Thank you, Richard. That's a good message in that song.
Whenever you think that your life is hard,
I want you to think about the life of the Apostle Paul
and the hardship that he went through over a four-year period.
It began in Jerusalem.
He was seized by Jewish leaders and charged with inciting a riot.
The charges were groundless,
but nonetheless, he was taken prisoner.
He wound up being taken to Caesarea
and being imprisoned there for two years,
but never truly charged with a crime.
Finally, he got fed up with it.
He was under arrest. He was imprisoned.
He appeared before two different Roman governors.
One succeeded the other.
It just seemed like they would not do anything.
They were listening to those Jewish leaders
who were falsely accusing him of inciting a riot,
causing all kinds of havoc in that place.
And so they would listen to Paul, listen to them, but do nothing.
Finally, Paul got tired of it, and he said,
I appeal to Caesar.
And as a Roman citizen, he had that right,
and they had to send him from Caesarea to Rome.
He had to travel by ship.
Now think about it.
He's been two years in prison.
He's now going to Rome on the ship
where hopefully he's going to find some answers,
get some relief.
Along the way, a hurricane-like storm comes up.
For many, many days, they think the ship's going to sink,
but by the grace of God, it does not.
But when the storm's over, the ship does run aground,
breaks up,
and Paul has to swim to shore,
most likely hanging on to a plank from the broken ship.
He finally gets to shore.
There's a fire burning.
He warms himself by the fire,
and all of a sudden, he gets snake bit.
But again, God's gracious.
It doesn't faze him.
He finally is taken to Rome.
He's going to appear before Caesar.
He does not know when.
But as a Roman citizen,
he is allowed to live
under what we would call house arrest
as he awaited his trial.
He could have visitors.
People could come and talk with him,
listen, he could teach.
He had a lot of freedom in terms of living in that house,
people coming.
But at all times,
he was chained to a Roman soldier.
No matter who came,
no matter what they were talking about,
no matter how he felt,
he was confined to that one place
and always chained to that soldier.
That would be a hard situation, wouldn't it?
A terrible way to live with no end in sight.
Well, if you want to read those details,
the details,
I want to encourage you to read Acts chapter 21
through chapter 28.
Begin in Acts 21,
go to the end of the book,
and you can read all that happened to Paul
over this period of four years.
What I want to ask you is,
how would you respond?
How would you respond
if you've been in prison for four years
and no formal charges?
You appeal,
you go to Rome.
You're going to be there
to get your day in court
before Caesar himself, the emperor.
But you don't know when.
And in the meantime,
you're just sitting there
at this one place,
can't go anywhere else,
chained to a Roman soldier at all times.
How would you respond?
What would you do?
Here's what Paul did.
Two things I want to point out.
He continued his ministry
of preaching and teaching,
just as he always had done.
Look at this.
This is Acts 28, verses 30 and 31.
He lived there two whole years
at his own expense
and welcomed all who came to him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God
and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ
with all boldness
and without hindrance.
He had a lot of freedom
in that setting.
Second thing he did,
he wrote letters to churches.
He wrote four letters
that we have in our New Testament.
Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon,
and Philippians.
New Testament commentators
refer to these
as the prison letters of Paul.
Well, today I want us to begin
a study of the letter
to the Philippians.
This is the most positive letter
of Paul's in the New Testament.
Some commentators say
that it's just a letter
filled with joy.
One commentator,
one writer, Stuart Briscoe,
agrees that joy
is one of the themes
of Philippians,
but it's not the kind of joy
that we normally think of
that comes from happy feelings
or pleasant circumstances.
Look at how he describes
the situation.
Paul talks a lot about joy
and rejoicing,
not the I've got a wonderful feeling,
everything's going my way
kind of joy,
but a remarkable joy
that he could experience
in prison
when things were going wrong.
That is a quality of life
that is worth knowing
because we all have our prisons
of one kind or another.
One of the ways
Paul found joy
in prison
was just
what I'm going to call
he made the best
of that bad situation.
And that's what I want us
to do this morning.
