Philippians 1:12-18: Joy in Advancing the Gospel

Coastal Gloucester

9-20-20

Nate Weis

Intro:

Philippians 1:12-18

I. Gospel Providence (v. 12-13)

a. “I want you to know, brothers, that…” This section of the

letter is a report on how Paul is doing. They heard of his

imprisonment and were likely concerned, and Paul is giving

them a report on his condition…“Really” could be translated

as “rather…” It’s a word showing a contrast. They likely

expected Paul’s imprisonment to slow the progress of the

gospel, when in reality it was serving the advancement of it.

The word translated as “advancing,” according to David

Strain, “conveys the idea of military scouts moving ahead of

an invading army, clearing the path and scouting out the

most favorable terrain so that their march might be hastened

onwards.”

b. Why has Paul’s imprisonment served the advancement of the

gospel? “It has been made known to the whole imperial

guard and all the rest that my chains are for (literally, “in”)

Christ.” Paul was under house arrest in Rome at this time

(Acts 28:11-31). Roman guards would literally be chained to

the prisoner in 6-hour shifts 24/7. During this two-year

imprisonment, Paul would have had the opportunity to spend

hours with a literal captive audience, and many of them

came to know Christ and shared Christ with many others.

Paul’s terrible circumstance of being thrown in jail lead to

the salvation of many people he otherwise never would have

had access to.

c. In God’s providence, the very thing designed by Paul’s

enemies to stop him from proclaiming the gospel was the

thing that lead to the greatest advancement of it. God is in

the business of using evil circumstances to accomplish His

good purposes (Genesis 50:20). “Whatever poison Satan

produces, God turns it into medicine for His elect.” -John

Calvin.

d. Story of John Bunyan being imprisoned and writing

Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. . . the very thing intended to

silence him led to his message being read by millions even to

this day.

e. We don’t always understand why terrible circumstances

happen in our lives, but we need to always remember that

God is at work in all of these circumstances to glorify His

name, advance the gospel, make us more like Jesus, and

work all things together for our eternal good. Like the old

hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” says,

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense

But trust Him for His grace

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.”

Whatever circumstances you’re facing today, trust in the

wise and kind providence of God. Though the world, the

flesh, and the devil may mean it for evil, God means it for

good and desires to work in those circumstances to advance

the gospel through you.

II. Gospel Witness (v. 14-17)

a. Courage (v. 14)

b. Refer to my sermon from a few weeks ago… Paul’s

preaching of the gospel from prison gave boldness to some

to speak out all the more boldly. The goal of persecution by

wicked leaders and governments is the silencing of the

church, but it often backfires; the courage displayed by

persecuted believers tends to inspire the rest of the church to

speak up for Christ. Courage is contagious.

c. They had confidence “in the Lord” to preach “without fear.”

We live in a society dominated by fear, and it’s easy for us

to be fearful when we look at the world around us. But the

Bible addresses that fear head on and gives us what we need

to defeat this sinful fear. I’ve been studying fear in Scripture

a lot both to be able to minister to fearful people and to work

on my own sinful heart, and here’s what I’ve learned: The

Bible rarely encourages fearful people by telling them

everything will be okay, but almost always encourages them

by reminding them of the presence of God. In other words,

defeating fear does not come from the absence of danger but

the presence of God. “fear not, for I am with you; be not

dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will

help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

(Isaiah 41:10).

d. If you’re struggling with fear in your heart this morning, I’m

not here to tell you it will all be okay. It might not be. Bad

things really can and do happen in this broken world. But I

am here to tell you this: God is with you, God is for you, and

God wants to use you despite your fear and difficult

circumstances to advance the gospel. God is at work in you

and He will finish that good work. Trust Him.

e. Motivation (v. 15-17).

f. Paul describes two groups of people in these verses and their

motivation behind preaching the gospel. Though both are

preaching the true gospel, one group is characterized by

“envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition.” They have a desire to

“afflict Paul in his imprisonment.” The other group preaches

from “love and goodwill.” They know that Paul is

imprisoned “for the defense of the gospel.” One group

preaches Christ from a place of love for Paul and purity of

motive, while the other preaches Christ in order to promote

their selves and even “one-up” Paul. Reading between the

lines a bit, I think this is similar to what we see in 1st

Corinthians: there is a pro-Paul party in the church and an

anti-Paul party, and the anti-Paul people are trying to

leverage his imprisonment to get ahead in status in the

church.

g. Paul’s response is very interesting, and probably not what

we would expect. Paul’s response to the mixed motives of

the church is to say, “What then? Only that in every way,

whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in

that I rejoice.” In other words, as long as the gospel is being

proclaimed, I’m happy. This doesn’t mean that motives are

irrelevant; the Bible has a lot to say about our motives. Paul

himself condemns envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition in this

very letter. It simply means that the proclamation of the

gospel was such a high priority for Paul that he’s more

concerned about that than what the other Christians in the

church think about him. His ego is so small that he’s willing

to be hated and slandered if it means the gospel goes forth.

God’s Word is powerful regardless of the surrounding

circumstances (Isaiah 55:11).

h. I want to apply this to how we talk about other churches.

There are a lot of churches in our community, and there are

many of them that we would have some serious

disagreements with. Nevertheless, we can rejoice insofar as

they are preaching the gospel (not talking about false

teachers… that’s a different story). It bothers me when I hear

Christians bashing other gospel-preaching churches because

they do ministry differently than us. It doesn’t mean that the

differences don’t matter; they do. It just means that we

should rejoice that the gospel is being proclaimed and pray

for their growth and success rather than mock them. The

church is the bride of Christ. I wouldn’t like it very much if

you spoke negatively about and mocked my wife. In the

same way, we need to be really careful and respectful when

talking about other gospel-preaching churches and need to

pray for their growth and success in the gospel. A

competition mentality has no place in the church.

III. Gospel Joy (v. 18).

a. Paul rejoices that they gospel is being proclaimed, and then

adds “yes, and I will rejoice.” The CSB translates this “I will

continue to rejoice.” Paul is rejoicing right now and will

continue to rejoice on into the future. Paul has an unshakable

foundation of joy in his life. And what is the source of that

joy?

b. Joy through proclamation

c. Paul is committed to rejoicing in the Lord. His joy is not tied

to his circumstances, because he’s in jail chained to a Roman

soldier night and day. His joy isn’t tied to other people’s

opinions, because there’s a group of people out there trying

to discredit him. His joy isn’t tied to his personal success,

because sitting in a jail doesn’t exactly look like “your best

life now.” So why is Paul so consumed with a commitment

to joy? Because the source of Paul’s joy is that the name of

Jesus is being proclaimed. He said “in that I rejoice.” The

“that” is that “Christ is proclaimed.” In other words, Paul’s

joy is grounded in evangelism.

d. Let’s be honest- that’s weird for a lot of us introverts. For us,

a trip to the dentist seems more appealing than evangelism.

But in finding his joy in evangelism, Paul’s perspective on

the world matches the perspective of Jesus. “So he told them

this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if

he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the

open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds

it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,

rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his

friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me,

for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you,

there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no

repentance” (Luke 15:3-7).

e. Notice the three mentions of joy in this familiar parable: 1.

The man rejoices when he rescues the lost sheep. 2. The man

invites others into that joy. 3. All of heaven rejoices over just

one sheep being found. The lost being saved is a matter of

great joy.

f. Why should you care about evangelism? Why should you

share the gospel with your lost friends and family? Joy. For a

true believer in Jesus Christ, there is nothing more joyful

than celebrating the salvation of a new believer. There is

nothing more incredible than watching God open blind eyes

to the beauty of Christ. And church, don’t you want to be a

part of that? Don’t you want to experience the joy that

comes by seeing God transform someone’s life? If not,

you’re missing out. God wants to use you as His herald to

bring “glad tidings of great joy.” Be thinking and praying

about who you can talk to about Christ so that you can

experience the great joy that comes with seeing them come

to know Jesus.

Conclusion

• God is at work in your life to use you to advance the gospel.

No matter the circumstances in your life (sickness, financial

difficulties, relational stress) or in our world (global

pandemic, political unrest, international conflict), God is still

in the business of taking what Satan meant for evil and using

it for good. Trust in His good and wise providence always.

• Rejoice that the gospel is being proclaimed, wherever and

however it is being proclaimed. Yes, motives matter, but

truth matters even more. Celebrate the advancement of the

gospel at every turn, and show love and respect to those hard

at work in the gospel, regardless of disagreements.

• Be committed to sharing the gospel so that you can

experience the joy that comes from seeing people come to

know Jesus.

Read Philippians 1:12-18 and discuss the following questions together. I. What is the theme of this passage?

a. Paul is talking about the importance of the gospel being preached even though he is not free to move about and talk to many people about it.

b. A second theme is the importance of our heart motivation. It is possible to do the work of God with wrong motives. We need to check our heart as we offer our service to the Lord.

c. A more underlying theme is the importance of a right attitude toward those who are not being sincere in their heart. Paul doesn’t water down their sinful motivation (selfishness) but rejoices that God can even use people with impure motives.

II. What challenged you in this Scripture? a. Let a little silence happen as people mull over the message and their response to

it. Don’t be too quick to jump in with an answer; some may need a little time to reflect.

b. At the same time; don’t be afraid to let folks know the areas that hit you hardest…it will allow your group members to see your growth as a believer.

III. In what ways does this passage help you savor Christ more? a. As Paul talks about the importance of the gospel being preached, it is obvious

that we should give our same heart affection to the reality of it. Christ lived, died and rose again in our place. Our affections should soar as we remember that this is the most important thing. And…he did it for us!

IV. How is this passage calling you to further obedience in your walk with God? a. This passage should make me evaluate the issue of heart motives. b. It would be a valuable discussion for your group members to talk about how it is

possible to serve the Lord with wrong motives. Some ideas might be… i. For financial gain

ii. For the popularity in church iii. So that others will be impressed with our skills (pride) iv. With a condescending attitude toward those who do it differently than us

V. How can this passage of Scripture shape your prayer life?

a. Repentance may be appropriate if I have let some impure motivations slip in. b. Perhaps prayer for those who we can identify as having wrong motives, that

their heart will be changed so that the gospel can continue in power. c. It should help me return to the gospel repeatedly in my prayer life. Part of the

focus is on the gospel in this passage, it is a good opportunity to be reminded of the facts of it and to express gratitude for it.

VI. What are three practical takeaways from the sermon you listened on this passage?

Small Group Questions Joy In Advancing The Gospel

Phil 1:12-18 September 20, 2020

*You do NOT have to answer or discuss every question. Feel free to just pick a few. These are meant to guide you in truth. If you are having trouble answering a question, ask your small group leader to help you. They are committed to helping you develop as an authentic follower of Christ.

The COMMUNITY QUESTION:

1. Name some of your favorite places you’ve visited in the states and in the world.

Into the WORD/APPLICATION:

Here are some suggested sites in order to dive deeper into God's Word: blueletterbible.org, desiringgod.org/articles/all, biblos.com, ccel.org, logos.com, connect.ligonier.org, thegospelcoalition.org/channel/bible-and-theology. 1. Read the scripture verses listed above and discuss the following

questions together. What is the theme of this passage?

2. What challenged you in this Scripture?

3. In what ways does this passage help you savor Christ more?

4. How is this passage calling you to further obedience in your walk with God?

5. How can this passage of Scripture shape your prayer life?

6. What are three practical takeaways from the sermon you listened on this passage?

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09.20.20 | PASTOR NATE WEIS

Philippians 1: 12–18

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