Joy In The Advance Of The Gospel - [Philippians 1:12-18]

What brings you joy in life? Maybe it's those simple pleasures in life, which are basically part of God's common grace to all of us, such as, if you may recall from this summer if you did this, sitting by the beach listening to the sound of breaking waves, or catching up with a friend you haven't seen in years, or strumming the strings of a new guitar, or enjoying your favorite meal as you bite into a mouth -watering steak, or enjoying a sip of your coffee during a quiet, relaxed morning, or for some, enjoying a monster drink while delivering a sermon.

Dan made sure to tell me there isn't one for me. What brings you joy in life?

It could be those moments when it seems that all of time stands still, when your husband first proposed to you, or a husband walking his daughter down the aisle to give her a hand in marriage.

What brings joy to your life? What brings joy to your life even in the most trying circumstances?

That's an important question because what brings joy to your life in the most trying circumstances reveals what's important to you.

It reveals what you truly value. It reveals what you cherish and treasure in your heart.

Show me somebody and what they're rejoicing during times of trial, and I'll show you what that person truly values.

It is so evasive for so many people, joy is, never mind in the good times, but even more so during trying circumstances.

Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will, to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1 from verses 12 to 18.

The reason Philippians is in the Bible? Joy.

Mentioned no less than 13 times in this epistle. Philippians 1, 12 through 18.

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 goodwill.

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, the apostle Paul says.

Philippians is about joy. It's one of Paul's four prison epistles, the others being

Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon. The verse could be as a theme, chapter 4, verse 4, where Paul says clearly and loudly, it echoes through the quarter of time even to today,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord sometimes when things are going well. Rejoice in the

Lord always. Mind you, this is a prison epistle, and we'll get into the details of where he was when he was writing this.

But to be able to rejoice always, it can only happen when you rejoice in the

Lord. You cannot rejoice always unless you're rejoicing in the

Lord. What brought Paul joy? As we highlight through an overview of this epistle briefly before we get into our text, one of the things that Paul says that brought him joy was the

Philippians partnership in the gospel. Look at chapter 1, verses 3 to 5 with me.

These are sort of bookends to the book of Philippians, that Paul is saying thank you here in his prayer to God for the

Philippians partnership in the gospel. Verse 3 of chapter 1, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

And at the end of the book, chapter 4, verse 15, he again highlights his joy over their partnership in the gospel.

Chapter 4, verse 15, and you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when

I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

So one thing that brought Paul joy, even in the midst of being under house arrest in Rome, was the

Philippians partnership in gospel ministry with him. Gospel ministry.

I was asked in August, I was speaking at the family camp at Spofford, New Hampshire, where we have our men's retreat, and a fellow pastor was asking me if I would be willing to go to Greece and pastor there.

He says, Greek is your language. And of course, I was trying to get out of it. And I said, I don't preach in Greek.

I preach in English, though I'm fluent in the language. And he asked me if I would work alongside people in Greece who believe in the

Trinity. I said, yes, that's important. How about people who believe in the incarnation that Christ came, became man?

Yes. People who believe in the deity of Christ? Yes. Which the Greek Orthodox and Greek do.

They don't deny the Trinity. They don't deny the humanity of Christ. They do not deny the deity of Christ.

But I said to him, what would be important for me is, I would work alongside somebody or a church who is in gospel ministry.

If they're not in gospel ministry, I told him, I won't minister with them. I'll minister to them.

Because if I'm going out to proclaim the good news, and they have a different gospel, we cannot minister alongside each other.

And that's what Paul was excited about, what brought him joy, that they were involved in gospel ministry in their partnership.

Another thing that brought the Apostle Paul joy, we see in chapter 2, was church unity.

Church unity in chapter 2. He says, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 2,

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort for love, any participation in the

Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy. How, Paul?

By being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Paul rejoiced over the unity of the body of Christ. But this morning we're going to look at another emphasis of his joy.

As I've entitled my message this morning from the text, Paul received joy when the gospel was advanced.

Paul was rejoicing, even in prison as it were, when Christ was proclaimed.

You'll see in our text in verses 13 and 14 and 17, three times

Paul mentions his imprisonment. At the end of verse 13, To all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Verse 14, And most of the brothers haven't become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment.

