Monday, May 26, 2008

Journeying through Philippians

Over the past three Sundays, I have had the opportunity to begin preaching through Paul's letter to the Philippians. What a joy it has been!

Let me back up a bit. In the summer of 2004, while in seminary, I took a class from Dr. David Black on Philippians. This book is one of his specialties. Since he is a master-teacher of Greek, it was a thrill. During the class, we mainly used the English text, but Dr. Black couldn't help but break into the Greek once in a while. That class helped me to see just how wonderful this little letter to the Philippian church really is.

During the 2005-2006 school year, I took a class in expository preaching. Our focus during the first semester was Philippians. We discussed Paul's primary reason for writing the letter, what the main themes are, what the structure of the letter is, how to break it down into preaching segments, and how to preach through it. The entire experience was an excellent one for me.

Now, to have the chance to preach this letter at Chevis Oaks Baptist Church (near Savannah, GA) is a great privilege. It's also a lot of fun.

In looking at chapter one of Philippians, it is interesting to see where Paul's focus lies. After an initial greeting (1:1-2) to the church, Paul discusses his prayers for them and then prays for them. Before anything else in this letter, Paul shows his care for his brothers and sisters in Christ by lifting them up to the Lord (1:3-11).

We clearly see Paul's emphasis on the importance of prayer.

After his prayer, Paul talks about how the gospel is spreading in Rome, in part, because of his imprisonment there. He does not appear to be upset by his sufferings. Instead, he is thrilled to see both the gospel flourishing and the Roman church getting bolder in witnessing (1:12-18).

We clearly see Paul's emphasis on the proclamation of the gospel.

In verses 19-26, Paul discusses his driving force in life. Quite simply but also profoundly, he tells the Philippians and us that Christ is why he does what he does. Verse 21 could almost be a life verse for Paul. I love the literal translation of verse 21; it says, "For to me, to go on living Christ, and to die gain."

We clearly see Paul's emphasis on doing everything we do for Christ.

Verse 27 signals an important transition in the letter. Paul gives his first command. Using political language that the residents of a Roman colony would understand well, he literally tells them to be good citizens of the kingdom of God. Their behavior ought to be worthy of the gospel of Christ. He goes on to tell them that they do this by striving for unity, living courageously, and suffering graciously (1:27-30).

We clearly see Paul's emphasis on the importance of living in a manner that honors the gospel of Christ.

Chapter 2:1-4 is as far as I have preached so far. In these verses, Paul tells the Philippian church how to be united. It's clear based on several parts of this letter that the church was struggling with lack of unity (see 4:2). Paul tells them that if they seek the good of their brothers and sisters in Christ before their own, then they will be united. It is not a difficult concept to comprehend, just a tough one to live out day to day.

We clearly see Paul's emphasis on unity.

I'm very much looking forward to preaching the next section of the letter, the great Christ Hymn of 2:5-11.

What a privilege it is to preach the word! Getting to study and preach through books of the bible is a treasure beyond description.

Let me encourage you to study systematically through books. It will stretch you and make you learn new things all the time.

3 comments:

jeleasure said...

Hello Eric,
Each day I scroll throgh blogger profiles to view particular interest. Today I scrolled through and read under the interest of "Theology".
I've never met a hyper-calvanist either. My wife says she is between calvanism and extreme calvanism.
Thank you for the encouragement to read and examine philippians in the Greek. I love the treasures found in the origional greek.
Will you take a look at my blog,
http://deityquest.com/ and advise me? I would like to know what I can do to draw more readers. I am fairly new at blogging, so, I may want to communicate with you if I do not understand.
Thanks.
Jim Leasure (pronounced like measure) jeleasure@comcast.net

Eric said...

Jim,

It's great that you are blogging. I believe it helps us all to put our thoughts down in a way that forces us to think through issues.

I don't have time right now, but in the next couple of days I'll make a point of looking at your blog.

As for Philippians, it is just a treasure. I love that little letter.

jeleasure said...

Thank you for your reply, Eric.
Take your time at getting to my blog page. I am not in a rush. It is just a blog; though I truely believe what I am doing with it is important.
If you read anything I've written, I would appreciate comments or questions. I am not a student in seminary, nor have I ever been. I study. And believe me. Sometimes I read what I wrote and find it difficult to swallow. I.E., In one of my entries, I wrote that Jesus had to perfect himself to save himself before He could save others. I realized, today, that I need to go back to that comment and do more to give it credibility. The author of Hebrews said this in his own words. However, I know that there are those people who would simply not believe Hebrews and say it is a mistake in translation.
Jim