Christmas 2009 - Stand Alone Sermon (Not part of a Series)

God's Gift to the World is God's Gift to You

Tonight we're going to zoom way out and look at the Christmas story from the beginning to now – to your life today.

We're going to look at the big picture and then say, Okay what's this look like in our lives — in our hearts. So first, turn in your bible to Genesis 1:1-3. We're literally going to start from the beginning.

But before that, let’s pray…

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
From there, when you read through verse 25, God makes the sea and the land. He makes vegetation and night and day and animals.

Then finally He made us, He made men and women. And from verse 26 through the end, we see that He created this world and gave it to us. It was God's first gift to man (after our existence itself).
Genesis 1:26-30

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

This was supposed to be a perfect gift from an amazing creative and generous God.

Not only did we have a perfect world and dominion over it, we also had GOD walking with us; directly and unveiled.
But, you know the story. Genesis 3. First – the Fall.
Genesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Referring to Gen 2:16-17

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Then, when humanity deserved nothing but a swift execution for doing the one thing they were told not to do, God instead provided immediate gifts.

Now if you've read this story before, you might not see what He did as gracious, but let's take a closer look.

God could have simply wiped them out. Stopped the whole process right there. Instead we see the promise of Jesus. We see mercy in His curse.

9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

God already knows what they did and where they are, but He still continues a dialogue with His people.

10 He (the Man) answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

Now, notice this coming up. Before dealing with the Man and Woman, before any punishment is dealt out to them, God deals with Satan (above) then promises Jesus' saving work on the cross. See that here in verse 15:

15 And I will put enmity
between you (The serpent) and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he (JESUS) will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

And then, after the promise of the Messiah, God gets to the curses on humanity.

16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

We see God have mercy and not wipe out humanity. But, He shows us through the toil of work and the pain of giving life the damage that sin has done and the desperate need we need for Jesus, the one who will make all things right and wipe away the sin and the brokenness and the pain that sin ushered into the world.

God made it unmistakable how He views sin and that instills in our heart a desire for reconciliation.

We could go on and on, but we’re covering the whole Bible tonight so we’ve got to move on.

Now turn to Genesis 12:1. The Lord could have let us fade out, but He promised a redeemer. The plan is seen in the selection of a distinct people who will reflect the one true God and bring others to Him.
Genesis 12:1-3

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

We've been through this before, but it's important to remember, look why Abram – and by extension, the Nation of Israel - was chosen (Gen 12:3).

So that was it right? His people did what they were called to do and all of the nations of the Earth were blessed and drawn to Him.

No. If you don't know the story, from Abraham on, we see this cycle of sin and repentance, sin and repentance and sin and repentance.

This happens with whole generations of wickedness. But also, every “good” person in the Israelite history is marred by disobedience and sin. There's really no time to get into it now, but read through the Old Testament
- Abraham let his wife be taken into the harem of a king because he was afraid of the king. And then after being rebuked, he did it a second time with a different king.
- Moses disobeyed God out of frustration.
- King David slept with a married woman and had her husband killed.
- That’s just individuals, the people fall away from God and start worshiping everything except Him. That goes horrible, they turn back. Then, once they are comfortable, they turn on Him again.

Read it for yourself. You'll see it happen over and over and over again.

And throughout, God kept His faithfulness and we see promises of the coming Messiah.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

Ezekiel 37:24

Isaiah 7:14

We could go on with these, but let's move on to the next point.

The point, the one that I want you to be clear on, if not anything else tonight, is that God came down to be one of us.

The HOLY, MAJESTIC, COLOSSAL, ALL-MIGHTY, CREATOR and SUSTAINER of EVERYTHING — GOD came down to be one of us?!

There's no way to really get this into our minds and so we just skip over it and fail to grasp it. But we've go to try if we are to truly appreciate what an amazing gift the incarnation – the birth of Jesus was.

Holy Made Lowly:
Isaiah 6:1-4; Revelation 1:12-17; Luke 5:1-8; Luke 2:1-7

Isaiah 6:1-4

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

And what was Isaiah’s reaction to witnessing the Holiness of God?

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

Then in Revelation 1:12-17, John, the Apostle whom Jesus loved. One who walked the earth with God the son. The man who broke bread with Him. The one who took care of Mary after Jesus was crucified. When He caught a glimpse of Jesus in all of His glory,…Let’s just read it.

Revelation 1:12-17

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, 13 and among the lamp stands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

And during His earthly ministry, Jesus gave faint hints – Just hints – at His holiness and His power and even those tiny hints rocked the lives of men.

Luke 5:1-8

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5 Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

So, this is key to understanding what we celebrate each year. Our God, this Holy other; this GOD of the UNIVERSE. CREATOR OF ALL AND ALL did this — Listen:

Luke 2:1-7

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now watch these angels freak out.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

These angels had been around. They saw the story unfold. They saw what happened when other angels crossed God. They were cast down. No second chances.

But these men on Earth, on whom God’s favor rests; look at His patience with them. Look at His undying love. Look at His mercy.

And now He has counted them worthy enough to step down from His glory?! The angels can’t help but be amazed and sing out how wonderful and glorious is the Lord God Almighty.

That is what we need to get into our hearts tonight and this season and every moment of our lives. He loved us so much that He became one of us. He loved us so much that He set aside His position and took the form of an infant, born to a poor family in a back woods town.

He loved us so much that He said, I’ll do anything, I’ll give everything, for them.

And remember, Jesus wasn't just born to be a good teacher or a prophet or a good example. He is our replacement.

Born to live a sinless life and die in our place
We were gifted with Jesus as our once and for all sacrifice.
Hebrews 7:27

Christ's birth, sinless life, death, and resurrection were the gifts that changed the world for eternity.

This week, celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world – celebrate that with the world.

But also, celebrate when He was born into your heart.

Celebrate how your life was changed, like history and like the world.

Celebrate how His incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, the Holy One made to be the Lowly one – celebrate how that changed your present life and your eternity.

And listen, if He hasn't been born into your heart yet, what I'm saying there is,

If you haven't been born again into faith by the Spirit (John 3); then tonight can be your night.
John 3:3b-17

3 …Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
…5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit…
…14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

(UNPACK)
Jesus points us back to a part of the Old Testament (Numbers 21), where The people had been attacked by snakes and Moses prayed for God’s help.

God told Moses to fashion a bronze snake and set it high up on a pole. And everyone who looked to that snake would be healed.

Jesus points to that and says, that historical event pointed to what has to happen for all people to have eternal life.

Instead of the isolated case of snakebites killing us; it is our sin that kills. Our sin has earned us death and eternal separation from God.

Now, like the Israelites in the desert, we have to look to what was killing us, they looked at a snake, we must see our sin.

Throughout our life we’ve seen it in part, the devastation of storm cycles, and disease, and murder, and poverty, and addiction and betrayal.

Over and over, everywhere we look in the world around us, in the people around us and in our own hearts we’ve seen the effects of the sin that is killing us.

But, like the snake on the pole, we must look to Jesus Christ. Who took our sins on the cross. Don’t just picture Him with the crown of thorns, and the whip marks from the Roman soldiers.

Don’t just picture the nail pierced hands and feet.

When you see Him on the cross, see your sin. That sin that should have killed you — That sin that should leave us condemned to die,

Instead those sins, your sins, and mine, were placed on our Savior.

Our Savior, who took the sins of the world, yours and mine, so that because of Jesus Christ there is now NO CONDEMNATION from God to you, if you will look to that cross and see your sin and say, “Yes! Jesus was enough!”

HE is sufficient. If you never have before, than look to Him tonight and BELIEVE.

Let’s pray…

Series on Philippians #5

Should I Stay or Should I Go
Philippians 1:18b-26

Let's Pray...

