WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:10.640 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:12.480 The spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:26.000 Father, we those words that we've just proclaimed are true when Lord, they're true when we don't. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.560 Lord, that you are the Lord of glory and that there is no name as high as your name. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:40.960 And so, God, we open up your word, Lord, a window into your glory, and we ask, God, that now more than ever we would be convinced of that truth. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:44.000 God, that there is no name so beautiful. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.039 There is no pursuit so worthy of our time. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:53.359 There's no calling so worthy of our life as the calling that Christ calls us into, Lord. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.159 And so, God, we pray for this moment. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.759 Lord, for the power of your spirit to be with us. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:07.760 God, for your people to be ready to hear from you, to have a heart that is tilled, ready for the planting, the fresh planting of your word. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.760 God, you have a word for us. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.760 And so we're here to listen, God. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:13.120 So speak, we pray. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:14.799 We pray this in the name of your Son. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:15.680 Amen. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:17.519 Amen. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:24.719 You can grab a seat, and as you do, you can take your copy of God's Word and open it to Philippians chapter one. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:34.640 And if you don't have a copy of God's word, our ushers are going to be making their way to the front of the worship center, and they're going to make their way to the back again, and you can just stick your hand in the air and they'll get a copy into your hands. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:36.879 And if you don't own a Bible, you can keep this. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.079 This is our gift to you. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:45.280 We just trust that as you read it and hear God's voice, as He's written this book for us, that your life will be changed. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:54.959 As I look back on my own life and especially my Christian life, I can reflect on a time in my life where really everything changed. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:56.640 It was a pivotal moment in my life. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.280 I think I've spoken about it before, but I almost consider it like a second conversion. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.040 I know theologically that's a bit of a mess. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.599 Some of you guys are like, all right, this pastor, I'm ready to get out of here. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.359 He didn't know what he's talking about. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.680 And yet, in many ways, it was almost like felt like a second conversion. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.759 Because after I experienced this, everything changed in my life. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:21.199 And that moment was when I read a book by John Piper called Desiring God. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:29.039 And to this day, this book, I don't know if it's maybe because of the you know emotions that are tied to something that has an impact on you like that. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:39.439 But to this day, this book is in my top five books of all time because of what God had done in me in this time of reading it. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:51.039 Now, up until that point, I had, I was a Christian, and if you were to ask me, you know, what is true, I would have definitely 100% said Christianity, the gospel, everything in the Bible is true. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:56.960 But up until that point, it was really a belief that I had to cover me for eternity. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:58.159 I believed in eternity. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:04.159 I believed that the only way to heaven was through Jesus, and so it was really a way to cover me for eternity. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:20.080 But when I thought about life, I kind of felt like I would have never voiced it, but if you had had the ability to kind of like press deeply into my heart, I kind of had this feeling of like, well, the unbelievers kind of have the corner on life. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.400 In fact, I I remember my pastor at time preaching things like this. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.879 Well, you know, sin would be a lot of fun. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.000 If we could do, you know, if we could sin, that would be a lot of fun. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:45.840 And I kind of had this sort of inner resentment that I could couldn't really voice, that I didn't really understand was there, but but this kind of feeling that the life worth living was the life that could kind of participate in whatever the world wanted. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:04:00.080 And it wasn't until I read Desire in God and came across this truth that the most satisfactory life we could live, that the deepest joy we could ever find was in the Son of God, in Jesus Christ Himself. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:06.080 And that Jesus was the one who God the Father, the creator of this world, delighted in most. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:19.839 It wasn't until I discovered this truth that I really came to understand what Paul is gonna experientially understand in prison in Philippi, that the life worth living is the life for Christ. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:25.360 That living for Christ, that is the very thing that makes life worth living. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:39.040 Now, Paul's gonna recognize this in Philippians 1, verses 18 to 26, and he's gonna recognize it in a very emotionally raw way as he sits in prison and he contemplates it, if he's even going to make it out. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:54.000 I'm sure that you could just imagine what kind of emotions would be going on if you were in prison and you didn't know if this was gonna be the end, you didn't know if you'd see fresh air again or if these walls that you surrounded you would be your final home. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:59.279 Well, look what Paul says in Philippians 1, starting the second half of verse 18. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.519 He says, Yes, and I will rejoice. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:23.040 I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for 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. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:26.879 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.279 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:34.240 Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.560 I'm hard pressed between the two. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:40.560 My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:44.319 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:06:00.879 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.680 God would reveal to Paul that living for Christ makes life worth living. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:13.600 Now, this in every way is completely opposite to what we hear from the world, isn't it? 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:20.399 You and I daily are bombarded with really what what the question, what is going to make life worth living? 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:22.879 And so we constantly hear these ads, don't we? 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:29.199 That they get kind of sickening at times of, well, if you just have this, then life is going to be worth living. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:33.600 Many of us follow these social media accounts that kind of preach this message. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:41.279 Well, if your life is just like mine, you know, if you could align your highlight reel with my highlight reel, then you'd really be happy. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:46.959 And maybe we start to believe that the life worth living is somewhere outside of Christ. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:49.519 Constantly we hear these messages. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:56.000 Maybe it's a family, a certain family dynamic, a certain family maturity. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.240 Maybe our life worth living is in fortune. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:07.279 You know, the more money we can accumulate, the higher job position we can have, the better house, the better car, the better phone. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:19.920 Maybe it's fame, more followers, more friends, more influence, maybe it's fitness, whatever it is, constantly you and I are bombarded with this message of what makes life worth living. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:28.800 And time and time again, we come back to scripture and find one answer Christ. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.879 That's the only thing. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.759 Paul says it so succinctly in verse 21. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:38.959 He says, For me to live is Christ, nothing else. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.519 It's Christ's glory. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:08:05.759 And so I want us to see here as we really travel with Paul through the despairs of wondering if he'll make it out of this prison alive, I want us to see what happens when our core focus of life, when the central purpose of our life, when the central desire of our life is to glorify Christ, to magnify him. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:14.079 When we can say with Paul, to live is Christ, when we make our life all about Christ, I want you to see what happens. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.720 What is the reward of those things? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.800 First thing I want you to see is this I have purpose in my trials. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:22.879 I have purpose in my trials. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.160 Look at Paul's resolve here in verse 18. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:28.560 Look at Paul's resolve. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:32.000 He says, Yes, and I will rejoice. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.200 I will rejoice. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.720 That is astounding, like rock solid confidence. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.639 It's one thing for a person to say that at their birthday party. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:45.759 You understand that, right? 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:53.200 Like, you know, is there a happier moment than when you're a kid and that cake's in front of you, everyone's there for you, they're singing, singing your praise. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.639 It's one thing to rejoice in life's greatest moments. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:02.000 It's one thing to know that you'll be happy in life's best moments. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:08.080 But consider that Paul says these words, yes, and I will rejoice in maybe the darkest moment of his life. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:11.679 Consider that Paul says this while he is in prison. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:16.559 And the context that he's looking for it, and he doesn't know if he's gonna get out. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.679 He doesn't know if he's ever gonna see the light of day again. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:25.840 He doesn't know if if all these churches that he's planted, he's ever he's gonna see them grow into maturity. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.919 He doesn't know any of this. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:35.440 And yet, as he looks at his options, either death in this prison or a life lived of fruitful service to God, you know, you know what he says? 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:37.519 I'm gonna rejoice either way. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:46.879 See, Paul has found a key that in the midst of his deepest trial, he can find joy. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.639 And it's a key that he offers to us this morning. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:10:02.399 That in the midst of our deepest trials, in the midst of our deepest valleys, you and I can have joy if we have unlocked this one thing. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.799 And Paul tells us exactly what it is it is a life lived for the glory of Christ. 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:10.159 It is a life that that's central purpose is Christ. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.600 It is a life that can say to live is Christ. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.440 He's why I'm here. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:18.320 He is what makes life worth living. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:28.000 When we have that as the central tenant of our heart, then we can with Paul, in any circumstance, say this I will rejoice. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.360 I have purpose in my trials. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:43.360 In other words, you can say this Paul can rejoice because his focus isn't on his horizontal circumstance, it's on his vertical glory. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.240 Isn't that the hard thing in trial and in suffering? 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:58.480 The hard thing is that when life really starts to suck, the thing that is overwhelmingly apparent to you is how much life sucks. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:10:59.919 Isn't it? 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:05.600 Like when you're in the midst of a trial, it's just the only thing sometimes you can think about is how difficult it is. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:13.519 You go to sleep, you try to close your eyes, you try to sleep, but you just keep thinking about that circumstance, you keep thinking about the problem, you keep thinking about the trial. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:23.120 And Paul has done this intentional work of taking himself off of the circumstance, and there is much that he could, you know, complain about. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:28.480 He's currently in chains, he's currently bound, he's currently in prison, like he's got it pretty bad. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:35.200 And he would find a receptive audience in Philippi if he would just take a moment to say, you know, hey, listen, things are pretty bad here. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:37.360 And he doesn't say that. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:38.720 He says, I will rejoice. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:43.120 He he has got his mind fixed on this vertical glory. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:45.840 And isn't that so true for our life? 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:56.720 Like, like, listen, if if you look in this world for long enough, you if you just look horizontally for long enough, you will find nothing but things to be upset about. 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:58.799 Have you watched the news recently? 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:00.399 You watch the news recently? 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:05.600 Can you can you make it through 10 minutes of watching the news and being like, wow, you know, things are going really well. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:07.440 I'm I am really upbeat about life. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:08.799 This is great. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:16.639 Can you scroll social media for five minutes and be like, wow, our world, it's it's going well. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:17.759 Things are great here. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:18.799 This is good. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:27.120 No, instead, instead, the more you look horizontally, the more you feel like this, this downcast of like, man, things just aren't going well. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.159 And especially when you yourself are walking through suffering and trial. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:57.120 This sort of equation that Paul had worked out that the more he looks horizontally at his circumstance and meditates on those things, the more, sorry, the less he'll be able to rejoice, but the more his eyes are up, focused on God's glory, desiring God to be glorified in his circumstance, the more he can look around then horizontally and rejoice in his circumstances. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:12.159 See, the reality is the more we're fixated on a vertical glory, the more we can rejoice in the midst of a horizontal horror that we live in, whether it's the world in and of itself or just this trial that we're going through. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.279 I love the way that one sufferer puts this. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.600 You guys, many of you would be familiar with Johnny Erickson Tata and her story. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:24.320 She became a paraplegic at a young age and was bound to life in a wheelchair. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.080 And she's written a number of really helpful works on suffering. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.279 But she says this. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.279 Oh, it's going to come up on the screen. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:39.039 She says, Once you see your your affliction as a preparation to meet God, you won't be so quick to call it suffering again. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:45.440 Even though I have rough moments in my wheelchair, for the most part, I consider my paralysis a gift. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:56.960 Just as Jesus exchanged the meaning of the cross from a symbol of torture to one of hope and salvation, he gives me the grace to do the same with my chair. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.639 If a cross can become a blessing, so can a wheelchair. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.840 The wheelchair, in a sense, is behind me now. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:05.840 The despair is over. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:12.480 There are now other crosses to bear, other wheelchairs in my life to be exchanged into gifts. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:24.720 And you begin to get this sense that what God is doing in our suffering is taking these things that if we were just to look at them in and of themselves are really horrific, horrible things. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:32.159 And yet, as we look vertically first to see his glory and then look horizontally, we see that these things are really gifts. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.080 Now, this is a supernatural thing to be able to be able to say that. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:44.799 In fact, we look at this quote, and many of us, I'm sure, are we have this feeling of like, I don't know that I could ever get there. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.320 And so the question is, how do we get there? 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:49.279 How do we do this? 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.720 And Paul gives us the path forward. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.759 Paul tells us exactly how he's got to this point of rejoicing. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.200 Look at it, look at it in verse 19. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.240 He shows us the first thing. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:04.159 He says, For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:12.799 Notice the first thing he says, the first thing that's getting him through this trial in a way that he understands there's a purpose in it is the power of supplication. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.720 He says, Through your prayers. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:21.360 And so I want you to recognize that perspective is impossible apart from a life of prayer. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:33.039 If you are not spending regular time talking to the Lord, I just want you to understand you cannot have any proper perspective of what's happening in the world. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.600 I mean, we this is why we went to Psalm 73. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.480 This is exactly what has happened for God's people for all of time. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:44.159 So long as you are not in the presence of God, you will always interpret things wrong. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.559 The things that God has sent to your life as blessing, you will interpret as curse. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.840 The things that God sends to your life as curse, you will turn interpret as blessing. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:59.360 It's not till we find ourselves in the very presence of God that we have true perspective of what's really going on. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:02.399 And so Paul looks at himself and he says, I will rejoice. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:06.080 And the reason that I'm rejoicing is because I know that you're praying. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.480 Paul believed this. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:16.080 Paul believed in prayer, and so constantly in his ministry, he was calling for people to pray for him, understanding that he couldn't make it unless people prayed. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:19.360 Unless the people he knew were praying for him, he could not make it. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:34.799 And so in Romans 15, he says, I appeal to you, brothers, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:41.759 In 2 Thessalonians, he writes again, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:47.200 In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 11, he says, You also help us by prayer. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:54.240 What Paul understood is that he could not walk the Christian life apart from other people praying for him. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:58.080 And so I want to ask you this question right now. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.120 Who do you know in your life that is praying for you? 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:14.960 Who do you know in your life that really practically, like, I'm talking not just like, okay, you know, I pray for miles and I hope that he does really well and I hope his day's okay. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:23.680 I'm not talking like this general prayer, I'm talking like who knows like the inner gritty details of your heart? 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:28.720 Who knows the struggle, the trial that you're going through? 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:36.720 Who knows that that challenging season that you're walking through with specifics and is praying specific things for the Lord to do in your midst? 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:43.519 Who is praying that in the midst of that suffering you would have proper perspective? 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.400 Who's praying that in the midst of that battle with sin you would be given victory? 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.079 Who is it? 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.680 Who comes to my like who you know this is on you? 00:17:54.799 --> 00:18:05.200 People can't pray for you specifically unless you are willing to vulnerably get close to other people and say, hey, and also in humility, just say, hey, listen, I I really need help. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:09.680 And it's hard because you gotta admit, like, I'm messed up and I can't do this on my own. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.519 And for the 21st century, man and woman, that's one of the hardest things to do. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:25.599 And yet, Paul is unlocking here the joy that comes to our life when we can find brothers and sisters who look into our lives who see it for all of its messiness and say this. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.319 I am going to help you in the most meaningful way. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:29.359 I'm gonna pray for you. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.480 In fact, this past Sunday, I was preaching at my old church at Redemption Durham, and a lady came up to me. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.680 She's an older lady, and she's an incredibly sweet lady, and she came to me and she said, Oh, she was so excited. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.079 Which I, you know, I treasure those moments. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.359 Anytime I'm about to preach and someone's excited, you know, you lock that in your mind. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.240 And she came up and she said, I was I was praying for you this morning. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:51.519 She didn't know I was preaching there. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.799 She said, I pray for you every third day. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:57.440 And every time this woman sees me, she comes up. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:58.480 You know, I don't even know her name. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.000 She comes up and she says, Hey, how's you? 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.319 She knows all my kids by name, all their ages. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.839 She knows that we're homeschooling, she knows about the church, and she's always praying for us specifically. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:20.160 And she came up and she talked to me, and I leaned over to the pastor with her I was with, and I just said, I I'm I'm convinced we're gonna get to heaven and we're gonna look back and we're gonna see like 50% of the fruit that came from this ministry was because of her. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.480 Because she was so faithfully praying specifically for so many people. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.200 And the application here is like be like that unnamed lady, right? 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:38.319 Be like that person who is so adamant to pray specifically for the people in your life, for God's will to be accomplished specifically in their life. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:45.519 Because what we're discovering here is that Paul understood that this was the only way he could make it through was through the prayers of the people. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:55.200 Paul could have this perspective because of the power of supplication, but I want you to also notice that he understood that he was in the presence of a savior. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:20:02.640 And so he says in 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. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:11.279 See, it's the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that is with him that gives Paul this confidence that he's gonna make it. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:17.839 And so the question for us is this do you recognize the presence of Jesus with you now? 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.160 Do you sense his felt presence in your day-to-day life? 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.640 This is a theological reality for you that Christ is with you. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:36.160 This is what we just celebrated at Christmas, but but so many of us forget the truth so quickly that Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.519 That you do not suffer alone, but that you suffer in the presence of a Savior. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:59.119 That's why the writer of Hebrews says this in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15 and 16 we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us in our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:10.480 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:13.680 Listen, do you know this about Jesus? 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.279 That he loves to help. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:17.039 He loves to help. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:28.480 He is like that doctor who goes into the jungle with the cure for some disease, and he is so eager when people come to him to find healing. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:30.480 This is who Jesus is. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.400 He draws near to the weak, he draws near to the suffering. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.680 When you are in your lowest moment and you turn to Jesus, this is what Jesus lives for. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:45.039 He longs to be near to you. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:54.559 And so in life's lowest moments, we like Paul need to meditate on this reality that we have the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ with us. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.359 He is with us. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:58.720 You know, more and more. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:11.839 I'm convinced as I have a window into other people's life and see what God is doing in my own life, that God is He is so willing to drag you through what you think are the worst possible circumstances. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:20.160 He is so willing to drag you through what you think is like equivalent to mud if he believes that that's the place that you are going to meet him. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.160 He is so willing to do that. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:31.119 And I was reminded this week of a quote that has always been near to my heart by a missionary. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:32.319 His name is John G. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.119 Patton. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:47.039 And he was a missionary to a very dangerous jungle tribe, and one night he found himself hiding in a tree as these two tribes are fighting each other, and he's scared for his life on many different occasions. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.039 But he writes this. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.359 I think this might be the second part of the quote. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.720 Is there two, maybe? 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:03.039 It might not be, but it probably is. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:04.079 Just one? 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:05.279 Okay. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:10.319 Well, let's read this and see uh if half a quote makes sense. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:24.400 Says, if if it be to glorify God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior's spiritual presence, to enjoy his counseling fellowship. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:38.240 If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone in the mid, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a friend that will not fail you then? 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:40.799 See, in this tree, John G. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:44.240 Patton had experienced the nearness of a savior. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.240 He had experienced the presence of Jesus. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:51.200 And he spent the entire night in this tree as this jungle warfare was going on. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:57.920 He recognized that he would climb back into that tree for a moment if he could just experience the presence of a savior like that. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:07.279 In the midst of our deepest trials and our hardest days, Jesus can be a presence to us like that. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:13.759 That makes the darkest nights bright, that makes the coldest days warm. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.160 See, when we live for Christ, my life is Christ, I have purpose and trials. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.759 Second thing I want you to see, though, is that we have perspective in my time. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:24.480 I have perspective in my time. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:30.480 Now notice that Paul's joy comes from this expectation that he will be delivered. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.640 But what's interesting here is that Paul doesn't know if he's gonna be delivered. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:43.039 If we think like deliverance is him being delivered from his circumstances, at this point in the verse, Paul doesn't even know if he's gonna live or die in prison. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.319 He doesn't know what's what's better, or so. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:52.960 He's at least inviting us into this journey in which he's saying that he doesn't know. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:25:00.799 And so what Paul is talking about in deliverance here is not deliverance from his circumstances, but that he'll be delivered to Christ's glory. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.400 So look what he says in verse 20. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:15.759 He says, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:24.160 The thing that Paul is gonna be delivered to here that fills him with such joy is that no matter what happens, Christ is going to be honored. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:30.559 There are two paths forward, and Paul looks at it and he says, this is a win-win situation. 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:39.680 Either I die and depart and I'm with Christ, and that is that's gonna be a glory that I can't even imagine, far better than anything I could ever describe. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.240 Or I live, and if I live, then it's fruitful service for me. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:50.400 I get to serve Christ, I get to live for Him, I get to accomplish His glory. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.920 And so Paul looks at this and he says, it's this is a win-win. 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.559 And he summarizes this in verse 21. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:25:59.440 You know these words. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.400 He says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:08.960 And so, even though there's only really two paths forward, it doesn't matter which one I walk on, I'm winning in this. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:15.039 I either get to serve Christ's glory or I die and get to be in glory. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:24.400 Now, here really marks the only two paths that are profitable for a believer to walk on. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:40.400 Two paths, either the the path that leads to death and being in glory with Christ, or the path that leads to a life of fruitful service to Christ, where you look at every inch of your life and you say that every inch is for Christ. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.319 It's for his service. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:46.079 These are the really the only two paths. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:52.160 This is what consumed another missionary, Jim Elliott, missionary to the unreached people of Ecuador. 