The Joy of Not Caring – Part 2

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. Do you desire that kind of courage in suffering? Do you desire that kind of feeling that says, I really don't care what happens to me because I'm resting in the sovereignty of God? That kind of courage is only available to those who are willing to say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. When we make Christ our purpose for living, we're presented with both a unique dilemma and a unique determination. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress examines the Apostle Paul's dilemma and determination and considers how he responded to both. It's a message called the joy of not caring. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. And welcome again to Pathway to Victory. So how are things going for you today? Anything consuming your thoughts and stealing your joy? Well, as someone who's sympathetic with the human condition, I can relate. Life is that way.

It's never perfect. And most of us have subplots at play in our lives that distract us from experiencing the peace God intended. For that reason, I've put together a scripture encouragement card that's designed to keep the promises of God front and center in your mind. These encouraging words were written by the Apostle Paul while he was, now get this, imprisoned. He wrote familiar verses like this one. I can do all things through him who strengthens me and many others as well. I'm prepared to send you a complimentary copy of the Standing on the Promises of God scripture card just for getting in touch with us today.

There's no cost when you go to ptv.org. Paul's letter was written while imprisoned, addressed to his friends in Philippi, and it's our subject this month. I've written a book that's intended to help you dig deeper in today's topic and others. The book is titled Outrageous Joy, Living Above Your Circumstances. In my book, I show you the four secrets for maintaining joy in spite of what's happening around you. And you can request your copy of Outrageous Joy when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. We'll say more about my book and other resources later on, but right now it's time to resume a study we began on yesterday's program.

Are you ready? Turn to Philippians chapter one. The title of today's study is The Joy of 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. He said, it is 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. You see, not to progress in your faith is to regress in your faith.

Nobody stands still. And Paul said, one reason I want to stay on with you, Philippians, is to help you progress in your faith. 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 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.

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. 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. What happens when you are divided, when you have a lack of integrity, a lack of wholeness in your life, when there's a division between what you say you believe and how you live your life? Through the years, many people have come to me and said, pastor, I'm having doubts about my salvation. I'm not really sure I'm going to heaven when I die. Do you know what one of the major causes of doubt of salvation is? It's inconsistency in your behavior.

Whenever you are not living in a way that is consistent with what you believe to be true, you're going to have doubt about whether or not you're really a believer. You see, what I have found is this, Christians who have a secret sin in their life, who continue to live in rebellion, Christians whose behavior is inconsistent with their beliefs, one of two things will happen. They will either eventually give up that sinful behavior, or they will give up their Christian beliefs, one or the other. But you cannot hold rebellious behavior and Christian beliefs.

You can't hold those two together for a long period of time. You'll either give up your behavior or you'll give up your beliefs. And that's why it's so important if we want to win against Satan in our life, not allow him to destroy us, that we have a consistency in our conduct, integrity in our behavior.

By the way, that's not only important for our own spiritual well-being, but also for the well-being of other people. One of the things that inhibits, that restricts the gospel of Jesus Christ is Christians who live disobedient lives. Have you ever been trying to share your faith with somebody and you're in the middle of a presentation and that non-Christian you're talking to says, oh, I don't want to hear any of that stuff. And then they launch into some story about some Christian they know who either mistreated them, or some Christian they know who didn't live up to what they believed, or some sins of some televangelist like Ted Haggard or Jim Baker or something. Immediately they use the sins, the disobedience of other Christians to shut out the gospel from their own lives. In his book, A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Van Halken writes, the best argument for Christianity is Christians.

Their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But when the strongest argument of Christianity is also Christians, when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths. Paul said, make sure there's integrity in how you're behaving so that the gospel is not hindered. Secondly, Paul was determined that there be a unity with other believers. If you're going to win in your Christian life, you've got to be you've got to be united with other believers.

Look again at verse 27. He said, I want to hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Striving together for the faith of the gospel.

In verse 27, underline that phrase, I want to hear that you are striving together. That phrase striving together comes from the Greek word soon athlete from which we get the word athletics. You know how an athletic team operates or at least is supposed to operate. For a football team, that team can accomplish much more when they are working together than they can individually. And certainly they achieve much more when they are working together than when they are working against one another. Paul says it's the same way in the Christian life. You can accomplish more when you are working together with other believers than when you are isolated from other believers. You see, there really is strength in numbers. One of Satan's favorite tactics in your life will be to try to isolate you from other Christians, to get you disconnected from a church somehow, get you isolated and then attack and eventually conquer you. Paul said, Philippians, if you're going to be successful, you need to strive together.

