Thank you, church, for your prayers while we were in California for my doctoral studies. While we were there, we received news about the recent super typhoon and the devastation it caused. We praise God that all of you are safe. My classmates also heard the news, and they were quick to check up on me and express concern. It’s hard for them to imagine the challenges we often go through with all these natural calamities in our country. What’s even more surprising for them is seeing photos online of Filipinos smiling while swimming in the flooded streets.
The USA is the world’s richest country. They have the best healthcare. They have all the money and resources. But there’s one thing that a lot of them don’t have. They don’t have joy. They are not happy.
Researchers in the West recently discovered something shocking: “Treatments for depression have improved, and their availability has markedly increased since the 1980s. Mysteriously the general population prevalence of depression has not decreased.”[1] These rich countries have all the best resources to treat depression with therapy and medication. It helps some of them. But the data shows that they are still getting more and more depressed. All the money, food, education, and medical advantages they have are not making them happy.
Why is this relevant to us Filipinos? Think about it. We often long for the blessings that our American friends enjoy. Many of us think that if we could just have more money to buy better food, better education, better healthcare, we will be happy. Americans enjoy all of those blessings. But they are not happy. If money is the key to happiness, then Americans should be the happiest people in the world. The key to happiness, then, is not money. It’s not better food. It’s not better education. It’s not better healthcare. If not, what is it? How can we be happy? How do we find reasons to rejoice in the midst of the storms and super typhoons of life?
The apostle Paul knows how to find joy in the midst of hardships. He wrote his letter to the Philippians while he was suffering in prison. And yet, what did he say at the end of Philippians 1:18? “I will continue to rejoice.” Why did Paul rejoice in his suffering? Paul rejoiced, knowing that his suffering had a purpose. We learned this last time we were together.
Paul rejoiced because God was using his predicament to magnify the glory of Christ (see Philippians 1:19-20). But some of us might be thinking, “How did this make Paul happy? Shouldn’t this have made Paul feel sad instead?”
Today, we will continue our series in the book of Philippians. And we will be focusing on verse 21. In this verse, Paul explains exactly how he finds joy despite his suffering. From this text, we will learn three tools that we need to find happiness in the midst of suffering.
Tool #1: Personal Faith.
“For to me…” (Philippians 1:21a)
Paul explains how he can have joy in his difficult predicament in verse 21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Let’s unpack this sentence. First, notice the first three words: “For to me…” Paul did not say, “For to you…” He did not say, “For to him…” He did not say, “For to her…” or “For to them….” This faith is not someone else’s faith. It is Paul’sfaith. Also, Paul did not say, “For to us…” He did not say, “For to us Apostles…” He did not say, “For to us Pastors…” He did not say, “For to us Missionaries…” He did not even say, “For to us Christians…” He uses the first person singular, “For to me.” This faith is personal. Paul did not inherit this faith from his family. He didn’t just learn this faith from his teachers. Paul didn’t believe in Christ and embrace the faith because his boss told him to. He didn’t believe in Jesus because all of his friends believed. He wasn’t peer-pressured into Christianity. This is Paul’s personal faith.
I remember watching the PBA Finals with my friends. I don’t really watch the PBA, so I wasn’t rooting for any team. But since all of my friends were Ginebra fans, I decided to support Ginebra with them. After the game ended, Ginebra won, and everyone was so happy. I wasn’t super happy because Ginebra wasn’t really my favorite team. But when I faced my friends, who were all Ginebra fans, I felt compelled to share in their excitement and pretend to be happy.
The same thing happens in church. Many of us here regularly go to church, attend Bible studies, and have fellowship with each other. We call ourselves Christians, and we even say we love Jesus. But if we test ourselves, some of us are only here because our family is here. We’re only “Christian” because all our friends are Christian. We only attend worship service because our boss, teacher, or pastor asked us to come. If that’s you, and you are here only because someone close to you wants you to be here, welcome to church! We’re glad that you’re here. It’s great that you have family and friends who love you enough to bring you here and share the good news of Christ with you. If you’re here for other people, that is a great reason to be here. But if that is the only reason why you’re here, then I’m sorry to say this. You cannot have the unshakeable joy that Paul is enjoying. The reason why Paul can find joy even in the midst of his trials is because he can say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He is not living someone else’s faith. He has his own faith. He has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
So, ask yourself: can you say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is the first tool we need if we want to have true joy in the midst of trials. We need a personal faith. If you want the fortitude to have joy even during the storms of life, you can’t just sing with the church, “Jesus is ours.” You must learn to sing by yourself, “Jesus is mine.”
But someone might ask, how do we get a personal faith? How can I make sure that my faith is not just something I’m inheriting from my parents? How can I be sure I’m not just being peer-pressured by my friends into Christianity? How can I know that my faith is personal? Pray to God every day in your prayer closet. Make it a habit to spend time with God alone every day, praying to him, and studying his word. This strategy works for two reasons: first, faith is a gift from God. It is not something we earn for ourselves or work into. We need God’s help to believe. We need the Holy Spirit to create faith in us. What’s the second reason why prayer works? There’s something that happens to us when we are all alone with God and no one else is watching. When it’s just me and God in a room or in a closet, and I am just praying to him and listening to him as I read His word, my heart is completely exposed. I have no incentive to pretend. My teacher is not watching me and grading the theology of my prayers. My parents aren’t policing me and checking whether I am confessing my sins to God properly. We can’t be alone with God and fake our piety because we have no incentive to be fake when we’re alone with God. We only have an incentive to be fake when others are watching. When we commit ourselves to come to God in prayer alone in our prayer closets, we are not just confronted by the living God, we are also confronted by ourselves. We see who we truly are. It is there that we will find out whether our faith is truly personal. The first tool we need to gain true joy is a personal faith. What’s the second tool?
