Turn with me if you would back
to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1. I want to give an intro to the
book of Philippians. That's what I want to do tonight.
I've been searching for a book for us to go through on Wednesday
nights ever since we finished Acts about a month or so ago.
And if the Lord would have us to go through Philippians, that
would be great. And if the Lord does not have
us go through Philippians, that'll be great. Whatever he purposes
to do. But either way, our title tonight
is an Intro to Philippians. So let's begin with the heading. The heading of this book says,
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians. He's writing
to all the saints that are in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi. This town, this city, Philippi. Philippi was the chief city in
a region called Macedonia, this large area called Macedonia. And Paul had traveled through
Macedonia and he brought the gospel to these people. God brought
the gospel to these people through the apostle Paul. And not only did they fall in
love with Christ and however long the Lord would have me to
be here, however long he would have this ministry to continue
and have me to preach here. In that amount of time, this
is what I pray the Lord will allow me to make crystal, crystal
clear. If one thing can be said about
this ministry, it's that we stressed the fact that the gospel is a
person. The gospel is a person. It's
not a mindset that you get right or wrong. It is not a doctrine. The gospel is a person. And Paul came through Macedonia
preaching the person. That's what he was doing. He
was preaching the person. Preaching the gospel. And these
people right here in Philippi, they fell in love with the person. They fell in love with Christ. And they fell in love with the
message of Christ, the actual preaching of the gospel itself.
But not only did they fall in love with Christ and his gospel,
they fell in love with Paul. And I understand their love and
their affection. I really do. Do we not love the
man? Are we not so thankful to God
for the man that he used to bring the gospel to us? I am. When I say the name Tom
Harding, does that mean anything to anybody here? Do you not love that man? Are
you not so thankful to God that that man would drive here every
Sunday night for six years? You know, you went through it
and you were going through it, but looking back on it, he came
every Sunday night for six years. It takes God to make a man do
that. Four hours after he'd already
preached all day. The scripture says, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. And it's true. I don't speak
on my own behalf, but boy, I sure thank God for the feet that brought
the man to me. I really do. But through the
gospel being preached, grace poured into Philippi through
this wonderful message being preached. Grace poured into Philippi
and grace poured back out of Philippi. That congregation of
believers, this congregation, the Philippians, They were a
congregation that was very giving, very loving. They were a very
generous congregation of believers. They were not a rich congregation
by any means. Not at all, but that did not
stop them from being extremely generous. And they were a real
example for us to follow, for everybody to follow. This is
a beautiful, beautiful congregation of believers. Look back with
me a few books to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1, Paul is writing to the
Corinthians, he says, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, we
want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches
of Macedonia. And Philippi was the chief city
of Macedonia. Verse 2, he said, how that in
great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy, they
were in the middle of great trial of affliction, but buddy, they
were a happy people. The abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty, he didn't say they were in poverty, he
said their deep poverty. abounded unto the riches of their
liberality, their generosity, their giving. For to their power,
to their ability, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power,
they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty
that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship
of the ministering to the saints. He said they were poor. They
were poor. And we were trying to tell them
it would be okay. But they were insistent. They were just insistent. You
give this to our brethren. You're traveling on down the
road now to our brethren. And you take this. No, you take
this. And you give this to our brethren.
We want them to have it. God has been so good to us. And because of that, We want
to be good to them. I love that. I just love that. I love that heart. That's the
heart that God puts in a believer. Well, Paul is writing this letter
to the Philippians to thank them for once again being so generous
to him. That's why he's writing the letter.
They were doing it all over again. They were just doing what they
do. Look with me at Philippians chapter
4. This is toward the end of his
letter to them. Philippians 4 verse 18, he said, But I have
all, I have received all, and abound. He said, I am full, having
received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you,
an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to
God. He said, you've been too kind
to me. You're just, all these things, everything you sent,
I've received them. I got them from Epaphroditus.
Epaphroditus was the pastor that God raised up to the Philippians.
