The Unstoppable Gospel
Philippians 1:12-18
Philippians 1:12-18
Let's Pray...
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really 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 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in 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. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice…
We could go on to the end of Chapter 1 in Philippians following Paul as he puts two big points out here in the letter.
But, I tried to pack way too much in last week and I’m going to try not to make that mistake again this week.
So here’s the big idea for tonight: The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- Whether we have the right intentions or not, The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- Whether other people push back against God’s will The Gospel won’t be stopped.
- No Matter What, He’s getting the Gospel out to the nations.
So, don’t get distracted. Don’t hold to your plans to tightly. Be encouraged. And remember what matters.
v. 12 says “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel”
Don’t get distracted and don’t panic. Keep your eyes on the goal.
When you are reading this, remember the fervor of the first century church, especially in Philippi. These are the first generation, full of love for one another, devoted in koinonia for the gospel and on mission.
They understood that they were part of the kingdom mission to spread the word of God where they lived, to spread the word of God to their immediate neighbors and to spread the word of God to the ends of the earth.
They knew of the Apostle’s teaching that said that there was no longer a distinction between people groups. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
And as they are looking around and they are saying “who’s next? Who can we share with next,” they could add to the list that there is neither ordinary citizen nor palace guard.
I can imagine meetings back in their day, saying, “Well we’ve gotten the message to the vendors in the marketplaces. We’ve preached Jesus to the dockworkers in the shipyards. We’ve been heard out by the prostitutes and tax collectors downtown. But how are we ever going to get the gospel to the palace guards? They deserve the Good News too, right?
Now remember, the Roman citizens were allowed to have a lot of “gods.” But their highest allegiance was supposed to be to Caesar — They were to honor him as deity.
So the church knew it was going to be dangerous for anyone that close, as close as the guards to the emperor, to acknowledge Jesus — because truly acknowledging our Lord is to cast away all other gods and bow only to Jesus.
What were they to do? How could they get an “in?” What about persecution if they tried? They knew what they were on mission to do, but how? There were so many questions.
And it would be easy to write off this group of guards as unreachable, but God didn’t think that was true. What’s possible with God? This isn’t a trick question. That’s right, all things are possible. Everything.
So to those who thought that the gospel might stop outside the palace gates, God said, think again. God just allowed Paul to be thrown into prison.
And Paul didn’t whine about his predicament, he got to work. He said look, here’s the opportunity we’ve been looking for, Praise God!
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really 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.
Now, why do you think Paul had this kind of boldness? Because he knew what was going on, this was all prophesied long before this point in Acts 9:15 and Acts 23:11
Acts 9:15 “But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.””
Acts 23:11 “The following night (after Paul was almost killed by a mob) the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."”
In other words, God was saying Paul this is all part of the plan. Do what you’ve been told to do and God will take care of the results. (We are part of the results).
What happens when God says, "Take courage (Ryan or Andy, or Monica)! As you have testified about me in Madison, so you must also testify in inner city Detroit, or Gary, Ind., or Nigeria."
Listen, He’s calling people out all the time to leave their comfort zones in a million different ways, geographically, socially, educationally, you name it.
To a certain degree we have been called to be where we are, but where we are isn’t the finish line. What if (or when) it gets harder to follow Him? Will you keep saying, “I’m here Lord, send me”? I pray that we will.
All right, everyone breathe. Let’s get out of the future hypotheticals about where He’s sending you, and get back to historical, Paul in Philippians 1:14-:
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.
How do they find encouragement in Paul’s hardship? Well, I can’t speak for you, but the biggest fear that I have, the fear that stops me in my tracks is the fear of the unknown. The questions that stop me are, what’s going happen to my family, how are we going to pay for this, and what are people going to think?
I know you guys don’t fret over such trivial details, but that sort of thing grips me. Those are questions that I just have to set aside or plow through. Otherwise, I am completely useless.
So when Paul is imprisoned the other partners in the gospel are encouraged because they can see what can happen if they do what they are called to do.
Even a bad prognosis is better than not knowing what’s around the corner.
And here’s the other half of that, what do they see Paul doing while he’s locked up? They see him walking boldly in the mission.
Remember, what we said a few weeks back. People are watching you, and they are probably watching closer when things are going rotten than when everything’s going well. Be faithful and don’t hinder the gospel.
Paul’s keeping a level head. And as we read on, we see that Paul isn’t just dealing with house arrest. That’s not the only bee in his bonnet.
He has to deal with church folk too. Sometimes, that’s going to be difficult. Will you hold on when other people in the church drive you crazy? Let’s see what Paul’s is dealing with.
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.
No problem there, that’s an encouragement, but…
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in 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.
Paul points us to a disturbing truth. We can’t just skip over it. Paul isn’t complaining about heretics who are spreading false doctrine around.
