THE GOSPEL OF
CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
(Chapter 1)
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Timothy Sparks and Ben Bailey.
Timothy Sparks:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:2). I’m Timothy Sparks.
Ben Bailey:
And I’m Ben Bailey. Welcome to our study of the Book of
Philippians. Philippians is a wonderful book, in which Paul tells us of the joy
and unity we can experence in Christ. Today, we want to make sure you
understand that all of our lessons are the result of financial support of
members of the
As we study this book, we look to
Acts 16 for the background. There, we learn of two important figures—
Timothy Sparks:
In the Book of Philippians, Paul is going to have as one of his themes the subject of “joy.” You will find the word “joy” (or “rejoice”) used in its various forms about sixteen times throughout the Book of Philippians. Philippians 1:27 is perhaps the thematic statement—“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Paul also strongly stresses unity. Christians are to conduct themselves in such a way that honor and glory will be given to God. We learn from Philippians 1:27 that behind this principle of “let your conduct be worthy” is the idea of “citizens.” Christians are citizens of the heavenly kingdom. We learn from Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in Heaven. As we look at this book, we find a lot stress on joy, and on what Christ makes available to Christians.
Ben Bailey:
Paul says in Philippians 4:4,
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.” Christians truly do possess
a joy that those in the world do not have. Our joy is found in Jesus Christ.
Without Jesus in the world, there would be absolutely no joy. The world would
be a sad place in which to live. When Jesus came into the world, the angels
sang, “Peace on earth and good will toward men” (Luke 2). Today, we can have
that same theme in our life. As Christians, we don’t have to walk around with sad
faces—looking as if our best friend just died. We’ve got something about which
we can really rejoice. We can be thankful that Jesus is our Savior, and that we
have the hope of Heaven. This idea of letting our conduct be worthy of the Gospel
of Christ is a very reverent, awe-producing theme that ought to make each of us
want to live more faithfully. With this in mind, Paul begins by saying, “I
thank my God upon every remembrance of you” (1:3). One of the greatest ways to
help people be faithful is to let them know how appreciated they are. Sometimes,
we think people ought to show up and do the things they do just because the
Bible says to. We sometimes forget to express our appreciation. We ought to be
thankful for every person who is a member of the Lord’s church, and for everything
each person does—no matter how big or how small. I’m reminded of what Jesus
said about Mary—“She has done what she could” (Mk. 14:8). People who do what
they can—who really try (as those in
Timothy Sparks:
Paul says, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy” (Phil.
1:3-4). Paul was constantly praying for the Christians in
Ben Bailey:
Paul writes from prison in Philippians 1:6, and tells the congregation that he is “confident that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ.” Not only is Paul thankful and prayerful, but he also expresses his confidence regarding what they can and will do. One of the best ways to encourage people is to let them see the confidence you have in them. Imagine if the apostle Paul was confident that they could do something, what an encouragement that would be to them. The same type of principle applies to us today. We ought to express confidence in people’s abilities and talents. Too many times, we run people down. We leave people with a bad taste in their mouth. Really, we ought to trust people, and let them do the things we know they can do. We should show our confidence in those who are faithful to God, so they know we are confident they can live up to God’s will. What an encouragement that would be—to have people hear us say, “I know you can live faithfully to God, and that you can do the things God wants you do.” We also should express our confidence in people through prayer, and let them know that we are confident that they can stand up against the devil, and do the things God wants them to do. Here, Paul uses a little psychology, in the sense that he’s trying to encourage them by saying, “I’m praying for you, I love you, and I’m confident you can do these things as you remain faithful to the Lord.”
Timothy Sparks:
Paul writes this letter in a way that reminds them of what they already know. This is one of the reasons it’s an encouraging letter. We learn from Philippians 1:12 that Paul tells them about his bonds and about his imprisonment. But he does not discuss his situation in a negative connotation. Rather, he makes it quite positive. He says, “The things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel” (Phil. 1:12). May our lives be lived so that everything we do results in the furtherance of the Gospel! Paul then mentions again how confident his chains and his imprisonment have made him. We learn from verse 17 that Paul is “set for the defense of the Gospel.”
Ben Bailey:
The apostle Paul, whether he was in prison or preaching the Gospel, was always ready to defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the attributes we must have in our conduct is that we, too, must be ready to defend the Gospel. Paul is later going to explain that he had to defend his actions because some were suggesting he was preaching out of selfish ambition. He will talk about people who were doing that. But Paul is saying here that he was ready—out of pure motives and a genuine love of the Lord—to defend and preach the Gospel. That always must be our motive, too. It certainly is our motive today in this lesson. We do our best to bring the message of Jesus to you out of love and concern for lost souls—which is the only motive we ought to have. We must “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). We reach out to the lost because Jesus loved them so much that He died for them (Jn. 3:16). God gave His only Son so that we could have the hope of eternal life. Paul’s motives—although he was set for the defense of the Gospel—issued from a genuine love for souls. Today, the things we do and say stem from our love and deep concern for your soul.
