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God, Why Do You Allow Suffering?

God, Why Do You Allow Suffering?. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Sunday, March 27, 2011 Jim Beasley. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 .

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God, Why Do You Allow Suffering?

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  1. God, Why Do You Allow Suffering? 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Sunday, March 27, 2011 Jim Beasley

  2. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth.

  3. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

  4. WE LIVE in a FALLEN WORLD • We live in a world where • everything decays • everything grows old • everything dies • Romans 8:18-21 • “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was SUBJECTED TO FRUSTRATION, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its BONDAGE TO DECAY and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

  5. WE LIVE in a FALLEN WORLD • Matthew 6:19-20 • "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” • John 16:33 • “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

  6. WE LIVE in a FALLEN WORLD • 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 • “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

  7. Reasons For Suffering • Two things about suffering • There are times when suffering has a specific purpose. • Psalm 66:10 • “For you, O God tested us; you refined us like silver.” • Psalm 66:10-12 • “You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

  8. Reasons For Suffering • Genesis 50:20 • “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

  9. Reasons For Suffering • Two things about suffering • Even if it’s not there for a specific reason; suffering can always have a purpose. • 2 Corinthians 12:9 • “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” • What purpose can suffering serve in my life? • It can allow Christ to show how much power He has in my life • It can allow God to show what He can do - when I can’t do a thing

  10. Claiming God’s Power • Romans 8:18 • “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

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