Letters from Lockdown

We're gonna take up our bible and read from Philippians chapter 1, and we're doing this series in Philippians, and it's it's been really exciting and and very, very helpful in where we're at. As the word of God, isn't amazing, isn't it? That the word of God, this little letter written to a group of Christians in Filipide 2000 years ago is so utterly pertinent and relevant to us today. And Ben's gonna come and open up a passage but I'm going to read it before he does. It's from Philippians 1 versus 12 to 26.

Now I want you to know brothers and sisters that what has happened to me, has that actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I'm in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love knowing that I am here for the defense of the gospel.

The former preached Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true. Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice.

Yes. I will continue to rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and god's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed. But will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body.

Whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die his game. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet, watch shall I choose? I do not know.

I'm tall between the 2. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you. For your progress and joy in the faith. So that through my being with you again, you're boasting in Christ Jesus were abound on account of me.

Well, good morning from me. My name is Ben for those who don't know me. I'm a trainee pastor here at Cornerstone Church. And if you've been tuning in the last couple of weeks in the morning, you'll know that we've been going through the book of Philippians. And it has been real joy.

I've certainly really enjoyed it and been able to find very appropriate applications to what's going on at the moment. And it has been it's been a great joy to see what God's been doing. I've heard some of your stories as well about how you've been applying these messages to your life. So let's pray that God would continue to do that as we look at his word this morning. I'll finally thank you that you have so much to say to us in every situation every walk of life, particularly this 1 that we're in at the moment.

We thank you that we we have this letter from Paul written from lockdown in prison. Thank you that it has great truth to to show us, to take our eyes off our current situation and to look up and see the lord Jesus. So I pray that as we look at this next section today, you would help us to do that in Jesus' name, amen. So we saw last week that Paul is in prison. He is he's been in prison.

And surprisingly, It is actually served to advance the gospel, which is a little odd we discussed last week because normally being imprisoned gets in the way of what you're trying to do. If you're playing Monopoly and if you had Star Wars of Monopoly, like I did, you're trying to get around to dagobah to build a stardustroyal or a millennium falcon there. But if you pick up a card with a stormtrooper on it, that says go to jail. Then you you don't pass go, you don't collect 200, you can't carry on with your mission to build a star destroyer on Daegabur. So you're stuck in jail.

But here is Paul. He's traveling around city after city. He's preaching in the synagogues in the lecture theaters. He's planting churches. He's strengthening others as he goes around by spending time with them and suddenly he's in prison.

He's in jail and he can't do any of those things anymore. And you think, well, what is God doing? Has has he pressed pause on Paul's mission while he tries to get that jail get out of jail free card? Well, we saw in verse 12, Paul says, now I want you to know brothers and sisters that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

So Pete Usiana analogy last week of a traffic jam. So if Paul is on his way driving in a car to preach somewhere, but get stuck in a traffic jam, he doesn't moan that he's unable to preach at the place he wanted to. Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to get out and start preaching to the cars around him. And that's exactly what's happened here. So being imprisoned is actually meant that the whole palace guard has got an opportunity to hear the gospel.

And how would you've got inside the palace? Well, it's genius, isn't it? You get imprisoned and then you preach to the guards from the inside. And it wasn't just Paul who benefited from this imprisonment we saw. We see him go on in verse 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

So seeing Paul going for it in prison has spurred the church on to go for it themselves. Look what God can do when the world wants to pin the gospel down and put it behind bars, God just opens up more opportunities to get it out and to preach it. So they're saying, well, we need to go for it as well if Paul's going for it. And so going back to Tom's first sermon in Philippians, We saw that if God is the 1 who completes his work in us, then this imprisonment of Paul is not an accident. It's not god pressing pause on his work while he's in jail, but it is the means by which god is completing his work.

Without it, Paul would not be ready for the day of Christ. Without it, the whole palace guard would not be ready for the day of Christ. Without it, the brothers and sisters who were spurred on would not be ready for the day of Christ. And so 1 of the themes of this letter so far has been this, that whatever has happened will turn out in the end to achieve God's purposes. Whatever happens turns out to achieve God's purposes.

