Ministering Through Pain and Trials

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.” 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. This morning we are going to look at Colossians 1:24-29 and I hope you will be able to see how we as Christians can live in a world that seems to be falling apart. Let’s pray and then we will read and I’ll tell you what direction we will be going.

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

The way that Paul begins verse 24 is with a phrase that I don’t think we often group together. Paul says, “I rejoice in my sufferings.” I think that we naturally do not associate sufferings with rejoicing. When you think of suffering, what do you normally think about or associate with it? We think of it as something negative. If we are suffering I don’t think that the first thing to pop into our mind is that we are going to rejoice about it. I think if we want to get to bottom of this mystery, we need to be able to differentiate between rejoicing and happiness. To rejoice as a Christian is not something that can be altered by circumstance. Rejoicing as Paul and Scripture talk about it means that because we belong to Jesus, because we have peace with God, because we know that where we are going is sure and surpasses all where we have been, that nothing on earth or hell below or heaven above can snatch that joy and certainty from us. Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes but rejoicing is so much more than that. As Christians we know what God has done, we know what He is doing, and we know what He will do and because we know and trust Him, everything that comes into our lives can lead to rejoicing. Psalm 62:6 reminds us of where our joy comes from: “He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” It is only the Christian that stands confidently in the Lord that can stand confidently with rejoicing through sufferings. To Paul, even suffering is an act of grace because suffering makes him more like his Savior. John Owen, a Puritan pastor, my absolute favorite of the Puritans puts it like this: “True believers rejoice in what God is in Himself. Whatever is good, amiable, or desirable; whatever is holy, just, and powerful; whatever is gracious, wise, and merciful, and all that is so, they apprehend in God. That God is what He is, is the matter of their chiefest joy. Whatever befalls them in this world, whatever troubles and disquietment they are exercised withal, the remembrance of God is a satisfactory refreshment to them. For therein they behold all that is good and excellent, the infinite center of all perfections.” To be a Christian does not mean that we will never suffer. What it does mean is that when we do suffer, we no longer view those sufferings as a curse to bear but as a cross that is given to make us more like our Savior. Paul says in Philippians 3:8–10 “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” The question is not whether or not you will suffer as a Christian, the question is, “Am I ready to suffer as a Christian?” I know that for young Christians that might be hard to hear. I know that for unbelievers that might be hard to hear. But I want you to understand this: you will never see just how great salvation is and how glorious Christ is without the backdrop of suffering. What do I mean by that? Well think of your salvation and the Gospel as like a beautiful diamond. It is the highest quality diamond that you can have, it’s absolutely beautiful. If you were to hold that diamond in your hand you would probably say that it was a very nice and very expensive diamond. But what if you put that diamond up against a black piece of felt and shined a light on it. Do you know what would happen if you did that? It would cause that diamond to shine brighter and appear even more beautiful than before you put the dark backdrop behind it. The diamond was always beautiful but when you have it contrast with the darkness, you see more to its beauty than you did before. The same is true of your salvation. You will never see just how beautiful and precious the Gospel and salvation is without the backdrop of suffering. The Christian is the only person who can go through suffering and praise God for it because he knows that suffering does not detract from glory, it adds to it. Paul rejoices in his sufferings because he knows that he can be a visible manifestation of Christ’s love for the church. That’s what he means when he says that he is filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction at the end of verse 24. Paul sees his suffering as something that is done for the glory of God and he also sees his service and his ministry as something that is done for the glory of God.

Ministering to the the Glory of God

One of the greatest honors in all the world is to be a sinful creature saved by grace and to be used in the service of the Gospel. The fact that God could use whatever He wishes but still chooses to use ordinary people like you and me is mind blowing. Charles Spurgeon once said to a group of young pastors, “If God has called you to be His servant, don’t stoop to be a king.” There is more glory and majesty in being a servant of Christ than there is to be king of the nations. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, before he became a pastor was one of the highest ranking medical doctors in all of England. He was so excellent a doctor that he was next in line to become the official doctor of Buckingham Palace to the royal family. He left all that to become a pastor. One day a reporter came up to him and asked him why he gave up such a promising medical career to become a preacher and Lloyd-Jones said, “I gave up nothing; I received everything. I count it the highest honor that God can confer on any man to call him to be a herald of the gospel.” Paul did not give up an up and coming career as a Pharisee to become a minister of the Gospel. The Lord gave him a ministry to declare the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God empowered Paul to do the work of the ministry and God empowers all believers to do the work of ministry. That doesn’t always mean that you become a pastor. That means that you may share the Gospel with someone, that you may be a Godly influence in your school or work, whatever it is that God has called you to do, do it! God prepares the man for the moment and the moment for the man! Whatever you do, do for the Lord! And give all you can to it! 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?’” Paul saw that there was a need and a benefit in his work. There is tremendous benefit in being a servant of Christ and ministering. God receives tremendous glory when His servants are serving.

The Gospel and the Glory of God

God receives glory through suffering, God receives glory in ministering, and God receives glory in the Gospel given. Look again at Colossians 1:26-28

Colossians 1:26–28 NASB95

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.

Two times in verse 27 we see the word glory. Clearly in these verses Paul is talking about the Gospel. We don’t have a lot of time to dive into it but what we need to remember is that God desired to make the beauty of the Gospel known to the Jews and the Gentiles. Understand, God did not need to save anyone. When Adam fell, God could have chose to let all humanity go but He didn’t. Instead in Genesis 3 we see the first Gospel promise that the seed of the woman would crush the seed of the serpent. As you go further into the book of Genesis, you see God promise Abraham that Abraham’s offspring would be a blessing to the entire world. What Christ accomplished is a blessing to all people groups. It is not a Gospel for the Jews only but God is glorified in the Gospel being given to all people. One of the great benefits of the Gospel is that Christ Himself dwells in the heart of all believers. Paul refers to that as the hope of glory. What does that mean? We see throughout the New Testament this dwelling of Christ in the lives of believers but what does it mean? John MacArthur answers it in this way, “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.” There’s the Gospel. As Christians we are to proclaim Christ and as Paul says in verse 28, we are to admonish every man and teach every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. The Gospel does not stop with salvation. The Gospel propels us to obedience. The Gospel propels us to grow in Godly wisdom so that we may stand complete in Christ. That’s Gospel work and it is a work that is to be taken on by every follower of Christ. As Christians we are to strive to do all that we can to share the riches of the glory of the Gospel to as many people as we can. We are to do all that we can for the glory of God. Does that sound hard? It’s more than hard, it’s impossible. So how do we do it? Only through the Holy Spirit and resurrection power.

Resurrection Power and the Glory of God

Look one more time at Colossians 1:29, Paul says: “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” For this purpose, so all that Paul has just said about the work of the Gospel, he works, he labors, he does all that he can, not by his own strength and power but by God’s power and it is God’s power that works mightily in him. It’s God’s power that works mightily in you. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” If you want to make a true and lasting difference in the world, it can only happen through resurrection power. The Christian faith is the only thing that will have an eternal impact. Only whats done for Christ will last. I want to challenge all of you to ask God what it is that He wants you to do with your life and strive by His power to do that thing. It may be something you didn’t expect, it may be something that makes you uncomfortable or pushes you out of your comfort zone, but if it is from the Lord, it is something good. In fact, it is the best possible thing because it is God’s thing for your life. I’ll say that when I was your age, I never envisioned myself becoming a pastor. Now I can’t envision myself doing anything else. Anything that God wants you to do, He Himself will give you the strength, joy, and desire to do it. Be faithful to Him and faithful to the work that He has given you and then will you be able to say with Paul what he says in these verses. Then you can rejoice in sufferings because you know that the work of the Lord is good work and the glory of the Gospel is the most beautiful of treasures. What is God doing with your sufferings? I promise you this, they are never for nothing. We may not understand them now but the day will come when we will. Everything that happens to you as a Christian really is only done to make you better. Let’s pray.