PHILIPPIANS 1:1-112006 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 1:1-11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006.

It's good to be starting the book of Philippians. We've had somewhat of a break from going through systematically through the scriptures like we do with the different pastors teaching and then doing the introduction and the message that the Lord had put on my heart for last week. But now we get back in, we're jumping back in and we'll be going through the book of Philippians.

Paul starts out this book in verse 1 by introducing himself. He says, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, and then he addresses the letter to who he's writing, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons.

A couple of things I want to point out here about the Apostle Paul. We see him demonstrating the character as we look at the priority of joy with Jesus first and others second and then yourself last. We see that time and time again throughout the Apostle Paul's life and his writings. It's very clear and evident even as he introduces the letter here. He says, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ.

Now, a bondservant, if you're not familiar with the word, in the Greek it's the word doulos. It's a common word used in the scriptures, but it's very significant in what it means. Because the bondservant, that word doulos, really means to be devoted to another, to the disregard of

of one's own interests. It's not someone who just serves occasionally. In fact, a servant of God, according to the Bible, is not just someone who does things for God on occasion or even regularly, but according to what the Bible says and how Paul describes his servanthood to Jesus Christ, a servant of God is a person whose entire life

is devoted to God. It's not just the here at church or involved in this activity or that activity, but when he's working on tents, as Paul was a tent maker, it was for the glory of God. He was serving God in doing that. Or wherever he was and whatever he was doing, it was for God and serving God in all that he did.

He was devoted to Jesus Christ, to the disregard of his own interests. He put Jesus first in his life. Now, with that definition, I wonder, could you call yourself a bondservant of Jesus Christ? Are you devoted to Jesus, to the disregard of your own interests? Laying aside your plans and your desires and your will and pursuing Jesus.

God's will and God's purpose, what he wants to do. Paul and Timothy demonstrate that for us. It's a characteristic that we need. We need to be consumed with Jesus Christ like they were. Coming to that place in our hearts where our work is not to make money or to get ahead in life or to achieve the goals that we have, but we work and we labor and we are employed to bring glory to God and to serve God where he has us.

to minister to him in all that we do. Our hobbies, they're for Jesus. Our time with families, it's for Jesus. Our time, whatever we do, however we live, the things that we purchase, the things that we're involved in, it's all for Jesus and not for our own selves. God is asking us to die to ourselves and live for him, to be his bondservants, as we see the example here in Paul and Timothy. Well, he addresses the letter here,

To the church there at Philippi. He says it's to all the saints in Christ Jesus with the bishops and deacons. Now, very quickly, the bishops, it's a word that means overseer. And we would consider them today pastors within the church. And so he's writing there and addressing to those who are pastoring within the church, those who are overseeing and shepherding the flock of God there at Philippi.

He's also writing, go to the deacons. Now, deacon is an office within a church in which a person serves taking care of the practical areas of ministry, taking care of the property and receiving and distributing the funds accordingly and appropriately and making sure that the practical things are taken care of. And so Paul is writing and he addresses these guys specifically, deacons.

and leaders within the church, those who serve within the church, taking care of those practical things. But notice that Paul is not only writing statements

To the leaders. He's actually writing to the entire body of Christ there at Philippi. He says to all the saints there in verse 1. So it's not just those who are in charge, but the entire body, the entire church there, Paul is writing this letter to. And so wherever you are in your service to the Lord, if you have a position within the body of Christ in the sense of a role that God has called you to,

then this letter is for you. But if you are here and you don't have much of a position or an office within the body, but you're here a part of the body of Christ, this letter is to you as well. He says to all saints. Now I want to talk about this word today, this idea of being a saint. Because Paul will be dealing with this and it's important for us to understand. So we'll be looking at three things about being a saint.

What do you think of, first of all, when you hear the word saint? You see a picture of me in your head, right? Okay, maybe not. Maybe it's my wife you see. The word that we use when we say saint, we often use it to refer to the elite.

