Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Philippians

Philippians 1:1-11 06/01/03

Introduction
Martha E. Garrett, in the Christian Reader, tells the following story.  ‘Carol, a gracious clerk in our local Christian bookstore, often refers to a church as "the body." One week, many devoted members of a local "body" had come to the bookstore to buy birthday gifts for their pastor. On Saturday, that pastor, John, stopped at the store. He told Carol about the surprise party his congregation had given him the night before. Carol's heart was touched. Spontaneously, she leaned forward and exclaimed, "Oh, John, I just love your 'body'!" The customers in the store burst into laughter, leaving a startled look on John's face--
and Carol's, too.’

Look around you…what do you see?

We are the body of Christ.
        We are the body of Christ.
                We are the Body of Christ.

But we really don’t talk about it much do we? At least not in those words. Yet, rightly recognizing a local group of believers as the Body of Christ is imperative to the life of that group of believers. And rightly recognizing those in that body of Christ is equally as important, as Paul reminds us in his letter to the body of Christ meeting in Philippi.

Background
The first two verses of Philippians set the tone for the whole letter. This is a letter from a friend to his beloved friends. Paul and the body of Christ, the people fellowshipping at Philippi were close and Paul had wonderful memories of his time there.

As we will see, when Paul thought of the body of Christ in Philippi, it brought him great joy. In fact, the Book of Philippians stresses the joy of the Christian life.

Trans: What does it mean exactly, to rightly recognize the body of Christ? In other words, what do you see when you look around this room. Let’s see what Paul has to say.

Phil. 1:1 ‘The Body and Jesus Christ’
Servants? The Greek here is actually the word for slave. Paul and Timothy, slaves? Paul was an Apostle and Timothy an Elder and Paul’s right hand man. Yet, they greeted their friends in Philippi as slaves. Paul focus was on service rather than position.

Then Paul addresses three groups at the church in Philippi.

The Saints: Saint means ‘holy one’ or ‘set apart one’. Biblically a saint is anyone God has called to himself and set apart for his service. Let me make this simple…all Christians are saints.

Next Paul addresses the overseers.

The Overseers: Perhaps your version says bishop or elders. They are all correct as these three terms are used interchangeably in Scripture. These are the church leaders who hold authority given to them by God for the oversight of the work of the ministry in that local Body of Christ.

Finally Paul addresses the deacons.

The Deacons: While I know there is disagreement among scholars, as to whom Paul was addressing, I hold strongly that he is not addressing an office in the church. Just as the saints is not an office in the church, Paul is greeting all those in that local body  who have some recognized position of service. You see the Greek word is diaconia. Which is most often translated in scripture as servant. Paul, Peter, Lydia and Phoebe (women) were all called ‘deacons’ or better ‘servants’, because they all held recognized positions of service in the church.

From the very beginning of the letter, Paul is reminding us to rightly recognize the body of Christ. All are believers, some are leaders and others are servants in the local church. All are important, all are to be recognized. But by calling he and Timothy slaves, Paul was putting things into perspective. We rightly recognize the body of Christ when we see ourselves, all of us first, as slaves of JC.

Phil. 1:2 ‘The Body and Blessing’
Notice that all in the body are given the same greeting. Actually ‘grace and peace to y’all’ is a better translation.

Grace: ‘Charis’ Is favor from God that is undeserved and it includes great joy.

Peace: ‘Eirene’ Is the absence of condemnation before God.

The order here is important. You can not know peace in your life (no condemnation before God) unless you first experience his grace (undeserved favor),  thru faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

Paul teaches us here that when we rightly recognize the body of Christ, us, we will constantly be a blessing to each other. We will desire that those in our fellowship, our body, will abound in God’s grace and live in his peace.

Phil. 1:3-5 ‘The Body and Thanksgiving’
Notice that when Paul thinks of his friends in the Philippian church, he thanks God for them...all of them, none are excluded. That must have brought great joy to the hearts of the Philippians.
Wouldn’t you feel good, wouldn’t it be comforting to know that when others in the church prayed, they thanked God for you?

