Philippians 1:14-18 "Rejoice in Christ Proclaimed"

Well, we are gonna be back in the book of Philippians this week I feel like we we were coming out of the and that's just the nature of how things go and scheduling is

Now we we came out of the gate strong continuing to go through the book of Revelation There was the heard the book not of Revelation you see that's my mind that I was telling you about that was gonna be

A little messed up today the book of Philippians and as we've been going through it There's just been different occasions that have popped up for us to take pause and have to go somewhere else

Last week was a blessing as Zach got a give a give a message about Specifically about his mission trip and also the importance about us as the local body taking

Christ's Word out to the streets, and I think we are going to even see some of that here in this text today

So please turn with me to Philippians chapter 1 and we are going to be in verses 14 through 18 for today so Philippians chapter 1

Verses 14 through 18, let us go ahead and pray specifically over this text before we read it

Lord God, I I just thank you God. I thank you for the confidence that we have to approach

Your holy righteous and just being Lord the confidence that it comes about through knowing your son

And God I would just ask that today we would be given more confidence to speak of You Lord without any fear of anything that this world could give to us

Lord God, I would ask today that we would be refined to what your word has to offer that we would not

From my mouth that were into the hearers ears or that we would not go a step beyond what your text here has to offer for us

But that we would be edified And that you would ultimately be glorified

Lord, I just say these things in your name Jesus the Christ. Amen Verses 14 through 18 of Philippians chapter 1.

Let us read and That most of the brothers

Having become confident in the Lord because of my chains Have far more courage to speak the

Word of God without fear Some to be sure are preaching

Christ even from envy and strife but also from goodwill

The latter do it out of love knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel

The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives

Thinking to cause me affliction in my chains What then?

Only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed and In this

I rejoice Yes, and I will rejoice. Let us pray over this text again

Lord God, let us rejoice here in the proclaiming of your gospel today Lord let us rejoice not because of any sort of intellectual prowess or Remarkable way that things might be said behind this pulpit or even in ways that things are not well said behind this pulpit as we might

See Lord, but God that we would rejoice in your name the name that is above all names being proclaimed in truth in an honesty

Lord God let us all of us in this room Lord You crucify not from a place of envy and strife, but from a place of goodwill in truth

And happiness and enjoy and that you're doing this Lord many might know who you are

Lord we would ask this request knowing that your will will be done in these things and Wanting and seeking that will to be done above all else

Lord. We say this in Jesus the one whom we rejoice over Amen So as we have not been in this text

Regularly in this last couple of weeks. We're gonna just read verses 12 through 13 here Just to help remind us of where we've come from so far verse 12 through 13

Now I want you to know brothers that my Circumstances have turned out for greater progress of the gospel

So that my chains in Christ have become well known throughout the whole Praetorian guard and to everyone else

This was the last text that we've come and read through as a church here in the book of Philippians Paul as a reminder is writing this from prison while he's writing this while in prison to Rome And he's writing this explicitly to a church that's near and dear to his heart and that is the

Church of Philippi Philippi we must remember as I hope that we would take anything that was from last week last time that we were in this text the part that I think that is most remarkable about the entire book of Philippians is

Something that's Shauna showed me as a quote from John MacArthur And this is not a direct quote

But it is a reference to what we see in this and it's an application that that Paul's joy

Wasn't joy because he was in prison But his joy was because he has joy in Jesus Christ And that's a joy that he can take with him no matter what situations he's in he can take that joy with him and apply

It in a very real and meaningful way so that no matter what happens to him Whether he lives it is

Christ or whether he dies it is gain Because he has Jesus Christ something that no man can ever take away from you

No matter what you think you can do the love of Christ will never leave you if you have faith in Jesus Christ This is remarkable, and it should be something that is instilled to us as the

Christian Believers that there is nothing that this world can do to you. There's nothing that your husband can give to you

There's nothing that your son or daughter can take away from you as far as what you have in Jesus Christ you have

The very means of salvation there and no one can take that from you brothers and sisters And I just want to read verse 13 again so that my chains in Christ had become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else

This I think is such a remarkable thing that we must remember as we continue to read in on verses especially verses 15 through 17 those these verses present some difficulty as The reader of this text and there's a lot of different thought on it

And so I just hope you remember chains of Paul are being well known throughout the entirety of the land to the praetorian guards and to everyone else and So people know of the condition that Paul is in and I think as a

Christian as just an individual Human we would look at that and we would say that does not look good.

