Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, at the start of this past week, I was in the office first thing in the morning, and I'm few minutes into a meeting when I hear this sound in my office.
[00:00:12] And I stop and I listen and I think, man, that sounds a lot like chirping.
[00:00:19] Well, that sounds a lot like a cricket. Like, what in the world is a cricket doing in my office?
[00:00:27] How in the world did a cricket get into my office? I mean, did it come through the We Care door? Did it ride the elevator, hop its way down the hall, and then just make a home in my office? Like, how did the thing get here? I keep all my windows locked and closed. And so I'm having the meeting. I'm looking around, I'm like, where is this thing? I'm looking at plants, looking at my couch. Finally, I'm like, I don't have time for this. I gotta finish the meeting. I'll look at it later. Well, the rest of the day goes. I'm in and out a lot. I come back the next morning, it's nice and quiet, I'm working. And then there's that crisis cricket again. It's just chirping. But then I notice every few. About every minute or two, four chirps. Pause, 30 seconds, four chirps, and it goes again. I'm like, wait a minute.
[00:01:12] This is far too sort of symmetrical to be an actual cricket. And at that point, I realize someone in the office has played a practical joke on me. Someone has put a pretend cricket into my office, and they've waited for me to figure it out. But here was the thing. By the third day, you know what?
[00:01:31] I found that cricket awfully peaceful.
[00:01:34] I love having that thing in my office. So on the office Gchat, I just sent out this note and I said, I know one of you has played a prank with me in this cricket, but over the past few days, I've come to enjoy it. In fact, it's quite peaceful to think about all the abundant wildlife in my office.
[00:01:53] So what? You intended for evil, God intended for good.
[00:01:57] You may not remove it.
[00:02:00] Signed by me.
[00:02:03] Now, I was actually thinking about that lighthearted story this past week as I was thinking about our text. Because the reality is, yes, some of us love to play pranks for fun, but friends, sometimes others play pranks or do things to us as Christians, not just for fun, but in order to do us genuine harm.
[00:02:30] Some will plan and plot and scheme in order to cause Christians great affliction and suffering. And so how does the Christian think about such things?
[00:02:43] Especially as it relates to Gospel affliction, right? Suffering for following Jesus.
[00:02:50] Right? Do we despair in such moments?
[00:02:53] Do we read such moments as evidence that God is not loving, that God is not for us, that maybe God is not sovereign, that he's in some way displeased with us?
[00:03:06] Is all of our affliction outside God's providential hand? Or in fact, is it part of his providential plan?
[00:03:17] Well, friends, these are the things I want us to be thinking about as we enter back into the letter of Philippians this morning. So if you have a Bible, let me invite you to open to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. We're going to be in verses 12 through 18, at least the beginning of verse 18. So Philippians one, verses 12 through 18. If you don't have a Bible with you, you should see some red Bibles and the pews there before you. You can find our passage on page 980.
[00:03:46] Now, last week, as we opened this letter of Paul to the Philippians, we noticed that a lot of Paul's letters are problem solving letters. There's some crisis in a church. And so Paul writes in order to address that present crisis. But the letter of Philippians is a little bit different. There's not so much a massive pressing problem in the church at Philippi, so much as the church of Philippi is concerned for Paul, they're worried about Paul. So it's really more of a progress letter, if you will, on Paul, because, of course, Paul had planted the church in Philippi, and it's been now some 10 years.
[00:04:24] And the church Philippi, who loves their beloved pastor who planted the church, well, it's 10 years and he's in prison and he's in Rome.
[00:04:33] And this young congregation is concerned again for their spiritual father. And so they send Epaphroditus to Rome with some support for Paul. And Epaphroditus comes back with a letter from Paul.
[00:04:48] And in the opening verses, right, we thought about this last week, Paul thanks God for them. He expresses his great love for them and he prays specifically for them, right? But what news of the beloved Paul? That's what the Philippian Church is dying to hear, right? What news of our beloved Paul? Well, we pick up again chapter one. Beginning in verse 12, Paul writes, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
[00:05:28] And most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord by My imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
[00:05:37] 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.
[00:05:49] The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
[00:05:58] What then?
[00:06:00] Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in that I rejoice.
[00:06:12] All right, so Paul has just given them the update that they have been anxiously awaiting.
