One of the pronounced themes about the book of Philippians is this whole idea of joy and rejoicing.
But why? I think this is a book, if you will, about having the mind of Christ. Thinking about real life circumstances in light of the thinking of Christ. I need to live with a gospel transformed mind. My perspective on the circumstances of life must be shaped by the gospel.
We are living in a day where we are blitzed with information all the time. And our brain is designed that in one way, shape, or form, it does process that information. And when it does, it informs or it transforms our perspective.
And I am here to challenge us today that there are things in life that we need to at least understand whether my perspective on those things is informed or transformed. And so I believe in this book as we study it together. What is God saying should be my perspective on that.
And if I make the change from one to the other, will it result in me living a life that is marked by a peaceful, settled joy in God. Welcome to The Daily Platform, a radio program featuring chapel messages from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today, Dr. Alan Benson is continuing the study series called The Mind of Christ from the book of Philippians. Take your Bibles and open with me to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. And begin reading this morning in verse 12, you follow along, but I would, ye should understand.
So let me stop. This is one of these little markers that you'll find throughout the book of Philippians, which is what has caused us to have the conversation about perspective. There's something that they were thinking and he wants them to understand something different. And in fact, I think we'll see this about another group in this passage. I would, ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren of the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife and some also of good will. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.
What then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. I'm getting the privilege these days of spending more time with toddlers. I have a three-year-old granddaughter and I have a two-year-old grandson. Have you spent much time with children? One of the marvelous things about children is their curiosity. Little children tend to ask the question, why?
A lot. In fact, we might have the tendency to say that they ask the question, why, too much. While that may be true, it's also quite possible that most of us live life and have the opposite problem.
We do not ask the question, why, enough. How many things do you do in life and you never really give much thought to why? How much of your life do you live unintentionally? Do you live a life of purpose?
That's a really important question. But a more impactful question is this, how much of your life do you live in a way that doesn't actually fulfill your purpose? You can see, ask the general question, do I live a life of purpose?
Of course I do. In fact, you might even be able to say, and here's what it is. But I think a more probing question is this one, how much of your life do you live in a way that doesn't actually fulfill your purpose? You see, this is a perspective question.
This is the kind of question that causes me to look at my life and ask, am I making informed decisions or transformed decisions? You remember our little finger illustration? Let's do it again. Hold your finger up. Hold it up between you and me. Look at me. How's your finger look?
Blurry. You want to make sure you're with me. Now look at your finger and how do I look? Right, that's perspective, right? Finger hasn't moved.
I haven't moved. It's perspective. You see, your finger represents your everyday life. The things I just do every day, going to get up, it's Monday, got to go through my routine. The things I do every day and I, not literally, but I in this picture, represent your life's purpose. And the question is where is your focus? Are you living with a transformed perspective that impacts how you live every day in light of your purpose? Or are you so focused on just the stuff of everyday life that your purpose is in a haze? We come to this passage of Scripture, I think that we're going to see Paul give us a perspective on life.
How is he living? He's going to point out some things that impact living with that right kind of purpose-filled perspective. Living a life with purpose.
I would ask you at the beginning this question. Do you have a stated purpose? What is your goal? What are you living for? I would hope all of us would say along with Paul in verse 20, look down if you will with me at verse 20, according to my earnest expectation and my hope. What he is saying is, here is my frame of mind, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death for, to me. To live is Christ, and to die is gain. I would hope all of us would be able to say, you know what, I do have a purpose in life. My purpose in life is to glorify God, to give the right opinion of God in everything that I do. Christ shall be magnified, made big in my life, is what Paul says.
I want people to see him because of my life. This is my purpose. Is that your purpose? If it is your purpose, are you actually living in light of that purpose today? Will you respond to the circumstances in life in light of your purpose, or will the circumstances of life derail you from living out your purpose? And I want us to see three things in this passage of Scripture that I think are direct things that Paul is going to address here that impact whether or not he's going to live a life that carries out the real purpose. And we'll spend some time with that purpose. But I want us to see things that can derail us even from a purpose that is this high, this lofty, this great, this grand, this controlling for all of my life. And so I want us to see three simple things.
