Brothers Who Are With Me

Philippians 4:21-23 - Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Philippians 1:13-14 - As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Conclusions:

• The unexpected result of Paul’s imprisonment is that others, encouraged by his example, are forcefully exclaiming the gospel
• It has become apparent to all who know of Paul’s situation that he is imprisoned, not because he is guilty of some crime, but on account of his stand for the gospel
• The whole palace guard is a contingent of soldiers, numbering several thousand, many of whom would have had personal contact with Paul or would have been assigned individually to guard him during the course of his imprisonment
• Chains are either actual chains or a broader reference to his sufferings and imprisonment

Application:

• Are you forcefully proclaiming the gospel?
• Is it apparent that you are for Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Will Meet Your Needs

Philippians 4:19-20 - And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 23:1 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 - We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusions:

• My God is personal
• “Meet all your needs” is a promise given to a church that had sacrificially given to meet Paul’s need
• Paul is concerned not only about his own situation but also about that of the Philippians
• The true measure of God’s blessings to the church is His provision of glorious riches
• Shepherd is a widely used metaphor for kings in the ancient Near East and also in Israel
• The Lord is the Shepherd of Israel
• In Psalm 23:1, David the king acknowledges that the Lord is his Shepherd-King
• Jesus is the Shepherd of His people
• If the Lord is your King, not only will you not be in want, you will enjoy goodness (by God’s definition) all your life
• The triad of faith, hope and love is found often in the New Testament
• Faith produces action
• Hope is not unfounded wishful thinking, but firm confidence in our Lord Jesus and His return

Application:

• Do you sacrificially give to meet other's needs?
• Is the Lord your King?
• Do you have firm confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and His return?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Acceptable...Pleasing To God

Philippians 4:17-18 - Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

1 Corinthians 9:12 - If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

2 Corinthians 2:14 - But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

1 Peter 2:4-5 - As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Conclusions:

• Paul had numerous rights that he did not claim because of his love for the Corinthians
• Because of love for others, believers should be ready to surrender their rights
• The Old Testament background is the sacrifice, not of atonement for sin, but of thanksgiving and praise
• The gifts received by Paul are acceptable and pleasing to God because of Christ’s work for us and God’s work in us
• “Leads us in triumphal procession” provides the imagery of a Roman triumph in which the victorious general would lead his soldiers and the captives they had taken in festive procession, while the people watched and applauded and the air was filled with the sweet smell released by the burning of spices in the streets
• So the Christian, called to spiritual warfare, is triumphantly led by God in Christ, and it is through him that God speaks everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ
• Believers derive their life from Christ, who is the original living Stone to whom they have come, the life-giving spirit
• These references to stones may well reflect Jesus words to Peter in Matthew
• The house is spiritual in a metaphorical sense, but also in that is formed and indwelt by the Spirit of God
• Every stone in the house has been made alive by the Holy Spirit, sent by the exalted living Stone, Jesus Christ
• The holy priesthood is the whole body of believers
• As priests, believers are to (1) reflect the holiness of God and that of their high priest, (2) offer spiritual sacrifices, (3) intercede for man before God and (4) represent God before man
• The New Testament refers to a variety of offerings: bodies offered to God, offerings of money or material goods, sacrifices of praise to God and sacrifices of doing good
• Sacrifices are acceptable to God through the work of our Mediator, Jesus Christ
• Believers are living stones that make up a spiritual temple in which, as a holy priesthood, they offer up spiritual sacrifices

Application:

• Are you ready to surrender your rights?
• Are your gifts acceptable and pleasing to God?
• Does God spread the knowledge of Christ through you?
• Do you reflect the holiness of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Aid Again And Again

Philippians 4:15-16 - Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 - Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

2 Corinthians 8:1,5 - And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches…And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

Conclusions:

• Greeks despised manual labor and viewed it as fit only for slaves, but Paul was not ashamed of doing any sort of work that would help further the gospel
• Paul did not want to be unduly dependent on others
• The grace of giving on the part of believers is more than matched by the self-giving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
• “They gave themselves first to the Lord” is the true principle of all Christian giving
• These Macedonian Christians are an amazing example to the Corinthian believers and to the church in every age of the dynamic difference that God’s grace makes in the lives and attitudes of His people—a central theme of 2 Corinthians

