Php 1:12-24
12 Now I want you to know, brothers,
that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
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.
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. 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
A most profound statement was formulated by
a group of theologians
“The
chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
Today’s message is about turning your pain
into gain. I mean, what else can you do? You can’t continue to complain and to
blame and to pity yourself. Your attitude will depend on what your supreme
purpose is while you are in this world.
When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.
Turn your pain into gain.
I. Paul tells us about his purpose in life.(v21,22)
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!
As a Christian, Paul is saying, “My chief purpose in life is to magnify
Christ and to glorify Him.”
2.
Is this also your supreme purpose?
If we
should carefully consider who we are and where we come from, it would make us
humble to think that God could actually be magnified in my body. Yet, Jesus
told his disciples, “you are the light…” It is this element that makes Christ
visible to whomever we meet and wherever we are!
Can you
say, “It’s no longer I that live, but
Christ who lives in me”, whatever you see; whatever you hear; whatever you
say. . . He is within your heart; He is the one that people will see.
That is why it is important that we
have a purposeful life of living for Jesus and being filled constantly with His
Spirit.
(Bultmann)The “Modern Man” has a tendency toward
“autonomy”, ie the belief that you can gain real security by your own efforts,
through the accumulation of wealth, the multiplying of technology, and the
quest to exercise influence, either individually or collectively. This is an
unattainable hope, because of overwhelming obstacles, like death and natural
disasters.
The continued
human selfish and self-sufficient action constitutes a rejection or denial of
all that the human is intended to be. What then.is authentic, existence or
salvation? The Word of God calls man
away from his selfishness and from the false security which he has built up for
himself. It calls him to God, who is beyond the world and beyond scientific
thinking. At the same time, it calls man to his true self.
As the Word of God comes to humans personally,
it calls them to abandon their attempt to build security through their own
efforts and find true security by placing their trust in God. Only through the
exercise of faith can the human put an end to his or her fake existence. To
believe in the Word of God means to abandon all merely human security and thus
to overcome the despair which arises from the attempt to find security, an
attempt which is always vain.
Faith means
abandoning the quest for tangible realities and temporary objects. The pursuit
of such things is sin, for by it we exclude the invisible reality from our
lives and refuse God’s future, which is offered us as a gift. Faith is an
opening of our hearts to the grace of God, allowing him to release us from the
past and bring us into his future. It also involves obedience – turning our
backs on self and abandoning all security.
Q. Have you
ever come across a person who radiates God’s presence; who makes you sense the
awesomeness of the presence of love?
test yourself – do you possess this purpose?
Fill in the blanks: “For me to live is ---------------- and to die
is----------“
A, if you are honest with
yourself, someone here will have said, “For me to live is to make money!” But
now, what about the last part? “ to die is____ lose it all!”
B. Other honest people would say, “For me to live is power!” But “to die
is to lose it all!”
What you really need is a purpose for living that will be capable of
meeting the challenges of life.
I am determined to have a dominant purpose that is worthy of the
investment of , “live for my Saviour, to magnify Jesus Christ to the extent
that circumstances cannot interfere or derail my purpose. (see also Prov 3:5,6)
3. Three events in the life of Paul that
could have derailed him.
12 Now I want you to
know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the
gospel. 13 As a result, it has become
clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in
chains for Christ.
At this
point of time, Paul had been in that prison for 4 1/2 yrs . He was chained to a Roman prison warden 24/7
with the sentries changing shifts every 6 hours.
Would we be content to keep quiet and not ask
God some questions? I mean, after all, I am doing service for God, for His
kingdom. But Paul’s purpose in life did
not include his own convenience and comfort. He used every opportunity to
magnify Christ. How?
Can you
imagine this ordinary man, just like you and me, greeting each new jailer every
six hours. To one he might have said, “Have you ever heard of the four
spiritual laws?” The next jailer, “Hi, Janus, where did we get at our last
meeting? Oh, yes it was about Jesus Christ who came into our world to save us
from our sins.. . .”
It is
amazing, a captive audience, who have no option but to listen to the Word of
God, for the very first time. Oh, how the Holy Spirit would bring joy and
excitement to their hearts.
Don’t we
also have similar experiences when we are laid up in a hospital or even when we
are in a slow moving lift full of people.
So what, if they see you as a fanatic.
God is pleased with such fanatics.
Some of
Paul’s captive audiences probably couldn’t keep quiet about what they had heard
and some of them may even have been converted.
4.
The results of paul’s roman imprisonment (Php 4:21,22)
21
Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send
greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to
Caesar's household.
Saints in
Caesar’s household??
These were
the prison guards who were converted to Christ while chained to Paul.
Whenever
you are in difficult and adverse situations, see it as opportunity to glorify
and magnify Christ. Don’t ask God, “Why….?”
but ask “What can I do that will glorify Christ Jesus, my Saviour ?”
Joni
Erickson Tada refers to her situation as “creative suffering”
Paul faced
his critics (in chains) v17
It is in
the fires of life that a true Christian is tested. What would you do in his
place?
Matt 5:11,12
11 "Blessed are you when people insult
you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of
me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
The choice is ours whether we will magnify
Christ by refusing to retaliate and rather be crushed for His sake. It all
depend on our purpose for living; our reason for living.
Paul’s third crisis – “The valley of the
shadow of death.”
It did not matter to him that he may be put
to death. Nor did it make him change his mind about his purpose for living. He
could have denounced his Saviour and be set free, but (v20,21)
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.
Conclusion
Paul has
been saying, “I have a supreme purpose in life. And it’s not to be healthy and
wealthy and free of suffering. My one goal is to magnify Christ. When I’m free
to preach, I’ll use my words to do it!
If I am in chains it will be t the chains that will accomplish it. If I
am being criticised, I will use that criticism to do it. Whether in life or in
death, Jesus Christ will be glorified in me. I want my life to be a vivid
picture of my Saviour to the world.
When you
find yourself in the furnaces of life, will others see Christ in you?
Take your
tears and turn them into triumphs! Take that pain and turn it into gain!
Magnify Jesus Christ.
1Pet 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify
God on the day he visits us.
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