Let us open our Bibles today
to the letter of Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. Last Sunday we looked at the
Apostle Paul's prayer as it is recorded in verses 9 through
11 for the saints at Philippi. And as we looked at those four
requests, I trust that we have used those in our prayers for
one another this past week. All of them are excellent things
that we all need. This I pray, verse 9, that your
love may abound. Pray for me that my love may
abound as I pray for you. Yet more and more in knowledge
and in all judgment that we may approve things that are different
or excellent. That we may be sincere and without
offense to the day of Christ. And that being filled with the
fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ and unto
the glory and praise of God. But this morning we are looking
at verses 12 through 18. Let's read them. and in all other places. And
many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds,
are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed
preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the
other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and
therein I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. In these verses
this morning, I want us to think on three thoughts, or three things. First of all, the care. the care that the Apostle Paul
had for this church. He begins with these words, I
would, you should understand. He was concerned that they not
be offended by the things which happened unto him. Pastors always
concerned about his congregation. Paul was not a pastor, he was
a missionary, but as I've said many times, he had a pastor's
heart. And he was concerned that these
believers, these saints in Philippi, as they heard of what he was
experiencing, that they might be offended. by the gospel and
what it brought in the life of the Apostle Paul. I want you
to look back with me if you will to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11.
Just turn back a few pages and if not listen as we read. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. Some
of the things which happened unto him. Beginning in verse 24. Here are
some of the things that happened unto the Apostle Paul. Of the Jews, five times received
I forty stripes, save one. Five times, the Apostle Paul
says, of the Jews I was beaten with thirty-nine stripes. Remember the law would not allow
a person to beat someone more than with forty stripes. And
so they always stopped one shard so that they would not go over. And if you did go over, then
you would be subject to receive the same punishment. Paul said,
five times I've been beaten, 39 times by the Jews. Three times was I beaten with
rods. Now from what I've read, very
few people lived after they were beaten with rods. It was such
a awful treatment, punishment, that very few people lived. The
Apostle Paul said he experienced this three times. Once was I
stoned. We read about that in the book
of Acts, don't we? And the only reason it seems
that they stopped stoning him is because they were convinced
that he was dead. And they just drug his body outside
the city. And the believers gathered around
him and no doubt prayed for him. And he stood up. Once he said, I was stoned. Think about this. If a man came
into your town and preached the gospel, and you believed the
message which he brought to you, and then he goes off, and you
hear these things are happening to him, do you see how you might
be offended over this message? Do I want to go through that?
Do I want to experience that? Is this this gospel of hope,
of salvation that he's brought to us, is this what it brings? Is this what it causes a person
to experience? Thrice I suffered shipwreck.
A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine
own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the
city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness. Now notice, besides those things
that are without, those things all happen to the body. The infliction
that was put upon him in all of these things were concerning
the body. But we know that man is made
up of body and soul. And so yes, the afflictions that
were upon him bodily were great. But notice he says, besides those
things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the
care of all the churches. the care of all the churches. Now this church at Philippi,
of course, was one of those churches. The care that he had for this
church. If you turn back to our passage
this morning, he begins, I would you, would you should understand that the things which happened
unto me, What things is he talking about? Well, things like we have
just read. The things that he suffered bodily. In the text here that we are
looking at, the word which is translated bonds in verse 13
and also in verse 14, we usually say, well, he was a prisoner.
