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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I have no special ability. God is sovereign. He does what he wants.
So I prayed for some people they get better, some people they get worse.
Some people they live a long time, some people they die. God delivered them all.
Some people he delivers by giving them 20 years on earth.
Some people he says, no. They're done with life on earth. Let's take them to heaven. That's not a bad gig. They get delivered completely.
And that's Paul's thought. I am confident in my future that things will turn out for my deliverance.
Now, what is the means of Paul's confidence? What's the agency of it?
Well, it's twofold. Through the prayers of God's people. And through the provision of God's Spirit. Look at it yourself, please. I know this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and.
Through the supply of the Spirit. of Jesus Christ. Here's what he's saying. As you keep praying and as God keeps providing, I'm going to be fine. I face my future with confidence.
Now let's drill down a little bit. Consider prayer for a moment. I am absolutely confident in my future well-being. Through your prayer. He's assuming the Philippian church is already praying for them, but in writing this, he's asking for more prayer.
Now, I'm going to make a statement that might be shocking to you, but I believe it to be true. We marginalize prayer. We really do. Most of us believers, most of us, We marginalize prayer. We doubt That prayer will even work.
Quite frankly. You know how I know that? Because if we didn't believe that, we'd be doing a whole lot more of it. If we really thought prayer had the power. To change things, to change us, to change people.
We'd be doing it a lot. Paul is so sure that as long as they are praying for him. He can be joyful. and he can be confident in the future. A few years back, I had the privilege of going to London and visiting Charles Haddon Spurgeon's church called the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
And of course, Spurgeon lived in the 1800s, died. But his church still stands. It has survived wars, burnings, bombings. The façade is still there, the church has been rebuilt. But I loved going there because I remember all the stories, not only about Spurgeon and how many people came to hear him preach, but.
He would, if he took people on a tour of the facility, he would show them the great tabernacle where he would preach, but he took them to the basement. where there was a little empty room. A meager room. And he'd point to the room and say, This is the powerhouse. And the reason That this church is blessed by God.
It was a prayer room. He said, when I preach, there's a group of people every service that meets in this room and they pray. That the Spirit of God would be unleashed. This is the secret. This is the power.
Leonard Ravenhill said this: The church has many organizers, but few. Agonizers Many who pay, but few who pray. Many wrestlers, but few wrestlers. Many who are enterprising, few who are interceding. A worldly Christian will stop praying, and a praying Christian will stop worldliness.
Tithes may build a church, but tears will give it life.
Now, why should we pray? There's a lot of reasons, I'll give you just two. Reason number one: spiritual work always requires spiritual tools. One of the most frustrating endeavors is to try to do a work of the spirit in the energy of your flesh. You are doomed for failure.
Second reason. It produces confidence according to the text. I am confident through your Prayers. It's a spiritual tool. It produces confidence.
Two good reasons to keep it up.
So One means of Paul's confidence is through their prayer. Notice the second, and the supply of the Spirit. Of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will give you everything you need.
Now, you see the word supply in that text? It literally means a lavish supply, a lavish supply. The Greek word is Epichoregias. We get our word chorus from that. It literally means one voice upon.
Another.
So if Ryan stands up here singing, and Tamara stands up here and adds a harmony, and Stephen stands up here and adds yet another harmony, and their voices blend in melody and harmonies, first, third, and fifth, You are stacking up the voices. Then if you add a choir next to them. You have an epicoregias. You have a lavish supply of beautiful voices.
So, what Paul is saying is this: the reason I'm confident. Is because you keep praying and because the Holy Spirit lavishly supplies everything I need to handle the future. Here's the truth. The hand of God. will never lead you.
where the grace of God cannot keep you. He will lavishly supply what you need. You know Zechariah 4, verse 6. You'll finish it as I start quoting it. It's not by might.
It's not by power. It's by Say it, my spirit, says the Lord. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
So Paul is confident in the future. If there are praying friends and plenty of fuel, And the fuel is the Holy Spirit.
So Paul looks out. of his prison bars. He sees two stars, the star of joy, the star of confidence. He predicts them both. but he sees a third star, the star of hope.
Verse twenty According to my earnest expectation and Hope. Earnest expectation. means about the same thing as the next noun, hope. They they really go together. Earnest expectation is like an intense form of hope.
Active hope, you might say. According to my earnest expectation, active hope, and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life. or by death.
Now, you know, you've known this because you hear me every week. You know I love words.
So this word here, earnest expectation. Literally means to watch something with outstretched head. Go ahead, stretch your head up. what this verse is talking about this earnest expectation Now here's where the word came from. In old times, when somebody would see something on the horizon coming, like an army or a group of emissaries approaching, people would stand on the walls and stretch their heads out.
And they'd see, well, what's happening out there? Is that a war or is that a letter coming? Or what is it? It's the same thing if you go to a baseball game and the batter hits the ball into left center, and everybody's head goes. They're watching it.
