scroll to 38:30 for beginning of sermon
Philippians 1:12-14
All right, if you’ll remain standing, we’re going to read a couple verses from Philippians chapter 1. This is verses 12 through 14. The Apostle Paul writing from prison. Here’s what he writes.
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it’s become clear throughout the whole palace garden to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 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.
All right, we’re going to jump into the book of Philippians. And it’s the joy epistle. And the theme of the whole book is joy. And the word joy and rejoicing are used 16 times in the book. It’s amazing. Paul’s writing this from prison. He’s actually under house arrest in Rome.
And he’s writing this letter, and it just exudes with joy. And it’s Paul’s most personal letter. As you read through the book of Philippians, you can see that there’s a love relationship between Paul and the church there at Philippi.
And we looked at the first eight verses a few weeks ago, and Paul basically says, I have you in my thoughts. I thank my God every time I remember you. So, Paul’s reflecting back on his second missionary journey and this group of believers that came to know the Lord.
And obviously a church developed from there, because he addresses the overseers and the deacons. So now there’s a functioning church there in Philippi. He says, I have you in my thoughts.
And then Paul says, I have you in my prayers. And Paul’s praying for them, and he’s praying for them and thanking them for their partnership in the gospel, that they partner with him through prayers and through finances to advance the gospel in Philippi. And then Paul says in, I think it’s verse 6 or 7, he says, it’s right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart.
And so, Paul loved these people, and there was a mutual love relationship between the two of them. So now Paul writes this letter as a thank you note, because the church at Philippi has sent a financial gift to Paul in Rome through Epaphroditus. And then last week we looked at Paul’s prayer.
Paul says, I’m praying for you. And a very short prayer, it’s recorded in verses 9 through 11. Paul asked prayer for three things.
Here’s his first request. I’m praying that your love may abound more and more. So, Paul prayed that their love would grow.
He doesn’t say who the love is, who’s the object of that love. He says, is this love for God? Is this love for fellow believers? Is this love for unbelievers? The answer is yes, because we’re supposed to love all of those. So, he says, I pray that your love will grow.
But secondly, he asked a prayer request that they would grow in knowledge and depth of insight. I pray that you will get to know God more. And then thirdly, his prayer request was this, that you may be able to discern what is best.
I want you to learn discernment. I want you to learn how to make what? Right choices and the best choices. And that’s what we want for our lives.
That’s what we want for our kids. That’s what we want for our grandkids, that they will choose what? God’s best for them. That’s Paul’s prayer.
And we looked at some application truths. One of the things that challenged me as I looked at this prayer and thought about my own prayer life, one of the points was we need to have a balanced prayer life. And oftentimes our prayer life is all focused on physical needs and people that are sick.
And we certainly need to pray for them. I’m not saying don’t pray for them. But the prayers of the Bible are all focused on what? Spiritual development and spiritual growth, that you might know Christ, that you might know Him better, that you might grow in love.
So, I’ve been challenged to kind of balance my prayer life and begin to pray that way for our church and our families and our kids and our grandkids. Well, that brings us to Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 through 26 we’re going to look at this morning. It’s simply entitled, Three Truths that Paul Wants Us to Know.
So, if you like to mark in your Bible, Paul uses the word know three times in this passage. Verse 12, now I want you to know, brothers and sisters. It’s also found in verse 19 and it’s also found in verse 25 toward the end of passage.
Paul says, convinced of this I know. So, Paul says, there’s three things while I’m here in prison that I want you Philippian believers to know and in turn us some 2,000 years later. So, here’s Paul’s declaration.
I. Paul’s Declaration
Here’s our outline. Paul makes a declaration. He’s writing from prison. Now, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me. Now, let’s stop right there. Paul says, what has happened to me.
He also uses that phrase a little later on in our text in verse 19, what has happened to me. He uses it twice. I want you to know what has happened to me.
And when I read that phrase, what has happened to me, it reminds us that in one sense, we’re out of control in some areas of life and a lot of areas of life. Life just happens, doesn’t it? Life is, one sense, is totally out of our control. As we heard this morning.
And so, the phrase indicates that Paul’s like, yeah, this isn’t what I expected. Paul was hoping to go to Rome to preach the gospel. He really didn’t expect to come as a prisoner.
That’s how he got there. He says, I want you to know what has happened. Life happens.
Sickness happens. Unexpected financial setbacks happen. Relationships break down and happen.
