 |  |
tape, and receive the crown and the "well done" of the righteous Umpire (II Tim. 4: 8).
Such a prayer was not only necessary for the Philippian saints. As members of the Body
of Christ, each one of us needs it experimentally day by day and we need to continually
ponder its every statement and its outworking in our lives.
A new section now starts in which Paul informs his Philippian friends that, in spite of
his imprisonment and the hostility of enemies inside and outside the church, rather than
all this hindering the truth, it was actually helping it! Christ was being proclaimed more
and more, and this was producing real response from those who heard.
While therefore, on the human plane, he could have felt depressed, defeated and
frustrated, he rather rejoiced, as he saw the wonderful way the Lord was working,
"making all things work together for good" and for His glory.
"Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel; so that my bonds became manifest in
Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the
brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to
speak the word of God without fear" (1: 12-14 R.V.).
It may be that the Philippians had sent a message by Epaphroditus expressing their
concern about his welfare. If so, then these verses give them up-to-date news of himself
and his affairs. How glad he must have been to be able to tell them that the good news
was advancing (prokope furtherance) in spite of all difficulties! Not only this, but his
Christian witness in his imprisonment was having a stimulating effect upon believers in
the locality. They were losing their fear, and giving a bolder testimony to God's Word.
If fear is contagious, and it often is, so is its opposite, boldness! Paul's uncompromising
testimony in word and action stirred up others around him and thus the truth was being
proclaimed more and more, so much so that all the praetorian guard were getting to hear
of it. This was another fact that gave him great joy.
However, some were preaching Christ with a very wrong motive. They seemed to
have an animosity towards the Apostle, and even hoped to aggravate the irksomeness of
his captivity. Perhaps they thought they could make him jealous by their success in
preaching. There was a background of envy and strife, squabbling and rivalry. The
meanness of such an attitude of mind seems hardly possible in a Christian, but there is no
knowing what can happen when a believer comes under the domination of the old sinful
nature, and the enemy working through it. If they hoped to overwhelm the Apostle, they
were sadly mistaken. The glorious "What the?" of verse 18 rings out almost in defiance.
What of it? he says, or as we might colloquially say, "so what?" Whatever is happening,
Christ is being proclaimed, he said, and this is the chief thing. I therefore am rejoicing
and will continue to rejoice in spite of all such opposition.
What can daunt a person who can surmount his adverse circumstances so
magnificently? What an example to all of us! It takes so little to get some of us down,
that we should feel ashamed as we contemplate the triumphant witness that this great
servant of Christ gave in the most difficult of circumstances. Another thing that must
have contributed to Paul's joy was the fact that he could count on two things: (1) The