Transcript

There’s a story told of John Wesley, the great evangelist and founder of the Methodist Church. Says that one day when he was preaching at open air meeting, two ruffians came in the back of the area, picked up stones, and had the expressed intention of disrupting that meeting. With their rocks in hand, they walked up toward the front of the the altar there, standing there in front of John Wesley. But as he was preaching, the reality of Christ and the love of Christ so beamed from his countenance that the fellows were mesmerized. One of the fellows looked to the other one and said, he ain’t a man. He ain’t a man. And God just melted their heart as they saw God in John Wesley. At the end of that service, John Wesley went down to those boys, put his hands on their shoulders, and told them, God bless you, sons, and left. And as John Wesley left, one of the boys looked, the other one says, he is a man. He is a man, but he’s a man like God.

I thought, isn’t that the testimony all of us want? That as people look at us, they had to say he is a man, but he’s a man like God. Well, that could be said of John Wesley, but it also could be said of the apostle Paul. Look with me to Philippians 1. As we continue studying through verse by verse, chapter by chapter, this New Testament book, if you’re visiting with us today, that’s what we do. We start in a book and go straight through it. And when we stop, we pick up again the next time. We come today to chapter one, verses 19 through 26. A passage that I’ve entitled A Godly Man. Now you remember the last two Sunday mornings we talked about a good church. Now we see the apostle Paul sharing a personal testimony, sharing from his heart about his own life.

Let’s read the text together. Philippians 1:19. For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation, in hope that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which to choose. But I am hard pressed from both directions, and having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better, yet, to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

There are three things we see in this text about a godly man. Now, there are more than three things, of course, but three things we see here about a godly man. First of all, let’s notice his peace. A godly man is a man who carries with him through the mountaintops, in the valleys, a supernatural peace in his soul. Now we see some things that I believe contributed to the peace that Paul carried with them. I mean, after all, he’s here in a Roman prison, and often he talks about his chains, and he’s in that prison simply for preaching the gospel of Christ. Yet in the midst of all that he says, rejoice! And again I say, rejoice. And he talks about the peace that he has. Well, there’s three things here that I think contribute to that peace, even though there’s much more. But these three are definitely here.

First of all, he mentions the prayers of the saints. Look at verse 19 again, the prayers of the saints. For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers. Now the Apostle Paul is the man used more than any other New Testament writer to tell us about the sovereignty of God, to tell us about the fact that God is absolutely sovereign in everything that happens on planet Earth. Everything that happens to your life is either caused, are allowed by God. Everything, the good things and the bad things. Everything is being worked together for your good, Paul told us as recorded in Romans 8:28. So here’s the man who talks so much about God’s awesome, sovereign, complete control of every aspect of our lives. But at the same time, he balances in another reality, and that is that prayer has power and prayer can change things. Wait a minute, Brother Jeff. How do you reconcile that? How can it be that God sovereignly is working all things together for our good, even many things that are bad, but at the same time, prayer can influence and change things. How do you reconcile that? I don’t know, I haven’t got the faintest idea. I do believe that when we get to heaven and we have the mind of Christ, we’ll see a beautiful unity. And the things that down here with the finite gray matter between our ears, we were not able to comprehend in unity. But when we get there and see as Christ, then I think we’ll know. But down here we just don’t know yet.

But look what he says about that. He says, I believe… now Paul’s not saying I’m confidently certain he’s not like some of the fellows on television that would say, I’m going to be delivered. I know it, I claim it. He’s going to tell us everything I see and believe leads me to this conclusion. But I’m leaving all the options open to God, and we’ll see that in just a moment. But he’s saying prayer has power. Prayer has an impact. We can take, for example, what he said to the various churches that he wrote letters to. We call them epistles or they came to be known as the epistles. For example, in the book of Romans. Don’t turn there. Just listen. In Romans 1:9 he says, For God, whom I serve in my spirit, and the preaching of the gospel of His Son is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers. But then, toward the end of the book of Romans, in Romans 15:30, he says, now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers. At the first of the book of Romans, he says, I pray for you diligently. And at the last part of the book he says, but you folks pray for me too.

And then we go over to the church at Ephesus and Ephesians 1:16, he talks about how he does not cease giving thanks for them while making mention in my prayers. But then toward the end of the book of Ephesians, he says in Ephesians 6:19, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. So to the church at Ephesus, he says, I really diligently practice praying for you, but also I want you to pray for me. To the church at Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 1:2. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers. And then toward the end of that same book, 1 Thessalonians 5:25. Brethren, pray for us.

