I'm glad to see that most everybody that was here last week decided to come back. That's a good sign. And like I mentioned a while ago, last week we, I skipped over verse six and it says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. How I managed to skip completely over that verse, I'm not quite sure, but, You know, that's obviously a verse that we like to quote a lot, but when you put it into the context of this, it makes pretty good sense that, you know, Paul was once again encouraging the believers there at Philippi that, you know, no matter what was coming their way, that Christ was not going to forsake them. God would continue to do work in them. which is the same for us today. So we talked about last week, because this book was written to the Church of Philippi, does that mean that it doesn't apply to us? And we said no, because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. So it's a quick review, and just as a reminder, we've got our schedule there on the paper, and we'll go over all of that, but on July 16th, Mike will be teaching the class and filling in. And so appreciate him doing that as both myself and Nick Gamp will be out of town. So, and that will be family integrated. So all of the ones in July are going to be family integrated. So we'll have a few more little ones in here. And I plan on throwing some review questions at them, just testing their Bible knowledge on the book of Philippians, so we'll see what they come up with for me. I'm sure it'll be entertaining. So, as a way of reminder, so which genre is this book? And by genre, like you said, a book of prophecy. Is it one of the gospels? It's a letter, okay. Last week we said a letter. Another word that we use for that is? Epistle. Okay, so it's one of the epistles. And the author is? Paul. And it was written when? 60 to 62 AD. If you have the answer, speak up because I don't know how sensitive this server is. I definitely want folks to be able to hear our discussion. And where was Paul when he wrote the letter? He was in prison, okay, in Rome. And so last week, there were several things in the passage that we talked about. Paul's gratefulness for the church there in Philippi, spoke about their joy. And also, he exhorted them to grow in three things. And I have them listed there. Or do I? No, I don't have the answers there. What are those three things that we talked about last week? He said that they would abound more and more. Love. Love. Knowledge. Knowledge. Discernment. And discernment. And we talked about how we need to be wise and that we're not gaining knowledge for knowledge's sake. and that we are also, the most important of those things is to love, and that we are pretty bad at it, right? Whether that's loving God, or loving our neighbor as ourself, or loving our enemies. We're just, we have much to learn and much to grow in that area. That's why he knew the church pillow pie was no different, correct? All right, so where in redemptive history does this passage fall? I've got some options there for you. Which one would you say it falls under? We can probably rule out creation, right? I'll give you that one, all right? So it's not creation. This passage tonight, hopefully you took a look at it in advance. Did you say something, Sherry? Okay, I guess a little bit of new creation think more maybe in the realm of redemption Okay He's talking about how they can, I see where the new creation comes in, especially later on in verse 25 and 26, where he talks about them progressing and in their joy in the faith. So I think it's a little bit of both, talking about Jesus Christ and what he's done, and then talking about me to live as Christ of his body once he goes away, him going to eternity. So let's talk about some observations. Let's look at our passage tonight. So we're in Philippians chapter one, and we're gonna be looking at verses 12 through 26. and says, and I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim 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, and in that I rejoice. And then at the end of the verse there says, yes, and I will rejoice, verse 19, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death, for me to live as Christ and to die as gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming. So, let me ask this question first. Do you see a common thread in this passage? The spreading of the gospel. Okay, the spreading of the gospel. Okay, and there's two words or phrases specifically in verse 12 that caught my attention And I wanted to see if maybe they caught yours as well. So in verse 12, there's two either phrases or words. And we're gonna take a look at what, hopefully several of us have different translations than the ESV. So we can kind of pull out what those are here in a little bit. Anybody have anything that jumps out at you there in verse 12? You gotta focus on advancing the gospel. Okay, so one is the word advance. Okay, so advance the gospel. And the other is really served. Okay, we're gonna take a look at those here in just a little bit. But right now, we're just kind of in that observation phase. So I'm just kind of trying to see what jumps out at you all. In verses 12 to 14, there are three interconnected scenarios that are taking place. Does anybody see what those three different scenarios are happening? I'll give you a hint. Imprisonment. Well, so his imprisonment is happening. Okay, so