Strange Ways to Advance the Go

One, and let's have the ushers please distribute the outlines, if we could bring this up. If you're new with us tonight, we're glad you're here. If you've come as a visitor, we're glad that you've come to be with us and to share this evening as the Lord calls us together under his word and his spirit. And we also have outlines from last week that are remaining if you weren't here for the first in this series, and you can get the tape and be kind of brought up to speed. All right, would you join me in a word of prayer and we'll dig right into the word together. Lord, as we all seek to just settle in for a few moments this evening, Lord, we would pray for the Holy Spirit to instruct us tonight. Lord, I just want to take the simple things that I've labored over in these last hours and present them to you as well and ask for you, Lord, to make life happen through these things, Lord, and compensate for my weakness and make impact in every heart that's open tonight, Lord, that will bring about change. Lord, I want to change tonight because of your word. I ask it in Jesus' name. All right, does everyone have their outline and a pen or pencil? Let's read just a bit to get familiar with the text. If you missed last week, we had established the fact that the gospel, I mean, the epistle written by Paul is about the gospel and has an awful lot to do with how Christians can walk in joy. How many people want to have joy in their life? Do you know living in Pittsburgh on a day like this, it takes supernatural joy, doesn't it? I mean, this is one of the reasons why people just don't want to be here, but God in his grace will maybe give us some joy in this tonight. Now, verse 12, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace garden to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach 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. And yes, I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my salvation or 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. And I want you all to read this next verse with me. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now, we're all constructed by God so that certain things just give us great fulfillment and pleasure. We can take or leave a whole lot of things, most of us. It doesn't matter a whole lot, but there are a few choice things and really just one in most of our lives that really turn our crank, that really matter to us. It's kind of, if you will, as though our lives are depicted by that circular diagram on your outline. And lots of things can populate the enclosed area and can be on the circumference or even outside the circle, but really only one thing can be at the center of your life. What would you say is at the center of Donald Trump's life? What would you say is at the center, and this is difficult because we don't really know, we're guessing, I have to admit that, of someone like Hugh Hefner's life? Seems to be pleasure, right? Sensual pleasure of any kind. What's at the center of Saddam Hussein's life? Seems to be power, doesn't it? Controlling the Arab, someone said demons. That may be true too, but it's power. It's the desire to control that Arab peninsula. Everyone has something at the center of their life. Now, I want to ask a question tonight. Would you take a moment and unfold your fingers, if they're tucked in, and write in that circle what's going to be at the very center of your life. What's at the center of that entire circle that represents your life? What is it? What would you put in there? And I just want you to take a minute and go ahead and do it. Everybody has something. Someone might say just me. I was talking not long ago with a person, a believer in Christ, who'd been working in a particular company for about 20 years. And for 12 of those years, he had his eye on a particular position in that company. And that objective, that particular position, had ordered every significant decision of his life for the last 12 years. The clothes he wore, the kind of car he drove, the people he hung out with, where he belonged in order to play golf, how many times he moved his family from one city to the next, his involvement in a particular club or activity, also the amount of involvement in his church, who his friends were. Because that position was so important to him that he willingly subjugated everything else to it. What would you say was at the center of his life? What would he put in the middle of that circle? Probably that position right there. Not Jesus Christ, who he believes in, but that position that's at the center of how he deals with himself. Now, people, listen, we don't admit this openly. And of course, most of you already are conjecturing as to where I'm going with this. And you already have the right answer. It's like the little guy in Sunday school. When the teacher said to him, what has four legs, a bushy tail, and runs up and down the trees with nuts in it? The little boy says, well, I'm in Sunday school. Jesus! Anytime you're in church and someone asks you to put an answer in the black, you just put, Jesus, you've got to be right. So we don't admit these things outright, but let's take an honest look. No one can project your thoughts