we can enter into his sufferings, into the sufferings
of Jesus. Even when we're being pierced through
by something, we have the joy of knowing that
as we enter into his sufferings, there's a glory
that comes with it. God promises in Joel 2 .28
to pour out of his Spirit on all humanity. Welcome
to Global Outpouring, where we contend for that
promise outpouring, we equip for that outpouring,
so that we may engage in that very outpouring.
I'm Philip Buss. And I'm Sharon Buss. Welcome
to the podcast today. We're so glad that you're
with us. We had a glorious time in our last episode
with our brother Dean Braxton, talking about
how Jesus became the cup of life for us. And
as I've been meditating about that, it just felt
like Boy, there's more to this. And so we want
to talk about how Jesus became the cup of suffering
for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We are
just delighted that you're here and that we can
do this thing together. And before we get started,
we want to encourage you, if you haven't already
done so, to go to our website, globaloutpouring
.net. Make sure that you have joined our email
lists. We have several to choose from so that
you can stay in touch with us. We can stay in
touch with you. And there's also a feedback form
on that same webpage, globaloutpouring .net,
that you can fill out. Tell us what the Lord
is doing in your life, especially if you're getting
blessed by this podcast. We would love to hear
from you. And if you have any ideas of things
that we can bring, let us know. We would love
to pray about that and see what the Holy Spirit
gives us for that subject. So let's talk about
what we talked about last time with Dean Braxton,
talking about how Jesus became that cup. that
Dean saw in heaven. He saw a cup that was for
the drink offering. And really, Jesus became
that drink offering for us. And we talked about
how his suffering on the cross and pouring out
of his blood was that. And there were some other
things that have come into my spirit since then
that I thought we should go over and just add
to what we discussed last time. Because I just
feel like there's more dimensions to it. There's
more realms for us to understand. So, Philip,
would you read for us Galatians 3 .13, please?
Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us
from the curse of the law and its condemnation
by becoming a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone who hangs or crucified on
a tree. And that's from the Amplified or Amplified
Classic. I don't remember which one we used.
There's something about Jesus becoming that curse
for us that I want to dig into that his sufferings
had to do with taking the curse that started
all the way back in the Garden of Eden. So if
you go back to Matthew 27, would you read that
for us? Matthew 27, 27 through 31. Then the soldiers
of the governor took Jesus into the governor's
headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion
before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet
robe on him. And twisting together a crown of
thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed
in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they
mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews! And
they spit on him and took the reed and struck
him on the head. Then when they had mocked him,
they stripped him of the robe and put his own
clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
So this crown of thorns is the thing that I kept
thinking about so much after Dean shared with
us. It appears that the crown of thorns that
Jesus bore wasn't just like a circle of thorns
that went around his head. It was more like a
helmet that was made of thorns. So it wasn't
just, I mean, as horrible as a circle of. thorns
would be it was all over his head and they crammed
it down on his head so his head began to bleed
already and then they took this reed and started
smacking him on the head with it so it's like
oh the suffering that he went through but as
i was meditating on this i was reminded that
this whole idea of thorns, goes back to the Garden
of Eden. You want to read Genesis 3, 17 and 18,
where God is speaking to Adam. And unto Adam
he said, Because you have hearkened unto the
voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not
eat of it. Curse is the ground for your sake,
and sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of
your life. Thorns also and thistles shall bring
forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the
field. So we talked about that a couple of episodes
ago when we were talking about redeeming the
land and how curse comes on the earth itself
because of disobedience and that whole long list
of things that will cause a curse to come. Part
of what happened as a result of the earth being
cursed, all of a sudden, for the first time,
you have thorns and thistles. And I guess you
could add briars and anything that's prickly
like that. Like a cactus, too, probably. Oh,
yeah, could be. And probably even things like
poison ivy and poisonous plants probably came
as a result of the curse. Because when God created
the earth and he planted the garden, everything
was perfect. Everything was good. You could eat
everything. kind of plant. It wasn't going to
hurt you. But there are now poisonous plants
and these thorns. So I see this connection between
the Garden of Eden and the curse that came because
of disobedience. causing thorns to come up from
the ground. And I feel like the suffering that
was brought on Jesus as a result of these thorns
is directly connected to the curse. Some years
back when we were in Israel, we brought back,
it was like a crown of thorns. Oh, yeah. Remember
that? And the thorns were about... three inches
long yeah yeah and they were sharp yeah and it
was just and that was nothing like the one he
was wearing yeah you know because this was just
a more simplified thing but that was more an
elaborate one What he was wearing. Yeah, yeah.
