THE DUAL PRIVILEGE!
by Pastor Max Solbrekken,D.D.
Instead of complaining about being imprisoned, the great apostle wrote glowingly and with great fervor concerning the good things which God had wrought through his imprisonment!
He was still very much a “man of prayer” even in jail, and continued his private devotional habits. He included the church at Philippi in his prayers, and encouraged them with words of faith!
“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Christ’s return) (Phil. 1:6)
St. Paul shared his great love for the
Philippian Church and how they were constantly in his thoughts, even in his
bonds. (Phil. 1:7,8)
HIS PASTOR’S HEART REACHED OUT TO THE CHURCH!
Here are some of his concerns:“That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all judgment...” (vs. 9)
“That ye may approve things that are excellent...” (vs. 10). “That ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;” (vs. 10 - No halfway measures! They must continue until the Lord’s return).
“Being filled with the fruits of
righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of
God.”(vs. 11)
St. Paul then reported the positive results of his imprisonment - “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
HE ALSO TELLS OF DIVISIONS AND TROUBLES WITHIN THE CHURCH:
“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife;” (vs. 15). “And some also of goodwill:” (vs. 16) The one group preached Christ out of contention, not sincerely, desiring to add affliction to his bonds.
The other group manifested Christ’s love, knowing that Paul’s very life was being lived to defend the Gospel!
Verse 19 reveals that Paul expected to be set free by the prayers of the Philippian Christians. He was, however, willing to glorify God either through life or death!
“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I know not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”(Phil. 1:20-24)
Here’s another scripture that refutes their teaching which says a deceased person’s soul sleeps (with the worms) in the earth until the coming of Jesus: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”. (2 Cor. 5:6,8)
St. Paul continues: “And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.” (verses 25, 26)
We learn the following lessons from Paul’s letter!
¨ There is no shame in being persecuted for Christ!
¨ We must continue to be bold for Christ, even in prison!
¨
Christ’s
uplifting and magnification is the greatest import!
¨
Life
is wonderful since Christ is our life!
¨
Death
brings us immediately into the very presence of God!
¨
The
well-being of the Church should be more important than our own pleasure!
¨
We
need to have faith even in times of utter impossibility!
He was very concerned about the conduct of the Church. He gave pastoral advice - “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ... that ye stand fast in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND striving TOGETHER for the faith of the gospel”
He continued: - “Don’t let the Devil scare or terrify you through the opposition and persecutions which His emissaries heap upon you, because the persecution you suffer only proves you are on the right track.”
Then Paul drops a real bomb-shell - “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake”; (vs. 29).
What a privilege and honour to:
BELIEVE ON CHRIST & SUFFER FOR HIS
NAME!
What a gift, to become involved in the work of God’s Kingdom and to be identified with Him. What an honour!! “On the behalf of Christ Himself...” I call this the DUAL PRIVILEGE!
Not everyone has the ability, spiritual
inclination or deep desire to believe on Christ! To be saved, one must be drawn by the Holy
Spirit to believe on Christ as the Son of God.
Jesus said, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
The spiritual blindness must be removed so a person can clearly see the glorious gospel, and faith must be administered to receive that gospel!
THE BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE IS A MIRACLE!
It is the grace of God that makes it possible for a sinner to hear the gospel and then respond to it! So many hear the gospel but reject it, because it doesn’t fit their “thought frame” or it doesn’t correspond to their reasoning!
It is futile to rationalize the gospel. One must BELIEVE IT, ACCEPT IT & RECEIVE CHRIST without reservation!
The Scripture says, “The natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are spiritually discerned”. (1 Cor. 2:14)
It is a gift of God to be able to believe that:
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Jesus Christ was true God and true man, Jesus Christ was perfect and sinless, Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah and the only Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ died for our sins, Jesus Christ arose from the dead, and by accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour, we are born again, forgiven of all our sins, receive a new nature and become children of God, through faith!
And what a gift, to live in a land where the gospel is preached freely and the Holy Spirit is moving so powerfully! I count it a great privilege to have heard the gospel and a greater privilege to have been given grace to believe it, without any difficulty!
“I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of Heaven & Earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our
Lord!
Who was conceived (begotten) by the Holy
Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead
and buried -
He descended into hades- the third day He
rose again from the dead.
He ascended into Heaven and sat down at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty - From whence He shall come to (rapture
the Church and) judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and Life Everlasting. Amen!”
#2 - SUFFER FOR HIS SAKE
It is a privilege to suffer persecution, privation and reproach for the Name of Christ, our King!
According to Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, the early Christians seemed to have accepted the nearly certain prospect of laying down their lives for the Master and His Gospel!
“Neither count I my life dear to myself.” (Acts 20:24)
“They loved not their lives to the
death.” (Rev. 12:11)
“These
men who have hazarded their lives for the Name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 15:26)
“I am
ready to be offered, the time of my departure is at hand.” (2 Tim. 4:6)
“I am
ready not only to be bound, but to die in Rome for the Name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13)
“I
count all things loss, and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ.” (Phil 3:8)
“When
you are persecuted, rejoice and leap for joy.” (Luke 6:23)
“Count
it joy when ye fall into temptations.” (James 1:2)
Here is a short but powerful confession of faith in Christ, given by Ignatius Theophorus an Early Church Father before his martyrdom in Rome probably circa. 117 A.D.
“I bid all men know that of my own free will
I die for God, unless ye should hinder me...Let me be given to the wild beasts,
for through them I can attain unto God.
I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the wild beasts that I may be found
the true bread of Christ. Enter the wild
beasts that they may become my sepulcher..., come fire and cross and grapplings
with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushing of my whole
body; only be it mine to attain unto Jesus Christ.” (Epistle of Ignatius:
Rom. 4-5)
And Tertullion - one of the Church Fathers - wrote: “The blood of the martyrs has become the seed of the Church”.
Hanging upon a burning stake the righteous reformer, Bishop Latimer cried out to his fellow martyr, Bishop Ridley - they were burned to death by the murderous orders of an evil pope - “Play the man, Master Ridley. Today we light a fire across England which shall never be put out”.
John Hus, the Bohemian monk - had been promised “safe passage” to Rome in order to defend his Evangelical and scripturally sound writings, against accusations by wicked religious men, who hated God’s Word which condemned their evil deeds!
The Pope’s word of “safe conduct” was a deliberate ploy to get Hus to Rome. He would either recant his writings or die as a heretic. He refused to recant the truth and was ‘burned on the stake’ by the emissaries of the “Bloody Old Vatican Wolf’, as a true martyr of Jesus Christ!
Martin Luther - the father of the Protestant Reformation - stated, “The gospel we have today has been given to us, at the cost of the blood of John Hus”, who had been murdered at the command of a wicked Pope one hundred years earlier!
For the record’s sake, most of the writers of the New Testament and the early church Fathers – Apostles, Disciples and those that followed – died martyr’s deaths gladly and willingly for the cause of Christ!
FOR THE RECORD’S SAKE, MOST OF THE WRITERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS - APOSTLES, DISCIPLES AND THOSE THAT FOLLOWED - DIED MARTYR’S DEATHS GLADLY AND WILLINGLY FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST!
Max Solbrekken World Mision Box 44220 RPO Edmonton, AB T5V 1N6. Email:[email protected]; comehometoJesus.ca; Facebook; Youtube; Blog: MSWM; Donations can be made by e-Transfer. Make your donations to Max@ maxsolbrekken.com. Thank you so much. May richly bless you. Amen.
