Title: Meaning of Suffering/Philippians 1:12-14
Content: The meaning of suffering/Philippians 1:12-14
12 I want you to know, brethren, that what happened to me has actually made progress in the gospel. 13 Therefore my bondage has been revealed to all who are in Christ, in the guard and to everyone else. 14 Many of the brethren put their trust in the Lord because of my bondage. I have come to speak the word of God more boldly without fear.
Not everyone in this world rejoices in suffering. However, all people living on this earth cannot escape the path of suffering. No one who lives on earth can escape suffering. No one can guarantee that I have no trouble. Suffering comes to everyone. Only the size and color of suffering are different.
There is no distinction between the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the good and the unbelieving, the handsome and the ugly.
Therefore, some people say that life is a series of hardships.
Job says in Job 5:7, "Life is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward."
When hardships are given to everyone, it means to overcome them.
When we suffer, if we know the meaning of suffering and deal with it well, suffering will bring us blessings. However, if we do not unconditionally avoid hardship, resist it, and take positive measures, it may lead our lives to ruin.
life of suffering
Since Adam and Eve sinned against God, human life has been a life of suffering.
Genesis 3:16-18
16 And he said to the woman, “I will greatly increase the pain of childbearing on you, and you will labor and bear children, and you will love your husband and he will rule over you.” 17 And he said to Adam, “You listen to your wife, and I tell you not to eat Cursed is the land because of you, because you have eaten from one tree, and you will eat of its fruit in toil all the days of your life. 18 The land will bring you thorns and thistles, and your food is the greens of the field.
Abraham had a difficult moment when he had to offer his beloved son Isaac to God when he was 100 years old. The agony of having to kill his beloved son with his own hands was before him.
Job, who had good faith in his day, had the hardship of losing everything in one day. We remember the sufferings of Job, the loss of children, wealth, health, friends and wife.
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, also took on a human body and suffered on the cross. The disciples of Jesus suffered like that, and Paul suffered as well.
People call our nation a nation of suffering. Therefore, suffering has made us a religious nation, and it is said that the amazing growth of Christianity is based on the suffering of this people though. In particular, the suffering of the church and the saints in the early days of Christianity, during the Japanese colonial era, and in the midst of the six or five tribulations cannot be described in words, and the Korean church was able to grow on the blood of such suffering and martyrdom.
These sufferings continue today.
Suffering comes from illness, children, material things, and disasters.
Paul's suffering
The suffering Paul refers to is, “What I have suffered has made progress in the gospel.” What happened to Paul? If we know where he is now, we can understand what happened to him.
Paul is now writing to the Philippians in a Roman prison. What he suffered was tribulation and persecution.
What, then, was Paul's suffering?
suffering by kin
It was Paul's heart to love the Jews and to save them. So, Paul said, the Jews want to come to salvation, even if they are cut off from Christ.
The Jews whom Paul loved so much and wanted to save, accuse Paul of false false evidence. Sometimes they suffered tribulation and were imprisoned because of the jealousy and persecution of the Jews, and they were stoned to death.
Suffering caused by the exercise of power
In Acts 16
In Philippi, Paul was possessed by a demon and healed a maidservant of fortune-telling, but because of that, he was put in prison and suffered tribulation.
It refers to the hardships experienced while preaching the gospel to Rome.
In fact, Paul did not want to be imprisoned in Rome. It's not because I hate being in prison, but because I can't preach the gospel if I'm in prison. He wanted to live free. This is because we can preach the gospel in the synagogue and go to the square to preach the gospel. However, Paul was imprisoned and could not preach the gospel properly for more than 5 years. As a result, the emotional hardship suffered was great.
There is also the tribulation that comes from the journey to the Roman prison.
It was not a trip, it was a long journey as a prisoner, and there were times when a ship was wrecked during the voyage and barely survived.
Paul speaks of suffering positively
However, Paul is talking about suffering in a positive way, thinking about the many hardships he had. Who is good at suffering? Perhaps it is easy to get disappointed, resentful, and stumble when you experience such hardships while doing good. But Paul viewed suffering as a positive thing and turned it into a blessing. Paul did not stumble in the midst of suffering, but immediately found the meaning of suffering.
Are there suffering among us? Suffering is the door to blessing.
I hope to become a believer who immediately realizes the meaning of suffering.
Why did Paul suffer? - for Christ
It is used in the sense of my bond (niv) for Christ in Christ. He suffered tribulation while preaching the gospel. It refers to the tribulation suffered while testifying of Jesus Christ. It refers to the tribulation that comes from living according to the will of Christ and the Word.
