Paul's Joy in Ministry - Part 2

So, let's take our Bible. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 1 verses 19-26. And last week we got into this new section of scripture. And the new section is verses 12-26. But last week we covered verses 12-18. And last week we saw that Paul transitioned from his concern for the Philippians. And now he is explaining his situation to those saints that were there in the Philippian Church. He explains why he was in a Roman prison and that God was doing wonderful things through his circumstances even while he was under house arrest, and even though he could have faced death.

And I pointed out that there are two themes or two subjects that run all throughout these verses. First of all I pointed out that we saw and we see the theme of the advancement of the Gospel. We learned last week that in Paul's ministry and in the ministry of the Church there in Rome the Gospel was making great progress there in verse 12. And this was happening in two areas or two places. Warren Wiersby called this pioneer work. Paul was engaged in a pioneer work with the Imperial Guard. And of course there was the work that impacted the Church there.

But then second we saw and we see the subject of trials and difficulties associated with ministry. Last week we saw that even when Paul was under house arrest the Gospel was making progress in the Imperial Guards that were chained to him day and night every day. And Paul's difficulties had a great impact on the brothers that would be the Church that was already there in Rome. So we see how his difficulties even impacted the Church. Now in thinking back to what we studied last week in verses 12-18 there are four things that have resonated with me. And when I say resonated with me I ponder over these things after I teach them to you.

And I think we need to hold on to these as examples and apply them into our lives. First we learned that the Gospel was making great progress in Paul and through Paul even in his difficult circumstances. And we should expect to see the Gospel make great progress in and through us. The Gospel should be advancing. That should be our expectation. To quote the New American Standard we should see the greater progress of the Gospel. But where? Where should we see that? We should see it in our families. We should see it in those that we minister to in the community. We should see the Gospel progressing in the life of the Church.

We should even expect to see God use us in other places even around the world. Second we learned that we should become more confident in bold to speak the Word without fear. Paul said that the Philippians brothers and sisters have become confident they had become bold. They were even daring because of his imprisonment. And this was not just a flash of emotion. They remained bold in their witness. And again God used Paul in his circumstances to impact them. So my question for us is this. Are we bold? Are we confident? Are we continuously bold to share the Gospel and to share Christ? And my question is this. How can we?

The way you share the Gospel could be different than me. But we should all be daring and bold and confident in sharing the Gospel. Third we saw that there are true Christians who do preach Christ with sinful motives. And I think this one surprised some of you. They may even act out in such a way that they hurt other believers. Remember that is what was happening to Paul. Some of the brothers there in Rome they seem to be brothers. And they were preaching Christ. They were preaching the true Gospel. But they were not doing it out of good will. Paul talks about envy and jealousy and even striving to hurt him. And my question for us is this.

How have we reacted when something like this has happened to us? I think I pointed out last week that we usually use those motives to question even their salvation even if they are preaching the true Gospel. And that was a very, very big lesson for us. As a matter of fact I had some good correspondence between some of you about how that lesson was needed for me and for you. And then fourth we saw that Paul had great, great joy when Christ was preached. No matter what. I like this phrase. I used it last week. Paul forgot about himself. He forgot about himself and how those wrongs were coming against him. He forgot about how they treated him.

He was simply filled with joy that Christ was preached. And that was because he was glory of God focused. That's what drove him. I'm going to read verse 18. If you have your copy of God's Word you can look at it. Paul says, "What then?" In other words he is just given all that he is given. What then? Only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth. What is he saying? No matter the motive Christ proclaimed. And then in that I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice. And see this is the challenge for us that we would react the very same way even when someone seems to have the wrong motives that Christ is preached and declared.

Now tonight I want to turn our attention to verses 19 to 26. I will read the second part of verse 18 because I do believe that it fits with this section of Scripture. And we will see that Paul moves from focusing more on his difficulties and trials and the perspective from which he sees those things. And we will see that Paul is completely convinced that in him and in his circumstances Christ will be glorified and magnified no matter what happens. If he is set free or if he is put to death no matter what. Of course we will see that Paul was not in a panic at all.

