The Joy of Not Caring – Part 1

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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Welcome to God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, that was Paul. He said, I have my is my purpose to glorify Christ, and I rejoice in my circumstances. That's the joy of having a God centered purpose in life. It allows us to say, God, I'm gonna leave the outcome of this situation in your hands.

Whatever happens, I believe Christ is going to be magnified. Welcome to Pathway to Victory. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains that while we can't prevent hardships from happening, we can change the way we think about them. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. In the dead of winter, it's completely normal to dream about the warmth of spring. Well, it won't be long before many of us vacation together in the Greek Isles on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. The dates are May 5th through 16th, and I'd love for you to join us. Picture yourself on the deck of a luxury cruise liner overlooking the breathtaking landscapes as your ship traces the path of the New Testament. We'll be stopping in magnificent ports. Visiting historical biblical sites such as Ephesus, and I guarantee you'll return home physically refreshed and spiritually inspired.

Time is running short to make arrangements, but you can reserve your spot right now at ptv.org. Well, every day there are forces working against us to steal our joy and to rob us of our contentment. Paul's letter to the Philippians gives us four secrets for maintaining our joy no matter what comes next.

And Paul then transforms our way. Plus, he's offered us three keys for living a worry-free life. That's the theme of our current teaching series, living above your circumstances. And I've also written a book that's designed to help you shed the weight of worry and refocus your priorities on Kingdom Living. Again, my book is called Outrageous Joy Living Above Your Circumstances. It's hard bound, and I'm prepared to send you a copy right away with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. I'll share more details later in today's program, but right now let's open our Bibles to Philippians chapter 1. In this study, we'll discover the benefits of setting aside our personal expectations for something far better. I titled today's message, The Joy of Not Caring. Dilemmas.

We face them just about every hour of every day. What is a dilemma? Somebody described a dilemma as watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your brand new Lexus. Now, that's a dilemma, isn't it?

You don't know exactly how you feel about that. I was looking up the word dilemma in Webster's dictionary. Webster defines it this way, a dilemma is a situation involving a choice between equally unsatisfactory alternatives.

And I think Webster's a little bit too restrictive in his definition. Sometimes the dilemmas we face are not between two unsatisfactory choices. It might be between the known and the unknown.

Do I keep my present job or do I take that new position in a different city? Sometimes our dilemmas involve two equally satisfactory choices. Do I take the pecan pie or the chocolate pie?

Or both, you know, it could be either one. Sometimes our dilemmas, though, don't deal with just trivial issues. Sometimes they involve choices very important. Do I stay in this troubled marriage or do I leave?

Do I forgive my child one more time or do I ask him or her to move out? And sometimes the dilemmas we face are actually matters of life and death. That's the kind of dilemma Paul faced and he wrote about in Philippians chapter one. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Philippians chapter one.

We're going to talk about the joy that comes from not caring. Philippians chapter one, remember Paul was writing this letter to encourage the Philippians. When they heard that their pastor, Paul, was in prison, they were distressed. And Paul said, don't worry about my circumstances.

In fact, look at what he says in verse 12. I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances, that is my imprisonment, have actually turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Paul had a Christ-centered purpose in living, to make Jesus Christ known to as many people as possible. And he said, I can be happy with my imprisonment because it's worked out with the progress for the progress of the gospel. That word progress is an engineering term.

It refers to the removal of boulders or trees that would obstruct an advancing army. And just as an engineer in the Roman times would remove those boulders or cut down the trees so that the army could advance forward, Paul said, my imprisonment has actually removed any obstacles that would keep the gospel of Jesus Christ from advancing around the world. And he goes on to explain how through his imprisonment, all of these Roman soldiers are hearing the gospel.

And not only that, Christians everywhere are having the courage to spread their faith. Your purpose in life determines how you'll look at the circumstances in your life. You know, if your purpose in life is self-focused, if your purpose in life is to have as much pleasure or much peace or enjoy as much prosperity as you possibly can. If that's your purpose, then you're going to view your life through that purpose. And you're going to view negative circumstances in your life, like the loss of income, the loss of pleasure, the loss of a relationship.