He would have worn that helmet of thorns. But,
you know, the point is that he was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and
by his stripes we are healed. So he took those
thorns on his head and suffered on his head.
And I'm telling you, if you are having issues
with... thoughts that don't belong in your head,
if you're having any kind of issues with mental
torment. I remember one time, oh, one time I
was going through a mental torment. And honestly,
God so healed me of it that I don't remember
what the torment was. But I remember being tormented,
that these thoughts were coming into my head
that did not belong there. And all I could do
in that time was say, Lord, I love you and I
trust you. Lord, I love you and I trust you.
Jesus, Jesus, I love you and I trust you. And
I went through this little season of of this
mental torment. But because Jesus bore this crown
of thorns on his head, he was there for me and
he healed me of it. And like I said, he healed
me so completely that. I didn't have any, I don't
even have a recollection of what that torment
was. He so healed me. And he can heal you, too,
if you're being tormented by remembrance of things.
Sometimes there's kind of like this replay of
a recording that goes on in your head, something
that happened to you, and it's just tormenting
you. We bring the power of the thorns, the crown
of thorns over your mind, over your will that
you can say, no, that is not of me. Romans 7
makes it very clear that the real you. is your
spirit. And your spirit has become one with the
Spirit of God. And when you need a healing or
when there's something coming into your head
that isn't according to the Word of God, your
spirit has gotten into agreement with the Word
of God. Your spirit has gotten into agreement
with God's ways. So anything that's coming in
that doesn't agree with God's ways, you can just
tell it to leave. You can tell it to leave because
of the power of the thorns that Jesus bore on
his head. You're going to reject those thoughts,
especially the ones that are coming as suggestions
from the outside. But even our fleshly nature,
we can't blame the devil for everything. Our
fleshly nature is inclined to do the wrong thing.
That brokenness that is coming from Well, it's
coming from the curse, really. But Jesus bore
that curse for us. So just to think about the
curses, if you remember, and we're not going
to go there, but if you can go there, just to
study in. Deuteronomy chapter 27 and 28, it spells
out the blessings and the curses. When the children
of Israel were to come into the promised land,
one of the first things that they were to do
after they won the battle at Jericho, I think
it was, and I think probably the first two battles,
they went back to Shechem, which was where Abraham
first met up with God in the land that was promised.
And it was also the land where Jacob had... bought
a piece of ground, and he dug the well there
that's called Jacob's Well. And we've been there.
And we've been there. And it's the place where
Joseph's body was laid. Well, when the children
of Israel came, they brought the body with them.
So anyway, Shechem was a really important place,
and they had the Mount of Blessing and the Mount
of Cursing. Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Exactly.
So Mount Ebal was the place where Deuteronomy
27, they're pronouncing the curses, right? And
then Mount Gerizim was the Mount of Blessings.
But it also goes on beyond all of the blessings,
you know, blessed will you be in the city, blessed
will your store, all these good things. But then
it goes on and say, but if you don't, and here's
another whole list of curses. If you don't obey,
then all these curses will come. Yeah, so it's
really important that we understand that curses
come from disobedience. And God wants to deliver
us from all of that as we get a hold of the fact
that Jesus did it for us. He did the suffering
for us, and we can enter into his suffering.
