Philippians 1:12-20

Pre Intro: What’s up guys, for those of you who are knew, I’m not a student, my name’s Seth I was an intern over last summer and stuck around because when it comes to pick up basketball, someone has to keep y’all humbled and it ain’t gonna be Chris with that jump shot. All seriousness I appreciate Chris giving me opportunities to teach, and I am very happy and excited to teach the text he’s given me which we are going to look at tonight.

Intro: Open your Bible’s to Philippians Chapter 1 where we are going to be in verses 12-18. The reason I am so excited to teach this particular passage, is that this passage, along with verses 19-26, which I believe will be taught next week, is one of the most encouraging, joyful, optimistic passages in the entire scripture. And when you read this passage, within the context of the situation Paul is in, and with the understanding of what led to this, you have no other choice but to ask yourself, “How in the world is this guy so optimistic and joyful?”. And so what we are going to do tonight is we are going to dive deep into the context, understand the full picture of Paul’s situation and what led to his imprisonment, and then examine the ways in the text in which he expresses his joy, and identify the source of it.

And I have been captivated by this series because this book demonstrates a foundational idea that is just so overlooked by Christians today and that is just the immense joy being a follower of Christ. You know so many have the notion, and it just kills me to think about, but many hold the idea that Christianity is just a strict set of rules that sucks the fun out of your life. And then even with mature Christians, we know thats not true, but we can get in this terrible place where all we have is just this mindless pursuit of maturity. Where we come to Church and all we listen for are the application points, and the sins we need to work on, instead of coming and just simply beholding Christ. And look if this is all you see of Christianity, you need to start reading your Bible, because what really jumps off the pages, are the incredible blessings of following God, the purpose, the contentment, the peace, the unimaginable Joy.

This is why I love the video Chris showed in the first sermon of this series. You see Tom Brady, after his second super bowl victory, man he’s just conquered the world, he’s just won life. He was the Best player on the best team, of the most popular sport, of the biggest nation of the World. He had more money, fame, recognition, and level of achievement then you and I could ever dream of attaining. And after the pinnacle of his success, achieving what he sacrificed his whole life to achieve, all he could say was “There’s got to be more than this”.

But then we see paul, who’s life after following Christ resembled suffering, low status, betrayal, hatred from people unlike anything we have ever experienced, and in the midst of the lowest point of his ministry, he writes this letter which might just be the most joyful, optimistic historical text to ever exist.

Context: So to better grasp the immense joy we find in Christ, as well understand the full picture and meaning of the text we will be in tonight, lets backtrack and examine the context of this letter and the events that led paul to this situation.

In Acts 20, Paul finishes his 3rd missionary journey and now has his heart set on reaching Spain, but before reaching Spain, Paul has a conviction to go to Jerusalem and meet with James and some of the Jewish believers. So in Acts 21 he heads down to Jerusalem. Now remember Paul’s background, he was a prominent Jewish figure, a pharisee, until God radically converted him to Christianity and gave him the role of being the Apostle to the Gentiles. And if you remember, Jews and Gentiles(who were non-jews) hated each other, with honestly most of that hatred coming from the Jews, and so in that time your typical Jew had such distain for Gentiles that they even thought them to be unclean and would avoid them like the plague. So Paul being the representative for the Gentiles in this fast growing religion, makes him hated amongst the Jews. So after a week of being in Jerusalem, a few Jews spot him and just immediately ambush him. Acts 21:30 “The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.”