The cream of the crop. I mean, these guys, they're holy. They're like God. They demonstrate godly characteristics. They never mess up. They never lose their temper. I mean, these guys are almost perfect. I mean, we know nobody can be actually perfect. But, man, they're really, really close. And when we think of a saint, that's generally and very often what we think of. The ones that really stand out above the rest of us.

Or you might think about the saints as those proclaimed by the Catholic Church to be saints.

Now, in order to be named a saint by the Catholic Church, there's five basic things that you need to fulfill. Number one, you need to be dead for five years. And so I doubt Paul is writing the letter to those type of saints. He's not writing to those who have been dead for five years. But within the Catholic Church, here's the requirements. Number one, you have to be dead for five years. Number two, a local bishop will investigate your life and then report that to the Vatican. They'll

And investigate to see if there's any heroic virtue in your life and in your writings. And then once it gets to the Vatican, the information is passed on there. And a panel of theologians and cardinals will evaluate your life to find out if you are worthy of reverence. If you are, if they approve, then...

The next step, number four, is called the beautification step. And that means that in order for you to continue on in the process of becoming a saint, it means that either one of two things has to happen.

Number one, you have to have died for the faith. You have to have been martyred. And then that automatically moves you forward to the last step. Or, number two, it has to be proven that a miracle has been done in your name. So someone has to pray for a miracle using your name, and it has to come to pass. It has to take place. And then you can be called what they call beautified. And then the fifth thing is,

You have to do another miracle. So another miracle has to be done in your name, or you have to be martyred and a miracle has to be done in your name. And then you can be canonized or authorized by the Catholic Church as being a saint. Now, this is not what the Apostle Paul is referring to.

The biblical definition for a saint is not maybe what we typically think, nor is it what the Catholic Church talks about and requires for people to be called saints. But the biblical definition for saint is quite different. In fact, according to the Bible, every believer in Jesus Christ is a saint.

Every believer. It's not the select few or those who are really perfect and have really nailed down those bad habits and things don't slip out of their mouth without them meaning to anymore or anything like that. No. The Bible calls every believer a saint.

Romans 1, verse 7, Paul introducing his letter to the church there at Rome, he says, To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. We're all called to be saints. Colossians 1, verse 2, Paul writing there to the Colossians, he says, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae. And so saints, according to the Bible, biblically,

are those who are the faithful brethren, are those who are believers in Jesus Christ, those who are brothers and sisters in the Lord, those who have received the gift of Jesus dying on the cross for them. And so by that, you and I are called saints. Now, us being called saints has nothing to do...

with us in relationship to others, and we are above them or below them or better than them or anything like that. It has everything to do with our position in Jesus Christ. The fact that we are saints, it's a positional thing. It's a place that God has placed us, not because we have deserved it. The word saint in the Greek, it's the word hagios, which means to be separated to God or set apart. It's the same word, it's very interesting,

Every time you see the word holy in the New Testament, it's the same word, hagios, to be set apart or separated to God. And when you read the phrase the Holy Spirit, it's that same word for holy that Paul calls you and I. The Bible calls us that same word, holy, saint. The words are interchangeable. They're the same word in the Greek.

In fact, as Paul says, the saints, it's the plural form of the word holy. So it could be the holy ones or the holies or the holy rollers, as some people might call you. The ones who are set apart, the set apart ones, the outsiders, the ones who God has called and separated unto himself by calling you a saint.

The Bible is not just saying that you are belonging to God or separated to God, but the Bible is saying that you are holy. Are you comfortable with that? If I say, could all the saints stand up? Those who are holy, you don't have to. But would you be comfortable? Yes, I'm holy. I'm a saint. It's a little awkward for us, isn't it? But it's true nonetheless. In fact, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 3 for just a moment. I want you to see this with your own eyes that we...

are holy, that we are saints. We're set apart unto God. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 16 and 17. It says this, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple? Who is? Who? We are.

