Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In Philippians 1:1-11 Paul begins his letter to the church in Philippi. This was a church that he, by the power of God, began in Acts 16. He adored them and wanted to encourage them. Even while he himself was in chains.
Short Clip
Finding joy in a discouraging world.
I’ve been looking forward to getting to preach this series. We’re going to walk through the book of Philippians together and see what it truly means to live a growing, faith-filled, sacrificing, joy-overflowing kind of life with Jesus.
In our day and time, we need the good news we see in the book of Philippians.
Discouraging World
We live in a world that is full of discouragement, right? I mean, I don’t know anyone who was super excited to be dealing with -31* with wind chill kind of days like this past week.
But really, the storms in life are many.
There are times in our lives when we can feel helpless because of all the discouragement we deal with.
Whether it’s financial stress or relational conflict or countless examples of our culture rebelling against God, we can sometimes feel surrounded by discouragement.
But in Philippians
But as we jump into Philippians, we’re going to see a completely different approach to the ups and downs of life and we’re going to, I believe, find joy in the midst of a discouraging world.
We’re going to see what it means to walk with Jesus through difficulty.
We’re going to see what it means to walk with Jesus in a culture of brokenness.
We’re going to cultivate a desire to see Christ lifted up and glorified above all else in all things through our lives.
Philippians 1:1-11
So let’s get busy, shall we?
If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn to Philippians 1.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
The way Paul opens this letter is far different than the way he opens his letters to other churches.
We’ll see this as we get deeper into this series, but there isn’t some overt error Paul is seeking to correct in these people’s lives.
In fact, we see, in the opening of Philippians a distinct adoration that Paul has for this church.
It’s amazing.
In a minute we’re going to break this passage down a bit, but since we’re just getting started, we need to go back to how this church began.
So go ahead and flip back in your Bibles to Acts 16.
Acts 16:11-19
Lydia – Acts 16:11-15
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. 14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Because of a vision from God, Paul goes to Philippi, a city in Macedonia which is modern-day Greece.
And while he’s there, he meets a God-fearing woman named Lydia. When it says that she was a God-fearer that means she was a non-Jew who had converted to Judaism. So she and the rest of these women are having a little women’s Bible study down by the river.
And Paul interrupts them and begins showing them the gospel.
He likely showed them how God gave the Law through Moses and through the Law we became very much aware of our sin and how all throughout the Old Testament texts, God was pointing the Jews to a time in the future when He was going to send a Messiah, a King to suffer for all people as a sacrifice and how He took our punishment and has made a way for us to be the true children of God. Not through our heritage. Not through our ethnicity. Not through our religious status. But only through Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, the promised King who defeated sin and death and has given us the opportunity to enjoy true LIFE.
And the Lord opened her heart to receive the gospel message and in response to hearing the word of God proclaimed, she and her whole household were baptized.
So you have this God-fearing woman from Thyatira. She was from Asia, but she was in Philippi which is in Europe. And she is a dealer in purple cloth which means she was a dealer in fashion and she was very well off.
She was a CEO type gal who had houses in multiple cities and was very well off.
And after she was baptized, she persuaded Paul and Silas to stay at her house. Which was probably a very sweet deal for him—the tent maker.
And that is the beginning of the church in Philippi. It began with a woman of immense wealth and her family. But then this happened.
A Slave Girl – Acts 16:16-19
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days.
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
The power of the gospel was disrupting this city.
A wealthy female CEO is being set free.
A slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit is being set free.
I mean, this is a crazy beginning to the Philippian Church’s membership roll.
But then Paul and Silas are in trouble.
Summarize Acts 16:20-40 (Paul and Silas in Prison)
The owners of this slave girl take them to the judges of the city and are accused of disturbing the city. Which, really, these people were just upset that this slave girl’s chains and oppression were broken and they were no longer able to use an evil spirit to profit in their business.
You know, that’s what the evil one gets mad at, right?
When the chains of bondage are broken, he gets angry. Because where this little girl had been controlled by this evil spirit, it had used her to promote idolatry and paganism, now this little slave girl was free to follow the chain-breaking Savior of the world.
And so Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown in jail—but not just in a cell by the door. No, the guard is instructed to guard them carefully so he throws them into the INNER prison and put chains on their feet.
And as night comes, as Paul and Silas are praying and singing songs to God, the chain-breaking, wall-breaking power of God shows up in the form of an earthquake and all of a sudden, the prison is completely destroyed, the chains are broken from Paul and Silas’ feet and the walls are broken down so that an escape is possible.
But you know what happens?
Paul and Silas don’t escape. Instead, they wait for the prison guard.
And as the guard gathers himself and realizes what has happened, he thinks that Paul and Silas, the men he was supposed to guard carefully, had escaped. So he was ready to take his life. He was ready to end it all there because of the suffering that he was going to endure for failing.
But then Paul and Silas say “HEY, don’t hurt yourself. We’re still here.”
