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We'll start reading at the end of verse 18.
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation or my deliverance
through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, or I will have fruitful labor in ministry,
as is referenced there.
Yet what I shall choose, I don't really know.
I want not.
For I am hard-pressed between the two.
I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better than anything he's experiencing in this particular world and in this particular life.
Nevertheless, verse 24,
to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all
for the furtherance and the joy of your faith,
that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
Part of Paul's purpose in writing this letter was to address concerns that the Philippians had communicated to him.
We mentioned last week they had sent a man named Epaphroditus,
who was a member of their church.
Perhaps he was even a leader in their church or an elder in their church.
And they had sent Epaphroditus to Rome to comfort Paul,
but to also bring them back a report on his own welfare
and what the effect of his circumstance was on the gospel.
And he addresses that in the study that we had last week.
He addresses that particular concern.
He addresses the question of what is going on with you
and how is this circumstance in your life affecting the gospel?
And in these verses, he moves on to what would inevitably be the next question.
After he satisfied them by saying, God is advancing the gospel,
so don't worry about my circumstance.
And as he says, stay focused on the gospel.
Don't worry about the people that are criticizing right now.
He then anticipates that their next question would be,
okay, well, what's going to happen now?
If the present circumstance is okay and God's advancing the gospel,
what's next, Paul?
What do you think is going to happen?
What do you think will happen?
You've been in this process of judicial argument.
What do you think will be the next move?
And so this section of verses is really made up of Paul's thoughts on his immediate future.
He's reflected on the past.
He is considered his present.
And now he turns his eyes to the future.
And as we study this passage, we quickly discover
that there was really only two possibilities on the table for Paul's future.
Exoneration or execution.
Life or death.
That's it.
He'd been in prison for four years now.
Two years in Caesarea.
Two years in Rome.
He's gone through the judicial process at this point to the point
that only thing that is left is the verdict to be delivered.
He's appeared before the people that he's going to appear before.
And now he's just waiting under house arrest to see what will the judge say.
Will he exonerate me and vindicate me in this and allow me to live my life
and serve Christ in further ministry on this earth?
Or will his judgment be that I have violated the law in some way,
that I have created this insurrection among Jews in the Roman kingdom,
and therefore he sentenced me to death?
Now we know that eventually Paul is martyred for his faith,
but it's not at this point that he actually does become a martyr.
At this point, he's just waiting to find out what the verdict will be.
But he understood as he looked at his future
that there was really only two options on the table.
Either he was going to live or he was going to die.
And that verdict was approaching and getting closer and closer for him.
Of course, Paul was not defeated in this as he considered his plight,
but he wrote that he was actually filled with joy
at the prospect of both life and death.
And we see that again at the end of verse 18.
As he opens up this particular paragraph,
as he discusses his view of his own future,
he opens up by saying, I will rejoice.
Whatever my future is, I will rejoice in that
because I understand that my future holds Christ in every regard.
If it's life, I will live it for Christ.
If it's death, I will gain Christ.
So it's not that Paul understood exactly what
the nature of his future was going to be.
He didn't know exactly how it was going to unfold.
We learn that he has an anticipation.
He has something that he thinks will happen,
but he doesn't really know.
So he presents both options.
He says, I'm either going to die or I'm going to live.
And no matter what, I'm going to rejoice
because for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
So what we see here in this passage is really
Paul's radical view of life.
It's a radical commitment to Christ.
And I think it causes us to examine our own attitude
towards Christ in this.
There's really three attitudes that Paul has here
as he looks toward his future
and as he contemplates what might actually happen.
And these three attitudes is what allowed him
to experience joy in this particular moment in his life.
He didn't have an answer other than to give these three thoughts
of how he was facing it.
The first one is this.
He was certain of ultimate deliverance.
Look with me again at verse 19.
Paul says that he will rejoice because I know that this shall turn to my salvation.
I know that this shall turn to my deliverance.
