Philippians A Book of Joy : simplebooklet.com

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY Philippians Lesson 1 of 6 LESSON 1 PRAYER Dear Heavenly Father thank you for the opportunity for all of us to read your Word and be able to study it In so many parts of the world people do not have that privilege Because of your Great Commission the desire for this Bible study is that many will read it and be reminded of Your loving nature and realize that You are the only God and that you alone are worthy to be praised Lord as we read this study help it to open our hearts and enlighten us Let your truth and glory be felt and seen I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord Amen Lesson objectives To learn the historical who what when where and why of Philippians To familiarize all with some of Philippians themes To familiarize all with some of the Scripture that they have probably heard and even quoted even if they didn t realize it was in Philippians To get everyone to think about the substance of Philippians and how it may have been helpful in their lives so far I A Historical Overview of Philippians A Paul is the author of the book of Philippians 1 Philippians 1 1 Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus To all God s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi together with the overseers and deacons Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ New International Version 2

Page 3

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 3 a Although Timothy s name is in the salutation Paul authored the book but is sending affections from Timothy as well B Paul wrote the letter from a prison cell in Rome in approximately 61 63 A D just before he was released C Philippians was in Greece in the territory of Macedonia 1 It was in Philippi that Paul and Silas were imprisoned in about 51 A D 2 Acts 16 16 40 describes Paul and Silas praising God singing hymns and praying at midnight D Paul mentions his affection for the Philippians in 2 Corinthians 8 1 5 1 Paul speaks of the prayer and support he has received from the Philippians in Phil 1 3 6 19 and 4 14 18 2 C B Cousar 2013 declares that only 1 Thessalonians matches the fondness and pastoral sensitivity of Philippians p 21 E The church at Philippi is generally made up of Gentile Christians 1 Most of them were probably Roman citizens a It was illegal to be a Christian in first century Rome F Just as most of Paul s other letters were written as an answer to some direct conflict or problem within the church so is Paul s reason for writing to the Philippians 1 The most notable reason for the letter was because of a growing discord amongst the members a This is most evident in 2 1 4 and 4 2 3 G Some of the themes found in the book of Philippians

Page 4

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 4 1 Joy Philippians is commonly called the book of joy and the common the theme of joy and rejoicing if found throughout most of the book 2 Thankfulness and praise to God 1 3 11 2 9 11 3 Understanding relationship with Christ 1 1 11 4 Being discerning 1 8 11 5 The righteousness of Jesus Christ 1 10 11 6 Being a true witness 1 12 26 2 1 4 3 15 21 7 Live worthy of the Gospel 1 27 30 8 Having no fear under persecution 2 12 30 4 11 13 9 Have the same humility of Christ 2 1 8 10 Put no confidence in the flesh or religious traditions but only have confidence in Jesus 3 1 14 11 Have Christian unity and rejoice in it 2 1 5 3 15 16 4 2 9 12 To live and die in Christ is gain 1 21 13 Do not grumble 2 12 18 14 Keep your eye on the goal 3 12 14 15 Give encouragement to fellow Christians 4 1 8 16 Jesus Christ is our joy contentment and courage 4 4 20 H Some of the most well known and most quoted Scripture is found in Philippians 1 Phil 1 9 10 And this is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ NIV 2 1 21 For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain

Page 5

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 5 3 2 3 4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit Rather in humility value others above yourselves not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others 4 2 9 11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father 5 3 12 14 Not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me Brothers and sisters I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it But one thing I do Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus 6 4 4 7 Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again Rejoice Let your gentleness be evident to all The Lord is near Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus 7 4 8 Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things 8 4 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength

Page 6

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 6 9 4 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus a Which passages in Philippians are you familiar with b What is your favorite Why c Have there ever been times in your life when you have read Philippians or some of the verses from it to find peace comfort strength courage or joy d Do you recall which verses have been the most helpful to you

Page 7

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 7 Philippians Lesson 2 of 6 LESSON 2 Prayer Dear Heavenly Father I pray that is this lesson is studied that it lights up our way embeds into our hearts and helps to guide us on the path to follow you I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Lesson objectives and themes Explain and emphasize the key words in Paul s salutation and prayer Show the relationship with Christ that Paul has by his use of words Encourage thinking on a deeper level about the concept of serving Jesus and cooperating with church members or other Christians in order to serve God Learn why it is so important to have knowledge depth of insight and discernment as Christians Talk about the fruit of righteousness that Paul is speaking of in v 11 II Some of the key words in vv 1 1 11 gives us clues of the relationship that Paul has with Timothy the people of the Philippi church and Paul s relationship with Jesus Christ It also shows the joy that Paul has in his heart because of Christ in his heart despite the fact that he is writing this letter from prison A Paul s introduction and salutations thanksgiving and prayer 1 Verse 1a a Paul immediately claims Christ as his Lord by introducing himself and Timothy as His servant i There s a possibility that Paul is mentioning Timothy in his introduction not only to send Timothy s greetings but to show the Philippians Paul s confidence in Timothy and to

