Sufferings

From the least of these to the greatest, they can never be called Friend.  Sufferings go all the way back to the beginning, with the first progenitors of the human race.  It appears that while God spoke to us on that day, we did not listen.  Consequently, we were driven from Paradise.  It couldn’t have been very long afterward that the man and the woman became acquainted with sufferings.  But fortunately for us, our God is a God of great grace, not to mention plentiful mercies.  Through these He has made it so that we would learn from our sins and our evils and all of our wrongdoings.  He beckons us to come to Him still today – to be washed of Him; yes and to be forever changed.  And is there now any more need for Him to allow sufferings to come our way?  While we are still bound to this earth, there will always be a need for trials and testings to come into our lives; it is through them that we grow wise and we grow strong.

It is always a good idea to see what the scriptures have to say about its subject matters.  When it comes to the topic of suffering, there is no shortage of verses.  Philippians 3:10 says a powerful lot – and in only a single verse.  It reads, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Every believer most certainly should want to come to know the Son of God – and to know Him more and more with the passing of time.  Shame on us if this is not the case.  And believe it or not, to know Him in His sufferings will be to know Him more intimately than if we came to know Him in resurrection form only.  Why is this?  It is because when people suffer together, they then become more bound to one another.  It is the way of soldiers, who together fight side by side with their brothers, so that their freedom may not be taken from them.  In the years to come they remember one another – both the living and the slain.  What once bound them together will never be taken from them.

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;” And so, in the depths of our hearts, have we chosen to be crucified with Christ?  Have we chosen to die to our earthly man, so that we may cling to the nail pierced Son of God – He who has been lifted up from this world?  He bids us come – that we may die to self and embrace Him only.  And so, have we now broken free from ourselves and the ways of this world?  Have we found in Him a resting place – so wonderful a place so that our sufferings no longer grip us as they once did?

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”  Do you know what the believer’s problem is with this verse?  They are attracted to the resurrection side of it, while hardly, if at all, to the crucifixion.  The bad news for the one whose thoughts are only on what the resurrection offers is this.  There is no way that such a one can live out resurrection life before spiritually hungry people, without first going by way of the cross.  Every time, and without fail, will trials and testings and troubles and heartaches precede the life that is from   above – the life that our God longs to shower upon us.  Even as our blessed Lord once told us, “I have come to give you Life, and that abundantly.”  We only must remember that the life that He spoke of to us, most assuredly needs to begin with death.  Always does crucifixion go before resurrection.

Hear Romans 8: 16-17.  “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”  Listen to Paul in Galatians 2:20.  “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. . .”  I don’t know about you, but I somehow get the impression that not only didn’t Paul look for escapee from the crucified life, but instead felt honored to be called to our beloved Saviour’s cross. 

What does it read in Matthew 10 : 38?  And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”  In other words, Jesus is our Captain, and we are on His team.  He desires to know us.  How so?  He longs to know us in the fellowship of His sufferings.  It is then that He knocks on the door of our hearts.  He wants to be let in.  This is so that He may meet with us and give us hope and comfort, peace and rest, in the midst of our storm.

There are many in the church who will tell you that as believers, we should not have to suffer.  We simply need to walk in faith and break suffering’s stronghold.  No one had more faith than the apostle Paul.  Ironic, that he had suffered more than all.

J. Pecoraro

Beyond All Glory And Grandeur And Gain

Even when the matter is fully thought through, we can only come to the conclusion that our God cannot be described.  When we feel we have said it all, we are still found lacking.  Having exhausted ourselves in the matter, we simply throw in the towel.

We can tell one another that God is Love.  We can speak of how His mercies are new every morning.  We can proclaim from the rooftops of the amazing forgiveness in His Son.  However, what we do not realize is this.  We do not realize that we cannot  see these things as through His eyes.  Consider yourself blessed that you do not envision such matters as God himself envisions them, since as mere human beings we are not yet fit to behold as He beholds.  You can compare this matter to Moses being on the mountaintop with God.  He too thought that he could take in what he was by no means ready for.  And so he asked the King of all creation to please show him His glory.  This was not going to happen.  However, the Lord did allow for His goodness to pass before Moses; He also allowed for Moses to see the back side of Him.  Though for Moses to envision anything more, it would have cost him his life.

I guess you can say that we are a lot like Moses was.  Moses wasn’t able to view the glory of God, even as we believers today are not able to see to the depths that our God sees – both being a bit much for our makeup. Nevertheless, there is a very special and glorious Day coming, according to the first epistle and third chapter of the beloved disciple John.  Here John describes us as no longer being in a childlike state, which spiritually speaking is our state, as long as this present earth remains our home.  But in John’s passage, we see that every believer in the Holy Trinity of God – the Godhead – will one Day be caught up into the heavens – the great catching away – only to find themselves face to face with none other than the Son.

