seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Let's go to the commentary.For your fellowship in the gospel: This was one reason Paul was thankful for the Philippians. The idea is that the Philippians “partnered” with Paul in his spreading of the gospel through their friendship and financial support, and they did so from the first day until now. They didn’t wait to see if Paul was a “winner” before they supported him. They got behind Paul and his ministry early.
It is right for me to think this of you all: Paul’s thankfulness, joy, and desire to pray for the Philippians was right because they stood beside him in his trials for the gospel, and they received the same grace he did (you all are partakers with me of grace).
I have you in my heart: Paul was a man of towering intellect, but he was also a man of great heart, and the Philippian Christians were in his heart. He could even call God as his witness regarding his deep affection for them.
Let's learn about Phillipi.Philippi is famous for one particular event. In 42 BCE Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar, in a battle at Philippi. Later in 31 BCE when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, he assumed the named Augustus and rebuilt the city of Philippi. He placed retired soldiers there to ensure loyalty to Rome and established it as a military outpost. He also gave the new colony the highest privilege obtainable by a Roman provincial municipality—the ius italicum. Colonists could buy, own, or transfer property and maintained the right to civil lawsuits. They were also exempt from the poll and land tax.
Phillipi was a gold town. They were rich in gold. The problem Paul ran into in Phillipi had little to do with gold. Paul met a "slave girl with a demonic spirit". She could read the future. She made a lot of money for her owner. Paul talked her into joining his church... she became a Christian. Then...As a result she also lost the ability to foretell the future which created no little anger on the part of her owners. So they took Paul and Silas and brought them before the magistrates (Philippi was like a “little” Rome), charging that the missionaries were forcing them, as Roman citizens, to follow customs which were unlawful.
Remember when Jesus ran the demons out of the man who lived chained to a cave? The demons asked to be moved to a bunch or pigs. When the demons got into the pigs, the pigs ran off the cliff. The owner of the pig farm told Jesus to leave. They were angry because Jesus cost them a lot of money! Paul introduced the "fortune teller" to Jesus and she lost her demonic trick. That cost the owner a lot of income. So, the owner took Paul to court.
Being a Christian, teaching about Christ, was illegal. One reason might be that there was no body. And another reason might have been income. People who meet Jesus, they have a desire to be Christ Like.
Think separation of church and state.
This reminds me of the saloon girls in the westerns. She had to get men to pay for her services just like the saloon girls had to get men to buy drinks and gamble. When she couldn't do that because she "got religion", they would go run the preacher out of town.
I guess we'll find division in the church.
This is about the "fortune teller's" church.
