Title: “The Christian and Suffering” Phil. 1:13-14
Type: Expository series Where: GNBC 5-18-25
Intro: The problem of pain is inescapable, its effects profound. No one can deny it. Many use it as a way to remove God from reality. It fuels the flame of doubt and sometimes undermines the believer’s faith. It empowers the atheist’s argument. To be a follower of Christ and to live in the world, one must determinedly, intentionally face the issues and difficulties that lie inherent and obvious in the problem of pain. C.S. Lewis, a frontline witness to evil in the world, was not immune from personal pain. As a boy, he experienced the death of his mother followed by the emotional abandonment of his father. As a young man, he directly encountered the ugliness of war. As a brilliant Oxford don, he suffered rejection from academic colleagues. As an older man who finally discovered young love, he endured the painful loss of his wife. In 1940, at age forty-two, Lewis penned The Problem of Pain accompanied by a humble, written admission. Fully realizing that he might be underestimating the reality of serious pain, he was compelled to intellectually address the issue, for he understood its profound implications toward belief, or disbelief, in God. Lewis states that “pain would be no problem unless, side by side with our daily experience of this painful world, we had received what we think a good assurance that ultimate reality is righteous and loving.”1 The innate relationship between the existence of God and pain must be rightly understood if we are honestly to confront the difficult issues that lie therein. Without such an understanding, faith is at risk of crumbling. I believe the Apostle Paul does just that in Phil. 1:13-14
Prop: Examining Phil. 1:13-14 we’ll realize two important principles in bearing fruit while suffering.
BG: 1. Philippi was an important city in Northern Greece, commanding the land route to Asia minor. The city grew in importance with the discovery of god mine just outside its borders. 2. As a colony, Philippi had the same legal status as cities in Italy. Its citizens were Roman citizens. Philippi was the 1st church founded in Europe on his 2nd missionary journey. Wrote this letter along with Colossian, Ephesians, and Philemon while under arrest.
Prop: In Phil. 1:13-14 Paul shares 2 important principles for the Christian to bear fruit while suffering.
I. The Fruitfulness of the Christian’s Suffering
A. Paul Realized that His Suffering was Testimony to the Watching World.
1.Paul Refuses the Way of Self-Pity Preferring to Describe the Effect of His Sufferings Upon Others and Not Upon Himself.
a. The Apostle Paul was a man who proved Jesus’ words in the crucible of life. In our text, we find Paul in circumstances in which we could not fault him for being unhappy. Think of who he was--God’s chief apostle to the Gentiles. He was well-educated, experienced, influential. He had founded churches all over the Roman Empire. He had been used of God to pen much of our New Testament. He had endured much persecution and hardship in his labors for the Lord. By now he was over 60, at a time in life when a man looks forward to enjoying the fruits of his lifelong labors. Many American pastors by this time are looking forward to a relaxed schedule, a little more golf. If you’re as successful in ministry as Paul was, you could expect to live off your book sales and speak at a lot of conferences and retreats. However, instead of being invited to speak at G3 or C3 or 9 Marks, or BLDRS, or Ligonier, or Shepherds Conference, the majority of his days is taken up with an audience of one. His captor.
b. v.13 – Paul gives insight into who his captor was. “In the whole Praetorian guard” – This was the elite imperial guard of first 10k and later 16k hand picked warriors. Originally, only of Italian birth, but later Macedonian, Noricum, and Spanish. They were the most loyal troops, receiving special assignments, special privileges, 2x pay, and receiving a full pension after serving 12 years. These men could be absolutely ruthless if the situation or emperor dictated. Yet, they were still lost men who needed Christ. (Christian, no matter who you are around…regardless of the size of the muscles or number of tattoos or piercings, rainbow colored hair, or menacing glare, at the end of the day, they are simply individuals who need Christ, who need to know God loves them and Christ died for them.
2. Paul states that his suffering has given opportunity for the entire Praetorian guard to know that he was held captive not so much by the emperor’s decree, but by the Love of Sovereign of the Universe. He was no longer in a dungeon as he was for two years in Caesarea (Acts 24:27), rather, now, he was in private rented quarters, but still with a captor 24/7.
a. Paul would have been chained to various soldiers with an 18” chain that was attached to both the prisoner and the guard’s wrist. It was only removed when the next soldier took guard. This system made both escape and privacy impossible. He had no privacy when he ate, slept, wrote, prayed, preached, taught, or was visited by friends. He had no privacy when caring for himself or attending to his bodily needs. Yet, in this period of 2 years with no privacy made it absolutely impossible for several of his captors to hear the Gospel, witness Paul’s Christlikeness and certainly come to faith.
b. Illust: Most Christians know the name Joni Erickson Tada. At 18 yrs of age Joni had a diving accident and broke her neck and became quadriplegic. Joni recently turned 75 yrs. old. Over the years her testimony of faith in Christ in the midst of severe disability has literally touched the lives of 10’s of millions of individuals. Many admirers do not know, however, that Joni requires nearly constant, around the clock care by individuals, and has for years. 100’s of people have attended her, nearly hourly over the last 60 yrs. Do you think her life has spoken volumes to care givers? You bet it has!
