Rick Warren - Bible Story of Paul in Prison_ These Small Daily Choices Keep You Close to God

Now one of the common mistakes that we all make

is we fall into the trap of what I call

when and then thinking. When and then thinking. In other words,

when such and such happens, then I'll be happy. And

you have done this all your life and so have I.

We fall into this when and then thinking. When I

get into college, when I get married, when I have

a baby, when I get a job, when my kids

are born, when my kids leave the house, when and

then thinking, then I'll be happy. Last week I shared

with you five laws of happiness and one of them

is that happiness is a choice. You're as happy as

you choose to be. If you're unhappy, you can't blame

anybody for your unhappiness because happiness is a choice. You

don't go looking for happiness, you create it. It is

something you create. And happiness, by the way, is not

a goal. It is the byproduct of right thinking and

right acting. Now, there are four common barriers to happiness.

I call these the kill joys of life. Because when

any of these enter into your life, then they're going

to rob your happiness unless you're prepared for them. The

first one, of course, is pain. Pain is a killjoy.

It's hard to be happy and in pain at the

same time. But there's another one, and you're familiar with

this too. I call it picky people. Picky people, people

of all kinds actually, can cause you to lose your joy.

They can be irritating, they can be demanding, they can

be uncooperative, they can be arrogant. People are common killjoy

in life. Number three, pressure. Pressure can cause you to

lose your happiness. And you can have pressure from within

yourself or you can have it around you. It can

be internal or it can be external. And then number four,

and one you're all familiar with, of course, is problems. Problems.

And there are all kinds of problems. So pain, people, pressures,

and problems all are what I call the killjoys. Now,

in Philippians chapter one, verses 12 down to about verse

30 or so, Paul talks about all four of these killjoys.

And we have an example of how to be happy

no matter what's going on in your life. Now I

want to remind you that Paul, when he writes this book,

the happiest book, he's in prison. He's in prison in Rome.

In fact, the last four years of Paul's life had

gone like this before he wrote this happiest book in

the Bible. He spent two years in jail in Caesarea

on false charges. Two years in jail for false charges.

Then he is sent on the way to Rome, and

he is shipwrecked in the Mediterranean Ocean on the way

to Rome, and he ends up on a desert island

in the Mediterranean, and he's stranded there for a while

with some people, and while he's there, there are some snakes,

poisonous snakes on that island. He actually gets bit by

a snake while he's there. Then he's imprisoned again for

another two years in Rome with a guard chained to

him 24 hours a day So he has no privacy

at all. He's in prison in Rome with a praetorian guard,

because he was such an important prisoner, chained to him

24 hours a day. He has no privacy. Now Paul

has every reason to be bitter. He has every reason

to be unhappy. He has every reason to be depressed

and have a pity party. Instead he writes this book

on happiness and on joy. Now let me read you

today's text. It's Philippians 1, 12 to 30. It starts

like this. I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,

Paul's writing, that everything that has happened to me has

helped me to spread the good news. For everyone here,

including all the soldiers in the palace guard, know that

I am in chains because of Christ. And I have

gained confidence. Oh, and because of my imprisonment, many of

the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold

in telling others about Christ. Now, some are sharing Christ

out of jealousy and rivalry. He's talking about the people

who are outside. But others preach Christ with pure motives,

and they love me, and they know that the Lord

brought me here to defend the good news. But there

are those who do not have pure motives as they

preach about Christ. And they preach with selfish ambition, and

they're not sincere, intending to make my time in prison

more painful to me. But whether or not their motives

are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ

is being preached, so I rejoice. And I will continue

to rejoice no matter what. For I know that as

you pray for me, he's writing to people in the Philippi,

the church in a city in Greece called Philippi. It's

called Philippians. If he'd write to us, it'd be First Californians.

For I know, he says, that you are praying for me,

and as the Spirit of Jesus helps me, this will

all turn out for my deliverance. And I live in

eager expectation and hope. And then he says, I want

my life to always honor Christ, whether I live or

I die. For to me, living is for Christ, and

dying is even better. If I live, it just means

more fruitful years of service for Christ, but I'm often

torn between two desires. Sometimes I wanna live and sometimes

I long to go on and be with Christ in heaven.