He was the pastor of Philippi. And when the Philippians heard
that Paul had been cast into prison in Rome, it broke their
hearts. It would be just like us finding
out that Brother Tom went down to preach for the brethren in
Mexico, and the Mexican government laid hold of him and cast him
into a Mexican prison. And now they've moved him all
the way down to Mexico City and the conditions are horrible.
They're just horrible. So the brethren there at Philippi,
they asked their pastor, they were so poor they couldn't travel.
So they asked their pastor Epaphroditus, would you take some things for
us to our brother Paul so that he knows we're thinking about
him and he knows we love him and he knows we're praying for
him. We're going to round up some things and send a care package,
and I can just see all the ladies in Philippi getting together
and heading this thing up, just like you ladies do. Some of them
said, I've got some cloth material, and I'm going to quilt him a
blanket. I would imagine that cell is
damp, dark, moldy, cold, He needs a blanket. Somebody said, I've
got yarn. I'm going to knit him a scarf.
I'm going to make him a cap for his head. Somebody said, I've got some
extra shoes I can do without. Somebody said, I've got a coat.
Somebody said, I'm going to bake him some bread. If I bake bread,
would you send it to him? Somebody said, I don't have any
of those things, but I'm going to write him a letter. Somebody
said, I have some extra stationery that I'm going to send. He may
need to write some letters to other people while he's in that
prison cell in Rome. He might need to write the Corinthians.
He might need to write the Galatians. He might need to write Philemon. So they rounded up this gift
of liberality and they sent it with their pastor to Rome. And
along the way, their pastor got very Sick. Very sick. Look with me at chapter 2, verse
25. Chapter 2, verse 25. Yet I supposed
it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor
and fellow soldier, but your messenger He's your pastor. He's the man that God sent to
deliver his message to you. And he that ministered to my
wants, for he longed after you all. That man missed you. That
man loves you. And was full of heaviness because
that you had heard that he had been sick. He got news that you
all found out how sick he was, and that he just hated that for
you. Verse 27, for indeed he was sick, nigh unto death, but
God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also,
lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Paul said, after all
of your love and your generosity, sending your own pastor to me,
he said, if he would have died along the way, If you would have
lost him because of your generosity to me, I just don't think I could
bear that. I just don't think I could bear
that. So he said God was merciful not only to him but to me. It
would have been sorrow upon sorrow for me. So he said in verse 28,
I sent him therefore the more carefully. Paul here, he wrote
this letter back to the Philippians and he's sending it back with
Epaphroditus. And he said, I'm not going to
be able to rest easy until I know he made it back to you safely.
Verse 28, I sent him therefore the more carefully that when
you see him again, you may rejoice and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold
such in reputation, because for the work of Christ he was nigh
unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of
service. toward me. That does not mean
that they did not serve him. Not at all. The whole reason
Epaphroditus win is because they had a heart to serve Paul. It
means they couldn't. They couldn't come. They were
too poor. So Epaphroditus did for them
what they could not do themselves. And that's a picture of Christ,
isn't it? He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
But it's pretty easy to see why Paul loves this congregation
so much, isn't it? It is very easy to see. I love
them. Seeing this, I love them. They
are lovable. But I will tell you this, and
I mean this, I don't see one ounce of difference in the saints
at Philippi and the saints at Kingsport. Not one ounce of difference. And the same applies for the
saints that are in Pikeville, and the saints that are in Crossville,
and the saints that are in Rocky Mount, and the saints that are
in Fairmont. God's people are lovable. They're
lovable. They're unlovely in and of themselves,
but Christ is in them. And he does something in the
hearts of his people that is lovely, very lovely. So everything that Paul has to
say to the Philippians, I have to say to you. I have to say
this to you. Alright, now go with me to chapter
1. Philippians 1 verse 1 says, Paul
and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints
in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and
deacons, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Was Paul writing to every single
person in Philippi? Nope. He was writing to the saints. He was writing to the saints.
