Restoring the Joy
Sermon # 2
It’s All In How You Look At It
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/illustrator/sermon3/attitude.htm]
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.
First, We Can Be Joyful In Spite Of Our Circumstances (vv. 12-14)
“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 circumstances 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?
We Can Be Joyful In Spite Of Our Circumstances And…
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.
We Can Be Joyful In Spite Of What Others Do And…
Third, We Can Be Joyful In Spite of How Uncertain The Future May Look (vv. 19-20)
“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.
Application
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.
