Untitled Sermon

some are cold things. Look with me at Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. We're going to look at the first 21 verses. We've already studied up to verse 12, so we'll actually study verses 12 through 21, but I want to take them in context. So follow along as I begin reading in verse one. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at

Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart. For whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you

share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in the kingdom of God. More and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now, I want you to know, brothers,

that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously. Fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes,

and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers, and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I am going to be repetitive in this series in Philippians, so bear with me. I believe in repetition because I believe it's the way to

understand the gospel. I believe in the gospel, and I believe in the gospel. I believe in the understanding. I believe God repeats himself in his word for the same purpose, to bring us to understanding. Several times in his word, in different places, we find God repeating himself to clarify that something is important for us to gain an understanding of. The apostle Peter says

in his epistle, as long as I'm in this tabernacle of my body, I'm going to continue to put you in remembrance of these things because it's necessary that we learn them. So you're going to hear this as we're in this study in Philippians, and it's for a purpose, that we understand why we're studying the book of Philippians. Now, the overall heading for this study in Philippians is that we might learn how to rejoice in the Lord, that we move out of an attitude of circumstantial Christianity, which means we learn how to rejoice regardless of the circumstances, that we are no longer slaves to circumstances, but that we learn to just praise God and thank him and move in an attitude of rejoicing through whatever circumstance we face because we know

he's in control. Listen, I don't know about you, but I know that, well, in my life, and I've seen it in others' lives, there's a tendency for us to want to gain solace from someone else. We want to gain an acknowledgement that they care for us, and so we act in such a way as to deny that. Oh, you just don't care about me anymore. And you're wanting them to say, oh, yes, I do. You know, I really care. And that's a form of

manipulation, and it can lead us into all kinds of areas. I believe it's at the heart of eating disorders. I believe it's at the heart of depression, is seeking to move in that way to gain comfort, to gain a recognition and a comfort from someone else. And we have a tendency to do that with the Lord. The children of Israel did it. You've brought us out in the wilderness to die,

and what they're wanting God to do. Oh, no, I haven't. I really love you. And I find myself doing that with God. Oh, I trust you, Lord. And then we get into that circumstance of hardship, whatever it is, financial or whatever, and oh, God, you don't love me. And I'm wanting him to go, yes, I do. Here's $1,000, you know, thinking I can manipulate God that way. And so rather than rejoicing that he's got circumstances

in control, I contend to seek to manipulate God in my attitude in the midst of the circumstances, and that makes me a circumstance. I'm a substantial Christian, and that's what I want to avoid. That's what I think the Bible really teaches against if we're learning how to rejoice in the Lord. Because if I'm really learning how to rejoice in the Lord, then regardless of my circumstances, my attitude is going to reflect that God's in control. It doesn't seem logical, but my attitude will reflect

that. I'm going to keep saying this over and over and over every time we start to study, but it's to bring us into remembrance of that. Chances are you had one of those whiz-bang weeks, right, where maybe you tried to manipulate God that same way. You need to be put into remembrance. Chapter, each chapter will deal with that overall learning to rejoice in the Lord by looking at a different phase of it. And chapter one is learning to

rejoice in the opportunities to serve Christ. I believe this entire study is progressive. In other words, you don't just jump in somewhere here and, oh boy, like right here, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That's a powerful verse. But if we don't understand everything that comes before it, you can claim that verse. For me to live is Christ and to die

is gain, you can memorize that verse. In all the different translations, you can memorize it in Greek. And it really won't transform your life in the way that Paul intended it or in the way that the Holy Spirit intended it when he prompted Paul to pen it. Because I believe this is progressive. There were so far three things that we progressed through up to this point, up to verse 12,

that we have to understand to learn how to rejoice in the Lord. First, we have to know who we are, what we are, and where we are. Verses one and two. We have to know who we are. Verse one, we are bond slaves in Jesus Christ and all that that means. You'll have to pick up a book. You'll on the tapes to pick up on all that. You're a bond slave in Jesus Christ. Secondly, you have to know

what you are. Verse one, you are a haggios. You are a saint in Christ Jesus. Third, you have to know where you are. Verse one, you are in Christ Jesus. You have to know those three things. That's the first thing that we learn. To really learn how to rejoice in Christ, you have to know those three things. As you are learning those three things, you can progress on to verses three

through six, which is learning to cultivate the habit of prayer. Learning to cultivate a habit of prayer. Verse three, we have to learn to give thanks for others. Now, when someone blesses you, it's real easy to thank God for what you were blessed with. Thank you, God, for the money. Thank you, God, for the car. Thank you, God, for the food. Thank you, God, for the rent. Thank you,

God, for the house. Whatever. Rather than thank you, God, for so-and-so through whom you provided whatever. And thanking God for others needs to become a regular part of our prayer life. It is not in most Christians. We thank God for the goodies he gives us, but we tend to slack on thanking God for others. Verse four, we have to learn to pray that God will meet their needs.

