 Philippians 1 verse 12 to 14, the title of the message today is Blessings in Disguise. Blessings in Disguise. Perhaps you heard the story of what happened a number of years ago. There was a shipwreck and the lone survivor of the shipwreck was washed up on the shore of a small uninhabited island. There he was, all alone on this small island. And he was a Christian, he was a believer, and so he began to pray, Lord, please, please send someone to rescue me. Lord, please, send someone to rescue me. And day after day he would look out to the horizon to see if anyone was coming to rescue him and no one, and no one, and no one, and no one. Well, after a while he took some driftwood and he built a little hut in which he could live, in which he could store the few possessions he had left and out in front of the hut he built a little fire to keep himself warm. One day when he was out scavenging for food, when he came back to his hut, oh no, this can't be. No, no Lord. He looked and his hut was on fire. Evidently the wind blew some of the embers from his fire into the hut. His hut was fully engulfed in flames and there was smoke ascending up to the heavens and he dropped down on his knees. And he just began to cry out to God, God, I don't get it. I don't get it. Day after day after day I am praying for you to send someone to rescue me. And now my hut catches on fire, this just isn't right. Well, the next day when he woke up he heard the sound of someone's voice saying, hello, hello? Is there anyone here? Does somebody need help? And when he woke up he looked and he saw a ship right near the shore and there was someone who had come ashore and there was a man saying, do you need help? He said, yes, yes, yes, I've been waiting for someone to come and rescue you with me. He said, I just have one question for you. He said, how did you know that I was here? And the guy said, well, that was easy. We saw your smoke signal. His hut catching on fire, the smoke is sending up to the heavens. It gave off a signal so that people who were far away could see he was there. What he thought was the absolute worst thing in his life was actually the best thing. What he thought was a bad thing was a God thing. His hut catching on fire was an answer to his prayers. It was actually part of the plan and purpose of God to work in his life. His hut catching on fire was a blessing in disguise. Have you ever felt like your hut is on fire? Maybe as we gather here today, you feel like your life is on fire. Maybe you're in some difficult circumstance or trial or trouble, and you're wondering why, Lord, what in the world is going on? Well, I'm here to tell you today, the Bible says that God works all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are the call according to his purpose. And if there's anyone who knew that for sure, it was the apostle Paul because he wrote those words. And if there's any place in all of the writings of Paul where you see how God works all things together for good, where you see how a bad thing could be a God thing, where you see how a blessing can sometimes come in disguise. It's in Philippians chapter 1 verse 12 to 14. Now, to understand the words that we're going to study there, you need to have a little bit of background to Paul's relationship to the people he's writing to, to Paul's relationship to the church at Philippi. Because if there's any church that should have known, God works all things together for good, it was the church at Philippi. If there's any church that should have known God's blessings come in disguise, it was the church at Philippi because that is how the church at Philippi got started. Perhaps you remember the story you maybe have read it in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 16. The apostle Paul was on his second missionary journey. He and Silas and Luke and Timothy, they were traveling through what's now modern Turkey. They were traveling through an area called Galatia. And they want to go down to the south into what's called Asia Minor, but the Bible says the spirit forbade them. The Holy Spirit said no. So they decided that we're going to try to go up to the north to an area called Bithynia. And again, the Holy Spirit forbade them. The Holy Spirit said no. Now that ought to be puzzling to you because Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel. And so here they are trying to go and preach the gospel. And yet the Holy Spirit says no, not there. And no, not there. You see, God not only works in our lives through open doors. He works in our lives through closed doors. Sometimes he closes a door. You might be so bummed out. You might be so disappointed by it. But sometimes he closes a door because he has another door for you. And that's where he wants you to go. The door closed in the south. The door closed in the north. So they just kept going straight ahead. And they came to this city called Troas. It's right on the Aegean Sea, right on the coast of the Aegean Sea. And right across the top of the Aegean Sea is the country of Greece. Northern Greece then was called Macedonia. Southern Greece was called Achaia. And