Amen.
Well, thank you so much to everyone who's participated so far in our service.
I hope it's been encouraging to you.
It's been encouraging to me as I've sat there and listened to just tale after tale of God's faithfulness.
And just when you thought you'd seen everything from Fraser, a video link.
I mean, I'd love to tell you I had the Apostle Paul video link here, but I don't.
If you have Philippians chapter 1 open in front of you, it's going to be so helpful.
So, Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 to 26 that Margo so helpfully read for us is where we're going to be this morning.
But to get us thinking as we kick off, I thought we'd play a little game called Whose Motto Is It Anyway?
So I'm going to put some mottos on the screen and I want to see if anybody out there can guess whose mottos these are.
So here's the first one.
Live each day as if it were your last.
Any idea?
So it's Steve Jobs.
Next one.
Think big and get the job done.
Mr. Trump.
Above all, to thine own self be true.
Now, maybe some of the old English might give it away there.
Anybody?
It's Shakespeare.
I'm not as cultured as you are, so I'm sticking to the good ones.
No matter what happens in life, be good to people would be Taylor Swift.
And then lastly, the one that has been in my head for the last little while and I can't seem to get it out is this one.
No right, no wrong.
The rules for me.
I'm free.
Anybody?
So this is Elsa from Frozen.
I can't get it out of my head.
I wonder if you have a motto in life.
A way that you understand the world, a principle that you live by.
Because this morning, what we're going to see is we're going to see a man with a motto.
If your Bible's there, then look at verse 21 of, sorry, verse 21 of chapter 1.
Here is the Apostle Paul.
The man whose life has been flipped upside down and turned inside out by the risen Jesus Christ.
In verse 21, we see his motto in life.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
This is the way he understands the world.
This is the principle that he lives by.
Now just before we dive into the passage this morning, I want you to think about that motto.
Maybe here this morning and you wouldn't call yourself a Christian.
Well, can I say how welcome you are?
I love that you're here.
I just challenge you this morning to think about your own life.
What motto do you try and live by?
As you hear the Apostle Paul this morning, I want you to ask yourself,
why does this man live and why does he think like this?
Maybe you're here this morning and you would call yourself a Christian.
Well, the challenge to you this morning is to assess your life according to this man's motto.
And so in the time that we have left this morning, I just want us to see how this motto has shaped Paul.
Because I think in these verses we see that it shaped him in four different ways.
Now remember Paul isn't sitting in his armchair with his pipe and slippers thinking philosophical thoughts.
As he pens his motto, we saw a few weeks ago, didn't we, that he's in prison.
And you'll notice it, if you've got the text there, that he uses the word chains.
Or if you've got an ESV, it's imprisonment.
He uses it three times in those preceding four verses.
And he wants the Philippians to know something.
That's how he opens it here, verse 12, to know something.
To know that despite his chains, not only has he not abandoned that motto,
but actually he's seeing the truth of it living right out, playing right out in front of him.
And here's the first way that this motto has shaped Paul, verses 12 to 14.
It's shaped his attitudes.
Notice the little phrase that he uses halfway through verse 16,
which I think is the key to understanding what is going on here.
What does he write?
I am put here.
Now remember when I was growing up, one of my favorite computer games to play was called Theme Hospital.
The game, you literally constructed your own hospital.
You hired your own staff.
And whenever you used to survey your hospital,
and whenever there was a sick patient at this side of your hospital,
sometimes it had a bloaty head, if you remember the game,
what you would do is you would survey the hospital,
and you would find a doctor,
and you would put the mouse on the doctor.
Remember those things called mouses?
And you would drag the doctor,
and you would put him next to the patient.
Because you wanted him to do a job.
Well, I'm reminded here, as I read these words of Paul,
I'm reminded of Theme Hospital.
Because Paul is saying that he's not just caught a bad break.
He's not suffering from a case of nice guys finish last.
This is God working out his divine purposes in Paul's life.
Paul has been put here in this prison by God.
And so Paul says,
Dear Philippians,
know that me being in prison is not hindering the gospel.
Actually, God is using this to advance the spread of the gospel.
Now, how does that work?
Well, Paul tells us how.
In fact, he gives us two hows,
if you see them in the verses there.
Firstly, verse 13.
Because Paul has been put here,
the whole imperial guard have heard about Jesus.
Now, try and use your imaginations this morning.
Picture this scene.
Paul is under house arrest.
He's under the supervision of,
and he's most likely chained to,
a Roman soldier.
Now, does Paul strike you as the kind of guy,
as he was chained to this soldier,
who would be speaking to him about the weather?
Do you not think that Paul savored,
and he seized the opportunity to tell that guard about Jesus Christ?
And when that guard finished his shift,
which commentators will tell us,
it was about four hours long,
before it rotated round,
and another guard came along,
do you not think Paul seized and savored and rejoiced
in yet another opportunity to tell another guard about Jesus?
