The Gospel Comes to Philippi

Introduction to Philippians as an Epistle

0:05 The following sermon was preached on Sunday morning, October 19, 1980, while the Trinity Church was still meeting at the Grover Cleveland Junior High School in Caldwell, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me, please, to the book of Philippians? And as you are turning, let me say that since we will be studying this book for many Lord's Day mornings to come, I will be attempting to correct my own pronunciation of the city where this church existed. The correct pronunciation is Philippi. I've been accustomed to saying for years, Philippi.

0:49 So I'll be working on it, and if I regress once in a while to the way I've said it for years, you'll understand. But it is the city of Philippi, and it is the book of Philippians. Philippians. Now notice, and I would ask you children especially to note, that up at the top of the book itself, most of your Bibles read the epistle of Paul to the Philippians.

1:19 And then verse 1, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishop. And deacons. The epistle of Paul to the Philippians. Now what is an epistle?

1:47 Well, the word is defined in the dictionary as a long, formal, instructive letter. And we will often humorously say, if someone writes us a letter that is rather lengthy, we will say, phew, what an epistle. Now if it's just a short note, we never say that. So most of us have, as it were, sort of a gut feeling for what an epistle is.

2:13 Or if someone writes us a letter in which they really take upon themselves to be our teacher, we'll say, well, I got quite an epistle from so-and-so, setting me straight on matters A, B, C, or whatever else those matters may be. Well, in a very real sense, it is proper then to call this, this letter, an epistle. For it is indeed a long, formal, and instructive letter. But it's difficult for us to really get the feel of the fact that this is a letter.

The Reality of the Letter: An Object Lesson

2:51 And that whatever it may be to us, and has been to the Church of Christ throughout the centuries, it was originally and primarily a letter, by the Apostle, to a group of people who lived in the city of Philippi. Now in order to enforce the reality of that, I want to use a very simple object lesson this morning. Now, most of you will readily recognize what I hold in my hand. It is an envelope.

3:25 And if we look on the envelope, we will notice that there is what we call a postmark. Now on that postmark, there is a letter. That postmark will be stamped the place from which this envelope was sent. This one happens to be from a suburb in the city of London, England.

3:47 So the moment this arrived at my house, and I looked at the postmark, I knew that there was a real place on the real earth called London, England. Now furthermore, this letter has, over on the right side, it's usually on the left, a little sticker that we call a return address. And on that return address sticker is printed, A. Blaise, 60 Grange Park Road, Leighton, London, and then a zip code number.

4:22 Now that return address tells me immediately, before I ever look on the inside, that this particular envelope was sent by a real person who lives, or at least put it in a box. And those strange English mailbox, they look like an exploded cigar stood on end. They're round red drop boxes. Some of you have seen them in pictures if you've not been there.

4:46 Well this tells me that there's a real person by the name of A. Blaise, who lives in a real place called Leighton in the suburbs of London. Furthermore, there is a name and an address on the front of the letter. A. N. Martin, 25 Meadowbrook Lane.

5:05 Well that tells me something, that there's a real person to whom this particular envelope is being sent. Now what happens when I open it up? Well I open it up and out comes two pieces of paper with some ink arranged in the form of words, words arranged in the form of sentences, by which a man by the name of Pastor A. Blaise, has oozed his thoughts and feelings through the tip of a pen, forming words, put them on paper, and that paper being sent to me enables me by reading those words in their connection with each other in sentences and phrases, to enter into the very thoughts and feelings of that real person who dwells in a real place 4,000 miles away called Pastor Blaise. Now that's what this letter is. And all of us acknowledge without debate that this is a real letter written by a real person from a real place sent to a real man expressing real thoughts and real feelings.

The Context of Paul's Letter to Philippi

6:17 Well, in the very same sense, this that we call the book of Philippians came originally as a letter from a real person called Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus. This particular letter would be postmarked a Roman prison. For the apostle makes it very plain in the opening. Chapter in verses seven, 13, 14 and 17, that he is writing from a condition described as being in bonds.

7:00 Verse seven, even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you, because I have you in my heart in so much both in my bonds and in the defense of the gospel, you are partakers with me of grace. And. The reference to his bonds is given no fewer than four times in this first chapter. Furthermore, he speaks of the Praetorian Guard.