That would be far better for me. But it's better

for you if I live so that you can grow

and that you can experience the joy of your faith.

But whatever happens, you must live in a manner worthy

of the good news about Christ. Don't be intimidated by

your enemies. It will be a sign to them of

their downfall that God's with you and that he will

save you. For you have been given not only the

privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of

suffering for him. And we are in this fight together.

You've seen me suffer for Christ in the past, and

you know that I am still in the middle of

a great struggle. Now that's a very warm, personal note

that Paul's writing. It's a very personal book, this letter

he's writing to his friends in the church of Philippi

that he started. And he talks about how he's maintained

his happiness in spite of everything going in ways he

hadn't planned. Now the key verse in this whole passage

I just read is verse 27, and it says this.

Whatever happens, whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy

of the good news of Christ. So in this passage,

we learn how to be happy no matter what, even

if you're in prison in Rome. And Paul models four habits.

Let's get right into it. Number one, I can be

happy no matter what happens in my life if, number one,

I look at every problem from God's viewpoint. If I

look at every problem from God's viewpoint. You see, happy

people have a larger perspective. They have a bigger world view.

They see the big picture. When I don't have the

big picture, when I don't see things from God's point

of view, I get discouraged, I get frustrated, I get unhappy.

The reason we get unhappy is because we don't see

what God does. Now the truth is, no matter what's

going on in your life, the good, bad, the ugly,

God is working out a plan. And he even takes

all of our mistakes and even puts those into the plan.

He says, I can use that too. My sins, yes.

My faults, yes. What other people do, yes. God says,

I can fit it all into the plan. And Paul

knew this. And so he starts out, the first verse

is verse 12, and he says this. Now I want

you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that

has happened to me has helped spread the good news.

Now let me explain what's going on here. Ever since

Paul had become a Christian on the road to Damascus,

he had dreamed one great dream, and that was this.

I want to preach in Rome. Rome is the center

of the universe. Rome is the capital of the empire.

Rome is the most prestigious, powerful, strategic city in the world.

There was no nation more important than the Roman Empire,

and there was no city more important than Rome. So

Paul's dream is sharing Christ at the center of the universe.

And what he wants to do is this. He wants

to go to Rome, he wants to rent the Colosseum,

and he wants to do a harvest crusade for six months. Yes.

That's what Paul's thinking. I'm going to Rome to preach.

God had another idea. Paul, you're going to go as

a prisoner, and I'm going to make you a royal

prisoner of Caesar. Now, does anybody know who was Caesar

at this point? Nero. You ever heard of that guy? Yeah, Nero.

About as wicked and as bad as you can get.

So Paul is a prisoner of Nero. And as a

royal prisoner with a royal guard chained to him 24

hours a day, he gets to talk to all kinds

of key people he would never otherwise talk to because

he's an important prisoner. He's chained 24 hours a day

to a palace guard for two years. They changed that

guard every four hours. So I added it up. Over

two years, he witnessed to 4,380 guards. Now my question is,

who's the real prisoner here? Who has the captive audience?

Paul is talking to the entire court of Caesar's palace.

And God says, this is my plan. You want to

go do the big city lights national crusade, but I'm

going to put you in prison. And there were two

results of it, we know for sure. Chapter four, when

we get to later on, will tell us that within

two years, some of Nero's own family had become believers

because Paul was a prisoner in Rome. Some of the

royal family had become Christians because Paul was in prison.

And second, Paul, it's kind of like Rick Warren, it's

hard to get him to sit down, sit still, not

stop moving. He's forced to sit still and he, as

a result, writes the New Testament. Hmm, I wonder which

had a bigger impact. Go do Harvest Crusade in the

Coliseum or be forced to sit still hour after hour

and write the New Testament. Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,

and on and on. 1 Timothy and 1 Thessalonians, most

of the New Testament. This is why Paul says, I

want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything

that has happened to me, being in prison, has helped

spread the good news. So he says, I've got my plan,

but God has a bigger plan. And he says, I

can be happy because I can see what God is

doing through my problems. Now anytime you have a problem

and it's starting to get you down, you're starting to

be unhappy, you need to do what Paul does. Learn

to see it from God's point of view. What is

God doing here? What's the bigger picture? What's the bigger perspective?

