Philippians 1:18b-26

Scripture Reading: Job 13:13-18

This is Nicky

In 1938, when Nicky was 29 years old…

He decided to take a 2 week vacation…

From his successful stock brokering job…

To go skiing in the beautiful mountains of Switzerland

But before he left, he got a call from a friend…

That led to him changing his vacation plans

Instead, he decided to go to Prague, the Capital city of Czechoslovakia

And what he would do there…

Would remain a closely kept secret for the next 50 years

Now the year is 1988, and the secret is out

While in their attic, Nicky’s wife finds a briefcase

And when she opens it, she is shocked at what she finds

A scrapbook filled with names, letters, & pictures…

Having to do with hundreds of Czechoslovakian children

She ends up getting the word out about what she found…

And she & Nicky were invited onto the set…

Of a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) program called That’s Life!…

To sit amongst the studio audience

Throughout the show, what he did during & after his vacation in 1938…

Was made known

And at one point during the show, the host asks:

“Is there anyone here in this audience who owes their life to Nicky? If so, please stand.”

Suddenly, the entire audience sitting all around him…

Stand up

Shocked, Nicky then stood up & turned around…

And saw the faces of dozens of people who were alive because of him

5 decades earlier, when Nicholas changed his vacation plans…

It was for a very noble & selfless reason:

Nazi Germany’s military were beginning to move into Czechoslovakia

Naturally, many Jews began to flood the city of Prague…

To escape the country

But many countries were not allowing refugees to immigrate

So they were trapped

Nicholas saw over 150,000 refugees living in camps in freezing weather…

With no one to care or help

So he decided that he would find a way to help them

At only 29 years old with no credentials or experience in this sort of thing…

He was highly unqualified

But that didn’t stop him

When asked why he thought he was capable of saving these people, he replied:

“I work on the motto that if something is not impossible then there must be a way of doing it.”

And he found a way to do it

It took a lot of hard work:

Late nights & early mornings

Meeting with Jewish families one by one

Lying, forging documents, blackmailing, whatever he had to do

Eventually, the British government agreed…

To allow refugee children to enter the country

But on one condition

Nicholas had to find families to take them in

And he did exactly that

There’s no telling how much time, money, & energy he spent on this mission…

But he eventually was able to rescue 669 children aboard 7 trains

After the WW2, he would go on to get married & live a comfortable life

He almost never spoke of what he had done for these 669 children

Not even his wife knew

Why did he keep his amazing & heroic story a secret for 50 years?

According to him, he wasn’t attempting to keep it a secret

He just never talked about it

He didn’t want awards or fame

He was just a man who saw a people in need…

And found a way to help

Nicholas Winston was the picture of humility & selfless service

And in our text this morning…

We’re going to see the same 2 characteristics in Paul:

Humility & Selfless Service

Philippians 1:18b-26

Last time, Paul was rejoicing over the fact that…

His imprisonment was leading to the further spread of the Gospel

Even though his current circumstance wasn’t great…

His joy was overflowing because God was bringing good out of it

Now he is shifting from rejoicing over the present…

To rejoicing over the future…

Whatever that future might entail

Philippians 1:18–20 NET

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die.

In the Greek, this is a long run-on sentence…

And it can be pretty difficult…

To interpret exactly what Paul is saying

Because of that, let’s just work our way through this passage

Paul is rejoicing & he will keep on rejoicing

Why?

Because he knows “this will turn out for his deliverance”

What is Paul referring to?

This will turn out for his deliverance/salvation from what?

Some interpret Paul to be saying:

“This will turn out for my release from prison”

“This will turn out for my eternal salvation”

But, the answer begins to reveal itself…

When we recognize that Paul is actually quoting an OT passage here

Paul is directly quoting from Job 13:16

In the context, Job is convinced that he is righteous…

Despite his friends accusing him of sin

Job would go on to say, “I know that I will be vindicated.”

To Job, deliverance = vindication

By quoting Job, I believe Paul is giving us a hint…

As to what he means when he says:

“I know this will turn out for my deliverance”

He’s not referring to his release from prison or his eternal salvation

He’s referring to being vindicated, justified, & proven faithful

Soon, Paul will be on trial…

And will have the opportunity to defend the Gospel in a very public way

He is confident that through the prayers of the Philippians…

And the help of the Holy Spirit…

He will not be ashamed…

But will boldly proclaim the Gospel…

And Jesus will be exalted, magnified, glorified

As we’ll see as we continue through out text…

Paul didn’t know for certain…

If this trial would lead to his release or to his death

But ultimately, it didn’t matter

If Paul was released, he would glorify Jesus with his life

If he was executed, he would glorify Jesus with his death

Paul’s concern isn’t whether or not he’ll be released

His concern isn’t whether or not he’ll be executed

His concern is whether or not Jesus will be glorified

But because of their prayers & the help of the Holy Spirit…

He knows he’ll be bold & unashamed in his defense of Jesus

And no matter what the authorities choose to do with him…

Jesus will have been proclaimed, defended, & lifted up

Whether Paul lives or not…

Jesus will be magnified…

And that will be Paul’s deliverance/vindication

His deliverance isn’t about escape from his circumstances—

(Release/Life or Execution/Death)

His deliverance is about staying faithful to Jesus…

Through his circumstances

That’s why Paul will continue to rejoice:

Not because he believes he’ll be released

Not because he believes he’ll be executed

Because he knows Jesus will be exalted…

Regardless of what happens to him

Philippians 1:21–26 NET

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer: I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body. And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith, so that what you can be proud of may increase because of me in Christ Jesus, when I come back to you.

In the next few lessons, we’re going to see Paul challenge the Philippians…

To be humble & selfless in their service to one another

But before he asks them to live in such a way…

He shows them how he is humbly & selflessly serving them

Paul is thinking out loud about the possible outcomes of his trial

If he is released & continues living…

This will mean more good works & spreading the Gospel

He’ll be able to continue:

Serving, teaching, & encouraging his siblings in Christ

Sharing the good news of Jesus to the lost

Exalting, magnifying & glorifying Jesus with his life

If he is executed…

He gets to be with Jesus…

Which is the end goal of all that he lives for

Dying is better for Him

Living is better for Them

His selfish desire is to die

His selfless desire is to live

He’s conflicted on which outcome he prefers

But ultimately, he chooses & believes it is God’s will for him to live

To Paul, to live is to continue living the life of Christ:

Teaching, serving, encouraging

Paul believes he will be released from prison…

And continue living a little while longer…

So he can help the Philippians grow & have more joy in their faith

This passage brings an end to Paul’s update…

About his mission & imprisonment

Being in prison should bring the Philippians nothing but joy

It has helped further the Gospel:

The whole palace guard is hearing about Jesus

Others are receiving more courage to proclaim Jesus

It will inevitably bring more glory to Jesus:

On trial, Paul will be able to defend the Gospel of Jesus…

Before the highest authority in the world

And if it turns out that he is released…

He will continue to teach, serve, & encourage for Christ’s glory

If it turns out that he is put to death…

He will glorify Jesus in his willingness to die for the faith

And he wants the Philippians…

To trust, celebrate, take pride in, & glorify Jesus…

For all that He has accomplished & will accomplish through Paul

For us, we would consider Paul to be in a bad situation…

But for Paul, he considers himself to be in a win/win situation

No matter what happens…

Jesus will be exalted, magnified, & glorified

And that’s the primary mission of his life

It’s why he exists

Because he’s in a win/win situation:

He is nothing but joyful

He does nothing but rejoice

And he wants the Philippians to do the same

Joy is all about perspective

Application

“Living is Christ”

Separated from its context & by itself, that’s a strange little phrase

But within its context, it shows us Paul’s:

Amazing humility & selflessness

Incredible dedication to Jesus

His life was all about serving others & glorifying Jesus

If we were to honestly ask ourselves to finish this phrase…

How would we finish it?

Or, better yet, if we were to examine our lives…

What would make this a truthful phrase?

“Living is ______”:

Doing things that make you happy

Having a successful career

Making lots of money

Experiencing lots of pleasure

Making a great name for yourself

Focusing on yourself

(or maybe you’re more modest than that):

Having all that you need—

(full belly, clothes on your back, roof over your head, family/friends to love)

The problem with life being about any of those things…

Is that they aren’t what life should be about

Even the most modest of the answers (food, clothing, needs)…

God says He’ll provide for us if we put the kingdom/Jesus first

And ultimately, if our life is about anything but living like Jesus—

Glorifying him in the way we live & love our neighbor…

Then the rest of the Paul’s phrase would be:

“And to die is loss”

This text is Paul’s attempt at giving us an example to follow

He wants us to see his humility & selfless service to Jesus & others…

And to prioritize those characteristics in our own lives

This is not an easy lesson

In fact, it’s difficult…

Because it’s so incredibly easy to be selfish

It comes so naturally to us

It’s so easy to use our 2 week vacation to go skiing in Switzerland

It’s not easy to use it to serve & save strangers who are suffering

It’s easy to spend our time focusing on our own troubles & interests

It’s not easy to spend our time focusing on the troubles & interests of others

It’s easy to live for our own convenience, comfort, & happiness

It’s not easy to live for the purpose of bringing Jesus glory

“Living is Christ” isn’t the easy life…

But it’s also not impossible

And “if something is not impossible then there must be a way of doing it.”

Jesus doesn’t expect us all to do great, amazing, earth-shaking things

He expects us to love our neighbors…

And to be selfless with our time, money, & resources

That may mean doing big things

But most of the time, it just means doing little things every day

Finding little opportunities to glorify Jesus:

By showing kindness to a stranger

By helping someone who needs help

By comforting someone who is hurting

By sharing the gospel with someone who needs hope & salvation

By encouraging someone whose on the verge of giving up the faith

The selfless life isn’t always the easy life…

But it is the life that overflows with Joy

The life that overflows with joy doesn’t ask:

“What do I want most?”

But asks:

“What do others need most?”

The life that overflows with joy…

Looks at every circumstance and asks:

“How can I exalt, magnify, glorify Jesus in this?”