Philippians 1

Philippians 1:1-6

Students, how wonderful it is to be back with you on Wednesday nights for 180. I don’t know about you guys but I always miss this time we get to spend together getting into God’s word and growing together as a body of believers. That being said, this is exactly what I hope that you see this as. We are a body of believers here gathered as a church to grow closer to Christ and glorify God through our lives. Though we may come from a variety of churches tonight or maybe this is the only church you attend, I want us to see each other as fellow believers and strive to grow together. Now my father instilled in me a lesson from a young age that if you are going to do something, then you must be the best at what you do. Not that you always truly will be the best, but that should always be your goal to strive for excellence. I say this because if we are to be a church together, the bride of Christ, then we ought to strive to be the best representation of a church that we can possibly be. If we want to do that we should know how that looks then. If you will open your copy of God’s word with me to Philippians chapter one. We will be beginning the year by walking through Philippians together and seeing how God instructs us as a church and individually through this letter.

Let me give you a little background first on the letter though so you know why exactly we are going to be walking through it to accomplish our goal. First, we need to know who wrote the letter. If you take a quick glance down within the first word or two depending on your translation you should see the author identifies himself as Paul. Timothy is also mentioned but we know that Paul was the leader and Timothy was his young apprentice. Paul is simply attaching Timothy to himself here to honor is apprentice and help him to grow into a leadership role in the future. Quick recap on Paul here for if you are unfamiliar, Paul was formerly Saul the great persecutor of the Christian church right after the resurrection and ascension of Christ. On his way to persecute the Christians in Damascus though Christ appeared to him, blinded him, and sent him on a mission. His sight was restored to him and he became one of the greatest missionaries for Christ to ever live. He traveled all across the Mediterranean area preaching the gospel and planting churches. One such place was a place named Philippi. In Philippi Paul was met with very little success outwardly. Acts chapter 16 is where you can find a detailed account of his initial trip to Philippi but to sum it up a few women became converts then their households with them, Paul was beaten and arrested, and then the jailer through an interesting story I encourage you to read also converted. After this Paul had to leave because he really wasn’t welcome in that town anymore.

After Paul leaves though the church begins to grow and not just as in more people converting, but in their walk with Christ. They become known for their love and kindness and faith in Christ. Fast forward a bit now and Paul is back in jail for preaching the gospel but this time in Rome. While in prison there Paul receives a visitor bearing a gift both from the church at Philippi. This letter is sort of a thank you letter to the church as well as a commendation for their good works and an encouragement to continue in the work. This is one of Pauls more positive and encouraging letters and shows us a picture of a church to be mimicked. As a youth group it is my hope that we can be like the Philippian church and be known for our great love of Christ and love for others and our faithfulness to God. This is why we are going to walk through this encouraging letter to see what we can learn about the one who wrote it, the recipients of it, and most importantly the God it was written to glorify.

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:”

Here is where we can pull some of that context we already discussed including the author and intended recipient, but I think there is also something greater to learn here than just a greeting. Look at the way that Paul identifies himself here. It is not as Paul the great missionary or Paul the one who planted your church. It is Paul a bondservant of Jesus Christ. It is likely that you have heard me mention this before as it is a common way that Paul and other authors of Scripture identify themselves, but it is still worth noting again where Paul finds his identity. Now, NKJV is a very pretty translation but I do have some problems with its rendering of the greek sometimes. Here the word bondservant in greek is doulos which more often is translated as slave or just as servant which either would make a bit more sense than the fancier term bondservant. The picture here though is one who has surrendered their entire existence over to someone else. A person who is no longer acting according to their own desires but is instead taking all actions in servitude to another. This is how Paul identifies himself. That out of all of the things he could say about himself he chooses to identify himself as a servant of Jesus. Why is that? Because there is no higher calling on Earth. No position or title of man could even come close to being a mere servant of the one through which creation came into being. The one who is Lord of all and rules from a Heavenly throne. Later in Philippians we will see Paul talk more on this, but he considered all of his worldly accomplishments to be nothing in comparison to Christ. This is how we should identify as well. We have a temptation to identify ourselves with the things of this world, we are the star athlete, the most popular person, the son or daughter of whoever, the talented this or that. Maybe it is with talent, wealth, relationship, or status but all of us have a temptation to identify with something of this world. There are two problems with this though. Problem number one is that things of this world are temporary. In an instant any of those things that I mentioned can be take from you and then what are you left with? Who are you when your identity has been taken away. When you graduate and move out who will you be? Life changes fast and you need an identity that will be with you for eternity. My relationship with Christ is constant. I know that when I identify with my relationship to Christ as His servant then that is something that can never be taken from me and will never change no matter what happens in my life. I have a constant that I can build my life around and ground myself so that even in the hardest times of life I have something to hold onto so that I may weather the storms. The second problem with identifying with worldly things is that they are worthless. No amount of status or wealth or talent in the world could even equal a fraction of the honor it is to be a servant of Christ. The value of this relationship we have with Christ is not to be neglected. We must know and remember the worth that this is. That through this relationship with Christ that I have my sins have been paid for that because He has chosen me to be His servant I have a hope in a future and not only that but I have a lasting peace and love that the world could never hope to offer to me. What I have is so far above anything the world could offer it is a disrespect to even consider it. I encourage you dear believer to take joy and pride in identifying with Christ and in your servitude to Him knowing your place with Him and telling others who you are through Him as well.

Now from Pauls identification I want us to move to Pauls love.

Philippians 1:2–5 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 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,”

Paul begins here talking about his prayers for the church at Philippi and notice how he says it. He thanks God every time he remembers them. Now if we go back to that context I mentioned earlier, Pauls time in Philippi was not a peaceful vacation. He was beaten and imprisoned yet upon remembering the people he thanks God for them. Paul doesn’t let the negative things impact how he remembers what God is doing. He loves the people of Philippi not simply in spite of the bad things that happened but all the more because of what happened to him there. Even when times were hard and he was hurt these people were there for him then and are now sending a gift to remind him that they are there for him now. We often let the negatives of this world cloud our mind. All we can think of is the bad that has happened to us or that we have seen happen to others and when we focus in on that we sometimes forget to look at what God was doing and how He is still moving in our life now. Paul easily could hear the name Philippi and cringe remembering the beatings he took there but instead he lights up with joy and thanks God for the believers of that town that were with him. Who has God placed in your life that has been with you through the hardships? God does not abandon us to walk through pain and suffering alone. Know that you always have a family number one in Christ who is with you and two through His church. Do not let the enemy cloud your mind with the hardships and pains that you have endured but instead turn to the Lord with gladness thanking Him for what and who He has given you.

Finally we see Pauls confidence.

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 we find one of my favorite promises in all of Scripture. There are two ways to look at this verse with both of them being true so we will discuss both here. First, is as the church. Paul is not writing here to an individual so this must be kept in mind that his primary intent is talking to a group. He is saying here that he is confident that God still has work for the church in Philippi to do. What a wonderful promise that we as a group of believers need to hear today. I am confident that there is still work that God intends to use FBC Winnfield for today. I am confident that there is work for this youth group to accomplish for Christ still today. Just as Paul had great confidence in the Philippians to continue to seek the Lord and continue to be used by Him to further His kingdom, I have that same confidence in each of you sitting here tonight. So I encourage you to live up to that. Take this as a charge as you begin your school year to seek out the work that the Lord has laid before you but also not to trust in your own strength to accomplish the work. When we try to rely on ourselves to spread God’s word then we are going to find ourselves inadequate but notice here that it says it is God who has begun the work in us and it is God who will complete it. We not only do not have to rely on our own strength but we should not even attempt it because ultimately it is God who hold all of the power to save and so we should trust in Him chiefly when spreading the gospel to our friends and family.

This leads us to the second way that we can look at this verse which is on an individual level. I find it sad quite often when I think of the people who live in fear that they may make a mistake and God will abandon them and they will “loose their salvation”. It breaks my heart to hear of people living in such uncertainty and turmoil. I know that if it were possible to loose my salvation I would live in constant fear because of the great depths of wickedness that lies in the heart of every man including my own. However, we thankfully need not live in such a state. This verse here gives us the promise that when God starts something He finishes it. Notice who the initiator and sustainer of our salvation is. It is God who began the good work in you and it is God who will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ at the end. Unfortunately in our modern culture we have a misconstrued idea of salvation that I believe is part of the problem many have. Many view salvation as this one moment in history where I look back and say I was saved and that is it. There is a measure of truth to that but just not in completion. I may look back to a moment and say this is when I was justified. This is the moment that The Father softened my heart of stone to the gospel of Christ and I put my faith and trust in Him as my redeemer trusting in His blood to pay for my sins that I may take on His righteousness in its place. Not for any work that I have done but all according to what Christ has done for me. That however is not the end of salvation. I am now being sanctified. I was saved in a sense when I was justified but I am still living in a world of sin and I still have a problem with sin and so I still need to be saved daily from the power of sin around me. There is also a sense where I am looking forward to a total salvation when I will be glorified. There will come a day when I am in heaven and I will sin no more I will not feel pain or sadness and I will never be affected by the powers of sin again. This is what Philippians 1:6 is talking about that God is the initiator and sustainer of our salvation. That He has begun the work in you and He will not fail to complete it. God has not abandoned you dear believer so I encourage you now to not abandon Him. This year as we walk together in this process of sanctification I pray that you will cling tight to God and look for how you may represent Him well in this world. And for those here who do not know the Lord as their Savior then I call to you know to consider the claims of Christ tonight. Consider the love that He has for you and the debt that He has paid. All you must do is simply come and He will recieve you with open and loving arms.