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.
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.