It does not look appealing Paul is is is suffering.

This does not seem like a good thing So let us read now verse 14 coming off of that in verse 13 verse 14 says this and that most of the brothers now

I want to pause here and And talk explicitly Paul is not talking about a

Familiar a family relationship in the sense of his own physical brother that he was born with right?

He's talking about the Christian Church brothers So this is a Christian This is a professing believer that's probably taken the sign of baptism as we just talked with with the children here

This is this is explicitly talking to the Christian Church, and I want you to pay attention to something

He doesn't say all my brothers he says most what does it look like?

How is it applied in our lives Why would the chains of Paul produce?

Confidence in a Christian because I hope that it would produce confidence in you today as a

Christian that's reading over this remarkable text I Want us to consider three things that I see when

I think of the confidence of Christ here in this text Paul is not arguing

For a hope of physical deterioration of society to be the hope of the

Christian There are some Christians that I have heard say I just want things to get worse so Christ can come back their hope is in the world getting worse

That would be hope in something other than Christ that their hope would be in them How many times do we see

Christians fall into the absolute pit of Paralysis to share the good news in the worst of times

Because they have been taught to hunker down Avoid controversy don't rock the boat if anything is in theology

Teaches us to avoid the sin -covered world so that we may avoid chains

The hardships we're confident that my chains will be taken off of me

Be confident that the world will be better Be confident that in years to come everyone will know

Christ. No, that's not what Paul says He says whether for me to die is gain or to live is

Christ Christ is already victorious He doesn't say be confident that the whole world will become

Christian in this way He doesn't say be confident that you might not suffer

But that their hope is not dependent upon an absence of suffering

This is important for us to realize again our hope if our hope was placed in either a physical deterioration or a physical betterment our hope is in something other than Jesus Christ and That's what

I'm trying to direct our eyes to that's the third thing I would like to talk about then that I think that the confidence of Jesus is in this text

Why why is their confidence in the Lord correlated to Paul and his suffering? It is because why

Paul is in prison he is also in something far better Lydia and Adventure Club herself even said it today

Rome must have been really mad that Paul and others came to know Christ They were unwilling to bow their knee to seizure

But they only bowed their knee to the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords, which is Jesus Imagine right now

This is just an analogy, so don't take this too far, but imagine right now if your hope was set in the government of Idaho All you can do is share

Facebook posts about how great Idaho is and you think it's gonna be better or it's going to be worse whatever your hope looks like and You think that Idaho is going to become better and better and better and more godly?

Would there be confidence in the Lord if you saw Paul dragged out of the Capitol House in Boise today?

If you thought that Idaho would be reformed and refined to the teachings of Paul right then and there Or would you stop and think well that's not supposed to happen

I? Thought things were gonna get better Paul's in prison when he writes this text

Maybe maybe you see something like that happen a Christian get persecuted here in Idaho And so then you go home

And you just think that was just that was just a random occurrence and you go home and you turn on the news and then You see on the news that there is an lgbtq plus Pride parade being announced and rejoiced over by the newscast

So then you think well, I can't watch the news Maybe I'll just go to the library instead

And there you go into the library thinking that you'll find a place to rejoice over your beloved,

Idaho And you see little children running about with cheer and joy on their faces

And you think that this might be a sign of the hope that you had in Idaho and the people itself

To then peer over a crowd that has circled around a horrendous abomination called a drag queen as They read soft porn to children if Your hope is focused on this world, and you are being honest with yourself

You will lose all confidence Confidence in the physical world will always be met by disappointment in the

Christian life Your hope has to be on something that is outside of this world

Your hope has to be on something that Paul took into prison with him And that hope has to be

That you were born again That you've entered into a kingdom that is not of this world a government

That's far better than what Idaho or anywhere else could provide for you That though you are in a fallen kingdom physically there is hope only in the one that is the mediator of the

New Covenant as We have been made undeserving members of that is where our hope must be at is in members of the

New Covenant and Whether or not Idaho gets better or worse If your hope is in Christ That will change the way that you behave in this world and hopefully the gospel of Christ His kingdom will be advanced through you proclaiming that hope a hope that is not dependent upon the outside world

Fanny Crosby, I think we've talked about her in the past as we've sung her hymns is one of the most

If not the most prolific hymn writer in history Though blinded by an incompetent doctor at six weeks of age.

She wrote over 8 ,000 hymns Wonderful remarkable woman of the faith.

She has a song. I don't know how it's sung as for oven I'm gonna just read this to you

The armies of the Living God With banner shield and sword march onward shouting as you go

No king, but Christ our Lord all crowns beyond his sacred head all worlds be at his feet all scepters in his mighty hands all tongues his praise repeats salvation glory

Strength and power of scribe to him alone whose truth established for elite firmly stands

Eternal as his throne untransversed regions boundless realms their great first cause adore his rules and majesty supreme and Reigns from shore to shore march on ye victors to his grace to him your trophies bring creator

Savior prophet priest Redeemer Lord and King Sometimes I wish that a lot of the contemporary songs would only have an ounce of what

Fanny Crosby would bring to the table Rick said it today in Adventure Club Jesus is

Lord so then The question now must be asked if Jesus is

Lord And that is what we are to have confidence in so that when chains come we know

Jesus is Lord And that's where our hope is at Why then does Paul then say most of my brothers not all of my brothers this is so simple and many of us today and I would ask that you think about this for yourself many of us today could be said to be guilty of this

Does the thought of an awkward conversation stop you from sharing the gospel

Does the thought of you being kicked out of your close group of friends or family even a hinder you from professing

Jesus as Lord I would argue that we all fell miserably at this and I would also say that this is the great plague that has taken over Christianity in our generation and That is lack of zeal in the greater

Hope we possess as being in the new covenant and being members of a kingdom that is not of this world brothers and sisters if you think

You are quick to profess Jesus But then scatter at the shaking of the thoughts of the wolf coming

You will deny your master when the wolf really does come Your kingdom

Christian is in heaven With our Jesus my Lord For whom

I have suffered the loss of all things and count them But rubbish so that I may gain

Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own which is from the law But that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness

Which is from God upon faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection

And brothers and sisters listen to what Paul says here and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed to his death

Paul knew Jesus as Lord He knew of his power and that is the reality that he took into the very similar

Sufferings that he went through as a disciple of Christ Your hope must be set upon Jesus as Lord and God If you want to have any true hope any lasting hope in this world

One that does not shift like the sand that does not waver like the blade of grass outside at the different Different temperature and different wind that comes through this town.

Was it not windy this week? I know that the people on the ranches would definitely say it was very windy these last two weeks, correct?

If you are built upon the rock of Jesus Christ may the winds may the waters may they all come against you

But you will not fall if you are built upon the chief cornerstone that was rejected Brothers and sisters.

