INTRODUCTION

Alright, so if you have your Bibles, let's open up to Philippians, Philippians chapter one. And again, welcome. If we haven't met, I'm Josh, one of the pastors, and glad to have you with us this morning.

As we've started a new series in the book of Philippians, there are a couple of resources in the lobby that we've mentioned the last couple weeks. So I'll mention them to you this morning as well. There's a bookmark that has some key scripture verses from Philippians, and then also there are some of these scripture journals that has the book of Philippians in it and then spots for notes.

If you'd like to grab one of those, you're welcome to have one of those. We ran out the last couple weeks, but we ordered some more, and those are out there in case that's helpful to you. So I do hope that you'll come to the picnic this afternoon and watch Team Josh destroy Team Nathan in the name of Jesus.

And so it will be a good time. would I would love to love to hang out with you and spend that time together. It'd be great.

SERIES RECAP

So we're in week three of the series in this book of Philippians, a letter to the Philippians, and we're focusing specifically on the topic of the believer's joy. And I want to reflect for just a few moments about what our world and what our culture would have us to believe about the topic of joy. So our world and our culture would say things like that our joy comes from having stuff.

Joy comes from having stuff. Our world and culture says that joy comes from pursuing and indulging in pleasures. And our world and culture says that joy comes from saying yes to yourself, no matter what that means.

But I promise you that if you pursue these things, and if you trust in these things as the source of your joy, you will continually be left wanting, empty, and unfulfilled. So what we're talking about in this series is what I would call a counter-cultural joy. We're talking about joy that does not go away.

We're talking about joy that's not tied to external circumstances. We're talking about joy that comes truly and only from God Himself. So that's why I'm really excited about this series and about this topic and thankful to be doing this together.

So we start a couple weeks ago with a definition of joy of this kind of true biblical joy, and here's our here's our definition. The true biblical joy is a supernatural, deep-seated gladness that is dependent upon Jesus and not on temporary changing circumstances. So we're talking about this joy.

This joy is always possible because this joy is eternal because it's found in Christ. It will not fade. It will not let you down because it comes from Jesus.

He's the source and substance. Now it doesn't mean that the emotions of joy won't ebb and flow in your life, but there's this constant steady stream of gladness in the heart of a believer because they're connected to Christ. Amen, church?

Alright, just wanted to get you awake for a second. So I want to make one more connection between joy and grace before we move into today's text, and this is the connection I want us to make. I want us to make the connection and understand that this joy is tied to God's grace.

This true biblical joy is tied to God's grace. So you might be aware that the New Testament was written in a language called Greek. And so we can study the Greek language and we can study Greek words to gain better understandings of words and concepts in the New Testament.

And we also can find that there are various word groupings. We're gonna get nerdy for a second. There's various words that have similar roots, and so we can see their connections.

So for example in the English language the word audio. The word audio means sound that is heard. The word audible means able to be heard.

You guys can see the similarities in the roots of those words. The word auditorium means a large room where people gather to hear something. You guys can see how they're connected with a root word.

A similar thing happens in the New Testament with the word for grace and the word for joy. So the word for grace, most often translated in English as grace, is the Greek word charis. So for example, in Philippians 1, I think it's verse two, Paul says, Grace and peace to you.

It's the word charis. The word for joy also used in the following verses in Philippians is the Greek word chara. chara.

So there is a linguistic and conceptual connection between God's grace and this true biblical joy. They're tied together. So the more that you know of God's amazing grace, the more you will also know and experience this true biblical joy.

So the question I want to deal with this morning, then, is this question for the Christian? How can we maintain this joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances? That's the question, isn't it?

How can we maintain this true deep seated gladness that's not tied to the price of gas right at the pumps? That's what we're talking about. About how can we maintain this gladness from Christ even in the midst of challenging circumstances?

And that's where we're headed this morning. For example, James chapter one, verses two through four, James says, Count it all joy, brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

So my question is: how is that possible? How do you consider it all joy? How do you treat it all as joy?

That's where we're headed this morning in the book of Philippians. So if you would, let's stand together, if you're able, in honor of the reading of God's word, Philippians chapter one, verses twelve through eighteen. As Paul continues this letter to the believers in Philippi, here's what he writes Starting in verse twelve.

