Good morning, truly that song brings tears to my eyes as well every time I listen to it every time I think about it. And it's just so appropriate for us this morning as we look into our attacks. What are you going through this morning? What kind of a challenge, what kind of a trial, what kind of a difficult are you going through? Or maybe you're not going through something big or something that you might think is a trial. Maybe it's something that's going on in our own midst in your family, in the church, in the community, in the country as we look at just what's going on all over the world. I think it's important for me to mention that there are different kinds of suffering that we see in Scripture before we read or text because it makes more sense for us. There's suffering that comes upon us because God is trying to discipline us. He's just teasing us. There's also suffering that comes to us because we're suffering the consequences of our own actions, of our sin. And then they're suffering that God allows in our lives because he wants his name to be lifted high because he wants the gospel to advance. That is what we're talking about this morning. If you're able to please stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word from Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 to 18 A. This is what Paul as he writes this letter to the church in Philippi says. I want you to know brothers and sisters that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment. My imprisonment is for Christ and most of the brothers and sisters having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry but others from good will. The latter do it out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ just proclaimed and in that I rejoice. Father would you open your word to us all as we look to you to guide us to lead us for your spirit and to nourish our hearts for your glory. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. He may be seated. About a year ago there was a story that you probably might have heard about of a young lady. Her name was Miriam Ibrahim. She's from Sudan a country that's run by a dictator a country that is governed by the Sharia law of the Muslims and she was arrested and put in jail together with her eight year old son and she was about seven months pregnant. Her crime was that she had committed apostasy. They claimed that she was born in a Muslim home but now she had converted to Christianity. And so she was arrested and she was sentenced to death but before she was killed her punishment was that she would receive a hundred lashes. She ultimately gets changed together with her eight year old son. She gets beat up and she gives birth while she's in chains. It's an extremely sad story but the government offered a way out for her. They said you can do something to get out of this chains. You can renounce your faith right now and all the charges will be cleared. She refused. She said that she would not recount her faith. Her helpless American citizen husband tried to get the wall to listen to what was going on in Sudan and praise be to God that the wall listened. I was hearing of prayers that were being offered all over Africa. Christians gathered together to pray to petition their governments and ask them to come to our aid. Eventually she would be released after so much trial and trauma. You can only imagine for this woman pregnant with her son and the helpless husband in Boston and just what was going through their life. It is truly a story that I think is encouraging Christians all over the world today. Especially as we look at the Middle East, we look at Africa and we look at so many parts of the wall that are experiencing so much persecution and praise be to God that we do not have to face such trials. It is what Paul is reminding us this morning that sometimes there can be such a great difficult in our life that sometimes we might be put in some very hard difficult situations for his own glory. The situation that God doesn't want us to look at where we are but he wants us to look at him. It is hard. It is very difficult. Like I said, we might not be going through the same thing. We might never have to go through the same thing as this woman. We might never have to go through what Paul went through. But the message for us this morning is to be reminded of how sometimes or difficulty in our trials can truly be a blessing in disguise. You can only imagine the panic that was going on after the church in Philippi had that Paul was in prison. Was he dead? Was he going to be killed? What a blow to the Christian community. What a blow to this great man who was preaching the gospel and bringing so many Gentiles to Christianity. What was going to happen. There was so concerned about his well-being and that's why we're told they sent a proper guidance to go in minister to encourage Paul because of the difficult that he was in. And then Paul says something that surprises all of us. And instead of beginning by telling them just how painful his situation was, how the chains and all the beating and everything that he was experiencing was so difficult for him. He says, but what happened to me happened to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then that's about it. He moves on talking about the gospel. He does not dwell on what is going on in his life. But what is it that had happened to Paul that he would say all those things served