What Does It Matter?
WELCOME – to week 4 of our (let’s be sure to kick off the new year in an awesome life-changing – God honoring way) series this year can be different.
HEY – does anybody out there want this year to be different, to be better?
OKAY
SO HERE IS THE DEAL – if you embrace and keep striving to live out what we have been talking about since January 6th…
I guarantee, seriously I 100% guarantee that your 2019 will be different.
YOU SEE – that is what always happens when we hear and we apply, we do, we live out… God’s Word.
HOWEVER – hearing without doing… will not bring about any of the changes that we are hoping for…
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.23
(too merely listen – is kind of like auditing a class a college, ever do that? Like, you don’t have to do any of the work if you don’t want to)
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
– James 1:22-25
They will be blessed in….? (what they do)
LOOK – at someone “Come on, just do and you will be blessed”
YEAH – I know we often want the blessing without the doing, but that is not how things work in the Kingdom of God.
YES – it’s true, this year can be different…. and you will be blessed… IF YOU - as we learned in week one, if you grow like Jesus…
Jesus grew is wisdom (intellectually) and in stature (physically) and in favor with God (spiritually) and man (relationally).
– Luke 2:52
YEAH – I know some of you may be tired of hearing me beat this same drum… but ‘oh well… here we go…’
SO – it’s been four weeks… have you taken the time to fill out your Values and Goals sheets.
(I printed out more – they are at the ‘All In’ kiosk)
AND HAVE YOU - prayerfully set a few – intellectual, physical, spiritual, and relational goals?
If yes… awesome If not… there is still time?
Listen most of us know some things we need to do, because we have been needing to do the same things for year…
Write them, share them with someone
LISTEN – you cannot afford to let another year slip away!
GET IT?
This year can be different… If you grow like Jesus, and if
You embrace ‘these three things’
Thing #1 – forgetting (losing out of mind) what is behind…
And for some in this room you if you want this year to be different you need to leave behind
• Some sin that has been dogging you for years (anger, lust, bitterness, pride, a destructive tongue) or the guilt and shame because of past failures.
• Trying to earn grace
• Holding on to past hurt
Thing #2 – straining toward and pressing on to what is ahead, to becoming more and more like Jesus.
Which I know, I feel you… is beyond a herculean task.
I MEAN – how will I ever become more and more like Jesus
HOW – will I ever… love like, forgive like, give like, have compassion like…. Jesus?
BUT LISTEN – as I have been saying for 3 weeks, it’s not about how… it’s about where.
If you want to become more like Jesus you have to embrace actions that put your life in the dirt, and then just let the dirt (the Holy Spirit) do His work…
• Read the bible pray regularly
• Make being in church week a priority
• Join a LG
• Set goals in those 4 areas
AND – if you embrace thing #3… If you – trust in, lean not, and acknowledge Him.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5,6
OKAY – that is where we have been so far in 2019.
AND LISTEN……
IF - you missed any of these conversations I cannot encourage you enough to check them out online…
Website, podcast, the Video of it on our Facebook page….
OKAY… let’s do this.
THIS MORNING – in a conversation I am calling, ‘What Does It Matter?’ WE ARE - going to unpack some words that Paul wrote 2000 years ago from a prison in Rome to the Jesus followers who were living in Philippi.
Words that hold powerful truths that if we embrace and keep striving to live out will make this year different.
NOW – Paul wrote these words decades after Jesus knocked him off his horse while he was on the road to Damascus…
YOU KNOW – that moment when God made him go blind, so that he could finally see…
This is one of 4 letters that he wrote while in prison (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon)…
AGAIN – Paul is in prison. It’s dark. It’s damp. He is in chains. The door to his cell is shut.
He is old, he is weary… no doubt his body is pretty worn out.
NEEDLESS TO SAY – this was not a place that he would have chosen, but nevertheless there he was.
AND UNDERSTAND BY – the time he wrote this letter Paul had been in prison for several years…
BUT – this imprisonment was not his first time to be… bound, beaten, arrested and jailed.
IN FACT – his first time was actually in Philippi (we read about it Acts chapter 16)
MAYBE – you remember this story… It’s when Paul did what you normally do, when your back has been beaten and you are in chains, locked up in a prison cell… He started singing praises to God… Powerfully illustrating for us the truth that…
You can either let your chains break your praise
Or let your praise break your chains
AND – as he praised God at midnight the chains of all of the prisoners came loose.
YOU SEE - sometimes God will use your situation to set someone else free.
