Amen. Well, as we all know, Paul
wrote this church. I mean, wrote to this church,
the Philippian church, while he was in prison. We know that
Paul also planted this church in prison or majority of this
church in prison. We know that in the book of Acts,
when after Paul Rebuked the the demon woman and the spirit come
out of her and she cost her owners Great gain because she could
not fortune-tell for them no more and her owners brought her
before the magistrate and we know that Paul and Silas was
stripped down naked and beaten and and then thrown in a cell.
And then at midnight, Paul and Silas go to singing hymns, and
we know an earthquake came. And we know that when the earthquake
came, all the walls were knocked down and all the prisoners couldn't
escape. So the guard drew his sword to
take his own life. And Paul says, no, we're all
here. And he cries out, what must do we be saved? And Paul
said, you must believe upon Christ. And we know that the jailer and
his own whole household was saved. So we know they were part of
that church. We know Lydia was part of this church when Paul
was going to a place of prayer. God opened up the heart. of Lydia
to receive the Word of God, so that she might believe upon Christ
and be saved. So we know these are the people
whom Paul is writing to, plus some. And he's writing this letter,
as all the letters of the epistles, to instruct the church, to encourage
the church, to teach about false teaching and all other different
things that the apostles always wrote to, that the church might
know how to live their life. That's why it's very important
as individuals that we read the epistles. I mean, all the Bible
is important, but we know the epistles, meaning from Romans
to Revelation, was wrote by the apostles to the local church
that we might know how to live our life and we might know what
is right and what is wrong when it comes to true and false teaching.
But here we have in verse 19, or right before we get to 19,
Paul says, yes, I will rejoice. Now prior to that, Paul says,
I rejoice. So one reason why Paul would
rejoice before he says, yes, I will rejoice in verse 18, is
that Paul would rejoice at the gospel being preached, even while
he was in chains. I know a lot of times when we
can't, especially myself, when I have a heart's desire to go
somewhere and preach the gospel and God shuts the door, sometimes
I go, wow, you know, well, nobody can preach the gospel then. But
we know that God raises up many labors and many places to preach
his gospel. So whether I'm there or someone
else is there, God will always have people about preaching his
gospel. And here, Paul, you can just imagine if Paul's in chains,
well, who's out there preaching the gospel if the apostle's in
chains? Well, we know that through Paul being put in chains, God
raised up other men to what? Preach the gospel around that
area. That God is not needing of one man to preach the gospel,
God can raise up many men to preach the gospel. But while
they were preaching the gospel, Paul rejoices because the gospel's
going forth. One way it's going forth, through
men who love God and men who love their neighbor as they love
their self, men who love the church, so therefore they're
preaching Christ crucified through repentance and faith in Him alone
for salvation, and Paul rejoices in that. But also there were
men who had the right gospel but were preaching for selfish
gain. The men who were preaching for
their own glory. I mean, think about it. Paul's
locked up. They knew that this church loved Paul, had a great
affection for Paul. And in their minds, they thought
the church was glorifying Paul, and now Paul's put in prison.
So here's their opportunity to receive the glory that they thought
in their minds that the church was giving Paul. But we know
the church wasn't giving Paul glory. They were given God glory,
but in these men's minds, they saw Paul being put away, hoping
that he probably in their hearts of hearts would be put to death
so it would just be them left there to preach the church so
that the church would glorify them and they would receive benefit
out of the church for that. But the key here is we know throughout
Scripture, we see the apostles talk about false teachers. Paul's
not rejoicing over false teachers here. Paul would never rejoice
in false teachers. We know from what Scripture teaches
us that Paul would, what, disfellowship or kick men out of the church
for false teaching. So he's not rejoicing over false
teaching here. I know when I was first coming
to faith and I listened to some people like Joyce Myers and Joel
Osteen and Crypto Dollar and T.D. Jakes, I would go, When
people told me they were bad, I'd go, well, Paul's rejoicing
over preaching right here. Why are we not rejoicing over
them men, even if they're doing it out of false motives? Well,
then you realize that them men are false teachers, and Paul's
not rejoicing over false teachers here. He's rejoicing over men
proclaiming the truth. Which also should bring to mind,
as you've heard me and James say in the pulpit before, and
also one-on-one or maybe in Bible study, that there can be men
who know the gospel, preach the gospel accurately, and be lost. Be dead in their sins. Men who
can shepherd a great body of believers and be lost. Men who
can be theologians and know the Word of God greater than me and
James or all three of those elders put together and be lost. Hear
that. I mean, Judas followed Jesus
around for three and a half years, and the apostles never picked
up on him being an unbeliever until after he betrayed Jesus. When Jesus sent the 72 out, including
the apostles, Judas went with them. Judas preached the right
gospel. And who knows, God might have
saved people under the preaching of Judas. We know if you preach
the true gospel, if you preach the word of God, God's spirit
can move and save people. So even though these people have
a bad motive, even though these people are probably not born
again, Paul rejoices because they're preaching the gospel.
That even God can take wicked men and have them preach his
word and save people. We think about Jehovah's Witnesses
and them who come out. That there's power in the word
of God. to save folks. That it's just
the preaching or the reading of God's Word can save people
even if it comes out of an unregenerate mouth. I was encouraged that
I actually this Christmas had a chance to get the Bible CD
and what a blessing to have the Word of God. I've just been in
awe at the power of God's Word and it's not even being preached.
But sometimes we forget, even in the reading of God's word,
just the hearing of God's word, just the hearing of it, of how
powerful it is. That we really and truly, we
can just come here today and read the Bible and that would
be enough. That would be enough. That the
commentary men are light in comparison to the word of God and its heaviness. That men can be lost and preach
the word of God, but even if they preach the true word of
God, we should rejoice. Maybe we don't rejoice over their
sin, but we rejoice over the Word of God going forth, because
we know that the Word of God's going forth that can save folks.