And then you'll be able to face the problem in faith.

And when you face the problem in faith, two things

will happen. First, it's a witness to unbelievers. When Christians

handle big problems... In faith, it is a witness to unbelievers.

That's why in verse 13 he says, for everyone here,

talking about the palace guard and in the royal prison,

everyone here, including all the soldiers and the palace guard,

knows that I'm in chains because of Christ. Well, I

guess so. He'd witnessed over 4,000 times the guy's chained

to him. It's a witness to unbelievers. Number two, it's

an encouragement to believers. Verse 14, he says this, And

because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have

gained confidence. Those in Rome. And they've become more bold

in telling others about Christ. It's a witness to unbelievers.

It's an encouragement to believers. Have you ever thought that

God might want to use the problem you're going through

right now for the very same reason? If you will

look at it from that way, it's going to change

your perspective in a major way. All right, number two.

Second habit. I can be happy no matter what happens

in my life if I never let others control my attitude.

I don't let them decide whether I'm going to be

happy or not. Now Paul, in this next section, he

talks about four kinds of people. While he's in prison,

he says, now there are some people who are attacking

my ministry. They slandered Paul. They judged Paul. They criticized Paul.

They were gossip mongers. There were some people who supported

this ministry that were friends. There were some who competed

with this ministry. They're trying to kick him while he's down.

And there were some who were, you know, undermining his ministry.

They're even trying to destroy him. They're trying to rub

it in. He's in prison. They're trying to make it

more painful. And in Philippians chapter one, verses 15 to 17,

Paul describes four kinds of people. And he says, there

are four kinds of people in my life. There are critics.

you know, who are slandering me and who are creating

all kinds of controversy. They're comrades, that's my friends. They're

competitors who are preaching Christ out of rivalry. And he said,

they're conspirators who just want to make my problem worse.

They want to rub it in. They want to kick

me while I'm down, while I'm in prison. They're my enemies.

First verse, this is verse 15, talking about critics. He says,

it is true that some preach Christ because they are

jealous and quarrelsome. That word in Greek is the word eris, E-R-I-S.

And it means they love to argue. Have you ever

met anybody like that? They love to argue. They love conflict.

They enjoy creating controversy. They enjoy getting into a cat fight.

These people are contentious. They are divisive. They are critical.

Now notice that here he says they're jealous and they're quarrelsome.

Notice that the critic's motive is usually jealousy. When people

criticize something, they usually are jealous of it. But what

he's saying here is, he says, you know, I have

to deal with these people, and would you agree that

few things could rob your happiness faster than being criticized?

When you're criticized at work, or you're criticized by friends,

or you're criticized by neighbors, your stomach starts churning. Why?

Because we all want to be loved. We all want

to be approved. We want everybody to like us. Let

me give you a little happiness hint, one of those

little HHs. I don't need other people's approval to be happy.

I don't need other people's approval. I don't need other

people's permission to be happy. You're as happy as you

choose to be. If they're unhappy, that's their choice. But

you don't have to depend on other people's approval in

order to be happy. And if you haven't got it now,

you're probably not gonna get it. And you're gonna be

miserable if you try to live for the approval of

everybody else. Paul is modeling here, never let others control

your attitude. And some of these people, they're just jealous

and they're quarrelsome and they're cranky and they criticize everything

I do in my ministry. And then in the next verse,

verse 16, he talks about the good guys. These are

his friends. These are his comrades. He says, others preach

Christ from genuine goodwill, and they do so out of love.

