Introduction
    “in afflictions … in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in infirmities … in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses … as chastened … as sorrowful … as poor … as having nothing … in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen … in perils among false brethren … troubled … perplexed … persecuted … cast down … besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily … always bearing about in the body the dying to the Sovereign Yahshua …” (2 Cor. 6:4, 5, 12:10, 4:9, 12:10, 6:9, 10, 11:26, 4:8, 9, 11:28, 4:10).

   A collage of words, taken severally from the 4th, 6th, 11th, and 12th chapters of 2 Corinthians, make first impressions to conclude that the writer was suffering from, what might be called the 5D syndrome: disappointment; discouragement; despondency; depression; maybe, even, death – and experienced in that order, too, when faith in Yahweh and hope in man are become elusive and you, worn out and tired of human relationships, maybe even declaring as one did, From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Sovereign Yahshua, Galatians 6:17. (King James Version used throughout)
   Ever been there? sure you have, as disappointment; discouragement; despondency; depression, maybe even, wishing you could just die and get life over with – these are experiences not uncommon to the most of men.
But isn’t it remarkable, that somehow most people recover, or should have recovered, when what was experienced is past and is relegated as a former thing displaced and permitted to become a distant memory so that now, all things are become new, and they, and you, get on with life, and once again begin to thrive and prosper?
   And, yes, sometimes, trouble … particularly, trouble not of your own making, is so overwhelming, you’d do most anything, even to transgressing what is decent and orderly, and good to the use of edifying, in order to extricate yourself.
   However, what is the most therapeutic thing to do, is to commit your cause to Yahweh Who extends to you an invitation, “‘Come now … Produce your cause’, saith Yahweh …’” (Isa. 1:18, 41:21). And rest assured, He already knows what you’re experiencing and may even, have ordained the experience to satisfy His perfect and lawful purpose of proving you, or improving you
      • whether or not, in the midst of adversity, you will faint or stand;
      • whether in the midst of adversity, you will continue steadfastly in, earnestly contend for, and stand in defense of, your hard-earned faith or capitulate to what you have allowed to beset you.

His Grace Covers Trouble
    We started this treatise by citing a collage of words, taken from Scripture, that express one man’s suffering what we’ve called the 5D syndrome.
   But his life experience didn’t spell his end. For though he was troubled on every side, yet he professed himself not distressed. For though he had been at times perplexed, he professed himself not in despair. For though he had been persecuted, he professed himself not destroyed. For though he had experienced stripes, imprisonments, tumults, infirmity, reproach, necessity, persecution, distress, famine, nakedness, peril or sword, things present and as well, things to come, he professed himself … by the Set Apart Spirit; by the Word of Truth; by the power of Eloha; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, moreover, succored by, the words of His Sovereign and Master, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9) so that he could reply, I can do all things through Messiah which strengtheneth me, Philippians 4:13.
   The Apostle Paul required the experience of being struck physically blind as he pursued his purpose of breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Sect of the Nazarene. It was the only way apparently, by which he would awaken to righteousness; be renewed in the spirit of his mind, and become spiritually enlightened to the deception and darkness of Talmudic Judaism.
   And sometimes, we, too, require an on-the-road-to-Damascus experience, because of being stubborn, stiff-necked, recalcitrant, obdurate, obstinate, and even hard-hearted against the Truth that would set us free from the error of our thoughts and our ways when it should be easier just to exclaim, “Yea, And Amein,” to Yahweh’s summons to come out of gross darkness and into marvelous Light; to pass from death to life.
   And the Master’s reply, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9), ranks alongside other words spoken 14 and a half centuries earlier, to ancient Israel as they, under the leadership of Joshua, were preparing to assume the conquest of Canaan.
   Moses, 120 years old on this, his last day, and now, readied to go the way of all the earth, encouraged the people whom he had brought to the edge of Canaan,
   Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for Yahweh thy Eloha, He [it is] that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, Deuteronomy 31:6 – words, as appropriately spoken … to you, today, so that you might also return reply, I can do all things through Messiah which strengtheneth me, Philippians 4:13.
   Yes, when others, weak in faith, bring up an evil report, saying, “We be not able to go up against the people; for they [are] stronger than we … and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Num. 14:31, 33), you may counter with other words, like, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 14:30).
   Friend, Yahweh meets you where you are … to comfort and to console and to empower you who are languishing in your own 5D syndrome; to affirm you who lack self-confidence; to empower you to affirm your persuasion that henceforth, nothing but you falling into the temptation and snare of sin, could separate you from the boundless love of Yahweh and by Whom you are, therefore, become more than a conqueror and an overcomer.

