Joyful Confidence in God's Preserving Grace
Notes
Transcript
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3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
4 In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.
PRAY
Introduction
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the book of Philippians became even more special to me when we were raising support to go to Mexico as missionaries. That’s because one of the major themes of the book and reasons for Paul writing it is the Philippians’ support of Paul and his gospel ministry. There is a special joy when people work together for God’s purposes and the advance of the gospel in the world.
I sensed this personally when we were raising support to go to Mexico and serve there. There was a special joy that we experienced in having people partner with us in prayer and giving. It really isn’t even so much about the money, though that’s necessary for mission work - it’s about the joy of the camaraderie, working together, partnering together to advance the work of God in the world.
God had called us to go to Mexico and serve the Lord there in discipleship, through the ministries of Puebla Bible Seminary and children’s homes. A few churches as well as many individuals partnered together with us in this ministry, praying for us and providing financial support for our work there.
We appreciated greatly all of our family members, friends, churches, and even some strangers who gave generously to support the work we were doing there. Through this process of support, God gave us a close bond of love with many of those who supported our ministry, and we often thanked God for our supporters and the blessing and encouragement they were to us.
I think this joyfulness and thanksgiving goes both ways though, at least from my experience.
Last year our church took on support for the Garcia family - Jared, Laurie, and their son Carson in the Philippines.
Jared is a friend of mine from my seminary days. We both studied at Bob Jones Seminary and we were in the same Masters program together, studying biblical languages. We had many classes together and spent a lot of time together during those two years.
I’m very thankful for his friendship, and especially for our common love for the Lord and His Word. A cool thing is that we share the same anniversary as well.
While we were still serving in Mexico, I learned that Jared and his family were planning to go to the Philippines to serve in mission work there. He asked me for advice regarding mission agencies and other things about raising support and such, and I was so thrilled when two years ago they joined their mission agency and began raising support.
A great joy that Sarah and I had was to be their very first supporters. Knowing Jared’s love for the Lord, his desire to make disciples and build the church, we were eager to partner with them in their ministry. They’ve been there in the Philippines now for five months, and if you follow their newsletters, they’re very busy in their work for the Lord there. Bible studies, preaching, teaching, opening a Bible college, hosting missionary interns, etc.
I pray for them every day, and when I pray for them, I pray with joy because of their partnership in the gospel, and because the Lord has allowed us to support them from the very beginning. I thank the Lord for people like them who love the Lord and are passionate to make Him known around the world.
That’s why I say that I think the joy and thankfulness goes both ways. When you are committed to Christ and the advance of the gospel, and someone else is also committed to Christ and the gospel, whichever way the money and prayers are flowing, there is a mutual affection, joy, and thankfulness for the work that God is doing in and through you all.
In our passage here in Philippians, Paul is the one expressing joy and thankfulness to God for the Philippian believers and their partnership with him in the gospel ministry. But I have to believe that the Philippian church also felt the same love for Paul and the same joy and thankfulness for God’s work in and through him.
First we’ll work our way through these verses, and then we’ll look at…
Two Basic Reasons for Paul’s Thanksgiving:
The Philippians’ Perseverance
God’s Faithful Preservation
3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
While Paul is in a sense expressing thanks to the Philippians for their support, Paul’s thankfulness is directed to God - “I thank my God” (not I thank you)
Paul is recognizing God’s sovereignty over everything and His goodness, and so he gives thanks to God. He does this every time he thinks about the Philippian believers.
In v. 3-4, the forms of the word “all” in Greek are “all” over the place, expressing Paul’s great joy and thankfulness - here’s a literal translation:
I give thanks to my God upon all my remembrance of you, all the time in all my prayer for all of you making my prayer with joy… (Philippians 1:3-4, my translation)
He just can’t get enough “all”s in there!
Can you sense Paul’s overflowing joy and thankfulness for this church?
Why is Paul so joyful as he prays for this church?
… making my prayer with joy on the basis of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until the present, (Philippians 1:4b-5, my translation)
The reason that Paul gives thanks to God with joy for these believers is their “partnership in the gospel from the first day until the present.”
If you’re reading KJV, it’s got the word “fellowship” there, translating the Greek κοινωνία. That’s a fine translation, but the word fellowship probably means something different to us than it did 400 years ago.
What do you picture when you think of fellowship?
If you were brought up Baptist like I was, you probably think of sharing a meal together. We’ll have a “fellowship” after the service. That’s a good thing of course, but Paul probably didn’t have food in mind when he talks about fellowship here.