up there, but I want you to just be honest with yourself. Maybe you're like the single person who's here with us, maybe not tonight, but as part of this church, who's determined to not be single. So they set their schedule on a daily basis as to where they'll be after work to meet the right people. They carefully develop a network of friends. They make it a point to be with those friends at the times they're congregating. They sacrifice significant amounts of money in order to go away frequently on weekends. And they are gearing everything they can think about to find that mate. Speaking of weekends, there are people who structure their whole lives around the weekend. You know them and I know them. Recreation. I frequently talk to pastors. I was speaking just recently with Jack Wallace from Phoenix. The biggest problem the churches in the Southwest and the whole West Coast have by far is the recreation demon. Because people just aren't home on weekends. They take off, they take their boat, they go to their getaway spa, whatever. They're just not available. And people live for the weekend. You all know what I'm talking about. I'm using illustrations perhaps that maybe aren't yours, but you know what I mean. A little closer to home. You might be like the person that I know who's living for the development of the perfect family. To have the perfect kids. The kids with the best education. The right clothes and the right label on the clothes. The right exposure to the right experiences so that their little kid will be certainly at least a few steps above all the rest of the kids in the neighborhood when it comes to competing in the real world. The best friends. The best diet that mom carefully monitors. And what you see in this mother from early morning to late at night is that her whole world is revolving around raising the perfect kids. What about you? What is it in there? I hope that you all have the right answer. But if you were honest, you may have to say that something else may have slipped in there. And it's quite possible for many of us that at one time Jesus Christ was at the center of our lives, but for some reason or another he slipped to the outer periphery. And this Sunday, Saturday night and Sunday, I'm going to talk very specifically about how that happens and what to do when it does happen. But tonight I want us to look at what takes place in a life that, and here's a term that many of us who grew up in the church are familiar with, when a life is Christ-centered. How many of you have ever heard that term? Christ-centered living. All right. Very common term. What does that mean? And what happens to a life that is Christ-centered? Because no one in all of Scripture could be defined as Christ-centered more than Paul. Paul the Apostle was a man who in verse 21, let's look at it again, and by the way, this is one of the verses in my Bible that has heavy markings on it. All right. For Paul to live was Christ and to die was gain. I don't know how many times I've heard that at a funeral. Aren't you glad that you're here tonight and you're not dying? But you can learn what this verse means while you're still living so that when you do die you can say, yeah, I know that I'm going to be with Christ and I know that the best is yet to come, but I've lived the best along the way. See, the reason why Paul can be so instructive to us is because in the center of his circle, which was once what? What used to be in the center of Paul's circle? The Jewish law. He was a Pharisee the Pharisee. I mean, he was a prime candidate for Pharisee of the year. He was a man who devoted himself to knowing the laws and keeping them and fasting and all the rest. But God did a total reconstruction job and he put Jesus Christ in the center of his life. And we're going to learn some things from Paul here tonight and I trust there's two things that really distinguish this from everything else. And by the way, could I suggest that maybe just having Jesus Christ there isn't the full answer. Why not put, as Paul would say, Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Or Jesus Christ, and if you prefer this word, and His cause. Or Jesus Christ and His gospel. You see, if you're devoted to Christ, then you are devoted to the things that Christ was devoted to. And Jesus came for one purpose. What was it? To seek and to save those who were lost. So I want to submit to you that in the center of Paul's circle was Jesus Christ and His cause. How do we build lives then that truly exalt Christ and expand His kingdom? For those of you who will go home and pull hair out if you don't have every block filled in. Alright, Roman numeral one. We do it, and you're not going to like these answers. These are not happy answers. One way we learn to exalt Christ and expand His kingdom is through oppression. Through oppression. Now let's look at the text. The Bible says here that Paul is in jail. Once again, Paul ends up in jail. This was not an infrequent experience in his life or occurrence. And here he is again, and he writes to the Philippians. He says, here I am, I'm in jail again in Rome, and I'm chained to a guard 24 hours a day. He says, verse 12, But I want you to know something, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. There it is, the cause of Christ, advance the gospel. See, Paul is saying that even in this jail, because at the center of my life isn't material things, or power, or comfort, because Jesus Christ and His cause is at the center of my circle, I can be fulfilled, I can reach my highest aspiration, even here in this rotten jail cell. And then he goes on to explain how, and this is where it gets to be fun. He says, I'm being oppressed, they have me chained to a guard 24 hours a day. Now, if you know something about that practice, what they were doing basically was taking no risk that anyone would be able to spring this prisoner free. They didn't do this to every prisoner, only the ones that were controversial. And so they assigned guards on a rotating basis to be chained to the prisoner. And Paul is saying, I want you to know that this particular imprisonment has served to advance the gospel. Well, first of all, it's advancing the gospel because I have, they think they have me in chains, but I want you to know, I also have them in chains, you see. They think they're keeping me from doing what I'm supposed to do, but I'm doing it to this guy, and four hours later to the next guy, and they're not going very far from me, and they're going to hear me sing, and they're going to hear me pray, and they're going to hear me witness, and they're going to hear me share. And one by one, notice what it says. It says here, the whole praetorian guard, or palace guard. Notice, this is sort of a tongue in cheek, look at it. It has become clear throughout the whole palace guard. How did it become clear to them? Can you hear them talking? Oh my gosh, it's my turn to go into this guy again, you know. They're chaining me to him again. I've got another four hours of hearing this gospel. I literally think that's what it was like. I literally think, Paul, he just said, this is wonderful, this, you know. Brother, let me tell you the greatest news in all the world. And he just railed on for four hours, and bring on another one. And Paul is saying, what to you and I would seem to be a terrible fate, you know, chained to somebody, no personal freedom, no solitude. Paul is saying, this is great, it's advancing the gospel, and in fact, I'm getting increasingly fulfilled. Because at the center of my life is to exalt Christ and to expand His kingdom. I want to ask you a question. What would happen in some of our lives if we were thrown in to a prison cell, let alone have someone chained to our wrists? What do you think would happen to Donald Trump, you know, in a Roman prison? Would he still be advancing his most fulfilling occupation? I don't think so. You see, what happens to people who build their lives around anything else when the circumstances turn oppressive, when things get bad, their lives begin to be undone. And Paul is a living witness to us how when Jesus is at the center, no matter what happens, folks, we can go on and glorify God and advance the gospel. And these are so important to us. I have seen the gospel advanced. I have seen people glowing in fulfillment in the most oppressive of circumstances. Have you ever seen people glowing at funeral services? I have. I've seen Christ exalted. I've seen the kingdom expanded. When most of the world comes, and there is nothing worse than a godless funeral, if you know what I'm saying, where God isn't there or people, you know, especially if it's a younger person. I mean, the funeral, it's a terrible place to be. But when God is present, I've seen tragedy become victory. I've seen Christ exalted. I've seen the kingdom expanded. Many times I've seen scores of people open to the gospel for the first time and respond to an invitation. There's a couple in our church, new Christians, only two years in the Lord. They came to North Way, you know, they were amongst those who, when they first came, were like looking around here saying, this is the strangest thing I've ever seen. Both quiet people. And they were processed through things. And I think they just stayed because they didn't know how to get out. And two years after they came to the Lord and things were going great, this brother lost his job. It was a very good job at a major corporation. Lost his job and was transferred. And they are in the process of moving even now, having a hard time getting relocated and selling their home and all that. And they were here in church a few weeks ago. And I'll tell you something, they're glowing in the middle of this thing. They're saying, oh, this is great. We're getting to meet all these people coming into our house and sharing Christ with them. We're doing this, we're doing that. And they've turned what most people would say is a real struggle into a victory. They're seeing the kingdom expanded and they're seeing Christ glorified. Interestingly, in Acts 8, verse 1, the Bible says that a persecution broke out and the apostles were scattered. Remember that? Tough time to turn there. But what happened because of persecution? The Samaritans heard the gospel and the first Gentiles became saved and things started to happen. You see, when things go bad, don't think, first of all, that it's poor me. Start your pity