I titled this message, Partakers
of the Afflictions of the Gospel. That's what Paul told Timothy.
He said, Be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel.
Everyone wants to be a partaker of the blessings, don't they?
Everyone wants to be a partaker of the blessings or what they
perceive to be blessings. going to heaven and all. I tell
you this, there is a partaking of the afflictions of the gospel. The gospel now, preached in its
truth, will bring afflictions. It will bring afflictions. You
know, when I first heard the gospel, and I'm sure it's probably
the way with many of you, I thought everyone would be glad to hear
it. When I first heard it, I remember
this just as clear, just like it just happened. When I first
heard it, I was excited. And I thought, I found something
out here. This is good news. And I thought
everyone would enjoy it. And I found out there was very
few that enjoyed it. Very few. You know, Saul of Tarsus
here, he finds out something here about the afflictions of
the gospel. You know, his life was pretty comfortable. until
God saved him. His life was comfortable. He
had no outward struggles and he had no inward struggles. Everything
was going along pretty good until God saved him. But God saved
that old Pharisee. On that road to Damascus, he
met the Lord Jesus Christ. He was arrested. The Lord arrested
him, as I said a couple of weeks ago. From that time on, always
said he was a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he arrested
him and he saved him. Saved him by his grace, revealed
the gospel to him. And shortly after that, he went
up to Arabia. Luke leaves that out here. Here
it says in verse 23, after many days were fulfilled, after three
years, after the Lord saved him, he went into Arabia and there
the Lord taught him the gospel. Let me show you that over in
Galatians chapter 1. Go over here in Galatians chapter 1. Paul says here in Galatians 1,
he says in verse 15, But when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem
to them which were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia, and
then after that, after three years, he returned again into
Damascus. He went to Arabia, and the Lord
Jesus Christ taught him the gospel. He received the gospel directly
from Christ. You and I received the gospel
by revelation of the Holy Spirit, and men preaching just like I'm
doing. But Paul received it directly
from the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he came back, and he
preached Christ to the Jews. He preached it there, and he
confounded them. He dumbfounded them with what
he did. They could not resist his wisdom and his knowledge
and his handling of the Scriptures, his rightly dividing the Word
of Truth. For the first time in his life,
he rightly divided the Word of Truth. And he confounded those
Jews, proving to them that this is the very Christ. This is the
one that we have been looking for. This is the Messiah. This is the Savior, and this
Jesus of Nazareth, He's the one. He's the one that the prophets
spoke of. He's the one that all the scriptures speak of. And
they hated Him for that. They hated Him for that. They
went about to try now and kill Him just as they killed our Lord,
slayed Him. Darkness, no matter where you
find it, always hates the light. Darkness always hates the light.
And I know this, if Paul found this out, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the gospel of God's glory, will always separate. It'll always separate. The gospel
that does not separate the sheep from the goats is not the gospel
of God. It'll separate the sheep from
the goat. A gospel that allows everyone to get along, it allows
everyone to join in, is not the gospel of God. It's not the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It separates. Paul said this
after he had believed the gospel, I am crucified unto the world
and the world is crucified to me now. It separates our affections. We don't love those things we
used to love. And we hate those things now that we used to love.
And we love those things we used to hate. It makes a separation. The scripture says, love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. The gospel
makes a separation. I'll tell you this, it does too.
It'll separate family and friends. I'm talking about worldly friends.
I'm talking about the friends of the world. Look over in Matthew
chapter 10. In Matthew chapter 10, Look in verse 34. See, here's a misconception that religion
has. Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's
foes shall be they of his own house. The Apostle Paul found
that out, didn't he? Those Jews were his family. Those
Jews were his friends. Those who wanted to kill him
were people he grew up with. These were people that he had
gone to the synagogue with. These were people he, as a Pharisee,
he had ran with. And they wanted to kill him now.
It's separated. It separates. It separates. Now, I tell you why it separates.
Here's one of the reasons why. It reveals. The gospel reveals
that all men are natural born liars. It reveals who we are. It reveals what we are. And that
offends man's thoughts of himself. The Jews were offended. They
were offended when they heard and they found out that they
were just as rotten as the Gentiles. That they need to be saved the
same way that the Gentiles. And that offended them. That
offended the way they thought of themselves. that they would
be saved the same way I'm saved, that offended Him. The preaching
of the gospel will bring out that natural enmity that is in
that old heart. It's there. It's there by nature.
