- 1:1: This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in
- "
- "A slave-girl having a spirit of divination ... who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling" (Acts
- "The jailer" (Acts
- Epaphroditus: Philippians 2:25: Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need.
- Euodius and Syntyche (Phillipians 4:2-3)
- Clement (Phillipians 4:3)
- Luke, Silas.
- The church in
- From
- The city was named after Philip II, King of Macedonia (359-336 BC.) In 42 B.C., the forces of
- As a colony, Philippi had the same rights granted to cities in Italy, including the use of Roman law, exemption from some taxes and Roman citizenship for its residents (Acts 16:21). The Philippians used Latin as their official language, adopted Roman customs and modeled their city government after that of Italian cities. Its citizens were voting citizens exactly as if they lived in
- Paul and Silas were arrested there for exorcising a demon from a fortune-telling slave girl.
1. 3:10 : For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.
2. To thank them for a financial donation.
1. 1:21 : FOR to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
2. 2:12 : Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
3. 3:14 : I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
· In the KJV, the word "joy" (chara, Greek) is found five times (1:4; 1:25 ; 2:2, 29; 4:1). And the verb "to rejoice" (chairein, Greek) occurs eleven times (twice in 1:18 ; 2:17 , 18; 4:4; once in 2:28 ; 3:1; 4:10 ).
· Similarly, the phrases "in Christ" and "in the Lord" occur frequently in Philippians (1:26 ; 2:1, 19, 24; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10).
· The word “sin” is absent from Philippians – because Christ had already dealt with it completely and the prize is now in view.
Theme for chapter 1 Per Scofield: “Christ, the believer’s Life, rejoicing in suffering”.NOTE: We studied Philippians to a lesser extent in 2004 in our Sunday night studies.
Before we get too deep into Paul's letter to the Philippians, we should simply read it over with very little discussion and we may want to also read Acts 16 for the context.
(1) This letter is from Paul and Timothy, *slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s **holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons.
· *slaves (doulos) (bond slaves) is used thirty times in Paul’s epistles. We might have expected the letter to begin, “Saint Paul Philippi .”
· **holy people: Greek hagios = saints. All believers in Christ are saints! Note that this includes the elders and deacons. Holy means they are set apart for God’s purpose and use, as were the instruments in the tabernacle and temple as were the priests. The Roman church tries to elevate some people above others as “holier” and therefore only they are entitled to the title “saint” which is opposed by the Bible.
· Unlike most of his letters, Paul doesn’t mention his apostleship here – emphasizing that they are co-workers together as equals. The only other ones that I can recall are 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Philemon.
(2) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you *grace and peace.
· *Grace (charis) is used 110 times in Paul’s epistles.
(3) Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.
· How do I feel toward my fellow believers, friends, coworkers, neighbors, relatives and family?
(4) Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you *with JOY,
· *with joy: Prayer is to be joyful, not depressing. Why joyful when he’s under house arrest?
· What’s the difference between “joy” and “happiness”?
· The joy spoken of in Scripture is not a superficial joy determined by one's immediate circumstances. Paul's joy transcended the mundane circumstance of his life. The immediate occasion of Paul's joy is given to us in verse 5 where we learn that the church in Philippi , which Paul had founded many years prior to the letter, was continuing to be partners with him in spreading the gospel.
· 1 Peter 1:8: You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
(5) for you have been my *partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
· *partners: Their hearts were bound up with the message of Divine grace committed to him, and they had sent him financial support twice while he was in Thessalonica (Chapter 4:16 ) at a time when he received nothing from other assemblies. This fellowship had continued and another gift at this time is evidently the occasion for this epistle from prison. Paul, in writing to Corinth Macedonia
(6) And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his *work until it is finally **finished on ***the day when Christ Jesus returns.
· *work:
o The work God does for us – salvation;
o The work God does in us – sanctification;
o The work God does through us – service.
· **finished: Greek - epiteleo: finished, completed, brought through to an end, perfected. God will not quit on you or give up on you!
· ***the day Christ returns: The day the prizes and crowns are given out. Called “that day” in 2 Timothy 1:18 , 4:8 = Crowning Day! See 1 Corinthians 3:13 – testing by fire.
· Galatians 3:3: How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Here in Philippians, Christ does the perfecting and is the final answer to those who believe in loss of salvation.
· 2 Timothy 1:12: …I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
· Romans 8:29–30: For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
· Romans 8:38-39: And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
· Hebrews 12:2: We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…
· 1 Thessalonians 5:24: God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
· There is good and bad news in this truth. The good news is that since God isn’t finished yet, we have great hope for the future. The bad news is that since God isn’t finished yet, he won’t let us stay as we are today. He’s going to keep chipping away at us until we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Most of us have a long way to go—and some of us have an enormous distance to travel.
· One day Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had numerous slowdowns, detours, and stops along the way. Finally they reached the end of all that difficulty, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. This sign caught Ruth's attention: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." She commented that those words would be a fitting inscription on her tombstone someday. As a matter of fact, those words fit all of us as believers, because in this life we are "under construction." When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we begin the lifelong process of spiritual growth. When His work in us is complete, "we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2), perfectly conformed to our Savior's likeness. —V C Grounds
(7) So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You *share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.
· *Share: sunkoinónos: Here and in 4:3. Notice the “sun” prefix. “sun” also in 2:25 (fellow soldier), 3:17 (followers together in the KJV), 3:21 (summorphos - bodies like his own).
(8) God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.
(9) I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.
(10) For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.
· Weymouth translation for 9-10: And it is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ, so that you may be men of transparent character, and may be blameless, in preparation for the day of Christ,
· KJV: …that you may be sincere. Sincere is derived from the Latin sincerus meaning clean, pure, sound. Sincerus means literally “tested in the sun”. Sincere is a compounding of sine cera, which means "without wax". In the time of the ancient Romans, devious dealers in marble and pottery would conceal defects in their products by filling the cracks and holes with wax. Honest merchants, who did not doctor their products, proudly displayed their wares as being without wax; that is, they were sine cera. The Greek is heilikrineia – literally “tested in the sun”. So the Latin word sincere, without wax, without phoniness, genuine. And that's the way Paul wanted them to be: genuine in their faith, no phoniness to it.
(11) May you always be filled with the *fruit of your salvation—the **righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
· *fruit:
o Singular, plural in Galatians 5:22: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
o BUT, before a tree can bear fruit, it must be firmly rooted: Colossians 2:7: Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
o Bearing fruit is always the result of abiding in Jesus (John 15:4-6).
o What is the fruit that you were created to produce? Do you know? What is your purpose? How can you bear fruit if you don’t know what your purpose is?
· **righteous character: This is practical righteousness, righteousness in action as indicated by the fruit, which only comes THROUGH Jesus Christ. The athlete does not just run a race by theorizing or merely thinking, but by intense action and effort, and the final goal is to the glory and praise of God.
(12) And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.
· This is an example of Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
· We know that all this turned out for the furtherance of the gospel because during this time he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon and Colossians.
(13) For everyone here, including the whole *palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.
· *palace guard: Created by Caesar Augustus some 70 years earlier, the Praetorian Guard numbered about 9,000 in Paul’s day. They were paid double the normal wage and served for 12 years, after which most of them retired in and around Rome Rome
(14) And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.
(15) It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.
(16) They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.
(17) Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.
(18) BUT that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I REJOICE. And I will continue to REJOICE.
(19) FOR I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
(20) FOR I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
· KJV: According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
· It is interesting from a historical standpoint that Paul appeared before Nero twice. Once, on his appeal in Caesarea , he had appealed to Caesar, and the first time Paul appeared, Nero set him free. The charges were baseless. Paul was set free. A couple of years later he was rearrested and brought back to Rome
(21) FOR to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
· Key verse for chapter 1.
· If you want Paul’s secret of success in just one sentence, here it is.
· You can't say that if you are living for anything else. To most, to live is to be wealthy, to amass a fortune, and to die is to lose it all. To die is loss. You can only say to die is gain when you have lived your life for Jesus Christ.
(22) BUT if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.
(23) I’m torn between two desires: I long to *go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.
· *go: Greek – analuo, from which we get our word “analyze” – to break apart. Frequently used in Greek literature to mean to “weigh anchor” and to “strike camp”.
o 2 Timothy 4:6: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. So, we find in 2 Timothy that Paul’s long desire is about to be met – to “depart” and to be with Christ.
o 2 Corinthians 5: 4: While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
o “The sail is spread; the soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its voyage? How many wearying winds must beat upon the sail ere it shall be reefed in the port of peace? How often shall that soul be tossed upon the waves before it comes to the sea that knows no storm. Oh tell it, tell it everywhere; yon ship that has just departed is already at its haven. It did but spread its sail and it was there.” (Spurgeon)
· The idea that Paul could consider death a present gain argues against the idea of “soul sleep.” This false teaching says that the believing dead are held in some sort of suspended animation until the resurrection occurs. His understanding that his death might be considered gain also argues against the idea of “purgatory” which says that the believing dead must be purified through suffering before coming into the presence of God.
· “Death is only a grim porter to let us into a stately palace.” (Richard Sibbes)
· It was Henry James who declared that “the best use for your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it.”
· How do you stop a man like that? You can’t! Go ahead and kill him. He’ll die with a smile on his face. Put him in prison. He’ll preach to the guards. Put him in jail at midnight and he’ll start singing, Amazing Grace. Run him out of town. He’ll just go down the road and start a church in the next village. Stone him and he’ll use the rocks to build a sanctuary.
· When all is said and done, there are only two philosophies of life. You can say with the Apostle Paul “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” or you can say with the world “To me to live is self and to die is loss.”
(24) BUT for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
(25) Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the JOY of your faith.
· 3 John 4: I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.
(26) And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
· KJV: That your REJOICING may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
(27) Above all, you must live as *citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner **worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, ***fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
· *citizens: Greek – politeuo. Polis = city in Greek. Philippi was a “colonia”. The city was considered autonomous in its government, immune from paying tribute and its citizens were voting citizens exactly as if they lived in Rome
o Philippians 3:20: But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives…
· **worthy: Ephesians 4:1: Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
· ***fighting together: Greek – sunathleo.
(28) Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be *destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.
(29) FOR you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.
(30) We are in this *struggle together. You have seen my *struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
· *struggle is the ancient Greek word agon, which described a place where athletic contests were held and later came to refer to the contest itself. We get our words agony and agonize from this ancient Greek word.
NOTE:
Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
Sources and References are on-line at:
http://philippians-study.blogspot.com/2011/06/philippians-sources.html
http://philippians-study.blogspot.com/2011/06/philippians-sources.html