Colossians 1:24-27

Please join me in turning your copy of God's Word to Paul's letter to the Colossians.

Our text for today is Colossians 1-24.

But before we get there, I want to catch you up to where we've been just beginning at verse 15 and working our way up to verse 23.

Two weeks ago, we looked at this great cosmic Christological hymn found in verses 15-20 which reads,

He, being Jesus Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by Him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

And He is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace by the blood of the cross.

And we saw that Jesus Christ is supreme in a number of different ways.

But finally, the fourth way in which He is supreme is that He has made a way of reconciliation by the cross.

And we talked about that at greater length last week, verses 21-23.

Stating the condition that all of humanity finds themselves in apart from Christ,

and the way in which we are once enemies of God, but made friends with God.

Verse 21 reads,

And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

He is now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death,

in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.

If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast,

not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,

which had been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,

and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

So you see there in verse 23, Paul has this ministry now of reconciliation,

as do we all.

And now we find in the next four verses,

verses 24-27, a bit of a fleshing out of that very ministry.

So I want us to see today the aim of Paul's ministry,

and also the means of Paul's ministry.

And I'm front-loading you here, and I'm aware of this,

but the means of Paul's ministry is suffering.

The means of Paul's ministry is suffering.

And this is such a weighty topic.

There's so much to this.

And I feel this week that I've been rushed right into the midst of something

that I can't possibly unravel in the next 30-45 minutes.

There's a great breadth of teaching in the Scripture concerning suffering.

Today's sermon will be just a small piece of the pie.

My head is a jumbled mess,

and my heart is wrestling still with the implications of such teaching.

Specifically, what does it mean for me?

For my life?

And specifically, what does it mean for the life of our church?

There's so much here.

In this example of Paul's ministry,

the means by which he is carrying out this ministry of reconciliation.

And it's very easy for us to just run past this type of teaching.

Give it a little wave or a tip of the hat as we go by.

Sure, suffering, yeah, doctrine about that.

We get it.

When that's a reality someday for us,

we'll have the knowledge to deal with it.

And we fail to really engage it.

To really work out its meaning

and all of its subsequent requirements of our life.

So I want to invite you to do that with me today.

To encourage you that sitting here for this bit of time

and thinking about these things while I'm talking about it

is not nearly enough.

But you need to go from this place and continue conversations.

You need to wrestle with it in your own heart.

You need to go back and read and re-read and re-read

and allow it to read you this particular text.

And so I read, beginning in verse 24.

Paul writes,

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.

And in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions

for the sake of His body, that is, the church.

Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God

that was given to me for you,

to make the Word of God fully known.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations,

but now revealed to a saint.

To them God chose to make known

how great among the Gentiles

are the riches of the glory of this mystery,

which is Christ in you,

the hope of glory.

This is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and our good.

And we would all do well this morning

to listen to it in order to believe its promises

and to obey its commands.

Firstly, let's see the aim of Paul's ministry.

Verse 25, 26, and 27.

I hope you'll allow me to work backwards

and that won't bother you too much.

What is the aim of Paul's ministry?

A couple of key phrases here

to make the Word of God fully known.

He talks about this mystery that's been hidden for generations.

And what he's talking about is the way in which

the Gospel of God was meant to come

and extend to the entire world.

Not just a salvation for Israel,

but to go much further beyond.

And the way in which that would happen

in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Verse 27,

To them God chose to make known

how great among the Gentiles

the saints get to know

this great work among the Gentiles,

the riches of His glory,

which is Christ in you.

The hope of glory.

This Gospel of reconciliation,

bringing people back into right relationship with God

that was intended from the very beginning

to extend to the nations.

The purpose of God in history

is that the Gospel of reconciliation

spread to all peoples of the world

and yield God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

This is the purpose of God in human history.

This redemptive story is about

spreading the Gospel of reconciliation

to all the peoples of the world

to yield God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

This was the promise of the Old Testament.

Psalm 22, verse 27 and 28.

Psalms 22:27

All the ends of the earth

shall remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord

and He rules over the nations.

This was the promise of Jesus

to His disciples.

Matthew 24, verse 14.