So as Paul sought people to pray for him, he could say, but I want you to know I’ve been praying for you. When we raise our hands in Sunday School class, or raise our hands in Wednesday night prayer meeting and ask for prayer. I wonder if first, like the Apostle Paul, we can say we’ve been praying for others. Are we basically prayerless till the crisis comes. My friend, prayer is good for us. Prayer is needful for the child of God. Prayer is necessary. I don’t know, but could it be that God will allow a regular series of crises, if that’s what it takes to keep us praying? Paul said, I want you to pray for me, and because of your prayers, I’ve got a peace in this storm I’m facing. That’s part of the reason. But also, I’ve prayed for you.

You know, I don’t understand. This thing of the power of prayer is quite mysterious. And folks, now we’re not given a blank slate that we’re supposed to run off and pray for every whim and desire of the flesh. We’re to channel our prayers according to biblical teachings. I mean, if God went to the trouble to give us all of this revelation, surely he expects us to pattern our life, including our prayers aligned with the truth of this revelation. So Paul’s not saying here, just take a blank slate. Pray whatever you want. God’s going to do it. If you believe it hard enough, we all know that simply is not true. Doesn’t work that way. Vance Hebner what a great men of God he was. Vance Hebner says what a minister is in his prayer closet is what he is. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s true for every child of God. What you are in your prayer closet. That’s what you are. Nothing more, nothing less. He also said the thermometer of a church is its prayer meeting. Do you know the Wednesday night prayer meetings are almost non-existent in Baptist churches today? I mean, if they have anything, they’ve moved away from getting together to pray. They just do everything else under the sun but pray. And Lord knows we need to do more prayer. But I’m thankful that when we get together, I believe we always have a minimal of 15 minutes of prayer. Sometimes it goes 20, maybe up to 30 sometimes. Because I have folks in the choir say, man, why did you go so long? We want to get up there and sing. You see you sing better when you pray along. Pray longer. But anyway, we ought to get together to pray. And if you want to know the measure of a godly church, how many folks show up to pray? That’s a good measure.

But Paul is facing a challenging storm in his life. He’s locked in prison, chained up there in a Roman dungeon. But he says, man, I’ve got peace. And part of that peace was because, he know, folks were praying. I don’t understand that. But I’ve heard many folks say I felt the prayers. I felt the prayers. There’s something to that.

But secondly, notice not only the prayers of the saints. Secondly, we see the provision of the spirit. Look at verse 19. Let’s just read it all again, “for I know that this should turn out from our deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”, the provision of the spirit. Now, we don’t know all that he’s referring to here. And one thing we certainly don’t know everything about, and that is the person of the Holy Spirit. He is quite mysterious. Jesus said that the Spirit of God is like the wind. The wind blows where it pleases. You don’t know where it’s come from. You don’t know where it’s going. I mean, the actual molecules that make up the wind that you felt coming in off the parking lot. You don’t know where those molecules were last week. They could have been in an elephant’s trunk or something. We don’t know, do we? You don’t know where they came. You don’t know where they’re going. The Spirit of God is mysterious like that. He has a mind of his own. He has an infinite mind. He is a person, not an it. He is not some sort of impersonal force that we can manipulate, plug into. If we say the right phrase and make him do what we want. He’s sovereign and Lord, the Holy Spirit is. And somehow Paul said, in the midst of this great difficult situation, I have a peace through the provision of the spirit. I believe one of the things he’s talking about is the fact that that he would. And I’m putting it in Jeff’s long paraphrase here. This is King Jeff, not King James right now. He’s saying the best I can discern, the spirit is showing me I’m going to be delivered from this prison. I’m not going to lose my head in here. Typically, they chopped off your head, and that was it, of course. But the best I can discern, the spirit is leading me to understand. I’m not going to have to die in here. I’m going to be delivered. That’s what he says. I believe I’m going to be delivered, though. Your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Now, the Holy Spirit of God, the Bible says in John 16:13, gives us guidance. Jesus said, it’s good that I go away because I’ll send a helper. And he said, but when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. And I think Paul was getting leadership from the Holy Spirit. Now, folks, we’ve got to be very careful being real dogmatic on “what the Lord said to me”. I can take you to Fellowship of Christians, and they’re all the time talking about what the Lord says, and he’s telling them all contradictory things. Now folks, you got to be very careful about that phrase. Extremely careful. I mean, when you feel like God’s telling you something, you need to stay tuned for station identification, because I want to tell you. Satan can say a whole lot that sounds like the Lord. A whole lot. But we do know he guides. And the best way to know if he’s guiding this does it gel, with this book? Does it gel with the teachings of this book. If it does not, he’s not guiding. But he does guide. He gives those promptings. He gives that impression. But not only guidance, He gives comfort. And John 16:7 Jesus says, when I go, I’ll send a helper. Now some translations use the helper to designate the spirit. Some use counselor, some use comforter. And the reason being is the Greek word there is Paracletos. It is a difficult word to translate. It means one called alongside. My friend, when you’re saved, there’s one that Jesus sends to come alongside beside you. He said he’ll be your helper. He’s a helper in the sense that he comforts us in difficult days. I do not understand it, folks, but there are times when we’re facing the trial and there is a supernatural peace that is given. And the only explanation is it’s the Holy Spirit of God. He is a comforter, a consolation to us. And Paul says here, I have your prayers, I have the provision of the spirit, and I’ve got peace.

