FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL – Philippians 1:12-18
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 22, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; March 22, 2020 from Philippians 1:12-18
Theme: We should trust God to use our current circumstances to further the message of the gospel.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
The Bible is God’s word to us. It gives us a far higher perspective of things than we could have otherwise. It even gives us a high perspective of the crisis that we are all going through right now. It, in fact, gives us the true perspective.
One of the passages that gives us a higher perspective of the situation that we’re in today is found in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. And this morning, I ask that we look at it together. As we do, we’ll gain an appreciation of what God is doing—right now—in the present crisis.
And we’ll also see how He can use us in it to advance what He is doing.
* * * * * * * * * *
When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was—himself—in a very serious circumstance. He was in chains. He was writing from confinement in a prison, somewhere in the city of Rome. He had been arrested for his preaching of the gospel. And he now, most likely sat bound between two soldiers of the Praetorian guard. He didn’t know for certain what would happen to him next. He might be released soon, but he might also be executed at any time.
And yet he had joy; because he knew a little of what God was doing through it all.
Now; the Christians of the city of Philippi had heard about Paul’s situation. And it’s pretty obvious that they were very concerned for him. They had sent someone to him with a letter and some financial support. They wanted to know if he was alright. And perhaps, most of all, they were concerned about what his circumstances would mean for the future of the ministry of the gospel. After all, their beloved apostle Paul was locked in chains—perhaps about to be put to death. Did this all mean that the spread of the gospel that God had given to him was being shut down?
But they didn’t yet have the higher perspective of things that Paul had. He wrote this letter back to them, in part, to thank them for their prayers and their support. But his main purpose in writing it was to pass the higher perspective of things on to them. In Philippians 1:12-18, he wrote;
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much bolder to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice (Philippians 1:12-18).
Paul’s difficult circumstances of confinement were—in no respect—a hindrance to the gospel. As he says in 2 Timothy 2:9, “the word of God is not chained”. In fact, in His sovereign power, God was using those very same hard circumstances to advance the gospel even further.
The dear believers in Philippi needed to hear that back then. And so do we today.
* * * * * * * * * *
I truly love these victorious words from Paul. I’ll never forget when God first really impacted my life with them. It was when I was relatively new to the Christian faith.
It was on a Sunday evening. The pastor of the church I was attending had preached from this passage earlier that day. And several of us were in someone’s home later that evening for a meeting. My pastor was also there. I saw him sitting alone somewhere in the house; and when I realized that I could have a private moment with him, I took my Bible with me, opened up to this passage, and asked him about it.
I had a King James Bible at the time; and so I quoted it to him in the old ‘King James’ way of putting things. “I really like what Paul said here,” I told him. “I like this thing about how the things that happened to him had actually ‘fallen out’ for the furtherance of the gospel. But what I want to know is, would this be something that’s true for me too? When things happen in my life—even bad things—can I actually say that they have ‘fallen out’ for the furtherance of the gospel?”
You see; the Christian faith was all new to me. I was only just beginning to learn what God the Father was really like and how much He cared for me. And my pastor told me that, yes, those words of Paul would also be true for me. He explained that God is in control of all things; and that He causes all things to work out to His good purposes. If I am trusting Him, and learning to walk with Him and talk with Him by faith, then I could take those words to be true in my own experience. I could rest assured that the things that happened in my life and all around me—even the difficult circumstances of life—were ‘falling out’ for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God wanted to use me; and He was permitting those things to happen according to His goodwill. He was using them to spread the good news about His Son Jesus in and through me.
I was stunned! And I was also thrilled. And I never forgot that conversation. I’ll never cease to love this wonderful passage because of it.
You see; back then, what I was only beginning to grasp at that time was the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God. That doctrine teaches us that God our Father is the ‘sovereign’ over all things. He so completely rules over and controls all of His creation that all things happen only as He permits. And the things that He permits are only permitted by Him in order to advance His goodwill and to fulfill His good design.
Once I began to grasp this, I began to see how the Bible teaches this to us in several places. In Ephesians 1:11, we’re told this about God our Father; that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will”. Think of that! All things! Even the hard and trying circumstances of life are ‘worked according to the counsel of His will’.
Likewise, in Romans 8:28-30, we’re told,
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. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
I even began to appreciate how God was working His sovereign will personally in my own growing Christian life. 1 Corinthians 10:13—which was one of the first Bible verses I had ever memorized—says,
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God would not even allow a temptation to come into my life except that I could resist it by trusting in Him, and would grow in my faith in Him through it.
