The Unstoppable Gospel (Philippian 1:12-18)

Introduction

The Gospel Advances Through Adversity (v.12-14)

Read Philippians 1:12–14 “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 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 greek term for advance here means “blazing a trail before an army, progressing in wisdom, and the progress of a young minister.”

And Paul was doing just that, he was blazing a trail right through the heart of the Roman Empire.

Paul was imprisoned because he was faithful to share the Gospel the Roman officials through putting him in prison would make him stop, but it went much differently than they had hoped.

Instead of being able to head to Spain or other countries, Paul was given an audience he wouldn’t likely otherwise be able to reach for the gospel and he took full advantage of that.

Paul probably had big plans for what he was going to do in Spain, let’s face it, who wouldn’t rather be in Spain as a free man rather than in Rome as a prisoner.

But beyond that, he probably had churches he aimed to plant and people he aimed to share the gospel to, but God had different plans for him.

And not only was God’s plan different, but it was drastically different.

How many of you guys have had a time where you had something planned out and it fell through?

We love to make plans for our future don’t we?

Tell the story about trying to buy the car a few weeks ago.

I don’t know what the outcome of this story is going to be, but we both agreed on the way home that night that while we had our mind made up on what we were going to do, God had different plans for us.

Paul had every right to be upset about where he was in his current situation.

I mean wouldn’t you be? He was sold out for Jesus and he was in prison AGAIN.

But he wasn’t upset at all because his focus wasn’t on himself but on advancing the Gospel by any means necessary wherever God put him.

He viewed his circumstances not as a negative but as an opportunity to live a Gospel Advancing lifestyle.

Make no mistake friends, where you go to school, the clubs and teams you are on, the family you are in, where you live, etc. did not happen by mistake.

The friendships and relationships you are in right now are not mistakes.

God has you right where He wants you for exactly the purpose He has planned for you, what are you doing with your circumstances?

How many times has you felt that pull to invite someone to church and you didn’t?

How many times did God convict you to share the Gospel with someone in a class, in your home, or wherever and you were too busy or distracted?

Paul’s example here is that the gospel should be proclaimed in all areas of our lives no matter our circumstances.

So where do you need to start doing that?

Are you proclaiming the gospel anywhere in your life?

Paul goes on in verse 13 to talk about the reach that the gospel is starting to have because of his willingness to live in this way.

It says that the gospel has become known throughout the “whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment”

At this time there were likely to be about 9,000 soldiers in the Imperial Guard.

As Paul proclaimed the gospel, many of those soldiers came to know the gospel and believe in it.

Likely, many of the soldiers too came to be believers in Christ because of Paul’s faithfulness.

And it would be fair to say that because of Paul’s faithfulness, there were others who were hearing the gospel from those people who were giving their life to Christ.

Paul’s obedience was causing a ripple effect.

This example reminds me of two stories that I have heard, one about Jeff and one about Stephen.

Jeff was a high school football player in Texas an by all account Jeff was quick to share the gospel wherever the opportunity arose.

Jeff’s willingness to live evangelistically caught the eye and the ear of a scrawny 6’5” kid named Matt who eventually went on to become a Christian because of Jeff’s willingness to make the gospel central to his life.

Stephen also lived this way.

In college, Stephen played shortstop and along the way, he was faithful to share the gospel with his double-play partner Tony.

These are common stories we hear pretty often around here, praise the Lord.

One friend, shares the gospel with another or lives out a Godly example for those around them.

As a matter of fact, I heard that very same testimony in the last few weeks with someone who gave their life to Christ here. I overheard them tell the person who walked with them as they gave their life to Christ how much of an impact they have had on their lives and how that example helped them get to that point.

Why did I tell you about Jeff and Stephen?

Because they were two ordinary guys who prioritized the Gospel.

But why are Matt and Tony imporant?

Matt is Matt Chandler who is the pastor of the Village Church in Dallas who has a membership in thousands and has preached the gospel all over the world seeing hundreds if not thousands come to know Christ.

Tony is Tony Merida who is the Pastor at Imago Dei Church in Raleigh North Carolina who too has seen hundreds of not thousands come to know Christ through his teaching.

Both of these guys have not only had that impact on non-believers, but they have written several best selling books which have help people refocus their life on Christ, fix their marriages, become better parents, become better preachers and ministers, and on and on.

Those simple conversations that Jeff and Stephen had in situation much like you guys exist in every single day, have had a massive evangelistic ripple effect.

Now are you going to lead the next Matt Chandler or Tony Merida to Christ?

Maybe, but by choosing to prioritize the gospel in your life, God might very well use you to share the gospel with someone who might because a missionary, a pastor, a Godly husband or wife, a Godly parent, a charitable giver, etc.

You never know what God can do with your obedience and what kind of impact it could have if you were just willing to be faithful and prioritize the gospel.

Paul goes on about the impact of the Gospel in verse 14.

Read Philippians 1:14 “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Paul’s faithfulness and boldness were inspiring others to be faithful and bold with the gospel.

