Philippians 1:12-26 #2

Intro

Pause and don’t speak for 15 seconds

Hey

I’m

Welcome

As you all are settled in now, I’d like to do an exercise with you guys, it’s an exercise of the mind

I’m going to ask you to use your imagination, to tap into your memories

So, if you’re not good at that sort of thing, we’ll ask the Holy Spirit to help

That’s one of His jobs, to bring things to remembrance

Holy Spirit, help all who are here and all who are watching online, Lord help them to be able to use their imaginations, a gift they are from You God, help them to also be able to remember what it is and who it is that I’m gonna ask them to picture in their minds. Amen

Ok, so what I want you to do is to close your eyes and listen to my voice

I want you to picture a place where you feel like you were connected to God, felt His presence. Where was it? Give it a short name

Now try to get in touch with how that made you feel, what did you feel and where did you feel it?

How would you describe that feeling? If you had to describe it with one or two words which would you use?

Were you alone or with someone?

If you were with someone, who was it?

Now I want you to think of a person whose face radiated when they saw you? They truly were happy to be with you.

Who is that person, and how did that make you feel?

Where did you feel it?

Ok, open your eyes. And thank you to those who participated in that exercise with me.

How do you feel right now after doing that exercise?

Hopefully you feel good, happy, at peace, content, loved, hopefully you feel joyful.

Because that’s what we’re after, the secret to Joy

Last week Pastor Jon talked about the Secret of Joy in Friendship

In the people who make us feel special, important, who make us feel cared for, and loved.

And how that feeling is a facet of joy.

Paul is in a cold and dark prison cell and yet he is joyful because he is remembering his dear friends who love him.

I’m reading a book, I like to read books.

In this book, a man who has a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate in psychology, his name is Jim Wilder and he calls himself a neurotheologian,

basically he studies the way spiritual formation is affected by the way the brain works.

He was influenced by studies that came out of UCLA and a Dr. named Allan Schore

Dr. Schore said the human brain develops in a person through joy and attachment.

He defined joy relationally as “someone who is glad to be with me” and “being the sparkle in someone’s eye.”

Think about that in regards to early romances or with newborns, or how grandkids make their grandparents feel and vice versa.

Or with pets, I think that’s why so many people get these feelings from their pets, especially dogs.

Now Dr. Jim Wilder, in the book I’m reading, emphasized the importance of building our true identities and living in a community of belonging.

When our identity is not well developed, our personality will change in different settings.

With a well formed brain, my identity will not change in different circumstances.

If you remember my last sermon, back on June 25th, I talked about being connected to God and get our true identity from Him.

Back to Paul,

Pastor Jon also talked about this idea that Paul viewed himself as a slave.

Now I’m not trying to soften the blow, but Paul’s idea of a slave is what he would also call a bondservant.

The understanding behind this kind of servitude isn’t forced, it’s willing, he is a willing slave.

You see, the bondservant is one who, more than likely, sold himself into slavery, because he couldn’t pay his debts

The slave, once his debts were paid by his labors, would be free to go, or set free on the year set, every 7 years

But, and this is where the definition is so great, sometimes the slave wouldn’t want his freedom, he would refuse it.

Why on earth would he do that you might ask??

Well, when he loved his master, his master was good to him, gave him a life, treated him so well that this servant pledged himself to his master as a willing slave, or a bond servant

The reason this is important is because that’s how Paul views his situation

Because of the love of God, His mercy and grace,

Paul being rescued from his wayward life, he has been set free and yet, he chooses to be a willing servant, or a slave of Christ Jesus

Ok, so what does this have to do with the secret to joy, you might be thinking.

Well I’ll explain.

he knows who he is, a willing slave of his good master Jesus.

That is so crucial to remember as we continue in this book.

Pastor Jon said last week, we are all saints, from the greenest newbie to the seasoned vet.

But when you mature into the seasoned vet, hopefully before that, you realize and also desire to be a slave of Jesus’

Well let’s turn to Philippians chapter 1, I’ll give you a second to get there.

I was thinking this week about an analogy for this idea of a secret to something

I played professional baseball, and I remember the first time I was around some big leaguers, before I was one.