I want to pray specifically over this. We're not done for today, but let us pray in this Lord God, I would ask today

Lord That as we read here that Paul said most of the brothers

Lord that today in this church We would have confidence in you Lord because of the chains of Paul the suffering of Christians the people in Haiti the the persecuted church in China wherever it be

Lord that we would have far more Courage today to speak the word of God without fear in our lives

Lord God give us this day in this text just to live godly lives

No They are also telling others about Jesus They are proclaimers of the good news

If you think today that I don't need to ever open my mouth about Jesus. You don't profess Jesus before your neighbors

You don't profess Jesus before other men then Jesus says he won't profess you before the father

The reality is is that the way you live is not just a way that you live with your feet in your hands and then

Stops at your mouth and your tongue It's an entirety of your being that if you've been born again the entirety of your whole person

Wants to proclaim Jesus as Lord whether it be through the way you live or the way that you talk

It has to be harmoniously tied together There's a lot of Christians that say well, I don't ever tell

G people about Jesus But as long as I live good, then they will know him brothers and sisters

The Bible says that how will they know him? How will they believe if they do not hear him preach to them?

You have to be willing to open your mouth courage to speak The Word of God now, what does this

Word of God mean? What does that? What does that look like towards this first century church? This is interesting to think about because the

Word of God what would have been back then? Because we know that that's obviously not a closed canon at that time, right?

They they don't have the 66 books of the Bible like you and I have today and on our hands The whole book of Philippians that's in our

Bible is being written to them About a time when they were able to speak the Word of God to other individuals

This most likely would have been consistent of the whole entire

Old Testament as Well as the teachings of the Apostles at that time I would encourage you to also take notice of this acts 410 through 12 actually gives us an example of someone preaching the

Word of God and It says in there let it be known to all of you This is the the

Apostles that are speaking in here Peter Specifically let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ The Nazarene whom you crucified whom

God raised from the dead by this name This man stands here before you in good health

He and now notice this this is a quotation from the Old Testament He is the stone which was rejected by you the builders

But which became the chief cornerstone and there isn't out there is salvation in no one else

For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved

Now brothers and sisters did Paul or did Peter in this text only quote Scripture? No, he quoted it and then he applied it

Properly This is what I would argue is preaching the

Word of God that we see speaking the Word of God in Philippians chapter 1 I can tell you right now that when

I was LDS for 19 years Do you want to know how many times I was read to from the

Scriptures a lot? Did I ever have one message that actually clearly presented and applied the text of my life correctly not ever once Just You thinking if I just read the text to somebody that sometimes might be enough for them to know who

Christ is But a lot of the times it also means that you as the Christian must be able to look at these things

Discern it and say okay. I don't know how to apply it to the person that's hearing me

Did you know that out on the sign outside right now Jesus is enough does do we say amen to that? I hope we say amen to that.

Do you know that's not a phrase ever found in the Bible Jesus is enough That's a creedal statement

Saying that Christ paid my sins that I don't have to do anything else that his atonement was enough for me

So when you go to your neighbors and you say Jesus is enough you might be applying biblical

Word of God to them Properly But you have to be able to apply the text correctly to do such it doesn't mean that you just read the text

It means that you know the text that you know Jesus Christ is crucified that you can proclaim to them

Jesus's death burial and resurrection is the only means of our salvation that Jesus is enough

Very very interesting to think about in this and all this

Proclaiming how is it to be done? How how does the proclaiming in the speaking the

Word of God? How is it to be done? Says that it's supposed to be done without fear

And this goes back to the very first thing that we've been talking about it here in this verse Why could it be done without fear?

It's because their hope was not set in something of this world their hope was set in what they were proclaiming and That is

Jesus is Lord That he has died for us and that he will come

Again that my hope is only in him and what he has provided for us that his kingdom

He reigns today and forever. His kingdom is not of this world Well, let's read verses 15 through 17 here and we will look at these things

And I hope that by looking at more the broad stroke in this text that we can understand the application of verses 15 and 17

As I said earlier There are many different commentaries and theologians that would disagree on what this text has to say here a lot of different thought and thinking on these verses

Verse 15 some to be sure are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill

So notice in there There's two types of people that are being talked about some that are preaching Christ envy and strife some that are preaching

Christ from goodwill The latter do it out of love. So the ones that are doing it from goodwill are doing it out of love

Knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel Which is again remarkable to think about because Paul is saying that his current situation is for the defense of the gospel

Brothers and sisters, you know that one of the greatest arguments that we can say about the truth of this scripture

Is that many people that saw the risen Christ took that testimony with them to the grave?