I want you to open your Bible.
All these verses
are not going to be
on the screen.
The book of Philippians,
chapter one.
Over the course of this message,
we're going to read
the first 18 verses.
So I want you to open your Bible
and leave it there.
And what I want us to see
is how Paul teaches us
to make the best
of our bad situations.
First thing,
or the first lesson
in doing that is this.
Focus on others.
When you find yourself
in a bad situation,
not a lot of hope,
focus on other people.
That's what Paul did.
He entertained people
coming and going,
teaching, preaching.
We read from the book of Acts.
He wrote these four letters.
Let's begin with this letter.
Philippians 1,
1.
Paul
and Timothy.
Servants of Christ Jesus
to all the saints
in Christ Jesus
who are at Philippi
with the overseers
and deacons.
Grace to you
and peace from God
our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul writes
a typical letter
in terms of the form
of his day.
He included Timothy
just because Paul
was that kind of guy.
Timothy had nothing to do
with the start of that church.
He was sort of
Paul's understudy
at the time
and associate.
But it just sort of
shows us Paul's
bigness.
He wasn't concerned
about getting
all the attention.
He includes
Timothy.
He addresses them
as they are,
as all Christians are,
saints in Christ Jesus.
And this is the only letter
where he actually addresses
the church leaders,
the overseers,
the pastors,
the elders,
and the deacons.
Now,
here's what I want us
to think about.
Paul's situation
is not only
awful,
but he didn't know
if it would ever
get any better.
He didn't know.
I mean,
he was no one.
He was a Roman citizen.
He had the right
to appear before the emperor.
But what if there were
a thousand people
ahead of him?
He didn't know.
His situation
was a recipe
for just sort of
turning inward,
feeling sorry
for himself,
and just being depressed.
Well,
that's not what he did.
Paul responded
to this awful situation
by focusing
on other people.
As we saw,
he continued
his ministry
of preaching
and teaching.
He wrote letters
to churches.
We know
that he wrote
this letter
to the Philippian church
from prison
because he refers
to it four times
in chapter one.
You'll see it there
on the screen,
verses 7,
13,
14,
and 17.
He uses the phrase
my imprisonment.
That's what the ESV,
New American Standard,
uses.
The NIV talks
about my chains.
Paul was in prison.
He had no freedom.
He couldn't go
where he wanted to go.
He could live there,
that rented house.
He could have visitors,
but he couldn't leave.
And at all times,
he was chained
to that Roman soldier.
Well,
Paul spent at least
four years
as a prisoner.
Think about it.
Two years in Caesarea,
as we looked at
or talked about
a while ago,
and at least
two years in Rome.
He did not know
if he'd ever see
freedom again.
In such a hopeless situation,
it would be natural
for him just to sort of
give up, wouldn't it?
To just sink
into despair
and depression.
But he did the opposite.
Instead of just sort of
turning inward,
he turned outward.
Instead of just
feeling sorry for himself
and thinking how bad he had it,
he started thinking
about other people
and their needs
and how he might
meet them.
Paul was specifically
focused on
other people's need
to hear the gospel,
to come to faith
in Jesus,
or to grow
in their relationship
with him.
There's a lot of things
here we need to learn
from Paul.
Whenever you find
yourself in
a bad situation,
and life's full of them,
isn't it?
We all go through them.
Hard times.
Sometimes they're short.
Sometimes they're long.
Sometimes we can see
the light at the end
of the tunnel.
Sometimes we cannot.
But whenever you find
yourself in a situation
like this,
even a hopeless situation,
don't retreat
into your own
little private world
and just think about
yourself and how bad
you have it.
Focus on other people.
Talk to other people.
It may be your
natural inclination,
I don't want to talk about it.
Talk to other people.
Go see other people.
Get out.
Don't just try to hide
and hope it'll all go away.
Do what you can to try
to minister to other people.
Focus on their needs.
You know, that's one of the
ways that God has wired us
to deal with hardship.
Some of you in this room,
I have heard say something
along this line.
