Verse 12:
Paul wants the Philippians to know first and foremost that the gospel is being advanced. He doesn’t tell them how good or bad he is being treated; he doesn’t mention the weather or the upcoming trial before Caesar; he doesn’t mention the food. His first order of business after a greeting that is rich in affection is to assure them that the gospel they partner with him in is moving ahead.
The word “advance” in Greek means to move forward despite obstacles and setbacks. It’s a term often associated with the movement of armies. The progress of the gospel is the increasing number of those who hear it and believe it for salvation. Despite Paul’s seeming setback; despite “what has happened to [him]”, being arrested really served to further the message of the gospel. Although Paul was chained, God’s word was not (2 Timothy 2).
It’s important to notice too that the Gospel is bigger than any one man. The spreading of the gospel doesn’t stop because any one man is debilitated. It goes on despite the set backs in our lives.
As a matter of fact, the Lord often uses the bad circumstances of life to spread the gospel even more. We see that here where Paul is in prison, but, we see it elsewhere too. A classic example is Acts 8 when the young church in Jerusalem was persecuted and scattered. The result was that “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Eventually, the gospel that started in some remote and obscure place in the Roman Empire called Judea, advanced now to the capital of the Empire and to Caesar himself. Paul was under house arrest waiting for his trial before Caesar and you can bet he would proclaim the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to Caesar himself. If you think you get nervous talking to a friend about Jesus, imagine how Paul felt!
Joni Erikson Tada is an internationally known author, speaker and radio host. She has been in a wheelchair for the past 43 years after a diving accident, and is unable to use her legs or her hands.
Even though I have rough moments in my wheelchair, for the most part I consider my paralysis a gift. Just as Jesus exchanged the meaning of the Cross from a symbol of torture to one of hope and salvation, He gives me the grace to do the same with my chair. If a cross can become a blessing, so can a wheelchair. The wheelchair, in a sense, is behind me now. The despair is over. There are now other crosses to bear, other "wheelchairs" in my life to be exchanged into gifts.
Paralysis arrested Joni, but, through her bad circumstances the gospel advances.
Paul says that the gospel is advancing because of what has happened to him. What has happened to you? What circumstances are you in? Perhaps you are not arrested by the Romans like Paul was, or in a wheelchair like Joni Erikson Tada, but, maybe you have your own prison. Somehow the circumstances in life have not played to your favor and you feel that you can’t get out. Do you find yourself saying, “Oh well, life is not fair”, or, “I just stay positive” and try to rely on something within yourself? Or, do you find joy like Paul, and blessing like Joni in bad circumstances in life?
Do you know the freedom Paul knew? Do you know you are liberated from your sins in Christ Jesus, and, have you surrendered every ounce of yourself to Him as Master? If so, then you can find the true freedom in Christ in your own prison. Paul looked differently at prison and hardship and suffering because of his salvation in Christ.
In another letter of his to the Corinthians, he writes, “But he [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul was saying that in His weaknesses, in his hardships, in his persecutions and difficulties – and he suffered a lot of them – he delights because it is then that the power and grace of the Lord is made perfect. It is then that there is less of Paul and more of Christ. What is accomplished in the advancement of the gospel is done by the power of Christ and not by the power of man.
I want to encourage us today that when we are in the prisons of life, those places where we feel we are confined and arrested by our bad circumstances, to remember that these prisons can become pulpits to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can know the freedom of being arrested by Christ for His will, and find joy in Christ being made known through us.
Paul wants the Philippians to know first and foremost that the gospel is being advanced. He doesn’t tell them how good or bad he is being treated; he doesn’t mention the weather or the upcoming trial before Caesar; he doesn’t mention the food. His first order of business after a greeting that is rich in affection is to assure them that the gospel they partner with him in is moving ahead.
The word “advance” in Greek means to move forward despite obstacles and setbacks. It’s a term often associated with the movement of armies. The progress of the gospel is the increasing number of those who hear it and believe it for salvation. Despite Paul’s seeming setback; despite “what has happened to [him]”, being arrested really served to further the message of the gospel. Although Paul was chained, God’s word was not (2 Timothy 2).
It’s important to notice too that the Gospel is bigger than any one man. The spreading of the gospel doesn’t stop because any one man is debilitated. It goes on despite the set backs in our lives.
As a matter of fact, the Lord often uses the bad circumstances of life to spread the gospel even more. We see that here where Paul is in prison, but, we see it elsewhere too. A classic example is Acts 8 when the young church in Jerusalem was persecuted and scattered. The result was that “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Eventually, the gospel that started in some remote and obscure place in the Roman Empire called Judea, advanced now to the capital of the Empire and to Caesar himself. Paul was under house arrest waiting for his trial before Caesar and you can bet he would proclaim the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to Caesar himself. If you think you get nervous talking to a friend about Jesus, imagine how Paul felt!
Joni Erikson Tada is an internationally known author, speaker and radio host. She has been in a wheelchair for the past 43 years after a diving accident, and is unable to use her legs or her hands.
Even though I have rough moments in my wheelchair, for the most part I consider my paralysis a gift. Just as Jesus exchanged the meaning of the Cross from a symbol of torture to one of hope and salvation, He gives me the grace to do the same with my chair. If a cross can become a blessing, so can a wheelchair. The wheelchair, in a sense, is behind me now. The despair is over. There are now other crosses to bear, other "wheelchairs" in my life to be exchanged into gifts.
Paralysis arrested Joni, but, through her bad circumstances the gospel advances.
Paul says that the gospel is advancing because of what has happened to him. What has happened to you? What circumstances are you in? Perhaps you are not arrested by the Romans like Paul was, or in a wheelchair like Joni Erikson Tada, but, maybe you have your own prison. Somehow the circumstances in life have not played to your favor and you feel that you can’t get out. Do you find yourself saying, “Oh well, life is not fair”, or, “I just stay positive” and try to rely on something within yourself? Or, do you find joy like Paul, and blessing like Joni in bad circumstances in life?
Do you know the freedom Paul knew? Do you know you are liberated from your sins in Christ Jesus, and, have you surrendered every ounce of yourself to Him as Master? If so, then you can find the true freedom in Christ in your own prison. Paul looked differently at prison and hardship and suffering because of his salvation in Christ.
In another letter of his to the Corinthians, he writes, “But he [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul was saying that in His weaknesses, in his hardships, in his persecutions and difficulties – and he suffered a lot of them – he delights because it is then that the power and grace of the Lord is made perfect. It is then that there is less of Paul and more of Christ. What is accomplished in the advancement of the gospel is done by the power of Christ and not by the power of man.
I want to encourage us today that when we are in the prisons of life, those places where we feel we are confined and arrested by our bad circumstances, to remember that these prisons can become pulpits to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can know the freedom of being arrested by Christ for His will, and find joy in Christ being made known through us.
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