This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement every day. And if you'd like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers straight to your inbox.
Everything designed to help you stay strong in your faith. It only takes a minute to sign up. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com.
Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Paul the Apostle came through town. And he preached the Good news, the gospel. And Lois and Eunice, mom and grandma, heard it and they received Jesus Christ. And by the way, so did young Timothy, probably about 15 years of age.
Fifteen years of age. But even at 15 years of age, he was allowed to follow Paul on his missionary journeys. And so he did. We're not told that his father came to know Christ, just his mother and his grandmother. But he becomes a part of Paul's team.
He goes on his second missionary journey. He goes to Jerusalem carrying money that they collected from churches to give to the church at Jerusalem. And for years, Paul the Apostle is able to be his tutor, his mentor, his discipler, and show him the joy of the Lord in the most difficult time. Of circumstances, he becomes so. Important to Paul, that Paul calls him my son in the faith.
And He's the guy that Paul will send back to the Philippians. to represent him. He says in chapter 2, Philippians 2, verse 20. I have no one who is isapsukas, that's the word he uses, like-minded. I'm going to send you Timothy because, in sending you Timothy, I'm sending you somebody who thinks like I think, values what I value, and sending Timothy is as good as sending me.
I have no one on my staff or that I know who is like minded except this young man. That's Timothy. We'll read more about him, consider him more as we go. Yeah. But these guys have been changed.
But here's what I want you to see. The real reason. For the joy in the lives of Paul and Timothy is described by the very next word in verse 1. Paul and Timothy, what's the next word? Bond servants of Jesus Christ.
The reason they were joyful is because they decided, I'm going to serve the Lord. That brought him joy. The word bondservants do loy. Describes a person owned by someone else. To slave.
You say, How do you get happy being a slave? Where does joy come from? Being a slave. of Jesus Christ. Bondservants.
A person owned by someone else who lives to serve someone else. When it's used in the New Testament, it usually refers to somebody who serves another willingly. Voluntarily. They are voluntarily devoted and surrendered to Jesus Christ as their Master.
Now joy is a funny thing. It's elusive to so many people. And that is because joy is never found by direct pursuit. You might look for joy all day long, you won't find it. Joy isn't found by direct pursuit.
It's a byproduct. You know, in our Declaration of Independence, we have a few guarantees. You're guaranteed life. You're guaranteed liberty. And you're guaranteed tell me the The pursuit of happiness.
We have a country where people are pursuing happiness. The problem is, nobody's finding it. Two-thirds of Americans claim to be unhappy. They're out looking for happiness, but they are not finding it. Because real happiness, true joy is a better term, is not found by direct pursuit.
It's a byproduct of pursuing Christ and his will. As long as you live for yourself, And try to find peace and happiness and joy for yourself, you'll never find it. You'll be miserable. It'd be hard to live with. It's when you turn from yourself to an alien will who takes over your life and you live for him that you find joy.
You see, the more you do as you please, the less you will be pleased with what you do. But when you say, forget me, I want to serve him, I want to be a bondservant of him. The byproduct of that is joy. Over in England, There's a Great spot called Buckingham Palace.
Now, Buckingham Palace is one of the center landmarks and places to visit. It's the palace of the royal family.
Well, there's a flag that is flown outside of Buckingham Palace called the Royal Standard. The royal standard is the flag that is pushed up on the flagpole whenever the sovereign is in residence in the palace.
So if the queen's home, the flag goes up. Or, if the king's home, depending on what era of English history we're talking about, the royal standard is flown. Think of joy like that. Joy is the flag flown over the castle of your heart when the king is in residence there. It's the badge.
It's the sign. Of a bondservant, the king. Is residing in my heart.
So that's the pair. That's the author and his associate, Paul and Timothy, the dynamic pair. But there's something else to notice, and that is the difficult place. Verse 1: Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints. In Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi with the bishops and the deacons.
