Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

“You can only help others in proportion to what you yourself have suffered … As you go through the fiery trials, the testing, the affliction, the persecution, the conflict … life will flow out to others, even the life of Christ.”

—Watchman Nee

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BACKGROUND

Watchman Nee was an evangelist and church planter in China. He was arrested on baseless charges by Chairman Mao’s Communist government, which came to power in 1949. During his imprisonment, Nee continued to share the gospel and also sent letters of encouragement to the church in China.

Sending these letters was not easy, however. Nee secretly sent his messages through the prison guards by sharing the gospel with them during each six-hour shift.

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COMMENTS

You can do your own research on Watchman Nee and later Witness Lee. Their lives and theology are not without controversy.¹ I chose this quote because it piqued my interest. In the study references listed below, we see that suffering in some form is to be expected by Christians. Lee, in this quote, seems to imply that a believer must suffer proportionately (as much as those they are serving?) to help (preach, teach, witness) to others.

What do you think? Does the Bible mandate proportional suffering? Comment below.

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1. Are the teachings of Witness Lee and the Local Church biblical? ↩︎

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STUDY

1 Pet 4:12–15

Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.

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An excellent resource is Bible Questions Answered | GotQuestions.org. If you go to the site and type in Suffering or Christian Suffering, you will get many results to do an in-depth study.

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Another of my favorite sites is Monergism.org. Here, I highly recommend the sections on Christian Character and Christian Life.

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CROSS BEFORE CROWN

Christianity is the religion of the agony and the ecstasy, with the former preceding the latter. Romans 8:17 sounds the keynote: Christians are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (RSV).

Other NT passages give us variations on the theme. 2 Timothy 2:12 sets up this causal connection: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him” (KJV). In the verses preceding this, Paul elaborates a similar theme with the pictures of a soldier who remains single-minded in the service of his superior, an athlete “who is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules,” the “hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops” and himself as someone who is “suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal” in order to “obtain the salvation which in Christ Jesus goes with eternal glory” (RSV).

Philippians 1:29 has similar import: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (RSV). Elsewhere Paul pictures himself as “on the point of being sacrificed,” having “fought the good fight” and “finished the race,” so that “henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim 4:6–8 RSV). James writes, “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him” (Jas 1:12 RSV). Romans 5:2 asserts that “we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” and then immediately follows with a list of virtues that suffering produces in Christian character (Rom 5:3–5).

The first epistle of Peter is a small classic on the subject of suffering for the sake of Christ. Here too we find an implied sequence of suffering as a prerequisite or prelude to glory. “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you,” writes Peter, “but rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet 4:12–13 RSV). Similarly, elders who fulfill their calling sacrificially will receive “the unfading crown of glory” at the appearing of Christ (1 Pet 5:1–4). Again, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you” (1 Pet 5:10 RSV).

A more generalized version of the same rhythm appears in the OT. Job’s sufferings are the prelude to his seeing God. Psalm 34:19 asserts, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 30:5 states a rhythm that the Psalms reenact many times: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (RSV).

Leland Ryken et al., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 184–185.

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5565 – suffering of believers

Believers ought to expect to suffer as an inevitable part of their calling. To believe is not to evade suffering; it is to face it with new confidence and hope. Rightly approached, suffering develops the character of believers, equips them for more effective service, draws believers closer to Jesus Christ and prepares them for eternal life.

Believers must expect suffering
Jesus Christ foretold it Mt 10:22 pp Mk 13:13 See also Mt 10:17; 23:34; 24:9; Lk 21:16-17

The apostles foretold it Ac 14:22; 2Ti 3:12 See also Php 1:29; 1Jn 3:13; Rev 2:10

The experience of the OT shows it Ro 8:36; Heb 11:25-26,32-38

The experience of the NT shows it Ac 4:3; 5:40; 9:29; 12:1-3; 2Co 11:23-29; Gal 3:4; 1Th 2:2,14; 1Pe 4:4; Heb 10:32-34

Suffering for Jesus Christ is commendable
Mt 5:10-12 pp Lk 6:20-23 See also Ac 5:41; 2Ti 1:8; 1Pe 2:19; 3:17; 4:12-16

Suffering is profitable
It affirms believers’ adoption Heb 12:7 See also Jn 15:19; 17:14; Ro 8:17; Gal 6:17; 2Th 1:4-5

It is the price of godliness Heb 12:11 See also Ps 119:67,71; Isa 38:17; Jn 15:2; 1Pe 1:6-7

It is a condition of service 2Co 4:10; Col 1:24 See also Ps 126:5-6; Ac 9:16; 20:23-24; 1Co 4:9-13; 2Co 1:3-5; Gal 4:19; Php 3:18; Col 2:1; 2Ti 1:11-12; 2:3,10

It develops trust 2Co 1:9 See also 1Pe 4:19

It develops character Ro 5:3-4 See also Heb 5:8; Jas 1:3

It deepens fellowship 1Co 12:26 See also Ro 12:15; 2Co 1:7; 8:2; Gal 4:14-15; 6:2

It draws believers to the Lord Php 3:8,10 See also Job 42:5; 2Co 4:8-10; 12:9-10; 1Pe 4:13

It prepares believers for heaven 2Co 4:16-5:4

Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009).

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