There's another word for curse that is used in
Numbers 23, verse 8. where it's talking about
Balaam, where Balak tried to get Balaam to curse
Israel, and he took him three different places.
We've talked about that recently. But this word
curse, Balaam says, how can I curse whom God
has not cursed? So that word curse is the Hebrew
word nakav. it not only means to curse, it also
means to pierce. Gesenius says it means to bore
or to perforate. Well, isn't that what happened
to Jesus with that crown of thorns? His head
was perforated. It was absolutely bored through.
And you've got so many nerves in your head. Even
from our accident that we had. Oh, yeah. Because
I had blacked out and my head went every which
way but loose. But all these little spots on
the left side of my head, I can just rub them.
And the pain, it's like a nauseating pain almost
just to rub them. And I can't imagine being pierced
with something all over your head like that.
What do you went through? Oh, terrible. And besides
that, I had an experience with having shingles
one time. And, you know, shingles are horrible.
If you've ever had. And you had them in your
ear. Well, yeah, that was the thing. It started
in my ear and in my scalp. I didn't even know
what it was for a month. Yeah. And I won't even
go into the story, but I'm telling you. That
was suffering. That was suffering. We had a wonderful
40th anniversary. Yes. That's when it was, wasn't
it? That's when it was, yeah. Yeah, I was suffering,
but I was determined we're going to have a good
time. Wow. So we did the best we could. But,
you know, this idea of a curse will... perforate.
It will cause a piercing. It'll cause a perforation.
So talking about thorns, there are lots of scriptures
where it mentions thorns. I was surprised at
how many different places it was. And we'll just
mention a few of them. Proverbs 22, 5 says thorns
and snares are in the way of the froward. And
he that keeps his soul shall be far from them.
So, you know, if you're not doing what you're
supposed to be doing, if you're behaving foolishly,
if you're headstrong and going away from the
things of God, it's going to put thorns and snares
in your way. Because it's part of the curse.
It's like you reap what you sow. You're sowing
thorns when you disobey God. I remember our founder,
Sister Gwen, when she came back from China the
first time. Yeah. They were calling the missionaries
from Taiwan, please come to Taiwan. Oh, my, yes.
But she didn't want to, and she got a job. Well,
I served the Lord on the mission field, so I
did my time. Yeah. And so she was enjoying the
war was over. You know, she's enjoying her time
working in an apartment store. And then one day
she found a lump, you know, on her breast. And
she just inquired of the Lord and she just heard
him speak to her. If you're not going to do what
I told you to do, there's no purpose in you being
here. Yep. Yeah. So she went to Taiwan and the
lump disappeared. Yeah. And Mariah Woodworth
hit her. She lost four children, one right after
the other. The Lord was speaking to her to go
into ministry. That was very difficult. Late
1800s, a woman in ministry. Very true. But she
had the power of God, healings, miracles. But
it took till the fourth child where she obeyed
God. Yeah. That's wild. She was left with one.
She was left with one. Yeah. Disobedience creates
thorns in your life. It leaves an open door.
Yeah, it sure does. It's like the hand of protection
is lifted off if you're not doing what God tells
you to do. If you're being disobedient, that's
a better way to say it. So Proverbs 24, 31 is
talking about the vineyard of the slothful, the
lazy person. It says, And lo, it was all grown
over with thorns, and nettles had covered the
face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was
broken down. not attending to the thing that
you're supposed to be doing can bring thorns
and nettles into your life. And nettles are horrible
too. So then Isaiah 5, 6 is talking about God's
vineyard. This is the vineyard that didn't produce
fruit. You know, they were disobedient again.
And they're not producing good fruit. They're
producing wild grapes instead of good grapes,
even though he planted good vines. He says, I
will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned nor
digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns.
I will also command the clouds that they rain
no rain upon it. So, you know, there's something
about this. wonderful Savior of ours that took
all of these curses on himself to give us deliverance.
