Now if you'll open your Bibles
again to Philippians 1, Paul was in prison when he wrote
this epistle. Some say that he was in a hired
house. He was permitted to live in a
house, though he was under guard 24 hours a day. He was permitted to write, he
was permitted to receive guests, he was permitted to preach to
some who came to hear him. But nevertheless he was a prisoner,
and it is said that he was chained to a guard 24 hours a day. The guards change shifts, of
course, but Paul refers constantly to his chains and to his bonds. And he's writing to this church
at Philippi where he preached the gospel. He was very dear
to these people, and they had heard about his conflict. Look
at verse 30, if you will. He talks about the same conflict
which you saw in me Now you remember some of his most difficult times
were spent in Philippi. In Acts 16, you remember the
Philippian jailer? That's where Paul was in prison,
where they'd beaten him, where the girl had the demons cast
out of her and they put him in prison and the jailer was converted.
So these Philippians, these people of Philippi, Paul said, you saw
some of the conflict I had, some of the persecutions, some of
the troubles that I had. And now the latter line, he said,
and you hear, or you have heard about my conflict here in Rome. And he's writing to these people,
and he says in verse 12, and that's where we're taking up
tonight, he says, I want you to be comforted. I want you to
be comforted. I would that you should understand,
Bradley, that what has happened to me has fallen out rather to
the featherance of the gospel. Here's what he's saying. I want
you to be comforted, and I want you to rest assured that I know
and I want you to understand that what has happened to me,
this imprisonment and this persecution And these conflicts and trials
have served, all of them have served, to advance the spread
of the gospel. My conflicts and my persecution
and my imprisonment, God has used it to spread the gospel. Now the church at Philippi had
heard of his sufferings and Paul is reassuring them that he knows
and wants them to understand that everything that's happened
to him is in the purpose of God and in the providence of God,
then God will use it for his glory, for Paul's good, and to
accomplish the preaching of the gospel. Persecution has often
meant the carrying of the gospel to another place. In other words,
where the people of God were persecuted in one place, It meant
the carrying of the gospel to another place, and you can read
that throughout the Bible. Let me give you an example of
it in the eighth chapter of Acts. Someone told me one time that
every time that the church was persecuted and scattered abroad,
that they went preaching the gospel and God was pleased to
bless that persecution. by sending out people to preach
the gospel, and churches were founded where these people were
driven. In other words, they were driven
into exile, and when they got to that place, God raised up
a church in Acts chapter 8. And Saul was consenting unto
the death, that's the death of Stephen, and at that time there
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem,
and they were scattered abroad, the people were scattered abroad
because of this persecution. throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria except the apostles. They stayed there, but these
other people went carrying the gospel. Look at verse 5. Philip
went down to the city of Samaria, and we know there was a revival
there, and the people with one accord gave heed unto those things
which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he
did. And on and on you could go, but here's an example. I
got a letter today from this young man in prison in Lucasville,
and this is an example of just what I'm talking about. Paul
said, I'm in prison, but I understand and I want you to understand
that I'm here by the providence of God, I'm here according to
the will of God, and I'm here that God's purpose might be accomplished
for me and for those with whom I come in contact. Now, this
young man wrote and said this. Dear Pastor Mahan, thank you
very much for the visit Thursday afternoon. I enjoyed visiting
with you very much. I'm very thankful that God has
brought you to us. We needed to hear the true gospel
preached, and through your sermons we are hearing the gospel of
Christ. I can say today that I am thankful
to God for being in prison. For I never would have heard
the gospel of Christ unless I had come to prison. I'm living for
God now, and being in prison doesn't mean very much as long
as a person is saved. You know that sometimes it really
gets hard to go on from day to day here, but God always is there
to help me and to comfort me. I thank God I'm in prison. Now
then, that's what Paul is saying. I got that providential, I got
that today and was on this very verse here. Paul is saying to
these people, don't be alarmed. I want you to understand that
what has happened to me has fallen out to the furtherance of the
gospel. I'm here, I'm a prisoner, not of Nero, not of Rome, not
of the Catholic I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. That's what
he called himself. I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now verse 13. My bonds, my chains,
and my imprisonment, and the word is for Christ, are manifest
in all the palace, in all of Caesar's court, and in all other
places. Now here's what he's saying.
