Our Savior has been lifted up at this conference in the songs and
and everything, the prayer, just the emphasis.
I hope you understand that this conference isn't about me.
It's not about Brother Armonza. It's not about Brother Shiplet.
We're just ministers of His word.
We're privileged to be so, but we're upholding the Lord Jesus
Christ and we want to bring honor and glory to his name.
I want to look this evening at the fellowship of his suffering,
the fellowship of his suffering. And I feel compelled to preach
on this subject tonight. It has much to do with our walk
with God. And I'd like you to turn the
Philippians Chapter 3, Philippians Chapter 3.
We like to be victorious and we marvel at gaining potentially a
crown. But we don't often want the
cross. But that is just as much a part
of our sonship of God as the crown.
You want the crown, you've got to be willing to take the cross.
And we are in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in
Christ, if you're saved, you're in him.
And what did he do? He suffered.
And so if you're in him, then we're invited to embrace that
fellowship of his suffering. Philippians chapter 3.
I'm going to pray 1st and then direct you to the text.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do ask for
Your power and your strength to preach Your word, and I pray
that you would work in all of our hearts that good thing that
you want to accomplish. Lord, I just ask that Your Word
would have free course and that you'll breakthrough any
barriers, and that you'll help us and our walk with You and
fellowshipping with your dear Son even in suffering.
I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Philippians chapter 3 If you'll
stand with me just for the reading of the text.
Philippians chapter 3 verse #10 Scripture that I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, you
may be seated. Some of the greatest times of
fellowship man has ever experienced with God has been
times when suffering is present. There's something about
suffering, even though it's difficult, that it brings you
into conformity to his death and draws you closer to the Savior
in a way you never could have known without that suffering, a
closer identification being brought in.
I think about, I mentioned when I went to the airport to come
here, there were a bunch of sailors and they were all
dressed in their, their sailor uniforms and, and sharp and, and
all of that. They had their hats on.
And I noticed something, all of their conversation, all of their
fellowship, they're, they're laughing.
Their, their discussion was amongst themselves.
They found a camaraderie amongst themselves that could not be
matched outside of that brotherhood, if you will.
And there's something about being brought in to the Lord
Jesus Christ and being able to take part in everything that he
has for us and everything that he went through, even his
suffering. When my mother died and I was 17
years old, people from all over the country tried to console me.
And honestly, they didn't know how I felt.
And I, I, I thought that to myself, when the average person
would come up to me, just friends of mine, people that I
was acquainted with and, and, and, and say, I'm sorry, they
didn't know how I felt. But when someone that I knew had
lost a close loved one came up to me, all they had to do was
look at me and, and, and there was a fellowship there based on
our mutual suffering. No one likes to suffer.
There are dear widows in our churches.
Our heart goes out to them. But I would say this suffering
has a way of placing you closer to the ultimate sufferer and and
bringing you near to his precious wounded side in a way
that you never could have without suffering.
And when you're brought as a sufferer into closer fellowship
with the ultimate sufferer, you find more rest for your weary
soul. Our carnal flesh hates any form
of suffering. No one here tonight would
volunteer to go through a a bout of suffering.
But it's typically in these times, I know it from
experience, that we enjoy the sweetest fellowship with the
Lord and the most willingness to surrender to Him.
We see this in Job. His great suffering yielded both
great fellowship with God and great surrender to God.
We see this even with our Lord suffering his agony in the
garden. Great fellowship with God, as it
were drops of blood, but also great surrender nevertheless.
Not my will, but thine be done. There's something about
suffering, friend, that brings us closer to our God.
Now why and how does suffering bring forth sweetness?
Please bear with me. A little bit of turning and then
we'll get to some major points. But first of all, suffering is
the prerequisite of our glorification with Him.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8 doctrine in the Bible that we will be glorified
with him. That doesn't happen without
sufferings. We want the glory but not always
the guts. Look at Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8 verse #17 The Bible says and if children then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, that sounds
glorious. But look at the rest of the
verse. If so be that we suffer with him
that we may be also glorified together.
