What do healthy church relationships look like? We get a wonderful example of healthy spiritual relationships in Philippians 1:1-8. Here we are encouraged to be thankful for one another, pray for one another, be confident of God’s work in one another, and have a godly affection for one another.
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Healthy Church Relationships
Philippians 1:1-8
This morning we embark on a study of the epistle of Paul to the Philippians.
The epistle begins in verses 1 and 2 with, “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus. When Paul writes this letter he is suffering his first imprisonment in Rome, which took place about 61-63 A.D. There were other letters written during this time period, like Ephesus, Colossians, and Philemon. We know Paul was in prison because of what he mentions in this letter.
1:7, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.”
1:13, “so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else”
1:17, “the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment”
4:14, “Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.”
Paul expected to be released from prison soon.
1:19, “for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”
1:25, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith”
2:24, “and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.”
Timothy is with him and would probably be traveling to them soon.
Paul begins both the epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon, by saying that the letter is from him and Timothy. Paul calls both he and Timothy bond-servants of Christ Jesus. Timothy was a co-laborer with Paul in the gospel. He was Paul’s son in the faith. Paul had disciple him from the time he was a young believer, and now Timothy was shouldering important ministry with Paul. Paul loved Timothy and had a very opinion of him.
2:19-23, “But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me.”
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
Paul had planted this church about 10-12 years earlier, on his second missionary journey, about 52 A.D. He was trying to preach the gospel in Galatia, Phrygia and Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit would not permit him. So, he kept traveling east until he came to the seaside city of Troas. It was there that Paul was given a vision in the night of a man of Macedonia appealing to him to come over and help them. Paul concluded that this vision was from the Lord, and saw they immediately traveled on to Philippi. There must have been very few Jews in Philippi, because the Jewish women were meeting at the riverside. If there were ten male Jews in a city, a synagogue would be opened. It was at this riverside that Paul opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the gospel and she was converted. Soon thereafter, Paul cast an unclean spirit out of a slave girl who made her masters much profit by fortune telling. Her masters, enraged, dragged Paul before the magistrates, who cast him into the inner prison with their feet fastened in the stocks. However, you can’t stop people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Instead of bemoaning their circumstances, Paul and Silas sang God’s praises at midnight, and the Lord responded by bringing a great earthquake. At first the jailer thought that all the prisoners had escaped. He knew that if that were the case, he would be executed, so he drew his own sword to kill himself, but Paul led him to Christ. That very night Paul baptized him and his whole household. He must have voluntarily gone back to his prison cell, because in the morning the chief magistrates sent a policeman to release him from his prison cell. Interestingly, it appears that the church was meeting at Lydia’s house for Acts 16:40 says, “They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”
So, here in Acts 16 we find the humble beginnings of the little church at Philippi, consisting of Lydia, the slave girl delivered from an evil spirit, and the jailer and his household.
Now, 10-12 years later, there are many more in the church in Philippi. We know that because it had grown to such a size that overseers and deacons were needed in the church.
Overseers are synonymous with Elders and Pastors. They are responsible to preach and teach the word of God to the church, and provide spiritual oversight and ministry to the members.
Deacons are the official Servants of the church. They are not called to teach, but to serve in the church. They have an official capacity, because they must meet strict qualifications to serve in that capacity.
Notice that there was not just one Overseer or Pastor over the church in Philippi. There was a body of men who provided spiritual oversight and ministry together. The same is true of the Deacons. In fact, the idea of ministry teams is seen everywhere in the New Testament. The sobering truth is that we just don’t find churches where there is a single person over all the rest.
