Brace For Impact

Introduction

It is the early 3rd century and a man by the name of Arius is spreading heresy so devotedly that the public would sing jingles like, “There was a time when the Son was not” in the streets. This conflict grew so intense that Constantine called for a general council to meet to flesh this out. This council, called the Council of Nicea, came to declare that the doctrine of Arius, who taught that Christ was simply the first and greatest being God created, was infact heresy. In the background of the roaring debate of over 300 bishops stood a young man by the name of Athansius who had the nickname, “The Black Dwarf” CONT. WITH STORY OF ATHANASIUS...

In Romans 1:10 Paul writes to the Roman Church and says, “Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.” But that's not the way it worked out.  He didn't come in a prosperous way, at least by the world’s standards; no, he came as a prisoner.  And the journey, as we see in Acts chapters 21-28, was not without its tremendous difficulty. He was imprisoned in Jerusalem really as a way to save his life because the Jews wanted to kill him (Acts 21-22) so they send him to Caesarea for two years before they decide to send him to Rome, the ship he was on to Rome was wrecked, and he had to swim for his life at the end and now fast forward to Acts 28 where we find him in Rome where he spends the next two years awaiting Nero’s evaluation and decision.  He did not have the prosperous journey from our point of view, he might have wished or anticipated prosperity as we may very well have anticipated it, but rather God chose that he would arrive as a prisoner.

But his imprisonment was different. In Acts 28:16 the text says, “And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.” He wasn’t put in a common prison with the rest of the prisoners because there was no crime which he had committed - no real legal issue was facing him.  And not wanting to throw him in with the criminals since there was no real criminal charge, but at the same time wanting to understand the matter before they made any decision to release him, they let him be kept as a private prisoner with a soldier by himself.

But Paul was not only a prisoner in a private situation with a guard, but that guard was chained to him and he was chained to a guard with a chain that could’ve been about 18 inches long.  And he was chained to a guard twenty-four hours a day.  According to the Roman custom, the guards would change every six hours.  So he would have four different men chained to him over a period of a day, at all times, so he could not escape. He didn’t sleep alone, eat alone, pray alone, or write alone. He was always chained to a soldier.

So by this time, it’s been about 4 years since the Philippians have heard from or seen Paul but some how they knew he was in Rome so they send Epaphroditus to him to ask two things: First, how are you doing, and second, how is the Gospel?

And so, they send him Epaphroditus to provide Paul with some money and some friendship but they are also waiting to hear from Paul because they are surely grieving over his condition and grieving over the fact that it seems the estate of the Gospel since Paul is bound up. And now, seeing all that we’ve seen so far, Paul writes the little book of Philippians in response to that. He is in jail again and now he writes the most joyful book in the whole Bible.

But why would Paul have any joy? If his joy was related to his circumstances he certainly wouldn’t be joyful. If his joy was related to entertainment, he wouldn’t be joyful. If his joy was connected to his popularity, he wouldn’t be joyful. If his joy was related to the things of this world, well surely he wouldn’t have anything to be joyful about because he has no freedom, no privacy, people are out to kill him and he has the lingering knowledge that at any time Nero can decide to either murder him or let him go. Does this sound like a guy you would expect to have the word, “joy” at the forefront of his vocabulary? No! But it is.

As Paul is in this horribly uncomfortable situation, he is not focused on the ailments, the mistreatment, or the inconveniences in his life, but notice in v12 as he says, “the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ” Paul is saying, “I want you to know that everything that has happened and all that is happening to me here has really been an avenue for the spreading of the Gospel.”

Paul isn’t complaining, moaning, or groaning, and surely he has all reason to do so, but he is focused on the Gospel. This is a man who’s heart’s passion, who’s life’s mission, who true desire is found in the Gospel alone. This message is his bread and butter, it is what get’s him going, it is what gives him purpose, it is what makes him tick, if you will.

And so, we must ask ourselves, “What drives me? What gives me purpose? What is my passion that I live for? What dominates our time? What dominates our thinking? Is it the Gospel? It was for Paul. Why is he so encouraged though he is facing problems? And what is my perspective in the midst of trying circumstances?”