I went to see
so-and-so.
I knew they were having
a hard time.
I went to visit them
to maybe offer
a little encouragement.
But they encouraged me
more than I did them.
I want you to understand.
God has made us
as human beings
created in His image
to be relational people.
And we especially need
other people in our lives
when things are going bad.
When we are tempted
to be down and out,
depressed.
The most natural thing
for you to do
is try to write it out yourself.
Keep silent.
Oh, I don't want
to bother anybody.
Talk to people.
Find people
who will listen to you,
who will care.
This is sort of an aside here.
If someone comes to you
and you can tell
they're burdened,
there's a problem,
and they start talking
about their situation,
just so I don't
step on anybody's toes,
get too personal,
let's just say
they come to you
and they're discouraged
and they're down and out
because their dog died.
Don't listen to two sentences
and then tell them
your experience
about your dog dying
and forget about them.
That happens more times than not.
You think about it.
When you have really tried
to talk to somebody,
unload a burden,
get some help,
just not keep it all to yourself,
and as soon as you get it all out,
instead of them listening to you,
trying to encourage you,
they tell you their stories.
Sort of like you show them your scar,
they got to show you theirs.
That's not what people need
who come to see us.
Human nature is such,
we make life all about me.
I'd rather talk about me
than anybody.
You had too.
Not talk about me,
talk about yourself.
We need to resist
that temptation.
When people are coming to us,
when they are trying to
focus on other people,
let them,
let them help them.
The second lesson
about making the best
of bad situations
is be thankful.
Look for something
to thank God for
or to thank somebody else for.
I want you to look now
in verses three through eight.
Paul says,
I thank my God
in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine
for you,
for you all,
making my prayer with joy.
Paul was a southerner.
He talks about you all
all the time.
Look at it.
Always in every prayer of mine
for you all,
making my prayer with joy
because of your partnership
in the gospel
from the first day until now.
And I'm sure of this,
that he who began
a good work in you
will bring it to completion
this day of Jesus Christ.
It is right for me
to feel this way about
you all
because I hold you
in my heart.
For you are all partakers
with me of grace,
both in my imprisonment
and in the defense
and confirmation
of the gospel.
For God is my witness,
how I yearn for you all
with the affection
of Christ Jesus.
I want us to look
at some of the things
that Paul was thankful for.
There in Rome,
chained to that soldier,
no real idea
when or if you'll get set free.
Look at it.
Number one,
be thankful
for the people in your life.
Be thankful
for the people in your life.
Paul was thankful
for these Philippian Christians.
And he thanked God
for them.
Look at it.
Verse three again.
I thank my God
in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine.
He's telling them,
I thank God for you.
And then some of the other things
he says,
it lets them know
Paul's thankful for them
as well.
He's thanking God
and that's his way
of thanking them.
Let's think about
some of the things
that he was thankful for.
They had responded
to the gospel
in Acts chapter 16.
It tells us about
Paul going to this place.
He preached.
People believed.
A church was started.
They became partners,
he says,
in the next verse,
verse five here,
because of your partnership
in the gospel
from the first day
into now.
They became partners
with him in ministry.
How did they do that?
One thing,
they prayed for him.
Chapter one,
verse 19.
We'll look at it
again another time.
They really prayed for him.
They supported him financially.
He talks about
the gift they had sent him.
They'd met his needs
in chapter four,
verse 16.
They even sent
one of their members,
a man by the name
of Epaphroditus,
in chapter two,
verse 25.
It is obvious
that people in that church,
they loved Paul.
They were with him
as much as they could.
They supported him.
And he loved them.
He talks about it
specifically in verse eight.
It's my prayer
that your love
may abound more and more.
And we'll talk about that
a little bit later too.
What I want to ask you
is to think about
some of the people
in your life
that you need
to thank God for
and probably
express thanks
to yourself.
Paul is showing us here
that no matter how bad
our situation may be,
it's always helpful
to count our blessings.
Thank God
and thank other people
that God has used
to bless us.
