Paul Declares his Sufferings are knitted to Christ
and so are his Comforts
2
Corinthians 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so
also our comfort is abundant through Christ. NKJV
Paul in writing this next sentence was surely taken
back in his heart and mind to the days before his eyes were opened to the truth
and he viciously pursued the children of our Lord Jesus Christ filled with
hate, rage, and all manner of evil intentions and motives which he carried out
on numerous occasions. Paul at the time of his ignorance surely did not know
that Jesus Christ who was crucified was the very God he thought he was
worshipping but he was not. Paul heard from our Lord Jesus’ own lips His
continual suffering here on the earth through His people or sheep that He has
redeemed from their sin by the shedding of His Blood when He said these words
to Paul as he journeyed along the Damascus road with the intention to kill and
imprison more Christians, Paul (his name was Saul at that time) saw our Lord Jesus
and heard these words as recorded for us by Dr. Luke, “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and
suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and
heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter
the city, and it will be told you what you must do’” (Acts 9:3-6).
Paul now having walked many years with our Lord Jesus
now knows that because he is now “in Christ” that brings about suffering to
him, that it also causes our Lord Himself to suffer with him and the record of
Paul’s conversion on the Damascus road bears witness to the reality of this
eternal knitting or linking or union between our Lord Jesus Christ and His
people in every capacity. Our Lord asked Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?”, because
through this Mystical Union with Him in His Body, He feels every hurt that His
children experience here on the earth. The Apostle Peter expressed the reality
of this union perhaps in the best manner for me when he wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery
ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange
thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of
Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may
rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are
blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Peter 4:12-14).
The fact that Paul and these Corinthian believers
and we are united with Jesus Christ by way of regeneration and the new birth, it
is inevitable for us to share in the sufferings of Christ being that we are
partakers of His Divine Nature and satan hates our Lord Jesus and all who are
joined to Him. Likewise we also are blessed to share in all of His Comforts for
the very same reasons we share His sufferings, as Paul put it in this manner
when writing to the saints in Rome, “The
Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if
children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:16-18). We have the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts or inner man that is the down payment of
our future glory to come forever in our Lord Jesus Christ Presence and that is
the comfort to beat all comfort that we can rest upon.
2
Corinthians 1:6-7 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and
salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective
in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our
hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our
sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. NKJV
Paul declares to them that everything he endures
(even his afflictions) was endured for them to receive eternal life from our
Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that our Lord Jesus would never allow him to be
tested above or beyond what he could bear or endure, but would make a way of
escape for Paul (2 Timothy 4:18) and
all of his fellow workers, as Paul wrote them in his first letter regarding
temptations to sin (1 Corinthians 10:13),
but surely it applies likewise in suffering for the sake of the true
proclamation of the gospel of Christ. Paul proclaimed to Brother Timothy these
words, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen
from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer
hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not
imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are
chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and
with it eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:8-10). As Paul has already
declared in 2 Corinthians 1:4, our
Heavenly Father comforted him in his deep and painful afflictions and
sufferings, so that he Paul would be equipped to comfort these Corinthian
believers as he was comforted by the Father, as the Psalmist also declares with
these words, “Thou shalt increase my
greatness, and comfort me on every side” (Psalms 71:21) and also these
words, “This is my comfort in my
affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” (Psalm 119:50).
“People are not prepared or able to rejoice in
suffering unless they experience a massive biblical revolution of how they
think and feel about the meaning of life. Human nature and American culture
make it impossible to rejoice in suffering. This is a miracle in the human soul
wrought by God through His Word.” John Piper
“Have you known fellowship in suffering with Christ? Known
deep waters? You will have to go down to them. If you do not get sorrow in
fellowship with Christ, you will get it in discipline.”
G.V. Wigram (1805-1879).
“In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and
you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of
restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting
Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and
comfort, and the sense that ‘underneath are the everlasting arms,’ (Deuteronomy 33:27) full of support,
provision, comfort and strength.” Oswald Chambers“Though poor in this world’s goods, though grieving the loss of loved ones, though suffering pain of body, though harassed by sin and satan, though hated and persecuted by worldlings, whatever be the case and lot of the Christian, it is both his privilege and duty to rejoice in the Lord.” A.W. Pink
“It is a simple fact that we who belong to Jesus
Christ cannot escape sharing in His Sufferings and those who are not sharing in
His reproach, then it must be because they don’t share His Nature (2 Peter 1:4).” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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