You're going to view those things as tremendous tragedies. But if you have your purpose in life to magnify Christ, then you're actually able to see how negative circumstances are actually positive because they help you achieve your purpose in life. That was Paul. He said, it's my purpose to glorify Christ and I rejoice in my circumstances. But he goes on to explain, beginning in verse 21, how his Christ-centered purpose in life presented him with both a unique dilemma in his situation and also a unique determination.

Let's look first at the dilemma that a Christ-centered purpose presents us in life. Look at verse 21. He writes, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. How many of you have ever heard that verse before?

Raise your hand. You know, we recite that verse, but this verse is more than just a nice, sweet scripture verse to hang on a plaque in your house. The fact is, this is really the dilemma that Paul was facing in his life. He said, here I am in prison. I haven't found out whether I'm going to live or die and I'm not sure which is better.

I can see advantages of both living and dying. And so Paul was actually kind of apathetic about the outcome of his trial. Any time I hear that word apathy, I think of the story of the high school English teacher who was teaching her class new vocabulary words and she was writing the words on the blackboard and so she wrote the word in big letters, A-P-A-T-H-Y. One of the duller students sitting on the front row leaned over to his classmate and said, what's that word apathy?

What does it mean? And the other student kind of yawned and said, who cares? Well that's apathy. It's a feeling of who cares and usually we think of apathy as negative, but the truth is there are cases in which it's good to have a case of holy apathy, to not be frantic about what's going to happen or how this situation is going to turn out to say, who cares?

I can see advantages in both situations. And that was Paul. He said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. He goes on in verse 22, he says, if I live on in the flesh, this will mean my fruitful labor for me and I don't know which to choose, but I am hard pressed from both directions. The dilemma stated was, should I live or die?

That was Paul. He said, I'm pressed in from both directions. I don't know whether I want to live or die. And so he weighs his dilemma. He first of all talks about the advantages of dying. He says, I have a desire to depart, verse 23, and be with Christ for that is much better. Paul said, I can see real advantages in dying because to die allows me to depart and to be with Christ. I want you to underline that word depart in verse 23. It's a word that is used three different ways in the Greek language. I want you to hold your place here and turn back to the book of 2 Corinthians, a few books to the left here.

Hold your place in Philippians 1 and turn back to 2 Corinthians 5. I want to show you the three ways the word depart is used. Sometimes the word depart was used as a military term. That is it referred to soldiers who were about to strike their camp and march to a new location.

They were about to depart. And look at what Paul says a Christian's death is like. I often read this verse at a funeral service. In verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, for we know that if this earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens.

If you're a Christian and you die, it's not the end of you. It's just like you're folding up your tent, your body, so that you can depart to a new location. That's how the word depart's used, sometimes a military term. Sometimes it was used in a nautical sense.

That is it referred to the loosening of a ship from its moorings so that it could set sail to a new location. And by the way, Paul uses that illustration in verse 8. He said, we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. What happens to a Christian when he or she dies? He departs, not for an eternity of nothingness, but his spirit is loosened so that he can go into the presence of Jesus Christ. Listen to me, if you have a loved one who's a believer who dies, he or she doesn't just float around out there for thousands of years or eternity. For a Christian to die, to be absent from the body, is to depart and immediately be in the presence of Jesus Christ. When you shut your eyes the last time here on earth, in an instant you will wake up in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes the word depart was used in a political sense. It referred to the setting free of a prisoner. And again, that also describes what happens when we as Christians die. In verse 2 of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, for indeed in this house, that is this body, we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. If you live long enough, there'll come a time when all of the aches and pains of your body, when all the deteriorating circumstances of your health will cause you to groan and say, I'm ready to be released. I'm ready to be set free. I'm ready to depart to be in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Now that's the word Paul uses back here in Philippians 1. He said, I'm hard pressed having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is much better. How many of you think it would be better to depart this life and to be with Jesus Christ?

How many of you think it would be better? You know, you have to ask yourself, how do you know for sure it would be better? Paul, how do you know with absolute certainty that what awaits you in the future is better than what you're experiencing right now? You might say, Paul, you can think it's better, or you might hope it's better, or you might believe it's better, but how do you know with such certainty that heaven is better than earth? I'll tell you how Paul knew. He had already experienced heaven.

