Phili 1:12 | KingComments | STEP | . Only after he expressed his joy about the Philippians and his longing for them, Paul says something about his own circumstances. You can always count on the interests of others in your circumstances, when there is a true bond of love between you and them. Look how he reports. Really not to complain or to occupy the minds of the Philippians with that. He does not give an impressive report on hardships he has to go through. He wants to show how God stands above all his circumstances which helped in the progress of the gospel. Is this not the true Christian view of life? It does not come naturally nor is it something you can read in an instruction booklet, but you must learn it by experience. The words “have turned out” are significant in this regard. It means that it is in contrast to what one expects. Paul is in imprisoned. It seemed as if the enemy had obtained a great victory. This might have been discouraging to the Philippians. But as for Paul there was no trace of dejection. On the contrary, he encourages the Philippians by telling them that this exactly fits into God’s plan. The enemy meant evil, but God used it for the good ( ; ). Often Paul uses the expression “I want you to know”. This he does when he wanted to draw attention to something special ( ; ; ). The enemy thought that he had shut up Paul through imprisonment and thereby gave a severe blow to the gospel. But that was not the case. On the contrary, God opened up new possibilities for the preaching of the gospel. The enemy even helped in the furtherance of the gospel. The enemy restricted Paul’s freedom of movement. But he could not stop his mouth nor affect his conviction. Paul might have been bound but the Word was not bound ( ). In this way a number of soldiers, to whom Paul was chained in his imprisonment, heard the gospel ( ) as he preached to anyone who visited him ( ). Those who were used to the worst curses should have spoken to each other about this remarkable prisoner. Satan gave this great evangelist of all the times access even to the “whole praetorian guard”. As a free man he would have never had this access. Thus the gospel came to places where it would have otherwise never reached. You see how God is exalted above satan’s raging and used his evil intentions to carry out His plans. . It becomes clear to all everywhere that Paul is not incarcerated as a criminal to serve a penalty rightly awarded by the law. He was indeed taken prisoner by the Romans but he knew that he was not a prisoner of Rome. He never calls himself that way. When he talks about his imprisonment he always does so in relation to Christ. He is His prisoner ( ; ), or as he says here “my imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ”. He is imprisoned for Christ’s sake. He does not take his circumstances from the hands of the enemy but from the hands of the One Whom he serves. Christ determines his fate, not the emperor of Rome. . There is one more consequence of Paul’s imprisonment. When others saw Paul’s testimony during his imprisonment they took courage and began to preach the Word. Paul’s imprisonment inspired them to do the work of an evangelist. Sharing the Word is everyone’s responsibility. No one can pass the buck. But sometimes there are inner obstacles. Sometimes some brothers think that they are not as good as the other eminent preachers. Such brothers need help to overcome their inferiority complex. Paul never wanted to see himself as an obstacle to other believers who served the Lord in their capacity. Sometimes God Himself intervenes and sends the more experienced ones to other places, and then it is a great encouragement to see others begin to preach the gospel and fulfill their responsibility. The Lord remains the same whether Paul or any other gifted brothers are there or not. The Philippians had put their trust in Him. Even so we can put our trust in Him and speak the Word of God without fear. Our confidence should not be in ourselves, for then the Lord cannot work. Once you put your trust in Him you can see what He can do with your life and with your testimony. . The absence of the apostle not only gave room for the shy ones. It also gave some people the opportunity to present themselves. Now it was their time to shine like stars. Their rival (so they considered him) had disappeared and with him his influence. They were people who tried to undermine Paul’s authority in the church and set believers against each other. They preached Christ “even from envy and strife”. They not only sought their own reputation but also wanted to hurt the imprisoned apostle. Their intentions were malicious. If you are not aware a little bit of the corruption of your own heart, you would say: how could that be possible. But even today it happens. God’s servants sometimes want to take over the leadership of the church for selfish reasons. Often that happens at the cost of others who mean a lot for the church. . If the servant to whom this injustice is done sees the church he has served as ‘his church’, he will respond fleshly. Paul presents a good example here. He does not paint all with a single brush. He differentiates them according to their motives. Those who preached with good purposes did so out of love. There is no room for envy and strife if love is the driving force. Then we accept the fact that God entrusts every one with a specific task. Each task is different from the other. It is important that we accept the God-given differences and to act accordingly. Those who were guided by love accepted Paul’s special mission to defend the gospel. . The ideas or the intentions of some were mean and base. Their wonderful preaching which tickled the ears of people arose from “selfish ambition” which comprises selfishness, ambition and unsound rivalry which are related to one another. They labored to gather people around themselves and form a new party. Such people thought that such activities would jeopardize Paul’s mission and that it would add afflictions to his chains. This only revealed their wicked hearts. . Certainly, Paul’s reaction could have been different too, if he were like them. We could also be upset about a lot of wickedness against our personal integrity. It is even more painful to see the work that we have done breaking down before our eyes. Isn’t it a paradox to proclaim Christ and at the same time do so out of selfish motives? Surely, it does seem unthinkable to misuse the Name of Christ as a cover for personal, selfish purposes, doesn’t it? Paul was totally not open for such considerations. His reaction is quite different in nature. His exclamation “what then?” sounds like a cry of victory. Do not think this is a call coming forth from indifference or callousness. With this short sentence he sets aside all the resistance and the incriminating actions of the enemy. He does not think of a circular letter to counter all the false allegations of the enemy. He does not give any instructions to the Philippians as to how they should handle such mean people. His response shows his mind, and that his heart is filled with Christ. His enemies attacked him, but he defended the gospel and not himself. In this he points to Christ. His enemies as humans could not act above themselves. Paul stands above the circumstances because his heart is filled with Christ. What can the enemy do with such a man? Christ and the salvation of others are more important to Paul than the question if he could continue the work himself. God continued it. God reigns no matter what happens with you or around you. He is sovereign and He uses His word to achieve His end no matter who preaches or how it is preached. This awareness makes Paul happy now and it will also make him happy in the future. It also makes you happy when you learn to look at circumstances like him. Then you are invincible, not because you are strong but because He is strong. Now read Philippians 1:12-18 again. Reflection: What is the secret not to be depressed by circumstances?

