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How many can say that they are joyful this morning? Now many of you are thinking, “I’m not happy.” I didn’t ask you if you were happy, I asked if you were joyful and there is a difference. Being joyful and being happy are two different things. As we take a look at this passage this morning we are going to discover what made Paul so joyful. We’re going to find out that he had every right to be discouraged and bitter, yet because of his hope in Christ he was full of joy. It was a choice he decided to make. We need to remember that Paul wrote this letter from prison, not necessarily from the dungeon type prison, yet he was still under arrest and was not free to move about as he wanted.
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,[c] that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard,[d] knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers[e] here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message[f] without fear.
15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
Let’s take a look at verses 12-14. How many of us could say what Paul has said here. Instead, according to the gospel of Winnie the Pooh, how many of us are like Eyore, “Poor me, why does it always happen to me? I always get the worst. Nothing good ever happens to me.” And we mope around defeated and miserable. Why not say as Paul, “What has happened to me is helping promote my cause.” The very gospel that Paul preached allowed him a much greater audience. Instead of hindering the promotion of the gospel, it enhanced the promotion of the gospel. We can already see Paul’s joy. Now why IS Paul so joyful about this situation? Look at verse 13. “As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard that I am in chains for Christ.” So instead of the chains being a burden, more people know about Christ. Paul wants to make it clear that he is not in prison serving time for a crime he has committed, no, he is in prison because he was preaching about Jesus. Even those in the Palace Guard knew this. The Palace Guard was a contingent of soldiers, numbering several thousand who would have had contact with Paul during his imprisonment. So Paul again rejoices because the gospel he is preaching is making out to more and more people.
What effect did that have on his fellow believers, well look at verse 14. “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” So because his brothers in the Lord saw how he was victorious in his circumstances, Paul did not let his circumstances get to him. They were encouraged to speak out boldly for God. Now, remember this was not the time to do this. The Roman persecution machine was in full by this time. Remember that it wasn’t until the time of Constantine, several hundred years later that Christians would enjoy the blessing of the state. Christians were considered enemies of the state because their allegiance to God was higher than their allegiance to the State of Rome. This caused great concern among the Romans. Remember the great fire during Nero’s time? It was blamed on the Christians and Christians suffered great persecution during this time. So, it required great courage to preach the gospel, especially, if you were not a Roman citizen as Paul was. So the further proclaiming of the gospel was an unexpected result.
It also had a second unexpected result. That was verse that some as verse 15 states, “preach Christ out of envy and rivalry.” This becomes very interesting. Some who think they better than Paul or rival preachers continue to preach the gospel out of that rivalry thinking that they can cause Paul distress. Let’s point out that not everyone was preaching out of selfishness and envy as it says in verse 15. Let’s take a good look at the reasons for preaching the gospel.
(1) The good guys. These people as Paul pointed out were encouraged by Paul’s faith and his joy. They said if Paul can suffer for Christ and preach the gospel and endure the persecution so can we. It was a motive of love on their behalf. They loved Paul and they wanted to see the gospel preached no matter what the cost. They realized that Paul was in prison because he was defending the gospel and they are encourage to take the same stand as Paul
(2) The bad guys. These guys said, let’s preach the gospel so we can cause Paul lot’s of pain. He’s in prison because of the gospel. Let’s show him that we can preach the gospel and stay out of prison. What great motivation to preach the Word. This is a simple case of one up-manship. I can almost here it now. Na-na-na-na-na-boo-boo. We’re better than you-oo! They preached the gospe1 out of selfish ambition, for personal gain, and out of unpure motives. So that they could stir up trouble as it says in verse 17. They weren’t preaching the gospel sincerely.