We're the temple of God, and we are holy. That's what Paul says. Now, we studied the book of Corinthians. We started about two years ago, and we started studying through the book of Corinthians. And so for those who have been around or maybe you've studied the book of Corinthians on your own,

You know that the Corinthians were not what we would call the cream of the crop. They weren't the best Christians. In fact, Paul is writing the whole book of Corinthians because they're all out of whack. They've got all kinds of problems and situations. They're living in the flesh, living in carnality, allowing sexual immorality, indulging in sin and proud of it, full of all kinds of problems and situations.

By all means, we would not consider them holy, but yet that's what God considers the Corinthians. Paul says, don't you know? The Spirit dwells within you. You are the temple of God, and you are holy. The Bible calls you holy. The Bible calls you saint. Now, how could this be? How is it that we could be called holy, that we could be called saints? And it's very simple. You can do some studying on your own. Romans chapter 3 through 8. Check it out.

Or Philippians chapter 3 verse 9. We are considered holy. We are counted holy by God because by faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is credited to my account. God sees me having his righteousness.

And so I'm in right standing with God because that's what righteousness is. By faith in Jesus, I have right standing with God. Perfect relationship with God. There's no higher standing than that. You can't improve upon that. You can't add to that. There's nothing that we can do. We have his righteousness credited to us by faith in him. And so God sees me as perfect, holy, completely set apart for him. And so he calls me, he calls you,

Now, that's the first thing I want us to note about saints. I am a saint in position. God has given me this position because of my faith, my belief in Jesus Christ and his work for me on the cross. You're a saint in position. Now, you might not look at me and think of, wow, that's a saint. But as we'll see,

God is continuing the work, and he sees the finished product. He considers me a saint because of my faith, and he knows what he's going to make me to be, what I will become as he does the work. So we're a saint in position. Verse 2, let's go on.

He continues his greeting, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is Paul's usual greeting as he would write letters. And as we've noted oftentimes in the past, he always uses it in that order, grace and peace to you, because it's only when you understand the grace of God that you can experience the peace of God, knowing that God just desires and loves you and he desires to pour out undeserved favor and kindness. That's the definition of grace.

In your life. He wants to pour out things that you don't deserve. And give to you things and bless you in ways that you don't deserve. And so knowing that. You can experience peace with God. He's not out to get you. But put your faith in him. And he will pour out his grace upon your life. And you will know the peace of God. Verses 3 and 4. Paul says I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always. In every prayer of mine. Making requests for you all.

Now here we see right at the beginning, now he's really getting into the letter now. He's finished his greeting usual, this is who it's from, this is who it's to, you know, greetings to you, grace and peace to you. But now he starts out and he shares with the Philippians that he is praying for them. And here we see the example of Paul putting others first.

that he's not so concerned with and consumed about himself, but that he's putting others first. He's putting the Philippians and their needs before his own. He says, you know what, guys? Every time I pray, I remember you and I make requests for you all.

Now, you need to know that if I was in Paul's shoes, this would read a little bit differently, I'm sure. I probably wouldn't say the same thing as Paul. I might say something to this effect. You know, guys, I'm always praying for you or praying for myself with tears when I think of a situation that I'm in compared to the situation that you're in.

Or I might say to them, you know, guys, thank you so much for your prayers. I mean, you just have no idea how hard and how difficult it is being here in prison and the things that I have to go through and being chained to this guy. And I would be praying for myself or asking them to pray for me. But Paul's not that way. He's here in prison putting others first and saying, you know what, guys, I'm praying for you. I think about you all the time. Every time I pray, I remember you.

How is he able to do this? How is he able to pray with joy while he's in prison? Well, again, remember the acronym joy. Jesus first, others second, and yourself final. We see Jesus mentioned in this short introduction, the first 11 verses that we're studying together today. Jesus is mentioned seven times. Every thought, every sentence, Paul's including his name, including the thought about Jesus Christ. He's putting Jesus first. Jesus is first in his heart.

And others, he's praying for them. They're upon his heart. He's always praying for them, mentioning them in all of his prayers. And the result is he's able to pray with joy because Jesus is first. And he's concerned about others over his own cares, his own concerns, his own situation. Again, Jesus first, others second, and yourself third. And you will have joy.

