Philippians 1:15-18 • When Christ Is Our Life Pt. 2

Review & Overview

1. New Series Overview

Last week started a new series titled: “When Christ Is Our Life.”

This series is going to walk us through Philippians 1. And throughout this series, we’re asking one main question:

What does it look like when Christ is truly your life?

Paul shows us that when Christ is our life, circumstances don’t control us, Jesus does.

And we’re going to see how that plays out in real areas of life:

adversity, criticism, death, everyday living, and even how the church functions.

At the heart of it, this series isn’t just about what we believe, but what drives us, and what happens when the gospel becomes most important no matter the cost.

2. Previous Study’s Review

Last Sunday we kicked off our series When Christ Is Our Life by looking at verses 12–14 and we saw how Adversity looks like when Christ is Our Life.

We saw how Paul handled adversity From prison, Paul showed us that hard seasons don’t stop God’s work, they often Advance God’s work.

And even though he was chained up, the gospel wasn’t. His imprisonment actually opened doors, spreading the message to the Roman guards and even into Caesar’s household.

And it didn’t stop there. Watching Paul stay faithful in adversity gave other believers courage, and they began sharing the gospel more boldly and without fear.

We learned that when Christ is truly our life, adversity becomes a platform God uses to advance His mission.

3. Current Study’s Overview

And that brings us to Vs. 15 and 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 Critics Look Like Pt. 2/5.

1. Paul’s Critics Vs. 15a & 16

2. Paul’s Companions Vs. 15b & 17

3. Pauls Conclusion Vs. 18

1. Paul’s Critics Vs. 15a & 16

1.1 Paul’s Critics Preach Christ Vs. 15a

Notice Paul starts with a surprising and uncomfortable reality.

He says, “Some indeed preach Christ…”

And that word “some” is important.

He’s talking about some of the very same brothers he mentioned in verse 14, he’s speaking of other Christian preachers.

Philippians 1:14 “and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Then Paul adds a word to the mix that seems unnecessary: “indeed.”

Why did he say that? I think because what he’s about to describe is hard to believe. It’s shocking. You almost want to say, “Are you serious?”

Paul is basically saying, “As unbelievable as this sounds, it’s true. I’m not exaggerating. Don’t doubt me.”

Some people were really preaching Christ while attacking Paul, even while he was in prison for the gospel.

Now pause there for a second. I want to make it clear: These were not false teachers.

They weren’t Judaizers who preached another gospel.

They weren’t promoting a different Jesus.

They weren’t idol worshipers, Gnostics, or heretics.

These men were preaching Christ: The real Christ, the real gospel.

Paul makes that very clear by repeating it three times:

Verse 15: They “preach Christ”

Verse 16: They “preach Christ”

Verse 18: “Christ is preached”

Their theology was sound. Their problem wasn’t what they preached, it was why they preached.

1.2 Paul’s Critics Have Wrong Motives Vs. 15a

That’s the issue. Their motive.

Envy, man, is ugly. They were envious of Paul.

Envy Definition - Is spite & resentment toward the success or possessions of another.

They were… Envious of his gifts.

Envious of his influence.

Envious of his success.

Envious of how deeply people loved and trusted him.

Envious that God’s hand was clearly on his life.

Paul was the standard child of God. He wasn’t perfect I get it, but He was respected. He was fruitful. He carried authority. And that threatened their pride.

APPLICATION: Here’s the reality, envy doesn’t usually show up in an obvious way.

Most of the time it shows up sounding spiritual. It sounds like concern, or critique, or “just being discerning.”

And the honest truth is, the moment God starts using someone, blessing them, or giving them influence, envy has a way of showing up, even in the church.

APPLICATION: And I think Paul doesn’t just want us to spot envious critics out there.

He wants us to look in the mirror and ask the question: Are we the envious ones?

Do we rejoice when God uses someone else, or are we quietly envious?

When Christ is really our life, someone else’s success doesn’t bother us.

Because, we’re on the same mission.

And then notice, their envy turned into strife. That’s the word for conflict, rivalry, contention.

They saw Paul as competition. And instead of celebrating that the gospel is advancing, they tried to advance themselves by tearing him down.

And you know what’s sad, this isn’t new, and it’s not rare.

Paul includes this in the bible not so that we feel sorry for him, but so that we understand how things sometimes work in the church, unfortunately.

So understand: God cares not only about what we preach, but why we preach it. Motive matters to God.

And there have always been people in ministry who preach truth with wrong motives, driven by ego, rivalry, and envy.

They preach Christ, but they secretly resent anyone who seems more blessed, more fruitful, or more respected.

Something we don’t get in our text is, how they were attacking Paul?

Paul doesn’t give details. He doesn’t defend himself. Because he’s not interested in self-promotion.

But it’s not hard to imagine what they were saying:

Some were probably claiming that his imprisonment was God’s discipline: “There must be secret sin in Paul’s life.”

Others were probably saying, “God has benched Paul so people would listen to them instead: “Paul is old news. He’s in jail. God is doing a new work in us.”

There were probably a bunch of different accusations, but same goal: it was all to discredit Paul.

And that’s kinda painful to even think about. It’s disgusting actually.

Here’s a man who gave his life to Christ, who suffered more than most believers ever will, who poured himself out for the church,

and now he’s being attacked by fellow preachers while sitting in jail.

And unfortunately, this is the reality of ministry in a sinful world and a church filled with sinners.

Even preaching Christ doesn’t shield you from envy.

But Paul doesn’t lose heart, because his joy isn’t tied to approval. It’s tied to Christ being preached.

1.3 The Reason for their Wrong Motives Vs. 16

Paul continues to talk about this same group and lets us see what’s really going on in their hearts.

He says, “The former preach Christ…” and once again he makes it clear: these people are preaching the true gospel.

This is the second time he stresses that. The message itself is right.

But then he exposes the problem: they preach Christ out of selfish ambition.

That’s the issue. The motive is wrong.

Their hearts are the opposite of what Paul will later command in…

Philippians 2:3 NKJV

3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Paul is basically saying, “Don’t act like these guys.”

They preach Christ, but not from pure motives. Their driving force is selfish ambition, one of the ugliest motives ever.

And you know, the Bible warns us about wrong motives while in ministry all over the place:

1 Peter 5:2 warns those in ministry against serving for money.

1 Peter 5:3 warns those in ministry against craving power and control.

3 John 9 talks about a man named Diotrephes, who loved being the most important.

And here in Philippians, Paul shows another dangerous motive for those in ministry: selfish ambition.

These men wanted recognition, influence, status, and prominence.

The Greek word Paul uses for “selfish ambition” is eritheia, and it’s an interesting word.

Originally, it simply meant working for pay, nothing bad by itself.

But over time, it came to describe someone who works only for personal gain. Someone focused entirely on themselves.

Eventually, the word became associated with politics, people campaigning for office, promoting themselves, doing whatever it takes to climb higher.

It described a competitive, self-centered drive that didn’t care who got hurt along the way.

That’s exactly what was happening here.

These men saw Paul’s imprisonment as an opportunity. Paul was the most respected voice.

He was the standard. So if they could tear him down while he was vulnerable, they could lift themselves up.

That’s how selfish ambition works. You don’t attack people at your level, you go after the person at the top.

APPLICATION: Selfish ambition is one of the most disgusting sins in the church, and one of the most destructive.

Selfish ambitio uses Jesus. It preaches truth while quietly competing, comparing, and cutting others down to climb higher.

Paul is exposing something very twisted: you can preach the right gospel and still have the wrong heart.

APPLICATION: When ministry becomes about being noticed, protecting our platform, or resenting those God has blessed,

we are no longer serving Jesus we are serving ourselves.

Now notice there at the end of Vs. 16, Paul says they were even “supposing to add affliction to my chains.”

In other words, they wanted to hurt him.

And that’s really heartbreaking.

They weren’t trying to protect the church.

They weren’t guarding doctrine.

They weren’t motivated by love for Christ or concern for souls.

They wanted to cause Paul pain.

The greek word Paul uses for “affliction” is thlipsis, which literally means pressure or friction.

It speaks of chains rubbing on raw skin. These men were piling emotional and spiritual pain on top of Paul’s physical suffering.

Spreading rumors, questioning his integrity, attacking his character.

Their goal wasn’t to glorify Jesus. It wasn’t the church’s growth. It wasn’t the gospel’s purity.

Their goal was to discredit Paul so people would stop trusting him and start following them.

And BTW, Paul includes this not because he wants sympathy, he never asks for that.

He includes this because he doesn’t want us to be naive.

This happened to him. And It will probably happen to you.

And here’s the key question, did this steal Paul’s joy? No.

Chains couldn’t steal his joy. Critics couldn’t steal his joy. False motives couldn’t steal his joy.

As long as Christ was being preached, Paul rejoiced.

And that’s exactly where Paul takes us in verse 18, so hold that thought.

Paul’s Critics Vs. 15a & 16

2. Paul’s Companions Vs. 15b & 17

Because Paul has just described something pretty ugly, believers attacking another believer, even attacking an apostle, just to build themselves up.

That’s kinda hard to read, honestly. And it reminds us that even inside the church, motives can get ugly.

But Paul makes it clear that not everyone was like that. Praise God…

2.1 Goodwill Vs. 15b

That word “good will” comes from the Greek word eudokia, and it means genuine pleasure, contentment, or approval.

