A study of Philippians: The Joyful Life

#1 The Joy Stealers A survey of Philippians

People today are consumed by the passionate pursuit of happiness. Self-help books, motivational speakers, and advice columnists claim to offer the key to happiness, but for many people the door remains locked. Unable to control their circumstances, they find themselves instead controlled by their circumstances. When their job, relationship, or house (or, in the case of Christians, church) fails to make them happy, they dump it and look for a new one. But on the merry-go-round of life, they can never quite seem to reach the brass ring. Having fruitlessly pursued happiness through pleasure and self-gratification, they arrive at the jaded view of life expressed by the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 1:2: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

But if happiness, the fleeting feeling of exhilaration, is elusive, joy is not. Biblical joy, the settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for believers’ good and His glory, is available to all who obey Him. In fact, God commands believers to rejoice (2:18; 3:1; 4:4; cf. 2 Cor. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:16). That divine joy is the theme of Philippians; the Greek word for joy, in both its noun and verb forms, appears more than a dozen times in its four chapters (1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17, 18, 28, 29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10).

The circumstances of both the writer and the recipients of this brief epistle were not those that would be expected to produce joy and happiness. When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to his beloved Philippian congregation, he was a prisoner in Rome. Little in his tumultuous life since his dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road three decades earlier would have been expected to produce joy. He had faced fierce and unrelenting opposition, both from Gentiles and from his unbelieving Jewish countrymen (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23–30).

Immediately after his conversion, Paul’s bold, fearless proclamation of the gospel aroused the ire of Damascus’s Jewish population. They sought to kill him, and he was forced to flee the city by being lowered from the city wall at night in a basket (Acts 9:20–25). Later he was forced to flee from Iconium (Acts 14:5–6); was pelted with stones and left for dead at Lystra (Acts 14:19–20); was beaten and thrown into jail at Philippi (Acts 16:16–40); was forced to flee from Thessalonica after his preaching touched off a riot (Acts 17:5–9); went from there to Berea, from where he was also forced to flee (Acts 17:13–14); was mocked and ridiculed by Greek philosophers at Athens (Acts 17:16–34); was hauled before the Roman proconsul at Corinth (Acts 18:12–17); and faced both Jewish opposition (Acts 19:9; cf. 20:18–19) and rioting Gentiles at Ephesus (Acts 19:21–41; cf. 1 Cor. 15:32).

As he was about to sail from Greece to Palestine, a Jewish plot against his life forced him to change his travel plans (Acts 20:3). On the way to Jerusalem, he met the Ephesian elders at Miletus and declared to them, “Bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me” (Acts 20:22–23). When he got to Jerusalem, he was recognized in the temple by Jews from Asia Minor, savagely beaten by a frenzied mob, and saved from certain death when Roman soldiers arrived on the scene and arrested him (Acts 21:27–36). While Paul was in custody at Jerusalem, the Jews formed yet another plot against his life, prompting the Roman commander to send him under heavy guard to the governor at Caesarea (Acts 23:12–35). After his case dragged on without resolution for two years and two Roman governors, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:10–11). After an eventful trip, which included being shipwrecked in a violent storm, Paul arrived at Rome (Acts 27, 28). As he wrote Philippians, the apostle was in his fourth year of Roman custody, awaiting Emperor Nero’s final decision in his case.

The Philippian church also had its share of problems. Its members were desperately poor, so much so that Paul was surprised at their contribution to the offering he was collecting for the poor in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:1–5). Like Paul, they were being persecuted for the cause of Christ (1:27–30). Worse, they were being attacked by false teachers (3:2, 18–19). On top of everything else, a feud between two prominent women in the congregation threatened to shatter the unity of the church (4:2–3; cf. 2:1–4, 14).

Yet despite the circumstances of both writer and recipients, joy permeates Philippians, so much so that it may be called “the epistle of joy.” R. C. H. Lenski wrote, “Joy is the music that runs through this epistle, the sunshine that spreads over all of it. The whole epistle radiates joy and happiness” (The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961], 691). Those who study its teaching and apply its principles will, like its human author, learn the secret of having joy, peace, and contentment in every circumstance (4:11–13).

We are fortunate in one thing in our study of Philippians-there are practically no critical problems involved; for no reputable New Testament critic has ever doubted its genuineness. We can accept Philippians as undoubtedly an authentic letter of Paul.

