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The Preaching Ezine (the newsletter of Preachology.com)

• Happy Easter Season
• Sermon on "The Power of His Resurrection"
• New sermons, outlines, and illustrations link to preachology.com!
• You could have your own sermon web page on Preachology.com!!
• Still Coming Soon! ...PREACHOLOGY BIBLE INSTITUTE...

Hello,

Mark Hollingsworth here. Hope you are having a great First Quarter so far. Can you believe Easter is right around the corner (April 4th) and Time Change is right upon us (March 14th).

2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Happy Easter!
from the Hollingsworth Family.

2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

The Power of His Resurrection by Dr. Earl White

Phil. 3:10

Introduction:

I want to examine verse ten and its context. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

I. That I May Know Him.

The words "That I may know him" does not mean "That I may become acquainted with Him." Paul knew the Lord personally and had since he met Him personally on the road to Damascus.

The word "know" (ginosko) means "to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of, to perceive, to feel." It is an aorist active infinitive. The aorist tense is either taking a snap shot at his attitude toward the whole of his future life or looking to know Christ better at some point of time in the future.

I believe he is taking a snap shot of a settled attitude toward his future pursuits. He had settled attitudes toward life which had settled his view of self glory (vss 4-8). He had set all self glory aside to pursue this course in life, i.e., "That I may know Him."

A.T. Robertson says, "This is Paul's major passion, to get more knowledge of Christ by experience."

John Gill says, "The apostle did know Christ, and that years ago; he knew whom he had believed; he knew him for himself; he knew his personal interest in him; nor did he know any but him in the business of salvation: but his knowledge of Christ, though it was very great, it was, imperfect; he knew but in part, and therefore desired to know more of Christ, of the mystery and glories of his person, of the unsearchable riches of his grace, of his great salvation, and the benefits of it, of his love, which passes perfect knowledge, and to have a renewed and enlarged experience of communion with him.

The apostle here explains what he means by winning Christ, for the sake of which he suffered the loss of all things, and counted them but dung; it was, that he might attain to a greater knowledge of the person and grace of Christ:"

II. And The Power Of His Resurrection.

The words "And the power of his resurrection" are a further statement of Paul's goal. This is what Paul wants more than anything else in the world. In fact, in comparison to other things, Paul says, "..And do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (v 8). The other things in life don't even count. They are less than nothing. The word "power" (dunamis) means "strength, power, ability; inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth."

The words "of his resurrection" identify the source of the power of the Christian life. The baptism of the Spirit on Pentecost was a resurrection gift to the church; Acts 2:32-33: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."

III. And The Fellowship Of His Sufferings.

The words "And the fellowship of his sufferings" are included in any real commitment that is willing to "count all things but dung that I may win Christ." The flesh suffers when it is neglected. The emotions suffer when the ideas of the natural mind are put aside. There are many hurtful things that a total commitment to the will of God will bring into the life of the believer. I must make my mind up. I must be willing to suffer those things or I will take back my commitment.

The word "fellowship" (koinonia) means "joint participation." This means that Christ continues to suffer in the sufferings of His saints. They are said by Paul to be "His sufferings." I am a living stone in His temple (1Pet 2:5), I am one Spirit with Him (1Cor 6:17). He suffers when I suffer. No suffering comes to His body without it affecting Him. It is a joint participation of His sufferings.

IV. Being Made Conformable Unto His Death.

The words "being made conformable unto his death" describe a result. The word "conformable" (summorphoo) means, "to be conformed to, to receive the same form as." It is a present passive participle. The present tense means "to continue to be made conformable to his death." It was a process that had already begun and was going on.

The passive voice means that Paul was submitting to what was happening to him. The passive voice is where the subject (Paul) is acted upon. I do not have to make myself conformable to His death. If I make the kind of commitment Paul made and for the same reasons, it will happen to me without effort. I will not have to go out and cause suffering to come to me.

It will come without invitation. It did to Christ. And the world system and religion has not changed its mind. They hated Christ then and they hate Him now. When Christ is committed to the same truths in me that He was in His earthly body, the world will desire and work to cause His death in me. It is being conformed to His death.

