Praise God When the Gospel is Preached.

Even back in the early days of the church, not everyone preached Christ with the purest of motives. But as long as Christ was preached, it was OK with the Apostle Paul. He tells us this in Philippians 1:15-18:

15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

I effect, he is saying, “So what if some preach from wrong motives just to make themselves look better. So what if they take cheap shots at me. All that really matters is that Christ is preached.”

The Word of God is powerful no matter whose lips it comes from or no matter what the motive, even if the motive was to stick it to Paul. And that really is why they preached – “supposing to add affliction to my chains.”

Not everybody preaches with the right motives. If you don’t believe that, just think of Jonah. God sent him to preach repentance at Nineveh, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. Yet, God brought repentance to Nineveh through Jonah’s preaching, much to Jonah’s dismay. It’s not the man, but the message that’s critical.

As Scottish preacher John Eadie commented: “The virtue lies in the Gospel, not the gospeller; in the exposition, not the expounder.” It is the Gospel, according to Romans 1:16, that is “the power of God unto salvation.”

But some of you might ask? Didn’t Paul get all upset in the book of Galatians at those who were preaching the Gospel there? NO! Because that’s not what they were preaching. They were preaching a perversion – a distorted message they called the Gospel. See the difference:
Galatians 1:6-9

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

What the false teachers were preaching in Galatia wasn’t the Gospel, but a works righteousness. It was a perversion of the Gospel leading people not to heaven, but to hell. What the people were doing in Philippi was preaching the legitimate Gospel, but with the wrong motives.

When people mess with the Gospel, they need to be rebuked and opposed. People’s eternal destiny is at stake. But the motives are up to God to judge. So if Paul could shrug it off and say, “So what?” So should we.

But, not everyone had the wrong motives, There were those motivated by their love for Paul. Philippians 1:17 also says, “But the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”

God chose Paul to this ministry. Ananias was told this by God as he was sent to commission Paul in Acts 9:15-16:

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Knowing that this was Paul’s call, they wanted to help him fulfill that call so they raised their voices in his stead.

Now, the passage concludes with Philippians 1:18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” Amen! As long as the Gospel is preached, Paul is filled with joy. We should be too.