7:31 He speaks of this band of soldiers in verse 13. And so here was a real person called Paul in a real place at Rome, a place of imprisonment. And he is writing to a real person. A real group of people who reside in a real city in the Roman Empire.

7:53 In fact, a Roman colony called Philippi. Now, all the commentators agree, and I hope it will be your conviction as we enter into a study of this letter, that this is one of the most, if not the most intimate and personal of all of the apostles letters. And when we write letters to people. The degree to which we express our deepest thoughts is generally in direct proportion to the level of the friendship.

8:29 And the more intimate the friendship, the more deep the bonds of affection, the more free we feel to express the full range of our thoughts and of our feelings. And so we must ask the question. How did this man, Paul, who writes from a Roman prison, enter into such an intimate and personal and tender relationship to a group of people at Philippi, hundreds and hundreds of miles away, so that he felt free to bear his heart to them at this very deep and intimate level? Well, the circumstances which. Provoked him to send the letter are clearly indicated in the letter itself, and I direct your attention to those very briefly in chapter four and verse 18. Paul says toward the close of his letter, I have all things and am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you. The church at Philippi had selected one of.

9:45 Its leaders by the name of Epaphroditus to go all the way from Philippi to Philippi to Rome in order to bring to the imprisoned apostle things that were necessary for his physical well-being. Having received these benefits from the church, he sends Epaphroditus back to the church with this letter. And we. Read of that intention to send Epaphroditus back in chapter two, beginning with verse twenty five.

10:22 I counted it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow soldier and your messenger to minister to my need. You see how he describes him. He was your messenger to me coming with those things necessary for my situation. I now send him back to you.

10:44 And then he explains. Why there was a delay in sending him back. Epaphroditus contracted some kind of illness, which almost took his life while he was there with Paul at Rome. Now he is well enough to return.

10:58 And so he exhorts them in verse twenty nine. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all joy and hold such in honor, because for the work of Christ, he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service. So you see, these are real circumstances. The apostle was not just sitting somewhere on the log stroking his beard and then all of a sudden thought, well, it'd be nice to just jot off a few lines to the folk at Philippi.

11:31 So I'll send them a letter. Nor was he sitting amidst a mass of theological treatises saying, well, the church in years to come will need something to preach from, so I'll construct a treatise that preachers can expound line by line and phrase by phrase. No, here was a real man with real temporal needs. And while he is there in a real prison with a real chain upon his hand, though he is given what we might call some house liberty, he has this Roman prisoner by his side day and night attached to him with a chain.

12:10 This man, Epaphroditus, comes. And as he's ushered into Paul's presence. And as he's ushered into Paul's presence. And as he's ushered into Paul's presence.

12:15 He brings to him those gifts from the church at Philippi. And after recovering from his illness, the apostle now commissions Epaphroditus to go back to Philippi. And with him, he brings not material blessings, but something that would bring even greater joy to the Philippians than any mount of material wealth. He carries with him a letter that is postmarked Rome.

12:43 That is addressed to the saints. That is addressed to the saints at Philippi. One in which he bears some of the deepest feelings and longings and thoughts of his heart. And in this way, we are given the letter to the Philippians.

The Sovereign Direction of the Spirit in Bringing the Gospel to Philippi

13:00 Now, the one question that I want to answer in our study this morning is this. How did the apostle enter into such an intimate relationship with these people at Philippi? How did the apostle enter into such an intimate relationship with these people at Philippi? As to warrant the kind of letter that he sent to them.

13:20 And to answer that question, we must go back to the beginnings of the church at Philippi as recorded in Acts chapter 16. And so, for the remainder of our time this morning, what I want to do, God helping me, is to set before you a broad overview of how it was that this, that this friendship and fellowship between Paul and the Philippians began when the gospel was brought to the city of Philippi. And the first thing we notice in this account that was read in your hearing is what I am calling the sovereign direction of the Spirit of God in bringing the gospel to Philippi. The sovereign direction of the Spirit of God. The sovereign direction of the Spirit of God in bringing the gospel to Philippi. The sovereign direction of the Spirit of God in bringing the gospel to Philippi.

14:19 And that sovereign direction is set forth by Luke, the historian, both negatively and positively. Notice the negative description in verses 6 through 8. Paul and Silas have left Antioch. They have picked up Timothy along the way at the city of Derbe, I'm sorry, at Lystra.

14:44 They have picked up Timothy along the way at the city of Derbe, I'm sorry, at Lystra. Now the three of them, speaking of them, we read in verse 6, they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. While Paul and Silas are on, what we call, the way of the Holy Spirit, they are on the way of the Holy Spirit.

15:15 We call Paul's second missionary journey, having taken Timothy as an additional companion in ministry, and that's recorded in verses 1 to 5. They go from Antioch up into southern Asia Minor, which is now called Turkey. And I'd urge you parents to take out a map and show your children that these are real places mentioned in the word of God. Now while they are there, they seek to go west.

15:45 Into that area where, subsequently, we have the seven churches that are mentioned in Revelation chapter 1, 2, and 3. The seven churches of Asia Minor. And the Apostle and his companions make an effort to go from this part of what would now be called southern Turkey, due west into that populous area where there were these large cities, and it's their concern to bring the gospel. But twice we have this.

16:15 In a strange statement, or parallel statements, they were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. How the Holy Spirit forbade them, we do not know. We can only speculate. But all we know is that God the Holy Ghost sovereignly indicated that his servants were not to preach the gospel in Asia at that time.

16:45 Well then, they make an effort. They make an effort to go north, up into what is called, in this passage, into Bithynia. But again, the scripture says, the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. And all we know is that there is this sovereign activity of God the Holy Spirit forbidding the preaching of the gospel through Paul and his companions in Asia, and then up in this section called...

17:17 Now this is strange language to our ears. Particularly when Paul had this general commission to bear the name of Christ to the Gentiles, when there is that general commission of the Lord Jesus to preach the gospel to every creature. But it demonstrates to us that in the outworking of that general commission, there is a specific sovereign activity of the Holy Spirit directing where the gospel should go through its appointed messengers. But then this sovereign direction of the Spirit is described not only negatively, but positively in verses 9 through 12. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. And here's the substance of that vision. There was a man of Macedonia standing and beseeching him and saying, and the form of the verbs indicates that this vision was not a case in which a man just flashed into the apostle's consciousness, put out his hands and said once, come and help us, and then the vision was over.

18:31 The form of the verbs indicates that this vision was one in which the man stood there for a period of time and pleaded with repetition, come and help us, come and help us, come and help us. Now how didn't Paul know he was a Macedonian? I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us.

18:54 All we know is that he recognized this man as a Macedonian, that is, someone from Greece, the southernmost part of Europe, across the Aegean Sea, and the man was pleading, come and help us. Well, the result of the vision is, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, verse 10, straightway, now notice the change in the description, we sought to go forth. Up until this point, Luke is not writing we. He's saying they, they, they, they.

19:31 So at this point, somewhere in this part of the narrative, joining Paul, Silas, and Timothy is Luke himself. And so now the four of them, according to Luke, to Luke's record conclude that this vision was given to Paul in order to direct Paul and his companions to go across the Aegean Sea and into this southern part of Europe there to preach the gospel. Now let me pause very briefly and I can do no more than that though many pressures within me would want to expand upon it. Remember that this is a situation in which all of the fruits of paganism are rife throughout the Roman Empire. All of the inequities, there was slavery, there was social injustice, there was the putting down of womanhood, there were all forms of vices, there was every kind of pagan religion as we see later on in the description of the book. In the description of the city of Philippi itself there was demon possession. But when this appeal

20:46 came, the conclusion was that the great need of the Macedonians was the need of the proclamation of the gospel. The appeal was not come and preach the gospel, it was come and help us. And yet the reflexive response of the apostle and his companions was that the way we bring the most solemn, solid help is to go and preach the gospel of the grace of God. Well then there are several kind providences that sovereignly direct their way to Macedonia. We read in verse 11, setting sail therefore from Troas. A ship was available that had room for the four passengers. The winds were favorable. We made a straight course and that didn't always happen. As you read the book of Acts, there are times they got caught in the doldrums. Other times they got caught in storms and there was shipwreck. But here we see the God who sovereignly said do not go to Asia, do not preach the gospel in Bithynia. The vision is given. Now that same sovereign God causes by these favorable providences that his servants should make a quick and unobstructed course to their destination. And that's what we see.

