Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:1-2) Theme: an introduction to Philippians

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Most folks have a key chain and on that key chain there are a plethora of keys, each designed to open a certain lock. It is quite normal to have a number of keys. There is probably one for the house, one for the car, one for the office, and so on. Each key has been uniquely cut to fit a specific lock in order to enter or gain access to a specific location.

I have a number of keys that look alike, are the same length, and appear similar in shape, but they won’t open the same door because they have each been uniquely crafted from a different master key. Each key has been uniquely crafted for a special place.

In our context, God is the master key. He opens everything, but He has uniquely crafted every believer for a specific place in which He wants you to make a difference in the lives of others as a recipient of the manifold grace of God.825[1]

Today, we begin a sermon series on the New Testament letter of Philippians. As we begin this letter, we see the apostle Paul describe himself as a servant. Paul also extends grace and peace. Let’s begin this letter.

Today, my theme is:

Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:1-2)

My application: As a church let’s serve the Lord in unity.

  1. Allow me to intro Philippians:
    1. One source says that Philippians is Theology in street clothes.
    2. Author: The Apostle Paul is identified as the author
    3. When was this letter written? Paul clearly writes Philippians from prison, but he doesn’t say where.
    4. The date is dependent on where he wrote this from. Acts speaks only of his two-year detention in Caesarea Maritime in Palestine 58-60 AD. Followed by another two-year stent in house arrest in Rome awaiting trial (60-62). He was imprisoned on another occasion prior to 58 AD. But we are unsure of where and when (2 Cor 6:5; 11:23). Evidence leads towards Paul’s Roman imprisonment making this one of his latest letters.
    5. Paul’s triumphant declaration that his imprisonment for the sake of Christ, “has become known to the whole praetorian” (Phil 1:13) and his word of greetings for converts within “Caesar’s household” (Phil 4:22) are most natural and most impressive in Roman settings (DeSilva 646).
    6. Paul planted the church at Philippi during his second missionary journey (AD 50) in response to his “Macedonian vision” (Ac 16:9–10). This was the first church in Europe (Ac 16).
    7. One source adds: The text of this letter from Paul suggests several characteristics of the church at Philippi. First, Gentiles predominated. Few Jews lived in Philippi, and, apparently, the church had few. Second, women had a significant role (Ac 16:11–15; Php 4:1–2). Third, the church was generous. Fourth, they remained deeply loyal to Paul.[2]
    8. ESV SB: The church at Philippi had a special significance for Paul, since it was the first church he founded in Europe (see Acts 16:6–40). The first convert was Lydia, a seller of purple goods, and women continued to have a prominent role in the Philippian church (e.g., Phil. 4:2). Paul and Silas were imprisoned there for exorcising a demon from a fortune-telling slave girl, but God miraculously delivered them, and they proclaimed the gospel to the Philippian jailer. Paul likely visited the Philippians a few times after his initial departure, and they maintained active support for his ministry ( 4:15–16).[3]
    9. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great took over the Agricultural settlement called Krenides in 356 BCE renaming it Philippi. Macedonia came under Roman control in 168 BC, but Philippi as Paul knew it really took shape during the Civil wars that rocked the Roman Republic during the second half of the first century BC. The final battle between Caesar’s armies, led by Marc Antony and Octavian (Later the emperor Augustus), and the armies of the assassins of Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius, took place near Philippi in 42 BC. Antony and Octavian rewarded veterans with settlements in Philippi and generous grants of farmland in the hinterland of that city. After the alliance between Antony and Octavian broke down, the second civil war was effectively ended with Antony’s defeat near Actium in 31 BC. Octavian settled many of Antony’s soldiers in Philippi since they had forfeited their claims to land in Italy. Philippi was refounded as a colony of Rome (Acts 16:12) and named after Augustus’s daughter (Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis), whose citizens enjoyed Roman citizenship) (DeSilva 640-641). This made Philippi under Roman law. The citizens in Acts 16:21 saw themselves as Romans first. Philippi was not a major city. Philippi had several temples and the typical cultic practices of Romans and Greek gods. The imperial cult was strong. The GK gods such as Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Artemis were strong in this city. There was probably high tension between the Christian community and the world they left behind.
    10. ESV SB: On balance, it seems most likely that the letter was written from Rome, c. d. 62. This also fits most naturally with the mention of the praetorium and “Caesar’s household” (Phil. 1:13 and 4:22).[4]
    11. Theme (from the ESV SB): The chief theme of Philippians is encouragement: Paul wants to encourage the Philippians to live out their lives as citizens of a heavenly colony, as evidenced by a growing commitment to service to God and to one another. The way of life that Paul encourages was manifested uniquely in Jesus Christ; it was also evident in the lives of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus.[5]
    12. Interesting: Many of Paul’s letters can be divided into theological and practical sections, but Philippians does not follow that pattern. Paul’s theological instruction is woven throughout the fabric of a highly personal letter.[6]
  2. Grace and peace
    1. Now, let’s focus on Paul’s opening words.