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:53.920 He said this, listen to this. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.599 I covenanted with the Father to do one of two things. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:03.440 These are the same things that every believer makes their covenant with the Father. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.880 He says, either glorify himself to the utmost in me, or slay me. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:20.640 He heard me, I believe, so that now I have nothing to look forward to but a life of sacrificial sonship or heaven, which is coming soon. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:22.319 Perhaps tomorrow. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:23.920 What a prospect. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:30.960 See, Jim Elliott, missionary who died at a young age, looked at his life and said, I only really have two paths. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:41.440 Either I die and I'm in the presence of God, or it's a life of fruitful service, or I get to serve him, or I get to serve his purposes in the world. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:49.920 And so we read that and we need to ask this question do we honestly, like this is not to be abnormal for the Christian life. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:52.160 This is the Christian life. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:28:02.880 Do we have that perspective that either death is gained because I'm in the presence of the Father, or I'm living and life is gained because I'm living in fruitful service to Christ. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:06.559 I am serving his purposes in my life. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:09.440 There's only two paths. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.240 Now, listen, there's a time where theologically, as Christians, this wasn't us. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:17.680 There is a time where each of us, we tried to live on a different path. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:20.880 We tried to live in the path of our own glory, of our own service. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:23.839 And yet the reality is that salvation is this. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:31.680 Salvation is that moment where you walking on that path, where you're serving your own glory, you decide that this is not the path for me. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:36.799 Salvation is that moment where you realize the end of that path is destruction. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:43.680 And you turn to Jesus and knowing him to be a savior, knowing him to be a Lord, you say, This is no longer my path. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:45.440 I am living for Christ. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:51.279 His will is my will, his purpose is my purpose, his life is my life. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:53.839 I will do all that he commands. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.920 This is salvation. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:01.839 And so the question that we need to ask for us is this have you experienced that? 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.000 Have you experienced that moment? 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:10.880 That moment where you realize that living for yourself, it is a fruitless path that leads to eternal destruction. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:16.400 Have you experienced that moment where you've turned to Jesus and said, said, Jesus, you you are my Lord. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.640 Your will is my way. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:21.279 Here's the reality. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:29.759 Many who claim to be Christians, they do not care about the path of life for Christ. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:32.880 They only care about death. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:35.599 And you cannot have one without the other. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:42.880 You cannot say, Well, I want to be in heaven for all of eternity, and so I'm gonna believe in Jesus Christ, but I'm gonna do whatever I want while I'm on this earth. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.359 I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm just gonna kind of add Jesus in. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.759 I'm just gonna kind of sprinkle Jesus into my life. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:49.599 It doesn't work like that. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.920 If Jesus isn't your Lord, then he can't be your savior. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:30:09.599 The reality is that both these things come hand in hand, that we come to realize that not only is death gained because of who Christ is, but a life lived for fruitful service to him is also gained. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:15.279 But as Christians, the reality is, isn't the reality that we can become distracted at times? 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:28.640 And there are times, like this morning, where we just need to do some self-reflection and ask the Lord, God, am I still convinced that the greatest life, that the life worth living, is the life lived in fruitful service to you? 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:36.319 Am I still convinced that the most important things that I can do on earth are the things that are done in the glory and honor of your name? 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:38.480 Or am I am I distracted? 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:46.400 Isn't it so easy to be distracted by the many things that the world constantly preaches are better? 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:56.000 Christ is calling us this morning to life of focus, where our core focus, the central purpose of our life is Him. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:02.480 We have perspective in our time. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.880 We understand to live is Christ, to die is gain. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.720 Well, Paul's showing us more about the life that's worth living and the life that's lived for Christ. 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:16.319 And the third thing I want you to see is this that when life is for Christ, I have priority in my tasks. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:20.559 When life is for Christ, I have priority in my tasks. 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:22.799 This is an interesting passage, isn't it? 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:31.759 Because Paul is really inviting us into his mind as he contemplates life and death, as he contemplates whether or not he'll make it in this prison. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:35.599 In a sense, there's some indecision here. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:39.519 You read it in verse 23, he says, I'm hard-pressed between the two. 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:44.480 My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:59.759 Paul looks at death, and even though it'd be amazing to be freed from suffering, to be in the presence of a savior, ultimately he'll look at life and decide that there's a greater priority. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:04.559 And I think as we come to read this, it's it's rather shocking to us. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:09.759 And it's important that even before we consider Paul's words, we consider our own life. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:16.000 If you're a Christian, you you recognize how sweet it will be to be with Jesus. 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:24.160 And so the question and the question then is this when faced with those two paths, either life or death, what is it that keeps you here? 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:30.319 What is that magnetic force that says, Man, there are some reasons I need to stay on earth. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:32.559 There's some reasons I need to keep on living. 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:35.440 There are some things I still need to do. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:37.680 What is your answer there? 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:41.920 What is it that you turn to that says, this is what makes life worth living? 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:44.240 This is why I need to go on. 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.799 This is the great thing that I must do. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.000 This is what the world would miss if I were not here. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:33:00.400 The answer, I think, is shocking to our culture because for Paul, the answer is not his family, though that's a very important thing. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:06.240 And it's of utmost importance that we care for our family in our absence. 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:09.599 His answer is also not any sense of accomplishment. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.839 Paul doesn't look at his life and say, Oh man, I have so many more churches to plant. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:16.319 I have so many more tents to make. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:17.839 I have so much more to do. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.319 He doesn't look at his bucket list, he doesn't say, Oh man, there's places I haven't visited yet. 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:28.000 There's one thing that's keeping Paul here, it's one priority. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:29.920 And it's shocking to us. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:31.519 He says it in verse 25. 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:37.599 He says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:51.279 And listen to this, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.119 Why is life worth living for Paul? 00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:07.279 Because he looks at the Philippian church and he recognizes that if he stays, he will be able to influence people to maturity in the church. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:12.880 This is among all the things that you you and I could think of right now that would make life possibly worth living. 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:15.119 This is the priority. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.199 And being on the brink of life and death has given Paul this even deeper sense of this priority. 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:27.840 That the reason he needs to stay is because the people in the church need his presence. 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:40.960 Again, this is reinforcing what we saw time and time again a few weeks ago as we kind of marched through our church series, that the place of the church is much more central than the North American church has made it to be. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.320 The church is the central purpose of Paul's life. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:46.639 He says, I'm here for their progress. 00:34:47.440 --> 00:35:00.559 I'm here because the longer I'm on earth, the more joy Christians will have, the more sanctification Christians will have, the more sense other Christians will have that Christ is glorious. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:03.039 I'm here because other people need me. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:09.920 And so the question for you and I is this the question that you need to wrestle with this morning is this Should the answer be any different for you? 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:12.320 Should the answer be any different for you? 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:15.760 Should there be some other reason that you need to remain here? 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:22.480 No matter how good that answer may be, should it be any different for you, biblically, theologically, as a follower of Christ? 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:24.320 Should there be any other answer? 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:27.920 And I think as you look through scripture, what you find is no. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:30.400 This is what Jesus told us to be all about. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:32.480 He said, Go and make disciples. 00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:39.039 Your life, then, the very purpose, focus of your life is other focused. 00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:43.360 It's on the maturing and making of disciples. 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:51.280 And so Paul looks at his life and he says, the only thing that would be missed if I were to leave is the progress and joy of the saints and Philippians. 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:52.800 So I need to stay. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:58.559 And so the question for you and I is, what would be missed if we were to leave? 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:06.239 And hopefully the answer is this the the progress and sanctification and glory of other believers in the church. 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:10.480 Again, listen, you're looking at me saying, Well, yeah, listen, obviously you're a pastor, okay? 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:14.559 You're gonna you're gonna really pump up the centrality of what's happening here. 00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:17.519 And I'm telling you to look at look at the word of God. 00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:22.000 Look at the model that God's word sets for us. 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:25.840 When Paul says to live is Christ, this is what he means. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:38.559 Living for Christ is progressing other people's sanctification, it's inputting your life into their life so that they have more joy, it's helping them to see the glory in Christ Jesus. 00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:41.920 This is the model that Scripture sets for us. 00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:43.679 Not me. 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:47.440 And so our question then is this what does this look like? 00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:56.719 If the life that's lived for Christ is a life of fruitful service to him in progressing other people's faith, what does this look like? 00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:58.960