So in John 19 .5, talking about Jesus when he
had been beaten and brought out and he had this
crown of thorns on his head, John 19 .5 says,
Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns
and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them,
Behold the man. So here's this man that has been
lacerated for us. He's been shredded for us.
He's had this crown of thorns crammed on his
head. I don't know if anybody has seen the movie
The Passion. Oh, my. That's mild compared to
what really happened. That was just tough. Yeah.
So it also says in Hebrews 6, 8, but that which
bears thorns and briars is rejected. and it is
nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.
So we have this picture in Psalm 22 of the crucifixion,
and I think everyone recognizes the first verse.
What does that say, Philip? My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from
helping me and from the words of my groaning?
So we have this prophetic picture in the Psalms.
Is that a Psalm of David? Does that say Psalm
of David on it? Yes. Yeah. See, David was many
times prophetically writing. about his own son.
I think he was writing about himself, and Jesus
entered into so many of the things that David
entered into, so that he could really be the
son of David in so many ways. So read verse 6.
I think that's a really significant verse. But
I am a worm and no man. I am the scorn of men
and despised by the people. So Jesus Jesus became
a worm for us. I'm a worm and not a man. That's,
you know, like a worm is really a despised thing
too. But I love this scripture in Isaiah 41,
14 to 16. Would you read that one, please? Fear
not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I am
the one who helps you, declares the Lord. Your
Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold. That's
amazing. Yeah. You know, I think that Jesus kind
of became that worm. that God threshed the mountain
with. Now, he's saying that he is the Redeemer,
and Jesus is the Redeemer. And, you know, God
used Jesus to thresh a mountain, really. But
he became like a worm. And this word worm in
the Hebrew is tola. And it's interesting that
this word It means worm, but there's a specific
kind of worm also that it means. It could mean
just worms, like it's the word that's used where
if the people didn't eat up all of the manna,
then it bred worms. That's the same word. For
the next day, it would develop worms. Exactly.
It's the same word. But there's also a specific
worm that is really remarkable. animal, and I'm
just going to read from the outline of biblical
usage that comes with the Blue Letter Bible app.
It says, this worm is the Coccus ilicis. When
the female of the scarlet worm species was ready
to give birth to her young, she would attach
her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself
so firmly and permanently that she would never
leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body
were thus protected until the larva were hatched
and able to enter their own life cycle. As the
mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body
and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies
of such female scarlet worms, the commercial
scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What
a picture this gives of Christ dying on the tree,
shedding his precious blood that he might bring
many sons unto glory. Hebrews 2 .10. He died
for us that we might live through him. Psalm
22 .6 describes such a worm and gives us this
picture of Christ. Now, this is quoted from Henry
Morris' Biblical Basis for Modern Science from
Baker Bookhouse, 1985, page 73. Just so you know
what that is to give proper. Give honor to where
honor is due. Yes, but give honor where honor
is due. So this word is also translated scarlet.
This word for the worm is translated scarlet.
So every place in the preparation of the tabernacle
where it's talking about the blue and the scarlet
and the purple and the gold, that word scarlet
is the same word as this worm. So God uses a
worm to... dye the fabric that is the tabernacle.
Now, are we or are we not the tabernacle of the
Lord? I mean, there's so many pictures that weave
together for us to help us to see how God designed
all of this. He designed us to be his tabernacle.
He made all of these pictures, these types. of
how it is in heaven on earth. Okay. He made these
pictures so that we can see what he wants out
of us on earth. Yeah. He put it into the tabernacle
itself. All of this scarlet, scarlet, the giving
of the life for the babies. You know, Paul said,
know you not that your body is the temple of
God. Right. The temple, the tabernacle, it's,
you know, it's, it's kind of the same thing.
