Are you suffering? That’s one of the great questions for all times and I believe it’s answerable but probably not the answer you’re wanting.

My grandma was the most special person in my life as I was growing up and the wisdom she imparted to me has stayed with me all my days, albeit I didn’t always follow it. Looking back now I realize I should have.

The holy spirit woke me in the wee hours of the morning, before daylight, and started to talk to me about suffering. I know we’ve all had some type of suffering in our life, whether it be a scratch or a catastrophic accident, or a life-changing event. Depending how strong or weak our vulnerability is will play into how serious these events will affect our lives.

Now let’s put some of this self- suffering into perspective, first of all, a little grandma wisdom, we were poor and didn’t have much, and when I would complain she’d show me the validity of my whining… Like when one day I complained about my old shoes she came back with this; ” You complain about your old shoes until you see a man with no feet…” That even brought a young boy like me to a whole new perspective about real suffering. She sure had a way of bringing things home to roost. 

I know her words of wisdom saved my life while being left by myself in the far-off jungles of North Vietnam and their still serving me well at this juncture in my life.

Now let’s look at real suffering, keeping in mind our own obstacles in life, and is our suffering worth complaining about? Is it real or are we at a pity party looking for somebody to feel sorry for us? I’m not saying there isn’t suffering in the world because there is. I’m just asking you to realize the difference between REAL suffering and whining… One person and only one can be said to have suffered the most and it was all done to pay a price for you and me. Don’t stop here… Keep reading.

The Jews are looking for a Savior King to deliver them from the enemy’s oppression. He will come again, deliver them, and establish them in the world as a glorious nation. But first, He had to come as the suffering servant. Let’s notice His sufferings as recorded in Isaiah 53  Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ² For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of the dry ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we would look at Him, nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. ³ He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. ⁴ However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, and our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, struck down by God, and humiliated. ⁵ But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed. ⁶ All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all to fall on Him. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off from the land of the living for the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due? ⁹ And His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. ¹⁰ But the Lord desired to crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. ¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant will justify the many, for He will bear their wrongdoings. ¹² Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the plunder with the strong because He poured out His life unto death, and was counted with wrongdoers; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the wrongdoers.

I. The Suffering of Christ FROM Men.

Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

                    1. He was despised by men.

   The word “despised” means, “to hold in contempt; to be                    despicable; to be vile, and worthless.” Can you imagine the              leaders of the Nation of Israel holding Him in contempt?                    Herod killed all the male children from two years old and                    downward in an attempt to kill him.

1.           2. They despised Him not for what he did, but for what he didn’t do. They wanted a fighting Messiah; He offered them a       Messiah that was a peacemaker. They wanted a Messiah that rode on a white horse; Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. They wanted Jesus to deliver them from the bondage to Rome, but He came to deliver them from the bondage of sin.

1.         3. He is rejected by men.
2. John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.

There is nothing more hurtful than to experience rejection. In Jesus’ case, He was rejected by His special people. They accused Him of being the devil and using his power to cast the devils out.

II. The Suffering of Christ WITH Men.

Isaiah 53:4, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

                         1. The word “borne” means, “To carry away.”

                         2.“Griefs” means, “sickness” and “sorrows” means,                              “pain”.

Jesus in some mysterious way took on Himself our sickness and sorrows.

“Christ not only assumed a true human nature, capable of sorrow and grief, but he took all the natural sinless infirmities of it; or his human nature was subject to such, as hunger, thirst, weariness, etc.; and to all the sorrow and pain arising from them; the same sorrows and griefs he was liable to as we are, and therefore called ours and hence he had sympathy with men under affliction and trouble.

And, to show his sympathizing spirit, he healed all sorts of bodily diseases; and also, to show his power, he healed the diseases of the soul, by bearing the sins of his people, and making satisfaction for them; since he, that could do the one could do the other; wherefore the evangelist applies this passage to the healing of bodily diseases, Matt. 8:17 This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “He Himself took our illnesses and carried away our diseases.”

Though the principal meaning of the words may be, that all the sorrows and griefs which Christ bore were not for any sins of his own, but for the sins of his people; wherefore these griefs and sorrows signify the punishment of sin and are put for sins, the cause of them and so the apostle interprets them of Christ’s bearing our sins in His own body on the tree.”

III. The Suffering of Christ FOR Men.

In this, He atoned for man’s sins. Verse 5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with His stripes, we are healed.”

                       1. He took our place He suffered for our sins. In doing          this he bore the penalty of our sins away. The believer’s sins            have been borne away.

1.                2. Therefore Isaiah says, “with His stripes, we are healed.”
2. He suffered for our sins. In doing this he bore the penalty of our sins away. The believer’s sins have been borne away. This is spiritual healing. We all had a spiritual fatal illness until we came to put our trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and were born again, at the moment we did this our sins were atoned for. Now we are free. Praise the Lord.
3. We still live in the greatest nation in the world, even though it doesn’t look like it the way we’re headed now. But keep praying! The Lord hears every one of our prayers and He will prevail.  Roe V Wade is a great example, although I was blown away by how few positive responses came from the churches around America and the world. I pray your faith and trust in the Lord grow daily and you pray fervently for one another. Until we get together again, many blessings… and KEEP LOOKING UP!
4. Semper Fidelis
5.     Dusty
6. To bring Dust to your event email at: (prospectorsforgod@gmail.com)

 

My Prayer For You,

Gracious Father, I come before you with repentance in my heart and ask forgiveness for my sins. Lord, I pray for eyes to be opened and hearts changed and souls to turn toward you.

I pray to you to heal the suffering, sick, and lost. I pray a change in our government comes about that will bring You back to the forefront of our leadership.

I pray for believers to step out in boldness proclaiming your gospel to all that will listen. We thank you, Lord, for your love and mercy and give you all the praise and glory in the precious name of Jesus!

             AMEN