And this guard is completely freaked out, trembling, and asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved because clearly he could see that the power of God was with these guys. And Paul and Silas preach the gospel to this prison guard.
And you know what happens? He and his whole family surrendered to Christ, were baptized, and then they shared a meal of celebration together because he “had come to believe in God.”
The next day, Paul and Silas seem to have gone back to the jail with the prison guard and the judges of the city were ready to release Paul and Silas. But Paul and Silas weren’t ready to leave. They wanted those judges to come and release them themselves.
Evil doesn’t like the light, y’all.
Chain-Breaking, Wall-Destroying Gospel Power
How about that for a church planting initiative in a new city.
A wealthy woman who had everything the world could offer met Jesus Christ, the only One who can truly satisfy.
A slave girl who was in bondage to an evil spirit and evil slave owners was released from those chains.
And a prison guard who was an agent of the Roman Empire, a representation of the world’s strongest power of the day was set free from the chains that he was in by the men he had in chains in the inner prison by the power of God.
So it’s with all that that the church in Philippi began.
And as the gospel spread throughout the city of Philippi, they had grown into a gathering of people from all different walks of life.
From the beginning, they were a body that defied the divisions of the day. Socio economics. Race. Sex. Occupation.
This was, from the beginning, a church that was full of different people. And that’s what the gospel does. It breaks down the walls that divide us because in Christ we are unified by Him and His blood.
So with all that, let’s go back to the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:1-5
Philippians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
Servants and Saints in Christ
Instead of referring to himself as an apostle, Paul intentionally refers to himself and Timothy as servants.
And as we move through Philippians, Paul is going to keep this thread. Because, as I said earlier, Paul isn’t addressing some major issue within the church, but he is simply calling them to a deeper, more mature walk with Christ. One that is full of joy no matter what life throws at them.
And notice how he refers to the people he is writing to, he calls them saints in Christ Jesus.
This idea of being a saint in Christ Jesus is developed throughout the New Testament and it can be easily glossed over here in the first verse, but this idea is so important to understand.
You and I are in Christ. We are secure IN Christ. We are covered by him, protected by him, secure in him, restful in him. Like a warm, insulated house on a -31* with windchill kind of day in Indiana. We are secure and safe in him.
So the times when being in this world feel overwhelming, we have to go back to the truth that while we are in this world, while we are in the muck of our circumstances, we are in Christ in this world.
Our primary positioning isn’t in this world, but it is in Christ.
Philippians 1:2-5
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Passionate thankfulness
There is so much love and adoration expressed here by Paul. His relationship with these people was deep and rich and full.
And as we’ve already seen, they’ve got some great memories together just in their beginning, but we actually know that their partnership together goes far past their initial beginnings as a church body.
If you read 2 Corinthians 8 (you can do that on your own time), we see that this church, even out of their poverty, financially supported Paul and his church planting efforts as well as the church in Jerusalem who had been dealing with poverty.
Their heart as a church and as individuals was for the furthering of the gospel of Christ. They wanted more people to know what they knew. They wanted more people to be rescued by Jesus and their finances reflected that.
And so when Paul thinks about all his memories of this church, he can’t help but to give thanks to the God who was at work in them and him.
The way Paul writes this displays a ton of intensity. He gives thanks for EVERY memory, ALWAYS praying WITH Joy and in EVERY prayer.
He wants them to understand how much praise they are igniting in him for God. Why?
Their Partnership — God gets the credit
Because they partnered with him in the work of the gospel.
This is important for us to realize.
Paul doesn’t give them some sort of super Christian credit for partnering with him in the gospel. He doesn’t lift them up on a pedestal.
Instead, he thanks God for them.
He understands who the source of thanks is and always is.
The source of thanks is God, the One who is at work in them.
He sees their faithfulness and the fruit of their faith and, instead of thanking them and praising them, he tells them how their faithfulness and the fruit of their faith is propelling him to thank the God in whom they serve.
Why? Because God gets the credit for any good they do.
If they partner with him in the work of the gospel, he knows that the reason they are doing so is because God is at work in them and is working through them.
In other words, God gets the credit. They don’t.
And this becomes even clearer in a moment.
Philippians 1:6-7
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
v. 6 – God finishes what He Begins
This has been a verse we’ve been clinging to in our home.
And I’m sure as soon as the Philippians heard this verse, they were like YES, AMEN!
God finishes what He starts.
So the Philippians could be sure that the work that God had begun in them, their new life, their new hearts, their new way of life, their new thoughts, their new actions, their becoming like Jesus was still happening.
And while they needed to own their growth, they needed to know that the One who is at work in them and through them is not their own thoughts or motivations, but it is the Holy Spirit doing work in them.
My friends, if you’re struggling with something. If something still plagues you. If you’re in the fight and are trying to love more, trying to be more patient, trying to see more of the fruit of the Spirit show through you, then you can rest assured that what GOD began in you, He will carry that work on to completion.
