by Larry Ferrell | November 25, 2017
There was nothing exclusive about the apostle Paul or his Christian greetings. Four times in the opening verses of Philippians Paul reveals that he includes all the believers in his thinking. He prays for them all (v. 4). He is confident of them all (vv. 6-7). He speaks well of them all, being certain that they are all recipients of God’s grace (v. 7). And he longs for them all (v. 8). Paul’s remarks include all Christians, for he knew that all had been brought by God into a great and indissoluble fellowship. This is Christian brotherhood, and Paul’s greeting is an example of it. It was a new thing in Paul’s day.

To look at these verses more closely is also to see how we can attain Christian fellowship today. First of all, Paul writes that he prays for the Christians at Philippi, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” (v. 4). This is as it should be. Christians should pray for other Christians. Prayer is talking to God. It grows out of fellowship with God, and it is something we are told to do constantly. Paul’s statements do not mean that we are to retreat from life. They simply mean that we are to cherish a constant and growing fellowship between ourselves and our heavenly Father in which we bring all the details of our lives before him. Paul not only prayed for the Christians at Philippi, he was also confident for them all. He knew that God was at work in them and would certainly accomplish His purposes in their lives.

Paul says: “All of you share in God’s grace with me” (v.7). The Greek literally says, “All of you being participants in the grace of God. It’s not Paul’s grace is shared with them; it’s rather that all alike, from the great apostle to the most humble believer, are participants in the grace of God. No truth will more quickly overcome divisions among Christians than the truth that we are all equally sinners and all equally recipients of grace. Are there Christians whom you cannot stand and with whom you think you will never have anything in common? Is there a Christian from another ethnic background who does things differently than you and who thinks you are prejudiced against him or her? Is there a Christian from another denomination who seems obstinate in some doctrine and always seems to be getting at you over it? If this is true of you, it’s a fault that requires changing. God must change you. He wants to change you. He will do it as you begin to pray, and through prayer see that person as a participant together with you in God’s grace.

The last thing Paul says about all the Christians is that he longs for them greatly (v.8). It’s not enough to tolerate other Christians. You must enjoy their company. You must learn from them. Furthermore, this fellowship must be one that is constantly expanding to include other Christians, even those whom you have never met but with whom you are forever united in the Lord.

Philippians 1:6-8 Reflection Questions:
Are there Christians that you just tolerate verses enjoying their company?
Have you seen yourself prejudice against other Christians (ethnic, doing things differently, or denominational)?
How do you pray for other Christians? What about praying for yourself?

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by Larry Ferrell | November 17, 2017
What do you do when you pray? Perhaps you will answer, “Well, I ask God for anything I really need. If I get desperate enough for something or if I end up in real trouble, I pray to God about it.” Is this really what prayer is all about? An answer to that question comes from the opening chapter of Philippians. The apostle Paul has just introduced himself to the Christians at Philippi had he greeted them in the name of Jesus Christ. Now he mentions how he prays for them, beginning with spiritual needs. In Paul’s mind spiritual realities always came before physical ones. He was not insensitive to material needs. At times he mentioned them, but he knew that these were always less important than spiritual things – for himself first of all and also for all Christians. Paul’s prayer is a great prayer. It’s an example of prayer on which we may pattern our own prayer life.

In his prayers Paul always thanked God for evidence of spiritual blessing among Christians. Although Paul was sensitive to the problems in his churches, he was even more sensitive to the mercies of God. He knew people’s hearts. He knew that there is no good in man that can satisfy God. He knew that Christians live a great deal of their lives in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. He knew that we all fall short of what God would like us to be. But Paul also acquainted with God’s grace and he gloried in it. He knew that God has provided wonderfully for His children – for their salvation and for their constant and continuing growth in the Christian life. Consequently, Paul was continually thankful for these things. Do your prayers follow this pattern?

