Book of Philippians - Ch. 1, Vs. 1-29 (07/22/2001)

The Salutation, Bishops and Deacons, and Grace and Peace in Philippians

The book of Philippians. This is one of the first books that Paul wrote. Philippians 1 .1. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons.

Now Timothy is mentioned. He was well known to the Philippians. He's not mentioned as though he had part in writing this because he did not. Because very presently Paul uses the word I and we, not we.

The oldest manuscripts have the order Christ Jesus instead of Jesus Christ. Then he makes note of bishops and elders, deacons. In the apostolic times it appears to be the same person that later is called elders and Ephesus overseers.

This is the earliest letter of Paul's writing where bishops and deacons are mentioned. And the only one where they are separately addressed in the salutation. The Spirit thus intimating that the churches were to look up to their own pastors.

The miraculous gifts that were given to the Apostles is fast leaving the community. So now the churches will look to their own pastors. Verse 2. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus.

Notice the order, grace and peace. This implies union of the Greeks and Romans. The Greek salutation was joy, akin to the Greek for grace. The Roman was health. The intermediate term between grace and peace was peace, including both temporal and spiritual.

Grace must come first. Why is that? Roger, why must grace come before faith, before peace? Right, so the very order in which they're recorded is important. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

Every time I remember you I thank my God. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making requests with joy. The frequent reputation in this epistle of all with you marks that Paul desires to declare his love for all alike and will not recognize any deviation among them.

With joy, the characteristic feature in this epistle as love was in the Ephesians. Joy gives a special animation to prayers. It marked the high opinion of them that there was almost anything, everything, in them to give joy.

Nothing in which to give heartache. Five, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Paul had to make it now because he could not write about the unknown, the days in front of him.

Being confident in this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. What is the day of Jesus Christ, Dennis? All right, his second advent. Paul's very confident.

This confident brings prayer and thanksgiving. This very thing, the everything which he prays for is the matter of his believing confidence. Hence the result is sure. Now he that has begun a good work in you, any work that God begins, he'll quit if you are not interested.

Is that right, Greg? No. Any work God begins, he'll finish it, won't he? We do well all to remember that. Not even men begin a work at random, much more the fact of his beginning the work is a pledge of his finishing it.

So many times we have begun something and quit. So as to the peculiar work here meant the perfecting of their fellowship in the gospel. God started it, God will finish it. As God cannot cast off Israel forever, so chastening them for a time so he will not cast off the spiritual Israel performed until now.

Are we in that spiritual Israel? The Lord's coming designed by God in every age of the church is to be regarded as near. Now I can remember my father thought it would be next day. Do we think any less?

Has something happened that caused you in your mind to put it off? No. All we know for sure is it's closer than it was yesterday or closer than it was in grandfather's time. Seven, even as it is meet for me to thank this of you all because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my bonds and ended in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

You all are partakers of my grace. Paul included them in his everyday living. The word meet MWT means in this case just, just to think for me to think of this as you. Of you literally is in behalf of you.

Paul's competent prayer in their behalf was that God would perfect his own good work of grace in them. Now let me ask you, does everybody have a work to do? Yes. In that work, how many know what the work is?

Yes. Knows what to work you today. What is your work today? Dennis? Roger? All right. Fred? All right. Virge? What is your work right now? All right. Greg, can we know any more than that? We were. All right.

So we can always look backwards and we decide that that was the work. We cannot look forward other than to suppose something. But right now while you take this breath, the only breath you have right now, it is to be here.

It is to study his word. It is to glean something from his word. It'll mean something different to each one of you. If it doesn't, just wait a minute and it will. That's right. Do we understand that? All right.

All right. My wife and I got up this morning. We went about doing the usual things we do on Sunday and we came to church here, anticipating great things. I doubt if that's much different than any of you.

Christ in Us, Love for the Saints, and Aaron’s Failure

Hey, for God is my record. How greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. God is my record. That is, God is my witness. My yearning love, so the Greek implies, to you is not merely from natural affection, but from devotedness to Christ Jesus.

Now, do we love each other because of what Christ did? That's a question. I don't get an answer. All right. If we love each other because of what Christ did, should we love each other, should we continue to love each other because of what he did?

No matter what. All right. It would do Otis good to remember that. That's right. Christ was given each one of us. He knows all of our entire life. He knew it long before there was any of us, before there was a world.

Now, in spite of that, in spite of knowing what I'm going to do, he knew me. He blessed me. He encourages me in spite of what I do. An example in the scripture is Aaron. You remember Aaron? Moses was up on the mountain taking down the Ten Commandments.

Now, the first was written by Christ, by his Christ God. Now, while Moses was getting the commandments, Aaron was building a calf. Now, that's rather, he said, I just poured the gold in one side and it come out the other side a calf.

That's ridiculous, but that's what he said. Now, while Aaron was the head of all of those that were worshiping the calf, God said, Aaron's my man. Do you see any hope in that? So, it's not what we do, it's what we are.

