(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What’s the joy in adversity?
Intro:
We know from the book of Acts (ch 16) that Philippi was the first church Paul founded in Europe. He found Lydia and some Jewish women praying beside a river, and she and other
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
…women continued to have a prominent role in the Philippian church (e.g., Phil. 4:2). (Sometime later) Paul and Silas were imprisoned there for exorcising a demon from a fortune-telling slave girl, but God miraculously delivered them, and they proclaimed the gospel to the Philippian jailer. Paul likely visited the Philippians a few times after his initial departure, and they maintained active support for his ministry (4:15–16).(1)
…and in addition to commending them for their financial support of his ministry, the letter we know of as Philippians also warns them on another common Pauline theme — trying to add rule-keeping on top of the grace of the Gospel.
Passage: Philippians 1
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 30
Words: ~618
So today’s focus question — Where’s the joy in adversity? — we’ll tackle at the very end. And given the sense of joy that permeates all of Philippians, have you ever thought about how
OLD TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Passage: Esther 9:20-10:3
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 16
Words: ~525
So…all that Esther stuff under the reign Xerxes, and now it’s back to Ezra which, if you were paying attention, was during the reign of Darius…up ‘til now. But you’ll soon figure out that some time has passed, and this is later. These final chapters concern…
…Ezra’s memoirs, and it warns the restored community not to follow the sins of their fathers. Ezra, a trained scholar in the law, was commissioned by Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and teach the statutes of Jewish religious life (chaps. 7–8). Ezra initiated religious reforms that led to repentance and a covenant commitment (chaps. 9–10).(2)
Passage: Ezra 7-8:20
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 48
Words: ~1181
The bottom line:
How might we see the joy the emerges from adversity? (3) As Dr. David Jeremiah puts it…all out of the last part of Philippians 1…
Adversity…
Promotes the progress of the gospel
Provides opportunities for witness
Produces courage in fellow believers
Proves the character of friendships
Provokes personal growth and purifies our motives
Prepares us to see life and death in perspective
Now I’m guessing that, if you’re like me anyway, you didn’t hear all that in one short chapter of Philippians, so it’s probably a good exercise in growth. Paul sometimes seems like an almost impossible person to mimic, but one thing that struck me as I was prepping today is a quote by some dude I’ve never heard of…H.C.G. Moule:
Life and death look to us like two evils of which we know not which is the less. As for the apostle, they look to him like two immense blessings, of which he knows not which is the better. ~ HCG Moule (3)
One thing’s for sure…there isn’t a one of us who is perfect in attitude and perspective, so that means all of us can keep coming back to looking for the joy of hope in Jesus in every circumstance.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.
(2) David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 291.
(3) Everything here from David Jeremiah, Turning toward Joy (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2013).