PHILIPPIANS 1:19-30 Last week we began our study in the Book of Philippians. We saw as we studied that Philippians was written while Paul was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. He was chained to a soldier twenty-four hours a day. Everything that he did was done in the company of somebody else. We saw last week that Paul had no privacy and it was for this very reason that Paul said that his imprisonment had turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel. It was for this reason that Paul could say that Christians who knew of his circumstances had far more courage to speak the word of God without fear because they saw what God was doing in Paul s life and they knew He could do the same in theirs. And Paul even went so far as to say that there were those who were preaching the Gospel out of selfish ambition that they were doing this thinking that they would cause Paul distress. And then Paul said that it didn t matter who the messenger was, or what the motive of the messenger was as long as the message was Christ as long as Christ was proclaimed Paul said that he would rejoice! When you think about it, Paul spoke about folks who are representative of all folks in our churches today. He spoke about the saints that s anyone who is saved! He spoke about elders and the deacons these are folks who are church leaders the elders are the pastors and the deacons are the servants of the church. He spoke about members of the church at Philippi who had supported him and stood by him and shown him love. He spoke about those we mentioned a moment ago folks who were out proclaiming the Gospel because they were inspired to do so by Paul s affliction. And He also spoke about those whom we just mentioned folks who were preaching the Gospel, but they were preaching it with wrong motives. We have the same types of people in our churches today. We have those who are faithfully proclaiming the Gospel those who diligently and faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We also have those who are faithful in their attendance and their service. We also have those who attempt to undermine and bring distress to those who are the dedicated servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. I said that to simply say that this book is so very relevant for today! The Book of Philippians is a book that teaches how a person can rejoice, no matter what! If ever a person had reason to be down and depressed and discouraged, it was Paul. Paul wanted nothing more than to travel around and preach the Gospel and plant churches and bring people to the Lord Jesus! Yet, here in this Roman prison Paul could find reason to Page 1 of 7
rejoice! He saw the hand of God in every circumstance and he trusted the hand of God! He indeed knew that the will of God would never lead him where the grace of God could not keep him! And Paul had long ago given up his will to God s will. Paul had long ago been crucified with Christ so that it was no longer Paul who lived, but Christ lived in him! Paul had long ago said, Not my will, but Thine be done, Lord. And today we re going to see Paul teach us how to live like this. I want to tell you something when we finish his book, if we still cannot have joy in the midst of our difficulties, it won t be because we haven t been taught by someone who knew! Verse 19-21 Paul said he knew this would turn to his deliverance. And the word for know used here means unwavering, absolute, certain knowledge. And Paul knew this because of the prayers of the saints and the provision of the Spirit. Have you ever been in a place where you relied on the prayers of other people? Maybe you were too despondent to pray for yourself. Maybe you were too weary or sick or confused to pray for yourself. But, you knew you had Christian friends or family lifting you up in prayer! I want to encourage you to do this When we have prayer requests on Sunday morning, I wish you would write these things down. I wish you would take them home and really make them a matter of prayer. Betty said something in a note to Gloria s class a couple of weeks ago. She said that she never knew how much the prayers of other people meant until she was on the receiving end of them. When folks ask for prayer, please be faithful to pray! It just may be their only lifeline to the throne of God! Paul said he was confident that his circumstances would turn out for his deliverance through the prayers of the Philippians and also the provision of the Spirit. It seems Paul wasn t talking so much about the provision of the Spirit at salvation as much as he was talking about the Spirit s provision of divine power and protection after salvation! Paul knew that at some point on some day whether that day or one day out in the future, he would not be put to shame. He knew that one day he would be vindicated. He knew that one day everything would be all right! It was possible that when Paul went to trial that he would be found guilty of treason and executed. It was possible that Paul would spend years kept unfairly in a dingy prison. But, as long as Christ was magnified in Paul s body, it didn t matter to Paul whether he lived or died! Page 2 of 7
What does it mean to magnify Christ in our body? I believe it means just what it says! I believe it means to be an instrument in God s hands to show the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. The word magnify means to make great or enlarge. I want to tell you something you have probably already figured out. The world doesn t think much of Christians today nor does it think much of the Christ of Christianity. But, that doesn t lessen the fact that the world needs Jesus. The world needs to see the Lord Jesus made great and large in your life and mine. The world s view of Christ is too small. It s like that today and it was like that in Paul s day. EXAMPLE: David Waters said in his religious column in the Commercial Appeal yesterday that a new Buddhist temple is being constructed and the point of his column was to say how wonderful it is that Memphis has become a pluralistic community. I would have to say that to David Waters, the Lord Jesus Christ is too small. He lumps