They're kind of anticipating. Where's it going to go? Where's it going? Home run? Oh, he caught it.
When I was a kid, we used to watch golf on television, which some people swear is a cure for insomnia. But uh We used to love it. And same thing, the ball is hit, and it goes into its trajectory, and you see everybody in the galley. Where is that going to? Is that going to go on the green?
They're going to go in a sand trap.
So here is Paul. Looking to his future, saying, I have an active hope. My neck and head are stretched out, and I have an eager hope and anticipation. I hope you're saying, what for? I'll tell you what for, verse 20 tells us.
That in nothing I shall be ashamed. but with all boldness, as always, so now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life. or by death.
Here's what he's saying: as I look to the future. The one great concern that I hope for more than anything else. Is that I will be A faithful witness for Christ. That I won't be ashamed, but that I will be bold. It's amazing that he says this.
He didn't say, I have one great hope, and that is that I get out of jail. I have one great hope that I can escape this pain and suffering. He said, I have one great hope, whether I live or die. I want to be a witness for Christ. I'm looking for opportunities.
to represent Christ. What I hope for is that I might express my faith and exalt my Savior. When I was a young Christian, I was morbidly afraid of witnessing to another person, telling them about Jesus. I was embarrassed. To be honest, I was embarrassed.
I was embarrassed about the gospel. The reason I was embarrassed is because I was afraid that they would reject the message. That would make it seem like they're rejecting me.
So I just held back. For the first several months, it was very difficult. Then something kicked into gear, and I could never shut up after that. Howard Hendricks put it this way: In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering. I was stuttering.
Paul is saying, My great hope for the future is that I will not stutter. But that I will be bold, it means to have freedom of speech. Bold. You know what? We need to be bold.
While the world is breaking bad, we need to be breaking bold. That's what we need to be doing. Breaking bold. You know the world. Yeah.
The world is bold about what it believes. and they're becoming bolder. They're not ashamed of what they believe in. They'll use every opportunity they can, every song they write, every news program, every sitcom, every movie to further their agenda. They are not afraid.
They are bold to share their values on abortion, on homosexuality, on promiscuity. They want to get that out there and get it in your face. It's time for Christians to get out of the closet and be bold. Do not be embarrassed and not be ashamed. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching. You say Skip I can clap for that but boy that's that's hard for me. I'm just not that. I'm not a vocal person. I'm not a bold person.
Fair enough. Just ask God to make you bold. I'll be bold. I'll be a witness as long as you keep praying and the Spirit keeps providing. See, so let's just start there.
God, make me. A bolder person So he's praying for that. He wants that. He hopes for that. That's his earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed.
But look at this, with all boldness. As always, he's always been bold up to this point.
So now, in this present situation, facing Caesar and Nero, so now Christ. Will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death. You know what magnified means? Magnified. That's really what it means.
It just means to enlarge something, to make it bigger than it is. to enlarge it, to make it bigger, or to make it greater.
So I have a question for you. How? Can you make the greatest person in the world greater? How can you magnify Christ in your body? He's already great.
How can you make him greater?
Well, I'm glad you asked. I'll give you an example, then an explanation. If you look up tonight at the stars, if there's not light pollution, you can see some of the stars flickering. Those stars, those little twinkles, some of them are enormous.
Some of those stars are a thousand million miles in diameter. or twelve thousand times larger than the sun. Yet you look at them and they just Twinkle. They flicker. You can barely see him.
So if you want to See them better, what do you look through? A telescope. When you look through a telescope, What happens? They get Magnified. You're magnifying them.
You're enlarging them. When you enlarge them, it seems like you brought them closer, and now you see them clearer.
So here's how it works. To most people in this world, Jesus Christ. Yeah. 2,000 years ago. He's so far away.
He's so in the distance. He's so unapprehendable. He's so irrelevant. That happened 2,000 years ago. Until you show up.
Now By you, by them looking at your life, he's either magnified. brought closer, clearer, or minified. Remember, as a kid, you take the telescope, sometimes just for fun, you turn it around, you look to the other end, and everybody could be right in front of you. They seem like they're 40 miles away. Paul says, you know what I want?
I want boldness. I'm looking for opportunities to represent Christ because I want the great one to be even greater through my body. As I give him my hands, my feet, my mouthpiece, let him use my life I present my body, Romans twelve one, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is my reasonable service. Christ is magnified by our bodies. Still.
So Paul looks out from his prison bars. Doesn't see mud. He does see stars. He sees the star of joy. confidence.
and hope. He predicts that. There's a fourth. Star. And that is the star of life.
Verse 21 sums it up. It's sort of his motto, his slogan. For me to live as Christ. and to die is gain. That's one of the most famous verses in the Bible among Christian circles.
You've heard it or you've heard it quoted or you have quoted it But this is Paul's Slogan. This could have been on Paul's. Tombstone Wouldn't that be great? Here lies the Apostle Paul. For him, to live was Christ, to die was gain.
