Philippians 4:21-23
Notes
Transcript
Final Greetings
Final Greetings
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. Those brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, but especially those from Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
We’ve reached the end of this letter.
2000 years ago, there was a need for unity in the church.
2000 years later, there is still this need.
Along the way in that 2000 year journey Christians have been built up and encouraged by the contents of this letter we just worked through.
We’ve seen Paul’s love for this church.
We’ve seen how Paul prays for this church.
We’ve seen how Paul views suffering, and his circumstances in prison as actually serving to advance the gospel.
We’ve seen that Paul is really not concerned with whether he lives or dies in the body, as long as he has Christ.
And that since he DOES have Christ, he has peace.
We’ve learned that being united to Christ, means that we pattern ourselves after His humility.
We’ve been reminded that their is nothing we can do in our flesh to save ourselves, but that righteousness comes from faith in God.
We’ve caught a glimpse of just how much this little Philippian church cared for their leaders, praying for them and giving to their needs.
We’ve seen a constant call to unity.
And above all, we have seen Paul weave the gospel of Christ into every single thing he talks about with the Philippian church.
This really lays down a pattern for anyone who would like to see a small, young church plant thrive.
What does Paul feed a church plant?
The gospel.
And he doesn’t let them divert off course from that.
In the book of Revelation, there is a church that is a little older now.
And they are sharply rebuked by the Lord Christ,
for what?
For abandoning their first love.
In the book of Revelation, local churches are pictured as lampstands, burning bright with God’s spirit.
Jesus warns this church, repent and do the works you did at first, or I will come to you and remove your lampstand.
If a church’s first love is themselves,
than they are not a authentic Christian church.
We must love Christ above all else if we are to be HIS church.
It’s a simple recipe,
Feed God’s church the gospel, and they will flourish, along with their neighbor.
Feed God’s church anything else, and it will eventually die.
So Paul’s been feeding this church the gospel.
And what has been the result?
Well in these last few verses of the letter we get a little health check up.
What glimpse do we get of the church from this
What is the church looking like?
A global body, with Christ at the head, subverting and hindering the works of Satan, and offering grace freely to His people.
What do you say to someone when you are pretty certain it is the last time you are going to see them?
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” -Andy Bernard
What does Paul say when he pretty sure he’s going to die?
Well this whole letter.
And specifically, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”
But how do you finish your swan song?
A Global Body
Paul says greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
And the saint’s who are with me, greet you saints.
What is a saint?
Isn’t that a Catholic word?
Nope.
It’s a Christian word.
Catholics just remember to use it more. :)
At it’s most basic definition, a saint is a holy one.
In fact, the word Saint, is actually the same exact word for Holy that is used in the name “Holy Spirit”.
What is holy?
Being set apart.
God is the most holy being that exists by nature of His being GOD.
People who are chosen by God to be His people are set apart as well.
This word, this title, is one of the most beautiful truths and developments of the New Testament church.
What do you call dead people, who have been washed and had new life breathed into them by the Holy Spirit?
Well Holy ones of course.
It’s like being given a new name when you’re adopted.
A name that communicates the realities of the family that you’re in now.
You’re saints.
Another thing that happens when you become a saint, is you gain a new citizenship.
You don’t get a passport for this new kingdom.
But you do get the Holy Spirit which is more valuable.
A truth that we desperately need to recover quickly in American theology is the reality that the kingdom of heaven is now.
This citizenship that you have recieved is to a kingdom that actually exists now.
Maybe it feels silly to remind us of that fact but in reality,
we often think of our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven as something that is coming in the future.
Jesus says in Matthew 3:2 that the Kingdom of Heaven has already come near.
So what you have here in the end of Philippians, is evidence of people who are separated by miles, borders, seas, and mountains, but they are neighbors in the kingdom of heaven.
1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. 4 There is one body and one Spirit —just as you were called to one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Distance does not change the reality of this fact.
And the thing that blows my mind about this citizenship is that not only does this common bond exist across borders, nations, oceans, and races,
This common citizenship is shared across time,
Connection of church from one end of the world to the other.
From one end of time to the other.
Value of connection.
New Life Video
Not only is it shared across time,
but across the grave.
You share a common citizenship with people who have died.
There is no other nation on earth who keeps people on their census after they’ve been plopped in the ground.
This is only made possible if the supreme leader of your country holds the keys of death and hades.
Which brings us to the second reality we see about the Philippian church.
With Christ at the head
This man who holds the keys of death and Hades is Christ.
And he is the head of this church,
EXPOUND
the head of this kingdom that transcends borders, time, and death.
22 All the saints greet you, but especially those from Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Paul is proclaiming Christ’s lordship in the same breath as Caesar’s name.
This is inherently dangerous for someone who is currently under
Even their names next to each other is a crazy juxtaposition in the Greek.
Caesar is Kaiser
Lord is Kyrios
Two different titles communicating Lordship.
The question is who is really Lord?
Defiance and celebration wrapped into one statement.
