Intro: A Book on Joy
Tom Shrader opens a new expository series in Philippians by contrasting worldly happiness—rooted in autonomy, accumulation, and pleasure—with the biblical joy Paul describes while writing from a Roman prison. He defines joy as a settled conviction that all is right between a believer and God, independent of outward circumstances, and notes that this joy is produced by the Holy Spirit and deepened through suffering. Shrader also walks through the founding of the Philippian church in Acts 16 and unpacks Paul's opening greeting, highlighting the significance of the words 'saint,' 'bondservant,' and the consistent Pauline sequence of grace before peace.
“Joy is the flag that flies over the castle of your heart when the king is in.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Philippians
Recorded: 2008 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 55 min
Themes: joy, suffering, contentment, happiness, peace, grace, holy spirit, worship, going through hardship, feeling unhappy, new believer, struggling with anxiety, young adult, seeker, person in difficult circumstances, mentor
Scripture: Philippians 1:1-6, Philippians 1:21, Philippians 1:23, Philippians 3:7-8, Philippians 3:20, Philippians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, Acts 9:23, Acts 15:36-40, Acts 16:1, Acts 16:9, Acts 16:12-34, Matthew 18:15-18, Psalm 51:5, Proverbs 5:22, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Titus 1:4, Philemon 3
Theological Themes: sanctification, pneumatology, joy in suffering, pauline epistles, means of grace, biblical exposition, union with christ, perseverance
Full Transcript
Introduction
Father, thank You that we can sing those words. I pray they are true in my heart and in our hearts — that Your grace is enough, that we find everything we need pertaining to life in the gospel, in the cross. Father, that we can be here today and worship and praise You is a source of great joy for us. God, we are going to declare our love for You, and understand as we do that that declaration is based on You first loving us. God, thank You for that truth. We praise You and worship You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Today we begin our study in the book of Philippians. Please turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 1, verse 1. I want to read the first six verses, because that was my goal today — to get through those six verses.
"Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for all of you, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
A Book About Joy
One of the traditions we have when we begin a book is to spend time in introduction — understanding the background and all that goes with it. In his commentary, Sinclair Ferguson begins this discussion with a simple sentence: many Christians find Philippians the most attractive of all of Paul's letters and the easiest part of his writings to read. James Boyce also speaks to this, and the reason we enjoy it is not only its simplicity but its message. As Boyce puts it, the Letter to the Philippians is one of the most joyous books in the Bible.
That is where we hang our hat. This is a book about joy. It is a book about joy written by a man in prison to people who are incurring incredible hardship. We immediately step back and see something very different here, because for so many of us our conception of joy is bound up with circumstance or comfort — or, to use a more precise word, happiness. This is not about being happy. This is about being joyful.
In his introduction to his commentary, James Boyce writes: any Christian who is feeling down or discouraged about anything should study Paul's great Letter to the Philippians. My suspicion is that encompasses many of you at different levels of discouragement or feeling down. Boyce continues: this is true because of Paul's circumstances when he wrote. He had been kept in prison for two years in Caesarea without a trial, and was now being held for an unknown amount of time in Caesar's jail in Rome. He had survived perilous storms in the Mediterranean Sea. He had been deserted by most of his friends. Others, even Christian leaders, had spoken against him, hoping to get him into even more trouble with the government. He was facing possible execution for his faith.
Terrible — yet no book in the Bible is so filled with joy as Philippians. That prompts Boyce to ask: what was Paul's secret? How could he remain joyful in the midst of these circumstances? We find the answer as we study this letter. In only 104 verses, the idea of joy is raised sixteen times.
The World's View of Happiness
We immediately see a conflict between what the world says about happiness and what God says about joy. For roughly thirty years of my life, I accepted the world's view — that we are here to be happy, that we should be happy, that we are somehow entitled to be happy, and that we must pursue whatever will make us happy. It even echoes the language of the Declaration of Independence. I pursued happiness in four areas, and you could certainly add to these.