party. Life's going to go sour. Think, wait a minute, somehow in this, Christ is going to be glorified and the kingdom is going to be expanded. That's what the Lord wants to do. And I know we are so attuned to our comfort. I mean, comfort for us is so important. We feel like we have a right to comfort. I mean, I complained, you know, when my meal wasn't hot on the airplane. I mean, I complained to myself, you know, this thing's not very warm. I started thinking, you know, wait a minute, it's taking me four hours what it took people, you know, a hundred years ago to do in, what, four months. But you get so attuned to your comfort so you kind of expect it. No, the Lord says, when things happen like that, expect it. Now, let's stop right here for just a minute. What are some of the strange ways in which God has used circumstances in your life to advance the gospel? Think about it, would you? Let's have an interactive sermon here. What's one of the strange ways? Can you think of something that seemed to be negative and oppressive that the Lord used to glorify Christ and expand the kingdom? Can you think of something? All right, for those of you who can, I want you right now to turn to the person next to you and tell them what it was. I'll take three or four minutes. My time, you can have it. Somebody, I'll wait. When did the Lord use a negative circumstance in your life to glorify Christ and expand the gospel? Go ahead, take a minute. I don't want them to feel left out, so let's move along here. How many had an interesting one? Put your hand up if the person who talked to you was interesting. All right. At our Operation Care Pittsburgh last November, you may have noticed that Sid Bream, the former pirate, came to speak to the media. Sid is a believer in Christ. One of the things he said was how he so wanted to stay here and had the pirates offered him even less than the braves that offered him, he would have stayed. But they didn't offer him even close to it. They just kind of let the thing come and go. And he shared, but I know God's going to use it. You see? And he just shared briefly how he anticipated that when he went there, God had a whole new thing for him. You see, that's what happens. If your purpose is to glorify Christ, to exalt Christ and expand the kingdom, whatever happens to you, you know that the Lord's going to use it in a fulfilling way in your life. Now, this isn't just talk, folks. I'm not just trying to massage you and make you feel good about bad things. This is truth. It's truth because the Bible makes it very clear that all things work together for? For those who love and are called according to His purpose. And that's all of you who trust in Christ here. Now, it isn't easy, and I want to be very clear. Even because of my personal circumstance, I'm more attuned to the fact that when I say this, some of you out there are in the middle of a real heavy thing right now. And one person that I have met and also have read some books that she's written is Johnny Erickson taught it. Most of you know something about Johnny. She's at Gallup. That at age 17, she was an outstanding athlete and a very popular girl in the school and all that stuff and dove into shallow water and snapped her vertebrae up here and it severed her spinal cord and she was paralyzed from the neck down. And only has very marginal use of her hands. Paints with her mouth. Beautiful artwork. Beautiful singer. And one thing that she shared in one of her books was, and this is very profound, she said, after she had cried out for really years for God to heal her, she suddenly discovered that she may be able to give God more glory in that wheelchair than had she had a, quote, normal life. And she said when that broke in on her understanding, it changed her attitude and freed her to be used of the Lord. And by the way, she has done an astonishing work all around the country and not just with handicapped people but with everybody who would take time to listen to what she has to say. The second way that we can exalt Christ and expand His kingdom and these next two are shorter is through opposition. Ah, another favorite word. Oppression and opposition. Look what Paul says. He said, verse 14, because of my chains most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Paul's saying, verses 15, 16, 17, 18, that some are preaching it. There's kind of two camps here. Some are preaching it because they're encouraged that Paul would be willing to be thrown into prison for the gospel and so they're lifted by that. Have you ever been encouraged by someone that you saw sacrificing? I have. I remember so clearly how the Lord will get you at times you least expect it. I won't get into this. It's my personal testimony. But I, at one point, was resting at Virginia Beach where my mother-in-law lived on our summer vacation. This was probably 10 years ago. Maybe a little longer than that. And I was just kind of laid back and a group of young people came down to the beach witnessing. And they walked up to some really hard beachy type people and got laughed at and the whole thing. They were really neat about it. I watched it from a distance. I didn't walk up and rebuke anything and try to take over. I