Sunday Morning Service

Philippians 1:1,2

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“Introducing The Philippians” • 3.2.14 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- The year is 62 A.D and Paul the Apostle is in prison. He is awaiting a trial before Caesar under house arrest in Rome.

- The wings have been clipped. The man has been grounded. There won't be any voyages or adventures any time soon.

- Paul could be moping around considering his own plight, but that is not the Apostle Paul. Unlike many of us, Paul focused not on the door God closed, but on the opportunity before him.

- No doubt, he would have wished for a fifth missionary journey to encourage the churches that he dearly loved. Being penned up, Paul penned up and wrote one of the church's finest treasures.

- We'll scratch at the surface today and look at the circumstances that brought the church of Philippi into existence.

Text

• Philippians 1:1,2 : "Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." : Paul and Timothy had formed a spiritual bond that was akin to a Father and Son relationship.

- Like Sosthenes to the Corinthians, Paul includes Timothy because both were integral in the initial formation of the church in Philippi. Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 14:21.

- The two initially met in Timothy's hometown of Lystra during Paul's first missionary journey. A crippled man who had been so since birth had been healed by God through Paul's hands.

- If Timothy had not been an eyewitness, he had heard about it first hand! In fact, it's very likely that the crippled man was known to him! When it happened, the miracle had an interesting affect.

- The Lystran's immediately began to ready themselves for a worship service, thinking that Paul and Barnabas were actually Zeus and Hermes incarnate!

- This feeling had been heightened by a local legend of a previous visit from these gods, which left the city with only one surviving couple after Zeus and Hermes were treated inhospitably.

 - Barnabas and Paul worked hard to convince them that they were not gods, but even with their best effort, the people were intent upon worshipping them.

- While this was taking place, a group of Jews that Paul had offended with the gospel in previous citiies, found their way into Lystra and stoned Paul, leaving him outside the city for dead!

- Paul got up and escaped to the next city. But that didn't stop him from returning to Lystra a short time after that.

• Acts 14:21-23 : "And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.' So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." : Timothy was in that crowd, freshly converted and powerfully inspired.

- Here's a man who had a near death experience in his town and he has returned to strengthen the souls of the disciples? Paul told them, "Don't be discouraged by what happened to me!"

- Timothy's introduction to Christianity was that tribulations were simply a part of entering into the Kingdom of God! Perhaps some of you can relate!

- Christ saved you and since then, your world has been shaken and turned upside down! That's normal Christianity!

- After this, Paul and Barnabas appointed leaders, older men, in leadership over the church, praying and fasting for God to give them wisdom as to who would be chosen.

- After having done all of that, Paul commended them to the Lord. "God, these are not MY converts. They are your kids! Protect them and grow them!"

- Four years later, Paul returned on his second missionary journey to Lystra. And look at what he discovered there in Acts 16.

• Acts 16:1a : "Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy" : Out of that earlier chaos, a church was founded and a disciple was grown.

- This is not a convert, but a student, an apprentice, a person with a heart to minister.

- A disciple is one who wants to participate with God in furthering His Kingdom because it has impacted them first! Timothy was a disciple. Would that be said of you?

- Are you one who wishes to see God use you for His Kingdom? I pray He would move upon your life in such a way that it would be true. What was Timothy's background?

• Acts 16:1b-3 : "the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek." : Timothy's family was an interesting collage of influences, his Mother being Jewish and his Father being Greek.

- Culturally alone, there are tremendous differences, primary among them are the views regarding deity. Jewish people are monotheistic, while the Greeks were polytheistic.

- Then you add Jesus into the mix, as Timothy's mother Eunice had come to trust in Jesus Christ, though she had always been a believer in God.

- Paul credits her and his Grandmother Lois in raising Timothy in the Word of God, "the genuine faith." (I Timothy 1:5)

- When Paul first came to town, it seems that Eunice had come to see the law and the prophets, the Jewish Old Testament, pointing to Jesus Christ and she believed!

- But his Father was Greek. At best, he was willing to relegate Jesus into some part of his personal pantheon, but it's more likely that he was simply an unbeliever.

