Philippians 1:12-18

I'm going to continue Philippians tonight.

It's an interesting passage we're looking at tonight, and there's a lot to be said about it.

It's good to see everybody. I know it's been probably a busy day on campus, and the fact that you're here just shows that you really want to learn the Word of God and really apply it to your life.

And I pray that it does that tonight.

I hope that you leave walking away feeling challenged and encouraged and pushed a little bit.

So, an introduction. I'll give you a brief introduction to this, but I think the focal point of what we're going to talk about is in verse 12 of what we just read.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.

And Paul is explaining this in such a way to where he's like, my imprisonment or my time here that I'm in Rome, don't feel bad about this.

Because it's worked out for the greater good or the advancement of the Gospel.

God has used it that way.

And no matter what circumstance you find in, we're to be proclaiming Christ to a lost world.

And no matter where you are in your life, not looking to do something later or when things work out a little better for you.

It's like wherever you are is where God has you right now, and He wants you to be proclaiming the Gospel.

And a focus, a really interesting thing we're going to look at in this first verse is where He says, has really served to advance the Gospel.

That word advance is a really, really awesome word.

It's a military word.

It means like how, like when an army was on the march, people would have to go in front of the army and like clear the way.

They'd have to cut down trees, cross rivers, and do all these things so that the army could move forward.

It's the kind of context that that's kind of used in.

Paul is like saying that that's happening with the Gospel.

And, you know, I mean, I guess one of the best illustrations you could give, at least on earthly standards, I guess, I could talk forever about this.

I'm not going to.

Those of you who know me know I like stuff like this, but I'm resisting talking about the whole night about this.

But imagine that you and I lived back in 200s BC, and I told you, okay, I want you to organize an army from several different nations,

most of which nations don't really like each other too much.

They all speak different languages.

I want you to build an army of these people, train them,

and I want you to march over 1,000 miles over rugged wilderness across rivers.

And if you deal with, like, the native peoples there, you're just going to have to fight them and defeat them and keep moving on to the goal.

And then eventually you're going to have to cross the Alps, cross those mountains in a really cold part of the year.

And once you do that, after you've kept everything together, I want you to go down towards Rome,

and I want you to, like, defeat or annihilate 10 Roman legions numbering around 70,000 men.

You think you can do that?

1,000 miles, like, going over all this rugged wilderness, and that actually happened.

A general that a lot of people know about today, he's studied and admired over tons of different military campuses.

Hannibal actually did this.

He united people from many different nations and brought them together for a common cause, which was to fight against Rome.

And Rome had devastated his country, which was Carthage.

It was in North Africa at the time, modern-day Morocco area.

And they had, you know, his father had fought against them.

It was just a hatred to be, well, he just brought up to be just hating Rome.

And so he was out to destroy Rome, and he did that.

He gathered around 38,000 infantry by 8,000 cavalry, and he began this march.

And about, he crossed over the land, he crossed over the Alps, and, like, eventually, he also had 37 war elephants.

I forgot to answer, bring that up.

That's pretty crazy.

But he crossed over many different rivers, and one river, it was a huge river, he had to cross his army.

On the other side of it, there was a large number of Romans he had to fight, just on the other side of the river.

He was able to do that.

He crossed them over in, like, rafts.

When they landed, they just came around and, like, defeated the Romans.

And he went through the Alps in the northern part of Italy.

He crossed the Alps in, like, freezing weather.

He cut through the mountains, pretty amazing, and made his own roads.

And then he came down, and he faced a Roman army, about 70,000 or so.

And he, it was known as the greatest defeat in Roman history.

Around 70,000 men were killed at Cannae.

Pretty crazy victory for Hannibal.

And so, no matter what the obstacle was, like, he was just, didn't care.

He was going to face it and overcome.

And how crazy this must be for us to even hear about something like that.

But it's really garbage compared to what God has done since the beginning of creation to bring man, you know,

back into a relationship to himself and sending Christ to reconcile us to God.

And God has committed, like we talked about this last week, to his saving purpose no matter what it takes.

He will accomplish what he set out to do.

He'll begin the good work that he began, and he will finish it.