or work to serve to advance the gospel. Was Paul just referring to his imprisonment? Maybe. Was he referring maybe more to more trials that had happened to him. If you recall reading through Acts and elsewhere in in Galatians and in other letters that Paul wrote, we know this man escaped logging. He was he was provocated by so many people who was unjustly accused. He was in prison. And now he sits somewhere. We are not sure whether it was Rome or elsewhere. But I think evidence points to him being in Rome in chains awaiting a trial uncertain of his present and future. And all that suffering that he's had to endure and go through Paul says served to advance the gospel. Almost seems like he is minimizing the whole situation. He's like, so what? All this happened to me so that the gospel might advance. He doesn't want to dwell on his situation, but wants to dwell wants to focus on Jesus Christ. And he wants the church to be able to see how his troubles, how his difficult situation is truly a blessing in disguise. And he does that in two ways. The first way he wants us to see how the church is growing and how the gospel is advancing is outward. Look at verses 12 and 13. He says, I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. See Paul might be in prison, he might be in chains, but that does not stop the man from doing that which he loves so much, preaching the gospel to all who care to listen to him even under those circumstances. I think he's ministering to the guard, the ESB caused him the imperial guard, the name actually that was given to them was the Praetorian guard. It consisted of more than 9,000 soldiers. They were really hand picked, almost hand picked by the emperor himself. And it was really a committed place for soldiers to be part of this Praetorian guard because they got double the pay as opposed to the other soldiers. They also got some really good pension, so it was something, if you were in that guard, you really felt special and important. But something else too that this guy is the ones who guarded the imperial prisoners, the prisoners that were awaiting a trial by Caesar himself. I mean, that's right at the palace, the highest echelons of government. And so those who got to hear Paul as they were guarding him, he would share the gospel, whether they listened or not, they did not matter. He shared the gospel with them and of course, we're not saying that he shared the gospel to 9,000 of them, but you can imagine they would go back because he says, the word is being spread. The reasons why Paul is in jail is because of Christ, so he must have shared the gospel with some of them and then they would go out and they would share the same to him, what a way to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to a royal palace through a prison. He says by imprisonment, showing himself as one who is trouble, or he doesn't dwell on his troubles. He's simply letting us feel the bonds of his chains, he's letting us feel the effects of what his imprisonment means. Notice how Paul does not say that the gospel continues to grow or continues to advance in spite of his suffering. Notice how he says it is the very adversity that I'm facing that has turned out for the advancement of the gospel. He's not saying I might be in chains, so you guys go ahead and continue the gospel. He says it is my very imprisonment, it's my very trial that is causing the gospel to advance. I think he wants us to understand as a church, as a people, that God's logic is not our logic. You know, we sometimes wait for that perfect situation, that perfect circumstance for us to be able to witness, to be to share the gospel with others, and God is saying, I don't care about your circumstance. I want you to have a willing heart to be a witness of who I am, no matter the situation, he's making the best out of his circumstance. He's telling us, preach Christ, regardless of your opportunity, regardless of where you are. I don't know how other people are able to see your faith when you're going through a difficult situation. Paul does not let his difficulty dump in his faith. When you're going through a hard time and you're suffering and you feel like you're being challenged in your life, it's the only thing that people see your brokenness and your suffering and the lack of joy that is in you, or people able to see you one who is beaten, but not put down. To see someone who has faith, someone who is suffering, it's someone who trusts in the Lord. I remember one time I had to take a friend of mine in 2006 from Holland, and he had never seen a slum before. He asked me to take him to Kibera slums, which is one of the largest slums in the world. I remember going into the slum and you just hit with this stench that just chokes you. The smell of pieces, the smell of dirt, or just all kinds of things. This is a community that's built with iron sheet houses, mad houses. There's no space to walk. You're walking on sewers. You don't even know what you're stepping on. He started crying. He just shed tears and tears and he couldn't stop crying. When we got to my friend's church where I was taking him, he took off his shoes and his jacket, took out his wallet, all the money that he had and he said, I'm giving it all away. The pastor looked at him and said, son, put back your clothes and your shoes. We're okay. You know something happened to my friend after several days he came back and he said to