Gospel Success (Philippians 1:12-18)

As is well-known, Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians while he was imprisoned in Rome. He was there because he had appealed to Caesar after being accused of wrongdoing while on a visit to Jerusalem. This imprisonment lasted a few years and during it he wrote four of his epistles – Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Obviously, being able to do this was of great benefit to the churches and individuals who received those letters and they have come down to us as part of God’s Word. So we can see that God had his own secret plans when he allowed his servant to be arrested. But this set of verses brings to our notice another area in which God had plans and that was the spread of the gospel in the city of Rome.

Sharing information

One feature that stands out in what Paul says here is his willingness to provide information to the Philippians about what was taking place through his ministry in Rome. There were perhaps two reasons for this. First, he did not want his friends in Philippi to assume that things were going badly because he had been arrested. Instead he wanted them to know that God can bless the gospel in any circumstances. Second, he wanted his friends in Philippi to pray intelligently about his situation, and not just about his personal needs. He wanted them to pray specifically for gospel success in Rome.

We should observe that he calls them by the affectionate term ‘brothers’ as he conveys this information. What he was doing in Rome and what they were doing in Philippi was all part of the family business. The business had branches in numerous places and was expanding all the time. It was important for Paul that the members in Philippi should contribute to what was taking place in Rome by speaking with the Father about it.

Sovereign initiative

As we mentioned earlier, Paul had his own reason for going to Rome. He had the right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar after he had been arrested in Jerusalem and put on trial before lesser governors. Paul had his reason, but that is not what he refers to here. Instead, he mentions that God had sent him to Rome in order to have a harvest of souls in the elite troops of the Roman army.

What was the extent of Paul’s influence? He mentions that whole imperial guard knew why he was there in Rome. This set of troops was the official bodyguard of the emperor. One of their responsibilities was to guard any imperial prisoners and Paul, since he had appealed to Caesar, was one of them. In 4:22, he mentions believers who belonged to Caesar’s household with whom he was in contact.

What can we say about this spiritual success that he had been given? Obviously, it was unexpected. Yet when we say so, we have to ask ourselves why we think it was unexpected. We could list the unfavourable aspects such as the soldiers were very rough men, or the soldiers would not have heard the gospel before. Nevertheless, they were a very suitable field in which the gospel could flourish because they were sinners.

How did Paul do this? It is likely that Paul had one soldier with him for each watch of the day, so there would be four different soldiers on duty. Paul had been in Rome for three or four years, so in that time he could have had hundreds of different guards. Each soldier on duty could not leave Paul, but had to guard him continually.

So what did Paul do? The answer to this question is wonderfully simple. He told each soldier about Jesus. They all discovered that he was there because of the message he was spreading about Jesus being the Messiah. One by one, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Paul repeated the story of the coming of the Saviour.

What does this say to us? One obvious deduction is that the best method is the simplest method, which is to speak about Jesus to the person you are with. Of course, one can speak about Jesus in the wrong way and give a very bad impression, which is not a way to spread the gospel. Paul’s method also tells us that we have to speak about Jesus and not only about other details connected to Christianity. And his method also stressed the role that he played in the service of Jesus.

Paul does not limit his influence to the elite troops. In addition, he says that everyone else who was connected to the place where he was kept knew why he was there. The apostle did not hide his lamp under a bushel. Instead he made sure that everyone knew about it.

Striking influence

Paul then mentions the good effects of his extraordinary spiritual advance of the gospel in that the believers living in Rome themselves became good witnesses to the Saviour. Why does Paul mention this detail? It looks as if initially his coming as a prisoner to Rome had affected their confidence. Why would this have happened?

A few years previously, Paul had sent a letter to the church in Rome saying that he intended to visit them. He indicated that when he would come to them he would strengthen them spiritually and give to them the opportunity of helping him on his way when he went to Spain to spread the gospel there. That had been Paul’s intention when he wrote the letter, but things had not turned out that way. Instead, he was under house arrest and it did not look as if his plans would materialise.