They were trying to kill him, but then the Romans, who had control over Jerusalem at the time, spotted the riots, arrests Paul, but allows Paul to say a word to the Crowds who were trying to kill him. So in Acts 22, Paul starts to address the Jewish Crowds who tried to kill him, and in a defense he pretty much just shares to them his testimony, and at the end of this testimony he says verse 21, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” and the crowds begun to riot again. In chapter 23 The Romans are now desperate to silence these riots so they try to understand this dispute, they have Paul flogged and interrogate him, then they bring him before the sanhedrin, which is like the most prominent council in Judaism, it’s like the Jewish Supreme Court, and he gives a defense of his calling in front of this council until the council gets so violent that the Romans again had to escort Paul away because they were scared he would get killed. Later in 23 a bunch of Jews conspire to kill Paul, swearing they wouldn’t eat or drink anything until Paul was dead, so they try to organize another Sanhedrin council were they would kill him. A Roman Commander Claudias heard of this and transferred Paul out of Jerusalem and sent him to Caesarea. In Acts 24 In Caesarea Paul is tried before the Roman Governor Felix, where the Jewish High Priest and his attorney try to bring a ton of false accusations against Paul, and after Paul gives his defense his trial is postponed and he is imprisoned for two years until Felix is replaced by a dude named Festus in chapter 25, when Festus comes on to the scene the case is reintroduced and the Jewish leaders now try to appeal to Festus to send Paul back to Jerusalem because they were plotting to kill him again. After Paul gives his case to Festus, Festus agrees to send Paul back to Jerusalem until Paul appeals to Caeser, and Festus grants that appeal, then later Paul is tried before King Agrippa because Festus was unsure on what crimes Paul committed, and so Paul, In Chapter 26, gives his defense before King Agrippa (Who is Herods Great grandson), and in his defense radically shares the Gospel to the King. After this in chapter 27, Paul heads on a ship to Rome as a prisoner, when a violent storm arose on the Sea which would’ve surely killed him and everyone on the ship, except for the fact that God promised Paul that no one on the ship would die and that he would stand before Caesar and give his defense. Now in Chapter 28 the Ship washes up on this Island called Malta, where Paul stays for three months doing Ministry amongst the Islanders, healing them and preaching the Gospel. Then after three months Paul finally heads to Rome to stand before Caesar, where Caesar puts him under 2 years of house arrest, where he can live alone but always had to be chained to a Roman Soldier who would take rotations in being Chained to Paul, and in somewhere in this 2 year house arrest, is where Paul writes the book of Philippians.

This is the worst obstacle Paul has faced in his ministry. And over this 4-5 year ordeal, Paul, didn’t get to go to Spain, didn’t get to visit the Church of Rome which he said he longed to see in the book of Romans. He went Jerusalem, visited his home nation only to be ambushed, attempted be killed on multiple occasions, was falsely accused of horrific sins that would completely degrade his character by people who, and this is speculation but is pretty safe to say, were probably some of his friends or possibly family, he was flogged, shipwrecked, and is now under house arrest, unable to freely travel and preach the Gospel or visit the Churches he’s planted, and for two years, every second he was chained to a Roman soldier, the very people who have been oppressing him his entire life.

And in the midst of this turmoil, greater than any of us have probably ever experienced, he is overtaken with joy in this text, probably greater than any of us have ever experienced, because of one thing, outweighing every ounce of hardship he’s faced over the past 5 years, and that source of Joy is found here in verse 12 saying Philippians 1:12 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,” The advancement of the Gospel has given him joy in the midst of the worst moments of his ministry thus far. Which is why our main Idea tonight, and if you are taking notes write this down, is that.

Main Idea: We can have joy in our Ministry no matter the circumstances because we know the Gospel advances no matter what. (repeat)

And with this Main Idea I want to clarify a couple things, one, I assume some of y’all, when realizing the concept of this text is the Joy of Ministry, are starting to check out because yk, “hey thats good for paul but Im not a missionary or a pastor and I don’t think i ever will be so I don’t really have a ministry”. If you are a Christian in this room, you have a ministry, you know why? Because of the Gospel, you have been saved by the Gospel, you are being sanctified by the Gospel, and you have been commissioned to spread the Gospel.

Then Two, you might think, how do you know that the Gospel Advances no matter what? Like Hey I see your point the Gospel did advance for Paul, and in the midst of his hardships, but it doesn’t seem to be advancing for my ministry, so how is the point that it will advance no matter what? Guys the Gospel will advance no matter what because the advancement of the Gospel is impossible. Out of all the impossibilities of the world, the creation of the universe, the complexity of our DNA, the sustaining of human life, the Gospel advancing is the most unlikely of it all. This is a message that goes so against our human nature, that you can see those who have not accepted it are not only indifferent about it, but repulsed by it, enraged by it. This message spreading in such a hostile world and overtaking it, is as impossible as lighting a match, throwing it into the Ocean and the Ocean catching on fire. Which is why this is God’s work, and we can know that every ounce of progress the Gospel has made was by God and God alone and our drive comes from the privilege we have been given simply to just partake in it. And we know the Gospel will continue to advance because the God who decides if it does has promised numerous times in scripture that he will. And so if the Advance of the Gospel is what gave Paul such great joy, we know we can have the same joy because the Gospel will continue to advance and it is advancing now.

Interrogative: So the question tonight is what can steal your Joy in ministry?

What are the circumstances that as long you aren’t facing them, hey I’m content in the ministry God has given me, but if they come, that’s it, there goes my joy. Maybe even what are those circumstances that the threat of them happening will prevent you from doing ministry?