Did you know that? Most Christians don't know this, but the fact is the apostle Paul got a preview of coming attractions, so to speak. He actually got to visit heaven briefly. Many Christians believe that it was in Acts 14 when he was being stoned for his faith that God actually allowed him to experience heaven. Hold your place here and turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 where Paul writes about that experience of being in heaven for a period of time, 2 Corinthians 12 beginning with verse 2.

Paul says in verse 2, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I don't know or out of the body I don't know, God only knows, but such a man was caught up into the third heaven. Every now and then as a pastor somebody will come up to me and say, no pastor, I have this friend who's having a problem. Now I know who the friend is, they're talking about themself, but they don't want to say that. They don't want to call attention to themself, so they say I've got this friend who has this question or is having this problem.

Well I think that was the case here. Paul says I know a man who, now Paul was talking about himself. He just didn't want to draw attention to himself. How unlike Paul was in many Christians today, you see, these Christians that claim all of these extraordinary experiences, if a Christian today had actually had this experience he'd probably be on every Christian talk show there is talking about his experience in heaven and what he saw in heaven, or he'd write a book, my 90 minutes in heaven and what it was like. Not the apostle Paul. He said, I just know this man who was caught up into heaven, verse 3, and I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I don't know, only God knows, he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak. He was like the apostle John in the revelation, who caught a glimpse of heaven. And both John and Paul said, I'm not allowed to share with you what I saw.

I'm not allowed to share with you what I heard, but trust me when I tell you what awaits us in heaven is far beyond anything we could imagine. Paul knew it. He knew it from experience.

And so he said, I know for me to depart is much better. That was the advantage of dying. But Paul said there's also some advantages to living as well.

Let's don't discount that. There are some advantages to being alive. Solomon said, a live dog is better than a dead lion. There are just some things you can do in this life that you can't do anyplace else. I mean, just think about all of the great advantages of being alive, watching the football games yesterday. Well, for some of you anyway watching the football games yesterday, engaging in a hobby, being with friends.

For me, sitting down with a big bowl of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream, I mean, life doesn't get much better than that. Those are great advantages to being alive. And Paul said there are advantages for me being alive. But the advantages he talks about here aren't self-focused. They are God-focused.

Look at what he says. Yet to remain, verse 24, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. And I am convinced of this. I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. He said one reason I want to forego heaven and stay here with you a little bit longer is so that I can help you, Philippians, progress in your faith. I want you to underline that word progress because it's the very same word used in verse 12, to remove the obstacles. He said my imprisonment has helped in the greater progress of the gospel.

Here it's the same word, to remove the obstacles. But here in verse 25, Paul isn't talking about the advancing of the gospel. He's talking about the advancement of our own relationship with God. Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, it's God's will for you to progress in your relationship with Him, to remove all of the obstacles in your life that are keeping you from growing closer to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Are you doing that? Are you moving closer to God every day? Are you progressing in your faith?

Let's take a pop quiz for just a moment here. Can you honestly say that you know more of God's word today than you did a year ago? Can you say that your prayer life is more intimate with God today than it was a year ago? Are you being more obedient right now at this point in your life to the commands of God than you ever have been before in your life? You see, not to progress in your faith is to regress in your faith.

Nobody stands still. We're either moving closer to God or we're moving further away. And Paul said, one reason I want to stay on with you, Philippians, is to help you progress in your faith. Paul faces dilemma. He said, you know, I don't know whether it's better to live or die.

I can see advantages of both. By the way, can I point out to you that the only person who faces this kind of dilemma, the only person who has a case of holy apathy is somebody who has truly died to himself like Paul. Paul said, for I am crucified with Christ, and yet I live.

Not I, but Christ lives in me. Paul was completely God-focused in his life. And that's why he had this holy case of apathy. But the self-focused person is not like that. A person who is self-focused knows exactly what he wants in life. A person who is self-focused knows exactly the outcome he wants in every situation. And if he doesn't get that promotion, if he doesn't have that relationship, if he doesn't acquire that amount of money, then he gets depressed.