Now, did you know that Paul never wanted to go to Philippi? At least that wasn't on his plans, it wasn't on his radar. He went there out of compulsion. Not because he said, I want to go to Philippi. Philippi was a Roman colony, not a big deal that he wanted to visit, at least.
Right now, on his second missionary journey. His plan was to go through Galatia, he had already been there before, but then expand northward and southward. That was his plan. But he got resistance. You know who we got resistance from?
God. God resisted him going. to the places he planned. God resisted him. Psalm 37 says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
Oh, how we love that verse. But let me tell you another part of that truth: the stops of a good man. are also ordered by the Lord.
Sometimes God says no. I've had people say, I've been praying for that for months and I've gotten no answer from God. Yes, you have. No.
Sounds like he said no. That's what it sounds like to me.
Well, that's not the answer I wanted. That's an answer. And it's a good answer if God gives it to you. God's no is as important as God's go. And Paul discovered that.
What do I mean?
Well, let me read it to you. This is Acts 16. It said, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. That's God saying no.
So they came to Micaea and they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. The twice God says no. No.
You can't go there, can't go there.
So he's flummoxed. He goes to a little place called Troaz, which is a cool little beach town. It must have been much bigger than I visited there. And he at Troas gets a vision. of a man from Macedonia.
Saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. My friend Raw Reese calls him the man from Macadamia. But he is the man from Macedonia. And he gets a vision. This man in the vision says, Come over to Macedonia and help us.
So he's come from one direction. He tried to go north, tried to go south. He's come from that way. There's only one way to go. And there's a guy in his vision saying, Come over here and help us.
So they wake up the next day and they go, I think God wants us to go there. That's how he goes.
Now this is this is interesting. If you were to have interviewed Paul the Apostle at that time, And you would have said, Where are you going, Paul? Peter said. I don't know. What?
You don't know? What's the will of God for your life? You just said, I don't know. I haven't got a clue. You.
You're the writer of 13 books in the New Testament. Surely you know the will of God. Not today. All I know is twice I've tried to go places and God keeps shutting the door. But I got a vision from the man from Macedonia.
I guess I'm supposed to go over there. God said no, and to Paul, he's now understanding God's no is as important as God's go. because of closed doors.
Okay, so he arrives in Philippi. That's the chief city of Macedonia. Philippi named after Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Oh. He gets to Philippi.
And I bet he's looking for A man. From Macedonia. He had a vision of a man. He's looking around the streets going, I don't see the guy that I saw in my vision. I'm looking over the ass doesn't look like it.
So he goes down to the river, we're told, where women are gathered praying. Why are women gathered praying? They're Jewish women praying by a river because there's no synagogue in town. None. He often goes to the synagogue.
That's where he starts. But there's no synagogue because Jewish law said you had to have at least 10 Jewish men. to have a synagogue. It was called the Minyan. There was no minyan, so they had no synagogue.
Because there was no synagogue, he couldn't go to it and start preaching.
So he goes down to the river where women are praying. There's one woman named Lydia. Who sold purple fabric from Thyatira? And the Bible says the Lord opened her heart. To receive the words spoken by Paul.
So she comes to Christ because of Paul's presence down at the river. And I'm sure Paul's going.
Okay, well. We're off to a start. May not be a great start. Usually, I get a lot more response than one chick from. Syatira down by a river.
But there's no synagogue, so I'll start with that.
So things go from bad to worse. He ends up getting arrested, beaten up, and thrown in jail. There's sort of an old joke about Paul that whenever he would go to a new town, he would say, Show me the jail, I want to find out where I'm going to be spending the night. He spent a lot of time in jail, a lot of nights in jail.
So he's in jail in stocks, stretched out in pain with his buddy, and at midnight they sing. Hymns to God. An earthquake happens. The stocks fall from his hands, the doors open. He ends up leading The Philippian jailer.
To Christ And his family.