Remember last week we closed on a section where Paul was telling the Philippians, that while he was in prison for the gospel, some people were preaching about Christ in order to stir up trouble for Paul.

And He didn’t take offense, right? No, he said who cares ultimately WHY they are preaching Christ, whether for good motives or bad, people are hearing about Jesus, people are being brought into the family of God.

Paul says, “It’s not about me! It’s all about the Savior. If He’s being lifted up then praise God, I’ll rejoice…”

Now, spring boarding from that teaching last week, we’ll continue in his thought starting at the end of Philippians 1:18

18b …Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

This is the word of God, let all who have ears let them hear.

Here’s the question I want you to answer for yourself, to yourself tonight: “Are you living a life that counts for something?”

While writing about Jesus in the book, The Master Plan for Evangelism, Robert Coleman points out that,

“There was nothing haphazard about His (Jesus') life – no wasted energy, not an idle word. He was on Business for God."

The Apostle Paul was correct when he told the churches to follow him as he followed Christ (I Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17).

We see here that Paul was living a life worthy of duplication. Not because he was a great man by the world’s standards. No, because he was a great man by Jesus’ standards.

He walked in humility. He walked in courage. And He submitted his life COMPLETELY to God, in order that in any way whether by his successes or his failures, Christ might be seen.

Paul wasn’t the athlete that thanks Jesus for a win, but sulks off in a corner after a loss. No, he looked for a way to bring the conversation, the attention back to Jesus no matter what his circumstances.

Jesus was on track day and night, with the mission to obey the Father, even to the point of death on a cross, for the reconciliation of the people.

Paul likewise had a one-track mind, fixed always on Christ and Him crucified. He was that guy who if he was coming toward a group, everyone knew what he was going to talk about. Every time, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

When people were going to scoff, he talked Jesus and did it without shame. When it meant possible or probable physical harm, he did it without fear. When it meant loss of freedom, Paul preached the gospel without grasping on to his personal rights.

He lived a life that he KNEW counted for something. And it emboldened him. It re-energized him and encouraged him.
His mission to proclaim the word of God anywhere to anyone at anytime shaped every word, action and thought.

So again, answer for yourself, to yourself tonight: “Are you living a life that counts for something?”

And if you are tracking with me so far, I think and the Scriptures make it clear that you can only really answer yes, if you are living for Jesus Christ.

If you are living for your money, for you status, for your trinkets, for your business, then just know that all of those things fade and disappear in time. That is not a life that counts.

If you are living for your pleasure or your comfort, then just know that pleasures of the flesh never satisfy fully or completely, you will always want more until finally nothing fills the need. A life striving after pleasure and physical comfort is not a life that counts.

If you are a soldier or a statesman, living only for your country and the principles of that country then just know that the principles change from generation to generation {unpack} and the eventuality for all nations is to disappear, being replaced with the Kingdom of God. Life for one’s nation is ultimately is not a life that counts.

And even if you are living for your kids, or your spouse or your friends, all of them will eventually die off, move away or disappoint. Living for loved ones is not a life that counts.

Instead, live for the Kingdom of God. Take that example from Paul. Live for the Lord Jesus Christ and pursue Him with EVERYTHING you have in you.

Let’s go back to the text:

18b …Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

He’s saying I’m going to rejoice, despite all that has happened to me, because I know whose side I’m on. Paul said, I side with Jesus and I KNOW I will be victorious.

Look at what Paul is depending on in order to be delivered. “that through your prayers (the Philippians prayers) and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ”
One extra point has to be made here. Paul isn’t saying that the Philippians are equal to the Spirit, he is saying that the prayers of other Christians are the means to God’s end of delivering Paul.

Let me encourage you again and again to develop a prayer life that is genuine and passionate. Pray for God’s will always and pray specifically for the people that He has placed on your heart.

This week in particular, I would encourage you to pray for the family of Deputy Bruce Sutton. And pray for the soldiers fighting across the globe. And pray without ceasing for all of those who have not yet come to Christ. Pray that they would accept Him this week.

Sometimes we write off our prayers because we don’t always see immediate results. Or, because we don’t think were worthy to be listened to.

Paul’s saying listen, God is going to do the work, but in His good pleasure He has included us in His plans. So, don’t reject Him. Get on your knees. If you can get your face on the ground and pray!

Moving on in verse 20…

20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Now we’re getting into the meat of tonight’s message. Living and Dying with Christ as our goal. Keep with me. This is key to your walk in faith.

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

I don’t read this text and imagine Paul had some monotone voice without emotion or vitality. I hear a genuine struggle here.

There’s a tension that should play a tug of war in the heart of every Christian that feels like what Paul is describing here.

Some of you might read this tonight ask, “What kind of person desires to die?” And you ask that, either because you are afraid of death, or because you still love this world too much.

Those who are afraid of death many times don’t believe that God is out there, and so they have this fear of the unknown.

Or maybe you are very sure of God, but you are afraid He won’t accept you, that you will be headed for Hell.

If you are in that camp, let me assure you, God is real if you will begin to pursue Him He WILL SHOW HIMSELF TO YOU. (Jeremiah 29:13)

And, based on your own behavior, words and choices in this life, you should be headed for Hell. Let’s get that out of the way.

But the reason we are here as a body of believers and a group of Christians; the reasons we smile and we laugh and we sing, is that we hold tight to a promise that it is not the good people that get to heaven, it is the forgiven people.

And if you are unsure whether you are forgiven, than know that you can be sure about it tonight by putting your faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to earth (what we celebrate Christmas for), He lived a sinless life and died the death of a sinner — our death, in order to pay the price for our sins.

And over and again the Bible tells us that we will be saved, we will be forgiven, if we look to the Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross and say I believe that He paid my sin debt.
If you do that, if you do that tonight, you will never need fear Hell again.

If you trust in Jesus Christ, that faith will redeem you and reconcile you with God Almighty.

We Christians that you see here were at one time enemies of God, but through Christ, we have been adopted into His family and can now truly see God as our Father.

You might listen and say, oh, he’s just trying to convert me. That’s right. That’s what I live for. That’s why I’m here. If God isn’t using me as a means to His end to save souls for the Kingdom, then I pray He might take me home tonight.

That’s what Paul is saying in this passage. Listen again:

I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Let’s move on, I said some of you might not understand someone wanting to die, not because your scared of the unknown and not because you are frightened about Hell. Some of you may not want to die because you still love this world too much.

I’ll raise my hand and admit, I find myself here WAY too often.

If that is the case, I would suggest that you (and I) have not fully grasped the beauty of the promise of God.

The promise that when we pass from this life we will shake off the burden of temptation and sin and guilt. We will shake of the shackles of these aging and disabled bodies. We will shake off the years of regret — regret for word that we wished we had said but were too late to say; and the regret of words that we said, though we wish we hadn’t.

God’s promise is that there will be no more tears or pain or sorrow for the saved, for His children.
And more than that, more than shaking of the world’s rotten baggage, we will see Christ.

That is the promise. Every good and perfect gift, every thought of beauty, every sense of joy, every deep breath of comfort and security. ALL GOOD THINGS find their source in Jesus Christ.

He’s not just your ticket out of Hell, He is the All and All. Oh! The day we finally realize this in it’s fullness is the day we our hearts will break for every wasted moment worrying about the trappings of this world.

I spent how much time thinking about my car this week? My job? My vacation? All that when I could have been thinking on the promise of what’s next?!
God forgive me! God forgive us!

Now Paul resolves his tension by resting in the sovereignty of God. He desires to be with the Lord. He desires to die and be done with prisons and beatings and attacks from inside and outside of the church. He desires the realized promise.