I'm a prisoner for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's
why I'm a prisoner. Now, Paul was not in jail for
breaking the law. I want to show you something
here, and this is especially applicable to our day. And as
I try to prepare these messages, I'm trying to apply them to us,
to myself and to you and to the day in which we live. Paul was
in prison for Christ's He was in prison for professing and
preaching the gospel. He was not there for breaking
the law. He was not there because he marched against the government.
He was not there because he disagreed with the draft and with civil
rights and civil wrongs and because he marched in the streets and
because he disputed on the street corners. He was there for preaching
the gospel. Now I want to show you that in
Acts 24, and I want you to turn with me because this is important.
In Acts chapter 24, beginning with verse 10. Now I could go
out here tonight, or tomorrow, and wind up in jail somewhere.
It wouldn't be too hard. And I could wind up in jail as
some sort of do-gooder, and I could sit in there and say I'm persecuted
for the gospel's sake. I wouldn't be persecuted for
the gospel's sake at all. I'd be persecuted for my own
faults and not for Christ. Now, Paul said, my chains and
my imprisonment is known all over Caesar's court, and they
know why I'm here. They know that I'm here for preaching
the gospel. All of the guards and the representatives
and the senators and all these people, they knew Paul, and they
knew why he was in prison. And it made a difference. Now
listen to what he says in Acts 24. Paul got up to speak before
the governor in verse 10, Acts 24. Now listen. Then Paul, after
the governor had beckoned him to speak, he answered, Forasmuch
as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this
nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because that
thou mayest understand that there are yet but twelve days since
I went to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man," they didn't find me in
the temple disputing with any man, "'they never found me raising
up the people, neither in the synagogue nor in the city, neither
can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this
I confess unto you, that after the way which they call heresy,'
so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets. And I have hope toward
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. And
herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void
of offense toward God and toward men. Now, after many I came to
bring alms to my nation, and offerings, whereupon certain
Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude
nor with tumult, who ought to have been here before thee, and
object if they had aught against me, or else let these same here
say if they found any evil doing in me while I stood before the
council, except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing
among them, touching the resurrection of the dead, I'm called in question
by you this day. That's why I'm here, preaching
the resurrection. I never raised a tumult, I never
led a multitude, I never stood on the streets and in the synagogue
disputing with the people, neither raising up the people. I'm called
to before you for preaching the resurrection of the dead. Now
then, if we're going to have difficulty, let it be for preaching
the gospel. Let it be for preaching the gospel.
And Paul said that, and it's known throughout the palace.
My bonds and my imprisonment is known throughout the court.
Now verse 14. Now watch this. And many of the
brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds, by my imprisonment,
are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Now here's
what he's saying. The true brethren who are called
of God to preach have derived fresh confidence in the Lord
because of my imprisonment. And they are preaching with more
boldness, indifferent to the consequences. These brethren,
he said, have been challenged by my sufferings and by my conflicts,
and these brethren have been encouraged by my faithfulness
and by my patience under suffering And these brethren are bold to
do what I have done, and that is, declare the gospel of Christ,
whatever the consequences. I've been an example to them,
Paul said. And they have seen how I reacted under these conflicts,
and they have gotten boldness from it. And they've been encouraged,
and they've been challenged. But now, watch this next verse. But there's some, not all, there's
some, indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife." Now then, I believe we can say
this. Let me read these three verses
together. Look at them all at once. Some
indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife, some of good
will. One preaches Christ out of contention,
or of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add conflict, affliction
to my bonds. One, the other, of love, preached
Christ of love, knowing I'm set for the defense of the gospel,
but whatever way they preach it, I'm glad Christ is preached."
That's what he said in verse 18. Now then, there's one thing
we can be sure of in understanding these verses. Now, listen to
this, and I've dissected these verses, and I think I've got
some help. One thing we can be sure All of these men he's talking
about here preached Christ. Now, they all preached Christ.
They preached Christ as prophet, priest, and king. They preached
Christ as God incarnate. They preached Christ who died,
was buried, and rose again. They preached Christ and redemption
in Him alone, or Paul would not have rejoiced in their preaching.
Isn't that right? He would never have said, I rejoice
in their preaching. I'm rejoicing in those who are
preaching Christ out of envy. I rejoice in those who are preaching
Christ of contention. I rejoice in those who are preaching
Christ not sincerely. I rejoice in those who are preaching
Christ in love and truth. I rejoice in those who are preaching
Christ hoping to add affliction to my bond. Now one thing we
can be sure of, Paul would not have rejoiced in their preaching
if they hadn't preached Christ. Now that's so, no question about
that. Let that be settled. Now then,
about one group, Paul says three things. Now you watch this as
we take this thing apart. He says, they preach Christ of
envy. You know what it says? Envy and
strife. Then in verse 16, he says, they
preach Christ of contention. And then in verse 16, he says,
they preach Christ supposing to add affliction to my bonds.
