As believers in Christ, we are fellow partakers of the tribulation, the kingdom, and the endurance in Jesus, for we aspire to be the Lord’s overcoming messengers who not only receive and are one with the living message of God but also partake together with Christ and with the saints of the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.
Oh Lord Jesus, we love You and we follow You today! We are one with You. Make us Your overcoming saints. Make us the messengers in the churches today, those who hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. May we be willing to be partakers not only of the divine nature but also in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus! Amen, Lord, make us those You can use to turn this age! Amen!
Today we as believers in Christ are those who want to hear what the Lord is speaking to the churches; we want to see a vision of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the local churches, and we want to give heed to His speaking.
As we heed His speaking, we are one with Him; the more we read and pray over the word of God, something happens in our being, without us trying to do or change, and we become the same as Christ Himself.
Thank the Lord that we have the Bible, the word of God, and we also have the ministry that opens up the Bible to show us God’s economy on every page of the Bible and bring us into the desire of God’s heart.
We become what we read. If we read the Bible every day, if we do not close the book but open it and read it prayerfully every day, we become what we read. We gradually become another person.
We don’t need to read the Bible and then make up our mind to do something; this will never work.
The religious way is to read something in the Bible and try to do it; the way of God is for us to simply read and pray over God’s word, and the word will operate in us.
As we are unveiled in coming to God’s word, we see vision after vision, and eventually, we become what we read.
As we read the ministry books which open up the word of God, we enter into the depths of the truth in God’s word, and we become what we read.
Blessed is he who reads the Word and who reads the ministry that opens up the Word, for he is brought into the intrinsic significance of the Word and is shined on by the Lord through His word.
This is what happened to the Ethiopian eunuch; he read the Scriptures but did not understand, but he received light when Philip approached his chariot and joined him. Then, based on what he read, he had a reaction: here is water, what hinders me from being baptised?
Reading the Bible with the help of the ministry will cause a reaction in us, which will make us a different person. Praise the Lord!
We are Fellow Partakers in the Tribulation in Jesus
The apostle John said that he was on the Island of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus, and he was a fellow partaker in the tribulation in Jesus (Rev. 1:9). He was not just a partaker in the tribulation, but in the tribulation in Jesus.
In Jesus means that we are suffering and being persecuted as we follow Jesus the Nazarene by the indwelling Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of a man with abundant strength for suffering (Acts 16:6-7).
We have the Spirit of Jesus; this is the Spirit of the man with abundant strength for suffering.
Paul and his co-workers experienced this Spirit in their ministry; they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, and they came to Mysia. Then, they tried to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Eventually, they went straight forward into Europe, where much persecution awaited them.
Just like the Lord Jesus, we are suffering. According to the facts of His life, the name Jesus denotes a suffering person, a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3).
We are fellow partakers of the tribulation in Jesus by the Spirit of Jesus who bountifully supplies us with the strength for suffering.
Even though we are led by the Spirit of Jesus into situations where sufferings are our portion, we as fellow partakers of the tribulation in Jesus are inwardly supplied to face the suffering.
As we are suffering today, the Lord Jesus is suffering in us and with us (Rev. 9:4-5; Heb. 13:13).
We enter into the kingdom through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). But praise the Lord, by the power of His resurrection, we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and to live a crucified life in conformity to His death (Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24; S. S. 2:8-9, 14).
We want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
We want to hear our Beloved’s voice; we love His voice, and He comes leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. Our Christ is in resurrection and ascension, far above any problems and sufferings on earth.
He skips over every obstacle and leaps over every barrier, for He is the mountain-leaping and shill-skipping Christ. As we enjoy Him as such a One, we behold Him, and we become like Him.
He desires to hear our voice, for we are one with Him in His sufferings, being partakers in the tribulation in Jesus. As we partake in the tribulation in Jesus, the Lord wants to hear our voice.
We open to Him, we enjoy Him, and He with His power of resurrection, transports us into Himself as the clefts of the rock so that we may be one with the crucified Christ.
