THE FELLOWSHIP OF SUFFERING
In Song of Solomon, the cry of the bride, who is symbolic of the Church, was…
I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth… (Song of Solomon 3:2)
Centuries later, the Apostle Paul echoed the same cry when he cried out:
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. (Philippians 3:10)
When Paul uttered these words, it was 64 A.D. and he was in the closing days of his ministry. Around three years later he was martyred for the cause of Christ. Yet here, at the end of his ministry, Paul is crying out, “That I may know Him.”
…Yes, Paul was saved.
…Yes, he was a minister.
…Yes he had done mighty signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.
But we are talking about something deeper. We are talking about a revelation of God’s glory which comes through the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.
When you move beyond the point of blessing into this manifestation of God’s presence and glory of which I am speaking, you will know no defeats.
This doesn’t mean you will not experience problems. Just look at the things the Apostle Paul endured…
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)
Make this declaration:
I want to know Him, in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. Philippians 3:1-21