And we will see that Paul was still trying to strengthen the saints there in Philippi. So, let's read our verses again. I'm going to read the last part of verse 18. Again, I believe it applies to what we are looking at here as well. He says, "Yes, and I will rejoice." Verse 19, "For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit," that would be the Holy Spirit, "of Christ Jesus this will turn out for my deliverance. As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed. But that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death.

For to me to live as Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh," that means here in this world, "that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart or leave this world and to be with Christ. For that is far better. But to remain in the flesh or in the world is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.

So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again." Now this is how we are going to approach the verses. First we will see that Paul rejoiced in his life or in his death as long as Christ was honored, as long as Christ was magnified we will see that Paul rejoiced. And then second we will see that Paul rejoiced in his life and ministry as long as the church was advanced or it progressed or it was helped. So that is the two major truths that we are going to look at. And there is a lot of things that go along with this.

So number one I want us to see that Paul rejoiced in his life or in his death as long as Christ was magnified. And we see this in verse 18 on down to verse 21. Now I want us to notice something in the verses. We read them earlier. We will read them again here in a moment. We see Paul's great joy at the end of verse 18. But notice that we see a great confidence from Paul in all of these things. So let's look at the verses and let's see if you can pick up on the confidence. He says, "Yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain." And what I want to do here is this. I want us to see that Paul's great joy was rooted in our time to a great confidence. And he had confidence in quite a few things here and again it produced all this joy. But notice first he had a confidence in the prayers of the saints. Notice what Paul says here in verse 8-19.

He says, "For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Christ Jesus this will turn out for my deliverance." Here we can see that Paul places a lot of confidence in the Philippians specifically in their prayers. Now this word "know" it means to know something with confidence. It means to know something with great certainty. And by saying that he knew with confidence that he knew with certainty that through their prayers things would turn out for his deliverance Paul was saying that their prayers were powerful. He was saying that their prayers were effective. For what?

To bring about God's plan and God's plans for his life and ministry. Many of you have William McDonald's commentary, the Believer's Bible commentary. That's a very good resource for you to pick up. I love it. My wife uses it as well. And I love what William McDonald says here. And I'm quoting, "Marvel here at the importance which Paul puts on the prayers of the feeble band of believers." He sees them as sufficiently powerful. That would be the prayers. To thwart the purposes of the mighty power of Rome. It is true Christians can influence the destiny of nations and change the course of history through prayer.

Now I'm going to come back to that statement here in a moment. But notice Paul had a great confidence in the prayers of the saints. Then second he had confidence in the help of the Spirit. Look again at what Paul says in the verse, "For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," this would be the Holy Spirit, "this will turn out for my deliverance." Here we can see that Paul places a lot of confidence in the work of the Spirit. Again this word "know" means to know something with confidence and with certainty.

And by saying that he knew with certainty and confidence that the Spirit would help him to bring about his deliverance, Paul was saying that the work of the Spirit was powerful, the work of the Spirit was effective for what? To bring about God's plan and plans for his life and ministry. So Paul had a great confidence in the work and the help of the Spirit of God here. Now before I move on I want to point out something that makes someone comfortable. I want to point out something that some can see as kind of like a contradiction.

The fact that Paul places the prayers of the saints and his confidence that those prayers were effective and powerful to bring about God's plan for his life right next to his confidence that the Holy Spirit of God would bring about those things as well. You see where they are side by side? And the fact that Paul places the prayers of the saints and his confidence that those prayers were effective and powerful to bring about God's plan for his life, the fact that he puts that right next to the confidence that he has in the Holy Spirit of God that he would bring about those things as well. Do you see how this can make some uncomfortable?