The Greek word κοινωνία is often associated with financial support, sharing financially in the needs of another. That’s probably what Paul is thinking of here.
This word fellowship or partnership is qualified by the phrase in the gospel. Their fellowship or partnership is in the gospel. They are fellows in the gospel, partners in the gospel. This could be referring to …
Their common belief in the gospel message
Their common work for the gospel cause
Both are true of the Philippian believers. Together with Paul, they also believe the gospel message, and they are working for the advance of the gospel message.
Based on the way Paul usually uses the word gospel in Philippians, I think he’s specifically thinking about the advance of the gospel, the preaching and teaching of the gospel message, missionary efforts, church planting, discipleship, etc. Specifically, Paul is thankful and joyful for the way that the Philippians are demonstrating their faith in the gospel by partnering with him in his ministry of gospel advance.
The last phrase of v. 5 indicates this: “from the first day until the present.”
The first day refers to the support the Philippians sent Paul right after he left Philippi. After leaving Philippi, Acts 17:1 tells us that Paul went to Thessalonica, probably at least a 3-day journey (about 90 miles or so southwest). Paul was in Thessalonica for at least 3 weeks, perhaps up to three months. During that time, the Philippian church sent financial support for Paul at least twice.
15 And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving. 16 For even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs again and again.
Paul indicates that at least at this point in his gospel ministry, the Philippian church was the only one who showed this level of interest in his ministry. “No church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving.” They were the only ones who supported him this way, and they were generous in their support.
They had done this from the first day.
And until the present.
making my prayer with joy on the basis of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until the present (Philippians 1:4b-5, my translation)
When Paul says “until the present” or until now, I believe he is referring to the gift that the Philippian church had sent to him with Epaphroditus while Paul was under house arrest in Rome.
In chapter 2, Paul refers to this:
2:25 NLT: Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need.
2:30 NLT: For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.
4:18:
Philippians 4:18 (BSB)
18 I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus…
This was no small effort either for the Philippians or for Epaphroditus. They sent a generous gift to meet Paul’s needs, and Epaphroditus took their gift from Philippi to Paul in Rome.
This trip from Philippi to Rome was at least 800 miles, including 100-150 miles crossing the Adriatic sea between Greece and Italy. All of this by foot or by boat (no wheels!)
It would be like walking from here to New York City without wheels (no airplane, car, bike, nothing - just walking or riding a boat). How long would that take you?
If you could walk on average 3 mph for 8 hours per day (so about 25 miles per day), it would take you 32 days to travel that far. So we’re talking at least a month, maybe a couple of months each way for this trip. This is a huge sacrifice for Epaphroditus, and we learn from chapter 2 that he became very sick and nearly died on this trip. So both he and all the Philippian church have made big sacrifices to support Paul’s ministry.
The Philippians have partnered with Paul in the advance of the gospel from the first day until the present. From the very beginning of the church they supported Paul’s ministry, and they are still supporting Paul, and so Paul is joyful as he gives thanks to God for their faithful love for the Lord and for Paul that they are demonstrating by their generous giving.
having become convinced of this very thing, that the One who began in you a good work will go on perfecting it until the day of Christ Jesus, (Philippians 1:6, my translation)
We’ll talk more in a moment about the connection between v. 5-6, but for now, let’s consider what it is that Paul is convinced of.
He says that he has become convinced or persuaded of something -
The One who began in them a good work - God is the One who started the work - not Paul, not the Philippians, but God. And God finishes what He starts.
God will go on perfecting the good work - probably referring to His work of salvation in the Philippian believers. God had drawn them to Himself through faith in Christ, and God will continue to preserve and perfect their faith and obedience.
Until the day of Christ Jesus - referring to the return of Christ, at which point the salvation of believers is complete. As John tells us,
2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
We will be like Him! No longer will we struggle with sin, but we will love and obey God perfectly. We will be perfectly restored to the image of God as at the beginning. God’s work in us will be complete.
Right now it’s not. There is more work that God has to do in us to make us like Christ - and that’s what He’s up to right now for believers.
God started the work, He is currently performing the work, and He will finish it someday. This is Paul’s confidence. He is convinced of the sovereignty and goodness of God in salvation.
just as it is righteous for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and because in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel you all are fellow sharers of grace with me. (Philippians 1:7, my translation)
Here Paul is justifying his confidence that God is at work in these believers. He says,
it is righteous for me to think this about all of you - Paul has good reason to be convinced of God’s good work in the Philippians
For two reasons:
first, because I have you in my heart - Paul’s first reason is that he has them in his heart - they are joined together at the heart because both Paul and the Philippians are passionate in their love for God and in their service to the Lord.