Like many other professions, playing baseball requires so much dedication, and effort, and growing, getting better, never being satisfied, always looking for ways to get better,

So that you can move up in the minors, get to the big leagues, stay in the big leagues, stay for a long time, etc.

So, it’s the first time I’m around big leaguers and I’m watching them like a hawk.

What do they do? What drills or techniques, or how do they think, what is it that makes them so good???

What is it because that’s what I want.

Now the first secret to their success is no secret, it’s talent, you’ve got to have a ton of natural talent.

But the interesting thing I realized is there’s no shortcuts to greatness.

It takes work. It takes knowing who you are as a player, what you do well and what you don’t do well.

It takes getting better at what you don’t do well all while staying good at what you do do well.

It takes being open to new ideas and sifting through the ones to find what works for you.

But what it takes more than anything else, a desire for greatness, or excellence.

If you don’t desire it, how can you expect yourself to strive for it, to implement the necessary things to achieve it?? You won’t

The same goes for our spiritual lives.

Do you desire greatness, and by greatness I mean Christ likeness??

Do you really want it?? Are you willing to do what is necessary to achieve it??

Paul will write later in this letter that he wanted to know Christ and to share in the fellowship of His sufferings

He is His slave and will go and do and say whatever it is that Jesus has for Him, and he’s not concerned with the outcome.

Ok, now to Philippians 1 starting in verse 12 and reading through verse 13

Philippians 1:12–13 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

I want you to know brothers, my partners in the gospel, that my being in prison has advanced the spread of the good news.

How do I know?? Because all, even the whole palace guard, know that Paul is in chains because he preaches Jesus

How could Paul have ever been able to share the Good News of Jesus with the palace guard, or anyone in the palace for that matter??

You don’t just walk into the palace

But you can get access by being put in jail. by being chained to a palace guard, and another, and another, and he listens to you talk to others day after day after day

And then they talk, and so on. It’s brilliant. Way to go God

But who of us would sign up for that???

Let’s read one more verse and then I’ll give todays secret to joy

Philippians 1:14 ESV

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

And now because of my imprisonment, most believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

What???? That verse, especially if read by itself, makes no sense.

Because I’m in prison for talking about Jesus, most of the believers have gained confidence and speak about Jesus more boldly

That’s the opposite of what we’d expect to read

I’m in prison for the Gospel and now most of the believers are afraid and won’t talk about it in public, right,

Come on, that’s human nature, survival 101, in the Separated Worldview

But not in the Connected Worldview

In the Connected Worldview you get your true identity and your true purpose.

Your known by what God thinks of you, what God has given you to do.

You live by faith and trust, you live in mystery of how God can do things

This here is a mystery

Paul is others focused because his joy tank is full, he’s not stopping sharing the gospel because it’s who he is and it’s what Jesus has given him to do.

The people are watching this, his joy, his work, his effectiveness, they are seeing what God can do in the midst of our circumstances, and their fear is going away, they’re gaining confidence and boldness.

That reminds me of the churches prayer in Acts chapter 4 after Peter and John were released by the council

Acts 4:29–31 ESV

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Here is todays secret to Joy

When our identity is secure in Christ and our joy tank is full, we can see through our circumstances to what God is doing in the midst of them.

He is sovereign, He has His servant exactly where He wants him, and God can accomplish great things through a willing vessel.

Our problem is our joy tanks aren’t full, we forget who we are and whose we are, and therefore we can’t see beyond ourselves in our circumstances, especially our bad ones.

So how do you fill your joy tank?

We do it with personal contact with the people we talked about earlier.

We fill it through the exercise we did.

We picture God’s face beaming over us, so delighted in us, we must believe we are the sparkle in His eye.

Ask Him, God when you think of me what do you think?

If you were to describe me, what would you say?

And then listen for His answers.

Now if you hear negative, accusing, shaming, condemning words, you need to know those are not from God.

The enemy of our souls is the accuser of the breathren.

Or it could be your own voice, you heard the accusations so many times you’ve actually believed them, and now you speak them over yourself.

No, our God is an affirming God, a life giving God, a loving God

We are worthy of His Son’s life.

He only speaks good things over His children.