Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Philippians

Dominants Exalting Subordinates

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 31, 1991.

About this sermon

Confessing Christ as ‘Lord’ governs the whole shape of 1:1-11. Paul builds his salutation on deliberate pairings in which the dominant party exalts the subordinate one, against ordinary expectation. Paul’s own union with the Philippians follows that same shape.

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Sermon transcript

We have no other job. Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, and all the saints in Christ Jesus which are of Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, raise me unto you in peace from God my Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of me, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making a just with joy for your fellowship.

In the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is neat for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my arms and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. For God is my refuge, how greatly I long after you all in the affections of Jesus Christ. This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere without offense for the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by the name of Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Father, if we are slow to respond, if we find that we are a bit dull, if we discover that we have allowed ourselves to slip into a form of inactivity, which we have seen as if without permission our energy leave us. Those things that pertain to you, and the things that pertain to your church and her appointments. O God, will you not bring us to your Word anew, that we, looking into the Word, may be stirred to the depths of our hearts, and in that stirring, Exhibit our love for so great a God, the true and living God, the God and Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.

Now, we started out this morning with a little lesson in the resurrection of faith, conceiving the resurrection as the importance, even as we look at a passage like the opening of Philippians. You may have come this morning expecting an exposition of one of the stories from the Gospels concerning the resurrection of Christ. wishing to hear again about the women visiting the tomb. I would encourage you to take up your Bibles and do a greater, and read those stories. The stories were in Philippians 1. The reason why we are there is because I’m very serious on Philippians. But I don’t want you to think that just because the resurrection isn’t explicitly mentioned here, it’s not present. The resurrection is woven in and through the fabric of all that the Apostle has to say, even here in the opening of Philippians 1.

For the Apostle to call Jesus Christ Lord as he does in the second verse, in his greeting, is to acknowledge the resurrection. Now, you may be thinking that that description pertains to Jesus from all eternity. From all eternity, he is Lord. But in this case, what the apostle has specifically in mind is that lordship which has become Christ because of what he has done. And because of that which has been done to him by the Father, the Father has exalted him and made him to be evil through the resurrection. So, you see, we have in view here what our Savior has become by virtue of His work and by virtue of the resurrection. of resurrection woven throughout these opening eleven verses, scenes on every hand, we find them.

This is a living Savior that is served, this is a living Christ that is imbued. Paul and Timothy are not bond slaves to someone who is dead. They are bond slaves of Christ Jesus, one who is alive. These saints that purify are in Christ Jesus, they are in one who is alive, and because they are in him, they are alive.

There is mention in verses six and ten of the day of Christ. Well, that’s with respect to a future day, is it not? That’s with respect to the second coming. Well, how can he come again if he is not alive to come again? So, the resurrection plainly in view there as well.

In verse 11, the last verse that we read this morning, there Paul is talking about his hope with respect to the prayer that he is offering on behalf of these Philippians. He speaks of them being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is alive to minister unto his own. And one of the ways in which that ministry takes shape is with respect to these fruits of righteousness that now become manifest in the lives of the leaders. Well, the resurrection then is broken throughout the fabric of the passage. It is here, it is assumed, it is working its work from those who feel.

Our inability to see the resurrection In Paul’s letters, except where it is explicitly mentioned, might be compared to our inability, our inability to see the resurrection of Christ as central to our worship. Every word is central. Not just one more say out of the mute.

But we here now are dealing in particular with Paul’s opening for this letter to the Philippians. In this opening, we have read now the first eleven verses, and we divide it this way. We have the first two verses as the brief. and verses 3 through 8 as Paul’s thanksgiving, and finally verses 9 through 11 as his prayer. I’ve briefed all the outlines there for you in the opening to this. But as we turn now particularly to the thanksgiving of Paul, verses 3 through 8, There are things that we must keep in mind from the breathing that has been given. Now, I know that internally a lot of you are throwing your hands up in a bit of exasperation, not another message on the breathing.

But hang with me here. as we move from the greeting into the thanks given from Paul to these saints. I want you to notice something in the greeting. Yes? Back up there momentarily. I want you to notice something from the greeting that is given here. And it is an extraordinary greeting, as we have pointed out before. As you move through those two verses, you will notice that there are some obvious, significant pairings. There are some obvious, significant pairings.

Couples. Do you notice them? Right away. Paul and Timothy. There’s the first one. There’s a second in that first verse, which is obvious. The bishops and deacons. So we have Paul and Timothy, we have the bishops and deacons, and there’s one other obvious Significant character. That occurs in the Greed and Repentance, second verse, you see it there. God, our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Three sets of parents. Now, there’s an obvious relationship between each of these parents.

Each one of these pairs contains a dominant figure. Can you pick out the dominant figure in the two pairings? How about Paul and Timothy? Who’s the dominant figure? Wouldn’t you say Paul? Easy possible, right? What about the Bishops and the Legates? Who’s the dominant? Is it not the bishops, the overseers, the rulers? And what about God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ?

Now, you might hesitate here, and I understand your hesitation. You might hesitate because you’re thinking, well, if I give the Father the dominant role, that means I have to put the son in a subordinate role. That’s right. That’s exactly what you have to do. All right, well, you have these groups, these three sets of pairs. And in each of these sets you have a nominal figure, but you also have, yes, we can say it, we can say it largely, of course, in the case of the last pair, the father and the son, yes, there is a subordinate figure as well. dominant figure and a subordinate figure. And the subordinate figure is defined in relationship to the dominant figure in a certain way.

What’s the relationship between Paul and Timothy? What’s the relationship between the bishop and the deacon? What’s the relationship between the father and the son? You can speak of the relationship in terms of servitude. You may want to draw that out a little further, for in chapter two, Paul talks about Timothy as being his son. The relationship is one of sonship. the board members in relationship to the dominant figure in terms of service, servitude.

But note what happens now, as you look at the dynamic of these parents. They are placed together on a line. Paul the 2, Bishops and Deacons, the father and the son. and they are placed on a line so as to bring out a bond of unity, an inseparable bond of unity. They go together, they belong together. And such is the nature of this bond of unity that it actually takes this figure that is in the subordinate role and exalts this figure through his servanthood to share in the glory of the dominant figure. Have you written? Have you written yet? The lesser figure Timothy is exalted by this pairing to stand now in position where he is receiving the glories that belong to the dominant figure in the equation.

The same respect to deacons and bishops, and the same respect to the Father and the Son. and have, as we’ve listed here, these obvious parallels. But you can go on and see how this whole matter becomes quite complex, for there will be other pairings that arise within this region that aren’t as obvious to us, at least at first glance. Not only do you have, for instance, the bishops in relationship to the deacons, but you have the bishops and the deacons in relationship to all the saints who are a Christ of God. And in that relationship, who’s the dominant? Well, the dominant figures are the bishops and the deacons together. Who is the subordinate figure?

All the saints who are at Philippi. But what does the service, what does the unity that exists between the officers of the Church and the Church itself mean for the land, mean for the people? It means exaltation for them. They who are servants are exalted. so that the very glory that one might receive in office are shared, not that they take up office. But you certainly are not behind any officer who will stand with Christ, who will stand before God, And not only is there this relationship as you look at bishops and deacons together, tied with all the saints who are in Christ Jesus, then you have the pairing of Christ Jesus himself with all the saints who are in him. Who’s the dominant figure? Christ Jesus. Who are the subordinate ones? All the saints who are in him.

What does the tarry mean? What does the bonding mean? The bonding means that the saints are exalted so as to share the blessings of the Son, Christ Jesus Himself, all that is His advance. So not only do you have the pairing of Christ Jesus with all the saints, you have the pairing of Christ Jesus with the bond slaves.

Mentioned at the very opening of the epistle of birth, birthday, Paul and Timothy. The dominant figure is Christ Jesus, but the subordinate ones are Paul and Timothy, but now they are exalted by virtue of this bond that exists between them and Christ. so that the authority applies to speaking through them in their service to Him. We have one more. There’s probably a couple of others here that we can go after, but we have one more that is outstanding and very important to us, because it is this one who carries over into the thanksgiving. You see?

There is not just all these parents we’ve mentioned thus far, but the pairing of Paul and Timothy, two saints themselves, Paul the Apostle with his servant Timothy, in relationship to these saints who are at Philopon. And in this relationship, there is an exaltation that comes to the saints, so that they are elevated to the level of the Apostle himself, In his own mind, he will not deal with them as inferiors but as equals, even though they are subordinate to him in God’s economy. For the apostle does stand invariably over the people, does he not?

Now I said that this is the key that will push us into the thanksgiving that Paul utters next in verses 3 through 8. This bond that exists between Paul and Timothy on the one side, the dominant figures, and the saints, the subordinate figures, on the other. Bond that means the exaltation of the saints, and war is for them. Note too Paul’s thanksgiving. To be sure, there is that exaltation for the apostle himself spoken of in his thanksgiving. an exaltation for him that comes by way of his unity with Christ Jesus.

Do you hear what he says in verse 8? He passed quickly over that 8th verse. I know the old English way of speaking, of rendering that verse, is in terms of the vows of Christ, the vows of Christ Jesus. We might translate that, as the New American Standard does, the affections of Christ. What is Paul saying?

Paul is saying that in the exaltation that has come his way, by virtue of his unity with Jesus Christ, there is the sharing of mutual affections. Christ’s own affections have become his. Whatever affections there are out there to have, Paul now has Christ’s affections. If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection for compassion. So there is this dynamic of the thanksgiving. You see it at the conclusion as Paul is Now, in this bond of unity with Jesus Christ, and the very affections of Christ have become theirs.

But there is also an exaltation for the Philippians. There is an exaltation for the Philippians whereby they are bound now to the apostle. He says that in verse 7, “‘For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart.’” The Philippians themselves exulted to the level of the Apostle as the Apostle takes them inside his heart. And thinking about this bond that exists between the Apostle and the Philippian saints, we can go a step further, backing up through the Thanksgiving.

We’re at verse 5. The bond is such between the Apostle and these Philippian saints that Paul says that they are actually participating in his ministry, when I preach Eucharist. When I minister, you minister. You are bound to Me, and all the benefits there may be from My ministry that are heaped up upon Me, I share them with you, for they are yours as well.” We’ve entered a different world, friends. This is not the ordinary common line of Christian thinking. We’re entering a different world where we are face to face with a man who thinks so differently from us. Who lives so differently from us.

There’s no jealousy in him, there’s no envy, there’s no fear. It’s my territory, I’m not going to give up an inch. It’s my office, what do you have to do with it? There’s nothing possessive about the man, there’s nothing miserly, there’s nothing selfish about him holding back the very benefits of his ministry as if these Philippians had no part.

There are dimensions to the participation that may not be all that attractive to us, The servanthood comes to expression not just in the Apostles, but in these Philippians as well. They prove themselves to be servants, yes, in this relationship that exists between them and Paul, even being numbered with the Apostle in his imprisonment and in the prosecution of his case before Rome. You find that at the conclusion of verse seven. Since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. You are here with me.

I don’t want to be here. I want to be calm. I don’t want imprudence. I don’t want suffering. I don’t want to do these things. What you’re talking about doesn’t interest me. Give me that good old gospel. A gospel that costs you nothing. That’s the kind of gospel I want. Don’t talk to me about being a family-optimist father of a minister of the world, so that all of his pains and sufferings become mine, as long as all his stories. I want another lesson. I don’t want that one. There’s a church out there that will give you that gospel. In fact, the majority of the church today will give you that gospel. That other gospel.

And you don’t have to concern yourself with these things any further. Can I tell you what’s in the balance? Paul says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Every time I think of you, always offering prayer, with joy, In my every prayer to the Lord, I’ll be straightforward with you this Easter morning.

There are many of you here who are very young, and will join at all speeds, and you do not know this. And the reason why you do not know is because you cannot express yourself along the lines that the Apostle expresses himself. And you cannot identify with what he said. You know the joy of not caring what happens to you, just the orders you’re served. You know the joy of that freedom, of that abandonment, the freedom of service, selfless, magnanimous, generous, giving yourself away, That’s precisely the kind of joy that characterized the Apostle.

He’s giving himself away, and he’s speaking to them to testify he’s done the same thing. Check it out, 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 5. He talks about them having given themselves, given themselves away. in their service to Him and to Christ. And how can it be otherwise?

For if there’s joy to be found in Christ, it is to be found specifically at this point, in that Christ gave Himself away, and in that there is joy. Our happiness is not found in our possessiveness, in our holding on, in our grasping after. Our happiness and our joy is found in letting it go, in our abandonment to God or others. But let’s end on a good note. Though it may be true that many of you are struggling with joy and the whole question of happiness, and you internally are faced with that, at the same time, your faith is there, and you are struggling in that faith and with that faith, and be assured, that faith being genuine, you shall gain the victory. you shall overcome, and the joy will be full.”

In the end, the joy will be full. And even now it pipes its way to expression within you, so that when there is need, you don’t hold back. Even though you may not want to, you give yourself. You say, yes, I’ll go, I’ll do it. I am bound in my heart with these others with whom I have cast my lot. And together, we, moving in the direction of knowing who is the Baptist, that is, the God of all of us, the Saviour of man, Jesus Christ.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

March 31, 1991
A Greeting Full of Christ’s Love

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 24, 1991.

About this sermon

Paul’s salutation displays Christ’s love in five ways, and three features set his Philippian greeting apart from his other letters. Paul’s joy in serving the Philippians gives a small picture of the elect joyfully serving God in glory. Even a greeting, read carefully, rehearses the gospel.

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Sermon transcript

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always said, it is not working like treasure-throwing, but rather much more than that. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Serve unto do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and honest with sons of God. in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom He shines lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice at the day of Christ, that I do not run in vain, neither laboring for it. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I enjoy and rejoice with you all. same cause, also do ye join and rejoice with me.

That I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, who all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. He know the proof of him that as a son with the father he hath served with me in the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. And I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.”

And then turning back to the first chapter, the opening of the letter, Paul and Timothy bond slaves of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are as qualified as the bishops and the heathens. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray together.

I want to start this morning by giving you a little quiz, just a few questions. I want to ask you, first of all, how many books are there in the New Testament? If you said 27, then you were right. Now I will ask you another question. How many of these books did the Apostle Paul write? If you said 13, again, you are correct. Interesting in itself, isn’t it, that almost half of the books of the New Testament are written by the Apostle Paul? Now, each one of his books comes in the same form. Each comes in the form of a letter, and each one of these letters begins in the same way.

It begins with a customary greeting, and we have been trying in our messages here of late to milk all we can out of Paul’s greetings. We’re focusing here on the greeting that opens up Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This is our point. Paul’s greetings are extraordinary. Paul’s greetings are extraordinary. They are extraordinary because they differ from the accepted form of greeting that we would find in the letters written in the world in which Paul finds himself. Alternatively, the greetings that appear at the opening of the Greek and Roman letters in the first century, those greetings come across something memo-style.

The sender is mentioned. He mentions his name. He mentions then the addressee, their address. Then he has a simple word of salutation, namely the word greeting. We see that the Apostle Paul has varied from this form. His greetings are extraordinary. in that they are lavish and embellished.

