Intro to Philippians

  • David Fairchild
  • Mar 28, 2004
  • Series: Philippians

INTRODUCTION

Coming back from Boca Raton I had to stop Dallas and switch planes to San Diego. On that flight, I was reading a book when a man and woman sat next to me. The woman sat closest to me and before we were airborne she asked what I was reading, and so began an interesting 3 hour conversation about God, Jesus Christ, eternity, meaning, hope, the validity of the Bible, morality, logic, ethics, our purpose for existing and a couple more “light” topics.

We were engaged in this intense dialogue for about 2 ½ hours when she said something to me that totally baffled and grieved me. She mentioned she was a litigation attorney and had embarked on what she called a “spiritual journey” last year.

She said she had looked into all kinds of religions, philosophies, and worldviews over a relatively short period of time. She had attended bible studies, read eastern mysticism, talked with new age spiritualists, and came to the conclusion after reading a few books and talking to few people that it really didn’t matter what you believed as long as you were sincere and as long as you desired something deeper.

Realizing that we live in a society which champions and celebrates diversity, I wondered how she could connect to something deeper when that something or someone is not defined, or even sought after. I asked her to tell me about her studies of Jesus, what impact the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ had on her as she read about Him in the Scriptures. She replied in a way that was so honest and so insightful that I was caught off-guard and almost pleased with the integrity of her answer. She said the cross and crucifixion of Christ had no effect on how she lived her life because she perceived them both as irrelevant! She didn’t see the need for Christ to connect to that something deeper. She didn’t see the relevance.I wish more people were as honest as she was when talking about who Christ is and what He has accomplished. Unfortunately most live as if they see the relevance, as if they see the connection, as if they understand the importance of the cross-work of Christ, but they live in such defeat, they live in such misery, they live with such a numb despair of hopelessness, and what they don’t say speaks louder than what they do… “irrelevant” is what shouts from the depths of their soul, irrelevant!So what in the world does this have to do with an introduction to Philippians? Everything. Because this letter was written by a man God had chosen, who was sent on a mission to proclaim a message that was to radically shape, completely transform, and powerfully be preached to people that didn’t know God; that message was the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.


Paul’s entire purpose was to preach this message to as many as would hear. Paul said “woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel.”

Paul thought this message was so relevant that he said “if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” This message of hope, this “good news” which is the Gospel, was the driving and all-consuming reason and purpose for Paul’s life and mission in Christ.

STUDY

As we study and are studied by the letter Paul wrote to the Christians at the church of Philippi I want us to have a good handle of who Paul is, what the City of Philippi was like, and why Paul wrote the letter.

We are going to take our time over the next few weeks to study this letter, then we are going to jump in and work through Ecclesiastes and perhaps Galatians after that.

I desperately want this letter to be much more than some academic exercise for you. I have been praying this letter will be made relevant to you by the Spirit of God, that I preach this letter with accuracy, humility, and in all authority God has given me in Christ. I pray also that you are shaped by this same Gospel that radically shaped Paul, and that you would see Christ exalted each and every week as we gather to worship God and learn about Jesus together.

I. PAUL

Men this should give you great comfort, Paul was not a sexy man.

In the description given by writers in the early church, it is said that Paul had a bald head, hook nose, his eyebrows met in the middle, he was short, and was bow-legged. Probably looked like Archie Bunker.

So when your wife tells you to be more like Paul, tell her you are well on your way.

Paul was born in Tarsus around 3 A.D. to Jewish parents and his father was a Pharisee, which was a strict, legalistic Jewish group. At eight days old, his parents named him Saul, after Israel's first king who was from the tribe of Benjamin.   His parents also gave him the Latin name of Paul because they lived in a Roman society.

Paul's Education

From age five to ten he studied under his father, a Jewish Pharisee.  His father taught him the scriptures and traditional writing.  Because he was raised in a Greek and Roman environment, Paul received thorough education in the Greek language, history, and culture. He was well aware of poetry, philosophy, and the arts as we see in his use of each when he evangelizes Greeks and Romans.

Paul was sent to Jerusalem at about ten years old to attend the rabbinical school of Gamaliel.  Gamaliel was the most famous rabbi during this period of time and is mentioned in Acts 5:34.

