Philippians 1:1-11 | The Lantern Lit Church

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Review last week sermon going over new systematic expositional style

Read - Exegete - Exposit

Read Scripture Passage

The New King James Version Chapter 1

Php 1:1

Intro

Philippians Background

Philippians = the book of joy

Paul and his Connection with Philippi

Paul’s multiple ministry journeys led him to plant multiple new churches throughout Asia and Europe

Throughout his ministry he wrote letters to these churches as he heard updates

Very few, if any critiques are given by Paul to the church in Philippi

He loved them very much and they loved him

Paul is writing to them from prison most likely in Rome.

Paul’s Background (How did Paul get here?)

Persecutor of Christians - a Pharisee

Present at the first martyr of a Christian believer

Acts 7:54–60 NKJV

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8:1–3 NKJV

Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

3. Paul is radically converted on the road to Damascus to further persecute Christians

Acts 9:3–6 NKJV

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

4. Paul is called to be an apostle to the gentiles (non jews)

While the gospel had mostly only been proclaimed in and around Israel, now it would be intentionally spread to the rest of Asia, Europe, and then the rest of the world

5. Paul would go on three separate missionary journeys where he would plant churches around Asia and Europe

On the third journey, Paul wants to continue into Asia to spread the gospel, however the Holy Spirit guides him to go West instead. Paul has a vision that leads them to Macedonia.

Acts 16:6–10 NKJV

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

6. Arrival in Philippi

When they arrived in Macedonia, they went to Philippi, a smaller but very important Roman colony that served as the gateway between Europe and Asia

They would find a woman there named Lydia, a business woman who served as their main contact in Philippi, and she would become the first Christian convert in Europe from the work of Paul

They would go on to plant a church there in Phillipi, serving as the first Christian church in Europe

7. Paul is imprisoned

After this missionary journey Paul is imprisoned in Rome

And as he sits there, he writes a letter to the church of Philippi, we call the book of Philippians

So this is how we get to this point.

Paul is in prison writing to the first church that he planted in Europe

And we are going to look through it and see what he told them

Body

The New King James Version Chapter 1

Php 1:1

Paul and Timothy

Who was Timothy?

Young man who joined Paul during his second missionary journey

He would go on to be the pastor of the church at Ephesus, but at this point he is traveling with Paul, and is accompanying him while he is in prison

He says they are bondservants of Jesus Christ, and this letter comes from both of their hearts.

Now what we have in the rest of this passage is a clear outline to what a church should look like.

The church at Philippi = one of the best examples of a church we see in scripture

Just in this intro to the letter, we see Paul give the whole outline of what a church should look like

Philippians 1:3 NKJV

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

We have visitors a lot here at scriptura.

Paul says that as he thinks back about the church in Philippi he thanks God

What a picture of a church.

What a goal to have that when someone leaves the doors of scriptura church, and they think about is throughout the week, they are not just happy, or even joyful, but they thank God.

Churches will often review and plan out their visitor follow up program, and this is good

Contact Cards = Follow up visits = Emails = Text

And the goal is to determine the visitors mindset of how they viewed the church, and to encourage them to return

Common Metrics of Success

- They plan to return

- They enjoyed the message

- They liked the music

But what if when a church followed up with a visitor, they said “well I am just so thankful to God of what he has done in the church, and I thank him every time I think about your church”

This is really beautiful, why?

Because the church really should only have one overall goal, and a response like this proves that they were successful in that

The goal = the church pointed them to Christ

Paul doesn’t say he is happy when he thinks of the church in Philippi, or he has good memories, he says he thanks God

That only happens if a church’s metric of success is found in pointing others to Christ

Not in entertainment

Not in happy feelings

Not in ministries and events

but when that person thinks of the church, they think of Jesus

And you say well Zach that’s great but how does that apply to me, isn’t that your job?

Question.....

What is the church?

Does church=pastor?