I want you to think
about some of the people
that God has placed
in your life
who have truly
invested in you.
Think of some of the people
that God has placed
in your life.
They've given
of themselves to you
and you really are
thankful for them.
Think of some of the ones
who have
always been there
for you
even if you didn't
really
pay them a whole lot
of attention.
Even if you didn't
really need anything
sometimes.
Think of some of the people
who've always been there
for you
whether you acknowledged
it or not,
whether you were thankful
or not at the time.
Think about some of the people
who have invested
in your spiritual well-being.
That's the focus
of what Paul's thankful
for here.
Some of the people
who actually shared
the gospel with you
lived like a Christian
before you
have taught you
how to live
a Christian life
by their example
and by their words.
When was the last time
you thanked God
for them?
Now in thanking God
for them
we do that
genuinely,
seriously
but when we
thank God
for someone
it makes us
think of them
too,
doesn't it?
And some of the things
they have
done
for us
and in thanking
God for people
it should motivate us
to
thank them.
When was the last time
that you actually
took the time
looked them in the eye
or maybe
even wrote them a card
and said
thank you
for
being there.
Thank you
for
what you've done.
Thank you.
You've been a blessing.
God has used you
in my life.
You know you may be
in a terrible situation
right now.
Maybe things going on
in your home,
family,
where you work,
job instability.
Maybe you've got
health issues.
Maybe some school
problems.
Why don't you look around
at who and what
you can
give thanks for
right now.
I mean life
may be hard
but in the midst
of that
that's what Paul
was doing.
Think about
who
or what.
I can give
thanks to God
for
focus on God,
focus on the
other person
and not
just get
swallowed up
in my own
pity.
Why don't you
even
reach out
to someone
that you
know loves
you
in your
difficult
situation
and just
let them know
you're hurting.
Ask them
to pray
for you.
Maybe ask
them to
help you,
guide you,
give you
some advice.
No matter what
we're going through
in our lives
right now,
we can
give thanks
to God
for people
who have
been a blessing
to us.
We can
give thanks
to God
for various
kinds of
things
and we
can give
thanks to
people
who may
really need
to hear
that you
acknowledge
their help,
their love,
their blessing.
Do that.
Do it
soon.
Another thing
we see here,
Paul was
thankful for
God's
continuing
work in
his life,
so we
need to
learn to
be thankful
for God's
continuing
work in
our lives
and in
the lives
of people
we care
about.
That's
verse 6
and that's
what we
looked at
last week,
so we're
not going
to go
there
anymore.
Let's
move on.
The third
lesson about
making the
best of
bad
situations
is this,
pray.
That should
be natural
to us as
Christians.
But Paul
in verses
9 through
11,
he really
takes us
to school
about the
way we
pray.
And there
is so much
there that's
contrary to
the way we
normally think
about prayer
and pray
that I want
us to come
back next
week and
let that
be the
focus of
our study.
Learning to
truly pray
in ways
that Paul
prayed and
found answers
and helped
people.
So let's
move on
now.
Number
four,
stay focused
on the
big picture
of what
God is
doing in
your life.
How do
you make
the best
of a bad
situation?
Well,
stay focused
on the
big picture
of what
God is
doing in
your life.
Now,
let's look
again now
at verse
12.
We're going
to read
verses 12
through 18.
I want you
to think
about what
we've been
looking at
so far,
Paul's
situation
and what
he says.
I want you
to know,
brothers,
that what
has happened
to me
has really
served to
advance the
gospel so
that it has
become known
throughout the
whole imperial
guard and
to all the
rest that my
imprisonment is
for Christ.
And most
of the brothers
having become
confident in the
Lord by my
imprisonment,
are much
more bold
to speak the
word without
fear.
Some indeed
preach Christ
from envy
and rivalry,
but others
from good
will.
The latter
do it out
of love,
knowing that
I am put
here for the
defense of
the gospel.
The former
proclaim Christ
out of selfish
ambition,
not sincerely,
but thinking
to afflict me
in my
imprisonment.
