Purposeful Suffering

Maybe this is a question you have pondered after hearing the news of someone who seemed to be doing all the right things only to have something tragic take place in their life.

Maybe you remember the story of a 27 year old man named John Chau. He was all over the news in November when he was murdered by a tribe on a remote Indian Island that is actually illegal to travel to.

John Chau’s intentions were to take the Gospel to a tribe that had little to no access to the outside world and it’s very likely that the tribe has never heard the name of Jesus.

We look at that story and think? How can that happen? You have this 27 year old man who is passionate about taking the good news of Jesus Christ to a group of people who have never heard the name of Jesus and never got the chance because he was murdered almost immediately upon entering the island.

This morning, we get to talk about a glorious topic and that is “Suffering.”

I’m going to ask you to turn in your Bible’s to this morning.

We tend to stay away from anything that might cause us to suffer.

Philippians 1:12–18 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

We are continuing our series walking verse by verse through Philippians this week.

Last week we set the stage for Philippians by talking about the author, the audience and Paul’s genuine love for the church that he helped start in present day Europe.

We spent the majority of our time last week looking at the key ingredient to a successful church and we broke down Paul’s prayer for the church and looked at the idea of how a church should “Abound” or grow in love for Christ but also one another.

As Paul continues his letter in V. 12-18, we see the Apostle gives a report to the church about his current condition. We already established the fact that Paul wrote this letter to the church at Phillipi as he was in prison.

This morning we are going to look at these verses and see what the significance of Paul’s imprisonment is and how we can deal with suffering as a believer.

It’s important for us to realize that not only did Paul love the people that made up the church at Phillipi but they also loved Paul dearly.

There are times when we read God’s word and should place ourselves in the shoes of the characters to fully grasp the way they were feeling during the situation they are in.

A good example is the story of Abraham being asked to offer his son as a sacrifice. As a parent, I cannot imagine the deep anguish that Abraham was going through as he was hiking up the mountain to sacrifice his son Isaac.

We know that he actually didn’t sacrifice his son because an angel of God appeared to him and instructed him otherwise but Abraham’s faith was willing to be obedient to that point.

So putting ourselves in Abraham’s shoes helps us understand the great emotions he must have been going through.

Now let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the people who made up the church at Philipi. Receiving this letter from Paul would have given them much encouragement because it gave them an update that Paul was still alive but he was still in chains.

It had been four years since they had seen Paul and due to not hearing much about Paul’s condition, they had questions such as: Was Paul still in prison, was he sick, had he gone to trial yet, or even the question as if Paul had been martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ?

Now they receive the letter from Paul and it had to give them a sense of joy knowing that Paul was still alive. We can imagine them reading this letter with anticipation of knowing Paul’s condition.

Paul begins by explaining to the church at Philippi of his current condition but also the purpose of his current condition.

As we begin in V. 12 we see Paul moving from his prayer for the church at Philippi to talking about himself and his current condition.

As the church was reading this letter, it may have been encouraging that Paul was in fact still alive because many may have thought he had already been marytyred, but Paul writes this not to make the beleiver’s feel sad for him but to encourage them about what God is doing through his imprisonment.

I want us to consider the question “Why do bad things happen to good people”

There is a major error in that question and maybe you have already noticed it.

Let me read

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

These verses give new meaning to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

There are no “Good” people?

Scripture says’ we are all sinners in need of a Savior.

God’s word also tells us that the wages for sin is death and that as sinners, every breath we take is a gift from God because according to our sin we shouldn’t even be alive.

Now, To God be the Glory for sending his son Jesus to live a perfect life, die on a cross, and defeat the grave so that we can believe in Him and have everlasting life.

The apostle Paul made the statement that he was the chief of sinners in .

The real question we should ask this morning is “Why do Christians Suffer?”

As I said last week, going verse by verse through a book of the Bible makes it to where we cannot skip over the hard passages.

I didn’t wake up this morning and think “Yes, I get to preach on suffering today!” It’s not an easy thing to talk about.

Paul gives the Church at Philipi that answer for why he is suffering and we see Paul’s faith in the Lord through the difficult season in his ministry.

I want us to break down the text this morning and see Paul’s purpose for suffering and how we gain encouragement from suffering.

God doesn’t waste our suffering.

Philippians 1:12 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

Paul wanted the church to know that his suffering and his imprisonment served to “advance the gospel.”

This is a bold statement from a man who lived a life filled with pain, hurt, and constant persecution because of his bold faith in Christ and his boldness to share the message of Christ in a hostile culture.

Paul wants the church at Philipi to know, I am in prison and I am in chains, but God is using this imprisonment to advance the message of Jesus Christ.

Oftentimes, we try everything we can to stay away from any type of suffering or discomfort as a Christian.

If it means avoiding a conversation with someone at work or engaging in talk with a group of friends who are talking in a way that does not bring honor or glory to God, we tend to stay away from bringing up our faith in jesus because we may be looked at differently.

