Intro and Greeting

Philippians is a prison letter. Paul is writing from prison. And he writes to the Philippians with deep feeling and affection for them. He is moved to joy and confidence when he thinks of the Philippians because of the way they had ministered to him previously , now under his current trial, and the way they would in the future. But this is all secondary or a result of a deeper seated passion. It was Christ Jesus who had the affection of the apostle, Jesus was all of his joy and confidence and goal of his life. Christ is the apostles life. Whether he live or dies, he is Christs and Christ is his. It is this love for Christ that binds them together.

Philippians 1:1-3.

Verse 1.

“Timothy”

Why is he included? Several reasons. First, Timothy is in agreement with Paul in all of these things. He is Paul’s apprentice, and in his frequent visits there it’s important for them to know that he and Paul are unified. Second, Timothy has deep connections to the church here. He had been part of its birth, as mentioned had made more than one visit and was on his way to another visit. And in addition, there is mutual affection between Timothy and the Philippians. He will be used as an example of humility for how he handled himself among them. It follows with the tone of the friendship letter that it is. Lastly, it’s very possible he wrote the letter as Pauls secretary. Not the author, but Pauls amanuenses.

“slaves”

Pauls title as a slave of Christ is his resignation of all effort to live before the face of man.

Galatians 1:10“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Colossians 3:22“Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.”

This freed him from the law, but it called him to be crucified with Christ. The only way to prove he was pleasing to God rather than men was to keep the scandal of the Cross at the heart of his preaching and take the consequences of the Cross to the heart of his living.

Maxie D. Dunnam and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon, vol. 31, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982), 23.

“slaves of Christ”

Christ is central. The attention moves away from Paul and Timothy, because they want the focus to be on Christ. The letter is about him and in an even more real sense than it is from Paul, it is Christ’s letter to the Philippians, and it is Christ’s letter to us. It is a letter from Christ and it is a living letter. We here the voice of our Savior in this letter to us. Christ in his risen and exalted state, has sent forth his Spirit into his apostles for the purpose of fulfilling his promise to build his church. Men, moved by the Spirit( who’’s Spirit? Christ’s Spirit) spoke from God. He’s given us his life, the explanation of his life and the promise of the life to come in an inspired and infallible account. He has done it through the NT prophets and apostles. And these documents live on because Jesus lives and speaks and rules in the midst of his church today, by His Spirit. We need to grab hold of this. This should shape the way we come together for worship, the way we come together during the week, the way we spend time in family and personal devotions. Word and Spirit are the ways Jesus is present in and with his church.

“To the Saints”

What a glorious title. Holy ones, a title taken from the Old Testament. The idea is holiness to the Lord. And they were to be a light to the nations. A people set apart to the Lord and to be a light to the unbelieving gentile nations. And that is what the Lords people are today.

“In Christ”

Saints are saints because of their union with Christ. Union with Christ has two aspects and both are vital. First, their is a forensic or legal union that the believer has with Christ. In justification, the believer is declared both not guilty and righteous for the sake of Christ. His life he lived for you, and his death he died for you. For us. Double imputation, this is at the heart of the gospel. The Son of God lived and died for sinners and enemies such as we were. There is also an experiential union. The one united to Christ, feels and experiences in himself that union. He has been given a new heart, new desires. He has the mind of Christ, he thinks about the world and reality in a new way. As he grows, he begins to put on Christ more and more, and he learns to put the old man to death. These two aspects of our union are inseparable. We will avoid many errors by keeping these two distinct without separating them. The one Justified, always exercises the benefits of Justification in the new life. And

Keep these two aspects of your union with Christ before you brothers and sisters. Preach to yourself. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Because of your union with Christ, your standing with God, is as unchangeable as our the place of our exalted and resurrected Lord. If Christ be indestructible, then so is our arrival in glory. And if that’s the case, then live in such a way. Put on Christ. Live worthy of the gospel. Exercise your new nature. God is in you.

Verse 2.

Grace and peace.

