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Philippians 1:3-11

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Thanksgiving and Prayer 3 e I thank my God f in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy , 5 g because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began h a good work in you i will bring it to completion at j the day of Jesus Christ . 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you k in my heart , for you are all l partakers with me of grace , 1 both m in my imprisonment and in n the defense and confirmation of the gospel . 8 For o God is my witness, p how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus . 9 And it is my prayer that q your love may abound more and more , r with knowledge and all discernment , 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, s and so be pure and blameless t for the day of Christ , 11 filled u with the fruit of righteousness that comes v through Jesus Christ, w to the glory and praise of God .

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Phrase

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Philippians 1:3-11

Paul's Thankfulness for Their Partnership

Serve with those who minister to you

I thank my God

in all my remembrance

Context

of you,

Objective Genitive

always

Temporal

in every prayer

Context (of his praying)

of mine

Subjective Genitive

for you all

Accompinament

making my prayer

Manner

with joy,

because of your partnership

Ground

in the gospel

from the first day

until now.

Paul's Certainty of Their Final Sanctfication

Continue steadfastly in sanct.

And I am sure of this,

that he who began a good work

Source (of the work)

in you

Locative

will bring it to completion

Destination

at the day

of Jesus Christ.

Subjective Genitive

Paul's Affection Because of their Participation in His Suffering

Suffer with those who minster to you

It is right for me to feel this way

about you all,

Reference

because I hold you

in my heart,

for you are all partakers

with me

Accompaniment

of grace,

Partitive Genitive

both

Advantage (of Paul's ministry)

in my imprisonment

and in the defense

and confirmation

of the gospel.

Objective Genitive

For God is my witness,

Ground (of 1:7a)

how I yearn

Means

for you all

with the affection

of Christ Jesus.

Descriptive Genitive

Paul's Petition for Their Continued Love

Continue to love those who minister to you

And it is my prayer

Purpose

that your love may abound more

and more,

with knowledge

and all discernment,

so that you may approve

what is excellent,

Content

and so be pure

Result

and blameless

for the day

of Christ,

Genitive of Destination

filled

Explanation

with the fruit

Partitive Genitive

of righteousness

that comes

Agent

through Jesus Christ,

to the glory

and praise

of God.

Subjective Genetive

phrasing

notes

A Few Thoughts

Paul begins his letter to the Philippians with great joy of thanks to God for them. This passage can be divided into four sub-sections: 1. Paul's thankfulness for their partnership 2. Paul's Certainty of their final sanctification 3. Paul's affection because of their participation in his suffering 4. Paul's petition for their continued love Paul's joy overspills for his readers. It is seen in his language for them. Words such thank, remembering, affection, and particularly the phrase, "I hold you in my heart," reveal much about the apostle's relationship to this church. It is this church that the elders weeped over him when he left, knowing they would never see his face again (Acts 20:17-38). Because of Paul's joy for them he commanded them to remain joyful. Not surprisingly, the command for joy, rejoicing, being joyful, etc., appears nearly twenty-three times in the book of Philippians. It would be an understatement to say that joy is the theme. Each of the four sections contains some aspect of Paul's joy for the Philippians. The first, is his joy that they have partnered with him in the spreading of the gospel. The phrase, "from the first day until now," seems to indicate that the moment the Philippian church was born they became evangelists and financial partners with the apostle. This continued even to the very moment Paul wrote this letter. And he is joyous that their zeal has never burned out. The second section Paul is joyous over the confidence that their sanctification will be completed by Christ Jesus Himself. Because of the fruit they are bearing Paul can be certain and joyful that their salvation is final. The third section Paul turns inward and focuses on why he has such affection for them. His affection is grounded in the fact that the Philippians not only partner in the spread of the gospel, but are also willing to suffer along with Paul. Preaching the gospel brought dire consequences in 1st century Rome and the Philippians were willing to stand with Paul at any cost. The final section is Paul's plea that their love will not subside, but grow stronger. Their is still work to do and the fruit that they are bearing is indication that they will stand blameless before Christ in that final day.

Take-Away: What it Means for Us

On the side block labels you will see the "application" for this passage. 1. Serve with those who minister to you . Paul's success was due largely to the Philippians' willingness to get behind Paul. They offered their prayers, finances, and themselves for the spread of the gospel. 2. Continue steadfastly in sanctification . There is nothing more exciting and encouraging for a pastor and leader to see growth in their people (2John 4). Yes, it is a pastor's job to fee the sheep, but we most take responsibility for our sanctification as well (Php 2:12-13). When our leaders see the fruit in us it encourages them all the more to remains steadfastly themselves. 3. Suffer with those who minister to you . Just as the Philippians were willing to suffer with Paul, we too must be willing to suffer with our leaders, provided that they are obeying God. Paul was in prison for preaching the gospel when he wrote this letter and the Philippians were not ashamed of him. When our leaders suffer for Christ's sake we must immediately stand behind them and be willing to take up the reigns of suffering ourselves. This was one of Paul's greatest joys as he realized that this church would indeed stand with him. That is why he could confidently say, "you are all partakers of grace with me." 4. Continue to love those who minister to you . Paul's prayer was that their love would not only remain but grow beyond measure to the point of overflowing. Paul's words are bursting with confidence that their lives are filled with righteous fruit. And he states that all of this, the Philippians' partnership, sanctification, suffering, and love is all for one purpose: to the glory of God! Paul's success in the gospel was due largely to the people's help. Do you stand behind those who minister to you?