We can understand if the believers living in Rome were disappointed initially when Paul came. He himself would not have been able to say whether or not his plans were frustrated or stopped. Maybe he prayed that God would do something that would encourage the Christians in Rome. Paul certainly would not have wanted to discourage them. In his providence, the Lord gave to the church in Rome a wonderful exhibition of his gracious power when he blessed the gospel to the soldiers involved in guarding Paul. No doubt, some of them were now members of the church in Rome.

The apostle mentions two effects of his imprisonment on the believers in Rome. One was inward and the other was outward. Inwardly, their confidence in the Lord grew when they saw what he was doing among the soldiers through a captive man. God was the only explanation for what was taking place, and they too began to speak about Jesus without fear. It is very common for people to be afraid to speak about Jesus. How do we get out of that state? One way would be to read about how he is working through others to bring sinners into his kingdom.

Sad inconsistency

Paul takes the opportunity to inform the Philippians of a division among the preachers in Rome. Evidently, there were quite a few of them. Both sets of preachers proclaimed the message of Jesus, so here there is not a division between those who spread the gospel and those who did not. The division was not in the message, but in their motives. Sadly, such divisions did not disappear, but are still around.

God evidently wanted the Philippians and everyone who reads his Word to know what motives a wrong preacher can have. He mentions several aspects of their outlook and they are a set of ugly attitudes. Look at what he says marks them – envy, rivalry, selfish ambition, insincerity and a desire to cause distress to Paul. They may have been envious of his success among the soldiers, they may have been influenced by others elsewhere who opposed Paul, clearly they wanted to be top of the tree, and they wanted to crush Paul and make his personal circumstances worse. How would they have tried to make his sufferings worse? Probably by implying that his imprisonment was a sign that God was judging him and had prevented him from going anywhere else to preach the gospel.

In contrast to those who were preaching with wrong motives, Paul mentions those who had right intentions. Unlike the previous group, this set of preachers understood why Paul was in prison, that he was there to defend the gospel and was willing to use his Roman privileges to do so, even when it meant that he would have to stand before Caesar and explain his beliefs. Moreover, these friendly preachers were marked by two beautiful features – good will and love. In this regard, they were like the One who had called them into his service.

We know that Paul was later released from this imprisonment and resumed his travelling ministry. A few years later, he was re-arrested and taken once more to Rome. We can read about his experiences in that second imprisonment in 2 Timothy. He says in 2 Timothy 4:16, ‘At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!’ Of course, it could have been a time of persecution, but it is a sad comment on those in Rome who could have supported Paul, but did not. One could say that the seeds of such disloyalty and lack of brotherly love were sown by those preachers who attacked Paul when he was in prison in Rome initially.

Paul’s evaluation

Paul obviously had the ability to grade things that were happening around him. His response to the situation was to rejoice that Christ was being proclaimed by both groups, including the ones that opposed him. Their preaching about Christ did not justify their behaviour, but it meant that the gospel was advancing, and Paul was overjoyed that God could over-rule such wrongdoing and still bring gospel blessing into the lives of others.

Lessons

Don’t expect a perfect church. When he wrote his letter to the Romans a few years earlier, Paul had mentioned some issues that could be divisive such as what he called weak and strong brothers. Now that he was in Rome he discovered that the leaders were not in agreement. The obvious lesson is that we should not expect a church without problems.

What should we do when people disagree? How Paul would have rejoiced today if he could visit Inverness. There are probably more preachers around our town than would have been in Rome when Paul was there. Back then, they had their sad differences and it is similar today. But Paul would say to us to rejoice that Jesus is preached by those who disagree with one another.

Can we witness for Jesus effectively in a difficult situation? The answer that Paul would give is yes because that is what he experienced when he was imprisoned. Although his physical surroundings got worse because he seems to have moved from the house arrest he was under at the close of the Book of Acts to a more difficult location, he continued to witness to his Saviour and his witness bore fruit.