037. Gods Big Rubber

We’re all here on Bribie Island.  This is where we are placed. 

(Q)  What are we here for?

To lay around in the sunshine, or drink coffee, or watch TV?

I listened to a preacher called Justin Buzzard telling about how he wanted to do church and how some of his plans got tipped upside down.  I thought, “Yeah, that’s happened to me too!”
There’s a saying, “Make your plans in pencil because God has a big rubber.”  That’s great wisdom!  

(Story re Katoomba - old people, old dog…. – Richmond – let reigns hang loose and let God lead.  Hard decision.  Wonderful peace!  After 6mths but not to conservative Richmond holy club north west of Sydney but into Cronulla – south Sydney – worked with younger people, Neville, street- soup kitchen, Heidi and David, Steven and Vivienne, people growing weed, prostitute, drug addict, and everyone in between.  Gay man dying from AIDS and bought beautiful piano for church. People came to Jesus and better life.  God’s rubber.) 

We’ve been on our knees, praying “God, what are you doing?” Some of you are there right now. Some of you have been there in the past. You had plans. You had dreams. Things were going to work out. But God took his big rubber and rubbed out a lot of your plans.

Some of you have moved to Bribie from other places. I’ve heard you talk with fondness of the places you’ve come from. Well, you have no reason to complain, because Bribie Island is 50 times better than any of those places. We have great climate, great people.  It’s true. We have no reason to complain when we look at where other people in this world live and things that other people have been through, people who still rejoice in their circumstances that aren’t as good as ours.

Look at what the Apostle Paul went through. Paul was a man whose life was radically changed by the gospel of Jesus. This gave him an ambition: ---- Once his eyes were opened to what it means to really know God, he had to spread the message. In Romans 15:20, Paul says…

pp     “My ambition has always been to tell the good news in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.”

Paul had a passion to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, to go to places where the gospel had not been heard. He didn’t want to build on someone else’s foundation. He wanted to go and reach people who had not heard the message. He wanted to go to Bribie Island, not some place where the whole city sits in churches.  He talks about his dream to go to the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, to proclaim the gospel there. Then he wanted to move on to Spain, continuing west to proclaim the gospel message. How did those plans work out for him?
 
So here is …

pp        Paul’s Report

Paul is reporting what has happened to him since the Philippians had seen him last, about six years earlier. Paul left the city of Philippi after he saw the believers there and encouraged them. Then he visited several churches in Asia, and headed toward Jerusalem. En route to Jerusalem, people told him not to journey to the city. But he went anyway. Paul arrived in the city of Jerusalem, and his own people betrayed him. He was beaten and almost lost his life. He was thrown into prison. While Paul is in prison, 40 men make a vow not to eat or drink until they’ve killed Paul. They want to see his life snuffed out. He remained in prison for about two years.

He wanted to go to Rome. He wanted to go to Spain. He wanted to preach the gospel, but he was in prison. Finally he got his chance: he makes an appeal to the Emperor to go to Rome. So Paul was put on a ship headed to Rome. Then the ship entered a horrible storm at sea. The ship was lost, but all the men were saved. They make it to the island called Malta. What’s the first thing that happens to Paul on the island? The shipwreck survivors build a fire to stay warm, and a snake jumps out of the fire and bites him on the hand. It’s a horrible day.

Finally, Paul made it to Rome, and he would soon stand before the Emperor of Rome, Nero. A lot of you know about Nero. He was the most brutal of all emperors who ruled in Rome.

He would have Christians burned at night in order to light up his garden. So Paul was in prison, about to face this man. 

In the book of Philippians, we haven’t yet got to Paul telling his story. So far he’s talked about how the Philippians are doing. He’s praying for them. Now Paul is going to start talking about how he is doing. The Philippians were thinking, “Paul, your plans didn’t work out. The last time we saw you, you wanted to go to Rome, you wanted to go to Spain, you wanted to preach the gospel. You were enjoying your freedom. But all we have heard about you are tales of prison and shipwreck. And now you’re going to face Nero? We are so sorry your plans didn’t work out. How can we help you?”

This is Paul’s Report. This passage can change your life if you let it.  Please open your Bibles to Philippians chapter one on page 1348.  Philippians 1:12, page 1348.

We’re going to read from verses 12 to 18.

Verse 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, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;  and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Verse 15    “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill:  The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains;  but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

And now verse 18    “What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

Paul says, “Life hasn’t gone the way I thought it would these last six years. I’m in prison, but the gospel is advancing. You would think the gospel had stopped advancing, or it’s begun to retreat – to go backwards. But actually the gospel is gaining ground.”---- When Paul talks about the advance of the gospel, he uses a military term. It refers to the advance of an army nearing victory. Paul wrote these words in the first century Roman Empire world. And in that world, Caesar, the emperor, was worshipped as a saviour, as a lord. Forty-five years before the birth of Jesus, when Julius Caesar returned from a great military victory to Rome, he was given divine status. A first century historian says this:
“Then Caesar hastened to Rome. Victor of all civil wars, he was feared and celebrated like no one before him. All kinds of
exaggerated honors were created and bestowed upon him, even superhuman ones, offerings, celebrations, sacrifices and statues in all temples and public places in each of the provinces for every community and for all the kings allied with Rome. The inscriptions of the statues were various. On some of them Caesar wore an oak wreath as the saviour of the native country. His person was pronounced sacred and it was decreed that he could dispatch his official functions from a throne of ivory and gold. The cities annually had to celebrate the days of his victories, priests had to offer public prayers for him, and the administrators had to swear an oath not to resist any command of Caesar. ----To honor his birth, the month of Quintiles was renamed Julius, July. Furthermore, numerous temples were to be built to him as a god.”

Forty-five years before the birth of Jesus, it was decreed that the Caesar of Rome was superhuman, that he was a lord, that he was a saviour, that he was king, and his actions were unquestionable. Whenever a new man became Caesar, they announced it with the word ‘gospel’. The word gospel means ‘good news’. They’d say, “Hear the gospel, Julius is now Caesar. He is king; he rules over the world.”

This gives some perspective to the staggering nature of Paul’s claim. Paul is in Nero’s prison in Rome. In the Roman Empire, they worship Nero as a god. And Paul says, “The gospel is advancing as I sit in this man’s prison. There is a true king, and His name is Jesus Christ. He reigns, not this Caesar here in Rome. His message, the message of Jesus, is advancing.” 

So we’ll put that up…

pp     The gospel is advancing

Paul gives two reasons for this, two evidences of how the gospel is advancing. The first reason is given in verse 13. Paul says, “It has become known throughout the whole Palace Guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”   We understand that the Palace Guard was the Imperial Guard.  The Imperial Guard was a group of 9,000 soldiers in the city of Rome who guarded the Emperor, who did his bidding. Paul says these 9,000 men are hearing the true gospel message. They’re hearing about the true King. 

How could Paul have got this message out to 9,000 soldiers? ---He was under house arrest, and he was chained to a Roman soldier for a six-hour shift. And the soldiers he was chained to would constantly rotate. What do you think Paul was talking about during those six-hour shifts? He told them stories about the man he used to be, his encounter with Jesus Christ, how Jesus changed him. He told stories of the things he had seen Jesus do in cities throughout the Roman Empire. Not all 9,000 soldiers actually guarded Paul, but those who did heard this, and they started to spread it. So stories about Paul and his Saviour, his King, began to spread throughout the whole Imperial Guard. (see Philippians 4:22 re  ‘saints in Caesar’s household salute you.’)

Paul gives the second reason the gospel is advancing in verse 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.”

This is common in church history. Persecution gives other Christians a backbone. When people are persecuted for the gospel, you’d think other Christians would retreat. You’d think they’d say, “Oh man, Paul is in prison for preaching
the gospel. I better hide.” 

But instead it makes them stronger. They say, “There is someone willing to stand up for what he believes. There is someone who believes it so much, he is prepared to suffer for it.  It’s in his veins.  He really believes this stuff. He’s not just going through the motions.” 

So they start waking up. They start stepping up. And in Rome other Christians are preaching the gospel more boldly.

Paul does talk about how some of them have bad motives. But he says, “I don’t care. A lot of people have the right motives. The gospel’s going out, and I’m so excited about that. My imprisonment has emboldened others with this message.” 

Wherever Paul went, crazy things happened. When he entered a city and proclaimed the gospel, things turned upside down. --- But wherever we go, they serve us coffee and cake and we hang out.  You often go to church functions and you have coffee and cake – it’s really nice and polite. Where Paul went, there were riots. God showed up, and crazy things happened.

Paul is one of my heroes. I like to be more like Paul.  Because whatever happens to Paul, he’s free. Paul went into a city, and one of the church leaders or government leaders said, “Paul, you can’t preach the gospel in this city. If you do I’m going to get you thrown into prison.” Paul said, “Great! I’ll preach to the prisoners. It doesn’t matter.” The guy said, “I’ll throw you into solitary confinement. You can’t be around the prisoners.” Paul said, “Great! I’ll pray for you, and I’ll pray that God shakes the city and does crazy things.”