The thing that Paul is most thankful for inn regard to the Christians at Philippi is their fellowship with him in the gospel “from the first day until now” (v.5). What does this mean? The word fellowship has been so watered down in contemporary speech that it conveys only a faint suggestion of what it meant in earlier times. When we speak of fellowship today, we generally mean no more than comradeship, the sharing of good times. But fellowship originally meant much more than sharing of something, like the fellowship of bank robbers dividing their loot. It meant a sharing in something, participating in something greater than the people involved and more lasting than the activity of any given moment. When the Bible uses the word, it means being caught up into a communion created by God. This is what Paul was so thankful for in the case of the young church at Philippi. They may have had things in common. But Paul is not speaking of these. He is thankful for their share in the gospel of God. They had been taken up into a divine fellowship. They were united, not upon a social level, but by their commitment to the truths of the gospel.

Paul mentions fellowship three times in this epistle. He points to our fellowship in the gospel of God, our fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and our fellowship in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. In this way he teaches that we have the privilege of sharing in the full nature of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What a privilege for Christians! If you are a Christian, you already have a share in the gospel. That fellowship is yours by virtue of your conversion to Christ. The fellowship with the Spirit is something in which you grow. It is also possible that in God’s great tenderness and gentle compassion you may also touch upon the fellowship of the sufferings of our Lord.

Philippians 1:3-5 Reflection Questions:
What do you do when you pray? In your mind are spiritual realities before physical ones?
How has this study changed the way you pray?
Is your fellowship with the Holy Spirit growing?

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by Larry Ferrell | November 6, 2017
“How happy we might be, if only we could find the Treasure, of which the Gospel tells us – all else would seem to us nothing. How infinite it is! The more one toil and searches in it, the greater are the riches that one finds.”** Brother Lawrence

Introduction:
The word happiness evokes vision of unwrapping of gifts on Christmas morning, strolling hand in hand with the one you love, being surprised on your birthday, responding with unbridled laughter to a comedian, or vacationing in an exotic locale. Everyone wants to be happy; we make chasing this elusive ideal a lifelong pursuit; spending money, collecting things, and searching for new experiences. But if happiness depends on our circumstances, what happens when toys rust, loved ones die, health deteriorates, money is stolen, and the party’s over? Often happiness flees and despair sets in.
In contrast to happiness stands joy. Running deeper and stronger, joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God’s love and work in our lives – that he will be there no matter what! Happiness depends on happenings, but joy depends on Christ.
The letter to the Philippians is one of the most joyous books in the Bible. All the way through the letter Paul speaks of inner joy – sixteen times in four short chapters. And he does in such an artless way we know that the one who advised the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord always” had himself found the true source of joy. He had not only learned in whatever state he was to be content; he had learned to rejoice in whatever state he was. He overflowed with rejoicing.
The Book of Philippians is also noteworthy for its great doctrinal statements. It’s not intended as a doctrinal treatise, as Romans and Galatians, but it is filled nonetheless with doctrine. Paul thought doctrine. Consequently, great expressions of Christian truth fall like ripe fruit from his pen.

Of Servants and Saints – Phil. 1:1
When Paul introduces himself and Timothy as “servants of Christ Jesus,” he uses a word that literally means a “slave.” Paul wanted to say that he was Christ’s slave and that he wished to serve him as any obedient servant serves his master. No doubt Paul was implying that what was true for himself should also be true for any Christian. He taught that we are “not our own”; we are “bought at a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). Therefore, we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit which are God’s.

One other truth needs to be seen in this phrase; the ease with which Paul substitutes the name Jesus for the name of God – Jehovah. This phrase is not unique with Paul. When he refers to himself and to Timothy as “servants of Christ Jesus,” he is not coining a phrase in order to define the relationship. He is borrowing a phrase from the Old Testament and giving it specifically Christian content. We cannot forget that the great Old Testament figures were called servants of God, “servants of Jehovah.”

Next we read of the “saints in Christ Jesus,” those to whom the apostle Paul is writing. These were the Christians at Philippi. They were not special Christians; they were people like you and me. Hence, the title applies to us, as it does to every Christian. Paul writes to the saints at Rome, to the saints at Corinth, to the saints at Ephesus, and so on. In every case he means believers.