It wasn't until Paul heard the gospel, you know, he heard Stephen. It wasn't until he heard the
gospel that his natural enmity against God came out. You could
have said to Paul, or Saul, when he was named Saul, you could
have said, Saul, you don't love God. You hate God. He would have
taken your head off. He would have defended you. But
when the gospel was preached, the gospel of God's glory, the
gospel that reveals God, that natural enmity came out. It came
out until God broke it. The preaching of the gospel will
bring the attacks of Satan in men. It'll bring him. Satan does
not like to lose his followers to God's glory. He doesn't like
to lose you to God's glory. Not at all. And men do not like
to lose their supporters. They don't want to lose their
supporters. And because of this gospel that is the glory of God,
God's chief glory, we who believe and preach it are going to suffer
some affliction for it. You can't have it and not suffer
affliction for it. The world as a whole is not happy
about what we are preaching. The world as a whole is not happy
about that gospel that gives God all the glory, that lifts
Jesus Christ up above all. The world is not happy about
that, not at all. Natural men are not happy to
hear the truth. They'd rather hear a lie. They're
not happy about hearing the truth. False religion is not happy about
hearing the truth, not at all. And those who believe it, those
who preach it, are going to suffer affliction for it. That's what
he said over here in verse 16 of that same chapter. Ananias
said to him, for I will show him, this is what the Lord said
to Ananias, for I will show him how great things he must suffer
for my name's sake. And now it's starting to happen.
Paul's now starting to experience this. But before I get into saying
something about the afflictions of the gospel, I could not help
but go back, and I kept thinking about the sufferings and the
afflictions that the Lord Jesus Christ went through to save us. What He endured to save us. I was going to... I started,
when I started out with this message, A couple of days ago,
I put here Paul's pattern for suffering. But really, Christ
is. Christ is. Look over in 1 Peter
2. Let's go to the perfect pattern. 1 Peter 2. Our Lord, He's the perfect example.
In 1 Peter 2, it says in verse 21, I think it is. Yeah, for even, he says here,
let's read verse 20, for what glory is it if when you be buffeted
for your fault, you shall take it patiently? But if when you
do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable
with God. For even here unto were you called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that ye should follow his steps. So really, he's the best example
to use. He's the best example. I know
this. I know that all his sufferings
were appointed. They were all appointed of God.
He said several times in the Gospels, the Son of Man must
suffer. He must suffer. There's no way
around it. He must suffer. It's ordained
of God. He said it over here in Acts chapter 4, just back
a few pages here. We saw this here a few weeks
ago. In Acts chapter 4, in verse 26, It said, The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ, for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined afore
to be done." All his afflictions and all his sufferings were determined. before he ever came into this
world, every once in a while. And I thought, as I was reading
this, in the beginning of his sufferings, he suffered himself
to be made flesh. I cannot think of anything that
I could be made that would be even as condescending as God
being made flesh. as the Son of God, in all his
glory, in who he is, was made flesh. He suffered himself to
be made flesh, and in suffering himself to be made flesh, he
suffered all that came with the flesh, all that came with us,
all of us. He suffered the rejection and
insults of men. They said this to him. This is
God they were talking to. He's a blasphemer. He's a blasphemer. He's a wise beaver. He's a gluttonous
man. He was misunderstood and the
most unappreciated person that ever walked on this earth. I'll
tell you this, he felt the insults. Don't think because he's God,
they say, well, he's God, he doesn't feel like it. He felt
it. In fact, I think he felt it much more because he's perfect.