And the question we must ask here is this, which of these two were going to bring about God's plan and purposes for Paul's life? The prayers of the Philippians or the Holy Spirit of God? Which of these two? The answer is yes. The only way the prayers of the saints could be sufficiently powerful enough to thwart the purposes and the plans of men and kings is that if those things were the will of God to begin with. And this is a great mystery. This is hard to fully explain. This is hard to understand and even untangle. So right here we need to see a tremendous lesson. We must not err here by being out of balance. We cannot say it is either or.

We must say and believe that it is both. Let me give you an example. The salvation of the lost. Do they come to faith in Christ by your witness? Through your witness? As you share the Gospel? Or do they come to faith in Christ because the Holy Spirit of God brings them into the kingdom? Yes. The advancement of the Gospel. If we are striving to see the Gospel advance and make progress in our families, in our church, and around the world, does God do that because of the work of the Spirit? Or does God do that because of the work that we engage in? The answer is yes. Of the work of the church. Just in general terms.

Is the work of the church successful because of the work of the Spirit of God? Or is it successful because of our works and our efforts? The answer is always yes. We also need to see another lesson here. And this is vital in keeping us in balance. Hendrickson points out an error that we would make here. He says that we would hesitate to place the prayers of the saints right next to the sovereign work of the Spirit of God. And this is a lesson. We should always keep these two right next to each other for the sake of keeping us in balance. Now why is this important? Why do I pause here for this?

If we focus too much on the effectiveness of our prayers we can become too man centered. We can think and believe that God's work only depends on us and also on. Have you ever known anybody like that? I have fallen into that error in my previous Christian walk. I've been out of balance there before. But notice on the other side if we focus too much on the sovereign work of God we can become, now this is going to sound strange, too God centered. And what I mean by that is this. We can think and believe that God's work does not involve men's prayers and even men's responsibilities. And if you fall in that error you don't engage in the work.

So again let's just look at the lost. How is the Gospel going to be advanced? God can do it without us. He used a donkey one time. But He chooses to use us donkeys today. And my point is this. All of these things they are placed in our laps of responsibility. God can do them without us but He chooses to do these things. And I have said this before and I've had people get their feathers ruffled. God is dependent on us. Now God doesn't need anybody. But He's entrusted this work to us, you see. So Paul had a great confidence in the work of the Spirit and he also had a great confidence in the prayers of the saints.

And then third he had confidence in his own deliverance. This is at the end of verse 19. Now notice something about the different translations. First of all this word deliverance. The English Standard Version the New American used the word deliverance. The King James uses the word salvation. That's not the best word here. Now also notice the King James places the subject of deliverance or salvation at the front of the verse. While the more modern translation they place it at the end of the verse. But what is Paul referring to? There is a little bit of a debate here.

Some scholars say that Paul was speaking of his personal deliverance from sin and death through his faith in Christ. Some even say this alludes to eternal security. Some scholars say that Paul was speaking of his acquittal before Caesar and his deliverance from prison and death. But although those things may be part of what Paul is speaking of that's really not all. Verse 20 helps us see what Paul is saying. Verse 20 helps us see that Paul was saying that he would be delivered from a certain thing. He was simply saying that no matter what life or death he would be delivered.

He was saying that if he lived he would be delivered unto life and into ministry again. Of course he wasn't out of the ministry. And if he was executed by Nero he would be delivered from the world and unto Christ. So simply he had a great confidence of his own deliverance or God's will and plan for his life. And as we will see he believed that he would be delivered from execution and unto life. So we see that Paul had confidence in his own deliverance whatever that may be. And then forth he had confidence in the plan of God. We see this in verse 20 and 21. Now here we see a key phrase.

The English Standard says, "It is my eager expectation." The New American and the King James use the word earnest, earnest expectation. Now in the original this is a compound word. That's two words that are joined together if you remember your English. And it literally spoke of stretching one's neck out. Of course this was figurative language. But it communicated something. Simply Paul was yearning. He was longing. He was looking for something. We do this all the time. If we play golf we're yearning for that good score. If we play golf we're yearning for a round where we don't have any three putts.

