Video teaching coming soon
There is no online teaching for this study yet, but the written notes and any available study resources are still below.
These are the original teaching notes from this passage.
Review…
- Philippians 1:1-3
- The opening of the letter is unique – Paul introduces himself as a servant of Jesus…
- An unusual greeting from Paul (only 3 times) – he usually opens with ‘Paul an Apostle’…
- But Paul did not need to establish his authority in order to correct this church…
- Instead he wanted to come alongside them as a servant and build them up in their walk!
- Philippians 1:4-11
- Paul was thankful for the church in Philippi…
- He was in prison in Rome – but every time He thought of them it brought a smile…
- He had a great love for the church because they stood by him – even in prison!
- Paul knew God would finish the work He had started in them many years ago…
- Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi…
- Was that they would overflow with the knowledge of the Love of Jesus…
- That they would know what really mattered in life – a relationship with God…
- That the church would walk in sincerity – and abound with fruit towards God!
Rejoicing in suffering… (8 things)
- 1st – The theme of the book of Philippians is joy…
- When we are going through trials and tribulations – joy is not our first response…
- Our natural reaction is to want to complain – we want to curse and get mad…
- But if we are honest – the trials we are going through are really not that bad…
- Consider for a moment Job – who lost everything he had – wealth / family / heath…
- It would have been easy to give up – just to curse God and walk away…
- But instead, Job worshiped the Lord – and in all he did he did not sin – Job 2:10
- Paul takes it a step further – not only are we not to curse God – we are to rejoice!
- We rejoice in tribulations/hardships – because they serve a purpose – Romans 5:3-5…
- When we face trials/tribulations in life – we get to see God’s faithfulness
- When we have no money – and we see the Lord provide for all our needs
- When we are sick – and we see the Lord miraculously heal
- If there were never any challenges – we would never get to see God do a work!
- Tribulations give us perseverance/patience…
- As we experience God taking care of all our needs – looking out for us
- We gain confidence that He will take care of us the next time as well…
- When we sit down in a chair – we do not inspect it first to see if it will hold up…
- We have confidence because the chair has never failed us before!
- It is not that we are men of great faith – we have seen God’s great faithfulness!
- We are confident the Lord will take care of us – cause He has never failed us
- Our confidence in the Lord’s faithfulness – gives us a godly character…
- We become known as those who trust in – rely on the Lord…
- Men who do not panic in the trials – men who patiently wait on the Lord…
- Who trust in / depend on Jesus – cause we have learned He is trustworthy…
- So we can rejoice in trials because we know they make us Godly men!
- 2nd – Because trials spread the Gospel… vs. 12
- The word ‘spread’ – is a military term that means to trail blaze…
- Paul was a trailblazer – going to spread the Gospel where it had never gone before…
- Romans 15:20 – “My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard…”
- As a results Paul went through a LOT of trials – he was in CONSTANT danger!
- I Corinthians 11:23-25 – “I have… been put in jail often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.”
- The path of the Gospel was paved with the trials of those who shared Jesus!
- All of these things happened – because Paul was out sharing the Gospel message…
- While life might have been easier if he kept his mouth shut – people needed to hear!
- There are few things that will inspire more hated in men – than love for Jesus…
- The more we stand for Christ – the more others will come against us…
- The question is do we let those trials shut our mouth – or make us bolder…
- Often people turn back from sharing Jesus just because of little incontinences…
- It is raining – I do not want to get wet / there is a basketball game on TV…
- People need to hear the Gospel – the alternative is hell – so we need to tell them!
- 3rd – Because God has us where we are for a purpose… vs. 13
- Paul was in Rome – in prison in the Praetorian Guard house…
- He was there for two years chained to Roman soldiers – 24 hours a day 7 days a week…
- The soldiers would change shifts every six hours – a new person to talk about Jesus!
- Paul was not chained to a guard – they were chained to him – captive audience!
- God had put Paul right where He wanted him – as an opportunity to share Jesus!
- God has us where we are on purpose – it is no accident…
- We often make the mistake of overlooking the opportunities in from of us…
- If we are in school – we might think of it as a prison – but it is an opportunity…
- For 8 hours a day we are surrounded by students who cannot go anywhere!
- Or perhaps it is our work – and we feel like it is a prison…
- But God has us there so we can use it as an opportunity to share the Love of Jesus!
- We think about Jesus in church – but it is the everyday people that need to hear!
- 4th – Because it gives boldness to others… vs. 14
- Most believers were much bolder because of Paul’s chains…
- They saw that Paul was not going to let anything stop him from sharing Jesus…
- And the boldness of Paul was contagious – it helped others stand up as well!
- When Joseph of Arimathea stood for up for Jesus – so did Nicodemus – John 19:39…
- The boldness of Joseph was contagious – Nicodemus stood up for Christ as well!