Stephen suffered from being beaten and killed while witnessing to Christ.
Peter suffered to bear the cross for Christ's sake.
He was imprisoned, beaten several times, one less than 40, spit on and ridiculed. All these sufferings are suffering for the sake of Christ.
It is also said that if you do not suffer for Jesus' sake, you cannot be a true Christian. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, but persecution for the sake of righteousness refers to the persecution suffered because of Jesus.
What does suffering mean to Paul?
1. The Progress of the Gospel
Paul spent more than five years in prison. Perhaps you think that if Paul had been on an evangelistic tour during that time, he would have been able to preach the gospel in more places. In fact, if you think about Paul's missionary journey, he must have done 2-3 more missionary journeys in the span of 5 years. But because Paul was in prison, he couldn't handle the task. In other words, there must have been stagnation, not progress, of the gospel because of Paul's prison life. But God led the gospel to Rome through Paul's suffering. When Paul went to Rome to preach the gospel, there must have been many enemies and tribulation. There would also have been natural disasters. How difficult would it be to go on an outreach under such circumstances? In the midst of such difficulties, Paul could have lost his strength. You could have been disappointed. God made it possible for Paul to go to Rome and preach the gospel without going through all such obstacles.
Paul was able to go to Rome, the center of the world, and preach the gospel. The gospel took root in the center of the world, and the gospel spread wonderfully from the center of the world.
Therefore, Paul sees his sufferings as progress in the gospel. In particular, the demonstrators escorting Paul were the most elite divisions in the Roman Empire's army. They all tried to be chosen by the protesters because they were paid double pay and worked under different conditions, and one of their duties included guarding prisoners waiting to be tried directly by Caesar. In the description of Paul's prison conditions, he was wearing a shackle with a Roman soldier. Therefore, it was inconceivable to run away.
Although Paul was chained as a sinner, the Roman soldiers who took turns entering him every six hours and putting on the shackle were Paul's captives. Whether they liked it or not, they had to sit next to him and listen to his sermons. We were able to preach the gospel to 120 people in a month, 4 people a day. Paul was given a special opportunity to preach the gospel to a group of special people in Rome.
As a result, the gospel was preached even to Roman dignitaries and their families. Among the Roman emperor Nero's close associates, his uncles and relatives believed in Jesus, and the history of the mother and daughter of Emperor Domitian began to believe.
Paul believed his sufferings were progress in the spread of the gospel, and by doing so, he accomplished the work of progress in the gospel. I hope that you will become saints who turn any tribulation we have today into an opportunity for the advancement of the gospel.
Please make the sickness of the body an opportunity for the progress of the gospel.
Please use the material tribulation as an opportunity for the progress of the gospel.
I hope that any hardships will become opportunities for the advancement of the gospel.
2. The work of boldly preaching the gospel arose by being stimulated by others.
Before Paul went to Rome, the gospel had already entered Rome. However, the persecution in Rome was so severe that many Christians had to abandon the gospel in order to live. The gospel had to be hidden.
In Rome, a small, dwarf and ugly Christian named Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the reason he preached Jesus, and rumors about him reached the ears of the saints in Rome. Paul's steadfast and courageous appearance and the faith that overcame his sufferings were spread to the Romans and became a great strength to them.
Those who were not courageous as Christians were encouraged to see Paul's appearance, and they were able to stand firm in their faith and preach the gospel.
The Romans saw Paul's faith first. We saw Paul's faith, believing and preaching with conviction that Jesus was the Savior, and then we saw Paul's courage. Seeing the courage and enthusiasm to preach the gospel to the end without fear of death, they were moved and had no choice but to follow.
Even in the midst of suffering, Paul set an example for others. It became courage. It became strength. made it move. It was taken for granted that Christians should suffer. Christ suffered, the servants of the Lord suffered, Stephen suffered, and Paul suffered. And today we too must suffer.
Acts 14:22 “He strengthened the hearts of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in this faith, and saying that we must go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.”
Psalm 34:19 “The afflictions of the righteous are many, but the LORD delivers them from them all.”
Hebrews 12:6 “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
What suffering am I going through?
material, honor, health, children
Please hold on to your hardships and pray.
Psalm 50:15 “Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
I hope that there will be a history of turning your sufferings into the progress of the gospel.
I hope that there will be a history of turning your suffering into the glory of God.
As you overcome hardships through faith, I hope that you will become a courage and example for others.
A believer who turns our suffering into the channel of God's work.