Application:

• Are you unduly dependent on others?
• Have you exercised the grace of giving?
• Do you give yourself first to the Lord?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Early Days

Philippians 4:14-16 - Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

Acts 16:30-32,34 - He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house…The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

2 Corinthians 8:1,5 - And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches…And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

Conclusions:

• The jailer had heard that these were preachers of a way of salvation
• Now with the earthquake and his own near death, he wanted to know about the way
• Believe in the Lord Jesus is a concise statement of the way of salvation
• Paul and Silas explained the gospel more thoroughly to the jailer and to all the other members of his household, and they all believed in Christ and were saved
• Being filled with joy is the consistent consequence of conversion, regardless of circumstances
• The grace of giving on the part of believers is more than matched by the self-giving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
• “They gave themselves first to the Lord” is the true principle of all Christian giving
• These Macedonian Christians are an amazing example to the Corinthian believers and to the church in every age of the dynamic difference that God’s grace makes with the lives and attitudes of His people—a central theme of 2 Corinthians

Application:

• Do you want to know how to be saved?
• Do you believe in the Lord Jesus?
• Have you been saved?
• Are you filled with joy?
• Have you exercised the grace of giving?
• Do you give yourself first tot he Lord?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Peace Of God

Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

1 Peter 1:3-5 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Conclusions:

• Being anxious is self-centered, counterproductive worry, not legitimate cares for the spread of the gospel
• Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces in Christian experience
• Thanksgiving is the antidote to worry (along with prayer and petition)
• The peace of God is not merely a psychological state of mind, but an inner tranquility based on peace with God—the peaceful state of those whose sins are forgiven
• The opposite of anxiety, the peace of God is the tranquility that comes when the believer commits all his cares to God in prayer and worries about them no more
• The full dimensions of God’s love and care are beyond human comprehension
• Guard your hearts and your minds is a military concept depicting a sentry standing guard
• God’s protective custody of those who are in Christ Jesus extends to the core of their beings and to their deepest intentions
• Peace is a common Hebrew greeting, which Jesus uses in John 14:27 in an unusual way
• Peace speaks, in effect, of the salvation that Christ’s redemptive work will achieve for His disciples—total well-being and inner rest of spirit, in fellowship with God
• All true peace is His gift, which the repetition emphasizes
• In its greetings of peace the world can only express a longing or wish
• But Jesus peace is real and present
• Peace with God is not merely a subjective feeling but primarily an objective status, a new relationship with God: Once we were His enemies, but now we are His friends
• There are two sides to the perseverance of the Christian
• The Christian is shielded (1) by God’s power and (2) by his own faith
• The Bible speaks of salvation as (1) past—when a person first believes, (2) present—the continuing process of salvation, or sanctification, and (3) future—when Christ returns and salvation, or sanctification, is completed through glorification

Application:

• Are you anxious?
• Have you committed all your cares to God in prayer?
• Is your heart troubled?
• Are you His friend?
• Are you shielded by God's power and your faith?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Near

Philippians 4:2-5 - I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Philippians 2:1-2 - If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

James 5:9 - Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Romans 13:11 - And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

1 John 2:18 - Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

Conclusions:

• Being like-minded, having the same love and being one in spirit and purpose emphasize the unity that should exist among Christians
• Being like-minded is not uniformity in thought but the common disposition to work together and serve one another—the attitude of Christ
• Being patient means enduring triumphantly—necessary for a Christian, because affliction is his inevitable experience
• One must not only pray in hard times, but also maintain communion with God through prayer at all times
• Gentleness is Christ-like consideration for others
• Gentleness is especially essential in church leaders
• James calls for patience toward believers as well as unbelievers
• The New Testament does not say when the judgment will take place, but its certainty is never questioned and believers are consistently admonished to watch for it
• This hour is the time for action
• Every day brings us closer to the second advent of Christ
• The Christian is to be alert waiting for the return of Christ
• With other New Testament writers, John viewed the whole period beginning with Christ’s first coming as the last days

Application:

• Are you in unity with other Christians?
• Are you enduring triumphantly?
• Do you have Christ-like consideration for others?
• Do you show patience toward believers and unbelievers?
• Do you see this hour as the time for action?
• Are you alert and waiting for the return of Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible