What does Philippians 1 12 14 means?

So, what was at the heart of what Paul did say to the Philippians? In a short sentence it was this: 'My imprisonment has actually helped the gospel spread. ' His message to them is that being thrown into prison had put the good news of Jesus on the radar of people who could never have been reached any other way.

seminary.edu - When What's Bad Is Used for Good – Philippians 1:12-14

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When What’s Bad Is Used for Good – Philippians 1:12-14

By: Northern Seminary

Recently I listened to the renowned pastor and Bible teacher Stuart Briscoe[1] give a deeply helpful and moving address. One of his stories struck me especially, and I will paraphrase it here, changing one name in the story to protect identity. (The story is used with Stuart’s permission.) While pastoring Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Briscoe was contacted by Brian. Briscoe’s ministry was well known through his many books and a regular radio broadcast, so he heard from people all over the world. But Brian’s message was different from those Briscoe usually received. Brian explained he was a prisoner in a maximum security prison in Wisconsin, serving three life sentences because he’d killed three people. Locked in his cell, he’d listened to Briscoe’s messages and they’d struck home. He sensed Christ’s presence right there in his cell, and he asked Jesus to take over his life. At the deepest level it was a new beginning for Brian. He told Briscoe that he knew he’d never be released from prison, and he accepted the rightness of that because his actions had killed three people. But, he said to Briscoe, please visit me when you can. Briscoe found a day when he could travel to the prison. The chaplain met him, thanked him for coming, but told him that unfortunately Brian had been moved to another prison. Briscoe was sorry for a wasted journey and sorry not to meet Brian. He prepared to leave. “No, don’t leave!” said the chaplain. Brian’s changed life and witness had made an amazing impact on other men. “So,” he said, “Brian wants you to tell others the same message he heard in his cell. I’ve organized men to come to the chapel now to listen to you.” Briscoe was taken aback, but of course agreed. His eyes opened wide as the chapel filled with prisoners. He spoke, and told them the good news of Jesus. It seemed to go well. Again Briscoe prepared to leave. “No, not yet,” the chaplain insisted. “There are more who want to hear.” Again the chapel filled up, and again Briscoe was able to share the good news. Brian, a life-sentence prisoner, had done an amazing job of opening up an opportunity for the gospel in a maximum security jail. Briscoe followed up his story by asking, “If you want to reach people in a maximum security jail, what is the best way to do that?” His answer? “You live there.” Brian had no choice but to live there. He was a changed man through Jesus Christ, and he accepted his circumstances as an opportunity from God and many were reached with the gospel. Brian committed serious crimes; Paul was in prison only for preaching about Christ. That makes them different. But in an important way Brian’s story parallels what Paul tells the Philippians: that circumstances which seemed so bad became something used by God for so much good.

Philippians 1:12-14

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Paul never wrote without a purpose in his mind. So, why did he write this?

Very probably he wrote these words because he was a prisoner, and he feared what the Philippians thought about that. Scholars have different ideas about where Paul was in prison. Some think Ephesus, some Caesarea, and some make a case for Rome. Whichever of these is right, he was held there and other places for some time, probably several years. By the time he wrote to the Philippians, his situation had become serious. His freedom was restricted, and his future was doubtful. A few verses after this, Paul speculates whether he will live or die, in other words, whether he’ll be set free or executed (Phil. 1:19-26). The Philippians knew all this, and therefore they would be concerned. They’d be worried for Paul’s health, about how he was being treated, and whether he would be spared or lost to them. And they’d be worried that the spread of the gospel had stalled, that the mission to take the news of Jesus to all people and especially the Gentiles had been halted. Paul addresses all these issues. But his first concern is to reassure them that his imprisonment is not hindering the progress of the gospel. In fact, he tells them, the opposite is true. Before studying Paul’s words more exactly, it’s worth noting one thing he doesn’t say and one thing he doesn’t do. Paul is about to explain that his imprisonment has allowed the gospel to expand. What is bad (his imprisonment) has provided opportunity for what is good (the gospel being heard by people he would never normally reach.) But what Paul doesn’t say is that bad is good. God can use what is bad and bring good from it, but bad is always bad and we should never pretend otherwise. The Old Testament tells how Joseph was sold by his brothers to Ishmaelite traders who in turn sold him as a slave to the captain of the guard in Egypt. Through no fault of his own, Joseph then ended up in more trouble. He was thrown in jail and almost forgotten. He could have rotted there until he died, except his gift for interpreting dreams became known to Pharaoh and eventually Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all the affairs of Egypt. Joseph’s gift saved Egypt from famine, and remarkably, also his own family when his brothers came to buy food. Joseph saw the hand of God in all this. He had been sent ahead to Egypt so he could provide food for his whole family at a time of deadly famine (Gen. 45:5, 7-8).

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Joseph’s story is remarkable, and a wonderful account of how something very bad became used for something very good. But nothing about the outcome justifies the evil that came earlier. Brutal things were done to Joseph: assault and kidnap by his brothers, slave trading by Ishmaelites, lie-telling by a scorned wife, neglect by an ungrateful fellow prisoner. All these were part of Joseph’s experience. And all of them were very wrong. Likewise, Paul never says that any of the wrong done to him was right. He never claims that his many beatings and imprisonments were anything but bad, but God took what was bad and brought something good out of it. What Paul doesn’t do is become introspective, focusing on his hardships. He was held captive. Very probably he was chained day and night to a Roman soldier. He had no privacy for any activity or any conversation. He was not comfortable and had no guarantees about his future. Therefore, Paul could have looked for pity from the Philippians by pouring out his troubles to them. It would have been understandable and common if he had. I have listened to countless people squeeze every ounce of misery out of the challenges of their lives, perhaps because they wanted sympathy, or perhaps because they thought no one going through such dreadful experiences could be blamed for the shortcomings now in their lives. Paul could have spun a heart-tugging sob story. But he didn’t. Paul’s focus was not on himself and not on his struggles. Before anything else, he wanted the Philippians to know that the gospel was still spreading. He was still focused on the mission of God. His personal comfort was a much lower priority. So, what was at the heart of what Paul did say to the Philippians? In a short sentence it was this: ‘My imprisonment has actually helped the gospel spread.’ His message to them is that being thrown into prison had put the good news of Jesus on the radar of people who could never have been reached any other way. And the ripple effects of that continue to spread.

