Sermon - Kingdom Perspective: "Citizens of Heaven" Series

Sermon Outline
Focus: Kingdom perspective sees hardship not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for
the gospel to advance. What feels like a setback to you may be a setup for the gospel.

I. God Uses Hardship to Advance the Gospel
        “What has happened to me…has really served to advance the gospel” (v. 12)
        Paul doesn’t deny hardship – he reinterprets it
        Joseph: what was meant for evil, God used for good (Genesis 50:20)
        You’re not stuck – you’re sent.

II. Your Situation Is a Platform
        “My imprisonment is for Christ…” (vv. 13-14)”
        Paul’s chains became a platform for the gospel
        Others gained courage because of his faith
        People are watching how you walk through hardship.
        Your life is speaking, so, what is it saying about Jesus?

III. The Gospel Advances No Matter What
        “Christ is proclaimed…and in that I rejoice” (vv. 15-18)
        God uses imperfect people (Moses, David, Peter, Jonah)
        The mission is bigger than our comfort or reputation
        Question: Is Jesus being made known through my life?

IV. Joy comes when we stop asking, “Why is this happening?”
        and start asking, “How is the gospel advancing through this?”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

If you're here today and you're carrying something heavy, maybe it's a sickness, maybe it's a burden, maybe it's a besetting sin. Maybe it's shame, guilt, fear. I don't know. Maybe it's just the weight of life. Let me tell you something. You were never meant to carry it alone.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

You were. Welcome to the Church of the Lakes Weekface Sermon Podcast. We're so glad that you've joined us, and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey. Today, after Jerry continues our new sermon series, Citizens of Heaven, using the book of Flipk, written by the Apostle Paul. Today's message is titled Kingdom Perspective. Having a kingdom perspective sees hardship not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for the gospel to advance. What feels like a setback to you may be a setup for the gospel. And now, here's Pastor Jerry. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Good morning. It is a joy to gather with you in this sacred space as we do every Sunday. Just to corporately, as a faith family, turn our focus upward and worship Jesus Christ, the one who has redeemed us by his precious blood, has given us salvation. Isn't that awesome? I never get old saying that it never gets old for me to say that, does it? Every day I'm always so overwhelmed by that truth of how much our love, our God loves us that not only did he die for us, but he died instead of us. He died in place of us. He took our punishment upon his shoulders. By his wounds, we have been, we are, and will always be healed. Praise be to God for that. We are continuing to work through a series of messages that we started last week out of Paul's letter to the Philippians. It's called Citizens of Heaven. And as we noted last week, if you were here, if not, I'll get you caught up. Paul is writing this letter from a place of persecution. He is imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ and his bold witness. He is enduring hardship and suffering. And yet, as you read Paul's letter to the Philippians, it just overflows with joy. The letter exudes joy. It is actually known as the letter of joy to the early church, and it raises the question as to how. How can Paul have such joy in the midst of such dire circumstances? And the answer to that question is we're going to keep coming back to throughout this entire series, and here it is, church. Your joy will always rise or fall with whatever kingdom you are living for. Your joy will rise and fall with whatever kingdom you are living for. So if you're building your life around a kingdom of this world, say the kingdom of self, and your primary focus and purpose is success or comfort or reputation or material possession or financial resource, guess what? That kingdom's gonna be fragile. And the reason I say it is because all of those things are fragile. They come and go like the wind blows, it seems. Um particularly in the state of our context right now here in America. It just seems like nothing feels solid and steadfast. Everything feels so fragile. But Paul reminds us in Philippians 3.20 that if you are in Christ, your citizenship is primarily rooted in the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that is steadfast, that will prevail for all times. It is a kingdom that is not fragile. And friends, that is the difference. When you live for the right kingdom, it can help bring within you this inner joy that nothing in this world can take. So what we're gonna see in Philippians, we're talking about is joy is not found in circumstance, context, or company. Joy is found in your proximity to Jesus Christ. It is found in your citizenship in