The Centrality of the Gospel

Philippians 1:1-13

This letter of Paul to the Philippians is a small but beautiful letter, meant to both encourage and warn the church at Philippi, all knit together with the gospel. When reading this letter there are 2 main themes that can be drawn, these 2 themes are “joy” and “humility” and these are saturated with references to the gospel.

Paul is writing this letter from imprisonment in Rome He wastes no time dwelling upon his imprisonment but focuses upon the gospel, it’s expansion, maturity on believers, gospel exhortations and warnings (ch3). This letter is small but it is loaded with gospel references.

Now, who were the Philippians? When reading through Acts chapter 16 we learn that this was the first European community that Paul reached, and met not in a synagogue but a prayer place (where God-fearers met) and where the first convert was Lydia, a gentile, and so all the other converts in Acts 16. We see Philippi was a proud Roman colony, as Paul faced in Acts 16:21 where residents of Philippi accused Paul of “advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice”, showing their preference to Roman customs. But despite the harshness that some people had at Philippi against Christianity, the church at Philippi was the cause of much Joy to Paul.

Today’s passage shows us that the gospel is definitional for the Christian. Paul exemplifies this in this letter. The gospel has so changed Paul to His core that he is about the gospel.

The one key idea I want us to focus from this passage is this: The gospel makes hearts that love the church; want to serve and be holy

Going back to our passage this morning, we will be focusing on three (3) main ideas from the opening of this epistle.

1) The Gospel makes servant leaders (v.1-2)

2) The Gospel message changes the believer (v.3-8)

3) Hope for the Gospel’s fulfillment and God’s Glory (v.9-11)

Let us start by looking at how Paul addresses the Philippians

1 - The Gospel makes servant leaders (v.1-2)

V.1 - “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus”

Paul uses the word “servant” to address himself and Timothy to the Philippians. This should get our attention.

Focus on the word translated as “servants” (ESV, CSV,NIV,KJV) or translated by the NASB as “bondservants”. This word is the Greek word Douloi (plural of doulos) which literally means “slaves”!. Why is this important? Because this is an unusual way for Paul to start his letters (only done 2 other times: Romans, (1 Cor 4 but starts as “apostle”), and Titus)

For Paul, we are much more familiar with greetings like Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy with the words: “Paul an apostle”. Apostle is a much more exalted title, it has a meaning like emissary or “one sent” to carry out a mission, but here he chooses the word slave/servant.

What does Paul wants us to understand when referring to himself as a servant/slave?

In the worldview of Paul, thus I would say the Biblical worldview, we are either slaves to God or slaves to the world/sin.

Romans 6:16-18

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness

For Paul to use the word “servant/slave’ to describe himself is not a bad thing. Do not think of it as an abusive relationship like what we know from recent history. Paul explains in other places that believers were bought with a price, the precious blood of Christ, and are no longer their own. Paul surely lived like this. Paul was all about his ministry call, the spread of the gospel, work by which he had seen much difficulty and trials. The beauty in this letter in particular, is that we see Paul, fixed upon the spread of the glory of God in his ministry! The gospel is being spread! Where?

1) Amongst the prisoners who hear of Paul in prison but exalting God! (ch 1:12)

2) By people of good intentions and bad intentions, yet Paul rejoices (later in ch1)

3) Even in his imprisonment, Paul shared the gospel with his captors

And one last thing I want to add. Paul is writing from prison, and we see nothing in this letter about Paul requesting the Philippians to pray for his own release! But rather he keeps on rejoicing to God for the great gospel testimony of the Philippians. Paul is really all about his Master’s will.

Lastly, and the most striking part in all of this. Paul is writing modelling what a gospel servant-leader is like to the Philippians by including himself (an apostle) and Timothy (a high ranking elder) as servants, using the word “doulos” as we saw earlier. But He uses that word only one more time in this letter, and that he uses to refer to Christ, the greatest model of a humble servant. In Phil 2:5-7 (Carmen Christi) we read that The Lord of Glory emptied himself and took the form of a servant and humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The Ultimate leader, Master of it all, King, Ruler, and yet, came as a servant.

Serving informs every aspect of a slave’s existence. “Slaves of Christ” testifies to the upside-down power of Christianity. No one would celebrate being a slave in the ancient world, but Christ taught his disciples to appreciate the true greatness of servanthood (Mark 10:42–44), especially as seen in his own example of coming not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

Paul’s status as a slave of Christ is certainly in sync with the later celebration of Christ as the ultimate “slave” (doulos) in Philippians 2:7

Paul continues his greeting to the Philippians, in v.2 addressing them as “saints”. Calling them “all the saints in Christ Jesus”.

Let me ask you: Who is a saint? There are many misconceptions today, some people think that to be a saint is to be someone who is morally good, and there is an element of truth to this, but it is incomplete. And there is the view of the Roman Catholic church, where sainthood is a “ranking” of how perfected you are. For them, a saint is someone who has been fully purified of their sins after death and is now in the presence of God. They limit the title of “saints” to people who worked as intercessors between us and God and had miracles granted by God due in part to their effective intercession for us on earth, demonstrating their closeness to God.

