Highlights From Philippians 1

Q: What does the Bible say about the church in Philippi?

The church in Philippi was established by the Apostle Paul and was known for its strong fellowship and support for the gospel. The church in Philippi, which is addressed in Paul's epistle of Philippians, was established during Paul's missionary journey as described in Acts 16. It was located in Macedonia and was notable for its prominent conversions, including Lydia and the Philippian jailer. The church is characterized by its strong fellowship among believers and its care for Paul, especially evident in their support during his imprisonment. Paul expresses deep appreciation for their partnership in the gospel and their contributions to his ministry, highlighting their affection and commitment to the work of Christ.

Q: How do we know that God will complete the work He began in us?

Philippians 1:6 assures us that God who began a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Paul expresses a profound confidence in Philippians 1:6, stating that he is sure of this: the God who began a good work in the believers at Philippi would continue to perfect it until the return of Christ. This promise underscores the sovereignty of God in the process of salvation, affirming that it is God who initiates and sustains the work of grace in our lives. The work begins with regeneration and continues through sanctification, culminating in glorification at the second coming. This assurance provides immense comfort to believers as they navigate challenges, knowing that their salvation and spiritual growth are held firmly in God's hands.

Q: Why is fellowship important for Christians?

Fellowship is essential for Christians as it encourages unity and shared growth in the gospel. In Philippians 1:5, Paul expresses gratitude for the fellowship of the gospel that he shares with the Philippians. This fellowship is more than social interaction; it is a partnership in the faith and the advancement of the gospel. True fellowship strengthens the bonds between believers, providing support for one another in their spiritual journeys. It cultivates an environment where believers can grow in grace, encourage each other, and collectively pursue the mission of sharing the good news of Christ. Thus, fellowship is vital in maintaining unity within the church and enhancing the church’s effectiveness in fulfilling its calling.

