August 4, 2025 • 33 mins
What story are you telling about the painful chapters of your life? In this powerful exploration of Philippians 1:12-18, we discover how Paul transformed his imprisonment into a platform for the gospel.
The apostle who endured five brutal whippings, multiple beatings, stoning, and three shipwrecks didn't view these as obstacles but as opportunities to blaze new trails for God's kingdom. His secret? The "paper plate perspective" - seeing his life not as precious china to be preserved but as a disposable vessel meant to serve others and carry something far more valuable than itself.
This mindset shift changes everything about how we navigate suffering. Rather than seeing ourselves as victims of circumstances - whether economic hardship, relational difficulties, health challenges, or workplace struggles - we recognize our true identity as "prisoners of Christ." We don't get to choose what happens to us, but we absolutely control the story we tell about our circumstances.
The way through suffering isn't escaping it but worshiping through it. When we maintain this focus, our praise becomes louder than our prison walls, and what others see isn't our pain but a beautiful place of sacrifice. Are you china or a paper plate? Your answer might just change everything.
My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to another part of my Philippian study that
I have been doing with ourstaff at Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast.
Check out those episodes andcatch yourself up to join where
we're at today.
Check out those episodes andcatch yourself up to join where
(00:29):
we're at today.
Guess what book we're in?
Philippians Hebrews.
If I just like, skirted over toHebrews.
Wouldn't that be funny.
I'm like JK Hebrews.
Okay, so we're picking up inPhilippians, chapter one, and
(00:49):
we're going to pick it up inverse 12.
And we're going to try to getto verse 18.
If the Lord willing and thecreek don't rise, we'll be able
to do it.
So he starts out in verse 12 bysaying but I want you to know,
brethren, that the things whichhappened to me have actually
(01:10):
turned out for the furtheranceof the gospel.
And then verse 13,.
It says so that is becomeevident to the whole palace
guard and to all the rest thatmy chains, they're in Christ.
And so this is uh beautiful,because in verse 12, when he
says, that hits the emphasis onthe furtherance of the gospel.
(01:34):
And I even wrote in my bible um,what is the story around bad
things in my life.
Like Paul, he's like what'shappened to me it's actually for
the furtherance of the gospeland I don't get to choose what
happens to me in this life.
I don't get to choose whetheror not good things or bad things
(01:54):
happen.
The Bible says it rains on thejust and the unjust, so you're
going to get rain at some point.
I don't get to control what'sgoing to happen.
I don't get to control whereI'm going to be at in a year
from now or what's going tohappen in my life.
But I do get to control thestory I tell.
And when you think about hesays that the things which
happened to me, like we have toquestion like what are the
(02:16):
things he's talking about?
And what he's talking about ishe spent a two year imprisonment
in Caesarea.
He was whipped five times.
And when we think about this itlike always moves me, because
if you've ever seen the Passionof the Christ, you saw the
beating that Christ receivedbefore the cross.
I want you to think about that.
(02:39):
Paul endured that five times,that five times, five times.
Each time he was whipped hewould be healed again to go to
another city and have it happenagain.
How many of us, after one timeof somebody pushing back on what
(03:00):
we say for the gospel, shutdown, like, like I can't share
the gospel with my family, likeI can't share the message of
Jesus, I can't post this onInstagram, it's too bold.
No, he was whipped five times.
This would have been 195 lasheshe endured.
So he was beaten three timesand one of the times they drug
(03:22):
him out of the city thinking hewas dead.
So imagine being beaten to thepoint that everybody's like your
haters, the people that arebeating you are totally
convinced that you're dead.
They drag him out of the city.
He's dead.
He was stoned once and then hewas shipwrecked three times.
And I don't know about y'all,but if somebody was shipwrecked
(03:44):
three times and I saw themgetting on a boat, I wouldn't
get on the boat that they'regetting on.
And I mean like for real.
If, like, you're getting on theboat and you like, see the
passengers line up and you seePaul, you're like, oh hell, no,
like I'm gonna, I'll wait, delayme, I'll take the next ship.
I'm good, because three timeshe was shipwrecked.
Okay, the dude had bad luck.
(04:05):
It's made me think of there wasa guy that holds the Guinness
world record of being struck bylightning the most times.
It's actually awful.
His name is Roy ClevelandSullivan and he was struck by
lightning seven times.
He was a park ranger atShenandoah National Park.
You can look this up lightningseven times.
He was a park ranger atShenandoah National Park.
(04:26):
You can look this up.
It's for real.
The first time that he wasstruck by lightning he was in
the watchtower at the nationalpark and the watchtower got
struck by lightning, and so heruns down out of the tower.
He was running to his truck,and as he was running to his
truck he got struck by lightning.
Another time he got struck bylightning and it blew off his
toenail, his big toe toenail.
(04:47):
It was so intense.
And then it says, in the springof 1972, sullivan was working
inside a ranger station inShenandoah National Park and he
was struck again.
It set his hair on fire and hetried to smother the flames with
his jacket.
He then ran to the restroom,but he couldn't fit his head
under the water tap, and so heused a towel and said although
he was never a fearful man, fromthat point forward he always
(05:08):
carried around a can of water toput the flames out if he got
struck again.
On August 7th 1973, while hewas out on patrol in the park,
he saw a storm cloud forming andhe drove away quickly.
He was convinced that the cloudwas following him, but finally
he thought he had outrun it.
He decided it was safe to leavehis truck.
Soon after he was struck by alightning bolt.
(05:29):
Sullivan stated that heactually saw the bolt that hit
him.
It blew out his knee.
He set his hair on fire.
Still conscious, sullivan wasable to crawl to his truck and
poured the can of water over hishead to put out the fire.
(05:50):
The next strike on June 5th1976, injured his ankle and he
reported that he saw a cloud andthought it was following him.
And again he tried to run awayby foot.
But he was struck anyway andhis hair was again caught on
fire.
Pretty bad right.
So I said that because weprobably needed a comedic relief
(06:12):
after thinking about all thatPaul just endured.
We needed to laugh a little bit, you know.
But I mean shipwrecked threetimes, so it's a lot.
So he's saying that the thingsthat happened to me were for the
furtherance of the gospel.
He was in house arrest in Rome,and when he's writing this he's
believed to be currentlyimprisoned in Rome, and the term
furtherance is a prokopeion,which was used in the Greek
(06:39):
speaking world to describe ablazing trail before an army.
Paul therefore saw the eventsas him blazing a trail for God.
It was propa chaon, like do yousee in your life the bad things
as you blazing a trail?
(07:00):
I think if we'll be honest, ifI would have been shipwrecked
once, if I would have beenwhipped once, if I would have
been rejected once, I probablywould have said it's just not
worth it, but he saw it as himblazing a trail.
Can I just encourage you thatmaybe the things that you're
calling closed doors and asobstacles, god's calling it's
(07:23):
you blazing a trail.
Like, if we get a differentperspective, it would change
everything.
So what do we see our lives?
I was thinking about this as Iread it, because he says that it
actually things which happenedto me actually turned out for
the furtherance of the gospel,and so he saw his life and I
kind of was thinking about how,whenever Pastor Lee was here, he
(07:45):
said like something in asentence in one of the services
I can't remember if it was firstor second, but he just like
said it in passing, he's like,how do you view your life?