[00:06:18] And at one level, we hear some of the ominous undercurrents. So three times we come across the that expression, my imprisonment.
[00:06:27] Paul is indeed in chains.
[00:06:30] And we read of this Roman imperial guard.
[00:06:34] And they are preventing, right, any hope of freedom and escape, obviously, for Paul, it seems.
[00:06:40] And then, perhaps most shockingly, we read that some, even within the Roman church, mean Paul Harmony, verse 17.
[00:06:52] We read about those seeking to afflict him in his imprisonment.
[00:06:58] So notice Paul is facing opposition from without, right outside the church, and even opposition from within.
[00:07:06] At one level, things have never looked, I should say, more bleak for Paul.
[00:07:12] And yet, despite all that, remarkably, the tone of the text is actually not one of despair.
[00:07:20] The tone is actually one of hope.
[00:07:22] Because we read in verse 12 about what? Well, what does he want them to know? He wants them to know about the advance of the gospel, verse 12 of the Word of Christ that is spreading throughout the imperial guard. Verse 13 of brothers who now speak boldly without fear, verse 14.
[00:07:40] And we read of Christ being proclaimed, verse 17 and 18. And even at the close, what is the closing note but of Paul rejoicing?
[00:07:51] Well, friends, what does it all mean if we try to put it all together? I think the message for us is rejoice because God turns gospel adversity into gospel advancement.
[00:08:07] Rejoice because God turns gospel adversity into gospel advancement.
[00:08:16] Now, in verses 12 and 13, we actually witness God turn this adversity into gospel advancement. We see that outside the church. We see that in Paul's engagement with the imperial guard and all the rest there in verse 13, 12 and 13.
[00:08:33] And then we think about that gospel adversity that comes into advancement within the church. We really think about that in verses 14 to 18.
[00:08:45] So we see it first in 12 and 13, this gospel advancement. We see it happen despite adversity outside the church 12 and 13, then inside the church, 14 to 18. And we're just going to look at those two movements in that way. All right, so first, gospel adversity. God turns that into advancement. First outside the church, verses 12 and 13. All right, let's start there. This Gospel adversity into advancement outside the church.
[00:09:13] Now, friends, I don't know about you, but one of my favorite events in our church's life are those supported worker updates on Sunday night.
[00:09:23] So the recent videos from John and Hannah or Casey or Bree, Jeremiah, Kellen, Zach, Madison, all those videos we've received, and to see their smiling faces, to get to hear their voices after being away for us for months, to see them in their environment, their houses, in their cities, right? Their little mopeds, right? To hear the new languages that are surrounding them, even the sweat glistening on their faces, to see in their faces both exhaustion and joy.
[00:09:54] Even Jeremiah and Kellen having to whisper in the dark because they lost power. And they're talking through their phone. They don't want to wake baby Phineas up.
[00:10:04] We love those updates. Why do we love them? Because we love those who we sent out. We care about them. Well, friends, in much the same way, the Philippian Church loved Paul, and they're anxious to receive an update from Paul.
[00:10:20] And so we can imagine if one of our sent workers was in prison, how eager we would be to hear from them. We wouldn't just have smiling faces and that video popped like we would be anxiously dialed in because we'd want to know all kinds of things, right? If one of ours we sent were in prison, we'd want to know, are they sick? Are they well?
[00:10:40] Are they cold at night? Right? Can they stay warm? Do they have all that they need? Are they kept in solitary confinement? Or are they with other prisoners?
[00:10:49] Are they being mistreated at all by the prisoner guards?
[00:10:53] Can they have any visitors? They are in prison. What's the status of their trial? What's the likelihood they might be released? When might that be? Or worse, what might happen?
[00:11:03] Lots of questions that we would have, no doubt. Lots of questions the Philippian Church also has about Paul.
[00:11:12] And yet Paul says. He says, I want you to know, brothers. And we're expecting maybe some answers to these questions. But he says, I want you to know, brothers.
[00:11:21] And then, remarkably, Paul doesn't give him any details, does he?
[00:11:26] No, we get precious little detail about what's going on, precious little detail about what life really looks like behind bars. Because Paul's principal concern is not how he, the apostle, is doing. Paul's concern is how the Gospel is doing.
[00:11:42] It's not about him, the apostle. It is about the Gospel and how the Gospel is faring.
