Philippians 1:12-15 • When Christ Is Our Life Pt. 1

Review & Overview

1. Previous Study’s Review

Last week we finished up Paul’s introduction to this letter.

And we looked at Paul’s prayer. We learned that it was about spiritual growth.

From prison, he prayed that the Philippians’ love would keep growing, a love grounded in knowing God and guided by discernment.

Because that kind of love helps believers recognize what really matters, helps us live with sincere hearts, and walk in a way that honors Christ.

And Paul reminded us that real fruit in the Christian life doesn’t come from trying harder, but from Jesus working in us, and it was all for the glory of God.

2. New Series Overview

We are starting a new series titled: “When Christ Is Our Life”

“When Christ Is Our Life” is a five-part series through Philippians 1 that explores how a life fully centered on Jesus redefines everything else.

Paul shows us that when Christ is truly our life, circumstances no longer control us, Jesus does.

When Christ Is Our life…

This is what adversity looks like (Vs. 12-14).

This is what critics look like (Vs. 15-18).

This is what death looks like (Vs. 19-21).

This is what life looks like (22-26).

This is what Church looks like (Vs. 27-30).

This series invites us to examine not just what we believe, but what drives us.

Because when Christ is our life, joy remains steadfast, purpose stays clear, and the gospel keeps advancing, no matter the cost.

This series is going to answer one important question from multiple angles: What does it look like when Christ is truly your life?

3. Current Study’s Overview

And that brings us to our portion of scripture and our study for today… Read…

The title of today’s message is: When Christ Is Our Life, This is what Adversity Looks Like.

If you are taking notes we’re going to look at 3 principles we learn about adversity…

1. Adversity Advances the Mission Vs. 12

2. Adversity Amplifies the Message Vs. 13

3. Adversity Activates the Movement Vs. 14

1. Adversity Advances the Mission Vs. 12

1.1 Paul Reframes His Circumstances Vs. 12a

At first glance, most people would look at Paul’s situation and assume the worst.

He’s in prison. He’s chained. His freedom is gone.

You would naturally think his joy is crushed and his ministry is basically over.

But Paul makes it very clear that this is not what’s happening at all. In fact, the opposite is true.

He starts by saying, “I want you to know.”

That phrase shows up a lot in ancient letters, and we still use it today.

It’s a way of saying, “Pay attention, this really matters.”

It also hints that what he’s about to say might be misunderstood or unexpected.

Paul knows the Philippians could easily assume his imprisonment has shut everything down.

So he’s saying, “Don’t jump to conclusions. Let me explain what’s really going on.”

This phrase is similar to another phrase that Paul uses in 1 Cor 12:1 when he says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant.”

Here, he’s doing the positive version of that, making sure they clearly understand something important that might surprise them.

Because the natural assumption would be: Paul is in chains, the gospel is stuck, and the mission is stalled.

But Paul says, “That’s not true at all.”

1.2 Paul Reveals God’s Sovereign Purpose Vs. 12b

What “things” is Paul talking about?

He’s talking about his situation, being a prisoner, being chained to a Roman soldier, waiting to see if he’s gonna live or die.

It’s a heavy, uncertain, painful season. And yet Paul says something crazy:

these circumstances have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

In other words, God had a better plan than Paul, or anyone else, could have imagined.

What looked like the end of the ministry actually expanded it.

Instead of shutting things down, prison advanced the gospel forward.

The NASB translators translate this to say “greater progress,” but the word “actually” that Paul uses really means “rather”.

He’s saying, “Rather of things turning out the way you expected, they’ve turned out in the opposite direction.”

You’d think being locked up would stop me preaching.

Nope! The gospel Advanced anyway.

This makes sense when you remember what Paul lived for.

The Advancement of the gospel was his driving passion.

Everything else was secondary.

His comfort, reputation, career, and even his life didn’t matter as much as making Jesus known.

Acts 20:24 NKJV

24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Romans 1:15 “…I am ready to preach the gospel…”

1 Corinthians 9:16 “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

You see, Paul was compelled. He was driven.

And if the gospel advanced, he was satisfied.

APPLICATION: That raises a challenging question for us: what really drives our lives?

What dominates our time, energy, money, and thinking? For Paul, it was always the gospel.

APPLICATION: Understand this: What drives us determines how we respond to adversity.

If comfort drives us, adversity will wreck us.

But if the gospel drives us, hardship becomes a platform.

1.3 Paul Declares the Gospel’s Forward Progress Vs. 12c

Now, the word Paul uses for “furtherance” is important.

It’s the Greek word prokopē. It doesn’t just mean moving forward, it means moving forward against resistance.

It was often used to describe an army cutting through trees and obstacles to clear a path.

FURTHERANCE: The idea is advancement despite opposition.

That’s exactly what Paul is saying.

The gospel is advancing, even though there are obstacles.

Rome is hostile. Paul is imprisoned. But none of that stopped the message.

In fact, the gospel pushed through the resistance.

And BTW this isn’t new. Paul had faced opposition his entire ministry.

1 Corinthians 16:9 NKJV

9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

He stayed in Ephesus in spite of adversaries.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 NKJV

2 But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.

They preached the gospel despite much conflict.

You see, the resistance never stopped him.

And Paul says something similar in…

2 Timothy 2:9 NKJV

9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.

This is the same pattern we see throughout Scripture.

Joseph told his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Paul could say the same to Rome.

Even the crucifixion of Jesus fits this pattern.

They tried to silence Him by killing Him, and His death became the means of salvation.

In Acts 8, persecution scattered the church, and that scattering spread the gospel everywhere.

You see, every attempt to stop God’s work only ends up advancing it.

APPLICATION: And this is important for us to understand because typically when adversity comes our way…

We usually pull back, we stop speaking, we stop serving, and we stay quiet.

But Paul shows us the opposite: adversity is often the very moment God uses to advance His mission.

APPLICATION: So the question isn’t whether adversity will come, the question is will we retreat when adversity comes?

Will we trust God to advance the mission through us in spite of our adversity?

2. Adversity Amplifies the Message Vs. 13

This is a big statement!

Notice how Paul describes his situation.

He never says he’s a prisoner because he committed a crime.

He always says he’s a prisoner for Christ.

He preached Christ, believed in Christ, and represented Christ, and that’s why he’s in chains.

Acts 28:17 NKJV

17 …he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

Throughout this letter Paul mentions his chains multiple times.

Colossians 4:18 “…Remember my chains…”

Philemon 13 “… chains for the gospel.”

In Ephesians 3:1, he calls himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

So it’s very clear that Paul saw his imprisonment through a spiritual lens…

and here is the crazy part! so did everyone else.

Verse 13 says it became evident that Paul was in prison because of Christ, not because he was a criminal.

And that reputation spread.

In Acts 28:20 and Ephesians 6:20, Paul uses a specific word for his chains: halusis.

This wasn’t a long chain or a dungeon setup. It was a short chain that connected Paul’s wrist to the wrist of a Roman soldier.

They were about a foot or two apart. That meant no privacy. No escape.

For two full years, day and night, Paul was physically chained to one soldier after another.

Now think about what that meant.

Paul says his imprisonment became known throughout the whole Palace Guard. Why?

Because those were the men chained to him.

And let’s be honest, it’s one thing for Paul to be chained to a soldier, but it’s another thing for a soldier to be chained to Paul.

Imagine trying to avoid a gospel conversation when you’re chained to the Apostle Paul for six hours at a time.

That’s an evangelism strategy no one could have planned.

While believers may have been praying, “Lord, help us reach Caesar’s household. Help us reach the elite guard,”

God answered that prayer in a surprising way, by sending Paul to prison.

One by one, soldiers rotated in.

They saw Paul’s life up close, his patience, love, wisdom, peace, courage, and conviction.

They heard his message. And those soldiers became messengers themselves, spreading the news about this man who was imprisoned simply for preaching Christ.

We know that people were being converted because of what Paul says later in…

Philippians 4:22 NKJV

22 All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

Slowly but surely, the gospel was reaching the very center of Roman power.

Paul’s imprisonment gave him an unusual platform.

Acts 28 tells us that crowds came to him.

Acts 28:30–31 NKJV

30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Jews came, some believed, some didn’t.

For two years, Paul kept preaching as people came and went.

But the gospel spread most effectively through the people closest to him, the Praetorian Guards.

The KJV says “palace guard”, make it sound like its a location.

but most scholars agree the word “praetorian guard” refering to a group of people, not a building.

Paul wasn’t in a palace, he was in a rented house.

The Praetorian Guard was the emperor’s elite military unit.