And so there's no power.

I want you to turn.

There's a few places to turn tonight.

Isaiah 40.

Hold your hand in Philippians, but turn to Isaiah 40.

But no power in this world or in the spiritual realm will stop God's advancement of the gospel.

He promises that he will achieve it.

One day he will have a people from every nation, tribe, and tongue worshiping Jesus.

And Isaiah 40, go to verse 3 and see if this passage sounds familiar to something in the New Testament.

This is 7,000 years before Christ.

And it says,

This is what John the Baptist quoted.

He's like, I am that voice crying in the wilderness, and the Messiah is here, and he's going to move forward.

His kingdom will not have an end, and God will have his glory on this earth.

So Paul understands this, that God is committed to his saving cause,

and that no matter where he finds himself, even while he's being imprisoned in Rome,

he knows that it's for the advancement of the gospel.

So, we're going to look at four different things that Paul brings up here,

as far as what does the gospel do to us, to those around us,

and that's kind of what we're going to focus on.

But number one is, sharing the gospel affects your soul.

Like as a child of God, as a believer, as a follower of Christ,

sharing the gospel is good for your soul.

It affects your soul.

So, he recognized that the power of the gospel was being released by his imprisonment.

And he knew that God had sovereignly brought him there every step of the way.

And he knew why he was there was for God to advance this cause.

And he didn't complain.

He didn't say,

I wish I could just kind of get out of the situation and go do something else and get out on the streets.

But he understood that, like Joseph in Genesis, that what was being meant for evil, God was going to use for good.

He was aware of that thinking of God and how God carried out these plans.

Flip to 2 Timothy 2.

I think after this one, I just have three other places for you to look for the night.

But 2 Timothy 2, I want to show you what he says here.

So, one of the biggest services that clothes nations to the gospel and people that are hostile towards the gospel,

one of the greatest things they actually do to serve the gospel and advance the gospel is like try to persecute it and throw people in prison.

And it always ends up backfiring on whatever cause they're trying to carry out.

But 2 Timothy 2, go to verse 8.

Paul says,

Timothy, probably this is,

you should know 2 Timothy is probably the last letter Paul wrote,

so, his last word, so to say.

He says,

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David,

as preached in my gospel,

for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal,

but the word of God is not bound.

Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect,

that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, the eternal glory.

So, he's rejoicing.

And that's, he's stuck in this place.

He can't get out.

And in this go-around,

this was not written in the same context as Philippians.

He was in a dungeon cell.

He was waiting for death.

He wasn't waiting on trial like in this previous time.

This was after Paul's fourth missionary journey when he wrote 2 Timothy.

And this is after the second one when he wrote Philippians.

But he understands that though I'm here and I can't really physically go anywhere,

like God's power is not limited to my physical dimension.

Like God's word is not bound.

God's word is going to continue to move forward and change lives.

And I'm willing to endure anything, he says,

anything for the sake of those whom God is going to bring salvation to.

I'm willing to endure hardship and suffering and even death if it means that they can be reached with the gospel.

Very powerful words.

Because I want that attitude.

I don't always have it.

And, but I want whatever it takes.

You know, if it means my life,

I want it to mean that for the sake of those who will be saved.

So, I want you to think about this.

How sharing the gospel affects you.

You might not think about that that much.

You always think of like sharing the gospel is just for the people on the outside.

But what we love the most is what we glorify the most, is what we praise the most.

So, what we talk about, what we do with our time, the activities we engage in, what we do with our money,

it reveals like what you love.

So, you can say that you love Christ, but if your life shows something totally different,

you might want to recheck that.

But it's like, have you ever wondered like why that's so?

Why do we bring praise to the things that we love?

And before C.S. Lewis was a Christian, he was like reading through the Bible,

and he was kind of curious, like he was reading through the Psalms,

and he was like, why does it always talk about praise God?

Like, what's all this praise about?

And while he was writing about that, this is something he said,

I have noticed, excuse me, I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.

The world rings with praise.

Lovers praising their mistress.

Readers praising their favorite poet.

Walkers praising the countryside.

And players praising their favorite game.

