Philippians 1:5-8To: Philippians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Philippians 1:5"For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now"Paul is in the process of thanking God for the Philippians. He says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you...for your fellowship in the gospel..." One reason Paul thanked God was for the fellowship they had with him in getting the gospel out. Of all the churches with which Paul was associated, it is quite obvious that the church at Philippi was the closest to his heart. He loved them all, but they loved him more than other churches did. "I wish I could be out of jail and be with you folks." ---------- "for" "For" means "on the basis of." Paul gave thanks on the basis of some substance. Paul's capacity for thanksgiving went beyond warm "fuzzes." His love for them had a basis to it-- their participation in advancing the gospel. ---------- "fellowship" This word means "a community of interest, cooperation, share things in common." The Philippian church participated in the gospel. Their interest was getting the gospel out. They cooperated in advancing the cause of Christ. They had a partnership in the gospel. An old saying about fellowship among Christians is that it is "two fellows in one ship." They had a partnership with Paul in getting the gospel out to the world. That is partnership in the gospel. ---------- "from the first day until now" This church supported the apostle Paul from the first day they met until the moment he was writing them sitting in jail. They never forgot him. They continued to support him. It is now over ten years later and their commitment is still faithful to him. No wonder he thanked God for them. In the last chapter at verse ten Paul says, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (4:10-12) Paul is talking here about financial support. Of all the churches the Philippian church was the church that remembered that Paul had a stomach was well as a soul. There were occasions when they lost track of him. But whenever they found him they supported him financially. The Greek indicates that their commitment to him was unbroken--"until (the) now." In the Greek the word "now" has a definite article before it. This means right up to the moment Paul was sitting in jail they were still supporting him. They had sent a messenger from Philippi to give Paul financial support. That messenger almost lost his life in the process of doing so. PRINCIPLE: Getting the gospel out requires joint participation. Paul views those of us who support messengers of the gospel as participating in evangelism. APPLICATION: Have you given yourself to the missionary cause--heart and soul? What are you doing in a concrete manner to participate in advancing the gospel? Philippians 1:6"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;"---------- "confident" "I am persuaded of this. I am certain of this." Paul was certain that the God who launched a good work in the Philippians would continue it. When God begins the work of salvation in us he will finish it. God never starts anything that he cannot finish. When God begins a work in us he will see it through to completion. God will either work in us or he will work on us but he will finish the job. He will finish it whether we want it finished or not! Once we have come to know Christ we cannot say, "stop the process, I want out." Paul says, "I am certain of this; this is not debatable; I am sure; I am confident." It was this confidence that gave Paul joy. "Confidence" means to come to a conclusion based on a reasonable ground. God has taken care of billions of people over thousands of years and has not let one person down. Paul's confidence was in the capacity of God, not in men. The Greek tense indicates that this was a settled confidence in Paul's mind. Paul's faith in God's ability to finish what he starts did not waver. ---------- "that he who has begun a good work in you" God began it; God will finish it. At the point of salvation God did a complete job. In no way was it inadequate or incomplete. God did the most that he could for us in our salvation. Here is the principle of this passage: if God did the most for us at salvation when we were his enemies, what can he do now that we are his children? Answer= much more than the most. This is a paradox but note what he says in the next phrase. ---------- "will complete it until..." The word means "to bring to a completed end." God finishes what he starts. He puts his finishing touches on it. Many people are bedeviled by the idea that God may lose control of their situation. But God will not give up on us. He will let us go about as far as a dog on a leash. When we run from the Lord and come to the end of our leash we come to a terrible jerk. "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me" (Ps. 138;8). God is in the business of keeping regenerated people regenerated. There is the finished work of Christ and there is the unfinished work of Christ. "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Ro 5:10). "Shall be saved by His life" means that he is keeping saved people saved. What life is he talking about here? The life after Jesus died. His life in glory. The glorious life of the exalted Son of God will keep us saved from the power of sin. "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25). This verse