Philippians 1:1-11

The words “are we done” can have different meanings based upon the different settings in which it is used. These words can be declared with somewhat of a confidence that all the options have been explored or all the tasks have been completed.

The classic Aesop Fable of The Milkmaid and Her Pail is a classic example of this thinking.

A Milkmaid had been out to milk the cows and was returning from the field with the shining milk pail balanced nicely on her head. As she walked along, her pretty head was busy with plans for the days to come.

"This good, rich milk," she mused, "will give me plenty of cream to churn. The butter I make I will take to market, and with the money I get for it I will buy a lot of eggs for hatching. How nice it will be when they are all hatched and the yard is full of fine young chicks. Then when May day comes I will sell them, and with the money I'll buy a lovely new dress to wear to the fair. All the young men will look at me. They will come and try to make love to me,—but I shall very quickly send them about their business!"

As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the ground. And all the milk flowed out, and with it vanished butter and eggs and chicks and new dress and all the milkmaid's pride.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

The thoughts of completion ended up being a hindrance to her completion.

The same words can be asked with irritation because one can only see problems and no more options.

The story is told of R.U. Darby and his uncle who traveled from Maryland to Colorado to mine a promising gold mine. The beginning efforts were very successful, but their work suddenly came to a stop when the gold vein seemed to disappear.

“ So they decided to walk away from it, and sell it for whatever they could sell their equipment for. They found a man who bought junk for pennies. The ‘junk’ man bought all their machinery and equipment for a few hundred dollars. The Darby’s took the next train back home to Maryland. Mr. Junk Man decided to bring in a mine engineer (a specialist) and look at the mine and do some analysis. Well it didn’t take long for this specialist to discover what the Darby’s had done wrong, where they had made their mistake. It turns out as he explained to the junk man; the Darby’s had overlooked or were unaware of “fault lines.” He further explained that according to his calculations, the huge gold vein would be found again just three feet away from where the Darby’s had stopped drilling! Needless to say, they started drilling in the place the specialist had indicated and … The Gold Vein was Found Exactly Three Feet Away!”

Success and Problems can both be blinders to the fruitful work that God intends to bring about.

A little backdrop of Philippians

Acts 16 gives Paul’s initial encounter in the city

This church had shared with Paul financially in many endeavors even after he left Phillipi.

When they hear that he was in prison, they sent Epaphroditus with a gift to encourage Paul.

While there Epaphroditus gets sick. The church at Philippi hears about his sickness, but doesn’t know the extent of it.

Upon receiving the gift from the Philippian church and hearing about the health of the church, Paul decides to send Epaphroditus back to the Philippian church with this letter.

His heart is full of joy over the gift of love from this dear church, but he also has concerns of some things that he has heard about the church from Epaphroditus.

Enter Paul’s prison cell and imagine the smiles that come across his face or the possible shaking of his head and the tears in his eyes as he ponders how loving the people of Philippi have been to him once again. Imagine the furrowed brow and the sigh as he ponders some of the situations in which false leaders are trying to lead them astray and brothers and sisters in the church are not getting along

This brief letter has the refreshing scent of joy and contentment. The joy over their kindness has not led to a prideful satisfaction but rather to a desire for more of it. Their problems have not led to sulking but to loving warnings and confidence in God’s work.

As we open this letter written almost 2000 years ago, we see God wisely addressing our similar needs. We get confident in successes and disoriented in our problems and disagreements.

How would you expect a letter in this situation to began?

Philippians 1:1–11 NKJV

Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 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, 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; 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, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

What keeps satisfaction from stagnation? What guards discouragement from sinking into despair? - Prayer

What do we notice about the working of prayer?

In order to guard against prayer just being a generic prescription for all situations, observe the skill of prayer. (Picture of a skilled doctor)

What do you notice first in the prayer?

Circumstances are overpowered by the fragrance of Christlike fruitfulness (v.v. 3-4)

It has a perspective that remembers others

There is a choice of thankfulness

There is a abounding eagerness (“All)

There is an overpowering joy (this comes up all throughout the book)

Illustration: Exhausted, tired worker coming into home and finding his exhaustion overpowered by the smell of delicious food.

Transition: So we get the fragrance of Christlike fruitfulness coming out of a life in prayer but what specifically is Paul thankful, eager, and joyful about? Let’s consider this and then pause for what that looks like in our prayerful interaction with God.