Loss of job happens. And I’m grateful that there’s a sovereign God who’s in control of all that, even though life kind of happens. We’re up in Grand Rapids visiting Graham and trying to help with the other grandkids.
We’ve got five grandkids, now six grandkids in Grand Rapids. And so, we’re kind of trying to help manage the other five while mom and dad are up at the hospital. Our youngest son and daughter also live up there, so there’s six kids between the two of them.
And our youngest son works for the Internal Revenue Service. And he’s in the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Internal Revenue Service, which is, I found out, a very interesting job. He’s got some interesting stories to tell.
But so, we’re up there on Wednesday, and I’m watching the news, and the news comes on. It says, well, yep, they’re going to cut 6,700 jobs from the IRS today. And Andrew gets home from work and says, how are you doing? And I said, I got one question for you.
Are you still employed? Yeah, I am for now, for now. Life happens. And Paul says, I want you to know that what has happened to me, here’s his next statement, has actually served to advance the gospel.
Ah, I didn’t expect to end up in prison but let me tell you what’s going on here. The gospel’s going forward. How is that happening? As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I’m in chains for Christ.
So, Paul could have felt sorry for himself. He could have been having a pity party and like, well, this is what I get for being a missionary. This is what I get for preaching the gospel.
I end up in prison. No, Paul looked at it as an opportunity. When you’re in prison, you have a captive audience, and Paul had guards that were with him.
And what did Paul do? Paul shared the gospel with them. And so, when we get to the end of the book of Philippians, Paul’s giving his final greetings as all God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. Oh, wait a second.
You mean there’s some Christians in Caesar’s household? Yes. How did that happen? Because Paul shared the gospel, and the gospel made inroads into Caesar’s household. Not only that, but Paul also says in verse 14, 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.
So, not only am I witnessing and telling these guards about Jesus, but as word gets out, other Christians are thinking, well, I guess if Paul can witness in prison, maybe we can share the gospel too. And they became bolder in their testimony and their witness. Now, we won’t take time to read the next couple of verses, but Paul basically says, I’m not sure about the motives of everybody who’s sharing the gospel, but I’m going to rejoice because if it’s the true gospel, even though maybe their motives aren’t correct, I’m going to rejoice because, what, the gospel’s going forward.
And so, Paul makes the declaration, I want you to know, I want you to feel sorry for myself. I want you to know that this has happened and it’s part of God’s plan and the gospel’s going forward. So, he makes a second I know statement, Paul’s declaration, and this has to do with Paul’s deliverance, Paul’s deliverance, verses 19 through 21.
II. Paul’s Deliverance
For I know, here it is, second thing Paul wants us to 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. So, Paul says, because you’re praying for me, never underestimate the power of prayer, and because of God’s provision and plan, I know something, I want you to know, I’m going to be delivered. Paul was confident in that.
Now, what does he mean when he says, I’m going to be delivered? I’ll always go back to a commentary of Beth Moore on a study of Daniel, and we just went through the book of Daniel not too long ago. And Beth Moore writes that there’s three scenarios when we face trials in our life. There’re three outcomes, possible outcomes.
She says, we can be delivered from the trial. God could certainly have intervened in Paul’s house arrest and miraculously delivered him, and that would have been an encouragement, Paul’s faith would have been built up. Or secondly, we can be delivered through the trial.
In other words, when we’re going through a trial, our first response is always, Lord, just take it away. But oftentimes, God allows us to go through it for our spiritual maturity, and we endure that trial, and then our faith is strengthened and refined. That was the result of Paul’s situation here.
Paul eventually was released from house arrest. He spent about two years in house arrest. He was actually delivered through that, and then Paul was released.
The third option is we can be delivered not from the trial or through the trial, but by the trial into God’s presence. That could have been a result. Paul could have been executed for his faith.
That was out of his hands. And in that case, our faith is perfected. So, when Paul says, I’m going to be delivered, Paul says, I’m either going to be released from prison or I’m going to be delivered into the presence of God.
So, he talks about that in verse 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. Paul says, my goal in life is to exalt Christ, whether I live or whether I die.
And then he comes up in verse 21 with this great statement. It would be a great life verse. If you don’t have a life verse, this would be a great one.
Paul says, here’s the summary of his life. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Paul says, if I’m going to live, I’m going to live for Christ. If I’m going to die, I’m going to be in a better spot. So, Paul writes, the gospel is going forward, and guess what? I know I’m going to be delivered one way or the other.