just kind of watched it happen. But I was so encouraged to see people risking. And that just kind of emboldened me to be sensitive, to trust the Lord in those things. Paul said, there's some people out there that are preaching because they've seen me be thrown in jail. And they're encouraged by it. And he said, there's also some people out there that are trying to make something for themselves on this. Do you understand that? He said, there's some who are doing it out of wrong motives. Look. The former, verse 17, preached Christ out of selfish ambition. In other words, here's the scenario as far as I can tell. Paul came into town, into Rome, and Paul was a pretty powerful dude. And when he began to minister, things happened. And I expect, because there was already a church there, that some of the leaders in the church weren't real happy about Paul being there. So when he got thrown into prison, they said, great! Now we can really start doing something. You know, about three years ago when the televangelists had the scandals that all of us so tragically witnessed, one of the things that happened, and I've heard this from several people on the inside, was that immediately other television ministries started to position themselves to pick up the pieces so that they could advance, and even in some cases, jump the gun in order to get more of the audience. See, somehow there's in all of us this thing that, you know, we want to grab, we want to accumulate, we want to secure. But here's the unbelievable thing. Paul says, well, whether or not their motives are wrong, verse 18, what does it matter? Look at that. What does it matter? If some of them are kind of doing it for the wrong reasons, it doesn't matter. The important thing that is in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Can I just maybe modify that for just a bit? When you see or hear someone that's doing it differently than you would do it in terms of sharing the Gospel, don't judge them. You know, don't decide that you know better or that you're more, you know, you do it right. Like, you know, we have the cool way of sharing and I've seen someone do it the sloppy way. Whatever you anticipate, or perceive rather, about what they're doing, just let it go and rejoice that Christ is being preached. I'm not talking now about cults or anything like that. I'm talking about different ways of sharing the Gospel. It's amazing what God will use, folks. I mean, have you ever gone in the bathroom? You know, and you'll see a tractor in the bathroom. And I said, oh man, that really bothers me. I mean, I just hate to have a tractor right there on the, you know, on the top of the commode. this really degrades the whole Gospel in my mind. I've heard testimonies. People pick those things up and read them. So, you know, I've decided I'm not going to judge what someone's ministry is if that's what they're going to do. It's not my ministry, but that's what some people are going to do. It's alright. And by the way, let me just throw this in quickly. If, if you think that the objective of being a Christian is to have everyone like you, and that nobody opposes what you do, and nobody ever says anything that's just a little off about you. I mean, I've been at funerals where I've heard people say, he didn't have an enemy in the world. Everybody loved him. Well, I say, in terms of Christ and the cause of Christ, he probably doesn't do a whole lot. If you're doing something, everybody's not going to love you. Why? Because when your light confronts their darkness, they don't like it. Ever lift up a rock in the middle of the summer? What happens when you lift up a rock that's really embedded down there? Yeah, bugs go everywhere, right? Well, when your light goes into those places, people don't like that. Where you work, where you teach, where you serve, and folks, if everybody loves you, then you need to get a little fire under you. Be willing to risk a little rejection now and then. Paul said, it doesn't matter as long as the gospel is going forth. Alright, and then number three, the third way that we can experience the exaltation of Christ and the expansion of the kingdom. Oppression, opposition, and the third is through opportunity. And here Paul says these words. He said, yes, I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. You see, there are times for each of us when we advance the gospel and exalt Christ through an opportunity given to us to trust Him beyond ourselves. And Paul is saying here, he's almost crying out. As I sense his heart, he's saying, he said, you know, this wasn't easy. I'm not making it sound like he was just, you know, I think it was tough. Because he knew his life was on the line. But he's saying, I know that through, number one, your prayers and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, I'm going to be delivered from this. The word salvation in some of your Bibles doesn't mean like get saved for the first time. It means delivered out of. Isn't it interesting? He says both of those. Wouldn't you think if it was just, wouldn't it be enough just to say the Spirit of Jesus Christ will get me out of this? Do you see that there? Take a look at it because I want you to understand something about prayer, please. Thank you for indulging me. Just look at it. What does it say? The Spirit of Jesus Christ and what? Your prayers. If you're a newer Christian, you need to understand something. The world isn't just, you know, flying on out there and God does what He wants to do. I've made a very strong commitment in my life and in my ministry and I've preached this very clearly from this pulpit that God is waiting, the Spirit of Jesus Christ is waiting for the prayers of God's people to set others free. Don't ask me why that is exactly. I can't give you a short answer. But I'll tell you this. Until we pray, some people won't get delivered. Until we get serious and intercede, some people won't get saved out of their circumstances. Why is it that God chooses to limit Himself to the prayers of His saints? I don't know. But dear ones, please, it's a fact. There it is. Underline it in your Bible. I know, Paul says, through the prayers of the saints and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, I'll be delivered. They go together. That's why we get up here on Fridays and that's why we come out here on Tuesdays and that's why some of you come here on Wednesday nights and Thursday noon and in your home groups and spontaneous meetings. And folks, it makes such a difference. I want to submit to you the reason why we've seen so many people coming to Christ in this last few months, hundreds of them, is because your prayers and the Spirit of Jesus Christ are functioning to bring people through. They're critically important. Paul feared it was going to be a struggle. He knew it was going to be tough. And he knew this. You see, pain and problems can isolate you. And if you're going through a struggle, can I encourage you to do something to understand that you need the prayers of the saints and the Spirit of Jesus Christ to help you through it as well. Paul is saying here, I eagerly expect and I hope that I will in no way be ashamed. In other words, I don't want to bring embarrassment to Christ. I want to get through this and I will have sufficient courage or strength so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death. Paul was saying here, I'm not sure how this is going to go. But if I die, that will exalt Christ. And if I live, that will exalt Christ too. And I'm not going to let these problems force me back into a little hole and retreat and get bitter. But I'm going to be open. And with your prayers and the Spirit of Jesus Christ I'm going to make it. Why could he say that? Only one reason. Why could he say it? Because at the center of his circle was exalting Christ and expanding the kingdom. Let me end with this today. If that is so important and all of the decisions and all of the circumstances of your life will be impacted by that whether it's through opposition or oppression or opportunities. How do you know if Christ is at the center of your life? Because you say so tonight? No. How do you know? Let me give you three practical ways that you can know if Christ is at the center of your life. Three things for you to look at. Number one, look at your calendar. Because what's at the center of your life will show up in your calendar or your schedule on a regular basis. Number two, look at your checkbook. Because what's at the center of your life will bear the marks of your investment in it. And number three, look at your relationships. Because what's at the center of your life will be shared with others who have that common value. I know people who golf five days a week when the weather is nice. They belong to several clubs. They own several sets of clubs. And they've got friends with whom they golf regularly. I mean, you know. And you can make any analogy you want to. Those three things will help you to know. But more than that, do you know if at the center of your life Jesus Christ is alive and passionately speaking to you? Have you heard Him speak to you today? Have you heard the voice of the Lord to your life today? I don't know, Jay. What do you mean by that? I didn't hear any voices. Have you? Do you know the difference between God speaking and you making it up? Do you know if the Lord is talking and trying to get through to you? If you're living a Christ-centered life, you'll hear Him. You'll know what He's saying. I want us to end in prayer tonight. And I'd like us to put those three points up again, please, Nancy and Chuck. Let's end in prayer as we share which of these ways the Lord is using right now to exalt Christ? No, the three major points. To exalt Christ. If you're going through a time of opposition or a time of oppression or a time of opportunity, I want you to pray for your life. We're not going to pray about the Middle East right now. We're not going to pray about the church. We're going to pray about your life. And let's say if you're facing a situation that's causing you to struggle, Lord, use it to exalt Jesus and use it, Lord, to expand the kingdom. Let's minister to each other. Can we all stand, please? For the next five, six minutes in groups of three or four. No more than that. Let's pray for the Lord to be exalted and His kingdom to expand. Go ahead and turn to one another and share your need right now, would you?