But one of the differences we see between Paul’s life and our life is that through all of his experiences, HE HAD GREAT CONFIDENCE IN GOD. We do not always have this confidence.
Honesty compels me to admit that sometimes I can’t help but wonder if God made some big mistakes.
• Sometimes from my view point, it seems He does not take advantage of the opportunities that are available to Him
• Sometimes from my view point, it seems He makes decisions that seem to be the wrong decisions
BUT GOD DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES! We make a mistake when we think that He makes mistakes.
If God made mistakes He could not be God, He would be like us mortals. But isn’t it ironic, we who have made thousands of mistakes in our lifetime, often accuse the perfect God of heaven of making mistakes.
WHEN DO WE DO THIS?
Sometimes when God takes a loved one or a friend from among us in death.
Illus: Dr. Alvin Fleming, known as the old country preacher, told a pastor friend one day, “Brother, see that cemetery out there by our church?” He went on to say, “The other day I was counting how many of those funerals I officiated, and I counted seventy-seven.” Then he said, “Sometimes it seems to me that God made some big mistakes, because I had to take some of the best people in my congregation out there and bury them in that cemetery.” But he also said, “But I must also confess, there are some I was glad to officiate at their funeral and put them out there, and wondered why God left them here on earth as long as He did to make life rough for others.”
There are times we all feel this way. That is, we cannot help but wonder if God is not making some big mistakes sometimes when He takes the best from among us, and it seems he leaves the worst.
But we have to have confidence in God that He is perfect in all His ways, and He does not make mistakes.
Paul had that tremendous confidence in God as he faced the daily difficulties of life. Let us look at the life of Paul closely in this passage of scripture, and perhaps some of this great confidence he had in God will rub off on us.
We can see this CONFIDENCE in-
I. PAUL’S GREETING
Look at Phil. 1:1-2, “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice, Paul referred to himself as, “…The servant of Jesus Christ….”
One of the things we mortals enjoy doing is wearing titles that will impress others.
Illus: In the large cities, when you are called to served on jury duty you will have to show up with several hundred other jurors. On the first day they generally have all the jurors go to a large room, and the court clerk calls the roll and asks each jury member to state their NAME and their OCCUPATION.
When they do this, something astounding takes place. Almost every one of the jurors stands up and gives some fancy title when they state their occupation. Such as:
• The garbage collector no longer says he is a garbage collector. He now states that he is a SANITATION ENGINEER.
• The housewife no longer says she is a housewife. She states that she is a DOMESTIC ENGINEER.
The reason people like these titles is because we are a proud people.
Paul could have used his title of an “Apostle”. But notice, he had such CONFIDENCE in the God he served, he felt so comfortable in his skin, he did not feel a need to flaunt his Apostolic title.
He felt comfortable stating that he was a “servant” of the Lord Jesus Christ. PAUL WAS GOD’S SERVANT to GOD’S PEOPLE and he was proud to be just that!
BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT IN ORDER TO SERVE GOD, YOU HAVE TO LOVE PEOPLE?
We don’t have many servants today, because we live in an age when people love themselves instead of loving others.
Before they do anything, they ask, “WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME?” If there is nothing in it for them, they are not willing to do it.
If we are going to be good servants for the Lord, we have to LOVE PEOPLE!
• The best pastor is a pastor who loves His congregation
• The best missionary is a missionary who loves people
• The best evangelist is an evangelist who loves people
• The best Sunday School teacher is a teacher who loves people
• The best deacon is a deacon who loves people
• The best usher is a person who loves people
• The best choir member is a person who loves people
• The best van driver is a person who loves people
• The best church member is a person who loves people
Listen, if you do not love people you CAN’T SERVE THE LORD!
WHY DO I MAKE THAT STATEMENT?
You see, if the Lord was physically on the earth, I could walk up to Him and put my arm around His shoulder, and look Him in His loving eyes and say, “Jesus I love you.”
But He is not here, so I can’t show my love for Him in this fashion. But He has made it possible for me to show my love to Him.
HOW?
Look at Matt. 25: 40, “…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
You cannot serve the Lord unless you love people! We show our LOVE TO THE LORD by LOVING OTHER PEOPLE.
Many Christians need to get on their knees and cry out for God to give them a love for OTHERS!
Illus: John Wesley (1703 1791) said,
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Paul had CONFIDENCE IN GOD. He was COMFORTABLE being a SERVANT OF GOD and of GOD’S PEOPLE. PAUL’S GREETING reveals that.
But we see something else in this passage that reveals HIS CONFIDENCE in God. He had confidence in the work that God did in the hearts of God’s people.
We can see that so clearly in-
II. PAUL’S PRAYER
You can learn a lot about a man by his prayers. The Book of Luke tells us about two men who went to the same church.
(1) THE PHARISEE
Look at Luke 18:10-12, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
This fellow loved to brag.
Illus: He reminds me of the Texan who came to South Carolina bragging about how big things are in Texas. He was riding down the road in his car with this South Carolinian, and he saw a horse.