There is a special bond of love between believers when we not only share common beliefs but also a common love for the Lord and His work. Paul feels this kind of love for the Philippian believers (as they do for him), and Paul believes that this love is evidence of God’s work among the Philippians.
second, because you all are fellow sharers of grace with me - what does Paul mean that the Philippians are partners or partakers in grace together with him?
I don’t think he’s talking about the grace of salvation, since he’s already referred to that. I think the answer is in the middle of the verse, in this complicated structure. The grace that the Philippians share with Paul is
in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel - in other words, the grace that the Philippians share with Paul is his suffering.
His chains - refers to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome
His defense - “defense” means “to speak on behalf of oneself or of others against accusations presumed to be false—‘to defend oneself.’” In this case, Paul is defending himself against the accusations of the Jews from Jerusalem, as he is standing trial before the emperor in Rome. This is what he means by his defense.
His confirmation of the gospel - “confirmation” means to prove or verify that something is true or certain - in this case, the gospel. Paul wants to use his trial before the emperor to evangelize the emperor and all who are present at the court. He wants to speak skillfully and demonstrate the truthfulness of the gospel message, to verify the truth of the gospel, to convince those who hear him of the truth of the gospel.
These three things that Paul mentions are the “grace” that the Philippian believers share together with him, probably in two ways:
First, the Philippians share in grace with Paul in that their financial support of Paul is helping him to boldly witness for Christ during his suffering. So the fruit that comes from Paul’s ministry belongs in part to the Philippian believers because of their partnership with Paul. I think this because of Philippians 4:17 where Paul says, “Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account.”
Second, the Philippian believers share in grace with Paul because they themselves are suffering for the sake of the gospel. Paul was not the only one suffering - the Philippians are too. Just as Paul was persecuted for preaching Christ and living a godly life, so were the Philippians. And Paul says at the end of chapter 1 (Philippians 1:29-30) that suffering is a gracious gift of God not only for him, but for the Philippians too.
29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, 30 since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
So Paul is suffering for Christ and the Philippians are suffering for Christ, and in the midst of their own suffering, they are also partnering with Paul in his suffering. This is the grace of God working in them.
For all these things, as Paul remembers these dear brothers and sisters, he can’t help but overflow with thankfulness to God for His grace in their lives. No wonder Paul always prays with joy whenever he thinks of them.
As stated earlier, we can summarize Paul’s reasons for thanksgiving with two points, which we can also apply to ourselves:
Two Basic Reasons for Paul’s Thanksgiving:
The Philippians’ Perseverance
God’s Faithful Preservation
The Perseverance of the Saints
The Perseverance of the Saints
The Philippians are persevering in their faith, love, and obedience to the Lord and the gospel. They are continuing to trust the Lord, growing in their love for God and one another, and demonstrating their commitment to the Lord by their faithful and generous support of Paul in his gospel ministry. What’s more, they are persevering in the face of suffering, as both they and Paul are suffering for the sake of the gospel.
We’ve talked about it before, but one of the most important things to understand about saving faith is that it perseveres.
31 So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
So many in the American church (and maybe some of you) have bought the lie that you are saved because of a decision you made, a prayer you prayed, walking an aisle, signing a card, raising your hand, getting baptized, etc.
We will talk more about this in a minute, but you need to understand that salvation is not something you do, it’s the work of God.
If you’ve done one of these things - you made a decision for Christ, you prayed a prayer, etc., but you don’t right now trust Him, love Him, and seek to obey Him, you have no reason to believe that what happened back then is genuine.
Genuine, saving faith perseveres, always. The greatest evidence that what happened back then is genuine is that it is still happening now.
This is why Paul was so sure that God had indeed begun a good work in the Philippians - because it was still going on. He was sure that they were genuine believers because of their ongoing faith, love, and obedience to Christ demonstrated by their generous giving and support of Paul’s ministry.
Present perseverance is the test of past experience.
14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.
Notice the argument here:
We have come to share in Christ - this is a perfect tense, that is, something that has happened in the past and continues into the present, but with this condition:
if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first - the author of Hebrews says that our past experience of salvation is conditioned on the present reality of our perseverance.
If, right now, I am holding fast to Christ, and if I hold onto Him for the rest of my life, then (and only then) is it true that I have come to share in Christ (I am saved); in other words, salvation is not so much about the past experience (as real and important as that is), but about the present and ongoing perseverance in the faith.