SCRIPTURE READING - PHILIPPIANS 1:12-18a ESV

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

OPENING PRAYER

Let's pray. Father, I pray that this would be true of us. I pray that we can have the same heart and mind as Paul and as Christ.

God, teach us more and by your Spirit, supernaturally, help us to grow in this joy that you've made us for. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

THE MESSAGE

You can be seated. So we've already seen from the context and the background of this letter that Paul writes to the believers in Philippi, that Paul is in prison for his faith.

He's in prison for defending and confirming the gospel. I just want you to think about that for a moment. Imagine for a moment being imprisoned for simply defending the gospel, for simply defending the idea, the truth that we are sinners in need of a savior, and that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

Paul's in prison for defending the gospel. Paul actually mentions this four times in the parts we've covered so far in First Christian sorry in Philippians. He says in verse 7, verse 13, verse 14, and verse 17.

And the word there literally means in chains. Some of your translations may say in chains. So this is one of the reasons why we believe that Paul was literally chained to a Roman guard.

Remember, we looked at this last week in Acts chapter 16 and Acts chapter 28. That Paul is under what's called house arrest in Rome, literally, most likely chained to a Roman guard 24-7. This is the picture that AI helped us to imagine.

Although I think it's wrong because I think Paul would have looked more joyful than he does in this picture.

But it helps us have a little bit of a picture of what Paul was experiencing and going through. And it's in this setting, it's in this environment that Paul is writing to believers, and Paul is saying to the believers: rejoice, find joy in Christ. This is Paul writing to encourage them.

So I want to give you a bottom line, and if there's nothing else that you take away, just take away this as the big idea for this morning. And I'm sorry that it's kind of a mouthful, but here's what I think is being described in these verses is this. The big idea for today is this difficulties can produce joy because they're actually a doorway for the advancement of the gospel, which is more important than my happiness

and my comfort. So I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've heard it said before, that this kind of lesson or this kind of teaching is what we'd call big boy Christianity and big girl Christianity. That this is not, if you're looking for five tips to a more joyful life, this is not what's being served up this morning.

But this is going to lead us toward true deep-seated gladness of the heart. That's not dependent upon circumstances. That's what we're after this morning.

So look at what Paul says in verse twelve. This is literally what Paul said in verse twelve. I want you to know brothers, generic term for brothers and sisters.

That's what has happened to me, his imprisonment has really served to advance the gospel. And look what he says in verse 18, and in that I rejoice. So what Paul is saying is that his imprisonment is not a hindrance to the advancement of the gospel.

He's actually saying it's not even just neutral. He's actually saying that his imprisonment has served to advance the gospel. So he's saying it's a good thing.

It's actually helped to push the gospel forward. It's not a negative, it's not true neutral, it's actually a positive thing. Like I and I can imagine if I were Paul, right?

I'd be like, man, my ministry is going great. I'm planting churches. I'm traveling.

I'm preaching the gospel. And now I'm in prison. Great.

But Paul's like, this is not a setback. This is something that God is using for the advancement of the gospel. I'm curious.

I I'm wondering, believer, if you can begin to see your difficulties and your challenges in that light. Would you be able to consider that maybe the trials that you're going through might actually be a good thing because God is using that for the advancement of the gospel? So, what I want to do is just kind of walk through this passage and I can and we can kind of get a peek into Paul's thinking of what's going

on here. And you know, so why is Paul thinking this way? What's going on in Paul's reasoning that allows him to have this perspective?

And we're gonna notice a couple things. Number one, because of Paul's imprisonment, more people heard the gospel. Look at verse 13.

So it's become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. So it says the whole praetorium in your footnotes possibly of the whole imperial guard. So rather than Paul complaining about the Roman Emperor, or rather than Paul complaining about his arrest, Paul is using this as an opportunity.

He's got someone he can preach to 24-7, doesn't he? Can you imagine being that Roman guard chained to him? Like, when does my shift change?

Like, and Paul's like, hey, I just want you to know why I'm here. God had a divine appointment for me and you. Like, look.

Right? And so I can tell you about Christ. And not only that that guard, but the next guard and the next guard.

