Living on the Edge

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Did you know that God has two amazing gifts for you?
I mean gifts that we rarely think about or even
consider as gifts. But when you think and hear, and
ponder and digest these two gifts, it absolutely changes your
perspective and gives you the power to live with joy
even in the midst of great adversity. Stay with me.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Thank you for being with us for this edition of
Living on the Edge with Shipping with Chip serves as
our Bible teacher for this global teaching and discipleship ministry
helping Christians develop an authentic faith. Today, we're wrapping up
our series I Choose Joy. For the past several programs,
we've explored God's desire for us to experience authentic joy

(00:58):
even through the most demanding and frustrating times of life.
We hope you've been encouraged by this study in Philippians
chapter one, and to help others discover that same refreshment
and strength, take a minute after this message and share
it through the Chipping grammat Okay, here's Chip with the
remainder of his talk understanding the power of expectations. He

(01:18):
picks up on the last phrase of Philippians Chapter one,
verse twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Let's dive in contending for the faith. It's about our beliefs.
It's about standing up for what we believe. It's battling,
but winsomely, lovingly, you know, not angry, but it's saying
that there's certain things that are true. What's the last word?
Don't give up? Second, don't give in. Churches all across America,

(01:47):
Bible churches all across America, whole denominations are giving in
and changing their doctrine. Well, you know, it's pretty unpopular
to believe what Jesus actually said, so we're just going
to change it on the most controversial issues of our day.
But we're not going to give up. We're not going
to give in, and we're not going to shrink back.

(02:07):
This is about being bold. Here's a question I would
ask all of you. Does everyone, in a positive, winsome
way know that you're a follower of Christ? Do they
know it? Are you bold? I don't mean wearing it
on your sleeve, you know, Please don't put a Praise
the Lord's sticker on the back of your car. It's

(02:29):
not enough to say this is the truth. That's got
to be the truth captured in love and demonstrated. Here's
my question, how are you doing when you live that
kind of life? Yeah, you'll probably have a little more pressure,
a little bit more suffering, and a lot more joy

(02:51):
and a lot more love and a lot more impact.
And God will use you as a catalyst. Would you
be willing to say, Lord, would you speak to me
about is my belief and my behavior telling the same
story and not sort of like I'm a terrible person

(03:12):
at all, but just where the Lord would show you.
And it might be your behavior, It might be your
belief you're thinking, I need to check that out, or
maybe it's your boldness and ask God to make you
an agent of life and change because the world right
is anyone concerned about what's going on other than me?

(03:35):
I mean, there's a missile could be coming our way.
There's division in this country, there's hatred like never before.
And here's the deal. You are either a part of
the solution or a part of the problem. There is
no middle ground. Hiding in our call to sacs hoping
that it won't affect us, and we just want to
unconsciously be upwardly mobile and everything work out for us

(03:58):
and our family and our little world world is not
an option, it's just an illusion. Second, what can we
expect from God? He says, for it has been granted
to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on Him, but also to suffer for him, since you're

(04:21):
going through the same struggle you saw I had and
now here that I still have. Interestingly, again, you can
circle the word granted to you. It's pretty easy. It's
in bold, it's it's literally it means God has given
you a privilege. You know the word grace, or some
of you have named your daughters, you know, chius, that's
the word grace. That's the root word. God has given

(04:42):
you a precious grace gift, and there's a privilege into it,
and there's a responsibility to it. And Paul's playing with
these Philippians and reminding them, hey, citizen right of Philip
I privileged responsibility. Now here's the grace gift. God's given
you privilege to believe you can receive eternal life. He's

(05:03):
changed your life. He's taken you out of the kingdom
of darkness, placed you in the kingdom of light, sealed
you with the spirit, giving you spiritual gifts, given you
a purpose, giving you a family of God, created a
place forever and ever looking forward, and He's going to
transform your life and make you more and more like Jesus,
so the world can see how much God loves them.
It's an amazing grace gift to believe. So why don't

(05:28):
you put a little box around believe? But he says,
there's another gift. You've been given the gift to get
to suffer. How many of you, honestly don't raise your
hands because it wouldn't mean you go. How many have
you ever thought suffering is a gift from God that's
foreign to American Christians. Suffering is a gift from God. Yes,

(05:56):
he said, He's given you a gift of suffering, and
you're going through this same struggle, this conflict, this persecution.
Some of it is from within and some of it
is from without. Paul is going to leave Timothy at Ephesus,
young pastor two, Timothy three twelve Timothy, all those who

(06:17):
desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will
be persecuted. It's a promise. What's Paul doing setting expectations?
You know, here's a young guy. I followed Jesus. I'm
now a young pastor what I'm going to do. I've
sacrificed everything. It's going to be great. Right, Well, you

