Scripture Reading: Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 3:18; Heb. 9:26; Isa. 53:3-5, 7-8; John 12:24; Luke 12:50; Phil. 3:10; Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 2 Cor. 1:5-6
In 1:24 Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” When I first read this verse, I was surprised and troubled. I wondered how there could be any lack in the sufferings of Christ. At the time, I was fully under the religious concept that it was impossible for Christ to have any lack. Nevertheless, in this verse Paul says clearly that he was to “fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.”
Are not the sufferings of Christ already complete? How can it be necessary for the afflictions of Christ on behalf of the Body to be completed? The Lord Jesus underwent two kinds of suffering: the suffering for redemption and the suffering for producing and building up the Body, the church. None of us can have any share in His suffering for redemption. To say that we can participate in this suffering is to speak blasphemy. He alone is the Redeemer, and the suffering for redemption was fully accomplished by Him. We are neither qualified nor positioned to share in the Lord’s suffering for redemption. In typology, on the day of atonement, only the high priest, who made atonement for the people, was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies. The high priest was a figure of Christ as the unique One capable of accomplishing redemption and qualified to do it.
A number of verses speak of Christ’s sufferings for the accomplishment of redemption. For example, 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” Christ, the righteous One, died for the unrighteous ones. He was the only One qualified to bear this kind of affliction. Heb. 9:26 and Isa. 53:3-5, 7-8 also indicate that Christ suffered to accomplish redemption on our behalf. In this suffering we have no share. It was borne by Christ alone.
Although we cannot participate in Christ’s suffering for redemption, if we are faithful to Him, we must share in His suffering for the producing and building up of His Body. Paul was a pattern for us in this matter. Immediately after his conversion, he began to share in this suffering of Christ, to partake of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His Body.
This is contrary to the concept that nothing related to Christ can be lacking. According to this concept, whatever Christ is and does is complete. But here is a word telling us that at least one thing related to Christ is lacking — His afflictions for producing and building up His Body. For the producing of His Body, Christ suffered a great deal. But because this suffering has not been completed by Christ Himself, there is the need for His faithful ones to make up this shortage. Paul did not suffer for redemption, but he did suffer for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ.
The Apostle Paul was a pattern for the believers to follow (1 Tim. 1:16). We must consider Paul as a pattern, not as someone who was so high that no one else can be like he was. Because by the Lord’s mercy Paul was set up to be a pattern for us, whatever he was, we can be also. We must believe in the Lord’s mercy. If the mercy of the Lord made Paul a pattern, then His mercy can accomplish in us the same thing that it did in Paul. This means that just as Paul suffered for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ, so we must also suffer for the church.
Christ, of course, took the lead to suffer for the producing and building up of His Body. But the apostles and believers must follow Christ’s footsteps in suffering this kind of affliction. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This verse does not speak of Christ’s redeeming death, but of His producing, generating death. Christ fell into the ground and died as a grain of wheat in order to produce many grains for the church. According to John 12:26, those who desire to serve Him must follow Him in this regard.
In Luke 12:50 the Lord Jesus said, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straightened till it be accomplished!” The word baptism in this verse refers to Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross, a death that was not only for redemption, but also for producing the Body through the release of the divine life. As the Lord’s word to His disciples in Mark 10:38 and 39 makes clear, they also were to share in the baptism with which He Himself was to be baptized.
In Philippians 3:10 Paul speaks of knowing the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. These sufferings are not for redemption, but for the building up of the Body. We cannot have fellowship in Christ’s sufferings for redemption, but we need to have much fellowship in Christ’s sufferings for the church.
In Revelation 1:9 John says that he was a “joint partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” To say that we are joint partakers in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus indicates that we are suffering. When Jesus lived on earth as a man, He suffered continually. According to the history of His life, His name Jesus denotes a suffering person, a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3). Therefore, to be a joint partaker of tribulation in Jesus is to suffer and to be persecuted as we follow Jesus the Nazarene. The book of Revelation is for those who are suffering tribulation in Jesus. As we wait for the coming of the Lord, we must be willing to suffer. This suffering is for the Body, the church. We must participate in the sufferings of Jesus for the sake of the church.
When Jesus was on earth, He was persecuted by the Jewish religion, a religion formed according to God’s oracles. John 5:16 says that the Jews persecuted Jesus because He broke their Sabbath. Religious people cannot tolerate the breaking of their regulations. Any violation of their religious regulations will stir up persecution. When Jesus broke the Sabbath, the Jewish religionists persecuted Him and even sought to kill Him. Eventually, religion succeeded in sentencing Jesus to death.
Just as religion persecuted Jesus, it also persecutes the followers of Jesus. We know from the book of Acts that the Jews in the synagogues stood up in opposition to the apostles. Paul suffered this kind of persecution very much. John, the writer of Revelation, also experienced it. John was exiled to the island of Patmos “for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” He became a joint partaker in the suffering, the affliction, in Jesus.
The persecution against the Lord Jesus originated not with the secular world, but with the religious world. In the book of Acts we see that the situation was the same regarding the persecution of the apostles. The opposition did not come mainly from the Gentiles, but from the Jewish religion. In like manner, a great many martyrs have suffered persecution at the hand of religion. Religion always persecutes the genuine followers of Jesus. Now it is our turn to undergo this persecution, this suffering for the building up of the Body of Christ. During the years I was with Brother Nee in China, I saw how much he was persecuted by religion. The rumors, opposition, and condemnation came from the religious people. In his subtlety, Satan, the Devil, uses religion to oppose and to persecute those who follow the Lord Jesus. Therefore, like John on the island of Patmos, we also must be joint partakers in the tribulation in Jesus. In this way we make up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the church.
