Well, Philippians chapter 1. Philippians finds Paul in prison and the Philippian church that had loved him so deeply and the feeling was mutual, they had written to Paul, sent a messenger and some money again to Paul because they were concerned about him. The first thing on their minds was, how is Paul doing? How is Paul doing? How is Paul doing? And he begins to answer that here. But notice he quickly transitions from talking about himself to talking about something else. And he's encouraging the Philippian Christians, and through them all Christians, to focus on his something else. So listen to these words. Philippians chapter 1 beginning at verse 12. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. So that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Dear congregation, I want to be happy. And I am not alone. We as Americans, this is the American dream, right? To be happy. To have your dreams come true. To have everything in life be satisfying and fulfilling to you. Have everything that happens in life be be a source of my happiness. I want to be happy. In fact, in the United States, it is our inalienable right to pursue happiness. We have a right in our Constitution. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. See, that's the one that we major on, is the pursuit of happiness. You know, we sort of despise the life thing now. We're not really there anymore. And we're really not all about the liberty thing anymore either, which is kind of frightening. But this happiness thing we all agree upon. This is the goal of life, right? Everybody should be happy. When you have kids, you just want them to be happy, right? When you have grandkids, you just want to be happy yourself. Well, no, you want them to be happy too. But how do we achieve this happiness, right? What is the formula to achieve true, full happiness? Well, when I get the things that I want, that makes me happy. When all the things go my way. When people do what I want, when I want them to do it, then I'm happy. When people feed my ego and praise me in my selfish pursuits, then I'm happy. When events smile upon me, then I'm happy. I'm happy when I'm on vacation. When is a three-day weekend? And we can go on and on and on. But in some, our thinking really is that our happiness depends upon how I feel or happiness depends upon my circumstances. Everything has got to go right and then I'll be happy. That's the way most people think. Everything revolves around me or more specifically around my happiness. The universe, there's something wrong with the universe if I'm not happy. Happiness is my right. It is my constant, all-consuming pursuit. I measure everything by my own personal happiness. And people like this, they live by two basic commandments. They shorten it from ten to two. Nothing is as important to me as my personal peace, my space, and my tranquility. And anything that disturbs my tranquility, my peace of mind, That must be bad. It has to be avoided. And everything that preserves it and defends my happiness, that's got to be good. And so you have this mentality, and we raise our children sometimes to have this mentality, that happiness is everything, and your happiness is everything, and everything has to revolve around your happiness. And then they begin to live real life. And real life slaps that attitude silly. But we're still all pursuing it. Shakespeare actually challenged this idea of our self-important lives and how important we think we are when he said this, life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Now that's more modern existentialism, right? All of life is pointless and meaningless. That's where self-focus, though, leads. When it's all about me, it ends in complete emptiness. And there are so many people that have trodden that path that it is a superhighway now. Their life is lived for pointless reasons, and they're unsatisfied, and they wind up being perpetually depressed as they're pursuing their own personal happiness because they think that's the goal in life. The self-centered person cannot possibly understand the text today because they won't understand Paul in the least. He's in prison and he's happy. What is wrong with this guy? Jesus points away from this self-centered happiness to a higher and ultimately more fulfilling purpose. And that's the purpose that I want to share with you today. The purpose, the secret of personal peace. I'm going to share it with you today. The purpose of, or the means, the way to achieve continual joy. Now I've got you all on the edge of, oh, happiness, we're going to get it. What is it? I'm going to give you the secret right now, and I'm going to quote scripture to give it to you, so you can't argue with it. This is the secret to the happy life, to the fulfilled life, to the life that will lead to joy and peace. Listen to these words. If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. What? Deny myself? Say no to my desires? Are you nuts? This idea just won't sell, and it certainly won't preach. speaking to a world that everybody wants to be happy and it's all about me, and then the scriptures come and say, deny yourself. Pick up a cross of affliction and do it willingly? This contradicts everything that I believe about life. So am I supposed to avoid those things at all costs? Follow Christ with a burden on my back? How can that be fulfilling? This is all very counter-cultural stuff. Here's another verse. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. and whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospels will save it. We save our lives by losing them. We save our lives by giving up the self-centered focus, by focusing on something else, by focusing on something better, by focusing on something more fulfilling. But we save our lives by losing them? That doesn't make sense. We win by losing? That doesn't make sense. It's confusing. We gain by giving? That's impossible, isn't it? We live by serving? I just don't get it. This is what many people have called a gospel paradox. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Put God first. Put His kingdom first. Above your personal happiness and you will gain joy. All these things, he says, will be added. All these necessary things will be added. But isn't it dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket? Well, Paul points in this direction as well. And he does it over and over again. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. This is again counter-cultural stuff. Future glory weighs more than present comfort. Future glory weighs more than present comfort. Again, this is a scriptural truth that just won't sell and just won't preach. It is the future that you should be concerned with, not your present happiness. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. So present affliction, present hardships, difficulties, and setbacks, present affliction can yield an eternal weight of glory. That's what was on Paul's mind, and that's why he could speak the way that he did. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. Even bad things God can use to work for good. So then brothers, he says, Paul again, We are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, or I take it that's the sinful lifestyle, the I gotta be happy and it's all about me lifestyle. Don't live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are put into death, the deeds of the body, you will live. So you can see now why this is still such a secret. Nobody talks about it. Don't want to hear that. Don't live for the flesh. Don't live for your selfish nature. Don't live according to your natural dyers. Don't live selfishly as if you are the center of the universe. Rather, walk in the Spirit and you will have true life and you will know true joy and true peace. Later in Philippians, St. Paul in the same prison says this, not that I speak from want, Meaning, I don't need anything. I'm in prison, chained to a guard, and I don't need anything. Why does he say that? For I have learned to be content no matter what the circumstances are. I know how to get along with humble means. I know also how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret, there it is, of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Can you imagine if I could put into a formula, put into a potion and sell it. No matter what your circumstances are, I can give you happiness. I can give you joy. Now that will sell. But then I tell them what it is. It's having yourself not be the center of the universe, having God be the center of the universe. Have what, not what you're doing in the world, but what He's doing in the world be the center of the universe. In fact, have it be the source of your joy. What God is doing in the world. That's what was the source of Paul's joy here. And Paul, because he had this other-worldly mindset, because he saw God, he saw His glory, and he saw what God was doing in the world, and it caused him a thrill to no end, to see what God was doing in the world. He could rejoice in prison, chained to a guard. Why? Because the Gospel is being preached, because God's Word is going forth. And in that, he rejoiced. He preached joy from prison. And he's preaching this secret of joy to the Philippians. God cannot be thwarted. He is almighty. When you set your hopes, when you pin your joy on Him, it will never be disappointed. Because God never fails. Never fails. And the reason we can't understand that is because we don't understand God. and what he's doing in the world, which is the source of all of our joy. But Paul's thinking didn't center on himself. It didn't center upon his current circumstances. It didn't center upon his personal peace, or his prominence, or his position. None of that mattered to Paul. It centered on the gospel and his progress in the world. He had eyes to see what God was doing in the world, and it thrilled him. You don't hear this stuff on the news, what God is doing in the world. Sometimes you see it. Sometimes you see a glimpse here, a glimpse there. Sometimes you have it in the preaching of the word. Sometimes you hear of a friend that was converted or someone who's gone through a great spiritual battle is overcome. I mean, we have instances of this all the time, but it ought to give us great joy. It gave Paul joy, even in prison. Now, the Philippians ought to have known that prison wasn't such a bad place. The Philippian jailer went to church with them every week. He was converted in prison just before he killed himself, or attempted to kill himself. He was converted. He was changed. And he worshiped with him every week. Your happiness should not depend upon your personal circumstances. This is the good news, by the way. But rather on the forward progress of the gospel. On what God is doing in the world. Your happiness doesn't... If your happiness depends upon your outward circumstances, you are not looking high enough. In fact, what you're doing really is you're taking a selfie of life, and all you see is you, and you don't see God. The lens is far too narrow. You need a wide-angle lens to get this. So Paul's message to the Philippians is simply this, make the progress of the gospel your chief concern, and it will be your chief source of delight. Make the progress of the gospel your chief concern, and it will become your primary source of joy. Now, I think having said all that, you can hear the text again. So let me read it. They were concerned about Paul's present circumstances. He was in prison, and this is what Paul says. I want you to know, brothers, what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. I know you're concerned for me. I'm concerned with the gospel. So it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Those of the brothers, having been confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill, the latter out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel, the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, and