22:09 And so they come by a straight course to Samothrace and the next day to Neapolis and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, a first of the district, a Roman colony. And we were in this city tarrying certain days. And so now they come, this man of God upon whom the great responsibility of evangelizing the Roman world rests. In a peculiar measure, his three companions with him and they come to Philippi. Now it was not the capital. The wording in the original simply says a first city. It was one of the chief cities in that particular area. And for Paul and his companions, it was significant that it was uniquely a Roman colony.

23:06 Some called it a Rome away. From Rome. And you remember in the reading when the mob was stirred up, they said this crowd is telling us to do things contrary to what we're supposed to do as Romans. And this explains why there in Macedonia you have this Roman influence.

23:27 It was a Roman colony and all of the things that were attached to that kind of colonization were present at Philippi. And it's very significant. It's very significant that when they come, Luke simply states, we tarried there, we waited there, we stayed in that place several or certain days. Now one can only imagine the thoughts, the prayers, the aspirations, the longings, the deep internal struggles that were going on while during those days the apostle and his companions stand.

24:08 Stand. In a city which to our knowledge was the farthest represented, the farthest penetration of the gospel at that time in the history of the church. And one thing they know as they wait in those days at Philippi is that they are there by the appointment of the living God. Luke is careful to underscore that there was this sovereign direction of the Spirit.

24:39 The Spirit of God in bringing the gospel to Philippi. The gospel was not brought there by chance. It was not brought there by the whim of the servants of God. Nor was it brought there by the manipulation of ecclesiastical machinery.

24:56 It was brought there by the sovereign activity of the Spirit of God. And let me pause just briefly to say by way of application. It is in precisely. The same way that all gospel endeavors ought to be undertaken in our day in a conscious dependence upon God the Holy Spirit to lead us with respect to where the gospel should be preached and the Lord Jesus ministering his own will by the Spirit though we do not look to him to give us visions.

25:35 We can trust that by the. Spirit he will forbid us he will suffer us not and by kind providences he will open those doors which will result in our being in the place of his appointment in order to bring his message and this has a very pointed word to us as a congregation at this time in a matter of a few weeks we will be leaving these premises we will begin to meet in premises. Some five and a half miles from here in the lower part of the township of Montville now why is it that we are as a congregation picking up as it were and moving our fundamental base of corporate life from here to there well we can't go into all the details by which we have come to the conviction that the Spirit of God is moving us into this new area we have had no.

26:39 Visions we have heard no voices but by a kind coming together of a number of providences we are convinced that God himself is bringing us into that new area and that should give us on the one hand a tremendous sense of expectancy that if God is leading us there he is leading us there because he is all purposes for the gospel demand. That we be there and therefore we can go in the expectation of the blessing of his presence and of his grace but then in the second place Luke is careful to record the beginnings of this relationship between Paul and the Philippians not only by underscoring the sovereign direction of the spirit in bringing the gospel to Philippi but secondly he underscores the mighty.

The Mighty Power of the Spirit in Making the Gospel Effective at Philippi

27:39 Power of the Spirit of God in making the gospel effective at Philippi you see not only the guidance of the spirit bringing the gospel to Philippi but the mighty power of the spirit in making the gospel effective at Philippi and with a detail that is rare in the book of Acts Luke describes as an eyewitness three. Specimen conversions we have the record of the conversion of Lydia this businesswoman who lived in Thyatira but who was on business at Philippi the record of the mighty work of God in this demon possessed girl who was just the chattel of these money hungry men who owned her and then the record of the conversion of the Roman jailer.

28:40 And in a way that expresses the significance of this far better than I can do Bishop Lightfoot in his introduction to his commentary on the book of Philippians says these very very perceptive things or writes these perceptive things the apostles first visit to Philippi is recorded with a minuteness of detail which has very few parallels in the book of Acts the narrator had joined Paul. Shortly before he crossed over into Europe he was with the apostle during his sojourn at Philippi he seems to have remained there for some time after his departure and I'll demonstrate why that is true the exact personal knowledge of the writer combining with the grandeur and variety of the incidents themselves places the visit to Philippi among the most striking and instructive passages in the apostolic narrative.