Matthew 24:14

And this Gospel of the Kingdom

will be proclaimed throughout the whole world

as a testimony to all nations.

And then the end will come.

This was the design of God in the cross.

As heaven's worship proclaims

in Revelation 5-9,

you were slain,

and by your blood you ransomed people

for God from every tribe

and language and people and nation.

This was the final command

of our risen Lord.

Matthew 28, 18-20.

All authority in heaven and on earth

has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples

of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you.

And behold,

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

This was the God-given aim

of Paul's apostleship.

Romans 1-5.

Through Christ we have received grace

and apostleship

to bring about the obedience of faith

for the sake of His name

among all the nations.

This was Paul's holy ambition.

It was rooted not just in a unique apostolic call

to Paul to go to the Gentiles,

but also in the Old Testament promise

that is still valid today.

Paul writes in Romans 15, 20-21,

citing from Isaiah 52-15,

I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel,

not where Christ has already been named,

lest I build on someone else's foundation,

but as it is written,

those who have never been told of Him will see,

and those who have never heard

will understand.

Also in Acts 13-47,

citing from Isaiah 42-6,

the Lord has commanded us, saying,

I have made you a light for the Gentiles

that you may bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.

This was the purpose of the sending

of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1-8.

You will receive power

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem

and in all Judea and Samaria

and to the end of the earth.

Again, the purpose of God in history

is that the Gospel of reconciliation,

the ability for people to be reconciled

to God through Christ,

be spread to all the peoples of the world

and yield God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

And this is the aim of Paul's ministry

as we see in those last three verses

of our text today,

25, 26, and 27.

This is the goal of his ministry,

that these peoples might know Christ,

the hope of glory.

Secondly, though,

what is the means of Paul's ministry?

What is the vehicle that carries along

this great, high, divine call

on Paul's life?

And this is where we'll spend

the rest of our time in v. 24,

where he says,

Now I rejoice in my sufferings

for your sake.

And in my flesh I am filling up

what is lacking in Christ's afflictions

for the sake of the body,

that is, the church.

So these two broadening objects

of his ministry.

The sake of the Colossian believers.

I rejoice in my suffering for your sake.

And all believers,

for the body of Christ,

the church.

He's speaking in large terms here.

The entirety of the church.

And in my flesh I am filling up

what is lacking in Christ's afflictions

for the sake of the body.

That is, the church.

The vehicle by which

his ministry is being carried along

is suffering.

It's very interesting, isn't it?

Very curious that we ought to really

stop and pay attention

to what's being said here.

If God's historical,

global purposes still stand,

which they do,

and we are part of that process,

now given as ministers of reconciliation,

we really need to look

at Paul's example

for the means by which

we are to carry the gospel

to the world.

The suffering of Paul

was not a consequence

of his ministry.

Some would look at it that way.

Here, the suffering he's referring to

is his imprisonment.

He is right now in prison

writing this letter.

Likely a Roman prison.

He's referring to that

specifically,

but it's not a consequence

of his ministry,

but rather

a strategy

of his ministry.

A God-given,

a divine

strategy

of his ministry.

Suffering was a primary means

by which Paul spread

the gospel of reconciliation

to all peoples of the world

in order to yield

God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

Hear me say that again.

Suffering

was a primary means,

not the only,

but a primary means

by which Paul spread

the gospel of reconciliation

to all the peoples of the world

in order to yield

God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

And nothing has changed.

If you believe that it has,

then you have failed

to believe the gospel rightly.

You have discarded

the sufficiency

of the Scriptures.

You think in some way

we live beyond this age.

That this wasn't really written

for us

as Americans.

But it was.

Let me assure you

of that.

This is the era

of much modern preaching.

And it is very Achan

to the prosperity gospel

which I hope all of you

reject fully.

Rather than saying

believe in Jesus

and He will make you

wealthy and healthy.

This type of teaching says

believe in Jesus

and you can keep your wealth

and your health.

You've already got it.

Just hang on to it.

Jesus is a little addition

to that.

Fire insurance policy.

Stick in your back pocket.

It also says

change isn't necessary

to follow Jesus.

Go about your life

as an American Christian.

It's fine and good.

Just add a little bit

of extra activity

and everything will be okay

in the end.

Beloved,

this is not the call

of the gospel.

And this is the great error

of our day.

It's cheap grace.

The gospel is a free gift to us,

but then it requires of us

our lives.

All of who we are.

Let's look at the call

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 8, 34 and 35.

If you've been with us,

you should be familiar with us.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever would save his life

will lose it.

But whoever loses his life

for my sake

and the gospels will save it.

The cross was not a beautiful thing.

The cross was not some little burden

you have to bear day to day.

The cross was a place of death.

The cross was a place of sacrifice.

The cross was a place

where we lay down everything

in order to gain Jesus.

Matthew 10, 16.

Jesus says,

Behold, I am sending you out

as sheep in the midst of wolves.

So be wise as serpent

and innocent as doves.

In Romans 8, 36,

Paul writes,

citing from Psalm 44, 22,

As it is written,

For your sake we are being killed

all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep

to be slaughtered.

Look at the portion granted

to those in Christ in 8, 35.

Proceeding this, Romans 8, 36.

Romans 8, 35.

Tribulation, distress,

persecution, famine,

nakedness, danger,

and sword.

Jesus goes on in Matthew 10, 17, and 18.

Beware of men,

for they will deliver you over

to courts and flog you

in their synagogues,

and you will be dragged

before governors and kings

for my sake.

Why?

At the end of verse 18.

To bear witness before them

and the Gentiles.

The very purposes of God

are being carried out

in the suffering

of His people.

Verse 24,

this phrase is so very,

very fascinating.

It should draw our attention.

In my flesh,

I am filling up

what is lacking

in Christ's afflictions.

It's an interesting phrasing,

is it not?

We must be very careful

at this point

to not think

that the affliction

of the saints

is somehow salvific.

That Christ's suffering

and death on the cross

wasn't enough

for the salvation of people,

and so we also

bring about redemptive work

in our suffering.

That there's somehow

some kind of holiness

propitiated to people

who believe

because of our suffering.

Right?

Our suffering has

nothing to do

with the remediation

of sin.

Christ's suffering

was sufficient

for that.

Turn to the book of Hebrews

with me,

beginning in chapter 7.

I'm having you turn here

because I really want you

to see this.

I can't rattle past this.

I know so often

I just spit Scripture

at you.

It's my hope

that you go back

and listen to a recording

or that you're taking

fast notes.

For the sake of time,

I try not to have you

turn everywhere we go.

But you need to see this.

The blood of Jesus Christ

was enough

to pay for the sins

of the church.

For all of those

who would believe in Him,

it was sufficient.

It was not lacking

in that sense.

Right?

Make sure you get this right.

Hebrews 7.27

He has no need,

Jesus,

has no need

like those high priests

to offer sacrifices daily.

First for His own sins

and then for those

of the people

since He did this

once for all

when He offered up Himself.

A completed work.

The temple sacrificial system

was an ongoing,

a constantly ongoing work

happening.

But Jesus Christ

accomplished this

once for all

when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9.12

Jesus entered once for all

into the holy places.

Not by means of the blood

of goats and calves,

but by means of His own blood.

Thus securing

an eternal redemption.

A completed work.

A final thing.

Once for all.

Hebrews 9.26

The second part of it.

Jesus has appeared

once for all

at the end of the ages

to put away sin

by the sacrifice

of Himself.

Hebrews 10.14

For by a single offering

Jesus has perfected

for all time

those who are being

sanctified.

Not sacrificed.

Those who are being

sanctified.

Those who have believed

in the work of Jesus Christ

on the cross

are saved

for all time.

Okay?

This message

is the thing

that we believe in.

It's the way

in which the Word

comes to us.

So do not be mistaken.

Jesus' sacrifice

was not lacking

in its power

to redeem the church

from its sin.

In no way

was it lacking for that.

Jesus' life and death

was fully sufficient

to save for all time

those who have placed

and will place

believing faith

in Him.

Accomplished work.

It is fully sufficient

for that.

So how then

are Christ's afflictions

lacking?

Because they seem to be

in some way, right?

Paul's saying that

he's filling up

what is lacking

in the afflictions

of Christ.

