Introducing the Church in Philippi - Philippians 1:1

He was wealthy. This young lady had been a Pentium slave and the jailer was a member of the middle class so you have representing the top and the bottom in the middle of their society as God establishes this church the entire pyre is represented by these three this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the unifying principle that binds the church together. Not that we are like each other but that we share a life in Christ, pastor and author Stephen today we begin the series from Philippians 1, entitled to the citizens of heaven, that name really says it all because were going to meet the charter members of the church that the apostle Paul founded in the city of Philippi, as Stephen mentioned a moment ago. This is a diverse group of people, but that diversity is what makes the church and the gospel. So remarkable working to learn the important lesson that the gospel breaks down the barriers that separates us and the gospel unifies us in Christ.

Here Stephen with today's lesson can't help but think of the fact that the church is a living demonstration of a unifying forgiving redeeming gospel of Christ to take different people and puts us together in love. This body of believers in Philippi is going to become a model church for many reasons. Working on cover together and is little wonder why the be one of Paul's favorite churches in the years to come but but I gotta tell you when it first started out it didn't seem to even have much of a chance to get off the ground. Let me show you why go back in your Bibles to acts chapter 16 that's what will spend the balance of our time preparing our perspectives for this letter. Acts chapter 16 is the delivery room where the church at Philippi will be birth.

Keep in mind the churches is people. It's not a steeple. If you have a steeple terrific, but the church is a living body and assembly of redeemed sinners committed to following Jesus Christ, who find their common life in him and common desire to fulfill his commission so the spotlight isn't on building project. It's on the spiritual birth of the first believers.

In fact, this chapter is going to give us the testimony of the first three people one to faith in Christ in Europe in the town of Philippi, no doubt became a part of this early church. The first person mentioned is a woman named Lydia, looked out in verse 11 will sort of jump ahead here. Is there setting sail now from Truax as he says we made a direct voyage to Samothrace in the following day to Neapolis and from there Philippi walking the several miles to get there. It's the leading city.

Luke adds here this account of the district of Macedonia and it was a Roman colony that took that away because that will matter.

As you get into the book of Philippians and in this is where Paul runs into his first problem is the synagogue here is a consecrated space here in the town of of well over 15,000 people. So what this means, then you would think that there aren't at least 10 Jewish men in the city probably that is true. I would imagine. What is more likely is that this means there are not at least 10 men Jewish origin following God in the city who care enough about their heritage to establish a place of worship. This is the kind of city they have arrived. So after a few days of searching around, they can't find the synagogue there told about the prayer meeting that's held by Jewish people down at the river, and that's what happens next.

Look at verse 12. The latter part. We remained in the city several days and on the Sabbath day. We went outside the gate to the Riverside.

Were we supposed that is, we were told there was a place of prayer and we sat down and spoke to the women who would come together and I get that not one Jewish man involved so you get this ladies Bible study. Down at the riverbank.

I don't other doing an inductive study through the book of Exodus. Maybe the minor prophets are studying the law for coming up with more questions than answers. Imagine, here comes a former Pharisee man who knew and defended the law of God, but it did redeem now a teacher, preacher, missionary who just comes down to the riverbank with Silas and says hey ladies, do you mind if we sit in with you.

Maybe I can fill in some blanks verse 14, one who hurt us, was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

Here's an Asian who's interested in the God of Israel, which is really remarkable, given what were just told here by Luke. He writes that she had a license to sell goods and not just any kind of goods but highly expensive goods, purple fabrics, here she is with a group of Jewish women, she's told a follower of God, she's she's denied the polytheism of her culture and she says you know this God of Israel is he's real, but I, I, I don't have all the questions answered. Verse 14 were told that God opened her heart to believe the grace of God apparent in her life sometime later. Evidently not right away, because by now she's got her staff servants family members perhaps involve verse 15 after she was baptized in her household as well.

She urged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay, and she prevailed upon us is not the kind of woman you say no to.