As we look at verse 19, the immediate question that comes to mind
is what kind of salvation is Paul referring to?
It can really be only one of two things.
Either he's speaking of immediate deliverance,
that the verdict will come and the judge will allow him to continue on in his life,
or he's looking towards an ultimate deliverance.
That in death, ultimately, he has been promised eternal life in Christ,
and that means deliverance from every circumstance that he's then facing.
Now, verse 25 indicates that he believed he would continue on living.
Look at that with me, verse 25.
He says,
In having this confidence, or I am confident of this,
I know that I shall abide and continue with you all
for the furtherance and joy of faith.
But it can't be that in verse 19 he's referring to life
because in verse 20,
he automatically reverts to the possibility of the realm of death.
Look at verse 20.
According to my earnest expectation and my hope
that I won't be ashamed,
that I'll be bold so that Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death.
So he doesn't really know exactly what's going to happen.
Therefore, we can conclude
that Paul's certainty in verse 19
is not an indication that he knew how things would unfold in the future,
but it's rather a statement
that his present circumstance was only temporary.
In one way or another,
he was going to be delivered.
In one way or another,
whether life or death,
this imprisonment was only temporary.
This criticism was only temporary.
This sorrow was only temporary.
This disease was only temporary.
This soreness and fatigue that he felt
after being beaten so many times
and all the things he had gone through
in this particular phase of his life,
all of these things were only temporary.
So Paul says,
I rejoice because I am certain,
I am absolutely confident
that everything I'm dealing with right now
is actually temporary.
And one way or another,
it's going to come to an end,
whether it be by life or by death.
And in that,
we're reminded of the truth of the gospel.
For all of us that have truly come to faith in Christ,
all of us that have viewed our sin,
cast ourselves on Christ,
despite whatever circumstance we may be in,
despite whatever troubles we may face,
despite whatever disease we may encounter,
despite whatever struggle or criticism,
no matter your circumstance,
you can look at your life with great joy
because as a Christian,
you are certain and confident of the fact
that this is only temporary.
This life on this earth,
it is only temporary.
The struggles that come along with it,
they are only temporary,
but they are only temporary when you are in Christ.
For anyone that is not in Christ,
you cannot look at every circumstance with joy
because there's no foundation for that joy.
The focus of our attention in verse 19
should not be set on what kind of deliverance
Paul would experience,
but rather on the certainty
with which Paul anticipated that deliverance.
There's three things in this verse.
One is implied and two are expressly stated.
The first thing is this,
he was confident or his confidence
was produced by the word of God.
His confidence was produced by the word of God.
Now I'm told that the phrase,
this shall turn to my salvation
is actually a verbatim quote
of something that Job had recorded in the Old Testament.
You'll remember Job.
I'll read the passage to you
if you wanna reference it later on your own.
It's Job chapter 13 and verse number 16.
You'll probably remember verse 15
as Job in the worst stage of his life,
in the worst predicament
that any of us could even really imagine.
He says,
though God slay me, yet I will trust him,
but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
And then in verse 16, he says,
he also shall be my salvation.
Paul is quoting verbatim that particular passage.
He shall also be my salvation.
Now in English, it's not a word for word copy,
but you gotta remember,
Paul wasn't reading an English version of the Bible
and he wasn't writing an English version of the Bible.
He was writing this in Greek.
And Paul's Bible in the early New Testament age
would have been a Greek translation
of the Old Testament called the Septuagint.
So when you look at the Greek translations
of the Hebrew in Job chapter 13
and the Greek writing of Paul's writing here
in Philippians chapter one,
it's a word by word quote.
Implicit in this is that Paul's confidence
in the certainty of his deliverance
was first sourced in the fact
that he knew and studied faithfully
and believed the word of God.
Now our lives are full of instability.
By nature, we are incompetent.
By nature, when we look towards the future,
we look at it with no confidence at all.
The only sort of confidence that we can actually achieve
can only come from the inerrant, infallible,
unchanging, eternal word of God.