that's Paul's situation, right? So his current situation is that he's in prison. And then what's going on where he's in prison? What's going on throughout the guards? They all knew that he's in prison because he's in Christ. Right. So when they first got him there, it's not clear whether they knew that or not. But it has become evident to the imperial guards and to the royal household that one, he's there and he really didn't do anything wrong. Right. Right. But he's there and they realize this man's here because of the cause of Christ. And so that is that's the other those either other believers, what do you see? Okay, they become more confident. Do you think they were confident in the beginning? What's that? Okay, why? All right, fearful. You know, I'm sure unless you were actually there when he was taken prisoner, There was probably some confusion as to why was he being taken. Did he do something wrong? Or was he simply preaching the gospel and he was taken prisoner? So we have Paul's perspective. We have those inside in the imperial household. And then we have those outside of Rome who are aware of Paul's situation. And now they are becoming more bold. Well, I wonder if when they see Paul and they think, oh, maybe the worst thing that could happen to him, he's out of prison. But he's still spreading the gospel. He's still courageous. He's still able to serve Christ. So they see that. Right. And so like, what's the fear? Exactly. Yeah, no, that's a great point, Mary. I appreciate you bringing that to our attention. And we are actually going to dive more into that here shortly. In verses 16 to 18, the first part of 18, anyway, let's look at that, 15 to 18. It says, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am 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." So, when I read that, and I'm really giving some thought to it, I was puzzled, I was disappointed, and I was amazed all at the same time. Because if I were in Paul's shoes, which as I'm reading this, I'm trying to put myself in Paul's shoes, right? I'm trying to really understand where is he coming from? Obviously, I've not been in prison, thankfully. And I've definitely not been in prison in Rome back in those days, which would have probably been not great. If here he is, and he knows that there are people on the outside that are preaching the word of God, of proclaiming Christ, and they're doing it out of love, that's great. That's what we would expect. But there are others, he says, that are actually preaching the gospel. They're preaching Jesus Christ to people, and they're completely doing it for the wrong They are actually trying to bring more harm to Paul during his imprisonment. Yes, Jordan. It reminds me of the prosperity gospel right now. I'm certain that some people have been saved through Joel Osteen's ministry or Benny Henn. they probably had a profoundly good influence on some people, though probably not most. That's good. That's good info. I think the thing that really caught me off guard the most is Paul's like, I don't care why they're doing it. I mean, look down there. Look at verse 18. He's like, hey, I don't care. He said, I'm already in prison. you know, he's already gonna let us know later on, ah, if I die, I'm okay. I'd almost rather, I'd rather be with Christ, right? So Paul is not sitting around going, oh, I hope today's not my day. You know, he's not like that at all. And he's like, hey, people are still hearing the gospel, and if they hear the gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit can save them. So it's just, it's incredible to me that he can write that with full confidence that, yep, it doesn't matter. If they're doing it out of false pretenses, oh well. The gospel has the power to save, right? So I thought that was very interesting. So. . . . I think it's also interesting that the Jews persecuted the Christians out of envy and rivalry. And here he is all the way in Rome, and it's the same picture. hasn't changed, even the non-Christians for the same reason are persecuting him. What's that? Let's add something else. Paul was one of those, right? He thought he was in the right prior to his conversion, fully convinced he was in the right, that he was doing the right thing. Yes, it's really an amazing thing. Here's a man sitting in prison for not doing anything wrong. We'll talk about that here in a minute as well. So let me ask this question, and you kind of got it at Jordan. So how does one preach Christ from envy or rivalry or self-ambition? This is something for you to ponder there. You don't necessarily have to have an answer. I'm not sure I have an answer. They preach out of pride. Preach out of pride, okay. Well, it comes out of this way to say they were doing this specifically to afflict Paul. Right. So he says, I'm glad they're preaching. So they're preaching a sound gospel, apparently. They're doing it. I'm doing this to hurt Paul. Yeah. I don't. Which, how can you preach Christ who preached about love, and yet here you are preaching, exactly, that's, so it's just, it's mind boggling, mind boggling, quite honestly. Yeah, they're preaching the gospel, they're calling themselves Do Not Believe, is what it seems like to me. And then if we look here in the last section, so the latter half of 18 through 26, what we're going to see is a total surrender to the sovereign plan or will of God by