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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
So a guy went to prison. Then on his first day Uh he heard somebody yell out of one of the cells a number. He said, 43. And the whole cell block broke out in laughter. And he thought, well, that's odd.
And a few moments later, another Prisoner yelled out 75, and everybody broke out in laughter again. And then 56, and everybody broke out in laughter.
So he turned to his cellmate, who had been there a long time. He goes, I don't get what's happening. What am I hearing here? He says, well, you know. We've been here so long.
And we've been telling the same jokes to each other over and over and over again, that we've just numbered them all.
So now, all we have to do is yell out a number, we think of that joke, and we laugh.
So the prisoner said, Wow, can I try that? He said, Sure, give it a shot.
So he shouted out, 12. Dead silence. Again, 12 dead silences. What's happening? And the guy said, I guess some guys just can't tell a joke.
In Philippians chapter one, verses twelve through fourteen. I'm giving this a message title: The Happy Prisoner.
Now that sounds like an oxymoron because You don't associate. Happiness generally with being in prison. In fact, prison is a place. where usually joy is absent. It's a place where life is unpleasant.
It's a place where dreams go to die. I found a website. for the criminal justice system called corrections.com. In which this statement was on it. Most prisoners are unhappy.
And many of them are unhappy all the time. Many contemplate or attempt suicide or self mutilation. The suicide rate for American prisoners is between five to fifteen times greater than it is for the general American population. End quote. I'm sharing that with you to begin with because I just want you to keep in mind that we are reading the letter.
of a prisoner.
Somebody who is incarcerated. for his faith in Christ, Let's look at our verses this morning, and we'll see what he has to say. Chapter 1 verse 12. It's a new paragraph of thought now. But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold. to speak the word without fear.
So Paul is a prisoner. He's a prisoner in Rome. These are not the best conditions that he has ever been in. This is not the happiest place. Paul is physically bound.
And Paul's ministry is severely restricted. And yet, Huh. Do you remember what the theme of this book is? Tell me what it is. Joy.
It's a letter oozing with joy. Four chapters, 104 verses, and one of the themes, the major themes, is joy. Let's look at a few things. Look at verse 3 of chapter 1. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all.
With joy. Verse 18, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes. And I will rejoice.
Chapter 2, verse 17. Yes. And if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith. I am glad. And rejoice with you all.
Chapter three, verse one. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Chapter 4, verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord. And I say it again.
Rejoice.
So he's a prisoner. Incarcerated in a jail. Saying, rejoice, rejoice, I'm glad, rejoice.
Now, either he's a nutcase. He's been beat up one too many times, so now his brains are addled. Or number two, He's lying through his teeth. He's putting on a good Christian face.
Well, Christians are supposed to act this way. Rejoice, smile, weave. Or He's on to something. And we need to find out what it is. that makes him so joyful.
And so that leads me to give you a statement that I think sort of encapsulizes the whole book. And that's this. Spiritual maturity can be measured by what it takes to steal your joy. Spiritual maturity can be measured by what it takes to steal your joy. What does it take?
To end the experience of joy as a believer. to the area of anger, bitterness, whatever it would be. Spiritual maturity can be measured by what it takes to steal your joy. The other night, my grandson spent the night, and it's always a joy. And we got up in the morning, I was making breakfast for him, and so he was.
Watching cartoons and he came in and goes, I'm looking for Winnie the Pooh. You know, we love watching that, and we both love when eat the food.
So, well, we didn't find it, but that's what we were looking for. But I've often. Wondered. If life We're a Winnie the Pooh. Episode What character would you be?
Would you be perhaps the timid piglet? Would you be Pooh Bear himself who likes to eat a lot? Would you be the important but pushy rabbit? Would you be the wise? But boring owl I'll tell you who Paul the Apostle would be.
You know who he'd be? He'd be Tigger. Paul the Apostle would be that Exuberant. Your bullion Well Resilient, bouncy. Tiger character named Tigger.
You see, Paul has every reason to be Eeyore. He has no outward reason at all to be joyful, but he is joyful. I found an article I wanted to put up and have you see it as I read it to you from Psychology Today that said, quote, people are unhappy because they view their lives as prisons. Many people feel trapped by aspects of their life. trapped in an unhappy relationship or trapped in an unfulfilling job or generally unhappy with their life despite basic needs being met.
End quote. So, don't you find it interesting that this dude is in prison, he is not licking his wounds, he is not sending out invitations to a pity party? But he's saying, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.
Now, to find out why, we need to follow the progress of his thinking in these three verses.