I hope before my life is over,
I will have learned to preach the gospel. I'm making every
sincere effort to learn to preach the gospel in tenderness, kindness,
boldness, boldness, but without offense
on my part, you know. Richard Baxter said this one
time, very fittingly, and who knows when this day will be.
He said, I preach today as one who may never preach again. I preach as a dying man to dying
men. And remember, it works both ways. You hear today as one who may
never hear again. So it's a very solemn occasion
and a very responsible task. preaching and hearing. I want
you to look at the book of Philippians this morning. I plan to talk
to you a little bit from this book. Now, Philippi, this book
was written to the church at Philippi. Philippi was a Roman
colony. Philippi was the chief city of
Macedonia. And you remember Back in the
book of Acts, chapter 16, Paul received special instructions
to go to Philippi. This city, this city had God's
hand upon it. The hand of God was upon this
place, Philippi. Paul was going to a certain place,
and God said, don't go. You remember, it says to him
not to go. In that same passage, you can read it in Acts 16, he
tried to go to two or three different places. And the Holy Spirit said
no. And that night, Paul went to
bed and God spoke to him. And God spoke to these prophets
and apostles in this special way before the Word was complete,
before the Word of God was finished. He spoke to our fathers for the
prophets. He spoke to the prophets and
spoke to the apostles. And when the Word is complete,
God speaks now through His Word to us. There's no reason for
God to speak to me tonight, give me special instructions. I have
my instructions here. But he spoke to Paul and a man
from Macedonia, and Philippi is the chief city of Macedonia.
And that man appeared to Paul that night and said to him, come
over into Macedonia and help us. And Paul went down there
to Philippi, to this place we're reading about this morning, and
right away there were two prominent conversions. You remember Paul,
when he got to Philippi, he went down by the river, he
heard there was some women meeting down by the river for prayer.
You see, our place back then didn't have a synagogue unless
there were a certain number of people in the town. If there
were a certain number of people there, they built a synagogue.
But if there were just under a certain number, I forget what
the number was, twelve or twenty or something like that, they
had no synagogue. So they had no synagogue at Philippi.
And these Jewish women were meeting down by the river, having prayer. And Paul sought them out. He
went down there where they were having prayer. This was the first
convert in Macedonia that we read about. He went down there
where they were having prayer, and he preached the gospel to
them. He sat down on a rock or somewhere and preached the gospel
to these people, and there was a woman by the name of Lydia. who was in Philippi on business,
a seller of purple. And God, it said, opened her
heart, and she attended to the things spoken by the Apostle
Paul. And then Paul was walking down the street, I don't know
whether a few days later or the next Sabbath day or sometime,
and there was a woman following him, a woman possessed of demons.
And she kept saying, these are the most, these are the servants
of the Most High God who come to show us the way of salvation.
She had a spirit of something and she had some fellas that
got money from her demon possession and so forth. But somehow she
took up with Paul and Silas and followed them. And Paul turned
and rebuked her, rebuked the devil, the demon. And she fell
on the ground, and the demons came out of her. And they put
Paul in prison. These fellows that owned her,
that used her, they stirred the town up against Paul, and they
put him in jail in Philippi, this place. And while he was
in jail there, they beat him. They beat Paul and Silas with
many strikes and put them in the inner jail in stocks and
chains. And that night, at midnight or
sometime, God sent an earthquake and shook that jail. And all
the chains fell off the prisoners, and all the doors fell off the
hinges, and all the bars fell out of the windows. And the jailer
woke out of his sleep. He wasn't under conviction. He
wasn't listening to them sing and preach. He was asleep. And
he came running to the in a prison there, and he saw all the doors
open and all the bars off the window, and he thought the prisoners
had escaped, and he took his sword and was going to kill himself.
And Paul hollered and said, wait, don't do that, don't do that.
I said, no, we're all here, there's nobody gone. You see, this jailer
had charge of the prisoners if they escaped, he got the blame. And he saw all of them there,
saw Paul and Silas, and he came in trembling. He fell on his
face. He saw the power of God. And he said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And Paul said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that jailer took him to his
home, washed his stripes, fed him, gave him drink, he and Silas. And they taught him the Word
of God. And that man was converted. Those were the two or three first
converts in Philippi. And now Paul's in prison. Paul's
older now and he's in jail again, in Rome. And you know what that
church did? Turn to Philippians 4, verse
18. Paul was up there in Rome in
prison and they sent their pastor to him to Paul up in Rome with
presents and gifts and different things to comfort him and help
him. And he, as he closed this letter
in Philippians 4, 18, he said, I have all, I have received all,
and I am bound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the
things which were sent from you. They sent him these gifts and
presents up there where he was in jail. An odor of sweet smell,
a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God. These people cared about
Paul. They were concerned about him.
And they sent him all these gifts and presents by their pastor.
While their pastor was up there visiting with Paul, he fell ill,
very sick. Look down here at Philippians
2. Verse 25, Philippians 2, 25, Yet I suppose it necessary to
send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor,
and fellow-soldier, and your messenger, he that ministered
to my wants. He brought your gifts up here,
and he longed after you, and he was full of heaviness, because
you had heard that he had been sick. When he got up there, he
got very, very ill. And Paul said, indeed, he watched
sick. now unto death, but God had mercy