Yes, he was a prisoner in Rome when he wrote this letter. But
the word that is translated bonds also could be translated chains. the chains. And this has led
many people to believe that this was literally true of Paul as
a prisoner. And though we read in the book
of Acts, it closes with him being a prisoner in Rome and we are
told that he had liberty there to receive all that came unto
him. But at the same time, it is thought
that there was always on the other end of the chain. one end
of the chain to the Apostle Paul, and one end of the chain, a Roman
soldier, that he was always chained to a Roman soldier. And this
is another reason people believe that as he wrote Ephesians chapter
6, look back to chapter 6 of Ephesians just a moment, and
he describes the Christian armor And he speaks about the sword,
the helmet, the breastplate, the shield, and sandals. That
he was writing this at the same time there was a Roman soldier
that he could look at and see the armor that he had. And he
spiritualizes this to the believer, to the child of God. Look, beginning
in verse 10. Ephesians 6 and verse 10. Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the walls of the devil. For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places." You see, the Christian
life is a warfare, a warfare. We have three enemies which we
are always cognizant of. We always know that we have these
three enemies. The world is one enemy, and we
should not be surprised, my friends, when we see things that are happening
in the world today. This world has never been a friend
to Christ. It has never been a friend to
grace and it never will be until this world is burned up and a
new world in which righteousness dwells is brought to pass. We
have the world, we have Satan who goes about as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. He's always, and he has demons
under his power, which are always going about and looking for believers. They're not looking for lost
people. Lost people are already under their control, already
under their power. No, they're looking for believers,
those that the Lord Jesus Christ has set free, has loosed from
the devil's power. They're walking about seeking
whom they may devour. The devil doesn't care so much
about you or about me, but what he does care about is trying
to spoil, to ruin the testimony of our Savior. Oh yes, and not
only the world and Satan, but we have an enemy within, don't
we? We have the flesh. The flesh,
that old man that is still part of us. No wonder, he says, put
on the whole armor of God. Verse 13, Wherefore take unto
you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day. and having done all to stand.
Stand, therefore, having your loins gird about with the truth."
The loins of your mind gird about with the truth. Now, they would
have what we would call a belt, I believe, a Roman soldier, because
their robes were long and flowing and they would have something
that would gird that robe about them. You know, you could stumble
over your robe, couldn't you? You could. You can stumble over
a shoestring. One of my shoes was untied yesterday,
and a man who was here doing some work, he noticed it. I saw it. I'd seen it. I was
going to take care of it. But he got concerned about me.
He said, that shoestring, you're going to fall. You're going to
stumble over that. Oh, they'd take, they had these long robes,
and so they would gird about. And that's what the Apostle says,
first of all, and our minds need to be girded about with the truth,
the truth about God, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Oh, we've got to protect this
breast, don't we? The most important part of our
body, I assume, the heart must be protected. The breastplate
of righteousness. And our feet, our feet must be
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That's one
of the weapons that the enemies would
sometimes put where they thought they were going to have a battle,
were these little stoves that were very sharp. And a soldier,
you know, if he didn't have sandals on, step on one of those, he'd
be incapacitated for fighting. Have your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the
shield of faith. Oh my. We've got to have the
shield of faith, don't we? When Satan throws one of those
fiery darts at you, some thought comes into your mind. You would
never have thought of that in a hundred years. And yet, it
comes into your mind. And sometimes when you're praying.
Isn't that true? Sometimes when you are praying
and talking to God, yet here comes a thought and you want,
where in the world did that come from? The shield of faith to
ward off those fiery darts of the devil. And take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel. Yes, the Apostle
Paul was in bonds. He was chained in all probability
to a Roman soldier. And Paul recognized, as he was
chained to that soldier when he wrote this letter, he recognized
that the things that had happened to him, the things that the believers,
the saints in Philippi, would hear might cause them, especially
weak believers, to be offended. Paul would have them understand
that these things which happened to him had fallen out. Notice that in our text again. But I would you should understand
brethren that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out. Now, what did they fall out of? What did they fall out of? Let
me tell you what they fell out of. They fell out of God's providence. And Paul knew that, and he wanted
these believers to know that. They fell out of God's providence,
God's purpose, and God's plan to spread the gospel. Remember
Saul, this Paul, when he was called Saul, he himself, as a
lost man, we're told in Acts chapter 8, made havoc of the
church. He was a ringleader in those
who opposed the gospel and opposed believers in Christ. He made
havoc of the church. Oh, he thought he'd really done
something. He scared those poor sheep of God, those poor lambs. He just drove them out, made
them run. He thought he'd really done something.
He had done something. He had accomplished God's purpose.
He had accomplished God's will. Because the scripture says, they
that were scattered went everywhere preaching the gospel. They went
everywhere, scattered abroad, went everywhere preaching the
gospel. Let me remind us that things
don't just happen. Things don't just happen as though
there were no God. That's what men like to believe,
isn't it? that we're somehow in a world
and everything is ruled by chance, or by fate, or by something which
they call luck. But let us remember from the
Word of God that all things are working out according to His
purpose and will. He worketh all things, the Scripture
says, after the counsel of His own will. There's a big difference,
my friends, between believing in fate. And you hear people
sometimes, they will say, well I just have always believed that
things happen for a purpose. And many times people who say
that, what they're talking about is some kind of fate. That all
things, whatever will be, will be. Listen, there's a world of
difference in trusting and believing and worshiping personal God,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who works all things
after the counsel of His will, and believing in something called
fate. Think of it like this. Fate is
like a machine. A machine that maybe has been
designed to do a certain thing, and it just keeps doing that
same thing over and over and over again. Men, most men are
practical atheists. Now that's just so. We read about
God creating the world and some of us believe what the scriptures
say. By faith we understand that the
worlds were made by God. And then we think, well, he made
the world and he He's kind of wound it up like you'd wind up
a clock and he stepped aside now and everything's just going
on by these laws that he created. We believe that God, the same
God, my friends, who in His all-powerfulness, nothing is impossible with God,
spoke the worlds into existence, but He continues to work. He upholds all things by the
word of His power. He is active in His creation. Yes, these laws that He created
are His laws. And when He so desires, He can
work against those laws. We read about that in the scripture
when Joshua prayed and asked the Lord that the sun would stand
still. Now you know, the sun doesn't
move. The earth moves around it, doesn't
it? But yet, in request, God made
the sun stand still. The earth, for that space of
time, stayed as it was until the battle was completed. You say, I can't believe that.
Well, I do. I do. I believe that God is all-powerful,
that He works all things. The Lord Jesus Christ said, My
Father worketh hitherto, and I work. He continues to work
in His creation. And He's working for the good
of His people, even as the Apostle Paul wrote. For we know that
all things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. We know that. Not only for the good of His
people in our lives, but He's working, my friends, to save
His people. Those whom He has chosen, He
is working to save. And He is going to cross the
path of His people with the gospel. Just like the scripture says,
John chapter 4, don't you just love this? He must needs go through
Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. Why? Because there was one of
His. You would have never chosen her,
if you had seen her life, what a mess it was. And yet she was
one that God had set His love upon before the foundation of
the world. And He was going to call her.
He was going to cross her path with the gospel. And He did.
He did. Second, so first of all we see
the care. I want you to think about the
care that the Apostle Paul had for the believers, for the saints
in Philippi. Now second, the good that Paul
saw God bring out of evil. The good that Paul saw God bring
out of evil. Paul mentions two good things
that God brought out of the evil. And when I say evil, I'm not
talking about moral evil. I'm talking about the things
we read about. The evil that Paul experienced.
The afflictions. You know that. But remember this. God can and God does bring good
out of evil. Sometimes you experience something
you, oh, I wish, oh, I wish I had not had to go through that. Don't
lose hope. Don't lose faith. Things may
look dark today, but you don't know what God has purposed. We
learn this early on in the scriptures, don't we? Look back to Genesis,
if you will, Genesis chapter 50. reading about a place when Jacob
had died and all of his descendants were down in Egypt. And Joseph
was the prime minister and his brothers, remember, had sold
him into slavery. And they just thought, now our
dad's dead, he's going to deal with us. Boy, we're going to
have it now. We're going to get it now. Oh
yeah. They were so afraid. Look in
chapter 50, beginning with verse 14. And Joseph returned into
Egypt after burying his father, he and his brethren, and all
that went up with him to bury his father after he had buried
his father. And when Joseph's brethren saw
that their father was dead, they said... Now here's the way we
think. Here's the way we rationalize. as though God is not in control. Joseph will peradventure hate
us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. We've got to figure something
out here. We've got to devise some plan to save our necks.
So they sent a messenger. Under Joseph, they told Joseph
a lie. They didn't trust Joseph. They
didn't believe Joseph. Many times we don't believe God.
We don't trust God. We've got to figure something
out. We've got to do something, even if it's wrong. They told a lie. Thy father did
command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph,
Forgive I pray thee now the trespass of thy brethren and their sin,
for they did unto thee evil. And now we pray thee, forgive
the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went
and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear
not. How many times does God tell
us in his word, fear not? Be not afraid. That tells me that we're given
to fear, that God's children are given to fear, to being afraid,
because we have Him telling us so many times, don't be afraid,
fear not. Fear not, for I am in the place
of God, for am I in the place of God. But as for you, you thought
evil against me, but God managed unto good, to bring to pass as
it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore,
fear you not, I will nourish you and your little ones.' And
he comforted them and spake kindly unto them." Paul, writing to these believers
in Philippi, he wanted them to understand that the things which
happened unto him had fallen out, you notice he said, rather
unto the futherance of the gospel. The futherance of the gospel.
