Phil.
1:1-18: “Intro / He Who Began A Good Work Will Perfect It Until The Day Of
Christ Jesus”
By
1.
Authorship:
Very
few seriously question whether or not the apostle Paul is the author of the
book. He includes his name, “Paul,” in
the text and every detail of the book is validated by what we know of his life,
especially his considering himself a Pharisee of Pharisee in chapter 3. Paul doesn’t begin his letter speaking of
himself as being an apostle however.
But, when you consider the close relationship that he had with the
Philippians (as the book reveals), then there would really be no reason for him
to claim his apostolic authority.
2.
The city of
Located
in
3.
The church in
The
second missionary journey of the book of Acts begins in chapter 15. Paul determines that he wants to go and to
visit all of the churches that they had visited on the first missionary
journey. Barnabas wanted to take John
Mark, but Paul refused. Finally,
Barnabas took Barnabas and sailed to
At
the city of Philippi, chapter 16 of the book of Acts tells us how that Paul met
a group of women gathered for prayer at a river, and that Lydia who sold purple
came to faith in Christ there and became the first convert from Europe. She started a church in her home. Paul later cast a demon out of a slave girl
that was used by the people of the city for divination because she was going
ahead of them telling everyone that they were servants of the most high
God. This woman probably because the
next convert. Later, Paul and Silas were
beaten and jailed for preaching the gospel, and as they were praising God and
singing, an angel caused an earthquake and all of the jail cell doors
opened. The Philippian jailer was about
to fall on his sword knowing how he would be treated when he discovered that
the men in the jail had been freed from their cells, however Paul told him that
everything was OK and that they were still in their cells. The Philippian jailer came to faith along
with his household, and he most likely became part of the church in
The
church in Philippi went on to become one of Paul’s greatest joys, and he had
such a bond and trust in them, that he allowed the church to participate in his
financial support, something he evidently did not allow any other church to
do. Paul writes to the church here that
he longed for them with all of the affection of Christ Jesus, and this
indicates that he had the greatest love for them.
In
chapter 20 of the book of Acts, Paul again visited the church in
4.
The date of the writing of the epistle:
The
book is one of Paul’s prison epistles, and most likely written during the early
part of his first imprisonment when after appealing to Caesar he was jailed in
5.
Key word in the
book:
“Joy.” Paul often writes about the joy that we as
Christians have in Christ.
In
Philippians 4:4, Paul even comes out and commands us as Christians in this,
saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
Joy for the believer is inseparably linked to
fellowship with Christ and is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:24) in the
believer’s life and linked to obedience (John
15:9-11). The joy of the unbeliever is a giddy joy that
is an emotion determined by circumstances. But, the joy of the believer
involves a choice to have joy and essentially it is an attitude of faith and
trusting in God, counting and considering your blessings in life.
Michael Gunn has written the following on a web
page on the internet: “Philippians
has been a book about the “Fellowship of Joy” found in a relationship with
Christ, and His mission in the world.
Paul’s joy is not a fanciful joy separate from real world living. So many struggling people eschew help because
those that want to help simply “Don’t understand!” Or, “No one feels my pain.”
This can’t be said of Paul and the Philippians.
Paul was in prison, facing imminent death. The Philippians faced relational division,
heresy, ostracism, persecution, poverty and possibly even death. In spite of this Paul urged the church to
find their way to God’s peace, “Which surpasses all understanding!””
The joy of which Paul writes about is not a joy
that is based upon our circumstances, but rather one that comes from the Lord
and exists in spite of our circumstances. I don’t often quote Karl Barth. But, quoting again from the same web site, Karl Barth has written
the following about this joy: “That Joy in Philippians is a defiant
‘Nevertheless!’” The idea of rejoicing
(Which has been used to mark off sections in this book) has come in the context
of personal turmoil (Philippians 2:18; 3:1, and here in 4:4). As one commentator says, “Rejoice certainly
does defy the thankless, complaining nature of humanity and human custom
throughout history.” Rejoicing in Christ
is rooted in salvation, and not circumstantial blessing. This is not a trumped up, plastic smile
rejoicing, but a real joy in the midst of human pain. The joy that comes from a
hope that is outside of our control. It’s a joy in spite of… It’s a joy that
allows you to work through human relational problems, because this kind of joy
releases you from the need to be right. This rejoicing is done “Always,” not
circumstantially. If you are trying to
find joy outside of Jesus, you will always be joyless, and you will continually
be chasing harmful relationships and lifestyles in order to fill your giant
void in your life. We are created to
find our happiness in the Lord. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that, “The joy of the
Lord is your strength.” To this
People often have sought to have joy but sought in
all of the wrong places, as illustrated by these:
·
Unbelief —
Voltaire, the French philosopher, who was an avid unbeliever wrote, “I wish I had never been born.”