It says that the whole imperial guard. This is the special guard that's for the emperor. So it's even possible that through this, even the emperor himself would have heard the good news of this crazy man in jail named Paul who's preaching the gospel.

So Paul's not worried about this. He's not like, oh man, I can't be out there preaching. He's like, no, I've got a captive audience right here.

And not only that, he's using this time to write letters to the churches. He writes Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the book of Philemon, they're known as the prison letters. So Paul's like, this is fine.

Praise God. This is actually serving to advance the gospel. I'm curious, how could what you're going through be used so that more people can hear the gospel.

Paul's like, hey, this is not a bad thing, this is a good thing. Because the advance, the gospel is going forward. More people heard the gospel.

Number two, Paul believes this is a good thing because of his imprisonment, more people spoke boldly for the gospel. Look at verse 14. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

So Paul's imprisonment emboldened more believers. It says most. I wish it would have said all.

Not all were emboldened by Paul's imprisonment, but most of them were. And adversity has a way of doing that. Adversity has a way of challenging us to know what we believe and to stand firm in our convictions.

This happened to the early church. If you read the book of Acts, they tried to persecute the early Christians. And it didn't stifle the advancement of the gospel.

It actually propelled it. It tried to arrest them and tried to persecute them. It only emboldened them even more.

Or to preach the good news of Jesus. This happened after the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk a little over a year ago when he was murdered for his faith and for what he was proclaiming about Christ. And what it did was it emboldened more people.

Some of you are even here at church today because it was a wake-up call for you.

I think in some ways, I'm preaching to myself here as well, that as Christians, especially here in the West or in the US, we have it so easy and so good, we don't know what it's like to stand strong or stand firm for our faith. We've grown soft in many ways, but we can and we should expect some level of adversity in our lives. So the question is: how can you handle your adversity to be used

as a testimony so that people can see that you're not doing this by your own strength, but you're doing this by the power of Christ? So again, how can you use or how can God use your trials, your difficulties, your adversities for the advancement of the gospel? Paul's like, this is a good thing because of my imprisonment, more believers or more people are being bold in their bold in their faith and they're also speaking boldly.

That's a really amazing perspective. And lastly, number three, because of Paul's imprisonment, more people preached the gospel. More people preached the gospel.

Look at verse fifteen. He said, Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I'm here or put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed.

To what's Paul talking about here? Well, I think that we can be sure that they're preaching Christ. He says that in verse thirteen.

Some indeed preach Christ. So if they were preaching a different message, I think Paul would have taken issue with that. He does that other places in the New Testament, right?

If someone's preaching a false gospel, we should not be content with that. We should have issues with that. So I think they're preaching the right gospel.

And they're not preaching it with sinful actions. I think Paul would have taken issue with that as well. They're preaching with wrong motives.

So some are envious and they're doing it out of rivalry. Some may be wanting to have a more prominent ministry than Paul. It's a good thing this doesn't happen today, or there's no competition among preachers or people who you know our YouTube channel has more subscribers than your YouTube channel.

So some were preaching that way, wanting to be more prominent than Paul. It says some were maybe even wanting to afflict Paul. Maybe they felt that they could point to Paul's imprisonment and say, because Paul was imprisoned, maybe he isn't the man of God that we thought he was.

Maybe this is God's judgment on Paul. And you know, Paul could have been defensive. Paul could have tried to you know give some kind of argument back to them.

But he's like, you know what, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Christ is preached. He's like, I don't care about them attacking me, I don't care about even if they have some impure motives, what matters is that Christ is preached.

You know, just some self-reflection. I'm not always even aware fully of my own motives in preaching. And I pray that they're always pure, right?

But with all that's going on inside of us, there may even be times and moments when I'm preaching for the wrong reasons. He's like, but regardless, Christ is being preached. So right message, right way, wrong motives, Paul's like, that's fine.

Christ is being preached, and that's what matters to him. In Paul's absence, other people had to step up and preach. And Paul said, this is a good thing.

And again, we could have easily, if we were Paul, we could have easily been like, God, my ministry was going so great. Why did you drop the ball? But God's like, no, Paul, you'll be more effective here for a season, and other people are going to preach, and this is good.