(06:38):
really live for God, you'll be persecuted. Or how about Jesus,
how did he set expectations the very last night? What
did he say? Just think positive, guys, just think positive.
It's all going to be super duper. I'm going to Heaven.
I'll be back. We're going to Mojo a little bit
later together. What did he say? In the world, you'll

(06:59):
have triviua, you'll have troubles, but be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world. In fact, I just read this
morning and I thought, in light of the current events,
it was the very last time Jesus was hanging out
with his disciples, and he basically gave his sermon to

(07:20):
the Pharisees and pretty unpopular white washed tombs, snakes, vipers.
I think I underlined the word hypocrites seven or eight times.
I mean, I'm a follower of Jesus, and he just
alienated the entire establishment and all the power. Jesus was
perhaps the most politically incorrect person who's ever walked the

(07:42):
face of the earth. And in the midst of that,
you're following him, thinking whoa and he's been talking about leaving, dying,
raising from the dead, and they don't figure out what
he's saying. And then he makes this crazy statement like
you see that temple, destroy it, I'll rebuild it coming back.

(08:02):
And the disciples took him aside privately and said, when
wall this take place? And will there be a signed
ahead of time to signal your return in the end
of the world. Now just listen to this. Don't let
anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name
and saying I'm the Messiah. They'll lead many astray. Wars
will break out near and far, but don't panic. Yes

(08:22):
things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. Nations
and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other. There'll be famines, earthquakes,
and many parts of the world, But all this will
only be the beginning, or the birth pangs of the
horris to come. Then you'll be arrested and persecuted and killed.
How's this for preparing the team for the next game.
You're going to be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You know

(08:45):
what's interesting? They were but they didn't give up. They
didn't give in and they didn't shrink back. Why because
they knew it was true. They experienced God's power. They
leaned into the suffering. He said. Many of those have
turn away from me and betray me and hate each other.
Many false prophets will appear, and they'll lead many people astray.

(09:05):
Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many
will grow cold sound familiar. But those who dur endure
to the end will be saved. And the good news
about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world,
so that all the nations will hear it, and then
finally the end will come. Now I'm in no way

(09:27):
a I think Jesus is coming back tomorrow. The end's coming.
This guy's falling. But what would have to be happening
in the world to tell us that it's close. Maybe
more hurricanes, bigger earthquakes, more wars. See. I think it's

(09:50):
really interesting that we unconsciously think that some things that
have happened in the past they're going to happen, probably
someday some way, but probably not in my lifetime. Really,
Jesus this goes on to say, it will be the
same as in the day of Noah, where people were
doing business, having parties, marrying, going about their life. And

(10:11):
all I want to say is, it seems like the
birth pangs are more intense now, and we should have
an urgency at a level that we haven't had. And
we shouldn't be afraid about our job. We shouldn't be
afraid about our money. We shouldn't be afraid about our reputation,
we shouldn't be afraid. We should be bold because here's

(10:32):
the deal. At some point in time, there's going to
be things that are true and things that are untrue.
And the one thing Jesus said is there is no gray.
Anyone who's ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of
them when I come with the angels with my father.
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel. Now the
question is are we willing to take that stand.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Shippingram, and
he'll be right back to finish today's message, but quickly.
If you're eager to do a deeper study of Philippians
chapter one, check out Chip's newest book, I Choose Joy
Stick around after the teaching for all the details about
how this resource can profoundly impact your life. But for now,
here's Chip with the remainder of his talk.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Before we wrap it up. I have talked about suffering
and Peter in one Peter two twenty and twenty one.
You might jop that down. That's one you might actually
want to memorize, because when Peter writes nero is I
mean burning Christians and throwing them into the lions? And
Peter's writing to the church, and he says, if you

(11:39):
suffer for doing what's wrong, for being a kirk, for
doing evil things, what credit is that? But then he says,
but if you suffer for doing what is right, being righteous,
walking with God, making a difference, this finds favor with God.
Are you ready for this? For you have been called
to this purpose to suffer, for Christ left you an

(12:03):
example to follow. See, if we're trying to avoid suffering
all the time, you will never become the man or
a woman God designed you to be. You will never
have the relationships, and you'll never have the impact. Jesus suffered,
the Apostle suffered. Now here's the thing. Don't automatically think
every time you're suffering, that's because you're such a wonderful, committed,

(12:26):
amazing follower of Jesus. Pretend we're on a highway together
on this message and I just parked the car and
I say, there's a call to sack. We're going to
go over here just for a second. Okay, are you
ready for a quick call to sack. Here's the call
to sack. When you read scripture, there's at least six
there may be more, but I know six specific reasons
why we suffer. I'm not going to go through all

(12:49):
these in detail, but here's what I want you to do.
Maybe put a little box and then write this question.
When you're going through a difficult time, ask God, why
am I suffer free? Why is this marriage like this?
Why is this health like this? Why is the situation
at work like this? Why am I having this problem
with my son or a daughter like this? Why am

(13:09):
I so depressed right now? Okay? Just ask God? And
what I'm going to say is Biblically, there's at least
six possible reasons why you're suffering. And I've giving you
the passages so that you can do your own Bible study.
But the first one is my sin. When I am angry,
when I say things I shouldn't, when I do things

(13:30):
that are wrong, when I'm rude to people, when I'm
mean to one of my kids, when I lie, or
when I steal. And by the way I've done all
those things, there's consequences, right. Galatian six seven and eight
says sewing and reaping. You sew things and you reap them.

