Philippians 1:1-2
Grace and Peace: An Introduction to Philippians

 

 

“Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved.” That was Mark Twain. Here is another of his ditties on grief and joy.

 

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” Mark Twain was a professional humorist. His lectures and writings have made people laugh all over the world. He had that rare gift of enabling people to forget their troubles, at least for a time. Yet Mark Twain was himself, in private a man whose life was broken by sorrow.  When his daughter Jean died suddenly of an epileptic seizure, Twain, too distressed even to go to the funeral.

 

He said to a friend, "I have never greatly envied anyone but the dead. I always envy the dead."  Many of the people who have brought the most happiness to the world have been people who have suffered deeply.  Isaiah the prophet described Jesus Christ as "A Man of sorrows acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). Yet we know from the Gospels that Jesus possessed a deep and lasting joy. As He faced the cruel death of Calvary, Jesus said to His followers, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11).  Hebrews tells us “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2). Indeed, Jesus explained that while his friends would grieve when he died, his resurrection would bring them lasting joy,

 

“Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy…I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy... Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:20-22, 24).

 

So, one of the consequences of coming to know God as our loving Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, of having the assurance of sins forgiven, of eternal life, of the indwelling, empowering, equipping, baptising, filling of the Holy Spirit - is the joy, the joy of Jesus. After love, the second fruit of the Spirit. Joy. Yet it seems we don't always take advantage of this privilege. We live under a cloud of discouragement, of disappointment, even of despair, dependant on our circumstances, on the newspaper headlines, on the weather, on other people, when we could and we should be experiencing deep seated joy of Jesus.  What robs us of this joy? 


The answer to this important question is found in Paul's intensely personal letter to the Philippians. In just 104 verses Paul uses the personal pronoun no less than 100 times. Not because he is being boastful or having to defend his apostleship. No, he is writing to friends who have been loyal and generous and he cares passionately about their welfare in a hostile and increasingly menacing world. 

 

With the prospect of a very challenging year ahead, when pundits are comparing this recession to the Great Depression of the 20s and 30s, there is good reason for studying Philippians together on Sunday mornings in the Spring. 

 

Introduction to Philippians

Philippians was written by Paul while a prisoner, most likely in Rome about the year 61 AD. It was sent to his friends at Philippi to the church he had founded on his second missionary journey. You can read about its birth in Acts 16.

 

The city of Philippi was named after King Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Philippi was a Roman colony. The emperor created “colonies” by ordering Roman citizens, especially retired military people, to live in strategic locations so there would be strong pro-Roman presence. In return, they were given certain political privileges, not least citizenship of Rome and exemption from paying taxes. Philippi was therefore a prosperous Roman colony. They prided themselves on being Romans (see Ac 16:21).

 

Purpose of Philippians

One of the church members there, Epaphroditus had been sent to Rome to bring some money from the church to help Paul while in prison. Paul's letter therefore is something of a "missionary thank you" (1:5; 4:10-19) but it is much more than that.  He has several other specific purposes:

 

1.    to share about his circumstances (1:12-26; 4:10-19).

2.    to encourage them to stand firm in the face of persecution (1:27-30; 4:4)

3.    to exhort them to humility and unity (2:1-11; 4:2-5)

4.    to commend Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30)

5.    to warn them against two errors: the Judaizers (the legalists) and the antinomians (libertines) (3).

 

The Themes of Philippians

 

1.    Christ-centred Joy

In all this, Paul’s letter exudes joy. Paul mentions joy, rejoicing and gladness 19x in four short chapters.  This can only be work of God because, from what we know of Paul's circumstances, he had no earthly reason for rejoicing at all.  He was a Roman prisoner, and he did not know whether his impending trial would result in an acquittal or execution. In spite of danger and discomfort, Paul overflowed with joy.  What was the secret of this joy?  We shall find that the answer lies in another word often repeated in this letter. That is the word "mind". 

