Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon: FCC Afton 9-4-2022

An Unstoppable Gospel

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-20

Recap:

Last week, we continued in our survey through the Book of Philippians, Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, which he wrote while under house arrest in Rome and awaiting his execution.

This survey process through Scripture, you'll recall, is done to develop within you a Biblical worldview- not so you will recognize and understand Paul's friendship with the Philippians, nor even to get Paul's perspective on varying aspects of Christian doctrine or theology, but to discover the truths within Scripture, to treasure it, and to store it up within your heart and mind, so that you will know how to live in a way that pleases God and that will point others toward Jesus.

Over the past two weeks, we have looked at Paul's introduction, where he expressed his love for his friends and his desire to see them once again, but also where he revealed some important truths for the church to explore and understand: that we must adopt a position of surrender before God and become slaves to His purpose and will, our place as partners with Paul in sharing the Gospel, our need to have an ever-growing, discerning love for those around us so that we can know how to best meet their needs and share Jesus with them, and that God expects maturity out of us, that He expects that we will always be growing and moving forward, every day becoming more and more like Him and more and more of a person in whom others can see Him.

This week, we move beyond Paul's introduction and begin to dig into the depth of the letter.

Remember, we are digging into this survey the way a miner digs deeper into a mine searching for ore- we want the deeper nuggets of truth that are to be found within this letter.

Read Philippians 1:12-20 Pray here!

-Paul is going to take time here to build upon his introduction.

He's already shared with us his posture before God and given us the expectation that God has for maturity and surrender within His Followers.

But before we can dig into the depth of Paul's letter, we must examine the context behind all of it: Paul is writing all of this while in chains and awaiting execution, having gone through some tough situations just to get here.

We read in Acts 21 and through the end of Acts of Paul's journey to Rome.

After being arrested in the temple and beaten mercilessly in Jerusalem, Paul is put on trial, where he appeals to Caesar for justice, his right as a Roman citizen.

After escaping several plots by the Jewish religious leaders to kill him, Paul is finally shipped off toward Rome.

At sea, they experience terrible storms in the Mediterranean before ultimately being shipwrecked; once ashore, Paul is bitten by a venomous viper- all before ever arriving at Rome to be placed in chains and held under house arrest to await execution.

And yet, Paul calls all of this a good thing, that everything he had gone through, while bad for him, was good for the Kingdom.

-Main Idea: Paul shares his negative experiences as a way to remind us that the Kingdom of God will never be stopped.

-Paul makes a rather sharp turn here, shifting from his prayer of blessing to rehearsing the benefits that have resulted from his imprisonment and continued trials.

19th century theologian Benjamin Jowett called this section of Paul's letter "the Fortune of Misfortune," written as much to assuage any concerns that Paul's friends had about his condition or any fear that they might have about being next in line for persecution as it was about declaring that nothing, especially not Paul's imprisonment, can stop the Kingdom of God or the spread of the Gospel.

Paul declares that his imprisonment, as bad a situation as it was, was actually a good thing because it resulted in the advancement of the Gospel- all of the trials that he had faced had furthered the Gospel rather than hindered it, as the enemy, the world, even we here today, might have expected.

This is another illustration of his the devil cannot stop the Kingdom of God- when Jesus said in Matthew 16 that the gates of hell could not stand against the Kingdom of Heaven, this is what He was referring to.

Tomorrow, if God allowed, the enemy could manipulate things in such a way that every Christian in the US was jailed, but God will always overrule the wicked plans of the enemy and bring triumph out of tragedy and beauty from ashes- even if every Christian in the US was jailed, the Gospel would still be shared.

Paul had such a wide perspective, knowing that individual circumstances don't mean anything compared to the growth and progress of the Kingdom of God.

So when Paul says in his letter to the Romans, in Romans 8:28, that "we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purposes," he is not making the claim that life will always be good for the individual Christian.

This is not a "name it and proclaim it gospel."

There is no truth in believing that because I love God then nothing bad will happen to me, that everything will work out well in my life, or that I'll always be Even-Steven; rather, Paul is reminding us that even when things go poorly in our individual lives, everything works together for good for the Kingdom of God.

I don't think you could look at Paul, the circumstances of his life, and where he ended up, or Steven, being stoned to death for his faith, or any Believer martyred for his faith, and say "Yep, that worked out well for him individually."

But it became good for the Body of Christ, and Christianity was advanced, because people saw Believers being killed for their faith, accepting their fate with grace and being great examples for Jesus, and they said "If they, facing the worst the world can throw at them, can face it with such grace and assurance, then what they have must be real- and if it's real, then I want it."

It's why James says, "When you face trials, be joyful; and when you endure through those trials, you are blessed," because when we go through those hard times, the Kingdom is advanced.

Truth #1: Paul was appointed and equipped for the defense of the Gospel; you may be so, as well.

- Paul tells us here that he has been appointed for the defense of the Gospel.

We each have the same general calling and appointment: to save souls and grow the Kingdom of God by following Christ's command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything that Jesus taught and commanded, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We each also have specific callings, as well, which come with individualized gifting and equipping- while we are called to make disciples, we are not all called to make disciples in the same way.