The first was the idea of doing your own thing. If nobody bothers you, nobody hassles you, you simply take control of your life. You define freedom as doing whatever you want, whenever you want — in spite of what it does to the people around you, in spite of what it does to relationships. You will be happy because you are the captain of your ship. The second was accumulation. It may be education — degree after degree after degree — or, as we more often think of it, the accumulation of material possessions.
The World's Formula for Happiness
Money somehow equals options, and options equal freedom, and freedom equals happiness. So we begin to accumulate, getting more and more stuff. You could add fame to that equation as well.
This week, and it was unavoidable — I was following the whole situation with Britney Spears. This is going to sound harsh, and one of the things I did not do was laugh. I found it so tragic. Those pictures — imagine this poor girl. She is lost. She has no clue, and clearly she is not getting any meaningful input from the people around her. Yet if you rewind three, four, five years ago, she was a Mouseketeer, she was happy, she had number-one songs, she was traveling the world. There is not a person alive who would not have said, "Boy, I bet I'd be happy in that case." And then there she is, at an absolute low point, being put on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance while a group of photographers follows her, taking pictures as she is hauled into a hospital. How degrading is that? What a troubling profession that is.
Here is the deeper problem with that profession: the only reason those photographers exist is because people like us buy the material when they put it out. That is worth sitting with.
Pleasure, Selfishness, and the World's Dead Ends
Maybe pleasure is your pursuit instead — booze, drugs, sex, rock and roll, travel, food, eat, drink, and be merry. You may fill in the gaps yourself. The world somehow points us toward some combination of those things.
Here is what is interesting: if you are going to live that way, there is a fourth requirement, and it is non-negotiable. If you are going to pursue worldly happiness, you have to be selfish. You cannot live as though anyone else truly matters. Other people matter only to the extent that you can use them, benefit from them, or exploit them. You cannot genuinely be concerned about them. You yourself become consumed with self-image, self-esteem, and self-assertiveness. That, I think, is the working definition of worldly happiness — here is you, and everyone else exists to serve you. That is why God's Word says not to think like the world. James says that whoever is a friend of the world is, really, an adulterer.
Susan's One-Sentence Sermon
Susan and I, over twenty years ago, were invited to come and teach a Sunday school class of men and women who were fifty-five or older. I remember driving over thinking, "Man, these people smell like mothballs." And now I am one of them — that is the problem, that is the point.
They called and said they would like both of us to speak. I told them Susan does not do that. They said they would like Susan to speak anyway. I said I doubted she would, but I would ask her. So I asked Susan, and she said, "Sure, I'll be happy to." We went the week before to get the lay of the land, and then the night before we were to speak, I laid out the plan: "Here's the deal, Susan — I'll go in and get us started, set the table, paint the picture. You do your thing, and then I'll come in and clean it up, and everything will be all right." She said, "All right, Slick — you just do what you think you need to do."
So I went in, set the table, laid everything out, and introduced her. I said, "They've asked Susan to speak today. Susan has never spoken in public before, so be gracious to her." Susan came up and said, "Gentlemen, if you want to listen, fine, but I really want to talk to the ladies." She said, "Last week Tom and I were here, and as we walked through the room I was listening to so many of you. All through the room I heard you saying, 'I've raised my kids, I've done my thing, I've paid the price — now it's time to travel, now it's time to live for myself.'" Then she held up a Bible and said, "Ladies, you are godly women. Show me one verse in here where it says it is time to live for yourself." And she sat down.
I got up and said, "This is why we do not let her talk in public very much." Everything I said after that was irrelevant. I could not have made the point any better. I had not spent forty-five minutes to say what she said in two or three sentences — but it is true, is it not?
A Simple Definition of Joy
So immediately we see the problem: we have worldly happiness on one side, and joy on the other. Let me give you a simple definition of joy — not a technical one in any way. Joy is this: knowing that all is well between you and God. Everything is right between God and me. It does not mean everything is right with the world. It does not mean there are no problems. It simply means everything is right between God and me.
MacArthur writes this line: "Biblical joy is the settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for believers' good and His glory, and is available to all who obey Him."
So we have these two things in front of us. On one side, the world says accumulate, do your own thing, find pleasure, seek more, be selfish. On the other side, God says joy is simply knowing that everything is right between you and Him.