- What a tremendous reminder of the power of a strong believing parent living in the home. Perhaps you are a single parent or in a mixed marriage. You might have a Timothy in your home!

- Never discount your influence! But certainly and gratefully, Eunice was not alone. Look at the next phrase. Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium.

- He had a good reputation. Let's face it: In those old days, you could not be known without showing your face often! There wasn't a spiritual Dad at home, but he found several at church!

- Timothy hung around at every study, put his hands toward setting up and tearing down, stood around after praying for people and receiving prayer from people.

- The fact that he was known in Iconium also shows that he likely traveled there on outings when the two churches would get together.

- I imagine Timothy being asked to open in prayer for the first time, or being called upon to read certain passages. Perhaps he even got a chance to teach every once in a while!

- Before long, a good report had developed and opened a door for him to be invited by Paul into ministry! When Paul circumcised Timothy, he was opening the door for him to go anywhere.

- These are our principle authors and though one was certainly heroic and other stood out from the pack in Lystra and Iconium, both affirm in the first verse that they are simply "bondservants."

- They were slaves of Jesus Christ! This was their boast, their greatest joy, simply to be owned by and employed in the service of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus!

- Remember that Paul and Timothy cooperated together and were quick to defer to the Lord's authority from the very beginning of this Epistle. Keep that in your mind.

- Timothy learned quickly with Paul that submission to God was non-negotiable. When he joined Paul, there had been a plan to head toward the east, beginning in Bythinia.

- The Bible records that God's Holy Spirit forbid them to go in that way. (Acts 16:7) It was God, not Paul and not Timothy who was in control of their trip. He set the agenda for them.

- That night of frustration ended with Paul receiving a dream in which a Macedonian man appeared asking for their help. The next morning the crew booked passage and came to Philippi!

- You'll note that our verse refers to all the saints in Philippi. The saints are people who have come to Christ, holy ones, who are set apart solely for God's use!

- When Paul and Timothy wrote this letter, there was a thriving church there in that city, but that was not the case when they initially came a decade or so earlier.

- Philippi was a Roman colony in Greece founded by Philip II and at Paul's time, came to be considered as "Mini Rome." Acts 16:12 identifies it as the "foremost city of that part of Macedonia."

- As such, it was a beneficiary of both Roman architecture and engineering. There was a large amphitheater and an important road which Paul traveled on called the "Egnatian Way."

- When Paul and Timothy came into Philippi, we find that they spent a week seeking out the local Jewish people. There wasn't a synagogue, but there was a prayer group down by the river.

• Acts 16:14,15 : "Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.' So she persuaded us." : Paul was no doubt looking to meet a few guys. What he found was an incredible woman that God planted there.

- Lydia was an entrepeneur, a peddler of purple dyes made popular in Thyatira, coveted by the rich and noble who arrayed themselves in this color almost exclusively.

- Because of it's labor intensive production, there was a premium to be paid. Consequently, Lydia was a rich woman, which only matters if the next phrase sits next to it: She worshiped God!

- She had come to believe in the God of the Hebrews, who she would approach on this Sabbath day down by the river. She had no idea what was going to happen to her when Paul arrived.

- The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul! What a wonderful thing!

- Paul is commanded to preach, just as you and I are, to every living creature, that Jesus Christ died for them, rose from the dead and has ascended to the Father.

- Those who trust Him will be saved from eternal damnation and saved for an eternity of awe and wonder at the love and grace of God!

- Paul spoke, but it was God who opened her heart! We need to preach and pray that the Lord would do the same in the lives of those we speak to! It's never just our words and arguments!

- There is a very necessary work that God must do on the other side as well!

- The glorious thing here is that Paul reached not just a woman, but an entire household that Paul's team would stay with while they were there!

- Lydia and her household were the first disciples converted, but they were not the last. The next Sabbath on the way to the river, Paul was confronted by a woman who was possessed.

- She kept following them around that week and had been proclaiming that they were "servants of the Most High God who proclaim to us the way of salvation." (Acts 16:17)

- Paul had had enough of her advertising and cast the demon out of her. Everyone should be happy right? This tormented woman is free from her demon.

- It turns out that her possession was another's source of income! Exploitation is the oldest game in the world! This poor girl suffered immeasurably at the hands of a master.

