Rejoicing in the Battle

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Philippians 1:15-20 Pastor Rob Kimsey February 26, 2023

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Well folks you can turn to your Bibles to the letter of Paul to the Philippians Thank you brothers for doing that We're gonna be continuing our teaching and study from the book of Philippians this morning
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I've titled today's sermon rejoicing in the battle Rejoicing in the battle and we're gonna be looking at Philippians chapter 1 verses 15 through 20
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Philippians 1 15 through 20 And I think for the sake of context we should start back at perhaps verse 12
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Rejoicing in the battle the letter of Paul to the Philippians chapter 1 starting in verse 12
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Now I want you to know brothers that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel
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So that my chains in Christ have become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else
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That most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord because of my chains Have far more courage to speak the
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Word of God without fear verse 15 Some to be sure are preaching
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Christ even from envy and strife But some also from goodwill The latter do it out of love knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel
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The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives thinking to cause me affliction in my chains
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What then? Only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth
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Christ is proclaimed and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice
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For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the
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Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ According to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything
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But that with all boldness Christ will even now as always be magnified in my body whether by life or by death praise the
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Lord So as we return to this letter my goal this morning is to put us in the in the shoes of the
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Philippians and Even to help us think through what it would be like to be
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Paul to write a letter to them So I want to start this morning service with kind of a simple question
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What would you say to your brothers and sisters in Christ if you weren't sure you'd ever be able to speak to them again
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Imagine you're Paul and he's part of this ministry where they planted this church
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And then now he's been arrested for proclaiming the gospel and He writes this letter to his dear brothers and sisters in Christ Not knowing whether he'll be released or whether he'll be executed
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So if you had one chance, this isn't a FaceTime This isn't a
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FaceTime. This isn't a phone call I guess we could say this is an email for our contemporary times, but you had a chance to write something down You weren't sure if this you'd ever be able to speak to that group of believers again, what would you say?
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to those precious dear brothers and sisters Well this morning we get to see that this is what
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Paul said This is what Paul would have them learn. This is what he wanted to emphasize
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So as we think about what we're gonna learn today, and as we go further into these verses Let's think about that question.
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What would you say if you weren't sure if you ever got to talk to somebody again? What would you want to get across to them and we can see this morning what
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Paul wanted to get across? The main thrust of this text is that Paul communicates his joy in the gospel being proclaimed he says it over and over Even if it was by his opponents
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He tells the Philippians that he will rejoice Despite his circumstances He will rejoice because of their prayer
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He'll rejoice because of the Holy Spirit and his hope in Jesus Christ Paul knows that the proclamation of the gospel
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Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit will result in his eternal salvation despite the earthly consequences
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We see his assurance in his salvation The provision of Christ gives
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Paul hope and he will rejoice no matter what the passage today gives you two incredible reasons for rejoicing so that you may have real joy in the midst of real difficulties two reasons for rejoicing
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The proclamation of Christ Verses 15 through 18 and the provision of Christ 19 and 20
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Two reasons for rejoicing in the middle of personal trial number one the proclamation of Christ Paul is referring to the missionary activity of some of the brothers referred to in verse 14 in 14 he's mentioning that some of them have become more confident in the
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Lord and He sadly notes that some were preaching out of envy and strife This envy and strife shows the attitude of Paul's rivals the importance of this detail are the motives
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Paul begins his contrast of those that preach for ulterior motives versus those that preach with pure Motives they are envious and this denotes jealousy
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These men were jealous of Paul's power and authority as an apostle
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They wanted their own converts. They wanted his success in ministry and his giftedness
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These men didn't understand that Paul's success in ministry was his faithfulness to the gospel
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The word strife Paul uses here means an engagement in rivalry Especially with reference to positions taken in a matter think of strife discord contention
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Strife is angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues Paul took one position and his rivals took another
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Paul taught salvation by faith in Christ his rivals taught faith in Christ plus strict adherence to the law
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Paul knew that some of the so -called Christians were only preaching to build up their own name and reputation
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These preachers were taking full advantage of Paul's negative Circumstances to become well known and make converts for themselves as soon as they got the opportunity
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They began to discredit him However, there was a faithful remnant.
