Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 1:1-11

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I.     Introduction

            This week friends of ours who were in the church we pastored in Mather came by to visit.

We hadn’t seen them for quite a few years and it was good to catch up again.

All of us enjoy good relationships with other people.

We relate with and enjoy some people because they are the same age as us.

Others become friends because of similar interests.

I know that some of you will have things to talk about after the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen this afternoon.

Other friendships exist because of working relationships.

Amos and I hadn’t seen each other for about three weeks and it was good to get together and talk again this week.

A lot of relationships we have are because of family.

Our children joined us at the lake when we were on vacation, my mom and step dad came out and also brought three of my nieces with them.

What a great time it was to visit and connect as family members!

Such relationships are a blessing.

I am thankful for the friendships I have and for the blessing of a relationship with my family.

But as I think about this, another question comes to mind.

Each week we gather as a congregation.

We attend Bible Study and work together on various projects like camp and SS.

What is the basis of the friendships we have in church?

How do we express and live out our relationships with other Christians?

This morning I would like to begin a series of messages on the book of Philippians that will go until early December.

I mentioned that I was planning this to someone and they said “O good, that is my favourite book.”

I hope that as we hear what God has to say in this part of His Word, we will be challenged and encouraged in our walk with God.

I invite you to turn to the first chapter of Philippians

            Philippians is a letter.

Now there are different kinds of letters.

Some letters we write are business letters dealing with an issue.

I have written many of these, for example when I write a letter of transfer.

The content of that letter is different than another letter I recently wrote in which I was addressing spiritual issues and engaging in a spiritual debate with an individual.

On the other hand, I have also written letters which were friendship letters.

For example, I email my sister, who lives in Edmonton from time to time and let her know what is happening in our family and so on.

Each of these letters will have a different tone and content.

The letter which Paul wrote to the people of God in the church in Philippi was most likely a letter of friendship.

In it he expresses his love for them, lets them know what is happening and also deals with a few issues, but not with the intensity with which issues are dealt with in, for example, the letter to the church in Corinth.

This tone of the letter makes it a very encouraging letter, but one which still has much to challenge us in faith.

The letter is written to the saints in Christ – that is those who have been made holy because of the work of Jesus Christ in their life.

It is addressed to the saints including the leaders of the church.

Paul greets the church with a Christianized greeting, changing the normal Greek greeting to the word grace which comes in Christ.

He also includes the normal Jewish greeting of peace.

The whole thing is wrapped up clearly in Jesus Christ.

Please note that Jesus is mentioned three times in the first two verses.

Gordon Fee, writes, “Everything is in, of, by and for Christ Jesus.

Christ Jesus is the basis of their common existence; he is the focus and content of the gospel in which Paul, Timothy, and the Philippians are partners; and he is the Lord, to whom every knee shall bow…”

As I already mentioned, often our friendships are based, on common interest, similar age or blood relationship.

In the church, we are called to something deeper.

The nature of the letter as a friendship letter permeates the first 11 verses.

In this passage we see Paul’s heart – a heart which is first of all in love with Jesus Christ and lives all relationships in the context of that relationship.

Following the greeting, which is found in verses 1,2, the passage divides naturally into two sections.

In verses 3-8, Paul gives thanks for his friends in Philippi and in verses 9-11, he prays for them.

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II.

I Thank God

!! A.  Partnership In The Gospel

In his thanksgiving for them, we get a glimpse of his friendship with them and the basis that friendship.

The first phrase which indicates why he has a special relationship with them is found in verse 5 where he says, “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

What does he mean by “partnership in the gospel?”

It could mean several things.

In 4:18, he mentions a gift they had sent.

His needs for ministry were met when they sent a gift.

Is that what the partnership of the gospel means?

In this verse, he mentions that they have been partners “from the first day until now.”

The church in Philippi had been planted by Paul and some of his companions including Silas and Luke, as recorded in Acts 16.

By partnership in the gospel does he mean that they and he share the same faith in Jesus Christ?

At this time, Paul was in prison, and so, suffering for his faith.

In 1:29, Paul mentions that the Philippians also have suffered.

Is their partnership in the gospel a partnership of suffering?

I believe that all of these things are included, but the basis and foundation of their relationship goes back to the fact that they are all followers of Jesus Christ.

His close relationship with the Philippians has everything to do with the fact that they are all Christians.

It is a bond in the Lord.

The time reference in this phrase, “from the first day until now” invites the question about the future of that partnership.

In Philippians 1:6, we have a verse that is well known and also speaks about the deep and significant relationship they share with Christ.

The beginning of the life of faith is in what God has done.

God has begun the work.

This reminds us once again that we do not save ourselves.

God is the one who begins the good work in us and God is the one who, according to the promise in this verse, will bring us to spiritual maturity and readiness to meet our Saviour.

The matter of God’s work and our participation is somewhat of a mystery.

As people who have emphasized our part, which the Bible certainly also teaches, we need to be reminded about how much God actually does in our salvation.

I find this to be very encouraging and refreshing.

It encourages me that I am not alone in my growth in faith, but that God also plays a large part.

In the context of the friendship with the Philippians which we are talking about, this verse tells us that Paul and the Philippians share a relationship with God who has begun to work in them, who is working in them in the present and who will continue to work in them and bring them to the conclusion which will come about on the “day of Christ Jesus.”

As we think about that we ought to recognize that we are involved in a relationship with God and with all of God’s people that starts when we express faith in Christ and will be a significant relationship throughout all of eternity.

Paul’s love for the Philippians is based in what God has done and continues to do in him and in all of them.

We invest a lot in our marriages and we certainly ought to.

But we also know that the Bible teaches us that there will be no marriage in heaven.

We love our children and have wonderful relationships with them, but in some senses, a relationship with children is about a 20 or 25 year relationship.

When they leave home, we still enjoy the relationship, but it is different.

The relationship we have with all of God’s people, however, is an eternal partnership.

A number of years ago there was a song which was often used at graduations.

One line of the song went like this, “Friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them.”

That is true, not only with those who are our friends because of common interest, age or blood relationship, but with every person who belongs to Jesus Christ.

That is the basis of the deep love and friendship which Paul has with the Philippians.

Since we will spend eternity in heaven with all of God’s people, that is a significant partnership.

The third phrase describing the basis of his relationship with them is found in verse 7 where he says, “all of you share in God’s grace with me.”

Paul begins that verse by saying, “It is right for me to feel this way about you.”

He is talking about his deep love for them, which we will look at momentarily.

He indicates next that “I have you in my heart.”

Then he goes on to indicate that whether he is in prison, far away from them or if he is actively involved in arguing for the gospel and trying to persuade people of the gospel, he and they have this common bond that they “share in God’s grace.”

Once again he is saying what he has already said several times in this passage.

We are in a loving fellowship which is deep and profound because we both have a life changing, grace based relationship with Jesus Christ who is the Saviour and Lord of all the earth.

As one writer says, “the closeness of fellow-feeling is based upon a common participation in the grace of God.” Another writer says, “The believer has no yearnings apart from his Lord; his pulse beats with the pulse of Christ; his heart throbs with the heart of Christ.”

!! B.  The Affection Of Christ