I love Paul’s take on this. WHO CARES? IT DOESN’T MATTER WETHER THEY PREACH THE GOSPEL FROM PURE MOTIVES OR UNPURE MOTIVES AS LONG AS THE GOSPEL GETS OUT. AND BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE HEARING THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST I CAN BE CONTENT. Content, that could be one synonym for joy in this passage. Instead of getting high blood pressure over the whole issue, Paul chooses the high-road. Sometimes I think we get a bit too territorial over the people around us. We say well we should be preaching the gospel. They shouldn’t go to so and so’s church, they should be here. Some times we get concerned when people leave our denomination and our theology to go to another. Let me say this. I believe in Wesleyan theology and you’ve heard me preach it. But there are other Christian churches as opposed to those of another religion, out there who don’t necessarily agree with our doctrinal position who are making a difference for Christ. We need to work together in the cause for Christ, not in opposition as some of these guys did. If the pure gospel is being preached, whether your a Baptist, a Wesleyan, a Nazarene, a Methodist, Assemblies of God, Reformed, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, or whatever other label you want to put on it. This is a good thing.
When I find out that someone else is sharing Jesus I rejoice. It is only right for me to feel this way. The gospel’s objectivity and validity do not depend on those who proclaim it; the message is more than the medium. So, should we get discourage when we find out other churches in our area are growing? No, we should be encouraged because of their success and do likewise. Not out of selfish ambition, but out of a pure motive to see others won to Christ. Paul says, it similarly, “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”
Why does Paul continue to rejoice? Because he knows the people of Philippi are praying for him. He know that their prayers and the help of Holy Spirit of Christ will help deliver him. Is this a physical deliverance from prison or the deliverance that comes from death? Because of vs. 25 it would have us believe that it is a physical deliverance from prison. Before we go on, I would like to make a side note. Look at Paul’s reference to the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of God the Father, but also the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son.
We see in the next few verses Paul’s hope and why he can be joyful in all circumstances. “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. What did we say last week? The ultimate goal of every believer is to glorify God, whether in life or in death. This is Paul’s goal and a second is not to bring shame to the gospel. Oh, that we would make this our prayer today. To exalt Christ, in life and death and pray that God would give us courage and that we would not be ashamed of the gospel. This is our goal as Paul says in the next verse (22). “For me to live is Christ…” Is that your prayer? To live is Christ. That Christ would be exalted, glorified, and honored in all you do? And do we really believe the next part, “To die is gain.” How many of us truly want to die. Either way, Christ should be honored. Paul says, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.” Paul says if I go on living, I can still preach the gospel and honor God. Even Paul is torn between living and dying at this moment. Die or live? Do we feel like Paul did? If I go on living I can continue to preach the gospel, or if I die I get to be with Jesus? He says, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…” But, and you know there is usually a “but”, it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Now wait a second. Paul is in prison, yet he can still be helpful to the Philippians. Yes, through his pastoral letters. This letter here is an excellent example of Paul teaching the gospel of Christ. It also states that Paul is more than willing to put others in front of his own preferences. Finally, Paul is convinced, yes I need to stay here and states, “I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your join in Christ will overflow on account of me.” Paul is not being egotistical here. Certain pastors and congregations just click together. It’s my impression that this is one of those instances. When they get together, joy flows.
Paul ends this section of the letter with a caution. In verse 27 it says, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any by those who oppose you.” This is a great prayer for us as believers to pray. “Lord, keep us from tarnishing your reputation.” Just this week, I learned of another pastor who had a moral failure. This is what Paul is warning us about. That church will have a recovery period. It will take time to develop trust again. Paul is also admonishing the believers to work as one. We need each other. We cannot do it alone. The world needs to see us working together as one, because it will be a sign to them. “A sign of what,” you ask. When the church is consistently opposed in its presenting of the gospel, it means those who opposed are rejecting salvation, they will be destroyed. But when the church stands together and is opposed and suffers persecution it is a sign of their genuine salvation.
Now not many of us like to suffer, but Paul states that it has been granted to us to suffer. Jesus said the same thing. “They persecuted me and if you are in me they will persecute you.” Christian suffering, as well as faith, is a blessing. We will have both. Some say that if you endure trials you don’t have enough faith. James says that trials prove your faith.
What are the three things we can learn this morning?
(1) We can have joy even in the midst of trial.
(2) Some may try to capitalize on our difficulties and cause us more pain. Just remember that those who did that to Paul only caused him more joy.
(3) This persecution will happen, remember, that we as believers have a hope. For me to live IS Christ and to die is even better says Paul
(4) Live your life worthy of your calling.
