This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, May 19, 1991.
About this sermon
God’s sovereignty takes different shapes across Paul’s letters, and in Philippians Paul’s own tribulations become the means God uses to advance the gospel. Persecution of the saints points directly to God’s rule. What looks like a setback is sovereignty in action.
Sermon transcript
On Paul’s pledge to the Philippians, the first chapter, we are beginning with verse twelve. Hear the word of God. By which he 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.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some in me preached Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. One preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. But that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. I shall choose, I know not, for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of the faith. That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.”
It’s too often overlooked by well-intentioned and reformed and Presbyterian people. Now, we who are Presbyterian and Reformed have definite preferences when it comes to Paul’s letters. We might watch to what are called the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy, and also Titus, because we find in them a statement with regard to the order and structure of the Church. Being known as that people who like to do everything decently and in order, we oftentimes rush to those epistles for help. But we also prefer those letters from Paul that demonstrate a strong theological mind. We know the letters. I have in mind. Paul’s letter to the Romans, his letter to the Galatians. We love also his letter to the Ephesians and his letter to the Colossians.
Now, these latter epistles each have their own powerfully well-crafted statements about God’s absolute authority and sovereignty. There are those statements that are unmistakably explicit, in which God in all of his power and strength and magnificence is set forth. Those statements that are unmistakable and explicit with regard to God’s predestination and even His electing grace.
We who are Reformed and Presbyterians, that is, we who are Calvinists and Protestantian, have designated ourselves, or, if you will, by Father and Son have been designated as those guardians of these greatly ignored, if not muchly maligned, doctrines from the word of God. But we certainly do ourselves a disservice If we are looking at those cherished doctrines of the Reformed faith, the doctrines of God’s predestination and His sovereign election, we do ourselves a disservice if we bypass Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Now, I will admit, it certainly is true that we do not find in Philippians the obvious, the well-marked statements that we find elsewhere from Paul. You know, those ones like we find in Romans, the eighth chapter. Think of verses twenty-nine and thirty.
For whom he foreknew, that is, for whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. And whom he predestined, he also called. Predestination precedes calling. That test stirs our blood. We might well think of another test, one from Ephesians, the fourth chapter, the sixth verse. We heard it read from this pulpit last week.
There is one God and Father of all who is over all, there is His sovereignty through all and near all. Now, while the letter to the Philippians doesn’t have statements like these, in its own way, forcefully yet subtly, it sets forth the truth concerning God’s absolute, unquestionable, unshakable side. God is such a Lord that nothing, absolutely nothing, can come to pass apart from Him. Now, investigating this matter sets before us, well, now, Paul’s missionary report, which we have read in the first chapter. Paul’s report to these Philippian Christians presents his present circumstances in a very personal, yet in a very wonderful way.
He in these verses is setting forth an affirmation of God’s sovereign control over the affairs of his life. And not only that, God’s sovereign control of the affairs of the life of the world. And most particularly, God’s gracious, omnipotent oversight of the lives of His elect. Our God who sovereignly disposes all things to His own glory, and for his own people’s good.
Even in these verses we will then read words that remind us of that marvelous truth that is set forth in Romans 8 verse 28, where we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So great is God’s power. You must consider it now. You must be impressed with it.
So great is God’s power, and so perfect is His sovereign authority that He is able to take the devices of wicked men and turn those devices upon their head. Will God be thwarted Will God be denied? Will it be proved in the end that God was not God, that He was powerless, that He was powerless to save, that He was powerless to do anything for the sake of the world? Or is God all-powerful, and is His sovereign will being worked out in the course of human history? It’s one or the other. So great is God’s power, so perfect is His sovereign authority, that He takes the devices of wicked men and He turns those devices upon their head.
It is precisely in this man that we find the Apostle rejoicing. Oh yes, later on in Philippians, He’s going to call upon those Philippians to rejoice. People say, again I’ve made the choice, but now they listen to some rejoicing from the Apostle himself, as he gives an account of his circumstances. He wants these Philippian Christians to know how things are going for him, and he wants these Philippian Christians to know how he is handling those things that are taking place. in and around him. He says in the twelfth verse that he wants these Philippian saints to know how his circumstances are turning out for the greater progress of the gospel. Maybe I should remind you exactly what the circumstances are that Paul has in mind.
He is presently awaiting trial for submission. The charges that he faces are trumped-up charges from a group of Jerusalem Jews. After a long wait and a number of preliminary investigations and interrogations in Palestine, Paul has been shipped off to Rome for burial. And currently, as he writes to these Philippian Christians, he is awaiting in prison, in chains, the resolution of his case.
Can you hear it from his words that how beautiful, how wonderful the sovereignty of God is confirmed even in these circumstances? The wicked devices of men to oppose the truth Obviously, Paul’s enemies had intended his arrest and his imprisonment to end his effectiveness, to bring to an end his ministry, to silence the message that he was preaching. But Paul tells us here that the gospel has not been hindered at all, rather it has advanced. But just how far has the Gospel advanced? Paul tells us that the word of the Gospel has been echoed throughout the corridors of the whole palace. If you have a modern translation, rather than the authorized this morning white note that some have offered for the translation, that the gospel is progressing amongst the Praetorian Guard. Who were the Praetorian Guard? They were the military elite. They were the special corps of imperial guards who were set by the emperor himself.
And these have been given responsibility in Paul’s case. This group is especially charged with Paul’s oversight, and not only that, the gospel we are told is being echoed not only through the Praetorian Guard, but all those who are related to them in every place. God and all who are connected with them are fully aware,” says Paul, of the reason for his imprisonment. They know the charges are trumped up. They know that he is on trial for the truth of the gospel, and the gospel is having impact, it is having an effect upon those who are even in high places. Later on in this very epistle, in its conclusion, Paul will mention to the Philippians that those in Caesar’s household breached him. Chapter 4, verse 22. I want you to note the irony here. The Gospel is advancing, that’s what Paul says.
Wickedness devices are being turned on their heads. The Gospel is advancing, though, through an enchained and imprisoned creature. And it is gaining victories amongst those who embody the world’s greatest strength militarily and politically. Those who are the most powerful are actually being overcome by that which is the weakest. and apparently the most ineffectual. But there is something here more than that which is merely ironic. There is something here quite profound.
We might think that Paul’s point with regard to the conquest of the gospel is certain and guaranteed conquest. That his point with regard to that predestinated end unto which all things are pressing, according to the sovereign power of an almighty God, We might think that this gospel is progressing in spite of the circumstances that he describes here. That the gospel is actually going forward in spite of the fact that Paul is in prison, that he is in chain. But we should note that Paul here is saying something quite different. No, it’s not that God triumphs in spite of the distress that’s experienced by the Apostle present.
Rather, God triumphs particularly in and by that distress itself. We judging the circumstances, the Philippians judging the circumstances, would say that they signal a severe setback. Paul is in prison. The circumstances spell out things that are contrary, negative, distressing in themselves. If Paul is telling us that these things are not to be viewed as setbacks, They’re not to be viewed as contrary, they’re not to be viewed as negative. Rather, they are to be viewed precisely as the means of God’s triumph. God is triumphing through one who is changed. God is proving himself victorious through one who is in prison. And the victory of God is manifest in the one who is weak.
Now, this will help us understand much better Paul’s words of the 13th verse, where he speaks about the bonds, or my bonds, in Christ. I liked the King James rendering at that point. I thought it was accurate. The phrase of the King James is, my bonds in Christ, Paul speaking about his enslavement.
He’s stating that the progress of the gospel is not in spite of his bonds, but because of and through his bonds, precisely through his chains, through his humiliation, through his suffering, through his affliction, the gospel goes forward. His bonds then, his chains, become powerfully part of it. But how can it be otherwise? They are, after all, bonds in Christ. What does bond mean? Bonds in Christ.
It means more than the fact that he has come into these chains because he has preached Christ. He needs to relate his bonds, his chains, specifically to Christ and what has happened in and through Christ. These bonds that he has are bonds and chains that bind him to Christ in that Christ himself was bound. And where was it that Christ was bound? He was bound with respect to God and God’s will and God’s purpose as it was fulfilled in Him when, in fact, Christ suffered. And that cross upon which He suffered became a positive statement, not a negative. The bodies found then in Christ are those that led him to the bar of human justice, and eventually to the place of execution upon the cross.
And now, as Paul himself is bound in chains and takes to himself this affliction, he sees a binding between himself and Christ, a union effective in their afflictions. Do you understand then how Paul was able to rejoice while in chains? How he’s capable of praising God when he’s bound, even though it looks like it’s all over? Paul faces the affliction with a confidence that is born of one who has believed that Christ’s cross is positive and issues in life, and the Christ who suffered there upon the cross was vindicated and raised from the dead.
Just as then the cross of Christ proves to be the means of God’s triumph, so also do the chains of Paul. God’s sovereign power then triumphs not in spite of the cross, but because of the cross. And God’s sovereign power now shows itself in Paul, this apostle, not in spite of his plight, but because of it and through it.
Is it any wonder, is it any wonder that we find this man expressing himself as he does at the conclusion of this epistle? Do you remember what he said? I have learned that whatever state I am in, there will be contentment. That you could say that. That you could say that. where there are those who are saying it. With Paul, in Rome, he makes that claim in the fourteenth verse.
Once more, God is demonstrating His power and His sovereignty. His enemies, Paul’s enemies, have counted on the Christians in Rome being intimidated by Paul’s harassment and imprisonment. They wouldn’t dare open their mouths, they thought, lest a similar fate befall them. They’d be in bondage, they’d be in jail. Paul, however, says that it is just the opposite that is taking place. They are more bold. speak the word of truth.
These preachers in Rome are encouraged by Paul King to proclaim the word without shame. One can’t help but be reminded of horrible ordeals suffered by the people of God throughout history, and sometimes at the hands of those who claim the name of Jesus Christ.
You think about those English Reformers from the 16th century who stood up to the reign of Mary Tudor, otherwise known as Bloody Mary, the years 1553 and 1558. How many did she execute? Two hundred and eighty-eight. Fifty-five women and four children included. Burned all at the stake alive. How do we, to face that death, face it? God is sovereign, they said. I will not give up the truth. I will hold on to the word of God. It’s the word of everything. I would rather die than deny the gospel.
One memorable page in that whole affair is October 16, 1555, on that day Hugh Ladder and Nicholas Ridley made their way to the battle. Did you know that they used to tie a bag of gunpowder around their necks when they strapped them to the stake? Neither of these gentlemen are fearful, but strong and firm in their faith.
It is in that context that Ladler uttered his famous words to Master Ridley. Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, play the man. We shall this day attend by God’s grace in England that I trust shall never be quit. whether or not the candle is lit by burning brightly today. Yet the affirmation of His glory is set in the Spirit of the Apostle. That’s how it’s been.
For apostles, for preachers, for martyrs, And what about the patriarch Joseph? You meant it to mean for you that God meant it to mean for you that much people might be saved. That not just apostles and pastors and martyrs and patriarchs, but God’s people all that you too may face life with confidence in the knowledge that your sovereign God is over all, and that he is disposing all things for your good and for your benefit, regardless of the affliction, and even in the affliction, turning that affliction and that pain into triumph. Will you not take heart? Don’t be fearful, little flower. Don’t you know it’s your father’s will to give you the kingdom?
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