Study the Word

Guest (Male): Are you feeling down? Pastor Tom Keller says, don't look down.

Pastor Thom Keller: When we encounter problems and get down in the mouth and down in our spirit, and we look down, we miss all the blessings that God has for us at shelf level. Always keep your head up because if it's down, you won't be able to see the blessings that have been placed in your life.

Guest (Male): Paul writes the book of Philippians while in prison in Rome. Now, how is it that Paul while in prison can rejoice? We're about to find out as we study the word. Pastor Tom Keller is our teacher. Would you think of going to prison as a good thing for you? Not likely, but in our study we see that God uses Paul's imprisonment for good. As many in the palace hear the gospel. Now, how do we cultivate an attitude like that? Turn to Philippians chapter 1 beginning in verse 12. Pastor Tom will also give us some background from the book of Acts.

Right now on study the word.

Pastor Thom Keller: Philippians 1 verse 12. And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I'm in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me for they know I have been appointed to defend the good news.

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. But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, message about Christ is being preached either way. So, I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice for I know that as you pray for me and the spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. Verse 12 by itself. And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news.

Paul says that everything that has happened to him in prison, all that he's going through has actually helped to spread, to advance the gospel, the good news. And his background again, Paul is in prison in Rome awaiting trial before Nero. And he tells the Philippians that rather than his imprisonment arresting the spread of the gospel, it has actually been used by God to advance the gospel. In Greek, the word for advance the gospel is the word and the verb means to cut down in advance of an army as in the cutting away of trees and underbrush that would hinder the progress of an army on route to battle.

So, Paul is saying that God is using his imprisonment to open doors, to cut down the impediments that would get in the way of the gospel going forward so the gospel can reach new places and in new ways. And how so? Well, even though Paul is in Rome awaiting trial, he is allowed to live by himself in a rented house while under the guard of a Roman soldier, multiple soldiers. In fact, chained to a Roman soldier. We find that in Acts chapter 28 it says when we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

Paul's response to this, being chained to a soldier, he says, thank you, Jesus. He says, you have arranged to have a group of soldiers chained to me, prospects to hear the gospel that can't get away from me 24/7. For an evangelist, that's a dream come true. Man, they can't get away. Is there any better plan for an evangelist 24/7? You wake up and you go right back into it. And this continued for two years. Acts 28 verse 30 says, for the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I love this last line. I always love this. And no one tried to stop him. Can you imagine someone trying to stop Paul from preaching the gospel? Paul had visitors in this rented house that he would preach to. It says in all boldness, and it says that no one tried to stop him. Do you think about the fact that as he's preaching to all these people, these Roman soldiers are listening to all these messages at the same time? And Paul identifies these soldiers as the palace or the Imperial guard. Verse 13 it says, so that it has become made known throughout the whole Imperial guard and all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

King James says, in all the palace, some translations say Caesar's court. The Greek word used here actually is praetorium. The word praetorium originally referred to a general's tent in a camp. And then in later times, it was meant a house or a palace of a governor and then eventually any large hall, house or palace. But here in Philippians 1, it refers to either the palace of Nero, the emperor of Rome or the praetorium camp, which was the headquarters of the praetorian guard or cohorts. Now, these cohorts were comprised of choice select troops originally created by Emperor Augustus as his personal bodyguards.

These were crack team soldiers who were guarding Paul. They also were they also had charge over the city of Rome. Grotius says that the usual word to denote the residence of the emperor of Rome was palladium, palace, but that those who lived during this era were accustomed to the word praetorian referring to the palace of the emperor Nero. Chrysostom says that the palace of the emperor was called the praetorian. Now, the question about the meaning of this word is not a small point in that it helps us understand the extent to which the gospel had been made known in Rome in the time of Paul in that it had advanced even into Nero's palace.

Talk about one of the most dangerous places for the gospel to be advanced, it would have been Nero's palace. And then verse 14 is very telling. He says and because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God message without fear. What this tells us is that there are a fair number of believers in Rome at this time and also it's obviously dangerous for them to be out witnessing because Paul says that because of his willingness to be imprisoned, it's made them unafraid of the consequences they will also probably encounter for proclaiming the gospel in Rome.

Now, let me say a little bit about Paul's attitude here. Paul could have said about being in prison chained to a guard. He could have said as my brother-in-law Ted says, rats, rats. Here I am in prison guarded by an elite Roman soldier every day all day long. Now, Paul could have said that, but what did he say? He said, praise God. Here I am in prison chained to an elite Roman soldier every day all day long. A captive audience. When when I was in business, first starting out in business, my dad told me the story.

