Good morning, I was sitting there, I was hoping that that particular song, six more verses. I think we all are creatures that have likes and dislikes, and music is no exception, even in the church, right? There are songs that you sing and you go, oh, that's a nice song, and I get the message, And then you sing another song, it's like, whoa, yeah, that's good, let's sing some more of that. And I like that one because I think so often I find myself, and maybe you do too, sort of getting lost in the world and having the world just sort of push against us so much and almost challenge us to the point where we forget sometimes There's a place that we're headed, believers, that not only has a river, but has the King of Kings, and there's so many neat things about heaven. and where we're going and to be able to sing about that particular part of it. I have to admit to you, I don't think too often about the river of life and that I'm going to be sitting there next to you and others that are believers. I don't, but to be able to sing about that is one of the beautiful things about coming together on Sunday morning or any time where we can fellowship and sing and remember and realize that what we have is truly amazing. So the world may beat against you today and tomorrow and this week and this month and this year, and things may seem hopeless sometimes, and you may at times forget what we have to look forward to, but it's times like these that remind us, isn't it? The Lord is good. He gives us a great joy. doesn't it in our hearts? And I know that sometimes life is hard, isn't it? And sometimes it's easy to talk about that too much, but life is tough. It's difficult. I'm suspect many times of those individuals that smile all the time and always have something positive to say because things are not always positive, are they? Things don't always go our way. things don't always seem to work out to our advantage. And that's one of the beauties I think this morning of the book of Philippians. We're gonna be in chapter one if you'll turn there. We're gonna share a little bit about what one individual went through and how he was able to write about the joy of the Lord and how we have that joy in the midst of challenging times in life. And I think that's just the way life is. I don't know about you, but this world is sin cursed. I mean, we live in a world, you know, if you listen to the politicians and the media and all the people out there that say, you know, we can make this world a better place, not gonna happen. Not until Jesus comes. Is this world gonna be a better place? And when you think about it, whenever that is, there's a lot that's going to have to happen that's very adverse and is not gonna be too joyful. And we don't know when that is, and so while we're here, we want to not only learn what God's word has to say, about why we're here, what we are to do. And that's such a challenge many times that when we think about that, what am I supposed to do? Because there's so much in the scriptures that give us guidance, isn't there? And so little time to learn that. And that's why I think it's very important also to gather together, to be able to hear God's word. I can tell you, and I think I can put Pastor Brian in here. He'll come up and stand with me, I'm sure. We're not perfect. Preachers aren't, and we don't always preach good sermons either. And we don't always get it right, because we're human beings that are sin-cursed, saved by the grace of God, as that may be, but we're trying to divide the word of God, and the world even fights against that, and the principalities of the air, and all of that. So we just are where we are, but it's such a joy to be able to gather together, and just take a look at Philippians chapter one with me this morning. But the book of Philippians is a fascinating book because it was a thank you letter. Some people think that Paul writes this book as a thank you letter. It's probably highly unlikely that he writes just to thank people for what they're doing. While many have suggested that the theme is joy, that's something I think that we can definitely confirm if you read this short book. It's difficult to come away with anything other than the joy of the Lord not only was Paul's, but also his readers that read this book and those individuals that are in the church here had the joy of the Lord even though they were going through some very difficult times. And there seems to be a more personal note to the book with a mark of absence of formal doctrine. In other words, there's not, you know, a lot of Paul's books he hits on different doctrines, and some of them are actually rather heavy in Paul's writings, but this is a book that seems to be absent of that. Paul doesn't tackle any one particular doctrine, although there is that theme of joy, but certainly not a doctrine that Paul is gonna get into. It reveals the apostle Paul is radiant amidst the storm and stress of life. Not unlike us. I think a lot of times when we are going through tough times, it's easy to dismiss that because we probably know that it's gonna end eventually, right? But sometimes it drags on, and it did with the Apostle Paul. Seemed like he was always getting into trouble. But I'll put this in parentheses. Anytime that you live for Christ and it's known, and you are vibrantly sharing Jesus with people, you will be in trouble. You will always be in trouble. Always. Because the world hates the gospel. You understand that? The world does