I sincerely pray that there is the greater progress of the gospel
[Philippians 1:12-19]
You will know that the Pope came to Korea before. How effective do you think it was? One example is Kia Motors Soul. The reason is that Kia Motor has gained a huge indirect publicity effect because the Pope rode a Kia automobile Soul because he wanted to ride a frugal automobile that was not bulletproofed in order to get closer to the public during the visit. In particular, Kia Motor Soul car's main sales market was limited to North America (80% of Soul's demand was in the United States), and since the Pope rode the Soul car during the visit to Korea, the car’s name and image was transmitted all over the world (Internet). In addition, Kia said that the average daily contract number of Kia Soul rose 32.5 per day from the 11th day before the Pope's visit to the 19th, the day after the departure of the pope, by 62.5% (Internet). In addition to this effect of Kia Motor Soul, I think there would be more interest in Catholic due to the pope's visit. Actually, I had a conversation with a brother in Christ who was working near Gwang-hwa-mun in Seoul, Korea last week through KakaoTalk, and he told me that when he talked to his atheist co-worker in hi company his co-worker told him that he liked the Pope. His co-worker also said ‘Christianity is very selfish’ and ‘Christian pastors do a lot of bad thing, but Catholic priests do less.’ The brother in Christ whom I talked to worried that many non-believers might join the Catholic church. And he told me. Then he told me, "Now the trust of Korean Christianity is at the bottom." And I think there are people who say that they are sick of Christianity so they are converting to Catholicism. What do you think of this? Do you think that the trust of Korean Christianity is at the bottom now? I encouraged that brother by saying, ‘We have to be trustworthy people first’, ‘We must act instead of just talking’, ‘We must be selfless instead of selfish’, ‘Let’s focus on character’, ‘Let’s reach out to those who are alienated’. How can we Christians recover our trust again? I think the first thing we must do is to shed tears of repentance. It is because there is no restoration without true repentance. So we have to change ourselves. We will never be able to give confidence to the world unless we change.
In order for us to be a light and salt in this world, we must first listen to 1 Timothy 4:15 and obey His Word: “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” To make our progress visible to all, we must set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity (v. 12). Furthermore, we must become a good example to those who do not believe in Jesus. Another word we should listen to and obey is Philippians 1:25: “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.” There must be progress of our faith. Our faith must grow. We must eat (hear) the word of Jesus Christ and continue to grow in faith (Rom. 10:17). What is the purpose? The purpose is so that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ may be preached through us. In other words, there must be progress of the preaching of the gospel through the people of faith.
In today's text Philippians 1:12, Paul writes to the Saints in the Philippian Church: “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.” I would like to receive two lessons from God as we meditate on the verse 12-19 under the heading “I sincerely pray that there is the greater progress of the gospel”:
First, I want to think about Paul’s circumstances.
Look at Philippians 1:12 - “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.” What was “my circumstances”? Look at verse 13: “so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else.” When we look at this verse 13, we can know that the Paul’s circumstance was his imprisonment. In other words, when Paul was writing this letter to the Philippians, he was imprisoned in Rome. Isn’t this surprising? While Paul was in prison, whenever he remembered the Philippian church saints, he thanked God and offered prayer with joy (vv. 3-4). How could he do that? How could he thank God for them when he was in prison? How could he pray with joy when his circumstance wasn’t joyful at all? I don’t think ordinary people can be thankful and joyful if they are in the Paul’s circumstance. And I don’t think those of us Christians with little faith will not be able to pray for those whom we love with joy if we are in a jail. Paul, however, prayed in the middle of the night and praised God (Acts 16:25), when he was put in the inner cell and fastened his feet in the stocks (v. 24) with Silas. How could Paul and Silas pray to God and praise Him in such circumstance? They were unjustly imprisoned. When they came to Philippi (v. 12) and were going to the place of prayer, they met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future (v. 16). The girl followed Paul and Silas, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” (v. 17). She kept this for many days so finally Paul became so troubled that he said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And that moment the spirit left her (v. 18). “When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities” (v. 19). “The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison” (vv. 22-23). So Paul and Silas were in prison unjustly. But they prayed in the middle of the night and praised God. How was this possible?