When Paul expresses this joy
and this joy being in confidence of deliverance,
he obviously had Job's words on his mind.
There's no coincidence in that.
Paul was a student of the Bible
and it was the Bible that gave him this confidence
because he could trust the words of God.
In the deepest, darkest moments of your Christian life,
your confidence and your joy
will first come from the word.
So stay in the word.
Remember the words of Jesus in John chapter six.
Jesus said, all those who come to me,
I will in no wise cast out.
Those who come to Christ in faith,
he will never cast out.
Paul had just said just a few verses earlier
in Philippians chapter one in verse six.
Remember what he told the Philippian people?
I am confident.
I am certain of this,
that the God that has begun this work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
In other words, at the day that you face Jesus Christ,
either from his coming back or through your death,
he will bring this salvation to completion for you.
You don't have to worry about that.
That salvation is complete in your life.
Consider Jesus's words to the woman at the well.
He says, anyone who drinks of this water of salvation
that I give will never thirst again.
In John chapter three,
the life that Jesus came to give
because of his love for the world
was not a temporary life.
It was an eternal life.
So when we look at our circumstances,
even if our circumstances are like Paul's
and it's a sudden death, perhaps,
maybe it's through illness,
maybe it's through struggle or through age,
as a believer,
we can rest certain and confident in the fact
that God will save us.
He will deliver us.
And we rest in that
because he has told us in his word.
That's where his confidence was first sourced.
Secondly, and much more quickly than that,
his confidence was produced by the prayers of others.
His confidence was produced by the prayers of others.
Now the word of God is implicit in that verse,
but prayer is actually stated clearly.
Look at it again, verse 19.
I know that this shall turn to my salvation
through your prayer.
In the mystery of God's sovereignty,
the Bible teaches that God has chosen
to use our prayers
as a means of accomplishing his purposes.
You can imagine the type of prayers
that these believers would have been requesting.
There's no doubt in my mind
that as Paul was facing this imprisonment
and this criticism,
their prayers,
the prayers of the Philippian church
was for deliverance,
immediate deliverance,
just like our prayers would be.
I would hope that if I got arrested today
for preaching the gospel
and I was facing imprisonment,
that you would have a prayer meeting
at least once
and would pray,
Lord, let Jared get out of jail.
I don't think that was their only prayer
because Paul's confidence here,
what is sourcing his confidence
is their prayer.
So it's not that he's looking at their prayer
and saying,
I know how hard you're praying for my deliverance
and I'm confident
that I will be delivered from this prison
because of your prayer.
That is true.
God uses our prayers in that way.
But I think the nature of their prayer
in conjunction with that,
the nature of their prayer was,
Lord, we know he's been there for four years.
He's gotta be discouraged.
Not only is he facing imprisonment, Father,
but he's facing criticism
from our own brothers and sisters in Christ, Lord.
Lord, would you please help him stay faithful?
Would you please help him stay strong?
Would you please give him comfort?
Would you please give him peace?
Will you please provide to him
the things inwardly
that he needs to persevere in this circumstance?
And I hope that would also be part of your prayer for me.
Not only that I would be delivered
from that immediate jail cell,
but that the Lord,
through the supply of the Holy Spirit,
would keep me faithful in that circumstance.
Paul said, my confidence here,
my certainty is not only sourced in the word,
but my confidence is encouraged by your prayer.
His confidence was sourced in their prayer.
Thirdly, his confidence was produced
by the provision of the Holy Spirit,
by the provision of the Holy Spirit.
Everything we receive in salvation
and in sanctification has these three elements
as its source.
The word of God,
the prayers of others,
and the spirit of God.
It's the spirit of God that does the work,
but it's the pages of scripture
and the prayers of others
that he uses to accomplish that work.
Think about that.
What's happening in Paul's life
and his attitude in this moment
was a result of God's work in his life.
That's what was really happening.
But what was God using?
He was using the word
and he was using prayers.