And he's like I don't knowabout y'all, but I want to be a
paper plate.
And then he just kind of movedon and I just can't stop
thinking about that.
And so I was curious, like whatwas the most expensive China
(08:06):
dish that's ever been sold?
And it's actually this one, andit was the most expensive
Chinese bowl ever sold in the18th century was sold for $25
million in the Sotheby's auctionin Hong Kong in April of 23.
So this is like an expensivepiece of China.
(08:30):
And you think about it as Ithought about it, like how do I
view my life?
Am I a paper plate or am I China?
And like, when you think aboutit, a paper plate.
The glory of the paper plate isjust that it's used Like it's.
It doesn't.
You can use this paper plate ata beautiful wedding.
You can use it at your kid'sbackyard barbecue.
(08:51):
You could use it on Christmas.
You could use it onThanksgiving, or you can let it
roll around in your car, causeyou made breakfast on your way
out the door and you throw it ona paper plate.
But the thing about a paperplate it can be used for
anything, but you throw it awaywhen it's done.
Nobody like has a memorialservice for the paper plate.
No, and in fact whatever is onthe paper plate is more valuable
(09:13):
than the paper plate.
Like, whatever it's serving ismore valuable, the person it's
serving is more valuable thanthe plate itself.
And I began to think aboutChina.
The difference in China is yousave it for special events, like
maybe you grew up in a housewhere they had special China and
you never used it because yourmom always said we're going to
(09:34):
use it for a special event and aspecial event never happened.
But and it's used with care.
You usually can't put them inthe dishwasher, you have to hand
wash them, they're passed downgeneration to generation,
they're sold for tons of moneyand whatever is on it is never
as valuable as the plate itself.
(09:54):
And I'm thinking about Paul.
He didn't view himself as China, he viewed himself as a paper
plate and even though he hadbeen whipped, abused, whatever
he's like, it's fine.
I'm just a paper plate becausethe people I'm serving and the
God I'm serving is more valuablethan the life I have.
And I think a lot of us areholding back from God because,
(10:17):
if we'll be honest, we seeourself as more valuable than
the people we're serving.
We see our life, our gifting,our talent as more valuable than
how we could be used.
But Paul says everything thatyou put on me, it's going to be
more valuable than my life,because I view my life as a
(10:39):
paper plate.
Take it, use it wherever youwill for God's glory.
And so what is the redemptionstory for the pain that you're
suffering, when you're goingthrough a difficult time, when
you're going through a season ofrejection or you're going
through a season of hurt?
I don't think any of us, eventhe biggest one-upper, can't
(10:59):
one-up Paul.
You know, when you get around aone-upper, they always have
something better to tell you.
I don't think anybody canone-up Paul.
But he got to choose theredemption story.
What's the redemption story tothe heartache?
What's the redemption story tothe loss?
What's the redemption story tothe team member that left?
What's the redemption story tothe loss?
(11:21):
What's the redemption story tothe team member that left?
What's the redemption story?
And if I'm a paper plate and mylife is in the hands of the
master, the master is morevaluable than me and whoever I'm
serving is more valuable thanme.
I'm just a plate, so take me,use me, and that's what Paul's
saying.
You can whip me, you canshipwreck me, you can imprison
me, and that's what Paul'ssaying.
You can whip me, you canshipwreck me, you can imprison
(11:42):
me, but I'm not imprisoned andI'm not shipwrecked and I'm not
going to be stopped because mylife's just a paper plate, and
paper plates are made to be used.
St John Christum says that takethen thyself the same provident
care for her as Christ takesfor the church Yea, even if it
shall be needed for thee to givethy life for her.
(12:03):
Yea, and to be cut into pieces10,000 times yea, and to endure
and undergo any sufferingwhatever, refuse it not.
I love that because he's sayingis there any limit to your
obedience of what you're willingto do for Christ's bride?
Like does our obedience?
(12:24):
Does it have limits?
Are you China?
Are you a paper plate?
Do you have limits of like?
God, I'll do this, but I won'tdo that.
God, I'll go here, but I won'tgo there.
God, I'll serve these people,but I won't serve these people.
Are there people that you'vewritten out of God's story?
And what's crazy, is the verypeople that kept rejecting Paul,
because his biggest obstaclewas not the Roman government, it
(12:47):
was actually the church.
And yet every time he went intothe city, the first place he
went was to the very people thatkept rejecting him.
And a lot of times what we do,if we're being honest, because
we're China, we save ourselvesfor special occasions and when
the right people come in I'llserve them when the right team
(13:07):
members show up, when the rightopportunity presents itself.
But Paul says I'm just a paperplate, so keep putting me in the
synagogue with the very peoplethat reject me.
I'll be rejected and then I'llgo serve the ones who will eat
from my plate.
So then he goes on in 13 and 14says so it has become evident to
the whole palace guard and toall the rest that my chains are
(13:29):
in Christ.
In other words, I'm not aprisoner of Rome.
Rome didn't imprison me, andmost of the brethren in the Lord
, having become confident by mychains, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear.
I think this is beautiful,because Paul's letting us know
he wasn't a prisoner of Rome, hewas a prisoner of Christ.
(13:50):
No one controlled his futurebeyond what Christ could
providentially prevent or allow.
This is like something that Iwrestled with, but even the
things that I don't want in mylife are still God's providence
at the end of the day.
And he's saying you may call mea prisoner of Rome, I'm not a
(14:15):
prisoner of Rome, I'm a prisonerof Christ.
My life belongs to him.
And Paul knew well and good thatif God wanted him out of a
prison, he would open the doors.
But there's never once recordedPaul asking for the prison
doors to be opened.
He always trusted.
Wherever God had him, he alwaystrusted.
So how often do we seeourselves as a prisoner of
(14:36):
things?
We see ourselves as a prisonerof circumstances, the economy,
people's opinion, our employerdiagnosis we can keep going down
the list.
You're not a prisoner of thosethings.
You're a prisoner of Christ,and that's where our power comes
from is when we realize that ifGod wanted me out of this job,
he would open a door to anotherone.
If God wanted me out of thiscircumstance, he would open a
(14:58):
door to another one.
If God wanted me out of thiscircumstance, he would open the
door for another one.
If God wanted my financialsituation to turn around, he
would open the door for anotherone.
If God wanted this diagnosis toturn around at some point.
I'm a prisoner to him, right,I'm not a prisoner to the
diagnosis, I'm a prisoner toChrist.
And so in Ephesians 3.1, heagain reiterates the same point.
(15:20):
But there's two effects ofPaul's imprisonment that we see
here.
Number one the guards heard thegospel and it says it was the
palace guard, and the palaceguard was like the highest
ranking Roman officials, and sothe palace guard would have been
the equivalent, would be likethe Navy SEALs today, like these
are the most trained, mostlearned, they have to go through
(15:40):
the most rigorous training.
And he's saying hey guys, likethe way I'm enduring this, the
palace guards are hearing thegospel.
And so I want you to thinkabout this.
Like there was other prisonersthat were in the prison but
their lives didn't show atestimony of anything the palace
guard wanted, were in theprison but their lives didn't
show a testimony of anything thepalace guard wanted.
