Bible In A Year: The Book of Philippians

The book of Philippians calls believers to rejoice in Christ, remain united, and live worthy of the gospel. Writing from prison, Paul teaches that God can use every circumstance for the advance of the gospel. He points to the humility and obedience of Christ as the pattern for Christian living and encourages believers to be content in every situation through Christ’s strength. Philippians emphasizes joy, faithful endurance, and steadfast participation in the work of the gospel.

Transcript

Welcome And Series Orientation

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to Teach Me the Bible podcast. Our mission is to help the people of God understand the Word of God. Join us each Monday and Thursday for new episode releases. Listen to our full library of content at teachme the Bible.com or by downloading the Teach Me the Bible app from any app store. You're listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Well, hello, welcome back to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. I'm Alex Wolfe. I'm here with Dr. David Klingler, and we are uh you found yourself in the Story of the Bible in a year series. And so um we are uh way down the line in the New Testament. We're we're picking up in the book of Philippians today. Last week we did Ephesians. Um if this is your first time joining us, we'll continue to remind you. Or if you've been with us for a few weeks, again, we're gonna push you over and over again, go back to the beginning. Start in the beginning and follow the whole uh follow the whole story. There's no shame in uh being behind.

Dr. David Klingler 1:02

This will be it'll do you no good to start in the middle. That's right. Um it's amazing to me that we tell people the gospel, share the gospel, they become a believer, and then we hand the Bible instead of guiding them through the story, hand the Bible and say, good luck. Well, and they say, Well, where should we start? Well, I don't know. Uh start in the middle. Yeah, right. I was talking to one of our other professors and and he asked, uh he's teaching, you know, Bible study methods, you know, kind of the the core foundation

Why You Start At The Beginning

Dr. David Klingler 1:30

uh course. And um he he said, I'm I'm just just trying to figure out how to communicate to these students. And and so he said, I asked him, have any of you ever read a book? And you know, they all kind of looked at him like, is this a trick question? So they kind of timidly raised their hand. And and so, you know, one student was there and said, Well, what what do you what are you reading? And you know, and they said what uh they were reading, and he said, Well, where did you begin reading that that book? And and the person says, um, at uh the the beginning? And he goes, Exactly. Exactly, right. Yep. Um if we handed you any other book, you would just start at the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 2:09

Uh don't start watching the movie, you know, two-thirds of the way through, and then start asking everybody questions uh about what you know what's going on, or worse, telling everybody what you think's going on.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Right.

Dr. David Klingler 2:21

Right? You don't know. You hadn't seen the first two-thirds of the movie. So watch the first two-thirds of the movie and then you're informed on what so yeah, so start at the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

It's amazing, it's amazing how we kind of just repeat things we hear too, you know, is that everybody's like, oh, starting John. Yeah. Starting John, everybody says it, nobody knows why they're saying it's a good thing. Yeah, it's like it's like a pair. Right. Starting John.

Dr. David Klingler 2:42

Starting John. You know, or why? Starting John. We don't know why. Don't think about it. No, yeah. Uh so I always say this, and it sounds so ridiculous. But I've got to remind myself of this. Stories begin at the beginning, and stories go to the end.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

That's right.

Dr. David Klingler 3:03

And you're going, well, thank you for that. That's genius. No, it uh and and this is the most important, right? So so you got stories begin at the beginning, check, and stories go to the end of the story, check. What does the middle do? Well, the middle part of the story, the only thing the middle part of the story does. Every scene in the middle of the story is connecting the beginning of the story to the end of the story. Right.

