PHILIPPIANS 1:12-262006 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 1:12-26

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006. Our portion of scripture this morning is a very interesting portion of scripture, a very powerful portion of scripture. Here we see Paul's heart so clearly. He demonstrates the things that are important to him, the things that he is passionate about, the things that

are really dear to his heart.

Now we've talked about the book of Philippians and noticed that the book of Philippians, he wrote and he had a special connection with the church there at Philippi. He knew them and loved them in a different way than many of the other fellowships. He had a great connection with them and he spoke to them things very personal to him and he shares his heart very clearly with them. It's not like as we studied through the book of the Corinthians where there was so much correction and things that needed to take place and

And Paul had to defend himself over and over again to the Corinthians. And he had to deal with the fact that he was really called as an apostle and so on and so forth. And then in Galatians, he wrote, and he had to correct a lot of their thinking. They had been turning away to a different gospel and he had to bring them back. And God was doing a work through Paul to do that, but it was a very rebuking letter and astonished letter. What are you guys doing? I can't believe what's going on. And then even...

as we studied, we saw that Paul was writing to them and gave them so much doctrine and all the wonderful things that God had done for them and how to apply that to their lives. But there was not very much personal things that Paul shared with them.

Here in Philippians, it's much different, however, because here Paul, right from the beginning all the way to the end, he's sharing his heart along with the rest of the things that he has to say. And he's giving insight into what is valuable to him and where he stands with the Philippians. We see his heart so clearly here.

And it's a heart full of joy as we've been looking at Philippians, that it is a book that has joy from beginning to end. And we've learned, I've shared it with you several times now, do you remember? How do we have joy? Well, we follow the acronym. The J stands for joy.

Jesus. We put Jesus first. And we see that again in this portion. Christ is mentioned, Jesus Christ and the Lord. Altogether, ten times Jesus is mentioned and we see Paul's joy in this passion. Well, the O stands for?

Others. And after we put Jesus first, then the second position, the second thing that needs to have place in our life is others. That we need to serve them and live for others and minister to others. And finally, the Y stands for yourself. And we save the last place for ourselves, dying to ourselves in order to serve the Lord and to serve others. Now, as I look at Paul's example in this passage...

I don't know about you, but man, I am impressed. This guy astounds and amazes me. He inspires me as I look at this portion of Scripture.

I want to live life with his commitment level, with his heart, with a sold-out attitude, sold-out for Jesus Christ, just like the Apostle Paul. Man, you see him, and it's encouraging, it's inspiring, the way that he lived, the heart that he had for God. But as we look at these things this morning, there is a warning that I must share with you. In fact, a warning that God had to deliver to my heart this week.

This week has been very interesting for me. It's been a tough week. There's been a lot happening and God has been doing wonderful things. Man, on Wednesday we wrapped up the Spiritual Warfare series and it was a powerful time in the Word. We were encouraged. We were blessed by the Lord. Thursday was the inductive Bible study class and God was doing great things and we were encouraged as well there and

So many things have been going on, but you know, as this week has progressed, I've just been more and more tired, really struggling with...

energy and fatigue and dealing with spiritual warfare, just like we've been talking about on Wednesday evenings, you know, as we often experience the things that we're studying and going through. And to an even greater degree this week, it's just, I really have been feeling it, fighting discouragement and condemnation, fighting the things that we've been talking about on Wednesday nights.

Well, as I wrestled with these things and wondering, Lord, why have I been so tired? And why does just everything seem like such a burden upon me? Why is this, these tasks before me so great?

And he reminded me of something so important. Because as I was looking at the example of the Apostle Paul, again, I'm inspired, I'm encouraged. Man, there's so much that he did and his sold-out attitude for the Lord. But there's something that we need to remember. No matter...

What, no matter what, rather, Paul served the Lord. He was living for Christ, dying for Christ, being a bondservant, as we looked at last week. A bondservant means that it's one who is devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests. And we see that in Paul. But the thing I needed to be reminded of, and the example we see there, the thing that you and I need to hear that I must share with you is this.

If you see the example of the Apostle Paul and try to live that way, it will be a great burden to you. It will be a great burden to you if you try to live like the Apostle Paul. Now, Paul did say in his letters to imitate him as he imitates Christ and to follow him, to follow his example. He is an example for us

And it's good that we see his example and it's good that we have the desire to live for the Lord with all of our heart just like I've been expressing to you. It's good for us to be devoted to the Lord, serving him as much as we can, even serving him at all costs. However, this is the warning. This is what we must remember. Here's what we must recognize about the Apostle Paul. And it's that everything that he did and the life that he lived was the result of

of a passionate relationship with God. Everything that he did was the overflow of his personal time with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was able to give himself completely to the work of the Lord because it was the overflow of his love for Jesus Christ. He was captivated by the Lord, had a deep relationship with God, loved God with all of his heart. And so his service to him

was the overflow of that. It wasn't burdensome, even though he's in prison at the time. We find that he's not bogged down and worried and stressed and bummed out that he has to serve the Lord in these ways. Rather, he's excited because he's spent time with the Lord and everything else is just the result of that. I've shared with you the last couple of times we've looked at Philippians about joy, about putting Jesus first, others second, and yourself last.