We saw that in verse 12. Now I want you to know brothers and sisters that what has happened to me being imprisoned, has actually served to advance the gospel, and we see the same thing again in this morning's passage. Look at the second half of verse 18. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

What happened to Paul will turn out for his deliverance. It will turn him out to be ready for the day of Christ. God will use even his sufferings in jail. In Paul to prepare him for that day. So this is my first point this morning.

If you are in Christ Jesus, what has happened in your life will turn out for your deliverance. Whatever has happened in your life, if you are in Jesus will turn out for your maturity of faith so that you're ready for the day of Christ. And I want to clarify before I go further into this, that this isn't a cold, dismissive. It will be alright in the end, kind of very basic mentality or an indifferent, everything happens for a reason, or even a masochistic, no pain, no gain. Mentality.

That kind of gladly either gladly welcome suffering like it's a great thing or easily dismisses it like it's nothing at all. None of those things are right. Paul himself goes into great detail in 2 Corinthians 11 about that his personal sufferings. And if you read it, it's it's it's a list that not many of us can really compete with. He was pelted with stones, he was attacked with sticks, He was often left alone and cold and naked and hungry, and he received the 40 lashes minus 1.

5 times. So if you know what that is, that's that's ridiculous. But this is what I love about the bible. It's real. It understands.

It doesn't pretend that suffering is not a big deal or that it's something that we should gladly accept and welcome and enjoy. God himself enters into the world and weeps. When he sees suffering and death, and of course then suffers and dies himself on the cross. The bible takes suffering seriously. But that is what makes this passage even more powerful because for Paul, Isolation in prison, the 50, sorry, 40 lashes minus 1.

For us, the real sufferings that we go through in this life, this current lockdown where we're away from our friends and our church and our family. In the end, says, Paul, God will turn out for our deliverance. Our suffering is real, but it's not wasted. 2 Corinthians 4 16 says, therefore, we do not lose heart So inwardly, we are wasting away. We're suffering.

Yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. Christ is working in us for our deliverance. It's as if going back to the game of Monopoly, it's as if you're playing a game, but where every movement your opponent makes actually serves to advance your peace closer towards your goal. Christ will be working in your ultimate progress. We sing a song called Christ's mind forevermore.

In our in our church and second verse goes like this. Mine adheres in times of sorrow. Darkness not yet understood. Through the valley, I must travel where I see no earthly good. But minus peace that flows from heaven and the strength in times of need.

I know my pain will not be wasted. Christ completes his work in me. If you are in Christ Jesus, then what has happened in your life? However, painful or embarrassing or degrading will turn out for your deliverance. If you're in, then it will turn out.

And we see that in 2 ways in this passage. First of all, we see it with Paul, and then we see it with the church. And we'll take a look at them both now. First of all, we see this in Paul. So look at verse 20.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body. Whether by life or by death. So so this eagerly expecting is is like a leaning forward like a kind of straining onwards towards the goal. If you imagine being in high winds, you've been in that situation before. You should sometimes have to, like, lean into the wind, don't you to get to where you wanna be?

And you might be leaning and struggling, and then the wind suddenly blows you from the sides. You stumble a bit, but then you lean sort of in the direction of where you're going. You struggle on. That is how Paul describes his ambition. That in all things, Christ will be exalted in his body.

He says that even though he's suffering now and in lockdown, he eagerly expects he's straining onwards with the goal of exalting Christ. Now as always, Christ will be exalted in his body and All things will turn out for his deliverers. It was easier to see before when he was with the brothers and sisters breaking Brentwood them enjoying fellowship with them, but now in his prison cell, even now in his prison cell, as always, Christ will still be working in him. Christ will still be exalted in his body. You know, I I think that gives you real dignity if you're suffering now.

Christ is still working in you. He can still be exalted in your body. Now, as always, I think some of us are really struggling, aren't we in this separation? Some more than others, but some of us really, really finding it quite difficult. And a few of us have have experienced grief as a result.

And a lot of us bought kind of intense struggles and suffering into the lockdown that we were dealing with before this even happened and now it's kind of made worse as a result, but Jesus can still be exalted in your body, in your struggles, in your suffering, now as always. He's even able to be exalted in your body by death. Look at verse 20 again. I eagerly expect and hope that I'll in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient coverage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death. So whatever happens, whether life or even by death, Christ will be exalted.

