Philippians - Lesson 1

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Bible Study 4: A THEMATIC STUDY OF PHILIPPIANS

Series: THE JOYFUL CHRISTIAN MIND (PART 1 OF 4)

Lesson 01: Philippians 1.1-30 THE JOYFUL MIND OVERCOMES THE PROBLEM OF CIRCUMSTANCES

There are three phrases I want to point out in chapter one.

In verse 5 he talks about THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL.

Philippians 1:5 (KJV) “For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
In verse 12 he talks about THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL.

Philippians 1:12 (KJV) “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel”
In verse 27 he talks about THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL.

Philippians 1:27 (KJV) “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel”

The little book of Philippians is the book of joy. I think one of the first things you will notice as you read through the pages of this small book in your Bible is the emphasis on joy. Over and over again you will find a little bell ringing and it is the little joy bell. Some 18 times either the word, “joy” or the word “rejoice,” is used. Therefore, the book of Philippians is God's book of Christian joy. It is the joy book; it is the happiness book in the Bible.

As the years have gone by and as I have listened to many preach and teach as well as personally studied and meditated in the Scriptures there is something which has been very helpful to me in my study of Philippians. I have drawn a great deal from various teachings on this subject from many places so what I'm going to share with you will not be original thoughts on my part. Early on in my ministry I made up my mind that I would be original in my preparation and presentation or nothing. I was not going to use something that came from someone else. However, it wasn’t very long before I found out that I was certainly not original because I could not think of anything that had not been said by someone at sometime and I certainly was nothing special as far as that goes.

So far as originality goes in preaching or teaching there is very little original going on in the world. Therefore, when you come up with something and may think you are the first one who ever thought it, wrote it, or said it, if you will just keep on going and keep on studying you will find that someone has probably already found out what you just found out long before you did. The Word of God has been preached and taught for thousands of years by thousands or millions of preachers and teachers. I have settled on the fact that any truth God gives to any of His children, whether they are preachers or whether they are Bible teachers, is intended for the body of Christ and it is to be shared. If God has given me any truth, regardless of the resource, it is intended for the benefit and the edification of the body of Christ. I want you to feel free to take anything I ever say, if there is a blessing in it, and share it with other people. All of God's servants give us things that are helpful to us. The insights into the book of Philippians that I have learned from others have been extremely helpful to me and I want them to be helpful to you as well so I intend to pass them along as well and as clearly as possible.

This little book of Philippians doesn’t only talk about joy but there is something else that it also deals with. Many, many times in this little book you will find some reference made to the mind. For instance the word, “mind,” occurs several times. You find statements like this: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” On the other hand, a statement like this: "Think on these things.” When you go through this four-chapter book and just look at the words that have to do with the mind or your thought life or something that has to do with thinking are obvious. For example, there are words like “remembrance” or “understanding” and these kinds of words. You will find that there are over 30 words that are used in this book that have to do with the human mind. Therefore, when you put these two themes together, the theme of joy and then the theme of the mind, you find God's book of the joyful Christian mind. Here you learn from God's Word how to have a joyful, Christian mind.

This is what some people have called God's book of psychology. When God created man, He created man in three ways. Man is a trinity. We have a physical nature - that's our body. We have a spiritual nature - that's our spirit. We also have a psychological nature - that's our soul. Man is a trinity. We are made in the image of God; therefore we have a physical nature, a spiritual nature, and an emotional nature.

The soul is the center of our emotional nature. The word, “psychology,” means the study of the soul. It is the study of that area of our lives where our intellect and our emotions and will reside. Therefore, when you study this book you are really studying psychology.

I'm certainly not a psychologist, I'm a preacher. I'm not a counselor. Even though I have done a lot of counseling and do still do some counseling from time to time, God has not called or gifted me to counsel. I do try to counsel in the sense that I try to share the Word of God with other people, and help people as much as I can, but I'm not a counselor as such.

There are two basic fields of psychology. There's the secular field and the Christian field. Secular psychology does discover some truth. It is possible for unsaved people to discover truth. Even a blind hog will uncover an acorn every now and then. Therefore, in the field of secular psychology they have discovered truth. Nevertheless, strictly secular psychology that is apart from the Word of God, apart from the Lord, is fraught with danger. It is a field that has many landmines in it.

I have personally consulted with the secular and the Christian psychologist in times past. I believe that a Christian must look in the direction of Christian psychology. That is the study of the soul and the emotional life of man that is undergirded by the teachings of God's Word. I want to thank God for Christian psychologists. I thank God for those who understand the role that the Lord plays in any healing and help that comes to the emotional nature. I believe that ultimately all psychology, if it is correct psychology, will lead people to the foot of the cross. It will show people that the ultimate source of all happiness, the ultimate source of all well-being has to come from the Lord.

When a person has a problem they have a problem in one of three areas or a combination of these areas. Sometimes people have a problem in the area of their physical life. Therefore, they seek a physical solution. Sometimes the problem is spiritual in nature. They seek a spiritual solution. Sometimes it is psychological in nature. They seek a psychological solution. Sometimes the problem is a combination of one or more of these areas so there has to be a combination involved.

Having said all of that I want us to just to look at this first Chapter of the Book of Philippians which sets forth how to have a joyful Christian mind and I would like to point out how we can deal with the problems of life and the things that rob us of our joy from a biblical, Christian perspective.

Keep in mind I'm making some broad strokes because I am just doing an overview study of the Book of Philippians. I'm not going into detail. Keep in mind I'm not doing it as a psychologist, I'm doing it as a preacher or a teacher. Most of the psychology or the counseling I do is preventative in nature. If most people would do what is preached on Sunday, they would be a whole lot better off, and it would solve a lot of problems and save them a lot of misery along the way. The true Pastor’s counseling is preventative. The Pastor does his best to try and catch things upfront.

As we go through this book at a “break-neck” pace, I want to point out that in each chapter there is a thief which would rob us of our joyful Christian mind. Paul deals with these in a rather interesting way.

For instance, in chapter one he deals with the thief of circumstances. Circumstances can rob us of our joy. When our circumstances are doing pretty good then we are fairly happy. If our job is pleasant, if the bills are being paid, if the washing machine is running, then most of us are pretty happy. However, when circumstances go sour, many times we go to pieces. Paul deals with circumstances in chapter one.

In chapter two he deals with the thief of people. Sometimes people can rob us of our joy. On the other hand, people can be a source of great joy. Just think of the joy and happiness friends and family can bring in our lives. Nevertheless, people can also rob us of our joy. Maybe there is that girl that stole your boyfriend or that boy that stole your girlfriend; every time you see her or him you lose your sanctification. That guy we have to work around on the job - every time we see him first thing in the morning it robs us of our joy. Maybe there is that guy kept you from getting a job or a raise or a promotion and every time you see them it is a reminder of what could have been. People can cause us to lose our joy.

When we come to the third chapter we'll deal with things and how things can rob us of our joy. Sometimes the things we have or the things we do not have can rob us of our joy. Sometimes people accumulate a lot of things and these very things are the things that steal the joy out of their hearts. Therefore, the things we have or the things we don't have can rob us of our joy.

Then when we come to the fourth chapter we find the fourth thief which is the thief of worry. Worry can rob us of our joy. Now, most Christian claim they don't worry; they just get concerned. The word, “worry,” really means to pull apart. When we worry it means that we have wrong thinking concerning circumstances and people and things. Therefore, God shows us in these simple little verses how to overcome the thieves that rob us of our joy.

The Lord Jesus said in John 10:10, "the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly."

Let's just dig in a look at chapter one and deal with this old thief of circumstances. As we study this together how do we HAVE THE MIND TO OVERCOME DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES that would rob us of our joy in Jesus?

We have to keep in mind that Paul's circumstances weren't the very best when he wrote this simple little letter. A lot of people have the idea when they read this book and Paul says to “rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice,” that Paul was doing great and the circumstances were great. Some say "It was alright for Paul to do that, he was probably over there in some Grecian Hotel, swinging in a hammock, drinking fruit juice with a pretty girl fanning him with a palm leaf. It was easy for him to talk about joy. I've got bills to pay, deadlines to meet, traffic to fight, problems at home, and mouths to feed."

When Paul wrote this little happy book of Philippians he was incarcerated in a Roman prison. That idiot Nero was on the throne and Paul didn't know if he would lose his neck to that depraved Roman emperor the very next day. When Paul wrote this book, even the Christian community in Rome, many of the people there were being very critical of him. He was in difficult, dark circumstances and yet as you read the book you will hear the little joy bell ringing. Rejoice! Joy! All through the book. How are you going to have that kind of joy?

