Letter #2 - Philippians 1:12-18
by Sam Wang
With COVID19, we are confined to our home and social distancing has made it difficult to connect with people. How can we advance the gospel to those in need? Philippians 1:16 describes how Paul is in chains for Christ. He rejoiced for that. He did not rejoice because of his chains, but because the gospel was preached and advanced.
During the last several months, brothers and sisters stopped in-person worship services, and many fellowships and Bible studies have moved online. That is like a chain for many of us - we have limited mobility and it has impacted our daily life. Some of us have had to cancel travel plans, wedding plans, and graduation celebrations.
Deep in our minds, we may have these questions:
What will happen to God’s people?
Why would God allow such restrictions to happen to HIS people?
These are the circumstances that we are all facing every day. It seems like this will not change anytime soon. After praying about it, I realized the question itself may be the problem. The question is focused on ourselves rather than God’s big picture. In Philippians, Paul didn’t worry about his own circumstances, he focused on the gospel instead. This might help us in today’s situation.
In verse 14, “because of my chains, most of the brothers in Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” Here we see that Paul is happy about brothers in the Lord advancing the Gospel boldly due to the fact that Paul is in prison. If we focus on Paul, we notice he was restricted in his movements and his freedom was taken away. Yet, if we look at the bigger picture, more brothers were able to speak of God’s word more freely.
Verses 15-17 discuss the motive of preaching Christ - some is selfish, some is out of envy and rivalry. But Paul’s attitude shows that it doesn’t matter. Paul was not focused on his own circumstances, Paul was happy to see Christ preached regardless of motive. What is Christ all about? When we evaluate Jesus’ life on earth, he has no way to be considered “successful” according to a worldly standard. He does not have a career, he does not have a family, and he does not own a house or property. When he died on the cross, his disciples ran away from him. Yet, when we preach about Christ today, we are not preaching his success in worldly standard, we preach his Word because he is the Son of God, and he came to this earth with a clear mission. He came to show us God. In John 14:8-9 “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father.” When we study Jesus we are getting to know God. He is the One who shows us who God is and what God is like. Jesus also came to this world to save us from our sins. John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Only Jesus can save us from our sins. Jesus also came to set us free from death. He made a sacrifice on the cross, so that our sins can be forgiven. His mission was clear, and he calls for his people to repent and come back to God. Yet, when we preach the gospel, we usually focus on the motive and results. We easily get discouraged because we hear unfavorable feedback, we feel failure because it seems like no one responds to our teaching. Sometimes we forget that what we are preaching is Jesus is Lord. If we focus less on ourselves and more on Jesus, we will be more joyful.
We need to learn from Paul, who was able to transform the circumstances to an opportunity for Christ. In any circumstance, be joyful always, praise and worship HIM, giving thanks, and hold on to the faith. We trust God to resolve these issues, since HE is in control.
May the glory and praise be to God, our father in Heaven. Amen.