And it is true that if you do that, if you apply those things, you will find joy. That's how we obtain joy and receive joy in our lives. But please hear me on this. Please do not mistake what it means to put Jesus first. Putting Jesus first does not mean that you have to try to do a lot of things in order to please him.

It doesn't mean that you have to do a lot of things to be pleasing to His sight or to serve Him in that way. We do not have a work-based relationship with God. It's not based on what we do or how much we get done. Please understand that as I share with you throughout the coming weeks in the book of Philippians about joy, putting Jesus first, I'm not encouraging you to just go out and do a bunch of things and

Try to find joy in that way. But putting Jesus first means that you fall in love with him. It means that he captivates your heart, that your relationship with him is the priority of your life, that your time with Jesus is the most important, most valuable thing to you. Jesus did not die so that we could do a bunch of things for him. He died so that we could love him.

That he could love us and that we could enjoy relationship together. Looking at Paul's example, even this morning, we can have an overwhelming sense of how little that we do for God. But that does not mean that we then go try to do more things for him. No, instead, when you and I recognize that we are not serving the Lord the way that we ought to,

As much as we ought to. When we're not serving the Lord in the ways that he's called us to, it's not an indicator that we need to go and do more. It's an indicator to our hearts. It should be a red warning light for us. Hey, something is wrong in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

When I see those needs and those indicators in my life, I need to rekindle my relationship with Jesus Christ and fall in love with Him again. Because service to Him and the things that we do for Him, it's the overflow of a loving relationship with Him. It's not things that I do to try to please Him, but I please Him simply because I've spent time with Him and I'm so in love with Him. And the things are not a burden anymore.

but it's a joy. And please, if you are serving the Lord in some way, but it's a burden to you, don't do it. Stop doing it. There's no value in that. Do the things and serve the Lord joyously in ways that bring you joy, in ways that you can do it joyfully because you've spent time with Jesus Christ. Putting Jesus first, we need to fall in love with Him again and keep Him the priority in our life.

So let us live with great joy as we see the example of the Apostle Paul, putting Jesus first, others second, and ourselves last. Now, this morning as we look at this portion of Scripture, we see Paul's example, and I want to challenge you to let some of the things that we see in him be indicators for you, maybe some warning lights that need to go off that we would rekindle our hearts and our love relationship with Jesus Christ.

verses 12 through 14. Paul says this,

Paul, as a result of his loving relationship with God, has this primary objective in his life. He wants others to know the same Jesus.

And fall in love with this same God. He wants others to experience this relationship with God. His primary objective, preach the gospel. That's what he lived to do. That's what in Acts chapter 9, when God revealed himself to him and sent Ananias to lay hands and to pray for him, he told him, he's going to be a witness. Paul, you're going to be a witness to the world.

You're going to go and preach the gospel. And Paul made that his life endeavor as a result of his relationship with the Lord. He wanted others to hear. That was what he wanted to accomplish most. But you know, it's interesting how God works sometimes. Very often, he does not work the way that we think he should. He doesn't accomplish things the way that we think he might very often.

You know, we would think that the best thing for God to do is to keep Paul out there on the mission field ministering and preaching the gospel. He was so effective at it, man. We saw through the book of Acts and all the things that God did through him and the letters that we read in the New Testament, half of the New Testament being written by him. Man, all that he accomplished. We would think that God would say, man, Paul, you...

The best place for you is out there and I'm going to give you energy and you're going to go from one end of the earth to the other end and back and forth and you're going to share the gospel and plant churches and build up leaders and train and teach others to preach the gospel too. I mean, that's what I would do if I was God, having a man like the Apostle Paul at my disposal. But God says, no, I'm not going to do it that way. I want to do it differently. I want to get the gospel out. That's God's desire. But Paul, here's the plan.

I'm going to put you in prison for two or three years at least and have you be chained to a guard night and day. And I can imagine the Apostle Paul, and I'm sure this didn't happen, he has much more faith than I do, but I would be asking, what? How does this help? My goal is to preach the Gospel.

God, that's what you want to do. You want to reach the world with the love of Jesus Christ. What is this going to do, God? I'm not going to have an opportunity to speak to all of the people that I could have if I was free, if I wasn't in prison. This doesn't make sense. And God says, just wait, Paul. You'll see. You'll see what I'm up to. I know what I'm doing.

And Paul says, kind of surprisingly, we can hear a hint of surprise in his voice. He says, you know, the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. You would think that putting me in jail would really hinder the gospel because I was out there and I was preaching the gospel and so much was happening and so much was taking place. But Paul says, you know, it's actually turned out quite different. And it's turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

So much more has been accomplished. So much is being done as a result of the things that have happened to me. You know, in your life, you might be wondering sometimes, why does God have me here? You know, I could be doing so much more or reaching so many others. Why did he put me here in this situation? With this job and with this family, with these neighbors and these friends?