Philippians In The Bible’s Big Story

Dr. David Klingler 3:28

Uh, and so what's Philippians doing? Well, Philippians is in the middle. What's going on in the middle of the story uh or towards the end of the story? Christ has come, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament has come. Israel, the one uh to whom the promised Messiah was promised, has rejected the Christ. And so now the gospel has gone to the Gentiles, specifically here to the Philippians. Now, uh, here's the problem. Uh, the the the the the Jews uh have adopted this theology that says, and it's the it's a pagan theology, it's a gentile theology that says, if you serve God, you will be blessed, right? Uh you can look at a person's circumstance and tell whether or not they're serving the Lord God of Israel. This sounds like Job's friends, right? Hey Job, you must have done something wrong. Well, what's Paul doing? Well, Paul's in prison, right? Paul writes this letter from prison. Um, and when uh the Philippians, they've been with him, they've been supporting him from the beginning, and we'll talk about this as we get into it. Uh, and so they send him a gift. It's carried by a guy named Epaphrodites. And Epaphrodides, this is over in chapter uh chapter two, verse 25. Uh, apparently he becomes sick as he carries this letter to Paul. And you can just hear the Jewish antagonist over there going, see, we told you. Look, anytime that you have anything to do with Paul, you know, people get sick, you know, Paul's in prison. That's just proof. God's giving you proof. And so Paul is concerned that the Philippians might be persuaded by such a line of thinking, uh, and that they would fall away from not following him. That's not his concern. He's not concerned about them following him. He is desperately concerned about them falling away from the gospel, rejecting the gospel, right? Uh, and so uh their participation in the gospel, that's what he's after. And so Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints who are in Christ Jesus, uh, who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons, and he's going to uh bring them into the loop in chapter four because there's this situation over here with Synthoche and Udia. Uh they they need to be they're having some disagreements, some divisions. We talked about this last week in Ephesians. Uh, and anytime there's divisions in the body, uh, it produces uh uh you know dissension and problems in the church. Uh grace to y'all and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of y'all, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for y'all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. Um verse here's what we struggle with in Philippians. Philippians has a bunch of verses that you're familiar with. One like, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 413. Um last week we made a big deal about pronouns. I'm gonna do the same thing this week, right? Yeah, that's good. Um there's the I, Paul, and there's the y'all, Philippians. Okay. Now, excuse me, no. I want you to notice that he doesn't say y'all can do all things through Christ who who strengthens y'all. If he wanted to say that the that the Philippians could do all things through Christ who strengthens them, he would have said, Y'all can do all things through Christ who strengthens. It's not what he says. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And we also toss uh talked last week about you know, apostles are, you know, kind of a different breed. They're a select breed, a gift to the church. So so I'm not immediately ready to jump in and say, well, whatever Paul can do, you know, I can do better. You know, whatever you can do, I can do better. You know, I can do everything better than you. No, that's not that's not how it works, right? Uh and so uh and in all that to say, here's a here's our first quote common verse, verse that you may have heard, you know, if you if you hold to some doctrine of progressive sanctification, this is probably a verse you've heard, right? For I am confident in this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus, right? So you cut that out of the context, right? Um and you make it about something it's not. Now, verse six it begins with a participle, it is a continuation of verse five.

unknown 7:58

Right?

Dr. David Klingler 7:59

So you cannot separate from verse five from verse six. And so what is the thing that is being perfected until the lay of for I'm confident of this, that he who began a good work in you, what is the good work? In view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now, and being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you, what's the good work that he began in them, their participation in the gospel from the first day until now? And he's going to return to this at the end of the letter that uh that um uh you've done well to share with me. For you yourselves know, Philippians, that at my first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account. For I've received everything in full, I have an abundance,

Partnership In The Gospel Clarifies 1:6

Dr. David Klingler 8:55

I'm amply supplied, right? Uh and so they have been participating with Paul in the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now, and he is convinced that they will continue to do that until the day of Christ Jesus. For it's only right for me to feel this way because I have you in my heart, since in my imprison and imprisonment and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, y'all were partakers of the grace with me. Right? Uh and so uh so so Paul's concern for them is that because of his circumstance, they would be led to not follow Paul and not participate in the gospel.

Prison Advances The Gospel

Dr. David Klingler 9:36

And so his circumstance is core of the issue. So he says, I'll have you know, brethren, my circumstance has turned out for the greater uh furtherance of the gospel, it's turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Well, well, Paul, you're in prison. Yeah, I'm in prison. Let me tell you something about what's going on in prison. In in my imprisonment, um uh uh uh uh Christ has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have more courage to speak the word of God without fear. What's he saying? Uh now uh let's jump to the end of the letter. Let me let me show you this because this is really I love this. Uh to our God the Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen. Every uh greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those with Caesar's household. He's oh they said, Hey, uh all the praetorian, all the Praetorian guards says hello. Uh I I'm not chained to them, they're chained to me, and I share with the gospel with them one after another, and and and to the point where the whole you know Caesar's households believe in the gospel, and people on the outside have more courage to share the gospel. And so explain to me again why this is such a bad deal. And and so uh, you know, so uh, you know, so they have more far more courage to speak uh the gospel without fear. Some are for sure, you know, speaking a preaching from envy and strife, but some are from goodwill. Uh so what's going on there? Uh it uh apparently some are you know preaching Christ, and and this is the problem. Uh there are the antagonists, the Jewish antagonists, the Jewish unbelievers, who are saying, look at Paul, uh, he's under a curse, right? Um and then there's Paul who's saying, no, this is just the reality of suffering for Christ, suffering for the gospel. There is a middle group, apparently, uh, who has believed in Christ, but they have also bought into this prosperity gospel. It says, if you serve Jesus, he will bless you now.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yes.

