Numerous men and women of God in our modern times have spent time in prison, even though they broke no law. Corrie Ten Boom, her father, and her sister were arrested during World War II for hiding Jews. Only Corrie survived the prison camp. Adoniram Judson was violently attacked in his own home during a surprise government arrest in Burma. It is recorded that his wife quickly secured someone to watch the children and then she ran after the guards to make certain she knew where they would take him – because if she did not bring him food, he would have died of starvation. Darlene Deibler Rose was a missionary with her new husband in Papua New Guinea when World War II began. The Japanese military attacked her mission station and took them all of them as prisoners. She never saw her husband, Russell, again. There are many more that time does not allow us to rehearse today; however, these all have significant things in common.
1. They all suffered immensely. They all struggled with sickness, torture, unfathomable living conditions, and the feeling of desertion.
2. They all clung to Jesus. They would protect a copy of the scriptures at great cost. They would cry out to God in prayer.
3. They all saw the gospel prosper after incredible hardship.
What does hardship or suffering drive you to?
Suffering only reveals the depth of relationship we have already nurtured with the Lord.
We must pursue greater relationship with Jesus in good times to be sustained during hard times.
Persecuted Gospel Living (1:12-14)
Paul now turns to his own imprisonment in the progression of his letter. It is important to note some things about Paul’s purposeful prison account:
Not Self-Serving. He doesn’t draw attention to his persecution for the sake of self-pity or give a bitter speech of injustice. Paul was arrested in Philippi unjustly when the church was first established. Sometime later, Paul is now under Roman confinement. On both occasions, Paul broke no laws! The Roman leaders have been interviewing him, and some (Felix, Acts 24:26) have already desired bribes to release him – but this never happens. It truly is amazing that no notes of bitterness or self-pity are present in this letter! Instead, Paul looks to encourage these Philippian believers (who are also experiencing persecution for their faith in Jesus, Phil. 1:28-30) to not give up hope. The gospel is spreading and changing lives!!
Establishing Truth. As is the case in most traumatic situations, many will worry, and some will speak to others of what they think might be happening and then those people communicate the “might be” as “truly is” happening to yet more people. So, Paul puts their minds at rest and lays out his situation as it truly is at present.
Gospel Succeeding. The Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees had hoped Paul’s arrest would slow or stamp out this gospel witness; however, the opposite effect took place. The gospel message was strengthened to move forward (1:12). The gospel was thriving so much that everyone in the palace and in all the other places knew of Paul’s testimony – AND many Christians grew more confident to speak the gospel with confidence and boldness (1:14)!
A believer in a foreign country was arrested and beaten repeatedly because he prayed. The guard continued to look into his cell, see him praying, and pull him out repeatedly to beat him again. The guard finally asked him, “what are you praying for? You know I will beat you for it?” The Christian replied, “I’m praying for your salvation.”
Persecution does not stamp out a gospel witness, spiritual blindness does. It is when we cannot see the true condition of a lost soul, God’s amazing love, and mankind’s eternal destiny that causes a gospel witness to grow cold.
Puzzled Gospel Living (1:15-18)
Some in Rome preached the gospel with envy and strife. In this context, envy has the weight of wanting what Paul had (influence, powerful gospel witness, many churches established, love of many believers, etc.) but also wanting such things removed from Paul. These believers that Paul refers to, had embraced disapproval over the advantages and prosperity that God had brought to Paul through much suffering. Strife is defined with words like contention, rivalry, and quarreling. So, some were preaching the gospel with this contention to make things harder for Paul, and some were preaching the gospel with love and pure motives. So, how did these two people groups of gospel preachers affect Paul? Paul counted the preaching of the gospel a victory for the hearer, no matter the preacher’s motives. The preachers will have to give an account of their motives to Christ. Paul would long for pure motives in any gospel preacher; however, the message was still declared, and the hearers would benefit greatly! There was no punch of pain on Paul. Those purposely attempting to cause Paul pain would actually be the ones grieving in their accountability before Jesus Christ, the righteous judge.
A young fellow who worked in an investment house was impressed and very appreciative at the interest his business associates took in the news that his wife was going to have a baby. Every day one or more of them would drop around to his desk to inquire: “How’s the wife doing?” “What does the doc say?” “Any news, old man?” “Many more days?” He did not know that every man in the office had a bet upon when the baby would arrive. The interest in his affairs really concerned a greedy desire to win the office bet. (Source: Let Me Illustrate, Donald Barnhouse)
The greedy motives did not change whether the baby would be born; but it did change one man’s opinion of his co-workers. God will bless the message of the gospel, but we will all answer for the motive in which we preached or don’t preach the gospel!
Persuaded Gospel Living (1:19-20)
Paul desired to glorify God in everything (I Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17, 23). So, he concludes that the declaration of the gospel, no matter their motives, would benefit him with great satisfaction. Think of the outcomes for a moment. The contentious people who opposed Paul could have stirred up greater opposition and quickened his martyrdom. Another possibility could be that these gospel preachers could have instigated the turning of the public tide towards Christianity and then swiftly brought about Paul’s release from prison. Paul was content with either outcome: one brought him eternal freedom and the other brought about earthly freedom for the sake of the gospel. Verse 19 ends with “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” meaning the Holy Spirit would sustain Paul through these trials.
Philippians 1:20 ends this section of scripture with a description of “earnest expectation.” This phrase carries with it the idea of an uplifted head and stretched out neck in anticipation. Paul claimed no shame of his work for God or God’s work in him, even though he was in prison for it. He actively (perhaps even aggressively) anticipated God’s deliverance from his imprisonment (in life or in death).
Suffering only reveals the depth of the relationship we have nurtured with the Lord. We must pursue greater relationship with Jesus in good times to be sustained during hard times. In rapid fire succession, here are 5 must haves for growing your relationship with Jesus:
1. Read & obey the Bible. (Ps. 119:105; Jn. 14:15; Jas. 1:22)
2. Confess sin specifically. (Prov. 28:13; I Jn. 1:9)
3. Learn to Pray with increasing frequency. (Matt. 6:9-13; I Thess. 5:17)
4. Memorize scripture (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 119:11)
5. Worship with a local church (Ps. 95:1-2; Heb. 10:24-25)
Run to Christ, know Him better, and deepen your roots in the solid rock!