The religious school of Gamaliel was mainly oral and had a bias against any book but the scriptures.  During a regular school session, learned men met with the students and discussed the scriptures. The students were encouraged to question, discuss, and even doubt the Scriptures.

Gamaliel discovered Saul was an enthusiastic student.  It seems as if Saul was being groomed to be a leader like Gamaliel.  Saul was extremely dedicated and it is not unusual that Gamaliel would have a fondness for Saul. 
 

Fighting Against God

Saul had heard of Christ and thought He was irrelevant to the things of God. But since Christ’s death, this rumor of His resurrection spread like wildfire and there were many that were follower of Jesus.  Saul’s hatred for this God-Man caused him to offer his service to the high priest to persecute anyone who is following Jesus.

Saul was brutal and would literally drag believers, cast them into prison, and sentenced them to death. He became very well known to those in the early church and many feared him because of his reputation.

The First Martyr

Stephen was a follower of Jesus Christ.  Stephen and the Pharisees would engage in heated debates about Christ in the synagogues.  His knowledge of the scriptures frustrated them to the point where they were unable to argue with Him.   It’s rumored that Saul got into an argument with Stephen.  They got into an open debate, and Saul became discouraged because he found that with all his learning he was not able to win the arguments of Stephen.

Saul traveled from synagogue to synagogue to hunt down the followers of Jesus.

The Pharisees had Stephen arrested.  He was tried by the same group that condemned Jesus.  They returned a quick verdict of death by stoning.

At the execution, Saul's responsibility was to take care of the Pharisees' robes while they stoned Stephen to death. 

It’s mentioned in Acts 8:1 “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Paul's persecution was so severe that he scattered the Christians throughout Judea and Samaria.   The Christian church, instead of diminishing, grew stronger and stronger.

The Conversion of Paul

Angered by his efforts to stop the spread of Christianity, Saul prepared a trip to Damascus, where he had heard Christians were hiding.  Not only were they hiding, they were also preaching Christ in the synagogues there. 

So, accompanied by a troop of armed temple guards, Saul rode out of Jerusalem to the city of Damascus, which was about one hundred and fifty miles away. As they neared the outer edge of the city, a blinding light overpowered the troops.  The group fell to the ground trying to protect their eyes from the light.  We read in acts 9:

Acts 9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."


Saul was now known and owned by Christ and would spend the rest of His life living for the spread of the Gospel and He would ultimately be beheaded for his faith in Jesus Christ.

In speaking of what God will do with Saul Acts 9:16 God says "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

And suffer He did!

Paul was immediately bold and fearless in the proclamation of the Gospel and this drew the hatred he was inflicted on others.

Those in Damascus sought to kill him and he was forced to leave the city by being lowered down the city wall at night in a basket. He was forced to flee Iconium; he was pelted with stones and left for dead in Lystra; he was beaten and thrown in Jail at Philippi; forced to flee from Thessalonica after his preaching caused a riot; he went from there to Berea, where he was forced to leave; he was mocked and ridiculed by Greek philosophers in Athens; was brought before the Roman proconsul in Corinth; he faced both Jewish and Gentile hatred in riots he caused in Ephesus.

As he was about to sail from Greece to Palestine, a Jewish plot to kill him forced him to change his plans. On the way to Jerusalem, he met the Ephesian church elders at Miletus and said to them in Acts 20:22-23- 22 "… I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there. 23 "except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he was recognized in the temple by Jews from Asian Minor and was brutally beaten by a mob, and saved from death by Roman soldiers that arrived on the scene and arrested him.

While Paul was in custody at Jerusalem, the Jews devised another plot to kill him and it caused the Roman commander to send him under heavy guard to the governor of Caesarea. After his case dragged on for two years and two different Roman governors, Paul used his right as a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar.

After a crazy trip, which included being shipwrecked in a storm, Paul arrived in Rome. And as Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, Paul was in his fourth year of custody, awaiting Emperor Nero’s final decision in his case.

Paul, only half way through his ministry writes this to the Corinthian church when they were questioning his Apostleship:

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 23 Are they ministers of Christ? --I speak as a fool--I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness-- 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

Philippi was one of those churches Paul was concerned with.

