Good day and welcome to the 6th of December. 19 days until Christmas. 25 days until the year 2019. That’s kinda crazy. When I was much younger, I didn’t really know what the year 2019 would be like but I didn’t think it would be like this. I don’t know, I thought we would have flying cars and stuff by now. Or maybe at least those flying jet pack things. But on the other side we do have wi-fi and blue tooth, those are pretty cool things. And GPS, GPS is pretty cool. I guess you could say I’m impressed with wireless things.
We finished the book of Ephesians yesterday so guess what? Yep, the next book in the New Testament is the book of Philippians, so there we will go. The book of Philippians was written by Paul to the church in the city of Philippi. This is one of the four ‘prison epistles’ written by Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. When the church at Philippi found out that Paul was in prison, they immediately dispatched their Pastor, Epaphroditus, to Rome with a gift that would minister to Paul’s needs. Paul wrote this beautiful letter to thank the church and express his love for them. Paul had a very deep love for the church at Philippi and you can feel it in the letter. Let’s look at chapter 1 starting with the introduction.
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” Phil 1:1
Paul introduces he & Timothy as ‘servants of Christ’ and it makes me think, if you were to write a book of the Bible today, how would you introduce yourself? This is a pretty hard question and you have to be brutally honest. It’s not just how you would classify yourself but how would your family, friends, co-workers and church associates introduce you? Bill a Great business man? Sarah an astute business woman? Tom, a lover of self? Martha, a loving mother? Mike a loyal servant of Jesus? Dale, a super busy person with no time for anybody but my own family? Wes, a monthly church goer? Debra, a lover of Christ? You can ponder this on your own and I strongly encourage you to. You can even take it one step further, how would God introduce you?
We can’t lose sight of the fact that this letter was written while Paul was in Prison in Rome for preaching the gospel. He is locked up tight in a cold, dark, damp cell and what is he doing? Is he crying? Is he complaining that he has been wrongfully accused and wants to sue? Is he depressed? Is he having a pity party? These are all things I think I would probably be doing if somebody threw me in jail today for writing the 5 Minute Challenge. But not Paul. He is giving thanks and expressing love for the church in Philippi. You see this relates to something I call the circumstantial Christian and there is a lesson for us in that.
You see, Paul was quite the example. No matter what was going on in His life, He fulfilled what God had called him to do. Paul never let his circumstances determine his fulfillment of God’s calling on his life. Whether high or low, Paul preached. Circumstances didn’t matter. When our circumstances get tough, how does it affect our walk with Christ? Are we circumstantial Christians?
It started me thinking about Paul’s ministry, what he endured and where he preached. Well, when you come to think about it, he preached wherever he was at! Wherever Paul was at he was going to speak of Christ. If you could time-warp back in time and hang out with Paul how long do you think you would have to be around him to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I bet it wouldn’t have to be very long at all. I have to think that the people that were close to Paul probably thought he was like a broken record. All he talked about was the goodness, grace and mercy of God.
It makes me reflect on my own life. If you were to shadow me on any random day what would you see from Dan Potter? Would you be able to tell I’m a follower of Christ? How long would you follow me before you saw something that proved I was sold out to God? How long would it take to hear me tell somebody about the love of Christ? Tough questions as we read verses 12-14 and see what Paul did as a result of being wrongfully imprisoned.
“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Phil 1:12-14
So, Paul did in prison what he did everywhere he went…he preached the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can just picture it. Paul gets dragged into prison and thrown into a cell. The heavy iron door slams shut behind him. The keys jangle as the lock is engaged. Silence envelopes. Paul is alone. He walks to the door and calls out for someone, anyone. A Roman guard walks over. Instead of asking for water, food, a blanket, or a lawyer, what does Paul do? He asks the guard if he has ever heard of Jesus. In the midst of his plight, his first concern is for the eternal soul of the person that is in front of him. Sometimes the opportunity to share the gospel with someone that desperately needs to hear it is just 3 feet away. 3 feet right in front of us. The only people Paul had access to was the guards. His circumstances had limited his reach, but God empowered him to start a ministry right there in that prison. If God has a willing servant, He will do amazing things in amazing places. Even a Roman prison.
Another thing happens in this verse that amazes me. When Paul was free he was keeping the trail hot all over the region preaching up a storm. His brothers in Christ stood back and watched, amazed. I can just hear them, “man, that Paul is a preaching machine! He was just in Ephesus, then he was in Corinth, Colosse and now he’s way over there in Philippi!” They stood back and marveled at Paul’s eagerness to tell of Jesus. So what happened when Paul got locked up? All of the sudden the story of Jesus is not being told. The message is stalled. Paul has been sidelined, who will go into the game for him? You see, brothers started to be awakened to the need. To their call. Because of Paul’s imprisonment, God raised up others to take his place and preach the gospel. What we would see as a catastrophic setback, God used to work miracles on not one but two different fronts. He made an inroads for Paul to save Roman prison guards and also in his imprisonment raised the awareness of the need for many others to preach the gospel instead of just Paul. Wow.
Paul was so eager to preach it didn’t matter where he was. It started me thinking about where Paul had preached. God had put him in some pretty crazy scenarios and the result was Paul always telling of the glory of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at where Paul preached:
In prison, in the desert, by the sea, in big cities, in small towns, on a ship, in palaces, on an island, in synagogues, in courtrooms, in homes, in throne rooms, in the wilderness. You see wherever Paul was, the gospel was. Wherever Paul was, you would hear the gospel. Paul was in Christ, Christ was in Paul.
So how are we any different than Paul today? Do we have a different DNA? Do we have a different soul? Do we have a different command? Do we have a different Jesus? Of course all no’s, so how was Paul used so greatly by God? He was 100% sold out. We toss around that terminology today but do it no justice. Open up God’s Word and you can see what God can do with somebody that’s sold out to Him. My friends, we have a very high mark set before us. We should as Paul did, have Christ in us and us be in Christ. We should live for the opportunity to tell others of the love of Jesus Christ. So what does that look like? It looks like people telling others of Jesus in workplaces, schools, jobsites, meetings, homes, churches, malls, grocery stores, parking lots, neighborhoods, jails and hospitals. Anywhere there are people there is a need.
What we need is a world full of Paul’s. I’ve got news…we are equipped the very same as Paul. We have the same Holy Spirit that Paul had. We have the same Jesus that Paul had. We have the same Heavenly Father that Paul had. You are a Paul and I am a Paul. Tell of Jesus like Paul.
God bless you all in your effort to share the love of Jesus with the world.
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