I think, this is really cool, he says,

I think we delight to praise that we enjoy,

because the praise not merely expresses,

but completes the enjoyment in it.

It is the consummation of enjoyment.

So, like we can't help but talk about what we're joyful about,

and what we love, and so it comes out of us.

And the gospel is not meant to be something that is hoarded by us.

It's not designed that way.

Christ didn't give you joy and save you so that you could hold it inside.

And, often, he'll allow you to be very, very miserable,

and you'll wonder why.

That could be why, a lot of the times.

A great analogy or picture I've heard this metaphor

is like how the Dead Sea in Israel,

there's a lot of water that flows into the Dead Sea from different places.

And, there's a lot going into it,

but there's no water coming out of the Dead Sea.

And so, what happens is, like, everything in there dies.

That's why it's called that.

And that's what joy will be like in us

if God is pouring himself into us

and giving us much of himself,

and he's increasing who he is in us,

and we refuse to let it come out onto other people.

And, we're meant to have such a joy and such a delight in God

that it overflows onto the people that are around us,

and to love him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And, the result of that is loving those around us.

And, so, if we have Christ in us, he can't be held in.

You have to talk about him.

It's like this thing you just, like you're going to blow up if you don't.

And, you know, so it does good to our souls

to, like, express the joy that we have.

You ever been so excited about something?

I mean, just think about something you just got super stoked about,

and then, like, you just couldn't talk about it.

I mean, you're just like, like this thing that you just can't.

You feel like you're about to explode, like I said.

And, that's what enjoyment of God will do.

It has to come out.

And, Jeremiah said, if I don't speak in his name,

there's like a fire that's shut up in me,

and I have to let it out.

So, first of all, sharing the gospel affects your soul.

Secondly, the gospel affects the souls of the lost.

And, this is probably the obvious one,

but I want you to think about this.

Let's go back to Philippians, sorry,

and go to verse 13, and we'll see this.

So, he's talking about,

my imprisonment is turned out for the advancement of the gospel,

so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard,

and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ.

So, Paul is rejoicing,

because, while he's being in prison,

he's becoming well-known throughout the whole city of Rome.

And, the imperial guard is,

another word is the praetorian guard.

We've mentioned them in the first night here.

You can go back and listen to that message if you want to know more context.

But, these are the guys, like I said,

were in gladiator.

They're wearing, like, the purple,

and they're the dudes that are just jocking everybody up.

But, they were the elite guard of the emperor.

They guarded the Palatine Hill,

where the palace was,

and important places in Rome that are like the secret police.

And, more than likely,

Paul's case would have been heard by the commander of the praetorian guard.

And, so, he's around these guys a lot.

And, so, what's really cool is, you know,

he could be saying, like,

I wish that I could just get out of this position.

And, you know, these guys come,

and they change the guards all the time with him, probably.

And, he's just kind of sitting there,

and, I mean, you know they've got to be talking about stuff.

You know, like, Paul's sitting there with these guards.

And, so, I mean, what are you doing here?

Why is this?

Why are you here in Rome?

This kind of seems ridiculous.

And, he would just, well,

and just kind of go into it with them.

And, that just began to affect the whole guard.

And, eventually, it would go into Caesar's own home,

to the palace on the Palatine Hill.

And, so, even the people in Caesar's household,

which he mentions later in the letter,

are knowing Christ and becoming believers.

And, they probably tried to keep it on the down low,

because that's, at the time,

Nero was the head honcho of the Palatine Hill.

And, so, he understood, like,

this is why I'm here.

And, like, my imprisonment here

is affecting some of the elite of Rome.

You know, these men that hold these positions

as civil magistrates and guards,

this is turning out for the advancement of the Gospel.

And, so, our hearts,

if you really know Christ,

your heart should break for the lost.

You have no hope.

You have, they're thirsting for the water

that only Christ can give them.

They're seeking pleasure in everything but their Creator.

They're living as masters of their own lives

and seeking to determine their own destiny.

And, I bet that a lot of them

are actually pretty filled with fear.

I know I would be.

I can remember times that I was in my life.

Like, who's piloting my ship right now?

I hope it's not me,

because I don't know the crap I'm doing.

