GIFT OF SUFFERING

"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ . . . to suffer for his sake" (Phil 1:29)

EVERYTHING RELATED TO SALVATION is associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remove Him from the picture, and there is no salvation, either doctrinally or experientially. For example, God has forgiven us for Jesus' sake: "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God FOR CHRIST'S SAKE hath forgiven you" (Eph 4:32). Other versions read "God in Christ." The idea is that were it not for Christ, God would not have forgiven us. He, and He alone, removed our sins, and He alone has the merit.

THE WORD "SAKE" MEANS by reason of, or on account of. For "Christ's sake," therefore, means on account of, or because of, Him. It is important that we see the implications of this declaration. First, this puts the salvation of God, in all of its fulness, well within our grasp. While God does behold our persons and our progress, He is primarily motivated by His Son. He has not only exalted Jesus, but deals favorably with men because of Him.

THIS IS PRECISELY WHY the Kingdom of God is Christ-centered. Anything that pushes Jesus to the periphery moves us beyond the blessing of God. Neither faith nor the fellowship of Christ's suffering will ever be realized while Jesus remains in the background of men's thinking.

JUST AS GOD HIMSELF is motivated by the Lord Jesus, so those who are blessed in Him are constrained by the consideration of Him. The Apostles preached, placing themselves in the background, because of Jesus. "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor 4:5). They subjected themselves to great dangers, in order that the life of Jesus might be made known through them. "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor 4:11). Jesus is the reason for the grace of God toward men. He is also the reason for all valid Kingdom labors.

IN THE LAST ANALYSIS, Jesus Christ is the only man God totally honors. Everything hinges on Him! God will NOT confer a blessing independently of Him. Our faith and our suffering are both determined by Christ – both by His relation to God, and our relation to Him.

SUFFERING IS NOT PLEASANT, but it is sanctified in Christ Jesus. In our text the Spirit brings us to consider the ultimate reason for our suffering – it is a gracious gift from God, for Jesus' sake. The suffering of reference is "for His sake." Such suffering does result from righteousness, but it is also evidence that the Kingdom of God already belongs to us (Matt 5:10). This is the perspective of our text.

THE GIFT OF SUFFERING is NOT an end of itself, but the means to an end. The objective is to "reign" with Christ. The means to that end is suffering with Christ (2 Tim 2:12). Because this world is "evil" (Gal 1:4), and those belonging to its order are "alienated from the life of God" (Eph 4:18; Col 1:21), there are temporary consequences while being identified with Christ Jesus. Well did Jesus say, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20).

IF GOD HAS "GRANTED" US TO SUFFER for Christ's sake, that suffering cannot alienate us from Him. This is involved in the Spirit's affirmation, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom 8:35-37). Rather than such adversities being viewed as curses, or evidences of Divine withdrawal, they are to be seen as gifts – that is, they are preludes to glorification.

THE GIFT OF SUFFERING for Jesus' sake is a means of qualifying us for glory. As it is written, "your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer" (2 Thess 1:4-5, NKJV). The "righteous judgment of God" is to be seen in the suffering itself, as well as those through whom it came. In it, saints are "counted worthy of the Kingdom" and their persecutors made worthy of tribulation God will heap on them (2 Thess 1:6).

IT IS NO WONDER the Apostles, after being beaten, "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41). In their sufferings they saw a confirmation of Divine acceptance and future reward. Their rejection by the enemies of God verified their reconciliation to Him.

SUFFERING IS GRANTED in direct proportion to the reward reserved for us in heaven. Remember, our role in the Kingdom is appointed; i.e., God places the members in the body where it has pleased Him (John 15:16; 1 Cor 12:18,28). Take Paul as an example. The Lord placed him in a high position, therefore great suffering was also allotted to him (Acts 9:16). In suffering for Jesus' sake, "the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (1 Pet 4:14). Believe it!

– Given O. Blakely