You to the book of Philippians not to continue your study into the book of Philippians To me this is there's a lot to say I'll not be able to say But I will say this that There's some many glorious truths here that I think will impact us and just how we approach life look through the same perspective, the same lens in which Paul looked at life. I think it'd help us all. I think we'd be more positive. And I know not everything's about being positive, but also I think it helps us to deal with things and to trust God and his providences in every aspect and every turn of our life. In Philippians chapter one, Verse number 12, I'm gonna read this verse, we're gonna cover through 20, but I'll read every verse through that tonight. We're going through puberty, I'm sorry about that. But this will be the sermon title tonight, is what we need to understand. What we need to understand Paul writes, but I would, would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the fervor of the gospel. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God in this time to study. And as we continue through the book of Philippians, may you give us ears to hear and eyes to see, hearts to understand. God, may we be receptive to your word. and may it change us and help us be conformed to your image. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now, more than anything else, Paul as a missionary, when you read throughout the New Testament, he had a desire to go and preach the gospel in Rome. Rome is, the city of Rome was the hub of the empire. It was the city in Paul's day. The city, the imperial city. And Paul knew this, if he could go and conquer for Christ in Rome, it means that the gospel would trickle down to millions. For Rome itself was said to have over a million people within its city. It was something that was constantly upon his mind and one of great importance. He said this, that after I had been there, speaking to Jerusalem, I also must see Rome, in Acts chapter number 19. And when he was in Corinth, he wrote, so as much as in me, this Romans 1.15, he writes, from the city of Corinth, so as much as in me, I am ready, eager to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. That was his desire, go to Rome and preach. He wanted to go as a preacher, but instead he went as a prisoner. When we read the scriptures, Paul's desire to go to Rome was fulfilled, but not in the way in which he had planned. He had a desire to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, but he didn't go there in circumstances that he anticipated. He didn't go there as an evangelist preaching in the amphitheaters, preaching in the open markets and in the synagogues as an evangelist, but rather he is a prisoner in chains. His audience is not one with masses, but rather individuals that are linked to him by chains. And so here he is in Jerusalem waiting trial. He doesn't know whether or not he'll live, whether he'll die, He don't know what his verdict is, but one thing for sure, he has liberty every single day. And most people believe he's chained for about 18 inches, 24 hours a day in a house he had to pay for out of his own pocket. He is there with someone that he shares the gospel with. And so waiting his trial. Now, there was many difficult circumstances as we had talked about the Apostle Paul at this point in going through. But probably some of the greatest messages that he ever preached were probably to those he did one-on-one with. And some of his greatest work came as a fact of being in prison. When he ever wrote the book of Ephesians, when he ever wrote Philippians, when he ever wrote Colossians, when he wrote the epistles, when he called the prison epistles, why? Because he was in prison when he wrote. And we have these truths yet here for us today that we turn to. And so what we found was that he preached these messages and these messages went to the very ear to the guards who were known as the Praetorian guards. These are the elite guards of the emperor himself. These are men of power and men of influence, men that had the very ear of Caesar. They have the very ear of the aristocrats, the senators of that day, these men were held in high regard. And those that were coming to him were converted to the faith. And you say, how did you know that? Well, in chapter number four, and you get toward the end of it, he writes, salute every saint in Christ Jesus. But notice what he says, the brethren which are with me greet you. What brethren is with him, the guards? And you'll find that it seems that many people come to faith as a result of Paul's imprisonment in Rome. He did not waste time. This message of the gospel by these Praetorian guards were taking place as Paul would have never received an audience. If he went there and planted a church, it's very doubtful he had ever had an audience or had an influence in the very palace of Rome. But now, because of these circumstances, Paul finds him in with the elite guards of the entire empire that are the personal bodyguards of Caesar, are able to take the message only to a place that they could. Paul couldn't, but they could. And so these were men who would influence the very decisions that the emperor would make. I don't know about you, but I find it absolutely fascinating how God works. The apostle preached sermons in chains that were rotated and cycled, and probably there were dozens of them. They'd cycle through. Some of them probably wanted to hear more. Some of them said, oh, it's my time with Paul again. But I wonder how many of those said, it's my time with Paul again. Eventually, the Holy Spirit raptured and come into their heart and their life and brought them to life, and they were believers. That's the power of the gospel. And so what Paul's doing here is not only writing a, Thank you, letter to the Philippians for standing by. He was telling us great affection and appreciation that he has for them, but he's updating them, these people he loves, to his very situation in Rome and his imprisonment. And that in spite of all this, the Lord is triumphing, the kingdom of God is advancing, and there's no need to retreat. You'll find that the Philippians had no doubt heard the broken reports of him being imprisoned, He'll be a shipwrecked along the way. Maybe they'd heard how he'd been snake bitten. Maybe they'd heard the accounts, how he was treated and all the things, but they were deeply concerned for this one who used to be their spiritual shepherd. So Paul writes back and he said, yes, he comes to verse number 12, but I would have had you to understand, brethren. I want you to understand these things are true. These things are happening. I am in prison. I don't know if I'm gonna live, if I'm gonna die. I don't know what's gonna happen. It's been hard, but I want you to understand that it's not about me. It's about the gospel. I want you to understand it's not about me, it's about Christ. And what you need to do is put on perspective and see this through the lens of God and his sovereignty because God's doing something with me here that I would have never dreamed and most people would never notice unless they take the time to see through the lens of God's working. Because most of us would have sat down and grumbled and complained and found nothing good but only fault and only something to be angry about and complain about fairness, but not the apostle Paul with his future in jeopardy. So what do you say we need to understand? Well, number one, verses 12 through 17, and I got that introduction under 10 minutes, I'm happy. the purpose behind his circumstances. Number one, it creates a unique opportunity. Notice that. He said, what's this all about? Here's what he wanted them to understand. His circumstances, though not favorably, according to man's perspective, created a unique opportunity. You notice the words of verse 12. Brethren, the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather to what? the firmness of the gospel. Number one, understand this has happened for the good. Not just happened for the good, but the advancement of the gospel. We've not gone backward, we're going forward. That's a good perspective. Verse number 13, so that my bonds in Christ, not my bonds to the emperor, not my bonds in Christ, he says what? Are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. Now there's a unique opportunity. This verse, I'm gonna say it's a little tricky to King James, I'm gonna be honest with you. And you read some others, it flows together better. And even in the margin of my Bible, it has these words, but you put it here, it says bonds, it refers to the chains. When he says palace, that word palace is a word that would be often translated praetorian guard. And when he says all other places, he's saying all the rest of the others is what he's saying. All the others that are around me, So here's what he's saying. He's saying so that it has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard, the Praetorian Guard, and to all the rest of those that are around him connected to them of his reason for the imprisonment for Christ. In other words, his imprisonment was influential to all those who are in the highest authority and in the highest realms of Rome. That's what was happening. And the men that were chained to him were taking this message further. And for two years, Paul being fastened in chains, I want you to understand, probably attached to the root, to his wrist, Privacy and anything, these guards rotating every few hours, rotating who would be with him, just brought him a new opportunity, a new audience that was not going anywhere. They had to hear him preach the gospel to the point it impacted this whole group of men. Not only do we look at this and say it created a unique opportunity, but I want you to see this, it created an unusual result. And what is the result? Verse number 14. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Paul is explaining that the result of his imprisonment, the believers in Rome now are more courageous in their witness. They're more bold in telling others about Christ and what he's done for him. And so most of the brethren trusting in the Lord have more courage to speak out. Why? Because they were afraid they'd be thrown in prison. They'd be thrown, afraid that they were going to be shut down, that their rights would be taken away. But Paul's outspokenness in chains, it didn't thwart anybody. It only motivated them to serve God deeper. And Paul's reports that they are without fear, that they are doing it boldly. No, what he's saying is no longer are they hesitant to mention the name of Christ as they had presumably been in the past, but now they're looking to their one that was their leader, a champion of the faith. who is bold and suffering for the gospel and yet rejoicing because he has lost his liberty and because the providence and sovereignty of God placed him in a place to be a mouthpiece for the gospel of Jesus Christ. What they do, they see his example and it has an enormous effect upon them. It has an enormous effect. And it wasn't just because of his boldness, it's because of his attitude. This whole book, I rejoice. I say, rejoice. And again, I say, what rejoice? He talks about those that are his enemies fighting against him. And we'll get to this here just in a moment, but Paul doesn't just say, go out and beat them with a stick. He said, in spite of it, they're preaching Christ and I rejoice. And I mean it, I rejoice. It's amazing attitude and perspective that Paul has in this situation. Now many people are on fire for the Lord because They see him and his courage and his boldness in the time of suffering. And so if we look, not only do we see this newfound courage, but I want you to notice secondly, chains and critics. Chains and critics. Verse 15, there are churches in Rome, and he says this, some indeed preach Christ, but notice how they preach it with envy and strife, and some also with goodwill. This is a strange thing. Not sincerely, supposing that affliction, my bonds. Why are they doing their preaching? And why are they preaching? Their motivation for preaching is somehow to hurt all. Now think about that. That's strange to me. Very strange to me to see this go on. And so, let me just say to you, I've never met a pastor yet that didn't have a critics. I've never met one yet, any man to go into ministry, somebody from the church, they don't like the way you preach. They don't like something you do. Always have to, you know, Charles Hatton Spurgeon was, we call him Prince Preacher today, but people read of Spurgeon's life, he was censured by the Baptist Union in this day. Censured. And it threw him into depression. John Calvin got run out of Geneva. And when they ran into some trouble, they brought him back. They brought him back. They run him out. I mean, they hated him while he was there. The little freesmen, they'd call him. They'd throw dead animals at him and feces at him and walk down the street and scorn him because he took a stand for the Word of God. I mean, you go back to Jonathan Edwards. When people talk about Jonathan Edwards, they have great reverence because he preached a lot of sermon. You may know, sinners in the hands of a lot of an angry God. One of the greatest messengers ever preached. He was known as the Apostle Paul in the Americas. I mean, the greatest scholar that ever lived in this part of the world was Jonathan Edwards, and he got fired after 20 years. I mean, if we go back and look at some of these men, they would run out of their pulpit, and who we hold in great, they always had a great, Paul said, all those in Asia turned their back on me. And he speaks, and he talks to those, Paul, life wasn't easy in the ministry, but it didn't stop him. And thank God for the ones that stood because it wasn't everybody. Some preached out of envy and strife, but some out of goodwill. Some did it for the right reasons and motivation. And he was thankful for them as well. And what does he mean, envy, jealousy, or just ill will, strife, it means contention. Just wrangling over the words that Paul may have said. Just want to argue. And why did they do it? I don't know if it was because of his, Authority has an apostle. I don't know if he was a gifted speaker or his brilliant mind, his intellect, but whatever it was, there were some people that set out in the opportunity, seeing he was in jail, made her say that he deserves to be there. He caused nothing but trouble. He's done this or he's done that. They were finding fault with the apostle Paul. Churches he helped plant. They're out of handy. How's Paul? And by the way, don't miss that. Yeah, they were some that were critics, but they were some of goodwill. Their motives were pure. They stayed true. They weren't gonna be caught up in that. So how's Paul handle this? Well, first there's realization. Look at verse 16. It says, for one preach of Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds. He's a realist, if Paul's anything. People wanna be optimists, people wanna be, some people are pessimists. You know what we ought to be is realists. Realists. That's what he was. And so what does he do with this? Well, meaning of selfishness means to promote oneself. In fact, when he says this to preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, it means that they were trying to promote themselves. One of the words used is somebody's a hireling. They thought their criticisms of Paul would destroy his influence and increase their reputation. So they went out in this anti-Paul propaganda. I don't know exactly what it was, we don't know, but it's true, it's here. I said it's some strange stuff, brother Harlan. I can't imagine that people were doing this in churches and yet preaching the true gospel, and apparently they were. But notice that others do it for the right purpose. In verse number 17, the Bible tells us this, that, but of the other love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. So