Philippians 1_3-8 He Who Began
Sunday, 27 Feb 05 He Who Began a Good Work In You Cuero Kairos Retreat Weekend
NIV PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
PHP 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
KJV
Phi 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Phi 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Phi 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
Phi 1:6 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:
Phi 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
Phi 1:8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
NKJV
Phi 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Phi 1:4 always in every prayer of mine making my request for you all with joy
Phi 1:5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
Phi 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,
Henry
II. Paul remembered them with joy. At Philippi he was maltreated; there he was scourged and put into the stocks, and for the present saw little of the fruit of his labor; and yet he remembers Philippi with joy. He looked upon his sufferings for Christ as his credit, his comfort, his crown, and was pleased at every mention of the place where he suffered. So far was he from being ashamed of them, or loth to hear of the scene of his sufferings, that he remembered it with joy.
3-4 Paul begins his letter by thanking God for his readers--a pattern followed in all his letters except Galatians. With the Philippians Paul had a warm relationship, and this tone is established at the outset of the letter. By stating his thanks to "my God," the author reveals his personal devotion. This was no stereotyped formula, but the natural outflow from the heart of a deeply spiritual man. The thanksgiving was prompted by the joyous memory Paul had of his Philippian friends. "Joy" (a word used five times in this letter, with "rejoice" occurring seven times) permeated his prayers even while he prayed for their needs.
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?? What have you gone through to get you here? Some day, we too, will look upon these days with joy!!
Paul has several Reminders
Do not forget who Paul was addressing
Military retirees; Roman Citizens; Some rich like Lydia, the seller of purple others only by job title The Philippian Jailer & his family; SLAVES; prisoners
. Do not forget Who did the work of salvation
6 Of course, it was God who had produced their transformed lives by the work of regeneration. Even though Paul rejoiced in the Philippians' generous gift and their evidences of spiritual growth, his confidence did not rest ultimately on them but on God, who would preserve them and enable them to reach the goal. The "good work" refers to the salvation begun at their conversion.
Do not forget that it will cost something: Have to give up sin; Family, friends may forsake us Salvation is free but incredibly expensive.
Do not forget Who will see you through
Henry
5.) We may be confident, or well persuaded, that God not only will not forsake, but that he will finish and crown the work of his own hands. For, as for God, his work is perfect. (6.) The work of grace will never be perfected till the day of Jesus Christ, the day of his appearance. When he shall come to judge the world, and finish his mediation, then this work will be complete, and the [key]stone] will be brought forth with shouting. We have the same expression, Phi_1:10.
Old hymn How Firm a Foundation
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake; I’ll never, no never no never forsake!
attached
Do not forget that the journey is not over. PBPGINFWMY
God not only initiates this salvation, but continues it and guarantees its consummation at the glorious coming of Jesus Christ, which will vindicate both the Lord and his people. Nothing in this life or after death can prevent the successful accomplishment of God's good work in every Christian. [Romans 8:28?]
NIVBC 6 "The day of Christ Jesus" is a phrase occurring six times in the NT (1Co 1:8; 5:5; 2Co 1:14; Php 1:6, 10; 2:16). This expression is similar to the "day of the Lord" (1Th 5:2) and the OT "day of the LORD" (Am 5:18-20). It will be the time when Christ returns for his church, salvation is finally completed, everyone's works are examined, and believers are rewarded.
SHOUT TO THE NORTH by Martin Smith
Men of faith rise up and sing
Of the great and glorious King
You are strong when you feel weak
In your brokenness complete.
CHORUS
Shout to the north and the south
Sing to the east and the west
Jesus is Savior of all; Lord of Heaven and earth.
Rise up women of the truth
Stand and sing to broken hearts
Who can know the healing power
Of our awesome King of love
CHORUS
We’ve been through fire
We’ve been through rain
We’ve been refined
By the power of His name
We’ve fallen deeper
In love with You
You’ve burned
The truth on our lips
CHORUS
Rise up church with broken wings
Fill this place with songs again
Of our God Who reigns on high
By His grace again we’ll fly
CHORUS
Lord of Heaven and earth (3x)
Ó1995 Curios? Used by permission CCLI 2370323
So with Paul we can say
RO 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
RO 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of Godnd is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
RO 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How about you this morning? Where are you in your spiritual life? Here is a challenge
Men of faith rise up and sing Of the great and glorious King You are strong when you feel weak In your brokenness complete
Don’t know Him? He is already calling you by your name. Will you hear his call? Has sorrow entered your life? Jesus is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
Has sin overcome your life? If we confess our sins, he is faithful & just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Do you have doubts? Put your trust in Jesus.
Don’t quit.