Exactly. Exactly. So let's go back to Psalm 22,
and let's look at verse 7 and 8. All who see
me laugh at me and mock me. They shoot out the
lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted
and rolled himself on the Lord, that he would
deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing that
he delights in him. Yeah, and isn't that what
the mockers said around the cross? This is just
so... So prophetic. Yeah, they said that very
thing. Now let's look at verses 14 through 16.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones
are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is
softened with anguish and melted down within
me. My strength is dried up like a fragment of
clay pottery. With thirst, my tongue cleaves
to my jaws, and you have brought me into the
dust of death. Yeah. For like a pack of dogs
they have encompassed me, a company of evildoers
has encircled me. They pierce my hands and my
feet. They part my clothing along them and cast
lots from my raiment. Wow. That's what happened.
It's absolutely what happened. But I'm taken
by this verse 14 that says, I'm poured out like
water. There's a verse in Psalm 62, verse 8,
that says, Trust him at all times, O people.
Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge
for us. Selah. So there's a thing here of entering
into his sufferings that he's looking for us
to participate in. Lamentations 2 .19. Do you
want to read that one? Arise, crowd in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches. Pour out
your heart like water before the presence of
the Lord. Lift your hands to him for the lives
of your children who faint for hunger at the
head of every street. Yeah. So we have another
picture of Jesus, the son of David, in Psalm
89. And I hadn't ever seen this one before. I
knew about Psalm 22 being a messianic picture,
but I hadn't seen this until... I was just studying
recently, and it's like, whoa, there's another
one. So would you like to read that Psalm 89,
35 to 45? Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness,
I will not lie to David. His offspring shall
endure forever, his throne as long as the sun
before me. Like the moon, it shall be established
forever, a faithful witness in the skies. But
now you have cast off and rejected. You are full
of wrath against your anointed. You have renounced
the covenant with your servant. You have defiled
his crown in the dust. You have breached all
his walls. You have laid his strongholds in ruins.
All who pass by plunder him. He has become the
scorn of his neighbors. You have exalted the
right hand of his foes. You have made all his
enemies rejoice. You have also turned back the
edge of his sword, and you have not made him
stand in battle. You have made his splendor to
cease and cast his throne to the ground. You
have cut short the days of his youth. You have
covered him with shame. Selah. Wow. Wow. You
know, that word, you have renounced the covenant
with your servant. See, he starts out saying,
you've made all these promises to me. And then
it seems like, what happened? This isn't what
I signed up for. Yeah. That's kind of what it
seems like. We may say that at times in our lives.
You know, this isn't what I signed up for. But
verse 39 says, you've renounced the covenant
with your servant. You've defiled his crown in
the dust. And that word defiled, think about
the crown, okay? The crown of glory that the
king of glory has is not the crown that he wore
on the earth. He wore this horrible, horrible
helmet of thorns. has the idea of to wound fatally,
to bore through, to pierce. So there it is again,
this crown that's pierced, this piercing crown.
Okay, there it is again. You've defiled his crown.
His crown is now piercing him instead of the
crown of glory that The king of glory ought to
be wearing, you know, he ought to be wearing
this marvelous crown of light, which Dean talked
about this crown of light with us in a previous
podcast. And we'll find that and put a link to
it in the description. But here he is with this
defiled, defiled crown, this piercing crown.
And, you know, there it is right there for us.
And Hebrews 2 .10. talks about this suffering
that we need to understand the importance of
the suffering that Jesus did for us. He became
this cup of suffering. He became it. He became
that drink offering that was poured out. Hebrews
2 .10 says, For it was fitting that he for whom
and by whom all things exist, in bringing many
sons to glory, should make the founder of their
salvation perfect or complete through suffering.