the kingdom of God. And that's kind of what we're learning together. So no matter what you're going through, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that today, when your life is anchored in heaven, you can have joy on earth. And so we're gonna keep moving through Paul's letter. Uh Philippians 1, we uh ended in verse 11, so we'll start in verse 12 today. I know last week I challenged you to bring your Bibles. I'm not gonna look out and see who brought them, uh, but I hope some of you did. Uh, I I know others of you, you have it on your phone. Uh, you're stronger than me because when I look at my Bible on my phone, if a text message or a notification comes in, it usually deviates my attention to that. So if you can do it, awesome. If not, bring your Bible like I do, and uh you won't get distracted as easily. But listen to God's word. This is Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Philippians 1, starting in verse 12. He says this to the early church I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped, well, helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, even dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel. The others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. But what does it matter, Paul says? Just this that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true ones, and in that I rejoice. This is indeed the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Will you pray with me? Gracious and loving God, I just thank you so much for the gift of this morning, the chance to gather in this space to worship you, to hear your life-giving word proclaimed. And God, as I offer reflection on that life-giving word now, I just ask that you bless the words of my lips, the meditation of all our hearts, that they be of profit to us and acceptable to you, for you indeed are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. You know, if we're being honest, most of us, when we're dealing with a hardship in life, the first question we often ask ourselves is what? Why is this happening to me? And the reason we ask that question is because of a build-on-in assumption underneath the why is this happening to me. And the assumption is this shouldn't be happening to me. Because we tend to believe that hardship in life, it means something is wrong. It means something is off, something is in the way of my life being lived the way my life is supposed to be lived. But Paul looks at hardship differently, if you notice in Philippians 1. Paul's not asking the question, why has this happened to me? Paul is asking the qu or making the statement, what has happened to me has been for the purpose of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that a different perspective? What has happened to me is actually happened to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not hinder it, not delay it, but advance it. Which means, friends, Paul often sees something that we as people often forget in the suburban church in America, and that is what feels like a setback to us may actually be a setup for the gospel of Jesus Christ to advance in our world. Let me say it again. So often what feels like a setback to us is actually a setup, an opportunity for the gospel of Jesus Christ to advance. So how do we know? How do we know, looking at this passage of Scripture, that our setbacks might actually be set ups for the gospel? Three things. The first thing Paul says is, God, I love this, he uses hardship to advance the gospel. Look at verse 12. And if you have your Bibles underline it. Verse 12. Paul says, What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Isn't that awesome? How he can look at a hardship like that. Well, Paul, he's not denying the hardship he's enduring in this moment. He's not pretending it doesn't exist. What he's doing is he's reinterpreting the hardship. He's not pretending again that it doesn't hurt, because I'm sure it does. He's not minimizing the pain he's experiencing. He's not calling the chains he's wearing comfortable or the prison life easy. No, he feels it, he knows it, he's living into it, but he, friends, refuses to let his circumstances define not only the meaning of his life, but the purpose of his existence. Instead of asking the question, why is this happening to me? He asks the question, what is God doing through this? Instead of seeing it as an obstacle, he sees it as an opportunity. Instead of seeing it as a setback to his calling, he sees it as a setup for the gospel. Think about another biblical example of this. Um, Joseph in Genesis. Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob whose name was turned to Israel, and he became the head of a tribe of Israel. Uh his story is Genesis 37 to Genesis 50. And many of you know Joseph's story. Maybe you saw the musical, Joseph in the Technicolored Dreamcoat, right? His father gave it to Joseph because Joseph was the favorite son of all 12 sons. Now I know parents always have a favor, but we don't say that, right? Parent? No, I'm joking. Joseph was, in fact, the favorite of Jacob. And the brothers knew it and they didn't like it. And so what do they do? They ended up beating them up, eventually selling him off into slavery in Egypt, gets to Egypt, Lord's hand is upon him, catches the eye of a man named Potiphar. Potiphar likes how his house is blessed under Joseph's leadership, so he puts him in charge of the whole household. However, Potiphar's wife has an eye for Joseph, tries to get Joseph to sleep with her. Joseph refuses. She makes a false accusation. Potiphar throws Joseph in prison, spends years in prison, right? Looks like his life is over. However, long story short, he's able to interpret the Pharaoh of Egypt's dream. Pharaoh exonerates him, pulls him out of prison, puts him here, this number two in all of Egypt. Joseph was Pharaoh's number two guy. Joseph was in charge of delegating who gets the grain and how much grain they get in the midst of this famine that hit the land for seven years. Not only in Egypt, but in the surrounding nations. Surrounding nations even came to Egypt to buy grain for themselves and their families. They come to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph realizes who they are. They don't yet know who he is. Eventually, Joseph reveals himself as to being their brother. They're terrified. They think Joseph is going to exact revenge and put them in prison at the very least. Do you remember what Joseph says to them? Genesis 50, verse 20. Underline this verse if you got your Bibles open. Joseph says, What you intended for evil, God has intended for good.

unknown 11:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Same event, different perspective. Friends, Joseph realized in that moment that what felt like a setback to his life was actually a setup for God's saving purposes for God's people. But listen, I get it, some of you feel stuck right now, don't you? Maybe you feel stuck in a job you didn't plan for. You went in thinking the grass was greener, you realized the grass ain't any greener. Maybe you're stuck in a difficult workplace or a year in your schooling. Maybe you're stuck in a neighborhood you wouldn't have chosen if you knew who your neighbor was going to be. Maybe you're in a season that feels like it's limiting you to being who you want to be, and everything in you just wants to get out. But what if you're not stuck? What if you're actually in this moment being sent? What if the workplace or the school that you're currently a part of is supposed to be your mission field? But Jared, I'm the only Christian in the office. I'm the only Christian in my classroom. Yeah. That's your mission field. God has put you there for that specific purpose. What if the difficult environment you find yourself in is the assignment God has called you into? What if the season you find yourself in, as tenuous as it might be, is an opportunity for God to work in you and through you to the people around you. Friends, you might feel overlooked, but I promise you, you are not being overlooked by God. You might feel powerless, but the gospel has this way of moving forward through ordinary people who find themselves in precarious and hard places. Again, what feels like a setback to you might actually be a setup to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen, God uses hardship to advance his gospel. Here's the second thing I see here. Your situation you currently find yourself in is probably the platform God has offered to you to advance the gospel. Look at verse 13 and 14. Paul says this it has become known that my imprisonment is for Christ. Not only by Rome, but by also the other brothers and sisters in the church. It has become known that my imprisonment is for Christ. Here's what this means. Again, Paul is under Roman imprisonment. He's stuck in prison, likely under house arrest, physically literally chained to a Roman centurion, with centurions rotating out every few hours. Paul has limited movement. He has constant supervision. He is dependent on other people for his basic needs to live. Like from the outside looking in. Doesn't it look like Paul's ministry is completely over? It's like you want to say, bud, you had a good run. You did well, you were on top for so long, but it's time to pass the torch. You're in prison, your life's over. Enjoy retirement in a prison cell. And just wait till you get to heaven. Paul doesn't look at it that way. Paul doesn't see this context as being restrictive. What he sees this context is as an opportunity. Listen, every guard chained to Paul, hear this, is a man who cannot walk away from the gospel. Isn't that awesome? I mean, shift after shift, Paul is given a new audience. Every guard spending the next 8, 10, 12 hours chained to a literal megaphone for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine the chains are clasped on the Roman soldier's ankles? Paul goes right in. Have I told you about Jesus? I don't know you, but I'm Paul. I used to be Saul. But I meant