But, in the Bible we read that Paul addressed the Philippians and all the other churches as saints. Saints are all those in Christ Jesus! Presently! And not that these people were purified completely of all their corruption on earth, for Paul writes to churches struggling with disunity, false teaching and even grave moral sins (think of the church in Corinth, also addressed as saints). If you have been purchased by Christ Jesus, you are no longer your own, and are now a saint. Not because you may look a certain way, but because you are in Christ, you belong to Him.. We should live in light of our unity with Christ, living for Him.

Like Paul exemplifies for us, serving and loving those whom God loves, His people..

Christ Jesus unites the writer (a servant - of Christ) and the recipients (saints in Christ Jesus). Paul uses the lowly title and he gives his recipients the exalted title. The letter was written as modeling humility, by unity in Christ. This is done by pointing to their identity as saints, which is found only in Christ Jesus

2 - The Gospel message changes the believer (v.3-8)

V.3-5

Now we start to see how personal this address to the Philippians is to Paul. In v.3 he thanks God for the Philippians! And not only that, but Paul is praying with joy for them. Why? Paul explains this in v.5. “Because of your partnership in the gospel”. These people in Philippi, as well as Paul, are fixed upon the absolute centrality of the gospel, and because of this their fellowship is warm and complete! (The Great Commission Matt 28)

What is this “partnership” of which Paul speaks? Is it only the unity they seem to have in mind?

No, because the Philippians demonstrated that they are about the gospel in a few ways:

1) There are believers in Philippi (Lydia Acts 16:14; jailer (Acts 16:31-32))

2) They supported Paul and Silas after imprisonment (Philippian Jailer - Hospitality)

3) They supported the work of the gospel by sending Epaphroditus to Paul (Phi 2)

4) They sent resources to Paul for his gospel ministry (Phi 4)

Paul’s joy and gratitude is flowing from this partnership in the gospel.

But Paul, can’t you just love them as persons and not only because of your partnership with them?

Let us ask this of ourselves. Is it easy to relate to someone who may have nothing in common with you? I mean, we are to be good to all people, but honestly, can you fully relate to someone who does not share in your ideals? The same happens here with Paul. He is so gospel centered that he delights in sharing that drive with others of the same mind, a shared vision of transcendent importance, a vision that calls for our commitment.

It is about what we love! We are knit together when we love the same thing. This is not about what a person's preferences are, but that this is who they are. Their highest priority in life is to live for Jesus and exalt him in the gospel.

Brothers and sisters, do we have trouble relating to someone because we may not like some of the same things (Sports, TV shows, hobbies, stage in life, etc). We have something that we share that far exceeds everything else! We are one family in Christ. Do we not rejoice in the gospel of our salvation? Rejoice that you are found in Christ, together with others, even those sitting right next to you. Christ died on the cross for our sins, and we have been brought together. We love our Saviour, so we ought to love those for whom he gave His life.

The Philippians have been changed into the kind of people who are happy about the gospel. As born-again people (saints). And these saints have one shared goal, the spread of the fame of God, sharing out the gospel message.

Verse 6 is a known and encouraging verse to the Christian:

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”

There is a controversial doctrine called “eternal security” or the “perseverance of the saints” This is one of the verses that sometimes gets used. There are 2 misconceptions for those who believe eternal security:

a) Eternal Security is impersonal and automatic

b) Eternal security is something only done outside of us

But

a) Eternal Security is not impersonal but ,It is deeply personal, because Paul’s argument is based on God. Paul is sure because “He”, meaning God, began that work and will bring it to completion. The Father keeping us is rooted in His faithfulness! Eternal security is a promise to the believer.

b) Eternal security It is not something only done outside of us, but rather in us Paul speaks of it as something being done “in you” meaning in believers. What was done outside of us was our Justification, Christ dying on the Cross for all believers. That was done outside of us. But, God implants a new heart in every believer and that change in nature, is done in each one of us who trust Christ. It is that reality that Paul says that it was started by God in us and will be fulfilled on the Last Day! The day of Christ.

Paul starts this verse with certainty. Because it is about God’s faithfulness to complete what he has started. And that is why ultimately we hold that a believer once he is saved, he will not fall away.

So, that means that I am secure no matter what I do, so: “Let us sin, so that grace may abound,'' right? That is an abuse of the doctrine of “Eternal security’ ” (Antinomianism). In evangelicalism some have treated the gospel as a flu-shot. That if you repeat a prayer sincerely asking for Jesus in your heart that is all that is needed. But then they end up living as though nothing happened. They would assume that they are saved. The Bible teaches otherwise:

First, Salvation begins with the call of God. In Ephesians 2:4-10 Paul writes:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Second, Believers are made anew by God in Christ, and are “re-created” as it were, in Christ Jesus, for good works. As we think about our passage, Paul is sure of the stand of the Philippian Church as believers not because they have simply professed faith, but Paul knows them and he gives even a reason why he is sure that God has worked in them. In v.7 he justifies his surety because God has clearly acted in the hearts of the Philippians so that they have become partakers of the gospel ministry and thus Paul has much affection for them.

Redeemed people are about the gospel, they share in their affections to see God glorified and can be assured of their standing with God, as they witness God’s regenerative power in them, giving them new affections, for the gospel and for other believers.

That is why even Paul can refer to his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ in v.8 saying “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus” Wow! Paul is separated by imprisonment, and his pain of that separation is very strong. The compassionate regard of Jesus Christ on which Paul patterns his apostolic affection is seen in Paul’s love for Christ’ Church.

A person who has been born of God, bought by God through His Son, loves what his master loves. Paul loves the Church of God. Shares on the ministry of the gospel with other believers, and pours out His heart in prayer for joy about his beloved brethren.

This is the gospel’s work, it is not only about sending the message, but living it out in community, with heartfelt unity, one goal, one master.

What does this mean for us here at Streetsville Baptist? Christian. Do you find common joy with your fellow brothers and sisters on the spreading of the gospel? Are you about your Father’s business? We ought to be praying for one another, pray to God that He may give you a heart for His gospel work and His people. Rejoice witnessing the regenerating work of God around you. If you see none, then pray to God that you may see His mighty work being done!

To recap - we have seen that Paul shares his focus in the gospel ministry with the Philippians which causes warm affection between them. The gospel is their source of unity. Also, Paul is joyful for them as he is sure of their standing with God because they are about the gospel. Now let us move to our 3rd point this morning:

3 - Hope for the Gospel’s fulfillment and God’s Glory (v.9-11)

Paul breaks out in a beautiful heartfelt prayer for the Christians at Philippi. Did you notice the words “love”, “knowledge” and “discernment”?

Paul starts by praying for a certain kind of love; one that is discerning and knowing. Paul allows no either/or thinking in his prayer for the Philippians. Love without knowledge is squishy and spineless sentimentalism; knowledge without love is meaningless and puffs up (1 Cor 8:1). Paul calls for both knowledge and love.

Right discernment comes from truthful knowledge and it is rightly applied by a heart that loves God and the brethren.

In v.10, we read that the purpose of this “informed love” is to “approve what is excellent”. The verb here means to “test and approve” (dokimazo) which is the same verb used in Romans 12:2 where Paul calls for “renewal of the mind so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. A discerning type of love will enable the Philippians to grow spiritually.

This prayer has an objective in Paul’s mind. He prays that right Love may increase in the Philippians, so that they may be pure and blameless in the Day of Christ. Ultimately, this is a prayer for their final sanctification at the End of Time.

Paul wants the Philippians to continue to grow in holiness, and he is telling them that on this prayer. Why did Paul write this prayer for them? There are 3 things that we can learn from this:

1) God is the decisive cause of our ultimate sanctification (Phil 1:6). Paul already mentioned that God started working in them and will bring His work to completion at the Day of Christ Jesus, and here in this prayer we get to see how Paul asks God to complete that work, growing the Philippians in Love that is Knowledgeable and Discerning

2) We should pursue the cause of our salvation! Yes, God is the decisive cause of salvation, but we are also to pursue what God is going to cause. In this letter Paul writes:

(Phi 2:12-13)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Underneath your willing is what God decreed, because it is indeed God who works in you to will after his own desires. If you have been bought by God and are in His Son,

you are no longer your own, but you want to do the things that please Him.

3) The last reason Paul shares this prayer with the Philippians is to let them and us know how to be pure and blameless for the Day of Christ Jesus. The approval of what is excellent comes as a result of discerning love with knowledge. So that kind of love can lead you to be pure and blameless, and when the fruit of righteousness comes is through Christ. All of this to the Glory and Praise of God!

V.11 Paul prays that at the Day of Christ the Philippians will be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus”. I think this is related to Galatians 5:22-23 speaking of the fruit of the Spirit: 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self control. Against such things there is no law.

This moral fruitfulness flows from the righteousness received from God found in Christ Jesus.

It is a hope grounded in the gospel. It is a most sure hope. As God Himself has began a regenerative work in the Philippian believers, and God Himself will prepare them for the day of Christ.

The gospel has been the root cause of this letter. Paul shares in the gospel ministry with the Philippians, that causes a closeness in heart between them. The gospel is their source of unity.

The gospel is their means to be able to stand pure and blameless in the day of Christ, as they pursue holiness in their present life, witnessing the work of God in their lives.

As we have seen, the gospel is central in Paul’s mind and heart.

Now, let us bring it together with one questions for us. What should we get from this?

The gospel makes hearts that love the church; want to serve and be holy to the Glory of God.

Saints of God, the gospel is the most important thing we have. It defines who we are. It is how

we can understand the truth of union with Christ. Let us be freshly awed by the unfathomable blessing of belonging to Christ fully and forever. The feast of Christ is a forever feast that satisfies far more than a few vain delights of this world.

Let us rejoice in the God-centered security of our salvation; it is his work from the first day to the last (Phil. 1:5–6)

We exist to praise God as pointers to His glory which was revealed to us through the gospel.

We live a holy and loving life not to point to ourselves but to the fruit God grows in us through Christ!

Let us pray