B. Paul’s Suffering Was a Stimulus to the Church
1. Paul’s Bonds Not Only Impacted the Praetorian Guard, they Inspired the Church.
a. Paul’s bonds had a second effect. Literally, this could be translated: “Any the majority of the brethren have confidence in the Lord by reason of my chains.” Paul sets an example here for all brethren for all ages. Our lives should be lived in such a way that we realize and are concerned about our two-fold witness. We should be concerned that our lives are a witness to the lost outside of the church and we should be concerned that our lives stimulate to love and service those within the church. The Christian must always be concerned that his/her life is lived in light of this two-fold ministry.
b. Paul wants his readers to be made aware of the “progress” the Gospel was making in spite of his conditions. The word carries with it the idea of not simply moving forward, but rather, moving forward against obstacles. A related verb was used of an army or an explorer hacking a path through a dense forest, slowly, and with considerable effort.
2. Paul’s Chains Had Another Effect: It stirred the Church to greater ministry.
a. V.1 – Yes, it is true that there are ordained men who minister fulltime in the preaching and teaching ministry of the Church. In many ways these individuals are the spokesmen for the Church. However, in the apostolic church, brothers and sisters were out in daily life telling the world about Christ. The Apostle alludes to this later in the letter (2:12-15) in which he tells the individual Christian, brother or sister to speak of their personal salvation who is seen as “light in the world, holding forth the word of life.” (RV). Friend, this is what we need today. Organic witnessing by every member of the Church in every level of society.
b. Illust: John Bunyan’s preaching was so powerful and popular and unacceptable to leaders that the 17th cent Anglican Church had him jailed so as to silence him. Refusing to be silent, he began to preach daily in the prison courtyard! Before long he had a large audience of not only prisoners, but hundreds of townspeople came daily to hear him preach! It was during this period of imprisonment that Bunyan wrote the classic: Pilgrims Progress which for several centuries was the most printed book in the world, after the Bible! Bunyan was “silenced” by being removed from his church and thrown into a dank and dark English dungeon. However, it was during this time that God used to speak the loudest through Bunyan!
C. Applic: Friend, your bonds may not be chains. Might be a physical or emotional condition you are presently traversing. Do not, for one minute, believe that this experience is out of God’s will or His ability to use for our good or the good of others.
II. The Explanation of the Christian’s Fruitfulness in Suffering.
(3 Important Truths about Paul the sufferer, encircle his sufferings.)
A. The Self-Effacing Nature of the Christian’s Suffering.
1. Paul did not use the Occasion of His Suffering to Negatively Turn His Thoughts Inward, Upon himself.
a. Suffering has the ability to cause us to negatively turn our thoughts inward upon ourselves. Unhealthy self-pity and fear can lead to distress, misery, melancholy, depression and despair. Instead of having an “inward” focus, these two verses are some of the most “outward” looking verses in the entire NT. V.13 The message has gone to a wide audience and instead of causing others to be fearful of their own imprisonment, they are actually witnessing with even more boldness for Christ.
b. “Self-pity is when we have pity for ourselves; especially when we have a self-indulgent attitude toward our own hardships. Something bad happens to us, and we decide to lament our loss alone — since no one else apparently will. What’s interesting about self-pity is that, while it is generally recognized as a negative trait among Christians and non-Christians, it is not a word you can find in the Bible. It isn’t found in the Epistles’ vice lists or among the seven deadly sins.
Yet the Bible has plenty to tell us about self-pity. There is a sense in which the entire story of the Bible exists to wake us up from the stupor of deadly self-pity and cause us to receive the only pity powerful enough to save us — the pity of God. Jesus manifests God’s pity for sinners: “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean’” (Mark 1:41). This pity finds its pinnacle at the cross of Christ.” (Abigail Dobbs, “Woe is Me”, 8-15-20)
2. Paul didn’t use the Occasion of His Suffering to Elicit Pity from Others
a. If we are going to “suffer” for our Savior victoriously, and not be given over to fear or self-pity, our focus must be “outward” and NOT “inward”. In these verses, Paul makes us look at the bonds that were shackled to his wrists and ankles, NOT to the bruises and chafed skin under those fetters. His focus is on the chains so that his readers may realize the impact they made upon the world and the church, not the impact they made upon his person. Christian, quit looking at your wrists and start looking at all who are around you.
b. Illust: My daughter Katherine’s mother-in-law died of cancer just a couple of years after Jon and she were married. “Pat” was a lovely and vibrant, devout Christian woman. Writing about Pat’s diagnosis, sufferings, and death, her widow, Steve, has written that she never once asked the question “Why me?”. Rather, Pat used every opportunity she had to share Christ with those around her, especially those in Oncology. In her sufferings, she was vibrant in her sharing Christ.