And then Paul goes on and he says, and yes, or as the Greek
would say, in addition to, I rejoice. Because a lot of people think,
well, he's still rejoicing over the second rejoicing over the
preaching of God's Word, which he is. But he turns it to another
thing that I'm, yes, I will rejoice. Now we get in the mindset of
Paul where he's at in this prison cell. Now keep in mind, Paul
can rejoice not because his eyes is on his situation, but he can
rejoice because his eyes is on Christ. Paul fully knew that
his God was sovereign. Hear that. Paul fully knew that
his God was in control of all things. That's what we mean when
we say God is sovereign. A lot of times we say, yes, God
is sovereign, but really do we believe God is sovereign? Do
we believe what the psalmist says when he says God is in heaven
and he does all that he pleases? Do we believe that when God puts
suffering in our life that it's from the hand of God, it's orchestrated
by God, it's ordained by God, it's been predestined by God
for us to suffer in every little bit of suffering that we go through?
None of this that Paul went through, when Paul lists the things, the
Corinthians that he went through, beloved, all of that was placed
in Paul's life by the sovereignty of God. So Paul rejoices. He rejoices here because he knows
that if God has placed it in his life, then God has intended
it for his good and God's glory. Hear that beloved. that God puts
suffering in our lives that he might be glorified through it.
And he intends it for our good. But a lot of times when things
happen, what we would say bad things, then we detract and we
get away from the sovereignty of God in it, and it says though
God doesn't have control over the affairs of men. He only has
the control of the affairs of men when everything's going good
in our life. That's our mindset most of the
time. But when suffering comes, it's like, well, God ain't got
nothing to do with this. But we know Satan could not touch
Job until God allowed him. Paul could not be put in prison
unless God placed him in prison. So in that, Paul rejoices. He
rejoices because he knows he's exactly where God would have
him. It's exactly where God would
have. That if God did not want Paul in prison here, Paul would
not be in prison. If Paul didn't want us suffering
in some of the ways that we're suffering right now, then it
would not be happening if God didn't want it that way. That
we know, as Psalms would say, I think in 139, that he set our
days before us when yet there was none. Every little detail
of our life was already put forth before we were yet even born.
It's the sovereignty of God. Paul's rejoicing here, beloved,
because he knows that this will turn out for his deliverance.
He's rejoicing because God is in control. Whether he goes,
if God either purposes for him to be put out of prison or God
takes his life, he rejoices because God is in control of it. Either
way, it's going to turn out for his deliverance. This is what
he says. He says, yes, I will rejoice, for I know that through
your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this
will turn out for my deliverance. Now a lot of times in the New
Testament when you see the Greek word here used for deliverance,
a lot of times it means salvation. It means justification, glorification,
which everything to do with salvation. Sometimes it means physical healing.
Sometimes it means rescuing from danger or rescuing from death. That we know God here was going
to deliver Paul whether by taking his life or setting you free
from prison. So Paul says in that, I rejoice.
And also he says, I will rejoice for I know that through your
prayers, this will turn out for my deliverance. Now notice here,
Paul's not asking them to pray for him. Though later on in the
letter, he does ask that they would pray for him, that God
would continue to give him boldness to proclaim the word of God. But
here it's already assumed, Paul already knows in his mind that
the church is praying for him. Why? Because Paul knew that he
had affection for them. As he would even say, God is
my witness, I have a yearning for you, affection for you. But
also in that same way, Paul knew if they were born again, they
had affection for him. And they knew that if Paul was buried
in this burden right here, Paul already knew because of their
love for him, that they would be heaping up prayers for him
to God who could deliver him even by taking his life or by
setting him free from prison. So we're assumed Because we know,
as we mentioned last week when we talked about prayer, that
we the church are wanting to bury each other's burdens. Paul's got a burden on him now
because of his flesh suffering so that the church are burying
that burden with him by praying for him and also sending needs
to him, but ultimately praying for him. Because in a situation
like this, What can the church physically do to get him out
of prison? Nothing. In a situation like this, what
could Paul physically do to get himself out of prison? Nothing. Nothing he could do. Isn't it
a lot of times when suffering comes our way, there's nothing
physically we can do to get ourselves out of it, and there's nothing
physically that the church can do to get us out of it? Isn't that
a good place to be? None of our minds is not, but
in reality it is. It causes us to become humble
and dependent upon God and to offer up prayers to God that
He would help us get us out of this situation, but also that
the church would be stirred up to pray for us as well. For beloved,
the greatest thing we could do for each other besides ministering
to each other with the Word of God is to pray for each other.
And if we love each other, we will be praying for each other.
Because what we cannot do for each other, God can. Hear that,
beloved? God is a God who can do all things
that He wants to do. There's nothing that God cannot
do. And we as believers, we know that. So when one suffers in
our fellowship, we pray for them knowing that what we cannot do,
God can do. We can give one, we can, for
instance, when one is hurting, one is suffering, we can give
them the Word of God, but we cannot make the Word of God give
them peace. We cannot make the Word of God give them comfort.
We can't do that. But as we minister the Word of
God, we teach them the Word of God, we can pray that the God
of heaven would give them peace, that the God of heaven would
give them comfort, beloved, that would cause them to continue
on with God. Paul rejoices because he knows
the church is praying for him here. And because he knows that
the prayers of a righteous person avail him much that God would
answer the prayers of his saints. That God's ears are always open
to his children. And as his children are stirred
up by the power of the Holy Spirit and pray according to the will
of God, it will come to be. Hear that, beloved. He says,
for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. So look,
through the prayers of the saints, but he also says what? Through
the help of the Spirit of Christ, or the second part of the Trinity,
through the help of the Holy Spirit, this will turn out for
my deliverance. Two things we want to look at
here. One, as we know from Romans 8 26, That what? The Spirit helps
us in our weakness. For we don't know what to pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with
growing His two deeper words. And he who searches hearts know
what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes
for the saints according to the will of God. So one thing we
know that when we're suffering and when we can't even in our
flesh is weak and we don't even know what to pray for, the Holy
Spirit of God intercedes for us. And, beloved, we do know
when the Holy Spirit of God intercedes for us, it's not heaping up empty
prayers. It's not giving out random prayers,
as sometimes we do give out random prayers. No, the Holy Spirit
is praying according to the will of the Father. That's when Paul
illustrates in Romans 8 that what? No one can know the mind
of a man except the Spirit. I can't know your minds this
morning, but your Spirit knows your mind. In the same way with
God, that we have the Word of God so we can know the mind of
God. But when it comes to the will of God, the Spirit knows
exactly what the will of the Father is for the life of His
church. Not just for the life of the
whole church, but for every individual of the church. The Father knows,
the Spirit knows. So the Spirit knows the will
of the Father, so therefore the Spirit prays according to the
will of the Father. It isn't like the Holy Spirit
is wanting one thing and the Father's wanting something else.
