Advancing the Gospel: Truth, Teamwork, and Transformation
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"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." [00:01:40]
"This is really a remarkable passage, and it begins with Paul's great statement that even his imprisonment is advancing the gospel. And that's his passion that whether he lives or dies, whether he is free or imprisoned, whatever happens to him, he wants to advance the gospel." [00:02:52]
"Steve was talking about Nero's advancing the gospel unintentionally. We had a wonderful student at our seminary from Nigeria. He was a pastor in the Nigerian Reformed Church, and he had been raised and labored in a small village and had never even left that village until he came to Southern California, and it was a bit of a culture shock for him." [00:05:04]
"Here, Paul is also talking about partnership as teamwork, working together with them. That's how the gospel is advanced, and it's a point he wants to make there in verse 14, 'And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear.'" [00:07:09]
"Even more important than teamwork in advancing the gospel is the truth. And so Paul says, 'Even when people won’t play on the team, if they’re telling the truth Christ is glorified.' Christ is glorified. And he is very specific, isn't he, about these others?" [00:10:08]
"Paul says that Christ is proclaimed, that's the great thing. And this is so important because there are so many people in our day who are suggesting that there are other priorities more important than the truth. In fact, there are those who suggest that the real essence of religion is not to be found in the truth at all." [00:13:03]
"The first truth of Christianity is that Jesus lived, died, and was raised again for our redemption, and he wants to celebrate that. He wants to say, 'I don’t care if I’m in prison. I don’t care if I’m executed, as long as the truth about Christ’s life of perfection and keeping the law, about Christ’s death on the cross to bear the sins of His people.'" [00:17:25]
"And what Paul wants us to see so clearly here is that the message is more important than the messenger. Now we'll see tomorrow, if you make it and I make it at 8:30…8:30, if you and I both make it at 8:30, we'll see tomorrow that the messenger is important. Paul cares about the messenger." [00:20:11]
"Because advancing the gospel, proclaiming Christ is the crucial thing. It's the central thing. It's what it's really all about, and that's what is proclaimed here. We can think of other historical illustrations of that point. This is not only the four-hundredth anniversary of the Synod of Dort, which all of you are no doubt planning eager celebrations in this coming work." [00:32:55]
"John Calvin said, 'Let love be our guide, and all will be well.' Now, he's talking about love informed by the Scriptures. He's talking about love where holiness is held up as a standard. He's talking about sinners who need to think much more carefully about what it means to love one another." [00:41:45]
"We should repent of the sins that assail us in our day. We should grieve over what's gone wrong in the past, but the way forward must be a path of love as we as Christians love one another because we've known the truth as it is in Christ. And the truth, as it is in Christ, is that we're all sinners." [00:43:50]
"And you know, to accomplish that we need partners. We need partners with one another. We need to meet with one another where there are differences and sit down and talk and try to understand one another and draw closer together. I'm even willing to sit down with my Baptist brothers and talk to them about their errors." [00:45:15]
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"This is really a remarkable passage, and it begins with Paul's great statement that even his imprisonment is advancing the gospel. And that's his passion that whether he lives or dies, whether he is free or imprisoned, whatever happens to him, he wants to advance the gospel." [00:02:52]
"Steve was talking about Nero's advancing the gospel unintentionally. We had a wonderful student at our seminary from Nigeria. He was a pastor in the Nigerian Reformed Church, and he had been raised and labored in a small village and had never even left that village until he came to Southern California, and it was a bit of a culture shock for him." [00:05:04]
"Here, Paul is also talking about partnership as teamwork, working together with them. That's how the gospel is advanced, and it's a point he wants to make there in verse 14, 'And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear.'" [00:07:09]
"Even more important than teamwork in advancing the gospel is the truth. And so Paul says, 'Even when people won’t play on the team, if they’re telling the truth Christ is glorified.' Christ is glorified. And he is very specific, isn't he, about these others?" [00:10:08]
"Paul says that Christ is proclaimed, that's the great thing. And this is so important because there are so many people in our day who are suggesting that there are other priorities more important than the truth. In fact, there are those who suggest that the real essence of religion is not to be found in the truth at all." [00:13:03]
"The first truth of Christianity is that Jesus lived, died, and was raised again for our redemption, and he wants to celebrate that. He wants to say, 'I don’t care if I’m in prison. I don’t care if I’m executed, as long as the truth about Christ’s life of perfection and keeping the law, about Christ’s death on the cross to bear the sins of His people.'" [00:17:25]
"And what Paul wants us to see so clearly here is that the message is more important than the messenger. Now we'll see tomorrow, if you make it and I make it at 8:30…8:30, if you and I both make it at 8:30, we'll see tomorrow that the messenger is important. Paul cares about the messenger." [00:20:11]
"Because advancing the gospel, proclaiming Christ is the crucial thing. It's the central thing. It's what it's really all about, and that's what is proclaimed here. We can think of other historical illustrations of that point. This is not only the four-hundredth anniversary of the Synod of Dort, which all of you are no doubt planning eager celebrations in this coming work." [00:32:55]
"John Calvin said, 'Let love be our guide, and all will be well.' Now, he's talking about love informed by the Scriptures. He's talking about love where holiness is held up as a standard. He's talking about sinners who need to think much more carefully about what it means to love one another." [00:41:45]
"We should repent of the sins that assail us in our day. We should grieve over what's gone wrong in the past, but the way forward must be a path of love as we as Christians love one another because we've known the truth as it is in Christ. And the truth, as it is in Christ, is that we're all sinners." [00:43:50]
"And you know, to accomplish that we need partners. We need partners with one another. We need to meet with one another where there are differences and sit down and talk and try to understand one another and draw closer together. I'm even willing to sit down with my Baptist brothers and talk to them about their errors." [00:45:15]
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