Philippians 1:1–11

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 peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Imagine that you gather for church on a Sunday morning. It is the year 60 AD. You live in the city of Philippi “in the northeast section of the Roman province of Macedonia…about eight hundred miles from Rome and approximately ten miles from the seaport of Neapolis…”[1] You are happy to gather again with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

There has been whispering all morning, rumors of something exciting that might happen at church. As you gather with the church and sit on the floor, you feel a kind of electricity in the air! Something is going to happen today!

The pastor stands up and looks around. Then he smiles and says, “Brothers and sisters…we have a special guest this morning. I think you may know him…” Suddenly the room is galvanized! Some people stand up and look about. And sure enough, out of the shadows, there steps a man. You know him! Epaphroditus! Immediately there is a joyous commotion. Exclamations of happiness, tears, hugs and kisses! The room moves toward Epaphroditus, a beloved member of the church who had been sent many moons before to take a love offering to the Apostle Paul in prison. You and the rest of the church have been worried about Epaphroditus. You had heard rumor that he was sick. Some thought Epaphroditus was dead! But here he stands, back…thinner, but alive!

Finally, order is restored. Tears are wiped from cheeks and the church sits and watches Epaphroditus. He speaks, his voice broken with emotion: “It is so good to be home. I have missed you all so much. Yes, the rumors are true: I was sick…very sick. But, friends, I was cared for by our brother Paul and our brother Timothy and, as you can see, I am very much alive!” Murmurs of amazement ripple through the crowd. “And brothers and sisters…[and here Epaphroditus pauses for dramatic effect, then grins widely]…I have come back with a letter from Paul.”

Suddenly, more tears of joy flow in the room! Epaphroditus holds the letter up and clears his throat. He is going to read it to the church! A letter from Paul! And the Philippians are going to get to listen in…and so are we!

The book of Philippians. More accurately, the letter to the Philippians.

In this letter, Paul is going to tell a first-century church in a city called Philippi that he loves them, that Jesus loves them, that he is proud of them, and that they can press on to becoming more and more like Jesus.

What is more, the letter to the Philippians is overflowing with joy! “Paul is filled with joy,” writes Frank Thielman, “and expects the Philippians to be joyful also (1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17–18, 28–29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10).”[2]

One important detail is the fact that Paul wrote this letter to the Christians of Philippi from prison. This is one of the “prison epistles” of Paul. And this makes Paul’s joy at the Philippian church that much more powerful. From his prison cell, Paul looked with love toward the believers in Philippi.

This is a letter of hope. This is a letter of joy. This is a letter of love. And it is an honor to read it with you today.

Paul thanked God for the church.

First, as we might expect, an introduction.

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 peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verses 1 and 2 form the official greeting of the letter. Notably, Paul says that the letter is from him and Timothy. Timothy is probably acting as something of a secretary to Paul and Paul is graciously including Timothy in the letter. Also of note is Paul’s referring to the Christians of Philippi as “saints.” All of them. The “saints” are not super-Christians. “Saints” are whoever is in Christ! Furthermore, Paul makes reference to “the overseers and deacons,” that is, to the leadership of the Church. In doing so, Paul makes it clear that the letter is to the whole church, over which Paul pronounces “grace…and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Verses 3–11 are considered a single literary unit dominated by the idea of thanks. Fred Craddock has pointed out that “1:3–11 has its own identity in what is now commonly referred to as ‘the Pauline Thanksgiving.’”[3]

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever noticed how extreme, all-encompassing words—superlatives—are usually employed when we are either very happy or very unhappy? Unhappily, some jaded soul might say to somebody, “You always let me down. You always do foolish things. I have never been happy with you. I feel nothing toward you.”

Extreme words that communicate extreme displeasure. These are dangerous words to use when you are hurt.

But it works the other way too! Sometimes extreme words are used to express extreme joy! I think we are seeing this in our text. Listen again:

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

See?

• all my remembrance
• always
• in every prayer

Paul is pressing his thanksgiving and joy to the extreme! His heart is pouring forth unbridled happiness at the Philippian church!

Why? Why is Paul so happy? Why is he constantly thanking God for this church? See verse 5:

⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Paul thanks God for the Philippians “because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” This is a church that has determined that they will be on mission with Paul, spending their life and their resources to reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ! The church that pleases God is the church that values what God values! They see themselves as a church on mission!

Paul is thrilled, yes, but, lest they become proud of themselves, Paul adds:

⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Meaning, “I know it is the Lord doing the good work through you. He began it. He will bring it to completion. Yet you are submitting to this great work of God and are allowing yourself to be used by Him!” There is comfort here, church. You are not having to live the Christian life on your own. The Lord is with you. He began the “good work.” He will “bring it to completion.” He will not abandon you! That is true of you as individual and that is true of us as a church.