If we fish we're yearning for a few fish to catch. If we fish we're yearning for a five pound bass. We're stretching our neck out to catch a good fish. If we dear hunt we're stretching our neck out to kill something worth bragging about. You get it? But what was Paul eagerly expecting and longing for? What was Paul looking for? What was he even, of course it's figurative language? What was he stretching his neck out to see? Paul had a great confidence. He had an eager expectation and a hope for two things. First that he would not be ashamed. Look at verse 20, the beginning of verse 20.

He says, "As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed." Here Paul was saying that no matter what life or death in the eyes of God he would not be put to shame. You see? In the eyes of God he would be vindicated. A question that will help us here. Can we as Christians today in following God's will for our life can we be shamed before men but at the same time be vindicated before God? Yes. I'll use an example in my life. Many of you know that I left the church one time under some very difficult circumstances. People made some false accusations. Some of you know about that.

People accused me of false doctrine, things like that. I never tried to defend myself. I just kept my head up high. Psalm 37, I was just going to dwell in the land to be faithful. And although in the eyes of certain men I was shamed before God I was vindicated because He knew the truth. And I left my vindication up to God. I didn't try to defend myself. When people ask me questions I answered them. But if they looked down on me thinking that those accusations were true I didn't worry about it. You see? So Paul had a great confidence in the plan of God. He had a great confidence in the plan of God for his life.

And then second Christ would be magnified. Again we are still dealing with this great plan for God's life. First that He would not be ashamed. And then second that Christ would be magnified. Now look again at verse 20 but the second part. He says, "As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ would be honored in my body whether by life or death." Here Paul was saying that no matter what life or death that in his life and in his body Christ would be honored. The King James uses the word magnified. The New American says exalted. If he died what is he saying?

Then Christ would be honored and magnified. But he says if he lived then Christ would be honored and magnified. This is real simple. One commentator said that Paul was presenting his body as what? As a living sacrifice. Romans 1, Romans 12, 1. Acceptable to God that was his spiritual act of worship. But something that we must see here for Christ to be magnified. This does not mean to make Christ greater. No man, nothing can make Christ greater. To magnify Christ means to make him known more and more. It means to make him known to others and even that he would be honored and praised and worshiped by others.

And look at how Christ would be honored and magnified. We see this in verse 21. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ in the die's game." Paul was simply saying that to live is to serve Christ and to live a Christ-centered life that was Christ honoring. So Christ would be magnified. And then he's saying, "And to die would be with Christ which is nothing but gain." So Christ would be magnified, honored, exalted. So Paul had a great confidence and an assurance in God's plan for his life. And in that plan no matter what Christ would be magnified, exalted, and honored. So we've covered a lot here in these verses. But look at what we have here.

Again, the end of verse 18 down to verse 21. Paul rejoiced in his life or in his death. Either one, he had a great confidence that the prayers of the saints and the help of the Spirit would bring about his deliverance either in death or in life. He simply had a great confidence in the plan of God for his life again, whether it was life or death. And this great confidence brought him great joy. Again, his joy was rooted in this great confidence. Now, a couple more things here in application before we move on. I want you to see and understand that when you are living the Spirit-filled life and you understand the will of God for your life.

You can understand the will of God for your life if you are just a regular Christian. What I mean is this, sometimes people think, "Well, those who understand the will of God for their life, they are those who are in the ministry." No. If you understand the will of God in your life and in every area of your life, if you understand the will of God for your vocation, if you understand the will of God and how you manage your finances, what kind of home you live in, how you manage your home, how you educate your children, if you understand the will of God for your life and you can say you are living the Spirit-led life, the Spirit-controlled life in these things, then comes great joy.

Great joy. Some of the most unhappy Christians I know, what I mean by unhappy, they are joyless. They don't understand God's will for their life. And those of you who understand God's will and you walk in God's will in certain areas, you understand that joy. There is nothing like it when you can lay your head down on your pillow at night and you are confident that you are in the will of God even when difficulties come. So, Paul rejoiced in life and death as long as Christ was magnified, exalted, and honored. So, now let's look at our second major truth. Paul rejoiced in his life and ministry as long as the church was progressing.

