Read Philippians 1:3-8.

Introduction⤒🔗

One day the famous hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, was visiting her dear friend, Mrs. Phoebe Knapp. Mrs. Knapp was something of an amateur musician who enjoyed composing melodies on the piano.

On this particular afternoon, Mrs. Knapp had a new tune she had recently composed that she wanted to share with her friend. She sat down at the piano and began to play. After she had played the tune through once, she turned to Fanny and asked, “What does this tune say to you?”

Fanny knelt down beside Mrs. Knapp’s piano as her friend played the tune once again. A smile beamed across Fanny’s face, she rose to her feet, and announced, “It says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!’”

Fanny continued to dictate the verses and Mrs. Knapp wrote them down, joining the words with her melody to form the hymn that has become one of the most beloved hymns of the Christian church.¹

In addressing the Christians at Philippi, the Apostle Paul begins by conveying to them his assurance and confidence that God is working in their lives: “I thank my God whenever I remember you... ⁶Of this I am sure, that he who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul also conveys his reasons for having such confidence, so that these Christian people might enjoy the assurance of their salvation.

In Philippians 1:3-8, the Apostle Paul supplies three reasons why he has confidence that the Philippians have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; those three reasons also serve as the means by which we may ascertain the genuineness of our faith in the Lord Jesus.

You May Be Confident that God Is Working in You, If You Have Received Christ as Your Savior←⤒🔗

One of the Philippian Christians to whom Paul is writing was a woman name Lydia, the account of her conversion is described in Acts 16:13-15,

On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my house. And she persuaded us.

Among the small group of women who have gathered by the riverside for prayer was one who is defined as “a worshiper of God.” That is to say, she was a Gentile who had come to believe in the God of Israel. Her name was Lydia. As Lydia listened to the preaching of the gospel, “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Consequently, she believed in Jesus the Savior and presented herself for baptism.

Another one of these Philippian Christians is a man we do not know by name, but only by profession. He was the Philippian jailer. The account of his conversion is given in Acts 16:23-34. While in Philippi, Paul and Silas delivered a soothsaying girl from demon possession, as a result, the civil authorities had them beaten and cast into prison,

...the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, Do not harm yourself! We are all here! ²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? ³¹They replied, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and the whole family was filled with joy, because they had come to believe in God.

The jailer, no doubt a rough and hardened man, showed no interest in the gospel until he was roused out of his sleep in the middle of the night by an earthquake, and to his amazement discovered that none of the prisoners had escaped. When he witnessed this sight for himself, he trembled with fear and earnestly asked Paul and Silas to explain to him the way of salvation.

Consider the contrast between these two Philippian Christians: Lydia came to Christ through a slow, gradual process. There appears to have been dissatisfaction with the idolatry and debauchery of her Greek pagan upbringing. There was an attraction to the Jews and their knowledge of the true and living God. All this culminated with an introduction to Christ as He was presented to her through the gospel and her response of personal faith in Him.

The jailer came to Christ as the result of a sudden, literally earthshaking experience. This man who constantly worked with the criminal element of society was in all likelihood a very hardened, irreligious, perhaps even cynical, man. When the crisis at the prison occurs, he is about to resort to suicide. This reveals both his sense of desperation as well as his pride: to be responsible for a prisoner’s escape would have been both disgraceful and a chargeable offense against him. But through this crisis, he is so shaken and so impressed by the lives of Paul and Silas, (they both remained in their cell and convinced the other prisoners to do the same), that he seeks Christ and receives Him as his Savior.

Despite the striking difference in the background of these two individuals, the apostle addresses them together, as well as the rest of the Philippian Christians, and says: God has begun a work in you and He will perfect it.

You may be confident that God is working in you, if you have received Christ as your Savior. The very fact that you have recognized Christ for who He really is: the Son of God, the Savior sent by God, and have received Him as your Savior and Lord is an act of God, just as surely as was the case with Peter:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? ¹⁴They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. ¹⁵But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¹⁷Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.Matt. 16:13-17

According to John 1:10-13, receiving Christ and abiding in Him is attributed to God as His saving work in a man’s heart and life:

He [Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, the Savior] was in the world, and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to his own [people], yet those who were his own did not receive him. ¹²But to all who did receive him, to those who believe on his name, to them he gave the right to become children of God; ¹³[they] were born, not by natural descent, nor by human will, nor by a husband’s desire, but by God.

The Apostle Paul informs us in his first epistle to the Corinthians, “It is because of him [i.e. as a result of the work of God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

You May Be Confident that God is Working in You, If You Promote the Cause of Christ←⤒🔗

The Apostle Paul testifies to the Philippians that he offers up his prayers with joy, “because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”

Lydia insisted that the evangelists be her guests while they carried out their gospel ministry in the city of Philippi: “When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my house. And she persuaded us” (Acts 16:15). The jailer tended to the missionaries’ wounds and brought them into his home and fed them: “At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them” (Acts 16:33-34).