So we have a chick down by a river named Lydia and a jail guy. Two converts who become the seeds of this church that's going to grow. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. As 2025 comes to a close, generous support from friends like you is vital to keep Connect with Skip Heitzig strong in the year ahead, so more people can hear God's word and find real hope in Jesus. Your year-end gift today helps reach even more hearts with verse-by-verse teaching and resources that connect people with God's love.
To thank you for your generosity, we'll send you Pastor Skip's new resource, The Daily God Journal, along with the digital companion devotional, The Daily God Book. These resources will help you align your heart with God's, let go of anxiety, and grow in steady faith through His Word each day.
So give your year-end gift today at connectwithskift.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888.
Now let's get back to today's teaching.
So Paul Lee's, years go by. Maybe even a decade goes by right now. The church at Philippi finds out Paul's in jail again. This time in Rome.
So they send him some money, a love gift, to help support him. He writes a thank you letter. Philippians is that thank you letter. It's a special relationship of love, and he's saying thank you. And as they read it, They discover something unexpected in it.
Joy. Joy. This guy who's had it so bad for so long is writing with such joyful terms. Unexpected Joy Billy Sunday said: If you have no joy, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere. If you have no joy, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere.
I know, I can hear all sorts of Rebuttals You don't know what I've been through. You don't know who's hurt me. You don't know what circumstances I'm under. Wait a minute, what are you doing under your circumstances? You see, as believers, we're told to rise above the circumstances.
That's where joy is. And Paul says, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Don't get under your circumstances. Get over them. On top of them.
So, this dynamic care, Paul, and Timothy. face difficult places with difficult people.
So what did they do? In their pain. They found God's purpose. They found God's purpose. So I want to go from the dynamic pair.
and the difficult place to the divine purpose. What is that purpose?
Well, it's hinted at, at least, again, in verse 1: Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ.
Now, watch this. Two pons. All The saints In Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi, with The bishops and the deacons.
Sounds like they've grown. What started out as a woman by a river and a jailer and his family has grown into all the saints. A spiritual family with spiritual fathers. overseers, pastors, and servants, deacons in this case. Church has grown.
So that growth From all of his pain to see a church grow out of that and strong, it was worth it all to him, worth it all. I know that because Read the next couple verses. Let's just. Take a sneak peek. Verse 3.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all. He's from the south, apparently. Request for y'all. With joy. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it.
unto the day of Christ. Here's the key, or here's one of the keys of Paul's life and his joy. Whatever negative experience he was facing, and I bet I'm talking to a few people who are facing some negative experiences. Whatever negative experience Paul was encountering, He was looking. for how God was working.
When something bad happened, he would think, What's God up to? He's up to something. This hurts. This is painful. This is horrible.
What's he up to? That's how he lived his life. Listen, when life happens unexpectedly, God is moving supernaturally. Paul believed that. Paul lived that way.
There's always two sides of every event in your life. There's the factual side of the event. But then there's the actual side of the event. There's the facts. The who, the what, the where, the how.
And you said, well, what are the facts? What happened here?
Okay, here's the facts, but then there's the actual side: the why. Why did this happen? And so Paul lived his life looking around for the actual side of this event. He knew the facts, but what's the actual thing happening? Why is God allowing this?
What's he up to? Where is the will of God found in this fabric of pain and suffering? In this case, He'll discover that God uses Roman law, appellate law. He appeals his case to Caesar. Which gets him on a ship?
Where he almost dies but doesn't. which takes him to Rome, which puts him in jail, for a long time. But through all that, he discovers. Cool. This is the will of God.
And for that, I'm joyful. You go, the will of God, how? Listen, and again, sneak ahead a little bit. Look at verse 12. Yeah.
I want you to know, brethren. That the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
Now you think of that statement. You know what he means when he says the things that happened to me? Falsely accused in Jerusalem? Thrown in jail in Caesarea? Bad trial after bad trial.
Put on a grain ship and taken to Rome, locked up in a Roman prison in guards. All those things that have happened to me that sound bad have actually turned out. to further the gospel. And as we get into it, I'll show you how that happened.
