Chains of Joy

Tom Shrader works through Philippians 1:12-18, where Paul reveals that his Roman imprisonment — far from hindering the gospel — resulted in the Praetorian Guard and even members of Caesar's household hearing and believing. Drawing on the parallel account in Acts 16, Shrader shows that God's plan for reaching Rome was more effective than anything Paul could have devised, using chains and a house arrest rather than a missionary strategy. The teaching also addresses the two groups preaching Christ in Rome — one from love, one from envy — and concludes that the power of the gospel is not diminished by the motives of its messengers, calling listeners to trust God in adversity and share the gospel with those He has placed in their lives.

“Joy is not about circumstances. Joy is about relationship.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Philippians

Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 52 min

Themes: suffering, joy, evangelism, adversity, providence, trust, persecution, gospel, feeling stuck, going through hardship, questioning god's plan, prisoner, new believer, evangelist, struggling with envy, facing uncertainty

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-18, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 1:9, Philippians 4:8-9, Philippians 4:21-22, Romans 15:22-24, Acts 16:11-34, 2 Timothy 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 1 Corinthians 1:1-7, 1 Corinthians 3:1-4, Philippians 2, Psalm 107:43, Ecclesiastes 7:14, 1 Samuel 12:24, James 1:2, Luke 12

Theological Themes: sovereignty of God, missiology, gospel proclamation, soteriology, divine providence, pauline epistle, sanctification, ecclesiology

Full Transcript

Opening: A Letter Long Awaited

Paul writes the letter of Philippians to the saints at Philippi. He loves them, and they love him. By the best we can tell, he has not communicated directly to them for four, maybe five or six years — certainly some extended period of time. They have almost certainly heard things about him, and knowing human nature, the assumption is they have begun to imagine the worst, collecting rumors and snippets, wondering about him in a serious way. Then this letter arrives.

Imagine the anxiousness as they open this scroll and see that there is a letter from Paul. What is fascinating is that in the first eleven verses, he talks about them, not about himself. So if they were opening it thinking, get right to it, tell us what is going on — he does not go there. He prays for them. As we saw last week, he prays that their love would abound more and more, that there would be knowledge and discernment, and that the ultimate desire is that their lives would be transformed — that they would look different, act different, and that people would see it and respond.

Paul Turns Autobiographical

When Paul gets to verse 12, he becomes autobiographical. This morning we will work our way through verse 18 or so. These verses are very hard to separate; typically the recipients would receive this letter and read it in one sitting. We added the verse numbers and broke it apart, but we are working through to around verse 18, and then we will pick up there next week. There is one major point to address next week, but today we look at the Apostle Paul as he gives us insight into his circumstances.

There it is in verse 12: "Now I want you to know." He did not get very far, but that is a really important statement. What he is saying is, I want you to get this. When teaching, the impulse is to say, look up here — get your attention here, this is important, there is a point that has to be made. That is what Paul is doing with that phrase. He is saying, I want you to know, it is really important for you to get this.

"I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the Word of God."

Here are his circumstances, and here is at least one of the consequences: the gospel has been preached, people have responded, and the believers in Rome have taken up the cause and stepped into the gap as Paul has. He has been in prison, removed from the church, and now others have filled that space.

Two Groups Preaching the Gospel

He also acknowledges that there are problems. "Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed to the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motive, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment."

There are two groups of people preaching the gospel. This is not a matter of false doctrine. Paul is not saying one crowd is preaching a true gospel and the other a false gospel. He is saying both are proclaiming Christ. The difference is their motives. One group is motivated by love and understands that Paul has been appointed to this mission. The other group is motivated not by love, but by envy and strife. Verse 17 gives a real insight into this second group.

Paul's Plans and God's Plans

Paul says they are motivated by selfish ambition, not pure motives, and they are trying to add to his distress while he is in prison. Let us begin to unpack this. Paul says, "I want you to know this, brethren. I want you to understand that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel" — and those circumstances are his imprisonment.

About five or six years before Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, he wrote to the Romans. As he closes that letter, he expresses his plan, what he would like to do. In Romans chapter 15, verse 22, Paul wrote: "For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you. But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain, for I hope to see you in passing and to be helped on my way there by you when I have first enjoyed your company for a while."

