The Gospel of Your Faith and Love (1 Thess. 3:1-13)

What if I told you that your suffering – your affliction – is a part of the "great trial that was prophesied to come upon God's people at the end"? What if I told you that your suffering was part of God's plan for the ages – part of what God is doing in order to bring about the salvation of humanity?!

Well, that's what it is! "How should Christians respond to the prognosis of a terminal illness, to a job loss because of refusal to compromise faith, to the death of a loved one.... Whenever we maintain our faith in Christ throughout these situations, we demonstrate our identification with the Messiah." (Beale, 100)

The church will never be healthy unless she suffers for Christ...