Introduction, Background, and Outline

A Map of Philippi and the Surrounding Regions

The City of Philippi and the Origin of the Church There The city of Philippi, as one can see from the map, is located in north eastern Greece (Macedonia). The city was already ancient by the time Paul arrived there around 49 CE (Acts 16:11-40). In fact, its beginnings go back to the fourth century BCE when it was occupied by the Thracians. In 356 BCE, however, Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, took over the city and named it after himself. He eventually established it as a military stronghold in order to protect the lands he had already acquired and the nearby gold mines which yielded him yearly a thousand talents. It was also important as a land route across Asia.[1] In 168 BC Philippi became part of the Roman empire when the latter defeated the Persians at the battle of Pydna and Macedonia was divided into four districts, Philippi belonging to the first.

Philippi is famous for one particular event. In 42 BCE Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar in a battle at Philippi. Later in 31 BCE when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, he assumed the named Augustus and rebuilt the city of Philippi. He placed retired soldiers there to ensure loyalty to Rome and established it as a military outpost. He also gave the new colony the highest privilege obtainable by a Roman provincial municipality—the ius italicum. Colonists could buy, own, or transfer property and maintained the right to civil lawsuits. They were also exempt form the poll and land tax.[2]

When Paul came to the city, as we mentioned above, around 49 CE, Philippi was an urban centre at the eastern end of the plain, a few miles northwest from Neapolis. The people there were both Romans and Greeks and spoke predominantly Greek even though Latin was the official language.[3]

The church in Philippi was founded by the apostle Paul on his second missionary journey recorded in Acts 16:1-40. Paul originally went to Macedonia because of a night vision described for us in Acts 16:9. In it Paul saw a man of Macedonia standing and asking that he come over to help them. Paul responded and so the gospel went triumphantly westward beginning in Philippi as the first city to be evangelized in Europe.

When Paul arrived in the city of Philippi he stayed there several days (Acts 16:12). The religious life of those in Philippi was marked by very syncretistic practices including the worship of the emperor (Julius, Augustus, and Claudius), the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis, as well as many other deities. When the Sabbath came Paul went outside the city to the river looking for a place of prayer. The Greek text of Acts 16:13 is somewhat uncertain but it seems that there were not enough men practicing Judaism (i.e., 10) to have a synagogue so Paul thought there might be a “meeting place” for Jews near the Gangites river, approximately 1.5 miles away (or the Crenides river). Perhaps it was near a river so that water was accessible for Jewish ritual purifications,[4] though this is not certain.

Paul spoke to the women who had gathered there, including a woman named Lydia (or perhaps the Lydian lady) who was a dealer in purple cloth and a proselyte to Judaism (Acts 16:14). She probably had converted to Judaism (since her name is a Gentile name) when living in Thyatira and brought her faith with her to Philippi. As she listened to Paul speak, the Lord opened her heart to respond. Evidently her entire household responded as well, since all of them were baptized together (Acts 16:14-15). The reference in Acts 16:15 to “the members of her household” and the fact that Paul and his companions stayed with her, may indicate that Lydia was a woman of some means. This, then, is the rather auspicious beginnings of the Philippian church.

We must also note the rather lengthy section Luke devotes to Paul’s encounter with the slave girl in Philippi and the events that ensued. In Acts 16:16-18 Paul encountered a slave girl with a demonic spirit which could foretell the future and by which she earned her masters a great deal of money. Paul eventually rebuked the spirit and it left her. As a result she also lost the ability to foretell the future which created no little anger on the part of her owners. So they took Paul and Silas and brought them before the magistrates (Philippi was like a “little” Rome), charging that the missionaries were forcing them, as Roman citizens, to follow customs which were unlawful for them to practice.

The result was that Paul and Silas were thrown into prison after being stripped, beaten, and severely flogged (Acts 16:20-24). Around midnight there was an earthquake and all the prison doors flew open. Paul and Silas did not run, but instead shared the gospel with the jailer who subsequently—both he and his entire family—came to the Lord (Acts 16:25-34). After Paul had made a point about his Roman citizenship[5] to the magistrates who were wishing simply to release them, the missionaries went to the home of Lydia (Acts 16:35-40) and then departed for Apollonia and Thessalonica (Acts 17:1). We are uncertain as to exactly the amount of time Paul stayed and ministered in Philippi on this first visit, but it is clear nonetheless that he had developed a deep love for them (cf, Phil 1:7). Thus we have Luke’s description of the events of the mission in Philippi—a strategic inroad for the gospel into Europe.  