on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should
have sorrow upon sorrow." So the Apostle Paul was especially
concerned about this church. And I'm going to probably undertake
a task too great for me, but I want to take this Philippians,
this epistle, There are four chapters, and I know it's impossible
to preach on all four of these chapters and cover every verse.
I want you to read it, but I'm going to touch some highlights.
There are five or six highlights throughout this epistle that
I want us to look at. Here's the first one. Here's the design of it, and
I encourage you to study it. The very first thing, Paul who
loved these people, whom God used to teach them the gospel.
Paul, who was loved by these people, writing this epistle
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, first expresses
his love to them and for them. Now, this is something we need
to do often. We need to express our concern
and our care, and we need to love one another, and then we
need to express it. We need to convey it. We need to show it. We need to demonstrate it, to
encourage others. Listen to how he talks to this
church. Paul and Timotheus. Timotheus is Timothy. Now, listen
to me a moment. Timothy was with Paul when he
first went to Philippi. Timothy was with Paul. And Timothy
was with Paul now in jail. I'll tell you this, let me pause
here a minute. The very best school that a preacher can attend, if
there's a young man in this congregation who feels impressed of God to
preach the gospel, who feels that God would have him pastor,
preach, or go to the mission field, or whatever. that he can
attend is to literally join himself with one of God's faithful, called,
anointed, taught pastors and stay with him. Stay with him. Learn from him, watch him, listen
to him. Don't imitate his bad points
now. Don't pick up his weaknesses
and infirmities, but pick up his strong points. Pick up his
gospel. I'd say that in most any occupation. Wouldn't you men say that? You
want to be a carpenter? Be an apprentice to a good one. Mike,
wouldn't you say that with music? Latch on to a musician. A singer? Latch on to a singer. Get attached
yourself to them. And this is what Timothy did.
Every time you read about Timothy, he was with Paul. When you read
about Elisha, he was with Elijah. With him. And Paul and Timothy. Timothy didn't write this epistle,
Paul did. But they were so close, Paul
wrote to the Church of Philippi and said, Timothy sends his greetings
too. He's right here beside me. He
was with me when I preached to you, and he's with me now in
jail. And let me show you what he said about Timothy. Turn to
Philippians 2. Boy, I tell you this is something
here now, and this is the way I feel about these elders here.
I want you to listen to this. And I'll add something else right
here in case some preachers are hearing this tape somewhere,
and I'm sure some of them will. I question a man's ability to
pastor a sovereign grace church who has never himself been a
member of one. I question a man's ability to
pastor who has never been pastored, who has never submitted to a
pastor, who has never been led and taught by a pastor, who has
never observed how a church is to be conducted under the one
head, Jesus Christ. There's no power struggle here.
We know who's in power. Isn't that right? It's not me,
it's not you, it's him, the head of the church. And this is what
happens. Look at Philippians 2, verse
18, Paul's, verse 19. Paul says to the people at Philippi,
but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto
you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state.
Here's the way Paul felt about Timothy. To send Timothy was
like going himself. That's right. He was so confident.
It's like Brother John Chapman's out preaching this morning. I
feel like that I'm there with him. I'm so confident in his
ability, in his knowledge, in his gospel, in his devotion,
in his dedication, that whatever he says is fine with me. And
these other men too. You feel that way about these.
Now listen as he goes on. Verse 20. I have no man like-minded. as Timothy, who will naturally
care for your state. And here's the problem, all seek
their own, and not the things of Christ. Isn't that sad? But
you know that's true of many, many preachers. It's not the
glory of Christ. It's not the good of the people.
It's not the exaltation of Christ Jesus that they seek. It's their
own well-being, welfare, and comfort, and possessions, and
filthy lucre. I like what Brother Joe Terrell
wrote in a letter recently to me. He said, Brother Henry said,
we're not worried about filthy lucre up here. We're not worried
about any kind of lucre. Isn't it? Things are tough all over. Oh, they seek their own. But
verse 22, listen, verse 22. But you know the proof of Timothy,
that as a son with the Father, he hath served with me in the
gospel. That is the university from which every preacher ought
to graduate. That's it. Now if he wants schooling, he
can go right down here to ACC. Go right down to the University
of Kentucky, Marshall, Ohio University, wherever you want to, but you
learn the gospel under a man who knows it. You learn to preach
the gospel under a man who preaches it. Your apprentice, just like
an intern does beside a surgeon. That's right. And I'll never get, you see what
I said when I undertook this awesome task of looking at this
whole book? We're just on the first two words,
Paul and Timothy. But Timothy, they're both servants
of Jesus Christ. Not one higher than the other. Both servants, bond slaves of
Jesus Christ. And he's writing, verse 1, Philippians
1, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi. Every believer is a saint, sanctified
in Christ. Watch it, with the bishops. Who
are the bishops? They're the elders. They're the
teachers, they're the leaders in the church, as the bishops,
and the deacons, who are the deacons, those who serve. Paul's
writing to all this congregation, to all the saints, to the elders,
and to those who serve. And he says, grace be unto you,
and peace, grace and peace. Those are the two things that
ought to be characteristic of every church. Grace in the pulpit
and the pew. And the message. Grace. We preach the grace of God. And
peace. There ought to be no conflict.
We ought to love each other. Peace. You know, I know this. I worked a little bit in public
works. I started my career in the steel
mill in 1945 when I came home from the Navy. I started school
part-time and worked in the steel mill, the hot strip mill at Tennessee