Paul, right? He's like, I don't know whether I really want to go to be in heaven yet. I think I would rather be there, but I also understand that God may have things for me for your continued growth. So let's talk about the meaning of these verses here and dive into it a little bit more. So in verses 12 to 14, I brought it up a while ago, really serve to advance is what it says in the ESV. Does anybody have something different for that. Does anybody have a different translation? I'm sorry, that's what I meant to say. Which verse in particular? So, in verse 12, we talked about, it says, Paul writes that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. perhaps we could take a look at. That word advance, I thought was interesting, right? So in other words, the word advance is used in the ESV, it's used in the CSB. The KJV says furtherance. Somebody had the NASB in here last week, didn't they? Okay. The ASV and NASB have progressed, and the, Okay, I'm gonna leave the translation. So it's being distributed. It's making its way across. I think it's always interesting to think about God's plan. Because think about this. So in our minds, how would we think furthering the gospel would be best served? Is it by Paul being in prison? He can travel wherever he's led, right? Instead he's being held against his will in Rome, and yet the furtherance of the gospel is still being advanced. And we find out how later, because it's through all these people proclaiming Christ, whether motives are correct or not. which is even more amazing to me, that God has his man in prison as part of his will. And Paul's writing about how the gospel is being advanced. And then he says he's really served. I thought this was kind of interesting. So the KJV, the ASV, and I don't know what the WEB is, but it's one of them that showed up in Blue Letter Bible, so I wrote it down. They all have the words fallen out. Okay. What? Anybody know a different context where the word fallout is used? A nuclear bomb. Could be a nuclear bomb, right? So, in other words, it spreads. It gets carried with the wind, okay? And so, in a very similar fashion, so, you know, when they say really served, we understand what that means, but when you hear fallen out, and you can, you know, kind of compare it to that nuclear fallout type of thing, that's very interesting. And then, the NASP has turned out. So, and actually several translations have that phrase. So whether it's fallen out for, you know, to progress the gospel or whether it is really served to advance, the bottom line is we see here that the gospel is being spread throughout the land. And once again, You know, we've heard preachers say, oh, I really laid an egg there. Yes, Clyde. What's interesting to me in this right here is we've already said that they put him in prison to try to shut him up and stop what he was doing. But what he did outside kept going. But at the same time, it went wide open in the prison of the palace. So he was put there to take care of that part in prison. while everybody else was taking care of it on the outside. So they didn't shut him up. In other words, he was- He quite honestly had a captive audience, right? You would think that within prison, they wouldn't be able to shut him up. Within the walls of the prison. Right. But they weren't. Yeah, exactly. It makes me think of when the Roman, the Roman Empire comes in and they disperse the Jews out. I mean, it's also helping spread and advance the gospel that way. Similar to this. Sure. But doesn't scripture tell us that his word will not go out void? Indeed it does. God's gonna reap what he wants, regardless of circumstances. That's right. Yes, ma'am. Anyone else have a thought on that? So here's what I wrote. So what I try to do is, as I go along, if I have a thought, I just kind of write it down. I said, the most unorthodox situation from a human perspective can be used to spread the gospel and add believers to the body of Christ. I don't know if I put, oh, is that one with blanks? Oh, let me read that again, because that was really good. All right, the most unorthodox situation from a human perspective can be used to spread the gospel and add believers to the body of Christ. And although that's our focus here, so I think we're good on time. Let's think about, so here's Paul in prison, and we already said that he was imprisoned falsely. Can we think of other folks in the Bible who were put in situations falsely? Joseph, Daniel, that's another one I thought of. Okay. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What's that? John the Baptist, okay. Mordecai, okay. And then, of course, Christ, right. Think about all those characters. So let's think about Joseph for a second, right. What came about because of his imprisonment? And he was put in a place for a very specific reason, right? And saved not just the lineage of Christ, but you know, pretty much the entire nation of Egypt, right? What about Daniel? Nothing really, right? He got thrown in a lion's den, no big deal. Pulled him back. No, huge deal, right? So I was just testing you. Yeah, so you think about Daniel. I mean, he knew what the edict was, right? And he knew that he was gonna be in trouble if he continued to do what he normally did, which was pray. And so, but my how God turned that situation on its head, huh? And then when we think about others throughout the Bible, John