Now, stop right there. We see this same thing today. And we're going to have to adopt
the same attitude that Paul adopts. We're going to have to ask God
to give us the same spirit that Paul has right here. Now, we
can clear this thing up. We know this. No question about
it. These men were preaching Christ. Paul says they preached
Christ. He said they preached Christ.
They preached Christ of envy. They preached Christ of contention.
They preached Christ hoping to make me suffer. But they're preaching
Christ, and he said, I don't care if they preach Christ in
truth or pretense. They preach Christ, and I rejoice,
and I will rejoice. Now then, break it down. He says,
first of all, there are some who are preaching Christ of envy.
They didn't envy Christ. They envied Paul. They envied
Paul's gifts. Paul was a tremendous preacher. Paul was a tremendous power. Paul had gifts. He could say,
you speak in tongues, I'm over. You heal the sick, I'm over.
You have this gift, that gift, I know it. And they were envious
of Paul's power. They were envious of Paul's gift.
We have the same thing today in the ministry. Jack, you know
that. I know that. Charlie, you know that. We have
the same thing in the ministry out there. We have it in sovereign
grace circles. You have it in free will circles. You have it in Calvinistic circles. You have it in the Baptists,
in the Nazarene, everywhere else. They were in this of Paul's success. They were in this of his gifts.
For any man to say that he has not the slightest bit of envy
or jealousy in his heart is to tell a story, and that's putting
it mild, to tell a lie. Now, some have less than others,
some have more than others, but it's the same thing as jealousy.
And Paul, Paul could get up there and make stars twinkle when he
preached. He could get up there in the
power of God's Spirit, with the gifts of God's Spirit, and my
soul, what a preacher! And some of these men were envious
of his gifts, and they were envious of his power. And now he was
in jail, and they were out there preaching, and they thought,
well, we'll just get out here and take Paul's place in the
honor and place and position and success and applause of the
church. And a man can still, he can still,
like Paul says here, get in the pulpit and preach Christ. You say, how in the world could
a man preach Christ while he had envy in his heart? Well,
my soul, if a man waited to be perfect before he got in the
pulpit, nobody would dare take this job. You don't say, well,
I'm not going to preach this morning because I found something
here I'm guilty of. But you've got to preach it whether
you're guilty or anybody else is guilty, because it's God's
Word. And Paul says some of these fellows are preaching Christ
of India. But he said, I'm just gladly
preaching Christ. I don't care if they envy me,
if they're jealous of me, if they envy my gifts and my power
and the place of success and honor God's given me, it doesn't
matter," he said. I'm just glad they're preaching
Christ. Now, we need to have that spirit. Now, secondly, he
says, some preach Christ of contention. Now, the strife and the contention
was not over the doctrine of substitution. You know, most
of the conflict, and I'm talking about true believers now, I'm
not talking about heretics who preach the salvation by works
or salvation by baptism or salvation by church sacraments and these
things, but have you ever had any conflicts with people that
you really believe knew the Lord? Sure you have. What is it over?
Over Christ and His blood? No. What's it usually over? It's usually over Misunderstood
doctrines and practices. People usually are divided over
prophecy. We've got a half a dozen camps
I know of, of the our millennials, and the post-millennialists,
and the pre-millennialists, and the revolutionary, post-millennialist,
and some other kind of millennialist, and good, godly men. Brother Shelton used to say,
if you don't believe in the premillennial return of Christ, you're not
saved. Now that's pretty strong. I've got some friends who don't
believe it, and they know the Lord, but boy, when they get
together, they just bump heads over that doctrine. Not over
the gospel, not over the cross, But they bump heads over pop
and other friends. I've got a young man wrote to
me not long ago. He said you and I are far apart
as the poles on the church. He's a dyed in the wool landmarker. He believes the Baptist Church
is the bride of Christ. The Baptist Church received the
Holy Spirit, that the Bible is a Baptist book written by Baptist,
for Baptist, and will make Baptist if it's read right. That's his
doctrine. And Jesus walked sixty miles
to be baptized by a Baptist preacher. But that young man preaches Christ.
