Held While You Suffer

Transcript

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[0:01] Now, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice.

[1:09] Yes, I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will be saved. I will be in no way ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.

[1:52] Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is better by far. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

[2:11] Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ will abound on account of me.

[2:28] Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved. I will be with you.

[3:23] I will remember you for for what you would have us hear. Help us to be moved by your Spirit. Work in our hearts and in our minds. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So we aren't persecuted today the way they were persecuted back in the Bible. Some people are, so don't get me wrong. There are some people who are killed for the sake of the gospel, and that happens today still. But this is an unpopular opinion, I think, in the broader Christian church, that we here in the United States in 2022 are not persecuted the way they were in the Bible, and some people would deeply disagree with that.

[4:23] So, some people would say that we are persecuted desperately. And I would say we are used to getting our way as Christians who are the majority people in this country. We're used to getting our way, and so when things don't go our way, we sometimes feel like that is persecution. And that's not quite right.

[4:54] But today we're going to be talking about suffering. And that, I can say with certainty, everyone has done at some point in their life. Everyone has suffered at some point in their life, and if they haven't, then they will eventually. There is suffering. And there is still persecution. It doesn't look the same as being locked into chains as Paul was, just for being a Christian. It doesn't look like that anymore. But it's still persecution. And it still exists in some ways. What I will say is everyone has had situations that didn't go as they wanted them to go. That didn't turn out the way they expected. Everyone has had situations that have brought them pain.

[5:46] And what happens then when life isn't going the way we expect it to, and when life is throwing us curveballs, and we're not doing what we want to do? And when life just hurts. Paul was hurting. He was in trouble. And I mean he was in real trouble.

[6:06] And I want to talk about that for a moment. He was in literal chains for the gospel. And he hadn't done a single thing wrong. That is real persecution. He was facing sentencing. And he had every reason to believe that this sentencing would bring his death. In fact, he was waiting for it.

[6:31] And so sometimes Christians in the U.S. today say they're being persecuted. But really, as the world gets wise to the sins of our past and doesn't anymore allow us to take advantage of others, some Christians claim that it's an expense to their religious rights. And that such a thing is persecution. And so I want to say right now that that's not true.

[6:59] That when we're no longer allowed to hurt other people and claim it's our religion that allows us to do so, that's not persecution. And not being allowed to do things like pray in schools when other people are not allowed to, that's not persecution either. So we have to... We have to make that distinction. Because I don't want us to get the idea that we can continue to hurt other people and say we're being persecuted if we're not allowed to. And that has gone on for, I think, far too long. So that's just one distinction I want to make. And it has very little to do with the rest of what I'm going to say. But I wanted to get that out there.

[7:46] Thank you. But there is persecution and suffering. There is persecution and suffering today. There is... There are times when we are hurt for the sake of our beliefs. And sometimes we're stopped from living fully into a way that God calls us to live. That is persecution.

[8:13] And so it's rare in our particular time and place in history, but it does happen and it definitely... happens in other countries on a daily basis in the most atrocious and horrifying of ways. But it's much more common that we suffer when life throws us painful situations. And sometimes living out the gospel into those painful situations feels incredibly hard to do.

[8:45] But then again, Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him. In fact, he actually intended for us to take... up our cross and follow him. So with all that being said, let's go back to Paul. It was because he was a Christian that he was in trouble. Verse 13 said that he was in chains for Christ. That didn't mean he was in chains because of Christ, although that is probably what some people thought. This literally translates to in Christ, which on one hand meant that he was in Christ, in prison for Christ's sake, but it also meant that he was participating in Christ's suffering by experiencing suffering.

[9:35] So the purpose of Christ's suffering on the cross was the advancement of God's kingdom and redemptive work on behalf of humankind. And Paul's suffering was on a much smaller scale, meaning it wouldn't bring redemption to all of humanity the way Christ's suffering did, but it would advance God's kingdom work and help to proclaim Christ's redemption to many. And so, Paul's suffering is similar to Christ's suffering, and it's in the same vein as Christ's suffering. His suffering was for the advancement of the gospel, just as Christ's suffering was for the advancement of the gospel. And it is the way he lives into Christ's life. And he suffers not just for him, not just because of Christ, but he suffers in him. And so, he believes that his imprisonment is not simply a result of his Christian commitment, but it is the necessary means through which he fulfills his God-given calling in life.