(16:01):
And I want to say that, like inour life, I think that people
watch the way that we suffer,they watch the way we endure
hard times.
Anybody can worship wheneverything's good, like anybody.
Like when you have an amazinglegacy Sunday and you're like
praise God, amen.
Like anybody can rejoice Godwhen you see the end.
But can you see it when we hadour first Miracle Sunday?
(16:28):
That's a banger Like.
But it's like he's saying likethere's lots of prisoners there
but none of them had a testimony.
What's your testimony?
In the midst of suffering, like, what's your testimony?
Number two there is animpartation of boldness to the
other prisoners.
There's these other prisonersthat are like wait, I've been
holding back because I'm afraidof persecution, but here you are
still bold, in the midst ofpersecution.
(16:49):
And it makes me want to be allthe more bold.
Like there's something ourculture, our world is longing to
see bold Christians, bold faith.
And so there's something thathappens when you stand up other
people.
You may stand up first byyourself for a little while, but
you won't stand for longbecause other peoples are going
to come around you.
(17:09):
I love this quote by Therodot.
He says that my chains havethemselves become the source of
courage to others.
They can easily see that I bearthe adversity with joy, so they
come to preach the divinegospel.
I love that so much, and he'swriting that out of his own
personal experience.
So, moving on from there, we gointo Philippians 1, 15 through
(17:33):
17.
And he says Only that in everyway, whether in pretense or in
(17:56):
truth, christ is preached, andin this I rejoice.
Yes, I will rejoice.
So, reasons people preach thegospel that aren't the right
reason right, even today we seethis.
Reasons that people preach thegospel that aren't right.
We have people that preach thegospel for financial gain.
Come on, preachers and seekers,right?
People that just want to.
Like they're looking for amonetary gain.
(18:18):
How about virtue signaling?
We're doing things where we arejust going with what's popular
sayings but we don't actuallylive it out.
So we're saying things that aregoing to get the applause and
the following of other people,but deep down, it's not actually
who we are.
So an example of this would beposting that you're praying for
our nation, but you spent moretime crafting the post than you
(18:40):
do actually praying.
When everyone stands up forsomething, you finally stand up
for it because you don't want tobe left out, like you want to
do the right thing.
And so what is that?
That's preaching the gospel forlike wrong reasons.
Right, it's standing up for,maybe, something that is rooted
in the gospel, but you're doingit for the wrong reasons.
How about religious pressure?
(19:01):
It's the right thing to do.
Right, it's the right thing todo.
I should do this, but yourheart isn't aligned with it at
all.
How about moralistic,therapeutic deism?
And this is basically when webelieve in God and when we want
to live for him, but we don'twant to change our life.
So we keep adding things onwith a dualistic deism, meaning
(19:22):
I want to worship self, but Ialso want to worship God, and so
, instead of surrendering theareas of my life that I don't
want to surrender to God, I'lljust add on godly things to mask
my carnality.
And what is it?
It's dualistic deism.
I'm actually worshiping to Godself and God and and there's
people that do this right.
Reasons why they weren'tpreaching the Christ here,
(19:52):
reasons they were preachingChrist here that Paul notes as
being wrong is for strife.
You know they're doingsomething good, but their heart
was to cause division, like theyactually were just trying to
get a bigger following than Paul.
We want to be seen as good orbetter than the actions of
others.
How about envy?
You don't feel called to theposition.
You're just envious that theyhave what you want and so you're
(20:13):
doing the good things, but it'sjust out of an envious heart
position.
How about selfish ambition?
You just want to be seen or beknown.
I say this story often, butit's worth repeating because
it's just still that good.
There was a girl that met withme one time and she was like I
want to do what you do.
And I was like oh, you want todo what I do?
She's like yeah.
I said what does that mean toyou?
And she's like I want to preach.
(20:34):
And I said okay, great, tell meabout your Bible read.
She's like oh, I don't read myBible.
I said and you want to preach?
And she's like, yeah.
And I was like well, thestarting line is like reading
the Bible.
Okay, well, what about yourprayer time?
Oh, I don't pray, like for real.
She was like I don't pray.
And I said oh, you just want tobe famous.
(20:59):
Don't be a preacher, then wedon't need another preacher.
That falls.
And she goes well, can't youjust go on YouTube and take
people's messages?
And I was like yeah, butthere's no anointing on it
because you can say what I say.
I could even give you my notesand you can say what I say, but
there's no power behind it.
And what is she saying?
She's like I want it out ofselfish ambition, I just want to
(21:20):
be seen, I want to be known, Iwant to be on this platform.
And Paul's saying guys, there'speople that are preaching Christ
and they're doing it with thesewrong things.
I found these because these area few just memes that were out
there.
If one's motives are wrong,nothing can be right.
And I see somebody probablysharing this maybe not with this
terrible graphic, but I couldsee somebody sharing this.
(21:41):
Or how about this?
Uh, wrong motives equalunanswered prayer.
Um, I've heard people say somethings like that.
That's what we would say right.
Typically, we're like if yourmotives are wrong, then you're
not going to get anywhere.
And Paul's like letting us knowthat there's people preaching
the gospel and they have wrongmotives.
And so culture would say ifyour motives are wrong, then
there is no good or fruit thatwill come.
(22:03):
But the kingdom works like thisIf your motives are wrong, god
is the one that produces fruit,and sometimes we get so
judgmental about people'smotives that we don't celebrate
the good that's happening.
And Paul's letting us knowthere's people here that are
(22:24):
preaching for the wrong reasons,but he doesn't rebuke them, he
doesn't even stop them.
He says this, he says, thelater.
I love knowing that I'mappointed for the defense of the
gospel.
What, then?
Only that in every way, whetherin pretense or in truth, christ
is preached, and in this Irejoice, yes, and I will rejoice
(22:49):
.
He's letting us know hey guys,like yeah, there's people that
are going to come along and dothe wrong things.
I will just say this Are therepeople that are probably gonna
stand on our stage out of awrong motive?
Yes, because I have, you have,we all have.
Has there been people that aregonna serve on Sunday put on a
(23:09):
dream team badge, and theirmotive is that it's a dualistic
deism, that they're trying toappease God but while also
keeping their carnal nature?
The answer is yes.
You know why.
I know it's yes Because I'vedone it and you've done it right
.
There's wrong motives, andculture would say if your
motives are wrong, there's nogood fruit that you're canceled.
(23:29):
We got to push you out, wecan't have anything to do with
you.
And Paul's like I'm not worriedabout it, because they're
preaching the gospel.
He's like hey, guys, if they'renot against us, they're for us.
That's what Jesus said.
And he's like I'm not worriedabout it, cause here's the thing
is, at the end of the day,god's going to judge their heart
, and I don't know where theirheart is, I don't know if fully
where their motives are, butGod's going to take care of that
(23:51):
.
I'm just going to keep doingwhat God's called me to do, and
I think so many times if we'rejust can I just like talk to you
for a second?
I think we get so hung up onthe motives of others that we
haven't yet put ourselves ourown motives in check.
Like we're so busy weighing outMamaw's motives and Ava's
motives and Maya's motives, andwe're spending all this time and
(24:12):
here's the deal is Mamaw'sgoing to stand before God and
answer for mamaw on her motives.
