Text: Philippians 1:1-2
OPEN:
John MacArthur writes: "People today are consumed by the passionate pursuit of happiness. Self-help books, motivational speakers, and advice columnists claim to offer the key to happiness, but for many the door remains locked. Unable to control their circumstances, they find themselves instead controlled by their circumstances."
There is a Word from the Lord to help us break free from the shackles of circumstance and it is found in Philippians. Paul's brief letter to the Philippians Church some 2,000 years ago holds the key to understanding how you and I in 2014 may rise above our circumstances and rediscover the joy of living. In this study, we will find fresh hope for the life we always dreamed of. Today we begin at the beginning, and Paul’s salutation in 1:1-2 serves well as an introduction to the study
The circumstances of both the writer and the recipients of this brief letter were not those that would be expected to produce joy and happiness. When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to his beloved Philippian congregation, he was in his fourth year of Roman imprisonment, awaiting Emperor Nero’s final decision in his case. The Philippian church also had its share of problems:
Its members were desperately poor, so much so that Paul was surprised at their contribution to the offering he was collecting for Jerusalem (2 Co 8:1-5). Like Paul, they were being persecuted for the cause of Christ (1:27-30). What made matters even worse was that they were being attacked by false teachers (3:2, 18-19). On top of everything else that set the stage for potential disaster, a feud between two prominent women in the congregation threatened the unity of the church (4:2-3).
So, how is it that this has been termed, “the letter of joy”?
Our purpose in undertaking this study is to learn the secret of joy, peace, and contentment regardless of our circumstances.
I. Something is Different About this Letter (1:1)
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.”
Letter writing is practically a lost art with the wide-scale use of email, so much so that a traditional letter is categorized negatively as “snail mail.” This is a very recent phenomenon.
The opening of this letter is different from that of most of Paul’s in one very interesting respect. It is the difference shared by all of Paul’s European letters—Philippians and the two to the Thessalonians—and by the little personal note to Philemon. The notable difference is the absence of the word “apostle.” In all his other letters, Paul feels the need to remind his readers that he writes with all that his apostolic position grants him. It is Paul’s way of emphasizing that he writes with apostolic authority, something that was very important in the early church. But things are very different as he addresses his beloved Philippians.
II. Something is Different About this Church (1:1).
“To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi…”
The Philippian church was the first church Paul planted in Europe.
He came to Philippi on his second missionary journey under the dramatic direction of the Holy Spirit [Acts 16:9-10]. Though the initial converts were Jews or Jewish proselytes [Acts 16:13-15], Gentiles made up the majority of the congregation. The city’s Jewish population was so small there was no synagogue there—or else the women Paul initially encountered would not have been meeting outside the city on the Sabbath. Two dramatic conversions, that of wealthy Lydia (Acts 16:13-15) and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:25-34) helped jumpstart the fledgling congregation.
As a result, the Philippians had a deep affection for Paul as he did for them. This letter is a highly personal one. The first person pronouns “I” and “my” appear 51 times in the brief letter.
"This is a letter of the heart, a true love letter, full of friendship, gratitude, and confidence."
III. Something is Special About this Description of the Christians (1:1).
The term “servants” that Paul applies to himself and Timothy and the term “saints” that he applies to the Philippian Christians are to be seen as parallel terms. In other words, believers in Christ are both servants and saints.
1. Servants.
This English word is far too weak a word to represent the Greek douloi: most commentators translate this more accurately as “bond-slaves”—a concept that would be vividly familiar to every reader of this letter. Many of the church were, or had been, slaves themselves—and the word would have immediately caught their attention. The word doulos refers to one bound to another. Paul’s use refers to one whose will is swallowed up in the will of another. It refers to one who serves another to the disregard of his/her own interests. Paul frequently uses this term in his letters indicating his relationship to Jesus Christ.
Richard Foster: "There is a major difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. If choosing to serve, you are still in control. If choosing to be a servant, you relinquish that control to another."
There are positive aspects to being a bond-slave:
1) The master is responsible for his slaves’ needs—feeding, clothing, housing, and all else is the slave-owner’s concern (Mt 6:24-25; Phil 4:19).
2) The master is responsible for his slave’s duties—slaves do not choose their own task or their own sphere of influence. Size and sphere is the master’s choice.
3) The master is responsible for the slave’s supplies. Whatever God tells us to do, we can do it, because we will never lack God’s supply.
- J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, had 986 faith missionaries in China by 1910. His motto was: “God's will, done God's way, never lacks God's supply."
2. Saints.
The word “saints” is the translation of a Greek word (hagiois) meaning “to set apart” in its verb form, and “set apart ones” in its noun form. Saints are set apart from sin to holiness, set apart from Satan to God, consecrated for God’s sacred fellowship and service.
3. In Christ
All believers are saints, not because they are themselves righteous, but because they are “in Christ Jesus.” Our position is “in Him.” The word “in” (en) is used with the locative of sphere in the Greek, meaning that these saints were saints in the sphere of Christ. That is, Christ is the sphere in which the believer has his/her new life and all his/her interests and activities.
“For me to live is Christ.”
“For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)
- This is the key that unlocks the door to joy. We are positionally “in Him” and are to live practically “in Him."
A word of caution is in order here: We do not learn to live like saints by focusing on a set of rules and regulations majoring on what saints don’t do. We learn to live like saints by focusing on what it means to be “in Him,” to operate within the sphere of Jesus Christ.
CLOSE:
Let me state again our purpose in undertaking this study. Our goal is to learn the secret of joy, peace, and contentment regardless of our circumstances. How do we face all that we face and endure all that we endure and through it all experience genuine joy?
- Obey like servants
- Act like saints
- Operate consciously in the sphere of Jesus Christ
(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)
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