·
Pleasure —
Lord Byron (English poet known for his “life of pleasure”) wrote concerning his
life, “The worm, the canker, and grief
are mine alone.”
·
Money — Jay
Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on
earth.”
·
Position and Fame — Benjamin Disraeli one time prime minister of
·
Military Glory
— Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he
wept in his tent, before he said, “There
are no more worlds to conquer.”
Likewise, the book of
Philippians speaks of numerous occasions for having joy:
·
1:1-3-11 Joy in fellowship – in the world, at
best you have friendship
·
1:4 Joy
in prayer
·
1:12-30 Joy in affliction/suffering – but the
world, you endure without purpose or hope
·
1:25 Joy
in the faith
·
2:1-30 Joy
in submission – in the world, there is promotion of self
·
2:18 Joy
in sacrifice
·
2:28 Joy
in Christian relationship
·
2:29 Joy
of Christian hospitality
·
3:1 Joy
in rejoicing in the Lord
·
3:1-4:3 Joy
in salvation by grace – in the world, the hopelessness of works
·
4:1 Joy
with other believers
·
4:4-19 Joy
in spiritual blessings – in the world, physical accumulation of things or experiences
When we get to chapter 4 and Paul tells us to
worry about nothing, we will see that worrying is a signal that our joy is
based upon our circumstances not in our relationship with Christ. Then, Paul will go on in chapter 4 to talk
about how that we need to control our minds and the things that we think about
(whatever is pure, lovely, of good repute, etc.) in order to experience and
know the joy and peace of God.
I have a word from God for the church in
Paul
also uses the word “all” a lot.
6.
The purpose of the writing of the epistle:
The
IVP Bible Background Commentary states the following about the purpose of the
book of Philippians:
Paul
states that the purpose of Philippians is to thank them (4:10–20); but writing
from prison (probably in
Paul
wanted to thank the church for their financial support and encouragement.
7.
VS 1:1-2 - “1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants
of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in
7.1.
Timothy was
Paul’s right hand man, and thus he is mentioned often in Paul’s letters and
often traveled with Paul, or was sent here or there by Paul. Paul intended to send Timothy to the
Philippian church and thus it is reasonable that he would begin his letter by
including his own name along with name of Timothy.
7.2.
Paul did not
indicate here that Timothy co-authored writing the letter because Paul wrote
all of his letters to the churches with apostolic authority.
7.3.
Paul doesn’t
include in his greeting here that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus, and when
you read through this letter you realize that it was unnecessary for him to do
this because the church knew who he was as well as his authority over them as
an apostle. They as a church were knit
together with Paul in all that he did, and thus to merely mention his name was
sufficient of an introduction for Paul.
7.4.
In Paul’s day, the term that was most used in referring to those who
had come to saving faith in Christ was not the term we think of: “Christian.” The word Christian is only used three times
in the New Testament, and it was a term that was created by unbelievers, not by
the church itself. Believers in Christ
were mostly referred to in the New Testament as being “disciples” or “saints.”
7.5.
The term ‘saint’ is derived from the word that is often
translated “holy” or “sanctified.” It implies one being “set apart a holy
consecrated thing to the Lord.”
7.6.
The letter was written to all of God’s people in
7.7.
It is important for us as Christians to read and try to learn from all
of God’s word. Some books and some
passages are weightier than others, but nonetheless we can learn from all of
the scriptures.
8.
VS 1:3-5 - “3 I thank my God in all my
remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer
with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from
the first day until now.” – Paul tells the
Philippians that he thanks God in every remembrance of the Philippians, and that
he offers up prayer with joy in every one of his prayers for them
8.1.
To Paul, the
Philippians were like sons or daughters, and when he thought about them they
always brought him joy. He overflowed
with joy whenever he heard of the good things being done by them and how they
had stayed true to the gospel and walking with Christ.
