The fellowship of His sufferings.

John Farley
Pastor Teacher
Sunday,
July 2, 2023

 

New Building
LBC by God’s grace is providing the funding

Healing Hands of Christ Home

JOH 14:12-17

The fellowship of His sufferings

JOH 14:15

Love is giving or acting sacrificially on behalf of/ for the benefit of the beloved.

JOH 3:16

JOH 15:13-14

The essential thing about love is taking action on behalf of the one you love.

And when it comes to loving Jesus, taking action means obeying His commands.

If we are going to love, we must first be loved.

1JO 4:19

JOH 14:15

JOH 15:12-14,17

Love one another.

1JO 3:16

 

And that completes the circuit of His love.

Suffering is a real problem.

What scriptures will give me relief from this suffering?

Sometimes, the suffering is in the form of physical pain.

Other times it is mental anguish.
Grief. Sadness.
The pain of loss.

Jesus asks us to love one another as He has loved us. This is a love that suffers.

To love is also to have fellowship with the suffering of others.

ROM 12:15

There is also aching that is spiritual in origin.

PHI 1:29

We will suffer loss for the sake of Christ.

PHI 3:7-11

It is true that we died with Christ.
We have been crucified with Christ.

GAL 2:20

You and I have already been crucified with Christ.

This crucifixion is part of God’s design for conforming us to the likeness of His Son.

Christ suffered greatly. He suffered in His love for others.

When we are in great pain, the pain He suffered forms a bond with our pain.

When those He loved suffered greatly, He was in inner turmoil.

JOH 11:33-36

The anticipation of His own suffering also caused inner turmoil for Him.

JOH 12:27

He is with us.
This place of suffering is familiar to Him.

When we are in the hell of suffering, of anguish, we will not be alone.

He will meet us there.

PSA 139:8-12

He was tempted in all the ways that we are being tempted.

Our sins are not unfamiliar to Him either.

He bore every one of them in His body on the cross.

There is NOTHING that we will ever go through that He has not experienced.

ROM 8:35-39