And, I really,

it brings a lot of fear to us all to know that.

And, they're longing to hear

that they have a,

something far greater to live for than themselves.

And, I hope they can be found in Christ.

And, they're waiting to hear that news.

So, we should be able to go

through whatever extremes necessary

to reach those people.

We're going to touch back on this at the end,

so I don't want to wear it out now.

But, in Jude 1, 22, it says,

Have mercy on those who doubt.

Save others by snatching them out of the fire.

To others, show mercy with fear.

And, if we're to rescue those people,

like, be God's instrument to go to them

and be the means by which He saves these people.

So, second, sharing the gospel affects the lost souls.

We're going to come back to that.

Number three, sharing the gospel

affects fellow believers.

So, look at verse 14.

And, most of the brothers,

having become confident in the Lord

by my imprisonment,

are much more bold to speak the word

without fear.

So, the believers around that are in Rome

and the Philippians who are reading this letter

are becoming more and more bold

to speak the gospel

because they know, like,

what Christ is,

or what Paul is enduring there.

His imprisonment is throwing them up

to go and, like,

to share more.

And, I know that one of the biggest ways,

I mean, I don't know how you do it,

but one of the biggest ways

that I get really fired up

to go and share the gospel with people

is, like, just for someone to even tell me,

like, a story of the gospel advancing.

You know, I've already mentioned this before,

I believe,

but I really loved living with John Overton

and Josh Middleton

because we would come together most nights

and there would always be some kind of story

we would just share,

like the gospel going forward on campus

or elsewhere,

and it would just get us so pumped up

to go out the next day

and just find somebody

just to go after some guy

just to love and serve

and give the truth to.

And, or when I hear about stuff

that's going on abroad in the U.S.

or overseas,

it gets me really excited.

I met a guy

while I was in Belfast

a few summers ago

in northern Ireland.

There's a conflict going on there.

I'm not going to get into that necessarily,

but Irish Catholics

against, like,

the British, Scottish Protestants

that are in the north,

and this struggle has been going on

for hundreds and hundreds of years,

and they hate each other

with a passion.

It's not,

they're brought up to, like,

hate the other people,

and I met a guy

at a camp

who,

that was sharing

that,

I actually met this guy

and it was pretty,

pretty awesome,

but he,

he was a leader

of one of the Protestant

militia groups

for a long time,

the Ulster Defense Army,

and he was a pretty jacked dude.

He had tattoos

all over his arm.

He had scars

all over his body

from, like, knife fights

and he had been shot

in a few places

and I know that he had definitely

probably killed many men

just,

just standing there

and he was telling

these teenagers

at this camp,

like,

don't fall into that mess,

you know,

it's not worth it.

