Philippians 1:1-4
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Philippians 1:1-3
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in
Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you
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"I thank my God"
Of the letters that Paul wrote, six of them were written from prison. It
is an astonishing thought to think of how much of Paul's writing ministry
took place in jail. He wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon,
Hebrews (if Paul wrote Hebrews) and II Timothy while incarcerated. Paul
would not let himself give way to self-pity. As a result we have this jubilant
letter of joy.
1:3 begins the body of the letter, verses 1 and 2 were the salutation.
This paragraph runs from verse 3 to 11, Paul's prayer for the saints.
Paul begins his prayer with thanksgiving. Whenever a group is worthy of
his thanks he begins this way. There is only one group of churches for
which Paul does not thank God--the Galatians. He just could not bring himself
to thank God for them because of their doctrinal error.
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"upon every remembrance of you"
"Every time I remember you, every time I think of you, I thank God."
Paul's capacity for thanks was vast. Paul and the Philippians were separated
by hundreds of miles and for a number of years yet his faculty for thanking
God for them remained. The Philippians must have been a wonderful church
with a great testimony in order to impress Paul so much. It would be a
wonderful thing for other people to say of us, "I thank God for that
person. I thank God that I met them, what a blessing they have been to
me."
However, many of us have a testimony whereby people say, "I don't know
what I did to have that person come across my path! I thank God that I
can forget that person!" Every believer is either a blessing or a
curse; a wing or a weight; an asset or a liability. We either help people
in their Christian life or hinder them.
Remembering brought no regrets for Paul; he had only blessed memories.
Do you have a capacity to give thanks? Do you thank God for your church?
Do you thank God for individuals in your church?
"UPON" does not mean "at." Paul does not thank God
at every rememberance of the Philippians. It means "on the basis of."
That is, the Philippians form the basis for Paul's thanksgiving.
There were unpleasant memories in Philippi if Paul cared to dwell on them--the
rage of the masters of the girl set free from demons and the conduct of
the city officials and populace toward Paul. Currently two women were locked
in a bitter battle (4:2). But, Paul chose not to remember the petty irritations.
Gratitude springs out of what we choose to think about. A common fault
of the believer is to fail to thank God for the common courtesies and favours
of life.
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"every remembrance of you"
The Greek indicates that Paul thanked God for his entire connection with
them
PRINCIPLE: It is important to recognize our current blessings are from
God. That recognition is a capacity or faculty for appreciation of what
God has brought into our lives.
APPLICATION: The word "thank" is in the present tense in the
Greek and indicates a constant thankfulness. Do we intentionally and on
a daily basis develop our capacity for appreciation for what God is doing
in our lives?
Philippians 1:4
"always in every prayer of mine making request for you with all
joy."
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"always"
The word literally means "on all occasions." It did not make
any difference what the occasion was. Whatever it was, wherever it was
made no difference to Paul. He was independent from his circumstances.
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"making request"
The Greek indicates that prayer was regularly given by Paul for the Philippians.
Paul was in the habit of praying for them.
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"for you"
The word "for" means "on behalf of." Paul was interceding
for the Philippians. The prayer life of the apostle Paul was an incredible
witness to his character. His prayers are constantly set forth in his epistles
(Ro 1:9; Eph 1:16; Co 1:3,9; I Th 1:1; II Th 1:11; Philemon 4).
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"with joy"
"Joy" is emphatic by position in the Greek sentence. For him
to pray for the Philippians was a joy. Paul entered a spiritual rhapsody
when he entered prayer for the Philippians. Prayer was no mechanical duty
whereby he laboured to find words or thoughts as he forced prayer for them.
This joy was not mere excitement; it was not a commonplace pedantic necessity
of life. However, this joy was a serenity of spirit in the face of adverse
circumstances in which he was confident God was able to manage the problems.
While sitting in jail Paul could do little for the Philippians. Yet he
enjoyed a serenity of spirit which drew its reliance upon God. Paul was
the most content man in Rome much less the Roman jail! His joy was irrepressible.
The word "with" in "with joy" means "accompanying."
Joy had the company of prayer! Have you found joy in prayer?
PRINCIPLE: There is joy in prayer; therefore, there should be no reluctance
and misgivings when we pray. We should have an attitude of expectation
of God's intervention with accompanying joy.
APPLICATION: Have you evaluated your attitudes in prayer? Is it a duty
or task? Is your attitude "accompanied by joy?"
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Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved.
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