The Philippian Christians were deeply interested in the progress of the gospel. They were aware of the apostle’s journey from Jerusalem to Rome; they were aware of his recent imprisonment; they were aware of his pending trial. They were concerned for him and for the gospel: Is the gospel gaining a hearing in Rome, or is it being silenced? Are there conversions to Christ? How is the church at Rome? It is because of their interest in the cause of Christ that the Apostle Paul writes as he does in Philippians 1:12-14,

Now I want you to know, brothers, that the things that have happened to me have actually resulted in the advancement of the gospel. ¹³It has become evident to the whole Praetorian guard and to everyone else that I am a prisoner for Christ. ¹⁴Furthermore, due to my imprisonment, many of the brothers have become much more confident in the Lord, taking it upon themselves to speak the word without fear.

These Philippian Christians were actively involved in the spread of the gospel. We have already noted the hospitality extended to Paul and Silas by Lydia and the jailer during their ministry in Philippi. In His third epistle, the Apostle John commends those Christians who have shown hospitality to the itinerant evangelists who have come to bring the gospel to their community. The ministry of hospitality to those who have gone out to bring the gospel to the world is seen to be a means of sharing in the work of the gospel:

Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶ They have told the church about your love. You do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸We ought, therefore, to show hospitality to such men so that we may be fellow-workers for the truth. 3 Jn. 5-8

The Philippian Christians faithfully prayed for the apostle and his ministry, as he gratefully acknowledges: “I know that, through your prayers and the help provided by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the result of all this [i.e. the outcome of Paul’s present trial] will be my deliverance” (Phil. 1:19). In his epistles, the Apostle Paul urges fellow Christians to carry on a ministry of prayer for those who are preaching the gospel:

• He requests prayer “that words may be given to me, [together] with boldness, whenever I open my mouth to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ on behalf of which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may speak boldly for it as I ought to speak.” (Eph. 6:19-20)
   
• He further requests prayer that “God may open a door for our message [i.e. that God would open up opportunities for the preaching of the gospel], so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, [i.e. that the preacher may make the message of the gospel clear and impress upon his hearers the urgency of responding to Christ], as I should.” (Col. 4:3-4)

The Philippian church sent out one of their own members to minister to Paul in his need, and that Philippian Christian whom the church sent gave himself whole-heartedly:

But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, who is also your messenger and the one whom you sent to minister to my needs. ²⁶[I am sending him back] since he yearned for all of you and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick... ³⁰for the sake of the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life in order to supply what was lacking in your ministry to me. Phil. 2:25-26,30

The Philippian Christians committed themselves to the financial support of the Apostle Paul and his ministry:

You certainly know, Philippians, that at the outset of [my] gospel [ministry], when I departed from Macedonia, none of the churches had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone; ¹⁶for even [when I was] in Thessalonica, on more than one occasion you sent [aid] when I was in need... ¹⁸I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having things you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. Phil. 4:15-16,18

You may be confident that God is working in you, if you promote the cause of Christ. Do you find in your heart an interest in the cause of Christ and a willingness to participate in some aspect of the ministry of His gospel: prayer, hospitality to those who are actively ministering, financial support, offering yourself for gospel service? Such is an indication and evidence that you have a living connection with Christ.

Contrast the vital Christianity of these Philippian Christians, and the assurance the apostle ministers to them, with the lifeless, stillborn “Christianity” over which the apostle laments: “All the others seek their own interests, not the interests of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 2:21). Again, in Philippians 3:18-19 he writes: “As I have often told you, and even now tell you with tears, many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is perdition, their god is their own appetite, and they glory in their shameful conduct. They set their minds on earthly things.”

You May Be Confident that God is Working in You, As You Persevere in Christ←⤒🔗

The Apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christians that it was common knowledge how much he and Silas had suffered and how they had been shamefully treated in the city of Philippi: “We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know” (1 Thess. 2:2).

Paul is especially referring to the incident recorded in Acts 16:16-24,

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved. ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her! At that very moment, the spirit left her. ¹⁹When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice. ²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. Acts 16:16-24

The evangelists suffered persecution at the hands of the cruel and pagan citizens of Philippi, and the church encountered the same treatment: “it has been graciously granted to you, for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. ³⁰You are experiencing the same opposition that you saw happening to me and now hear is happening to me” (Phil. 1:29-30).

In the face of such hostility and opposition, these Philippian Christians did not forsake Christ. Paul rejoices “because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:5). He urges them to continue to maintain their faithful Christian witness:

Live your life only in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that if I come and see you, or if I remain absent, what I will hear about you is that you are standing firm in one spirit, and with one soul are contending for the faith of the gospel; ²⁸and that you are in no way being intimidated by those who oppose you. Phil. 1:27-28a

You may be confident that God is working in you, as you persevere in Christ.