me, I cried the whole time when we walked into that slum. But there's one thing I will never forget, apart from the poverty, apart from the stench that was in there, I will never forget the joy that almost every single one of those people had on their faces. The children were the most joyful I have ever seen and everybody had a smile on their face. See, they were not waiting for their circumstance to change. Because poverty is such a huge thing, we're always going to have it. Instead of waiting for years and years for the governments and for people to change the situation, Christians in that community said, we are going to rejoice regardless of our situation. We are going to be happy because of Christ. Our situation will not stop us from being joyful because of what he has done in our life. Would you cheer up even when you're having a hard time? And I think part of it is because we really do not have confidence in God. We do not see the outworking of His great and sovereign plan to make all things well, for us to use those difficult situations to bring the gospel forth to others. I don't think Paul is trying to put the best foot forth, even in a difficult situation. I think it is this as Gordon Fee, one of the commentators says. It is because it is a deep conviction that God has worked out His own divine intentions through the death and resurrection of Christ. And that by His Spirit, He is carrying them out in the world through the church. And therefore, through both Paul and others, you and me, He is making the best out of His circumstance. A deep conviction of what God is doing. Paul recognizing the sovereign God, He is at work. May our chains, whatever they may be, may our trials, whatever they may be, become manifest in Christ. And secondly, we see in verses 14, He says inwardly, it is also encouraging and advancing the kingdom of God. And most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear. If you know the history here, one of the great persecutors of the church, Nero, is actually persecuting the church during this time. And for believers to even have the confidence to start talking about the gospel when Paul is being arrested is actually putting themselves in utter danger, more danger. You would think that would all go and hide somewhere because they know the trouble is coming but no. Paul's chains are giving them confidence. I mean, we all know the story of Jim and Elizabeth and Valerie Elliott who worked his missionaries in Ecuador. I'm sure we're all very familiar with the story. Jim would end up losing his own life for the gospel. Elizabeth would go back to the very same people but Jim left words that can guide us. Whereas we would do well to remember. Listen to what Jim says. He said, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. What an encouragement to the church, especially me thinking about my own country, northern part of Canada, Middle East, in Syria, in Iraq as the church is being persecuted every day. May it not be for us that we would have to experience the same things as Paul had to experience as the church had to experience persecution for them to lose any fear that they would have of witnessing. And of making the name of Christ be known to all nations, may it not be for us. May we be emboldened by what's going on in the world for us to be a witness of Christ. See Paul's suffering, he's telling us in this verse 14 was really as stimulus for the church. It was building the faith for the many believers who are out there and they were encouraged to stand up for Christ to advance his kingdom. Are we focusing too much on our trials and wanting to become the object of pity, or are we wanting to let our trials or difficult situations point others to Christ? I say, let us trust in the same God, the same God who's called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, the same God who chose the foolishness of the cross to accomplish his retemptive purposes. The same God who chose the foolish things of this world to redeem us. The same God who called Paul whose emotional and physical situation can only be compared to jars of clay to bear the message of redemption. The same God who chooses to work through this means in order to demonstrate that the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ was God's doing. It's his plan, not our own human ingenuity. All these things Paul says have served to make the name of Christ famous, to make the name of Christ known both outwardly and inwardly. May God give us courage to make his name known. May God strengthen us, strengthen us in church so that we don't look more to a difficult and trials or look more to witnessing, to being joyful because of what he's done for us. Paul is telling us that suffering or difficulty can be a blessing in disguise, but he also says that difficulty can produce some great joy. I love the prayer that my brother Kevin prayed this morning looking at all the things that we can think about in our own lives, the football games and soccer games, some of us love Barcelona, others love Chelsea, others love Ravens, others love the other team in DC. That was a shot at Austin, senior, but even by looking at all those things that being able to focus on Christ and saying the only thing that matters is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen to what Paul says towards the end of this passage. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will, the louder do it out of love knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice. See Paul I think could have easily painted such a rosy picture of what's going on. I mean, he's already told us what's going on and yet he ignores his own situation and says, listen, you don't have to worry about me, you don't need to encourage me in any way. I'm the one who is trying to encourage you because everything has happened to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. So everything is great, everything is awesome, but that would have been a man who is not in touch with reality. Paul is fully in touch with reality. He is able to recognize despite his situation, despite the good news that's being spread, that there are troublemakers within you, that there are people out there that are trying to get me. He appreciates those who love him, those who are doing the right thing and spreading the gospel out of goodness and out of love for him and for God. But he also sees the troublemakers that are causing or trying to make him miserable while using chains. And I think this points us to something Paul wants us to see here pride, the problem of pride that all of us included a pride that can easily rob us of so much joy that we can experience in Christ, especially when we think we are right. Because you know what? Paul was right and those guys were wrong. He could have been tempted to put the troublemakers in their place. You know what I always want to do? I know that's what I always want to do. I'll put you in your right place because I know I'm right. But as one of the great preachers that I really love to listen to, Alistair Bag says in his nice, great, awesome, Scottish accent, that Paul would not let the wrong motives of bad men be the determining element. Even their wrong motives, they will not put me down because I will rejoice. And then we're meant to ask ourselves who really are these troublemakers, who are these guys who are causing trouble? Some have argued that they were heretic but I don't think that's so because we know Paul has some extremely harsh words to those who preach another gospel. So they're not because he's not having some harsh words to them. They are believers. They truly are preaching the gospel because he says praise me to God because they are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they are opposed to him. They don't like him. They really don't like him. We can speculate but we know they're probably having some doctrine that's maybe not right. They preach Christ but there's some things that they're not getting right. Maybe they're judizers. You know those guys who are telling all the Gentiles to be circumcised so that they will be accepted in the church? Probably. They could be, and he says they are envious of him. They are his rivals. Remember the accomplishments, the amazing accomplishments that Paul has been able to make to this day. And these guys are looking and saying, oh he's in jail right now. We are the ones who are going to take up from Paul. We are the ones who are now, everybody that should listen to us. And instead of Paul responding with pride and putting them in the right place, Paul responds with such great humility. And he's saying you might be trying to put me down but that's not going to work. I think it's because Paul understands that his imprisonment, him being in chains is appointed by Christ and from his perspective the gospel itself is on trial. Not him, it's the very gospel of Jesus Christ. His imprisonment is a divinely appointed defense of the gospel in the highest manner. So that's why to him, you can do all you want. Even your own impure thoughts and motives will not get at me because it's all about Jesus Christ. I think this speaks to us this morning in terms of what drives us in our lives. What drives our Christian service, you as a father, as a mother, as a member of this church, as a member of the community, what drives you as a believer? Is it self-promotion? Is it your selfish motives? I don't know what it is. Sometimes those things are of what motives been purified by Christ. I think Paul is struggling for us. What grace really looks like. Extending grace to others. See, like I said, Paul could have exposed this guy. He could have exposed this mean horrible ill-motivated guy for what they were. But he did not. He did not let that consume him and eat him away, devour his soul. He instead chooses to exalt Christ. What do we do when we see others, or we relate with others, who have a different opinion than us, who probably have a different doctrine than we hold? I am a proud, reformed Presbyterian. And so sometimes I think that I've got all the theology together. That I am the one who is always right and all the Baptists and all the other guys are wrong. And sometimes I am tempted to share to present the gospel lace with my criticism of my brothers and sisters outside of what I think is the best denomination. Instead of preaching Christ, him crucified his death and resurrection and his lordship over all the others. And sometimes we feel like a divided church, just like I mentioned, who sit here at grace, reformed Presbyterian church. And we think about all the denominations of the world, and we think about people who are truly preaching Christ. There are others who are not preaching Christ, but especially those who are preaching Christ. And we might get discouraged thinking that we're played with