"Courage in the Face of Uncertainty!" (Philippians 1:18b-20)

“Courage in the Face of Uncertainty!"

Captivated by Christ: An expositional sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi (message #8)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

June 6, 2010

Philippians 1:18b-20 (NIV) reads, “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. ²⁰I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” [Prayer]

Paul is imprisoned for the defense of the gospel. And we have learned from the first 18 verses of this letter that Paul believes he is imprisoned according to God's will (specific reference to verse 16). Now, his attention is turning to his upcoming court case with Caesar and his fate. But, Paul's concern is neither whether or not he should be released from jail nor that if he must die that he would have a painless death. Rather, Paul's concern is that he should do nothing that would bring shame to himself or the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's concern is that he will have courage in the face of uncertain days ahead of him so that Jesus Christ will be exalted. He wants to be strong to the end!

Let’s learn from Paul’s example. How can we have courage in the face of uncertainty?

First, WE HAVE COURAGE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINITY WHEN WE KNOW THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S SALVATION!

Paul's letter moves from a present tense rejoicing because his imprisonment is furthering the gospel through preachers proclaiming Jesus Christ, to a future focused statement that he will continue to rejoice because he knows that not only is his salvation at hand, but his opportunity to exalt Christ through life or death is approaching.

The first step to having courage in the face of uncertainty is to have certainty in God's salvation.

Let's read the verses 18b-19 of our Scripture lesson. Paul states, "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know [oida] that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance [soteria]" (Philippians 1:18b-19).

Paul knows! The Greek verb oida means to possess information about; to know; to have knowledge of. Paul does not have wishful thinking that what has happened to him will turn out for his salvation; rather, Paul knows his fate with certainty! And that gives him courage!

Paul has a biblical worldview! He has memorized and studied the Scriptures. And in Paul’s writings it is not uncommon to find him quoting Old Testament passages outright, but there are also numerous allusions to or echoes of the Scriptures.

We have a few echoes in this passage and a verbatim one in verse 19. Paul quotes a section of Job 13:16 word for word at the end of this verse. And scholars believe it is not coincidental because of the Greek words apoBaino eis translated "will turn out." Paul does not use this phrase anywhere else in his 13 letters, but this is verbatim to the Septuagint (the LXX is the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT that Paul would have memorized and used).

In this passages context Job is replying to his three friends and states, "Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before him!" (Job 13:16).

Paul, like Job, is certain of his vindication. In Job 13:18 Job states, "I know (oida) I will be vindicated."

We too can have this same certainty in the face of uncertain times in our lives. Though we may not know whether or not the court case will go our way, that promotion will come through, that job will open up, that person will talk to us again, we can know that God will complete the good work He began in us.

Paul introduced this truth to us already in Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

No matter what circumstances you are going through in life; know that the greatest remedy for the fear of the unknown is the certainty of God's love and faithfulness.

Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 1:10-11, "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

Paul emphasizes in both this verse and in Philippians 1:18b-20 the power of prayer! Paul says that God will deliver us as you help us by your prayers. He gives thanks for the gracious favor granted to them in answer to the prayers of many. Paul emphasizes in our text this morning that it is through the prayers of the Philippians and ample supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that he will be delivered.

Paul is emphasizing the causational relationship between deliverance and prayer! God is the One who delivers and He answers our prayers for one another!

God is present to your need today and He answers prayers! Pray for each other specifically and with certainty! There is no reason to fear, when you know that the God who made you and loves you has promised to deliver you!

That leads us into our second teaching point: WE HAVE COURAGE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINITY WHEN WE TRUST THAT JESUS CHRIST IS ALWAYS WITH US THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT!

Let's look at the same verses (Philippians 1:18b-19), but with a different focus, "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help [epichoregia] given by the Spirit [pneuma] of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance."

No one likes to be alone in the midst of life storms, when the fear of the unknown seems to swell against us like the waves of a raging sea. It is in these difficult uncertain times that God's presence is so necessary! In the Gospel of Matthew 14, there is a famous story of when the Apostle Peter and the other apostles were in a boat on a stormy night and they saw Jesus Christ walking on the water towards them. Peter cried out to Jesus and when Jesus called him to walk to him, Peter walked on water! And he walked in the midst of the storm as long as his eyes were focused on Jesus Christ.

The story continues, "Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" (Matthew 14:29-30).

