Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
chapter 1, and reading from our text, verse 12. But I would ye should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. Philippians 1
and verse 12, the furtherance of the gospel. And the Apostle
Paul is speaking of those things that happened unto him personally. And he is saying that those things
that happened to him personally, The Gospel was furthered through
those things. I want to think, as we begin,
just of three words that are spoken of here as to what they
mean. We have fallen out, the things
that have fallen out. And we do not believe in chance,
do not believe in just something happening with No one in control. But here is a working out, or
that which would not otherwise have occurred, is what is in
the original implication. It is the outcome that has come
from this situation. The outcome has been for good,
or for this specific end in view. I hope it is that we are able
to trace through our lives at times a falling out, an outcome,
really a performance of, in Romans 8 verse 28, we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
that are the called according to his purpose. And it is implied
in this that there's a waiting until the outcome is actually
known and seen. There's a walking through it,
but then it falls out, an outcome that would not otherwise have
occurred. And my prayer, my desire is that
through the rearrangement today, instead of the Lord's servant,
Paul Hayden, being here, and me here in his place, or maybe
at Ashwell or Clifton, that that which has come about because
of my own weakness and desire to be relieved of the long journeys
today, that the Lord will have a purpose in that. There will
be something that is seen in the end that actually without
this rearrangement it would not have happened. Certainly without
the rearrangement then this text would not be preached here. The
ministry would not be ministered here by me, but by the Lord's
Servant, and the same over in the other churches as well. And certainly I can look back,
in my experience, at times that we've gone to a church service,
a special service, and expected one of the Lord's Servants there
is what was advertised, and it wasn't. It was another one. And
the word that they brought was directly related to them being
called at short distance, short notice, and of coming with that
word. The original Lord's servant,
no doubt, would not have been prepared in that same way. The
Lord needed to make a rearrangement to give the blessing to us. And I hope you're able to trace
today, is that here's the word here and elsewhere, that the
Lord needed to make a rearrangement for there to be a blessing for
your soul and it was for a purpose in view for the furtherance of
the gospel. So the other word then is furtherance. What is the furtherance? What is mentioned here? Well
it is the profit or advancement and progress of something. If something is is furthered,
it doesn't go backward, it's not detracted from, it's added
to, there's an increase, there's a blessing to be upon it. It doesn't result in going back,
but going forward. And then we have the Gospel,
that of which it is the furtherance of. fallen out rather unto the
furtherance of the gospel. What is the gospel? Gospel means good news, good
news of salvation. It's very evident from the context
here that the apostle central to the gospel is our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. He all the time is speaking about
Christ. Verse 13, so that my bonds in
Christ are manifest. Some preach Christ, even of empty
strife. One preached Christ of contention. And he, in verse 17, said for
the defense of the gospel. And what is the gospel? In verse
18, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached. And all the time, Christ is central. When he writes to the Corinthian
church, he determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus
Christ and him crucifying. Now, we don't want a furtherance
of our churches or gatherings or those that have a name to
live, but may be dead spiritually. The whole aim of the Lord's Sermon,
the aim of the Apostle, was that the speaker, the preacher, might
diminish and be nothing, but Christ be precious, the work
of the Holy Spirit. He shall receive of mine, show
it unto you, receive of the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall not speak
of himself, but that which he saith, that shall he speak of.