Paul's intention is to come to the church at Rome, to encourage and strengthen them, and certainly to proclaim the gospel to them. His objective is to get to Spain, but he wants to stop, spend time with them, and then have them be part of the team that launches him into that missionary trip.

In Paul's typical missionary strategy, he would identify key cities with the assumption that if he could reach those cities, they would in turn reach the surrounding suburban, rural, and outlying areas. Rome would be at the very center of those important places he needed to go. It is reasonable to assume that Paul had in his mind some detailed strategy for reaching the city of Rome — going to the synagogue, finding the right people, building a team, running outreach — he had a plan.

God's Different Approach, Same Objective

Here is what is interesting: God had a different plan, but they both had the same objective. Paul's desire was to influence and reach Rome, and in his boldest moments he might even have dared to hope that the gospel would reach into Nero's house itself. God had, in fact, that same desire to see the gospel preached all the way into Caesar's palace — but He had a whole different approach than Paul had in mind. What that approach entailed was Paul being imprisoned.

That is the circumstance Paul is talking about in verses 12 and 13. He is in prison. Now, it is a house arrest, somewhat different from what we might imagine. He is not thrown into a cell, but placed in certain quarters with a measure of freedom — people can come and go, he receives visitors and guests, and he even receives money.

The nature of the incarceration is this: he would be chained, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to a guard — specifically, as we see in verse 13, one of the Praetorian Guard. These were the elite, the best soldiers, Caesar's own soldiers. The chain would not be like handcuffs but rather a length of about 18 to 24 inches, binding him to that guard at all times, with never a break.

Rejoicing in Chains

That is where Paul is — under house arrest in Rome, chained to guards around the clock. And in the midst of this, he says in verse 18, "I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice." He is rejoicing in the present tense and commits to rejoicing in the future as well.

At this moment — and I want to be clear that I am moving slightly outside of what the text explicitly states — I believe that the believers in Philippi, when they heard this letter read aloud, simply began to smile. When they pictured Paul in chains, rejoicing, they would have lit up, united in spirit, all on the same team. Why would they react that way?

The Philippians' Own Story

Turn with me to Acts chapter 16. We will return to Philippians in just a moment. Acts chapter 16 is Luke's account of Paul's arrival in Philippi. Beginning in verse 11, Paul has set out from Troas, journeyed by sea, and arrived in Philippi. Notice verse 12 reinforces something said earlier: Philippi is described as a leading city in the district of Macedonia — a Roman colony, a key place. That is exactly where Paul would go.

When he arrives, there are not enough Jewish men to form a synagogue, so he goes to the river and finds some women gathered there. He begins to share the gospel with them, and Lydia in particular is saved. Then there is a girl whose masters are exploiting her — she has a spirit of divination, as we are told in verse 16 — and through Paul the Holy Spirit breaks that spirit. She is no longer of profit to her masters, and they are furious.

In verse 19 they seize Paul and Silas and drag them into the marketplace before the authorities. Verse 22 describes what follows: "The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison."

Now, what city are they in? Philippi. The entire church reading this letter would know this story well. It would be part of how they told their own history, how they described their beginnings.

Paul in Prison—Again

They beat him, threw him in prison, and commanded the jailer to guard him securely. The jailer, having received such a command, threw Paul and Silas into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks. These were high-priority prisoners. The message was clear: if you lose them, you pay with your life. So the jailer did not put them in the general population. He took them to the innermost, most secure part of the jail and chained them down.

That is where Paul is, and it is about midnight. Put yourself into that situation for a moment. You have gone to Philippi to preach the gospel, driven by the cause of Christ and the desire to see it proclaimed throughout the city. People are starting to respond. And then, for no reason other than doing the right thing, you are beaten and thrown in jail. What would your response be?

Here is Paul's response—and Silas's: they are praying and singing praises to God. This is at midnight. And the prisoners are listening to them. That is a significant phrase. There is a whole message to be done on those words alone: *the prisoners are listening to them.*

And suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were unfastened. The jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. He understood that he was going to be executed—with those doors open, there was no way the prisoners would have stayed—so he intended to end it himself.