Let me read to you

a quote

from John Piper's

great book

he wrote called

Filling Up

the Afflictions of Christ

in which he wrote,

What is lacking

in the afflictions

of Christ

is not that they

are deficient

in worth

as though they

could not sufficiently

cover the sins

of all who believe.

What is lacking

is that the infinite

value of Christ's

afflictions

is not known

and trusted

in the world.

These afflictions

and what they mean

are still hidden

to most peoples.

And God's intention

is that the mystery

be revealed

to all nations

as I proved

to you previously.

So the afflictions

of Christ

are lacking

quote unquote

in the sense

that they are not

seen and known

and loved

among the nations.

So they must be

carried by us.

The afflictions

must be taken

by us

and put on display

by us.

And in so doing

we complete

what is lacking

in the afflictions

of Christ

by extending

them to others.

We put on display

what Christ

accomplished

accomplished

for those

who would believe

in His person

and His work.

A little help in this

for us

from a man named

Epaphroditus.

Those of you

who are part of

community outreach groups

you're meeting last week

you studied this.

If you'll turn to

Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

I'll show you quickly

the similar language

that Paul is using

to help us understand

what he means here.

I'm going to read

this for you quickly

just to set the stage

for you.

We're really trying

to get to verse 30

so hang with me

if it drives you crazy

I'd read fast

I apologize.

Philippians 2

Philippians 2:25

verse 25

I have thought it necessary

to send to you

Epaphroditus

my brother

and fellow worker

and fellow soldier

and your messenger

and minister to my need

for he has been longing

for you all

and has been distressed

because you heard

that he was ill

indeed he was ill

near to death

but God had mercy on him

and not only on him

but me also

lest I should have sorrow

upon sorrow

I am the more eager

to send him

therefore that you may rejoice

at seeing him again

and that I may be less anxious

so receive him in the Lord

with all joy

and honor such men

for he nearly died

for the work of Christ

risking his life

to complete

what was lacking

in your service

to me.

