Lord Jesus, we seek Thy face. We bow before Thee. May Thy glory fill this place.
Lord, there is nothing we covet more than Thine own glory. Thy presence with us is our joy, our comfort, and our satisfaction.
We do pray that this night, as we gather together here unto Thee, Thou wilt be free to be present with us and bless us with Thyself. We do commit this hour into Thy hand.
Lord, to whom shall we turn? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We do fix our eyes upon Thee. We do pray that, as we gaze upon Thee, may Thy Spirit transform us from glory to glory and conform us to Thy image. We ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, may I have an anticipation as to what we will have tonight? We sing of glory. We pray for glory. And if you read the letter to the Ephesians, aside from the word grace, probably you will find that the word glory is used many times.
To my count, it is used eight times; and if you include “the glorious church,” it is nine times. But, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord seems to reserve that for the future. It is my hope that my brothers will tell us of the riches of His glory.
Instead of that, it seems as if the Lord put upon my heart something that seems to us the very opposite of glory—and that is suffering.
To our natural mind, glory and suffering stand at the two extremes. If it is glory, then there is no suffering: no pain, no tears, no sorrow, no death. If it is suffering—pain, sorrow, tears, even death—now where is the glory?
But somehow, the Lord seemed to put upon my heart this matter: the unsearchable riches of His sufferings.
Let us turn to a few places in the Word of God.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles—
Wherefore I ask that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.
—Ephesians 3:1, 13
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.
—Acts 9:15-16
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;
pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair;
pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed;
always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
—2 Corinthians 4:7-12
Wherefore we faint not: but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.
—2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labours more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep;
in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness.
—2 Corinthians 11:23-30
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part in my flesh that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church.
—Colossians 1:24
Dear brothers and sisters, we often think of suffering as a misfortune. It speaks of pain, distress, and sorrow. We think it is an unnecessary thing in life. We think it is very negative in nature. We try to avoid it, and if we can, we try to escape from it.
Very often, we find people asking this question: “Why is there so much suffering in this world? Why is it that God allows so much suffering in this world? Is God a God of compassion, a God of love? And if so, why does He allow such suffering upon this earth?”
We can understand a little bit when we suffer because we have sinned. We always connect suffering with sin. The world must suffer because it has sinned. We must suffer because we have sinned.
Once, our Lord Jesus passed by with His disciples, and they saw a man born blind. I do not know how you feel, but somehow, when I see a blind man, to me I feel that is the worst thing imaginable.
The disciples asked the Lord, “Whose sin is it? Did this man sin, or did his parents sin?” We connect suffering with sin and violation. We can see the reason for suffering if it is because of sin. Whenever we see suffering, immediately we try to trace it back to someone’s sin.
And yet, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus so surprised the disciples—and even to this very day He surprises us. He said, “It is neither this man nor his parents, but it is for the glory of God.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we never relate suffering to glory. We put suffering in the same category as sin; that is where we think it belongs. But somehow, our Lord Jesus has taken suffering out of that association and put it with something that seems to us contrary to the nature of suffering—which is glory. The Lord connects them together.
Dear brothers and sisters, who does not love glory? Not to speak of the eternal glory, the glory that is ahead—even some kind of glory on this earth. How we seek after it. We all love glory.
But, dear brothers and sisters, in our minds we never connect glory with suffering. We want glory, but we do not want to suffer.
Is it not true in the days of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth? You remember that towards the end of His earthly journey, the Lord began to open up to His disciples—those who had followed Him for years, those who were very close to Him.
The Lord took them aside and opened His heart to them, telling them that He must go to Jerusalem, that there He would be rejected, that He would suffer, that He would be killed and die; but on the third day He would rise again.
You know what happened. When the Lord Jesus tried to tell His disciples that He was going to suffer, first of all Peter, with good intentions, laid hold of the Lord and rebuked Him.
Oh, brothers and sisters, dare you rebuke the Lord? We would not dare today, but Peter was a daring man. He dared to do anything. There he held the Lord, looked at Him, rebuked Him, and said, “Lord, not so. Be kind to Yourself. Do not invite suffering unnecessarily. You may go to the throne without going by the cross. You can have the kingdom without suffering. Do not be so foolish.”
And, dear brothers and sisters, you know the Lord’s reaction. It was most severe. Can you think of anything more severe than what the Lord said? The Lord turned around, looked at him, and said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.”
Dear brothers and sisters, in the mentality of Peter, he could never see glory and suffering together. If it was glory, there was no suffering. If there was suffering, there was not any glory.
It was true not only of Peter; it was true of the other disciples. Our Lord Jesus three times took them aside, opened His heart to them, and told them that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer, but that He would rise again. They never could understand.
They were too polite to contradict Him, because they saw what happened to Peter. Now, dear brothers and sisters, if you are a little more clever, then you can avoid many unpleasant things. They noticed what happened to Peter, so no one would try again.