there's ones, They're trying to do something with their ministry to destroy Paul. And there's the others here, or the ones that are what? They are preaching the truth and they love Paul. And the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel, they know what I'm preaching. They're standing behind me. So here's what's going on. One does it for wrong purposes, selfish ambitions. The other does it for the right purposes. But Paul has a very unusual reaction to this. And this is what I really want you to know, if we can theorize what it's all about, I don't know. Several people have wide-eyed it, I don't know. But here's what I am impressed with. Paul's reaction. Paul starts off and says, I want you to understand, this is not bad. Yes, all of those things you heard, they're true. But God is doing great things. Notice what he focuses his attention on. What God was doing, rather than his circumstances. He said, these circumstances are good. From a human perspective, they were not good. From a human perspective, they were terrible. We had better ideas, better plans than God. But from God, Paul looked at it and said, I see what God's doing. I see exactly what he's doing. So Paul's reaction then, look at verse number 18. What does he say, what then? It's almost as if Paul's saying, how am I supposed to react? How am I supposed to react to this? There's some that's preaching, giving me trouble. Why waste a sermon trying to run the Apostle Paul out? Look at that. Why? But then, guess what? How am I supposed, there's some that's doing it for the right reason. So how should I react? Do you want me to correct them? Do you want me to fix them? Do you want me to answer all the allegations? Do you want me to try to defend myself? Do you want me to just lay it all out here on the line? Apostle, I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that. In fact, I'm gonna look at something else. What then? Not withstanding. It doesn't matter. In every way, whether they do it in pretense or do it for false motivation, whether they're doing it in truth. What do you say ultimately happened to even these people that were gifted? Christ was being preached. They may have been those that didn't like Paul, but his ministry had so influenced them, they had yet trusted in Christ, And in spite of it, they were preaching Christ. And he said, Paul's like, I don't care if they hate me, they're preaching Christ. I don't care if they're saying things that are not true, Christ is being preached. You know what Paul was doing? He's keeping the main thing, the main thing. Rather than be focused on exteriors and secondary things or things just to be upset about, he said, Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice. Does it stop there? Because I would say, baloney. You know what, I wrote a letter addressing these guys. You're a bunch of tooth-faced hypocrites y'all get out of the ministry. Huh, not Paul. He didn't do that. He said, I rejoice. And didn't necessarily emphatically. What did he say? What'd he say there? And we'll rejoice. I rejoice now and I will rejoice. because I see what God is doing. You see, I want you to understand what was important to him that Christ resulted in the gospel preach. He has a higher agenda in mind than his critics. He is set for the defense and the proclamation of the gospel and the advancement of the kingdom of God. He wants us to know not only the purpose behind his circumstances that create unique opportunity and unusual results in many areas, But also, he wants us to see this, the purpose behind his confidence. Because you come to verse number 19, Paul writes in confidence, a guy that's in jail, chained to a guard, the elite guard, and people are hating on him from without, from the very town that he's in, the town he dreams of going to, and having fruit in that ministry. But what does he say? For I know that This shall turn to my salvation through your prayer. Now what does he mean salvation? He's talking about spiritual salvation here. He's talking about being delivered. Now, how can Paul be delivered? Two ways in Paul's mind. Number one, they could kill him and he'd go along and say, in the absence of this body, or excuse me, to die, I'd be better off, that'd be gain, as I go be with the Lord, right? That's what he says, just a few verses on down. But another way he could be saved is he could be turned loose. There's only two options. They either kill me, I'm with the Lord, or they set me free and I go on preaching the gospel. I'm a winner either way. That's his perspective on this. I know this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. He knew the spirit of God would give him the grace to endure whatever he had to endure according to my earnest expectation This expectation, this zeal, this is an expectation for the future. Paul's still looking forward regardless of the situation that he is in and my hope. And what is his hope? that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose. He knew that it would all work together for good and so he leans upon God's sovereignty. And let me say to you, he uses God's sovereignty as his pillow to rest easy every night. That's what he's doing. That in nothing I shall be ashamed. I stand before Caesar, they ask me, they're not gonna creep me up about