But, he knows that he has not been given the option yet to die. So, If God still has him taking a breath in to his lungs, Paul decides to let that breath come back out in praise. Breathing in the will of God, the will of God to breathe out the Gospel.

That is what Paul lived for. Everywhere to everyone at every chance; breathing Jesus Christ.

25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

He reminds them again, I’m not here for me, I’m here to lift you up with the word of God, the truth of salvation in Christ.

26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

If my perseverance leads you to Jesus, Paul says, “I’m living a life that matters. I’m living a life that counts.”

So family, one last time, answer for yourself, to yourself tonight: “Are you living a life that counts for something?”

Let’s pray…

Series on Philippians #4

The Unstoppable Gospel
Philippians 1:12-18

Let's Pray...

12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice…

We could go on to the end of Chapter 1 in Philippians following Paul as he puts two big points out here in the letter.

But, I tried to pack way too much in last week and I’m going to try not to make that mistake again this week.

So here’s the big idea for tonight: The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- Whether we have the right intentions or not, The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- Whether other people push back against God’s will The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- No Matter What, He’s getting the Gospel out to the nations.

So, don’t get distracted. Don’t hold to your plans to tightly. Be encouraged. And remember what matters.

v. 12 says “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel”

Don’t get distracted and don’t panic. Keep your eyes on the goal.

When you are reading this, remember the fervor of the first century church, especially in Philippi. These are the first generation, full of love for one another, devoted in koinonia for the gospel and on mission.

They understood that they were part of the kingdom mission to spread the word of God where they lived, to spread the word of God to their immediate neighbors and to spread the word of God to the ends of the earth.

They knew of the Apostle’s teaching that said that there was no longer a distinction between people groups. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

And as they are looking around and they are saying “who’s next? Who can we share with next,” they could add to the list that there is neither ordinary citizen nor palace guard.

I can imagine meetings back in their day, saying, “Well we’ve gotten the message to the vendors in the marketplaces. We’ve preached Jesus to the dockworkers in the shipyards. We’ve been heard out by the prostitutes and tax collectors downtown. But how are we ever going to get the gospel to the palace guards? They deserve the Good News too, right?

Now remember, the Roman citizens were allowed to have a lot of “gods.” But their highest allegiance was supposed to be to Caesar — They were to honor him as deity.

So the church knew it was going to be dangerous for anyone that close, as close as the guards to the emperor, to acknowledge Jesus — because truly acknowledging our Lord is to cast away all other gods and bow only to Jesus.

What were they to do? How could they get an “in?” What about persecution if they tried? They knew what they were on mission to do, but how? There were so many questions.

And it would be easy to write off this group of guards as unreachable, but God didn’t think that was true. What’s possible with God? This isn’t a trick question. That’s right, all things are possible. Everything.

So to those who thought that the gospel might stop outside the palace gates, God said, think again. God just allowed Paul to be thrown into prison.

And Paul didn’t whine about his predicament, he got to work. He said look, here’s the opportunity we’ve been looking for, Praise God!

12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Now, why do you think Paul had this kind of boldness? Because he knew what was going on, this was all prophesied long before this point in Acts 9:15 and Acts 23:11

Acts 9:15 “But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.””

Acts 23:11 “The following night (after Paul was almost killed by a mob) the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."”

In other words, God was saying Paul this is all part of the plan. Do what you’ve been told to do and God will take care of the results. (We are part of the results).

What happens when God says, "Take courage (Ryan or Andy, or Monica)! As you have testified about me in Madison, so you must also testify in inner city Detroit, or Gary, Ind., or Nigeria."

Listen, He’s calling people out all the time to leave their comfort zones in a million different ways, geographically, socially, educationally, you name it.

To a certain degree we have been called to be where we are, but where we are isn’t the finish line. What if (or when) it gets harder to follow Him? Will you keep saying, “I’m here Lord, send me”? I pray that we will.

All right, everyone breathe. Let’s get out of the future hypotheticals about where He’s sending you, and get back to historical, Paul in Philippians 1:14-:

14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

How do they find encouragement in Paul’s hardship? Well, I can’t speak for you, but the biggest fear that I have, the fear that stops me in my tracks is the fear of the unknown. The questions that stop me are, what’s going happen to my family, how are we going to pay for this, and what are people going to think?

I know you guys don’t fret over such trivial details, but that sort of thing grips me. Those are questions that I just have to set aside or plow through. Otherwise, I am completely useless.

So when Paul is imprisoned the other partners in the gospel are encouraged because they can see what can happen if they do what they are called to do.

Even a bad prognosis is better than not knowing what’s around the corner.
And here’s the other half of that, what do they see Paul doing while he’s locked up? They see him walking boldly in the mission.

Remember, what we said a few weeks back. People are watching you, and they are probably watching closer when things are going rotten than when everything’s going well. Be faithful and don’t hinder the gospel.

Paul’s keeping a level head. And as we read on, we see that Paul isn’t just dealing with house arrest. That’s not the only bee in his bonnet.

He has to deal with church folk too. Sometimes, that’s going to be difficult. Will you hold on when other people in the church drive you crazy? Let’s see what Paul’s is dealing with.

14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

No problem there, that’s an encouragement, but…

15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

Paul points us to a disturbing truth. We can’t just skip over it. Paul isn’t complaining about heretics who are spreading false doctrine around.

There are several places in his other letters where we see that he has had to deal with that, he’s had to confront what were called Judaizers, who wanted to add a lot of the Jewish laws on top of the grace of God for people to get saved, or better termed, Justified.

They came behind him and said, that Jesus was great — sure — but there was more to it, They said, you still have to follow the old Laws. Including circumcision.

To that sort of teaching, Paul warned, if anyone is preaching a gospel other than what you have heard, let those people be accursed! (Galatians 1:8-9)

But back to the Rivals that Paul talks about in Philippians: These insincere people are not preaching heresies. They are preaching the Gospel.

He’s not attacking their message, he’s pointing out their heart. You may have heard it said that God can make a straight line with a crooked stick. Jesus said it like this,

On the day of His return, on the Day of Judgment, many people will say Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and He will say, I never knew you.

If you are in a position of leadership in the church and you proclaim the word of God, or even if you are out there in the field leading others to Jesus, make sure that your heart is right in the process.

There have been dynamic and influential pastors that have been very effective for the Lord, but they operated out of vanity, or because their family thought they ought to, or to make money, or whatever other reason.

Paul’s dealing with people who are teaching orthodox doctrine and are seeing people get saved, but the teachers themselves are not Christ centered.

We can take that as a sobering warning. You and I need to make sure we aren’t serving in the church because we want the glory.

Because you may bring people to the Lord, you may be gifted and able, but if it doesn’t all spring out of a loving, thankful obedience at the heart level, then check yourself.

We’re not getting to heaven based on bringing others to Christ. It’s all about leaning on Jesus and Him alone, agreed?

But in Paul’s eyes, he may inwardly grieve for the rivals, but in the grand scheme of things he says, “Either way, whether they are sincere or not, as long as they are pushing the Gospel,

18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will
continue to rejoice…

Paul says, keep on track. What we are doing in our individual calling may go against the grain of our family, of our culture; we may even be going against the grain of our own understanding

But, Paul says, the current that we are casting our boat into isn’t the current of this world; it is the current of the gospel, a gospel tide.

And the gospel current will Not Be Stopped. So you can fight against this. You can push against God’s unstoppable trajectory, or you can pick up your feet and go along for the ride.

Now remember, this flow of the Gospel is going to crash into worldly strongholds again and again.

Some are going to be broken by the current in a great and immediate smash; others are going to take time to erode, depending on the will of God.

