The letter to the Philippians is perhaps the most human of all of Paul’s writing. What I mean by that is that in this brief letter you see his heart more clearly than anywhere else. And in this week’s passage, we see it the most clearly of all.

You can find this glimpse of Paul’s heart in Philippians 1:21-22:

Paul’s letter is full of rejoicing. He loves seeing the Philippians grow in their faith. He loves knowing that they are pursuing the gospel whole-heartedly. He is excited about the levels of spiritual maturity they are displaying through their behaviors and actions. He loves seeing them grow, even from afar.

On the other hand, he longs to be with them to encourage them more as they deepen their faith. But he is hindered by prison, and he does not know if he will survive it or not.

In this passage, we see clearly how torn Paul is. He earnestly desires to stay and continue to advance the gospel, in partnership with the Philippian believers. But on the other hand, if he dies, he stands in the presence of Jesus himself! His heart is torn by the choice he faces.

Paul’s statement here refers directly back to the previous statement in verse 20. And at the same time, it is perhaps one of the greatest statements of personal conviction and devotion to the faith ever uttered.

The thought that Paul began at the beginning of this paragraph, which we looked at last week, is continued in the remainder of this passage. Last week, we saw his thoughts about those who preach from pure motives. In this passage, he turns to those whose motives are wrong.

You can see it for yourself in Philippians 1:17-18b:

Paul addressed those who preach from pure motives at the beginning of this passage. His attention now turns to those who have the wrong motives for preaching. These people are probably those who are jealous of Paul’s leadership and authority, wanting to hold such positions themselves. It is worth noting again that Paul does not condemn these people for preaching incorrect doctrine. He only addresses their motives.

These teachers and preachers were placing their own egos and their desire for recognition above the message of the gospel. They were preaching the truth, but they were doing it for the wrong reasons.

It seems as if they were doing as much as possible to stir up trouble for Paul, in whatever way that they could. Just how they were doing this is not clear. It may be that they were intentionally preaching to stir up the community, knowing that Paul was in prison. This could adversely affect his legal standing, and cause serious problems.

However, Paul’s perspective is not what they expect. Instead of attempting to stop them, Paul finds encouragement in what they are doing. After all, either way, the gospel is being preached!

The Philippians had some experience with people who preach the gospel with wrong motives. In this week’s passage, Paul addresses this, and clarifies the difference between such people and himself.

Take a look at this passage in Philippians 1:15-16:

In Paul’s experience, and apparently the Philippian believers had experienced it as well, people preached the gospel from two motives. Some preached out of envy and rivalry, while others preached the message out of goodwill and love. In Paul’s opinion, either motive resulted in Christ being preached, and thus brought joy to him.

Remember, Paul is in prison, and word has reached him that many others are preaching the message, but Paul senses that the Philippian believers are troubled by those with wrong motives. The preaching he is referring to is that mentioned in the previous verse, but not all of them are doing so appropriately.

The main concern here is the motive, and not the message. Paul doesn’t indicate that those preaching with the wrong motives are preaching the wrong message, or a heretical one. It seems that the message was correct, but the motives were not.

It is clear that Paul is in prison at the time he wrote the letter to the Philippians. But his captivity did not diminish his desire to share the gospel with those around him. This passage reveals the depth of his efforts

You can see it for yourself in Philippians 1:13-14:

For some, there may have been some questions about why Paul was in prison. But it didn’t take long for people to see just what the real reason was. His imprisonment was not for a political or civil crime, but because of his adherence to the gospel and the spread of its message.

In fact, because of his imprisonment, the whole palace guard knows of Paul’s mission, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Originally, the term Paul uses here for the palace guard meant the leader’s tent in a Roman encampment. Later it came to mean the governor’s palace, and even the emperor’s palace. This use is even evident in the New Testament, referring to Pilate’s residence in Jerusalem and Herod’s palace in Caesarea. But Paul’s use adds another level of meaning to this word.

Paul’s use seems to shift from the residence to the residents. When he says “the whole palace guard,” he is speaking about the people there, and is confirmed by the next phrase, “and everyone else.” Paul was in prison, but there were plenty of people around. Many of these would have been the guards watching him. These may have been the emperor’s guards, if he was imprisoned close to that palace, but it seems more likely that it was a provincial governor’s residence, outside but close to Rome. This would be where political or judicial issues would have been resolved for the most part. Paul would likely have been held here until his appearance before Caesar.

Philippians is unlike most of the rest of Paul’s letters in that he includes a lot of personal remarks in this letter, almost to the point of being biographical. This week’s passage begins the first such section.

You can see this passage in Philippians 1:12:

This entire paragraph serves to show the Philippian believers that Paul’s circumstances are advancing the message of the gospel. All those around him know just why he is in prison, and that he is in chains for Christ. This proves to be a very encouraging opportunity for others to speak of Christ with boldness.

This paragraph is divided into two sections. This first verse sets up the explanation found in verses 13-14, which we will look at next week.

His first comment however is somewhat cryptic. He wants the Philippians to know something, and the sense of this is that they may have inquired about Paul. And since he is prison, what he is about to share is, in fact, the exact opposite of what anyone would expect. Two things are resulting from his circumstances. First, everyone around knows why he is in chains, and that it is for Christ he is in the situation he’s in. This has given him abundant opportunities to share the gospel with multiple people.

Second, his circumstances serve to encourage others to be bold as they share the gospel. If Paul can do this while in prison, then others can share their faith in their own situations.