January 28, 2018 Philippians 1:12-26 I Have a Friend Who Is Always Negative Let me give you a little example of how I believe most people who are negative view the world. (Click forward to a blank screen) What do you all see here? That s correct a blank screen. (next screen has a black dot in the middle of it.) What do you see now? You were focusing on the dot, weren t you? Less than 1% of this screen is covered by the black dot and yet we all tend to focus on it. Why? The reason is, is that the dot is in such contrast to the paper that it s tends to draw our attention to it. We do that often with our jobs, spouses our kids, even our church. However, most of you have the ability to divert your attention to the paper, the dot is still in your field of vision but you can now see the whole paper. A person who by their nature is always negative finds it nearly impossible to focus their attention upon anything but the black dot or the 1 stupid thing their spouse did a week ago or the tough phone call out of 300 phone calls at work. That kind of person is the one who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks. One Poet writes, One ship drives east, another drives west with the self same winds that blow. Tis the set of the sails & not the gales which determines the way we go." You probably have several friends that could use to set their sails differently. In our scripture passage today the Apostle Paul mentions some very negative things that are going on in his life - unpleasant circumstances, unreasonable people, and his uncertain future. But Paul goes on to show that God was able to use those negative things in a very positive way. Hopefully, we can learn how Paul was able to set his sails and see his circumstances 1
positively instead of negatively. Lets look at our scripture passage together. 12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 2
Paul begins by talking about unpleasant circumstances. In vs. 12 he says, "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." We think we have troubles, don t we? But how does your list compare to that of the apostle Paul? How many times have you been shipwrecked? How many times have you been beaten near unto death? Or how many times have you been arrested & imprisoned & chained up 24 hours a day? Yet Paul says, "I look at all these things, & I see that they have served to advance the gospel." Now the Greek word translated "advance" here has an interesting history. It originally was used of "wood-cutters who go before an army, clearing a way through the underbrush so that the army can march forward unimpeded." Paul is saying, "All these things that have happened to me have resulted in clearing the way so that the gospel might be preached more effectively." In vs. 13, he relates how effectively, "As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." For 24 hours a day Paul is chained to Roman soldiers, each serving a 6-hour shift. So every 6 hours a new soldier would come in and chain himself to Paul. The soldier was doing his duty, making sure the prisoner wasn t going to escape. But Paul saw this as a wonderful opportunity to tell the soldier about Jesus. There was no way that the soldier could escape. And it worked, for in the closing chapter of this letter, vs. 22, Paul writes, "All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar s household." This tells us that some of these soldiers became Christians, & the gospel made its way even into the pagan household of Caesar - all because Paul was in prison. 3
There was a second positive result. In vs. 14 he says, "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously & fearlessly." Paul is saying, "Because of my hardships, because of the things that have happened to me, other Christians have been encouraged. They have seen how God has protected me through difficult situations, & encouraged me, & given me strength beyond my own power." "Now they re facing difficult circumstances, too. But because of what they have seen, they re convinced that God will take care of them, also." Bob Benson, in his book, "See You At The House," tells of a good friend who had a severe heart attack & almost died, but was now well on the road to recovery. Visiting him, Bob asked, "Bill, how do you feel about your heart attack? Bill answered, `I hate it. It nearly killed me " Bob asked, "Would you like to have another one?" "Certainly not!" "Would you recommend it for someone else?" "Absolutely not." Bob went on, "Bill, now that you re feeling better, do you treasure your life more than before?" "Yes, I guess I do." "You and your wife have always had a good solid marriage, but are you closer to each other now than before?" "Yes," Bill answered. "And what about your relationship with God? Has that changed since your heart attack?" "Yes, I feel a whole lot closer to God now than I ever did before." Bob asked, "Bill, in the light of all this, how do you feel about your heart attack now?" You see, God can take the most negative things that happen to us in life, & make them positive, if we ll just focus on the positive that is there. So what are you chained to this morning? Are you chained to an imperfect body? Are you chained to declining health? Are chained to 2 or 3 jobs, and you can t make ends meet? Are you chained to a job that has no future? Are you chained to loneliness or grief 4
or despair? Then you need to stop and ask, "How can God use this to advance the gospel?" Secondly, Paul talks about unreasonable people. Anyone have any unreasonable people in your life? In vs. 15 he says, "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will." What Paul is saying is this, "There are some people who are envious of me, who see themselves as rivals, competitors in preaching the gospel." Now what do we do when we become envious of someone else? We usually try to tear them down. We point out all the negative things we can about that person, thinking that by pulling them down, we re building ourselves up. Probably the most spotless reputation in our time is that of Billy Graham. People haven t been able to find much wrong with him. They ve tried. They ve looked into his finances, into his marriage, into every facet of his life, but they really haven t been able to find much to condemn. It is said that when Billy Graham goes on a crusade, he sends before him people who check out his hotel accommodations to make sure no woman has been planted there so that some tabloid photographer can take his picture with her & then spread malicious gossip. Billy Graham is very cautious to make sure that there isn t any room for suspicion. But in spite of all the precautions, once when he was preaching in Paris, France, a newspaper headline proclaimed, "Billy Graham spends night with woman other than his wife." They claimed that the hotel registry showed that a woman was registered and spent the night with him in his hotel room. They even gave her name, it was Beverly Shea. Now most of you who are familiar with the ministry of Billy Graham, know that his soloist and best friend is George Beverly Shea. In their effort to defame Billy Graham, the tabloids had made a big mistake. 5