There are several places in his other letters where we see that he has had to deal with that, he’s had to confront what were called Judaizers, who wanted to add a lot of the Jewish laws on top of the grace of God for people to get saved, or better termed, Justified.
They came behind him and said, that Jesus was great — sure — but there was more to it, They said, you still have to follow the old Laws. Including circumcision.
To that sort of teaching, Paul warned, if anyone is preaching a gospel other than what you have heard, let those people be accursed! (Galatians 1:8-9)
But back to the Rivals that Paul talks about in Philippians: These insincere people are not preaching heresies. They are preaching the Gospel.
He’s not attacking their message, he’s pointing out their heart. You may have heard it said that God can make a straight line with a crooked stick. Jesus said it like this,
On the day of His return, on the Day of Judgment, many people will say Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and He will say, I never knew you.
If you are in a position of leadership in the church and you proclaim the word of God, or even if you are out there in the field leading others to Jesus, make sure that your heart is right in the process.
There have been dynamic and influential pastors that have been very effective for the Lord, but they operated out of vanity, or because their family thought they ought to, or to make money, or whatever other reason.
Paul’s dealing with people who are teaching orthodox doctrine and are seeing people get saved, but the teachers themselves are not Christ centered.
We can take that as a sobering warning. You and I need to make sure we aren’t serving in the church because we want the glory.
Because you may bring people to the Lord, you may be gifted and able, but if it doesn’t all spring out of a loving, thankful obedience at the heart level, then check yourself.
We’re not getting to heaven based on bringing others to Christ. It’s all about leaning on Jesus and Him alone, agreed?
But in Paul’s eyes, he may inwardly grieve for the rivals, but in the grand scheme of things he says, “Either way, whether they are sincere or not, as long as they are pushing the Gospel,
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. Yes, and I will
continue to rejoice…
Paul says, keep on track. What we are doing in our individual calling may go against the grain of our family, of our culture; we may even be going against the grain of our own understanding
But, Paul says, the current that we are casting our boat into isn’t the current of this world; it is the current of the gospel, a gospel tide.
And the gospel current will Not Be Stopped. So you can fight against this. You can push against God’s unstoppable trajectory, or you can pick up your feet and go along for the ride.
Now remember, this flow of the Gospel is going to crash into worldly strongholds again and again.
Some are going to be broken by the current in a great and immediate smash; others are going to take time to erode, depending on the will of God.
When you hit those strongholds, it will mean that you will face persecution, it means you will need to have awkward conversations, it means you will be called close-minded and naive, you may go to jail.
But Paul says the Gospel won’t be stopped, so stick with the winning team, don’t give up the faith, stay true to God.
Now, I want to move into the next section, but there’s no time, so we’re going to close this here tonight.
Before we leave, I would encourage you to rejoice. I think there are so many times when our mission can seem daunting. There are times when we might wonder about our effectiveness, or wonder if we are doing the right thing.
A lot of that comes from our culture that likes to promote the quick success stories. We all want that immediate gratification and we want it with as little pain as possible.
Paul would tell us in this letter. Hold on. Persevere. No matter what it looks like from your vantage point, look at it through Spirit lenses.
And if you are discouraged or you have been discouraged, know that you are not alone. It’s not unheard of to have doubts or frustration. In 1 Kings we see that the mighty prophet Elijah had dealt with this too.
He had just beaten a slew of false prophets in an Old Testament type of cage match. And still he ran away and hid in a cave. So God had to find him and remind him of who’s side he was on.
1 Kings 19:13b-18
Then a voice (God) said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
Have you ever felt like that? God, I’m doing what you led me to do? But I feel all alone.
Maybe you feel like the only Christian at work, Maybe you feel alone in a relationship because there is a faith divide growing between you and your spouse, or siblings or parents or children as you grow closer to God.
Be honest with God if that’s where you are.
But, don’t forget, you’re moving with the current of the gospel that won’t be stopped.
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.
God gives the prophet a list of instructions and then ends with an encouragement.
18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
Your not alone Elijah, I’ve got 7,000. My plan won’t be stopped by the rabble. Be encouraged. Be encouraged.
And finally, if we look at Acts 18:9-11, we see that even Paul, the Apostle who wrote to encourage the Philippians, had to be encouraged once in a while.
Ministry can be a lonely calling and the results are far from predictable. In Acts 9, Paul is in Corinth and he’s had a hard time with the Jews and has only seen limited success in conversions so:
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
(Unpack)
Brothers and sisters, partners in the Gospel, Do not be afraid or discouraged. Know that God is with you. Know that He has many people in this city. Keep on speaking whether free or in chains so that the Gospel might continue to spread.
Let’s pray…