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The verse says some preached out of goodwill Goodwill is the concept of an attitude of Satisfaction and contentment toward Paul and Paul's ministry
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It is a state or condition of being kind to be kindly inclined or to be willing
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The passage today will show that Paul rejoiced because the gospel was being preached despite the wrong motives of the people preaching and we can think about this in our own lives as Christians are we always joyful when the gospel is proclaimed?
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And let's think about it like this. What if the gospel is being proclaimed by a ministry that you don't agree with?
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What if another Christian is more successful than you and as Christians we should never think like that It is true that there are some
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Christians that serve in ministry for the wrong reasons to be clear God does not excuse their motives
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The power of these verses lets us know that we can be joyful about people with wrong motives in ministry
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Because God can still use the gospel despite their wrong motives
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The Word of God descends from heaven and accomplishes its purposes Not by saying a perverted or twisted gospel either way these
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Judaizers preached Christ The Judaizers were Jews that wanted to retain the law along with Christ they were legalists who taught that salvation was from faith plus works as In maintaining the dietary restrictions from the
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Levitical practices or that circumcision and sacrifice was mandatory Another important observation from this verse is that in the original language here.
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There is an article before Christ. It's the word the The article is dropped in translation based on the
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Christ being directly referred to as Jesus by name in verses 8 and 19 in chapter 1 it is significant because Paul is emphatically saying that the person
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Jesus of Nazareth is the expected deliverer of the Israelite people
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Jesus is the Christ not one of many Christ's he's the
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Christ The preaching is a present active verb meaning to proclaim aloud as in making a public declaration with words spoken out loud
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This is important because Paul is saying that there were some of the Philippian believers who were publicly
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Proclaiming Jesus as the anointed deliverer Out of the goodwill of their human character being edified by the
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Word of God These ones were proclaiming the promised Messiah sent by Yahweh who will save and deliver the people of Israel Jesus who is also the physical expression of Yahweh on earth according to the
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Old Testament prophecies The significance is that Paul is saying even within the church there are some who have their own self -interest in mind and The some referred to in verse 15 are very likely to be the
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Judaizers Paul will later reference in chapter 3 verse 2 So just flip over a page and look at chapter 3 verse 2
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We're gonna be we're gonna be bouncing back and forth from chapter 1 to verse 3 today because we want to look at Paul's Total argument his logical flow of thought as he references some of these folks later in his letter
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Philippians chapter 3 verse 2 says beware of the dogs Beware of the evil workers beware of the mutilation referring to the circumcision
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This is important because Paul is qualifying their motives These Judaizers preached the gospel with insincere motives
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Their real objective was to gain adherence to the law The envy and strife or rivalry was directed against Paul Personally Now not all those preaching had wrong motives.
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The greatest motive of all in any matter is love Paul's supporters loved him because they saw his genuine appointment into the gospel ministry
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They witnessed his doctrine his spirit and his conviction Their motive springs from love because they
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Recognized God had sent Paul to Rome to defend the gospel and they loved him for it
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Paul was the real deal Paul was not compromising the ministry today
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Needs men of integrity who will not compromise their convictions based on popular opinion
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The gospel doesn't change based on political or cultural opinions Those believers whose work arose from goodwill and love had been emboldened to proclaim the gospel
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They recognized that Paul was divinely commissioned to defend the good news of Christ the church needs uncompromising believers
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Who will not give up integrity of the Word of God to soothe sinners?
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No sinners don't need soothing They don't we don't need to sugarcoat anything
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We're not gonna dumb it down or water it down to make it more appealing to somebody Sinners don't need soothing sinners need the truth
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Sinners need the gospel Paul says I am appointed The term conveys a soldier being conscripted for duty
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What Paul's critics did not understand was that Paul was in prison because of God's sovereign plan and will
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God had placed Paul in a divinely strategic position to give the proclamation of the gospel and Paul uses the same word in verse 7 elaborating on his upcoming opportunity to Defend to defend the gospel before Caesars tribunal
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You know, that's what God had done in Paul's life God placed
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Paul in that position and If we can think about Paul and This is a real person that lived.