Now, from devotedness to Christ Jesus, not Paul, but Jesus Christ lives in Paul. Do you look at Virg and all of you see Christ? You might disagree with Virg, but it's Christ in him that's working in each one of us.

Love Abounding in Knowledge, Judgment, and the Fruits of Righteousness

Nine, and this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. The subject of his prayer for them is your love, producing love not only in Paul, but Christ's minister, as it did, but also to one another, which it did not altogether as much as it ought.

Now, can we love someone in Christ too much? No. Now, you can love someone too much carnally, but not in Christ. It's Christ that's doing it. Knowledge, a doctrinal and practical truth, is what knowledge is.

Dennis, how are you going to learn the practical truths of God? What does practical mean? Don't ask for answers. What does practical mean? Dennis, what does it mean? Greg, tell them, what does practical mean?

So is Fred. Useful to who? Useful to who? To you in a practical way, that is, if you are in Christ. Judgment, Christianity is a vigorous plant, not the hotbed growth of enthusiasm. Knowledge, the perception guards love from being judgmental.

Ten, that you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. He pegs everything till the day of Christ. Now, that you may approve things that are excellent, how do you know what's excellent?

Roger? All right. Yes. What is sincerity? If you are sincere in your belief, is that where salvation is? If you are sincere, but you worship something else, will that get you to heaven? You can be just as sincere as you want, but unless it's in Jesus Christ, in Christ, it avails you nothing.

Without offense. Now, are you, I can never keep you all straight, Jenny and Katie. Jenny, you can tell by looking. Jenny, did you ever give offense to anybody? All right, now, were you angry when you did?

Did you ever give it when you were not angry? Yes, you did. You didn't know it, but you offend people. We all do, not just you, but we may never know it. So, he said without offense to everything that you're capable of knowing, you give offense to no one.

Eleven, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ under the glory and praise of God. Now, the fruit, what is the fruit of a tree, Jenny? What, all right, what the tree produces.

An apple tree won't produce many oranges. It produces apples. Now, the fruits of righteousness, what is a fruit of righteousness, Dennis? Joy, peace, what else? Kindness, what else? All right, these fruits, love, these fruits are not seen.

The fruits of righteousness are not seen. You cannot see the fruit of righteousness. You can experience it, which are by Jesus Christ, who produces the fruit in you by Christ. Did you have anything to do with producing it?

All right, he has paid it all, he's done it all, he's made it all, and he expects it all. Yes, he is it all. So, how much do we have to do with it? Isn't it strange we have nothing to do with nothing?

That's right. Yet, we have to answer for our actions. So, we have to do something. That's right. It all depends upon what. Everything we do, the outcome of everything depends upon what. All right, now, do we understand that?

No, we think we do. We're kind of like Brother Barney said, a bird dog, he would bark every time he crossed the path. The path's going this way, and every time he crossed, he'd bark. Every time we fall into God's will, we bark, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of him.

Now, all of this is for a reason. What is the reason that we find in verse 11 for all of this? Absolutely, to glorify him. Everything that he has made, every action that takes place, it is to bring glory to him.

It will bring glory to him. Yes, glory and praise. In fact, praise of God. Other places, he says, to the praise of God. Twelve, but I would, ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.

What's they mean, the things that happen to me, Roger? All right, so whatever has happened to you has been for the furtherance of the gospel. Is that right? You have to answer yes if everything else we've studied up till now is yes.

Do we always see it? No, but that doesn't change the fact, then. The only living we can do as a Christian is by faith. Now, that means you don't understand how to live. You live by something I don't understand.

It's faith. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. Paul had a rough life. He was beaten. He was killed. He was stoned. He was persecuted. He was in bonds. He underwent various whippings, on and on and on.

He didn't die until it was time, and everything that occurred to him, even before salvation, was for the praise of God. He was what? Snake-bitten. I don't want that. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all of the palace.

What happened to him when he was arrested in Rome? The way it took place, he had two guards. He was chained to each one, length of chain in between. Those guards had to change every four hours. Is that right?

Every eight hours. I don't know. Every four hours, we'll say. There'd come a change of guard. Then four hours later come a change of guard. Do you suppose that Paul persuaded any of those men to believe?

I do too. I don't think you could be around Paul without knowing that he was a Christian. Yet here he is in chains. Do you think that Paul probably wasn't the same timeframe as what Christ was in that situation, John?

Absolutely. He couldn't have gone through what he did if he had not been. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't say, you can't chain me. He let them do whatever they were supposed to because he knew something.

He knew they could not do what they were except by the will of God. So for him to find fault and rebel was against God, not against the Roman soldier, not against the tax man, not mad at the service station because they raised prices.

Preaching Christ from Envy, Strife, and Good Will

14. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident in my bonds, are much more bold to speak without fear. Now, what's happened here? It says much more bold to speak without fear. What is that?

For Paul's sake? All right, let me ask you all a question. You're 12 years old. You go to the basketball game. The school building was separate from the gymnasium. You were with a group of kids your age.

You run around behind the school building and you throw rocks at the upper story windows. Nobody's going to know. Now, would you have done that had you been the only one? No. When you were with others, you did it.