With them to prison with them to wherever they went. They never denied that Jesus is

Lord So did you know that this this text still remains true for you? And I today that Paul in prison was a defense for the gospel.

That's for you today Paul went to prison not because of a make -believe story but he went to the prison and to death because of the reality of knowing

Jesus Christ as Lord a greater hope than what anything could ever be offered to him. It's still a defense for you

And I today just remember that verse 17 It says the former proclaim Christ Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives thinking to cause me affliction in my

Chains now I want to pause here and think about this for a moment Paul is not in this text saying that we ought to accept everybody willy -nilly and think that If somebody is preaching a different gospel a different Christ a different Bible a different this a different that that we're just to accept them

That's not what Paul is saying in here a lot of people would look at this and wrongfully apply the text say oh well

He look Joel Osteen these bad preachers these ones that preach a false gospel

We're just to we're just to accept them and welcome them into our life. That's not let me be clear in this

That is not what Paul is saying in this text Why Galatians 1 8 9 but if we are an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel

We have proclaimed to you. Let him be accursed Paul is very clear that if somebody preaches a false gospel there to be cut off kicked out rejected

That you're not to accept somebody that proclaims a false gospel So then why does it say in here that some preach it from envy and strife some preach it from love and goodwill

Well the reality of this is Is that both of these types of individuals are proclaiming a true gospel

Both of them are in Christ, and that is why Paul can say yes, I will rejoice

I rejoice that these people are still proclaiming Christ now consider this imagine now if today you were in a

Let's say you were in that day of Paul, and you were a preacher let's just imagine this for a moment jealous and envious of what

Paul has and how many people are following him a Person like that could still proclaim the truth of the gospel

But have wrong motives set behind what they're trying to now do and so now they've taken Advantage of where Paul's at because where's

Paul at he's in prison so somebody might be able to say in that day Well you see I told

Paul that he shouldn't be as contentious as what he was So you should actually follow me because look I'm not in prison

Paul's in prison so come follow me That would be preaching Christ out of envy and strife

Rather than preaching Christ out of goodwill and love Come follow me

Paul's in prison. I'm not I'm obviously the person that you ought to be following as a believer

We see that even in the New Testament some follow Apollo some follow Paul That that was this is a common thing that men fall into is trying to follow a certain individual rather than Jesus Christ, and so this would just be a point of remembrance for you and I as Christians Let me let me read this because there was something

I really wanted to make the point in there's that I Might have lost my place.

I apologize for that the point of this though is brothers and sisters that you and I Can disagree

With other churches other Christian churches that are Orthodox That believe

Jesus Christ, and who he is according to the Bible But let's say they have a different view of Ecclesiology the makeup of the church the function of the church than you do they have a different view of even let's say administration of baptism

They have a different view of eschatology all these different things that we talked about in the New Testament in the

Old Testament These people could have different views than what you yourself hold to and I disagree with those people daily

I debate these kind of people daily in them, but guess what I call them brothers and sisters in Christ regardless because they proclaim the same

Christ that you and I do and this is important for us to understand that if the Essential of Christianity is not denied

Then you were to call these people brothers and sisters in Christ, and you can think to yourself And you can argue well.

I think they have wrong motives They don't they're they're not doing the scripture consistently or whatever you want to say

But do not ever think that you then ought to cast over them the shadow of well

You are to be anathema accursed cast out. That's not what's being said in here

This is actually a text that I think shows a lot of grace That in the day of Paul the people that were preaching saying hey look

Paul's in prison And I'm preaching Christ out of envy and strife, but it's still the same Christ. It's still the same gospel

Paul's saying what? Yes, I rejoice It's okay

They do it for wrong motives But they're preaching the same Christ that has saved me

They're preaching the same Christ that has saved them, but think about this to this this

This goes so against what we as as as prideful humans want to do in life

And that is to to cast someone down and have people look at you as the superior

We do that all the time do we not see that in business and workplaces that there's gossip and drama and Hardship and negative thinking about somebody that might be maybe in a position.