When we look at this chapter and we read the 30 verses of the chapter we will find that Paul repeats two subjects very frequently. As you read it you will find that he mentions Jesus over and over and over again. Eighteen times in this chapter he makes reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing you will notice is that he makes frequent reference to the gospel. Six times in this chapter he makes reference to the gospel. It's obvious what's Paul's mind is on in chapter one. His mind is on Jesus and the gospel.

Paul is looking at his circumstances as an opportunity for Jesus to be exalted and for the gospel to be extended. When that's the focus of your life then you have a single mind. Paul is talking about a mind that is focused. He has single mind. It doesn't matter to Paul what happens. His ultimate purpose in it all is that Jesus will be exalted and the gospel will be extended.

Keep in mind that in chapter one we are dealing with how to HAVE THE MIND TO OVERCOME DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. We are dealing with the single mind that focuses in on the Lord Jesus in your circumstances and extending the gospel.

This is a single-minded man, in prison, jailed to a Roman soldier and yet in the midst of those kinds of circumstances that normally would rob a believer of his joy, Paul is rejoicing.

THE SINGLE MIND SEEKS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL.

Philippians 1:5 (KJV) “For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”

What does that word, fellowship, mean? Most of the time when we talk about fellowship the first thing that comes to our mind is some kind of meal, or refreshments, or special gathering in the “fellowship hall” at the church. We think about a gathering that will be taking place after a worship service or some special event. Sometimes when people hear the word fellowship, they think about ice cream, or a cook-out for a group or Sunday School Class. It can include that, but it means more than that. “Fellowship” is the word, “koinanea,” which means to have in common, to share something with others. “Your fellowship in the gospel…” – means here having in common with others the gospel.

IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE IN THE FELLOWSHIP

Often we refer to our church as “a fellowship.” You and I as believers, as born-again children of God, have some things in common. We share the same Word of God, the same Holy Spirit, the same faith, the same Lord, and we are going to the same heaven. We have a fellowship which Jesus Christ was brought about because of the new birth experience. When you are born again and I am born again that means you are God's child and I am God's child and that means we are brothers and sisters in Jesus. We are in the fellowship. It is great to be in the fellowship and to share the fellowship of the gospel.

That's why we need a local church. Circumstances aren't going to always be favorable. We are going to go through some difficult times and have some hard times along the way. We need a fellowship. We need some believers to belong to. There is nothing we are going through in our life right now but what there is somebody in the fellowship of the Church who has already been there and who has dug a well of refreshment and encouragement that we can draw from in our difficult circumstances right this very moment.

Paul says in verse 3, “^II thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Paul was saying, “I have you on my mind.” Paul says in verse 4, “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.” Paul was saying, “I have you in my prayers.” Paul says in verse 7, “Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart…” Paul was saying, “I have you on my heart.”

In the Old Testament the high priest would go in before the Lord and he had a breastplate on. On his shoulders he had two beautiful stones. On that was engraved the names of the tribes of Israel. On that breastplate he had twelve stones and on each stone there was engraved one of the tribes of the Children of Israel. It meant that when he went into the presence of God he had the people on his shoulders and he had the people on his heart.

Isn't it wonderful to know that we have a High Priest in heaven and we are on his shoulders? We are secure in the Lord and we are in his heart. We ought have one another in our hearts. Is there anybody in the fellowship we are praying for? Do we know of anybody who has a problem - a need - and we have them in our mind? Paul said “I have you in my mind.”

Sometimes we get people get on our nerves and that gives us the jitters. Sometimes we get people on our neck and that gives us hypertension. Sometimes we even get people on our stomach and that gives us ulcers. However, where we need to get people is in our hearts. Paul said “I have you in my heart,”

IT IS WONDERFUL TO BE SHARING THE FELLOWSHIP.

Then he says “I have you in my prayers.” In verse 9 Paul said, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.” One of the most precious and meaningful and helpful things we can do for other believers in the fellowship is to pray for them. We need to pray for every area of ministry of the gospel we can think of every morning in our private devotional time. We are in a fellowship; we need to pray for one another. We have something in common.

