The Joys of Prison
Philippians 1:3-11
October 25, 1998
Morning Service
INTRODUCTION
I. The Prescription for a Joyless Life
1. Make little things bother you: don’t just let them, make them!
2. Lose your perspective of things, and keep it lost. Don’t put first things first.
3. Get yourself a good worry - one about which you cannot do anything but worry
4. Be a perfectionist: condemn yourself and others for not achieving perfection
5. Be right, always right, perfectly right all of the time. Be the only one who is right and be rigid about your rightness.
6. Don’t trust or believe people, or accept them at anything but their worst and weakest. Be suspicious. Impute ulterior motives to them.
7. Always compare yourself unfavorably to others, which is the guarantee of instant misery.
8. Take personally with a chip on your shoulder, everything that happens to you that you don’t like
9. Don’t give yourself wholeheartedly or enthusiastically to anyone or to anything
10. Make happiness the aim of your life instead of bracing for life’s barbs through a “bitter with the sweet” philosophy
II. The Purpose
A. Sound familiar: Do any of these traits sound familiar? Does anyone you know exhibit these types of behaviors? If we were totally honest all of us would have to confess that we have done these types of things, we don’t like to admit it though because we are holy people and holy people don’t do those things, either none of are holy in this room or all of us are human, no one is perfect, not me and not you,
B. We have a choice to make: Our lives are to be filled with joy but I see less and less joy in this church with each passing week, why? because we allow people and things to steal it away from us, we all have had things done or said to us that make us live life with a little less joy, life is what we make of it and our choice becomes how we will live with difficult situations or even difficult people, we can allow it to steal our joy or move on with life in spite of circumstances or others, How did Paul keep a joyous attitude in the midst of house arrest?
READ TEXT
BODY
I. Paul Remembered a Joyful Past
A. Paul’s past was not entirely good
1. Memories of his personal persecution of the church: Paul hunted and killed Christians by the hundreds, Paul had to live with those memories of what he had done to the church,
2. Paul was persecuted: Paul had endured the hatered and scorn of his people, he suffered at the hands of the Jews, the Galatians and the Romans, Paul’s life was not easy
3. Paul made the choice to be joyful: Paul decided in the worst situations that he would remain joyful, he would not allow the things of the world to distract him from the heavenly, he would focus on Christ and finish his work - even if it cost him his life, dying for Christ would be better than living without Him
B. Paul remembered the positive
1. Paul didn’t live in the past: Paul could have given up and let his work stand on its own, he could have rested on his laurels but he didn’t, his work was not over, we too cannot rest on our previous works for God because they are done, what have you done for God lately?
2. Paul remebered the positive to keep perspective: Paul saw what good he had done and remained focused on the good that he could do, he saw his past with an outlook on the future, he would not give up onserving his Lord, Paul would serve til he died and thus he never lost hope, far too many lose hope because they lose perspective, God is bigger than any challenge that we will face
C. Paul remembers the Philippian church
1. His personal relationship with the church: Paul suffered for this church, he planted it with pain and sacrifice, Paul had a deep bond with these people and had a warm relationship with them
2. The partnership they had with Paul: The work that Paul began did not end there, the people kept it going through trial and persecution, they had become a strong and vibrant church,
3. His deep love for the Philippian people: Paul truly and deeply loved the Philippian people, this letter is full of his care and concern for them, he expresses a central compassion and genuine love for the church
II. Paul Recognized a Joyful Progress
A. Paul recognized who would finish the work
1. God has begun a great work: God has more invested in you than you do, it is time to start showing appreciation for that investment, God has given us new life but are we really living it?, do we live in anticipation of the great work or is it all just a memory
2. God will not stop until the work is done: God has a specific purpose and plan for everyone, he will not stop doing His work until it is finished, His plan is the best that we can ever follow for our lives,
B. Paul recognized the sharing of God’s grace
1. God’s grace is for all and in all who believe: We all have that same grace that saves, we all have the same dependence on God to supply His grace, we share a need for it and Paul used this to show both unity and love in Christ to the Philippian church
2. God’s grace develops us into people more like Jesus: Grace helps us to become more like Jesus, it is the supply of God that helps us depend more on Himself than on ourselves, we can not save ourselves and only through grace can we be saved, far too amny people try to earn grace or tell others that they can’t have because they aren’t doing the right things, grace is a free gift and all we have to do is ask and we shall receive it, grace depends on Christ’s work not ours
III. Paul Repeated his Joyful Prayers
A. Positive prayers make positive people
1. Paul prayed for the Philippian church: Paul lifted this church in prayer and all of the churches that he had established or had ministry with, Paul had special ties to this church and he loved the people, these people were sound in their theology and were free from heresy, Paul knew they were suffering from external and internal strife, he prayer that much more for the church, he did so out of love for this church
2. Paul prayed out of love: Paul loved the Philippian church and knew of their struggles, he lifted them in prayer with a loving spirit, the positive prayer begins with love, love for Christ and love for others,
3. Prayer changes people: Prayer can change the hearts of others, it also changes the hearts of those that pray, thus the reason we are called to pray for our enemies, God’s love will move in us and in them
B. Positive purpose brings positive results
1. Paul prayed for positive things: Paul prayed that God would work in the hearts of the people, Paul prayed that the people would be strengthened by Christ
a. Love and Knowledge: The primary purpose was to unite the church in love - For God and for one another, to combine this with knowledge or the appropriate moral principles, the problem in the Philippian church was that love was not paramount, moral principles superceeded love
b. Discernment: wisdom to apply the moral principles to life
c. Fruit of Righteousness: The fruit of God working in the lives of his people, Paul wanted the Philippians to see that God was indeed working in them and through them.
2. Paul prayed with a direct purpose
a. Paul was specific: Paul asked God for precisely what the church needed, he was focused on would benefit the church and its people the most,
b. Paul was direct: Paul wasted no time in getting to the point with God, we often beat around the bush with God, Paul went straight to work presenting the needs of the people before God
CONCLUSION
How can we tap the kind of joy Paul had in prison?
I. Remember our Joyful Past
A. Will everything in our life be pleasant? - No:We all have pain that has happened in our lives, we all have points in life that are hard to take, we have difficulties that pressure us to give in to hardship and let it rule us, The choice to remain joyful in spite of life’s difficulty is yours to make, no one else can make it for you
B. Focus on the positive: Many times we tend to focus on the negative aspects of our lives, the failures and disappointments that plague us, we need to remember that God is doing something good in our lives, we need to focus on having God’s agenda first in our lives
II. Recognize our Joyful Progress
A. God is at work: God is doing a great work in us and wants to continue that work, we just need to let Him, He has a plan for your life that is better than anything you can come up with, God is in the process of changing us and making us more like His Son, some have been in this for a short time and others a long time, we all grow in grace at different speeds and through different ways
B. We share in God’s grace: All who call Christ King will have a share in His grace, we will all get to heaven and we are all a part of the Body, we cannot afford to devalue anyone who is in Christ because we then devalue God’s work in them, if we share in God’s grace we must share it with others
III. Repeat our Joyful Prayers
A. Positive prayers make positive people: we must pray to God with love, our prayer can change others and ourselves as well, we need to offer prayers with others benefit in mind
B. Positive purpose brings positive results: We must keep our focus on bringing out the best in others, focus on standing in the gap for others, take them before God with love