[00:11:50] And so when he refers to what has happened to me, recognize there is a whole lot in that little phrase. If you want to know what is in that phrase, go read Acts 21 all the way through Acts 28.
[00:12:03] That's what he's referencing.
[00:12:04] So the riot in Jerusalem, Paul's arrest there in Jerusalem, the plot on his life, the way they have to sneak him out of Jerusalem, smuggle him out, Then how? He becomes a political pawn there within this Roman game of cat and mouse between Felix and Agrippa and different governors, his imprisonment in Caesarea. And then finally, Paul stuck, recognizing his few options. He appeals to Caesar, Caesar. And finally they're like, all right, to Caesar you go. Send him off to Rome. What happens along the way? There's a shipwreck. He lands on an island, the island of Malta. After all that, what happens to the poor guy? Remember, he's bit by a viper. Like, Paul cannot catch a break.
[00:12:44] He's bit by a viper. Miraculously, he survives.
[00:12:48] He finally makes it to Rome. He's in shackles. He's awaiting trial in a Roman prison, right? He's in again, he's in a prison, right? The joint, the big house, right? This is what he's in.
[00:13:00] This is no Club Fed. This is no three more meals a day. This is no TV and entertainment and Internet and all the rest.
[00:13:08] Prisons were not like that in Paul's day.
[00:13:11] And you would have to think that these had been two of the most miserable, most discouraging, most, least productive missionary years in Paul's entire life.
[00:13:27] You might think this would be an utter waste of two years. And Paul might lament that, Paul might grieve that.
[00:13:35] And yet, what do we read? Paul says, what has happened has really served to advance the Gospel.
[00:13:44] Advance the Gospel, like Paul? How's that even possible?
[00:13:50] Maybe you're wondering, like, did you take a few hits along the way? Paul to the head, like, are you a little delirious? Again, go read Acts 21:28.
[00:13:58] Such a statement demands explanation.
[00:14:02] And so Paul tells them how all of this has advanced the gospel. Verse 13.
[00:14:08] First he says his presence for Christ that's now been made known. What does he say throughout the whole Imperial Guard?
[00:14:16] Now, friends, you read Imperial Guard. Just to be really clear, these were not like Roman Renicops.
[00:14:22] Don't have that in mind. These were like Rome's crack imperial troops. Think their version of, like, Army Rangers, Navy Seals, that kind of group. The one of the most feared military units on the entire planet. And one of their jobs.
[00:14:39] The word actually is just a transliteration of the Latin praetorium. Like the Praetorian Guard. And one of their jobs was to actually guard enemies of the state.
[00:14:48] And that's technically what Paul was. He preached a subversive message against Rome that Caesar wasn't Lord, yet only Jesus was. He's an enemy of the state. So these guys have to guard Paul. They're guarding him.
[00:15:03] And every four hours, a new soldier would be brought into Paul's cell and. And would be chained to Paul, lest Paul be some flight risk.
[00:15:13] And they would guard Paul and they would watch over Paul.
[00:15:18] And yet Paul recognizes in that moment something entirely different is in fact happening from God's perspective.
[00:15:27] Every four hours, Paul recognizes. You know what God has given me? A new captive audience for the Gospel.
[00:15:36] Someone who's chained to Paul, someone who has nowhere to go, someone who's going to have to listen to me for the next four hours.
[00:15:45] And they come to think that they're going to watch over Paul. And yet Paul, with smiles, recognizes, oh, they think they're coming in to watch over me. Little do they know that God has placed them in my life so I can watch over them with the Gospel.
[00:16:03] And you know what? By now, he knows many of these soldiers by name. He's probably saying, you know, Gaius, how's the wife? How's little Maximus? Is the little guy walking around just yet?
[00:16:13] Let's get back to that conversation we were having last time about Jesus. Let's pick that back up. You had a question here, and he's engaging them. He's talking with them.
[00:16:22] And now word has spread throughout the entire ranks.
[00:16:25] You know, I trust many of you saw the recent blockbuster film the Odyssey. I think it's like approaching 2 billion in box office sales.
[00:16:32] And of course, it opens with the story of how the Greeks sacked Troy.
[00:16:36] Right through the ruse of that offering, through that Trojan horse, right? That wooden horse left as an offering to the gods that they bring inside those magnificent city walls. They bring that Trojan horse inside. Not recognizing what they're bringing inside is not just a wooden offering, but actually a Greek army within.