(v12-13)

Most all of us know John Bunyan as the author of Pilgrim's Progress. But before the writing of Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan was known as a great preacher. His preaching was so powerful that many came to hear him preach and they put him in the Bedford jail to silence him for not obeying government restrictions on the church at the time, but even in jail he continued to preach sermons at the top of his voice which wafted over the walls and people would gather outside the jail walls to hear him preach though they couldn't see him. To finally silence him they put him down inside the jail, and they got him down there where nobody could hear him preach, and that gave him the freedom in order to write Pilgrim's Progress. And so they thought they could silence the preacher, but instead they gave him opportunity to write that which has preached to millions and millions and millions of people, generation after generation after generation after generation. And that's how it is. You cannot bottle up the gospel. The servant of God may be bound, 2 Timothy 2:9, but the Word of God is never bound, never bound.

This Problem Provided a Pathway

In this passage Paul is doing a play on words: The word “furtherance or advancing” here comes from the word “Prokope”, the word for “progress”, which sounds very close to the Greek word “Proskope” which means “hindrance”. So what Paul is saying is that what looks constraining is actually a catalyst!

The word “prokope” would be used to describe someone coming through to blaze a trail for an army to march down. Paul is saying that these events are blazing new territory for the gospel. They’ve put Paul in a new place, with new people, to give him a new opportunity to evangelize. While others may have seen this as a end to the ministry, Paul saw it as an opening for a new way to minister.

And so, the message went forth. And like Joseph who said, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good," Paul can look at his captors and say, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for the furtherance of the gospel." Jesus Christ was killed as a common criminal because they wanted to shut Him up, but the very death He died destroyed sin, death, and Satan, and became the means of the salvation for His people. The early church was persecuted. In the eighth chapter of Acts there was Saul “breathing out threatening and slaughter against the church,” and the threat of death scattered the church, and the scattering of the church was the evangelization of everywhere to which the church was scattered. So it is in the case of Paul. Every means to stop the message of Christ only furthers it; and this is Paul's joy.

If there comes a day where they declare it mandatory to close the churches or even if they were to declare the Gospel as hate-speech, we must not be afraid because the Gospel can not and will not be stopped. It will prevail and it will be victorious. The Chinese Govt., through the rise of Communism, has seen a rapid growth of Christianity. It was Tertullian who said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” So come what may, the Gospel will prevail. God has purposes in all that occurs.

And if there comes a time where you find yourself in a dark place or in a trying time I want to encourage you to ask yourself, “How am I going to give God glory through this?” And so, with that in mind, I want us to capture this main thought moving forward, “Because there is no stopping the Gospel, God can use the trials of life as a means for His glory.”

Here are two ways God used the imprisonment of Paul:

To Encounter Sinners (v13)

The word “palace” in v13 is not actually referring to a palace since Luke tells us that Paul is in a house in the book of Acts. Rather this is referring to the Praetorian Guard that Paul was chained to. Now, let me tell you a little bit about this Guard so you understand why this is so exciting.

The Praetorian Guard were a special group of 9,000 of Rome’s most elite soldiers. This group of soldiers ended up gaining so much power that they became the king makers who would sometimes exert authority over Caesar. In fact, they killed and promoted Caesars. After they assassinated Caligula, they put Cladius on the throne and later on they were the ones who directed Nero when he reigned. This group was a fierce group but they couldn’t intimidate Paul because he served a God far stronger than Caesar or his guards.

The guards would normally see chains on a prisoner as a sign of Caesar’s power as they demonstrated Caesar was lord and they bound people up by his will. But we must note that Paul says his “bonds are in Christ”. Paul wasn’t there because he was a criminal, he was there because of his message. He was a man that was on a mission guided by God.

