I'll ask you to stand you can follow along as I read if not that's all right
where you're seated we'll begin in verse 12 where the Apostle Paul by the Spirit
of God is writing to the church in Philippi and 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 and because of my
chains verse 14 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 verse
15 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 put 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 and I will continue
to rejoice for I know and I want to draw your attention to this word know we're
going to be talking about this word know notice he doesn't say I hope I pray I
think no I know I know that through your prayers and God's provision and I
love this of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out
for my deliverance I know it let's pray if you would join with me
loving Heavenly Father thank you so much for this portion that we have here
before us this morning in your Word thank you for the Apostle Paul thank you
for inspiring him by the Holy Spirit to write this letter so that we almost
2,000 years later would be here in this Your church as your people being
ministered to and blessed by these words here in Your word Lord that's why we're
here so will You minister to us and speak into our lives we're asking You
for this in Jesus name amen you can be seated thank you
I want to talk with you today about those times in our lives when God's ways
just don't seem to make any sense at all and the reason is is because certainly
this was the case concerning the Philippians but thankfully the Apostle
Paul by the Holy Spirit will rise from the pages of our Bibles to teach us
about those times when everything in our lives contradicts the will of God and
the goodness of God He's going to rise from the pages of Scripture and teach us what
God's purpose is in our lives in those difficult circumstances in our lives
especially when they just don't make any sense I think it'd be a gross
understatement to say that Paul circumstances were difficult at the time
that he wrote this to the church in Philippi I think we sometimes are
dismissive for lack of a better word when it comes to epistles like this one
to the Philippians you have to keep in mind that he's incarcerated
he's not just imprisoned he is literally chained to a Roman guard day and night
every day every night and these Roman guards it's believed would change shifts
every four to six hours now you'll forgive me I don't want to get too
graphic but just think about that for a moment when he would need to use the
bathroom there's a there's a Roman guard right there think about that
and don't imagine for a moment that to be in prison in that day was anything
like being imprisoned today there's no gyms or you know rec rooms or ping pong
tables or pool tables or foosball tables foosballs my we have a foosball table
upstairs I'll just mention that in Jesus name if anybody wants to but I digress
but as he's writing this letter he does so in chains chained to a Roman guard I
think we need to understand that backstory as we get into this letter as
we will today it's important to understand that for the Christians in
Philippi Paul being in prison again and even remaining in prison still made
absolutely no sense to them and the reason it made no sense to them is
because when Paul and Silas were there with the Philippians and imprisoned
there they witnessed miraculously God freeing them from that prison but yet
Paul once again sits in a prison only this time God isn't freeing him and
quite frankly they're a little bit confused I don't understand why God is
not freeing you again Paul which is why by the way he writes to them and
explains to them that it is God's way it is God's will that he remain in chains
you might say those Roman guards who we're going to talk about in a little bit
they're chained to the Apostle Paul can you imagine you might say he had a
rather captive audience and that's why it is that God had him there as
difficult as it was and even though it didn't make any sense he was there for a
purpose and for a reason but if this weren't bad enough Paul is seemingly
answering a question that was being asked about those who were in Philippi
that were apparently taking an advantage of the fact that Paul was in prison
again so much so that we're told they deliberately stirred up trouble for Paul
because they fancied themselves as competing with Paul I say competing
because Paul describes what they were doing as being out of selfish ambition
out of envy out of rivalry and I'll add self-promotion oh Paul's in prison we
could take advantage of that and he can't do anything about it you know
it's sad this is textbook in the Christian Church today and I'm sad to
say that as a pastor I've seen this
while on the mainland the first church that I pastored this was rampant pastors
slandering other pastors to further their own reputation and to fill their
own pews by slandering another that's what they were doing to Paul well
one might think that all that was happening to Paul and against Paul that
he would just be so discouraged even given over to despair but that's not
Paul it's the opposite that's true and I love this in verse 18 Paul says that in
spite of this and even because of this he's going to rejoice how can he have so
