Philippians
The Epistle to the Philippians.
1. Paul’s Prayer and Imprisonment
4: Be praying for one another like this.
5: Congregants and ministers are partnering together to advance the news of Jesus.
6: God has begun working in your heart... do you think he is going to let it go half finished?
7: Paul considers his imprisonment part of grace because it allows him to share the gospel with the Roman government.
8: Good to yearn for all to be in God. Young man knows what it's like to feel that gravitational pull towards beautiful women who pass by. That degree of longing we should have for those who you wish to become pure and godlike and holy.
9-11: And if the work in them continues the result will be them loving one another, and being righteous, and praising God. That simple.
12-13: The whole imperial guard were learning about Jesus through Paul's imprisonment. Likewise we should be excited by opportunities of persecution or conflict with the world insofar as they can catch the ear of otherwise spiritually deaf people. If they aren't paying attention to the condition of their heart already, maybe someone suffering and perservering will catch their attention.
14: And it emboldens other Christians if you are willing to catch flak or endure harm for Christ.
15-18: It took about five seconds for people to realize that preaching about Jesus was a good way to get money, attention, and respect from people. Most preachers today probably fall into this camp, as most become preachers professionally and do not preach for free.
When Paul says some are preaching to 'afflict him in imprisonment' it seems like there may have been some people who disagreed theologically with Paul...
20-21: Very crucial. That Christ be honored in our body, whether we live or die. Living advances the kingdom. Death brings us deeper into it.
22: Interesting that he thinks of it as a choice.
Hard to believe sometimes that going into heavenly places with Christ could be better than all the amazing things God has given us in this life. True, I've heard some people are in a lot of pain and suffering. But for many of us - constant pleasures of food and culture, being with our loved ones, seeing them victorious. It could almost trick one into thing this life will swell indefinitely and that the balloon will never pop. In other seasons, though, we feel the imprisonment, the winter of life biting more deeply into our bones, and we long for Christ.
23-26: Do we ascend to heaven or stay and toil with the humble? Better to stay and toil as long as possible.
27-30: Likemindedness is one of the signs of being a true believer. Disagreements and schism happen and are a tragedy. If you are focused on love, and building up the body into one body and one spirit -- well, it won't spare you from disagreements and conflict in your life, exactly, but it will set your mind on the right things that the disagreements will distract you from.
2. Imitating Christ
1-4: This is what Christian life is all about. Imitating the manner of Jesus - humility, love, peace, and taking care of others and not just yourself.
5: That is taking on the mind of Christ. That is our inheritance. And it is the proper demeanor of one who expects to rule over the world.
6-7: A whole library of books has been written on these two verses. The KENOSIS. What did it mean that Christ EMPTIED himself?
Leaving aside preincarnate and Trinitarian speculations for now, as reasonable as they might be, a plain reading in this world leads us to conclude - Christ, as the perfect man, was the perfect image of God. But being the perfect image of God did not force himself on anyone as a king. Instead he served people. He did not (immediately) set himself up as god king as many pharaohs and poobahs have done...
8: Jesus accepting his death was obedience, as is recorded in the gospels. He did not want to die, but felt called by God to be a sacrifice for all sin and to make out of his blood and body the creation of a new covenant. So he obeyed the will of God.
9-11: The most humble servant has earned the ultimate high throne.
All heaven and earth will be united in serving him.
The name above every name - think about the most viewed pages on the internet. The ideas spoken the most often. Great souls that shape many people's minds and understanding of the world - and a name sums them up and reinvokes all their power in a few syllables. There is one name above them all.
12-18: Between a pastor and his congregants -
Word of life - good phrase for the Gospel.
19-21: It seems Paul didn't respect many of the other pastors and teachers that were rising up besides Timothy.
25-30: But there were other good servants at work.
3. Righteousness Through Faith Alone
2: This is why Paul didn't trust other teachers. They were too wedded to Jewish ritual -- but this would just pollute the Gospel for Gentiles.
3: It's about the Spirit, not about fleshly rituals.
4-11: Paul is the super jew. You could not be a more legit pharisee than Paul. But it's all pointless compared to attaining eternal life with Christ through faith.
12-16: Just as salvation is through faith, faith also involves a life of striving to fully grasp all of the gifts and good works that have been set aside for us.
17-18: For the entire history of the church there have been teachers with earthly minds who fail to grasp the full glory of the gospel and impress their own manmade traditions upon it. God keep us from being one of these.
Today, it would likely be squabbles over baptism and tradition and the will that people unnecessarily separate from each other for. And it seems like after a short period of peace regarding politics and race, there will be many more divisions over that as well.
19-20: Glorified life. This is the goal. Our flesh now is dying and corrupt, but we hope to see ourselves transformed into perfect and eternal flesh.
4. Rejoice and Be Content
2-3: Women are never getting along, even if they're both faithful servants in the church. Be at peace!
4-9: This is what the Christian should be doing. If you're not doing this, you're not behaving like a Christian.
11-13: Commonly misused verse. He isn't trying to complete a 5K or get a raise at work. The context is that Paul is going through enormous toil to serve all the Christians and suffering with beatings and imprisonment in various times in order to be a witness for Christ.
14-15: Interesting phrase Paul uses 'the beginning of the gospel' - presumably meaning his quest in unfolding the good news. Seems to imply the gospel's transmission is itself part of the gospel.
16-20: The Philippians were uniquely helpful to Paul in giving him financial support. Imagine being able to contribute a little money to one of the most consequential men who ever lived. How many countless millions hearing of Christ downstream of one man's preaching.