The Tension Between This World and the Next
One of them is lying. You had better figure that out, because this is a big deal. I hesitated to bring this paragraph in, and for some of you, you might check out at this point, and that is okay. We will be back to you in a minute. But I read this paragraph all week, and it was percolating in my mind. Yesterday morning, I read a little bit of it to Susan and asked, what do you think?
Here is what MacArthur writes: "We live in a generally sad world, a fallen world, well-acquainted with despair, depression, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and a longing for lasting happiness that often never comes to pass. Moments of pleasure and satisfaction are scattered through general pain and sorrow of life. Many people have little hope that their situation in life will ever change much, if any, for the better."
I actually talk to Susan a lot through this book. I think of her often as I read through the book of Philippians, because I see her as my role model in the middle of this. I read those sentences to her and asked, do you think this is true? Then I read her this: "Hopelessness tends to increase with age. Long years of life often become long years of sorrow and unfulfillment, loss of loved ones and friends, and often physical limitations and pain." Susan said, yes, I do think that is true. And then she added: I think that is by God's design.
This is in no way an endorsement of despair or being distraught or disheartened or sad, because the call is to be joyful. But it is knowing all is well with God, knowing that He is working His plan in my life, and knowing that in this battle between this world and God's world, I will ultimately be a victor in His world.
Paul's Cry: Torn Between Two Worlds
I think that is exactly what Paul has in mind when he writes in verse 21 of chapter 1, "For me to live is Christ and to die is great gain." And in verse 23, "I am hard-pressed from both directions, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is much better, and yet to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake." He summarizes all of that in chapter 3, verse 20: "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of His power, it is He whom is subject to all things Himself."
Paul is saying that in this world, all these things come into our lives, and I do think MacArthur is right — over a period of time, they accumulate and accumulate and accumulate. That is not to say there is no joy in our lives, but there is a weariness with this world, and there is a cry that I think comes to you as you get older and begin to experience life more deeply.
It is Paul's cry: I am really torn here. A young man or a young woman rarely feels that tension. Why would they? They do not want to be anywhere else. They want to be here. But as you get a little older, just like Paul, you say, I am really torn, because I know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and I desire that. And yet my desire to remain is singular — it is for your sake. It is not even for my own sake. It is for your sake, that God would use me in a significant way in your life.
So as we grow chronologically and correspondingly grow closer and closer to the Lord, there is this deep yearning in us, this dissatisfaction with the things of this world, and this contentment we find in the things of the next world. Our thought process becomes more and more heavenly-minded, so that we will be of great earthly good. I remember someone saying, not long after Larry died — and I was listening to Larry just this morning and laughing, thinking not just about what he was saying but about how he would say it — someone told me: God is beginning to populate heaven with friends of yours, so you will begin to yearn to be there. There is probably some truth to that.
A Strange Command: Rejoice
Now, you could easily say at this point, well, this is not the upper I was looking for. This is not Zig Ziglar. This is not Tony Robbins. But it is better than Tony Robbins, because what Paul says in the midst of all this is: do not try to escape from it. Do not be foolish and cause yourself more pain than is necessary, but do not try to escape from it either. In fact, he gives a command, and it is a striking command.
Look at chapter 4, verse 4: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice." That is where this joy is found — in the Lord. The phrase "in Christ" appears over and over again throughout this book. In fact, the phrase "Christ Jesus" or "Jesus the Christ" appears seventeen times in the first chapter alone. This joy is about a relationship with Him. This joy is knowing that everything is right between God and me, that I am in right relationship with Him, that He has made me right, and I am right with Him today.
About every Sunday, Chuck Holmes comes by my office around 7:45, and I leave around 8. He checks in, and we talk. This past Sunday he said he was so excited to start a new book. He said it is about joy, and then he gave me this definition: joy is the flag that flies over the castle of your heart when the King is in. Joy is that knowing — that all is right between God and me. And let me say it again clearly: it does not mean there is an absence of turmoil or pain or hardship.