not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. His joy was in the gospel and how it spread. And he turned them to that five different times in the text. This is what your chief concern should be. So anyway, now we're finally preaching the text. We got there finally. That was just the introduction. This could be a long sermon. Verse 12, he's answering their concerns for Paul. And Paul says, I want you to know. Sometimes we just fly over that. I want you to know. Paul, in Scripture, is genuinely concerned with what we know, with our knowledge, with our thinking. We read in several other passages, I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, for I want you to know how I struggle. Or more negatively, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers. We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren. He goes on and on with these phrases all the time. He's concerned about your thinking, about what you know, because what you know changes everything. What you believe, your ultimate commitments that changes everything that you think and everything that you do. And that's what I want you to understand. The truth of the Word of God, it will change your life. Then he calls them, I want you to know, brothers. We are one family in Christ. It's a term of affection. It's a term of belonging. It's a term of unity. We are all in this together. And Paul, from prison, was longing, oh, if you could only see what I see. In the Gospel, and it's going forth, it's progress, it's preaching, if you could only see what I see, you would have joy too. And I want you to have that joy. The Philippians were concerned with Paul's circumstances. And so Paul responds to their concerns, but then he pivots. Well, I want you to understand, what has happened to me has furthered the gospel. That's what he wants them to think on. Not his personal circumstances, but in the furtherance of the gospel. James Boyce puts it this way, in one death sentence Paul shifts the legitimate interest of the Philippians from himself to the great undeterred purposes of God in history. See Paul was a zealous man. I would really encourage you to read the whole meditation which is really on zeal, but let me just read you a small portion of it. Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. This desire is so strong that when it really reigns in a man, that it impels him to make any sacrifice, to go through any trouble, to deny himself to any amount, to suffer, to work, to labor, to toil, to spend himself and to be spent, and even to die if only he can please and honor Christ. Have you seen, or have you heard of, or have you read biographies of zealous Christians? This zeal is what the gospel can produce. When we lay hold upon the gospel, when we go deeper into the gospel, when it dawns on us everything the gospel means about who God is and who we are and what we should be doing in the world, when the gospel, as it were, overwhelms our mind and our thinking, it produces this kind of single-minded zeal. Paul was on house arrest, most likely chained to a rotating, the Praetorian guard. They took shifts being chained to him, perhaps. They might not have been chained, I'm not positive about that. So Paul could say, well, even though I'm bound, the word of God is not bound. And that's what he rejoiced in. The purpose of God is not hindered by my imprisonment. Even though I'm not preaching to you on a regular basis, I'm still preaching. The gospel was not dealt a severe setback or defeat by my imprisonment. The word of God is not bound. He said that in Timothy. The word of God is not imprisoned. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to be empty, but will accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I send it. God's providence works through apparent setbacks to accomplish his perfect ends. Joseph was thrown into the pit by his own brothers. He was enslaved, he was falsely accused, he was imprisoned, and all of it was for the glory of God and for the good of his people. It took a while to figure that out, but that's what it was for. Job loses his family, his wealth, his health, all for the glory of God. And then all of those things were restored to him. The early church in Acts chapter 8, they had to leave Jerusalem because the persecution was getting so great, and so what did they do? They took the Word of God and they went with him to other places, speaking the Word of God. So the persecution actually forwarded the Gospel. In Paul himself, in the text, he gives two examples of how, through his imprisonment, the Word of God was continuing to go forth. Verses 13 and 14. So that is, being known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ. his word, his gospel have infiltrated the whole praetorian guard and even beyond. I'm right that he had rotating guards guarding him. And it was in general known who Paul was and why he was in prison. It says in our text he was in prison for Christ. Every once in a while, you think maybe the guards might have asked him, says, Paul, why are you here? Ah, I'm glad you asked. Boom, there goes the gospel. He told him over and over and over again. So the word of God is going forth to Caesar's household, to the praetorian guard, to the soldiers. In fact, at the end of Philippians, this is what Paul said to them. He refers to some from Caesar's household who had become brothers and sisters in Christ. Even though I'm in prison, the word of God is going forth and lives are being changed. And he also says to everyone else, people were talking about Paul and his trial. And while he was there, he was a known cause, I suppose, at that time. And everyone was talking about Paul. And if they were talking about Paul, they were talking about Christ. They were talking about Christians. They were talking about the gospel. It's when the word of God was going forth. You've heard before the