The Life of Joy and Peace: Chapter 6 (Part 2)

More Than Conquerors

Philippians 1:12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,

Last time, I looked at Paul's example of having the right attitude of trusting in God through difficult circumstances. Now I'll look at Paul's view of God and his view of himself in relation to God.

Paul's relationship with God was right. His view of God was accurate. His trust in God was complete. Paul's reasoning was that God would never have sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us and then turn His back on us. (Romans 8:32, 5:10) To believe anything less would be a denial of the whole gospel.

But the moment you stand and face this mighty postulate -- 'God has so loved me that he sent his only begotten Son to the death on that cross for me and my salvation' -- you will be put right about the love of God. Paul does not grumble or query God's will or God's way because he is absolutely certain of that love, he knows that 'neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor thing present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 8:38, 39). You see, it is not his love to God he banks on, it is God's love to him; he relies on that and he is safe. ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Not only was his view of God accurate, but Paul's view of himself was accurate as well. Contrary to what many people apparently believe, Paul was a humble man. According to the human standards of the day, Paul had much about which to be conceited. But he counted all these achievements to be nothing after his dramatic conversion.

I do not want to stop with this now, because I hope to take it up in detail later, but it tells us that Paul's' secret was that he was in love with Christ to such an extent that he had forgotten himself altogether. Paul in prison does not say, Why does this happen to me? He says, How does it affect the gospel? ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Lloyd-Jones went on to speak of the psychologists of the day (1947) and how it was their practice to urge their patients to get out of the mode of self-absorption and look to something outside of them for validation. This appears to have changed somewhat over the years. I haven't studied psychology since my very basic course in college, but it seems to me that the on going trend for many years since then has been the focus on self-esteem, which causes a huge amount of self-absorption, in my opinion.

Paul had a healthy attitude toward himself. He knew he was a child of the King, and a citizen of heaven. He was confident and could rest in this. But his focus was on the Person and Work of Christ, not the person and work of Paul. He had lost himself, and gained eternity with Christ.

My beloved friend, shall I again ask you that simple question? Have you suffered one of these trials? How have you come through it all? You know what has happened to you -- the heart knoweth its own bitterness -- but I ask you, are you like Paul? Are you free from this grumbling and querying the love of God? Are you sure of God and are you right in your attitude towards yourself? Have you become lost in Christ, which is the secret of it all? ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

How convicting, amen?

Not only did Paul choose not to grumble, but he took it a step further. He actively looked at his circumstances in regard to the good that he could find in them. Had he not been imprisoned, there were many who might not have heard the gospel otherwise. (Phil. 1:13) Again, his focus was on the gospel instead of his own comfort. The guards shackled to him saw that he was not a common criminal and asked him about this 'Jesus'. Paul was able to share the gospel with men who likely would have simply scoffed at him were he a free man teaching and preaching. I guess you could almost say that Paul had a 'captive audience'. And when these soldiers were off duty, they likely talked about this 'strange gospel' with their friends and family. Who knows just how many were reached as a result of Paul's imprisonment? This way that God has of taking terrible circumstances and turning them to the good is a common theme in the Bible. (Genesis 50:20, Psalm 119:67-71)

Lloyd-Jones went on to say that when the trials come, our question should be 'what is God's purpose?' We know that He will turn things to the good.

I am now going to watch this amazing experiment, and I am going to see what the Divine Alchemist is going to work in this situation; God is going to make something out of this. And the moment you look at it like that, you have already conquered it, you have beaten the temptation down. You are seeing something that God is going to use to the furtherance of his gospel and his kingdom. ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

I read on to see if he said anything further than this, but it's not here in this chapter. I'm sure he looks at this issue more deeply in another sermon, but I believe that something more needs to be said regarding making it our focus to look for what God is working out in our difficult circumstances. Many have taken this line of thinking down a road of always expecting results to be evident to us (right now!), and I believe that a perversion of this thinking has led to the many teachers of the Word Faith movement. If we are continually 'expecting' to see what God is working out through our circumstances, we are going to be setting ourselves up for potential disappointment and disillusionments. We can't forget what was taught in the chapter about the heroes of the faith. (Hebrews 11) Many of them didn't live to see the promise, but had faith anyway. Now, I don't believe that Lloyd-Jones is in anyway ignoring that fact, or promoting the name it and claim it ideology, but I wanted to make that clear in this post since it was not made clear in chapter six. This is, after all, the definition of faith -- to trust in God regardless of what our eyes and experiences are telling us.

Not only did Paul actively look for the good resulting from his situation, but he actively used his situation for witnessing purposes. We are often placed near someone who may need to hear the gospel in just that moment. It should be our purpose in life to share the gospel at every opportunity. We all have many responsibilities every day, but in the greater scheme of eternity, this is our main purpose for being here. Also, Paul lived in a time and place of great persecution of Christians. Some who had become afraid to share the gospel as a result of this persecution were emboldened to do so when they heard of the way Paul was conducting himself during his captivity. We can learn from this that if we deal with our circumstances with the right attitude and actions, this may help a weaker brother or sister by example.

There is one last thing to consider in closing this chapter. Paul was also aware that these things were happening for the progression of his own sanctification. He may not have completely understood his situation, or the purposes God had in mind, but he knew that he was still imperfect and in need of the perfecting hand of God in his life. For whatever time he had left on this earth, he was happy to submit to that Almighty perfecting hand.

We can learn so much from the example Paul gave us of how to deal with difficult circumstances. Don't grumble, but rest completely in the love and wisdom of God. Learn the right view of God, and the right view of self. Look around you to see what God is working out through your circumstances, and seize your opportunities to share the gospel. Submit gladly to the sanctification process that you are going through, and keep in constant communion with God through prayer.

Blessings!