The Gospel Unfettered

Well, now we turn to the preaching of God's Word.

Today we're going to continue our series looking at the letter of Philippians, Paul's letter

to the church at Philippi.

So we'll be looking specifically in chapter 1, verses 12 through 18 today.

And as you turn there or look on the screen behind me, I wonder how many of you have heard

of or seen the TV show, The Deadliest Catch.

Now, I don't know if it has quite the same following here in the UK that it's had in

the States for nearly two decades, but it's a reality show that follows these crab fishermen

in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska during the crab season.

And so as the title of the show shows, this is dangerous work.

It's known as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

And if you've seen the show before, you'd know why.

Because as these fishermen go out into sea, we see these raging waters, these torrential

storms that they encounter.

They're dealing with these huge heavy equipment on their ship that they cast into the sea in

hopes of collecting crab in a few days or weeks or however long they're out there.

And we see that because of the temperatures and the storms, this deck is solid ice.

They have to deal with this equipment as the boat is tossing to and fro.

And so while this may provide great entertainment for some of us, some of us are left asking,

why in the world would these guys care to do this?

Because even though there may be some money in it, if you're lucky enough to have a good

season, who would want to risk life and limb just for a few dollars or a few crab?

Well, this morning we're looking at a passage where Paul may offer a similarly bleak view

of Christianity.

We know that he is sitting in jail.

He's awaiting trial that's eventually going to lead to his own death.

We know that he's been stoned and flogged and beaten and imprisoned.

He's been shipwrecked himself.

And we may think, man, this seems like a really bad recruitment strategy for the New Testament

church to have Paul as your leader spreading the gospel.

And yet he sits in jail.

He's continually the focus of persecution from both Romans and Jews.

And so we may think, man, that's a hard sell.

That's a hard sell back then.

That's a hard sell now to think that coming to Christ means you're going to face persecution.

That coming to Christ, you should expect to die.

And so we need to recognize that this calling, though this was a calling on Paul's life, this

was a calling for the New Testament church, this is also the calling for our church today.

And so it's a sobering reminder, especially in the Western world where we live in relative

comfort and ease, where we see the world tell us to seek your own comfort and security,

to secure your own physical blessing and wealth.

And unfortunately, those feelings and those desires and that call can start to permeate

the church.

And so the call to suffer is something that may be unfamiliar with some of us.

It may be something that's uncomfortable for many of us.

But we're going to see in our passage today, this is not how Paul responds to suffering.

Rather than complain or focus on his own hardship, we see that he rejoices.

And so because of his rejoicing, through his suffering, he recognizes that God is at work.

Not only in his life, but in the lives of others.

Through his suffering, the gospel is being advanced.

Through his suffering, God is ultimately going to receive the glory.

And so let's turn to our passage then.

Philippians 1, verses 12 through 18.

Philippians 1:12–18

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance

the gospel.

So 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 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.

Pray with me again.

Lord, as we turn to your word, we pray that we may receive your truth.

And as we struggle with the topic of suffering and figuring out what it means for us and thinking

about why we suffer and how we should suffer well, Lord, we pray that we'll be able to submit

to you to recognize your goodness and your worthiness.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, if you've been with us the last few weeks, we know that we've taken three weeks

just to move through the introduction that Paul gives at the beginning of the letter,

where he introduces himself, he addresses in church, the encouragement that he has seen

within the church at Philippi, and a prayer that he has for him, for the church.

And so now we see a natural turn where Paul is giving a personal report of sorts.

This is a church that is longing to hear from Paul.

They want to know what's going on in his life.

And so we see in this brief report two things that stick out.

One is Paul's own persecution.

And two, the gospel proclamation.

And so we're going to see today how one actually leads to the other.

So I want to focus on them individually.

First, Paul's persecution and then the gospel proclamation.

And so let's consider this persecution.

We've talked about how the church at Philippi was one of the very first churches to support

Paul and his missionary journeys.

They provided him with finances.

They actually set Epaphroditus to be with him, to deliver this money, to care for him.

And so this letter was coming back with Epaphroditus.

And the church would then be excited to know, Paul, what's your condition?

What's been going on?

We've heard rumors or short stories about your imprisonment and your persecution.

We want to hear it from you firsthand.

But if the church might have been hoping for some sort of sensational story from Paul about all that's happened to him,

it would have been really disappointed because Paul really doesn't say much about his suffering at all.

He sums it up by just using the phrase, all that has happened to me.

He doesn't give any more details.

There's no more specifics regarding his imprisonment, regarding his flogging, regarding his shipwreck.

And so if you're not familiar with Paul, obviously this letter in Philippians says very little about Paul's effort to see the spread of the gospel.

But we only have to turn back to the book of Acts a little bit earlier in the New Testament where it's documented.

Paul's missionary journeys, the sufferings that he endured.

And so if we were to move back to Acts 21, we know that Paul has just returned from his third missionary journey.

He's back in Jerusalem.

He's worshiping at the temple.

And these Jewish leaders recognize him.

And they immediately grab him and throw him out of the temple and begin to beat him.

It's only because the Roman guards interfere.

They chain him up.

They drag him away from the crowd who most certainly wants to kill him.

And as the guards are about to do a flogging of their own and interrogation as to who this person is, Paul reminds them of his own Roman citizenship, which grants him certain rights that wasn't available to others.

And so we know that then he is put in jail temporarily when there's this word about the Jews who want to ambush him and kill him.

And so the Romans decide, well, we need to take him to Caesarea, to the governor, and he can consider his case.

And so that's what they do under armed guards.

Paul's taken to Caesarea, goes before the governor, and we see that Governor Felix, he decides, well, I'm going to hear your case.

But actually, he never decides his case.

And Paul is thrown in prison where he sits for two years, forgotten, until a new governor comes in place, Governor Festus.

He says, yes, I'll consider your case as well.

Let's go back to Jerusalem where we have your trial.

Paul says, no, I'm appealing to Rome.

And so then he gets sent on a ship to Rome with other prisoners.

And on that ship across the sea, we know he hits bad weather.

He's shipwrecked on the island of Malta where he's stranded for three months, finally rescued, brought to Rome where he's put in under house arrest.

And that's how the book of Acts ends.

And so you may think, man, if this was a modern day missionary, had a story like this, his, I mean, would Christian publishers not be banging down his door in order for a book deal that they can share with others?

I mean, if we have a story like this of our own, some sort of harrowing experience, we want to share it with other people, right?

We want people to know what experience we went through, whether to gain their sympathy or maybe to be a little prideful and say, look what I've overcome.

Paul wants none of that here.

He deflects all attention away from himself.

In doing so, he refuses the opportunity to receive any sort of sympathy, any sort of praise from the church.

And so even though he doesn't go into details about his suffering here, we know that he has suffered.

He sums it up for us.

There's really two truths that I think we can take away when we consider Paul's suffering.

One is that suffering is normal for believers.

There's doubtless, there were many people within the church who would have thought that Paul's imprisonment was a bad thing.

They might have wondered, is God really in control?

I mean, what's going to happen if Paul is killed or if he's left in prison?

Is the gospel going to continue in advance?

What's going to happen to me and my family?

Are we going to receive the same persecution that Paul has?

They may question God's providence and his sovereignty.

But Paul in this letter consistently, both in Philippians and his other letters, he's trying to normalize suffering.

We already know when we've gone over at the beginning of this book, Paul says he refers to himself as a servant, as a slave of Christ.

And later on, we're going to see in chapter 3, verse 10, he says,

I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his suffering, becoming like him in death.

And so Paul is willing to suffer for Christ because he knows that Christ willingly suffered for him.

And he understands that his suffering for Christ is going to bring him into greater knowledge of Christ,

greater appreciation for all that Christ has done for him.

And because we know that Christ comes and fulfills prophecy of what it says in the Old Testament,

not to come and set up an earthly kingdom, not to come and rule and reign and subject others under him.

No, he comes as a suffering servant.

As it says in Isaiah 53, he was despised and rejected by mankind.

A man of suffering and familiar with pain, he was despised and we held him in low esteem.

And Isaiah goes on to say this, he says,

He took our pain.

He bore our suffering.

He was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

And so what a wonderful truth this is, to know that Christ has suffered for you.

To know that because of Christ's suffering, we may receive his salvation.

And so Paul, in wanting to participate in his suffering, isn't saying,

I need to help God out here.

I need to participate in such a way that I am contributing to my salvation.

No, that's not Paul's point here.

He's responding out of a heart of gratitude,

recognizing that the God of the universe subjected himself to the torture of man

in order that we may be saved.

And so therefore, we should be willing as his followers to do likewise.

And so as believers, I think oftentimes we may come to Christ and think,

you know what?

If I'm willing to follow Christ, then maybe my life's going to be okay.

Maybe I'll experience physical, blessing, financial comfort and success in this life.

But nowhere in the Bible does God promise that to us.

In fact, if we go back to the words of Jesus over and over again,

he says just the exact opposite.

He tells his disciples to take up their cross and follow him.

He says a servant is not above his master.

So if Christ was willing to suffer and die for us,

what should we expect and be willing to do also?

Jesus made it very clear to his disciples when he sends them out.

He says, the world is going to hate you because of me.

And so if we think of Paul's own conversion,

we know this dramatic conversion story of when he's going on the road to Damascus.

He himself is a Pharisee.

He himself is persecuting the church.

He wants to see the spread of the gospel fizzle out.

But we see God confront him on the road to Damascus.

We see him turn to Christ and receive salvation.

But what happens also is the direction and instruction that Jesus gives to a disciple in Damascus,

a man named Ananias.

And so listen to what he tells Ananias.

He says, go for he, talking about Paul,

says go for he is a chosen instrument of mine

to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

How is that for an introduction into the family of God?

You know, there's none of this, hey, welcome into the family.

Make yourself comfortable.

Have a cup of tea.

No, he says, praise the Lord.

He has saved you.

Now prepare to suffer.

And so how does that strike us?

Are we willing and ready in the same way to suffer for Christ?

And not that we should purposely seek out suffering or make light of suffering,

but it's something that we need to expect as believers.

I think unfortunately, though, this idea of suffering is something that's so foreign within the Western church.

Like we were saying before, society tells us to build up your own kingdom,

to seek your own comfort,

to make sure that you are secure financially,

that your family is well off,

that troubles won't come to you.

And so when we experience suffering within the church,

I think we often tend to grumble.

I think we often ask, why?

God, why?

Have you allowed this to happen to me?

We ask, when?

God, when is this going to stop?

We see oftentimes that suffering,

more so than many other circumstances in our life,

can reveal to us where our hope and where our trust truly lies.

Because suffering exposes the idols in our lives.

What are we relying on more than Christ?

What, when it's taken away from us, is going to be so painful?

And so Paul is saying here, no.

Not to follow the things of this world,

but to be willing to suffer.

So what does this mean to us?

Are we willing to ask difficult questions?

To ask, what's the value of the gospel in our lives?

Are we willing to forsake our comfort for the sake of Christ?

Are we willing to put aside possessions and security

and our future for the advancement of the gospel?

While this may seem radical to some of us now,

it certainly seems radical to those outside the church.

But what Paul is saying here is, no,

these are normal questions to ask.

This is the normal life of a Christian.

This is the essence of a Christian life.

And so then that second truth,

if we know that suffering is normal for the believer,

we can also trust that God is still in control

in the midst of our suffering.

We looked just a few weeks ago at chapter 1, verse 6,

where Paul says,

he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ.

And so Paul is able to say this in the midst of suffering.

He's writing this letter from prison.

And so he's acknowledging that it's Christ who has saved him.

And even though he is experiencing suffering,

that Christ is continuing to work on him

and that Christ promises to bring that work to completion.

And so Paul understands that suffering,

it doesn't interfere with God's work.

It's actually a part of God's work.

And so he was able to have confidence

in God's sovereign plan for his life,

to continue trusting in the ongoing work of Christ.

And so Paul didn't need to highlight the circumstances of his suffering.

He didn't need to talk about his shipwreck

or talk about how many times he'd been flogged

or how many days he's been in prison.

He's not focusing on himself or his own welfare.

He's fixed on Christ.

And so that's why he can say in Romans 8,

for I consider the sufferings of this present time

are of no worth compared to the glory

that he is to reveal to us.

And so Paul can endure temporary sufferings

because he knows of the internal glory that is to come.

And so what does that mean for us?

Likely none of us will experience the same physical chains

that Paul does here.

But certainly if we're called to suffer,

if that's an expectation of believers,

there's certainly going to be suffering that we endure.

And so what does that look like for each one of us?

Is it an overbearing boss?

Is it a marriage that's on the rocks?

Is it a rebellious child?

Is it that diagnosis of cancer?

Is it an ongoing struggle with anxiety and depression and loneliness?

Whatever it may be,

are we going to be willing to respond to the Lord with confidence,

to know that God is still in control,

to recognize the purpose of our suffering?

Because that really brings us to our next point.

We don't suffer just for the sake of suffering.

God's not the kind of God who just wants to see us in pain.

There is reason for our suffering.

And that's why Paul refers to his suffering here.

But when we talk,

thinking back about that TV show,

The Deadly Catch Again,

there's lots of interviews after seasons

or after certain episodes

where some of the captains either come together

or are interviewed individually about their experience.

And one of the common questions that's always asked is,

why do you do this?

And the answer that is always repeated among all the captains

is usually one, for the money,

if you get lucky enough to have a good catch,

and two, for the high that it gives you,

for the excitement that you receive

that you can't get doing other regular work.

And so their goal in doing something that seems outlandish to us

is their own personal profit,

is their own personal experience.

It's all about self.

But we see Paul give a very different answer here.

Why does he suffer?

It's for gospel proclamation.

It's for the advancement of the gospel.

And so it's probably safe to assume

that the church in Philippi had heard reports

that Paul was maybe not doing well,

that he'd be in prison,

that he may have been shipwrecked.

They might have not had all the details,

and that's what they were expecting

they might receive through this letter.

They might have expected that,

you know what, we may get a bad report here.

We may hear that Paul's in prison,

and his gospel work is hindered,

and the advancement of the gospel

is not going like we hoped.

But that's not the message that Paul gives.

He gives the exact opposite message,

that even though I am suffering,

the gospel is advancing.

Verse 12,

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that what has happened to me

has actually advanced,

has actually served to advance the gospel.

And so I think there's something

very important to notice here,

how Paul talks about suffering.

He doesn't say the gospel is advanced

in spite of my suffering.

He said the gospel has advanced

as a result of his suffering.

And so he recognizes that it's his suffering,

that it's his adversity,

that's actually aided the advancement of the gospel.

One of the things that my family loves to do

around Edinburgh that we've enjoyed doing

that's really close to our house

is just being able to hike up Blackford Hill.

And while there's some certain ways

that kind of most people go up the steps on one side

or drive up to the observatory on the other,

what my kids like doing

is kind of blazing their own trail.

And the problem is when you do this,

you're going a very narrow path

that a lot of people don't go on

that are just overrun with gorse.

If you know what gorse is,

it's that beautiful,

has that beautiful blossom,

yellow blossom in the spring.

But if you're up close to these bushes,

they are awful,

just filled with thorns.

It's not something that you want to brush up into

or kind of have to navigate through.

But inevitably, this is what the kids want to do

and they're a little smaller than me,

can make it a little easier than I can.

But every time we go up these trails,

I think, man, I just need to bring some shears

or clippers with me

to kind of clear out these trails

and make it a lot easier to go up.

Well, Paul here in verse 12,

when he uses this word advanced,

the gospel,

it really gives a military connotation

of soldiers that are blazing a trail

for an army to follow behind.

Like they're clearing a path

for easy advancement.

And so if we think about climbing a hill

with all this gorse,

we may think,

if we try to analogize it to our lives,

we may think,

well, the gorse is the suffering

that we have to endure

that we need to push away

in order to advance.

But Paul's saying, no,

it's the shears,

it's the clippers that we have

that are actually the suffering.

That's what pushes away the things

so the gospel can advance.

And so that's what Paul wants to show us here

is how the gospel advances.

It really advances in two forms,

through the suffering.

At first, he says that the gospel

has spread throughout the whole

imperial guard and beyond.

And so the imperial guard

would have been

10,000 or so imperial soldiers

that worked in Rome,

that would have been under the rule

of the emperor,

would have served as some form

of police force in Rome.

And so these would have been

the ones that were responsible

for guarding Paul

while he was under house arrest.

24-7, Paul would have been

chained up to a Roman guard.

And these guards would have shifted

with time,

whether a three-hour shift

or a six-hour shift,

they would have changed up.

So certainly,

Paul would have had

a lot of face time

with a lot of different soldiers.

And so if you ever want

a captive audience with anyone,

Paul certainly had it here.

There's nothing else

for these soldiers to do

but to spend time

listening to Paul,

talk to his visitors,

listen to Paul write letters,

and certainly have

personal conversations with Paul.

And so we know

that these soldiers

interacting with Paul,

he certainly would have been

any different

than any other person

they would have guarded before.

you wonder

what kind of conversations

they had.

You wonder

what kind of conversations

those guards

then had with other guards

about their time with Paul.

And we know through that

that everyone

knew who Paul was.

But not only the guards,

it says that

the governors

knew of him.

He testified

before Governor Felix,

Governor Festus,

before King Agrippa.

How in the world

would Paul have had

such an audience

if he wasn't in chains?

And so there's

great blessing

that we see

through Paul's persecution.

The Jews

were hoping

to silence Paul.

The Jews

wanted to kill Paul

to hope

that the spread

of the gospel

would fizzle out.

But we see

the exact opposite

happen here.

Because of Paul's

imprisonment,

people know him

from Rome

to Jerusalem.

They know

what he's preaching

and that gospel

is spreading.

And so

it's really

interesting language

at the end

of verse 13.

It says that

in most versions

it's talking about

everyone knew

Paul's imprisonment

was for Christ.

But actually

in the Greek

it's not for Christ

it's in Christ.

That Paul's

imprisonment

was in Christ.

And so it's really

one of Paul's

favorite phrases.

To be in Christ.

We see it repeated

throughout his letters.

What does it mean

to be in imprisonment

in Christ?

Well Paul's making clear

here that he's not

doing something

for God

by suffering for him.

As if he's

receiving credit

or as if

this is

of his own doing.

Paul is linking

himself not only

to Christ

but to Christ's plan.

So he's standing

in solidarity

with Christ.

He is empowered

by Christ

in order to suffer.

He's making clear

that the only reason

that he sits in prison

is because of his

union with Christ.

And so we see

then that his testimony

not only affects

Roman soldiers

and leaders in Rome

but it also affects

the believers as well.

In verse 14.

It says this

and most of the brothers

having become

confident in the Lord

by my imprisonment

are much more bold

to speak the word

without fear.

And so we might have

expected that the opposite

would have happened.

Those Christians in Rome

when they see Paul

begin to

brought in

and imprisoned

persecution

beginning to happen

you may think

God these guys

are going to just

go into hiding.

They're going to scatter

just like Jesus' disciples

did when he was arrested.

But we see the opposite

have an opposite

effect happen here.

I mentioned a few weeks

ago how my wife

and I lived in China

over a decade ago.

And when we lived there

we worked in close

connection with

a local house church.

There were several

points of the house

church in our city.

There was one very

close to where we lived

because there was a lot

of university students

there.

And it was one Sunday

that that house church

was meeting to worship

and it was raided

by the police.

And the pastor

was arrested

and the elder

was arrested.

They spent several

days in jail.

All the students

that were there

were taken into

interrogated

and they were

threatened that you

ever come back here.

Whoever hear of you

doing this again

you're never going to

graduate from university.

And it was amazing

to see the effect

that that had

on the church.

Because you may think

these students

are going to be

scared out of their mind.

they're never going

to meet together again

in public or in private.

But you know

what happened?

Those same students

were the ones

who were doing ministry

that very next week.

Those were the same

students who were

back at church

the next week.

They were the ones

who encouraged others

in their faith.

And so to see

the solidarity

of the church

in that city.

To see their boldness

grow because they

had heard the stories

of persecution

of their fellow

brothers and sisters.

believers.

And so that's

what's happening here.

Believers in Rome

see Paul imprisoned

and rather than

cower in fear

they grow in confidence.

And not of their

own strength

not of their own resolve

it says they grow

in confidence

in the Lord.

It's the Lord

that they're trusting

that Christ is working

through Paul

and in Paul

it is Christ

who is responsible

for the fruit

that is coming

through his suffering.

And the church

in Rome says

I want that too.

And so it's really

good that we

familiarize ourselves

with suffering.

So often

we're so opposed

to suffering

it's something

that we want to avoid

we even want to avoid

hearing about it.

But we see here

the benefit

of familiarizing

ourselves with suffering

not just so

that we can know

about others

who are suffering

we know how to pray

for them

and encourage them

but that we too

can be encouraged

through the suffering

of others.

And so this is why

it's good

to read biographies

of the saints

of missionaries

of those who have

struggled for the gospel.

This is why

it's good

to keep up

with current events

to know

how the church

is being affected

globally

in political situations

and social situations.

This is why

it's good

for us

to know

of our brothers

and sisters

in this church

who are suffering

and so that we

can care for them

yes

but that we can

also grow

in confidence

as we see God

work in them

and through them.

Because we see

the result

of this confidence

it says at the end

of verse 14

they were much more

bold to speak

the word without fear.

And so this isn't

talking just about

elders

it's not talking

about deacons

or other leaders

or disciples

it's talking about

the whole church

that's how the verse

starts

by saying

most of the brothers

so this is

really a church-wide

effort to proclaim

the gospel.

And so if we look

back in Acts 14

the disciples

have received

the Holy Spirit

we know that

Peter and John

have been sent out

they've been preaching

the gospel boldly

and as a result

they've been arrested

they're released

a couple days later

and they come to the church

and the church surrounds them

and this is what

the church prays

they say

Lord grant to your servants

to continue to speak

your word

with all boldness

and when they prayed

that the place

in which they were

gathered together

was shaken

and they were filled

with the Holy Spirit

and continued to speak

the word of God

with boldness.

Now notice

what it doesn't say here

it doesn't say

they continued

to perform miracles

boldly

it doesn't say

they boldly cared

for the physical needs

of their community

it says

they boldly spoke

the word

of God

maybe you're familiar

with the phrase

that gets thrown around

a lot in the church

sometimes

to preach the gospel

at all times

and when necessary

use words

right

it's a cute

little phrase

but it's not

in the Bible

and it's not

biblical

we are commanded

to speak

the word

of God

our good works

yes they must

correspond

with our words

but our good works

are not a substitute

for our words

and so I think

this can be

really the scariest

part

when we think

about suffering

for our faith

in our context

is the fact

that God calls us

to share

our faith

using words

to speak

the gospel

we're so concerned

by avoiding

awkwardness

we're so concerned

by offending

other people

we're so concerned

about not having

the right answers

or wondering

how people

will respond

to us

that we just

clam up

yeah we'll

we'll do something

to meet someone's

physical needs

we'll join a program

or a ministry

but speak the gospel

to somebody

how do we do that

well

think about

your own

conversion story

who are the people

in your life

that ministered

to you

how was your

heart softened

for the Lord

did people pray

with you

or for you

did people

point out

verses in the

scripture

as encouragement

to you

did they actually

walk through

the Bible

with you

what are the

things that

we need to do

in order to

speak the truth

of the gospel

to those around

us

and be able

to do that

in the midst

of our suffering

that's what

this is

what Paul is

pointing to

here

to use

our suffering

for the

proclamation

of the gospel

and so what

does that mean

for us

when we have

an overbearing

boss

how we may

share the love

of Christ

with him

how do we

use that

that cancer

diagnosis

when we know

we're going to be

in the midst

of doctors

and nurses

and other

patients

who don't

know the Lord

what does it

mean for that

student who's

been ridiculed

at school

over and over

again

to be able

to shower

grace

on their

classmates

what about

the person

who's

struggled

with depression

and anxiety

for years

how in the

world can

they speak

confidence

of the gospel

to friends

and family

who don't

know them

what about

those who've

lost a loved

one

to be able

to have

confidence

in the hope

of eternity

and be able

to speak

that truth

to family

who don't

know the Lord

there's

opportunity

all around

us

to speak

the truth

of the gospel

because this

is the ultimate

desire that

Paul has

here

that the

gospel

may be

proclaimed

that Christ

is proclaimed

and so that

needs to be

our desire

too

and so he

goes on to

say in

verses 15

through 18

we get this

picture of

the gospel

being preached

and it's not

being done

perfectly

some are

motivated

by authentic

love for

God

for a desire

to see

the gospel

spread

and Paul

also identifies

those who

do it out

of envy

and rivalry

and selfish

ambition

and so we

don't really

get a clear

picture of

why these

people are

doing this

we don't

know how

why they're

so offended

by Paul

and his

ministry

but we

know it's

happening

here

but what's

surprising

perhaps is

how Paul

responds

to these

individuals

who are

preaching the

gospel

out of

envy

and rivalry

he doesn't

specifically

identify

them

he doesn't

even

condemn

them

he's

excited

that the

gospel

is still

being

proclaimed

and so we

know that

Paul doesn't

pull any

punches

when there's

those who

are delivering

a false

gospel

we see that

in his

other letters

so we know

that's not

happening

here

we are

confident

that the

gospel

is being

preached

and so that's

why Paul

rejoices

that doesn't

mean we

can push

aside all the

motives why

someone preached

those are

still important

but that's

not Paul's

main focus

here

doesn't

care

whether

he is

the one

who is

mistreated

from people

outside the

church or

whether he's

mistreated by

people that

are inside

the church

what he cares

about is the

proclamation

of the gospel

because he

recognizes that

God in the

same way

that God

can advance

the gospel

through his

chains

God can

advance the

gospel

through the

bad motives

of others

in his

church

and so that's

good news

for us

that's good

news for me

that's good

news for each

one of us

who proclaim

the gospel

to recognize

God can use

broken

sinful people

who often

preach out

of selfish

ambition

and know

that he can

still accomplish

his purposes

that God's

will and

God's work

cannot be

thwarted by

bad intentions

of man

and so we

see in this

in these few

verses that

Paul's joy

is not rooted

in his

circumstances

it's not rooted

in his

reputation

it's solely

seeing the

gospel advance

and so is

this our

desire

is the

gospel

so beautiful

in our

lives

that we

desire to

share it

with others

is the

gospel so

valuable in

our lives

that we

will abandon

all else

to see that

it's advanced

is the

gospel so

trustworthy

that we can

recognize that

even though

suffering and

sorrow comes

we can rely

on Christ

and his

work in

our lives

is our

gaze so

fixed on

the future

of glory

of Christ

that the

sufferings on

this world

pale in

comparison

there's nowhere

in these

verses that

Paul says

suffering is

easy

but we can

be confident

that God

does not

abandon us

in his

suffering

we can be

confident that

our suffering

doesn't interfere

with God's

plan it is

a part of

God's plan

and so we

can have joy

just with

the same

way that

Paul does

in knowing

that it's

God who

is ultimately

working in

us and

through us

for our

good

for the

spread of

the gospel

and ultimately

for his

glory

let's pray

God it's

difficult to

pray

but we

thank you

for suffering

because we

know that it

doesn't come

apart from

your perfect

sovereign will

and so

Lord we

pray for

those who

are suffering

in our

midst

physically

spiritually

emotionally

that you

may meet

them

may we

not pray

why oh

Lord or

how long

oh Lord

but may

we pray

Lord use

us

may that

be our

desire

God

that you

receive the

glory

that your

gospel be

advanced

give us

great boldness

and being

able to

work through

our own

suffering

that you

give us

and being

confident in

the suffering

we see in

others

that you

love us

and that you

care for us

God may we

rely on our

suffering servant

Jesus

who paid the

penalty for our

sins

that we may

have life

eternal

we thank you

for your

love

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen

now we're

going to sing

our final

hymn of

the morning

facing a

task

unfinished

will you

stand with

me to

sing

about

a

a

a

a