That's the real reason we share the good news, out

of love. And they know that God has given me

the work of defending the gospel. So he says, you know,

those people bring me joy, obviously. Then in verse 17,

he says, others preach Christ insincerely from a spirit of

selfish ambition. And how do you know when somebody's ego-driven?

They put other people down all the time to build

themselves up. That's when you know somebody's ministering in selfish ambition.

They feel compelled to put other people down in order

to build themselves up. Competitors will rob your happiness. And

you'll look at, well, look at what they're doing. You

can have competition over the color of your lawn. Neighbor's

yard's greener. We better get ours going. You can have

competition over the car you drive. You can have competition

over your kids. My kid was student of the month.

You know, that's competition. My kid, my kid, and I'm

so proud. You can compete over hairstyle. You can compete

over shoes. Don't look at people right now, but you

know that's true. You know that's true. And if you

don't deal with this You're going to be unhappy a

lot of your life because critics will rob your happiness

and competitors will rob your happiness. And Paul says, you

know what? Even in the ministry, there are competitors. And

they're selfishly, ambitiously, and insincerely preaching the good news. And

then in the second part of verse 17, he talks

about conspirators or enemies. These are people who just want

to mess him up. He says, other people just want

to stir up more trouble for me. And they want

to add to my pain while I'm in prison. Now,

you're going to have all four of these in your life. Critics, comrades, competitors,

and conspirators. I certainly have. Don't let them rob you. Now,

I want you to see Paul's attitude toward, he says,

I'm in prison. I'm already down. And these guys are

kicking me while I'm down. Critics, conspirators, and competitors. They're

trying to get at me. Look at verse 18. Here's

Paul's attitude. What others do, he says, what they do,

what these people do, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't

really matter. The important thing is that in every way,

whether for right or wrong reasons, the message of Christ

is being shared. So, he says, I am happy and

I will continue to be happy. I love that. I'm

not gonna let other people control my attitude. There may

be people criticizing me for what I'm doing. There may

be people competing with what I'm doing. There may be

people who are conspiring to make sure I fail in

what I'm doing, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna

focus on Christ and I am choosing to be happy

and I will continue to be happy. He says, I'm

not gonna let anybody steal my joy. Number three, here's

the third habit. It's the next three or four verses,

verses 19 to 20. I can always be happy no

matter what happens if I always trust God to work

things out. I can always be happy no matter what

happens if I always trust God to work things out.

I don't try to work it out myself. When things

are falling apart, I don't try to put them back together.

I just let God put them back together. This is

the faith factor. You've heard me say this before, that

when you're going through a problem, you've got two options.

You can worship or you can worry. That's it, worship

or worry, worship or worry, worship or worry. And if

you worshiped more, you'd have a whole lot less to

worry about. You can pray or you can panic. And

those are the options you've got. This is the faith factor.

Paul says this in Philippians 1.19. I will continue to rejoice. Will,

that's an act of the will. It is your choice

to rejoice. I don't care how bad things are in

your life right now. It's your choice to rejoice. It's

an act of the will. He says, I will continue

to rejoice in spite of all the things that's going

on that are bad. For I know that as you

pray for me and as the spirit of Jesus Christ

helps me, all that's happened will all turn out for

my deliverance. Now this is a very powerful verse here.

And in that one verse, Paul gives four sources of

strength in tough times. And this is how you stay positive.

This is how you stay happy no matter what happens

in your life. He says, first, my first source of

strength is I have God's perspective on my problems. That's

when he says, for I know. It's what you know

that keeps you going. He says, I know God is

working in this. I have God's perspective on my problems,

for I know. And then he says, number two, I

have people praying for me. And he said, that keeps

me going. And then he says, I have the Holy

Spirit helping me. That keeps me going. And then he says,

I expect that I'm going to be delivered. So he says,

I have faith that God will work it for good.

And so I've got perspective, I've got prayer, I've got

the Holy Spirit, and I've got faith. And then he says, therefore,

I choose to be happy. I will continue to rejoice.

