My experience two weeks ago… car breaks down… towing… Michael… conversation about his
life… filled the day with meaning. Then the next morning… Sandra’s experience… excited me….
But bumped into executive class with champagne hardly felt just…. Is she really God’s favorite?
> Faced with issue… how do I define life… by my circumstances… or an overriding goal? To
the degree that the outcome is what mattered most… had become my passion… the circumstances
of life didn’t really define my day.
As we continue our series entitled Extraordinary Living… we discover a liberating perspective.
As you may recall… Paul had been converted in a way not only dramatic… but deep.
• Introduces Christ to first community in Europe… Philippi.
• Now been 4 years since they’d seen Paul… they’d been trying to send help and find out about
all he is facing…
• First 11 verses he blesses them…
…Now finally gets to sharing about his circumstances.
12
Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to
advance the gospel.
Paul now wants to share his circumstances… but it becomes a window into his soul… and a call to
our own.
V. 12 (& 19) – “what has happened to me.”… what an understatement
(Drawn from Nicky Gumbel)
• Falsely accused of taking Greek man into temple… grabbed by crowd… beat up… some
intervened and solders took him…. About to be flogged when he appealed to his Roman
citizenship.
• Put in dock… falsely accused again… hit… planned to be sent on.
• 40 Jews took a vow not to eat or drink until they killed him
• Ended up in hands of tyrant… tried… sent to Rome.
• Shipwrecked on the way. Survived… and sent to Rome for trial. Now faces potential death.
All he says is ‘what has happened to me’.
WHY? … Because it’s all just the backdrop
> Because he has a passion that defines his circumstances… “to advance the Gospel”
• Supreme aim is “to advance the Gospel”
• Word ‘advance’ implies… ‘advancement in spite of obstruction and dangers.’
• Wiersbe – ‘pioneer advance’… to follow Christ calls out the pioneering spirit in everyone.
> Pioneering spirit is about destination mindedness.
America is a reflection of the settler and pioneer… all came as pioneers… but along the way
settled… decided to settle into the comforts of home. We all by naure have a pioneering and
settling dimension. But Christ calls us to realize we are not yet home… and to live as pioneers.
This is what Paul understood…
2
For him…Gospel was the answer to religion, love replaced haterd.
As soon as Paul launches into sharing his most dramatic of circumstances… it becomes clear that
the focus is beyond himself… to his PASSION.
Our passion is deeply connected to our sense of contentment… and courage.
In a book entitled, ‘The Power of Full Engagement’ (Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz), the authors
state…
“The most compelling source of purpose is spiritual, the energy derived from connecting
to deeply held values and a purpose beyond one’s self-interest. Purpose creates a
destination. It drives full engagement by prompting our desire to invest focused energy in a
particular activity or goal. We become fully engaged only when we care deeply, when we
feel that what we are doing really matters. Purpose is what lights us up, floats our boats,
feeds our souls.
Purpose becomes a more powerful and enduring source of energy in our lives in three
ways: when its source moves from negative to positive, external to internal and self to
others.”
Paul was centered in spiritual purpose.
This runs through all that Paul shares…
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else
that I am in chains for Christ. 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.
His passion to glorify Christ… cannot be contained by his CHAINS. (vv. 12-14)
More than anything else, Paul’s desire as a missionary was to preach the Gospel in Rome. The
hub of the great Empire, Rome was the key city of its day. If Paul could conquer it for Christ, it
would mean reaching millions with the message of salvation(Acts 19:21, Rom. 1:15).
Paul wanted to go to Rome as a preacher, but instead he went as a prisoner! (Wiersbe)
Palace Guard were the elite special force to surround the emperor… 10,00 elite… got highest
pay… at end got Roman citizenship with all it’s authority.
> Paul was chained to them every day.
Could have said “If only I could be released from these circumstances.
> Made most of his situation.
We may often feel constrained by our circumstances… our jobs… our life stage…. but the
circumstances that constrain also offer there own opportunities and possibilities.
Example / Story: David Conrad
Are there circumstances that you feel may constrain you? If so, what are the opportunities and
possibilities that may come with them?
3
Paul goes on…
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
16
The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The
former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up
trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 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.
His passion to glorify Christ… cannot be silenced by his CRITICS. (vv. 15 –
18a)
It may at first seem as if Paul is saying that the message doesn’t matter… but he isn’t referring to
those who oppose Christ… but rather those who oppose himself.
• We find that he has a very different challenge to those who opposed Christ… even calling them
accursed (Col. 1;7-9).
• Rather these are those who have received Christ… but are jealous of Paul… and acting with
motives construed with envy, strife, and selfishness.
‘Envy’ – wanted Paul’s popularity, authority… and the affections held toward him.
‘Strife’– they liked to battle… and didn’t care if they hurt people in the process… shot
their own soldiers.
> God can use mixed motives.
He continues…
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 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. 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. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body,
this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn
between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is
more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will
remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that
through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
His passion to glorify Christ… cannot be stopped by his CRISIS. (vv. 18b - 26)
He faces the crisis of his trial and uncertainty of his future… but with a passion that transcends the
outcome… which can’t be stopped by life or death… he trusts in whatever serves the Gospel the
most.
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then,
whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm
in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any
way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will
be saved--and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had,
and now hear that I still have.
4
(Below drawn / adapted from thoughts of Erwin McManus)
For most of us the problem isn’t clarity… we may act like it is… but it’s the courage to act on
what we know.
We often have a glimpse of the person we’re suppose to become… but we don’t really taste it.
Can appreciate his focus on courage… as it rarely comes naturally. Some have that that gift of
courage for momentary courage… to seize the moment. We may say we just don’t have that
nature… not hero type. Bigger problem is that we don’t have courage in the long haul.
But the life Jesus calls us to is the life of courage.
Most of us have the perception that others are heroes… that others have natural courage… don’t
struggle with fear. We have fear and assume we are cowards… but it’s not true. And courage is
related to whatever fears you have and face… different for each person.
If you don’t fear… you’re not brave… you’re just stupid. Fear is healthy to assess… like pain….
A needed healthy part of the process.
Paul wants to advance Gospel… and now sees God leads him to face Ceasar… the top.. who
thinks he is God… and has Rome pay for it.
Can imagine as they clamp chains on… Paul saying, “Now you’re probably wondering why I
called this meting.’
How God loves Roman soldiers who have killed masses of innocent lives… and how he cares
more for them than he did himself.
Without chains… critics / conflict… we can’t discover courage.
Words for spirit in OT is Ruach… and NT pnuema…. Both of which also is tied to courage of
God.
When he moves he wants to in-spire and en-courage.
> So Paul realizes that his circumstances will en-courage others.
What if you began to ask not how things will effect you… but how it will effect others.
Courage isn’t the absence of fear. Courage is the absence of self…. And the
presence of something larger than the fear.
It calls us to consider what defines life for us.
Philippians 1:21 becomes a valuable test of our lives. “For to me to live is__________and to
die is______________.” Fill in the blanks yourself.
“For to me to live is money and to die is to leave it all behind.”
“For to me to live is fame and to die is to be forgotten.”
“For to me to live is power and to die is to lose it all.”
Prayer – Thanks God for the great calling given to us… here in the Westside of Los Angeles. May
we find ourselves in it… rise above the common pursuits… and unite in it.
