The Win Win in Christ
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The Win, Win in Christ
The Win, Win in Christ
When I first became pastor here it was quite an adjustment for me:
I had to get comfortable speaking.
I had to get used to the time demands.
I had to gain more self discipline.
That first summer, I had a lot of help.
Nearly every adult preached once or twice that first summer
and I was very thankful for the help
Now imagine if you would, what if I couldn’t come to church for a few months,
perhaps spending time in a Salem Hospital
What if the church body took over preaching again and
as I recover, someone comes to me with this report:
Almost every week, someone preached.
One regular volunteer, doesn’t seem to like you very much,
I think they are jealous of you and are hoping to steel away your following
Another volunteer seems to be doing it because they like to hear themselves talk.
They have a big head.
And there are a couple of volunteer preachers who just love God
and want to see people saved.
You might expect
me to get angry.
You might expect
me try and reign in those first two preachers.
But Lets say the report goes on to say,
but Pastor,
People are being saved.
God is blessing this mess of motives
and lives are being changed.
Would you be shocked if I said
“That’s wonderful news, then prayed thank you Lord for the growth in the church”
“That’s wonderful news, then prayed thank you Lord for the growth in the church”
That wouldn’t be the easiest, most typical response,
but as we read on in Philippians chapter one,
you will see that was Paul's response,
not from the hospital, but from jail in Rome.
Lets take up with verse 12
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually 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 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of 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 God’s provision of 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 boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
All right, so lets start with looking at verse 12
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
What has happened to Paul?
He’s in prison in Rome.
When an innocent man or women is thrown into prison, without a valid reason
When they are held, and not given a speedy trial
we can all see how that is bad and wrong and undesirable.
But Paul says it “has actually served to advance the gospel”
The New International Version Chapter 1
actually served to advance the gospel.
That is wonderful, good news.
as Crystal Lewis song says
He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear.
This principle is clearly seen in
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
So this bad thing happened.
Paul was put in prison
But God
used Paul's imprisonment to
advance the gospel
and in Paul's mind, that out weighted the bad
of being imprisoned.
Many a man or a women imprisons, are thankful for
how God put their time out from life to good use.
So what specifically has happened?
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
So everybody in the neighborhood has learned that there is a foreign religion call Christianity
and the preacher Paul is in prison
He is in chains
because of it.
How awesome to be in a place in life where Paul is not feeling sorry for himself
what shows is his excitement that God could use this so more people know something about Christ.
Lord I want my life to be more about Christ and less about me.
Lord make that the desire of all our hearts.
That wasn’t the only thing that Paul observed and delighted in.
Do you know what else excited Paul?
14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
As you know, many things have intimidated me in life.
But I have found, that with the example of another persons boldness,
if someone could walk me through how to do something
or how to talk about something difficult once,
I found boldness to follow their example.
Paul’s living example, of standing up for Christ has inspired many to stand up for Christ,
to share about the Christian Life.
I wonder, whose lives we might change as we gain more Boldness to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Think of someone, or a situation where you could proclaim Christ as your Lord and savior, if you gained a little more boldness
Think of them or that situation as I pray
Lord, we all need more Christ like boldness in our lives.
Inspire our hearts, minds and wills with more BOLDNESS RIGHT NOW!
We ask in Jesus Name!
Next, we are starting into a section about preaching.
If preaching is not your thing,
well then picture it as sharing
about Christ.
Each one of us can talk about what Christ
has done for us.
If we have a relationship with Him that is.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of 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.
Here is a question for you:
Can god use preaching from a bad motive?
YES, God can use preaching from a bad motive.
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,
It might be easy for you and I to get all upset
MAN! He is only preaching to win over my followers
IT’s so Frustrating to be stuck in Jail when their harvesting the crop
I put in a lot of time sowing the seed and there harvesting.
We could get our selves really worked up in a lather
if we don’t place enough value on salvation of lost souls
if we place to much focus on our ministry
my ministry.
Paul clearly is in a better place
Paul has a better focus
When he can say
What Does it Matter?
When he can say
The New International Version Chapter 1
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,
Can you rejoice when you are taken out and
someone else gets the scoring point?
Can you rejoice when you make a great block that means your team mate gets the goal.
gets the glory
and you get none.
Paul doesn’t care about the Glory,
he is just glad that God made another win
another soul is saved from damnation to hell.
So he says
“Yes I will continue to rejoice
19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
What does God’s deliverance of Paul look like?
What does God’s deliverance of Paul look like?
When we hear about deliverance, we think in terms of:
safe,
out of harms way
no more pain
no more loss
But Paul pictures two very different events as being his deliverance.
He pictures being set free,
and he pictures having his life taken from him.
Lets read on
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.
Paul's deliverance seems to be from chickening out on his faith in Christ
that is deliverance from denying Christ in the face of punishment or death.