Verse 17, Not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Paul was joyous, not in a vacuum. Paul was joyous in the midst of life's difficulties.

Look at chapter 4, for example. Verse 11, this ought to encourage you.

You say, well, I'm not the apostle Paul. Look what

Paul says of himself in chapter 4, verse 11. Not that I'm speaking of being in need for I have watched this learned.

This is something the apostle learned. It was a growing thing for him, a maturing thing.

What did he learn? I have learned, he continues in verse 11, In whatever situation

I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance in the need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Paul was full of joy, not in a vacuum.

He wasn't concealed. He was learning these things as part of his maturity and growth. The same

Paul who wrote about joy is the same Paul who wrote to the Corinthians the following in the second epistle to the

Corinthians. In chapter one, he himself says that he despaired of life itself.

The apostle Paul said even in chapter one there of second Corinthians that he felt in him the sentence of death.

Later on in second Corinthians, Paul writes this to show that he's not expressing joy in a vacuum.

He says in second Corinthians chapter 11, Five times I received forty lashes less one.

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.

A night and a day I was adrift at sea. In danger from rivers, robbers, from my own people, from the

Gentiles. In the city, in the wilderness, at sea, in danger from false brothers. And if that wasn't enough, he says,

And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Paul's joy was not in a vacuum. Even at the end of his life when he wrote his swan song, second

Timothy, he wrote in chapter four, Demas has deserted me.

Luke alone is with me. Alexander the coppersmith has done me great harm.

And he says that my first offense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.

What a way to end your ministry. Let's have a celebration, Paul. Paul's joy was not in a vacuum.

And you think, well, I'm not like the apostle Paul or the great saints of all like the reformers. Take courage.

You're in good company. Steve Lawson, in his preaching class at the

Master Seminary, highlights the different areas of preaching throughout church history. And in highlighting that, he talks about how some of the preachers experienced highs and lows, whereas others were just steady all across the way.

Even to this present day, he mentions how Pastor MacArthur early on in his ministry, when the elder board rose up against him, many people who were close to him didn't even know it was happening because he was steady.

Those are like people, he says, like Martin Lloyd Jones or John Calvin. Steady. However, some of the other ones who experienced highs and lows and wrestled sometimes with joy,

Spurgeon, who went through a bout of depression. Or even as we'll be celebrating next year,

Martin Luther, the great reformer. One day his wife, Katie, in the house, they weren't going out, was wearing all black.

And Martin Luther looked at her and said, who died? She looked at him and said, God. His response, don't talk like that.

She looked at him and said, don't live like that. Even the greats wrestled with this.

In this chapter that we find ourselves in, the term Christ in chapter one is mentioned 18 times.

The term gospel is mentioned six times. And the term joy is mentioned four times in this opening chapter.

Let's connect the dots. To Paul, joy had something to do with the gospel.

Joy had something to do with Jesus Christ, even in trying circumstances.

What is the drive train of our passage now that we've looked a bit at the background? What is the thrust that Paul wants to get across to his audience?

Originally, it is this. It is the advancement of the gospel.

Notice how he begins in verse 12. I want you to know, brothers. There is something that I want you to know.

I was teaching Friday at WPI at the Christian Bible Fellowship there on Friday night.

And we were looking at Mark chapter two, Jesus healing the paralytic who they brought down through the roof.

And first he forgave his sins. And when the Pharisees were grumbling and mumbling underneath their breath,

Christ knew as the omniscient God what they were saying, even though they were just thinking it in their hearts. And he said to them this, in order that you may what?

Know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to him, take up your pallet and walk.

Christ wanted them to know something specifically, which was that he as the son of man has the authority to forgive sins.

In the same fashion, that's what Paul is trying to bring attention to here. In the opening words of this verse,

I want you to know. Sometimes he uses the phrase as he does in the letter to the

Corinthians or in the letter to the Thessalonians. I do not want you to be uninformed.

I want you to know something. This is very important. Pay attention. What do

I want you to know? Because the brethren knew his situation. He continues in verse 12 that what has happened to me, referring obviously to his imprisonment, has really served to advance the gospel.