Not only was he confident
in his ultimate deliverance,
secondly,
he was committed to magnifying Christ.
He was committed to magnifying Christ.
Look at verse 20.
According to my earnest expectation
and my hope,
that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that with all boldness,
as always,
so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body,
whether it be by life
or by death.
Paul was absolutely consumed
with knowing and serving Christ.
In verse 20,
this is seen
as he reminds the Philippian believers
of his commitment
to preach Christ
in life
and in the face of death.
When he uses this phrase,
eager expectation and hope,
it was a statement
of his ongoing commitment.
This wasn't wishful thinking.
That's not what he's saying.
He's not saying,
I really hope
or I really wish
that in life and in death,
I would stay faithful to Christ.
This is,
that's not what he's saying.
This is a statement of commitment.
He's saying,
my expectation,
my hope,
my certainty
is that my attitude
is gonna be
in commitment to Christ.
Whether I live
or whether I die,
I will stay committed
to Christ.
And the way in which
he was gonna stay committed
was by unashamedly
preaching the gospel
in life
and by courageously
facing death
for the sake
of the gospel.
This is no secret
to Paul's life,
right?
Remember what he wrote
in Romans chapter one,
for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ.
Why was he unashamed
of the gospel of Christ?
He goes on to say,
for it is the power
of God
unto salvation
to everyone
that will believe.
And then he says
in the end of verse 20
that his goal
is to magnify Christ
as he preaches
the gospel,
whether it be
in life
or in death.
And we know
what this means.
To magnify something
means to make it larger
or to make it
more easily visible.
We accomplish this
in using a telescope
by making things
at a far distance
appear much closer.
And we accomplish it
with a microscope
by making tiny things
look much larger.
Paul's goal in life
was to live
in such a way
that he would bring
Jesus close
to those who were
far from God
and that he would
make Jesus visible
to those
who were blinded
to God's truth.
Which leaves us
with a self-examining question.
Does my life
magnify Christ?
Not,
the question is not
am I just following Christ?
It's not
do I believe Christ?
Is that,
is the way
that I'm living my life,
the way that I'm
preaching the gospel,
the way that I even
consider the future
of my death
for the,
possibly for the gospel,
is my life
and the way that I live
actually bringing people
closer to Christ?
Am I making Christ
more visible
to the people around me
because of the way
that I live
and the way that I talk
in the things that I do?
That's a convicting
question to ask
because I think
all of us would see here
and say,
you know what,
we could probably
magnify him
a little greater
than what we're doing now.
We could probably
be more faithful
to talk about the gospel.
We could probably
be more faithful
to holiness.
We could probably
be more faithful
to fill in the blank.
I watched a documentary
that was produced
by National Geographic
recently called
Free Solo.
Free soloing
is a type of
professional ice
and rock climbing
where a climber
will climb by himself
and without any
harnesses or ropes
or protective gear
at all.
They pick a rock face
or an ice face
and they climb it
by themselves
with no help.
Free Solo,
this particular documentary,
follows a man
named Alex Honnold
who is a free solo climber.
It's what he's
passionate about.
In fact,
he makes a great
amount of money
rock climbing
professionally
yet he chooses
to live in a van
because that's his life.
His life is wrapped up
in rock climbing.
That's all he wants to do.
So he lives in a van.
He can jump in it.
He can wake up
in the morning,
fix his eggs,
get in the car
and drive to the next
rock face for him to climb.
But he's a free solo climber
so he does this alone
and he does it without ropes
and he had set a goal
and the documentary
really follows
the story
of how he prepares
to climb
what's called
El Capitan
in the Yosemite National Park.
You can look that up
on Google
and you can see
a picture of it.
It's a 3,000 foot climb
and if you look
at the pictures of it
it looks like a sheet of glass.
It's just solid.
How anybody could climb
any portion of it
is unbelievable
but to especially do it
with the confidence
that he has
without ropes
and to do it alone
is quite astounding
to be honest with you.
That's really what
this particular documentary
is about.