These people that were speaking out for Christ were strengthened by Paul just being there. And because he did it, they did it. They had the courage to do it. Some, indeed, preached Christ even of envy and strife and some also of goodwill.

There were some of them that preached Christ because they didn't like Paul. There were some of them that thought they had to dress up so and so before they could teach Christ. What did Paul say about such as that?

Well, let's say they didn't know him. It didn't make him any difference whatsoever. God's controlling it all, but it made him absolutely no difference. If they preach it out of envy, as long as they preach Christ.

If they think they have to dress a certain way, as long as they preach Christ. That was the main thing with him. Now, that doesn't mean that Paul condoned what they were doing, because what they were doing mentally was different than what they were doing physically.

The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set before the defense of the gospel. So, one preached Christ out of contention.

What is contention? Let me turn my speaker up. Abhorrence. Don't spring those $10 words on me. Abhorrence. Alright, someone give me just a simple explanation of it. Contention. They were doing it because they hated me.

It doesn't mean that they believed it, but Paul says that they teach Christ. Now, it is, let me ask you this. You're at home, a knock comes on the door at 2 a .m. You get up, you go to the door, and there's a drunk guy.

And he hands you a telegram, back in the days of telegrams. In the telegram, there is the, it is written to you, and it is written by a lawyer that says your uncle died and left you $2 million. Now, that drunk delivery man, at 2 in the morning, did that affect the message any?

No. That's what Paul was talking about. If they hate me, that's fine. Doesn't make much of a difference. I could care less whether they hate me or not, as long as they preach Christ. Now, they may not know they're preaching Christ.

I have heard of preachers getting saved under their own preaching, as long as they preach Christ. What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, and I will rejoice.

So, this reinforces what I said, that it makes no difference about the man, whether he's doing it out of envy, strife, love, whatever. It's the message that makes the difference. He may not know he's giving the message, but Paul says, as long as he preaches Christ, I agree it would be rather difficult for someone to convince me, standing at the pulpit and half drunk.

But if he preached Christ, if I hear the word of Christ, then I'm touched. Makes no difference about this man. Now, that does not condone immorality. They should be, but that's beside the point. Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and I will rejoice, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Now, my salvation does not depend upon somebody else. It depends upon Christ. I'm saved already, so what's he talking about my salvation here? Anyone else? I know that this shall turn to my salvation.

I know that I shall be released from these bonds. Now, he knew that, and there was no indication of it coming. Through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Christ is the one that's controlling it all.

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 my life or by my death.

Made Paul no difference. Absolutely no difference. He'd work for Christ as long as he's alive. When he's dead, he won't. He was not dead until Christ put his stamp of approval on it. Now, does that mean that death comes by my laying down on my bed and folding my arms and just passing away?

Paul had his head cut off. How many of you would like to have your head cut off today, right now? I don't think Paul enjoyed it either. But he knew that they could do nothing except Christ sanction it, ordering it, ordained it.

His work was done. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. How can death be gain, Dennis? All right, there certainly is a gain. For me to die is gain. For me to live is Christ. How many of us can say that?

For me to live is Christ? But if I live in the flesh, that is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not. I don't know whether I really want to stay here and teach you all or whether I want to go home.

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Betwixt. What does betwixt mean, Greg? Between. I am between a strait. What kind of strait is this?

What? All right, but what does S-T-R-A-I-T spell? Straight a causeway between two islands, a waterway between two islands. So, and right. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Evidently, I'm needed for a while yet to teach you. I want to go home. I'm ready to go home. There's some things in this world I don't want to leave yet, but if Christ calls me, I'll go home. No looking back like lots of life.

Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh, that is more needful to you. And having this confidence, I shall know that I shall abide and continue with you, with you all, for your furtherance and joy in faith.

Paul says, I know that as long as I'm here, I'm going to teach Jesus Christ. That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Christ Jesus for me by my coming to you again. What is there joy being more abundant in Christ Jesus for Paul?

That's what he says, for me. What's that mean, Greg? All right, he says that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Christ, in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. I can come and I can teach you more.

I know you're not at the top level yet and I can teach you and that'll be joy for me to come and teach you. Only let your conversation or conduct be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the truth of the gospel.

Perfect example of a God-fearing church. That you stand together with one mind, striving means working, together for the faith of the gospel. And that you stand in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, or to you, but to you of salvation and that of God.

These people that are continually against you, causing you problems, that proves the salvation of God. It proves that you're working for me, that you're working for God. Terrified by your adversaries, don't be terrified, which is to them an evident token of perdition.

They persecute Jesus Christ, proves they're going to hell. For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. It's given to you to believe on Jesus Christ.

So we see that the belief is given to you. Like I would present this cup of coffee to you, that's belief. He gave us our belief. If he had not given us the belief, could we have believed? No, no way. That's why he regulates those that are saved, those that are not.

To those that are his, when he desires, he gives you the faith. Also gives us suffering. Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear to be in me. So opens the first chapter. It has been given to you to believe and to suffer.