(1:1) Discipleship— Young People: a healthy church disciples young people. In the words “Paul and Timothy” we see a father and son in the faith—the adult and the young person together. There was deep affection that bound Paul and Timothy together. That affection found its root and purpose in the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul contributed the wisdom of experience, and Timothy the hope and vibrant energy of youth. It should be noted that the adult, Paul, is mentioned first. The adult always holds the primary responsibility and privilege for taking hold of young people and making disciples of them.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching [making disciples] them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20).
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).
(1:1) Servants— Slaves (doulos): a healthy church serves Jesus Christ, really serves Him. The word “servant” (doulos) is the word bond-slave in Greek. There is a distinct difference between a servant and a slave. A servant is free to work for whomever he wishes; a slave is bought and purchased—completely and totally owned by a master. A slave is bound by law to his master.
Paul calls himself and Timothy the slaves of Jesus Christ. A look at the slave market of Paul’s day shows more clearly what Paul meant when he said he was a “slave of Jesus Christ.”
1. The slave was owned by his master; he was totally possessed by his master. This is what Paul meant. Paul was purchased and possessed by Christ. Christ had looked upon him and had seen his degraded and needful condition. And when Christ looked, the most wonderful thing happened: Christ loved him and bought him. Therefore, he was now the possession of Christ.
2. The slave existed for his master and he had no other reason for existence. He had no personal rights whatsoever. The same was true with Paul: he existed only for Christ. His rights were the rights of Christ only.
3. The slave served his master and he existed only for the purpose of service. He was at the master’s disposal any hour of the day. So it was with Paul: he lived only to serve Christ—hour by hour and day by day.
4. The slave’s will belonged to his master. He was allowed no will and no ambition other than the will and ambition of the master. He was completely subservient to the master and owed total obedience to the will of the master. Paul belonged to Christ. In fact, he even said that he fought and struggled to bring every thought into captivity “to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5, & 2 Cor. 10:5).
5. There is a fifth and most precious thing that Paul meant by his being “a slave of Jesus Christ.” He meant that he had the highest and most honored and kingly profession in all the world. Men of God, the greatest men of history, have always been called “the servants of God.” It was the highest title of honor. The believer’s slavery to Jesus Christ is no cringing, cowardly, or shameful subjection. It is the position of honor—the honor that bestows upon a man the privileges and responsibilities of serving the King of kings and Lord of lords.
⇒ Moses was the slave of God (Deut. 34:5; Psalm 105:26; Malachi 4:4).
⇒ Joshua was the slave of God (Joshua 24:9).
⇒ David was the slave of God (2 Samuel 3:18; Psalm 78:70).
⇒ Paul was the slave of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:1).
⇒ James was the slave of God (James 1:1).
⇒ Jude was the slave of God (Jude 1).
⇒ The prophets were the slaves of God (Amos 3:7; Jeremiah 7:25).
⇒ Christian believers are said to be the slaves of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:18; 1 Cor. 7:22; Ephes. 6:6; Col. 4:12; 2 Tim. 2:24).
Thought 1. The great need today is for men and women to become slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must become His slaves and do what He says. Then and only then will the world be reached with the glorious news of eternal life. Then and only then will the desperate needs of the world be met.
“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26; Romans 12:1; 1 Cor. 15:58).
“[Laboring] not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephes. 6:6-7).
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23-24).
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).
“And ye shall serve the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:25).
“What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deut. 10:12).
“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).
“Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2).
(1:1) Saints— Sanctified— Holy: a healthy church is full of true saints. The Bible never uses the word saint to refer to a few people in the church who have achieved unusual spiritual maturity. The word saints refers to the sanctified or holy ones. It simply means to be set apart and to be separated. Therefore, every believer who has truly trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior is separated from the world and set apart to live for God. Every true believer is a “saint,” a person set apart unto God.
1. There is initial or positional sanctification. When a person believes in Christ, he is immediately set apart for God—once and for all—permanently.
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1).
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
2. There is progressive sanctification. The true believer makes a determined and disciplined effort to allow the Spirit of God to set him apart day by day. The Spirit of God takes him and conforms him into the image of Christ more and more—for as long as he walks upon this earth.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Ephes. 5:25-26).
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23-24).
3. There is eternal sanctification. The day is coming when the believer will be perfectly set apart unto God and His service—without any sin or failure whatsoever. That day will be the great and glorious day of the believer’s eternal redemption.
“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephes. 5:27).
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
Thought 1. We are the property of the Lord Jesus, set apart as His holy possession. Let us, therefore, live as the possession of the Lord. Let us walk as the separated people of God, living holy and righteous and pure lives.
Thought 2. Lehman Strauss points out the following (Devotional Studies in Philippians. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959, p.32f).
1) God is a thrice-holy God.
“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Rev. 4:8).
2) The Lord Jesus Christ who saved us is holy.
“For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together” (Acts 4:27).
“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30).
3) The Spirit of God who indwells our bodies is holy.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
4) The Bible, which is to be the guide of our lives, is called the Holy Scripture.
“Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures” (Romans 1:2).
5) One of the names given to us is that of holy brothers.
“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren” (1 Thes. 5:27).
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High priest of our profession, Christ Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1).
6) One of the great gifts of God is to make us a holy priesthood before God.
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).
7) The great call of God to us is a holy calling.
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9).
The great purpose for the Lord’s return is to present us holy to Himself.
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Col. 1:21-22).
9) One of the great inheritances we shall receive when the Lord returns is the holy city.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2).
In light of all that God has done for us, how can we do anything less than to live a sanctified, holy life before God? How can we be lethargic and complacent, sleepy-eyed, and unmotivated? How can we allow ourselves to live lives of routine and unconcern? How can we live lives of indulgence, license, selfishness, immorality, perversion, wickedness, and evil?
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [behavior] and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:10-12).
(1:1) Bishops— Deacons: a healthy church organizes for ministry and has leaders who lead by example. Note that both bishops and deacons are mentioned as being in the Philippian church. What Paul is doing is addressing the leaders of the church and setting them apart from the membership whom he addressed as “saints.” This is significant, for it means that the leadership or officers of the early church are here named: they were bishops and deacons. A complete discussion of these two offices is given elsewhere
1. The bishops were apparently the same as the elders (presbuteros) or ministers of a church. The two words are used interchangeably to refer to the same men (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7). The word “bishop” means to oversee, look after, manage. The instructions in the Epistle of Titus say that his duties included primarily exhortation and overseeing the lives of the believers. The bishop was the person whom we call the minister of the church.
2. The deacons (diakonois) were spiritually minded men who had dedicated their lives to the Lord to minister to the saints of God. They were persons who were chosen to minister to the widows and widowers and to the poor and sick of a church in order to free the minister to concentrate on prayer and preaching. But note a significant fact:
⇒ Preachers are sometimes called deacons, that is servants.
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers [diakonoi] by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” (1 Cor. 3:5).
“Who also hath made us able ministers [diakonous] of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6).
⇒ The first deacons preached as well as ministered to the needy of the church.
“And Stephen [a deacon], full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts 6:8).
“Then Philip [a deacon] went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them” (Acts 8:5).
Thought 1. Two significant points need to be stressed.
1) The church must organize for ministry and must always be careful to ordain only persons who have proven to be spiritually mature in the Lord.
2) The two ordained officers of the church must be diligent in both their duty and in sharing the Word of the Lord. Every believer is needed to bear witness for the Lord Jesus and the leadership must take the lead. How can we expect others to be witnessing and ministering if we, the leadership, are not witnessing and ministering?
“But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (Mark 10:43-44).
“She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying” (Mark 14:8).
“For unto whosoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48).
“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).
“He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:16).
“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9).
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1).
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).
“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ: to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11).