The Rewards for Overcoming
    In Yahshua’s farewell remarks to His disciples – before He was betrayed and suffered many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and was killed and raised again the third day – He said, “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own … These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:32, 33).
   In the Apostle John’s apocalyptic sequel, the Book of Revelation, we read eight times, concerning “Overcoming:”
“To him that overcometh” ... and keepeth My Words unto the end … will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of Eloha, (2:7)
   “To him that overcometh”… shall not be hurt in the second death, (2:11);
   “To him that overcometh” … will I give to eat of and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it, (2:17)
   “To him that overcometh” … will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star, (2:26-28);
   “To him that overcometh” ... the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels, (3:5);
   “To him that overcometh” ... will I make a pillar in the temple of My Eloha, and he shall go no more out: and I will write unto him the name of My Eloha, and name of the city of My Eloha … and … My new Name, (3:12);
   “To him that overcometh” ... will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne, (3:21);
   “He that overcometh ... shall inherit all things; and I will be his Eloha, and he shall be My son,” (21:7).
   Given such exceeding great, and precious promises, why then, should you think fiery trials – affliction; tumult; infirmity; reproach; necessity; persecution; distress; chastening; sorrow; poverty as having nothing; sundry perils measured to you by your own; by the heathen; among brethren falsely so called, and besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon you daily, always bearing about in your bodies the marks of the dying of the Sovereign Yahshua – are some strange thing happening to you? Why not instead, rejoice in having been found worthy to suffer, even shame if necessary, for the sake of His Name? Why not instead, appreciate knowing that you have but by a measure, filled up that which is behind of the sufferings of Messiah in your flesh, for His Body’s sake?
   In the chronicles of the Tanach, we are provided examples of four, on whom trouble was visited, but who were encouraged by words like, Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for Yahweh thy Eloha, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, Deuteronomy 31:6, and who wavered not in their persuasion that Yahweh was able to deliver them from their trouble.
   Three men, bound in their coats and their turbans, were cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, which, heated seven times hotter than usual, consumed the most mighty men in the king’s army who were assigned the task of committing their bodies to this torturous death.
   And during that time while it should have been expected that they had roasted, a fourth, having the form of The Son of Eloha, was observed in their company by the king and his counsellors who could but only marvel that the fire, had not accomplished the extirpation of their bodies but that they, could emerge therefrom without an hair of their hair singed, neither their coats changed, nor the smell of fire passed on them!
   Do you suppose this was done in a corner, so that only few would have heard this report? Oh, no! the decree issued throughout all the provinces of Babylon, requiring “the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image” (Dan. 3:2) of gold whose height was threescore cubits (119.28 feet, or the equivalent of a ten-story building) and that at the sound of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all people, nations, and languages within the imperial realm, would bow the head and bend the knee, or suffer the penalty of being sentenced to being cast into a burning, fiery furnace for noncompliance, was so published that all from the least to the greatest were informed. Well, three, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah stood in defiance (Daniel 3:16-18).
   Do you suppose their response to the king was spoken quietly, in a private audience? Do you suppose, that a burning fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than usual, was situated in the king’s backyard, within a fenced enclosure, and that this fiery execution was intended to be a secret matter? No, Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with the resignation of these three to a mortal fate. (Dan. 3:26-30).
   We are supplied a second example from the same Book … different king, different imperial realm. Daniel, a companion of the former three, maintained his custom of thrice daily, opening the windows of his house toward Jerusalem, kneeling upon his knees to pray, and giving thanks to Eloha. This, he continued to do, knowing the governors and the princes, and the counsellors and the captains, with the approbation of Darius the king, had made a firm decree that whosoever should ask a petition of any elohim or man for thirty days, except the king, should be cast into the lion’s den. Some might regard him foolhardy, tempting fate … that in the face of persecution, he would maintain his integrity by continuing steadfastly in, and earnestly contending for his faith! But just maybe, he had an insight into something that had not yet been written, and would not be for another five hundred years: That with much tribulation must we enter into the Kingdom, and that all they who live righteously will suffer persecution (Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12).
   Well, he’d known of the deliverance of his three friends from the burning fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than usual and he was just as persuaded as they, that his Eloha was able to deliver him from the mouths of ravening lions, but if not, yet would he cease not to trust in, and acknowledge Yahweh, by leaning to his own understanding!
Seeing you also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1), why wouldn’t you lay aside every weight, and the sin of unbelief which seeks to beset you and run with patience the race that is set before you?