expression, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Well, quite often, the persecution, the difficulties of Christians is also the seed of the church. How the church grows, how it prospers, the gospel is prospering even through Paul's sufferings. And in that he rejoiced. I said I was sort of struggling with a bunch of stuff this week. Still am. But I was reading something, and they gave this illustration, which I'm going to share with you. I wound up giving it to myself twice and to my son once, and now I'm giving it to you. This is Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, if you remember, when they were in the Nazi prison camps for preserving Jews and trying to protect their lives during World War II. And they were in a miserable prison. They were vastly overcrowded, and there were bugs everywhere, little gnats in their bunk beds everywhere. And they were just packed in there like sardines. And it was just a miserable existence. And they were talking to one another. They said, well, what should we do? It's such a miserable situation. Everything's against us. Our circumstances are awful. And her sister was talking to her back and forth and said, well, it says in the word of God that we are to give thanks for everything. Well, what do we have to give thanks for here, in prison, with the bugs? He says, well, right now, you and I are doing our devotion time, and we have a Bible. When we got checked in, they didn't take our Bible away. You can be thankful for that. Well, yeah, but it's so crowded here. Well, I know it's really crowded, but because it's so crowded here, when you and I read devotions, when we pray, a bunch of people hear. So that's a good thing, too, right? So we can thank God that we're so crowded. Oh, yeah, what about the gnats? We can't thank God for the gnats. Who thanks God for bugs? But they said, well, we're going to do this in obedience to the word of God, so we're going to thank God even for the bugs. And they didn't really understand until afterwards that one of the reasons they could have their quiet times, their devotional times, their Bible reading, their worship times, was because the guards wouldn't go into their barracks because of the bugs. Can you thank God for the bugs? the annoying gnats in your life. There is a purpose behind them. You may not know what that is. God does, and God is still working. You see, if you can change from your present circumstances, oh, I'm in prison, there's bugs, it's crowded, we don't have enough to eat, we're wearing these lousy clothes and there's no end in sight. If you could dwell on your circumstances, you're going to get depressed. But what were they trying to dwell on? They were trying to go on the gospel. We still have it. It's still ours. We can still talk about it. We can still praise God for it. We can still have others here. And then afterwards, when she came out of that prison, her sister didn't, but she did. She had a worldwide ministry speaking the gospel. Paul would say, some were timid before I was in prison, some were more cautious, but now because of my courage in facing prison for Christ, other people are emboldened. Look at the word of God again. For most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Well, Paul's not afraid of what might happen to him. Why should I be afraid? So I'm going to preach the gospel. I'm going to go forth with the truth. I'm not going to fear the face of man. I'm not going to worry what the world says or does. I'm going to preach the gospel. So more people were preaching the gospel with greater courage, without fear. They were becoming more, we call it today, gospel-centered and Christ-focused and less concerned about themselves, their personal space and peace, and their general well-being. Do you know who Bloody Mary is? It's not a drink, by the way. When Mary became queen, she was Catholic, but most of the people who led the church weren't. And so she thought persecution was an order, and she started. The very first one that she martyred was John Rogers. And this is what someone who heard about his martyrdom said. I thank the Lord our God that since I first heard of our dear brother Roger's departing and stout confessing of Christ and his truth even unto death, my heart, blessed by God, rejoiced of it. Neither ever since that time have I felt any lumpish heaviness as I grant that I have sometimes felt before. So it emboldened Ridley, to speak the gospel even though the circumstances were against him. He only lasted 10 months before Bloody Mary got to him, but he spoke the Word of God. Many speak the Word of God boldly out of love. What gospel? That salvation is through faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone. And that is a glorious message. There have been people who died to bring that message to us. There are people that are dying to bring that message to the world now, and I give it to you freely and without fear, that salvation is through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. And all the riches, all the wealth, all the treasure of the gospel is yours freely. Paul could rejoice that Christ, that the gospel was preached, some from wrong motives, some from envy and strife, Some ministers lose sight of their priorities. That instead of putting the gospel first, even at the expense of his own welfare and prominence, I'm quoting, he seeks to become a greater preacher than others and to become a celebrity. One of the terrible temptations for preachers is because we speak about the most important things in life. Because we try to do it with passion, and because so many people, so many intelligent people, so many godly people, they listen, they sort of sit on the edge of their seats, and what do I say? It can be a terrible temptation to pride. I'm speaking the word of God to other people. They should have more respect for me. That's what people sometimes contend to be. Some were preaching from envy, from strife, out of selfish ambition, thinking