Bob Josey - The Greater Progress of the Gospel

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The Letter to the Church at Philippi

1:12-18b The Greater Progress of the Gospel

Introduction

In 2006, two Muslim women became believers in Jesus Christ. They were dedicated believers in Jesus even though they were living in the middle of Tehran, Iran. Their names are Rostampour and Amirizadeh. For three years after becoming believes in Jesus, they held church services in their apartment in Tehran and distributed over 20,000 Bibles to Iranians. Both acts are illegal under Iranian law.

In 2009 they were arrested and sentenced to death for spreading the message of Christianity. They were sent to Evin prison, which is notorious for cruel and prolonged torture, using methods such as threats of execution or rape, sleep deprivation, electroshock, and severe beatings. The living conditions were horrible. Many women lived in one room that was cold and damp. The blankets and mattresses were urine soaked. Rostampour and Amirizadeh initially prayed for a quick release after being sent to Evin prison. However, they quickly learned that God had another plan for them. According to Amirizadeh, “God had a purpose for being in that dark place.”

Rostampour in an interview with Al Arabiya English said, “At first, we were praying for our release. But after a few days we realized that by meeting other women in the prison - some who were homeless or addicts - God had given us an opportunity to share the message of Christianity with people who needed to hear it the most.”

The women educated hundreds of fellow prisoners about Christianity and led Christian prayers. “We were not allowed to have a Bible, but we lived out its teachings in the prison,” said Amirizadeh in an interview with Al Arabiya English. Some of the prisoners initially expressed disdain for the women, calling them ‘dirty Christians,’ according to Amirizadeh, but later accepted the women and apologized for the comments.

Even some of the prison guards came to trust them. A female guard went to their cell and asked for prayer, but to keep it confidential.

The two women gained a reputation in the women’s ward and men’s ward for their steadfast faith in the face of persecution by prison authorities. “In prison in Iran, people don’t have any rights and it was worse for us because of our Christian faith,” said Rostampour, adding that she and Amirizadeh were physically threatened by guards and refused medical care by prison doctors.

“Whenever we got sick and went to the clinic, the doctors would first ask what our charge was before they asked how we were feeling. As soon as we said that our charges were because of our Christian faith, they would refuse to give us medication,” said Amirizadeh.

The Iranian regime’s punishment backfired when Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh evangelized hundreds of fellow prisoners, and even prison guards, in the 259 days before they were released following intense international pressure. The two ladies could have stated that their “circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel…”

The Greater Progress of the Gospel (1:12-18b)

Two thousand years before the two Iranian ladies were placed in a horrible prison in which their “circumstances … turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,” a Jewish man named Paul also became a prisoner, except it was not in Iran but in Rome. He was under house arrested in rented quarters chained to a Roman guard 24/7. Paul was also there for his faith in and ministry for Christ.

In the first eleven verses of Philippians chapter 1, Paul told the church at Philippi that he loved them, appreciated them, longed to see them again, and prayed for them. During our last lesson, verses 9-11, we discussed one of the prayers Paul prayed for them. This prayer was exclusively for their spiritual needs not their physical needs. Today we are going to discuss some exciting news Paul shared with the church at Philippi concerning the gospel. As a matter of fact, in verse 12 Paul wrote this:

12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,

It seems that the Christian ladies in Iran took a page out of Pauls’ playbook that he wrote to the Philippians. Paul wanted to share some exciting but important information with them. Note that he called them brothers. He used this term to indicate to them that he had close affinity with them. They were fellow members of the Body of Christ. In some churches today the members called everyone either brother or sister. However, in many churches we call each other by our first name. The only time we may call someone brother or sister so and so is when we do not know their name or cannot remember their name.

The word circumstances is not in the Text but is added to smooth out the English and compete the sentence. The verb turned out and the preposition in Greek have a nuance of resulted in. The verse could be translated “that my circumstances have resulted in furthering the gospel.” What does furthering the gospel mean.

He explains that in the next couple of verses.

13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

Paul explains three ways in which the gospel was furthered along while he was in prison.

One way Paul’s imprisonment furthered the gospel was that the cause of Christ had become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard.

Paul had many opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus to the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorium was the residence of a governor or other Roman official, as, for example, that of Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea. The term may also have referred to a part of the residence such as the barracks of the soldiers. The Praetorium was the place within which Pilate examined Jesus about the charges brought against him.

As with the two ladies in the Iranian prison, Paul had many opportunities to share the Good News with the Praetorian Guard. Being in prison afforded him the opportunities to share the gospel with solders who he probably would not have crossed paths with. There is no indication how many solders or others Paul may have led to Christ.

The second way Paul’s imprisonment furthered the gospel was that the cause of Christ had become well known to others not part of the Praetorian Guard.

There were probably inmates, governmental officials, and visitors, some who were Jewish with whom he was able to share the gospel.

The third way Paul’s imprisonment furthered the gospel was that most fellow believers of Paul had more courage to speak the Word of God without fear.

These fellow believers in Christ may have been some he had led to Christ while he was in prison who were inmates, governmental officials, or part of the Praetorian Guard. Some could have been visitors to Paul or other inmates. Whoever was included in his fellow believers, they gained confidence to share the gospel without fear because they saw Paul as their example. This confidence in sharing the gospel could also include boldness. In several of Paul’s epistles he spoke on the importance of sharing the gospel with boldness. Also, in several of these epistles he asked the church he was writing to pray that he would have boldness to share the gospel with others.

Basically, what Paul was saying was that Yes, I’m in chains and I have had a rough time, but the important thing is that people are finding out about Jesus Christ.

Does your lifestyle in shearing the gospel give others confidence that they can share the gospel without fear and with boldness? Has the Lord ever placed you in a situation that gave you the opportunity to share the gospel with others? The situation was probable not as dire as the imprisonment of Paul and the two ladies in the Iranian prison, but it certainly was a great opportunity to share the gospel and be an example to others. Were you sensitive to God’s leading and did you pray open doors and boldness before you went? It may have been when you were in the hospital or when you were at work. Maybe you were at a lady’s luncheon or at a lady’s book club. God also opens the doors for sharing the gospel at social gathering, sports events, at doctor visits, hospitals, etc. When you go to events like these, ask God to make you sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in sharing the gospel with someone and certainly pray for boldness before you go and if the opportunity arises to share the gospel.

In the last verse we learned that most fellow believers of Paul had gained confidence and courage because of his’ imprisonment to speak the Word of God without fear. In verses 15-17 Paul writes of two classes of individuals who were proclaiming the gospel.

15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife,

but some also from good will;

Here we find two contrasts among believers in Christ. One group of

believers were proclaiming Christ out of envy and strife. The word preaching would be better translated as proclaiming. Most today when they hear the word preaching think of someone standing in a pulpit delivering a sermon. The word just means proclaiming Christ regardless of the method. In verse 14 Paul wrote that there were believers who had more courage and boldness to speak the Word of God because of his example in prison. The words to speak and to preach are synonyms.

In any case there was a group of people who were proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior of the world out of envy and strife. They were envious of Paul and his successful ministry of sharing the gospel and leading Jews and Gentiles to Christ even though he was in prison.

There are always people who are envious of successful people in business, industry, and in the church of Jesus Christ. Bryant Wright told from the pulpit one Sunday that there were men who were pastors who confronted him because they were envious of him pastoring a large, thriving church and being President of the Southern Baptist Convention for two terms.

Being envious is one thing, but proclaiming the gospel while causing strife is quite another. The word strife means to be contentious and to bring discord so that Paul would be discreated and and they would be elevated a notch or two.

The other group proclaiming Christ as Messiah and Savior were doing it with good intentions. They supported Paul and his ministry. They were not Paul’s adversaries nor his competitors. They were just others proclaiming the gospel as Paul was.

Today among ministries we find the same sicario. Some ministries see other ministries as being their opponents, especially when they view other ministries as competitors for the same dollar.

A friend of mine spoke in a local church one Sunday evening to present his ministry to the congregation. After the service, a missionary who lived in the area, told him that he did not appreciate him presenting his ministry in churches in that area because that was his territory. Again, his view was that they were competing for the same dollar.

16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaims Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.

Paul continues the contrast of the two groups in verses 16 & 17. The group proclaiming Christ out of good will are doing so because of their commitment to Paul and Christ. There was no competition here. They were just proclaiming the gospel because they were called to do so just as they know Paul was called to do so. They knew that Paul’s destiny as a former Pharisee was defend and proclaim the gospel “to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile). [Romans 1:16] The word defense come from the Greek word apologia from where we get the term apologetics.

The group that was proclaiming Christ from strife and envy did so also out of selfish ambition. This was their motive. They were self-seeking. They wanted the lime light. To assure themselves that they would get all the lime light, they stirred up trouble when Paul was in prison. Was it gossip or was slander involved? In either case, there were trying to ruin his reputation and there was really not much Paul could do about it except give it to God.

We are Americans, and we want to fix things, particularly our reputation, but trying to make it right with all those who have heard the gossip or slander is impossible. When we do try to “fix it” when it is widespread, we are really fearing man rather than God. We sometimes tend to overreact and sometimes trying to “fix it” makes things worse. If anything, deal with the individual as outlined in Matthew 18, but then as Charles Stanley one said, after that, when you reputation is still on the line because of slander or gossip, give your reputation totally to God. Paul did defend his ministry in Second Corinthians, but that was deal with a few people in one church not all the churches he had planted.

18 a-b What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

What was Paul’s reaction to all of this? The “what then” at the beginning of verse 18 basically means, “What does it matter?” What does it matter if they are causing me distress and there is not a whole lot, I can do about it. Even if they have selfish reasons or a false or selfish motive, or the gospel of Christ is being proclaimed. Maybe their motive for proclaiming the gospel was not pure, but the gospel was still being proclaimed. He rejoiced over that fact. hat rejoiced Paul’s heart was that Christ was being preached, even though it was from wrong motives by some (Phil. 1:18). Since the content of the preaching was the same for both groups, the apostle could continuity rejoice from prison. He did not rejoice because there was a faction among members of Christ’s body, for this brought him grief. Instead, it was that the gospel continued to be proclaimed that brought him joy.

When we know about and observe other churches, other ministries, and even ministries within our own church, let’s be very careful not to criticize or complain about how they approach ministry. It may not be the way you would do it or it may not how it was done in the past, but things change. Unless God has put you in charge of that church or that ministry, let them do as the Lord leads them. There is a great biblical example of this in Mark 9:38-40.

38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 “For he who is not against us is for us.

He who is not against us is on our side.

Core value #5 at JFBC is we believe in an unchanging message and are committed to ever-changing methodology.