If, God forbid, I, 10 years from now should walk away from the faith, no longer trusting in Christ alone for salvation, with no affection for Christ and no desire to obey Him, what would that mean? It would mean that, as much as it appeared that I was a genuine believer, it was not true.
Christians don’t lose their salvation. It’s not yours to lose.
What happens when someone who claims to be a Christian walks away from Christ then? They are simply showing that they never truly belonged to Him. They didn’t lose their salvation - they never had it.
So don’t tell me you’re saved if you aren’t trusting Jesus Christ right now, if you have no love in your heart for Him, if you aren’t seeking to grow in obedience to Him - if that’s the case, whatever experience you’ve had was not genuine.
If you are not right now persevering in God’s grace and trusting, loving, and obeying Christ, you are not saved. Perseverance is the test of genuine faith.
And I say this with genuine care - some of you have children or other family members who have walked away from the Lord. You might be holding out hope that they are saved, because of some past experience they had. But you need to know what the Bible says about that and take it seriously instead of clinging to a false hope. A past decision means nothing if there is not present perseverance. Where there is spiritual life, there will be growth, in faith, love, and obedience. Where growth is absent, life is absent.
Let’s take this seriously for ourselves and for our loved ones. Perseverance in the faith matters because it is the evidence of God’s saving work. If God is at work in you, you will persevere.
The Preservation of the Saints
The Preservation of the Saints
The good news is, though we are responsible to persevere, ultimately, this is God’s work, and He will see to it.
Though your salvation is confirmed by your perseverance, your salvation does not depend on your ability to persevere. If it did, we would all fail. If any aspect of your salvation depended on you, no one would be saved.
But thank God it is His work.
Let’s go back to v. 5-6 and consider the connection.
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Paul gives thanks for the Philippians with great joy because of the evidence of God’s work in them. They are persevering in the faith, demonstrating love for God and for Paul through their generous giving toward gospel ministry. Paul is joyful and thankful as he thinks of them and prays for them.
But Paul knows that the perseverance of these believers is not their own work. Yes, they are working, yes they are persevering, but who gets credit for the work?
God - God began the good work in them (the good work in which they are persevering), and God will complete it. God started it, and God finishes it, and God is the One behind the scenes accomplishing all the good work along the way.
Paul is not praising the Philippian believers - He is praising God! It is God’s work in them that causes them to persevere in faith.
Go back to the beginning of this section and note again what Paul says:
3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
While Paul is indirectly expressing thanks to the Philippians for their participation in God’s work, to whom is Paul giving the thanks? GOD!
I thank God.
Why? Because God is the one working in you.
Yes, you are participating. Yes, you are being generous. Yes, you are persevering. Yes, you are demonstrating faith, love, and obedience to Christ.
But never forget, this is God’s work.
He is the One accomplishing it all. He is the One who makes you willing, and He is the One whose grace you depend on every second.
He alone deserves the glory for all the good that happens in your life.
It is difficult for us to hold these truths in tension together.
God is sovereign and is the One who accomplishes our salvation
We are responsible to persevere and grow in our faith, love, and obedience.
The Bible repeatedly affirms both of these things, and we must believe both. Probably the clearest statement on this comes just a chapter later:
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
Work out your salvation because God is at work in you.
Persevere in faith, love, and obedience, because God is preserving you in faith, love, and obedience.
Work hard, pursue holiness, seek to be like Christ, put sin to death, read your Bible, pray, fellowship with other believers… but never take credit for your growth - all the glory goes to God, because it is His work. He is the one making it happen.
Application:
Evaluate yourself - are you in the faith? Are you persevering in a way that demonstrates that your faith is genuine? If not, repent and believe the gospel today!
To those who are persevering, keep it up! Don’t give up in your fight against sin and your pursuit of holiness. Keep taking hold of God’s grace and seek to be more like Christ.
One way the Philippians demonstrated their genuine faith was through generous giving toward gospel work. Is God leading you to give more toward missions or to support a particular missionary or ministry? If so, listen to His voice, and follow His lead.
While you persevere in faith, love, and obedience, don’t forget to always give God the glory for any victories you experience. Keep in mind that you are always dependent on His grace, and that He is the One who is really accomplishing anything good in your life. Don’t take credit for your growth and success in your Christian life, but give all the glory to God.
For Further Study and Application
Why did Paul give thanks to God for the Philippians?
Who is someone that you give thanks to God for and why?
What evidence in your life shows that you are persevering in the faith?
In what ways are you involved in the advance of the gospel? What more could you do?