And on and on this went until the whole imperial guard has heard about the risen Jesus Christ.
Now, picture these soldiers.
They're on their lunch break,
and they're asking each other,
what do you make of this guy?
This little man with his big ideas?
I cannot fathom it.
He's in prison,
not because he's done anything wrong.
He's in prison because he believes in a man.
You see, here is Paul.
What is he doing?
He's not just grinning and bearing the circumstances that have come his way in life.
Here is Paul turning those circumstances around for the glory of God.
And to see how God is at work here,
to see how he's at work,
bigger picture,
these Roman soldiers are never going to come to an evangelistic event put on by Rome Evangelical Church.
Never going to darken the door of a church.
So they will not come to Paul.
What does God do?
Okay.
Paul,
I'll put you there with them.
What a wonderful truth to be reminded of this morning when it comes to God's sovereign logic in evangelism.
Just think about your own life for a minute.
Where does God put you?
Who in his divine sovereignty and in his divine purposes has he put in your life,
in your office,
in your class,
in your camp,
in your street,
in your team,
where has God placed you for his glory?
Second thing Paul wants the Philippians to know,
verse 14,
is that because of his example in prison,
the other brothers have become more bold to speak about Jesus Christ.
So presumably as they've watched Paul go for it,
they have dared to preach the gospel.
Great word there if you've got it there.
Dare.
My prayer this week for my own life was,
Lord,
would you help me to dare more?
So I want you to know,
Philippians,
I want you to know that me being here in chains is not game over.
It's game on.
Do you see how his motto has shaped his attitudes?
Secondly,
verses 15 to 18,
it shaped his ambition.
Paul's clearly heard that there are some people out there who are preaching the same message as him,
preaching Christ,
but they're doing so with skewed motives.
So certain individuals are seeking to take advantage of his current predicament in prison,
looking to make themselves known,
looking to make themselves look great,
and seizing the opportunity with Paul off the scene to make themselves look big,
rather than being occupied with making Christ look big.
And Paul says,
that attitude,
those motives,
that ambition,
is ugly.
I don't know if you saw it in the news this week,
I'd be very impressed if anyone did.
There's a football team down in London called Wickham Wanderers,
and they've just released their new goalkeeping talk for the season.
So distractingly ugly,
that it's meant to put opposition strikers off.
Paul is saying that there's people walking about,
and by the way they're behaving,
they may well be preaching Christ,
but as they do that,
it's almost like they're walking around clothed in that Wickham Wanderers goalie top.
You,
by the way you live,
Philippians,
you,
clothe yourself in the exact opposite.
By your speech,
by your conduct,
by your way of life,
don't put people off.
As you make Jesus known,
draw people to him by living in a way which makes him look beautifully attractive.
That's the mindset that you've got to adopt.
It's incredible,
actually,
the more you get to grips with what Paul is saying in this letter,
how often he comes back to this theme of mindset,
to think differently.
We'll see it so beautifully drawn out next week as we come to chapter 2.
Paul says to them,
your mindset is to be that of Christ,
of humility,
of love.
No room for envy,
no room for rivalry,
no room for quarreling.
Your life's marked by humility and love.
Your ambition in life as God's people is not to make yourself known,
like these people.
You live and I live to make Christ known.
That's what matters to Paul.
And I think it's a sobering reminder at this point,
isn't it,
that as Christians,
we can have all the right words
and serve in the church,
even,
in all the right ways,
but completely miss the point.
That we serve Christ with bitterness brewing in our hearts,
that we preach Jesus with resentment lurking.
So it's a reminder this morning to be checking our own hearts for our motives.
Don Carson,
he writes this,
really powerful words,
all of us would be wiser
if we would resolve
never to put people down
except on our prayer list.
Paul's motto,
which has shaped his ambition in life,
second half of verse 18,
to verse 21.
Thirdly,
it's shaped his approach in life.
Paul rejoices in what he knows.
Do you see that?
In what he knows.
What does he know?
Well,
we saw it last week with Tim,
if you remember,
that we saw what Paul was praying for these Philippians.
Well,
here he rejoices because he knows
that they are praying for him.
They are praying for him.
And you see the wonderful little truth for us here
that's embedded in these verses.
Here are this little house church in Philippi,
meeting in Lydia's house.
This little church,
what are they doing?
They are on their knees
before God,
pleading for their brother,
Paul.
You can picture it,
can't you?
What are they praying?
What are they asking?
Lord,
would you protect our brother?
Lord,
would you strengthen our brother?
Lord,
would you be so gracious to our brother?
Lord,
would you give Paul the,
by your spirit,
living in him,
would you give him the words to say
when he gets the chance to speak about you?
