WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:02.160 Team and good morning. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:04.080 You are out there. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:05.360 That's great. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:11.599 One of the things that I enjoy as we sit in front is we get to hear you singing behind us. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.080 It's even better when you're up here looking out. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:19.839 The people of God worshiping together is beautiful indeed. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:29.440 Well, let me ask you to turn, if you would, please, to the book of Philippians, not the book of Genesis. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.000 I have finished up the first three chapters in Genesis. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:35.759 I didn't finish Genesis. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:42.719 That would be require going all the way to chapter 50, and we don't have time for that. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:01:05.680 Actually, in a couple of months, we will be leaving this church, which has become incredibly dear to us, as God has brought Jason, Pastor Jason, and the end of June, the 25th of June, we're going to have an installation service for Jason. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:12.879 And it's going to be a significant time as we kind of put a mile marker there in the journey of the history of this church. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.280 Our purpose for coming here two years ago was to leave. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:26.879 In the sense of we came and we were trying to prepare the way for ended up being Jason, and it's been a great privilege. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:33.599 But that does mean that we will fade away as soon as Jason gets on scene. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.200 And we'll stay in touch, we'll stay in touch with many of you, we'll stay in touch with Jason. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.959 We'll leave part of our heart here. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.400 Not all of it, but part of our heart. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.599 So that means there's not a lot more time for me as I open the word. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:56.640 We've only got about seven weeks yet, or seven weekends. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.840 And one of those, I guess we have eight. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.840 One of those will be the installation service. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:10.479 The one before that will be a sharing service as we reflect on what God is teaching us and how we're trusting Him as we move forward. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:17.919 So I've only got about six more opportunities to have this great privilege of opening up God's Word with you. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:24.159 And I got thinking, what would I do with these weeks and these messages? 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:29.599 And I thought seriously, and I came to the idea of Philippians. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:39.759 Now, if I were to really deal with Philippians the way I would like to, it would take about five and a half or six months, and that ain't going to happen. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:53.120 So what I've done is I've selected some of my favorite passages in the book of Philippians, assuming, of course, that my favorite passages would be your favorite passages as well. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:03:02.479 It's probably not a correct assumption, but so anyway, we're we're beginning today a series of favorites in Philippians. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:08.080 So let me ask you to turn to Philippians chapter 1. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.400 We're going to be looking at verses 19 through 26. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.479 We'll probably only really get 19 to 24. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:28.240 But I want to put this in its context because we're jumping into the middle of something that Paul is saying that has to do with his own personal experience. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:32.080 So follow along as I read Philippians chapter 1. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:38.319 We'll begin at verse 12, and then in a moment jump to verse 19. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:45.199 So Paul speaking to us, and I believe this is page 980 in the Pew Bible. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.240 If you don't happen to have a Bible with you, grab one from the Pew. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:58.400 So Paul says, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:02.800 Now, what's happened to Paul is that he's been imprisoned. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:04.879 Interesting thought. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.520 He says, Me being imprisoned is a good thing. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:11.520 It's advanced the gospel. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:12.719 Very interesting. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:25.120 Paul looks at his circumstances and he has a certain perspective on his current circumstances in light of what he knows about God and God's ways. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:31.439 So I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:42.879 So that it has become known, it, the gospel, has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest, that my chains are for Christ. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.000 The word in the ESV is imprisonment. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.199 It's literally the word chains or fetters. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:05:02.160 My fetters, my chains, being chained to a praetorian guard, that these imprisonment, these chains are all about Christ. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:03.279 They're for Christ. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:04.720 Again, same idea. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:12.240 He takes his situation, his experiences, and he puts it in the context of what God is doing. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:20.560 So that it has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to all the rest that my chains are for Christ. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:30.639 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord, by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.839 Now we'll jump then down to verse 19. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.399 Actually, the middle of verse 18. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:52.160 Your Bible probably is broken up into paragraphs, and you'll find this is one of the classic examples of where the verse divisions in the scripture are, they're, first of all, not inspired, and some of them are downright bizarre. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:01.120 But this verse, verse 18, really begins with the second part of, I'm sorry, verse 19 begins with the second part of verse 18. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:04.160 Yes, and I will rejoice. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:14.639 Now he just has said in the first part of the verse, where Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:26.720 Yes, I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that this will turn out for my deliverance. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:35.839 And that this he's talking about is his imprisonment, these circumstances in his life, not good circumstances. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:43.199 And he's able to see the circumstances of his life in light of what God is doing. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:45.759 That ought to be a clue for us. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:48.000 Verse 20. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:59.839 And 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. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.720 His confidence that Christ will be honored in his body, but look at what he says. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:17.279 Now, Paul approaches things a little bit differently than the way we do. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:18.959 Verse 21. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.120 For to me to live is Christ. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:28.000 And to die is gain. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:31.759 This is not the way we think, my friends. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.360 But this is clearly what Paul is saying. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.959 For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:46.879 If I am to live in the flesh, in other words, if I'm going to keep living in this life in this world, that means fruitful labor for me. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.040 Yet which I shall choose, I don't know. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.800 I'm hard-pressed between the two. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.959 My desire is to depart and be with Christ. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:04.399 My desire is what comes next after my death. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:05.519 That's my desire. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:07.680 This is not the way we tend to think. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.199 I think we need to begin to think this way. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.519 To remain in the flesh is more necessary. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.720 I'm hard pressed between the two, verse 23. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:27.519 My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that, departing and being with Christ, he says, is far better. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:35.360 But to remain in the flesh, to remain in this life, is more necessary on your account. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.480 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, and he doesn't know that. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.000 He doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:50.720 But there's a sense in which he's saying, okay, I kind of have a suspicion that God is going to do this or do that. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:51.440 Okay. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:09:06.240 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 because of my coming to you again. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:23.120 Now, when we turn to the scriptures, and when I seek to open the word week after week after week, let me suggest to you what we're really trying to do. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:31.360 What we have here is God speaking through the human writers, telling us truth. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.480 Not just propositional truth. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.720 He's telling us the way things really are. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.360 God always deals with reality. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.919 And the truth of God is reality. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.159 It's the way it really is. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:54.480 Now, our goal is not just to learn facts about the Bible, although that's really important. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:10:05.679 Our goal is to understand the way the world really is, the way life really is, the way the universe really is, the way God really is, the things that are real. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:12.320 There's much of our life that we kind of live in a self-created la la land and we think that's real. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:16.960 What's real is what is revealed in Scripture. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:26.960 And so as we open the scriptures, our goal needs to be more than simply getting more Bible data, but getting to understand the reality behind it. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:33.679 It's a little bit like someone who knows a lot about Jesus but doesn't really know Jesus personally. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:38.000 It's important to gain information about Jesus. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:49.279 But the whole purpose of gaining information about Jesus is to get to know him personally and to entrust ourselves to him and to glorify him and to receive forgiveness. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:54.480 It's not just enough to know about, but we need to know at a far deeper level. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:08.559 It's not enough to just know the truths of Scripture, the facts, but rather the reality that those facts are pointing to personally for you, for me. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:18.879 Now, what we find is that in this passage, he's making a very important point. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:28.480 He says it in a couple of different ways, and I've chosen this as a title, but I've held off the title until we read the passage. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.799 What he's saying, he's talking about life and death. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.600 And we understand what he's saying generally about life, this life. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:42.480 But he's going beyond that and he's saying something about death. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.559 And he says, death, far better. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.000 Death, far better. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:54.480 Now, this is not an argument for euthanasia or for suicide or anything like that. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:55.600 It's not what we're talking about. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:57.120 We don't get to choose. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:15.120 But what he's saying is that if you really understood reality, the way things really are, truth, you would come to see that that which is to come is far better. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:26.159 Now, what I'm hoping to do as we unpack several of these verses is to reflect on this matter death far better. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.480 Now, you've noticed I put a question mark and an exclamation point. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.240 How should we punctuate this? 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.120 Is this death far better? 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:36.879 You gotta be kidding me. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.240 And that's the way we think, and that's the way we live. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.879 We'll do anything to hold off death. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.759 We'll go to all kinds of extreme measures. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:55.039 We'll submit ourselves to all kinds of procedures that may add a few hours or a few weeks or a few months to our lives, but at what cost? 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:01.120 I'm not saying I'm not saying what you conclude with that. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:06.879 I'm just saying that there is something more important than holding on to life. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:12.080 See, he says death, far better, exclamation point. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:14.639 And we tend to say death far better. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:15.759 And I do. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.919 That's where I live too. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:20.639 Much of the time. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:32.480 But what I want us to do a little bit this morning is to try to figure out and to try to challenge you to think through how you punctuate that phrase. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:33.759 Death. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:35.200 Far better. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:36.799 Death, far better. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:40.320 Death far better. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:40.879 Okay? 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.039 So that's what we're trying to do here. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.120 So let's just uh walk through some of these verses. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:14:09.840 Verses 19 and 20, where we see the apostle uh dealing with and thinking about the circumstances in which he finds himself, circumstances which are not at all clear where they're heading and what's going to come next. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:20.240 So he says, Yes, I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus, this will turn out for my deliverance. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.519 Okay, so he's got the big picture in mind. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.679 He knows ultimately what's going to happen. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:38.000 But what he doesn't know is what's going to happen tomorrow or the day after. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:52.720 And in this passage, he's it reminds me of a lot of the Psalms, where the psalmist kind of pulls the curtain back of his heart and his soul and his inner wrestling. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:00.879 And in this case, he's sharing with his spiritual friends in the city of Philippi. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:23.279 Now that's a phrase that we may not end up unpacking very much, but a spiritual friend is a friend where at the core of the friendship there is the reality of what God is doing in my life that has an impact on you, and what God is doing in your life has an impact on me, that not the totality of our friendship. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:29.600 I mean, we may like the same sports, or we may, you know, there may be affinity or whatever, and those are all good things. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:30.639 Nothing wrong with that. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:35.919 But there's another level of friendship where there's a spiritual connection. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:46.399 Paul was writing to people with whom he was comfortable unbearing his soul and his heart and his thoughts. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:48.720 Extremely helpful for us. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:58.320 I hope you've got some people in your life that you can be really honest with and really share. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:04.080 Now, what we find in his circumstances is that he is in prison. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:05.679 We already made reference to that. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.039 He's in a Roman prison. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.200 He's in Rome. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.639 Writing back to the church and his good friends in Philippi. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:18.320 He finds himself under arrest, under imprisonment. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.360 Now, don't think of a medieval dungeon. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:25.200 That's not the kind of arrest and imprisonment he was in. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.960 It was house imprisonment. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:31.440 He wasn't free to go anywhere he wanted or to do anything he wanted. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:37.200 But what we find is that he was chained. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:38.399 He was imprisoned. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:17:03.759 The word is chained, and we already saw before that his chains were something that caused the Praetorian guard that was, it was his the people who had imprisoned him, or that he was chained to, to understand the gospel and hear the gospel. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:12.240 Now, these chains, it was kind of like handcuffs, if we understand correctly from the custom at the time of Roman imprisonment. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:13.680 They were handcuffs. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:28.559 The chain was about maybe 18 inches long, and it was chained from one arm of his to an arm of one of the emperor's elite guards, the Praetorian Guard. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:41.519 So 24-7, 365, over the period of about two years, Paul was chained to a rough, tough, and dangerous guard. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:46.480 So that's the nature of his situation. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:54.799 Now, what's really interesting is that these chains were no hindrance for the spread of the gospel. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.599 He was chained, and yet the gospel was free. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:05.200 Because he could share the gospel, and he said, through the whole Praetorian guard, they were hearing of the good news of Jesus Christ. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:09.039 So he was chained, but the word of God was not changed. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.240 Chained. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:27.200 So what was really more challenging to Paul, as we see in this passage, because it's the previous passage in which he says, this has turned out for the best, the gospel's being spread, the gospel is unchained, I'm chained, but the gospel is not chained, I'm rejoicing. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:35.039 Now he kind of turns to how he's processing what's going on in his situation. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:42.240 He did not know for sure what would happen next day or next week or next month or next year. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.119 You never know what a day will bring. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.799 Proverbs 27:1, one of my favorite verses. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.559 You never know what a day will bring. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:57.200 Paul didn't know for sure what the next day would bring. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:01.119 You don't have any idea what tomorrow will bring. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.640 You may think you do? 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:21.440 So when we don't know what's coming, and when our situation is discouraging, painful, dangerous, or whatever, how do you think about things? 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:39.519 Now, we know, because we've read the rest of the book, the rest of the book of Acts and the rest of the letters of Paul, that in fact, see, he wasn't sure whether his case before Caesar, whether he would be vindicated or executed. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:40.880 Those were the two options. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:44.079 And he just didn't know for sure what was going to come. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:51.039 We know that this imprisonment, he would soon be actually, he would actually be released. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:20:04.559 If we put together the chronology of the New Testament correctly, then it would appear that he would be released for a couple of years or a period of fruitful ministry from this imprisonment. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:11.440 And during that time he would travel and share the gospel and he would write some more epistles. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:19.279 1 Timothy and Titus were written in this time period after Ephesians, after he had been freed. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.640 But then he would be imprisoned once again. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:33.599 And shortly before his execution, because in the second imprisonment he would be executed, but shortly before that, then he would write 2 Timothy. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:34.720 So we know that. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.480 But Paul doesn't know that. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.160 You never know what a day will bring. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.680 God knows, we rarely do. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:48.640 And when we think we do, we might just be wrong. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.319 Our lives are in God's hands, not ours. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.160 If you think your life is in your hand, just live a little longer. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:01.599 And you will discover that you really don't control your own destiny. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:04.240 God does, however. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:06.799 That's an excursus there. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:14.160 At the point of writing Philippians, it was uncertain really what would happen with Paul. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.799 Would he be executed or would he be released? 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:31.680 So my question as I read this, as I let these things kind of put myself in the situation, what was going through Paul's mind? 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.079 When he's speaking here, what's going through his mind? 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.480 What do these words mean? 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:52.880 So let's just pretend that you're in Rome, you're under house arrest, you've got this hunkin' uh Praetorian guard uh 18 inches from your wrist, and it's three in the morning. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.920 What goes through your mind at three in the morning? 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.759 What goes through my mind? 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.160 At three in the morning. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:08.640 Now, I hear tell that there are people who sleep through the night soundly like a baby. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.440 I love one of them. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:14.880 Jane hits the pillow and she's out for the night. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.799 It drives me nuts. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:26.079 But so if you're awake in the middle of the night, where does your mind go? 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.079 Well, I can tell you what goes on in my mind. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.880 Tomorrow I've got a doctor's appointment. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.720 I wonder what that's gonna reveal. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:47.680 Or yesterday, day before, I had some tests run. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.920 I wonder what the outcome's gonna be. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:23:04.400 And if you're a pessimist, if the glass is always half empty, and I know pessimists always think of themselves as realists. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:14.079 That's one of the quirks of a pessimist, then your mind begins to think of things that are disconcerting. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:37.119 And so in the middle of the night, my mind goes every once in a while to our kids, especially our kids who are eight months into their first term of service in Albania, and we've just discovered that there were some very, very serious problems and actually some significant spiritual attack in the team that they're involved in. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.920 Key people ending up under great, great difficulties. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.400 And are Jeff and Meredith gonna be next? 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.440 Our three grandkids, are they gonna be subjected? 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:48.880 My mind goes there. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:51.920 Am I allowed to be honest with you guys? 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.519 Oh well. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.240 You're gonna get some honesty anyway. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.200 So I struggle with those kinds of things. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.599 Some of you do as well. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:08.000 I often wake up in the middle of the night with a sense of anxiety. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:15.200 And then I'll realize I've been dreaming, and I've been dreaming about something that I can't fix. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:18.400 Maybe I've been dreaming about this church. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:20.319 I can't fix this. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.519 Maybe I'm just lost in a car uh parking lot and I can't find the keys. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:27.519 I don't even know where the car is anymore. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:29.519 All these crazy things that go. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.880 Anybody else like that? 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:31.759 Yeah, there are. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.519 There's a bunch of you like that. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:53.759 Well, um if your nature is more to be an optimist, I guess there are people like that around, the the glass is always half full, then you're likely to just simply not really want to deal with the negative things that might possibly happen. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:55.200 That's really all optimists do. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.200 They just kind of shove it aside, I think. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:07.519 Just find my happy place and just focus there on my happy place and not think about the unforeseen disaster that's about to fall. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:09.440 I'm kidding with that. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.799 So my question is, what was going on in Paul's mind? 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.599 Well, a couple of things. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:29.839 Uh what we find in verse 19, we hear him saying, For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, this will turn out for my deliverance. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.480 Now, let's look at that thought here. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:38.240 Um it's so beautiful and so simple what he says, being in verse 19. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:44.000 I know that through your prayers and the help of Jesus, that's what I need. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.160 I need your prayers and I need Christ's help. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:53.119 My friends, you need the prayers of other people and you need Jesus' help. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:57.519 You need it at three in the morning, you need it at noon time, and all along. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:08.400 But in his need, what Paul does is he turns to his spiritual friends that he can be really honest with and he can share with. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.680 And he he asks for prayer. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.759 Do you have some people that you can go to in your life at three in the morning? 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:19.200 Well, you might want to wait until nine in the morning before you call them. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:20.880 But do you have some people like that? 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.359 I do. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.960 It's beautiful. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:30.559 Um we need the prayers of other people, and that's what spiritual friends are for. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:45.519 Because what God is doing in my life and what God is doing in their life, they're connected, and I can be completely honest, not just asking for prayer for the things that are socially appropriate and acceptable in our circles. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:27:07.359 You know, I get the feeling as I listen to our prayers, and I'm not just talking about yours, I'm talking about the evangelical world, that the biggest activity of God is taking care of people's illnesses because we constantly pray, well, not because there aren't needs for him constantly to take care of illness, but it's apparently appropriate and acceptable to share that we've got physical needs. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:09.440 And it is, by the way. 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:12.640 But what about some of those other things? 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:19.599 That's not really very, that you're not really comfortable with with sharing other people. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:28.319 Those may be things that are far, maybe some deep-seated issues in your heart, your mind, in your background, in your thinking. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:34.000 Umbe there are sins that you are struggling with that you'd rather not talk with other people about. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:35.119 I get that. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:37.920 But we need other people. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.880 Do you have some people in your life that you can just share and be really honest with? 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:46.400 If not, then you need to find some. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.240 That's what the body of Christ is. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:52.960 The body of Christ is not 350 people sitting here listening to me. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:55.519 That's not what the body of Christ is. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:01.680 The body of Christ is where people connect spiritually with one another. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:06.640 And we pray and we trust God together and we grow together. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:07.759 Do we have that? 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:10.640 Do you have that in your life? 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.519 It's to me just so encouraging. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:20.400 Um prayer matters, and Jesus helps. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:23.039 That's just so beautiful, so simple. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:31.039 And then he says, one way or the other, I'm sure that there will be deliverance here. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:36.960 For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus, this will turn out for my deliverance. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.759 Now, what he's not saying here, if you read the rest of it, is everything's gonna be groovy. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:48.160 Just, you know, it's gonna turn out, I'm gonna get unprisoned, I'm gonna be able to just do what I want to do. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:52.480 No, that's far too narrow an understanding of deliverance. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:29:03.039 The word here is a word that is often used for salvation, but at its core, it really is well translated by deliverance. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:19.759 And the reality is that sometimes God delivers us from the circumstances, and sometimes God delivers us through and out of the circumstances. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:28.480 Sometimes he removes us from the circumstances, sometimes he's with us on our way through the circumstances. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:36.799 Um I had a few more years here, I would subject you to a whole series of what I call fingernail verses. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.799 You know, when you're hanging on barely, only by your fingernails. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:45.759 I hope you've got a series of key verses that are just so precious to you. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:30:10.960 One of my fingernail verses, and I think it's legitimate to say it this way, 1 Corinthians 10, 13, for no time of testing has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able, but will with the time of testing provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.279 And there he covers both. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:28.000 God, because of who he is, and because of his great grace, has promised that he will either deliver us out from under or by his grace delivering us through the circumstances. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:32.240 Sometimes the answer is to be able to endure it. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:34.559 Now that's not what I want. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.680 Not most of the time. 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.000 I want out from under it. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:44.400 And God loves us too much to always give us what we want. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:50.799 Because there's things that God only does as he shows his power and our weakness. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:56.079 And Paul himself, three times, take this thorn in the flesh from me, no. 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:01.359 Take this thorn in the flesh from me, no, take this thorn in the flesh from me. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:02.000 No. 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.319 My grace is sufficient for you. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:08.000 That's Paul's experience as well. 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:16.720 So when we're confident of deliverance, let's recognize that God has promised, made some promises for deliverance. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:22.799 But it's not always the way I want it or you want it. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:37.359 Sometimes the way of escape is to endure under the circumstances and to experience the goodness and the grace of God in a way that still does not feel good, but glorifies Christ. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:47.920 Now, he goes on further, and he says, It is my eager expectation and my hope, verse 20. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:32:02.240 It is my eager expectation and my hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:08.640 Now, the first thought is a beautiful phrase, my eager expectation. 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:12.559 This is one of, this is a word that Paul made up. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:15.920 This didn't exist in the Greek language. 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:20.079 It's a compound word, and he uses it twice. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.839 He uses it in this passage and in Romans chapter 8. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:32.640 And it's literally standing with outstretched neck in eager anticipation. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:40.079 It's someone craning his neck to see what's coming, knowing that the best is yet to come. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:47.440 For me, picture eight or ten years old, western suburb of Chicago, 4th of July, we have a parade. 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:48.880 I love a parade. 00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:54.319 And I remember standing there at the edge of the street, just looking down, because I know what's coming. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:55.359 You know what's coming? 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:00.079 There's a truck coming, and there's going to be some clowns, and they're going to throw candy out, and I can have some of that. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:02.640 And then the best is really yet to come. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:04.559 That's the fire engines. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:11.759 So I stand there craning my neck with eager expectation of what is sure and certain to come. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:17.599 That's the picture, Paul says, with eager expectation. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:20.000 And then he talks about the word hope. 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:23.359 A biblical hope is not the kind of hope you and I have. 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:26.240 It's not a hope-so, but a no-so. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:31.599 Now, the kind of hope that we talk about is I hope so, but I don't know-so. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:39.039 For example, um, I hope that last Thursday's snowstorm was the last one of the season. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:46.720 Now, many of you have been kind enough to disabuse me of such foolish thoughts, because this is North Dakota. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.000 We can hope so, but we don't know so. 00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:57.839 Uh, Jan, seems to me uh you told me about your mother talking about uh snowfall on the 4th of July or something. 00:33:57.920 --> 00:33:59.920 I didn't want to hear anything about that. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.279 So that's a that's our kind of hope. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:05.200 I hope so, but I don't know so. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:09.679 That is not what the Bible means when it talks about hope. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:14.719 Hope in the scriptures is something that is sure and certain. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:17.360 It's just not here yet. 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:19.679 We just don't see it yet. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.559 We just haven't experienced it yet. 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:30.800 But it's true because God has said so, and we can take it and we can take that to the bank, as it were. 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:40.239 Um hope is a reality, a certainty, but we've just not yet experienced it. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:49.920 Um the that same word in uh in uh is is that that picture, uh, the blessed hope. 00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:50.800 The blessed hope. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:55.119 That's a phrase that woe is us, we don't use very much anymore. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:58.239 It talks about the blessed hope of the Lord's return. 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.760 That's a surety. 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:00.800 That is certain. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:02.000 That's going to happen. 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:04.480 He's coming back, and he's gonna win. 00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:06.480 We've read the last chapter in the book. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:07.679 We know what happens. 00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:08.960 We just don't see it yet. 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.280 Oh, do we not see it yet? 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:18.880 But we have confidence because God has said it and God doesn't play games with us. 00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:43.679 And what Paul says in this connection, it is my hope and eager expectation that I'll not be ashamed, but with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:54.000 That takes us right to where we need to go. 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:58.239 Uh verses twenty-one to twenty-three. 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:06.639 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:17.199 To remain in the flesh, to remain in this life now, is more necessary for you on your account. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:22.400 If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:24.639 And yet what should I choose? 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:25.840 I don't know, Paul says. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:27.599 I don't know what I would choose. 00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:38.320 Whether I would choose to stay in this life and be useful for you, or to be to be taken and to be home with the Lord, absent from the body, is home with the Lord. 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:41.119 For me to live as Christ. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:46.400 If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for you, yet I don't know which I shall choose. 00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.480 I'm hard-pressed between the two. 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:50.719 My desire is to depart. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:54.800 And this is not a death wish, this is not a morbid kind of a thing. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:58.239 He's not saying life is so horrible I just have to end it. 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:06.800 He's not suicidal, he's not depressive, he's not modulin, he's in touch with reality. 00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:08.960 The best is yet to come. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:29.599 So there's an inner tension here that Paul is experiencing, an inner tension, a distress from within. 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:34.320 He's the phrase is that he's pressed on two sides. 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:37.840 That's the expression he uses in verse 23. 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:39.840 I'm hard pressed between two things. 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:56.800 And the the word picture is you're out hiking and you come to a narrow, a tall canyon with a narrow passage, and you're wanting to go through the canyon, and you start walking along, and it gets narrower and narrower and narrower, and eventually you're pressed in on both sides. 00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:03.840 You're constricted by these two things. 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:16.239 He also uses the picture of having conflicting desires within. 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:22.800 He's pulled in two directions. 00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:25.360 He has desires that take him in two directions. 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:29.519 We all have desires that take us in multiple directions. 00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:36.960 Now, what Paul is not talking about here is a struggle that Paul had, just like you and I. 00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:52.159 And that's the struggle between our old nature, our sin nature, the sin that so easily besets us that pulls us in this direction, and the work of God in our lives that pulls us in another direction. 00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:55.360