Introduction to Philippians

Introduction

The last couple of weeks during Sunday school we have talked about suffering and how there is a clear difference between Biblical suffering and what the world thinks about suffering! The world often says that suffering is a clear sign that you have done something bad. The world says that happiness and joy should only be found when you find yourself in a favorable place in life. The world says that if you face opposition from the majority of others then you have a bad belief and need to conform/grow up/stop believing in fairy tales. The Bible paints a different story, though. The Bible tells us that suffering is a part of life - not necessarily a sign that someone has done something wrong. The place we have studied often recently is the book of Job. In Job we see that Job was an upright man who was obedient and righteous, yet he had everything taken away from him and was counseled by his “friends” to repent and get right with God. The advice given by his friends is similar to what we hear in our society: you’re suffering so you must be getting what you had coming for you. Your karma is just catching up with you. Job, though, was different. So why did he suffer? The book of Job never answers this question. It simply says that God has a plan and purpose and the book calls upon believers to trust in Him during times of suffering - just as Job did.

The book of Philippians is similar in many ways as we see the apostle Paul writing this letter from prison in Rome likely around 60-62 AD. Paul was suffering and had every right to be upset about his current situation, yet he expresses the joy that he has in the Gospel and encourages the church in Philippi to unite in faith and he thanks them for their generosity.

Philippians is a relatively short book. 4 chapters. 104 verses. As a result, sometimes it gets passed over or it gets read quickly with little attention and study to the context and relevance to the 21st century.

Some questions for us as we begin this study: Is it easy to be a Christian in our world today? No. If we follow Christ then we know that we will experience persecution and opposition. This letter encourages the Christian to live for Christ courageously regardless of the cost. We know that we have brothers and sisters overseas who are facing persecution so intense that their very lives are in danger each and every Sunday that they walk into their church building or house to study the Word of God. We might think of persecution in American looking like being picked on, but we know that persecution certainly exists in our world. As we looked at this morning, the nations are coming to our country and we praise God for that fact! But, we know that missionaries and Christians who live around the world do so under the threat that their very lives could be taken. For people who live under this threat on a daily basis, Paul’s words in Philippians resonate a little bit differently whenever he says, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” You can kill me but that’s just going to result in my gain because I will be with my creator in Heaven. You can let me live and I will sing in the prison that I am kept in, I will evangelize my prison guards and I will continue to write letters to the churches I have planted. Do you see Paul’s mindset in this verse? Even though he was suffering and his circumstances were rough, nothing could thwart his joy. His joy is contagious. It is not based on his comfort or possessions, it is based on Jesus Christ.

Philippians also talks about our purpose in life as Christians. Our purpose is to share the Gospel, period. Nothing else matters more than sharing the truth of the Gospel with a lost and dying world.

Could our church and the American church grow in unity? Every church should answer yes to this statement as Paul notes in

Ephesians 4:3 NASB95

3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:5 NASB95

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

We must continue to grow in unity and in our faith. Paul encourages the church to be united in the truth of the Gospel. We can disagree on secondary theological things and on our preferences, but friends we must be united on the centrality of the Gospel message and the preeminence of Christ.

Philippians has a lot of “highlight verses” for people

Philippians 1:21 NASB95

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:6 NASB95

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:12–13 NASB95

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:

Philippians 3:20 NASB95

20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

Philippians 3:

Philippians 3:14 NASB95

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians

Philippians 4:6–7 NASB95

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13 NASB95

13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:19 NASB95

19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

The book of Acts, the historical account of the early church, talks about the founding of this church in and gives us a big picture of Philippians as well if you’d like to read it at some point.

Background of Philippians

Philippi was a prominent city in the Roman Empire slightly to the Northeast of Thessalonica on the eastern side of Greece/Macedonia on the Aegean Sea. Peter O’Brien has a lot of good information about this city and its history.

Exalting Jesus in Philippians Partnership and Church Planting in Philippi 1:1-2

In 42 B.C. Philippi became famous as the place where Mark Antony and Octavian defeated the Roman Republican forces of Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar. The victors settled a number of their veteran soldiers there and established Philippi as a Roman colony. . . . After the battle of Actium (31 B.C.), in which Octavian defeated Antony, more settlers, including some of Antony’s disbanded troops and former supporters, were settled in Philippi by order of Octavian (Augustus), who renamed the colony after himself, and it finally became Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis. These settlers, along with some of the previous inhabitants, constituted the legal citizen body. Philippi was given the highest privilege possible for a Roman provincial municipality—the ius Italicum—which meant that it was governed by Roman law. . . . The citizens of this colony were Roman citizens. . . . Philippi itself was modeled on the mother city, Rome: it was laid out in similar patterns, the style and architecture were copied extensively, and the coins produced in the city bore Roman inscriptions. The Latin language was used, and its citizens wore Roman dress. Although not the capital of the province, Philippi was a leading city and an important stopping place on the Via Egnatia, the recently constructed military road linking Byzantium with the Adriatic ports that led to Italy.