But here's the thing is I'mgoing to stand before God and
answer for me, not for her.
And Paul's like listen, guys,I'm not worried about their
motives because, at the end ofthe day, the fruit is that the
kingdom's advancing.
The fruit is that we're movingforward.
The fruit is that, and so I'mjust going to focus on the
(24:33):
things that matter the most.
So Philippians 1, 15 through 18,we have a little inclusio, and
this is my drawing.
Thank you, I feel like it wasgood.
So this because I wanted tocontinue our paper plate theme.
I thought this sandwich couldbe served on a plate.
(24:53):
So it kind of looks like a boat, maybe like a cap size boat.
It's one Paul's on.
It's definitely gettingshipwrecked.
But the plate I put as rejoiceand I put by the bread as the
gospel being preached.
And on the inside, what kind ofsandwich are we going to?
Blt, okay, okay.
(25:17):
Well, trent said first BLT,okay, so we're gonna go, let's
go double bacon.
And then we'll go lettuce andtomato.
Is that good?
And so, uh, the motives forpreaching here.
And then we have this, uh,selfish and strife.
And then we have love anddefense of the gospel.
And so he's saying he'sbasically like at the beginning
and the end, the main pointdefense of the gospel.
And so he's saying he'sbasically like at the beginning
and at the end, the main pointis that the gospel is being
(25:39):
preached.
He spends more time talkingabout the gospel being preached
than his own suffering.
He spends more time talkingabout how lives are being
changed than his own personalproblems.
He spends more time talkingabout how the kingdom is
advancing.
And I thought about thisbecause, at the end of the day,
the reason why his plate is likethe sandwich is being served on
(26:00):
the plate of rejoicing, isbecause where his focus is, his
focus is right.
His focus is, at the end of theday, god is winning.
I love this, are you guys?
Okay, I might go just a fewminutes over.
Do I have permission?
Okay, great, whenever we wentto Rome, we went to Mamertine
prison.
Mamertine prison, and if you go,is an underground prison, and
(26:24):
so this is believed to be wherePaul was in prison, and now they
have a beautiful littlestaircase that it's like a
circular staircase that you godown and where you can go inside
Mamertine prison.
But at the time you would belowered down through a hole and
so you would be literally tiedonto a rope and suspended down
(26:45):
into this hole.
There was no light down in theprison and so it was underground
and the food was so disgustingthat, unless people brought them
food, they literally wouldstarve to death because of what
they were being fed.
The city sewer would runthrough the bottom of that
prison and you think this iswhere Paul's writing, when he
(27:05):
writing, when he pins sitting,where he, when he pins the word,
I am now seated in heavenlyplaces.
I talk about perspective.
This doesn't feel heavenly atall.
All you're, you're blocked outfrom everything.
In fact, one of the governmentofficials at the time, uh, said
this, uh of the people in manormanor time prison.
He said they did not deserve tobe a part of this world and
(27:28):
were confined to the underworldlike they.
Literally, it was like theirway of making them assimilating
an experience similar to hell,and so they put them underground
to suffer until their finalexecution.
Christians would later buyMamertine prison and made it
into a church that is aboveground.
(27:50):
It's actually on top of theplace that Paul was in prison.
And what's crazy is is when,when we walked in to come to
Mamertine prison, I was likethis doesn't feel like we're in
a prison, I feel like I'm inchurch, and you're almost
unaware that it's literally ontop of the prison.
And so you go down this way andthen you go to the left and
(28:11):
there's a little staircase thattakes you down.
You wouldn't even know youcould go there and worship and
have no idea, literally, thesuffering that was right
underneath your feet, have noidea of the pain that was right
underneath your feet.
And this is exactly what Paulis saying.
It may look like a prison, butit's a church.
It may look like chains, butit's actually praise.
(28:35):
It may look like suffering, butit's actually praise.
It may look like suffering, butit's actually a place of
sacrifice.
I have chills from my head to mytoes and I will say, when our
perspective stays right, this iswhat the world sees, while you
know, under the surface of allthat you've been through, all
that you've done and here's thething is that in Mamertine
prison, the only way you got inwas to be lowered down.
(28:58):
But the only way that you gotout is that up is to go up.
And I want to encourage youthat the way out of our
suffering, the way out of theproblems, the way out of the
difficulty, is up, throughpraise.
Like that's the only way I'mgoing to get out of this is I'm
going to there's, not going to.
God's not going to rapture youout of there.
You're not just going to wishthe problem away, but God.
(29:18):
I'm going to keep myperspective up because I want
the praise to be louder than theprison and I want people, when
they see my life, all they seeis this beautiful place of
sacrifice.
All they see is this beautifulplace of worship.
All they see is this they haveno idea that underground there's
so much pain, there was so muchdifficulty.
But because I chose God to takeme up, I'm going to keep my
(29:40):
perspective up, I'm going tokeep my eyes up.
So a secularized Christianitysays this suffering doesn't
exist.
But the gospel says the waythrough our suffering is worship
.
And and secularizedChristianity doesn't know what
to do with suffering.
That's why we avoid books likeJob, that's why we avoid books
like Ecclesiastes, because wedon't want to be confronted with
(30:01):
the reality that bad thingshappen to good people.
But the gospel message isliterally this the way through
my suffering is worship, the waythat I'm going to get through
this difficult season, the waythat I'm going to get through
this.
And Paul says listen, there'speople that are down here and
they're trying to take thechurch and, like, spin it off
into their own thing.
They're rivaling like you wantwhat I have.
(30:22):
Like do you really want what Ihave?
That's fine.
You're doing it out of envy andstrife.
I'm not worried about it,because the kingdom's advancing,
and so I'm going to rejoice.
Yet even will I rejoice?
He says it twice.
So if you're on your joy count,you want to circle those
because we just threw in joy acouple more times.
And he's letting them know herethat rejoicing is the doorway
(30:44):
out, even if you can't get outphysically.
And I'll end this on a Spurgeonquote, because Spurgeon's
always fire.
Affliction is the best bit offurniture in my house.
Affliction is the best bit offurniture in my house.
It is the best book in aminister's library.
If paul wasn't in prison andchose to have a different
(31:05):
perspective, we would be missingso many of the gospel accounts
that we read today, the booksthat we go to.
So I'll I'll end.
And how we began Is what is thestory Around the bad things in
your life that you're telling?
What's the story you're telling?
You don't get to choose whathappens to you, but you do get
(31:26):
to choose what's the story.
Am I a paper plate or am Ichina?
God, make me paper plate, takeme, use me.
Let the people I serve be morevaluable than me.
Let what you put on me and howyou, the hands that are holding
me, that they're the mostvaluable thing.
So, father, we just thank youthat the way through God,
(31:49):
everything that we walk throughLord, is in rejoicing.
So, father, we say, like poetPaul, we will rejoice yet even
more will we rejoice that Lord,our praise will be amplified.
Lord, let our praise be louder.
Lord, let our praise bestronger.
That God.
I thank you that you're building, god, something beautiful on
the top, lord, on the top floor,a praise On the top floor, a
(32:12):
level of sacrifice.