I can tell you is a church planter.

How significant a place to stay is with a student here at Shepherd seminary right now is living in the back apartment off the house owned by a widow who's letting him stay there for a nickel and he's living ice from India came here by faith to start school didn't know anybody or anything. Just finished his first year this past year is cramming a three year M.Div. program in the two years he just going at it full time. Married, he went back this summer for the first time in a year to see his wife and also to see his newborn baby girl who was now 10 months old don't have money in Indy is not a short hop skip and a jump away. We don't have anybody in the church that we know of that owns a Boeing 747 if you do. He wants to meet you, pray for you, adopt you. Actually, his family, he sent me a picture recently of his reunion with them and the airport just this past week is going to graduate this coming spring. These can believe that widow and her hospitality and go back to India was good to be the president of the Bible college and seminary that his father started a few years ago. In the meantime, there's this gracious woman who said my home is yours. I find it fascinating the first church in Europe was strategically impacted by someone who understood the connection between God giving them much and that being used for the gospel. In fact, this way the man in Paul's vision. Turns out to be a woman.

This is my home is yours is another charter member.

I gotta have you meet. We gotta move quicker here, but look at verse 16 he says as we were going to the place of prayer. We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling the word here translated divination comes from the Greek word crucified, which is transliterated as transmitter gives us the work Python serpent. This was a cultic demonically empowered fortune-telling, how do we know that these were fallen demons and that good angels will because of the word of God. God's word expressly forbids divination attempting to tell the future or contacting the dead.

Deuteronomy chapter 18, and God forbids it. By the way, not because it's all hocus-pocus and smoke and mirrors because it is legitimately connected to the underworld. The demonic world wants nothing more than to divert and distract people away from God's revealed word, the simplicity of the gospel walk of faith trusting God.

Not knowing the future. Now these individuals will deny the wisdom of God's word necessarily, but I'll open the minds of people in the possibility of something being better than God's word very dangerous. They don't know the future, so to speak but listen demons know the nickname of your great uncle, there were around when he lived. They know what your mother said to you, right before she died.

They know your deceased brother's favorite baseball team that day. They know you're going to be hired by the company because they know the future but because one of them.

Listen, then that HR two states away and they know the letters in the mail. They have a global network of communication that would boggle our imaginations and they relay it into impressionable and pliable and fallen demonically inspired minds who are in tune with that fall in the spirit world to communicate and feed the people who are vulnerable.

These conduits of communication are connected to a demonic world.

I say all that very quickly just to say don't play with it. Don't mess with that.

Don't get near it. Don't even joke about that fortune cookie open don't watch TV shows where necromancers are connecting people with the dead, giving them information not because it isn't true, but because it might be true, or it might come true and you'll soon face of temptation and distraction from waiting on God and studying his word and relying on his spirit like never before in the world at large. Of course, panders after it because it's fast and quick and perhaps because some of it is true, it isn't long than before. The cultic practices of Philippi begin the harass Paul and Silas. Here's this temple servant girl. She's she's made money.

The Texas for owners that the imperfect tense mean she's actually bringing them a steady stream of revenue would you notice she's telling the truth. Look at verse 17 she followed Paula's crying out, literally screaming. These men are servants of the most high God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation is the truth, but she was the wrong person to be doing the advertising campaign. In fact, she is discrediting the gospel by her connection with she's demonically inspired belongs to a pagan temple and she's advertising for Paul. Not a good idea to give an illustration I you might like some heavyweight boxer finishes pummeling his opponent into unconsciousness and then as they cart the man off on a stretcher to the hospital.

He stands there before the microphone and an announcer with one on his gloves and the first thing he says is I just want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for a lot. I just soon you leave Jesus out there so this this demonized girl. She's telling the truth is discrediting the gospel is the wrong person elaborate there going to connected to the demonic spirit world. Because of her.

Paul and Silas just can't shake her off.

