Today we are going to begin a look at one of my favorite books of the Bible. Today we will start looking through the book of Philippians. As we spend several weeks exploring these words of Paul I have a feeling that we will all be blessed as we look at what he had to say to the people of Philippi and to us today. Before we begin this journey let’s pray.
I have done a few trips and I have had to be in search of scholarships for school that have both required me to raise money. Then if I receive that money, when it comes to thank you notes, the easiest people to thank are those that I've have shared a past with, the people who know me well and who I know and love and not just because of their support they are giving me. With the letter of Philippians, we have the same kind of scenario.
Lets first look at a little background on this book. The letter of Philippians is a letter from Paul to the Gentile believers in Philippi thanking them for their gift that was given to him by a messenger. Not only do these believers give the constant gift of encouragement through their continued belief and proclamation of the gospel, they also shared financially with him when other churches didn't. Later in Philippians 4:15-16 it talks about how Paul is grateful for their giving. Here in Philippians 4:15-16 it says, “1”
The whole letter is filled with personal intensity because of his great love and concern for these people. Lets look at Philippi and why Paul is connected to these believers in such a strong way. Philippi was an ancient and historic city, which had once flourished because of gold mines but was no longer like that when Paul was writing - it flourished then because it was a Roman colony.
It was during Paul and his companions 2nd missionary journey that they traveled to Philippi. Using traveling as a way to meet people who have not been exposed to the Gospel of Christ is a great way to spread the good news. This truth is all too true for Paul - in every city he went to he took opportunities to share.
When the Sabbath arrived, Paul and his companions went outside the city gates to find a place to pray. While studying I found that one reason they went outside the city is that on the arches outside of the city there were inscriptions forbidding any unrecognized religion into the city, therefore they had their prayer meeting outside the city. While there, they ran into some women and started to share with them. One woman was Lydia, she was a successful businesswoman. After hearing what they had to say, she believed and was baptized along with her whole household. We see that account recorded in Acts 16:11-40. The church of Philippi started to meet at her house after that. Ten years later Paul writes this letter from a prison in Rome around 6l AD to encourage, to thank, and to instruct his church.
Some more background on this book. Where Paul is when he writes this letter is not known for certain, but because of certain references that he makes about being in chains. It is supposed that he is in Rome, where he found himself under house arrest, awaiting his trial before Caesar for the charges of disturbing the peace.
In this situation he was able to move freely about his home, and be attended to by his friends, but he would have constantly been chained to a Roman soldier.
It is in this situation, a few years after his first visit to Philippi that we find Paul writing to his friends. He begins, not surprisingly, with thanksgiving!
So, Let's go ahead and dive right into the text. Today we are only going to be looking at the first part of chapter 1:1-11. Here in Philippians 1:1-11 it says, “2”
Helen Hayes was a great actress, but she wasn’t much of a cook at all. However, one Thanksgiving she decided to fix the dinner herself. She told her husband and her son, "You know that this is my first time ever to cook a Thanksgiving dinner. So when I bring in the food, if it’s no good, I don’t want anybody to say a word. We’ll just quietly get up from the table, without any negative comments, and then go to a restaurant to eat."
Then she went into the kitchen to get the food. And she said that when she came out with the food, her husband and her son were both at the table with their hats and coats already on.
They knew that trouble was on the way, and they were ready to move on to plan B.
Bobby Jones was a champion golfer and he once said, "Have you ever noticed how much golfers practice? Smart businessmen have been quick to take advantage of that, developing public driving ranges where we can practice driving the ball, and putting greens where we can practice our putting."
He went on to say, "But why hasn’t someone developed public sand traps? Sand traps are an inevitable part of the game of golf, and every golfer ought to practice ahead of time how to get out of trouble."
It was Norman Vincent Peale who said, "Problems are a part of life. All of us are going to have problems right up to the moment we die. And some of you are going to have problems after you die."
So it only makes sense, if we’re going to find ourselves in sand traps, that we learn how to get out of them. And the letter to the Philippians, written by the apostle Paul, can help us do just that.
He writes this letter while imprisoned in Rome under what we would call "house arrest." Today, courts enforce "house arrest" by attaching electronic monitors on the wrist or ankle of prisoners. But back then, they simply chained the prisoner to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day. Now that was usually better than being in a dungeon, but Roman soldiers could be cruel and sadistic, and "house arrest" was not something to desire. Yet, Paul’s letter is filled with thanksgiving. And in it, Paul tells us in this section that he always prays with joy.