So I'm glad we only have three verses. Because we're going to begin with his passion. Move on to his problems. and end with his perspective. You have to understand his passions to really understand his problems because one led to the other.
But then we'll end with his perspective, man. There's enough information here for me to draw out three principles. Let me share the first with you: godly passion. is commendable. Godly passion is commendable.
Paul had a passion in life. That seems to be a very popular question. What's your passion in life? Paul had one. He had a master passion.
If you know anything at all about Paul the Apostle, you know he was a pretty determined guy. He had what we would call a type A personality, highly motivated with a single focus. And generally, people like that are highly successful people. because they never quit. They never say die.
They never give up. Everyone, including you. has a master passion. What drives you? What does your mind think of when it's in neutral?
and you've got nothing going on. All the activities are gone. What is the one thing above everything that you want or seek for or want to do more than anything else? For some people, it's a career. And for those people who make that their master passion, everything else takes a back seat, sadly, even relationships.
We'll often take a back seat. For other people, it's power. For other people, it's money. Let me remind you of what Paul's passion was. Paul's fashion can be summed up by two words, the gospel.
The gospel. The gospel. The message that changes people's lives was what he lived for. It was his master passion. How much was this on his mind?
Well Look at verse 5. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
Now look at verse 7. I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. You are partakers with me of grace. Look at verse 12. I want you to know, brethren, the things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
Verse 17, but the latter, out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel. Look at verse 27. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
So that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of. of the gospel.
Now that is only This chapter. If you were to add up all of the times in all of Paul's writings that he mentions the gospel. It's 72 times. The gospel, the gospel. How are you doing, Paul?
The gospel. What's up? The gospel. What do you want out of life? The gospel.
What are you doing? The gospel. That is his master passion.
Now, that can be summed up by two verses, both found in the book of Romans. The first is Romans 1:15, where he says, As much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. Did you get that language? As much? as is in me to the fullest extent of my being, That's what I want.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching. The second is in Romans 15 verse 20. Or he said, For it has always been my ambition. You could substitute the word passion. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ is not known, lest I build on another man's foundation.
Question: Why is that his passion? Why would that thing That at one time he tried with all of his might to stop be now his passion. Remember, Paul went around Putting out the fire of the gospel. Keeping it from spreading. He went to Damascus to stop the gospel.
Why is this now his passion? Simple to answer that. Because the gospel was the only thing that could change him. Nothing else could. Nothing else did.
On that Damascus road, when he saw that light and heard that voice and he received that Jesus. His life was never the same. That's important. Because until you've experienced the gospel's power, You will never have a gospel passion. It's only people who have seen and felt and experienced the power of the gospel.
In their own lives, that it becomes to them a passion. William Booth, who started the Salvation Army, said: some men's passion is for gold.
Some men's passion is for art.
Some men's passion is for fame, he said, my passion. is for souls. If Paul would have stood there when Booth said that, he'd have stuck out his hand and said, put her there. You and I track. Because that was Paul's passion as well.
In fact, Paul said Romans chapter 1, verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. Paul had seen its power.
Now Paul has its passion. Let me just say that a godly Passion. Like this. is commendable. So much so that I look for it in people.
And I've gotten good at noticing it when I find it. And whenever I find it, I exploit it. If I find some young person who's got that fire in their eyes, that sparkle, that real deep desire to know God and serve Christ and learn the Bible and preach the gospel, I want to bring that person as close as I can under my wing. And train that person, equip that person. to get out and do what is their passion.
So godly passion is commendable. But that brings up A second movement. We go from Paul's passion to Paul's. predicament or his problems. And he mentions them in verse 12.
Before we jump into the verse, Let me just say that one. Always brings the other. A godly passion always invites great problems. Did you hear that? A godly passion always involves or invites great passion.
Why is that?
Well, Because when you're passionate about souls, You are entering a battleground. On which Satan has been fighting a long time. He's got a lot of experience.
So, when you say, I am passionate about the gospel, I want to save souls, you are. painting a bullseye on you. You're a target. Satan will be after you. It's a war he's been engaged in.
So the Great Commission will always bring great. Conflict. In fact, Jesus even said. Faith. can sometimes be fatal.
He promised his disciples Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
So here is Paul. He's got this passion: the gospel of the gospel, gospel to gospel. But then he says in verse 12, but I want you to know, brethren, That the things which happened to me, stop right there.
Something happened to Paul. He's mentioning it.
Something happened to this passionate man. What was it? He's in jail. Again. That's what happened to him.
He's been there many times before. He's been beaten many times before. He's had hardship many times before, all because of his passion. for the gospel. That's what happened to him.
