I’m very excited about this new series we begin today. We will look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and discover a joyful community living together in times of great trouble. Many would describe our world today as times of great trouble, as well, so it will be good to review the Apostle Paul’s council to the church at Philippi.
In these next four weeks, we will look at each one of the four chapters in Paul’s letter. This letter shows us a community learning how to live together with one another, in God’s presence, during difficult times.
And this is a great place to start, recognizing that God’s people will always face times of trials and testing. Whether it was the early church, which faced times of trial and testing during the Roman Empire, or whether it is the church today in places like China and Iran; or in El Paso where we had another mass shooting just yesterday. Wherever Christians are persecuted, God’s people will always be confronted with difficulties.
Now, you may think, “Most of the places I mentioned are centuries or continents away, so what does that have to do with you today?”
Times of trial and testing do not only happen on a large social scale. They happen every day on the individual and personal scale, to people just like you and me.
We should take note of this. Near the end of his ministry the Apostle Paul simply stated, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)
In part, Paul learned this lesson during his time in Philippi and years later, when the Philippians came to his aid, while he was in prison. And that’s what the Book of Philippians will help us understand.
The Book of Acts (chapter 16) records the roots of the church in Philippi. As you follow along in this sermon series, you can read about how God used Paul to start a brand-new work in this city that had never before heard the gospel.
The Roman city of Philippi is a long way from Jerusalem, where Jesus walked, or Antioch, the city where Paul attended church. In the first decades of this new Philippian church, they experienced both success and difficulties.
It is interesting to note that we CAN experience difficulties even during times of success. Some Christians might be tempted to think that the presence of difficulties means that we are somehow living outside of the will of God.
But that’s not necessarily true. Sometimes Christians can be right where God puts them, doing exactly what God has asked them to do and still face persecution, opposition, misunderstanding, and suspicion. This is true at a larger social level, as well as at an interpersonal level.
Acts 16 tells the story of how Paul and Silas found themselves in prison even as they shared the good news in the city of Philippi. Do you know what their response was after being thrown in jail? They SANG! That’s right!
Even though they were in chains, they worshipped the Lord in the middle of their trouble and pain. Through miraculous circumstances, Paul and Silas were delivered from their imprisonment, and even ended up baptizing the warden of the prison! Nothing should surprise us anymore when God is involved.
We should keep this story from Acts in mind as we look at the letter to the Philippians, because it reminds us that we TOO are certain to go through trials.
And this phrasing is important … we will “GO THROUGH” trials. Trials are made to be GONE through … we will not remain in them. Trials are made to go through because our God is bigger than any trouble man can dream up.
Perhaps you are facing some sort of personal trial today. It could be at work, or in a relationship, or have something to do with your finances, or illness, or you may even be a person who has suffered violence for the sake of the gospel.
Part of the good news is that even as we experience trials, we can have the confidence that we will pass through the trouble. God will not abandon us and leave us stuck in our difficulties.
In fact, one type of Christian maturity is our ability to rejoice even when things are not going our way. We can rejoice merely in the fact that we are in the center of God’s will.
Even if the trouble is of our own making because we’ve acted foolishly, it’s still true … trials were made to go through … not to remain in!
Even if my trial is the result of my own sinfulness, I can rest assured that I’m the center of His love. God doesn’t abandon people in trouble just because they make poor choices and decisions.
So, the church in Philippi takes root in this Roman town hundreds of miles away from where Jesus lived, and ministered, and was resurrected from the dead.
This tells us that the good news of the gospel can grow in any soil. The gospel is not a Jewish thing, or a Roman thing; it’s a God thing, offered to people all over the world!
Now, when we get to Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, 10 years have transpired since the account in Acts 16. Some things have definitely changed.
The church in Philippi is prospering and healthy. They are not only a thriving community in their home city, they are a community that looks after the welfare of others, people far away who may be in some kind of need.
And Paul is one of those other people.
