Tonight we will continue our
study in Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. We come to verse 24. The name
of the message is rejoicing in sufferings. Rejoicing in sufferings. Verse 24 is where our text is. Who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you and fill up that which is behind the afflictions of
Christ in my flesh for his body's sake which is the church who
now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which
is behind the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's
sake which is the church. Now we come to this verse tonight
after looking last week at how God's people who are redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ will one day be presented holy,
and unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight. It's a marvel of
grace, isn't it? It's a marvel that sinners by
birth, nature, and choice will be presented holy, and unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. What a marvel. What a marvel
of sovereign grace. And we also saw, though, that
they remain in the faith, right? If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and we looked at how that means sedentary,
right? Settled means sedentary. You
don't move. and that God's people are not
moved from Christ. And it's not because of our strength,
is it? It's because He keeps us, right?
He keeps us. But we looked at preservation
and perseverance, didn't we? Both of those. Preservation is
where God keeps us, and perseverance is where we keep looking to Christ. We keep looking to Him, but it's
all by His power. All by His power. We're grounded
and settled and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel.
And they remain fixed and focused upon Christ. Fixed and focused
upon Christ. Through sufferings, through trials,
and through tribulations. And God's people, as I said,
are sinners saved by grace, right? We struggle just like everyone
else. Just like everyone else. We struggle the same way as anyone
who's lost struggles. But we have hope. We have hope,
which is Christ Jesus, our Lord. And we are kept by the power
of God. And when we're kept, we cling. We cling. We cling to Christ and Him alone. He's our strength. He's our comfort. He's everything to the believer.
Everything. Everything. Now this verse tonight
has perplexed a lot of folks as I was reading through the
different commentators and stuff. This verse is a verse that's
perplexed some commentators over the years and perplexed some
people over the years, especially the portion that says this, and
fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ
in my flesh for his body's sake. Now before we start this study
tonight, Paul is in no way here telling
the Colossians, right? Telling the Colossian believers
that the death of Christ, the work which he was accomplished,
that he did accomplish, Paul is in no way telling them that
it was lacking. In no way. It wasn't lacking in any way.
Not at all. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished salvation for us. He accomplished salvation for
us. For his people on Calvary Street. And there's nothing to
be added to that work at all. If you add something to it, it's
no longer grace. It's no longer grace. So we preach
what Christ has accomplished. We preach Christ and Him crucified,
right? And we preach that He is a successful
Savior of His people. He has accomplished salvation
for His people. And as I said, if you take Christ
away from the Gospel, or out of the Gospel, Or if you add
any of man's works, this isn't good news then, is it? There's
no good news. Because Christ is the gospel.
It's all about Him. It's all about Him. And if you
take Christ out of it or add any works, there's only condemnation
for a sinner. There's no hope. But the believer
only hopes in Christ. We only hope in Him. There was
a time when we used to hope in ourselves, but now we only hope
in Christ, in Him alone. We have found a ransom, and it's
in Christ to pay for all of our sins. So our hope is based upon
what our great, majestic, sovereign God has done for us. And He is
a great, and He is a majestic, and He is a sovereign God. Oh,
and he left the glories of heaven to die for his people upon the
cross, to accomplish for them what we could never accomplish
ourselves. I ask you, is this not mercy? Is this not plenteous
mercy? God became a man, the man Christ
Jesus, and he wrought out salvation for his people upon the cross.
And beloved, he did it alone. He did it alone. So tonight's
verse is not saying we add to that work, as that could not
be. His work is perfect, and it's
precious, and it's finished. He lived the perfect life in
the place of his people. He died the perfect lamb of God
before God's justice. And beloved, he rose again from
the dead, proving that God was satisfied with that sacrifice.
His work is perfect. His redemptive work is perfect.
And God, the Holy Spirit, takes these wonderful God-honoring
truths, right? These wonderful God-honoring
truths and reveals them to His elect through the preaching of
His Word. Christ has done it all. So Paul again is in no way
stating that we add anything to the sufferings of Christ as
he has accomplished salvation for his people by himself. So
with that in mind, that's our introduction, let's look at verse
24 then. And I wanted to clarify that
because of the confusion that's come about when people look at
this verse sometimes in the past. who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church."