 

2.    Christ-centred Mind

Paul uses the word mind 10x, the word "think" 5x, and "remember" once.  Add those together and you have 16 references to the mind. In other words, the secret of Christian joy is found in the way we think – our attitude, our perspective.  We shall discover that Philippians is no shallow "self help" book. It doesn’t tell us to think positively, or convince ourselves that everything will turn out all right in the end. There are no short cuts, no free passes, get out of jail cards, quick fixes or inside tracks. In Philippians we will discover that we can continue to experience God's joy in a world that is full of trouble.  In these four chapters Paul gives us four attitudes that will maintain our joy.

 

Chapter 1 is all about being single minded in Christ (1:21).

Chapter 2 about having a submissive mind like Christ (2:5).

Chapter 3 is about having the spiritual mind of Christ (3:19-20).

Chapter 4 is about having a secure mind in Christ (4:7).

 

A Christ-centred joy flows from a Christ-centred mind, secure in a

 

3.    Christ-centred Faith

Paul’s joy and ours comes from having a perspective focussed on Jesus Christ. A good summary verses for the whole letter might be "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21). Paul mentions Jesus 18x in this first chapter alone, and the gospel 6x. It is as if Paul is saying "It makes no difference what happens to me, just as long as Christ is glorified and the Gospel shared." Notice the emphasis on the Lord Jesus in the first two verses.

 

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:1-2)

 

Alec Motyer writes, “The exclusive place which the Lord Jesus Christ occupies in relation to the Christian has three aspects, which Paul indicates here by the words in, of and from: a saint in Christ Jesus, a servant of Christ Jesus, and grace and peace from … the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

3.1 In Christ: The relationship in which we now live

“Throughout his letters, Paul uses ‘in Christ’ as a comprehensive description of every Christian. The phrase touches every aspect of what God has done for us, of what we now enjoy and of the prospect opening before us in time and eternity.7  We are not surprised therefore to find Philippians rich in what it reveals about being ‘in Christ’. It is ‘in Christ’ that salvation comes to us…not an invitation awaiting our response but an authoritative summons—his royal edict of conscription—bringing us into a living relationship with the Lord Jesus… [because] all God’s saving purposes are centred in Christ and worked out by him.” 

 

“In Christ we are secure and have everything we need9 with the peace of God as a garrison patrolling our hearts and his glorious riches laid open to meet our needs. In Christ we become new people with new feelings,10 a new mind or way of looking at things,11 new encouragements or incentives to live as Christians should,12 and new abilities to bring those incentives to fruition.13 In Christ we have a whole new way of looking at life, seeing his hand and his sovereign will in all things... To be in Christ, then, is to possess what is often spoken of as full salvation: everything necessary to our past, present, future .” Being ‘in Christ’ is an objective fact, but it is also a personal  reality. In Christ: The relationship in which the Christian lives: in Christ.

 

3.2  Of Christ: The Lord whom we now serve

“It is in Christ that a person becomes a saint. But we are at the same time possessed by Christ... Paul… describes himself and Timothy as servants of Christ Jesus. [In fact] He actually says something [much] stronger: ‘slaves of Christ Jesus’.17 The slave, ‘bought with a price’,18 is completely at the disposal of the purchaser, to do his bidding. A self-willed, idle or disobedient slave is a contradiction in terms. There is, of course, nothing servile about a saint. On the contrary, we are now for the first time free, free from the penalty, bondage and degradation of sin. We are now truly human, for Christ is true Man, and those who are in him possess a human nature matching their Creator’s intention.19 But the saint is obedient. Great though our privileges are, they are not to be equated with dressing-gown and slippers; they are staff and shoes for pilgrimage, armour for battle and a plough for the field. Responsive obedience characterizes us, for the ‘saint in Christ Jesus’ is necessarily also a ‘servant of Christ Jesus’. We cannot evade this responsibility. “None can partake of grace and fight shy of service. The in Christ of gracious salvation, if it is real, issues in the of Christ of responsive, obedient service.”

