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Warren Wiersbe - Chains, Critics and Crisis, Part 1 - 3 of 15

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[Music]

welcome to back to the Bible radio

featuring best-selling author and

internationally known Bible teacher

Warren where's be are you rejoicing in

your ministry today I don't know what

your ministry is but are you rejoicing

in it are you enjoying your ministry or

enduring your ministry well the Lord

Jesus knows because he can see your

heart and you know and before long

everybody will know because we cannot

hide it in Philippians were looking at

the joy of ministry and in chapter one

we're focusing on the joy of the message

of our ministry Jesus Christ and the

gospel and Paul applies this gospel to

three different groups of people the

inner circle of the Saints verses 3

through 11 the fellowship in the gospel

verse 5 he gives thanks with joy for

your fellowship in the gospel from the

first day until now

then verse 12 down through verse 26 he

talks about the furtherance of the

gospel but I would you should understand

brethren that the things which happened

unto me have fallen out rather unto the

furtherance of the gospel

now he's applying the gospel not to the

believers but to the unbelievers chapter

1 verses 12 through 26 then in verse 27

down through verse 30 he'll be talking

about how the gospel applies to our

adversaries those who oppose the work of

the Lord you see if you go through life

thinking only about yourself you're

going to be miserable but if you go

through life ministering because you are

concerned about Christ and the gospel

then you are going to be happy you're

going to have joy we have the most

joyful message in all the world to

present good tidings of great joy which

shall be unto all people for Jesus

Christ the Savior has died for the sins

of the world the father sent the son to

be the Saviour of the world now is that

why you're living are you living to get

this message out now if you are you'll

be a happy person if you have a single mind

mind

for Christ and the gospel then you're

going to have Christian joy you're going

to relate as you should to God's people

and you're going to relate as you should

to the unsaved Paul's great desire was

to preach the gospel at Rome when he

wrote the letter to the Romans he said

so in chapter 1 verse 15 that he had a

great desire to come to Rome to preach

the gospel well he did come to Rome but

not as a preacher but as a prisoner you

remember in Acts chapter 27 you have

that awful shipwreck described and Paul

finally it does arrive at Rome and then

some difficulties appear even in Rome he

has some needs the Philippian church

sent him some material help to assist

him in his ministry that's why he wrote

this letter that we call Philippians

well I should have you understand he

wrote to them to the things which

happened unto me have fallen out they

have worked out rather unto the

furtherance of the gospel this word

furtherance means pioneer advance it

means to move forward in spite of

obstructions and difficulties it's the

word that was used for that part of the

army that went on ahead cleared away all

the debris got rid of all that was

standing in the way of the march of the

army you know the devil puts roadblocks

in our way right now you may say well

brother where's be I'm facing that

roadblock here we are in our church or

our mission station or our Sunday School

class or our home and we're trying to

move forward and serve the Lord and

right away we've hit a roadblock we've

hit a blank wall we're on a dead-end

street oh no you're not when you're

living to promote Christ and the gospel

to spread the good news of the gospel

there is no such thing as a dead-end

street or a wall or a roadblock along

your path you see God wants us to take

the gospel out into New Territories

that's the problem in so many churches

we keep sowing the same seed on the same

soil we keep fishing in the same pond

but God wants us to take the gospel into

new territory furtherance the Pioneer

advance God is saying let's move into

some new territory are there areas in

your town or city that have never been

touched by the gospel how are you gonna

get the gospel in there well the Apostle

Paul had three very wonderful tools that

God gave him to get the gospel out to

areas where it had never reached verses

12 through 14 his chains so that my

bonds in Christ are manifest and people

are talking about this my chains because

of his chains Christ was known verses 12

through 14 then verses 15 through 19 his

critics Oh Paul had some critics there

in the city of Rome there were some who

were not preaching the way they should

preach they were preaching out of

contention and division and dissension

but Paul tells us in verses 15 through

19 that because of his critics Christ is

preached notice now because of my chains