B. The Christian is to use His/Her Suffering as an Opportunity to Witness to Christ.
1. Even While In Chains, Paul was witnessing for Christ. Notice what the Apostle writes: v. 13 “my imprisonment for the cause of Christ has become well known” Illust: When I was a young man, SC still had chain gangs who would clean the roads. In the 1980’s men were still shackled, prison uniform on, with an armed guard overseeing them. This sight was quite common, and after a while, one chained convict looked quite like another. There was nothing distinguishing of one from the other. Not much reason to take notice of one prisoner over another. So why had Paul’s imprisonment drawn wide attention amongst both his captors as well as others?
2. However, this prisoner spoke of Another. This prisoner spoke about Christ. Whether sitting alone with his guard, or speaking to one of his numerous visitors, the Apostle’s conversation was focused not on himself, but always on Another, on Christ. Paul realized that his suffering was a divinely appointed opportunity and occasion to testify of the love of Christ. We too need to remember this. One sufferer looks very much like another, until you listen to whom they are speaking of…their own struggles, or their Savior? Rom. 8:37 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
C. The Christian is to Exude Gratitude
1. The Christian’s Gratitude Comes from an Inner Attitude that was Present in Paul.
a. Paul saw himself as a man “under orders”. In v.16 he states “I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel.” This is actually military terminology the apostle uses. Illust: In our country, when someone is accepted to attend one of the various military academies, they are said to have “received an appointment” to that academy. They individual, among other qualifications, must also have a Congressional nomination. Following that appointment, that individual knows with certainty what his or her life’s focus and direction will most likely be.
b. Illust: We have already discussed who the Praetorian Guard, Paul’s captors, were. When the time for one guard’s shift was over, he would be relieved by another. The soldier would unchain himself from Paul and his replacement would be chained to Paul. Now that guard did not have the option to debate the assignment that was given to him. As I said previously, these men were “the cream” of Rome’s mighty military machine. However, these men were, guarding a small, near-sighted old man who was a preacher of strange doctrines. Maybe this man would have preferred to be off fighting the Goths or Celts. Maybe he desired glory and riches. Most likely he had dreams of more important assignments for the empire. Yet, here he was guarding this one old man. That was his assignment, he was not to shirk it. Friend, Paul held the same attitude.
2. Paul did not see his Suffering as an Act of Divine Forgetfulness.
a. Paul did not allow himself to be given over to self-pity: “Why did this happen to me?” No, actually Paul saw this as his assignment, given to him by God Almighty, for an appointed season to influence his appointed captors with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Illust: Joshua Sullivan, is a 34-year-old Fellowship Baptist Church pastor and missionary working in Motherwell, SA. He was kidnapped by several armed, masked men who broke into his church on the evening of April 10, 2025, took cellphones from parishioners and drove away with Sullivan in his own truck. A bout a minute into his sermon, 4 armed and masked men broke into the service. We've been robbed before. So, we originally thought they were just going to come in and take some phones. I preached from an iPad. I thought they were going to take it, but once he hit me over the head with his gun and then grabbed my wife, I knew something was different about this.” Sullivan would be tied and bound for the next six days. Two of his captors were constantly with him. One man was very hateful towards the pastor. But, in the interview, Sullivan smiled and said that he was able to explain the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to both men. All four captors would be killed in a shoot out with police that freed Sullivan. Like the apostle, Sullivan knew his marching orders, wherever his assignment took him.
b. The great Anglican commentator JA Motyer mused wondering if with the change of every guard, Paul would secretly smile to himself, and looking at his guard, say to himself: “He doesn’t know it, but I am here to guard him, for Christ!” (p.54, Philippians). “Yes, it is true that the great ambassador was no longer free to range over land and sea with the Good News, but he certainly had not ceased to be an ambassador!” The form of his ambassadorship had changed but neither his purpose nor his duty had changed…he was still an ambassador in chains.
D. Applic: Dear one, I do not know what you may be going thru today. It may be a matter of health, the heart, or the mind. However, I do know this…we must look to Christ to persevere in the face of trial.