He was perfect. He knew it, he felt it. Then
he suffered the injustice at the hands of men. When they put
him on trial, they lied on him. They told lies on him. It says
in Isaiah 53, his judgment was taken away. They lied on him. And then he suffered the full
attack of Satan. When he went into the wilderness
and had temptation in the wilderness, he suffered. The full attack
of Satan. We've never suffered that. We've
never suffered the full attack. Even with Job, God said, argue
but don't touch his life. He put boundaries. Christ suffered
the full attack of Satan himself. And then he suffered abandonment
by his God. That's something no believer
will ever have to cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Why art thou so far from the words of my glory?" He suffered
God, his God, forsaking him. You know what hell is? Being forsaken of God. Totally
forsaken of God. And he suffered himself. This
is the one who's perfect. This is the one who knew no sin. This is the Lamb of God. He suffered
himself to be made sin. I can't comprehend, can't even
come close to comprehending what that is. He who knew no sin was
made to be sin for us. He suffered himself to be made
sin. And he suffered the full wrath
of God against sin. I mean, he suffered to the last
degree, God's hatred and anger against sin. He suffered. Look over in 1 Peter 3. In 1 Peter 3, verse 18. Let's
see if I've got the right one. Verse 3, 18, For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, be put to death in the flesh, and
be quickened by the Spirit. But he suffered for our sins,
and was put to death, it says, in the flesh. He knew suffering. Our Lord knew suffering. Because
he knew us, because of his relationship to
us, that's why he knew suffering. And here's his purpose. There's
a purpose in his suffering, a real purpose in his suffering, that
he might purge us from our sins, that he might cleanse us, that
he might present us before God spotless and holy and without
sin. That's why he's a sinner. He
took everything that we deserved, his people, who were sinners,
who were sinners. He took everything that we deserved
so that he could give us everything that he deserves. Everything
that you and I, who believe God, will ever enjoy in this life
and in the lives to come is everything that he deserved. He deserved. He deserved all the blessings
of God, and we have all the blessings of God because of our union to
Him. All of God's favor and blessing
comes to us through our connection, our union to His Son. Just like
the vine receives all of its strength and all of its nourishment,
and everything that it needs to grow and be healthy and bear
fruit, it gets from the vine. And everything that we need,
we have in Christ. We have in Him. suffered, suffered
for us. As I read there in 1 Peter, he
suffered the just, the justice of God. He suffered the just
wrath of God for the unjust that he might bring us to God. And
he suffered these things so that God could be a just God and a
Savior, that God could be who he is. and have anything to do
with rebels, with sinners. That's why he did it. Here's
why he did it. Here's why he suffered, and here's
what comes of it. That he could make us trophies
of his grace. That we could be displayed throughout
eternity as trophies of God's grace. That's why. And here's
the results of his suffering. The people for whom he suffered
shall not suffer. We shall not suffer, listen,
the wrath of God. Now, we're going to suffer in
this life. There is no belief in the gospel. These preachers
in our day, these false preachers, they sold a bad bill of goods.
They're trying to make people think that if you're suffering,
it's because you're not living right. Actually, if you're living
right, That's when you're going to suffer. It's the reverse. It really is. It's really the
reverse. He that is godly in this world shall suffer, he says,
persecution. They got twisted. But we will
not. We will not suffer the wrath
of God Almighty. We will not suffer the eternal
vengeance of God that will never be abated. Never. Here's another
result. He has purged us from our sins
through His sufferings and death. He has purged us and presented
us faultless. Not just going to, but He has. Right now, in God's sight, every
one of His people, from beginning to end, are faultless in His
sight. Now, one day we're going to get
to experience that, but they are faultless in His sight. It
says in Romans 8-1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. And then this, we have a high priest.
We now have a high priest that can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. Aaron couldn't be touched with
the feelings of all the infirmities of the people that came to him.
You know, there's a lot of things that you've experienced that
I haven't experienced that I can't really be touched with. I can
sympathize to a point. But Christ, he's touched. Turn over to Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63. He's touched with the feelings
of our infirmity. In verse eight, for he said,
surely they are my people, children that will not lie. So he was
their Savior. Listen in verse nine. In all
their affliction, he was afflicted. In all their affliction, he was
afflicted. He knows. He knows. There's not
an affliction that we'll have that he doesn't know. He suffered. Oh, he suffered. But I'll tell
you this, his sufferings had a purpose. And it got results.
It got results. Now let me say a few things now
about our sufferings. Our particular afflictions of
the gospel. Now I know this. Not all suffering is for Christ's
sake. Not all of it. A man that is born of a woman
is a few days in full of trouble. Everybody has trouble. Everybody
has some suffering they have to do. A man is born to trouble,
the Scripture says, and the sparks fly upward. This life is full
of trouble. But I know this, there is an
affliction and suffering that goes with being joined to Christ.
He said, if they hate me, they'll hate you too. They'll hate you
also. But I know this, in light of
his sufferings, in light of what I've just said, and I just scratched
the surface, just scratched the surface, ours are but light afflictions. Our sufferings are really but
light afflictions. They don't feel like it. I'm
not saying they feel like it. But in comparison to them, they
are light afflictions. Our sufferings are measured out.