(13:50):
So sometimes I'm suffering because it's either stupid or evil,
and we all do stupid things, and we all do
evil things. Second is other sin forty nine to one
and Psalms David says, a friend betrayed me. Drunk driver
goes left of center, hits a car someone you love.
God didn't make him do it. He got drunk. God

(14:14):
didn't create robots. Sometimes we suffer because of other people's sins.
Third is spiritual attack. You know, you get in God's
word on a regular basis. You decide to be more bold,
I'll just warn you stuff will start happening. Job was
the most righteous man. He didn't know what was going on.
Ephesian six will describe what spiritual attack looks like and
how to defend yourself. Fourth, it's a fallen world. People

(14:39):
came to Jesus and said the tower in siloam it
fell and these people died. Hey, what's going on? And
Jesus said, do you think that those who died are
more sinful or unrighteous than others? I say no, makes it.
In other words, concrete cracks, wood rots. In a fallen world,
there's just certain things. It's a mystery. We can expect, negative, difficult,

(15:05):
whether it's not designed the way God wanted it. It's
a fallen world. Fourth is spiritual discipline. God loves you
so much. There are times the velvet Vice Hebrews twelve.
He disciplines every son, he disciplines every daughter, and he'll
get your attention in the way that makes sense to
you some of us. Apparently it must be our health.

(15:29):
I don't know anybody particular, acl back, ankle, rebuild, I
could go on some it's a relationship. But sometimes we're
asking God, take it away, take it away, take it away.
He's saying, look, I'm trying to get your attention because
I love you like we get our kids attention, so
that you can look upward and we can address this issue,

(15:50):
this arrogant issue, this pride issue, this lust issue. We
all have those things, don't we. And you have a
father who wants to help you, and then finally spiritual development.
There's times where Paul's living the life like never before,
making a huge difference in what happens. He gets this
physical ailment that keeps him dependent, so people could see

(16:11):
the power isn't Paul, but it's God. And he says,
I've learned to be content. I want to give you
a summary about suffering, and then I want us to pray.
Suffering is God's gift to accomplish his ultimate good in
a fallen world? Is that crazy? Suffering is God's gift.

(16:31):
When I suffer, it draws me near. When I suffer,
I look up. When I suffer. I have compassion for
other people. When I suffer. Life's not all about me.
When I suffer, I'm not so judgmental. When I suffer,
I'm following in the footsteps of Jesus, who suffered so
you could live and I could live. Johnny Erickson Toada,
quoting her coach, said, God permits what he hates to

(16:53):
accomplish what he loves. What a truth. Lord, You know
the suffering in this room, and you know the reasons. Lord,
You know the world situation and the desperate, desperate need
for regular, ordinary people like us to stand firm and

(17:14):
to contend and to not shrink back. And yet we
tell you that God, we can't do that, and we're
afraid and we struggle. But Lord, you have told us
that Christ in Us is the hope of glory and
that we can do all things through Jesus, who gives
us strength. I have a little moment with your heavenly
Father and ask him help me see myself right now

(17:38):
the way you do. Help me grasp how much you
love me. Help me to be a person who stands firm,
doesn't give up. Help me lean into my suffering and
discover some of the wise. Change me and then use
me to change others.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
To living on the edge. With Chip Ingram and the
message you just heard, Understanding the Power of Expectations is
from our series I Choose Joy. Chip will join us
in studio to share some insights from today's talk in
just a minute. How do people know you're a Christian?
What sets you apart and causes others to say I
want to be like them? Through Chip's study in Philippians

(18:22):
chapter one, he revealed the supernatural work of joy in
a Christian's life and why it's so intriguing to those
around us. We pray you learned how joy can affirm
your purpose, energize your expectations, and renew your hope. Let
me encourage you to go back and revisit any part
of this series at Living on the Edge dot org

(18:43):
or through the chip Ingram map. Welle joined in studio
now by Chip and Chip. You know, we've talked a
lot recently about your newest book, I Choose Joy, And
what many may not know is that this work came
out of a challenging season of life. In fact, you're
still wrestling with some of those circum stances right now.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Would you be.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Willing to open up about that with our listeners?

