Thank you, Mark, for leading us this morning. Definitely fall in the air this morning. We had everything blowing around the farm from the south yesterday and everything blowing around the farm from the north this morning, so markedly cooler.

We're working through the Book of Philippians on Sunday mornings. Welcome to everyone who's visiting. At Living Hope Church, we work through the Bible verse by verse, book by book, and just simple worship, singing hymns, and preaching the Word. And then we have a great focus on missions as well, supporting missions. About half of our yearly budget goes to missions work. And Steve and Debbie will be here this morning to share with us their work, and we appreciate that. I'm looking forward to that.

So we come to a very interesting and very encouraging text in our study of the Book of Philippians this morning. Remember, Paul is writing from prison. He's writing to his beloved brethren in Philippi, where he had founded the church, preaching the gospel there. And this was a wonderful church, as we have seen in the first chapter, abounding in love, focused on the work of the gospel. And the believers there were concerned about Paul. They loved Paul, and they were worried that his imprisonment may be an end to his missionary work, inhibiting him from preaching the gospel.

What we're going to learn this morning from the life and example of Paul is that no circumstance befalls us apart from God's active or permissive will. And the truth is that God works all things together for our good and takes even bad, sometimes tragic circumstances and uses them to teach us, to grow us, and to give us opportunities, some that we would not have otherwise, in order to further the gospel through faithful witness.

We do not pray for trouble. We do not look for trouble in this life or desire trouble. But we know it will come, and it is inevitable, for man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward. What we do know is that when trouble and trials come, God is there to care for us, to love us, to teach us, to grow us through tribulation and turn us to him, cause us to need him and to trust him. And we also know and believe that in these times, God is able to work and to use these circumstances in order to accomplish his will.

God works all things together for our good. It does not say that all things are good. And it's clear and evident that because of sin and the curse, horrible, evil, sometimes unimaginable things happen to people in this world. God does not cause these things. God does not tempt anyone with evil, with trial, with tribulation, but he does allow these things to happen in our lives. And we know from the scriptures that Satan and his demons are allowed to work in this way, and also that the whole creation is groaning under the curse, and everything is turned upside down by sin, not as God intended in creation. 

So bad things happen. Circumstances sometimes dominate us, as Paul writes in our text this morning. But God is able to work them for good. God is able to accomplish his will through and because of these things, even though they in and of themselves are not good. God's purposes are not thwarted by our circumstances. And faithful witness, the believer in Jesus Christ, can be a powerful force through being a faithful witness for the furtherance of the gospel, especially and even particularly in bad circumstances. 

I'm sure many of you have been following the events happening with the hurricane in the southeast, and it's truly a tragic situation. And from what I can tell from social media posts from those on the ground living there, particularly in North Carolina, is that it's much worse than what we're seeing on the news. There's one story that Bobby and I have been following, a lady named Jessica Turner, and she began posting updates during the storm and the flood and the landslides. Her family was caught in the midst of one of these tragic circumstances. Her mother, father, sister, and nephew ended up on top of their home as the floodwaters rose so quickly. 

And she was asking for prayer at first for rescue of her loved ones, but then she posted that the house had collapsed and that her mother and father were swept away along with her seven-year-old nephew. Her sister was caught in some debris and remained in the water for five hours before she was rescued. The other three perished. But throughout this ordeal, Jessica has been boldly proclaiming the gospel, praising the Lord, pointing people to Jesus. 

She said as the seven-year-old boy, Micah, was carried down by the floodwaters past his mother, she reported that he was extending his hand into the air, calling out to Jesus to save him. Jessica wrote this a couple of days ago as an update. She said, "I want to let everyone know that Daddy was found about two hours ago. I felt the wind knocked out of me again with new grief, new tears, and new images. There was also new praise, thankfulness, and peace beyond any understanding I ever could have thought existed until all of this. I keep thinking he was out there for five days before he was found, but then I'm instantly reminded that he was truly found five days ago. Micah and Mama were, too. Their bodies are not them, they are mere shells. It's only when my spiritual sight becomes my human sight again that I break down in what I think is unbearable pain. 

God is so good that He instantly reminds me that they are with Him and did not suffer and were taken home days ago. We are just waiting on Mom's call. One never imagines this happening to them, and I keep thinking out of the 50-plus deaths in our town, why did three have to be mine? And again, God reminds me that it's not for me to understand the why, but to trust His plan and His time. Again, thank all of you for your prayers that have and are and will keep sustaining us. Please don't quit. I just keep thinking of how would we have ever gotten through this not knowing Christ. He alone has held us, comforted us, sent us joyous visions, and given us grace in the pockets of grief. 