SO – you’ve been questioning what you are going through and maybe it’s not even about you… Maybe it’s about God using you to help set someone else free
OKAY – Philippians 1 beginning at verse 12…
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
(ginosko)
Not just head knowledge but heart knowledge (really know)
QUESTION – can you feel the passion in those words
I MEAN – these are words of truth from a very seasoned Gospel warrior… who has been there and done that more times than he can count…
OKAY PAUL – what do you want me to know?
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
HEY – can we just pause a moment and acknowledge that this is something pretty mind blowing for a guy chained in a prison cell to say… I mean, like how does something like that even happen.
As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
NOW – the phrase palace guard is actually the praetorian guard.
The praetorian guard was a group of 9,000 Roman soldiers who worked directly under the emperor. Their job was not only to protect Caesar and his family but also to guard prisoners, like Paul, who made it to Rome to make their case before Caesar. They were quartered in the Emperor's palace.
NOW - they had been formed by Augustus Caesar some seventy years earlier, so they had a great heritage and tradition. They were courageous, brilliant, sophisticated, strong young men. They served for 12 years and then were retired.
AND SO - as the years went by a large number settled right in Rome and they became an extremely powerful politically, often forcing their will on the Senate and on the people.
IN FACT - their candidate was always confirmed as Emperor by the Senate. They were, essentially, the king-makers of their day a very, very powerful group of young men.
UNDERSTAND - you were going to evangelize the Roman Empire you could not pick a more strategic group with which to begin.
I MEAN - these were the opinion shapers, the leading men of the nation, the men who went on to become commanders in the military and leaders in politics.
And what was happening was that those men, in four-hour shifts (365 x 6 X 2), were being chained to the Apostle Paul.
CAN YOU - imagine what that must have been like!
THINK – about it…
THEY LOOKED - over his shoulder as he wrote the books of Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon.
THEY LISTENED - as he talked to the leading Jews who came in to inquire about his faith and as he shared the gospel with others who visited him.
AND – I am sure that during those slow moments of the day Paul that shared the gospel with the young man who was chained to him.
MAKES YOU WONDER - who was really chained to who.
AND LISTEN - one by one these men were being reached and led into a growing relation ship with Jesus Christ.
IN FACT – as Paul closes out the letter of he says…
The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 2And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. – Philippians 4:21,22
That, of course, is the praetorian guard. One by one these choice young men, the elite of the Empire, were finding Christ.
I love it - Caesar unknowingly became the Chairman for Evangelism of the Roman Empire.
Back to our text…
And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry.
Paul says… “Yeah, I know that not everybody likes me…”
LOOK AT - someone and tell them “not everybody is supposed to like you.”
NOW – look at the person on the other side that you didn’t want to look at and tell them… “Hey, If everybody likes you, you’re not doing it right.”
It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
NOW – I really like how he said that, “I am put here.”
NO - I am not here by accident.
AND YES – I know, that I have been ‘sent here’ by the decree of Rome, but I was ‘put here’…
• for the purposes of God
• for the defense of the Gospel
Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.
QUESTION – have you ever had any people like that in your life? People who wanted to make - your chains, your situation, your hurt, your hardship… your pain, more painful?
OKAY – and now we come the 4 words that are the heartbeat of this mornings conversation…
YES – I am in prison and yes, some people are saying a bunch negative untrue things about me…
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.
Paul says I rejoice…
Not because everything is going right in my life, because it isn’t
Not because everybody is saying nice things about, because they are not.
INSTEAD - it’s ‘because of this’ (that Christ is being preached), that I rejoice… and then Paul says…
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of 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.
Paul is like, hey… I win either way…
It does not matter to me, if the situation changes or if it stays the same… Regardless, I am still a winner!
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! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
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, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. – Philippians 1:12-26
PRAYER…
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!
- Philippians 1:18,19
HEY – turn to someone and say… “what does it matter.”
OKAY – so Paul is not only enduring, he is not only ;sucking it up’ during an extremely difficult circumstance, but he is actually rejoicing in that circumstance.
AGAIN
He is in prison
He is chained to a Roman soldier
He has no idea of when, or if he will ever be set free
AND LISTEN – some how right in the middle of all of that (while being on lockdown) he not only writes one of the happiest books of the bible, but he talks about the progress of the Gospel. AND - he did it rejoicing…
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice!... Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! – Philippians 1:19; 4:4
QUESTION…
IF - rejoicing always and continually…
IF THAT…IF JOY - is what both defines and characterizes your life in 2019, would this year be different.