We see in our text tonight, Paul valuing the progress of the Gospel over two circumstances that I would say most commonly sucks the joy out the ministry of believers today. And if we could embrace this mindset that Paul demonstrates, our ministries would be far more fulfilling, far more joyful, and far more driven.

Transition sentence: the First mindset we see from Paul is that,

12-14: The advance of the Gospel is greater than our chains.

Philippians 1:12–14 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.”

He speaks of being in Chains, lets remember the story, Paul’s not in some dungeon like prison right now, it says in Acts 28:30 “Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,” He was in his own home in house arrest. So why does it say chains? Y’all ever seen a movie where a character is on house arrest? Who’s seen the movie Ant man and the Wasp? Remember how ant man was on house arrest and he had that big fat tracker on his ankle, Well they didn’t have trackers back in 60 AD so instead they would Chain paul up to a Roman soldier, and a group of soldiers would take shifts being chained or how we would think of it, handcuffed to the Apostle Paul. This is the type of chains he’s referring to. Every second of Pauls life he is chained to a Roman soldier.

He says I am in chains for Christ, but what’s funny about this is he says it’s been made clear throughout the palace guard that I am in Chains for Christ, who do y’all think made that clear? I mean imagine being handcuffed to the Apostle Paul all day, what do you think the topic of conversation’s gonna be there? Not only that, but these Guards would’ve been with him while he was praying, while fellow saints were visiting, they were chained to him when he wrote this letter. They would’ve seen every aspect of Paul’s life on top of endless Gospel conversations he probably had with them. What was the result? Philippians 4:22 “All the saints send you greetings, especially those(Plural) who belong to Caesar’s household.” , Paul witnessed to those he was forced to be chained to, and his chains led to the freedom of souls. Now we don’t know how many, we don’t know if it was every Guard, all we know is that it was more than one because the word “those” in chapter 4 verse 22 is plural.

Then not only was salvation a result of his chains, but verse 13 states that what the Lord was doing throughout the palace guard spread to “everyone else” which suggests that this spread throughout Rome, National News. Which gives clarity to verse 14 which is another result of his ministry, that fellow saints see how God is still furthering his kingdom despite Paul’s imprisonment, which encourages them to preach Christ without any fear of the consequences because they realize exactly what I am telling you know, that the Gospel can and will advance in any and all circumstances.

And so we see here and maybe in some points in our own lives God using our hardships for his Glory and to further his kingdom, which brings us great joy right? But also, because of that we should rejoice in the midst of our hard circumstances, even if it seems no progress is being made through it, because we know that God uses our hardships to advance his kingdom.

Do you think Paul only felt this joy after the results of his chains were made evident? No, cause what would’ve motivated him to share Christ with these soldiers in the first place, Joy. Before sharing Christ with the Palace guard Paul didn’t know what would’ve come of his ministry, he didn’t know if the whole guard would surrender to Christ or kill him for preaching, but what he did remember was back in Acts 23 verse 11 were God promises him that he would end up in Rome to testify there. Not knowing what would come of his chains, he knew God ordained him to be there, although he was uncertain of his ministry he was certain of the sovereignty of God, trusting that God works everything for the good of his people and brings about the circumstances that will maximize his Glory.

Guys the good news is, our God has not changed since then. He still orchestrates every event and Circumstance to fully maximize his Glory and advance his Gospel. This is why you can be joyful even in your chains. What are your chains? do you feel chained to your circumstance? do you feel chained to your School? the classmates you can’t stand to be around? the messed up home life you’ll have to go back to tonight? How can you have joy in the midst of this? Because you know that God has placed where you are and is using your circumstance to maximize his Glory and advance his kingdom. And trust me, the Joy of partaking in his kingdom far outweighs the heartache of our hardships, this is why you see Saints rejoicing at the opportunity to suffer.

The second mindset we see from Paul is, and this is a Big one,

15-18: The advance of the Gospel is greater than our reputation.

Philippians 1:15–18 “To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice”

Paul doesn’t discuss here what these slanderers have said, so we don’t know exactly the full situation but there a couple things we can pick up on. To start these are people preaching Christ, which shows that Paul isn’t addressing false teachers. These are people who have the same theology as Paul, some might’ve even known Paul personally, and Paul rejoices at the growth of their ministry. Paul is not and would not rejoice the growth of the ministry of a false teacher.

And so if they have the same mind as Paul and agree with Paul, why are they trying to diminish his ministry? Envy. They are jealous of Paul and so instead of preaching to fill the gap he is leaving, they are preaching to rise to higher prominence then him.

How do they do this? Well this is the text part the text doesn’t answer, it doesn’t mention specifics, but it does say they do two things, they preach Christ and bash Paul.