to add stripes to his imprisonment. They were not preaching a false gospel, but they were preaching the true gospel from false motives, from selfish, malicious motives, it turns out, to score personal points, to gain position or prominence Paul's in prison, and they're deciding his fate, and we don't like Paul, so if we preach really hard, if we stir up a lot of trouble, maybe he'll get it bad. That's probably what they were thinking. Envy. They wanted what Paul had. Power and respect. People listened to him, respected him, and they wanted to be like him. They figured if we could just knock out Paul, everybody else in the Christian hierarchy will move up a notch, right? So let's get Paul out of the way, and then everyone will get promoted. Kind of awful thinking. Power politics happens in churches too. And it infuriates me when it does. And it ought to you as well. Selfish ambition. This phrase is used of politicians who seek to gain a following for themselves. And people can use the gospel to do that as well. Spite, some preach in hopes that Paul would suffer all the more. They were promoting their ministries at Paul's expense. Anyway, I can go on and on. Let me just give you an example of preaching Christ from envy and strife. We were going to baptize Gordon Haddon Zachary this morning. And I have a quote from Gordon Clark, who's actually Gordon Haddon Clark, who our Gordon is named after. Anyway. Gordon Clark tells a story about a University of Pennsylvania professor. He was a history professor and he had assigned his classroom a book to read or actually a sermon to read. It was Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, right? Oh, what a lousy sermon title, huh? And he wanted to assign it to his students so that they would learn how morose and sour and disagreeable the Puritans were. That was his motive. And so his students read Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and one of them was converted. That's what Paul means by rejoicing that Christ is preaching from ill motives. Some of the Penguin classics that they read in colleges still, they're explicitly Christian books. Confessions by St. Augustine, and we can go on and on, but the Gospel is preached. Don't focus on yourself. Don't focus on your current circumstances. Don't expect circumstances to make you happy. Don't try to force them to make you happy. It won't work. But if you focus on the progress of the gospel, if you have eyes to see what God is doing in the world, you will know joy and it will be continual. Did you know as Christians, Our objective, our objective is to lose our lives for the sake of Christ. That's what we're here for. And by losing our lives, we gain them. We seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and in doing so, we find Paul's source of never-ending joy. God will never leave and he'll never forsake us. I have been crucified with Christ, he said. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me." Be bold in your proclaiming of the gospel. Don't wait until your pastor is in prison to be emboldened to preach the gospel. Happened here to Paul. I don't want to have to go to prison, quite honestly, because I want to be happy, right? And don't divide the body of Christ. What do I mean by that? If you have any convictions in the Christian life, you disagree with someone in the Christian life. In fact, I probably disagree with all y'all on something or other, right? And I could make that difference that we have in our theology and our understanding of Scripture, I could make that a wedge and drive a wedge between us. Well, you don't agree on everything that I understand, everything that I know, and so don't be the hammer that drives the wedge between Christians. I often think, we agree probably on 98.7% of life, but what do we talk about? The percentage that we don't agree on, that's all we talk about. And sometimes you do hear, well, they're preaching Christ from envy and selfish ambition. They should stop that. Well, in a sense that's true, but they're preaching Christ. Rejoice in that. Find the thing that you can rejoice in and rejoice in it. Rejoice that Christ is preached. Free grace. Divine love. It is the medicine that the world needs. Nothing else ultimately will do But this will. This will change hearts, this will change lives, this will change cultures, if it is understood. So, we are to rejoice that Christ is preached by a Baptist, by a Methodist, by a Presbyterian, by an Episcopalian, by a Dispensationalist, by a Fundamentalist, if the Word of God is preached. If Christ is preached, we rejoice. You can't really rejoice that Christ is preached until you know Christ. And then when you know Christ and you hear Him being preached, it thrills you to no end. Do you know Christ? Do you know Him the way Paul did? Now, that's kind of an unfair question, because I don't know Him the way Paul did yet, but I'm striving to know what Paul knew, and I'm striving to have the secret of contentment that Paul found in the forward progress of the gospel. So I preach to you the secret of joy. Have eyes to see what God is doing in the world, and you will see it, and you will be glad. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the glorious gospel. We thank you for the power that it has to change lives, the power that it has to change minds and cultures. And we thank you, Lord, that Paul had the mind of Christ And he could receive even imprisonment and persecution with joy. And he could spread that joy to others. Lord, help us to see what Paul saw, to know what Paul knew, to rejoice in what Paul rejoiced in. Help us to see the love of God in Christ, and may it have the power and the impact that it had on Paul, that it has had on others, that we've known, that we've loved. Lord, we pray that you would continue the work that you have begun in us, that our source of joy would be perpetual and unending. For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.