Acts 14:21-22 “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, (22) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
In the previous section we discussed what the Lord Jesus had to say about the suffering of believers, and in this section we want to discuss what His apostles have taught on this same subject. No-one can deny that the apostle Paul taught the full gospel of Jesus Christ and not a watered down version. And so to that end, in the above quoted passage of scripture we see that an integral part of the gospel that Paul taught the disciples was that “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God”. Just prior to Paul making the above exhortation to the churches, he himself had been stoned, dragged out of the city of Lystra and left for dead. Someone said, but I thought the gospel was good news, so how can teaching the saints that they must go through many tribulations in entering the kingdom of God be classified as being good news? The answer to that question is in the way that we interpret good news. Heaven views good news as being eternal and not temporal. And so when we encounter tribulation in this life it is so that we may inherit an eternal weight of glory in the age to come, for the scripture says that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). You will recall that for the joy set before Him that our Lord Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. And so for the eternal joy that is set before us, we too endure our light afflictions in this life.
Romans 8:16-18 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (18) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
All believers know that they are children of God, for that truth is very clearly taught in the church. Most believers also know that they are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, for that truth is also very clearly taught in the church. However not many believers know that they are called to suffer with Christ, for that truth is not taught very clearly in the church. Nevertheless in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, teaches all three of these truths in the same passage. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Rome he very clearly links our inheritance in Christ to our suffering in this present time, for he says that the condition that we must meet in order to be joint heirs with Christ is that we must suffer with Him. And so we see that suffering with Christ is just as much a part of the gospel message as being a child of God and being a joint heir with Christ.
Philippians 1:27-30 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, (28) and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. (29) For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (30) having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”
When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi he was being held in prison at Rome for his preaching of the gospel, and he was awaiting his trial before Caesar. The church at Philippi had also begun to incur persecution for their faith in Christ, and so Paul wrote to them to encourage them not to be in any way terrified by their adversaries. In his letter he reminded them of the conflict he incurred when he was in their city, for it was in that city that Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail (Acts 16:25). Evidently some of the disciples in Philippi had also been thrown in jail for their faith in Christ; for in the above quoted passage of scripture Paul speaks of them having the same conflict that he had when he was with them. Nevertheless the apostle Paul reminds them that not only had it been granted to them to believe in Christ, but that it was also granted to them to suffer for Him. And so we see once again that the Holy Spirit reinforces the truth to us, that suffering for Christ and believing in Christ, are part of the same gospel message.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-4 “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, (2) and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, (3) that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. (4) For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3-8 “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, (4) so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, (5) which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; (6) since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, (7) and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, (8) in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When the apostle Paul and his team preached the gospel in Thessalonica they had just come from the city of Philippi, where Paul and Silas had been beaten with rods and thrown into jail. And so when Paul preached to the saints in Thessalonica he plainly taught them to expect persecution and tribulation for their faith in Christ. If you read the account in the book of Acts, you will see that Paul and his team weren’t in Thessalonica for very much longer than a month before persecution broke out against the new believers. And in fact the persecution became that intense, that Paul and his team were forced to leave the city due to the opposition from the unbelievers in that city. The persecution against the saints however did not let up, and later on some of the saints even had their properties confiscated (1 Thessalonians 2:14). In response to their afflictions Paul wrote his letters to them (quoted above), reminding them of his admonition that as the Lord’s saints, that they were appointed to tribulation and persecution. And so we see that the apostle Paul never hid the truth from any of his converts, that they were appointed to suffering. Many young converts today are not forewarned about the persecution that they will incur in the world for their faith in Christ, and as a result when they do encounter persecution, many become offended and fall away from following after Christ.
2 Timothy 3:10-12 “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, (11) persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra--what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. (12) Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul reminded Timothy of the persecutions and afflictions that he had endured for the gospel of Christ. Timothy had first-hand experience of what Paul was talking about, for he was with Paul on all of the occasions that he mentioned. Paul went on to say that our Lord Jesus delivered him out of all his persecutions, which indicates to us that although the persecutions that apostle Paul endured were numerous, that they were of varied length in duration. The longest imprisonment (that we know about) that Paul endured was a period of just over four years, which he incurred the first time that he awaited trial before Caesar. The second time that Paul stood on trial before Caesar, which was a number of years later, he was martyred. But the point that I wanted to highlight from this passage is that the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, teaches the church that all (not some) who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, will suffer persecution. And so it can be said that if believers are not suffering at least some degree of persecution in their Christian walk, the question needs to be asked if they are meeting the requirements, i.e. living godly in Christ Jesus.
Michael E.B. Maher
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