And Paul could see this. God has a way of using difficulties and rather than difficulties being problems, God has a unique way of using them to advance the gospel. So again, I just want to challenge you to consider in your own life, with the challenges that you may be going through, is it possible that you could view those as an opportunity for the advancement of the gospel.

And then in that find joy because you know that God is using that. So I think one of the things that's helpful for us is to look at different people throughout church history who have demonstrated these same things and to learn from them. And one of the people that we talk about often is a guy by the name of Charles Spurgeon.

I think he's a y fascinating individual, right? He just has a fascinating interesting look to him. But he was a pastor in the eighteen hundreds and he was known to have gone through significant seasons of sadness and depression.

They oftentimes called it melancholy. But Spurgeon was a phenomenal preacher. He started pastoring his first church when he was just a teenager.

And he became known, he became nicknamed as the Prince of Preachers. And by the time he was in his early twenties, he had been invited to London, England to pastor the one of the churches there, one of the most prominent churches in London. And as he was there preaching, his church continued to fill up and grow, so much so that they outgrew their their building and they rented a music hall in London called

the Surrey Gardens Music Hall while they were building a new church building. This music hall sat between 10 to 12,000 people. And so they would he would preach there and they would come and they would there'd be standing room only to hear him preach.

And at just 22 years old, they had their very first service in this Surrey Gardens music hall. The place was packed and the excitement was very palpable. But in their very first service at this music hall, there were some who were gathered there who wanted to cause trouble for Spurgeon.

And so at a moment in the service, several of them started yelling, fire, fire. They said the galleries are giving way, those balconies are giving way, and this incited this mass panic amongst all the people, and they tried to rush for the exits. And as they're rushing for the exits, seven people died, and dozens more were injured.

And this sent Spurgeon into kind of this tailspin of depression and sadness over what had just taken place in this church, as you can imagine. But the church continued to grow, the church continued to meet in this music hall, and they met there in that space for three years as God continued to work. But you can imagine how that impacted a young 22-year-old preacher to have that happen early in his ministry.

But God used this tragedy and other tragedies in Spurgeon's life to make him a more effective minister of the gospel So here are some words from Spurgeon himself. He said, I'm afraid that all the grace I have got of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. And some someday soon our kids will say, What's a penny?

But the good that I have received from my sorrows and pains and griefs is altogether incalculable. Affliction is the best book in the minister's library. Now, I'm not saying that we should ask God for affliction, but I'm just simply saying that we should view it through that lens that we can count all things joy because God is using it.

This perspective sounds a lot like Paul, doesn't it? Where Spurgeon's like, I wouldn't wish this upon anybody, but I know God's using it mightily in my life. Spurgeon also said this: Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, the file.

Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity.

People like Paul and people like Charles Spurgeon, they cared more about the gospel advancing than their own personal comfort. So here's where the rubber meets the road. Here's a pivotal question for each of us.

What matters more to you, your comfort and convenience, or the advancement of the gospel. I did warn you that this is big girl Christianity and big boy Christianity, but this is the path to true biblical joy. Are you willing to be inconvenienced and even suffer if it means the gospel can go forward

You guys know many people and I pray it not you but you guys know people who for them Jesus in Christianity is like a lucky rabbit's foot. Like I I I want a little bit of Jesus in my life so that things can go well for me. But that's not the gospel.

The gospel message is that we are dead in our sins apart from Christ. We need a Savior. God is gracious and willing to give us His Son, for those who repent and believe, joy everlasting in Christ.

So if your difficulty, meaning your cancer, your loss, your heartache, your struggle, if your difficulty can mean the advancement of the gospel, which one would you choose? Would you choose your comfort and convenience or would you choose the advancement of the gospel? I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the book of the Christian allegory called Pilgrim's Progress.

If you haven't read The Pilgrim's Progress, I would encourage you to read it. It has nothing to do with the founding of America and Columbus sailing the ocean blue. It has nothing to do with those kinds of pilgrims.

But it's an allegory of the Christian faith, and is written by a man named John Bunyan, who was a pastor in the 1500s, who was also put in prison for preaching. And he could have walked out of the Bedford jail any time that he wanted to if he would have simply signed a document saying, I won't preach anymore. But he wasn't willing to do that.

