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Good News Still Advancing - Philippians 1:12-18

Sermon Series: Partners in Christ

Good things don’t always progress and move forward in comfortable, relaxed settings. A constant reminder of that has been before us over the last 10 years as we have seen the US and other allied countries fighting a war on terror – a war to end the rule of wicked and evil men and to establish peace in areas where there is none. We would probably all agree that ‘peace’ is a good and noble thing. But contrary to what some believe, peace can’t always be worked out with civil discussions in embassy conference rooms. As we’ve seen over the last several years sometimes peace has to be advanced in difficult places like the deserts of Iraq and the harsh mountainous terrain of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We wish that we didn’t have to send our soldiers to those places but there are many in our armed forces and in our country who believe the advancement of peace is so important that they’re willing to make the sacrifice and endure the hardship in order to advance the cause. The advancement of peace can also get frustrating when certain politicians or celebrities use the ‘cause of peace’ to promote themselves, their next political promotion, or their next upcoming album. Yet once again, many soldiers and US citizens are willing to endure those frustrating stunts in order for the cause of peace to continue to gain momentum and advance throughout the world.

Temporal peace in the here and now is certainly worth trying to advance. I, personally, am proud to live in a country that is willing not only to protect our own peace but to help advance the cause of peace in the lives of those who are oppressed by fear and terror. But giving consideration to things like this also begs the question, “What else do we need to see advanced in our communities, in our state, in our nation, and around the world? Is peace the only thing we should be trying to advance or is there anything of greater significance?” And I would suggest that there is. Temporal peace in the here and now is important – but it’s also only temporary. We need to be willing to work toward the advancement of that which is eternal and which has significance beyond the here and now. And I would also suggest that if we are willing to endure difficult situations and bad motives for the advancement of temporal peace, we also ought to be willing to endure those things for more important, eternal issues.  The question then which we will do our best to address in this week's passage is this, "From a biblical perspective, is there anything of eternal value that we as a church should be trying to advance, and willing to endure difficult times for?"

Background

Paul begins the body of his letter to the church at Philippi (vs. 3-11) sharing with the church how he prayed for them. The church at Philippi had been and continued to be a source of great joy for Paul, so he told them that each and every time they came to mind he gave thanks to God for their partnership in the gospel. He recognized the graciousness of God in his life by placing this church, which loved the good news of the gospel as much as he did and which was so committed to partnership with him, into his life. Paul also told them that in addition to his prayers of thanksgiving he also prayed that their love would abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. The church at Philippi had done well to put the love of Christ on display already, but Paul was asking God to help them be even more effective in their demonstration of Christ’s love. Paul wanted the church to have the capability to love in greater quantity and with a greater quality love, and the wisdom and discernment to know how to put that love on display so that it would be best received and best understood as a genuine and sincere love from Christ.

The Advancement of the Gospel in Difficult Places

As Paul develops his letter to the church more he turns his attention away from his prayers of thanksgiving and intercession for their church to providing them with some insight regarding what he sees taking place and why there is reason to be excited. Paul says in verse 12, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” The good news – short and simple – the news of salvation through Jesus is continuing to make progress! This is a pretty amazing statement given Paul’s current location. Paul had been imprisoned for the message of salvation in Jesus that he had been proclaiming. Not only was he held captive by prison walls and a locked door, but he was also likely bound in chains. The picture of Paul’s imprisonment was a picture of one who was severely physically hindered. His movement was hindered by chains around his ankles and wrists and his location was hindered by solid walls and locked doors. While Paul’s influence had been great when he had freedom to move about and freedom to proclaim his message from one city to another, some of the Roman officials believed that by throwing Paul in prison and binding him in chains they could bring both his influence and his message to a halt. That seems like a rather logical conclusion. If you take away a man’s freedom, take away his ability to move about, and limit his interactions with those outside of his prison cell, then we would imagine that not only would the individual’s movement be hindered, but his message would be also. Receiving news of Paul’s imprisonment would probably cause most readers to anticipate the bad news that the message of salvation in Jesus was not reaching many and that Paul was incredibly discouraged by his circumstances. But this wasn’t the case at all! While this is what we as readers may anticipate, Paul tells the church at Philippi that this isn’t the actual case. Paul’s imprisonment and chains had actually served to advance the gospel!