not like the gospel. And for the very simple reason of when an unbeliever is living his life and the gospel comes in, it disrupts that life. It did yours, didn't it? It changed you and so people that don't want that don't want to hear the gospel and they don't want to see a change come in their life and so it takes the Spirit of God and Paul talks about that here briefly in a moment. But the opening chapter gives Paul a chance to assure the church of his appreciation and his thanksgiving for their participation in spreading the gospel and their desire and their commitment to be faithful and to remain faithful. to Christ. I like the story of John Bunyan. For many of you, you know that he wrote the famous book and the classic called Pilgrim's Progress. In the year 1675 in Bedford, England, the famous Puritan preacher was arrested for preaching publicly without a license and he was jailed for six months. It's fascinating, actually, I'm not gonna share all the history with you, because I don't know if it would bore you, some of us are not history buffs, and some are, so I won't do that, but it's fascinating how all this happened when these kings would come in, they would make these laws if they didn't like preachers and didn't want the word of God to be preached, they didn't make a law that if you preached, you would be tried, and if you were found guilty, which you usually were, you ended up in prison. And so he did for six months. Previous to this, he had spent 12, years in prison, during which time he had written many books and pamphlets, and at the end of it, the six-month period, he was in prison twice, once for 12 years and then for six months. That six-month period is when he wrote Pilgrim's Progress, or I should say when he finished it. Rather than seeing this new imprisonment as a great tragedy, he took an optimistic view of it, and he is reported to have said, and I quote, I have been away from my writing too long. Maybe this is not so much a prison as an office from which I can reach the world with Christ's message. Isn't that interesting, how he would view that? Now, I don't know if any of you have ever been to prison. I had mentioned earlier, I have. Visiting, sharing the good news with people. I was never incarcerated because I committed a crime. I've been on death row a few times in my life a number of years ago. And people say, well, you know, they get three square meals a day, and they get a workout, and they get this, and they get that. Being confined is not fun. Lock yourself up in your house. And you can eat and do all the things that you wanna do. Lock yourself up in your house for 12 years and never come out. And see how that works. It's not fun. It wasn't fun for John Bunyan, and it wasn't fun for Paul. John Bunyan also, I gotta tell you this, he's noted as saying this. He said, I preach deliverance to others. I tell them there is freedom. And this is while he was in prison, while I hear my own chains clang. So he understood why he was there. And I think that's a challenge for all of us. And while it is true that Paul was granted rather unusual liberties when he was in prison, as mentioned in Acts chapter 28, nonetheless, he was a prisoner for two years. And the circumstance in itself imposes considerable stress, irregardless of how difficult or how light the confinement may be. Chains were looked on in Paul's day and I think they still are. I remember when I was growing up as a child, we lived on the Virginia and the Kentucky border in southern West Virginia and I still remember this. I still, I remember the chain gang. I kid you not, when I was a small child, when we would go over into Virginia, they had it, and they had prisoners working along the roadside in chains. I still remember that. Now granted, that was probably at the very end of it, and I'm not that old, not Noah got off the ark kind of old, but I still remember that. Confinement in life is a challenge. And so we're gonna take a look at this this morning. I think that the first 11 verses is just a must to read when you're looking at the book of Philippians, because it truly shows the heart of Paul, how he was so sensitive to his people. You have to understand, a lot of these churches that Paul saw come into existence, he wasn't really there when it all happened. And as the church grew, he wasn't always there. He couldn't be. because he was traveling so much and so this is sort of a special these first seven eleven verses that's why I had had these verses read because it's so special when you look at it so we want to look at verses 12 through verse 26 this morning and just take a look at Paul's condition and how he viewed it because I think it'll encourage us a lot of times when we're in tough times in life and challenging times in life as a believer to realize that not only is God in control but he's working things out in a way that will glorify him. I think that is so special to try to understand that. But I want you to take a look at verse 12 he says, I want you to know brothers, now he just shared with him in the verse 11 verses, previous verses before that, how he was grateful for what they had done and that they would remain faithful to Christ and he believed that they would do that and how they meant so much to him. Now I can tell you this, every pastor, every leader that loves the Lord, those individuals in the church that follow Jesus mean a lot. It means a lot. When you walk with Christ, when you live for Jesus, when you share the