Page 8

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 8 cause them to start looking at Timothy as a leader This can be conjectured by reading v 2 19 when Paul writes that he will be sending Timothy to them in the future 2 We need to pay close attention to the words that Paul uses in his salutation He introduces himself and Timothy as servants of Christ Jesus Servant and slave were interchangeable in Paul s world a In Paul s culture the word servant was interchangeable with the word slave Slavery was legal therefore when someone spoke the word slave there was an immediate image that came to people s minds i What are some of the images that come into our minds in our world when we think of slave b A slave is legal property to their owner and in the Biblical perspective every person is subject to slavery either to sin or to God Longman III 2013 p 797 i Question to ask ourselves In our service to God or by the way we live our lives can we look at ourselves as slaves to Christ What does that mean in our lifestyle today Do we need to change our lifestyle to better serve Jesus 3 Verse 1b a Paul states who he is writing to i All of God s people at Philippi ii The leaders at Philippi

Page 9

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY iii 9 If we read all of the other letter s from Paul we will see that Philippians is the only letter in which he singled out the overseers and deacons in his greetings a Why do you think Paul singled out the leaders in his salutation b Does this say anything about Paul s leadership c Could the fact that Paul singles out the leaders in his greeting to the Philippians have anything to do with the church s problems that he is about the address 4 Verse 2 a Paul wishes those in Philippi to have grace and peace from Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ We often read or use the words grace and peace but do we ever think about what they really mean and how much the word grace and peace really defines the redeeming work on the cross that Jesus did for us Although the words grace and peace were used in Orthodox Judaism well before Christ sacrificed his life and was resurrected these words took on a deeper meaning to Paul and first century Christians when Jesus pardoned our sins and adopted those who accept him as his own i Someone read Hebrews 9 22 ii Someone read Roman 8 1 4 iii I John 1 7 iv Matthew 26 28 v Colossian 1 14 vi Galatians 4 7 9 vii Romans 8 15

Page 10

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 10 viii Galatians 3 26 b The word grace in the Greek the transliteration is Charis Bible Hub 2016 Grace as defined by Bryan Chapell 2013 is unmerited favor or undeserved lavish blessing EBook c The Greek word for peace is transliteration is Eirene Bible Hub 2016 Chapell 2013 beautifully defines peace as Restored non hostile relationship with God come only through Christ s self sacrificing work on the cross and his subsequent resurrection EBook i Can you see how these words may communicate what the relationship between God and humankind is d B Chapell 2013 states Grace and peace are more than mere greetings they are two of God s greatest gifts through the gospel Indeed the words grace and peace are evidence in itself that the relationship between God and humankind loving accepting and giving from God for those who accept Jesus as Savior and of course the invitation to accept Jesus as Savior is open to all John 3 16 Romans 10 13 I John 1 9 B Verses 1 3 11 is Paul s joyful prayer of thanksgiving for the Christian Philippians 1 Paul thanks God each time he remembers them 2 Verse 4 is the first time Paul uses the word joy 3 In vv 3 6 Paul is especially thanking them for their partnership in Christ and states that he is confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus NIV v 6

Page 11

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 11 a Why did Paul praise the partnership of the Philippians in vv 5 6 b Why is it so important that we support each other and other ministries as the Philippians supported Paul s ministry 4 In vv 7 8 Paul exclaims joy for the Philippians and for Christ even though he is in chains a How can someone be able to praise God in such a joyful manor when they are imprisoned and in chains b Considering the word choices of Paul and also his joy even during imprisonment how would you describe Paul s relationship with Christ 5 Vv 9 10 expresses the prayer of Paul for love to abound in knowledge depth and insight He wants these things for the Philippians so that with discernment they are able to pursue the things of Christ a What does Paul mean by knowledge depth and insight b What does Paul mean you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ NIV v 10 c Is it important to have Christ s love along with knowledge depth and insight d What would it be like to not have Christ s love in us Without it would we be able to have real knowledge depth and insight

Page 12

PHILLIPIANS THE BOOK OF JOY 12 e Many without Christ in their lives claim to have knowledge insight and discernment How is their claims different from a Christians f Can these claims be explained to a non Christian How g Can someone explain how these attributes are added to us as we mature spiritually C In v 11 Paul talks about the fruit of righteousness in his life and is essentially saying that the only way he can have a holy life and all the knowledge depth of insight and discernment is by living entirely for Jesus When he says that the fruit of righteousness can only come through Jesus Christ and that glory and praise for that goes to God 1 Someone read I John 4 7 8 2 Someone read I John 4 19 a Without Christ in our heart we cannot love others we can sometimes hardly loves ourselves unless we have Christ in our heart The fruit of righteousness that Paul is speaking of is the love that he has for Christ and the great love that Christ has for him and for all of us We cannot have true righteousness unless we have the love of Jesus in us and the only way we can have the love of Jesus in us is if we open ourselves up to him and follow him b Without the love of Christ in us there is no way we can have true communion and relationship with God or each other

Philippians A Book of Joy

Page 1

Page 2