Conclusion:

I want to know Him better. I realize that in knowing Him better, I will enter to the fellowship of His sufferings. I also realize that the fellowship of His sufferings could lead to death. I have not been confronted with physical death for Him in my lifetime. Most of church history is filled with the records of martyrdom.

We are living in easier times so far as physical death is concerned. But I do want to believe that there are those living today who have made the kind of commitment to Him, that if called upon, would not hesitate to die rather than deny Him.

My problem is not dying for Him physically. My problem is dying to my own self life. To do this, my consuming desire must be "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" This verse has a domino effect. I can't have one without the other.

If I am committed, I will not be surprised when suffering comes. I will not complain at the loss of so-called friends. I will not hesitate at the rejection experienced. It was expected. I am not saying I will reach a place in my spiritual experience where it no longer hurts. Paul called it "the fellowship of His sufferings." Suffering hurts. I will not be bitter.

I cannot be bitter when I realize that the suffering I am experiencing is the "fellowship" of His sufferings. Jesus was the fourth man in the fire. He was the invisible lion tamer in the den of lions with Daniel. The sufferings of The believer, when brought on by a commitment to the will of God, are called a "fellowship" which means "joint participation." I am not alone.

I have a consuming desire to know Him better. Join me in this. Let’s rejoice together that He has given us this privilege.

May God bless these words to our hearts.

Let me remind you once again preachers and teachers that you can now have your own Preachology sermon web page. If you submit 15 or more sermons on the "Your Sermons" page, I will then move your sermons to a page of your own where you can continue to add sermons and invite your family, friends, and followers to view your work. When they visit your page, they can make comments about each of your sermons.

Several preachers have now submitted 15 sermons and have their own sermon web page. They have submitted some great sermons. Check them out and then get your own page!

Coming Real, Real Soon! ...PREACHOLOGY BIBLE INSTITUTE...

OK, I am not going to give a date for our Bible Institute to be up and running but it looks like another month or so because of all the details necessary to take care of to get it off the ground. But I promise it will be soon...fairly soon! Pray for me!

In the near, near future you can start and/or continue your ministry education right here at Preachology Bible Institute. We will have a Certificate Program and a Diploma Program, depending on whether you just want to study the Bible and receive a certificate of achievement or whether you want to pursue a diploma that can lead to a bachelor's, master's, and/or doctor's degree. Look for all the details on this ezine and on our website very soon.

There are more outlines at the "Bible Study Outlines" page where I share my skeleton outlines and there are more outlines at the "Your Skeleton Outline Page" where you can share your great skeleton outlines with all of us.

I also just recently added some more material at preachology.com on the FREE SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS page. There is also new material at the YOUR SERMONS page. There are new sermons there from several different preachers.

Go to the... Free Sermons ...page to get the new sermons and come often because we will soon add more. Take a look. There are some new sermons there now.

Subscribe to my free newsletter and receive even more sermons, outlines, notes, and ideas on a regular basis emailed directly to you. If you subscribe, you will also be able to access "The Preaching Ezine" archives where you will find even more sermon material (not on the website), sent out in the past. I'll also give you a free copy of E. M. Bounds book "Power Through Prayer."

Click here to subscribe to...The Preaching Ezine.


YOUR SERMONS, OUTLINES, and ILLUSTRATIONS:
Preachers, let's be an encouragement to other preachers by sharing our sermons and outlines and commenting positively about other preacher's sermons.

I love to read other preacher's sermons as devotionals for my own personal spiritual growth and also to get ideas for developing sermons of my own.

Go to the... Your Sermons ...page to submit your sermons and outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Skeleton Outlines ...page to submit your skeleton outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new skeleton sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Illustrations ...page to submit your sermon illustrations and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new illustrations there right now!

Well, that's about it for now.

Do you have any comments, ideas, or feedback? I'd love to hear from you personally and thanks to you who have made contact with us. It truly is a blessing and encouragement to us.

You can either reply to this ezine or go to the form on the "Contact Me" page on my website and tell me what you think.

Yours for Powerful Preaching,

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