#89: Imprisoned for Christ

On episode 89, Tim continues his breakdown of Philippians chapter 1, focusing on verses 12-14.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into episode number eighty nine of Bring Heaven Down.
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
daily devotional podcast that shows up in your feed Monday
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(00:24):
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(00:46):
number seven at gmail dot com. That's Bring Heaven Down
number seven at gmail dot com. Last week, we began
discussing a verse in the Book of Philippians, and I
admitted that I had not done as good a job
as I wish or should have done, spending my alone

(01:10):
time with Jesus and focusing in on God's word. So
we're going to continue discussing what I read in the
Book of Philippians, chapter one. So grab your favorite drink
or a cup of coffee and let's bring Heaven a
little closer together. On Friday, I discussed verses nine in

(01:40):
Chapter one of Philippians, and that podcast is titled Alone
with Jesus. If you have not yet heard that, today
we're going to focus on verses twelve, thirteen, and fourteen.
And this is what the Apostle Paul wrote. He says, now,
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened

(02:03):
to me has really served to advance the gospel. As
a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace
guard and to everyone else that I am in chains
for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers
in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word

(02:27):
of God more courageously and fearlessly. So what we are
reading about here is that the Apostle Paul is in prisoned,
he is in chains. But what we need to point
out is that I'm sure the Apostle Paul was not

(02:49):
having his greatest day being in prison, but he has
a good outlook on the entire thing. As he says,
what has happened to me has really served to advance
the gospel. He goes on. As a result, it has
become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone

(03:11):
else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of
my change, most of the brothers in the Lord have
been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously
and fearlessly. What an attitude that we could all learn

(03:32):
from by the apostle Paul. What he is telling us
is that although he is in chains, he is in
chains for Christ. Although he is imprisoned, he is imprisoned
for Christ. And although he might not be in the

(03:53):
greatest of places, what he wrote at the end speaks volumes.
Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the
Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God
more courageously and fearlessly. Because of what the Apostle Paul

(04:17):
went through, and because of what he is doing spreading
the message of Jesus being put in prison, it actually
encouraged others to do the exact same thing. So the
attitude that the Apostle Paul has is it was worth
it and to apply this to our own lives. I

(04:43):
believe this with very strong conviction, and I am very
guilty of this myself. I am as guilty as anybody,
and what I believe to be true is that we
are so obsessed with being comfortable, living a comfortable life

(05:08):
that so many times, too often times, we place our
fear in the wrong area. Instead of thinking about how
can we serve Jesus, How can we serve the One
True God? What can we do to make him proud?
How can we be honorable servants of him? With a

(05:31):
capital H? We are too busy thinking about what the
other person next to us might think of us. We
are too busy contemplating and wondering what will happen to
me if I talk about Jesus to this very person.

(05:52):
And it's very easy to explain what's going on. Like
a doctor diagnoses a sickness, we can diagnose our own problem.
And it is our fear is in the wrong place.
Our fear isn't of God. Our fear is of what

(06:13):
that person might think of us. Our fear is how
are we going to pay for that? Our fear is
will I be able to have a new car or
a new house. Our fear is in the wrong place.
And I have study notes. I'm looking right at my
Bible right now, and the study notes. If you don't
have a study notes, Bible I would highly suggest you

(06:36):
getting a study notes Bible, because it explains things so
well and it helps to clear things up and just
as extra context. My study notes say, on verses one thirteen,
it says change for Christ. It has become apparent to
all who know of Paul's situation that he is imprisoned

(06:58):
not because he is guilty of some crime, but on
account of his stand for the Gospel. The whole palace
guard a contingent of soldiers numbering several thousand, many of
whom would have had personal contact with Paul or would
have been assigned individually to guard him during the course

(07:18):
of his imprisonment, either actual change or a broader reference
to his sufferings and imprisonment. Would you go to prison
for the sake of the Gospel? Would you die for
the Gospel? These are all legitimate questions that the apostle

(07:42):
Paul had to answer every day, and his choice was
the Gospel and my choice, I'm afraid that my fear
would be put in the wrong place. Would I go
to prison for the Gospel? I hope I would. I
hope I would. But I would I lie to save

(08:03):
myself and my family? Or would I go to prison
for the Gospel. Fortunately, in America you don't have to
worry about that, but in other areas of the world
this is a legitimate problem. They have churches underground in
different countries because if the government or officials found out

(08:27):
that you were talking about Jesus and spreading the love
of Jesus, you would be put in prison or killed.
And that's why I come back to this comfort thing.
I really believe that comfort is one of Satan's tactics

(08:48):
to stop us from sharing the Gospel as much as
we should or could, because we start worrying about material things.
We start getting concer concerned about what could happen to me,
and it's the wrong attitude, and I'm as guilty as anybody.
I hope this podcast was encouraging for you, and I'm

(09:10):
excited to continue this study in Philippians together. Grab a
study Bible via Amazon if you have not done so already,
because it is so helpful. I hope you all enjoyed
this podcast and I'm excited to do these every day.
Appreciate you all, and I hope you have a wonderful
day filled with the Holy Spirit.