It isn't that the Son's over here saying, no guys, we gotta
do it this way. No, we know that the Trinity, the triune God,
has always got the same mindset. They got the wanting the same
thing at the exact same time at all times. They're not at
odds with each other. As our high priest Jesus Christ
intercedes for us, he intercedes according to the will of the
Father. The Holy Spirit, as it intercedes for us, it intercedes
for us according to the will of the Father. That everything
that the Holy Spirit utters for us will come to pass. It's not
a maybe if what the Spirit intercedes for us will come to pass. It's
an absolute guarantee that the Spirit of God will help us in
our weakness to deliver us from suffering, whether in a present
moment or eternal. And how do we know one way that
the Holy Spirit helps us? That it keeps us. When we can't pray and yet we're
not falling away, we know the Holy Spirit of God's interceding
for us. When suffering is hitting our life and we don't run, run,
run, run, run, We know it's because the Holy Spirit of God is praying
for us. Because we know the Scripture teaches what? That the Father
will not lose us. No one can snatch us out of the Father's
hand. No one can snatch us out of the Son's hand. God cannot
lose us. And we know that God has promised
in His Word that what? He will sanctify us. That He will keep
us blameless at the coming of Christ. And as Paul would write
at the last part of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, that He would keep
us blameless, He would keep us holy, and that He is faithful
to do so. That God is faithful to keep
us blameless. And one of these ways that He keeps us blameless,
church, at His coming is what? Through the work of the Spirit
in our life. through the Spirit praying for us, and through the
Spirit helping us in our weakness to do the things that God has
called us to do, which is continue believing upon Jesus Christ,
continue worshiping Jesus Christ through our suffering. For I
know that through your prayers and the help of Jesus Christ,
this will turn out for my deliverance. Also help here could also mean
bountiful supply. That God, for instance, I think
the idea here is when it talks about help here, is if you take
a people who has no support and then you have somebody who's
got over a bounce of money step in and support them, then their
need has been supplied. When the same way the flesh is
weak, beloved. And the flesh cannot continue
on with Christ during suffering. Unless the Holy Spirit of God,
what, empowers them to continue on. because we realize we had
no power in ourselves. Paul is letting us know right
here, he didn't say, and I, Paul, is gonna help myself. He says,
no, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn
out for my deliverance. Through his help, through his
supply to me, I will continue on with Christ. Hear that, beloved? If anyone could have had confidence
in the flesh, it should have been Paul. A lot of times when
we think about Paul, this and his confidence, we go back and
him saying, I'm a Hebrew of all Hebrews. I'm not talking about,
I'm talking about from Paul's conversion. Think about it. If Paul could, if anyone could
have confidence to the flesh at the conversion of Paul, I'm
a Paul, he's an apostle. Well, I'm, I'm going to get through
this cause I'm an apostle of God. Oh, I'm going to get through
this in my flesh because look at all the suffering I went through
right now, already been through this far. I've already been locked
up many times. I've already been shipwrecked. Look at all my strength.
I've made it through all that in my own power. You know, Paul
realizes that all the suffering that he's went through and has
not ran away from Christ, he realizes the reason why he has
been able to get through that suffering is through the help
of the Spirit of God. that Paul takes no glory for himself, beloved. He could have took glory for
himself, but he realized it was not him that caused him to glorify
in Christ. It was the Spirit of God in him
that caused him to continue to glorify in Christ. It was the
Spirit of God that was going to turn out for his deliverance,
whether it be to set him free from prison or it be to take
him on into glory faithfully. He also says, Turn up for my deliverance as
it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all
ashamed. Now, this eager expectation here
in the Greek is a picture of the outstretched neck of someone
straining to focus attention on an object. Meaning, this eager
expectation here is Paul straining and focusing on Christ alone. And in that expectation, it's
hope. That he's got such expectation,
such hope in Christ, that he knows that he will not be ashamed
of Christ at all. In anything will he be ashamed
of Christ. And it's hope, it's not wistful thinking. Paul said, look, even if I depart
from this life, God will welcome me in his glory that I don't
have to be ashamed when I go before Christ. As we know what
Romans teaches in Romans 10, for everyone who believes in
him who is Christ will not be put to shame. Hear that, beloved. We will not be put to shame.
That we have understood that Christ is our righteousness.
And if Christ is our righteousness, then at His coming, we do not
have to fear at His coming. We will not be put to shame,
beloved. That Christ will be glorified. and receiving us in the glory.
And we will look at Him, we will focus on Him and His coming,
and we are eagerly awaiting His coming. If we're going to be
ashamed that it's coming, then we have reason to fear. We know
who should fear. Those who do not believe should
fear. Those who have not trusted in Christ are going to be ashamed
at His coming. We know the kings of the world
with their armies surrounding them will throw their crowns
down at the coming of Christ and they will run into the caves
and they will cry out for the rocks to fall upon their heads
because they do not want to stand before Him who is the King of
kings and the Lord of lords. They will be put to shame at
His coming. But beloved, we will not be put
to shame. Hear that. We will not be put to shame,
beloved. Because He loves us. He loves
us to the point that we know He came to earth and died on
the cross for our sins. And if our hope is in Christ
alone and nothing else, there's nothing to fear in death. There's nothing to fear in the
coming of Christ. He says, in Philippians, 120, it is my eager expectation and
hope that I will not be ashamed in nothing. So Paul's saying,
I know if God takes my life, I will not be ashamed by standing
in front of Him. He will welcome me in glory.
He will welcome me as He welcomes Stephen in the glory, come in
my good and faithful servant. But as well, we know that if
Paul continues in this life, that he will not be ashamed of
Christ. Hear that. Before God saves us, we are ashamed
of Christ. After God saves us, we're not
ashamed of Christ. Why? Because the Spirit of God
lives in us. But to believe upon Christ is to bring us shame.