I gave my life

for this cause

and,

and I was going down

a long road

to perishing,

you know,

and so please,

like,

Jesus is worth it

and I asked him

how he came

to know Christ

and he said

that there was

a believer

just in that community

that began,

like,

with some fear

but went

and just got

into that group,

just started hanging out

with,

like,

being around those guys,

not joining them

but just being around them

and,

like,

was pretty fearful,

I mean,

these guys could really

jack me up

or kill me

just by me

hanging out with them

and,

I mean,

he kind of befriended

this guy

and just started

sharing some life

with him

and this guy

started planting

seeds of truth

and eventually

this guy

was born again

and now he's,

like,

renounced all that

and just going out

to spread the gospel

to these other guys

there in Belfast

and that just got so,

when I think about that,

I get so excited

to see the gospel

moving forward

and,

so,

it does good to us,

fellow believers,

when you hear about

the thing you love

being spread

to other people,

it just excites you

and gives your zeal

a huge push

and the fourth thing,

then we're going to come back

to some other things,

but the fourth thing is

sharing the gospel

affects,

I mean,

I have to explain this word,

it affects opponents

and look at verse 15,

verse 15,

chapter 1,

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 rivalry,

not sincerely,

but thinking to afflict my,

afflict me in my imprisonment,

what then,

only that in every way,

whether in pretense or truth,

Christ is proclaimed,

and in that I rejoice,

so there is some stuff

that you probably just,

I want you to know about here,

but Jesus warned

that eventually

the greatest,

some of the greatest opponents

to the gospel

would be like from within

the church itself,

you would always just think

from the outside of the church,

but Jesus warned

that many of the great battles

the church had to fight

would come from within

its own ranks,

and the danger would be

from within

as well as from without,

and Paul understood that as well,

and so he had witnessed

hostility from different religious factions,

the Jews or the pagans,

you know,

of other countries,

and he understood that,

but you would expect hostility

to come from like the lost world around you,

darkness doesn't like the light

kind of thing,

but it really does hurt

to have a fellow believer

slander you

and attack you

and falsely accuse you

for something that's not true at all

for different reasons,

and so this word,

I want you to look at that text

where it says out of envy or strife,

it means really to like

to deprive someone

of something that's rightfully theirs,

to try to steal away

because you're jealous,

you want to steal away

like the prominence somebody has

or the crowds they're gathering

or the popularity

that they're gaining,

you want that

and you don't want them to get it,

and that's kind of like

what was going on,

so they weren't doing it

out of a spirit of love at all,

they were doing it

out of a divisive spirit,

and the problem

was not necessarily

with their theology,

but they were teaching

the real gospel,

the problem was in their

their desires

and their motives

for why they were doing it,

and there was,

in the Old Testament,

there was,

false prophets

were often called seers

by the real prophets,

they would come around

to town to town

and they would say,

they would do like

a little show,

they would put on something,

and they would say

certain things

that helped the people

give them money

for being a prophet,

but they really had no power,

and they weren't really

from God,

and so these seers

were speaking the gospel,

they were doing it

because they were

jealous of Paul,

and they hated

like the influence

he had,

and the authority

he had been given,

to the point where

they're like,

we wanted to gather,

you know,

these people that are

listening to you,

we want to steal them away,

and like,

have them a part

of our group,

so to say,

and so they sought

to dismantle

his reputation

by accusing him

of a lot of false things

that he didn't do,

so Paul recognized this,

but he also recognized

that other people

are doing this

out of right motive,

out of love,

out of a righteous spirit

that they have,

and so he knows

that both of these

are going on

at the same time,

and Paul also knew,

like,

he would think,

well,

that's not cool,

like,

these people that are

doing that,

then why are they

having success

if they're doing this

with the wrong motives?