But Paul cried out with a loud voice and said, "Don't harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights and rushed in. Trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

Plan A, Plan B, and the Progress of the Gospel

When the Philippians read that Paul was in prison in Rome again and yet rejoicing, they reflected back on this moment and thought: there goes Paul again, right in the middle of it all. Here he is once more in prison, with God doing extraordinary things. They could imagine it clearly—Paul having plan A, God using plan B, and the result being what verse 12 describes as the greater progress of the gospel.

That word *progress* is important. It implies advancement in the face of opposition. It was not that Paul came in and everything went smoothly. There was all sorts of opposition. But the gospel dominated. The gospel prevailed.

In 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9—the last letter we have from the pen of the Apostle Paul, written as he was saying goodbye to Timothy—he writes this: "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffered hardship, even to imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not in prison." That is precisely the point. The authorities threw Paul in jail thinking that would be the end of it. They assumed that for the gospel to permeate the city, Paul would need to be out among the people. So they chained him down—not to just any soldier, not to a volunteer off the street, but to an elite member of the Praetorian guard.

Chained to the Guard

Paul was chained to this man twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It was impossible for Paul to escape. It was impossible for him to have any privacy. But it was equally impossible for the guard not to observe the Apostle Paul up close. We often read that and think, well, Paul had a captive audience and shared the gospel with him again and again. That is partly true, but it is far more than that.

People were coming and going, and what they were doing was watching Paul's life. It was not only what he was saying—it was what he was doing. And they saw it. They understood it. Turn to chapter 4 of Philippians, and look at verse 9. Paul has just spoken in verse 8 about things that are honorable and right and pure, urging believers to dwell on these things. Then in verse 9 he says: "The things that you have heard and received and learned and seen in me, practice these."

That is exactly what had happened with these Praetorian guards. They had seen Paul. They had heard him. They had probably listened as he met with visitors—believers, people from the church, people who knew him—and Paul would speak about the wonderful things God had done in his life. And then there were those quieter moments, just the guard and Paul. Paul was likely asking about the man's family, his children, what life was like. And then he would say, let me tell you about my life.

The Gospel Reaches the Whole Guard

Along the way, some of them believed. How do we know that? We can see it in chapter 1. The progress of the gospel and the imprisonment of Paul had, because of Christ, been made known to the whole Praetorian guard and to everyone else.

And who is everyone else?

The Gospel Spreads Through Unlikely Chains

Get a hint of it at the end of this book. Look at verse 21 of chapter 4: "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren who are with me greet you, all the saints greet you, especially those in Caesar's household." Apparently, God saved some of these Praetorian guard. Remember what they were doing? They were working in Caesar's house, and they did what should happen in a heart that's transformed. They said, "I can't keep this to myself," and they went back to work. They went back into Caesar's household and began to share, and even in Nero's palace, the gospel was proclaimed.

How did it happen? Not through Paul's plan, but through God's plan. Paul would have never come up with a scheme that says, "Put me in prison, chain me to the Praetorian guard, let him get saved, and then he'll tell the next one." Paul said, "This was not me. This was not my plan. This is the cause of Christ." God's will will not be stopped.

Who Has God Chained You To?

There are a number of places along the way where I want to stop and apply this to our lives, so let me do it right here. Who are the people that God has placed in your life — and I would say He has chained you to them, figuratively? It may be somebody in your home. It may be somebody at work, at school, or maybe somebody at the golf course.

Who are the people that can learn and receive and hear and see you? They are watching you. When you tell them your life has been transformed and changed, they begin to look closely. That is what I mean when I say there is a whole message in this — and they were listening.

We are talking about Acts chapter 16. Paul is in prison, and he and Silas are singing songs of praise to God, and the other prisoners are listening. What I am saying is they are watching, and Paul's attitude is contagious. There he is in jail, in prison, rejoicing. Is that the way you would respond? Is that the way you do respond? Because everybody is watching.

We have said this before: the idea of witnessing is not optional, and it is not merely mandatory — it is inevitable. You are a witness every minute of every day. Sometimes you may be a poor witness, but you are a witness. And when God is on the move, nothing can stop Him.

Moody and the Fully Consecrated Man

I have no idea what made me think of this, but as I was putting the lesson together, I thought of a moment in D. L. Moody's life. There was a moment as a young man when he was challenged by a message delivered by Henry Varley. Here is what Varley said to a group just like this: "The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him. The world has yet to see what God can do through a man fully consecrated to Him."