That God, our perspective isshifting, our life is shifting.
That Lord.
We're not looking at the badthings that life is happening to
me, but, lord, let us have aviewpoint of life is happening
for me.
So, god, here's our life, takeit, use it, do with it what you
will.
We're a paper plate in thehands of amazing Savior In
(32:33):
Jesus' name, and somebody whobelieved it said amen, amen.
I love you guys.
We'll keep going.
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
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Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
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(32:56):
, family member or maybe on yoursocial media, help us get the
word out so we can help others.
Welcome to another part of my Philippian study that
I have been doing with ourstaff at Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast.
Check out those episodes andcatch yourself up to join where
we're at today.
Check out those episodes andcatch yourself up to join where
(00:29):
we're at today.
Guess what book we're in?
Philippians Hebrews.
If I just like, skirted over toHebrews.
Wouldn't that be funny.
I'm like JK Hebrews.
Okay, so we're picking up inPhilippians, chapter one, and
(00:49):
we're going to pick it up inverse 12.
And we're going to try to getto verse 18.
If the Lord willing and thecreek don't rise, we'll be able
to do it.
So he starts out in verse 12 bysaying but I want you to know,
brethren, that the things whichhappened to me have actually
(01:10):
turned out for the furtheranceof the gospel.
And then verse 13,.
It says so that is becomeevident to the whole palace
guard and to all the rest thatmy chains, they're in Christ.
And so this is uh beautiful,because in verse 12, when he
says, that hits the emphasis onthe furtherance of the gospel.
(01:34):
And I even wrote in my bible um,what is the story around bad
things in my life.
Like Paul, he's like what'shappened to me it's actually for
the furtherance of the gospeland I don't get to choose what
happens to me in this life.
I don't get to choose whetheror not good things or bad things
(01:54):
happen.
The Bible says it rains on thejust and the unjust, so you're
going to get rain at some point.
I don't get to control what'sgoing to happen.
I don't get to control whereI'm going to be at in a year
from now or what's going tohappen in my life.
But I do get to control thestory I tell.
And when you think about hesays that the things which
happened to me, like we have toquestion like what are the
(02:16):
things he's talking about?
And what he's talking about ishe spent a two year imprisonment
in Caesarea.
He was whipped five times.
And when we think about this itlike always moves me, because
if you've ever seen the Passionof the Christ, you saw the
beating that Christ receivedbefore the cross.
I want you to think about that.
(02:39):
Paul endured that five times,that five times, five times.
Each time he was whipped hewould be healed again to go to
another city and have it happenagain.
How many of us, after one timeof somebody pushing back on what
(03:00):
we say for the gospel, shutdown, like, like I can't share
the gospel with my family, likeI can't share the message of
Jesus, I can't post this onInstagram, it's too bold.
No, he was whipped five times.
This would have been 195 lasheshe endured.
So he was beaten three timesand one of the times they drug
(03:22):
him out of the city thinking hewas dead.
So imagine being beaten to thepoint that everybody's like your
haters, the people that arebeating you are totally
convinced that you're dead.
They drag him out of the city.
He's dead.
He was stoned once and then hewas shipwrecked three times.
And I don't know about y'all,but if somebody was shipwrecked
(03:44):
three times and I saw themgetting on a boat, I wouldn't
get on the boat that they'regetting on.
And I mean like for real.
If, like, you're getting on theboat and you like, see the
passengers line up and you seePaul, you're like, oh hell, no,
like I'm gonna, I'll wait, delayme, I'll take the next ship.
I'm good, because three timeshe was shipwrecked.
Okay, the dude had bad luck.
(04:05):
It's made me think of there wasa guy that holds the Guinness
world record of being struck bylightning the most times.
It's actually awful.
His name is Roy ClevelandSullivan and he was struck by
lightning seven times.
He was a park ranger atShenandoah National Park.
You can look this up lightningseven times.
He was a park ranger atShenandoah National Park.
(04:26):
You can look this up.
It's for real.
The first time that he wasstruck by lightning he was in
the watchtower at the nationalpark and the watchtower got
struck by lightning, and so heruns down out of the tower.
He was running to his truck,and as he was running to his
truck he got struck by lightning.
Another time he got struck bylightning and it blew off his
toenail, his big toe toenail.
(04:47):
It was so intense.
And then it says, in the springof 1972, sullivan was working
inside a ranger station inShenandoah National Park and he
was struck again.
It set his hair on fire and hetried to smother the flames with
his jacket.
He then ran to the restroom,but he couldn't fit his head
under the water tap, and so heused a towel and said although
he was never a fearful man, fromthat point forward he always
(05:08):
carried around a can of water toput the flames out if he got
struck again.
On August 7th 1973, while hewas out on patrol in the park,
he saw a storm cloud forming andhe drove away quickly.
He was convinced that the cloudwas following him, but finally
he thought he had outrun it.
He decided it was safe to leavehis truck.
Soon after he was struck by alightning bolt.
(05:29):
Sullivan stated that heactually saw the bolt that hit
him.
It blew out his knee.
He set his hair on fire.
Still conscious, sullivan wasable to crawl to his truck and
poured the can of water over hishead to put out the fire.
(05:50):
The next strike on June 5th1976, injured his ankle and he
reported that he saw a cloud andthought it was following him.
And again he tried to run awayby foot.
But he was struck anyway andhis hair was again caught on
fire.
Pretty bad right.
So I said that because weprobably needed a comedic relief
(06:12):
after thinking about all thatPaul just endured.
We needed to laugh a little bit, you know.
But I mean shipwrecked threetimes, so it's a lot.
So he's saying that the thingsthat happened to me were for the
furtherance of the gospel.
He was in house arrest in Rome,and when he's writing this he's
believed to be currentlyimprisoned in Rome, and the term
furtherance is a prokopeion,which was used in the Greek
(06:39):
speaking world to describe ablazing trail before an army.
Paul therefore saw the eventsas him blazing a trail for God.
It was propa chaon, like do yousee in your life the bad things
as you blazing a trail?
(07:00):
I think if we'll be honest, ifI would have been shipwrecked
once, if I would have beenwhipped once, if I would have
been rejected once, I probablywould have said it's just not
worth it, but he saw it as himblazing a trail.
Can I just encourage you thatmaybe the things that you're
calling closed doors and asobstacles, god's calling it's
(07:23):
you blazing a trail.
Like, if we get a differentperspective, it would change
everything.
So what do we see our lives?
I was thinking about this as Iread it, because he says that it
actually things which happenedto me actually turned out for
the furtherance of the gospel,and so he saw his life and I
kind of was thinking about how,whenever Pastor Lee was here, he
(07:45):
said like something in asentence in one of the services
I can't remember if it was firstor second, but he just like
said it in passing, he's like,how do you view your life?
And he's like I don't knowabout y'all, but I want to be a
paper plate.
And then he just kind of movedon and I just can't stop
thinking about that.
And so I was curious, like whatwas the most expensive China
(08:06):
dish that's ever been sold?
And it's actually this one, andit was the most expensive
Chinese bowl ever sold in the18th century was sold for $25
million in the Sotheby's auctionin Hong Kong in April of 23.
So this is like an expensivepiece of China.