One thing I am confident of, and besides His goodness, faithfulness, and promises, is that there truly is nothing to be anxious about. We cannot protect our children and loved ones when it's their time. God will take them. What we can do is make sure we help lead them to the Lord that can and will protect them for eternity. Truly we are seeing tragic circumstances now in our country, circumstances that dominate the lives of so many. As Jessica writes, what we can do is make sure we lead them to the Lord. And she is doing that through faithful witness and trust in the Lord, just as Paul did in that Roman prison chained to the Roman soldier.

He writes, "I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, and in this I will rejoice." Let's look at our text, Philippians 1:12. "I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ." 

"And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice."

I've given you five points on your outline this morning. First, the circumstances that dominate me. Second, the furtherance of the gospel. Third, a pioneer advancement. Fourth, emboldened to preach. And fifth, Christ is preached.

Well, first in our text we see the circumstances that dominate me. You know, when I think about Jessica's circumstances, that horrible flood, and the loss of loved ones, and everything material that they had, and so many that have experienced tragedy all over the world, all throughout time, even as believers in this world, I realize that we have a choice. When circumstances dominate us, strike us to our very core, so that we do not know if we can even go on, we have a choice.

Jessica surely could have been angry, bitter, cursing God, blaming Him, but what did she do? She praised Him. She is boldly, consistently worshiping Him, witnessing, furthering the gospel in the midst of such circumstances. It's a matter of faith, of trust, of sound theology, and knowledge of the Word of God, and a willingness, a choice to believe Him and to praise Him and to tell the world how good He is. 

Sometimes we moan and groan and complain about our circumstances, when they are not favorable or not what we want, or if they are inconvenient to us or our desires. But this is not the right response. This is not faith. This is not trust in God and His purpose and His will. I think of Abraham in Romans 4, we looked at that recently, where it says that he hoped against hope, believing in his seemingly impossible circumstances concerning having the promised child. 

It says he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. This is the essence of faith, being fully convinced that what he has promised, he is also able to perform. 

God made a promise to Paul when He called him. Let's look at Acts 26. Acts 26 at verse 14. This is Paul giving his testimony before Agrippa. Acts 26:14, it says, "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'"

And Paul had seen God fulfill this promise again and again throughout his missionary journeys in good times and bad, favorable circumstances and horrible circumstances, as we read about in 2 Corinthians 11. But now Paul was imprisoned. He was chained to a Roman soldier. What could he do? 

Well, he could sulk. He could feel sorry for himself. He could bemoan his circumstances and become bitter and useless to his calling. Or he could say, "Okay, God, I know and believe your promise to accomplish your will and purpose through my life and witness. Who can I preach Christ to now? Who will you give me opportunity to proclaim your goodness to? In what circumstances will you allow me to praise you and thank you in the midst of?" 

And then Paul looked over at that Roman soldier. And then at the next one that came in, at the shift change, and day after day. And Paul witnessed so that it says, "The whole praetorium guard and everyone else I have come into contact with now know that my chains are because of Christ." 

Sometimes believers say something to me like, "Well, you don't know my circumstances. You don't know how I'm suffering." And this is true. I've even said these things. I've thought these things at times. What I say to myself and others is I might not know your circumstances. I may not feel your pain and your hopelessness, but I know the God that we serve. I know the one whom I have believed and placed my faith in. 

If I trust that he is able, if I can just get my eyes back on him and get my lips praising him and get my heart worshiping him, if I trust him and tell people about him, then I will be effective, I will see fruit, and I will find that peace that surpasses understanding even in the midst of my circumstances. 

It is true, my brother and my sister in Christ, and you know it too. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of Noah and Moses and Paul and Peter and all the faithful saints who have witnessed and praised him even as they were persecuted, burned at the stake, tossed to the depths, scorned and ridiculed and persecuted in every way in this old cursed world filled with the sons of Satan. Jesus said, "They will hate you for they hated me first." 

When trials come, when circumstances dominate us, whatever they may be, we have a choice. And the Philippian believers needed not to fret about Paul sitting in that prison. He was having a joyous time telling those soldiers about Jesus. The gospel was going forth, and we see the furtherance of the gospel. Look at verse 12 again. 

"But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ." Paul made a choice. We see down in our text in verses 15 and 16 that some within Christendom were saying that God had set Paul aside, that he was done with him and his ministry was over, having been placed into prison. 

Verse 15, he says, "Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains." Paul could have become bitter about this as well, but his goal was clearly in his mind. What is it that we're here for? What is it that we're trying to accomplish? 