I MEAN…
LIKE IF – 331 days from now, as you are looking back on 2019
AND SOMEONE – comes up to you and they ask you, “what one word would you use to describe the past year…_
AND IF YOU – without any hesitation whatsoever said,
“Oh, that is an easy one. The one word I would use to describe and sum up my 2019 is the word JOY”
QUESTION – if you really said that and seriously mean that…
IF JOY – (rejoicing always and continually) did really summarize your year. Would this year be different?
NOW – I do not know about you, but if on 12/31/2019…
I could really say and mean that… my 2019 without a doubt would be different, better, awesome – amazing…
AND – think about how crazy and awesome it would be if everyone of us in this room would be able to look back on 2019 and say “yeah, this year was all about joy and rejoicing always and continually.”
QUESTION – and be honest… does that even seem possible?
HEY – but it is, right?
I MEAN – somehow Paul chained up in a Roman prison for 2+ years was able to pull it off…
AND UNDERSTSAND – as Jesus followers we have received the same grace and we have been filled with the same spirit.
THEREFORE – joy and always and continually is possible for us as well…
Want it
You know it
Me too!
HEY – wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to sit down with Paul grab some coffee and ask him about how he was able to actually pull off, this joy thing.
WELL – in a way we kind of can… BECAUSE – the truth is Paul really does want us to know…
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
AND – what has happened to Paul?
WELL – in our text we see two main things that happened to Him… AND LISTEN - both of them have the potential to be joy robbers.
#1 – He is enduring a tough and difficult situation
He is literally chained up in a first century prison cell.
That could not have been pleasant at all.
QUESTION – would anybody here want to trade places with Paul? LIKE – if you actually could, would you?
SO – I guess or circumstances are not so bad after all.
#2 – People are talking trash about him
They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me…
HEY PAUL - did you hear about all the negative, critical and untrue things that they are saying about you?
LIKE BRO – they really do not like you, and they are doing everything they can to cause other people to feel and think the same way.
I MEAN – they even set up a fake FaceBook and Intagram account and they are just shredding you on it, making you look so bad.
AND – Paul’s response is classic…
I MEAN - he’s not sweating it, it’s not stealing any of his joy.
He simply says…
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. – Philippians 1:18
What does it matter…
I don’t care what people think about me or say about me.
That is not what is important to me.
And since I have a joy that they did not give me, then they cannot take it from me…
What does it matter…
What does it matter – what people say about me
What does it matter (WDIM) – what people think about me.
WOW – what a way to live, what a way to have joy!
NOW – I need to confess to you that I am not as good at this as I would like to be.
Sometimes I let what people say about me, what they think about me, and what I think they think about me weigh me down to the point that I get so distracted and discouraged.
Can I ask you to pray for me…
“Heavenly Father I pray for Pastor Steve
That he would stop being so stupid
To let stupid stuff (like what people say or think about Him) discourage and side track him From what really matters”
Now pray for the person next to you
“God I pray for this person
That they would stop letting what other people (no matter who) say about them or think about them
• ruin their day
• contaminate their joy
• poison their spirit
• distract them from their destiny
• so they can focus on and live for what really matters”
What does it matter…
• What people say about me
• What happens to me
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. – Philippians 1:18
Paul says that,
The important thing is…
AND UNDERSTAND BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Whatever you put next will determine what your joy, your peace, your hope… is chained to.
YES - whatever you put after, the important thing is….
Your joy will move up and down with that thing….
So – how would you complete that statement
The important thing is…
SERIOUSLY – how would you feel in the blank….
NOW – I know that sitting in here this morning we all know what we should put next. The important thing is JESUS…
YEAH - that is what we all would want to say next (I mean, why else would we get up on a Sunday morning to come here)…
BUT LISTEN - it is not about what we say, it’s about what the reality is in our lives…
UNDERSTAND…
IF - the important thing is that people like you and say nice things about you…
THEN WHEN PEOPLE - like you, when they say nice things about you… you will like you and you will have joy.
HOWEVER WHEN PEOPLE…
(your spouse, co-workers, family members, teachers, coaches, people who you thought were your friends…etc)
when people don’t like you, when they start talking trash and saying negative and hurtful things about you…
You want like you… and you will loose your joy.
Because that is what you joy is tied to.
IF – the important thing to you is… comfort
THEN WHEN – everything is just right, when the sun is shining and the birds are singing, when - the job is going great, the bills are paid, everyone is healthy and getting along…
You will be happy and content
BUT WHEN – the seas begin to rage and the wind begins to roar, when inevitable storms of life begin to crash against your life…
You will not be happy, you will not be content, and you will loose your joy.