His circumstances have not turned out for his betterment. It's only the person who is God-focused, who has as his life purpose to glorify God, only that person can say, you know, whether I remain single or get married, whether I get the promotion or not, whether the test results come back positive or negative, I can see advantages in both situations. That's the joy of having a God-centered purpose in life. It allows us to rest in the sovereignty of God.

It allows us to say, God, I'm going to leave the outcome of this situation in your hands. Whatever happens, I believe Christ is going to be magnified. Paul's Christ-centered purpose in life not only presented him with a unique dilemma, it also gave him a great determination in life, a tremendous determination in life. You see, Paul says, beginning in verse 25, he said, I have a sneaking suspicion. Well, that's what it says in the Greek text.

I have this sneaking suspicion that I'm probably going to be released from prison. Paul had this intuition that it wasn't his time to die yet, that he would have a few more years to preach the gospel, but he said, if I live on, I'm not going to spend my time twiddling my thumbs waiting for the rapture. If I do live on in this life, I'm going to live my life with determination. And that's what a Christ-centered purpose for life will do for us as well. Somebody has said we would do well to remember that the Christian life is not a playground.

It's a battleground. If you are a Christian today, never forget, you have an enemy who is absolutely determined to take you out, to destroy you. Peter said, 1 Peter 5, 8, be of sober spirit, be on the alert, for your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Never forget, Satan is determined to take you out.

He has a blueprint for your destruction. And unless you want to become spiritual roadkill, you better have a plan for how to have victory in your Christian life. And that's what Paul talks about beginning in verse 27. He says, Philippians, if I'm going to live on in this life, this is my game plan for winning at the Christian life, and it's the game plan you better follow.

How do you succeed in the Christian life? First of all, it takes integrity in your behavior. You know that word integrity, it literally means oneness. It means to be undivided, a person for whom there is no division in what he believes and how he behaves. That is, his behavior is consistent with what he believes to be true.

Consistency and conduct is another way of saying it. Paul talks about that in verse 27. He says, Philippians, if you want to win in the Christian life, conduct yourselves, verse 27, in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

That word conduct is a word from which we get citizenship. In other words, he's saying live in a way that is consistent with your citizenship. This meant a lot to the Philippians, because the residents of Philippi, even though they were living in what is now Greece, Philippi was still a Roman colony.

Now, they were 800 miles away from Rome. They were living in a foreign country, but they knew that they had a responsibility to live like Roman citizens, even though they were in this foreign country. And Paul was using that illusion when he said, we Christians, we are living on planet earth. We are residents of earth, but our citizenship is in heaven. And that's why it is so important that we conduct ourselves according to where our true citizenship is and not to adopt the values and the behavior of this world. If you're going to win in the Christian life, you better make sure that your behavior lines up with your beliefs.

Nothing alters our countenance quite like perspective. When we live like citizens of heaven, when we see things through an eternal lens, life comes clearly into focus. Well, as we conclude today's Bible study, let me encourage you with a comment I received from Beth, one of your co-listeners to Pathway to Victory, who lives in South Carolina. Through God's grace, Beth has become an overcomer.

She wrote, Pastor Jeffress, I grew up with an abusive mother, and many other negative things happened to me in my early life that wore me down and caused me to question my self-worth. But there was a day when I was told about Jesus, and on the day I chose to accept Him into my life and follow Him, my life began to turn around. God is using Pathway to Victory to nurture and help people just like me.

Keep up the good work. Well, Beth, we have every intention of moving forward with boldness. It's letters like yours that motivate us to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word. And friends, God is using our generous gifts to reach men and women just like Beth, who desperately need a touch of hope. When you give a generous gift today, remember to request your copy of my book called Outrageous Joy, Living Above Your Circumstances. In addition to this hardbound book, I'll also include the Standing on the Promises of God encouragement card as well. Thanks for getting in touch with us today, David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Jeffress' book, Outrageous Joy.

It's designed to help you live out the principles we're learning in our current study. Give a gift and request the book when you call 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. Now when you give $75 or more, you'll receive the book as well as our current teaching series called Living Above Your Circumstances.

You'll get that on both audio and video discs. Again, call 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

That's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you back next time for part two of the message, The Joy of Not Caring. That's right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.