The Apostle Paul was one of the most prolific missionaries and church planters in church history. He was an absolute machine when it came to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and establishing churches in new places.
During his second missionary journey, Paul helped establish the Church of Philippi. Philippi was a city in Macedonia, which is now part of Greece. I have a map to show you where Philippi was. It was right there.
I had the privilege to visit some of the ancient ruins of Philippi.
Here’s a picture of me in front of some Philippian columns.
Here’s a picture of a Philippian theatre or stadium that remains today.
That’s a couple of pictures and a map, but I’d like for you to meet the Church of Philippi, God’s church.
So, let’s dive into this letter from Paul to the Philippian church, and let’s learn what God has for us as well.
Before we do, join me in prayer.
(prayer)
As I mentioned earlier, Paul planted the church in Philippi. After that, he wrote a letter to them, which we call the Book of Philippians.
We’ll learn some of the reasons he wrote this letter as we journey through three elements we see in this church. So, let’s start there.
First, we see . . .
I. The people of God in the church.
There are four groups of people in this opening verse. See if you can identify them as we read verse 1.
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
Did you catch the groups of people?
We have the missionaries, we have the saints, we have the overseers, and we have the deacons.
Let’s talk about each of these groups briefly.
First, the missionaries.
They’re identified as Paul and Timothy.
Though Paul is the primary author of this letter (which is indicated by the first-person perspective in the letter), he includes Timothy at the beginning.
You see, Timothy was with Paul during the missionary journey in which they established the Church of Philippi.
Now, Paul is writing this letter on behalf of himself and Timothy.
As we learned last week from our guest speaker, Chris, missionaries plant churches. That’s what Paul and Timothy did here in Philippi.
Then, Paul did what he often did: He wrote a letter to a church he established in response to reports he received about how that church was doing.
Often, Paul’s letters addressed problems in the churches. However, that is not the case with this letter.
Paul was encouraged by the Church in Philippi and how they were living their lives as Christians.
So, church, let us pay attention. The Church in Philippi was doing something right, so let’s learn from them.
That’s the first group, the missionaries.
Second, let’s talk about the saints.
The word saints here means “holy ones” or “those set apart.”
Paul addresses this letter to the saints in Philippi.
Notice what he says: “ . . . the saints in Christ Jesus . . . ”
You see, these saints are not significant or special Christians; they are the Christians in Philippi.
There is no special council or group of people who can make someone a saint. Someone is made a saint by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We who are Christians are saints. We are set apart or made holy by the blood of Jesus!
Paul is writing to all those who had been saved by Jesus in Philippi: the saints!
So, also, for those who are in this room who have been saved by Jesus, you are the saints in Christ Jesus in Bartow (and beyond).
So, Paul is addressing the letter to the Christians in Philippi.
Third, let’s talk about the overseers.
Though Paul addresses the letter to all the saints, he singles out two specific groups.
The first of these other groups is the overseers.
In the New Testament, the word overseers is used synonymously, or interchangeably, with the words bishops, pastors, elders, and shepherds.
All these words refer to the leaders of the churches. From the very beginning, Paul planted churches and helped establish leaders in churches.
The church needs leaders, and those leaders are called overseers, elders, or pastors, all referring to the same role in the church.
Finally, let’s talk about the deacons.
The word deacon means “servant.”
The deacons were put in place by God’s design to serve the church. In fact, the very first deacons were put in place so they could serve the church, so the leaders could focus on leading the church.
Churches today must follow this same model: God established pastors to lead the church and deacons to serve the church.
So, we have the missionaries who planted the church, then we have the bare minimum three groups that should compose every church: the saints, the overseers, and the deacons.
We see the people of God in the church.
Next, we find . . .
II. The blessings of God in the church.
Look at verses 2-6:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Notice the blessings that come to the people of God in and through the church of God.
First, we learn that Paul desires grace and peace from God to the Philippian church.
Grace is receiving good that we don’t deserve.
Peace is calm in the midst of craziness.
We need those things, don’t we?
The world is wild out there. Sometimes things are wild in the church as well.
We need grace and peace from God in our lives, in the world, and in our churches.
Notice the blessings that are in verses 3 and 4:
Paul gives thanks for the Philippians.
Paul lifts prayers for Christians in Philippi.
Paul has joy for them as he prays.
These are all blessings from God.
God blesses His people with gratitude for everything, including other Christians.
We are blessed by God to be able to pray to Him for ourselves and for others.
We are blessed with joy, so that we can have a supernatural positive filling from God and from His people.