Not only were people giving their lives to Christ in the prison, but there were followers who were free men and women who were also seeing others in their circles give their lives to Christ.

Paul’s impact gave them the boldness to stand opposed to what was culturally accepted.

What kind of impact are you having on those around you?

I know we all want to be cute, cool, and accepted, but imagine if your legacy in school was that you were bold for the gospel.

Imagine how much more impactful that would be for the Kingdom than you cool Instagram posts or keeping up with the newest fashion trends.

Imagine how many lives could be changed if the gospel become a part of everything you do every day, not just a few hours a week or a few weeks in the summer.

I have said it before and I will say it again, if this group in this room tonight got serious about prioritizing the gospel the way that Paul did, revival would break out.

Who is a part of your gospel ripple?

Paul had prisoners, guards, people all over Rome, and people all over the known world coming to know christ and boldly proclaiming the gospel.

Who have you impacted, who have you shared the gospel with, who have you invited to church or to Falls Creek?

You don’t have to be Paul to be impactful, you just have to be obedient. Are you?

One last story before we move on to the next part of this passage.

Tell the story of Taylor Sossamon

I am a part of his Gospel ripple and many of you are too.

You have no clue who that guy is, but because he was faithful to live out the gospel I accepted Christ which led me to right now serving as your youth pastor.

Many of you are a part of my gospel ripple, and because you are, you are a part of his too.

We know the gospel advances through our adversity, it also advances because of Christ’s glory.

Love Christ’s Glory More Than Your Own (v.15-18)

Read Philippians 1:15–18 “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,”

Paul gives two examples of people doing the work for the Kingdom here: those who are envious and those who are empathetic.

Those who are envious focus on:

Comparison with others.

They create a rivalry of sorts with others and hate to see them be successful or get praised.

They might tear someone else down to help make themselves look better.

Those who are empathetic focus on:

The gospel and proclaiming it

They care about people and celebrate wins

They serve out of goodwill and seek to fulfil the mission of Christ because they want to bring glory to him not themselves.

This comparison brings about three applications:

Beware of jealousy and envy in the way that you serve.

Be careful to not compare yourself to others.

You don’t know where they have been and what it took to get there.

If someone is leading better than you or living better than you, become their friends to you can figure out why, don’t just be jealous and bitter because they are.

Celebrate their successes in their faith.

Imagine if it became a part of our culture where we celebrated someone being led to Christ as much as we did a game-winning hit or a game-winning touchdown.

Focus on caring more about Jesus’ glory than your own.

Ultimately, you are just the vehicle for Christ to work.

You have to be willing to go where you are led, but it’s Christ who saves and changes lives.

There is really no glory to be had for you when someone comes to know Christ, it’s ALL about what Christ did in their lives.

Beware of the temptation to promote yourself.

As you grow in your walk with Christ and maybe become a leader in our student ministry or in a church down the road, God may allow you to have some influence with those around you.

People may start looking up to you, especially if you lead them in discipleship or lead them to Christ.

And it might become easy start thinking that you are more valuable than someone else because you are a leader or because you are active in you walk with Christ.

Be remember James’ words in chapter 4 of his book:

Read James 4:6–7 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Pride comes from Satan and will only hurt your ability to advance the gospel, but humility will allow you to continue serving and seeing your ripple grow.

This of the old story of the The Tortoise and the Hare. The two animals were racing and the hare got out to a commanding lead but got sidetracked with pride and decided to take a nap while the tortoise remain constant and ultimately won the race.

You will be far more impactful if you choose humility than you would every be if you allow yourself to be prideful.

Pray for God to give you grace to minister out of love for Him and others.

Very simply put, we should be asking God to allow us to serve and proclaim the gospel because we have a overwhelming burden for the lost because of how much we love God and those who don’t know Christ.

We should never proclaim the gospel or serve God for selfish gain or any reason other than it being an outpouring of love and worship to God.

Conclusion

So what’s the takeaway here?

I often laugh as I watch professional sports as the coaches halftime interviews.

The reporters often asks what they need to do better to perform better and often the answers are something like “block better, tackle better, etc.”

Those guys who are making millions of dollars and are some of the brightest minds in their sports have simplified a whole half of football or whatever sport down to just being better at the fundamentals.

That that’s exactly what Paul is doing here.

He is saying living a gospel advancing life is as simple as making Jesus your focus and proclaiming the gospel your priority.

One of the commentaries I read in preparation for this message suggested that the gospel should be apart of every conversation we have.

Think about how you talk with your friends and family.

Does the gospel or what God is going ever come up?

If we aren’t making the gospel a priority in our conversations with fellow believers, how could we ever expect to make it a priority with those who aren’t yet believers?

Where do you need to be more gospel advancing?

Naaman is going to come up and play another song for us in just a minute but before he does, there are some ways that I want to encourage you to respond if God is so calling you to do so.

First, salvation.

Second, obedience.

Third, where or with whom do you been to be more gospel advancing?

Spend some time praying for God to give you the burden, opportunity, and boldness to proclaim the gospel in those situations and with those people.