This message, this gospel message is a particular message to a
particular people. Do you know that? Do you know
that this book was not written to every soul on earth? There
is damnation for every soul on this earth. But this gospel is
a particular message written to particular people. The saints. The saints. Now does this word
right here not say that all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God? Doesn't it say that? All have sinned. Everybody. Every soul. There is none good. No, not one. Isn't that what
it says? Then what makes a sinner a saint? If that's the case, what makes
a sinner a saint? Verse one says, Paul and Timotheus,
the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus. The only hope that a sinner has
is being found in Christ Jesus. That's it. The only hope that
a sinner has is being found in his love. You know, when God
opens our eyes and He reveals everything to us and we come
out of the end of this thing in awe, usually you will hear
a believer say, why me? Usually. Knowing now what I am. Seeing I'm no better and no different
than anybody else. If anything worse. We're all
cut from the same lump. Why me? Why me? You know what the only answer
is? The love of God. God chose whom he would to set
his love and affection on. Explain that to me. I can't. But that's what God did. And
that's where our hope is. It's being found in His love.
It's being found in His blood. He died with a certain people
in Him on that cross. It's being found in His resurrection. He arose with a particular people
in Him. I arose in Him. It's being in His life. Our only
hope is being found in His intercession to His Father. He said, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
I pray for them. He is seated at the right hand
of His Father Making intercession for us. Every time. Every time. Every time. He says, I paid for
that. I paid for that. Paid for that one. Paid for that. That was on me. I bore the weight
of that. That's our hope. Our hope is being found in His
Spirit. He sends His Spirit to whom He will. It blows where
it listeth, doesn't it? We don't know where it's coming
from or where it's going to, but you know what our hope is?
It's if He would send His Spirit to us. Our hope is being found
in His adoption. Christ is what makes the difference. That's the point. Christ is what
makes the difference. Who maketh me to differ? Well,
I finally decided to turn over a new leaf. No. Christ is the
difference. His choice, His death, His calling,
it's all Christ. Every bit of it. Verse 1 says,
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints
in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and
deacons. Bishops include all of those
men who have been given the responsibility of spiritual matters. All of
those who handle spiritual matters. The pastor is a bishop. If God
raises up preachers in a congregation to fill in when the pastor's
gone, that's a bishop. If God raises up teachers to
teach our young people, and if we divide up these Sunday school
classes, those are bishops. All the bishops Deacons include
all of those who have been given the responsibility of physical
matters. The physical matters of the church.
The money. Somebody has to handle it. The
maintenance. The helping of the poor. Our Lord said, when a man comes
and asks it of you, give it to him. Somebody has to handle that.
Visiting of the sick. what the scripture calls serving
tables. Serving tables. Bishops are those
who serve spiritually, and deacons are those who serve physically.
All of it is a great responsibility. It's a high honor, it's a high
calling. So this is what Paul is saying.
To all the saints, to every bishop, to every deacon, To everybody,
he says in verse 2, grace be to you and peace from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, this is what
I have to say to you. You have received the free gift
of salvation in Christ. And in him, the war is over. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. In verse 3, he said, I thank
my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer
of mine for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. Now, who is he
talking to? You know, I said this is an intro
to Philippians. He's writing to somebody. These
are the Philippians, but who are they? Who is he so loving
towards? Turn with me, if you would, over
to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16, and look with
me at verse 9. And a vision appeared to Paul
in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia,
and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help
us. And after he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight
course to Samothracea, and the next day to Neapolis, and from
thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of
Macedonia, and a colony. And we were in that city abiding
certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out
of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made, and
we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the
Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul. And when she was baptized and
her household, she besought us, saying, If you have judged me
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.
