We first hear of Philippi in Acts 16 when Paul, whilst travelling throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, receives a vision of a man pleading with him to come to Macedonia to help them. Having come to the conclusion that this is no mere dream, Paul sets off for Philippi.

Now, Philippi was a city in the province of Macedonia and a special city at that for a number of reasons, chiefly speaking because it was a Roman colony, having come under Roman rule around 168BC. Latin, was the language used just like Rome; it’s governance, laws and taxes were the same as those of Rome; most of its officials bore the same titles as their counterparts in Rome; and there was a strong awareness and practice of the privileges that Roman citizenship brought with it. In fact, by Paul’s time it was in many respects like a little piece of Rome.

You could say it’s like what the British Empire had in mind when they colonised New Zealand. My home city Christchurch was intended to be a slice of the very best that English life had to offer – as a Church based settlement, it had its Cathedral, Public Schools, a Chorister School for boys, its University and its practice of daily life mirrored so closely that of English life. Even today, it’s still thought by many to be as England used to be many years ago!

Because Paul was also a Roman citizen and had an understanding of the Roman way of life, he would have found himself at home in this city and as the story of Acts 16 unfolds, we learn that finding no synagogue to worship in on the Sabbath, Paul goes outside the city gates, in search of a place to pray – his search leads him to some women, whom he engages in conversation. One of them called Lydia responds to Paul’s preaching and invites Him to stay with her and her household.

Paul then lands himself in trouble when he delivers a slave girl from demonic possession and after being flogged and jailed, is released and they go on their way – full of praise that this visit had resulted in leaving behind a devoted group of Christians. We also know that Paul did get to visit Philippi again at a later time, before returning to Jerusalem. So here is a place that Paul has first hand knowledge and experience of and it is to these very people - people that Paul personally knows that he is writing.

Now, a question that one wouldn’t normally think to ask but is important in this case is what state was Paul in when he wrote this letter? Well, the answer is found in 1:12-13:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

In other words, Paul is in prison, and this is something that this letter shares along with Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians - 4 letters that are known as Paul’s Prison letters. For some people the location of where Paul was when he wrote these is important, however can I suggest that what is of greater importance is appreciating the fact that Paul is writing these letters out of the experience of a rather lengthy imprisonment.

When we turn our attention to Philippians, one of the things that becomes apparent when we start reading it, is that rather than dealing with Christian Theology – that is explaining what it is that we as Christians believe about God, it deals instead with practical issues of Christian living – issues that are just as applicable for us today as there were for the church in Philippi. So, to help us explore these issues, over 4 weeks we will be taking one aspect from each chapter and we will explore how they can help us live and enrich our Christian lives today.

Tonight, we will briefly look at chapter 1 and consider how Paul’s situation serves to advance the Gospel.

Next time, we will look at chapter 2, especially verses 5-11 in which we are reminded that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus – in other words we are called to imitate Jesus’ humility.

In the third session, we will look at what it means when Paul writes in verses 13-14: ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus’. Striving here is the ‘name of the game’.

Then finally, in chapter 4, we will look at Paul’s encouragement as he puts it in verse 4 to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’ So, let us now return to chapter 1 (p1178).

I want you to think for a moment of the worst situation that you have ever found yourself in – this situation might conjure up feelings of hopelessness or a sense that there’s no way out, no escape – whatever the case, it probably made you squirm or at the very least feel quite uncomfortable.

In our reading tonight, we find Paul in probably the last place that any of us would want to find ourselves and that is prison. From our perspective this has all the hallmarks of a major disaster, after all, one’s freedom to move about and live daily life is severely curtailed in this state, yet for Paul it’s far from that. Yes Paul hopes that he will be able to visit them again, but his physical freedom is less important to him as verse 27 tells us: ‘Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence’ because what is at stake from Paul’s perspective is far more important than his freedom to move about.

And what is this all-important thing that overrides everything else? The answer can be found earlier in verse 18, which reads ‘The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.’ For Paul, the most important thing that can be done is to preach Christ to all. Even if preaching occurs as a result of the wrong intentions, such as out of envy and rivalry (verse 15) or selfish ambition (verse 17), what matters primarily to Paul is that Christ is made known to all people. You see, Paul has an incredible robust confidence in God that God can take anything that is said, regardless of their motivation or the situation that one find themselves in, and is able to use it to sow seeds of faith and to bring people into His kingdom. Let me ask you tonight, and it’s a question we all need to ask ourselves - do we have this same confidence in God today or not?

So often in life, it is easy to feel discouraged and unappreciated when the plans we had or the skills and time that we have invested in different things are rejected or trampled on; as a result, it is easy to feel a sense of devastation – one can feel as if they have been ‘walked all over’. What we need to do is to learn from Paul that God’s purposes continue to be worked out through whatever problems and difficulties arise. There is no situation that we might face in life where God cannot work his purposes. After all, this is what Paul has seen through his rather trying circumstances in prison. In fact, as we heard earlier from verses 12-13, Paul has gone to lengths to spell this out to the Christians in Philippi. We read:

Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

You see, God was able to use Paul’s imprisonment to advance the Gospel into areas of society life that previously would have been untouched by such a message, and Paul recognised this!

But the impact of being in prison doesn’t stop there, because as we are told in verse 14:
Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

The witness and the encouragement that has resulted despite the unsavoury circumstances, highlights the truth that God is able to continue to advance the Gospel of Christ and to bring more people into His kingdom. As such, we should take great encouragement from this, knowing that with God nothing is impossible!

In Tom Wright’s commentary on Philippians, he uses what he calls one of the most dramatic stories found anywhere in ancient literature to illustrate this point – that is the story of Joseph, Jacob’s second youngest son. Let me read to you what he has to say:

Jacob spoiled Joseph rotten, and his older brothers were jealous. They wanted to kill him, then they decided to sell him into slavery. Joseph was taken to Egypt, where he became a trusted servant of his new master, until his wife falsely accused him of trying to molest her, and he was thrown into prison. After a long while, he was suddenly brought out to interpret the dreams of Pharoah, king of Egypt – with such success that Pharoah put him in charge of his major project to alleviate famine. In that capacity, he found himself selling corn to his own brothers without their knowledge. Eventually, having tricked them to test their state of heart, he told them who he was. The story ends happily, with the whole family surviving the famine and settled in Egypt.

After their father Jacob dies, Joseph’s brothers worry that he will now take revenge on them for what they’d done to him many years earlier. So they come and tell him that Jacob had told them to seek his forgiveness. Joseph’s reply is one of the most memorable statements of faith anywhere in the Bible. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he says. ‘Don’t suppose that I am in God’s place. After all, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good’ (Gen 50:20). And he forgives them and continues to look after them.

‘After all, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.’ When it comes to advancing the Gospel, even in the worst situation you can imagine, God can still use it to achieve his purposes. The question we need to ask ourselves is how do we respond in difficult situations? Because how we do respond will speak volumes of our faith in God to people all around us. Yes the situation might never be resolved or addressed in the manner one would hope, but God can still advance his Gospel in and through it. Today, tomorrow - are you willing to trust God that He is able to advance the Gospel in whatever situation you will find yourself in? Let’s spend a moment in silence as we contemplate this now.