Philippians 1:1-11

Background -
On the Second Missionary Journey (between 49 and 52), Paul and Silas were "kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia" (Acts 16:6). They tried to go into Bithynia, "but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them" (Acts 16:7). They finally reached the coast at Troas, where Paul had a vision of a Macedonian begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9).

Once in Philippi, Paul and Silas met some women praying on the Sabbath at the river, led by Lydia, "a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God" (Acts 16:14). She welcomed Paul's message, was baptized with her household, and invited the missionaries and a cluster of believers into her home, where the tiny church began to grow.

One day they were met by a slave girl who prophesied from an evil spirit. Finally Paul turned to her and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her." With their slave girl no longer able to prophecy, her owners had Paul and Silas flogged and thrown in prison for "throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice" (Acts 16:20-21).

At midnight an earthquake opened the prison doors and the jailer was converted and baptized with his household in the middle of the night. At daylight, Paul and Silas were thrown out of town, but not before a church had been established.
After Paul and Silas left, Luke may have stayed on in Philippi. Paul kept in touch with the Macedonian churches through Timothy (Acts 19:21-23; Philippians 2:19-20) and visited them twice more, probably during the autumn of 54-55 and again in the spring of 55-56 (Acts 20:1-3).

The church at Philippi provided financial and material support several times during Paul's journeys. He bragged to the Corinthians about their generosity:
"We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.... They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).

They shared with Paul a "partnership in the gospel from the first day" (Philippians 1:5). Paul recalls, "In the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need" (4:15-16). The warm Letter to the Philippians is strong evidence to this deep love between the apostle and some of his dearest converts.

Four brief chapters, the theme of these chapters is joy, Paul mentions it at least 16 times in these four chapters. He also mentions Christ 50 times. And that is because his joy is found in Christ and so is our joy. John Macarthur said “This is the theme of this marvelous little letter...the believer's joy. It is the epistle of joy. Paul is writing it to the Philippians. He loves the Philippians and they love him. In fact, it's my personal conviction that the love bond between Paul and the Philippians exceeded the love bond between he and any other of the churches.”


(NKJV) Philippians 1:1 -11
1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1This is the only epistle that Paul does not claim his apostleship in the opening. Here, he claims his bondservant status. A bondservant was one who willingly submitted themselves to serve another. He and Timothy serve Jesus Christ.
He addresses this letter to all of the believers in Philippi, and calls them saints. You are a saint today!
In Christ Jesus – By nature of the union with Jesus, we are in Him.
There were multiple bishops(overseers) and deacons in a single church.
2 The greeting itself is identical to that found in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians and Philemon and has thus become a standard for Paul. Grace is the gift of God, peace is the result.

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,
5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

3 – My God – Paul’s relationship with God is reflected here. Not our God, But my God.
The very thought of the Philippians brought Paul good memories. Can you think of someone that, when you think of them, you are thankful? Macarthur says “A key to joy in the Christian life is to be able to recall the goodness of people--to look past imperfections to capture broader and sweeter realities. A heart dominated by the joy of the Holy Spirit remembers the sweet things in life without dwelling on the distressing things. It savors thoughts of another's goodness, kindness, love, compassion, gentleness, sacrifice, and care. It forgives the rest.”
4 Paul seems to be praying for them with every prayer he makes.
Paul prays with joy for them. Not the prayers we sometimes pray, “Lord, get that guy..”, ‘Lord, change them..”.
5 The source of Paul’s joy was their fellowship. We have koinonia with each other through the gospel.
These believers were there from the start of the church in Philippi and had exhibited participation with Paul since then.
6 As verse 5 looks back on the work God has done through them in the past, verse 6 looks toward the work God will do through them in the future, culminating in the “day of Jesus Christ”.
Jesus is not done with me yet. I should also remember this for when I deal with other Christians – He is not done with them yet either.
John Piper said of this verse, “The fact that God is at work in his people, changing the thought patterns and preference of our sinful nature, so that we love what he loves, re-tooling the grooves in our brain, knitting together the complex strands of our emotional wounds with infinitely greater skill than the world's foremost micro-surgeon—there's no greater promise than this.”

7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

7 During Paul’s imprisonment, the Philippians sent him money and sent Epaphroditus’ services to support him, thus sharing in Paul’s ministry. Do we realize that we are partakers in the gospel?
8 Paul calls for God to be a witness of his feelings for the Philippians. Affection lilterally means “bowels”, showing how deep his feelings are for them.

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which [are] by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

9 He already told them that he prayed for them regularly, now he tells them the content of his prayer: that they would grow in love with knowledge and discernment.
10 - Sincere is a word meaning "without wax". When a bowl maker wanted to let people know that his bowls had not broken and then fixed with wax, he used the word "sincere".
11 – The purpose of Paul’s prayer for them was the glory of God.

Three points of application:
First we see that Paul lived as though his days were numbered. Psalm 90. Paul had learned to “number his days.” Paul wrote to and prayed for these saints, because he knew that sooner or later he would not be able to minister to them personally. I wonder how many of us have learned to “number our days.”
Second, notice that Paul did not use the sovereignty of God as an excuse for passivity in prayer. It was Paul’s assurance that God would finish the good work He started in the Philippians that motivated Paul to pray (and work) for their growth. God’s sovereignty is the incentive for effort, not our excuse for passivity.
Third, Paul’s words and actions in our text remind us that we don’t have to be physically present to minister.

Questions for Application/Discussion:
What does verse 6 reveal about God’s work in our lives?
Why do you think Paul prayers focused more for spiritual welfare of others, than their physical welfare?
How would you distinguish the difference between knowledge, insight, and discernment? What is one specific thing you could do to help another Christian(s) with their growth?