Suffering for the Glory of God

Several years ago I heard a story about a man named Josef Tson. Tson was a Romanian pastor that was arrested for sharing the Gospel during a time where Romania was really closed to the Christian faith. While he was in prison, he was interrogated and threatened with death every day for 6 months. He lived in horrible conditions and the threat of death stayed over him. At any moment an officer could snap and end his life. Following another threat by one of his interrogators, Tson said this: “You should know your supreme weapon is killing; my supreme weapon is dying. Now here is how it works, sir: You know that my sermons are on tape all over the country. When you shoot me or crush me, whichever way you choose, [you] only sprinkle my sermons with my blood. Everybody who has a tape of one of my sermons will pick it up and say, ‘I had better listen again. This man died for what he preached.’ Sir, my sermons will speak 10 times louder after you kill me and because you kill me. In fact, I will conquer this country for God because you killed me. Go on and do it.” Later on Tson heard from a different officer, “We know that Mr. Tson would love to be a martyr, but we are not that foolish to fulfill his wish.” Tson would eventually be released and went on to say, “I stopped to consider the meaning of that statement. I remembered how for many years, I had been afraid of dying. I had kept a low profile. Because I wanted badly to live, I had wasted my life in inactivity. But now that I had placed my life on the altar and decided I was ready to die for the gospel, they were telling me they would not kill me! I could go wherever I wanted in the country and preach whatever I wanted, knowing I was safe. As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.” I assume that most of the world wouldn’t call Tson’s stand heroic, they would probably call him crazy. Why would he be willing to suffer and die for something that he can’t see? Why was he willing to go that far for religion? Because there is no greater honor than to suffer on behalf of Jesus Christ. Now how many of you have never thought of Christianity in that way? Quite a few people think that suffering for Jesus is not something that Christians will have to do, at least 21st century, American Christians. But suffering should not only be expected, it should be seen as something beautiful and something to rejoice in. As we do the work of ministry, we are taking part in something God-given and something that is absolutely beautiful. Tonight we are going to finish up Colossians 1 and read verses 24-29. Let’s pray and then we will read and I’ll tell you what direction we will be going tonight.

Colossians 1:24–29 NASB95

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Everything that we are going to look at tonight involves glory. We’ll look at 4 things pretty quickly but here’s where we are going: 1. Suffering for the glory of God. 2. Ministering to the glory of God. 3. The Gospel and the Glory of God. 4. Resurrection Power and the Glory of God.

Suffering and the Glory of God

I love this quote from Warren Wiersbe, “Paul did not ask, as do some believers, ‘What will I get out of it?’ Instead he asked, ‘How much will God let me put into it?’”

Ministering to the the Glory of God

The Gospel and the Glory of God

John MacArthur said, “That Christ indwells all believers is the source for their hope of glory and is the subject or theme of the Gospel ministry. What makes the Gospel attractive is not just that it promises present joy and help, but that it promises eternal honor, blessing, and glory. When Christ comes to live in a believer, His presence is the anchor of the promise of Heaven- the guarantee of future bliss eternally.”

Resurrection Power and the Glory of God