REALLY POSITIVE LIVING

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14.

What an amazing perspective! Paul was actually seeing his imprisonment as a good thing!

How could it be a good thing for him to be incarcerated, chained, and not see the light of day, with only callous and contemptuous Roman soldiers for company, day after day? But Paul was not seeing his imprisonment from his point of view. The old Paul was dead. He died on the Damascus road many years before.

There was another Paul in his body, one who lived for only one person and worked for only one cause, Jesus Christ and the gospel. Whatever happened to him in the course of proclaiming the gospel was in the hands of his Master. If He wanted Paul in prison, Paul would rejoice for the honour of suffering with Him. He would see every person who came near him, Roman, Greek, friend or enemy, as a potential for the kingdom of God. He would love them no matter what they did to him. He would win them through kindness and the words of truth.

As far as the devil was concerned, Paul was incorrigible. Nothing would get him down. If they killed him, he would immediately be in the presence of his Lord. If they locked him up, he would tell his captors about Jesus. If they beat him, he would celebrate the honour of being like his Master. If they set him free, he would go again to every place where he had not yet proclaimed the gospel. If he had no food, he would fast to bring his body into subjection to Jesus. If he had plenty to eat, he would rejoice in God’s bountiful supply.

How could anyone, even Caesar himself, get someone like that down? How could Paul have an unconquerable spirit like that? In his letter to the Galatian church, which we have already studied, Paul gives us the secret of his unconquerable spirit. He died with Christ on the cross outside Jerusalem, not literally, of course, but as effectively as though he were nailed to the wooden torture stake. When Jesus died a criminal’s death as an innocent man He, God, died to pay the debt than humanity owed Him. Paul’s only response had to be to reckon himself dead to himself and alive to Jesus.

Of course that meant that he was no longer his own master. He belonged to Jesus because Jesus had paid the price to redeem him from the clutches of sin. It was up to his Master to determine the circumstances of his life from then on. How could he resist and complain when he no longer belonged to himself? What right had he to make demands for his own comfort and safety when his Master chose to forfeit the glories of heaven and even life itself for him?

Every adversity became another opportunity to trust his Master and to watch his Lord at work through him to advance the kingdom of God on earth. You see, God’s kingdom flourishes most in the darkest times and the toughest situations because the light is most clearly visible in the dark. Every person who embraced Jesus and stepped into the kingdom of God was another soul rescued and set free to live and love in Christ.

Paul knew that his reward was waiting for him. Even if he suffered in this life, it was short and temporary. Near the end of his days he could say with confidence:

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

What was Paul’s perspective? What sustained him in the darkest of times?

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.