Father,
would you put good people around Paul
who can encourage him
as he continues on in the faith?
Here is this little church
wrestling in prayer
for their brother who's in chains.
And I must say,
I've been really struck
and encouraged this week
by the vulnerability
that Paul shows here in prayer.
Particularly,
I think,
when contrasted
with what he's just penned
about the worldly ambitions of others.
Now,
I don't know about you,
but I always find it
baffling,
is that the right word,
to read that Paul
asks others to pray for him.
Because in my mind,
if ever there was a guy
who I kind of think
would be okay
without prayer
for evangelism,
then it's Paul.
But no,
says Paul,
I need your prayers,
dear Philippians.
They strengthen me.
They are so precious to me
to know that you're praying for me.
Thank you so much for them
and please would you keep them coming.
Maybe something for all of us
to do off the back of this morning
is to ask somebody here,
before you go,
maybe just one person,
how you can be praying for them this week.
And then flip it around.
Why don't you try and tell one person
how they can be praying for you
this week.
I find it so,
in my own life,
I find it so encouraging
to know
that people are praying for me.
You know,
when our little girl Grace
was in hospital,
the prayers of the people
in this church family,
the texts that you sent us,
the emails that you sent us,
the phone calls,
they were so precious to us.
We're working to make it a feature
of our monthly prayer meetings
when we gather together
on a Wednesday
to pray for other churches
in the city.
On Wednesday night,
just gone,
we were praying
for the new church plant
out at Esk Valley.
And I just emailed my friend Tom,
the minister there,
during the weekend
and said,
how can we be praying for you?
And he just sent a list
of things to pray for.
But his first line was just,
thank you so much.
Those prayers mean so much to us.
As we've heard this morning,
we were celebrating 50 years
of God's faithfulness
to this church family.
That's quite incredible
when you think about it.
Not the weird great,
but he's great.
50 years.
Well,
let's strive as a church family
to ensure that prayer
remains very much part
of the fabric of this church.
and part of the very core DNA
of who we are.
And let's keep striving
to come to our great God
in prayer.
Charles Spurgeon,
prayer pulls the rope below
and the great bell rings
in the ears of God above.
But some scarcely stir the bell.
Others give but an occasional
pluck at the rope.
But he who wins with heaven
is the man who grasps
that rope boldly
and pulls continually
with all his might.
Friends,
as we journey on
whatever happens to us,
let's commit ourselves
to being a church family
who pulls that rope.
Our great God.
You see,
Paul knows that he's not embarked
on a solo mission for Jesus.
He knows that mission for Christ
is a spirit-empowered team pursuit.
And what a joy for him
to know that these Philippians,
even though they are miles away from him,
are spending themselves
in praying for him,
asking,
you see it there,
that he might be delivered.
Delivered from prison,
delivered at the end of his life.
Paul's probably got both in his mind.
And in that,
he rejoices.
And you see what he wants,
verse 20,
for Jesus to be exalted.
Now, what does that mean?
Well, it means that Paul
is devoting himself
to being a walking
and talking telescope.
His life is about
making Christ look bigger.
And how will Christ be exalted
in Paul?
Do you see what he says?
In my body.
Paul's logic there
must be reflecting on the Jesus
who has literally given his body
for Paul.
The Jesus who died
to save this wretch of a sinner
who previously cursed
his very name
and lived to destroy his people.
Paul now turns and says,
that Christ,
I'm giving myself
the totality of myself
for his cause.
There's a famous story told
of a pig and a chicken
standing in a field
and a bus passes them.
And on the side of the bus
is the picture,
just picture of eggs and bacon.
The slogan underneath reads,
eggs and bacon,
the great British breakfast.
And the chicken turns to the pig
and says,
look pig,
we're going to be famous.
And the pig turns back
to the chicken and says,
true,
but for you to be famous
you only need to make
a small contribution.
For me,
well I need to give my whole life.
Here is Paul.
Giving his whole life for Christ.
The lyrics that
Isaac Watts penned
all those years ago,
love so amazing,
so divine,
demands my soul,
my life,
my all.
Paul's motto has shaped
his approach.
And fourthly and lastly
at verses 22 to 26,
he's shaped his aim.
As he contemplates life,
he's torn
to die and,
do you see how he's torn here?
To die and to go
and be with the Lord.
How does he describe it?
End of verse 23.
Far better.
He wants to,
he longs to be
with his Savior.
But he also wants to see
these Philippians
progress in the faith,
be filled with that
inexpressible joy
that comes through
knowing Jesus Christ.
See how it's win-win for him?
He can't lose here.
For him,
it's not about choosing life
or choosing death.
Life is about choosing Christ.
Now again,
call me weird,
but I was
trying to get inside the passage
when I preach.
Trying to picture myself
as one of Paul's guards
this week.