Paul wouldn't have planned it that way, as we will see. Has really served to advance the gospel.

The gospel being the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. The gospel being

Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, and as a resurrection from the dead.

And the response to that is to turn from all other false gospels, to turn away from all other

Christ, and to look to him alone in faith. And Paul was rejoicing in his imprisonment for the advancement of the gospel.

The term advance is used three times in the Greek New Testament. Three times.

It's used here in our text, really served to advance the gospel. Also look later on in chapter 1, verse 25.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your, here it is, progress and joy in the gospel.

And Paul also uses it in his pastoral epistle, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 15, when he writes to Timothy.

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress.

So the advancement has to do with the progress of the gospel, with the spread of the gospel, with the furtherance of the gospel.

The Greek term is interesting, it literally means to cut forward. It was a military term used of those in the military who would go ahead of the army when they were going through a region that was densely populated with bushes and brushes and trees, and they would cut through that so the army could advance forward.

That's the idea, to cut forward through any obstacles. And Paul is saying, I rejoice that the gospel is being advanced, even in my imprisonment.

And actually, as you will see, due to his imprisonment. The opposite is to be hindered.

The gospel was not hindered. Galatians 5 .7 is the opposite term. You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth?

You would think the man that God had chosen as his instrument, as God's instrument, to give the gospel to the

Gentiles in prison, that would hinder the gospel. Not in this case.

It furthered the gospel. And then he goes on to describe three ways that God, as it were, cleared the way to advance the gospel.

And these are the three points I want us to focus on this morning. Notice what he says there, in verse 13.

So that it has become known. So that. The so that is not your classic, typical

Greek, the hinnoklos, which literally means there's a purpose happening. Paul is not saying the advance of the gospel is happening for this purpose.

That's not what he's saying. The Greek term means the advance of the gospel is happening in these ways.

This is how God has determined in my imprisonment to advance the gospel. So let me give you these three ways.

What are the three ways God has, as it were, cleared the way, cleared the obstacles, so that his gospel,

God's gospel, is advanced? Number one. Faithful minister.

Faithful minister. None other than the Apostle Paul. Verse 13 continues.

So that has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Think Christmas. I can remember as a young kid, we used to put on plays for the

Christmas story. And you'd have the different actors and the person reading the account. In Luke, chapter two, verse one, there was a decree given out by Caesar Augustus Wright that what should be taken?

A census. Well, is that same Caesar Augustus who set up this imperial guard?

That's talked about here in verse 13. The Apostle Paul mentions this nowhere else in his epistles.

It was a group of about nine to ten thousand whose purpose was to protect the emperor and to generally keep the peace.

These are the elite, the creme de la creme. It was put in place by Caesar Augustus.

And Paul here in his imprisonment is under house arrest. He was chained twenty four seven to a soldier.

Twenty four seven. Paul is chained to a soldier and they would take shifts every six hours.

So in a period of a day, he got to be changed to four different soldiers. Luke, the doctor, describes this a little bit at the end of the book of Acts and Acts 28.

And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

That's what he's referring to. He lived there, referring to Paul, two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the

Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Without hindrance, the progress, the furtherance, the advance of the gospel. F .B.

Meyer, of whom actually Spurgeon once said, this man preaches like he has seen God face to face.

F .B. Meyer wrote about what it must have been like there. Paul in Rome chained to these soldiers and he writes, quote,

At times the hard room would be thronged with people to whom the apostle Paul spoke words of life.

And after they withdrew, the sentry would sit beside him, filled with many questionings as to the meanings of the words which this strange prisoner spoke.

At other times, when all had gone, especially at night, when the moonlight shone on the distant slopes, soldier and apostle would be left to talk.

And on those dark, lonely hours, the apostle would tell soldier after soldier the story of his own proud career in early life.

Of his opposition to Christ and his ultimate conversion. It would make it clear that he was there as a prisoner, not for any crime, not because he had raised rebellion or revolt, but because he believed that him whom the

Roman soldiers had crucified under Pilate was the son of God and the savior of men.

Close quote. What a beautiful picture. Why did Paul do this?

Paul did this because he knew, as he wrote in 1st Corinthians 4 .2, it is required of stewards that they be found what?

