that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.<\/em>“<\/p>\nBecause Paul was courageous in the face of persecution, others became emboldened to be courageous, too, and this resulted in the further spread of the gospel. This is not the first time we have seen this with Christians. Earlier, when Paul himself (Saul) was persecuting God’s people and putting them in prison, the Christians were scattered abroad because of it. What was the result? “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word<\/em>” (Acts 8:4). Because of the persecution, there was greater progress of the gospel.<\/p>\nPerhaps all of this seems counterintuitive. Those who initiated the persecutions would have thought it would curtail the spread of the gospel, but they always underestimated the level of commitment among Christians. Instead of being too afraid to talk, they were emboldened to speak up and teach others the truth. We see the same attitude among the apostles early on. When Peter and John were told they were not to speak in the name of Jesus, they said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard<\/em>” (Acts 4:19-20). When the apostles were told to stop preaching, they responded, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:19). Peter would later write, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose…<\/em>” (I Peter 4:1). There was an expectation of opposition and they were prepared to use that opposition for the greater progress of the gospel. Shall we do any less today?<\/p>\nPaul was so invested in the spread of the gospel that he would rejoice in the preaching of Christ even if it came from those with bad motives: “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice<\/em>” (Philippians 1:15-18).<\/p>\nWhat matters here is that Christ is preached. If someone did not like Paul and preached out of selfishness, as long as Christ was preached, Paul would rejoice. This speaks volumes about his own motivation. He was willing to suffer and be maligned. He trusted God and knew the truth would prevail. Today, no matter what others say or do to us, what matters is that Christ is proclaimed. If our circumstances are not what we would wish, what matters is that Christ is being preached. We may just consider that our circumstances could actually open doors for the gospel that, before this, were closed. We may then consider that our circumstances are resulting in greater progress of the gospel. If that is so, then we need to submit to the circumstances in order to let the gospel take precedence.<\/p>\n
Paul then shows this remarkable attitude: “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death<\/em>” (Philippians 1:18-20). Paul would be delivered, even if that meant through death.<\/p>\nLet us pray that Christ will be exalted in us, whether by life or by death.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer One of the highlights of Paul’s attitude is that he was always more concerned for the spread of the gospel than for his own personal agenda or safety. He was willing to die for the Lord if it meant that the gospel would be proclaimed and more would be saved. He expresses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[118,536,182],"class_list":["post-37727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-paul","tag-preaching","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-myth\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":0},"title":"The Myth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 9, Nos. 4,5, Aug\/Sept. 2008. Once we decide to obey God completely, it's easy to assume that the rest of our life will run smoothly. If it does, we think this proves that we're doing God's Will. If we run into obstacles,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17550,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/from-bad-to-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":1},"title":"From Bad to Good","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson Text: Philippians 1:12-14 Paul wrote the book of Philippians while in prison. His trial had probably already taken place, and he seemed to be waiting for the verdict. It appears he expected to be released but was uncertain about it. Paul, no doubt, did not enjoy being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0018-12-300x288.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46432,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/making-the-best-of-bad-situations\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":2},"title":"Making the Best of Bad Situations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 1:12-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As much as we might wish it otherwise, we aren\u2019t often in control \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things aren't always optimal \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things don\u2019t always go our way II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Better than you might think \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Philippians had hear of Paul\u2019s imprisonment - Philippians 4:14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Such would normally be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-attitude\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":3},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom – Attitude","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Joe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wasnt-luke-a-disciple-of-paul\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":4},"title":"Wasn’t Luke a disciple of Paul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Wasn't Luke a disciple of Paul and not Jesus though he did follow Jesus. So were the other three gospels were written even later because Luke didn't come in the picture till 30-40 years after our Lord's death. Answer: Luke is never described as being a disciple of Paul.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46428,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-not-worry-about-false-teachers-because-at-least-christ-is-being-preached\/","url_meta":{"origin":37727,"position":5},"title":"Should we not worry about false teachers because at least Christ is being preached?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does Philippians 1:12-18 mean that whatever way the gospel is preached it is not too important? What will then be the reward of a person or people involved in preaching the gospel out of envy and strife? There are some congregations here that have decided to do monthly joint\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>His circumstances were not ideal from an earthly perspective. Many would find reasons to complain about this situation. Yet Paul looked at it with a sense of hope, not because he liked the circumstances for his own comfort, but because he knew something bigger was at work. He knew that his imprisonment worked out “for the greater progress of the gospel<\/em>.” People knew of his imprisonment, and this could have caused Christians to pause or be afraid to say anything lest they end up in the same circumstance. Paul says that the opposite happened, “that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.<\/em>“<\/p>\n