Jesus on the road to Damascus. Shares his testimony, shares what God has done in his life. Can you imagine that Roman soldier? Every 8, 12 hours, a new Roman soldier. This isn't restrictive. This is a context that has become opportunity. And Paul didn't miss the opportunity to make Christ known. Let me give you a quick example of when I did miss an opportunity. When I was 18, 19 years old, I worked summers and holidays from college in a chocolate factory. It's not Willy Wonka. Please get that out of your head right now. It was a typical factory. We were making fillings for donuts and icing for donuts, which I can't even eat because I am allergic to gluten, but that's an aside. I'm working at this factory, and it was around this same season where I tell people I've made my father's faith my own. I really owned my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so even though I was walking into a factory that I hated this job. Probably the worst job. I had a cleanup roadkill in another job. I'd like that job better than working at this factory, okay? And so, anyways, I'm at this factory. I don't like it, but I'm going to make sure the people I work with, as sword as they may be, know that I'm a Christian. So I'm going to do the things necessary so they know I'm a Christian. I'm going to make sure I get there early every day. I'm not going to ever clock in late. I'm not going to cuss in conversation with them. I'm going to watch my tongue. I'm going to sit away from them at the lunch table so I can, you know, pray over my food and open up my Bible and study as I'm eating my sandwich. And I did this all those summers and all of those holidays. And even though I did all of that stuff, because I hated this job so much, I walked around that place just in a cloud of gloom, like Eeyore. I just did not, I was gloomy, I was miserable all the time. I finally, after the second summer there, I'm like, I can't do this another summer. Clocking out for the last time. I could not get out that door fast enough. A guy named Len stops me before I run out the door. Hey, Jared, do you have a minute? I'm thinking, oh, geez. No, I don't. I don't want to be in this place any longer than I already am. But I said, sure, Len, what's up? He looks at me and he says, Jared, you are the most miserable human being I've ever met. And that was it. And I walked out and he walked in, and I thought to myself, this was a watershed moment for me. Here's why. Here I am trying to act like a Christian outwardly and doing all of these disciplines in front of people. But I was allowing the circumstance, the contacts, and the company that I was keeping in that season to dictate my joy, or dare I say, lack thereof. Friend, please listen to me. People are watching your life more than they're listening to your words. Do you believe it? Because it's true. Listen, often it's not your success that's going to get other people's attention. What's going to get other people's attention is how you actually walk through difficulty. That's when doors open, or in my case, in this particular scenario, the door closed. Think about your own life. You may not feel like you have a platform, but I'm here to tell you, I don't care how old you are, people are watching. They're watching how you respond to stress. They're watching how you handle disappointment. They're watching how you treat other people, particularly the people that are in a lower station in life than you. They're watching you walk through hardship and through difficulty. And friends, hear me. Your life is speaking. The question is, is what is it saying about Jesus? What is it saying about Jesus? You know, it should also be noted that in this moment, not only is Paul speaking this truth into us, he's also saying that as he endures hardship, as he endures this difficulty, the other brothers and sisters in the church are watching him first, and they're being strengthened by his witness. They're being strengthened with how he's enduring his hardship. That's impacting others. Look, you may feel like you're barely holding on in this moment, but someone else is watching you hold on. And your quiet faith, your steady trust in the Lord, your refusal to give up, it's putting courage into somebody else's soul. You know, you don't even realize it, but God is using your struggle to steady someone else's faith. Your chains, please hear me, whatever those chains are, may be the very thing God is using to set someone else free. God has given you a platform to advance the gospel. Here's the third and final thing. And here, this to me takes all the responsibility away. I love this. Paul indicates this that the gospel advances no matter what. Isn't that awesome? That God's purposes aren't ultimately contingent on us and our faithfulness. They're contingent on him and his faithfulness. The gospel advances no matter what. Look at 15 to 18. Paul says, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. So Paul isn't just facing hardship here. He's facing people with different motives, with mixed motives. And yet he says, whatever their motive is, I rejoice. Why? Because Christ is being proclaimed. The gospel is being preached. Man, this is how God always works, isn't it? God takes broken vessels and moves his purposes and his message through those broken vessels. Think of the biblical narrative. I mean, there's so many different stories you can pull from. Here's a couple. Moses? 