Philippians 1:12-18; Gospel Advance ~ 20230910 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
09/10 Philippians 1:12-18; (Messy) Gospel Advance Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20230910_philippians-1_12-18.mp3
Paul is focused on the gospel. He is thankful for the Philippian’s partnership with him in the gospel, from the first day when the gospel transformed Lydia, the God-fearing business woman from Thyatira, and the demonized slave girl, and the callous Roman guard in charge of the jail. They had partnered with him as he was run out of their town and advanced the gospel into Greece and then Achaia. He prays that their love would abound, that they would be filled with the fruit of righteousness, that ultimately they would live lives that bring glory and praise to God.
His prayers are characterized by thankfulness and joy. Only in passing in verse 7 does he mention his imprisonment; and it is in the context of them participating together with him in grace in every circumstance.
Paul’s Circumstances and The Gospel
But the Philippians knew his circumstances. They knew Paul was in prison, because they sent Epaphroditus, one of their own men, with a gift to minister to him, to be an encouragement to him, and Epaphroditus almost died in the process. It seems that some news had made its way back to them about the increasing afflictions Paul was suffering, and they were concerned. So after greeting them, expressing his thanks to God for them, and praying for them, Paul fills them in on his own situation.
The Philippians (like us) no doubt wanted more details, more specifics about what was going on with Paul. Is he in chains in a dungeon, forgotten somewhere? Does he have enough food? Clothing? Is he cut off from all communication with anyone? Is he being beaten? When will his case be tried? What is the outlook? We don’t know how much they knew.
Luke gives us this information at the end of Acts:
Acts 28:16 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
... 30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
How much of this (if any) would the Philippians have known?
Philippians 1:12 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.
Paul’s focus is not on his own circumstances. He simply says ‘what has happened to me’; literally ‘the things according to me’. He doesn’t say what has happened. Epaphroditus could have filled in the Philippians on what exactly had happened to him, but we are left wondering! But Paul’s focus is not on his circumstances, rather on the impact his changing circumstances had on the gospel. He is interested in one thing; the advance of the gospel. What he wants them to know is how through their gospel partnership with him, the gospel was advancing throughout the praetorium, the general population, and specifically among the brothers.
Gospel Advance Among The Praetorian Guard
His circumstances had made a significant impact on the 9,000 elite Roman soldiers known as the Praetorian guard. They had come to understand that Paul was more than a prisoner of Rome. It had become evident to them that Paul was a prisoner of Christ above Caesar. Paul’s circumstances had served to point them to Jesus!
Gospel Advance Among All The Rest
This gospel advance had not been limited to the Roman soldiers. Paul says ‘and to all the rest’. Who are ‘all the rest’? This would likely include the Jews that he met with on his arrival in Rome, as recorded in Acts 28. This is broad enough to include the general population. News about this unique prisoner had spread throughout the community, and this served to advance the gospel among the general population.
The Gospel and The Brothers
And it had a surprising effect on the brothers. Fellow believers, rather than shrinking back in fear because of Paul’s chains, became confident in the Lord, and were more superabundantly emboldened to fearlessly speak the word.
This gives us significant insight into how the gospel spread. It was not up to Paul alone in his public preaching to crowds. It was not even limited to a few of Paul’s co-workers. It was ‘the brothers’; average everyday believers, like each of you, who became more and more courageous, regardless of the cost, to speak the word. The gospel could not be stopped, because even if Paul was silenced (and he was not), the gospel would continue to spread as followers of Jesus simply spoke about Jesus.
Who have you told about Jesus recently? It’s good to invite people to church to hear the gospel. But are you telling them? That’s how the gospel spreads. Do you need to become more bold? Is Jesus such a central part of your everyday life, that he naturally enters into your normal conversations? What are you afraid of? Paul was in prison for the gospel, awaiting trial under Caesar Nero, and that didn’t slow him down. From where do we get our confidence? From our circumstances, or in the Lord?
What did they say? Some manuscripts have ‘the word of God’ or ‘the word of the Lord’; some simply have ‘the word’. The word is the message of the gospel, or as Paul tells the Corinthians, the word of the cross (1Cor.1:17-18). Paul concisely summarized the gospel he preached in 1 Corinthians 15;
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached … 3 ...that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared...
Christ, the Jewish Messiah, died for our sins. This is what all the Scriptures pointed toward. It wasn’t his sins that he died for (he had none!) It was mine. He died as my substitute. They buried him, demonstrating that he was really and truly dead, but he didn’t stay dead. He was raised, and proved it by appearing to many eye witnesses. That’s the good news that all the Scriptures point us to; that Christ died for my sins, and he is alive today!
At the end of this chapter, Paul recognizes the suffering and the conflict that the Philippian believers are experiencing, that is the same kind of thing Paul is experiencing, and he encourages them to stand firm and strive in unity together for the gospel without fear. He tells them here of his own experience in prison and the surprising result to encourage them in their own struggles.
Advancing the Gospel with Love and Good Will
But Paul is not just putting on a happy face. His circumstances are not all roses. He is honest about his struggles. He is real with the Philippians. It is not ‘all of the brothers’ but ‘most of the brothers’ who have become confident in the Lord, and boldly speak the word.
Among those who are emboldened to speak the word, there are differing motives, some good, some wicked.
Philippians 1:15 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.
There were mixed motives in preaching Christ. Some have bad motives, some have good. The structure is bad, good, good, bad. Some preach Christ from good will, out of love. We would expect that. Good will is not necessarily the good intentions of those who preach Christ; most often this word ‘good will’ points to God’s gracious and kind purposes. The angels announced to the shepherds ‘glory to God and peace among men of his good will or pleasure’ (Lk.2:14). Jesus thanked the Father for his gracious will (Mt.11:26; Lk.10:21). In Ephesians Paul says we were predestined for adoption ‘according to the good pleasure of his will’ and that he ‘made known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure’ (Eph.1:5,9). Paul says in Philippians 2 that:
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So this ‘good will’ could be the good will and gracious purposes of the brothers who preached Christ out of love, or it could be that these brothers were motivated by God’s good pleasure, his gracious will, to preach Christ. He says in verse 16 that they do it ‘knowing that Paul was appointed by God to the defense of the gospel’. They understood that God’s gracious purposes were at work even through the imprisonment of Paul, and they were motivated by the highest of all virtues, love. Paul prayed for the Philippians’ love to abound still more and more in all knowledge and insight’ and he is thankful that some brothers preach Christ out of love; love for God, love for people, love for Paul.
Preaching Christ from Impure Motives
But sadly this is not true of everyone. Some preach Christ out of jealousy and strife, out of contention they proclaim Christ, not purely, intending to raise pressure to Paul’s bonds. We can ask how they were intending to increase Paul’s afflictions by preaching Christ, and although there is much scholarly speculation, the answer is that we simply don’t know because Paul doesn’t tell us. He describes their impure motives as envy or jealousy, rivalry or strife, contention or selfish ambition. And they were seeking to hurt Paul. Apparently they wanted something they perceived Paul had, whether it was authority, popularity, a platform, followers, influence; whatever it was, they wanted it, and took advantage of Paul in prison to pursue it by preaching the gospel. They sought to lift themselves up by pushing Paul down. Maybe they were more eloquent than Paul, maybe they were better looking, maybe their speech was more persuasive. Maybe they were like those he addresses in 2 Corinthians, ‘peddlers of God’s word’ (2Cor.2:17), motivated by profit.
We know they were not false teachers, and they didn’t preach a false Christ or a false gospel, because Paul was always crystal clear on the gospel, and was not afraid to confront false teaching and false teachers head on. He told the church in Galatia:
Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Paul is not afraid to confront those who are not walking in step with the gospel, even if it’s the Apostle Peter! (Gal.2:11-16)
Paul considered these genuine brothers, not false teachers, or he would have said so. And he doesn’t challenge their message; he says they were preaching Christ, proclaiming Christ. But he does confront their motives. They were in sin. They were characterized by jealousy and strife, by selfish ambition.
The advance of the gospel can be messy. Paul doesn’t conclude that the end justifies means; he doesn’t downplay sin; sin is sin, and he names it. Paul does not rejoice because of impure motives, but in spite of impure motives. He rejoices in the triumph of the gospel in spite of flawed and imperfect messengers.
We should not be surprised when brothers who have sin issues are preaching truth and seeing fruit. By the grace of God that happens. And we need to be careful. When someone is preaching a false gospel or a false Jesus, we ought to be clear about that. But we ought to be cautious about passing judgment on larger than life personalities who are preaching Christ and gaining a following. Maybe they built their ministry on rivalry and contention. Those are sins, and we shouldn’t pretend they’re not. But neither should we jump to the conclusion that that that is not a genuine brother or sister, simply because they are operating from impure motives. We can learn much from Paul, when he says:
Philippians 1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. …
Paul is passionate about the gospel. He is passionate about Jesus. He is tenacious about defending the truth about Christ. He would desire the sincerity and integrity of the messenger, for the good of their hearers, and the good of their own souls. But he is willing to celebrate the proclamation of Jesus even when it is motivated by envy, rivalry, selfish ambition; sin.
It is important for us to remember, no preacher changes lives. If you heard the gospel from someone who later discredited themselves because of sin, don’t be devastated. People will let you down. The gospel is bigger than that. Paul himself said:
1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
The gospel changes lives. God transforms people. The messenger matters; the integrity of the messenger matters, but the messenger is nothing in comparison to God, whose gospel it is, who alone saves, who himself gives growth.
Those who sought to get under Paul’s skin and add affliction to his bonds by their envious selfish motives failed. For Paul, it was never about Paul. It was only ever about Christ. He was not fixated on his own circumstances. He was passionate about the advance of the gospel.
Philippians 1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. …
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2023.09.10 Sermon Notes
Philippians 1:12-18; (Messy) Gospel Advance
Paul is focused on the gospel
Philippians 1:5, 7, 12, 14
Paul’s circumstances: imprisonment
Philippians 1:7, 13-14; Acts 28:16, 30-31
-advanced the gospel in the praetorian guard
Philippians 1:13a
-advanced the gospel to all the rest
Philippians 1:13b
-the brothers advanced the gospel without fear
Philippians 1:14
The word of the cross
1 Corinthians 1:17-18
“that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, ...and was raised...”
1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Advancing the gospel with love and good will
Philippians 1:15-16; 2:13; Luke 2:14, 20:21; Ephesians 1:5, 9
Preaching Christ from impure motives
Philippians 1:15, 17; 2 Corinthians 2:17
-not a false gospel, but preaching Christ
-not false teachers, but brothers
Galatians 1:6-8; 2:11-16; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org