Through suffering? I remember that in the description
in the book of John where it talks about as Judas
is going out into the night. Jesus says, Now
is the Son of Man glorified. Yeah. Let that sink
in. Let that sink in. His glorification began
when the man who's going to betray him goes out
into the night. Wow. His glorification, this
whole process of his suffering really is about
his glorification. And so he did this to bring
many sons to glory, right? Yeah. So if he had
to suffer. Maybe we have to suffer. Maybe we
should too. So Paul talks about sharing in sufferings
in 2 Corinthians 1 .7. He says, Our hope for
you is unshaken, for we know that as you share
in our sufferings, you will also share in our
comfort. And you know, Paul had this warning
ahead of time, because when he was blinded, the
Holy Spirit spoke to Ananias and said, You must
tell Paul how many things he must suffer for
my sake. Yep. I'm sure he was ready for anything
at that point because he was blind for three
days. And when you think if you're blinded, it's
just like my whole life is over as I see it.
Yes. In three days, you cannot see anything.
I mean, that hit home real hard. And you can
believe Paul never forgot that experience. And
anything he ever did. It's true. When you have
an experience like that, you know, he shall suffer
many things for my namesake. Yeah, it's true.
And he did. He certainly did. We've read through
everything he went. He was shipwrecked. He was
stoned. He was lost in the deep. We still kind
of wonder what the, you know. Yeah, shipwrecked.
Yeah, shipwrecked. And so he was tilted with
stones and left for dead. But also, you know,
the scripture, I can't think of it off the top
of my head where, you know, the sufferings of
this present world will not compare to the glory
that is to follow. That's exactly right. And
if we can keep that in mind, that this life on
our earth is just a breath. In the time of eternity,
our life is just a breath. You know, so everything
we do here accounts for our glorification. Where
God is just preparing us for eternity. Because
as we walk this boot camp on earth, you know,
we think of how old we are and how many more
years you think we'll be on this earth. But your
life is just a breath. And the older you get,
the more you realize that, you know, it's kind
of like that only one life, it will soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ will last. Very true.
That's very true. Very, very true. Philippians
3, 8 through 10 says, indeed, I count. This is
Paul talking. I count everything as loss because
of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus,
my Lord. He makes us a little nicer in the King
James. I count everything as dung, I think. Yes,
this is the ESV. It's a little nicer. Yeah. For
his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things
and count them as rubbish in order that I may
gain Christ. and be found in him, not having
a righteousness of my own that comes from the
law, but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith,
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection
and may share his sufferings, becoming like him
in his death. Powerful scripture. Yeah. Don't
you want to just know him? And that's part of
the promise of the new covenant is that we will
know him. If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things that are above, not on things
that are on the earth, for you have died. We're
already dead. Okay. Dead in Christ. And your
life is hidden with Christ in God. So that's
a part of the sufferings when we die to stuff.
And then it says for verse four, when Christ
who is your life appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory. So verse five gets
into the nitty gritty and the next few verses.
Put to death, therefore. What is earthly in you?
Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry. So, you
know, this greedy thing, this greed, it's idolatry.
God hates it. On account of these, the wrath
of God is coming. In these, you too once walked
when you were living in them, but now you must
put them all away. Anger, wrath. malice, slander,
and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie
to one another, seeing that you have put off
the old self with its practices and have put
on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge
after the image of its creator. So our creator
came in the form of his son. Everything that
was made was made by Jesus, made by the God of
glory. He's one. They are one. Don't think there's
such a separation between the Father and the
Son. Yes, there's the Father, and yes, there's
the Son, but they're one. So if we want to be
like him, we keep putting to death all of the
things that don't look like him. And in Romans
8, 18 and 19, would you like to read that one,
Philip? Isn't that beautiful? Yeah. So as we're
going through adversities, as we're going through
sufferings, because that's our lot, you know,
Jesus promised us, in this world you will have
tribulation. It's a promise. So if you're in
a church or something that doesn't believe in
suffering, they don't read all the scriptures.
Well, that's true. I was listening recently to
a video by Peter Snyder. We've had him on the
podcast a couple of times. And he was a missionary
in China for many years. And Sister Gwen Shaw,
our founder, went to visit him on her last trip
to China. I think that's when it was anyway,
was towards the end of her ministry. And she
ministered there and the Chinese people loved
her. And they really honored her for the fact
that she came to be a missionary in China when
it was very difficult, very, very difficult.
