Gtcotr/ss042918
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O
man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do
justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Do
you remember what you were doing in 2008? America elected Barack Obama as
President; the 750 Billion Dollar Bailout; and OJ Simpson went to jail. How old
were you in 2008? Where did you live; where did you work?
Sometimes
10 years ago seems like so long ago and sometimes it seems like only yesterday.
If you already have grown children, you know that 10 years can go by so
quickly. One sobering thought is the realization that The
next ten years will not be one second longer than the last 10 years.
A
lot can happen in a decade. Take for example the 10 years between Paul’s first
visit to Philippi in AD51 and 10 years later in AD61 when Paul is sitting in a
Roman prison and thinks to write a letter to his friends in the Church in
Philippi.
In
AD 51, Paul was about 46 years old. He had been a Believer in Jesus as Messiah
for almost 20 years. Acts 16 gives us the account of Paul having received a
vision from heaven where he saw a man saying, “Come
over to Macedonia and help us …”. Paul accepted the challenge and set
sail from Turkey across the narrow gap of the upper Aegean Sea and came to the
first small city in Greece known as Philippi.
Young
Timothy had recently joined Paul and Silas and was on his first missionary
journey. You can bet he was in for a few surprises. When Paul and his team
arrived in Philippi, they found that the city had no synagogue. Rather the
Jewish population along with those Gentiles who had converted to the worship of
Jehovah gathered out of town by a river for Sabbath prayers. So, on that next
Sabbath, Paul went to meet with them.
These
missionary believers must have arrived at the place of prayer a bit early that
Sabbath because there were only a few women present and so Paul began to talk
with them. The Bible tells us that one of those ladies was called Lydia. She
was a foreign business woman from Thyatira. In those days foreigners were
identified and often called by the name of the place they were from.
Lydia
was a Province, like a State, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The city of
Thyatira is in the Province of Lydia. Thyatira was well known for its beautiful
cloth which was dyed purple, a royal color, which was in high demand throughout
the Roman Empire.
After
Paul spoke with the ladies who were waiting for prayers to be made by the
river, Lydia believed his message about Jesus being the Messiah and she was
born again. Lydia must have been a fairly well-to-do business woman since afterwards
she invited Paul and Silas and Timothy to lodge with her in her home. Thus,
began Paul’s first visit to Europe in AD51.
As
Paul went to prayer over the next few days:
·
There
was a fortune teller with an unholy spirit
·
Paul
cast the devil out of that fortune teller
·
For
that, Paul and Silas were arrested
·
Then
they were beaten with rods
·
Thrown
into the dungeon
·
And
their feet were fastened in stocks
·
In
the midnight hour they began to pray and sing praises to the Lord
·
God
sent an earthquake and opened all the prison doors
·
Every
prisoner’s chains miraculously unlocked and fell to the ground
·
The
jailer feared and was hopelessly suicidal
·
Paul
stopped him, and he exclaimed, “Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?”
·
Paul
replied, “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and you and your whole household will be saved!”
·
He
did, and he was …
·
The
City officials apologize for beating Paul and Silas and released them
·
They
went back to Lydia’s house
·
And
then they were off on another Kingdom adventure to share the Gospel with everyone
they met in every city …
Ten Years
Later: AD61/62
·
The
Church in Philippi had grown and had done well for a decade
·
There
were now many Believers in Christ in Philippi
·
And
the Church had ordained Bishops and Deacons
·
The
Church at Philippi was a mission Church to their own city and throughout the
region
·
However,
Paul was now in prison in Rome threatened with death
·
Nero’s
debauchery was well known throughout the Roman empire
·
Paul
decides to write a letter to the people in the Church in Philippi
·
The
Philippian Believers weren’t dissuaded by Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. Perhaps
many of them first met him when he was in jail in Philippi. Maybe they had been:
o His jailers
o The ones who
arrested him
o Perhaps they were
the city councilmen who apologized
o Or the men who beaten
him and Silas with rods
o They could have even
been fellow prisoners who were set free that night by the earthquake …
·
At
any rate, they are not ashamed of the one who brought the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to them. They knew Paul had endured such hardship so that they could
hear and be saved.
·
Now,
after ten years, they understood what they owed this Apostle
A
lot can happen in a decade …
Ten
years will come and go so quickly. What can you imagine will happen over the
next decade? Paul saw what he prayed and longed for come to pass. He said he
had no greater joy than to see those whom he led to Christ were still living
for Christ. Paul was an evident success.
These
are things that happen when individuals and families, communities and nations are
exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Things change! And as a result of the
witness of Paul to people like Lydia and the jailer, Churches sprang up all
across the Roman Empire and turned the world upside down. By the year 300AD,
Christianity conquered the whole empire.
Like
Paul and Lydia and those early Believers in Philippi, you too will write the
next ten years of your life by the decisions you make today. You can write
anything you wish. What do you want others to believe about your next 10 years?
Will you live for Christ? Begin writing your future right now.
While
Paul was in prison in Rome, he wrote a letter to encourage the Church in
Philippi. He told them about His commitment to Christ. His letter encourages me
as well. Because of his example I also want you to know:
1. I am confident that God will continue His work
in your lives until He completes it on that final day.
Philippians 1
1 ¶ Paul and Timothy,
bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 ¶ I thank my God upon every
remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of
mine making request for you all with joy,
5 for your fellowship in the
gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this
very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it
until the day of Jesus Christ;
You
too should be confident that God will continue to work on your family, friends,
co-workers and even on your enemies to bring them to salvation in Christ. Never lose hope …
2. I am committed to seeing every trial I face as
an opportunity to witness for Christ.
Philippians 1
12 ¶ But I want you to know,
brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out
for the furtherance of the gospel,
13 so that it has become
evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in
Christ;
14 and most of the brethren
in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak
the word without fear.
You
should also be committed to seeing every problem as another opportunity to
please God and be a good witness for Christ.
25
years ago Moses Vegh, a true father in the Lord, encouraged me to never complain
about the pressures that pushed me deeper into Christ.
After
all, A diamond is nothing but an old piece of coal that made good under
pressure. Never
lose heart …
3. I am convinced that nothing shall ever
separate me from my salvation.
Philippians 1
19 For I know that this will
turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ,
20 according to my earnest
expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness,
as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or
by death.
21 ¶ For to me, to live is
Christ, and to die is gain.
A
decade will come and go anyway … and it will go by so quickly. Do you remember
2008? My hope is that when 2028 comes, and it will, you’ll look back and
remember the challenge I gave you in 2018.
Live for
Christ!
Live confident, committed and convinced.