Christianity with Buddhism and Shintoism and Mormonism! I want to tell you the Lord Jesus Christ, the precious Son of Almighty is not just another god. And Paul is saying, I want to be a microscope to enlarge their vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to make the various facets of His life large so that lost folks can study Him in great detail! Not only that, but I believe Paul is also saying, I want to be a telescope of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to make the Lord Jesus seem closer to the lost folks around me. Jesus seems far away from those who are wandering around lost in this world. And the believer s body is to be a telescope that makes Him seem very close. If lost folks think about Jesus at all, they usually think of Him as someone who lived a long, long time ago and whose life has no relevance to them. But, when they see a strong believer going through a crisis with joy, as Paul was doing, then they can see Jesus made larger and brought closer. I want to ask you is there someone you ve met along the way, that when you were with them, you just felt the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ just being with that person, made Jesus seem close? There have been folks in my life like that. And you know what? I want to be that person in someone else s life. I want for my body to be the lens that makes a little Christ look very big, and a distant Christ come very close! I want to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ to those around me! And Paul didn t really seem to care if he magnified the Lord Jesus Christ in his life or in his death! Now, that s where I would like to be, folks! And I have to confess that I m not there! Page 3 of 7
And I truly believe until we can say this as Paul said it and really mean it then, we re not going to magnify the Lord Jesus in our life as Paul did! I mean, Christ isn t going to look nearly as big in my life and Christ is not going to seem nearly as close in my life as in Paul s life! Why? Because Paul had learned the secret of having joy no matter what! Paul had learned the secret of trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not leaning to your own understanding! Paul had learned the secret that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose! Paul had learned that His God would provide all His needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Paul had learned that He could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Paul had learned to live is Christ and to die is gain! And, that s the statement that really sums up the life of a Christian, isn t it? Philippians 1:21 becomes a test we can apply to our lives For instance, fill in these blanks For to me, to live is and to die is. For to me, to live is career, and to die is to be replaced by someone else? For to me, to live is recognition, and to die is to be forgotten? For to me, to live is family and to die is to leave them behind? If for you to live is wealth or fame or position, then death takes it away! When some great celebrity or some other wealthy person dies, how much do they leave? They leave it all! Don t you long to get to the place in your Christian walk where all else is secondary to Jesus Christ? Don t you long to get to the place in your walk with the Lord where you know that death is no longer your enemy it s simply your servant that leads you into the presence of God? Don t you long to be able to say with Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, and now I m ready to go home and wait for my crown of righteousness? Paul knew there was something worse than death and that is to live a life without exalting and magnifying Jesus! Verses 22-24 Paul seems to be thinking out loud, doesn t he? And we get to eavesdrop on his thoughts. Sunday before last, Dr. Song came up to Bill and me and asked us what eavesdropping meant. Remember Bro. Bob had begun his sermon that morning with the story of listening in on his grandmother s party line. We told Dr. Song not to feel bad we wouldn t have know what that meant in Korean! But, Paul seems to be mulling over aloud which would be best for him to live or to die! Paul says in verse 22, I do not know which to choose. Page 4 of 7
Of course, it wasn t Paul s choice to make, was it? But, sometimes we think about things as though we really did have a choice, don t we? Perhaps Paul meant he didn t know which he would choose if he could make the choice. On one hand, Paul had a deep desire to go to Heaven and see Jesus. He said in 2 Timothy 4: I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. On the other hand, Paul longed to bring folks to Jesus and to teach them and to encourage them! He wanted to be with Jesus, yet at the same time He wanted to be able to tell folks about Jesus! Paul didn t consider himself indispensable, but he was convinced that his ministry to the Philippians and to others was not yet complete! He had much more to teach them. He was convinced the church still needed his instruction and his leadership. I want us to see something very interesting! In verse 23, the word desire is a Greek word that is translated lust 31 times elsewhere in the New Testament Paul us saying in verse 23 that he is lusting to go to Heaven! Paul knew what it was like in Heaven! Remember, in 2 Corinthians 15, when Paul said that when he had been caught up to the third heaven, he didn t know if he had been in or out of the body. I think Paul meant that the place was so real to him that he could have been in his body at a physical location Yet, at the same time, it was so completely beyond anything he had ever experienced in his body on earth, he could have just been there in spirit. Paul didn t know whether he had been physically transported suddenly as Philip was in Acts 8, or whether his spirit had been caught up, but he did know he had been to Heaven! And the things he had heard there were untranslatable things inexpressible things it was a secret that could not be spoken And that experience had created in Paul a holy lust, a heavenly lust to go back there. In verse 23, the NAS says it is very much better He knew it was far, far better to go and be with Jesus than it was to stay here in this old world. What a contrast this is from what we see in Luke 16. In Luke 16, we see the rich man tell Lazarus that he needed to send someone to tell his brothers not to come to the place where he was. Where was he? He was in Hell! And he wanted to warn others in his family not to come there. We ll never see anyone wanting to warn members of their family not to come to Heaven! Verses 25-26 Paul said he was convinced that he needed to stay around a little longer. Paul knew there were so many folks who hadn t heard of Jesus. Paul knew even if he couldn t go to them and tell Page 5 of 7