We have our sufferings in a measure. His sufferings was a full force. He suffered fully. We get it
in a measure, and the Lord puts a check on it. He had it fully. Paul said this over in 2 Corinthians. Over in 2 Corinthians 4, Paul
said this. In 2 Corinthians 4 and verse
16, he said, For which cause we think not, but though our
outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For
our light afflictions, that's the way Paul calls it, our light
suffering, which is but for a moment, it doesn't seem like it, a moment
seems like forever sometimes, worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal." But he says they're just light afflictions
compared to that eternal weight of glory, compared to that. But
we do have some suffering. We do have affliction to go with
it. As our Lord was misunderstood, and as he was mistreated, even
so shall his people be the same. It'll happen. It'll happen. Look
over in verse six. Let me see here. Verse 26 here
in Acts 9. And when Saul, you know, Saul
had suffered at the hands of the Jews, they wanted to kill
him. And when Saul was coming to Jerusalem, he was saying to
join himself to the disciples. He went up to join the church
there. But they were afraid of him and believed not that he
was a disciple. They didn't want anything to
do with him. The Jews ran him off, and when he went up there,
they didn't want nothing to do with him until Barbara stepped
in. And I tell you what, we misunderstood. You ever been misunderstood?
You ever had something you said turned and twisted? We'll also suffer the hatred
of men for the gospel. It'll happen. If we're true to
the gospel now, if we're true to the gospel, you'll suffer
the hatred of men. Our Lord said this, if they hated
me, they will hate you also. They won't love you either. If
they didn't love me, they won't love you. And we should not be
surprised or, listen, offended when this happens. We should
not be surprised or offended when people turn from us and
people reject us. We shouldn't be. Look over at
Matthew 11. In Matthew chapter 11, listen to this. In verse 1, And it came to pass when Jesus
had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed
thence to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John,
that is, John the Baptist, had heard in prison the works of
Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he
that should come, or do we look for another? Should we look for
another one? Are you the Messiah? Are you
the one that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus
answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those
things which you do here, and say, Show him to him again, tell
him again, tell him one more time. The blind receive their
sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached
to them. And listen, And blessed is he whosoever shall not be
offended in me." And these things happen. He says,
blessed is that one who is not offended in me over these things. They're going to happen. That's
why Paul told Timothy, Timothy, be not ashamed of me, be not
ashamed of the gospel, and be partaker of the affliction of
the gospel. Don't back off from it. Don't
back off from it. Affliction comes with it. I'll
tell you this, we suffer loss. We suffer loss. We cannot have
the love of the Father and the love of the world at the same
time. One of them has got to go. One of them has to go. He that loves, he also said this,
he that loves mother, father, sister, brother more than me,
he says he's not worthy of me. He told that rich young ruler,
go sell all you have and follow me. Sell everything you have and
follow me. Our Lord said this to those who
would follow Him, to those who would listen to Him. You know,
today they'd get everybody to join up. Our Lord said this,
count the cost. He said, count the cost. There's
a cost to this. It'll cost you your life. He
that saves his life shall lose it. He that loses his life for
my sake shall find it. Count the cost. It'll cost you
your life, your earthly life. It'll cost you your ambition.
It'll cost you your self-glory. It'll cost you your life. That's
what it'll cost you. If you try to save your life,
he said, you'll lose it. And then there's an inward suffering,
and I think that's where probably most of it goes on, that inward
warfare. I never knew it until I heard
the gospel. I never had an inward struggle,
an inward fight, until I heard and believed the gospel. Never. A war is raging in every believer
because of Christ in you. That's why. Look over in Romans
7. Romans chapter 7. In Romans chapter 7. Paul says here in verse 15, "'For
that which I do, I allow not. But what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If
then I do that which I would not, I consider it to the law
that is good. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me.'" You find this struggle. It's a very real struggle, isn't
it? But how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the
good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. It's a struggle. For I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law of
my members. What's it doing? Warring, daily warring against
the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin and death, to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man! When did Paul say that? After
God saved him. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then he gives
us the answer. I thank God. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord, I too. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Oh, there is an inward suffering
and war that goes on continually in the heart and in their belief. But there's a purpose to it.
There's a purpose to it. First of all, it's for God's
glory. That's what can be said first.
It is for God's glory. Everything that we endure, everything
that comes our way is for God's glory, no matter what it is. That we would know something
of the depth of God's love and grace for us in Christ. That it would be for the good
of the body of Christ. This suffering, even if I knew
it as an individual, it's good for the whole body of Christ.