He preaches Christ. What's the division over the
church? Ways to practice the ordinance. I know one church
is split wide open because the preacher suggested they use wine
at the Lord's table. Well, they'd always use grape
juice, and they weren't going to use wine. Another one split
over whether to use crackers or unleavened bread. And then
they observed days. And then they have different
ideas about personal conduct and personal habits. And this
is what the strife and contention is over. And Paul said, these
people, some of them preach Christ. But they're hard-headed when
it comes to their pet doctrines and their pet convictions. And they will not bend, and they
will not at all give way to anybody else. They'll split before they
do. He said, well, they're preaching Christ, so thank God. I don't
care if a fellow wants to fuss over great Jews, just let him
preach Christ when he gets through messing up the Lord's table.
That's his business, you know. Just so he preaches Christ. And
then, notice the next thing here, he says, They supposed to add
affliction to my bonds. What he's saying here is they
hope to make my confinement more difficult. Now, I'm going to
ring a bell right here. I'm going to ring a bell. I think I've already done these
other two. Some preach Christ out of envy,
but Paul says, I don't care. Let them envy me all they want
to just so they preach Christ. I'm not in a contest to see who
can preach the best. I'm trying to preach Christ.
We're not in a contest, see, who can make the biggest splash,
who can have the most success. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ. And he says some want to, they
want to strive over words and strive over days and strive over
doctrines, but that's all right. Let them strive and contend.
They just sort of preach Christ. Now he says some of them hope
to make my confinement more difficult. Now when Paul preached, Most
of the time he met with much opposition. Paul ran into a lot of trouble
when he preached. They had divisions and trouble
and strife and even, he was in prison again and again and again. But here these men were preaching
Christ with little difficulty. and not a whole lot of trouble,
and no divisions, and no splits. They go home to meetin' somewhere,
and nobody threatens to throw them out. But you let Paul come
a long ways, and they all want to throw him out. And these fellows
thought of this. They said, well, it may be that
the trouble Paul was encountering was of his own makin'. Now, if
he had preached the way we preach, he wouldn't have any trouble.
So it may be he wouldn't stir up any controversy. So it may
be that the reason he runs into these riots and these disturbances
is because it's his own fault, and he's a troublemaker. And
Paul said there out there, hoping, supposing, to add affliction
to my bond. If Paul would be like us, he
wouldn't be in jail. He wouldn't be in trouble. But
we need to always remember this. Satan is not omnipresent. God is omnipresent. And it may
be ten or fifteen preachers that go out here to preach, but here's
one endowed with the message. The others have a message. It's
a message of Christ. But this one is sent, and he's
endowed with a particular message in a particular stronghold of
evil and corruption and religious phoniness, and that's where Satan
attacks. And Satan doesn't attack in these
other places. He attacks there. Now then, that man preached the
gospel. This man preached the gospel. That man had a riot.
This man didn't have any trouble. Does that mean he preached it
wrong? No, sir, he met with opposition. He met with satanic opposition. And God was pleased to work in
a conflict between good and evil, and he winds up in prison. God
moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. Now Paul
goes on in verse 17 and says this, But the other preaches
Christ of love, knowing that I'm set for the defense of the
gospel. They preach Christ out of love
for Christ, They're motivated by a sincere love, a devout love
for the sinner, for the Savior and for the sinner. They preach
Christ out of love for the gospel. To them it's the bread and water
of life. They preach Christ out of love for the Church. They
want the members to be fed, nourished, strengthened with the words of
Christ. They preach Christ out of love for Paul. And I read
this in Dr. John Gill. They knew. These people
knew. that Paul was put in prison for
the gospel. And they realized that God moves
providentially in the lives of his servants. He does not always
follow the same pattern. Conflicts vary. Also resistance
varies. And one servant of Christ may
run into great resistance, and another may run into no resistance.
But that's in God's purpose and God's plan. And Paul says, verse
18, now look at this. But what does it matter? What
then? What does it matter? Notwithstanding
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. Christ in the glory of His person,
in the fullness of His grace, in the excellence of His righteousness,
in the efficacy of his sacrifice, in the power of his blood, I
rejoice." Christ is preached. Christ is preached. Now verse
19, I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your
prayers in the supply of the Spirit of Christ. Now what Paul
is saying is this, I know that all of this, talking about his
imprisonment his conflict, his persecution, all of us going
to work together for my good and for my ultimate deliverance
from this prison. You'll see that in verse 25.