But not only that, here’s the key factor, folks, that I believe really gave Paul a peace in this difficult trial. The third thing here under peace, his purpose for the Savior. His purpose for the Savior. What I mean is this he was resigned, that his purpose in life was for Jesus. His purpose for living was Jesus. His purpose for life was to glorify Christ. And he was not going to dictate to Christ how he was going to glorify Christ. He was really to submit to and obey whatever Christ wanted him to do or experience — to glorify him. Now, folks, we’ve got to get back to that. We’ve got to get back to where we start dictating to God what he’s got to do to get glory, to where we yield and submit to him and let him do whatever he pleases to get glory. You tell me why so many great men of the faith, particularly during the Reformation Age, were martyred and burned at the stake? I want to tell you folks, those folks who are martyred and burned at the stake knew God, knew the power of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, better than most of the guys on TV teaching about the Holy Spirit all the time. And God didn’t deliver them. They burned at the stake, praising God with joyous hymns, giving Christ the glory. Now you explain that! All I can tell you is they had peace in the midst of the trial and the storm, just like Paul had.

Notice what he tells us here in verse 20 and 21. Look at what Paul says. According to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall not be put to shame in anything. Now here’s what Paul is basically said so far. I believe based on your prayers, that I be delivered and come back and help you Philippians grow in the faith based on your prayers, and what I can tell from the leadership of the spirit — I believe the best I can discern — I believe I’m not going to die in this prison. But he said, it’s my expectation and hope that whatever happens, Christ get the glory. Now notice how he finishes it. Look at verse 20, middle phrase. I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ shall, even now, as always, be exalted in my body whether by life or by death. Now he didn’t say, man, I’m going to be delivered. That’s the way it’s got to be. I done gotten the word. No, he says best understand it, that’s what God’s going to do. But should I lose my head in this prison? Hallelujah. That’s fine. Just as long as Christ gets the glory for it. That’s power, folks. That strength, that spiritual maturity dictating to God what he must do in a certain situation is not power, strength, and maturity. Surrendering to God to let him do what he wants to do as power, strength, and maturity.

Think about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They said, man, listen, listen, we’re not going to bow down and worship a pagan god. And the king says, we will throw you in the fiery furnace. He said, Hallelujah! If you throw us in the fiery furnace, God can deliver us from the fiery furnace. And if he does not deliver us, Amen anyway. But we’re not going to worship your pagan idol. That’s power. Strength. Leave it to God. Paul says, best I can discern, I’m not going to stay in this prison and die. But if God, Jesus for me to die here. Hallelujah! My purpose in life is to glorify Jesus. And if that means my death in this prison — cutting off my head — so be it fine.

Peace. Wouldn’t you say the fella had a little peace. That’s peace, isn’t it? Whatever God. Isn’t that wonderful. I mean, you know, you just let God be God and trust him and trust him. You see, the fallen man glorifies the body. The godly man uses the body to glorify God. Isn’t that the way this world is… all the things we’re doing… what great lengths man goes to today to glorify this dying, decaying body. Isn’t it incredible? I mean, the lengths. I mean the do’s and the fix them up and paint them up and shape them up, and trim them, up and tack it up. And I mean, you name it, they’re doing it. I mean, to glorify this body. Now, folks, there’s nothing wrong with looking clean and nice and presentable, but I am suspect when I say some folks in Christian ministry and they put, go to great extremes in their flashy, showy clothing and hairdos. Sort of just a personal preference, but I just it’s it’s hard for me to listen to a preacher with the fuzzy mane down the back of his neck. Now I’m just that’s just personal. I’m just just seems to draw attention to them, you know what I’m saying? Folks, we need to be drawing attention to Jesus. You say, Brother Jeff, you wear nice clothes. It might shock you to know that most of my clothes are given to me. Folks just kind of me, for some reason. I mean, they’re, they’re kind of me.