And that as you're really growing in your prayer life, you'll find that that comes before praying for your own. And this is all on the other tapes, so you can pick up on those. Verse five, we have to learn in cultivating our habit of prayer to remember the blessings that God has given us. And usually those blessings will come through others. So as we... Oh, Lord, thank you for the blessing

of that trip that you gave us. No, Lord. Yeah, that came because somebody gave this much, Lord. Thank you for that. Or, thank you, Lord, for the child that you gave us. No, Lord. Yeah, so-and-so helped us get to the hospital, and the people were praying. And thank you, God, for all of that. Remembering to thank God for the blessings that he's given us as we cultivate that habit of prayer. Verse six,

learning through prayer the assurance of God's faithfulness. The assurance of God's faithfulness. Listen, as you and I can learn that, that God is faithful, that is a key to your Christian walk. We'll give another key today, that Paul's philosophy of life. But that is a key to your Christian walk. Verse six, learning the assurance of God's faithfulness, that God has been, will be,

and is being faithful always. You can trust him implicitly, completely, no matter what the circumstances. And if we can learn that, you can sit here and say, I agree with that. But in the midst of your next trial, where does it work itself out in life? Where does it work itself out in practicality? Learning it means the next time that circumstance hit, I will trust him and

not respond like a dork. Not respond like, oh, God, where are you? I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. But Lord, I know you're in the midst of this. I don't see it, but you're in the midst of it. Then I'm learning. Then I'm learning his faithfulness. So we have to know who we are, what we are, and where we are, and learn to cultivate the habit of prayer. And then third,

last time we saw verses seven through 11, we have to learn to rejoice in the opportunity to serve Christ by loving others. Verses seven through 11. Verses seven and eight, it's not just a lip service. I love you. It's letting God develop in us that attitude of love that Christ had. Paul says, verse seven, it's right for me. to feel this way about you. He's expressing an emotion of love, not an ooey-gooey, fuzzy-wuzzy

feeling that he had towards them, but there was a gut feeling of love. He says, verse eight, that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ. He had a love for the people that hit him in his gut because he wanted them to know Christ. When Jesus was here, he loved people. And it wasn't just a love, love, love. I love you, man. You know, kind of love. It was a desire

for them to get to know the Father. And when we ache for the people around us, when we love them with the love of Christ, with that, verse eight, with that affection of Christ and feel that way, verse seven, about them, it's a feeling you have for others that they come to know Christ, that they come to know his goodness. That's love. It's not just a passive coexistence with somebody else. It's God, whatever, that they might know you, that they might know your love. And Paul

knows that's going to be difficult for us. So verses nine through 11 is a prayer that he prays for us. And he says, you know, we might be able to discern the best way of loving that way of loving one another that way that we might discern what is best and that we might be pure and blameless in our loving one another that way. So we don't get caught up in a sexual affectionate kind of love or get caught up in a legalistic kind of a, you know, I've got a complete X, Y, and Z to do this, but so that we'll learn to just love as he would love in this situation. And there will be

confrontation sometimes where that's concerned. So we need to learn to love that way. Those are the three progressive prerequisites before we get to verse 12. You see, as those things are happening in your life, then as you look at verse 12, and as you see what we're going to look at today, you'll see it start to come to pass. But if verses one through 11 are not happening,

if you're not sitting in and realizing what it means to be a bond slave of Christ and to be set apart unto him as a saint, agios, and to be in him. And if you're not cultivating that habit of prayer with him, then the rest of this is just something else that you'll agree with. That this is right, but you'll walk out in the midst of your next circumstance and you're going to hit the floor. Now what I want you to know, brothers, verse 12, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Okay. Up to this point, up to verse 12, we have Paul

telling the Philippians what's necessary. Now he gives them the example of his life. So as we look at verse 12, you are actually seeing now Paul's example of what he's, what he has shared up to this point. This is what I want you to do. This is what I want you to be doing, Paul's saying, growing in your love with to one another more and more. And now he's showing us

what results. Now he's showing us by the example of his life, what happens. The first thing I want us to see this morning is in verses 12 through 14. And that is that Paul was able to trust God with his circumstances. Paul is able to trust God with his circumstances. Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. And as a result,

it's become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Paul has come to an understanding that he knows that God is using these circumstances to work out his plan in Paul's life. Let me say that again. Paul has come to a point in his walk that he knows that God is using the circumstances

to complete, to work, continue to complete his plan in Paul's life. These were not the circumstances Paul planned on for going to Rome and preaching the gospel. Paul had spent some time with Christ in the desert after his conversion. It's mentioned in the book of Acts. And even before that time, when Paul was on the way to Damascus and he was blinded by the light of Christ and he

