WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.000 I've been reading, my Bible notes have been all about the tail end of Acts and it ties in really well with this passage from Philippians or the whole book. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:18.000 ! So forgive me for indulging too much perhaps on St Paul but let's explore. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:33.000 This letter was, as we know, written by St Paul and he was under Roman arrest awaiting trial. His incarceration was not for fault but for faith. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:47.000 He'd been brought here because of false accusation by the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem where the local Roman authorities were looking for bribes and pandering to the Sanhedrin. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:54.000 So he had appealed to Caesar because he knew he could not get justice in Jerusalem. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:05.000 So he'd been brought here to Rome. Here his imprisonment was a form of house arrest where he had to provide for all his expenses, his food, rent and so on. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:15.000 And so he depended on the generosity of others to do that and that included this church in Philippi. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:28.000 He was able to receive visitors and preach but conversely he was chained to an elite Roman guard on an 18 inch chain the whole time. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:38.000 His guard would have changed every 4 to 6 hours say but he had no privacy. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:47.000 What would you do in that situation? It's unjust isn't it? It's inhibiting. It's denying dignity. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:53.000 Paul's outcome was completely uncertain. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:02:02.000 He didn't know when his trial would be, whether he would then be released or thrown into a dungeon or executed. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:10.000 Paul had no certainty over whether he would live or die in the next few days or months or years. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:25.000 Plenty of reasons then to feel helpless and angry, to become despondent, always afraid. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:33.000 Did Paul react in this way to his circumstances? With all this lack of justice and personal cost? 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:38.000 No, Paul saw things differently. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Paul seemed to find strength where perhaps most of us would fail. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.000 He seemed impervious to his predicament. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:47.000 I want to explore this. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:48.000 I want to explore this. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:56.000 But in doing so, please understand, I'm not implying that therefore as Christians we should always man up, 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:01.000 or indeed be expected to, in the face of adversity. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:11.000 We should remember that the Psalms are full of lament, of pain and worry expressed to God. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:17.000 Job took a long time to come through the devastation of the loss of his family and home. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:22.000 Jonah moaned at God despite great success. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:32.000 It took Jesus three repetitions to restore Peter's confidence when he'd been knocked back by his failure. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.000 For those of us who don't know my story, I was widowed at 47. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:43.000 Lynn died of cancer, leaving me with three children to care for and a massive hole in my heart. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:54.000 The physical, emotional, the psychological and spiritual impacts of loss are real. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:01.000 The pain of loss or trauma or even change aren't wrong or to be ashamed of. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:07.000 They're just a consequence of love in all its fullness. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:12.000 And a fragile thing we always carry that can make us gentler. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Looking back, I can see just how God helped me at that time. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:28.000 He was just with me in the pain, sharing it, allowing me space to carry it, not trying to bounce me out of it. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:36.000 But we can learn from St Paul who had a specific calling. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.000 One that God had been setting out for him over a while. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 In Acts 20, in Macedonia, he said, 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:51.000 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 And later added, 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:58.000 The Holy Spirit warned me that prison and hardships are facing me. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:07.000 And then in chapter 21, through the Spirit, they urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.000 The people pleaded with Paul not to go. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:16.000 Clearly his friends weren't hearing all that God was saying to Paul at that time. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:25.000 I think it was Paul seeing the gold and white, whereas everyone else around him was seeing the blue and black. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 But there is a lesson here for us too, isn't there? 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:35.000 In listening to all God is saying, not just the parts we want to hear. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:45.000 It's clear that the Holy Spirit had been preparing Paul, readying him, warning him of what his obedience would mean. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:50.000 As well as equipping him and supporting his resolve to follow through. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Paul went to Jerusalem. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.000 And the Spirit's warnings were true. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:00.000 He was arrested, but God was with him always. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.000 And we can see God's plan. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:07.000 For Paul had also felt called and longed to serve the church in Rome. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And this was just the bizarre way that God was working that out for him. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.000 So St. Paul chose to see everything as an opportunity. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:24.000 He wasn't seeing his imprisonment as a restriction or as a distraction from his calling. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:33.000 But there was a way to let it be known that he was there because of his love and faith in Jesus. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:38.000 If you were here last week, you'll remember John sharing testimony. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.000 I was blown away by it. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.000 It was amazing, wasn't it? 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.000 And it's exactly this, I think. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 John said, and I grabbed his notes so I can quote him exactly. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.000 He said, I'm here today talking to you from my own prison cell of dementia. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 And I feel totally blessed to be where I am. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:07:01.000 Because without it, I would not have been able to do and continue to do all these things. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.000 The Lord is asking of me right now. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:16.000 Thank you, John, for that encouragement to see things so differently from the perspective of a servant of Christ. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Back to Paul. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 He didn't mind being chained to his guards either. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:26.000 This was a way to spread the message of Christ's love more widely. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:32.000 For every guard change meant a new person to witness to. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:39.000 So he didn't object to this depersonalising company of the palace guard. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:44.000 Because this enabled him to speak faith to the very heart of power. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.000 These elite soldiers were really influential. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 The makers and breakers of the powerful. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:08:03.000 Paul also chose to be glad rather than worry when others preached, filling the vacuum in God's mission to the Gentiles. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:10.000 Nor did he worry about their motives, contrasting those loyal to him and those envious of him. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:13.000 I find that amazing too. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:23.000 But perhaps it's worth noting, although he clearly saw the difference in the motives of those people preaching, 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:29.000 there was no question for him over any of them in their oneness in Christ. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Jesus was Lord for all these people. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:38.000 So Paul's talking about a secondary level of loyalty. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:45.000 Elsewhere in his letters he is very concerned about some of the false teaching being bounded about. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.000 The church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.000 Or in Paul's letter to Timothy. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 So he did worry about what was being said. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.000 But here there's no mention of that. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:03.000 All we read is the light that Christ is preached. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:10.000 I wonder, have you ever been in that sort of situation, whether at work or at church, 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 where a project dear to your heart is taken on by someone else? 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:20.000 Paul knew he was called to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:25.000 Here he's happy that others take it over too. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.000 Do we respond in the same way? 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.000 Or are we protective of what we've done? 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.000 Or our way of doing it? 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:41.000 We know too from Paul's other writings, he was able to set aside his personal feelings. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:47.000 Somehow he seemed able to weather his physical and emotional pain through identifying with Christ's suffering. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:59.000 I want to know Christ and the fellowship of fearing in his suffering, he writes later in chapter 3 of this letter. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:03.000 So in summary, Paul wasn't worried about himself. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:08.000 He adapted to the circumstances around him, always looking for the positive opportunity 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:18.000 and celebrated that God's work continued rather than being concerned about his own success. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.000 How did Paul manage to be so positive? 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:27.000 Because we know he did have his low moments in Corinth and even on the way to Rome. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:34.000 So I think we can assume that he wasn't an repressible tigger, as some people are, aren't they? 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:40.000 Well, there are clues here in our passage as to why he was able to cope. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.000 Firstly, we notice in verse 18 that he chose to rejoice. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.000 And sometimes it has to be choice. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.000 And that can be a hard choice. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:56.000 Yet we can delight in God, even when life is painful. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:01.000 Going back to my story, a year or so after Lynn died, 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:05.000 my daughter went off to New Wine with a school friend. 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.000 And I had to go and collect her early. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.000 I think she was off to Scout Camp or something. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:15.000 It meant I was able to go and join in with the celebration. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.000 I think of the last night of that festival. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.000 It was the last night. It was a real celebration. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:25.000 Lots of joy, lots of worship, lots of praise. 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:35.000 And I alone, just in my grief, sat there and wept. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:41.000 I was able to rejoice in God's presence through the tears. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Not understanding his purposes, but for that moment at least, trusting in them. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:59.000 So Paul was able to keep calm and carry on because of this. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.000 And because he knew the prayers of those he was writing to. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.000 We read, 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:10.000 For I know that through your prayers what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.000 How often are we buoyed up by the prayers of others? 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:20.000 What an encouragement therefore for us to be diligent too in that praying for other people. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.000 And I know many of you are. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.000 He also knew the provision of the Holy Spirit. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.000 Paul was sure of the Spirit's support. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.000 The one who had guided him so clearly this far. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:37.000 He had promised his deliverance to Rome through many an adventure. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.000 It was the Holy Spirit who gave him reason to rejoice. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.000 For Paul knew his presence. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:50.000 It was the Holy Spirit that worked through the prayers of others. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:59.000 It was looking to what the Holy Spirit had already done that enabled him to keep going. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:09.000 But most of all, it was through the Spirit's presence, reminding him of his encounter with Jesus on that road to Damascus. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:14.000 For since that moment Paul knew that nothing else mattered. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:24.000 Here, he found that he just trusted Jesus so completely that his own life didn't matter. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.000 Verse 21 says, 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.000 For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:37.000 This wasn't being reckless, choosing unnecessary danger. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.000 Nor was it exhaustion with life. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.000 He wasn't hoping to die as a knockout from life's struggles. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:52.000 He was simply so sure of the Christ he followed that he wasn't fazed by any outcome. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.000 To paraphrase William Barclay, 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:02.000 For Paul, life began on that Damascus road when he met Christ Jesus. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:09.000 And from that day, life continued with the presence of Christ Jesus guiding, directing and sustaining him. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:17.000 Thus, he knew that at the end of his life, the aim and final resting would be eternity with Jesus. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:23.000 Paul had no doubts what life meant. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:28.000 I guess the question for us is, are we always that sure? 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:34.000 Jesus doesn't expect us to be relentlessly positive. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.000 But we do have the freedom to choose to see beyond how we feel. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:46.000 It's hard to choose to rejoice if something has made us angry or when fear overwhelms or our tears blind us. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:52.000 But the Holy Spirit will support us in that choice. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:57.000 We're called to support each other in prayer, sustaining our efforts too. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:05.000 And in doing so, we learn to put Jesus front and central, whatever unfolds. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:12.000 And when life ties us down, whether that's work we don't like or don't feel rewarded for, 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:17.000 or demands on our time that we begrudge because we want to do our own thing. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:21.000 Or when the people that we are close to frustrate us. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.000 It does happen, doesn't it? 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:32.000 We don't choose our families or our colleagues for that matter or even our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:40.000 In all things that could distract us, Jesus' perspective can help us see it differently. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:47.000 With Him, everything is a time of possibility, a place of grace. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:55.000 Every encounter is with a person to be loved and a chance to tell of Jesus our Lord. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:01.000 With Jesus, we can engage with what we are uncomfortable with too. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:08.000 Not condemning, but trying to understand and seek to love and witness within that difference. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.000 The words of an old hymn came to mind. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:18.000 I do love the new ones, Julian, but I can never remember the new ones as well as the old ones. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 Anyway, this is the... 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.000 I wanted to quote a couple of verses from Oh the bitter shame and sorrow. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000 This is verses 2 and 3. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.000 Yet he found me. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:33.000 I beheld him bleeding on that cursed tree. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.000 Heard him pray, forgive them, Father. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 And my wistful heart said faintly, 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.000 Some of self and some of thee. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Some of self and some of thee. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:53.000 Day by day, his tender mercy, healing, helping, full and free. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:58.000 Sweet and strong and ah, so patient. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Brought me low while I whispered, 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.000 Less of self and more of thee. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:08.000 Less of self and more of thee. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.000 The last verse concludes, 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.000 None of self and all of thee. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.000 Isn't that our aim just like St Paul modeled? 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.000 To be absorbed in loving Jesus that we forget ourselves? 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.000 This is true freedom because it means not being concerned about us and our future. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:37.000 With the Holy Spirit's help, we can know that the task of our life is Jesus. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.000 The reward of our life is Jesus. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.000 The inspiration of our life is Jesus. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:18:02.000 Death simply enables reunion with Christ Jesus in all fullness and delight. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.000 Living is Christ. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.000 Living is Christ. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.000 It's about him in everything. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:13.000 And I'm sure that the more we do this, the better the right. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:14.000 Amen. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:14.000