But folks, listen, Paul said it doesn’t matter. You know what he wrote? Galatians 2:20. Galatians 2:20 says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul says, I’m crucified with Christ. I’m dead. I’m not here, here for me. I’m not going to ask you to pray that I’ll get out of this prison for me. That may not be God’s will. I’m not going to claim that I got to get out of this trial. Man, I’ve got peace. Man, if I come in and chop off my head, I die in this prison. My expectation and hope is that that is what God wanted and that’ll bring him glory. And if that’s his will, fine. I wan’t to tell you, a godly man has a peace. I’m not saying there might not be some tears and some struggles with the flesh, but the pattern of his life is he has peace. He has peace. And all of those valleys, and through all of those storms. Look at verse 21. He says, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now, first of all, if you take out Christ and gain, you have what this world lives for. If you take out Christ in gain, you basically get this. For me to live is to die. That’s it. Without Jesus, that’s all we just living to die. We’re just living, pouring our energies into things that do not last. And we cannot take with us just to die. Just a biological existence waiting for the clock to run out. Oh, can’t you see how much more God has given us than that? Man, we can have peace.

The theme of Paul’s like life was much like the old songwriter who said, Jesus is all the world to me. My life, my joy, my all. He gives me strength from day to day. Without him I would fall. Jesus is all the world to me. Well, first of all, the godly man has peace. So Paul’s got peace in this present that matter. Whatever God wants to do is fine with him. He feels like God through the leadership of the spirit is going to deliver him. But hey, he don’t know for sure. He’s leaving that to God. Folks, that’s exactly the way I try to lead this church, based on biblical truths and biblical principles. We get a plan. We get a vision of where God wants us to go and we take off. And if you remember our prayers, we say God best as we understand — this is right. If it’s not, you do what you want to do. Amen. That’s what we gotta do. I mean, you can’t just sit back and say, well, the spirit will move. Now you take the Word of God. You base what you do on biblical principles the best you understand them and leave it to God. Leave it to God to bless or change. Do whatever he wants to do. I’ll tell you what. So far he’s been blessing.

Well, peace. But notice the second thing about a godly man. A godly man has perplexity. Perplexed. Now wait a minute, brother Jeff thought he had peace. He is also perplexed about something. But look what it is. Look at verse 22. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I do not know which to choose. Paul says, if I stay down here on planet earth and minister longer, I know I can win more people to Christ, disciple more people so that they can win more. And that’s fruitful ministry that will bring more glory to God. So I’d like to do that, but really, I’d like to go on home to heaven too. Look at verse 23. He says, but I am hard pressed. That word hard pressed means hemmed in on both sides. He said, man, I’m pulled both ways. I’m perplexed. I want to stay here and minister and bring more glory to my precious Lord. But I’d also like to go be with him. He said, I don’t know what to do, and then notice what he says, continuing in verse 23. But I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ. That word depart means to unloose. The word depart means to break up camp. The word depart means to tear down your tents. It means to weigh anchor and put out the sea. Paul says, I’m just about through with this journey down here. I’m ready to go on home and notice how he ends. Verse 23 — for that is very much better.

And these 13 years on, staff here I have stood by many a bereaved family. Often it’s by the casket of a loved one who’s passed on, and very often knowing that that loved one was saved. They’ll say something like this. Well, you know, he’s better off. Wrong, wrong, wrong a thousand times wrong. Paul said. You’re very much better off. He could have easily in the koine greek said, just better off. He says, no, no, no, you’re very much better off. Amen. I’m telling you what. Next time we go up one of those boxes. Hallelujah. He’s very much better off than he used to be. That’s what God says. Man, this thing of dying, folks, in the end, it’s this very much better off beginning. Now, folks, listen, we’re not talking about the family that’s left behind. We grieve. That’s a part of it. And we should grieve. We miss them. It’s like, I miss my daughters. If they if I leave on a trip, I’m going to leave Tuesday and go to the Foreign Mission board for three days. I have a little emptiness there. That’s normal. And we weep and that’s normal. God put those tear ducts there, but as far as they’re concerned, they’re very much better off. Paul said. Man, that’d be better. Be much better. But he’s perplexed. He don’t know what to do, he said, I’m pulled in both directions to going on home or stay here for a fruitful ministry.