(08:30):
And you think about it as Ithought about it, like how do I
view my life?
Am I a paper plate or am I China?
And like, when you think aboutit, a paper plate.
The glory of the paper plate isjust that it's used Like it's.
It doesn't.
You can use this paper plate ata beautiful wedding.
You can use it at your kid'sbackyard barbecue.
(08:51):
You could use it on Christmas.
You could use it onThanksgiving, or you can let it
roll around in your car, causeyou made breakfast on your way
out the door and you throw it ona paper plate.
But the thing about a paperplate it can be used for
anything, but you throw it awaywhen it's done.
Nobody like has a memorialservice for the paper plate.
No, and in fact whatever is onthe paper plate is more valuable
(09:13):
than the paper plate.
Like, whatever it's serving ismore valuable, the person it's
serving is more valuable thanthe plate itself.
And I began to think aboutChina.
The difference in China is yousave it for special events, like
maybe you grew up in a housewhere they had special China and
you never used it because yourmom always said we're going to
(09:34):
use it for a special event and aspecial event never happened.
But and it's used with care.
You usually can't put them inthe dishwasher, you have to hand
wash them, they're passed downgeneration to generation,
they're sold for tons of moneyand whatever is on it is never
as valuable as the plate itself.
(09:54):
And I'm thinking about Paul.
He didn't view himself as China, he viewed himself as a paper
plate and even though he hadbeen whipped, abused, whatever
he's like, it's fine.
I'm just a paper plate becausethe people I'm serving and the
God I'm serving is more valuablethan the life I have.
And I think a lot of us areholding back from God because,
(10:17):
if we'll be honest, we seeourself as more valuable than
the people we're serving.
We see our life, our gifting,our talent as more valuable than
how we could be used.
But Paul says everything thatyou put on me, it's going to be
more valuable than my life,because I view my life as a
(10:39):
paper plate.
Take it, use it wherever youwill for God's glory.
And so what is the redemptionstory for the pain that you're
suffering, when you're goingthrough a difficult time, when
you're going through a season ofrejection or you're going
through a season of hurt?
I don't think any of us, eventhe biggest one-upper, can't
(10:59):
one-up Paul.
You know, when you get around aone-upper, they always have
something better to tell you.
I don't think anybody canone-up Paul.
But he got to choose theredemption story.
What's the redemption story tothe heartache?
What's the redemption story tothe loss?
What's the redemption story tothe team member that left?
What's the redemption story tothe loss?
(11:21):
What's the redemption story tothe team member that left?
What's the redemption story?
And if I'm a paper plate and mylife is in the hands of the
master, the master is morevaluable than me and whoever I'm
serving is more valuable thanme.
I'm just a plate, so take me,use me, and that's what Paul's
saying.
You can whip me, you canshipwreck me, you can imprison
me, and that's what Paul'ssaying.
You can whip me, you canshipwreck me, you can imprison
(11:42):
me, but I'm not imprisoned andI'm not shipwrecked and I'm not
going to be stopped because mylife's just a paper plate, and
paper plates are made to be used.
St John Christum says that takethen thyself the same provident
care for her as Christ takesfor the church Yea, even if it
shall be needed for thee to givethy life for her.
(12:03):
Yea, and to be cut into pieces10,000 times yea, and to endure
and undergo any sufferingwhatever, refuse it not.
I love that because he's sayingis there any limit to your
obedience of what you're willingto do for Christ's bride?
Like does our obedience?
(12:24):
Does it have limits?
Are you China?
Are you a paper plate?
Do you have limits of like?
God, I'll do this, but I won'tdo that.
God, I'll go here, but I won'tgo there.
God, I'll serve these people,but I won't serve these people.
Are there people that you'vewritten out of God's story?
And what's crazy, is the verypeople that kept rejecting Paul,
because his biggest obstaclewas not the Roman government, it
(12:47):
was actually the church.
And yet every time he went intothe city, the first place he
went was to the very people thatkept rejecting him.
And a lot of times what we do,if we're being honest, because
we're China, we save ourselvesfor special occasions and when
the right people come in I'llserve them when the right team
(13:07):
members show up, when the rightopportunity presents itself.
But Paul says I'm just a paperplate, so keep putting me in the
synagogue with the very peoplethat reject me.
I'll be rejected and then I'llgo serve the ones who will eat
from my plate.
So then he goes on in 13 and 14says so it has become evident to
the whole palace guard and toall the rest that my chains are
(13:29):
in Christ.
In other words, I'm not aprisoner of Rome.
Rome didn't imprison me, andmost of the brethren in the Lord
, having become confident by mychains, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear.
I think this is beautiful,because Paul's letting us know
he wasn't a prisoner of Rome, hewas a prisoner of Christ.
(13:50):
No one controlled his futurebeyond what Christ could
providentially prevent or allow.
This is like something that Iwrestled with, but even the
things that I don't want in mylife are still God's providence
at the end of the day.
And he's saying you may call mea prisoner of Rome, I'm not a
(14:15):
prisoner of Rome, I'm a prisonerof Christ.
My life belongs to him.
And Paul knew well and good thatif God wanted him out of a
prison, he would open the doors.
But there's never once recordedPaul asking for the prison
doors to be opened.
He always trusted.
Wherever God had him, he alwaystrusted.
So how often do we seeourselves as a prisoner of
(14:36):
things?
We see ourselves as a prisonerof circumstances, the economy,
people's opinion, our employerdiagnosis we can keep going down
the list.
You're not a prisoner of thosethings.
You're a prisoner of Christ,and that's where our power comes
from is when we realize that ifGod wanted me out of this job,
he would open a door to anotherone.
If God wanted me out of thiscircumstance, he would open a
(14:58):
door to another one.
If God wanted me out of thiscircumstance, he would open the
door for another one.
If God wanted my financialsituation to turn around, he
would open the door for anotherone.
If God wanted this diagnosis toturn around at some point.
I'm a prisoner to him, right,I'm not a prisoner to the
diagnosis, I'm a prisoner toChrist.
And so in Ephesians 3.1, heagain reiterates the same point.
(15:20):
But there's two effects ofPaul's imprisonment that we see
here.
Number one the guards heard thegospel and it says it was the
palace guard, and the palaceguard was like the highest
ranking Roman officials, and sothe palace guard would have been
the equivalent, would be likethe Navy SEALs today, like these
are the most trained, mostlearned, they have to go through
(15:40):
the most rigorous training.
And he's saying hey guys, likethe way I'm enduring this, the
palace guards are hearing thegospel.
And so I want you to thinkabout this.
Like there was other prisonersthat were in the prison but
their lives didn't show atestimony of anything the palace
guard wanted, were in theprison but their lives didn't
show a testimony of anything thepalace guard wanted.
(16:01):
And I want to say that, like inour life, I think that people
watch the way that we suffer,they watch the way we endure
hard times.
Anybody can worship wheneverything's good, like anybody.
Like when you have an amazinglegacy Sunday and you're like
praise God, amen.
Like anybody can rejoice Godwhen you see the end.
But can you see it when we hadour first Miracle Sunday?
(16:28):
That's a banger Like.
But it's like he's saying likethere's lots of prisoners there
but none of them had a testimony.
What's your testimony?