80 years old, you think by 80 he would have had his anger under control? No, in a fit of rage, he kills a man, runs off as a fugitive law, and spends 40 years in the desert? 120, God calls him to lead his people from slavery in Egypt to a promised land? Called by God, but he hesitates to answer. He feels insecure. At one point, Exodus 4, he's even resistant, saying, God sends someone else. How about David? Known as a man after God's own heart, and yet his life resume is littered with moral failure. What about Jonah? Remember Jonah? Told to preach a message of repentance to the Ninevehes, decides to go the other way, gets eaten by a big old fish, and they spew them up on Ninevehite the Nineveh shoreline. Preaches the message of repentance to the Ninevehite Ninevites. And they don't even want them to repent, right? How about Peter, the bold disciple of Jesus? I'll die with you, Jesus, if it comes to it. And what happens? He folds like a paper dowel when he's interrogated by a teenage girl when Jesus needed him the most. Wow. Right? Unbelievable that all this happened. But yet Jesus' purposes still prevail. God's purposes still prevail. Peter's life is centered around one question, and here it is. Is Jesus being made known? Is Jesus being made known? Not am I comfortable? Not am I appreciated? Not am I winning? Not am I being proved right in this political debate? No, is Jesus being made known? Friends, ask yourself that question. In your workplace at your school, is Jesus being made known? In your home as you interact with your spouse or your loved ones or your friends or your family or your grandkids or your kids, is Jesus being made known? In the midst of hardship, in the midst of suffering, is Jesus being made known. You know, my mother's greatest ministry to me? My mother was probably my dad as well, but my mother really was my spiritual leader growing up. Her greatest ministry to me when she was suffering with pancreatic cancer that ultimately took her life. And every day for those four months that she suffered, her rally cry was the same, but fear not, for I know to whom I belong. But fear not, for I know to whom I belong. In the difficulty you're facing today, the hardship you're facing today is Jesus being made known. Is Christ being proclaimed? Friends, some of us miss joy because we're so too often focused and fixated on self in our own little worlds. But when we live for Christ in his kingdom, joy follows close behind. Paul had every reason to believe his life was off track, but he said, it's not off track. My life's on mission. Why? Because what often feels like a setback is actually a setup for the gospel to advance. Let me bring this all together. Paul is sitting in prison, chains on his wrist, plans disrupted, future uncertain, and yet he has joy. Again, why? Well, because he's not asking the question, why is this happening to me? He's asking the question, how is the gospel advancing through me and through this moment? Do you see the difference, friends? Kingdom perspective sees hardship not as obstacles, but as opportunities for the gospel of Jesus Christ to advance, the greatest news this world could ever know. And what this means for you and me is this some of us are in hard places right now. I know it. I see your faces. You're in hard places. Some of you are right now in hard places. It's a situation you didn't choose, it's a season you would never have picked for yourself. It's a struggle you wish you would just go away. And everything about you wants to escape it. But what if God's question for you is different? Not how do you get out of this, but how will you live for me in this? Because what feels like a setback is often a setup for the gospel to advance. Think about this. This is exactly what God the Father did through Jesus, am I right? Remember the cross right here in front of us? At one time, this was known as the greatest setback the world had ever seen when the Son of God was nailed to it. The cross represented betrayal and denial and suffering and death. And yet, though it was known as the greatest setback this world has ever seen, it became the greatest setup, the gospel of the gospel the world has ever known. Because it was through the suffering, it was through the death that Jesus paid for our sin with his blood. It was through his suffering and death that our death was defeated, that our salvation was secure. And when Jesus rose from that dead grave three days later, friends, he proved that even the worst suffering cannot stop God's purposes. If you're here today and you're carrying something