The Struggle for the Gospel

Michael Licina Jr.

The Struggle Is Real • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Philippians 1:12–18

Gospel

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God works through good and bad motives to accomplish his will.

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Scripture Reading: Psalm 57

Psalm 57:7–11 ESV

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! 8 Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Intro

As we move into the second sermon in our series in Philippians, we find ourselves facing the struggle for the gospel. Stand with me wherever you are as we read from the Word of God in Philippians 1:12-18.

This is God’s Word, and if you will let it, it will change your life.

Philippians 1:12–18 ESV

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

Pray

The gospel is resilient. This message of God’s love to sinful men has withstood trials and tribulation throughout the ages.

Paul saw the resiliency of the Gospel throughout his own lifetime in a couple of specific ways. First, the Gospel is

Resilient Against Oppression

Philippians 1:12–14 ESV

Paul has identified one of the most counter-intuitive aspects of God’s plan: it thrives when it is opposed. Look at the testimony of a Christian apologist: in his Apology, Tertullian states:

Ante-Nicene Fathers 3: Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian (Catholic Edition) Chapter L

kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust; your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. Therefore God suffers that we thus suffer; for but very lately, in condemning a Christian woman to the leno rather than to the leo you made confession that a taint on our purity is considered among us something more terrible than any punishment and any death.1 Nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, avail you; it is rather a temptation to us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.

In Paul’s own life, the gospel shows it’s resiliency in his imprisonment. Not only does the gospel survive while Paul is incarcerated, but it thrives. The persecution of imprisonment to Paul serves only as a new means for his sharing the gospel.

All day, every day, Paul is physically chained to a Roman soldier. He ate with a soldier, slept with a soldier, he even went to the bathroom with a soldier. At no point does Paul ever find himself alone.

It would be in those times that Paul would strike up conversations. I could see him asking one soldier, “what does this belt do?” Another might field a question about that breastplate. Perhaps one soldier’s helmet is different because of his rank, and Paul might inquire of its unique function. Can you hear him, telling how that belt acts like truth does in his own life, keeping his feet clear of obstacles as he runs his race for Christ? That helmet, like salvation, protects the mode of thinking from unholy considerations. That breastplate, like righteousness, stays close to the heart, preventing fatal blows from those fiery darts of Satan’s.

What better chance could Paul have asked for than to have a captive audience for 8 hours each day, only to have another take his place and have fresh ears to hear of Christ? What better witness could Paul have than to preach, one-by-one, to the entire guard that alternated turns on the other end of his chains? What better opportunity could Paul have to consistently demonstrate Christ’s attitude while seeing the same group of soldiers for days, weeks, months?

Regardless of the evil ideas that men had to halt the progress of the gospel by chaining Paul, he found even in chains that the gospel is free to advance. You cannot stop the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ with a mere set of iron chains!

Not only does his imprisonment provide Paul with opportunities to share Jesus, but it also gives others the boldness to share as well. Verse 14:

Philippians 1:14 ESV

14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

When we hear stories of men and women forsaking life and fortune for Christ, when we find examples of people facing persecution and peril for the sake of the Name, we are emboldened to speak that Name above all names more frequently and fearlessly.

I think of Camdidus, the captain of the Thundering Legion, a group of 40 of the most valiant troops in the Roman Empire. When the Emperor decided to persecute Christianity, his general knew the Thundering Legion had to be set straight. They were all Christians and refused to declare fidelity to Caesar and renounce Christ.

So they were stripped of their armor and clothes, herded into a frozen lake, and told they must recant their faith or freeze to death. They were tempted by warm fires and fresh clothes on the shore, but throughout the night they merely prayed: “O Lord, 40 wrestlers have come forth to fight for Thee. Grant that 40 wrestlers may gain the victory!”

Then one did recant. The thirty-nine remaining continued to pray that 40 would suffer for the sake of Christ. As he was being welcomed and warmed on the shore, something amazing happened. The centurion guarding the warm house, Sempronius, was emboldened. He stripped off his own armor and clothes and ran into the lake saying “I am a Christian! I am a Christian! Let me die with the others!”