Faithful. God advanced his gospel through this faithful minister, the apostle

Paul. Paul did this in prison, continually to proclaim the gospel, because he knew he was entrusted with the gospel.

It was a trust given to him by God. That's why he wrote in 1st Timothy 1 .11, the gospel of the glory of the blessed

God with which I have been entrusted. Paul was joyous in the midst of these circumstances and proclaimed

Christ because he not only knew who gave him his ministry, the Lord, but he also knew what his ministry was to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

That's what he told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. But I do not account my life of any value, nor is precious to myself.

If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Why else did Paul do this? Because furthermore, he had an unshakable confidence in the sovereignty of God.

He could say to those who have put him there, who wanted to close his mouth from continuing to proclaim the gospel, that Jesus Christ is the savior.

He could say like Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 45, verse 8. It was not you who sent me here, but God.

He was a faithful minister. He was actually during this time under house arrest on trial.

Look at the terminology he uses later on in chapter one, verse 19. He was awaiting a verdict.

He says in verse 19 of our chapter, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now, as always,

Christ will be honored in my body. Look at this, whether by life or by death.

He was awaiting a verdict. Not only that, but Paul didn't fulfill his ultimate desire.

His desire was to preach the gospel in Rome, not in the way that God had set it up, though.

In writing to the church in Rome in chapter one, he expresses that desire of his. He says in chapter one of Romans, always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will,

I may now at last succeed in coming to you. I'm sure when he wrote that he wasn't thinking of coming in this manner.

He continues in Romans one. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you.

But thus far, I have been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the

Gentiles. So I am eager, he says in Romans one, to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

But he was under house arrest for two years, chained. God fulfilled his desire to preach the gospel in Rome, but not in the way that Paul intended.

In a much greater way to advance the gospel, to further the good news. He didn't complain.

This was characteristic of Paul. Remember the birth of the Philippian church. It was birthed in their persecution.

They were in jail with Silas, right? What they were doing. Lord, what are you putting us here in jail for? We're your spokesman.

No, they were praying and singing praises to God. Paul could have said,

Lord, have you forgotten the Damascus Road experience I had with you? How you, the risen

Lord, appeared to me and you called me as your chosen instrument to be your mouthpiece, to proclaim the gospel to the

Gentiles? What are you doing putting me in here? But he didn't do that.

John Bunyan was in a similar situation. While in prison, he would go down to the prison courtyard and continue to testify and proclaim the gospel.

So much so that the people of Bedford would come outside the prison, because he was outside in the courtyard, to hear him exposit the scriptures.

And then they said, that's enough. They wouldn't allow him to go out in the courtyard anymore, so they set him aside in his jail cell, confined him there.

And as a result, Pilgrim's Progress. God will advance his gospel through faithful ministers like Paul and John Bunyan.

Second way that Paul highlights here that the gospel was advanced, not only the faithful minister himself, but secondly, fearless messengers.

Fearless messengers. Look at the ripple effect here of what Paul was doing and how

God was using him. And most of the brothers, verse 14, have become confident in the

Lord by my imprisonment. They are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Their confidence was in Paul? No. Notice the text says their confidence was in the

Lord. Paul was rejoicing in the Lord for the advance of the gospel, because their confidence, these fearless messengers, was in the

Lord. But notice, how did their confidence come by in the Lord? By my imprisonment.

They had heard how Paul had continued, even in his imprisonment, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

And that emboldened them, that encouraged them. Does that ever happen to you? You feel dry sometimes when it comes to evangelism, and you talk to somebody and they tell you about a great opportunity they had to preach the gospel to somebody, and that lights a little

Bunsen burner fire underneath you. These people were emboldened by Paul's ministry.

To do what? What was the result? To speak the word boldly and without fear, fearlessly.

They had much more to be afraid of then than we do today. Our fear is maybe because we like to be liked by everybody, at school, on our job.

We don't want to be seen as fanatics. We can be Patch fanatics, but we can't be

Christ fanatics. God forbid. That's not to say that you go to work and first thing

Monday morning you bring in your 10 -pound King James Bible and bang people over the head with. That's to say that you realize that while you're in your job situation, you are

God's mouthpiece and you can speak appropriately, as they did here, without fear and boldly.