Why did God have me here? I'm gifted and I'm eager and I want to serve Him. Why does He have me in this position? I want to encourage you to be faithful. God knows what He's doing. Students often wonder, they graduate from high school, they ponder, should I go to college? Should I go to Bible college? Should I go on the mission field? The world's open. What should I do?

And very often when the Lord calls them to school, you know, it's a bummer. Why do I got to go to school? I could be so much more effective out witnessing or serving at church full time or just, you know, having my parents pay all my bills and just really serving the Lord as much as I can. There's a lot of kids with that mentality sometimes. But be faithful.

God knows what he's doing. He has you where he wants you. And he has you there for a reason. And it's going to work out for the furtherance of the gospel. You know, employees often wonder too, man, why can't I just work at the church full time or be a part of this or a part of that? Man, I would be so much more effective or so much more could be accomplished. And God says, just be faithful.

You keep the main thing the main thing. Stay focused on a loving relationship with me. And let me take care of the rest. I'm going to use it for the furtherance of the gospel because that's what God wants to do. And He's able and ready to work in our hearts what He wants to do, that we would be faithful witnesses to Him. It's good that we have those desires. But you know, God does know what He's doing.

And again, we simply just need to fall in love with him and trust him that he knows what he's doing and that it's going to turn out for good for the furtherance of the gospel. Now, how did Paul's imprisonment turn out for the furtherance of the gospel? He shares with us two ways. The first way found in verse 13, he says, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are

The first way that Paul shares that the gospel has been furthered as a result of him being imprisoned and the things that has happened to him is that God has used it to reach a group of people. And Paul says, I couldn't have reached otherwise. The whole palace guard has heard the gospel message. And they're like,

Because I've been chained to most of them and they talk about why I'm here and what the charges are against me and I could have been set free but I stood up for Jesus Christ and as a result, everybody knows. The whole palace guard, he says, as well as all the rest. Everybody knows. Around the palace, in the palace, it's made a huge impact. Just me being here, chained up for Jesus Christ. Everybody knows that I'm here because I love him and because of the gospel message.

You know, they wouldn't have come to hear me preach at the synagogue or maybe at the outreaches that we did, but God sent me to them where they're at as a result of me being here. They've all heard the gospel message. Incredible. We read at the end of Philippians, in chapter 4, verse 22, as Paul is giving his concluding greeting to them, he says, What is Paul saying?

Here he's in prison in Rome waiting to appeal to Caesar or appear before Caesar. And as a result of him being there, the whole palace guard, they've heard the gospel. All the others around the palace and those in the court and those around Caesar, they've all heard the gospel. And chapter 4 verse 22, even some of Caesar's household, those who are there around, they've heard and received the gospel message. As a result, people have gotten saved.

They received Jesus Christ. And so Paul says, man, the gospel message has been furthered. There's been a great work that's taken place from within as a result of my chains. God has you where he has you because that's where he wants to use you to reach people that could not be reached any other way. They didn't come this morning. They probably won't come next Sunday because

But your co-workers and your family and your neighbors and your friends, God has you there with them, next to them, maybe chained to them, literally or figuratively, so that you can share the gospel message with them. That they would know that your chains are in Christ and that you live for Him. God wants to use it to further the gospel message.

Well, the second way we see, it's found in verse 14, the second way the message is furthered, it says, The second way the gospel message has been furthered, Paul says, God has used my situations and my imprisonment to embolden others to preach the gospel.

So instead of Paul going back and forth and all around sharing the gospel message himself, or maybe him and Timothy and Silas, a couple guys, now instead there's many people. He says, most of the brethren in the Lord. He's not just talking about a couple people, but now most everybody has been emboldened to speak the gospel message, to share the love of Christ without fear. People that were not willing to preach the gospel before have

Paul says now they're willing to preach without fear. God is using Paul's example to encourage others to be bold in their witness. And again, may I encourage you, wherever you're at, God has you there because that's where he wants to use you to be an example to others, that they might become bold witnesses for Jesus Christ. There's many brethren that need to have examples set before them.

that they might step up to the plate and be emboldened, that they might share with others around them without fear. Instead of Paul just going and sharing the gospel, now as a result, there's a whole bunch of believers in Jesus Christ sharing the gospel message. Instead of one voice, the voice of the Apostle Paul, now it's a hundred or a thousand or who knows how many Paul is referring to here, but many are sharing the gospel message.

Verses 15 through 17, he continues to talk about this. He says, So many are preaching, Paul says, as a result of my chains, as a result of what's happened to me. Now,

He expresses here to us, though, that some do it with right motivations and some do it with wrong motivations. Did you know that you can preach the gospel in envy and strife? Did you know you could do it with wrong motivations? How is it? How do you do that? How do you preach the gospel in envy and strife? Well, Paul tells us in verse 16. He tells us that the former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to the gospel.