is speaking about saving a saint. He is living at this moment to save saints. Jesus saves us from both the penalty and the power of sin. Once we have become part of the family of God there is no way we can become disowned. Once born we cannot become unborn. Your human father or mother may be disgraced by your life, but you are still their son or daughter. However, in the family of God we can go only so far and then God's loving discipline will go into effect. God always finishes what he starts. This is the point of Paul's confidence. This is the place where we leave self confidence. Either God will finish it in time or in eternity, but he will finish it. Paul could leave that in God's hands. PRINCIPLE: The unfinished work of Christ intercedes for us in time. APPLICATION: Do we have confidence in Christ's present work for us? Can we trust him to intercede for whatever we are currently facing? In the first part of verse six Paul expressed his confidence that God who had commenced a good work in them, the work of salvation, would consummate it all the way to the time when Jesus comes back again. Now we come to the last part of verse six... ---------- "until the day of Christ" The word "day" is used three ways in Scripture: a twenty-four hour day; less than a twenty- four hour day (when Jesus comes in a twinkling of an eye); more than a twenty-four hour period (Day of the Lord; millennium). Grace is followed by "more grace." In grace God saved us from the penalty of sin; in grace God saves us from the power of sin; in grace God saves us from the presence of sin. The "good work" which was begun at the cross will continue in time and on into eternity. That is "more grace." The expression "the day of Christ" occurs a half dozen times in the New Testament and three of those six occur in Philippians. It always refers to the time when Christ comes to catch the church away. "...that you may be sincere and without offense 'till the day of Christ" (1:10). "...holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain" (2:16). "...eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Co. 1:7,8). "...deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction oft he flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (I Co. 5:5). "...(as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus" (II Co. 1:14). This is the day of the consummation of our salvation, the first resurrection; all of which takes place at the same time. This is the next day in God's prophetic program. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Ro. 13:12). This day is the same day of Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." The "day of redemption" is the day of the redemption of our bodies. That is the day when our physical bodies will be redeemed. We will be saved physically then. That is the day we will receive everything the Saviour purchased on the cross. Right now we have spiritual redemption. In that day I will no longer need glasses or dentures or artificial limbs. Our body will be fashioned like his glorified body (Phil. 3:21). PRINCIPLE: God has given us grace in our salvation but he is not finished with giving us grace. There is "more grace" yet for the Christian both in time and eternity. APPLICATION: Do you always look to your past salvation? Do you look to your current and future salvation? God has given us more than one kind of grace. Philippians 1:7"Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace."---------- "right for me to think" It is proper or fitting for Paul to think what he is thinking. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). The word for "think" means to have in mind, to hold a mental attitude about something. Paul held an attitude toward the Philippians. An attitude is a habit of thinking. Paul had a habit of thinking about the subject of verse seven. He formed this attitude based on divine viewpoint. That is why his attitude was proper. Without the Word of God he would not have standards or criteria by which he could form judgments about values. The measuring stick for forming attitudes in the Christian realm is God's Word. If we did not have a standard not only could we not distinguish between good and bad but we could not distinguish between good and good. We would not be able to put priority on important things. We need "the mind of Christ" (I Co. 2:16). ---------- "because I have you in my heart" Paul had taught the Philippians and it was his responsibility to think about them. It is important for leadership to think about the people they lead in the light of the Word of God. The word "heart" means the total person. This word means far more than the emotional life of the believer. In North American society we think of "heart" in terms of either Valentine's Day or the physical pump for the body. The biblical term means neither. Paul had thought about the Philippians in terms of his total person. He gave his total self to them. In II Co. 7:3 Paul says, "I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together." Ministry was not just a job or profession to Paul. God's people were on Paul's heart. They had hold of him; they were part of him. ---------- "inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel" "In my chains"--Paul was in prison. Paul had the Philippians in his heart in two categories: in both the defense and confirmation of the gospel. The folks