And so, I really grew to love these words from Paul that we find in Philippians 1. Much of my Christian life has been a matter of coming to terms with the fact that the things that happen in my life have ‘fallen out’ for the furtherance of the gospel. I believe that’s true for all the people who love Him and are redeemed by His Son Jesus. I believe, dear brothers and sisters, that we should take that to heart, and find ongoing joy in it. The things that happen to us are not—somehow—out of God’s sovereign control. God sovereignly allows the circumstances of our lives—even the hard things of life—to ‘fall out’ or ‘turn out’ for the advancement of the message of His love through Jesus Christ. What someone even might mean for evil toward us, God means for our good (Genesis 50:20). I know that this causes some difficulties for some people. I know that some people have serious doubts and questions about it. But I don’t believe that we should allow it to cause any difficulties for us. Instead, we should embrace it, whole-heartedly believe it, yield ourselves to God in it, draw comfort and peace from it, and even rejoice in the circumstances of life because of it.
And this would even be true of the very hard circumstance that we’re all going through right now. The whole world is being impacted by a pandemic. People all around the world are fearful. Governments are desperately trying to find solutions. There will most likely be some hard times ahead for us. But they are not outside of God’s sovereignty. They will not impede the spread of the message of His love. He has permitted them at this time for His wise purposes, and He is using them for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world.
Of course, we need to be praying for people to be kept safe. We need to pray for medical personnel and for scientists to be able to find a solution and help people. We need to be praying for wisdom for our leaders. We need to be praying about the economic impact this will all have. We need to pray for people’s jobs to be restored to them. And we need to do what we can to keep other people safe and well, and to alleviate their suffering if we can. But many of us have also been praying for a long time now for revival. We have been asking God to grant another ‘great evangelical awakening’ in our time. Our nation—and indeed, the whole world—is desperate for a spiritual awakening. And I believe it would be absolutely right and true to say that—in the sovereign hand of our God—these current circumstances will turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; let’s go back and look at how Paul showed this to us. Paul began by having us look at God’s part in all this. He shows us that God sovereignly works through our circumstances in life to spread the gospel of Christ. In verse 12—even while he was sitting in a Roman prison, uncertain of what his immediate outcome would be—Paul wrote to his fellow Christians and told them, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.”
When I studied this passage earlier this week, I was fascinated to find that the word Paul uses for “want” in the phrase “I want you to know” was not the ordinary word that someone would use for wanting something or wishing for something. Instead, this is a much stronger word. It’s a word that implies that there is a plan involved, or that there is the accomplishment of a goal in mind. It was as if Paul was actually saying to his concerned fellow Christians, “Now; for certain spiritual reasons, I would have you to know something—in fact, I need you to know this. It is strategic to me that you get this deep into your minds and hearts.”
It was important that these Christians understood that things were not happening to Paul by accident. They were happening under the hand of God with a great, divine, glorious intentionality. God had it in His plan that His gospel would reach many people through the apostle Paul. When God first called Paul to faith in Jesus Christ, He said that Paul was
“… a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).
And now, Paul was sitting in a Roman prison, reaching some people with the message of the gospel that he never could have otherwise been able to reach, and touching some very influential lives that he could never have otherwise been able to touch.
And dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we are—right now—entering into circumstances, in which God will use us to reach people with the love of Jesus in ways that we never might otherwise have been able to reach. Do you realize that, because so many churches have had to postpone their on-site church services, there are now many hundreds of thousands of people being reached for the gospel through the Internet that would never have even entered a church door? Do you realize that Christians are now reaching out to people, with acts of love and mercy, that they might never have had contact with otherwise? Everything else might be closing; but I love what one pastor said, “The church of Jesus Christ does not close!” Do you realize how many unsaved people are now thinking about their own soul, and wondering about their eternal destiny, that had never given a thought to spiritual things before?—and how many of them are getting to hear the good news?
Dear brothers and sisters; we need to know that God is causing these present circumstances to turn out for the furtherance of the gospel!
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; that’s our sovereign God’s part in all this. He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him; and uses the present circumstances to bring His gospel to those who do not yet know and worship His Son Jesus. And our part in all of it is to trust our sovereign Father to use us in these circumstances, and to yield ourselves to Him as His instruments.
As we go on to read what Paul wrote, we can see this in three ways. First, we should yield ourselves to Him as His faithful witness for Christ to those around us. The way that Paul put this in verse 13 was to say that his present circumstances have ‘turned out’ “so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ …”
The ‘palace guard’—or the Praetorian guard, as it is in the original language—was the select group of Roman soldiers who were established to guard the emperor of Rome. These soldiers were charged with protecting the life of Caesar. And here they were, now, being sent to supervise the confinement of a preacher of the gospel! Several of them had to take turns being chained to Paul day and night. Only God could make an arrangement like that!