Now, no one enjoys suffering, right? I don't know anyone who
enjoys suffering. None of us like it. None of us
like it. And we don't seek it out either,
do we? We don't seek it out. So Paul's not saying that he
sought out suffering. He's not saying that. He's saying
he rejoiced in the fact that he was counted worthy to suffer
for Christ. He was counted worthy. Who now
rejoice in my sufferings for you, scripture declares. Now
I know a young man who was persecuted by his father. By his father and aborter who
lived at that house. after the young man confessed
Christ. And each night as the family sat down to eat, the young
man would just bow his head and give thanks to God for the food
that was before. A thing that he never used to
do before he confessed Christ. And he didn't require or ask
anyone else. He didn't ask everyone to pray
for their food, and neither was he trying to draw attention to
himself. But he just thanked God for the provision that the
Lord had given him out of a grateful heart. And from that moment that he
prayed, the tirade would start from his father, who was an unbeliever. And then the boarder would join
in with the father. And the boarder would joyfully
join in to berate the young man about his faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the young man would eat his
food. And as he was eating, he would pray for his dad and for
the boarder, who was also a young man. And he prayed God would
save them if it was his will. And to forgive them for what
they were doing. And this happened almost every
night for six months. Almost every night for six months.
The six months that he lived with his parents until he moved
out. got himself his own place to stay. Now that young man did
not seek out to be berated. He didn't seek it out. He didn't seek it out. But he
looked at that, what occurred is nothing compared to what Christ
had suffered for him. He didn't seek it out though.
And I know that this often happens in believers' life, with the
situation being different to each believer. Some may find
persecution with family. Some may find persecution with
friends. Some may find persecution with
co-workers. But it's still suffering for
our faith, isn't it? It still is. It's still suffering for our
faith in Christ Jesus, and may God give us grace and strength
during those times. Because it's not easy. It's not
easy at all. Turn, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians.
Now Paul, in the same way, he did not seek out the suffer.
He didn't seek it out. What was he doing? He was preaching
the gospel of Christ, wasn't he? He was just preaching the
gospel. He was being persecuted. We'll
look later on in the message. We'll look at what he suffered
through. He lists a few things. But we'll look at that later.
But I'd like to look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 3 to 9. Now
Paul again, he did not seek out to suffer. But he did rejoice in the fact
that he was counted worthy to suffer these things. Look at
2 Thessalonians 1 3-9 We are bound to thank God always for
you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth
exceedingly. And the charity of every one
of you, which is love, all toward each other abounds. so that we
ourselves glory in you, in the churches of God, for your patience
and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure,
which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,
that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which
ye also suffer." See, our king suffered, didn't he? So we should we should know that we're going
to suffer. Persecution. Seeing it is a righteous thing
with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And
to you who are troubled, rest with us. when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power. So Paul suffered persecution. Turn if you would to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 7 verse 4. Paul suffered heavy persecution
at the hands of self-righteous false religionists who hated
the gospel of Christ. They hated the gospel of Christ.
But Paul was a soldier of Christ. He's a soldier of Christ. And
he rejoiced in the appointed sufferings because they were
appointed. The appointed sufferings God had ordained for him He rejoiced. His joy and his strength through
them all was the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at 2 Corinthians 7, verse
4. Great is my boldness of speech towards you, great is my glorying
of you. I am filled with comfort. I am
exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. So Paul, Paul was
joyful in persecutions. He was joyful in tribulations. As I said, it's not natural.
We don't enjoy suffering, do we? But the joy of the Lord was
his strength. And so this is why when we go
through trouble and trials, and we all do, every one of us, they
may be all different, right? But that's why we have to look
to Christ. We have to. I have to continuously
look to my King, look to our King, because Otherwise I'd be
buried under it. But he keeps us, doesn't he?
What a merciful God. And Paul was a soldier. And I
remember Brother Donnie telling me, you know, sometimes as a
soldier you get knife wounds, and sometimes you get gunshot
wounds. And we do. We do. And they hurt. They hurt. But we keep looking to Christ,
don't we? We keep looking to Him. Knowing that this suffering
is nothing compared to the glory that we'll have with our King
when we're with Him. Oh, but it doesn't seem like that when
we're going through it. It's hard. It's hard. So may God give
us grace and strength to make it through our sufferings. But
remember, they're appointed by God for us. And He gives us joy
and strength to make it through them all. And think of this,
beloved, Paul knew when he was going through suffering and trials
and tribulations, and I need to remember this, he knew that
he was right where his sovereign almighty God wanted him to be. Right where he wanted him to
be. When he was a prisoner, he was
right where God wanted him to be. And when he was free, he
was right where God wanted him to be. And we can rest in that. We can rest in the fact that
our King is with us all the time. And we'll see that later on,
too, as we go in the message. He'd never leave His people.
