Day 1 - Practicing Scripture
Hello Fellow Apprentices! I am excited for our journey these next few days as we jump start the practice of studying God’s word together over the next 7 days. The goal is to give you a way to read and study God’s word that is helpful and life giving.
For day 1, I need to take a little time to lay a little groundwork to make sure you have some of the free tools we are going to be using. These are helpful suggestions, not requirements. If you are just starting read your bible, don’t worry about incorporating another tool. If you are more used to reading the bible, attempt to incorporate at least another tool mentioned below. I recommend starting with the commentary before the concordance.
Recommended Tools
Bible - Physical or digital. YouVersion App is great or you can go on your computer to Bible.com to begin reading there.
Commentary - A commentary from a trusted scholar can be helpful in learning although it is not necessary. For this study, I will be pulling from a FREE commentary from Chuck Smith. Feel free to view it here at Blue Letter Bible. For these 7 days, I will be synthesizing the info that seems most helpful. If you are a beginner, don’t worry about it. The blogs I will be writing can be viewed as a commentary as well.
Hebrew and Greek Concordance - My first one of these cost $150. Today, we have a lot of free resources online. The original language of the Old Testament scriptures was ancient Hebrew. The original language of the New Testament Scripture was Greek and some Aramaic. You can access this information when you are ready to study at Blue Letter Bible
The most important piece here is that you have your bible! Doesn’t matter if it is digital or paper, use what you are most likely to use consistently!
We are going to study the book of Philippians for the next 7 days! I am going to walk you through some important information, questions to ask, and things to consider as you study God’s word. For some, this might seem basic and for others this will open an entirely new world! I am excited as we unearth the treasure of scripture in our lives. This is a central part of apprenticing with Jesus.
Before we jump into our scripture for today, there are a few questions we need to ask and answer. We need to know:
Who wrote this book/letter?
Who was the book/letter written to?
When was this book/letter written?
Why was it written?
A lot of this information is typically in the opening of the book of the bible we are studying together. Some other parts take a little more digging (usually in a commentary). In the case of Philippians, we can read the first few verses and get some of our questions answered.
V1 - V2 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.
We see the book is written by Paul and Timothy! Paul’s story is an amazing one. He used to kill Christians and now he is building God’s church. Timothy is a “spiritual son” to Paul and works closely with him.
The letter was written to the Christians living in Philippi as well as al the leaders and pastors. It is likely there is not just one church in the area but a few!
This book was written in 62 A.D. and is likely the final letter Paul formally wrote that is considered to be scripture. This letter would have been written near to the time of his execution at the hands of the Roman Empire.
This letter was written in thanksgiving! In our free commentary from Chuck Smith we learn that Paul is on house arrest and he is waiting to plead his case before Ceasar. He is able to rent his own home but he is monitored 24/7 by the Roman guards. They are chained to him in shifts 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The Philippian church has sent him a generous financial love offering that likely is allowing him to rent his home while on house arrest. This letter is unique as Paul does not introduce himself as an Apostle of Jesus Christ (which is normal) but as a salve of Christ. A unique terminology here since he is on house arrest. He is also closely identifying with his comrades in Philippi - this letter is written warmly as a friend to a friend!
Ok, lets read a little further. I am using New Living Translation by the way!
3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
Verses 3-11 are what I call a love fest! LOL Seriously! Paul just goes on and on about how he has been so blessed by the people of Philippi. Careful not to glaze over this. A fair question to ask is this: What did they do to be such a blessing - what can I learn from that? Paul is not Jesus, but He is an important guy working for Jesus. The way he is acting with these people reminds me of Jesus being totally impressed with the Roman Guard that had such great faith that it astounded Jesus (Matt 8:5-11)! I want to be a kind of person that astounds Jesus and Paul!
Verse 5 reveals that Paul is impressed by their partnership in spreading the gospel. The word used here is koinōnia which means communion or fellowship. This shows us that they partnered with Paul financially but also by sharing in the same burden and work as Paul! The word here for partnership is the same word used in Acts 2:42 talking about the early church in the days of Pentecost being devoted to fellowship with one another and having all things in common. Paul has been impacted by their unity with him even from so far away.