John the Baptist, he says, I must decrease, he must increase, And
so when we're thinking of the gospel, the good news of salvation,
it sets forth the God of salvation, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
that in the hearts of the hearers, in the churches, that He might
be uppermost. When I see the blood, the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ, I will pass over you. a people that
is a blood-bought people. We've often prayed, as was blessed
to the Lord's servant many years ago here in one of our Thanksgiving
services, Harvest Thanksgiving, he spoke from the word vineyard
of red wine. That was Alf Chapman. And we've
often pleaded that word, that the Lord would make us here a
vineyard. The churches are as vineyards. The church is a vineyard, but
it be a vineyard of red wine. A church that is known for those
that love the Lord, trust in the Lord, walk in His ways, extol
Him, lift Him up, where Christ is all in all. Some little reflection
of what it must be in heaven, where the Lamb is all the glory
of Emmanuel's land. where the Lord Jesus Christ is
center and all worship Him, adore Him, love Him and serve Him. And may the church congregation
here be some little reflection of that and we be a part of that. And so this is then these three
things, the falling out, the furtherance, it's all pointing
to the Gospel and may the end of today and all that has been
attended to will be, if the Lord permit today, be for this furtherance
of the Gospel, the lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
hearts of His people, in our assemblies and in the area where
our candlesticks are placed. I want to look three points. Firstly, the Apostle Paul and
the Philippians, because these are two characters here, and
it's Paul writing to them, he's writing to them as a church,
and I just want to look at the paths of them both, how they
merge together, and the reason for writing in the way that he
is. But then the path that they had
walked, the path that Paul had walked, is specifically how it
had worked for the furtherance of the gospel. And we can see
from the things that are actually written here, those things that
Paul is able to identify and say, this has happened because
of the path that we are called to walk. And then I want to look
lastly at truths we may glean from the Apostles' words, or
maybe truly say, from the Holy Scriptures, the inspired word
in this point. But firstly, the Apostle Paul
and the Philippians. The Lord used the Apostle Paul
in his second missionary journey to found the Church at Philippi. In seeking direction, where to
go and where to minister, the way had been shut up to Asia
and Bithynia, but then the Apostle had been given a vision, come
over into Macedonia, which was the chief city at Philippi, and
to preach the Word, and come over and help us, and they immediately
realized that the Lord was calling them to go and preach in that
area. Well, they came there, and that
resulted in the conversion of Lydia, who was met by the apostle
as they were gathered for prayer at the riverside. And then when
they were the means of praying that the lady that was possessed
with the devil, that brought her masters much gain, that that
spirit went out of her, and they were then locked up in prison.
The Lord was pleased to use that imprisonment to convert the jailer
and all of his household. And that church then began from
really adverse providences, from imprisonment, from a path of
pain, the beatings for Paul and feet in the stocks, or and for
the jailer for the earthquake, for hearing and seeing the apostles
and being delivered from taking his own life as well. the church
had begun in this way, you might say they'd already known that
the things that happened both to Paul and to the church had
worked for the furtherance of the gospel, had been used for
their conversion. But then they have knowledge
some 12 years later of the Apostle Paul being in Rome. And here
he is taken there to be a prisoner. And though he is allowed to live
in his own house and others come and go from him there, yet he
is bound with a chain and he is guarded and he is a prisoner,
Paul the prisoner. And so what a temptation that
they could have, Here is the apostle's work curtailed. He
is in prison, he cannot be of any use there, he cannot be any
blessing there. And they've known this path of
tribulation that has worked for good, but they might be looking
upon present things and saying, how can that work for good? How
can that ever further the gospel? And Paul feels much for those
that are really His children in faith. He does not want them
to be discouraged by what is happening to Him. He does not
want them to lose faith, to cast away their faith. And so He writes
to them in this way, to assure them that even the things that
they were knowledge of, that were happening to Him now, that
they had already. He's not saying that they will
yet do so. He can already see how that it
has worked for the furtherance of the gospel. And so he writes
to them to that encouragement. I wonder how often we think in
this way. When things are happening to
us, when we have troubles and illnesses and sicknesses and
afflictions, And we have those that have been blessed, maybe
under our ministry or through our witness, and we think they're
hearing of what is happening to us. Maybe their faith has
been shaken. Maybe they are being discouraged
when they hear what is going through us. And when we see that
there are things that have worked for good, And when there's a
benefit to us, and it is not as it really appears outwardly,
there's not all darkness, there is some light, then it's good
if we did like the Apostle did here, is to make that known. Those of Philippi, they did not
know, except by letter, what he was telling them. He needed
to tell them. And there may be those that know
things and see things outwardly in our path and our way that
is discouraging them. But to be able to speak to them
and tell them what they cannot see, and then they be encouraged
that the Lord is in it and the gospel is being furthered. It's good to have that mindfulness
that our lives are not separated from others. Others are looking
at our lives. And sometimes what happens to
us may be an encouragement to others without any words said.