I like that word progressing. We are going to come to that here in a moment. We see this in verses 22-26. Now, here in these verses, verses 22-26, Paul takes what he said in verse 21 and he continues by explaining how he personally felt about these things. With verse 21 as the background, he explains how he sees these things working out. Now, what are these things? There are quite a few. We see how he feels personally about life and death. We see how he feels personally about his ministry. We see how the Philippian, how he feels about the Philippian church, the Philippian saints. We see how he feels about the outcome of all of these things.

So, first how Paul feels personally, verses 22-23. Here we can see that Paul is actually being very transparent about how he feels. He is going back and forth and he is sorting through the two possibilities. He is even saying that if it were up to him to make the decision it would be hard. Listen to what he is saying here in verses 22 to verse 23. I'm going to read it in the Amplified. Paul says, "If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me. So, I do not know which I choose if I even, if I am even given the choice.

But I am hard pressed." That term literally means to be between a rock and a hard place. I am hard pressed between the two, the two choices to stay in life or to die and go to be with Christ. So, we see that Paul is sharing his personal feelings. He is questioning what he would do if he had the choice. That is to live and continue in earthly ministry or to die and go to be with Christ. But notice if he lives. Notice what would took place if he lived. Simply prolong ministry on earth. This expression to live in the flesh does not speak about sin.

This speaks of living on earth which would mean more ministry and more ministry in the time that he had left in the world. And think about all of the ministry that he had been involved in. And think about all of the things that he sought to accomplish. And then if he dies, notice what would take place if he died. Simply this would mean to be with Christ. Now, look at what Paul was saying and what he was not saying. He was not referring to some type of a soul sleep or some kind of an in-between place. He was saying that to die he would immediately go to be with Christ. And look at what he says in verse 23.

I'm in the English Standard Version here. He says, "I am hard pressed between the two." What is he saying? "I'm between a rock and a hard place. My desire is to depart and to be with Christ for that is far better." He is saying that if the decision was up to him, this would be hard. And he says to be with Christ is far better. There is a lesson here that we need to see. We've got to understand that for the believer it is far, far better to be with Christ. Today as I was finishing up and studying and reading and praying, I thought about our old friend and brother George Crosby. I miss George. I still have all the paperwork from the funeral.

It's in my office. It's a reminder for me to pray for Teresa. I can still hear his voice. I can still hear him and express his concern for his family and his desire to witness to his children, things like that. And if he were alive here he would be faithful to come to church as best as he could. He would be sharing the Gospel. He shared his faith with doctors and nurses. He would be exercising the ministry that God gave him. But he's far better off. And I'm sure Teresa misses him far more than we could ever imagine. But she understands that he is far better off. So what's the lesson here? We've got to keep it in perspective.

For Christians, for believers, they are far better off. We are far better off to be with Christ. So notice Paul was being personal here. He was telling us personally how he feels. And then second he mentions the Philippians and their need. We see this in verse 24. Paul moved from explaining how he feels about these things to the needs of the Philippians. And this is a reminder. Paul wrote this letter to explain his situation to them and to encourage them and to minister to them. Did he not? And look at what he says in verse 24.

He says, "But to remain in the flesh," that's in this world, "is more necessary on your account." Listen to what the Amplified says. He says, "Yet to remain in my body is more necessary and essential for your sake." Simply here Paul is saying that he knows that the Philippians saints need him. I like how the scholar Indrixon contrasts Paul's feelings and his personal desires up against the needs of the Philippians. He says, "On one side there is the desire. On the other side there is the need of the Philippians." And I'm quoting Indrixon here.

He says, "He," Paul, "is convinced that his continued life on earth enabling him to bestow further pastoral care upon the Philippian believers must be given serious consideration. The need of the church weighs heavier with him than that desire of his own soul." And so for us here I know that we are not facing life and death like Paul. But could we say like Paul that we are putting our desires aside for the need of the church? Look at that. Paul said, "I'd rather go be with Christ but I'm needed here." And that's an example and that's a challenge and that is a question for us.

