Restoring the Joy
Sermon # 2
Philippians 1:12-20
In
today’s message we note that it is attitude that determines whether we have joy in
our circumstances. But by attitude we do not mean a foolish optimism, like so many express
today, in “the power of positive thinking.” Not like the man who
fell off a forty story building and at the tenth floor was heard to say, “So
far so good.”
We see the attitude that I am talking about in the story of “Maurine Jones, a 92-year-old woman, when she was moved to a
nursing home. Her husband of 70 years had recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly
when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, she was
provided with a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had
been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an
eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't
seen the room ... just wait."
"That
doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of
time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ...
it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it ... "It's a decision I make
every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the
difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be
thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus
on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away ... just for this time in my
life.” What a wonderful way to begin the day and wonderful outlook on life.” [www.sermonillustrator.org/
The Apostle Paul displays such an attitude of joy in his letter to the Philippians.
Paul had dreamed of going to Rome as a preacher in order to present the Gospel to the
emperor, Nero. Instead, he wound up n Rome as a prisoner awaiting trial. The details of
the experience that Paul sums up (v. 12) in the sparse phrase, “the
things which happened to me” are given in Acts 21:7 - 28:31. Here we are told
that he was arrested on the false accusation (21:28), he was misrepresented before the
court, incorrectly identified as an Egyptian renegade, he was kept imprisoned because of
official craving for popularity (24:7), or for money (24:26) and through a show of false
legalism (26:32). When he was finally reached Rome he was incarcerated and all but
forgotten for two long years. Yet through it all Paul maintains a joyful outlook on life.
This morning I want us to examine how he managed to do that.
“But I want you to
know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the
furtherance of the gospel, (13) so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard,
and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; (14) and most of the brethren in the
Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without
fear.”
“The
Message” translates these verses,“I want to report
to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect.
Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. (13) All the soldiers
here, and everyone else too, found out that I'm in jail because of this Messiah. That
piqued their curiosity, and now they've learned all about him. (14) Not only that, but
most of the Christians here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than
ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah”
Paul could
be joyful in spite of his circumstance because he did not see himself as a victim. When we
see ourselves as victims we are nothing more than the sum of the things that have happened
to us. But Paul said, (v.12) “the things which happened to me
have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” The word
translated “furtherance” (prokopen)
– sometimes translated “progress” - is a word used to refer to army
engineers who went before the troops to open the way to new territory.
Paul could
be joyful in spite of his circum-stances because he viewed the guard he was chained to as
a captive audience not a infuriating restriction. How
can a person think like that? The answer depends on the question we ask ourselves when
we face such a situation. Write down these two questions! Either we ask the negative: “Why
did this have to happen to me?” Or we ask the positive: “What does
God have in mind to benefit me in this
situation?”
In verse
thirteen he says, “so that it has become evident to the
whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ” (v. 13). The Palace Guard (literally is a translation of Praitorion
or Praetorium) – which referred to a people, the Praetorian Guards. The
Praetorian guards were the emperor’s bodyguard, which consisted of several thousand
elite Roman soldiers stationed at key residences of the emperor. These soldiers not only protected the king but
were also in charge of all of the imperial prisoners. The word “chains”
- some translations it is “bonds” - (v.
13) is (halusis) is a technical term that denotes a short chain used for
coupling a prisoner’s arms to a guard’s arm. Paul was chained to a soldier and
the soldiers rotated every four to six hours. For a two year period Paul had a captive
congregation as the finest regiment in the Roman army was literally chained to Paul in
rotation, for four to six hours a day.
Can you
imagine the talk in the barracks at night? “Well
what kind of duty did you get today? Man, I was chained to this little Jew from Tarsus
that everyone is talking about. All he talks about is some guy named Jesus, who was
crucified but supposedly rose from the dead. He says, that this Jesus is alive. But, we
know that no one ever survives a Roman crucifixion.
All
this Paul does is, either dictate letters to other groups of followers of Jesus or people
come to see him and he talks about Jesus. Every hour of every day, all he does is talk
about Jesus.”
It would
hardly come as a surprise that a number of the soldiers chained to Paul came to be
believers in Jesus themselves.