goes into Damascus and God sends Ananias to him to lay hands on him so that he might see again. He tells Ananias, when Ananias says, I don't want to go because this is Paul, Saul, and he's, the one that's killing all of us and all that. God says, no, go because I must show him the things he must suffer for my sake. So I believe God, showed Paul what he would suffer, not minute by minute, blow by blow. You know, this is where you

get your head cut off, Paul, and all this. But he showed him that he was going to make him an apostle to the Gentiles, but that there would be suffering that he would encounter, but that God would bring him through it. God told him that. But even at that, I'm sure Paul did not have his plans of going to Rome to share the gospel this way. I mean, even on the boat going over, you know, once he was

in chains and they had him there in Caesarea and then they appealed to Caesar and they, oh, I get sure he wasn't thinking that it was going to work this way, how it was working. But he was able to trust God with his circumstances because he knew that God was using the circumstances to work out his plan in Paul's life. Verse 12, the first part, Paul knew the reason that God had brought these circumstances into his life. He hadn't planned for it to happen this way, but he knew the reason that God had brought these circumstances into his life. Look at verse 12. Now, I want you

to know, brothers, stop there. I want you to know, brothers, Paul's wanting these Philippians to be encouraged in spite of the circumstances that he's in. So he knows one of the things, one of the reasons that God has allowed these circumstances or brought these circumstances into his life is for an opportunity for him to encourage the brethren. If you and I can grasp that, man, what a handle that is. The next time bad circumstances, listen, as Christians,

there are no bad circumstances. If we can grab that one too, it helps. As Christians, we have no bad circumstances. Everything that comes into our life comes from God, who is towards us, his thoughts of love. Everything that he's working towards us is for good, not of evil, to bring us to a planned ending, an expected ending that he is bringing us to. So there is

nothing bad that happens to Christians. So when these circumstances come, if we can realize one of the main reasons that God's allowing them is so that we can encourage the brothers. I know that there have been times that I've gone to visit people in the hospital, Christians, and you're sick. Maybe they've been diagnosed with some terminal disease. And, you know, I really don't

like hospital visits because it's just, you know, you got to go in there and you're going, God, I don't know what I'm going to say. And I don't know what I'm going to do. And you go in there and nine times out of 10, they encourage me. That's part of the reason, you see, that's part of the reason that the circumstance will come is that through you, God will seek to encourage those around you while you're in the midst of that circumstance. And Paul knew that. See, the Philippians were

concerned about him. They'd heard that he was going to be in the midst of that circumstance. He was in jail. And in their minds, it was, oh, he's now restricted. He's not able to get out and share the gospel. Oh, we're hurting for Paul. And so they send Epaphroditus down with some finances and stuff to seek to minister to Paul. And one of the first things Paul is wanting to

tell them is it's okay. He's seeking to encourage the brothers. So he knows that one of the reasons that God has brought these circumstances is to allow that encouragement to happen. Look at this second half of verse 12. What's happened to me, Paul says, has really served to advance the gospel. The gospel was moving now into the hierarchy of the Roman empire through Paul. And Paul knew that it was God's way

of furthering or expanding or advancing the gospel. The word advance in the Greek is from two words which show a contrast to what was originally supposed. It's in the Greek. It's from two words which show a contrast between what was originally supposed. The Philippians supposed that Paul's being in jail. Paul was bad news. And Paul says, on the contrary, be encouraged. This is going for the furthering of

the gospel. Now, if we can look at that, whenever we have bad circumstances, what we think are bad circumstances, whenever these circumstances come into our life, God is using them to complete his plan in us. And one of the reasons he's brought it is so that we can encourage others because when they see the bad circumstances, they are going to suppose bad things are happening. Listen, if we can learn that, what do you suppose when it happens to you? See, we can learn that for ourselves. Flat tire. What do

you suppose? Bad circumstances. But again, if I can see it's God moving in his love, he's completing his work in me that he's wanting to do. He has a reason for this. One of the reasons is that while I'm in the midst of the circumstance, I can seek to encourage somebody else that the gospel will be furthered as a result of that. It's no longer a bad circumstance. So what I supposed was going

to be a bad circumstance in my life is not. Paul understood that. And we need to understand that. There are no bad circumstances that happened to us as Christian. Another thing I want you to notice is the advance of the gospel usually happens through circumstances. The advance of the gospel usually happens through those circumstances. You say, well, wait a minute, we're doing faith comes

by hearing. And the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the gospel or faith comes by hearing a message of Jesus Christ. I don't dispute that at all. I'm saying the gospel is usually advanced through circumstances. I don't dispute that at all. I'm saying the gospel is advanced through circumstances. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew chapter 28, all authority in

