Paul's Epistles – Philippians - Part 2:
Thanksgiving and Prayer
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
SERMON INTRODUCTION
Paul’s epistle (letter) to the Philippians
is very important to the Gentiles. It was written to the first church founded
in Europe (Acts 16:9-40).
Though not generally considered one of the
most remarkable or deepest books of the bible, it is considered one of the
sweetest of Paul’s writings.
It is more in the nature of a love letter
to the Philippians, who had excelled all others in devoted attachment to Paul.
Throughout this letter we get a glimpse into the apostle’s heart.
THE CHURCH
The Philippian church was noted for its
generosity. It had repeatedly ministered to Paul (6:15 & 16).
Hearing Paul was imprisoned in Rome they
sent help again by the hands of Epaphroditus (6:10 & 18), who,
however, was struck down on his arrival by an almost fatal illness. Somehow
news of this illness had reached Philippi, to their dismay, and on his
recovery, Epaphroditus was anxious to reassure them in person (11:25-28),
so Paul write this letter for him to take.
So this letter was written by Paul while
in prison in Rome, and given to Epaphroditus to be taken back to the church in
Philippi.
TODAY’S SERMON
Today we look at Paul’s Thanksgiving (or
being grateful) and his prayer for the church in Phillipi.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE Philippians 1:3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all
my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because
of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being
confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have
you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and
confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God
can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and
blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Paul opened his letter with a
salutation to all, reminding the church they were not 2 factions, there was no
“real” division, only a perceived one, created through sin.
The overall
message of this epistle to the church is;
“Christian unity to be maintained at all
costs”.
I. I THANK
GOD ECVERYTIME I REMEMBER YOU
a. In all my
prayers for ALL of you
i. I always pray with joy
ii. Because of your partnership in the Gospel from Day
1 until now
iii. And I am confident in this;
b. He who began a
good work in you will carry it on to completion
i. Until the Day of Christ Jesus
c. Why was this
statement important?
i. Division in the church over false doctrine of “instant perfection” as
opposed to the true doctrine of Gradual Work of Holy Spirit.
1. This false doctrine is dangerous (as all false
doctrines)
2. If you teach people are instantly perfect when they
come to the Lord, and they are not, this proves 1 of two things to new
converts.
a. The whole “God-thing” is not true
b. I am not worthy enough for God so why try
ii. Dissension in unity of Body between two women
1. Paul writes, when there is no unity in the Body,
God cannot use you.
II. YOU ARE
IN MY HEART
a. It is right for
me to feel this way about ALL of you
i. Again and again Paul uses the term “ALL of you”, to imply there is no
true division in the body, only dissension, pride or arrogance that needs to be
dealt with.
ii. In the case of False Doctrine, correction can be
made through scripture
iii. In the case where people are the problem,
correction must be made on an individual level
1. i.e. examining yourself
2. casting down imaginations exalting against Christ
as the Head
a. pride
b. arrogance
c. selfishness
d. self-centeredness
e. hate
f. Unforgiveness
g. Envy
h. Etc..
b. Whether in
chains, defending or confirming the Gospel
i. ALL of you share in God’s grace with me
1. Paul thanking the church for their financial
support, and their continual generosity
2. Paul states that those who give to the church get
to share in what the church accomplishes, even if they are not the ones
preaching.
3. i.e. our Truthdigest.org
website 20,000+ visitors
4. our SermonCentral.com
website – 398,000+ views
5. our church
website – thousands of visitors
6. our facebook
page – followers and shares
7. our twitter
– followers and shares
8. Google+ followers and shares
9. And every Sunday
service
10. Every Bible
Study
11. Every Seminary
student who graduates
a. This little church has effected about half a
million people DIRECTLY!
b. Whose lives have they touched??
c. God knows how I
long for ALL of you
i. With the affection of Christ Jesus
ii. LIT. God is my record how
greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
1. What was Christ Jesus’ affection?
a. A deep longing INSIDE
b. The way Christ longs for people to have salvation
c. What would stop Jesus? Nothing
d. What would stop Paul? Nothing as well
III. THIS IS
MY PRAYER
a. That your love
may abound more and more in
i. Knowledge
1. Meaning they educate themselves on what love IS
a. I Corinthians 13
ii. And depth of insight
1. Come to a full understanding of the knowledge so
they could apply it
2. Therefore squashing dissensions
3. Preventing division
4. Ending senseless feuds
5. How? Because these things come about because people
are not ACTING in love
6. Paul’s hope was they would educate themselves on
what love is, then come to an understanding so that they would treat each other
the way they were supposed to.
7. Remember, Paul’s overall message to the Philippian
church is “Christian unity to be maintained at all costs”.
iii. So Paul prays their love would abound more and more
in knowledge and depth of insight…
b. So that you may
be able to discern what is best
i. And therefore be pure and blameless for the Day of Christ
ii. What is best? UNITY in the Body of Christ
iii. What is best? Without unity God cannot use us
c. Filled with the
fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
i. To the glory and praise of God
ii. This discernment comes from the Holy Spirit, it is
a fruit of Righteousness
iii. Not our righteousness, but the righteousness of
Christ when we submit to Him and the will of God.
CONCLUSION – thanksgiving and prayer for this thanksgiving
Paul brings the sense of unity in the church by
addressing them as “ALL” repeatedly.
He addresses the error of false doctrine of instant
perfection by stating he is confident that Christ who BEGAN and work would continue
it until PERFECTION on the Day of Christ.
And with issues between congregation members not
getting along, he brings into the equation, a prayer for true knowledge of
love, and the depth of insight on how to apply that knowledge to our lives to
keep peace and unity among the Body of Christ at all costs, so we can be used
by God for the Kingdom.
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