much joy and he even repeats it twice saying he will continue to rejoice now
this begs the question of how is that even possible
and maybe more importantly the question needs to be asked is that even possible
for me personally I mean it's doubtless that I will ever be in a situation that
could be compared to what Paul was in and yet he has this joy and he's
rejoicing in spite of it I want that do you want that I gotta
believe that you do well how is it possible I think of what James wrote I
should be honest and say I hate what James wrote is that bad for a pastor to
say that he I say that in a sanctified way because I always struggled with this
notion that you can consider it pure joy when you encounter various trials
because that's not my experience that's not been my response if I could be so
candid I don't consider it pure joy when I'm encountering
various trials I consider it pure hell I hope that doesn't jam your gears me
saying that and it wasn't until I realized that it wasn't just James
saying it and Paul here echoing it this is real this is being the real deal
but how oh that's where that word know comes in James says consider it pure joy
Paul would say I'm going to rejoice and again I will say I'm going to continue
to rejoice in this trial in this difficult set of circumstances that are
leaving me scratching my head I don't understand and the reason I can consider
it pure joy the reason I can rejoice is because I know what God is doing in it I
know where God is going with it that's why God has a purpose in it in spite of
the circumstances it is absolutely possible to have joy to rejoice in the
midst of it and not only that I would suggest that this is one of the main
reasons we even have the book of Philippians in our Bibles did you know
that actually Philippians is one of four books in our Bibles that are known as
the prison epistles they are Ephesians we just finished
Philippians we're in now the next book Colossians
and then the letter to Philemon they were all written while Paul was in
prison why do I point that out because were it not for Paul being in prison
it's unlikely that we would even have these letters and if we didn't have
these letters we wouldn't have the encouragement from these letters I think
about the Book of Psalms which we're studying through on Thursday nights and
I think about David and were it not for the difficult circumstances in David's
life we would not have most of those Psalms had it not been for that and I
don't want to sound melodramatic when I say this but I can't imagine my life
without those Psalms and how God has used those Psalms in my life during some very
difficult times in my life and I'm so grateful that out of that
came those Psalms I'm so grateful that out of what Paul experienced came these
letters you see it there on the screen
and we know this at least I hope we know this but were it not for the
difficult times in our lives there would not be these grand and glorious things
in our lives either glorious things come out of very difficult times
and this is exactly what happened with the Philippians it was because of Paul's
imprisonment that out of that came their encouragement they were even emboldened
which meant that and implies that prior to they were embarrassed they were
ashamed to share the Gospel but now here's Paul in prison and because of
that now they're more emboldened and that's just the beginning of what God
brought about as a result of and as the purpose for the difficult and even
confusing set of circumstances this morning I got up early as I always do on
a Sunday morning and I spent a little bit more time kind of going over this
and I noticed a few things that I didn't actually see or even list when I first
prepared the teaching notice in verse 12 where Paul tells them that all that's
happened has actually served to advance the Gospel and then in verse 13 he says
it's becoming clear throughout the whole palace guard that he's in prison for
Jesus Christ and by the way in the book of Acts we get some blanks filled in
about how they got saved because of this in verse 14 he says that out of all of
this most of the Christians have become more confident in sharing Christ and it
gets better in verses 15 through 18 where Paul says that in spite of his
name being dragged through the mud Christ is preached and he will continue
to rejoice then in verse 19 he says something very interesting he says that
and here's that word again he knows he knows through their prayers
God's provision visa vie the Holy Spirit that all this happened to him will turn
out for his deliverance and the Gospel's furtherance so here's what I did I put
together a list of everything that came as a result of what had happened all
that it had happened to Paul I came up with seven you might find more I'll just
go through them real quick all that happened just from Paul being in prison
just for this church there in Philippi and the Roman guard that he was chained
to number one it advanced the Gospel number two those in the palace guard
were getting saved number three the Christians were emboldened and confident
to fearlessly proclaim the Gospel please note that when Paul says this he says
that they were confident to preach Christ without fear which means to me
