Righteous Suffering

Introduction

Welcome

Today I’ll be preaching a stand alone message from Philippians 1 titled, “Righteous Suffering.”

Following which we will spend 7 weeks in a “Firm Foundations” series - expound

Then a two week Christmas study

And all of a sudden, it’s 2023

Let’s start with prayer, and then we’ll jump into our text.

Prayer

Scripture

Philippians 1:21-30 “21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. 23 I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.”

Context/Overview

There appear to be three big questions to answer about this passage.

What does it mean “...to live is Christ, to die is gain…?”

Why is Paul conflicted?

What does it mean that we have been “granted suffering?”

So, we are going to answer these questions and then end with some very real practical applications.

To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain?

There isn’t a lot that separates life and death - expound.

In this case, it’s only a comma.

Verse 21 says, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

This is really two statements in one, so let’s break them up - but let’s begin with the dying part.

To die is gain

For the Christian, death is gain.

Not only is it gain, it is the ultimate gain - let me explain.

Revelation 21 says that there will be pearl gates and streets of gold

John 14 tells us we will dwell with Him in mansions

Hebrews 12 says those mansions will make up a city perfectly designed for worship

Revelation 7 tells us this worship will be comprised of people from all nations/tongues

Revelation 7 goes on to say that this worship will be perfect because we will live in perfect peace and joy

And these are just to name a few

Dying is gain because the death of our temporary physical body brings about the eternal fullness of our spiritual bodies

But what does it mean, “to live is Christ?”

2. To live is Christ

I’m going to address this point separate from “to die is gain” for now - I’ll address how they interact in a moment

If dying is gain because it’s the gateway to eternity… then “live” is referring to our temporary time here on earth

So what does it mean that this time on earth is “Christ?”

Jesus, who we mean by Christ… His purpose was to bring glory to the Father - expound with gospel

If that’s what Jesus’s time on earth represented, then it must be what ours represents too - not the perfection or authority of Christ, but the continued participation in His mission

So… in summary - dying is gain because it leads to heaven and living is Christ because it the continued participation in His mission

Knowing these two truths, or two states, we can move to the next chunk of our text

Holy Confliction?

Continuing on, verses 22-24 say, “22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. 23 I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”

Have you ever experienced confliction?

We all have right? Let me give a few examples to get you feeling the way Paul’s feeling as he writes this:

Coke-a-cola hiccup illustration

Ice cream when you’re already full illustration

We’ve all probably got thoughts like these that we can relate to - but let’s up the ante - because the truth is… there is good and bad conviction. Here’s an example of each:

Getting up early to read your Bible illustration

Torn between two Bible studies illustration

The confliction Paul has is good confliction. I would even go so far to say holy confliction

HE wanted so bad to be with Jesus, but he also wanted so bad to obey God’s commission for disciples to be made of all nations - expound

But here’s the thing… even though Paul is conflicted, as we ought to be too, he knew both what was better and what he would choose

Heaven is better! expound, verse 23

Why is heaven better? Do I need to go back and read those verses about heaven again?

To remain is more necessary - expound, verse 24

It is necessary why? Because sin is rampant and it continues to separate people from God!

So… here’s the thing… the very thing that makes heaven better (the absence of sin) is the very thing that makes it necessary for us to stay (the presence of sin)

This holy confliction begins to answer our next question - what is righteous suffering

Righteous Suffering?

First, continuing on further paints what we’ve already seen - “27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God.”

Briefly expound

Then we get to verses 29 and 30 which say, “29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.”

We have been granted suffering for him? What does that mean?

Suffering - as we’ve defined it (holy confliction) - is evidence of salvation - expound

Citizens of heaven illustration

How do you know if you’re living somewhere you’re not a citizen?

You don’t know the language, customs, places to eat, how to get around, etc.

And the more different the place is… the more confident you’d be you don’t belong there.

Our citizenship here on earth is far more foreign from heaven than any two places on earth

And think about it this way… if there was no suffering, why would we even want to leave?

Suffering reminds us that there’s something better

And the more we draw closer and closer to Jesus, the greater our sense of holy confliction or righteous suffering will be

Now… let me make a quick point before I move to our practical applications… suffering isn’t the only thing that gives evidence of salvation. Suffering has a counterpart. It’s not just all doom and gloom.

God give us glimpses of what’s to come

And I say glimpses not because God’s teasing us, but because our vision is clouded by sin

When we find joy in creation and in God’s Word and Biblical fellowship - infinite other examples here on earth - we see glimpses of what’s to come

I focused on suffering today because I think as Christians it’s easy to get complainy when it comes to hard things - expound

And so the more we become like Christ, the more we see glimpses of eternity and thus the more we are able to righteously suffer

So this leaves us with two take-a-ways or practical applications

Practical Application

Acknowledge, celebrate righteous suffering before God

Acknowledge, celebrate glimpses of eternity

Closing Thoughts

Holy Spirit Led