The Braveheart Podcast
The Braveheart Podcast
These Two Things Will Fuel Your Christian Life
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I was radically saved when I was 21 years old.
A lot of people get stuck and they never feel ready to actually share the gospel and live it out with others. Grace is the power of God to destroy sin in your life. He paid a high price for grace.
We are approved of before we even get started. You can instruct someone to do something, but it's not embedded into them until they're Fathered into it.
It's Seth here and welcome back to the Braveheart Podcast. Our goal with this podcast is to build your faith and see the image and likeness of Christ formed in you. If you have been blessed by this podcast, please let us know by subscribing and sharing so that the gospel message can be advanced. You are joining our online community at the perfect time.
In 2025, we are beginning our digital discipleship, inviting our global online community to get FIT and to run with the gospel. F is for feasting on the gospel. I is for inviting others to join you. And T is for training others up to continue in the faith of the gospel. In this episode, Peter invites you to read and experience the Bible as he teaches on Philippians chapter one.
We hope you feel activated to be doers of the Word as you listen.
and welcome to my favorite coffee shop in Dallas. And this is a new series we're doing this year. This came out of my own heart, just a desire to walk through the Bible with you. I'm gonna read the Bible. This is called Bible Study and Doing with Peter. And it's just gonna be a time where I read a chapter of scripture. Hopefully I get through the whole chapter and just share thoughts with you.
This is just me and you doing a Bible study and we were going to be releasing these frequently. This is part of our Get Fit series. This is going to be feasting on the gospel, the goodness of God. And so I just wanted to simply open the text and I'm praying and believing that the Word of God is going to increase in your heart, your understanding that the Spirit of God will meet you as we read the Word of God together. So get your Bibles.
If you're driving, don't get your Bible, just listen. I'm going to read all of Philippians chapter one. We're going to be in Philippians chapter one. I pray for the grace of God to be on us as we read it. Okay. So I'm excited. This is going to be very simple, very plain. Again, I'm not a theologian. I'm just a simple man seeking Jesus and his word. And so we're going to just go into Philippians one today and look at the beauty of this letter that Paul wrote.
Okay? All right, let's jump right in. And this is how, I mean, we may do it different ways, different times, but I'm gonna read a verse and then I'm gonna read the Bible how I would read it in my own secret place. And I'm gonna ask questions. I'm gonna share my thoughts with you as I read it. What fits me? What stands out by the Spirit of God? The Holy Spirit's the most amazing teacher. And so even now, Holy Spirit, we honor you. We know that you're the anointing that teaches us all things.
that we have nothing unless we receive it from you. And so reveal your son Jesus to us, reveal your word and your ways through Philippians one today in Jesus name, amen. Okay. Philippians one chapter one, verse one, Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus. I love that it says servants. Another rendition says slaves. Just remember the deeper,
If you go in sonship, the more you realize you're a son, a daughter of God, the more free and liberated you are from yourself, then you don't mind being called a slave of God, which means He is your master. And so as we mature, one of the ways we're growing and maturing is that we can, with a smile on our face, call ourselves slaves of God. I mean, it doesn't negate our sonship. It doesn't negate our access and our proximity and our nearness. I if that's hard for you to say now, that's okay.
You may just need to continue to nurse as the beloved, but you will grow and you will become a slave of God. And it's so, so beautiful. So Paul and Timothy servants were slaves of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. Grace to you in peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that he writes from the get go and he says to all the saints.
not to all the sinners. Ooh, I'm jumping right in. He calls them saints. So he's writing to the saints at Philippi. Does it mean that the saints at Philippi were perfectly perfect? He's gonna write some things in this letter that shows that they weren't, but they were still saints nonetheless. And so beloved, you are a saint of the most high God. And that's wonderful. What a privilege, what a joy. And grace and peace to them. we need the grace and peace of God, amen.