Well,

Paul rejoices

because he just understands,

I don't care,

this is not a competition,

as long as Christ

is being proclaimed clearly

and doctrinally soundly,

I don't really care,

because Paul knew

something tremendous

about God

that I try to think

about a lot,

but it really failed to,

but God is not limited

to circumstances,

he will work,

he will work

even evil people

and the things

they do

for his purpose,

he'll work

in spite of people,

he'll work

around all kind

of situations

to achieve

what he wants,

a great example

of this

is in Isaiah,

years before

this man lived,

Isaiah names

King Cyrus

of Persia

as the man

who would eventually

come

and punish

the Babylonians

for their evil

and at the same time

restore Judah

back to their homeland,

so he's telling this

years and years

and years

way before

Cyrus was ever born

and like Isaiah

names him several times,

like God is saying

to him,

Cyrus,

you are my servant,

I will do this

through you,

and then he says

in there twice,

though you do not

know me,

though you do not

know me,

I'm going to use you

for my purpose,

it's very,

very crazy,

so Paul understood,

let these guys

have their day,

you know,

like this is not

going to bother me

at all,

they can preach

all they want,

but it's not going

to do their souls

any good,

so as long as

Christ is being

proclaimed,

it really doesn't

bother me,

I'm going to rejoice,

and so I know

that two camps

possibly could be

in here,

those who aren't

sharing our faith

and some that are,

but if you are,

I want you to ask

yourself the question,

why am I doing it,

why am I proclaiming

Christ,

check your motives

for why you are

doing those things,

I'm sorry,

I'm having a hard

time breathing

today,

I've been trying

to get my airways

going,

but,

so I want to

just ask a few

things,

why are you

proclaiming the

gospel,

if you are,

is it because

people will look

at you and be

like,

wow,

he's really

serious about

his faith,

he seems to

be gathering a

lot of people

to himself,

he's got a

really big

evangelistic

Bible study

going on,

or all these

things,

I know people,

I've met

people,

and like,

you know,

it'll be a

girl or a

guy who

is getting

all serious

about evangelism

because they're

trying to

impress somebody

of the opposite

sex about how

serious they are

about their

faith,

and like,

just things like

that,

and ministries

and churches

that will also

like,

content with each

other,

like,

because they

want bigger

numbers than

the people down

the street,

and they want

the most things

going on,

and so they'll

slanderously

sow things into

people's hearts

about those

people so they

will leave and

come there,

so examine

why you do

those things,

you know,

and I understand

that your motives

can sometimes

change,

you can have

a pure desire

to really make

Christ known,

and then you

get caught up

in like,

yeah,

I really want

to be successful

in this,

so Jesus

warned in

Matthew 7,

we don't have

to turn there,

but Matthew

7,

21,

that a lot

of people

were going

to come to

him one day

and say that,

Jesus,

we did all

this stuff

for you,

we cast

out demons

in your name,

we proclaim

the gospel,

so forth,

and he's

going to tell

them,

I never

knew you,

you know,

you're doing

that of your

own accord,

and you had

your reward

while you

were there,

I never

knew you,

and so,

those are the

four things,

but what I

mainly wanted

to do is just

focus on some

application

tonight,

and I had

a hard time

really knowing

how to talk

about some

of this,

because I knew

what I

think needed

to be said,

but I

didn't just

want to jump

over the

passage,

this is what

the passage

is about,

and the essence

of it,

and how do

we really

bring this

into our

lives now,

but the

question is,

you know,

is the

advancement of

the gospel,

or the progress

of the gospel,

one of the

passions of

your life,

is it what

you live for,

is it what

drives you,

where does

your energy

go,

is it to

the advancement

of the

gospel,

where do

you,

where is

your reading

and your

thinking,

and that

kind of

stuff,

where does

that go,

is it for

the advancement

of the

gospel,

and because

all those

things are

going to

reveal where

your heart

is,

and so

we're going

to look at

just a few

of these

things,

but what

are some

excuses that

you might

make up,

and I've

made these up

myself in

the past,

what excuses

do you make

for not sharing

the gospel,

I'm going to

look at some

of these,

but number

one,

one reason

why we're

not really

interested in

advancing the

gospel is

that our

circumstances,

we think

that we're

victims of

our circumstances,

if God

would just

work this

out,

if things

weren't so

busy right

now,

if I was

just in this

position,

or not that

position,

if I'm

stuck in

this place,

or if

this didn't

happen to

me,

then I

wouldn't

be quiet

about

Christ,

even like,

if God

would just

work out

for me to

go and

have this

awesome

ministry

position,

then I

would get

so serious

about sharing

the gospel,

or if

God would

just send

me to

this nation

and I

could go

do missions

in this

place,

I would

be so

serious

about sharing

my faith.

I want

you to know

those are

all lies,

there's nothing

justifiable,

in any

of that.

If God

puts you

in a

position,

He has

you

sovereignly

there,

right now,

like to

be faithful

where you

are right

now,

to be

sharing

where you

are right

now,

why would

you ever

think God

would move

you into a

different place

if you

weren't being

faithful with

where you

are?

And if

Christ is

the love

of your

life,

then you'll

talk about

Him.

You're going

to find

ways to

make this

happen,

and He'll

take precedence

over all

those things.

So,

if you're

not sharing

the gospel

tonight,

there's either

one or two

reasons.

One is,

your love

and your

zeal for

Christ has

really been

calmed down,

it's been

cooled off,

and you've

grown,

you belong

to Christ,

but you've

grown lukewarm.

And the

only other

option after

that is you

might not

know Christ,

and that's

why you

don't have

that passion.

And those

are the

two only

reasons for

why we

don't share

our faith.

And a

second reason

is,

if you're

at my

community

group last

night,

we actually

touched on

this briefly,

but I'm

afraid to

share my

faith.

I have

fear about

going out

and talking

to my

friends and

the people

that God

puts into

my life.