You need to be connected to other believers. Remember Rudyard Kipling's lines in the law of the jungle. Now here is the law of the jungle.

It's as old and as true as the sky. And the wolf that shall keep it shall prosper. And the wolf that shall break it shall die. For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack. The strength of the church is the Christian. The strength of the Christian is the church.

That's why it is vital, Paul says, that we be connected to another group of believers. And then number three, he says, to win in the Christian life, we need to possess tenacity in suffering. Tenacity in suffering. Don't give up when suffering comes into your life. He says in verse 28, don't in any way be alarmed by your opponents.

Verse 28, which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that too from God. Don't get alarmed, he says, when suffering comes into your life. That word alarmed is a word that refers to a horse that gets spooked. Have you ever been on horse that got spooked before?

I've had that unfortunate privilege. You know what happens? That horse will rear back or it starts running in the opposite direction. It's spooked. And Paul said, when suffering comes into your life as a Christian, don't start heading toward the exit.

Don't get spooked. Realize this is a normal part of the Christian life. When I was in Wichita Falls, some of you know this, during the time I was there, we got attacked by just about every left-wing group you can imagine for the moral stands that we took as a church. The ACLU, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, they were constantly attacking us, threatening our tax-exempt status. How I praise God for a group of deacons, a group of leaders, the members of the church who refused to get spooked when that happened.

They never came to me, not once. They said, Pastor, you need to tone it down a little bit. Or, Pastor, what would happen if our tax-exempt status got revoked? Instead, they say, Pastor, you keep preaching the truth.

We're right behind you. So you know, I've often wondered, what would it take to spook our people? To spook Christians?

To cause us to give up? Let's say, for example, some left-wing group was successful in revoking the tax-exempt status of our church here. Would that concern you?

Would that cause you to quit giving because you couldn't get a tax deduction any longer? Or what if the Supreme Court one day ruled that it is unconstitutional for you to share your faith in the workplace, that that infringes on other people's constitutional right? Would you be willing to break the law?

Would you be willing to risk a fine, jail term, even prison, in order to share your faith with other people? You say, Robert, those are pretty outlandish scenarios. That would never happen in our country. We would never go through that kind of suffering.

Don't kid yourself. Do you know what's unusual? What's unusual is that we haven't experienced that kind of suffering yet. Do you realize we are just living in a sliver of time in history? We are the only generation of Christians which have really never endured suffering for our faith, just in our little corner of the globe here. But I don't think it's always going to continue that way. I think it's a question of not if, when the suffering comes. It's going to come. You know, if you travel to Canada right now, many of you have been there.

I've been there. If you appear on a Christian or any kind of talk show, you have to agree that you will not speak out against homosexuality. Because if you do, you risk being fined and imprisoned for doing so. I don't believe it's that long until the same thing happens in our country. To stand up and say Christianity is the only way to heaven. In many places that would be considered hate, speech.

And I think it is only a matter of time until we see that kind of legislation enacted in our own country. How are you going to react when that happens? Are you going to allow that to spook you? To keep you from being consistent in your beliefs? And even if we don't experience that kind of national suffering, listen to me this morning, it is guaranteed you are going to suffer for your faith one day on a personal level.

See, the Bible says, all who live God who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And if you really are trying to honor God in your life, you're going to pay a price for doing that. You may pay a price at work. It may keep you from getting that raise, that promotion. It may end up in your dismissal because of a stand for Christ you took.

It may cause the breakup of a relationship that you value very much. There's some of you right now, you're the only Christian in your home. And your decision to stand for Christ, it's causing friction in your marriage.

It's causing friction with your parents or with your children. You're suffering because you're trying to live for Christ. Paul said when that happens, don't let it alarm you.

Don't let it spook you. Realize that's why you've been called in order to suffer. In fact, he says we can actually rejoice in our suffering.