He unpacks that in three ways.

First, he says there has been a very clear gain for the gospel. In verse 12 he says his captivity has meant an “advance” for the gospel. The Greek word he uses is prokopē. Picture an army in ancient times marching across rough terrain. It was far from easy for a large body of soldiers to make swift progress. To help their ‘advance’ – prokopē – a team would be sent in front to cut down bushes or trees, and do anything else to clear the way for the main force. Their work meant bold progress for the army’s cause. Paul chooses that word prokopē to describe what was happening with the gospel because he saw bold progress being made because of his imprisonment. It seems bizarre. He’s a captive. Instead of moving from city to city, preaching in synagogues or market places, bringing people to faith and planting churches, he’s not free. There’s a limited circle of people he can meet. But that didn’t stop God’s work. I’ve known many who face adverse circumstances and give in. Their health isn’t good. Their family aren’t supportive. Their church isn’t the best. They’re not good at explaining the faith. So, they reason, they can’t do much for God and the gospel. That is very far from Paul’s attitude. Yes, he was in prison. Yes, his movements were restricted. Yes, he had a small circle of contacts. But yes, all this was helping the gospel advance. He rejoiced in that. Second, he identifies people being reached who might never have been reached in any other way. The gospel was advancing among the palace guard. Literally he’s referring to the Praetorian Guard. Most likely what was happening was this. At all times a soldier from that guard would be with him, and most probably was chained to him. Escape for a Roman prisoner was very serious, and might forfeit the life of his guard, so no chances would be taken. There would be a roster of soldiers so Paul had a pool of potential converts brought to him one at a time. Each guardsman learned from Paul that he was “in chains for Christ” (v. 13). ‘What did that mean?’ they would ask. And Paul would tell them about Jesus. Every soldier learned about Christ and the good news of the gospel. The result? Paul says the gospel has advanced “throughout the whole palace guard” and “to everyone else” because it’s also become known to every person the soldiers told and to others Paul met during his captivity.

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A ripple of excitement and amazement would run through the Philippian church when it heard that the gospel was being told to the Praetorian Guard. They were the elite troops of the Empire, and not people any evangelist could get to. But when the evangelist couldn’t go to them, God brought the Praetorian Guard to the evangelist when Paul was made a prisoner. Rome’s ‘special forces’ now knew the good news. The gospel had advanced. Third, the gospel was advancing because other Christians near Paul had become bolder in their witness. Paul says: “…because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear” (v. 14). The Christians around Paul saw the obvious. Here was a man held captive, kept from his normal preaching, his life on the line, and still he witnesses to everyone he can. And it works. God uses him to make his gospel spread. Therefore they “have become confident in the Lord” and “proclaim the gospel without fear.” I was still a very young Christian when I went on missions with Stephen Anderson. He was a retired army captain, converted to Christ, and by then an evangelist across all of Scotland. I watched him speak during the interval in a dance hall. I watched him preach to crowds walking along busy streets. I watched him witness to gang members in tough city housing projects. I watched him go to civic leaders for permission for Christian events, and not only did he win their support he took the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with them. God did amazing things through that man. Stephen Anderson did not just impress me, he emboldened me. When I saw God using him I believed he could use me too. Because of his witness, my witness was far stronger than before. That’s what Paul’s witness did for the Christians around him. It’s what the witness of Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles should do for all of us. As God used them, so God uses his servants today. What God did with their gifts and their willingness, God can do with all lives surrendered to him and empowered by his Holy Spirit. How do terrorist groups or leaders of criminal gangs wield power over communities? The answer: they destroy their opposition, and those they can’t destroy they intimidate. They frighten them into silence. How does Satan wield power? He destroys, and those he can’t destroy he intimidates. The devil certainly tries to frighten Christians into silence. I’ve been with Christians in Asia so terrified of persecution and receiving death threats they have privatized their faith, telling the gospel to no one. I’ve been with at least as many Christians in the west so terrified their witness might offend or that they would be thought odd, they too just keep quiet about their faith. Paul would not keep quiet. His door to personal freedom was shut, but the door to the gospel was wide open. He would not be intimidated. He shared the message of Jesus with his guards and the gospel spread as they believed and spread even further as other Christians shed their fear and witnessed more boldly than ever. Circumstances are often difficult for the believer, either personally or because of pressures against our faith. Christians can stay silent, and their message dies with them. Or they can see what Paul saw, how God can still find a way for the good news to be spread. What’s bad can be used for good. Paul, unconcerned for his own comfort and even his life, told the good news to whoever God brought before him. It was a bold choice in his day. It’s still a bold choice today. But it’s a choice that allows the gospel to advance in ways which only God’s wisdom could conceive. [1] More information on Stuart Briscoe and his ministries can be found at these web sites: http://www.tellingthetruth.org/about/Bios/Stuart.aspx; http://www.briscoeministriesinc.com/

seminary.edu - When What's Bad Is Used for Good – Philippians 1:12-14

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