They were fearless messengers. And the third and final way that God advanced his gospel.

The faithful minister, the fearless messengers who were a result of Paul's ministry, and thirdly, false motives.

False motives. Wait, wait, wait a second. Okay, I get it.

God can, I can see how God can advance his gospels through the faithful ministry of the Apostle Paul.

I can see how he can, God can advance his gospel through these fearless messengers who were emboldened by Paul's example.

But God advancing his gospel through people's false motives. Can you use a talking donkey?

Yes, through false motives. Here he contrasts in verses 15 to 18, two groups of people, but his emphasis, because of the literary device that he uses in the text here, called the chiasm, his emphasis,

Paul's emphasis, is on those who proclaim Christ out of false motives. But first, before we look at their false motives,

I wanted you to see, in verse 15, something about both of these groups. Some, indeed, verse 15 he writes, preach

Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. Note, they had a common message.

Both those who did it out of pure motives, goodwill, and those who did it out of false motives, from envy and rivalry, they both preach

Christ. Isn't that what the text says? Some, indeed, indeed, truly, verily, preach

Christ from envy and rivalry. Both these groups, though had different motives, they had a common message.

These are not the Judaizers that Paul is talking about here. Actually, if you turn to chapter 3, he exposes the

Judaizers in chapter 3, verse 2.

Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh, for we are the circumcision.

That would make a great Awana verse, huh? Can you imagine the kids reviewing that verse in Awana? Look out for the dogs.

He's talking to them like that because they were preaching a different gospel. When they came into church history in Acts 15 and the

Judaizers were saying, in order to be saved, you must be circumcised. Paul exposes them in chapter 3 there, but here in chapter 1, he's not talking about the

Judaizers because these people are preaching Christ. They are not preaching a different gospel, as he highlights in Galatians 1, where Paul says if we, including himself, or an angel of heaven, should preach a different gospel, let him be anathema, accursed, eternally damned.

These of chapter 1 are not preaching a different Jesus, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11, that some proclaim another

Jesus. No, they are preaching Christ. The verb is in the present tense.

Some, indeed, preach Christ continually. Continually.

The term means to be a herald for this king. For the one who is sovereign, he is giving you a message to proclaim, to announce.

And notice even in verses 17 and 18, Paul highlights twice again that they proclaim

Christ. They proclaim Christ. This is what the early church did.

Acts chapter 5, verse 42, And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

Christ is Jesus. Acts chapter 8, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the

Christ. With an Ethiopian eunuch, then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told them the good news about Jesus.

It's about Jesus. That's the gospel. I was talking to a friend of mine recently on the phone.

He was telling me about his cousin who's been visiting two different churches, an evangelical church and a

Greek Orthodox church. And she said the priest at the Greek Orthodox church told everyone that they are heretics if they don't believe that you can be saved through infant water baptism.

So he was trying to give her advice as to how to decide which church to be a part of.

I said, let me encourage you what you can tell her. As I was telling one of my customers one day, he saw

I had a book over there. It was a commentary in the book of Galatians. And he was telling me about apparitions of Mary and exorcisms that he goes traveling all over the world.

And he asked me if I wanted to come with him. He says, but you're reading the good book.

And this is the story I gave my friend on the phone to encourage him. I said, yes. He says, oh,

Galatians. I think I know. What's that about again? I said, I'm glad you asked. So I gave him the gospel.

That justification being declared right before the eyes of a thrice holy God cannot happen by any external means in those days circumcision or any religious duty, baptism or confession or confirmation.

But it's through faith alone in Christ alone. And I said to him, to my customer,

I said, when you if you were to look at my faith like an onion and peel it one layer at a time and you get to the core, you know what you're going to find there?

Christ, I said to my friend on the phone, that's what you tell her. If they're not proclaiming Christ plus nothing else, run these, though they were having false motives.

They were still proclaiming Christ. Now let's look at their false motives. How did they do it?

Verse 15 from envy and rivalry. From envy and rivalry.

Envy is listed along with idolatry, immorality and sorcery in the list of the works of the flesh in Galatians five.

Envy is listed in the list in Romans one, where Paul says the wrath of God is being revealed against from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

And they did not acknowledge the creator, but the creation. And God gave them over. And it says at the end of Romans one.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to the base mind to do what ought not to be done.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and maliciousness.

Not only envy, this deed of the flesh, but rivalry.

The N .A .S. says strife. It has to do with animosity, enmity, contention, division.

Warren Worsby put it well. He said, quote, his critics aim was to promote themselves and wouldn't have fallen of their own.

They asked whose side are you on? Ours or Paul's?

It was like the church in Corinth. Right. Why was there division? Paul confronted them about it.

This is the idea of rivalry here. As an example, I'm of a polis. I'm of a Cephas.

Paul says, are you out of your mind? That's my translation. Christ is not divided.

He calls him babes in chapter three of Corinthians for this rivalry. But notice the other group.

Verse 15. But others. From goodwill. They, the others, do it out of love.

Why? Verse 16 gives us the answer. Out of love for whom? For what?

Out of love for Paul and for his ministry. Notice the end of verse 16. Knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The defense of the gospel. That's where we get Apollo. Yeah, the Greek term, the term apologetics.

They knew he was put there for the defense of the gospel. As you said earlier in chapter one, verse seven, in my imprisonment and then the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

The N .A .S. says it well. Knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

So this group, their motives were pure because they were preaching the same message Christ. But out of love for Paul, knowing that God had appointed

Paul. For the defense of the gospel. They knew the story from Acts nine.

But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, Saul, at the time. How much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. But the

Lord said to him, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine.

He was a vessel chosen by God. And now Paul goes back to the first group whose proclamation of Christ was from impure motives.

Verse 17. The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition.

Not sincerely. Selfish ambition. It's actually one word in the

Greek. It means one working for hire like a mercenary. One who is bought as it will to do an evil deed.

This is their motive for proclaiming Christ. That's why later on in chapter two,

Paul says to the church, do nothing. Verse three of chapter two from selfish ambition. But it's not only selfish.

It's not sincere. He says in verse 17, their motives are not sincere. The English word actually helps us understand it.

It comes from the Latin word, Latin root. Sincero, the word sin in Latin means without.

Without wax. And the practice was this in the open market. When pottery and vessels were sold, when there was a crack, they would do a patch job and put wax on it to cover up the broken vessel.

So that they could sell it at an expensive higher price. Pottery and vessels that weren't cracked.

They were imprinted on them. Sin. Syrah. C .E

.R .A. without wax, meaning that this vessel and pottery was never cracked. It's authentic.

We're not trying to sell it at a higher price when it's not the original one. This was their motive.

They were proclaiming Christ. Insincerely. Why? The first did it because they knew that Paul was put there, appointed by God for the defense of the gospel.

These do it, why? Notice the rest of verse 17. Thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

It was premeditated. It wasn't like we just happened to do it. It was premeditated.

They wanted to afflict him. Strong Greek word, phlepsis. It's the idea of when they want to make wine, and they gather it in a wooden vat, if you can imagine.

And the people are taking off their shoes and pressing with their bare feet the grapes to get everything out of it.

They are crushing the grapes. That word to afflict is to incur deep crushing of spirit.

And that was their intention. And it was motivated ultimately from what? From the first word that Paul says, verse 15.

From envy. What were they envious of? Paul doesn't highlight why. Could be his ministry success.

His giftedness. His good reputation, which they were trying to malign.

False motives. And Paul concludes in verse 18. What then? Paul, in essence, saying, what should

I make of this? People are proclaiming Christ, the true Christ, not a false

Christ. But they're doing it out of false motives to malign me and my ministry. Look what he says.

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,

Christ is proclaimed. Pretense. Literally hypocrisy.

The Greeks, when they used to put on theater back then for a drama show, they used to wear those masks to disguise who they truly were.

To show their character. A mask with a smiley face, with a frowning face, with a teardrop.

This is the idea of pretense here. This is unlike the co -workers

Timothy and Epaphroditus of the Apostle Paul. Whom Paul says later in Philippians. I have no one like Timothy who will be generally concerned for your welfare.