Why? Notice he gives three reasons every Christian ought to rejoice when we suffer. Number one, suffering provides assurance of eternal life. It's assurance of our salvation. He says, verse 28, it is a sign of destruction for them who cause us to suffer, but of salvation for you and that too from God. One way you know you're a child of God is if you are suffering for your faith. Not only that, secondly, suffering ensures eternal rewards in heaven. Verse 28, in no way alarmed by your opponents, verse 29, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake. That is, it's been given to you as a gift to be able to suffer.

You say, how is that a gift? Because if you suffer, did you know you will reap eternal rewards for the temporary suffering you experience here? Did you know heaven is not going to be the same for every Christian? Did you know there are degrees of heaven, just like there are degrees of hell?

Heaven is not one big democracy where God treats all Christians alike. There are rewards in heaven, rewards worth working for. And James 1 12 says, blessed, happy is the man who endures suffering for he will receive the crown of life. And when you suffer for the gospel sake, you can know for sure one day God is going to reward you for that suffering. And then third, we can rejoice in suffering because it actually amplifies our witness. It amplifies our witness. You know what an amplifier does?

An amplifier like this PA system, it takes my voice, it makes it louder so that more people can hear it from a further distance away. He says in the same way, your suffering amplifies your witness for Christ. When you're going through suffering, your life message of glorifying God is heard more loudly, it is heard by more people than when you're not suffering. See, these Romans, they thought they were inhibiting the progress of the gospel by imprisoning Paul. Paul said, no, I rejoice in my circumstance and in my suffering because it's actually amplifying my witness for Christ.

And that's why I'm alive anyway, to glorify God. Many of you know the name of Joseph's son. He was a pastor in Romania, who before the fall of communism was arrested for his preaching of the gospel. Those who arrested him threatened him with torture and even death, unless he refused if he did not give up his preaching of the gospel. What was Joseph's response? Listen to what he said to those men who were threatening him with torture and with death. He said, your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying.

Here's how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me, these sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. So, sir, my sermons will speak 10 times louder than ever before.

I will actually rejoice in this supreme victory if you kill me. Do you desire that kind of courage in suffering? Do you desire that kind of feeling that says, I really don't care what happens to me because I'm resting in the sovereignty of God? That kind of courage, that kind of rest, is only available to those who are willing to say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I hope you're truly convinced that God has equipped you with a tool for finding joy.

The tool is learning to abandon your expectations and trust in God's promises. Well, we're just getting started in this month-long study of Paul's letter to the Philippians. Written while being imprisoned, his words have withstood the ages and they penetrate our hearts even today. I've written a book that's intended to help you dig deeper in today's topic and others. It's called Outrageous Joy, Living Above Your Circumstances, and the book comes with my sincere thanks for your generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Finding joy is a daily choice, a deliberate decision, and it's also a telltale sign for your abiding growth in Christ. I want this book to help you in your lifelong journey to find joy, peace, strength, and hope. And let me thank you for your generous gift, which is the fuel that's needed to propel and accelerate the growth of this media ministry. We've started the new year of 2025 with tremendous momentum because of the faithful gifts from friends like you.

Please keep up the good work because your generosity is yielding tangible results. As a result of your giving, Pathway to Victory has experienced an overflow of positive response from grateful listeners who are relying on this program for their spiritual encouragement. David will explain how to receive my book along with the scripture encouragement card I mentioned earlier. He'll also tell you about getting the CDs and DVDs for this current teaching series, which would make a great study for your small group Bible study or Sunday school class.

David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you Outrageous Joy.

It's the exclusive book from Dr. Jeffress that dovetails with our current series. As an added bonus, we'll also include the Standing on the Promises of God scripture card. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit us online at ptv.org.

And when you give $75 or more, you'll not only receive the book and the scripture card, we'll also include the audio and video discs for this month's series, Living Above Your Circumstances. Call right now, 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like. Let me give you that address, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. There's probably at least one person in your life that you have a hard time getting along with. And tomorrow, Dr. Jeffress shares an attitude change we can all make to ensure harmony in our relationships.

Hear a message called, How to Make Your Enemies Love You. That's Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Picture yourself relaxing aboard a luxury cruise ship as you sail the Mediterranean Sea on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. This 11-day journey will take you to unforgettable destinations in Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

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