Every time I read Words by Paul in the Bible. I kind of step away from going. Who is this guy? I'll tell you one thing: Paul wasn't a guy for small talk. You know, he might sit down with a cup of coffee and he might get past the hellos pretty quickly and just say, Let me ask you about Christ.
Why are you asking about Christ? Because for me to live is Christ. My life is Christ, and if I die, I keep living. Because I'm with Christ. For me to live as Christ and to die is gain.
Reminds me of a kid who went to Sunday school, went to a new church in a new town. And the first day of church after Sunday school, his parents said, Well, how was Sunday school? He said, Oh, it was good. He said, well, tell me about your teacher. And he pauses and he says, well She must have been Jesus' grandmother.
Because Jesus was the only one she kept talking about the whole class. I like that. That's sort of like Paul the Apostle. He must be related to Jesus because that's the only guy he talks about. For me to live is Christ, therefore to die is gain, because you'll be with him.
Now, take that little phrase and make it your own for a minute. For me to live is blank, fill in the blank. And then to die is blank. The only one that would Or only thing or person you could put in the first blank. To make it say gain would be Christ.
Let me show you this. Let's say you were to say, for me, to live is wealth.
Well, then you have to say, then to die is loss. Because you cannot take your wealth with you. You leave it all behind.
So, if for you it is getting a lot of money, then when you die, it's a total loss. If you were to say for me to live as fame and notoriety and status, then you'd also have to say for me to die as loss. 'Cause you lose it when you die. You're famous only here, but not there. If you say, for me to live is having a perfect physical body.
Well You're going to have to put loss there too. Because when you die, you get real ugly real quick. Like in a day The only one or thing you could put that says gain is Christ. For me to live is Christ. To die is gain.
That's why this is the summim bonum of Paul's life. This is the pinnacle statement that sums up everything. For me to live as Christ. To die is gain. Here's Paul.
He's in prison. He doesn't know if he's going to live or die. If I live, I'll live for Christ. If I die, I'll live with Christ. Either way, there's life.
in either equation. Jesus said this, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Paul believed that.
Paul believed that. Now we should close by telling you what happened to Paul. Paul In jail. will be set free. And he'll spend a year out of jail.
We don't know what he's doing, but I'll tell you what, for him to live as Christ, so he's out there doing something for Christ. He's preaching the gospel, starting some church somewhere. A year later, he gets arrested again in Troas and brought to Rome the second time. This time, he's not under house arrest like he is now with a little bit of freedom. The second time he is placed in a prison called the Mamertine Prison in Rome.
It's still there. It's a hole in the ground. There are no windows in it. It is solitary confinement. He gets food that is lowered through a rope.
In the hole in the ground. That's where he spends his final days. He's taken up out of the Mamartine prison, taken to the Basilica Julia. A building that was built by and for Julius Caesar, named after him. And he is given the death verdict.
Condemned to die. History tells us how he died. Let me tell you how A. T. Robertson describes it.
The crowds flowed into town.
Some were going out. Paul was only a criminal going to be beheaded. Few, if any, in the crowd, would know or care anything about him. At a good place on the road some miles out, the executioner stopped. The block was laid down.
The executioner stood ready, axe in hand. The men stripped Paul. Tied him. kneeling upright to the low pillar which exposed his back and his neck. The lictors beat him with rods.
For the last time. He groaned. and bled from his nose and his mouth. And then, without a hint of hesitation, the executioner frowned as he swung the blade down swiftly, hitting its mark with the dull Thud. And the head of the greatest preacher of the ages rolled.
Upon The ground. That's how Paul died.
Now, Paul said for me to live. is Christ. To die is game. For that one year, he was preaching Christ.
Now, In that one brutal moment. Paul Moved. from the imperial city of Rome to the eternal city of heaven. He was preaching Christ, now he is with Christ. And Paul knew it all along.
That's why he wasn't afraid. If I live, I'll preach Christ. You kill me, I'll be with him. Either way I win, either way I'm delivered. Either way, I'm going to rejoice.
I'm going to be confident. I'm going to have hope because I'm going to have life either way.
Now, I told you at the beginning of this study that you can predict your future responses, but not your future circumstances. I was wrong, actually. There is one circumstance you can predict. That is, will you spend eternity in heaven or in hell? I can predict.
accurately. That because I believe in Jesus Christ and not my own good works or my religious works, but I trust in His finished work. Unequivocally, no doubts at all, I'm going to heaven. I have no doubt. And many of you have those same.
Set of confident hoped. that I have.
Some of you don't. And if you don't know Jesus Christ, If you don't receive what he did for you, if you don't humble yourself and turn from your past and turn to him. Which is called being born again. Jesus said, You'll never see the kingdom of heaven. It would be a tragedy for that to be true in anyone here, so I want to give you an opportunity as we close on this welcome weekend to welcome him into your heart.
Yeah. 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 of $50 or more 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 Skip Heitzing. Make a connection! Make a connection, never foot. Of the crisis. Castle burning.
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