Now vs. 18 is one of the most incredible verses in the Bible. Paul says, "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." Pat Riley, who has long been thought of by many as one of the finest coaches in the N.B.A., used to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. He tells the story of Magic Johnson. Riley says that when Johnson was in Jr. High School, his basketball talent was already obvious. He was so much better than all the other players on the team that he would score 50 points while the rest of the team would score 5. And they won every game. But the other players were very unhappy because they didn t get the ball or a chance to shoot very often. And their parents were unhappy, too. So Magic Johnson decided to change his role on the team. He would become an enabler, passing the ball to others, making them look good. He played only 2 years in college before becoming a professional basketball player. He went to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team made up of a lot of different superstars. They were all great players, but the team wasn t winning because they were all playing for themselves. Pat Riley says that Magic Johnson became the catalyst, and he decided to make other players look good. He went to Byron Scott and said, "I m going to make you the #1 scorer on this team. I m going to pass the ball to you, and you re going to score." And Byron Scott did. He went to James Worthy and asked, "Why have you never made the All-Star team? I m going to make you an All-Star." He started passing the ball to James Worthy, and soon James Worthy was on the All-Star team. 6
Kareem Abdul Jabbar is one of the highest scorers in the history of the N.B.A. And before he broke the record, Magic Johnson said to him, "I want to be the guy who passes you the ball when you make that record-breaking basket." Riley said, "On that night, when it was about time for Kareem Abdul Jabbar to score that record-breaking basket, Magic got off the bench, put himself in the game, dribbled down the floor, passed the ball to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the ball went through the hoop, and the record was shattered." Riley says, "If you ll look at the video-tape of that event, you ll see Magic Johnson leaping into the arms of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And if you ll look closely, you ll see tears streaming down his cheeks." He said, "He s the most unselfish basketball player I ve ever seen." Now my question is, "If that works in basketball, won t it also work in the church? If we can become that unselfish, and our desire is to make other people look good, to encourage each other, to build each other up, isn t that exactly what we are supposed to be doing as Christians?" Paul says, "The only thing that matters to me is that the gospel is preached." Finally, Paul mentions his uncertain future. In vs. 19 he says, "I know that through your prayers & the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance." Paul was facing trial in Rome. If he was found innocent, he d be freed to preach some more. If he s found guilty, he ll be executed. He knew he was either going to live, or he was going to die, depending upon the results of the trial. So he writes in vs. 20: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." 7
He is saying: "My concern is, when I stand before a pagan judge in a pagan court, that I won t do or say anything to embarrass Christ Jesus, my Lord. My only concern is that I will have enough courage to stand up in their midst and by what I say and do that Jesus Christ will be exalted. Whether I die or whether I live doesn t matter. All I want to do is exalt Jesus." Vs. 21 is a very familiar verse. You may even have memorized it at one time or another. Paul says, "For to me, to live is Christ & to die is gain." If most people were going to write that verse, and truthfully describe your feelings, what would you say? "For me to live is money, and to die is to leave it behind." "For me to live is family, and to die is leave them alone." "For me to live is pleasure, and to die is to miss all the fun." "For me to live is fame, and to die is to be quickly forgotten." The Living Bible paraphrases it this way: "To me, living means opportunity for Christ, and dying, that s even better!" In vs 22-24 Paul says, "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart & be with Christ, which is better by far." Pastor Lee Carter Maynard, a great Southern Baptist preacher, lived to be 90 years old. On his deathbed, as family & friends gathered around him, they saw the agony and pain he was experiencing. But all of a sudden everything changed, & a look of peace and a smile came upon his face. His eyes opened, he lifted up his hands, and said, "I see it! I see it! Do you see it? It s so beautiful!" And then he died. That s why Paul could say, "For to me, to live is Christ & to die is gain." Kenneth Dodge tells about an 8-year-old boy named Frank. Frank had a date with his father to go fishing on Saturday. They were going to fish the whole day. On Friday night 8
he had everything laid out. He was ready to go. But on Saturday morning he awoke to discover that it was raining cats and dogs, and they couldn t go fishing. So 8-year-old Frank grumbled, griped and complained all morning long. He kicked the furniture, the dog, the cat. Nothing was right. "Why does it have to rain today?" His father tried to explain to him that the farmers needed the rain. But that didn t satisfy Frank. "Why does it have to rain today?" he said. About noon the clouds broke and the sun came out. His dad said, "Well, we can t go fishing all day, but at least we can fish this afternoon. Let s go." So they jumped into the truck, went to the lake and fished all afternoon. They caught more fish than they had ever caught before. The stringer was full, and they had the time of their lives. When they came home, Frank s mom cooked some of the fish for supper. As they were sitting down to eat, Frank s dad looked at him and asked, "Would you ask the blessing?" Eight-year-old Frank prayed this prayer: "God, if I sounded a little grumpy earlier today, it was because I couldn t see far enough ahead." That s the problem, isn t it? We re so caught up in unpleasant circumstances, unreasonable people, and in our uncertain futures that we just can t see far enough ahead. But when you give it some time, you are able to focus more and more on the positive, set your sails and whether you run with the wind or into it, you can gain ground and reach your destination. Which hopefully is a life in the positive and not always in the negative. 9