Brother Bill texted me yesterday,
said he wanted to read a scripture that would be a comfort to the
Lord's people that are in trial. Asked if I had any recommendation. I said, well, I'll narrow it
down to the Psalms. I said, go to the Psalms. And
the Lord led you to a good one, Bill. That's a comfort right
there. We can relate to that. All God's
people can relate to that. Well, here in Philippians 1, they say that the first statement
you make in a passage is the most important statement. It's
a statement people will remember. Here's my opening statement.
God brings to pass all things in providence. And whatever God
brings to pass in providence, is number one, for the furtherance
of the gospel. That's the number one reason.
For His glory, for the honor and glory of His Son, Christ
Jesus. And number two, it's for the
good of those He's everlastingly loved. Everything in providence
is worked by our sovereign God. He does as He pleases in heaven. He does as He pleases in this
earth. And He's doing it on purpose,
according to His eternal purpose. He's doing it for His glory.
He is furthering the gospel of Christ in whatever He brings
to pass. No matter how bad it may appear
to you and me. How it may appear to be doing
just the opposite. That's what he's doing, furthering
the gospel, bringing glory to his name, and it's always, always,
always for the good of his people, always. Christ put Paul in prison
at Rome. That looked pretty bad. He put
Paul in prison at Rome. He used men to do it, but it
was God our Savior that did it. It was God our Savior that did
it. And Paul wanted his brethren at Philippi to understand that
the things that had happened to him, rather than hinder the
gospel, had furthered the gospel. He said in verse 12, But I would
you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out, rather, unto the furtherance of the gospel.
And he gives three things here. as examples. Number one, the
Lord saved some all along the way and in Caesar's house. He said, verse 13, so that my
bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all
the places. Number two, many brethren were
more bold to preach Christ. He said in verse 14, and many
of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds,
are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed
preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention. not sincerely supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I'm
set for the defense of the gospel, what then? Notwithstanding, every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. and I therein to rejoice yea,
and will rejoice. And number three, it resulted,
all of this that happened to Paul resulted in Paul's own growth
in grace and it further unified the brethren. He said in verse
19, For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through
your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according
to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall
be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also
Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life
or by death. Our subject is trials further
the gospel. Trials further the gospel. Paul
was imprisoned at Philippi and when he first went there to preach
the gospel. But God worked a miracle there
and set him free. God sent an earthquake and tore
up the prison house and then he put it in the heart of the
magistrates to set Paul free. He's at Rome, he's in prison,
but God hadn't set him free. God didn't set him free. And
so the Philippian brethren might think, they might be thinking
that the Lord was against Paul. He'd set him free when he was
at Philippi, but this time he didn't, and he's left him in
bonds. So they might think the Lord
has forsaken Paul. So Paul's assuring these brethren
that everything that had happened, everything that had happened,
resulted in the furtherance of the gospel of Christ. Everything
did. Everything God works in providence
is furthering the gospel of Christ, glorifying God, exalting Christ,
and it's working out for the good of God's people, teaching
us by providence. We know Romans 8.28, we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. That's what Paul's
telling us and that's what we see in this passage. First of
all, by putting Paul in prison at Rome, Paul was able to preach
the gospel all the way on the way there and then when he got
there in the palace, And he preached the gospel in places he would
have otherwise not been able to preach. He wouldn't have been able to
preach. He said, verse 13, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest
in all the palace and in all other places. You know, when
he was initially arrested, he was at Jerusalem. I don't have
time to go into the detail, but it's just amazing to think that
Paul, who was so bold, who, you know, rebuked Peter, that Peter
got up from the Gentile table and moved over to the Jews' table
and said, you know, that was not according to the gospel and
rebuked him. Then he went to Jerusalem, and
it just must have been a moment of weakness. And he agreed with
James to this deal of, you know, you got these Jewish believers
and they think you're against the law. They hear you preach
everywhere Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. They think you're against the
law. We got these brethren that came under a Jewish vow. They
can't pay what they owe. Why don't you be at charges for
them and go pay what they owe and they'll see you're not against
the law. And Paul did that. And God wasn't going to bless
that. God was not going to bless that. God was going to bless
the preaching of Christ. But Paul went to do it. But before
he did it, the Lord slammed the door shut and had Paul arrested. Didn't allow him to go through
with it. Didn't allow him to do it. He was arrested there. But when he was arrested there,
immediately God gave him a large audience at Jerusalem. And this is what the Lord slammed
the door shut on Paul's endeavor, what him and James had come up
with, their fleshly way of trying to persuade the Jewish brethren. He shut the door on that, and
immediately God gave him this huge audience, and you know what
Paul did? He preached Christ. That's what
he should have done at the beginning. He preached Christ. And then
they took Paul on their way to Rome and God sent a hurricane
and he shipwrecked them on the Isle of Miletus. And Paul preached
the gospel to some barbarians there. And I tend to think the
Lord probably saved somebody on that island. It seems he did. Doesn't say it clearly, but it
seems like he might have. But he preached the gospel to
them. Wouldn't have been able to otherwise. On the voyage,
they stopped at Petoli and Paul met some brethren that he had
never seen. He preached the gospel to them
for seven days. You can find that in Acts 28. He preached to them for seven
days. And then he met some brethren at a place called the Three Taverns. They stopped at that place and
he preached the gospel to them in Acts 28. The Roman government
is paying the whole way. They're paying for the whole
trip. And Paul's just preaching the gospels all along the way.