And notice that Paul prayed for them..once in a while? Occasionally? When we had the time? No! He always prayed for them. And remember Paul wrote this letter from prison. He had a lot on his mind, but nothing could keep him from praying for his church family in Philippi.

Do you pray for me as your pastor, regularly? I need it.

Do you pray for the people sitting around you, regularly? They need it too.

Finally, Paul rightly recognizes this body as one who partnered with him in the Gospel. Your version may say ‘fellowshipped’ but the idea here is much more than they shared some coffee and bagels at the Philippi Café.

Paul was saying the believers, leaders and servants at Philippi worked together with Paul, they all partnered with him in the ministry of the Gospel. And, they continue to serve with him. It was not a one time thing. They understood that Christianity was not a ticket to inactivity. No matter what your current circumstances. Listen, we all need to know that others here are participating with us in the work of the ministry. That there are no Sunday only Christians here at CBC.

What encourages us, what builds us up, what strengthens us is the knowledge that we are not serving God here alone. We are serving God, together, as the Body of Christ.

Rightly recognizing the body of Christ, this local church, means we thank God for one another, we constantly pray for one another and we serve, side by side, with each other.

Phil. 1:6 ‘The Body and Patience’
The word ‘confident’ can also be translated convinced. What was he so convinced, so confident of? That God had begun to work in the lives of his Philippian bothers and sisters and that God was going to continue to work in and thru them till Jesus returns.

It is Paul’s confidence in what God was doing in the lives of the Philippians that partnership with them was possible.

Rightly recognizing the body of Christ means that when you see others participate in the ministry of the Gospel, when you see people roll up your sleeves as Christians and get involved with others, regardless of their personal circumstances, you see  a wonderful reminder of what God is continually doing in and thru us.

That God is alive and working in the lives of others. And that encouraged Paul. I pray you will look and you will see what God is doing here, in and through your church family.

Phil. 1:7-8 ‘The Body and Love’
‘Since I have you all in my heart’ Again no one at Philippi is excluded. He deeply loves and cares for them all. This is a man who rightly recognized the body of Christ. He saw God at work in them and his love overflowed for them.

Oh that we would have Paul’s eyes and heart for our fellow believers here at CBC. That we would rightly recognize this body of Christ…see God’s hand at work in each life and then show great compassion and love for each other.

Phil. 1:9-11 ‘The Body and Prayer’
Paul prays for his friends in Philippi. He prays for their love.

Love: Paul prays that their love for one another will abound will be evident to all.
 
     Deeper: He prays that it will grow deeper and deeper.

     Knowledge and Depth: He prays that their love will be based on knowledge and insight. For that to happen, the people of Philippi will have to spend time with each other so they can get to know one another better.
 
     Discern: Paul reminds them that this kind of deep and informed love for one another will help in discerning how to best show love for one another.

     Pure and Blameless: Paul further reminds them that this kind of deep and informed love will keep them pure and blameless in their relationships with one another.

     Glory and Praise of JC: Finally Paul reminds them that this kind of love comes from God and is expressed out of joy and thanks to God. Paul wanted God to be glorified in their love relationship with each other.

When we rightly recognize the body of Christ, we will be praying that we will get to know one another well enough to begin to love each other with a kind of love that brings glory to God.

Conclusion
Commentators state that Paul’s letter to the Philippians has joy as it’s main theme. Isn’t it interesting that Paul spends the first 11 verses in this book on rightly recognizing the body of Christ?

He tells us that to find true joy in the Christian life
 -we need to thank God for each other
 -we need to participate in the ministry of the Gospel with each other
 -we need to have confidence in each other
 -we need to pray for each other
 -we need to know and love each other

As the body of Christ who is CBC, let us stand together, loving and serving God..and one another.

Rightly recognizing that we are the body of Christ…together, to the glory of God.