T U E S D A Y - T H U R S D A Y R A D IO O U T L IN E S Philippians 1:12-30 “F o l l o w i n g t h e F o r tu n e n o l t h e i i o n p e l
Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson
1. About the World. Paul says that it has now become plain, not only to “the whole praetor ian guard” but also to all the rest, that his bonds are worn for Christ’s sake and not for some crime of his own com mitment, as in the case of the other prisoners. This is progress indeed, for the significance of one’s sacrifice is de termined by the altar upon which it is placed (Matt. 23:19), and thus even the heathen soldiers who guarded him could not be impervious to the meaning of Paul’s hardships. According to some authorities, in the days of the emperor Tiberius there were ten thousand soldiers, the very flower of the Roman army, stationed in Rome. Whether Paul’s reference here is to a company like them is not quite certain. One thing, however, is crystal- clear: Paul used his contacts with these soldiers and others to win them to Je sus. As one guard would relieve an other, Paul’s daily witness came to be felt throughout the whole company and in other quarters in Rome. Later, in response to the call of duty, these very men would be stationed in distant areas of the far-flung empire and would bear the word of salvation to others. Though not of his choosing, the conditions un der which he lived in Rome supplied the missionary-prisoner with the very finest contacts, and he gloried in them all. 2. About the Brotherhood of Believ ers (vv. 14-17). The heroic interpretation which Paul gave to his surroundings had its effect also upon the believers who were in Rome. Encouraged by his example, the great majority of them spoke out more boldly. If fear is contagious, so is cour 33
O ne need not be a skillful navigator to chart the course which Paul takes in the verses from Philippians under treatment in this chapter. The beacons are numerous and their signals so strong that it would be hard to wander off the beam. The more con spicuous markers are “the progress of the gospel,” “manifest in Christ,” “speak the word,” “preach Christ,” “de fence of the gospel,” “proclaim Christ,” “Christ is proclaimed,” “Christ . . . magnified,” “your progress and joy in the faith,” “worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Such phrases as these line out the course unmistakably. Paul is dis cussing the fortunes of the gospel. Herring, “To change the figure, he .is riding the ground swell of God’s vic tory in the gospel, and though the wa tery elements beneath him may curl and buckle and crash into a million flecks of foam, that impulse sweeping in from the fathomless sea of God’s love will bear him in triumph to the golden strand. His joy in this section of the letter is the elation of one to whom all things work together for good because his destiny is inseparably linked with that of the gospel.” I. T hings that take place ( vv . 12-18.) “The things which happened unto me” (v. 12) represents the best our translators could do with a neat idiom of eight letters in the Greek. Actually the verb “happened” is not in the ori ginal, but the idea is there. Things that happen! Much is in cluded in that phrase. It describes a vast area bounded by theologians in terms of God’s permissive will. Look at the things that had happened to Paul.
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