Not that they are strange, not that they are particularly artistic, but they are lavish and they are embellished at every point along the lines of the formula. And even at this point, they are exhibiting the care, the concern, the love for the saints. As Paul writes to these various churches and individuals, and even at this level, at this mundane and common level of the grieving, Paul’s love, care, and concern is coming through. Well, not only is Paul differing from the accepted form through his lavish and umbilical greetings, but we know as well that his salutation is full of content and meaning. The salutation for the Greek and the Roman would be a mere word, greetings, but Paul has grace and peace.

This formula is intended to express the blessings that have now become available to the saints who are addressed by the apostles, the blessings that have become available because of the arrival of the kingdom of God. The blessings themselves are those that flow forth from the kingdom, from the throne. The grace and peace in you are blessings out of heaven, which are now at the disposal of the saints because of the exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord, and because of his continuing ministry as our great and final High Priest. The grace, as we have seen, is nothing less than the prosperity, the abundance, and the goodness that flows forth from the kingdom, and the peace is the consequence of that grace and goodness. If all things in the kingdom have been given unto us, then peace naturally follows. For if we have all things in Christ and in His kingdom, then anxiety is dealt with conclusively. How can we worry, we who have been given all things out of the eternal realm of the kingdom?

Not only are these great blessings coming forth from the throne, ensured by the power of the One who has been raised up, exalted to the Father’s right hand, they are those things, those realities that are conveyed unto us through the ministrations of the high priesthood of this One who has been so exalted.

Do you hear the language? Grace and peace. Do you not hear in that echoing the sound of that ancient benediction that was pronounced by the priests of God upon the people of Israel? If you were to turn to Numbers chapter 6 and that great Old Testament benediction, you would find the formula that Paul is using reflected there. How does that benediction go? The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. There’s the grace. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. There’s the peace. So this salutation from Paul is still full of content, rich, full. What a reason for rejoicing.

But there’s another way in which Paul distinguishes his salutation, his greeting, from those commonly used in his day. And this is observed if you add a preposition to the very beginning of the epistle, as if that were your first word. What if it read like this, from Paul and Timothy? Well, if you add that preposition, you’ll note that there’s a second occurrence of that same preposition in verse 2, for it’s grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That means, you see, that in actuality there are two centers, not just one, in Paul’s greetings and salutation. There is the greeting, you see, that is coming forth from Paul, yes. He is one sender, but there is also this other sender, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are agreed.

The same greeting is coming forth from both. There’s something to be seen here with respect to this particular aspect. involves readings. There’s something of a kinetic dimension to his readings, something that calls attention to the motion. That’s what kinetics is all about, the study of motion. There’s something to the motion, the activity, that’s in view as you read through the reading. And the motion, the movement, moves from the standard to those upon whom now the breathing comes.

It’s almost as if you have set before your eyes a huge funnel, and at the bottom of the of all the saints who are at Philippi, and they’re receiving everything that comes down through the funnel. But now, sitting co-laterally on the top of the funnel, are God the Father, God the Son, but also Paul and Timothy. And the intent of the ministry that comes out of heaven and the ministry that flows forth from Paul and Timothy is one and the same, that grace and peace might be multiplied abundantly upon all of these things that they might have in the fall. It seems as if, by this structure, I have placed Paul and Timothy at the level of God the Father and God the Son.

Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve done. What possibly could be meant by this? Well, on the one hand, you see, it means a condescension on the part of the Father and the Son to that level. They come down. to the level of the Apostle and the apostolic band that helps him. There is a humbling on the part of the Father and the Son, in order that these blessings may be conferred upon the saints.

Do you think much of the humbling of the Father in Heaven? has manifest in the humility of the Son and His humiliation for our sakes. To what lengths will Heaven go for you? How much does He love you? How far will He come down? of the glory for your sake. Well, there’s not nearly here the message of the humbling of the Father and the Son. If we see Paul and Timothy on the same level as the Father and the Son, of course they are not God or God.

But at the same time, there has been an exaltation for them to what ends. That when they speak, you might understand that, they speak with the precise authority of the Father and the Son. To receive the greeting of the Apostle is to receive the greeting of the one who sends forth the Apostle. And you must not minimize the authority. the standard of the apostle, as he speaks even here at such a mundane level as the greeting that is offered. Well, there is not merely this kinetic dimension to the greeting that you watch the motion that has opened up for you in the grieving, and the blessings are coming forth, the blessings are coming forth from God the Father and the Son, as they are now spoken and articulated by the Apostles and those who are commissioned in help of Him.

But there’s something else here. There is a syntactical structure to this breathing as well. We spoke about this last Sunday night. We’ll emphasize it again here this morning for you. There is the syntactical structure of the breathing. What do I mean by syntax or syntactic? I’m using some big words today, aren’t I? Kinetic? Syntactical. Syntax. We all, we now have our high school English didn’t we? We’ve learned what syntax was. It’s the study of how words get together, form sentences. How sentences then go together and form paragraphs, etc. Syntax. Study of word order. Now, if you look at the order of things here, the syntactical order, In the reading itself, there are lessons to be learned.

And a distinguishing mark, as Paul presses on to the conclusion of this reading, a very, very important and precious point being made. You don’t ordinarily think of it. Paul, he’s great, isn’t he? He’s first. He comes first. He’s the apostle. We mention Him first, and those who are attached to Him, Timothy and Ithaca, why, they come first. If you start out thinking that way, you’re in trouble, aren’t you? Because mentioned last is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. If you start with the first, what are you going to do with those that are mentioned last? Are they on higher than the one who’s mentioned first?

You see, Paul, by mentioning himself first, is not just giving in to the expected form of greeting that would occur in the ancient world. He has a plan. He has a purpose. He mentions himself first because he’s last. That’s why. And the one who is first is the one who’s mentioned last. We haven’t dealt with those in between, so how? What about them?

As Paul presents himself in his greeting, he actually elevates those to whom he writes to a position higher than himself, between himself and God the Father and God the Son. So you begin with Paul and Timothy, not because they are to be of as better or higher, but because by the time you reach the end of the greeting, you might see them as the least, as the last, and even lower than the saints who are at Philippi.

And where does Paul learn such things? How does Paul learn to express himself this way? How does he learn to put others first? How does he learn to put the Church first, the saints, above himself? Even the bishops and deacons who are at Philippi, above himself. Because he has learned so well from God the Father and God the Son. For had not God put himself last for the sake of his people, that they might be exalted? Even treated them as if their life was more important than his own, so he gave it up. It’s beautiful stuff. Powerful in its own right.

But having noted now how extraordinary Paul’s greetings are, when compared to the greetings in letters we find in the first century, We move on to take stock of the unique features of this special greeting to the Holy Roman Church. There are three factors that mark out this greeting from other greetings that Paul gives to other churches.

We don’t have to waste long for the first one, It occurs within the first three words, Paul and Timothy. There is the Timothy factor. Did you know that Paul includes Timothy in his greetings in six of his thirteen letters? 2 Corinthians, Philippians of course, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and finally 6 of the 13, Paul includes Timothy. But in none of those does he position Timothy as he does here.

If you want to turn over to Colossians, the first chapter, you’ll see the difference. The very first verse. There’s a rather long excursus before Timothy appears, that first verse, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. And that’s the way, by and large, it is in all the other letters where Timothy is included. But here, Timothy is mentioned immediately.

Why? Why? Why the exception in this case? But hold on a minute. Let’s go on and note the other differences. The next factor occurs when Paul mentions the address E. He says, to all. Let’s understand that. “…to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philopon.” In addition to the synodic factor, there is the all factor. Paul is addressing this letter specifically, making a point of saying it. He’s addressing this letter specifically to all the saints in Philippi. He doesn’t speak that way in his other letters. He does use that adjective in 2 Corinthians, but to a different intent, in a different sense there.

