Philippians 1:12-19

Open up your Bibles to Philippians.

So again, it's me up here.

College students, sorry.

You might get a break from me this week

I believe our third week in Philippians.

And Paul is writing from Rome

and he is under, well, he's in prison.

But we, as I said last week,

if you want to go back

and get some of the background of Philippians,

you can go listen to the previous message.

But more than likely he was under some form,

hey, he was under some form of house arrest

or as a Roman citizen had, you know,

somewhat comfortable quarters at the time.

Now, he had much more severe imprisonments later

and in other places.

And, but if you read the end of the book of Acts,

we see that when Paul came to Rome,

he actually was able to preach the gospel unhindered.

And it says he welcomed all who came to his quarters

and spent time with them.

And while he was awaiting trial from Caesar,

which we probably think did not happen,

but he was, he seemed confident

even in the book of Philippians

about being released.

And he talks about even another missionary journey.

And so we're confident that he was released

from this particular imprisonment.

So today, I guess if we had a title for the message,

it would be the advancement of the gospel.

And just by way of introduction,

obviously, let's just read our text together.

We'll be in chapter 1.

And we're going to start in verse 12.

And he says, Paul,

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 all,

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.

Yes, I will rejoice.

For I know that through your prayers

and the help of the Spirit

of Jesus Christ,

this will turn out for my deliverance.

So, we'll stop there.

We could get into verse 20,

but I could just camp on verse 20 forever.

So we'll just save it for next week

and tie it in to next week.

But for introduction's sake,

just look at verse 12.

He says,

I want you to know, brothers,

that what has happened to me

has really served

to advance the gospel.

And things hadn't quite turned out

for Paul as he wanted.

He thought that

he actually was going to get

some really great public trial,

hopefully before Caesar,

because he had appealed to Caesar,

which would have been

the whack job Nero,

but he probably

did not actually hear him,

in which case

some other officials

would have heard him.

And he says, though,

that his imprisonment in Rome

hasn't hindered

the advancement of the gospel,

but rather is served

as a progression of the gospel.

And God had chosen

to use his arrest

to spread the news of Christ

to many of the elites in Rome.

So the main focus

of the message today

is that the gospel

will go forth

no matter what,

and it will advance

from every place

where it is preached.

No matter what circumstance,

I guess,

you find yourself in,

we are to be proclaiming Christ

to a lost and dying world

around us.

So,

the Greek word advancement

is a metaphor

for pioneers

who are cutting away

before an army

and to further its march.

So I will,

I spared you

a lot of history last week,

I might not spare you this week.

So,

other than my good friend

Parker Kleindeek,

who I can now talk

about history with,

and someone else

who enjoys it,

most people get bored.

But,

one of the most remarkable

advancements in history,

I believe,

was around 200 B.C.

So imagine being in 200 B.C.,

and I said,

I want you to organize

an army

from several different nations,

most of which

that don't really like each other.

I want you to train them.

I want you to march

a thousand miles

over rugged wilderness.

I want you to cross

or forge large rivers,

defeat any native peoples

that might harass you

along the way,

keep moving,

cross the Alps

in freezing,

cold,

winter weather,

go down into Italy,

and then defeat

10 Roman legions,

roughly 70,000 men,

some of the best trained,

the best trained army

in the ancient world.

Would anybody want that job?

That just sounds awful.

Let it actually happen.

That advancement,

which is what he's talking about here,

the same kind of word,

happened by Hannibal

in his Carthaginian army.

Military historians

at West Point

and every other

in North Georgia,

hopefully,

if not,

then we're going downhill.

We've got to talk about this.

they study

this advancement,

this movement

of Hannibal's army

into Rome.

He had

declared war on them.

They had harassed him

and his people

for centuries.

And around 22 BC,

he came to power.

And he had an army

of about 38,000 infantry,

8,000 cavalry,

and 37 war elephants.