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He's a historical figure He's a human being like us I'd like you to consider where God has placed you
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Where has God placed you even today? Where has God placed you today for the gospel?
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Do you desire to share the gospel? Do you desire to share the gospel where God has placed you and despite the earthly consequences
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Because God is doing something with you You are exactly where you are supposed to be and if you're a
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Christian Where you are supposed to be where you are is where God would have you share the gospel
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The significance here is that Paul is saying that despite any worldly restrictions He was promoting the interests of the gospel
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Not his own and by extension those proclaiming Christ out of love were doing the same
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There was a deep bond of affection between those with sincere motives Because they recognized his divine calling and loved him very much
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Selfish ambition here is the idea of those who preach the gospel for self -advancement These folks were using
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Paul's imprisonment as an opportunity to promote themselves Paul's critics did not have pure motives as One commentator notes the legalists mentioned later in chapter 3 verse 2 are involved in partisanship
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Their missionary zeal took the form of a political solicitation Paul marks them as not sincere
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There's a contrast here going back to verse 10 The word for sincere in verse 10 is sometimes translated as pure It literally means to be judged on the light of the
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Sun Sincerity conveys a genuineness that holds up under the light
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One way to think about this is there's a famous illustration with the pottery that you could buy
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So put yourself 2 ,000 years ago and you're in a Greek market the vendors there would sell various things cups bowls and it was made of ceramic or clay and there were often imperfections or cracks inside that bowl and On that street vendors shelf or cart there that you might look and they all looked pretty good to you but what they would do is they would take wax and they would fill the cracks in the bowl or the or the
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You know the things that are gonna basically make the bowl fall apart as soon as you put something hot in it They put a little wax inside those cracks
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They put a layer of paint on there and from just looking at it. You couldn't tell what you were buying But when you held it up into the light when you held it up into the light of the
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Sun then you could see Wow, look at all those cracks even the Sun can map melt wax, right?
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But so you you held it up to inspect it you looked at it. So this guy's ripping me off This thing's full of cracks as soon as I put put something in here.
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The bowl is gonna fall apart Well someday we will all be held up under the light of God We'll all be inspected by God and the question is what will your inspection find?
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What will your inspection find? What would we see if we held you up under the light?
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God already knows what we would see Start living today for the gospel
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So that you can eliminate any cracks of apathy or complacency in your life
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The idea that you're genuine you're pure if we held you up under the light we wouldn't see any cracks of apathy a concern for others a concern for those that are lost and unbelieving
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Yeah, and that's what Paul is saying These people did not have that they were fake they weren't pure they were insincere they were phonies and these phonies accused
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Paul of being sinful they claimed the Lord had punished him by imprisoning him and Paul was joyful at their accusation
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Paul's opponents reveal their wrong thinking and expecting that they will add to his troubles
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They are thinking about Paul's imprisonment and suffering Paul is thinking in terms or opportunities of the gospel defense and proclamation
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This expectation relays a desire or wish on the part of Paul's agitators
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The significance is that Paul is further developing the idea of envy and rivalry from verse 15
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He is explaining the nature of envy and strife as a selfish ambition in verse 16
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He elaborated on the concept of goodwill and the qualification or the motivation of love
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Here Paul elaborates on the nature of envious strife and qualifies the motivation as selfish ambition
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His opponents did not have pure motives They assumed
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Paul had thoughts and motives like their own They expected that any success on their part would make
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Paul envious of them They expected that it would increase his suffering in his imprisonment
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Preventing him from competing with them as much as he desired. They could not be more wrong
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Paul sets a very good example for us to follow Paul had no motive
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But to see the gospel proclaimed as he explains in verse 18 Paul is basically saying
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What does it matter? So what? Paul's question demonstrates that 15 through 17 are one logical flow of thought now
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He asks a rhetorical question that he will answer He says so what? Doesn't matter the total fallout or consequence of from this imprisonment has been to advance the gospel
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And this is an amazing perspective Paul gives us a truly wonderful example of trusting
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God to the point of rejoicing amid suffering rejoicing in the battle
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Paul's joy was not related to his personal circumstances. Paul was a gospel proclaimer
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His joy was not determined by his rivals or critics His joy was bound up in Christ Because Paul was a gospel proclaimer
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You know if we think about what makes us happy in life It's so fleeting and temporary
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But you think about joy and it lasts no matter the earthly circumstances Paul's joy was wrapped up in Proclaiming his great
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Savior Therefore the circumstances didn't matter because no matter what circumstance he was in his joy was bound up in proclaiming the gospel
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What is your joy bound up in is? Is your life about sharing the good news
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God saved you from eternal wrath Everlasting life. Do you want to tell people about that?
