Pastor: Well, this morning we start a new book. We have finished our time in Malachi, so we're going to move back into the New Testament, and we are going to be looking at the book of Philippians. Before Malachi, we were in Acts, and as Paul not only did his mission trips, but he would sometimes revisit those churches that he had planted, and in some way we are doing just that. We went through Acts, and now we are going to revisit one of the churches Paul has planted in Philippians. I would encourage you, if you have a copy of the scriptures, to turn with me and follow along. I'll be looking at verses one through two. If you don't know where Philippians is at, it's on page 980 of the Church Bible. If you didn't bring a Bible, well, there's one right in front of you. It's page 980. Before we read the first two verses. Let's go again to the Lord in prayer.
Pastor: Let's pray.
Pastor: Our heavenly Father, we thank you that you are good, that you are our Father, Lord. We thank you that you are not silent, but that you speak, Lord. That we know the heavens are declaring your glory, creation is declaring your power, your your goodness, your perfect providence, Lord. As we come to your word, we are. It is proclaimed Christ crucified for sinners. Lord, I do pray that you would soften our heart and hearts, that we might receive and rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ, unstop our deaf ears, open up our blind eyes. Lord, we thank you that your word is active and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. And so, Lord, I pray that as a master surgeon, the word would go and have its work in our hearts, cutting and sanctifying us, removing the things that are not yet fit for heaven. Make us more like Jesus, Lord. Make Christ known today. Lift His name up high, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Pastor: People, God, hear God's word for us this morning from Philippians chapter 1, verses 1 through 2.
Pastor: [1] Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers
and deacons: [2] Grace to you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
and deacons: He who has ears, let him hear the word of God. Please be seated. We are beginning a book in the Bible that is probably most famous for the theme of joy. Philippians is often called the book of joy. It's one of the most joyful books in all of the Bible. And maybe you can think about a time in your life when you experience joy. Just take a moment and think: When was I last full of much joy? And then we come to our text, and we must be thinking, what is Paul experiencing in his life right now that is bringing him so much joy? It is bubbling off of him.
and deacons: But as we will come to see, and we'll look at the background a little bit here of Philippians in a moment. Paul is not in good circumstances. Paul finds himself probably in the worst circumstances someone can find themselves. He is imprisoned again in Rome. He has been beaten, and he doesn't know what the future holds for him. He doesn't know if he will wake up and on that day they will put him to death and execute him.
and deacons: History would tell us that it is there in Rome where Paul will lose his life, and he will be martyred for his faith in Christ. So how can a man whose circumstances are so awful and so terrible be filled with so much joy? How? Well, I think that answer is really what this book is all about. Paul has something, or we should say, someone, that his circumstances cannot shake from him, cannot take from him. He has Christ. If our joy simply depends on. When getting what we want in life, we will constantly rise and fall with whatever circumstances are happening in life. When life is good, you're good; things are great. When life falls apart, well, then you fall apart. But what happens when your joy is rooted to something that suffering and even death cannot take away from you. What happens when you lose your freedom, but you still have Christ?
and deacons: What happens when you lose all of your worldly possessions, but you still possess Christ? What happens when you lose the future that you had planned, but you still have Christ? Even when you lose your life, but you still have Christ. Paul will eventually put it into an extraordinary sentence here in Philippians. He will say, "For me to live is Christ, and the die is gain. Paul begins showing us that before he even gets through this greeting, because if you look at the first two verses, what we're going to just consider this morning, Jesus has already been mentioned three times in two verses, you see that servants of Christ, saints in Christ Jesus, grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is reminding not only the saints in Philippi, but he's also reminding us who we are in Christ. Paul can't even say hello without talking about Jesus, because Jesus merely isn't one important aspect of Paul's life. Jesus is life, and that's what I want us to see as we begin this new series. Philippians is certainly a book about joy, but joy isn't the center of Philippians.
and deacons: Christ is, and that's why Paul is bubbling and overflowing with joy because he has the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before we get into the first verse again, let us remind ourselves a bit about some background of Philippians.
and deacons: If you want to read more about this, just turn back to Acts chapter 16, where we have Paul's visit to the church there in Philippi. It's remembering that that Paul isn't writing to strangers; he knows this church.
and deacons: He knows them well. About 10 years earlier, Paul was in Philippi. So this letter is written 10 years after his his visit there, it was his second missionary journey, and Paul had plans. If you remember this, Paul had plans not to go to Philippi, but plans to go to Asia, and it was missionary plans, good plans. He wanted to preach Christ in Asia, but you might remember that God said no.
