Dr. Rick Mandl - December 10, 2020
Are You A Joyful Prisoner?
Devotional Manuscript: Are You A Joyful Prisoner?
Message By Dr. Rick Mandl, December 10, 2020 at Eagle Rock Baptist Church
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Hey Church Family... How are you doing with this newest edition of Stay-At-Home California? More than one person I’ve talked to has told me that to them, it feels like being in prison. To which I’ve really been tempted to ask . . . How do you know? How is it that you’re so familiar with what it feels like to be in prison? But I didn’t know this person that well, so I didn’t want to ask. But, back to my question, how are YOU doing? Or more to the point... IF, because of all that’s going on in our state, you feel like you’re in prison, then let me ask you . . . Are you a JOYFUL PRISONER?
Those two words - - “Joyful” and “Prisoner” are two words that we don’t typically think of as going together. And yet, they are two words that would provide a perfect description of the Apostle Paul. Writing from a Roman prison cell, Paul penned these words. He wrote, “And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”
Sitting in a Roman prison, it would be easy for the Apostle Paul to focus on all that he had lost. . . Paul had lost the freedom to share the gospel, He had lost the freedom to plant churches, And he had lost the freedom to train up leaders in the different places that he longed to travel to. Nevertheless, he looked at where he was, and he looked at what was happening to him, and his response was JOY. Why?
Because everything that had happened to him, hadn’t slowed the advance of the gospel, it had helped it. Again, look at his words. He wrote . . . Everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.
Paul shared THREE WAYS the gospel was advancing:
FIRST of all - He was able to share the gospel with the Roman soldiers who guarded him. The way things worked at time, was that as a Roman prisoner, Paul would have had 3 different soldiers chained to him – each of them working an 8-hour shift – but three different soldiers everyday – 24/7. When it came to sharing the good news of what Jesus Christ had done with these soldiers, Paul had a “captive audience” - - So let me ask you - - who was really the prisoner?
A SECOND REASON that Paul could see the gospel advancing was that he was able to reach the Roman citizens who visited him. As a prisoner, Paul wasn’t allowed to leave his place of confinement, but that didn’t mean that others were allowed to visit him. They were and they did and Paul was able to encourage them and embolden them to reach out to others that Paul couldn’t reach.
A THIRD REASON that Paul saw the gospel advancing was that the longest period of Paul's incarceration—two whole years—was also the greatest period of Paul's impact. In other words, PAUL'S CONFINEMENT WAS GOD'S ASSIGNMENT. He wrote the books of Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon from that Roman prison. That prison became his pulpit.
Maybe you feel chained to, or imprisoned by, something right now. Whether it’s the restrictions that have been placed on you by this pandemic or whether it's a job, a relationship, or just a set of circumstances that you didn't sign up for. Have those things stolen your joy? They don’t have to. You can still choose to be a HAPPY PRISONER.
So the next time you feel shackled to some life circumstances, look at it as an opportunity to share the good news with others and point them toward the one who endured much worse than you and I are going through right now, all for us, so that we could have new life.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
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