How could we be?

My life, the experiences I have been through, and the gifts that I have received from God, are different from yours- so you have a different avenue to make disciples in and a different sphere of influence in which to make them.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says that God has called some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some pastors, some teachers- all for the training of the Believers for the works of ministry, the works that He has prepared in advanced for us to accomplish.

In Romans 12:4-8, Paul goes on to explain: "Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one Body in Christ and individually members of one another.

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: if prophecy, use it according to the standard of one's faith; if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching; if in exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness."

We have different roles and different gifts, and each are important for the advancement of the Gospel and the Kingdom; but some are more important.

Paul says this in 1 Cor.

12:29-31, "Are all apostles?

Are all prophets?

Are all teachers?

Do all work miracles?

Do all have gifts of healing?

Do all speak in other languages?

Do all interpret?

But eagerly desire the greater gifts."

The word gifting here should be read as the entirety of what God has called you to do and with what spiritual resources He has equipped you to accomplish His task with.

We are not to desire the greater gifts because they are better or more highly esteemed, but because it is an assignment through which you can further honor God and further advance the Kingdom.

Paul's gifting is one of the greater gifts, one of the most important: defending the Gospel, also called apologetics.

In Ephesians 6, Paul asks for prayer for his calling: "Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel.

For this, I am an ambassador in chains.

Pray that I may be bold enough in Him to speak as I should."

He repeats this message in his letter to the Colossians: "Pray also for us, that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it as I am required to speak."

Paul declares that he is compelled to make known the mysteries of the Gospel.

What is the message that Paul is called to defend?

He shares it in 1 Corinthians 15: "For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ dies for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve."

In 1 Peter 3, Peter gives this command about apologetics, this readied defense of the Gospel: "Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

All of us have the responsibility to always be ready to defend the hope that is in you- just like we have the responsibility to make disciples; some of us, however, like Paul, have the additional compulsion to preach and defend the Gospel, even if it means that we, like Paul, might end up in chains.

Even though his ministry ended with Paul sitting in chains and being executed for his faith, you better believe that Paul embraced what James calls the blessing for having endured trials; you better believe that Paul grabbed hold of the Crown of Life for having finished well the test of life!

Truth #2: Your motives matter, but in the end, all that really matters is that the Gospel was preached and the Kingdom advanced.

-Paul continues explaining how, because of his imprisonment, others had gained the confidence to preach the Gospel fearlessly.

But he breaks these into two groups, it is not two groups of one preaching boldly and the other not preaching; rather, he breaks the two groups into those preaching for the right reasons, out of goodwill and love for Christ, and those preaching out of envy, strife, and jealousy.

But then Paul follows it up with the question, "What does it matter?"

Nothing at all in the grand scheme, because Christ is proclaimed.

It doesn't matter much if a preacher is doing this work out of a heart for Christ or out of a desire for fame and money, as long as the true Gospel is being preached.

But I bring it up because of this important truth: we may not judge motives, but we serve the one who will; we may not care about the why as the long as the Gospel is preached, but God does care.

Make sure that you are doing the work you are doing for the right reasons.

Don't serve from a place of jealousy, strife, or rivalry; serve from a desire to give back to the God who gave you salvation and called you to follow Him.

I started going back to church as a teen because of a girl, but if I had continued in my walk with Christ because of her, then my walk would not have been my own; it would have been inauthentic; something would have been wrong.

If I preached to entertain or to please other rather than because of the compulsion I have to defend and preach the Gospel, God would still be glorified and His message spread, but He would not be pleased with my motivation.

God wants surrender out of you, which means doing His will with the right motives.

It may not matter in the grand scheme of the Kingdom, but it will matter in regard to your maturity level and in your relationship with Him.

You are called to serve in a specific way, but do not do it for your own glory or for the compliments- do it because whatever God has called you to do is important Kingdom work- Colossians 3:23-24 tells us: "Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord."

Whatever it is, from being national figure or serving anonymously on the mission field, from being a CEO or a megachurch pastor to cleaning bathrooms at a children's home, serve with the right motives.

God's Word will be preached; Christ is going to be announced; the Kingdom of God will not be stopped- but you serving with impure motives could mess up your relationship with the Father.

Truth #3: My eager hope and expectation is that I will not be ashamed about this life that I have lived, nor will Christ have any reason to be ashamed of me.

Philippians 1:20 "My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now, as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or my death."

-My eager hope is that my life will honor Jesus and that He will be well-pleased with my time here on this earth- that I will, as James says, endure the test- or as Paul says later in this letter, that I will finish well this race- and take hold of the Crown of Life that my Savior will have waiting or me just across that finish line.

Invitation: Maybe you are in the midst of that race today; maybe you're just beginning; maybe you'll cross the finish line soon- will Jesus be honored by the time you have spent running it?

Maybe you don't even understand what I've been talking about.

Maybe you're doing this today for the wrong motives; maybe you're at a place where you want to better understand God's call on your life so that you can begin to defend the Gospel and make disciples.

Wherever you are today, whatever step you need to make today- start today making sure that Jesus is honored by your life, that He has no reason to be ashamed by you.