Preach Christ Boldly Without Fear
Paul, the famous apostle and great missionary, is in prison and faces a possible death sentence. He has planted so many churches. He cared for them by visiting and writing letters to them. Because of his ministry, the gospel has spread throughout Asia Minor and into Europe. Now he is in prison. What is going to happen to the gentile mission? How will the gospel advance further? I am sure this question was foremost in the minds of the Philippians and many churches. They are grieved because of his imprisonment. They are concerned for him. Perhaps they were also anxious and fearful. What is going to happen to the churches? If Paul is killed are we also going to be persecuted? Paul writes to encourage and teach them, and us, a very important lesson. God advances the gospel and his kingdom in and through all circumstances. We are called to preach Christ boldly and fearlessly in all situations.
1. God Advances the Gospel in All Situations
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
Paul quickly changes the focus from himself and his circumstances to the gospel, the kingdom, and God. To the question of how he is doing, he answers with how the gospel is doing. He has this strong confidence in God’s overruling power and sovereign control. What looks like a major difficulty is being turned by God into an opportunity for the gospel. We may think the situation is hopeless and impossible but God does impossible things. He advances the gospel in and through all situations.
We are so easily overwhelmed by circumstances and events. We become anxious and afraid. We make plans but those plans are opposed, prevented, fall apart, or come to nothing. We feel discouraged. Malicious people make life difficult. We are on the verge of despair. When you listen to the way some Christians talk these days it seems all is lost: “The world is bad, evil, lost. America is going down the drain.” Some want to give up, flee, hide, and escape from the world. Others want to take matters into their own hands but we should not presume to do God’s work for him. He has already saved the world and us. World history, we are moving to the new creation. We are not called to save the world. God has done that, is doing that, and will complete his mission. We are to do what He called us to do and that is to proclaim the message of salvation in all circumstances. In all situations, we must persevere in preaching Christ boldly without fear.
As long as we are focused on ourselves and our circumstances we cannot see God’s work. But when we change our perspective and move our focus away from ourselves and our circumstances to the gospel, the kingdom, and what God is doing, we will see where and how God is at work, and where and how the gospel is advanced and God’s kingdom is coming. We learn here from Paul that we must always put the gospel first, makes it our first priority.
How has what happened to Paul advanced 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.
This does not mean that they all became believers but they all heard the gospel. Paul being Paul did not stop sharing the gospel. Soldier after soldier was chained to Paul as they watched him. They heard the gospel from Paul. They heard it when he explained it to his visitors. They heard the amazing story of this Jesus who was crucified, rose from the dead, and because of his death and resurrection our sins are forgiven and we have new, eternal life. Here is a man willing to suffer in chains, willing to die for this Jesus. This caused people to ask questions. Who is this Jesus? Why are you willing to suffer for him? Thought him crazy but impressed by his conviction. And so the soldiers and visitors shared the story, the gospel, and it spread throughout the palace guard and to everyone else. Paul’s imprisonment brought the gospel to the very heart of secular political power in Rome. Are we living in such a way for Jesus that people take notice, ask questions? And even if some of them do not come to faith, at least we have them thinking and talking.
2. Preach Christ Boldly and Fearlessly
But that is not all. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Paul’s example was an inspiration to his fellow believers. They took courage from his example. They seized the moment and shared Jesus with friends and neighbors. It is interesting how throughout Christian history persecution has transformed otherwise timid believers into witnesses who proclaim the gospel boldly and fearlessly. The faith, trust, and courage that we see in the suffering of other believers can give us confidence and the conviction to preach Christ courageously.
Recent example — 5 missionaries killed in 1956 — Auca Indians — very high number of Wheaton graduates who year after year for the next two decades offered themselves for missionary service. Because of their death, many were encouraged to proclaim the gospel boldly and fearlessly.
Are we alert and looking for opportunities to advance the gospel in all circumstances? Or are we waiting for the right, ideal situation or moment to preach Christ? We must always be ready to give an account of our faith. Look for opportunities in all situations. Don’t wait until it falls into our laps. Don’t wait for doors to open. Sometimes we have to boldly push open the doors and grasp the moment to share the gospel.
Are we confident in the Lord? Do we trust Him? Are we bold and fearless? Why are we afraid to share the gospel? “I don’t know how to preach the gospel,” you may say. We don’t need special training or knowledge. All of us believe, have encountered Jesus, and He has changed our lives. Just share your story of what Jesus has done for you, what He means for you, how He has changed you and is still changing you. It may speak to some and not to others but that does not matter. Share your story of Jesus boldly, and God the Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Yes, we must pray for unbelievers but we will not see people come to faith if we are not boldly proclaiming the gospel. Let us step out in faith with confidence in the Lord. Let us use every opportunity to preach Christ boldly and fearlessly no matter what happens to us.
3. Do Not Preach Christ Out of Selfish Ambition
But what are our motives? Why do we preach Christ? Paul is aware that although many have gained the courage to preach Christ, not all of them are doing so for the right reasons, with true, sincere motives. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Some preach Christ out of envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition, not sincerely. These preachers are not heretics or false teachers. If they were teaching another Christ or another gospel Paul would have exposed them and come down hard on them as he did in Galatians 1:8–9 — “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”
They are preaching Christ, the true gospel, but for the wrong reasons, with false, insincere motives. We are not sure exactly who they were and what their wrong motives were. We can only make assumptions based on the context and the history of the early church.
Perhaps some were upset with Paul thinking that he has done damage to the Christian cause. His appeal to the emperor and now being a prisoner in Rome, may bring unnecessary attention to the church and lead to more persecution. Others were jealous of him, his ministry, and questioned his apostolic authority as we see in Corinthians. Being in chains invalidates his ministry. I can imagine them thinking, “It is sad that a great man like Paul threw away his opportunities for the gospel because he is so inflexible and got arrested. God no longer blesses his ministry.”
These preachers were petty, jealous, territorial, calculating, scheming, and focused on self-promotion. Now that the big star of missions is out of the way they can take the spotlight, and so they proclaimed the gospel more boldly promoting their own ministries, names, position, and status.
Selfish ambition, envy, and rivalry were problems in the church then, and sadly, are still problems in the church today. Even today there are many believers and Christian leaders who preach Christ with insincere motives. They are jealous of others. They compete with others. They preach the gospel for financial gain, for fame and status, to gain positions of power. They claim to serve Christ but actually serve themselves.
This must have hurt Paul. What did he do? See again how Paul shifted the focus from himself to Christ and the advance of the gospel. He refused to have a pity party. Instead, he rejoiced. Paul was so passionate for the gospel, so intoxicated with the gospel, that as long as the pure gospel, Christ, was preached he rejoiced.
4. Preach Christ Out of Love, for God’s Will and Rejoice
We must follow Paul’s example. First, we must make sure that our motives are true and sincere, that we are preaching Christ for the right reasons; not for financial gain, status, power, and self-advancement. No, we preach Christ out of love. We are compelled, controlled, by the love of Christ, his love for us drives us, motivates us (2 Cor 15:14). We have experienced his love and we want others to experience it. And we preach Christ out of our love for Him. We preach Christ out of goodwill. Goodwill here means that we do it for the sake of God’s will and according to his will. We want to see his kingdom come, his will be done in our lives, ministries, churches, and the world.
Therefore, we will be tolerant of our differences in style. Not one of us is a perfect messenger of the gospel but every one of us is a messenger with different gifts and styles. We will not envy others or compete with them. We will rejoice in each other’s gifts, blessings, and successes.
We will not focus on the non-essentials. We will not waste time and energy fighting over the non-essentials, our personal preferences, interpretations, and viewpoints. We will agree to disagree on the non-essentials and we will unite around the essentials of the gospel.
Thus, we must ensure that the biblical Jesus is preached, not some other Jesus or our version of Jesus. And when the pure, true gospel is preached, when Christ, crucified and risen for our salvation, is preached, we will rejoice. We will rejoice with one another and for one another.
Are we truly Christ-centered? Is the advance of the gospel and his kingdom at the center of our aspirations? D.A. Carson explains it like this: “Put the advance of the gospel at the center of your aspirations. Our own comfort, our bruised feelings, our reputations, our misunderstood motives—all of these are insignificant in comparison with the advance and splendor of the gospel. As Christians, we are called upon to put the advance of the gospel at the very center of our aspirations. What are your aspirations? To make money? To get married? To travel? To see your grandchildren grow up? To find a new job? To retire early?” There is nothing wrong with these aspirations. They are okay. The question, however, is whether these aspirations become so overpowering that our central aspiration, the advance of the gospel, is pushed out to the sidelines, or worse, it is squeezed out of existence completely in our lives. Is the advance of the gospel at the center of our aspirations?
Let us put Jesus Christ our Lord and his gospel first in our lives, in our prayers, in our families, our work, in everything we do. Then we will be able to endure afflictions, persecutions, and a world that seems to be out of control. Let us in all situations look for opportunities to advance the gospel. And no matter what the circumstances let us preach Christ boldly and without fear. And because of this, we will rejoice in the Lord.