We often get driven by our situations. Especially when we are faced with situations that we cannot handle, we are often influenced by them. If we are to be put in prison unjustly like Paul, we will probably grumble than be thankful. How can we not complain and grumble if we unjustly put into jail even though we didn’t do anything wrong and commit crime? This is our human nature. How can we, like Paul, thank God and pray for those whom we love with joy when we are in prison? How can there by joy in that kind of circumstance? In the Old Testament Exodus 14, when the Israelites were imprisoned in front of the Red Sea (Exod. 14: 3), the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord when they saw Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and the Egyptians approached (v. 10). And they blamed Moses: “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (vv. 11-12) Does this make sense that the Israelites blame Moses for bringing them out of Egypt? Does it make sense that they wanted to serve the Egyptians in Egypt because they were in the crisis? Our human nature is to complaint and grumble than give thanks in times of adversity and crisis. But if we truly believe in God, shouldn’t we pray, praise, and thank God?
If it is hard to put ourselves in Paul’s circumstance (his imprisonment) or in the Israelites who were hemmed in by the desert, let’s think of it as cancer. Let’s say we went to the hospital and our doctor said we have a cancer. How would we react? The emotional response seen by patients diagnosed with cancer can be divided into three stages (Internet): (1) The initial stage of the reaction is when a patient is diagnosed with cancer, he or she experiences negative, distrust, or despair. And some patients may think their doctors made a wrong judgment about the test or treatment method because of their severe anxiety. (2) The second stage is called emotionally agitated. In this stage, the patients think about cancer or death repeatedly, and it is said that it is difficult to maintain daily life because of depression, anxiety, insomnia, anorexia and difficulty in concentration that continue 1 or 2 weeks. (3) The third is the adaptation stage in which the patients accept the diagnosis and treatment process, and each patient finds his or her own way of coping and returns to daily life. As they go through these three stages, the cancer patients have a common psychiatric problem. It is said that 50 to 70 percent of cancer patients experience adaptive disorders resulting from insomnia, anxiety, and depression due to difficulties with cancer. In addition, 10 to 20% of cancer patients are accompanied by depression requiring treatment. In this case, they suffer from a variety of physical symptoms such as decreased mood, reduced motivation, insomnia, and a lack of eating or more sickness here and there in their bodies. In addition, they have fear of death, anxiety about cancer recurrence and metastasis. And their fear and anxiety of future uncertainty and changes will increase. They consider even a minor physical change as a major disease. In rare cases, they show paranoia that their families may wish them to die, or they may be deluded that the therapist is deliberately doing the wrong treatment. How then should we Christians react when they are diagnosed with cancer? Pastor John Piper, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, said, "Do not waste your cancer." And then he tells us in nine ways how he should not waste cancer, but I just want to share five of them (Piper): (1) If we don’t believe that cancer is God designed for us, we will waste cancer. (2) In 2 Corinthians 1:9, God's design is clear: “Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (3) What God has designed is to deepen our love for Christ. If we die, we aren’t winning the cancer. When we do not value Christ, cancer is winning. (4) Through cancer, God wants to create in us deep love and caring heart for others. (5) Cancer is a good opportunity to witness Christ (Lk. 21:12-13). What do you think of this? Do you see cancer as a good opportunity to witness Christ?
We must, like Paul, consider whatever circumstances that we are in as a good opportunity to witness Christ. We must be concerned about how we can use our circumstances to witness Jesus Christ for the progress of the gospel. We must prayerfully consider how we can glorify God and please Him through our circumstances. We should not be self-absorbed in ourselves because our circumstances are too hard. Rather, we should be concerned about saving the souls of those around us whatever circumstances that we are in and make every opportunity to witness the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Second and last, I want to think about the progress of the gospel through Paul's circumstances.
Look at Philippians 1:12 – “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.” Paul wrote to the saints of the Philippian Church and said that there is something he wanted them to know. It is the fact that although he was in prison, it turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. How was this possible? If Paul, a gospel preacher, was in prison, he could not go out and preach the gospel. How could there have been progress of the gospel? Look at verse 13-14: “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 without fear.” Although Paul was imprisoned, there were two reasons for the progress of the gospel:
(1) There was a progress of the gospel because the whole praetorian guard knew well that Paul’s imprisonment was because of Christ (v. 13).