[10:51] Now, last week, Karen told us about how we can have joy in the sorrows in life, or how we can have peace in the sorrows in life. But we still have these painful situations, and because of that, we are still prone to wondering why.

[11:08] Jesus' suffering had a purpose, and it was for the sole purpose of redeeming all of humanity. Romans 5, 12 through 21 tells us that just as a sin and brokenness entered the world through one person, through the sin of Adam, just one man, it infected every single person.

[11:33] But just as that happened, so redemption and freedom also entered the world through the suffering and death of one man, and that was Jesus Christ. So his suffering and death was for one single purpose, and that was to advance God's kingdom. By reuniting us with the Father.

[11:54] But the suffering of other people is different. God is not the author of brokenness. God does not long to see us suffer. Yes, God sent Jesus to suffer, but he does not send us to suffer. God does not manipulate the world so that it is only through our pain that his kingdom can advance. Even though his kingdom was advancing from it, God did not rejoice over Paul's suffering. He did allow it in Paul's life. And he did use it for the advancement of his kingdom. And for that reason, it was Paul who rejoiced in his own suffering.

[12:45] And it's easy to want to blame God for suffering. So look at Paul's situation. It had become clear to everyone. Look at verse 13. That was everyone. Not just the Christians, not just the believers. It had become clear to everyone that Paul was in chains for Christ.

[13:11] Even non-Christians and non-Jews knew with certainty that Paul was suffering for the sake of the gospel. And it would be easy to blame God for that kind of suffering, for suffering so blatantly for him. But instead, Paul rejoiced because he knew that his suffering was being used for the glory of Christ. And then other Christians saw this. And they were strengthened by it. And they had reason to be. Because just as Paul was in chains for the gospel, their lives were also at risk. It was not easy to be a Christian then.

[13:51] They, the, the scripture actually said they dared to share their faith. It was a dare to share your faith. It wasn't easy. You couldn't just have freedom of speech. You couldn't just walk up to someone and assume they wouldn't hurt you for sharing the good news. It was a dare. Their life could end up in prison or they could be killed. And so these other Christians saw Paul's faith in that situation and they were strengthened by it. They were encouraged and they had courage. And they started proclaiming all the more boldly even knowing they could and probably would suffer Paul's fate. So I don't know what the Philippians exactly were expecting from this story. But I imagine they already knew of Paul's sufferings. In fact, they had sent him a care package of sorts with some sort of gift. And they sent it with their friend Epaphroditus. And they expected their friend to return back to them with news of Paul's condition. They knew he was suffering. They knew he'd been arrested. But they didn't know how he was.

[15:13] Was he wasting away? Was he freezing at home? Was he sleeping at night? Was he being beaten? Was he okay? What was going to become of him? They wanted to know these things. And we can assume that based on their sending a care package to him, but also because of the way Paul starts his letter, that they were wondering what his condition was. And he starts his letter with the phrase, I want you to know that...

[15:45] And this was a standard part of ancient letter writing. A lot of people, in fact most people, before talking about their physical condition, would say, I want you to know that. And what followed was a description of how the sender was doing.

[16:06] That's not what follows in Paul's letter, though. So they would say, I want you to know that I am well. I want you to know that I am well. I want you to know that there was trouble, but I made it through. I want you to know that what has happened to me has happened for the sake of Christ. That's not his condition.

[16:27] So he revealed nothing about what was going on with him. But then two weeks ago, didn't we say, when we studied the beginning of this chapter, that Paul never uses his words carelessly. So to him, saying that he was telling them that he suffers for Christ was telling them about his condition. And that condition was that he was safely in God's capable hands.

[16:54] And that speaks volumes. Because maybe Paul didn't really know his condition. We see that later in the chapter when he says, life or death, or to live is Christ and to die is gain. He's giving options because he really, truly does not know which one will be his fate.