8.2.
Paul followed
Jesus’ example and became close to those whom he ministered to. He poured out his life into them.
8.3.
Paul’s prayers
for the Philippians were prayers that were filled with joy.
9.
VS 1:6 - “6 For I am confident of this very
thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of
Christ Jesus.” – Paul tells the Philippians that he is confident
that the One who had begun a good work in them would perfect it until the day
of Christ Jesus
9.1.
Paul writes that he was ‘confident’ of the fact that those who
were chosen by God before the foundation of the world to come to salvation
would continue to have the Lord confirm their calling and salvation. Paul’ “confidence” wasn’t wishful
thinking but was based upon God and what He had promised in His word.
9.2.
The Commentary
Critical And Explanatory of the Old Testament states the following about why
God must complete the work He begins in the Christian: “Any work that God begins, He will surely
finish (1Sa 3:12). Not even men begin a work at random. Much more the fact of
His beginning the work is a pledge of its completion (Is 26:12).”
9.3.
The Bible
Knowledge Commentary tells us what the perfect tense of ‘am confident’ indicates
to us: “The perfect tense of the
Greek word translated being confident indicates that Paul had come to a
settled conviction earlier and that he still was confident it was true. What
was he so confident and sure of? It was
that God would most certainly continue on to completion the good work
He had begun in them. That good work was their salvation. It may also have included their fellowship
and sharing of their bounties with Paul.”
9.4.
We have to ask
ourselves in what ways the Lord works in our lives in perfecting that work in
us. There are several verses to consider
in this regard, including:
9.4.1. He is able to keep us from stumbling Jude tells us in
Jude 24-25, “24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and
now and forever. Amen.”
9.4.2. Jesus taught His discples that no one would be able to
snatch them out of the Fathers hand in John 10:27-29, “27My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and
they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to
Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father’s hand.”
9.4.3. In Hebrews 13:20-21, we read that God equips believers
in every good thing to do His will, always working in us that which is pleasing
in His sight, “20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the
great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even
Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good
thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
9.4.4. Jesus is constantly
interceding for the believer in prayer: Hebrews 7:25, “25 Therefore He is able also to save
forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession
for them.”
9.4.5. It is a comfort to know that
having come to Christ that we who are Christians have the Lord committed to
working in our lives and conforming us to godliness. The Lord designs trials and tribulations for
the conforming of us to godliness and Christlikeness if we are not willing to
discipline ourselves in godliness, the thirteenth chapter of the book of
Hebrews tells us about how He works in our lives this way. Its much easier on us to let the Lord do what
He wants in our lives rather than to ignore what He is speaking to us and then
place ourselves under His discipline where He must use trials to conform us to
His image.
9.5.
It is important to remember that here in this chapter Paul speaks to
the Philippians comforting them that the Lord will complete that work he has
begun in their lives until the day, but then in verse 12 of the very next
chapter he tells them, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” God is going to continue that work in their
lives, but they also need to cooperate with Him and work out their salvation,
and do so with fear and trembling. This
means that they are to take this working out part very seriously. Some churches teach that the work in a
Christian’s life is all God’s responsibility.
Others teach that it is all the believer’s responsibility. Paul teaches that it is both God’s and the
believers responsibility.
10.
VS 1:7-8 - “7 For it is only right for me to
feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my
imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are
partakers of grace with me. 8
For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ
Jesus.” – Paul tells the Philippians that it is right for him to feel that God
will perfect that work of salvation He had begun in their lives because he has
the Philippians in his heart since they had been partakers of grace with him
both in his imprisonment as well as in his defense and confirmation of the
gospel, and, he longed for them with all the affection of Christ Jesus
10.1.
How close is Paul to the Philippians?
He tells them he loves them with all of the love that Jesus Christ has
for them! Now that is closeness. What an example Paul is to pastors and church
leaders to love those whom they minister to.
10.2.
The Philippians had stuck with Paul through the thick as well as the
thin of his life, in sickness and in health, in prosperity as well as in his
need and infirmity. In everything Paul
went through the Philippians were partakers with Paul.
10.3.
Paul tells the Corinthians, ‘I have you in my heart,’ and this
communicates to us the fact that those whom Paul ministered to were not just
his “projects” and they were not just “a number.” He held them in his heart and his
ministry to them was foremost one of love for them. His success in ministry was because of his
love for the people he ministered to.