Because this much has not changed … Paul finds himself imprisoned again, this time in Rome. The Philippian church has sent a gift of money and a member of their church to help him, because prisoners had to provide for their own means even though they were in prison.
And there, from his chains, Paul writes a letter to acknowledge their gift, to send back the brother they had sent to minister to his needs, and to teach them about the connection between Christian joy and suffering.
Paul is writing this letter from inside prison … to encourage those outside of prison. This letter is a model for how to live during tough times.
Over the next four weeks we can learn…
- how to live as if God is in control.
- how to live as servants.
- how to live a life of loss.
- and how to live a life of generous friendship.
Let’s look today at the first chapter of Philippians and learn to live as if God is in control. First, we will look at…
Prayer and Persecution
Early on in chapter 1, Paul prays for his friends back in Philippi. Isn’t this amazing? Someone far away, who is in difficult circumstances like prison, can still pray for others.
Don’t be fooled … whatever difficulties or trials you face cannot keep you from thinking of others and praying for others.
Paul continues his effective ministry even though his body is held captive. He prays for the people in Philippi, and he instructs the church in Philippi. He is continuing to impact the people in Philippi in a positive manner from prison. There is no self-pity there.
What does he pray? It’s there in verses 9-11 of our text. He prays that the church in Philippi will be…
- Able to discern what is best for them,
- Be pure and blameless, and
- Be filled with the good fruit that is in keeping with a proper relationship with Jesus Christ.
In chapter 1, after praying for the well-being of the people in Philippi, Paul begins teaching in verses 12-18. He wants us to learn how to live as if God is in control.
He teaches this by taking God’s view of things and by taking on…
God’s priorities.
Paul tells the Philippians that although there are people outside of prison, who are trying to make life worse for Paul while inside prison, Paul is actually pleased with the way things are.
It may seem crazy, but there were people who thought that by continuing to preach the gospel in public, and by making money from preaching the gospel, that the authorities would make life even more difficult for Paul.
That means those people outside were preaching the gospel from false motives. You would think Paul would be upset, or at the very least critical. But he is not.
Paul says that his situation is turning out to be advancing the gospel. We might say that Paul is “Gospel-Centric.”
He rejoices that the good news is being preached whether from good motives or bad motives.
The gospel is more important than his reputation or his personal comfort. He understands his imprisonment is for the sake of the gospel and does not ask, “Why is this happening to me?” Instead he understands and accepts … that God is in control.
Now, it’s easy to agree with a simple religious statement like “God is in control.” But you need to think hard about the result of confessing “God is in control” … because, if God is in control, it would mean that you are NOT in control.
When you think about it, it can be liberating to realize that we are not in control. This is a joyful submission to the will of God. God is in control … even beyond the nasty motives of other people. This is how Paul viewed his circumstances. So, how do we view our circumstances? Same as Paul, or otherwise?
Sometimes we may be surrounded by people who operate with bad motives or just plain old meanness. I think our natural reaction would be to cry out to God and ask Him to intervene. “God,” we might pray, “Stop these people from trying to harm me, or trying to profit from religion.”
But not Paul. Paul simply rejoices that God’s priorities are being accomplished. So how about us? Could we find joy in the middle of our difficulties or trials, if we had the assurance that God’s priorities were happening?
This is certainly a call to a deeper maturity in Christ. It is a call to the kind of maturity that acknowledges the fact that our comfort and our safety are not the highest priority on the earth.
No. God’s kingdom is the highest priority, and Paul demonstrates that his priorities align with God’s priorities.
When our priorities align with God’s priorities, the result is peace and joy. Whether we are in prison or free, we can experience peace and joy.
Whether relationships, or work, or finances are going well, or are going poorly, we can find peace and joy when we align our priorities with God’s priorities.
You see, Paul was not merely teaching the church in Philippi. He is also teaching us. So, in learning how to live as if God is in control, we first must take God’s view of things and take on His priorities. Then, we need to learn to…
Trust God for the Outcome
In verses 19-26, Paul says something very unusual and a little mysterious. He says that what has happened will turn out for his deliverance.