Verse three, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy. Why were you so happy, Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. When I read this the other day and what hit me was Paul's joy wasn't so much what the Philippians could do for him. It was that they
were partners in the gospel. And this is what got Paul so excited. was that they were partners in the gospel with him. And so again, when I study the Bible, one of the things I like to do is I like to let it examine me. I like to let it sift me. And I ask myself, God, I thanked God? Are there people in my life that when I remember them, when I think of them in all my prayers,
that I thank God for them and that my prayers are filled with joy because of their partnership with the gospel. I remember reading this years ago and I thought, Lord, I don't have anyone like that in my life. I don't know that I've invested in anyone long enough to feel this kind of way. And I said, Lord, would you begin to cultivate these types of relationships with me and in me and around me of people that I could actually be so
grateful for because of their partnership with the gospel. And I can tell you now, years later, there's people like that in my life that I can think of, pastors and leaders at different local churches, my own church, my own local church, Upper Room, Michael and Larise, I'm so thankful. I thank God for them, for their partnership in the gospel. It's so beautiful to have people in your life that you can thank God for with joy. And so again, we are endeavoring to make you a disciple maker.
And so again, begin to pray that prayer, Lord, if I don't have anyone in my life, Lord, bring them to me. And if you do have them, then even pause the video now and begin to thank God for them. Remember, this is Bible study and doing. So you can pause the video, pause the podcast and begin to do this, begin to engage with the word of God. This is what I would do if I was reading. I would begin to thank God and just turn my heart to the Lord and God, thank you for these people in my life.
I'm so grateful for their partnership. I'm so grateful for those who sew into our ministry God. I begin to think of our financial partners and donors who are sewing so generously into our ministry. And I would rejoice and I would thank God for them. And I think that so pleases God. Okay, that's amazing. Verse six, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you,
will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. You guys have heard me talk a lot about the Messiah, high priest, and bridegroom, and in here, this one verse, Philippians 1.6, you see the Messiah who began a good work through being born again. will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. And I love this because this isn't about man, this is about God. He who began will bring it to completion.
This is God from beginning to end, from Messiah to Bridegroom. So you are sandwiched in the middle of the faithfulness of God, of the grace of God. that feels good. He's gonna bring it to completion, guys. Those of you who ever feel like you're not doing enough, you feel like you don't have enough momentum, I wanna bless you. God is faithful. He who began that good work, He's gonna bring it to completion in you. Verse seven, it is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart.
Why do you hold, I would ask this question, God, why do you hold them in your heart? And he says, for you are all partakers with me of grace. this was so special to Paul that they were partakers of grace and so that they were in his heart. He says, both in my imprisonment and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel. Verse eight, for God is my witness. God is my witness. How I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
This is a minister of God. This is a minister of the gospel. This is someone who has an authentic affection for those who he's ministering to. And again, this is something that I believe that we as sons and daughters of God can have. Ministry is not some metric and you're tick in a box. We want people that we're ministering to to feel. We want to feel the affections of Jesus Christ for them. And so if you don't feel that, if you're a pastor, you're a leader, you're in ministry, you're a
mom and a dad and you don't feel that way towards your kids with their spiritual growth, ask God say, Holy Spirit, I open my affections to you. Let me feel what Jesus feels for the people that he died for. So good. Verse nine, and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent.
And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Again, his writing, he's preparing them for the day of Christ. Everything Paul did was unto that day. So beautiful. Verse 11, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. These are amazing texts, so full, so chock full of just goodness. I love that it says the fruit of righteousness. There's fruit.
and you begin to walk in the righteousness of God, the righteousness of faith. There's fruit in it and it's to the glory and praise of God. Amen. All right, verse 12, we're gonna keep going because there's so much goodness here. And if I take too long on every verse, this will be a four hour Bible study on one chapter, which we could do, but I'm gonna keep us moving. Verse 12, I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And so when Paul's talking to the church at Philippi, he's letting them know that his imprisonment, his persecution actually was used to advance the gospel. And this is awesome. Again, you see the filter, the lens through which Paul is looking at life. He's in prison, he's in jail.
He's not free and yet his mind isn't, poor me, how am I gonna get out of this? His lens is the gospel's advancing. And this is so awesome. And this is what we need, the body of Christ to go, no, this is for the gospel's sake, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of who Jesus is. This needs to go forth in the earth. Verse 14, and most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my,
Prison men are much more bold to speak the word without fear. So what was happening was Paul's boldness and being imprisoned and being, you know, taken away. It was actually stiffening the spine of the believers. And they thought, man, if he's willing to go to prison for this, then we can preach the word of God with fear. And this is what I want to tell you is that there are, have brothers and sisters around the world who are risking their lives to preach the gospel in China, in the Middle East.
