Philippians 1:12-18a
Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-13
This is Jane
Jane was born on March 24, 1820 in southeast New York
At only 6 weeks old, she developed an eye infection
And a local doctor gave her parents some bad medical advice…
Which left baby Jane permanently blind
Not long after that her father also passed away…
Leaving her 21 year old mother as a widow & single mother
Her grandmother pitched in & helped raise Jane
Her grandmother was determined to not let her blindness hold her back
She read her Shakespeare…
Taught her about nature
And read & helped her memorize the Scriptures
Starting at 10 years old…
Jane began memorizing 5 chapters of the Bible each week
It’s said that by the time she was 15…
She had memorized:
All 4 Gospel accounts
The Pentateuch
The book of Proverbs
The Song of Solomon
And many of the Psalms
She had an incredible memory…
Which some have said could be attributed to her blindness
Jane never considered her blindness to be a hinderance
One of her greatest passions became poetry
And she even wrote some short poems about her condition:
“Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.”
“How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don’t;
To weep and sigh because I’m blind,
I cannot, and I won’t.”
Despite being blind since infancy…
Jane was an incredibly joyful person
Once she was even quoted saying:
"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."
On another occasion she said:
“If at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind—because when I get to heaven, the first face I shall ever see will be the face of my blessed Savior.”
Jane wasn’t bitter about the life she had been given
She didn’t sulk or complain about her circumstances
She chose to have a better perspective
She had a joy that overflowed
And that joy can be seen in the lyrics…
To many of the hymns she would go on to create
It’s estimated that Frances Jane Crosby…
Or better known as Fanny Crosby…
Would go on to write over 8,000 hymns
And if this woman’s name still doesn’t ring a bell to you…
Maybe you’ll recognize some of the hymns she wrote:
Redeemed
Blessed Assurance
Blessed Hour of Prayer
Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross
All the Way My Savior Leads Me
All songs that we’ve sung this morning
Because Fanny chose to look at her poor circumstances
And see the good that God can bring out of them
We’re still singing her songs of praise & encouragement today
Even in her difficult circumstances…
Fanny had a joy that overflows
In our text in Philippians
We’re going to see Paul take that same perspective…
And overflow with joy…
Even while going through difficult times
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
The Philippians were likely worried about Paul…
So He is filling them in on how things are going
But what is he referring to when he says, “what has happened to me”?
What has happened to Paul?
For those who may not know…
Paul was a prisoner when he wrote to the Philippians
Normally, this would be the spot in the letter…
Where he tells them about all of his suffering as a prisoner
But, instead, he fills them in on how his mission is going
Anyone would have guessed that…
When the world’s greatest evangelist gets locked up…
That would be a huge blow against the spread of the gospel
But Paul is excited to tell them that the opposite is true
His imprisonment is actually…
Causing the gospel to spread even more!
In Paul’s final letter to Timothy, he put it this way:
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David; such is my gospel,9 for which I suffer hardship to the point of imprisonment as a criminal, but God’s message is not imprisoned!
Even though Paul is chained up & imprisoned…
The gospel is not
In fact, from Paul’s perspective…
God’s message is even more free than before
Because of his imprisonment…
The gospel is reaching people it never would have before
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
There are 2 positives that have come from Paul’s circumstances…
That have led to the furtherance of the gospel:
Paul is in prison because of his obedience to Jesus…
And because of his preaching of the gospel
Now Caesar’s entire legion of bodyguards…
Along with many others…
Know it
Paul isn’t some no-good criminal
He’s a good man who is being punished…
For proclaiming a message of love, grace, & hope…
That he believes with all his heart
And neither beatings, torture, or the threat of death…
Can cause him to renounce his faith
The gospel message paired with that kind of dedication…
Is making its way through the ranks of Caesar’s imperial guard
By the end of this letter…
It becomes clear that the gospel wasn’t just becoming known…
To those who live & work in Caesar’s household
But they are believing the Gospel message:
22 All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.
The 1st positive that is coming from Paul’s circumstance…
Is that the gospel is reaching the top of the Roman empire
Paul’s imprisonment is giving other Christians…
The courage to proclaim the gospel with more confidence & less fear
Apparently, many Christians were…
At least, hesitant to speak about the gospel…
And at most, afraid
What were they afraid of?