Paul's Suffering as Context
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, where Paul gives a summary of some of the hardship in his life. Verse 24: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned." They literally hurled rocks upon him, thought he was dead, and dragged him out to the edge of town. "Three times I was shipwrecked, and a day and a night I have spent in the deep."
Then in verse 26, note the word "danger" as it relates to Paul's life: "I have been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers, and dangers from robbers, and dangers from my countrymen, and dangers from the Gentiles, and dangers in the city, and dangers in the wilderness, and dangers in the sea, and dangers among false brethren." "And I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights, and hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure."
You can put all those things in one category. Verse 28 creates a new category. Paul calls the first group the external aspects of suffering — the kind we most readily associate with hardship. Then he adds: "Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me for the concern of all the churches." Paul is a pastor, a shepherd, and he is concerned about what is happening in Philippi, Ephesus, Galatia, Rome, and all the churches around him. He says he lives in that.
It is important to drive this home: as Paul writes this letter, he is not sitting at a resort watching the waves come in. He is in a Roman prison, waiting, in all likelihood, for Nero to execute him. He had already been imprisoned in Caesarea for at least two years prior to this, and all these things are taking place in that context.
Afflicted but Not Crushed
Turn forward a little to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. These are verses worth returning to again and again. In verse 7 Paul speaks of the earthly vessel carrying the treasure of the gospel, and then in verse 8 he pulls no punches: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." You can feel these things pressing in all around him. Perhaps you can picture Paul in your mind's eye and paste yourself in his place — because that is exactly how some of you feel right now.
Then he summarizes in verse 16: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." We do not give up. We do not lose heart. The reason joy and happiness are possible in the midst of this is that the inner man is being renewed even as the outer man decays.
Look at verse 17. Here is what Paul calls all of this: "momentary light affliction." "For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." All of this momentary light affliction takes us into the fire, purifying us and preparing God to do something in our lives — and more importantly, in our hearts and our attitudes. The secret, Paul says, is this: "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
If you want a wonderful study, take Luke's account of these events in Paul's life beginning in Acts chapter 9, verse 23, and work your way through the rest of the book. You will see suffering, pain, and hardship at every turn, and yet in the midst of it all there is this incredible attitude of joy. Paul finds himself in a jail in Philippi, rejoicing.
Joy as a Supernatural Gift
Paul tells us throughout this letter that there is a joy which is, first of all, a gift from God. It belongs to all who believe the gospel to be true. It is not human-produced. It is produced by the Holy Spirit, and it is experienced more fully as we submit ourselves to God and obey His Word. This joy deepens itself through trials. It becomes more and more real, and the more the suffering, the more the pain, the more the hardship — the more the joy.
Humanly, that does not connect. Naturally, it does not make any sense. But it is not natural, and it is not human — it is supernatural. It is a theme running all through the New Testament. The verb "rejoice" appears ninety-six times in the New Testament, and the noun "joy" appears fifty-nine times. Joy is to be a constant part of our lives. It is as much a part of our lives as sorrow and pain, and sorrow and pain only deepen it.
Susan's Example
I mentioned Susan, and I probably do not hit the mark on this enough. I wrestle with how much to share, but I watch her. This is our fourth time with this cancer in three years. Someone the other day asked how she was doing, and I said she was doing really well. She has her physical challenges, but spiritually and emotionally she is doing the best she has done through any of the four. It is not that it gets easier each time. It is that the reality of God and who He is, and His provision, becomes more clear. That is what it is.
She has become, I think, very comfortable beginning to realize that ultimately this will probably take her life. I think she understands that. But that is all right, isn't it? The issue is: how do we respond to that?
The Secret to Joy
Paul's secret to joy is laid out in Philippians chapter 3, verse 8. After listing his whole credentials, his pedigree, his resume — everything he had accomplished — he writes: "But whatever things were gained to me, I count these things of loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I account all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." His mind was consumed with Christ.
They say, and it seems to be true, that while you might be able to multitask physically, your mind cannot think about two things simultaneously. It simply cannot do it. What Paul is saying is: here is all this suffering, here is all that is wrong, but his mind is not consumed with that. His mind is consumed with God — who He is, and what it means to know Christ.