He will complete his work. You will be delivered. Verse 21 for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I live, then it is Christ. Is for Christ by Christ through Christ in Christ.

And if I die its game. Why? Because you're going to be with Christ. And Christ is such a treasure he's such a prize that when we normally talk about death as being something that you've lost everything, Paul knows that he has gained everything. Everything else is lost compared to the surpassing worth of knowing the lord Jesus pours says.

So do you see that whatever happens whether you live or die even? It will turn out for your deliverance. In all things, Christ will make you ready and he will be exalted in you, And this is why Paul doesn't know what to do. Look at verse 22. Says, if I'm to go and living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.

Yet, what shall I choose? I do not know. I'm torn between the 2. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

See it's what I like about Paul. He's he's got the right perspective about life. He thinks gospel first. Not Paul first. So when he says he desires to depies, he's not he's not he's not saying, I'm suffering, so I desire to depart I desire to be out of this.

I wanna escape my suffering. That's not his motivation for departing. The word depart here is the word for weighing anchor, a ship, weighing anchor, drawing its anchor up before it prepares to leave the harbor. If you think about a ship leaving a harbor, the point is never that's leaving, is it? The point is that it's going somewhere.

It's left to go somewhere. And the emphasis there is is on where we're going. In the in the same way, he's Paul says, I desire to depart and be with Christ. That's what he that's what he wants to depart, which is better by far, he says, because he's his treasure. The verse 24, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

If Paul remains, then it is for the benefit of the church. That is gospel thinking. He's This is the confidence that he has that God is working in all things. You know, if he dies, he goes to be with Christ. That's God.

It's exulting. That's that's it's being delivered. But if he lives even in suffering, then God's gonna use it to achieve his purposes. And so that's Paul. That's why he's got the confidence in verse 19 to say what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

He's convinced in Christ's workmanship in all things. And so we come to the church and we see again here how whatever happens turns out for the deliverance of the church as well. Verse 24, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. So Paul knows that if he is here, then he is here for the progress and joy in the faith of the church.

We've already seen, haven't we, how God's used even pausing prisoner to spur them on, to declare the gospel more kind of confidently as a result. And so here in prison, Paul, his 2 gospel options of this, 1, depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, or remain for the benefit of the church. That's how he sees things. That's how he saw the meaning of his life here in this world. And because he longs for the church to be delivered, he chooses the lesser of the 2 for him.

And he remains. And as a result, he's actually able to write this letter that we've read to the church in Philipay. So if you think about it, if if if this hadn't happened, if Paul wasn't in prison, he probably just would have spoken to the Philippians over dinner, and he wouldn't have had to have written a letter down. And so the church wouldn't have benefited from the letter we wouldn't have had the letter all these generations later, and the churches down the ages wouldn't have had this letter either. It was more necessary for us that Paul remains to write this letter.

But this isn't an arrogance from Paul. You know, he says he says I'm staying It's better for you than I stayed because look how great I am. He's not saying that. The thing to which he's eagerly anticipating, this thing that he's striving leaning towards is boasting in Jesus, not in Paul. You see that in verse 26.

So that through my being with you again, you're boasting in Christ Jesus will abound. On account with me. Doesn't our our boasting abound more in Jesus because of Paul in his letters. It does, doesn't it? But after we finished reading Paul's letters and our hearts are stirred and we're warned and we're fired up for the gospel, we don't then stop and sing a song to Paul Dewey.

We don't stop and pray to Paul, but to Christ. And so, Paul remains Jesus is glorified and he continues to work in the church for their deliverance. And if pulled apart and he goes to Jesus and he's delivered, Christ is glorified the work and him is completed. If you're in Christ Jesus, what has happened in your life will turn out for your deliverance. So here's my second point, which is kind of the application of this for us today.

Living in the body means fruitful labor. Living in the body means fruitful labor. Look at verse 22. If I am to go on living in the body, This will mean fruitful labor for me. So Christian, God is working in all things for your good.

But he is also working through you for the good of others. So If you are here at all, if you're alive and you're listening to this and you're in Jesus, then you are here for the church. That was the attitude that Paul had. In fact, that was the definition of his life. He said, if I if I I either depart and go with Christ or a stay here, and I am here for your fruitfulness.

But this isn't just kind of restricted to Paul or the apostles. If you look back at verse 19 with me, you'll see this. Paul says, for I know that through your prayers. And god's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. What has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

So the great apostle Paul was confident of his deliverance in part because of the prayers of the humble church of Philippi. Did you see how this has come full circle now? Paul is there in the body for the benefit of the church. And here are the men and women of Philipai who were praying laboring in their bodies through prayer which is yielded fruit in Paul's life. So he then labors for fruit in their life.

They're praying for him. This is how the church works. It was better for the church to have departed and been with Christ, but it was more necessary for Paul that they remained and prayed for him. And were administered to him. So the same is true for us.

We all administer to each other. If you're here today, then you are here for fruitful labor. You're here for the progress and the joy and the faith of your brothers and sisters. I mean, just look at the example of the lord Jesus. He came not to be served but to serve.

And in his death, he gave his life as a ransom for many. So you are not an accident. You're not useless. You are not surplus to requirement or unimportant. Living in the body if you are here now even though you might be suffering, as always, you're here for fruitful labor.

God has not pressed pause on his work in you. We saw that, and he has not pressed pause on his work through you either during this time. Because isn't it a joy when in conversation with someone? They you you finish the conversation and you leave just praising Jesus. God was on their lips.

You saw their love for him in their hearts. And that just spurs you on, like the church in Philadelphia was spurred on when they saw Paul's example. Isn't that amazing? Wouldn't it be wonderful to be a church like that? Like the 1, sorry, like Paul in verse 26, who leaves people boasting in Jesus Christ because we've been with them.

Wouldn't that be a great thing to be known for? It's cornerstone church. You know, these people in cornerstone, they magnify the Lord Jesus in my life. Now, I dare to proclaim the gospel all the more because of their example. I love the lord more because of them.

And then the glory is is on Jesus, not on us because it is him doing the work through us. So let's let's wrap this all up. Number 1, if you are in Jesus, then what has happened in your life, including your struggles, your sufferings in this crisis will turn out for your deliverance. God does not press pause on his work in you and suffering, but he is gonna complete where he started. Number 2, if you were in Jesus, then living in the body means fruitful labor.

To live as Christ, to exalt Christ in your body through fruitful labor. And then there is a limit to what we can do in lockdown now, isn't there? But we can join the church in Philippi in prayer for what is happening, that this would turn the saints out for their deliverance. We can do that. You know, the church in Philadelphia was separated from Paul.

He was behind bars. They couldn't visit him, but they prayed. And so we can do that too. We can also think, what can I do today that will help this person progress in their faith? And increase in joy in their faith.

How can I increase their joy in the lord Jesus today? The reason that we're here is because it is more necessary for us that we're here than that we depart and go to be with Christ. So be fruitful we're essential, encourage each other. And thirdly, I just wanna say if you're not in Jesus, Then come to him. Come to the 1 who gave his life on the cross so that you might be delivered into eternal life.

Come to the 1 who you can rejoice in regardless of your circumstances or your situation. Come to the 1 who takes everything that happens in your life. And turns it out for your good if you were in him. You would be shaped and molded by him. For eternity, eternal life with him.

Wouldn't that be a great thing to do? Take a minute now and just reflect on some of these things that we've seen in God's word. And then in a middle, so I'm gonna pray for us. Further, we thank you for what we've seen this morning. We thank you for the confidence that Paul had that he was able to even rejoice in his sufferings because he was confident that you were going to turn him out for his deliverance.

I pray pleased that you would give us the same confidence in your sovereignty and your workmanship in us. But even in this now, you are turning us out for our deliverance. I pray pleased that you would help us to be fruitful since we're here. It is better to depart and be with Christ, but it is more necessary for our brothers and sisters that we remain here, and we help them in their progress and joy in the faith. So Help us to apply these things practically.

Would you would you commit us to prayer for each other? Would you help us to think creatively how we might be able to spare each other on? And help us to to love the lord Jesus in his example in all of this, in his name we pray, partner.