29:40 The three converts who are especially mentioned stand in marked contrast each to the other in national descent in social rank and in religious education they are representatives of three different races the one is an Asiatic Lydia who dwells in Thyatira in Asia the other a Greek and the third a Roman in the relationship. The first is engaged in an important and lucrative branch of business the second is treated by the law as a mere chattel without any social or political rights is employed by her masters to trade upon the superstition of the ignorant she's a slave girl possessed by a demon she has no worth. The third the Philippian jailer equally removed from both one and the other.

30:40 Holds a subordinate office under government in their religious training they stand no less apart in the one the mystic temper of the oriental devotion has at length found deeper satisfaction in the revealed truths of the Old Testament this woman who was a Gentile has attached herself to the worship of Jehovah no doubt in the synagogue at Thyatira and because there is no synagogue at Philippi she meets with those who meet for prayer. By a riverside her religious training you see is distinct the second bearing the name of the Pythian God the reputed source of Greek inspiration represents an artistic and imaginative religion though manifested here in a low and degrading form Paul says that the worship of a writer worshipers of idols literally worship demons here is an indication of paganism in that course.

31:40 While the third the jailer if he preserved the characteristic features of his race must have exhibited a type of worship essentially political in tone their confession was Caesar is Lord and there was a recognition that bordered on religious adoration in the heart of a true Roman with respect to Caesar the purple dealer and the proselytists of Thyatira. The native slave girl with the evil spirit the Roman jailer all alike acknowledge the supremacy of the new faith in the history of the gospel at Philippi as in the history of the church at large is reflected the great principle of the Christian faith the central truth of the apostles preaching that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek bond nor free.

32:38 Male nor female but he are all one in Christ Jesus and you can begin to see and I hope feel why it is that the apostle from the outset has a peculiar sense of attachment to the church at Philippi within the heart of that once proud Pharisee there be something of the love of Jesus for poor sin. And in a peculiar way though he had great heaviness for his fellow Jews he said that he would magnify his office as apostle to the Gentiles and when he comes to Philippi God in his sovereignty on the very threshold of this ministry reaches as it were into the three major categories of Gentile sinners and calls them out to himself assuring the great apostle.

33:39 That the gospel will indeed be the power of God unto salvation no matter what spectrum or what facet of the spectrum of need is encountered throughout this new penetration of the gospel into Europe all can rest assured that that gospel will conquer the hearts of sinners and notice how careful Luke is to underscore in his narrative. That he should. Surely as it was the sovereign activity of the spirit of God that led them to Philippi it was the mighty activity of the spirit of God which made the gospel effective at Philippi look at verse 14 a certain woman named Lydia a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira one that worshipped God heard us now notice the language whose heart. Heart.

34:39 The Lord opened to give heed to the things that were spoken by Paul if ever we might be tempted to think that a favorable response to the gospel is the fruit of proper training of the cultivation of the mind of a prior disposition of the soul it would be in the case of Lydia she had already turned away from the paganism of Thyatira. She had already as a Gentile attached herself to the religion of the Jews she saw something in the teaching of the Old Testament that attracted her and caused her to turn her back upon all of her native religious training one would think then that perhaps in such a case you have as she's described a worshipper of God and honest seeker.

35:40 A true inquirer after truth who when she hears the truth will simply as it were under the pressure of those previous inclinations embrace the gospel but it's interesting that it's in the case of this woman who seems to be the most natural and likely disciple that Luke says in language that cannot be misunderstood. It was the Lord himself. Who opened her heart and it's the same word used when Jesus said to the deaf man be opened and his ears were opened the same power that made a deaf man's ears here so that the vibrations of sound that never registered would now register by that power so moved in the heart of Lydia. That the.

36:42 Gospel which fell upon the outward ear reverberated in the deepest chambers of her inner being and the doors of her heart were thrown open to the gospel how by the sovereign activity of the Lord himself likewise with that slave girl here she is under the power of a demon and yet the apostle and sorry it's indicated in the. The text that she was acquainted with the message day after day she would cry out these are servants of the most high God who proclaim to you the way of salvation but all she can do under the power of that demon is taunt and mock the servants of God and irritate them though she knows who they are and though she acknowledges what their message is she's still outside the pale of the power of that. That message until as we read in verse 18.

