04 | A Word Of Comfort For Christians Who Are Suffering

A Word Of Comfort For Christians Who Are Suffering

Philippians 1:27-30

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As taught Sunday 1 February 2015, Emmanuel Church, Auckland, New Zealand

Introduction

“I know that I am a child of God—I am trusting in Christ to save me from my sin.”

“I strive to live a godly life.”

“But it seems the more I follow the Bible, the harder life becomes.”

“Am I doing something wrong?”

“Is God angry with me?”

“Has God forsaken me?”

Countless Christians have felt this way and asked these questions

Suffering drives many to despair causing some to never enjoy full assurance and causes others to walk away for good

Both of which are great tragedies

Today, if you are faithfully following Christ and life seems hard, I want to encourage you with these thoughts…

You are not alone

Faithful servants of the LORD suffered in times past

One of the greatest passages in the Bible on faith is Hebrews 11…

The passage opens with those who overcame great difficulties by faith—everyone knows about these

But little is said about those in the latter portion of the chapter…

“Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,” Hebrews 11:35-39

We don’t have to look beyond the Letter to the Philippians to see faithful servants who suffered for being faithful

Remember Paul…

What did he do at Philippi to deserve ill treatment?

He attended a riverside prayer meeting and explained to gospel to a woman, Acts 16:13-15

He freed a slave girl who was tormented by an evil spirit and exploited by her masters, 16:16-19

For these two acts Paul and Silas suffered at the hands of a mob being unlawfully beaten & jailed

What did he do in Jerusalem to deserve arrest? Acts 21:26-30

He purified himself according to the Law and entered the temple to worship

He was accused of overturning the Law by proclaiming the resurrection of Christ in all places

Remember the Philippian Church…

  We don’t know the exact nature of their sufferings, but Paul described them as…

“…having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.” Philippians 1:30 Philippians 1:30

Verse 28 makes it clear that their “conflict” came from “adversaries” outside of the Church

What did the Philippians do to earn such enemies?

Lydia ministered to Paul and Silas out of her own resource, Acts 16:15

The slave girl was healed, Acts 16:18

The Philippian jailer cleansed Paul and Silas’s wounds and prepared them a meal, Acts 16:31-34

The Church continued to support the ministry of Paul after he left Philippi, Philippians 1:4; 4:14-18

They prayed for the wellbeing of Paul, Philippians 1:19

They obeyed Paul’s teaching, Philippians 2:12

They lived godly in their perverse generation

Their purity of life and awareness of their high calling in Christ was a constant…

Rebuke to their pagan neighbours—and they didn’t like it

Remember our LORD Jesus Christ

“…who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;” 1 Peter 2:23

These were given for our example. Why?

Faithful servants of the LORD still suffer today

In Muslim countries Christians suffer outright persecution

Suffering in secular Western countries is more subtle

Growing pressure to neglect the LORD’s Day in exchange for sport and work

Christians lose all credibility in the eyes of academia if they defend their faith

Others are ridiculed in the work place by unbelieving colleagues—tell the story of Michael B.

If you suffer for doing what is right, take heart, you are not alone! In his final letter, Paul wrote Timothy saying…

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12

Often our first response to suffering is to ask, “Where are you, LORD?”

 Even King David once prayed…

“Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn You servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Psalm 27:9

If life gets hard because you do what is right, remember this…

God Has Not Forsaken You

Paul learned to trust in the LORD and the wisdom of His providence

This allowed him to look upon his own suffering and say…

“…the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel,” Philippians 1:12

He wanted the Philippians to have this same faith

So when he heard of their struggle, he wrote to them, “God has not forsaken you. In fact…”

“…to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Philippians 1:29

Peter O’Brien draws attention to this word “granted”

At its root is the word χαρις which means “grace”. So what?

Paul said to the Philippians “faith in Christ” and “suffering for His sake” are both “gracious gifts” from God!

This is a radical teaching and stands in open defiance to what many are teaching today

I wish I could say that everything produced in my country is a blessing to the world

Unfortunately, this is not so—one of our chief exports is false teaching

We do not have time to catalogue the errors propagated abroad by those who have more zeal than knowledge

But I will address one growing error that contradicts Paul in this passage…

Many today claim it is the will of God for every Christian to enjoy good health and financial prosperity

They distort passages of Scripture such as…

“’Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts,
‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” Malachi 3:10

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2

From passages like these they claim God is eager to pour out riches and long life on all who have faith enough…

To claim these promises in the name of Jesus Christ

How does one acquire such faith?

Faith comes by giving, and the more you give to this charlatan the more you will get in return

Millions have fallen prey—they give all they have and receive nothing as promised

When the false teacher is questioned, “Why have I not been healed,” or, “Why have I not prospered?”

Do you know what answer they give? “You don’t have enough faith!”

Solution: give more to increase your faith, then you will have enough faith to be healed and prosper

I have a loved one in my family—whom you have never met—who has fallen victim to this lie

She has a thyroid problem, something in our family’s medical history

A friend introduced her to this kind of teaching and she swallowed every word without question

Taking her medicine was paramount to a lack of faith, so she quite

She is near to destroying her health and family

Why? What she believes about the nature of Christian suffering is all wrong!

In this world there is suffering due to sin in general

Through Adam sin entered the world and death came with it

Even now all creation groans under the weight and curse of sin waiting for Christ to return, Romans 8:22

This suffering is not long—Christ will return and wipe away all tears, Revelation 21:1-4

In this world there is suffering due to sin in particular

If you are a child of God, when you sin against Him you will feel His hand of correction

Depending on the nature of your sin and disposition of heart His correction may be gentle or it may be firm

Take comfort in this,

“For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:12

And in this world there is suffering for the glory of God

This is the kind of suffering Paul has in view in Philippians 1:29

Why would Paul say this kind of suffering is a “gracious gift” from the LORD?

He remembered what our LORD taught in the Sermon on the Mount…

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely from My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

It doesn’t matter if you are martyred in a Muslim land for your faith, or in this land you get passed over in your work on account of your godly convictions. In either way you proclaim, “Christ is worth more than the treasures of this world!”

You do what is right. If the ungodly trouble you for it, count it a gift from God. He has not forsaken you.

The scares they give God turns into marks of His ownership assuring you of your salvation unto the day of Christ.

AMEN