Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: We experience joy when we prioritize the preaching of the gospel over personal comfort and ambition.

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Joy. Let’s listen in as JP gives us part one of Philippians 1:12.

JP Jones: Philippians chapter 1, verses 12 to 18 is our passage this morning. The Apostle Paul writes these words: "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do it in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is this: 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."

This is a guy with a great attitude. This is a guy who sees things from an eternal perspective. And that's why we're reading the book of Philippians, to get an understanding of how, with an eternal perspective, we can have the kind of joy that Jesus wants to fill our lives with. It's really important that we understand, as we dive into this particular section, the context out of which Paul is writing this. Because Paul is telling us in this letter of Philippians the key to joy, the joy that God wants to fill every life, every marriage, every family with.

Paul writes this from a prison cell. He had made a defense of his faith and was put in prison for that. As a Roman citizen, he made his appeal to Caesar. In given due process, he had the opportunity to have a personal audience with Caesar. Of course, it took a long time, and it meant that he had to travel and present his case before many magistrates and leaders.

As he writes this, he is in Rome awaiting his audience with Caesar. Out of a Roman prison cell, Paul writes about joy and the key to joy. We quickly understand that it's not about circumstances; it's about attitude. It's about perspective. It's about faith. It's about being in a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Wherever you are this morning, whatever your circumstances are this morning, God has a way to give us joy even if our circumstances don't change.

Because we can change, God can change us. And that's what he wants to do. In fact, in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul says, "We all with unveiled faces, behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we're being transformed, we're being changed into that same glory, into glory to glory from the Lord, even by the Spirit." So there is a process of going from one stage of glory to another stage of glory to another stage of glory, and the ultimate goal is to be glorified like Jesus Christ.

God makes those changes on the inside over time. It's the hope that we have as followers of Jesus Christ. Part of that change process is to give us an increasing sense of joy. But as I mentioned, it's related more to our attitude and our perspective than it is to our circumstance. That's one of the struggles that I have, I know.

Here's the key principle: We experience joy when we prioritize the preaching of the gospel over personal comfort and ambition. We experience joy when we prioritize the preaching of the gospel over personal comfort and ambition. This is an example where Paul certainly didn't have personal comfort, and even some of his ambitions from a personal perspective were stymied, were stifled. But because the gospel was going out, because the gospel was being preached, because lost people were hearing about Jesus, Paul had joy.

I'm convinced as I read this passage, certainly for me and I bet for you as well, to have the kind of joy that this passage is talking about, it is going to require a fundamental change in the way we look at life, in what we see of value, and what we put priority on. But the payoff, you see, is joy, abiding, eternal joy. It comes when we become gospel people, when we are people who are sold out for the good news of Jesus Christ, not only for our own lives, but for others hearing this good news. When that is of such value to us that it dominates the way we understand reality, that's when we can experience a transcendent joy.

Paul is talking here about preaching the gospel. In fact, he uses four words in the context of this passage. He uses the Greek word *laleo*, which means "to speak." *Kerusso*, which means "to preach." *Apologia*, which means "to make a defense." *Katangello*, which means "to proclaim." Every time those words are used, it's in reference to the message of the gospel. This is not a passage about living a good life. This is a passage about preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, making a defense for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here's the first observation: God uses adverse circumstances to advance the gospel. God uses adverse circumstances to advance the gospel. Now, on the one hand, that's like a no-duh, right? I mean, look at the story of Jesus. He was crucified. Look at the story of the apostles. They all died martyrs' deaths, except for John who was exiled to Patmos. Look at the testimony of history. Persecution of Christians has just been the norm wherever the gospel has gone forth.

In fact today, my buddy Carl Moeller is the president of Open Doors Ministries. He has statistics to prove that there is more persecution today than ever in the history of the world. More persecution of Christians, more Christian martyrs—that is, followers of Jesus being killed simply because they're followers of Jesus. There's more of that today than ever. 2 Timothy chapter 3 says all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted.