Does church=building

Does church=ministries

Does church=deacons

Well did you know that verse 1 actually tells us exactly who this applies to

Philippians 1:1 NKJV

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

Now saints is a term synonymous with Christians.

The word saint means holy or set apart, or consecrated

It comes from the greek word hagios

and it is interesting to note that at no time do we see the term saint used in a singular sense in scripture

In scripture we see the term saint used to describe those who are set apart in Christ - also called Christians or believers

Philippians 4:21 NKJV

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.

Acts 26:10 NKJV

This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

Ephesians 4:11 NKJV

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

The catholic church would teach that only those who have died can be called saints

They would agree that believers are called saints in scripture, but they have determined that because they are not receiving the full inheritance that a believer receives at death, that only those who have died should receive the title of sainthood,

however this methodology goes directly against the use of the word in scripture, and elevates those who have died in Christ above those who are living in him.

Reference - https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/arent-we-all-saints

So who is the focus of the passage? - The saints

Who are the saints? = Believers

This is important because we must have this understanding that the church is not made up of a building, or of ministries, or of leadership, it is made up of believers

We even see the clarification in verse 1 that this is written to saints, WHO ARE WITH the bishops and the deacons, so he even futher clarifies the separation

When we look at commands to the church, don’t look at them as commands to the leadership, look at it as a command to you

When Paul says that he thanked God upon every remembrance of this church, he isn’t saying he thanks God for their organized ministries or their great sermons taught by the leadership, but by the example of the people in the church.

and this should be our mindset, that if you are a part of scriptura church, whether as a member or just a general attendee, you carry the responsibility as an example of scriptura church

and on a grander scale you carry the example of the body of christ

and I would ask you today.… when people come away from a conversation with you, or they come away from a period of time spent with you, what do they remember?

Do they remember a bad attitude?

Do they remember a happiness?

Do they remember a self centered person?

Do they remember a good time?

I think a good goal for us would be that when people think of us, they think of us how Paul thought of Phillipi, he just thanked God that he had the opportunity to be with them.

HE THOUGHT OF JESUS WHEN HE THOUGHT OF THEM, AND IT SHOULD BE OUR GOAL THAT OTHERS THINK OF JESUS WHEN THEY THINK OF US

Philippians 1:4–6 NKJV

always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 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;

So I want you to notice the avenue by which Paul remembered them.

You may ask Zach how can we ensure that others think of Christ when they think of us

Well this would apply more to a grand scale of how someone remembers you as a a person in their life, not just an interaction, but I want you to notice why Paul felt this way about them.

It wasn’t just because he had a good interaction with them, it was because of what they partook in together

It has been said people will only remember how you make them feel

And if this is the case, and we are to help others remember Christ, when they think of us, how exactly do we do that?

We help them to find the joy of christ that we have while they are with us.

E: i had a conversation with someone recently where they had to spend some time with a group of people who were living a sinful lifestyle. And the concern of this person was how do you interact with them on a Christian level, and be kind and positive with them, but still oppose their sin?

This is the dilemma of the christian right

We have the light, but we live in a dark world, so how can we share the light with the dark, without it being a negative interaction

EX: Like picture walking down a dark path with a lantern, and you run up to someone without a light and you just shove it right in their face, probably not going to go over well.

How can light mix with darkness in a way that is actually beneficial and positive?

Well I think its actually pretty simple

Instead of trying to forcefully illuminate the darkness, instead be a witness to the dark of how great it is to be in the light

E: When i started on the carnivore diet about a year ago, I did it not becasue I was forced into it, but becasue I saw the results. I had noticed that a family member at thanksgiving had lost a significant amount of weight on the diet, and that encouraged me to do it. But image if on thanksgiving day, this person forces me to now be on carnivore and I am not going to be able to eat any mashed potatoes or pie, probably not going to go over well.

As Christians we must remember that the gospel is a message of hope and joy, not condemnation.

So does that mean we don’t need to point out sin, to point out the darkness others are in? No we can and should, but only if the goal is to show them the light.