37:46 All said to the spirit I charge the in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her and it came out that very hour the name of Jesus broke the power of evil that had possessed that poor slave girl and she came into the liberty of the gospel so much so that her masters you see stir up this angry mob. Because they can no longer make money on the things that she did one under the power of this evil spirit and then of course with the Roman jailer here he is a careless indifferent man while the prisoners are described as listening to the singing of Paul and Silas at midnight he's fast asleep utterly indifferent to the fact that in his midst are these servants of the most high God. Utterly indifferent.

38:43 Different to the fact that he had a privilege denied the people in Asia denied those in Bithynia when the spirit of Jesus suffered them not to preach in that place and here he had the unspeakable privilege of having these two servants of God in his midst who could tell him the way of salvation and here he is sound asleep on the brink of hell and destruction utterly indifferent and careless until God says I'm going to get my man. And so the Lord sends an earthquake and shakes the prison and all of the bonds fall off the hands of the prisoners and the doors are opened and when he comes out of his stupor and is wide awake and realizes the situation knowing that if prisoners escaped he would pay for it with his life in order to save his honor he draws out his short sword and he's about to plunge it into his own belly when Paul cries out. Sir do thyself.

39:43 No harm we are all here well what in the world makes prisoners when the doors are open and the chains are off stay in the prison bad enough to have an earthquake that's a physical miracle now there's a moral miracle you go to any prison on this area and open up all the doors and put all the guards asleep what will happen they'll crush one another getting out Paul says do thyself no harm we're all here well you see the combination of the physical and the moral miracle. And the remembrance of why these men were there and no doubt he had heard the report of what had happened to that slave girl all of this comes crashing in upon the spirit of one who before was indifferent and unconcerned and now calling for a light he comes in trembling falls down before the servants of God and cries out sirs what must I do to be saved. They give him that wonderful answer that has brought consolation to thousands upon.

40:50 Thousands believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and we have the record then of the conversion of that one who before was indifferent and unconcerned and who now in the middle of the night is so alert alert and awake to spiritual realities that he's ready to hear a lengthy sermon in the middle of the night gets up the other members of his household and the word of God is preached and he does not want to delay. In acknowledging his believing reception and he is baptized along with his believing household and then tenderly cares for the servants of Christ and rejoices in God well what is Luke telling us he is telling us by these detailed accounts that the spirit of God was the one who mightily worked in making the gospel effective at Philippi. In the case of Lydia.

41:50 In the case of Lydia it's as though the Lord Jesus in the stealth of night silently crept up to the back of the house found his way through an open window and came into the parlor of Lydia's heart. In the case of that demon possessed girl he came as a mighty warrior and he bound the strong man and put his foot upon the neck of the evil one and said you're through. And in the case of the jailer he came riding majestically upon the wings of an earthquake he came in the majesty and splendor of his mighty power to restrain the natural inclinations of wicked prisoners and in these variety of ways we see the Lord Jesus as the great shepherd gathering out those other sheep whom he said. He must bring to himself. You see the relationship between Paul and the Philippians did not begin. When Paul under the dictates of a computer.

43:05 Discovered that Philippi was a very responsive culture. And therefore he ought to go to that responsive culture. And there he ought to find the mindset of that culture. And he ought to present the gospel.

43:22 In such a way that it would have a not no no no such theories of missiology ever tainted the labors of the great apostle. He went there under divine direction. And when he went there he went in that sense of weakness. And I love to think of those few days.

43:44 I can't get away from that phrase we carried their certain days. One can only imagine the prayers that were. Ascending from the hearts of the servants of Christ as they saw the living manifestations of pagan religion as they saw the tangible expressions of the darkness of that society as they saw the open sores and the putrefying wounds of a people who had been devoid of the light of the gospel. And they cried that the gospel would become the power of God.

44:22 Not unto salvation and then they are privileged to witness it in these specimen conversions the Lord opening the heart of Lydia King Jesus is the strong man coming and binding the enemy and then taking the careless jailer bringing him to the knowledge of his own need and to the knowledge of himself that will help you to understand why Paul says in his opening words of the letter. I thank you. Thank God with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. What a pledge to the apostle that here in Philippi the first city in which the gospel is now to penetrate into Europe it is there that he sees the gospel in the full spectrum of its glorious power. No wonder his heart was full of joy. No wonder the phrase fellowship in the gospel occurs again and again in his letter to the Philippians it didn't just come out of nowhere it came out of a matrix of seeing the mighty power of God at work in making the gospel effective at Philippi.