the Baptist, even though John the Baptist lost his head, He, the situation, just even more magnified the cause of Christ. And really, it's just amazing. Because we sit there and go, well, wait a second. Why did he have to go to prison? Why did Joseph have to go to prison? It was all part of the journey, all part of the plan, and all part of the different people he would come in contact with to then eventually get him into that position. So a lot of times we're going through things that we don't like, right? So we have plenty of challenges in our life and just because we're going through a challenge doesn't mean that's not exactly where God wants us in that. You know, I'm not gonna say it'll turn out okay. John Baptist, it didn't turn out okay, right? So, you know, it might turn out like it did for Daniel, and he might be pulled out of the lion's den, but at the same time, you know, it might not. And we always think about, well, Joseph was, you know, with this hive in place, and he had the stream, and he interpreted the stream, and he saved all the people in the land, but look at all that he went through prior to that. I mean, it's really just an amazing story. And it's just, once again, pointing us back to Christ, right? Especially the forgiveness that he had for his brothers and things like that. So that made me think about all of that as I'm thinking about Paul. Because really, you think about the life of Paul, it's, you know, like I said earlier, here he thought he was doing the right thing, right? He thought he was, you know, doing what God would want him to do by persecuting the church, and instead he was 180 out from what he should have been doing. And then we're gonna talk a little bit, and a little bit about just how devoted he is, and we'll bring some application into it. So, I think I mentioned it last week, but what I want us to think about as we work our way through Philippians is look at the different testimonies, okay? And then we need to, think about our own testimony. So the first thing is, is God's plan is perfect. That might be one of your blanks there, I believe, right? And then I think, and I have in parentheses there, testimony of, so when we think about someone accepting the plan, and Mike is gonna get a chance to really bring this out here when he gets to chapter two, but, Think of the testimony of Christ. He knew God's plan was perfect, and he submitted himself to that plan. Even the death on a cross, we're told. The number two there is man's trust in God's plan is paramount. Even when one does not understand. There we go, yeah, fat fingers. And there I put the testimony of the disciples. We think about that, right? So, once again, thinking how can we apply this, right? So, or how can, how does this, what does the meaning of this mean to me? And it's one of those things where we would love to be able to just pick up a book and read and know what God's plan is, right? I don't understand why this is happening. I don't understand why I had this difficult co-worker. I don't understand why my car doesn't work right. Take your pick of whatever scenario you have going on in your life. But, we may not understand, but we should totally rest and trust in God. If we look at verses 15 to 18, and we look there, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Obviously, we've sung songs about this, we've read this verse, we're very familiar with it. But what I want you to notice is how Paul is thriving in earthly life, and you should have some links here, without clinging to it. So he's thriving in earthly life without clinging to it. This should be the testimony of the church. So we should be, driving in this earthly life, and not clinging to it. And we can see that there in verses 15 to 18 there, if we see some indeed preach Christ, and then later on he says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that through the prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed. And then in verses 22 to 26, I have fruitful labor for Paul, and we'll see that there in verse 22. He says, if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. What is that fruitful labor? It means progress and joy in the faith for the Philippians. Look down there in verse 25. He says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for Paul's growth, No, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus. No, so not glorying in Paul, right? At no point does Paul want the glory. And so anyway, he's very clear about who gets the glory and what. Him coming to them and Him continuing in this earthly life. So I have here, fruitful labor for Paul means progress, enjoying the faith for the Philippians, and that should be the testimony of the believer. And what I mean by that is each one of us has been called to be a disciple. So we hear and we've read and we're aware of the Great Commission, but Under the application, our mission is to advance the gospel. That is our mission. I mean, there's no negotiation there. That is our command. Our command is to go. But I am not going to say anything about y'all because you all need to know, you know yourself better than anyone else. that I am not doing that well. And I need to do it better. So, when we come in here and we study through this, I want us to really think about, I want us to really think about how well am I living out what I'm reading here in this passage of scripture. in