A purpose-focused life shapes my thinking about plans. Paul says, I want you to understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel. And what he is addressing is you realize things haven't gone the way I had planned, in fact. We won't take time, but if you want to mark down some passages of Scripture, Romans chapter 1, verses 8 through 11, Paul actually is writing to the church at Rome, and he is writing to them to talk about his plans. He wants to come and see them. Later in that book, actually in Romans chapter 15, he talks again about coming to see them and his plans. And actually when you look at what Paul is writing to them, Paul has every plan for a much-needed, well-deserved break. He's going to go to Spain, but in doing so, he needs to stop through Jerusalem. He asks them to pray that things go well in Jerusalem, and eventually in that trip to Spain, he wants to come see them in Rome. And he's tried before, it seems, but he's been delayed or things came up or problems happened. And because of that, they've actually questioned his relationship with them. He's written this letter to the Romans where he details in great detail the gospel, and actually there's a lot of correction in this letter.
So maybe the relationship's a little strained. But Paul wants to come see them, and in particular he wants to come in chapter 15 and preach the gospel so that he might have fruit in Rome like he's had in other places. Paul has plans. And when we come to Philippians chapter 1, he is writing to them because he has now gotten to Rome. But he didn't get there the way he planned. He didn't go via Spain.
In fact, he went via arrest and beating and shipwreck and threat of life, and now he is sitting under house arrest in Rome. His plans went awry. You ever have your plans go awry? Maybe you're sitting here and you're in the pursuit of your college education. And maybe you came in with the best of intentions that it was God's plan for you to go to college for four years or a little less, and when you were done you were going to graduate and you were going to be a nurse. And then in your freshman year chemistry happened. And maybe for some of you chemistry happened again in your sophomore year and it still hasn't really happened.
And your plans changed. Maybe there's some of you here and you've been in a dating relationship and it's been a good one. It's been a helpful one. It's been a serious one.
And the longer the time is gone, the more your heart has gotten engaged in that relationship to the point that you'd like to have that relationship get engaged. Only it takes two to agree to that. And one of you didn't. And your plans changed. Maybe some of you came to university and when you came your father was employed and now he's not. And your financial plans have changed. Maybe some of you came and your thoughts about what university life would be like with all the friends in the world and all the fun in the world and all the A's in the world and you have gotten none of them.
They're all still just out there somewhere. And your plans have changed. I wonder, has the change in your plans changed your life of purpose? See Paul is sitting in a prison in Rome and his plans were a well-deserved break and then a visit with people that he longed to be with and minister to and see fruit and instead he is now sitting in a prison writing them a letter. His plans changed.
And what's remarkable about that is you actually see in the midst of his changed plans a greater confirmation in Paul of carrying out his God-given purpose. He isn't dissuade. He didn't go off track. He didn't go a different direction. He didn't throw up his hands and said, this is no use. I'm not going to live for God anymore.
Nothing ever works out. And believe me, these are the temptations of our heart. These are the thoughts that we have. But you may be sitting here today wandering in a wilderness without purpose because you thought you had a purpose and your plans changed. The question is in the midst of changing plans, are you going to return to your purpose?
You see it's time to get your finger back up and ask where am I looking? And do I see this in light of my purpose? Or does my purpose fade because my plans changed? You see this is whether my decision is informed or transformed. How do I see changed plans in light of my purpose?
Wait a minute. There is a good and a gracious and a kind and a sovereign Lord that loves me enough to know that if I'm going to live and accomplish this purpose in his goodness, it required that he change my plans. Maybe it required a change in my health, to change my decisions, to change my time frames, to change my relationships.
