Title: Experiencing Joy In Persecution, Part I:
Persecuted For The Right Reason
Series: The Joy of the Christian Life (Sermon # 3)
Text: Phil 1:12-13
Date Preached: Aug 3, 2008
COPYRIGHT © Joe La Rue, 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
Introduction
A. An “oxymoron” is a figure of speech which combines two normally contradictory ideas. Expressions like, deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, and civil war are all oxymorons. Let me give you another: Joyful persecution. Those are two words that we do not normally link together. We tend to think of persecution as being something awful, and joy as something wonderful. We do not normally associate the two. And yet, persecution can be a source of joy when we suffer for the right reason, and when we maintain the right focus, and when we hold the right conviction.
1. We saw last week that he experienced joy because of the Christian community that he was part of. Later in this study we’ll discover that he found joy because of the promise of eternal life, and because of Jesus. Those things make sense. We see immediately how they might bring someone joy.
2. In the text today, though, Paul writes about the joy to be experienced in persecution. And we see that it is not really correct to say that “in spite of the persecution he faced, he was joyful,” the way I did just a moment ago. Rather, Paul seems to say, “Because of the persecution I face, I am joyful.” While the word, “joy” does not appear in the text we are about to read, it nevertheless colors it. The theme of joy is found in the verses immediately preceding these verses, and also in the verses immediately following them. Look at the text with me. Philippians 1:12-13.
“12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” (Phil 1:12-13, NIV).
B. Trans: As a foundational principle, let’s think for a minute about why Paul says he was being persecuted, because that is the key to understanding the joy he experienced even as he was undergoing persecution.
I. There Is Only One “Right” Reason To Endure Persecution.
A. There are plenty of reasons a person could be persecuted.
1. Some of them are noble. I think of the brave civil rights workers of the 1960s, men like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and women like Rosa Parks, who put their lives on the line for freedom and equality. And they were persecuted. They were beaten with fists and clubs, they had vicious police dogs let loose on them, some were shot, many were arrested, some were killed. But their cause was noble: they knew that their cause was right.
2. Sometimes, though, people are persecuted for causes that are not noble at all. The people in the religious compound down in Texas that were recently in the news for marrying girls who were barely teenagers claimed that they were being persecuted. If they were, their cause was not noble. They were breaking the law. And they were not doing it for any “freedom of religion” reason. There is nothing in their religion that requires them to marry a 13 year old instead of an 18 year old. Rather, they were doing it simply because they wanted to. And I think that all of us would say, “It is not a noble cause to coerce a child to marry you.” That’s not noble at all.
B. So there are plenty of reasons a person could be persecuted, but only one reason that can be a source of true joy, and that’s if we’re persecuted for the right reason—if we are persecuted for Jesus. Now, I do not want to be persecuted. But if I have to be persecuted, I want it to be for a reason that is right, don’t you? Don’t you want it to be for a reason that will bring you joy? Not that you enjoy the persecution, but you can still derive joy from it, because you know that you are suffering for the right reason. If you have to be persecuted, or put down, or insulted, don’t you want it to be like that? Don’t you want to feel good, knowing that you are taking a stand for what God wants you to stand for?
1. I spoke earlier about Dr. King. He is one of my heroes. I have studied his life, and there are two things I can tell you for sure about Dr. King. First, he truly believed that God had called him to help all people join hands together in equality and harmony. He truly believed that he was serving Jesus in the struggle he engaged in for civil rights. And second, he experience profound joy, even when he was persecuted, because he knew that his cause was right. He was being persecuted for the right reason.
2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is another of my heroes. He was a young minister in Nazi Germany who was imprisoned because he refused to bow the knee to Hitler. While in prison, though, he wrote a famous poem in which he asked, “Who Am I”? And in that poem he wrote these words, recalling what other people told him of himself:
“Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.”
What enabled Bonhoeffer to feel any joy at all, when he had been ripped away from his family and fiancé, and was imprisoned, and deprived of food and warmth and comfort? Only his assurance in his own heart that he was being persecuted because of his commitment to Jesus. He was being persecuted for the right reason.
C. You see, there are lots of wrong reasons for being persecuted in our world today, but only one right one. The only right reason for being persecuted is Jesus. The only time we should rejoice when we get picked on is when we are getting picked on because we are taking a stand that God wants us to take. That’s what was going on with the Apostle Paul. Look back at verse 13. “13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for—” Who does he say, Church? That’s right! For Christ. Paul was in chains for Jesus.
