Sermon Tone Analysis

Praise and Prayer

Phi

“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

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

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.

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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

phil 1.2

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.