Gospel Advance Through Trials

Well, good morning, church. It's good to be with you all today. Our sermon text today is Philippians

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. We're looking at verses 12 through 18. Philippians chapter 1. If you're new to reading

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

the Bible, if you're new to Christianity, if you're new to the Bible, just a quick way of

orientation. The big numbers are the chapters. The small numbers are the verses. So that should

help you find your way around. And today we're going to look at chapter 1, verses 12 through 18

of the book of Philippians. So this fall, what we're doing is we're walking step by step through

Paul's letter that we call the letter to the Philippians to this church in a city called

Philippi. And we're doing so because we want to learn what it means as a church to be citizens

of the gospel. You know, we live in a time when there are a number of very loud and very different

and at times very compelling visions of what it means to sort of live life well, what it means

to kind of do this human thing. But, you know, as the church, we're not meant to be sort of blown

and tossed or captivated and compelled by these kind of competing narratives that are around us,

whether they be on the left or on the right, whether they be kind of so-called progressive

or so-called conservative. Rather, as the church, we're meant to have our identity rooted and grounded

in the radical distinctiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're meant to be citizens primarily

of the gospel so that when we love our neighbors, when we engage with our communities, then we really

are salt and light to the glory of God and not just another kind of echo in the echo chamber.

Now, when Paul wrote this letter, he was writing to Gentile Christians in a Roman colony. Philippi was

a Roman colony, so the people in Philippi were citizens of Rome. They were citizens of that great

empire that was uniting the known world politically, and it was ruled under the great Caesars who were

telling a story about peace flowing through their rule to the ends of the earth. This was Rome.

But Paul's helping this small church in the midst of that to become who they truly are.

He wants to help these citizens of Rome become citizens of the gospel, citizens of Jesus Christ,

and to live a life worthy of Jesus. And that's what we want too. That's what we want too as a church.

So we're going to jump in, and we're going to read verses 12 through 18, and then I'll pray for us,

and then we'll dive in. So chapter 1, verses 12 through 18, after a kind of greeting and a prayer,

Paul writes this. He says,

I want you to know, brothers, and remember that Greek word includes men and women, brothers and

sisters, 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 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 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. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven,

please help us, as we've just sung, to present our lives before you now. Lord, help us to open our

hands before you. And God, we ask that by your Holy Spirit, you would speak into the depths of our

souls right now. God, we know that your word is living and active, and it pierces down to the depths

of who we are. So we pray that you would do that deep work today as we attend to your word.

Lord, lift our eyes and our hearts up to you, Lord Jesus. Help us to become more the kind of church

that you long for us to be. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

So you have to imagine that when Paul's friends in Philippi heard that he had been arrested and put

in prison and eventually shipped off to the capital, to the city of Rome for trial, you have to imagine

that they were quite worried. I mean, what was going to become of their friend, the Apostle Paul,

and what was going to become of his mission, to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to the

nations? You have to imagine they were pretty worried. After all, it's pretty hard to plant churches

when you're chained up in house arrest, right? Paul's imprisonment seemed like a major setback,

a massive hindrance to the plan. And they might have even been thinking, how could God have allowed

this? And what's worse, they maybe had even caught wind that there were some Christians in Rome or

maybe in some surrounding cities that were not supporting Paul in his prison, in his imprisonment,

but ridiculing him. Now that Paul was out of the way, so to speak, they could step up and preach

Christ eager to show how much better they were than Paul. You know, oftentimes I think we can be

like the worried Philippians, can't we? We think that above all, God must use our strength and our

strategies to bring about his purposes. Now there's nothing wrong with planning and strategy, and there's

nothing wrong with giving our best efforts. Paul had a strategy, right? And he poured all of his

strength into it. Read the book of Acts, and you'll see that what becomes pretty clear is that Paul has

a strategy. He would find a sort of city center of a region, he would go there first, he would preach

to his fellow Jews, then he would turn to the Gentiles, he would establish the fledgling church with

godly leaders, and then he would head to the next city, knowing that if a church had taken root in the

city center, then the gospel would radiate out from there to the surrounding region. And that's what we see in

Acts. But what happens when our strategy and our strength get curtailed, get hindered by trial and weakness?

Is everything lost? When your good, godly ambitions are seemingly thwarted by physical illness, say, or a lack of

financial resources, or a global pandemic, what do you do? When your strategy meets nothing but setback

after setback, how should you respond? Well, here's what Paul wants his friends at Philippi and us today to see.

This passage is showing us that God can use even our trials, even our setbacks, even our greatest

hindrances to advance the gospel. It's not just through our strategy and our strength, but also and

especially through our weakness and dependence that God's gospel goes forth. What has happened to me,

Paul says, has really served to advance the gospel. Think about it. What's really going on?