The guy said, “I’ll kill you then.” Paul said, “Great! I get to rest in peace. I don’t care; kill me.” --- You can’t mess with Paul, you can’t kill him, you can’t discourage him, because his life is built on Jesus, it’s built on the gospel.

In verse 18 Paul says, “I rejoice in all this.” He’s in prison, the gospel is advancing, and other people are sharing the gospel. So he rejoices. This wasn’t his original plan. He wanted to go to Rome, hang out in people’s homes, preach the gospel, have a good time, and then go to Spain to preach the gospel there. But God had a big rubber, God had a different plan. Paul’s prison became a pulpit. He’s reaching people he never could have reached with his original plan. The Imperial Guard aren’t men who would stroll into church and hear the gospel.

These are rough guys. They’re hearing the gospel because God placed Paul in the right spot.

And Paul rejoices in that.----

During the Holocaust, in one of the concentration camps, Betsy Ten Boom famously said to her sister Corrie Ten Boom, shortly before she died: “There is no pit so deep that Christ is not deeper still.” ---  Some of you are in pits right now, you’re in prisons. Life didn’t turn out the way you thought it would, and you’re struggling. Christ is deeper than whatever you’re going through. You can’t see everything He’s going to do, but His wisdom is deeper, and He’s deeper than your troubles. 
 
Sometimes God’s got a big rubber, and it goes against our own personal plans.  But as Paul says in verse 17, “… I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”

Some versions say “I am put - here  - for the defense of the gospel.” 

So let’s put that up …

pp       I am put here.

I think verse 17 contains the four most important words in this whole passage.  These words will change our lives. Paul says, “I am put here.”

He looks at his prison, he looks at his suffering, and he declares, “I am put here.” God has greater plans for us than we have for ourselves. Do you believe that? You would think what happened to Paul was a huge barrier to the advancement of the gospel. He was locked up in a prison. But this is how God was advancing His people and His message. He had greater plans for Paul in the city of Rome than Paul had for himself.  He may have greater plans for you and me on Bribie Island than we had for ourselves. -----
Martin Luther said…

pp    “We pray for silver, but God gives us gold instead.”  

We don’t realize it, but often we’re praying for silver. We think it’s gold, but it’s not, God has the real gold planned for us instead.

Whenever God says ‘no’ to you as you try to craft your life plans, it’s because He wants to say a greater ‘yes’ to you. He has better plans, bigger plans, and you must trust Him.  ----  Psalm 23, the most famous psalm in the Bible, says, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

A 15-year-old girl wrote this statement, the exact opposite of what the 23rd Psalm says.    She said,
“I have no shepherd; I need a shepherd. I am caught in the desert, I am thirsty, and no one is telling me where to go. I am lost and no one cares. I am scared of evil because I am alone. I am the strongest thing in my life. There is no greater or more powerful being to comfort or protect me. I must be alone with my enemies with no one to help me. The cup of my life and my soul are empty and dry, I seek after goodness and mercy, but never find it. I have no home, nothing is certain.” ---- 

Well that’s the exact opposite to ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’. -----

Psalm 23.

---- That’s how we live a lot of the time. We live as though we are our own shepherd, we’re all alone, God is not there. But the Lord is your shepherd, whatever you’re going through. The Lord is your shepherd, not your “sugar daddy”: you’re not going to get everything you want. Life isn’t going to go the way you want. God’s not going to give you everything you want. If God was your sugar daddy, then you would really be God, because you would be the one calling the shots, making things happen the way you want them to happen. No, God is your Shepherd, and He leads you and guides you. God is wise, and He is good. You have to hold onto those two things. He is wise; He knows what He’s doing. He’s smarter than you, way smarter. And He’s good. He loves you. He wants the best for you.

Come to page 850 in your Bible. Isaiah 55:8.  Page 850.  Isaiah 55:8,9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” says the Lord. “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 

Friends, God’s ways are higher than our ways; His thoughts are higher. He knows what He’s doing, and we have to trust Him. 

Come now to Romans 8:28 on page 1301.  Page 1301, Romans 8:28.   “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” 

This is staggering. All things that happen to you, God works together for good. That doesn’t work according to our maths, according to our economy. All the bad stuff, all the hard stuff, all the shame, all the guilt, all the horror—God will work it together for good because He is God, because He loves you.

J. I. Packer says this…

pp    “What matters supremely is not the fact that I know God, but the larger fact that He knows me. I am imprinted on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind. There is unspeakable comfort in knowing that God is constantly  watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on His prior knowledge of the worst about me. So that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me and the way I am so often disillusioned about myself— nor can it quench His determination to bless me.” 