We we want the inheritance, we want the glory, but we want it
without the suffering. But as far as God is concerned,
it's a package deal, the glory with the suffering.
It's the package of sonship. Secondly, suffering is the means
of our comfort from Christ. Go with me to 2nd Corinthians,
Second Corinthians chapter 1. Suffering is the means of our
comfort from Christ. In other words, how would you
experience the comfort of the Lamb of God if you never
suffered anything? And what would that do to your
Christian experience if you never experienced consolation
from God? Look at 2nd Corinthians chapter
one verse #5 Scripture. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ.
The verse is clear. More suffering, more
consolation. Consolation from God equal to
our suffering. Paul had all kinds of suffering,
if you know the Bible. Yet he knew, look at that verse,
that those sufferings were the sufferings of Christ.
The hotter the day, the more due at night, The hotter you're
suffering, the more due of consolation that He grants to
you next. Suffering is the means of a real
new life. We know that Galatians 220
declares I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live suffering A crucifixion, as it were, with
Christ, but that being the gateway to a new life, a new
direction, a New Hope. Dead to religion, dead to works,
dead to the bondage of sin through being crucified.
Suffering go with me To Colossians.
Colossians, suffering is the means of edifying the church.
Think about that. Suffering builds up the body.
I don't know that I would have believed that without reading it
in God's word. Look at Colossians chapter 1
verse #24 Colossians 124 Scripture who now rejoice in my
sufferings. Don't miss this for you, for
you. Paul said his suffering was for
the church. When someone in our church goes
through great suffering, there's an element of that that is for
the church. And let's go back to the
Scripture and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of
Christ in my flesh. For his body's sake.
What's his body? The local church.
For his body's sake, which is the church.
He's writing this from jail. He says that my sufferings fill
up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.
He's not talking about sin atoning suffering, but
ministerial suffering which ministers to God's God's people.
And so Saul, who became Paul suffered, but it wasn't just his
sufferings. It literally built up the
churches. There's an edifying element to
suffering. So when Brother Shifflett was
talking about Paul and his his call and Ananias, what great
things he must, Paul must suffer for my sake.
There's all kinds of dimensions of this suffering and it points
to our edification. Suffering is also proof that we
will reign with him. The Bible says in Second Timothy
211. It is a faithful saying, For if
we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we suffer. If we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will
deny us. The reward of suffering is
greater than the cheap thing that you'll get from quitting.
Reigning with Christ through suffering.
Go with me to first Peter chapter 4.
Suffering is also proof of our future joy.
Suffering is proof of our future joy.
I don't know all who in our assembly tonight is suffering or
has suffered, but I know that I'm not alone in that.
We have suffered in our lives. What's for?
It's proof of our future joy. Look at First Peter, chapter 4,
verse #13 I used to think it was just suffering so many
dimensions. First Peter 413 But rejoice in
as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when
his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding
joy. Proof of our future joy. 14 If
you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the
spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.
On their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is
glorified. He took part of our humanity and
he suffered. Why can't we do the same?
Should not we be considering ourselves privileged to share
anything with the Lord Jesus Christ, anything, even His
suffering? In Philippians chapter 3 verse
#10 where we started, the word is in plural.
His sufferings, His sufferings. And so as we look through the
Word of God to try to see what His sufferings are, there are
some lessons there that I believe we need to take with us
to the grave. First of all, the animosity of
family. Second, the alienation of
followers. Third, the abandonment of
friends. And then finally, the accusation
of foes. How can his sufferings, plural,
benefit our lives? First of all, there's the
animosity of family. For a few moments.
Let's enter the shark infested waters of what it's like when
you decide to live for the king and you've got family that's
otherwise minded. I have a brother, I have cousins
and in in in large degree. They have gone towards the
world. And as they get into their 40s
and 50s and early 60s, they are reaping the consequences of
everything that they pushed aside when it comes to the
things of God. Turn with me to Mark chapter 3
The animosity of family. Mark chapter 3 we see that
Christ's brothers did not believe on him at the beginning,
and on one occasion they tried to restrain him by force.