Okay so this man

named Epaphroditus

was sent by the Philippian believers

to bring some gift

money

food

books

something of that sort

to Paul

and on the journey there

it would seem

he became

really ill

almost to death

of interesting note

Epaphroditus

is really worried

about what they think

about that

not so much

about his physical state

God spares him

of that

and as Paul

is going to send him back

he's saying

honor this man

for the way

in which he has lived

for your sake

and he has come

he's almost died

risking his life

gone through some affliction

some suffering

risking his life

to complete

what was lacking

in your service

to me

and that is to say

that it would have been ideal

it would have been

most perfect

for the Philippians

themselves

to have been there

but instead

Epaphroditus

was sent

as an ambassador

he filled up

what was lacking

he himself

came

and presented it

before Paul

and it's the exact

same phrasing

the exact same

Greek phrase

that's used

in both places

to help us

understand this

so suffering

was a primary

means

by which

Paul spread

the gospel

of reconciliation

to all peoples

in the world

in order to yield

God-centered

Christ

exalting

churches

again

a divine

strategy

not merely

a consequence

this is the way

God

has worked

and is continuing

to work

in the world

in the advance

of his kingdom

Tertullian

who was a Christian

who lived from

about

AD 160

to about

AD 225

said of Roman

persecution

the oftener

we are mown

down by you

the more

in number

we grow

the blood

of Christians

is seed

the way

in which

the gospel

advanced

so very

rapidly

in the very

early days

of the church

was through

the persecution

of the church

it had

saving effect

not that it was

powerful for that

but people

looked at

a people

who were

so strange

who had

their gaze

so fixed

heavenward

who worshipped

God in such

a way

that even

to the point

of death

they remained

true

to him

this is a

phenomenal

thing

John Piper

adds to

Tertullian's

statement

for almost

300 years

Christians

grew in

soil

that was

wet

with the

blood

of martyrs

the suffering

of God's

saints

ought to

be the

norm

not the

exception

it ought

to be

the norm

not the

exception

it should

be

normative

not

exceptional

and it's

really difficult

to know

what this

may look

like

in our

American

setting

it's a

place where

praise God

our religious

freedoms are

protected

or at least

are supposed

to be

protected

we are

reaping the

benefit of

that now

getting to

drive onto

this property

with a

sign

kind of

and meeting

at a certain

time in a

very public

manner

the fact that

my preaching

will be

recorded and

posted online

I have no

fear of

somebody kicking

in my door

as a result

of this

we reap

benefit of

this type of

thing so it's

hard to know

exactly what

this is supposed

to look like

what does

persecution look

like for

the American

Christian

I'm not sure

I completely

know

this is where

my heart

is wrestling

and turning

over

I do

believe that

we're not

there though

maybe it's

just a bit

of discomfort

maybe just a

tiny bit of

derision

you may not

be the cool

person at

your work

or in your

class

but I think

there's got to

be more to

it than that

I wonder how

we would

respond

our church

how we would

respond

if there were

picketers at

the front of

our property

on a Sunday

morning

people with

signs

saying that

we're

hateful

or that

we're

evil

because we

pursue the

ways

of God

worse yet

what if there

were threats

made on our

lives

what if I got

an email

this past

week

that said

that those

who show

up to

this property

on this

day

will certainly

be killed

how do we

respond to

that type

of threat

would you

all gather

at dawn

in a secret

place

because you're

so hungry

for Christian

fellowship

and for the

word of God

preached

that you

would make

the effort

to do

that

you wouldn't

just show up

to church

when it's

convenient for

you

when there's

nothing else

going on

that weekend

you decide

to pop

in

would you

so desire

Christian

fellowship

to be part

of the

work

of the

kingdom

of God

that you

would

work hard

to get

enough rest

on Saturday

night

so you're

ready to

go

at the

very crack

of dawn

on Sunday

morning

rather than

just

incidentally

you happen

to get

enough sleep

that evening

would you

arrange your

week around

such activity

to get to

be with

the people

of God

to be

encouraged

by them

to go

back out

into a

world

that is

hostile

towards who

you are

and to

what you

believe

I hope

that you

can answer

with a

resounding

yes

it would

be foolish

for us

to meet

early

but if I

said

next week

we have

to

there's

no way

around

some

threat

that's

been

given

to

our

church

we have

to meet

at dawn

next week

that every

one of you

would be

there with

us

that all

of us

would boldly

proclaim

the gospel

come what

may

Paul writes

in 2nd

Timothy 3

12

let this

stick in

your mind

indeed

all who

desire to

live a

godly life

in Christ

Jesus

will

be

persecuted

not

maybe

but will

be

persecuted

it's not

something held

for a

select few

for those

who are to

be the

loudest

but anyone

who desires

to live

a godly

life in

Christ

Jesus

and beloved

anyone

who has

been saved

by Christ

Jesus

wants to

do that

wants to

follow him

wants to

