Philippians 1:12-20
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Week 2 of our series “Joyful” where we are taking a deep dive into what Paul has to teach us about Joy
The book of Philippians is a book that is riddled with Joy despite what we see
See Philippians could be considered one of the happiest, most joy filled books in the Bible.
It has 4 chapters, and within those 4 chapters Paul references joy, happiness, and rejoicing 16 different times. Joy is one of the major themes of the book
The crazy part about that is when Paul wrote Philippians he was in jail
Not only was Paul in jail, but he was awaiting his death sentence
Yet through all of this Paul writes a book, that is joy-filled!
Last week we started out the series by asking the challenging question “would Paul thank God for me?”
A man on death row spends his time thanking God for others
Would we be one of them?
This week we are going learn a little about how Paul views his present circumstances
Change your perspective
Change your perspective
Listen to what Paul says about his circumstances
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Paul tells the Philippians here that what happened to him has only helped the spread of the Gospel
So what did happen to Paul?
He was arrested, falsely charged, dragged to Rome, put in prison, chained up, and was given a death sentence
This is a scenario that would cause almost everyone to assume that Paul would lose his joy
They would see this problem as too big
However, Paul said that what happened to him was for Christ, and even that others were sharing the Gospel even more because of his imprisonment
Here’s Paul’s first lesson to us today about Joy
Change your perspective
To find true joy in life, you must learn to look at problems in your life from God’s POV, not yours
Take Paul’s imprisonment for example
Paul was considered a royal prisoner by Rome, meaning he was a high value prisoner
What they would do to a high value prisoner is have them chained to a guard 24 hours a day.
Now history tells us that Paul was in jail for 2 years, so for 2 years straight he was chained to a prison guard
Historians also tell us that prison guards were swapped every 4 hours
If you do the quick math, there was 3,280 different guard changes
That means there was 3,280 different opportunities that Paul had to share the Gospel with someone - and think they couldn’t get away from Paul they were literally chained to him
Paul had to be ecstatic about this opportunity that God gave him
And guess what - it worked!
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.
Paul is telling them that people in the house of Caesar are believers. This could only happen because guards that were chained to Paul were the same guards that guard the palace
So they are hearing the Gospel and then bringing it into the Caesar’s house!
What Paul is telling us is that we must change our perspective when it comes to the circumstances you are facing in life
Start looking at them through God’s eyes
Churches were constantly writing to Paul: are you okay? We hate you’re in prison. What can we do to make it feel a little better?
Paul writing to the churches: This isn’t a problem, this is fantastic! They are feeding me (free food), I have shelter, and I get to share the Gospel 3,280 times with people I otherwise would have never interacted with!
See how big a flip that is?
Looking at Paul’s problem from man’s perspective says that you’re in prison and life is terrible.
Looking at Paul’s problem from God’s perspective says you can share the Gospel 3,280 different times, they have to listen, and by the way all your needs are taken care of
Having true joy, like Paul, is being able to look at the circumstances that you are facing and say “this is a good thing, God is blessing me through this time”
True joy is being able to see God’s hand working in your problems
Being able to see that this is all for God
True joy is believing what Paul wrote to the Romans
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Here’s a very simple thing you can do to start experiencing this joy Paul is talking about
Think about your biggest problem, the thing that is a major stress for you
Then say a simple prayer: “Lord help me to see this problem from your POV”
Do this daily. Repetitively. Faithfully. Lord help me to see this problem from your perspective
You’ll be surprised how your perspective will start to change when you start praying this prayer
But let’s be real here
It’s a hard prayer
It’s a prayer that me and Kase had to pray a lot just a few years ago
Two of our students died tragically in a car accident — some of you knew them, you know their families
You know how hard it was for them — for me and Kase who were close to them
And during this time me and Kase took care of the families, spent literal days with them
Cried with them, mourned with them
All the while praying “Lord show me your perspective in this tragedy because I don’t see it”
And you know what happened?