Adversity is the context for the gospel to shine forth. So why does it take us out of our game when it happens to us? Why am I so surprised when adversity happens to me? Why does it seem like God has removed himself from my life when adversity comes my way? Why do I think, "What's wrong?" I don't know, but if you're like me, that is what you think, right? Adversity happens and you go, "Well, what'd I do wrong? And God, how can you get me out of this situation?" rather than understanding no, adversity means advance when it comes to the gospel.

Adversity means opportunities for the gospel. Adversity means new circumstances where Jesus can be proclaimed. That's what the Apostle Paul is telling us because he says, "I want you to know," verse 12, "brothers, that what has happened to me has really served the advance of the gospel." Well, what happened to him? Well, he got thrown in jail. That's what happened. I don't know about you, but that's probably not our great life ambition—to be thrown in jail. It wasn't Paul's.

But he's saying—and get this, this is what's interesting—Paul's the guy in jail, and he's writing to comfort and encourage the people who felt bad because he was in jail. You ever feel like that? You're the person who has the difficulty, but you're also the person who has to encourage other people who feel bad because you've got the difficulty? That's what Paul's doing. He's trying to encourage them by way of giving a perspective.

Because it's inspired, it's written down for us to give us a perspective: adversity means advance. Paul is referring to his imprisonment for the gospel. After his arrest, he made his appeal to Caesar, and so he had the opportunity to make that appeal. But as a result, he's in prison. He's under house arrest in Rome. Under house arrest, he's chained to select members of the Roman Praetorian Guard.

It was out of this context, by the way, that Paul wrote in the latter part of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 6, about "put on the full armor of God." Well, he had a living example: putting on the full armor of God. Because while he's under house arrest, he's chained to a Roman soldier. So he looked at the pieces of armor that the Roman soldier had on, and that's what he used as an illustration to talk about the spiritual armor that every believer has in Jesus Christ.

People could come and talk to him. He could engage in conversation with people. He had the freedom to write correspondence; the Philippian letter is an example. But he's under arrest, and he's chained to a Roman guard. So he says, "Listen, I want you to know that my adversity has actually turned out for the advance of the gospel."

It's progressing. In fact, that's the word that he uses when he says "advance" here in the NIV. It's the progress of the gospel. He uses this same term in Philippians 1:25 when he says, "convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith." He uses the same word over in 1 Timothy chapter 4 when he tells Timothy to take pains in these things—he's talking about the study and the reading and the teaching of scripture—take pains in these things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.

Paul is comparing the spreading of the gospel to what takes place when we as believers become conformed to the image of Christ. There's a change from one state to another state, and that change is a positive change. It's a growth. Paul says there was a growth of the gospel, a change of how effective the gospel was going out to a greater effect of the gospel going out. And the cause was his imprisonment.

Have you ever thought about your circumstances possibly from that perspective? That maybe the primary or secondary or even one of the reasons that you may be experiencing some things you're experiencing in your life is so the gospel could be proclaimed? I mean, when you get sick, you go see a doctor. Otherwise, you'd never see that doctor. Maybe you're seeing that doctor because you as a follower of Jesus Christ are to be a witness to that doctor.

When your car breaks down, you take it to a mechanic. Otherwise, you'd never see that mechanic. Maybe it's because you're supposed to tell that mechanic about Jesus Christ. I mean, you start playing that out and you realize, wow, pretty much every time there's some kind of adversity in my life, it puts me in contact with people I wouldn't be in contact with any other way.

And guess what? We've talked about this before: OPC, "only people count." God loves people. People matter to God. Maybe those things are happening in our lives—one of the reasons being so that we can be a witness of Jesus Christ to people that otherwise we would never be in contact with and would never hear about Jesus. But see, in order to embrace that, you've got to be a gospel person.

