Colossians 1:24-25

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness

It is here that Paul reminds us of our call as Christians, starting with what comes as not just a surprise but a shock for many Christians. For it is here that Paul reminds us to suffer joyfully for the Gospel. While many are shocked that suffering is part of serving, verse 24 makes it clear that Paul saw suffering as part of the job description of a Believer: “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Paul is in prison as he is writing this letter to the church at Colossae, yet instead of talking about his problems he is preoccupied with praise because he is focused on the privilege of serving and not the pain. The reason Paul is rejoicing in his suffering is because he understands that service involves sacrifice. Paul willingly and joyfully suffered as he served on behalf of others for the sake of the gospel. He saw pain as a part of proclaiming the gospel. The little word “now” at the beginning of the verse does more than just provide a transition. Paul is rejoicing precisely because of what he has just written and he’s rejoicing now in the present while he is in prison. Most of us spend our lives trying to get rid of suffering when it comes our way. When we’re in pain, our focus becomes removing and relieving, but Paul was different, his focus was on rejoicing. He found joy in the midst of the junk, in 2 Corinthians 7:4 he declares, “…In all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” For Paul suffering was not some small fleeting season in his life, no his life plagued with pain and problems, just read 2 Corinthians 11:24-29. Prior to Paul’s conversion, he inflicted suffering on God’s saints, but after his salvation he suffer for them. From the very moment of his conversion, in Acts 9:16, Paul was told that difficulty was going to be part of his discipleship when Jesus said: “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Today many believers have bought into the lie that after they are saved everything will be great, that suffering and pain will no longer be a part of their life. Yet what we really see is that serving the Savior involves an element of suffering. Why are so many Christians limited in their service to the Lord, because at the first sign of suffering they stop serving. Their focus is fixed on feeling good instead of on following God. Paul was focused on a life of faith not on feeding the flesh and feeling good. When our focus becomes centered around feeling good instead of following God we start pursuing a pain free life instead of pursuing the provider of life. We become more concerned with our circumstances than we do with Christ. Now when Paul speaks of “filling up in his flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,” he is not implying that there is some insufficiency in what Christ accomplished on the cross. No, as Colossians 1:22 clearly states, we have been reconciled by “Christ’s physical body through death to present us holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” Christ’s death has brought us peace with God and there’s nothing left to be done, except to respond and receive what He has done on our behalf. You see the word “afflictions” is never used of the sufferings of Jesus on the cross, but instead refers to the “pressures” of life that Paul endured. Christ suffered in death to save the church, and now Paul suffered in life to spare it. John Piper says it this way “Christ’s cross was for propitiation; ours is for propagation. Christ suffered to accomplish salvation. We suffer to spread salvation.” Paul suffered for several reasons. First, he was suffering because of Jesus Christ and like the early believers in Acts 5:41, Paul rejoiced that he was “counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” Second, he suffered because of the Gentiles, those he sought to share the gospel with. Paul was committed to preach the gospel to all people, many of whom instead of responding with repentance responded in retaliation. In fact this is precisely why he was in prison, because he had taken the good news to the Gentiles, Acts 22:21-22. Unlike many believers today Paul had a proper perspective when it came to persecution, in Philippians 1:12 Paul wrote from prison: “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” Third, he suffered for the sake of Christ’s body, the church. As the believers saw him suffer, it gave them courage to face persecution in their own lives. Because the church is Christ’s body today, when Paul suffered, Christ suffered. What Jesus began as suffering with his persecution and rejection on earth, believers complete in His continuing body on earth. As such, we should not be surprised by suffering. The truth is we are going to go through tough and trying times. Jesus stated in John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” Today we want to share in the promises we just don’t want to share in the suffering and persecution. We want the good news we just don’t want the groaning. Paul’s perspective on persecution, difficulty, and suffering can help us when affliction visits our life. Verse 24 reminds us to suffer joyfully for the gospel. But in order to sing in the suffering we have to keep the following in mind: Suffering is part of serving, difficulties are part of discipleship. Christ followers are recognized by the trials they endure because they follow a suffering Savior. 1 Peter 4:12 says: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” We can come closer to Christ when we go through trials, Philippians 3:10: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in death.” Suffering is a privilege not a pain as 1 Peter 4:13 says: “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Persecution is profitable because suffering deepens and develops us, Romans 5:3-4: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” So let me ask you how far are you willing to go in suffering for the gospel? Are you spending more time trying to avoid adversity than you are proclaiming the Almighty? The painful truth is that many of us would be better off if we faced some persecution.

