Suffering affliction for the sake of Christ is the living reality of the church throughout the entire New Testament age. The church suffers innumerable reproaches and is buffeted on every side by the onslaught of wicked men who seek her life. This hatred and enmity are occasioned by the truth. It is concerning this enmity that Christ said to his disciples, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us that we suffer afflictions for the sake of Christ. Even as Christ was hated by the world and nailed to a tree, the church of Christ will also suffer in the midst of the world.
Scripture teaches that the sufferings of the church are that which is left behind of the afflictions of Christ (Col. 1:24). Thus there is a distinction between the afflictions of Christ, whereby he made satisfaction for our sins to God, and the afflictions that Christ left behind for God’s people. Concerning the afflictions by which Christ accomplished our salvation, they are finished; there are no afflictions of the suffering of Jesus Christ that are left behind. Those afflictions belonged to Christ’s state of humiliation, in which he became accursed of God and by which Christ brought an end to our sin-lives. Jesus Christ became sin for us in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21). Those afflictions Christ bore all his life long, beginning with his lowly birth in Bethlehem, as he was made under the law and bore the curse of God as the sin-bearer for all God’s people.
Those afflictions had as their heart the cross of Calvary. At the cross the curse of God came to a head, especially during the three hours of darkness. The curse of God brought Christ down to the very depths of hell at the cross. It was at the cross that Christ drank down the cup of God’s wrath, which was due to us for our sins. The sufferings that Christ endured there were finished when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” No one else could suffer as Christ suffered for sin. For Christ was a real, righteous man without original guilt. Also, Christ was very God and was able by his divinity to sustain the great burden of God’s wrath that he suffered against sin. At the cross Christ perfectly made satisfaction unto God on account of our sins.
The afflictions that the church suffers are Christ’s reproaches. The reproaches of Christ were present from the moment of his birth. There was no room in the inn, Herod sought to kill him, and the people whom he came to save were generally uninterested in him. Those reproaches went with Christ throughout all his earthly ministry. They intensified and became most despicable at the cross. The church, as she is joined to Christ by faith and believes upon Christ in the world, suffers innumerable reproaches for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Contrary to outward appearances, the church is given an occasion for rejoicing in the midst of her afflictions. This can only be seen with the eyes of faith. First, the church is comforted that there is a definite end to her sufferings. That which is left behind of the afflictions of Christ is a measure that must be filled. The church is comforted that after she has suffered for a little while, Christ will receive her unto himself in heaven (1 Pet. 5:10). Second, the church is comforted that she suffers her afflictions not for her own sake, for then she would only have reason to fear and despair. Rather, her sufferings are the sufferings of her Lord and savior. Finally, the church is comforted in that her sufferings work for her a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
The church confesses the great honor that is hers to suffer with Christ. To say that the church rejoices in affliction for the sake of affliction is false. Rather, the sufferings of the church in the afflictions of this life for the sake of Christ are evidences of the presence of Christ in the midst of her. The church suffers in the world and is hated by all according as the world hated Christ first. Because Christ is in her midst by his word and Spirit, the world rages against the church and despises her.
These afflictions that Christ left behind for his church are the reproaches of former friends who despise God’s people for the sake of the truth. These afflictions are the reproaches of loved ones with whom God’s people seemed to agree at one time but who have since turned their backs on the truth. These afflictions take the form of hateful words, sneering glances, slanderous texts and emails, public and private defamation, and schism within the church of Christ.
These afflictions are not borne by a select few, for all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. Rather, these sufferings are continually borne by the church throughout the whole earth until the Lord comes again. In accordance with this truth, scripture exhorts the church to resist the assaults of the devil in faith, “knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet. 5:9). This truth is comfort for the church. There is no new suffering. All share in the afflictions that Christ left behind. By means of the other members of the church, the child of God is encouraged to continue steadfastly in faith in the midst of afflictions by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Having this mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, the church suffers together. As members together of the same body, the church endeavors to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This also teaches that whenever someone in the church refuses to suffer with the other members of the church, he or she attacks the unity of that church. Such a refusal is damaging and disrupts the fellowship of the congregation for the sake of selfish and carnal motives. The chief concern of the church must be to have the mind of Christ. Having the mind of Christ, the church suffers as a body in the midst of this world by virtue of Christ’s suffering for her sins. On the basis of that suffering of Christ, God established his covenant with his people. Because of the afflictions of Christ, which he suffered for their sins, God brings all his people into one body in Christ and gathers his church throughout the whole world by the preaching of the gospel.
At no point in time is a member of the church to rejoice over the suffering of another member. This would be cruel and unloving. Rather, the church suffers together by bearing one another’s burdens. That activity of the members for one another is part of what it means to walk in the way of love. It is to have the mind that was also in Christ Jesus, according to which Christ became a man and took upon himself the form of a servant. Jesus Christ came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Likewise, the members suffer together and encourage one another in their sufferings along their earthly pilgrimages. Members encourage and comfort one another in their sufferings not in themselves but in the Lord, whose will it is for them to be brought unto heavenly glory in the way of suffering.
A refusal to suffer with the other members of the congregation is hateful and shows a general lack of care for the covenant and kingdom of God. That refusal denies the Christ through whom we are brought together into that covenant and kingdom. The truth concerning those members who refuse to suffer with the other members is that they care little for the name of Christ and are no different than those who passed by him in his sufferings and despised him. Even worse, they are like those who ridiculed him in his sufferings.