my day, we have such a posh life, with nothing even really compared to what Paul was going through. And yet we poo-poo and say, oh, it's such a hard day. I don't even know what a hard day is, let's be honest. So in those hard times, am I living like Paul, and living heavenly minded, and doing earthly good? And it's so easy to get caught up in, well, isn't it, you know? And I'm showing Christ to my children in that moment when I'm having a really hard day. It's just really such good perspective, especially in this season of life, that I'm doing nothing compared to what he is dealing with. And such joy and focus on just glorifying God. It's just this beautiful. You mentioned that Paul is thriving. None of us would look at Paul and say, yeah, Paul here thrived from a earthly perspective. But yeah, man's happy as all get out. We know you mentioned earlier too, Clyde, I think it was you that was mentioning how Paul got put in prison and was still preaching to those around him. Those folks, those folks wouldn't have heard the gospel otherwise. So there's a reason why Paul was there because he was the man on the inside who was able to preach. And I mean, you know, I'm sure we've all seen, you know, pictures of Paul, but I don't know if any of those pictures are really very accurate. So, I really almost wonder, you know, he had some infirmities, we know. So, what did he look like? Was he an imposing figure? Was he, you know, of just normal stature? Obviously, he was a very good orator because he writes and we hear some of his preaching. So, we know that. There was something about Paul that just made you kind of take notice, I would believe, because he started so many churches and traveled around, and people wanted to hear, not Paul, right, but the manner in which he delivered the message of God. Well, he had to be a strong figure, because look where he came from. When he was persecuting and killing Christians, he couldn't be a weakling. That's true. He had to be a pretty, pretty strong individual. I can't picture him as being short in stature. I mean, he might have been, but. Right. Well, all those people in jail, I mean. What he was doing and what it took on the road for him to change was a pretty humbling situation for him to cower down when God started talking to him. But I can just picture him stronger. And that's why I think he was so strong in prison to witness to them because, you know, he could sit there and go, what else can you do to me? I'm already here. If you can't put me there, I'm here. Well, he was zealous, whichever thing he was doing. In exchange for Christ, he was a zealous person. Which makes it even more astounding to me that he's just kind of like, hey, it doesn't matter why they're preaching it. You know, at least they're preaching the gospel. So it's just, I wouldn't be like that. I know myself, I would be angry. Why are they doing this? Why are they? But Paul's just like, hey, whether they're doing it out of self-ambition or whether they're doing it out of love, Christ is preached. That's pretty amazing. What'd you have, Jordan? In 1 Corinthians 2, it says, and I, When I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. So my next point under application is we need to make sure we aren't so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly good. We've heard that phrase before. At no point was Paul like, yeah, I'm done. I mean, when we look at these verses here, he's like, I am hard-pressed in verse 23. I'm hard-pressed between the two. What two? What two is he talking about? Death or staying alive and continuing the ministry that he's been called to, right? At no point did he retire, okay? He continued to preach the gospel and he was like, I'll preach the gospel until I'm dead. And then at that point, I'm gonna be with Christ, which is gain. And so, I think sometimes we, oh, I'm just a pilgrim passing through And it's all true, but it doesn't mean that we should just, well, I don't really care what happens to the world, because this isn't gonna be my final resting place anyway. We need to be concerned about the world. We need to be concerned about those who are not believers, which takes us back to point one, right? We need to be advancing the gospel. And last week I talked about whether that's to your children, or whether that's to your coworker, or whether it's to family members, Everybody, okay? And I made the comment last week about when you're in the drive-through. What I meant by that is, if you got a line of cars behind you, that's probably not really the time to be trying to convince the person that they need Christ, right? Leave them a track and drive on, or go back and, you know, find somebody that's having a cup of coffee there in the restaurant and share the gospel with them. And so, yes, we need to make sure that we're still engaged here in this earth while we're here. And have hope and expectations that Christ will be glorified when we pray and rely on the Holy Spirit. And I got that from verses, let's see, verse 19. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. So, he had an expectation of being released, but at the same time, he also was accepting of if that isn't what ends up happening, so be it. Right? So, it's hard to grasp, honestly, for me, because, you know, we like to be in control. I like to be in control. I like being in control. And when we're not in control, and we can't control the circumstances that we're in, it is very challenging for us. Is he a good passenger or a bad passenger? Bad. Bad. And so, you know, I just really think about how amazing this passenger just really how devoted, like you said earlier, how devoted Paul is, not to a profession. It wasn't about the profession to which he was called, right? It was about the message, and about the need for others. Think about Paul, we all know where Paul came from. He's out there persecuting the church, and gets struck down to the ground, and the next thing you know, He's one of the greatest preachers to ever walk the earth. I mean, how amazing is that? And now he's saying, you know, he's laying it out there that, hey, whatever happens, happens. I'm gonna keep preaching the word. And if I live, so be it. You know, that's Christ. But if I die, it's game. We quote that verse a lot, but I don't know if we really live out that verse. Thoughts? Jordan. I think maybe sometimes we're afraid because we can't relate to Paul. Like you said, he's one of the greatest preachers to ever live, probably the greatest apart from Christ himself. But we say, well, I'm not in prison, Well, I'm not, my life is not endangered, so therefore my life does not have any meaning. And I think maybe it doesn't go that far, but we fall somewhere in that spectrum of thinking, well, maybe I'm not that important. But I do think that we all have the opportunity and are given circumstances where we can glorify God in our lives in different opportunities. Sure, yeah. I think sometimes, I think Paul took serious being the image-bearer of God. I think he took that serious. And we try, and sometimes we are good image-bearers and sometimes we are bad image-bearers. But nevertheless, we are an image-bearer just like Paul. So it's a lot of work for Paul to get where he was. It didn't just happen. Yeah. How often do we let our past keep us back from being bold in proclaiming Christ? Way too much. Way too much? Do you think Paul ever? Did he have anything in his past that he should look? Sure he did, right? I mean, we're pretty sure he was a murderer, right? I'm not gonna ask for a show of hands, but a rhetorical question, how many of you here have murdered somebody? Hopefully none of us, right? I would venture to say that would be really difficult to continue to propel yourself forward like Paul did, in my opinion. I mean, the devil, has such a way of bringing up and telling us, or we tell ourselves, maybe it's not the devil, maybe it's just ourselves, right? We tell ourselves we're not worthy, I don't know the Bible well enough, they don't wanna hear that. Before we've even tried to tell somebody, we tell ourselves that, right? And so, That's a great point, Lou, that, you know, he was just so devoted. I say, how devoted are we to advancing the gospel? And I don't ask that question just so we can say, to answer it, but to really think about, you know, are we taking, no, not taking, are we making opportunities to share the gospel? Why did I change that? Because we don't have to just let them organically happen. We can open our arms and have people over where we can live the gospel in front of them. We don't have to wait for this special moment out and about where in the busyness of life you see this light shining down on someone and it's go talk to them. We can make, we can have actions or take actions to bring about opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to us. We can ask for opportunities. I have never asked God for a witness that he didn't give me somebody. Sometimes we don't want to. But I've never asked that he has not put somebody there in my path. Yeah, the reason I changed is because I think when you say taking the opportunity, you wait for one to present itself, right? And then you act upon it. Don't wait. When you're having a conversation with someone, you know, I'm not talking about here at church, and you know, you've gone to church with them for five, six, seven, eight years, and you see fruit in their life. And so obviously, we're not preaching the gospel to another believer. preaching the gospel to unbelievers. You know, whether that's in Awana, whether it's during BBS, whether it's, like I said, in your home, at work, wherever it may be. Matt and Becca have a neighbor, and they have a really great opening with them. And I don't know their spiritual condition, okay? But that might be an opportunity. I know your neighbor right next door, to preach the gospel, but I just know how I am, right? I'm not here pointing fingers at anyone but me. I have on occasion preached the gospel, but I need to do a much better job of it. And, you know, to Paul it was everything. I mean, I honestly think if he wasn't writing a letter, he was telling somebody about Jesus Right? So here's just something to think on. Here's a question for you to think on. How do we adopt in deed, so in action, Paul's way of living? I know for me, one thing I admire about Paul and what I need to work, do need to work on very much is dying to self. Because I think if we die to ourselves, First of all, we would be bolder, because we wouldn't worry about rejection, all this sort of thing, and dying to self-remediate depending on Christ more. And I just think, you know, up here when he said, yes, I will rejoice, I mean, Paul made up his mind about things and was proactive. And