He's with us. No matter what we go through,
He's with us. He's with us. And we, as God's children, need
to remind ourselves of this when we're going through various sufferings
for our faith in Christ. We need to remind ourselves that
Jesus Christ is upon the throne right now. Right now. When we go through something,
let us remind ourselves the Lord is on the throne. He's on the
throne. And if you're one of His, He
loves you. He's going to watch over you.
He's going to keep you. And He'll never leave you. Never. What comfort for the believer.
What comfort for the believer. And he's on the throne also.
And he's working all things according to his will. According to his
will. And oh Lord, help me. Help me
to rest in this wonderful truth. That you're working all things
out in my life, and in the life of every believer, and in the world. However he's
pleased, however he's pleased. He's working all things after
what? The counsel of his own will. And this can give us joy in our
sufferings. Paul drew from that well. He drew from that well. You can
tell by his writings. He drew from the well the fact
that God was absolutely sovereign. Especially in Ephesians when
he says he worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. He's drawn from that well, beloved. Oh, he's resting, trusting,
even though all around him is a storm. And he's resting in
Christ. And we will see some of the things
he went through. And for him to make this statement,
it's incredible. But he can only do it by the
joy of the Lord and by the strength of the Lord. And this can give
us, in our sufferings, peace and rest. And we can repose in
our wonderful, merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul
suffered for preaching the gospel. And he rejoiced in that fact.
He rejoiced. And this is true of all gospel
preachers. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter
5. Acts chapter 5. And I'm just
gonna read the last two, verse 41 and 42. But if you want in
your own time you can read what happened there. It's incredible.
They were being persecuted for preaching the gospel. And I'm
just gonna read the verse 41 and 42 and look at this. God's
preachers here and they departed from the presence of the council
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name. And daily in the temple and in every house they ceased
not to teach and preach Christ. They told him, don't you go out
there and do that, and he just went out there and did it. They
weren't afraid of what man would do for them. They weren't. They
preached Christ. And so God's preachers are going
to go through suffering and tribulation and trial. And Paul knew, though,
that his sufferings were not only for the glory of his sovereign
God, or were not only for his good, but were for the glory
of his sovereign God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And each of us,
it's not just God's preachers who get persecuted for the gospel.
We all do. We all do. and let us draw from
that well again that God is sovereign. He's our King. He's upon the
throne. And it's all working out for
His glory. Look at the rest of the text
now. Our text continues, "...who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you." So Paul, and turn if you would to 2 Corinthians. We
are going to see here what Paul went through. 2nd Corinthians. He rejoiced in his suffering
for the body's sake. For the body of Christ. He rejoiced
in his sufferings. For the body's sake. The church
which Christ has purchased with his own precious blood. Look
at 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. And we'll look at verses 24 to
33. He's going to tell us a little
bit here of what he suffered through. Of the Jews, verse 24, of the
Jews five times I received I forty stripes, save one. Thirty-nine
stripes, right? Five times, beloved. Oh my goodness. Thrice I was beaten with rods,
once I was stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck a
night, and a day I have been in the deep. In journey and often
in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine
own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the
city, in perils in the wilderness. My goodness, keep in grace. Keep in grace, beloved God, who
she saves, he keeps. In perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness, beside those things that are without, that which
cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. We know
from his epistles he prayed for the churches. Who is weak? And I am not weak. Who is offended? And I burn not. If I must need
glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed,
for evermore knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor,
under Artaeus, the king, kept the city of Damascus with a garrison
and desired to apprehend me. and through a window in the basket
I was let down by a wall and escaped his hands." My goodness,
all because he preached the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace.
