Where is your prison?

We are going through the book of Philippians here at Suncrest, and I am very excited because it is one of my favorite books/letters on the Bible.

I was fortunate to learn a lot about Philippians during college because of my Homiletics class. Philippians is a letter from Paul to the church of Philippi. It is a revealing, descriptive, loving, warning, and transparent letter to this group of people that he very much so cares for.

Here is the amazing thing to me, that Paul is in prison the whole time he is writing this letter, but yet this book is known as a joyous and celebratory book.

How can that be?

Paul is in chains and he is writing to a group of people for encouraging purposes?

Philippians 1:12-30

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. To Live Is Christ Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”

Bold, Fearless, Courageous, (insert your own word), Paul proclaims the Gospel with all these words in mind. Paul’s longing for Rome, got him there, but it got him arrested for preaching.

I love this section of Philippians because it really shows Paul’s heart and passion for preaching the word. Paul writes about the Roman guard all has come to know why he is chains. It is more amazing to know that the Roman Guard is not just a few people, but thousands of men are now knowing and believing the Good News of Christ. Thousands of Roman Citizen guards came to know Christ because Paul preached the news of Jesus Christ while he was in chains for Christ.

Where is your prison? That may sound weird but Paul had a legitimate prison to work with and he took the prison by storm. Where are you serving, working, living that needs the Gospel? Where in your life do you see yourself needing to be more bold or fearless in preaching the Gospel?

For me it is my apartment complex. We are living in a huge complex and I have not done the best job at visiting or meeting our neighbors. That is my prison where I need to be more fearless and bold in meeting people and working on preaching the word to my neighbors.

So where is your prison?