The motivation behind their preaching was not a good motivation, but instead it was selfish ambition. Selfish ambition, it's a word that means to electioneer or intrigue for office. It doesn't mean much to us, but we could equate it to lobbying for position. To have secret schemes and plans to obtain a place or a role, to obtain some power. Paul is saying this,

Some of those who have been emboldened to preach the gospel, they have wrong motivations. They see the position, they see the authority maybe that I had and they want that for themselves. They see the influence and they desire that power. And they see that I'm locked up and figure, hey, now's the time, the perfect opportunity to swoop in and take my place.

and to have the power and the authority, the influence that I once had. They're looking for the position. They're looking for the power. Of course, they're Christians like us. They've learned to cloak their sin with spirituality. And so they're doing it with spiritual language, and they're doing it under the guise of spirituality. But it's not the right heart, not the right motive. There's an underlying secrecy scheme

a plan and a plot. They're doing it out of selfish ambition. They don't do it sincerely. They don't genuinely actually care for the people. They don't care or they're not concerned about their eternal state. They're just caring for themselves. And that's why they weren't preaching the gospel before. But now...

that there might be some advantage in the position that they can obtain or have, they come boldly preaching. Now that there's something for them to gain from it, they come boldly preaching. I don't think I need to explain to you that this mentality and this heart, these motivations still are ongoing today. There are many who preach the gospel for their own gain. Peter warns us against that. In 1 Peter 5, verse 2, Peter warns those who...

And he says, And we need to be careful because there are those who seek to preach the gospel, who seek to do works of God for their own gain. And we need to be careful because there are those who seek to preach the gospel,

and not for the gain of the Lord. Not because they love the Lord or because they love His people. Verse 17, "...but the latter out of love, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel." So there's many who are preaching the gospel for selfish ambition because they have something to gain, something they want to get out of it. But there's also a whole other group that Paul says, "...they do it out of love, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel."

Now this is the only correct motivation for preaching the gospel. It's love. Love is the only reason, the only real valid reason for us to share the gospel message with someone. It's love for God and love for his people.

This group that Paul is referring to now, they saw the work that Paul was doing. They were blessed and people were getting saved and they rejoiced, but they weren't preaching themselves. But now that Paul is in prison, now they are emboldened because they love the people.

And somebody has to reach them. Somebody needs to share the Lord with them. And Paul's in prison, and so it caused them to step up to the plate in their own hearts and say, I'll preach the gospel. I'll share the love of Christ with them. Paul may not be able to reach them now. He's in prison, but...

But someone needs to reach them. They had a love for these people. They had a love for the lost. They had a love and knew that God loved those and wanted to reach out to them. Their love for people drove them to share the gospel message. Do you ever have trouble sharing the gospel message with others? Don't feel alone. We all have that trouble. But you know what we need in those situations? We need love.

for God's people. We need to pray and ask God for love for His people. Because as we learn to love the way that God does, we will long for them to experience the fullness of life in Christ, the joy that God has in store for them, the eternity that He has planned for them. We need to learn to love them. And how do we do that? Well, the best way to learn to love people is to spend time with their Creator, the One who loves them

So much. Loving people is not something that we try real hard to do. We determine in our minds, by golly, I'm going to love people more this week. That's not how we learn to love. It won't work. You'll find it doesn't last very long if that's your attempt. But we learn to love people by spending time with the one who loves them the most.

with the one who created them and desires for them to be saved and have a relationship with him. We spend time with God, spend time with Jesus Christ and we learn to love others. And this is, as I shared at the beginning, a good heart check for us. As we see these characteristics in the Apostle Paul, it should prompt us to examine our heart and ask ourselves, do I have this love for others?

Do I have this love that I'm willing to share the gospel with them? Because this love comes as a result of spending time with Jesus. If I've been spending time with Jesus, I'm growing in my love for others. If I'm not spending time with Jesus, I'm not growing in my love for others. There's no other way that we can receive this love, this agape, perfect love, except by spending time with our Lord and Savior. In John chapter 15, Jesus says,

was describing to the disciples what they needed to walk with him. And he tells them over and over again, here's what you guys need to do. Abide in me and I'll abide in you. And abide in me and you're going to bear much fruit. Abide in me and allow my words to abide in you. And if you abide in me and my words abide in you, I'll abide in you. And God's going to be working. You're going to be keeping my commandments.

Now what's interesting, in John chapter 15, I want to read to you real quickly verses 10 through 12. You don't have to turn there. But it says, Jesus is explaining to his disciples why.

