"Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?"
May 22, 2011
Senior Pastor Dr.
David Craig
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Date: May 22, 2011 - WEFC
Sermon Title: "Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?" - Sermon 21 of Colossians Series
Text: Colossians 1 : 24
Sermon Notes for
"Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?"
( Click here to download or open the Word
document file for these notes. )
Are Suffering and Joy Compatible
Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?
– May 22,
2011 – Dr. David P. Craig
Colossians 1:24, "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.”
Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute
you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so
they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Acts 5:40-41, “and when they had called in the
apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus,
and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, since we have
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into the grace in
which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:3-4, “More than that, we rejoice
in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy,
my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know
the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have
its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Philippians 1:29-30, “For it has been granted
to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him
but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that
you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as
though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice
insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice
and be glad when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:14-16, “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. Yet if anyone suffers
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God
in that name.”
Are
Suffering and Joy Compatible?
No – we can’t rejoice
if our suffering is the result of our own sin or
simply for the sake of suffering (1 Peter 4:15).
Yes – we can rejoice if
it’s for the sake of Christ and His people
(Col. 1:24; Matt. 5:10-12; Acts 5:40-41; Rom. 5:1-4; Js. 1:2-4; Phil. 1:29-30;
1 Pet. 4:12-16)
2 Corinthians 1:7-8, “Our hope is unshaken, for
we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we
experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that
we despaired of life itself.
2 Corinthians 1:9-11, “Indeed, we felt that we had
received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves
but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and
He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.
You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on
our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is
to be revealed to us.”
Hebrews 10:32-34, “But recall the former days when,
after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes
being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in
prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since
you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”
Hebrews 11:24-26, “By faith Moses, when he was
grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing
rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the
fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater
wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
2 Corinthians 4:14-16, “knowing that He who raised the
Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His
presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more
and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner
self is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this light momentary
affliction [‘affliction, persecution, being struck down, always being
given over to death’] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but
to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but
the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Yes – we can rejoice
because there is something valuable being stored up
in the future because of our suffering for Christ
(2 Cor. 1:7-11; Rom. 8:18; Heb. 10:32-34; 11:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:14-18)
What is
the Meaning of “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions?”
Colossians 1:12-14, “giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He
delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of
His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:19-20, “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 His cross.”
Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, who were dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling
the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This
He set aside, nailing it to the cross.
John 19:30, “When Jesus had received the
sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and
gave up His spirit.”
Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory
of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the
word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Hebrews 9:12-14, “He 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. For if the blood of goats
and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer,
sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to
God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9:24-26, “For Christ has entered, not
into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor
was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy
places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer
repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has
appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself.”
Hebrews 9:27-28, “And just as it is appointed for
man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been
offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not
to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”
Hebrews 10:11-14, “And every priest stands daily
at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice
for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting
from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by
a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Paul is not saying that the redemptive sufferings
of Jesus on the cross are deficient or incomplete
or need to be supplemented by something that Paul or any of us
might supply (Colossians 1:12-14; 19-20; 2:13-14; John 19:30; Heb. 1:3;
9:12-14; 27-28; 10:11-14)
Hebrews 2:10-11, “For it was fitting that He, for
whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should
make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For He
who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He
is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
Hebrews 2:17-18, “Therefore He had to be made
like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and
faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the
sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when
tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”
It was Christ’s suffering and death
on the cross that satisfied the wrath of the Father and secured
our forgiveness (Hebrews 2:10-11,17-18).
Acts 9:4-5,
“And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said, “I am
Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”
Galatians 2:19-20, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live
to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me.”
John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated
you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you.”
John 15:20-21, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater
than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they
kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to
you on account of my name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”
2 Corinthians 1:4-5, “who [God] comforts us in all our affliction, so
that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction, with the comfort
with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly
in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not given 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.”
Galatians 6:17, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my
body the marks of Jesus.”
Philippians 3:10-11, “that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him
in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the
dead.”
Paul's sufferings complete Christ's afflictions not by adding anything
to their worth, but by extending them to the people
they were meant to save.
What is lacking in Christ's “afflictions” is not
propitiation but presentation to the nations.