Going back to chapter 1, verse 3, Paul even says "my God." We studied this same intimacy in Psalm 23 — "He is my shepherd." There is a personal relationship there. You begin to know Him, to see Him, to watch Him operate. In a sense He becomes predictable: when you are down, He lifts you up; when you are prideful, He brings you down; when you are weak, He is strong.
Why would God allow all these difficult things? Perhaps it is precisely so that we would listen, respond, and see His grace and His mercy over and over again. Paul writes these words almost at the end of his life, at the culmination of years and years of suffering — all the while doing exactly what God called him to do.
Put yourself in his place. Wouldn't that be your reflex? "God, I have done all this, I have gone through this again and again, and the thanks I get is that now I am sitting in a prison in Rome." And yet what does Paul do? He praises Him. Why? Because his relationship with God is not based on where he is geographically. It is based on where he is spiritually — on Him and Paul, and Paul and Him. Apart from Him, Paul can do nothing. But with Him in his life, great things happen.
That is why we can live this life joyously. That is why this is not deluding ourselves or kidding ourselves. God produces that kind of joy. God is the one who does that. Kathy's message about Susan — rejoicing over someone else's healing even while her own cancer remained — is an example of exactly this. She is incredible, yes, but more than that, God is incredible, because God is the one who produces that response in a person.
Background on the City of Philippi
Let me give you a little background about the city of Philippi. It was founded in the fourth century B.C. and named after Philip II of Macedonia, who was the father of Alexander the Great. Because of its strategic location along the route between Rome and Asia Minor, the city held great importance. It was conquered by the Romans in the second century, and in Acts chapter 16, verse 12, Luke refers to it as a Roman colony.
William Barclay writes this about its citizens: "Their language they spoke was Roman. Their dress was Roman. Roman customs were observed. Their magistrates had Roman titles and carried out the same ceremonies as were carried out in Rome itself. They were stubbornly, unalterably Roman and would have never dreamed of becoming assimilated to the people amidst whom they were set." They would not think to become like the local Philippians — they were Romans. Their coinage bore Roman inscriptions, there were gold and silver mines in the region, and commerce was strong. There was also a very small Jewish population, and we see that reflected in the story of the Philippian church.
How Paul Came to Philippi
To understand how Paul ended up in Philippi, turn with me to the book of Acts, chapter 15. Paul has completed his first missionary journey and the council of Jerusalem has concluded. In Acts chapter 15, verse 36, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord, and let's see what's happening there." Barnabas agreed, but wanted to bring John Mark. Paul said no. Verse 40 tells us that Paul chose Silas and left, and away they went.
In chapter 16, verse 1, Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, where he met Timothy. His intent was to move into Asia Minor, but in verse 9 of chapter 16, a vision appeared to Paul in the night: "A man from Macedonia was standing there and appealing to him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'" And when he saw the vision — and in my Bible this next word is underlined — immediately he sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called them to preach the gospel there.
I want to make this point: when God calls you, you go immediately. If you are certain that God has called you to do something, you do not need to pray about it even more. You may pray about His provision and related matters, but you do not need to pray about whether to go — not if He has already called you.
The Church at Philippi
A man called me and asked if we could have breakfast. We met, and he said, "I'm convinced God's called me to Cincinnati. What do you think?" I told him that I thought he was foolish to be asking me, because if God had called him to go, it was totally irrelevant what I thought. Who was paying for breakfast? I hoped it was him, on his way to Cincinnati.
Why would you call me to think it through if He either called you or He didn't? When you start with "He called me," that trumps everything. That is a conversation killer. I have nothing to say except to pray for you as you go — call Allied Van Lines, not me. If He calls you, go. That is the response.
When God speaks to you, He is looking for a reaction. When you are convinced that God has called you to go, go. Now. And Paul does exactly that — he ends up in Philippi in verse 12. God then begins to put together a remarkable montage of people who become the church at Philippi.
Lydia
Verse 14 introduces a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, who was listening — listening to Paul. Notice in verse 13 that it was the Sabbath. There was no synagogue to go to, which is where Paul always started, so instead he goes to the riverside.
