Each guide within the New Testomony is exclusive in a roundabout way and Philippians is distinct as the one one of many Apostle Paul’s 13 letters to not ship a rebuke.
The Revs. Landon Coleman and Bob Fu say the comparatively brief guide of 4 chapters, written from jail in Rome, can also be notable for its requires pleasure within the face of struggling.
“Paul planted the church in Philippi on his second missionary journey,” mentioned the Rev. Coleman, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church. “The founding members had been Lydia and her family, the jailer and his family and presumably the slave woman who had been delivered from a demon by Paul.
“Paul wasn’t capable of keep in Philippi lengthy, so he wrote this letter to encourage the church in his absence. Philippians is exclusive among the many Pauline corpus as a result of there isn’t any company rebuke. Actually, the one destructive remark is a delicate encouragement for 2 ladies, Euodia and Syntyche, to agree within the Lord.”
Coleman mentioned Paul “apparently cherished this church very a lot and mainly he needed them to maintain doing what they had been doing.
“He noticed them as companions in his mission of proclaiming the Gospel and planting church buildings,” he mentioned. “The dominant theme is rejoicing in struggling. Paul makes use of the phrase ‘rejoice’ a number of instances and the thought is worshiping with pleasure.”
Coleman mentioned Paul was a sterling instance of what he preached.
“When imprisoned in Philippi, he was singing hymns with Silas late into the evening,” he mentioned. “As he wrote Philippians he was a prisoner and in chains, however he was nonetheless rejoicing.”
Coleman mentioned Philippians is also known as the ‘espresso cup epistle’ as a result of it’s crammed with a number of the most memorable and beloved verses within the New Testomony, “the sorts of verses we placed on espresso cups, inspirational calendars, Instagram posts and T-shirts.
“The doctrinal coronary heart is Philippians 2:1-11,” he mentioned. “These verses are among the many most lovely and weighty descriptions of the individual and work of Christ within the New Testomony.
“Most individuals would cite 4:13 and it’s arduous to argue in opposition to the glory of two:1-11, however my favourite is 1:6: ‘And I’m positive of this, that he who started a great work in you’ll deliver it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ.’
“Paul knew God had began the work in Philippi. It was God who opened Lydia’s coronary heart to concentrate to Paul’s message. It was God who delivered the demon-possessed slave woman and it was God who saved the jailer and his household. He began the work in Philippi and Paul knew God would see that work to completion.”
The Rev. Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid in Midland and an affiliate pastor at Mid-Cities Group Church, mentioned Philippians is a letter of encouragement. “It’s not like the letters Paul wrote to Corinth and Galatia when these church buildings had been going through theological ecclesiastical crises,” Fu mentioned.
“It’s a letter of affection and pleasure through the persecution Paul was experiencing in jail for the Gospel of Jesus. He wrote to the believers in Philippi in a profound method with a deep bond of affection and affection in Christ, even mediating that he is perhaps martyred this time.”
Fu mentioned Paul confirmed the Philippians “the complete definition of a traditional Christian life, that’s to undergo for Christ.”
He mentioned Evangelical Lutheran Pastor Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001) who was imprisoned and tortured from 1948-64 in Communist Romania, coined the time period “sufferology,” based a bunch known as Voice of the Martyrs and wrote a guide titled “Torture for Christ.”
“For Christians within the free West, the guide of Philippians ought to assist us take away some misunderstandings,” Fu mentioned. “Paul right here teaches us {that a} regular Christian life will not be freed from ache or struggling. As a substitute, struggling for Christ is a norm and even a privilege.”
Fu’s favourite verse is 1:29: “For it has been privileged to you that for the sake of Christ you shouldn’t solely imagine in him but in addition undergo for his sake.”
“Primarily based on this understanding, Paul was instructing all Christian believers that even imprisonment like his must be taken as a second of pleasure” he mentioned. “Due to this fact, the response to struggling and demise for Christ is nothing however rejoicing.’”