Gospel Centered Ministry Series

Technicolor Joy: Philippians 1:12-18

Gospel-Centered Ministry

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

5-14-2023

On January 8th, 1956 Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint landed near a river in the jungle of Ecuador. They had spent months learning the language and trying to make contact with the Huaorani Indians. What happened next is hard to watch. They were murdered by the Huaorani Indians they were trying to reach for the Gospel. As Steve Saint dies, he’s able to tell them “I am your sincere friend.”

Five young men with their whole lives ahead of them, with wives and children, had sacrificed their lives in Ecuador for the sake of the call of Christ.

Was it all for nothing? Did they die in vain? Did their deaths have meaning in God’s plan?

At the end of the sermon, I’m going to tell you the rest of the story so stay tuned.

Review

We have been going verse by verse through the book of Philippians over the last month.

Paul has celebrated their Gospel-driven fellowship that they share with him. They have supported Paul’s missionary endeavors for over ten years. They love Paul and he loves them.

Last week, we studied Paul’s Gospel Saturated Prayer:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil 1:9-11)

Paul then moves on to a report on his Gospel-Centered Ministry, which we will look at today.

Turn with me to Philippians 1:12-18.

Prayer.

Paul rejoices that the Gospel is advancing despite opposition

"Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.” (Phil 1:12)

The Philippians hadn’t seen Paul in years and they were worried about him. They wanted to know how he was doing.

They waited with anticipation for Epaphroditus to return with some news about Paul.

When he returned, he brought a letter from Paul to be read to the congregation.

When they heard, “I want you to know brothers and sisters…” their ears perked up and they got ready for a full rundown of the past few years.

Instead, he uses five words, “What has happened to me.”

Five words to describe:

going to Jerusalem and getting accused of starting a riot because people thought he had brought a Gentile into the Temple.

“Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” (Acts 21:28)

The mob began to beat him and he was arrested for his own protection. He asked to speak to them and shared the Gospel.

He was brought before the Sanhedrin, he shared the Gospel and they couldn’t decide what to do with him.

there was an assassination plot against Paul and he was transferred to Caesarea at night.

Felix heard his case but decided to leave him in jail for two years.

Festus took over for Felix and asked Paul if he would be willing to go back to Jerusalem to stand trial.

Paul answered:

“I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:10-11)

He was put on a ship bound for Rome and it sank!

He was shipwrecked on the Island of Malta for three months, where he was bitten by a poisonous snake!

He finally made it to Rome where he was held, in a rented house, chained to Roman guard twenty-four hours a day. He was awaiting a trial before Nero that would either end in being set free or execution.

Instead of taking pages and pages to complain and whine, as I would have, he summed up all the events of the past three years with “what has happened to me.”

This is Paul’s divine perspective. Everything that had happened to him “actually served to advance the Gospel.”

The word “advance” was a military term used for a special advance unit that cleared the way for the troops.

Paul’s circumstances, as frustrating and painful as they were, cleared the way for the Gospel to be preached in Rome.

Paul had always wanted to go to Rome and share the Gospel there. Rome was the center of the civilized world. If the Gospel could take hold in Rome, it would spread like wildfire.