That’s three blessings: thankfulness/gratitude, prayers, and joy.
The blessings don’t stop there. In verse 5, we learn why Paul gives thanks and why He is filled with joy.
Paul says, “ . . . because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
The Philippians were not just recipients of the blessings that came from Paul’s ministry; they were active partners in the good news of Jesus Christ.
You see, the Philippians partnered with Paul and his ministry by praying for Paul, giving to Paul’s ministry, and living lives of godliness.
They were not just spectators in the church; they were participants. They weren’t just consumers of Paul’s ministry; they were contributors to it. They weren’t selfish; they were sacrificial.
In an age when so many people want to know how they can be blessed by the church, we should seek to be like the Philippians.
Church, you can be a blessing and be blessed by partnering in the work of God through His church.
Finally, in verse 6, Paul says that God will continue to bless His church.
Listen, brothers and sisters: God does not give up on His people; He does not give up on His church.
God started a good work in your life, and He will carry it on.
God started a good work in this church, and He will see it through until the day that Jesus Christ returns to the earth to rescue His people.
The blessings of God will continue in the church.
Finally, . . .
III. The ways of God in the church.
The ways of God refer to the commands, direction, and plans that God has for His people in the church.
Church, we must recognize that God’s ways are better. His ways are better than the world’s ways, and His ways are better than our ways.
Let’s learn a bit about God’s ways in this passage. Look at the final verses. Start in verse 7:
7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Pay attention here:
First of all, we must recognize that Paul is in prison for preaching the gospel. He is likely imprisoned in Rome, Caesarea, or Ephesus.
Paul says that they are partners with him in grace in three things: his imprisonment, the defense of the gospel, and the confirmation of the gospel.
There are three truths that are revealed here:
Number One: The ways of God involve suffering and partnering with those who are suffering. Jesus said that His people would suffer, and we must take that seriously.
Number Two: The ways of God involve a life defending the good news of Jesus Christ. We must speak the truth of the gospel and never abandon it. Number Three: The ways of God involve a life that confirms the gospel. Not only must you defend the gospel with your words, but you must confirm it with your life. You must live like a follower of Jesus.
We see some other ways of God in this passage. Look at verse 8.
Notice Paul says that he has deep affection for the Philippian church.
Friends, the ways of God include brothers and sisters in Jesus who have deep love for one another.
The relationships that you have with other Christians should be your deepest relationships in the world.
These deeply affectionate relationships should be marked by love, grace, joy, understanding, patience, forgiveness, unity, and more.
Too many churches are marked by members who are selfish, unkind, unforgiving, and unloving to each other. That is not the way of God. That is the way of evil.
May we at First Baptist Church Bartow be marked by deep love for one another.
Finally, in verses 9 through 11, Paul continues on this theme of love as he speaks about the love of the Philippians growing in knowledge and discernment.
There’s a reason Paul is praying for their love to grow in knowledge and discernment. He says in verse 10, “ . . . so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ . . . ”
There are a lot of influences that compete for the attention and affection of Christians, right?
Acceptance, jobs, family issues, notoriety, money, relationships, power, pride, prestige, success, pleasure, and so much more.
These influences are pulling you away from the superior things of which Paul speaks.
There are a lot of influences that compete for the attention and affection of churches, right?
Finances, buildings, numbers, programs, success, committees, and so much more.
These influences, some that are not inherently evil, are competing with the attention and affection of churches and keeping us away from the superior things.
Well, the natural question then is, What are the superior things?
Well, of course, they are the things which our Lord Jesus commanded us to do: make disciples, love one another, forgive one another, reach people with the gospel, be light to a dark world, and more.
We’re so distracted sometimes by the lesser things that we forget about the greatness of the superior things.
The way of God for your life and for our church is to focus on what’s most important, the superior things.
When we focus on the superior things, verse 11 says we are “ . . . filled with righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.”
So, church, as the Church in Philippi did, may we focus on the ways of God for our church.
What happens if we do? That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: The ways of God, in the people of God, lead to the blessings of God.
Our church has been blessed, haven’t we?
However, (as the old saying goes) we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet? Church, God has so much more in store for us!
We won’t get there by focusing on the lesser things; we’ll get there by focusing on the superior things.
Sometimes the lesser things are important, but they’re not nearly as important as the superior things.
To that end, let us challenge ourselves in this one way:
Weekly Challenge: Pray that we would be God’s church.
Would you join me in prayer this week that we would follow the ways of God, so that we would truly be the people of God, so that we would experience the blessings of God? In short, would you pray that we would be God’s church?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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