gospel, when you raise your family according to the scriptures, when you do the things that the Bible tells us to do, it's so encouraging. Because you realize not only are you not alone, but there is a bigger body out there. And so this meant a lot to Paul. And so that's why he says in verse 12, now I want you to know something. And what is this that he wants them to know? If you go back a little bit, you would get the idea that joy, it just emanates from Paul from the very beginning of the book of Philippians. You get the idea that that's what it's all about. Right? And that that means so much to him, what he's hearing and what people are telling him about the believers in the body, how faithful they are to Christ, even through some difficult times. And so he wants to bring them back down to earth a little bit and help them understand what the condition is or going to be as they continue to progress in the gospel. He says, I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances, and that word, I read that in the New American Standard. It's really not in the original Greek text. It should be affairs, but I think circumstances is a word that we understand in life because those are the things that change and sort of are fluid. They move as we live our life. Our circumstances do. And I think Paul understands that when things are going good, it's easy to live for Christ, isn't it? When things are adverse and people begin to push back and society begins to squeeze in on us, makes it a little bit more challenging. Ever found it easy to hold any kind of conviction, whether it's a biblical one or not, until someone challenges you on it? And you have to think to yourself, why do I hold this conviction? Why do I believe this? And Paul understands that. And so that's why he says, I want you to know something. Don't just have a knowledge up here, but have a knowledge in your heart. I want you to know this, that your circumstances can change and they probably will. And he says, brothers, my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Now he just said earlier he's in chains. I don't understand how being in chains and being in a prison can turn out for the furtherance of anything positive. Now in the flesh, that's how I think. But Paul is going to say that even though he was confined for Christ, it was progressing the gospel among unbelievers and believers. And I like that because we so often think that the gospel is for unbelievers. The gospel is also for believers. Don't ever forget that. The gospel is for believers as well. The gospel is the good news. If I ever think and I ever get to the point where I get so satisfied in life, then I think, well, you know, I know Jesus. I've got a relationship with him. I've headed for heaven and that's good. It is good, amen. But I never wanna forget that Jesus died for me, that he shed his blood, that he rose again. I never wanna forget that. And everything attached to it. So Paul's gonna say, I'm in chains, I'm in prison, but it is turning out, my present condition is turning out to where it's progressing the gospel among everyone. Paul said this is something that you need to know. You know, it's difficult to see what God is doing until we begin to understand it, and Paul did. When Paul assessed the situation, he determined the most important thing, the most important thing of what he was going through, what the church was going through, in good times and bad, is that the gospel was progressing. He says in verse 13, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ, I love that, that's something that should be underlined or highlighted. So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ had become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. How many times have I read that and how many times have you read that and said Praetorian Guard? Oh, what's that? Praetorian Guard was a group of elite, elite. Can't express that enough. a part of the Roman army. They were paid twice as much as any other soldier. And because they were the personal guards of the emperor himself, and the soldiers who preserved the imperial city from any kind of harm, they were compensated very well. The guard were apparently men from 15 to 32 years of age that were not allowed to marry as long as they served in the guard. You get the idea, right? They were wholly committed to that one purpose. And Paul says, Paul says, because I am confined for Christ in a situation I'd rather not be in, he says later on, he talks about this and we'll get to this in just a moment, how he's torn between two, where he, doesn't know if he wants to stay on earth or go and be with Jesus and he's sort of between a rock and a hard place, he'll talk about that. I don't know anybody that wants to be in prison. Anybody want to volunteer for that gig? I don't. When I was in death row several times in different states, I would look, we were able to go in and minister to people who were actually in death row. And they were in confinement 23 hours a day in a cell block that I can't even, it was probably a little bit wide, maybe about the width of that door and about as high. And it was about eight feet long. Anybody? I don't. I don't want to commit any crime that would put me in any situation like that. But Paul didn't commit a crime. His only crime was preaching the gospel. That lands him in confinement. And so here he is, what's he going to do? And so he's able to, because these guards are probably, they say about six to eight