Paul is experiencing afflictions in the place
of Jesus, afflictions that Jesus otherwise would have endured
were He on earth. (Acts 9:4-5, Galatians 2:19-20, John 15:18-21,
2 Corinthians 1:4-5; 4:8-10, Galatians 6:17, Philippians 3:10-11).
Are
Suffering and Joy Compatible?
– May
22, 2011 - Guide For Discussion:
1)
How different would suffering be
for you if we didn’t have the Scriptures we looked at in the sermon under the
first section heading? In other words, does it make a difference that as
Christians we know that our suffering for Christ’s sake has a purpose?
2)
In the Scriptures under Section 2.
What assurance do you have that Christ’s work for your forgiveness is finished
and sufficient to save you?
3)
Can you explain the meaning of the
phrase from Colossians 1:24 “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions?”
4)
Why do you think that a good
understanding of suffering is so important for you in order to live an effective
and joyful Christian life – no matter what the circumstances are? How do you
think Paul and Jesus would answer this question based on all the Scriptures we
looked at during the sermon?
( Click here to download or open the Word
document file for these notes. )
Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?
– May 22,
2011 – Dr. David P. Craig
Colossians 1:24, "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.”
Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Acts 5:40-41, “and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into the grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:3-4, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Philippians 1:29-30, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:14-16, “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. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
Are Suffering and Joy Compatible?
No – we can’t rejoice if our suffering is the result of our own sin or simply for the sake of suffering (1 Peter 4:15).
Yes – we can rejoice if it’s for the sake of Christ and His people (Col. 1:24; Matt. 5:10-12; Acts 5:40-41; Rom. 5:1-4; Js. 1:2-4; Phil. 1:29-30; 1 Pet. 4:12-16)
2 Corinthians 1:7-8, “Our hope is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
2 Corinthians 1:9-11, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Hebrews 10:32-34, “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”
Hebrews 11:24-26, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
2 Corinthians 4:14-16, “knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this light momentary affliction [‘affliction, persecution, being struck down, always being given over to death’] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Yes – we can rejoice because there is something valuable being stored up in the future because of our suffering for Christ (2 Cor. 1:7-11; Rom. 8:18; Heb. 10:32-34; 11:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:14-18)
What is the Meaning of “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions?”
Colossians 1:12-14, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:19-20, “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 His cross.”
Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.
John 19:30, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Hebrews 9:12-14, “He 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. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9:24-26, “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Hebrews 9:27-28, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”
Hebrews 10:11-14, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Paul is not saying that the redemptive sufferings of Jesus on the cross are deficient or incomplete or need to be supplemented by something that Paul or any of us might supply (Colossians 1:12-14; 19-20; 2:13-14; John 19:30; Heb. 1:3; 9:12-14; 27-28; 10:11-14)
Hebrews 2:10-11, “For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
Hebrews 2:17-18, “Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”
It was Christ’s suffering and death on the cross that satisfied the wrath of the Father and secured our forgiveness (Hebrews 2:10-11,17-18).
Acts 9:4-5, “And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”
Galatians 2:19-20, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
John 15:20-21, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”
2 Corinthians 1:4-5, “who [God] comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not given 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.”
Galatians 6:17, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
Philippians 3:10-11, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul's sufferings complete Christ's afflictions not by adding anything to their worth, but by extending them to the people they were meant to save.
What is lacking in Christ's “afflictions” is not propitiation but presentation to the nations.
Paul is experiencing afflictions in the place of Jesus, afflictions that Jesus otherwise would have endured were He on earth. (Acts 9:4-5, Galatians 2:19-20, John 15:18-21, 2 Corinthians 1:4-5; 4:8-10, Galatians 6:17, Philippians 3:10-11).
Are
Suffering and Joy Compatible?
– May
22, 2011 - Guide For Discussion:
1) How different would suffering be for you if we didn’t have the Scriptures we looked at in the sermon under the first section heading? In other words, does it make a difference that as Christians we know that our suffering for Christ’s sake has a purpose?
2) In the Scriptures under Section 2. What assurance do you have that Christ’s work for your forgiveness is finished and sufficient to save you?
3) Can you explain the meaning of the phrase from Colossians 1:24 “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions?”
4) Why do you think that a good understanding of suffering is so important for you in order to live an effective and joyful Christian life – no matter what the circumstances are? How do you think Paul and Jesus would answer this question based on all the Scriptures we looked at during the sermon?
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