Christ is known because of my critics

Christ is preached and verses 20 through

26 because of my crisis Christ is

magnified what was his crisis he might

be killed

he says for to me to live is Christ to

die is gain his great concern was not

just to spare his life but to use his

life now get a hold of these three tools

his chains Christ is known verses 12

through 14 his critics Christ is

preached verses 15 through 19

his crisis he might be killed Christ

is magnified verses 20 through 26

now today let's look at these first

tools his chains and his critics and

let's find out how you and I in spite of

the obstacles the problems the

difficulties that we face can promote

the gospel spread the gospel get the

Word of God out where it has not reached

before verses 12 through 14 he taught

about his chains but I would you should

understand brethren that the things

which happened unto me have fallen out

rather under the furtherance of the

gospel so that my bonds in Christ are

manifest in all the palace and in all

other places and many of the Brethren in

the Lord becoming confident by my bonds

are much more bold to speak the word

without fear

Paul was chained to a Roman soldier and

they probably changed that guard about

Oh every six hours or so now Paul is

telling us that when he was chained to

this Roman soldier it gave him

opportunity to witness imagine being

chained to the Apostle Paul who said

pray without ceasing imagine being

chained to the Apostle Paul who wrote

the love of Christ constrains me that

poor soldier had to listen to the gospel

had to listen to Paul dictating letters

praying and of course witnessing God

uses strange tools doesn't he he used

Moses rod he used Gideon's pitchers he

used David's slang he used the little

boys loaves and fish and he used Paul's

chains now Paul did not consider himself

chained by Rome he said my bonds in

Christ by the way all of us have chains

of one kind or another you're listening

to me today and you say oh I'm chained

to my home I have these little children

to take care of or I'm chained in my job

oh how I wish I could do more for the

Lord or I'm chained by some handicap you

might be in bed you might be flat on

your back right now and you say oh why

has the Lord permitted me to be chained

would you notice now the Apostle Paul

said these chains are accomplishing

wonderful things for the gospel now if

you're thinking only about your own

comfort and your own concern then chains

are problem but if you're thinking about

spreading the gospel then chains become

an opportunity number one those chains

gave him contact with the Lost number

two those chains gave courage to the saved

saved

contact with the lost here were these

Romans soldiers and he's talking here

about the elite Praetorian Guard he's

talking about those 9,000 elite soldiers

that were the guardians of the emperor

in Rome now if Paul had come to Rome and

tried to get an invitation to preach to

this crowd in their barracks they would

never have let him in but now one by one

these soldiers were hearing the gospel

because they were chained to the Apostle

Paul you say Here I am in a hospital bed

I'm chained I can't get out oh what an

opportunity it will give to you to share

the gospel in love and in patience I had

a friend who was in the hospital for surgery

surgery

and as the nurses and doctors came in

and out of his room he witnessed to them

and before he left that hospital II had

the joy of seeing a couple of those

nurses come to Jesus Christ in fact the

nurses were warning each other watch out

when you go into that room there's a

preacher in there but he was using that

opportunity to win people to Jesus

Christ the Apostle Paul was chained to a

Roman soldier 24 hours a day for

different soldiers every day and over

the space of those months and years Paul

was witnessing to them and many of them

found Christ as their Savior I remember

being called to rush to the hospital to

see one of our men I was pastoring a

church at the time one of our men had

been rushed to the hospital and they

didn't know what was wrong with him and

they called me up and said pastor you

come right now and I got in the car and

drove down to the hospital and I went

into the ward where they had put my

friend and there he was quite ill and I

talked with him and we prayed together

and I thought to myself why would this

godly man be in the hospital as I was

leaving the ward a woman stopped me and

said oh brother where's me I'm glad

you're here my husband was rushed in I

haven't had a chance to call you he's

dying would you come to see him and

before I left that ward I had the

privilege of leading that man to Jesus

Christ the next day the other fella was

released that ever didn't know what was

wrong with him

know why he was in that hospital to get

that preacher down there to lead that

dying man to Jesus Christ now my friend