This ought to be the way that all of us in any ministry look at the
people that we minister to. We need to
have them in our hearts and love them deeply.
11.
VS 1:9-11 - “9 And this I pray, that your love
may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are
excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness
which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” – Paul prays for the Philippians that their love would abound more and
more and that it would do so in ‘real knowledge and all discernment’ so that
they might approve the things that are excellent and be sincere and blameless
until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness
11.1.
Here is recorded
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians. Note
that the first thing that he prays for them is that their ‘love may abound
still more and more.’ They did have
God’s love in them, but it needed to grow ‘more and more.’
11.2.
Paul saw the
spiritual growth of Christians as being a growth in the love of God. He saw that as a person grows more mature in
their walk and draws close to the Lord that he/she becomes a greater
lover. Each of us as Christians ought to
ask ourselves if we are growing in our love for others, especially our brothers
and sisters in Christ. Did you ever consider that
what God was working in your life as part of your spiritual growth is that He
is making you grow as a lover of people?
This is an essential part of what it means to grow spiritually.
11.3.
But, that love of
God that the Christian is to grow in is a love that will also include ‘real
knowledge and all discernment.’
There is no contradiction between growing in love and growing in
knowledge and discernment.
11.4.
Likewise the
growth in love for the Christian should involve them learning what things to ‘approve.’ As the Christian grows spiritually he is
going to learn what things are excellent and worthy of praise and please God,
as well as what things bring displeasure to the Lord.
11.5.
Paul also saw his
ministry as preparing people to be ‘sincere and blameless’ on that ‘day
of Christ’ when they would have to give account of their life.
11.5.1. Is it your goal in life to be ‘sincere and
blameless’ before the Lord in your life?
We all fall short, but we all should also seek to be holy just as He is
holy.
11.6.
Note that Paul states
here that when our lives are ‘filled with the fruit of righteousness’
that this works ‘to the glory and praise of God.’ In other words, not only do our lives please
God Himself when we live in this way, but people in this world see our lives as
aligning with what we believe and claim for our lives as Christians and they
give glory to God and praise Him. A good
testimony for the Lord is a tremendous witness to the people of this world..
12.
VS 1:12-18 - “12 Now I want you to know, brethren,
that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ
has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone
else, 14 and that most of the brethren,
trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak
the word of God without fear. 15
Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some
also from good will; 16 the latter do it out
of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition
rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my
imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I
rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.” – Paul discusses the fact
that because he was imprisoned and unable to preach the gospel that many others
were stepping up and doing that job, however many were doing it for the wrong
motives of envy and strife because they were jealous of Paul and his ministry,
however Paul rejoiced simply that the gospel message was getting out
12.1.
Paul writes here
that his circumstances of being imprisoned didn’t hinder his ministry and the
progress of the gospel, but rather had just the opposite effect: ‘my circumstances have turned out for the
greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole
praetorian guard and to everyone else.’
Paul was constantly chained to a Roman guard and every guard got to hear
the gospel message, and many came to faith in Christ as a result. This reminds me of what I heard years ago
from a missionary about the country of
12.2.
Jealousy amongst
those in ministry towards each other is something that has always been around
evidently. There were many in the early
church that were jealous of Paul and his ministry because of his calling as an
apostle and how God was using him mightily in the preaching of the gospel and
planting churches. Many thought that
they were just as deserving as Paul to be blessed in these same ways.
12.3.
Paul didn’t worry too much about what other brothers and sisters were
or were not doing in their ministries.
He didn’t consider himself a heresy hunter or a fruit inspector. He simply kept his focus on Jesus and doing
what the Lord wanted him to do in his life.
12.4.
Paul tried to avoid unnecessary controversies and struggles with other
Christians, and he also tried to always believe the best about everyone.
13.
CONCLUSIONS:
13.1.
Where is your joy indicator in your life today? Are you truly walking in the joy of the Lord
today, in spite of the circumstances you find yourself in, especially
considering our failing economy, etc.?
13.2.
Are you growing in the love of God more and more?
13.3.
Are you growing in real knowledge and discernment in the Lord, learning
those things that are pleasing to Him and learning to dwell upon those things
that are pure and holy and worthy of praise?