Speaker 1 (19:04):
Absolutely, Dave, I had really painful back issues for about
three years that led to a major surgery. They put
hardware in my back. Three years later, it broke above
it and below it was another surgery, and I was
sitting down with my wife and it was a long journey,
and I kept working and doing what God called me
to do, and I tried to be upbeat. And she

(19:27):
turned to me and she said, Chip, do you realize
how negative you've become over the last few years. At first,
I was defensive. No no, no, no, no, no, I'm not.
And she said, you've been an upbeat person most of
all of our marriage of forty plus years, and literally
you've just become negative. I heard that and I didn't
like it, but I thought about it, and Dave, I

(19:48):
have to tell you, she was one hundred percent right.
I was so convicted. And then I was scheduled to
teach Philippians one at the Billy Graham Center like two
months later, so I had to study that up and
get ready. And it was out of that study and
in my struggle was birthed I choose Joy. If you're hurting,
if you feel like you've become a bit more negative

(20:10):
or anxious, or hope is sort of drifting away, let
me encourage you. God's word is powerful, his spirit will work.
You don't have to wait. I learned you can choose
joy regardless of your circumstance. God bless you, and keep
pressing ahead.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Good Wordship. To get your copy of the new I
Choose Joy book, visit Living on the Edge dot org
or call us at triple eight three three three six
zero zero three. I'm excited for all of you to
experience the life changing power of this work again. Go
to Living on the Edge dot org or call Triple
eight three three three six zero zero three for complete

(20:50):
details about the new book. I choose joy app listeners
tap special offers. Well here again its chip to close
out our study of Philippians, chapter one.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
As we close today's program and wrap up this entire series,
we're ending on a note that's a bit unusual. I
talked about two gifts, and of course the first gift
is the gift that we can believe. But I don't
think most of us think of suffering as a gift.
And I did a little Bible study for you because
I think it's important, because I think, one, we don't

(21:21):
see suffering as a gift, and yet also there are
different causes for suffering. And the last thing I want
to do is you're suffering because someone did a horrendously
bad thing to you. And you think, oh, are you
saying that people doing bad things as a gift from God? No? No, no,
no no. But I love what Johnny ericson Toadda writes
when she says God permits what he hates to accomplish

(21:45):
what he loves. And here's what I like you to do.
I want you to lean back right now, and I
want to give you the six reasons that suffering happens
in a believer's life. And the first is is that
we sin. I do things that are wrong and I suffer,
and the responses to confess and tell God I'm sorry,
He forgives me. The second is other people sin against me,

(22:06):
and in a fallen world, that's going to happen. That's
not God's will, that's not what he wants, but it happens,
but God will use it for good. Third is spiritual attack.
You know, there's times where I'm suffering because I'm in
the midst of a real spiritual battle, and so I
need discernment to know what's going on and why am
I suffering, because I want to respond with the armor

(22:27):
of God. Fourth is in a fallen world, there are
just certain things that happen. You know, we talked about
Luke seventeen and this tower that fell, you know, wood, rots, bridges, rust,
it's a fallen world. It doesn't mean anyone did anything
bad or wrong. Fifth is spiritual discipline. There are times
that you are so loved by God that he kind

(22:49):
of brings that velvet vice of circumstance to get your attention,
to realign your life and your heart so we can
give you the best. And then finally it's just spiritual development.
There are certain aspects of becoming like Jesus that you
just can't ever experience or develop apart from suffering, and

(23:09):
so let me encourage you. This might be one where
you want to go to the website download the notes.
I've put all that information there so that you could
look at something visually, and when you're suffering, or when
someone who is hurting that you care about is suffering,
you can kind of walk through these reasons and begin
to ask the Holy Spirit Lord, I need to respond
to suffering in different ways, but I need to discern

(23:32):
why I'm suffering. God loves you, He's for you. It
is a gift to suffer for doing what is right.
Let's make sure that's why we're suffering. But we need
insight from the Lord to know how to lean into
the kind of suffering he allows in our life. Father,
I pray and I ask it in the name of

(23:52):
the Lord Jesus, that those listening to my voice at
this very moment that are going through difficult times that
you by your Spirit will give them discernment about the
cause of their suffering and their response, and ordered that
they might meet You become more and more like your
son and experience your joy even in the midst of

(24:14):
pain in Jesus name. Amen.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Amen, Thanks for that encouragementship. Hey, as we close, if
you're looking for a practical way to grow in your
relationship with God, check out the CHIP Ingram Map. You
can listen to our most recent series, sign up for
daily discipleship with Chip and more. We want to help
you deepen your faith, and the CHIP Ingram Map will
help you do just that. We'll be sure to join

(24:38):
us next time. As CHIP begins our series, I Choose
Love based in Philippians Chapter two. Until then, I'm Dave Drui.
Thanking you for listening to this edition of Living on
the Edge.