I'm afraid

of this.

And if

you look

really,

really hard,

there's

actually like

a hidden

idolatry in

your life,

and it's

not fear.

We don't

live in a

country,

at least

now we

don't,

that if

you speak

the name

of Christ,

you're not

going to

get thrown

in prison,

you're not

going to

get a

bullet

through your

head.

That's

probably not

going to

happen.

It can,

but probably

is not going

to happen.

If you're

not afraid

for your

life,

that might

be a little

different in

some of

these other

nations where

we have

brothers and

sisters that

are advancing

the gospel

in those

contexts.

But the

truth is

here,

you're not

fearful,

you're very

prideful.

You want

to be seen

as cool

and acceptable

and you

want people

to like

you.

And you're

not willing

to be

humiliated for

the sake of

their soul.

Whether they

turn against

you or don't

turn against

you,

you're not

willing to

kind of shed

that off

and come

to them

regardless.

So it's

a hidden

idolatry

of your

pride.

You want

to be

known and

loved and

respected by

those people

around you.

And you're

aware that

the gospel

can be

divisive.

Derek Webb

has a song

where he has

this one line

in the song,

the truth

is never

sexy,

so it's

never an

easy sale.

You can't

just dress up

the gospel

to make it

acceptable to

a lost

world.

Some people

are going

to hate

you because

of it.

I mean,

Jesus taught

these things.

It happened

to him.

He said,

if they

persecute me,

I promise

they'll

persecute you.

I'm the

spotless

lamb of

God and

they hate

me and

they're going

to crucify

me.

And so

we have

to,

we're not

afraid.

Stop using

that excuse.

It's really

something much

deeper.

Pray that God

just breaks

you and

just shows

you that

it's not

worth it.

Your friends,

you need to

be willing to

lose your

reputation if

necessary to

reach your

friends.

And the

question really

isn't,

should I

be, I

mean,

ever heard

anybody just

say, I'm

praying about

it.

That's the

really

Christianized

way of

like disguising

your fear a

lot of the

time or your

pride.

I'm praying

about it.

You know

what?

You don't

need to pray

about what

God's already

commanded you

to do.

He says,

go and

make

disciples.

He says,

go and

reach the

lost.

They need

me in

their lives.

But what you

do need to

pray about

is how to

go about

it, the

strength to

carry it

out, and

pray for

their soul

because you

know that

you have

no power

to change

them.

That's the

things you

pray about.

You don't

negotiate the

commands of

God in

prayer.

God's like,

make me

known.

Make me

known to

these people

and seek

me for

direction,

strength,

and wisdom

on how to

reach them.

So,

they're in

your lives

for a

reason.

God has

put them

there so

that you

would be

Christ in

that spot

to them.

And I

have another

reason.

well, I'll

make one

more comment

about that.

This kind

of came to

my mind.

I want to

have more

of a

discussion

with you

tonight.

But there's

something that

a lot of

ministries do,

a lot of

churches do

this, and

it's really

trendy today

for sure,

but this

idea of

friendship

evangelism.

You ever

heard of that

or something

like that?

I have to

be really

good friends

with this

person and

be around

them for

at least

six months.

I'm going

to say at

least six

months.

And then

maybe they'll

listen to me

if I share

the gospel

with them.

there's a lot

of flaws in

that.

But what I

don't want

you to hear

from me is

don't love

these people,

don't befriend

these people,

and don't serve

these people.

I'm saying

definitely do

that.

I'm only

saying that

you don't

love them

if you

don't do

that.

You need

to be a

part of

their life

and a

part of

their world

and find

ways to

show them

the love

of Christ

and love

them sacrificially.

Do things

for them.

Be a part

of their

life and be

in their

world.

Show them

that you

care.

That is

what good

works,

a lot of

the old

confessions

say,

good works

adorn the

gospel.

They make

beautiful the

gospel by how

we treat

people with

the love of

Christ that

he's shown

us.

So I'm

not saying

that.

I'm just

saying that

I think

that a lot

of people

use that

as a

disguise for

not sharing

the gospel.

I'm just

getting to

know him.

My bro,

you've been

getting to

know him

for five

months now

and you're

with him

every day.