Authorship

There has never been any serious doubt as to the authorship of the letter to the Philippians. Paul claims to have written it (1:1; on the relationship of Timothy to the writing of the letter see lesson 2: The Greeting) and when compared to say Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, all the internal characteristics of language, style, and historical facts, confirm this. The early church also speaks consistently about Pauline authorship and authority. Hawthorne comments:

Echoes of Philippians may be heard in the writings of Clement (ca. AD 95), Ignatius (ca. AD 107), Hermas (ca. AD 140), Justin Martyr (d. ca. AD 165), Melito of Sardis (d. ca. AD 190) and Theophilus of Antioch (later second century). Polycarp of Smyrna (d. ca. AD 155) addresses himself to the Philippians and directly mentions Paul as having written them (3.2). Irenaeus (d. ca. AD 200). Clement of Alexandria (d. ca. AD 215), Tertullian (d. ca. Ad 225) and the later fathers not only quote from Philippians, but assign it to Paul as well. Philippians appears in the oldest extant lists of NT writings—the Muratorian Canon (later second century) and the special canon of Marcion (d. ca. AD 160). There apparently never was a question in the minds of the Fathers of the Church as to the canonical authority of Philippians or about its authorship.[6]

The authorship of the book, then, according to most scholars is fairly certain: Paul wrote it. There are, however, questions about whether the letter as a whole is unified or a composite of Pauline letters sent to the church and later grouped together by an editor. These literary questions are complex and cannot be delved into here. Suffice it to say that no two scholars agree on what the various letters are within the “letter.” And, if the seams are indeed as noticeable as one would expect (e.g., there is a disjunction of sorts between 3:1 and 2) why didn’t the so-called redactor or editor do a better job of smoothing them out. In an intensely personal letter—of the sort of Philippians—there is nothing to suggest that a composite is necessary. This commentary will proceed according to the conviction that while there is some disjunction in the letter it is nonetheless a literary whole and makes good sense as such.

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul.  That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal.  Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters.  In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writer's character, but in none so clearly as the epistolary."  (Demetrius, On Style, 227).  It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well.  In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

THE DIFFICULTY OF LETTERS

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter.  Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle.  Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue.  In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation.  So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty.  We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it.  Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

THE ANCIENT LETTERS

It is a great pity that Paul's letters were ever called epistles.  They are in the most literal sense letters.  One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri.  In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written.  It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile.  These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper.  The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it.  As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters.  When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paul's letters reproduce exactly that pattern.  Here is one of these ancient letters.  It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus.  He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.  I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.  I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was in peril on the sea.  As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey money from Caesar-three gold pieces.  And things are going fine with me.  So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted.  Give Capito my heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.  I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon.  My military name is Antonius Maximus.  I pray for your good health.  Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimon's boy, and Turbo, Gallonius's son." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri, 36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it.  It shows how little human nature changes.  The lad is hoping for promotion quickly.  Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him?  He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home.  Now that letter falls into certain sections.  (i)  There is a greeting.  (ii)  There is a prayer for the health of the recipients.  (iii)  There is a thanksgiving to the gods.  (iv)  There are the special contents.  (v)  Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings.  Practically every one of Paul's letters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i)  The Greeting:  Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1, 2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1.

(ii)  The Prayer:  in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes:  Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:3; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2.

(iii)  The Thanksgiving:  Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3.

(iv)  The Special Contents:  the main body of the letters.

(v)  Special Salutations and Personal Greetings:  Romans 16; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 4:21, 22; Colossians 4:12-15; 1 Thessalonians 5:26.

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used.  Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul."  When we read Paul's letters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

THE IMMEDIATE SITUATION

With a very few exceptions, all Paul's letters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study.  There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it.  He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing.  Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation. . . .  He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture."  We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation.  All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind.  It is just because Paul's letters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life.  And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

THE SPOKEN WORD

One other thing we must note about these letters.  Paul did what most people did in his day.  He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature.  (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him.  In Romans 16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end).  In 1 Corinthians 16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me."  (cp. Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17.)