here they are in Troas and Paul has a vision. There's a man of Macedonia. There's a man dressed up like a Philippian. And he's saying come over here and help us. Come over here and help us. And Paul knows it's the open door. It's God's leading. So they get on a ship. They go across the Aegean Sea. They come to the city of Philippi. It's a huge, gentile city. Almost all Gentiles. And it says, Paul on the Sabbath day he went by the riverside. The riverside. I thought on the Sabbath you should go to the synagogue. Well, there was no synagogue in Philippi. To have a synagogue you had to have what was called a Minion, 10 Jewish men. And there were not even 10 Jewish men in the city of Philippi. Paul knew if there were any Jews in the city of Philippi, they're going to be by the riverside. You ask why? Because Psalm 137 says, by the rivers of Babylon we wept. Wherever the Jews went, if there was no synagogue, they tried to find a riverside, and that's where they would gather for prayer. So Paul knowing if there's any Jews, they're going to be by the riverside. He goes down there and there's a handful of Jews. And he preaches the gospel to them. And a woman named Lydia, she gets saved in her whole household and invites Paul to stay with them. You know what? I believe Lydia never would have been saved unless God closed the door for Paul to go to Asia Minor. She never would have got saved unless God closed the door for them to go to Bytenia. It's because God closed doors, and it might have seemed confusing to Paul, that he opened another door and the first church in Europe would start. Well Paul's staying with Lydia and he and Silas every day, they're going to this place of prayer, and there's a demon-possessed slave girl that's following them. Her masters who own her, they're making up fortune by having her foretell the future. And as she's following Paul and Silas every day, the Bible says Paul is annoyed. He's disturbed. He is troubled. Why? Because here is this young lady who is bound by Satan and it grieved Paul. It troubled Paul. Are you troubled when you see young people bound by Satan? Does it grieve your heart when you see young people bound by drugs or bound by alcohol or bound by pornography or bound by sex or bound by material things? Does it grieve you? It grieved Paul. He bothered him and he prayed and the demon came out. The girl was set free. And I believe if we pray, God can set young people free today who are bound. Well that girl no doubt was happy. But the guys who owned her were not happy because now they couldn't make money off of her fortune telling anymore and so they dragged Paul and Silas before the authorities. And the Bible says that they are beaten with rods and put in stocks in the inner prison. Now beaten with rods, that's a form of physical torture and punishment. What they would do is they would take these small birch branches. They would tie them together in a bundle. Then they would take a person. They would strip off their shirt. They would tie their hands to some sort of post and then they would take this stack of rods of birch branches and whack, whack, whack. They would beat them on their back until their back was not only bruised but it was cut wide open, bloody pulpy mess. This happened to Paul and Silas. And then it says they were put in the stocks in the inner prison. Stocks, not usually what you would think. Sometimes we hear the word stocks and we think English stocks used to hold people. You stick your hand on your hands through and all that. That's not what it's talking about. Those stocks were not to hold people. Those stocks were to torture people. What they would do, there was a series of settings on them and they would stretch your arms and your legs to the furthest most extremities so that your muscles would begin to cramp. And you were in aching, throbbing pain. And here, listen, here is Paul and here is Silas. Their backs beating with rods in the inner prison. They're in stocks. You talk about your hut on fire. Why, Lord? We went through the door, you opened. We were preaching the gospel. We weren't sinning. We weren't doing anything wrong. We were doing what was right and yet everything's wrong in our life. Why, God? But I tell you, dear ones, God works all things together for good. He has a plan and a purpose that is far beyond the moment. And at midnight, Paul and Silas says they were singing hymns and praising God, just worshiping the Lord. And there was a great earthquake so that the chains of all of the prisoners were broken. And the Philippian jailer, he wakes up and he thinks, wow, all the prisoners have escaped and the sentence, if any Roman soldier led a prisoner escape, was a death sentence. So he just pulls out his sword. He's ready to commit suicide. And Paul says, stop! And Paul preaches the gospel to him and the Philippian jailer says, what must I do to be saved? And the Bible says the Philippian jailer and his whole family got saved that night. But you know that never would have happened. Unless God closed the door to go down south and closed the door to go in the north. That never would have happened