you have chains you are chained to your

children to your home to your job to

your wheelchair you say I can't serve

the Lord you can have the joy of

ministry if you'll just let God use

those chains for the furtherance of the gospel

now in verses 15 through 19 Paul had his

critics we all have our critics I

receive mail from people who criticize

some of the things we say and do or we

don't say and do and I've been a pastor

of three different churches I know what

criticism is like I don't mind honest

loving criticism it can help me but all

that malicious divisive criticism that

really hurts Paul talks about that in

verses 15 through 19 some indeed preach

Christ even of envy and strife and some

also of good will the one preach Christ

of contention rivalry a competition not

sincerely supposing to add affliction to

my bonds but the other of love knowing

that I am set for the defense of the

gospel at words set means I'm on duty

I'm not a prisoner I'm a soldier I'm on

duty here to defend the gospel what then

notwithstanding in every way whether in

pretence or in truth Christ is preached

and in that I do rejoice yay and I will

rejoice for I know that this shall turn

to my salvation

meaning deliverance from prison through

your prayer and the supply of the spirit

of Jesus Christ you see in Rome the

church was divided there was a three-way

division here with regard to the Apostle

Paul number one there was a small group

of people who were silent they weren't

saying anything they said we'd want to

get involved then the majority was

speaking out and witnessing for the Lord

but the majority was divided into two

groups there was one group that was out

to sincerely preach the gospel and win

people to Christ the other group was

preaching the gospel to create problems

for Paul isn't it too bad we have

competition and abrasion in the work of

the Lord isn't it too bad that that

there are those who are standing away

from us and criticizing isn't it too bad

that there are people who can actually

preach gospel sermons but do it in such

a spirit that they create dissension and

division now how should we respond to

this Paul had to respond to

his critics and what they were doing was

cutting much deeper than his chains were

cutting they were insincere they were

using the gospel to further their own

desires and their own purposes they were

using it in a political sense and they

were hurting others they were unloving

they were making it hard on Paul are you

making it difficult for other people to

minister I have a friend who prays every

day Lord helped me today not to add to

anybody's burdens that's a good prayer

they were divisive they probably envied

Paul and they were out trying to cause

contention now here were these three

groups of people

the silent minority the majority

witnessing for Christ part of them out

of love for Paul part of them trying to

create problems for Paul and what did

Paul do he said I'm just glad they're

preaching the gospel you know there are

some servants of God whose methods I

disagree with their motives I sometimes

question I don't want to judge them only

God knows their heart but you know I'm

glad that they're preaching Christ I'm

glad that somehow through their voice

through their lives Christ is being

preached we don't always agree on

everything but we do agree on the gospel

they were really only hurting themselves

Paul was out trying to establish the

gospel so that these people could

continue to minister you'd think that

they would have encouraged Paul how did

Paul handle his critics he prayed verse

19 I know that this shall turn to my

salvation through your prayer and the

supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ God

provides through the Holy Spirit and

prayer all that we need to put up with

our critics now you may be being

criticized right now right now preach

your friend you may be going through a

rough time the board may have turned the

heat on I don't know or perhaps it's the

other way around perhaps you're a church

remember and all your preacher does is

get into the pulpit and criticize you

well I want you to know this God can use

even our critics even those who are

creating problems for us to further the

gospel you see if you and I are

concerned about the furtherance of the

gospel we aren't going to worry about

our chains we're going to use those

chains to get contact with the lost and

to give courage to other people to

witness we aren't going to worry about

our critics we're gonna let God take

care of them we're gonna pray and do the

job God wants us to do and we're going

to preach Christ and we're going to

rejoice that others are preaching Jesus

Christ now in verses 20 through 26

the Apostle Paul deals with the third

tool that God used to advance the gospel

namely his crisis

what was his crisis there was the

possibility that he might die you see