Timothy Sparks:
Paul discussed the fact that there are some people with
bad motives. Some preach Christ out of contention, some out of envy, and some out
of strife. Some were wanting to add affliction to Paul’s bonds. Some were even preaching
just for pretense—“for show.” But Paul says, “What
then? Only that in every way,
whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice,
yes, and will rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). Paul is asking, in essence, “What’s
the end result?” He said he rejoiced that Christ was being preached! Paul was
able, in very negative situations, to find ample reason to rejoice. Some
people, while operating from an improper motive, nevertheless were apparently
teaching the truth of Christ. Otherwise, Paul would not have been able to rejoice.
Paul’s purpose in this discussion, however, is to point out that he was preaching
Christ from such honorable motives as sincerity and genuine commitment. Thus, we
have to check our motives to see why we are teaching and preaching, and why we
are living for Christ.
Ben Bailey:
It does us a lot of good, doesn’t it, to frequently ask
ourselves, “Why are we doing what we are doing, and are we doing it for the
right reasons?” This is what Paul is encouraging those in
Timothy Sparks:
In Philippians 1:20, Paul expresses his desire that, “according
to my earnest expectation and hope, as always Christ, may be magnified in my
body, whether by life, or by death.” Paul wasn’t ashamed of Christ. And he
wasn’t afraid to die. In fact, he was very bold. Paul’s goal was to magnify
Christ—whether in life or in death. He wanted to magnify Christ in his life, certainly.
But even if he were put to death for the cause of Christ, it would bring glory
to God. We learn from Psalms 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the
death of His saints.” So Paul was willing to magnify God even in his death. We
see that Paul then comes to the text that provides the theme of chapter 1—“to
live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). This statement is one of the
highlights of the Book of Philippians. Paul was making it clear
that his whole thrust in life was Jesus
Christ. But when he dies, it will still
be a gain for him. If we were to pass out a survey throughout any state in the
Ben Bailey:
The only life that’s worth living is a life that’s lived for Jesus. When Paul said “for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” he was saying that his whole outlook in life was about living for Jesus. From Romans 12:1-2, we learn that that also must be our outlook. Paul says, “I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice.” This is what God wants us to do. We are to live our lives for Jesus. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, “If any man desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up His cross, and follow Me.” Paul could say this because he, long ago, had “crucified self.” Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, so that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul died with the Lord. He gave up his old life, and now he was living his life solely for Christ. Paul realizes that, in some ways, this is going to be a difficult decision for him. He goes in verses 22-24 to explain what he means. “But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” Paul says, in essence, “I’m between a rock and a hard place. If I stay, I’m going to make more converts, and I want to do that. I want to help bring people to the Lord. However, I also want to go and be with Christ.” This tells us of the outlook and purpose we should have. We live for Christ—which means that we bring other people to Him. You can’t live for Christ and not tell someone else about the Lord. Christianity is something that we pass on; it’s something that ought to be “contagious” in our lifestyle. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “Go, go into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature.” Your “world” might be just next door, or it might be a friend with whom you work. Paul said, “I am hard pressed.” Ultimately, he knew that to depart and be with Christ was far better. Yet he also knew that he had more work to do. Sometimes we sing, “I want to stay here longer than man’s allotted day,” but I don’t think that Paul could have said that. And that really ought not to be our attitude, either.
Timothy Sparks:
Paul wouldn’t be singing that song, “I’d like to stay here longer,” because he didn’t want to stay here longer. He said that he had a great desire to depart and to be with Christ. Why? Because it was “far better.” Why is it far better? It’s much like what Paul would say in Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us.” Paul endured many hardships. He even told Timothy to endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul had to go through a lot of things. Yet Paul said that no matter how intense his persecutions were, in comparison, the glory of Heaven is far grander. No matter how bad the pain of this world may be, the joy of Heaven outweighs it—so much so that the pain of this life can’t even hold a candle to the glory that will be revealed to us in Heaven. We see from Philippians 1:25 that Paul had confidence that he would stay to “abide with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.” Yes, Paul would be staying—and whatever happened to him would turn out for the progress of the Gospel (Phil. 1:12). As a result, he wanted the Christians in Philippi to abound more and more for the cause of Christ, to be able to sow the seed of the kingdom (the Word of God), and to reach out to the lost while growing themselves.