heaven and earth has been given unto me. Therefore, go out into all the world. The disciples heard that on Pentecost. They're still there in Jerusalem. Jesus told them, well, stay here until you're empowered from the spirit on us. That's great. Peter gets up after the spirit falls and he gives a wonderful sermon, wonderful message on the coming of Christ and how they were blinded and

handed him over to be crucified. And they repent. What must we do to be saved? Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. We shall be saved. And they do. Faith was coming, right? The hearing of the gospel. And they do. Faith was coming, right? The hearing of the gospel. And they do. Faith was coming. And people were believing, but they're still in Jerusalem. What happened to advance the

gospel? What had to happen before the gospel was taken out into all the world? The persecution came. The circumstances got bad and the gospel was advanced. The gospel is usually advanced through circumstances. So when the bad circumstances seem to come into your life, look at it as an opportunity. You know, if I'm popping in and out, I'll go to this one. Okay.

We have a good wireless microphone for sale. Now, as we can grow in that, as you and I can grow in seeing that God has a reason for the circumstance in that way, then we can learn to trust him in the midst of those circumstances. Paul not only saw those reasons as that in those circumstances, he was seeing the results of the circumstances. Look at verses 13 and 14.

As a result, he says, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in charge. I am in charge. I am in charge. I am in charge. I am in charge. I am in for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Paul was seeing the results of his circumstance.

His imprisonment, verse 13, had become well known. It says the entire palace guard knew and knew that he was being imprisoned for Christ. In other words, he had a chance to share with the entire palace guard. Now, this is not the Mamertine prison that Paul's in. This is Caesar's palace. This is like the White House. And these guards are like the Secret Service at the White House.

These are the Praetorian guards. These are the elite guards. And Paul is chained to one of these guards 24 hours a day. They come in four-hour shifts. And so for all this time that he's chained to the guards, Paul has an opportunity to share. Hey, where are you from? Oh, good. I have friends there. You know, you've heard about Jesus and all that. He has Luke and Timothy come

in to visit. And they sit down and they say, how are you doing, Paul? And Paul says, great, take a letter to the Philippians. You know, he's chained to the guard. Okay, Paul and Timothy, bond slaves of Christ. And the guard's going, you're not a bond slave. No, you're not a bond slave. You're chained to me. So Paul and Timothy leave. So what's this thing, bond slave? Oh,

bond slave of Christ. And he gets to give him a Bible study. And then they change shifts. And then he gets another one. And then they change shifts. And he gets another one. And he'd gotten to talk to the whole palace guard. As a result, it's become clear throughout the whole palace guard. And then it says, and everyone else. Now, that means everyone else in the palace. I mean, everyone in that palace in Caesar's

household had heard the gospel, had heard about Paul, had heard about his imprisonment. The gospel had been advanced through the hierarchy of the Roman. Verse 14, another result he saw was that most of the believers were being encouraged to speak out. Verse 14, because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Now, I like this because Paul is honest. Most preachers exaggerate. How many were there? Thousands, you know, thousands were there. We're full, packed out this morning. Hundreds of people here. You know, at least 85 were here, whatever. But Paul, how many people were touched and affected by his chains? Well, most of them, you know, that means there's some that weren't. He was realistic.

Most of the brothers were encouraged to speak out, speak out courageously and fearlessly. Now, circumstances, when you and I... When I realize God's love in the midst of those circumstances, and we rejoice in the midst of those circumstances, and we're seeking Him, we realize He has a reason, we're going to be able to see the results. It's going to advance the gospel. People are moved by that. People are

moved by that. I started to share this earlier about the circumstances advance the gospel. We like to think that our eloquence, you know, pastors work on elocution. Sometimes we wish they'd work on electrocution, but we work on elocution, how to be eloquent in our speech and our bringing forth the word of God. We like to think that our eloquence, you know, pastors work on electrocution.

And we think that the gospel is going to be so advanced by our wonderful messages, our great sermons. And more often than not, it's the circumstances that people see us in that will drive home what's been taught. We equip the saints for the work of ministry, but the actual advance of the gospel usually comes through the circumstances. So when the brothers saw Paul in these circumstances, they had heard his message. They were already saved,

but they saw him in chains. And he says his imprisonment and his chains caused them to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. You see, it's how people see us in the circumstances of life that will move them to speak out. It's that that will more accurately work on the loved ones and all that we have that we're praying for. We're praying that God would save them and all, and oh Lord, bring them to Christ. And we're praying, you know,

in our way is that God's going to bring them to Christ through the Billy Graham crusade. You know, we're going to get a Billy Graham crusade here in Ark City. And oh, if I can't wait, I'll just drag my loved one to the Billy Graham crusade and that'll get them saved, you know, or I'll drag him to the Stuart and Stuart concert and that'll get them saved. Or I'll drag him here, drag him there. However I can drag him to hear the word of God,