anything. I'm confident in that. But with all boldness as always. So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by my death. His ultimate desire was to trust in the Lord. That is his confidence. The purpose behind his confidence is God's sovereignty. You'll find it in Ephesians chapter six and 19. When he wrote from there, what did he say? What did he ask for? Relief to be set free when he was in prison? No, he didn't do that. His prayer, and for me, that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly. Paul's prayer in Colossians 4 and 3, you know what it was while he was there? It wasn't that he had comfort, that people would stop talking about him, that people would silence the critics. It was never that, but in Colossians four and three, he said, with all do this praying also for us that God would opened us to a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I'm also in bonds. His desire always was to bring glory of God regardless of the cost and not be bogged down by silly, petty foolishness. That's what Paul's desire was. So let me move to conclusion and application. How do I get through that so fast? Well, I've still got this big section. Let me just say, Paul was in prison. He had his critics. He didn't know if he was going to live or he was going to die. He didn't know whether it would be revered or reviled. He didn't know. But he found joy in adversity. Why is that? Well, I stole this from David Jeremiah, and I thought it was great. I amplified it, changed it a little bit, but I stole it from him. And number one, adversity provides an opportunity to witness and to influence those whom he had opportunity to meet that he would have never had opportunity to meet if it hadn't been for his adversity. Think about that. Secondly, adversity proved the character of his true friends. He knew who they really was at this point, right? Thirdly, adversity provoked growth and a greater work in his life. We had the prison officials as a result. And Paul influenced more people from here than he maybe did if he'd been an itinerant evangelist going from city to city through Rome. And fourthly, adversity prepared him to put his life and death in perspective. If you look, you see a man who reflects. Whether I go, whether I stay, it doesn't matter to me. I mean, he just says, you know, I'm gonna be If I die, I'm gonna be in Florida. That's great. If not, I can stay here and minister to y'all some more. I can stay here and aggravate y'all some more. But put it in perspective. You know what we need sometimes? We need to put life in perspective. And adversity, when we're faced with it, when we're under fire, is when we generally put things in perspective, the most clear and concise way is through hardships. And so what does this teach us? How do I apply this to my life? Well, I'm gonna give you about three things, and I'm not gonna preach them, but pay attention. Do you allow your circumstances, ask yourself this, do you allow your circumstances to control you, or do you recognize God is in control of your circumstances? Because if you recognize God is in charge of your circumstances, you'll start looking for where God is working to be thankful for. Secondly, let me say this. The first 11 verses, we see Paul has a tender heart, right? He has a very tender heart because he has a very thankful heart. He's thankful for these Philippians. He has a very joyful spirit. I mean, he's talking about joy, rejoicing. That's the theme of this book. He has a very gospel focus. He talks about our fellowship is in the gospel, our commonality, the very thing that we're rooted in is in the truth of the gospel. We have a confident hope that what God begins, you'll also finish. And the verses, he ends with this affectionate love. I long to be with you. I want to be a part of, I miss you. We see that, a very tender heart, but you know what we see in verses 12 and 20? Paul has thick skin. He has thick skin. And I want to tell you something, that's something we all need. We need tender hearts and thick skins. We need our hide tough and we need our heart soft. But the only way that is possible is to be thick skinned and tender hearted is to see things through God's purposes. If not, you will never become thick skinned and soft hearted. What'll happen, your skin will be soft and your heart will be hard. If you see it through the lens of man. And thirdly, let me say this. The only way you can ever have an effective influence in your life that sparks fire and flames and others is to see what God is doing and trust His providence. And that's exactly what Paul did because he was faithful. He saw what God was doing. He wanted them to understand. I may be in prison, but because of my situation, me being bold, it's become contagious because of my excitement, because I am faithful. Boom, other people that used to sit back, were timid and fearful, now have courage and they're entering the public square. They're entering the public arena. And they're lifting up their voice and proclaiming the name of Christ. Their life was an influence for the glory of God. And only when they trust. And you can see through the very providence of God. Man, there's so much to this book. It just exhausts me layer upon layer. And I pray that it's been a challenge to every one of us here tonight. Let's pray.