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*“Gospel Partnership”*
*Philippians 1.1-11*
We begin a new book study today.
We will be looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians for the next few months.
I am excited to study this book because it is all about Jesus and his church.
I want to encourage you to read through the book in its entirety for context, and also to consider the Swordsmanship questions week by week so that we all come prepared to hear from God in his Word.
Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians.
And while you’re doing that, I will try to get us up to speed and provide a bit of background to the letter.
Philippi was a leading city of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
Paul went to the city on his second missionary journey and his time spent there is documented in Acts 16.
It is here that we are reminded of how Paul ended up there and some of the encounters he had while he was there.
If you remember, Paul and Barnabas were traveling through Derbe and Lystra where they came upon Timothy.
Paul asked Timothy to join them on their journey.
Along the way, the text indicates that the Holy Spirit prevented them from going into Bithynia.
So they went to Troas.
And while they were in Troas, Paul receives a vision during the night of a man in Macedonia urging Paul to come there.
This leads Paul to conclude that this where they should proceed next with the gospel.
So, they set out by boat to Macedonia.
And this led them more specifically to Philippi.
They enter Philippi and (as was Paul’s custom) began to look for the synagogue where they could present the message of the gospel.
Finding none, they went out to the riverside and encountered some women.
One of whom was Lydia who became the first convert in Philippi.
Then they were going to a place of prayer and were met by the slave girl who was demonic.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Paul commands the demon to come out.
You would have thought that this was a happy ending.
However, there were some who had profited from her divination and seized Paul and Silas and brought them before the authorities.
But instead of referring to the casting out of demons, they charged them with random accusations so as to incite the authorities and the city against them.
They got beat up and thrown into prison.
And yet the adventure continues.
Paul and Silas, feet secured in stocks in prison, begin to sing hymns.
Well, wouldn’t you?
Things are going great!
People are falsely accusing you, beating you up, and the authorities buy into it and throw you in the slammer.
They were singing to God… and the people listened.
Side note… Christians are watched by the world.
I’ve said this before.
Some preachers will lead you to believe that when you trust in Jesus Christ, you are now called to live victoriously.
For the child of God, there is no more poverty or illness or suffering.
Not so!
I would suggest to you that more often than not, the opposite is true.
For as the Christian and the non-Christian experience very similar /circumstances /in life, it should be the Christian singing hymns.
Do you know what I mean?
It is the Christian who should consider circumstances in light of eternity and with respect to the testimony of Jesus.
We realize that this world is */not /*the end.
And we recognize that every circumstance in life is an opportunity to bring God glory.
When we respond in faith to trials and rejoice in adverse life situations, God looks really good!
Watch as the rest of this story plays out.
Suddenly, an earthquake.
The doors opened and bonds were unfastened.
The jailer wakes and imagines the worst.
But none of the prisoners escaped.
In this moment, the jailer realizes that the God they serve is the true God.
And he believes in Jesus.
And his family believes in Jesus.
So, this is Philippi.
It is a city that is corrupt and has a remarkable variety of divinities and cults.
And yet the Gospel is being proclaimed and the Kingdom of God is increased in dramatic fashion.
Time passes and Paul continues to move from city to city.
And when Paul wants to visit some of his friends in Philippi, he finds himself in prison.
Though uncertain as to where his imprisonment is located, most suggest he is in Rome.
It appears as though he is able to correspond and receive visitors for Epaphroditus provides provisions and also returns with this letter to the church that he was instrumental in planting.
Let’s read the beginning of the letter.
*READ vv.
1-11.
*The first point as we get under way is *Slaves and Saints.
*In the first verse, Paul opens the letter by introducing himself as the author and those to whom he is writing.
Here he likely includes Timothy by virtue of association.
Timothy is not present with him, but admired and respected as Paul’s co-labourer.
Notice that Paul does not list an impressive resume of accomplishments and post-graduate degrees.
What matters to Paul is his association to Jesus Christ.
We’ve discussed this before, but “servant” is a relatively weak translation of the word “doulos.”
It should have the understanding of “slave.”
What is consistent throughout Scripture is a Master~/Slave theme.
Before you trust in Jesus, one is a slave to sin, the world, the Enemy.
When one repents and believes in Jesus, his allegiances are transferred.
He now serves a different Master.
And he is a good Master.
The best, in fact.
We discussed recently the concept found in Exodus 21 where a slave has an opportunity to go free and yet willingly submits to his master for life by having his master bore his ear with an awl.
This is a wonderful picture of the submission of the Christian to his Master.
Believers have been bought with a price.
They no longer belong to themselves but to the one who redeemed them.
We have been tainted with sinful models of slavery in North America and often struggle with the concept of a good Master.
Would you prefer to be slave to the Enemy?
Notice next who the letter is written to.
Paul says it is written to “saints.”
What?
Are they dead?
This is sort of how Roman Catholics define sainthood, right?
I don’t know much about criteria, but aren’t saints those who have died and are somehow confirmed by authorities to sainthood?
Paul’s letters often have a very different understanding of what it means to be a saint.
In his letters, it would seem to indicate that saints are indeed living.
What I find most helpful in understanding what it means to be a saint are Paul’s words to the Corinthians.
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul begins again with addressing his authorship and the recipients of the letter.
In verse 2, he writes this: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is a nice summary of what it means to be a Christian.
Christians together make up the church of God.
We are those who are “sanctified” or “set apart” in Christ Jesus.
We are no longer on mission for ourselves but for his sake.
And we are called to be “saints together.”
And what this means is summed up in the following phrase: “saints are all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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