‏ Philippians 1:12

The Progress of the Gospel

Phil 1:12. Only after he expressed his joy about the Philippians and his longing for them, Paul says something about his own circumstances. You can always count on the interests of others in your circumstances, when there is a true bond of love between you and them. Look how he reports. Really not to complain or to occupy the minds of the Philippians with that. He does not give an impressive report on hardships he has to go through. He wants to show how God stands above all his circumstances which helped in the progress of the gospel. Is this not the true Christian view of life? It does not come naturally nor is it something you can read in an instruction booklet, but you must learn it by experience.

The words “have turned out” are significant in this regard. It means that it is in contrast to what one expects. Paul is in imprisoned. It seemed as if the enemy had obtained a great victory. This might have been discouraging to the Philippians. But as for Paul there was no trace of dejection. On the contrary, he encourages the Philippians by telling them that this exactly fits into God’s plan. The enemy meant evil, but God used it for the good (Rom 8:28; Gen 50:20).

Often Paul uses the expression “I want you to know”. This he does when he wanted to draw attention to something special (Rom 1:13 ; Rom 11:25; 1Cor 10:1 ; 1Cor 11:3 ; 1Cor 12:1; 1Thes 4:13).

The enemy thought that he had shut up Paul through imprisonment and thereby gave a severe blow to the gospel. But that was not the case. On the contrary, God opened up new possibilities for the preaching of the gospel. The enemy even helped in the furtherance of the gospel. The enemy restricted Paul’s freedom of movement. But he could not stop his mouth nor affect his conviction. Paul might have been bound but the Word was not bound (2Tim 2:9).

In this way a number of soldiers, to whom Paul was chained in his imprisonment, heard the gospel (Acts 28:16) as he preached to anyone who visited him (Acts 28:30-31). Those who were used to the worst curses should have spoken to each other about this remarkable prisoner. Satan gave this great evangelist of all the times access even to the “whole praetorian guard”. As a free man he would have never had this access. Thus the gospel came to places where it would have otherwise never reached. You see how God is exalted above satan’s raging and used his evil intentions to carry out His plans.

Phil 1:13. It becomes clear to all everywhere that Paul is not incarcerated as a criminal to serve a penalty rightly awarded by the law. He was indeed taken prisoner by the Romans but he knew that he was not a prisoner of Rome. He never calls himself that way. When he talks about his imprisonment he always does so in relation to Christ. He is His prisoner (Eph 3:1 ; Eph 4:1; Phlm 1:9), or as he says here “my imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ”. He is imprisoned for Christ’s sake. He does not take his circumstances from the hands of the enemy but from the hands of the One Whom he serves. Christ determines his fate, not the emperor of Rome.

Phil 1:14. There is one more consequence of Paul’s imprisonment. When others saw Paul’s testimony during his imprisonment they took courage and began to preach the Word. Paul’s imprisonment inspired them to do the work of an evangelist. Sharing the Word is everyone’s responsibility. No one can pass the buck. But sometimes there are inner obstacles. Sometimes some brothers think that they are not as good as the other eminent preachers. Such brothers need help to overcome their inferiority complex. Paul never wanted to see himself as an obstacle to other believers who served the Lord in their capacity. Sometimes God Himself intervenes and sends the more experienced ones to other places, and then it is a great encouragement to see others begin to preach the gospel and fulfill their responsibility.

The Lord remains the same whether Paul or any other gifted brothers are there or not. The Philippians had put their trust in Him. Even so we can put our trust in Him and speak the Word of God without fear. Our confidence should not be in ourselves, for then the Lord cannot work. Once you put your trust in Him you can see what He can do with your life and with your testimony.

Phil 1:15. The absence of the apostle not only gave room for the shy ones. It also gave some people the opportunity to present themselves. Now it was their time to shine like stars. Their rival (so they considered him) had disappeared and with him his influence. They were people who tried to undermine Paul’s authority in the church and set believers against each other. They preached Christ “even from envy and strife”. They not only sought their own reputation but also wanted to hurt the imprisoned apostle. Their intentions were malicious.

If you are not aware a little bit of the corruption of your own heart, you would say: how could that be possible. But even today it happens. God’s servants sometimes want to take over the leadership of the church for selfish reasons. Often that happens at the cost of others who mean a lot for the church.

Phil 1:16. If the servant to whom this injustice is done sees the church he has served as ‘his church’, he will respond fleshly. Paul presents a good example here. He does not paint all with a single brush. He differentiates them according to their motives. Those who preached with good purposes did so out of love. There is no room for envy and strife if love is the driving force. Then we accept the fact that God entrusts every one with a specific task. Each task is different from the other. It is important that we accept the God-given differences and to act accordingly. Those who were guided by love accepted Paul’s special mission to defend the gospel.

Phil 1:17. The ideas or the intentions of some were mean and base. Their wonderful preaching which tickled the ears of people arose from “selfish ambition” which comprises selfishness, ambition and unsound rivalry which are related to one another. They labored to gather people around themselves and form a new party. Such people thought that such activities would jeopardize Paul’s mission and that it would add afflictions to his chains. This only revealed their wicked hearts.

Phil 1:18. Certainly, Paul’s reaction could have been different too, if he were like them. We could also be upset about a lot of wickedness against our personal integrity. It is even more painful to see the work that we have done breaking down before our eyes. Isn’t it a paradox to proclaim Christ and at the same time do so out of selfish motives? Surely, it does seem unthinkable to misuse the Name of Christ as a cover for personal, selfish purposes, doesn’t it?

Paul was totally not open for such considerations. His reaction is quite different in nature. His exclamation “what then?” sounds like a cry of victory. Do not think this is a call coming forth from indifference or callousness. With this short sentence he sets aside all the resistance and the incriminating actions of the enemy. He does not think of a circular letter to counter all the false allegations of the enemy. He does not give any instructions to the Philippians as to how they should handle such mean people.

His response shows his mind, and that his heart is filled with Christ. His enemies attacked him, but he defended the gospel and not himself. In this he points to Christ. His enemies as humans could not act above themselves. Paul stands above the circumstances because his heart is filled with Christ.

What can the enemy do with such a man? Christ and the salvation of others are more important to Paul than the question if he could continue the work himself. God continued it. God reigns no matter what happens with you or around you. He is sovereign and He uses His word to achieve His end no matter who preaches or how it is preached. This awareness makes Paul happy now and it will also make him happy in the future.

It also makes you happy when you learn to look at circumstances like him. Then you are invincible, not because you are strong but because He is strong.

Now read Philippians 1:12-18 again.

Reflection: What is the secret not to be depressed by circumstances?