For us as the people of God,
Rise up church with broken wings; Fill this place with songs again; Of our God Who reigns on high; By His grace again we’ll fly
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Him
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrows will erase. So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
NIV PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Benediction
HEB 13:20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Barnes
Will perform it - Margin, “Or, finish” The Greek word - ἐπιτελέσει epitelesei - means that he would carry it forward to completion; he would perfect it. It is an intensive form of the word, meaning that it would be carried through to the end. It occurs in the following places: Luk_13:32, “I do cures;” Rom_15:28, “when I have performed this;” 2Co_7:1, “perfecting holiness;” 2Co_8:6, “so he would also finish in you;” 2Co_8:11, “perform the doing of it;” Gal_3:3, “are ye now made perfect by the flesh;” Heb_8:5, “when he was about to make the tabernacle;” Heb_9:6, “accomplishing this service;” and 1Pe_5:9, “are accomplished in your brethren.” The word occurs nowhere else; and here means that God would carry on the work which he had begun to completion. He would not leave it unfinished. It would not he commenced and then abandoned. This would or could be “performed” or “finished” only:
(1) by keeping them from falling from grace, and,
(2) by their ultimate entire perfection.
NIVBC 6 "The day of Christ Jesus" is a phrase occurring six times in the NT (1Co 1:8; 5:5; 2Co 1:14; Php 1:6, 10; 2:16). This expression is similar to the "day of the Lord" (1Th 5:2) and the OT "day of the LORD" (Am 5:18-20). It will be the time when Christ returns for his church, salvation is finally completed, everyone's works are examined, and believers are rewarded.
7 Paul was right in regarding the Philippians so highly, because in a sense they had become partners in his imprisonment and his current legal obligations. To say they were in his "heart" (GK G2840) denotes not an emotional response on his part, but the essence of his inner consciousness and personality.
The reference to Paul's imprisonment belongs with the following rather than the preceding words, as giving evidence of the Philippians' partnership in God's grace. Even when it might have been dangerous to identify themselves openly with Paul, they had treated his misfortunes as their own and had come to his assistance with their gifts. "Defending and confirming the gospel" is legal terminology. "Defending" (GK G665) is used elsewhere in the NT of a legal defense (Ac 22:1; 25:16; and "confirming" (GK G1012) was a legal technical term (Heb 6:16) for guaranteeing or furnishing security. So Paul is probably thinking of his approaching hearing in which he must give a defense of the Gospel he preached and in which he hoped also to offer clear proofs of its truth and validity. In Paul's view, all Christians were on trial with him, for the outcome could ultimately affect them all. The Philippians' assistance by their warm fellowship was a clear reminder that they felt the same way. and "confirming" (GK G1012) was a legal technical term (Heb 6:16) for guaranteeing or furnishing security. So Paul is probably thinking of his approaching hearing in which he must give a defense of the Gospel he preached and in which he hoped also to offer clear proofs of its truth and validity. In Paul's view, all Christians were on trial with him, for the outcome could ultimately affect them all. The Philippians' assistance by their warm fellowship was a clear reminder that they felt the same way.
8 Only God could truly vouch for Paul's feelings about his Philippian friends, because they ran so deep. These yearnings for this church were prompted by the "affection of Christ Jesus," with whom Paul was in vital union. The indwelling Christ was producing the fruit of love in Paul by the Holy Spirit, enabling him to yearn for their welfare with the compassion of his Lord.
NIVBC
5 What caused Paul the deepest satisfaction was the Philippians' "partnership [GK G3126] in the gospel." This term denotes participation or fellowship and expresses a two-sided relation. It includes the believer's participation in the life of God (1Co 1:9; 1Jn 1:3) and also the sharing of a common faith. Thus it assumes the existence of a brotherly relationship among believers (2Co 8:4; Gal 2:9; 1Jn 1:7). Their partnership certainly involved the Philippians' recent gift, but that was only one expression of it. Paul was filled with joy over the frequent evidences of their sharing in the work of the Gospel. These had been shown to him "from the first day" he had preached the Gospel in Philippi about ten years before. At that time he had experienced the hospitality of Lydia (Ac 16:15) and the jailer and his family (Ac 16:33-34). Later he had received gifts sent to him at Thessalonica (Php 4:16) and at Corinth (2Co 11:9), as well as the more recent one brought by Epaphroditus
Robertson
Phi 1:6 -
Being confident (pepoithōs). Second perfect active of peithō, to persuade.
This very thing (auto touto). Accusative of the inner object with pepoithōs, “this thing itself.”
Will perfect it (epitelesei). Future active indicative of epiteleō, will fully (epi̇) finish. God began and God will consummate it (see note on 2Co_8:6 and note on Gal_3:3 where both words occur together as here), but not without their cooperation and partnership.
Until the day of Jesus Christ (achri hēmeras Christou Iēsou). The second coming as in Phi_1:10. See note on 1Th_5:2, 1Th_5:4; 2Th_1:10; 2Th_2:2; 1Co_1:18; 1Co_3:13; 2Co_1:14; Rom_13:12. Paul never sets the time for the Lord’s return, but he is cheered by that blessed hope.