The book of Philippians

If you have never studied Philippians why not join us on my blog site. I am teaching a men's study every Tuesday and I will start posting the review notes. Hopefully this will not replace your own private study but may act as a supplement to encourage you along. Well with all that said let's jump in...Session #1 review notes.

Hey guys,

We are off to a great start in our study of Philippians. It seems there is always so much to cover and so little time. The first rule of Bible study is to prepare the heart. So as we started yesterday our prayer started with the confessing of our sins and thanking Him that He has washed them white as snow through the blood of the Lord Jesus. I recently read in a book by Jerry Bridges that Christians should be in the habit of "preaching the gospel" to themselves every day. After the heart is prepared then one is ready to study. Remember you don't come to the Bible to get your heart right, you get your heart right then come to the Bible. It doesn't do much good to tune your fiddle once the concert is over.

The first step in good Bible study after heart preparation is to get all the background questions answered about the author and the book. Yesterday we only discussed background and I have included some of these notes below:
When starting a new study of any book we need to remember two primary things:
1. Laws of the heart
2. Laws of the head

Laws of the heart are non-negotiable and without them Bible study will be nothing more than an academic exercise. If there is no illumination and understanding of the text correctly then there will be no correct application either. Therefore it is critical that we learn to prepare the heart before we start to read, study and have devotions in the Bible.
As one scholar once said "it doesn't do much good to tune the fiddle when the concert is over".

1. Confession of known sin or sin that is being tolerated in one's life (1 John 1:9)
2. Prayer of desperation from the heart of one who earnestly desires to hear from, meet with and obey God

➢ I - Incline your heart (Psalm 119:36)
"Incline my heart to Your testimonies
And not to dishonest gain"

➢ O - Open my eyes (Psalm 119:18)
"Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law"

➢ U – Unite my heart (Psalm 86:11)
"Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name"

➢ S – Satisfy my heart (Psalm 90:14)
"O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days"


After you have dealt with the heart then it is time to move on to the head. These principles are those of interpretation, in order that we may come to understand what the author meant by what he wrote.

In the church today:
1. Orthodox – the Bible is the word of God
2. Liberal – the Bible contains the word of God
3. Neo-Orthodox – the Bible becomes the word of God

Bible survey
1. Author's background and history
2. Theme of the book
3. Plan of the book


Background on the city of Philippi:

Philippi was a place known for gold and silver.

Years prior to its actual founding many people came to mine and eventually settle.

Therefore it became a strategic trade center located at the top of the Aegean Sea.

Anyone that traveled from the East (Asia) to the West (Europe) had to cross the Aegean Sea and the roads that went through Philippi.

From Greece to Italy there was a stretch of road that was approximately 500 miles and was known as the Ignatian Way. Then from Italy the road that lead to Rome was called the Apian Way.

The trade route known as the Ignatian Way was built in 146 BC and Philippi was part of this trade route

Philippi was a Roman Colony and had the height of dignity as a strategic city of Rome. Normally Rome would take 300 of its retired soldiers and send them to settle in a colony. They would then lead and govern those people consistent with the laws and culture of Rome.

Philippi was named after Phillip of Macedon who was the father of Alexander the Great.

The people of a Roman colony had 3 basic benefits
1. They were able to be self-governed and therefore they weren't subject to the government of Rome
2. Immunity – they were not subject to the taxes of Rome
3. They had all the rights of Roman citizens

Magistrates ruled them and each colony was identified by Roman dress, culture, language and ceremonies. In summary they were miniature cities of Rome.

But that is not why the city of Philippi is so important and famous. Guess why?
Because the apostle Paul from a prison in Rome wrote a letter to this city and that is what immortalized it.

There are no synagogues in Philippi (needed 10 Jewish men called a minyan to establish a synagogue. Instead Jews maintained a proseuche, called a place of prayer.
Philippi is planted sometime in the Fall of 50 AD and Paul is writing this epistle from a Roman prison in 62-64 AD. His first missionary trip is around 47 AD and Paul's conversion is around 33-34 AD.

This second missionary trip will last from 50-52 AD
Paul will plant the following churches:
1. Philippi – 2 to 3 months
2. Thessalonica – 2 to 3 months
3. Berea – 1 month
4. Corinth – 18 months

He will travel 2800 miles (1230 by sea and 1570 by land)

So in order to understand the Biblical background on the book of Philippians where do we need to go?

The historical chronology of the NT, has been written primarily by one man and who is that?

What books did he write? And what timeline do they cover?

