Philippians 1:12–18
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Well, our senior pastor Greg is off in Greece with his son Jack on Jack's senior trip. So while Greg is off suffering for the Lord in Greece, I figured we might as well continue our study through Philippians, which Paul wrote to the church in Greece in the midst of suffering. So fitting letter. So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians. You can find that on page 980 in the Pew Bible. The last time I preached here, I started a series in Philippians that was only about 18 months ago, so I'm sure you remember everything that I said.
Don't worry, I had to read it again to remember what I said as well. So I'll go ahead and introduce this letter again to us. Philippians is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi sometime around A.D. 60, so sometime 30 years or so after Jesus was resurrected. The church of Philippi was started by Paul around A.D. 50, and that was about 10 years earlier, obviously. So Paul came to the city, he met Lydia down by the water, and shared the gospel with her, and she believed.
Then Paul met a demon-possessed slave girl, and she was converted. but the girl's owner was displeased with that because he lost his revenue, and so Paul was thrown in prison. And then God miraculously rescued Paul and Timothy from the jail, and when the jailer thought that they had escaped, he was going to kill himself, but Paul and Timothy cried out and said, we're still here, and then the jailer was converted as well, and that is the beginning of the church in Philippi. Like we said, Paul was writing to this church about 10 years later. This time he's in prison again, but he's in Rome most likely. There were a number of reasons Paul wanted to write to this young 10-year-old church. Some of them could be that Paul was the missionary who started this church, and he wanted to update them on his situation. This church had sent Paul money For while he was in prison, he couldn't support himself, so they're supporting him.
This church is also under threat from false teachers. They're under threat from false teachers outside the church, some from within. There's disunity going on in this church. And so Paul writes to them to thank them, to counter heresy, and to remind them of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity who humbled himself by taking on flesh and coming down to live as a human. The overarching message of Philippians is a message of joy in the gospel in the midst of difficult circumstances. It was the gospel that brought Paul together with the Philippians. It's the gospel that unites them still, and it's the gospel that informs and motivates their daily lives. It's the gospel that gives them hope for the future. Paul urges the Philippians to unite for and rejoice in the things that matter
the most. That's a message we need to hear today. So let's read our text for this morning, Philippians one, 12 through 18. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way,
whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Well, I think the main idea of this passage is that we should rejoice in the Lord, always. rejoice in the Lord always. We should rejoice in the Lord, first of all, in the midst of hard circumstances. That'll be point one. We should rejoice in the Lord even in the midst of hard circumstances. And point two, we should rejoice in the Lord because the gospel is advancing.
We should rejoice in the Lord because the gospel is advancing. This passage doesn't break up neatly into two parts. Both of these parts are woven throughout these verses, but we'll see how Paul highlights these two particular things throughout this section. So point one, rejoice in the Lord even in hard circumstances. Paul is able to rejoice in the midst of difficult circumstances. We see that in this passage. But why is Paul bringing this up? Why is Paul bringing this up in the first place. Why does Paul want the Philippians to know about this? Well, in many ways, this letter is not unlike letters that we receive from our missionaries, the news updates that they send us regularly. You see, the Philippians are partners in the gospel with Paul, and he wants to update them on his situation. Paul was also the founding missionary of this church in Philippi, so they have a deep bond. They know one another well. Paul has heard that the Philippians are
worried about him. They've gotten news about him being in prison and so they send him help and they're discouraged. They're discouraged by Paul's imprisonment and his difficult circumstances. They're worried that the gospel will be hindered. So imagine for a minute that the pastor who brought you to faith in Jesus Christ, or the pastor of your church, has been thrown in prison. I'm not trying to prophesy here. As far as I know, Greg will not be thrown in prison this week. But seriously, what if Greg wound up in jail in Greece this week? You'd be concerned about him, wouldn't you? You'd want to know how he's doing. You'd want to know about his mental state. You'd want to know how it's going to turn out for him. What's going to happen to our church?
You'd worry about these things. You see, the Philippians had heard about Paul's situation, and so he responds to the Philippians, and he wants them to know, far from being beaten down or depressed, he is joyful in the midst of this trial. What? That's not what we expect. That's not what we expect at all. Paul had every right to be offended, outraged, incensed, unhinged. Are you the kind of person that gets easily offended or outraged? Maybe we all are.
I'm not even talking about being offended because you've just been thrown in jail unjustly. I'm talking about being offended because someone didn't do what you wanted them to or what you expected them to do. Someone cut you off in traffic. Someone at your workplace has offended you by doing something you didn't want them to do. You're offended by fellow Christians here at church. Offended by your spouse. Offended by people who have different views than you. We live in a culture of outrage. Listen to these two lists. Which one of these lists fits more with our culture's obsession with outrage and being offended? Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, or love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. That first list is from the world. It's from the desires of the flesh. And the second list is the fruit of the Spirit. Do not be conformed to this world. As a general rule of thumb, I would venture to say that as a Christian, you should be known for not being easily offended. As a Christian, you should be known for not being easily offended.
Something to think about. Well, I'm going to brag on Ann Ashour for just a minute. If you were here at the evening service last Sunday night, you heard this already, and if you weren't at the evening service, then you should come to the evening service. So Anne told a story of how she was on a cruise recently, and the cruise stopped at an island, as cruises do, and Anne got off on the island, and she went walking around, and all of a sudden she goes back to the boat when she thought it was time to go back, and the boat was gone. The boat wasn't there. They left without her.
Ah! What would you do in that situation? If that was me, I'd be going nuts. How could you leave me? I was gone just a few minutes too late. What am I supposed to do now? Well, Ann said that she didn't get left behind. She was on assignment. So she went into one of the local shops on the island and shared the gospel with a man named Mahesh. Praise the Lord, Anne. Pray for Mahesh, who was interested in the gospel message. Pray that the Lord would save him.
Faithfulness in the midst of trial. Paul was thrown in prison for preaching the gospel, and yet he was not defeated. Look at verse 17. The former proclaimed Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. We see that Paul's in prison, it's already a bad situation, and now there's other people doing something good, preaching the gospel, but in order to make him have more pain.
And yet, Paul is not despondent. Why? Because his joy was not in his circumstances. Instead, it was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's focus was not inward on himself, but focused outward on other people and on the advance of the gospel. You see, how you suffer, it serves as a witness to the watching world, to those who are around you. Some people who watch you suffer and how you respond might actually become a Christian by the way that you respond.
Another reason why Paul is bringing this up in the first place to the Philippians is because they themselves are in difficult circumstances. We talked about that briefly. There's pressure from without. There's striving from within. There's strife. There's a division happening in the church. There were these two women. I won't pronounce their names because they're hard to pronounce, but in chapter 4 we read about them. Turn over to 4, 2 through 4.
I entreat Yodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. You have to think about the fact that these are two people in a real church. These are not just abstract names. This would be like me naming two people in the church that I know who are interviewed in the middle of this service and calling them out and saying, you need to reconcile. That's what Paul is doing here. This is a serious situation. There's a crack in the middle of the church. And Paul tells them that the antidote to this problem is to rejoice in the Lord. Why do we find it hard to rejoice in the Lord in the midst
of hard circumstances? There could be multiple reasons, but I think we find it hard to rejoice in the midst of suffering, oftentimes, is because we forget who the main character is in our story. It's easy to do, isn't it? It happens to all of us because this is my story. It's my life. When trials come, we focus inward. We become fixed on ourselves. Why is this happening to me? We lose the plot, right? We get confused. Have you lost the plot of your story? Have you forgotten who the main character is? You know who the main character is.
It's Jesus. Jesus is the hero of your story. It's not you. It's not me. It's not Paul. No, Jesus is the hero. So Paul, in this life, knows that it doesn't matter what happens to him. He's in a supporting role. Jesus is the main character. Think about Paul in this situation. Put yourself where he is, just for a second.
Paul could have just indulged in a little bit of self-pity in this moment, couldn't he? I mean, at this point, he's been in jail for years on end. He was in jail back in Jerusalem. Then he was sent to another city, and then all the way to Rome. This has been years and years in the making. Maybe you're thinking, well, Paul's imprisonment, it really wasn't that bad. It was probably like house arrest or something. Don't picture Paul sitting there like watching Netflix or something.
He's in a home. He can't leave. It's been multiple years in a row. Trust me, you're not going to one-up Paul on suffering. This is the Apostle Paul we're talking about. Five times I received the hands at the hands of the Jews, the forty lashes lest one. Three times I was beaten by rods. Once I was stoned, three times shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys and danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and toil and hardship through many sleepless nights hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure. So hear me carefully here. I'm not trying to downplay your suffering. That's not what I'm trying to do here. Suffering and trials are very real, and it's right to be sad when they come. Suffering changes you. It takes you through
waves of grief, but it doesn't have to change you for the worse. No, it can deepen your faith and your trust in God, and it gives you an opportunity to witness to the hope that you have within you, to the watching world. When you're faced with suffering, whether it's in your own life or in the life of those around you, what is your first thought? What's your initial response? If I'm honest, for me, it's usually astonishment, shock, fear, dread.
Even though I know to expect suffering, I'm still surprised when it comes. Why is this happening to me? Well, on one level, of course, we know it's because of sin. Whether it's our sin, someone else's sin, Adam's sin, we live in a fallen world, and suffering is a part of our world. But on a deeper level, if you believe that God is sovereign, if you believe that he's in control of all things, then you have to wrestle with this question by addressing it to God. Why is this happening to me?
He's the one in control. Friends, listen. God has given the answer. Everything, including suffering, is intended for your good and for his glory. Everything is intended for your good and for his glory. Even that thing, whatever it is that you're thinking of, God intends to use it for your good. God is sovereign. Are you in the midst of suffering right now? Are you wrestling with these questions? Are you watching others suffer? Are you watching the news? Are you seeing the daily tragedies unfold in our world? How do you respond? With sadness, anger, indifference, apathy?
Suffering is a regular part of life in the fallen world, and because we follow a Savior who suffered unjustly, we know that we too will suffer. Maybe you're suffering particularly for being a Christian, like Paul in our passage here. Maybe your classmates ridicule you for believing in something like that. Maybe you're being overlooked for a promotion at work because your bosses know that you're a Christian. Maybe you're facing rejection from family members.
Suffering is part of life in this fallen world. We follow Jesus. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. When we lose the plot and remain focused on ourselves, we forget the bigger picture. Peter and Paul are here to tell us that the antidote to our suffering is not to try to get other people to understand and pity us. That is not the antidote to our suffering. It's not getting other people to see that we're the victim. The antidote to your suffering is remembering the bigger picture. When Paul and Peter tell us to rejoice, they're not
talking about just slapping a smile on your face and acting like everything's okay. No, the type of joy that you can have as a Christian in the midst of suffering is knowing that God is sovereign and he's good. And remember that at the end of the day, this life is a vapor. It's a passing moment. And the eternal reward that we are promised for having faith in Christ far outweighs any momentary trial or suffering that you're going through. No one's promised a life without suffering.
It's exactly the opposite. Jesus said, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Our Savior Jesus, He already fought the fight. He lived the life that we could never live. The perfect life that you will never live. And yet, He suffered at the hands of evil men like us. He was crucified and killed unjustly. He took the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin we did not deserve it friends he was buried and three days later he defeated death by raising
himself from the grave if you put your faith in that Jesus if you've been united to him then you have a future that is uncomparable to the current suffering that you're going through our bodies are wasting away. Some of you know that more than others. Our bodies are wasting away. This is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior. The day is drawing near when Jesus will return, and there won't be suffering anymore. There won't be pain anymore. There'll be no more tears, no more sickness, no more death, and no more sin. We will see him face to face.
Endless joy for eternity. If you put your faith in Jesus, that is your future. That's the bigger picture. So rejoice in the Lord, even through your suffering. Secondly, rejoice in the Lord because the gospel is advancing. Rejoice in the Lord because the gospel is advancing. You see, as Christian, we are, as Christians, we're on mission. We're on a mission always. We're not just meant to coast through this life on our way to heaven. No, we've locked arms together as a local embassy of the king, and he has given us marching orders. Matthew 28. You're familiar with this passage.
And Jesus came and said to them, all authority and on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold, The good news about Jesus' victory, it's spreading. It's spreading throughout the world. The gospel is advancing. Contrary to what Paul's adversaries wanted, to silence him, to shut down the gospel.
No, it's advancing. Paul's imprisonment did not deter the gospel. Instead, because of how Paul responded in the midst of suffering, the gospel continues to advance. Look back at verses 12 and 13. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Paul's time in prison has allowed him to be a witness to these palace guards, and news has spread even all the way to Caesar's household.
While Paul is under arrest in Rome, there would have been guards watching him, and they rotate, they go back home, they talk with other soldiers in the army, and news of why Paul is in prison has spread throughout this entire guard, even to Caesar's household. And they all know why he's there, and he shares the gospel with them. You see, Paul was thrown in prison to stop the gospel from spreading. His opponents wanted to silence him, but God had other plans.
Acts 23, verse 11. This is while Paul is still back in Jerusalem. The following night, the Lord stood by Paul. The Lord stood by Paul and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. See, there was a plan. Acts 28, 23 through 24. This is when Paul is now in prison in Rome. When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.
From morning till evening, he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. This is what Paul wants the Philippians to know. Paul's imprisonment is part of a bigger plan. Philippians 4, 22. This is at the very end of the book. Paul's final greeting. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The gospel has not only been heard, it's been received. Even by some of the people in Caesar's household. They've been converted. Second, Paul's preaching while he was in prison emboldened others to preach Christ even more boldly. The gospel is advancing. Paul's opponents wanted Paul's imprisonment to stop the spread of the gospel.
And maybe if he would have been depressed for a long period of time or lost hope in the gospel, maybe that would have happened. If Paul would have despaired of life, maybe that would have caused others to lose hope as well. But because Paul remains steadfast, we see the opposite effect. Other Christians are encouraged to press on. Paul's example of preaching in the midst of difficult circumstances, it gave the confidence that other believers needed to press on, to preach more boldly.
Isn't that always the case? Of course, it's encouraging to hear Christ proclaimed at any time, but isn't it more encouraging to hear Christ proclaimed by someone who's going through suffering? Doesn't it make their words ring even more true? That's exactly how it was when I heard Anne talk last Sunday. In a small way, right? I was encouraged. I hope you were too. If you want to hear more stories like that, then get to know your brothers and sisters of Third Avenue.
Come to the Sunday evening service. Attend your home group. Have people into your home and ask them, what is God doing in your life? What has God done in your life? How about us? Is the gospel advancing through us here at Third Avenue? By God's grace, I believe it is. you are taking the gospel into your neighborhoods. You're taking the gospel back home. You're taking it to your workplace. You're taking it to your school, to your families. The gospel is proclaimed here, and you're taking it back to your life where you live week in and week out, and we get to hear about that. We've heard about it on Sunday nights. You tell us that you're sharing the gospel with someone, and we get to pray for them. And sometimes we even get to see those folks baptized here at Third Avenue. Praise the Lord. We get to hear about campus ministry at UofL and how people are hearing
the gospel. They're studying the Bible together. We send out missionaries to far-flung parts of the world. We get to hear about the gospel and how it's spreading to the nations. Our missionaries write to us regular updates and newsletters. You can read about how the gospel is advancing through Third Avenue and our gospel partners. Have you taken time or set aside time to rejoice in all of the ways that the gospel is advancing? Do you set aside time to pray for these different ministries?
If you haven't, let me suggest just a few ways you can incorporate these things into your life. First, come to the Sunday evening service. We're beating a dead horse here. But I really believe that the Sunday evening service has something to offer to you. It's important in the life of the church. And I want you to come. We want you to come. Come to the Sunday evening service. You'll get to hear more about what's going on in the life of the church. You'll get to hear from individual members about how you can pray for them.
You get a chance to pray for them as a church for an extended period of time. I don't think you'll look back on your life down the road and say, man, I wish I hadn't spent time praying together with my church. That's not something that you're going to regret. You can also read the newsletters that are sent out by the staff at Across Campus. That's our campus ministry. Or read the newsletters of our missionary partners. Take time to actually read those newsletters.