Something we need to realize is that suffering for our faith in Jesus Christ is going to happen, it’s not a “maybe it will happen”

We live in a culture hostile to God. We can’t fool ourselves into thinking that we will be able to live our Christian life out in an easy care-free way.

That is a hard truth. It would be easy to think that having a relationship with God is going to be happy all the time and care-free, but that’s not the case. As believer’s there will be seasons in our life where we will suffer.

The important thing for us to deal with this morning is how are we going to handle suffering as believers?

We look at Paul’s boldness for Jesus and where did it get him? Jail.

Notice what Paul says about his current situation. What has happened to him has really served to “advance the gospel.”

The world “Advance” as it appears in this context is the same word for blazing a trail before an army. Paul viewed the events he was going through as opportunity for the Gospel to move to new territory and change lives’ of many people for the glory of God.

This is a little confusing because thinking about the Apostle Paul in prison, one might think that the Gospel is not able to advance because he’s not able to be out among the people and share the message of Jesus Christ.

It was almost as Paul knew that God was using his suffering and his current situation to help spread the Gospel to areas that may not have heard the Gospel yet.

This points to a Sovereign God that can use anything He pleases to see people saved by grace.

Paul’s suffering is encouraging for us because we know that God can use us in our most miserable and terrible times in life to bring Him glory and minister to others in ways we may not ever know or understand.

We may want to run and hide from suffering but that may not be God’s plan for us because it may just very well be God will use our suffering to further his Kingdom and lead others to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Sometimes God is working most in our lives’ when we are going through trials and tribulations instead of simply coasting.

Which goes right into Verse 13.

Philippians 1:13 ESV

so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Suffering can make it possible for people to hear the good news of Jesus.

Suffering makes a way for people to hear the Gospel.

Suffering can make it possible for people to hear the good news of Jesus.

Another reason why Paul is rejoicing in his current circumstances is the fact that people are hearing and responding to the message of Jesus Christ.

He might not be in a very good situation, but Paul’s message of Jesus was at least being heard among the guards.

When he uses the phrase “imprisonment is for Christ” we see that the guards knew that he was in prison because of his faith and obedience to Jesus.

Can you imagine how Paul’s situation would have ministered to the guards. Paul’s faith in Jesus led him to a terrible situation but the guards would have been able to hear Paul’s message and know that Paul was willing to be thrown into prison for sharing the message of Jesus Christ.

Our negative situations in life may lead us to people who simply need hope in Jesus Christ.

There’s a man named Peter O’brian who is a Bible Scholar and his work is studied and quoted by theologians, Pastors, and professors.

Peter O’brian’s story of coming to Christ came through a faithful servant that used her suffering to bring honor and glory to the Lord.

His mother came to know Jesus by the faithfulness of a neighbor who had an incurable disease and suffered day after day.

This woman could have just thrown her hands in the air and given up on life knowing that her life was never going to be of any value.

Instead, she faithfully proclaimed the message of Jesus through her suffering and through her sharing Jesus with those around her.

Peter O’brian’s mother saw this woman’s faithfulness to the Lord and heard the good news of Jesus from her and eventually surrendered her life to Christ. This in turn led her to teach her son Peter about Jesus who also responded by surrendering his life to Christ.

Peter eventually graduated from Seminary and went to India to proclaim the Gospel for many years. He then went to Australia to teach and write commentaries that are being used by Christians and Pastors today to study God’s Word.

Let’s trace this story back to the neighbor. That woman had no idea that her faithfulness in her suffering would eventually lead someone to go and spread the Gospel to India and write commentaries, and teach many people about Jesus.

We never know who might hear about Jesus or be transformed by the good news of Jesus when we are faithful during our trials and tests, but God can use a faithful servant in ways unimaginable.

It is very tempting to give into a quitter mentality when we go through suffering, but God has a plan and he has a purpose for suffering and that purpose could be for someone to hear about the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

When we look at our suffering as Paul did, suffering begins to look more like a blessing than a curse.

It’s quite possible that the Imperial guard may not have heard about Christ without Paul being thrown into prison and in that Paul rejoices and is confident that God is going to use his imprisonemt for a purpose.

There is a good chance we won’t face being put in prison for our faith in our lifetime but what other types of suffering might we experience because of our faithfulness to Jesus:

-A Job promotion: Maybe in order to get a job promotion, you have to do something unethical or do something that will hurt your Christian witness to work your way to the top but you remain faithful instead.

-Friends: It’s quite possible that you could lose friends as a result of being faithful to the Lord and living a life that is pleasing to him.

-Family: You may be going through some major family drama because you are choosing to stand for God’s word or take a stand for His glory.

In all these things, God will bless for His glory. You may think you’re having to give something up, but God is using your suffering to be a witness and a bold proclamation that He is good in the midst of your suffering.

Philippians 1:14 ESV

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

God uses suffering to produce bold and fearless disciples.

Suffering can spark boldness and fearlessness.