Are we putting our desires aside so as to serve more, so as to be more faithful in the life of the church, so as to be more faithful in small groups, so as to be faithful in serving in your small group. Are we putting our desires aside so as to be more faithful? This might take a little more time in the message but I'll share this with you about my early Christian journey. Growing up I had several hobbies. One of my hobbies was anything outdoors. What I mean by that is this. In the fall I like the deer hunt. In the spring I like the turkey hunt. And in between I like the fish.

Matter of fact when I first met my wife and we got to know one another I just said, "Look I'm not very pretentious. This is who I am. I like to hunt and I like to fish." A little later on she said, "Well I didn't know that that meant every weekend." That's the way I lived. As soon as deer season was over I fished. Then I went to turkey hunt and I fished in between. And then in the summer I fished. I mean that's just what we did. Now I was faithful to church now. Don't get me wrong I was faithful to church. But I'll never forget when God put me in a place where I began to do more ministering the life of the church as a layman.

I've told y'all I went to my pastor and I volunteered to serve. He leaned back in his office chair and said, "All right." He put me to work. Well there came a conflict. I didn't have as much time for those outdoor activities. I can remember not going fishing as much. Not going hunting as much. Why? Because I was putting those desires aside for service. Of course everybody's calling and God's will for our lives are different. I'll never forget when God called me into the ministry that first spring I did what I always did. I cleaned up my boat and got it ready to go fish. I never went fishing. I just didn't have time. My desires had changed.

That next spring I cleaned up my boat again and I sold it. Now am I saying there's anything wrong with the boat? No. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just sharing with you how my desires changed and I put my desires aside for what? For the needs of the church and that looks different for everybody. So the Philippians and their needs. And then third the conclusion of these events. This is in verses 25 to 26. Here we see what I call the conclusion of the outcome of these events. Not that things have been resolved. No. Paul was still in a Roman prison or house arrest. But Paul knows how these things are going to turn out I believe.

And notice that Paul says two things here. First that he is convinced of this and I know that I will remain. The King James says that Paul had confidence that he will remain. Now we do not know if this came by a direct revelation from God. We know that Paul lived closer to God probably than most men have ever lived to the Lord. Could the Holy Spirit have told him that he would remain on this earth? Sure. Did he come to this conclusion based on his own feelings and understanding of God's will? Was this impressed upon him by the spirit? Was it direct revelation? It could have been all of the above.

But no matter how he knew he was convinced that he would remain on earth. And then second he was convinced that he would remain for the spiritual progress and joy in their faith. Notice the idea of spiritual progress is repeated by Paul. This simply means that Paul was confident that he would remain to continue with him for greater spiritual progress and joy in their faith. Why? The last verse, verse 26. Why? Why all of these things? So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. In other words in my staying and ministering to you, you would progress spiritually in glory in Christ.

So Paul was confident that he would remain with them for their spiritual progress. And evidence shows us that Paul was released and that he did in fact visit the Philippians one more time. So look at what we have here in verses 22-26. Paul greatly rejoiced in the possibility of death. Simply he said that it would be better to be with Christ. But Paul rejoiced even more in his confidence that he would remain on earth. And this joy came from the fact that he would continue to minister to them and certainly they would continue to progress spiritually. Now at this point I want to make one serious point of application. The word progress.

We must see that we are either progressing spiritually or digressing spiritually. There's no standing still. We are either progressing, moving forward or digressing or regressing, moving backwards. And so my question for you is this. What does this look like for you? What does your spiritual progression look like? What does your spiritual digression look like? I said Sunday morning that our sanctification is dependent on the ministry of the Word and there are people who are not as faithful as they should be. Now I'm not trying to count noses. No.