Can you imagine it?  And as if this were not enough, we are told that while we stand beholding Him, we will become changed into the very same kind of Being who has now sent our minds reeling.  I once read in a book by a popular Christian author, that the vision of Jesus will come with such power, that it will cause the believer to become just like the Christ who they now stand beholding with rapturous wonder.  All of this sounds so fantastic, you may say.  But what about now?  What about now is all up to us.  We need to learn how to make our journey exciting, while being God’s soldier upon this earth in these last days.  One of my favorite passages in scripture is, “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;” these were definitely some exciting happenings.  Do you know what was the greatest of all these things?  It was the veil of the temple being torn.  And guess what?  Today, this is still a Now Thing, though it occurred two thousand years ago.  So, what about Now?

Exactly what was the significance  of the rending of the veil?  Simply it was this.  Behind that veil was a room called the innermost sanctuary.  Once a year would Israel’s high priest enter in there.  His work would be merely ceremonial.  Upon completion of it he would exit the sanctuary.  But today every believer in the Triune God has become a priest.  In the book of Revelation, chapter 1: vs 6, we are called kings and priests; and believe it or not, today each one of us has our very own sanctuary.  You can say that wherever you have your personal time with God, this is your most holy place – and no more is there the veil.  To add, it is not to be a ceremonial experience; more still, we may remain there with Him as long as we desire – learning of Him, loving Him, speaking to Him, wondering over Him, etc.  In time we become filled with the knowledge of the Holy.  Yes, as the days and the weeks and the months and the years roll by, we become intimately locked into the only God who is Forever.  He has never begun and His end will never be.  Beyond this, His Domain spans Eternity.

Why is it that most believers spend such little time in their Holy of Holies?  That we should meet with the God of the universe in this place is one of the reasons that our beloved Saviour perished on the cross.  Upon the time of His death, I could just see those big carpenter hands reaching into the temple, while tearing the curtain from top to bottom for all who would believe.  Now true communion could be had between the faithful and the Father of their spirits.  For Jesus, our strong Anchor and Forerunner, has opened for us The Way.

Often the children of God substitute Bible reading, or other Christian books for that intimate time of communion with Him.  It is in no way the same thing.  Our God wants to meet with us, that He may hear from us, to sup with us in sweet communion.  He looks for his children to talk to Him – yes, even to the One that they cannot see: and in this they prove to Him a great faith.  To meet consistently with our God in the sweet solitude of the Holy of Holies is the greatest thing that could ever happen to any son or daughter of the Most High.  Upon departure will we come away with a wisdom we have never pondered; a new strength to bring down our enemy; the passion to venture deeper into the heart of the Father; and a love for Heaven’s Family that words will ever fail to capture.

Oh the great grace shown us on that dark, dark Day – the Day that the Son of God took upon Himself the consequences of all of the sin of man, from Adam down to our final act of rebellion upon His second advent to our world.  Now it is finished.  Now the Son of God reigns for a thousand years upon a new earth – a new world far beyond any utopia that any visionary has ever brought to mind.  And how difficult it is to take all of it in – that is when you consider that a thousand years will merely serve as a prelude to a universe made altogether New, and to which there will be no end.  All glory and honor be unto the only God – Forever and Ever!

J. Pecoraro

Where Is Truth? What Is Truth? God Is Truth!

Truth.  This, if you stop and think about it, is a word that is not often spoken by believers; and it is not because the Bible has little to say about it.  But I wouldn’t want anyone to simply go on my word.  Instead, just open an exhaustive concordance and you may become shocked at the number of scriptures that contain the word TRUTH.  I became a believer in 1973.  I have attended church regularly since.  I cannot recall hearing a thorough teaching, or message from the pulpit, that revolved around this one word; and to add, a most powerful word – TRUTH.  By the believer it must not only be embraced, but walked in and loved.  It must be sought after diligently by way of the heart; and never should we allow it to become a light issue to us.  When it comes right down to it, all of the subject matter having to do with the Person of God – His plan of salvation, and the many doctrines that believers wrestle with and fight with one another about, all have to do with our search for truth.  Who in the end will discover it to great measures?  It will be those who seek hard after it.  It was for good reason that our Lord once told us “seek and you will find.”

Many years ago I had a dream.  I would say that it lasted no more than ten seconds.  Jesus was standing on a platform.  He was teaching a multitude of people.  All that I could see was the back of Him, though I knew that it was Him.  There was a man standing behind the platform, listening to all of his words.  He couldn’t see the Lord since he was small in stature, the top of his head coming about as high as the platform.  Then a very unexpected thing happened.  The Lord stopped speaking.  Next he turned and walked to the rear of the platform.  He then bent all the way over so that his face was but a few inches from the man’s face, and with a smile like I had never seen, he said but five words to him.  You follow hard after Me, he told the man.  It was then that I awoke.  And so once again, who in the end will discover truth in great measure?  It will be those who follow hard after the Son, always remaining close behind.

Will it ever be that one will search in so great a way that they will come to know all that there is concerning the person of God  and His innumerable works?  In my own mind I firmly believe that the children of God will learn of Him forever.  And so much more should we who live in this fallen world believe that the things of the Lord can ever become fully grasped.  Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that now we are as children being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.  Also he writes to the Corinthians that presently we see as in a mirror darkly.  Still, in his letter to the Ephesians we are encouraged by him as he tells us that in a New Day yet to come, we shall together enter into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God; that we will be as one perfect man, as we come into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  In that Day there will no longer be a need to seek out the things that are true.  Being of one body and one mind with the Son, we will all walk in them together. 

One of my favorite verses containing the word truth was spoken by Jesus.  It was directed to Pontius Pilate.   Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice, He told him.  What is so great about that, you may ask?  My reply would be that these words to Pilate serve to answer many of our questions.  For example, how many times have you heard this type of a question asked?  What about a man born in a jungle, remotely distant from civilization, and in a place where no missionary has ever gone?  He has never heard of Christianity, nor has he heard of a Saviour being sent into our world.  Do you mean to tell me that this man will die and go to a place of suffering, apart from the presence of his Maker?  I have no idea.  But I’m sure that Jesus hit the nail right on the head when He said, Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.  But what about a believer who takes their own life?  What happens to them?  Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.  What of the backslidden Christian who commits a terrible sin, and slips into eternity before they can repent?  We can go on and on.  The rule still stands.  Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.  I believe that Jesus makes it easy for us by the words that He spoke to Pilate on that day.  Simply He was saying that there are two kinds of people in this world.  There are those who love, embrace,  and seek after truth in sincerity of heart and in the fear of the Lord.   Then there are those who hardly – if at all – care much about the issue.  Still the fact is that Jesus was never in the habit of mincing words.  And by those that He spoke to Pilate, I’d say that He pretty much closed the case on the matter, cutting right through all of the questions.

What is truth?  This in fact was the question that Pilate asked Jesus on the day that the Lord stood before him.  But I think we would all know that Pontius Pilate wasn’t the first to ask this question, and he certainly wouldn’t be the last.  Innumerable have been the people that have spoken these words.  Yet little did they know that the question itself is altogether wrong.  “What is truth?”  They are words that should be flung as far away as the east is from the west.  The question needs to be Who is Truth?  And just as much does the answer need to be, God is Truth.  Jesus once spoke these words to Thomas.  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  Do we love the Truth?  If so, then we will come to know, embrace and follow it, and we will be His forever.

In Psalm 51:6 David writes, Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. - - - - Truth and Wisdom are like brothers bound together; and the place of their dwelling is the hidden parts.

In Psalm 89: 14 David pens these words.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and Truth go before Your face. - - - -  Truth is the Light that ever goes before Him.

In Psalm 117:2 the psalmist tells us that His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the Truth of the Lord endures forever. - - - -  Our God who changes not, will for all eternity personify Truth.

In Psalm 145:18 David under the divine inspiration writes, The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in Truth. - - - -  He hears the cry that arises from out of the flesh, from which nothing good comes; also He sees what arises from the spirit man.  The latter is done in Truth.  To him His Spirit draws near.

John 3: 21 He who does the Truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. - - - - There is no cause for Truth to hide, for God himself has become its Author.

John 4: 23 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. - - - - To worship in Spirit is the only worship that is of a sweet aroma to the Father, for it is the only true worship.

John 8: 32 You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you Free. - - - - To know Him in his crucifixion – to know Him in his resurrection; sown in weakness -  raised in power.  It is the only Truth that sets us Free.

John 17: 17 Sanctify them by your truth.  Your word is truth.  - - - - We who believe are set apart from this world by the word that the Father has declared to be true – both true and eternal.

I John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  - - - - Love that sacrifices proves itself true.

III John 4   I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in Truth. - - - - To walk in Truth is to walk in the Light; to walk in the Light is to never stumble.

God is Light, writes John the beloved.  In Him is no darkness at all.  And so we must yearn for, pursue, apprehend and most of all love our God who is Light.  We then will never fail to walk in Truth.

J. Pecoraro