That phrase was etched in Moody's mind. Moody tells the story of going home and mulling it over again and again, and then beginning to really dissect it. He noticed that Varley did not talk about a really smart man, or an eloquent man, or a tall, dark, handsome man, a domineering man, a rich man, or a powerful man. He talked about a man. Moody said, "I can do that. I am a man." And Moody's response was this: "By God's help, I aim to be that man."

God Uses Ordinary People

That is what God does. I think some of the greatest news, other than the gospel itself, that I have ever heard is that God uses ordinary people. Sometimes we get the idea that the Apostle Paul must have been something impressive when he walked into a room. But by every indication we can gather, he was a very unappealing figure — perhaps even physically plain, a little scrawny Jewish man. His thorn in the flesh, some believe — though we cannot know for certain — may have been an eye infection, with eyes constantly dripping. He is described as having a large hooked nose.

Here is how Paul describes himself in 1 Corinthians 2:1: "When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and in trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words or wisdom." He was saying he had nothing impressive to offer in himself — no eloquence, no commanding presence, no power of his own.

Why? So that faith would not rest on the wisdom of man, but on the power of God. It becomes a demonstration of the Spirit of God. You are not following a man — you are following the Lord.

Ted Stockfish: A Man Fully Given

There was a man I talk about every once in a while — I am not sure whether I have mentioned him to this group. His name was Ted Stockfish. I met him through a Bible study I do on Thursday mornings. He was a successful businessman and one of the happiest people I have ever met. Some people just carry a look of joy about them, and he was one of those — always tan, white hair, a constant smile. He had a banking background and some construction experience as well, and what he had taken to doing was buying duplexes, fixing up one side, placing a renter in one unit, and then putting a single mom and her children in the other —

Consider Who God Is

Consider who God is and what He is like. Understand who God is. Psalm 107:43 says, "Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord." Who is God? How can we know Him? What is He like? Here are some Barna statistics, updated from 2007, to give us a snapshot. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults say they are born again but not evangelical, meaning they have said they asked Jesus into their heart. Evangelical would be eight percent of the population — people who would say there is a moment of salvation accompanied by beliefs in the infallibility of Scripture, the virgin birth, and the physical resurrection of Christ. That is eight percent of the population.

What makes that alarming is the next statistics, which are on the rise. Ten percent of people are atheistic or agnostic — an all-time high. What is observable is that they are becoming evangelistic in their fervor. It used to be that you were quietly an atheist. Now people are writing books and actively recruiting others to that position.

Trusting God in Adversity

Paul has a testimony here, and it is a striking one. In verse 14 we read, "Most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear." It is fair to deduce that prior to this point, within the church at Rome, people were somewhat fearful. But because of Paul's imprisonment, they made a bold step — they began to trust in the Lord.

This connects directly to a new study called "How to Stay Afloat in a World that's Circling the Drain," begun this week in Priority Living. For those unfamiliar, Priority Living consists of three studies held through the week in the valley, unrelated to East Valley Bible Church though one meets here, and driven more by topic than by a single book. The first session was titled "How to Benefit from Adversity," and it ties directly into what is happening in verse 14 — people who lacked courage, now moved forward by God through Paul's adversity, because they began to trust in the Lord.

Six Ways to Benefit from Adversity

There are six things to do in the midst of benefiting from adversity. The first is to consider who God is and what He is like. The second flows naturally from the first, and the remaining points follow in turn. These were drawn from that session, and they connect to this passage because the turning point for those believers in Rome was precisely that — they began to trust in the Lord.

Loving Lost People

There is one question that haunts every believer, because it must be dealt with honestly. When is the last time God used you to proclaim the truth to somebody who did not know it? Not to save somebody, because God does that — but simply to have someone come into your life, and you opened your mouth, and the truth came out. When is the last time that happened?

If the answer is that it has been a while, there is a problem, and the problem is nearly certain. You do not love lost people. Because if you love lost people, you are going to share the truth with them. You are going to find a way to share it. You are going to understand, in the course of a conversation, that there is an opportunity to talk about Jesus and life — because people want to know. But if you do not love them, if you are not committed to being part of their life and part of what God uses, then nothing is going to happen.

