Philippians 1:12-13 | Problems in Persepective
Notes
Transcript
Engage
Engage
Victimization
Victimization
Let me start with a question: Do you like being a victim? That seems like a strange question, the answer of course ought to be no. There do seem to be those that always want to play the victim, but they are doing that, just playing. People react very negatively to the notion of being victimized, which is why it can be used as a very effective tool for manipulation.
If someone creates a scenario where they can get you to believe that you will likely to be victimized if you choose a certain course of action, you will choose a different action. I certainly would.
I regularly hear a commercial for a company selling protection against having a home title stolen. Now in fairness, if you are a home owner you do have the chance of having your home title stolen, it is about 7 ten-thousandths of a percent of that happening to you within the next year. But if a company can convince people that they are likely to be a victim then they can charge you for their service.
Politicians use this tactic all of the time, if they can convince you that voting for the opposing candidate is going to cause you to be disenfranchised, then they will lean heavy on that. We can probably identify ourselves special interest groups where we see this happening. But if we are to be honest, Christians are a very targeted people group. There are definitely threats to religious freedom in this country and if those threats can be capitalized on, you can guarantee someone is going to try and capitalize on them.
Put on the Defense
Put on the Defense
The problem with being made to be a victim, is that victims are defensive rather than offensive. See, someone with a victims’s mindset is going to spend their time guarding themselves, and building up barriers to protect the areas where they believe they are vulnerable. And so, if you and I, as Christians believe that we are being disenfranchised, how are we going to spend our energies? Instead of being on the offensive, trying to push forward the cause of Christ, we hunker down and work only to not lose ground.
Paul has to address the Philippians for this reason. For Paul to have been apprehended by the Roman government and imprisoned, had the potential for great discouragement to church. And so Paul has the need to to correct their perspective.
And we find him doing just that starting in Philippians 1 beginning in v12
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
The title of todays message is: “Problems in Perspective”
Pray
Tension
Tension
Paul’s Imprisonments
Paul’s Imprisonments
A theologian named Clement of Alexandria, born in the year 150 wrote that Paul had been imprisoned on 7 separate occasions. That may or may not be accurate but we at least have biblical evidence of Paul being in bonds 3 times.
But, Paul was warned of this imprisonment.
Turn with me to Acts 21, we will start in v10
10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.
But Paul didn’t see things the same way as his companions, he responded in v13
13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul’s perspective was that his life was already forfeit to the Lord and if his trip to Jerusalem was the appointed time and place for his death, so be it.
Prophecy Fulfilled
Prophecy Fulfilled
And it came to pass, just as the prophecy told. Paul was apprehended and then jailed in Jerusalem. When it became clear that he would not get a fair trial and that there was a plot for his life, he leveraged his citizenship to be sent to Rome, and this is from where he writes the Philippians.
Affliction to Bonds
Affliction to Bonds
We will cover this a to a greater extend in the weeks to come, but what Paul writes down in v16 of Philippians chapter 1 is probably one the sadder part of it all.
16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Even those who would preach Christ, opposed Paul and wanted for his suffering.
Truth
Truth
Disclosure Formula
Disclosure Formula
But Paul begins v12 with something that is very common for his writing, he writes:
But I would ye should understand
Paul writes something like this 10 across his letters. He will set up a problem, or address a concern that his readers might have, and then says something like “I would ye should understand” or “ I would not have you ignorant”. He provides a corrective to the situation, a perspective that the reader may not have considered.
The Philippians were no doubt heartbroken over what had come of Paul. They know Paul to be a great man of God, the Apostle in bondage surely would hinder the spread of the Gospel, not to say anything about their great care over the wellbeing of their brother in Christ. And we know they had great care for him, in Chapter 2 we find that they sent Paul a financial gift and that they sent it with Epaphroditus whom they charged to attend to Paul’s needs.
And while this could be a matter of great despair, Paul points to the blessing of his situation.
What does he say in v12?
The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.
It would be easy for the church to see Paul’s situation as a blow to the cause of Christ, that this was a victory for those that oppose the gospel. But it isn’t so, this was God’s plan all along. It’s like the dramatic scene in the movie, where you feel that all hope is lost for the hero only to to have it revealed that this was the plan all along and that the enemy played right into the hero’s hands.
A Matter of Safety
A Matter of Safety
First, this was a matter of Paul’s safety.
Turn over to Acts 23
let’s take a look what was going on in Jerusalem before he was apprehended:
21 But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.
This is a pretty serious threat, that 40 men would pledge that they would deny themselves the things of life until Paul was killed is no small thing. I have to wonder if they went through with it, did any of them die of dehydration once Paul was thrown in jail or did they throw in the towel?
And so the Cheif Captain, knowing Paul to be Roman citizen, sent a small army to retrieve Paul, look how things continue in v23
23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;
And so Paul’s life was spared.
Answer to Prayer
Answer to Prayer
Paul had planned to visit Rome after he visited Jerusalem, We read in Act 19:21
21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
So it was Paul’s purpose to go to Rome on his next trip anyway. He mentions this desire to visit Rome a couple times in the book of Romans, his letter to the church there, as well. this arrest and imprisonment only served to make it a tax payer funded ordeal.
God meant it for good
God meant it for good
This whole thing reminds me of what Joseph went through in the book of Genesis. He was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, only to rise to prominence as the Prime Minister of Egypt. If you have your bibles turn over to Genesis 50:20. Paul here could say the same about his situation as what Joseph said to his brothers actions
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Do you see the word “thought” in that verse? and then a few words over the word “meant”? Those are both the same Hebrew word “hah-shavb”. It’s has the idea of “to weave”. Just as Joseph’s brothers wove a plan to destroy him, so the enemies of Paul, the enemies of the gospel, wove a plan to destroy him and silence the truth of Christ. But God re-wove their plans for good.
Sure Joseph became Prime Minister, but Paul spread the word of God all over the place. Between Jerusalem and Rome, Paul stopped at: Caeserea, Sidon, Myra, Cnidus, Fair Havens, Malta, Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli and then finally Rome.
And what does Paul tell the Philippians in verse 13?
13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
His bonds are now manifest in the palace in Rome. Emperor Nero’s praetorium, the royal palace. If we skip forward and look at Chapter 4 verse 22 we see what impact he has there, as he closes with
22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.
The Emperor’s household appears , for the most part to be won for Christ. His royal guard, his slaves, all of those who serve Nero in his palace.
The bondage of Paul was no hinderance of the Gospel, but the means in which God used to further it.
Inspiration
Inspiration
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says this to the Apostle Peter
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church and it seems that as the forces of satan try to destroy the church it only grows.
John Bunyan
John Bunyan
Consider the ministry of John Bunyon. He was imprisoned and preached the gospel to the inmates, then people came from all around the city to stand outside the prison and hear him preach scripture. To silence him, they placed him deep in the prison where he couldn’t be heard from without. That is where he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. In the first 15 years, the book sold over 100,000 copies and has since been translated into over 100 languages. It has been listed as the 6th most printed book, exceeding 120 Million copies.
It is often said that the church thrives under persecution. And while we don’t have bible to confirm this we have seen examples time and again.
Iran is one of the most persecuted countries in the world. A pastor was just sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of promoting “Zionist Christianity” Yet despite this, Iran is said to have one of the fastest growing church movements in the world.
Despite heavy persecution, the official Chinese estimate for the number of the Christians living in the country is 44 million, but independent sources report that there are over 100 million Christians in china, up from only 3 million in 1980.
Application
Application
Anti-Christian
Anti-Christian
In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul tells his protege
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Our culture is certainly seeing an uptick in anti-Christian sentiment. There is legislation that would force the hand of Christians to act against their conscience if they own a business, and there is fear of that type of encroachment by government to become worse and worse. Churches in California have been threatened to be shut down, and their pastors jailed if they refuse to stop holding services. And I will concede this, many churches have been all-together insensitive ,and unwilling to find creative solutions to soften the concerns facing our nation and as a result have severely damaged their testimony.
But, the idea that pastors face the threat of being jailed, in this country, for meeting is unbelievable. Regardless of the situation.
What does Paul say of his own situation?
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
Have these things happened unto the church or out of the furtherance of the Gospel?
The reason that we see churches growing in places like Iran and China is that they have the need to rely on God for everything. In our country we are so self reliant in almost every way, that we don’t spend hardly any time in the practice of relying on God. Adversity is healthy for the church. I recently was told by another pastor that
God puts adversity in the live’s of Christians so that the world can see how Christians handle adversity.
I hear and see people, all over declaring that 2020 is the worst year ever, but why does it have to be? We have lamented that our culture is so self-sufficient, so wrapped up in what they have going on that they have no time to consider Christ. But all that has changed. People aren’t on sports fields to the extent that they used to be. People aren’t going out like they used to. People are heart-sick for human fellowship and are no longer certain of the prosperity we have all grown comfortable in.
So let me ask. Have these fallen upon the gospel, to hinder, or out of and unto the furtherance of the gospel?
Action
Action
For the Lost
For the Lost
Time magazine ran an article entitled “COVID-19 is making America’s loneliness epidemic even worse”. In the height of one of the most prosperous cultures in world history, loneliness is an epidemic, and now we are heading into the winter. A time when loneliness and depression takes it’s toll more than any other time of the year. I ask you this morning, not just, do you have a church family to lean on and to fellowship with? More importantly my question this morning is, do you have a savior.
Jesus says in Matthew 28:20
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
The only way we can have true peace and true fellowship is if we find it in Christ.
For the Living
For the Living
For us that have commited our lives to Christ. We need to maintain a heavenly perspective. We can’t spend our time defensively fighting to not lose political ground, or to reform the values of a lost society. Trying to get a God-rejecting culture to live within the boundaries of Christian values is and always has been a loosing battle. So my plea with you this morning is that we pick a different fight. That we turn back to the marching orders given to us by our Lord.
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
We are about to close in prayer, and I hope you make a commitment, first if you aren’t a Christian: To repent, and put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no better time than now., right where you are. And if you are a Christian with us today, that you commit to push the cause of Christ forward, rather than to fear losing ground. You only have the energy in your life to do one. And let’s keep a positive perspective, that the difficulties and persecutions that we face, God will re-weave for good.
Pray