Again we don’t know how they bash Paul, but it’s pretty easy to assume, some could say that Paul has committed some sin and God putting him in this situation is him punishing Paul, others might’ve said that this is the end for Paul and he is not to be followed or listened to anymore, some might have continued to spread the false accusations brought by the Pharisees in his trials with Felix and Festus.

And after saying all these things, maybe saying these things, maybe not, but all in all bashing his name and destroying his reputation, these men then turn around and just do a bunch of ministry and a bunch of preaching so that they can amass a following and a recognition that surpasses Paul’s.

And you read this text in the context of why it was written, this is a response letter to the Church of Philippi, much probably on the basis of what Epaphroditus is communicating on behalf of the church, they are probably trying to frantically warn Paul that men are out there preaching Christ to destroy his reputation, and Paul just says, “They’re Preaching Christ? Let have at it”

You can take it from me, you can go ask Chris if you don’t believe me cause he holds a pastoral role, a Ministers reputation is one of the most valuable assets he has. A minister that isn’t trusted can’t preach, because who will trust his word, can’t lead, because who is gonna trust his guidance, and all in all can’t do ministry. Paul sees his reputation being destroyed before his eyes and can only find joy because while his name is being stomped on, Christs name is being exalted.

Some of you, your reputation is the most important thing in your life. You are constantly stressed about what others might think of you or say about you. When a rumor spreads about you, you breakdown because you are stressed about how it will damage your reputation.

And sure you might be all for the Gospel, but the second your participation of the Gospel leads others to think less of you, you retreat. When ministry leads others to think less of you, you either can’t find joy anymore in the ministry you are doing, or you avoid doing ministry all together. This is because the name of Christ is less important to you than your own name.

Did you notice that not once in this letter did Paul request for the Church to silence these preachers. And wouldn’t have taken up 3 lines to ask them to squash these rumors and silence these preachers. And this church that has been incredibly Faithful and supportive of Paul, they probably would’ve. That’s what I would probably have written. But Paul doesn’t write that because he is more concerned with the Name of Christ being exalted than his reputation being preserved.

Conclusion: And yk what this honestly looks like paul has no concern for himself, all of his future plans derailed and not one complaint, reputation thrown out the window and he doesn’t care, never once asks this Church for anything, and he rejoices in his sufferings, does he care about his life?

He does care about his life, because his life is simply the fact that God created the World, the universe, and amongst the vast expanse of his creation he created one thing to resemble his image, and that was Man, and he created man with the Purpose of bringing glory to himself and to dwell with him forever, and said I give you this entire Garden, I offer you blessings beyond measure, and a perfect relationship with me, dwelling in my presence for all of eternity you just must not eat of this tree. But man, Adam desiring his own way says I would rather be my own god than be with God and so he ate. And because all humanity comes from Adam, all humanity adopts this same desire that prefers our own wicked and imperfect ways rather than the ways of God. And what this does is it leads us to heap sins after sins after sins against a Holy God. And this Holy God, while all merciful and desiring to have a relationship with us, is also fully just and despises our sin. Because of God’s great love he longs to dwell with his creation, but cannot simply pardon our sin because he is a just God knowing our sin deserves death. So that God in his goodness and mercy, sends his son, Jesus Christ, who himself is God in the flesh, to be the light in the vast darkness of the world. He lives a life free of sin, being the only human to ever love God as he ought and be fully righteous, this makes him the only one to ever be acceptable before God, which also makes him the only one who is able to bear our sin. He lays his life down on his own accord as a substitution for us, willingly takes every ounce of wrath that is due for the Church, while at the very same time, giving the righteousness he acquired to all those who will put faith in him. He is laid down in a tomb, and when Death and Hades though they won, he descends into Hell, preaches condemnation to the demons and rises victorious from the Grave because the darkness cannot overcome the light, so that all those who put their Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in him alone, can have eternal life with God, recreated in his image and secured by the blood of Christ. This was the whole purpose of Paul’s life and it is this message that was so precious to Paul that he says do whatever you want to me, kill if you have to as long as it advances this message.

Christians, this is the Message that has saved us, this is the message that is sanctifying us, and this is the message that we bear. Paul did not have more joy than us because he inherently better or more gifted, it was because he had a deeper understanding of this message and a more exalted view of Christ.

So I want to encourage you, your life, if it is in Christ, is so significant, because this message you bear is so significant. And when you realize more and more the significance of your life because of the Gospel, that Joy will outweigh any and every hardship because you realize that even suffering is worth it if it means partaking in advancement of the kingdom.

Lets Pray.