Why would this one centurion, not in any danger at all, run toward that lake and suffer with those others? Verse 14 tells us why - God uses the boldness and endurance of those who suffer for his name’s sake to build up the body. The gospel is resilient against opposition.

Resilient Against Exploitation

Philippians 1:15–17 ESV

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Sometimes the gospel encounters enemies from without - persecution for example. But sometimes, God’s plan is threatened by enemies within the church itself. Our own motives can stand in the way of the gospel, sometimes directly attempting to impede it’s progress.

But just as iron chains cannot confine the gospel, neither can bad motives. Think about Pharoah - here is a man completely opposed to the work of God. God tells Pharoah, through Moses, “Let my people go.” Pharoah answers, “No!” Then God works through Pharoah’s obstinacy and YHWH get’s his way any way!

Paul is facing a strange situation - people with vastly different motives are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some really do love God, and love Paul as well. They are certainly the ones showing the gospel through their attitudes and actions. They stand with Paul as he defends the gospel, “always ready to give a reason for the hope that is within you.”

Others, however, are preaching Christ just to get at him! They are preaching the true gospel, but it is from a heart of envy, jealousy, and rivalry. Not only are they trying to “beat Paul,” they want him to suffer in his imprisonment. There is no genuine concern for the things of God in this preaching - it is merely a means to an end: to kick Paul while he is down and to boost their own egos.

Yet the gospel goes forth anyway.

Victorious In Every Way

Philippians 1:18 ESV

18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

God doesn’t need our cooperation in order to get his gospel out. What can you give the Lord of Heaven and Earth anyway? Anything you might possibly have to give to God, he already has celestial storehouses full of it! God doesn’t need us.

But the beauty of the gospel is that he does use us, even though he doesn’t need us. And what’s even more beautiful about the gospel is that he can work through us, in spite of us, to accomplish his will.

Elias was a young man - a preacher’s son. Rebellious as the day is long, Elias came to America to make his fortune and escape the discipline and religion of this parents.

Elias was fond of respect, so he dressed as a clergyman. When some found out who his father was, he was invited to preach at a church. For a preacher’s son, that would be a piece of cake. He knew how to preach - just copy Dad.

It didn’t matter his motivation that Sunday. It didn’t matter that he was a crook of a human. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know Jesus walking into that pulpit. God used Elias’ preaching that day to bring a lost sinner to Christ. That sinner’s name: Elias. Elias Keach, son of the famous Baptist preacher Benjamin Keach, would go on to found the first permanent Baptist church in PA - the Pennepak Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

You see, when Christ is lifted high, no matter what the motivation of the lifter might be, he will draw men to himself. Paul finds that the exaltation of Christ is the most important thing.

Now, for someone preaching a false gospel, Paul is not so kind. But when the truth of God is preached, when Christ is being presented rightly, when the gospel is going forth, the motives of those proclaiming Christ do not matter nearly as much as the Truth they are proclaiming. Paul has learned to rejoice that Christ is being exalted, even if he is being slighted in the process.

Boy, what an example for us. The gospel faces many struggles, and we as preachers, teachers, deacons, parents and grandparents, employees and managers will face many struggles as we share the gospel. We ought to struggle for the gospel! While we may not freeze in a lake for our faith in Christ, we should struggle through the difficulties and hardships we face for the sake of the Name of Jesus.

But we also should rejoice in the midst of those struggles, because those struggles are the means by which the gospel advances in our world. We cannot sit idly by while expecting God to do his work all around us. He has CALLED us to go, CALLED us to preach, CALLED us to make disciples.

We are CALLED, and whether we face struggles like persecution and imprisonment, or whether we are slighted by fellow workers with bad motives, we can rejoice in the resiliency of the gospel to overcome every opposition and every exploitation to be victorious in every way.