Ok Let's walk through these 11 verses and get the overall feel for things. These eleven verses give Paul's opening to the letter. He follows the standard form: we see in verses 1-2 a Greeting, in verses 3-8 he gives Thanksgiving, and in verses 9-11 we see a Prayer.
First, we see that this letter follows the general letterform of that time. Letters in the Greco-Roman period would've been three fold. They would start with the greeting or name of the writer at the beginning, followed by a wish or prayer for the recipients of the letter. Then there would be a thanksgiving report, or what makes Paul's letter distinctively Christian, a prayer report where Paul tells the readers how he prays for them. This letter was addressed to the whole community. In many of Paul's letters to churches he sets his name apart at the beginning by saying something like he did in Galatians chapter 1 where he says... "This letter is from Paul, an apostle".
This would hold some weight whereas that is not needed here because this is a letter to friends...they are on equal levels. Also, in verse 1he says, "servants of our Lord Jesus Christ" This could also be translated to "slave of the Lord".
When Paul says in verse 5 that, "you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now." There are a couple of reasons for him saying this. Ultimately, Paul's joy in prayer comes from the fact that they both are working for the sake of the gospel. First, if we look at Philippians 4:15-16, we see that they shared materially with Paul during his imprisonment, and second, that they are joined together in a common goal of seeing the gospel spread. This is shown in different ways throughout the rest of the book of Philippians.
Looking at verses 9-11 we see Paul's prayer for the believers. Here again it says, “2”
Paul says that he prays that their "love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight." This love that Paul is talking about is the agape love of Christ, and it is love that overflows out of knowledge and understanding. We are not talking about blind love here...this is love that will fall for and seek after knowledge. Verse 10 talks about being able to "discern what is right." The word discern here is used only in this one place throughout the whole New Testament. It can be defined as having a critical eye, a sharpness, and perception like an artist. It also means to have a sixth sense - which would be practiced and cultivated. The New Living Translation says about verse 10 "For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns."
As Paul sat under confinement and chained to a Roman guard, he never let it stop him from praying. He just kept on praying, thanking God for these dear friends in Philippi and the fact that they had partnered with him in the work of the gospel.
He could have spent time being angry with God for keeping him confined. He could have worried about what would happen to their church if he could not go see them, but instead he chose to give thanks to God for all the great things he had done in and through them, and for their generous support of him. Instead of worrying about the fact that they were still in need of some “finishing” work – he had JOY because he knew that the one who began the good work in them would be faithful to keep doing it until he was finished!
But how does this relate to you and me? What can we take from this? We have just read an intimate and warm greeting that Paul is giving to those he dearly loved and served alongside. When we are sharing in a common purpose, a common love, and a common goal like Paul was with the Philippians, we need to know how to greet, how to encourage, and how to pray for those around us.
Paul greeted his friends and those he served with as equals - as both servants and slaves for Jesus Christ. Second, Paul could've easily jumped into his sad story of imprisonment and a desperate cry for their prayers and support, but he instead starts with thanking them and encouraging them. Lastly, Paul knows how to pray for his fellow friends and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to learn to do these things for our friends as Paul did.
When you look at this text there is one key that we must always be involved in, and that is praying. To wrap things up this morning I have three applications that deal with prayer.
The first application is that PRAYER MUST BE A FIRST RESPONSE RATHER THAN A LAST RESORT.
Paul begins by teaching that prayer must be a first response rather than a last resort. Listen to verse 3, “2”
Then, in chapter 4:6, he says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Sadly many of us wait until we are in a problem, and we use prayer as a last resort to get out of the situation. We even attempt to find other ways out of the problem to avoid going to God in prayer. Prayer is the most effective way of solving our problems and communicating with God, so it should be our first resort.
The second application that we have about prayer this morning is that IT HAS TO BE HABITUAL.
Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act. It is a habit." So what kind of habits have you developed in your life?
Richard Dehaan tells of a soldier who was doing sentry duty on the front line durring World War 1. After being relieved of duty, as a Christian, he wanted to pray, to thank God for protecting him, and to ask for His continued protection.
But the enemy lines were very close, and he couldn’t go far, so he just walked a little ways away from where he had been standing guard, and began to pray aloud.