Now think of this. Think of others who have gone
through suffering. Think of others through the years
that you know who have gone through suffering, whether it be trial
or tribulation, And when you see them go through it, and you
see the Lord give them strength, and give them grace, are you
not encouraged? Are you not encouraged? Oh, our
God, He never, never leaves His people. Never leaves His people. And also, when we go through
things, then we are able to comfort those who are going through the
same thing as what we went through. Because we know what they're
going through. We know. And Paul was a member of the
body of Christ. He was a called-out one, beloved.
As is every one of God's elect. The Ekklesia. A called-out one. The church is called the Ekklesia.
Called-out ones. Granted faith to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he loved God's people. And
he was dedicated to ministering to them. When he wasn't in prison,
he was preaching and teaching the Word of God in those areas
where the Lord had opened doors for him to minister. And when
he was in prison, he was preaching to those who were guarding him, and writing epistles to God's
saints for the eternal good of those who were members of the
body of Christ. And we have some of those, don't
we? We have one here tonight before us that we've been studying. So he looked at all that he went
through, all that he went through for
his good and for the glory of God, for the furtherance of the
gospel. Turn if you would to Philippians chapter 1. He looked
at it all for the furtherance of the gospel. Look at Philippians chapter 1
verses 12 to 14. But I would, you should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. Remember that
list we read of all those things he went through? And he's saying
all these things happen for the furtherance of the gospel. Do
you see why he rejoiced in his sufferings? So that my bonds
in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all the other
places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, see the brethren
in the Lord seeing this, right? Waxing confident by my bonds
are much more bold to speak the word without fear. So all those things he was going
through, Others were drawing from the well of God's mercy
and seeing God has sustained him. It's all for the furtherance
of the gospel. And many of the brethren of the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear. So with this in mind, let us
continue in our verse. And now we'll hit that section
and fill up that which is behind the afflictions of Christ in
my flesh for his body's sake. Now again, as we looked at in
the introduction, Paul is in no way telling them that their
sufferings, that the sufferings that he and other Christians
are going through have anything to do with that which Christ
accomplished upon the cross. Paul is not saying here that
the sufferings of Christ were incomplete or that the sufferings
of his people were to make up for a deficiency or that the
sacrifice was lacking in any way. Paul is not saying that.
Far from that, far from that, because only the Lord Jesus Christ
tread the winepress of the wrath of God alone. The winepress of
the wrath of God alone. There was no one else with him.
And think of this, I was talking to Sister Carolyn, she called
me today and we were talking and I said, I remember Brother
Henry saying that God forsook God on the cross. My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? So that we would never be forsaken. What love. What mercy. And the Lord Jesus Christ so
perfectly finished and completed the whole work of redemption
by the offering of himself that it is said he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He is finished. He has accomplished
redemption for his people by the shedding of his own precious
blood. But our text says, and fill up
that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his
body's sake. Turn if you would to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 1 verses 5 to 7. Now we as believers can find
great comfort in these precious words here. And fill up that
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his
body's sake. We can find great comfort in
these precious words of Paul as we go through sufferings in
various forms. Look at 2nd Corinthians chapter
1 verses 5 to 7. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. In
whither we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which
we also suffer, or whether we be comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye
be also of the consolation." Now, beloved of God, there is
nothing behind as to the atoning sacrifice of the sufferings of
Christ. But there is much yet to be endured in order that all
the elect may be bought to Christ. Some must suffer through the
labors in preaching the gospel, and be persecuted for it, and
suffer for preaching the gospel. As we've seen, Paul went through
that countless times in the New Testament. Others may have to
bear reproach for the truth's sake. But Paul was glad to suffer
in his mortal body for the sake of Christ's church, which is
his mystical body, which is spoken of at the latter part of the
verse that we're looking at. And fill up that which is behind
of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake.
Now let us think on this, and what comfort we can glean here,
what comfort we can glean here from this verse. We know that
the Lord Jesus Christ suffered in his own person fully and completely,
right? When as a sacrifice for sin,
he died in the sinner's place. When he died in the place of
his people on Calvary's tree, he died the just for the unjust,
right? To bring us to God. And the sufferings
of Christ as our substitute and as our sacrifice were full, and
they have satisfied God's demands. But let us glean here in this
verse, in the latter part of this verse, the union between
Christ and His church. When the body is persecuted,
right, the head knows it, and the head feels it. Think about this. Have you ever
accidentally hit your finger with a hammer? It hurts. And
you know it right away, don't you? You know it right away.