These were people who were at peace with what God was doing in Paul’s life, and also content with what God was doing in their own lives.

They weren’t threatened by Paul. They weren’t jealous of his influence. They weren’t trying to replace him.

They were simply grateful for him.

They had goodwill toward Paul. They supported him. They were thankful for his ministry.

They were content with his role and content with their own role.

And Paul thanks God for people like that, because people like that are a gift.

They encourage, strengthen, and bring joy rather than division.

APPLICATION: And this should encourage us to be that kind of Christian who celebrates what God is doing in others, not competes with it.

We should Choose goodwill over envy, and contentment over competition.

Because the church doesn’t need more people trying to replace others, it needs people who are thankful for the role God has given them and genuinely glad when God blesses someone else.

APPLICATION: Goodwill says, “I’m glad God is using you,” Envy says, “I wish it were me.”

So, choose goodwill.

Then in verse 17, Paul tells us why these people preached the way they did, and it was because “They do it out of love.”

2.2 Out of Love Vs. 17

That’s the key difference. The envious group lacked love. This group was driven by love.

And that’s important. Because the Bible is clear: love is the foundation of all faithful ministry.

Paul taught this in 1 Corinthians 13: If I speak with the tongues of men and angels but don’t have love, I’m just noise.

If I have knowledge, faith, and spiritual gifts but don’t have love, I am nothing.

In other words, truth without love still misses the heart of God.

These believers preached Christ because they loved Paul. They cared about him. They understood his calling.

And notice there at the end of Vs. 17, Paul says they knew something important, that: “Paul was appointed for the defense of the gospel.”

They knew Paul wasn’t in prison because he failed. He wasn’t there because he sinned. He wasn’t there because God was done with him.

He was there because God put him there.

The word “appointed” is a military word.

It means set in place or on duty. Just like a soldier assigned to a post, Paul was stationed by God exactly where he was meant to be. He was on assignment.

APPLICATION: And that should challenges us.

Wherever God has you right now, school, work, a hard season, or a place you didn’t choose, live in a way that makes it obvious you’re there on purpose.

Not stuck. benched. but Appointed. When we walk with love, faithfulness, and consistency, people around us begin to see that God placed us there, not by accident, but on mission.

APPLICATION: Because understand this: You may not like where you are, but if God has you there, live like you were sent.

And the word “defense” is the word apologia, the basis for apologetics.

Paul was God’s chosen defender of the gospel, even in jail, even before Roman authority, even while waiting for a verdict.

1. Paul’s Critics Vs. 15a & 16 2. Paul’s Companions Vs. 15b & 17

3. Paul’s Conclusion Vs. 18

Here Paul starts with a simple phrase: “What then?”

In other words, “So what?”, So what if some people are attacking me?

So what if their motives are wrong?

And what is Paul’s answer? “Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached.”

That’s it! That’s the only thing that matters to him.

Paul says, “In every way.” Every method. Every situation. Every motive.

Whether it’s done in pretense, meaning hypocrisy, fake motives, selfish ambition, or in truth, with sincere hearts and genuine love.

Paul says, it doesn’t matter, the bottom line is this: Christ is being preached.

And that’s enough for him.

And notice at the end, Paul says, “In this I rejoice.”

He’s not rejoicing in jealousy. He’s not rejoicing in selfish ambition. He’s not rejoicing in sinful motives.

He’s rejoicing because Jesus is being made known.

Here’s the key truth Paul understands: The power is in the gospel, not the messenger.

In other words, God can still use the truth even when the person delivering it has mixed motives.

Not as much as He could, not as cleanly as He should, but the truth is still powerful.

The gospel doesn’t lose its power just because the preacher’s heart isn’t right.

So, Paul knows that. So he says, “I’m not worried about me.”

God knows his heart. God knows the truth. Paul has entrusted his reputation to the Lord.

What matters to him is that people aren’t hearing Buddha or muhammad.

What matters is that they aren’t hearing lies. They’re hearing Jesus.

And because of that, Paul says, “I rejoice, and yes, I will rejoice.”

His present joy will carry into the future as long as Christ is preached.

Paul didn’t care who got the credit. He didn’t care who looked good. He didn’t care who got the platform.

He lived for one thing: the Advancing of the gospel.

That’s real spiritual maturity. Even with chains on his wrists, soldiers watching him day and night, freedom gone, ministry restricted,

and critics attacking his character, Paul doesn’t quit, doesn’t retaliate, doesn’t lose his joy.

Why?

Because Christ is being preached. That’s all he lived for. That’s all he cared about.

And only the grace of Christ can give someone that kind of heart.

ENDING…