Biblical Success
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Praise and Prayer
Praise and Prayer
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Phi
1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
“As I walked through the wilderness of this world,” said John Bunyan, “I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and laid me down in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden on his back …”
The den was Bedford jail, in which Bunyan was imprisoned for twelve years for preaching the gospel. In that jail he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, which for centuries was a bestseller, second only to the Bible. The book was published in 1678 and by the end of the nineteenth century had been printed in 112 languages and dialects. About the writing of Pilgrim’s
the call
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
acts 16.9-10
read
Lydda
Jailer etc ..
Your call my call
There he too took his pen in hand and the inspiration flowed (“As I pull’d, it came”). The apostle’s words, however, came not by the inspiration of an idea but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
As he wrote, Paul was thinking of his dear friends at Philippi.
They had sent him a gift which he gratefully acknowledged. Irrepressible joy, a fruit of the Spirit, flooded his soul and poured over each page.
As we read the exultant stanzas of the Epistle to the Philippians, we might think that Paul was in a palace, not in prison.
Introduction
Philippi was a Macedonian hill town overlooking the coastal plain and the bay at Neapolis.
Paul arrived in Philippi fresh from Troas where he had just seen a vision of a man from Macedonia urging him to “come over … and help us” ().
Paul’s experiences in Philippi are recorded in .
here
When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was a prisoner awaiting trial in Rome.
The purpose of the letter was to thank his friends for their financial support and to ask some of them to put aside their quarrels.
It seems that when he wrote he was expecting his case to come up before the tribunal to which he had appealed. Perhaps by this time his confinement was stricter than before, but it did not hamper Paul’s victorious style of Christian living.
The keynote of his letter is joy. Come what may, he was on the winning side! His prayer was that all God’s people might catch the vision of a triumphant life in Christ.
Biblical Success requires :
I The Mentor
I The Mentor
1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Paul and Timothy are linked together at the opening of this Epistle. This does not mean that Timothy helped to write the Letter.
He had been with Paul when he first visited Philippi, so he was known to the saints there. Now Timothy is with Paul as the apostle opens this Letter.
Paul was now an older man (Phmn. 9), while Timothy was still quite young.
Thus youth and age were yoked together in the service of the Best of masters.
Jowett puts it nicely: “It is the union of springtime and autumn; of enthusiasm and experience; of impulse and wisdom; of tender hope and quiet and rich assurance.”
Both are described as bondservants of Jesus Christ. Both loved their Master.
The ties of Calvary bound them to the service of their Savior forever.
We are living in an interesting time in history.
For what is likely the first time in the history of the Christian church, generations aren't worshiping together.
Mentoring is a biblical idea. Although the word "mentor" itself is never used in Scripture, the principles applied when using that terminology are found throughout the biblical text.
We see numerous examples of mentoring relationships taking place throughout the Bible. In some cases, individuals were involved in multiple mentoring relationships.
Sometimes mentoring happened on a one-to-one basis, and in other cases, mentoring took place in a group setting. However, the group was always small enough to listen to, and interact with, each individual. J
Jesus mentored 12, sometimes three and, on rare occasions, one.
Jethro mentored Moses.
Moses mentored Joshua and the elders of Israel.
Joshua mentored the other remaining leaders of his army.
Eli mentored Samuel.
Samuel mentored Saul and David.
David also mentored Solomon.
David also mentored Solomon. Solomon mentored the Queen of Sheba, who returned to her people with his wisdom in the form of Proverbs that applied God's laws.Elijah mentored Elisha. Elisha mentored king Jehoash and others.Daniel mentored Nebuchadnezzar, who humbled himself before God.Mordecai mentored Esther. Esther mentored King Artaxerxes, which led to the liberation of God's people.Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, and this resulted in a much-improved ministry for Apollos.And finally, Jesus mentored the twelve apostles who established the Christian church. The apostles mentored hundreds of other leaders, including Paul. Paul mentored Titus, Timothy, and many others. Timothy mentored "faithful men" such as Epaphras. Epaphras and the other faithful men mentored others also, which led to a chain reaction that resulted in dozens of new churches in Asia. Ultimately, this specific mentoring chain is the beginning point of our churches today.
Elisha mentored king Jehoash and others.
Elisha mentored king Jehoash and others.
Daniel mentored Nebuchadnezzar, who humbled himself before God.
Mordecai mentored Esther.
Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, and this resulted in a much-improved ministry for Apollos.
Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, and this resulted in a much-improved ministry for Apollos.
Jesus mentored the twelve apostles who established the Christian church.
Apostles mentored hundreds of other leaders, including Paul.
Paul mentored Titus, Timothy, and many others.
Timothy mentored "faithful men" such as Epaphras.
Biblical Success requires
The saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi describes the dual position of the believers. As to their spiritual status, they were set apart by God in Christ Jesus. As to their geographical location, they were at Philippi. Two places at the same time!
Then the apostle mentions the bishops and deacons. The bishops were the elders or overseers in the assembly—those who took a pastoral interest in the flock of God and who led the flock by their godly example. The deacons, on the other hand, were the servants of the church who were probably chiefly concerned with its material affairs, such as finances, etc.
There were only these three groups in the church—saints, bishops, and deacons. If there had been a clergyman in charge, Paul would have mentioned him also. Instead he speaks only of bishops (plural) and deacons (also plural).