By the power of His resurrection, we enter into Him as the crucified Christ, and there He wants to hear our voice, for it is sweet, and behold our countenance, for it is lovely to Him.
May we not love our soul-life even unto death but rather, lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers (Rev. 12:11; 1 John 3:16). On the one hand, we lose our soul life for the Lord’s sake; on the other hand, we want to minister life to others.
Christ loved us and laid down His life on our behalf (John 3:16). Now we, when we see a sinning brother, we lay down our soul life and pray, ask, and give him life (1 John 3:16).
He in us enables us to lay down our soul-life on behalf of the Lord and on behalf of the brothers, and we can minister life to others, thus being partakers of the tribulation in Jesus.
Lord Jesus, may we realise that we are fellow partakers in the tribulation in Jesus for the testimony of Jesus! Amen, Lord, we open to You today. We love You. We want to be filled with You! May we be filled and led by the Spirit of Jesus. Thank You for being the indwelling Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of a man with abundant strength for suffering. Amen, Lord, in our suffering, You are our strength. Praise the Lord, the strength of the suffering Jesus is in us as the Spirit, and we can be fellow partakers in the tribulation in Jesus by the Spirit of Jesus! Thank You, Lord, that You are suffering with us and in us today, as we are suffering. May we enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations. May we experience the power of Your resurrection to be enabled ot participate in Your sufferings and live a crucified life in conformity to Your death! Amen, Lord, may we be those who do not love our soul-life even unto death! May we rather lay down our life for the Lord and on behalf of the brothers, one with the self-sacrificing Christ in our spirit!
We are Fellow Partakers in the Kingdom in Jesus
On the one hand, we are fellow partakers of the tribulation in Jesus; on the other hand, we are fellow partakers in the kingdom in Jesus and in the endurance in Jesus.
The kingdom is the church life, in which we as faithful believers live for our growth in life and our transformation in life (Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 3:7; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Through regeneration, we have been born into the kingdom of God; now we are fellow partakers in the kingdom of God. Wow, we partake in God’s kingdom!
We do this by practicing the kingdom life in the church life today. For us to practice the kingdom life, we need to pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).
This is how we partake in the kingdom, by practicing the kingdom life.
We grow in life for the kingdom, we are transformed in life for the kingdom, and we pursue Christ as righteousness, faith, love, and peace together with the saints who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.
Also, to practice the kingdom life, we need to care for the sinning brothers in order to recover them (Matt. 18:15-22).
If there is a brother who sins, we need to go and reprove him between him and us alone; if he hears us, we have gained your brother. The goal is to gain our brother.
Then, we pray and give life to him – see 1 John 5:16; we pray, we ask the Lord, and we give life to the sinning brother. We do not talk about what he is doing, we do not gossip, and we do not criticise; we simply pray and give life to him.
This is to live the kingdom life, that is, to be fellow partakers in the kingdom in Jesus. We seek to be filled with the life-giving Spirit, and we overflow with the Spirit, in oneness with the Lord, to give life to our brother. Ask and give life.
We are the askers, those who seek to abide in the Lord and be one with the Lord, and we minister life to others. Christ came as life; He came to give us life, and He wants us to have life abundantly (John 1:4, 10).
He Himself is life, He died on the cross to release His divine life, and He is now in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit to dispense Himself as life into us.
He is in us as the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) to impart His divine life into every part of our being – spirit, soul, and body (vv. 6, 10, 11).
Thank the Lord that we can be filled with the divine life, and we can be saved in His life (Rom. 5:10) and reign in His life (v. 17).
We are eventually becoming the city of life, the New Jerusalem, where for eternity we enjoy the Father as the light of life, the Son as the tree of life, and the Spirit as the river of water of life, and we reign in life for eternity! Praise the Lord!