He said that that's a business story, but it relates. He said there was a man who was a shoe salesman and he was sent over to Africa to sell shoes. And he was sent with a shipload of shoes. And after a month he wrote back and said, what are you doing to me? Nobody here wears shoes. I can't sell any shoes. No one wears them. He came back. The owner of the company said, I'm going to take another run at this. Got another salesman, sent him over, gave him a shipment of shoes, same as the first guy.

And the guy writes a letter back and says, man, it's great over here. Nobody wears shoes. And here there's a lesson for us. When we have setbacks or trials in our flesh, we feel despair. We look down at the ground, we feel dejected and we belly ache and we complain and we pout. And if that's your attitude when things go wrong, you're going to miss out on all of God's blessings that he wants to do for you during that time of your life. And you know why? Because you only find God's blessings by looking up, not by belly aching and looking down at the ground.

I love the story. I don't know if it's true or not of a man in his 50s who just loved to walk. He loved nature, loved to take it all in as he walked. He would thank and praise God as he walked for all the beauty he observed on his daily walks. And then one day a terrible thing happened. There, alongside the edge of the road in a small tuft of grass, he spied a $100 bill. And that day ruined his walking career. Do you know why? Because from that day on, he always kept his eyes fixed on the 3 ft directly in front of him as he walked, scanning the ground for another windfall.

And you know what happened as a result? Over the next 10 years of walking, he accumulated one toilet, two rings, one watch, 46 hub caps, 92 bungee cords, and a grand total of $46.35 in $1 bills and change. But during that same 10 year period, he missed thousands of beautiful sunsets and sunrises, soaring eagles and hawks and deer and sheep and horses and pens that he walked by every day. All of this because he kept his eyes on the ground rather than looking up. And folks, the same thing happens to us. When we encounter problems and get down in the mouth and down in our spirit and we look down, we miss all the blessings that God has for us at shelf level.

Just ready to be taken by us, just ready for us to walk into all because we're looking down and never see them. Always keep your head up because if it's down, you won't be able to see the blessings that have been placed in your life. Chuck Swindoll wrote this next piece. It's so good. He says, the longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude in life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It's more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we we we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have and that is our attitude. I'm convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you.

We are in charge of our attitudes. So strong, so true. And speaking about attitudes and finding the blessings in the midst of difficulties, listen to what Paul says next, verse 15. It's true the some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me for they know I've been appointed to defend the good news. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, listen, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But that doesn't matter.

Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way. So, I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice. Oh, my word, you talk about finding good in adversity. It's amazing. Did you ever think that people might have impure motives when preaching the gospel of Christ? Key here though is that although these men's motives are not pure, Paul says even though the gospel is still being preached, verse 18. But that doesn't matter whether the motives are false or genuine and the message about Christ is being preached either way. So, I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice.

Now, who are these men that were preaching with false motives? They were probably Judaizers who taught that new Gentile believers, which is the Philippian church, needed to be circumcised before they could become Christians. And that Christians needed to adhere to Old Testament laws in order to be saved. Now, this message, if you've studied Paul's teachings, is anathema to him. This was a deadly heresy that Paul knew would undermine the message of salvation by grace alone that he preached. This is the message that Paul championed. And what were the impure motives of these men? Verse 15 says, selfish ambition, envy, rivalry, jealousy, contention, insincerity.

Their most wicked motive though, listen to this, their most wicked vile motive for preaching was to make Paul's chains, his time in prison, even more painful to him. How ugly is that? They preach primarily in order to hurt Paul. You can see how much his message of salvation by grace alone infuriated these Judaizers that they would go after him with a false message just to cause him pain. And Paul taught that the preaching of salvation by grace alone would bring persecution. And he was. Galatians 5:11. Dear brothers and sisters, if I were preaching that you must be circumcised as some say I do, why am I still being persecuted?

If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. Galatians 6:12, same idea. Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. Preaching that the cross of Christ alone will save will always bring persecution. Always. And these Judaizers were so angry at Paul's message of salvation by grace alone that their primary motive was actually to cause Paul more pain in prison. That's just amazing. Their motive wasn't to preach in order to proclaim the gospel or to further the gospel.

Instead, their motive is to hurt Paul because they hated his message of salvation by grace alone so much. And that folks will always be the case. If you proclaim salvation by grace alone, you will be persecuted. Any preacher today that preaches salvation by grace alone will be persecuted by those who can't accept full grace. Paul says some people even slander us by claiming that we say the more we sin, the better it is. Those who say such things deserve to be condemned. Just let that up for a moment. You know, one of the proofs that Paul preached such a strong message of salvation by grace alone is that his detractors would take that and say, Paul, what you're really saying is the more people sin, the more God likes it.

