Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 1:12-26

*Introduction*

Have you ever talked to Trevor Dueck about NASCAR, or Margaret and Charlotte about quilting, or Eric Eidse about hockey or hunting or any mother about their children?

Our passions show don’t they.

Some people have so many things that they get excited about that they are always going from one thing to another.

Sometimes our passions change.

I can still remember when I turned 12 and was old enough to go duck hunting with my dad.

I don’t get excited about hunting any more, but I am excited about going canoeing with my sons in a few weeks.

I remember a lady I knew who was passionate about gambling.

She didn’t admit it out loud and it was a problem in that it was an addiction and created financial and relational problems.

Some passions are like that, they are hurtful and destructive.

There is a degree to which all of us are passionate about ourselves, but some people are really passionate about themselves, to the point of being conceited, boastful and even controlling.

So not every passion is a good thing.

I have met people who do not seem to be passionate about anything.

They are boring and uninteresting because they just don’t seem to care at all.

At the other extreme are people who want to be elite athletes or professional musicians.

If they want to perform at that level they have to have a singular passion.

When they do, much time is spent in engaging that passion.

What are you passionate about?

A few weeks ago, we began our study of the letter of Paul to the Philippians.

I suggested at that time that it was a friendship letter.

One of the things which identifies it as a friendship letter is that it discusses the situation of the author and that of the readers.

That is much like what we do in letters which we write to friends or relatives.

We tell what has been happening to us and write about what has been happening to them.

Please look at the next section - Philippians 1:12-26.

Please note in verse 12 that Paul says “I want you to know…what has happened to me…” He is telling them about his situation and commenting about what they have heard and about what has been happening to him.

They had sent him a gift and so they obviously cared about him.

He wants to relieve their anxiety about him.

A moment ago we talked about passions.

In the process of Paul’s discussion about what is happening to him, the passion of Paul is revealed.

Paul had a singular passion and that was Jesus Christ.

As we see his passion, it is an example for us of how we ought to live.

It is a story which invites us to examine our passions.

*The Important Thing – Christ Is Preached*

What would you think about if you were in prison?

I imagine that I would think about “how can I get out?”

About “where is my next meal coming from?”

About “Are the other prisoners going to hurt me?”

About “How can I sleep on this hard floor?”

Perhaps about “How many diseases are those rats carrying?”

And I might well feel sorry for myself and consider that I am suffering so badly.

Paul was in prison in Rome at this time.

He had gone to Jerusalem several years before and while there, the Jewish leaders tried to kill him but he was protected by the Romans.

After several trials, he was sent first to Caesarea and then later Paul appealed for justice to Rome and was sent there.

On the way, he experienced shipwreck and other hardships, but finally got to Rome and was put in prison and that is where he was now.

Although the charges which were against him were about things that had happened in Jerusalem, there was a growing opposition towards Christians even in Rome and a few years later, that opposition became open and violent persecution.

The conflict stirring in Rome was different than that in Jerusalem.

In Rome, the issue which would become a cause of persecution was the declaration of who was Lord, Caesar or Christ?

This was the situation in which Paul found himself as he shared with the Philippians in verses 7, 13,14 and 17 that he was in chains.

What did he think about in prison?

I suspect he may have thought about all the things we would think about, but he did not write about them or complain about them to his friends in Philippi.

We have a record of what he thought about.

Please check your Bibles and see what he had on his mind.

The first thing on his mind was what he says in verse 12 – “what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”

What was uppermost in his mind was the progress of the gospel.

How had his imprisonment served to advance the gospel?

As we read on, we find an answer to that question.

He indicates that everyone, including “the whole palace guard” had found out that he was in prison because of Christ.

It is likely that he had several guards with him at all times.

As they rotated through their shifts, many of them would have had much time to listen to Paul and Paul had made sure that he had talked to them about Jesus as the reason for his imprisonment.

The guards would have told others until a whole regiment would have heard, not only that Paul was in prison for religious reasons, but also about who Jesus was and what He had done and could do for them.

A second way in which the gospel was spread because of Paul being in prison is through his very reason for being there.

Paul was there to defend the gospel in Rome as he mentions in vs. 16.

Fee says, “From Paul’s point of view, the gospel itself is on trial, and his imprisonment is a divinely appointed ‘defence of the gospel’ at the highest echelons.”

The other way in which the gospel had been advanced is because the believers in Rome “have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

As they saw the courage of Paul to face imprisonment and as they had to admit that they knew and believed similarly to such a high profile prisoner, they had gained courage to speak about Jesus.

Now Paul does mention that some of them were not preaching Christ for good reasons.

For some reason, there were believers who did not like Paul.

They thought that if they preached about Christ, they would stir things up and make things worse for Paul, but no matter what their motives were, they were preaching Jesus.

As Paul speaks about these things, we see what was uppermost on Paul’s mind.

As he shares his experiences, he also shares his heart.

In verse 18 he says, “what does it matter.”

What does he mean by that?

He means that if people are speaking about Christ because they love him and want people to know about him, or if they speak about Christ in the hopes that they will make trouble for Paul, Paul does not really care.

Why?

In verse 18 he goes on to say why.

He says, “the important thing is that in every way Christ is preached.”

This is the heart of Paul.

He cares first of all and most of all that the name of Jesus will be proclaimed.

He doesn’t care how it happens.

He speaks about the gospel being proclaimed “in every way.”

In I Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul spoke about how he was willing to become all things to all men so that in some way he might reach many.

Once again all of this reveals the heart of Paul – the important thing to him is that the name of Jesus and the work of Jesus should be made known so that people will be saved.

What makes us rejoice?

Is it health?, happiness?, friends?, family?

What made Paul rejoice?

As he says in verse 18, it is when Jesus is proclaimed.

I know that we also care about this.

A few weeks ago when it was mentioned that a member of this community had became a Christian, we all shared this kind of joy.

Paul’s joy is not over his imprisonment, but that even in his imprisonment, the gospel is preached.

So as he shares with the Philippians what is happening to him, he reveals the deepest concern, the most important thing in his life and that is that Jesus be made known.

Do we also care about making Christ known?

I spoke with someone a while ago who goes to the same restaurant at least once a week.

He told me, “I’m on a first name basis with the New York Fries guy.”

How many people do we know in casual, friendship contacts?

Do we care not just to be “on a first name basis” with them, but also to share Christ with them?

I have to confess that sometimes I avoid contact with people because I like to be alone and don’t want to invest energy in more relationships.

I ask myself, if making Jesus known is important to me, would I behave that way?

I guess the question I am asking myself and all of us is, “how would my life be different if making Jesus known was as important to me as it was to Paul?”

At some times in my life, I have been made to feel guilty because I was not witnessing enough.