When you hit those strongholds, it will mean that you will face persecution, it means you will need to have awkward conversations, it means you will be called close-minded and naive, you may go to jail.

But Paul says the Gospel won’t be stopped, so stick with the winning team, don’t give up the faith, stay true to God.

Now, I want to move into the next section, but there’s no time, so we’re going to close this here tonight.

Before we leave, I would encourage you to rejoice. I think there are so many times when our mission can seem daunting. There are times when we might wonder about our effectiveness, or wonder if we are doing the right thing.

A lot of that comes from our culture that likes to promote the quick success stories. We all want that immediate gratification and we want it with as little pain as possible.

Paul would tell us in this letter. Hold on. Persevere. No matter what it looks like from your vantage point, look at it through Spirit lenses.

And if you are discouraged or you have been discouraged, know that you are not alone. It’s not unheard of to have doubts or frustration. In 1 Kings we see that the mighty prophet Elijah had dealt with this too.

He had just beaten a slew of false prophets in an Old Testament type of cage match. And still he ran away and hid in a cave. So God had to find him and remind him of who’s side he was on.

1 Kings 19:13b-18
Then a voice (God) said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
Have you ever felt like that? God, I’m doing what you led me to do? But I feel all alone.
Maybe you feel like the only Christian at work, Maybe you feel alone in a relationship because there is a faith divide growing between you and your spouse, or siblings or parents or children as you grow closer to God.
Be honest with God if that’s where you are.
But, don’t forget, you’re moving with the current of the gospel that won’t be stopped.
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.
God gives the prophet a list of instructions and then ends with an encouragement.
18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

Your not alone Elijah, I’ve got 7,000. My plan won’t be stopped by the rabble. Be encouraged. Be encouraged.

And finally, if we look at Acts 18:9-11, we see that even Paul, the Apostle who wrote to encourage the Philippians, had to be encouraged once in a while.

Ministry can be a lonely calling and the results are far from predictable. In Acts 9, Paul is in Corinth and he’s had a hard time with the Jews and has only seen limited success in conversions so:
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
(Unpack)

Brothers and sisters, partners in the Gospel, Do not be afraid or discouraged. Know that God is with you. Know that He has many people in this city. Keep on speaking whether free or in chains so that the Gospel might continue to spread.

Let’s pray…

Series on Philippians #3

Koinonia: A God Centered Partnership
Philippians 1:3-11

Let's Pray...
When I talk about the church, I like to use the word family a lot. And if we are honest, family may not always fit.

There are a lot of times when the term “family” is a romanticized or idealized notion of what we one day hope to see in the church, not what it is now.

What the Bible teaches though, and what I've been learning this week, is that there is a deeper and more robust definition that we need to give to describe the church (people not building).

We are not only to think of ourselves in the church as a family.

This is why; as you might know from recent Thanksgiving gatherings, a family may be connected by blood and shared experiences — a shared past.

But aside from that, we as families, as blood relatives, can be about the most scattered bunch of people around when it comes to terms of direction.

We’re a family yes, there’s something of a connection there, but as individuals we’re going in a million different ways.

That's why I love a word that Paul uses in tonight's passage. The word is partnership.

You see, partners are MUCH different than family members.

Partners are two or more people who, regardless of who they were, and regardless what they've done in the past, and regardless what their affiliations might be in any other area,

They have a common goal and that is what brings them together and that is what binds them.

Some partnerships are short term. Politicians make temporary alliances to pass a piece of legislation that they both believe in.

Countries partner with one another to overcome a common foe.

Others partner for a longer period. Parents partner with schools to educate their children.

Workers in a factory partner together with management, to produce a product quickly and efficiently and with the highest possible quality.
And we, As Christians, are in the longest-term partnership. Take a look around, we are in partnership to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout our lives. And we’re in partnership to worship God eternally. The people you see here are going to be with you forever.

Before we get to Paul's teaching, lets see what Jesus had to say on the matter of the church as partners — unified for a common purpose.

In John 17:20-24, Jesus offers this prayer up to the Father for His disciples and all believers that have come through their ministry.

If you are a believer tonight, this prayer – From Jesus – is for you. Listen to part of Jesus' prayer. We’ll read it then go back and unpack it:

John 17:20-23
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

20 "My prayer is not for them (the disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message (That's us and everyone who comes to Christ through us),

21 that all of them may be one (This is the big Idea for tonight. He, Jesus, desires that we might all be one. We're going to look at how Paul sees that unity and let's keep reading here to find out why we should be unified),

Again...
21 that all of them may be one Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity (And again He tells us why. See the pattern here.)
to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

To Jesus, we are to be a unified body, a unified family – A Unified Partnership – and not for ourselves only, but to further the Kingdom, to show more people the unfathomable, undeniable, unexplainable Love of God.

Do we get a benefit? Absolutely, we do. But that is a byproduct of our faithfulness; Faithfulness first to Christ and then to one another.

The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:7-11 does what Paul does tonight in Philippians, he ties the love of God to the way in which we serve in the partnership for the gospel:

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

So, Peter is saying our speech, our service our everything is focused individually and focused corporately — in our partnership — on the common goal of pointing each other back to God and pointing the lost to God for their salvation all for the Glory of God.

Now, if we're all tracking on the idea of partnering for the Gospel. Let's read on in Philippians 1:3-11:
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Let’s unpack this:
3 I thank my God every time I remember you
(Unpack) Church is always {or at least often} on Paul’s mind.
It’s interesting that he always remembers fondly, or thanks God every time he remembers them. (he can't have forgotten the bad treatment he got on his first visit, but he focuses on the results of the suffering).

4 In all my prayers for all of you...
(Unpack) Church is always {or at least often} in his prayers. We're going to get to specifics of those prayers in a moment, but let's continue.

(in all my prayers for all of you) ...I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership
(Unpack) Here's the word, “koinonia” again, he sees this group of believers not only as brothers and sisters but partners. Koinonia can also be translated as having fellowship with one another, communion with one another, contribution to one another...

But what are they partners in? What are we partners in with all Christ followers everywhere? What kind of partnership brings this kind of joy?

v. 5 says a partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
(Unpack) Gospel community is key from the beginning of our faith walk.

As soon as we come into a relationship with Christ, we should also be making connections with Christians. This is something that needs to be on your priority list if you are a new Christian, but the weight is on those of us who have been in the faith for some time.

But, we can't give what we don't have. Koinonia is not a tack on, it is not an extra piece. It's not a negotiable. It is a key to the life of a Christ follower.

And again, it isn’t just a partnership — it’s a partnership IN THE GOSPEL.

The Gospel, isn’t just the facts of God’s creation, man’s fall, and the reconciliation of man to God through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Jesus taught that the Scriptures also include us.

In Luke 24:46-47 Jesus is talking to His crew after the resurrection and before He ascended back up to Heaven and:
46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

That’s usually where we think the Gospel stops, but Jesus goes on and ties the believers, the disciples, the Christ followers of His time and all of us that have come to Him since then and he says in verse
47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Why are we in partnership? For the Gospel. Does that mean we preach the death, burial and resurrection of our savior? Yes. Church planter Ed Stetzer says the bloody cross and the empty tomb are essential.

And according to Jesus, we are also in partnership to preach Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins to all nations.

Paul got that, and the Philippians got it too. And this caused great joy in Paul’s heart and prompted him to keep praying for the church.

Now, moving on to v. 6, we see that as we preach the Gospel, including repentance and the forgiveness of sins, we are just helping the lost, we are building up one another and ourselves through our own repetitive hearing of the gospel.

6 being confident of this, that he (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus

(Unpack) Why a community of faith? Why a partnership in the Gospel? So that others might see and be confident of the movement of Jesus in your life.

