Title: Happy Today / Philippians 1:12~18
Contents
[Happy Today] Positive attitude
Joy or happiness is a matter of the choice of the one who seeks it. It depends on what attitude you have. It comes from a positive attitude. If we wait for the environment to be ready, we will live a life that will never know joy and will never know laughter. The apostle Paul in the text is a classic example of how we should live.
He wanted to go to Rome as a preacher and testify of his faith to Emperor Nero. But he did not go to Rome as a preacher, but as a prisoner. While being escorted to Rome as a prisoner, he encountered a storm in the Mediterranean, which wrecked the ship and was bitten by a viper. When I came to Rome, I was in a rented house for two years and I was writing a letter with a Roman soldier in chains. He was a victim. Nevertheless, he wrote to his friends the most joyful epistle in the New Testament.
First, Paul was a victim of his environment, but he had the conviction that he had made progress in the gospel.
“I want you to know, brethren, that what happened to me has made progress in the gospel” (Philippians 1:12-14).
When the apostle Paul came to Rome, he came in a different form than he wanted. But for that reason, he did not resent or anger. The Apostle Paul said that while sitting in chains with a Roman soldier, his circumstances made “the progress of the gospel.” The word 'progress' in the phrase 'progression of the gospel' is a predicate for the Engineers. The Engineers cut down trees and clear the way for them to march. However, the Apostle Paul says that what happened to me actually opened the way for “the way of the gospel of Christ.” what do you mean? Looking at the soldier who was chained with him and standing upright, he did not see it as an “obstacle to the gospel.” Rather, I saw myself as a ‘captive audience’ who had no choice but to listen to my story. He preached the gospel to the soldiers every day. The gospel spread to Rome through the soldiers who took turns hearing the gospel.
Second, Paul rejoiced even though people made it difficult for him. “Some preach Christ with a good will, some with envy and strife... It is Christ that is preached, and in this I will rejoice, and I will also rejoice” (Philippians 1:15-18).
The apostle Paul was a man of one heart. Even in the age of the early church in the 1st century, there were those who preached the word for God and preached the gospel of Christ without a pure motive. He says, “Let us evangelize to trouble the Apostle Paul.” There were those who preached the gospel, thinking, “How painful will Paul be if we preach?” Despite these people, the apostle Paul had one heart. Paul had the value that “if the true gospel can be preached, it does not matter what happens to him or whoever preached it.” Rather than who preached the gospel, they rejoiced in 'the gospel of Christ being preached'.
Third, Paul had hope even though the future was uncertain. “… that Christ may be glorified in my body, whether by life or death” (Philippians 1:19-20).
The Apostle Paul confesses to me that life is Christ. I confess that if it is Christ to live, I am satisfied with Christ, and it is profitable to die. Happy when Christ is at the center.
What are the thieves who take away your joy? Things like the environment, people, things like that, and concerns. However, when we confess that our life is Christ and have one heart ① No matter what the circumstances, the Lord raises the level of the environment. ②The Lord saves us from our preconceived notions of others. ③ The Lord takes away our fears of the future and of ourselves and quiets us.