III. Paul’s Dilemma
Now, we’ll look at Paul’s dilemma because there’s a little internal dilemma now going on with Paul in prison, and he writes about it in this next section of Scripture. And he eventually says in verse 25, I know, here’s the third I know, I know I will remain. But let’s back up to verse 22. It says to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.
Verse 22, if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I don’t know. So, Paul’s in a little bit of dilemma here.
Am I going to die or am I going to remain here and live and encourage others in the ministry, in the gospel? He says, I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is, my NIV translation says, better by far. In the original, it’s really a triple superlative.
Paul says, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far, far, far better than living on this planet. If we had a lot of time this morning, we could go to what the Bible says about heaven and Revelation 21 and 22 and what heaven’s like, and there’s no more curse, and there’s no more sin, and there’s no more sorrow, there’s no more sickness, there’s no more sadness. The best is yet to come.
And Paul says, so, I’m kind of torn between the two, between life and going to be with Christ, which is far better. So, he goes on to say, verse 24, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. And so, Paul says, I’m ready to go to heaven.
That’s going to be much, much better, but I’m kind of torn between the two. But I really think, in Paul’s mind, he’s saying, for now, I think it’s best that I stay here so that I can encourage the churches and continue ministering to other people. I don’t know about you, but if you’ve thought about this, but that’s kind of the way I feel.
I mean, I’m ready to go to heaven. I want to go to heaven, just maybe not today, because I’ve got some kids I want to encourage. I want some grandkids, eight of them now, that I want to see them grow up and come to know Jesus and live for Him.
And I’ve got a church family I want to encourage, and there’s still some work for me to do, I think. So, yeah, I want to go to heaven someday, but that’s what Paul’s saying here. In verse 24, it is more necessary for you that I remain here.
And so, how does he conclude this? He says, convinced of this, I know, there’s a third one, I know that I will remain. So, Paul was pretty confident he’s going to go to trial, pretty confident that he’s going to remain on planet earth for a while. Consequently, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for what your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ will abound on account of me.
And so, Paul’s saying, I’m looking forward to continuing on in ministry and seeing your faith grow and encouraging you. And then he goes on to use this interesting word here in verse 26, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ will, what, abound on account of me. What’s he talking about boasting in Christ? Well, there’s an old hymn written by Isaac Watts, published in 1707, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, stanza two says, forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God, all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.
The hymn writer says, if I’m going to brag or boast, I’m going to boast about who Christ is. And so, the prophet Jeremiah, this is Jeremiah 9:23 and 24, we read this, this is what the Lord declares, Let not the wise boast of their wisdom. Don’t go around boasting how smart you are, how wise you are, or don’t let someone or the strong boast of their strength, their physical strength, or the rich boast of their riches, how much money you have.
Don’t boast about those things. Now, as I thought about that verse, a little insert here, it doesn’t say don’t boast about your grandkids though, does it? So, I think we can get a pass on that, or your kids. Be proud of your kids, your grandkids.
But Jeremiah is saying, don’t boast about how smart you are, don’t boast about your strength, don’t boast about how much money you have, but let the one who boasts boast about this. If you’re going to brag, here’s what you can brag about, that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight. Paul says, if you’re going to boast about anything, boast about who your God is, boast about who Jesus is.
Relatively new song by artist by the name of Ann Wilson, and it’s entitled, My Jesus. Here’s some of the words, lyrics, he makes a way where there ain’t no way, raises up from an empty grave, there’s no sinner that he can’t save, let me tell you about my Jesus, his love is strong, his grace is free, and the good news is I know that he can do for you what he’s done for me. Let me tell you about my Jesus, and my Jesus changes my life.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. You can wipe away the tears from broken dreams and wasted years and tell the past to disappear. Oh, let me tell you about my Jesus, on all the wrong turns that you would go and undo if you could, who can work it out for all your good, let me tell you about my Jesus.
There’s Ann Wilson boasting about who Jesus is. That’s what Paul says we need to do. And so, Paul writes to the Philippian believers and says, I want you to know three things.
What’s happened to me has really served God’s purpose. The gospel is going forward. Second thing I want you to know, I’m going to be delivered one way or the other.
Life Lessons…
Thirdly, I think I’m going to remain because I still have some work to do and to encourage you. Well, let’s look at some, in closing, three life lessons that we can learn from Paul’s writings here in Philippians chapter 1.
1. Advance the Gospel
Here’s the first one. God has you where he has you to advance the gospel through you. I have to tell you that saying was something that my good friend, John Tovey, used to pastor at Michigan Center Bible Church. He’s now retired. I’ve known John Tovey for 40 years, and John used to say this all the time over and over again.
In fact, I texted him this week and said, what was that saying you used to say all the time? I had it close, but God has you where he has you to advance the gospel through you. So that’s where Paul says, well, I’m in prison. I guess there’s a reason, and the reason is what? Because there’s some people in Caesar’s household, there’s some Roman guards that need to hear the gospel.
And so, Paul used it as an opportunity to share Christ. You know, our perspective and mindset are crucial in our attitude. There’s a little poem about two prisoners who were in prison, and they had an outdoor, small outdoor window with bars on it, and they were both in the same cell.
It says two men are in prison. One saw the bars, the other saw the stars. One just focused on his limitations and that he was in bars.
The other one looked up and saw the stars. That’s how Paul was. He used this as an opportunity to share the gospel.
So why do you live where you live? Maybe there’s a neighbor next to you that needs to come to know Jesus. That’s why God’s planted you there. Why are you in the family that you’re in? Well, I would imagine there’s probably some people in your family and some extended family members that need to come to know Jesus and need to see Christ’s love in you and give you an opportunity to share God’s truth with them.
Why do you work where you work? Probably some co-workers there that probably need to hear about Jesus. And so, God has you, where He has you to advance the gospel. The old saying is bloom where you’re planted. No matter where God takes you, look at that as an opportunity to love others and to share the gospel.
2. The prison is fertile ground
Here’s a second thought, second life lesson. The prison population is fertile ground for the gospel. So, here’s Paul. He’s in prison a lot. In Philippi he led the Philippian jailer to Christ. And here he’s leading the Roman guards to Christ. Why is that? Because the prison population is fertile ground for the gospel.
Worldwide, there are 10 million people incarcerated. The United States of America has by far the highest incarceration population in the world. 1.9 million to about 2 million people in the United States are currently in prison.
And what I want to say is that the prison population is fertile ground for the gospel. When we were in Chelsea many years ago, there was a correction facility just north of Chelsea called Cassidy Lake Correctional System. And so, for a number of years, on Saturdays, they opened up for people to come in and do studies, these Bible studies with the prisoners there.
It was an optional thing; they weren’t required to go. And for many Saturdays, I was inside that kind of low-level prison facility, and we would do some Bible studies. But I had some friends that were like committed to that ministry and they went every Saturday.
They’re sharing Bible studies and God’s truth. In fact, I kind of got a little jealous because I was pastoring a church there, I was jealous in a good way. Then they told me they had seven prisoners come to Jesus yesterday. I’m like, wow, you’re doing a lot better than I am.
Why, because the prison system is fertile ground for the gospel. You all know Chuck Colson’s story and what prison fellowship has done. And here’s, let me just give you Chuck Swindoll’s story really quickly.
As a new Christian, Chuck Colson voluntarily pled guilty to obstruction of justice in 1974 and served seven months in Alabama’s Maxwell Prison for his part in the Watergate scandal. In his best-selling book, Born Again, Colson wrote, quote, I found myself increasingly drawn to the idea that God had put me in prison for a purpose and that I should do something for those I had left behind. So, in 1976, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, which is now the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit, equipping the church to serve currently and formerly incarcerated people.
It’s had a huge impact on lives. There are many, many prison ministries. One that we’ve become acquainted with because of our ministry at maranatha in the summertime is an organization called Crossroads Prison Ministry.
I know they’ve got an office in Grand Rapids. I don’t know if that’s their headquarters, but Crossroads Prison Ministry matches up believers as mentors to people in prison. And what that entails is you become a pen pal to this prisoner and they’re very careful about how you do this and you’re not sharing personal information or anything, but you’re writing a person in prison.
And so, you know that I’ve had a 30-year pen pal relationship with somebody in Jackson Prison for many, many years. In fact, this week we got a, we get a quarterly check from him, for Community Bible Church. He’s in there for murder.
He’ll never get out, but he considers himself part of Community Bible Church. He turned 70 about six or eight months ago and we had a card out there. Many of you signed it and we sent it to him.
But it’s a prison encouragement writing ministry and you also help them with some Bible lessons. And you can make a huge impact from your dining room table by just writing a letter every now and then. I put their website on the back ministry table if you’re interested in checking this out.
cpministries.org and you can check out their mentorship program. But the prison population is fertile ground for the gospel.
3. A win-win situation
Here’s the third one and the last one. And I hope this encourages you because it encourages me. Because Christ has won our final victory. We sing a song, Victory in Jesus.
Tetelestai, it’s finished. In 1st Corinthians 15:55, you know, oh death, oh grave, where’s your victory? Oh death, where’s your sting? We’re going to celebrate that in a couple months on Resurrection Day. Because Christ has won our final victory, the Christian is in a win-win situation.
If you know Jesus, your kind of like Paul. If I live, I’m going to encourage others and live for Christ. If I die, I’m going to be way better off because of what Christ has done.
We’re in a win-win situation. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. And so, while we’re here on earth, God’s got a job for us to do.
And Paul says, hey, it’s necessary for me to remain and encourage you. I really don’t think there’s any retirement in the Christian life. We don’t get to the point where we say, well, I don’t need to serve Christ anymore in any way.
I don’t need to use my spiritual gift. My good friend, Joe, he pastors on the other side of the state. Two weeks ago, he gave his last message and he’s retiring now.
And I watched it online because I kind of wanted to see what Joe had to say for his last message at that particular church. And so, then I’m finding out, well, what’s Joe doing now? So, two weeks ago today, he gave his last message. I found out on Wednesday; he hopped on a plane and he’s in India for two weeks and he’s sharing at a Bible school seminary in India.
He’s not like saying, well, I’m done now. I don’t need to do anything. So, because Christ has won our final victory, we are in a win-win situation.
Fact of the matter is Hebrews 9:27, it’s appointed unto man once to die. Unless Christ comes back in our lifetime, we are all going to face death. But we can do it confidently.
We can do it courageously. All because of what Christ has done for us, we know what’s beyond the grave. We know it is far, far better than anything on this planet.
So let me close by telling you about our friend Cam, C-A-M. We’ve known, Diane and I have known Cam and his family for lots of years, at least 20 years, through Maranatha Bible Missionary Conference. Cam and his family are from Indiana.
And part of our role there when we’re over there in the summertime is we’re dorm parents for college kids that are working there in the summer, so we get to know some of them. And we’ve gotten to know Cam very well. Cam is an outstanding young man.
25 years old, loves Jesus, loves to serve others. He’s a musician, he writes some songs. I didn’t know they had this, but there apparently is a professional ultimate Frisbee league.
And he’s a very good athlete. And so, for a year or two, he played professional Frisbee. I’m sure they didn’t get paid a lot of money for the Indianapolis Alley Cats.
And they played in arenas. And I don’t know how it all worked, but he loved doing it. About two weeks ago, we get an email from our connections over there, and they pray for Cam.
He’s got some physical challenges, and he’s going in for surgery, and there’s something going on, on his back that they need to look at and remove, and ended up he went through surgery, and its cancer, and because of where it is, the nerves and everything, they weren’t able to remove all of it. So, we’ve been praying for our friend, 25-year-old Cam. Here’s what Cam posted on Monday on Facebook.
And this epitomizes what Paul says in Philippians 1, and I’m just going to read it to you. It’s like three paragraphs long. Today I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
I’ve been processing this for a little bit now as I’ve been going through tests to determine exactly what’s going on through the small part I’ve gone through thus far. It’s been amazing to me how my family and the church body has rallied around me in support and prayer. God is so good.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma happens to be a fairly common and treatable form of cancer, and my outlook is pretty good with treatment. But you could tell me that I only had 40 days to live. Parentheses, not the case right now.
And my response would be the same. God is so good. Because I would say I had 40 days left to be a witness for Christ and to bring glory to God, and then I’m going home.
Nothing in this life could compare to what awaits in the one to come. Paul said it best, to live is Christ, to die is gain, Philippians 1:21 to suffer is human. It’s part of this broken world.
But I’m so grateful that I don’t have to go at it alone. Jesus, my great comforter, walks alongside of me and gives me peace. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light, and he takes any stress or fear that I may have, and he puts it on himself, and he gives to me in exchange his perfect peace.
Though I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for he is with me. For all of my life, he has been faithful. All of my life, he’s been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able, I sing of the goodness of God. That’s from a 25-year-old young man who has some deep spiritual insight and discernment. You can look cancer in the face and to say like the Apostle Paul, I’m going to be delivered.
If I’m here, I’m going to serve. If not, I’m going to be far, far better. Because of Christ has won our final victory, we’re in a win-win situation. I trust you know that confidence.