That's your choice, to rejoice. Finally, number four. I can

be happy no matter what happens in my life. If

I look at every problem from God's viewpoint, if I

never let other people control my attitude, if I always

trust God to work things out, and number four, if

I stay focused on my purpose, not my problems. God's

purpose for my life. If I stay focused on my purpose,

not my problem, I can be happy even when life

seems to be falling apart. I stay focused on my purpose,

Paul says, not my problem. Now picture this. Paul is old.

He's an old man now. He's in prison. He's a

long way from home. He's in Rome. He is awaiting

death by execution. These are not exactly normally happy times.

And they have taken away everything from Paul. They've taken

away his friends. They've taken away his freedom. They have

taken away his ministry to travel around. They have even

taken away his privacy. He's got a guard chained to

him 24 hours a day. But there's one thing they

cannot take away from Paul. His purpose. It cannot be

taken away from him. And his ability to make choices.

And Paul says, I'm going to stay focused on my purpose,

even though they've taken away everything from me. They could

not take away his purpose. And what was his purpose?

Serving God by serving others. Look at this. Philippians chapter 1,

Philippians 1:22–25

verses 22 to 25. He's talking about the conundrum of

sometimes I want to go to heaven and sometimes I

want to stay here and serve the Lord to help

other people. And he says this in verse 22. If

I continue to live, I can do more worthwhile work

for Christ. So I'm not sure what I should choose.

I'm pulled in two directions. I want very much to

leave this life and be with Christ, which is a

far better thing. But for your sake, for your sake,

it's much more important that I remain alive. Notice Paul's saying,

I stay alive not for my sake, but for your sake.

I am sure of this. I'm sure that for your sake,

it's more important that I remain alive. So I know

that I will stay on with you all so that

I can add to your progress and your joy in

the faith. We talk about purpose in life a lot.

You have purpose in death? Paul says, it doesn't matter

whether I live or whether I die, I've got a purpose.

I've got a purpose either way. On earth, my purpose

is to serve God by serving other people. How do

you serve God on earth? You can't serve God directly

because you can't even see him. The only way you

can serve God on earth is by serving other people

in Jesus' name. And he says, so when I'm alive,

my whole purpose is simply to serve Christ by serving people.

He said, when I die, my purpose is to be

with Christ. So either way, I win. Either way. He says,

I stay alive just for the sake of others. And

he said, actually, selfishly, it would be better for me

if I go ahead and die. Because when I die,

I'm going to a place where there are no problems,

no pressures, no picky people, and no pain. In other words,

there are no killjoys in heaven. So he said, selfishly,

I'm ready to die. I'm ready to go to heaven.

But he says, I stay alive for the sake of others. Now,

I don't want you to miss this secret. Because most

people on this planet do. They miss the secret I'm

about to tell you. The reason why most people are

miserable is because they think that happiness comes from self-gratification.

If I just get more possessions, if I get more pleasures,

if I get more position, if I get sex, salary, status,

if I get more things, if I live for myself,

if I get better stuff for me, I'll be happier.

That doesn't work. Actually, self-gratification is not the way to happiness.

The way to happiness is self-sacrifice, not self-gratification. Paul says,

the reason I'm happy is because as long as I'm alive,

I'm giving my life away to help others. Are you

doing that? Or are you living for yourself? If you're

living for yourself, I can tell you right now, you're

not very happy. You aren't. Because happiness does not come

from status. And happiness does not come from salary. And

happiness does not come from sex. Happiness comes from service.

And giving your life away. And until you understand that,

you're not gonna be happy much of your life. Happiness

does not come from self-gratification. It comes from self-sacrifice. Paul

sums up his purpose in verse 21. For me to

live is Christ. That's a pretty simple purpose. and to

die is gain. Now let me ask you this. For

me to live is Christ. If somebody came up to

you today and asked you to fill in the blank,

what word would you use? For me to live is entertainment.

For me to live is sports, golf, baseball, football. For

me to live is clothes. For me to live is

make money. For me to live is my family. For

me to live is friends. You see, there can be

a lot of good things, but nothing deserves the place

of for me to live except the one who created

you and gave you your life, Jesus Christ.