Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: God uses the obedience of others to encourage our faith, and he uses our obedience to encourage the faith of others.

Guest (Male): 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 two of Philippians 1:12.

JP Jones: 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 had 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 of Acts 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 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 can 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 that 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. Let me just do a very scientific poll. This is 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 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'm in chains for Christ." Now, you just have to read between the lines here and it gets 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 in prison? And now it's known why Paul was in prison.

In fact, he says it's known through the whole palace guard or praetorian guard. These were Caesar's hand-picked 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 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 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, "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 it 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. 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. There's a body principle at work here. God uses us. We're part of a body in the family of Jesus.

When a person crosses a line, they come to accept Jesus, they're not just some solo independent operator. They're connected to the church of Jesus Christ. And in the church of Jesus Christ, we encourage one another. We love one another. We bear one another's burdens. We rejoice with those who rejoice. We weep with those who weep. We learn from one another's example. Paul's experience served to be an example to the church there at Philippi and to others who saw it, and it motivated them to be courageous.

It's like if Paul can do it in prison, I can be bold where I am. If Paul can take that situation and use it as an opportunity to be a witness for Christ, I can take my situation and use it as an opportunity to be a witness for Jesus Christ. There's a spiritual principle here. God uses our obedience. When we are obedient to what God has called us to do, it influences and has a positive effect on other believers to also be obedient to what God is calling them to do.

So the principle is this. If God has put you in a situation you didn't expect, it's outside of your comfort zone, it's not what you really want, you can whine, you can complain, you can grumble, or you can say, "God, how do you want to use me here? And how can I be a witness for Christ?" In doing so, it may not only change your attitude, it might change the attitudes of other people who see that and go, "Wow, I can do that too. I need to do that too. I want to follow that example."

So we can serve as an example to others. If we're in that situation, we can maybe find some people who can be examples for us so that we can learn and go to school on somebody else's faith. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." He wrote to the church at Thessalonica, he says: "Because the gospel that we preached when it came to you wasn't just with words, it was also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."

"You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord in spite of severe suffering. You welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. And the Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere." So here's what Paul says. Paul says, "I came to you folks at Thessalonica, and I preached the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and you became an imitator of me."

So at first, your faith was a baby faith. You just followed the example of my faith. But then you grew and you became a model to other people, and then you began to share the word yourself. That's the spiritual principle of multiplication that God wants to be resident in our lives where we are infected with the real disease of Jesus, and so we become contagious and we give it away. And other people receive Christ and become followers of Christ, and they give away their faith as well. And so there's this spiritual multiplication that happens.

Paul's talking about here that that isn't just an evangelism principle. He's saying when we buy into that and give our lives to that, that's when we really have joy. If we're pushing back against that, if we're struggling with that, that's going to rob us of joy. Here's a fourth observation. While it's best to share Christ from pure motives, obviously God blesses the gospel message even when it is shared selfishly. Get this, verse 15 to 18: "It's true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill."

"The latter do so in love, knowing that I'm put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. And yes, I will continue to rejoice." There it is. It's that joy in the preaching of the gospel.

And Paul even acknowledges, you know what? There are many out there that are preaching the gospel out of goodwill, out of pure motives, out of desire to serve the Lord. But there's some that have selfish motives. And sometimes we get removed from these biblical characters, and we got to realize they're just people just like us. Think of the Apostle Paul. He's in prison because he was obeying Jesus and told people about Jesus. So what was his reward? Got thrown in prison.

While he's in prison, he continued obeying Jesus and continued telling people about the Lord. And there were some people, brothers in the Lord, who were sharing their faith not because they loved the Lord, not because they were being obedient, not because they cared about lost people. They wanted to stick it to Paul. They didn't like Paul for some reason. We don't know who they were or what the problem was, but they didn't like him. And they thought, "We're going to show Paul. We're going to go out and preach the gospel and make a name for ourselves."

And that will, Paul uses the word thlipsis, it's the Greek word that means tribulation. That would even bring tribulation to his imprisonment. The point is this. Paul's saying, and he wants us to understand this emotional picture, he could have really gone into the pits of depression over that one. I mean, he could have been depressed just because he's in prison. But he could have been really depressed because there were some people out there who were trying to stick it to him, so-called brothers in the Lord.