There is a certain group of people who know a great deal, read a great deal, and study constantly, but not much happens in their lives. When asked what God is doing, they will quote a passage or describe something they are reading. That is not wrong in itself. But the question remains — what is He doing? God's desire is stated plainly in chapter 1, verse 9: He wants your love to abound more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that your life will be filled with the fruit of righteousness. He wants you to love Him. He wants you to love His Word. He wants you to love people.

Availability Over Ability

D.L. Moody is a striking example of this principle. By all accounts, Moody could not spell, could not write, could not do these incredible things. Yet God used him profoundly. Why? He was committed and available. He was not hung up on it being his plan — it was going to be God's plan. What does God want?

This connects to a personal story as well. A man was described as an amazing individual — someone doing extraordinary things — and when told so, he said, "I owe it all to you. You're an inspiration to me." He explained that he had watched God using someone and said to himself, "Anybody can do this. If He'll use him, He'll use me." That is exactly what Moody discovered. Availability and commitment to God's plan, rather than one's own, is what opens a life to being used.

Trusting His Promises

During a conversation about grace and unmerited favor, someone made the comment that God owes us nothing. That deserves a closer look. Once we place our faith and trust in Him, He owes us every promise in His book. The promises are real, and trusting in the Lord means believing that He will fulfill them.

That is precisely what happened with the believers in Rome. They moved from fear to boldness not because their circumstances changed, but because they began to trust in the Lord. Paul's imprisonment, rather than discouraging them, became the instrument God used to move them forward in courage and in faith.

Who God Is

Eight percent believe that God is the total realization of personal human potential. Four percent believe everyone is God. Fifty-three percent believe that if you are generally good and do enough, you go to heaven. Forty-one percent believe that when Jesus lived on the earth, He committed sins. Fifty-seven percent of the adult population believe that Satan is not real, and sixty-six percent of those who identify themselves as born-again Christians deny Satan's existence. Thirty-one percent of the population believe there are sins and crimes you can commit that God will not forgive.

These are great questions, and it is really important to get this right — especially, remember what we are talking about, in the midst of adversity. Here is what tends to happen when adversity comes, when hardship and suffering come: I lose focus. I lose focus on the big things and begin to focus on me, myself, my hurt, my pain, my adversity, and I am overwhelmed by it.

So here is the first thing I need to do in the midst of adversity: I need to understand who God is. And you are only going to find that out in the Bible. If you go to a Borders bookstore, you might find a section called Speculation — I have seen it at the one at 24th and Camelback, though not in any other Borders. I always thought, why would I pay $29.95 to be told what someone does not even know? But here is why those books sell: man instinctively knows that there is a God, but he can only know Him through Christ.

In the midst of adversity, I need to know who God is, and I need to accept Him just the way He is. There is a wonderful, tender moment in Job's life where Job is with his wife, and she says to him, "Curse God and die." And Job said to her, "Shall we accept the good things from God and not the trouble?" Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 7, "When times are good, be happy. When times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other."

We need to let God be God. Even if I am stuck in a dirty, rotten, stinking prison, I am okay, because God has me there for a reason. It was not Paul's plan — but Paul went along with it, and God had a better plan. Who would have ever guessed?

Consider What God Has Done in Creation

Here is the second thing in the midst of adversity: consider what God has done in creation. Look around. God speaks to Job and says, "Job, stop and consider," and then lists off everything — the mountains, the snow, where it is stored. Look at what God creates. Look around at the world He has made.

Consider What God Has Done in History

Here is the third thing: consider what God has done in history. We are moving from a macro view to a more personal one. "Remember the days of old. Consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will explain to you." There is something about reading this Word — it is so rich. That is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10: we look back and see how God worked again and again and again, and He will work that way again in your life. He is so faithful. You can trust Him.

Consider What God Has Done for You Personally

Here is the fourth thing: consider what God has done for you in the past. I need to remind myself of that. Remember what He did? Remember we were here before in something like this? 1 Samuel 12:24 says, "Be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. Consider what great things He has done for you."

Now obviously we go right to spiritual things, but material things matter as well. If you watch the presidential debates, you would think everybody was in a soup line, nobody had any money, and this was the worst place on the planet to live. But 86% of people say they are essentially happy with their lives. This is a great country — you can buy a microwave for $39. I understand there is real hurt and pain, and I take that seriously, but that is not the majority of us, is it? Consider what God has done for you materially and physically.

