These are things that will ruin our lives and cause us to make fools out of ourselves. There is no way that a Christian can be controlled by the Holy Spirit if they are controlled by these substances.
But these are not the only things that control Christians.
For example, there are many Christians who do not drink or take drugs, yet their behavior is altered by circumstances as much as a person who takes drugs or drinks alcoholic beverages.
Circumstances can control us in such away that they can ruin our lives and make fools out of us.
The maturity of a Christian can be found in the way a Christian reacts to the circumstances in their life. Some folks allow circumstances to affect their behavior.
• If the circumstances in their life are good, they are one happy dude!
• If the circumstances in their life are bad, they are one sad dude!
Listen, it is as wrong for Christians to allow circumstances to control our behavior as it is wrong for us to allow alcohol and drugs to control our behavior.
When it comes to circumstances in our life, the Lord wants Christians to learn to live the Christian life by not allowing circumstances to control us, but by us controlling our circumstances.
As we look at the life of the apostle Paul, we see that this is what he was able to achieve. In this passage of scripture I want to show you TWO things about his life.
I. HIS CONTROL
Look at Philippians 1:12-14, we read, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
In these three verses, Paul reminds the Philippian Christians about some things that happened to him. Evidently he felt that what happened to him needed to be explained to them.
To best understand what happened to Paul, I want to ask you to imagine you are a missionary. As a missionary you love the lost world so much:
• You’ve sold all your possessions and moved to a foreign country that hasn’t heard the Gospel
• You try to fit in with these folks you want to win to the Lord
• You take on their customs and habits
• You wear their clothes
• You eat their food
• You learn their language
• You love them
• You serve them
• You do everything you can to make it easy for them to hear the message you’re bringing.
They respond by having you thrown into jail. Paul was thrown into jail, just for telling people about Jesus.
Two more bad things happened to him:
(1) There were jealous ministers who chose to take the circumstance of him being in jail for preaching the gospel as an opportunity to put him down and lift themselves up! It is that old attitude of, “God is really blessing us because we are not in jail.”
(2) When things can’t seem to get any worse, it is possible that the authorities might pass the death sentence on him. He doesn’t know if he will get out of jail alive.
If you were a missionary, how would you feel? Would these circumstance cause you to be:
• Discouraged
• Afraid
• Maybe both
It may be that you would allow these circumstances to cause you to get ANGRY WITH GOD!
Paul is in prison. The only reason he’s in prison is because he was telling people about Jesus.
How did he respond to these circumstances?
• Is he discouraged?
• Is he afraid?
• Is he angry?
We know exactly how this great servant of the Lord responded. Look at Verse 12 again, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;”
He understood WHY HE WAS THERE, and he wanted them to UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS THERE!
Look at verse 13, he says, “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;”
HOW DID HE SEE THESE CIRCUMSTANCES?
He said his being in jail had now given him a different congregation. He was now preaching to the palace guards.
Paul used his circumstances of being in jail to spread the gospel to the Praetorian Guard. These were the elite of the Roman army. These soldiers guarded Paul and were chained to the wrist of Paul day and night for two years.
HOW DID PAUL USE THESE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?
Illus: There’s Paul sitting in his cell. He is stuck there, can’t do anything, go anywhere, speak to anyone. But there’s a Roman guard there, so Paul said, “Hi, how’s it going? Looks like we’re stuck with each other for some time. Wanna hear a really interesting story? There once was this man Jesus...” and off he goes, telling the palace guard about Jesus’ death and resurrection.
What a wonderful outlook this man of God had on life. Paul believed Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
What good can come out of being put in jail? Look at verse 14, we read, “And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
He said many of the other ministers were motivated to preach the Word of God by his imprisonment. WHILE PAUL WAS IN JAIL PREACHING, they were PREACHING OUTSIDE OF THE JAIL.
Paul wanted them to understand something else. Some of the brethren were preaching, but SOME OF THEM were not preaching for the right reasons.
So many times there are things done among Christians and they do some wonderful things, but they are not doing them for the right reason.
That is exactly what was taking place here, when Paul was put in jail. Maybe someone began to brag about him and some thought, “If I do the same thing they will brag about me.” So they start to preach the gospel also. There is nothing wrong with the gospel they preached, they just did it for the wrong reason.
Illus: This is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. When some of those wonderful Christians in the early church would sell a piece of land and give all the money to spread the gospel people began to say what wonderful Christians they were.
Ananias and Sapphira were motivated to receive some of this attention and praise. They decided they also would sell a piece of land. There was nothing wrong with them giving, but the way they gave was wrong!
They decided they would sell the property and keep back part of it and then come to the apostles and deceive them by telling them they were giving all.
Again, it could be that some began to talk about Paul being such a wonderful Christian that it motivated MANY TO PREACH THE WORD OF GOD, BUT THEY DID IT FOR THE WRONG REASON.
Look at Philippians 1:15-16, “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds.”
These preachers were not the Judaizers, the false preachers who followed Paul around trying to cause him problems. In verse 14, he refers to them as, “…many of the brethren in the Lord…”
They were Christian brethren, but listen, sometimes some of our most difficult trials come from the BRETHREN!
• Not only did Paul recognize them as brethren, he also recognized they preach the gospel.
• If they had not been preaching the Word of God, Paul would have warned people not to listen to them.