Them nerves, they just send up that signal right to the head.
Right? And then we're thinking and saying
stuff we ought not to think and say probably sometimes, right?
But it hurts though, doesn't it? It hurts. It hurts and your
finger lets your head know that it's being hit. And we know we've
hit our finger. Not just because we saw it, right?
Because that's usually what happens. But because now we feel it, right?
We feel it. Well, turn if you would to Acts
chapter 9, and look at this. And we've looked at this many
times, but I want to bring this up here. And then put your finger
in Romans chapter 12, because we're going to look at how the
Christian doesn't seek vengeance for those who persecute him.
But look at Acts chapter 9 first. verses 4 and 5. So when Paul
was persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Christ, right?
Acts 9 verses 4 and 5. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Who was Saul persecuting? Christians. Believers. The bottom. Same when that hammer hits that
finger, right? The head goes, oh man, that hurts, right? He
knows. He's feeling the pain, right,
that they're going through. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Me, the head that the body's
attached to. And he said, who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. So what? When we go through sufferings,
the Lord's there with us. He's there with us. So Paul could
glean comfort such as we can when we go through sufferings.
Paul went through those sufferings. All those things were beaten
with, beaten, 39 stripes, five times, shipwrecked, naked, naked
without food, right? But he knew all these things
were happening for the furtherance of the gospel. and that the Lord
was with him, and that he'd never leave him, nor forsake him. And
the believers never sought vengeance on those who were persecuting
them, as Christ will avenge His people. Look at Romans 12, verses
19 and 20. Christ will avenge His people.
And think of this in light of the great white judgment throne,
right? He will avenge His people. We do not seek vengeance, but
vengeance is the Lord's. Look at Romans 12, verses 19
and 20. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine
enemy hunger feed him, if he thirsts, give him drink. For
in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, So let us, beloved, cherish the
fact. Cherish the fact that no matter
what we go through, no matter what trial comes our way, no
matter what suffering comes our way, the Lord is with His people. He's with His people. He's with
His people. And He measures out, right? He
measures out our trials. And He measures out our tribulations.
And He bears part with you in all. And He will carry I will
bury you through it all, through all your sufferings. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And one day all the sufferings
will be over for the believer. Robert Hawker says this, The
same interest that Jesus felt in the persecution of Saul over
his afflicted ones when he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? When he called from heaven to restrain... I love how he
said this. When he called from heaven to
restrain Saul's rage. Restraining grace of God. And
said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? The same interest he
feels in every minute event with which is redeemed our exercise
now. He's with His people now. If you're going through something,
He knows. He's with you. He's with you. Oh, may we keep this in remembrance
when we're going through a trial or suffering through a situation,
and it may be life, it may be health, it may be because of
our faith in Christ. May we be reminded of our oneness
with Christ. Our oneness with Him. He's the
head and we're the body. And the head feels what the body
goes through. What an intimate connection. You see how the vine and the
branches do? It's the same thing. We can look
at any tree out here and they have the same intimate connection.
They receive their life from the vine, from the trunk. And
it goes out to the branches and they have leaves and fruit. It's
incredible. It's right before us every day.
Every day. Oh, we derive all our strength
from Christ, don't we? In Him alone. All from Him. So let us be reminded of our
oneness with Christ as He is the head and we are the body.
Let us ponder this, beloved. When we suffer for His sake,
too, it proves that we are His. When we suffer for His sake,
it proves that we're His. Because if we weren't His, we
wouldn't be suffering. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
63, verses 8 and 9. The afflictions and the sufferings
prove our faith. And what do they do, beloved?
They prove our faith, right? Because we cling to Christ. We
don't run off. We cling to Him. Because He's
our strength. He's our hope. He's everything
for us. Look at this in Isaiah 63, verses
8 and 9. Isaiah 63, verses 8 and 9. The afflictions. And think of
this again. The afflictions and the sufferings prove our faith
as we cling to Christ. And we will go nowhere else.
Look at this. Verse 8. For He said, surely
they are My people. Oh, may we let that sink in,
eh? Surely, they are My people. Children that will not lie, so
He was their Savior. In all their afflictions, He
was afflicted. And the angel of His presence
saved them. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them. And He bared them and carried
them all the days of old." What a wonderful, merciful, loving
Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord.