Greetings congregation,
I am going to read a short excerpt from an article by ascension press.
“Imagine you are in the Roman Colosseum, circa 100 AD. You’ve just taken your seat as the gates in the middle of the arena have opened. Stepping out into the sun-scorched dirt is a small group of men, looking shabby and unkempt, yet strangely calm and collected. The sun bares down on the charred ground as the crowd gets to its feet and begins to roar, as they know full well what’s coming. But you don’t get up with them. You stay in your seat and continue to look on among these strange men, which people around you are starting to call “Christians”.
The bloodthirstiness in the eyes of those around you is most disturbing, but when looking at the men on the arena floor, you feel a strange sense of serenity. Just who are these men? A moment later, the gates open again, and the lions make their move, and it becomes clear what their prey is. A few minutes later, the sun-scorched ground is soaked with blood. The blood of the martyrs. Most of the crowd is in a frenzy, but for you, something is different. Something has taken root in your heart. As these men cried out to someone named “Jesus”, you begin to wonder why they so calmly met their demise. And this is why we can rightfully say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed for the Church.”
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https://media.ascensionpress.com/2018/09/17/blood-of-the-martyrs-is-still-seed-for-the-church/
The early Church fathers were well acquainted with the challenge of persecution and martyrdom. Stories upon stories have been told about how many were beheaded how some were jailed were, some were fed to lions some were stoned to death and others were burnt at the stake.
Regardless of the violent and unspeakable external opposition, the gospel advanced like wildfire. Some historians recollect that “Christians rejoiced as they were fed to lions in the Roman Colosseum. It became a thing of joy to die for the gospel of Christ. One of the signs that Jesus gave for the end times was that believers would be greatly persecuted and even killed.”
“Then will they deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” (Mathew chapter 24 verse 9)
Today as the church of Christ, we continue to face both external and internal forces that seek to bring to shame the gospel and seek to destroy the building of God’s Kingdom. Gospel advancement has been curtailed by doctrinal errors, false teaching, division, sin, and idolatry within the church. While on the outside, there has been a public philosophical and physical persecution of the church as we see an absolute moral collapse in our society, the sidelining of values, the rise of atheism, and yes, many have been persecuted and even imprisoned because of the gospel.
The question we must ask ourselves is? Has this stopped and will it ever stop the gospel from advancing?
In today’s passage, I welcome you to consider with me that nothing can stand in the way of gospel advancement, not even suffering.
Let’s Pray
Read the text.
Philippians 1:12–18 (ESV): 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. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
After Paul’s beautiful prayer in verses 9-11, Paul here in 12-14 helps by pointing us to a very fundamental aspect of what makes the gospel most valuable.
It is the first and most important message that the Philippian church must pay close attention to. Of all the other things you can write in a letter, the very first on the agenda is always the most important, it is always the pinnacle of all your other intentions. For Paul what he writes in this verse is of importance and priority for he states that it is that which he wants them to know. 12 I want you to know, brothers.
To help us understand this better, we will ask ourselves a number of questions that will guide our thinking throughout this passage.
- What has happened to Paul (Verse 12)
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
We observe here that the answer to our question will help us identify the unique worth or price of the advance of the gospel since it has served as a catalyst to the same.
The good thing about the context here is that it immediately gives us the answer, look down on verse 13, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
So what Paul is saying here is that his Imprisonment has served to advance the gospel!!!
In other words, the current circumstance is looked at considering a greater goal namely the advancement of the gospel.
The good work of gospel proclamation is at the apex of priority. The means to this apex include imprisonment.
The second question!
- How is this a more classic advertisement of the gospel?
It is as though the present suffering because of the gospel has become a necessary catalyst for the advancement of the gospel. Why is this the case?
God is sovereign over the good work of gospel advancement.
Philippians 1:6 (ESV): And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Every good work including the work of gospel advancement is a prerogative of God. Nothing that the mighty arm of the Lord applies to do fails an inch.
Job even through his many sufferings concludes his thoughts reflecting on God by saying
Job 42:1–2 (ESV): Then Job answered the LORD and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
In Paul’s prayer, he desires that the Philippians get to know Christ because, in their knowledge of Christ, there is the knowledge of his sovereignty over the work of gospel advancement.
The third question!
- How is it that the gospel has advanced through imprisonment?
so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Paul’s imprisonment did not mean that the gospel was held captive. On the contrary, those around Paul were captive to hearing his good news about Jesus.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Php 1:12.
During Paul’s Second Roman Imprisonment in 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul makes it clear that despite his own imprisonment, God’s word was never held captive. (context: Paul’s second and last imprisonment, just before martyrdom)
2 Timothy 2:8–11 (ESV): Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him.
Remember what the question is: How does his imprisonment advance the gospel?
The text we are looking at provides us with at least two ways in which this is achieved:
- Verse 13
- It has become known throughout the Imperial Guard that my imprisonment is for Christ.
Paul did not see himself as a prisoner of Rome but as a prisoner of Christ
Why does Paul qualify that his imprisonment is for Christ? Paul’s understanding of his circumstances is not just that Christ receives the glory in the imprisonment, but that Christ is sovereign even in His imprisonment.
Paul is saying his imprisoned by the divine appointment of Christ and not by man. He is also saying he is imprisoned because of Christ or for Christ, as one representing Christ. In other words, ‘I am here by the sovereign will of Christ.’
In the book of Ephesians, (Written the same period) Ephesians 3, verse 1, Paul refers to himself as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus.”.
In Ephesians 4, verse 1, he identifies himself as “the prisoner of the Lord.”
Imprisonment was not strange to Paul, for he heard of the sayings of Christ in the gospel that any and everyone who follows Christ will encounter these realities.
Mark 13:9 (ESV): “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.
Luke 21:12–13 (ESV): But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
In other words, Christ is the reason for the imprisonment and the persecution. Paul and all the other followers suffer not because of their names and their fame but because of Christ.
Here is a question to ponder on as a Christian, when was the last time you did anything for the sake of Christ’s name and not your name? When you last did anything close to gospel advancement, did you actually do it for the sake of Christ or was it for your name and fame?
Unfortunately, many today are more concerned about their names and they are willing to do earthshaking things including mutilating their bodies not for the sake of Christ but for the sake of themselves.
What is Paul showing these Imperial guards and the rest about Christ?
Christ is worth more than life
Paul will state this more specifically a few verses later
Philippians 1:21–22 (ESV): For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
Christ is so worthy and so valuable that I am willing to give away my life to prison and eventually death.
The value of the gospel is found not in the substance of its goodness but in the person of Christ. Christ is not only the price of the gospel, but he is also the reward of the gospel.
That is why no amount of suffering is compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Him
- It has become known throughout the Imperial Guard that my imprisonment is for Christ.
Rome must know Christ for Paul is in the Imperial Guard. We see that through Paul’s Imprisonment, people like Festus, Felix, Agrippa, and many others here the Gospel proclaimed boldly because the chains have availed the opportunity.
When Christians face a time of suffering that is caused by gospel advancement, it almost always becomes a solid witness to the onlookers regarding the hope that is in them.
Peter writing to his audience in the context exhorts them to endure suffering not based on anything but the hope that is in them. What about those who ask for a reason for their faith, they are to answer in love. What we must see is that it is the suffering and the persecution that has availed an opportunity for gospel proclamation.
1 Peter 3:14–17 (ESV): But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Dear brothers and sisters, whether your suffering for the gospel has been caused by external heathen causes or internal causes like false teaching and division? Your bold endurance and your courageous proclamation of the gospel are the intended end and should be your chief endeavor. It is not that we may see how best you suffered, but that we may see how excellently Christ was proclaimed even in your suffering.
As a church, I encourage us to see our seasons of suffering as occasions for gospel advancements other than hindrances. For the gospel thrives not in the comforts of tranquility but in the confines of tribulation.
Remember what the question is: How does his imprisonment advance the gospel?
- Verse 14
And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
So because of Paul’s Imprisonment: not just some but most of the brothers
Have become confident.
They have become more bold to speak the word without fear.
Now we have to all agree that these are not normal reactions.
Let me show you some normal reactions:
You see when Christ was arrested, the disciples both betrayed and denied him escaping away and hiding away timidly.
There wasn’t a single word to be said.
They became only mere men with fear gripping their throats throughout.
However, when the Holy Spirit came upon them at the Pentecost, they became bold and preached God’s word even before the Imperial Guards.
In our times of greater suffering, in times of pain and sorrow as a church, in our time of lament and much oppression from within and without, we are called to cease as an avenue for a bold proclamation of the gospel by pointing people To Christ.
So that when they ask:
Where is your hope? Where is your victory? Where is your assurance? You can look at them in the face and say, Christ! Christ! Christ!
Because of Christ, Paul was willing to count all things as loss. (Philippians 3:7)
As Hope City Bible Church, are you willing to count everything as loss compared to Knowing this Christ?
Are you willing to lose anything and everything for someone more worthy and valuable than even life itself?
I challenge you to consider that Christ is more supremely valuable than your suffering! You can look suffering in the face and despise it for you have known something of greater worth.
As a missional church, we can look beyond our limitations and beyond our weakness and proclaim that Christ is more valuable, and because Christ is more valuable, we will despise every opposing force, be it persecution, be it lack, be it youthfulness, be it brokenness, for the sake of seeing that the supreme value of Christ as one who takes away the sin of man is preached on every hill and country.
O Church, arise, and put your armour on;
Hear the call of Christ our Captain.
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth,
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
An army bold, whose battle cry is Love,
Reaching out to those in darkness.
The captain calls for men and women to gather at the battlefield and wage war for the advancement of the gospel. No ill will prevail, not even our own internal weakness will stand in the way of the gospel. For Christ must be proclaimed as preeminent and supremely valuable.
You ask, what will make us one in the midst of chaos? You ask, what will make us bold in the face of a mighty army? You ask who must grant us boldness in the wake of much evil in the present age? I say Christ and His message.
The gospel is what will unite, the gospel will be the song we sing in a depraved society with atheism, cultism, false teaching, and LGBTQ because in the gospel we will be proclaiming, ‘Christ is more valuable.’
You ask, what must I do in the face of my sick mum, or spouse? What must I do with my joblessness, what must I do with my chronic illness, what must I do with my indwelling sin? What must I do with my internal anxiety? I say to you, look to Christ by preaching the gospel to yourself namely that Christ is supremely valuable for on the cross he looked all these sufferings including death, and scorned their shame by triumphing over them in his resurrection.
Amen.
We pray