He expected to get out and to preach again. Verse 25 says,
I have this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue
with you all for your father's and joy of faith. I'm coming
back to preach to you. So he says, I know all of this
is going to work together for my good and for my deliverance
through your prayers and the supply of the Holy Spirit. As
Peter was delivered from prison through the prayers of the church,
I expect to be delivered from this prison too. That's what
he's saying. I expect to be delivered. This
is going to work out for my deliverance. Now, we know he's not talking
about salvation of his soul there. He's talking about his deliverance
from prison. Christ accomplished the salvation
of his soul. Now verse 20, "'According to
my earnest expectations and my hope, that in nothing I shall
be ashamed.'" Now, these words are placed here. Now note this
carefully. These words are placed here so
that they may refer both to what has gone before and what is to
follow afterward. according to my earnest expectation
and my hope in nothing I shall be ashamed." I'm not ashamed
of the gospel I preach. I'm not ashamed of the sufferings
I've endured. I'm not ashamed to be down here
in prison in Rome. I'm not ashamed to be chained
to this guard. I'm not ashamed of any of these
things, and I'm not ashamed of what the future holds. because
I intend to stand boldly on the same foundation that Christ might
be magnified." He says, with all boldness, as always, so now
Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by
death. Here's what he's saying. If I
should live and be set free from this prison, to preach Christ
again, Christ be glorified. If I should be slain by Nero,
if the orders come tomorrow to take my life, Christ's purpose
and Christ's glory will be accomplished in my death. So whether, he said,
I'm not ashamed. My earnest expectations shall
be fulfilled. Christ is going to be magnified
whether I live or whether I die. Whether I live to preach again,
whether I'm free to preach again, Christ is going to be magnified,
or whether he takes my life today, Christ is going to be magnified.
Look at the next line. For to me to live is Christ.
What does he mean by that? He means three things. Now watch
this, and I'll move quickly. For me to live is Christ. He's
saying this, Christ is the giver of life. He's the efficient cause
of life. He says, I give my sheep life. all power is given unto me that
I should give eternal life. The Son quickeneth whom he will,
he that hath the Son hath life." So Christ, this life he's talking
about, Christ is the giver of life and Christ is the efficient
cause of life. Christ in me, that is life. Secondly,
Christ is the sum and the substance of life. You take a believer
and cut into his mind, and you'll find thoughts of Christ. If you
cut into his heart, you'll find love for Christ. If you cut into
his will, you'll find a desire to please Christ. Christ is his
life. It's the sum and substance of
his life. And then Christ, thirdly, is
the hope of his life, to be like Christ. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I wake with his likeness. Well, for me to live is Christ,
who is the giver of life, the efficient cause of life, the
sum and substance of life, and the hope of life. He is our life. Now look at the next line, to
die is gain. It's release from all pain and
sickness to receive a perfect body. It's release from doubt
and fear to receive a perfect mind. It's released from limited
knowledge and faith to complete sight and a glorious inheritance.
It's released from all trial to a crown of glory. It's released
from mortality to unlimited, infinite, glorified pleasure
forever. Now look at verse 22. Now here's what he said. Christ
is going to be magnified whether I live or whether I die. And
if I live, to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now watch
this next line. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I know not.
Now that's a difficult verse, but here's exactly what he's
saying. Paraphrase, listen to it. He's already said, whether
I live or whether I die, Christ be magnified. to me to live is
Christ, me to die is gain. Now then, if, however, it is
the will of Christ that I live on in the flesh, it will mean
continuing to labor in the Lord's vineyard, and I trust to have
a fruitful labor. And this being the case, for
me to live is Christ, this being the case, I can really say nothing
in regard to my own preference. This is what Paul is saying.
I know not. It's not mine to choose whether
I live and labor or whether I die and go be with Christ. It's not
my decision. That's what he's saying. What
I should choose, I know not. It's not my decision. It's not
my choice. It's in the hands of my Lord.
It's his decision. Whether I live and labor for
Christ or whether I die and go to be with Christ, it's not my
decision. Really, he said, I can't really
say what my preference is, but he says this, I must be honest. I am in a strait betwixt two.
I'm hard pressed between two things, whether to live and labor
or to die and see the Lord. But I'll have to admit this,
I have a strong desire to see the Lord. He said, I'm hard pressed between
these two things, to live on and labor for Christ and for
your good and for his glory and to preach the gospel or whether
to die and to go be with Christ. It's not my choice. And he said,
I can't say what my own preference would be, but I do say this.
I have a strong desire to die and be with Christ, which is,"
watch this next line, "...far better." Better for whom? Better
for Paul. Far better for me. He said, I
have a strong desire to go and be with Christ, which is far
better for me. Verse 24. Nevertheless, to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you. What he's saying is
this, to remain here is more needful and essential for you.
The whole idea is this. For Paul to continue his ministry
of reconciliation and his ministry of the gospel of Christ would
certainly be better for this church. For Paul to die and to
go be with Christ would be far better for Paul. And that's what
he's saying there. It's like a father or mother
in a home. It'd be far better for the mother or father, either
one, to go to be with the Lord, for that person's sake. But for
the family's sake, it's better if they remain. And that's what
Paul is saying here. I just have no preference, he
said, actually. I know not. It's not mine to
choose. But now I'm hard-pressed, I will
say this, to be perfectly honest. I have a desire to go and be
with the Lord. Nevertheless for you, it's better if I stay."
Now verse 26 quickly, verse 25, "...and having this confidence,
I know I shall abide." Now Paul didn't have any divine revelation.
If he did, I couldn't find it, about getting out of jail and
about preaching again. But what he's saying here, I
believe, is he considered all things And I think sometimes
we can find the will of God. In fact, this is the only way
I know to find the will of God. Paul considered all things, examined
his own heart, prayed, and then he felt that God was going to
deliver him, and that he was going to send him back to preach
to these people again, that Paul might promote their progress
and their joy in believing. Now, see if that's not what you
get out of verse 25. I have this confidence I know
that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of the faith." I just feel that way. I feel that's
what God's going to do. Let your conversation be as it
becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you
or whether I be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your
adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition,
but to you a salvation in that of God." Now listen to this.
Following these verses tell us this. Listen to it. Conduct your
churches and your homes and your personal lives in a way that's
becoming to the gospel of Christ which you profess. Live and walk
and talk as believers ought to live and walk and talk. That
whether I come to visit you or not, I may hear from others that
you are standing together in unity and in purpose, side by
side, and you're contending in one mind for the true gospel
of Jesus Christ. And don't be afraid of your enemies.
This is what verse 28 is saying. Don't be afraid of your enemies,
whether they're rulers or false teachers or violent persecutors
or who they are. Your courage and your fearfulness
to stand unmoving for the doctrine of Christ and for the gospel
of Christ will be a sign to them of their own destruction, and
it will be a sign to you of your sincere salvation and that of
God. That's what he's saying in verse
28. Don't be afraid of your adversaries, because your standing, what he
said in the preceding verse, is an evident token to them of
their perdition, of their destruction. And it's a token to you of your
salvation and that of God. Now look at verse 29. Sometimes
we're a little amazed when things happen to us that we didn't expect. when things happen to us that
we don't especially enjoy, when things happen to us that are
difficult to bear, he says, unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, for the glory of Christ, not only to believe on him, face
the gift of God. God led you to believe. God led
you to Christ. He gave you that right. That
was God's gift. But it's also given to you to
suffer for His sake. Faith is ordained, and trials
are ordained. It is given unto you to believe
on Christ. It is also ordained that you
should bear His cross, and that you should suffer with Him. He
said one time, if they hate the master of the house, well, that's
Can the servant hope to escape if they hate the Master? Our Father, we thank Thee for
Thy Word. We believe that Thy Holy Spirit
has opened for us the Word. We have sought to deal honestly
with Thy Word for Thy glory. We sought, our Father, to interpret
Thy Word in the light of Thy Word. to give Christ the praise
and the glory which are his and his alone. And we pray that thou
would bless this message and this study to our understanding.
Let it not be to us just doctrine that we have heard, words that
have been uttered, but let these scriptures be applied to our
hearts. Give us the spirit of this great
apostle. spirit of humility and grace
and mercy, give us the spirit of this great apostle who could
rejoice in that Christ was preached, whether of envy, strife, contention,
or even hoping to add to his afflictions. And give us the
spirit and attitude of the apostle Paul who could face life or death
knowing that Christ would be magnified and exalted, whether
in life or in death. In a way, we'll be able to say
that for us to live is Christ and to die is gain. Bless this
congregation, every home represented here. We thank thee for our fellowship. We thank thee for the love which
thou hast shed abroad in our hearts by thy Holy Spirit. Love for Christ our Lord, love
for thy law, thy purpose, thy glory, and love for each other. May it be strengthened day by
day. And bless all who preach thy word tonight, especially
Walter, David, Milton, these other men who are loved and supported
by this church. Give us a love for all thy servants
throughout the world. Revive thy people in the midst
of the years. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen.