1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
"Paul and Timothy,"
There are two basic landmarks in an introduction: the addresser and the addressee. The above phrase is the addressers. The Holy Spirit is the real author of Scripture using human instruments.
Here was an old and a young man serving together. Timothy was a "vest pocket edition" of the Apostle Paul. This was a beautiful fellowship. An old man and a young man have nothing in common. Their desires, pursuits and interests all differ. There was one thing they had in common–the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ annihilates the distance that separates people.
They had a different cultural background. Paul was a full blooded Hebrew. Timothy was half Jew and half Gentile. He was a mongrel! He was neither Jew nor Gentile, fish nor fowl! Here these men were together–Jesus Christ made the difference.
They were poles apart in their education. Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). He had the equivalent of graduate training today. He was well-trained, not like the original twelve who were fishermen. He wrote half of the New Testament. But here is no record of Timothy of having a formal education. He had no scholastic standing whatever. Here they are, united in Christ. Only in Christ is there a common meeting ground.
"bondservants of Jesus Christ."
Paul, as his custom was, sets forth his relationship to Jesus Christ. There was no neutrality when it comes to Christ! He and Timothy were "bondservants of Jesus Christ." In viewpoint they were slaves, given completely to Jesus Christ. There were 50 million slaves in the first century in the Roman empire. A slave did not have the rights of an animal. Paul and Timothy had no rights. "We belong to Jesus, body, soul and spirit. He can do anything he wants with us. We have relinquished our rights to our life. We belong to king Jesus." That is where we find true liberty!
A hundred years from now it will make very little difference where we stood to the great men of our day. But a hundred years from now it will be of utmost importance where we stand in reference to Jesus Christ. That will determine where we will be in eternity; it will demarcate how we lived our life in time.
Are you interested in becoming a slave? To be a slave of Jesus is to possess a liberty no one else can own. We are already a slave, "Whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34). It is not a question of slavery; it is a question to whom are you a slave: sin or Jesus Christ.
Paul concluded his brilliant career in a dungeon, he was promoted to heaven by virtue of a guillotine–he was decapitated. This a thumbnails sketch of the erstwhile Saul of Tarsus. He gave his life to Christ unflinchingly.
PRINCIPLE: We belong to King Jesus by virtue of his death for us on the cross. We should serve him out of appreciation.
APPLICATION: Are you serving yourself? Are you willing to give yourself unreservedly to Jesus Christ? Will you serve him out of gratitude?
Grace to you and peace Pastor… I don’t know if you remember me. I met you at the Christocentric conference in Indiana Pa. I was sitting beside Pastor Troy when we were out at Lukenbach .. If you don’t remeber me thats O.K. I just wanted to say that I am enjoying the teachings here on Philippians.. I been doing my own study on the person of The Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Philippians.. Im blessed to enjoy the fruits of your labor in this book and also the labor of many others in their service to The Lord in the study of the scriptures.. There is such a pleroma and wealth of teaching made available to us all. My hope is to learn more of our great God and Saviour ..
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P.S. I enjoyed your teaching at the Christocentric conference… Its always a special time for me especially the felowship of the saints in Christ Jesus.. Grace to you, peace and mercy be multiplied in Him Who is, who was and is to come….. Joe
Joe,
Sorry for the delay in response. I was in Bangladesh last week ministering to Christian leaders.
Thanks for your encouraging words. I am blessed that people do not take for granted that because Verse-by-Verse Commentary is free that is it is not valuable.
God’s richest blessing on your life,
Grant
Hello Dr. Grant you have truly been a blessing with the information you have provided Continue to allow God to use you I was wondering are you in the process of doing verse-by-verse with the entire bible if so how can I get a copy and lastly do you have resources that I can purchase concerning expository teaching thanks in advance Grace to you Pastor
Derick, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I just returned from overseas. As you can see Verse-by-Verse Commentary is very detailed so it takes a long time to do a given book. I am just beginning to start Romans again because I have been working on a book (Certainty, a Place to Stand) which will come out this week. You can order Verse-by-Verse (different than this website but a DVD by the best Bible Software in the world–Logos) by going to the right column. See endorsements on my home page.