Class Notes, Phil 1:1-11

• Background (Constable, Philippians, 2010):
• Closer to a Roman military colony.  Enjoyed autonomous government, immunity from taxes, and treatment as if they lived in Italy (F. J. Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, eds., The Beginnings of Christianity. Part I: The Acts of the Apostles, 4:187-90.)
• First city in Europe that Paul preached in after crossing the Aegean Sea
• Acts 16:15 first converts were Lydia and the Philippian jailer (~AD 50)
• Luke may have stayed in Philippi to establish the new believers since he drops the use of the pronoun "we" in Acts 17:1-20:4
• Paul visits again in AD57 during third missionary journey
• Paul is a prisoner (1:7,13,16). References to palace guard (1:13) and Caesar's household (4:22) suggest Rome as the point of origin (prob AD 60-62)
• Purpose
• Reassurance of his condition
• Buildup of Epaphroditus (maybe he was perceived to not be on the same level as Luke)
• Thank you note
• Deal with the reconcilement of two women in the body
• Uniqueness
• Lacks theological argumentation
• No rebukes
• Emphasis on living joyfully in spite of circumstances
Phil 1:1-2 (NIV) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, // To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:  // 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Very typical Greco-Roman threefold salutation: The Writer, to the Addressee, and the Greetings.  Oftentimes a wish or prayer for the health or well being of the addressee would follow (Gordon D. Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians, p. 37)
• Paul is the author.  Timothy is most likely the scribe
• They call themselves servants or bond-servants
• "Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord's slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with
famous OT personalities . . ." (NET Bible Note on 1:1)
• Who are the addressees and how are they described
• The saints in Christ Jesus (saints are clearly referring to others besides the leaders, and not to spiritual giants)
• The overseers and deacons (this is descriptive, not prescriptive, but nowhere in the NT do we not see a plurality of leadership -- never one person heading up the church)
• The greeting is a variation on the typical salutation.  Charis (grace) is used instead of chairein (meaning greetings)
• Num 6:24-26 (NIV) "The Lord bless you // and keep you;  // 25 the Lord make his face shine upon you // and be gracious to you; // 26 the Lord turn his face toward you // and give you peace." '
Phil 1:3-6 (NIV) I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
• First of all there is a lot we can learn from the pattern of prayer we see of the apostles.  What do you notice in this passage?
• Thankfulness
• Focus on spiritual needs and growth, and not material or health concerns
• Why was Paul thankful? Their partnership in the gospel
• What was their partnership in the gospel?
• Probably threefold: One, they were witnessing within their own city and region
• Secondly, they had just sent a gift
• Phil 4:10-11 (NIV) I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
• Phil 4:14-18 (NIV) Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
• 2 Cor 11:9 (NIV) And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
• Third, they provided hospitality
• Acts 16:15 (NIV) When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
• Acts 16:32-34 (NIV) Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family.
• In light of their financial support in his ministry,  how might we understand verse 6?
• The good work, was their financial support of Paul's ministry and their partnership in the gospel
• Phil 1:3-6 (Wuest NT) I am constantly thanking my God for my whole remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making supplication for all of you with joy. I am thanking my God constantly for your joint-participation [with me] in the furtherance of the good news from the first day [when Lydia opened her home for the preaching of the Word] until this particular moment [as characterized by the gift which you have sent], having come to this settled and firm persuasion concerning this very thing, namely, that He who began in you a work which is good [their financial support of Paul] will bring it to a successful conclusion right up to the day of Christ Jesus.
• APPLICATION: Giving to missionaries, especially individually or people you know, captures your heart in a very special way.  You become partners with them in the gospel.  We don't give so that we are rid of our responsibility to take the gospel to the whole world, but it is a commendable practice.  In this case, giving was key to Paul's ministry
Phil 1:7-8 (NIV) It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
• Why is Paul so confident about them?
• Because they have taken a personal interest in the gospel
• They are joint partners with Paul's ministry.  They are sharing in the ministry
• Paul loves them deeply, and it must fill his heart with joy to see them giving and supporting his work.  It testifies that the gospel is established in their hearts
• APPLICATION: How a person uses his money is one of the best measures of a person's spirituality
• Jesus said that a person cannot love God and money at the same time
Phil 1:9-11 (NIV) And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
• What does Paul specifically pray for these believers that are doing well, and that he loves so much?  These are maturing believers, true disciples of Christ Jesus
• Number one thing is love to abound more and more (giving is one way we express our love; not giving is one way we show our selfishness)
• But the love has to abound in a certain way …
• In knowledge (God's word)
• And depth of insight (not a surface understanding of God's word but a studied understanding)
• And the purpose …
• Discernment of what is best
• The enemy of the best is good or good enough
• Pure (holy life in our actions and  thoughts)
• Blameless (never bring shame to the gospel)
• Our witness is so key
• We are here to bring glory to God, and if we fail in that as believers, why does he need to keep us here (that is part of the message of Hebrews)
• "Aproskopos has to do with being 'blameless' in the sense
of 'not offending' or not causing someone else to
stumble." (Fee. p. 102)
• "There are people who are themselves faultless, but who
are so hard and harsh and austere that they in the end drive
people away from Christianity. There are people who are
good, but they are so critical of others that they repel other
people from goodness. The Christian is himself pure, but
his love and his gentleness are such that he attracts others
to the Christian way and never repels them from it." (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians, pp. 23-24.)
• And the result ...
• Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
• I think this is the Holy Spirit, and really is the only way to live a pure and blameless life
• To the glory and praise of God
• Phil 1:9-11 (Wuest NT) And this is the constant purport of my definite petitions, namely, that your love [divine and self-sacrificial in its nature as ministered to you by the Holy Spirit] yet more and more might overflow, but at the same time be kept within the guiding limitations of an accurate knowledge [of God's word] gained by experience, and those [guiding limitations] of every kind of sensitive moral and ethical tact, so that you may after putting them to the test [of God's word] recognize the true value of the finer distinctions involved in Christian conduct and thus sanction them, in order that you might be unadulterated [by evil] and thus pure and not a stumbling block in view of the day of Christ, having been filled full with the fruit of righteousness and continue in that condition of fullness, which fruit is through Jesus Christ, resulting in the glory and praise of God.