You Do Not Suffer Alone

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

The Apostle affirms what we have already said about sonship being followed by inheritance when he writes here in verse 17, if children, then heirs also, heirs of God, reigning with Christ.

Now, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to spot the condition and the contrast that the

Apostle puts forward. He speaks of a fellowship then in glory with Christ, but it is contrasted with and conditioned upon a fellowship now.

Do you see it? The fellowship now is characterized by suffering now.

You'll notice in verse 18, he refers to them as the sufferings of this present time, contrasting them with future glory.

And here is the blessed truth, that the sufferings of this present time, which you have experienced in this past year and which you will experience in the next, are not suffered alone.

You do not suffer in isolation. It is our calling now to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings.

Christ so identifies with His people in their suffering that when the author of this epistle was persecuting the church of God and the

Lord appeared to him, he said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And that same man, transformed, is then longing for this fellowship now, writing in Philippians 3 .10,

that I may know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death.

And isn't it true, brothers, that when you are persecuted and hated and mocked for Christ's sake, that you know in those moments a nearer fellowship with Him.

This fellowship isn't, however, limited to persecution or martyrdom.

It applies to all of life. Peter, in addressing the various trials that the church is undergoing in his first epistle, reminds them of the fellowship they have with the

Lord as they suffer, writing in 1 Peter 1 .8, And though you have not seen

Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

And so it is suffering as a Christian with hope in God and submission to His will and obedience to His commands and allegiance to His Son.

Therein do we fellowship with Him now, our suffering. But it is, in verse 17, so that we may be glorified with Him.

And this is our hope, that the glory is as sure as the suffering, and the suffering prepares us for glory.

And that is why Paul desired the fellowship of his sufferings, because he understood that if he would know the glory of the resurrection, then he must also know the suffering of the crucifixion.

Well, fellowship now is characterized by suffering. Fellowship then is characterized by glory.

Verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.

It is as though the apostle sets a scale before us, and he takes all of our sufferings, that which to you often feels so heavy, so burdensome, that which has almost crippled you, that which before the grace of God would have destroyed you.

And he puts it on one side of the scale, and it feels so heavy. It looks so heavy.

But then on the other side of the scale, he puts the weight of glory that will be revealed in the scale tips with a thud, because it's so weighty, so glorious in comparison to what you suffer now that you realize.

I mean, do you realize with the apostle in 2

Corinthians 4 .17 that this momentary light affliction is producing for you an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.