He's in chains, but he's preaching the gospel everywhere they go.
And then they get to Rome, and Paul preaches the gospel. And
it says in Acts 28, 24, some believe the things which were
spoken, and some believe not. He says in Acts 28.30, Paul dwelt
two whole years in his own hired house. It was sort of like house
of rest, what we would call house of rest. People could come in.
He couldn't leave. And he received all that came
in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no
man forbidding him. Brethren, one of the most encouraging
verses in the whole Scripture. that proves this point right
here, that God's working all providence to further the gospel,
to call out His lost elect and for the good of His people that
are called out. One of the most encouraging verses
in all the scriptures at the end of this letter. Look at Philippians
4. And look at this, Philippians
4, verse 22. You'd read right over this if
you're not careful, but this is so encouraging. Philippians
4, verse 22. Paul is writing this from Rome,
from prison, and he writes and says, All the saints salute you,
chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The Lord had some
elect in Caesar's house. That's why he sent Paul in chains
to Rome to preach the gospel, to preach the gospel to him.
The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the redemption of every elect
child that the Father gave to him. He accomplished our redemption. He fulfilled the law in perfect
righteousness for us. He purged the sins of his people
completely. And the same justice the same
holiness of God that required that He send His Son and His
Son must fulfill the law for His people and justify His people
and show how God's just in saving His people, honor and magnify
the law. The same holiness and justice
of God that the man Christ accomplished that for His people. Now that
Christ has accomplished it for His people, that same justice
to man Everyone that he did it for have got to be called out
of darkness. They've got to be given faith.
They've got to be brought to Christ, every one of them. And
that whole voyage, and him shipwrecking Paul on the island, and meeting
up with brethren along the way, and him getting there, and God
calling out His elect in Caesar's house, all of that shows us,
if God's got an elect child somewhere, He can get the gospel to them.
And He will get the gospel to them. That's just so, brethren. That's just so. That's just so. That's why I had Paul arrested.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? You remember in the early
church, whenever His saints were persecuted, and they were scattered,
they were scattered by this persecution. It says in Acts 8.4, therefore,
that they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching
the Word. That's why God scattered them.
You know, if God hadn't done that, if He hadn't let them be
persecuted, and scattered them. We like it when, and we have
some times as believers where things are easy, things are good,
and we like those times. But we'll get lulled into a slumber,
and God's just not gonna let his child be at ease in this
world. He'll shake it up, and he'll wake it up, wake you up,
and And that's what he did there. There was a lot of work to be
done. The gospel was being established in the early church and so he
had them persecuted to scatter them and they went everywhere
preaching the gospel. That's what he's doing in our
day too. When he let something like that come to pass. The hand
of the Lord, it says, was with them and a great number believed
and turned unto the Lord. That's what he was doing. So
Paul wasn't ashamed of his chain. He wasn't ashamed that he was
in prison. He said this in 2 Timothy 2.8. He said, Remember that Jesus
Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even
unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure
all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The
gospel is never bound. God may have us bound. and may
bring us into affliction where we are judged and evildoer and
bound and all of that. But the gospel is not bound.