Other times it might be a discouragement. And if we perceive it should
not be, then to write as the Apostle did, to change it to
an encouragement. So we would think in this account,
what if Paul hadn't written? What discouragement for those
newly come to the faith. But then he writes, and he turns
that which would have been for discouragement to be an encouragement. We'll want to look then secondly,
how it had worked for the furtherance of the gospel through Paul's
eyes. What is Paul going to tell those
at Philippi that should warrant him writing in this way and to
encourage them in this way? Well, he first writes And he
says, I would, ye should understand, brethren. Understand. Those things that they were seeing
needed to be understood. I know I've often mentioned this,
but in the end of Psalm 107, who so is wise and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness
of the Lord. If we were to give a child a
present or something lovely, they would not need to have it
explained that that was given in love, because it was something
nice. But if they had done something
wrong and we corrected them, we smacked them, they were chastised,
It was unpleasant, it was painful. That would take understanding,
that that was in love. Perhaps more love in that, instead
of the child being spoiled, a child being corrected. A child left
to itself bringeth his mother to shame. And the Lord chastens
every son whom he receiveth. And we should remember that with
our children. But it is understanding that
makes the difference. When our Lord rose from the dead,
they'd all seen His crucifixion, His death. There were those also
that did see Him as He rose from the dead, but the vital part
was when He appeared to them and opened their understanding
that they should understand the Scriptures. The understanding
is a vital thing in the things of God. And the Lord told the
parable of the sower, is the one that the word was taken immediately
out of their hearts, did not understand that word. The one
that understood it bore fruit some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. The understanding is vital, understanding
being enlightened. The apostle Paul said that he'd
rather Speak five words with the understanding than 10,000
words in an unknown tongue. Remember when Philip came to
the eunuch, his first words were, understandest thou what thou
readest. How much do we understand of
the things of God? How much do we understand of
the loving kindness of God? How much has the Lord opened
our understanding concerning his dealings with us, the path
that we are walking in. So this is when he writes and
to tell them that which has worked for good, he wants them firstly
to understand. He addresses them as dear brethren,
they are brethren. He thanks God in the earlier
part of this chapter for their fellowship in the gospel from
the first day until now, and also confident that the Lord
who had begun with them would still carry on performing it
until the day of Jesus Christ. But then he brings the things
that have happened. Now we're going away from doctrine,
from teaching, and he's pointing to his life, providence, things
that have happened. Now it's been said of Thomas
Boston that he put more weight on providence than he did of
words from the Lord. So if someone was seeking direction
and guidance as to what to do, There might be some people that
would say, well, we want a word from the Lord. And some people
look for things like what's on the calendar or from the ministry.
