  Well only the part of you that is still alive does not like temptation and that is the part that God is after.  So pick up your cross today and meet me at Calvary.  We have a crucifixion of the flesh awaiting.

NKJ Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.