Paul’s Missionary Report

Paul’s mind doesn’t work like ours. Maybe we should take note.

I mentioned last week that the first eighteen verses of this epistle serve as an introduction to the whole, and that last week we were finishing up the first half of that introduction. Well, this week we will cover the second half of it.

In fact, you can look at the seven verses we will be covering this week as “Paul's Missionary Report,” because that is exactly what it is. The Philippians are partners with him in the gospel (remember?) fellows in the fellowship. They have given (as we'll see later in the book) out of their poverty to support Paul's mission, and they have done it over and over again. In fact, that's the occasion of this letter, if you'll remember—their giving to him in support of him and his ministry while he's under house arrest in Rome. It's in response to that financial support received from them that Paul is writing this epistle.

So what we have before us this week is his official missionary report. He's giving an account and explanation of what is going on with him and his mission work to the uttermost parts of the earth. He's also addressing their concerns about him, although he doesn't really do that, as we'll see in due course. What we do see here is the heart of Paul and the faith of Paul and the focus of Paul—what his life was given to.

We're opening up a passage this week, which in the end, is going to help us to find meaning and purpose and focus for our own lives, as well as the key to contentment and satisfaction in life.

Now there, I've promised too much already. The old business model, a very wise business model, is to promise less and deliver more. Well, I've done the opposite of that. And I know I'm not going to give secret wisdom here. I'm not pulling anything out of the text that no one else has seen before. I'm not even going to show you anything in the text you didn't already know, probably. What I'm going to do, though, is put Paul's words in context for you, so you will be able to see how Paul viewed God, life, the world, and his mission in it. And once we've done that, we'll be able to discern our mission and purpose as well. Nothing about this will be dramatically life-changing. What I hope it will be is life-focusing, and life-affirming.

Let’s begin by looking at the first three verses, because they constitute paragraph one of our text. We're going to take note of three things in those first three verses, verses 12-14, and the first thing we take note of is the gospel priority of God.

Philippians 1:12-14 ESV - I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

When Paul starts this section with, “I want you to know,” he's using a common formula of the day in letter writing. His purpose is to relieve any worries they may have. They have heard he is under house arrest. They don't know much about what his actual situation is. They are reasonably concerned, and he doesn't want them to be. But he does something a little unexpected here. You might think he would begin by explaining to them, “Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm eating well. The church here in Rome has people looking out for me. I'm getting good rest, yada yada yada.” But he doesn't. He doesn't say anything about himself at all. Instead, he starts immediately into his chiefest concern, which is the progress of the gospel.

what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

“You wouldn't believe it. You would think the opposite. But,” Paul says, “I'm not kidding you here. My house arrest has served, not to stop the gospel, but to advance it.” It's as if his own well-being is of no concern at all to him. Now, what this says about Paul himself we'll get to later, but first I want us to take note of what it says about God.

Does God love Paul? Yes, he does. Is Paul one of God's chosen people? Of course he is. Is God faithful to Paul? Absolutely. God could not be anything but faithful, for faithful is who God is. Has God made promises to Paul that he will keep? Are all things working together for good to Paul? Yes, and yes. Then why is Paul imprisoned? Why is he being afflicted? Why has he lost his freedom? The short answer is—for the sake of the gospel.

We need to understand something. What God is doing in his great work of redemption is far more grand than anything we could ever imagine with our piddling little imaginations. What God is doing encompasses eternity. It is a reclamation project that is worldwide in scope, and eternal in duration. The end result of this great work of redemption is a people from every tribe, nationality, family, and language on Earth being fully restored to eternal communion and bliss with God. Christ is taking us where Adam should have but failed, and the end destination is worth a few little bumps along the way.

Paul is so focused on the redemptive purposes of God in his life, that he considers them not even worth comparing, he considers his afflictions not even worth comparing to the glory which he knows will be revealed in us in eternity. He knows that the afflictions of his life are light, and momentary, in comparison to that. I'm not making this up, by the way. I'm paraphrasing Paul's own words from other epistles. But we will save that for tomorrow.