In 2 Timothy 2:10 Paul says, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake.” This verse is a further indication that Paul suffered for the sake of the elect, God’s chosen people.
Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 1:5 and 6 say, “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” This is another indication of how much Paul suffered for the saints.
We need to follow the early apostles in making up the lack of Christ’s afflictions for the church. We also need to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings for the building up of the church. The goal of our Christian work must be the building up of the church. However, if we care only for such activities as preaching the gospel or teaching the Bible, we may be welcomed and appreciated. But if the goal of our preaching and teaching is the building up of the church, we shall be opposed by the religious ones.
What is our goal in preaching the gospel? It is not simply to save sinners from hell. It is to obtain material for the building up of the Body of Christ. When I was in religion, I heard many messages encouraging us to preach the gospel. We were always asked to consider God’s love and sympathy for pitiful sinners, and we were told to have the same feeling toward them. Sometimes preachers would say, “Thousands are going to hell every day. Is your heart untouched by this?” Some would be inspired by this preaching and with tears respond to the altar call to become ministers of the gospel. The term “soul winning” is very common in today’s Christianity. But what is the purpose of soul winning? Have you ever heard that soul winning is for Body building? Nevertheless, Paul’s goal in preaching the gospel was the building up of the Body. This is why he was persecuted and why he suffered.
Surely the Jews were the people of God during the time of the Lord Jesus on earth. Did they not daily offer up sacrifices to God? Did they not have the temple which was built according to God’s revelation and instruction? The answer to these questions is yes. But one day Jesus came. He did not care for the temple in the way the Jewish religionists did. When His disciples were admiring the buildings of the temple, He said, “A stone shall by no means be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). Who could have dared to say this? If you had been there and had spoken these words, the Jews would have killed you. This was the reason they persecuted the Lord Jesus.
In the book of Acts we see that those in the Jewish synagogues accused the Apostle Paul of being a “pestilent fellow” (Acts 24:5). Wherever Paul went, he caused trouble. Therefore, he was opposed by the religious people, by the so-called people of God.
It is the same today. If we preach the gospel only for the sake of soul winning and rescuing people from hell, we probably shall not suffer very much. In fact, we may find ourselves welcomed in many places. However, if we take the building of the Body as the goal of gospel preaching, we must be prepared to suffer, even to be opposed and persecuted. Religion does not agree with the building up of the Body. Some Christians have even lied about us, classifying us with those in cults and evil, blasphemous movements. In 2 Corinthians 6:8 Paul said that he had experienced both evil report and good report. If, as you serve the Lord, others give only good reports concerning you, I would question your faithfulness to the Lord. If you are faithful to the Lord, today’s religion will criticize you and spread evil reports about you.
Apparently, religion is for God; actually, it is against God’s economy. Nothing is more subtle and damaging to God’s economy than religion. Winning souls does not affect religion; rather, it helps it a great deal. But whenever you talk about the building up of the Body, religion is threatened.
Consider what Paul did when he was Saul of Tarsus. He was a leader in his religion, and he did everything possible to derive benefit from that religion. However, on the way to Damascus, he was caught by the Lord. After his conversion, whatever he did amounted to a tearing down of religion. Paul was bold. The Lord Jesus annulled the Sabbath day, but Paul annulled something even more important to Judaism — Paul annulled circumcision. The Jews condemned Paul for teaching others to discontinue the practice of circumcision. If Paul had been concerned only with soul winning, he would not have offended people. Paul did not say, “I must keep all the doors open. Therefore, I shouldn’t say a word about circumcision. I must not say anything contrary to the Jewish religion. For the sake of soul winning, I must maintain a good relationship with the religious people.” If Paul’s concern was merely the saving of souls, this could have been his practice. But since he was for the building up of the Body, there was no way for him to do this. For the sake of the producing and building up of the Body of Christ, Paul shared in the sufferings of Christ.
Often people have told me that they appreciated my ministry with the exception of my ministry concerning the church. Some have even pleaded with me not to speak of the church. One instance of this took place in Texas in 1964. I had been invited to Dallas to speak to a certain group of Christians. One evening after the meeting, my host said to me, “Brother Lee, we appreciate your ministry. However, we wish to make it clear that this audience cannot accept any word about the church. In your messages, please don’t say anything about the church.” I replied, “It is important for you to realize that the more I minister on Christ as life, the more the saints will hunger for the church.” During the last meeting, I had the Lord’s leading to speak on the Body from Romans 12. I knew that if I did not speak regarding the church, I would not be faithful to the Lord or honest to the audience. Although I knew my host and others would be offended, I proceeded to speak a strong word about the church life. Unhappy with my speaking, my host did not even rise up to see us off when we departed early the next morning. Nevertheless, one brother was greatly helped by that message on the church and, as a result, was encouraged to turn to the way of the Lord’s recovery.
For the sake of the Body of Christ, the church, we need to fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. I can testify that I have been attacked and opposed simply because of my stand for the recovery of the church life. If you choose to stand for the church, be prepared for attack, misunderstanding, and rumors. Many evil things will be spoken concerning you. The reason for this is that the matter of the church stirs up the authority of darkness. Therefore, those who stand for the church must be prepared for the attack of the enemy. The Lord Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). This word indicates that the gates of Hades, the power of darkness, will do everything possible to frustrate the building up of the church. Praise the Lord that He has promised that the gates of Hades will not prevail!
If we are faithful and honest with respect to the Lord’s ministry and the stewardship of God for the building up of the church, we shall suffer attack, opposition, and evil speaking. In view of this, we need to look to the Lord that we may be covered by His prevailing blood. We also need to pray that the Lord may hide us in Himself as our high tower. As we hide in the Lord during times of suffering and affliction, we share in the fellowship of His sufferings. In this way we fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of the church.