The Specific Activity of God's Servants in Conserving the Fruits of the Gospel

45:42 But now in closing there is a third thing that Luke is careful to underscore and we'll touch upon it just briefly. Not only does Luke give us the origin. Not only does he give us the origins of Paul's relationship to these people in terms of that description of the sovereign activity of the spirit bringing the gospel to Philippi. The mighty work of God making the gospel effective at Philippi but notice the specific activity of the servants of God in conserving the fruits of the gospel at Philippi.

46:18 The specific activity of the servants. In two cases a clear pattern is described and we can therefore assume it was true in the third in the case of Lydia when it became evident that the Lord had opened her heart what followed that mighty work of God the spirit in making the gospel effective. Well the. Text is clear look at it in Acts chapter 16 verse 15 and when she was baptized and her household she besought us saying if you have judged me faithful to the Lord come into my house and abide there and she constrained us. You see the apostle and his companions were concerned not only to preach the gospel.

47:23 Not only to see the gospel made effective by the spirit but to conserve the fruits of the gospel in the God appointed manner which was to baptize disciples and then to teach them. So in the case of Lydia she and her believing household are baptized and the apostle then abides with them and in the last verse of the chapter it tells us that when he abode with her. Again he was there exhorting instructing them in the things of God now the same is true with the Philippian jailer the apostle is not content simply to preach the gospel to him in answer to his question what must we do to be saved. We read in the 30th verse I'm sorry verse 32 they spake the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And.

48:23 Was baptized he and all his immediately and then verse 40 and they went out of prison and entered into the house of Lydia and when they had seen now notice the brethren the intimation being that now the group is grown beyond just the jailer and his family Lydia and her household there is now a group called the brethren. And they exhorted them and departed now notice verse 17 Luke goes back to the they not the we and when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia came to Thessalonica verse 4 and some of them were persuaded and consorted with Paul and Silas the indication being that Paul leaves Luke and Timothy behind to instruct and to teach.

49:23 The infant church at Philippi so what did the servants of God do under the direction of the spirit they came to the place of God's appointment in the power of the spirit they preach the message that God had sent them to preach and when God made that message effective they did not pack up their duds and go on to the next town they obeyed the commission of the Lord Jesus. Make disciples baptize them and teach them and in this passage we have the record of their strict obedience to the commission of their Lord that there would be no idea that one could be a secret disciple that if Lydia has gone beyond a mere attachment to the Jewish religion and has come to that which is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

50:24 She must declare it by going into the waters of baptism likewise with the members of her household and if the Philippian jailer is now calling Jesus Lord no longer giving to seize a religious homage but seeing in Christ his only hope of salvation he is not to be a secret disciple he is to acknowledge God's work in him and his response to that by enrolling amongst the. Number of his visible disciples in the waters of baptism and then the servants of God though no doubt they would like the strength of that fourfold cord recognize that if these are to be brought to a place where they glorify God in their lives together they must be instructed in so Luke and Timothy are left behind while Paul and Silas go on to preach the gospel in other cities. What.

51:24 Is this but a description of the specific activity of the servants of God in conserving the fruits of the gospel at Philippi now I suggest that this is the beginning of that deep and intimate relationship which existed between Paul and the church at Philippi and we shall see as we get into the exposition of the book that beginning relationship. Seem to derive its clue from the very first thing Lydia does after she's baptized she doesn't say thank you Paul for bringing the gospel thank you for baptizing me now the Lord bless you no sooner is she brought into the faith of Christ but what her heart enters into a more intimate fellowship with the servants of Christ and that becomes as it were a clue to the very first thing Lydia does after she's baptized.

52:23 The very climate of the church at Philippi later on Paul will say no other church had fellowship with me in the gospel except you you see why this church was so dear to him why the saints at Philippi had become so precious to him because they were not only the ones in whose midst he saw the gospel in its glorious power as the first fruits among the saints. The Gentiles in that new frontier of gospel enterprise but also that church manifested such a commitment to the work of that gospel that fellowship in the gospel becomes the bond that knits the heart of the great man of God to these his own converts in the work of God. Well there is much that could be said by way of.