Made up from a lot

of different nations,

but they united together

to fight against Rome,

spoke different languages.

He had to cross

a lot of rivers

to feed a lot of different

barbaric peoples

along the way.

And he marched

through the Alps

in the middle of winter,

which most Romans

thought was impossible.

And he actually cut

through the mountains,

like broke through

the rock,

and made a way

to go down in it.

And so,

he finally

got down

into Italy

where a huge,

one of the largest

Roman armies

ever assembled.

70,000 men

were waiting for him,

about 10 Roman legions,

and he defeated them.

Almost killed them

to the man.

It was one of the worst

military defeats

in Roman history.

But,

people studied

that crazy march,

like how in the world

did he do it

under such circumstances.

And,

but I say that

because

both of those advancements,

both of Carthage

and Rome,

are over.

Period.

They don't,

they're not around

today.

But Paul is using

that same word

that you would talk about

for some sort of

military advancement

to describe

how his advancement,

the advancement

of the gospel,

has not been stopped.

It hasn't been prevented.

It hadn't been thwarted.

And,

remember,

it has gone out

through,

to every nation,

nation to nation,

across oceans,

to many different

people's groups,

from persecutions.

people have tried

to destroy

the word of God.

People have tried

to destroy

the gospel

and his missionaries,

his people.

We're still here.

And,

it's still going forward

even today,

many,

many,

many years later.

So,

God has promised

that no power,

earthly or spiritual,

is going to stop

the advancement

of the gospel.

And,

I love Isaiah 40,

which we studied

a few weeks ago,

where it foretells

of this advancement,

right,

that later,

John the Baptist

spoke of.

But a voice cries

in the wilderness,

prepare the way

of the Lord.

Make straight

in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley

will be lifted up

and every mountain

and hill

be made low.

And the uneven ground

become level

and the rough places plain.

And the glory

of the Lord

shall be revealed

and all flesh

shall see it together

for the mouth

of the Lord

has spoken.

And so,

it's coming.

Like he said,

it's here

when John the Baptist

said that

in the person

of Christ.

So,

today,

we're going to talk

about four different ways

that the gospel

affects those

who share it.

How the gospel

affects us.

So,

don't get comfortable.

But number one,

these are

talking about our text,

sharing the gospel

affects your soul.

Sharing the gospel

affects your soul.

Paul recognized

that his imprisonment

released the power

of the gospel,

but even his imprisonment

did not bind

the gospel.

He knew that God

had brought him there,

so he didn't complain.

He kind of just

accepted it

as it was,

accepted the present

circumstances

and allowed God

to use him

where he was.

So,

in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

this was his last

imprisonment,

by the way,

when he wrote

2 Timothy,

so more than likely

his last imprisonment

before he was executed.

But he wrote

to Timothy

saying,

remember

Jesus Christ,

risen from the dead,

the offspring

of David,

as preached

in my gospel,

for which I am suffering,

bound with chains

as a criminal.

But,

the word of God

is not bound.

Therefore,

I endure everything

for the sake

of the elect,

that they also

may obtain

the salvation

that is in Christ Jesus

with eternal glory.

and I hope

and pray

that

we can somehow

be challenged

by those words,

I endure

everything,

so that they

can actually

hear

the gospel,

so that we

may obtain

salvation.

And even though

he recognizes

that he's chained,

like he's saying,

the gospel

is not chained,

the word of God

is not chained,

it's going forward.

And,

God will allow

us to go through

many,

many hardships

in order

to share

the gospel

with other people.

So,

I would even,

you know,

say,

God will even

allow death

to even happen

to one of his own

children

if it means

bring salvation

to other people.

If you don't think

that God would allow

suffering to come

upon his own

for the sake

of others being

saved,

then we have to

just go back

to the cross

because he allowed

his son

to suffer

the worst

kind of death

so that we

might step

into salvation

and eternal life.

Christ is

committed

to saving

his people

no matter what.

And he went

into the most

dreadful place

so that we

could be saved.

In John 6,

this is telling you

his commitment,

John 6,

John 6:37

verse 37,

he says,

all that the

Father gives me

will come to me.

And whoever

comes to me

I will never

cast out.

For I have

come down

from heaven

not to do

my own will

but the will

of him

who sent me.

And this is

the will

of him

who sent me

that I should

lose nothing

of all that

he has given me

but raise it up

on the last day.

all that

he has come

to save

will be saved.

And we can

be a part of that.

It's a mission

that's going to

happen.

And he's chosen

to use us

as his

instruments,

his messengers.

So,

one of the ways,

again,

that the gospel

affects your own

soul

is that

this is the most

basic,

easy thing,

guys.

we glorify

and we praise

what we love

the most.

Some of you

don't like to

talk about

stuff like this

but you could

talk all day

about something

else.

And what we

talk about,

what we do

with our time,

what we read

about,

how we spend

our money,

it reflects

what we really

love.

And we praise

the things,

again,

that we love

the most

and we have

to express

that out loud

a lot of the

time.

So,

before his

conversion,

C.S. Lewis

wondered why

the Bible

was filled

with the

term praise

a lot.

He said it

sounded like

an old woman

wanting compliments

at first.

But then,

this is where

he wrote,

I think we

delight to

praise what

we enjoy

because the

praise not

merely expresses

but completes

the enjoyment.

And that

is it.

Like,

we can't

just not

talk about

it.

And it

says in

Psalm 34,

I will

bless the

Lord at

all times

and his

praise should

be continually

in my

mouth.

My soul

must boast

in the

Lord.

I

magnify the

Lord with

me and let

us exalt

his name

together.

His name

will be on

our lips

at all

times.

And so,

as a child

of God,

we should

love expressing

that to

other people.

We have

the privilege,

again,

of being

his

messengers.

And,

again,

it's as easy

as remembering

that your

affections in

Christ will

compel you to

talk about

Christ with

other people.

We can't be

silent.

So,

the joy of

Christ has

to kind of

break out

somehow.

God is

putting his

joy into

you and it

has to come

out or else

it will be

kind of like

the Dead

Sea where

everything goes

in but

nothing comes

out.

And so,

that's one

of the most

basic ways.

And if we

don't have

any desire

to talk

about it,

then there's

something wrong

in our

affections.

So,

number two,

just to kind

of move on,

we're going

to cover

some more

of this.

Number two,

sharing the

gospel affects

lost souls.

See this in

verse 13.

He says,

So,

it has

become known

throughout the

whole imperial

guard and to

the rest that

my imprisonment

is for

Christ.

So,

again,

his imprisonment

was kind of

becoming well

known.

People were

finding out

who he was

and why he

was there.

So,

the imperial

guard really

is the

praetorian

guard,

the elite

guard of

the Roman

emperor,

stationed at

the palace

to guard

the emperor

and etc.

and important

other places

in Rome.

Paul knew

the influence

that those

men could

have for

the gospel

and so,

somehow,

the chain

reaction,

right,

it was going

to the

imperial guard.

It was

reaching the

palace itself,

right?

And after

that time,

they began,

many people

in the

household of

Caesar were

coming to

know the

name of

Christ.

And just

think about

it though,

he didn't

say,

like,

Lord,

why am I

chained up

here?

Like,

this is,

I could

do so

much more

if I

was just

released.

It was

more of

like,

you know,

the guards

that are

hanging out

with Paul

and he's,

so what

are you in

for,

bro?

Well,

let me tell

you,

because you

can't go

anywhere and

I'm stuck

with you.

So,

I love

sharing the

gospel with

people on

airplanes because

they're stuck

with you.

They can't

go anywhere.

So,

until eventually

they put their

headphones on or

something,

you're like,

no problem.

But yeah,

but it's as easy

as it was

spreading and

it was affecting

many people in

the city of Rome,

including the

elite Praetorian

guard.

And so,

we should feel

brokenness in our

soul for

the lost.

lost.

We once were

in that place

ourselves.

Many of you,

not that long

ago,

you remember

what it was

like to walk

in darkness.

And God

has chosen,

again,

to use us

to be the

ones to bring

a message to

them that's

going to set

their souls

free.

And I love

hearing about,

and I hope

any of us

do,

about how God

has saved

someone and

changed them

and given

them new

life in

Christ.

And so,

we should be

broken for

their souls.

Thirdly,

excuse me,

this is number

three.

Sharing the

gospel affects

fellow believers.

So,

it affects our

souls,

it affects

lost souls,

and sharing

the gospel

affects fellow

believers.

He says this

in verse 14.

He says that

most of the

brothers,

having become

confident in

the Lord

by my

imprisonment,

are much

more bold

to speak

the word

without fear.

So,

he says that

they're emboldened

by his

imprisonment.

I don't know

what it is,

but I'm sure

there's some

sort of

social or

psychological

term for

this.

But when I

hear stories

like this,

I get,

I'm challenged.

I'm like,

man,

what excuse

do I have

if this

is happening

in places

like prisons

where people

have endured

great persecutions

even today,

like,

what is my

excuse?

I'm challenged

by that.

I'm incited

by that.

But there are

some people

today that are

kind of like,

well,

that just makes

me feel even

worse because

I don't have

any excuse.

And I feel,

and they just

use it to

continue driving

themselves down.

And,

but,

but just

check this

out though,

what God

means for

stuff like

this to be

encouraging to

us.

He means for

it to be

challenging to

us.

So Paul is

saying that my

imprisonment has

furthered these

things.

And so I

love hearing

just,

you know,

wartime

stories from

both here in

the U.S.

and overseas.

Men and

women that are

sharing Christ

in very dangerous

and difficult

situations.

And,

again,

I rejoice

when I hear

of people

coming to

Christ and

being delivered

from sin.

One of my,

one of my best

friends,

he went to

North Georgia

many years ago,

but he and his

wife are in,

in a very

strong,

influential Muslim

country right

now.

And,

and all day

like just

preaching Christ,

making disciples

in that context.

And I,

I'm challenged

by that.

I'm not

discouraged by

that.

I'm not like,

well,

I'm just

worthless

because I'm

not doing

anything.

I'm like,

I'm like,

no,

God means

for this

to challenge

us.

So,

what I want

you to do

this week,

I'm just going

to give you

a challenge.

Meet with

or call

a person

that God

has used

to bring

you to

faith

in Jesus

Christ.

Someone who

shared the

gospel with you,

someone who

was patient

with you,

someone who

took the

time to

show you

the love

of Christ.

They were,

you know,

to you,

they were like

a picture

of the gospel

made visible.

And thank

them for

sharing it

with you.

It could be

your parents,

it could be

a friend,

it could be

someone else

that you know

elsewhere.

But just

thank them

and ask them

why they did

it too.

and see

if that

affects your

soul.

Number

four,

sharing the

gospel

affects

opponents.

Sharing the

gospel

affects

opponents.

See this

in verses

15 through

18.

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

or selfish

ambition.

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.

Jesus

warned

that one

of the

biggest

opponents

of the

gospel

was not

necessarily

going to

be

outside

forces

but

eventually

it was

going to

be

inside

forces.

And

that's

why

Paul

spent

so much

time

dealing

with

Jewish

sects,

pagan

establishments,

false

teachers

that were

trying to

pollute

the gospel.

And here

he mentions

that hostility

coming from

so-called

leaders

in the

church.

And so

that's one

of the most

discouraging

things is

when other

people they're

supposed to be

like alongside

you,

fighting alongside

you,

become,

they attack

you and

slander

you.

And so,

but in a lot

of ways here,

it seems to be

not necessarily

that their

doctrine or

their theology

was off,

but that

their motives

were off.

They had

bad motives

for what

they were

doing.

It says

in verse

15,

he uses

the word

envy,

which means

to deprive

someone

of what

is rightfully

theirs so

that they

wish they

had it

and you

didn't.

And so,

you see

the word

strife

also,

really.

Strife

means enmity

caused by

jealousy,

wanting

something

another

possesses.

And Paul

is trying

to say

that a lot

of these

people are

preaching

this to

hurt me.

They have

bad motives,

selfish

ambition,

not out of

sincere love

for the

gospel,

but they

wanted to

somehow

dismantle

Paul's

reputation,

discredit

his work,

and they

had some

personal

issue with

him,

and they

even looked

at his

imprisonment

as a sign

that God

was not

pleased with

him.

You see,

he's in

prison right

now.

I'm

challenged

all of you

to some

point,

do a good

in-depth

study of

2 Corinthians,

and you'll

learn a lot

about Paul

that you

might not

have ever

thought about

him before.

But one

of those

things was

he didn't

just look

like a

successful

guy.

He wasn't

physically

impressive,

he wasn't

a great

public

speaker,

he didn't

have a ton

of money

and stuff,

and he

had poor

speaking

abilities,

right?

But God

chose instead

to still

work through

him and

use him,

but many

people just

didn't think

he was worth

it.

So they

were preaching

the same

gospel message

in a way,

but doing it

to inflict

harm on

Paul.

But Paul

had enough

security in

the Lord,

confidence in

the Lord,

to be like,

you know

what?

If they

make fun

of me

and give

me bull,

that's okay,

because as

long as the

gospel is

going forth,

that's all

I really

care about.

And in

that,

I will

rejoice.

So we

need to

ask ourselves,

you know,

as well,

why would

we proclaim

Christ?

Not to

compete with

one another

or other

churches,

and you

should hear

some of the

other pastors

and churches

out here that

we just have

to talk to

sometimes.

A lot of

them are

great ones,

but a lot

of them are,

you can just

tell,

it's like a

competition.

Who's got

the biggest

this and

the biggest

that,

and how

many people

are showing

up,

and how

many

programs,

and it

is disgusting

at times.

So,

some application

for this,

because I'm

running out

of time.

What excuses

do we make

for not

advancing

the gospel?

Number one

is circumstances.

We just say,

well,

we don't have

the time.

If I was

just in a

different stage

of life,

or if I

was in

a different

job,

or I

didn't have

as many

responsibilities

as I

did,

this is

probably the

biggest one

for me

at the

moment,

because I

guess when I

was single,

I could

kind of run

rogue a lot

more,

like all

hours of

the day

and night

doing things.

But we

say things

even like,

you ever

heard this,

I'm just

waiting for

God to

open the

door.

Well,

that's

partially

biblical.

Out of

Colossians

4,

Paul says

he's praying

that God

may open

a door

for them

to share

the word.

But,

what it

usually means,

usually,

you could mean

that in a

good way,

but what it

usually means

I'm waiting

until it's

easy,

until it's

convenient,

until it's

safe,

and then I'm

going to share

the gospel.

Paul writes

in 1 Corinthians

another similar

way of opening

the door,

that it doesn't

always mean

easy or

no resistance.

He said,

I will stay

in Ephesus

until Pentecost

for a wide

door for

effective work

has opened

to me.

Cool,

a door of

ministry

has opened

to him.

He says,

but there

are many

adversaries.

So,

not convenient

door to go

through.

He goes

through that

door to

preach the

gospel,

there's

going to

be a lot

of hostility.

And so,

some of us

need to

quit waiting

for that,

some of us

need to

try to

kick

down doors,

beat down

doors.

It'll open

if God

wants it

to open,

but we

need to

take the

initiative

by faith.

Secondly,

some people

don't advance

the gospel

out of

fear.

Okay?

I'm afraid,

but it really

comes down to

is because

we're not

ever,

at least

for now,

going to be

in prison

for sharing

our faith,

are beaten

up,

more than

likely.

Some people

might have

wanted to

kill me

before,

but I

wouldn't

know that.

But fear

really means

I'm afraid

of what they

will think

about me.

I don't

want to

upset them.

I don't

want them

to stop

being my

friend.

And

underneath

that,

very subtly,

very subtly,

is the

hidden

idolatry

of pride.

You want

to be liked.

You want

to be

accepted

by people.

And

we feel

like we

have to

warm up

to people

for years

at a time

before we

actually share

the gospel

with them

because we

might scare

them away.

Just quit

hiding behind

that excuse.

The real

quick biblical

answer to

that is

fear God,

not man.

So,

thirdly,

I know I'm

out of time,

but oh

well,

not knowledgeable

enough.

Not knowledgeable

enough.

I don't know

enough.

Like what if

they ask me

something I

don't know?

Well,

if you

know the

gospel,

then you

know enough

to share.

If you

have

believed

the

gospel,

there's

no way

you've

forgotten

what you

have

believed

in.

And the

disciples

weren't

big brains,

they weren't

big theology

degrees,

they didn't

have all

that,

they weren't

master

apologists,

they were

ordinary,

common

guys.

They were

quick-tempered,

a lot of

them,

but listen

to what it

says in

Acts 13

about Peter

and John.

It says,

now when

they saw

the boldness

of Peter

and John,

they perceived

that they

were uneducated,

common men,

and they were

astonished,

and they

recognized that

they had been

with Jesus.

So remember,

it's about who

they know.

They had been

with Christ.

That was it.

So the closer

we get to

Christ,

the more we

know about

him,

the more we

will be able

to talk

about him.

So all

that's really

needed is

just a

willing heart.

You don't

have to

know everything.

You have

to be able

to communicate

the gospel.

I know a

lot of people

who aren't

great communicators,

and I know

that a lot

of them are

just afraid

even.

They feel

insufficient.

I know

one guy

named Jonathan,

one of my

best friends.

He's led

people to

Christ before,

and he

is not

anything like

what you

would think

somebody would

be as an

evangelist.

Fourthly,

I don't

really hear

this one

too much,

but I have

heard it.

It's not

my gift.

I don't

have the

spiritual

gift of

evangelism.

I'll just

leave that

to the

professionals

or those

who do.

And it's

only true,

that is only

true in the

sense that

God has

gifted some

people just

a little bit

better of an

ability to

communicate

gospel truth,

to articulate

the gospel

message.

But it

doesn't

excuse anyone

from sharing

the message

in what

capacity God

has given

them.

Understand

that?

And I

mean,

would we

really pass

over someone

in need

of Christ

just because

it's not

your spiritual

gift?

We can't

live that

way.

The gifts

have a place,

but don't

use them as

an excuse.

It would

be like me

or Nathan

saying,

well,

we're too

high and

mighty to

wash dishes,

or we're too

high and

mighty to

help set up

chairs,

or do

anything

else.

It doesn't

make any

sense at

all.

Again,

oddly enough,

God picks

a lot of

people in

Scripture who

don't seem

to be great

communicators

publicly,

Paul included.

So,

another one

you could

probably throw

out there is

my own sin.

I'm not good

enough.

I'm such a

terrible person.

I'm a terrible

follower of

Jesus,

and I'm

bogged down

by my own

sin.

God

can't

share it

with somebody

else.

Well,

if that's

the truth,

if that's

your demeanor

all the

time,

then there's

something

missing in

your belief

and connection

to the

gospel itself.

It should

liberate you.

And sometimes,

even sharing

it with

someone else

reignites

the joy of

it in my

own soul.

So,

don't hide

behind that

either.

Satan would

love to

bog you

down so

that you

don't share

with other

people,

but live in

the freedom

that Christ

has won

for you.

So,

as one