It follows Alex
as he prepares
to make this attempt
to be the first person
to climb El Cap
as they call it
without any ropes
or any harnesses.
And as he gets
into this documentary
of course
they're trying
to get into his head
to see what causes
him to do this
and he has a pretty
unique perspective
on death.
At one point
in the beginning
he says
the way I see it
all of us
are just
a step away
from sudden death.
Any of us
could die
at any moment.
He said
I'm not at
any more risk
than anybody else.
It just appears
that I'm at more risk
because the way
that I choose
to live my life
has a greater consequence.
In other words
if he falls off
the face of the mountain
there's no coming back
from that.
But he's saying
that his risk of death
is no different
than your risk of death.
You could get in a car accident
as you leave today.
You could come down
with some type
of severe illness.
You could choke
on something at lunch
and lose airway
and not be able
to release that
and just like that
you're gone.
And so basically
his perspective
as death
is we're all
a step away
from death.
I at least
am going to live
my life
doing the things
that I love the most
which for him
is rock climbing
with no ropes
and with no people
to help him.
But the documentary
also follows
the way that
his passion
of rock climbing
affects relationships
in his life
particularly
the relationship
that he has
with his girlfriend
whose name is Sonny.
Just before
he makes this attempt
to climb
this rock face
the film
shows
a conversation
that he has
with his girlfriend
where she is
very obviously
reluctant
for him
to make this attempt.
She doesn't want
him to do it.
She knows
that he can die
very very quickly.
In fact
up to this point
all of his practice
has been done
with ropes
and he fell
many many
many many times.
And now
he's just going
to go
and he's going
to climb it
without the ropes
and she's reluctant
for him to do that.
And as they're
having this conversation
she asks
if he had
some type
of relationship
or some type
of care
for something
in his life
that would cause
him to want
to maximize
his lifespan.
And here's
what he said.
He said
if I had
some kind
of obligation
to maximize
my lifespan
then yeah
obviously
I'd have
to give up
soloing.
And she
obviously
replies
with a question
of whether
or not
he viewed
her
as a worthy
enough obligation
to which
he responded
no no
I appreciate
your concerns
I respect
that
but I
in no way
feel obligated
no
and he goes
on with his
climb
his life
is consumed
with free
solo climbing
to the point
that he will
allow no
person
or thing
to distract
him
from pursuing
that passion
even in the
face of death
he refuses
to have
his focus
and attention
diverted away
from what he
loves the most
and this
is exactly
the kind
of passion
and pursuit
that the
apostle Paul
demonstrates
in his life
in Christ
there's no
greater passion
in his life
than Christ
and his gospel
and he will
not allow
any person
or thing
to distract
him
from pursuing
his ultimate
passion
even in the
face of death
Paul refused
to have his
focus taken
away from
the knowledge
and purposes
of Jesus
Christ
and that is
clearly stated
in this most
famous verse
verse 21
as he says
for to me
to live
is Christ
and because
my life
is consumed
with Christ
I view
my death
as
gain
it's amazing
this entire
section of
verses
and perhaps
even the
entire book
of Philippians
is centered
on this
verse
this statement
is the
foundation
for everything
Paul writes
in regards
to the way
that he
will live
his life
and the
way
that he
will
face
his
death
think about
these verses
in particular
he's able
in verse
18 to have
joy
despite his
circumstances
because
for him
to live
as Christ
and to die
his game
he's able
in verse 19
to be
certain
of ultimate
deliverance
because for
him to
live as
Christ
and to die
his game
he's able
to be
bold
and facing
execution
in verse
20
because for
him to
live as
Christ
and to
die
his game
he embraced
death
in verses
22 to
24
instead of
fearing
death
because for
him to
live as
Christ
and to
die
his game
and he
was willing
to remain
on earth
for the
purposes
of gospel
ministry
in verses
24 to
26
only because
for him
to live
as Christ
and to
die
his game
every
single
statement
in this
passage
is only
possible
because
for Paul
verse 21
was absolutely
true
so when we
look at
Paul viewing
his future
and we say
man I would
love to look
at my future