The news gets even more impressive in verse 13, “. . . so that it has become know throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” G. Walter Hansen notes on verse 13 that the ‘imperial guard’ “points to the most elite group of Roman soldiers, who served as a special bodyguard for Caesar.” He goes on to note that at certain times in history this particular group of soldiers did more than just take orders from the different Caesars, they actually exerted some control over them. This particular group of soldiers assigned to watch over Paul wasn’t a group of low-ranking, misfit soldiers who couldn’t cut it as regular soldiers and who had been assigned to nothing more than prison duty. These soldiers were the most elite and the most intimidating soldiers Rome had to offer. And yet Paul shares with the church at Philippi that he hasn’t been intimidated by these soldiers at all – instead he has made the good news of the gospel known to them and to the rest of Caesar’s household, so that they all know that Paul has been imprisoned because of his commitment to Christ and his proclamation of salvation through Him.

Because of Paul’s imprisonment the gospel was advancing to some of the most powerful and influential men in Rome. In addition to that, Paul’s imprisonment was having an effect on the church in Philippi as well. Paul writes 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.” The news of Paul’s imprisonment had not been received by the church at Philippi as bad news – it was good news that God remained faithful to those committed to the work and proclamation of the gospel (regardless of the circumstances). The church at Philippi heard how God had faithfully strengthened Paul in his difficult circumstances to share the gospel. They heard how God had kept Paul safe, even in the hands of the most powerful and intimidating of men. And they heard of God’s faithfulness to keep the gospel advancing, even when men had done all they could to keep it from advancing. In Paul’s situation God had demonstrated that He was more powerful than the most mighty of men, that He remained sovereign in the most difficult of situations, and that He remained committed to those who were on mission with Him. Paul says in verse 14 that God’s clear demonstration of faithfulness in his life had inspired confidence in most of the individuals in the church of Philippi, resulting in them continuing on mission with God, only doing so now with much more boldness and without any fear. So Paul’s chains and imprisonment did not only fail to hinder Paul and the message he proclaimed, but it actually liberated many of the church of Philippi from their fear and inspired them to become more bold in their proclamation of the gospel.

One thing that verses 12-14 clearly lack is any account of what Paul’s imprisonment was like. Paul doesn’t give any details about what a typical day in prison is like; he doesn’t give an account of how he has suffered physically, mentally, or emotionally; nor does he spend time recalling the harshness of his environment. Instead the emphasis of verses 12-14 is exclusively on the advancement of the gospel. In doing this Paul was able to demonstrate to his readers that it was the gospel (not himself) that was of the utmost importance.

The Advancement of the Gospel in Less than Stellar Motives

Building off of his statement in verse 14 that most of the church at Philippi had become more bold to proclaim the message of the gospel, Paul begins to share in verses 15-18 that some of those individuals were actually sharing the gospel with less than stellar motives. Verses 15 and 17 say, “Some [i.e. some of the ‘brothers’ referenced in verse 14 – some of those in the church] indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry . . . [They] proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.” The good news in this particular instance was that the true gospel and the true message of Christ were being proclaimed. There weren’t those from within the church at Philippi who were teaching false doctrines about Jesus or ‘new’ and ‘secret’ revelations that God had given to them. The message being proclaimed by those who were a part of the church at Philippi was the same message of salvation through Christ alone that Paul had passed on to them. The bad news was that some who were a part of the church at Philippi were actually proclaiming the gospel from envious motivations.