And she constrained us. We know this story of Lydia,
don't we? Don't you love her story? Don't you love that woman? They preached the good news. They came down to where these
women were gathered and they preached the good news that Jesus
Christ paid it all. He paid it all. And that's where
religion goes wrong. I'll tell you where religion
goes wrong. This is where every single religion goes wrong. They
believe Jesus Christ came to save sinners. They believe Jesus
Christ died on the cross. They believe Jesus Christ rose
from the grave. But they don't believe Jesus
Christ paid it all. They don't believe that. He paid
99.9% of it. You put that last little stamp
on it. But they came and preached that
Christ paid it all, that God was totally satisfied with the
blood of His Son, and there's no more responsibility left for
any of us. And through that message, God
opened her heart. And He opened the heart of her
whole house. And they immediately became a
supporter of God's messenger and a supporter of God's ministry. And they said, you come into
our house and you abide there. We're going to take care of you.
And Paul said, she constrained us. She was very convincing.
He said, we found out very quickly these people are generous. They're
givers, insistent. Verse 16, I'll tell you what
I'm going to do. I'm going to skip down. I was going to read
down through this, but let me just tell you what it is. Paul
left there and they were going back down to worship. And there
was a young girl that was possessed with a devil and kept following
them saying, these men are the servants of the most high God
would show us the way of salvation. And Paul got tired of it. And
he rebuked that devil. He said, you come out of her.
And when that devil did come out of her, the men who were
over her, because she was a fortune teller, a soothsayer, they couldn't
make money on her anymore. So they got mad and they brought
Paul and Silas before the rulers and they said, we want these
men condemned. They're teaching things that go against what we
Romans believe. So verse 23 says, when they had
laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging
the jailer to keep them safely, whom having received such a charge,
thrust them into the prison. He threw those men into that
prison and he made their feet fast in the stocks. That means
he put them on extra tight. They said, oh, that hurts. He
cranked down on them even more. Verse 25 says, And at midnight
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners
heard them. Now I can see these men sitting
on the ground. They've got their striped backs
leaning up against this wall. They've got their head back on
a rock. They're sitting there in pain from their beating. And all of a sudden Silas, hear
Silas and Paul sitting here, all of a sudden Silas starts
singing, Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained
to be. And Paul starts chiming in, let
thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. And all the prisoners hear, prone
to wander. Thrown to leave the God I love,
here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts
above. And one of those prisoners said,
what are y'all singing about? And Paul said, dear brother,
we're singing about a man who sets prisoners of sin free. He sets them free. Verse 25 says,
At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and
the prisoners heard them. And 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 bands
were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his
sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and
would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, we
are all here. Every one of us. Freedom in Christ
does not make men lawbreakers. Everything is still in agreement
with the law. Verse 29, Then he called for
a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before
Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Stop your works. They're no good. God is not pleased
with them. They will not hold up. Turn your
eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Fall on your knees and beg Him
for mercy. Believe with all your heart that
He's your only hope. Believe with all your heart that
He's your only hope. Deny everything about yourself
and you cling to His cross. Paul said, you do that, and you'll
be saved. You shall be saved. And he said, if your house does
that, your whole house will be saved. Verse 31, they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
And they spake unto him the words of the Lord, and to all that
were in his house, And he took them the same hour of the night,
and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his,
straightway. And when he had brought them
into his house, he set meat before them." Here they go again, generous,
giving, supporting. He set meat before them and rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. That was their first day. That was their first day. And
Lydia's first day was different than the jailer's first day.
This was a few days later. But they had a first day and
so did we. I was studying this thinking
about the literal first time I came down here. And thinking
about when you called me on the phone and said you pray about
whether or not you would feel led to come down here and pastor.
And then I called you men individually. I remember talking on the phone. And I was thanking God for what
He was doing, and I still am. I still am. And I say again,
what Paul said to the Philippians, I say to you. I'm going to close.
Go with me back to Philippians 1. Philippians 1 verse 3 says, I
thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer
of mine for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. For your fellowship
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God for that
fellowship. I truly do. I thank God for the
fellowship that we have around him and in him. I'm here to worship God just
like you are. I'm here to worship Him just like you are. And I'm
so thankful that I am allowed to do it with you. I really am. I'm thankful that I can do it
with each and every one of you. All right, let's stand together.