That's higher than yourself And so you want to lower them so that you can look better Paul is arguing here is that if they do not deny the

Christ Then that is still ought to be rejoiced over this that they're preaching Christ now now

Let us be also clear in this the envy and strife that is spoken of in here is that sin? Absolutely absolutely it's wrong

Paul's not saying that we should allow for exception for somebody to preach wrong wrongly in the sense of having not good intentions

Brothers and sisters today is a great day to think about that in yourself Do I ever do something or behave in a certain way or proclaim

Christ in a certain manner or do something X Y & Z? And my motives are off If your motive is not centered on giving glory to God edifying your brothers and sisters

Advancing his kingdom and calling sinners to repentance then your motive is incorrect

You might be saying the exact same words as the person that might have better pure motives

But you ought to check yourself right then and there and see that you are to preach from pure places verse 18

This is something again. I think we need to rejoice over what then? So this is now he's talking about the people there outside of the prison that are preaching their betterment of their situation what then?

Only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed and In this

I Rejoice yes, and I will rejoice

Brothers and sisters again if you disagree with brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice over their proclaiming of the gospel

There are many Denominational differences between your pastor and the pastor down the road and the pastor down that road and the pastor down that road and Even from from a more global perspective

I disagree with a lot of other Christian brothers and sisters out there, and I think that they don't always have the best motives

That does not negate them from being your brother and your sister in Christ There's there's some theological frameworks out there today that put a heavy emphasis into Evangelism, and I think that they're heavy emphasis in evangelism though That is great and wonderful, and I rejoice over their proclaiming of the gospel.

I think sometimes It's done not out of the best motives And so I would tell that person

I do tell these people you need to check what you're doing it for and remember what you're preaching of and that is what you're doing it for and Then regardless of what the result is then

Christ is being glorified And I don't want to beat around the bush too much on that But that's the reality of what

I'm trying to get out in here is that we must rejoice that Christ is proclaimed always

If somebody that you disagree with out there Whether they have a different understanding of who wrote the book of Hebrews There's a bit of topic that we've talked about in the book of Hebrews or whether you think that Melchizedek the priest was a pre -incarnate

Christ or you think he was a physical literal person you better rejoice that Christ is being proclaimed these are things that we can disagree about and we can do this happily and joyfully, but as long as as Heterodoxy is not being taught and what

I mean heterodoxy I mean outside of orthodoxy a denial of Jesus as Lord a denial of the virgin birth a denial of the essentials of Christianity you ought to rejoice that brothers and sisters are preaching

Christ crucified so in this brothers and sisters, I would let us let us just pray as Fellow individuals that are equally in the covenant of grace that are equally been covered by Jesus Christ Let us lift up praise to him right now in the form of prayer

Lord God, I do Lord. I thank you for this text here God Lord I would ask today

Lord that any of us myself included Anybody that wasn't able to make it here to today's service

Lord God that we would look at what our motives are for doing something Whether it be in service whether it be in speech whether it be in family whether it be in parenting whether whatever it would be

Lord That whatever our motives are that we would think about these things and if they're not centered upon the hope

That our confidence is to be in Lord That we had cast those things away

Lord, I would also ask to Lord specifically that our confidence in you would be strengthened

So that we would preach the Word of God without fear Lord That we would live not only godly lives, but we would pronounce godly realities to our neighbors to our physical brothers and sisters

To our other members of here in this church that we would rejoice in Christ being proclaimed

Lord Lord, I would ask today that as we sing our last song that we would all say in our minds.

Yes, and I will rejoice And let us sing this final hymn rejoicing when we say this in your name.