But even though they did not try to contradict the Lord, what the Lord had said did not register in their minds. They kept on arguing about who would be the greatest. They were thinking of glory, and they tried to maneuver against each other.
Here you find the sons of thunder seeming to get ahead. They outmaneuvered the other disciples. Instead of coming to the Lord openly, they used their mother. They asked the Lord to promise them something—to do anything they would ask—unconditionally, without saying what it was.
They knew that there was something wrong behind their request. They knew the other disciples would not be happy with it, so they tried to get an unconditional promise first. Then they would say what they wanted.
The Lord said, “What would ye that I should do for you?” They said, “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand, in Thy glory.”
They were thinking that as our Lord went into Jerusalem, He was going to take the nation. He was going to be king. And they wanted that glory—one on the right and one on the left.
You know what our Lord Jesus answered? The Lord said, “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said, “We are able.” The Lord said, “The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on My right hand or on My left hand is not Mine to give; but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared.”
Dear brothers and sisters, again you find that our Lord Jesus connects suffering with glory.
What is the cup? You remember our Lord Jesus at midnight, in the darkest of the night. Darkness prevailed at that time. He entered into the garden of Gethsemane. He left the others and took three with Him. He begged them to stay with Him and watch with Him.
He was sorrowful in His spirit, even unto death. He went forward and poured out His soul before the Father. He prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup be removed from Me. Nevertheless, not according to My will, but according to Thy will.” Three times He prayed.
His perspiration came down as great drops. He was agonizing. An angel had to come and strengthen Him; otherwise, He would have died right there in the garden.
After three times, He came up, and Judas came with those who had come to seize Him. Peter drew out his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. The Lord Jesus said, “The cup which the Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?”
Here, brothers and sisters, what is the cup? Suffering—the denying of self, the holy suffering of accepting the Father’s will: not My will, but Thine.
And what is the baptism with which He was to be baptized? The cross.
You remember once our Lord Jesus told His disciples, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” He felt pressed, imprisoned, shut in. Oh, He longed for that release, for that liberty; but He was pressed and shut in.
The Lord said, “I am looking forward to that day when I shall be baptized, and then I am released.” Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord connects suffering with glory.
That brings us to something, brothers and sisters. Paul discovered the unsearchable riches of the sufferings of Christ.
It is impossible for me to tell you the unsearchable riches of the sufferings of Christ. It is impossible. But by God’s grace, we would like to fellowship with Paul in his understanding of the sufferings of Christ.
For the sake of clarity, we will just concentrate on the suffering of the cross. Of course, there is much more, much more; but we will concentrate on that.
Dear brothers and sisters, we know that Christ suffered on Calvary’s cross. We remember how, at midday, the sun hid itself. Darkness prevailed over the whole land. There our Lord Jesus hung upon the cross, and He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
There the prophet prophesied:
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.
—Isaiah 53:5
For He was cut off out of the land of the living:
for the transgression of My people to whom the stroke was due.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief.
—Isaiah 53:8, 10
Dear brothers and sisters, who can understand the sufferings of Christ? Who can understand that time while He was on the cross, becoming the sin offering of the world?
God made Him, Who knew no sin, to be sin for us. There the hand of the Lord was heavy upon Him. He was crushed to death. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
On the cross, He tasted eternal death for you and for me. He suffered to atone for our sins. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, we can never understand that. We can never fathom the depth of His suffering on Calvary’s cross to atone for us.
Think of it. Our sins—the things that we have committed—He suffered for. And He suffered in such a way that He was made a curse by God.
Is there anyone here tonight who does not know that Christ has died for your sins? Is there anyone here who is still struggling, who does not know Him? Remember: He has died for your sake. Oh, how He suffered!
Why did He suffer for you? That you need not suffer eternal separation from the living God.
Dear brothers and sisters, the suffering of Christ is unique. There is no one in this universe who has ever suffered that kind of suffering. He trod the winepress alone, all by Himself.
It is not that He suffered for your sin and then you suffer too, and when you add up the suffering, your sin is atoned. The suffering of Christ on the cross for our sin is unique.
He was alone there, bearing total darkness. He was alone before God, bearing the sins of this world. And thank God, because He has suffered our sin, you need not suffer for your sin. You need not die. You need not be eternally separated from the living God.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, how we do thank the Lord for that atoning suffering. This suffering is not something that we can share. This suffering is something that we can only receive and accept with grace.
But, dear brothers and sisters, there is another side of suffering. He suffered on the cross not only for atoning our sins. He suffered and He died in order that He might give life to us.
In the same prophecy of Isaiah, you may see:
When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.
