Jesus often rebuked people for their ignorance, or lack of understanding. He preached, healed and performed signs to demonstrate HIs power publicly for three years, and still people asked for more proof of who He was. Paul and the other Apostles taught boldly and fervently about what they had seen and heard, even unto death, and yet still people scoffed at their message.

Today, we see the same kind of wilful ignorance from people who just don't want to believe. It's not about a lack of evidence for Jesus' resurrection, or the existence of God; it's that they fear being judged.

"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31

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BIBLE REFERENCES

Acts 26:8, Why Do You Find it Incredible; Acts 28:9-29, Paul’s Conversion; Galatians 1:11-2:10, Paul’s Gospel from Jesus and Arabian Wilderness; Luke 24:25-28, Jesus teaches on Road to Emmaus; Isaiah 53, Prophesy about the Suffering Servant; Genesis 12:1-3, Abraham’s Call; Isaiah 49:6, Light to the Gentiles; Luke 2:32, Jesus Light to the Gentiles, Mark 3:20, Jesus Out of His Mind; John 7:3-5, Jesus’ Brothers Didn’t Believe in Him; Mark 6:1-3 & Luke 4:22-29; People in Jesus’ Home Town Reject Him; Matthew 7:28-29, Jesus Taught with Authority; Acts 11:26, Called Christians First at Antioch; 1 Peter 4:16, Suffering as a Christian; Acts 9:2, 19:9, 19:23, 24:14, The Way; Acts 24:24-25, Felix was Alarmed; 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul Compelled to Preach; Acts 19, Paul in Ephesus; Acts 20:17-35, Paul with the Ephesians Elders; Ezekiel 1-3, His Call and Constraints; Matthew 6:19-21 & Luke 12:33-34, Lay up Treasures in Heaven; Romans 7:15-25, Paul’s Struggle with Sin; Acts 17:22-31, The Times of Ignorance Overlooked; Philippians 2:10-11, Isaiah 45:23 & Romans 14:11, Every Knee Shall Bow; Revelation 22:12-13, Jesus’ Recompense; Deuteronomy 32:4, God Justice; Psalm 9 and 97, Righteousness and Justice of God; 1 Peter 5:3, No compulsion or dominance from Leaders; Psalm 119:125, Give me Understanding; Proverbs 2:1-15, Value of Wisdom & Understanding; John 18:20, Jesus Didn’t Speak in Secret; Mark 2:5-7, John 5:18 , John 10:33, Mark 14:61-64 - Jesus Accused of Blasphemy; Isaiah 48:16, God Didn’t Speak in Secret; Romans 1:18-23, No Excuse for Not Believing; Romans 2:6-11, Immortality or Tribulation; Jeremiah 26:1-15, Jeremiah Threatened with Death; Joel 2:12-14, Return to God; Jonah 3:6-10, People of Ninevah Repent and God Relents; Revelation 22:10-11, Let the Evil Doer Still Do Evil; Proverbs 18:2, The Fool Takes no Pleasure in Understanding; John 15, Jesus is The Vine; John 17:17, Sanctify them in Truth.

OTHER RESOURCES

• The Resurrection of Jesus - The Most Improbable Truth
• The Story of Everything - The Science that Reveals the Mind Behind The Universe
• The Resurrection of Jesus: Fact or Fiction? - Apologetics Roadshow (25 mins)
• The Ultimate Solution; The Resurrection - Frank Turek & Daily Dose of Wisdom (20 mins)
• 5 Resurrection Facts that Occurred by 36 A.D - Dr. Gary Habermas (1 hour)
• The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence of Belief in God - Francis Collins at Caltech (1 hour)
• Is God a Delusion? - W.L. Craig and Lewis Wolpert, Full Debate
• God Does Exist (Debate) - John Lennox at the Oxford Union
• Richard Dawkins vs John Lennox | The God Delusion Debate

The requirements of our faith and the rewards we receive are two sides of the same coin. When we look to the “Hall of Faith” in the Letter to the Hebrews, we can read the stories of those imperfect people who have gone before us and how they demonstrated their faith in God, and how he rewarded them.

Don’t lose heart in times of chaos and trouble, these things are often sent by God to help us to turn to Him.

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11

When we feed on God’s faithfulness to us, as David writes about in Psalm 37, we learn how to trust that our times are in His hands. He will not forsake His saints.

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This podcast also includes a tract by Laura A. Bater Snow, that I found great comfort and wisdom in. All resources are listed below.