The soldier who replaced him heard his voice and thought that he was speaking to someone in the enemy lines. So he reported him to higher authority. The officer in charge said, "You’ve been accused of revealing secrets to the enemy. How do you respond?" The soldier said, "It’s not true. I wasn’t doing that." The officer replied, "Then what were you doing when you were standing out there facing the enemy and talking?" He said, "I was praying."
"You were praying out loud?" "Yes, I was." The officer said, "Show me. Pray right now." So the young man got down on his knees and prayed. And when he finished the officer dismissed the charges. "Because," he said, "nobody can pray like that unless he has been practicing."
So what do you do naturally when troubles come your way? Paul says that prayer must be a habitual action. The Bible says to Pray without ceasing. We need to be in constant prayer, so that it comes as a natural response in our lives. Prayer must be a habitual action in our lives.
The third application this morning is that AFTER PRAYER, WE NEED TO LET GO OF THE BURDENS WE ARE PRAYING FOR.
Cleve McClary is an ex-marine who fought in Vietnam where he was badly wounded. He lost one eye and all of his teeth. He lost one arm and most of the fingers on his other hand. He lost hearing in one of his ears. And yet Cleve McClary stands proudly at attention in his marine uniform.
When you look at him he’ll look back at you with that one eye and you know that you have his undivided attention. He has a magnetic personality that just draws people to him. And he’ll reach out with what’s left of his one good hand, and he will grip yours tightly as he exchanges greetings with you.
Cleve McClary has an optimistic spirit, even though life has been so tough for him. He has a special license plate on his car with the word "FIDO" on it - F I D O. When asked what it means he says that it means this, "Forget it and drive on." "Forget it and drive on."
There are times when we need to let go of our burdens and just drive on in life. After we have taken our prayers to God, we need to forget the burdens that we have prayed about and allow God to work in those areas. If we allow the burden of sin to eat away at us, and never let go of it, then we can never move beyond that burden and reach our true potential for God. Paul raises these prayers for the people of Philippi to God, and then he goes on. In some of Paul’s life struggles he prays for his burdens and then he forgets about the burden. In order for our prayers to be effective and to reach God’s potential for us, we need to let go of the Burdens.
Now one of the neatest things that Paul does is he looks at the potential of those people in Philippi. In verse 6 he says, “2”
Paul could see the potential of God completing things with these people. Now potential is a neat thing.
Did you hear the story about the 300 pound man who went to his preacher and said, "Preacher, I’m so depressed. I’ve tried to lose weight and I can’t. I can’t even get a date. I feel like an outcast in society. Can you help me?" The preacher said, "Well, I think I can. Go home and be ready at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning."
So at exactly 8:00 the next morning his doorbell rang and the man opened the door expecting the preacher to be there. But instead, there stood a beautiful girl dressed in a sleek jogging outfit and purring, "The preacher says that if you can catch me I’m all yours." Then she took off running. Well, this guy took off after her, huffing and puffing the entire way. Of course, he couldn’t catch her.
Well, this went on for 6 months. Every morning she was there. He chased her for 6 months and was able to loose 125 pounds. Then on the next to the last morning, he almost caught her. Well, he could hardly wait for the next day to come because he knew that he would catch her that morning for sure. The next morning the doorbell rang. He opened it eagerly, and was shocked, as there before him, stood a 300-pound woman. She said, "The preacher said that if I can catch you, you’re mine."
Now, that’s utilizing the potential in people. And Paul looks at the people in Philippi and he says, "I see great potential there. I see God working in you, and He is ready to complete His work."
Well, God sees potential in all of us this morning as well. He is working in each and every one of us, and He is ready to complete His work.
So what is it that I want us to all take out of this message Today?
· First is to greet those around you as faithful workers of the Lord, in sincerity and in love.
· Second is to encourage and love them deeply.
· And third is to pray fervently for those who you are working alongside you in advancing the Gospel.
And finally, that prayer is the main key.
We need to apply prayer as a first resort and not a last option, we need to make prayer a habitual action in our lives, and we need to let go of the burdens after taking them to God in prayer.
In closing there is an old hymn that says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer. Have you trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? You should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer."
Let me end this morning with this prayer by Paul one last time. It is Philippians 1:9-11 and it is my pray for you this week as well. Here it says “2”
Let’s pray
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