Philippians - Things That Have Happened
If any early follower of Jesus was considered a “superstar” it was the Apostle Paul. He had the origin story of being a former persecutor of Christians. He hunted them down. He chased them out of towns. He was a Pharisee following in the footsteps of those Pharisees who worked with the Roman government and murdered Jesus. But then – he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
He met the resurrected Jesus on the Road to Damascus. A few days later he received the Holy Spirit. He became a missionary, traveling from town to town, telling people that hope for their broken lives can be found in Jesus.
Hope for the forgiveness of sins.
Hope for a relationship with the true God.
He planted churches. He raised up leaders. Wherever Paul went, people became followers of Jesus. People surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus and their lives changed. They stopped placing their hope in false idols, in sorcery, in witchcraft, in Caesar and began to live lives of worship to God.
It was a radical change.
And many Roman citizens and the government of Rome did not like it. Paul’s message was that there was only one GOD…but Rome believed there were many gods. So, Paul was arrested. He was placed under house arrest and chained to a wall…for two years.
I have never been arrested. I do not know what that feels like. I love the fact that we have many men and women who are part of Beach Church who know what it is like to sit in a jail cell and experience the GRACE of GOD that has changed their lives.
I do not know what it is like to be confined to a certain amount of space, sleep in a certain spot, have somebody tell me when it is time to wake up, go to sleep, what to wear, and what to eat…
Wait a second – that sounds like Parenting.
And when Paul was arrested – some people were ecstatic…but they thought, “His arrest isn’t enough. We need to make it harder on him…”
So, they devised a plan. Just outside the quarters, Paul was confined; day after day, they preached to anybody who would listen. They told others that Jesus was the Son of God, and nobody could be saved except through Him…
Paul was able to hear them from within his place of confinement…mocking his ministry. So as he wrote this letter to the Philippian church, Paul addressed the fact the fact that other people were trying to make life more difficult for him. Let’s begin reading in Philippians 1:12-18.
Philippians 1:12-19 (NLT2)
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. 15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
Scholars tell us that this was one of the first times that Paul had been arrested for his faith – if not the very first time. No doubt, some early followers of Jesus were discouraged when they heard that Paul – the “superstar” preacher, had been arrested.
This imprisonment caused pain for Paul and Pain for the early followers of Jesus. May I ask, is there something in your life that has recently caused pain for you?
As much as we would like to think that some people never experience pain…we all do. Painful seasons of life happen to us all.
Some may experience a miscarriage.
Some have recently experienced the death of a family member.
Some have experienced the pain of a diagnosis or disease.
Some people have to deal with childhood trauma.
Other people have to deal with a marriage that seems to be on the brink of disaster.
Some people have to deal with being rejected and not accepted by others.
So how should followers of Jesus manage pain in our lives? What type of Pain Management should we be involved with?
How do we walk through painful seasons in life?
First, we have to understand that even for followers of Jesus…
PAIN WILL MAKE ME BITTER OR BETTER
Pain will make me BITTER or BETTER.
What do I mean by that?
I have met people with the chronic symptoms of bitterness. I love them. God loves them…but they sure make it hard to be around them. They are almost always a victim. They are always blaming other people when something bad happens to them.
The moon is too bright. The sun is not bright enough. They complain about their work, their family, their church. They always seem to speak negatively about other people.
They simply are not pleasant to be around…have you ever met somebody like that?
Look—if you struggle with bitterness, I want you to know that you can change. God can change you, and God can help you become a better person. If you struggle with any hurt, habit or hangup, Celebrate Recovery meets every Friday night at 6 PM in Adventure Beach, and can help you overcome bitterness and negativity.
Paul was arrested for telling other people about Jesus, but the arrest did not make him bitter. In fact, it made him better. His confidence in the Lord grew. It actually grew! He could have complained and said,
“God – why did you let this happen to me? I have been busy telling people about the good news of Jesus and now you let me get arrested.”
“Thanks a lot.”
But instead, his pain made him better.
Philippians 1:12-13 (NLT2)
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.