Here is a unique use of this adjective, all. We might not think anything of it. Take word for what we find throughout this letter to the Philippians, because there’s a repeated use of this adjective. You’ll notice in the fourth verse of this first chapter, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

Why does he go to the effort of adding that word when he could have ended without it and made it point? He adds the word all twice in verse 7. It’s there again in verse 8. You find it in verse 25. We read it this morning from verse 17 in chapter 2. It’s mentioned again in verse 26, and it’s part of the clothes that Paul offers at the end of the epistle, in verse 23. There is this matter of the all. Why should the apostle Make a point of adding that word, and that word usually. Well, hold on to that. The third fact. I think you’ve noted it already.

Paul is not merely addressing all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi. But he makes special reference to the bishops, or the overseers, and the deacons. In no other letters, Paul makes special mention of the purchasers of the church. But in this case, there they are. Now, there have been a great number of debates in the history of the Church as to the source of the word that he uses here. Episcopal, bishop, overseer, Calvin, reformed orthodoxy has contended that what Paul is speaking of here are those who have been ordained through the gospel ministry, who have as their province the ministry of the word. I’m not going to get into that this morning. And the debate, the issue, we’re concerned with the lining up, the convergence of all of these various factors as they present something distinctive in this greeting by Paul to the Philippian church.

It might be that we gain access to this little mystery by looking again at the adjective all. Why this use of a word? Why the insistence on it and the repetition of it? Is not Paul here calling attention to the unity of the Church, the commonality, the mutuality of the Church? This congregation, or these congregations, if you will, in the city of Philadelphia. And why? Because is it not obvious as you move through this epistle that there are great threats to that unity?

There’s the one that’s obvious in the fourth chapter, the second verse, where Paul says, I urge you ODS and I urge sympathy to live in honor of the Lord. But there is also that indication given us, however veiled, in the second chapter, which we read this morning. Paul says in the fourteenth verse of that second chapter, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Now, why does he have to say that? obviously because there were grumbling and disputings.

The Church is being pulled apart, actualified. It is being threatened by disunity, and now Paul is emphasizing the all, all of the things together addressed by him. Now, not only Does Paul, at various points throughout the epistle, then call attention to the threat to the unity that exists for this Church?

He supplies them with an example, an example by which they might meet that threat and overcome it. Know how he progressed in chapter 2. He progresses from the point of talking to them about Brunel and the students to speaking about himself and his own service for them. Verse 17, But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.

So Paul meets the threat of this disunity with his own example, his own example of service, in which he is willing to go to any lengths in order that these people might be served, and the congregation, the churches, might be kept together. But it really isn’t Paul’s service, you see, that he doesn’t have. At the beginning part of the second chapter, he’s already expounding in the service of Christ, who did not think it a thing to be grasped, to be equal with God, but emptied himself and took upon himself the form that he bonds like, made himself subject for the sake of those whom he would save. In this, we begin to see the way in which Paul is dealing with this Philippian church, and how the content of this epistle is even spelled out and anticipated in the greetings that he brings to these saints. Yes, there is his own example. There is the fundamental consideration of Christ in what he’s done.

But now Paul will plug himself and Timothy into the midst of the equation, as they themselves A testimony of unity and intimacy and service for the sake of others. And that’s why Paul doesn’t delay in mentioning Timothy in his salutation, in his greeting. It’s Paul and Timothy, the bond between them, coming to expression. Paul says in the twenty-second verse of the second chapter that they are like father and son. And as the son serves the father and has the same objectives as the father, so Timothy serves him, and he isn’t then hesitant in sending Timothy to the Philippians, because he knows that Timothy will do well and place before these Philippians what he himself has placed before. But the example of Paul and Timothy would not be so striking if it weren’t for another father-son combination that appears in the greeting.

God the Father and God the Son, they part there. As the epitomes of unity and harmony and intimacy and fellowship, can we imagine them being broken apart? Neither can Paul imagine himself and Timothy being broken apart. No, that’s what we imagine the Church as vilified being broken apart.

The unity, harmony, intimacy, service, evidence in the Father and the Son determines that which exists in the ministry of Paul and Timothy for the sake of the saints. And it is this that brings pressure to bear upon bishops and deacons, for they, too, are the sons in the Church for ministry. This is a wonderful impact of the whole. is to demonstrate how the full force of ministry and service and love devolved upon these saints, all of them, indiscriminately and so partly. the service of the Father and the Son in heaven, the service of the Apostle and his son Timothy, the service of bishops, fathers in the Church, and their sons, the deacons. All of this devolves upon the saints for their good, that they might be sons. in their service. Now, there’s a kicker in the end.

Paul says that the unity The intimacy, the service that he has expounded, and will expound to these Philippians, is actually a wellspring of joy. The joy of which the apostle speaks repeatedly throughout this epistle is not detached. It’s attached to service, to unity, to intimacy.

Do you want to know the true joy of the Kingdom of Heaven? You will not know it. I can say this by the authority of the Word of God, you will not know it apart from That unity, service, and inner state that exists in Christ and is expressed, not for yourself, but for the sake of others, by you. By you. That was the root symphonies of joy for the silent. And it is the root of joy for us. Let us pray. Hear us, our God.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

March 24, 1991
Saints, Bishops, and Deacons

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 24, 1991.

About this sermon

The church matters for a saint’s perseverance, and Paul’s calling the Philippians ‘saints’ carries two real implications. The bishops and deacons of 1:1 matter far beyond administration. The heavenly grace and peace that close the salutation in 1:2 make that structure more than bureaucracy.

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Sermon transcript

I was wondering if we should take a poll and find out how many of you actually came out tonight, because you were expecting me to be serious. Well, here we are again. We are opening up our fishery and feeding in Matthew 16. This is a familiar text for you. Matthew 16, beginning of verse 13. Listen to the word of God.

He began asking his disciples, saying, Who do people say the Son of Man is? They said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he said to them, But who do you say to them? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, “‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjonas, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you of my Father who is in heaven.

If I say also to you that you are Peter, upon which lie, I will build my church at the gates of Hades, you shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you shall bind on earth shall not be bound in heaven. Whatever you shall lose, honor shall have been loosed upon you.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Cross.

Then turning over to Philippians, the first chapter, the opening verses, Paul and Timothy to Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are still alive, including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our God, You have committed to Your Church Your Word, and You have raised up servants, that that Word may be proclaimed, and Your people may be instructed as well in the things that are spoken in Your Word and pertain to their well-being and to eternal life. We thank you, too, our God, that you by your word have ordered matters in your church. We thank you that you have raised up officers, yes, those who can and do proclaim your word, but also rulers within the church, those elders who are responsible for judgments, for deciding cases, How we thank you, Lord, for those whom you have raised up and given to the work of service and ministry of the Antichrist. Throughout the world, Lord, you are served and you are honored.

We pray that your word may have full effect within your Church, so that even in matters of the government of your Church, Your people would be conscious of those things which You have laid out before them, so that Your people might be governed and structured and ordered properly. We ask, Lord, that You would forbear with us, even as we would struggle with the matter of the government of Your Church. We ask, Lord, for Your grace for grace in the session of this Church, and for the structure that is here, and throughout this Presbytery, and throughout our denomination, even to the General Assembly. We wouldn’t be so narrow-minded as to just keep before us the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, We ask You that we would be mindful of the expansiveness of Your people throughout the world. And we would ask You that Your people would then be consistent with Your word as they are governed and recognize one another across boundaries of nations and race and language. We pray, Honored God, that this then will be glorifying to You, even as You find in us the willingness to get beyond those prescriptions that we find in ourselves. Indeed, Lord, may we have a vision that is as wide as Your creation and as extensive as Your Church throughout the world. As we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Well, about here I am running out of things to say on the readings of all the Philippians. But I do have yet one message left, one final message upon this salutation from Paul to this Church. I want to step before you this evening the matter of the Church itself. I want you to focus upon the issue of the Church as it is spoken of in this reading. And as you do, I want you to keep a few things in mind. I want you to remember the passage that we read, a passage from Matthew 16, in which Jesus Christ promises to build His Church.