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Is your joy bound up in proclaiming the good news? If it's something else then it's it's just happiness and it's gonna come and go no joy
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Lasts when it's bound up in Christ our joy must be bound up in our hope in Jesus Paul was so convinced of his position in Christ that he was joyful when the gospel was proclaimed
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He did not require the credit He required gospel proclamation Paul was not in it for himself
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Paul was in it for Christ. His life was Christ Paul's life was built around proclaiming the gospel
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The Apostle endured false accusations. Not only did he not become resentful and bitter against them
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He rejoiced that these detractors preached Christ He knew for them.
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It wasn't a pretense Pretense is a falsely alleged motive an attempt to make something that is not the case
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Appear to be true one commentator noted the significance because it conveys the idea of other designs of Paul's opponents as In using the name of Christ to promote the interests of their own group in order to gain new converts
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They had a pretense of godliness. That was fake But there is no faking it with God Paul is saying he will rejoice in the gospel being proclaimed
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Publicly this is significant because Paul would rejoice Despite the wrong motives of a few
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Paul's joy came from the public proclamation of the gospel not his physical circumstances
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He didn't care about the wrong motives of the people preaching He didn't care who got the credit
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Paul's joy was in the gospel So he could rejoice in the present and in the future because he knew the gospel was being publicly proclaimed
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Even if the preachers had wrong motives You know, let's consider Paul's mindset.
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We'll look at another piece of scripture that he wrote of course to the church in Rome Consider Paul's mindset in this passage
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He says yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me
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Bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God's Spirit in This way
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I have fully presented the good news of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to a lyric um
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My ambition has always been to preach the good news where the name of Christ has never been heard
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Rather than where a church has already been started by someone else I have been following the plan spoken of in the scriptures where it says
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They who had no declaration of him shall see and they who have not heard shall understand
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That's Paul's mindset You can't take a guy like that and put him in prison and he's gonna melt down and give up What's he gonna do in prison?
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He's gonna preach to the very guards that are holding him in prison He doesn't care about the earthly circumstances
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And I want to point out here to just in this simple quotas of supporting scripture that Paul is quoting
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Isaiah 52 15 this is important because Paul Identifies the suffering servant from the prophet
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Isaiah's writings as Jesus of Nazareth Paul is quoting Isaiah 52 15 about the suffering servant who is
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Jesus and He will startle many nations Kings will stand speechless in his presence for they will see what they had not been told and They will understand what they had not heard about What an amazing perspective
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Paul can have joy in his life. No matter what because of the proclamation of Christ That's what he made his life about and that's an important thing that we have to consider this morning
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That's what this passage teaches This passage gives two incredible reasons for rejoicing
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So that you may have real joy in the midst of difficulties the proclamation of Christ So that you can experience real joy no matter what circumstances surround you and number two the provision of Christ the provision of Christ The Greek word translated deliverance is the same word for salvation
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You'll see in some translations that this word salvation will say it will turn out for my deliverance
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It is the most beautiful word. It's a Greek word It's where we get the word soteriology.
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It's soteria in the Greek soteriology the study of salvation
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This is the study of the doctrine of salvation This is significant because Paul had a confidence that for him the public preaching of the gospel would turn out for his salvation
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He describes the source of his deliverance later in the verse Paul is saying that the proclamation of Christ in every way will turn out for his spiritual good.