The goal of the believer and the church is not to tell someone they are in darkness, it is to bring them out of it.

And here is why this is so important, because the reason that Paul felt this way about the church at Philippi was not becasue they told him of the light of christ, or even were examples of the light of christ, but that they actively took him and worked alongside with him in the ministry of christ

There is nothing that will bring two beleivers together more than serving together, if they are serving with the right heart and motive

Philippians 1:7–10 NKJV

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. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,

I want you to focus in here on verse 9 & 10.

He says I pray that your love may abound still more and more in WHAT?

Emotion?

Commitment?

Strength?

No - in knowledge and all discernment

And what do you do with this knowledge and discernment, you approve the things that are excellent, and you may be sincere and without offense

So we have already looked at how it is our job to not just share the light, but to actually be a witness of light to show hope to those in the darkness.

But there is one issue, not all light is created equal.

EX: This past week I was working in my office and i realized that the flourescent blinding lights was what had been causing headaches. So I went to the store and got a standing lamp and a desk lamp. The idea was that I would get the brightest bulbs I could, and then i could just keep the overhead lights off and these two lamps would light up the whole office. So I got these huge led smart bulbs, and I maxed them out as high as I could, and it didn’t even look like they did anything. Why? Because I have these stain glass windows that sort of diffused any light that I tried to add.

And I think where we are at as christians in america, is there is actualyl a lot more light around us then we think, there is more of an influence of the gospel than we think, but all light isn’t created equal

And what we see in verse 9&10 is this warning that not all light is the same, and it tells us how to determine if our light is adequate for the job.

You see for the unbeleiver in darkness in America, they don’t look around and see pure darkness, they see a yellow light off in the distance, they see a group of candles along the way, they see a big construction light down the path.

The unbeleiver passes the billboard that says Jesus loves them, they hear preaching on the radio, maybe they go to church on Easter, and they live in darkness with all of these small lights around them.

And some of them are brighter than others, some are different colors, but you don’t really know if its good or not until you get right up to it and you let the light illuminate the path in front of you.

But you see we don’t use lanterns really any more, what do we use know when we are in the dark, a flashlight

But there is an issue with flashlights, they don’t light up the area all around you, just where you are pointing.

And they are so many flase teachers and deceivers out there shining their flashlights at those in the darkness and like a bug to a light they come flying in, but once they get there and they walk past the point of the flashlight, what happens, they are back in darkness

This is the pictures of so many who get decieved into false religions, and false teachings, they are decieved into following the bright flashlight, and they can’t even see the truth of who is behind the light holding it, but it looks bright so they flock to it, only to realize when they are right there, that this doesn’t actaully illuminate the world around you, its a deceptive light source

And vs. 9&10 tells us that we must test these light sources, and we will only have true love and purity, and holiness, and excellence if we are living in and sharing the right light source, one that doesn’t just deceptively light a path, but it rather lights up the individual and all that is around them

And there is only one way to test if the light is good, knowledge and discernment

Seeker sensitive and deceptive churches and preachers will shine a bright flashlight out into the world and they may bring millions in to the light, but what you will not find is a focus on knowledge and discernment, becasue their people had Biblical knowledge and spiritual discernment, they would see clearly that the light is deceptive

Simply put - test your light, and thest the light of others, only by knowledge and discernment, so you can prove if it is excellent or not, does the truth of the gospel match with the light they are sharing

And then when beleivers and churches do this, they become a radiant lantern light to those around them, so when they see the beleiver, they see them clearly, and the evidence of Christ in their lives, and they see the love of chrsit in you.

And they see this not just becasue you have a light, becasue you naturally express the charactersitics of somone the light of chrsit, which is what?....

Philippians 1:11 NKJV

being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

They see the light, the light is proven when it is tested in knowledge and discernment, and they see the expression of the light being the fruits of righteousness, and they see the clear mission of it all in you.

For the glory and praise of God.