 

3.3 From Christ: The Giver from whom we receive

“It is plainly no easy task to live as an obedient, serving saint. Where does such ability come from? Paul answers by pointing to a giver and a gift: Grace … and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…. Turning now to verse 2 we find that Paul is being practical when he acknowledges the deity of the Lord Jesus. In the phrase from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the single preposition from governs both names, and has the effect of hyphenating them together into one single source of blessing. All the divine greatness of God and the Lord, all the divine love and saving efficacy of the Father and Jesus Christ come together in divine unanimity to pour out upon the saints whatever [our] need for [our] days on earth.”

 

“And all that [we] need is summed up in the gift which is specified as grace and peace. Grace is God being gracious, adopting an attitude of all-sufficient favour towards helpless… sinners… God coming to them in free, unprovoked love, to give them the opposite of their deservings…  The firstfruits of grace is peace, specifically peace with God. … But peace means more than ‘peace with God’. In the Old Testament, peace (šālôm) combines ‘harmony’ (outward peace with God and man) with completeness or fulfilment (inward peace in those who are made whole)... Furthermore, peace is both our experience and our strength in hard times. It sums up in one word the all-sufficient blessings which God gives to his saints and which his presence enables them to experience.”[1]

 

As we examine this first chapter in more detail next week we will find Paul discussing his difficult circumstances and facing them honestly. His circumstances cannot rob him of his joy because he is not living just to enjoy his circumstances, he is living to serve Jesus Christ. He is a man of purpose as we must be – purpose driven. "But one thing I do" he says (Philippians 3:13).  Paul does not look at circumstances in themselves, but rather to Jesus Christ. For example, he is not the prisoner of Rome, but a slave of Christ (Philippians 1:1). The chains he wears are not the chains of Rome but are "chains for Christ", (Philippians 1:13). He is not facing a civil trial but is in prison "for the defence of the Gospel" (Philippians 1:16).  Paul looked at his situation and saw the hand of God behind everything. So too, when we are single minded, we will only be concerned about those things that concern the Lord.

 

Maybe you feel you are going through a difficult time at the moment. Maybe you are fearful about the year ahead. Maybe that is why you don't feel particularly joyful.  For Paul it was the reverse. Paul rejoiced in his difficult circumstances because they helped to strengthen his relationship with Jesus Christ and other Christians, because they drove him back in prayer to the arms of Christ. His difficult circumstances gave him opportunities to lead others to Christ. Paul saw opposition as opportunities, problems as possibilities for the gospel.

 

When we are single minded, when our focus is on Jesus, our circumstances will work for us and not against us. I for one am looking forward to the year ahead to see how the difficulties and problems in the economy will, by God’s grace, strengthen our relationships and widen our influence in the community. As we support one another, as we show our community that here is a very diverse group of people who are united in the way they care for one another, others will want to find out more about Jesus. We may be less well off by the end of this year, but I am praying that we will be more single minded and more focussed on Jesus and all that he wants to do in and through us. Then we will experience his joy like never before.

 

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

 

Lets make this our prayer for one another in the coming year. Amen.


7 For a fuller treatment, see J. R. W. Stott, Focus on Christ (Collins, Fount Paperbacks, 1979), pp. 51–68.

9 4:7, 19.

10 1:8. The rsv obscures the ‘in Christ’ aspect of this verse. More literally, ‘I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus’ (rv), i.e. as a Christian I actually partake in the emotional responses of Christ.

11 2:5.

12 2:1.

13 4:13.

17 See rsv margin.

18 1 Cor. 6:20.

19 E.g. Eph. 4:24.

[1]Motyer, J. A.: The Message of Philippians. Downers Grove, Ill. : Inter-Varsity Press, 1984 (The Bible Speaks Today), S. 26