Finally, after several noisy days.

Paul verse 18 turns and says to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ exit exit her come out of her, and came out that very hour in the church in Philippi just doubled to 10 one more disciple to women could be any different today. Both of them rescued from the kingdom of darkness. One didn't really look like she needed it. One really did look like she needed it. Both did. Lydia is Asian girls Greek Lydia was in control of her is in control of a business enterprise.

This this slave girl it is is enslaved to an enterprise. Lydia is cultured and refined that this young girl is going to have to be taught the very basics of life. Lydia has been living the dream. This girl has been living nightmare when he was known by name and had all the right connections. This this girl had all the wrong connections but listen, the liberating gospel of Christ rescued them both. Don't miss this. They both needed it the same. They both were going to hell. One of them just had better manners and nicer clothes. Now this second rescue makes headlines the next paragraph is going to set the scene for the third person to join, effectively join the church in Philippi become part of this growing body of believers you're familiar with the narrative but want to make you look at it again and pick up on the attitude of what will come out in the Philippian letter. Look at verse 19 when her owner saw that their hope of gain was gone. Thus, the issue by the way, that's the issue they seized Paul and Silas and dragged him into the marketplace before the rulers, the magistrates noticed they into accusations number one, these men are Jews and their disturbing the city to see what they started.

These men are Jews. Evidently there were Jewish men who were keeping their heritage to themselves. The second accusation. Not only are they Jews upsetting arsenic.

They advocate verse 21.

They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice that's a nice way of saying they don't follow our custom believe the same stuff we do, you would never imagine Paul and Silas another can be deep literally in the inner recesses of the prison you never imagine Paul saying the Silas man this is great church planning I love it. You would never imagine Paul and Silas, thinking that their next conversion to Christ was somehow related to the management of this prison.

We often rush to the earthquake that releases them. We overlook how hardened this jailer, this prison warden was look a little closer. Verse 23, 24 were told he was supposed to keep them safely.

Now he's never told that he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stock's he's not afraid they're going to escape. He's interested in torturing them. We had to understand that that this word for stocks is not like our idea of stocks that you see in Williamsburg when you go and visit you put your head in her hands through a wooden block and it lowers down top. Or maybe your feet and little holes. That isn't this instrument. This is an instrument of Roman torture was a long block of wood on the ground being in there were all these different whole along that beam and what they would do was they would take the leave the inmate with a prisoner and they would stretch their legs as far apart as possible and told her tendon store and they blocked their feet in that position.

On top of that, to lie down with open wounds on their backs bleeding would've added to their excruciating pain. He locks those stocks down and he believed what you do now with the next verse tells us that around midnight Paul and Silas were praying, we can understand that one and singing.

We can understand that one and the prisoners were told were listening to them that they were. You don't sing with open wound in stocks in a prison at midnight Paul is by the strength of Christ demonstrating what he will write them.

10 years later in this little letter where he will say to them.

Now they are facing poverty and persecution and he will say listen for choice in the Lord God in your circumstances in the Lord always and say with me again I say an earthquake interrupts the third stanza we get a hurry, but all stocks, the chains come open, which is not just gravity at work, but the stocks are unlocked and lifted up the jailer wakens verse 27 when he saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Why because he's a dead man. The Roman code of Justinian declared that of the jailer allowed a criminal escape under his care. He would be given that criminals seven. Evidently there are some men in that prisoner on death row.

Maybe even Paul and Silas if they escape he's going to be tortured and killed.

It'll be easier to just take care of it now. Paul F7 verse 28, with a rather shocking news that none of them have laughed there all their know what was so remarkable about that. I think our Sunday school picture is that the chains of just fallen off in the gym and consider running they stand there that's not with us Texas telling us with, refashion our thinking.

Keep in mind that he has no doubt heard them preaching earlier, but he has not been listening to their midnight concert he's not been in his bed growing under conviction as he hears them singing their duets might preach, but that's not what what's happening.

