Philippians 1

Outline

Greeting (1-2)

Paul’s Prayer (3-11) (vs 6-8 paul takes a break in his prayer)

All For The Gospel (12-30)

1.Greeting (1-2)

Verse 1

Philippians 1:1 “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:”

Questions from the greeting

A) Who wrote Philippians?

Paul and timothy are the authors of the letter to the philippians.

But Paul is the main author bc he refers to himself throughout the entire book!

But Timothy very well may have assisted in the dictation or delivery or serving as a witness for Pauls ideas.

B) Whats a bondservant?

Paul and Timothy are referred to as bondservants of Jesus Christ

Their identity was that they were bondservants of Jesus Christ!! Whats your identity?

Yk if your here today and your a Christian then you are bondservant of Jesus Christ!

You belong to Jesus!!

This is how Paul starts many of his letters!

Pauls identity was a bondservant of Jesus!

What does it mean to live as a bondservant of Jesus Christ in your daily life?

How can we practice being bondservants of Christ in our relationships with others?

We see that the church at Philippi was a church with an established leadership (elders and deacons)

Verse 2

Philippians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

So many times we overlook how a new testament writer adresses who their writing to.

Paul wishes grace and peace to them. These are 2 of the most amazing blessings any Christian can recieve!

This is a beautiful example of how we need to treat our brothers and sisters kindly

The grace and peace that we have as Christians ONLY comes from God and Jesus

2. Paul’s Prayer (3-11)

Verse 3

Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,”

This is such an amazing compliment from Paul here

He says that every time he remembers the church of Philippi, he thanks God! THATS HUGE

Do our congregations make our brothers and sisters feel this way

Do WE ourselves make other people feel this way about us??

This also encourages us to thank God after everything we do!

Verse 4

Philippians 1:4 “always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,”

This is an add on to the previous verse.

Paul says in verse 3 that he thanks God for them every time he remembers them

But here he says that always in his prayers he makes request for philippi with all joy!

Paul was thankful that philippi was a type of church that he could have joy when he thought and prayed about them.

He said (ALWAYS!) Paul made it a practice to pray and make requests for this congregation!

We need to be praying for other congregations and the work going on there!

There are churches dying and we know that prayers are truly powerful!

Verse 5

Philippians 1:5 “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,”

Fellowship in the gospel! thats a very powerful term!!

That word fellowship means communion, joint participation, or sharing!

Paul says that he prays for philippi to have fellowship in the gospel!

How do we have fellowship in the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ?

For us to have fellowship in the gospel weve got to follow the gospel plan of salvation!

Then we can be children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ

For us to be brothers and sisters in Christ is such a big deal!

That word fellowship is talking about a deep intimacy!

Paul prays that philippi would have fellowship with him in the gospel!

We need to pray the same for others

Verse 6

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Here in verses 6-8 Paul takes a break from his prayer and inserts some encouragement. But mostly his confidence in God and his confidence in the philippians brethren

Paul says… this is what im confident in!

Im confident that God is gonna sanctify you until Jesus comes back!

Im confident that if you are serving God and drawing near to Him, then God is gonna draw near to you and work in you until Jesus comes back!

This verse also shows us that no matter how clean we live our lives and no matter how well we keep Gods commands,,,, God is the one purifying us and working in us and may we NEVER forget that!

Its easy to get prideful when your living the way that God tells you to live. But it should humble us to know that Its GOD who does the work in us!

Verse 7

Philippians 1:7 “just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.”

These verses show us how much Paul truly loved and cared for these Christians at Philippi.

He even justifies his confidence in them at the start of the verse.

Paul’s basically saying… all of the complimentary and encouraging things i just said about you.... Its right for me to think those things bc of my love for you and confidence in your faithfulness!

I have you in my heart even when im in jail!! AND when im defending and confirming and preaching the gospel!!

Paul says that they are partaking in Gods grace with him! This is very similar to what he said a few verses ago in verse 5 when he said they have fellowship with him in the gospel!

Verse 8

Philippians 1:8 “For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.”

Then he says.… God truly knows how bad i miss you in a brotherly way.

What a show of love from Paul here

What a way to start a letter!! I think this is by far one of the most kind and encouraging starts to a letter throughout the whole entire bible

Verse 9

Philippians 1:9 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,”

We see that paul is now back to his prayer for the philippians!

He specifies yet another thing that he wants philippi to succeed and grow in!

That their love would abound in knowledge and discernment.

This reminds me of when paul tells the ephesian church to speak the truth in love in ephesians chapter 4

That word discernment just means to examine/prove/test

Pauls basically saying here.... I want you to thrive and abound by loving God and one another by obtaining knowledge and then discerning and testing that knowledge..... and use it wisely

Verse 10

Philippians 1:10 “that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,”

Paul is emphasizing that he wants the Philippians to do the right thing!! Do the things that God commands you to do!

He prays that they would be sincere until the day of judgement.

There’s 2 questions that we need to ask from that phrase

Are we sincere UNTIL DEATH?

2. Are we praying for others to be sincere UNTIL DEATH!

Verse 11

Philippians 1:11 “being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

There’s a lot to say about the fruits of righteousness. But simply put those are just qualities of Jesus Christ that we are commanded to put on and live out in our lives

Look at what Paul does at the end of the verse. He does what any preacher (Or Christian in general) should do.

He gives the glory and the praise back to God!!

May we always give the glory and the praise to God no matter how well we or our brothers and sisters are doing spiritually.

Even in philippi’s success paul did not lose sight of who the glory and praise went to

We should do the same as paul.

after Pauls prayer put this point

Before we look at the next section lets look at what paul prayed for for the philippians

He thanks God for them (vs 3)

2. He prays that they would have fellowship in the gospel of Jesus Christ (vs 5)

3. He prays that their love would abound and grow in knowledge and wisdom

4. He prays that they would be sincere and without offense all the way until Jesus comes back

5. He prays they would be filled with fruits of righteousness

3. All For The Gospel (12-30)

Verse 12

Philippians 1:12 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel,”

Very short summary of what had happened to Paul?

Arrest in Jerusalem – Paul was falsely accused of bringing Gentiles into the temple, leading to his arrest.

Acts 21:27-33 – Paul is seized by the crowd and rescued by Roman soldiers.

Acts 23:11 – The Lord reassures Paul that he will testify in Rome.

2. Imprisonment in Caesarea – Paul was held under guard for two years before appealing to Caesar.

Acts 24:27 – Paul remains in prison under Governor Felix.

Acts 25:10-12 – Paul appeals to Caesar, securing his transfer to Rome.

3. Shipwreck on the way to Rome – Paul endured a violent storm and was shipwrecked on Malta.

Acts 27:41-44 – The ship runs aground, but all survive.

Acts 28:1-10 – Paul heals the sick on Malta before continuing to Rome.

4. House Arrest in Rome – Paul was chained to a Roman guard but allowed visitors.

Acts 28:16 – Paul arrives in Rome and is placed under house arrest.

Acts 28:30-31 – Paul preaches boldly despite his imprisonment.

Paul is telling the Philippians in this verse that all of these things that he went through is not for nothing!

His labor and work for Jesus Christ meant something and produced amazing things for the gospel!

This may not seem like it at first glance but this is an encouragement to the phillipians!!

This statement gives them hope that even throughout pauls trials, he helped further the through those trials!

So that gives them hope and confidence that their trials and persecutions and evangelistic efforts are worth it!!

Look lets look at what he says in the next verse.

I think that this next verse is one of the most beautiful passages in all of the bible.

Verse 13

Philippians 1:13 “so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;”