And just think of what it must have been like to be chained to the apostle Paul. Those soldiers would overhear what he had to say when visitors came. They would listen in on his prayers. They would follow along as he dictated his letters. They might have even heard him sing hymns of worship. They would have had a close, personal look into the life of an amazing servant of God. And there would no doubt have been many times when he would have told them plainly about how he ended up where he was, and about how much he loved the Lord Jesus, and about what Jesus had done to save the souls of the very soldiers chained to him—who could not get away—who had to listen to every word! And then, those soldiers would have gone from their time with Paul, and sat by themselves, and thought about the things they heard from him. And many of them would then go and report to the emperor or mix and mingle with the royal family. It was as if God was giving Paul an opportunity to reach the royal household of the emperor through his select soldiers!
And do you notice what Paul said about it? He said that it had become evident to the whole palace guard—and what’s more, to all the rest of the royal staff and the royal household—that he was in prison because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone was getting to know why this unusual prisoner was in their presence. The message was getting out to people that might not have ever heard it otherwise—people who, because of their position in life, would have otherwise been insulated from any contact with the gospel. And Paul was faithful to use the opportunity.
In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul wrote;
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).
Dear brothers and sisters, God has put us in these present circumstances for a reason. He wants us to be a witness for the Lord Jesus in them. The unbelieving world around us is watching—and many are noticing our faith who never would have noticed it before. Let’s make sure that we grab hold of the opportunity that God has sovereignly placed before us; and be faithful witnesses for the gospel of Jesus.
Second, we should let God use us to be an encouragement other believers to speak confidently for Christ. In verse 14, Paul wrote; “ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
It appears that some of the believers in Rome had held back from speaking the gospel to others because they feared that they might suffer for it. You would certainly think that looking at Paul—sitting in prison; perhaps awaiting execution—would cause other believers to be silent. But that was only true of some. Amazingly, for most of the others, the opposite happened. Seeing Paul’s bold, confident and faithful witness for Jesus in his hard trial had inspired them. There was something about seeing Paul boldly paying the price that motivated his brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. And so, more of them became confident to speak boldly for Jesus “without fear”. The gospel was being spread further by more witnesses!
Paul had to write once to encourage his assistant Timothy to be courageous for the gospel. He saw how Paul was suffering, and it was making him hold back a bit. Paul wrote to tell him;
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day (2 Timothy 1:8-13).
We need to remember that not only are non-believing people watching our lives, but so also are our fellow Christians. God can use us in these circumstances that we are in to further the spread of the gospel through others that we inspire and motivate.
Now; Paul went on to admit that, among those who went on to preach, not everyone had the best of motives. In verses 15-17, he wrote; “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.” There were some who were inspired and wanted to partner with Paul and share in his ministry sincerely. But there apparently were others who only preached in order to make Paul feel bad and to add to his burden. Perhaps they were jealous of the high position God had given him as an apostle. Perhaps they were like those he wrote about in his letter to the Corinthians—those who said that they weren’t of Paul, but were of Peter, or Apollos. They may have even tried to preach Jesus with greater success in an effort to make Paul look like less of a servant of God.
But this leads us to one more thing that we should do in these current circumstances; and that’s that we should be rejoicing in however it may be that Christ is preached. In verse 18, Paul wrote; “What then?” You can translate that as if Paul was simply saying, “So what? So; some people preach the gospel of Jesus Christ sincerely; and others preach it in order to make my imprisonment feel worse. What difference does that make?” He said, “Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this, I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
God is able to use even the hard circumstance of someone trying to preach a true message from out of an evil motive to advance His gospel. I have a good friend who came to Jesus because he heard a family member mocking the Christian faith. This family member kept saying, “Do you know what these crazy Christians believe?” And as he told my friend what they believe, he ended up believing it! Nothing stops the gospel. And so, we should rejoice in whatever means God uses to spread it.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; when Paul wrote this letter, I believe that he saved a special surprise for his brothers and sisters at the end. Look at what he said in Philippians 4:22. He was giving some farewell greetings at the end of the letter; and he wrote this:
All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household (4:22).
Perhaps the readers of this letter gasped when they read that. “Really? There are now brothers and sisters in Christ in Caesar’s own household? Wow! Paul was right! Things that have happened to him truly have turned out for the furtherance of the gospel! It has even reached the members of Caesar’s own household! Some of them have become followers of Jesus!”
Dear brothers and sisters; always remember that these circumstances that we now find ourselves in are under the sovereign hand of our heavenly Father; and He only does what is good. If we will yield ourselves to Him as His faithful witnesses for Jesus wherever He puts us, if we seek to live so as to encourage our fellow believers to be bold in their witness, and if we will rejoice every time Jesus Christ is proclaimed, then even these circumstances will turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
EA