He can then look at the Church of Philippi as something of a fulfillment of that prophecy, that statement uttered by Christ himself. There are also those statements in the history of the Church with respect to the Church. Surely you would judge. The Church is central to the concern for us. His stated claim, I mean, revealed by Church. He follows that statement with words concerning the organization, the order, the authority that’s going to arise within the Church. He speaks about the keys of the kingdom, about binding and loosening within the Church.

But before us, regardless of what our attitudes about that passage may be and where we end up with respect to it, it is obvious to us, is it not, that there’s some sort of structure, some sort of order, some sort of working out of authority within the Church that is imbued as Jesus speaks. So the Church, the Church very much at the center of Christ’s concern.

In fact, you can go even further than that. If you take up a passage in Ephesians 5, it tells us that Christ loved the Church and gave his life for her. That’s pretty definitive, I would judge, wouldn’t you? We’re not talking about something nebulous here, something ethereal. We’re talking about something quite concrete.

Paul even knows the names of some of those who are in the Church. In fact, he knows the names of a great number of those who are in the Church, and his time, the day that he wrote it. But even moving on and on, the physical materials, we have those that are very sensitive to what the Bible is saying about the Church. How many times must we go over the fact that in a great amount of Protestantism today, there has been a misreading of the Reformation?

Why, the Reformation, some tell us, is a declaration of independence from the Church. We don’t need the Church anymore. And they certainly act that way. They act as if they don’t need the Church. But was that the attitude of the Reformers, or the attitude of Luther? That’s why the movement was called the Reformation. It was the reforming of the Church that was in view. Calvin had a similar view. In fact, he is rather explicit about it.

We’ve come to the fourth book of the Institutes and what you read there. It’s crucial to challenge all of you to read or reread the fourth book of Calvin’s Institutes. In that section of the Institutes, Calvin tells us that it is his judgment, based upon the word of God, that perseverance in the faith is utterly impossible outside the Church.

You want to talk about perseverance? You want to talk about going on with the faith? God says, don’t talk to me if you’re going to lead the Church out of the equation. It is an impossibility. There will be no perseverance of the saints apart from the Church. Now, think of your own faith.

That is not to make you vain or pop you up foolishly, to suggest somehow that if I just keep my nose clean and I stay in the Church and I pay my dues, everything will be all right with me. One must view the matter of the Church in relationship to the whole subject of obedience and faithfulness. Therefore, my faith comes to expression as it is expressed within the Church. My thankfulness comes to expression as there is that demonstration of faith before the faith of others, as there is that concern for others who have the same confession as I do.

I plead with you, Mariela, I can’t think that this is not in the mind imparted. As Calvin wrote, I plead with you who are young, you who needlessly put off uniting with the Church solemnly, joining, taking up the matter of communicant membership, the word is coming to you. Don’t be deceived. If you want to persevere, if you want to endure, if your faith is to be judged genuinely, there has to be some expression of it within the Church.

What does the Westminster Confession say? Tell us. It’s a wonderful chapter on the Confession. I believe it’s chapter twenty-five. You can check me on that. I believe it’s the second paragraph of that Bible chapter that tells us outside the visible Church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. Now, people drawbacks to that. They say, this sounds Roman Catholic. That’s not Roman Catholic. That’s Puritan. That’s Presbyterian.

Outside of the visible Church there is ordinarily no possibility of salvation. That’s not to say that there aren’t some exceptional cases, like the thief on the cross who doesn’t get a chance to join up. that we cannot make excuses for ourselves. Most of us here, most of us here are members of the Church. In fact, all of us are by virtue of our baptism.

I encourage you who have not yet taken that step into community membership, into full membership, take it very seriously now as we move in that direction. But we are here looking at Paul’s address to a church, and the focus now being upon the church. What I had in mind in the Sanctification of the Dreaming is the address he, as Paul says, to all the saints who are in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi. of the Church with which he is working. He’s almost working with the idea of the invisible within his statements that are couched in the terms of the visible, as if he were being quite clever about it, and suggesting possibly that there might have been many of Philippi who imagined themselves to be saints, who imagined themselves to be in Christ Jesus, but we all know that they really weren’t. The following statement at this point is very broad and it’s very conclusive.

He is not making judgments at this point. He is not mentally excommunicating any who have come into the assembly to vilify. He is not making his distinction at this point. He’s not saying, in fact, well, we know that many are claiming to be saints, many are claiming to be in Christ, but in actual fact they are not saints, they are not in Christ, and really the ones that I am addressing are those who are but saints in Christ Jesus at Silomon.

His language at this point is inclusive, it is broad, it is intended to include all who have made profession, all who are part of the Church, or the Churches, the congregations in the city of Philadelphia. A nice parallel to this might be that you find in Galatians, the opening of Galatians, Paul gives his greetings there. This is how he states it. Second verse, “…and all the brethren who are with me, included in the center, to the churches of Galatia.” Inclusive to the churches who are in Galatia.

That’s all he’s intending to say at this point. He’s merely speaking of the churches that are in Philippi with this sort of language. He addresses them as the saints, those who are in Christ Jesus. He uses that kind of language to describe those in the church without making any judgment at this point with regard to the genuineness of the faith of anyone.

Why is it that I preach the way I do? I know a lot of you are wondering. In fact, they’re still trying to figure me out. My approach is to address you as the Church, and even to make certain assumptions about you. And that doesn’t mean that I will scold you on occasion. It doesn’t mean that I hesitate to point out sins that you should be aware of in your own life or in the life of a congregation. That’s my job. But my basic task to you is to address you as the Church and to treat you that way until you prove that you’re not of the Church. And that’s no private judgment of my part. See, that’s why we have elders. I have no business making those sorts of decisions and rendering those sorts of judgments privately.”

Now, the language that Paul uses here is rather glorious, and quite flattering to these Philippians. I mean, he calls them saints. You know what the Roman Catholics have done with that language? They’ve removed it from the general category that applies to all believers, and they’ve reserved it as a description of only those who have achieved a certain status of holiness and sanctification. Paul isn’t like that. He is describing all of the people, all of those who gather in Philippi, as saints, he calls them. What does it mean for him to call them saints? Well, the term means holy ones. You may say, well, it doesn’t fit everybody in every instance.

But Paul’s starting at that point. He calls them holy ones, he calls them saints. It’s even more glorious still, because in order to call them holiness, holy ones, it’s as if Paul were assuming these people as already in glory. In fact, that’s the discipline that is at work in the Apostle as he writes and addresses these people. He disciplines his own soul.

When he looks at them, he is disciplining his own soul to visualize these folk as in glory only, as if they were already perfectly sane.” Well, what a fiction that is. That might be your reaction, especially if you’re a garden lover. What a glorious picture that is!

He sees them as definitively sanctified, in terms of their definitive sanctification, which is there in Jesus Christ. He speaks about the sanctification of the saints in the past tense, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30. He talks about the saints as having been already blessed in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing, Ephesians 1 verse 3. He talks about our life having been given in Christ with Christ in God, in Colossians 3 verse 3. But this isn’t glorious enough.