    2. Philippians 1:1 (ESV)
    3. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
    4. Paul begins saying who the letter is from.
    5. Paul and Timothy wrote this.
    6. Why was Timothy mentioned?
    7. It does seem that Timothy was with him but did not write the letter. It is most likely giving Timothy’s name makes a nice personal connection.
    8. It is possible that he was Paul’s scribe.
    9. New American Commentary: Paul mentioned him in the salutations of six epistles (2 Cor; Col; Phil; 1, 2 Thess; Phlm) and wrote two epistles to him (1, 2 Tim).4[7]
    10. Notice how he says that they are servants of Christ.
    11. He does not identify himself as an apostle.
    12. Maybe this is because this is a friendly letter. He is not writing with a rebuke like in Galatians. He does address concerns later, but the overall letter is mainly one of joy, thanks, and encouragement.
    13. Paul and Timothy are servants of who?
    14. Servants of Christ Jesus.
    15. Christ means the “Messiah,” which means, “anointed one.”
    16. Jesus means “the Lord saves.”
    17. They are servants of the Savior.
    18. The Greek is more literally slaves, or bond-servant. This is like an indentured servant.
    19. The letter is to all the saints.
    20. Every believer is a saint, so the letter is to every believer in Christ at Philippi.
    21. Saint means “holy-ones.”
    22. Paul also addresses the church leadership. He addresses the overseers and deacons.
    23. Overseers would be elders.
    24. New American Commentary: The other group consisted of bishops and deacons. This is the only time Paul used the word “bishop” [translated “overseers” in the ESV] outside of the Pastoral Epistles.12[8]
    25. “Deacon” means “servants.”
    26. These are elders and deacons, and they have an inseparable logical order in church leadership.
    27. Grace and peace
  • Who are the grace and peace from?
  • God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Notice he references God as our Father.
  • God is our loving Father.
  • He also references the Lord, Jesus Christ.
  • Piper: Grace is with them as they go on their way and “to you” in the front.
  • That is the case in all 13  of Paul’s letters without exception. It is grace to you in the beginning and grace with you in the end.
  • As you begin to read the letter God will mediate grace and as you end the letter grace will be with you, strengthening you as you leave.
  • “From God our Father.”
  • If you do a study, you will see that the word “grace” and “Father” are connected at every single letter of the Apostle Paul.
  • In his mind to be a child of God is to be in a state of grace that is inexpressibly great.
  • We are a family with God as our Father.
  • With God as our Father, grace is coming to us all the time.
  • In the Old Testament God is considered the Father of Israel, but almost never do you see individuals talking of God as “My Father.” Sometimes, not regularly, but that is the reality of being a saint, a child of God.[9]
  • MacArthur: It is said that when Bible translators were seeking a word or phrase for “peace” in the language of the Chol Indians of South Mexico, they discovered that the words for “a quiet heart” gave just the meaning they were looking for. That’s an appropriate parallel because peace guards the soul against anxiety and strife, granting solace and harmony.[10]
  • Applications and review:
    1. Paul and Timothy are servants of Christ (Phil. 1:1). We must strive to consider ourselves as servants. We must strive to serve however we can.
    2. Paul lists himself not using the “apostle” title, but equally with Timothy as a servant. We must consider ourselves equal servants of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:1).
    3. We must not try to bring up rank but be a servant (Phil. 1:1; 2:3-4).
    4. We must think of how we can serve one another.
    5. Maybe God is calling us to be more of a servant.
    6. Maybe God is calling us to think about how to sacrifice more.
    7. Paul lists the saints, alongside the leadership (Phil. 1:1). We must consider the church holistically. We are all saints. We are all holy ones.
    8. We must extend grace and peace from the Lord (Phil. 2:2).

Tony Evans shares:

We have a computer network in operation on our church campus. This network only functions because of its servers. Servers enable the computers to communicate with each other so that all of the campus computers can “be on the same page.” Our capacity to maximize our campus productivity is enhanced because our servers are in place doing their jobs.

God wants a networked campus of hearts who love Him and who love one another because they are networked by servers—men and women who give of themselves because they have received the manifold grace of God.824[11]

Prayer

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 276.

AD In the year of our Lord

[2] Richard R. Melick Jr., “Philippians,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1882.

[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

  1. about, approximately

[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

[6] Richard R. Melick Jr., “Philippians,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1883.

[7] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 47.

12 It only occurs twice there, 1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:7. A related word, ἐπισκοπῆς (rather than ἐπίσκοπος), occurs in 1 Tim 3:1. Peter used each word (1 Pet 2:12; 2:25). Ἐπίσκοπος also occurs in Acts 20:28.

[8] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 49.

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbz5d8Np9eQ&feature=youtu.be

[10] Devotion originally at: https://www.gty.org/library/devotionals/drawing-near?utm_source=mailerlite&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=read_todays_drawing_near_devotional&utm_term=2019-02-09

[11] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 276.

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