and deacons: Well, Paul then tries another way, and we're told that the spirit of Jesus prevents him from going to Asia. And then Paul is given a vision. A man of Macedonia is pleading with him,"Come over to Macedonia and help us. So Paul goes, and if I'm Paul and I have good desires to preach Christ in Asia, but God not once but twice redirects me to go over to this Macedonian city called Philippi, I'm expecting great things from God.
and deacons: God must be doing something wonderful and something great. I bet when I show up at Philippi, there's going to be people begging to hear the word, begging to hear about Jesus. So Paul shows up at Philippi, and there's nobody, no one there is pining to hear the word. There aren't even enough Jewish men to have a synagogue. Remember that was Paul. That was Paul's like regular place to go because at least there's some common ground they can talk about the scriptures and how all the Old Testament was pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's not even a synagogue for Paul to show up and start preaching at, so he hears that there's some women who are just going to be praying down by the river, and he goes and he starts preaching to them, and there he meets one woman in particular, Lydia.
and deacons: She's a successful businesswoman, and Paul preaches. And Acts tells us the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul said. And you notice too, is not even all the women believe. Only one single woman. Has heard the gospel and accepted it, and now Paul is wandering around, and there's a slave girl. She is in spiritual bondage as well as physical bondage. She is owned by some men who are using her demon possession is some part to make a profit from her. She is being used and abused for profit. And Paul, by the power of Christ, she is set free.
and deacons: Christ sets her free, and the people do not rejoice. They get terribly upset at Paul and who was also with Silas at the time, and they both Paul and Silas, you might remember, are beaten up. They are thrown in prison, and at midnight, their backs are bleeding. They are in the stocks. They are in chains.
and deacons: And what is Paul and Silas doing? Singing. They are singing the praises of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then something else
happens there at midnight: a great earthquake. The doors open. Chains fall off. The jailer thinks the prisoners have escaped, and he is ready to kill himself. Paul says, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.
happens there at midnight: The jailer comes and falls down at the feet of Paul and says,"What must I do to be saved? And Paul says, "Believe, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. And there, God works in this jailer's heart.
happens there at midnight: And so you think about the very beginnings of this church. It's it's an eclectic group of people. You have this successful businesswoman. Then you have this former slave girl who who society had used and really discarded, and then you had this hardened kind of crusty old jailer, and that's the beginning of the church in Philippi. These are quite the characters. These aren't people that would naturally come together. They don't have the same social classes, they don't have the same backgrounds, they don't have the same life experiences.
happens there at midnight: So what bonds them and holds them together is Christ. Christ has built His church. Think about that. Paul, God had Paul go from Asia all the way to Philippi, that Lydia, that the slave girl, that the jailer might know and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and so that you might believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the word is proclaimed to you. Christ opened Lydia's eyes and heart. Christ liberated that slave girl, and Christ set that jailer free.
happens there at midnight: Christ is building His church.
happens there at midnight: She is living and active.
happens there at midnight: Remember Acts. Remember the real title of Acts, the title I gave it, the continuing acts of Jesus by the power of His Spirit through His apostles. That Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned, and He is living, and He is working, and He is still now. Yes, today building His church, and then 10 years have passed since that time in Philippi, and Paul is back in prison, now in Rome. The little church has grown. The church in Philippi, Paul has continued to love. They have supported Paul financially in his mission work, even though the church in Philippi doesn't have much. They have contributed to Paul's work.
happens there at midnight: They have partnered with him in the gospel, and Paul has a great love for this congregation. But as we'll see too, there are some cracks beginning to appear.
happens there at midnight: There's selfish ambition, pride, disagreement, the subtle self-centeredness that is threatening the unity of the church. And so, what is Paul's answer? Christ. You need humility. Look at Jesus. You need to be servants of one another. Look at Jesus who serve. Remember who you are. You who are servants of Christ, saints in Christ, and that you have received grace and peace from Christ. And those are the three things I just want to look at briefly this morning: are the words of Christ, or is the the ways Christ is used here in just these first two verses, servants of Jesus Christ. Let's first begin with that. Paul begins the letter by identifying himself.
happens there at midnight: Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. Timothy wasn't merely Paul's secretary in in how. With this letter, Paul Timothy was Paul's coworker. He was a spiritual son in the faith. Timothy had served alongside with Paul in the work of the Gospels, and the church there in Philippi knew Timothy.
happens there at midnight: In fact, later in this letter, Paul will tell them that he hopes to send Timothy to them.
happens there at midnight: And listen how Paul describes
Timothy: I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. Timothy is someone also who loved the church in Philippi and who's expecting to kind of show up in the not too distant future and minister and care for them. Paul trusts Timothy. He loves Timothy, and he wants the Philippians to receive Timothy as his trusted representative.
