Philippians - Chains, Critics and Crisis, Part 2

Are you enjoying your ministry today or are you just enduring your ministry? Is your ministry a blessing to you? Now I didn't ask is your ministry a blessing to others. Is your ministry a blessing to you? Jonah's ministry was a blessing to others, but it wasn't a blessing to him. He ended up in worse shape than when he started.

Philippians emphasizes the joy of ministry. The word "rejoice" is found twelve times in this little letter, the word "joy" six times, the word "gladness" one time—a total of nineteen times Paul emphasizes joy and rejoicing. In Philippians 1, he says we ought to have joy because of the message of our ministry: Christ and the gospel. In Philippians 2, we have joy because of the model for our ministry: Jesus Christ. If you're following Jesus Christ as your model for ministry, then you ought to be experiencing joy today. Philippians 3, he says if our motives are right, then we're going to have joy in ministry. And finally, in Philippians 4, we have joy in the means of ministry that God provides for us; God takes care of every need.

We're looking at Philippians 1, where Paul is talking about the message of our ministry: Christ and the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned eighteen times in Philippians 1, and Paul uses the word "gospel" at least six times. When your heart and mind are fixed upon Christ and the gospel, when your desire is just to share Jesus Christ with people, then you're going to have joy in your ministry.

We discovered in Philippians 1 that Paul applies the gospel to three different groups of people. In Philippians 1:3-11, he applies the gospel to God's people, the inner circle of the saints. He talks about the fellowship in the gospel, verse 5. Then in Philippians 1:12-26, he talks about the furtherance of the gospel. Here he is applying the gospel to the wider circle of unbelievers. And then in Philippians 1:27-30, Paul talks about our adversaries, those who oppose the gospel, and he discusses this important responsibility of striving together for the faith of the gospel. These three phrases, then, summarize the application of the gospel in the world today: the fellowship of the gospel, the saints, Philippians 1:3-11; the furtherance of the gospel, the wide circle of the lost, Philippians 1:12-26; the faith of the gospel, Philippians 1:27-30, the Word of God as it applies to our adversaries, those who oppose the work of the Lord.

Now we've been looking at this second section where Paul is talking about the furtherance of the gospel. Philippians 1:12: "I would have you understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." That word "furtherance" means pioneer advance. It means moving forward in spite of obstructions and in spite of difficulties. It's the picture of a ship going through a storm and keeping on going in spite of wind and wave. It's a picture of an army advancing into new territory.

One of the problems, I think, is that we Christians have a tendency to stay in the same territory; we're not making pioneer advance. Paul was concerned about moving into new areas, and he did. God used three very wonderful tools to advance the gospel while Paul was at Rome. First, his chains, Philippians 1:12-14. Christ is known because Paul was there and he had these chains; he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. It gave opportunity for people to share the gospel.

Then Philippians 1:15-19, the second tool that God used: Paul's critics. Christ is preached. Notice now the sequence: Christ is known; Christ is preached. Even though some of his critics were making life difficult for him, Paul didn't complain. Paul rejoiced that Christ was being preached.

Now in Philippians 1:20-26, the apostle Paul deals with the third tool that God used to advance the gospel, namely his crisis. What was his crisis? There was the possibility that he might die. You see, Paul was in Rome technically to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the early stages of the church, the Roman Empire looked upon Christianity as another kind of Judaism.

Now the Jewish religion was an accepted, approved religion in the Roman Empire. The Romans did not persecute the Jews because they were not bowing down to Caesar. Well, the first Christians were Jewish people, and many of the first churches came out of synagogues, and the Jewish believers used to meet in the temple. And so in the early stages of Christianity, the Roman Empire looked upon the Christian church as one other group in Judaism. Then, when the Jews began to persecute the Christians, the Romans woke up to the fact that there was a difference. And they found out that the Christian faith was not Judaism continued; rather, it was the fulfillment of Judaism.

Now this meant that the Christian faith was on trial. And Paul was in Rome hoping to be able to get for the church the same kind of recognition that Judaism had. In other words, he wanted the Roman Empire to accept the Christian faith because the Christians could not stand at an altar dedicated to a pagan god and say "Caesar is Lord." Their confession was "Jesus Christ is Lord." And Paul was willing to lay down his life, if necessary, in order to give recognition to the church throughout the Roman Empire. And so this is his crisis.

Philippians 1:20-26: "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, that is in my human body, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again."

Now there was a possibility that Paul might die. There had been a preliminary trial, and Paul had apparently come off from that trial in pretty good condition. They must have made some decisions in his favor. Now there was going to be another trial, and Paul is facing this with great boldness. His great concern: Christ is magnified. Notice the sequence now: in the furtherance of the gospel, God used his chains, Christ is known; God used his critics, Christ is preached; and God used his crisis, Christ is magnified.