- When we stand up for Jesus – we will find we are not alone…
- Whether we know it or not – people are watching us – following our example…
- If we are conforming to the world – chances, are they will ‘stumble’ with us…
- The opposite is also true – if we stand up for Jesus – it will give boldness to others…
- When you are willing to go to Bible studies – you will find others follow…
- When you stand up for Jesus around family / friends – it gives other boldness too!
- 5th – Because God has called us… vs. 15-18
- Some people preached the Gospel – trying to add to Paul’s chains… vs. 16-17
- In other words, there were people who wanted to get Paul into even more trouble…
- Speaking of the Judaizers – religious teachers who said you had to keep the Law…
- Paul had an ongoing battle with these false teachers…
- His first encounter with them came after his return from his 1st missions’ trip…
- Acts 15:1 – “Certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”
- They thought by ‘preaching in Paul’s name’ – it might add years to his sentence…
- Others preached the Gospel – out of Love for Paul…
- Not wanting to add to Paul’s chains – they knew he was there to defend the Gospel!
- Defense – apologia – defense / reasoned statement / argument (apologetics)
- It is important to be able to give a defense for our faith in Jesus
- We do not need to be able to answer every question – know every verse…
- But we should be able to answer questions – tell people about Jesus!
- I Peter 3:15 – “If you are asked about your Christian hope… be ready to explain it.”
- Paul did not care what their motivation was – he was not going to be distracted…
- No matter what others did – He was going to just do what God called him to do!
- People are going to say bad things about us – false accusation to make us look bad…
- We can defend ourselves – run around putting out all the little fires…
- But no sooner to we extinguish one – than anther accusation pops up!
- We cannot react every time someone makes a false accusation against us…
- If we do we will waste all our time and effort – rather than using it to serve God!
- If we are guilty – then we need to repent / if not – then who cares what people say…
- God knows we are innocent – and He is the only one who really matters…
- Do not be distracted by the comments – be faithful to the calling God has given you!
- No matter what their motive – Paul rejoiced Jesus was preached!
- There are a lot of people today who abuse the message of the Gospel…
- There are many ‘pastors’ / ‘teachers’ today who use the Bible as a way to get rich…
- TBN – if you do not give us money – it is your fault people will go to hell…
- Or pastors who will send you their sweaty cloth to heal you – for a small ‘love’ gift…
- Televangelist who talk as much about money as about the Good News…
- Amazingly God can still use these people to spread the Gospel – people get saved…
- Not to their credit – but to the credit of God – who can use people with bad motives!
- 6th – We know what happens in the end… vs. 19
- Paul knew the trials would have an end – one day he would be saved…
- Our trials are only for a moment – heaven will last for an eternity…
- We can also rejoice in hardships – knowing what waits for us in the end…
- II Corinthians 4:17 – “Our light and momentary troubles…”
- Following Jesus is not a guarantee we will not go through suffering in this life…
- But it turns out to be just the opposite – Jesus guarantees suffering – John 16:3
- But it turns out – they are just little problems – in the light of eternity!
- But how do we find the strength to endure the trial…
- Paul gives two things – prayer / and the supply of the Spirit of Christ…
- We are not alone in our trials – we are called to pray for each other…
- James 5:16 – “Pray for each other… the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.”
- Pray that the Spirit is poured out on our lives – so we have the strength to stand!
- 7th – Christ is magnified… vs. 20
- Paul understood that as he stood boldly in his trials – people would see Jesus…
- If God blesses us – and we praise Him – that is nothing extraordinary…
- When we are in the midst of a trial – and we praise Him – people take notice!
- God uses us to reveal Himself to others who otherwise do not know Him!
- Why does God need us in order to magnify Himself…
- Our sun is so big – if hollowed out – could hold 1.3 million earths
- The next closest star to our sun (Antares) is so large it could hold 64 of our suns
- In comparison – the star Hercules could hold 110 million Antares…
- Epsilon – the largest known star – could hold 3 million Hercules…
- Yet – they only look like a prick of light in the sky – because they are so very far away…
- God is huge – but lost sinners are very far from Jesus…
- It is though our lives that we magnify Christ so that they can see His love
- 8th – To live is Christ – to die is gain… vs. 21
- Paul understood that it was all about Jesus…
- While he was still alive – He lived to tell others about the Love of Christ…
- Life ultimately has one purpose – to choose where we will spend eternity…
- Nothing else is as important – no other decision we make lasts forever!
- So as long as we are alive – we should live to tell others about Jesus!
- Paul looked forward to the day when he would die…
- That was the ultimate victory – to go home and see Jesus’ face to face!
- Death to us is not scary – it is not uncertain – it means going home!
- So whether we live or die – it is all about one thing – Jesus!