God is furthering the gospel by His providence and He is saving
His people. You can mark that down. Now secondly,
through Paul's trial, the Lord made brethren preach Christ more
boldly. Not only did Paul preach the
gospel, it emboldened other brethren to preach the gospel more boldly.
Paul said in verse 14, and many of the brethren in the Lord,
now these are brethren in the Lord he's talking about. Now
mark that down. That's important because of what
he's going to say here. Many brethren in the Lord, waxing
confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without
fear. Some, indeed, preach Christ even
of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preaches
Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to
my bonds. but the other of love, knowing
that I'm set for the defense of the gospel, what then? Notwithstanding
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached."
Now that's the important thing. Christ was truly being preached
in truth according to the scriptures. If Christ wouldn't have been
preached, he wouldn't have said any of this. But he's saying
whether their motive was true or their motive was a bad motive,
what I'm rejoicing in is they're preaching Christ in truth. And
he said, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. near Paul while he was in prison. They saw the joy that the Lord
put in his heart. Those that were around him and
knew him and saw him, any that visited him, any that got his
letters and could hear it, and the Lord blessed the word to
them, they saw the joy that was in Paul's heart in what the Lord
was doing. through sending him there in
that prison. And they saw the Lord was providing
for Paul. That he protected Paul that whole
way that he was in prison. And they saw the Lord was blessing
the gospel and calling out his people through Paul's preaching.
And so many of the brethren in the Lord, they became confident
by those bonds of Paul. And they began to speak boldly
without fear. They were very confident of Paul's
and spoke boldly. Paul said, though, there were
some, indeed, who preached Christ even of envy and strife. He said in verse 16, they preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to
my bonds. They also became a little more
emboldened to do that by Paul being in bonds. They wouldn't
have done that when Paul was free, but they were doing it
now that he was in bonds. Paul knew there were some who
were envious of him. They were envious. They preached
Christ wanting to promote their own name above Paul. And they were glad when they
saw Paul suffer imprisonment. They were glad of it. It was
something they could use to belittle Paul and promote themselves. And that's what they did. They
were motivated by a competitive spirit. They had a competitive
spirit rather than preaching from goodwill, from a good motive
in love. They served but they didn't do
it sincerely. Paul told Timothy that all in
Asia had turned from him and he named two men, Philegius and
Hermogenes, two men that had spoken against him to turn all
in Asia against him. True brethren, they turned them
against Paul. They said things to brethren
and turned them against Paul and it added to Paul's bondage. It added to his affliction of
heart. It added to the suffering he was going through to see that
happen. When I first was called to be
a pastor, I held all the pastors in such high esteem The Lord
had used them in the gospel they preached to bless my heart, to
bless my family, and I held them in high regard for their work's
sake. And a few years in, something happened that greatly surprised
me, and it disappointed me. And I talked to an aged pastor
about it, and he said this to me, he said, He said, there are
some who preach of envy, and there are some who preach of
strife. He said, it's just so. And he said, it shouldn't be,
but it's just so. And they're doing it to promote
themselves. They're doing it to try to get a following. And
he said, they'll watch for anything they can use to speak negative
about you. And I didn't understand it then.
I really didn't. But I do now. I understand it
now. And this wise pastor's counsel
to me was, he said, God's on his throne. He said, God's on
his throne. He said, do not speak against
them to any of your brethren. He said, don't say a negative
word about them to any of your brethren. He said, trust God
to deal with such men. If they're His, God will correct
them. And if they're not His, God will
use them just as long as He's pleased to use them, and then
He won't use them. He said God will give discernment
to His people. He'll give discernment to your
brethren to know what men are doing when they're speaking against
you. He said, God will give your brethren
discernment to know that. He said, just trust the Lord
and leave it in His hand. Leave it in His hand. And he
said this, he said, and one more thing, he said, when men speak
against you, he said, God will use that to make brethren listen. to your preaching more. He said
it will work just the opposite of what men intended it to work.
And I've heard of stories, and this is so, you know, where folks
would go to Ashland back years ago, and they'd ask around when
they'd moved to Ashland, where'd they go to hear the gospel preached?
And religious folks would say, well, you go to any of the churches
in Ashland, you'll be happy at any of these churches, but whatever
you do, don't go to 13th Street and hear that man Henry Mahan.
Well, where do you think they went? They'd go straight to 13th
Street. And there's a lot of brethren
that the Lord saved that went there because of that very reason. Because of that very reason.