Tool #2: Higher Purpose.
“…to live is Christ…” (Philippians 1:21b)
Paul wrote, “…to live is Christ…” What does Paul mean with these words, “to live is Christ”? You know the statement we often hear from people: “Food is life.” It is people’s way of saying how important and central food is in their life. Food is what gives them a purpose in life. It’s what makes them happy. It’s what sustains them during times of difficulty. It’s the reason why they wake up every morning. Other people say “Basketball is life.” Basketball is what gives them a purpose. It’s what makes them happy. It’s what sustains them during times of difficulty. It’s the reason why they wake up every morning. Have you ever pursued a romantic relationship with someone? What’s the pickup line that boys will often say? “You are my world.” Or, “You are my life.” The boy would say, “You give me purpose in life. You give me happiness and joy. You sustain me during times of difficulty. You are the reason why I wake up every morning.”
But what happens when that boy is rejected by the girl he’s pursuing? After getting rejected, he has no more world. He gets heartbroken, and now he wants to end his life because he has no reason to live anymore. What happens when the “basketball is life” person suffers an injury? He can’t play basketball anymore. No basketball, no life. What happens when the “food is life” person gets diabetes? He can’t eat his favorite foods anymore. No food, no life. This is why people get depressed and anxious when the storms of life come. When the typhoons hit our country. Businesses are affected. Houses are affected. All of these hopes and ambitions and pleasures we’ve set our hearts on are threatened. We could lose them all. We could lose the very things we have anchored our lives on. For Paul, he is not afraid of that. He has only one ambition. His heart is set on only one goal: to magnify Christ. Christ is the one giving Paul a purpose to live. Christ is the one giving Paul joy and happiness. Christ is the one sustaining Paul during his times of difficulty. Christ is the reason why Paul wakes up every morning. For Paul, “to live is Christ.” Christ is his purpose in life. And if following Christ means that he would suffer hardships and trials, then so be it. As long as he can magnify Christ in his body, he is happy. This is why Paul rejoices, even in his suffering. It’s because he has a higher purpose: Christ is his purpose. Unless we set our hearts on that same ambition, we cannot attain the true joy that Paul enjoys.
This is the second tool that we need if we want to have true joy: we need a higher purpose. We need a purpose that is greater than the pain and suffering and hardships of life. And there is no greater purpose than to live for Christ. Paul had complete joy, even in his suffering and imprisonment. Why? Because God is using his sufferings to magnify Christ; and magnifying Christ is Paul’s mission and purpose in life. Likewise, we need to do the same. If we want true joy in life, we need the highest purpose. We need to live for Jesus.
So, to have true joy as Christians, we need a personal faith in Christ and we need a higher purpose for his kingdom. What is the third tool that we need to have true joy?
Tool #3: Eternal Treasure.
“…and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21c)
The verse ends with these words: “and to die is gain.” This last word, “gain,” is very interesting. Why? Because in the New Testament, it is a word associated with false teachers (Titus 1:11; 1 Peter 5:2). False teachers offer their services in church with wrong motives. They preach Christ for selfish gain. They preach to exalt themselves and become famous preachers. They do their ministries the “gain” of fame and money.
But what about Paul? What is his “gain”? For Paul, “to die is gain.” Paul is different from the false teachers. He receives his heart’s greatest treasure, not by accumulating wealth, prosperity, security, and fame for himself in this life. He receives his heart’s greatest treasure by dying. He receives his heart’s deepest longing by giving his life away. He receives “gain” by letting go of all the treasures of this world. Why? Because when he dies, he will be with Christ. And Christ is his highest and only treasure.
Church, all the treasures that this world offers us are temporary. Is it any wonder why a lot of people are sad and disheartened when the storms of life come? It is because these are exactly the times when it becomes abundantly clear that the treasures we set our hearts on in this fallen and temporary world are fading. This is the third tool that we need to have true joy in our Christian lives: we need an eternal treasure. We need Christ in our hearts.
Some of us might think, I already have Christ in my heart. I prayed a prayer. I’ve been serving in church for a long time. Christ is already my treasure. I know that some of you are thinking this way because I think this way. I often catch myself thinking, “I’ve preached plenty of sermons about this. I already know it.” But then, when anxious thoughts colonize my mind, I am reminded how difficult it really is to lay our treasures in heaven. It’s a lot easier said than done. So, how do we do it? It takes a long time to set our minds and hearts on the eternal treasure of Christ. But that is the goal of discipleship. Discipleship takes a very long time. Let’s be patient with ourselves. We can all start by praying to God every day. Start by expressing to him that he is your heart’s highest treasure. Ask him to compel your heart to love him more and more. If we can gain these three tools: a personal faith, a higher purpose, and an eternal treasure, then we have the tools to rejoice with Paul in the joy of our salvation in Christ. Let us pray to God earnestly for these gifts.
[1] Johan Ormel, et al., “More Treatment but No Less Depression: The Treatment-Prevalence Paradox,” Clinical Psychology Review 91 (February 2022) 102111, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34959153.