Our Lord informs us that we may expect opposition and persecution:

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I told you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. Jn. 15:19-20

Our Lord requires us to endure for His sake and not forsake Him:

²²All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved... ³²Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matt. 10:22, 32-33

Perseverance in the faith, continued trust and love and allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, is a sure indication of God’s work in you. As the Apostle John indicates, the initial reception of Christ as your Savior and the continued perseverance in His fellowship is the evidence of a genuine work of God’s Holy Spirit: “to all who did receive him, to those who believe on his name, to them he gave the right to become children of God; ¹³they were born, not by natural descent, nor by human will, nor by a husband’s desire, but by God” (Jn. 1:12-13). The phrase, “all who did receive him,” (or, “as many as received him”), occurs in the aorist form of the Greek verb Xαμβανω, indicating the initial act of faith, (i.e. the hour I first believed). The next phrase, “to those who believe on his name,” occurs as a present participle of the Greek verb πιστευω, indicating a continuing faith and commitment to Christ the Savior, it may more accurately be translated, “those who are believing,” or, “those who are continuing to believe on his name.”

Contrast this evidence of true saving faith with the temporary, “fair weather,” counterfeit “faith” described in Mark 4:16-17,

Others are like seed sown on rocky ground: when they have heard the word, they immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷but they have no root in themselves. They endure for a while; but then, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, they immediately fall away.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

The Apostle Paul wrote these opening verses of this epistle (verses 3-8) to the Philippian church because he wanted these Christian people to have confidence and assurance of their interest in Christ and their participation in His salvation. In effect, he wanted them to be able to sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!”

So that there might be genuine assurance based upon the objective, divine criteria of God’s own Word, the Apostle Paul has supplied the grounds or reasons for confidence: Your personal faith in Christ alone for your salvation; Your interest in and involvement in promoting the cause of Christ and His gospel; and Your continued commitment to Christ, even when you encounter hardship, disappointment or persecution for His sake.

May we examine our lives in the light of these three divine criteria for assurance; and in so doing, may we be able to honestly sing from our hearts: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!”

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. The Philippian church is unique, not only in that it was free from any major moral or doctrinal problems, but also in that it is the only congregation from whom we are personally introduced to two of its members. The one is Lydia. How would you describe the process by which she came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, was it gradual or sudden? See Acts 16:13-14. Is her testimony similar to your own spiritual experience?

On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. Acts 16:13-14

2. The other member of the congregation is the Philippian jailor. Describe the circumstances under which he was brought to saving faith in the Lord Jesus (cf. Acts 16:25-31). What kind of man do you think he was prior to his conversion? Can you identify with his testimony; did you come to Christ under similar circumstances?

...the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, Do not harm yourself! We are all here! ²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? ³¹They replied, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. Acts 16:25-31

3. What does the Apostle Paul testify with regard to the Philippian Christians? See Phil. 1:6. When God begins a good work, does He ever fail to bring it to a completion? Note Gen. 2:1-2; Note Gen. 15:15-16a and Josh. 1:2. Note Jer. 25:11and Ezra 1:1, 3. If, like Lydia and the Philippian jailor, you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, is not this assurance also yours?

Of this I am sure, that he who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Phil. 1:6

And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all that they contained. ²And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had made. Gen. 2:1-2

At the time the LORD made a covenant with Abram (i.e. Abraham), with regard to the Land of Canaan, He declared,

But you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶And in the fourth generation your descendants shall come back here again... Gen. 15:15-16a

As Joshua and the Israelites stood on the far bank of the Jordan River, the LORD commanded Joshua,

Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land that I am giving to them--the children of Israel. Josh. 1:2

And this whole land [of Canaan] shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jer. 25:11

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, ²Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. Ezra 1:1-3

4. Does the fact that our salvation is the work of God dismiss us from any active involvement in it? Note Phil. 2:12. What incentive is there for our doing so? See Phil. 2:13a. How do we participate in the process of sanctification? Note Gal. 5:25; Zech. 4:6,

Therefore, my beloved ones...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who is working in you both to create the desire and to produce the work for the sake of his good purpose. Phil. 2:12-13

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in line with the Spirit. Gal. 5:25

This is the word of the LORD... 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.' Zech. 4:6

5. What gives the Apostle Paul joy as he thinks of the Philippians and prays for them? See Phil. 1:4-5. Is the same true of you? Do you have “fellowship in the gospel;” are you interested in the spread of the gospel and the making of disciples for Christ? In what ways can you express your interest; how did the Philippians do so? Note Phil. 1:19; do you pray for the successful preaching of the gospel, especially in difficult places? Note Phil. 4:15; do you financially support the work of missions? Note Phil. 2:25; might you offer yourself to the Lord for some type of Christian service?

In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy, ⁵because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Phil. 1:4-5

I know that, through your prayers and the help provided by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the result of all this [i.e. Paul’s imprisonment for his Christian testimony] will be my deliverance. Phil. 1:19

You certainly know, Philippians, that at the outset of [my] gospel [ministry], when I departed from Macedonia, none of the churches had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone... Phil. 4:15

But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, who is also your messenger and the one whom you sent to minister to my needs.Phil. 2:25