at Philippi were partners with Paul in defending the gospel and confirming the gospel. They were in it together. They were both on the same team. Paul did not manufacture the message; he simply passed it on and they accepted it at face value. The message did for the Philippians what it did for Paul on the way to Damascus many years before. Now they are partners in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. The gospel is defended with words and confirmed with works. We defend the gospel with our lips and confirm the gospel with our life. It is one thing to speak the gospel; it is another thing to live it out. That is quite another matter. So there are two things that need to be done with the gospel: to affirm (defend) it and confirm it. To confirm the gospel means to ratify it, reinforce it, underscore it. We give credence to the gospel when we live the gospel; people are inclined to believe the gospel if they can see a demonstration of someone living the gospel. What has the gospel done for you? Has the gospel transformed your way of living? Did the gospel ever help you? Yes? Then tell me how. This is what it means to bear a testimony. To confirm the gospel means to report what the gospel did for you. "Before I became a Christian I was thus and so and now that I am a Christian I am this." That is what it means to confirm the gospel. "Confirmation" means guarantee, firm establishment or security. It means to establish something so that it becomes a guarantee or security. The gospel is secured guaranteed by our life. PRINCIPLE: There are two aspects to sharing Christ: the lip and the life. Both are necessary to present a total package in our representation of Christ. APPLICATION: Are we manifesting the gospel, confirming the gospel with a changed life? Do you give credence to the gospel? ---------- "you all are partakers with me of grace." "Partakers" means partners. The Philippians were part of Paul's gospel team even though they were separated by hundreds of miles. God never intended that one individual do all the serving and producing. That is the point of the allocation of spiritual gifts to every believer. We are all partners and on the same team. That is why every believer is a priest and an ambassador of Christ. The life of every believer has definition and purpose. There are not many Christian articles about the person who goes to work everyday and lives out his routine. No one writes about ordinary events: "The thrilling story of his ride downtown on the bus and how the air conditioning went out which almost caused heat prostration!" No, people do not write about the daily routine. They are much more likely to write about an overseas adventure. No matter how much monotony people may have in their life, if they are serving Jesus Christ, they are in partnership with believers all over the world. No matter how much our lives may be in a rut, our lives are just as important as any person on the mission field or in any other area of Christian service. It is just as difficult to live a conventional life as a life of adventure. It is a great strain for sports writers to write about linemen. It is much easier to write about the 80 yard run and how many touch downs were made. Without great linemen there would be no great running backs. The "silent partners" of the apostle Paul were the Philippians. Without people who give to Christian work and those who work behind the scene, little would be accomplished for the cause of Christ. Many of the Philippians had routine experiences yet they were partners with the great apostle Paul. Paul travelled all over the Roman empire yet many of the Philippians did not get much farther than the outskirts of the city. The people in Philippi supported Paul both spiritually and materially. They not only shared in the same grace that brought Paul to Christ but they shared in the same grace that made Paul a missionary. They shared in Paul's ministry. Every time they helped Paul financially they had a stake in his work; they had a share in his work; they had shares in him. "I have invested $500 in Paul's ministry; I have invested $1000 in his ministry." Would it not be great to have a $500 share in the ministry of Paul?! Just think of the dividends that would come back at the judgment seat of Christ! Do you look on evangelistic enterprises like that? We would have a share in an evangelist. That eternal investment would pay dividends in glory. "...for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven" (Heb 10:34) Every time an evangelist wins someone to the Lord we get a percentage of that at the judgment seat of Christ. God keeps the books. When people see a boxer with potential they buy stock in that young man. It is a business deal. Maybe five men will buy stock in him. They expect to get their money back and some profit. When we invest in the Lord's work we expect something back, not here but hereafter. God does not expect you to invest and get nothing in return. God's returns will be beyond our expectations. The world operates on the basis of money but what will it yield? When we invest our dollar we want to get the best return. When we invest in God's work we get eternal returns. PRINCIPLE: We share ministry with those we support. APPLICATION: Are we investing our resources with an eye on eternity?
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