they'll get saved. You know, it doesn't work that way. As they saw Paul, as the brothers saw Paul, they were moved and encouraged to speak more courageously and fearlessly. And as we see God moving in your life, when you're going through those circumstances, it encourages us to step and your loved ones that you're praying for will more often see how you react in those circumstances, trusting the Lord, then they will hear your eloquent message on the exposition of the book of Philippians. Let's sit down and go through the book of Philippians together. Oh,

that's great. Time for lunch. I got to leave. I'm sorry. You know, I can't not today. But then they watch you go through that trial where you have a sick child or you lose a loved one or you have financial difficulty and they watch your life. They watch you trust God and they watch God bring you through and they come to you and they come to you and they come to you and they come to you.

And they come up and say, I don't know what it is you have, but that's what I want. And you're going, no, Billy Graham's not going to be here for six more months. You know, wait a minute. God working through the circumstances and the circumstances of Paul's imprisonment caused the brothers to speak more courageously. The word courageous there in the Greek is a word that

means to dare to do something when you know there are consequences, to dare to do something when you know there are consequences to face. And fearless, it just amplifies that they were they didn't care what it was going to cost. There are going to be times that God's going to call on you to stand for him, whether it's at your place of employment or whether it's with family or with friends in particular circumstances, he's going to want you to stand for what's right. He just, you know, you may not have to utter a word, but to be Christ-like, you don't go along with the group in their joking or in their pranking or in their deceitfulness in business. You just don't

go along with them. And it's going to put you in some pretty, you know, it's going to put you in some pretty, you know, it's going to put you in some pretty, you know, it's going to put you in some circumstances. And you need to realize that as you do it, count the cost and realize that that's what you've been called to do and step out and do that. And as other brothers see you take that stand, it's encouraging. It brings about that courageousness, that daring to stand, even when

you know that there are going to be consequences. And Paul saw that he was seeing that as a result in the lives of the believers around. So Paul was able to trust God in his circumstances. Now, listen, this is what I was saying earlier. You can see this and go, yeah, that's what I want to do. But until you got verses one through eleven working, until you're working, until those

become a part of your life and you're you're meditating and asking God to show you what it means to be a bond slave and set apart unto him and that I'm in Christ and Lord, help me understand what that means. And and God, I want to cultivate this prayer life, not just I'm going to pray someday, but God, I want to start spending time with you and praying this way that Paul shows here and letting him begin to show you how to love people with that longing that they might come to know Christ than just wanting to rejoice in circumstances and go work. I want to rejoice in all my circumstances, but unless I'm doing the other stuff, the next time the circumstances come, I'm going to be God. You don't love me anymore. You've abandoned me in the desert

to die. So this is progressive. Paul was able to trust God with his circumstances. Second thing Paul is able to do in verses 15 through 19 is trust God in his conflicts with others. Paul is able to trust God in his conflicts with others. Verse 15. It's true that some preach Christ out in rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the

defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice for I know that through your prayers

and the help given by the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. Are you able to accept conflicts with others as being from the Lord and for your good? I'm not. I want to. Paul was. Paul was able to see that, that the conflicts that he had with others was from the Lord for his good. Wednesday nights, we're going through the book

of Ephesians. And last Wednesday, we finished chapter two. In chapter two is a verse that maybe Christians are very familiar with, but maybe which few of us have taken time to think much about. Ephesians 2.8, Paul writes, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, not of works. This is this is by grace that you've been saved through faith. And this is not from

yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. And we talked about the word workmanship, which in the Greek is the word poema, which transliterated into English, we get our word poem from. We've talked about that before.

I've known that before. But to take time to think about what Paul is saying, Paul didn't say right there. Now, in other places, he calls us this, but he didn't say right there, for you are God's cup created in Christ Jesus to hold the Holy Spirit. In first Corinthians and second Corinthians chapter four, we are vessels, we are clay pots in which the Holy Spirit resides. We are vessels for the Lord. Hebrews talks about us being vessels. Romans

chapter nine or 10. And there we're talked about vessels, vessels for fit for different uses. But here in Ephesians, he talks about us being God's poema, God's poem. Why? What difference does it make? Well, what is a poem? A poem is the expression of the mind and the heart and the emotion and the intent and the character. And the nature of the author. So when you read a poem, you're not just reading words on a page.

It's not just there once was a sweet little, I could get into all kinds of trouble with anything I start there and pick up the rhymes, you know, it's meant to express the heart of the author. So you have poetry that deals with relationships, love relationships, and you read that poem and you're moved in your inner man. And you can feel the heart of the author as he, as he writes about a love lost, or as he writes about some place that really meant something to him. And it's done in poetic form. You feel that place. You see that place. You are God's poema.