Verse 5, he says, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. This is another reason why Paul is able to have joy for the Philippians, because they have fellowship in the gospel. They don't just have fellowship in the gospel, but Paul says, from the first day until now, from the very beginning, even until now, you have fellowship in

In the gospel. Now, the first day we looked at that two weeks ago in Acts chapter 16, as the church began there with Lydia's family and the jailer's family and the work there began by the apostle Paul. But until now, they still have fellowship in the gospel. Now, that's significant because you need to remember that Paul also, while he was in prison, wrote the book of Galatians.

Now, the book of Galatians was written to the churches in Galatia, and Paul is saying to them, I can't believe it. You guys are walking away from the gospel and turning to a gospel that's really not a gospel at all. You've left, and you're following these works and the laws, and you've turned away from the gospel message. But here to the Philippians, he says, oh, man, there's such joy in this, knowing you guys, you just have continued in fellowship with the gospel message.

You haven't turned away. You haven't gone on to other things, but you have been faithful in the gospel message. You've held to it, believed it wholeheartedly. And Paul says, you know, when I was there, I was in prison. I'm in prison now, but that doesn't matter. I have joy because you've received the gospel and you're still holding to it. The seed, when it was planted, it fell on good soil. And Paul says, that brings me joy.

We see another reason for Paul's joy here in verse 6. He says, 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. And so Paul now gives this comment or this exhortation. It's a famous verse and many of you know it. In fact, it's a favorite verse for many people.

But we find it's another reason for Paul's joy. Because as he's thinking about them and praying for them there in prison, he's confident. He has this great confidence that God will complete the work that he began in the Philippians. You know, you might have some problems with the Bible calling me a saint. Or maybe you have some problems with the Bible calling the person next to you a saint and calling them holy. But

If you do, if I do, it's simply because we do not see the finished product. We don't see what God sees. God calls me a saint because he knows how wonderful I am. Just kidding. He knows the plans that he has for me. He knows the work that he's going to do. He sees the final work when he's finally taken this hard lump of clay and molded it into his own image.

Paul's confident. He sees like God sees. He's looking to the end result. He's looking and seeing God's going to finish the work till the day of Christ Jesus. And there's great joy in that. God sees something that we don't see, the finished product. This week it's been interesting because as I've been meditating on this portion of Scripture and studying through this, I got to watch it in action.

Because they're doing the Vacation Bible School on Wednesday evenings for the children's ministry. And so they're transforming the children's ministry into Treasure Island, which is the theme of the VBS. And so...

As such, they've been redecorating the children's trailer. Royce has been here working on it throughout the week. I got to watch him do this work of arts and the things that he's doing over there. You should check it out. I encourage you, after service, go check it out. Then, Tata Pule, you can volunteer on Wednesday nights to help serve in the VBS. As I walked in the first day, there's this white paper on the wall. Then I see all these green lines, just kind of

Put on the paper and, you know, I know Royce. And so I'm thinking that's, I mean, you've done better, dude. I mean, it's just like a lot of lines. They're not even like, they don't end at the same spot. I don't understand what you're doing.

But Royce sees it a little bit differently than I see it at that point. I look and I see, well, you know, good thing kids have a good imagination because, you know, they could, all right, with some great, yeah, we're on an island, we could pretend it's good imagination. But see, Royce was in the middle. He was in the process and he knows what it's going to look like.

He tried to get me to that same position. He showed me the picture that he was kind of modeling after, and I looked at him. Good luck with that. I don't know how you're going to get that from that. It just doesn't make sense in my head because I can't see it. I can't see the finished product. I have no artistic skill in that sense at all. But it's there. It's right before him. He understands it.

Now, in the same way, you look at my life and you say, it's just a bunch of lines. They don't even match up. It's just like scribbles. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't look like anything. But God looks and he sees something different. Paul looked and he said, I see something different. I see the finished work. Paul was confident. God will finish the work he began in us. The person next to you, your neighbor, your family member, we might just see a lot of scribbles.

