Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us."
A few nights ago, I had a very long and "open" conversation with one of my natural sisters. During the conversation, she expressed her regret that our natural family has never been a very close family "unit". Ultimately, she was calling me because she wanted to do something to change that.
Near the end of a rather exhausting 1.5 hours on the telephone, I felt like the Lord gave me a question to ask her next time we spoke; What gives your life meaning? or, What makes your life meaningful? More than anything, I felt like the Lord wanted me to answer that question for her.
For me to completely and sincerely answer that question, I would have to tell my sister A LOT of truth. I would have to tell her who my real family is, and what makes them my real family. To explain these things to her, I would have to tell her about the new birth, about speaking in tongues and about salvation. I would have to tell her many other things. At the end of it, she would have a very good idea as to "what I stood for" and why I was doing what I was doing. If she still wanted to be closer to me after she heard these things, I would whole-heartedly welcome the opportunity to do whatever I could to help that along.
I did not tell my sister about my "plan" to ask her this question (or my plan to answer the question myself). I merely told her that I relished the opportunity to do whatever we could to get to know each other better.
As I was getting ready for work the following morning, I was thinking about how my sister might react to what I was going to tell her. Would she continue to have a desire to get close to me, or, would she rather have little to do with me? As I pondered these things, I felt like the Lord began unfolding something very, very wonderful in front of me. I started getting a very good "taste" (in Spirit) of what it is like to be a man of reproach. To be someone who is hated and despised by virtually everyone. There was a feeling of people being disgusted with you. A very lonely feeling. Living a life where you are constantly surrounded by people who are embarrassed by you. People would rather that you not even be here. They would prefer that you were dead. I had to think that these were the types of feelings that Jesus lived with every day.
After I came home from work that night, I wanted to search through the Scriptures to see what they had to say about reproach. In sum, I found out that Jesus felt many, if not all, of these things.
"But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised
of the people" (Ps. 22:6).
"Reproach hath broken my heart; and
I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none" (Ps. 69:20).
"He giveth his
cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach" (Lam. 3:30).
"I
was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my
neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from
me" (Ps. 31:11).
"I became also a reproach unto them: when they
looked upon me they shaked their heads" (Ps. 109:25).
I know it may sound strange, but I was feeling a feeling of THIS is it. Here it is. I'm showing it to you now. THIS is what you want (though I didn't completely understand what it was, I knew the feeling was what I wanted). The feelings were very much tied to being such a despised and forsaken man. There was a richness in it that is difficult for me to put into words.
I read in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." When I read this, it encouraged me to know that Paul actually took pleasure in reproach. That let me know, as I suspected from the feelings I was having, that there was some real spiritual value to enduring reproaches.
Then I read from Hebrews 11:25-26, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward". This also encouraged me because it let me know that the reproach of Christ truly was "great riches", also as I suspected from the feelings I was having.
In short, I felt like the Lord let me see and feel "the life of reproach" (and unless I have misunderstood some of this, it is very different from the life I am currently living). As if this weren't enough, I also felt like the Lord clearly showed me what I needed to do to attain it . . . Speak the truth, plainly. In a way, it felt a bit as if the Lord was putting a "friendly" challenge in front of me; Speak the truth plainly and see how long it takes before you are "reproached". I felt like the Lord was not only showing me this incredible and almost indescribable treasure, he was showing me how to attain it, and, how to attain it rather quickly.
I went to Pastorjohnshouse.com then to see if Pastor John or his father had written anything about reproach. I found the following excerpts from Pastor John's tract "Crucified with Christ":
"This complete death
to sin, this being crucified with Christ, is not accomplished merely by being
born again. We are crucified with Christ only as we patiently endure reproach
for righteousness' sake, as Jesus endured it. Even Jesus' complete death
to self was accomplished only by the sufferings which he endured . . .
Nevertheless,
in order for me and others like me to please God and be crucified with
Christ, I must bear their scorn and slander with meekness and mercy. To
be crucified with Christ I must be able to say with him in all sincerity, 'Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do . . .'
Yes, crucifixion with Christ entails much more than experiencing rejection and scorn at the hands of the brothers; it also requires that we respond to such rejection with meekness and good will. Peter reminds the persecuted child of God of Jesus' example, 'Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously' (1Pet. 2:22-23) . . .
The day of deliverance is coming for the children of God, the day when the call of the Spirit will be heard throughout the kingdom, and the humble will gladly follow the Voice. 'And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. And the heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.' And they shall 'discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not'" (Is. 32:3-4; Mal. 3:18).
After I read these excerpts and these Scriptures, I felt like I had gotten most, if not all, of what I was supposed to get out of this. I am fairly confident that I have not attained to the life described in the excerpts above (this life of complete death to self and to sin). Nonetheless, I felt like the Lord was giving me a very wonderful and very merciful invitation to it. He was inviting me to speak the truth plainly to all men, and to patiently endure the reproach, the scorn, the persecution, and the many other things that are sure to follow. Knowing what great riches lie on the other side, I feel like the Lord has given me the courage I know I need to "step out in faith". Please, please pray for me (for all of us, really) that I will have enough of the love of God in my heart to obey His spirit, no matter what.
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified" (1Pet. 4:14).
"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" (Lk. 6:22).