Isolation is broadened to participation in God’s work (v.v. 5-6)

Isolation has a view as to how things are benefiting oneself.

Partnership sees the cause bigger than oneself, and views others as essential in the task.

The Philippian church had taken care of Paul many times since his first arrival in Philippi, and they still haven’t stopped when Paul was in prison.

Participation is not just monetary. He speaks later of them participating in prayer. Later he will speak of the gift of participation in suffering.

An isolated view only sees today. Paul sees God at work on a much larger scale. He sees a tenacious God who does not give up. He sees God who will complete the good work that He starts in people. He sees the exalted day of Christ as that which culminates all the rest of the little days. The in between time is not filler. It is an unfolding of His work.

Paul does the delicate work of man’s participation and recognition that God is the producer of all.

Application

Is this just positive thinking, and trying to find the good in life? Surely Scripture teaches us many facets of prayer in which we come and spill our our woes and confusion to God. However prayer is also that trusting expression that chooses to express our submission and trust in what God is doing.

Part of the growing process is God expanding our expectation? When we go hunting we ask: “Did you get a moose?” When a child goes to a party, we ask: “Did you have fun?” When we do a task, we ask: “Did you get it all done?” The success is gauged by the specific result expected. God is creatively working to bring about a fountain of graces in our lives. Prayer is stopping to see God at work and asking for his multi-facted graces to abound in our lives and others

Prayer is such an important time to stop and thank God and pray for those we get to participate with in His work. So much of our lives are filled with competition and comparison.

Prayer is so essential in seeking the big goal for the day of Christ. It is so easy to think that God’s work is all dependent on us rather than seeking to take part in any way in preparing people for the day of Christ.

Illustration of kid on a tug of war rope wining about the work. He can look at the end and see the big guy on his team and look to his teamates with encouragement, and press on in the tugging.

Transition: Now consider a third affect of prayer.

The heart is being put in rhythm with the actual love of Christ (v.v 7-8)

Paul says that is right for him to have the thinking of confidence, thankfulness, joy etc. This task of defending and proclaiming the gospel is what he is about. But he is not about this alone. They are partaking in the work with him. Later he will speak of the essential work of their prayers.

But this is not just business partners. He hold them dearly in his heart.

It is an affection for them not just what they can do for him.

It is actually the affection of Christ at work in him.

Application:

Ask God to change the affections of your heart rather than just asking him to change people.

Transition: We have smelled the Christlike graces with which prayer is carried out. We have seen the grand view from which the requests are made, and we have seen the heart changing work that happens in prayer. So what is Paul’s actual request? This is important in the theme of what we are considering this evening. What keeps satisfaction from stagnation? What guards discouragement from sinking into despair? - Prayer

Excellence is discerned in matters of life (v.v 9-11)

Love grows as knowledge increases

The two must go together (knowledge without love can be prideful; love without knowledge can be empty)

If one is not loving another; there is something lacking in his understanding. In this book we see two ladies that were comrades with Paul now having some squabbles. Paul is going to take time in this letter to help them think correctly about the gospel, Christ, and each other.

The result of love abounding is

discernment in things that matter. Instruction alone cannot help us make good decisions. In order to make the best use of time, best serve the church family, best discern what is a healthy diet of what voices you allow to speak into your life, best love a sibling, one must pray. He must be asking God to change his thinking and expand his love.

Progression in preparation for the final day, progression in what God calls right

The advancement of God’s honor

Explain the fact that God is not interested in 100%ism

Closing:

R.U. Darby, the man who quit three feet from the gold, learned from his lesson. He took the lesson of not quitting and applied it in the insurance business and became very successful. The moral of the story is not that we should ever cease from certain tasks, but rather that we should face all pleasant and unpleasant situations with prayer. The generic admonition of prayer may sound like “eat more vegetables, drink more water, exercise more.” They are admonitions we may agree with but find very burdensome in carrying them out.

I think of all the things I wanted to try as a kid. I would see dad jump on the shovel and get a big scoop of dirt. I would eagerly say: “Can I try that?” I would jump and bounce of the shovel. It is easy to give up when looking at the initial effort, but when you see what can be done, a submissive heart keeps saying “Can you show me how? I want to get involved.” When you consider Christ at work in prayer for you right now, and Christ in you to make you involved in the process, may you continually cry out to Christ: give me the affections of prayer, give me the hart of a participant, expand the love of my heart and that of others. Repent of your competitor mindset. Ask Him to teach you to pray.