Dr. David Klingler 11:36

Uh, and so they're teaching, preaching from envy and strife, thinking that to cause Paul somehow that when they preach Christ and they're not in prison, they're they're somehow better than Paul, uh, and they're causing Paul to, you know, look, see, look, see what Paul's doing. Paul's over there in prison. Uh and Paul says, I don't care about that. Uh the only thing I care about is Christ is proclaimed. I wish that they would preach, you know, the gospel straight away. But Christ has proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. For I know that this will uh that that all this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer. So if I live on in the flesh, it means fruitful labor. If I die, I get to be with Christ, right? Uh, and I'd probably prefer to be with Christ, but it's more important for me to be with you, right? Uh, and so conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel. So that whether I come to see you uh or uh I I don't, I will know this that you are of one mind, striving together. There's that striving together, that in one body, uh in one spirit, one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but salvation for you. What's he talking about? Uh you know, I'm here in prison. They're claiming that you know, this is proof that I'm you know wrong, suffering, whatever, uh, under a curse of God. And when you're not alarmed at that, it it ought to concern. It it serves as an alarm to your opponents. They go, uh-oh. This doesn't concern them. Well what are they they really believe this stuff, you know, suffering for Christ and all that. And in in the the book of Philippians, suffering is uh is central, right? Uh and so Paul's saying, I suffer. The reason I suffer is because uh Christ suffered. Uh the reason I um lower myself, the reason uh that I uh do nothing from empty conceit or um uh you know, but but I do everything with humility of mind and regarding others as more important in my than myself. I I don't just look out for my personal interests, but I look out for the interests of the others, and that's what Christ did, right? And so have this attitude in yourself, which is also in Christ Jesus. Uh and so this is a pretty famous passage, this chapter two, it's

Preaching Motives And The Prosperity Lie

Dr. David Klingler 13:58

been debated uh in church history and theology. And in our debate, we missed the point. The point is that just as Christ did not regard equality with God something to be grasped or held on to, but he lowered himself, he humbled himself. How much did he humble himself? All the way down to death on a cross. Uh and so for this reason, God highly exalted him, so and given him a name which is above every name. And so follow Christ's model. That's what I'm doing, and this is what you should be doing, right? Uh, and so do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may prove yourself to be blameless and innocent, children of God, above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Now, this is the same language we saw all the way back in Deuteronomy chapter 32, the song of Moses, that Israel is going to reject the Lord, reject the rock of his salvation, for they are a crooked and perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. Uh, and so the great irony here is that the antagonists to Paul, to the gospel, and to their Christ are the Jews. Uh, and so uh Israel was to be the light of the world. Israel uh was uh they were called children of God, but now Paul is calling Gentiles children of God. You are children of God, that ought to make the Jewish antagonist mad, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights back to the Jews who rejected. This is exactly the Old Testament story, holding fast to the word of life, that in the day of Christ I may have cause uh to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. Uh and so uh he explained to them, so you know, follow Christ's model, follow my model, value people like Epaphrodides, value people like Timothy, who suffered for the gospel. Uh, and finally, brethren, uh beware of the Jews, beware of the dogs, beware of the false circumcision, for you are of the the true circumcision who worship God in the spirit and the glory uh in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. The Jews think they are justified because they are Jews, they think they're justified because they're circumcised, they think that they think that their DNA justifies them. I am a descendant of Abraham. I'm justified because of my DNA, circumcision in the flesh because I keep the law. And Paul says, put no confidence in the flesh. Uh the the Jews um are trying to get Gentile believers circumcised and forcing them or compelling them to keep the law. Paul says, Don't do it. There's no this is the book of Galatians we