them, he could teach others how to do this. Even if he had to stay chained to a Roman guard, he could still pray and minister to his brothers and sisters in Christ. Dr. John Phillips: He longed to go but he was willing to stay. For now he was needed here. He would have an endless eternity to enjoy the bliss of the world beyond the sky. He could spare a few more passing years of time to get a little more done. He would stay, not for himself, but for everyone else. Paul put his desire on one side of the scales and his duty on the other, and settled on the side of duty. Verses 27-30 What does it mean to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? I believe it means to conduct ourselves in a way that corresponds to the divine truth we profess to believe. It s having our walk match our talk! It s living out what we profess to believe. Paul said he wanted to know that the church at Philippi were standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel. And then, Paul introduced something to them that he hadn t said anything about before. Paul had spoken of his own affliction but, here we see Paul telling the Philippians that they, too, would be called upon to suffer for the sake of Jesus. Have you ever wondered if the believers of today will ever be called upon to suffer for the cause of the Lord? And if we are, have you ever wondered how we would behave? Would we be able to stand firm in the face of torture and pain and imprisonment? In Billy Graham s column yesterday someone wrote in and asked Dr. Graham how bad a nation has to get before God will judge it. Of course, the writer of this question was referring to the sad state America is. If judgment comes to our country, it s going to touch individuals, isn t it? It will touch you and me or our children or our grandchildren. Would we be able to stand for the Lord in the face of His judgment? Daniel did, and Jeremiah did and Isaiah did would we? I want to tell you, when judgment comes to our country, Christians will be the ones who will be persecuted the most by non-christians! We can t possibly how we would respond to that kind of persecution, we can t help but wonder. Would we have the grace we would need? I read many years ago about Corrie ten Boon asking her father if she would have the grace to do the right thing if she were ever put to the test. Her father reminded her that when they were about to take a trip they didn t get their ticket until right before they were to leave they didn t get it until they needed it. And indeed Corrie ten Boon and her sister and her father had the grace from Almighty God that they needed. If you re at all familiar with their story, you know that they were all imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jewish people during WWII. Corrie and Betsy, her sister, taught a Bible study and brought many of their fellow prisoners to know the Lord Jesus. Betsy and Corrie s father died in prison, but Corrie ten Boon went on to be an internationally known Christian speaker and author. Page 6 of 7
God gave her the grace she needed, but not until she needed it! Dr. Phillips puts it this way Dying grace is for dying, not living. Grace to suffer persecution, not for those who are at ease in Zion. So, if we re ever called upon to suffer this kind of persecution, I truly believe God will give us that grace when we need it! Andrew Murray said, In times of trouble, the trusting child of God may say, First, it is by His will that I am in this straight place. Next, He will keep me here in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child. Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn, and working in the grace He means to bestow. And lastly, in His good time He will bring me out again how and when, only He knows. Well, Paul is teaching you and me how to have joy no matter what. None of us wants to go through difficult times. None of us wants to suffer we don t want to go through trials. We don t want to go through testings! Yet, God has called you and me to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. And the only way you and I are ever going to be more like Jesus is to be tested and tried. Jesus suffered! The Book Hebrews said, Jesus learned obedience from the things He suffered. Don t miss it! He learned If Jesus Christ our Savior, in the mysterious mix of His divinity ad humanity, had to learn from suffering, what does that say about us? If the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 found themselves invaded by tests, trials, temptations, and troubles, what does that say about us? The old, old story is told of the refiner s fire. When a refiner wanted to refine silver, he would turn up the heat hotter and hotter until the dross would come to the top. And he would skim away that dross. Then, he would turn up the heat even hotter and he would skim more of that dross away. This process was repeated over and over Finally, all the dross would be gone, and the refiner would look into the molten silver, and if he could see his image clearly, without any dross in the silver marring his image, he would know his mission had been accomplished! And we ll never be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ until the Lord has brought us through the refining process a process that always hurts. But, when the Lord looks at your life and my life and He can see His own image, then He has accomplished His purpose in our lives! How I pray that we can learn from the Apostle Paul, how to have joy even in the midst of the refining process! Page 7 of 7