This is an important point! The church does not get the glory, but the church can still be rejoiced over for the way that she submits to the work of God in her midst! And this is precisely what Paul is doing.

Paul held the church in his heart.

Now Paul turns to another way of communicating his joy and the affection he feels toward the church. Listen:

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

For starters, Paul defends the effusive expression of affection: “It is right for me to feel this way about you all…” He is not ashamed of how he feels toward the church. In fact, he doubles down: “because I hold you in my heart.”

And why does Paul “hold them in his heart”? Once again, he answers the question plainly: “for you are all partakers with me of grace.” Again, we see the idea of the church sharing together in something bigger than itself. In verse 5, he speaks of their “partnership in the gospel.” Here he speaks of their being “partakers with me of grace.” Once again, we have unity around a shared goal: the gospel, the grace of God. But notice that Paul speaks of grace too as the missional advancement of the gospel: “both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.”

The grace they share with Paul, then, includes their support of him and his ministry both in prison and outside of prison. They are sharing with him in his sufferings and his victories!

Grace is the participatory glue of the church. The grace of God binds us together. And the grace of God compels us forward!

It is not mere human liking that forms our bond. It is divine mercy. And we are all partakers of the grace of God, if we are in Christ. This means that we share something precious here. We share something deep and strong.

Paul’s words are a model: We should hold each other in our hearts. We should cherish each other.

Paul yearned for the church with the affection of Christ.

Paul thanked God for the church.

Paul held the church in his heart.

But then he uses an even more intense image to describe what he felt. Listen:

⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

My goodness, what an image! First, the idea of yearning. Paul yearns for the church. Remember, he is in prison. He longs to be with them, to fellowship with them, to worship alongside them. But this too is no mere human yearning. Listen again: “I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Paul felt toward the Philippians what Jesus felt toward the Philippians.

And, church, this is the way forward. This must be how we love each other. We must love each other as Christ loves us: faithfully, strongly, unwaveringly, self-sacrificially.

In fact, Paul moves on to say outright that he wants this kind of love to take root and spread in the church of Philippi.

⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

This is love!

The love of which Paul speaks is no sugary sentimentalism. It is love abounding “with knowledge and discernment.” It is a love that knows what is true and what is false. It is not carried on wings of selfishness or of idolization. It longs for what is “excellent” and it looks toward “the day of Christ.” So it is a preparing love. And expectant love.

And it is a fruit-bearing love! It is “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

In other words, it is the love of God flowing in and through the church that binds us together and changes us. Paul is saying that he feels this love toward the Philippians and he wants them to feel it toward one another. We will fail each other in and of ourselves. Our love is feeble and weak. But the love of God flowing through us…well that is an entirely different matter!

James Montgomery Boice tells a fascinating story about Lawrence of Arabia. He writes:

When Lawrence of Arabia was in Paris after World War I with some of his Arab friends, he took some time to show them the sights of the city: the Louvre, the Arch of Triumph, Napoleon’s tomb, the Champs Elysees. They found little interest in these things. The thing that really interested them was the faucet in the bathtub of their hotel room. They spent much time there turning it on and off; they thought it was wonderful. All they had to do was turn the handle, and they could get all the water they wanted.

            Sometime later, when they were ready to leave Paris and return to the East, Lawrence found them in the bathroom trying to detach the faucet. “You see,” they said, “it is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want.” Lawrence had to explain that the effectiveness of the faucets did not lie in themselves but in the immense system of water works to which they were attached. He had to point out that behind this lay the rain and snowfall of the Alps.[4]

Church, listen to me: It is not the faucet of the church, it is the deep ocean of the love and grace of God that flows through the church that changes us, that nourishes us, that refreshes us. Let us love the church, yes, but let us love Christ working in and through the church more. Without that, the church is nothing. Without the mercy of God, we are just a faucet, and a detached faucet will do you no good. A church not bound to Christ will only hurt you! But with living water flowing through us, the church is a beautiful thing indeed!

Love the Lord!

Love one another!

 

[1] Melick, Richard R., Jr. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. The New American Commentary. Gen. Ed. David S. Dockery. Vol. 32 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1991), p.22.

[2] Thielman, Frank S. Philippians (The NIV Application Commentary Book 11) (p. 26). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

[3] Craddock, Fred B.; Craddock, Fred B. Philippians (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (p. 15). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[4] Boice, James Montgomery. Philippians. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), p.48.