Hear that, beloved. That's what Paul says in Romans
1, that I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God
unto salvation, not just for the Jew, but for the Gentile
too, for all who believe. All who believe in Christ will
not be put to shame. So Paul's idea there, look, if
we do believe on Christ, if we do exalt Christ, if we do preach
Christ, if we do live for Christ and trust in Christ, then what?
The world will shame us. The world will shame us, beloved.
There's no escaping shame from the world if we believe in Christ. You cannot escape it. The world
finds the cross to be foolishness. And everyone who preaches the
cross will be put to shame as Christ was put to shame. As Paul
was put to shame. But many will not preach Christ,
many will not tell the good news of Christ because they don't
want to receive the shame from doing so. As we know in the New
Testament that many believed in Him, but fear of being kicked
out of the synagogue, they wouldn't proclaim Him. Why? Because they
would love the glory that comes from men rather than the glory
that comes from God. Though they knew Christ was King,
they were ashamed of Him so they would not preach Him. Fear that,
beloved. Just like Nicodemus would come
to Jesus by night because if he was caught coming to Jesus
by daylight, then he could be publicly shamed by the Pharisees
and not be allowed to participate in the things that he needs to
participate in for his glory and the glory of others. So he'd
come to Jesus by night. Now we know later on, he helped
bury Jesus, which was showing God probably brought him to faith.
And think about Paul. Think about Paul before his conversion. Paul was glorified by men. Paul
was loved. I mean they laid their jackets
at Paul's feet affirming of the killing of Stephen. And you just
imagine The direction Paul was heading in, in his culture, he
was about to be lifted up in his culture, esteemed, highly
in his culture. He was already, but he was only, could you imagine
when he left the city to go and arrest Christians? Go get them,
Paul. Go bring them back here, Paul, that we can crucify them
like we did Jesus. Bring them back here, Paul, so
we can stone them like we did Stephen. Bring them on, Paul,
that we might feed them the lions. Bring them, Paul. He was encouraged. He was exalted. He was glorified
by the people of his culture. But the moment that his ears
were opened and his eyes was blind and then could see the
glory of Jesus Christ, from then on he was no longer glorified
by men. He was no longer glorified by those who once loved him,
but he was put to shame. He was put to shame, beloved.
And those who have been born again, beloved, will not be ashamed
of Christ. This is what it says in verse
20. It is my eager expectation and
hope that I will not be at all ashamed. The gospel there. I will not be ashamed because
the Spirit of God will continue working in me to preach the gospel. Because we know what, Paul could
go home if he would just quit preaching the gospel. Paul could have went home if
he would not have appealed to Caesar. He could have went home. Paul could have been welcomed
back in his Hebrew culture. He could have been welcomed back
to Judaism if he would have just shut up about Jesus Christ. But
because the Spirit of God dwelled in Paul, he could not shut up
about Christ. He could not shut up. I imagine
at times Paul flashing like, talking to him, shut up Paul.
I imagine the saint was whispering in his ear, Paul, you know you
can go home if you just shut up about Christ. If you just be
quiet about Christ. But the cause, the spirit of
God dwells in Paul. He could not be quiet beloved.
That the spirit of God will not allow us to be ashamed of Christ.
And we know when Jesus talks about when He comes in His glory
with His elect angels, that those who, what, do not profess Him
before men because they were ashamed of Him, He'll be ashamed
before them when He comes in His glory. Kind of said that
backwards, but He'll be ashamed when He comes in His glory. What's
the idea there? He's not talking about what most
preachers like to do with that text and do an altar call with
it. Well, you know, if you're ashamed of him now, he'll be
ashamed of you later, so you need to walk this aisle so you can
be saved. No, Jesus was in the midst of
sending his people out to the world. He was in the midst of
telling them, look, where you're going to go, people's going to
hate you. I'm going to put you before kings, but don't worry
about what you're going to say. I will give you the words to
say to them. He was talking about sending
them out. He wasn't talking about professing him amongst each other.
There's no shame in that if we're all born again. It's professing
Him amongst the lost and dying world that will bring us shame.
Hear that, beloved. That's why we must be careful
when the world welcomes us as their own. We must be careful,
beloved, that if the world loves us, if the world can be around
us at all times and never feel pressed and never be uneasy, or never changes up the conversation. What I mean by that, you give
lost people the gospel, if God has not prepared their heart
to hear it, they will change the conversation up like that. Or they'll walk away from you,
or they'll just tell you to shut up, they don't wanna hear about
it. They will. And if we ain't known, for Christ,
then we must ask ourselves, are we of Christ? Everyone in Claxton, not everyone,
but majority of people in Claxton are known for going to church.
That's what we do in South Georgia, we go to church. But are we known
for Christ? I'd rather be known for Christ
than being known for a member of Grace Truth. I'd rather be
known for Christ than being known as an elder of Grace Truth. Beloved,
are you known for Christ? Or are you ashamed of Him? If the Spirit of God lives in
us, beloved, He's our helper. The Spirit of God lives in us,
He's the one who helps us not to be ashamed of Christ. He goes
on, He says, is my eager expectation and hope
that I will not be ashamed of nothing but with full courage
now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by
life or by death. Paul really gets to it. He says
look if I continue to live Whether it be in this jail cell or it
be out of this cell that I'm currently remaining in, Christ
will be magnified, Christ will be exalted, Christ will be glorified,
Christ will be esteemed through my life. Meaning Paul had no
other purpose to live except live for the glory of Christ.
He says, if I live, it's for the glory of Christ. If I live
in this body, it's to exalt Christ. You know, the greatest way that
we exalt Christ, one of the greatest ways we exalt Christ, is it by
living holy before the culture. Do we, when we live holy, we
do exalt Christ in that. But if you look at the life of
a Jehovah's Witness, if you just look at their life and they never
open their mouth, you go, man, them guys gotta be born again.
I never see them do anything wrong. Look at the Pharisees.
I imagine that day you couldn't catch them guys sinning. Unless
you really, until they open their mouth, and if you knew right
teaching, then you would catch them sinning. But when you just look
at their appearance, man, they would pray in the street markets.
