The Great Sufferer 1

Transcription

1 1 The Great Sufferer

2 Paul Stutzman After Paul Stutzman lost his wife to breast cancer, he sensed a tug on his heart the call to a challenge, the call to pursue a dream. Paul left his stable career, traveled to Georgia, and took his first steps on the Appalachian Trail. 2

3 Hiking Through Paul Stutzman 3

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8 God s repentance is not like man s repentance. The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent. Man s repentance implies a change of mind. God s repentance implies a change of circumstances and relations. Man may change his relation to God by complying with the conditions upon which he may be brought into the divine favor, or he may, by his own action, place himself outside the favoring condition; but the Lord is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8. Saul s disobedience changed his relation to God; but the conditions of acceptance with God were unaltered God s requirements were still the same, for with Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17. (Patriarchs and 8 Prophets, p. 630)

9 9 Angels marvel at man s shallow appreciation of the love of God. Heaven stands indignant at the neglect shown to the souls of men. Would we know how Christ regards it? How would a father and mother feel, did they know that their child, lost in the cold and the snow, had been passed by, and left to perish, by those who might have saved it? Would they not be terribly grieved, wildly indignant? Would they not denounce those murderers with wrath hot as their tears, intense as their love? The sufferings of every man are the sufferings of God s child, and those who reach out no helping hand to their perishing fellow beings provoke His righteous anger. (The Desire of Ages, p. 825)

10 Christ alone was able to bear the afflictions of all the human family. In all their affliction he was afflicted. He never bore disease in his own flesh; but he carried the sickness of others. When suffering humanity pressed about him, he who was in the health of perfect manhood was as one afflicted with them. With tenderest sympathy, he looked upon the suffering ones. He groaned in spirit as he saw the work of Satan revealed in all their woe, and he made every case of need and of sorrow his own. Numbers did not distract him; anguish did not overwhelm him. Though the pain of the sufferers thrilled through his whole being, yet with a power that never quailed, he cast out the evil spirits that possessed both mind and body. (The Youth s Instructor, December 29, 1898) 10

11 The church is God s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. In every age the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the message of warning; and when they were called to lay off their armor, others took up the work. God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people. (The 11 Acts of the Apostles, p. 11)

12 God is love. He has shown that love in the gift of Christ. When He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, He withheld nothing from His purchased possession. ( John 3:16.) He gave all heaven... (Christ s Object Lessons, p. 316) 12

13 13 As the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together ( Romans 8:26, 22), the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our world is a vast lazar house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14. (Education, pp. 263, 264)

14 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. (New Living Translation) 14

15 15 God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Philippians 1:29. And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor. (The Desire of Ages, pp. 224, 225)

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