The Fellowship Of The Suffering

The Fellowship Of Suffering

There is also another issue on the table. The salvation experience also demands that we be tried, tested and proven worthy of this great salvation. Therefore, it is the mind of the Father to place the soul in the Spirit of Christ and to place the Spirit of Christ back into your physical body. I think one of the greatest controversies in the Body of Christ is the issue of suffering. There are many

doctrines which forbid even a thought of suffering for the Saints of God. However, we cannot get around the fact that the scriptures highly advocate the suffering of the people. While sitting in a conference one day, I heard a minister say the Saints of God will not suffer because Christ has already suffered. I know this gentleman to be a very learned colleague in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, sometimes pride and the pressure of being the head of an organization can cause us to draw back from the things we know in our spirit to be truth. I can only pray that those who read or view this material will embrace it as it is the word God is speaking to the church today. I don’t think it is a hard thing to prove that God intended for the Saints to suffer with Christ. We have so many scriptures that bear witness with this truth. I will list a few.

Romans 8:17

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

1 Corinthians 10:13

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.

1 Corinthians 12:26

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Philippians 1:29

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Philippians 4:12

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

1 Thessalonians 3:4

For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

2 Timothy 2:12

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

The question is not whether we will suffer for Christ; the question most Chapter 10: The Fellowship of His Suffering believers ask is why do saints suffer. Well, all I can say is suffering

is not some surprise the Father sprang on us after He got us into the Kingdom.

Luke 14:26-28

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life

also, he cannot be my disciple. No one on the earth may have a greater influence than Christ; including our own ideas, ways or opinions.

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first,

The cross is a symbol of suffering. The implication here is those who want to follow Jesus must be willing to suffer in this world.

and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? In the scripture above Jesus gave us the criteria for salvation. Though, I must say, I have heard very few ministers preach this as a prerequisite to salvation. In all the years I’ve been saved, I’ve never heard anyone preach these facts as criteria for getting to heaven. But we must not be afraid to point out these conditions; as they are given to us by the Lord. The Lord has made it very clear that there will be a degree of suffering for the Saints of God. This suffering is not an option, but a mandate. In times past we never considered suffering to be a requirement for salvation. Nevertheless, the scriptures declare it to be a necessity.

Philippians 3:10

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

To walk in the power of the resurrection simply means to walk in holiness. But in addition to holiness, we are required to fellowship in Christ sufferings.

The word fellowship means to participate or to enter into; as a partnership. This is the amazing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The workmanship of God’s hands has given us the

ability to fellowship or become a participant in the sufferings of Christ today. Let me go to a scripture that may shed a bit more light on this subject.

John 16:33

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.

What we see here is Christ alluding to the fellowship we will have with Him in our sufferings today. Take note of the fact He says ye will have tribulation but I have overcome the world. This means the

things we will suffer in the flesh are directly related to the presence of Christ in our flesh. He is as much a suffering servant today as He was two thousand years ago. However, today His suffering is manifest in another body.

On the road to Damascus, Jesus asked Paul, “Why persecutest thou me?” Paul had never seen or entertained Jesus during his time here on earth. However, in his persecution of the saints, he was indeed persecuting Christ. That same Jesus, who died on the cross, is the same Jesus dwelling in the flesh of men, women and children then and now. He was willing to suffer in the flesh in the days of His passion; and He is willing to suffer again in His new body. But we are also with Him in this body. We are there to behold His glory. We are there to witness the awesomeness of His power. We are there to be witnesses able to give testimony and explanation regarding the working of Spirit.

Though we are in Him, He is also in us. Therefore, we are able to feel all that the body feels. But the key here is that we must be in agreement with the sufferings of this new life in Christ.

When Paul discovered that suffering in the flesh allowed the Spirit of Christ to rest upon him so he was able to do the great works of God; he was most glad to suffer persecution, distress and afflictions.

LEARNING OBEDIENCE THROUGH SUFFERING

Jesus came to the earth the Son of the Living God. He had power over all the power of satan. He could heal the sick, raise the dead and walk on water. No matter what men thought of Him, they were unable to do Him harm before the time. Satan even testified that God had given His angels charge over Him so that He couldn’t even stump His toe. But this was all about to change. The hour had come for Him to submit to evil and cruel mocking.

Hebrews 5:7-9

7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to

save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

We, too, must learn obedience by the things we suffer. This proves our commitment to God.

1 Peter 5:10

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.

Saints, let us not fall short of all that the gospel expects and offers us. We can obtain the greater works ministry Jesus promised; not for our glory but for His. Paul had to come to a revelation of this truth while in the midst of his ministry. He discovered when we are weak in the flesh, we are strong in the Spirit. It is the humiliation of the flesh that reveals Christ in us. When the flesh is weak the power of Christ will rest upon us. We often say we want the anointing of Christ; well, it comes with a willing heart to suffer in the flesh for His sake. If you have the

courage to allow yourself to fellowship with Him in suffering then you will most assuredly reign with Him in the Millennium. My dear friends, this is not an option, it is a commandment. Suffering is a part

of salvation. It is given to us not only to believe on Christ, but to suffer for His sake.

Acts 14:21-22

21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter

into the kingdom of God.

Let us not beguile the people of God by promising them a salvation void of suffering. The world is able to see Christ clearly through our suffering for His sake. There is nothing that can come upon us that Jesus is unable to handle. Remember, He is also our Comforter. Our Father is the God of all consolation and will not allow more than we are able to bear. The key here is we must gladly embrace the suffering that come with our New Man. Through the sufferings of Christ and our agreement, the Father is glorified. Purpose to know Him by being a partner in the fellowship of His sufferings.