Our Lord said this in John 15, over here in John chapter 15. Look at this. It makes us bear
more fruit. This thing of suffering because
of our connection to Christ, the vine, makes us bear more
fruit. He says, I am the vine and my
Father is the husband. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit,
listen, he purged it. You ever seen anybody prune a
tree or prune a grapevine? They cut it back and look like
it's dead. And he does this, that it bears more fruit. He
does it as individuals, and he does it as a church, that it
bears more fruit. And then it teaches us, and nothing
teaches us like this, how frail we are. How frail we are and
how strong and how powerful His grace and Spirit is within us.
That's what it teaches us. Our Lord said this, without me,
you can do nothing. You can do nothing. And we learn
that. And then to help encourage others in suffering the same
things. Look over at 2 Corinthians. Over here in 2 Corinthians, chapter
1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, our sufferings
help others to endure the same things. Paul says in verse 6,
and whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and
salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings,
enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Whether
we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. It
helps others endure it. It helps others. Brothers born
for adversity. That's what we are, brothers
born for adversity. James, in the book of James,
he said, now take the prophet as an example for suffering and
patience. He said, look at them, look at
what they suffered. Take them as an example and follow them.
And here's a note of encouragement to them. All our afflictions,
all our sufferings that come our way, are afforded by our
Heavenly Father, and they have an end, just like all Christ's
sufferings had an end. Ours has an end, too. Now, what
did Paul learn from these sufferings, and what do we learn from them?
The one thing that came to my mind when I was reading this,
and I was thinking about what we learned through these, and
I've given you some of them, I think one of the greatest things
we learned is over here in Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter 4, look at
verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned. This takes something that we
have to learn. This is something we have to learn. In whatsoever
state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be evased
and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. Also, that's why I've learned
to be content. I have learned in whatsoever state I am through
these sufferings and through these things I've had to endure
to be content. Content. We learn, here's what
we learn, that if we have Christ, We have enough. If I have Christ,
if I'm in Him, if I'm joined to Him, I have enough. No matter what state I'm in.
Paul knew that. Paul learned that. And we learned
that. I have enough. We learn to set
our affection on things above and not on the things of this
earth. We learn that. And we learn this, that God is
faithful who will deliver us. God is faithful. The scripture
teaches us that God will, with the temptation, make a way out.
Why don't you look in verse 23, back in chapter 9, verse 23. It says there, and after that
many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.
But their laying awake was known as song, and they watched the
gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by
night and led him down by the wall in a basket. God used a
simple basket to deliver Paul from their elaborate plan of
killing him. But God, with that intention,
he made a way out. They took a basket and led him
down by the wall. And they're all out there. They laid out
this elaborate plan that they were going to get a hold of him.
There he slips away in the night. He went up to, it says in verse
28, and he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem,
and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. There's what
these sufferings will help us do too. This is what they also
teach us. They wean us, first of all, from
the fear of men, and they enable us to speak boldly in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should never fear man. The
fear of man bringeth a snare. And if you fear man, I heard
Paul say this in a message the other day, Paul Mahan. He was
quoting that verse. He said, if you fear man, then
you'll fear everything else. Once you do not fear God, your
fear becomes that of a man. You will fear everything else.
Everything comes along, you'll be afraid of it. But if we fear
God, We fear God, we won't fear man. And if we suffer the loss
of all things in our hearts, and count them but done, and
Christ is all, then we'll speak boldly. And these things won't
matter. These things won't matter. And
it says in verse 31, and I quit. And the church had rest. The
church had rest. One of the reasons is God saved
that one who was causing him all the trouble. Paul was causing
all this persecution and all this. He was wasting the church
and he was going from town to town and God saved him. And the
church had rest. He had rest. There's an end to
all our sufferings. There's an end to them. Let us
trust our Lord to deliver us from every trouble and every
trial and help us suffer graciously for his name's sake." Listen,
to be counted worthy. The Scripture says to be counted
worthy, worthy to suffer for Him. That's why in Acts 5, they
rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Him. I want
to close with reading Revelations, chapter 7. Revelations, chapter 7. In verse thirteen, And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and which came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night
in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes." They won't suffer no more. They'll not suffer anymore. There's
suffering that goes. There's an affliction that goes
with the gospel, being true to the gospel. But there's an end
to them also. There's an end. Okay, bye.