So we have 104 verses. In four chapters. Dripping. With pure joy. Amazing to think about.
A book of joy. Written by a guy who was once a Killjoy. has now become the apostle of joy.
Now here's how to calculate your life. Here's how to think about your life. Here's how to get joy in any situation. You take these elements and put them together. You take a dynamic person.
By dynamic, I don't mean I'm dynamic, it just means I'm saved. And filled with the Spirit, that's dynamic. You have life in you. That's what dynamic means. Take a dynamic person, saved and filled with the Spirit, place a dynamic person in a difficult place with difficult people, but have that person discover the plan of God.
And the result will be joy. When you discover the plan of God in that difficult place. The joy may be quite unexpected. And when it is, it's better that way. You go.
Yeah. I've talked to people, I don't know how to explain it. This is the worst period of my life. But I have such peace and such joy. Let me close with this story.
Tim Hansel writes about An 82-year-old man. served as a pastor for fifty years. They discovered Skin cancer. On this man? That required fifteen operations.
To maintain him. 82 years old. Skin cancer. 15 operations. You're thinking there can't be a shred of joy in this story.
Uh but listen. Tim writes this. Besides suffering from the pain, he was so embarrassed about how the cancer had scarred his appearance. that he wouldn't even go out. Then one day he was given a copy of my book You Gotta Keep Dancin'.
in which I tell of my long struggle with chronic intense pain. From a near-fatal climbing accident. In that book, I told of the day when I realized that the pain would be with me forever.
So at that moment, I made a pivotal decision. I knew that it was up to me to choose how I responded to it.
So I chose Joy. After reading a while, the elderly pastor said he put the book down thinking he's crazy. I can't choose joy.
So he gave up on the idea. Then later, As he read the Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 11. That joy is a gift And Jesus says, I want to give you my joy. That your joy may be complete. He thought.
A gift. A gift. He didn't know what to do, so he got down on his knees. Then he didn't know what to say.
So he said, Well then, Lord. Give it to me. And suddenly As he described it, This incredible hunk of joy came from heaven and landed on him. I was overwhelmed, this old man wrote. It was like the joy spoken about in the book of Peter, a joy unspeakable and full of glory.
I didn't know what to say.
So I said, turn it on, Lord, turn it on. And before he knew it, he was dancing around the house. Picture an 82-year-old guy, skin cancer, dancing around his house. He felt so joyful that he actually felt born again again. And this astonishing change happened at the age of 82.
He just had to get out, he said. There's so much joy. He couldn't stay cooped up.
So we went out to the local fast food restaurant and got a burger. A lady saw how happy he was and asked, How are you doing? He said, oh, I'm wonderful. Is it your birthday? She asked.
No, honey, it's better than that. Ah, it's your anniversary. No, better than that.
Well, what is it? She asked excitedly. It's the joy of Jesus. Do you know what I'm talking about? The lady just shrugged and answered, No, I have to work on Sundays.
Come on. Food. Right over her head. She didn't get that. Crazy old man talking about the joy of Jesus.
That's how she thought. But he didn't care. He knew. He felt, he experienced a whole new way of living. The joy of the Lord, unexpected joy.
Unexpected joy.
Well, in this case, You can expect joy. If you're filled with life, the life of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, a dynamic person in a difficult place with difficult people, discovering a divine purpose. The result will be joy, and the result of this letter Well, all 104 verses, 103 left. We'll be here a while. will be joy.
that will drip on us week after week. as we derive its benefit. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't miss your opportunity to request the Daily God Journal, along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book. These resources are our thanks for your generous year-end gift to help connect with Skip-Heitzig, finish 2025 strong, and reach more people with the truth of God's Word in the year ahead.
Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskip.com slash offer. Thanks for spending time with us today and we'll see you next time on Connect with Skiff Heitzig. Make a connection! Make a connection now. Stop the food.
Of the crisis. Castle burning. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
