God's Deliverance
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Philippians 1:19-26
Philippians 1:19-26
19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
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Introduction
Introduction
Why do people go through problems?
Why do good people suffer?
Why must we face challenges in life?
Impossible
Unfair
These are some of the most pondered and asked questions.
Why am I suffering?
Remember that question.
In this passage, Paul is also facing some amazing problems, that were no fault of his own.
While being detained, he is writing to this group of believers in Philippi, and sharing with them how he sees this season of life that he is experiencing.
He arrives at a shocking conclusion.
Verses 19 & 20 are one sentence.
19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Be confident that God is active in your current situation
Be confident that God is active in your current situation
Understand that God knows where you are in life.
He knows what you are experiencing.
He know what you are going through.
HE KNOWS.
When your family does not know - he knows.
When your spouse does not know - he knows.
When you parents do not know - he knows.
When you children do not know - he knows.
When no one else knows - he knows.
Take HEART today that nothing takes GOD by surprise - he knows.
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19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
God is able to deliver you from any circumstance.
God is able to deliver you from any circumstance.
Paul states that he knows that THIS will turn to his deliverance
What is THIS?
THIS is referring to the previous verses where he shared that the circumstances of his life were being used to further the reach of the GOSPEL.
That words salvation means deliverance.
He was confident that God was going to turn his current situation through delivering him from it.
What were the tools of deliverance?
The tools of deliverance were...
The prayers of others.
The Holy Spirit.
Prayer changes things!
When you pray for others you are partnering with the Holy Spirit to affect tangible changes in the others lives!
WOW!
You mean I can partner with the Spirit of God?
You mean that when I pray the lives of others can be affected?
Why would I NOT pray?
What was he being delivered from?
Delivered or saved from his current situation -just not sure how it would happen!
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20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
God’s deliverance should be expected.
God’s deliverance should be expected.
Look how Paul is framing this;
The deliverance that I know will come will happen. That is my hope, my expectation.
I am expecting God to deliver me!
hope = expectation
Paul proclaims that he will have boldness - not ashamed of what Christ or what he is doing in his life.
No matter what!
How will GOD deliver Paul?
He does not know!
He pick two possibilities.
Either GOD will deliver him while he is alive - or his deliverance will come with his death.
HMMM.
In Life or in death - Christ will be magnified!
Christ magnified in all things!
I am not sure that we are fully OK with deliverance through death, but Paul seemed to be.
Paul also mentioned that either way Christ would be lifted UP!
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He goes on to explain why he is taking this position...
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
“Is” is in italics - that means there is not corresponding word in the original manuscript. It was added for clarification.
What is he saying?
For me - to LIVE is to live like CHRIST or to DIE a something to be GAINED that is better than that!
For me I will live like Christ, or else I die which is better because I will be with Christ!
There are many days that you would not caught me with this attitude!
But PAUL was in a position where he felt this way.
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22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
He then shares his hesitation - or what he wrestles with when he considers that his deliverance may come through death.
He argues with himself.
If i live in this flesh I will generate fruit from my labor!
But to die is gain!
So I am conflicted - which way would I choose to be delivered if it was up to me!
Anyone else confused about he they would want to be delivered like PAUL?
I am not conflicted at this stage of my life!
He continues...
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
I fell like I am between a rock and hard place...
I really want to be with CHRIST! Which is gain! It is FAR FAR BETTER than anything that I can experience in this life!
Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
However, I realize that I my labor in this life is necessary for your sake!
I love you!
I want to help you!
Yes, I want to be with CHRIST, but I also want to be with YOU!
Paul love these believers!
His love for them was only exceeded by his love for CHRIST!
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And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
God may choose to deliver you in way that is beneficial to others.
God may choose to deliver you in way that is beneficial to others.
After thinking about this, I confident that GOD will deliver me in a way that will allow me to see you again.
That I may be able to help you grow you JOY and your FAITH!
That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
That your rejoicing may be more abundant when I come to see you!
Why would they rejoice more when they see him in person?
Because they were praying for it! (v.19)
When GOD answers prayers miraculously we REJOICE!
That joy would be properly placed in JESUS.
