Tonight, we begin a study of Paul’s letter to the church which he planted in Philippi, Macedonia. Some of these messages will come on Sunday mornings, if they are evangelical or Christological, but as this is one of Paul’s more personal letters, most of material will be better suited for other services.
Over the next few months, if the Lord wills it, we will touch on the background of that church. But let’s begin by reminding ourselves that this was the first congregation Paul established in Europe. It began with Lydia and perhaps some of the ladies with whom she was studying the scriptures and praying. And to them there was quickly added the family of the city jailor. Persecution soon drove the missionaries out of town, but God blessed and a thriving church was planted.
In this introductory salutation, Paul refers to four pairs of words, and they make up tonight’s outline.
The first pair are PAUL and TIMOTHEUS.
The Apostle Paul, by this time in his tumultuous life, was in Rome awaiting his trial before Caesar. He was living in his own rented house, but with Roman guards keeping an eye on him. He had freedom to receive visitors and to share God’s truth, so God’s Word was not bound. As a result there were converts among the Romans – from his guards, to slaves and even some of Caesar’s own people. Some of the Christians with ties to Rome include: Onesimus, Tychicus, Epaphroditus and Timothy who was also known as Timotheus. During his imprisonment, Paul had time to write letters, some of which were intended by the Holy Spirit to become a part of the New Testament. And this epistle to the Philippians is one of them.
Most of us are familiar with the Apostle Paul, so let’s quickly move on to Timothy. Timotheus was at Paul’s side while this inspired piece of scripture was being penned. But all the personal pronouns in this book refer to Paul alone. The word “we” is used 3 times, but it refers to Christians in general – not specifically to Timothy and Paul. So why is this young man mentioned? There is a practical reason and there is an applicational reason.
It is not only because he will become more and more important as Paul’s ministry declines. But Timothy was with Paul and Silas at the very beginning of that Philippian church. On his second missionary journey Paul passed through Lystra and Derby where he had ministered earlier. On this occasion he found that one of the young converts from his first visit was spiritually flourishing. He was on fire for the Lord, yearning for opportunities to serve his Saviour. This is as it should be true of all God’s children, but some, like Timothy, have more opportunity than men with jobs and large families to support. Apparently the church was in good hands, so Paul asked Timothy if he’d be willing to go with him and to do whatever was necessary to further the Lord’s Work. He was more than willing.
Shortly after that, when Paul’s company came to Troas on the shore of the Aegean sea, the Holy Spirit led them across to the port city of Neapolis and then up the river to Philippi. Timothy met Lydia, and he witnessed Paul’s arrest, watching him, with Silas, being led into the city prison. Timothy may have been in prayer for his mentor when the city was shaken awake by the earthquake. And when Paul baptized the jailor and his family, Timothy may have been present. He certainly knew the jailor and probably shared with him how the Lord had saved his soul a few years earlier. Paul referred to Timotheus because some of the current members of the church knew the young man.
But there may have been another reason for the mention of his name, and it applies to all of us. Notice what Paul says about Timothy and himself – “We are both servants of Jesus Christ.” Some of God’s servants have more responsibilities than others, but under Christ they are all only servants. Paul had been the leader and primary preacher of the missionary team, but they were all servants of Christ. The servant Silas probably doesn’t get enough credit in our minds for his evangelism and church building. But Silas wasn’t with Paul in Rome at that time – Timothy was. Silas, Barnabas, Paul and Timothy were all “doulos” – bond-servants – slaves of the Lord. It was not necessary for Paul to emphasize his apostolic office before the Philippians. He was only another slave of the Lord Jesus. And he didn’t have to say that Timothy was his helper; they were both only servants of Christ.
In no church, where Christ is the Head, is one member more essential than another. You are extremely important to the ministry; you are important to me and an encouragement to my preaching. When you are absent it hurts the overall ministry of the church. We are all servants of Jesus Christ. I might say “we are NOTHING but servants,” but that robs us all of our true value. Praise God, under His grace we are important servants of our Saviour.
And that importance comes out in another pair of words – SAINTS and SERVANTS.
Paul wasn’t confining this letter to the leadership of the congregation. It was “to ALL the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi WITH the bishops and deacons.” “Sainthood” is not a Roman Catholic doctrine. In fact Catholics generally don’t know what it is. Every soul, born again by the Holy Spirit, is a “saint” – we have all been sanctified and set apart to God. Sainthood is not the result of a church vote, and it is not a level of Christianity which only a few people reach. For a month now I have been thinking about preaching a message titled, “I am no saint.” I’m considering it, because ignorant people and backslidden Christians sometimes say that sort of thing. Some people use those four words as an excuse for their sin. “Well, you know, I ain’t no saint.” If you are a child of God, you should never say anything like that, because you ARE a saint of God. And if you AREN’T behaving like a saint, then fix it. And since you ARE a saint – live like it.
Every born again member of the church in Philippi was a saint in Christ Jesus. And as such everyone of them had a right to hear the message of this letter. This epistle was not directed to some priest to be kept locked in a box for which only he had the key. This letter belonged equally to the youngest saint, to the oldest deacon and to the pastor.
The word “episcopos” is usually translated “bishop,” as it is here. But it is also translated “overseer,” because that is what the word means. By grace, God places in churches pastors (“shepherds”) to whom He gives the task of overseeing his flock. They are to feed the sheep and watch for wolves in sheep’s clothing. They have the responsibility of taking the flock into the high country in the seasons of plenty and then to lead them into the valleys close to the creek during the days of drought. Because the flock belongs to Christ, and because those bishops are sheep themselves, they have to remember that they are servants of Christ, and therefore servants of the flock in some respects. They are definitely not to serve themselves, but the others.
