Welcome to part 4 in our series. We are thinking through God's message to us as recorded in the Bible. Specifically in the Bible in this little book called Philippians.

The title of my series is: Quit Telling Yourself I Can't

Let's look together at our paragraph in the Bible, and then I'll break it down.

Today I want to think with you about one of the most powerful lines of internal dialogue that can echo in our hearts: So my title today is: Quit Telling Yourself I Can't Handle This, part 2

I picked this title on purpose. It's because of what's going on when Paul writes this book in the Bible.

First, he's in prison. Technically, house arrest. He was arrested in Philippi and dragged off to Rome for trial. So he's under arrest.

Second, he's got a Roman guard chained to him 24/7. These are the famous Praetorium, the palace guards for Julius Caesar and all the Caesars. More on them in a minute. Big, tough, elite soldiers, the best of the best.

Here he is, being faithful to God, and everything falls apart. If ever there were a time for a guy to say, I can't handle this anymore, it's right here, right now. But there's more...

Because the third thing that's going on is that Paul is taking friendly fire. Actually, it's unfriendly fire from unfriendly Christians. And that's actually why I picked this title. He's in prison, and these are people, he says, who are "supposing to add affliction to my chains..." They're Christians and they're trying to make it worse for him!

How much can one man take?

By this time, most people would just give up. I quit. I can't take any more of this. I'm out. I quit. I'm done. But not Paul... he's got something going on inside that's special. It's so special he says, "in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice" (v. 18).

So we are asking, what did he have in his psychology that let him say that? What did he have in his soul that we can put in our soul so we can quit telling ourselves I can't handle this?

Last Sunday, we began deconstructing this paragraph in the Bible to find that out.

We got halfway through... so today is part two.

What drives this paragraph is the pain of friendly fire.

 

Yes, the writer, St. Paul, is being attacked by Roman authorities. That's painful enough. But he's also being attacked by Christians. That makes this extra painful.

How were they attacking him? We're not exactly sure, but I suspect in two ways:
Some were saying that good Christians don't get arrested. Look at Paul, God must be judging him. God must be punishing him. Good Christians aways prosper.

All I can say is if good Christians always prosper, then there was something wrong with Jesus.

I suspect that others were saying, Paul preaches Christ, but he takes Christ too far. They attack Paul's grace-alone message. They preach Christ, yes. But they preach Christ-plus.

Christ plus obedience. Christ plus the laws of Moses. Christ plus the rituals of the Church. Christ plus stopping your sins. To be saved, it's not Christ alone, it's Christ plus...Paul is shortcutting the gospel. He's preaching cheap grace. We love Paul, but God threw him in jail to teach him a lesson. Let's pray for our messed up brother.

 

Personally, I find it hard to listen to this criticism. It's my own insecurities at play.

You might be the same way. Your mind starts racing. A tape recorder begins playing their accusations, their subtle digs, on a loop. You start questioning everything. "Did I misunderstand? Am I being too sensitive? Maybe they're right. Maybe I really am the problem."

The attack from the outside moves inside, and you become your own accuser.

This is the enemy's psychological end game.

But look at Paul. He's not confused. He's not defensive. He's free. How? It's not because he has thicker skin. It's because he is experiencing the fourth divine wrecking ball.

"Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains..." (Philippians 1:15, 16)

God doesn't promise to stop the arrows from being fired. He does something far more powerful. He builds a divine fortress around your soul so that when the arrows hit, they cannot pierce your core identity.

Do you see that word "supposing"? That's a word of victory. Your enemies are supposing, but they're supposing wrong.

This is the same formula we discovered last week: Identity plus Mystery.

Your identity is "You in Christ."
The voice of the enemy says you are flawed. Your voice declares, I am forgiven.
The voice of the enemy says you are failing. Your voice declares my victory's already won.
The voice of the enemy says you're at risk. Your voice declares If God is for me, who can be against me?
The voice of the enemy says you've made too many mistakes. Your voice declares I've got too much righteousness for any of that to matter.

Your identity in Christ is an objective, eternal fact that their subjective, temporary slanders will never change.

The mystery is "Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27).
"Christ lives in me," said St. Paul (Galatians 2:20).
"Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?" he asked (2 Corinthians 13:5).

When you got salvation, you also got Jesus. Let's call this Christ's "indwelling." He indwells you that he might live through you. This does not mean you will walk in sandals, grow long hair, or give up bacon. It does not mean you will speak King James English or maintain a gloomy look of doom upon your face.

The presence of Christ in you does not suck the personality out of you. He does not turn you into a clone. Instead, Christ's presence has everything to do with power, love, and mental health. Jesus came inside you to strengthen you to become the best you possible, with all the color added.

Jesus "pressures" you but in a good way. He does this from the inside. He does this with love, not guilt. He motivates. He empowers. He heals. He restores your sense of value and worth.

He shows you you are loved.

And nobody can explain how he does it. We can't even explain how he's in you. This is the mystery. This is the beauty of Christianity. It's supernatural.

If you have Jesus, there's more to you than meets the eye. You've got a supernatural sparkle.

You're not alone.

You're not on your own.
You're not your DNA.
You're not your history.
You're not your rap sheet.
You're not your disabilities.
You're not your family of origin.
You're not your horoscope.

There's a supernatural, mystical, magical, powerful relationship at the core of your being so that who you are and what you can do transcends all earthly explanation, so much so the only thing left for you to do on any moment of any day is to believe.

Your core is un-injurable... because your core is you in Christ and Christ in you. And that is beyond the reach of any abuser, detractor, bully, judge, jury, enemy, critic, demon, the devil, opponents, and all the powers of hell.

Un-injurable.

Believe that what God says about you is true.
Believe that Christ will see you through.
Believe in the love that never lets you go.
Believe that with all these promises and all these powers, the only thing your enemies can do against you is to "suppose" they can add affliction to your chains.

Poor, dumb, "supposers, pretenders, keeping your fingers crossed cheaters." God loves you. I love you, but you lose.

 

You are un-injurable at your core. You are free.

Now what? What do you do with that freedom?

"What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense [lying] or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice." (Philippians 1:18)

This is where Paul makes a choice so radical, so counter-intuitive, that it becomes the fifth divine wrecking ball.