Coal Iron Railway Company. I was in the Navy a little over
two years. I was in the steel mill. I know
something about working. I worked in a clothing store.
I worked for the Veterans Administration. I know a little bit about what
people go through out there in the world, making a living. And
it gets pretty tough. On Sunday morning, you don't
need to come here and meet conflict and controversy and trouble. It ought to be a place where
the grace of God is preached and magnified and peace, the
peace of Christ reigns in the heart and among the people. That's
what he's talking about, grace and peace. And let us, everyone,
endeavor to keep the unity of that fellowship and that peace.
our responsibility. From God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ, I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you. Every time I think of you, it's
just a special joy. I thank God. Every time you come
to my mind, Paul said, I thank God for you. I thank God for you. Thank God
for your faith, I thank God for your grace, I thank God for your
help, I thank God for your fellowship, I just thank God for you. Always,
and I pray for you, listen to verse 4, in every prayer of mine
for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. I thank God for
your fellowship. I'll tell you this, I look out
over this congregation, I've been in the fellowship of the
gospel with some of you, actually since 1947. That's when I first
came to Ashman, 1947. Twenty-one year old, three months
married. I came to this city right here
and met some of you folks right here. And we have had an unbroken
fellowship all those years. Forty-seven years almost. Forty-six years. That's what,
Paul, from the first day till now, I thank God for your fellowship
in the gospel. Now listen, it's a fellowship
in Christ. The credit's not due to us, it's
due to Him. It's in the gospel. And I'll
tell you this, there's not much fellowship out of the gospel. You know that, don't you? The
real fellowship and the real love is in the gospel. Somebody
wrote this. May God, by whose grace we meet,
send his Holy Spirit from above, and make our communications always
sweet, and fill our hearts with his great love. Brethren, let
us love one another. Love is of God. He that loveth
is born of God. Look at verse 6. And Paul says,
I want to just break this verse down a little bit. Listen how
strongly he states this, being confident. I am confident of
this very thing. I am confident of this very thing.
Now this is a man whom God called to be an apostle, writer of 13
or 14 of the New Testament epistles, founder of churches, man God
took to the third heaven. He said, I'm confident of this
right here. that he, that's our God, he,
which hath begun, and that's what it is, it's a work begun,
isn't it? It's not finished till I'm glorified.
But he hath begun it. When did he begin this work?
Back in the council halls of eternity. He which hath begun
A good work. It's a good work. It's a work
of redemption. It's a work of justification.
It's a work of salvation. He began that work. Where is
it? It's in you. God revealed his Son in me. He that hath begun that work
of regeneration in you, he will, what's that word? Perform it.
He will perfect it. He will complete it. He will
finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now I'm confident of
that. Totally confident. And he said
in verse 7, it's right for me to think this of you. Even as
it is the word meat, that word is right. Even as it is right
for me to think this of you, because I have you in my heart.
It is much Inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and
confirmation of the gospel and you partakers, all are partakers
of my grace, I know it, so I'm confident that this is not wood, hay, and
stubble. I'm confident this is gold and silver and precious
stone. And the glory is not to the instrument or to the people,
it's to the Lord. All right, that's the first thing
that he does in this epistle is express his great love and
affection for this congregation and his confidence that God's
grace will be effectually completed in them. Now, secondly, beginning
with verse 12, the Apostle Paul gives an account of his trials
and the results of them. Now listen to verse 12. I would
have you understand, brethren, now here he is sitting in jail.
This is a dark day. These people are troubled. They're
troubled about him. They're worried about him. They're
concerned about him. He's in jail. They get to have
a little meeting of the men, and they get their posture and
send him up there with some food and some ladies bake some cookies.
They sent some books and they sent some scarf to see that Paul
was warm. Sent him some house shoes. They
sent him a robe. They worried him. He's sitting
in jail in Rome. They knew about Roman jail and
they were concerned about it. And they told the apostle, you
take this trip to Rome and go see our friend Paul and take
these things to him. So he writes now about these
trials. Now listen to this. I'm going
to have you understand, brethren. that the things that have happened
to me, everything that's happened to
me, have fallen out rather under the futherance of the gospel.
I want you to understand, he said, that I'm not the prisoner
of Rome, I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ. And I know that
everything that takes place in my life, whether it be difficult
or sorrowful or whatever, It's for my good and for the good
of the gospel. I tell you, Paul went through
some, you just jot down in the margin there your Bible, 2 Corinthians
11, 24 through 28 or 29, and you read about how much he suffered. He was shipwrecked, he was beaten,
he was stoned, he was put in prison. Just a lot of things
happened to Paul, but he said, I want you to understand that
all of this is for the glory of God. And let me encourage some of
you who know about some of the difficulties we're going through
right now. It's for the glory of God. Now
remember that things might get awful dark and awful low and
awful troublesome. It just looks like that the line
gets thin. People forsake the gospel, leave
the gospel, troubles here, troubles there. Whatever happens to his
children is according to his will for their good and his glory
and the good of the gospel. Now let's don't ever forget that.
Isn't that what he's saying here? Let me ask you to turn to 2 Timothy,
something I want to show you here. 2 Timothy, I believe it's 2 Timothy chapter
2, verse 9. Listen to this. 2 Timothy
2.9, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even under bonds,
even under prison. But the word of God is not bound.
2 Timothy 2.9, therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake,
that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory. So look back at Philippians 1,
verse 12. Paul said, I want you to understand
this, that the things that have happened to me, verse 12, have
fallen out rather into the presence of the gospel, so that, listen,
my bonds, he's talking about his chains. You know, he stood
before one of the rulers and he said, you almost persuade
me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would that you
were even as I am, yet without these chains. They kept him in
chains. And so listen to what he said
in verse 13. My chains, that word in Christ
is for Christ, are manifest in all the palace and in all other
places. Paul is saying this, that his
confinement had become an issue in Caesar's court. That's what
he's saying right now. He says, Paul was there in jail
with chains on. And his message was heard, and
he was the talk of the town. He was the talk of the palace.
They were talking about him all over the palace, and some people
were beginning to listen to him. You reckon God would send a man
to jail to convert somebody that was in the jail? Philippian jailer.
Do you know some of the Moravians actually joined leper colonies
many years ago to preach the gospel to the lepers? Actually,
the Moravian missionaries became lepers. to preach to the lepers. That's love, isn't it? That's
true. And Paul said, don't be upset. I know why I'm here. And listen,
I want you to read on a little further, and I'll start winding
this down. And he says in verse 14, And
many of the brethren of the Lord, many of the preachers, waxing
confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word of
God without fear. In other words, Paul said, I've
been an inspiration to certain preachers. They've watched me
behave under this conflict and under this trial, and it's encouraged
them. They've watched me, they've listened
to me, they've observed me under this strain and under this suffering. And some of them have waxed confident
preaching the gospel. They said, well, if he can take
that, I can too. Now then, some indeed preach Christ even of
envy. All of them are not my friends,
by any means. But that's all right, Paul said.
Some preach Christ out of envy and strife, but some of goodwill. One preached Christ out of contention.
He said this, he said, well, if he'd done certain things,
he wouldn't have been in jail. But that's all right, Paul said.
And they preach it not sincerely, supposing they add affliction
to my bonds, but the others of love, knowing I'm set for the
defense of the gospel." Now here's, this is a great statement. One
thing, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or truth,
Christ is preached. Here I am in jail, here I am
suffering for the gospel, here we are in conflict and whatever.
If it causes men to preach Christ, whether they do it out of envy
or goodwill, whether they do it out of strife or whether they
do it sincerely, I'm just glad they're preaching Christ. You
know what he said? I rejoice. Well, look at verse 27. He talks
to the church about their afflictions. Listen. Only let your conversation,
your behavior, be as it becometh the gospel
of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent,
doesn't matter, whether I'm there or here, I may hear of your affairs,
that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together
for the faith of the gospel. Don't leave the gospel. Whatever
happens to me, whether I come to you or whether I'm absent
from you, whether I'm with you or away from you, stand together. Stand together. Stand fast in
one heart, in one spirit, in one mind, and strive together
for the faith of the gospel. And listen, verse 28, and in
nothing terrified by your adversaries. Don't be terrified by your adversaries,
by Satan or Whatever, people, which is to them an evident token
of perdition. In other words, their opposition
to you means one thing, they're sons of perdition. It's an evident
token that they're lost people. Those who oppose the gospel and
gospel preachers are lost people. You see our Lord, sons of perdition,
of whom was that used? Judas. Judas. Christ says he's a son of perdition
from the beginning. And don't you be afraid. These
who oppose you and harass you and condemn you for preaching
the gospel of God's grace in Christ, don't be terrified by
them. Their opposition is evidence
they're sons of perdition. Isn't that what they say? It's to them an evident token
of perdition. Just like we have a little touch
of heaven on this side of heaven, they have a little touch of hell
on the way to hell. It's a token. Isn't that a terrible
thing to think about? Now what says, but to you of
salvation that of God. Verse 29, under you it is given. It's the gift of God. Under you. Now read this carefully, for
under you, under you it is given. in the behalf of Christ, for
the glory of Christ, because of Christ, because of the love
and mercy of Christ. Not only to believe on Him, that's the gift of God. Jim,
you and Ed, Bill, Brian, right up through here, I look at all
of you, you all believe on Christ, don't you? God gave you that
faith. God gave you that faith. It's
given to you on behalf of Christ. on behalf of Christ, he gave
you, but he's going to give you something else too, read the
rest of it, but also to suffer for his sake. That goes with
it. That goes with it, doesn't it?
That goes with it. That goes with it. Under you,
it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
to suffer for his sake. Having the same conflict we saw
in me, you saw in me, and now here to be in me. In other words,
we're in the same battle. Same conflict I have, you'll
have. Same battle. Because it's the same enemy.
But thank God it's the same Lord. And I'm confident that he that
hath begun that good work will finish it in the day of Christ
Jesus.

Highlights From Philippians 1

What does the Bible say about the church in Philippi?

How do we know that God will complete the work He began in us?

Why is fellowship important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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Highlights From Philippians 1

What does the Bible say about the church in Philippi?

How do we know that God will complete the work He began in us?

Why is fellowship important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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