And assisting them were people whom the church elected to become “deacons” – servants of another sort. It is interesting that deacons are only briefly described in the Book of Acts, before they are mentioned here. The only other place where we can learn about deacons is in Paul’s first letter to Timothy. As we learn from Acts, the deacons were to assist the ministry by taking care of the more temporal needs of the church, like leaky roofs, and the needs of widows and orphans.
Verse 2 takes us to our third pair of words – GRACE and PEACE.
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a common pair in the writings of Paul. I started to list the epistles where these two words walk side by side. But then I realized that it was in every epistle Paul wrote. And they are not confined to Paul, but Peter and others paired them up as well.
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that besides “mercy” there are almost never any additional words in any of these greetings and salutations. Never does Paul say, “Grace, mercy, peace and WEALTH be unto you.” Never does he salute with – “Grace, peace and HEALTH be yours.” Because, even though not all of us are convinced of this at the moment, we don’t need health, if we are blessed with grace and peace. And, since it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, we apparently don’t need much in the way of wealth. I don’t need to run through a list other potential additions to this pair, because they aren’t found in the Bible. And by the way, I don’t think Paul meant, “may PEACE and QUIET be unto you.” I don’t think he was necessarily thinking about the absence of persecution.
Souls are saved by grace through faith, AND grace is a necessity EVERY day of our salvation thereafter. God’s grace is more important than breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is more important than a good doctor. God’s unmerited favor is the nutrition and spiritual fuel upon which we grow and function. Just as the lost man who thinks he can manufacture his own salvation, rejects God’s free grace, and dies… So too the Christian who thinks he can manage his Christian life without ongoing grace… he will die. Divine grace is as essential to our souls as oxygen is to our bodies. So it is almost always a part of Paul’s epistolatory salutations and benedictions.
And to that grace Paul adds “peace.” What peace is that Paul? As important as peace in the heart is to enjoying life in this sin-cursed world, Paul isn’t talking about that. I am convinced he is talking about the grace which results in peace with God – constant, consistent peaceful fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. If we need to be rebuked with things like: “be of the same mind” in order to enjoy that peace, then we need to be rebuked. If we need to be reminded to think on true things, honest and just things to enjoy this peace, then we need to be reminded. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” – chapter 4. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds thru Christ Jesus.”
I’ll close with Paul’s fourth salutational pair – the FATHER and the SON.
The Father and the Son are in unison and total harmony in this verse – as they always are. “Grace be unto you, and peace, FROM God our Father, AND FROM the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that Paul spoke of God as our Father more than anyone else. Only once did the Lord Jesus refer to God as the Father of the Christian. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” In contrast to the rarity of “OUR Father,” Christ often referred to “MY father.” “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
Why did Christ speak of the First Person of the God-head as “HIS” father? Because usually the people to whom He was speaking were still children of their father the devil. But Paul is writing to brothers and sisters of Christ, and therefore His father was theirs as well.
“I once was an outcast stranger on earth, a sinner by choice and an alien by birth; but I’ve been adopted, my names’s written down – an heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown. I’m a child of the King, a child of the King! With Jesus my Saviour, I am a child of the King.” Notice in that hymn, it is not “BECAUSE Jesus is my Saviour, I am a child of the King.” It is “WITH Jesus my Saviour, I am a child of the King.” The God of all the earth is our Father.
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” The father and the son work in unison to provide this grace and peace. But notice that Paul didn’t demean the Saviour the way that so many moderns do. He didn’t say, “from God our Father, and from JESUS.” He lifted up the Lord Jesus; He elevated Him.
The baby born in Bethlehem was called “Jesus” because He was to save His people from their sins. “Jesus” was His given name – His “Christian name.” But that baby born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth was more than a human baby – “Jesus.” He was and still is today – the “Christ” – the Jewish Messiah – the anointed of the Father. He will be the King of the Millennial Kingdom, the anointed son of David.
And He is the LORD Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus is Lord in the sense of being the sovereign King, but I believe there is more than this. If “Lord” means “master” or “boss” or “sir” why doesn’t Paul say, “from the LORD God our FATHER, and from the Lord Jesus Christ?” Isn’t God the Father also a Lord, or the Lord? Of course He is. Combined, the words “Lord God” are found more than 500 times in the Bible. But other than in the Book of Revelation they come together only 3 times in the New Testament, where they are all obviously speaking of the Father. And yet over and over again, Paul speaks of Christ Jesus “THE Lord.” As I said the other day, I cannot read the word “Lord” in the New Testament without picturing the Old Testament “LORD” – Jehovah. The preincarnate Christ was “the Lord” who visited and spoke with Abraham and Noah and Moses. And now the Lord Jesus Christ is my Saviour. “Praise His Name for ever and ever.”
Paul wrote this epistle TO the saints and servants of Philippi. He was writing ABOUT God the Father and God the Son. He was praying that those people were enjoying the Lord’s grace and peace. And since Calvary Baptist is one of the Lord’s churches, and we, too, are saints in Christ, all that the Holy Spirit inspires Paul to say here belongs to us as well as to the Philippians. Again, “Praise Him, Praise Him, praise God’s Name for ever and ever.”