Not only the whole praetorian guard knew well that Paul’s imprisonment was because of Christ but also “everyone else” knew that Paul was in chains for Christ (v. 13). As a result, there was the progress of the gospel. This was how much Paul’s imprisonment for Christ’s sake had been known externally to others. Dr. Park Yun-sun said: "If the suffering of the believer is due to Christ, it has the greatest value. And if it is revealed that such relational suffering is for the sake of Christ, to those who know it will know that the gospel of Christ is very precious and true (Park Yun-sun). When I think about what Dr. Park Yun-sun, I remembered Dr. Kent Brandley, who was infected with Ebola virus during his medical activities in Liberia, West Africa. Three months before he left for Liberia for his medical mission, he said, ‘If a hard day comes, I will recall the God’s calling again.’ This was a confession that he would be led by the God’s calling while trusting and relying on God even though he was serving Africa and at the moment of trials (Internet). What a beautiful confession is this? Without light and without a name, he served as a doctor in Liberia in Africa and became infected with the Ebola virus, so that the whole world knew about him that he was also a believer in God, being led by God's calling and obedient to his calling. Those who are attracted to God’s calling are beautiful. God's people who obey God's calling are beautiful. Through these people, God is going to fulfill God's will and receive glory. These people obey God's calling and manifest Jesus Christ wherever they go. Wherever they go, they go to the place where the Lord calls them and shine the light of Jesus Christ. To these committed Christians there is a confession of faith like Apostle Paul: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.” I hope and pray that this confession of faith will be with us.
(2) There was a progress of the gospel because most of the brothers in the Lord had been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly (v. 14).
Look at Philippians 1:14 – “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” Isn’t it amazing that even though Paul, a spiritual leader was in prison, the saints of the Philippian church had been more boldly speaking the word of God without fear, rather than being afraid? This isn’t the normal response. If Paul, their spiritual leader was in the prison, the normal response that we expect from the saints of the Philippian church would be afraid of those who opposed Christ and His gospel and would be silent instead of speaking the word of God. But since they spoke the word of God more courageously and fearlessly, it is clear that it was the work of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Park Yun-sun said: ‘Even though the persecution of Paul was terrible, the Holy Spirit had made Paul strong enough to endure the terrible persecution. Therefore, the Christian believers should have good faith and see the power of God to overcome it instead of seeing the terrible fact of persecution’ (Park Yun-sun). Because of this trust in the saints of the Philippian church and their trust in the Lord, they were able to proclaimed the word of God more courageously and fearlessly, even in Paul's imprisonment (v. 14). However, all those who boldly proclaim the word of God in this way didn’t have the pure motive. Look at verses 15 through 17: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.” Paul knew that not only there were some who preached Christ out of good will and in love but there were some who preached Christ out of envy and rivalry and selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they could stir up trouble for Paul while he was in chains. Here, I think those who preached Christ out of envy, rivalry and selfish ambition might have envied Paul and hated him. One thing for sure was that they didn’t preach Christ with pure motive. Actually, they preached Christ from false motive (v. 18). Nevertheless, in a letter to the Philippian saints, Paul wrote: “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice” (v.18).
This was Paul's joy. His joy was not only to preach Jesus Christ but He was preached by the Philippian church saints. He rejoiced because Christ was preached, whether from false motives or true. Of course, I don’t Apostle Paul here wasn’t agreeing about preaching the gospel with false motive. How can we know this? We can know this by looking at Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit ….” Although it seems like Paul didn’t care about those who preached Christ “out of selfish ambition” in Philippians 1:17, he said in 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition.” But because it was Christ who was preached, Paul rejoiced. And another reason why Paul rejoiced was because he knew that through the Philippian church saints’ prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what had happened to him would turn out for his deliverance (v. 19). Shouldn’t we have this joy?
Not long ago, I was informed by CNN Internet News that Dr. Kent Brandley and Nancy Wright Ball, who were infected with Ebola virus during his medical activities in Liberia, West Africa were discharged from the hospital (Internet). After hearing the news, I saw a video of Dr. Kent Brandley’s speech as he was discharged from the Internet. I saw him confessing that 'God saved my life'. My heart was touched by his speech. Especially when I heard his prayer during the nine days when he was lying in bed and as he was getting worse and worse, my heart was blessed. This was his prayer: “As I lay in my bed in Liberia for the following nine days, I prayed that God would help me to be faithful Even in my illness, and I prayed that in my life or in my death, He would be glorified.” Not only his prayer touched my heart, what sister Nancy Wright Ball said before she was discharged touched my heart as well. And that one word was “To God be the glory!” We cannot fully understand what these brother and sister in Christ went through when they were infected with the Ebola virus, a fatal infectious disease with a mortality rate of 90%. Of course, we cannot fully understand their hearts and minds in those situations where they were at the crossroads of life and death. But what we can clearly know is that they didn’t lose their faith even at the crossroads of life and death but also they wanted to glorify God whether they live or die. In particular, I saw a glimpse of God’s work of using Dr. Kent Brandley’s speech at the official press conference to make the progress of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world when he said ‘God saved me,’ ‘God has answered they prayers of so many people through this world’ and his dedication to glorify God whether through life of death. Therefore, we are rejoicing and rejoicing like Apostle Paul as brothers and sisters in the Lord.