As the guard would rotate every several hours it would give Paul a new man to evangelize and with Paul’s understanding of the Sovereignty of God, it wasn’t Caesar’s power keeping Paul bound to a guard, but God’s power binding a guard to Paul

F.B. Meyer writes, "At times the hired room would be thronged with people to whom the Apostle spoke words of life. And after they withdrew, the sentry would sit beside him, filled with many questionings as to the meaning of the words which this strange prisoner spoke. At other times, when all had gone and especially at night when the moonlight shone on the distant slopes of Siracti, soldier and Apostle would be left to talk and in those dark lonely hours the Apostle would tell the soldier after soldier the story of his own proud career and early life, of his opposition to Christ and his ultimate conversion and would make it clear that he was there as a prisoner, not for any crime, not because he had raised rebellion over revolt but because he believed that He whom the Roman soldiers had crucified under Pilate was the Son of God and the Savior of man. As these tidings spread and the soldiers talked them over with one another, the whole guard would become influenced in sympathy with the meek and gentle Apostle who always showed himself so kindly to the men as they shared, however involuntarily, his imprisonment." And then he writes, "How absolutely consistent the Apostle must have been. If there had been the least divergence, day or night, from the high standard which he upheld, his soldier companions would have caught at it and passed it on to others. The fact that so many became earnest Christians and that the word of Jesus was known far and wide throughout the Praetorian Guard indicates how absolutely consistent the Apostle's life was,"

I could imagine that the Church of Rome had prayed “Oh Lord, please let us reach the leaders of Rome. Please give us a chance to get the Gospel in there! Let the Gospel reach Caesar’s household!” And in God’s divine plan He placed Paul in a cell, bound to a new soldier every six hours as an opportunity to get the Gospel into the leadership of Rome.

And so you may wake up every day feeling like you can’t do anything for God because you aren’t a Bible teacher, or a pastor, or a leader and you feel like you can’t do anything because you’re chained to a desk, making calls and having meetings, or you’re chained to a truck driving to new place after new places, or you’re chained to a classroom day after day.

Have you ever thought that God may have placed you there for the purpose of living and preaching the Gospel and reaching those people? You may be telling yourself that your workplace is a difficult place. Well good, that means that the light of the Gospel may stand out unmistakably!

To Encourage Saints (v14)

Cookout Line- People follow examples

Generally Timid

Notice how Paul speaks of their courage growing? It is understood that the church in Rome would have had a little courage but were fairly shy in their ministry and rightfully so as persecution was rapidly growing in Rome but was relatively non-violent at the time.

They Grew in Confidence

The word “many” here comes from a word which means a majority. So not just a few Christians got excited about this news, but a majority of the Church was emboldened. Why? Well, Paul often uses the phrase, “In the Lord” to modify attiudes or actions he wants people to emulate but in this instance this phrase is used to point to the Lord as the one who is the motivator and empowerer of the believers of Rome. How? Because they saw how God used Paul even in jail! Walter Hansen said, “The chained motivated the freed, the chains that bound Paul liberated others to speak in boldly.” And they were encouraged that if God can use Paul while he’s been in jail for years then I wonder what He will do through us while we are free and this is where we see that they grew in boldness to speak the word without fear.

Brother or sister, that could be you even now. You might be bound up in a certain circumstance in your life and there might be a fellow brother or sister in Christ watching you. In my experience, particularly in the pastorate, I have witnessed God stoking a wonderful love for His glory within the hearts of mourning widows and hurt friends and witnessing such a work within them proved to be an encouragement to me as well.

Conclusion

The Message of Philippians 2. The Explanation of the Fruitfulness

Two friends were talking together, one older and wise, the other younger and passing through a severe testing-time. The older friend, with loving wisdom, said, ‘No moment will ever again be like this; let there be something for Jesus in it.’ It is not ‘something for Jesus’ if we dwell on our miseries; nor if we let opportunities pass without a word about our Lord; nor if we think that any hand other than his brought us to that place. It is ‘something for Jesus’ if we think and speak about him and his glory; it is ‘something for him’ if we acknowledge and trust his all-sovereign will.

Brother or sister in Christ, perhaps this evening you are here hurting and wondering if there could be any good in your pain and I’m pleased to say that there certaintly is. Romans 8:28 gives the beloved of God such assurance as Paul writes, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” EXTRAPOLATE ON THAT

Or perhaps this evening you have found yourself bound by different chains, chains that are that of death and sin and you are here as a skeptic. Well, friend, it is no suprise to the Lord that you are here, He is the One that chose to bring you to hear the Word proclaimed concerning this unstoppable Gospel which is...