They thought he was crazy. Mark chapter 3.
Look with me at verse #20 The Bible says in the multitude
cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat
bread. And when his friends heard of
it, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said He is beside
himself. So as friends.
Now in context we know what type of friends it's talking about.
Look at verse #31 There came then his brethren and his
mother, and standing without sent unto him, calling him.
They said that Jesus was beside himself.
That was a nice way of saying that he had lost his mind.
The huge crowds so pressed upon the Lord that the Bible says
that there there wasn't time for regular meals.
Again, this refers to his family and his close friends.
Since Jesus grew up in the Galilee, people knew of him, and
they knew him before his time of popularity.
The carpenter's son or the Carpenter?
That Carpenter is out of his mind.
He left a prosperous business to become an itinerant preacher.
He's out of his mind. He's been threatened to be
killed and he hasn't backed down.
He's out of his mind. Our relative Jesus, our cousin,
our brother, he's out of his mind.
Huge crowds are following him. It's probably going to his head
and making him out of his mind. The unlikely disciples that he
picked shows that he doesn't have much discernment.
He's out of his mind. And then the last straw, the
pressures of of ministry are so great that he doesn't have time
to sit down and take regular meals.
You've got to understand how important that is to the Jewish
way of thinking, to sit down and break bread.
And he was declared out of his mind.
I was told that I was out of my mind for going to a white
church. I was told I was out of my mind
for wearing a shirt and tie and waiting on the street corner for
my bus captain to come pick me up for church.
I was told I was out of my mind for giving up that rap music and
not carousing with the rest of my cousins and my brother.
But I want to tell you something.
There's a fellowship of His sufferings, and when you follow
him, you're not out of your mind to the alienation of followers,
the alienation of followers. After Christ's teaching on the
bread of life, many of His disciples left him.
Turn with me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6.
Often you will suffer at the hands of the fringe crowd.
The fringe crowd in John chapter 6 verse #66 the Bible says from
that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. As the pressure began to build,
more and more turned away. It says in verse #66 many left
him, many decided not to stay with him.
The vast majority of the crowd didn't stick it out.
It's always been that way. Wasn't it that way in the days
of Noah? The vast majority of the crowd
was on the outside of the ark, not on the inside.
The majority is not with Christ. It has never been so.
And when the final count was here in this passage, there only
the 12 remain, and one of them was a traitor.
And if the truth be known, a lot of churches are no different.
There is a fringe crowd and though they boast of thousands
of decisions, it can easily just be a sham.
And like Christ crowd, the way you can tell the fringe is their
lack of devotion to the Word of God, the teaching and preaching
of the word of God. You know the fringe will come
out for a potluck dinner, but they might not make it through a
week of meetings like this. There's a fringe crowd.
And before you and I have ever known the the heart wrenching
feeling of the fringe crowd walking away, Jesus tasted it
first. And those defectors were called
disciples. They were actually called
disciples. More than just the 12 were
called disciples. The word disciple in its broader
meaning is anyone that would claim to know Christ and follow
him. But they were only following
Christ outwardly. These were not bums or or vile
worldlings. These were not people who did
not profess faith in Christ. They were, if you will, the
religious crowd. We have no problem saying that
the crowd on the outside of the church is going to hell.
But it's hard to accept the fact that many inside the church who
claim to be Christians are going to hell.
But the Bible says that there were many disciples who
defected. That should cause us all to
examine ourselves like the Bible says, whether or not we be in
the faith. John 666 says many of his
disciples went back, went back tells us the movement of these
fringe when they stop following him, they went back.
When people are in the fringe crowd today and they leave a
church like this, they say we're going to a more progressive
church, that they're going forward.