In the midst of suffering, like, what's your testimony?
Number two there is animpartation of boldness to the
other prisoners.
There's these other prisonersthat are like wait, I've been
holding back because I'm afraidof persecution, but here you are
still bold, in the midst ofpersecution.
(16:49):
And it makes me want to be allthe more bold.
Like there's something ourculture, our world is longing to
see bold Christians, bold faith.
And so there's something thathappens when you stand up other
people.
You may stand up first byyourself for a little while, but
you won't stand for longbecause other peoples are going
to come around you.
(17:09):
I love this quote by Therodot.
He says that my chains havethemselves become the source of
courage to others.
They can easily see that I bearthe adversity with joy, so they
come to preach the divinegospel.
I love that so much, and he'swriting that out of his own
personal experience.
So, moving on from there, we gointo Philippians 1, 15 through
(17:33):
17.
And he says Only that in everyway, whether in pretense or in
(17:56):
truth, christ is preached, andin this I rejoice.
Yes, I will rejoice.
So, reasons people preach thegospel that aren't the right
reason right, even today we seethis.
Reasons that people preach thegospel that aren't right.
We have people that preach thegospel for financial gain.
Come on, preachers and seekers,right?
People that just want to.
Like they're looking for amonetary gain.
(18:18):
How about virtue signaling?
We're doing things where we arejust going with what's popular
sayings but we don't actuallylive it out.
So we're saying things that aregoing to get the applause and
the following of other people,but deep down, it's not actually
who we are.
So an example of this would beposting that you're praying for
our nation, but you spent moretime crafting the post than you
(18:40):
do actually praying.
When everyone stands up forsomething, you finally stand up
for it because you don't want tobe left out, like you want to
do the right thing.
And so what is that?
That's preaching the gospel forlike wrong reasons.
Right, it's standing up for,maybe, something that is rooted
in the gospel, but you're doingit for the wrong reasons.
How about religious pressure?
(19:01):
It's the right thing to do.
Right, it's the right thing todo.
I should do this, but yourheart isn't aligned with it at
all.
How about moralistic,therapeutic deism?
And this is basically when webelieve in God and when we want
to live for him, but we don'twant to change our life.
So we keep adding things onwith a dualistic deism, meaning
(19:22):
I want to worship self, but Ialso want to worship God, and so
, instead of surrendering theareas of my life that I don't
want to surrender to God, I'lljust add on godly things to mask
my carnality.
And what is it?
It's dualistic deism.
I'm actually worshiping to Godself and God and and there's
people that do this right.
Reasons why they weren'tpreaching the Christ here,
(19:52):
reasons they were preachingChrist here that Paul notes as
being wrong is for strife.
You know they're doingsomething good, but their heart
was to cause division, like theyactually were just trying to
get a bigger following than Paul.
We want to be seen as good orbetter than the actions of
others.
How about envy?
You don't feel called to theposition.
You're just envious that theyhave what you want and so you're
(20:13):
doing the good things, but it'sjust out of an envious heart
position.
How about selfish ambition?
You just want to be seen or beknown.
I say this story often, butit's worth repeating because
it's just still that good.
There was a girl that met withme one time and she was like I
want to do what you do.
And I was like oh, you want todo what I do?
She's like yeah.
I said what does that mean toyou?
And she's like I want to preach.
(20:34):
And I said okay, great, tell meabout your Bible read.
She's like oh, I don't read myBible.
I said and you want to preach?
And she's like, yeah.
And I was like well, thestarting line is like reading
the Bible.
Okay, well, what about yourprayer time?
Oh, I don't pray, like for real.
She was like I don't pray.
And I said oh, you just want tobe famous.
(20:59):
Don't be a preacher, then wedon't need another preacher.
That falls.
And she goes well, can't youjust go on YouTube and take
people's messages?
And I was like yeah, butthere's no anointing on it
because you can say what I say.
I could even give you my notesand you can say what I say, but
there's no power behind it.
And what is she saying?
She's like I want it out ofselfish ambition, I just want to
(21:20):
be seen, I want to be known, Iwant to be on this platform.
And Paul's saying guys, there'speople that are preaching Christ
and they're doing it with thesewrong things.
I found these because these area few just memes that were out
there.
If one's motives are wrong,nothing can be right.
And I see somebody probablysharing this maybe not with this
terrible graphic, but I couldsee somebody sharing this.
(21:41):
Or how about this?
Uh, wrong motives equalunanswered prayer.
Um, I've heard people say somethings like that.
That's what we would say right.
Typically, we're like if yourmotives are wrong, then you're
not going to get anywhere.
And Paul's like letting us knowthat there's people preaching
the gospel and they have wrongmotives.
And so culture would say ifyour motives are wrong, then
there is no good or fruit thatwill come.
(22:03):
But the kingdom works like thisIf your motives are wrong, god
is the one that produces fruit,and sometimes we get so
judgmental about people'smotives that we don't celebrate
the good that's happening.
And Paul's letting us knowthere's people here that are
(22:24):
preaching for the wrong reasons,but he doesn't rebuke them, he
doesn't even stop them.
He says this, he says, thelater.
I love knowing that I'mappointed for the defense of the
gospel.
What, then?
Only that in every way, whetherin pretense or in truth, christ
is preached, and in this Irejoice, yes, and I will rejoice
(22:49):
.
He's letting us know hey guys,like yeah, there's people that
are going to come along and dothe wrong things.
I will just say this Are therepeople that are probably gonna
stand on our stage out of awrong motive?
Yes, because I have, you have,we all have.
Has there been people that aregonna serve on Sunday put on a
(23:09):
dream team badge, and theirmotive is that it's a dualistic
deism, that they're trying toappease God but while also
keeping their carnal nature?
The answer is yes.
You know why.
I know it's yes Because I'vedone it and you've done it right
.
There's wrong motives, andculture would say if your
motives are wrong, there's nogood fruit that you're canceled.
(23:29):
We got to push you out, wecan't have anything to do with
you.
And Paul's like I'm not worriedabout it, because they're
preaching the gospel.
He's like hey, guys, if they'renot against us, they're for us.
That's what Jesus said.
And he's like I'm not worriedabout it, cause here's the thing
is, at the end of the day,god's going to judge their heart
, and I don't know where theirheart is, I don't know if fully
where their motives are, butGod's going to take care of that
(23:51):
.
I'm just going to keep doingwhat God's called me to do, and
I think so many times if we'rejust can I just like talk to you
for a second?
I think we get so hung up onthe motives of others that we
haven't yet put ourselves ourown motives in check.
Like we're so busy weighing outMamaw's motives and Ava's
motives and Maya's motives, andwe're spending all this time and
(24:12):
here's the deal is Mamaw'sgoing to stand before God and
answer for mamaw on her motives.
But here's the thing is I'mgoing to stand before God and
answer for me, not for her.
And Paul's like listen, guys,I'm not worried about their
motives because, at the end ofthe day, the fruit is that the
kingdom's advancing.
The fruit is that we're movingforward.
The fruit is that, and so I'mjust going to focus on the
(24:33):
things that matter the most.
So Philippians 1, 15 through 18,we have a little inclusio, and
this is my drawing.
Thank you, I feel like it wasgood.