—Isaiah 53:10-11
Dear brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus suffered on the cross, on the one hand He suffered for us—for atonement. On the other hand, He suffered the death of the cross in order to release life, to give life to us: a body, a bride, for Himself.
This afternoon, while we were talking, a question was raised—not exactly a question, but talking is the same as asking a question. Must Christ suffer if mankind had never fallen?
Of course, it is a supposition. Historically, it did not happen that way. But suppose Adam had not fallen: must God send His Son to die and suffer for us?
Our brother has mentioned before that redemption actually is a remedy. In the original plan of God, in the original thought of God, what God had in mind before the foundation of the world was not that man should fall.
It is not as if, if man does not fall, then God has nothing to do, as though God were at a loss. No, dear brothers and sisters. Even if man had never fallen, God had already provided. But that is not the original thought of God, the divine intention of God.
In the divine purpose of God, God would create a vessel, and God would give His life to that vessel. By giving His life to that vessel, that vessel would be joined to Himself. Life giving, life union—this is His purpose.
Dear brothers and sisters, we find something of a type in the first Adam as a type of the last Adam. We find in Genesis 2 that God created man according to His image and after His own likeness.
After He had created Adam, God said that it was not good for man to be alone; he needed a helpmeet.
You all remember that story. God put Adam to sleep, and out of his side God took a rib and built a woman. The word there is literally “built,” as when you build a house. God built a woman with that rib, and then God brought the woman to Adam.
Adam said:
This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.
—Genesis 2:23
Now, brothers and sisters, this happened before man ever fell.
The sufferings of Christ at least tell us two truths. One is the more negative side—that is, the atoning side. He had to suffer for our sins in order to atone for us. But that is negative because sin came in afterward.
But, dear brothers and sisters, there is that positive side of His suffering. He suffered; He died; and He was typified by Adam, who was put to sleep. Why? That out of His side something might be taken out and built into His bride.
The Bible says Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.
Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
—John 12:24
As you read the Word of God, you find that there is a side of His suffering which has nothing to do with sin. The matter of sin does not come in at all. There is a side of His suffering which is related to life-giving and life.
Out of that suffering, dear brothers and sisters, His life is poured out and released. He desires a mystical body to be joined to Him as one.
There are many sisters here who have children. You have gone through such suffering. You have gone through the travail of childbirth.
Not to be unjust or unfair to the brothers, the husbands—some say that a husband goes through the travail even more than the wife. There seems to be some reason to say that. Anyway, you find that in order to give birth to a child, there must be suffering.
And the suffering is a suffering of death. When the mother goes through the travail, how she hopes that this thing would never happen. It tastes like death to her. She goes through pain, distress, struggling, as if dying.
But out of the travail comes a beautiful baby. And because she has gone through all the suffering, she rejoices in the child.
Brothers and sisters, the sufferings of Christ for the giving birth of His church are something beyond our understanding. The illustration we use is only a little attempt to help us understand, but it cannot be compared with the suffering of Christ.
He suffered in order to give birth to His church. No wonder He loves His church, because it is the child of His travail.
In Philippians 3, our brother has mentioned the one passion of Paul: to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Why is it?
I do not know how to explain it. I hope, by the mercy of God, I can at least express a little bit, but I know it is beyond me.
Brothers and sisters, the atoning suffering of Christ is something purely for us to enjoy and enter into. We cannot share with Him in that suffering. He suffered alone for us. We come into the good of that suffering, and that is all.
Do not think that you can suffer to atone for the sins of the world. Recently, I met a young man, and we had a talk together. He told me that he must suffer. Why? Because he must suffer to atone for the sins of the world.
So he had determined that he would take off some years, join a certain order, and go somewhere to suffer in order to atone for the sins of the world.
Dear brothers and sisters, that is the theory of Buddhism. But certainly it is not in the Word of God. Christ alone can atone. He alone suffered to atone for the sins of the world. Praise Him!
But, dear brothers and sisters, Paul said, “the fellowship of His sufferings.” To share in His sufferings—what does he mean?
It cannot be the atoning suffering of Christ. But can it be the life-pouring-out suffering of Christ? Let me explain.
Of course, no one can give life to others. The only thing we can do is to be the channel of His life. There is only one Life that is life: Christ. He is life.
Brothers and sisters, His life is in you and in me. Is it not the will of God that, through Christ in us, we should not imprison Him? We should not try to live in comfort and ease. We should not try to seek our own interests. We should not dare to live our own lives.
But for the sake of the release of Christ in us and through us, we must be willing to suffer with Him.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, there you find in 2 Corinthians 4—as our brother has already explained—that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. We are but earthen vessels, clay pots, but we have this treasure in us: Christ, life in us.
What is the purpose of putting this treasure in an earthen vessel? What does He want to do? If you have a treasure, you would not put it in an earthen vessel. You would put it in something more noble. Why, then, is the treasure put in earthen vessels?