that prior they were fearful and didn't proclaim the Gospel number four those
stirring up trouble for Paul were actually preaching Christ people were
still getting saved number five Paul's rejoicing was contagious and I
use that word for a reason because is not joy contagious don't you just love
it by the way sadly this goes both ways but don't you just love it
when you're talking with a Christian that's just genuinely full of joy
doesn't that just bless your heart don't you come away with sort of you
know a joy just because it's so contagious number six
it encouraged the church to pray more and specifically as it relates to the
Holy Spirit and number seven Paul knew he would eventually be delivered and as
such the kingdom of God would be furthered that's all that came out of
this I think it would be safe to conclude that this was indeed the very
purpose that God intended would you agree
would you agree with that conclusion that this was God's purpose in allowing
Paul to remain incarcerated this is why it is that He did not free him from the
prison as He had prior He had a purpose He had a plan
yeah but pastor the circumstances were very difficult yeah but here's the thing
knowing knowing this helps explain the reason God may be allowing that
difficulty in your life maybe it's to work His good through your life as
difficult as the circumstances might be as one so aptly said it God is more
concerned with His call upon your life than He is the circumstances in your
life let me hasten to say that this in no way means that God doesn't care about
your difficult circumstances it's that God cares more about what He's working
out of your difficult circumstances and is this not that famous verse that we
love so much but don't quote the verse after it Romans 8:28
and we know know not N O, K N O W we know that in all things all things God
works for the good of those who love Him and we kind of read past this part
really quick who had been called according to His purpose in fact
actually let's be honest right come on we're in church we have to be we
actually don't even bother to quote the last part of the verse we just we just
want to quote and we know that in all things God works for the good to those
who love Him and and will quote it that way and will try to encourage other
people by saying well you know God works all things together for the good you
know sometimes that's not well I just speak for myself I when you're in the
midst of a really fiery trial it just rings hollow I know that verse I know
that but it's this dare I say qualifier there's there's two preconditions if I
can say it that way one of which is that it's those who love the Lord and
secondly and perhaps more importantly in knowing that God works all things
together for the good it's the second one that it's applicable to those who
have been called according to His purpose now shouldn't we know what God's
purpose is because that's a precondition if you will well
that's verse 29 for those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son stop right there
that's the purpose what's the purpose pastor bear with me I didn't have as
much coffee as I usually do this morning so I kind of didn't quite get that
well here's the thing the purpose is to make us more like Jesus that's His
purpose that trial in your life that difficult set of circumstances that make
absolutely no sense whatsoever the purpose is to make you more like Jesus
Christ to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ that you me might be the
firstborn among many brothers and sisters that's why that's the purpose I
want to ask a closing two-part question actually I might this will be my first
closing so don't get too excited here just as the Spirit leads Lord you'll
you'll lead two-part question and I think we would all do well to consider
this especially those who are going through a very difficult trial here's
the first part what grand and glorious plan is God working for good in and
through what you're going through
here's the second part to that question is there someone in your life that God
wants to reach in and through your life and even the difficult circumstances in
your life have you ever considered that maybe what you're going through is not
so much for you but for somebody else that's hard especially when you're in a
trial I mean just this notion that I'm suffering and going through these
difficult circumstances for somebody else no it's for you to but actually
people are watching you here's what I wanted to share and actually I think the
Lord wants me to to share it at least for this service anyway when my wife and
I first came here we actually came in December of 2003 and started the church
officially in 2004 by way of a Friday night Bible study and I really prayed
about when and even if quite honestly I was to start another church and I was
just waiting on the Lord and seeking the Lord for about a year and a half and
finally the Lord just made it clear that and this was in 2005 February to be
exact I'll never forget it was our first
official Sunday morning service as Calvary Chapel Kaneohe and I'll never
forget it because our first Sunday service was on Super Bowl Sunday you
know I'm going to write a book and if I write a book it will be how not to start