[17:16] But Paul knows God's character. Paul hadn't been a Christian or a Christ follower for that much of his life up at this point. But he had been born into a solid Jewish family. He had known God all his life. He had been a Jewish zealot and he had always had passion for God. And so Paul knew God's character intimately. And he could see that the gospel was advancing. He knew that God was very obviously using his situation for the kingdom. Which meant that God undoubtedly knew about his situation, which meant that God was obviously walking alongside of him. A God who never intended humanity to suffer at all. A God whose heart breaks for every tear that falls. A God who has a heart that is not a God who has your best interests in mind always. Who has Paul's best interests in mind always. A God who loves you desperately.

[18:23] And a God who's in control. That's who is holding Paul in his hand. So really, Paul did answer the question, how are you? He told them nothing about his condition, but he did tell them no matter what happens with my condition, God is in control. And for that, I am okay.

[18:49] I may not be at my best right now. I may not be well at all. I may be suffering. I may be longing for comfort and for greener pastures. But ultimately, I am okay and I will be okay. Because God is here and I can rejoice because God's in control. That's what he was saying in his letter.

[19:15] And it was only with that knowledge that Paul was able to persevere. Look at verse 23. He must have been beaten down and desperate. And he even said that he desired to depart with Christ. He wanted his suffering to be over. And it would have probably been really easy to give in. I already said he was facing sentencing and death was looking highly probable. And Paul longed for it. He wasn't necessarily scared for it at all. He wanted it.

[19:53] And he would have reached his reward in heaven as he said, to die is gain when you are firmly rooted in Christ. So many of us have probably been in a similar state of mind at some point in our lives, just longing for the suffering to be over. And longing to go home to heaven. But Paul had to persevere. He had to persevere if his sentence was death. And he had to persevere if his sentence was life.

[20:22] And he knew it. In verse 24, he said that he was of more use to the Philippians if he was alive. And the church was still so new. Of course God could use other people. But Paul was an apostle and critical to the spreading of the gospel. And he was instrumental in building up the Christians who were new in their faith. And he knew that God still had purpose for him in life. So as much as he may have wanted to throw in the towel, that wasn't in store for him necessarily at the moment. So for him, yes to die was gain. But the beginning of that verse is to live as Christ.

[21:13] And for people at that time, that included suffering. So he knew God would save him. And he knew that he had his work cut out for him. That he would strive every day for Christ and probably suffer more. But he had the strength to persevere.

[21:34] And so he firmly placed both circumstances in God. Death or life. And God used that attitude. That to live as Christ and to die as gain. People saw that and they must have marveled at this. How is it that Paul can rejoice? How can he be so calm? Simply because God was his passion and he knew he was in God's hands. And Christ was his joy. So no matter what happened to him, God's kingdom is being lived out and proclaimed. And the word of Christ's redemption was advancing.

[22:10] His friends were learning from his example and being encouraged so that they could follow his example, whether in life or death themselves. And he had lived as best he could for Christ and would continue to do so if he had the chance. And so he looked ahead to his choices. Either life or a continued life of striving. Either death or a continued life of striving. On behalf of Christ. And he was able to look at both of them confidently and even with joy. Was he happy about it? I cannot imagine he was. But he still could look at it with joy.

[22:50] And all of this because he knew God was in control. And not just any God but a God who loves him deeply. So sometimes life may feel like it's simply a dream. Like it's simply falling apart. And sometimes you may wonder what it's all for.

[23:11] Sometimes this phrase might seem like a heavy weight upon your shoulders. But today I just want you to take the time to be encouraged that in all things to live is Christ and to die is gain. No matter what, God is in control and he won't let you down. Let's pray.

[23:36] Our God we thank you that in all times you draw us near. You see every tear that falls and you tenderly wipe it from our cheeks. God you cry alongside us but most importantly you uphold us and walk beside us all the time. God we ask that you would continue to strengthen us and encourage us in all situations. These things we pray in Jesus name. Amen.