[00:17:00] And then, of course, it's night.
[00:17:02] The city is celebrating what they think is the end of the war. The Greeks come out, they open the gates of the city, and all of the Greek army that was waiting and hiding comes flooding in. And the city is sacked. It's a slaughter.
[00:17:16] Well, friends recognize, here we are centuries later, and what we're seeing is that Paul is God's Trojan horse.
[00:17:24] That's exactly what he is.
[00:17:26] Paul's become God's own Trojan horse. The Romans have brought Paul into the very heart of the empire's political and military elite.
[00:17:37] And they think they have Paul captive. They think they've won, when in fact, there is Paul leading them to become captives of Christ.
[00:17:49] Paul never would have had such success had it not been for those church chains.
[00:17:56] Friends, God never wastes our suffering.
[00:18:00] He never wastes our suffering.
[00:18:02] You know, in the early third century, there was a noble woman named Perpetua.
[00:18:07] And she was friends with an enslaved woman named Felicity. And the two of them were arrested in Carthage by the Roman emperor for not renouncing Christianity. These two were.
[00:18:21] And there they were awaiting execution in a dark dungeon. And Perpetua, she kept an eyewitness, kind of prison diary of what her life was like in that prison.
[00:18:34] And there we read in that diary of how the two of them perpetuate and Felicity, how they actively shared their faith with their captors.
[00:18:42] Even resulting not just in the conversion of some of those in prison, but the actual conversion of the prison warden. Much like you had the conversion of the Philippian jailer that we thought about last week.
[00:18:54] Well, you know, in March of the year 203, the emperor held games where those two women were paraded into the arena for sport. They survived the wild beasts. They did not survive the gladiator sword.
[00:19:09] And yet Perpetua's diary would escape. And it would come to circulate wildly, widely, I should say, throughout North Africa, throughout Rome. And it would strengthen greatly the underground church in North Africa and around Greece.
[00:19:27] Their suffering was not wasted.
[00:19:30] Friend, you think of John Bunyan. 12 years in a Bedford jail. Why was he 12 years in a Bedford jail? Simply because he preached without a license from the Church of England.
[00:19:41] And so he was imprisoned 12 years. His family suffered greatly in those years. His wife lost a child. They became destitute as a family. He tried to basically make shoelaces to give to his eldest blind daughter that she might sell and raise a little money for the family. And yet it was there, in prison that Bunyan preached to those who were present that they might hear the gospel. And it was there in prison that he wrote Pilgrim's Progress.
[00:20:07] Just an allegory of the Christian life. Arguably the best selling book outside the Bible in English on the Christian life and the Christian faith.
[00:20:17] Friends again.
[00:20:19] Even though in all those cases the worker may be bound, the word of God is never bound.
[00:20:29] God does not waste the suffering of his saints, my Christian friend. Even in affliction, Paul made the advancement of the gospel central to his own aspirations.
[00:20:44] That's what he's talking about this gospel is what's central Friend, I wonder what about you this morning? What is central to your own aspirations?
[00:20:54] What's central in your own aspirations?
[00:20:57] Is it money? Is it maybe fame? Is it a job?
[00:21:01] Is it a marriage? Is it the hope to retire early?
[00:21:05] Maybe the hope to pay off your home? Maybe just hope to buy a home to see your grandchildren grow up?
[00:21:14] Friends, none of those things are wrong. Many of those things are in fact good.
[00:21:19] But could it be possible that aspirations like that, those kinds of aspirations have begun to choke out in your own life the aspiration of the gospel, such that gospel aspirations have been pushed out to the very periphery and corners and edges of your life?
[00:21:39] That's not Paul. Paul's consumed with gospel growth.
[00:21:42] Paul's consumed with its forward progress. You know, that word gospel occurs in higher frequency in the book of Philippians than in any one of Paul's letters and friends, that's a great lesson for us and it ought to be a great challenge to us.
[00:21:59] Do you live a gospel first kind of life?
[00:22:05] Is that the kind of life you live, a gospel first kind of life?
[00:22:10] And if not, just ask yourself, what maybe one change, maybe what one change could you make this week to make the gospel more central to your life?
[00:22:24] Would it be to simply gain a better understanding of the gospel?
[00:22:29] Would it be to learn what it means to better rest in the gospel and not your own performance?
[00:22:35] Is there someone you know well that you really need to share that gospel with? Take a step, get out of your comfort zone, share that gospel.
[00:22:46] Does the gospel need to exert a bit more influence, perhaps over your pocketbook, your finances?
[00:22:52] Is there a relationship the gospel would call you to reconcile, to pursue, to seek forgiveness and to try to bring reconciliation? Friend, what would it look like again for you to increasingly put the gospel first in your own life?
[00:23:09] You know, maybe you've come and you're not a believer and you're like, I don't even really understand exactly what this whole gospel stuff is about.
[00:23:16] Well, friend, if that's you just know that word gospel simply means good news.
[00:23:20] It's good news. That's all we as Christians have.
[00:23:23] We have good news.
[00:23:26] And the beautiful thing about this news is it tells us there's a God and he made you. He made me, he made everything. He made it all good.
[00:23:36] And yet, sadly, if you recognize and live in this world at all, you know this world is not all good. And that's because we've sinned against him. We've chosen our own way as Opposed to live his way again. That's what the Bible calls sin. And the consequence of that is the kind of pain and the kind of brokenness and the kind of loss that we know in our lives. And it's also the kind of pain that brings death, physical death, spiritual death. This is the great chasm and divide that sin has created between man and God. And yet the wonderful news, right, there's bad news before there's good news. The good news is, is that God wouldn't leave us there, but rather God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful man, and for sin sent him to live the life that we were called to live and would not live to die the death that every one of us deserve on the cross. Jesus served as our substitute, our ransom. He paid the price of our own rebellion by his death on the cross, paid it in full. That's what his blood accomplished. Ransom, redemption, forgiveness. And he rose from the grave as proof that God had accepted that sacrifice.
[00:24:49] So that all of those who would repent and believe turn from their sin and trust in Christ can know new life and can know reconciliation with God and with one another. And that's the good news of the gospel. And if you've come and you have not placed your faith in that news, we'd love to chat with you more about that. We'd love for you to reflect on that, to be thinking about what that would look like for your own life. That's the first way you put the gospel first in life.
[00:25:18] Well, friends, we've thought about how God turns this adversity into advancement outside the church.
[00:25:26] But let's now turn secondly to think about how he does it inside the church.
[00:25:31] Let's now think secondly how he does it inside the church. This is really verses 14 to 18.
[00:25:37] Because notice the effect of the Gospel as it moves out from the imperial guard and to the rest and then even to the brothers in verse 14.
[00:25:49] And notice the effect it has on the brothers is that most we read have become confident in the Lord as a consequence of Paul's imprisonment, such that they're now, these brothers in the church, are now more bold to speak the Word without fear. Verse 14.
[00:26:09] Now, maybe that's not what you would expect.
[00:26:12] We might expect Paul's persecution to cause the church to shrink back, maybe to cower some and retreat and notice for a few it does, right? The word we read there is most.
[00:26:24] Most are emboldened, and most speak the Word without fear. Not all. Some do cower, some do fear, but the majority don't they're emboldened by Paul's own example, by his own testimony.
[00:26:35] It seems Paul's imprisonment isn't just for the salvation of pagans. It's actually for the inspiration of the Christians there in Rome.
[00:26:43] We read last week of how the Philippians, how they participate, how they share with Paul in his imprisonment. Right, Verse seven. Well, there's this fellowship here. There's this participation in Christ's sufferings that are experienced there in Rome. And it serves as a kind of proof that these Roman Christians also are walking with Christ. They're in Christ.
[00:27:06] And this is galvanizing them.
[00:27:08] It's galvanizing these Roman believers as they witness Paul's own faithful witness.
[00:27:15] You know, back a long time ago, when I used to play water polo, one of the best things, it wasn't fun per se, but the best way to get my head in the game was when I took an elbow to the face right out of the gate, right? In water polo, you swim with high elbows. You're throwing elbows at people, you're throwing elbows back. And sometimes I was a little slow to, like, get into the game. Again, you take an elbow to the face and there's something about tasting blood in the mouth. And you know what? It wakes you up.
[00:27:44] It gets you in the game and you're focused really fast.
[00:27:49] Well, friends, there's a kind of way in which that's what's happened here. They're witnessing the suffering of Paul, and something about that experience has woken them to the situation.
[00:28:03] And now they are ready. They're in the game and they're in the fight.
[00:28:08] They themselves. And maybe they experience it.
[00:28:11] Maybe they're taking verbal jabs from people in their own neighborhood. Maybe they're taking it from folks who they do business with. We know what that can be. Like maybe a roommate or a classmate or a co worker, right? We get into a gospel conversation and we feel that jab, and next thing we know, like, yeah, we're in the game. We remember what this whole thing's about, remember what this gospel's about.
[00:28:34] And we're engaged, sharing in Christ's sufferings. And that has a way of emboldening us.
[00:28:40] And it's often not just on our own lives, but again, as we witness that in the lives of others.
[00:28:46] Sometimes witnessing other Christians in affliction and persecution has a way of putting backbone into otherwise timid and fearful Christians.
[00:28:58] You know, many of us know the name Jim Elliot.
[00:29:01] The name Jim Elliot. He famously said, you know, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
[00:29:10] And we remember that quote about Jim Eliot because, of course, he lived his life by that quote. And if you know the story of his life, he and four other graduates of Wheaton College gave their lives seeking to take the gospel to the.
[00:29:25] Now, Mike's going to have to explain this. I don't know how to pronounce this. The Waroni people, we call them the Aukan Indians, but I think that's actually derogatory. They're the Huoroni people.
[00:29:35] And their deaths, they were on the front page of Life magazine.
[00:29:41] And you might think all those deaths on the front page of Life magazine would have a chilling effect on gospel work. But if you know the story, it didn't. It actually had the opposite effect when one of the unexpected consequences of those men's death is that year after year, for over a decade, Wheaton graduates increasingly lined up to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
[00:30:08] The deaths of those five men didn't stifle gospel advance. It actually spurred it on.
[00:30:14] And many were encouraged to speak the word of the Lord more courageously and fearlessly, just as it's having that effect in the Roman church.
[00:30:25] And yet, as we come to verse 15, this is where a passage, I think takes a most unexpected turn, because it seems that some of the believers in the Roman church were actually driven by sinful motives. There were different factions within the church. Verse 15 we read that some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.
[00:30:53] And then he goes on in verse 17, the former speaking of those who preach from envy and rivalry, the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
[00:31:07] Right? So Paul's not only facing adversity outside the church, but but inside the church as well.
[00:31:15] Now, friends, it's hard to know exactly who this group is that Paul's describing. This group guided by envy and rivalry and selfish ambition. You were tempted at first to think that they're unbelievers in the church.
[00:31:28] Maybe they're like Judaizers, as we read in Galatia, those people who want to make the gospel about Jesus plus. Right, Jesus plus circumcision, or Jesus plus baptism, or Jesus plus whatever it might be.
[00:31:40] We might think it's people like that. Or maybe the kind of false apostles we read about in Corinth. The church in Corinth, Second Corinthians.
[00:31:48] But notice what our text says. The sum of verse 15 some.
[00:31:53] Well, they're a subset of the group. He's already Talked about in verse 14 of the Brothers.
[00:32:00] So Paul's saying some of the brothers preach Christ from envy and rivalry.
[00:32:09] So notice Paul's not saying these people are preaching another gospel.
[00:32:13] He's not saying that. He's not saying they're preaching another gospel like he does with the Galatians. He actually says they're Preaching Christ. Verse 15 and 17.
[00:32:22] The problem is not with their message, it's with their motives.
[00:32:27] Now that word envy is used of one who resents another's success.
[00:32:33] So in Matthew 27:18, we read that the Jews gave Jesus over to be crucified out of envy. It's actually the same word. They're envious of Jesus and his success.
[00:32:46] Perhaps these were influential people in the Roman church. Maybe they were former leaders in the church and they knew at one point status and prominence. But now they're overshadowed by Paul's arrival. Maybe they feel envious of Paul.
[00:33:00] Maybe they've been forced to take a back seat to Paul and they resent Paul for it.
[00:33:06] You know, that word rivalry refers to strife or discord. In early Christian writings, it refers to those who replace elders with new ones because they're trying to stir up strife. Maybe this group is frustrated with all the unwanted attention Paul's bringing upon the Church. These are the days of Nero. Nero is infamous for his persecution of Christians. Maybe they're frightened, frustrated that Paul went and got himself arrested. That Paul's drawing all this unnecessary attention to the Church. He's stirring things up and he's doing it in the imperial guard, like in the palace, no less. Why would Paul be doing that?
[00:33:39] And maybe by their preaching, they're trying to undermine him, to try to say, hey, we're not like that guy. Like that is Rome sort of don't come for us next.
[00:33:49] Now the reality is we can't finally know.
[00:33:53] We don't know exactly who they were. Paul doesn't name them.
[00:33:57] Paul's not filling in every detail.
[00:33:59] It's as if Paul himself doesn't want to cause any more damage.
[00:34:03] Paul himself doesn't seem to want to distract any more from the Gospel.
[00:34:07] What's clear is that the increasing love that Paul prayed for in the Philippian Church last week, well, that increasing love, it seems, is not present fully in the Roman Church because love of God and envy of others, those two things cannot coexist. Love of God and envy of others. As one wrote, when envy moves in, love must move out.
[00:34:36] And friends, that's just not true of Christians. That's also true of Christian leaders.
[00:34:41] You know, I think I've told this story before, but I'll never forget when I was a young and thinking about ministry, I was a brand new pastoral assistant and I was on staff at a church and I was working with another pastoral assistant and he was assigned a Sunday evening devotional, much like we have them here. And he got up and he preached a wonderful Sunday evening devotional. And afterwards, talking about it, he made a passing comment like, yeah, I looked at it for an hour or two on Sunday afternoon and I just preached. And I'm like, an hour or two, that's all the guy put into it. While I'm walking with the pastor and I make some dismissive comment about how, yeah, he probably really ought to work a little harder on that.
[00:35:15] Well, the pastor just saw the envy oozing right out of my heart in that comment and he's like, what are you talking about? What's that to you?
[00:35:26] It was a great message.
[00:35:31] Well, I felt kind of nailed to the wall right there and I was.
[00:35:35] Because I was just envious. I was trying to find some way to tear him down so I might look better and feel better about myself.
[00:35:44] I'll never forget it. Friend, where do you envy another's success?
[00:35:50] Maybe it's a brother or sister who's a better teacher than you in the church.
[00:35:54] Maybe a brother or sister who's a better discipler than you, a better evangelist than you, maybe a better parent.
[00:36:01] Maybe you see them on social media and you're like, oh my word, they're like the most amazing spouse ever. I can never match up to that.
[00:36:07] Maybe they're a better athlete, maybe they're more successful. Maybe they're better looking. Maybe they just always look like they have it all put together.
[00:36:15] Friend, envy and rivalry take root when we become more consumed with our own glory.
[00:36:23] Envy says they must decrease, so I might increase.
[00:36:31] That's what envy says, friends. That's how our wicked hearts work.
[00:36:36] But when you become consumed with Jesus glory, then you are more concerned with his glory and not yours. Then you know what? Envy and rivalry, they just begin to fade away.
[00:36:50] And then you can say, like John the Baptist, he must increase, speaking of Jesus, that I may decrease.
[00:37:00] Friend, if you want to put envy and rivalry and selfish ambition, do you want to put that to death in your own life?
[00:37:08] Then make it your ambition, like Paul, to make Christ known, not yourself.
[00:37:17] Make him known.
[00:37:20] And that's what's motivated the other group, the ones who are acting out of love and in defense of the gospel, right? They're making Christ Known because they preached verse 16. And Paul writes, they preached knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. Right. Notice that group is motivated by what they are motivated by gospel loyalty, not personal envy.
[00:37:45] And that word put means to sort of be appointed, even to be destined for this.
[00:37:53] That word put is actually in the passive voice, what we call sometimes a divine passive. In other words, what Paul is communicating is that it was God who predestined him for that prison. It was God who put him there.
[00:38:11] And because Paul knew that, that gave him an entirely different outlook on his affliction.
[00:38:18] Because if God had put him there, that meant God had a purpose for. For him there.
[00:38:25] And friend, that's the same for you and me.
[00:38:28] If you are suffering affliction.
[00:38:32] A better question than why am I here? A better question is what would God have for me here?
[00:38:42] How might I serve God here?
[00:38:46] How might I love and honor him in this difficult place during this difficult season? Season.
[00:38:55] Now, what's perhaps most remarkable about the passage, I think even more remarkable perhaps than verse 15, which catches us off guard, we're not ready for this anti Paul faction within the church. Maybe even more remarkable though is how in the end Paul responds to it all. Verse 18.
[00:39:13] Because he's just noted that his opponents seek to what? To afflict me, verse 17 in my imprisonment.
[00:39:21] I mean, think about that. Talking about kicking a guy when he's down.
[00:39:26] Talk about rubbing salt in the wound to seek to further afflict one in their suffering.
[00:39:34] It seems this group wasn't just happy to see souls saved. They wanted to see Paul suffer.
[00:39:44] Man, that is just downright dirty, isn't it?
[00:39:49] To wish suffering, to wish suffering on a fellow brother or sister in Christ.
[00:39:55] Who would do that?
[00:39:59] I would do that.
[00:40:02] I think we're honest. All of us, all of us are at risk of that. None of us are immune to that. Churches, friends, churches can be ugly places because they are filled with people like me, like us.
[00:40:19] Listen, I hate to do it. I've done it before.
[00:40:21] But you remember the line from T. Swift, it's me.
[00:40:28] Hi, I'm the problem. It's me.
[00:40:34] Friends, we are the antiheroes of our stories.
[00:40:39] None of us, none of us are above what Paul describes in verse 17.
[00:40:45] And I think that's what makes his response so remarkable because Paul could have responded after verse 17 by lamenting his chains.
[00:40:55] He could have lamented the injustice of fellow believers rejoicing over his own sufferings.
[00:41:03] He could have called them out. I mean, Philippians one could have been like the anti Hebrews 11. You know, Hebrews 11 is faith's hall of fame. This could have been like the anti Faith wall of shame. And all these guys portraits are right on it.
[00:41:16] Paul could have done that, but he does none of that. Paul shows remarkable restraint.
[00:41:24] Why does he do it? Because he cares more about Christ's name than his own name.
[00:41:30] What then? Paul says, verse 18. Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in that I rejoice.
[00:41:42] That is a remarkable response. That is a tremendously refreshing response.
[00:41:49] And it's convicting response.
[00:41:53] And we might be tempted to think, oh yeah, this is like Paul just trying to put his best face forward. Given the difficulty.
[00:41:59] He's not pretending. This is not just a PR stunt.
[00:42:02] No, Paul is living out his own theology.
[00:42:06] He has come to embody what he loves and cherishes most.
[00:42:10] And it's not that Paul himself is exonerated. I'm sure he'd love to be exonerated. And he does highlight the selfish motives. But what finally matters for Paul is not that he's exonerated, but that Christ is exalted.
[00:42:24] That's what he's after. Not his exoneration, the exaltation of Christ, the preaching of Christ. And even if some do it by false motives, you know what? He'll take it because Christ is honored again, refreshing and so convicting to be so enamored with Christ, so consumed with the glory and honor and reputation of Christ that you will look past your own dishonor if it means more honor for him.
[00:42:53] Paul's basically like, you know, what if that group gets a few more guys and they go preaching and they make a mess of things for me, if they're still preaching the true gospel and the true Christ, I'll take it. Paul says, I'll take it.
[00:43:07] Friend, where in your life might you need to let go of concern for your own name in order to honor Christ's name?
[00:43:17] Where might God be calling you to show the kind of restraint that Paul shows here?
[00:43:23] Paul is exhibiting what he said about himself in verse one. He is truly a slave of Christ.
[00:43:29] He is living proof that the one who began a good work in him will carry it unto completion. And we're seeing it right here in his own life.
[00:43:42] You know, friends, I opened with that silly crooked story just to highlight this principle from Genesis 50:20, that what some intend in that case for just playful amusement, sadly in the case of Paul and in the case of Joseph with his brother, is what some intend for evil God intends for good.
[00:44:05] God can turn even our greatest pain into an opportunity for his praise. He is exactly that kind of God. He is that kind of power, that kind of sovereign plan. And so, like Paul, we can rejoice.
[00:44:20] Why? We can rejoice because God is the One who can turn gospel adversity into gospel advancement every single time.
[00:44:31] He does it out there in the midst of our relationship with unbelievers, and he even does it in here, and the adversity and the struggles and the trials with fellow believers.
[00:44:41] And if that's true, will you trust him? And even more, will you increasingly rejoice in what God is doing and in the kind of God that He is?
[00:44:55] Let's pray.
