Philippians 1:12-26, February 27, 2022

Introduction

Philippians 1:12-26

Introduction

Over this last week many of you have followed the unfolding of events and Ukraine. Perhaps some of you have felt the same anxieties and frustrations that I have. Perhaps you also have worried and wonder what it would like to be pier and pier light or to have bombs going off from an invading tours. That's the existence that many Ukrainians live with today. But what I want to ask is this: how many of you would write a letter and say you're thankful or that kind of experience if you had it? How many of you would express thanks that you were in prison? And yet this is exactly what Paul does in this passage here today.

During Paul stand Rome you have probably changed a guard 24 hours a day with the guards taking shifts. He had no privacy and he really had no freedom. And yet he was thankful. The reality is that you and I will not understand how Paul could be thankful in that circumstance until we understand how much Paul valued the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You've heard the phrase that person looks at the world through rose colored glasses. You might say that Paul looked at the world through gospel colored glasses. he lived for Jesus and understood the world through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:21 ESV

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

And so with this perspective that he has he explains to this church why he gives thanks for his imprisonment. The reality for Paul is that he sees his imprisonment in the context of furthering the gospel message and for him this is entirely worth it.

Paul’s words here should challenge us to consider what the Gospel means to us.

What are we willing to sacrifice for the Gospel?

As we grapple with the oddity and more clearly the profundity of Paul's thankfulness for adversity we will see that Paul could see good in this situation he was in. Paul looked at the reality that he was chained to a Roman guard 24/7 and in that he found reason to be thankful. He was thankful because of what it did for the gospel. And because he had a gospel and Jesus centric view of life that was a powerful motivation for him to be happy. So let's look at the first section here:

What Paul saw that was good.

Philippians 1:12–18 ESV

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

So first of all Paul saw that the result of his imprisonment was that he came into contact with unbelievers.

Contact with unbelievers

What many new believers discover is that as you become a believer you work to surround yourself with other believers and there is all to that is your friends and those circles become like an echo Chamber of what you believe. Of course we want encouragement and we want to be reminded and encouraged in what we believe. But we also must in order to share the gospel with more people encounter other people.

Philippians 1:13 ESV

13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Paul realized that the entire imperial guard... the guard to the emperor new the reason which he had been prisoned for. He was in prison for Jesus. And therefore was able to share the message of Jesus.

Sometimes we think to ourselves as a church... What does the community around us think about us.? But the problem is far more often than not our community doesn't think about us at all. And if they do they only think about us in relation to what we oppose. Not by what we are willing to suffer for. Because Paul was in prison because of Jesus people understood he was willing to suffer for Jesus and therefore wanted to learn more about what Paul wanted to say. It was the perfect moment wasn't it? A moment when Paul was brought face to face with people who didn't know Jesus and given a platform if you will to share what and who he was willing to suffer for.

And we know from later comments in the book that Paul was able to convert and lead even members of caesar's household to faith in Jesus as a result of his time there.

Philippians 4:22 ESV

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

I love what one author wrote:

“Paul’s example teaches us to view every situation in which we find ourselves as an opportunity for spreading the gospel. [1]”

No Christian can instil faith in other hearts—that is the work of God. But wherever a believer goes, he should leave a favourable impression of his Christianity with those with whom he or she has associated.[2]

We had the opportunity no matter where we are to leave an impression on others of the gospel of Jesus. The way we conduct ourselves in restaurants in hospitals in prisons at our workplace and more we have repeatedly showed and taught that it matters because that will point people to Jesus. But most profoundly we will be able to share our faith when we stand up for what is right even though it hurts.

Motivation section

Philippians 1:14–18 ESV

14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

check it out explanation point the result of Pauls imprisonment is that more and more people are bold and willing to speak the word... the gospel of Jesus Christ... without fear. His suffering and faithfulness makes others bold.

Now Paul pivots to talk about people who preach about Jesus with the wrong motives. And one thing we need to recognize as we look at this letter is that the church actually existed in Rome before Paul showed up. The church grew organically whether it was through refugees or families who traveled. It wasn't just the apostles traveling around preaching the word of God. There are many people who traveled around preaching about Jesus. And when Paul came to Rome and started preaching and teaching and writing letters that took off like wild power around the world he came into conflict with some people.

And as he says here in the 15th verse some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry trying to maintain their position but others do it from goodwill. As a pastor I'll be the first to admit that it feels good for people to pay attention to me it feels good when a large crowd listens to what I have to say. It feels good to be a leader. And I can't imagine what it would have been like to have people drained away from my congregation to go flock after this big name teacher who had come to town.

And selfishly I know there have been times in my preaching here that I have made my preaching better and I've worked to become better as a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ not out of an interest or love for the gospel but rather to make myself look good. And I'm ashamed of that. But there are definitely times when my motivation was not the gospel purely but was also to grow myself. I know motivations are mixed in every situation. But I can definitely relate to these men who taught the gospel for selfish and rivalrous reasons.