a church I think I've hundred things you don't do when you you don't have your
first Sunday service on Super Bowl Sunday anyway February of 2005
shortly after that we moved out of the Aloha Pregnancy Care and Counseling
Center and rented the Kaneohe SDA Church to have our Sunday morning services
where we would actually remain for 12 years before God just miraculously gave
us this church this beautiful church so it was shortly after that that we got
pregnant and I prayed that God would give us a girl because we had two boys I
don't want any more boys I wanted a girl and so sure enough we learned that we
were going to have a girl but in the eighth month of the pregnancy we learned
that our daughter her name Noelle was diagnosed with what is known as trisomy
18 the medical community calls that incompatible with life it's a third copy
of the 18 chromosome and babies don't survive that and so they told us that
she had a 50% chance of surviving the birth and she had only a 10% chance of
seeing her first birthday so basically we were going to take her home to die it
wasn't a matter of if it was a matter of when now keep in mind I had just started
the church and I was still working full time and all of a sudden now this
happens and we were crushed devastated and the enemy was right there you're out
of God's will you should have never started this church you made the biggest
mistake of your life and of course and you've heard this in a
variety of ways God's punishing you by allowing this to happen to you
I'll tell you it was really to this day the darkest time in my life so the
church I mean at the time it was kind of interesting because when I would preach
it would echo and that's not because of the acoustics the wooden pews those of
you who remember and there was only like maybe 25 people in those pews and so it
bounced off those empty wooden pews I mean the church was just very very
small and they were watching what's the pastor going to do is this not every
parent's worst nightmare this is unthinkable the death of a child
well Noelle was born on December 28th we resuscitated her took her home and she
required round-the-clock care and I just continued keeping my hands to the plow
and she lived for four months and six days and then she died in our arms at
Kapiolani Hospital on May the sixth of 2006
during that time the Lord ministered to me that yes He was doing a deep work in
my life but He was also using this in the life of others because you see a lot
of pastors come to Hawaii right here am I Lord send me not not Zimbabwe Hawaii
when I told my Board on the mainland that I really believe God was calling me
to Oahu I had one of my elders say to me true story
I think you heard God wrong He didn't say Oahu He said Ohio you got it
wrong to which I just responded get thee behind me Satan so unbeknownst to me
this small precious church that was watching my wife and I go through this
unthinkable trial of the death of our child
were sort of actually expecting me to toss in the towel like all the other
ones and go back to the mainland and in so doing leaving a bad taste in people's
mouth and as so many had done before but we didn't kept our hands to the plow I
remember some Sunday's it was brutal I felt so sorry for the people because I
mean I'm I'm just I'm preaching but I'm dying I'm just dying inside just crushed
just crushed
but it wasn't long after that in fact 40 days 45 days after that miraculously and
that's a maybe another topic for another time but my wife said I really want to
have another girl not to replace Noelle but to heal our broken hearts over
Noelle and we can see the first time not easy for us we couldn't have children
for the first 10 years of our marriage and 45 days after we conceived and of
course my daughter Sabia is 11 years old today but the church was watching
this and when they saw us go through and God get us through that trial they
realized wow they're not going anywhere and you know what neither are we
this guy's committed and if he's going to be that committed to this church after
the death of his daughter then they committed to the church because it was
almost like a we'll wait and see the jury's out and what I didn't realize at
the time what I couldn't know at the time maybe it could be argued I should
have known at the time was that God was that was His purpose for this church I
stand before you today and I've said it before I'll say it again and I'll close
with this I cannot even imagine my life without you as a church I can't imagine
had I not gone through as painful as it was I can't imagine not going
through that that whole experience and every time I stand before you this
church as is my privilege every week I just am
reminded of the goodness of God no matter what no matter how hard if you're
going through a difficult time today I want to encourage you you just wait
you'll see what God's gonna do in and through what you're going through
let's pray Father in Heaven I thank You so much I thank You for the friend of
difficulty I thank You for the the servant of trials Lord I thank You for
what as only You can and always do bring out of those trials in our lives thank
you Lord in Jesus name Amen
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