It may seem an inexplicable jump to preach last week on the "Rejoice Motif" in Philippians and to preach this week on the "Suffering Motif" in the same book. But it is actually an extremely appropriate move, because the "Rejoice Motif" will have an even greater impact upon our lives when we see it alongside the "Suffering Motif." Last week I tried to reveal how powerful this letter’s many expressions of joy are because of the quite dismal circumstances of Paul’s life when he wrote this letter, a letter truly filled with joy. This week we will look quite specifically at Paul’s view of suffering in this same joy-filled letter, and I believe it will further increase our ability to "Rejoice in the Lord always."

Paul views suffering in a transformative way. Paul’s view of suffering for Christ transforms it into a privilege. And Philippians is not the only book in which Paul displays such a transformative perspective. Listen to his words in Romans 5:3, "we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance." In Colossians 1:24 Paul writes, "I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."

In Philippians, however, Paul articulates his view of suffering more fully than in any other of his writings. And we should stop and notice that Paul does not articulate this view in Philippians just because of his own personal suffering. You see Paul was also in prison when he wrote Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Timothy, and Philemon. And in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, Paul makes clear that his entire life of ministry was characterized by suffering. So Paul’s imprisonment at the time of writing Philippians should not be viewed as the primary reason that he devotes so much time to the presentation of his transformative view of suffering here. I think that Paul gives such a thorough treatment of suffering in Philippians because of sensitivity to his readers. The Philippian Christians are suffering, and Paul encourages them as they endure it.

Please take your Bible and turn to Philippians 1:27-30 and follow along as I read. These are the verses which explicitly refer to that suffering. Php 1:27-30:

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The Philippian Christians, verse 28 reveals, have "opponents." Verse 29 reveals that they are "suffering for [Christ]," and verse 30 reveals that they "are having the same struggle" that Paul had in the past and still has at the time of writing this

letter. Now please follow along as I read Php 2:17-18. There Paul says,

even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you—and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

The word translated here as "libation" refers to a drink offering. Drink offerings are frequently referred to as a part of the ritual law of the Old Testament. They were portions of wine poured over a sacrificial animal as that animal was being sacrificed on the altar of burnt offering. Paul confirms here that the Philippians are, due to their faith, an offering/a sacrifice; and Paul is glad and rejoices that he is like a drink offering being poured over their sacrifice for Jesus. I think that Gordon Fee in his 1995 commentary on Philippians is correct in seeing Paul’s words here as a reference to the suffering of the Philippian Christians (Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, New International Commentary on the New Testament, p. 30).

Now let’s notice how Paul views suffering. Let’s see on what basis he contends, as he does in Php 1:29, that it is a "privilege" to suffer for Christ.

I believe one of the reasons that Paul in Philippians views suffering as a privilege is because suffering grants to the believer a closer identification with Christ, a more intimate relationship with Christ. Paul, in Php 2:8, says of Christ Jesus that "he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross." Then, in Php 3:10 Paul says, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead." Paul wants to know Christ, and the kind of knowing that Paul seeks is actually aided by suffering. In Php 3:8 Paul says, "I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

We must stop and notice that for Paul "knowing" is not just knowing some facts about Jesus. I turn again to the commentary by Gordon Fee who says that knowing here "means to know [Christ] as children and parent know each other, or wives and husbands––knowledge that has to do with personal experience and intimate relationship" (Ibid., p. 318). Fee goes on to say, "There is something unfortunate about a cerebral Christianity that ‘knows’ but does not ‘know’ in this way" (p. 319). Paul believes that suffering for Christ is a privilege because it grants to the believer an avenue of deeper communion with Christ Jesus the Lord.

Now Paul is not some masochist who deliberately seeks suffering. In Acts 23:17 Paul gets a message to Roman authorities, a message which keeps Paul from being assassinated by some radical Jewish opponents. In Acts 25:10-11, Paul appeals to the emperor’s tribunal in Rome because Paul came to believe that it was impossible to receive justice in Judea. So Paul is not saying that Christians should seek suffering for the sake of suffering. Paul simply believes that suffering will come to those who seek to follow Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul says, "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." And one of the ways that Paul aids the believers in Philippi as they experience suffering and opposition is to point out that suffering is a means of knowing Christ, of having a deeper relationship with Him.

And I should say that the times I have suffered in this life have made me much more aware of what my Savior suffered for me. Personal suffering has done for me precisely what Paul promises. It has deepened my relationship with Christ Jesus my Savior and with my God.

A second way that Paul transforms suffering into a privilege is to point out that through suffering we have the opportunity to exalt Christ. Look at Paul’s words in Php 1:20. There he says,

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul believed that even suffering for Christ would be used by God to exalt Christ. Paul believed that God could do that even through Paul’s death.

Sense the powerful freedom of that belief. Sense the freedom from fear that comes when even death is transformed into a glorious opportunity to exalt our Savior and Lord.

So the book of Philippians shows us that suffering is transformed into a privilege because of its ability to deepen our relationship with Christ Jesus and because of its ability to be used to exalt Him. But I want you to notice the foundation underneath this transformative view of suffering. That foundation is Paul’s confidence in the saving power of Christ Jesus. Paul knows that Jesus the Christ is going to take him home. Look with me at Php 1:21-24. There Paul says,

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

Paul is confident of Christ’s ability to save him and take him to be with him eternally after his death. That confidence is the foundation of everything that Paul says about suffering as a privilege and as an opportunity to exalt Christ. And Paul does not just have this confidence for himself. Hear his words in Php 1:3-7:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

God’s grace––that is why Paul is confident. That is why suffering is a privilege. That is why suffering and even death are an opportunity to exalt Christ. It is because of God’s grace that is with Paul and is shared by all of those who put their faith in Jesus.

Are you covered by the grace of Christ? Are you able to experience suffering as a privilege and an opportunity to exalt the Lord. Without a confidence that is stronger than physical and emotional pain, without a confidence that is stronger than death it is difficult to experience suffering in Paul’s transformative way. Come to the grace of Jesus. Come and begin a life focused upon knowing Jesus as your truest and most intimate friend. Come now as we stand and sing.