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How? How could this possibly turn out? because of the Spirit of Jesus Christ Through the prayer and the supply of the
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Holy Spirit Meaning the consequent supply of the Spirit of truth sent from Jesus is obtained through prayer
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Paul was not alone when he was in there in prison He had the Holy Spirit and he was praying to God the
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Father and his prayers were being perfectly taken up by Jesus Paul speaks about the
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Holy Spirit's help in interceding for believers in their prayer life in his letter to the Romans He says and the
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Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for but the
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Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings That cannot be expressed in words and the
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Father who knows all hearts Knows what the Spirit is saying for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's will
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Confidence in salvation is from the provision of the Spirit Paul's hope in the future bodily
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Resurrection and the coming return of the Redeemer is the source of his confidence
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Look at Paul's mindset in chapter 3. Let's go back to chapter 3 verses 7 through 11
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He says but whatever things were gained to me those things I've counted is lost for the sake of Christ More than that I count all things to be lost because of the surpassing value of Knowing Christ Jesus my
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Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them But rubbish so that I may gain
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Christ and be found in him Not having a righteousness of my own which is from the law
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But that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God upon faith
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That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his
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Sufferings being conformed to his death in order that I might I may attain to the resurrection from the dead
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Paul's focus is the future glory the resurrection Everything he's saying in this letter must be looked at through that lens and let it be so for us as well
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That our hope may be grounded in salvation Found in the one and only true
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God Redeemer the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ him crucified and his
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Resurrection Paul knew that his salvation was based on the provision from God through his hope in Christ Paul is not referring to deliverance from execution
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Paul is not referring to deliverance from Really by being vindicated by the
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Emperor's ruling Paul is not referring to deliverance as a part of his eventual release from prison
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Paul is not concerned with earthly deliverance Paul is referring to his ultimate salvation
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By the grace of God through faith in the only one who has the authority to cast into hell the
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Lord Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ Paul didn't care about the court of Caesar He knew he'd be vindicated in the heavenly court
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Paul conveyed his knowledge of deliverance was from the public proclamation of the gospel
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He gives the credit to the means of deliverance as coming from his fellow believers prayer and the
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Holy Spirit Paul was not seeking relief from his temporary distress
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He trusted completely in the power of prayer and in the
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Holy Spirit Prayer is essential for the life of the Christian and If we think about this idea of Paul Making these statements about the prayer and the provision of the
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Spirit of Jesus Christ What does your prayer life look like? Are you praying to God every day?
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Are there days that go by or a week or more you haven't talked to God if that's the case
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Change it Start today start a new habit. You can start in the morning and pray even think about breakfast lunch and dinner
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We should be talking to God and praying to him constantly You know, what him what importance do you put in prayer in your day -to -day life?
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It is important to note that this was not the final imprisonment of Paul in Rome We know what happened because we have the further revelation of God and we know the historical account
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We know that Paul got out But at the time Paul wrote these words, he did not know whether he would be killed or whether he'd be freed
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While he was awaiting trial, there is no doubt that he understood he might be released but that he might also be executed despite this monumental
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Uncertainty Paul continued to trust in Christ He had faith that Christ would work out the situation for his deliverance
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Paul had an eternal perspective And if you flipped back go back to chapter 3 if you're still there look at verses 17 through 21
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Consider Paul's words in chapter 3 17 through 21 He says brothers join in following my example and look for those who walk according to the pattern you have in us
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For many walk of whom I often told you and now tell you even crying as enemies of the cross of Christ Whose end is destruction?
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Whose God is their stomach and glory is in their shame who set their thoughts on earthly things?
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For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also we eagerly wait for a
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Savior the Lord Jesus Christ Who will transform the body of our humble state into Conformity with the body of his glory by his working through which he is able to even subject all things to himself again, we see
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Paul's forward -looking mindset the return of Christ and future glory a sin -free glorified body transformed into the body of his glory the prayers of his
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Philippian brethren would help Paul to remain on earth to continue his fruitful work in defending and proclaiming the gospel
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Whether Paul lived or died he desired to bring honor and glory to Christ Paul built his life around proclaiming the gospel and he was spiritually
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Untouchable for this reason he knew that even if he was killed that his eternal salvation was secure in Jesus Paul could rejoice because his life was anchored in Christ whether he lived or died
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What is your life anchored in? Are you living your life like Paul lived what is your life anchored in If it is not in Christ You may want to rethink that as an unbeliever.