with that
kind of joy
man I would
love to look
at ultimate
deliverance
with that
kind of
certainty
and man I
would love
to be bold
enough to
preach the
gospel in
that way
you will
never be
able to
experience
that joy
and have
that confidence
and preach
the way
that Paul
preached
unless verse
21 is
absolutely
true for
you too
that for
me to
live is
Christ
that my
life is
primarily
consumed
with the
person
and the
work of
Jesus
Christ
and in
the face
of death
I understand
that this
life is
nothing that
I want to
hold on to
and there's
nothing in it
that's worth
holding on to
I would
rather go
see Christ
it's an
amazing
statement
we often
view death
as a loss
so it should
grab our
attention when
Paul makes
this statement
of death
actually being
gained
as believers
we know
what he
means
but whether
or not
we view
death as
a loss
or gain
is directly
related
to what
it is
that we
choose
to live
our lives
for
your
primary
pursuit
in life
will
determine
your view
of
eventual
death
when
Paul said
for me
to live
is Christ
and to
die
is gain
it's not
that he
didn't have
a life
he wasn't
married
but he
certainly
loved
people
he loved
this church
he loved
other churches
he was
passionate
about
people
he had
relationships
that he
cared for
he had
hobbies
he writes
later on
in Philippians
he alludes
several times
in the scriptures
about the
Olympic games
and the
Greek games
that they
had
perhaps he
was a
runner
he talks
about running
a lot
all of
these things
he had
passions
in his life
it's not
that he
was
but in
view of
Christ
everything
else
was
minimized
and with
Christ
set
on the
throne
of
his
heart
everything
else
was
put
in
his
proper
place
but if
you
were to
move
one of
those
things
into
the
place
of
Christ
then
the
thing
that
gets
minimized
is
actually
Christ
my
worry
and my
prayer
is that
the
Lord
would
help
me
not
to
put
my
family
on
the
throne
of
Christ
in
my
heart
so
that
Christ
is
minimized
in
it
so
that
instead
of
saying
I'm
going
to
pursue
Christ
and
I'm
going
to
bring
my
family
along
with
that
I
don't
want
to
say
I'm
going
to
pursue
my
family
and
we'll
figure
out
a
way
to
work
in
Christ
if
your
life
is
consumed
with
him
and
remember
what
Jesus
said
if
any
man
come
after
me
and
he
hate
not
his
father
and
mother
pale
in
comparison
to
your
followership
of
him
if
your
life
is
consumed
with
your
hobbies
your
death
will
be
considered
loss
if
your
life
is
consumed
with
material
gain
then
your
death
will
be
considered
as
loss
if
your
life
is
consumed
with
selfish
ambition
your
death
will
be
considered
as
loss
and
you
get
the
point
I
think
it's
for
this
reason
that
some
Christians
actually
are
happy
for
the
Lord
to
Terry
is
coming
I
remember
as a
teenager
maybe
some
of
you
will
remember
this
that
grew
up
in
church
I
remember
as a
teenager
anytime
my
dad
who's
a
pastor
anytime
he
would
preach
on
the
second
coming
of
Christ
and
he
would
preach
on
the
rapture
he
would
preach
on
Christ
could
come
back
at
any
moment
I
remember
thinking
in the
back
of my
head
selfishly
Lord
I
understand
that
but
if
you
could
just
wait
for
me
to
get
married
I
think
I
would
enjoy
that
you
know
we
play
those
foolish
games
where
man
if
I
could
just
get
this
Lord
just
hang
on
just
for
a
little
while
let
me
experience
this
part
of
our
life
and
really
what
it
is
our
mindset
is
set
so
much
on
this
earth
that
we're
happy
to
minimize
Christ
and
even
cause
him
to
Terry
is
coming
as
long
as
we
can
enjoy
the
things
that
we
want
to
enjoy
now
we
say
that
in
a
funny
way
but
how
many
of
us
actually
live
that
way
we
really
think
about
it
Lord
you
know
I
want
to
go
to
heaven
and
I
want
you
to
come
back
and
I
love
this
life
and
if
you
let
me
live
it
a
little
longer
so
I
can
accomplish
world
but
for
Paul
to
live
was
Christ
so
that
in
death
it
was
gain
do
you
view
death
as
gain
this
morning
is
your
life
so
focused
on
Christ
that
your
heart
is
overwhelmed
with
joy
at
the
prospect
of
both
life
and
death
because
it's
consumed
with
Christ
first
this
passage
is a
call
for
us
to
live
a
radically
different
life
as
a
Christian
it's
a
call
for
us
to
repent
of
the
spirit
that
often
accompanies
cultural
nominal
Christianity
and
actually
make
Christ
and
his
gospel
the
primary
pursuit
of
our
life
as
Paul
looked
at
his
future
he
wrote
of
three
attitudes
he
had
he
was
uncertain
of
exactly
how
it
would
unfold
but
there's
three
attitudes
he
had
he
was
confident
!