This explains a great deal.  Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved.  We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes.  We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down.  When Paul composed his letters, he had in his mind's eye a vision of the look to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

Date and Place of Writing

The particulars surrounding the place of writing, and also the date, are not as straight forward as the question of authorship. It is, however, obvious on a casual reading of Philippians that Paul is in prison (1:7, 13, 16) and that the Philippians know where this is since they had sent Epaphroditus to him (4:18). But the question remains to be answered as to what imprisonment is being referred to. Three solutions have been typically advanced: (1) Rome; (2) Ephesus; (3) Caesarea. Once we have answered this question with a reasonable degree of certainty we can postulate a date for the book.

The traditional answer is that Paul wrote the letter from Rome during his imprisonment there (cf. Acts 28:30). While there are many factors which contribute to a Roman provenance for the letter, there is a difficulty with this solution—a difficulty regarded by some scholars as sufficiently problematic that another place should be sought. The difficulty revolves around the length of time Paul was in Rome (2 years) and the number of visits to and from Philippi during that period—not to mention the visits he was planning according to Philippians. For example, there must be enough time to have: (1) someone sent from Paul to inform the Philippians that he was in prison; (2) the Philippian’s send Epaphroditus with their gift for Paul (2:25); (3) someone dispatched to Philippi with the report about Epaphroditus’s health; and (4) the Philippian’s distress over Epaphroditus’s illness reach Paul in Rome (2:26). There are also three other visits mentioned in letter: (1) Epaphroditus takes the letter to Philippi (2:25); (2) Timothy is to make a round trip to Philippi and back to Rome (2:19)[7]. Some scholars argue that in the ancient world this itinerary would have been impossible to complete in two years.

As a result of the problem with the travel schedule, some scholars have argued that the letter was written from Ephesus during Paul’s ministry there (Acts 19:1ff). First, it seems that the Philippian church had helped Paul financially at the outset of his ministry around 49 CE (Phil 4:15-16). If the letter had been written from Rome, then over ten years had passed since they’d helped him again, which seems a bit long according to some scholars—especially for a church that shared such a good relationship with him (see Phil 4:10ff). Thus it is unlikely that it was during the Roman imprisonment of 60-62 CE that Paul wrote the letter. But just because Paul mentions their renewed interest in giving (i.e., in 4:10) does not necessarily entail the idea that they had not helped him over the previous ten years. Other scholars also argue that Paul’s desire to send Timothy with the hope of receiving him back with news from the Philippians (2:19)—even though he believes there will be a verdict soon that might end his life—is a bit strained because of the distance between Rome and Philippi.

Paul’s words make more sense, scholars argue, if Timothy was to be sent from Ephesus. But this really presents no problem for the Roman imprisonment since Paul, even though he knew that there was the possibility of death, actually believed that he was going to live and be freed (Phil 1:25). Another objection raised by certain commentators is that Paul’s opponents in 3:1-3 are most likely Judaizers—a fact which lends itself more easily to the Ephesian imprisonment where Paul is known to have had problems with the Judaizers (cf. Acts 19:8-9, 33). But as Guthrie points out, there were undoubtedly pockets of resistance sometime after the main issues were settled in Jerusalem.[8]

Though Paul mentions the fact that he had been in prison on many occasions (2 Cor 11:23), there is no record in Acts that he was ever imprisoned in Ephesus. Finally, against the Ephesian imprisonment is the lack of reference in Philippians to the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, though it is mentioned in every letter known to have been written around the time of Paul’s Ephesian ministry (Rom, 1 and 2 Cor). This is strange, and even more so, when one considers the fact that Paul was, on the other hand, willing to receive financial assistance from the Philippians. It seems better to interpret Phil 4:10 and the Philippian’s renewed interest in giving to Paul as a reference to their desire to help him after they had given to the saints in Jerusalem.

Other scholars have argued for a Caesarean imprisonment. Paul was imprisoned, according to Acts 24:27, for two years in Caesarea and there is the chance that the palace guard mentioned in Phil 1:13 may be the same as that mentioned in Acts 23:35, i.e., Herod’s palace guard. But the chief problem of the Caesarean view is the fact that it too, like Rome, is a considerable distance from Philippi. Apart from the fact that we know that Paul was actually imprisoned there, there is little else to commend this view.