Paul doesn’t go into details to describe the nature of these envious men (i.e. why or how they were envious of Paul). But simply knowing how envy affects men in ministry today we can probably safely speculate some about envy’s effect on them. When Paul had arrived at Philippi he began to have what most people would consider a very successful ministry. When he preached the good news of salvation through Jesus, people responded by placing their faith in Christ; large crowds would gather to hear him teach and preach; and he planted a healthy and thriving church there. Add to that the authority that he possessed by having been given by God the position of ‘apostle’ and there would have been a lot of reasons to be envious of Paul and his influence. It appears that after Paul left Philippi that certain ones, envious of perhaps Paul’s influence, ability to draw a crowd, and/or authority set out to make a name for themselves. These individuals seemed to recognize that Paul’s message seemed to be what connected with his audience - so these individuals did not set out to proclaim something new. What’s most likely is that they felt like they could proclaim the same message more skillfully and/or with more charisma. In other words they thought that they could do what Paul did – only better. And if they could do what Paul did better then they should be able to draw greater crowds, have a greater influence, and make a greater name for themselves. It wasn’t that these individuals didn’t believe the message of the gospel – but their motives were off because they saw the proclamation of the gospel as a means of making a name for themselves (and by making their names greater, they would lessen Paul’s perceived influence).

Fortunately this wasn’t the motivation for all of those in the church at Philippi who were proclaiming the message of the gospel. Paul says in the last part of verse 15 and in verse 16, “but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” There were some who were part of the church at Philippi who saw Paul’s absence from them and who had learned of his imprisonment and had decided to step into the gap that had been left so that they might help continue Paul’s mission of proclaiming the good news of salvation through Jesus. They were motivated by and stepped into the gap because of their love. Paul says that the church at Philippi had an amazing understanding in regards to his imprisonment. Paul’s imprisonment was incredibly important for the continued progress of the gospel. You see Paul doesn’t say that he was imprisoned to give a defense for himself - whether or not he was guilty of committing certain crimes. Paul tells us here that he had been imprisoned for a much bigger purpose (one which some from the church at Philippi understood) – to make a defense for the good news of salvation. And if this was the case his imprisonment wasn’t just a coincidence, but more like a divine appointment – God putting the man He had chosen in that position so that he could make a sound defense for the claims of the gospel. It’s absolutely amazing that some who were a part of the church at Philippi had both the wisdom to discern this and the quality of love to serve Paul by partnering with him in the proclamation of the gospel.

We would probably expect someone who had become the object of several envious individuals’ attempts at affliction to want to fire back at those individuals with words of rebuke. After all Paul was already suffering imprisonment and now those who were supposed to be his brothers and sisters in Christ – partners in Christ – were trying to bring more trouble to him. But Paul doesn’t fire back in anger or with words of rebuke. Instead he says to the church at Philippi in verse 18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Paul, suffering in prison and aware of the efforts of certain individuals to bring more trouble upon him basically says, “So what?” Were the motives of those who were proclaiming Christ out of envy, wrong? Sure. But was the content of their message still the saving work of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the hope of salvation made available to sinners? Yes, it was. So Paul says, “It doesn’t really matter to me what the motives of those individuals are, or if it causes me to face a little more hardship. All that matters is that the good news of Jesus is being proclaimed to those who need to hear it. Those who were dead in their trespasses and sins were hearing the life giving message of salvation through Jesus and because of that Paul could rejoice.

As a true servant of Christ (see 1:1) the most important thing for Paul wasn’t his own personal advancement, but rather the advancement of the gospel! Why? Because it is the good news of salvation through Jesus! Ultimately it is about Jesus and nothing was more important to Paul than Jesus! Knowing Jesus, experiencing His love, forgiveness, and salvation, and no longer being separated from Him had radically transformed Paul. In Jesus he had great hope! In Jesus his life had purpose! And in Jesus his soul had been satisfied! Jesus was everything to Paul! And Paul not only wanted others to know what he had experienced in Christ, but it was the very mission that God had given to Paul and to all the Church. So it didn’t matter to Paul that he was imprisoned! It didn’t matter to Paul that he was in chains! And it didn’t matter to Paul that there were others proclaiming the truth of the gospel out of self-centered motives! The good news of Jesus was still being spread! The life changing news of salvation through Him was still being proclaimed! The gospel was advancing and the love and message of Christ was impacting the lives of many! This is the mission of God – the mission given to the Church both then and now. And this is the mission that we must partner together as servants of Christ to carry out today.