In other words, Paul’s faith that God is in control is expressed in terms of outcomes, not events.
The events did not look promising for Paul … HE’S IN PRISON for heaven sake. But Paul looks beyond the events toward the OUTCOME. And he concludes that the outcome will be glorious.
Whether in his day or in ours, here are the verifiable facts … sorrow, sickness, and suffering are at-large in the world. They will affect every one of us sooner or later.
But God shows His glory by bringing outcomes that are greater than any sorrow, or sickness, or suffering. For example, Tertullian, one of the early fathers of the church (who also lived during a time of persecution), said, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”
Like Paul, Tertullian was able to look beyond the immediate events. He was filled with confidence that God would use even difficult events like the death of Christians to do something wonderful.
This is part of the glory of God … in the middle of people’s weakness and wickedness … God is in the world working his wisdom for our good, and for the good of generations to come. Now here is the key … do we believe this? Do you?
As we sense in this first chapter of Philippians, Paul was not concerned at all about his own personal outcome. He says, “I can die and be with Jesus, or I can live, which will mean even more fruitful ministry later in my life.” His point is that he wins either way!
Paul does not see his life as something to be preserved, but rather as something to be spent in the service of God’s kingdom. This is part of the teaching in this chapter.
How do we look at our lives? Why should we be afraid of death? It would only mean that we would be with Jesus. The sooner, the better. Or, if we live, our lives should be an opportunity to co-labor with God to bring blessings to others.
So, in learning how to live as if God is in control, we must take on God’s priorities, learn to trust God for the Outcomes, and finally, learn to…
“Receive Suffering”
In verses 27-30 of our text, the Bible teaches us we can learn how to live as if God is in control by receiving suffering as something that is sometimes granted by God to the community of faith.
But please hear me … no one should go looking for suffering. No one should bring harm to themselves or act foolishly or irresponsibly.
Instead, we order our lives in the way God teaches us to. But if suffering comes as a result of our way of life, and if our way of life is pleasing to God, we should learn how to submit to the will of God EVEN IN SUFFERING.
In these last verses, Paul teaches us that we go through whatever happens together. It’s an expression not only of our individual confidence, but our confidence as people united in Christ.
Any pastor will tell you that churches grow stronger spiritually and bond during times of trouble. It is a community dynamic … the church comes together when things are tough. Paul actually says that the Philippians’ unified, bold response to difficulties, is a sign of the kingdom of God.
Paul says something that we do not hear quoted very often, “For it has been granted to you not only to believe, but to suffer for Him.”
The “you” in this verse is plural, not singular. Paul is saying, “You have seen me suffer while I was there with you in Philippi. Now I’m going through it again, and so are you!”
The Philippians used Paul’s imprisonment as a chance for the community to express their love and support for him. This makes perfect sense to me. We see it time and again as the church responds to natural disasters, school shootings, terrorist attacks, or economic hardship. The church draws together during tough times.
Maybe we should ask ourselves, why wait until tough times to draw together? Why wait until tragedy strikes to show our love and care for those around us?
Why wait until things are bad in order to show the love of God? We can be a church that lives in the community and demonstrates community right now, even in the moments of peace and prosperity.
This is the great lesson of Philippians chapter 1 … individually—and as a community—we can demonstrate that God is in control by living AS IF God is in control.
Our actions become our message. Our lives—individually and corporately—become the Good News. We can demonstrate to the watching world that we confidently believe God is in control.
Next week we will look at Philippians chapter 2, where we will discover that in tough times we can learn how to live as servants. Amen
CLOSING PRAYER:
Gracious Father, we totally surrender ourselves to You as we learn to do Your will, Your way, for Your sake as citizens of Your Kingdom. And we thank You most for helping us demonstrate to a watching world that we confidently believe God is in control of all things. And it is in Jesus Holy name we pray. Amen