I found a comparison between remaining here and going home. Listen to this. First of all, here we have a temporary residence, a mere tent dwelling. The Bible says we live in tents down here. It’s not permanent. We haven’t driven our stakes in very deep because we’re going to move on home for long. But they’re not a temporary tent, a permanent abode. Here we have suffering mixed with joy. There we have joy unmixed with suffering. Here we suffer for a little while. There we have joy forever. Here we are absent from the Lord. There we’re at home with the Lord. Here, the fight. There, the feast. Here, we’re in the realm of sin. There, we’re in the realm of complete deliverance and complete holiness. Paul says it’s very much better off to go there. And, you know, I struggle in my faith on this just like you do. But I remember times when I’ve heard of the homegoing of somebody I knew that love Jesus. And I was a little bit jealous. You ever been there? Why should they get to go home and bask in his glory and I stay behind in this sinful world? That’s what Paul saying. That’s what he’s saying. It’s very much better off to go on home. He says to live is Christ. To die is gain. What does it mean to die is gain. It’s gain because heaven brings more of Christ to Paul and more of Paul to Christ. Say, down here, I labor for him. Up there I will rejoice with him.

Very much better off. Another song writer express this so beautifully face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face what will it be, when with the rapture I behold him, Jesus Christ, who died for me. Only faintly now I see him with the darkling veil between. But a blessed day is coming with when his glory shall be seen. What rejoicing in his presence when our banished grief and pain, when the crooked ways are straightened, and the dark things shall be plain. Face to face. Oh, blissful moment, face to face to see, and know. Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who loves me so. Face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by. Face to face I shall behold him far beyond the starry sky. That’s what Paul is saying is far better off, but I’m perplexed. I’m perplexed. Look at verse 24, he says, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Now Paul is not arrogant, but he knows he’s God’s leader, and he knows if he stays behind, he can help this Philippian church, which is a good church, to do even more for the glory of God. He said it’d be good for you if I stay behind and help you grow and mature and serve the Lord.

And then verse 25, and convinced of this — convinced that if he stays behind, he could help them immensely — I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. He says. I’m perplexed, but I believe God’s will is I stay behind and help you continue to grow. Now, here’s an interesting point I want you to think about. Paul did not say this kind of a statement to the Corinthian church. The Corinthian church was a baby church. It was an immature church. They were in messes all the time. They try to practice spiritual gifts and they pervert them and get an all kind of messes. They really needed help. But Paul never said to them as far as I can remember. And no, I’m going to stay behind to help you because you need so much help. No, he says that to the church that would need the least help, you’d say. You’d think, this was a good church. We’ve seen that in the last two weeks. This was a maturing church, a church that was on track.

What is Paul saying? Paul had the same principle that Jesus had when Jesus trained people. Who did Jesus train? The guys that were most committed. He poured his life into those that were most hungry and most willing to do the work of the ministry. And who was that? Peter, James, John, the apostles. Now Jesus did not say, now, now, you fellas, you 12, y’all are really doing good. I don’t need to pay spending time on you. I’m going to go over to here to these people who are not sure they want to follow me and really help them. They need the help. Jesus didn’t do that. Matter of fact, if anything, he turned away from those and poured his life into the ones who looked like they didn’t need the help. So Paul, as he deals with his churches, says, I want to stay here and help the most solid church because in the long run you’ll do more for the glory of God. You’ll win more souls, you’ll disciple more people. And folks, that ought to be our attitude when you look for somebody to disciple, or train, or to get into an accountability group, you get that person that’s hungry who wants to do something.

When you’re praying about a church home, often the devil. I’ll say this when I go over to this church. It’s been dead for 100 years and they need your help. No, you need to find the church that God’s working in, because that church will have more going on for the Savior over the long haul. So many have come to me over the years and said, Brother Jeff, we stayed in that church and stayed in that church and stayed in that church because we were about all they had. And if we left, we don’t know what would happen. Folks, if God’s left it, why are you staying? Manley Beasley, one of the godless men I’ve ever known, said this. Find out what God is doing and get in on it. We’re not down here to initiate what we want to do and ask God to get in on it. We’re down here to find out what God’s doing and get in on that. I want to join with God. I’m not asking him. Join with me. My goodness.