D. Trans: Paul suffered persecution for Jesus, and we are likely to, too. In fact, here is the thing that we must understand about persecution: Those who live for Jesus will likely experience it.
II. Those Who Live For Jesus Will Be Persecuted.
A. I want to take a moment to define persecution.
1. When I say that word, ‘persecution,’ what do you think of? Many people think of Christians in far-off countries being arrested and tortured and killed because of their faith. And indeed, that is still occurring in our world, and that is definitely persecution.
2. But, mistreatment doesn’t have to rise to that level for it to be persecution. A child who is made fun of for praying before eating lunch at school is suffering persecution. A man who is called insulted because he won’t look at pornography with his buddies is being persecuted. A woman who is laughed at because she refuses to gossip with the girls is being persecuted. Someone who is ostracized by their family because they have chosen to follow Jesus, and the family cannot accept that. Persecution can take lots of forms, but in every instance—and I would like for you to fill in this blank on your outline—persecution is mistreatment because we are believers in Jesus.
B. The Bible says in 2 Tim 3:12, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Tim 3:12, NIV). In other words, we can expect to be mistreated for Jesus. It goes with the territory. Jesus said,
18“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. (John 15:18-20, NIV).
So, we can expect persecution. It may not rise to the level of being arrested, like the apostle Paul, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Dr. King. It may not rise to the level of being tortured or killed. But we can expect to be mistreated if we take our faith seriously, because we will become different than the world around us, and they won’t like that.
C. Now, what if you are not being persecuted at all, ever? If you never, ever experience any mistreatment because of your faith, either God is protecting you at the moment, or you are not ever hanging out with any non-Christians, or you are not actively living your faith in such a way that it is obvious that you are a Christian. It’s one of those three. And if it’s the first one—if God is protecting you right now—then praise God! But, if it’s one of the other two—you aren’t ever engaging any non-Christians, or you aren’t living in such a way that non-Christians recognize that there is something different about you—well, those are problems, and you need to pray about it and fix it.
D. Trans: Okay, so there is only one right reason to be persecuted, and that’s Jesus. And those who attempt to live for Him can expect to experience persecution. Here’s the best part: if you are mistreated for Jesus’ sake, you will receive a blessing of joy, just like Paul did.
III. Jesus Gives Joy To Those Who Suffer For Him.
A. Jesus said, “22Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Luke 6:22-23, NIV). Here’s the promise: we are ‘blessed’ when we are persecuted for Jesus. That word, ‘blessed,’ is a translation of the Greek word ‘makarios,’which means something like “God-infused happiness.” It refers to a happiness that God brings us and fills us with, because we know that we are walking in His will and doing what He wants. It does not mean happy in the sense of, “Oh, how wonderful! I’m being persecuted.” Rather, it means happy in the sense of knowing that we are pleasing God by the way we are acting, and God will reward us richly for our choice to be faithful to Him.
B. That is what Paul was experiencing. Look back at verses 12 and 13 of Philippians chapter 1:
“12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” (Phil 1:12-13, NIV).
Paul was saying, “Even though this is a bad thing for me personally, look at how wonderfully things are turning out! I am bearing witness for Jesus, and everyone is getting to see that I am suffering because of my faith in Him.” And that brought Paul joy, just like Jesus promised.
C. Paul didn’t enjoy being deprived of his freedom. He didn’t enjoy awaiting trial and a possible death sentence. Still, God gave him joy, just like Jesus had promised. Paul knew that he was suffering for the right reason, and that he was doing God’s will, and that God was working behind the scenes to advance the gospel, and that God had promised him heaven. And so Paul experienced joy, even when he was suffering.
D. It’s no fun to suffer. But when we suffer for Jesus—when we suffer for doing what is right—we experience the same joy that Paul experienced. Now, I am not suggesting that we should go looking for persecution. However, I am saying that if we live godly lives, trying to please God, we can expect persecution. And when it comes, in spite of the unpleasantness of the persecution, we can experience joy because we know that it means that we are really living the way God wants us to live.
Conclusion
A. Well, we’re out of time today. Next week we will talk about having the right focus while we undergo persecution, and the following week we will talk about maintaining the right conviction.
B. Invitation
1. Accept Christ.
2. Prayer for those undergoing persecution.