We know that Paul’s letter to the church of Philippi is a letter of encouragement. Due to Paul’s suffering in prison, many members of the church at Rome began to rise up and preached with courage and fearlessness.

Notice that Paul says’ the brothers became confident in the Lord by his imprisonment. Paul is pointing to the fact that there is purpose in his suffering for the sake of Christ.

When Christians began to rise up and become even more bold and courageous in their preaching, more and more people would hear about Jesus and have a chance to respond to the good news of the gospel.

We can look at stories of men and women being martyred for Jesus and think how sad it is but I think we should rejoice in the fact those men and women stood firm until God called them home and they didn’t neglect to share Christ even in the face of death and draw encouragement from their boldness.

Looking at John Chau’s life, He was 27 years old and had his entire life ahead of him.

We may never know the impact his faithfulness to the Gospel will have on the world but we can rest assured that his heart for that tribe in India will not be in vain.

I pray that the Gospel will be able to go to that Tribe on God’s timing and that people on that remote Island will know who Jesus is one day. It’s quite possible that someone will be inspired by his story and start praying for a way to reach that Tribe.

Every mission trip I’ve ever taken whether it’s domestic or foreign, I’ve had the incredible privilege to work with missionaries who have given up everything to move and make disciples in places that are not easy to minister to.

I think back to a trip I took to New York when I was in college and we worked with a missionary who was collecting data on all the different ethnicities that lived in New York City to compile a resource to hand to church planters that came into the city.

I remember talking with this missionary and this man and his family gave up living the average American life to move to New York city and live in the slums.

It wasn’t necessarily their choice to live in the slums but real estate in NYC is incredibly high and on a missionaries salary, that’s all they could afford.

He didn’t complain about his situation but was constantly celebrating the many opportunties he had to share Jesus with his neighbors.

It gave me encouragement to come back home and be bold in my faith knowing that God had put me where I was for a reason.

Just as I gained encouragement to be bold from this missionary, the Christians in Rome would have been encouraged and would have wanted to take the Gospel out even though their lives’ were being put at stake.

Don’t look at those suffering for their faith as a discouragement but look at it as fuel to minister in the situation God has put you in.

The way you respond to suffering may ignite a boldness and fearlessness in other believers’ to share the message of Christ faithfully.

Paul’s aim at telling the church at Philippi this news was to encourage them that his current situation was being used by God to make disciples.

Suffering produces rejoicing.

Philippians 1:15–18 ESV

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

Philippians 1:

Suffering leads to rejoicing.

Suffering produces rejoicing.

Paul transitions from the bold and fearless preaching to describing two groups of preachers:

The first group preached Christ from envy and rivalry: We can easily look at this passage and think that Paul is talking about false teachers but that is not the case.

Paul is talking about preachers that are wrapped up in envy toward him because of his following. These preachers he was talking about were indeed Christians and men of God but they actually made it harder on Paul because of the way they were preaching.

The second group is a group of preachers that preached the message of the Gospel from good will.

This group of preachers would have been passionate to express their positive thoughts toward Paul and instead of being jealous of Paul they helped continue the mission he had set out to do.

Paul’s words in V. 18 are powerful:

18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Instead of Paul complaining or whining about the men that were preaching out of envy or rivalry, the main thing is that they were preaching Christ and Paul proclaims that in that he rejoices.

Suffering is not fun to talk about but it is something we see throughout God’s Word. In most cases of suffering, believer’s rejoice in the Lord knowing that suffering has a purpose.

Listen to

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Instead of running from trials and tribulations that God may have for us, we should learn to rejoice in the Lord knowing that the suffering we are going through is molding us into the person God wants us to be.

God may drag us through some of the worst situations we can ever imagine to cause us to be the person He wants us to be.

We can rest assure though that suffering is not in vain. God will bless the difficult seasons in our life for His glory.

You may be going through a season of suffering right now in your life and have no idea why it’s happening to you, but I want you to find encouragement that God knows exactly what He’s doing in your life.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

“All Things” work together for good. Those things may be extremely hard and difficult but God is always at work even when we don’t feel like he is.

Paul’s intention behind these verses were to encourage the Church at Philippi that his current situation as bad as it was had purpose and God was using it for His glory.

We learn from Paul in V. 12-18 that:

God doesn’t waste our suffering.

Suffering makes a way for people to hear the Gospel.

God uses suffering to create bold and fearless disciples.

Suffering leads to rejoicing.

It would be much easier for me to stand here this morning and say. “Give your life to Christ and everything will be perfect” But that is a lie and has no Biblical support.

We read people in Scripture who a great love for the Lord and it led them to a bold life but their reward was not an easy life, they faced a culture that stood in direct opposition to the message of Jesus and they faced persecution.

Some of the most useful and powerful disciples of Jesus Christ are those that are going through suffering and continue to place their faith and trust in the Lord and recognize that He is enough and will sustain them until the end.

The God we serve is

Let’s pray.

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