Philippians 1:12-19

To recap a few weeks ago, we went over Philippians 1:3-11. Those verses were filled with Paul encouraging those in Philippi and emphasizing the partnership they had together through Christ. We talked about how those in Philippi were great examples of generous givers, even in the tough situations they were dealing with. Paul recognized their spiritual growth and encouraged them to continue to grow in love, knowledge, and understanding. Paul was confident that the work that had been produced within them was by Christ and He would continue to work through them to the end.

And now we will go through verses 12-19.

Philippians 1:12–19 NLT

12 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. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. 15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

In verses 12-14 Paul wants to make it clear to his readers that everything that has happened to him has been helpful in spreading the Good News. He doesn’t ask for pity or feel as though God has not been watching over him, he gives the message that the result has been for good. God has worked things out exactly as planned. The success of his missions has nothing to do with what happens to him, but how the Good News is spread. He looks at his imprisonment as a way to advance the message. The message is not only spreading in the streets but even the entire palace guard. So the first positive thing is more people are hearing about the Good News, and the second positive he brings up is the ones who are already believers have had their faith strengthened and are evangelizing now without fear. So the body of Christ is growing more and those in it have been strengthened, because of his imprisonment.

Sometimes what happens to us, even though it may seem as though we are being punished, could be right where God wants us. Paul was the great apostle, you’d think logically it makes no sense for God to allow Paul to be imprisoned. That would just hinder the kingdom advancing. Not at all. God used his imprisonment to advance and strengthen the kingdom.

And Paul recognized that. But imagine how many times you may have felt like God isn’t moving, when he may be moving all around you, but you’re too focused on your temporary conditions to see and acknowledge God’s sovereign hand. It for sure has happened to me plenty of times, being all self-centered and worried about only myself.

Paul was human, he wanted encouragement and support too, but in everything he didn’t say poor me, he was focused on how God was moving and using him in whatever situation he was in.

Now continuing on to 15-19. Here Paul is focused on the people that are now out preaching about Christ. Now these people can be split into two groups. Let’s re-read verse 15 again to distinguish these groups.

15 “It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.”

Now clearly there is one group that is preaching with good intentions and one group that is not. Now reading this, you might wonder are both groups believers, I mean the ones with pure motives clearly must be believers. But why would a true believer preach with bad motives. Paul identifies both people in verse 14.

Let’s read 14 again - “And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”

He identifies both as believers. So keep that in mind as we discuss these groups. Now Paul also describes these people with the bad motives. They preach out of jealousy and rivalry. Two things that probably cause some of the most division between people. Why would someone who is a believer have a bad rivalry with someone else preaching the Good News. It’s a result of jealousy. I mean imagine any job or project you’ve ever worked on. Was there ever one where you had a co-worker that did something a little better than you or received more recognition than you? Or maybe they just held a higher position and authority than you even though you had the same level of experience. Did it ever bother you a little bit? I’ve definitely been there, and that’s jealousy. And that jealousy can start a rivalry where all you want to do is beat them, even at the cost of the other person failing. Ministry really isn’t any different in terms of the temptations. The human heart is the same. Someone else’s success is hard to accept sometimes. In this case imagine it, some may have been working hard for Christ, and then here comes Paul the great apostle. He had multiple revelations from God. His letters could be regarded as holy scripture. And he’s now in chains and people are all motivated by him as how he’s suffering for Christ.

Those out of jealousy could claim “clearly he’s not as faithful as everyone thinks, otherwise he wouldn’t be in chains.” That’s always a temptation to criticize someone’s authenticity because of their current circumstances. And with media these days it’s really easy for gossip and false information to spread and before you know it everyone is jumping on a bandwagon to claim someone is an enemy of God.

Whenever I’m listening to sermons, I usually use Youtube, and I like to listen to a variety of preachers, coming from different denominations and some are more Arminian and others a Calvinist. One thing I’ve noticed is, there’s always someone in the comment section, disagreeing with one topic that the preacher believes, or claiming they did this one thing that they thought was a sin, and so they yell “HERETIC”, they’re a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Now it’s always important to have discernment when listening to someone speak on the Word of God, but if they’re not altering the gospel, it’s fine to have different opinions. I wonder sometimes if the comments from some of those people are more out of jealously than anything else. It ultimately doesn’t matter, but it just shows that people are still the same today as they are from the ancient times as you can see type of attacking in many other forms against church leaders.

On the topic of someone’s tough circumstances and relating it to their faith, here’s something from Paul in one of his other letters to keep in mind:

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NLT

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

It’s important to remember that yes we absolutely have victory in Christ and cannot be defeated, spiritually speaking. But there will be troubles, sometimes feeling crushed, perplexed, hunted down, but you are never abandoned by God. You or someone else’s current trials does not necessarily mean you or they are being punished by God. Discernment is always important.

Now the other group Paul talks about, the ones with pure motives, he says “They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.“ Paul would defend the Good News, even with his life on the line.

2 Corinthians 11:25–30 NLT

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? 30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.

Nothing could stop him from defending the Good News.

Continuing on about those with bad motives, in verse 17 he said they also preached with selfish-ambition. Because of the rivalry they had out of their jealousy, they sought to puff themselves up. Preaching the Good News to make themselves look good. They were not sincere. And not only to exalt themselves, but Paul says also “intending to make my chains more painful to me”. They wanted Paul to suffer. They were not loving at all towards him. Paul was in prison for preaching the Good News, and if these other people were able to make things worse for him by preaching the Good News, then they were motivated by it. Talk about a twisted way of preaching the Good News.

But after talking about all their bad intentions and how they disliked him and wanted to make things worse for him, here’s Paul’s response in verses 18-19 and where we once again, see how his joy springs out. We’ll re-read verses 18 and 19 again -

“18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.”

A typical response from someone in this type of situation would be to seek vengeance and stir up the rivalry even more. But Paul says it doesn’t matter. He didn’t have a rivalry with them. He didn’t care how people viewed him, he only cared that the gospel was being preached. And this is another interesting point about how even when someone is struggling and doing things for the wrong reasons in their heart, God is not held back. The Good News was still preached through this jealous and selfish bunch.

But the main thing here is to look at Paul’s source of joy and how it carries him through all his trials. Even when attacked by other believers, those he calls his brothers in Christ. He puts his pride aside and says it doesn’t matter. Christ is being preached, so I will continue to rejoice.