So now. He has a jail ministry. A prison ministry, but not like he expected. You know, if you have a prison ministry, you go to the prison, you visit the prisoners, you go home and have a nice meal with your family. Not Paul, he lived there.
That was his prison ministry. It is not what he expected.
Now Sitting in a Roman prison, he does not have the freedom to go out and plant churches and share the gospel here and train up leaders there. He's stuck. You should know that Paul He is in Rome. He always wanted to go to Rome. It was part of his passion.
He wrote to the Romans and he said, Pray for me. that I may come to you with joy. by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. But that's not exactly what happened.
Something bad happened to this man. And here's what happened. After his third missionary journey, he goes back to Jerusalem. He's in the temple area with another fellow going through a ceremonial ritual.
Some of the leaders spot Paul there. They start a riot. And they attack him. A Roman soldier arrests Paul. not to punish him, but to protect him from the mob.
Takes Paul. Is about to have Paul beaten. Paul pulls his Roman citizenship card out, so you can't beat me. I'm a Roman citizen.
So he is then taken from Jerusalem. to Caesarea by the sea, where he spends two years. And he goes through three trials in two years. He stands before Felix, he stands before Festus, he stands before Herod, Agrippa. And after two years, he finally says, I'm done.
This judicial process is crazy. I appeal my case to Caesar in Rome. Every Roman citizen had that right.
So they put him on a ship. It is not a cruise ship. It's not a princess cruise. It is a prison cruise. And they put him on this boat.
They send him to Rome. He almost doesn't make it to Rome. The ship sinks. He has to swim to shore. But he finally goes to Rome where he's put in jail again.
All of that is under this banner, but the things which happened to me. That's what he is referring to.
Now, that set of circumstances is enough to change any Tigger into an Eeyore. Pretty quickly. You know that incarceration will always challenge your joy. Restriction of any kind is a challenge to your joy. Confinement of any sort.
will challenge your joy.
Some of you feel chained to a job. It's a tyrant to you.
Some of you feel chained to a relationship or a set of responsibilities you didn't sign up for. And maybe because of that, your passion is gone. It's dried up. This is not what you had in mind. You're thinking back to that moment when you finally said, I surrender my life to you, Jesus.
And I don't know, it just means salvation. Maybe you came to the point after salvation where you said, Now I'm going to get serious. I'm going to really live for Christ from this day forward. But here you are today, and you're thinking back to that day. This is not what you had in mind that day.
In fact, could it be, is it possible? That when you said, Lord, I surrender to your plan. That you said that, like the couple who went to the architect and asked the architect to design a house for them, the architect discovered the couple already designed it for themselves, just wanted the architect to sanction it. Maybe when you said, Lord, I surrender my life to you, what you meant is, I surrender my will. I hope it is your will, Lord.
Here are my plans for my life. I just want your stamp on it because you must want what I want. And now you're going. This is not what I thought I signed up for.
Well, Paul is about to say something very revolutionary. This is where we really need to listen.
So we move from his passion to his problems to his perspective. How does he view all that has happened to him?
Now, as we dive into this, I'm just going to review what is the theme of this letter? Joy. 16 times, 16 times in this letter. The word joy, the word rejoice, or the word rejoicing are found no less than 16 times. We have already seen the object of Paul's joy, the gospel.
We've seen the challenge to Paul's joy, the things that happened, the prison, the beatings, etc.
Now, let me show you the reason. for his joy. And that can all be summed up by a single word in verse 12. It's the word furtherance. But I want you to know, brethren, verse 12, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance Of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.
And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Sphere.
Now back to that word. Furtherance, you may have a Bible that doesn't say that. It might say advancement or advance or spread. Or progress. Those are all good translations.
Mind says furtherance. The Greek word is prakope. And prakape means to advance. or to make progress But it means something very, very unique. It means a forward movement in spite of.
Obstacles. Obstacles are involved. It makes motion forward, but in the midst of obstacles.
So, The word procope was used of pioneers cutting their way through brushwood. Cutting the undergrowth away so you could go on it. It was also used for soldiers. advancing through obstacles. It was also sometimes used as a nautical term for ships making headway.
while there was a head wind. You get the idea? There's always an obstacle involved. It's going forward, forward, forward, but in the midst of obstacles.
So, what Paul wants them to know. is I want you to know brethren That all that has happened to me, the incarcerations, the beatings, the mistrials, the further incarcerations, none of that has stopped the advance of the gospel. In fact, it cleared the way. It actually furthered it. It made progress in it.
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