The church family – the church partners — can rejoice with one another when we see growth in each other. And we can call each other out when we see a need for repentance.

We are here to train, equip, encourage, and sometimes rebuke one another for the good of the church, which then improves our effectiveness in the work of evangelism outside these gatherings, when our boots hit the ground on the streets, in the workplaces, in the family settings — anywhere there are lost people in need of directions to Christ.

And as an side benefit, for the good of our individual standing.

Without one another it's not going to work out.
Without one another we will not be as effective as we could be together.

We just talked this weekend in mens group about the need to be partnered; that a rope of three cords is not as easily broken as one can be.

Jesus didn’t send His disciples out on mission alone right? No! Two by two as partners on a specific mission — as partners in a common goal — to spread the message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, through Christ. (Mark 6).

Another point to see here that is equally important is that Paul is thankful, not only for the partnership with the Philippian church, but also for the evidence of God in them. Read v. 6 again:

6 being confident of this, that he (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus

It all goes back to God. Always.

Also, Paul points us to the fact that we don't stay optimistic in this life — in this world — because of ourselves, or one another, or in the predictability of the world around us.

Instead we depend on God to finish what He started: Psalm 138:8
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands

Moving on.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains
(Unpack) By mentioning chains, Paul points back to the founding of the church and his present condition when he wrote this letter. He’s writing to Philippi from another prison.
This was not usually something to be proud of back then any more than it is now. To be imprisoned was disgraceful.
Yet Paul looked to imprisonment as another chance to proclaim the Gospel.

In a more modern context, this is a way in which people have taken a cue from Paul's example to fight for their social or political or environmental causes. The best example on our soil is arguably Martin Luther King Jr. What do these guys do? They partner for a cause.

And listen, we are not the church of “this cause” or “that cause” except for the cause of Christ. But if you feel called into social action, we do encourage it, so long as it DOSEN'T HINDER THE GOSPEL.

But the point of this text is that, more important than any persecution for social causes, we must always be mindful of the cost to freedom, to reputation, to health and to actual lives that the Gospel can bring.

We live in a free country. We can hold on to our freedom, but the question you must ask is, what if the freedom was gone and things got very hard for Christians here in America as it is in India or Indonesia or China? Would you be willing to suffer for your faith, if it came to that?

Make a note on your hand to go and read Hebrews chapter 11 when you get home. After you read it, ask yourself, “Am I willing to go to ANY LENGTH for the cause of Christ?”
One reason that I believe the Gospel is true, is because of the willingness of the early church to be persecuted and even to die en masse for what they saw.
Paul will delve more into his current circumstance of imprisonment in a few more verses. We won't get there tonight.

Back to the text he says:
v. 7 for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me
(Unpack) As Christians, especially as a church sharing in koinonia, in partnership, we act as one body.

We are all interconnected in our joys and triumphs and our suffering – through our fellowship in Christ.

When one Christian or church triumphs, we all celebrate. When one Christian or church is hurt or struggling, we all feel it AND WE COME TO PROVIDE AID.

8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus
(Unpack) This will sound a little weird to us today, but “the affection of Christ Jesus” has also been translated, I long for you “in the bowels of Christ Jesus” – That was an old time way of talking about the innermost point of the soul or spirit where our most honest feelings are found.

My question to you is this: Do you feel this way, this deep – core level attachment to other Christians? Remember what the love of Jesus looked like. Selfless, sacrificial. Look to the cross. Do you love your partners in the Gospel that much?
I'm not talking about liking them. There are some Christians who are obviously more taxing on our patience and who need a lot more grace than others.

But, do you love them? Can you get past personalities and get back to the root principles — to the core Christian virtue of Love?

This leads us into Paul's prayer. Remember, he talked earlier about always praying for the Philippian church. Now he's going to spell that out.

As we read, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Those of us who work for the church in the grass are associated with other churches in the area. I would encourage you to weave this prayer language into your prayers for the churches you’re involved with, that you partner with that you are in koinonia with.

Another note: let them know about the prayers. It can be so encouraging to know that we are being lifted up in prayer each day by our partners.

And finally, please pray. We talk about prayer a lot in church, but make sure you are actually doing it, all right. So many times you might mean to pray, then you forget who you said you would pray for.

Or it seems like you don’t have time or whatever, I know. But, please make the time, and develop prayer — prayer for others — as a discipline.

Maybe it means putting a sticky note in your Bible for people who are always to be covered in prayer and a separate note for particular prayers that a person or church needs for a shorter window of time.

But don't just pray in thanks for your stuff and in petitions for what you need. Pray for those God has blessed you to be around, Amen?

Now, to Paul's prayer for the Philippians:

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

As Paul prayed for the Philippians, this is my prayer for you all tonight. And Please pray these things for me:
I pray that your love may abound more and more: I pray that you never stop growing.

I pray that you never get complacent and satisfied with where you are in your faith, but that you continue to desire growth in you walk with God.

I pray that you never stop pushing into a deeper amount of love and quality of love that you share with one another.

I pray that you never stop focusing all of that love back toward God as well.
I pray that you will let Jesus be your example as you grow — More selfless — More compassionate — More patient — More devoted to the will of the Father.

And I pray that the love might continue to grow in knowledge and depth of insight. In other words, don't neglect studying the Word. Don't neglect the Doctrines of our faith.
Focus your heart by studying what God has revealed in Scriptures about Himself, and this life, and eternity. And study with your head, and heart. Doctrine is not an ugly word.

Who is God? What Is Sin? Who are we as mankind? What ALL was accomplished on the cross?

Study doctrine, read the theologians and study the books of the Bible.

There are free online tools available now to help you dig into the original languages of the Bible and learn for yourself.

Dig in. But dig in, not so your head is more full of God stuff, not so you can talk theology with seminary students, not so you can be proud of yourself.

No, do it so that love might continue to grow in knowledge and depth of insight.

I pray that as you grow in Love, it will allow you to discern what is best in this life — what is best in every choice you make, and word you speak, and action you take — so that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

In other words, I pray that you would not get thrown of course from the race you are running.

I pray that in love and in partnership you might know where best to take the next step in your faith walk.

I pray that as sins are revealed in your life, that you might continue to walk a lifestyle of repentance.

I pray that your growth would be an encouragement and a reminder of why we turn away from what is past and we turn toward Christ in repentance.

I pray that you might walk blameless and pure until the day of Christ, so that by your example. The example of a life lived in gratitude for the saving work of Christ, you and I, we in the church, we as partners in the gospel, might lead others to Christ before he returns.

Let's pray...

Series on Philippians #2

Christ Centered From the Start
Philippians 1:1-2

This is the second message in a series from the book of Philippians. It started last week in Acts 16, where Luke wrote about the founding of the Philippian church by Paul and Silas.

Tonight we begin to delve into the actual letter to the church. It is four chapters and it is incredible. I am praying that as we go through this letter over the next several weeks, that it we will each allow the Letter of Philippians to pour into us.

And, God willing and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray that this letter would be an encourager to the faithful and a divine prompt to those of you who still might be on the fence in your walk with God.

Let's pray...

Philippians 1:1-2
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I title most of the sermons in my head, just to keep the big idea in mind while I preach. The title of this message, from this text would be “Christ Centered From the Start”, or “Christ, Christ, God and Christ”

If you noticed, I only read two verses.
But this is important, look how many times Paul goes back to Jesus. Three times in two verses.

That's either mindless redundancy, or vital and necessary reminders to himself, to the church in Philippi and to us today, some 2,000 years later.

Let’s unpack this. In this text we see that:
I. Christ Jesus is whom we serve
II. Christ Jesus is our identity and
III. God the Father and Jesus Christ are our source of grace and peace.

