Philippians 1:12-18a

Philippians 1:12-18a

Purpose in the Problems

I.                    Only a gospel-centered perspective provides purpose in the midst of life’s problems; so we must see how God advances His purposes through problem times (Vv. 12-14)

a.       The Philippian church loved Paul dearly, and having sent a delegation to Rome in support of him, they were eager know about his health and well being. But Paul answers their questions by simply referring to all he has gone through prior to Rome and all he is currently subjected to in Rome as his “circumstances”. Why such brevity? Because Paul wants to get on to the purpose and results of his circumstances. He’s under house arrest, and chained to a guard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, but it has resulted in all the royal guards and the house of Caesar understanding that Paul is imprisoned for the gospel, an audience with Caesar himself, and the increased boldness of other Christians in Rome to fearlessly live and speak the gospel themselves. Paul couldn’t have chosen a more influential group of people to expose to the gospel than the praetorian guard, who represented the most up and coming influential future leaders in Rome. Paul wasn’t chained to these men; they were chained to him; and he had a new captive audience every 4-6 hours for years. He doesn’t complain about his circumstances, lament his lack of freedom, or moan and dwell over his plans which fell through; he simply indicates that because of his specific circumstances, the gospel has progressed and is still progressing into places he could’ve never taken it otherwise! Paul’s circumstances aren’t a human setback, they’re a Divine setup! Paul was able to see that his problems were a part of God’s plan, and that God had a purpose for him in them, because his perspective of life wasn’t Paul-centered, or even people-centered, it was gospel-centered. Making plans and setting goals isn’t wrong, but we must see that ultimately none of us are given a choice whether we’ll experience problems and difficulties in life, but we’re all given the choice of how we view life and respond to our circumstances and problems. Often our biggest storms are God’s preparation for His greatest gospel work. A gospel-centered perspective reveals purpose, peace, and joy at all times, especially in the midst of life’s problems. (Vv. 12-14; Job 1:21; Matt. 6:33; Luke 9:23-25; Acts 8:1-4; 9:1-22; 21-28; Rom. 1:15; 8:18, 28; 1 Cor. 9:16-23; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:22; 2 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:6-7)

II.                 Only a gospel-centered perspective provides purpose in the midst of life’s problems; so we must allow problem times to reveal and refine our priorities (Vv. 15-18a)

a.       Paul’s circumstances revealed his priorities, but they also revealed the priorities of others in the Roman Christian community. Some church leaders preached the gospel out of good will and in loving support of Paul and his God appointed ministry, but others preached the gospel out of selfish ambition, envy, and rivalry, in order to inflict more damage on Paul personally. Prior to Paul’s arrival, these leaders were likely vying to be the chief voice of influence in the Rome church, but now everyone, even the praetorian guard and the house of Caesar, was only talking about Paul! These men were motivated to preach out of “selfish ambition” and choose to continue to try to build themselves up by tearing Paul down. They were believers who preached the gospel, they just preached with the wrong motivations. How does Paul respond? He says that it doesn’t matter what they say about him, he rejoices in the gospel being preached, and leaves them to God. Paul was able properly prioritize his ministry and response to other because he had a gospel-centered eternal perspective. The same issues exist in the church today, and we must also rejoice in the gospel and stand firmly and lovingly against false teaching. Paul’s gospel-centered perspective allowed him to prioritize his life, attitude, and relationships to see God’s work in the smallest details. Paul’s example teaches us that someone will always seek to criticize us, tear us down, make us feel inferior, or make us feel valueless and purposeless in every area of our lives and relationships, especially when life is difficult, and circumstances are stacked against us. But life doesn’t revolve around a successful job, a happy marriage, a perfect family, getting into he right school, being in the right group of friends, having great prestige and influence, or being in the right tax bracket. Living purposely, peacefully, joyfully, impactfully, and with the proper motive in all those areas of life revolves around prioritizing all things and relationships through a gospel-centered perspective. Thus we must allow every problem we face in life to reveal and refine our priorities for their gospel-centeredness, so that we bear joyful gospel fruit in even the smallest details of our lives and relationships, even in the midst of our biggest problems! (Vv. 15-18a; Luke 9:50; Rom. 12:1-21; 1 Cor. 2:1-5; 4:1-5; 2 Cor. 2:14-3:6; 4:5; Gal. 1:6-24; Eph. 5:15-21; Col. 1:9-12; 1 Thess. 2:2-6; Jude 3-4)