But the Bible tells me when you leave Christ, you're not going
forward. There's nothing progressive
about it. You're going back.
The crowd leaving Christ was as a dog returning back to its own
vomit. There's nothing progressive
about that. Now how did they prove they're
leaving? How did they prove that?
Verse 66 tells us they walk no more with Him.
The manner of leaving was to leave permanently.
They never returned. There is a crowd that will come
to a church like this, excuse me, pose as disciples and then
one day walk out the door, never to return again.
My friend, don't. Don't let that discourage you.
Because the Savior tasted that suffering himself.
And by the way, Jesus can replace them with real
disciples. Third, we see the abandonment of
friends gets thicker, the abandonment of friends.
Go with me to Mark chapter 14, if you will, the abandonment of
friends, Mark chapter 14. This now, these now are the real
disciples, the real disciples, the real Mccoys.
Look at Mark chapter 14, verse #50 the Bible says, and they all
forsook him and fled. One of the most moving places to
visit in Israel is the Garden of Gethsemane.
And to picture this scene, it's not a complimentary scene for
the disciples because the Bible says that they forsook Him.
They all forsook him and fled. Now let's not get on our Holy
Horse and say that we would not have done the same thing.
We don't know how we would have reacted in that garden.
The tree that can stand such a blast truly has deep roots.
But the real disciples left Christ at the worst possible
time, at the time when Jesus needed His intimates the most
for support and encouragement. If there was any a time, it was
now. And the Bible tells us how many
of the real disciples fled in verse #50 all of them.
Peter was not the only one who denied his Lord.
Now, true. Peter did it in a more
pronounced way. Granted, but the Bible tells us
that all of the disciples should be put in the same boat as
deniers. Peter had boasted that he would
not deny the Lord. But if you don't read careful,
if you don't read careful, you'll miss the fact that they
all said the same thing. Go with me to Matthew chapter
26. This will surprise many Bible
students. Matthew chapter 26.
Yes, Peter, but all of them. Matthew chapter 26, verse #35
Matthew 2635. The Bible says Peter said unto
him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.
Don't miss the rest of the verse.
Likewise also said all the disciples, all the disciples
said they would not flee, and all of them fled.
Let not those that suffer for Christ think it's strange when
even some of the real disciples depart from you at your time of
need. Paul experienced this same
forsaking, he said at my first answer.
No man stood with me, but all men forsook me, forsook him.
What's going on, Paul? I'm just experiencing the same
thing that my Lord experienced. Paul had friends that weren't
there in his critical hour. Now, in the context of these
words, the forsaking of Christ was a treasonous thing.
It was a betrayal. It was disloyal.
There's nothing commendable about it.
It's especially treacherous when we bear in mind that Jesus was
there security in that garden. The authorities wanted to arrest
them all and take them away. Do you remember?
Jesus spoke up and said you wanted me.
You've got me. They forsook the one who had
stood for them. A pastor can surely understand
that you stand for your people and they're forsake you.
Parents know this experience. Spouses know this experience.
What is it that really save? What's wrong with them, my
friend? It's part of the fellowship of
his sufferings. And then forth, The accusation
of foes. The accusation of foes.
We expect this from our foes. They slandered his birth.
There were a number of attempts to take the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ before Calvary, starting with the slaughter of
the innocents at Bethlehem. All of the attempts to kill
Christ were inspired by the devil who would keep him from
Calvary. For Satan knew that the prophecy
of the seed of the woman that would bruise the head of Satan,
and Satan did not want Calvary because it was his doom.
But all of the attempts to kill the Lord Jesus Christ fail.
Some think that Satan took the Lord's life on that cross, but I
want to say that it's not so. For Christ gave up his own life
on that cross, and when they came to break his legs, they saw
that he was dead already. He said, I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. But his foes charged him with
being in league with Satan. They said, you're doing this, as
we heard this week by Beelzebub. They twisted his words.
They hired false witnesses against him.
They could not pin anything on him.