When Adversity Reveals Us to Ourselves

Sunday is physically a hard day for me. I get here at five in the morning and leave at seven-thirty or seven-forty-five at night, and by the end of the day I am just physically whipped. I hurt a lot — in my back, all over. The key on Monday is to be able to stretch. If I can stretch, I feel all right.

Last Monday I hurt so much I just couldn't stretch, so I got in the shower with the water as hot as I could get it on my back, and it was loosening things up a little. And all of a sudden I thought: isn't this interesting? Here I am, asking God to help my back because it's really hurting, and yesterday, when I felt good, I didn't say one thing to Him about my back. That is one of the great things adversity does. Adversity — and this phrase isn't mine, though I'd give credit if I knew whose it was — adversity reveals ourselves to ourselves. Sometimes we think we're really something, and we're not. And sometimes we realize we've missed something entirely: I've gone a whole week and haven't thanked God for Susan.

Susan, I'll tell you — we were sitting out back the other day and she said, "There's not a day goes by that I don't thank God for this day." That is incredible.

The Fifth Thing: Consider What God Has Promised to Do Today

The fifth thing to consider is what God has promised to do today. Turn to Luke chapter 12. Jesus says, "Consider the ravens" — they didn't sow, they didn't reap, yet God meets their needs. And the passage doesn't say don't work, don't plan, don't save. It says don't worry. God has promised.

We also looked at some of these incredible promises in the very book we are studying. Philippians 1:6 says, "I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus." That is a promise. He will never leave you and never forsake you. He will forgive you, extend grace to you, use you, and make you rich in His kingdom. These are great promises.

The Sixth Thing: Consider What God Does Through Adversity

The last thing to consider is what God does through adversity. James 1:2 says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." My point in all of this is really simple. Whether we see Paul in Acts chapter 16 in Philippi or here in Rome, you begin to see that this is a trend in his life. In the midst of adversity, he could have gotten down. He could have gathered his friends together and lamented what God might be doing. But he didn't. He praised Him and worshiped Him.

Why? Because he understood who God is. This is not about your comfort or mine. Joy is not about circumstances — joy is about relationship. How can Paul say, "I rejoice, and I will rejoice," in that prison? Because he knows who is on the throne, and he knows Him personally. He has seen Him work before. And it is not about Paul's plan or his strategy, but about the progress — verse 12 — the progress of the gospel.

The Early Church Was Not the Ideal We Imagine

I want to touch on something for a few minutes. Look at verses 15 through 18. We have a tendency sometimes to look at the good old days and think there was something really special about them. I remember Paul Harvey telling a story about being in the Bahamas, riding in a little carriage with a man giving him a ride from the hotel. Harvey said something like, "It must have been great when it was just horses, before all these cars." And the man said, "Are you kidding? It was awful. The roads weren't paved. There was horse manure everywhere. There were flies everywhere." I think sometimes that is exactly how we think about the past. We fantasize about the good old days, and our images are inaccurate and unrealistic.

Sometimes we look at the early church and imagine that everyone simply pooled everything together. We go to Acts 2:42 and picture them eating together, working together, going home together, singing together — no problems, everyone in perfect harmony. But when you look at these early churches in all these occasions, you are always seeing problems within the church, because redeemed people are still sinners.

Two Groups Preaching the Gospel

That is exactly what Paul is facing here. Look at verse 15: "Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill." Verse 16: "These do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel." Verse 17: "But the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment" — they want to heap suffering upon suffering. Verse 18: "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice."

Paul identifies two groups. Some are preaching out of envy — envy being the feeling that you wish others didn't have what they have. Jealousy is something like the flip side: wishing you had what someone else has. Envy and strife go hand in glove. The idea of strife here is that they are acting with the intent of hurting Paul. That is the deliberate intention. They are jealous of Paul for whatever reason — and there is always jealousy.

The Dirty Little Secret of Envy in the Church

Here is a dirty little secret, even within churches: one will look at another and be jealous of that person's influence. We are human beings. We can have gift envy. We can have all sorts of envy and jealousy that arises.

