Philippians Chapter One

Today is the beginning of a new series of Class Notes as we completed John last week.  Today we begin a study of the Book of Philippians.

Background

To whom was this written?:                         The entire church at Philippi

By whom:                                                          The Apostle Paul

When:                                                                   60-65 AD

For what purpose?:                                         1) to respond to those who had sent him gifts. 2) To share information about his situation. 3) To address the problem of division within the church. 4) To warn of evildoers.

Theme:                                                             Take joy in suffering

Under what Covenant?:                                New Covenant

Outline

I.  Thanksgiving and prayer (1:1-11)

A. Salutation 1-2

B. Thanksgiving 3-8

C. Prayer 9-11

II. Paul’s situation and attitude (1:12-26)

A. The influence of his chains 12-14

B. Motives for preaching Christ 15-18a

C. To live is Christ, to die is gain 18b-26

III. Oneness through service 1:27-2:18

A. Unity! 27-30

Points of Interest

Purpose: Paul begins this section with information about himself. This is a fairly unusual practice in Paul’s writings, and even here he shows a higher purpose than simply writing about himself. He tells his readers about his situation, and how that situation has advanced the Gospel, thus even in providing his personal news, he is showing that his priority is on God’s purpose. One might think that being in prison would keep him from furthering the Gospel, yet he reports that the opposite has taken place.  This is not only an inspirational message, it not only shows that Paul had held up well… it shows that God was working through him and that God cannot be held back or limited by the circumstances here on earth. This is a point that we should grasp and practice: In all things, whether for good or ill in our lives, our priority must be on serving God’s purposes.

vv 15-17: In this section Paul reports that there is more than one motive for preaching the Gospel. Some do it out of love, while others for more selfish motives.  Notice that his position is that the important thing is that the Gospel is preached.  Whether for good or bad motives, the Covenant priority under the New Covenant is always the Gospel (death, burial and resurrection of Christ).  Obviously, it would be better if all of the motives were good; but the Gospel is the priority.

vv. 18-20: Much has been written and speculated about what Paul meant by his “deliverance” in this passage, but one thing is quite clear: To Paul the disposition of his legal situation was not all that important.  What was important was the Gospel, and if he remained in prison, he would preach and encourage others to do the same.  If he was released, he would serve God by serving his brothers, and if he was executed he would die for Christ and leave that as his witness.

vv. 21-26: Here, Paul demonstrates his meaning in verse 20 and expands upon it. However this present circumstance works out, he will rejoice, because living is all about Christ, and death is all about being with Christ.  This is the attitude we must develop in order to achieve maturity in Christ.

vv. 27-30: In these final verses of the chapter, Paul has taken his accounts of his own circumstances, and applied them to the circumstances of his readers, including you and I!