They'd walk around with the Word of God on their face all day.
They would dress in nice apparel. You'd probably go, man, them
people right there are righteous. Them people right there are holy.
So this is just our, our appearance to people that exalts God, though
it does, the main focus that exalts God is proclaiming God.
That's when I first started preaching on the street by God's grace.
When people ask me why I do it, because I love God and I love
my neighbor. But now I've come to realize
that the main focus of preaching on the street or witnessing one-on-one
is what? That Christ would be exalted.
I mean, when I go to the abortion clinic, I would love to see every
woman run out of there and believe upon Christ. But whether they
run out of there or not, if the word of God is proclaimed, God
is exalted. If the gospel is proclaimed,
God is exalted, beloved. Supposedly, if I continue to
live in this body, Christ will be honored because my body, my
mouth will exalt Christ. People cannot look at us, beloved.
It's a lie that the devil whispers in our ear that people can look
at our life and get Jesus. It's a lie. People can't be saved
by just looking at our life. They must hear the gospel in
order to be saved. Hear that. And Paul says, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel. Though I would experience shame
for the gospel, I'm not ashamed. God will be honored in his body
through the teaching, through the preaching of his gospel,
not just to lost people, but also to the believers. That's
where we're heading there. He says, Christ will be honored
in my body, whether by life or by death, or by death. Paul says,
if I die, or Paul's teaching us that in his death, because
he's living for the glory of God, he's exalting Jesus to the
glory of God, God will be glorified in that. Think about that. That
Paul would be put to death for Christ. that God would be glorified
in that. Think anytime Christians remain
faithful in their suffering, even to the point of death, God
is exalted in that. Cause you really look at it and
you go, how would that fit us? We know that Paul was eventually killed
and God was exalted through his death. God was magnified through
his death because he didn't denounce Christ to the point of death.
We know Peter exalted Christ in his death. Why? Because we
know he was crucified upside down, that he could have denied
Christ and lived, but he didn't. So Christ was exalted in his
death. We know Stephen could have changed his wording up a
little bit. and maybe wouldn't have been
stoned to death, but we know because he was unashamed of Christ, he
exalted Christ all the way up to death. You will say, well,
Brother Jesse, but not all of us are gonna die for Christ. I realize that. Majority of us,
probably nobody in this room, unless God sends us to a foreign
country, probably will die for Christ in the United States.
I'm not saying it can't happen. But it's very rare for someone in
the United States to die for proclaiming Christ. We'll be
hated. It might mean that people murder
us in their hearts. But a lot of times people are not going
to take that through. But here's the point. That if we remain faithful in
our suffering, beloved, to the point of death, Christ is exalted.
That if you get diagnosed with cancer, or you die a tragic death,
or if you die a quick death, however, if you have lived the
life exalting Jesus Christ, then God is glorified through your
death. God is glorified because as He takes your life, people
will remember that Christ was exalted in your life. People
will remember that Jesus was the main focus of your life.
Hear that? Not that you were a carpenter. Not that you was a Coca-Cola
man, or a Pepsi man, or a car salesman. They might know you done them
things, but the main focus, they will remember that they were
about Jesus Christ. That they exalted Christ through
their lips. They talk about the good news
of Christ. And Christ is exalted through that. It's also through
our death. He says, then he sums up his life here.
He says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul says, if I continue breathing
air that God has given me, it will be for Christ. I had no other purpose to live
but besides Christ. If I stay in this prison, it
will be for Christ. If I'm released from this prison,
it will be for Christ. My life will be given over to
the building of the kingdom of God. Whether I have to tent make
more, I will tent make and preach gospel to those who are buying
tents from me. Just like us, we know not all
of us are called to be a missionary, but all of us are called to be
faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ. That we can work a full-time
job and our life be all about Jesus. Sometimes we don't think, well,
our life really can't be all about Jesus unless we're a pastor.
Our life really can't be all about Jesus unless we're a missionary.
Our life really can't be all about Jesus unless we're a street
preacher. Beloved, if we are of Christ and his spirit lives
in us, wherever we go, we will all be about Jesus Christ. Hear
that? It will be about his kingdom.
Before he saved us, we were about our own kingdom. Before he saved
us, we were all about ourselves. Before He saves us, we're all
about all other things but Him. And then what happens when He
saves us, beloved? He takes us off the throne of
our hearts. He takes everything else off the throne of our hearts,
and He places Himself there, and now we have come to the realization,
here I have been using my life in vain because it's been the
worship of self, it's been the worship of everything else. And
then God saves me. Lord, let me use the remaining
of my life for your glory. Not our mindset after God saves
us. It really is just our mindset to live as Christ and to die
as gain. I shudder at times when I read
that or I think about that. Because do I believe that in
my life because I know I'm supposed to believe that? Or is that actually
true? Because not many of us in here
would say, well, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But we know
we're supposed to say that. And we know the Bible teaches
us we should say that. But is that ours? Is that ours, beloved? Can we
really say to live as Christ. Cause I know a lot of times to
live is for this and to live is for that and to live is for
this and this and I must live for my family, I must live for
my children, I must live for my job, I must live to do all
these other things which are not bad things but the main purpose
of us living is for Christ. And if I die, it's gain. Death to the believer, beloved,
is not a loss. We lose nothing when we take
our last breath, but we gain everything. I mean, that's the
parable of the man who, what, stumbled across the field and
found the treasure. And when he sells everything
he has and he comes back and buys the treasure, because once
he found Christ, beloved, who is the treasure, everything else
just kind of faded away. In the same way, beloved, if
we have found Christ, if we have truly, truly found Christ, then
death is gain. Of course, if we're not born
again, death is loss. Of course, if God has not saved
us, this is our heaven. If God has not saved us, we better
live it up. Because this is the only heaven
that we will ever experience in this life if God has not saved
us, beloved. Oh, but if God has saved us,
beloved, oh, if God has saved us, death is gain because we
get what our hearts desires. We get what our hearts desire.
