Philippians 1:12–26 — In Every Circumstance

This sermon is from Philippians 1:12-26 and is entitled, "In Every Circumstance."

Philippians 1:12–26

It was delivered to Ekklesia Churches on Sunday, February 8th, 2026.

Last week we looked at the introduction to this letter that Paul writes to the church

in Philippi, and we established that it was written with the heart of a servant of Jesus

four other servants of Jesus. It was written by one disciple to other disciples, just as every

pastor should relate to the church as a loving shepherd who is also following Jesus as the head

shepherd. So in addition to Paul's humility, we also say that Paul's affection for the people of

the church and his desire to have them do a few things. First, rest in the finished work of Christ,

but also to persist in the faith, to participate in this ongoing work of God.

That ongoing work includes work on us, making us holy that we call sanctification,

but also work that happens through us, which is the work of the gospel, evangelism, discipleship.

And in answer to the church's request for help in persisting in their faith,

Paul is showing them two things about who God is and how he works.

First, he's showing them that God is the one empowering the walk of the believer and the call to Christ.

God is the one who provided grace to us in the first place, extending this invitation.

God is the one finishing the work in each of us.

God is the one through the Holy Spirit who continues to move in people to respond.

But second, that we are also called to participate in this work, right?

We are called to obey the commands of God in Scripture, participating in our transformation

into the image of Christ.

We are called to obey the call to go and tell about Jesus and to go and make disciples.

So in his introduction, Paul has laid the foundation for the church to continue in the

faith, establishing what was true.

He's showing how we live as those dependent on the provision of God and also those who

are responsible for our response. We are partakers of grace and partners in this mission of making

disciples. So that's the two-minute recap of last week. In today's passage, Paul is going to show us

how this has played out in his life, in his circumstances, a kind of exhibit A for what it

looks like to step up to the plate and live in the provision and calling of God. And next week,

Paul will lean into calling the Philippians to task in love.

But this passage is a personal example that we can learn a lot from.

So let's read together Philippians 1, verses 12 through 26, and we'll go back through it

Philippians 1:12–26

again over the course of our time together.

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 so 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. And 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. Yes,

and 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, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at

all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body,

whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in

the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard

pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is better. But to

remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will

remain and continue with you all, for you are progress and joy in the faith. So that in me,

you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.

When we go through trials, through difficulties, through what people like C.S. Lewis call a dark

night of the soul, we want to find comfort. And we often look for that by looking to the future,

saying, this won't last forever. And before you know it, things are going to get better.

Before you know it, you'll be on a beach and this will all be a distant memory.

And we focus on getting through our current circumstance.

But Paul, when talking about his own imprisonment and trials, goes beyond that.

By the end of this passage, he says that he believes that he will be freed and that God

will allow him to return to Philippi one day, but that's not where he starts.

He starts by saying not that God will get me through, but instead that God is using this trial to advance the gospel.

Paul believes that this imprisonment he is enduring is not accidental.

It may have been a plan conceived of by the enemy.

It may have appeared to have been enacted by his opponents.

but because God is sovereign and Paul is confident in that, God is using this difficult circumstance

for his purposes. Paul says God is using this imprisonment for incredible effect. In fact,

he lists the imperial guard that is guarding Paul has come to know about the gospel because of their

contact with Paul, and it is spreading to the whole core of the Roman men stationed there.

Other believers have seen Paul continue to preach even in prison and have been made bold to become

vocal with the gospel message in their own contexts. If Paul can preach in prison,

I can share the gospel in my community. As Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.9,

the preacher may be imprisoned, but the gospel never is.

One last thing before we move on a little further that I think kind of pulls this idea together,

and it's what Paul adds to the end of verse 13. He says that his imprisonment is for Christ.

Instead of looking for a way out of the circumstance, Paul is looking for ways to

see Jesus at work in the circumstance. Instead of seeing his imprisonment as a limitation on his

gospel witness, he actually sees his jailers as a new opportunity for witness, not for the first

time. If you think back to the founding of the church in Philippi, instead of worrying about the

church being silenced, he calls out those who were silent before who are now speaking out loud in

their homes and neighborhoods about Jesus. These chains are not obstacles. They are tools in the

hands of a sovereign God. So maybe this is a good time to ask, what circumstances are making your

life difficult right now. I want you to know that this isn't an attempt to put rose-colored glasses

on or pretend that our struggles in this life are not heavy and sometimes painful and difficult.

Christianity is not a religion that tries to put a thin veneer of false joy over struggling

people. This isn't about pretending that everything is okay. This is about believing that in the hands

of our God, nothing is wasted. And even our trials are something that God is using for his good

purposes. So our response to trials is actually filled with hope. In hope, we lean closer to the

Lord in times of trouble, and he makes us more mature as we do so. In hope, we look for new

opportunities to share the gospel that the kingdom might advance. We trust God to be doing things

we probably won't know about on this side of eternity. As we get to verse 15, Paul transitions

from difficult situations to something in many ways harder, difficult people. Specifically,

difficult people who are working against Paul, or at least they think they are. Let's read these

verses again. This is verse 15 through 17. He says, 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. So apparently there are quite a few people who have taken up the

gauntlet of preaching while Paul is imprisoned. And this is probably one of the topics of concern

being raised in the previous letter to Paul, that there are people who are trying to fill the

leadership gap that is left by Paul's imprisonment, both in Philippi and abroad, and not all of those

leaders are doing so from an altruistic perspective, trying to carry on the work of Paul. In fact,

Some have celebrated that Paul is off the playing field for a while because it gives a space for

them to rise to prominence in the church. And so Paul is recognizing that there are essentially

two hearts behind those who are preaching, or one of two. One, who are envious of him and view

themselves as rivals of Paul. They have selfish ambition to make people listen to them and think

that by rising in prominence, they're somehow rubbing it in Paul's face. There are others who

are trying to lead in love with goodwill toward Paul. They wish to defend the gospel and they know

that Paul is doing the same. And I think it's interesting that Paul states this so matter-of-factly.

He's saying, I know how they feel about me. I know they think they're sticking it to me.

But then Paul responds to this apparent issue in an order of what is important to Paul.

First, Paul cares about the gospel going forth. That's the highest priority. Second,

he's going to address their concern for him. And finally, he's going to address the concern over

his reputation and honor. Okay? So in these following verses, we see the gospel, their

concern for him, and last, his honor or his reputation. So as to the gospel, Paul says in

verse 18. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is

proclaimed. And in that, I rejoice. Paul looks at the situation. He sees that these people,

even though they don't like Paul and their motives are messed up, he sees that they are still

proclaiming Christ. So Paul's initial answer is, so what? So what they don't like me? So what they

think they're making me jealous. That doesn't matter as long as the gospel is being proclaimed.

Paul didn't see these other preachers as a competition that he needed to be worried about

because he's not thinking about his own reputation. We'll get to that in a second.

He's not self-conscious about how they feel about him. At the end of the day,

he recognizes that God is sovereign, and what he desired most was to see the gospel proclaimed.

Now, I'll clarify that if these supposed opponents had not been proclaiming the gospel,

or they had been twisting it and proclaiming another gospel, the conversation here would

have been very different and is different in other of Paul's letters when that situation comes up.

But in this instance, they are preaching the true gospel.

And Paul won't let his personal differences with these men, or better stated, their differences

with him, get in the way of the gospel proclamation.

So for Paul, the gospel is primary, and God is sovereign in its proclamation.

But Paul wants to address their concern for him too and tells them not to worry by repeating that

he's rejoicing. He says at the end of verse 18, yes, and 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.

Why does Paul rejoice? Because he knows that even in prison, he's not alone. And he points to two

different sources of strength in his current situation, saying that both will turn out for his

deliverance. The first source of strength is the prayers of the church. Paul knows that his

perseverance is not a solo endeavor. It's not something that he just has to dig deep and he'll

find enough inner strength to get through. The church that stands with him is an integral part

of his perseverance. So speaking from experience, when we are struggling the most in our faith,

when we are enduring serious trials and temptation and difficult circumstances,

the temptation is always to separate and to isolate and to hide somehow, sometimes in a

crowd and sometimes on your own, sometimes from people, but more specifically from the church.

And that is not the wisdom of God.

That is the lie of the enemy calling you to go it alone because he knows that separating

you from your brothers and sisters in Christ is a very functional strategy.

Paul knows that even in his physical isolation in this prison, there is a band of brothers

and sisters who stand with him in prayer for him.

And the second source of strength is the Holy Spirit.

Here referenced by Paul as the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus said that he would be with us always, he was referring to the ministry of the Holy Spirit

who would come to dwell in the believer.

The Holy Spirit who is doing the work of transformation in us,

delivering us from a life of sin and to the life that pleases God.

So Paul is rejoicing because he knows that he can never be separated from the Holy Spirit.

And he is also supported by the body of Christ, the church who is continuing to pray for him,

to support him.

So now Paul has addressed his situation, his detractors, his personal condition.

And finally, he's going to address what would have been a significant concern for the people

of Philippi, his honor.

Remember, this church is in a Roman city inhabited by many proud former Roman military leaders.

In that culture, honor and reputation was everything.

And they're concerned for Paul.

On a Roman citizen front, he's been put into prison in the capital city of the empire.

But even within the Christian community, there are those who are wrongfully standing against him.

If you've ever stood with someone who is being wrongfully accused and shamed,

or maybe you've been in a position like Paul, having your name drug through the mud

and waiting for too long for the truth to win out, you understand how they feel.

Because reputation is a hard thing to earn back.

And even wrongful accusations seem to have a very sticky quality even after the truth comes out.

But Paul isn't concerned in the slightest about this because he knows that he has nothing to be

ashamed of with those that matter the most. He says in verse 20, it is my eager expectation and hope

that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always,

Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Tackle that last bit in a second here.

But Paul has lost a lot of honor in the court of public opinion, but for all the right reasons

in this case.

He's lost honor among the Pharisaical Jews because he preached the grace of God through

Christ instead of salvation through legalism and through bloodline.

He had lost honor among the Romans because he preached that Jesus is Lord instead of Caesar is Lord, and he was in prison.

So yes, he has lost some honor among men, but it was by speaking the truth of God that he lost it.

Paul knows that he has no reason to be ashamed because his glory is bound up securely in the glory of Christ.

When we believe the truth that God is the final judge and we strive to speak and do rightly

according to the truth of his word, we stand on a more firm foundation than anything.

In Isaiah 28, 16, God says,

Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious

cornerstone of a sure foundation.

He's talking about Christ.

And our position in Christ is a more firm foundation than the fickle and changing opinions of men and women.

So as disciples in the church, we find our boldness in Christ.

We find our honor in Christ.

We stand on the foundation of Christ and live unafraid of what following Jesus will do to our public perception.

And the only reputation that we carry about is the reputation of Christ, because we represent

him to the people around us.

And as we look at the last few verses in our passage, even at the end of verse 20, we see

Paul take this confidence in Christ all the way to death.

In verse 21, he says,

For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.

Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell.

I am hard-pressed between the two.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Paul has clearly said that he is not afraid of death at all, because to depart is to be

with Christ.

Disciples of Jesus do not live in fear of death, because death for the believer is to be immediately

in the presence of Christ, where we will await the day of resurrection and the beginning of judgment.

However, Paul also recognizes the tension between living a fruitful life for Christ

and dying and being with Christ. And I think I've lived most of my life in the absence of

really considering this tension, or at least not balancing it as between two joys the way that Paul

does. If you live with no thought to the joy of eternal life with Jesus, that's kind of one side

of the pendulum, you end up living with a fear of death. You are easily tempted to live for pleasure

and comfort, and you live in fear of the loss of it. But if you swing to the other side and you live

without purpose in the present, you start to view life as something to just get over with. There's

hymns, some of them favorites of many people from a certain era that make this kind of mistake.

Songs like I'll Fly Away, which have a perspective that life is something to be

escaped from and death is only a sweet release to the real joy.

But when we have a perspective like Paul, we live in this space between two joys.

We believe that life is a sweet gift of God.

And for the believer, it's a privilege because we have the joy of being the hands and the feet of Christ to the world around us.

Paul says that to live is Christ.

To live is to endure our trials, knowing that God is at work through them, just like Jesus did.

To tell the best news on earth of what God has done for us through Jesus.

To live is to be a part of the family of the church and enjoy the working of the Holy Spirit in us and through us.

All of this, Paul calls fruitful labor.

Because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of the Spirit, life is beautiful.

And at the end, the once feared death has no sting.

And instead, our gain is to enter eternity with the one who has loved us best.

To live is Christ and to die is gain.

Paul is convinced that this is true.

And he says that we have the greatest reason in every circumstance to glory in Christ Jesus.

In all our trials, no matter how trying, we know that God is at work accomplishing his good purposes and bringing us to maturity.

In every conflict, no matter how things appear on the outside, and the knocks that our reputation takes because we chose to live for Christ,

we know that we are not alone, and the one who sees all things is the final judge.

even when we're faced with the end of life,

we are able to rejoice.

Because in every circumstance,

both in life and death,

we find our glory and our joy in Christ Jesus.

Ekklesia is a church of house churches

gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa

and in homes throughout the week.

We are a Bible-centered church

focused on preaching from Scripture

and making disciples of Jesus.

You can learn more about our statement of faith and contact a pastor by visiting ekklesiachurches.org.