In verse 6 Paul said, "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." He's not only talking about the fellowship in communion, he is talking about the fellowship we share in completion. When God saves us, He has already predestined that ultimately we will be just exactly like the Lord Jesus Christ. That purpose is going to be accomplished. No circumstance we are experiencing as a believer can keep God from ultimately making us like His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the very complexity, and circumstances that are a problem to us, God is using them to bring about His perfect plan and to complete us until the day of Jesus Christ. I don't know how he's going to do it, but I know He's working on us right now. He's working on me right now.

I heard about a sculptor one day who had a big hunk of marble. He was chipping away and marble flying everywhere. Somebody came up to him and said, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm making a statute of a horse." The guy looked at that marble and said, "I don't see a horse in there, how are you going to get a horse out of that marble." He said, "O, it's easy, I just chip away everything that doesn't look like a horse."

God is going to make us just like Jesus. We don't look like much like Jesus right now. I don't know why God is doing what he's doing. He's chipping away and it sure is painful; it sure is hurting me. Nevertheless, he's using these difficult circumstances of our lives to chip away from us everything that is not like Jesus Christ. Paul says, “I'm confident of this one thing He who hath begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” It is wonderful to be in the fellowship. It is wonderful to be sharing the fellowship.

THE SINGLE MIND SEEKS THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL.

Philippians 1:12 (KJV) “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel”

THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL MEANS EXTENDING THE GOSPEL

I love the King James Version of the Bible and that is what I was raised using. There are other good translations of the Scriptures and sometimes I refer to them but I always use the (KJV) when I preach and teach. However, the translators of the (KJV) do not always express everything exactly as the Hebrew and Greek words were used. When I come to a place like that I have to point out where I have a differing perspective based of the study of Scholars who I trust in the interpretation of the languages. This verse happens to be one of those places. Paul would never have said “which happened” as the (KJV) puts it. You will notice that those two words, “which happened,” are in italics. The translators added that in order to make the language flow and make it more understandable but they missed it. Paul would have never have said "things just happened to me." Things don't just happen to a Christian. The circumstances of our life are not happenstance, they are providence. God is at work in our life. Do you think for a moment that the eternal God in glory looked down on our life today in our home or work place or wherever we are today and saw something happen to us and said, "My gracious alive, I never thought that would happen." Do you think that's how God is looking on our life? Nothing that comes into our life today or any day and catches God by surprise. God knows all about it. Keep in mind Paul is in jail. He had a Roman soldier chained to him.

I got to thinking about that and could not help but chuckle a bit. I thought, “Lord, if that had been me, and if I was the one writing this letter and I was chained to a Roman soldier, I would write four paragraphs telling people how long the chain was, how tight the clasp was on my hand, and how hot and scary it was.” However, that's not the way Paul was, he had a single mind. He's understood God's psychology. He had a joyful Christian mind. Paul said in essence, “I want you to know that the things unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.” He's saying that this very imprisonment has given me an opportunity to get the gospel in places where it could have never ordinarily gone.

That word “furtherance” could be translated the pioneer advance. It was a specialized word in the Greek language that made reference to someone who would go ahead of an approaching army and blazed the trail and prepared a road. When they came to a river they would build a bridge. It was kind of like the Navy Sea Bees. These military engineers go ahead of the armies and build the air strips and roads and prepare for the advancing army and help get the army into places that they ordinarily couldn't get to because they had already gone ahead. That's what Paul is saying. "I'm a spiritual pioneer."

Paul took everything that happened to him as an opportunity to exalt Jesus and extend the Gospel. So here he was in jail, tied to this Roman soldier and they would change every few hours. They had 24 hour shifts and about every eight hours they would change guards. During all of this there was Paul writing these letters, using the Sword of the Spirit. Occasionally Paul would just lift up the Sword of the Spirit and stab that old Soldier in the heart and win him to Jesus. They would have another Soldier chained to him and next thing you know Paul take the Sword of the Spirit and stab him in the heart and would win that one to Jesus. The next thing you know there's another soldier and Paul would stick the Sword of the Spirit in him and win him to Jesus.

Look at what he says in verse 13, “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;”The word “bonds” means chains. The word, “palace” is a reference to the elite army of the Emperor of Rome.

Look at the 4th chapter and verse 22, "All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household." He got some people saved who were working next to Caesar. I don't know what your circumstances are but whatever they are it is always an opportunity to extend the Gospel and to win some souls.