pick up the

cross

wants to

go wherever

he leads

wants to

turn away

from the

world

and turn

towards

righteousness

will be

persecuted

will be

hated

in some

respect

this shouldn't

be some

far removed

foreign

theory of

the Christian

life

oh that's

true of so

many other

places and

so many other

people but

not us

because we

live here

in America

you have to

ask yourself

what is

missing in

your life

that prevents

your

affliction

what thing

are you

not doing

or thing

that you

are doing

that is

preventing

your

affliction

what comfort

in this

world do

you hide

behind

what sacrifice

do you need

to make

I think

that if our

lives looked

much more

sacrificial

than they

do

the way

in which

we are

treated

in this

world

would be

much

different

some

would

love

us

those

people

who love

Christ

would be

drawn

to us

those

people

who don't

will

hate

us

that

should

be

the

response

not this

lukewarmness

not this

you're okay

I'm okay

kind of

response

but some

people should

absolutely

hate us

and what we

stand for

and this

should be

no surprise

to us

and others

should love

us

we would

be an

aroma

to them

of

Christ

the

contemporary

Romanian

pastor

Joseph

San

who

suffered

greatly

at the

hand

of

Russian

communists

stated

Christ's

suffering

is for

propitiation

our

suffering

is for

propagation

God

has always

used

suffering

in this

way

and he

has

promised

it to

us

the

seed

of

the

gospel

is

sown

through

the

suffering

of his

people

and the

way

in which

we

suffer

as well

it's

not just

enough

that we

suffer

but that

we

experience

proclaim

and display

the

supremacy

of Jesus

Christ

in

our

suffering

in

John

12

24

and

25

Jesus

said

truly

truly

I

say

to

you

unless

a

grain

of

wheat

falls

into

the

earth

and

dies

it

remains

alone

but

if

it

dies

it

bears

much

fruit

whoever

loses

his

life

I'm

sorry

whoever

loves

his

life

loses

it

and

whoever

hates

his

life

in

this

world

will

keep

it

for

eternal

life

he's

not

just

talking

about

martyrs

at this

point

the

seed

that

falls

into

the

ground

and

dies

certainly

refers

to

martyrs

and

the

martyrs

!

death

but

he's

referring

to

the

daily

dying

of

disciples

of

Jesus

Christ

the

putting

aside

of

our

desire

and

our

direction

the

comfort

of

this

world

and

living

sacrificially

!

to

them

those

who

take

up

their

crosses

and

follow

him

follow

the

example

of

his

life

and

his

death

I

feel

the

same

way

about

it

Graham

our

Lord

was a

suffering

servant

servant

he

didn't

come

and

live

a

pleasure

life

John

13

16

he

says

truly

truly

I

say

to

you

a

servant

is

not

greater

than

his

master

nor

is

a

messenger

greater

than

the

one

who

sent

him

the

proper

Christian

life

is

one

of

daily

death

it's

one

of

daily

death

putting

aside

ourselves

and

pursuing

with

all

that

we

are

our

Lord

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

Paul

gives

example

of

this

in

this

way

2nd

Corinthians

4

8

through

12

he

says

we

are

afflicted

in

every

way

but

not

crushed

!

Perplexed

but

not

driven

to

despair

persecuted

but

not

forsaken

struck

down

but

not

destroyed

always

carrying

in

the

body

the

death

of

Jesus

so

that

the

life

of

Jesus

may

also

be

manifested

in

our

bodies

for

we

who

live

are

always

being

given

over

to

death

for

Jesus

sake

so

that

the

life

of

Jesus

also

may

be

manifested

in

our

mortal

flesh

so

death

is

at

work

in

us

but

life

in

you

and

what

he's

just

saying

is

that

!

the

way

in

!

you

is

that

we

suffer

and

we

die

it's

the

cycle

that's

happening

in

our

lives

of

all

of

the

comfort

and

all

the

things

of

this

world

being

stripped

away

from

us

that

we

might

have

more

of

Christ

now

there

are

people

in

this

world

that

seek

suffering

just

for

suffering's

sake

there

are

people

in

this

world

that

are

rightly

persecuted

for the

wrong

reasons

though

they're

just

dumb

about

the

way

they

go

about

doing

things

we

should

be

wise

as

serpents

and

harmless

as

doves

Sam

Storms

wrote

in his

devotional

book

on

Colossians

entitled

The

Hope

of

Glory

Suffering

for

sin

is

a

reproach

suffering

for

suffering's

sake

is

perverted

suffering

for

the

sake

of

Christ

and

his

people

is

grounds

for

joy

1

Peter

4

13

16

Peter

writes

rejoice

in so

far

as

you

share

Christ's

sufferings

that

you

may

also

rejoice

and

be

glad

when

his

glory

is

revealed

if

you

are

insulted

for

the

name

of

Christ

you

are

blessed

because

the

spirit

of

glory

and

of

God

rests

upon

you

but

let

none

of

you

suffer

as

a

murderer

or

a

thief

or

an

evildoer

or

as

a

meddler

he's

saying

don't

pervert

that

kind

of

suffering

to be

about

suffering

for

the

name

of

Christ

verse

16

yet

if

anyone

suffers

as

a

Christian

let

him

not

be

ashamed

but

let

him

glorify

God

in

that

name

and

all

this

is

why

Paul

was

able

to

say

now

I

rejoice

!

in

my

sufferings

how

odd

right

he's

able

to

rejoice

in

his

suffering

suffering

for the

name

of

Christ

is

to

join

Christ

in

his

suffering

and

this

is

why

this

was

so

precious

to

Paul

right