Paul was sure that his ultimate deliverance would help them grow closer to JESUS!
His negative situation would be a benefit for them!
summary
summary
What a story PAUL is painting in this letter.
YES - Paul was suffering and captive in impossible circumstances.
But he was confident that GOD would deliver - either in life or in death.
The challenge for Paul is that he loves people almost as much as he loves Jesus .
He wanted to be able to continue to help his fellow believers to grow in their faith in Jesus.
I see and feel the conflict that Paul is sharing in this passage.
In his words I see Love for God - Love for others.
It is on these two principles are all of the scriptures anchored.
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love for others is the primary marker of a follower of Jesus.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
How will they know you are my followers?
How you love others!
Paul’s love for the people of Philippi informed his confidence in the result of his deliverance.
Application
Application
What is the take-a-way for my life today from this passage.
You also face difficult, challenging, and sometimes you feel as confined by your circumstances as Paul was with his.
But in the end he desired, not what he wanted, but what was best for those he loved.
In the end I desire ...
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
When you love the people around you, you are willing to sacrifice your life for their benefit.
That is what PAUL is describing in his letter.
Let me ask you some questions?
How does your presence benefit others?
How does your presence encourage joy in Christ when you are with others?
How does your presence strengthen the faith of those you are around?
The answers to these questions can point us to an application of this passage in our own life.
Here are some ideas based on this passage.
Be real and authentic in your relationships.
Paul was open about the problems he was facing in his personal life.
Hypocrisy has damaged many people.
Hypocrisy is being a fancy liar.
Talk about the challenges that you are experiencing in life.
Share your confidence in God’s ability to see you through the challenges of life.
Paul shared how he was confident that God would deliver him.
I has already been 4 years and Paul is still being detained!
Share the expectation and hope that you have in your situation.
Pray for each other.
Paul shared his challenges and they prayed for him.
Share with each other and pray for each other.
We short change the impact that we can make when we enter a prayer partnership with the Holy Spirit and how it can affect the lives of those we love.
This is why we pray!
Develop a desire to see your personal challenges result in a helping others grow closer to Jesus.
Paul desired to see Christ!
He even knew that Christ would be magnified even in his death.
Paul also desired that he efforts would be helpful to others.
He ultimately resigned himself that not matter how his life turned out - he wanted it help other grow the JOY and FAITH in Jesus Christ.
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I asked you to remember this question.
“Why am I suffering?”
let me encourage you to ask a different question.
“Am I willing to suffer for the benefit of someone else?”
Let me try to summarize the concept that I see in this passage for application.
When you find yourself in an impossibly difficult situation...
Accept that God’s deliverance may come in a manner that benefits others more than you.
Would you join Paul in expressing your willingness to accept God’s deliverance, not matter what it looks like, if others would further their JOY and FAITH in JESUS?
Why would I accept that?
Because Jesus, our supreme example, demonstrated this very concept on the cross.
Jesus, the perfect son of God, willingly suffered because of your sin - your wrong-doing.
For no fault of his own, he took the price, penalty, and punishment of sin upon himself so I would have the benefit of forgiveness.
Never to pay the price.
Never to suffer the penalty.
Never to experience the punishment.
His suffering led to my benefit.
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Perhaps you have never heard that Jesus loves you so much that he suffered so that you dont have to.
Reach out to him in prayer - even now ...
Tell him that you believe that Jesus is his son.
That you believe he died on a cross for you.
That you believe he came back to life for you.
Ask him to forgive you sin, and be the one that saves you from hell.
Perhaps you are going through a terrible time in your life right now.
It may be the most challenging moment of you entire life.
Be open to the possibility that God can use this situation for good. That someone would be benefitted because of your troubles.
Ask God now to use your troubles to be a help to others.
Perhaps you have been too focused on if God would deliver you, that you forgot to look at how and why God would deliver you.
Be willing to suffer as Jesus suffered to others could receive a blessing.
Ask God even now to give you a spirit of generosity, a willingness to give of yourself to others.
Ask God to help you accept that his deliverance may come in a manner that benefits others more than yourself.
Prayer
Prayer