Philippians 1:19-26 Progress and Joy in Christ WC McCarter
Introduction
What
do you do with a person like Paul? He
doesn’t care if someone preaches from an impure heart or a pure heart as long
as they are preaching Christ. In life or
in death he is satisfied. If he continues
to live, he will minister to the body of Christ. If he dies, he is confident that it will be
gain! He doesn’t care what anyone does
to him or thinks of him, he is only focused on benefiting the church: for
progress and joy. What do you do with a
Christian like Paul? You cannot stop his
Gospel progress, and you cannot take away his joy. I can only hope to follow his pattern of
following Christ.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
Expectation and Hope of Salvation
(19-20)
If we
pick up where Jim left off last week in verse 18, we can see that today’s
passage is bookended by the theme of rejoicing.
In verse 19, we must first determine what “this” refers to. Remember some of the background to this
letter. While Paul was in Jerusalem, there
was a great uprising among the Jews against him because of his Christian
preaching, and the apostle was arrested.
Although he was going to be freed, as a Roman citizen, he decided to employ
his right to appeal to Caesar to have his case heard. So, he was imprisoned for some time. While in prison, Paul wrote some letters
(including Philippians), he was ministered to by some Christians, he was even
able to penetrate the Roman guard and some in Caesar’s house with the Gospel,
and there was, of course, personal opposition to him. Some were preaching the Gospel in a way that
would sway people away from Paul and to themselves. They did not like Paul. Yet, Paul says, in essence, that as long as
they are preaching Christ, he does not care about their personal feelings about
himself. Therefore, the “this” of verse
19 refers to his imprisonment and opposition.
The “deliverance”
of v19 is apparently ultimate salvation. Some have seen here the idea that Paul
believed that he would get out of prison and return again to ministry among the
people, but he uses eternally-charged words about this “deliverance.” The word translated here as “deliverance” is
same word that is translated everywhere else in the New Testament as
“salvation.” He talks about his “earnest
expectation and hope” along with “death and life.”
The
ultimate salvation that Paul was so confident in was not because of a reliance
on himself. Paul viewed his salvation as
being accomplished by two means of cooperation: through (1) the Philippians’
prayer and (2) the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul, the Philippians, and Christ were bound
together in a special way. The
Philippians (and others) were with him and supporting him through prayer, and
Christ was with him through the Spirit.
Commentators
tell us that these two words, “expectation” and “hope,” are so closely related
that they can combine to mean something like, “hope-filled expectation” (Fee,
135). Hope is not merely wishfulness for
the Christian; it is “the highest degree of certainty about the future” (Fee,
135). I think Paul means a then-and-now
type of understanding. Ultimately, Paul would not be ashamed;
so why should he be ashamed in the present? If he knows his future is sure in Christ,
what worries does he have in the present?
If all things are his in the next age, what does he have to lose in this
age? You see, Christians are to live
with an eternal perspective. We are
willing to sacrifice our lives now—our time, our energy, our resources—because
we know that we have been given eternal life.
We have no fear because we have a confident hope. Our futures are sure, not because we can rely
on ourselves, but because we rely on our God.
We will not be ashamed on Judgment Day because Christ’s righteousness is
ours. And if we will not be ashamed
then, we certainly have no fear of shame now.
The
word “boldness” (or “courage” in the NIV), actually conveys the meanings of
“openness” and “public” (Fee, 137). It
is boldness of speech in the presence of others. Through Paul’s imprisonment and defense of
the Gospel, he will boldly and publicly reveal Christ to be glorious. Paul refers to his witness as in the
“body.” He knows full-well that his
imprisonment is physical. He knows that
his future is a life or death issue. He
could face the death penalty. But Paul’s
resolution is to be a public witness to the wonders of Christ whether he goes
free or is condemned to death.
To Live and to Die (21-24)
With
that, Paul launches into a discussion of what it means to live and to die. Christians are those who have a unique view
of life and death. We are not those who
have no hope after death. We are not
those who fear death. We do not look
forward to death as if we are happy about the way things have gone in this age
and are happy to suffer to consequence of sin, which is death, but we know that
God has bought for us the gift of eternal life.