He then goes on to describe him as being in Christ Jesus, and here he has him by nothing short of union with Christ. That union with Christ, then, sees them specifically as those who have been blessed in Christ with the heavenly blessings that are mediated unto them by Him. They are in union with Him even though they are in the earth at Philippi. This is the way in which Paul looks at a church, and addresses these churches at Philippi, as glorified, saints, holy ones, as in Christ Jesus, in union with Christ, in union with him who is in heaven, even though they are on earth, in here, at Philippi specifically, a particular congregation, or particular congregations at Philippi.

Well, having spoken in this way, Paul isn’t dumb, for he wants it to be impressed upon his readers that he has in mind Those who are specifically identified with the Biblical Church. Now, he brings this out by mentioning the fact that these saints are, concretely, in the flesh, to be sure, at Silphi, in congregations there, but he goes on to speak about the fact that they are under bishops and deacons.

The end of that first verse. Now, this concluding part of that first verse is a very, very difficult, very, very difficult state phrase, and it has been variously translated in the history of translations. You may have listened as I read from the New American Standard tonight. That is a vast translation, as is to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers, or the bishops, and the deacons. Well, it might not be a fully satisfactory translation of the Greek.

All that appears at the end of that first verse in the Greek is a simple prepositional phrase. All that we find there is the words, when, the bishops and the deacons. There are certain ways in which you can go to that prepositional phrase. You can, in fact, match that prepositional phrase with the Bishops and the Deacons with the prepositional phrase that goes right before it, in syllabi, so that the verse is the one that sets off both of those prepositional phrases in succession.

So, what the Apostle Paul may well be saying is this. to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Silphi, who are with the vicious and the vengeance. And he isn’t talking to anybody else. That means if you are not in the assemblies that have over them the bishops and the deacons, you are not being addressed by all. Not only that, in keeping what we have already seen with respect to the greeting call, you’re not even being addressed by the Father or the Son. That’s how serious the matter is. Now, let me tell you, there are many Christians in our day that are playing with hellfire.

Because in their conception of the Church, it has nothing to do with structure and order, and it has nothing to do with government and with offices that are set by Christ over His people for their good. Nothing whatsoever. In fact, that whole matter of government is completely optional, if not immaterial. One is out-and-out spiritual anarchy. It is out-and-out spiritual revolution. That means that the Church that Paul has specifically envied is a Church that is tied to bishops and to deacons. No other church.

Now, how serious? How serious is the matter? In keeping with what we have already seen with respect to the reading of the Apostle, that only those who are in churches so identified and so structured, so addressed by the Apostle and even by God the Father and God the Son, only those churches are receiving the blessings that are coming forth from heaven expressed in the greeting.

The grace and the peace belongs to them and to them alone. It doesn’t belong to anyone else. Very, very hard stuff. What is the grace and the peace? We’ve already articulated what it is. It is the grace for the goodness, for the prosperity, for the abundance of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the consequence, the consequential peace that is the result of that blessedness of the kingdom. This then at the disposal of the saints of the Church. Is it any wonder then that Calvin can say what he says? Is it any wonder that the Reformers said that the Church, the organized, visible Church, is the center of God’s activity with respect to the meanings of grace? You are you. You don’t get it. Now, this isn’t to make you fat and satisfied, sassy and self-righteous. Think more of yourself than you want to.

See, as we’ve already expounded the blessings that are conveyed in the briefing, there arises out of that a discipline for the Church herself. What are you in the Church to get? What are the blessings of your spiritual and religious life? Are we advantages of social contact? Are we deeply new to social bonding meetings? It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a blessing. Is it the contracts we make in some churches? It is the contracts. Any good insurance man knows that. How do you get started?

Are there advantages for the sake of this world? If I put in my time, I will be understood and recognized as a solid pillar of the community. They’ve got social, communal, civil values. Civic values. You see, because I feel that giving this kind of time to the religious side will reap tremendous benefits for me financially.

If I give God his due, he can bless me with all the things I want in this life. He will give me the treasures of this world.” But you see, the grace is about heavenly treasure. The peace is the peace that Pastor Paul understood, the peace which only Christ gives, a peace which is not like the peace of this world.

So that those who come to the Church, who are addressed as saints, who are described as those who are in Christ Jesus, their hearts must be set upon the content of the greeting which is being poured out from Heaven for them. They are being disciplined. so that their hearts would be fixed upon heavenly creation and eternal peace.

These things, now coming to them, have they not satisfied with anything less than that?” Would you rather be like the crowds, the publicans, who want their bellies filled? Or will you be satisfied with nothing less than the true bread? You want merely water that comes out of a well, or do you want living water, so magnificent that when you drink of it, you will never thirst again?

Do you want terrible hunger and all of its benefits and blessings, or do you want eternal There, the reading of Paul, as it focuses upon the Church, has blinded, for Christ, which even now he prepares for himself, described as saints, the union of Christ and Jesus. I’ve also spoken of the relationship with officers, structure, order, government, that Christ has established. This is standing in discipline, within itself, with respect to the eternal blessings that Christ is intent upon giving to all his people.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

March 24, 1991
Philippi and the Call to Rejoice

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 3, 1991.

About this sermon

Philippi’s own geography and history, and Lydia’s significant place in its founding congregation, set the stage for a letter written from prison under three distinct threats to the church. Paul’s exhortation to rejoice arrives not despite these afflictions but in the middle of them. The letter’s famous joy, from its first chapter, is never separated from real difficulty.

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Sermon transcript

Now, when they had gone through Last Cretia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden from the image of those who preached the word in Asia, after they had come to Nicaea, they were saved to go up into the kingdoms, which the spirit suffered in Narnia.

And they were passing by Nicaea, heading down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul of the Mount, and he stood a man of Macedonia and prayed to him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately he endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuring the gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore, losing control of us, we came with a straightforce to Santa Cristia, and the next day to Neapolis. And from thence to Filipa, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and it is an economy. And we were in that city abiding in circumvangence. And on the travel, we went out of the city by a riverside for a prayer that was to be made. And we sat down and prayed unto the women which resorted thither.

And a certain woman named Lydia saw a rich purple in the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God fervently. She hearkened to the Lord, But she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized at her household, she put aside saying, that he had judged me to be faithful to the Lord. Come into my house and buy this.” And she constrained herself. Then turning over to Paul a letter to the Philippians. The first chapter, beginning with the first verse.

Father and Trinity, the servants of Jesus Christ, through all the saints, in Christ Jesus, who God has purified, with the bishops and deacons, grace beyond you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests to join for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. even as it is neat for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart.

Inasmuch as, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye are, ye all, are partakers of my grace. For God is my director, so how gratefully I long after you all and for thousands of Jesus Christ. And if I pray that Your love may abound with more and more knowledge and known judgment, that You may approve things that are excellent, that we may be considered without offense to the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God, Father, may it well be that we discern in our sermons of a fellow scholar one in which, if we hear your word, we find ourselves embracing you precisely in the opposite direction. Lord, will you stop us in our tracks, turn us around, May we receive your word of light that is there. Though it may be painful for us, may we find in the end that your word is help, help to us, a cure, redemption itself. Bless us, therefore, our God. that we would prove obedience to the word and to our people.

For Jesus’ sake, amen. He made it like me, every once in a while, to get in the wrong room before the Apostle Paul. And I have such a longing to point, and in that longing I’m turning to Paul’s letter to the Bishops. We are turning our eyes toward the Apostle Ram in an intense, concentrated look at this letter to one of the most beloved congregations ministered unto by Paul. And this morning we want to set the stage. It’s twenty years after the crucifixion of Christ. We are at the year 51. A.D. 51.