heavy, maybe it's a sickness, maybe it's a burden, maybe it's a besetting sin. Maybe it's shame, guilt, fear. I don't know, maybe it's just the weight of life. Let me tell you something. You were never meant to carry it alone. You weren't. Jesus didn't come just to give you good advice on how to carry your burden. He didn't come just to lay out new moral, ethical teaching. He didn't come even just to demonstrate what true love looks like, although he did do all of those things. Jesus came to set you free. Like he didn't just die for you, he died instead of you to free you from shame and guilt and sin and from the weight, a weight you were never meant to carry. Friends, the same Jesus that turned the cross, which was the greatest setback into God's greatest victory, can step into your life today and begin to change your story. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? But you have to come to him. Not all cleaned up, not perfectly put together. You have to come to him with honesty, with willingness, and a spirit that is ready to receive. So let me ask you the question: have you truly given your life to Jesus Christ? Not do you know about God, not that you're a fan of God, but have you truly given, have you trusted in his blood for the cleansing of your soul? Have you trusted in the work he did at the cross when he secured your salvation? Have you knelt before him and surrendered your life? Because if not, you can do it right now. Friends, I want to give you the opportunity to call out to Jesus in this moment and say, Jesus, I need you. I can't carry this on my own. Or Jesus, I need you. Forgive me, save me, and lead me. And if you pray that in sincerity of heart, I promise you, God will meet you in that moment. He will take your burden. He will save you, he will forgive you, he will lead you. But you have to come to him. In just a moment, I'm gonna give you a chance to respond. If you want to receive Christ, if you need salvation, it maybe you need deliverance, maybe you need healing. Maybe you just want to extend your gratitude for what you've already received in him. We're gonna stand and sing, and many of us will respond by just singing our closing song. I think faithful to the end, right, is the closing song. Others of you, I want to invite you to come up and kneel at the altar to be able to have a moment with the Lord. Sometimes the most eloquent prayer you'll ever pray is not with words, it's with movement. It's with stepping up and stepping out in an act of boldness, in kneeling in humility and surrender before the God who created you, who redeemed you at the cross, and who daily sustains you, will sustain you by his Holy Spirit. Friends, the cross is enough. Do you believe it? The tomb is empty. The king is alive, the kingdom of God will endure forever. So step into it and discover the joy that comes from living for that king and his kingdom. Wherever you are, whatever you're carrying, don't carry it alone. Please don't bring it to Jesus and ask him for what he already wants to do for you and give you. For your good and for his glory. Praise be to God. Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, I want to pause and just as a representative of the collective whole, Lord, we bring to you the burdens that we are carrying this day. We bring to you the struggles in life that we do not yet understand. We bring to you even the situations that we ourselves would never have chosen for ourselves. God, in those moments, will you teach us to trust you in the middle of them? Lord, give us the eyes to see that what feels like a setback may actually, in fact, be a setup to advance your gospel. Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, use our lives right where we are to point other people to Jesus Christ. And God, for those who are reaching out to you today in a moment of desperation, will you meet them with your grace and will you bring to them new life? God, we give ourselves to you again. And we pray this all in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior, and all God's people said. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Thank you for listening to the Church of the Lakes podcast with Pastor Jared Priestett. If today's message encouraged you and helped you grow as a devoted follower of Christ, we invite you to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can also help others discover this podcast by leaving a five-star rating for review and sharing it with your friends, family, co-workers, and others in your circle of experts. We're also very grateful for your generosity, which helps make messages like this available to more people. If you feel led to give, please check the link in the description. And if you're in the Kent, Ohio area, we'd love to invite you to join us in person on Sunday and worship together. To learn more about Church of the Lakes, visit churchofthelakes.org or click the website link in the description. Until next time, stay encouraged and keep walking in faith.