Friends, God is committed to us, to watching over us.  He has bigger plans for us than we’ll ever know.  Don’t get upset with God when He gets out His rubber.  So…
 
pp      Applying this passage from the Bible. (add points below)

pp      Put the gospel at the centre of your life.

The Bible is about God and His action towards us, His movement of grace. As we read the Bible, we want to respond properly and take appropriate action. There are three
applications we should take from this passage. 

pp    First, this passage only works because the gospel is what Paul cares most about in his life. 

If Paul cared most about comfort, he couldn’t say this. If Paul’s god was comfort, this would be a very different passage, because it’s not comfortable to be in prison, it’s not comfortable to have your plans changed around.   But Paul’s god is not comfort, like most church people want.  Paul’s god is God. The gospel is at the centre of Paul’s life.

So the first application is this: Put the gospel at the centre of your life. Put it at the centre of your thinking, at the centre of your emotions, at the centre of your ambitions, at the centre of your dreams, at the centre of whatever you do. Idols are going to let you down. If the god of your life is comfort or control or success or approval, you’re going to get let down. But if the message of Jesus is at the centre of your life, you’re not going to be let down. 

Genuine Christians are invincible, because no matter what happens to them, they still win. If Christians are killed, they get to be with Jesus. That attitude is probably easier said than done, but it’s true. So put the gospel at the centre of your life. 
 
pp    Second.   Flourish wherever you are.

Flourish where God puts you. God relocated some of you to Bribie Island. God put some of you in jobs that are not your ideal job. God has allowed some of you to be in situations of life that you don’t want to be in, whether you’re married or single. Even if you’re struggling and having a hard time, God wants to work with you there.  God wants you to flourish where you are. 

You can respond in two ways to your circumstances. You can become a bitter person, or you can become a better person, a healthier person, a happier person. Paul responded to his circumstances by trusting that God had a plan. The only reason Paul could say, “I am put here in a prison cell in Rome,” is because, years earlier, Jesus Christ could say, “I am put here on a Roman cross in Jerusalem.” When Jesus’ followers first looked at that cross, they thought, ‘The plan didn’t work. The Messiah who came to rescue and redeem God’s people just got killed. I just saw him take his last breath. He just died. What good can come of this?’ ----

---- But the resurrection came three days later, and God raised his Son from the grave.  At first your struggles may look like crucifixion, but resurrection is coming. It’s coming soon. Whatever happens to you, you can trust that God knows what He’s doing. Little gods do little things. If you believe in a little god, it’s going to do little things in your current circumstances. But if you believe in a big God, you believe that God does big things. And whatever’s happening to you, whatever prison you’re in, whatever your circumstances, He can do big things.
 
pp     Third.   Turn your prison into a pulpit.

Whatever circumstances are caging you in, whatever boundaries, whatever barriers, turn them into pulpits. Use them to spread this message.

People are getting saved on Bribie Island.  People are coming to know Jesus through you helping them and sharing the gospel. It’s exciting. Dead people on Bribie are coming alive. We’re experiencing the tremblings of a mini revival in our church and on Bribie Island . God is saving people as the gospel is proclaimed here, and He is bringing people closer to Himself as you share this message with people during the week. The gospel is a life-saving message. We have to believe this. Not sharing this message is like being in an ocean of drowning people while you float around on a pile of 100 life buoys, hanging onto them while people drown all around you. ----  Friends, this message is life-saving, and I don’t know why we wouldn’t share it. I don’t know how another week of life could go by without sharing this message with people who haven’t heard it. You possibly don’t understand its power. Maybe you have yet to experience its power in your life. God’s calling you to share it and to spread it. 
 

In …

pp    Conclusion

A long time ago, a ship carrying a bunch of people left England, bound for the New World to start a new life. These people had great plans, but the ship entered a huge storm, hurricane-force winds, huge waves. Everyone was down in the hold of the ship, trembling and afraid and scared and sick and vomiting and tossing back and forth. One brave man came out of the hold to see what things looked like on the deck. It was pitch black, but by a little bit of light from the moon, he saw the waves and the boat rolling back and forth. Then he saw the captain, holding the wheel. The captain looked back at the brave man and gave him a little smile. Then the man went back down into the hold of the ship, and he said, “I’ve seen the face of the captain; he is smiling. All will be well.” ----

---- I don’t know what prison you’re in, but I’ve seen the face of the Captain, and He is smiling.

All will be well. As we build this church together, trust this Captain. Tell other people about this Captain, because they don’t know about Him. They’re in the hold of the ship, and they don’t know about the smiling Captain. 

Stand and pray.

‍