Chains that Manifest Christ (Philippians 1:12, 13)

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; (Philippians 1:12, 13)

Paul, having written about his love and care towards the Philippian saints, now addresses the subject of his present circumstances. It seems from the wording that the Philippians had expressed concern that Paul’s imprisonment was hindering the gospel, but Paul writes that the things which happened to him have “rather” served to further the gospel. But what were these “things” that Paul referrs to in vs. 12?

If we start in Acts 21, we discover that Paul went to the city of Jerusalem after being warned through Agabus the prophet that he would be imprisoned there (21:10-11). Even though his friends begged him with tears not to go, Paul pressed onward, wiling to die for Christ (21:13). Soon after he arrived in the city, his own countrymen stirred up a riot against him with false accusations (21:27-30). An angry mob threw him out of the temple and tried to beat him to death before a Roman captain stopped them in the midst of their onslaught (21:30-32). Then the Romans bound him with chains to flog him, but Paul was spared the scourge by crying out that he was a Roman citizen.

His trials were mockeries, marked by an unprovoked punch to the mouth (23:2), numerous plots to kill him before he could testify (23:12; 25:3), a high-profile prosecutor accusing him (24:1) by lies and misrepresentation of the facts (24:5-7), unprovable allegations (24:12; 25:7), judges seeking bribes (24:26), and unjust imprisonment because of political favouritism (24:27). His journeys while imprisoned featured companies of soldiers (to prevent his assassination), near death in a storm (27:20), a shipwreck on barbarious islands(28:2), and a venomous snakebite (28:4). Finally he arrived in Rome where his last days were lived out chained to a Roman guard.

And yet as Paul looks back on these things, he sees them as almost unworthy of mention. In Philippians, Paul is glorying in Christ, not in his sufferings and so he does not even mention all that he has suffered for Christ, but rather only concludes that these “things” have served to advance the gospel. His judges had once commented that if Paul had not appealed to Caesar, he would’ve been free. But with Paul there are no ‘if only’s, because he views his life in connection with Christ and His interests. Human eyes might see his life as a parade of miscarriaged justice and poor choices, but Paul sees it from the divine perspective – that these “things” all served to further the gospel of Christ.

This word “furtherance” (prokope) occurs again in 1 Timothy 4:15 where it is translated “profiting” (i). The chains that bound Paul were not to his physical profit, but they led to the profit of the gospel. As Robert has earlier noted, prior to Paul’s imprisonment, we never read of him preaching to rulers and kings; but, bound by chains, he proclaimed the gospel before governors (Felix), kings (Agrippa), emperors (Caesar), and many Roman soldiers.

I suppose that as each new soldier came to guard Paul, he would ask the reason for his imprisonment. Perhaps a colleague would tell him that Paul was imprisoned for preaching Christ. ‘But who is Christ,’ the new soldier might ask. And the grand story of Calvary would be told once again….

Of course, for the gospel to have any effect, it would demand the most upright testimony of life from the apostle. He was chained to a Roman soldier! The least little slip, errant word or hasty action, would’ve been noted by his companion and the name of Christ would have been slandered amongst the whole Roman guard because of it. The fact that the gospel was known far and wide among the soldiers is a testimony to Paul’s consistent life.

This ought to be an encouragement to us today. Circumstances may force us to live our lives “chained” tounbelievers who will be quick to seize on any un-Christlike thing that we say or do. Let us take care that our lives are consistent with the message we preach. And whatever our trying circumstance, let us view it in the light of Christ’s interests rather than our own. That, even in the most difficult of times, we may learn to rejoice in Christ being manifested by our bonds.

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This article is part of the “Fridays in Philippians” series of synchroblogs.

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Footnotes:
(i) “furtherance” (prokope) comes from two words: pro (forward) + kopto (I cut). The idea is that of “striking forward” or “breaking new ground”.