Paul in Philippians 1:12-30 gives his philosophy in dealing with fellowship. The first thing Paul wanted them to know was that he being in prison in Rome, that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Paul was put there for the furtherance of the gospel, not because he did anything wrong. Paul was put under house arrest for two years which meant that a soldier had to be chained to his arm 24 hours a day in 6 hour shifts for two years. Paul wasn't going to complain. He's going to say, "Hi buddy, oh you don't want to hear the gospel? Guess what? We're chained! I mean, who's the prisoner here? The soldier was his prisoner!
Philippians 1:14 is to look at Paul's difficult circumstances. It was an encouragement for them to see Paul in chains, in such a difficult circumstance, and to see him still preaching the gospel under such hardship. So Paul's philosophy was that prison does not cut off fellowship nor God's work. What is interesting is that the people in Philippi, seven hundred miles away are supporting him and praying for him, and even sending their pastor.
In verse 15, he says some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. Hard to believe, huh? To preach Christ in such a way so as to divide people from other people? We see the same contrast in verse 16. Their motives are not pure when they are preaching the gospel. Paul says "Supposing to add affliction to my bonds."
False teachers would actually go to places where Paul preached, and they would say "Did you hear where Paul's at?" And the people would say no, what's going on? Well, he's in prison in Rome. What happened? And then they would say "I told you to stay away from that guy. He's a jailbird. He's always involved in fights and riots and they arrest him all over the place. I told you not to listen to him."
And then they bring in their false doctrine. So Paul says, "Some people (false teachers) even preach Christ in a way so as to even add more affliction to his imprisonment."
Nice sharing bro Another point I would like to share is that he was incarcerated so much that people started to get tricked into not believing what he taught anymore. Others were telling them that if Gods working in Him why is He always getting in trouble, they were looking at it buy the senses not spiritually Ephesians 6:12. He preached to all asia minor in acts and by 2 Timothy 1:15 He writes almost everyone turned from Him. That's an unbelievable verse when you think about it. With all the signs miracles he did by Gods power and they witnessed it they were still tricked out of the truth.
It is interesting that you say that because we see that even today, especially with the health, wealth, and prosperity teachers. They see a believer struggling with hardship and they say that God is not blessing them or that they do not have enough faith. But you are correct. I did some study several years ago on Jewish culture back in that time frame and that was their way of thinking. They believed that if you were wealthy and in perfect health, that you were truly blessed by God. Well, Paul was a mess! He had health issues, problems with his eyesight, and boils all over his body, shipwrecked, beaten, and spent time in prison. He was not a pretty sight to look at. The way the Jewish leaders saw it was that there was no way that Paul was a man of God because how could he go through so much hardship and struggle in his life if God was blessing him? It's sad that there are still people who believe this way today!
Paul in Philippians 1:12-30 gives his philosophy in dealing with fellowship. The first thing Paul wanted them to know was that he being in prison in Rome, that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Paul was put there for the furtherance of the gospel, not because he did anything wrong. Paul was put under house arrest for two years which meant that a soldier had to be chained to his arm 24 hours a day in 6 hour shifts for two years. Paul wasn't going to complain. He's going to say, "Hi buddy, oh you don't want to hear the gospel? Guess what? We're chained! I mean, who's the prisoner here? The soldier was his prisoner!
Philippians 1:14 is to look at Paul's difficult circumstances. It was an encouragement for them to see Paul in chains, in such a difficult circumstance, and to see him still preaching the gospel under such hardship. So Paul's philosophy was that prison does not cut off fellowship nor God's work. What is interesting is that the people in Philippi, seven hundred miles away are supporting him and praying for him, and even sending their pastor.
In verse 15, he says some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. Hard to believe, huh? To preach Christ in such a way so as to divide people from other people? We see the same contrast in verse 16. Their motives are not pure when they are preaching the gospel. Paul says "Supposing to add affliction to my bonds."
False teachers would actually go to places where Paul preached, and they would say "Did you hear where Paul's at?" And the people would say no, what's going on? Well, he's in prison in Rome. What happened? And then they would say "I told you to stay away from that guy. He's a jailbird. He's always involved in fights and riots and they arrest him all over the place. I told you not to listen to him."
And then they bring in their false doctrine. So Paul says, "Some people (false teachers) even preach Christ in a way so as to even add more affliction to his imprisonment."
It is interesting that you say that because we see that even today, especially with the health, wealth, and prosperity teachers. They see a believer struggling with hardship and they say that God is not blessing them or that they do not have enough faith. But you are correct. I did some study several years ago on Jewish culture back in that time frame and that was their way of thinking. They believed that if you were wealthy and in perfect health, that you were truly blessed by God. Well, Paul was a mess! He had health issues, problems with his eyesight, and boils all over his body, shipwrecked, beaten, and spent time in prison. He was not a pretty sight to look at. The way the Jewish leaders saw it was that there was no way that Paul was a man of God because how could he go through so much hardship and struggle in his life if God was blessing him? It's sad that there are still people who believe this way today!
This comment thread is locked. Please enter a new comment below to start a new comment thread.
Note: Comment threads older than 2 months are automatically locked.
Do you have a Bible comment or question?
Posting comments is currently unavailable due to high demand on the server.
Please check back in an hour or more. Thank you for your patience!
Report Comment
Which best represents the problem with the comment?