And so for twelve years he was in prison for preaching and he had to make shoelaces and sell them to help support his family because he had a wife and kids. And so he reasoned that, you know what, I'm gonna do what Paul did, I'm gonna be in prison. I'm gonna shepherd and pastor the men who are here in prison.

I'm gonna preach the gospel to them. And it was while he was in prison that he wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, which has gone out to millions of people I'm in the centuries since then. He was more committed to the advancement of the gospel than his own personal freedom.

Reminds me of what Paul wrote in a little bit later in Philippians chapter three verses seven and eight when he said this But whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as how much value?

As rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. So the truth is, what good is my health if I don't know Christ? And what good is if I gain the whole world, but yet I forfeit my soul?

Nothing else matters comparing to knowing Christ. Is that your perspective? And Paul said, either way, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Paul's not worried about himself. He's not worried about his own freedom. He's not worried about his own convenience.

He's worried about the proclamation of the gospel, the preaching of Christ. So here's an action step for an application that I would give. In your times of difficulty, I would challenge you to choose the gospel, and I believe that in that you will find joy.

If you choose to ask yourself in your moments of trial and difficulty, God, how can this be used for the advancement of the gospel? I believe you'll find joy in that. Paul found joy in his imprisonment because there was gospel advancement and that meant more to him.

And in this there is joy. Paul said, In this I will rejoice. So in whatever situation you find yourself in, you have to ask yourself the question: how can this serve to advance the gospel?

How can my diagnosis be serve to advance the gospel? How can my struggles serve to advance the gospel? That's the question we should be asking.

And in that there's joy. Another Puritan preacher, the name of Richard Baxter, wrote a great book called The Saints Everlasting Rest. That what keeps us under trouble is either we do not expect what God has promised or we expect what He did not promise.

So if you want to find joy in your trial, find out what you can how we can advance the gospel. Be faithful in that and in that you will find you will find joy. I think what today's message is challenging all of us with is realizing what our attachments are to, what matters more to us?

Do the things of this world matter more to us, or do the things of Christ matter more to us? So I want to close with this. I call story time with Pastor Josh.

So, one of the things that we do, one of the things I'd encourage you to do in your home, is something that we talk about here often called family worship or family devotions.

And what that means is you spending time outside of Sunday mornings, outside of time at church, whatever, whatever whoever's a part of your family. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your wife and kids, whatever that is, but spending time maybe reading scripture, praying together, just thinking about the things of God together. And one of the ways that we do that is through like reading some devotional things together.

We've got three teenage daughters and one's away at school actually right now, but we do this. And I growing up, my my my dad and mom did this with me. every Monday night, we'd have dinner together, and then my dad would read a little devotional, we'd talk about it together.

So, some things that you can do in your own life, in your own family, to help you guys grow spiritually. There's a devotional that we've been using, , it's called When Faith is forbidden. it's 40 days on the front lines with persecuted Christians.

They're little just kind of two to three page stories about real individuals around the world who are being persecuted for their faith, and you can be encouraged by their example. And so we read one a couple days ago that I'm gonna read for you guys. And this is story time with Pastor Josh.

I feel like you need to grab a blanket and just kinda curl up next to the fire and The title of this one is called That Hope Kept Me Strong. And it's based out of the country of Nepal in 2012. It was a long hot drive on the tin-roofed house in southern Nepal, where our voice of the martyrs team met Don Maya.

The air conditioner in our taxi couldn't quite keep up with the heat, and we alternated between running at full blast to try to stave off the swelter swelter and rolling down the windows to let the hot, steamy air blow across our sweating faces. When we arrived at our destination and ducked into the brick house where Don Maya lives, it was even hotter than our taxi, like one of those brick pizza ovens, only with plastic chairs inside.

It's not Dunmaya's house, she just lives there. The house actually belongs to her pastor. He and his family live there too.

The house has only one room. The pastor welcomed us and pointed me to a plastic chair. He sat on the one bed in the room.

His wife sat on the floor. He shared some of his testimony, then talked about Denmaya. When a Christian friend shared the gospel with Dan Maya six years before, we Before we met her, it was impossible to know for her to know how much it would cost to follow Jesus.