You've got to be a person who realizes there's been a great exchange that's happened in my life when I came to become a follower of Jesus. I didn't just add Jesus to my life. No, I exchanged my life. As Paul talks about in Galatians chapter 2, "I have been crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." That's the way Paul lived. So here he is in prison, but he's writing a letter of encouragement and joy. Adversity means advance when it comes to the gospel of Jesus.

He writes this to Timothy over in 2 Timothy chapter 2: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descendant from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is never chained. And therefore I will endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory." Paul says, "Because I understand this principle—that the word of God can never be contained, can never be chained, that it has the power to change people's lives—I'm willing to endure anything if it'll get this word out."

Wow, what a perspective, right? This is a guy who'd really given his life over to Christ. But because of that, he had new priorities, he had a new attitude, and he had a new joy, you see. Adversity means advance when it comes to the gospel of Jesus. The whole book of Acts, by the way, illustrates this. If you read the book of Acts, the outline of the book is given to us in Acts 1:8, when Jesus said to the apostles after his resurrection before his ascension, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth."

Well, they were in Jerusalem. Judea and Samaria were kind of the surrounding area. And then the remotest parts of the earth were anything outside of Palestine. First seven chapters of Acts, they're in Jerusalem. And then they really got together and strategized and prayed and thought about how they could go out and go to Judea and Samaria, right? No, they were very happy in Jerusalem. They would have stayed in Jerusalem. But God said the gospel needed to go out beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth.

So what did God do so the gospel went out from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the remotest part of the earth? When you read in Acts 8, first couple of verses, you know what it says? "A great persecution came upon the church." And as a result, they were spread everywhere. And while they were spread everywhere, they spoke the word of God. I believe that had that persecution not come, the church would still just be in Jerusalem.

God has to at times light a fire to get us to do what he wants us to do. He has to do that with me because I like to be comfortable. But comfort sometimes can be the biggest barrier to becoming more and more like Jesus and certainly the barrier to telling other people about Jesus. But joy is found when we are fully given over to the gospel so that we recognize adversity just means more opportunities.

Here's a second principle from this passage: When God puts us in a situation that we didn't expect or plan for, we need to look for how we can be witnesses for Christ. You know, let me just do a very scientific poll. This is like a Gallup poll or Zogby poll, really scientific. How many of you have had things in your life you didn't expect or plan for? Just raise your hand. Look at that! See, it's just what happens, right? Things are going to happen that we don't expect or plan for.

Now, this is like Bible 101, but this is what I need often. Is God sovereign? Yes. Does God have a plan for my life? Yes. Does God cause all things to work together for good? Yes. So when things happen that I don't plan for or expect, could that be a divine appointment for God to use me? Yes. And here's what Paul says. When I understand that and live it, I get joy because rather than getting upset that things didn't happen according to my plan and rather than being frustrated that I can't control everything, I instead get to realize God is using me. And then I get joy.

When God puts us in a situation that we didn't expect or plan for, we need to look for how we can be witnesses for Christ. Paul says this in verse 13: "As a result, it has become clear through the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Now you just have to read between the lines here and it gets kind of funny because you realize Paul says, "It's become clear"—in other words, manifest. He uses the Greek word *phaneroo*, which means "to make something known that wasn't known before."

So what didn't get known before was why was Paul imprisoned? And now it's known why Paul was imprisoned. In fact, he says it's known throughout the whole palace guard or Praetorian Guard. These were Caesar's handpicked special forces. They guarded Caesar. There was a limited number of them. They were the elite of the elite of the troops that had full access to the palace. And Paul says it's known throughout the whole palace guard.

Well, how did it get known throughout the whole palace guard? Remember what Paul's doing? He's under house arrest. Who's sitting there with him under house arrest, having to look at this poor, helpless individual? The palace guard, chained to him. Every time a guy got chained to him, Paul told him about Jesus. Next shift, Paul told him about Jesus. Next shift, Paul told about Jesus. It was literally a chain reaction.

