Sunday 01/15/14
Topic: Review: Co-partnership in His Sufferings
Series – The Ministry of the Holy Spirit V.mp3
Key Text: Acts 9:13-16
Phil. 1:27-30
Phil. 3:7-11
Heb. 5:5-9
Heb. 2:14-18
Partnership in sufferings
I began to night be reading a excerpt from the second chapter of A.W. Tozar’s book, God’s Pursuit of Man. In it he brings up the very sobering point, that the church has been progressively been moving towards a gospel which is devoid of a changed life. As if confession to a list of doctrinal statements somehow caused God to adjudicate in our favor without actually effecting a change in the man saved. This is where we get statements of “Just sinners saved by grace” – indicating that we still are in that state. Or “I’m not perfect just forgiven” again true, except what is it really conveying to the hearer is, “I still sin, don’t expect me to be like Jesus.”
Tozar goes on to explain that this is a Gospel in word only and not in power, borrowing from Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 2:3-5
“And so far as I myself was concerned, I came to you in conscious feebleness and in fear and in deep anxiety. (4) And my language and the Message that I proclaimed were not adorned with persuasive words of earthly wisdom, but depended upon truths which the Spirit taught and mightily carried home; (5) so that your trust might rest not on the wisdom of man but on the power of God.”
So tonight we began to look at our co-partnership with the Holy Spirit in the sufferings of Christ we are to endure. To do this we began with some preliminary proofs outlining God’s expectation that we will suffer.
The suffering of Paul…
Acts 9:13-16 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. (14) And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” (15) But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. (16) For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
General Christian suffering…
Php. 1:27-30 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, (28) and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. (29) For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (30) having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
By suffering, what dis Paul mean in these verses?
The Philippians had the same kind of conflict Paul had among them in Philippi, and the same kind that Paul faced in Rome. Their conflict concerned the difficulty walking right with the Lord and proclaiming gospel when persecuted and under attack.
Conflict is the ancient Greek word agon, which described a place where athletic contests were held and later came to refer to the contest itself. We get our words agony and agonize from this ancient Greek word.
Yet, if the Philippians had Paul’s kind of conflict, they could also have Paul’s kind of joy and fruit in the midst of it.
Consider Paul’s words in Phil. 3:7-11,
“Yet all that was gain to me–for Christ’s sake I have reckoned it loss. (8) Nay, I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. And for His sake I have suffered the loss of everything, and reckon it all as mere refuse, in order that I may win Christ and be found in union with Him, (9) not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the Law, but that which arises from faith in Christ–the righteousness which comes from God through faith. (10) I long to know Christ and the power which is in His resurrection, and to share in His sufferings and die even as He died; (11) in the hope that I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead.”
Knowing Jesus also means knowing this co-partnership of His sufferings. It is all part of following Jesus and being in Christ. We can say that suffering is part of our heritage as the children of God; we get to be part of the family of suffering: If children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Rom_8:17).
Consider the following statements Paul made…
“Being conformed to His death”: This reminds us that being in Christ also means being “in” His death. These words had particular relevance to Paul who faced possible martyrdom.
“If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead”:
This was a goal that was worth any means to Paul. The suffering was worth it, considering the greatness of the goal of resurrection from the dead.
I may attain: Paul didn’t doubt that he was saved, but he did long mightily for the completion of his salvation through the resurrection of his body. It was something that he had not yet attained and longed for.
Remember that Paul wrote this having experienced more suffering than we will ever experience, and he wrote it from the custody of Roman soldiers. This wasn’t merely theological theory and ideas, but a lived-out connection with God.
The Sufferings of Christ:
Heb. 5:5-9
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” (6) As He also says in another place: “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”; (7) Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, (8) though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (9) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
The words having been perfected – is the one word Teleioo and can mean, “having accomplished”.
The thought here is not that Jesus suffered from a deficiency of character or nature and that through suffering He underwent moral improvement. Rather, the perfection of Christ concerns His qualification as Savior. The appointed way to Saviorhood followed the path of testing. In the face of even the most pressing hardship and suffering, Jesus remained obedient to His Father. Having successfully endured the trial of life, He was proven fit to be the Savior of God’s people.
Heb 2:14-18 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. (17) Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (18) For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. (Same word)
But what does suffering mean?
We will begin with this next week.
