10

Enduring Hardships

Christians are not exempt fmm th~ hardships and difficulties of this life. In fact, they
often experi~nc@mere spif@fingthan those who do not profess Christ, When Chris~
tians f;:til to understand this reality, they cap be ~~ily d@c@ivedby those whQ falsely
t@achthat all God wants for them is health, wealth, and happiness. In this lecture,
Dr, F@rguson pn~s@ntsthe tru~ biblical view of sqfi'gring by examining' th~ bQok of
Hebrews.

LEA~NING GOAL~
Whlllnyou hav@fini§h~d this lessen, you shQuld b@abhilto:
!I Und@fstand th@tru@biblical pgrsp@Ctiy@
0.11 §uff~fing
!I List and ~xplain three important ~onc@ptsabout §uff@ringfrom the book of
H@br@w§

!I It is impoI1'ant to f@ali~@a gtmeral principle at th@beginning of the Christi;m life;

the Christitm lif@involves hardships.
!I Jesus Christ gndul'@dhardships, so suffering is a ID@MSby which God CQfifQl'lTIS
us tc the image of Christ.
!I Through QUI'enduranc@ and God's discipline, w@develop charact@r and af@made
tQshare in His hQline§§,
8@fG)r~th~ Vid~o

While !df:) Yf:)U Think?

Tak@f!,mom@nttoanswer the following qqestions. They will prepare you for the l~~mr@.
~ Do@sGod want all Christians to b~ h@althyand w~althy~ Why ()f why not?

Sr:ri§t:up(~ R@§fiiflf}
Therfl/Qffl, sinee we are $urr~Undfld by $0 great a cloud Qfwitnes§e§, let us al§Q IlJY lJside
everr w@ight, and sin which dings so closg[y, and let us run with endurance the race thgt
is set before us, looking to Jesus, th&ftmnder and per-jectflf of our faith, who for- the joy
that w~s set before him gndurgdthe cr-gss, de§Pising the shmng, qnd is seClted (;It the right
hand ~fGod,

• What should Christians do tc be able to run their r~~ with endurance? What
hope does this passage s@tfQrth rggardin~ the end result of such enduran{;@~

DUril"!~ th{IJvleee

Answer' the fQllowing qu@stimls while you wat~h tll@video, They will guicl@YQl;l
through the l@{;ture,

72:07=23:72
~ What Old Testam~ntbook dees the author ofH~bl'~Ws quote from wh~n dist:uss=
ing the topic of discipline in H~br~ws l2?

Answ@rthe following qu~stions aft@ryou hay@nnish@dthe lecture. Th@ywill help

you identify and sUI'llIIlariz@
th~ major points,
~ What were so:m~of th~ diffi~ulti@5that th~ r~cipi~nts of the l@tt@l'
to th~
H~br@wswer@facing?

If you ar@in a group, ~OfflPM~and contrast the 5uifel'ings of th~ original audi~n~e
ofH@bf(i!wSto the ~uff@ringsChristians mi~ht fat:~today. To what ~~tent 1iU'@ they
similar and difI~l'I.mt?
~ R~qd !i@brews 12,5. What M@the two mistake5 that Christian5 can mm w~n
Uf~gets difficult?

If you are in a group, hflY@th@members dis~uss which of these two H@~atiye

r~spons~s to trials th~y af@most susceptible to and why. In what ways is God's
tr@atmept of His children similar to earthly par@nting, and in what ways do@sit
differ?
~ What was presented as th@ultimate purpose of our earthly sufferings? How do~s
this affect th~ way you think about suffering~

If YOU are in a grO!lP,hay~ the members discuss th@following qu@stions;5inc~

suff~ring can conform us to the imag@of
, . Christ, should we actively pqrsu@suf-
f@ring?t>o~sa biblieal view of suffering mean that we should not s~ek to all~viat~
our suffering or the sqtf@fingof others? Why or why not?

Commit what you have learned from God's Word in this lesson to prayer.
~ Prais~ God that He is sovereign over all of your eireumstances.
~ C()nfess any doubts or q!l~stions you'v~ entertain~d about God's goodn~ss and,
lov~ on account of My hardships and trials.
~ Thank God for His pmmis~ that you will Que day b~ fr~e from all sin and
suffgring.
~ A9k God for JOY in yQur §uffgring ip th~ remind~r that you ar~ being conform@d
to the imag@of Christ.