The ministry of longsuffering is not a pleasant gospel to preach in our generation. We want to hear about prosperity and grace but if we don’t correctly preach about longsuffering, the saints will grow weary from waiting continually only for good times, without accepting the tough ones and this is an injustice. In the Christian life, you just can’t deny the fact that there is A LOT of suffering, in fact it ALMOST seems like a pattern, everyone in the bible who had the Spirit of Christ, suffered. It is really hard to find one who didn’t suffer. Where then do we get this message of, there is no suffering in the kingdom? Here is a tough question to ponder over:
How do you know someone has Holy Spirit? What’s the proof? Tongues? Prophesy? Goose Bumps? How about this:
“Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ's followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is resting on you. If you suffer, it must not be because you are a murderer or a thief or a criminal or a meddler in other people's affairs. However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name.” 1 Peter 4: 14-16 (GNT).
Now in these series of which this message is part, we are using an analogy of an orange tree growing to describe how a Christian matures in the Holy Spirit to the point of bearing lasting fruit. So, when growing an orange tree from a seed, over the 5 years, there are 6 key stages it goes through, but at each of these stages, something can go wrong! See the full message here.
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