How was this church founded, then? tells us that Paul founded this church on his 2nd missionary journey. He and his fellow leaders evangelized the city with the Gospel. They shared the Gospel and planted a church. This was the pattern employed by Paul during these missionary journeys. This is the way that Christians go about sharing the Gospel today as well. We help by praying for and supporting missionaries around the world who spread the truth of the Gospel and plant churches in places that do not have a church. There are certainly exceptions to this rule but that is the pattern employed by God in Scripture. Using regular people to fulfill His mission. The question that we must ask ourselves today is this: Who do we need to share the Gospel with? This was the question that Paul wrestled with throughout his entire life. He did not stay in one place very often (except Corinth and Ephesus) because he had a burning passion to share the truth of Scripture to those who had never heard the name of Jesus! So, do we have this passion today? We should! We should not only share the joy Paul had in this letter but we should share the passion to evangelize the lost.

Overview of this Letter

Paul visited and founded this church around 50-52 AD and did not write this letter for 10 years. Paul thanks them for their generosity (4:14-19) but he also gives them some things to keep in mind: unite in the Gospel, beware of false teachers and to have joy in al things.

Paul has a loving tone in this letter. He truly loves these people even though they are in danger of going a little astray. Because there were some false teachers, there was some division in the church and Paul talks about the need to retain Gospel joy (the word joy is found roughly 15 times in this letter). This importance is crucial: joy and unity go hand in hand for the Christian because they are only found in Christ. The Gospel brings about joy because it says that you are a sinner and in desperate help of saving but Jesus Christ has come and paid the price in full, so rejoice! The Gospel also bring about unity. It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re from, we are all sinners. Yet, Christ died for sinners. The Gospel should unite us, not divide us.

Text

Philippians 1:1–2 NASB95

1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s opening reinforces the grace that he has received. To Paul, it is all about grace! By the grace of God our eyes have been opened to the truth of Scripture. We have been convicted of our sin and our desperate need of saving! What better picture of this than the life of Paul? Paul was a Pharisee who despised and killed Christians but then he met Jesus and his life completely changed! Did he deserve this? No. It was all grace. Paul explains his conversion story in and shows how even though he was a good, religious person that he could never earn his way. Instead, Christ earned it for him and transferred His righteousness to Paul. This was completely a gift that he could never earn on his own.

Timothy was different in that he grew up and heard the Gospel at a young age and believed. He was transformed by grace and now he and Paul are called slaves of Jesus Christ. These men were “famous” in the early church and could have flaunted their status and achievements but instead show humility and say that they are slaves of Jesus.

So, is that who you are? Is this true of us? Do we consider ourselves slaves of Jesus? I pray that we do.

Verse 1 continues to show us the people receiving this letter. Thee saints in Philippi. What does it mean whenever someone is called a saint? It means that they are a believer. Is a saint someone who performs religious activities and rituals? No. A person becomes a saint whenever they respond to the Gospel message and are in Christ and a new creation! Lots of people attend church services and buildings but there is a difference between being in church and being in Christ.

Paul concludes these verses by reminding them that they are the recipients of grace and peace from God. This is a display of the Trinity as we see the Father and Son listed but we know that the Spirit does this work in our heart. As a result of receiving grace and peace, we can have rest and we can be called servants of Jesus Christ just as Paul and Timothy were called.

Application from Philippians

There are 6 main pieces of application from Philippians that I want to introduce this evening that we will look at more in depth in the coming weeks/months.

Understand that Gospel advancement will cost us but Jesus is worth it.

The Gospel will cost us but Philippians reminds us that Christ is worth living and dying for!

Fight for joy in Jesus Christ.

We don’t have to serve Jesus, we “get” to serve Jesus! This is an honor. While we will find ourselves in situations where it can be hard to have joy, we know that we are called to be joyful as Christians and we fight for that joy in Christ because we acknowledge that the Joy of the Lord is our strength.

Maintain the unity of the Spirit.

Even though this church was founded by Paul and a strong church, they still needed to seek unity. We must do the same today and seek forgiveness and reconciliation.

Become a “Macedonian Giver.”

Paul thanks the Philippian church for being generous and loyal to giving and supporting him. Even though they were not wealthy, they gave. Why? They treasured Jesus above all just as we talked about this morning.

Grow in Gospel Partnerships.

We work with one another in advancing the Gospel.

Give the world a picture of the Kingdom of God.

We represent the Kingdom with hospitality and kindness.

Conclusion

This letter is a short one, but it is packed with theological truths that we should apply to our lives and grow in daily. I pray that during this study that we would be faithful to share the Gospel truth and be united in faith even when it is difficult. Even when it involves suffering and persecution, I pray that we would remain obedient to the Word of the Living God.