Because that is what your joy is tied to.
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. – Philippians 1:18
What does it matter.
• What happens to me
• What does it matter what people say about me
Do you know how better we would sleep and how much stress would just disappear if we would be able to live this way…
OKAY – so like, how do we get there…
By making the choices that Paul did when he completed that statement…
I. The important thing is… God’s Approval, Not Man Approval
UNDERSTAND – many people live in bondage to what other people think of them. One author rightly calls it an approval addiction.
NOW – this addiction takes many forms…
IF - we find ourselves getting hurt by what other people say about us,
IF - we get tick off or want to cry – when people express other than glowing opinions about us – we probably have it.
IF - we habitually compare ourselves with other people, if we find ourselves getting competitive in the most ordinary situations – we probably have it.
IF - we live with a nagging sense that we are not important enough or special enough, OR we get envious of another’s person success – we probably have it.
IF- when others are getting praised & complimented – we get mad, wish it was us they were talking about, OR we begin to feel like the praise other people got somehow devalued us – we probably have it…
IF- we keep trying to impress important people and the number of like we get or do not get on social media either makes us sad or make us happy – we probably have it…
IF - we are even now at this moment starting to worry that someone might be thinking we are an approval addict – we probably have it…
HEY – you are finding this conversation today helpful, right?
UNDERSTAND - we're made to seek approval.
We can't help ourselves. You look at a baby. When they're loved, when they're noticed, when they're delighted in, they just beam. They just radiate joy. We know that's good.
The question isn't…Will we seek approval?
The question is…Where will we seek it?
We have an infinite need for approval. That's part of being human. God has an infinite supply. Only God does.
SO – we need to…
• live to please God,
• live to be approved by God.
• find our security in God's love.
• find our identity in the image of God.
• find our hope in the strength and power of God.
We live for God's approval, not human approval.
In fact, you cannot actually live for both human approval and divine approval. You have to choose which road. Paul said,
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
– Galatians 1:10
The important thing is…
• God’s approval
• God loves me
• God likes me
What does it matter….
Let’s say those words together out loud… “what doe it matter”
UNDERSTAND – we need to take those 4 words with us this week, and when…
• Some ‘fashion expert’ doesn't approve of your clothes, “What does it matter”
• When the cool kids don't approve of your taste of music, “What does it matter”
• When a coworker doesn't like your idea, “What does it matter”
• When a law enforcement officer doesn't like how fast you are driving, "What does…” Yeah, that one maybe should matter a little bit to you..
AND LISTEN - when you take, “What does it matter” into this week, it doesn't mean, "that people don’t matter to you."
It means, "I live for an audience of one, and you are not that one."
UNDERSTAND - God is not calling you to win universal approval. I remember when I started working at a church having this kind of weird thought:
"Well, one good thing about working at a church is everybody will like me. Because if you work at a church, everybody has to like you, right?"
Of course, life is never that way. Not everybody is going to like you, so stop trying! You will never scratch that itch.
Here's the amazing thing. This is life in the kingdom of God. Jesus likes me. Go figure! "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
I can live now in the reality of the kingdom for an audience of one.
The important thing is… God’s Approval, Not Man Approval
II. My Calling (God’s purposes), Not My Comfort
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually 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. - Philippians 1:12,13
UNDERSTAND – Paul chose to chain his life not to his comfort but to his calling, to God’s purposes.
YOU SEE – he knew that every chain, every hard and difficult time… had a higher purpose.
Let me read a couple of passages that Paul also penned that speak to his calling over comfort…
And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. – Acts 20:22-24
What does it matter…
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. - Romans 5:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3,4
YOU SEE – Paul came to place where his life – where his priority was set…
• I want to know Him
• I want to make Him known
• I want real joy!
Joy that the world didn’t give Him and the world take from Him…
Paul says my feet are locked and hands are chained
But my spirit is free
Yeah I may be locked up, but the mission is moving forward
The important thing is…
The important thing is…
I don’t know How long I will be in these chains
But since God has not removed these chains
I am going ask Him how he wants to use them
Since God hasn’t fix the situation
• The relationship
• Given me the break through yet
Since God hasn’t removed the chains I am going to ask him to use the chains.
What does it matter, The important thing is…
He didn’t bring the disease
He didn’t bring the divorce
No, I wouldn’t choose it… But I will let him use it
If I can’t change it, God will you use these chains to change me and to help change someone else
What does it matter… the important thing is
God’s approval, not man’s approval
Our calling, not our comfort
(A podcast by Steven Furtick was helpful in this message)
