Desperate Places

Philippians 1:12 KJV But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

Philippians 1:12 AMPLIFIED Now I want you to know and continue to rest assured, brethren, that what [has happened] to me [this imprisonment] has actually only served to advance and give a renewed impetus to the [spreading of the] good news (the Gospel).

Philippians 1:12 THE MESSAGE 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.

Philippians 1:12 Weymouth Now I would have you know, brethren, that what I have gone through has turned out to the furtherance of the Good News rather than otherwise.

I. INTRODUCTION—A STORY FROM THE HOLOCAUST

James von Moltke came from a long line of German warriors and soldiers. For two centuries the name Moltke resounded proudly in the history of the Prussians and Germans. But James would serve a different fate. He was just as brave and just as devoted but his devotions were to Jesus Christ and His Word and it would put him at odds with the Fuhrer, Adolph Hitler.

The gathering political storm clouds of the 1930’s confronted the best Germans with a painful decision—to flee or to stay. Many like scientist Albert Einstein, novelist Thomas Mann, and architect van der Rohe took refuge abroad. Others stayed and wondered how much tyranny they would accept and how much they would resist. Like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James von Moltke, who was twenty-six when Hitler came to power, could easily have gone abroad. He nearly did but when the war broke out in 1939, he decided to stay. His name and character made him a natural rallying point for resisters to the regime.

Trained in international law, Moltke was drafted into the German military intelligence; little realizing that it was to be the center of anti-Nazi resistance. He used his job overtly to try and curb the Nazis with the restraint of international law. But covertly was where he had his greatest powers. He dedicated himself to countering the deportation and murder of Jews and the execution of captured soldiers. One of his greatest accomplishments took place in 1943 when he helped to save the lives of thousands of Jews in Denmark.

He ended up getting caught and going to a secret trial in January 1945 in the notorious “People’s Court” presided over by the vicious prosecutor Roland Freisler. It was a travesty of a trial and he along with seven others was condemned to die.

In a final letter to his wife some of the words that were written are particularly moving:

“Now there is still a hard bit of the road ahead for me. . . For what a mighty task your husband was chosen: all the trouble the Lord took with him, the infinite detours, the intricate zigzag curves, all suddenly find their explanation in one hour. . .”

Just a few months later, before the end of the war, he was executed.

-More often than not, it is the desperate places that seem to bring out the best in men. . . It also has the great potential to pull the greatest out of God’s saints. . . if we will allow it to be.

• Desperate places can give rise to courage.

• Desperate places can give us opportunities to finish well.

• Desperate places can present challenges to us to do our best.

• Desperate places can fill your life with a high purpose and ideal.

• Desperate places can fire your ambition not to waste your life.

-Look no further than the life of William Wilberforce, the great Englishman, who fought the slave trade. His life was so filled with fighting this great evil; three days after it had been defeated, he died.

II. PHILIPPIANS 1:12

A. Life Will Happen

-What life in the long run does to us depends on what life finds in us. If you can always remember: To those who love God all things work together for good.

-What happens to us from the outside pulls our triggers and pushes us to the greatest purpose and will of God. The purpose is in the saint of God all the time, there just has to be external forces at the hands of God to press us into that mold.

-Sometimes those external forces can be so painful to us. But God is in every detail of our lives that nothing is amiss with Him.

Job 23:8-11 KJV Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: [9] On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: [10] But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. [11] My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.