There are two things that I would mention here. First, the good. The first good that God brought
out of this evil. The things which happened to
Paul was the futherance of the gospel. Remember when you read
the last part of the book of Acts, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem
and he eventually was taken to Rome. That's the way the book
ends. But think of all the persons,
think of all the persons from the time he was arrested and
that mob had him there in Jerusalem and here comes this centurion,
this Roman centurion and saves Paul out of their hands. No doubt
he heard the gospel. And then he was taken to that place, and the captain of the
guard, he heard the gospel. And the captain of the guard
sent him to Felix, Roman governor, he heard the gospel. Festus took
the place of Felix, he heard the gospel. King Agrippa, he
came along, and Bernis, and they heard the gospel. We're just
mentioning those that we are told about. Paul said, these
things that happened unto me, that have fallen out unto me,
God's brought good out of this. How? For the furtherance of the
gospel. And then when he was given over
to that Roman centurion to take him as a prisoner to Rome, that
man heard the gospel. I believe his name is given to
us, Julius. And then remember they came upon
an an island, they were shipwrecked on that island, and there was
a man there by the name of Pubilus and his father, they at least
heard the gospel. And what about all of those prisoners
on board that ship? They heard the gospel. And then
he's brought to Rome. And men there heard the gospel.
You know that old saying? All roads lead to Rome. And that was true in that day.
And from all parts of the Roman Empire, which was a world empire,
wasn't it? A world empire of the known world. And people would come to Rome
and they would hear the gospel and take the gospel back to their
places. That's what he says. So that
my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and notice,
and in all other places. And wouldn't you just know that
even in Nero's household, some heard the gospel and were saved. Look to chapter 4 when he ends
this letter. Philippians chapter 4, verse
21. Salute every saint in Christ
Jesus. The brethren which are with me
greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly
they that are of Caesar's household. Oh, Paul says, I don't want you
to misunderstand. These things that have happened
unto me have happened for the fulfillment of the gospel. No
telling how many people were converted through Paul's preaching
as he was a prisoner taken away and led to Rome. Let us this
morning recognize that God has a people in this world, a people
who are called a remnant according to the election of grace. They
were given to Christ to be His sheep, members of His body, and
not one of them will be lost. He is the Good Shepherd who gave
His life for His sheep, and He will, He will, my friends, He
will, He will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. He travailed in suffering for
his people, and he will see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied. Isn't that what Isaiah tells
us? Sure it is. Now the second good, and I've
just got to hurry over this, but the second good was that
others, Paul said, were emboldened to preach the gospel. As they
saw what Paul was going through, notice it says in verse 14, And
many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my chains,
are much more bold to speak the word of God, or the word without
fear. Now Paul refers to them all as
brethren. So they all confessed to be brethren,
and maybe they all were. We don't know, but we do know
this. He tells us that some, some were
emboldened to preach the gospel and they preached out of love,
out of sincerity. They loved God, they loved Christ,
they loved his gospel, and they loved to preach the free grace
of God. But he tells us, and sad to say,
that some preached out of envy and and jealousy and things like
that. And Paul rejoiced and they preached
the word. They preached the word. Two suggestions.
Why would men preach out of envy? Well, some believe they hope
to add affliction to Paul. That is, they hope to stir up
Rome itself so that they would do away with Paul. settled his
case hurriedly, and some believe that they were just jealous.
They were just jealous of Paul. Paul was recognized as a man
of God, had great influence, and you know people always think
that others think like they do. And they wanted that. They wanted what Paul had, that
respect. among the believers, among the
churches. And so they preach the gospel. But let me close with this third
thing. Paul refused. He refused to let anything steal
his joy. Notice that in verse 18. What then? Notwithstanding, some
preach Out of love, some preach out of envy. But Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, and
ye will rejoice. Let me close by asking this question. Was Paul's circumstance ideal? When he wrote this letter, was
his circumstances ideal? He was a prisoner. He was living
in a pagan society. He lived under a despot. Nero. No one would think so. No one would think that his circumstances
were ideal. But Paul did not rejoice in his
circumstances. They vary. They change. He rejoiced
in Christ. He's the same, always, at all
times, and in all places. Rejoice, yea, I say again, rejoice
in the Lord. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. I trust the Lord will bless this
message to us this morning. Let's turn in our hymn books
as we stand in number 342, hymn number 342. you