Well, Paul's in prison. He's stuck. He's awaiting trial, maybe awaiting execution. Yes, all that's true.

But what's really going on, Paul says, it's really served to advance the gospel.

Our trials are not meaningless. In fact, they are the very means that God uses to spread

the life-saving message of Christ crucified and risen. And what we see in the rest of the passage is that

God uses our trials, God uses our setbacks to advance the gospel in at least three ways. So we're

going to look at those three ways that God advances the gospel through our trials. First, in verse 13,

we see that God uses our trials to advance the gospel in the hearts of unbelievers. In other words,

God uses our trials to reach those that we might not have reached before. Verse 13 says,

it's become known because of my imprisonment, Paul says, it's become known throughout the whole imperial

guard. And to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ. All those guards that kept watch over

Paul, all those administrators who work in what he calls the imperial guard, that is the praetorium,

these were sort of the executive offices of the empire found in Roman cities throughout the

Mediterranean, they're all hearing about Paul. But not just about Paul, they're hearing about this one

that Paul proclaims. This guy Paul has been talking about some new emperor who's taken the throne.

And it turns out it's a crucified Jew named Jesus. And according to this Paul, his death has brought true

peace and true justice to the whole world. And everyone, absolutely every man, woman, and child is being

called to bend their knee in allegiance to him alone. And to find reconciliation with God by grace.

And to find a whole new life in this broken and hurting world.

Because God raised Jesus from the dead.

Now imagine citizens of Rome hearing that message.

Not just strange, but profoundly countercultural.

You see, Rome advanced through strength and through power.

And yet, this King Jesus won his victory and advanced his kingdom through a cross.

It's pretty countercultural today too, isn't it?

It's very easy for us to exalt in the powerful, in the brash.

You know, we get excited when things hit quick and hit hard.

The best defense is more offense, as we learned from watching Cobra Kai, if you've seen that.

We think real freedom is having our own way.

And yet, and yet, on the throne of the universe sits a king with nail scars in his hands.

And who demands our utter allegiance to him and his way, the way of the cross.

And for this message to get through, to reach those it might not reach otherwise,

God uses not just our strength, but our weakness.

And not just our triumphs, but he uses our trials.

And that seems pretty fitting, doesn't it, when you think about it?

That God would not just use the strategy and strengths of Paul to advance the gospel,

but also his weakness and imprisonment.

After all, isn't the gospel the message of how God became weak to save us?

And in becoming weak ourselves, then our lips don't just speak the message,

but our lives live it.

And the message of Jesus, then, is able to reach those that otherwise we could not reach.

You know, have you ever thought that your non-Christian friends,

yes, we'll hear the gospel through your well-thought-out answers to their questions.

There's a good place for that.

But they'll also hear the gospel, perhaps even more clearly,

when they see how you endure through suffering and trial.

You know, it's easy for Paul to talk about Jesus as king

when he's traveling footloose and fancy-free through the Roman Empire,

but when his hands and feet are in chains,

and he still speaks about the good news,

how much greater must that have struck the hearts of those hardened soldiers

assigned to watch over him,

those pragmatic administrators just running an empire?

It'll be the same for us, friends.

God will open new opportunities and new hearts through our weakness,

through our supposed setbacks that in our strength we could never reach.

So the first thing we see is that through our trials,

God will advance the gospel in the hearts of unbelievers.

But second, God doesn't just use our trials to advance the gospel in the heart of unbelievers.

He uses our trials to advance the gospel in the hearts of our fellow believers as well.

God's able through our setbacks to reach those we might not have reached before,

but he's also able to empower and encourage those we might not have empowered or encouraged before.

Look at verse 14.

Paul says,

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment,

are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Now, it was a scary thing to go to prison in the first century.

It's a scary thing to go to prison in any century.

But when Christians saw Paul go there for the sake of Christ,

and when they saw how God used Paul there,

it's as if that venom of fear was sucked out of their hearts.

If God can use prison for his purposes,

then what have we to fear?

What can this empire really do to us ultimately if God is our God?

The God who can use a prison to advance his freedom.

The God who can use a cross to defeat evil.

The God who can swallow up death in the resurrection.

If this is our God, why are we afraid?

And when we face trials with the assurance that this God is in control,

our fellow believers will see us and take courage too.

This is one of the great benefits of reading Christian history,

of reading missionary biographies,

of learning about the saints who've gone before us,

like Ida B. Wells, the anti-lynching activist,

or like Hudson Taylor, the pioneering missionary to China,

or like Athanasius of Alexandria, the defender of orthodoxy.

All these, in their own way, stood up for Christ

in the face of great danger and great trial.

And we can read their stories and be encouraged

to speak the word without fear.

Right now, in our adult class,

happening on the second floor next door,

we're highlighting some of these stories.

So, since you're here at the 9 a.m. service,

and you're not at that class,

later in the week, you can listen to it on the podcast,

and you can be encouraged to speak the word more boldly,

without fear.

But brothers and sisters, don't you see,

your story can encourage others too.

The trials that you face,

they can become evidence of God's gracious work in your life.

They become testimonies to God's powerful gospel

as you cling to Him,

and find your peace and joy and strength in Him,

even through hardship.

The trials that you face will encourage others just the same.

They're not wasted in God's providence.

God will use them,

not just to reach others you might not have reached,

but encourage those,

to encourage those you might not have otherwise encouraged.

Through your trials,

others will become more confident in the Lord,

to speak the word more boldly and without fear.

So friends,

be comforted by these verses.

What trial or hindrance are you facing right now?

Maybe it's a professional setback.

Maybe it's a relational hardship.

Maybe it's a health crisis.

But in the hands of our sovereign God,

He's able to take it

and use it

and to come close to you

and to advance the gospel,

not just in the hearts of those outside the church,

but in the hearts of those inside the church as well.

But now there's one more area

where God advances the gospel through our trials.

Paul says,

first,

He's going to do it in the hearts of unbelievers.

And second,

He does it through the hearts of believers.

But third and last,

through our trials,

through our setbacks,

God will advance the gospel

in our own hearts too.

You know,

up to this point in the text,

everything kind of seems pretty rosy.

Yeah,

Paul's in prison,

but yay,

the gospel still advances.

But you know,

it's not all pretty.

It's not all such a straight,

easy line.

We learn in verse 15

that when Paul went to jail,

some of his fellow believers,

turned their backs on him.

And they started preaching Christ more fervently

really out of a desire

to kind of put Paul down.

Or as verse 17 says,

to afflict him in his imprisonment.

Now,

it's hard to kind of reconstruct

exactly what was happening here historically,

but it doesn't seem like

these opponents of Paul

were preaching a false gospel.

It doesn't seem like

they were preaching a wrong gospel

or a false gospel

because we know from Paul's other letters

that he would have never rejoiced in that.

So it wasn't the message

of these opponents

that was the problem.

Rather,

Paul says,

it's their motivation.

They saw themselves

as rivals of Paul

and perhaps they didn't care

for his methods

or care for his style.

Perhaps they were jealous

of his gifts.

Perhaps they were envious

of his office

as an apostle.

Who knows?

But whatever it was,

when Paul went to prison,

they stepped up

and started preaching Christ

all the more fervently,

it seems,

in order to put Paul down

to discredit him.

You see,

Paul's not so great,

they might have been saying.

After all,

he landed in prison.

What good is Paul?

Where is he now?

Let us proclaim Christ to you.

You don't need him.

Listen to us.

Let us proclaim to you

that Jesus is king.

Now look,

Paul certainly does not

excuse these motives.

In fact,

he is kind of exposing them

in this passage,

isn't he?

But rather than

taking offense at them,

rather than trying

to sort of rescue

his own personal reputation,

rather than trying

to sort of silence

his rivals,

what does Paul do?

What does he do

when fellow Christians

are questioning his ministry,

ridiculing him

for being in prison,

making themselves out

to be the good guys

and Paul the bad guy?

What does he do

when his good name

is at stake?

Shockingly,

Paul says,

what then?

Only that in every way,

whether in pretense

or in truth,

Christ is proclaimed.

And in that,

I rejoice.

So what if my name

is being dragged

through the mud,

Paul says?

So what if other people

want to jump in my place?

Is Christ being proclaimed?

Is the gospel faithfully taught?

If so,

then in that I'll rejoice.

My reputation

at the end of the day

isn't worth comparing

to the reputation of Christ.

Now,

do you see what's happening here?

In these verses,

in this whole section

of Philippians actually,

Paul is modeling

for the Philippians

and for us

a heart

that values

and rejoices

in the advance

of the gospel

more than our personal comfort

and more than

our personal reputation.

In other words,

through the trial

that Paul is facing,

the gospel is advancing

deeper and deeper

in his own heart.

The supreme worth

of Christ,

of Christ proclaimed,

is more and more

taking the uppermost place.

What Paul cares most about

is Jesus.

Does it matter

that people are slandering him?

That he's losing

his reputation?

That some people

have a personal axe

to grind with him?

Through that trial,

Paul's saying,

look,

I'm seeing more

and more

that what really

matters is Christ.

So what about

in our hearts?

When hard times come,

can we say,

Christ is proclaimed

and in that I rejoice?

Can we say that

when our best laid plans

go awry?

When fellow Christians

ridicule us?

It's hard,

isn't it?

We live so much

of our life

wanting comfort,

good friends,

a good name,

a good job,

a good living,

good health.

And all of those things

are, well,

they're good things,

right?

There's nothing wrong

with them.

But if they're threatened

or if they're taken away,

can we still rejoice?

Can you still rejoice

because the greatest good,

the advance of God's gospel,

is still undaunted?

How do we get our hearts

to stop loving lesser things

more than we love the gospel?

Well, the good news is

we can't do it on our own,

but God can.

Through the Holy Spirit,

our hearts do change.

And how does the Holy Spirit do it?

The Holy Spirit does it

by shining the spotlight

on Christ

in the midst

of our trials and weaknesses.

When comfort

or approval

or our reputation

fall away,

when our trials

and setbacks

show us

how fleeting they are

and how insecure they are,

the Holy Spirit

in those moments

of trial comes

and He shows us Christ,

who He is

and what He's done

and what He's doing

right now,

right here.

How do you get to the place

where you rejoice

in Christ being proclaimed

more than you rejoice

in your own comfort,

more than you rejoice

in your own reputation?

You get there

when you see afresh

what Christ has done

for you

through the working

of the Holy Spirit.

When you see

that He's done for you

what no one

or no thing else

has or can do.

Can the idols

of comfort

or the approval

of others

compare with Christ?

Christ gave up

His comfort for you

and Christ gave up

His reputation for you.

The Lord of history

became a servant.

The all-powerful one

became powerless

and died

for your sins

and for mine.

And because of that

God raised Him up.

And in the resurrection

God the Father

was proclaiming

the ultimate

divine yes

over the price

that Jesus paid

and over the divine love

that Jesus demonstrated.

It's as if

in the resurrection

God says

yes

this is who I am.

Not a tyrant

who makes others

pay for their crimes

so that I can get better

but the God

of self-giving love

who pays

your price

in your place

and my price

in my place.

Christ

is King.

The crucified

Jesus

is the risen Lord

and the world

cannot stay the same.

You know friends

the church

is the one place

on earth

where heaven

has broken through

to stay.

And with our citizenship

in heaven

we form

a colony

on earth.

This earth

that God

is reclaiming

for His glory.

Will we lose

comforts

as we live

as citizens

of the gospel?

Probably so.

But if Christ

is proclaimed

if the king

is getting glory

and the kingdom

is breaking through

and the new creation

is taking root

so be it.

We are living

for something

bigger

and better

and more lasting

than mere comfort.

Will our reputation

suffer

as we live

as citizens

of the gospel?

Will even fellow

Christians

disappoint us?

Maybe even

ridicule us

as we follow

in the footsteps

of our crucified king?

As we follow

in his footsteps

and choose

service over power?

Choosing gentleness

over anger?

Choosing forgiveness

over fear?

Choosing justice

and righteousness

over the status quo?

Yes

as we do this

in Jesus' name

our reputation

will suffer.

But if the name

of Christ

is exalted

if our king

and our redeemer

is getting praise

if his name

is great

then let ours

be small.

Let our puny

little matches

be outshone

by the burning

radiance

of his glory.

If Christ

is proclaimed

then let us

rejoice.

And if the road

that God has

for us

is one of weakness

and dependence

and not just

of strength

and strategy

then let us

rejoice

because we

are sharing

the sufferings

of Christ himself.

Paul says

in this text

that his imprisonment

isn't just

for Christ

but it literally

says my imprisonment

is in Christ.

We are walking

in the footsteps

of our Savior

in union with him

as we walk

through trial

and suffering

and setback.

And as Paul

will tell the

Philippians

in chapter 3

let us share

in Christ's

sufferings

so that we too

may share

in his resurrection.

Let's press on

to make Jesus

our own

because he

has made us

his own.

So friends

when trials

come

and when setbacks

happen

and when the

best laid

plans of mice

and men

ultimately

go awry

remember

at the end

of the day

our greatest

good is not

threatened at all.

Christ has

made us

his own

and the gospel

will advance

through our

weakness

as much as

through our

strength

and his gospel

will advance

through our

setbacks

as much as

through our

successes

not just in

the hearts

of unbelievers

not just in

the hearts

of believers

but in our

own hearts

too.

And if that

be so

and Christ

is proclaimed

that no matter

what comes

we can always

rejoice.

Let's pray.

Our Father in

heaven we pray

that by your

spirit

you would

grant us

to begin

to imitate

the example

that we see

in the

apostle Paul

in these

pages

to be able

to say

with joyful

confidence

not that

his circumstances

are good

but that

you the

good God

take any

circumstances

and advance

the gospel

our greatest

good.

Oh Lord

help us

to live

as your

church

in this

confidence

this week

and we

pray Jesus

that your

beauty

and your

majesty

and your

worth

would become

more and

more real

to all

of my

brothers and

sisters and

friends in

this room.

Help us

to turn

from trusting

in ourself

and place

our deepest

trust in

you.

We ask

this Father

in Jesus

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.