Gospel Thankfulness

David Franks

Gospel Thankfulness

March 2, 2014

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Summary:

“Paul’s memory of the Philippians yields the double fruit of thanksgiving to God and joyful intercession for them. The particular matter for thanksgiving is their fellowship in furthering the gospel. The thanksgiving and supplication of v.3-5 arise out of the conviction of v.6; the conviction of v.6 rest on the evidence of v.7”

Outline

1. The Frequency (1:3) 2. The Manner (1:4) 3. The Reasons (1:5-6) 4. The Context (1:7-8)

1. The Frequency (1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you)

The letter to the Philippians is remarkable and in it we see how the apostle Paul has a particular affection for this church. The church in Philippi is not perfect, as no church is. But the letter is very different compared to other letters written to other churches. Paul is quite blunt with the believers in Galatia as he writes, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” In 1 Corinthians Paul warns about sharp divisions in the church and sexual immorality. Yet as he writes to these believers, we see a much more personal side of Paul. He writes about the love and joy he has towards this congregation. He writes to encourage and thank them for the sacrificial support they have shown for the gospel.

In we get a glimpse of some of the people Paul has on his heart. In a vision God commands Paul to go to Macedonia and Paul obeys. He goes to Philippi, which is the leading city in the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony, and preaches the gospel. Through his preaching, the Lord converts a successful business woman named Lydia. Soon after, Paul encounters a young slave girl who is demon possessed, and through the name of Christ, commands the demon to leave her. After this, Paul is thrown into prison but God sends a great earthquake that opens the prison door so that Paul can escape, yet Paul remains to preach the gospel to the guard. provides us not only a picture of God’s amazing grace but also a wonderful insight to who it is that Paul frequently prayers for.

As we note Paul’s thankfulness it should also challenges us in how we pray. If we are honest, we are frequently absorbed with self. We live our lives as if we are the most important people in the universe. But here in v.3 I think Paul challenges us simply in how he often prayed. Paul is filled with thankfulness to God for others. Every time he thinks upon this young church plant, he is amazed at how wonderful God is.

We need to be more concerned about how we thank God, perhaps our prayers need to focus outwardly more. Could it be that we thank God for our food, family, home, job, and other things simply because of what we get out of them? We should certainly give thanks for these things. We should give thanks to God for ALL things. But whenever Paul stops to think about this church, he is thankful to God for the amazing work He has done in and through them.

2. The Manner (1:4 making my prayer with joy)

Paul desires the Philippians to know the love he has towards them. His prayers are not only frequent but are filled with joy. As I hope we will see in the coming weeks, the theme of joy is one that will characterize this letter. Paul is filled with joy whenever he thinks about this church because he is thrilled at how God has done an amazing work in these believers.

But I think it is important for us to stop and remember who it is that is praying with joy. Before Paul was converted, he did everything he could to destroy Christianity. When Stephens stands before the High Priest and many Jewish leaders to declare how Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, he is violently killed. They threw him out of city and stoned him to death. And then the very next thing that Scripture says is that:

1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Later in Philippians Paul reflects upon his pre-conversion life. He warns the believers of the circumcision party who attempted to persuades believers to resort back to Old Covenant worship. Paul says:

3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Paul considered his former life and realized that it all amounted to NOTHING because it left him without Christ. But now having been saved, now having come to know Christ and be found in Him, he is filled with joy. Joy in God and joy towards other Christians. The gospel not only reconciles us to God but also to one another.

3. The Reasons (1:5-6 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.)

Paul gives two main reasons for the great joy he has in them. First Paul is thankful to God because of their partnership in the gospel. The word for partnership in the greek is koinonia and we often translate it as fellowship or even perhaps sharing. For Paul, he particularly has in mind how the believers had sacrificially given monetarily to support Paul’s ministry.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Paul is by no means saying someone can buy their way into heaven. Paul is not some phony-preacher who tries to guilt trip individuals into giving, only so that he can have more and more money. Paul clearly sees such sacrificially giving as a work of God. This small church was extremely poor yet was rich in generosity. They were filled with the love of God and desired for others to come to know the Lord. As they received word that there were many Christians suffering from a famine in Jerusalem, they did all that they could to help their brothers and sisters in Christ. This is clearly a sign that God has brought these individuals out of darkness into the wonderful light of knowing and treasuring Jesus as Lord.

Secondly, Paul is filled with joy because of the confidence he has that God will complete this salvation. It is as if Paul says, “I’m not only thankful for the clear evidence of your salvation because you have partnered with me so that the gospel may advance. I’m also thankful for the future work that God will do through you.” Paul gives thanks to God not only because of the sanctification already seen but also for the promise that God will continue to conform them into the image of Christ.

Sir Francis Drake, a sixteenth-century sailor once prayed that when God leads us to undertake any great piece of work, “that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it be thoroughly finished, that yeildeth the true glory.” And how true this is in the Christian life as well. Paul thinks not only upon the great work that God began to do in these believers, but rejoices in the future work that awaits.

“Paul thanks God for the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel not only because of the practical assistance it provided for the advancement of the gospel but also because it stands as a confirmation that God is at work in the lives of the Philippians… Paul has confidence that God will conduct the Philippians safely into the realm of salvation on the day of Christ Jesus.” Our God is not only concerned with saving us but preserving us as we abide with Christ until the great and final day of Christ.

4. The Context of Paul’s Thanksgiving for the Philippians (1:7-8 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.)

Note what Paul doesn't say. He does not say, “It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I’m a Christian and you’re a Christian and we are just all supposed to love one another.” Paul’s love, his thankful, joyful love, is not some grudging duty. Can we not be tempted to think this way? As one pastor noted, this love is not, “a false front of politeness that masked a heart smoldering in resentment or frozen in indifference.”

Rather Paul invokes God to be a witness to how he yearns for these believers with the affections of Christ. And this great love has a foundation. They partnered with Paul in the best and worst of days. Even as Paul was thrown into prison, they refused to abandon him. But for Paul this partnership shows something even more significant. Paul and these believers are partakers of the grace of God.

The only way one can become a partner in the gospel is if they first become a partaker of grace. The only thing that can change sinful, self-absorbed men and women, into those whom out of poverty give abundantly, is the grace of God. God’s amazing grace fills us with gratitude. The love of Christ fills us with love: love towards both God and others.

Only the love of Christ could so change Paul to write these words. Apart from God’s grace we could never say, “I always remember you all with thanks and joy; always pray for you; always yearn for you all when we are apart.” Congregation, only the gospel can change our self centered hearts upwards to God and then outward to those around us. Only when we have come to know the affections of Christ Jesus towards us, can we hold others in our hearts.