If you want to have love for others, keep my commands. If you want to keep my commands, abide in me. Stay close to me. Fill your life with me. Allow me to consume your life. Dwell in me and allow me to dwell in you and let my words dwell in you and you're going to be keeping my commands and here's my command, let you love one another. See, loving others, it's a result, a direct result of

of spending time with the Lord, abiding in Him. And we need to check our hearts. How's my love meter doing? Do I love others? Do I have a burden to share the gospel message with others because of my love for them? And if I don't, I need to spend more time with my Savior. I don't need to determine to try harder to love them, but no, I need to spend time and the love for them will be a natural result of my loving relationship with God.

Paul goes on in verse 18. He says, What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. Paul kind of comes to a conclusion here. And he says, you know, whatever case, whether it's deceitfully or genuinely, Christ is being preached. That's my goal. That's what I've been desiring. That's what I'm longing for. And that's how the gospel is being furthered.

Some people are doing it with wrong motivations and some people are doing it with right motivations. But the bottom line is, the gospel message is being shared. And people are having the opportunity to receive what God did for them. And they're being saved and born again. He's not saying that it's okay to have selfish ambition in preaching. Nor is he saying that it's no big deal. But here is what he is saying. There's nothing I can do about their motives.

So until God deals with their hearts, I'm just going to rejoice that the gospel is being preached. That's what he says. In verse 18, he says, In this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. Now, Paul's not some weirdo, you know, there in prison and trying to tell us to be joyful and saying, you know, hey, I'm joyful. It was another 24 hours being chained to a guard and whoo, it's exciting. He wasn't being a little crazy and

A little over the top. Saying you should be joyful in all the hurts and harms that you're experiencing and all the troubles that you're going through. He says, no, here's what I'm rejoicing in. I'm rejoicing that even though I'm going through this, and it's not a pleasant situation, it is difficult, but you know, even in this, the gospel message is being preached. The message is being furthered. People are coming to a saving knowledge of me. People are coming, not me, of Jesus Christ.

People are knowing the gospel message and hearing about what God has done for them. Paul says, I'm not going to worry and stress about the situation I'm in or the motives of the people that are doing these things. I'm just going to rejoice because people are having an opportunity to receive eternal life. Someone was sharing yesterday about a co-worker who...

goes around and tells everyone on them and says, hey, this person is trying to convert you and tell you about Jesus. And this person is always reading their Bible and going and talking to the boss and talking to the co-workers and talking to everybody that comes in about this person, Jesus this, and this person, Jesus that. As they were sharing this with us yesterday, I was just kind of smiling to myself and thinking about these words from Paul. This person does it maliciously, but oh well.

They're witnessing. They're sharing the gospel. They're saying, listen, if you want to find truth, if you want to find someone who knows God and find relationship with God, here they are. And it's so hard for us to have that mentality and have that understanding when someone's speaking against us, but when they're speaking against us about the truth and the gospel message, oh, we can rejoice in that. Even if we're imprisoned, but it's being used for the furtherance of the gospel. Like Paul, oh, I rejoice in that.

Paul says, what then? Only in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached. In this I rejoice and will rejoice. I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about these guys with false motives. I could be worried about how to deal with them and take care of them. But, you know, instead, I'm just going to let God take care of those things and just rejoice that the gospel message is being preached. Man, what a heart we see here in the Apostle Paul.

What an example for us. We must ask ourselves, again, a heart check. Do we have this heart? Could we be imprisoned and choose to rejoice in knowing that the gospel is being preached? Now, maybe being imprisoned is not realistic for you. But how about being fired or being cast out from your friends or family or having something to that effect happen? Could you look at that and say, you know, the situation's not exciting. I'm not

about the trouble and pain that it's causing, but I am rejoicing. I can rejoice because I'm standing up for Jesus Christ. And these things are happening as a result of that. And so what is taking place is there is a proclamation going out that I stand for Jesus Christ. And the gospel message is being shared as a result. People are coming to know God as a result. Could you rejoice? Could you rejoice?

And being fired for taking a stand for Jesus. Being cast out from friends and family for taking a stand for Jesus Christ. God doesn't always work the way that we think He will.

And so are you willing to trust him and allow him to work the way that he wants to for the furtherance of the gospel? Paul's okay with it. And he tells us why as we continue on in verses 19 and 20. He says,

Paul says, you know, I'm okay. As long as the gospel is being preached, let whatever happened happen. Whatever comes, comes.

Christ is still going to be magnified through me. The gospel message is going out. I'm okay. I don't have to get all bent out of shape about these things. The important thing to me is that the gospel message is going out.

And he says, you know, all of this is working out. It's going to turn out for my deliverance. Now, he's not necessarily talking about deliverance as from prison because he ends verse 20 with whether by life or death. And so he's not talking about being released from prison, but he's saying in his hope and his expectation is to be able to stand before God unashamed of his life. Now, whether I was there or here and dying or living, whatever I was doing, I magnified Christ in me.

in my life and in my death. Paul says, that's the important thing. That's what I'm longing to do. That's what I'm hoping and expecting. And he says, I will be able to do this with your prayers as well as the Holy Spirit supplying my needs. Now, I think this is so great. It's interesting to me how Paul includes the Philippians. You know, Paul doesn't say, I have Christ. He's sufficient for me. I don't need you guys, but thanks for being concerned.