What? What was the problem?
They didn't like his rebuke. When you rebuke a person, they
will either love you or hate you, depending on what they do
with your rebuke. If they take your rebuke, and
they're better for it because it's the right rebuke, they
repent, they will love you. But if they reject your rebuke,
understand you will have a foe that will hate you.
When Christ rebuked the scorners in Nazareth, the Bible says they
were filled with wrath. They wanted to destroy Him.
The message of Christ's rebuking evil produces wrath in people,
and it's not holy indignation, it's the unrighteous anger of
man. We see how they reacted to the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you speak the same thing,
you're going to have some foes. You're going to make some
enemies. Any preacher or Christian who
dares to expose sin can expect the same reaction.
You will make enemies. Beware when all men speak well
of you, friend, and when they don't speak well of you and you
know you're standing for what's right.
You're just entering into the fellowship of his sufferings,
and that's the way to peace and joy.
If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross and we'll
believe you. That's a lie.
If he would have jumped down from the cross onto them, they
would not have believed. Their problem is that they did
not want truth. They would have come up with
some other excuse as to why they didn't believe.
We've had foes in Chicago, people that have told us you
cannot worship. You must close the doors, get
out of the building. And I tell you what, you preach
the truth. You stand for truth.
You'll have foes. The church across the street
from us doesn't have any foes. You want to know why?
I think they closed for six months.
They don't have foes during COVID.
The government can easily be a foe.
There's all kinds of foes. I just want to be a part of the
fellowship of His suffering. Isaiah chapter 53 tells us that
our Lord was despised and rejected of men.
Am I any better A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?
And we hid, as it were, our faces from him.
He was despised and we esteemed Him not.
My Lord was hated, hated. There's something inside of me
that would say I want to enter into that fellowship with my
Lord. And again, I don't.
My flesh doesn't like suffering, but there's something about
loving Jesus that says I want to embrace, I want to, I want that
camaraderie. If sailors can get together and
cuss and have a camaraderie with their friends, surely I can
enter into the fellowship of his sufferings in his rejected
position. We can share in that if we
identify with him. Oysters suffer affliction when
they get a grain of sand lodged inside of their shells.
And no matter what they do, they can't get rid of that grain of
sand. And so that oyster does
something peculiar, that thorn in their side, driving them
crazy. They say I've got to get some
comfort in my anguish. And so they began to coat that
grain of sand over and over and over again.
It doesn't remove the grain of sand, but it gives a little bit
more comfort to the oyster. And over time, the coating of
that grain over and over and over again produces something
that costs a mint, a Pearl. Do you know what a Pearl is?
It's the result of an irritated oyster.
Yet it's something that's held dear.
Yes, by, by, by our ladies, those pearls, something of great
value. Listen, when, when, when God
allows you to suffer, He's producing something beautiful
for His glory, something of great value for His Kingdom.
Don't be afraid or ashamed or throw a pity party for yourself
when you have to enter into the fellowship of his sufferings.
Pastor. Amen.
Let's stand in our seats with our heads bowed and our eyes
closed. What a what a powerful reminder.
And I think that's what that is, just a reminder that if you are
going to really sell out for Christ, what he talked about
last night was preached about last night, do you really want
to be right with God? Do you really want to have God's
power? Do you really want to be used of
God? Then you're going to have to
enter into the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto His death. What is the first part of that
verse says that I may know him. That's how you truly know Him.
Well, I tell you what, the thoughts been going through my
mind the last few days. Can you, can you ask God to
break you? Can you ask God to break you so
that you can be used and molded into what He wants to use you
for and mold you into? It's not fun to be broken.
That's the fellowship of His suffering.
That's how you get to know him. That's how you're made
conformable into his death. That's a difficult thing to
pray. God break me so that I can be
molded into what you want. But that's what He wants us to
pray. That's what the fellowship of
his suffering is all about. God spoke to your heart tonight.
That has the piano plays, you come.