What Christ started when He rescued you, what He started when He covered you by His blood, what He started when He indwelled you, He will see it through.
Here’s the truth:
Christ doesn’t clock out from the work He is doing in you.
No matter what you see around you, He is working.
When you’re worried, He is working.
When you’re discouraged, He is working.
When the devil is tempting you, He is working.
When your kids won’t listen, He is working.
When your spouse isn’t walking with Jesus, He is working.
When you get frustrated, He is working.
When you can’t get a break, He is working.
My friends, we worship the God who doesn’t take a lunch break. He’s always working.
Our King is always on the throne. And He always has His hands to the plow.
Our God is the One who planned all the good things we will ever do from before we were ever born. He gets the credit because He’s the One putting in the work.
Paul knew that what God started in the Philippian church, he was going to carry it all the way to completion.
v. 7 – Paul imprisoned
This is just amazing.
Paul was imprisoned while he was writing this letter to the Philippians.
He was in chains and, yet, he is thanking God WITH JOY.
He could’ve fell into despair and focused inwardly at his circumstances.
When we consider Paul’s own circumstances, his statement in v. 6 (and everything he writes in this letter for that matter) has even more thrust. He could have interpreted his imprisonment and thought that God was done with him and that his present and future were worthless and he could have fallen into despair. But his confidence came from God’s character, not his circumstances.
His JOY came from God’s power, not his circumstances.
Feel imprisoned?
Maybe you feel imprisoned to your own thoughts, to your own tendencies, to your past, to your feelings, to the negative labels that have seeped into your heart.
If you’re feeling imprisoned, trust in the chain-breaking, earth-quaking, heart-mending, mind-renewing, life-transforming power of God.
Golden Triangle of Formation – Dallas Willard
Author Dallas Willard talked about what he called, the Golden Triangle of Formation. In other words, he saw three main things that contribute to our spiritual formation.
(1) Classical disciplines – study, prayer, fasting, solitude, service, worship (things like that).
(2) Interactions with the moving of the Holy Spirit – resistance, disobedience, repentance, submission, faith, obedience, and more.
(3) The patient endurance God develops in us by means of the various frustrations, trials, and temptations we face daily.
That last one we don’t like very much, but the reality is, the difficulties we face, the trials we endure, the frustrations we push against, and the temptations we fight against are great teachers.
And I think Paul understood this as he is sitting as a prisoner writing to these Christians he holds so dearly in his heart.
Commentator David Garland said this:
“Joy usually eludes those who seek it out but comes to those who wish to impart it to others.”
Paul had joy in the midst of imprisonment because he never lost sight of his mission in life—to advance the gospel by planting churches, evangelizing those who are lost, and reminding those who are saved of their salvation.
What if we responded to circumstances like this?
What if we, like Paul, could rest in Christ and find joy no matter what?
Paul found joy while in shackles because his joy wasn’t in the shackles, but in His Savior who breaks shackles loose.
You see that?
He didn’t find joy in the shackles. His joy was higher.
Even though he was in shackles, he was more free than the guards keeping him locked up.
Paul knew His source
Paul knew his source.
He knew the source of thanks.
He knew the source of JOY.
He knew the source of every good work.
He knew the source of the gospel.
He knew the source of love.
He knew the source of knowledge and discernment.
He knew the source of righteousness.
And because he knew the source, he could receive a flow of joy in the midst of a discouraging time in his life.
And he wanted these Philippians to know the same thing. So he told them what he’s praying that God would do in their lives and that they would embrace in their lives.
Philippians 1:8-11
8 For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
An Informed and prioritized love
We need a love that flows from knowing God.
We need a love that focuses our eyes on Jesus.
We need a love that helps us see people as Jesus sees them.
A love that lacks knowledge won’t be long-lasting. It won’t be strengthened by the knowledge of the good news.
A love that lacks discernment won’t be correcting. It won’t help us prioritize our love for God above all else.
We need a love that is informed by God and His character.
We need a love that is prioritized around the main thing—Love God and love people.
Filled with fruit that comes from Jesus = glory and praise to God
When we grow in that kind of love, the fruit of Christ will fill us up. And you know what will happen?
The purpose of every human being will be realized—to glorify and praise God.
Because when people see that kind of love, they’ll be pointed, not toward us, but toward the One who put that love in us — Christ.
Make Paul’s Prayer Our Prayer
So this week, let’s make Paul’s prayer our prayer.
Let’s make his prayer something we pray daily.
Let’s make his prayer something we pray for ourselves.
Read Philippians 1:9-11 [first person]
9 And I pray this: that [my] love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that [I] may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
But let’s also make his prayer something we pray for each other.
Read Philippians 1:9-11 [second-person plural]
9 And I pray this: that [our] love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that [we] may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
And as we pray this every day, let’s be open to how He leads us from there.
Because Christ doesn’t clock out from the work He is doing in you. He’s not done with you. He wants you to experience joy even in difficult circumstances.
He’s not done. So keep following. And let’s start praying.
