https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/MakingTheBestOfBadSituations.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Philippians 1:12-18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. As much as we might wish it otherwise, we aren’t often in control<\/p>\n
A. Things aren’t always optimal<\/p>\n
B. Things don’t always go our way<\/p>\n
II. Better than you might think<\/p>\n
A. The Philippians had hear of Paul’s imprisonment – Philippians 4:14<\/p>\n
1. Such would normally be a concern<\/p>\n B. Yet Paul tells the brethren that his imprisonment turned out to have benefits –\nPhilippians 1:12\n 1. Paul could have focused on the bad events. There were certainly plenty to\nconsider: jail time, trials, inability to travel \n 2. But what Paul chose to focus on was that the gospel was spreading further\nbecause of his imprisonment.\n C. Paul wasn’t your typical prisoner. He wasn’t there because of crimes. He was\nthere because of being a Christian – Philippians 1:13\n 1. Though a prisoner, he rented his own house and was allowed to receive\nguests. He spent his time teaching everyone who came to see him – Acts\n28:30-31\n
a. Notice no one told him to stop<\/p>\n 2. He was constantly under guard, which meant the guards were hearing the\ngospel while keeping an eye on Paul – Acts 28:16\n 3. The typical practice was to chain a prisoner to a guard. From Paul’s\nviewpoint he had a captive audience!\n 4. From this situation, Paul converted members of Caesar’s own household –\nPhilippians 4:22\n a. Normally Paul would not have access to people in high places, but\nhis imprisonment \n
b. It was just as Christ had said – Acts 9:15-16<\/p>\n
D. His example was encouraging others to preach – Philippians 1:14<\/p>\n
1. Paul saw himself as an ambassador in chains – Ephesians 6:19-20<\/p>\n 2. Because Paul wasn’t being stopped, even though in prison, others gathered\ncourage to speak without fear\n
3. They imitated Paul – I Corinthians 11:1<\/p>\n E. Paul understands that those now preaching are not all preaching from a pure heart.\nSome are doing so because they think it will cause Paul more problems when he\nfaces Caesar. – Philippians 1:15-17\n 1. Again this isn’t something Paul can control. To be sure, we would like to\nthink that everyone is preaching because they are zealous for God, but that\nis being overly optimistic.\n
a. Some preach to make money – II Corinthians 2:17<\/p>\n
b. Some twist the truth – II Corinthians 4:1-2<\/p>\n 2. But notice again that Paul didn’t focus on only those he knew were\npreaching from bad motives. He kept a balanced view. There are people\npreaching for excellent reasons.\n 3. Contrast this with Elijah’s attitude when he fell into depression – I Kings\n19:10, 14\n a. God pointed out to him that he forgot about the good people still\nleft – I Kings 19:18\n 4. But even with those who are preaching from the wrong motives, Paul still\nsaw a positive: the gospel still was being spread – Philippians 1:18\n
III. Application<\/p>\n
A. We can make good out of ill as well<\/p>\n 1. I’ve known people in the hospital or in nursing homes teaching the gospel\nto their visitors and caretakers\n 2. I’ve known people who ended up in prison spending their time teaching\ntheir fellow prisoners. \n
3. Opportunities to teach abound if we but look around us<\/p>\n
B. We don’t need to despair over all the false teaching going on in the world<\/p>\n 1. True, they are leading many people astray. People who have no love for\nthe truth – II Timothy 4:3-4\n 2. However, they are at least teaching portions of the truth and they are\nreaching people we might not be able to reach. Some of those have a\ndesire for truth and they will continue to seek it.\n 3. You can be thankful that these false teachers at least got them part way to\nthe truth, so that it was easier for you to teach them the rest that they\nneeded to know.\n 4. Notice that this isn’t acceptance of false teachings, but neither do we let\nthe false teachers get us down.\n
C. We don’t have to be perfect to deliver the perfect will of God – I Corinthians 2:3-5<\/p>\n 1. Don’t hesitate because you don’t think you will do it right. Do the best you\ncan because God can make use of imperfect people – II Corinthians 4:7\n
2. Sometimes we forget how frail Paul was – Galatians 4:12-14<\/p>\n D. Do what you can. Don’t get depressed about what others are doing. Instead focus\non the good, wherever it is found. \n
\n
Loosely based on a lesson by Mark Copeland<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 1:12-18 I. As much as we might wish it otherwise, we aren’t often in control A. Things aren’t always optimal B. Things don’t always go our way II. Better than you might think A. The Philippians had hear of Paul’s imprisonment – Philippians 4:14 1. Such would normally be a concern B. Yet Paul tells…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[634,182,188],"class_list":["post-46432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-attitude","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/philippians-12-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":0},"title":"Philippians 1:2-11","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel Download Audio","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24772,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-enjoy-being-a-christian-philippians-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":1},"title":"Do You Enjoy Being a Christian (Philippians 1)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90878,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-is-good-all-the-time-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":2},"title":"God Is Good All the Time (2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores God is good! That pithy phrase pops up in my newsfeed several times a day, usually in a comment where someone reports something good in their life. It could be favorable results from a medical test, the arrival of a new baby, a financial windfall, the purchase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-secret-of-learning-to-be-content\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":3},"title":"The Secret of Learning to Be Content","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 4:10-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul faced many adversities during his life \u2013 more than most of us will see - II Corinthians 11:24-27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What sort of person would you be with this sort of life? What attitudes would people notice first? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bitter? Hardened? Depressed? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/personal-sacrifice-and-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":4},"title":"Personal Sacrifice and Service","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul often discussed the topic of unity in his letters to the various churches. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Unity based having the same goals and the same standards - Romans 15:5; I Corinthians 1:10; II Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:1-3; I Thessalonians 5:11-15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul\u2019s letter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-joy-of-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":46432,"position":5},"title":"The Joy of Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the persecutions Christians faced in the first century, there was joy - I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A great joy, an inexpressible joy, was had knowing that they were saved \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That joy overrode all the hardships of life II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This attitude is strange\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}