in
ultimate
deliverance
he
was
committed
to
magnifying
Christ
in
everything
even
in
life
and
death
and
then
finally
we
see
that
he
was
content
to
follow
God's
plan
no matter
what
that
was
his
attitude
look at
verse
22
if
I
live
in
the
flesh
this
is
the
fruit
of
my
labor
I
will
have
fruitful
labor
he's
referring
to
his
ministry
yet
why
I
shall
choose
I
don't
know
if
given
the
choice
of
life
or
death
I
don't
really
know
that
I
to
be
with
Christ
is
far
better
that's
what
he
wanted
if
Paul
was
given
the
choice
in
that
prison
cell
he
would
have
chosen
Lord
bring
me
home
because
that's
the
ultimate
gain
but
then
he
says
in
verse
24
nevertheless
to
abide
in
the
flesh
is
more
needful
for
you
and
being
confident
of
this
I
know
that
I
shall
abide
and
continue
he's
not
speaking
to
the
same
type
of
confidence
as
in
verse
19
as
if
God
has
in
special
revelation
given
him
this
viewing
that
he
is
absolutely
going
to
survive
but
he
he's
basically
saying
I
think
this
is
what
the
Lord
is
going
to
do
and
if
this
is
what
the
Lord
is
going
to
do
this
is
why
he
will
do
it
And
he
gives
!
he
believes
that
his
life
will
be
continued
and
the
reason
I
use
the
word
content
here
in
this
point
is
because
given
the
choice
I
think
Paul
clearly
preferred
to be
with
Christ
he
had
what
he
wanted
but
then
he
saw
what
he
thought
was
probably
the
will
of
God
and
those
two
things
didn't
match
that's
the
very
nature
of
contentment
that
we
have
our
plans
and
we
have
our
desires
and
we
have
our
wants
which
is
natural
and
it's
not
a
bad
thing
to
have
those
things
but
his
desire
wasn't
greater
than
God's
plan
there's
a lesson
in that
for us
and
at
the
point
that
I'm
willing
to
sacrifice
my
desires
on
the
altar
of
God's
will
and
God's
plan
is
the
point
that
I
can
look
at
my
future
with
joy
whether
it
be
in
great
triumph
or
whether
it
be
in
great
sorrow
I
can
look
at
my
life
with
joy
because
I'm
more
concerned
with
what
God
wants
than
what
I
want
for
my
life
three
things
that
made
Paul
believe
his
life
was
going
to
continue
I'm
just
going
to
state
them
and
move
on
and
let
you
study
them
later
okay
the
first
thing
was
this
he
was
submitted
to
the
will
of
God
he
was
submitted
to
the
will
of
God
that
was
more
important
to
him
than
anything
else
many
of
us
miss
the
joy
of
serving
Christ
because
we're
unwilling
to
submit
to
the
will
of
God
when
it
doesn't
match
up
with
what
we
would
rather
have
or
do
secondly
he
was
concerned
for
the
progress
and
joy
of
others
he
was
concerned
for
the
progress
and
joy
of
others
that's
in
verse
24
being
in
the
flesh
is
more
needful
for
you
I
shall
abide
and
continue
with
you
all
for
your
progress
and
joy
of
faith
he
cared
about
ministry
loved
it
and
he
wanted
perhaps
there
are
times
in
your
life
when
you're