Bible References

Psalm 37; Feed on Faithfulness; Deuteronomy 8:3 & Matthew 4:1-4, Man Feeds on the Word of God; Exodus 14, Crossing the Red Sea; Psalm 36, How Precious is Your Steadfast Love; Psalm 139, Where Shall I Go From Your Spirit?; Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah’s Son; Hebrews 11, Hall of Faith; 2 Corinthians 4:17, Unseen Things Are Eternal; 2 Corinthians 5:6-7, Walk by Faith, Not by Sight; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Our Heavenly Dwelling Place; Revelation 21, City of God; Ecclesiastes 9:11, The Race is not to the Swift; Matthew 17:14-21, Mustard Seed Faith; Romans 8:31-39, If God is For Us; 1 John 5:14, Ask for Anything in Accordance with His Will; Matthew 1:5, Rahab the Prostitute in Genealogy of Jesus; Joshua 2 & 6:15-25, Rahab Helps the Spies and is Saved; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, Apostles Scum of the Earth; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12, Afflicted in Every Way; 2 Corinthians 11 & 12, Paul’s suffering and super apostles; 2 Corinthians 12:9, Grace Sufficient for Your; 1 Samuel 15, Saul’s Presumptuous Sin; Genesis 16, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar; Judges 6 & 7, Gideon’s Call and Defeat of the Midianites; Judges 4, Deborah and Barak; Judges 13, 14, 15 & 16, Stories of Samson; Judges 11, Jephthah’s Tragic Vow; Romans 8:24, Hope that is seen is not hope; Revelation 22:12, Jesus Brings His Perfect Justice; Mark 4:35-41, Jesus Calms the Storm; Psalm 91, We Who Dwell in The Shelter of the Most High; Isaiah 26:3-4, You Keep Him in Perfect Peace; Psalms 36, 37, 86, 89, 91, 92, 103, 136.

• Emma Nissen. - Gotta Have Faith
• The Story of Everything - The Science that Reveals the Mind Behind The Universe
• St Seraphim of Viritsa - “This Was From Me” (A Letter of God)
• Laura A. Barter Snow - This Thing is From Me (The Disappointments in Life)
• Elizabeth Elliot Talks - Examine the Struggle and You Can if You Will

In this episode, I speak about the kinds of suffering we try and avoid and how we can use the grieving process to let go of our heavy burdens, when we are walking on the narrow path to new life.

Suffering is one of the aspects of our walk with God that we find the hardest to understand and yet we are given many examples in the Scriptures of people who suffer, like Jonah, Jospeh and Job. We are told in the Letter to the Hebrews that Jesus was perfected by His suffering, so we can expect this to happen to us too.

We have a cloud of witnesses that attest to the necessity of the refining process that leads to our sanctification.

Support the podcast:

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Bible references:

Exodus 3 and 4, Moses’ call at the Burning Bush; Jonah 4, Anger of the prophet; Numbers 11:10-15, Moses asks to die; 1 Kings 19:1-4, Elijah asks to die; Matthew 7:13-14, Narrow Gate and Path; Psalm 66:10-12, Isaiah 48:10, Malachi 3:2-3, God refines His people; Hebrews 2:10, Jesus perfected through suffering; Colossians 3:3, You have died; Matthew 10:39 & 16:25, Lose life to find it; Romans 8:30 & 1 Corinthians 6:11, Justified & Sanctified; Romans 12:3, Don’t think too highly of yourself; Luke 15:11-32, Prodigal son returns; Hebrews 3:12, Warning against backsliding; 1 Peter 6-7, Testing of believers; Genesis 37-50, Story of Joseph; Psalm 105:16-19, The Word of the Lord tests Joseph; Exodus 50:15-21, Jospeh forgives his repentant brothers; 2 Corinthians 5:17, New creation in Jesus; 2 Peter 1:5-8, Character development; 2 Corinthians 13:5, Jesus in you, if you meet the test; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, Deliver the unrepentant sinner over to Satan; 2 Corinthians 7:8-13, Godly grief leads to repentance; Romans 6:23, Wages of sin is death; Matthew 25:31-46 & Exodus 20:11-15, The final judgement; Matthew 19:25, Nothing impossible with God; 1 John 5:16-17, The sin that leads to death; Matthew 12:31-32, Unforgivable sin; Matthew 18:17-18, Treat them as a tax collector; Matthew 6:9-15 and Mark 11:24-25, Ephesians 4:32, Forgive and be forgiven; 1 John 1:9-10, If we confess sins He will forgive us; Luke 13:1-5, Repent or perish; Acts 4:32-5:11, Ananias and Sapphira; Job 7:11-21, I loath my life; John 3:19, People love the darkness; Psalm 139:11-12, Darkness is as light with you; Job 42, Job’s repentance and restoration; 1 Peter 2:9, Called into His glorious light; Psalm 43:3, The light of His truth; Psalm 39:7-13, Look away from me; Psalm 102:3-11, You have taken me up and thrown me down; Psalm 103, Bless the Lord O my soul; Psalm 37:28, The Lord loves justice; Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus separates sheep and goats; Luke 12:51, Jesus comes to bring division, not peace; Hebrews 12:4-11, God disciplines His children; Jeremiah 31 & 31, New covenant; Ezekiel 36 & 37, Valley of Dry Bones; Genesis 2:7, God breathes on Adam; Acts 2, Pentecost; John 14:15—27, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit; John 20:19-23, Jesus breathes on Disciples; Mark 14:43-50, Disciples abandon Jesus; 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 & 11:16-33, Paul’s persecutions; 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul foremost of sinners; Romans 7:15-24, Paul’s struggles with sin; 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus’ grace sufficient for us; Isaiah 43:1-2, God will be with us when we pass through the deep waters; Job 23:10, I will come out as gold; Hebrews 2:10-18, Jesus understands suffering; Matthew 27:46, Jesus cries, Why have you forsaken me?; Matthew 12:38-41, Sign of Jonah; Psalm 112:4, Light dawns in the darkness for the upright.