That we get Christ. We get to see the beauty of Christ
for all of eternity. We get to behold the one who
bled and died on the cross for us. And beloved, just thinking
about that, is that not enough? To be sold out for Christ? I
mean, is He not worthy enough? Is He not worthy enough to give
up our life for Him, knowing fully that He purchased us on
the cross? That He underwent the wrath of Almighty God that
should have been placed on us for eternity? Is that not enough
to forsake this life for His glory? And beloved, I would say
to you, even if He does not die on the cross, He's still worthy
to live for Him for eternity. I mean, live for Him now. He's
still worthy to have a life that is glorifying Him and exalting
Him even if He does not save us. Why? Because He is God and
He is holy. He is deserved of worship. He is deserved of every breath
we take for His glory. Beloved, death is gain. Death is gain. Do you believe that? And two,
it kind of knocks away the Jehovah's Witnesses theory here too. What
does Jehovah's Witnesses say about what? If we die, we'll
just be asleep in the ground until Christ returns. But that's
not gain, if that's the case. It'd be gain when Christ does
come back in His glory. But Paul isn't talking about
gain here by being asleep in the grave for thousands of years
until Christ returns, or weeks before Christ returns. Paul has
a mindset that once I take this last breath, I'm with the Lord.
It's like when Jesus looked at the thief on the cross and he
didn't say, all right, you'll be with me in 3,000 years. No, he looked at a thief on a
cross and he says, what? You'll be with me this day in paradise.
And just a side note, it takes away the oneness theology, or
a lot of oneness believers believe that Jesus died and went to hell.
If Jesus died and went to hell, then he lied to the thief. when
he said you'll be with me this day in paradise. He didn't say
you'll be with my father this day in paradise. No, he said
you'll be with me this day in paradise, which takes the idea
away from those who told to a point of view that Jesus went to hell. Beloved, Christ, Christ, as born
again believers is our all. He's our all-beloved. Christ
is everything that we need in this life, and He should be everything
that we want in this life. Then we know the Scripture says
that if we love this life more than we love Him, then we're
not worthy of Him. That if we love father or mother or brother
or sister or even our own children more than we love Him, then we're
not worthy of Him. That if we love these things
of this world, then we're not worthy of Him. But I know our idea a lot of
times, especially when I was a kid, I'd kind of make a deal
with God in my mind. Lord, let me graduate high school,
let me get a job, and let me get married, let me have kids,
and then let me grow to an older age, like 200. And then you can call me home, or
then you can come get me in your glory, Father. But that's, that's
not really wanting Christ. That's still wanting to hang
on to this life. That's not, that means death is not gain
if I'm still wanting to be on earth just for physical things.
Oh beloved, if God takes me now, praise the Lord, it will be gain.
Don't weep. If God takes my life today, rejoice
that I'm with Jesus because I have gained everything that my heart
wants. If you pray for my family, pray
that God would keep them faithful through the suffering of losing
me. Jesus Christ is everything to
us believers. He's everything that we want.
He's everything that our hearts desires. He says, to live is
Christ and to die is gain. If I'm to live in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose? I cannot tell. So Paul says,
look, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I'm pressed between
the two. Should I live or should I go
and be with the Lord? I don't know which one to choose,
but if I stay, it means fruitful labor for me. It means fruitful
labor for me. And we know that in this fruitful
labor, he's talking about what? Seeing people come to faith and
seeing people grow in the Lord. What do you mean? If I stay,
I'll see people come to faith by God's grace. If I stay, that
means I'll be able to teach the believers that they might grow
in maturity of their faith. They might grow strong in their
faith. That they won't stay babes forever, but they'll grow in
maturity from God using me to teach them the Word. Of course,
not Paul's strength to grow them, but through the strength of the
Holy Spirit. He says, if I'm to live in the flesh, that means
fruitful labor for me, yet which should I choose? I cannot tell.
I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and
be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the
flesh is more necessary on your account. Now, this desire here
that we see here is not a wish, but it's an intense longing.
So he says, when I desire to be with Christ, he isn't saying,
I wish to be with Christ. Because a lot of times we wish
things, but we really not got an intent desire to have it.
Paul, with God as his witness here, because we know it's written
in scripture, that Paul is literally saying here, my main heart's
desire is to be with Christ. It's to be with Christ. It's an intense longing. Also,
we know Paul was a tentmaker. One man I read, he said this.
He said, in relation to Paul's profession as a tentmaker, the
term depart means to strike or to take down. The tent, to be
ready to travel elsewhere. Paul saw death not as the end
of his life, but as the time to move from his earthly home
to his heavenly home. This is the idea the guy wrote
with Paul being a tentmaker. That his idea apart, but he's
ready at all times to be with his heavenly Father. that he's
focused at all times on Christ. That's when you look at the early
church life, when we went through the first Thessalonians letter,
though they were babes of Christ and they were going through much
suffering, we know they were always looking for the coming
of Christ. They were always ready to be at home with him. They
were never not ready. They always had that mindset
amongst them. I want to be with Christ. I want to be with Christ.
When is Christ coming? One good example I love when
I think about departing and being with Christ, going and being
with Christ for eternity, and how that looks the way we should
present our life now is I like to think about aliens, or engramments
that come in to do field work, or pilgrims that come in from
other countries to make money in the United States. Because
what do they do? They come in and they make money.
And what do they do with their money? They don't build stuff
here with it, but they send it back home. So when they go back
home, they can live well. We're the same way with us, beloved,
that we don't live this life to store up treasure on earth
that rust and moth can destroy or thieves can break in and steal.
But we live this life to store up treasure in heaven. Hear that? We live this life for the sake
of Jesus Christ. That our mindset is a heavenly
mindset. Our mindset is a kingdom mindset,
which is Jesus's kingdom. The building of His kingdom,
not the building of our kingdom. And Paul's mindset here is to
part and be with Christ is far better, meaning way better, much,
much better is to be with Christ than to continue in the flesh.
But he says, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on
your account. He says, it's better for me to
go be with the Lord, but that's kind of selfish of me, if you
want to say that. For your sake, it would be better
for I stay. Now think about that. Paul's
saying, if it's more necessary for the sake of the body of Christ
that I stay. Not, not that he can just hang
out with me. but that he could minister to
them, that he could feed them the word of God. Because a lot
of times when we think about, to live is Christ and to die
is gain, our mindset goes, well, if I die, then who's going to
take care of my family? But it's never a spiritual matter
at times. When we think about it, it's always a physical thing.