Since them we’ve seen students take big steps in their faith — giving their life to God, committing to ministry
We’ve seen their families go all in for Jesus
We’ve seen radical transformation
Problems to us are opportunities for God to move and work
When we focus on the problems of our life, and not on how God is trying to use those problems for His good, we are missing out on the joy that God promises us
If you want to culminate Joy you first must look at the problems in your life from God’s POV
Change your focus
Change your focus
Listen to what else Paul says:
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,
Paul here is acknowledging that yes the Gospel is being preached and that there are two types of people that are preaching it
People who are seeking to make Jesus known
People who are seeking to make themselves known
Paul’s in prison, revival is starting and he is seeing and that there are people trying to make a quick buck of the name of Jesus and Paul’s imprisonment
Man if that was me I would be so full of Holy anger!
How dare these fools take advantage of God! How dare they take advantage of the disadvantage I am faced
Yet look at what Paul does instead
“I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice”
Paul looks and says “I will rejoice”
Here’s the second thing tonight that Paul is teaching us about our joy
Change your focus
Paul is teaching us that our focus for joy must come not from ourself or our situation
Instead Paul is saying “I am choosing to celebrate!”
Paul is celebrating because no matter the reason, the message of the Gospel is being proclaimed!
Jesus’ name is being made famous and for Paul that was all that ever mattered
Remember what Paul said in 1:1
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
He is a servant of Christ Jesus!
He is in prison for the simple fact of making Jesus known!
He is there because Christ wants Him there!
So he is choosing to look at the reality of what is coming from it — Christ being proclaimed as a win!
Man this is something I think about often!
There are things I am praying for that I want to see happen, but I want to see it happen in my way and in my timing
And what Paul is teaching me here is that it may not happen how I want it
The people I want may not be the people that God chooses to use
The means may be different
That doesn’t matter!
My joy cannot come from who is doing it, or their motives
My joy can only come from Christ
If we look at joy from any other circumstance we are going to miss what Christ is doing!
Instead our joy must only come from Christ!
Change your expectations
Change your expectations
Paul closes out the section we are looking at by saying
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Paul said I will continue to praise Christ and find my in my situation because Christ is being proclaimed, and now because Jesus will give me deliverance
On face value this seems kinda crazy — Paul is facing a death sentence
And we know what happens — Paul is eventually killed
So what deliverance is Paul talking about?
Jesus doesn’t bust him out of jail!
Instead what Paul is talking about here is not deliverance from his situation he is facing, but instead salvation from this world
Paul’s joy is bound up with the salvation of his soul, not the outcome of his trial.
He is not rejoicing in the possibility of getting out of jail; he is rejoicing in the certainty of his salvation in Christ.
Paul’s confidence that God will complete the good work of salvation begun in the Philippians (Phil. 1:6) is true concerning his own salvation as well.
Paul’s assurance of salvation will be made secure with the help of the prayers of the Philippians and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Here’s the last thing Paul is teaching us about our joy:
Change your expectations
As believers in Jesus we must change our expectations when it comes to life
Paul is in prison, guarded 24/7
3,280 different guard changes
YET Paul is celebrating in Jesus
Not because he is going to get our of prison (though Christ could get him out)
Paul is praising Jesus because Paul knows he is saved!
Paul knows that the reality he is in is not the reality he will stay in!
He will one day be with Christ and the momentary affliction he is facing is nothing compared to the eternal glory that is waiting on the backend
So often in my life I get impatient
I want God to move and I want Him to move NOW!
I want things when I want them
And when they don’t happen I get discouraged and sometimes even upset at God
Paul is looking at Jamie here and saying CHANGE YOUR EXPECTATION
Instead of looking for God to change my situation, praise God that He gave me a new eternal situation
I am no longer bound to just the circumstances I face today I have a heavenly home with the Father
That means that no matter what happens in our life we can praise the Lord!
We can find our Joy!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Paul has lots of things that are trying to steal his joy!
Yet he teaches us that if we are to have true joy we must:
Change our perspective
Change our focus
Change our expectations
It is about Jesus!
If you know Christ you are just like Paul a servant of Jesus — He is in control
What happens to us? It’s for Jesus and we can praise Him through it!
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
How does Paul's imprisonment and attitude toward his circumstances challenge our understanding of joy in our own lives?
What does Paul mean when he says that his imprisonment has served to advance the gospel?
In what ways does Paul's perspective encourage us to rethink our own trials and tribulations?
What does it mean to view problems from God's POV and how can this shift influence our faith?
How can changing our focus help us deal with stress or problems in our lives, similar to how Paul did?
How can we encourage others to see their circumstances in a new light, following the example of Paul?