Then Maya willingly received the gospel, the good news, and committed her life to following Christ. She was weary of trying to please the millions of Hindu gods, and she felt in her heart the truth of God's love demonstrated through Jesus Christ. When she told her husband, he didn't think her faith would last, he told her to keep it to herself so she wouldn't bring shame on their high caste Hindu family.

But then Maya's faith didn't stay the same. It grew, and soon it was too large to keep to herself. Eventually it could not be contained in their simple home.

About a year after she first accepted Christ or the gospel message, Denmaia asked to be baptized. Now her husband knew that this wasn't a fad or phase his wife was going through. She wasn't going to hide or keep quiet, that she was no longer a Hindu, she was a Christian, and soon everyone would know.

This is not our custom, he told her. Give up your faith, otherwise I will leave you. I don't want you to be I don't want you being with me since you're a Christian and I'm a Brahmin, which is a high caste Hindu.

Eventually he threw down Maya's possessions outside. She was no longer welcome in her own home, and later he took a new wife. In the Pali culture, it's customary for an abandoned wife to return home to her parents or home to an older brother where she'd be provided for, but then Maya's own parents would not take her back unless she renounced her faith.

Where would she go? Jesus warned his followers a person's enemies will be those of his own household, end quote. Did Maya experience the truth of this promise?

She wouldn't deny Christ, though. Her unwavering commitment to him cost her every family relationship she had in this world. But through these losses and the fear of the future, where would she go?

Who would provide for her? God granted Dan Maya a sense of peace and his presence. When her earthly family kicked her out, her spiritual family opened their doors and took her in to their small brick house that we sat in and sweated in.

Hearing Denmaia's story, I suspect it's easy to picture a downtrodden, angry woman left in hop in homeless desperation by her husband. But when I met this childless, deserted woman, she glowed with the joy of the Lord. She doesn't consider being crammed into this stifling brick house a consolation prize.

She considers it pure joy. How has she stayed strong in her faith through such trials? Whatever persecution comes, even if I die, I will be alive with Christ in heaven, she told our team.

And that hope kept me strong. Forgiving her husband was a process for Dan Maya, and not an easy one. In the beginning I had a kind of bitterness in my heart toward him, she said, but later I came to know that unless I forgive him I cannot go the right way of God, so I have forgiven.

And today she prays for her former husband, and even for the woman he's now married to, asking God to draw both to himself. When asked if Dan Mia, if there was a particular scripture that gives her strength, she turned to Psalm 55, verse 22, which says, Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

And I'm often floored by the high price our brothers and sisters in hostile and restricted nations are asked to pay for following Christ, when I and so many Christians in the U.S. are asked to pay so little. I'm even more amazed when they pay that price not grudgingly or with frustration or disappointment, but with pure and unfiltered joy.

Perhaps these brothers and sisters have grasped a truth that we need to be reminded of, the privilege of walking with Christ, the privilege of forgiveness of sins, the privilege of the promise of heaven. That privilege is worth everything. Think of the parable of the treasure in the field, the man who found that treasure sold all that he had, all that he owned, but he didn't do so hesitantly.

As Scripture says he sold it all in his joy. I just want to invite you to pray with me as we close.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, I just want to take a moment to pray for us this morning as we reflect on these things and I think what happens in passages like this and in messages like this is that we we come face to face with some of the idols of our life.

As I've heard it said before, the human heart is an idol factory. We churn out all kinds of things that we worship and attach ourselves to. Instead of looking to Christ.

So I just pray, God, that by your Holy Spirit, you would help us today. It's one thing to be challenged with these things and to be confronted with the truth. It's another to have our hearts transformed so that we actually live this way on a day-to-day basis.

Just by your grace, help each one of us to see the true riches and true joy that is found only in Christ. So, like people like Paul can say, I count everything a loss for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. So help us to find our true treasure in Him and our true joy in Him.

Help us to see even in the midst of our difficulties how there can be joy because we're in Christ and because God, you are working to use even these things to advance the gospel. And I pray that that would mean more to us. That would mean more to us than these temporary earthly pleasures.

God, thank you for being good and gracious to us. Please strengthen us and encourage us with these words. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.