We know he wasn't listening, lying in his bed because of verse 27.

It informs us that he awoke when after the earthquake. After all of the bonds had long since been released. In fact were not even told how long after the earthquake before he awoke. It's actually possible to understand from this text that some time had elapsed between the prisoners being freed and the doors open and the jailer awakening is alarmed by God for all we know he comes to the prison, and he sees all the doors open. It may very well be the Paul and Silas have all those criminals and their in one room and instead of running the spirit of God has arrested them because that's the only thing that would keep these guys for not running and this blows his mind he's heard enough of these men to know who they represent. He's probably heard this demonic girl chasing them around. He might've even heard of wealthy Lydia, but it isn't natural for him to be able to put prisoners back in their selves. The gospel was super natural.

He falls and he says to these missionary church planters. What must I do to be like these men to be saved believe.

Place your faith in trust in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household.

Implied in that those among your household who also believe in fact, verse 32 informs us that his entire household heard the gospel and believed as well. The magistrates come along. That next day and asked Paul and Silas to leave town.

Paul demands an apology not because he's miffed or upset because he wants to protect this young church from any repercussions, and he announces to them.

He's actually a Roman citizen, and that scares them soap having protected. This young body of believers he and the other men move on now that's all introduction. Paul writes this congregation 10 years later, a letter I want you to imagine with me sitting in that congregation perhaps is is a fashionable businesswoman sitting somewhere in there is a former demon possessed girl, young lady.

Now, and there's this prison warden with his family and probably some inmates who are out on release program so they can worship along as we have here in our church periodically taking place. These first three charter members represent three different nationalities, Asiatic Greek and Roman. That's the gospel they are from three different levels of society.

Lydia was wealthy. This young lady had been a penniless slave and the jailer was a member of the middle class. He was blue-collar so you have representing the top and the bottom in the middle of their society.

The fact it is God establishes this church the entire empire is represented by these three do you think that's a coincidence not on your life your life. This is a demonstration of the gospel. There is no one to reach there's no one to rescue everyone in the middle is after after all part of the gospel invitation. We can cross over the railroad tracks and we ought to get breaks through ethnicities.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the unifying transforming principle that binds the church together. Not that we are like each other but that we share a life in Christ.

Some of you are very different from me and I know you're glad about. It's a good thing. You are different from each other. You come from all walks of life. This is the principle of the gospel that binds a family together where the ground is level and grace binds our hearts together and to our Lord is the chief Shepherd of the church and so the fact that the gospel found this diverse group of people together in unity is the principle that must be at work in our lives and in our churches today. I'm so glad that you joined us. This is wisdom for the hearts with today's lesson. Stephen begins a series entitled to the citizens of heaven. Stevens called the lesson you just heard introducing the church in Philippi. I want to make you aware that we have a brand-new resource that goes hand-in-hand with your study of the book of Philippians. Stephen just released his latest volume in the wisdom commentary series. The book entitled Philippians their abandoned Bible study groups in many churches across America that have used Stephen's commentaries as the resource for their group Bible study this new book on Philippians would be a wonderful group study as well. It's our featured resource during the month of October and we'd like to give you information on how you can get a copy.

Please call us today at 86 648 Bible that number once again is 866-482-4253 we'd be happy to talk with you and give you information on how you can get this brand-new featured resource entitled Philippians. In addition to being the senior pastor at colonial Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina. Stephen is also the president of shepherd's theological seminary shepherds is a fully accredited graduate level school that trains pastors and other leaders for service in the church.

If you or someone you know is interested in pursuing pastoral ministry or wanting to pursue graduate-level theological training. Consider Shepherd seminary you can learn more about the school@shepherds.ed you are ministry wisdom for the heart also has a website that you will find that wisdom online.org go there anytime to access the complete archive of Stephen's teaching or to learn about any of the other resources we have available and of course join us tomorrow for more wisdom for the hearts