Timothy: But notice what Paul does here at the very beginning. Paul is the apostle. Timothy is not.
Timothy: Paul has that authority that has been granted to him by Christ in a very special and particular way that Timothy doesn't have, yet Paul puts their names beside one another and gives them the exact same title: servants of Christ Jesus.
Timothy: Because whatever your office is, whatever your gifts are, whatever authority Christ has given, there is only one master.
Timothy: It's not a bishop. It's not a pastor. It is Christ. He is the one master. He is the one head of His church. Pastors and servant are servants. Elders are servants. Deacons. our servants, missionaries, our servants. We are all servants of Christ Jesus, and the word Paul uses here is actually a stronger word than our English word "servant.
Timothy: Sometimes sounds the word is"doulos, and and some of you know that word can be translated"slave, and I think that might be better of translation here to say he's a slave of Christ because what Paul is saying here is that I am actually owned by another. I belong to Jesus Christ. My life ultimately does not belong to me. I am a slave of Christ. He owns me, and it's interesting because right now, Paul's in prison. Rome is saying Paul belongs to us. Paul's future is in our hands, but Paul is saying no, no, no. I belong to Christ. My life and my death are in his hands. Remember too, this is not just Paul's identity. This is yours. Is Jesus Lord? Is He King? Then you are His servants. You are His slaves. And even if you said no, it doesn't make any difference.
Timothy: Jesus still is Lord. He is still King. No matter what you say, He still reigns. He still sits on His throne. Christianity is not going about your own business.
Timothy: And whenever you need something, then I'm going to call upon Jesus because I know He's available. He's a helpful friend. No, you are not your own, but you have been bought with a price. Everyone, in fact, has a master. Everyone serves something or someone. If you serve success, well, then your worth will rise according to your accomplishments or fall. If you serve money, you will never be content. Just a little bit more. If your master is to serve other people, you will be terrified when you disappoint them. Every master, other than Jesus, will take from you. Will use you, will abuse you. But Jesus is the master who was abused, that his servants might be blessed, might have life.
Timothy: Philippians two will tell us Jesus Christ, who though he was in the form of God, emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant. The Lord of glory became obedient to death, even death on a cross, so that you might have life and peace and blessing. Why would we not want a master like that? That is where true Christian freedom is found-not in saying nobody owns me and I can do whatever I want, but true freedom is found in saying, "I belong to Christ.
Timothy: What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to.
Timothy: My faithful Savior Jesus Christ, He has fully paid for all of my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. You belong to Christ.
Timothy: We don't merely belong to Him, though. We there's even something more substantial and more significant that Paul mentions next to all the saints who are in Christ, saints first.
Timothy: Saints. Well, what do we think about when we hear this word?
Timothy: Often, we might think about Saint Patrick, Saint Nicholas, and you think about people who did extraordinary things, who were just really good people.
Timothy: However, the Bible never uses the word saints in that way as extraordinary, good or obedient people. Saints is used generally of all Christians. You are a saint. Certainly, my wife is right. But you, who are all in Christ, are all saints. And what does that mean? Well, it means that you are holy, you are set apart for God, and that should
make us ask the question: How?
make us ask the question: How am I holy? Me? How? How is that possible? How can Paul called ordinary sinners holy saints. Well, the answer comes in the next word, saints in Christ.
make us ask the question: We are saints in Christ, and that describes one of the greatest realities of our salvation: your union with the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, the Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ so completely, so fully that what Christ accomplished becomes ours. We are found in Him, united with Him, His righteousness is our righteousness. His death is our death. His standing before the Father becomes our standing.
make us ask the question: That now God is no longer simply just our God and Creator, but now our very Father, Christ, is holy. And now you who are in Christ, you too are holy because of Christ. Saints in Christ Jesus, who are at Philippi, at Philippi, they are in Christ, and the the order matters here.
make us ask the question: These are people simply living in a city in Philippi. We are people simply living in a city in Tampa, but our ultimate citizenship is not here. It's in heaven. Our citizenship is above. We just happen to be in Tampa now for a little while. We are vapors. We are here, and then we are gone. And our citizenship is above. We are pilgrims passing through. Our identity is Christ. These things that bond this eclectic group together-they they are all in Christ, and that's going to become important as this letter progresses, because there's going to be signs of disunity.