God's call to him was his highest desire, was his full passion, and that was that Jesus Christ was preached. So we see that even in this, Paul rejoiced, even as they tore him down, he rejoiced that Christ was being preached. And if God's will is your will, if you look to Him and trust Him and know His grace and power and that His will will never be thwarted, then you can rejoice and praise and witness in all circumstances, because you see, it's not about you, it's not about me, it's about Jesus and His gospel and His glory.

So Paul made a choice, and he assuages the fear of his brothers and sisters, says, "listen, I have to tell you, these things which seem so bad, God is using for good, and I'm witnessing and I'm telling them about Jesus, and they're coming to faith in Him, people we could have never reached apart from these circumstances." 

It makes me think of Pastor Krenz right now. Pastor Krenz lived across the street. I met with him for 20 years every Wednesday, and we'd sit out there and look at that beautiful lake, and he loved that porch, and the screened-in porch, and sit and look at the water or sit at his study, and go for his walks in the morning. 

I remember when he was, I don't know, in his early 80s, I went there one time and he said, "Look, I planted this apple tree." I confess, I thought to myself, well, that's pretty optimistic, you know. Well, about five years later he made me a pie from that apple tree. But now he's down in an assisted living home. He could be discouraged, he could, you know, I mean, he doesn't get far from that place now in his older years, but you know what? I talked to him not too long ago, you know what he's doing? He's leading three Bible studies a week. He's encouraging people. He's doing what he's always done.

And in this we see our next point, a pioneer advancement. I want to read Weiss' comments on the word translated furtherance. The word furtherance is from a Greek word which means to cut before, and it's thought to have been used of an army of pioneer woodcutters which precedes the regular army cutting a road through an impenetrable forest, thus making possible the pioneer advance of the latter into regions where otherwise it could not have gone. 

Paul assures the Philippian saints that his circumstances have not only failed to curtail his missionary work, but they have advanced it, and not only that, they have brought about a pioneer advance in regions where otherwise it could not have gone. I think about this not in a bad way or bad circumstances, but a similar way concerning our farm. 

We started a grass-based farm sort of by accident. I had grown up on a farm, and it's a good life, but it can be a very challenging life, and we sort of left all that behind when I was about 17. And I remember calling my brother when we started our farm in Ironwood, and he said, "What are you thinking? Don't you remember how it was when we were kids?" He couldn't understand. 

But what we found was that when we began our farm, we launched ourselves right into a movement, a movement of healthy food, of ethical ways of raising animals, of homesteading and self-sufficiency and the whole foodie movement that was sweeping through a portion of the population of our country. And what we found was that a large portion of this community was left-leaning and liberal, especially the young people. 

We had either conservative Christian homeschoolers coming to our farm or super-liberal hippies. It was an interesting dynamic. But here's the salient point, we had access to a whole group of people who would have never listened to us about the gospel, about Jesus, apart from this relationship that we had with them based on farming and food. 

And we've had hundreds of opportunities to witness to people and lead some to Christ through the circumstances of our farm. And I say, praise God for that. Regardless of our circumstances, good or bad, God gives us opportunities through them to praise Him, to proclaim His goodness, to tell them about Jesus. And through this, we see the furtherance of the gospel. 

God uses all kinds of circumstances, good or bad, to create opportunities for us to preach the gospel, to love others, to encourage and strengthen one another and to make us more like Christ. Circumstances are truly irrelevant because God is over and beyond our circumstances and He works His will not in spite of them, but because of and through them. 

And through these things, by producing fruit through believers in all kinds of circumstances, we see that God not only reaches men with the gospel, but He also emboldens believers to preach all the more. Look at verse 14. "And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." 

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. But then, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

Most of the brethren in the Lord have become confident by my chains, He says, and are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Isn't that an amazing statement? Because Paul is imprisoned for preaching Christ, and because of his faithful witness and the fruit that God is producing through his circumstances, the brethren are much more bold to preach. One would think that bad circumstances like this would have the opposite effect. 

But because of God's grace, because of Paul's faithfulness, the believers realize that nothing can stand against the gospel. Nothing can stay God's hand in building His church, even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, Jesus said. So because Paul found himself in prison, and because the believers were concerned, worried about Paul and his ministry due to his circumstances, and because Paul chose to witness even to his captors, and God chose in this way to bring men to faith, we see that the believers are encouraged, that they're emboldened. 

I want you to know, he says, that the things which happen to me, there's where we get hung up sometimes, the things which happen to me, he says they have turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. These circumstances that now bind me have not bound the gospel. Paul was chained, but the gospel was not chained, and God was using Paul in this prison to further the gospel of Jesus Christ even into Caesar's household. 

This is encouraging, this is strengthening, because it teaches us that no work of Satan, no evil in this world, no result of the curse and the fall, nothing that man can do to me can thwart the purpose of God through me to further the kingdom, to bring the gospel and salvation to lost men. So preach on, my brothers and sisters. 

You say, well, I'm not in prison. All the more freedom and opportunity you have to preach Christ. Paul had no money, no freedom, no means, no technology to get the gospel out, just that soldier before him and those who may have come to see him, but we have so much more. We have all of this wealth, we have all of this freedom, all of these ways and means and great opportunities every day to tell people about Jesus. 

This should be convicting to us, but it also should be encouraging to us, that God can use me wherever I am. In all my frailty and weakness, He can produce fruit through me for His glory. This is my calling, this is why I am here, this is what God has given me to do as well as you. 

In Mark 16:15, He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." In 2 Corinthians 5:18, He says, "Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

In that passage we read earlier, He said to Paul, "Stand on your feet, I'm sending you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." 

Turn over to John 17 with me, please. John 17, Jesus' high priestly prayer right before His crucifixion. John 17:8, look at what Jesus says in His prayer. "For I have given to them the words which you have given Me, and they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given Me, for they are yours." 

"And all Mine are yours, and yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father. Keep through your name those whom you have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth."

Now look at verse 18. "As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us. Why? That the world may believe that You sent Me."

Jesus prays here for the apostles, He prays also for us, the ones who believe through the witness. And He leaves us in this world for this time, for this very purpose, that the world may believe that God sent Jesus, and through faith in Him alone they might be saved. This is why we are here. These are the words that have been committed to us, the words of reconciliation. 

And Jesus has commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature, to persuade men to believe and be saved. This is our calling, regardless of our circumstances. And in this we should rejoice. Not in our wealth, not in our comfortable lifestyle, although we are thankful and God has blessed us in this way for our enjoyment. But these are not the source of our joy or our rejoicing. We rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ is preached. 

Philippians 1:16, he says, "For the former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that affliction of my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice." 

Look at verse 19 of Philippians 1. He says, "For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer in the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." 

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." To die is gain, yes, and I want to die well, like that little boy Micah who when he was floating away to his death was crying out to Jesus. Like Jessica who through her great grief and so much death around her is praising God and preaching the gospel. 

But I want you to hone in on the first part of verse 21 for now. He says, "For to me, to live is Christ." This is our heart, the love of God that He has poured out into our hearts by the Spirit who was given to us. This is our deepest desire. 

But in all of our comfort and prosperity, we can forget, we can be discontent with only Christ. Look at Paul's words over in chapter 4, Philippians 4:4. Again, he's writing from that prison. He says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these, and the God of peace will be with you."

"But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content." 

What does Paul mean by that? I've learned in whatever state I am to be content. Content how? He says in verse 12, "I know how to be abased. I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

He's content in Christ. He's learned to be content in Christ regardless of his circumstances. "I have learned," he says, "both to be full, to be hungry, to abound, to suffer need, in all things. I am content in Christ, I preach Christ, I rejoice in Christ." 

For to me, to live is Christ. Sometimes I wonder if I have learned to abound, to have all that I have, to be blessed in so many ways, and still to be able to say, for to me, to live is Christ. Or I might sometimes forget, sometimes be distracted, maybe I have yet to learn. 

I might say, "For to me, to live is work. For to me, to live is family. For to me, to live is a fat bank account. For to me, to live is fishing or hunting or sports or leisure or amusement or recreation." For to me, to live is what? How do you answer that, my friend? With your life, how do you answer that? 

I ask myself, first of all, have I learned to be content in Christ regardless of my circumstances? And do I know that preaching Christ is why I'm here, and that God can work that out in any situation if I am willing and faithful and focused? 

That's what I want, my brother, my sister in Christ. I want to be faithful today and each day. I want my life to be about Jesus. I want to be able to say with Paul, for to me, to live is Christ. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for your Word, your truth. We're thankful for Paul, his example. Thankful for this church and the believers here who come and desire the truth, to hear your Word, to be encouraged, to worship you. And we're thankful for the privilege and opportunity to be your witnesses, to go out into the world and to tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. 

Help us to love men as you love men. Help us to be bold and to speak the Word as we ought, to be abiding in Christ and focused on Him in order that in all things we might bring you glory. In Jesus' name, amen.