- Their only interest was in the money that she brought in! That incident stirred up a near riot and landed Paul and Silas in prison.

• Acts 16:25-28 : "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, 'Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.'" : The prison could not have been a pleasant place, but Paul and Slias had a reason to rejoice. They could pray and sing to a captive unbelieving audience all night long!

- The prisoners kept listening. They tried not to for a bit, but when they continued, they couldn't help but tune their ears to their voices.

- What a witness our lives can be when we are in similar dark places! Your joy and faithfulness to God often forces people to listen to you as well!

- But if that weren't enough to garner their attention, the earthquake that hit the area got their attention. The dramatic event shook the foundations and loosed the prisoners chains.

- In complete darkness, the keeper of the prison assumed the worst and thought immediately to kill himself, an action that any Roman soldier would take given the alternative!

- Roman soldiers who failed at their watch were executed. Suicide at that point might well have been a better option.

- Paul though, who kept things in perspective, yelled out to this man who had likely been less than cordial to him, to spare himself, as none had left the prison!

- Paul's concern was for more than this man's life. His hope was that he'd be changed for eternity! Look at what happened.

• Acts 16:29-31 : "Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" : The culmination of the evenings witness was seen in the desperation of the jailer. "Sirs." Such respect for these criminals!

- "What must I do to be saved!" This man's life had literally be spared. His world had come crashing down as he awakened to the dreaded reality of his fate.

- When that crisis was averted, he went to the only people that had been consistent and begged to know how to be saved! That's a powerful lesson for you and I.

- When the world comes crashing down around those that you love, that will be the time when all of that simple Christianity will present itself as a tenable option.

- "Maybe there is something in this Jesus stuff after all!" What a privilege it was for Paul to welcome this man into the Kingdom of God with this simple message!

- Believe, trust in, rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your full weight upon His Name, trusting in nothing else for your salvation.

- That's the proposition. That's what Paul and every Christian since has to offer. The Name above all Names, whose worth is beyond measure and whose blood is the only atoning sacrifice.

- Have you believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ? If you have you may know undoubtedly that you will be saved!

- You will be saved from the wrath of God which otherwise would be the deserving end of your and my offensive sinful existence.

- You will be saved from an eternity separated from God in an ever tormented state, having rejected God's only offer for life.

- You will be saved for an eternally perfect expression of all of God's rich love towards you in Christ and a righteous life within you that may reciprocate! What a joy! What could be better!?

- Paul tells him you will be saved and your household as well! I'm not sure that this was a promise as much as it was a prophetic word. He was declaring that this was going to happen for him.

- I wish that it were true that a person would see the salvation of his entire household if he would only believe. We know too many that have not seen this be the case.

- But here is this man whose family would come to the Lord and be saved.

• Acts 16:32-34 : "Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household." : What an amazing couple of hours that changed the destiny of this family! They cleaned Paul and Silas up and went straight for a baptism!

- Right there in the middle of the night! Immediately! There was no waiting! They wanted all of God right then and there! After his baptism, the Jailer fed them and rejoiced at what God had done!

- Their world was shaken, but their faith was firm and their destiny secure in Christ!

- He, his family, the formerly demon possessed girl and Lydia's household were the founders, the saints of the church of Philippi. This is letter is for them and the bishops and deacons.

- Bishops or Episkopos are overseers, people who are charged with the right ordering of things among a community. Deacons served in the more practical matters of church life.

- This word was also applied to a person who waited tables. They might not be in the boardroom, but nothing gets done without them!

- This group of people had become organized and had grown to the place where they needed spiritual administration.

- We'll close with what Paul closes his opening greeting with. Grace and peace. They typical greeting of the Greeks was "grace" while the typical greeting for the Jews was "peace."

- This undoubtedly meant that there were varying nations, a promise fulfilled in Christ, but was also the basis for their fellowship together.

- Both groups had been recipients of God's favor, unmerited, undeserved. And both could now rely on His peace because they had peace with Him! He had reconciled them to Himself.

Conclusion

- That grace and peace is for you as well! His favor toward you is unending. He peace is ever yours because the Jesus they worshipped is the same Jesus you and I worship!