I just admire that about him, that he just didn't seem to consider himself was not the consideration. It was others. I think it's so, I love verse 12. He just hammers it in like, I want you to know, he wanted the Philippian believers to know, hey guys, I want you to know that what's happened to me, me being in prison right here, has really served to advance the gospel. So I need to adopt that in whatever God puts in front of me, whatever circumstances I find myself in, how is God using this to advance the gospel? That should be the focus instead of, oh my goodness, this is so difficult, or oh, I'm so sorry and sad for such and such, and I just can't deal, or whatever seems to be kind of like one of the catchphrases. But then to share that with the other believers, hey, I want you to know, like, this is hard, but look what Christ is doing. Look how he's advancing the gospel, whether it's in my family or beyond. I think that's how we can, in our actions and especially in our words, adopt Paul's just mentality of everything is to advance the gospel. I'm just thinking just like, I mean, everything like, you know, when the neighbor, her and I both have autistic children. And so, like, sometimes it's just like, it is a day, you know? Imagine, he's not walking around prison saying, oh, whoa, I'm so stuck, you know? He was just so bold and so joyful in Christ, and am I like that when I go out and my neighbor and I are talking about our struggles? You know, yes, it's hard, but am I using that opportunity to advance the gospel and show her that there is still joy in these hard times? You know, and I'm not. So, this is really, it's a way to apply that to my life now. His attitude was probably what allowed him to share the gospel with the guards. Yeah. You can figure, you know, they watch this man who's in prison, and Roman prisons were not like our prisons today, right? And they see this guy being positive about being, at some point, I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you why I'm so happy. He shares the gospel. Well, notice there in verse 13 as well, it wasn't so that it has become known to some of the Imperial Guard. It says the whole Imperial Guard. If you look, if you have a footnote, I have a footnote down there. It says in the Greek, it is the whole praetorium. What's that mean, Mike? How many people is that? So there is something for you to take out of here. Remember last week when I said some expectations? This isn't an all-inclusive, right? This Bible study, this isn't everything we can learn about verses 12 through 26. This is to kind of whet your appetite so that you can then go and study more. Look up, do some research, do a Google AI, whatever you want to use, and say, how many people were in the Praetorian or the Imperial Guard? How many would make up a normal Roman Imperial Guard? It's probably not four. I'm sure it's a lot more than that. And you know what? Even if it was only four, hey, At least it was all of them. Those four have families and friends. Right. Right. And he says, you know, not only that, and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Who is all the rest? Other prisoners. Other prisoners. Right. So other prisoners. I'm sure if the Imperial Guard is hearing about it, it makes its way to Caesar or some in the household. Because they're probably at least talking about it, right? It doesn't say whether they became believers, but they heard them. So it's probably something they're like, what is this? What is this gospel that Paul's preaching about? So yes, Jordan. Well, Chad GPT says. Roughly 9,000 to 10,000 soldiers made up the Praetorian Guard. Nine to 10,000. Nine to 10,000. Throughout the whole Imperial Guard. Did you hear about this cat fall? Right. This is weird. Hold on. This guy is nuts. You've got to think about Rome. And I think about Gladiator or whatever. That was their entertainment. It was like persecuting Christians and bringing things into the arena and all that type of thing. So it was all word of mouth, and who knew what, and all that kind of chatter that went on. You know, it just spread. Well, it does eventually make it. He has an audience with Caesar, and then it eventually infiltrates part of Caesar's family to the point that by the time of Constantine, Constantine is emperor, and he institutes Christianity as the religion. So as we wrap up this evening, I just want to challenge you, challenge all of us, challenge myself, that as we think about Paul and his devotion, you know, let's do better, right? We're not going to become Paul, right? So let's not have visions of grandeur that probably Right? But have we lost, have we lost the wonder of the gospel? Right? Paul definitely had the wonder of the gospel. Now, granted, we weren't struck down on the road, you know, and he was, but that doesn't, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be just as over the top about what Christ did for us on the cross and sharing that with others. So I want to really challenge us this week to think about that. Just a reminder, next week and the week following, we don't have adult study groups. Next week is BBS. The following week is 4th of July. And so we'll gather back here on the 9th. We'll be going over 127 through 24. And then, like I said, July 16th, Mike will have the class that week. Thank you for your time. Let's have a word of prayer and we'll be dismissed.