What then?
Only that in
every way,
whether in
pretense or in
truth,
Christ is
proclaimed,
and in
that I
rejoice.
Now if you
look back in
verse 12,
Paul begins
this section by
referring to
what has
happened to
me.
What's
described in
detail in
Acts chapter
21 through
28.
Alec
Motyer,
a New
Testament
commentator,
he provides a
helpful summary of
what happened to
Paul,
we need to
think about
again as we
move on.
Look at this.
He says,
an entirely
false accusation
was leveled at
him by his own
people.
He was nearly
lynched by a
religious mob.
He was made the
subject of unjust
and unprovoked
insult and shame.
He was kept
imprisoned owing to
official craving for
popularity or for
money.
Then came the
prolonged trial of
the storm at sea
where his life hung
as it seemed by a
thread.
Eventually when he
reached Rome, he
came in the company
of the condemned,
bound by a chain
and destined to
drag out at least
two years under
arrest awaiting the
uncertain decision
of an earthly king.
Nevertheless, still
imprisoned, still
chained, still
unheard, still
uncertain.
He looks back and
declares that what
has happened to me
has really served to
advance the gospel.
That's just amazing,
isn't it?
After all he's gone
through, the most
natural thing would be
for Paul to just be
depressed, angry, angry
at God, angry at
everybody, questioning
why in the world, God,
have you allowed this to
happen to me?
I have been faithful.
Why have you allowed me
to go through four years
of hell on earth and
still no end in sight?
Paul didn't think that
way.
He didn't talk that way.
He didn't write that way.
This shows that what he
was doing, he was looking
at the big picture of what
God was doing in his life.
He said he was called by
God to be, to take the
gospel to the Gentiles.
He was called by God to be
the missionary, the
evangelist, the church
starter among the Gentile
world.
Well, he didn't want it to
happen this way.
It certainly wasn't what he
planned, but he was now
there in Rome preaching
and teaching in what would
be called the heart and soul
of the Gentile world.
So instead of just thinking
about how bad things have
been, he looks at it as it's
all served God's purpose.
It has advanced the gospel.
Now I want you to look at
some of these verses at the
positive things Paul calls
attention to that have
happened as a result of his
suffering and imprisonment.
First, he's been able to reach
the whole imperial guard in
verse 13.
That was the official body
guard of the emperor and the
ones responsible for guarding
Roman prisoners, official Roman
prisoners like Paul.
One of those soldiers was
chained to Paul at all times.
They would have rotated.
They would over a period of
two years, no telling how many
different soldiers, hundreds of
soldiers would have rotated in
and out guarding Paul, being
chained to Paul.
Well, you know that some of
those soldiers, they would
have hated being there.
They would have hated Paul.
They would have ignored him.
They would have tried to
mistreat him as much as they
could.
But being a Roman prisoner, a
Roman citizen, he had certain
rights, so they couldn't do
much.
But some of them, some of them
would have listened to Paul as
he taught the scriptures, as he
explained the gospel of people
coming.
Some of them would have listened
carefully as Paul dictated the
letter to the Ephesian Christians,
to the Colossians, to the man
Philemon, and to these Christians
here at Philippi.
No doubt Paul would have personally
shared the gospel with those
soldiers who were interested, who
asked questions.
Paul took advantage of that.
He was excited that he had been
able to share the gospel with all
those Roman soldiers.
Let me ask you, have you ever
considered that God may have
allowed you to go through a time of
difficulty for the purpose of
touching certain people's lives?
or that maybe God was just using you
and your suffering to accomplish
something that that was just God's
plan.
That's how it was going to be
accomplished.
I have heard of some Christians, and
you have too, maybe some in here, who
have gone through, for example, cancer
treatments.
If you've ever seen that set up, some
people, some Christians have gone
through cancer treatments, they've been
sitting in a chair, hooked up to an
IV, getting chemo, and sort of beside
them, not far away, maybe in sort of
like a circle.
I've seen that.
Somebody else is there hooked up.