different guards, would guard prisoners. Now these were the elite army. These were, look at it like this. These were soldiers who, let's say in our country, would guard the president. and then the senators, right? And then the House of Representatives, and then it would go on down. They would guard these high ranking officials. So prisoners, they didn't have a lot of leftover soldiers to guard these prisoners, because that wasn't their purpose, but that's part of their job as well. So he's got these, and they probably rotated. So Paul is in prison for two years and every day he has these guards, these praetorian guards that are guarding him and he has a natural audience that he would never be able to get if he was out preaching somewhere. Think about that. Think about in difficult times the people that we will be able to reach that we would never reach Never be able to speak the gospel to, never be able to talk to about the good things of the Lord if we weren't in those situations. And I'm not saying, we say, Lord, bring them on, I'll take as many as you can give me. I have to admit, I'm not gonna do that. But when he allows me to be in those situations, And I have the Praetorian guard at my beck and call, and they're there to listen to me. Can you think for a moment, the guard that was actually chained to Paul, and there was one usually, not all the time, but most of the time, chained to him, and he can't go anywhere. And Paul wrote a lot in prison. He was there multiple times. And so here these people are, a captive audience that Paul would have probably never had a chance to reach if he wasn't confined for Christ. And there's probably two ways that Paul could have looked at it. He could have said, here I am, woe is me, I'm confined and I'm in this bad situation. But he took a different slant on it and said, I am confined for Christ. the whole praetorian, he says in verse 13, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known, well known throughout the whole praetorian guard, 10,000 soldiers. And I like what he adds at the end of verse 13, and to everyone else. Paul reached people in prison that he would have never been able to reach if he had not been there. And again, none of us would suggest let's all go to prison so we can reach people that we would never be able to reach. You get the point, right? I mean, there are situations in life that you just never dreamed that you would be in, and many of them can be adverse, and God puts us there and allows us to be there for his cause. I like that, don't you? The cause of Christ. Well, if I could keep that on the forefront of my mind. For the cause of Christ. Whatever situation I am in in life, it is for the cause of Christ. Because the gospel is not only to the unbeliever, but to the believer as well. He says it was progressing, not only among the unbelievers, but the believers as well. We need the gospel believers. Paul says here, and that most of the brothers, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, the same as the Praetorian guards in verses 12 and 13 and all the rest of the people that heard the gospel that were unbelievers, He says now the believers are affected because of my imprisonment, because of me being in chains, because of my incarceration. These believers in 14, most of the brethren, and I like that because earlier he said all of the unbelievers, right? Now he says most of the brothers. But we're gonna find out in a minute in the next couple of verses what he means by that. Because there's always somebody in the church that are believers. There's always somebody or somebodies that wants to cause trouble. And I wish it wasn't like that. Now, if you're one of those and you know it, you ought to get right with God. Now, is this the way it is? It ought not be. We are a body of Christ, amen, that have a common cause. You don't have to agree with everything. If I had my way, music would be a certain way, right? The preacher would preach a certain way and preach certain topics, right? Maybe even dress a certain way. If I had my way, the musicians may be different. You get it, right? And we can go on and on and on. Does all of that matter? Eh, maybe. Maybe. But in the whole scheme of things, it's really the cause of Christ that we're after. And that's what Paul's after. Now, he didn't create this. He's just seeing this and hearing this. And now he's a part of it since he's in prison. And so he says, and most of the brethren, in verse 14, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more encouraged to speak the word of God without fear. Through Paul's example, the majority were more abundantly able to speak the word of God fearlessly. They took a look at Paul and said, hey, if he can do it under his circumstances, under these conditions, I can do it. I think so often if we think that people aren't watching, believers aren't watching us, other believers, they are. Now I'm not in any way suggesting that you or I or any of us as believers should live a certain way because we're being watched. I'm not suggesting that. But you get the point, right? People are watching. I'll never forget, now whether my neighbor was a believer, I do not know. I shared the gospel with him, It's not my call, but anyway, many years in Chicago, I had a lawnmower that was evil. Any of you men have had one of those in the past? It ran when it wanted to and started when it wanted to. And I had a difficult time with it from time to time. It was just one of those days. And I had had enough. And I took my screwdriver and I went wham. That always helps. Right, if you kick it, hit it, slam it, whatever. And I turn around. You ever feel like you know someone's watching? And then we had what was called gangways in Chicago. There wasn't much room in between. You could almost reach out and touch the next house. And he's standing, my neighbor, this old guy is standing, not that it matters that he was old, but I surely respected him a lot more. He's standing there, and I look around and it goes, because he knew I was a believer, and I shouldn't be hitting my lawnmower out of anger. And we chuckle at that, but that's so true, isn't it? Most of the time, the Christian neighbor or Christian believer, we don't know they're standing by the fence, and we don't turn around and see them that they've seen how we're living or what we've done. but they're out there. People are watching. But anyway, don't wanna belabor that point. And Paul says in verse 15, some to be sure, and this is part of I think what he was referring to when he said in the beginning of verse 14, and most of the believers, he said some to be sure are preaching Christ even from envy and strife. A feeling of displeasure caused by the success of Paul. I cannot imagine that, but a little bit of that is in all of us. When I hear a preacher, and I'm gonna share something with you that's really raw, okay? When I hear a preacher preach, because I love to preach, and I think I can hold my own, I guess I can. None of you have fallen asleep this morning that I can tell. But when I hear a preacher that I think maybe could do better or whatever, I have an, I won't say an attitude, but go, that wasn't very good. And I understand critique and all of that, but I'm just being really honest. I think that's in all of us. Or a musician, maybe you're a musician and you hear a, maybe you hear a musician play something or sing something, you go, whoa. I think I might be able to do a little bit better than that. I think that's in all of us. To be able to control that can be a challenge. Without the Spirit of God, we can't. We can't. And Paul knows that, he talks about that in a moment. But he says, some to be sure preaching Christ even from envy and strife, I mean, they're just contentious people. Believers here, he's talking about believers, not unbelievers. Believers in the body. But some also from goodwill. And he's referring to those previously. And I asked myself this question. How is it that someone could cause affliction on someone that's already being afflicted, right? This is what these individuals would say, right? We'll talk about this in just a moment. They would preach the gospel, right? And they knew it was illegal. And when they were arrested for preaching the gospel and they were in court to answer for that, they would say, hey, if you wanna know, ask Paul. He's our leader. If you want an answer about why we're doing this, ask him. And of course, that would just put more pressure on him. I asked myself, why would you do that? out of envy, jealousy, contentious nature, and again I think that's in all of us and how we control that through the Spirit of God is very important. But there are some motivated by love and Paul refers to those. I want to read this, turn to just a few pages forward to First Thessalonians, just a few pages. First Thessalonians chapter two, this is so special, I think. When Paul writes this to the Thessalonian church, he says in the first book of Thessalonians chapter two verse one, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians and God God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you in peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you making mention of you in our prayers. Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. Knowing brethren, beloved by God, his choice of you. Isn't that special? That may not jump off the page to you. But Paul says, I know in the church that there are individuals in verse 16 where he says, the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. That's what it's all about. Whether it's Paul, you, me, the preacher, whoever it is, Paul understood that. So he said, I'm confined here. I'm confined for Christ, but it's for the cause of Christ, and the cause of Christ is advancing the gospel. That's what he says. There are some with impure motives. He mentioned, we mentioned those in verse 15. The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. He understood the score. Paul says they were insincere, in verse 18, and pretentious. Don't you like that? Don't you like a two-word question? I read that, and I think this to myself, right, in verse 18? After he says this, he says, you know, some believers in the church get it, right? For the cause of Christ, I'm in prison. I'm here where I am because of Christ and for his cause, the gospel. And then there's some in the church that they sort of get it, but they're jealous and envious and contentious. And so they cause trouble for me and for the rest of the body. Okay? And so he says in verse 18, what then? What do you think about that? You think anything about it? I mean, does it cause you to say, I don't wanna be on the latter part. I don't wanna be one of those individuals that causes contention in the body. I wanna be one of those individuals that is advancing the cause of Christ by living the gospel and presenting the gospel and being the gospel. That's what I wanna be. And I realize that there'll be things in my