He says, you know, my hope and my expectation is to stand before God unashamed. And I'll be able to do this as you pray for me. And through what the Spirit provides. See, God has designed the church in such a way that we need one another. There's none of us independent. We can't just say, well, I have Jesus. I don't need anything else. I know that might make sense logically, but...

But that's not the way that God has designed the church. We need one another. That's why we're called the body of Christ. Like members of a body need each other, so do we as believers. And Paul says, I need your prayers, guys. Here I am in this situation and I'm rejoicing and I'm hoping and expecting that I'm going to stand before Christ unashamed because I represented Him and shine the light of Christ and I'll be able to do that.

as long as you're praying for me, along with what the Spirit supplies for my needs. But he includes the Philippians. He says, you know, you're an important part of what God wants to do. Such a great reminder for us to be praying for our missionaries, to be praying for those who preach the gospel, be praying that God would supply everything that they need so that Christ would be magnified through them, to be praying for those around us, because we need one another and we need each other's prayers.

God has designed it that way. Incredible. There's no Lone Ranger, Christian. I just have Jesus and that's enough. No, you need the rest of the body as well. And we must learn to look and rely upon one another. Paul goes on with a challenging verse, verse 21. He says, This is an interesting verse.

As Christians, we quote it a lot, but sometimes I wonder if we really know what it means. If you try to understand this verse just by itself, you really can't. It doesn't make sense. Look at it. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. We might tell Paul, you know, I don't think that's good grammar. I don't think that, it doesn't even make sense logically. That sentence, it doesn't even say anything. What are you talking about, Paul? To live is Christ.

What does that mean? To live as Christ. To live as Jesus. To live as Messiah. You can't figure it out logically, mentally. It doesn't make sense by itself. But what is he trying to say? What is his point? What is Paul saying here? I believe Galatians chapter 2 verse 20 sheds some interesting light on

on what Paul is saying when he says to live as Christ. Galatians 2, verse 20, Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul says, you know, I've been crucified with Christ. I don't live anymore, but he lives in me. And the life that I live, I live by faith in him.

Christ lives in me. I live by faith in Christ. I live for the glory of Christ. I live to magnify Christ. I live to preach Christ. I live in Christ, for Christ, by Christ, with Christ, because of Christ. Paul says, to me, to live is Christ, meaning that everything in my life revolves around the person, Jesus Christ.

He is why I live. He's the motives. He's the reasons. He's the purpose. He's the one who gives the power. He's the one who enables me. He's the one who provides for me, who meets my need. To live for me is to be with Christ, to walk with Christ, to love Christ, to receive his love. Everything I do, every breath I take is about Jesus Christ. This is the secret of Paul's contentment.

How is it that he can be content in prison with people talking about him, waiting perhaps to die as a result of his statements about Jesus Christ? Very simply, he's content because he's living in relationship with Jesus. He loves Jesus with all his heart. No matter what everyone else is doing, they cannot...

Take this from him. They cannot keep him from relationship with God. Nothing they can do will stop him from loving and knowing Jesus. They can't keep him from intimacy with Jesus Christ. And so Paul says, for me to live is Christ.

It doesn't matter what's going on around me or what situation I'm in, what circumstance I'm in. I'm there with Jesus. If I live, then I'm there with Christ in relationship with Him, glorifying Him, sharing Him with others. It's all about Jesus. And Paul says, hey, if I die, that's even better because then I get to experience the fuller relationship with God. You know, I've got to taste a little bit here

with my sinful body and fleshly desires and struggling to stay on track and keep my mind focused on God. But there, oh, it's even better because I get to experience the fullness of God without this body, without sin. But I get to see Jesus face to face. It's then that I get to know Him fully, even as I am fully known. And it's then when I get to see my Savior face to face.

Paul here is not just trying to escape the troubles and pains from life. That's not what he's talking about. He's longing to gain Christ, for Paul to live as Christ and to die as gain. And again, I'm challenged by Paul's example. Do I have this type of heart towards Jesus Christ? It's another heart check for you and me. Because when Christ is your life, death is gain for you. When Christ is my life,

For me, death is gain. Is death gain for you? Do you consider that and count that as gain? If death is not gain to me, then I must ask myself, is Christ my life? As Christians, death doesn't need to be something that we should fear. John 11, 26, Jesus says, Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

He came and died so that we should never perish. We don't need to fear death as believers in Jesus Christ. And we understand that, but there's another aspect here. Because so easily, we get caught up in other things. So that our hearts are not saying that death is gain, but instead, life is gain. Death is a bummer. Because I'm going to miss out on the things that I wanted to do. Do you remember thinking this? Or maybe you're struggling with this and thinking about these things now, man. I remember...

not too many years ago i didn't want the rapture to happen i didn't want to go to home to be with the lord because i was like lord i want to get married first i mean to go to heaven without being married is like living half a life and so i don't want to go there and miss out on all of those things for me life was gained death was a bummer but when christ is your life

then death is gain. And oftentimes we have those things. Lord, I want to get married first or I want to start this business or see New York or accomplish this or accomplish that. You know, it's good to have those desires but we must be careful. We easily get caught up building our kingdom here on this earth and establishing ourselves here. But this is not where our treasure should be. When Christ is your life, death is gain.