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You are rejecting Christ and you will doom your soul to hell as A believer in order to experience true
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Unshakable joy despite the trials of life your life must be anchored in Christ Your life must be anchored in proclaiming the gospel
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The text shows us for Paul. It was both The significance is that Paul is not saying that the present situation
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Will work out for his salvation in terms of acquittal or discharge from custody But it will work out for his vindication in the heavenly court, which alludes to eternal deliverance eternal salvation
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Paul's deliverance is one that will happen no matter what happens to him in prison
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He gives credit to the prayer of believers and the support of the Holy Spirit The Greek word for expectation describes a determined anticipation of the future
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And I must point this out because the word is only used twice in the New Testament It's in our passage in Philippians and it's also in Romans chapter 8 verse 19
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So we can ask the question. What does Paul mean by earnest expectation only twice in the
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New Testament? Philippians and in this verse here Romans 8 19 He says yet that we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory.
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He will reveal to us later Verse 19 for all creation is waiting eagerly
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For that future day when God will reveal who his children really are
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There's a time that God has set when we will all know who the true
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Followers of Christ are and it says here that the creation is eagerly waiting.
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That's an earnest expectation Anticipation of the future and that's what Paul is talking about in Philippians.
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This is an anxious deep Longing this is an expectation.
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That is a certainty to come to fruition Paul has an earnest expectation try to picture a think of like a battle -hardened veteran who stretches his neck up and over the other soldiers to get a
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Get a little bit of a sign a light of sign there where you can see what's coming down at you
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What's coming down the line you're stretching over you're looking for it. It's coming and you know, it's coming Of course we understand that the
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Christian life is hard, of course it is the Christian life is hard God gospel proclamation is
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Difficult it is hard To be eager or earnest about something can convey showing sincere and intense conviction
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Paul was convicted of the reality that whether it was through his life or death Christ would be glorified by his life
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Paul's desire was not self -promotion, but that Christ be glorified to all
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Paul desired that Jesus would truly be seen in his awesome greatness to all
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He was bold because of his hope Paul was bold because of his hope in Christ.
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Paul was a gospel proclaimer That's the hope that Paul had
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His hope was in Christ What is your hope in If it's getting a paycheck every week, that's not gonna work.
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If it's the bank account, it's not gonna work It's the house or the car. Maybe it's your circle of friends
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Your hope must be in the eternal salvation Promises that come through the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ That is true hope and when you anchor your life in that when you hope in that you will have true joy
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Paul knew his imprisonment and possible death would not bring him shame He knew that God would stand by him
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Paul knew it was God who enabled him to testify to the gospel He was ready if the opportunity came to speak the gospel boldly without any thought about negative issues related to himself
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Do you speak the gospel boldly Do you speak the gospel boldly and this one this one might sting a little bit, but do you even speak the gospel?
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You know and there's one finger pointing at you there's three pointing back at me what are we doing with our lives?
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Are we speaking the gospel? We're Christians We should be telling other people about Christ If you're a professing
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Christian and the answer is no then that needs to change today
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You can make this change that you would make your life about telling others about What God has done in your life about the hope that you have for eternal salvation about the hope that you have in Christ in This passage
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Paul communicates his joy in the gospel being proclaimed even if it was by his opponents and he tells the
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Philippians that he will rejoice despite his circumstances Because of their prayer the
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Holy Spirit and his hope in Jesus Christ And we have access to the
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Father. We have the Holy Spirit There's this idea. This is the power of asking in Jesus's name
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You know to help us think about this. I'll just share a I Think a helpful illustration that I read
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It's a little I'll share a story with you A father took his children to the country fair one day
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The kids were not interested in the prized pig or calf so the father bought a roll of tickets for the various rides at the fair as Each of the children approached a ride
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They would hold out a hand and get a ticket from the father that one ride after all the children had received tickets a strange boy
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Whom the father had never seen came up and held out his hand obviously expecting a ticket and The father drew back his roll of tickets
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He wasn't about to give this boy who he didn't know a ticket that was meant for his children
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Upon seeing this the man's son named Stephen turned and said to his dad.