The Lord can use those things. But we can be mistaken in those
things too. And Thomas Watson, he said this,
that he would rather see the Lord go before in providence
shutting doors, opening doors, working in that way. Now, Paul
had known this, especially with coming to Philippi. Because in
the very first place, he had two shut doors to Asia and Bithynia,
and then an open door to go into Macedonia. He'd known what it
was to be shepherded in that way. These people that have known
that what has happened has worked for good in the past, he now
brings them back, those things which happened unto me, things
that we cannot deny, things that no one can deny, things that
really have happened. And when we look through our
lives, there'll be some that are very encouraging, very strengthening,
that have happened. No one can take that away. Other
things are very perplexing things, very trying things that have
happened. But it's the same God that has
brought both into our lives. And so the apostle focuses on
those things then which are happening, as if he would say to these Philippians,
I'm not going to bring you, at this point, doctrine or teaching
or these things. I'm going to concentrate on God's
work in providence, what God has been doing and performing
in my life, in others' lives, ordering my ways. So what was it then specifically
that he could point and he said the furtherance of the gospel
where he had been brought to Rome, he had to appeal unto Caesar,
back in Caesarea. And because of that, even though
it was that the governors there said that he could have been
set free if he hadn't appealed to Caesar, but he had. Was it a mistake? No. He must
needs go to Rome, but not as he thought first, but as a prisoner. And so he's brought then to Rome,
and there he is at Rome. And there he is in Caesar's household. He's in Caesar's court. He says in verse 13, so that
my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all
other places. So his captivity was well known,
you know, sometimes. We might think if only our troubles,
our trials, weren't so public. If only our bondage, our captivity,
our aloneness, our adversaries, our trials, that it wasn't so
well known. It was all hushed up. No. Paul
says, my bonds are known everywhere. But you see it. was for good. If we go forward a few chapters
here, and in Philippians chapter 4 verse 22, we have him saying,
when he's asking to salute every saint in Christ Jesus, he's saying,
all the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The Lord had those in Caesar's
household which were his. And Paul had to go there for
them. You might say, well, weren't
they able to accomplish his freedom? You've got to leave that aside. What the Lord accomplished was
to bring those to faith who were strangers, who were aliens, who
would otherwise not have heard the gospel. and through Paul
being brought as a prisoner and having his bond in that way,
there were those that were saved in that place, even in Caesar's
palace, even there. And that's one point the apostle
could tell those at Philippi out of my bonds, out of people
knowing about them, being them so public. The other thing is,
in verse 14, many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident
by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. In one sense it is this, the
thought, well, If the Apostle Paul had been preaching the Word,
and as soon as he was apprehended, then he was slain with the sword,
then men might be very frightened to also preach the Word, knowing
that such a swift vengeance would be on them. But if they thought,
well, the worst that's happened to the Apostle is he's shut up
in his own house. He can still have friends come
to him. He can still write letters like this one here. And so that
gave them boldness. You think of what it was in this
land. If it was said that if we continued
preaching, then we'd immediately have the death sentence, then
people would be very, very frightened to continue. But if we knew that
the worst that could happen was to be locked up in prison, then
there would be much more encouraged to actually continue. The Apostle
Paul, when he preached, he says, I count not my life dear unto
me. We're very different than that
very often. Most solemn things, sometimes we can think, well,
if we say that, our reputation will be ruined. If we say that,
people are going to leave the church and leave the chapel.
If we say that, then we're going to have conflict and someone
will be offended. Or maybe someone will attack
us. The Apostle Paul, he says, I
count not my life to you, I'm going to be faithful, I'm going
to preach Christ, whatever the outcome, whether it is for life
or death, let my reputation be nothing, but Christ must be preached. Now, there were those then that
through their knowledge of what was happening to Paul, it gave
them boldness. to speak without fear. The apostle knew that, but sometimes
we do not know the effect that what we are going through is
having on others. But the apostle was here able
to point that his situation His bonds had given boldness to others
to speak without fear. That was the second thing. There
was to be an encouragement to those at Philippi. Then there's
a third thing. You might think it's a strange
thing. The apostle's saying from verse 15 through to 17. The gospel is preaching Christ. But here he's saying, well, some
are preaching him of envy and strife. And the way I take it
in this is not envy against Christ. They're not hating the gospel. But they're against Paul. They're
despising Paul. It's like in our day, we might
say, well, I don't like that preacher in the other town, the
horrible preacher. and I'll use my pulpit to speak
against him, and I'll show such envy against him, and others
towards us, and you get this strife, and it's a very sad thing,
amongst churches, amongst brethren, amongst those that are preaching
Christ, and what a difference. Some indeed preach Christ even
of ambient strife, some of goodwill. One preached Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. So the
way they're preaching Christ is supposing to attack at the
Apostle Paul, the other of love and knowing that I'm set for
defense of the gospel. So it is really centered upon
upon Paul. And sometimes we can be more
discouraged by brethren or more discouraged by those that we
think, well, we hope we are standing for the truth and we're standing
for what is right. But here we have others that
also are preaching Christ, but they are not with us. You know,
the Lord had to contend with this with his apostles. They
had We saw one casting out devils in thy name, but we forbade him
because he followed not us. And the Lord said, forbid him
not. He that is not against us is for us. And this same spirit
that we can have this party spirit and conflict one with another,
and it can be very discouraging. can drag us down and pull us
down. And so the apostle here focuses
on this one thing. Is Christ being preached? Is He being lifted up? Is He
being set forth? It doesn't matter if those are
striving against me. It doesn't matter if they're
contending with me. But is Christ being lifted up?