Look at verse 14: "The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things Paul had spoken." When she and her household had been baptized, she said, "Come — you, Silas — stay with me." God opened her heart. God is the one who did the work. Paul is just a vehicle. All God calls you to do is go, preach, and be faithful — but then God is the one who produces the fruit. There was no way possible for Paul to generate belief in Lydia. That was God who opened her heart.
The Slave Girl and the Jailer
Paul is then hanging around the city when a young girl who has been used by her masters for fortune-telling enters the story. Her masters were profiting from her, and Paul commands a demon to come out of her in verse 18 — and the demon came out. Her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, and they seized Paul and dragged him into the marketplace before the authorities. A crowd rose up, and according to verse 23, they struck him with many blows and threw him into prison. This young girl was a pawn in a scheme to separate people from their money.
Now Paul is in prison. There is an earthquake. The jailer, who is responsible for the prisoners, is about to kill himself because he fears that in the earthquake everyone has escaped — which would mean his own death. Paul calls out in verse 28, "Don't harm yourself, we're all here." The jailer calls for lights, rushes in, and falls down before Paul. He says, "Sir, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. That very hour of the night, he washed their wounds, and immediately he and his household were baptized.
A Bond Between Paul and the Philippians
All of a sudden, God brings together this very unusual group of people who become the early church at Philippi. A deep bond develops between these people and Paul. In fact, part of the reason Paul is writing this letter is in response to financial support they had sent to him — something we will see when we get to chapter 4. That is the background, a bit of the history, and it gives us a sense of context as we work through this letter.
The Opening Greeting
So, back to Philippians chapter 1: "Paul, Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." It is very easy to overlook these first verses, especially that first verse. Paul simply says who he is, describes himself, and states who the letter is going to. But we do not want to move past it too quickly. It is a standard greeting, both for the culture of the day and for Paul specifically. My own tendency when I first began to read and study was to get past this and get to the meat. But there is meat right here.
Bond Servants and the Imagery of Slavery
Paul identifies both himself and Timothy as bond servants — literally, slaves. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 20, Paul says we are not our own; we were bought at a price. We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In that culture, a person became a slave in one of three ways. You were either born into it — your parents were slaves and you were born a slave — or you had incurred a debt you could not pay and became a slave until that debt was settled, or you were conquered, made a slave by those who had overcome you. The imagery is rich for those of us who are Christians.
We are slaves to sin by birth. Psalm 51, verse 5: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." It is not the act of conception that is sinful there — it is the sin that was already in the heart at conception. We are conquered by sin. The psalmist cries out and begs God not to allow sin to rule over him. Proverbs 5:22 speaks of breaking the cords of sin. And we carry a debt — the wage of sin is death. We are enslaved to sin, and we are slaves by birth.
Just as in that culture a slave's freedom could be purchased by another man, our spiritual redemption can only be purchased by God Himself. There is nothing we can do as slaves to sin to break free from it. That was done for us on the cross by Jesus.
through all of that is this: the phrase is not a throwaway greeting. Paul is not simply saying, "Hey, hope you're doing well." This is a theological statement, and it's in virtually every letter he writes.
Grace and Peace: A Theological Greeting
Notice the order. It is always grace first, and then peace. That is not accidental. Grace always comes before peace. You cannot have peace with God until you have first received the grace of God. Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God extended to sinners. Peace is what follows. It is the result. It is what you experience when you have received that grace. So Paul is not just being polite. He is rehearsing the order of salvation every single time he opens a letter.
And notice the source. It is always from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the Father and the Son are identified as the source of this grace and peace. Paul is making a statement about the nature and the deity of Jesus Christ every time he writes this greeting. These are not two separate sources. This is one God, Father and Son, from whom all grace and peace flow.
So when you read that greeting, do not skip over it. Do not treat it as a formality. Paul has something he wants you to see before he says anything else. Before he gets to the body of the letter, before he gets to the arguments, the instructions, the encouragements, he wants you anchored in this: grace came first, peace followed, and both came from God.