You are the expression of his character, of his love, of his intent, of his inner being. You are that created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he has prepared in advance for you to do. Why? So that as you move into those areas, as his poema, people will glorify him because they'll see his love and nature and character and intent and mind expressed through you. Now, as you can

see that, then you can understand a little more how circumstances really don't make any difference. If I'm really learning to trust God in the circumstances, because I'm his poema in the midst of the circumstances, I am going to be his expression through which he's going to work and express his love and express his grace. I'm going to express his mercy and express his kindness and express his intent. And conflicts with others are just simply an opportunity for the Lord to do the same thing. So Paul was able to

accept these conflicts with others as just a way that God was going to work for his good. Now, there are two groups of people that Paul's dealing with here in these verses. One group, he says, is those that are preaching Christ out of love. They are preaching Christ out of goodwill, verse 15. They are preaching Christ, out of love to hopefully encourage people. But then there's a second group that are preaching

Christ. He says in verse 15, it is true that some priests preach Christ out of envy and rivalry. One group preaches Christ out of goodwill to see others saved, to see others grow. They're wanting that poema to be expressed as Christ works through them. The others are preaching out of envy and rivalry. What does that mean? Well, in the Greek, the word envy refers to

the desire to be loved by others. And in the Greek, the word envy refers to the desire to be loved by others. The desire to deprive someone of what he has. The desire to deprive someone of what he has. It's a malicious motive. They didn't like Paul's authority. They didn't like his leadership and his apostleship. And so they're always trying to tear it down in the eyes of others. They were

preaching Christ, but out of envy. They'd share Christ and then they'd share, oh yeah, but this apostle Paul, you know what I mean? He doesn't really have together. I mean, after all, he's in jail. And so they'd share Christ with others. They'd talk about Christ, but then they'd run Paul down, seeking to tear him down. And rivalry, the word rivalry is strife. It means strife or

debate or contentiousness or an argumentative spirit. You know, some people really thrive on that being argumentative. No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it's not. In one of our classes that Terry and I are in, our ethics parts are always out of scripture. And some of our teachers like to engage in debate, you know, engage us in debate. They want to stir up the pot and let the group kind

of go after each other from their different perspectives. And so they're trying to tear doctrinal perspectives. And when he does that, I just kind of sit back and I don't get, you know, I don't jump in and, well, yeah, but here it says, and if you really looked at the Greek, it says this and all that. I just sit back and just, cause it's, you know, debate for debate's sake. I'm not

into it. Some people just really like to be argumentative. They just really want to get in there and Paul says, it's this white Paul. Who's Paul? What's he think he's got him? Why is he doing this? Who's he? Who put him in charge? You know, they're just argumentative and attacking his authority. Backing his leadership, the preaching Christ, but at the same time, they're running him down.

He says, verse 17, some of them preach Christ out of a selfish ambition, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. In other words, they didn't have really pure motives. They were wanting to build up their group and run Paul down and hopefully make him feel bad, make his conditions worse for him while he was in prison. They weren't really that concerned with people getting saved as much as they were people drawing unto themselves and making things bad for Paul.

The word supposing there where it says preaching Christ out of selfish ambition, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me in the Greek is expected. They expected that to happen. In other words, Paul was in prison. That's great. So they expected that as they stirred up some strife here that the Romans wouldn't like it and they'd take it out on Paul. After all, they got him in prison.

So they were, they were expecting that conditions would get worse for Paul as a result of their preaching. They were really, really hammering down on Paul. Now what's Paul's response? What's Paul's response? Paul, say, okay, Timothy, you and Luke get together and you meet over at Louie's house at eight o'clock and we're going to, we're going to go start a disinformation campaign. You know, we're going to

go run them down. We're going to go infiltrate the camps, you know, or better yet, we'll go burn down some of their churches. You know, we'll go burn down some of their buildings that they're meeting in. No, Paul didn't do any of that. You know, one of the things that this is doing with all the church burnings in this country, it's going to draw the body of Christ closer together. You want

to see something that's going to bring blacks and whites together. I mean, the press is trying to stir it up as a big racial thing. You want to see the body of Christ closer together. You want to see the body of Christ come together in the church. You're going to see it as a result of this. The enemy comes against us outwardly and it just causes us to draw together. When there's rivalry

and strife like this, though, what's Paul do? Does he have to defend himself? Does he, does he want to strike back? No. Verse 18, he says, Christ is preached and because of this, I rejoice. He didn't have to defend himself. He didn't have to go running from place to place to place to put out fires. You know, it's amazing. The churches in this area that preach against each other,