if Paul and Silas were not beaten with rods put in the stocks in the inner prison. God was working something. That's how the Church of Philippi got started. So if there's any church that should have known God's blessings often come in disguise that what looks like a bad thing can be a God thing. It was the Church of Philippi. But as Paul writes to them, the text we want to look at in the book of Philippians, the situation for Paul is now changed. About 10 years have gone by and Paul's in a very difficult situation and the people in Philippi have heard about it. They're so concerned about Paul. They're really troubled about what he's going through. They've heard he's imprisoned in Rome and so what they do is they take up a collection and offering, they give it to one of their leaders, the Aphrodite. He goes all the way to give it to Paul and tell them all the Philippians, they're so concerned about you. So Paul, who knows, God works all things together for good. He writes them back a letter and the key part of the letter is the section we want to look at in chapter 1 verse 12 to 14. Here's what Paul writes to them from his imprisonment in Rome. Here's what he says. But I want you to know, brother, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. What I thought was going to stop the gospel has actually propelled the gospel so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ and most of the brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Now, what's he talking about here? He says, now, I want you to know the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. Pray tell, pray tell what happened to him that furthered the gospel. Well, after he left Philippi on his second missionary journey when the church got started there in the Philippian jail, he went on down to the city of Athens, the largest city in Greece. He went down to Corinth, started a church there, and then shot across the Aegean Sea to a city called Ephesus. You guys are studying Ephesians on Sunday morning. Paul took one look around and thought, oh man, this is a key city. He goes back to Antioch where he started his missionary journey. They regroup. He makes a beeline to go back to Ephesus and he spends two years there. Paul had learned the strategy given to him by God, and that is go where the people are. Go to the cities. And so here he's reaching this key city in Ephesus. He continues on his third missionary journey. He goes all the way back to the city of Jerusalem and all the way he's thinking city, city, city, city. And he's thinking, if I could just reach the largest city in the world, the city of Rome, then the gospel would go everywhere. He wrote in Romans chapter 1 of verse 11, he says, I long to come and see you and preach the gospel. So as he goes back to Jerusalem, he has this longing on his heart to go to the largest city in the world, the city of Rome. And no doubt he was starting to make plans about how he could get to Rome. But the Bible says in Proverbs 19 verse 21, many are the plans of a man's heart. But it's the purpose of the Lord. His ways are not our ways. It's the purpose of the Lord that will prevail. Paul did get to Rome, but not how he ever imagined he would get there. Paul, being a good Jew, he went to worship in the temple. And he went up into the temple. There were a group of Jews who didn't like Paul. They were angry that Paul was preaching salvation by grace through faith. And so they falsely accused him of taking a Gentile into forbidden areas of the temple. The Gentile's name was Trophimus. Paul didn't do it. He was totally innocent. But they trumped up charges against him so that the apostle Paul was arrested. He was taken into the fortress of Antonio right there by the temple on the temple mount. And to make things go from bad to worse, it comes to his attention that 40 Jewish men have gone on a hunger strike until they kill Paul. I think about that for a moment. I've had people mad at me, but nobody ever wanted to kill me. Can you imagine 40 people wanting to kill you and say, we're not going to eat anything until we kill you? You talk about hot on fire. Well, it comes to the attention of the Roman authorities. They think we've got to get Paul out of here. So they transfer him 80 miles up the coast on the coast of the land of Israel to a place called Caesarea. And once Paul gets there, he appears before a Roman leader. His name is Felix. Felix hears the case, the situation, and he realizes this guy hasn't done anything wrong. No way. But he thinks he might be able to get a bribe so he leaves Paul imprisoned there for two years. Do you think maybe in quiet moments of discouragement that Paul might have thought, why, Lord, I don't get this? I don't understand this. All I've been doing is serving you so faithfully. And now I'm stuck in this stinking, filthy prison for two years I'm here. I don't understand. Well, after two years there's a change in leadership there and a man, Festus, comes and Paul appears before Festus and as then he says those famous words, I appeal to Caesar. And so Paul is put on a ship and he is sent to the city of Rome. Paul's