It’s also interesting that Paul didn’t write to a single Overseer, or even to a group of Overseers. If Paul were alive today and were writing a letter to a church, we might expect him to address it to the Pastor, or at least to the leaders of that church. But the truth is that Paul wrote this letter to all the saints who are in Philippi. He wrote it to the church body as a whole, showing that he valued all of God’s people, regardless of their gifts or spiritual maturity.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s common mode of beginning his letters was to wish his readers grace and peace. Grace is God’s undeserved favor and blessing. Peace is the calm tranquility of soul that flows from God’s grace. Both these blessings come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. If Paul did not believe Jesus was God, it is impossible to understand how he could phrase his greeting in this way. Paul coupled God and Jesus as the Source of all our deepest spiritual blessings. In fact, as you work through this letter, you will discover just how greatly Paul esteemed the Lord Jesus. In 104 verses, he mentions Jesus 67 times! When you hear the name Tiger Woods, you think golf. When you hear the name Paul, you should think Jesus Christ. Paul was Christocentric. He uses expressions in this letter like, “the affection of Christ Jesus”, “I hope in the Lord Jesus”, “I trust in the Lord”, “receive him in the Lord”, “rejoice in the Lord”, “glory in Christ Jesus”, “stand firm in the Lord.” All of life was seen as revolving around Christ, in Christ, and through Christ! He says in 1:21, “for to me to live is Christ!” Remember that Philippi was a Roman colony where the Emperor was worshiped and called “Lord and Savior.” They would cry, “Caesar is Lord!” But the Philippians’ allegiance was to another Lord, before whom every knee would one day bow and every tongue would confess (including Caesar!” They were citizens of heaven and gave allegiance to another Savior, whose coming they awaited with eager expectation.
The Historical Setting of the Letter
The Philippians had heard of Paul’s imprisonment. They loved Paul dearly. Thus they sent a gift by Epaphroditus, one of their number, to renew their friendship and support in the gospel. How do we know this?
Philippians 4:18, “But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”
Epaphroditus got very sick on his journey to bring the church’s gift to Paul. In fact, he was so sick, that he nearly died. The church had learned of his illness, and were distressed. Now that Epaphroditus has recovered, Paul sent him back to them so that they could rejoice again. But when Paul sent him back, he sent this letter with him.
Paul hopes to send Timothy to them soon. He also expects to be released from prison, and then he will come to visit them himself.
Paul’s Relationship To The Philippians
In verses 3-8, we get a glimpse into the relationship Paul had with these Philippian believers. His relationship with them can be summarized by 5 words: Thankfulness – Prayer – Confidence – Affection. In a healthy church, we should expect to find these 5 traits among the brethren. When one or more of these traits are absent in your life, you know that your relationship to your church family is lacking. As we move through this passage, ask yourself whether these five traits are true of your relationship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
1. Thankfulness (Paul thanked God for them)
After Paul’s initial greeting in 1:1-2, the very first thing he wrote about was his thankfulness for the Philippians. “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” Paul was not thanking them. He was thanking God. But he was thanking God whenever he remembered them. So, why did Paul thank God for them? Verse 5 gives us the answer, “in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.” The Greek word behind “participation” is koinonia. In this context it is referring to their partnership with Paul in the gospel ministry.
From the very first day that the church was born in Philippi, the new believers became partners with Paul in the gospel. From the very beginning, when the church only consisted of Lydia and the delivered slave girl, and the jailer and his household, they partnered with Paul in spreading the gospel.
They must have been active in evangelism in their own city, for their church had grown over the last 12 years, so much so, that there were no overseers and deacons. This indicates that through their work of spreading the gospel the church had grown from a tiny handful to a large and thriving body of believers
And that was not all. This church was generous to a fault! When Paul took up an offering for the poor believers in Jerusalem, the believers in Philippi took the lead, even though they were poor themselves. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:1-2, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.”
And, not only did they give generously to the church in Jerusalem, but they gave generously to support the apostle Paul in his labors. Look at what Paul writes to them in Philippians 4:15, “You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.” Just recently the Philippians had sent another gift by Epaphroditus to Paul in prison. This was a church that had partnered with Paul from the beginning.
All of this fills Paul’s heart with thankfulness. Brothers and sisters, are you thankful to God for one another? When you consider one another, does your heart fill with thanks? When you see the generosity, and giving, and labor your brothers and sisters are pouring out for the advance of the gospel, it should fill you with thanksgiving to God. God is the One who has done this work in them! God has given them the desire to open their wallets and checkbooks to give to advance the cause of the gospel. God is the one who has worked in them to give them a desire to bring the gospel to the lost. When you see an evidence of God’s grace in the lives of your brothers and sisters, give thanks to God!