1 Peter 1:6-12

6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. 10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. 12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

Last time we saw that trials can be transforming and today we are going to unpack this truth and discover how difficulties can actually benefit and bless our lives. First trials can be transforming in that:

• Trials can strengthen our faith in the Lord.

Verse 7 says “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” The word “genuine” means that which is proven. Trails can be a blessing because they reveal where we are really at. You see just as gold is purified through fire, so too our faith is proven through pain. God says this in Isaiah 48:10 “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering” Job who went through terrible trials knew that his suffering would serve to strengthen him when he cried out in Job 23:10: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Today we want the confirmation without the challenges, but just like in school, tests show us where we are really at. We may want a trouble free life but we need trials because while they are hard they are also very helpful. Can a faith that is not tested really be trusted? In Bible times when a craftsman wanted to make something of fine gold, he would first purify the gold using a furnace of intense heat. This intense heat would drive out and burn up all the impurities and the goldsmith would know the work was done when he could see the reflection of his own face in the liquefied gold. Sometimes God turns up the heat in our lives in order to work out the impurities. Do you realize that pain can purify and trials can temper? If everything went well how would you ever know if your faith was real?” You know your faith is the real when you’re going through the garbage and you’re still giving God the glory. Second:

• Trials can deepen our love for the Lord.

Verse 8 says “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” The word for love here is agape, which refers to an unconditional, not an emotional love. Trials have a way of getting us to what really matters. We might skate along on the surface, on a superficial and emotional level for a while but when problems come, we’re forced to either say “later” to the Lord or to love Him at a much deeper level. Third:

• Trials can grow our joy in Jesus.

You can have joy in the midst of the junk. In the bible sadness and gladness often coexist side by side, it’s one of the greatest paradoxes of Christianity. In Acts 5:41 we find Peter and John “rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Hardships may hamper your happiness but they don’t have to drown out your joy. Fourth:

• Trials help us put our hope in the Lord.

Verse 9 says, “The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.” Our hope is not in our earthly home, our health or what is happening, it is in our home in heaven. Sometimes it’s only when suffering has stripped us of everything but the Savior that we realize how rich we are. What if we were to stop focusing on the garbage and start focusing on the glory? Are you going to focus on the hurts or the hope? For believers, all of our bad days on earth will be better than one day in Hell. The mark of maturity isn’t so much what you know but what happens to your worship in the winter when the winds of worry blow and things go from bad to worse. Are you going to be a fair weather worshipper or a fearless one? Mature Christians don’t waste their energy moaning and groaning they chose to give God the glory. Praise is not a denial of problems, Peter doesn’t deny or dismiss the problems and the pressures of this life but he says that they don’t have to dominate us. He is telling us to stop giving priority to the problems and to start making praise our priority. Look our problems are for a little while but praise is for eternity. What if instead of getting worked up over our worry we start getting worked up over worship? As you go through this season of suffering you have a choice, you can seek the Savior and sing, or you can allow your suffering to sour and suffocate you. It’s easy to lose perspective when going through problems so Peter reminds the church to keep their eyes on the prize. Instead of focusing on the suffering we can focus on the Savior and our salvation that came through His suffering. Salvation that was predicted by the prophets, proclaimed by the apostles and prized by angels. So what are you going to do with your pain, are you going to let it control and consume you, or are you going to give it to God and let Him use it to purify you?