You know what I'm talking about. Have you ever had someone let you down who's a brother or sister in Christ? Have you ever had someone really fail in living up to their calling to be an encourager? And rather than being an encourager, they're an anti-encourager. They're trying to get you. But here's Paul's attitude. This is why it's so powerful. The way they're trying to get him is by preaching the gospel.

And what Paul cared about more than anything else was the preaching of the gospel. So what they thought was really getting at him actually gave him joy. The only way that can happen, though, is to be a person who's totally sold out for the gospel. You've exchanged your life. And stuff and accomplishment and things, yeah, that adds to life, but it's not what it's really all about. What it's really all about is knowing Jesus and making Jesus known. And whatever can help that happen, praise God, I rejoice in that. That's what Paul's saying.

See, that's the final idea, the final observation. Because you know the amazing thing is even when we share the gospel from impure motives or when we share the gospel imperfectly, God can still use it because there's power in the gospel. Peter said in 1 Peter 1 that we're born again not through anything that is perishable, but through the imperishable word of God. So when the word of God goes out, even if it goes out from impure motives, even when it goes out in what we might consider ineffective ways, because it's the word of God that is imperishable, it causes people to be born again.

And Paul rejoiced in that. And so he says in this, "I rejoice." And here's the fifth and final observation. We need to rejoice in the preaching of the gospel. Comes full circle. We need to rejoice in the preaching of the gospel. Verse 18 says: "But what does it matter?" Paul says when everything's said, "What does it matter? They got to stand before God and give an account for their life, not me. I got to give an account for my own life. So what does it matter what they do or don't do?"

"What really matters is is the gospel going out? Are people hearing about Jesus?" And guess what? They were. So he says, "In this, I rejoice. Yes, I will continue to rejoice." See the key principle? We experience joy when we prioritize the preaching of the gospel over personal comfort and ambition. Maybe you've heard the story of the life-saving station. If you have, you can hear it again. If not, this is the first time.

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out every day tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding areas wanted to become associated with the station and give their time and money and effort for the support of its work.

New boats were bought and new crews were trained, and the little life-saving station grew. Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They redecorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club.

Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do that work. The mission of the life-saving station was still given lip service, but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the actual life-saving activities personally. So about this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought the boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people into the life-saving station.

They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some spoke a foreign language, and the beautiful new club was considered messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before they came inside the life-saving station. At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club.

But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called to be a life-saving station. They were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked, then they could begin their own life-saving station down the road. So they did. And as years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the first one, and they evolved in a new club, and yet another life-saving station was found.

If you visit the seacoast today, you'll find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore, very nice-looking life-saving stations. Shipwrecks still happen in those waters. Most people just drown, though, because life-saving stations no longer are saving lives. The mission of the church, the purpose for our lives, it's to save lives. And that's how we find joy. When we give ourselves to the gospel, our lives are saved and we find joy. And that's what God wants to give us.

Guest (Male): 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. Here in Philippians 1, verses 12 to 18, the Apostle Paul says that God wants to fill us with joy, and that joy comes when we totally surrender our lives to the purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus to others. What's on God's heart is the salvation of lost people. God saved us through believing in Jesus Christ. And when we live our lives so that his light shines out through us, and when we align our purposes and priorities around sharing the gospel with others, we can find real joy.

The Apostle Paul found joy while in a Roman prison cell, and his joy came from knowing that his circumstances served the advance of the gospel and that people were hearing and coming to know Jesus through his life situation. And that gave him joy. In terms of the gospel, adversity can mean advance in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Have you ever considered that some of the most difficult circumstances that you have ever faced, maybe some of the difficult circumstances you are in right now, are for the purpose of being the light of Christ to others?

When you see that, when you understand that, and when you can embrace that, God will fill your life with joy. My encouragement is to surrender your life and your circumstances to Jesus so that others might see and hear the gospel through you. It'll result in your joy. Let's pray for that. God, I pray that you would fill us with joy about all that's happening in our lives as we see it sharing the gospel with others. Help us be gospel witnesses. Help us be gospel Christians who let the love and light and forgiveness of Jesus fill us and shine out to others. And as it does, I pray you will give us joy. And I pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): 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.