We aren’t told
But we can imagine they were afraid of…
What Christians have always been afraid of…
When it comes to speaking about Jesus:
Humiliation, persecution, physical harm
But when they saw/heard of how Paul…
Courageously & joyfully suffered for speaking about Jesus…
They discovered a newfound courage within themselves
Common sense would argue…
That they would become more fearful after hearing about Paul’s imprisonment…
But the opposite was the case
The 2nd positive of Paul’s imprisonment…
Was that more people were being encouraged to share the Gospel
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
Not all who were encouraged by Paul’s imprisonment…
Were encouraged for good reasons
Some of these Christians were jealous of Paul…
And proclaimed the message of Jesus…
In order to lift themselves up…
And make Paul’s situation even harder to bear
But the rest were encouraged out of love for Paul…
And an understanding that God put him in this situation for a reason:
To defend the gospel of Jesus before the highest world power
How does Paul respond to these mixed motives?
18a But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
It doesn’t bother Paul one bit that there are jealous siblings out there…
Proclaiming the message of Jesus with the purpose…
Of building themselves up & tearing him down
All he cares about is that the gospel message continue to spread
“They can seek to hurt me all they want…”
“So long as people are hearing the saving message of Jesus”
There are people out there who want Paul to hurt more than he already is
And all he does in response is:
Rejoice!
The spreading of the gospel was more important than his:
Freedom
Pride
Comfort
Like John the Baptizer…
Paul would gladly decrease to the point of non-existence…
If it meant that Jesus would continue to increase
Application
Application
Let’s face it:
We aren’t like Paul
We aren’t traveling missionaries
We aren’t sharing the Gospel with strangers every day
We aren’t establishing churches across the county/state/country/world
We aren’t presently at risk of being put in prison for our faith
And that’s okay
But are there principles in this text…
That can directly apply to our normal, everyday lives?
Do you remember the story of Joseph?
He was a very faithful man…
But wave upon wave of trouble came his way:
Mocked & hated by his brothers
Sold by his brothers into slavery
Accused of attempted rape of his master’s wife
Forgotten for years in prison
But the interesting thing about the story was that…
Each wave of trouble that hit him…
Was providentially guiding him to right where God wanted him to be
And in the end, he is ruling over Egypt, the greatest nation on earth
He recognizes God’s hand in all of it
And when his brothers eventually apologize to him…
He tells them:
“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Do you see those same words being relevant in Paul’s circumstances?
He’s being chained up by outsiders…
Because of his determination to spread the good news
Other Christians are trying to bring more distress upon him
But the more they all try to stop him…
The more the gospel seems to spread
They mean it for evil, but God means it for good
Do you think those words could be relevant in our lives today?
Maybe people or circumstances have brought evil upon you
But maybe, just maybe, God intends to bring about…
An even greater good from your suffering
Paul could have chosen to look at his circumstances as a curse
He could have felt sorry for himself
He could have laid down & given up his mission
But instead, he chose a different perspective
He believed his suffering had a purpose
He believed God placed him in his chains for a reason
He believed that God could turn his problems into a platform
He believed that God can bring good out of the worst situations
He believed that God can use his weakness to show God’s strength
He believed that God can use adverse situations to perfectly fulfill His will
But what about us?
How do we look at our circumstances?
How do we view our sufferings?
What perspective do we choose?
Do we complain & feel sorry for ourselves?
Do we lay down & view our unwanted circumstances as a curse?
If so, let’s put an end to that today
Let’s choose a better perspective—a faithful perspective
Instead of viewing our suffering as a time for self-pity…
Let’s begin viewing it as a time for God to be exalted
Instead of viewing our adverse circumstances as a curse…
Let’s begin viewing them as an opportunity…
To serve God & others in a unique situation…
That we’ve never been in before…
And may never be in again
Let’s start realizing that God wants to use…
Our circumstances, sufferings, weaknesses, problems, issues…
To do great things for His glory
I may say it in every lesson of this series:
Joy is all about perspective
Paul, while chained & imprisoned…
Was able to rejoice that his adverse circumstance…
Was being redeemed for God’s glory
We can have joy that overflows…
When we choose to see our suffering as an opportunity…
For Christ to be magnified
For God to be glorified