But know that God calls us saints because he sees the finished work. But isn't this wonderful news, what he says here? Check this out again. Here in verse 6, he says, I'm confident of this. What? That he who has begun a good work in you will complete it. Isn't that wonderful news? Isn't that cause for rejoicing within our heart? He who began the work will complete it. Now, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ,

According to 2 Corinthians 5.17, God has made you a new creation. That was the beginning of the work. He made you a new creation. As Hebrews 12 calls Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. He began it there at that point and gave us the faith that we needed to believe. As we believed, he made us a new creation. The work has begun.

You've probably experienced that. You've experienced the relief of forgiveness, the release of guilt, the outpouring of God's love and grace in your life. And so you're called a saint. But there's a continuing work that is taking place. At one point, I was watching Royce, and he puts a thing on the wall, and I said,

What is that? Is that like lava flowing out of the top of a mountain? He said, no, it's a flower. And I'm trying to look at it from a different way. What do you mean it's a flower? And the boy said, no, no, there's still more I'm doing. I'm not done with it yet. It will become a flower. It's what I'm working on. And so in the same way, God is working on, he's finishing, he's going to complete the work that he began. He made us a new creation.

And then he's going to keep on working within us to bring us to completion, to perfection within Christ Jesus. You and I, we are saints. We are holy in position, as we saw. But there's still a work that needs to be done. But the comforting thing is this. Who will complete the work? Yeah, first service is kind of dead on that issue too. Who will complete the work?

God will complete the work. He began it. He finishes it. It's his responsibility. It's his work. It's his doing. We don't have to worry and stress because you ever looked at your own life and go, what am I going to do? I'm a mess. Maybe you feel like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7, verses 15 through 25. You probably know it well, the struggles that he went through.

The things that I really want to do, for some reason, as hard as I try, I can't do them. And then the things that I don't want to do and I vow I'm never going to do those again, those are the things I find myself doing. And it goes back and forth and back and forth. And you know that struggle. And you see that in your own life. And you feel that. You say, I'm supposed to be holy. I'm supposed to be set apart. I'm not supposed to sin like this anymore and be involved in this. What's wrong with me? But you know what? You need to be confident.

Because God will complete the work that he began in you. And it doesn't matter if you put yourself in that situation. It doesn't matter if it's just a bunch of circumstances and you've just bounced around and ended up where you are right now. Just allow God. Come to the Lord and allow him. He wants to complete the work that he began in you. He will finish it.

Maybe you look at it from the other perspective and say, you know, I'm supposed to be evangelizing more. Why aren't more people hearing the gospel from me? And why aren't I a better witness? Or why am I not teaching Bible studies like I know I'm called to? Or why aren't I serving in this way or that? Why is this not happening? Be confident. God will complete the work that he began in you. You don't have to stress and worry and beat yourself up. It doesn't matter what type of mess your life is in.

If you just see it as a bunch of scribbles, God is going to complete the work. And when he's done, you won't recognize it. But he will be faithful to complete it. And, of course, we hear that and we go, okay, okay. But then we want to know when. I'm ready for it now. Lord, finish the work now. When is this going to happen? And he ends the verse by saying, until the day of Jesus Christ.

It's going to be a work that continues, that progresses, that we continue to grow more and more into the image of God. The work that God began in my life and in your life, he will continue to do until we are with him, until we die and are with him in his presence, or until the rapture takes place and we're caught up in the air with him. He'll be doing this work in our hearts. But God looks at me and he sees the finished product, what I will be,

On that day. And so know this. Be confident in this. God hasn't given up on you. Don't be so concerned about and consumed with the circumstances and the thing that you're in. He has not given up on you. You are his saint. You are set apart for him. You are the work of art, as it says in Ephesians 2.10. And he will finish the work that he began in you. So be patient. Be humble.

Be submitted to the Lord and let him do the work that he wants to do. And so first we saw that I'm a saint in position. But here in verse 6, we learn that I am a saint under construction. There's still a work going on, still working that's taking place. And it will be continuing to take place until the day of Jesus Christ. So I'm a saint in position, but I'm also a saint under construction.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.