life and situations and circumstances in my life that are adverse, but I still want to do that. That's that two word question that Paul asked there. That so often I read and just pass right over. So he's already made his case for those two individual groups. And so he says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. Paul had both hands up. Somehow, you know, one was in chains, said, excuse me, guard. And the other one, and he says, I'm just gonna rejoice over it. I can't change the hearts of individuals. the body. I can't do that. If you want to be jealous, if you want to be envious, if you want to be contentious, if you want to cause trouble, I can't change that. But he said, I know one thing, irregardless of what your motive is and what your thoughts are, the gospel is being advanced. I like I like the attitude of Jesus, I think Paul got it. You wanna read another scripture, turn over to Mark chapter nine. Many of you know this already, Mark chapter nine. And tell me if this truly isn't really all of us, right? Especially when we are serious about living the gospel. It's easy in the flesh to become like these individuals. Now, you need to understand who is saying this in Mark 9, 38. Who is it? John. This is a disciple who is loved of Christ. And that matters. It's not Peter, you know, him who jumps at the first thought that comes across his mind. This is a man who has calculated love for Christ is unequal to any other person that's ever followed him. At least that's what Jesus said in his time about John. John said to him in verse 38, teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name. And we tried, watch this now, we tried to hinder him because he was not following us, this group of individual disciples, followers of Christ. I understand there were many groups of followers of Christ in Jesus' day. The ones we know and talk about so much and know by name was a small group. There were other groups of disciples that followed Jesus. And he said, we tried to hinder this group of individuals because they weren't following our group. But Jesus said, do not hinder him. For there is no one who shall perform a miracle in my name and be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For he who is not against us is for us. I don't really have to comment on that, I can't. That's the words of Jesus, I think we get it. This is how he viewed his current circumstances, his current affairs. where he was at the time. How did he view his future condition? I mean, we're not gonna live forever and Paul knew he wasn't either. He may have thought, I'm gonna die here, right? And that's easy to think that way. I'm gonna die here. I'm never gonna get out of this hole. but he had a future view as well. He had confidence in Christ. He was confined for Christ in his present circumstances, but he had confidence in Christ when he looked at his future. Brothers and sisters, we have to, because living in this world is most miserable. I don't care if I had two condos on the beach and a Maserati and two homes here and a home somewhere else and millions in the bank. You're not going to take it with you anyway. What does this world have to offer, somebody tell me, other than things? And we all know whether you have little or a lot or you're in between, that doesn't suffice, does it? Unless you have peace with God in your heart through the gospel and know Jesus as your savior, this world is most miserable. And even as believers, it's a tough challenge, isn't it? But Paul says he expected that he would be delivered. Amen? I mean, if you're in confinement, don't you wanna get out of chains? But there was more to this for Paul. He says, for I know, and I like that, I know, not here, but in my heart, because I have a relationship with Jesus, I know and believe that this shall turn out for my deliverance. Now if we left it there, we would think that Paul is only talking about getting out of prison. Anybody, they say anybody that goes to jail or to prison, their main goal, day one, when they go in, is how to get out. And I'm gonna guess that Paul was no different. I don't think, now he doesn't say, one way or the other, whether he's joyful or not joyful, whether he's jumping up and down because he's chained to a salt praetorian guard. He doesn't say, wow, this is wonderful. Or neither does he say, oh, this is horrible. He just says, I am where I am for the cause of Christ. He doesn't even take the attitude, well, I'll make the best of it. He just says, I know why I'm here. It's for the cause of Christ and for the cause of the gospel. So he says, I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. Isn't that fascinating? He says, I know where my deliverance is coming from. The spirit of God is either gonna get me out of here or keep me in here, I believe he will deliver me. And you're gonna benefit from it because you are the ones that are gonna have been praying for me. And you're gonna see the spirit of God work. And this is what Paul says, others will be involved with his confinement. because they all had a future together. I love that. And the spirit would be involved in releasing him and them. And he expected Jesus to be exalted in all of this. Now, let me say, it is very difficult when you're going through hard times to see above that. to see the future, to see what's out there. It is very difficult to do that. But according in verse 22, my earnest expectations, you know what that is? When you were a child and you were waiting