The information we have makes it impossible to be dogmatic on this question, but the strongest view may well still be Rome. If the journeys described in Philippians can be fitted in the two year imprisonment[9] there is evidence that (1) there was a palace guard in Rome (Phil 1:13); (2) Paul was free to send and receive friends (Phil 2:19-30; Acts 28:30); (3) the reference to “Caesar’s household” fits well with a Roman imprisonment (Phil 4:22); (4) “most of the brothers in the Lord” (Phil 1:14) may indicate a well established church which fits well with the Roman church (and not so well with what we know about the church in Caesarea); (5) the fact that Paul was faced with the possibility of death fits best with Rome since had he been elsewhere he could have always appealed to Caesar; (6) the Marcionite prologue indicates that Rome was the site for the writing of the letter.

If the place of writing is indeed Rome, the date of the letter is probably sometime between 60-62 CE, perhaps toward the end of his imprisonment since he seems to allude to a speedy release (Phil 2:24).

The Purpose of Philippians

There is no need to assume up front that there must have been only one purpose in the writing of Philippians. In fact, as we read the letter, several objectives seem to be in the mind of the apostle as he writes. First, it is clear that Paul wanted the church to know how things were going for him in his imprisonment (1:12-26) and what his plans were should he be released (Phil 2:23-24). Second, there appears to have been some discord and division in the church and so the apostle writes to encourage humility with a view toward unity (2:1-18; 4:2-3). Third, Paul the ministeral theologian, writes to head off the negative teaching and consequences of certain false teachers (3:2-3ff.). Fourth, Paul wrote to commend Timothy to the church as well as to give the church a report about the health and plans of Epaphroditus (2:19-30). Fifth, Paul also wrote to thank the church for their concern for him and the gifts they had given (4:10-20).

Philippi

When Paul chose a place wherein to preach the gospel, he always did so with the eye of a strategist. He always chose one which was not only important in itself but was also the key point of a whole area. To this day many of Paul's preaching-centres are still great road centres and railway junctions. Such was Philippi which had at least three great claims to distinction.

(i) In the neighbourhood there were gold and silver mines, which had been worked as far back as the time of the Phoenicians. It is true that by the time of the Christian era they had become exhausted, but they had made Philippi a great commercial centre of the ancient world.

(ii) The city had been founded by Philip, father of Alexander the Great, and it is his name that it bears. It was founded on the site of an ancient city called Krenides, a name which means The Wells or Fountains. Philip had founded Philippi in 368 B.C. because there was no more strategic site in all Europe. There is a range of hills which divides Europe from Asia, east from west and just at Philippi that chain of hills dips into a pass so that the city commanded the road from Europe to Asia, since the road must go through the pass. This was the reason that one of the great battles of history was fought at Philippi; for it was here that Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius, and thereby decided the future of the Roman Empire.

(iii) Not very long after, Philippi attained the dignity of a Roman Colony. The Roman Colonies were amazing institutions. They were not colonies in the sense of being outposts of civilization in unexplored parts of the world. They had begun by having a military significance. It was the custom of Rome to send out parties of veteran soldiers, who had served their time and been granted citizenship, to settle in strategic road centres. Usually these parties consisted of three hundred veterans with their wives and children. These colonies were the focal points of the great Roman road systems which were so engineered that reinforcements could speedily be sent from one colony to another. They were founded to sent the peace and to command the strategic centres in Rome's far-flung Empire. At first they had been founded in Italy; but soon they were scattered throughout the whole Empire, as the Empire grew. In later days the title of colony was given by the government to any city which it wished to honour for faithful service.

Wherever they were, these colonies were little fragments of Rome and their pride in their Roman citizenship was their dominating characteristic. The Roman language was spoken; Roman dress was worn; 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 and unalterably Roman and would never have dream of becoming assimilated to the people amidst whom they were set. We can hear the Roman pride breathing through the charge against Paul and Silas in Acts 16:20, 21: "These men are Jews, and they are trying to teach and to introduce laws and customs which it is not right for us to observe-for we are Romans."

"You are a colony of heaven" (A.V.), Paul wrote to the Philippian Church (3:20). Just as the Roman colonist never forgot in any environment that he was a Roman, so they must never forget in any society that they were Christians. Nowhere were men prouder of being Roman citizens than in these colonies; and such was Philippi.

