1:29
Now this isn’t a verse that is preached on much! Some prosperity preachers will go on and on about the importance of believing but not so much about suffering. Yet the New Testament says in many places (in virtually every book, in fact) that sharing in Christ’s sufferings is part of the package. In Matt 5:11,12 Jesus says we are blessed when people persecute, insult and falsely accuse us of all kinds of evil. We see this happening today if we so much as question the legitimacy of same-sex “marriage” or transgenderism. But, note what it also says in v12, “great is your reward in heaven”. We need to have a full Biblical perspective on blessing and suffering in the gospel.
Anyway, Paul is reminding the Philippians that it is part of God’s will that they suffer for Christ. Note that this is suffering for Christ, it is not suffering because we are idiots!
1:30
Paul himself was a living example of suffering for Christ, and how to triumph in the midst of it. When Paul had first visited Philippi he had been thrown into prison, along with Silas. In there they had praised the Lord and been miraculously set free. Now he was captive again, but, as he had recounted in the first part of this chapter, he was making the most of it, spreading the gospel wherever he was. The Philippians were to follow Paul’s example.
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