for dad to come home, or you were waiting for your mom to bring you that special gift or whatever she said she was going to bring you, and you heard a car come around the corner, this is Paul in prison. Literally that means with outstretched head. Only he's doing like this. He's craning the neck, but he's looking up while he's doing it. And I think that is so encouraging. But that was his confidence in Christ for his future condition. You know I think so often I preach in a bubble and I live in a bubble and as I was preparing this I thought the trials and tribulations that other believers have been through and went through and been in would more than stun all of us, wouldn't it? There are believers right now that are being tortured and killed in this world for the cause of Christ. And therein I live in a bubble. And so often, see if you're like me, okay, I say, well, there's not much I can do anything about that, right? And Paul's not looking here to compare anybody to anyone. He's just saying, hey, here's my present circumstances I'm in, I'm in here for the cause of Christ, but I'm trusting God for my future conditions, and I know what they are. And I'm looking forward to that, and I'm looking upward. that according to my earnest expectation in verse 20 and hope that I shall not be put to shame in anything but that with all boldness and I don't want to just gloss over that because it's one thing when I have confidence and when it doesn't happen now and people look at me and and they go what's your problem Who's this Jesus that you talk about's gonna deliver you? It's the Spirit of God that's gonna deliver you. Where are all these prayers that people are praying for you to be delivered and you're still here? It is so easy to read the writings of the Apostle Paul and not understand that he is so real. He is so just like us. He says, I understand that there'll be people that will shame me and say, hey, I thought you were gonna be delivered. But he said, I'm not gonna allow that to happen. But that with all boldness, Christ shall even now as always be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Now you cannot understand, and I won't go too much longer, but you cannot understand the next few verses if you do not understand verses 12 through 20. you won't. It's amazing how so many Bible verses have been quoted and almost taken out of context because they're quoted as standalone verses. And I think some of these verses that we're going to cover in the next few minutes are some of those verses. I mean, we're going to hear this, for me to live as Christ and to die as We know that verse, we've heard it so often and a lot of people have that inscribed on sportswear and posters and wall plaques. But to understand where Paul was in his present condition and how he saw it and how he saw his future condition and circumstances. puts a little bit different light on it, doesn't it? When you understand where he is and where he's looking. And so he viewed his future conditions and that he would be delivered. And he expected Jesus to be exalted. And that this hope, this anticipation of good would come to fruition. And one way or the other, he would be exalted and magnified. I'm sure that many of you are old enough to remember, I was going to bring one this morning and I should have, but I knew that if I did I'd probably eat it later. Remember the old little Cracker Jack boxes? Remember those? And you'd open it up, do they still have them? Do they still have them, the little Cracker Jack boxes? Shows you how much I'm in the loop with today. But as children, we couldn't wait to get one of those. And it wasn't very often. But we couldn't wait to get that Cracker Jack box. Because as a child, you cared secondarily for the Cracker Jacks. And then you cared primarily for what? The little prize that you could get inside, which was, to a child, the equivalent of a lot. But for most of us, now maybe this is the way the boys thought. I don't know, girls are not like this, I don't think. Maybe there are some out there that are like this. We couldn't wait to find that magnifying glass. Remember the little magnifying glass that you would get inside of those? For some reason, the boys liked the magnifying glass. I think, now there's a statute of limitations, right Pastor Brian, on committing crimes? We as boys would take the magnifying glass, you know you need a magnifying, but then we would find ants. Now most of the other boys would find ants and you know they would hold it on that ant until it fried it, or at least we would try to see if it could do that. But I never did do that, no I did, we all did. That's Paul. He is looking for the Cracker Jack box. And he wants that magnifying glass that's in that Cracker Jack box. And he wants to be the magnifying glass that's in the Cracker Jack box. And he wants to just hold that on Jesus so everybody can see him. Bigger than life. I read that, I think about that, and I go, whoa. This is a little heavy, but something I think, Paul, is the heartbeat of Paul. This magnifying glass the Spirit of God was using in the life of Paul and the body of Christ that Paul is writing to here, for Jesus to be exalted could involve death, and this could happen under circumstances different to the way of my reasoning and understanding, Paul is gonna say this. I could die in prison. But he says, if I live, it's Christ, in verse 21, and if I die, it's gain. And it's easy to say that Paul is saying here it doesn't matter which