going to get to Rome, but not how he thinks. While the ship is on the way to Rome, it encounters a terrible storm, so bad that the ship is shipwrecked on an island called Malta. So now you go from bad to worse, to worse than worse. And the next day the Apostle Paul is such a servant. He, the great Apostle Paul, is up early in the morning gathering firewood to keep people warm and as he's gathering firewood, all of a sudden out of the wood comes a poisonous snake and latches onto his hand. He goes from bad to worse, to worse, to worse than worse. But he didn't die. God protected him and that got the attention of all of the people on the island of Malta and all of a sudden they started to listen to him and he preached the gospel and all these people started getting saved. The leader of the people on Malta, his name was Publius and Publius' father was sick and when Publius saw all these people getting healed as Paul was praying, he brought his father to Paul, Paul praised for the leader's father and Publius' father, he is healed, God's supernaturally miraculous, so he heals him and the gospel starts to go even further. But that never would have happened unless Paul was falsely accused. That never would have happened unless Paul spent all that time in that prison in Caesarea. What might have seemed like a bad thing was a God thing. There were some people on Malta who needed to know God and God had a plan far beyond what Paul could ever have imagined because God needed him to go into a storm so he could be at the right place at the right time to share the gospel with those people. Well, eventually, Paul gets on another ship and he does end up in that great city of Rome. He had longed to go to Rome and he got to Rome. How much did it cost Paul to get to Rome? Nothing. A free trip. All expenses paid by the Roman government. Is God? Paul would have had to pay his own way but now Rome pays his own way. And when he gets there, he begins to share the gospel. He's not put in a jail, he's not put in a prison but as we'll see, he's in a rented house, chained to a Roman soldier and the people come to the house and as they're coming to the house, Paul begins to preach to them and teach to them and so Paul writes. He says, Philippians, you're all bummed out that I'm here. Let me tell you this. I want you to know the things that have happened to me, they actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. They're a blessing in disguise. God was working all along. You may not know it but God had a plan far beyond what you can imagine. And he says this, oh I like this, verse 13. So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ, the whole palace guard. What's he talking about here? What was going on? This is amazing. As I told you, when Paul finally got to Rome, they didn't put him in a prison, they didn't put him in a jail cell. He was in a house, a rented house, but he was chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days in a year. And the soldiers that were guarding Paul were part of the palace guard. The palace guard, Praetorian guard, that was 10,000 of the most elite soldiers. That group was established by Caesar Augustus. They got twice the pay of other soldiers because it was their job to guard the most famous and important people in society. It was their job to guard the most notorious or famous prisoners, and so Paul being so well known, he gets assigned these guards. And they would come in four to six hour shifts, they would be chained to the apostle Paul 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And as they're chained to Paul, and people are coming to where Paul is, Paul is preaching the gospel. Guess who's listening? The soldiers? Oh, I totally love it. One has to ask the question, who is really the prisoner? Paul or the soldiers? And soldier after soldier they're hearing the gospel and then what's all the people leave? It's just Paul and that soldier, one on one. And no doubt he began to say to them things like, do you know what? There was a Roman centurion who stood at the cross of Jesus and said, surely this is the son of God. And what happened is Paul began to lead one soldier to Christ, another soldier to Christ, soldier after soldier after soldier after soldier started coming to Christ. And these soldiers, their headquarters was in the palace. And so what would happen is they would go back to the palace and I imagine in my mind's eye they would go into the barracks there and one of the soldiers who had just come to faith in Christ, they would walk in the room and maybe they were singing, I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart. And people are like, what are you so happy about? So there was this guy Paul and he told me about Jesus. This Roman centurion, surely he was the son of God. I gave my life to him. And now I have a piece that passes understanding and the other soldiers are like, well, man, I want that too. And so soldiers start leading other soldiers to Christ and revival starts breaking out among the palace guard. Check it out. It would be like you going online and seeing the headline as you went online, revival breaks out at the Pentagon. How could you get revival to break out at the Pentagon? You couldn't do it on your own. What was going on was the genius of God. It was the plan of God. Paul never could have dreamed this up. But God was working. But even more than that, some of these soldiers who were changing the apostle Paul who started giving their life to Christ after they were unchained from Paul, Paul wasn't the only one they guarded. Many of them went back to the palace and were guarding members of the family of Caesar. Check it out. Flip the page for most of you in your Bible in chapter 4 verse 22 of Philippians. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household. Again, I imagine in my mind's eye, one of the soldiers goes into the palace. Maybe he's guarding the son of the Caesar. Maybe he's guarding the daughter of the Caesar. And he walks into the room. It's in my mind's eye. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. And they're like, why are you so happy? Oh, let me tell you. There's this man, Paul. He told me about Jesus. And Jesus has changed my life and he can change your life. And all of a sudden soldiers start leading people in Caesar's family to faith in Christ. Now you not only have revival breaking out in the Pentagon, you got revival breaking out in the White House. How could you plan that on your own? How could you dream up such an idea? This was a God thing. So in Philippians chapter 1 verse 13, Paul says, so that what has happened has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest, to everyone else, everyone in the city of Rome is talking about it. Did you hear what's going on in the palace guard? Did you hear what's going on in Caesar's family? Oh, this was the goodness of God. This was a blessing in disguise. Paul never could have orchestrated this on his own. And what was happening, listen, what was happening was not only impacting the unbelievers. It started impacting all of the Christians in Rome. Verse 14, he says, And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. When all of the rest of the Christians saw that God was working in Paul's life, that what seemed like a bad thing was a God thing. It was an opportunity for them. They took courage and they said, well, maybe God can work in my circumstance and my situation and use me as we gather today. I asked you, what situation do you feel imprisoned in? You feel imprisoned in a job and you wish you could get out of that job because you just don't like that job. Is it possible that God has put you there? Because what's going to happen is somebody you're working with is going to come to faith in Jesus Christ and spend eternity in heaven with God forever. Are you willing to be stuck in a job you don't like for a while so that someone can spend forever in heaven? What situation do you feel imprisoned in? Is it possible that God has allowed you to be in that circumstance because other Christians are going to look at you and be encouraged that you still have faith in the Lord, that you still believe in Him, that you still trust in Him. It is possible. God works all things together for good. Not all things are good, but He and only He somehow can work them together for good so that what seems like a bad thing ends up being a God thing. Disappointment are sometimes God's appointment. A number of years ago I came across a beautiful poem. I like it so much. It's based on a wonderful idea. No one said you could take the word disappointment and if you just changed the first letter of the word disappointment from a D to an H, then all of a sudden disappointment becomes His appointment. I like that. Here's what they wrote. I like it so much. Disappointment? No. His appointment changed one letter then I see that the thwarting of my purpose is God's better choice for me. His appointment must be blessing though it may come in disguise for the end from the beginning open to His wisdom lies. Disappointment? No. His appointment is the Lord's who loves me best, understands and knows me fully who my faith and love would test for like earthly loving parent He rejoices when He knows that His child accepts unquestioned all that from His wisdom flows. Disappointment? No. His appointment. No good thing will He withhold from denials often we gather treasures of His love untold. Well He knows each broken purpose leads to fuller deeper trust and the end of all His dealings proves our God is wise and just. The last verse. Disappointment? No. His appointment. Lord I take it then as such, like the clay in hands of the potter yielding holy to Thy touch all my life's plan is Thy molding not one single choice be mine. Let me answer. Insurrender. Not my will. As I was praying about what to share with you the Lord just whispered in my heart He said go over there to Chino Valley and remind all those precious people that I work all things together together. I do. Go over there and remind them that bad things can be God things. Go over there and remind them that disappointments are often His appointments. Go over there and remind them that blessings they often come in the skies.