Philippians - Live as a citizen worthy of the gospel of Christ

Introduction

Be Joyful!  “Joy is the music that runs through this epistle, the sunshine that spreads over all of it.  The whole epistle radiates joy and happiness.”

The letter of Philippians was written by Paul while he was in prison in Rome in about 63AD, but there is no bitterness or disillusionment here.  In this letter Paul opens his heart to us, showing us the secret to real joy in every circumstance.  The letter speaks of fellowship in the sufferings of Jesus, and yet there is no book of the Bible so full of joy.

In this book the apostle Paul will share with us the secret of contentment.  He will show us how to know true contentment at all times, no matter what hardships we have to face.  He will show us that real joy does not depend on circumstances, but should be the constant possession of every citizen of heaven.

Within probably 50 years of Paul’s letter, a great Christian leader called Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians where he speaks very highly of Paul’s letter:

These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because you have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and glorified Paul. He, when among you, accurately and steadfastly taught the word of truth in the presence of those who were then alive. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that faith which has been given you, and which, being followed by hope, and preceded by love towards God, and Christ, and our neighbour, "is the mother of us all."

Polycarp knew that he could never write with the divinely inspired wisdom of the great apostle Paul, so he was happy to point the Philippians to Paul’s letter so that they could grow to spiritual maturity.

Why did Paul write the letter?  Paul planted the church in Philippi, as we read in Acts 16, but his arrival in Philippi is packed with divine providence.  At the beginning of Acts 16 Paul brouhgt Timothy along with him.  In verse 6 the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from going into the province of Asia.  Then, Acts 16:7-8  “When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.”

It seemed that every direction they took was blocked by the Holy Spirit.  However, a momentous event happened to the apostle Paul; an event that would change the direction of European history.

Acts 16:9-12  Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis.  From there we travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.

The Holy Spirit was determined to get Paul into Europe, and his first European mission was in Philippi.  

After Lydia believed the gospel, Paul’s mission team had a place to stay.  The spiritual world knew the significance of the arrival of the apostolic mission team, and one spirit through a young girl declared, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” (verse 17).  When Paul drove that spirit out of the girl, in the Name of Jesus, he was involved in a clash with the civic authorities.

Luke is very careful to explain the issues of civic authority and law in Philippi because they were critical to life in that city.  The crowd (verses 20-21) “brought them before the magistrates and said, ‘These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practise.’”  Notice how the crowd are so anxious to be the very best Roman citizens.  We sense the pride these people felt about having the privileges of Roman law and citizenship.  With this in mind, we can understand more of what is going on at the conclusion of Acts 16.

Acts 16:37-40  “Paul said to the officers: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out."  The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.”

The Philippians took Roman citizenship very seriously and were deeply shaken when they saw how they had illegally treated Roman citizens.  What would Rome think of this kind of behaviour?  

Paul knew that the Church must not be classified as a politically dangerous organisation.  It was vital that the Roman Empire realise that the followers of Jesus were the very best citizens.  That is why Paul made sure that the magistrates give a public vindication of Paul and Silas.

So, the Philippians highly valued Roman citizenship and we will see that theme in Paul’s letter.

A key theme of the book is the unity of the church in the gospel.  How important this message is today!  On the one hand, there are those who speak a great deal about church unity, but don’t explain what it is that truly unites us in truth and purpose.  Truth always runs a very poor second to unity in such thinking.  What are we united about if we are not clear on the gospel itself?  On the other hand, there are those who love truth much more than unity.  For them, specific systems of doctrine will always win over Christian fellowship.  They will all too easily divide from gospel-loving fellow Christians.  Paul teaches us how to grasp truth and unity in a proper balance.

The letter of Philippians teaches us important lessons.  In many ways 1:27-28a is a summary of the whole letter.  We have seen that ‘being a citizen’ was at the heart of life in Philippi, so Paul speaks of being a citizen in 1:27.  However, this is not clear in many English translations, so we have corrected the NIV translation below.

1:27-28a “Whatever happens, live as a citizen worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.”

Notice the balance of truth and unity.  The faith of the gospel is the banner under which the church gathers, yet we gather together, united against our real opponents.  That is how we are true citizens of Christ’s kingdom, which is so much more than all the kingdoms of this passing age.

We know true contentment as we give ourselves away for others in the service of Jesus.  You can never grasp fulfilment if we are pursuing it for yourself.  It is only when we forget ourselves and live for Jesus that we discover true contentment and joy.