Application: The Church's Task in Our Generation

53:23 Application and direction but my concern this morning has been primarily to teach you many of you I'm sure can see the applications they are manifold and burningly relevant suffice it to say that as we think of our responsibility in our own generation our task to bring the gospel to this needy generation may we like Luke and Paul and his companions as we. Think. Face the increasing evidences of the raw paganism and all of its outworkings at every level of society Paul did not go and organize a committee to stand against the evils of colonization. Philippi was a Roman colony it had all the evils that come with colonization but he goes to preach the gospel it had all the evils of slavery he does not go on an anti-slavery. Campaign. When converts are brought to the knowledge of Christ he does not organize them into a political block to stand against Rome.

54:38 Oh beloved there are a thousand voices telling the church what to do in this hour may we hear none but the voice of God speaking in the scriptures that voice tells us to preach the gospel it is the power of God unto. Salvation. It. Cast out the demons of humanism the demons of sensualism the demons of the worship of intellect the worship of sex the worship of every pagan God that is bowed down to in our own nation it is the gospel.

55:18 Is that gospel we are called upon to preach. And particularly as we stand on the threshold of entering this new dimension. Under the direction of the spirit. Entering that community of Montville.

55:35 What should our burning concern be. It should be that God will give us a renewed confidence in the power of the gospel. Renewed energy and prayer to plead that not only may we be guided by the spirit as to where we preach. But that we may know the power of the spirit upon us in our corporate life.

56:00 And testimony that God the Holy Ghost whether he comes in the still of the night sneaks around the back of the house and comes in through an open window and just gently opens hearts as in the case of Lydia. Whether he comes as an armed man storming those who are Satan's captives in whatever way he chooses. Oh that we may see the gospel triumph. Bringing.

56:30 People in penitence and faith. To the feet of Jesus. And then that we will be committed. To a biblical method of conserving the fruits of that gospel.

56:42 Baptizing men. Teaching them that they might be built up into the fullness. Of the measure of the stature of Christ. Dear people of God that's our task.

56:55 That's our commission. And it's in the fellowship of those concerns. That the. Deepest and the most intimate friendships are known upon the face of the earth.

57:07 It was in the context of those realities that the heart of the apostle was so knit to the heart of the Philippians that out of that relationship comes this most intimate this most tender this most precious letter the epistle of Paul to the Philippians. May God. Grant that our appetites will be whetted to examine what the spirit of God has given to us as his people as we consider this letter together. Let us pray.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Supplication

57:55 Our father. We confess that our hearts thrill.

58:01 When we read the records of your mighty works. Of grace and power in the hearts of men.

58:10 And yet we acknowledge that they. Thrill even more. When we witness those mighty works. In our own generation.

58:19 And before our own eyes. And we thank you that sitting here today. Are some Lydia's. Who by virtue of early training.

58:30 And by the pressure. Of common grace. Were brought to a deep respect for your word. For your truth.

58:40 And who perhaps do not even know. When they pass from death to life. But whose hearts have been nonetheless opened. To receive the Lord Jesus.

58:52 As he is offered in the gospel. We thank you for the Lydia's amongst us. We pray that even this day. There may be some whose hearts are opened.

59:03 By your mighty power. We thank you for those who like that slave girl. Were living tragic monuments. Of the power of the devil.

59:14 Slaves to drink. Slaves to drugs. Slaves to sex. Slaves to materialism.

59:24 Oh God we thank you. That you've cast out as it were. These demons that control them. You have made them.

59:33 Free men and women in Christ. We thank you for others. Who like the careless jailer. Whose interest lay in other matters.

59:42 You have brought many. To a place where the great concerns of the soul. Have burned. In their consciousness.

59:52 Until there was no rest or peace. Outside of Christ. We thank you. For those triumphs of the gospel.

60:00 Present in this place this morning. And our cry is. That there shall be multitudes more. Oh God.

60:09 Have mercy upon us as a church. We pray. Lead with you. That you would renew our confidence in the gospel.

60:17 Our dependence upon the spirit. To lead us. In our gospel enterprises. And to bless us in them.

60:25 We pray that our fellowship. Like the fellowship of Paul. With the Philippians. Will be a fellowship.

60:33 In the gospel. Hear our prayer. Receive our thanks. For your presence with us this morning.

60:40 We ask these mercies. Through him who loved us. And died for us. Even our Lord Jesus Christ.

60:49 Amen.