It seems to me
that Paul must have been
one of the most
irritating men
that they could ever
have looked after
in their whole time
as a guard.
Imagine the conversation,
Paul,
would you stop talking
about Jesus?
And he looks at them
and says,
no,
because for me
to live is Christ.
Okay,
if you don't stop
talking about Jesus,
we'll kill you.
Well,
that's great.
Because for me
to die is gain.
What do you do
with this guy?
How irritating
and yet,
do you see the point?
How attractive is this?
I asked you at the start
to think about
your own life motto
and think about
Paul's motto for life.
Here is a man in chains,
but think about it.
Here is a man in chains
and yet,
here is the most free man
I think I've ever come across.
This isn't always
look on the bright side of life.
This is not hakuna matata.
Here is a man
fully convinced
that Jesus Christ
is more precious
and more trustworthy
than anything else
in his life.
And as I've reflected on it
in my own life this week
and as I've pondered
his motto,
I've found myself
and I hope you found yourself
this morning as well
coming up well short of that.
How often do we
just get caught up
in longing for
and living for
the temporary things
of this world?
How often do we
as the psalmist
would say in Psalm 1,
how often do we
just chase chaff?
Living for that dream home,
living for the kids
to get into that school,
living for the new car,
living for that holiday,
living for that iPhone 7.
Guess what happens
after the iPhone 7?
There's an iPhone 8.
Living for that
retirement package,
living for that holiday
in the south of Spain.
Do you see how
Paul's motto this morning
calls us back
to living lives
that matter
for the glory
of Jesus Christ.
What is life
all about for Paul?
It's about living
for Christ,
to know him,
to know forgiveness,
to know sins
paid for
and sins
cancelled,
to know life
through this man
and living
to make him
known.
So here is Paul
this morning
saying to us
very clearly
through Philippians
that there is no better
and no freer way
to live
than to adopt
this as your motto.
And of course
there's no secret
to this.
If I want to see
the world
like Paul sees
the world,
then I need to see
Jesus Christ
like he sees
Jesus Christ.
The secret
every day
is to turn
my eyes
upon Jesus
and to look
full in his
wonderful face
and the things
of earth
will grow
strangely dim
in light
of his
glory
and grace.
As we close
I was reminded
of the great story
of Jim Elliot
the American
missionary
who in 1956
takes the gospel
to an unreached
tribe in Ecuador
and he and his
four traveling
companions
tragically martyred
by the people
there and Jim
famously penned
in his journal
his life motto
that he is no fool
who gives what he
cannot keep
to gain that
which he cannot
lose.
Great motto.
A famous motto.
You google Jim Elliot
you will get
literally thousands
probably even
hundreds of thousands
of hits.
He was even on
the BBC News
recently
as he commemorated
his death
but if you google
his brother
Bert Elliot
you get
70 hits.
Bert was asked
how he dealt
with living
in the shadow
his famous brother
the Christian
himself
and he said
this
and we'll close
with this
some wonderful
wonderful words
he says
in the kingdom
of God
there is
a great need
for streaking
meteors
that's his brother
Jim
streaking meteors
but the reality
is most of us
won't be that
we will instead
be faint stars
husbands and fathers
wives and mothers
we will be
accountants
and teachers
businessmen
and students
we will go through
life
day after day
doing very much
the same thing
as we did yesterday
but the important
thing for us
to remember
is that we
are needed
there is a
great need
for people
willing to chase
the little donkeys
of life
not because
it's exciting
because they
believe in
the constant
presence
and purposes
of God
there is a
great need
for people
willing to
stand in the
midst of the
boring
convinced
that there is
no such thing
as ordinary
when you follow
an extraordinary
God
now I love
that quote
because that is
the story for
most of us
here this morning
isn't it
most of us
are not going
to be streaking
meteors
none of us
are going to
have our
names in
lights
none of us
are going to
have thousands
hundreds of
thousands of
hits on
Google
we are
these everyday
people that
he's talking
about
but everyday
people whom
God has
called to
make this
motto our
own
and to bring
this motto
that we've seen
in Philippians
with us
into the
everyday
not because
we are
great
but because
Christ
is great
as for me
says Paul
I have made
it my
life's
refrain
that to
live
is
Christ
and to
die
is
gain
let's
pray
together
so
father
thank you
for this
morning
and thank
you just
for the
wonderful
reminder
that this
is not
about us
it's
about
you
your
faithfulness
your
grace
your
steadfast
love
that
endures
forever
so
lord
by your
grace
and by
your
spirit
living
in us
would you
help us
this week
in our
lives
to know
the joy
of Paul's
motto
that we've
seen here
and may
it be
our
mindset
that to
live
is Christ
and to
die
is gain
and it's
in Jesus
wonderful
and precious
name that
we pray
these things
amen