“But the God of all grace, Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1Peter 5:10)
No one likes to suffer. And when we come to a verse like this, we balk at the thought that we have to suffer. This verse which can be easily misunderstood and taken out of context seems to say, that we have to suffer a while to be made perfect, etc... We cannot take just one verse and make a whole theological doctrine out of it. Our verse of study, verse 10, is a continuation of the previous two verses. Reading the three verses together gives us an understanding of what Peter is talking about. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1Peter 5:8-10) Peter is talking about the affliction of resisting the devil and his temptations.
Jesus suffered this kind of affliction in the temptations that are recorded in Matthew and the most difficult one in the garden of Gethsemane. Peter writes to the Christians scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia that although they rejoice in the Truth of their salvation, they are suffering great temptation. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:” (1Peter 1:6) What is the affliction of the temptations that come to us from the devil? It’s the hardship of going through the temptation. In the temptation of Jesus, the temptation was to give in to hunger, then to give in to glorify Himself before His time and lastly to worship the devil. The Scriptures were not written like a novel, describing through elaborate graphic words the anguish Jesus went through in those temptations. But when we fast, the anguish of being hungry and eating is just a taste of the anguish Jesus went through in the temptations He had.
The temptations in the garden of Gethsemane are much more descriptive because of the physical manifestations of the anguish of resisting temptation. In Matthew 26:37, Matthew writes that Jesus began to be “...sorrowful and very heavy...” meaning mentally distressed. In verse 38 Jesus Himself says that His soul is “...exceeding sorrowful, even unto death...” Jesus was so grieved with temptation, He felt as if He were going die right then and there. Luke writes, “And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44) The temptation was great. The salvation of the whole world depended on His obedience. Luke writes that He was in agony. What happened to Jesus is called Hematidrosis and is a rare condition as explained by Wikipedia.
“Hematidrosis is a condition in which capillary blood vessels
that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude
blood, occurring under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress.”
It’s very rare for a person to suffer hematidrosis because we don’t suffer the extreme agony that Jesus suffered. And yet, it is a hardship and a kind of suffering to resist temptation. It may be so hard that it may even manifest in pain either mental, emotional or physical. Take for example a new believer who is living in sin and has children from a sinful relationship. He now learns he must marry but the woman doesn’t believe, nor does she want to marry. This was the real dilemma of a new believer. Imagine the pain He felt in the temptation to give in to the demands of this woman and the love he has for his family and his love for the Lord. Every temptation is a hardship. Every temptation has suffering although maybe in different degrees. The bottom line of the enemy is for us to disobey God, to give in to sin and to be defeated.
We have a comfort though. The suffering is only temporary. It may come and go. It’s not continual. We get tempted. We suffer the agony of resisting. And when we have resisted, we get a reprieve. Then the temptation returns. It may be the same temptation or another temptation. The devil doesn’t give up trying to make God a liar. Peter tells us that we suffer only for a while. (1Peter 5:10) In Matthew’s account of the temptation of Jesus, when He resisted, the devil left Him, but it was only for a time. (Matthew 4:11)
The liar himself cannot make you give in. It’s the flesh in you, your strong desire or lust for ease, comfort or pleasure that is causing you pain. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:13-15) When we resist the flesh, we get stronger spiritually and the temptation will no longer be a temptation. It’s our faith being put to the test, but not by the Lord. The enemy seems to taunt us, “Do you really believe? Do you truly love God with all your heart, all you soul and all your mind?” (Matthew 22:27)
Temptations are trials that test our love and faith. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” (1Peter 1:7). And we have the promise of the Lord that we can resist and that He will not allow us to be tempted more than we are able to resist. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1Corinthians 10:13) Don’t give up. Keep going. Keep resisting. We all have been, are all being tempted or will be tempted in the same way. The victory is our faith, found to be the praise, honor and glory of Jesus when He returns. And each victory works to make us perfect, to establish us firm in our faith, to strengthen us spiritually and to settle the question for us and for the enemy, “Do you truly love the Lord?”
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