Paul is not saying here, it's better for me to stay for the
count of the church so that their physical needs might be met. He's saying the purpose of me
to stay is to feed the sheep. The purpose of me to stay is
to tend to the sheep. The purpose of me to stay is
to teach the people of God, the Word of God, that they might
know their one God and grow in Him, beloved. The purpose of
men in the church is to sharpen each other, but also their main
purpose of staying on this earth, listen, beloved, is not to take
care of your family physically, but it's to take care of your
family spiritually. Our main mindset is if we're going to
stay here on this earth with our family, it's going to be
to shepherd our wives. It's going to be to shepherd
our children as men. That's what God has called us
to do. It's going to be the shepherd of our home. And also as women,
he's what called them to help shepherd the family. Help the
husband and the shepherd. Hear that, beloved? And if God
has called us to stay here, not only for the benefit of our family,
but for the benefit of each other. Then our main focus, if we're
going to continue to live this life, is for the sake of the
body of Christ. Not for the sake of ourselves.
It's for the sake of the local church. Treehouse said last week
that everyone, every member of this church is very, very important. we're very important. That God
has placed us here under his sovereignty that we might minister
to each other, that we might sharpen each other, that we might
help each other bury each other's burdens. But if our mindset is
not to do that, if our mindset is not to meet the needs of the
body, mainly spiritually, then we must ask ourselves, Are we really about Christ? Because to live as Christ is
to be about His body as well. That's what Paul says, I endure
all things for the sake of the elect. Meaning the church. Well, hold
up, we're to endure all things for Christ. Yeah, but if I'm
enduring all things for Christ, then I'm enduring all things
for His body. If I'm, as you heard me say before, if I'm laying
down my life for Christ and I'm laying down my life for his body,
hear that below, that we are about, we are called to be about
each other. Paul, though he was a missionary
and at times in local churches, he was about the church. He was
about the church. Yes, we can have friends elsewhere
and be about them. Yes, we can help shepherd people
that are not part of our local church. Yes, we can do that.
But the main thought is if God is placing a local body, we're
about to be about each other. Helping each other grow in the
Lord. Helping each other focus on Jesus Christ. Him to live
a life that glorifies his great name. My desire is to depart
and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain
in the flesh is more necessary on your account. And he says,
convinced of this, meaning with great conviction, the Spirit
giving him peace here, that Paul says, convinced of this, I know
I will remain and continue with you all. Paul said, if I know through
God giving me peace here, giving me comfort here, that I will
remain in the flesh, I'm not going home, and remain in this
body, remain in this body and continue with you all. Why? For
your progress and joy in the faith. Hear that, for your progress
and joy in the faith. The purpose of Paul staying was
for the joy and the progress of one's faith. Now keep in mind
here, Paul was just not satisfied with this church being saved. He wasn't satisfied there. A
lot of times if we know people are born again, we're just satisfied
with that alone. Paul wasn't satisfied with that. I know it
might become very easy that if God saves my children for me
to just be satisfied with them just having faith in Christ.
Well, that check marks off my kids are born again. Beloved, we should never be satisfied
with where we are or where the church is in their growth with
Christ. We should be always wanting each other to grow in the Lord.
We start off as babes and God matures us and He matures us
and He continues maturing us until He takes us home. I don't
think we're ever arrived completely all there in maturity until God
takes us home. That the purpose of Paul staying
here is that he might be used by God to grow these people in
their faith. I'm wondering, when you think
about that, how many shepherds, shepherds don't go into detail about doctrine
and deep theology and deep teaching with their flock. It's like they
could care less about their flock growing. The Paul's here saying,
look, I'm not, I'm not happy where you guys are at. I want
to see you grow in the Lord. I just mean, by God's grace,
as me, James, and the elders of this church, I don't know
about them, but I think they would agree with me that by God's
grace, we want to see you all grow in the Lord. I don't want
to see five years from now, if God lets us live for another
five years, you be exactly where you're at today with the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to see you growing, see you maturity. I
mean, I think they would agree with me as well that I would
love to see you guys come to the fact that you're more mature
in Christ than I am. I would want to see you have more knowledge
about Christ and more knowledge about the Word of God than I
do. I would like to see you have more of a greater faith than
what I got. Because I love you guys. I want
to see you grow in Christ. And we know as we grow in Christ,
our joy is filled. If we keep our eyes on Christ,
our joy is there. If Paul is teaching in the Word
of God, they keep their joy. Because we know what happens
when we get away from the Word of God. The teaching of God's Word. Our joy goes out the door. Our
joy goes out the door. Paul's saying here, I'm hoping
to stay amongst you, that you might continue in the faith,
might grow in the faith, and also grow in your joy in the
faith. As you are experiencing this suffering, that you're going
through because of Christ, I hope to get you in to minister to
you and to teach you that you might continue to have peace
and joy in your walk with Christ. Because it's so easy as we go
down this road of faith for our joy to wane because of the trials
that we're experiencing. It's so easy for our joy to wane
when we lose our loved ones. It's so easy for our joy to wane
when our loved ones want nothing to do with us because of Christ.
It's so easy for our joy to wane when our marriage seems like
it's in trouble. It's so easy for our joy to wane
when we beg and we beg our spouse to come to fellowship with us
and they don't come. It's so easy for our joy to wane. It's
so easy for our joy to wane after time and time and time again
we teach our loved ones the gospel and they never believe in it.