Because you get to experience the full relationship with Him. Paul goes on to explain this even further in verses 22 and 24, or through 24. He says, But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what shall I choose? I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

If I keep on living, Paul says, then that means I will have stored up more treasure in heaven. There'll be more fruit as a result of my life. There'll be more things accomplished for God and I'll have greater rewards. Paul, we see again, man, just what a man of God. He has such a grasp on eternity.

It's right there for him. He can see it so clearly. It's always in his thoughts. It's influencing every decision that he makes. It's what he's living for. For us, eternity is kind of, well, one day I'll have to deal with that. But he sees it. He's right there. Oh, I'm going to continue to live. If I continue to live, I'm going to be producing fruit and storing up treasures and rewards in heaven as I serve the Lord and I keep on living.

For me, you know, if I keep on living, I can accomplish those things I've always wanted to do. And I can do the exciting things like keep paying my bills and all those things that I need to take care of. And Paul says, you know, if I keep on living, that means more is going to be accomplished because I'm going to give my heart, everything I have to the Lord. And Paul says, you know, I'm hard pressed between the two. The word hard pressed, it means to be kind of pinched together in a tight spot. Paul says, I feel like I'm just stuck here in this spot.

Making it a difficult decision. Now, I need to make this clear. Paul is not in any way contemplating suicide. That's not what he's talking about. But what he is saying, notice his goal there at the end of verse 23. He says, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. He's not just trying to escape life's woes and sorrows. He just wants to be with Jesus. That's his desire. That's his goal. That's his focus.

And he says, you know, it's such a hard place for me because, man, as much as I want to be with Jesus, I want to be here and continue to serve and bless and to minister, and yet I want to be with Jesus. And he's torn in his mind. He knows, man, there's great things in store, but there's much that God wants to do now. And so he feels this battle taking place, this tight spot that he's in. Not that he's going to do something to go one way or the other, but

but that he feels the pressure, longing to be with Jesus and at the same time desiring to continue to serve him here in this life. Quick side note here is we're in verse 23. There is taught by some groups and some people an idea, it's called soul sleep, and it is not true. It's a false belief, but they teach this, that when you die, because you might die tomorrow and Jesus might come back in a hundred years, and so...

In between that time, your soul is just kind of sleeping. You're just kind of unconscious, but you're there, but you're not there. And you don't actually really wake up from that soul sleep until Jesus Christ comes back. And that is not true. That is not what the Bible teaches at all. There are some things and some arguments that we can get into. A lot of things that we don't understand, but simply let's look at what it says. To depart and be with Christ. Paul says, I'm hard pressed between the two.

He didn't say, you know, because I have the desire to depart and sleep for a couple thousand years until Jesus comes back. He says, no, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.8 says, hey, we're confident, we're well pleased. Man, knowing that to be absent from this body is to be present with Jesus Christ. And so we can have that confidence. Soul sleep? No, it's not a reality. The reality is believers in Jesus Christ, when we die,

We are caught up together with Him immediately to be with Him for eternity. Paul says, I'm longing for that day. I'm ready to be with Christ. But verse 24, he says, Nevertheless, however, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. Now, do you remember how to have joy? Jesus first, others second, yourself last. We've seen Paul over and over again. He's been demonstrating how Jesus is first in his life. But here he demonstrates how others first.

He places above himself. He says, you know, I'm longing to be with God. It's much better for me to be with Jesus, to be in eternity. But for you, it's better for me to be here. And so I'm going to continue on and serve the Lord and serve you and minister to you. Even Paul's writing this letter. He's the one in prison. You would think he would be the one receiving letters of encouragement. But Paul's writing to them, I'm going to encourage you. I'm going to continue to live and bless you as much as I can.

Even though it's better for me to be eternally with God, I'm putting your needs first, Philippians, and I'm going to continue to serve you because it's necessary for you. It's more needful for you that I continue to minister to your hearts in this way. Verse 25 and 26, And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

Paul says, I'm confident of this. He takes it, not only am I going to continue on in life, and that's more needful for you, but Paul seems to be speaking in faith. He says, you know, I'm rejoicing.

that your rejoicing may be more abundant than Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. Not only am I going to keep on living, but Paul says, I'm desiring, I'm looking to come to you again and to continue the progress of your faith and the joy of your faith and that you would continue to rejoice and grow and abound in Jesus Christ. Paul's putting the needs of them above his own. Again, I see the Apostle Paul and I'm impressed. Man, what an example for us.