Paul, as a prisoner, was placed under their authority.

That meant he was chained, one after another, to some of the most powerful soldiers in the Roman Empire.

So what looked like a setback became an open door.

And it wasn’t just Paul’s ability to explain the gospel that impacted them.

It was the context. Paul spoke with joy, peace, and confidence while suffering deeply.

His life was on the line. He could be executed at any moment.

The soldiers knew it, and Paul knew they knew it.

His message was credible because it came from a man who lived what he preached during adversity.

And what was the result?

Saints began appearing in Caesar’s household. That’s crazy!

APPLICATION: So what does this mean for us?

Many people think, “I can’t preach. I’m not a missionary. I’m stuck at my job.”

But maybe that’s your chain. Maybe you’re chained to a desk, a classroom, an assembly line, a vehicle, or a routine.

Paul shows us that where you’re “chained” may be exactly where God wants to use you.

APPLICATION: Hard places can actually make the gospel more believable.

When people see Christlike character in adversity, the contrast is clear.

Paul’s prison didn’t silence the gospel, it amplified it.

APPLICATION: You see, your suffering & adveristy can give weight & credibility to your words and your faith.

Understand this: God often amplifies His message through the places we feel most confined.

3. Adversity Activates the Movement Vs. 14

Paul has shown that the gospel was spreading outside the church through his imprisonment.

Now in verse 14, he explains that something powerful was also happening inside the church.

He says that most of the brothers had become more confident in the Lord because of his chains and were now speaking the word of God with boldness.

And that tells us something important:

before Paul was imprisoned, the church likely had some courage, but not a lot.

They were probably hesitant. And honestly, that makes sense.

Christianity was becoming more dangerous.

Opposition was growing. Paul himself was living proof of that danger, since he was literally in prison for preaching Christ.

So it wouldn’t be surprising if some believers were thinking, “Let’s be careful. We don’t want to lose our freedom. We don’t want to end up in jail too.”

So instead of bold preaching, there was fear, caution, and restraint.

They may have thought that imprisonment would shut down ministry and stop the gospel from moving forward.

But Paul’s situation proved the opposite.

When the church saw how God was sustaining Paul, protecting him, and actually using him more than ever, everything changed.

Paul wasn’t silenced. He was preaching.

He was reaching people in Caesar’s household.

The whole city of Rome knew why he was imprisoned. People were being saved.

The gospel was clearly advancing, not shrinking.

Verse 14 says that MOST, not just a few, but MOST, of the brothers were impacted by this.

And the word translated “having become confident” means they were now fully convinced.

They trusted the Lord in a deeper way.

They realized something simple but powerful:

If God could work through Paul while he was chained to a Roman soldier, then God could work through them too.

Paul’s courage became their courage.

His faith strengthened their faith. His example renewed their boldness.

And as a result, they began speaking the word of God more bold and without fear.

That’s the impact of one faithful life in adversity.

One man’s obedience in adversity ended up strengthening an entire church.

ILLUSTRATION: There’s a woman named Joni Eareckson Tada.

When she was seventeen years old, she dove into shallow water and broke her neck. Instantly, she became paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Now if you and I were watching that moment in real time, we would assume the same thing:

Her life is over. Her ministry is over. God must be done.

But that’s not what happened.

At first, Joni struggled deeply. She was angry, depressed, and full of questions for God. But over time, instead of shrinking back, she leaned in. Instead of retreating, she trusted the Lord.

And something unexpected happened.

Her suffering didn’t silence her voice — it amplified it. Her wheelchair didn’t limit her influence — it expanded it.

People watched how she endured. They saw her joy. They heard her faith. They realized, “If God can sustain her, then God can sustain me.”

And what started as one young woman confined to a bed turned into a global ministry. Books were written. Lives were changed. A movement was activated.

Here’s the point: Joni’s adversity didn’t just shape her faith — it activated courage in others.

Her chains emboldened people. Her suffering gave permission for others to step out in faith. Her obedience sparked boldness in those watching.

That’s exactly what Paul is describing in Philippians 1:14.

Paul didn’t mean to start a movement from prison — but that’s what happened. And Joni didn’t mean to start a movement from a wheelchair — but that’s what God did.

Adversity doesn’t have to make us shrink. When it’s surrendered to God, it activates something bigger than us.

Your adversity may be the very thing God uses to embolden someone else’s faith.

ENDING…