Is He being exalted? How do we need such encouragement
as that? We can be very discouraged in
this way and think, well, we thought that the true faith and
true religion was all in this way and all in that way. No,
the Lord knows how. How he will bring about the good
news of salvation. And he can even use those that
are doing it In a wrong way, he says in verse 18, what they're
notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ
is preached. And I therein do rejoice. I am,
will rejoice. All the time, this is his aim. So it's principally these three
things that the apostle can point them to as that they should not
be discouraged, but be encouraged. We want to then look thirdly
and briefly at several points that we may really see bound
up with the Apostle's word here. Firstly, that God does have a
plan, does have a purpose. If we were to go back to the
Epistle to the Ephesians and in the first chapter, Then the
Apostle says in verse 9, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. And here Christ is set forth,
be set forth in the Lord's perfect will and purpose and plan He
refers to this again in chapter 3, verse 11, according to the
eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So we remember that in all of
our providences, trials, bonds, discouragements, the Lord does
have a plan. He has a purpose. The second thing to note is that
God is in control. We might make plans and we can't
fulfil them. And others come and scupper those
plans and by what they decide to do or not to, then it derails
them. But that cannot happen with the
Lord. No, it cannot. Nothing in our
lives, nothing that's happened in the church, nothing that's
happened in our health can ever derail God's purposes. He hath
ordained it, purposed it, and He is in control. Not man, not
chance, not Satan. How vital to remember that. The
third thing is this, that contrary providences also work for good. You know David when He was being
pursued by his son Absalom out of Jerusalem, and Shimei was
casting stones and dust, and Abishai wanted to go and take
off his head. David said, Let him curse, for
the Lord hath bidden him. It may be the Lord will requite
me good for his cursing this day. And he did in due time. But it was a contrary providence,
a very hurtful providence. We think of Job, in the book
of Job, the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. He was
able to say, blessed be the name of the Lord, but that trial got
darker and darker and deeper. But in the end of that book,
the latter end of Job was better than the beginning. And we read
in James, you've heard of the endurance or patience of Job,
seeing the end of the Lord. Contrary providences. We might
think, well, it's got to be something pleasant. It's got to be something
that we can openly, very quickly see has been for good, if it
is for good. No, it's those things that seem
to have been quite for bad. And the opposite that therein
God may have, very often has, those blessed purposes. And you
know, we can't really come to anything more than when we think
of the fall itself? Why did God permit that? But
all that flowed from the fall was the provision of the Saviour,
but His terrible sufferings at Calvary, why did the Lord permit
that? There is our soul's salvation. The Lord takes from the curse
and turns it to a blessing. In the world ye shall have tribulation,
in me ye shall have peace. Ye must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom. You might think, why is it we
need to be reminded so often that it's contrary things and
trials and troubles and afflictions that Lord makes to work for good,
as well as pleasant, pleasing things? More often, usually,
it is the troubles and trials. So remember this. Think of John
Bunyan. John Bunyan, you'd think, wouldn't
he be a lot better? At liberty, seeing his blind
daughter, able to preach unhindered to his congregation. Instead,
he was locked up in jail for 12 years. But from that has come
the Holy War and Pilgrim's Progress, both parts. and a blessing to
the Church of God, not just in his day, but for many, many generations. The Lord knew what he was doing. But then another thing we are
to remember, God's servants, they Their influence is not just by
word, but by what they endure. It's not just Paul's preaching,
it is bonds. It's not just our preaching,
and our lives, and our word, but actually what we do, endure,
and go through. that is used by the Lord, that
furthers the Gospel. We might have in our mind that,
well, this is what will further the Gospel, this is what will
extol the Lord. The Lord says, no, that won't,
but this will. You could take it with the case
of Naomi, to go down and it doesn't appear to be a right thing to
do, to run away from the Lord's people, When there is famine
and trial, without you being told to, like the Shunammite
woman was, by Elisha later on, that she goes, she loses her
husband, she loses her two sons. And the path that she walked,
really the grace shone in her, her path under trial and under
affliction. And I trust that those of us,
it's not what those that we know have said, but as we viewed their
grace, as we viewed their perseverance, viewed how they've acted under
trials, that has strengthened us, that's helped us. And certainly
with Naomi, what brought her to desire to cleave to Ruth to
cleave to Naomi and to want her God. Why, you'd think naturally
you'd say, who wants a God that brings such bereavement and grief
and trouble and sorrow? But it worked the other way round.
The grace of God shone in Naomi in adversity and in trial. I say that in encouragement to
those of you with afflictions and trials. tribulations, you
don't know who is watching you, who's looking at your life, who
knows what you're going through, sees that you haven't cast away
your faith, you still cleave to the Lord, still would walk
in his ways, and they're encouraged by that. The Lord is glorified in the
path that you walk. We are not hidden like the Apostle
Paul wasn't hidden. What his path was is seen, known
and read of all men. And the Lord will make sure what
is read is to the furtherance of the gospel. May our prayer
be to, may we do nothing, say nothing that would be a discouragement. I believe this is why the Apostle
is writing in this way. He doesn't want it to be encouragement,
a discouragement. He wants it to be an encouragement.
The very same thing, the very same path, the contrary path. It was to be an encouragement.
The last thing I'd say is this, that we must remember that God
has a timing in this. Paul says that Those things which
happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the gospel. He's overlooked back and says
that it has happened. But there's many a time walking
through it, we don't yet see it has happened. We think of
the case of Joseph. Joseph who had the dreams, had
the expectation God would do something through him. And yet
he has to go those 20 or so years in such affliction. We read in
Psalm 105, until his time came, the word of the Lord tried him.
Evil treated of by his brothers, false accused, cast into prison,
forgotten, and yet at last brought forth, next unto Pharaoh, the
head in all Egypt. and able to say when his brothers
came and he made known himself to them, and he says, Now therefore
be not grieved, in Genesis 45, 5, nor angry with yourselves
that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve
life. He's able to see. Later on he
says, ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. But especially
with Joseph, we see a timing, not just of months or days, but
years and many years. And we need to remember that.
You could go back to the life of Moses, and you say, what,
40 years in Pharaoh's household? How is that working for good,
the furtherance of the gospel? 40 years, then later, in the
backside of the desert looking after the sheep, how is that
furthering? But the Lord was preparing and
teaching Moses, and then his life's work began at 80 in the
40 years through the wilderness. Many in the scriptures we can
look at, and look at their lives, and we say it was for the furtherance
of the Gospel. Christ was exalted, God's people
were saved, they were helped, they were strengthened, they
were encouraged. So may we be amongst those that
are encouraged, that understand as well. But I would, you should
understand brethren, Yet the things which happened unto me
have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. The Lord at his blessing. Amen.