Paul was literally chained to a Roman soldier, but in another
sense of the word we all have restrictions in our lives that limit our ability to serve as
we would like to. Are you chained to a desk at work? What kind of chance do you
have to serve Christ if you work a full time job? Are you chained to a illness?
What can you do when your in poor health? Or perhaps you are chained to a two year old? What can you do to serve Jesus – when you are
busy at home raising your kid’s? When we are young it may be the children, when we
are middle aged it may be responsibilities, when we are older it may be our health, but we
all have limitations. We must meet the challenge of not seeing these things as
discouragement’s we need to view them as God given opportunities.
Paul’s
conclusion in verse fourteen was that “… most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains,
are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” The way that Paul had
handled the difficult circumstance in his life had helped his fellow believer’s
become more confident in service for the Lord. If Paul could be courageous enough in his
harsh circumstances to be a witness for Jesus then these other Christians realized, they
also could be courage in sharing Christ. Is there any one who is encouraged in the faith
by what they see demonstrated in your life?
Secondly, We
Can Be Joyful In Spite Of What Others Do (vv. 15-18)
“Some indeed preach
Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: (16) The former preach
Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains;
(17) but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the
gospel. (18) What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is
preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
I like the
way “The Message” translates these verses, “It's
true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they'll step
right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. (16) One
group is motivated by pure love,
knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. (17) The others, now that
I'm out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for them-
selves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes
for me, the better--they think--for them. (18) So how am I to respond? I've decided that I
really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth,
Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!...”
Rivals of Paul used his imprisonment as an opportunity to advance their own
personal agendas. Paul’s attitude toward others who were making Christ know is not
only charitable but also exemplary. The beautiful thing about Paul’s attitude was his
unwillingness to allow anyone make him bitter or resentful. Essentially He is
saying that as long as these people were preaching salvation by grace alone through
faith alone in Christ alone, Paul could live it. We need to be willing to
leave room for differences… to be ready to applaud good results even if the way
others arrive at them may not have been the way we would have done it.
Vance
Havner once observed, “The hardest instrument to play in all of God’s
orchestra is second fiddle.” But the principle as Paul sees it is that if Jesus Christ is number one, then you
don’t need to worry about who is number two.
“For I know that
this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ, (20) according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be
ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my
body, whether by life or by death.”
Paul knew that all that had happened would end in his deliverance. Did Paul mean
that he knew that God would deliver him by releasing him from his imprisonment? Not
necessarily. It is probable that he was referring not referring to physical deliverance in
the form of release from prison, because he clearly indicates in (vv. 20-21) that he was
prepared to die for the sake of the gospel if that was necessary. Do you remember the
response of the three Hebrew young men in Daniel 3? When these young men are threatened
with death if they do not bow down to the kings image of gold they replied, (vv. 16-18)
“… O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful
to answer thee in this matter. (17) If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. (18)
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship
the golden image which thou hast set up.” Their response was that they were
fully confident that God would deliver them from the hands of the king, either from the
flame or through the flames. Either the flame would not harm them or the flames would
extinguish their lives in which case they would go to Heaven. Either way their God would
deliver them. I believe that Paul is saying something similar, God will either deliver him
from prison by his release or he would deliver him by death, either way he will be free.
This is the kind of attitude that we also display when we face trials and difficulties, for God is still able to deliver His people.
Paul’s confidence came from two sources, he knew that he had been and would
continue to be sustained by the prayers of his good friends at Philippi. And in addition
Paul knew that he could depend on the help given by the Holy Spirit.
The Lord himself made the promise of the Holy Spirit’s help, comfort and
encouragement for believers. Just before He went to Calvary He assured his disciples in
John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— (17) the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him;
but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” Paul in Rome, under house arrest, facing a
stern trial and possible execution, experienced the peace and encourage-ment of the Holy
Spirit. No matter what difficulties you may be facing that same comfort is available to
you to have joy in any given situation.
We Can Be Joyful In
Spite Of Our Circumstance, when our joy is connected the advancement of the Gospel
rather than our physical comfort.
We Can Be
Joyful In Spite Of What Others Do, when we don’t care who gets the credit as long
as Christ is glorified.
We Can Be Joyful In Spite of How Uncertain The Future May Look because joy is not the self-satisfied delight that everything is going our way, but settled peace of knowing that God is in control even in the most difficult of circumstances.