PHILIPPIANS
The astute observer will notice two things: 1. The title and theme of our devotions are different today than they have been for the last three months. 2. The regularity of these "daily" (lol) devotions has not been very "daily" lately.
These two observations are related because, to tell you the truth, after researching and writing about various Christian world-view issues for the last 5 months, I was starting to get a little tired of the topic. Not that the topic of world-view isn't important; it is very important and will be probed more in future devotions (as we still have more issues to cover), but I found myself wanting to just dig into a book of the Bible more and more, rather than just dealing with specific topics.
Therefore, for a little while, we shall take a short excursion through the letter to the Philippian Church. We'll begin that process today by giving the letter a proper introduction, and tomorrow we'll begin unearthing it's treasures by reviewing the text.
Who? The letter to the Philippian Churches was written by the Apostle Paul (with some help from Timothy it appears) to the "Saints in Philippi" (1:1).
What? The letter is written to thank the Philippians for their support of his missionary work. Apparently, the congregation (s) spent money, resources, time and prayer on Paul's ministry, and Paul wants to acknowledge this (1:3-11). Because of this connection to his ministry, Paul also wants to exhort them to live worthy of the Gospel to which they have been called (1:27). How do they live worthy of the Gospel that they have been called into? They exude joy! That is the word that dominates this letter and is really what this letter is all about.
When? Of course, as with any question of dating the epistles, there is not always agreement among scholars, but the most likely scenario seems to place this letter of Paul sometime around 60 a.d. Why? Because we know he was imprisoned by Rome at that time, and we also see him reference this imprisonment (1:7 & 12-15). Interesting that a man can write about having so much joy in Christ while wasting away in a Roman prison eh?
Where? Philippi was an important historical city (located in modern day Greece), and quite different than many of the other places where the gospel took root. The city was named after the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedonia. It was primarily Gentile (as it seems there weren't even enough Jewish men living there to start a synagogue; you needed 10 men according to the rules, and they just weren't there (Acts 16:13). Also, the city was part of a major trading route between East and West and therefore was full of culture, people and different religious views.
Tomorrow, we'll dig into Philippians 1:1-11....
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Erick
RECEIVING....GROWING....GOING.....
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