Paul and Philippi

It was on the second missionary journey, about the year A.D. 52, that Paul first came to Philippi. Urged on by the vision of the man of Macedonia with his appeal to come over and help us, Paul had sailed from Alexandrian Troas in Asia Minor. He had landed at Neapolis in Europe, and thence made his way to Philippi.

The story of Paul's stay in Philippi is told in Acts 16; and an interesting story it is. It centres round three people-Lydia, the seller of purple; the demented slave-girl, used by her masters to tell fortunes; and the Roman gaoler. It is an extraordinary cross-section of ancient life. These three people were of different nationalities. Lydia was an Asiatic, and her name may well be not a proper name at all but simply "the Lydia lady." The slave-girl was a native Greek. The gaoler was a Roman citizen. The whole Empire was being gathered into the Christian Church.

But not only were these three of different nationalities; they came from very different grades of society. Lydia was a dealer in purple, one of the most costly substances in the ancient world, and was the equivalent of a merchant prince. The girl was a slave, and, therefore, in the eyes of the law not a person at all, but a living tool. The gaoler was a Roman citizen, member of the sturdy Roman middle-class from which the civil service was drawn. In these three the top, the bottom and middle of society are all represented. No chapter in the Bible shows so well the all-embracing faith which Jesus Christ brought to men.

Persecution

Paul had to leave Philippi after a storm of persecution and an illegal imprisonment. That persecution was inherited by the Philippian Church. He tells them that they have shared in his bonds and in his defence of the gospel (1:7). He bids them not to fear their adversaries for they are going through what he himself has gone through and is now enduring (1:28-30).

True Friendship

There had grown up between Paul and the Philippian Church a bond of friendship closer than that which existed between him and any other Church. It was his proud boast that he had never taken help from any man or from any Church, and that, with his own two hands, he had satisfied his needs. It was from the Philippians alone that he had agreed to accept a gift. Soon after he left them and moved on to Thessalonica, they sent him a present (4:16). When he moved on and arrived in Corinth by way of Athens, they alone again remembered him with their gifts (2 Corinthians 11:9). "My brethren whom I love and long for," he calls them, "my joy and crown in the Lord" (4:1).

The Occasion of the Writing of the Letter

When Paul wrote this letter he was in prison in Rome, and he wrote it with certain definite objects.

(i) It is a letter of thanks. The years have passed; it is now A.D. 63 or 64 and once again the Philippians have sent him a gift (4:10, 11).

(ii) It has to do with Epaphroditus. It seems that the Philippians had sent him not only as a bearer of their gift, but that he might stay with Paul and be his personal servant. But Epaphroditus had fallen ill. He was sick for home; and he was worried because he knews that the people at home were worried about him. Paul sent him home, but he had the unhappy feeling that the people in Philippi might think Epaphroditus a quitter, so he goes out of his way to give him a testimonial: "Receive him with all joy, and honour such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ" (2:29, 30). There is something very moving in the sight of Paul, himself in prison and awaiting death, seeking to make things easier for Epaphroditus, when he was unexpectedly and unwillingly compelled to go home. Here is the peak of Christian courtesy.

(iii) It is a letter of encouragement to the Philippians in the trials which they are going through (1:28-30).

(iv) It is an appeal for unity. It is from that, that there rises the great passage which speaks of the selfless humility of Jesus Christ (2:1-11). In the Church at Philippi there were two women who had quarrelled and were endangering the peace (4:2); and there were false teachers who were seeking to lure the Philippians from the true path (3:2). This letter is an appeal to maintain the unity of the Church.

The Lovely Letter

For many of us Philippians is the loveliest letter Paul ever wrote. It has been called by two titles. It has been called The Epistle of Excellent Things-and so indeed it is; and it has been called The Epistle of Joy. Again and again the words joy and rejoice recur. "Rejoice," writes Paul, "again I will say rejoice," even in prison directing the hearts of his friends-and ours-to the joy that no man can take from us.

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Jesus Christ was a "Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53). Yet He possessed a deep joy that was beyond anything the world could offer.

As He faced Calvary, Jesus said to His followers, "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11).

Those who have trusted in Christ through baptism have the privilege of experiencing "fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). Yet, few Christians take advantage of this privilege. They live under a cloud of disappointment when they could be walking in the sunshine of joy. What has robbed them of their joy?