Here we have a remarkable picture of the simplicity of church life in the early days. The saints are mentioned first, then their spiritual guides, and last their temporal servants. That is all![1]
Biblical Success requires
II The Message of Praise and Thanksgiving
II The Message of Praise and Thanksgiving
II The Message of Praise and Thanksgiving
II The Message of Praise and Thanksgiving
phil 1.2
2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
In his greeting to the Philippians, Paul used two words descriptive of Christian graces: grace and peace. The order in which he used them is significant.
Before there can be any genuine peace there must be a personal response to God’s grace, His unmerited favor manifested climactically at Calvary.
Both grace and peace find their source in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[1]
wow
1:3 - Now Paul bursts into a song of thanksgiving.
But that is nothing new for the apostle. The walls of the Philippian jail had echoed the songs of Paul and Silas on their first visit there.
As he writes these words, he is probably a prisoner in Rome—but he is still singing “songs in the night.” The indomitable Paul!
Every remembrance of the Philippians awakened thanksgiving in his heart. Not only were they his children in the faith, but in many ways they had proved to be a model church.
1:4 In every prayer, he made supplication for the Philippians with joy.
To him it was a sheer delight to pray for them—not dull drudgery.
From this and many similar passages in Paul’s writing, we learn that he was a man of prayer. It is not necessary to search further for the reason he was so wonderfully used of God.
When we remember the extent of his travels and the host of Christians he knew, we marvel that he maintained such a personal, intimate interest in them all.
1:5 The specific reason for his thanksgiving was their fellowship in furthering the gospel from the first day until now.
Fellowship might include financial assistance, but it extends also to prayer support and a wholehearted devotion to the spread of the good news.
When Paul mentions the first day, one cannot help wondering if the jailor was still alive when this Letter was publicly read to the assembly at Philippi. If so, this mention of Paul’s introduction to the Philippian believers would certainly have struck a responsive chord in his heart.[1]
Living a life of praise is not only the most enjoyable way to live, but it’s also one of the most powerful ways to change your life.
Praise isn’t like the caboose that just follows what happens, but it’s more like the engine of a train that makes things happen. Your faith isn’t complete without praise. says that you abound in faith with thanksgiving. No thanksgiving equals not abounding in faith.
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Praise affects you, it affects the devil, and it affects God.
Nearly everyone agrees that praise is good, but very few feel any responsibility to praise God when they don’t feel like it. I don’t know anyone who wakes up in the morning and plans on being depressed. They would like to be happy and praise God, but they don’t feel they have any control over this.
They think that praise is just a response to what happens and that if everything goes right, they will automatically do it. That is definitely not the case.
The Lord told His disciples the night before His crucifixion not to let their hearts be troubled ().
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
This wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. Yet most Christians today would think this was insensitive and unreasonable. They would say that Jesus wasn’t being understanding and compassionate.
These disciples were about to see Jesus arrested and then flee in fear for their lives. They would see Jesus unjustly condemned and then crucified and buried. And He was telling them not to let their hearts be troubled! To the average person, that’s unreasonable.
Jesus ended His discourse to His disciples that evening with a promise that they would have trouble (). Wow! What an understatement! Yet He said to be of good cheer. How was this possible? He said it was possible because He had overcome the world.
At the time Jesus said that, He hadn’t been crucified, much less resurrected and seated at the Father’s right hand. It was because of faith that the disciples were supposed to rejoice. He had promised that He would be resurrected and then reign, and if they were in faith, they would rejoice—and so would we.
We live in a negative world, a fallen world where it seems that the ungodly are getting more and more prominent. So much of what we hear is just negative, and we have to make a deliberate effort to be positive and counter the culture we live in. Praise is a great tool to help us achieve that.
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
If someone were to pass out, the first thing we’d do is check their pulse to see if their heart is still beating. In the same sense, checking our praise lives is how we check our spiritual pulse. If we don’t live lives that are constantly giving thanksgiving and praise unto God, we are not spiritually healthy. Some people may take offense at that, thinking I just don’t know their situations. But Paul said in —
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Paul didn’t just say it once; he said it twice. He didn’t want anyone thinking he had made a mistake or that there were exceptions to what he said.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
We may not feel joyful, but Scripture tells us in that the fruit of the Spirit is joy.
If we have the Holy Spirit, we have joy. We may not feel that joy, but we can choose to lift our hands and speak forth praise to God by faith. Learning to praise God even when everything is going badly will change our hearts, make us much more effective, and cause our faith to abound.
Stay away from toxic people always negative and have no joy......
Biblical Success
III A Ministry of Continuing
III A Ministry of Continuing
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Continuing and not quieting .....
Biblical Success is measured not by how you start but how you finish
The Philippian saints and Paul were partners in the things of Christ. This was true because they shared with him in his need. They gave of themselves to Paul and in turn to the cause of Christ for which he labored. But not only did they share with him in his need as a prisoner. They had also fellowshiped with him from the first day they trusted Christ. This brought great joy to the apostle’s heart.
Great confidence gripped the apostle as he thought and prayed for the Philippians. The perfect tense of the Greek word translated being confident indicates that Paul had come to a settled conviction earlier and that he still was confident it was true. What was he so confident and sure of? It was that God would most certainly continue on to completion the good work He had begun in them. That good work was their salvation. It may also have included their fellowship and sharing of their bounties with Paul.
Paul had no doubt that God would continue in the Philippians what He had begun to do in them. God would work in them until the day of Christ Jesus. In 2:16 Paul called this “the day of Christ.” Though Paul did not know when that day would occur—when all believers would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air—he did know that God would continue the work He had begun in His own children.[1]
Biblical Success
A Mentor
A message of praise
A Ministry of Continuing