Trouble Faithfully Endured: A Witness Observed
    In the Record of the Acts of the Apostles, we read of apostles, threatened … later, even beaten, and commanded to speak no more of this Nazarene Whom their persecutors had killed, but Whom they preached was risen from the dead.
   Reporting all that had occurred in the precincts of the temple court, and reveling also, that many who had heard Peter’s homily at the outer court of the Temple, believed, these disciples returning to their own, stirred up their company so that the place of their gathering was shaken again, and filled with the Set Apart Spirit and they all, become more emboldened to speak the Word of Yahweh.
   The Master had as much foretold told His disciples that they would be persecuted, and when they were so tormented, to flee to another city. This His disciples have done throughout the past two millennia, taking the Message with them, distributing Good News along the way. We read in the Acts, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled … preaching the Word …” (Acts 11:19).
   Your obedience to Yahweh’s commandment, even, and especially, at the expense of patiently enduring very much trouble will serve, as a witness and testimony to others who may be induced to inquire the reason you should be willing to give yourself to so great a cause. All the more reason, you should be ready always to give an answer to them who ask you a reason of the hope that is in you (1 Pet. 3:15).
   So, if you should be made to partake of His suffering; if you should be made a reproach for His Name, blessed are you … because He suffered, leaving you an example that you should also. But understand of this: There is a difference between suffering trouble because of, and for His sake, and suffering trouble as a consequence of your trespass of His Commandment. Very many fail to make that distinction … a distinction, incidentally, that may well preclude their admittance into the Kingdom. You must know the reason trouble has visited you. Is your trouble come to prove you or to improve you? If, indeed, your trouble is of your own making, then contrite repentance and confession will go far in delivering you, per His promise that He will not permit you to suffer above you are able to endure, but will with the trial make a way of escape that you might be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13).

One Final Example
    In Acts, chapter 9, Saul discovers that it is, indeed, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of Living, Consuming Fire. Knocked to the ground on a highway to Damascus, where if he should find any of the Sect of the Nazarene to be returned to Jerusalem for trial, He has an encounter with Yahshua Who directs him to go into the city and there, Ananias would tell him the certainty of what should thereafter become his life’s work. Among the words Yahshua spoke to Ananias, frightened by the prospect of meeting the tormentor of This Way, were these: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake, Acts 9:16.
   And suffer he would. (All the introductory words with which we introduced this discourse, were taken from his letter to the Assembly at Corinth. Very much of the content of the Acts of the Apostles from Acts, chapter 9, to its conclusion is a record of the Apostle’s experience and, yes, and accounting of the great things he suffered for His Name’s sake, too.) Everywhere he went, the Set Apart Spirit through the voices of prophets and prophetesses witnessed “that bonds and afflictions abide me” (Acts 20:23). In his epistle to the Assembly of Philippi, he wrote, And many of the brethren in the Sovereign One, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear, Philippians 1:14.

Conclusion
    In Yahshua’s farewell to His disciples, He asserted that the Set Apart Spirit Which should be sent them after His departure, would
      • guide them in all Truth;
      • teach them all things;
      • bring back to their remembrance what Commandments He had given them; and
      • show them things to come.
   Show them things to come? Throughout the breadth of the Scripture, the Set Apart Spirit is doing just that, so that we need not think it strange when once, and again, we experience afflictions; stripes; imprisonments; tumults; infirmities; reproaches; necessities; persecutions; distresses; chastening; sorrow; poverty, as having nothing; sundry perils, besides those things that are without, that which comes upon us daily: always bearing about in the body the dying to the Sovereign Yahshua – filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of the Messiah in our flesh, as if some strange thing is happening to us.
   And so, we commit these things to you, so that you may pass your sojourning during these perilous times and last days with renewed fervor and zeal; give greater diligence to make your calling and election sure; and, be able to rejoice in such coming of fiery trials, that you have been privileged to bear the marks in your bodies as well, the dying of the Sovereign Yahshua.