And listen, we are free in America where we are. We can preach the gospel without fear with with radical boldness by the Holy Spirit. And so pray if you don't feel bold, if you don't feel quickened, pray, Holy Spirit, give me boldness. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so I can preach the word boldly. This is awesome. And then this is crazy. Verse 15. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry. OK, you're going to slow down and listen to this. He's like, some are preaching it fear.
fearlessly boldly. He says, but verse 15, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17. The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition. Pay attention. Selfish ambition. So some people were preaching Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely.
but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. Verse 18, this is awesome. And some of you are gonna get delivered with this verse. Look at Paul's perspective. People were actively preaching the gospel from envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition to stir up problems for him while he's in prison. And he says in verse 18, what then? Who cares? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,
Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice. What I love about Paul and what he's revealing to us as a man of God, as a minister of the gospel, and again, our heart with Braveheart isn't that you come follow us, it's that you get anointed of God, that you get filled with the Holy Spirit, and that you within your family, I'm talking to husbands, I'm talking to fathers, I'm to pastors, I'm talking to mothers, talking to daughters and teachers, that you get anointed by God,
Gospel lights you on fire and you become a fearless Proclaimer of the good news in your family in your community in your workplace And this is Paul saying he's saying I don't care that they're preaching it out of rivalry and pretense And he's not condemning them though. You should stop that he's going I rejoice Because I trust that Christ coming out of their mouth even with a false motive Even though they're in their flesh God can work with us
because they're proclaiming Jesus Christ. And this is the power. This is the power of the gospel. It's the power of God coming out of your mouth. Even if you're motive, you're like, I'm still wrestling with my motives and ministry. Get right with God, clean your motive out, but just know that the gospel still has power. And Paul was not getting wrapped around the axle. He wasn't getting all in a tizzy. I can't believe they're doing this. How could they do this to me? He's rejoicing. He's in prison going, man, they think they're trying to cause me problems.
but Jesus is being proclaimed. And that's awesome. And I love this perspective because he's so free. It's so awesome. All right, let's keep going. He says, yes, and I will rejoice. This is a happy and free man of God. Amen. He's happy and he's free. Verse 19, for I know that through your prayers in the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out from my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed.
but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. Little comment on this is that Paul actually believed the power of the prayers of the saints. So he says, I know that through your prayers, meaning they were gonna be praying for him.
to be delivered, to be set free from prison. And he says, I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, it's gonna turn out for his deliverance. But his deliverance wasn't necessarily he was only gonna be set free, because he says, by my life or by my death. And so he was prepared to die. Look at this verse 21. This is the famous verses. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And if we're honest,
For believers, this is now the unveiling of the most beautiful, powerful perspective of the gospel. He says, for to me, to live is Christ, meaning any day that I'm alive, breathing air, breath in my lungs, waking up morning after morning, any day is Christ, meaning it belongs to Christ, it's for Christ, it's not for me, it's not for the building of my kingdom. To live is Christ and to die
Meaning this is the bookends of my life. I'm either going to live or I'm going to die today. And if I live, it's Christ. And if I die, listen to what he says. It's gain. What do mean if I die, it's gain? Let's keep reading. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose between life or death? I cannot tell. So Paul's now giving us an insight into his heart.
drove him in ministry. Verse 23, he says this, I am hard pressed between the two, what two? Choosing life or choosing death. And this is a revelation now of the hash marks for the man of God, the woman of God. Some of you say, Peter, I wanna run with the gospel well until Jesus comes home. I wanna be pure, I wanna have integrity, I wanna have character, I wanna be mature in my faith. This is it. Do you have these two things in your life?
to live as Christ and to die as gain. What does that actually mean? Look at what he says. My desire is to depart and be with Christ. Meaning if he had the choice, he would choose death because that means he would be with Christ personally. And so the deepest, most driving force in Paul was a genuine, deep love and affection.
for Jesus Christ that was not in lips only. He was so in love with Jesus that the thought of death was welcomed to him because he knew that if he died, I put it in air quotes, if he died, then he would live with Jesus. He would be in the presence of Jesus immediately. And he says, my desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better. Can you say that guys? Can I say that?
I'm asking the Lord to be able to say that, that I would rather choose death because of my love for God, because I know that I know that I know that when I die, I'm going to see Him face to face. And this isn't some weird sadistic thing where He's hoping He dies. He's just in love with God. The gospel has been tattooed upon His heart and death has lost its sting, it's lost its power in His life. And He knows that if He dies, He was already a dead man walking.