And anyway, he asked her, do you have any regrets?
And she said, she thought about it a moment,
and she said, I'm sorry that I taught the Bible
students about the pre -tribulation rapture.
Because they were expecting to be raptured out
from the tribulation that they wound up entering
into. And they've been in tribulation ever since.
It was very comforting when she went back that
last time. Oh, yes. And they had the same picture
which she had. There at the church at the Bible
school of all the students, and with our founder
and her husband that were there in the picture.
How many years? That was like 1948, I think,
something like that. 47, I think. Oh, 48. Yeah,
you're right. And they found out that they were
scattered all over China, but that as far as
they knew, none of them had gotten martyred.
That's true. God had protected them. That's true.
So maybe they just hung on to those words which
he preached them. Because, you know, many died.
And still many are being persecuted in China.
The point is, you have to understand that tribulation
and suffering are a part of life. And it's not
the same as the great tribulation, which is really
the wrath of God. God has promised to take us
out of the wrath. Yeah, we're seeing the wrath
of man. Absolutely. Everywhere, we're seeing
the wrath of man in our cities, different nations,
but the wrath of God is not for his children.
Amen. And so Sister Gwen had preached that, that
we'll see enough of the tribulation to know what
it's like. Yeah. But the wrath of God is not—
We're not appointed to wrath. We're not appointed
unto wrath. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a real balance
there. It's true. It's true. So it's just be
ready to go at any time. Because if we knew when
the rapture was going to be, it's going to be
two years from now. How many of the saints would
be playing around to the last week? And then
make everything right. It's going to be a surprise.
Not a good thing to do. Not a good thing to do.
So Acts 541 talks about the disciples. I think
it was Peter and John. It says, and they left
the presence of the council rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his
name. Rejoicing. They were rejoicing in their
sufferings. And then 1 Peter 4 .13 says, but
rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings,
that you may also rejoice and be glad when his
glory is revealed. And you put that in today's
terms. If you're in China or somewhere and you
get pulled in, you're interrogated. You know,
and you're threatening all this and that. Your
first thought getting out of, oh, thank you,
Jesus. Thank you, Lord, that I'm not thrown in
jail. You know, be rejoicing. But what happens
if you got beat? Right. And all that, and they're
rejoicing because they laid stripes on them,
and they were rejoicing. Yes. And I've heard
stories like that coming out of China, that the
pastors that were arrested and beaten, that they
were— joyful about it. In fact, Peter Snyder
tells the story of a man that was in jail and
he was being beaten every day. And one day, one
day they're beating on him and he starts to laugh.
And they said, what's the matter with you? Why
are you laughing? And he said, I don't know.
I'm just so happy. So he's really rejoicing in
his suffering. That was a God thing. It was a
God thing. And that is the work of the grace
of God in our lives. And that is the point of
us going through adversity so that we learn to
rejoice in our sufferings. I remember that Chinese
pastor that... They wanted to humiliate him so
bad because he was a pastor. They had him clean
out the toilets. The whole cesspool, I think
it was. The cesspool. So he's standing in it,
and they would tell him, don't you sing and all
that. His favorite song was, I Come to the Garden
Alone. And he stank so badly, and the job was
so stinky, that they would leave him alone. They
wouldn't come near him. There wasn't anybody
there to tell him not to sing. They wouldn't
let him sing in his cell. And they call him his
garden. And the last time we were in China was
in 2012. We were with the underground church,
and we sat next to this man. He was in jail at
the same time the heavenly man. I mean, everybody
hears about the heavenly man. And how he escaped.
He escaped. But this man, he served his full
16 years. He did not escape. Who's more heavenly?
I thought this man. And it's just like, you don't
even feel worthy to sit next to somebody like
this. You know, we think our idea of suffering
is nothing compared to what this man went through.