It's so easy for our joy to wane. It's so easy for our joy to wane
over and over again when we teach people the Word of God accurately
and they just don't get it. Or you teach them scripture and
they get mad with you. Well, that's not how I learned
it. That ain't how my grandpa taught me. We can become bitter
in a moment. Our joy can wane. And I imagine
this early church was experiencing way more suffering than probably
what we might experience for the sake of Christ. I'm not saying
it can't happen, but Paul said, I'm going to continue with you
guys. Not just so you do teaching in
a way that you grow, but you might keep your joy. Because
we know it's only through the teaching of God's Word and the
work of the Holy Spirit, beloved, that we keep our joy at all in
this hard life that we are called to live. This narrow way that
we're called to walk in by Christ's grace. Paul says, I'm convinced
of this, I will know I will remain and continue with you all for
your progress and joy in the faith so that in me you may have
amplifies calls to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to
you again. So here, the churches pray for God delivers, they pray
for the will of God to take place. And here, Paul said, look, when
God releases me from this prison, I'm gonna have the chance to
come to you and you'll have a chance to give God glory in my coming
to you. One, give God glory for releasing me from prison and
I might come to you. And also give God glory that I'm coming
to you to teach you the word of God again. I'm coming to you
again as a gift of God that you might grow in your faith. None
of us know why they're not here. They're not, Paul's not telling
them the glory in Him, but the glory in Christ. Because a lot
of times what we do is, even as Reformed Baptists, a lot of
times we like, or in any church really, we like to esteem our
pastors and we like to glorify our pastors. But who is man that
he should receive glory? Or as Isaiah says, quit regarding
man who is nothing but breath. Yes, we should be thankful when
God sends people to minister to us. We should be thankful
that God would place shepherds in our lives to shepherd us and
to teach us the word of God, but never let us give them glory. That's what I mean, a lot of
times when I go by God's grace, when I go into prison, of course,
they quit doing it now because I've told them every time, but
they used to clap for me when I got done preaching. And I go,
fellows, all glory to Christ. We don't get the slave glory.
What slave gets glory? The master gets glory. Hear that,
beloved, that no one can do that which God has called him to do
without the Spirit of God working in them. Hear that? That no man is worth being glorified
over. That's when I heard about this
conference and I heard about men, and this might be my thought,
you might have a second take on it, but my thought when I
heard about these men standing outside most of their time signing
books. I was like, Lord help me. Men
are lining up, begging them to sign their book. And I know when I went to the
conference, and when I went to the conference, what, about three
or four years ago, James? Three or four years ago, you
could just see that some of these men were being all over, taking
pictures of them while they were preaching. Giving them glory. Man, we shouldn't strive to receive
glory for anything we do. And if we do receive glory for
men, by God's grace, we need to rebuke them. And let them know, look, it's
not us, but it's Christ. It's Christ. It's like when the
apostles preached the Word of God, and the next thing you know,
they were trying to make them gods in the book of Acts. They would either rip
their clothes and beg the people not to give
them glory, but to give God glory. We should be careful because
it's so easy to esteem and to glory those whom God uses vital
in our life. It's so easy to do that. Because we're so thankful for
them and growing in us and our faith that we mess around and
give them the glory for it rather than give God the glory for it.
Hear that? For instance, it's very easy
because we love the Word of God and we read it. And we see how
God uses the apostles to teach us. It's very easy for us to
be in awe of the apostles. Men are so in awe of the apostles,
when you hear about the book of Acts, what you hear? The Acts
of the apostles. If you ever heard of the book
of Acts, normally they explain it, well, Acts is the Acts of
the apostles. No, Acts is the Acts of God through
weak men. Hear that. That's what the book
asks. It's the count of God working
through weak men for his glory. That's what God did. God doesn't
save the brilliant men of the world. God doesn't save strong
men of the world. God saves stupid, foolish, weak
men, and he uses them for his glory, like me, by his grace. Because if we can be wise in
our own understanding, then why do we need God? How can God be
glorified if we think we got it all together and we know all
things? Men, brothers and sisters, let us strive in our walk with
Christ to be thankful for God, who God uses in our life, but
let us strive to give Him glory for it. Let us strive to make
Christ our all. Let us pray to our mindset is
to live as Christ and to die as gain. And as I encouraged
you last weekend in the sermon, I encourage you again to invest
in each other's lives. God has placed you in grace truth and gave you breath in your lungs
that we might invest in each other's lives for his glory.
That we might sharpen each other, that we might bury each other's
burdens, that we might teach each other. And beloved, if we are not doing
that, then we're not following what Christ is teaching us. We're
not doing it. I'm not saying we're not gonna
be invested in everyone's life, but we should find individuals
through prayer that God would call us to invest in, that he
might be glorified in that. Beloved, we know that Christ
took on our sin, that Christ received the judgment of God
on the cross for us, that Christ died and three days later rose
again. And beloved, we know the only way we can be saved is through
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. that our hope cannot
be in us. Our hope can't be in what we've
done in the past. Our hope must rest upon Christ
alone. Only through faith in Christ can we be righteous. Not
of works, but by faith in Christ alone can we stand before God
as righteous and holy and blameless. And if our hope is anything else
besides Christ, we'll perish. But if our hope is in Christ,
we will be saved and we will not be ashamed when we stand
before him in glory. Let us pray. Father God, I pray, Lord, that
you would take the reading of your Word, Lord,
and bless it. Lord, that you would use your
Word today, Father, not my commentary, but your Word, to grow your people
in Christ. Lord, to sanctify them, to give
them peace, to give them joy, to stir them up, Father, to pray
for each other. Stir them up. Lord, to shepherd
their homes. Lord, stir them up to invest
in each other's lives, Father. Stir them up, Lord, to rejoice
in their suffering. Lord, stir them up to have joy in the midst
of their affliction, Father. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you
would continue using us elders, Father, to shepherd
your body, Lord. that you would give us grace
and strength, Lord, to do that, knowing that we had no power
of ourselves. Lord, I pray that as James continues to preach
majority here, Lord, I pray, Lord, that you continue to grow
him in his wisdom and knowledge of the word, Lord, that he might
continue to teach us, might continue to feed us your word by your
grace. And Lord, I just pray, God, that we as your church is
always ready, Lord. And Lord, we know we are ready,
Lord, because we know you're a jealous God and you will not
share our affection with another, Father, that you are faithful
to keep us. You're faithful to keep our eyes on you, Father.
And Lord, I just pray, Lord, that you would stir us up to
be in your word every day, stir us up to be in prayer every day,
Lord. Stir us up, Lord, to have the mindset to live for your
glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name,
amen. Thank you, church.