What I'm saying is there are some that are not as faithful on Wednesday nights or small groups or Sunday mornings and so their sanctification is stunted. They are not progressing as they should on a more personal level. Are you studying the Word as you should? Are you in prayer as you should? Do you spend time in prayer and in the Word as you should? You know you can read the Bible and just check it off and move on. Are you obedient in your life? Are you walking in obedience? You can be in prayer and in the Word but still be disobedient. Are you living through your trials as God calls you to? So what I'm showing you is this.

These are ways, these are markers where we can look up and see spiritual progress. But ultimately it takes the witness of the Spirit of God in our life to bear witness that we are progressing. And you know brothers and sisters around you will see that. But are you digressing? See the funny thing is about this digressing spiritually you might not see it at first. Brothers and sisters might not see it at first but over time others will especially if they have discernment and they are mature believers. So Paul rejoiced in death yes. But he rejoiced in life and ministry as long as the Church was progressing.

Notice he didn't want to stay on earth unless the Church was progressing. Now last week we studied verses 12 to 18 in what I call Paul's Joy in Ministry. It was part 1, Paul's Joy in Ministry. And what did we see? He had great joy in spite of trouble, in spite of trials, and even with those detractors. And tonight we have studied what I call Paul's Joy in Ministry part 2 and that would be in death and especially, especially in life and ministry. So let me pray. Let's commit these things to the Lord and I have a list of prayer needs I want us to look at, physical and spiritual needs.

Lord I am very thankful that these things are extremely practical. Some of these things are easy to grasp, some of these things are hard. But more than being practical, more than being hard or difficult or easy, it's just what we need. Lord I am fully convinced that we could study Leviticus, Deuteronomy. We could study the major prophets, the minor prophets, the Gospels. Lord we can even study books like Hebrews that are so difficult and so mysterious because we don't know who wrote it. And all of these things would aid and bring about sanctification in our life.

In Lord help us to see that you have given us verses 12 to 18, Paul's Joy in Ministry in spite of trouble and detractors, you've given us verses 19 to 26, 26 Paul's Joy in Ministry in Death and especially in life and all of these things were for us. And I pray that we will accept these things, that we'll pray over these things, that we'll work hard on these things so that we will progress spiritually in all of these things. And we ask all these things in Christ's name, Amen. Well I'm going to start off our prayer time by mentioning Evan and Devon in Allie Jean. I talked to Evan for quite a while yesterday. They are doing good.

I asked him how they were doing and he said, "Oh man it's been great. She hadn't cried in that one time." All that and I thought, "Your day is coming brother." He said they were doing good. I know that they did get a report back on the little mass that they removed. Christi gave me that information last night. Does anybody have the specifics there that you can mention that? Probably better than me. [inaudible] Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. So we need to pray that that's not cancer. We do. I know that they have been concerned about blood count. I did not pick up, I didn't hear from Evan about the blood count issue.

Did she mention anything about that? Okay. [inaudible] Okay. So we need to pray for the report on the little tumor there that it will not be cancer. So she's not facing chemo and all that kind of stuff. But if she does, all that's in the Lord's hands, right? Alright, let's voice that, alright, that specific prayer. Anthony, would you mind voicing that for us please? [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] Thank you. There's some other prayer needs attached to their situation. They have family there being a witness to. Continue to pray for family there. Evan's on shift work.

He went back to work today. He's going back to work tonight. So I pray for that. He's looking at some ways maybe to change that up. So I pray for that. Location Bible School. Angel, how do we need to pray? We need to pray for 200 kids. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] Yes, pray that we do a good job. We work hard. It's, it's under the Lord. It's for little boys and girls. It's for your children. My kids are not vacation Bible School age anymore. It's for your little boys and girls. And it's, uh, also for the adults.

So, um, let's pray that God will open up their little hearts and their little minds to the truth that they'll be captivated by the love of Christ in us. God can do that. And, uh, I don't know if you read biographies. A great biography to read is the story of the El Mooty. He was considered a great, um, evangelist. God used him in a great way. A little bit different than us theologically, but very, very well respected in what we would call church history. He started off as a children's worker. They had what was called Sabbath schools in the poorest areas of town.