Or about Epaphroditus. He nearly died for the work of Christ. These, who preach

Christ out of false motives, are the opposite. So what does Paul make of it?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense, false motives, or in truth, pure motives, Christ is proclaimed.

And in that, I rejoice. Paul was concerned that the true

Christ was being proclaimed. Didn't matter if it was for false or pure motives. And notice how he finishes in verse 18.

Yes, and I hope to rejoice. Yes, and I wish I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.

At the expense of sounding repetitive, when Paul says, I will rejoice. This was devoted devotion.

This is determined determination. This is committed commitment. Paul says, I will rejoice.

When your reputation, if it ever is, maligned like Apostle Paul's was. What do we typically want to do in our flesh?

We want to defend ourselves, no? But that wasn't Paul's focus. Paul's focus was,

Christ is proclaimed. The gospel is being advanced, even in my imprisonment.

And in that, I will rejoice. What lessons can we take with us from this text of scripture?

Give you some lessons, some takeaways. Number one, joy is not based upon your circumstances.

True joy, biblical joy, and contentment and peace is not based upon your circumstances.

In good times and in bad times. In our struggle to have a family, when we lost our first child,

God took us to the book of Job. And the verse I ministered to my wife was

Job's response to his wife. What did his wife say to him in chapter two? What are you holding on to your integrity?

Curse God and die. Job's response to his wife. So we accept good from God?

And not bad? Joy is not dependent on your circumstances.

Lesson number two. As we see here from the example of the Apostle Paul, lesson number two.

The word of God cannot be bound. You can put his messengers, his chosen instruments in prison.

God's word will not be bound. Second Timothy 2, Paul says, 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.

Lesson number three. You are a herald of the king. You are a herald of the king.

You are a herald of the king. You are a herald of the king. Therefore, herald the good news.

Can you imagine? God could have chosen angels, his messengers, to proclaim the good news.

But he didn't. And that is why Paul writes in Romans 10, How blessed are the feet of him who brings good news.

How blessed. God calls you blessed for being his messenger of the good news. That should give you joy.

Two more lessons to take away. Number four, what seemingly are obstacles to the advancement of the gospel are stepping stones for the spread of the gospel.

They are stepping stones for the spread of the gospel. A .W. Pink in his book, The Godhood of God, writes this.

So it is also with men. They too are ruled by God, ruled by an unseen hand, often unknown to themselves.

Little did they know it, yet nevertheless, the sons of Jacob were but performing the pleasure of Jehovah when they sold

Joseph into the hands of the Ishmaelites, who carried him down to Egypt. Little was she aware of it, but when

Pharaoh's daughter went to the Nile to bathe, she was being directed by God, directed there to rescue from the waters the babe

Moses. Little did he know it, but in issuing the decree that all the world should be taxed,

Caesar Augustus was but setting in motion a movement which caused the word and decree of God to be fulfilled.

And I might add to that, I'm adding to Pink's words, not the Bible, so I'm okay with that.

I might add to that, little did they know it, those who put Paul under house arrest, that God would use them to further his gospel, what they intended to stop.

And final lesson, when you're discouraged, focus on the gospel.

Don't do what Walt Hendrickson says in his commentary at the beginning of his commentary of Philippians.

He says, don't resort to tranquilizers, which he refers to as drugs and pills. When you're discouraged, focus on the gospel.

When you read a BBC announce that Landario's lost a brother, that Deb Jeffries lost a sister, you pray not only for the difficulty for God's comfort, but for the gospel to advance through this.

When Pauline's aunt is in the hospital or a young girl on the cusp of eternity, you pray for the gospel to be advanced.

When somebody tells you about an opportunity they had to preach the gospel, you listen and you burn with fire to proclaim the gospel yourself.

And you go to work and to school with your evangelistic antennas being ready to proclaim the good news.

What brings you joy in life? For the Apostle Paul, it was the joy that Jesus Christ was proclaimed.

Is it for you? Father, thank you for the truth of your word.

Thank you for the author of your word, the Spirit of God. May he impress his truth upon our heart.

And even in our culture today, with the way that it's going down the drain, may you use us to be excited and full of joy that we can be used of you for the advancement of the gospel, for the proclamation of the