If he dies, he's gonna be with Jesus and that's far better. So he said, I would rather choose death. But look at what he says here. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. So look at what he says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress in joy in the faith. So that in me, you may have ample cause to glory and praise Jesus because of my coming to you again. Can you see this guys? This, if you cut Paul open, said, Paul, what drives you? What's your motivating factor? Paul was nowhere to be found in this equation. It was his love for Jesus and his love for the people that God had called him to minister to. This was the only thing inside of him. He wasn't thinking what the Philippians could bring to him and what Jesus could bring to him.
It was just, love Jesus and I love those that he's given to me. And he says, because I know that if I remain in the flesh, he goes, it's fruitful for you. Not for me, it's fruitful for you. He goes, I know I'm convinced and I'm going to remain. I'm not going to die yet because God loves you too much. And I love you too much that I'm going to see you progress in your faith and have joy in that. This is so beautiful to me. And such a hash mark, such a, just a test for my own heart in ministry of
Lord, give me this heart. There are thousands of you tuning in from around the world. And I want you to know that myself, my wife, our team with Braveheart, we are actively praying that God would give us this heart for you. We wanna see you grow up and mature in your faith. And that causes us great joy. All right, verse 27, this is where it gets really good for me. This is one of my life passages. This is at the very heartbeat of... who I am and what we're endeavoring to be at Braveheart. Look at this. Verse 27, only let your manner of life, the way you live, the way you do anything, the way you order coffee, the way you do laundry, the way you show up at your work, the way you treat an unfair boss, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let your life, let, who you are, let your manner of life, your mannerisms, the way you talk to your kids, the way you handle injustice, let it be worthy. Let the majesty of Jesus and his work in your life, let it balance. Let's not let the majesty of Jesus and all how beautiful he is. And then here we are down here in our flesh and we're all complaining and grumbling and I can't believe this, I can't believe that. Let the manner of your life match the beauty and the majesty of the gospel. I love that.
So that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you collectively, you group of people, that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving, ooh, I like that word, striving side by side for what? For the faith of the gospel. And not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction.
but of your salvation and that from God. Verse 29, for it has been granted to you, meaning you've received a blessing. What's the blessing, Paul? That for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in them, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now here that I still have. Guys, I love this text so much, and this is my prayer for the church.
And this may sound bold and this may sound whatever, Peter, what do you understand? We're just a small ministry here in Dallas. But I am believing that the church would wake up to this. This is our mission. This is our mission. That we would live lives worthy of the gospel and that together, regardless of denomination, regardless of all these other things that divide us.
that we would lock arms. And this is my plea. This is my deep cry in my heart. And I feel it from the Holy Spirit. I'm crying out for those of you who would be willing to lock arms and say, you know what? We're going to strive. We're going to exert human effort to be together, to have one mind and one spirit for the faith of the gospel. We're going to actually believe that we have been born again and that Jesus is coming back to marry us.
And we're gonna fight for this. We're gonna fight for the integrity to filter our whole lives through this beautiful revelation of Jesus. And this is, believe, the picture of the end times church that's spotless and blameless, locked arms together, striving, hey, reminding each other, hey, come on, don't slip back into carnality. Don't slip back into man-centered gospel. Don't slip back into.
Poor is me and you or it woe is me. I can't believe this is happening No, no, no, no, I'm up higher come up into the spirit and realize that we get to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel that we get to strive together For the faith of the gospel because when this happens, we're gonna be one in the spirit We're gonna be united in our heart with Jesus Christ Self is gonna die self is gonna fall away and we're gonna be so free. We're gonna actually have genuine love for God, genuine love for each other. And this is my prayer, guys. This is my prayer. We're doing all of these, you we come up with these acronyms and get fit and all of this, but at the heart, heart, heart, core, core, we just wanna be lovers of Jesus and lovers of people. We wanna strive for the faith in the gospel. And so I hope this blesses you.
This is Philippians chapter one, and I do pray God by the power of the Holy Spirit that this word, the word of God sown into the hearts of your people would bear so much fruit. We love you so much, God. We bless you. I've caused this word to go deep into the hearts of your people. Let it bear the fruit of righteousness to the praise and glory of your son, Jesus. Amen. Love you guys. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more gospel centered content,
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