philippians 1:1-1:11

Quick Review

Paul was a radical Jew, present for the stoning of Stephen, part of active church persecution.
Paul was stopped by God on his way to Damascus and became a Christian.
He spent some time in Damascus, then fled after a plot on his life (Acts 9:23-25).
Then he came to Jerusalem briefly, where there was a plot on his life (Acts 9:29,30).
So he was sent to Tarsus, eventually ending up in Antioch.
First Missionary Journey:

While in Antioch, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Paul and Barnabus" -
Acts 13:1 - 15:35 tells the story (excepting the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15) of the resulting journey, which we call the first missionary journey.
It sees the spread of the Gospel throughout Asia Minor (Turkey), and Paul's increasing fruit among the Gentiles.

Paul's contact with the Philippians begins on his Second Missionary Journey with a vision.

(usually dated between 49 AD and 52 AD).
Timothy joined Paul immediately before his trip to Macedonia; see Acts 16:1-3.

Luke also seems to join here - the first 'we' is in Acts 16:10.

Paul and Timothy are prevented from preaching in Asia Minor, then are called to Macedonia

Acts 16:6-10
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had attempted to visit northern asian minor but were prevented by the Holy Spirit.
Paul then received a vision of a man pleading him to come to Macedonia.

Philippi is Paul & Co's first stop in Europe.

Philippi was a Roman colony without a strong Jewish presence (there even seems to be some anti-semitism).

It seems as though there weren't enough Jews to form a synagogue (10 men), as Paul went to meet down by the river on the Sabbath.

roman history:
Philippi became a city under Philip of Macedon (Alexanders Dad) who built it to guard a gold mine.

It was site of the final major battle in the Roman Civil war in 42 BC between Mark Antony/Octavius and Brutus/Cassius.
Antony and Octavius settled some soldiers there and made it a Roman colony.
After Octavius defeated Antony and became Emperor, he added more settlers to the city and granted it the status to be ruled by Roman law; citizens of the city were Roman citizens.
Philippi was even laid out in a manner similar to Rome, and Latin was spoken.

There he met Lydia, a seller of purple cloth - she became the first European Christian.

note - women in Philippi seem to be extra important. Philippians also mentions Euodia and Syntyche (who have a conflict that should be resolved) as women who have shared in the struggle of the Gospel.

Macedonia in general is characterized by Paul as a poor

2 Cor 8:1,2 speaks of their 'deep poverty'.
Despite poverty, Paul speaks of their great generosity to the Corinthians.

He also discusses accepting support from Philippi, making it likely that it was one of the churches he accepted money from while in Corinth ("I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you", 2 Cor 11:8).

Good churches though...

Philippi, Thessalonia, and Berea. All good places.

1:1 - 1:2 Howdy

A standard greeting for Paul...

1:3 - 1:11 Paul has affection and concern for the Philippians.

1. Paul is thankful for the Philippians (1:3-5)

- paul is thankful because they participate in the gospel (v3-5)
- paul is confident they will continue in good works and sanctification (v6)
- paul has great affection for them because they are fellow 'partakers of grace' (v7,8)

2. Paul prays for the Philippians sanctification (1:6-11)

Paul prays that:

read 9-11

what is paul's prayer?

paul prays for sanctification
paul praises god for their salvation and ties their salvation to god's glory.