You may not be aware, but you can actually respond to those emails as well. Do you know how encouraging it is when you respond to those newsletters? Our missionaries are off on the mission field on a very small team, and they don't have the encouragement that you have here at Third Avenue necessarily. So take the time to read those newsletters, pray for them, and even respond to their emails and let them know that you prayed for them. That will be so good for your soul, and it will be so good and encouraging for our missionary partners. If you don't know who our missionary partners are, there's an outreach wall right back here by the offices. If you go down that hallway, there's an outreach wall, and there's a shelf right next to it with different cards from our missionaries.
Some of them are magnets. You can put them on the fridge to remind you to pray for them. We send out a directory every month, and at the back of that directory, our partners are listed out. Get to know some of our partners and pray for them. Andy Sims is one of our gospel partners, and he's one of the missionaries in Southeast Asia. And recently, Andy had heard from his brother how his dad's health was declining. So Andy called up his dad and he said, dad, tell me straight, are you dying? Do I need to come back home? And Andy's dad replied, yes, I am dying. And no, you don't need to come back home. The people there need you more than I do here.
We'll get to spend eternity together in heaven. Andy's dad rejoiced that Andy was proclaiming the gospel in Southeast Asia. And last week, I got to hear Andy preach one of the most encouraging sermons I've ever heard at his dad's funeral. Get to know Andy. Pray for Andy. Pray for the Sims. Pray for our missionary partners. Encourage them in their work. The gospel is going forth in so many ways.
The gospel is also going forth in many ways that don't seem good at first glance. Look at verses 15 and 17. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. here we come up against something that seems even more ridiculous than the fact that Paul is able to rejoice in his suffering. Paul rejoices that the gospel is advancing even through people who intend to harm him. Who are these people? They're not heretics, right? We know that they're not heretics. In chapter 3, Paul goes after the Judaizers. They were preaching a false gospel, and Paul goes at their throat.
No, these guys are preaching the true gospel, but somehow with motives that are not altogether good. So what do we do with this? Well, Paul rejoices. Amazing. What would I do? What would you do? It's not our job to determine why others are preaching the gospel. It's not our concern. It really isn't. Is the gospel being preached? Then rejoice. Maybe that's happening here at Third Avenue.
You see the opportunity or the success that someone else has, and you are a little jealous. Maybe someone's getting an opportunity that you wish you had. What does your heart do with that? Or maybe it's another church in town that you're aware of. You don't agree with something about the church. Something about the church rubs you the wrong way. or maybe you know for a fact that that church doesn't like our church. Who cares? Are they preaching the gospel? Rejoice! That's one reason why we pray for other gospel preaching churches every Sunday morning in our pastoral prayer. We're not in competition with other gospel preaching churches in Louisville. On the contrary, we're in partnership with them. Pray for the other churches in Louisville. Pray that people would come to know Jesus through the preaching of those churches all around our city. It's not about the glory of Third Avenue. We're not in this to make a name for
ourselves. We're in it to make much of Jesus. So don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Throughout your life, you'll be faced with many situations that could lead to discouragement. Obstacles will come. Seeming rivals will come. On January 9th, 1985, Pastor Hristo Kulichev, a congregational pastor in Bulgaria, was arrested and put in prison.
His crime was that he preached in his church even though the state had appointed another man. The pastor, one whom the congregation did not elect, Kulichev's trial was a mockery of justice, And he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment. And during this time in prison, he made Christ known every way he could. And when he got out, he wrote, both prisoners and jailers asked many questions. And it turned out that he had a more faithful and fruitful ministry there than we could have had expected in our church.
God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free. You will be faced with obstacles. You will be faced with discouragement. Enemies will come. Suffering will come. And through it all, including your life, God intends to advance the gospel and to make Jesus Christ known. For your good and for his glory, how will you respond when suffering comes?
Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you this morning. We thank you for the gospel, Lord, for saving us, for bringing us from death to life. None of us deserve that. None of us deserved Jesus to live for us, to die for us, to rise for us. So we rejoice this morning that no matter what we're facing, whether there's suffering in our life right now or suffering in the lives of our friends or families, God, we want to rejoice knowing that you will use it all for our good and for the glory of the name of Jesus Christ.
It's in his name that we pray, amen.