Verse 6 & 11 stood out to me as it partially reveals another reason Paul is writing this letter. HE says God has begun a great work in them but he isn’t done! Paul is sensing a new perspective as one probably often does when they are imprisoned for their faith and possibly on their way to execution. “I want you to understand what really matters.”
Ok great, pause. Here is our goal over the next seven days… I want to learn from the Philippian church what made them so impressive, and I want to learn from Paul what really matters. I hate wandering aimlessly through the woods, some people call that hiking, I call it miserable. Sometimes reading the bible can feel the same way unless what you are doing is searching for treasure. That’s why I love Geocaching. Now, we have something to search for in this scripture not based around us but around what Paul intended to communicate. Let’s keep reading!
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. 15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
Gotta love Paul. Here is a clue to what we are searching for! Paul says that his imprisonment (24 hours a day chained to a roman guard) is helping spread the Gospel. First, we see in our commentary from Chuck Smith that Paul was utilizing his captive audience as an opportunity to preach the Gospel. Roman guards were getting saved while Paul was on house arrest.
Paul also addresses how his persecution has invigorated the church around him to be bold and share the Gospel as well. Wow! Another thing we see in Acts 4 when a couple people are beaten for their faith and then pray for more boldness when they are released.
Then Paul speaks of those who are preaching as an encouragement to him to keep the good faith. What an encouragement to Paul and the others who know and love Jesus. Paul was a beloved person, it had to be discouraging to see him be imprisoned for two years and taken out of the “preaching circuit” for a lack of better words. Paul was a spiritual father to many.
Verse 15-18 is always challenging for me. Paul speaks of those who are preaching with selfish ambition and false motives. They are attempting to build a platform. Ultimately, Paul says let them preach too, as long as the gospel is being advanced. These are what I call haters drinking that haterade. Important to note: these are not fale preachers of the Gospel. They are not wolves in sheeps clothing. This is not a license to ignore abusive leaders or those preaching a false Gospel. Scripture always interprets scripture. Paul has written in 1st and 2nd Timothy as well as Galatians where he has confronted false teachers of the Gospel in a very direct manner. Paul is simply pointing out that some people’s motives in preaching are not right, but they are still preaching the Gospel which means people are still entering the Kingdom. He knows what is right will last and the rest will fall away. It’s called perspective!
19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. 20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
Paul’s thought process here is open for all to see. Here we get to see the Gospel of the Kingdom with “already and not yet” in full display. Paul speaks plainly on how he knows that Christ will strengthen him and through their prayers he will be liberated from his house arrest. However, we also see that Paul is met with reality that his plan and faith might be met with opposition. He says, I think it would be better for all of us if I stayed alive, however, Christ will still be magnified in my death.
In other words, Paul says, don’t stop praying please.
27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
This is the end of this chapter - Paul gives a great direction and reminder… You are a citizen of another land, live that way.
Verse 27 seems to reveal part of what it means to be a citizen of heaven: unity of spirit and proximity. We can’t have one without the other. We are united in faith and by living life with one another.
Verse 28 - 30 Paul encourages people to not be intimidated by their enemies. Any trial we face is an opportunity to grow in trust of Christ and to be able to suffer with Christ. This is the Gospel! A great reminder: we are in this struggle together.
Ok great, now we have studied the first chapter of Philippians. Hopefully this has helped you. We will get more practice tomorrow when we jump into Chapter 2. Tomorrow will be a little shorter since we won’t be laying the same ground work.
Something we have avoided asking is this: What does this mean to me? This is an important question but it is the last question we should ask. Why? In order to understand what Scripture says to us, we need to understand it in the proper context. In other words, the intent of the original author and the context of the recipient matter the most. We just unearthed 30 verses of treasure - some that we can use for now, and some that we will remember for later.
Here is my personal summary of what I am taking away from this: The Philippians impressed Paul because of their partnership with Paul in spreading the Gospel. I want to be someone that lives their life to extend the Gospel and give as much money as possible to see this happen all over the world. The Philippians were generous in every way imaginable, I want to be the same. Paul was not fazed by the haters he just wanted people to hear the Gospel. Paul’s joy transcended being on house arrest in chains, I need faith that transcends circumstances. Lord, would you help me with that? God, help me focus on what is important. We all need help with having the proper perspective and remembering we are citizens of another land.
Great first day, see you tomorrow!
-Pastor Brian
