Technicolor JOY
A Study in Philippians
1:1-2
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
April 23, 2023
The Yellow Brick Road ?
On Friday night, we had another trivia night at OBs. It was a great time. So I have a trivia question for you this morning.
What’s the first major motion picture (hit) that used Technicolor?
That’s right, The Wizard of Oz.
[Show clip of Dorthy entering Oz]
Technicolor was a very complicated process that used three strips of film but changed black and white (sepia) Kansas into the brilliant colors of Oz.
By the way, for a million points, what was the last technicolor film made? It’s an offer you can’t refuse!
The series that we are starting today through Philippians is called Technicolor Joy. When Christ comes into our lives and saves us, we go from black and white and grey to full color!
E. Stanley Jones, a pastor, and commentator wrote that when he was saved, “it was as if he had swallowed sunshine.”
C. S. Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”
Philippians is only 104 verses, about 2,400 words, and takes about ten minutes to read but it is dripping joy in every verse from a man who was in prison!
We are going to focus on four main themes through this series and each one of them is vitally important to our church as we move forward into the next season of ministry:
Standing Firm
Unity
Humility
Joy
Jesus…Others…You. If you get that in the right order, you will discover joy through Jesus and through the little book of Philippians.
Many of us over the years have memorized verses from Philippians like
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)
“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12)
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Phil 3:20)
* “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:13)
Turn with me to Philippians 1. I’m going to read the first eleven verses but we will only get through two this morning.
Prayer.
Background
In AD 51, Paul and Silas, and Timothy left for the second missionary journey to visit the churches that had been planted and encourage the leaders.
The group tried to go south to Ephesus but God blocked their way. They tried to go south to Bithynia and God said no.
At Troas, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9)
They traveled to Philippi, a leading city in the district of Macedonia.
Philippi had been founded by Philip of Macedon in 386 B.C. It was located at a strategic and military crossroads in what is now northern Greece. It was located literally where the East (Asia) met the West (Europe).
It was a Roman colony and they were very proud of their Roman citizenship. The architecture was Roman, they dressed in Roman fashion, the coins were Roman, and the leadership and elite spoke Latin.
Many Roman soldiers retired there and weren’t really happy about Paul’s declaration that Jesus was Lord.
Paul searched for a synagogue but discovered that there weren’t enough adult Jewish males (ten) to form a synagogue.
On the Sabbath, he went down to the river where Jewish people had gathered to pray.
He sat down and began to speak to the women gathered there. The group included Lydia, a wealthy businesswoman who was a dealer in purple cloth.
Scripture says that God “opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14) Lydia and her entire family were baptized and she opened her house to Paul and his ministry team.
And so the church of Philippi was born.
Sometime later, they were going to a place of prayer and a female slave who was demon-possessed and could tell the future started following them.
She shouted nonstop, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (Acts 16:17)
What she was saying was true, but the constant yelling finally got on Paul’s last nerve and he turned around and commanded the spirit to come out of her, which it did!
We are not told, but she probably joined the little church at Lydia’s house!
Her owners were furious that they had lost their cash cow and had Paul and Silas appear before the authorities. They accused them of advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.
Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods and thrown in the inner cell of the prison with their feet fastened in chains.
At about midnight, they were singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly, there was an earthquake, the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
The jailer was going to kill himself because he thought all the prisoners had escaped.
He fell trembling before Paul and Silas and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They told him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
He was saved and his entire family was baptized. Another addition to the little Philippian church.
In the morning, the authorities discovered that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They were alarmed and embarrassed and asked Paul and Silas to leave their city.
They visited Lydia’a house one more time and then headed out to Thessalonica.
I love that already this little church was a multi-ethnic fellowship where anyone and everyone was welcome.
Lydia and her family were Asian and wealthy.
The slave girl was Greek and poor.
The jailer was Roman and a part of the government.
Ten years later, the church at Philippi heard that Paul was in prison, again, and sent one of their leaders, Epaphroditus, to deliver a financial gift to Paul.
In fact, they had been supporting Paul’s ministry for ten years. They loved Paul and he loved them.
Philippians is a thank-you note from Paul to this church he founded a decade earlier.
He wrote to express gratitude for their generosity, to explain why he sent Epaphroditus back so quickly, to catch them up on his life, to inform them that Timothy would be visiting soon, to warn them about the Judiazers, and to encourage them to stand firm until the end.
Who wrote the letter?
The author of this letter is Paul. That is the name that God gave him. Before that, he was known as Saul.
He was born into a Jewish family from the tribe of Benjamin. He grew up in Tarsus and was educated under the famous rabbi Gamaliel. He was also a Roman citizen.
You wouldn’t have associated Saul with the word joy.
He was a strict Pharisee who persecuted the church. In fact, we first meet him in the Bible as he is holding the coats of the men who were stoning Steven, one of the first “deacons “ of the church.
He hated Christians and even went from town to town rounding up men, women, and children. On one of these missions, he had an experience that changed his life and direction forever.
On the road to the city of Damascus, he had an encounter with the risen Christ.
“…suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-5)
He was blinded by the light and wandered into Damascus with the help of his companions. A Christian named
Ananias was directed by God to go and pray for Saul and when he did:
“Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” (Acts 9:18-19)
In one instant, the persecutor became the preacher! He identifies as an “apostle of Christ Jesus,” which means “messenger of the good news.”