What's the

deal?

And it's

wrong because

you're living

on presumption.

You're saying

that I know

that in six

months this

guy's going

to still be

around and

I'm still

going to be

around and

this is going

to work out.

You don't

know what

tomorrow holds.

You need to

live if it

is your last

day and

really seek

to love

these people

and give

them Christ

while you

have the

opportunity.

The gospel

has urgency

in it.

I mean it

does have

to weigh the

cost and

think about

what you're

doing but

it's not

like saying

I have

the ability

to put

this off

for months

and months

and months

while I

try to get

to know

this guy

so he'll

listen to

me.

God's

power is

greater than

that.

So I guess

my word is

just be

obedient.

If there's a

person in

your life

and you're

like I want

to show

Christ to

them I

don't know

how to go

about this

but I'm

going to do

it I don't

know how

yet.

Lord show

me.

Be obedient.

He may be

like just

be with

them right

now.

Just listen

to them

right now.

Just serve

them right

now.

When I'm

ready I'm

going to

tell you.

I'm going

to make

it clear.

This is

the time

you need

to speak.

Be

obedient.

And then

it could be

the other

way around.

I remember

going up in

the dorms

not this

past August

but last

August.

Up in

it was

Louis I

believe

yeah up

in Louis

and

and I

just barely

met this

guy.

And I

was just

talking with

him and

he liked

to just

invite me

in his

room.

I went

and was

just getting

to know

him and

he asked

me about

who I

was and

stuff and

I just

really felt

this strong

urge and

leave him

I'm just

going to

give him

everything

right now

and just

poured out

the gospel

to this

guy and

he was

just like

wow

never heard

that before

that's

amazing.

and wanted

to meet

up afterwards

like I

knew the

guy for

probably 15

minutes before

I started

pumping him

with the

gospel.

And that was

just the

leading of

the spirit

and the

power of

God.

God might

have said

just back

off of

this guy

right now

and just

hang out

with him

right now.

Just be

obedient to

what's going

on.

It's not

we want a

rule where

God says

share it

right now

or don't

share it

right now.

And that's

not what

God's going

to do.

He's about

working in

your heart

and changing

you as

he's working

in somebody

else's life

and growing

you in

relationship

to him.

So,

but don't

use friendship

evangelism as

like a disguise

to like not

share the

gospel.

I know a lot

of people

do that.

Just be

obedient.

And when

he says

act, act.

So,

another one,

and this is

probably one of

the last ones

I can think

of at the

moment,

but it's

like I

don't,

my knowledge

is limited.

I feel like

this guy's

just going

to throw

all this

stuff my

way.

I have

no idea

how to

answer

that.

So,

if God

is all

powerful

and God

is all

good,

you know,

and he

has the

power to

destroy

evil and

the desire

to destroy

evil,

why is

there evil?

You know

how to

answer that?

You know,

like if they

throw those

kind of

questions at

you,

and it

actually makes

you feel

like I

don't know

how to

answer

these

heavy

philosophical

theological

questions.

I don't

know how

to talk

to an

agnostic

or atheist

or someone

who just

doesn't care

at all,

or relativism

where everything's

true to

each individual,

whatever is

true to them

is true for

them.

It's okay.

You know,

don't wait

till,

you don't have

to go to

seminary and

read all the

greatest Christian

authors and

memorize the

entire scripture

before you go

out and

share the

gospel with

somebody.

because it's

the power of

God that

saves people.

If it was

up to us

to go out

and convince

people and

to argue

them into

heaven,

then it

would be

different.

But God

has said

that's not

the case.

You can

read 1

Corinthians

1,

2,

and 3,

and then

Paul will

tell you

that.

He tells

them,

when I

came to

you,

I didn't

come with

wise and

persuasive

words.

Because he

knew that he

didn't have

that.

He knew he

wasn't an

eloquent

speaker.

He didn't

have that

gift.

He wasn't

the greatest

communicator.

Paul knew

that.

And he

told them,

I decided

not to come

to you that

way because

I knew

that I

would be

found wanting.

But what

I did

do is I

came and

I spoke

to you