And, uh, little stories, little boys and little girls that were attracted to the love of Christ in them. So, um, let's pray that God will use us greatly in little boys and girls' lives and in moms and dads. So, um, Matt, would you mind voicing that prayer for us, please? [inaudible] >> I mentioned this last week, um, our teenagers are going to student camp, um, in a week or so. And, uh, I ask y'all to pray for the pastor that's going to be preaching it. His name's Don Singleton. Um, he's an anchored in truth pastor, um, late 60s, early 70s going on about 17 or 18. Just a precious, precious man of God. Um, loves those, those children.

I think the teenagers' children, I mentioned that the teenagers have kind of a, uh, an affectionate name for him. His name's Don Singleton. They all call him Brother Donny. They know him. Um, he's done a lot of ministry in the life of, uh, uh, uh, Grace Life Church of the Shoals. So, pray that God uses Brother Don. Pray that they, it's a kind of a sports camp. So, they do a lot of things outside, which it won't hurt them to run and sweat, you know, that kind of thing. But, uh, they'll be connected with other teenagers. Um, they'll meet other young people. So, um, it's Christ centered and Christ honoring and word focused.

So, they'll have a good time, but pray for Keith and Teresa. They're taking them. I'm not going to go. This will be the first time in years I have not gone and participated, but with going to Scotland and some other things that just wouldn't work out. So, uh, pray for Keith and Teresa as they're going and pray for Don Singleton. Um, also, uh, me, if you know that I'm going to Scotland this summer. Um, I'm going to Grace Baptist Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Um, they're an Anchored in Truth church plant. And, um, the pastor's name is Allie MacLachlan. I think I'm saying that right.

When you're from Mississippi, it's hard to say Scottish names properly. So, um, some of you've heard him at the conference. So, we'll be doing a lot of street evangelism, door to door ministry. Scotland is a very cold place. Not, not physically, spiritually. Um, although it has a great Christian heritage, that's gone. That's gone. So, um, the purpose will be evangelism and also to strengthen the church, the church there. They've gone through a very difficult time. They had some difficulties and people left. Um, Allie's probably in his late 40s, early 50s. So, he's been in ministry a long time.

So, uh, those two needs, I'm going to pray for those. And then I'm going to get Chris Travis to speak to something. And we had one more prayer need that I want to lift up. So, uh, let me pray. Lord, I thank you that we can do, um, ministry like student camp and vacation Bible school and even going on mission trip like this. Um, Lord, I thank you that we have the avenues to do these things. And what I mean by that is we can partner with a healthy church and we can do student camp and it's done right. And I pray God that you'll bless Keith and Teresa as they take them. You'll give them traveling safety.

Um, that they'll be a, it'll be a sweet time of fellowship and they'll get to know one another. They'll get to know other teenagers and other adults from other churches. I pray God you'll use Don Singleton. Um, I, I thank you for coach Statham who's the kind of the elder youth minister at Grace Life Church of the Shoals. Lord, I know last year we had quite a few came to faith in Christ and Lord, you greatly impacted our teenagers. And I pray that would be the very same thing this year that you'll do a great work in their life. And Lord, I pray for us, pray for me, for Annie as we go to minister in Scotland.

Lord, it's not about going to a new place. It's about going to help a church. It's about going to evangelize. It's about going to share the truth and to encourage them. And so I pray that those two events will not just be events. They will be ministry. Lord, I think about Paul wanting to minister in the Philippian church. I pray God that we'll see great ministry in those situations and we look forward to giving you glory through it all and it's in Christ's name. Amen. A couple more things. I mentioned this Sunday that three of our men went to Cenotobia, Mississippi Sunday to worship with Grace Life Church of Cenotobia. The pastor is there.

Pastor there's name is Chris Twilly. Chris, quickly share with everybody what went on at their church and what y'all did. Matt was there. Chris was there. Matt was there. Sam was there. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]