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NASB | Acts 8:2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:2 ¶ Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss]. |
Subject: The Suffering of the Church |
Bible Note: Searcher A marvellous story. See my personal profile. The suffering of those martyrs is the means which God used to cause me to desire to know Him more. The discipleship statements of the Lord Jesus promise a path of suffering for the believer in Him. See eg. Matthew 8v19-20. Here the "scribe" who came to the Lord promises to "follow...whithersoever Thou goest" - the Lord has to remind the scribe that "the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head"! In other words, to follow the Lord Jesus is necessarily to walk a path of suffering in this world. Is this not the world that rejected Him from His birth, is it not the world that crucified the Lord? How then can His servants "reign as kings" in His absence (see 1 Corinthians Ch4v8-16.) Think of the sufferings of David the "sweet Psalmist of Israel" - if he had not experienced his suffering would we have had the Psalms which so eloquently express the truly pious heart? We would be the poorer without them! In Colossians 1v24 Paul records "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" (NASB). Evidently Paul does not speak of the atoning sufferings of Christ - in which no person but Christ Himself had a part! He speaks rather of suffering as associated with Christ "on behalf of His body, which is the church". Now, having said all of this, it seems necessary to state that Satan does have a part often in suffering. Job is the prime example of this BUT it must be recognised that God was ever in control and Satan could not go beyond the limits God set! Thus Satan, with all his power and cruelty is unable to cause one particle of suffering to a Christian without the prior knowledge of God Himself. In Him David |