wondering
what
your
purpose
is
within
the
church
I
want
to
submit
to
you
that
it's
the
same
as
Paul's
purpose
the
progress
and
joy
of
others
brother
Lee
you
and
I
were
having
a
conversation
this
morning
we're
talking
about
coming
in
and
you
mentioned
how
there
wasn't
really
a lot
that
you were
able
to do
bringing
stuff
in
this
morning
and
I
imagine
that
there
are
probably
moments
in
your
life
and
my
life
and
others
lives
when
we
get
to
places
like
that
we
don't
feel
like
we've
got
a lot
to
offer
we
don't
feel
like
we've
got
a lot
to
do
you
have
just
as
much
to
offer
as
Paul
had
to
offer
because
your
concern
should
be
the
progress
and
joy
of
others
our
church
needs
you
if
you're
a
believer
we
need
you
and
it's
not
just
that
we
need
you
to
carry
a
piano
or
a
speaker
all
that
stuff
is
helpful
please
keep
doing
that
but
it's
not
that
we
just
need
that
what
I
need
more
than
you
to
carry
a
TV
and
set
up
a
backdrop
what
I
need
is
your
prayer
and
I
need
your
encouragement
I
need
you
to
ask
me
every
now
and
then
if
I
to
ask
me
am
I
loving
my
wife
the
way
I
need
to
love
my
wife
I
need
you
to
care
about
my
progress
in
the
faith
my
maturity
in
Christ
and
I
need
you
to
care
about
my
joy
in
the
faith
we
all
pastor
each
other
in
that
way
it's
the
purpose
of
the
church
it's
why
we
have
one
another
it's
not
just
to
attend
service
on
Sunday
I
want
the
progress
and
joy
of
their
faith
and
then
finally
he
was
committed
to
the
glory
of
Christ
verse
26
that
you're
rejoicing
may be
more
abundant
in
Jesus
Christ
for
me
by
my
coming
to
you
again
he
knew
that
as
much
as
he
wanted
to
go
to
heaven
these
people
were
praying
hard
that
he
would
be
released
and
if
the
Lord
answered
!
that
prayer
it
would
only
cause
them
to
stay
on
this
earth
for
a
little
while
longer
and
suffer
for
a
little
while
longer
he
would
do
that
why
because
to
him
to
live
was
Christ
and
to
die
was
gain
so
we
conclude
that
Paul
truly
did
view
his
future
whether
it
meant
life
or
death
with
great
joy
and
that
wasn't
founded
on
the
power
of
positive
thinking
but
on
the
realization
that
in
Christ
he
could
not
lose
circumstances
might
not
have
been
ideal
but
he
was
serving
the
purposes
of
God
and
his
joy
was
represented
in
that
certainty
commitment
and
willing
heart
let's
pray
thank you
for
listening
to
this
sermon
made
available
by
Lakeside
Bible
Church
feel
free
to
share
it
wherever
you'd
like
please
do
not
charge
for
it
or
alter
it
in
any
way
without
express
written
consent
from
Lakeside
Bible
Church
don't
forget
to
visit
Lakeside
Bible
NC
if
you
live
in
the
Charlotte
or
Lake
Norman
area
we'd
love
for
you
to
attend
one
of
our
worship
services
we
meet
every
Sunday
morning
at
10
a.m.
in
the
gym
at
Cornelius
Elementary
School
we'd
love
to
meet
you