It's true. You know, it's just God's grace on
it. It's true. You know, we're born in this nation
that has been free and not born into a nation.
That has been anti -God all of your life. It's
true. But the more anti -God this nation becomes,
the more tribulation we're likely to see. The
more tribulation we're likely to see. So you
know how to pray. Yes. And China isn't the only.
nation that's suffering tribulation. You've got
the Nigerian Christians that are being persecuted
and churches burned down and people being slaughtered.
And it's happening in Mozambique and it's happening
in India. Terrible. Many, many places where there's
a strong Islam. Think of Iran. Iran is just awful
right now. Yeah, because you think Iran, they're
not Arabs, they're Persians. Right. And Islam
was not their religion. Not originally. Not originally.
And then all of a sudden when they came in and
took over in the overthrow, how many remember
our embassy that we had there? And for like 400
some days, the members of the embassy, the U
.S. embassy in Tehran were taken prisoner. It's
true. We attempted to come in and get them out
and it botched. It got botched. It didn't work.
But as soon as Ronald Reagan came into office,
Guess what? They freed him. It's true. Because
he had some clout. Yeah, God used him. Yeah,
God used him, and that's a persecution. You imagine
you're working in an embassy, U .S. embassy somewhere,
and all of a sudden you're taken prisoner. Yeah.
And that's what happened. That's when Islam came
in to Iran, and now you see it has a foothold
in our country. A prayer is what will combat
that. And this next move of God, you know, when
the presence of God comes down to every Muslim
and we've, you know, there's been dreams and
we've shared some of those, they will fall on
their face before Yehovah God, before Jesus,
and they will know him. That's true. That's the
only thing that will turn righteousness in any
nation. It's true. Wow. So to boil this down.
I think it would be good for us to understand
that every kind of adversity that we go through
is meant to help us to practice rejoicing in
suffering. And the longer we spend in grumbling
and complaining about it and murmuring. the longer
it will be before we get delivered from that
trouble. We'll have to try that the next time
we're on a real turbulent airline. We call that
tribulation. You do. I just go to sleep. So let's
make that our practice. Let the Holy Spirit remind
us. Remember, that's one of the jobs of the Holy
Spirit, is to bring to our remembrance. So whenever
we come into some kind of adversity, it could
be small, it could be great, begin to practice
rejoicing. Because rejoicing and praising God
is going to set you free from that set of circumstances.
Or, you know, I've heard people that have been
in prison under communism that talked about how
they were freer in their cell than the jailer
who was not knowing God. Because knowing him
gives you... The ability to walk in his presence,
knowing him and rejoicing in him brings his presence
into your life and gives you that grace. And
it gives you that shalom, that peace that passes
understanding that comes from his presence. So
to close, I was reminded of this little song
that we used to sing. A long time ago. A long
time ago. And I understand that there's more
than one tune to it, so I'll just bring that
tune that I remember, and hopefully I'll get
it pretty close to right. But it's to remind
us that we can enter into his sufferings, into
the sufferings of Jesus. Even when we're being
pierced through by something, we have the joy
of knowing that as we enter into his sufferings,
there's a glory that comes with it. So, will
you be poured out as wine upon the altar for
me? Will you be broken as bread to feed the hungry?
Will you be so one with me that I may do my perfect
will? Will you be light and life and love, my
word fulfill? Lord, give us that grace to walk
in your ways. to walk in that partaking of the
sufferings of Christ, to walk with Jesus down
the Via Dolorosa, to walk with him and let the
sufferings of Jesus that brought him forth into
resurrection life be working resurrection life
and light and love and fulfill your word in us,
in the earth. on earth as it is in heaven. In
Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Check out our website
at globaloutpouring .org to find out more information,
read our blogs, connect with us, and donate.
You can also browse our web store for life -changing
anointed books. Until next time, this is Sharon
Buss. And I'm Philip Buss. God bless you with
His overwhelming, loving presence.