Defiance
Remember that Prien Calendar Inscription I read you before?
The one that announced the birth of the god Caesar Augustus as the gospel to the whole world?
Well here’s the thing.
Caesar Augustus and Jesus of Nazareth both died.
But only one of them came back to life.
I saw a meme that said Caesar is now salad dressing. Jesus is still king.
They both made total claims of authority over the whole world.
Only one of them achieved it.
Caesar, or Satan’s way of accomplishing world rule is by the forceful and violent coercion to assimilate into the Roman Empire.
Christ’s method for accomplishing world rule starts in weakness.
It starts with a cross.
But it spreads from that cross.
Jesus too assimilates people into his kingdom,
but he does it by forgiving them of their sins,
and then adopting them into his covenant family.
Affording them all of the rich rewards he promised to Abraham that his people would have.
Celebration
So then this is why it’s also celebration.
Was this news for them?
That their were saints in Caesar’s household?
If it was, then this was BIG news.
Paul was holding out on them.
Fulfillment of the OT vision
If there are people in Caesar’s household coming to faith in Christ,
than two things are true to the great joy of saints who receive the news.
First, the promise made to Abraham is clearly being fulfilled before our eyes.
Second, the Messiah IS overthrowing Roman rule.
Just not how they thought he was going to.
This brings to attention the subversive nature of the gospel.
Was Paul’s death a failure?
If Caesar kills Paul,
does Caesar win?
Caesar is just a puppet for Satan.
And Satan “succeeded” in killing Jesus using Roman power.
And what happened?
Through weakness, Satan’s power was upended.
25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Subverting the works of Satan
This is about the kingdom of God.
God’s plan and desire for ALL peoples to live under his rule and be adopted into his family.
In another book of the Bible, we find a picture of what Paul is doing in Rome around the time that he wrote this letter to the Philippian church.
23 After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and witnessed about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe. 25 Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit correctly spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors 26 when He said, Go to these people and say: You will listen and listen, yet never understand; and you will look and look, yet never perceive. 27 For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted, and I would heal them. 28 Therefore, let it be known to you that this saving work of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen!” 29 [After he said these things, the Jews departed, while engaging in a prolonged debate among themselves.] 30 Then he stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with full boldness and without hindrance.
The message of Jesus Christ being crowned king of the world does not fit anyone’s box.
For Jews, they cannot stomach their messiah looking this way.
They cannot stomach the thought of Gentiles being grafted into THEIR covenant tree.
For Gentiles, the picture of weakness, nailed to a cross, is not the king they want either.
And a resurrection from the dead?
People don’t rise from the dead.
Acts 28 and on.
How does Acts 28 end?
30 Then he stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with full boldness and without hindrance.
That’s the end of the book.
And the end of narrative history in the Bible.
That’s not an end of a story!
It’s like a cliff hanger.
Does Paul die?
Does Caesar convert?
Where does this leave us?
Well, putting it together with what we learn from Philippians, we see.
Saints in Caesar’s household.
Where does God want saints?
In Caesar’s house.
In the very place where he is opposed most fiercely.
In the places where people WILL kill Christians.
In the places where God is mocked openly.
In the places where Satan walks in the brightness of day.
In the corrupt courtrooms above, and the torture dungeons below.
The great sower will sow his seeds all over the earth until a harvest of righteousness is so abundant that they have to bring out more seats at the wedding supper of the lamb because they are running out of room at the table.
Jesus is not content with his people being in captivity so he is bringing them out of captivity.
Just like Moses stood before Pharoah and commanded from God, let my people go,
Paul, now in Caesar’s house, is just like Moses.
Proclaiming for the captives on every corner of the earth,
“Yahweh says, let my people go.”
The kingdom of God is ALWAYS advancing.
Even when it feels like you are losing.
Christ HAS claimed victory.
This is exactly where you fit in the biblical story.
This is exactly where our church fits in the biblical story.
Welcoming all who visit the house,
proclaiming the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with full boldness and without hindrance.
That is what every church vision statement in the world should say.
That is what each of us individually should be about.
And this type of living is only made possible by the grace of God.
Which is why Paul finishes his letter in this way.
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Living in Grace.
What do you say as the very last thing you will ever say to people you love?
What does it mean for grace to be with your spirit?
Grace is undeserved favor.
This is grace is absolutely necessary for life.
It’s necessary for our marriages
It’s necessary for our parenting
It’s necessary for the work we do
It’s necessary for our church
It’s necessary for even waking up in the morning.
Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary e. Benediction (4:23)
The concluding benediction is in the typical Pauline manner. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ crowns the entire letter, and forms the apostle’s prayer for his ‘joy and crown’, his ‘beloved’ fellowship of the saints of God at Philippi (4:1). He desires that the grace of the one who is the theme of his own life (1:21) and the subject-matter of his epistle may be with your spirit
Paul is offering the best thing he knows of in the universe, to the people he loves the most.
The saints in Philippi.
We are to be these things.