He would be the one to take the Gospel to the Gentiles on multiple successful missionary journeys.
Timothy was Paul’s protege, right-hand man, and son in the faith.
Timothy probably wasn’t very joyful either. He had a tough family life. His father was a non-believing Greek and his mother a God-fearing Jew.
Paul met his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois in Ephesus and led them to Christ. And 15-year-old Timothy joined Paul’s missionary adventures.
Paul describes him as one who has the same soul as him. He trusted him with his life.
The church at Philippi knew him and trusted him from his subsequent visits to the church.
Slaves of Christ
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus…” (Phil 1:1)
At this point, Paul would usually describe himself as an apostle of ?Jesus. But he doesn’t do that here.
He uses the word “douloi" which means bondservant or slave.
James, Peter, John, and Jude all describe themselves as slaves.
One pastor gives five ways this type of servanthood plays out:
Exclusive ownership
Complete submission
Singular devotion
Total dependence
Personally accountable
I
n his discussion of sexual purity in his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul makes it clear:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (I Cor 6:19-20)
There were multiple ways you could become a slave in that culture. You could be a part of a conquered people, or you could be born into slavery, or you could become a slave because of debt.
James Montgomery Boice makes the point that we have been conquered by sin, we were born into sin, and we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
This is specifically a type of servant that willing and voluntarily serves.
In the Old Testament, a slave would serve for seven years and then he could voluntarily stay on as a servant. If he made that choice, he would go to the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign of his willing submission.
Maxine and I had a friend in North Carolina that wore a cross earring. If you asked him about it, he would tell you that he pierced his own ear with an awl on the seventh anniversary of being saved to publicly show that he freely and enthusiastically serves His Master Jesus.
Paul wants the Phiippians to follow his example of submitting his life to Christ and finding his joy in that submission.
After all, Jesus is the ultimate example:
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:6-8)
Bob Dylan sang, “You got to serve someone.”
Sin is a terrible master who will destroy you. Jesus is a gracious master who gives you eternal life.
Are you a slave to stuff, to sin, or to the Savior?
Saints in Christ
“To the saints in Christ Jesus in Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons…”
He calls them “holy ones,” set apart for God. Some of your translations may have the word “saints,” but that word has a different connotation in our day.
The word “saint” is confusing to many in our culture. Biblically, a saint is not a super elite special Christian like Mother Teresa or Augustine.
Who are the saints in the Bible? They are simply the ones that believe and have put their full faith and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Paul addresses his letter to the saints in Ephesus, in Colosse, and even the crazy church at Corinth.
They are holy people who are unholy people who have been singled out, claimed, and requisitioned by God for His use.
Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, and Mugsy Bogues were walking into the Charlotte Colosseum to get ready to play a game. Seven-foot Alonzo walked in first, then six-foot-seven Larry, then five-foot-three Mugsy.
A security guard stopped Bogues and thought he was a kid. Larry had to tell him, “He’s with me. He’s in the Hornet’s organization.”
They are saints who are in Christ. We have died in Christ, been buried in Christ, and have been resurrected in Christ.
Since we are in Christ, we are hi hands and feet in this dark and dying world.
This can only happen because of Jesus. Eighteen times in thirty verses Paul uses the term Jesus, Christ Jesus, or Jesus Christ.
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones wrote:
“Paul has no gospel apart from Jesus Christ. The gospel is not some vague general offer, nor is it a mere exhortation to people to live a good life; it tells of the things that happened in Christ because, without Christ, there is no salvation. And if Christ I not essential to your position, the according to Paul you are not a Christian. You may be good, and you may even be religious, but you can not be a Christian. If Christ is not absolutely the core and center, it is not Christianity, whatever else it might be.”
Notice also that he addresses the “overseers and the deacons.” This is the only letter in which he specifically addresses these two groups.
First, that means the little church that Paul started ten years ago has grown! They are now big enough to need elders and deacons.
Again, Paul makes it clear, as he did in Acts, Titus, Timothy, and Romans that he expects the church to be governed by elders who oversee the spiritual direction of the church and by deacons who oversee the practical, day-to-day ministry of the church.
They were probably the leaders that commissioned Epaphraditus to bring the financial gift to Paul while he was in prison in Rome. He wanted to make sure that they knew how appreciative he was of their support.
Are you vitally connected to the fellowship of a local church? We called to spur one another to love and good deeds as Pastor Jeff remind us last week.
Salvation because of Christ
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul often begins his letters with "grace and peace.” Grace is the normal way a Gentile would begin a letter. Paul changes the normal word for “greetings” by a few letters and it becomes grace, Peace (Irene/Shalom) is the way a Jew would begin a letter.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor to sinners who deserve hell. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:9)
Grace leads to peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with others.
Jesus
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
There is no distinction to Paul - Jew, Gentile, Greek, Roman, slave, or free.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph 2:14-16)
Those who have received God’s grace are gracious people. Those who have received God’s peace are those who seek to live in peace.
Have you been born again through grace?
Have you gone from the grey of being a slave to sin to the technicolor joy of following Jesus?