What It Means to Be a Saint
Now let us go back and sit with the word saint for a moment, because Paul uses it to describe every believer in that church in Philippi, and that means it describes you. When God saves us, He changes not only our destination from hell to heaven, but our designation from sinner to saint. That is not a title you earn. It is not a status you achieve after a lifetime of extraordinary spiritual accomplishment. It is who you are the moment you are in Christ.
The word itself simply means one who is set apart. Set apart for God, set apart to God, belonging to Him. Whether you have been a believer for one day or fifty years, whether you are growing rapidly or barely holding on, if you are His, you are a saint. You cannot make yourself more of a saint than you already are. It is not what you do. It is who you are.
We have inherited an unfortunate cultural picture of what a saint is — someone so far above the rest of us that they have to be officially examined, verified, and canonized before the title is granted. Paul would have none of that. He writes to the whole church and calls them all saints. He will develop this concept of being in Christ Jesus as we work our way through the book, because it is his favorite way of describing a believer.
The Structure of the Church at Philippi
Paul also specifically identifies the leaders of the church in his greeting, noting the overseers and the deacons. If you look at 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, you will find the qualifications for these two offices laid out in detail, and they are essentially the same list. They are almost entirely character qualities, with one exception: the elder must be able to teach.
That distinction points to the difference in function between the two offices. The elders, or overseers, or pastors, are concerned with the spiritual components of the church — the prayer, the teaching, the shepherding of souls. The deacons are concerned more with the practical aspects of serving the congregation. Both offices matter. Both are named here at the opening of the letter, which tells us something about how Paul viewed the local church and its leadership as he wrote.
Slaves of Christ Jesus
Now return to the opening of verse 1, where Paul identifies himself and Timothy not as apostles, not as leaders, but as slaves of Christ Jesus. That word in the original language is the word for bondservant — a slave. Paul chose that word deliberately, and he chose it as a title of honor.
He purchased our salvation. He purchased our freedom. And yet Paul says, you are not your own; you were bought at a price. The rest of that verse goes on to say, do not enslave yourself to men. What would that look like? It would look like some of the things mentioned at the beginning — enslaving yourself to worldly thinking, to the way the world responds, to the approval of people rather than the approval of God.
Paul understood that you have to serve somebody. Nobody can serve two masters, but you will be serving one. You cannot serve the world and serve God. So Paul says clearly: we are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have voluntarily, willingly devoted our service to Him and to Him alone. That is how he opens the letter. That is how he introduces himself. And by naming it that way, he is extending an invitation. Timothy and I are slaves, he says, and we invite you to join us in that description.
Church Discipline: A Matter of Obedience
Paul repeats this greeting, I think, for two very important reasons. Number one, it is foundational to our understanding of God, man, and our relationship. Number two, it has huge practical value in how we live. What you will also notice is that in every one of those instances, the order never changed. It was always grace and then peace.
Grace — our right relationship with God, so we know all is right between us and God — produces peace with God. And because we have peace with God, we have the peace of God. The source of that grace and peace is God, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will unpack that next week.
Matthew 18 and the Steps of Discipline
While your Bibles are open, please turn to Matthew chapter 18. We want to spend a few minutes here on a little bit of family business. Beginning in verse 15:
"If your brother sins, go and show his fault in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector."
In many Bibles, at the beginning of this passage, it says "discipline and prayer." This is a command that is easily overlooked by the church because it is very difficult to begin to deal with. Today is one of those days where we bring before you someone from the church. We are at what Jesus calls in verse 17, step three.
Steve Johnston
For months and months and months we have been dealing with a gentleman from the church. He has been in this church for a long, long time. He would call East Valley Bible Church home. His name is Steve Johnston.
We have pursued and pursued and pursued him. We have gone individually to him. We have gone in groups of two and three to him. Our last step is always to write a letter expressing exactly what is going to happen here today. In that letter, we pointed out that it is indisputable — he would acknowledge it himself — that he is living in a way that is sinful and selfish and unloving to his wife and to his Lord, and that gives us no option but to deal with this in this setting.
We Do Not Take This Lightly
If you are here and this is new to you, or you are new to the faith, you are having all sorts of reactions even at this moment. We do not take this lightly. I woke up this morning at 2:22 and tossed and turned until 4:00. All I could think about was this moment and Steve, and finally I just got up and came in. We are not perfect as leaders and elders. We are not sinless. In fact, we have pointed out our own sin to you.
This is so important when you get to a point where you are dealing with sin at this level: we have followed the process, and if anything, we have been too patient and waited too long. We have gone again and again and again. The issue here is not even the specific sin itself — that is really important. The issue is the failure to repent.
When you sit down with these people, they say, "I know it is sin, I know it is wrong, but I am going to do it anyway — do whatever you want to do." So the sin we are really focusing on is the sin of unrepentance. We all sin. Church discipline, in a way, is being done among all of us all the time — calling each other out, calling ourselves out, perhaps by a spouse or a child. This is not done from a spirit of self-righteousness, nor is it punitive. It is not designed to punish, even though it may feel that way.
The Letter to Steve
Let me read you a paragraph from the letter we sent to Steve:
"Our deepest desire for you is full and loving restoration into fellowship with the Lord and the body of Christ. This can only happen through repentance and confession and forgiveness. We must, however, humbly and tearfully submit to obey our Lord's commands as outlined in Matthew 18, verses 15 through 18. The peace and purity of the body is a serious issue to both us and the Lord. Therefore, we will be bringing this matter before the body of Christ at East Valley Bible Church so they may pray and exhort you and might call you forth to repentance. Based on a consistent pattern over a period of time, the sinful behavior is not even questioned. Based on Steve's actions and God's command, we have no option but to bring this to you."
If there were any other way to do this, we would do it. This is not something easily done, nor is there any great joy taken in it. The only joy that can come from this is singular: when Steve repents and we are restored. That is the joy.
No Option But Obedience
I have learned, as we deal with these situations, that I receive a lot of emails in response. And no, we are not perfect. Yes, we sin. The difference is the brokenness over our sin. Do you see that we have no option? That is why I had you turn to Matthew 18. There is no option for the church here. You may ask why we do not see that practiced around us, and I honestly do not know.
Responding to Church Discipline
Between somebody else and us, and God. But for us, we have no option but to read that and feel the burden. Let me tell you, I know these elders that are in place right now. I know them very, very well. This is the most difficult thing we have to do in the whole course of what we do, and their heart aches over this. That is why I say, if anything, we have probably been too slow getting to this point, simply because of how difficult it is and the weight of it. But we do not have any option.
If you have no idea who Steve is, then here is what you need to do: pray. Pray for him and his restoration. Do not go trying to get evidence, mind your own business, and pray for him. If you know Steve, this is not an occasion for gossip. Most of you already, if you know him at all, know that this is going on.
This is a case for brokenness and thanksgiving for God's grace to us. Pray that God would begin to touch his heart, and that God would use whatever circumstances are necessary in Steve's life — or whoever it might be — to speak into his life and to his family as well.
I add this: every time we are involved in church discipline, one of the things that happens to me is this ongoing moment in which I examine my own heart and mind, asking God to reveal my sin to me so that I can repent and not rebel. Do you see that again? It is not even the specific action we are dealing with here — it is the lack of repentance. So if you know Steve, please be praying for him, for Christy and the family, the kids. This is agonizingly difficult for them. But the body needs to know, and the body needs to deal with it.
Closing Prayer
Father, for Your word we are grateful. It tells us these wonderful truths we have looked at today and the joy that we can have, and then all of a sudden it says, here is what you need to do — you need to follow this process in Matthew 18. God, it is not easy.
Father, let everyone in the room understand: we are not perfect. Do we sin? Yes. But when we sin, there is a brokenness before You. But to sin and to thumb our nose at You — to say, I know this is wrong, it is clearly wrong, there is no question about it, and I am going to act this way anyway — is a sin that we simply cannot allow to continue in the church.
God, I pray for the elders. I thank You for these men. They are giving sweat, work, and diligence to bring honor and glory to You, and they care for and shepherd this church so deeply. Strengthen them. As a body, God, we pray knowing we are not going to stop sinning — but when we do, we confess it, because we know You forgive it. Father, thank You for Jesus. We pray to You in His name. Amen.