He reigns forever and ever (Rev. 11:15), and we also will reign with Him forever and ever! As such ones, as persons of life, we minister life to others by praying for them and then being one with the Lord to give them life. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we thank You for regenerating us with Your life and bringing us into the kingdom of God! Hallelujah, we are now partakers in the kingdom in Jesus! Amen, Lord, we want to live in the kingdom of God today, the church life, for our growth in life and transformation in life. Grow in us and transform us for Your kingdom! We want to practice the church life by pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart! Amen, Lord, keep us pursuing You with the saints! May we seek to be filled with life, reign in life, and minister life to others! Grant us Your loving and caring heart to care for the sinning brothers in order to recover them! Amen!
We are Fellow Partakers in the Endurance in Jesus
We are fellow partakers in the endurance in Jesus. Endurance is only in Jesus, for He is the One who can endure human sufferings. We must resist the wearing-out tactics of Satan (Dan. 7:25).
Satan is wearing us out, especially as we approach the end of this age. He doesn’t suddenly attack us; he wears out our consecration, our love for the Lord, and our seeking the Lord little by little, as one would dim the light little by little.
Satan’s devilish work is to wear out the saints; he wears out day by day until, invisible, imperceptibly, yet in a debilitating way, we are totally depleted. Oh Lord!
Satan wears out God’s children gradually, repeatedly, frequently, and daily.
The Lord warned us that, at the end of this age, the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:12). Our love doesn’t suddenly get cold; it grows cold because of the enemy’s repeated and frequent wearing-out tactics.
Satan wants to wear out man’s body and heart.
When we were saved, we were happy with the Lord, and when we touched the church life, we were at peace and full of joy.
But as things happen, we may be unhappy, depressed, we may lose our peace and joy, and we may be weary, even depressed. It is a gradual process that takes many years.
May we realise Satan’s wearing-out tactics and stand against him. May we see that he seeks to wear out our consecration, even as Delilah did to Samson.
He uses many things, persons, and situations to press us, wear us down, and cause us to lose our consecration to the Lord. May we come to the Lord in His word day by day.
May we abide in Christ, for only when we abide in Him can we keep the word of His endurance and have the endurance to bear suffering and opposition (Rev. 3:10). We can endure with the endurance of Christ that we have enjoyed and experienced (2 Thes. 3:5).
Amen, endurance is in Jesus, and He is in our spirit! Though the whole world today is opposing and rejecting Him, He doesn’t fight back; He simply endures it all.
As we fellowship with Him and abide in Him, we partake of His endurance. We follow Him on the same pathway with endurance (Heb. 12:1).
As we follow the Lord, He becomes our endurance, and we can endure persecution, rumours, rejection, and opposition. This is our experience as we are waiting for the Lord’s return today.
Lord Jesus, thank You for making us fellow partakers in the endurance in Jesus! Hallelujah, Christ is our endurance. Amen, Lord, in ourselves we have no endurance, and Satan is working to wear out our love for the Lord, our consecration, and our endurance. We come to You. Keep us coming to You in Your word. We abide in You so that we may keep the word of Your endurance and have the endurance to bear suffering and opposition! Praise the Lord, we can endure persecution, rumours, rejection, and opposition with Christ as our endurance! Amen, Lord, may we endure with the endurance of Christ that we have enjoyed and experienced!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 6 and 9, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 39 (msg. 3), Christ as the Son of Man Walking in the Midst of the Golden Lampstands – day 2.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Lord, help us to redeem these golden moments; / Our vessels fill with ointment from above; / Help us amen each trial and tribulation; / Increase in us; make us abound in love. / He’s coming soon—these moments are so precious. / The oil is here—Oh, let us buy the more. / Amen the trials and welcome tribulations— / The kingdom’s ours through these afflictions sore. (Hymns #1307 stanza 2 and chorus)
– When we have exhausted our store of endurance, / When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done, / When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, / Our Father’s full giving is only begun. / His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, / His power no boundary known unto men, / For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, / He giveth and giveth and giveth again. (Hymns #723 stanzas 2-3)
– Press on, press on, count all things loss. / All that is gain to us, / To win the prize, the Christ of God, / Is far more glorious! / Press on, press on to know the Lord / And resurrection power— / Oh, this is our supreme reward, / E’en in the suffering hour! (Hymns #1205 stanzas 2-3)