make us ask the question: Paul will eventually tell them,"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. And also, too, be thankful that Paul isn't preaching to you, because he would call you out by name, as he does two women in the congregation of Philippi. He will call them out as names and says, "Get together, and forgive one another, have unity in Christ. What's the answer to church division? It's not ultimately that we become alike, but it's remembering we are all in Christ. Paul mentions here also the overseers and the deacons as a reminder: Christ hasn't merely saved individuals, but has brought them together in a congregation, in a church, with its officers of elders and and deacons, elders to to oversee and to shepherd the congregation, and and deacons to show the compassion of Christ and and works of mercy. And then verse two, we made it through verse one. Verse two now. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A third time Jesus's name is being used. Grace and peace, and again the order matters here, is because grace always comes first. Peace is the fruit of. Grace, grace is God's unmerited, undeserved favor towards sinners. Grace means we aren't saved because we are worthy or good. Grace is God giving to us what we could never earn. God gives us faith. Faith is a saving grace. God gives us repentance. Repentance is a saving grace. God justifies us.
make us ask the question: It is an act of God's grace. God sanctifies us. It is a work of God's grace, and you see, it's grace upon grace upon grace to God's people, and it is that grace alone that produces peace.
make us ask the question: First and foremost, with God, our greatest problem is that that sin has made us enemies before God, and something has to be done about that hostility.
make us ask the question: Justice must be satisfied, and at the cross Christ did exactly that. He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might have the righteousness of Christ. He bore the judgment. He satisfied divine justice on our behalf, and therefore Paul can say in Romans, since we have been justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, grace that God gives that results in peace. And once we have peace with God, that peace overflows in the other areas of our life-a peace of conscience and peace with ourselves, but also peace with one another. How can I refuse to forgive you if Christ has forgiven me such a great debt?
make us ask the question: And what is the source of this grace and peace? Well, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy God we have sinned against is now our Abba Father. Through Christ, we aren't merely pardoned criminals, as Malachi told us, we are treasured possessions. We are God's children, not kept at arm's length.
make us ask the question: We are adopted and brought into the family, and Jesus there stands alongside with God the Father as God the Son, and is the source of that very divine blessing that you and I receive, and now look at the greeting once more. One more time, servants of Christ Jesus, that is, you belong to Christ Jesus.
make us ask the question: Saints in Christ Jesus, you are found in Christ Jesus, and grace and peace from our Lord Jesus.
make us ask the question: Everything that you need, it comes from Christ, And that is why Paul, a man who is sitting in prison, can write a letter overflowing with much joy, because nothing in all of creation is going to separate him from his Savior, his Christ.
make us ask the question: Rome can take Paul's freedom.
make us ask the question: Rome can take his comfort. Rome can take his possessions. Rome can even take his life, but Rome cannot take Christ. And I think that's where I want us to begin as we venture further into Philippians next week. We're going to talk about joy. We're going to talk about suffering.
make us ask the question: We're going to talk about unity and humility, contentment, missions, life and death, but Paul is going to keep bringing us back to the same place, Jesus. Remember Jesus. Remember Jesus. Christianity is not a program of self-improvement.
make us ask the question: Christianity is not a collection of moral principles to make your life a better life, Christianity is Christ. Paul can't even say hello here without talking about Christ three times over. For me to live is Christ, and I think that is maybe the pressing question too: is Will we be able to say the same week after week?
make us ask the question: Will I be able to say the same?
make us ask the question: For me to live is Christ, and this is Paul's call for us to be who we are. You who are servants of Christ, you who have received the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you who are in Christ, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and rest upon Him.
make us ask the question: Let's pray, Our heavenly Father. We thank you for giving us Your Word, Lord. We thank you for Jesus. I pray that you'll help us to better understand our Lord, to better understand who we are in Christ, to be grateful for that, to be thankful, Lord. Let us not forget our identity, Lord. I pray that you will help us to help our lives to be one that is devoted to you and all that we do and think. Say, it is done for Christ, but Lord, when we fail, we thank you for your grace, your grace upon grace that is ours in Christ, and because of that, we can have peace, even in our failures, because our salvation doesn't depend on our works, but it depends on the saving grace of Christ. Lord, we thank you for giving us your word, and I pray that you will bless us now as we continue to meditate and think upon these things. Let let the seeds of the word sow deep into our hearts, and Lord, I ask that by the power of your Spirit it would bear much fruit. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.