The answer to that important question is found in a letter written centuries ago. It was written by the apostle Paul when he was a prisoner in Rome about A.D. 62; and it was sent to his fellow Christians at the church in Philippi, a church Paul had founded on his second missionary journey (Acts 16).

One of those members, Epaphroditus, had been sent to Rome to bring a special offering to the apostle and to help him in his time of difficulty (Phil. 2:25-30; 4:10-20).

Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is something of a missionary thank-you letter, but it is much more than that! It is the sharing of Paul’s secret of Christian joy! The unusual thing about the letter is the fact that Paul’s situation was such that there appeared to be no reason for him to be rejoicing. He was a Roman prisoner and his case was coming up shortly. He might be acquitted, or he might be beheaded! (Acts 28:30-31 indicates that he was a prisoner in his own hired house, and not permitted to preach in public…he was also chained to a Roman soldier).

One of the key themes in Philippians is joy. "Joy" is mentioned in one way or another nineteen times in these four brief chapters. Another emphasis is the mind. As we read Philippians, note how many times Paul talks about remembering and thinking. We can summarize the theme of the book as "the Christlike mind that brings Christian joy."

In each chapter, Paul describes the kind of mind Christians must have if they are to enjoy Christ’s peace and joy. Certainly our thoughts have a great influence on our lives, and wrong thinking leads to wrong living. We should notice in our suggested outline that there are four minds described: the single mind, the submissive mind, the spiritual mind, and the secure mind.

Of course, we should not conclude that this is the only lesson to be gained from this wonderful letter.

Paul teaches us much about Christ in this epistle: Christ is our life (chap. 1), our example (chap. 2), our goal (chap. 3), and our strength (chap. 4). The word "sin" is nowhere mentioned in Philippians, and the only suggestion of sorrow is in 3:18, where Paul weeps over the professed Christians who are worldly minded and thereby dishonor Christ.

The Thieves that rob us of our joy

1.      Circumstances. Most of us must confess that when things are "going out way" we feel a lot happier and we are much easier to live with…right? "Daddy must have had an easy day at the office," little Peggy said to his visiting girlfriend. "He didn’t squeal the tires when he pulled into the driveway, and he didn’t slam the door when he came into the house. And he even gave Mother a kiss!" But have you ever stopped to consider how few of the circumstances of life are really under our control? We have no control over the weather or the traffic on the expressway or over the things other people say and do. The person whose happiness depends on ideal circumstances is going to be miserable much of the time! The poet Byron wrote, "Men are the sport of circumstances." And yet here is the apostle Paul in the worst of circumstances, writing a letter saturated with joy!

2.      People. An author told of his daughter who one day jumped off the school bus as it stopped in front of her house and slammed her way through the front door. She marched defiantly up the stairs into her room and again slammed the door. All the time she was muttering under her breath: "People—people—people—PEOPLE!"

He went to her door and knocked softly. "May I come in?" She replied, "No!" He tried again, but she said even more belligerently, "No!" I asked, "Why can’t I come in?" Her answer: "Because you’re a people."

All of us have lost our joy because of people: what they are, what they say, and what they do. And no doubt we have contributed to making somebody else unhappy…it works both ways! But we have to live and work with people; we cannot isolate ourselves and still live to glorify Christ. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But sometimes the light grows dim and the salt becomes bitter because of other people. Is there any way to have joy in spite of people?

3. Things. A wealthy man was moving into his mansion, and his Quaker neighbor, who believed in simplicity of life, was watching the activities carefully. The neighbor counted the number of chairs and tables and the vast amount of bric-a-brac that was being carried into the house. Finally, he said to the lord of the mansion: "Neighbor, if thou dost need anything, come to see me and I will tell thee how to get along without it."

Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with his two sons, who were crying and fighting. "What’s the matter with the boys?" a friend asked. Lincoln’s response: "The same thing that’s wrong with the whole world…I have three walnuts and each of the boys wants two!"

Things! What thieves they can be! Yet Jesus said "A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12:15). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against laying up treasures on earth: they are not safe, they do not last, and they never satisfy. Yet most people think that joy comes from the things that they own. In reality, things can rob us of the only kind of joy that really lasts.

