Paul had a very unique place in relation to the Lord and His church. Even at the very start of his Christian life, when he was converted on the road to Damascus, the light " above the brightness of the sun” striking him clown to the ground, was this unique position foreshadowed. He tells us, “I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?" (Acts 26: 14.) It was revealed to him at the moment of his conversion that 'in persecuting the poor of Christ's flock on earth, he was in reality persecuting Christ Himself. In truth, in that question, Why persecutest thou ME? lay the germ of the wondrous truth of Christ and the Church; that in persecuting the members of Christ's body on earth, he was persecuting the Head in heaven.
We now call attention to a very wonderful Scripture, showing what a unique place Paul held in relation to what we are considering. " Who now rejoice in My sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints. (Col. 1:24-2624Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 25Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (Colossians 1:24‑26).) All through the Lord's public testimony on earth the leaders of the Jewish nation plotted to take His life. Eventually they crucified Him on a cross of shame. The church, which He was to build on the foundation of the confession of His name, was then yet in the future. Any sufferings to be endured in the formation and progress of the church of God through this world our Lord could not share in, for when the church was first formed our Lord was in glory, and past all earthly sufferings. It was therefore reserved to the Apostle Paul to have the high honor of suffering for the church, and " to fill up " that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh for Christ's body's sake, which is the church. The Greek word for " fill up," antanaplero, only occurs in this particular passage, and means to put in as a complement (Liddell and Scott); to fill up instead of (Young). It is a remarkable and outstanding word.
These are not atoning sufferings, they are unique to our Lord, but martyr sufferings the Apostle endured.
The Acts of the Apostles bears testimony to the extraordinary sufferings of the great apostle, lasting till a martyr's death gave rest to a body, worn out in devoted service to his Lord. We read: " In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." (2 Cor. 2: 23-28.)
What an amazing record! Surely only the Apostle Paul could lay claim to it. No wonder he could write to the Galatian assemblies that henceforth no man should trouble him, that none should question his apostleship, for he bore in his body," the marks of the Lord Jesus." (Gal. 6:1717From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (Galatians 6:17).) His frail body bore the scars, the stigma, the record of what he had endured for the sake of the church, the body of Christ.
It surely was a masterstroke that transformed the arch-persecutor of the church of God into the chosen vessel of God to bring out in full measure the truth as to the church of God, and to that end be unremitting in toil and danger in bringing the gospel of the grace of God to the Gentiles, and in teaching them truths concerning His church.