Sermon Tone Analysis

The Purpose of Hurts

key verse :

AS a native Floridian I grew up just north of the citrus belt.

When traveling south I would often see entire orange groves that would be pruned and out of commission for while.

Why they prune

Pruning - Say farewell to dead, broken or damaged branches.

Save your property from potential damage from fallen branches.

When you remove old branches, you give trees the green light to put out healthy, new growth.

Train trees to grow on your terms so that branches won’t hang over the roof or stretch into power lines.

Give trees a clean, polished look that elevates your whole landscape.

Set the tree up with a good foundation for long-term health.

To beautify your yard

As mentioned above, pruning affects the appearance of a tree.

By cutting off dead limbs or removing sections of the tree that are growing faster than others, you're giving your tree a whole new look.

Basically, it's like a haircut for your tree.

Good grooming is beneficial to trees, since it enhances the shape of the tree.

This is especially important for trees that you've planted for the sole purpose of adding aesthetic appeal.

To help the tree grow

That juniper tree in your yard will be able to withstand harsh weather better after it has been pruned.

When a professional tree service uses the proper technique, tree pruning has the ability to make the roots stronger, which ultimately means that the tree is healthier and can hold up better in a storm.

Moreover, pruning can help the new branches to grow.

To encourage fruit production

Any type of tree that produces fruit benefits from pruning.

By removing dead limbs, you're promoting better health in the tree, since dead wood makes the tree more susceptible to insect infestation and disease.

Additionally, pruning a fruit tree you may have encourages the growth of spurs, which will produce fruit the following year.

Ultimately, pruning promotes an increase in fruit production.

To treat disease

Just like human beings, trees may contract disease.

Through pruning, the disease may be treated and prevented from spreading.

Therefore, pruning not only prevents disease, it also helps treat it.

To improve a vista

Vista pruning is a term that describes a type of pruning used for the purpose of enhancing a view of a valley, lake or other natural structure.

Hiring someone for vista pruning entails removal of trees and branches that block the view of these naturally occurring splendors.

Generally, a view of these structures may be lost within 15 years of tree growth.

Paul next rehearses his blessings, that is, the benefits that have resulted from his imprisonment.

Jowett calls this section “The Fortune of Misfortune.”

The apostle would have the brethren know that the things which happened to him, that is, his trial and imprisonment, have resulted in the furtherance of the gospel rather than its hindrance, as might have been expected.

This is another wonderful illustration of how God overrules the wicked plans of demons and men and brings triumph out of seeming tragedy and beauty from ashes.

“Man has his wickedness, but God has His way.”[1]

Paul was a prisoner in chains.

His liberty ended where the chains ended.

He had been used to the widest freedom.

He had been driven by an overwhelming compulsion to travel to earth’s remotest bounds to make Christ known, and he had been astonishingly successful.

Years ago he had made plans to take Rome by storm.

In all the fullness of the blessing of Christ, he would go there and lead the church to new and glorious victories.

Roman roads would throb to the beat of marching men—armies of young men marching out of Rome to take the gospel to the globe.

Paul would fire up his soldiers by filling them with new knowledge, new enthusiasm, new courage, and new vision.

People from all over the world would flock down those same highways to visit Paul at Rome.

It was the strategic center, the most important city in the world.

Paul would turn the city into such a center of evangelism, missions, and Bible teaching that when people thought of Rome, they would not think of caesar; they would think of Christ.

The apostle would visit all the synagogues and reap a new harvest from among the Jews.

He would preach in the forum.

He would visit every house in Rome.

He would stir up the saints, galvanize the church, win souls, inspire Christians, take the city and thence the world for the Lord from Heaven.

But Paul was in chains.

A lesser man would have questioned God’s ways, fretted over his enforced inaction, and perhaps become embittered.

Not Paul!

He knew his chains were divinely planned and God made no mistakes; he knew God had not lost control.

Paul viewed his chains as a challenge.

If he could not go, he would write and he would pray.

People could come to him.

He would still rule from Rome in the affections of God’s people and have an impact on God’s plans and purposes in this world.

Though his palace was a prison, his throne a wooden stool, and his scepter an iron chain, Paul would have power greater than any caesar’s.[1]

The Purpose of Hurts

I We get an Audience

Understanding - Pual is telling the Church at Philippi that you must discern why I am here...

God has a plan let me tell you .....

The things - bad things , hurtful things

Beaten

Misrepresented

Lied about

What I though God wanted me to do is being totally disrupted ...

Some may have a misunderstanding of what has happened ....

Wow- God is not in this .....

If he was in God’s will he would not be in prison ......

Paul went on to say these things gave me an audience to tell of Christ

i have a testimony

I have people in my presence that I never would have had before

What are your things:

A job that went south

A injury that stopped you

A relationship gone bad

A financial crisis

A issue of trusting by faith

maybe God has and is using these things to give you and audience

The Purpose of Hurts

II We get Followers

vs 13 - Praitoriōn, the word translated “palace” here, has several meanings.

In Philippians 1:13 praitoriōn probably refers to the headquarters built by Tiberius for the powerful and prestigious praetorian guard or more likely to the guard itself.

When Paul arrived in Rome, he was turned over to the custody of the praetorian prefect, the commander of this elite guard.

Daily the apostle was chained to soldiers from this influential force of some nine thousand men.

We can picture Paul making friends with his jailers—we can see him winning many of them to Christ and leaving an indelible impression on others.

Thus his bonds did indeed further the gospel.

How else could Paul have been able to witness personally to these proud members of the emperor’s bodyguard?

Would they have listened to a Jewish missionary if as an ordinary visitor to Rome he had tried to approach them?

Would they have flocked to his meetings?

Not likely!

But for months on end, for long hours at a time, the guards were forced into his company.

They fell under the spell of his personal courtesy and charm as they watched him under the most trying circumstances, listened to him pray, heard him dictate letters, and attended his conferences with groups and individuals who thronged to the jail from all parts of the city and the world.

hus the gospel permeated this elite guard and we can imagine opinions of Paul and his message being bandied about in many a lively discussion in the barrack rooms.