Paul was in Rome technically to defend

the gospel of Jesus Christ in the early

stages of the church the Roman Empire

looked upon Christianity as another kind

of Judaism now the Jewish religion was

an accepted approved religion in the

Roman Empire the Romans did not

persecute the Jews because they were not

bowing down to Caesar well the first

Christians were Jewish people and many

of the first churches were came out of

synagogues and the Jewish believers used

to meet in the temple and so in the

early stages of Christianity the Roman

Empire looked upon the Christian Church

as one other group in Judaism then when

the Jews began to persecute the

Christians the Romans woke up to the

fact that there was a difference and

they found out that the Christian faith

was not Judaism continued rather it was

the fulfillment of Judaism

now this meant that the Christian faith

was on trial and Paul was in Rome hoping

to be able to get for the church the

same kind of recognition that Judaism

had in other words he wanted the Roman

Empire to accept the Christian faith

because of the Christians could not

stand at an altar dedicated to a pagan

god and say Caesar is Lord their

confession was Jesus Christ is Lord and

Paul was willing to lay down his life if

necessary in order to give recognition

to the church throughout the

an empire and so this is his crisis

verses 20 through 26 of Philippians 1

according to my earnest expectation and

my hope that in nothing I shall be

ashamed but that with all boldness as

always so now also Christ shall be

magnified in my body whether it be by

life or by death for to me to live is

Christ and to die is gain but if I live

in the flesh that is in my human body

this is the fruit of my labor

yet what I shall choose I know not for I

am in a strait between two having a

desire to depart and to be with Christ

which is far better nevertheless to

abide in the flesh is more needful for

you and having this confidence I know

that I shall abide and continue with you

all for your furtherance and joy of

faith that your rejoicing may be more

abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my

coming to you again now there was a

possibility that Paul might die there

had been a preliminary trial and Paul

had apparently come off from that trial

in pretty good condition they must have

made some decisions in his favor now

there was going to be another trial and

Paul is facing this with great boldness

his great concern Christ is magnified

notice the sequence now in the

furtherance of the gospel God used his

chains Christ is known God used his

critics Christ is preached and God used

his crisis Christ is magnified now we

have two instruments today that magnify

we have telescopes and we have

microscopes a telescope is an instrument

that takes distant things and brings

them close a microscope is an instrument

that takes little things and makes them

look big when the world looks at Jesus

Christ he seems very far away you stop

the average person on the street and you

say excuse me ma'am excuse me sir where

do you think Jesus is oh yea Jesus well he

is a character in history some 2000

years ago wasn't he born in Bethlehem as

far as the average person is concerned

Jesus Christ is very far away now you

and I are to be God's telescopes to

bring him near and as far as the world

is concerned Jesus Christ is very small

who is Jesus Christ compared to some

great athletic star or some great movie

star or some politician the average

person in the world today would not

think about Jesus Christ let alone

mention his name unless it be in vain

you and I are to be God's microscopes to

make Jesus Christ very big you see Paul

said I am NOT in Rome to make Paul big

I'm not here to magnify Paul now if

you're out to magnify yourself you'll

have no joy in your ministry you may

have praise you may have a fan club but

you won't have any joy if you want joy

in your ministry you make Christ known

and you preach Christ and you magnify

Christ well the test of our lives is

Philippians 1:21 for to me to live is

what for to me to live is money to die

is to lose it all for to me to live is

the build a kingdom to die is to be

forgotten for to me to live is power or

fame to die is to lose every bit of it

but when you can say for to me to live

is Christ then you can say to die is

gain yes God is able to use a crisis to

magnify Jesus Christ you may be in a

crisis today just say with Paul I want

Christ to be magnified whether it's by

life or by death I want him to receive

all of the glory [Music]

[Music]

we're glad you joined us today if you

missed part of the program or you'd like

to listen again just come to back to the

Bible org so be sure to come back again

for more wisdom from God's word back to

the Bible leading you forward in your

relationship with Jesus Christ you

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