well, don't go to Calvary Chapel. You go to Calvary Chapel, that's a cult. They do all kinds of weird things. They have a band on stage. They don't wear a suit and tie. They don't give their best to God. You know, I read in here, all my righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord. Doesn't make any difference what's on here. It's what's in here. Oh, but they baptize funny. You

know, you go to a lake, there's Ecoli in the lake, you know, whatever. I hear things, people come in and say, did you know what they said about you over here? I said, no, I don't have time to go put out what people said about me. If I did that, if I had to go around and go talking to different people about what they heard, well, did you know that Mark does this this way? And, you know, I really

don't like the way he does that or this or that over here. And I hear those things. And, you know, the first intent is to call the people and tell them I'm really okay, you know, and then to call the people that say they told them that and say, why did you tell them that? You know, if I did that, that's all I do forever and ever. Amen. I don't have enough time in a day to do that. I've

been called to prayer and to study the word so that I could teach. That's what I'm going to do. And when I hear all these other things, I go, praise God, you know, that's all right, because the Lord will wash it in the end. It all comes out. Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. He says their prayer and the spirit of Christ. Look at this. I will continue to rejoice. Verse 19, for I know that through your prayers and through the help

given by the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. It's going to turn out for my deliverance. God's going to bring it all out of me. I'm going to bring it all out of me. I'm going to bring it all out of me. I'm going to in the end. Eventually, God always vindicates the righteous. We've gone through 17 years of ministry and we've had all kinds of accusations made and we just stand firm doing what we do and

let the Lord bring it out. And he always, he always brings out the truth. He always brings the truth to bear. That brings us to Paul's philosophy of life. He says, I don't make any difference. God's in control through this conflict with others. God's got a purpose. He's going to make it right. I can trust him for that. And that brings us to Paul's philosophy of

life as we close. Verses 20 and 21. Now, verse 21, you probably are real familiar with, but let's look at verse 20. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul had a hope. He had an expectation and a hope. His expectation. What's his expectation? Well,

we've read in the other books and other passages, even earlier here, about his hope in the coming of Christ, that Jesus was coming soon. He hoped in that. But here, it's a different expectation. Here, his expectation and the word expectation there means watching with an outstretched head, with an outstretched neck. You're watching, you're looking for something, and you're looking so much for it that you're

on your toes and your head's even out there looking. What's he expecting? What's he looking for? His expectation here is exalting Christ through his actions. Exalting Christ. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. What was Paul's greatest expectation? Was it that he have his good name restored? Was it to get out

there and he make sure that everybody knows that Paul's a good guy and he's not in here for any bad reasons? No. His greatest expectation was to exalt the Lord through his life. God, whatever you have for me, whatever my circumstances are, if this is the time I'm going to die, then I want to die exalting you. I don't want to be in the word as ashamed. I don't want to shrink back. There's a

song that we do in worship. It's from Isaiah, and it's Leon Petillo put it together years ago. I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believeth it, and then the way we sing it is shall not make haste. In some of the translations, it's shall not be ashamed. And the idea is that God has laid a foundation for us to believe in. It's Christ

crucified. And those who believe in that and stake their life on it and trust it in everything, every circumstance will never be ashamed because they did. You will always be glad. You will always rejoice in the staying and trusting in Christ to deliver. And you won't make haste. You won't split out of there and run when adversity comes. And Paul says, that's my desire. I just want to exalt

Christ. I don't want to be ashamed. I want to stand and I want to look unto you, Lord, with my head stretched out, expecting whatever you have. I just want to exalt you in my life, in my body, whether through life. Or death. That was Paul's expectation. And that leads us to his philosophy, which is verse 21. He says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And we go, yes. What does that mean? What does that

mean? We see it has to progress all the way up to that from verse one, to know who you are and what you are and where you are and be cultivating that habit of prayer so that you're praying, so that you're interceding like Christ, so that you have that feeling of love for others as Christ had, so that you're able to love them with the pureness and blamelessness that exalts the righteousness of Christ, so that no matter what your circumstances are, you know, that there's a reason for him. You've seen the reason. You've seen the result. It's advancing

the gospel. You know that there's going to be conflict with others, but it doesn't make any difference because you know that you're his poema and through you, he is living and it doesn't make any difference. You don't have to go out and defend yourself because he is the one who's going to bring it to pass. However, it's going to glorify him and be right for you. And so you can live in such a

way as God. I don't care what the circumstances are. I don't care what the conflict is. I just want to exalt you in my life. And so therefore, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. Any difference if I live or die? That's his philosophy. But what does it mean to live for Christ? For me to live is Christ. He's not saying for me to live is to live for Christ. He's saying

for me to live as Christ. We've got to quit. So I'm going to give these to you real quick. There's five things I'm going to give you. These are from F.B. Meyer in his commentary. What does it mean for me to live as Christ? For me to live as Christ, number one, Christ must be the essence of our life. If I am going to say for me to live as Christ, then Christ has to be the essence of