In that moment, Jesus Christ put out His hand and pulled Peter up out of the stormy waters and safely placed him back into the boat. Jesus' presence did not cause the wind to stop or the waves to quiet, but His presence gave Peter a focal point to walk through the storm with courage! We will still have storms in our lives, but Jesus promises to be present; focus on Him!

As Jesus was giving the Great Commission to the Apostles, he made this promise to them and to us, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20b).

How is this possible? When Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father, 10 days later on Pentecost, God sent forth His perfect presence--His Spirit--into the church and filled each believer with the Holy Spirit. We are given the Spirit (the Greek word translated to give is epichoregia that literally means 'to supply'). We see this same Greek word and concept in Galatians 3:5 followed up with 4:6.

"Does God give you his Spirit [pneuma] and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? . . .Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'" (Galatians 3:5; 4:6).

It is through faith that we are saved and ushered into eternal life! We are delivered from death and born again through the filling of the Holy Spirit into our bodies. Through the Holy Spirit’s presence we are never alone in the midst of our uncertainty. But, we cannot simply know this; we must put our trust in this reality! And it is when we trust that we allow the God who lives in us to deliver us from our circumstances!

We stop resisting and start living for the glory of God! And that brings us to how we can live out the third teaching point from Paul's example of discipleship.

WE HAVE COURAGE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINITY WHEN WE LIVE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!

Paul continues his thoughts in verse 20, "I eagerly expect [apokaradokia] and hope [elpis] that I will in no way be ashamed [aischyno], but will have sufficient courage [parresia] so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death" (Philippians 1:20).

It is not enough to know the truths of Scriptures, we must put our trust in God and then live out what we know is true. That is when our belief becomes faith! That is when hope (the Greek word elpis) lives up to its biblical connotation--biblical hope is full of confidence. Hope is not wishful thinking; hope is the certainty of faith!

It is with hope and eager expectation that Paul lives! The Greek word translated eager expectation is only used in one other location. In Romans 8:18-19, Paul states, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed."

That word is apokaradokia and scholars believe that this is a word that Paul made up himself putting together three words: apo-'away from'; kara-'the head'; and dokia-'to look.' This word means a concentrated intense look which turns its gaze away from everything else to fix on the one object of its desire.

With great intentionality and intensity, Paul lives with a hope-filled singular focus that Jesus Christ will be exalted in and through him. He is turning his expectations off of everything else in the midst of his uncertainty on this one certainty--Jesus Christ being exalted! Why? Because Paul’s life focus is that God will fulfill His purposes through his life and he is certain that the completion (the consummation) of all things is 100% dependent on the name of Jesus Christ being lifted up!

And Paul can have certainty that this kind of godly focus will be honored. Here is another Scriptural allusion that Paul makes in this passage. We read in Psalm 25:3, "No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse."

The Greek used for shame in both the LXX version of this Psalm and in verse 20 is aischyno and has a meaning of being disgraced for not doing what God asks of you. What Paul is talking about and what the Psalmist is referring to as well is that no one who focuses on God and lives out their life for God's glory will be separated from the grace of God.

Whatever situation you find yourself in right now know that if you make a choice today to start living for the glory of God He will not put you to shame. Put your hope in Jesus Christ and allow Him to give you the courage to face the uncertainty that lies ahead! The Greek word parresia translated courage in verse 20 means more than a demeanor of courage. It means boldness of speech!

For Paul it is not about whether or not he lives or dies by Caesar’s verdict or that he dies in great pain or without pain, but that as long as he has breath that he will have the courage, the boldness of speech, to exalt Christ in his circumstances.

Paul is remembering and evoking this promise of Jesus Christ stated in the Gospel of Mark 13:11, "Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit."

Paul’s sole ambition is for Christ to b exalted in his body and so he is surrendering his body, his mouth, his circumstances to God for God to utilize! The literal Greek translation of "Christ will be exalted in my body" found in verse 20 is actually "Christ will be enlarged in my body."

This is a powerful statement that echoes the great confession of John the Baptist found in the Gospel of John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less."

This is my life verse. This is the verse you find on my email signature block and on the back of business cards. This is the objective of discipleship; the target of missions; the outcome of koinonia; the motivation of worship! May we live for the glory of God!

What is your focus in life? Who do you want to increase in you in your day to day life?