Now how was he going to magnify Christ? Through his body. We have the idea that our bodies are sinful. Our bodies are not sinful. There is a sinful nature within us that wants to drag us down; the body is neutral. I can take my ballpoint pen and I can write a nasty letter to someone and use that neutral pen to do an evil thing, or I can write a check for a missionary and use that neutral pen to do some good. Your body is neutral. Now the flesh and the devil and the world want to use your body; they want to conform your body to the things of this world. But Paul tells us we should use our bodies to be God's tool, God's instrument to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice what he says here: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Many years ago, Dr. Babcock made the statement, "Life is what we are alive to." I want to repeat that: "Life is what we are alive to." If you call me up and say, "Brother Wiersbe, let's go to a football game," it wouldn't—it wouldn't make me alive at all. But if you call me up and say, "There's a book sale going on," that I'm going to respond to. My wife hears about sales in the store, she responds to that. Or someone talks about gardens or flowers, she responds to that. I have relatives, you just mention the word "automobile" and immediately they glow. Life is what you are alive to.

Now Paul was alive in Christ and alive to Christ, and anything that related to Jesus Christ really made him alive, even though it might have meant his death. He was not afraid to die: "For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain." He says in Philippians 1:23, "I have a desire to depart." That's a beautiful Greek word. That Greek word translated here as "depart" was a military term. It meant to take down a tent and move on. Now your body is a tent. We read in 2 Corinthians 5: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle, our tent, is taken down"—that's death—"we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," a glorified body. And so Paul is saying if they do kill me, all it means is taking down the tent and moving to higher ground.

The sailors used to use this word; it meant to loosen a ship and set sail. Paul is saying I'm not afraid to die because if I die, it's just simply untying my little craft and I set sail off to the haven of heaven where there'll be no more storms and no more problems. It also meant to set a prisoner free. And Paul is saying, "Here I am a prisoner of Jesus Christ, technically I'm a prisoner of Rome, but one of these days I'm going to be set free." When a Christian dies, it's like the setting free of a prisoner. We're set free to enter into all the glorious freedom that God has for us in the heavens.

There were many problems Paul couldn't solve. There were many things he couldn't understand. When you read his letters, he admits it. He said, "Now we see through a glass darkly. Now we know in part." But when a Christian dies, he goes on to heaven, and then he understands why that automobile accident took place. Then he understands why that loved one died. Then he understands why God permitted him to be hurt by someone who should have helped him. So death had no terror for the apostle Paul. Why? Because with a single mind, he was concerned about one thing: magnifying Jesus Christ, being concerned about Christ and the gospel.

In fact, Paul was in the throes of making a decision here. He said, "I would really love to depart, to break camp, to loosen the ship and go be with Christ, but you need me." Here was an interesting thing: here was a man who was willing to stay out of heaven in order to help his fellow Christians. When Paul wrote to the Romans, he said he was willing if necessary to go to hell that his Jewish brethren might be saved. Here's a remarkable man. He is so wrapped up in Jesus Christ that he is willing himself to be judged that others might be saved, and he's willing to stay out of heaven for a little while that others might be helped.

What did he want them to do? Philippians 1:25, he said, "I want to help you in the furtherance of your joy of faith." That word "furtherance" in verse 25 is the same as the word "furtherance" in verse 12: pioneer advance. He said, "You Philippian Christians have not arrived yet. Oh, there is new territory for you to gain." My friend, you have not arrived yet. I have not arrived yet. Are you a pioneer Christian who's moving into new territory of joy and faith? Are you moving into new territory in the Word of God, or are you standing still in the same place?

Well, you find the fellowship of the gospel in Philippians 1:3-11, and then you find the furtherance of the gospel in Philippians 1:12-26. But when you come to Philippians 1:27, you move into striving together for the faith of the gospel. We are not just simply sons who enjoy the fellowship in the family, or servants who enjoy furthering the gospel; we are soldiers. We're in a conflict. The Christian life is not a playground; the Christian life is a battleground.

Let's read Philippians 1:27-30. Paul writes to his friends at Philippi and says: "Only let your conduct be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition judgment, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me."

He's talking here about the church defending the gospel, striving together for the faith of the gospel. We sing occasionally in our church services hymns that relate to army situations, martial hymns: "Onward, Christian Soldiers," "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, Ye Soldiers of the Cross." And this is important.

Now there are some saints of God who only enjoy the fellowship of the gospel. There are others who all they talk about is the furtherance of the gospel, and we're glad for these things. But how about striving together for the faith of the gospel? When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, his workers had a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. If we don't defend the faith that's been delivered to the saints, there won't be any gospel to share. We're going to lose ground, and the enemy is going to take over. The church today must fight for the faith of the gospel. And if we're going to win that battle and defeat the enemy, three essentials are important, and here they are.