So this because I wanted tocontinue our paper plate theme.
I thought this sandwich couldbe served on a plate.
(24:53):
So it kind of looks like a boat, maybe like a cap size boat.
It's one Paul's on.
It's definitely gettingshipwrecked.
But the plate I put as rejoiceand I put by the bread as the
gospel being preached.
And on the inside, what kind ofsandwich are we going to?
Blt, okay, okay.
(25:17):
Well, trent said first BLT,okay, so we're gonna go, let's
go double bacon.
And then we'll go lettuce andtomato.
Is that good?
And so, uh, the motives forpreaching here.
And then we have this, uh,selfish and strife.
And then we have love anddefense of the gospel.
And so he's saying he'sbasically like at the beginning
and the end, the main pointdefense of the gospel.
And so he's saying he'sbasically like at the beginning
and at the end, the main pointis that the gospel is being
(25:39):
preached.
He spends more time talkingabout the gospel being preached
than his own suffering.
He spends more time talkingabout how lives are being
changed than his own personalproblems.
He spends more time talkingabout how the kingdom is
advancing.
And I thought about thisbecause, at the end of the day,
the reason why his plate is likethe sandwich is being served on
(26:00):
the plate of rejoicing, isbecause where his focus is, his
focus is right.
His focus is, at the end of theday, god is winning.
I love this, are you guys?
Okay, I might go just a fewminutes over.
Do I have permission?
Okay, great, whenever we wentto Rome, we went to Mamertine
prison.
Mamertine prison, and if you go,is an underground prison, and
(26:24):
so this is believed to be wherePaul was in prison, and now they
have a beautiful littlestaircase that it's like a
circular staircase that you godown and where you can go inside
Mamertine prison.
But at the time you would belowered down through a hole and
so you would be literally tiedonto a rope and suspended down
(26:45):
into this hole.
There was no light down in theprison and so it was underground
and the food was so disgustingthat, unless people brought them
food, they literally wouldstarve to death because of what
they were being fed.
The city sewer would runthrough the bottom of that
prison and you think this iswhere Paul's writing, when he
(27:05):
writing, when he pins sitting,where he, when he pins the word,
I am now seated in heavenlyplaces.
I talk about perspective.
This doesn't feel heavenly atall.
All you're, you're blocked outfrom everything.
In fact, one of the governmentofficials at the time, uh, said
this, uh of the people in manormanor time prison.
He said they did not deserve tobe a part of this world and
(27:28):
were confined to the underworldlike they.
Literally, it was like theirway of making them assimilating
an experience similar to hell,and so they put them underground
to suffer until their finalexecution.
Christians would later buyMamertine prison and made it
into a church that is aboveground.
(27:50):
It's actually on top of theplace that Paul was in prison.
And what's crazy is is when,when we walked in to come to
Mamertine prison, I was likethis doesn't feel like we're in
a prison, I feel like I'm inchurch, and you're almost
unaware that it's literally ontop of the prison.
And so you go down this way andthen you go to the left and
(28:11):
there's a little staircase thattakes you down.
You wouldn't even know youcould go there and worship and
have no idea, literally, thesuffering that was right
underneath your feet, have noidea of the pain that was right
underneath your feet.
And this is exactly what Paulis saying.
It may look like a prison, butit's a church.
It may look like chains, butit's actually praise.
(28:35):
It may look like suffering, butit's actually praise.
It may look like suffering, butit's actually a place of
sacrifice.
I have chills from my head to mytoes and I will say, when our
perspective stays right, this iswhat the world sees, while you
know, under the surface of allthat you've been through, all
that you've done and here's thething is that in Mamertine
prison, the only way you got inwas to be lowered down.
(28:58):
But the only way that you gotout is that up is to go up.
And I want to encourage youthat the way out of our
suffering, the way out of theproblems, the way out of the
difficulty, is up, throughpraise.
Like that's the only way I'mgoing to get out of this is I'm
going to there's, not going to.
God's not going to rapture youout of there.
You're not just going to wishthe problem away, but God.
(29:18):
I'm going to keep myperspective up because I want
the praise to be louder than theprison and I want people, when
they see my life, all they seeis this beautiful place of
sacrifice.
All they see is this beautifulplace of worship.
All they see is this they haveno idea that underground there's
so much pain, there was so muchdifficulty.
But because I chose God to takeme up, I'm going to keep my
(29:40):
perspective up, I'm going tokeep my eyes up.
So a secularized Christianitysays this suffering doesn't
exist.
But the gospel says the waythrough our suffering is worship
.
And and secularizedChristianity doesn't know what
to do with suffering.
That's why we avoid books likeJob, that's why we avoid books
like Ecclesiastes, because wedon't want to be confronted with
(30:01):
the reality that bad thingshappen to good people.
But the gospel message isliterally this the way through
my suffering is worship, the waythat I'm going to get through
this difficult season, the waythat I'm going to get through
this.
And Paul says listen, there'speople that are down here and
they're trying to take thechurch and, like, spin it off
into their own thing.
They're rivaling like you wantwhat I have.
(30:22):
Like do you really want what Ihave?
That's fine.
You're doing it out of envy andstrife.
I'm not worried about it,because the kingdom's advancing,
and so I'm going to rejoice.
Yet even will I rejoice?
He says it twice.
So if you're on your joy count,you want to circle those
because we just threw in joy acouple more times.
And he's letting them know herethat rejoicing is the doorway
(30:44):
out, even if you can't get outphysically.
And I'll end this on a Spurgeonquote, because Spurgeon's
always fire.
Affliction is the best bit offurniture in my house.
Affliction is the best bit offurniture in my house.
It is the best book in aminister's library.
If paul wasn't in prison andchose to have a different
(31:05):
perspective, we would be missingso many of the gospel accounts
that we read today, the booksthat we go to.
So I'll I'll end.
And how we began Is what is thestory Around the bad things in
your life that you're telling?
What's the story you're telling?
You don't get to choose whathappens to you, but you do get
(31:26):
to choose what's the story.
Am I a paper plate or am Ichina?
God, make me paper plate, takeme, use me.
Let the people I serve be morevaluable than me.
Let what you put on me and howyou, the hands that are holding
me, that they're the mostvaluable thing.
So, father, we just thank youthat the way through God,
(31:49):
everything that we walk throughLord, is in rejoicing.
So, father, we say, like poetPaul, we will rejoice yet even
more will we rejoice that Lord,our praise will be amplified.
Lord, let our praise be louder.
Lord, let our praise bestronger.
That God.
I thank you that you're building, god, something beautiful on
the top, lord, on the top floor,a praise On the top floor, a
(32:12):
level of sacrifice.
That God, our perspective isshifting, our life is shifting.
That Lord.
We're not looking at the badthings that life is happening to
me, but, lord, let us have aviewpoint of life is happening
for me.
So, god, here's our life, takeit, use it, do with it what you
will.
We're a paper plate in thehands of amazing Savior In
(32:33):
Jesus' name, and somebody whobelieved it said amen, amen.
I love you guys.
We'll keep going.
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
podcast.
Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
people is by you sharing.
So if you do me a favor andshare this podcast with a friend
(32:56):
, family member or maybe on yoursocial media, help us get the
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