He wants to be bold to the end, whether that end is being released
or sentenced to death.
How could Paul, have this king of peace, when life, death and torture where possible?
Peace and deliverance are gifts from God.
When Pam first learned she had cancer, there were some thoughts and feelings of:
I don’t want to die so soon
I thought I would be older
And it disturbed her.
But then she felt an assurance that it would be alright.
Not an assurance that she would be healed
But an assurance that whatever the outcome,
it would be ok
she would be ok with God’s choice.
As you and I face trials in life,
I hope that Paul’s experience, testified about in Philippians chapter 1
I hope that Pam’s assurance that she could trust God in her illness
will help you and I.
Lord help us to learn from your word,
and from the experiences of other Christians
so that we don’t have to learn everything
the hard way.
To Live is Christ, to die is gain
To Live is Christ, to die is gain
Key verse
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
To some extend, I can’t fathom that verse
To Live is Christ, to die is gain
We seem to be made to cling to life
even when it’s miserable
even when we are trying to end it
something inside of often still clings to life
So the idea that to die is gain
it’s hard to imagine.
Add to that a warped, Hollywood view of heaven
walking on clouds
trying to play harps all the time
It’s no wonder
we have trouble imagining that what Paul is saying it true,
“to die is gain.”
I do.
And yet at times, visiting the dying
I have felt this sense of excitement
They are going to be with the Lord
SOON!
and a part of me has wished at times that I could go home to heaven with them
Doesn’t that sound a little crazy.
But Paul had that kind of excitement about heaven.
None of us should ever try to escape the life God has given us,
we should never consider suicide but
I hope as you and I grow closer to the Lord
we grow in our excitement and understanding that
BEING WITH GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY
IS SOMETHING EXCITING
IT IS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
And with Paul’s future clearly being release or death
maybe we can grant him a little grace for expressing some excitement about getting
to move onto Life with Jesus.
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.
By the way, it’s only occasionally that I have felt that awe and wonder about how
wonderful the next life is,
mostly I have very happy to work hard for you and my family here.
Suicide Prevention line 800-273-8255
Veteran Prevention line 800-273-8255
Paul felt torn between working to grow them as Christians
and going on to be with Christ himself.
I note in out passage that there are things we are certain of
like Christ died to save sinner and
things we strongly believe
we are certain of
Paul is certain, convince that he is going to stay and yet he might not
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 boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
He said he is certain but in the very next verse it’s
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel
You can be fretful because you are looking for a job. You can have an interview and feel a sense of peace from God. You conclude you will get the job.
It may be that you get the job, praise God for the job
It may be that God was just giving you some peace, and He’s got some other job in mind for you.
Not everything in the Christian life is clean and tidy
God’s will is not always easy to be certain of.
What did Paul ask the Philippians to do?
What did Paul ask the Philippians to do?
Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of Christ
then they will
stand firm
be of one Spirit
striving together
for one faith
What else will happen if we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ?
What else will happen if we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ?
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.
What else
They will be able to stand without being frightened in any way by those who oppose them.
And lastly, God has granted them two things that we wouldn’t normally put together:
strong belief and suffering
Since in having boldness they are standing up, just as Paul stood up for Christ,
There faith will be strengthened and
they will have the honor of suffering.
Here is the word
29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Coming from our culture,
all of us, probably don’t appreciate the honor of
suffering for Christ.
Lord please give us better understanding and hearts devoted to you.
So what have we learned in this section of Philippians, chapter 1?
So what have we learned in this section of Philippians, chapter 1?
We saw that sharing the good new is really important
We saw that sharing the good new is really important
Whether it’s through preaching or by just telling our stories,
It’s so important that you and I don’t need to worry about who is getting the glory.
Or if there motives are right.
Here is a question for you.
When an orchestra works on a Christian film, can God use it to save people,
even though not everyone in the professional orchestra is a Christian?
Of course he can, but it gives me pause to think.
We saw another example how God can take a bad thing, and make good from it.
We saw another example how God can take a bad thing, and make good from it.
Probably everyone has had bad things happen in their lives.
But when we are in God’s family,
He can use that to help us or
help others.
We saw that Paul was so excited about heaven, he was ready to go.
We saw that Paul was so excited about heaven, he was ready to go.
I bet he had no expectation of walking on clouds or spending time learning to play the harp.
But his compassion for helping people like you and me,
kept him grounded on earth with fruitful labor.
God, help us all to take joy in fruitful labor for the kingdom.
And finally Paul asked the Philippians to
Live your lives in a worthy manner
Live your lives in a worthy manner
Will you choose to do that?
Not for me but for Christ
Will you choose today to live your life worthy of Christ?
Will you choose today to live your life worthy of Christ?
Let’s Pray.
Let’s Pray.