• He said, “What is that?” The man said. “That is a horse!” The Texan said, “In Texas we have horses ten times the size of that horse.” The man from South Carolina did not say a thing.
• As they drove down the highway the Texan saw a goat and he said, “What is that?” The man from South Carolina said, “That is a goat!” The Texan said, “In Texas we have goats ten times that size.”
The bragging was getting on the nerves of the man from South Carolina.
As they continued to drive down the road, they saw a large turtle crossing the road. The man from South Carolina anticipated what he would say, and he decided to bring his bragging to a halt.
Again the Texan said, “What is that?” The man from South Carolina said, “That’s a tick!”
We all seem to enjoy bragging, and wearing titles that make us look like we are something.
Often people will get on their knees and they call it praying. But what they are doing is not praying, it is no more than bragging aloud for everyone to hear HOW GREAT THEY ARE!
But there was another man in this church that also prayed. Look at -
(2) THE PUBLICAN
Look at verses 13-14, we read, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
This Publican’s prayer tells us that this was a man of humility, and we see how unworthy he felt as he cried out for mercy.
But the Lord was pleased with his prayer.
HOW WE PRAY REVEALS A GREAT DEAL ABOUT OURSELVES!
When many people pray, their prayer reveals that all they are interested in is WHAT THEY WANT FROM THE LORD! Their prayers reveal what selfish creatures they really are!
There certainly is nothing wrong with praying for ourselves, but that is ALL a selfish person prays about.
But notice the prayer of the Apostle Paul. It revealed his love for God’s people.
Look at verses 3-5 in our text, we read, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
We see several things in his prayer for these people, such as:
A. HIS REMEMBRANCE
We grandparents have it made in many ways.
• We do not have to scold and spank our grandchildren, we leave that dirty work up to their parents. And the grandchildren do not get mad at us, they get mad at their parents.
• We can spoil them and send them home.
So when they see us, a smile comes on their face and it brings joy to our hearts as we see them.
As we look at every one of those sweet little grandchildren that God has blessed us with, we know as grandparents, that if it were not for us, they would not be here. It brings joy to our hearts every time we see them.
As Paul REMEMBERS these Christians, his prayer for them revealed how THANKFUL he was for his brothers and sisters in Christ.
But also look at -
B. HIS REQUEST
Paul’s prayer was not, “GIVE ME! GIVE ME,” but it was one of praying for those he loved in the Lord.
Look at verse 4, we read, “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.”
He had such confidence in their profession, that it brought joy to his heart when he thought about them and prayed for them. He said, “…Making request with JOY!”
Paul’s joy was IN THE LORD and IN THE LORD’S PEOPLE.
Illus: We have too many Christians today who have gotten caught up in the world; football, baseball, basketball, hunting, fishing, golfing, and car racing, and these things are not sinful. The problem is that these things have consumed their lives.
They are so busy doing these things, that they do not have time to open their eyes and realize that they need to take time to fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. They have to hurry home and watch these things on television.
One day they will grow old, and before they die they will look back and they will not be able to remember:
• The score of that baseball game that they were so excited about
• The many television programs that consumed so much of their life
• The golf game they were so thrilled about
They will look back and realize that football, baseball, and golf are not as important as they once thought they were.
Paul was a SERVANT OF GOD and the SERVANT OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
Illus: He would rather be in the house of God with God’s people, than to be in the Super Bowl with thousands of the devil’s crowd.
He truly loved these people and had confidence that they loved the Lord. Look at -
III. PAUL’S CONFIDENCE
It is good to love and have confidence in God’s people. But Paul also had CONFIDENCE in God. HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT WHAT GOD HAD STARTED, GOD WOULD FINISH.
Look at verse 6, we read, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Do you know someone that is good at starting something, and when they get about half finished, they stop?
Illus: They might be building a house and doing an excellent job, but right in the middle of it they just quit!
I can assure you that the Lord Jesus is not like this. Paul was confident that WHAT GOD HAD STARTED IN THEIR HEARTS, He would finish.
Paul knew that since the salvation they had was given by God, it was not be temporary, it was an ETERNAL SALVATION.
Many of the things in our lives are TEMPORARY:
• THE HEALTH WE ENJOY IS TEMPORARY
• THE POSSESSIONS WE ENJOY ARE TEMPORARY
• THE LIFE WE LIVE HERE ON EARTH IS TEMPORARY
These things, and many others, are TEMPORARY, but the salvation God gives us through Jesus Christ is an ETERNAL SALVATION!
Heb. 5:9 speaks of Jesus as, “... the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”
Paul was confident that what God had started, God would finish.
Conclusion:
We live in some troubled times. Christians need to have the same confidence in God that Paul had when he faced the difficulties of life.
Through the centuries of time, God’s people have faced the difficulties of life while maintaining their trust in the Lord.
Illus: On July 6, 1415, John Huss was taken to the place where he would be a martyr for the truth in which he believed. As he went to the stake, he was heard quoting Psalm 31:1, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed."
Illus: Emerson wrote, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."
I. PAUL’S GREETING
II. PAUL’S PRAYER
III. PAUL’S CONFIDENCE
