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What Is the Secret of Joy in Suffering · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: If it's true that God is most glorified in us
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  Speaker 1: when we're most satisfied in Him, as we saw in
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  Speaker 1: Philippians one twenty and twenty one, then joy or satisfaction
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  Speaker 1: in Christ in God is a mandate. It's not optional,
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  Speaker 1: because if we say it doesn't matter if it's icing
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  Speaker 1: on the cake or a caboose on the train, then
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  Speaker 1: we're saying, glorifying God to the full is icing on
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  Speaker 1: the cake, which it clearly isn't, And therefore it's a mandate.
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  Speaker 1: And there are texts in Philippians that make that crystal clear.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, the easiest to see are Chapter three, verse
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  Speaker 1: one that says, rejoice in the Lord and Chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: verse four Rejoice in the Lord always. These are commands
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  Speaker 1: to us. But the text I want us to focus
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  Speaker 1: on is the text the two of them, in fact one,
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  Speaker 1: chapter two one in chapter four that describes the mandate
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  Speaker 1: for joy in the settings where it would look almost
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  Speaker 1: impossible to have it. Do all things without grumbling and questioning,
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  Speaker 1: that you may be blameless and innocent children of God
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  Speaker 1: without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
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  Speaker 1: So here's Paul telling us not to grumble. Not to
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  Speaker 1: murmur in a setting where there's crookedness and there's darkness,
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  Speaker 1: and there's evil, And you can think of a dozen
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  Speaker 1: circumstances in your life where it just feels so natural
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  Speaker 1: to complain and to murmur and to grumble. And he says,
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  Speaker 1: don't have it. What's the opposite of grumbling, Contentment, peace, joy.
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  Speaker 1: This is a reverse command to do all things with joy,
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  Speaker 1: even in the circumstances where it would most likely be
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  Speaker 1: natural to grumble. So that's the first one. The other
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  Speaker 1: one is Chapter four. Start at verse ten. I think
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  Speaker 1: where it says Paul says, I rejoiced greatly that you
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  Speaker 1: have revived your concern for me, And did you were concerned,
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  Speaker 1: but you had no opportunity. Not that I speak of
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  Speaker 1: being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation
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  Speaker 1: I am, to be content, I know how to be abased,
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  Speaker 1: and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.
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  Speaker 1: I've learned the secret. I've learned the secret of facing
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  Speaker 1: plenty in hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all
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  Speaker 1: things through Him who strengthens me. And so here he's saying,
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  Speaker 1: you can hunger, you can be abased, You can go without.
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  Speaker 1: I think he would even add, you can die content peaceful.
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  Speaker 1: So what's the key. What's the secret? I have learned
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  Speaker 1: the secret of facing plenty and hunger. So don't murmur.
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  Speaker 1: Do be content in circumstances where it looks like grumbling
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  Speaker 1: and discontent is the only thing that makes sense. So
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  Speaker 1: what's Paul's key? And I want to suggest for you
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  Speaker 1: to consider that the key, the secret that he's talking
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  Speaker 1: about is the supremacy of the sovereignty of Christ and
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  Speaker 1: the supremacy of the sweetness of Christ. Both of those
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  Speaker 1: permeate this book. Let me take you on a little
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  Speaker 1: golden thread through Philippians on the sovereignty of God in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start what chapter one, verse six. I am sure
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  Speaker 1: that he who began a good work in you will
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  Speaker 1: bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: So he's sovereign over our perseverance. If we're going to
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  Speaker 1: make it to the end, it will be he who
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  Speaker 1: causes us to make it to the end. Or Chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: verse twelve about his imprisonment. I want you to know, brothers,
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  Speaker 1: that what has happened to me has really served to
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  Speaker 1: advance the Gospel. So he's saying, my imprisonment has resulted
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  Speaker 1: in all of Caesar's household knowing that I'm in jail
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  Speaker 1: for the name of Christ. And therefore God has ruled
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  Speaker 1: in his sovereignty over my imprisonment and turned it for
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  Speaker 1: his glory and my joy. Or Chapter one, verse twenty nine.
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  Speaker 1: It has been granted to you for the sake of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: that you should not only believe in Him, but also
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  Speaker 1: suffer for his sake. So two gifts, the gift of
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  Speaker 1: faith and the gift of suffering. God is sovereign over
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  Speaker 1: when he gives faith and when he gives suffering. Or
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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, verse twenty one. We await a savior from heaven.
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  Speaker 1: We await a savior who will transform our lowly bodies
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  Speaker 1: to be like his glorious body by the power that
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  Speaker 1: enables him to subject all things to himself. So he's
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  Speaker 1: sovereign over all things absolutely. Or you come to the
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  Speaker 1: end of chapter four, verse nineteen. My God will supply
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  Speaker 1: every need of yours according to his riches in glory
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  Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus. So the supremacy of the sovereignty of
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  Speaker 1: God in Christ pervades this book, and that's an essential
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  Speaker 1: part of the secret that enables you to enjoy contentment
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  Speaker 1: in every circumstance, because you know He's in charge of
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  Speaker 1: every circumstance, and He's going to cause every circumstance to
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  Speaker 1: turn for his glory and for your good and your
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  Speaker 1: ultimate joy in the end, which only leaves this question.
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  Speaker 1: While you're watching and waiting for God in his sovereignty
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  Speaker 1: to turn everything miserable right now for good, is there
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  Speaker 1: any present consolation? Is there any present sweetness? Chapter three,
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  Speaker 1: verse eight, Philippians, Indeed, I count everything is lost because
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  Speaker 1: of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, knowing Christ right now, experiencing fellowship with
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  Speaker 1: Christ right now is more precious, more satisfying, more sweet
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  Speaker 1: than anything else. So we're not just waiting to see
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  Speaker 1: how all the circumstances are going to turn out when
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  Speaker 1: He works everything for good. We're experiencing in the moment,
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  Speaker 1: right now sweetness in Christ. And so my answer to
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  Speaker 1: the question what's the secret? What's the secret of Philippians four,
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  Speaker 1: When he says, I have learned the secret of being
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  Speaker 1: abased and hungering and going without, and I've learned the
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  Speaker 1: secret of abundance and prosperity. The secret is God's sweet sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: or God's sovereignty and the sweetness of Christ. When we
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  Speaker 1: have little and we've lost much, Christ comes and reveals
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  Speaker 1: himself as more valuable than what we've lost. And when
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  Speaker 1: we have much and we're overflowing in abundance, Christ comes
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  Speaker 1: and he shows that He is farse superior to everything
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  Speaker 1: we have. So the secret of joy in the hardest
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  Speaker 1: of times in this book is the supremacy of the
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  Speaker 1: sovereignty of Christ and the supremacy of the sweetness of Christ.