But you know what? I'm going to see my circumstances in light of my God-given purpose. I'm going to see my circumstances in light of my God. You see if we're going to have a gospel transformed perspective on life like Paul had, we need to realize that one of the everyday things that can disrupt that and keep us from living for God is a change in my plans. Or I actually look at that and say, how good is God? How great is God that here I am, I am pursuing a course because I'm going to keep moving, but he so loves me that he is willing to step into the circumstances of my life and bring about a change to actually keep me on course to accomplish my purpose. He doesn't let me just do whatever I had laid out. If what I have laid out isn't going to accomplish the goal, if it isn't going to get me to the end, because you see, in the process of accomplishing a life of purpose, God's purpose is to accomplish putting Jesus in me.
So while I try to live for him by shaping my plans, he shapes my plans to make me like Jesus. So is it hard? Oh, is it hard. Is it disappointing?
Oh, is it disappointing? But if I get the right perspective, it causes me to love my God more and say, okay, God, my plans are in your hands. My life is in your hands. Direct me, shape me, you set the timeframes, you build the relationships, but God, I am going to stay focused on my purpose, plans.
Secondly, a purpose-focused life shapes my thinking about people. This is one of the most interesting passages of Scripture in all of the Bible. It's misunderstood, I think, because of the way we want to read the Bible. Paul is in verses really 14 through 18 going to identify two groups of people. Look with me if you will, verse 14, and many, I think the word there actually is most.
He's pointing out, this is the majority. Many of the brethren of the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of good will. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Put these phrases together. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, and therein I do rejoice.
Wow. Have you ever been misunderstood? Have you ever tried to do your best just to have someone think that you were lazy and didn't care? How does that feel? Have you ever tried to do a good thing only to have the plan go completely sideways and your intentions be misunderstood and you're accused of having bad intentions?
How'd that feel? You see, it's in times like that when we must go back to the gospel and adjust our lens and get a corrected perspective on living a life of purpose. You see, there is nothing, I want to say this again, there is nothing that can derail living a life of purpose like people.
Why? Because so often in a life of perspective, people are big and God is small. People are close and God is distant. And the fear of man takes all kinds of forms, but it's real for every one of us. It is not shocking that one of the realities of being a person in a fallen world is that we like to be liked. We want to be appreciated and real appreciation has to do with being understood. In this passage of scripture, I think there's some thinking that needs to be clarified for us.
I want to look at a positive side and then I want to come back to this negative side. First of all, I want you to see that a life of purpose recognizes the power of testimony. There's an impact here for evangelism, right? Paul says, I want you to understand that this has fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel so that my bonds in Christ are made known, are seen, are manifest in all of the palace and in all other places. Here I am in prison. It would make sense that here in prison, if I live for Christ, people would see it, but I want you to know what God has done.
It's gone beyond that. God has magnified my testimony for the sake of the gospel because I'm here in ways that I'm not sure he could have done if I was free. And Paul realizes that living a life of purpose, whenever there are challenges and difficulties and problems, or in particular, when there are changed plans that if I stay on purpose, God can use that to further his mission. And one of the impacts is the impact for evangelism.
Wait a minute. How can you be thinking that way? How can you stay that focused? There must be a purpose in your life that's greater than any purpose I have. And it impacts thinking so that you get to share the gospel. But then secondly, I want you to see that there's an impact for edification. The brethren in the Lord are waxing confident by my bonds or literally they are built up, they are bolstered and they become bold. There are other people who because of my life of faith are impacted to live a life of faith. There are people who whenever I am struggling in difficulty and I go back to the Lord and I rest in Him, they are bolstered in their faith. They are strengthened.
They are made more confident. Your life may be making more of a difference than you will ever be aware of. Let me say that to you again. Right now, in the midst of your struggle, you may be feeling like you make no difference at all and nobody ever sees it. And it may be this is the most impactful time of your life. You say, I could really make an impact for God if I didn't have to struggle like this all the time. And God is saying to you, I am magnifying the impact of your life when you live for me in the midst of your struggle. You see, one of the times that we're tempted to quit is when we're struggling.
Why do I have to struggle all the time? I'm out, I'm done. It shouldn't be this way. This isn't right.
This isn't normal. If I'm struggling like this, then this must not be my purpose and I'm out of the game. And what God is saying to you is your life of purpose is magnified whenever you return over and over and over with commitment to God's purpose for your life and you don't quit because there are others who are watching. Hear me, a simple message, two words, don't quit. Don't quit. Don't quit on your major. Don't quit in your studies. Don't quit on your relationships. Friends, don't quit on God.
Don't quit. But then there's another group that tempts us to quit. And I want you to see in this passage of scripture, these are not unbelievers. They're preaching the gospel.
Paul refers to them as brothers. I want you to see here that these are not a group of wicked sinners. And we can do better when we can categorize people. Well, you can't hurt me because you're a wicked sinner. They still hurt us, but it doesn't feel as bad. You can't hurt me because you're just out of step with God. You're not living for God.
You're just one of those people over there, so what you say doesn't matter to me. And we try to discount of it. What about when they are people who are preaching the gospel? What about when they are brothers? You see, these are people who should matter to Paul, and they do matter to Paul. And the reality is these are the people that actually have the capacity to hurt us more.
These are the people whenever they turn against us or they seem to question our motives. This is what is happening with Paul, right? Paul shows up. He is in prison.
He writes a letter. And what is happening in Rome is Paul had never been to Rome. Paul didn't build this church.
Paul didn't lead any of these people to Christ, maybe by way of his letters. And there are people that it seems like are threatened by Paul. He's going to come. He's going to get here. He's going to be Mr. Apostle. People are going to ask him questions.
He's going to have more authority than we have. And then all of a sudden, Paul shows up and he's in jail and it's like, huh, let's talk about Paul. And maybe their opinion is, you know what, with a life like that, we need to keep our distance because that's going to do damage to this gospel work we're trying to do. All legitimate questions.
Paul answers them, by the way. But the reality is, we will be pulled away, derailed from living a life of purpose, most often when it's people we think well of who misunderstand us and speak poorly of us. This is really when relationships get hard.
What do I do then? What do I do if I really, in my heart, believe I want to live for God? And it's my parents that misunderstand. What if I've got this group of people that I really would like to be a part of and somehow, every time I get close, something happens and they misunderstand me and the distance comes and maybe it feels like they'll never affirm me. We're living in a world that desperately lives for affirmation. And you know what, there's something good to the right kind of affirmation.
Paul affirms these believers. But young people, affirmation can become an idol that derails me from living my life of purpose. People keep me from a life of purpose. Then thirdly, as I close, and we'll come back to this because of all that he does in this next section, I want you to see thirdly, that a life of purpose, a purpose-focused life shapes my thinking about priorities. What are your priorities? Paul could say with everything that's in me, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I'll be ashamed but that with all boldness, here it is, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.
Because that's what he's facing. And I'm not going to get derailed from that because of what people, even good people, might think. In fact, I'm going to stay focused in the midst of the difficulties because I believe my God is able to use my testimony in difficulty in ways I never imagined.
I am not going to get derailed from that. I'm not going to live a life that's self-serving and self-absorbed. I'm actually going to live a life that makes much of Christ, even when my plans change.
Because these are my priorities. And he capitalizes on that by saying it this way, for to me, not to everybody, not to you. In fact, he is personalizing this in a way where he's exercising his will. To me, to Paul, this is my purpose. To me, to live is to live out the life of Christ. Thus, to die will be gain. What does it mean to live out the life of Christ? This was Paul's priority.
What is yours? Do you live a life of purpose? Do you ask why often enough? We'll come back and look at that purpose next time. Let's pray. Father, help us to actively engage in making sure we have the right perspective, that we live with transformed thinking, not just informed thinking, that our focus falls in the right place with regard to plans and people and priorities. Bless us today as we live for you in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Alan Benson from the study series in the book of Philippians called The Mind of Christ. Thanks for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue the study preached from the Bob Jones University Chapel platform.