one. It does. Because he's gonna go on to say, but if I am to live on in the flesh, in verse 22, This will mean fruitful labor for me. Don't always take this as a positive thing because the fruitful part is good, right? But the labor is a tough part. Paul says, if I live, I know that we're gonna see some great things happen, but it's gonna be hard work. I mean, Sometimes you wanna escape this world just to get away from the labor. Anybody tired of working? I mean, physical labor? Andrew, you got a few more years, brother. You can better hang in there. I've talked to younger men and women that say, I'd like to retire when I'm 50. It's like, well, you got a ways to go. But it just gets laborious, no pun intended, doesn't it? Paul says, I know if I stay on and I live, it's gonna be fruitful, but it's gonna be tough work. For me, and I do not know which to choose, but I am hard pressed. You ever heard the old saying, between a rock and a hard place? He says, you know, I don't know, in my mind, I don't know if I wanna stay on, even though it's gonna be fruitful, it's gonna be hard work, or go and be with Jesus. which is really a gain from this world, it's a gain. Even though the great things are happening in the church, it would be a gain for me. But I am hard pressed in verse 23, from both directions having a desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is much better, amen? I'm with Paul. Count me in on that side of the ledger. To die and be with Christ, I heard a preacher one time say, it's not a gain, it is a great gain. Yet, verse 24, yet, to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Paul says, you know, if you really want to know my heart, I'd rather just go and be with Jesus. But as was, the heart of Paul was, it was to progress the gospel, advance the gospel. And so he says, I really know to remain on in verse 24 in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Paul truly understood future circumstances. He recognized the benefit was for others. I like these last two verses and we're done. He says, and convinced of this, and don't pass over that either, because that's so important. He's went through all of this, all of this, probably many times over. In his mind, right? Because he said, I'm between a rock and a hard place, betwixt two difficult decisions. And he's mulled this over and over and over and over. To come to verse 25 here, that's what he's done. So now he's to the point in his life where he says, I'm convinced of what is best, to stay young. Now think about that, and I don't want to belabor this point either, but Paul really didn't have a choice between those two, did he? I mean, physically, come on now. I know this may be gross this morning, on a Sunday morning, November 10th, 2024, but the only way that I can get out of this world is when the Lord takes me and I kill myself. Now, I know that's, I'm not suggesting that, I'm not at all, I'm just saying, how are you gonna get out of the world? I mean, Paul's living, what's he gonna do, kill himself? None of us know how long we're gonna live, do we? That's not up to us. That's up to him. So we don't have a choice in the matter. And really, even though Paul is going through this and he's bounced this around in his mind, he doesn't have a choice in this matter of when he's gonna live and die, does he? Unless he jump off a cliff somewhere. And he's not going to do that because he understands that he is in this world for one cause. and that's advancing the gospel. So he says, now in my mind and heart, I am convinced God is gonna keep me here until he takes me home to advance the gospel. I know that I shall remain and continue with you, in verse 25, all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Paul says, you know what? You've told me many times you have confidence in me. I appreciate that. And now as this plays out, you're gonna see what this is all about. That Jesus Christ, through my coming to you again, he's gonna be magnified and glorified. I look at Paul's life and I think, wow, what a conduit. What a conduit Paul was. and an encouragement for us to allow this to happen in his life. And I think that is a man and a person who has confidence in Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word and I pray that I've divided it properly and not said anything that is not according to your will and plan. If I have, I pray that you would adjust that in the hearts and minds of the listeners and those of us that are here this morning. And we are grateful that we can be encouraged by your word. And we're also joyful with Paul that we really, when you think about it, in this world are confined for you. We may not be in a prison cell, but we're living in this world and hampered in so many different ways, particularly as we live the gospel and are the gospel and present the gospel and advance the gospel. It's a constant battle and we feel chained a lot of times. We also rejoice with Paul and know that that's why you have us here. And in situations where you will be able to reach people that we would never be able to reach through those circumstances. But we at the same time look forward and have great confidence in you that someday we will be with you and we'll be able to enjoy all the freedom sitting by the river of life with all the saints rejoicing that we finally made it home. We thank you for loving us and being good to us, having a desire to be magnified, through us in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.