And, life in eternity will not be like it is here—there will be no sin,
sorrow, suffering, Satan, or any of the like.
We will enjoy God’s presence forevermore.
Paul
lived by faith and not by sight. He
lived under the control of the knowledge of the grace of Jesus Christ. Someone who lives by that knowledge can say,
“To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” That was his faith. That is our faith, although we may be weak in
it from time to time. Unshaken faith
says “life or death means Christ for me!”
Christ is the end-all-and-be-all. We must treasure Him above all else in this
life and in death.
The
“but” in verse 22 supports the understanding of “deliverance” to mean ultimate
salvation. Paul was not sure if he would
live or die. He was not sure if he would
be freed. Yet, he did know one thing—if
he was freed and continued on in the flesh (the body) he would continue to
labor for Christ thus producing more fruit.
If
Paul was given the choice, to continue to live and minister or die and receive
his reward, he would not know what to choose. How do you choose between the two? Both life and death were attractive to
him! Paul knew that to depart meant to
be with Christ and that is “far better.” Yet, he also knew that he could be of use to
the Philippians and countless other Christians. In the midst of a life and death situation
Paul was concerned about the church; he was concerned about the brethren and
not himself. Paul has an understanding
that death gives way to life. For a
Christian to die here is to be present with the Lord, to depart is to be with
Christ. Thankfully, God is the only One
who knows the outcome of our situations. If we were to choose, what a miserable amount
of pressure we would experience!
There
is no doubt that Paul was a highly valuable asset to the spiritual development
of the Christians in Philippi and many other places. It was needful for Paul to continue on in the
flesh so that he could minister to the churches.
Progress and Joy (25-26)
Paul
has left room for an unfavorable outcome in the preceding verses, but states in
verse 25 that it was his personal conviction that he would have a favorable
outcome. He had no prophetic utterance
from God and he had no vision from God, but he knew that he had much left to
accomplish for the sake of the Gospel.
He knew that the Philippians and others could use his service.
Paul
wanted three things for the Philippian believers, and I think it is extended to
any church including us:
1. Progress of Faith (remember
“progress of Gospel” in verse 12)
2. Joy of Faith (quality of the
experience of the Christian life)
3. Abundant Rejoicing in Jesus Christ
(joy = rejoicing)
Conclusion and Christian
Application
I use
to love watching horror movies, but now I really have no taste for them. Most of them are grimy and inappropriate
anyway. But, you know, I never was
really scared of them. There was usually
the element of surprise, but there was no real fear. I’ll tell you what kind of movies have always
brought out fear in me—the kind where things are out of a person’s control, for
example, when the government threatens a person and there’s no way of escape. I’ve often thought about what it will be like
for Christians in the future, especially for Christian ministers. To be honest, I’ve had moments of anxiety. Yet, I think about a passage like this where
Paul shares his thoughts on things outside of his control. Rather than breaking down in fear and shame,
he rises up with great boldness in his witness to the message of Christ. There is nothing you can do with Paul. He is satisfied in life or in death. In life he will serve the cause of Christ, and
in death he will witness to the cause of Christ. No matter the circumstances, he trusts Christ
for the future. That is bold. That is brave. That is confident. That is faith. That is what I want for myself and all of
you.
(1) Joy is a key theme in this passage
and the whole book. What kind of joy do
you have? Is your joy in Christ, or
would you rather take pleasure in other things?
There is only one kind of joy that is everlasting. There is only one kind of joy that will
actually satisfy you fully.
(2) It is easy to pay lip service to
things like hope in God, glorifying Christ, and Christian service, but do our
lives line up with those confessions?
(3) Are you growing in your faith and
joy? What kind of progress has been made
in your faith? Think about the last year
of your life, for example, how have you grown?
This is the apostolic purpose.
Progress is what Christ wants for your life and for our church. I have made it my mission in life to
facilitate Christian progress. A growing
church is not one that is necessarily gaining more and more people (although,
we are called to make disciples of the nations). A growing church is one that is constantly
pushing forward in the faith. I hope we
make lots of progress in the years to come.