That's how strongly his message was salvation by grace alone that they would extend it the next logical thought and say, well now since since you can sin and still be saved, God must love it the more you sin. And that obviously is not true. But that one sentence gives you such a clear idea of how extreme Paul was in this that they would make that jump in that. In Galatians of 4, Paul speaks of the two sons of Abraham, Isaac, the son born to Sarah, Ishmael, the son born to his slave wife Hagar. And Paul's point is that just as the freeborn son Isaac was persecuted by the slave born son Ishmael, in like fashion, those today who live under grace will always be persecuted by those who live under law, under slavery to salvation by works.

You know, it's almost like if let's say a couple has two adopted children and the one child feels like the only way he is accepted is by working all the time for his mom and dad and if he doesn't perform, they don't love him. Whereas the other child just feels unconditional love, doesn't work, doesn't strive, just is loved, is a Mary Martha thing, is just loved by the parents and always lives in that. You know that child that has to work to feel loved is going to resent that child that doesn't. You know that's how it's going to be.

And it's the same thing with grace and law. People that live under the law, when they see us living under grace and the freedom we have in that, it drives them to distraction. It breaks it just breaks them. And you know one reason I think this is so is because these legalists sense this peace, this confidence we have in our relationship with Christ. And it rattles them. And it should rattle them. God's trying to rattle them. Listen, Galatians 3:10 says this, for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed be anyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.

What he's saying is in that verse is if you're going to be saved by law, then you need to keep the law perfectly. That's the only way you can keep the law is by imperfection. And since you can't, then we come by grace. Now, here's the takeaway. Paul was persecuted because he preached salvation by grace alone. And so will you be if you preach that message. Be ready for it, but remain steadfast in confidence in the preaching of God's atoning finished work on the cross. 1 John 5 makes this so clear. John said, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

And in Greek, the word know here is written in the perfect tense which describes a completed action which produces results in the past tense that are still in effect all the way to the present. The Greek perfect tense therefore carries two ideas with it. Number one, it's a completed action. And number two, it has continuing results. So, when we apply the perfect tense to the word know that you have eternal life, it means that your salvation is a completed action with continuing results which is still in effect all the way up to the present. And a year from now will be the present.

And 10 years from now will be the present. Continuing action all the way up to the current present. That's solid. Praise God. And yet with all this said by Paul about these teachers preaching to hurt him, he still rejoices. Verse 18. But that doesn't matter whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way. So, I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice. Paul says even though their motives are to hurt me, I rejoice because the message of Christ is still being preached. What an amazing man. And Paul even goes on to say that all of this is ultimately going to turn out for his well-being, for his deliverance, for his benefit.

Verse 19. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. Now, Barnes a commentator makes this point. I'm paraphrasing. He says, whether results of the preaching of these Judaizers turns a public favor toward the Christian religion and helps secure Paul's release or whether their message will act to provoke Paul's enemies all the more so as to lead to his death, Paul is satisfied with the result either way. And so as Paul is concerned either way, he says it will turn out for my well-being.

And this comment seems most probable considering Paul's connecting thought in the next verse, verse 20. He says, for I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, that I will continue to be bold for Christ as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ whether I live or die. He says, for I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed but that I will continue to be bold for Christ as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ whether I live or die.

For to me living means living for Christ and dying is even better. To live is Christ, to die is gain. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So, I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. I long to go and be with Christ, which should be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. So, how does today's lesson apply to me? Are you in the midst of a trial right now, a hardship, a difficulty? To help bring a little perspective, if your great grandfather was born in the year 1900, this is his life.

On his 14th birthday, World War I starts and ends on his 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in the war. Later that same year, the Spanish flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until his 20th birthday where 100 million people die in those two years. On his 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment is 25%. The world's GDP drops 27%. That lasts from the age of 29 to 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economies. On his 41st birthday, the United States is pulled into World War II. Between his 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the Second World War.

Then the smallpox epidemic lasts until he's in his 40s and it kills approximately 300 million people during his lifetime. At age 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. From his birth until he was 55, he also dealt with a fear of polio epidemics every summer. He experiences friends and family contracting polio and being paralyzed and or dying. At 55 years of age, the Vietnam War begins and lasts until he's 75 years old. Over 4 million people perish. Now, are you all of a sudden feeling a little bit better about the timing of your birth?

Folks, we have so much to be grateful for. And here's the truth. No matter what you are going through, no matter what you are going through, you have still been blessed in so many other ways.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Tom Keller on study the word and he's in a study of Philippians right now. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon and there you can watch our services live or on demand. That includes the series in Philippians. For those interested in a CD copy, call us at 717 273 5633. Once again, that's 717 273 5633. Teaming with study the word financially makes it possible to reach people all around the world. Please consider sending in a gift today.

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