Paul categorized these preachers into two different groups. He said-
(1) SOME ARE PREACHING OUT OF JEALOUSY AND STRIFE
Paul said they did this wanting to “add affliction to my bonds.”
Jealousy is a STRONG motivation. Every day people do all kinds of things out of jealousy.
Illus: In Columbia, S.C. a man died. His wife and ex-wife were at the funeral. It was evident that both the wife and the ex-wife did not like each other and were very jealous of each other.
• Before the service started the wife walked up and kissed her husband good-bye and then she sat down.
• The ex-wife walked up and leaned over and gave him a kiss and then she sat down.
• The wife wanted to be the last one to kiss him, so she got back up and she went and kissed him again and then sat down.
• The ex-wife wanted to be the last one to kiss him so she got up and kissed him and sat down.
After each laid three kisses on this corpse, the funeral director walked up and closed the casket to end all this jealousy kissing.
Every day, people do all kinds of things out of jealousy. Sometimes women are overly jealous of their husbands.
Illus: When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset. "You're running around with other women," she charged. "You're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth."
The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve. "What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded. "Counting your ribs," said Eve.
Jealousy is a terrible thing, but especially when it is found among ministers.
Illus: Charles L. Allen, in “The Miracle of Love”, writes of a fisherman friend who told him that one never needs a top for his crab basket. He said, “If one of the crabs starts to climb up the sides of the basket, the other crabs will reach up and pull it back down. Some people are a lot like crabs.”
Illus: Many years ago, Michelangelo, the sculptor, and Raphael, the painter, were commissioned to execute works of art for the beautification of the Vatican.
Although each had a different job to do and both were highly respected, there arose such a bitter spirit of rivalry between them that at last they would not even speak when they met.
Their jealous attitude toward one another was obvious to all who knew them.
The most amazing part of it all was that both were supposed to be doing their work "for the glory of God."
Illus: F. B. Meyer was pastor of Christ's Church in London at the same time that G. Campbell Morgan was pastor of Westminister Chapel, and Charles H. Spurgeon was pastor of the Metropolitan Chapel.
Both Morgan and Spurgeon often had much larger audiences than did Meyer.
Troubled by envy, Meyer confessed that not until he began praying for his colleagues did he have peace of heart. "When I prayed for their success," said Meyer, "The result was that God filled their churches so full that the overflow filled mine, and it has been full since."
During this time, Paul said SOME were motivated to preach out of jealousy, but Paul said-
(2) SOME WERE MOTIVATED TO PREACH OUT OF GOOD WILL
Look at verse 17, we read, “But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.”
We often hear about ministers who make the work of God look bad, but I want to tell you that these are few in number. Some of the greatest people on this earth are ministers of the gospel.
They are, underpaid and overworked, but they continue to faithfully serve the Lord Jesus. Thank God for preachers who are preaching out of good will.
When Paul was thrown into jail for preaching the gospel, it motivated many ministers of the gospel to really start spreading the gospel.
Listen, our life is a great motivator. The life of the apostle Paul motivated these believers.
Being a pastor is not an easy task, this is why there is such a shortage of ministers around the world. Many folks got into the ministry thinking it would be easy They soon discovered that –
• They could make a lot more money doing something else.
• They could do a lot less work on other jobs.
• They could receive a lot more appreciation.
• They could have a lot fewer problems.
The ministry is not an easy job, if it was there would be a lot more doing it today.
In order to be successful in the ministry and the Christian life, we have to be able to control circumstances and not allow them to control us.
Paul was such a man. We have looked at HIS CONTROL. As we close, let’s look at-
II. HIS REJOICING
Look at verses 18-19, we read, “What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,”
Some so-called friends were using Paul’s imprisonment to trash Paul’s reputation and advance their own. They were supposed to be his friends and stand by him. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down! You know the old saying - “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”
WHAT IS PAUL’S RESPONSE TO HIS CIRCUMSTANCE? Christ is preached, AND IN THAT HE REJOICES!
Paul was saying that the important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. Because of this he rejoiced.
Naturally he would rejoice more if Christ was being preached for the right motive. But God has promised that when His Word is preached it will not return void. This is what Paul is rejoicing over.
Paul recognized that his CIRCUMSTANCES may mean his death. Is he angry or afraid? No, not in the slightest. He was bound and determine that circumstances would not control his life.
Look at verse 20-26, we read, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.”
Even facing death, Paul was in control of his circumstance.
When it comes to the crunch, even when facing death, he wanted to stand by Jesus, he didn’t want to let Jesus down. Whatever happens, whether in life or death, he wanted Jesus to be honoured.
You know what this means? It means Paul would rather die than let Jesus down. Life or death didn’t matter, the gospel was all that mattered.
Conclusion:
The secret to living such a life where circumstances do not control us can be found in verse 21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”.
• His life, his death, his whole existence, is defined by the Christ who died for him. And living for Jesus has to do with spreading his Gospel as far and wide as he can.
• His comfort doesn’t matter - the gospel is all that matters. His reputation doesn’t matter - the gospel is all that matters. Life or death doesn’t matter - the gospel is all that matters.
What a difference it would make to us, what a difference it would make to our families and churches and schools and universities and places of work, if we were convinced that the gospel was all that matters. Let’s make the Gospel matter to us, and let’s make the gospel matter to our friends and relatives.
I. HIS CONTROL
II. HIS REJOICING