my life. He has to be the source of everything. He has to be the source of my desire, of my goal, of my motives, of my strength, of my encouragement, of my comfort. Christ has to be the essence of my life if for me to live as Christ. If for me to live as Christ, then secondly, he must also be the model of my life. Consciously or unconsciously, we all live after models in

our life. You and I all do things following some model. Go ahead, make my day, you know. I love you, man. We are all living, consciously or subconsciously, following a model. And if for me to live as Christ, then he has to be my model. I have to be responding. I have to be wanting to respond as he responds. Third, Christ must also be the aim of my life. He must

be the aim of my life, not just the essence, not just the model, but the aim of my life. In other words, and this is quoting Meyer, we desire to make him known, loved, and revered that others may know him as we know him, love him as we love him, live for him as we live for him, and love him as we love him. That's the aim of our life. You work at a job so that you can do that. You have a

family so that you can do that. You don't live for family. You don't live to get a job. You don't live for your work. You don't live to have a home in the country. You live, your aim is to make Christ known through the ways that he gives you to do that. That's your aim. He has to be your essence. He has to be your model. He has to be your aim. If Christ, if for me to live as Christ.

Fourth, Christ must be the solace of our life. I mentioned that earlier, the comfort or solace of our life. Meyer writes, amid all the storm and strife and tumult, there is no cleft where Christians find safe abiding, but in the rock of ages. For me to live as Christ means that no matter what the circumstances, God has given me family and they offer me comfort. God has given me brothers and sisters in Christ,

and they are a source of strength, but my source of solace is in him. It's in him, whether you're here or not, whether the pews are full or empty, my comfort is in him. Whether the pews are full or empty, my comfort is in him. Whether the pews are full or empty, my comfort is in him. Whether the pews are full or empty, my comfort is in Christ. Whether I'm healthy or not, my comfort is in Christ. It has to be that way if for me to live as Christ.

Otherwise, for me to live is somebody else or something else. And fifth, for me to live as Christ, Christ must be the reward of my life. He's what I'm seeking. That's what I'm seeking in all of my life is Christ. Meyer writes, the one reward for every Christian is to get more of Christ. The one crown for every brow is to know him better. The reward for my life is to finally be in his presence.

The reward for my life is to finally be in his presence. The reward for my life is to finally be in his presence and see him face to face. I'm longing for that. When Paul says, for me to live as Christ, he means he's the essence of his life, the model for his life, the aim of his life, the solace of his life, the reward of his life. Dr. William Pettingill from J. Vernon McGee's commentary says, as far as end to die is gain,

gain is always more of the same thing. If to live is Christ, then to die would be more of Christ, to be with him. So Paul's not setting a juxtaposition apart from one another for me to live as Christ. For me to live as Christ and to die is gain. He's saying, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain because that's where I'm going. See, it doesn't interrupt my life that way.

Death to many of us is an interruption, not a continuation. And as Christians, it's got to become a continuation for me to live as Christ and to die is gain because if I'm seeking him, loving him, following him, serving him, then when I die, I'm with him. That's my goal. That's my ultimate reward. It's just a continuation rather than an ending. Let's stand together.

Literally then, verse 21 says, For me to live, Christ, to die, gain. Oh, Lord, I want to learn that. God, I want to learn how to trust you in every circumstance. I want to learn to know that there's a reason behind every circumstance to work that completeness in me that you're wanting to work, that you want to advance your gospel, that you want me to encourage others in the midst of those circumstances, that others are going to be encouraged and the gospel is going to be spread.

Help me remember that, Lord. I want to rejoice during those times of conflicts with others. You'll resolve the conflict if we're both seeking the Lord. You always do. And even if not, even if it's somebody who's spreading rumors and seeking in envy and rivalry to tear me down, Lord, I want to learn to trust you. You'll take care. I don't have to go put out the fires.

You're fully capable. I can trust you. God, I want to have that expectation and hope of you and not be ashamed, Lord. Not step back. Not step back when I need to stand firm. And God, I want to have that philosophy that for me to live is Christ in every way and to die is gain. Help, Lord. And help each one of us with that. Those are some keys to rejoicing in you,

learning to rejoice in you. You have that for all of us if we but take time to seek. Father, there are those that are discouraged here this morning, and I pray that as we've been in your Word, that your Spirit will move in their hearts and strengthen them, that as we leave, they'll view their circumstances differently than as they came in, that they'll see you clearly now in the midst of the circumstance and seek to exalt you through it, to find comfort in you through it, not themselves or someone else. Bless, Lord, and strengthen us for the days ahead.

For it's in Jesus' name that we...