This refusal to suffer with the other members of the church still happens in the church today. It can be clearly seen. It not only exists in the church, but it also has extremely harmful consequences upon the hearts and souls of those who are suffering for Christ’s sake and would bring them perilously close to despair if it were not for the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Refusal to suffer affliction is not love and does not arise out of faith. Refusal to suffer is hatred and arises out of unbelief. This refusal has taken many forms, a few of which have become increasingly common among us.
First, and perhaps the most common refusal among us, is this: “I can sympathize with your suffering the loss of spouse, friends, loved ones, sons and daughters, and many other things for the truth’s sake. However, I am not going to be the one who stops fellowshiping with my family. My family will have to do that to me first.” Or “My family will have to cut me off.” This is simply nothing less than a refusal to suffer the afflictions of Christ with the other members who suffer. Even worse, it is a mockery of their sufferings.
When members suffer the loss of family and friends for the sake of the truth and bend their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ, this is not something to be despised. Whether it is right or wrong to continue fellowshiping with those who are not one in the faith with us is not even a question. It is not a topic that needs further discussion. It is the very clear and explicit teaching of scripture. Their fruits have shown exactly what is in their hearts.
Being content to stay in a denomination that spits upon the very notion that God is everything in salvation is not undiscernible fruit. All the earmarks of unbelief are present, yet many of us continue fellowshiping with our families and friends and cleave to our earthly ties despite every sign that God has given us to stop. Continuing in such fellowship is a denial of Christ for the sake of earthly peace and stability. And what about the members who actually suffer the loss of earthly ties? They are left to bear their afflictions alone. When suffering members receive the encouragement of other members who refuse to suffer with them, it is received as half-hearted. The blood of suffering members cries from the ground, but many block their ears to those cries. And for what? Because they will not suffer with those members, choosing rather to fellowship with the unbelieving and impenitent. The warning to us is that such a refusal is not merely a mockery of the other members in their afflictions but also a mockery of Christ himself, whose afflictions they bear.
Second, another example of such refusal to suffer with the other members of the church is the refusal to participate in doctrinal controversy. Those who refuse to participate in doctrinal controversy are often afraid of the consequences of that controversy. They are often afraid that becoming too involved in doctrinal controversy might entangle them in the crossfire and offend people more than “necessary.” Maybe the people they are afraid to offend are friends and family. There are various appeals made to lessen the blows and cautions given against the language and rhetoric that is used from the pulpit, in order not to offend anybody. This too is a refusal to suffer the afflictions of Christ. Those members who are stirred in their hearts over matters that are crucial to the truth of the gospel and the rejection of the lie are met with an obstacle that sorely affects them. That obstacle is the objectors to doctrinal controversy. We are not to become obstacles in the way of doctrinal controversy, but we are called to labor and fight for the cause of the truth or get out of the way. It is the one who objects to doctrinal controversy whom God will judge.
Third, the refusal to suffer the afflictions of Christ with the other members of the congregation expresses itself in the refusal to stand alongside the other members for the cause of Christian education. This is seen in the refusal to stand in agreement with those who insist, according to the word of God, that the good Christian school is a demand of the covenant. This refusal takes concrete form in various objections to the good Christian school. Some say the demand for a Christian school is a form of legalism, while others insist upon the necessity of a passage of scripture that explicitly states that the Christian school is a demand of the covenant. Whatever the case, the calling is either to labor for the cause of Christian education or to get out of the way.
We are not to stand in the way of the other members of the congregation who desire the good Christian school. The good Christian school is not an option; it is a demand of the covenant. Concerning that truth, all the major questions and objections have been answered sufficiently. Suffer with the other members. Suffer as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We must insist that we have good Christian schools and that if such do not exist, we labor to form them, come what may. Insisting upon the necessity of our own schools may cause many to leave the Reformed Protestant Churches. Indeed, that insistence already has. And the church is again comforted that even in these things her reward is far greater than her afflictions. The way of the Lord for her is the way of affliction, the way of splits and divisions in the church. However, it is the Lord’s will that in this way he should bring his church to perfection in heaven.
Such perseverance in suffering is not of our own strength. We do not suffer afflictions as we ought. Oftentimes, we shrink from the very thought of suffering the afflictions of Christ. The truth is that all our sufferings are imperfect. All our afflictions are borne by us as we live within a body of death. This body of death is the explanation for our sins. By nature we are conceived and born dead in trespasses and sins. The comfort of the church in her afflictions is never in herself. The church can and may only comfort herself according as Christ himself suffers and did suffer for her.
Jesus Christ suffered unto death, bearing our sins under the law and being made a curse for us. Now we suffer not as those who are under the law but as those who have been set free in Christ. In Christ we are given the right to suffer with him. Being joined to Christ by faith, that suffering is the inevitable fruit of faith. Those afflictions are the church’s glory as she is united to Jesus Christ her head. When the church suffers, Christ himself also suffers.
The calling of the church with respect to the afflictions that Christ left behind is to suffer with him. Suffer with him! Suffer with each other as members together of one body in Jesus Christ. And be comforted that in all your sufferings you are being saved—not because you suffer but because Christ suffered unto the death of the cross for you. Your sufferings do not gain you anything.
Instead, be comforted in your afflictions that in them you are being saved, brought irresistibly by God through this world as pilgrims and strangers unto the joy of perfection in heaven. In suffering we have no reason to doubt or fear what men can do unto us. Therefore, we are comforted by the word of God in Romans 8.
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