It is so that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from us. In other words, the treasure in the earthen vessel is for the sake of showing forth the power of the treasure.
The treasure is in the vessel. Even though it shines, even though it is brilliant, yet it is covered. It is unknown and invisible.
But if the earthen vessel is cracked and broken, then the light of the treasure shines forth. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the fellowship of His sufferings.
Dear brothers and sisters, this outward man of ours needs to be consumed, that the inward man may be renewed day by day.
The inward man is in the spirit. The outward man is ourselves in the soul.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, how we love the outward man. In our eyes, these are not earthen vessels. In our eyes, these are alabaster vessels. How we love to preserve ourselves. Oh, we love to see our integrity, our perfectness.
How we try to strengthen ourselves, to make ourselves more beautiful. How we love to be admired and appreciated.
But, dear brothers and sisters, if we do not suffer with Him, if we do not bear in our body the dying of Jesus, the life of Jesus cannot be manifested in a fuller measure.
Why do so many dear children of God ask this question? Before you believed in the Lord Jesus, you may have suffered something, and you saw the reason for it and accepted it. But after you are saved, you think that now surely you shall live in glory and there will be no more suffering.
But, dear brothers and sisters, if you do not love Him, you can avoid much better. If you love the Lord, the more you love the Lord, it seems as if the more you suffer. Can you explain that?
Many strange things come to you—unexpected things. You would expect those things to happen to people who are not believers, people who are sinful and imbalanced. You do not expect these things to happen to those who love Him. But instead, strange things happen to you who love Him.
When these sufferings come to you, what is your reaction? “Have I sinned? I must have sinned.” Oh, your best friends will come and try to comfort you and say, “Confess your sin, and you will be all right.”
Dear brothers and sisters, suffering seems so unreasonable and meaningless. Do you know? You suffer for Jesus’ sake. You suffer for the body’s sake.
God, in His wisdom, by His Spirit, orders your life. You may think our Christian life is a life of smooth sailing, but you find yourself surrounded on all sides.
You may think your Christian life is a highway, but you find yourself shaken. You may think your Christian life is a life of power and strength, but you find that you are knocked down.
Dear brothers and sisters, you will find in your Christian life many things strange, unexplainable, and unreasonable. How we desire to reason with the Lord. You are not the only one; Job did that long ago.
“Why? Why, sir? Why this sickness? Why the infirmity? Why this loss? Why these other unexplainable things? Why?”
The only reason is that the outward man may be consumed, the shell may be broken, there may be cracks and wounds opened, so that the life of Christ may be manifested—not only to you, but as life to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the only way.
Paul rejoiced in suffering. He was not a stoic. He knew pain. We have read 2 Corinthians 11. He gives a whole story of his sufferings, and while he was giving that story, he must have gone through all those things again in his heart.
He was a human being. He knew what suffering was. And yet he said, “I rejoice in sufferings.” Why? “That I may fill up the tribulations, the sufferings of Christ.”
What? The sufferings of Christ are not complete? It is contrary to that. But in another sense, they need to be filled up for the church, which is His body.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord loved His church. The church is born, and He desires that the body should be full. The church shall be a glorious church, full of life. How? He is using you and me.
And He said to Paul, “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Brothers and sisters, He has called us into fellowship.
Are we so selfish that if it does not bring anything to us, we will refuse the cross? Are you ready, by His grace, to offer yourself to Him and say, “Lord, if it is Thy will, if Thou dost desire that I must suffer, I will bear in my body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may work in others, that the body may be full and fulfilled. Lord, I will.”
As our brother said, if you do not know the power of His resurrection, you will not be able to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. You cannot.
It is the new life in you that demands that you suffer. Otherwise, you will be straitened; you will be confined. Oh, brothers and sisters, we need a release—a release of the life of Christ in us. And that release comes from suffering.
I am not speaking only of outward suffering. Of course, there is that side; but there is an inward side. Brothers and sisters, we are called into the sufferings of Christ—the fellowship of His sufferings.
Can it be that this is the reason why the children of God in this world suffer so much? Sometimes we wonder why. Sometimes we think it is a waste. But, dear brothers and sisters, can it be that it is the filling up of the sufferings of Christ for the body’s sake?
May the Lord make us aware. Let us pray.
Our heavenly Father, we do marvel at the depth of the sufferings of Christ. Oh, how we enjoy the atoning suffering of our Lord.
How we praise and thank Thee that our sins are forgiven because He has suffered for us. Lord, we praise and thank Thee that Thou didst suffer in order to give life to Thy church, to make Thy church Thine own.
O Lord, can we love Thy church with Thee and love ourselves no more? We do pray that the love of Christ may so fill our hearts that we may know the fellowship of His sufferings for the body’s sake.
O Lord, grant, in Thy mercy, we ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus and for His glory. Amen.