Safari Carcere Mamertino ~ ….Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodys sake, which is the church: ~ Of all the contradictions the skeptic has imagined in the Bible this text is certainly the most alarming. Some conservative scholars have made a new translation of this verse, whom, I’ll not point out which, that is so obviously trying to avoid the correct translation it puts the entire work into question. Consider a composite from all translations, including the King James, which is entirely made up by a very trusted and credible authority on the Word of God: ….Now, I, Paul, rejoice in the midst of my suffering for you. I am completing in my flesh that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His bodies sake; which the church is: ~ When Paul wrote those words he was in that Mamertine prison, Carcere Mamertino – in Rome; which was a very, very bad life. Paul’s life in the prison in Caesarea, where he testified to Felix, was not all that bad – but this prison in Rome was horrible! The prison abroad afforded him some freedom as a citizen of Rome but the Roman prison meant being chained to the wall in a dank and unthinkable place of torture and hopelessness. We see Paul suffering very badly here today. Paul is suffering physically in his body and he is doing it for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and His body. Now, everyone that does make that statement about rejoicing in suffering does it so flippantly and without a single thought for the conflicting implications that it is not sincere; it lends to the complete phoniness of Christianity today, too. It would seem to indicate something was missing in the sufferings of Christ. The word ‘’lack’’ is the same word we have at the wedding in Canaan where they ‘’lacked’’ wine. Well, friends, that just happens to directly contradict another clear-cut affirmation of Scriptural context. When Jesus cried out on the cross ‘’tetelestai’’ – that meant it was finished! Our redemption is complete and you and I can add nothing to it. All we are asked to do is accept and receive that. You and I can never be made perfect by anything we do; only by accepting the gift of the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ can we ever be acceptable to God the Father. Well, some act as if they are doing the Lord a favor by suffering – so, what about it? Paul also said that in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and that through Him we were reconciled by the death of Christ – and that all things were made perfect in Christ. So, we couldn’t have a theology that goes more in two extremely different directions than this! How can we reconcile this in the entire tenor of Scripture? How do we share in that and how in the world can we share in the sufferings of Christ? This is where a complete grasp of the Word of God is more than all important in your life because what we have going are antipathies apart. A need for a sharp distinction and a line of demarcation must be recognized, made and adhered to or our prophecy learning will go right out the window so fast you won’t be able to say, ‘’huh?’’ The sufferings of Christ divide distinctly into those which we CAN share with Him and those sufferings that we CANNOT share with Him. I’m not going to point out the myriad human sufferings Christ suffered which we cannot bear with Him. There are certain sufferings and sicknesses that you and I will bear as human beings on this earth and we will bear them alone! These sufferings of Christ are largely NOT redemptive sufferings. Psalm sixty nine says Christ became the song of the drunkards. That is suffering as the Son of God. The preacher that denies that virgin birth is making one of the biggest heretical mistakes of theology against Christ that any man or woman can ever make, and, May God have mercy on their soul? They deny as they do because they refuse to enter the sufferings of Christ with Him! The sufferings Christ went through at His arrest are never emphasized because they, likewise, are not redemptive sufferings. Christ underwent untold suffering a long time before they nailed Him to the cross. When a Roman prisoner was condemned the prisoner became a play thing for the execution squad; which was made up of the worst of the worst – brutally mean and dead-behind-the-eyes type men. What happened with Jesus before the cross is unspeakable, to say the least. Isaiah says Jesus was marred more than any man. By the time Jesus got on the cross He was unrecognizable. Then, Jesus is nailed to the cross and left alone there with the sins of the world. I don’t know what – if anything – that does to you. It makes me realize there are a whole lot of things I do not know about the darkness. This is where all I can do is thank Him for His love and grace and mercy! Christ suffered for righteousness sake; they crucified the man that told them the truth! If you give out the Gospel you are going to suffer one way or another. And that brings us to some more than not popular areas of life we must slice and examine under our microscope. How many of you are willing to suffer for righteousness sake? Let’s be honest; this is neglected and no one mentions it – ever. I hear love and peace and comfort and be nice – I never hear this. Well, the Holy Spirit has us in a dark hour and I need comfort right now tonight. All who live Godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution. Have you ever stumbled across that verse in your many hours and days of Bible study that pass ever soon? We all know the church in the world is grown dim and compromised because they do nothing but seek popularity and donations. I am going to make a statement that I can easily prove: ALL RELIGION IS FUNDAMENTALLY COMPROMISED! Even amongst what we consider the best Christ centered teaching today it is easy to pick out the psychological, political and aggrandized preaching; all having their own particular reason for the slant. Most go from one extreme to the other from Sunday to Sunday. Of course, learning the Bible one hour each week will never allow you to discern improper teaching and irresponsible uses of Scripture so no one mentions it – well, I don’t mind mentioning it. I cannot find ONE SINGLE television preacher that is not trying to please everyone while acting as if they are going to be down the road next week if everyone doesn’t send five dollars today. Let me sum up ALL Bible teaching and ALL teaching of the Word of God in this world today in one word: shameful! Well, the attitude of compromise has been forged today into what is now called the ‘’Christian life.’’ They all want to be sweet. They agree with everyone; both sides of an ‘’opinion’’ they can easily see and relate to. They say they just want to get along with everyone else and love them and Christian discussion is no place for disagreement. Well, friends, the Lord Jesus didn’t get along with everyone! That which is wrong was denounced and for that He was NOT popular. If you love Jesus the world is going to hate you. Are you popular and think you are His child? That just doesn’t happen to be a popular statement. We will suffer in the measure in which we identify ourselves with Christ! If you were of the world then the world would love its own. The Lord God chose us out of the world so the world hates us as it hated Christ. That just isn’t nice and I NEVER see it spoken of around here at all – ever! Holistic thinking, making friends and influencing people is not the mission of the Spiritual Safari. The Lord Jesus said if the world loves you for what you do in the world then you are not His – period. Our position in the world is occupied in direct correlation to our suffering with Christ. The popularity of the Christian with the world is an inverse ratio to the popularity of the Christian with God. Anyone that wants to draw that out mathematically, on a chalk board, will do well to get to the bottom of that equation, my little Einstein’s. Many of you need to work on it fast! I am giving no other Scripture except our text. I have more than ample Scriptural references I could give but I am not here to sell you a used car. If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you then You are His sheep hearing His Voice. My opinion – and this is ONLY an opinion –there will be no rewards in Heaven for anyone that does not suffer for Christ down here. I can easily draw that inference Biblically, also. Every single child of God that ever made an impact on the world by standing for God has suffered! It’s real simple, friends: compromise, self-help, pussy-footing, molly-coddling the sins of man and an unwillingness to stand for the truth in the real world have broken our society beyond repair. Every organization wants to get along with every other organization. They act as if all things are acceptable in fundamentalism. Very few have fellowship on this safari because very few people are really paying a price for following Christ. Very few people are true to Him. So many people don’t seem interested in having His approval because they think they have it now. Be careful, friends; very careful about that! I see talk of revival as if revival were a trick that can be performed with a correct combination of acts. They never mention suffering, strangely. It is given us not only to believe but to suffer for His Names sake. That is the verse the Korean church took with it through the war and that was a time not comprehended by most people in the world. God blinded Saul of Tarsus and Ananias went in to a puzzled and confused Paul to baptize Paul because Paul was a chosen vessel. Well, the plan of God for Paul was not to take Paul on a world cruise in luxury telling people about the love of Jesus. That’s all we hear today – the Christian elite gather in Fairbanks for an Alaskan cruise so they can fellowship with each other. God said He was going to show Paul what great things he must suffer for Christ’s Names sake! It’s time we make some notes, friends. Paul’s sufferings were not redemptive or mediatory – they were ministerial. Christ died for our sins to present a complete salvation but if this Word of a complete salvation is to go out in the world then someone is going to have to pay the price. THAT is the way yours truly just happens to be filling up his own sufferings of Christ. That is exactly what I mean when I say we are looking for Christ on this Spiritual Safari. Does that explain anything to you? We are not having revival and multitudes are NOT being saved today. The pictures of a thousand people waiting to be baptized are people that have no idea what they are doing; they have no idea what a commitment to Christ means – particularly in third world countries. It likely means death but they do not understand that! They are, actually, not told that but I digress. America and the world has NO spiritual leadership and the number of people turning to Christ is so low it would alarm you. No one is willing to suffer for Him! Well, no one will ever be born again and the Word of God will NOT go out to the world unless someone is willing to suffer and travail to teach it correctly, properly and completely. One Burmese missionary many years ago never made one single convert in twelve years in the field. The English Missionary Society wrote this totally discouraged man a letter that said how to prospect; i.e. why don’t you hang it up and come home? That man replied, ‘’the prospects are as bright as the promises of God!’’ Some think that man was foolish because no recorded convert was ever made during his lifetime. After his death, however, revival broke out and Judson made more converts than can ever be recognized. Our suffering is for the body’s sake and that body is the church. It’s one thing to desire the Lord to return and it’s altogether another thing to try to win souls for Christ and – friends – hear me very carefully now – it is altogether another thing entirely to have a program in your life whereby you are attempting to get the Word of God out to the entire world in an educated and meaningful study! What has it cost you to be a Christian? Do you know some people pay five thousand dollars per month just to be in certain clubs? What does your commitment to Christ cost you? Many say they are willing to do something for God – but – how many are truly willing to pay the price of suffering? If you are not suffering then the Word of God is NOT going out to the world by you, friends! Are you going to take this verse and apply it in your life or continue in the same old ways of complaint, finding fault and defeat? How are you involved? How do you count the costs? ~ Colossians 1:24 ~
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:44:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015