When he said, “helped spread the Good News,” he was making it clear to the early church that this setback, this discouragement, this two-year imprisonment would not cause him to take a step backward in his faith. He said the pain actually helped him carry out his mission to spread the good news of Jesus…Now the whole palace guard had heard the good news about Jesus.
I love it.
He is chained to the wall of the house. And smiling.
He is confined and chained up for two years. And joyful.
He tells every one of the guards…you know why I am here? Jesus. Jesus sent me here to tell you about Jesus. He acknowledged that even though the people outside his window had wrong motives, the gospel was still being preached. When people experience church hurt and see a church leader's selfish motives, they can begin to question whether or not God has been working through this pastor or church leader.
If this person is so bad, how could God have been working in my life? If these things are true, was God ever really working in my life?
If you have recently asked yourself questions like that, I understand. These men outside Paul’s windows had selfish motives to make Paul’s imprisonment worse, so they preached hard and loud. Paul said, as long as Jesus was being preached, that’s all that matters. Let me add this. God can use the teachings of a selfish, self-centered, corrupt pastor to help you grow in your faith.
In Numbers 22:21-39. God spoke through a Donkey to get Balaam’s attention. If God can speak through a donkey, God can speak through anybody. So, it’s understandable if you leave a church when you discover the truth about the church leader; just don’t doubt the work that God has been doing in your life.
Paul’s arrest. His pain made him BETTER.
What about you? Does your PAIN make you better?
If you are not intentional about becoming better when you experience pain, by default, you will become bitter. You have to be determined when you walk through hardship that you will not let this devastating event that has occurred to you make you a bitter person.
Rest assured, your…
ATTITUDE DETERMINES OUTCOME
Now, your ATTITUDE can not take away your diagnosis. Your ATTITUDE can not cure disease, but your attitude when facing pain and discouragement in your life can determine whether or not you become a better person.
Those people outside Paul’s house wanted to make life miserable for Paul. In the streets, they were “mocking” the Good News of Jesus. Up and down the streets, they yelled that people needed to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. They thought that by doing so, they would make life more difficult for Paul. So, how did Paul say that their motives in preaching the Gospel did not matter in verse 18? We see HOW later in his letter in Chapter 4:8.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
Paul’s attitude was determined by focusing on the things that were excellent and worthy of praise. Anyone without Jesus can focus on the negative…but followers of Jesus have hope, and when we walk through pain, we must focus on the things that are just, pure, lovely, and full of virtue. As you focus on these things, it will become clear that…
YOUR PAIN CAN BE A DOORWAY TO LIFE-CHANGE FOR OTHERS
Paul said his pain actually was helping him in telling other people about Jesus. The pain of his arrest gave him an opportunity to demonstrate LOVE and FORGIVENESS to the people guarding him. But Paul’s attitude was simple: He chose to use his PAIN to bring the life-changing good news of Jesus to other people. If he had not been arrested, he may have never shared the good news with the prison guard. God has used the pain I experienced as a child as a doorway to life change for others.
Before I turned thirteen:
My dad sexually abused me. He was an alcoholic with an Irish temper.
Night after night, he would holler, scream, and play loud country music.
My mom finally had enough; she left him, and we moved into a domestic violence shelter in Nashville, TN.
I ran away from there and went back to my dad.
My dad sent me back to the shelter and the shelter had me placed at a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital for three months.
Then, my mom couldn’t afford me, so I moved in with my nana for my High School years.
And, after I graduated from High School, I surrendered my life to Jesus.
For over 26 years, I have been transparent about my childhood and the pain I experienced, because I understand my pain can be a doorway of life change for other people. It’s uncomfortable, and sometimes, it makes others uncomfortable. But my pain is a doorway to sharing the life-changing good news of Jesus. And so is yours.
I firmly believe in the power and the promise of Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28 (NLT2)
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Everything means everything.
Your cancer diagnosis is a doorway to sharing the life-changing message of Jesus with your medical team. Your Church-Hurt is a doorway to sharing the life-changing message of Jesus with others. Your child’s crazy behavior in school is a doorway to sharing the life-changing message of Jesus with his teachers. Every bit of pain God allows in your life can be redeemed to impact others if you are willing to allow the pain to make you better and amplify the message of Jesus.
So live Romans 8:28 like you really believe it.