This isn’t just rattling off words for Paul, he’s not just filling space. Each of these mentions of our Lord is VITAL to where we are going in the book of Philippians and where we are going in our faith walk with God.

In these three verses, Paul tells the church in Philippi, don’t try to “get” any of this if you don’t “get” Jesus Christ. It won’t work.

Jesus has to be central. Jesus has to be the filter through which we see. It is Christ, Christ, God and Christ!

We are only tackling these two verses tonight because they are a foundation that we would be fools not to build upon.

I would ask you, Is He your foundation? When you come to the Scriptures to learn, when you come to the Bible to be encouraged, are you first coming to Jesus?

Above all else are you praying, “Holy Spirit, show me Jesus in these verses”?

And this isn’t just important here in Philippians 1:1-2, it is key to ALL SCRIPTURES!

In John 5:39-40, Jesus tells the religious leaders:
39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

If we study God’s word together each week and all you come away with is more head knowledge about doctrine and no deeper, more passionate love for Jesus, than there is a disconnect.

Don’t just search the Scriptures for head knowledge. Don’t read the Bible like you are in a race.
Read it — all of it. Yes! Do not neglect the Word. But, read to come into a closer relationship with Jesus — to have LIFE. Let it bring you closer to Him, or you miss EVERYTHING!

In another of his letters, in Romans 11:36, Paul writes:
36 For from him (Jesus) and through him (Jesus) and to him (Jesus) are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

It is all from Jesus, through Jesus and back to Jesus. EVERYTHING. Most importantly, He is our hope for salvation and the resurrection from the dead.

Listen to Acts 4:12 where Peter answers persecutors during an interrogation by the Jewish leaders.
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Now, back to Our Passage in Philippians 1:1-2:
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have your own Bible with you I would underline "servants of Christ...saints in Christ...grace and peace...from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"

Now, Let’s break this down.
Christ Jesus is whom we serve (v. 1a) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus

Paul often wrote in a way that reiterated, restated his position as an Apostle called by Jesus because there were naysayers in most churches that he wrote to.

They would come along after he left to plant churches in other cities and these naysayers would try to twist the Gospel and they would undermine Paul’s authority. But Paul didn’t see a need to remind the people of Philippi. They didn’t have the same problems that many churches did.

So what does Paul do instead? He reminds them that, even though there are leaders who are called to guide a church, we are all ultimately standing on level ground, humbly serving Christ.

I am a preacher here, but I preach to serve Christ. And listen if your service to Christ ends at the church door, or the church parking lot, you don’t get this concept yet. I pray that you would get it tonight.

We, as Christ followers, as His servants are to do EVERYTHING as onto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24)

So then the question comes up, how do we serve Him? First, by knowing Him, by knowing Him intimately. We don’t serve Him by working for ourselves, as though our security depends on us, or our efforts.

If you are working and striving and living day-to-day to simply find food for your bellies, if that is your concern: “Where am I going to find my next meal; How am I going to pay the rent: How’s my son going to get into college; And, how am I going to pay for it?

If those are the thoughts that own your waking hours, you are going to serve yourself, not Jesus.

You are going to serve yourself in your physical labor, in your emotional and mental occupation. It will be worry and struggle and doubt and fear and resentment and it will lead to a death by a thousand cuts to your soul. So instead please serve Him by knowing Him and trusting Him!

If you know Him, if you believe Jesus when He tells you and I to seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and everything else will be added onto you (Matthew 6:33).

And if you believe Jesus when He reminds us that God takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field and He will surely care more for you because He loves you infinitely more than birds and flowers.

If you know Christ in that way, in a way of trust and surrender to His PERFECT will for your life, than you can begin working, doing EVERYTHING for Him

And why will you do it? To glorify His name to be an example of Christ, a servant of Christ in every situation and every environment that He places you into. But you have to KNOW Him first. The work before any other work is belief.

John 6:25-29 says:
25 When they (the crowd) found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Now if you have struggles here, if you are like me and you still panic sometimes when you add up your paycheck and your pile of bills, if you still keep trying to fend for yourself instead of trusting God, than first and foremost you and I need to know Him.

Know Him as the Bread of Life, the one who satisfies and sustains us. We are to get to know Him, through His word, through prayer and meditation, through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives and through dialogue and study with other believers.

And listen; if you haven’t trusted Him with the things that worry you, the things that make you anxious, the concerns that keep you up at night, then you probably don’t believe that He can help you there.

You say to yourself — maybe not in these words — but you say, “Jesus, I trust you with my salvation, I trust you with my eternal soul. But stand back and give me some space because I need to take care of this on my own.

If that’s where you are, I understand, but we need to get past that, otherwise we cannot truly be His servants. What did Jesus tell us in the Sermon on the Mount? You cannot serve two masters. For you it may not be God and Money, for you it may be God and worry.

If we don’t TRUST Jesus, we will never truly Serve Jesus. Moving On…

Christ Jesus is our identity.
(v.1b) To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Now this is easier to understand if you were here last week or if you are familiar with Acts 16. That’s where we see Jesus transforming the lives of an aristocratic, independent woman; a demon possessed woman who is having her fortunetelling skills prostituted out by her slave master; and a blue-collar worker who runs the Philippian jail.

You see before we come into a real and thriving relationship with Jesus, we are defined by our economic status — rich or poor; or by our moral choices — good our bad; or by our job — workers or supervisors, retired or unemployed.

We are defined by where we are from Indiana or Kentucky, downtown or the hilltop, America or Mexico…

We are defined by our political affiliation, by our age, by our race, by our gender, by our family, by our favorite sports team, or NASCAR driver, or what high school we graduated from, or what college we went to, or what kind of music we listen to…And the list goes on.
The point Paul makes here is that regardless of who the believers in Philippi were, they are now saints in Christ. And that is true for us.

No matter how you used to define yourself or identify yourself and no matter how other people tried to categorize you or label you, the only label that fits now is a saint in Christ.

Paul reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

We see this again and again in the Gospels. Fisherman, tax collectors, activists, prostitutes, centurions, and even the occasional religious leader — all TRANSFORMED by Christ!

Dead man, dead boy and dead girl, all restored to life — all TRANSFORMED by Christ!

And just look at Paul, the founder of the Philippian church, writer of a majority of the New Testament. He used to be a persecutor, a religious terrorist bent on crushing The Way. But what happened, He had a powerful encounter with the Resurrected Christ, and Jesus changed his life, changed his identity and set the framework for his future.

And it didn’t stop there. The Roman Empire, at one time hostile toward Christians — they crucified our Lord, Nero burnt Christians at the steak as human candles in his gardens.

But within a few centuries, this small band of Christ followers transformed the identity of Rome. And from there God has continued to TRANSFORM the world through powerful, undeniable, unstoppable Christ encounters, Praise God!

And is doesn’t happen — in most instances — in mass conversions does it? He is still capturing us one heart at a time. He got me. He transformed me. How about you? Has he gotten to you?

If so, if you are in Christ, don’t let the world, or your friends or your family or you, yourself define who you are or identify you with anything from your past or anything so trivial as your nationality, political affiliation or employment.

No, from the time of regeneration, from the time you said yes to Jesus and put all of your trust for salvation in Christ and His work on the cross, you took on the new identity. You are a saint in Christ! Amen?

And if you aren’t there yet, if you haven’t turned to Jesus, if you are not in Christ this can be the night that defines your eternity. What commonly divides all of history? By the distinction of B.C. and A.D. History is divided by history’s own Jesus encounter.

Your history, your life can be divided tonight, everything leading up to this point all of the futility and the self-induced suffering, and the attempts at a “better life” that have fallen short again and again. All of that can be your B.C. and tonight can start your A.D.

