Philippians Post # 4 – Chapter 1, Verses 12-26

In today’s post we’re going to take a deeper look at next 14 verses from his letter to the church at Philippi and read his prayer for their spiritual growth, judgement and fruitful witness.  We’ll start by reading todays’ passage and then start breaking it down into bite sized pieces.  Why don’t you take a moment and pray for God’s leading in your heart as you study His Word today.

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Let’s begin breaking this down starting at verse 12.

¹² “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.” 

To begin with the Greek word translated here as “brothers and sisters” is adelphoi.  This word refers to “believers” of both sexes, hence the NIV translation as “brothers and sisters”.  There is often a lot made about the application of scripture to males or females and as we will see in this portion of scripture as well as several in the days ahead that most often the word is being given to both men and women.  Adelphoi, will also be used in verses 14 of this chapter and in 3:1, 13, 17and 4:1, 8, 21 as well.  We often read where Paul worked closely with both men and women throughout his ministry. Priscilla, along with her husband Aquilla, are not only described in the Bible as tent makers who worked with Paul but also as people who partnered with Paul in his missionary work.  There are many others who had important places in Paul’s ministry as well who are mentioned or commended in his letters.

When Paul says “what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel” he is speaking of his imprisonment.  You would think that Paul would have been down cast and depressed at being in prison but he mentions repeatedly that it’s all working out for good.  Here he claims it is “serving to advance the gospel.”  Instead of feeling like a victim Paul is seeing victory in what has happened.  He has chosen to feel the “victor” instead of a “victim”.  I often share that thought as it relates to each of our attitudes today.  Are we people who view the glass as “half full” or “half empty”?  We are in control of our own attitudes and disposition.  We get to choose how we will respond to whatever life throws at us.  Paul chose the high road, the optimistic outlook.  He tried to see the “good” of whatever was happening to him and so should we.  Paul actually spoke about being in control of our own attitudes in 2 Corinthians 10:5 where he said, “Take every thought captive.”  He is telling us that we need to control our thoughts and attitudes instead of letting them control us.  It’s great advice.  For Paul, it didn’t matter what was happening to him for if the gospel was being put forward that was all that mattered.

¹³ “As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” 

I find it interesting that Paul’s words “the whole palace guard” can also read “the whole palace”.  He’s saying everyone knows.  You might ask, knows what?  Paul goes on… ‘everyone around here knows that I’m in here because of my faith in Jesus Christ.’  They all know because even here Paul is not shy about his faith.  I have no doubt that he spoke to his guards and keepers about his Lord every chance he got.  He’s not complaining or trying to get himself released, he recognizes that it is his faith that has put him in this spot and he rejoices in that fact.  It’s an amazing attitude to have, don’t you think?  Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t see why God has let something occur and you spend your time and energy asking Him “Why?  How could you do this?  How could you let this happen?”  It reminds me of a Hagar the Horrible cartoon I read years ago.  It showed Hagar shipwrecked and alone on a tiny island with only one palm tree.  I’m sure you get the picture.  There was a black storm cloud hanging over the island showering down rain and Hagar raised his fist to the cloud and yelled, “Why me!?”  It seemed more of a protest than a question.  In the next frame you see a voice coming from the cloud (you know, a little bubble with words inside) and God said to Hagar, “Why not?”  That’s actually a great question from God to us.  “Why not?”  Why should we feel that we are immune to trouble?  If anything, we should expect more trouble if we follow Jesus Christ.  I’ve shared this next verse many, many times and even in previous posts on this blog site.  Jesus said in John 16:33 “I tell you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble, but take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  The next time you feel like you are being dealt a bad hand in life, that things are unfair and you yell out “Why me?”  Imagine God saying to you, “Why not?  But it’s ok.  We’ll walk through this together ‘cause I won’t ever leave you.”  That’s just what He’s promised, you know.

Another thought comes to mind as I look at verse 13 from Chapter 1.  I’ve often reminded people that “the whole world is watching”.  What I mean by that is that the world around us, our families and friends, our co-workers and neighbors and even those people at work are all watching us and trying to see if our faith is for real.  I like to say it this way, they like to see how we act (behave) and how we react (handle adversity in our lives).  These are the times when, as the old saying goes, ‘the rubber meets the road’.  These are often the times when people really see how strong our faith in God really is.  Try to let them know it’s the real thing!

¹⁴ “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

Continuing with the thoughts from the previous paragraph, there are others watching us.  There are other people of faith.  They, too, are watching us to see if this “Jesus thing” is authentic or just something we wear on Sunday morning.  We can teach younger believers so much by how we handle life on a day to day basis.  Do we get angry?  Do we gossip?  Do we try to get even?  Do we try to climb the corporate ladder by stepping on other people?  Do we blame God when things don’t go the way we think they should?  Are we honest and truthful in what we say and do or is our honesty conditional on who is listening?  Here’s the best way I can describe it.  When people see you at work on Monday to Friday will they see the same person they see sitting in church on Sunday morning or will you appear to be two different people?  In Matthew 5:26 Jesus says “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Jesus is saying that when people look at you, how you act and how you react, they should see Jesus reflected in all that you do.

In verse 14 above Paul is saying that our behavior can be a real inspiration to other believers and give them the confidence and conviction to speak of their faith and their Lord with boldness.  That means that this is a real opportunity to help others in their faith walk.  Let’s not ‘blow it’, ok?  By the way, did you notice?  Paul addressed this comment to “brother and sisters” as well.  This challenge to teach or inspire others by how we live is for men and women.  We are all to find ways to help others grow and glow.

¹⁵ “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.  ¹⁶ The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

Once again we see here that Paul is looking at a problem through the eyes of faith.  He’s writing that while he is in prison there are people who are trying to inflict more pain on him by preaching the Word in a “so there” or “who’s the important teacher now?” kind of attitude.  The fact that they are spreading the gospel is good but their motivation stinks.  Paul says, ‘Who cares, as long as the good news is being spread?’  What a great attitude.  Paul takes ‘self’ right out of the picture.  If those teachers who envy Paul’s status and skills think they are going to ‘get to him’ because he’s locked in prison they are sorely mistaken.  Paul could care less about their motivation but he is excited by their message for they are still “preaching Christ” and that’s all that matters to him.  This reminds us that people do things in church for lots of different reasons and there are probably some reasons that really irk us.  They may be drawing attention to themselves, trying to build a following to promote themselves or they may be trying to draw people away from other groups or churches.  All of these are selfish, self-promoting and ego-centric motivations but if the gospel is being spread then God is still being glorified.    When we have opportunities to serve in a public, visible way let’s make sure it truly is being done with a humble and thankful heart as an act of service to God.  Do your best and let God do the rest.  As for those other self-promoting folks…let God worry about them.  Hey, did you see Paul’s joy showing through once again?  Paul says that as long as the result of all this is that “Christ is preached” he’ll still rejoice!  Great attitude.

“Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” 

It still blows my mind that Paul is writing this letter from jail and yet speaks of his joy again and again.  He writes of his confidence that through the prayers of the Philippians along with God’s provision whatever Paul is going through is going to work out ok.  In Paul’s letter to the Romans, in chapter 8, he writes “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Like I said before, Paul has the attitude of a victor through the promises of Jesus Christ.

 ²⁰ “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 

When we get to this point in Paul’s letter we can see that he is totally committed to Christ.  Here Paul is saying that no matter what happens to him “whether by life or by death” he believes that he will have the courage to stand for Christ.  Then he makes a very familiar statement which should be the mantra of every believer.  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  He’s saying that to continue serving God here on earth (by life) or by losing his life and going home (by death) to be with God everything’s gonna be all right.  He’s also saying that dying and going “home” is even better.  I hope we all walk through each day with that hope in our own hearts.

²² “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!   ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” 

Verse 22 expands on what Paul was saying in verses 20 and 21.  He sees that staying here on earth means being busy and productive serving the Lord but that still leaves him in the predicament of knowing he has more to do here while, at the same time, wanting to go “home” and be with his Lord.  I’ve had those moments and I’m betting you have too.  Sometimes the cares of this world just pile up so high that we start to think (or even pray) ‘Lord, wouldn’t this be a great time for you to take me home, PLEASE?”  I can confess that there have been times of stress in my life when those very words have crossed my lips.  I thank God that His answer was “Not hardly, Bob!”  He’s blessed me with lots of opportunities and lots of time to do many things in service to Him and His children so I get it.  That’s one of those times when God’s answer was “No!”  That was ok by me.  I have had those times when I have forgotten some of those awesome promises about God’s being with me always.  Or maybe I was just tired and wanted to bail out.  Either way, I’m thankful that God said “Not yet.”

²⁴ “but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith” 

Rightfully, Paul finally concluded that his place was to stay here on earth and continue to help others grow in their faith.  Did you also see that he said he was also staying here to help his fellow Christians grow in their joy?!  See, that theme just keeps popping up here in Philippians.  I love it!

²⁶ “so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.”

In verse 26 Paul speaks of “your boasting” but as you can see, it’s not boasting about themselves but “boasting in Christ”.  I have a dear pastor friend who has a special name for the time of sharing joys in his worship services.  He’ll say, “Who wants to brag on Jesus this mornin’?”  Braggin’ on Jesus!  I’ve always liked that.  This idea pops up in both the Old and New Testaments.  It shows up in Jeremiah 9:24 we read “but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.”  Those words are echoed in the New Testament books of 1 Corinthians 1:31 and 2 Corinthians 9:17 where we read “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”  And finally, we see the same idea expanded on in Galatians 6:14: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

We’ll end today’s post on that thought.  This article was a little longer than expected but I wanted to maintain some continuity of thought and this seemed like the best break point.  You may want to re-read this post to digest it a little better and the next time you see a new post on this site we’ll be talking about how Paul suggests we conduct ourselves no matter where we are or who we are with.  Then we’ll be taking a closer look at the pattern Jesus gave us to follow in living out our daily lives.  It’s good stuff and I look forward to seeing you back here in a day or two.  God’s best to you and I pray that this study is already giving you lots to think about and apply in your daily walk.  Thanks for being here.