Well, Paul was perplexed. Oh, he feels quite certain by now that God’s going to leave him behind to help the church, but he sure is pulled to go to heaven. And every godly person has some of that perplexity. Folks, if there’s not at least a little hint in your heart that I’d like to going home, be with Jesus. Something missing, something badly missing. You’re not seeing clearly. Fellow, Editor of the Florence Times or what is it now? The daily. What? Times Daily. Lord, I get it. I don’t even know what it’s called. The Times Daily called me and want to ask me about gambling. Said, has your church organized a movement against gambling? I said, no, be quite honest, we hadn’t got there yet. We’ve been so busy with Bill and Hillary we just had to think about nothing else. But he asked me, said, well, I said, I just have to tell you off the top of the head, I studied this thing and and honestly, Robert Palmer’s the editor who called. He’s a good… he’s a friend of mine. And he did a good job of sharing what I said. And I appreciate that. And but basically I said this, I said, listen, when we have to resort to gambling to get funds to educate our children, what does that say about our society? Folks, not that we’re not spending enough on education, that’s not the point. But anybody that would tell children we’re going to promote an immoral behavior to educate you. Folks, that tells you your society is just about down the tube. What’s that telling kids? His response was, well, it’s not telling them anything very good, is it? I said, it’s certainly not. So as you see what our world is and what it’s becoming and what it’s resorting to, what it now calls good. My stars, there’s bound to be a fiber in you that says, oh God, I’m ready to go home, where the pure is pure and where right is right, and we’re wrong don’t even exist. And where all things are good. There’s that yearning in us that said, Lord, we’re just about tired of the filth down here. Paul was perplexed, pulled from both directions.

Well, the last thing I’m running out of time. But a godly man has peace. It carries him through the storms of life. The godly man has perplexity. He’s got a yearning to go on home, but he’s got also a yearning to stay here and be involved in fruitful ministry. Now, folks, we’re not talking about staying here and play with your toys. Stay here and make more money and count your money. Stay here and serve Jesus. That’s the perplexity of a godly man.

And the last thing, the power of a godly man. Notice where his power comes from. And it’s subtle, but it’s very real. Look at it in verse 26. He says, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus. Now the wording there is a little bit difficult, but I believe Paul is saying this. He’s saying if I stay behind and help you, Philippians, he said, you’re going to have proud confidence in me. You’re going to praise God for me. You’re going to say, Thank God we’ve got a leader to help us grow and mature and sharpen us, and correct us, and build us and equip us. But he says, remember your it’s your proud confidence in Christ Jesus. You’re going to be thankful for me. But remember, I’m just the vessel. My power is Jesus in me. And that’s why he words it that way. Proud, Confident. It’s what? In Christ Jesus. That’s why he says it that way. Paul says, man, I want you to know it is not Paul. It is not my brilliance. He was a brilliantly educated man. It is not my talent. It is not my skill. It is not my wisdom. It is not my slickness. It is not my organization. It is not the seminars I’ve been to. It is Christ in me that makes me effective as being your leader. He says, I want you to know it’s Jesus in me. It is not me, it is not me, it is Christ. That’s where a godly man’s power comes from.

When I had preaching class at Mid-America Seminary, we had a guy who was, well, we thought he was mean. He was tough! All the hours we had to work for that class every week. And you only got to preach one time a semester. And one fella got up to preach one day. And man, we all thought he did a great job. Well, he was polished and sharp and just had wit. Just looks so good. And when he set down Doctor Hite, the preaching professor came over there to him and cleaned his plow publicly. I mean, Doctor Hite looked at him, said, don’t you ever dare do anything like that again. Don’t you dare do anything like that again. And then he said this, you are so humanly talented. You got up there and used your human ability. Instead of letting God’s power work through you. Then I thought, that’s the greatest thing could have ever been done for that young preacher. I just thank God it wasn’t me. But you see, Doctor Hite had a lot of wisdom. He knew that boy was very talented, but if that boy didn’t realize, folks, you better lean on the power of God, not your abilities. Folks, that’s the key. It’s the power of God. That’s the key.