If we go to a hospital and God puts us in a room with somebody who is lost, we need to stab them in the heart with the Sword of the Spirit and try to win them to Jesus! When that nurse comes into our room, we need to find out if she or he is saved. If he or she is not, we need to stab them in the heart with the Sword of the Spirit and try to win them to Jesus! If we have a flat tire and somebody stops and helps us fix our flat tire and we get to witness to them and tell them about Jesus. Instead of sitting on the side of the road weeping about our flat tire, use it as an opportunity to win somebody to Jesus. That's how to have a single mind. Anything that happens to us we should just ask the Lord how that opportunity is to be used to extend the Gospel to get some people saved.

THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL MEANS EXALTING JESUS

Look at verse 20,"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." Paul says either way it goes I want Jesus to get the honor and glory, to be magnified.

There are two ways to magnify something. Either with a microscope or with a telescope. A microscope takes something little and makes it large. A telescope takes something far off and brings it near. That is exactly what you and I are to do in our lives. We are to magnify Jesus. I do not mean to imply that Jesus is little, but to this old world that does not have Him in its sites, He is little. However, a Christian takes Jesus that this old world thinks is little and they make Him large. Jesus is not far away. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together there am I in your midst." He is right where we are sitting right now! He's not far away but to this old world they think Jesus is far off. Nevertheless, a believer takes Jesus they think to be so far off and brings Him near.

In verse 21Paul says, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." That is Paul's philosophy of life. For Paul it is Jesus, Jesus, and more Jesus. Jesus Christ is the total and center of his life and everything else about his life is side-line. That is how you live life when you have a joyful Christian mind and you are single minded and you are seeking the furtherance of the Gospel. The single mind shares the fellowship in the Gospel. The single mind seeks the furtherance of the Gospel.”

THE SINGLE MIND SEEKS THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL.

Paul says in verse 27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”

When he said "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." The word “conversation,” there really means your heavenly citizenship. In those days Philippi, the city to which Paul was writing, was a Roman colony. They would take retired soldiers from the Roman army and they would move them out into these colonies. That colony was governed by the laws of Rome. They dressed like Romans. They were guided by the laws of Rome and they sought to be a miniature Rome. Therefore, Paul says “only let your behavior as citizens.” He's talking about - according to the Word of God when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ we have a change of address. We no longer are just a citizen down here; we are now a citizen up there. We have a new home and a new address because our citizenship is in heaven. That's why Paul will say later on "our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul is saying to “let your behavior as a citizen be as it becomes of the Gospel of Christ.” The word “becometh,” is an old word we don't use as much now.

Sometimes a lady may come in wearing with a pretty dress and someone might say, "Oh, Matilda, that dress just becomes you." They are saying that the dress enhances her beauty. “To become something” means to enhance the beauty of. Paul is saying "I want your behavior down on this earth to be so much like heaven that you will just make the Gospel of Jesus Christ even more beautiful.”

How does that tie in with striving for the faith of the Gospel? Think about a battle or a fight. There are a lot of Christians like to do that. There is a time when believers have to fight. There are times when we have to earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered unto the saints. However, the most victorious way to stand for the faith of the Gospel is to so demonstrate by the caliber of our life that Jesus Christ can change and transform a life that others will be attracted to the Gospel by our life.

If we really want a single mind and this kind of joy in our life we have to start where Paul starts in verse 2. "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Notice the order of the words in this sentence. It is “grace” and then “peace.” A lot of people want peace but we don't get “peace” until first of all we experience “grace.” A lot of people want to be happy but we cannot be “happy” until first of all you are “holy.” We can't be “holy” until we have experienced the “grace” of God.

Paul said in Ephesians 2:8, "for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." Paul said in Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." God has cornered the market on “grace” and “peace.” That's the only place you can get it - GOD. In 1^st Peter 5:10 He's called “the God of all grace.” In this very book of Philippians He is called “the God of peace.”

We cannot go down to the hardware store and say I want two buckets of grace and a pint of peace. We cannot go to the clothing store and say I want three yards of grace and two yards of peace. God has cornered the market on both commodities and if we want grace, if we want to be saved we have to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we want peace we have to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you.

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ALWAYS REMEMBER!

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