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It's okay. Dad. This is my friend I told him you would give him a ticket And do you know what the father did
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He gave the boy a ticket in Stephen's name The boy had no right to a ticket
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But since his son had said he would do it The father honored the name of his son by giving that strange boy a ticket
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Christ provided the spirit so that we may have confidence in our access to the father
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Two incredible reasons for rejoicing in the middle of personal trial so that you may have real joy in the hard circumstances of life the
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Proclamation of Christ and the provision of Christ so that your life is
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Anchored in the hope of salvation that is found in Christ alone
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That's rejoicing in the battle Paul Relayed to the
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Philippians his circumstances of being in prison for the sake of preaching the gospel He told the
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Philippians he rejoiced in those circumstances because of Christ This kind of conviction does not originate from man.
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This conviction comes from faith in Jesus This conviction comes from the
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Word of God despite extremely negative and Dangerous circumstances the
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Apostle rejoiced during great personal struggle He was falsely maligned by professing
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Christians Even though his rivals had it out for him. He rejoiced because Christ was proclaimed
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He rejoiced because of the supply of the Holy Spirit from Jesus through the prayer of his true fellow
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Christians this passage of Scripture teaches us that If our conviction is in Christ we can be joyful regardless of critics or Circumstances and even more we may be bold to speak the truth of the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ If your hope is anchored in the world, then it is not hope
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True hope is only found in God through Jesus Christ While happiness comes and goes based on circumstances true joy stays
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Joy can't be shaken because it is based on our hope of eternal life
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True joy for the Christian is directly related to a life dedicated to the gospel proclamation
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Joy that is derived from God cannot be shaken because God cannot be shaken
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The ultimate provision of God is the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ The psalmist writes that the earth is the
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Lord's and all it contains the world and those who dwell in it
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The Apostle Paul said there's none righteous Not even one for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but the wages of sin is death
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The good news is that Jesus has told us that the free gift of God's grace is eternal life
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For in Jesus all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form but God demonstrated his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners
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Christ died for us and That Jesus was buried and that he raised from the dead.
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He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures That's the gospel of Jesus Christ Paul anchored his life on the public proclamation of the gospel
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After the resurrection, but before Jesus ascended the Lord gave a commission to his disciples and by extension all believers all believers
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Every believer in this room this morning he commanded believers to go out into the world and proclaim the gospel to all people to all creation a
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True Christian's life will be based on sharing the gospel and making disciples of people
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Teaching those disciples to observe all that Jesus has commanded in the Word of God if This is a struggle for you
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Be encouraged the Lord is with you If your hope is in the world lasting joy is not possible for you put your hope in the
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Christ Jesus of Nazareth who is the only true begotten Son of God our
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Ability to proclaim the gospel is not from us The Lord has provided his spirit if Jesus commands us to do something that he will
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Graciously enable us by his spirit to do it This passage gives you two incredible reasons for rejoicing in the middle of a personal trial
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So that you may have real joy in your walk as a
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Christian the proclamation of Christ so that you can experience real joy no matter what
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Circumstances surround you and the provision of Christ so that your life is anchored in the hope of salvation that is found in Christ alone.
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I Want to encourage you with a simple truth if you are apprehensive about sharing the gospel
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You don't have to be I'll say that again if you're apprehensive about Sharing the gospel you do not have to be even if you go out by yourself
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You will not be alone Consider the words of the resurrected
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Jesus before his ascension into heaven from the gospel of Matthew the Great Commission passage
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Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go
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When they saw him they worshipped him But some of them doubted Jesus came and told his disciples.
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I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations
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Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands
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I have given you and be sure of this I am with you always even to the end of the age
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There is no scenario Where Jesus will not aid you in proclaiming the gospel and we can think about this passage
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I'll wrap it up with a nice quote. This is from a guy named Adam Barr. Who's a pastor from Grand Rapids? He says
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Paul's joy flowed from a heart Determined to see God's purposes fulfilled
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His perspective reached past his finite horizon to another one bounded by Christ's kingdom fully come
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The Apostle knew this would one day happen Because his conviction could not be shaken
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Paul's joy could not be stolen In fact, every sign that the kingdom was coming could only bring that joy closer to completion
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Paul's letter to the Philippians is shot through with this theme. May it be so in our lives and Brothers and sisters may it be so in our lives