Ben Bailey:
With all of this in mind, Paul now approaches the theme of the book (vs. 27). He says, “Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Paul goes on to say, “Whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (vs. 28). Notice that Paul wants “oneness.” This is an overriding theme that is found throughout the Book of Philippians. Evidently, there were some who didn’t have “the mind as Christ,” or who didn’t have the unity that they should have possessed. It is evident from the Bible that God wants His people to have that oneness, so they can stand together to spread and defend the Gospel. We know this is the case because in Psalms 133:1 the psalmist said, “Behold, look, see how beautiful, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity.” Paul said in Ephesians 4:3 that we should “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Spiritual unity among God’s people has always been God’s will. In fact, division in the church has done more harm then most of Satan’s work put together. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-11, Paul says basically, “It breaks my heart that I hear about the divisions among you, that you’re sectarian, that you’re following the principles of others.” Today, the message for God’s people is one of unity—that we stand together, stand fast, and spread and defend the Gospel. If the devil wanted to do something to the church that would harm it more than anything else, what might he do? He could splinter it. He could get people separated from one another. He could keep us from bonding together in unity. Someone has used the old illustration which suggests that if you take just a single pencil, then it’s pretty easy to break. But if you took 25 pencils held tightly together by a rubber band, how easy would that group be to break? It would be just about impossible. That’s the idea. When one is standing alone, and when others are striving against him, he may break under Satan’s devices. But if you put Christians together so that they have the same purpose and goal, it’s going to be a lot harder to cause those people to fall. We thus must be sure to strive for the oneness, and to stay with the one faith that God gave us.
Timothy Sparks:
Real joy is possible only when Christians are truly united.
Paul stresses how Christians can have this joy, and how unity is possible, when
he talks about conducting ourselves as citizens worthy of the Gospel. This
means that Christians must never live their lives in such a way as to bring
shame or reproach upon the Gospel, upon Christ, or upon the church. We need to
live our lives in such a way that it will magnify and glorify the Gospel in
Christ, and thereby bring honor to the church. Paul wants us to know that joy
is possible. But we must have unity, and we must conduct ourselves as citizens
of the
Ben Bailey:
The one thing for which we plead within the religious world is spiritual unity, so that we can all be united through God and His Word. Our plea today, as we study the Book of Philippians 1, is that we can study God’s Word and do only what the Bible says. If you are not a child of God we hope and pray that you will become one. Believe in Jesus as God’s Son. Believe so much that you are willing to repent of the things in your life that are not right, confess Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.
Today’s lesson is brought to you by loving, caring members of the church of Christ—people who are concerned about your soul, and who would like for you to stop by and visit them. We’d also like to make a copy of today’s lesson available to you. You can visit us on our website at www.thegospelofchrist.com, fill out the request form, and we will be happy to send you a CD or DVD of this lesson, or of any others. As always, we hope that you will conform your will to the Gospel of Christ.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST is brought to you by loving, caring members of the church of Christ. The McLish Avenue church of Christ in Ardmore, Oklahoma, oversees this evangelistic effort. For a free CD or DVD of today’s broadcast, please write to:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
You may call 580-223-3289. Please visit us on the
web at www.thegospelofchrist.com.
We encourage you to attend the
1. In what book of the New Testament (and what
chapter) do we find the background of the beginnings of the church in
2. What is the thematic statement of the Book of Philippians? Support your answer with Scripture.
3. According to Philippians 1:6, where was Paul when he wrote this epistle?
4. The thrust of the entire Book of Philippians
was to provide something for the Christians in
5. Paul said in Philippians 1:17 that he was “set” for something. What was that “something”?
6. Why did Paul sometimes find himself in a position where he had to defend his actions in spreading the Gospel?
7. Explain the situation that Paul was addressing in Philippians 1:18. How did Paul turn a “negative” into a “positive” in this particular instance?
8. Explain the connection between Philippians 1:19 and Romans 1:16.
9. In Acts 4 and 5, the Jewish leaders instructed the disciples not to preach the Gospel any more. What was the disciples’ response?
10. Paul said that for him to die was “gain” (Phil. 1:21). What did he mean by that?
11. Explain the connection between Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:21 (“for me to live is Christ”) and Luke 9:23.
12. In Philippians 1:22, Paul said, ““But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor.” What did he mean by that?
13. In Romans 8:18, Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us.” What did he mean by the phrase “the glory that will be revealed to us”?
14. Explain the meaning of Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:27—“Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
15. What is the connection between Paul’s comment in Philippians 1:28 (“stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel”) and his statement in Ephesians 4:3 (“endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit”)?
16. There is one trait that is conspicuously missing in the religious world today, with its numerous denominations, sects, and cults. What is that one thing?
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, 607 McLish Ave.,