In Paul's day, what those men did not understand is Paul didn't
care what their motive was. Paul didn't care what their motive
was. Paul didn't have such a selfish competitive spirit like they
had. Paul wanted to know Christ was being preached. He wanted
to see God calling out his people. That's what he wanted. He would
have rejoiced if they preached Christ, he rejoiced. Now if they
was not preaching Christ, he would not have rejoiced. He wouldn't
have said this if they weren't preaching the gospel of Christ.
But their motive was bad and their motive was in pretense.
They were seeking to add to his affliction and were adding to
his affliction. That didn't bother him. Well, it probably bothered
him, but he didn't let that affect him. What he rejoiced in is Christ
was being preached in truth according to the scriptures. That's what
he rejoiced in. Christ was being preached according
to the scriptures. I pray God keep me from having
a selfish, competitive spirit when it comes to preaching the
gospel, when it comes to his church. There's pastors that
have a lot more gifts than I have. There's pastors who minister
to larger congregations than I do. I'm thankful God's given
them those gifts. I'm thankful the Lord has saved
people under their preaching. I'm talking about true preachers.
I'm thankful for that because this is really what I feel like.
Their prosperity is my prosperity. Their prosperity is our prosperity. Because all God's elect are all
members of the same body. We're of one body. Christ is
the head. We got one righteousness, Christ
Jesus. We're born of one spirit. There
ain't no competition. When the last one's called out,
we're all going home. So prosper on, brother. I want you to prosper. I'm happy
for you to prosper. Because their prosperity is my
prosperity and your prosperity. And I don't have anything to
glory in. I have nothing to glory in. I'm a sinner. That's all I am, is a sinner
saved by the grace of God, being saved by the grace of God every
day. That's all I am. All I am. I'm happy to take my place and
say I'm the least of all the preachers and I'm the chief of
sinners. But I have a Savior who is King
of Kings and Lord of Lords, who has accomplished the redemption
of His people, and I want Him to have the glory. And if I don't
care what a man's motive is, if he's being exalted and he's
being preached in truth and I see the Lord calling out His people,
I'm happy. I'm happy. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? One plants another
waters. It's God that gives the increase.
It's God that gives the increase. But Paul knew there were some
others who preached of goodwill. They preached out of love for
Christ and they loved Paul. And he knew that. They knew he
was set for the defense of the gospel. And so he said there
in verse 18, What then, notwithstanding every way, whether their motives
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I therein. In fact, Christ is preached.
That's what I rejoice in. That's what I will rejoice in.
If a man is standing up and he's preaching the truth that all
men in Adam died, so that we are unable to contribute to our
salvation, one iota, so that we are unable to make ourselves
righteous, unable to make ourselves holy, unable to save ourselves. If a man is preaching that God
the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, the God-man, who
is the one mediator between God and man, and He given him all
the glory, they declaring that the Lord Jesus Christ came down
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that our Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth
in perfection, doing always those things that pleased the Father,
that He went to the cross and bore the sin and curse of His
people so that He put away all our sin, put away the curse for
us, so that there is now no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus.
If they're declaring the necessity that He send forth the Gospel
and send forth the Holy Spirit and bless the heart of His people
and give us spiritual life and give us faith and every grace
that we have is a fruit of His producing. so that He is the
one who is both our righteousness and our sanctification, so that
He's the only one that gets the glory. If they're preaching that,
brethren, whatever a man's motive is, I rejoice. Christ is being exalted. I don't
know any man's heart. Do you? If Christ is being rejoiced,
I can know that. I can hear that. I mean, if He's
being exalted, I can hear that. And I rejoice if that's the case.
And I trust Christ. You know, that's the other thing.
If men appear to have a bad motive, trust Christ. Just trust the
Lord. Just trust Him. And don't talk about your brethren. And just trust the Lord. And
the Lord is going to teach His people. The Lord will teach His
people. And what He's doing is for the
furtherance of the gospel. This is what John Newton said.
I put it in the bulletin this week. John Newton said, Well,
it is for us that there is one who watches the watchman. a shepherd who himself neither
slumbers nor sleeps, and yet knows how to have compassion
on those who are prone to do both." That's a pretty good statement. We got a shepherd who never slumbers
or sleeps. He'll watch his watchman. And
when we try to slumber or sleep, he'll deal with his watchman.
I can trust that. I can trust him. Alright, lastly,
God used Paul's imprisonment for Paul's good and for the good
of his brethren. He unified his brethren. Paul
said in verse 19, he said, For I know that this shall turn to
my salvation. That word means my preservation,
my deliverance, my salvation. This will turn to my salvation
through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that
in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness as
always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether
it be by life or by death." You know, through trials, God makes
His child trust Christ more and have confidence in ourselves
less. That's what he accomplishes in
the trial. God is not trying to teach you
and me anything. He will get the lesson in the
heart of his child. And the lesson will be this,
he's going to bring his children to trust him more and have less
confidence in ourselves. That's true growth in grace.
This thing that men talk about being growth in grace, where
they're so proud as walking around like a peacock, that ain't growth
in grace. Growth in grace is making you
trust Christ more and see yourself as more of a center in need of
Christ to keep you and save you constantly. That's true growth
in grace. Paul already knew the things
that he declared here. He already knew these things.
But by the trial, and the imprisonment, and all the shipwreck, and the
Lord preserving him, and keeping him, and then blessing the gospel,
giving him the word to preach, and then blessing the gospel.
He wrote three books while he was in prison. Three of the books
we have in the New Testament. He wrote in prison there. And the Lord saving his people
and doing what he was doing, and it made Paul know these things
now more by experience, by the providence God put him through.
We saw Thursday night how you learn these things and you grow
by God's growing you by hearing the gospel preached and then
God putting you through some painful providence to learn them
by experience. And that's what Paul experienced.
And he said, I know this shall turn to my salvation. And he
said, that'll be so whether by life or by death. Now get that. Paul knew Christ had already
delivered him, so he knew Christ would deliver him. Christ had
already delivered him and he knew Christ would deliver him.
And he said, this will turn to my salvation, my deliverance, whether it's by life or death.
Christ has redeemed his people, brethren. He's redeemed us from
the curse of the law. He was made a curse for us and
redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's already delivered
us. He saved us. He redeemed us from
death. Christ is our life. So having
already delivered us, brethren, having come to us and given you
life and brought you to see Him and know Him and believe Him,
He's already delivered you. Therefore, you can rest assured,
He will continue to deliver His people. It's going, whatever
it is, it's going to turn to your salvation. Just mark that
down. He will either deliver you from
the trial and you'll live a little longer in this world, or He will
deliver you from that body of death you live in and from this
world into His glorious presence. But it's salvation either way.
You believe that? It's salvation either way. He
said, I know this shall turn to my salvation, whether by life
or by death. Either way. Either way. You know, we pray for one another
if we get sick or we're in a trial, and I know we want to see one
another get well and the Lord heal us, and if He does, we thank
God for that. Are we prepared to thank God
if He delivers us by not healing us and taking us out of this
world? He's going to save His children, whether it's by life
or by death, so glorify God. He's saving you either way. It's
even better. Paul's going to say that. We'll
see next time. It's even better if he saves
you out of this world. He said, it's according to my
earnest expectation and hope. This is my earnest expectation
and hope. That in nothing I should be ashamed. In nothing. But that with all
boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life or by death. I can hear some
people I can hear those brethren that were going around talking
about Paul and they turned all those brethren in Asia against
him. I can hear them read that and say, oh, Paul is just trying
to justify himself. He did something or the Lord
wouldn't have put him in that condition or whatever. Listen,
that wasn't righteous judgment. That's not righteous judgment.
Paul, Paul didn't want, he didn't want men to reject him like they
did, but he couldn't put it in their heart not to. And they
rejected him. And they put him in chains. He
couldn't stop them from doing that. So it would be unjust judgment
to condemn Paul for something these men did to him that he
couldn't prevent him from doing it. And besides that, it was
God's will to put him in them chains and put him where he was.
That's so me and you, brethren. When God's put you in a serious
trial, use just judgment. Use just discernment. Paul said,
I know I'm not gonna be ashamed. This is my earnest expectation
and my hope. Christ should be magnified in
my body, whether it's by life or by death. God's promise to
His child, to you He's given faith in Christ, His promise
to you is, you shall never be ashamed for trusting Christ.
Never. You will never be put to confusion,
you'll never be confounded for trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark that down. That's the promise
of God. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. He said in Isaiah 45, 16, they
shall be ashamed and also confounded, all of them. They shall go to
confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. That's just so. That's God's
promise. By the grace of God our Father,
by Christ our Redeemer, by the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, every believer has this immutable promise of God, we
shall never be ashamed. Never. Not only shall we not
be ashamed, but by the supply of the Spirit of Christ, Christ
shall be magnified in our body, whether it be by life or death,
Christ shall be magnified. Paul said in Philippians 4 and
verse 19, My God shall supply all your need according to His
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That's so. The Philippians had
already seen God bring glory to his name. They'd already seen
the Lord magnify Christ in Paul when he delivered him from prison
when he first came there and preached the gospel. They've
already seen that. So they might think now that
that's how God's going to magnify Christ in His body now. He's
going to deliver them from every trial they face and He's going
to deliver them out of, you know, it's always going to turn out
to where they're going to be delivered and they're going to
be in good health and all of that. Paul said, If Caesar is
pleased to kill me and ask God's will for Caesar to kill me, he
said, I have an earnest expectation and hope that when he kills me
by the supply of Christ Jesus, Christ is going to be magnified
in my body. Christ to be magnified in my
body. Remember that brethren, when you need dying grace, He'll
give you dying grace. If you need martyrdom grace,
He'll give you martyrdom grace. And you and me don't have it.
We don't have the ability to face death or anything else and
magnify Christ in our body if it's left to us. We'll do like
Peter. We'll damsel by fire, may Peter
cuss and say, I don't know him. But if He gives you the grace
by His supply, He'll make you magnify Him. That's right. It'll be to His glory. Not only
did God use this trial to work good for Paul, He worked it for
the brethren too. Paul said, God's going to do
this for me through your prayer. Now don't just pass over a phrase
like that. And don't look at it like the
world talks about prayer. I'll leave that for another time.
But here's what I want you to get. What that means is, this
trial Paul was in, it made every one of his brethren at Philippi
cast all their care on Christ. That's what it made them do.
They were praying to Christ to work His will, to do whatever
it pleased Him to do, because they could not help Paul When they sent a gift to Paul
and ministered to Paul, it was because the Lord opened the door
and gave them the ability to do it. And there where they are
praying to the Lord, casting all their care on Him. That's
what the trial is for, brethren. We start to slumber and we get
sleepy. The Lord is going to wake you
up and he is going to make you see that you need him and prayer
is the Lord bringing you to his feet to bow to his will to cast
all your care on him and trust Christ to do the saving. That
is what they were doing. So this was working good for
his brethren too. It unified them. It don't mean
they went around calling everybody and trying to rally everybody.
Now let's have a big prayer meeting. Why does religion always insist
on everybody's got to do it? You know? I think we all ought
to do such and such. Well, how about this? If you
think that that ought to be done, do it. You do it. But why does
religion always have to make it a group effort? God might
make it a group effort. God has in the past put it in
the hearts of people where they were of one mind and they did
it together. And if he does that, fine. But
if he puts in your heart to pray, you go to him and pray. I don't
picture the Church of Philippi all having a rally, wanting to
know that we're going to come together and pray for Paul. I
picture all of them, when they were going through their day
working, they're praying for Paul while they're working. Whatever
they were doing, as soon as Paul crossed their mind, they're praying,
Lord, please save Paul. And whatever And they were doing
this together. And whether we're in the same
room or not, that's what religion, carnal religion don't have the
spirit. So they got to see things. And if they don't see everybody
in the same room, then everybody's not united in prayer. Well listen,
with God you could be a million miles over here and me over here,
but when we're brought to the feet of Christ in prayer, wherever
you are, we are united at His feet praying to Christ. Right
this morning, when the gospel was going forth, Everybody in
glory that's there is all looking to Christ, worshiping Christ,
and everybody in this earth that's hearing the gospel preached right
now are all looking to Christ. We are all together in heaven
and earth worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ together, and not
even in the same city. That's what the Lord did. He
united them all to cast their care on Christ. That's good.
It don't matter what else God's doing in the trial. If He brings
you there to know more of His grace and His glory and cast
your care on Him, mission accomplished. That's the purpose. That's no
better good for us than to be at Christ's feet casting our
care on Him. So you see, brethren, this is
an example of how all things are worked together by our God
for our good, exactly according to His purpose for His glory. For the furtherance of the gospel,
to embolden His preachers to preach the gospel, and for the
good of His people, that's what it was for. To God be the glory. Amen.