Observations about the book of Philippians
1. This is the first church to be planted in Europe. So how in fact did this happen? As best you can relate it to the Doctrine of God's sovereignty that we studied in our last time together.
a. We need to start in Acts 15:36 which is the starting point of Paul's second missionary journey. On the first journey there was Paul, Barnabas and Mark but Mark bailed out after they left Cyprus and came back home.
b. God seldom does things the way we would – first there was a debate over the Gentiles that came to Christ and whether or not they need to adhere to the Law in order to be saved. This resulted in the Counsel at Jerusalem and the 3 things that followed.
1. Abstain from all things sacrificed to idols
2. Abstain from that which is strangled and from blood
3. Abstain from sexual immorality
c. Second there was a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that caused them to split and created two missionary teams instead of one. In Acts 15:36-41 it seems that neither man anticipated a missionary thrust into Europe.
d. Timothy is picked up by the apostle Paul and added because of his faithfulness

How the church in Philippi began:
A woman named Lydia
A slave girl
A jailer and his household

Guys, as you remember I went over the story in as much detail as I could yesterday. But may I encourage you to read Acts 15:36-Acts 16:40.
Can you see the sovereignty of God operating throughout these missionary trips. For example:
- we have an argument and strong disagreement between Paul and Barnabas - therefore now we have two missionary efforts instead of one.
- Paul and Silas attempt to go south into the region of Asia and are prevented by the Spirit and then try to go north into Mysia and are prevented by the Spirit of Jesus. Then the next thing we read is that Paul is getting a vision from God to come into Europe.
- Now read the story of Lydia and her conversion. Keep in mind Greek is the most exact language in the world and the text says that God opened her heart. Brothers that is something that only God can do in the life of a believer for it is He that opens the heart in order for one to believe. Just to confirm that we looked at Acts 13:48 "When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed". The text does not say that as many who believed were then appointed to eternal life. We need to get our theology straight here and both the apostle Peter and Paul knows that our conversion is only something that can be accomplished by God Himself.
- We then talked about the slave girl and that story that you can read, get the details and also ponder how God was sovereign in this event. Don't you find this a fascinating story of how God goes about putting Paul in jail in order to convert the jailer and his household.
- Would we do it this way?
- As we read the story Paul and Silas are flogged severely, not given time to testify and then are thrown in the darkest and deepest part of the prison and put into the stocks. Hey guys look at their response to this awful and horrible situation. They start singing, praising, praying and Paul was probably preaching. In our 21st Century American church model of getting goose bumps when we hear music and having to feel good about where you go to church, Paul offers something quite different. Joy is not a feeling it is an attitude. And when you respond with genuine joy in Christ it becomes contagious.
- Still consider the sovereignty of God as you move through this story - do you see now how important this doctrine is to understand, study and embrace?
- The next thing we see is there is an earthquake - hmmm... I wonder who caused that? And all the doors to the prison cells flew open - who caused that to happen?
And as the guard was getting ready to kill himself the apostle Paul stopped him and said all the prisoners were still there and no one had escaped.
The guard then says something quite amazing - "what must I do to be saved". Guys, that is the most important question that a man, woman, boy or girl could ever ask.

The next thing we see Paul has preached the gospel to the jailer and his household and they all come to faith in Christ. Just put your theology to work again and refer back to Lydia and to Acts 13:48 - "God opened their hearts". Bingo and now you have the beginnings of the church in Philippi
1. Lydia and her household
2. Maybe the slave girl though the text doesn't say and we can't be sure (hope to see her in heaven to hear the rest of that story)
3. The jailer and his household

Does God love the apostle Paul and Silas? And yet He sovereignly decrees that they are to suffer greatly as they are beaten by rods and then thrown into the stocks within the deepest part of the prison. Paul and Silas knew God was at work in a mighty way and were excited to be part of what He was doing. Therefore the response you see of these saints were they started to sing and praise His name. And just look at the results - the jailer and the whole household. I am also convinced that as Paul let them know later about his Roman citizenship that God used that to protect this little church. In other words the magistrates in Philippi knew that what they had done to Paul and Silas was illegal. Therefore this provided the church with leverage to protect them from future harassment and problems.

Guys I could meditate on this for a month. Is it possible that God has you in a real hard place and you are suffering in your absolute obedience to His word. If so then know He is working to accomplish something glorious in and through you for His kingdom!

Now take all this background, meditate on it and remember where Paul is as he writes this letter to the Philippians. Paul is back in jail but this time he is in Rome! Imagine what the jailer is going to tell the saints at Philippi when they find out Paul is in prison. He probably is going to stand up in front of the congregation and tell them to expect an earthquake or other things that will happen where people are going to be getting saved. In other words they have seen what God does through the apostle Paul when he goes into jail.

Hey guys what do others see in you when God puts you in jail so to speak? Well as we study the book of Philippians may each of these lessons and principles from the apostle Paul be incorporated into our Christian walk.

We did not cover points 2-4 during our time yesterday.
2. Philippi is the only church used in the NT as a model for other churches to follow. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 2 Corinthians 9:1-5)
3. Philippians helps us to define what the term fellowship really means . This is much deeper and involved than the friendship of having a cup of coffee or going over to someone's house for dinner.
4. Philippians will help us to get a Biblical view of suffering, persecution and even death.

Blessings