4. Worry. This is the worst thief of all! How many people have been robbed of peace and fulfillment because of worry! In fact, worry even has physical consequences, and while medicine can remove the symptoms, it cannot remove the cause. Worry is an "inside job." You can purchase "sleep" at the drug store, but you cannot purchase "rest."

If Paul had wanted to worry, he had plenty of occasion. He was a political prisoner facing possible execution. His friends in Rome were divided in their attitudes toward his case. He had no board supporting him and no Legal Aid Society defending him. But in spite of all these difficulties, Paul does not worry! Instead, he thinks of others and writes a letter, filled with joy and tells us how to stop worrying.

These, then, are the four thieves that rob us of joy: circumstances, people, things, and worry. How do we capture these thieves and keep them from taking away the joy that is rightfully ours in Christ? The answer is: we cultivate the right kind of mind! If outlook determines outcome (and it does), then the attitude of mind that we cultivate will determine our joy or lack of it. Each of the four chapters found in this book give us the four attitudes that help us maintain our joy.

The Four attitudes that maintain our joy

1. The Single Mind (chapter 1). "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). Or, to use the old Latin proverb: "when the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind." The reason many Christians are upset by circumstances is because they do not cultivate "the single mind." Paul expresses this attitude of single-hearted devotion to Christ thus: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (1:21).

In chapter 1, Paul discusses his difficult circumstances and faces them honestly. But his circumstances cannot rob him of his joy because he is not living to enjoy circumstances; he is living to serve Jesus Christ. He is a man of purpose: "this one thing I do"(3:13). He does not look at circumstances in themselves, but rather in relationship to Jesus Christ. He is not the prisoner of Rome; he is "the prisoner of Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:1). The chains he wears are "my bonds in Christ" (1:13). He is not facing a civil trial; he is "set for the defense of the gospel" 1:17). He did not look at Christ through his circumstances; rather, he looked at his circumstances through Christ – and this changed everything.

When a Christian is single-minded, he is concerned about the fellowship of the gospel (1:1-11), thye furtherance of the gospel (1:12-26), and the faith of the gospel (1:27-30).

Paul rejoiced in his difficult circumstances because they helped to strengthen his fellowship with other Christians, gave him the opportunity to lead others to Christ, and enabled him to defend the gospel before the courts of Rome. When you have the single mind, your circumstances work for you and not against you.

2. The Submissive Mind (chapter 2). This chapter focuses on people, and the key verse says: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better [more important] than themselves." (vs. 3). In chapter one, Paul puts Christ first. In this chapter, he puts others second. Which means he puts self last!

The reason people aggravate us so much is usually because we do not have our own way. If we go through life putting ourselves first, and others go through life putting themselves first, then at many points there are going to be terrific battles.

But the Christian with the submissive mind does not expect others to serve him; he serves others. He considers the good of others to be more important than his own plans and desires. In this chapter, we’ll study later the four examples that put this principle into action (Jesus, Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus). Each of these examples proves the principle: "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11)

3. The Spiritual Mind (chapter 3). Eleven (11) times in this chapter Paul uses the word "things."

He points out that most people "mind earthly things" (vs. 19), but that the spiritually minded Christian is concerned about heavenly things. Philippians 3:20: "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." The person with the spiritual mind looks at the things of this world from heaven’s point of view – and what a difference that makes! The quest for "things" is robbing people of joy, and this includes Christians. We want to possess things, and then we discover that things possess us. The only way to victory and joy is to have the spiritual mind and to look at things from God’s point of view. Like Paul, we must be:

Accountants with the right values (3:1-11)

Athletes with the right vigor (3:12-16)

Aliens with the right vision (3:17-21)

"I count"…I press…I look" are the verbs that describe the man with the spiritual mind

4. The Secure Mind (chapter 4). Worry is actually wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feeling (the heart) about circumstances, people, and things. So, if we have the single mind, the submissive mind, and the spiritual mind, we should not have too much trouble with worry. All that we need is something to guard the heart and mind so that worry will not enter. Philippians 4:7: "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

This chapter (we’ll study in detail later) describes the spiritual resources the Christian has in Christ: peace, power, and provisions of God. We have the peace of God to guard us (vs. 7), and the God of peace to guide us (vs. 9). The peace of God comes to us when we practice right praying (vs. 6-7), right thinking (vs. 8) and right living (vs. 9). This is God’s secret for victory over all worry!