Paul is not complaining here — he is making a point. If you go to the very beginning of 1 Corinthians, here is what Paul says about that church: you are sanctified in Christ, you have been given grace from Christ, you have everything in which you were enriched, you are confirmed in Christ, you are not lacking a gift. That is in verses one through seven of chapter one. Yet by verse one of chapter three, he says, "I would like to talk to you about the deep things, but you do not have it yet." They are all split up — fleshly, jealous, full of strife.

Some of them say they are of Apollos, and some say they are of Paul. The most offensive group was the last one, because they said, "I am not of Paul, I am not of Apollos — I am of Christ. I do not follow any man." Their self-righteousness would make you sick as well, and all of this is going on in a church that has all these gifts.

By chapter five there is a man sleeping with his mother. A little further in, they are abusing their liberty. By chapter eleven they have turned communion into a gluttonous, drunken affair. People are people. Not to condone any of it — but look at how God uses it. That is the point.

The Antidote to Envy: The Mind of Christ

The antidote to jealousy, envy, and strife is in chapter two, and we will see it next week or the following week. Paul lays it out clearly. Number one: do nothing from selfish or empty conceit — in other words, do not think highly of yourself. Number two: think more highly of others and do not look out for your personal interests. Number three: think of something bigger than all of this and have the mind of Christ.

The motive Paul points to is love, not envy or strife. He is not saying, "Do you feel sorry for me? Will you go after those guys?" He is saying, "No, this is all going to work out. I am not worried about that."

Paul's point is not simply that some people are motivated by envy and others by love, though he is obviously saying love is better. What he is saying is that God uses the gospel in spite of these people, not because of them. You cannot stop this word. God's word is so powerful that even regardless of motives, the power of the gospel is not in the vehicle, the delivery system, or the person — it is in the gospel itself. And Paul rejoices that Christ is proclaimed.

Paul's Response to Being Sinned Against

Here is how we know this man is an absolute giant. There is a fundamental principle in counseling that is almost one hundred percent true across all human relationships: when I am sinned against, I tend to respond sinfully. Those of you who are married can think about it — when your spouse comes at you, you tend to ratchet it up. You see it everywhere. A man has an affair, the wife finds out and has an affair. That behavior goes back and forth constantly.

Here is how we know Paul is filled with the Spirit of God: he is sinned against and does not respond sinfully. He says, "That is not what I am about." He is not worried about what others think of him because that is a matter of reputation — and reputation is not the issue; character is the issue. Reputation is what somebody thinks you are. Character is who you are.

Paul says, "I have this." He may have had a small flinch to get even, but he caught himself and said, "It is not about me — it is about the gospel." All he is about is the gospel, all he cares about is the gospel. So even these people who, in the midst of his imprisonment, are trying to bring him more distress — even there it does not matter, because God is using them in a powerful way.

Delivered Through Prayer and the Spirit

And then we come to verse nineteen — and we will stop here. Paul says, "I know I will be delivered." He points to two things: your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of God. So pray for me, Paul says. He will be delivered — he will either get out of jail or he will die.

There is a key phrase that Paul uses in that passage which you miss in the English, and it needs a little unpacking. We will work through that next week. Then we will get into this wonderful dilemma Paul faces: "I am hard-pressed — I do not know whether to stay here and love you and be with you and be used by you, or to be absent from the body and be with Him." We will be there next week.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for Your truth and the Word that You give us. God, thank You for loving us — we see that all around us. For those who are really hurting, and that number seems to be growing lately as economics begins to come into play and affect our lives — for physical pain, emotional pain, relational pain — God, in the midst of that adversity, will You draw us closer to You?

God, if somebody sins against us, we do not have to retaliate. You will figure it out. God, thank You for Paul — and it is not just him. We see it all through Scripture. We see it in Joseph's life, in Moses' life. We see it everywhere, and God, we see it in our own lives. If we quietly rest before You and surrender to You all that we have and who we are, and try to remove ourselves from the situation and rid ourselves of ego and pride and selfishness, God, You will do great things. Will You do that in us. Amen.

A Prayer of Sending

God, we love You, and we love You for this very reason, because You loved us first. God, thank You for that love. Thank You for the love You've given us. We pray that as we leave this place, we would become super sensitive to those that You have chained to us. We ask that we would share this gospel with them in a way that would bring honor and glory to You. We pray that to You in Christ's name, amen.