What is grace? Grace is the expression of God’s undeserving love toward sinners. How is that grace expressed? It is expressed by God the Father sending his eternal Son, his eternal Word for us and for our salvation. Grace and love for sinner originate in the mind of our God and Father. He loved us and had grace in mind for us from eternity. The economy of redemption isn’t the beginning of the Fathers love for you and me but the execution of the eternal covenant of redemption. And it is brought about or accomplished in the Son. Jesus Christ is the expresser and accomplisher of this grace for us. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is totality of who he is for us in his person and work. His voluntary condescension and humiliation of taking on our flesh. His identifying with us in the waters of baptism. His living a perfect life under the law, meeting all of its requirements and just demands in his death. His conquering and capturing the keys of death and hades. His destroying the works of the devil. His ascending to the right hand of Power. His current reign as our Prophet, Priest, and King. In short, all of his state of humiliation and exultation is the grace of God to us and for us. And grace is applied to us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is gift. The gift of grace. The gift of Love to the saints. He is given and in Him we are brought into the love the Father has for us in Christ. The gift of the Spirit causes us to say yes to the Fathers only provision of salvation in his Son. He illumines our minds to comprehend the beauty and glory of the gospel, opens our eyes to see the brightness of the Fathers glory, softens our hearts embrace the gospel promise. This is the communion or fellowship of the Spirit.

And the result of this is none other than peace with the living God. We were his enemies. The Devil was our Father. But in God’s overcoming that enmity, we have peace with him. Not just a cease fire. But a peace that moves over into friendship, union, a peace that surpasses all understanding. The fear of death, the turmoil of our souls, the restlessness of a guilty and condemned conscience are quelled by the unspeakable gift of grace bestowed on us by our triune God. How many things man will do throughout the entirety of his life to snuff out the reality of his condemnation before a holy God. Entertainment, and business. Pleasures and hobbies. Substances and alcohol. All of this and it never gives the conscience peace. Maybe for a season, but it always comes back, haunting.

During the cold war, one of the terrible leaders of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands if not millions, upon his own impending execution was said to cry out in terror screaming that he can hear them crying out for his blood. Ables blood cries out justice. And our offended thrice holy God cries out justice and for the blood of sinners who are in Adam.

Yet when the irresistible, conquering, disrupting grace of God comes in Christ, the soul has peace. The blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of able. It speaks peace. God’s wrath propitiated. He was pleased to crush him. Because the many would be justified in Him.

It is a peace, that no individual, no government, that no created thing can give. If there were never another war, and this sought after utopia was established, man would not be at peace, because his problem is not anything outside himself but is his very self. Conversly, the people of God have peace in whatever circumstance, if there is peace or if the earth is being thrown into the heart of the sea. The Christian has peace with God, because of the gospel and because God is in the midst of her. In the midst of the church and the individual. God is with her, she will not be moved. What an amazingly paradoxical creature the Christian is. How countercultural is the Christian. Totally against the grain.

And who has the authority who has the power to dispense grace and peace? Only God. Only the Father and the Son. The Father through the Son by the Spirit. Grace abundant supplied to us in a timely manner as we approach the throne of grace this week. Peace in the midst of the ever raging spiritual battle in the church and in every believer.

What a great privilege to be in Christ, to be voluntarily enslaved, to be a holy people to Him.

Don’t read over the opening blessing too quickly.

This is all the grace of Jesus and the expression of the Fathers love toward us in his Word. How

Conclusion.

This illustration is a simple one, but it will make the point. A down-and-outer—some would call him a bum—comes to you in dire need. His dirty ragged dress is only the outer sign of his destitution and need. He is hungry and sick. You give him a bath and a change of clothing, but that is not enough. He is undernourished and sick, needing food and a doctor. Perhaps more, he needs love and friendship, healing of hurts, restoration of dignity, new purpose and meaning. So we come to Jesus, not in dirty rags but clothed in the garments of sin, spiritually starving and sick unto death. We are welcomed by Christ, accepted—bathed in His love and forgiveness. We are clothed in his grace, received as children—as though we were sinless. God sees us as righteous in Christ; this is our new status.

Maxie D. Dunnam and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon, vol. 31, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982), 255.

We are a bunch of spiritual bums. Spiritual bums that our God in Christ has taken in and cleaned up, fed, nourished, clothed, and continues to protect and care for by His Spirit.

Verse 9.

The logic of prayer. Why pray? If God has promised, if Paul is confident that God will complete it, then why pray? Because we don’t have the thing promised in our possession. Lets just speak from human experience for a moment. I am out for a run, and my goal is to run 3 miles at an average of 8 minutes per mile. Well at 2.90 miles I am averaging a 7:30 per mile. What am I going to do the last quarter mile? Walk? Even though I’ve got it, I am going to finish. I’ll probably even push hard and try to finish sub 7:30. When God tells us He will do something, we run, we pray, we strive, and when he hears and supplies( as he always does), we do the same. Even moreso, with more confidence than before.

Further, prayer is communion, prayer is worshipful, prayer is a means of thankfulness, prayer is a means by which God brings about the perseverance of His people, and its a way that he brings about his purposes in the lives of all humanity.