18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Succumbing not under pressure to compete, Paul took the high road and rejoiced that the message was in fact still getting out there, even though he was not out there, but in prison. Most of us would denounce those who preach the message with false motives. But the apostle had a larger view in mind.
First he recognized that Christ was being proclaimed. In his time that was an attention-getter. I remember during my pre-Christian college days an eccentric, toothless evangelist came once a year and preached from the university quadrangle where all campus paths seemed to cross. He was crass, uneducated, and always ridiculed as he called down hell fire and damnation on students. He was a joke to most of us worldly non-believers. However, quietly on the side were individual members of a campus Christian group who were engaging students in small group conversations. They were not specifically identified with the backwards preacher, but they took advantage of the spectacle to ask other students, “What do you think of Jesus?” Paul could have been doing likewise, making the most of the situation in which others were taking advantage of his incarceration. He saw that God was higher than those with false motivation, and in fact the “Spirit of Jesus Christ” could indeed use their actions, complete with their selfish reasons, to advance the kingdom program. So Paul could rejoice!
Additionally, the apostle recognized that this state of affairs resulted in true believers stepping up their prayer for him. We note that in Acts 12 there is no record of prayer concerning James the apostle’s incarceration in prison and beheading. After that event, prayer began in earnest for Peter who was also in prison. Persecution has a wonderful way of focusing God’s people in prayer.
Paul had experienced enough hardships and difficulties that he knew his God, and therefore always had high “expectations and hope.” His bottom line was that even if he were to rot in prison and die, he fully expected God would somehow come out of that situation glorified—“Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (vs. 20)
Lord, that is my prayer, that You would be exalted in both my life and my death. Help me to die daily to my own selfish motivations.
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