PHILIPPI

The Church- est. 49 A.D.

In acts 16 we read about the founding of the church at Philippi.

Acts 16:1-40 1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily. 6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us. 16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21 "and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe." 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 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 chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, "Let those men go." 36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out." 38 And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

This is how the church at Philippi was started. Paul comes with news of the Messiah. He comes to tell the Philippians about what Jesus Christ has done. He comes to preach the Gospel and let the chips fall where they may.

The planting of this church in Philippi is significant because it is the first European church that is given the Gospel to spread through all of Europe.

Did this Gospel spread through Europe? Yes it did. All the way to us.

The City

Philippi is in northeastern Greece and was the first major city where Paul preached the Gospel in Europe. Lydia (in Acts) is the first European Christian.

In 356 B.C. the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedon, was interested in the city because of it’s beauty and in the gold and silver mines so he formally established the city with his own name, and built a massive city wall so that it would be militarily fortified.

In 42 B.C. the city became famous because it was the place where Mark Anthony and Octavian defeated the Roman Republican forces of Brutus and Cassius who had assassinated Julius Caesar. After the victory, Rome settled several veteran soldiers and established Philippi as a Roman colony.

Philippi was considered a little Rome because it had full Roman privileges unlike other conquered cities.

It’s architecture, coins, clothing, and language were changed to make it more Roman.

The people worshiped multiple gods. From Greek gods and goddesses, to worshipping the exalted imperial leaders from Rome.

Paul entered a place that was proud of its Roman identity, totally syncretistic in worshipping as many gods as you wanted, and as long as you didn’t infringe upon their quest for money, you were allowed to remain undisturbed as one of many religions.

Much like the lawyer on the airplane I spoke with, I’m sure you could do what you wanted as long as it felt right, and as long as you didn’t try to claim it was the only way. I’m sure Paul entered a climate that viewed Jesus Christ and His Gospel as irrelevant to them.

You could say that Philippi was similar to San Diego in that its citizens were proud of their beautiful city, proud of their freedom, and proud of their ability to worship whoever they wanted without being told they were right or wrong.

But Paul as a missionary church planter wanted to see as many come to Christ as God would allow.

Paul was given a message that was relevant. As many were worshipping idols and false gods, Paul came to introduce them to the true God. Paul came to preach the Gospel.

We have this same message to deliver to our culture. We have been handed the baton to pass this down to each generation as we ask God to give us the same heart that Paul had beating in his chest for the lost.

Paul didn’t consider his pain, his sufferings, and his inconvenience as something to stop him. Paul’s view was eternal and it gave him tremendous joy.

Paul writes this letter of joy to those he loves in Philippi. He writes this letter after being imprisoned for 4 years. Paul sends a letter of comfort, a letter of thanks, a letter of encouragement to those he loves.

Paul’s purpose is to encourage those that are now facing persecution and isolation from their culture because of their love and devotion to Jesus Christ.

Paul’s response to do all that he could in this life to cause the forward progress of the Gospel is the only legitimate response that you and I should have.

We should have such a real and present awareness of what Christ has done on our behalf. We should have such joy as we consider what Jesus has set us free from. All of this is in response to Jesus Christ. All of this is because of what Christ has done. All of this makes up the Gospel.

We were hiding in our city, worshipping our own little gods, when Christ came and broke through the walls, when God destroyed all of our rationalistic responses to the cross, all our moral smokescreens, all of our self-dependency, and claimed victory over our hearts.

With the same message Paul preached of the crucified and risen Christ who has come to give love and grace to all who would believe “in” Him, I stand 2,000 years after Christ came to this earth on a mission. But the same Spirit that lived in Paul, lives in everyone of God’s children, and that same Spirit compels me to preach the Gospel to all that will listen. To call everyone, as Paul did, to see themselves as hopeless without Christ. To recognize their sin before God. To turn from their own ways and give themselves fully to God as they respond to the most relevant message of all of human history.

We don’t need a contemporary message for contemporary times, we need an eternal message that transcends our guilt, our pain, our past, our sin, and swallows them all up in the fountain of grace.

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