Christ’s Humility Sets The Pattern

Dr. David Klingler 16:45

did a couple weeks ago. Uh don't do it. Put no confidence in the flesh. If anyone had a reason to put confidence in the flesh, that was me, right? I was the Pharisee of Pharisees. I knew it all, uh, taught it all, been there, done that, zeal, persecuted the church, all of it. I I was where they are, right? Um, but uh I call I I count it all as worthless, garbage, rubbish, probably a more um obscene word that Paul uses here, uh dung, um, that I may know him. Uh I'm that I, you know, I've suffered the loss of all things. I count it as rubbish, dung, that I may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, a self-righteousness which is no righteousness at all, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, be conformed to his death. Right? And so this is what he wants for them. He wants them to not be anxious about anything. Not don't be anxious about I'm in prison. Don't be anxious about your circumstance. Don't be uh, you know, Christ suffered, I suffered, you will suffer. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer. Right. So so don't be anxious about that. But instead, um set your mind on uh whatever is true and honorable and right, and uh whatever is pure and lovely, and whatever is of good repute, excellent. All of these things which you've uh let your mind dwell on those things, and those things you've seen in me, the things that you've uh these are the same things that you've learned and received and heard and seen in me. Do these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Uh and so he finishes his letter by saying, just as I uh I've rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Now at last you've revived your concern for me. You know, you had you were supporting me at the beginning, you were supporting me all the way through it. Then we hit this little glitch where I wasn't so sure you're with me, but now uh but now um you know Timothy has brought to back a good report. Uh and so great, this is wonderful. Um value people like Timothy, people like Paphrodides, follow my example, follow the Lord's example. Um you've done well to share in my affliction. Know this. I don't need your gift. And and this is the I can do all things through Christ who who strengthens me. Um know that that uh uh that that I don't need uh your your gift. Um I can do all things. I I've learned how to get along with humble means. I've learned how to get along in prosperity. I I I've learned the secret of being filled, the secret of going hungry, of having abundance and suffering need. Been there, done that, therefore I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. What does he mean by that? I've I can live with a lot, I can live with nothing, I can live with humble means, I can live with prosperity, uh, I can live being filled, I can live going hungry, uh, having abundance, suffering need. I can do it, been there, done that. That's not my concern. Nevertheless, you've done well to share with me in my affliction, and you yourselves know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving or receiving, but you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increase increases to your account. I've received everything in full, I have an abundance, I am amply supplied, having received from Apaphrodites what you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And may God uh supply all your needs according to the riches of his glory. All the saints greet you, greet the saints, all the saints greet you, all the praetorian guard, everyone

No Confidence In The Flesh

Dr. David Klingler 20:52

in Caesar's house says hello. Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you in your spirit. That's just good. That letter. And so, you know, um, Paul had concern for them. He was he's convinced that Hugh began a good work, their participation in the gospel, they will continue, they'll stay the course, they'll follow Christ's example of humility and sacrifice and suffering, Paul's example of humility, sacrifice, and suffering. Uh, the the example of Epaphrodides and Timothy, and he's uh convinced that they will do it as well. Yeah, and so he uh compels them to endure until the end. Yeah, uh and so great letter. So good.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

So at the heart of this letter is uh suffering in in your response to it, yeah. Really. Um which I think you know, we've we've kind of the last few weeks talked about these ideas and these theologies and doctrines that we've lost over time in the church. And I think that's another one, you know, that I don't I don't know the I don't know. I remember talking about suffering growing up in our response to the suffering in the church. Uh it's more like, um, I know the plans I have for you, the clergy, you know, you grow up.

Anxiety And A Mind Set On What’s True

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah, I can do all things price resting.

Dr. David Klingler 22:03

There's this uh story, and I tell this often. There was I was mentoring a kid, this is years ago, and he had this on his letter jacket, and he was amazing, you know, gifted, great running back. Yeah, all state. He had Philippians 413, Phil 413, his name, his name's Casey. I said, Hey Casey, what what's that Phil 413 thing? I said, Oh, that's Bible verse. I said, Really? What is it? I knew what it was. What what what is it? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I said, Really? Like what? And he I've shared this with you before. He gets this panic look, like, oh no, I haven't thought this through. Um well, uh he said, I I I don't know. I said, Well, Casey, how much you bench pressed? He said, Well, like 315. I don't know how much it was, as much. I said, That's pretty good. Uh how much you bench pressed with Christ who strengthened you? At least he was honest. He looks,

Rethinking “I Can Do All Things”

Dr. David Klingler 22:55

he says, he thought about it, he says, I guess about the same. Well, what does that mean? What can you do? I can do all things. No, you can't. You can't do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You can't fly. Uh Paul couldn't do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Right. He couldn't remove the thorn in his flesh. He, you know, um, there there was a bunch. So so all of these verses are always contextual, and so we must read them in context. And Paul is not saying in that y'all can do all things through Christ who strengthens y'all. Now, certainly, if they were of the mind of Christ, and if they followed Paul's example of suffering, then they could endure suffering as well. They could learn to get along with a lot, learn to get along with nothing. And being amply supplied, going with need, they could do all things through Christ who strengthens them. Now, uh back to that issue of suffering, which I think is is dead on. Um the reason we don't suffer for Christ is because we won't suffer for Christ. Now let me explain what I mean by that. If we would grasp and hold on to the to the concept that we are in Christ. The the body uh imagery, right? The body example. Um, you know, if you if you kick a chair and break your big toe, uh that doesn't just affect your big toe. Right. Every step you take, you have pain shooting throughout your whole body. And you seem to hit it on everything.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah, right.

Dr. David Klingler 24:37

Um, if you have lung cancer or liver cancer, your liver doesn't have cancer, you do. So we don't say, uh, well, my liver has cancer. No, no, no. You have cancer of the liver. All right, and the liver is where the problem is, and we need to address

We Do Not Suffer Because We Will Not

Dr. David Klingler 24:55

the problem. If one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. If one part of the body is diseased, the whole body is diseased. We're not willing to bear one another's burdens, pray for one another, build one another up, um, you know, encourage, you know, sacrifice for other members of the body. Now we're more than content for them to sacrifice for us. We're we're more than content to come to the gathering of the body to be served. But we don't want to serve others. Yeah, we don't want to serve the body of Christ. And the truth, if we were really true with ourselves, if we were really honest, we would say, and I think this is true of all of us, and I think this is our sinful nature, we would say, we don't have the mind of Christ. We don't follow Christ's example, we don't follow Paul's example, we want Christ to serve us, we don't want to serve Christ. We want the body of Christ to serve us, we don't want to serve the body of Christ. We want to go to church and be served, but we don't want to serve the gathering of the brethren. We don't want to serve during the week. We don't want to sacrifice, lay down our lives for the benefit and the building up of the body of Christ. We want others to do it for us, we don't want to do it for them. And so it's not that we don't suffer, it's that we won't suffer. We refuse to have the mind of Christ, we refuse to follow Paul's example in sacrificing our lives for the furtherance and the building up of the body of Christ. And so it's just that simple. I don't like that. I see that in myself, yeah um, and I certainly see it throughout the church, but it's it's very convicting. You know, so Paul's words, you know, when Paul says uh to the Philippians, and and you just think uh uh of this the things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, these things practice and the God of peace will be with you. Now, could we say that to our children, to others around us the things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Everything I see, everything I do every all the time, right? Right, wow, um, do these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Wow. That's powerful. That's powerful. So we ought to live our lives following Christ, following Paul as Paul followed Christ. Imitate me as I follow Christ. He's gonna tell the Corinthians, same thing. All right, so so we ought to be engaged in the same things. And if we do it, we'll suffer for it. It's just part and parcel of the of the deal.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Well,

Reflection And Resources To Keep Going

SPEAKER_02 27:46

good. I'm gonna leave it there for uh for all of our reflection. Yeah. Um, but I'll encourage you again, if if this is your first uh time or your first couple of times joining us, um, we want you to go back to the beginning. Uh join us in uh the whole story. Uh, but also hop on over to teachmethebible.com. There's all kinds of other resources for you as well, so you can dive deeper into some of the books, and and there's gonna be more resources added all the time. Um, this is totally free to you. We get nothing out of it, but we we get the opportunity to um to contribute to building up the body and so fast on what we've learned.

Dr. David Klingler 28:24

Absolutely. And so it's a great honor.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

Absolutely. So uh with that, we're gonna leave you for this week, but we will pick up next week in Colossians, and uh so we'll see you then.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

For more resources, visit teachmethebible.com or download our app from any app store. You can partner with Teach Me the Bible in helping the people of God understand the Word of God by subscribing and sharing with others. Thank you for listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast.