The Advance of the Gospel

Scripture Reading

Philippians 1:12–30 NKJV

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 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; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

I wanted to do something special for my last sermon here. In my travels the last few months I noticed that some recommend that the pastor review what God has done in his ministry. I’ll do some of that, but I can’t let a preaching opportunity go without opening the Word of God. I’ve chosen Philippians 1:12-30 because it matches the message I want to leave with you - that despite attacks without and within, God will promote the advance of the Gospel. Paul wanted the Philippians to know that the things that had happened to him had turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. My situation is not at all similar to Paul’s - his was much, much worse. Yet he handled it with a grace and optimism that I have yet to be able to match. Perhaps because he had better confidence that God would in fact work everything out for the advance of the gospel. Today I exhort you to hold on to the confidence that whatever happens, God will cause the Gospel to go forward, and to live your lives centered on the spread of the gospel and the deepening of the Word of God into your lives.

I. ThroughAdverse Circumstances

Paul’s situation is that he is in prison. On the surface, that makes his ministry opportunity exponentially less than mine. He has no children, no family; his whole life is the spread of the gospel, and now he can’t move. More than that, he was well aware that he was going to be arrested before it happened. Acts 21:10-14

Acts 21:10–14 NKJV

And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

Now if I’d been him, and knew that If I went to Jerusalem I’d be arrested, I would not have gone. There was no direct revelation that told him he had to go there, and he can surely be much more useful free than imprisoned, right?

And if I’d been him, if I had decided to go anyway, I’d probably have tortured myself that I shortened my ministry needlessly, when I could have been more effective by listening to all my friends. We can debate all day whether Paul ought to have listened. I’m not actually sure whether he ought to have gone. It’s not important. What is important is that regardless of whether his trip to Jerusalem was in God’s will or not, the end result has been the advance of the Gospel.

And the reason for this is that Paul ended up spreading the gospel to the palace guard, somewhere he would not have had access to any other way. Furthermore, other Christians ended up being more bold in their faith and spreading the gospel themselves. But why did it work this way? Because the advance of the Gospel didn’t depend on man, even someone as great as the Apostle Paul. It was God who advanced the Gospel, whether or not Paul should have listened and avoided Jerusalem.

II. Through Flawed Preaching

Now those who preached Christ did not all do so with the purest of motives. While some did truly preach Christ for the right reason, other Christians preached Christ to make Paul feel bad for being useless in prison.

Once again, however, Paul doesn’t let it get to him. He is determined to rejoice in the fact that Christ is preached, regardless of why. Now if you are concerned with the gospel, the ones most likely to mess up the advance of the gospel are other preachers. If the preachers aren’t sincerely preaching for the right reason, that can’t be good, can it? And certainly it isn’t good; however, even with the most critical ministry related to the advance of the gospel, we find that even the flaws of other Christians can’t stop the advance of the Gospel.

This isn’t the point in the sermon where I start to name the flaws of people I know. I don’t know anyone so antagonistic to me, that they are preaching Christ with the intend of one-upping my ministry. Paul’s enemies are exponentially more severe than mine. And if I were to start naming flaws, I’d have to start with mine, so never mind.

Rather, I point out that even the flawed actions of God’s people cannot stop the advance of the Gospel. God doesn’t advance the gospel in spite of the failures of his people, but because of them.

III. In the Midst ofAn Uncertain Future

You all know that I upended my future at the beginning of the year. That’s the source of my obvious sorrow. Yet Paul’s future was very much more uncertain. I am not wondering whether I will live or die. Of course none of us knows tomorrow, but ordinarily, I would expect to be able to spend many decades yet serving the Lord in some capacity. My uncertainty was only in what I was supposed to do, not whether I would live to do it.

Paul, on the other hand, is not certain of his own life, never mind what he’s going to do with it. Yet unlike me, he was not anxious at all. His confidence had nothing to do with his knowledge of the future. He doesn’t actually know what will happen. His lack of anxiety rests fully on the idea that God will somehow be glorified through him no matter how it turns out. This was, for me, the problem. I knew intellectually that God would work through whatever happened, but I didn’t live and feel that way. Paul was convinced that regardless of how his trial went he would “not be ashamed.” Despite the fact that he could have avoided this whole imprisonment, he is confident that God will still be glorified through him.

The source of this confidence isn’t Paul’s own ability and wisdom; it’s because he is confident that the Spirit of God will so work through him that God will get the glory no matter what. But Paul adds that it is also through “your prayers.” In other words, he is saying that the Spirit of God will bring glory to himself - so you Philippians should pray that God would be glorified through Paul so that God can also answer your prayer and therefore be even more glorified.

In the same way, I ask that you also pray for me, that God would be glorified as I embark on this new chapter in God’s story for me. God will answer that prayer, so you can bring glory to God by simply asking for it.

IV. Through Standing Together Courageously

Paul ends this section with an appeal to walk worthy of the gospel. that is, the gospel is more than fire insurance; it implies a certain kind of lifestyle - not to attain heaven, but because we are already going there.

The Greek word translated “conduct” is πολιτεύομαι, which some translate as “live as a citizen” Philippi was a Roman Colony, and its citizens were very proud of their Roman citizenship. But Paul tells the Philippian Christians to count their citizenship elsewhere. To be a Christian is to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a kingdom we are waiting for. To be citizen of heaven implies a standard.

The Standard of the Gospel implies all that the Scriptures teach, but Paul here focuses on two things specifically. First is that they stand in unity. Since the Gospel is worth striving for; worth dying for, then it follows that living according to the Gospel Standard implies that we all put the gospel first and work together to spread it as far as possible. Thus, by working together for one supreme goal, unity is achieved as a necessary byproduct.

The second thing implied by the standard of the Gospel is that they courageously stand against the enemies of the gospel. This too is a necessary result of putting the Gospel first. If it is the most important thing, then there is nothing to fear from those who would attack it; and attack you because you believe it.

Paul grounds this confidence on the reality that two gifts are given to you by God; the first is faith. God is the one who worked in your life to lead you to believe; thus, the faith you have is a gift from God. That’s nice; the second gift is less nice - it’s given to you to suffer for Christ. I like faith; I don’t like suffering. But it really is a gift. How could suffering for Christ possibly be a gift? Because God is just - if you suffer unjustly for the gospel now, you will be similarly rewarded later when it matters so much more.

The impression that this courage leaves depends on whether you believe the gospel or not. To the opponents of the gospel, it just seems like Christians are too stubborn to be reasonable - that is, they assume that Christians will destroy themselves because they are too traditional to see the truth. But to those who believe the gospel, they see things the way they really are, that this courage stems from the confidence that God will deliver them from any mistreatment they might experience at the hand of their persecutors.

s