And Paul the Apostle is making his way across the northern Aegean Sea. that sea which lies between Asia Minor to the east, present-day Turkey, and Macedonia and Archaea to the west, present-day Greece. Now Paul is making this journey, as we have heard from the Book of the Acts, because of a vision, a revelation that has come to him out of heaven from God.

He is venturing into new territory, into territory which will eventually be denominated as the continent of Europe. He is venturing into new territory now in response to that call which he received. The call which he received while at Troas, while in the midst of his second missionary journey. Now, he’s not traveling alone. He makes his way across the Aegean Sea. He’s accompanied by Silas.

Remember how Silas came to be attached to Paul. There was an argument between Paul and Barnabas, and Barnabas went with John Mark, and they set out for Cyprus. But then Paul put Silas with him, and they went without retracing their steps, steps that had originally been set down by Paul and Barnabas on the first mission in the journal. So Paul is accompanied by Silas, but as well by a young man from Lystra by the name of Timothy. And now, as they come to Trojan, they’re joined by still another, they’re joined by Luke, the physician, the one who eventually writes the Gospel of Luke and the book of the Acts.

Well, they made their way across the sea, and they come to the port city of Neapolis. And from there, they move north and west a bit, a journey of nine miles to the city of Philippi, as it is described by Luke in Acts, the leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And this city is an ancient city. It came by its name, however, Philippi, because of Philip, the barbarian, the Macedonian.

He had ambitions with respect to civilization and wasn’t quite there yet. He attacked this city in 358 B.C. He conquered it and named it after himself. His son was more famous than he. His name was Alexander. He was a content merely with Macedonia and the city of Philippi. The only thing that would satisfy him was the whole world.

But as to the city itself, it lay in a fertile plain. It promised great things, agriculturally and industrially. It’s the center of the plains. It was set well strategically, and it was easily fortified. Philip realized this. He built the city in hopes of his advanced southward into Greece’s province. But as much fame as came to the city in the days of Philip and his son Alexander, greater fame awaited the city.

Do you remember your Julius season? We all read it, didn’t we, when we were in high school? That was one of the things we were made to read, our experience, our introduction to Shakespeare. We read Julius Caesar. Now, you remember the importance of the city of Philippi for the story that is played out for you in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Philippi becomes the site for the demise of the Roman Republic. The year is 42 B.C. and gathered on the plains of Philippi are two armies, one led by Brutus, the absolute duté king, one led by Brutus and Cassius, and they have squared off against good old Mark Antony.

And Julius Caesar’s nephew, Octavius, we know that later little Octavius will become Augustus. Well, here they are squared off against each other. You know the outcome. The army of Brutus and Cassius is destroyed, and both of these men kill themselves. Octavius, of course, triumphs and thus becomes, in time, the Roman Caesar himself.

Now, in the years that follow, Rome honors the city of Philippi with many, many privileges, not the least of which is, even from passation, nice to live in Philippi and be a citizen of the town. So there are many advantages for the folks in Philistine. There are financial advantages, there are legal advantages, there are political advantages. Now, from having all of these advantages, they don’t really sell a great deal in terms of religious advantage. Note the situation when Paul arrives there, now, in 51, in A.D. 51.

From the account that is given us by Luke in the sixteenth chapter of Acts, we know that there is no synagogue. Interesting in itself, you can only speculate as to the reasons, but it seems as if there is not much Jewish strength in the city of Philippi. Maybe the Roman character is so strong, maybe the Pagan character is so strong, maybe Roman citizenship is so prized and honored that it doesn’t offer many advantages to the Jew. Whatever reason, there are not enough male adult Jews present in Philippi to get together a synagogue. That’s what the Jewish order described, ten adult Jewish males to get together a synagogue. But in those territories where there are no synagogues, it isn’t a gift. God does not have witness for Himself.

In this case, there is a place of prayer, interestingly, outside the city gates, out past the city, by or wet by the river, past by the gates of Philharmony. There is a place of prayer for them outside the city gates by the water of the river, and there the women go to pray, and that they do.

Paul and his company scout out this place. They follow women, meet with them there by the river, they talk to them, preach to them the gospel, and there one woman by the name of Lydia, Mr. Martin himself, then Lydia is converted. She believes the gospel. She is a businesswoman, a tradeswoman. As we are told by Luke, and also a God-hearer, complied Pyrrha in the Age of Irony. She was settled there. She had her house in Philadelphia.

In Acts, it’s a remarkable list. In short, space gives us many lessons with regard to the nature of conversion. And here, in the case of Lydia, we are told that the Lord opened her heart. Is there any question, in our minds, with respect to the telling of St. Augustine?

She didn’t open her heart, the Lord opened her heart. And she believed. And then they are told that she was baptized to not only her, but her entire household. And consequently, she opens her house, showing her magnanimity, her generosity, she opens her house to the Epistle of David. And they set up their headquarters at her place. There’s more to this figure of Lydia than even we’ve mentioned thus far.

For it’s as if, in crossing from Asia Minor into the continent of Europe, truly the apostolic band with the Apostle Paul has encountered a new world. New things are being opened up with respect to the blessings and the powers of God. You feel a force of it? Here’s a place where there are not enough Jewish men to get together a Jewish synagogue. There’s only a company of women who get together to pray regularly. And out of this company of women there is one, Lydia. And she is a believer, and around her now the church begins to take shape.

But not only that, note the position she has in her own name. Standing on her own two feet, she is recognized now as someone who is central to the construction, the building, the establishment of that church in Philippi. Why, it’s remarkable. It’s not just remarkable, it’s revolutionary. The older order prescribes the presence of the male, and now in the new order there is this figure of the female who is taking a leading role.

It’s not to say that she was a leader in the Church, or that she was ordained, or any such thing. It’s near to say that there is a new status that is conferred upon this woman, and that’s because of the gospel and the spread of the word through the world. It’s marvelous, it is liberating. In the old order, it could not have happened, even under Jewish administration. As good and as marvelous as that was, But now, under the administration of God, new claims are taking place, and it’s glorious.

Why, this woman is baptized in the old-fashioned social history, and it was the male who carried the sign of the covenant. Now the woman, in her own name, can carry the sign of the covenant. And her household. In the old covenant, it was only through the male missing, the blessing was passing from generation to generation upon households.

Now the woman has the status in the administration that has been realized in and through the work of Jesus Christ. Lydia then becomes herald for liberty and freedom. And as much a parable of liberty and freedom as she is, as much as a monument to liberty as she is, there is, as well, still, in Philippi, this monument to bondage and slavery. So, as the story of the past goes on, you begin to read this story, and as the story goes on, you’re told about a little witch The trace of a long pine palm, marking them as it goes.

Oh, these are messengers from the Most High God. They tell us a reign of salvation. That’s what Susan of Riches said, and she said it incessantly, marking them. finally falls out of love and turns on her, she being enslaved, not just to her masters, but to demons.

And that’s the demon. And the little girl is freed. Yes, freed from her masters, who have been caught up in conqueror. Freed as well from the tyranny of hell. You know what happens. Once the profiteers have lost their income through this girl, they turn on Paul and Silas. The city’s in uproar. They take them before the magistrates. There, the magistrates believe what is said about Paul and Silas. These people are teaching things contrary to Roman law, that there’d be no greater crime.

The Imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Philippi comes, prophetic, later imprisons. Paul performs well in affliction, as he will perform well in affliction when he writes to the Philippians later, from the Roman jail. So we have Paul and Silas praying while in prison.

We have them singing hymns, we are told, singing songs at midnight. That has a nice poetic ring to it. I’ll have to work that into a poem someday. Tremendous upheaval on the earth is there, as if the earth were revolted. The jail doors fly open. Prisoners’ chains fall off. The figure of the jailer’s desk folds and proves for us that Roman citizenship isn’t always cracked up to be. Not only does it bring wonderful benefits, but there are severe reprisals. Lose a prisoner and you forfeit your own life. So the jailer is about to end his life with false peace. Stage it in. So the Philippian jailer and his household are led to the war.

And the jailer, overcome, takes Paul, Silas, and treats their wounds and cares for them through the night. In the morning, there’s something of a reversal. It’s discovered that Paul and Silas are Roman citizens. They’ve been beaten and put in jail without being forced to move on. So the magistrates are all upset. They want to hurry them out of town. And that’s, in fact, what they do.

The Apostolic Band now makes its way to Thessalonica, in the south. And while they’re there at Thessalonica, it’s not as if Philippi is being forgotten, for the Christians in Philippi are now sending to the Apostolic Band a number of gifts for their support and encouragement.

And Paul remembers these gifts. He speaks of them, in fact, at the end of his letter to the Philippians, the fourth chapter, the sixteenth verse. You may want to check his remarks at that point. So the gifts that have been coming to Paul are interrupted. Now it’s a number of years later, maybe five, five or six, We’re at the year 56 or 57 A.D. And Paul now is revisiting Philippi during his third visionary journey. He’s on his way to Corinth in the south, okay?

This journey is for the purpose of making a collection for the four saints who are suffering in Jerusalem. You have Paul’s moving record. of the offerings that are given by the Macedonian churches, including the Church at Philippi, in 2 Corinthians 8, verses 1 through 5.

What a moving statement from the Apostle. Just read through those verses concerning the way in which the Macedonian churches and the Church at Philippi responded to the call for help from Christian saints in Jerusalem. They didn’t have much, they were stricken, they were living in a state of oppression, but yet they begged the Apostle for the right of giving, giving to these saints who were suffering. And not only that, not only do they give of their substance, the Apostle tells us they gave themselves. These churches and the Church of Philippi—extraordinary, indeed.

The bond of love then established between the Church of Philippi and the Apostle, and we can understand why. But now, as you well know, the end of Paul’s third missionary journey is not a happy end. that Paul, when he takes the offering back to Jerusalem, is arrested. And then, because there are plots on his life in Jerusalem, he is whipped away to Caesarea, a seaport town there on the Mediterranean, and there he stays for two years, bound, before he is carted off to Rome where he spends two years, two more years, bound. It’s in this circumstance We find Paul, the year AD 61, in a Roman jail in the city of Rome, and we learn that there the Philippian church, so close to him, is greatly concerned about his welfare.

So even though they don’t have much, they send him a gift. They send it through a very fine and faithful servant of their church, a man by the name of Aphrodite. So he comes to Rome bearing this gift from the Philippians, but either in truth or once he arrives in Rome, he is stricken ill, so ill is he that Paul thinks that he will die.

The Lord spares his life. Meanwhile, the Philippians have found out about Epaphroditus’ telling. There is concern for him as they are for the apostles. But instead of keeping Epaphroditus there with him, he sends Epaphroditus back to Philippi with the letter that we have now in our binders. This letter, in order to convince the Philippians that he is well, as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Now, in this letter, as you read through it, and I would encourage you to read it at once, too. It’s obvious that Paul is concerned with more than just telling the Philippians that he’s all right and though he’s in jail. He is concerned about certain threats that he’s found out about through Epaphroditus, and these threats are threefold.

One has to do with the nature of affliction. Already the Philippian Church has been living through possibly ten years of persecution and distress. Ten years. Do you know what Paul says at the end of the first chapter of Philippians? For you, it has been granted for Christ to not only believe in you, but also to stop believing.

There are the consequences, then, of a long affliction and oppression. And Paul is concerned to speak to these people who he loves with regard to their endurance, their perseverance. There’s a second concern. It comes out at the end of the third chapter. He’s talking about those who are upsetting the faith of the Church in Philippi. He says in verse 18, “…for many walk, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, who have ended its destruction, and have guarded their epithets, and whose glory is in their shame, who have set their minds on earthly things.” As Paul says next, in the twentieth verse, our citizenship is indivisible.

That cuts in a number of ways. Some would like both in their Roman citizenship, but Paul is setting before these Philippian Christians a citizenship that transcends even that citizenship. and they are to glory in that. But over against that heavenly citizenship as a heart that is focused upon it is this attitude of mind that is concentrated, it seems, exclusively upon earthly things. And it comes out in a number of ways, especially as Paul takes to task those who are dabbling in remnants of Judaism and the slavery that that entails and means. Beware of dogs, he says, beware of evil workers, beware of the false circumcision, for we are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God and in the glory of Christ Jesus and with no confidence in the flesh.

If anyone has a reason to boast in the flesh, I do. Look at me. I was born of the tribe of Benjamin, I’m a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Jew of the Jews, I was a Pharisee before the law of claimant, I was a persecutor of the Church. But I count all that as refuge, as loss to the excellency of knowing Jesus Christ. And to know Jesus Christ, then, is to set one’s affections upon that heavenly realm where our citizenship is. Temptation is to cave in during this persecution because you’re liable to begin to doubt yourself, to cave in to the ambitious heights, to the liberalistic and litigious talents that have overtaken the Church in so far.

There’s a third thing, and that’s spoken of in the second verse of 4th chapter. In the midst of the persecution, in the midst of the strain, some in the Church are at each other’s throats. Paul has much to say about vain rivalries, about envy and jealousy, about a spirit that is unwilling to serve. He is anxious to communicate, to read for him something about his own inner strength, and has proven so with him in his sonnets in Rome while he lay.

He will speak repeatedly in this epistle about His joy and the joy that is to characterize the life of these saints in this church. Did you know that the words of rejoice and the noun joy are used fourteen times in this epistle? It is called the epistle of joy.

Now, this message is coming forth for one who is in bondage, he’s in chains, he’s in prison. If anyone knows what affliction is, the Apostle knows what affliction is, and in the midst of that affliction, he is rejoicing and calling these Philippians to rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Philippians 4.

But you must not think. that even though this is the joy of this world, and filled with a message about rejoicing and joy, that the Apostle has in mind here some sort of mindless rapture, some sort of contentless effervescence. This is a contentful rejoicing and joy that the apostle has in mind. It is an intelligent joy. It is reflective and meditating.

Why, it’s even reasonable from a Christian point of view. And therefore, not only is this epistle, the joy epistle, this is the intellect, believe it or not, this is the intellect epistle. Now, why do I say that? Because, you see, words that are translated, think, or have this bond, appear in the epistle ten times more than any other epistle that falls off. Right.

Along with the joy comes this mental activity. this activity of the intellect, in which these people are then encouraged to be intellectually alive in their joy, their joy full of contentment, full of reasons that in the kingdom of heaven make abundant sense, even though they appear to be foolish and stupid. The joy and the mind, the joy and the intellect are brought together in the second chapter. Recall the second verse of that second chapter says, make my joy complete. Then verse 5, by having this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

He who is in the form of God has not known that he is in quality with God, a filthy brat, that he has emptied himself. He took upon himself the form of a servant. In the midst of the affliction and all the rumblings that may well be taking place in Philippi, now comes this message, don’t rumble third. Don’t try to lord it over others, be a servant to others.

Impeach Christ, split Christ, assert Himself, be in you, demonstrate His Lordship. Amen. Such joy as the Apostle has in chains, in law, enabled him to sin. In constant anticipation of meeting the Savior, he says, for me to live is Christ, and to die is death.

Don’t think of this original epistle as something distant, or while you are in the process of speaking to people in another country. This epistle is written to you. And you are drawn within the circumference of it, and addressed by the Spirit of God, who continues to speak to us through the words of His Apostle, God’s servant, the Holy Spirit.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

March 3, 1991