And they could be a little pod of
people, or just two or three, according
to how the room is set up.
I've heard Christians talk about being
being able to share the gospel with
people during that time.
I have heard Christians talk about
being encouraged by other Christians
who were going through that same
experience.
In such a situation, it may be your
natural tendency to just feel sorry for
yourself.
Why do I have to have this?
Why do I have to just go through this?
And just ignore everybody around you.
Just get over it.
But we need to learn to look at the
bigger picture, whatever situation we
find ourselves in, that God may want to
use us in our situation to touch somebody
else's life in various kinds of ways.
But as Christians, we always have a
responsibility to touch people in the name
of Jesus Christ, to share the gospel, to
demonstrate the difference Jesus makes in
our lives.
Paul was able to reach the imperial guard
because he was outwardly focused.
I want you to look at something else.
He was used by God.
His faithfulness motivated others to be bold
witnesses.
Look again at verse 14.
And most of the brothers, having become
confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are
much more bold to speak the word without fear.
You know, if you would take a public stand as a
Christian, I mean, let it be known, I'm a follower of
Jesus Christ.
I love the Lord.
I am really trying to serve Him.
It very well may be, you might be used by God to
inspire somebody who is a Christian, but they're sort of
reluctant to take a stand.
Or God may use you to actually share the gospel to
someone.
When I was a student at Clemson in 1975, God used a
friend of mine.
We'd gone through high school together.
We were at Clemson together.
And in our sophomore year, he took a strong stand to start
living a faithful Christian life.
And when he did that, he inspired me.
And I followed his lead and drawing back closer to the Lord.
I'm going to be real honest with you.
We'd gone through high school together.
We'd done some sinful things together.
We knew one another well.
He took that stand in front of me.
And truly, God used it to get my attention, to draw me back to
where I needed to be.
And not long after that, to call me to preach.
There may be someone in your life today, maybe a family member,
a friend, maybe somebody who's just sort of an acquaintance, and
they're looking at you more than you thought they were.
Maybe they are a Christian, but they're not where they need to
be spiritually today.
Maybe they're sort of drifted away from the Lord or even
rebelling.
It could be that if you would get serious about, I'm going to live
like a Christian.
I'm going to not let whatever it is that's your terrible situation,
I'm not going to let it defeat me.
I'm going to be faithful to God no matter what it costs me, no
matter how much I suffer.
And in so doing, God will use your witness, your testimony to get
somebody's attention and draw them back to himself or maybe even
draw them to him for the first time and save them.
But I want you to understand, you've got to step up for that to
happen.
You can't be ashamed, timid, to actually say, I'm a Christian, to
rise above the difficulty.
You can't feel sorry for yourself.
You can't live life as if it's just about me and my pleasure, my
convenience.
Paul's faithfulness motivated others to be bold Christians.
Yours could as well.
One more thing quickly.
Paul didn't let other people's jealousy or impure motives bother
him.
Verses 15 through 18, Paul was just concerned that the gospel will be
preached.
What we read there, Paul's not talking about people who were trying
to make his life more miserable.
He's not talking about false teachers.
He's talking about people who actually did preach the gospel.
They were hoping, because of Paul's confinement, they were hoping to
make him jealous, make him envious.
They were hoping to bother him.
They had terrible motives, but he didn't let it bother them.
I want to encourage you to listen to Paul, look at Paul.
You be faithful.
You appreciate when people live a Christian life.
You appreciate when the Bible is taught, when churches grow, when
people are being reached and it's not your church.
Don't be jealous.
Don't be envious.
Just be concerned that the name of Jesus is held high and the
gospel is preached faithfully.
You know, all of us do go through hard times.
Sometimes they last longer than we want them to.
Sometimes we're in the midst of them and there's not one thing we
can do to change it.
When you find yourself in that situation next time, ask God to help
you to make the best of it by doing what Paul did.
Focus on other people.
Be thankful for who and what God provides to help you.
Pray.
And stay focused on the big picture of what God is doing in your life, in
you and through you.
Let's pray together.