strife and jealousy and envy that exists between this denomination and that. But you know what brothers and sisters, whether you agree with infant baptism or not, is not the point. As long as Christ is lifted high and people's lives are changed by the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ, that is what matters. And you know sometimes I care about my own bruised feelings, my own reputation, my own being misunderstood just because I believe in infant baptism. So someone else who doesn't believe in it, they're wrong. And I don't care about the amazing splendor of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's more than able to change people's hearts. What are your aspirations? What is taking center stage in your life? Is making Christ famous every single day with life your responsibility or is it just a Sunday warning thing? Are there other things in your life that are really devouring all of our time so that the gospel just takes a peripheral stage? That everything else is more important to me. The gospel that we just do that on Sunday morning. We need to ask ourselves if we're truly confessing the centrality of the gospel in every field of life. Abraham Kuiper, one of the great theologians once once said that there is no square inch of this universe that Jesus does not cry. The homosexual agenda, abortion agenda, racial reconciliation, world peace, all these things are honorable things for us as Christians to pursue and to fight for and to ask our governments. And all of everybody involved to come together as we try to change the world, but brothers and sisters only the gospel of Jesus Christ can change the hearts of man. Laws will never fix anybody. Let us be reminded this morning that we need to be reminded that God does not always work through the channels of the economic and political powers that are so accessible to us, especially here in the West, but through the weaknesses and suffering that the world tells us to avoid at all costs. Have you ever thought of that? There is something to be said about what's going on in our own churches, you know, with the Protestant liberalism, the PC USA and all the churches that are accepting all these things. Do you know what's happening? It's already happening in Western Europe. It is because they have taken away the gospel, the word of God is not at the center of their churches. You take the gospel out and you are dead. If we, if I think that I'm going to fight the battles of trying to change the laws and issues that are going in our country in my own wisdom, in my own political knowledge, without the gospel, I will lose. But if we do so with the transformative power of Jesus Christ, the gospel, the word that tells us that Christ died resurrected and He reigns supreme in every sphere of our life, we will win. But even more, Paul wants you and I to recognize to know that your joy, brothers and sisters, is not connected to your situation. Just because you're going through a hard time does not mean that you cannot have joy. His joy is not connected to Him being in prisons and in chains. His joy is connected to Jesus Christ. It's connected to the gospel and when you do so, you will rejoice when people do well and you will rejoice when they do not do well. You will rejoice when everything is going really good. You will rejoice when things are going so high. Why? Because you are connected to Jesus Christ and so Paul wants us to know this. He wants us to put Christ at the center of everything. He wants you to preach Christ, preach Christ to the nations, preach Christ to the world because the world only needs Christ. It is only by putting the gospel first that we will be able to say, like Paul, when you're tempted, when people misunderstand you, when you're persecuted, whatever that means for us, all of that serves to advance the Kingdom of God because when difficulty leads to Christ, Christ leads us to joy. This is not an easy prayer for me and I'm sure it wouldn't be for anyone of us. But I end with this beautiful words from the sense of old who wrote the great hymn that we all love to sing, Jesus, I, my cross, have taken. Let the world despise and leave me. They have left my Savior too. Human hearts and looks deceive me, thou are not like them in truth. Oh, while those doubts smile upon me, God of wisdom, God of love and might. False may hate and friends disown me, show thy face and all is bright. Men may trouble and distress me too but drive me to thy breasts. Life with trials hard may press me. Heaven will bring me sweet arrests. All is not in grief to harm me. While thy love is left to me, O true not in joy to charm me, while thy joy unmixed with me. And the most difficult prayer that anyone of us can make. Go then, earthly fame and treasure. Come disaster, squorn and pain in thy service. Pain is pleasure. With thy favor, losses gained, I have called thee, I but father, I have stayed. My heart on these storms may how and clouds may gather. But all must work for good to me and must I add for the advancement of the kingdom of God. May you rejoice this day and the days to come. Even in difficult situations, knowing that when Christ's name is lifted high, you can only be joyful. Pray with thee. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning with thank you for your word. May you continue to be lifted so high that we may rejoice all the days of our life. We pray all this in your holy name. Amen.