If you are ready for that, ready to accept Christ, then please don’t leave here before you see me or Andy, or Ryan or Monica, we can talk with you pray with you and celebrate with you. That’s is our greatest joy, Amen!

Now to the last point that Paul leads us to:
God the Father and Jesus Christ are our source of grace and peace.
(v.2) Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, the tragedy if ever a Thanksgiving would pass without our gratitude being expressed for the gifts of grace and peace given by God.

But why show gratitude only once in a while, why only on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter? Why do we lose sight of this, even for a day? Why do we take this for granted?

Do we realize what an incredible and undeserved gift His grace is? Preach this gospel to yourself everyday:

That God created the heavens and the Earth and

He created a people in His own image to live and enjoy the creation AND THE CREATOR.

And His people turned against Him, and

Even though He promised death for disobedience, He instead covered their sins with the blood of an animal and promised the eventual coming of a Savior who would fix what His people broke through Sin. (That’s Grace, the gift from God) and

The Gospel continues: We see the fulfillment of His promise in Christ Jesus who, as Paul writes later in Philippians (2:6-8):
6 …Being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Why? For us. God sent His Son, so that by His grace, we might be given the faith to believe in Jesus as the one who took our sins — ALL of our sins — with Him to the cross and gave us His righteousness, His purity in return.

That’s reconciliation. The gift of grace is from God the Father. He makes it possible that you and I can believe. And then the gift of Peace, peace with God, peace in our own skin, peace in our own minds, peace in our families — or at least in the family of God — is possible by the blood of Jesus. Thanks be to God, FOREVER!

In closing, let me ask you three questions. You don’t have to raise your hand and answer aloud. You don’t even need to answer me directly.

But dwell on these questions this evening. On your way home, while you settle down. Maybe you will just keep the noise off and stop yourself from yielding to the distractions of Facebook, or the television or a book, or the concerns of tomorrow or anything else. I pray that you would answer these questions in your own life. It’s between you and the Holy Spirit.

Here are the questions.
1. Are you serving Christ in this stage of your life?
Not, have you served Christ; not, do you intend to serve Him someday. No, are you serving Christ?

2. Do you see yourself as a saint in Christ? That is, how do you identify yourself? Is it by what you do, or the color of your skin or your position in the family unit, or your role in the community, or is it as a new creation — a part of a separate race, a separate people — as part of the family of people from every tribe and tongue and nation in Christ?

3. Last question. When was the last time you thanked God for His grace and peace to you for the saving work of Christ on the cross and the grace filled gift of peace that God has put into your heart?

Don’t just fly through these questions. Don’t put them off till tomorrow. If we don’t serve Christ, find our identity in Christ and preach the gospel to ourselves over and again so that we never lose sight of the gratitude that fills us to overflowing, than we will quickly be adrift, in the aimless wanderings of this world.

Let’s pray…

Series on Philippians #1

Introduction from Acts
Acts 16:9-34

Let’s pray…
Tonight we will begin a study of the book of Philippians. This series will likely take us into the New Year, with obvious brakes for holiday messages and stand alone sermons that might come up.

Otherwise we are going to delve into one of my favorite books in the New Testament, and the entire Bible for that matter.

Philippians is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi. Out of all of the letters to churches, this is the most encouraging. In fact, this is the one letter where we don’t see Paul having to correct the church or an individual on some errant behavior or teaching.

It is praise, and prayer, and gratitude, and warnings to stay on guard, and admonitions to stay on mission.

So, let’s dig in now to our study of Philippians by turning to Acts 16.
In Acts we see the formation of the church, the first recorded conversions of believers in Philippi. And I think that we should find out what we can about the church’s beginnings so that we can learn all that God would tell us about this place.

So we’re going to go through more text than usual and I’m just going to freeze frame along the way to point out some vital nuggets — some take aways — for us tonight.

And remember, this is a teaching time, but it’s not just some academic exercise. I don’t harp on you to take notes because I much rather make sure that this stuff is sinking in, into your hearts, amen.

There’s not a pop-quiz after the message. Instead I’ve been praying that the Holy Spirit will use these next few minutes to cause life change — heart change — right where you are.

If you’ve had something in your head about the faith that wasn’t true, I pray that those strongholds and misconceptions would be broken down and you might see the amazing beauty of God in these verses.

And just for a hint, the big ideas from this are first, the all-encompassing love of the Father, He doesn’t care where you came from, only where you are going.

We’re going to see three people with strong God encounters, one’s a rich lady, one’s a possessed woman and the other is a common blue-collar type guy.

And secondly, the sovereignty of God; how He can use what seems to us like a hardship or a trial to advance His Kingdom and His plan of restoration in the world.

So let’s dig in. And we’ll read and unpack as we go.
Acts 16:9-34 (New International Version)

Now before verse 9, we see Paul and Silas trying to reach into other areas to do mission work, but they keep getting pushed back on, there is something keeping them from moving on their planned route.

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Unpack: When God says, GO. We go, Amen? We don’t argue. We don’t weigh out all the pros and cons, no! IF YOU'VE CONCLUDED THAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU to a task, Do IT!

That’s how this church in Philippi was to begin. And listen; if it is not of God, He will set you straight. But if you feel a compelling from God and the call doesn’t violate what Scripture teaches, Go For IT.

We don’t have enough Christians living out bold, dangerous faith. We’ve made faith so safe, so pedestrian, so sensible that it has become anemic, and impotent.

Go! What are you waiting for? Moving on…

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.
Okay, now we’re going to meet the first of a handful of people that are key in the history of the Philippian church.

14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

Now, when we look here at Lydia we find a foreigner who by all accounts is wealthy (Purple cloth) and independent (her household, not a man’s household), both of which in their time, were not very common.

The next thing that we see is that she was a worshiper of God. Some say this means that she was a God-fearer, which was the distinction of non-Jews who believed what the Jews taught about the one true God.

I’m not sure that this holds water, because there is no mention of Jews living in Philippi at the time. In other towns, Paul always began his ministry in the synagogue.
He didn’t find one in Philippi, so he found where people were worshiping, here at the river.

It is possible they were god-fearers, just as likely though, is that Lydia was to a point in her life where she had come to realize that there was a god, but she didn’t know who He was yet.

We see this in Romans 1:18-20, where Paul writes:

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

So, Lydia knew, someone, somewhere created all this, and she was looking for answers. And when God puts that thirst in your heart, it means He is pursuing you and He will get you. Praise God! Look how easy it is for Paul:

14b The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

Now look at this, the Lord opened her heart, He made it possible, her very faith, the thing that saved her, was a gift in itself from God.

And what happens, she responds, she goes public with her faith, she is baptized, the faith quickly spreads to those in her household, they are baptized and then she becomes the encouraging, hospitable co-laborer that God designed her and equipped her to be.

Now we are moving on to the next encounter. And while we don’t know that this next girl gets saved, it’s a pretty good assumption.

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days.
Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

A few things to note here, first, this girl, unlike Lydia, was not independent, she was possessed by demons, the Greek text called her a pythoness, or one with the spirit of a python, which referred to their belief that the snake had powers to discern the future.
Second, not only was she was under the control of Satan, of demonic spirits; she was also being pimped out to do her fortune telling by her owners.

As Tim Keller says, she was owned internally, in her spirit, which led her to be owned externally.

We still see this today, there are many women who are spiritually so possessed by self-doubt, or guilt or shame, that they allow themselves to be taken advantage of. There are those too, men and women, who have been spiritually devastated by their addictions to drugs and drinking and that dependence causes them to do things and come into contact with people that they would never in there right mind (or right spirit) come into contact with.

And those are worldly answers; I believe that we in the church are too apt to write off the demonic possession as a factor.

I have never seen it or discerned what I have seen as possession, but we shouldn’t scoff at that either.

The next thing we should note is that while possessed, the girl doesn’t lie does she? No, she spells it out pretty clearly “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

So what does that tell us? The same thing we learned in the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Satan used Scripture to try to trip up Jesus. He used it falsely, but still He used Scripture.

In this case, Satan uses the girl to tell the truth and the truth annoys Paul, why? First off, she was following them and shouting, now I wish we could know what tone she had (was this shouting like a royal announcer in the king’s court or like an antagonistic sibling on a long car ride?).

Either way, she was shouting and she did this for many days. That would annoy anyone.

Secondly, she was doing this in an area where Paul and Silas were trying to bring people to Christ. Who wants to join an outfit with that loudspeaker going off in their ear?

Finally, this is probably the most important, God sets aside His people to proclaim the truth, if it is coming from someone that is demon possessed, it is for bad motives. Possible the demon wanted to get at Paul’s pride. Maybe the shouting was like a royal proclamation. Maybe that made him feel a little too big for his britches and he knew how dangerous that could be.

I know a pastor, who doesn’t want their name on the church sign because they know that it becomes a source of pride that goes after their heart.

Regardless, Paul nips it in the bud with a direct and powerful Jesus encounter. With Lydia, Jesus was delivered through reason. With the demon-possessed girl, the presentation was all about power. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
And again, this text doesn’t say that she was converted, but I tend to favor that interpretation. We may not know until we are in Heaven and can ask for ourselves. Anyway, moving on…

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.
Why did Paul and Silas get the rough treatment? Because, they got to the pockets of the people. If you want to know how someone feels about God — if you want to know how you feel about God — wait until money comes up.

What happens when faith means leaving a job that pays well? What happens when the church folk hear a sermon on giving in the church? What happens when the public finds out the church wants to help the homeless in the area? Arguments start arising about how helping the homeless with a shelter or soup kitchen in their neighborhood will hurt property values.

As one pastor put it recently, your wallet will be the first to call you a liar, if you are serving money, but claim to serve Christ.
In this story, we aren’t seeing this in believers, but notice that Paul had been in Philippi for at least several days preaching the gospel, bringing in converts — all for several days.

All that time the fortuneteller’s pimps were fine with Paul, but once their revenue stream dried up they get a mob together.

20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
Notice the racial dynamic here. Again there was no synagogue that we know of in Philippi, so the Jewish culture was not well know, there were a lot of questions about these Jewish people.

And if history has proven anything it’s that the culture that is not understood is not trusted and is treated in a sub-human way.

Paul and Silas are not given a fair trail; they are disgraced and beaten in public. This will backfire on the Philippian rulers later if you read on past where we are going tonight, but let’s move on…

23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

So we are introduced to the third major player in Paul and Silas’ story. If Lydia was the aristocratic, white-collar, upper middle class person; and the fortuneteller was on level with a prostitute today; then our Jailer would fall into a blue-collar type factory worker or maybe even a guard at the correctional facility.

This guy has some gusto in the way he treats Paul and Silas. Maybe it is because he’s got some racist tendencies toward the Jews like the Philippian mob.

Or maybe he just likes to be cautious. Either way, these two have just been heavily beaten. They weren’t going anywhere. But he still sends them to the inner cell, and then in stocks, an incredibly uncomfortable device that spreads their feet apart and makes laying down or even sitting comfortably impossible. It was a form of torture.

But, what do they do? They sing. They praise God. This is so important and it is a key to understanding Paul, they guy who wrote the letter of Philippians. In Romans 5:3-4 Paul writes:

3…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And in Romans 12:11-12 he tells the believers (He tells us):
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

And in Colossians 1:24:
24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.


Today, we are so used to throwing in the towel when things get rough

Rough in our work, in our marriages, in our families as parents or as children caring for aging parents, or even in the church. A person skips from one congregation to the next if the preaching makes them uncomfortable.

We don’t deal with trials today, we run away.

Paul, when he was establishing this church — The healthiest church that we see in the New Testament — began by showing them how to handle the persecution and lashes and suffering that was sure to come.

Back to Acts 16:

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Do you know how much gospel you can slip into people’s lives by song and prayer? Use every opportunity. Every opportunity. Listen, when you are being persecuted, everyone is going to want to see how you respond.

WHEN the world comes up against you, WHEN you get squeezed, look at that as a small soapbox. Somebody’s listening for a reaction.

Don’t use it to fight for your rights. Don’t use it to tear down the other guy. Use that moment; that chance; that divine appointment; that strategic placement to SAVE SOULS!

Get the Gospel Out! And then watch God move where He will.
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

This is amazing, the power of God grabs the man, and it infiltrates his whole family. Why, because these two nameless prisoners showed him a power that he had never seen before.

He was a slave to the job, to the position, to the post, but what he swore his allegiance to never produced the power that these men found in their God. When he saw God reflected in their courage and their character he wanted it.

Listen we could keep going, I wanted to go through verse 40 because it is amazing the strength and courage Paul and Silas continued to show in this situation. But there’s no time this week.

If you have a bible, go and read it for yourself tonight when you get home, dwell in the word tonight all right?

Before we dismiss, though, again there is a lot to digest in these verses. My question is, where are you in this text that we read tonight?

Are you Lydia. Are you the person who has achieved worldly success, only to find out that it doesn’t satisfy? If so, know that the only thing that will ever really satisfy you, the only thing that will ever offer lasting fulfillment is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Or are you the possessed woman? Maybe you are possessed by an actual demon that can be discerned. But maybe something else, or someone is calling the shots in your life.

I know where you are coming from if this is you. I used to be enslaved, possessed by alcoholism. It controlled where I went, how long I stayed, who I hung around with, you name it. The drink owned me. It was my god.

Maybe you are in the same boat, or maybe you are controlled by drugs or
fear, or
debt, or
past mistakes and guilt from those mistakes or family history,
or an abusive past.

We’ve talked about this before. What owns you? What or who calling the shots?

If you are like I was, the answer is not to just stop subjecting your self to that other thing, No!

Jesus teaches in Matthew 12:43-45 that:
43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first..."

Listen I see a lot of drunks who just stop drinking, they put the plug in the jug and they think that will fix everything. What Jesus teaches and what several now-dead alcoholics have taught me is that if you just try to stop bad behavior, it may work for a time, but it will eventually creep back in and it will be stronger than ever.

Instead replace that old slave master with the bigger better, more loving REAL God. That’s Jesus Christ.

Maybe that’s not you. Maybe you are a thoroughly practical person like the jailer. And maybe you’ve put all your eggs in the basket of your work or your family or whatever. When that one thing that has always worked and has always brought you a level of contentment fades away or is taken away in an instant, what will you fall back on?

When the earthquake came and the prisoners were freed from their chains, the way that the jailer defined his life disappeared. Rome didn’t care about excuses or reasons, there was satisfactory performance or the sword.
I would urge you, don’t wait for the economic catastrophe that takes away the job, or the tragedy that takes away the family, or the accident that takes away you health or abilities.

And don’t wait for time to take away all of those things, which it will. Don’t wait for that moment to find out you have nothing else to live for. Turn to God and LIVE for Christ.

Finally, if you are already a believer, which I think that most of you are, then can I plead with you to live the prison life with Paul and Silas. Live the prison life.

No matter what, sing the praises and rejoice in the Lord. When things are going well and when the world is crashing down around you. Let your praise fill the air.

You never know how or when God will position you to usher another soul into the Kingdom through your living testimony. So, for the sake of the lost and the searching, LIVE the Gospel.
Let’s pray…