Number one: consistency. "Let your conduct be as it becometh the gospel of Christ"—consistency. Secondly: cooperation. "Standing fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." And thirdly: confidence. "In nothing be terrified by your adversaries." Can you remember those three essentials?

You see, if you're going to have joy in your ministry, you have to defend the gospel. You have to defend the faith that's been once and for all given to the saints. And if you're going to do this, there has to be consistency, cooperation, and confidence. Paul is giving us three different pictures of the Christian life here, isn't he? Consistency—he talks about us as citizens. Cooperation—he uses the picture of an athlete. Confidence—he changes the image to that of a soldier. And so with these three images in mind and these three essentials, let's look together at Philippians 1:27-30.

If we are going to defeat the enemy and carry on the ministry of the Word of God, there has to be consistency. "Only let your conduct be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." Now this word "conduct" means, literally, politics. It's the Greek word that gives us our word politics. It means behavior; it means how you conduct yourself in the circumstances where you are.

You must remember that the city of Philippi was a colony of Rome. Now, what was a Roman colony? Well, the Roman government was very wise; they realized that the best way to keep peace was to have more of Rome in the places where they conquered. And so what they would do is they would take a city and they would make it a Roman colony. They said, "Philippi, you are a Roman colony. Even though you are not located in Italy, even though you're not next to the city of Rome, you are going to be a Roman colony. This means that you are going to be governed by Roman law, your officers are going to have Roman titles, you'll be protected by Rome, you'll have all the privileges of Rome, but you must remember that you are a Rome away from Rome. You're a colony of Rome. Now you show all the people around you how wonderful it is to be a Roman." Sometimes the Roman Empire would transport their own Roman citizens into these colonies to set the example of how wonderful it was to be a Roman.

That's what God has done in the church. Your church is a colony of heaven on earth. Now God wants to win people to Himself. This is not the day of judgment; this is the day of grace, the day of salvation. And God has planted your church there in your city to be a colony of heaven on earth, and you are to show to the people around you how wonderful it is to be a citizen of heaven.

Jesus said one day, "Don't rejoice because the demons are subject to you, but rejoice that your names have been written down in heaven." We speak heaven's language. Now that doesn't mean we use some strange language. No, it just means that all of our speech is seasoned with the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. We obey heaven's laws. The apostles said we ought to obey God rather than men. Now we don't deliberately, proudly, arrogantly, belligerently disobey man's laws. If ever there comes a real conflict of conscience and we cannot obey the laws of men, then we have to obey the laws of God, but we better be very, very careful that we're not just creating a problem. As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

And so we're enrolled on heaven's register, we speak heaven's language, we obey heaven's laws, we're loyal to heaven's cause—the Romans in Philippi were loyal to Rome—and we're waiting for heaven's Lord. They never knew at Philippi when Caesar might show up, or when some great general might come, or some official to examine the books. You and I don't know when the Lord is going to come back. That's why Paul says in Philippians 3:20, "Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Consistency—the greatest weapon we have against the enemy is a consistent Christian life. Not debates, not lawsuits, not carrying flags and banners—the greatest weapon the church has against the enemy today is consistent Christians living the way Christians are supposed to live. Let your conduct be as it becomes the gospel of Christ. Pay your bills, love your neighbors, do your homework, earn an honest day's wages, live like a Christian should live. Consistency—that's the first essential.

The second is cooperation. Paul says "that I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." The picture here is of an athletic team. The little phrase "striving together" is a Greek word that gives us our word athletics. It's an athletic team working together to win the game.

Now I must confess to you I am not a good athlete. When I was a student at Washington School in East Chicago, Indiana, I want you to know that year after year I was the last person chosen for every team. Whether it was the intramural team or the physical ed department, our gym class, I was the last one chosen. Nobody wanted me on the team; I'm just lacking in athletic skill.

But I know this much about sports: if you're going to be on the team, you have to believe in teamwork. There cannot be a glory hound who has to make all the goals. We have to work together. And that means the same thing in the church. There should be one spirit, one enthusiasm. There should be one mind to strive together, to work together, to be a team working together. God has given to each of us a specific task to do. If a team is going to win the game, each player must do the job that he's been given to do. Let's work together. Let's not try to be glory hounds. Let's not all worry about whose name is going to be first on the list.

Cooperation—praying together, working together, rejoicing together, sharing together in the work of the Lord. And you and I are not only involved in the fellowship of the gospel and the furtherance of the gospel, but God wants to help us to strive together for the faith of the gospel