Meekness is a word that Jesus used. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness means power under control. Actually, the word pictures two great big old draft work horses. But they’re fully trained and they use their great power only as their master leads. That’s the power we have. It’s the power of God. It’s my folks, my friends, you have more power in you than all the armies of the world can muster up. But it’s power under control. God will only release it in the ways and for the purposes and for his timing. Not yours, not yours. And there’s a whole lot of what we’re seeing on TV called the Power of God’s Holy Spirit, that is fleshly manipulation. It’s not the true Spirit of God. Paul says, I want you to know you rejoice in my ministry among you if I can stay, but I want you to know it is Christ in me that’s not me. Matter of fact, most of the greatest men God used as recorded in Scripture, would have been listed as least likely to succeed in high school? You know why? Because God wanted to use men that had not.. that did not have much human ability, so he’d get all the glory. So people know it’s his power, not theirs. It’s his ability, not theirs.

Think about Moses. God came to Moses and said, hey, Moses. Moses said, yes, sir. God said, I want you to be the deliver of my people. And Moses says, man, I can’t speak. Well, I can’t do that. I don’t have the talent. God said, good, that’s what I’m looking for. Then people are know it’s me, not you. Oh, Joseph was a nobody. He was a runt boy. He was sold into an Egyptian dungeon. Nobody knew him. Nobody gave him any credit. Nobody knew anything about him. But God raised him up to be the mightiest leader in all the nation of Egypt. And why did God do it that way? Because that way God gets the credit and the glory. Think about old David. David was a nobody, just a little old rotten kid. I mean, they let him keep the sheep while the real man went and fought the battle. And David showed up one day in the battle and heard about this giant named Goliath. And all the big, strong, strapping men were fearful of Goliath. And David said, let me at him. I’ll kill that guy, I’ll teach him to blaspheme my God. He got his rottenest sling and slung one out there and pop that giant right in the head and knocked him to the ground and cut his head off and said, aha, see what God’s power can do to a shepherd boy. And so when everybody looked at that, they didn’t say David was great. They said, David’s got a great God. And Daniel. And we could go on and on and on. And Jesus lowly, humble baby, born to a lowly, humble family from Bethlehem. They said, he’s just a carpenter from Nazareth, but he’s exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords. Why? The power of God. He is God, though.

That’s the power of a godly man. It’s power under control. Meekness. It is Jesus strength in us. Godly man has peace through the storm of life. The godly man has a perplexity. He longs to go home, but he longs also to stay here and serve the Lord and bear fruit. And a godly man has the power of God, not human power, wit, ability, ingenuity, wisdom, but God’s power.

Let’s pray together. Father, I praise you and I thank you for the godly men you’ve raised up in this church. And God, none of these men would claim to have arrived. In all of these areas, we stumble and halt and fall. But God, I can. I can praise you and thank you that many men in this church, as I pattern walked these truths. They don’t function in their power, even though they may slip into it from time to time. But the pattern is they function in your power. And they’re perplexed Lord, they have a yearning to be with Jesus, but they also want to stay here and be fruitful. And Lord, they’re men who have peace in the storms. God, would you help us to be greater men of God? Truer men of God. More genuine men of God. And Father, I confess this world presses in so mightily to get our minds on other things and to distract us. But God help us to be men of God. Lord, would you do it for your glory and for your name’s sake?

I want us all standing with heads bowed and eyes closed. Please, everyone standing. We’re going to have our invitation now. With every head bowed and every eye closed, the choir is going to sing. In a moment, after I pray again, if you’re here and you need a church home, I want to ask you to come. If God has spoken to your heart. Sure you don’t understand it all. You can’t explain it all. You just sense in your heart that’s the place I belong. And God has purposed clearly in His word. Every Christian belongs in a local assembly. Why don’t you come this morning? If God’s spoken to your heart? Sure, Satan will speak. The flesh will speak, but if the Holy Spirit is prompting you, come. If you’re here and you need to be saved. If you’re not certain your saved, that’s the most important thing of all. Come this morning, we’ll get a counselor to go help you. Just step out in a moment. Say, Brother Jeff, I need to be saved, or whatever needs you have. When the choir sings, as we continue to pray, I want you to come. Father. Give folks the freedom to come and do as you’d have them do. Humbling themselves like the Apostle Paul did to say whatever, If it glorifies God, I’m willing. God lead in this invitation in Jesus name. Christians are praying. The choir sings, would you come just step out and come right now? Would you come? Just come to Jesus? Would you come?