Title: Thanksgiving and Prayer / Philippians 1:1-11
The book of Philippians has three epistles. The first is called "The Prison Correspondence". Because the apostle Paul wrote it in a Roman prison. The second is called "The Letter of Love". Because it starts with lovely words and ends with lovely words. It is full of stories of gratitude and love. The third is the "Letter of Joy". The words "rejoice" and "rejoice" appear 9 times. “I will rejoice and I will rejoice” (1:18). “Though I offer myself as a drink offering, I will rejoice and rejoice with all of you. In the same way, rejoice and rejoice with me” (2:17-18). “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say again, rejoice” (4:4). ).
I. Greetings (verses 1-2)
Verses 1-2 were written in the style of writing letters at the time. “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints and bishops and deacons who live in Philippi in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” First, I introduced myself as a letter writer. He introduced himself as “a servant of Christ Jesus.” The term "slave" used here does not refer to slaves in general, but to slaves that are sold and bought. “A slave and a donkey are the same. The difference is that the donkey cannot speak and the slave knows how to speak.” At that time, slaves were treated like animals. The Apostle Paul describes himself as "a slave of Christ Jesus." When the Apostle Paul said that he was a slave of Christ Jesus, he meant: 1) I belong to Christ Jesus. 2) I am absolutely obedient to Christ Jesus. 3) I am proud of the name of a slave of Christ Jesus.
2. The recipients of this letter were "all the saints and bishops and deacons in Philippi." The word "saints" means "a holy crowd," a set apart. It means people set apart for God's use, people set apart for God's use. "Bishop" is synonymous with "elder". Those who are responsible for caring for, nurturing, and guiding God's people. “Deacon” refers to people who work for the community and help the saints.
3. Say hello. "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The word "grace" (charis) means "blessing". Or "joy". "Peace" refers to the Hebrew greeting "Shomlom". It means peace, peace. It is implied that all grace and peace come from Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. Thanksgiving and prayer (3-11)
After saying hello, I say thanks and pray. In Paul’s epistles, he greets at the beginning of his letter, and then he first thanks the recipients. Encourage them by saying thank you for a job well done. Then we pray for the recipients for their shortcomings. In verse 3, it says, “I give thanks to my God whenever I think of you, and whenever I do, I always pray for all of you with joy because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
1. Give thanks whenever you think about it (5-8) Apostle Paul gave thanks whenever he thought of the Philippians. Some people feel sad every time they think about it. Some people feel bad every time they think about it. Others, whenever I think of someone, I wonder if that person has harmed me. However, the apostle Paul felt grateful whenever he thought of the Philippians.
The apostle Paul explains why he is grateful whenever he thinks of the Philippians.
2) He said that the reason he was thankful every time he thought about it was because he had done a good deed. Verse 6 says, “We are sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” In other words, God started a good work through the Philippians. And he said he is confident that he will complete that good work until the day of Christ Jesus, that is, the day our Lord returns. Here, "good work" means "preaching the gospel." Among good works, what good work can be done like preaching the gospel and saving those who will perish? In Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan, the good Samaritan did what the good Samaritan did to take care of the dying man who met the robber.
It is natural for the church to preach the gospel, but there is nothing more blessed than doing what it should be doing. It is natural for the church to preach the gospel. But there is nothing more unfortunate than failing to do what we ought to do. Doing my job seems natural, but I don't know how precious it is. For a saint to play the role of a saint and the church to play the role of the church, for parents to play the role of parents and children to play the role of children, for the husband to play the role of husband, and for the wife to play the role of wife, it is very It is beautiful and precious.
3) The reason I give thanks whenever I think about it is, "Because of my bondage and the vindication and confirmation of the gospel, you all became partakers of the grace with me" (7). In other words, these words refer to bondage, that is, imprisonment, and to excuse the gospel refers to preaching the gospel and apologizing. Confirmation means confirming with certainty. Occasionally, when traveling by plane, you need to check flight times and reserved seats. Confirmation is in English. Check three or four times.
2. Pray whenever he thinks (9-11) Whenever Paul thinks of the Philippians, he prays for them. When they lacked something, they did not criticize and prayed for them.
1) We prayed for love to be abundant (verse 9). He said, "I pray that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all understanding." In other words, we prayed for the abundance of love with the knowledge of God, not blind love, and love with wisdom added to it. We prayed that the Philippians would be filled with this kind of love. If there is no love in the church, it is not the church. “I have the power to prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all the faith that can move mountains, but without love I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).
2) We prayed for discernment (verse 10), and in verse 10, it says, “You may discern what is most good, and be truthful and blameless until the day of Christ.” This is a prayer to test what is important and to have a sincere, honest, and pure heart to the end. Discerning what is important is a matter of so-called values. The teachings of Jesus emphasized values. So, after teaching him not to worry about what he will eat or what he will wear, he said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." He said, “You cannot serve both God and money.” That is, we must discern the value of God and wealth.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but that you may discern what is the will of God, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” When Solomon first became king and prayed to God, he prayed, "Who can judge your so many people? Give your servant a wise heart to judge your people, to discern between good and evil" (1 Kings 3:9). I did. We must pray for discernment. When we pray for our children, we should also pray for them to have discernment and correct values.
3) We prayed that we might bear abundant fruit (verse 11). Verse 11 says, “May you be filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” That is, we prayed that more people would be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, they wanted to bring glory and praise to God by opening many fruits of salvation.
Jesus said, "My Father is glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and ye shall be my disciples" (John 15:8).
The Bible says the following about the fruits that we believers should bear. Matthew 3:8 says, “Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance.
In Galatians 5:22 and below, we are told to bear the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Autumn is coming. Just as nature bears fruit, we too must bear spiritual fruit. It must also bring forth abundant fruit.