Finally, Paul also mentions the church officers: the overseers, who were the pastors of the local congregations, and the deacons, who were the officers elected to care for the needy and the sick. These labored with local believers in the spread of the gospel and the strengthening of Christians. God wants us all to work together with all His saints for spiritual ends. God wants you to witness to Christ together and to work with others to help those who need your material and spiritual assistance.

Reflection Questions:
Do you have a personal experience of the difference between happiness and joy?
What are you doing to witness to Christ?
Do you see yourself as a slave of Jesus Christ?

*The material for these studies is from James Montgomery Boice’s Expositional Commentary published by Baker Books unless otherwise noted.
** Brother Lawrence: The Practice of the Presence of God and Spiritual Maxims (Incense House Publishing, 2013).

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by Larry Ferrell | November 11, 2017
These words convey a warm Christian greeting. Yet, they sound strange to modern ears, largely because few in our day know what grace or peace means. If grace means anything at all to most people, it may indicate charm, good manners, or attractiveness. Peace may refer only to peace as an alternative to warfare. Actually, the words mean much more. In Paul’s usage they refer to the deepest of spiritual realities.

Unmerited Grace – The first greeting that Paul has for the Christians at Philippi, then, is grace, and he used it with its full Christian meaning. God’s grace! The unmerited favor of God toward humanity. It seems unnecessary to emphasize that grace is unmerited, for that is the definition of grace. Yet we must emphasize it. For man always imagines that God loves him for what he is intrinsically. We imagine that God has been gracious to us because of what we have done – because of our piety, our good deeds, our repentance, our virtue. But God does not love us because of that, and He is not gracious to us because of that. Paul says that “God demonstrated his own for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Christ died for people who were hideous in His sight because of sin. We are like that. If we are ever to understand the grace of God, we must begin with the knowledge that God has acted graciously toward us in Christ entirely apart from human merit.

Abounding Grace – Grace is unmerited, but grace is also abounding. Romans 5:20 says that “where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” There is a story of a young man who suddenly became a millionaire. The young man had been working as a $4 per hour waiter and had suddenly inherited a three million dollar share in his father’s business. Suppose now that on the day before the settlement of his father’s estate the owner of the restaurant had decided, entirely n his own initiative and without any real reason on the part of the young man, to increase the young man’s salary to $5 an hour. That would have been grace, but it would have been a very small thing. In place of a small raise, he experienced what we might call “abounding grace.”

It is the same in the economy of God. God tells us that we have not the slightest claim upon him. We deserve hell at his hands, and anything he might do for us, however insignificant, is grace. But God’s grace is not insignificant, and it certainly does not stop with a single act. It is not a dollar-an-hour grace. It is a grace that has made us millionaires in Christ.

Peace with God – But grace is not the only word in Paul’s greeting to the Philippians. His second word is “peace.” Peace comes from God. Grace is the unmerited and abounding favor of God toward men and peace is the result of that favor. It is the result of the reconciliation of man and God through Jesus’ death – peace obtained at the cross of Christ. Think of it. We are not naturally at peace with God. We are at war with God, either passively or actively, and being at war with God we are also at war with each other and ourselves. That is why we experience so much misery and why there is so much unrest in the world. But God gives peace, perfect peace. He does it in Christ. He will give you peace if you will come to Him in Jesus.

Grace before Peace – The final point is this; grace comes before peace. Paul writes, “Grace and peace to you.” In God’s order of things, God’s hand is always there in grace before any spiritual blessing. That is so in order that salvation might be entirely of Him. It has been that way in all ages. It is the story of David and Solomon, of Moses and the prophets. It is my story and yours, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you seek God? Did you find any of the fruits of salvation before God himself was at work in your heart? Of course you did not. If you did anything at all, you ran away from God. And He had to pursue you like the hound of heaven. We never seek God. When we find God, it’s only because God comes to us first in grace. Perhaps God is coming to you in this moment. If so, you must respond to His grace. God will pour out not only peace but love and joy, and He will give access into His presence and the sure hope of life beyond the grave.

Philippians 1:2 Reflection Questions:
Have you responded to God’s grace?
If so have you experienced peace, love, and joy?
If you are a believer, have you ever been at war with God?

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