Paul continues saying that some of those who preach preach the gospel out of love and are gentle in how they talk about Paul. And the gospel. And some of those men preaching about Jesus are not preaching for any other reason than to afflect and humiliate Paul while he is in prison period they want to push him down in order to elevate themselves.

Isn't it true so often that we believe that the key to making ourselves better is by pushing others down? We think that if we want to make ourselves look good we need to do it by making someone else look worse. We think that if we want to succeed at work it may be at the cost of someone else.

But Paul has a profoundly great perspective that he shows in verse 18. His priority is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in every situation. Did you get that? Paul was OK if he didn't get the credit or lost stature as long as Christ is preached. Paul was OK with the motivations behind Jesus being preached... he just wanted Jesus to be preached.

We must understand that the greatest thing we can do for any friend or family member is introduce them to the person who is Jesus Christ. Because Jesus it was alive. Jesus is living. God's Holy Spirit is an active force in our lives. And God himself watches over and works in our world. So, again introduce people to Jesus.

Now Paul isn't going to mince words later on in the book when he talks about false teachers. He's passionately opposed to wrong teaching when it comes to the gospel and Jesus. But he has a powerfully accurate sense of priorities. He knows what's important.

Now of course the situation that Paul was in was very difficult. Reading this letter in our comfortable homes and our nice church it can be tempting for us to gloss over how hard his situation was. It can be possible for us to forget that Paul would eventually die in prison period it can be possible for us to forget how powerless you are when you are in prison.

I wonder if when Paul was in prison he thought back to the story of Joseph and his brothers and what Joseph said to his brothers

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

I love what one author says:

“We cannot always trace the hand of God, but we can always trust the heart of God.[3]”

And of course as Paul writes later:

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

We don't always understand what God is doing but we can always trust that what God is doing is for our good.

OK we've just gotten done exploring the good things that Paul could see right around him. The good that he saw that was happening because of his imprisonment the gospel was being shared... Now Paul is going to turn his attention to the future and talk about what he expects to see

Good that would come

Philippians 1:19–26 ESV

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

In these verses Paul wrestles with literal life and death realities that challenge us and how we love. You see Paul is optimistic about the reality that he would be delivered. He's actually hoping that he'll be released from prison as far as we can tell he is released from this imprisonment.

But you see Paul's priority is to honor Jesus. See what he writes in verse 20.

Verse 21 has been described as a test of our faith. Try inserting anything else in that phrase.

For me to live as Christ and to die is gain.... Paul wins either way here. We win either way here.

If you put anything else in the category of what you live for than if you die you will lose it.

Pleasure

Money

Fame

But if to live as Jesus... To die simply means you go to be with the one whom you lived for.

Paul is torn between the two realities of his existence. If he remains in this life he has the capacity to be fruitful but if he departs here's the opportunity to be with the one whom he lives for. So Paul was a man torn between two options and yet both of them we're good.

If we like Paul value Christ Jesus above all then we can be happy with whatever Jesus decides for and in our lives.

Conclusion

so in today's scripture we see that Paul was thankful for the good he could see. He saw men and women inspired to speak out for their faith because they saw Paul being willing to suffer for his. He sold the gospel of Jesus Christ spreading because of the hardship that was happening to himself. Paul taught us that it's possible for God to work through our hardship to do great things. And Paul had a great sense of priorities because he understood that the greatest thing was people coming to know Jesus regardless of who made the introduction.

In our lives let us have the faith to see beyond the pain in our moments to see that God can work through us. Let us trust God.

Paul also looked ahead and he saw the good that God would do. And he rejoiced. Because he knew that the worst that mankind could do to him would bring their best possible result. Paul lived for Jesus. And he knew that when he would die he would be with the one whom he lived for.

Let us take to heart this verse

Philippians 1:21 ESV

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

What/who do you live for today?

What/who do you live for this week?

Ashley and I had the opportunity to visit French Lick for one night this week with the girls on presidents day. We wandered through the massive French Lick resort after spending my right arm on dinner at the powerhouse restaurant on the main floor. We were curious so we peeked in looking at the front entrance of the casino and pass the glaring guard to see the many tables where people were gambling with machines really. People like the thrill of gambling don't they? You have the opportunity that you could win something. For some gamblers they make a profession of it like Bo's boyfriend :)

but for most the house always wins.

If you and I live for anything but Jesus we will eventually lose that bet. It's guaranteed. If we live for money we will eventually lose it. If we live for pleasure we will eventually lose it. If we live for a family we will eventually lose them. If we live for Jesus we will never lose him.

Live for Jesus

[1]Roger Ellsworth, Opening up Philippians, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2004), 25. [2]Roger Ellsworth, Opening up Philippians, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2004), 25. [3]Roger Ellsworth, Opening up Philippians, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2004), 27.