At the end of the letter, in Philippians 4:22, Paul says, "All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household." Well, there was no church there. How did all these people in Caesar's household hear about Jesus and become saints, become believers in Jesus? Through the people that Paul led to Christ that were chained to him.

It's like the old poster, "Life gives you lemon, make lemonade." And guess what? Life's going to give us lemons. Things are going to happen we don't plan on, things are going to happen that we don't expect. We can either grumble and have a bad attitude, or we can understand God's in charge. We can surrender our lives to God. We can be sold out for the gospel, and we can say, "God, how do you want to use me in this situation? How can I be a witness for Jesus Christ in this situation?" And when we do that, you see, the payoff is God is glorified, people get blessed, and we receive joy. We can have joy.

Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 1 to 5: "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not from wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith may not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

See, Paul had a gospel-centered life. And because he had a gospel-centered life, when his circumstances became adverse, when he got thrown into prison, he didn't all of a sudden realize, "Well, I guess this gospel-centered life is a bunch of baloney." No, it's like, "Well, I guess this is the new ministry God's called me to. He's called me to prison ministry. I thought he called me to church planting, but now he's called me to prison ministry."

Now I know I'm taking a lot for granted because I fall so short of this. I'm so reminded of this yesterday afternoon as I was just spending some time reading this passage. It was one of those times where God really was speaking to me from the word. I love when that happens, but that isn't always like, "Oh you're such a wonderful guy, JP. I love you so much." Sometimes it's, "You're really blowing it here." It's the rebuke of scripture.

And the rebuke was, "Gosh, you know, the only way this works, the only way I can actually have this joy, is I really got to be sold out to the gospel. It really has to be more important to me than my comfort. It has to be more important to me than my reputation. It has to be more important to me than me achieving my own personal goals." That's what Paul's talking about. And he had joy. He says at the end, "I rejoice. Yes, I continue to rejoice."

Here's a third observation from this passage: God uses the obedience of others to encourage our faith, and he uses our obedience to encourage the faith of others. God uses the obedience of others to encourage our faith, and he uses our obedience to encourage the faith of others. Verse 14 says, "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly."

Paul is saying, "Listen, I can have joy. You know why? Because I got thrown in jail. I'm under house arrest. I'm trying to make the most of this as a witness for Christ. But guess what? There are other believers who are seeing me and my example, and they're taking encouragement from it. And it's being used by God to motivate and empower them to be witnesses for Christ."

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just five dollars. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653.

Or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of twenty-five dollars or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, "Facing Goliath." Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com.

We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. What a powerful statement Philippians chapter 1, verses 12 to 18 is. It basically tells us that the most important part of our life ought to be our relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing Christ and making Christ known is what God has called us to, and it's the source of real joy. When we commit ourselves to know Jesus and when we commit ourselves to tell Jesus to others, that's when we can find real joy.

In fact, Paul talks about the point of actually seeking the advancement of the gospel over personal comfort and over personal ambition. Can you imagine that? Actually wanting to get the gospel out more than your own goals and more than your own dreams and more than your own desires? You see, when we delight ourselves in the Lord, that's when God gives us the desires of our heart.

When we love Jesus more than anything else, that's when making Jesus known actually gives us joy. We find great fulfillment in life when we surrender ourselves totally to Jesus Christ. And so let me ask you, have you crossed a line and given your life to Christ? Is he the Lord of your life? Are you committing yourself to letting the light of Christ shine out through your life?

And have you taken all of your energies, your time, your talent, and your treasure, and laid it on the altar and said, "God, I want to be used to serve Jesus and make Jesus known to others." That's not only the high call of discipleship; it's actually the path to true joy.

Let's pray. God, I pray that you would give us the desire and the heart and the commitment to sacrifice everything to Jesus Christ so that we might serve the kingdom and make the gospel known to others and find true joy. I pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.