I desire to live a life committed like he did, to live sold out for Jesus Christ. But we cannot do it by simply trying to do more things or trying harder in this area or that area. The only way that we can accomplish the life like the Apostle Paul is by following his example and putting Jesus first and being madly, crazy, passionately, insanely in love with him.

He's first before everything. Nothing compares. Nothing competes with our time with the Lord. That He's first. And He's most important to us. Would you turn with me please? I want to close with a portion of Scripture out of 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. It's towards the end of your Bible, right before 2 Peter and 1 and 2 and 3 John. 1 Peter chapter 4. Verse 3 says,

Peter encourages us with this. He says, Jump down to verse 7. He says,

Here Peter tells us this. Guys, gals, listen. We've spent enough of our past. We've spent enough time in our past involving ourselves in the things of the world.

Chasing after pleasures, chasing after money, involved in idolatry and all the things that come between us and God, involved in drunkenness and parties and all the things that we've chased after and all the things that we've filled our lives with. Peter says, we've spent enough time with that already. We spent enough time doing that in our past. Now is not the time to continue in those things, Peter says. But now is the time, in verse 7, to continue.

to be watchful and serious in our prayers because the end of all things is at hand. We see Paul's example. We're encouraged by it. He lived like Peter is encouraging us to live here, knowing the end of all things is at hand, going all out for the Lord.

And so let's respond to what Peter says. Yes, I've lived enough in my life doing all those things, chasing after those things, filling my life with the things of the world that don't satisfy, which cannot quench the thirst that I have, which doesn't meet my needs. Now's not the time to do that, but now's the time for me to be watchful and serious in my prayers. And he goes on to talk about some of the things we looked at today. Having a fervent love for one another.

Being hospitable to one another, putting others first without grumbling and serving as God has given us gifts, ministering in the way that he's called us to minister. But let us not forget, as we're called to do these things and challenged to walk in this way, knowing that we've spent enough of our past in the junk of the world. Let's move forward in the things of God, knowing this, putting Jesus first means that you fall in love with him.

Jesus did not die so that we could do a bunch of things for him, so that he could enjoy loving relationship with us. That is the most important thing. Put Jesus first. We've seen a lot of good heart checks today. Areas that we can look and see if there's some warnings going off, some indicators there. We know I need to get right with the Lord and fall in love with Jesus Christ again.

Some of the things like, how important is the gospel message being preached? To me, is it important to me that others hear the gospel message more important than my own comfort and my circumstances and what I want to do? Is that so important to me that I'll endure prison or whatever other situation may come? Or do I love others? Do I have this love and this burden for others?

that I would share the gospel message with them, that I would shine the light of Christ, that I would pour out the love of God in their lives. If not, where's my heart with Jesus? Am I in a loving relationship with Him? Is death gain to me? When Christ is your life, death will be gain to you. And so I need to check my heart. Is death gain to me? Do I look at death and say, you know, that would be the best thing that could ever happen to me because I would be with Jesus.

Not to escape or not because of how hard life is, no, but simply I would be with Jesus and I love Him so much. Is that our hearts? Man, God has given us powerful examples, indicators and signs and roadblocks and saying, listen, are you in love with me? Here's some ways that you can tell if you are or you aren't. And if you're not in love with me, then come back.

You know, we have the same access to God that the Apostle Paul had. He didn't have some advantage over us. He didn't have better access to God. We all come to God by faith in Jesus Christ. We all have relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. So spend time with Him. Put your faith in what Jesus did for us and sit at His feet. Enjoy His presence.

And all these other things will happen naturally as a result because it's him who works in us both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, what a challenge you've given to us today, Lord. And thank you that you make it so clear that we don't have to wonder or worry. Are we right with you, God? Are we doing what you want us to do? But Lord, you simply call us to put you first.

You've given us these examples that we might see in our own lives if we have put you first and if you are the most important thing to us. And God, if you're not, please forgive us. Draw us in close to you. Take us into your presence, Lord. Help us to fall madly in love with you. Lord, that we would abandon all things that keep us from a relationship with you. God, that we would strive and run and seek you.

to develop intimacy and closeness with you, that you would be the most important thing in our hearts. God, we ask that you would work within us. You would wash us and cleanse us. Lord, we take this moment to draw close to you and we ask that you would be faithful to your word. Draw close to us. Lord, that we may be like the Apostle Paul and follow his example, not because we're trying so hard, but just the natural overflow of our relationship with you. Lord, I pray if

There's anyone here who's not right with you, God, that maybe they've never been born again or they've never really chosen to follow you and allow you to be the Lord of their life. God, I pray that this would be a day of decision for them. Speak to their hearts. Lord, for those that have backslidden and need to come back to you, minister to them, I pray. Break through, Lord Jesus, that we would leave this place in love with you, passionate for you, enthralled and captivated by you.

Thank you, God, for being so wonderful, for your awesome grace. In Jesus' name, amen.