2. Prayer (Paul prayed for them)
Paul writes in verse 4, “always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.” His prayer for them was continual. He was always offering prayer for them. Whenever he thought of them, he thanked God for them and then prayed for them.
Is that true of you? Do you pray for one another? I hope you are setting aside time each day for prayer. And when you do, do you pray for your brothers and sisters in the Lord? Does your mind and heart go out to the Lord on behalf of one another? Do you think of this brother’s trial at work, or this sister’s challenge with her little girl, or this person’s ongoing physical illness, or this person’s loneliness? Do you pray for one another to grow in godliness? Do you pray that God would give one another a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ?
A healthy church is marked by members who pray for one another.
3. Confidence (Paul was confident of God’s work in them)
Paul says in verse 6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul tells us himself that he was confident of something. What was it? He was confident of two things. First, that God had begun a good work in the Philippians. Second, that God would perfect that work.
This teaches me a couple of things. The first thing it teaches me is that we can have a solid confidence of those whom God has begun a good work in. We believe that assurance of salvation is a wonderful thing and that all Christians should seek it. But this passage teaches that we can have an assurance, not just of our own salvation, but of other believers. Of course, this assurance is not infallible, for only God truly knows the heart. But as Paul watched the Philippians, he saw enough evidence of the grace of God at work in their lives to give him confidence that they were regenerate, and that God was working in them.
This is beautiful. Conversion is referred to here as “God beginning a good work in you.” Sanctification and glorification are referred to here as “God perfecting that good work until the day of Christ Jesus.” Friends, what God starts, He finishes. If God starts a good work in you, He will perfect it. He will continue that good work, and go on perfecting it, all the way until Jesus Christ returns.
By the way, this statement of Paul is a very strong affirmation of the eternal security of the believer. Paul was confident that if God had started the work of grace in someone’s life by regenerating them, He would go on to complete that work when He raised Him up on the last day. It is very similar to what we find in Hebrews 12:2 when it calls Jesus “the author and perfecter of faith.” God doesn’t start on a project, and then get disgusted with it, and throw it in the garbage can. God is never surprised by our sins and failings. He knew them before He called us. Faithful is He who calls us, and He also will bring it to pass.
My friends, we ought to be able to look at one another, see each other’s lives, and the fruit of our actions, and have confidence that not only has God begun a good work in you, but will carry that work on to completion. Are you confident of that when you look around at your brothers and sisters? If you are, tell them! Paul didn’t hesitate to tell the Philippians that. If you see that God has begun a good work in someone’s life, tell them so, and let them know you are confident He will complete it. That will encourage them greatly.
4. Affection (Paul longed for them)
Notice what Paul says in verses 7-8, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
There’s a lot in these two verses. Notice the words “feel”, “have you in my heart”, “long for you all”, and “with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
Feel – Heart – Long – Affection. All of these words tell us something very important. Paul loved these believers! He had an intimate and close relationship to them. He had a strong affection for them that caused him to long to be with them. These are the kinds of words a husband might use for his wife, or a parent for their child. Paul’s heart went out to the Philippians. He wanted to be with them. He felt a strong affection for them.
Brothers and sisters, this is another mark of a healthy church. Strong relationships to the point that you feel a longing to be with one another and have a strong affection for one another. Church was never meant to be something where you slip in the back row, attend a “service” for an hour, and then slip out and go home without anyone knowing you or you knowing anyone else. A church is made up of brothers and sisters, some of the closest relationships on earth. Folks, do not settle attending services! Develop strong relationships with those in the body. Have them over for dinner. Do things together. Text or call during the week. Serve one another in your hour of need. Find out what their needs are, and pray for them. This is what a Biblical church does.
Do you feel affection for others in the church? Do you miss them when they are absent? Do you have them in your heart? These are good signs that you are developing strong and healthy relationships in the body.
Conclusion
Let’s look at four marks of healthy spiritual relationships.
- You are thankful to God for your brothers and sisters and what the Lord has done in their lives. This thankfulness brings you joy.
- You pray for your brothers and sisters. You find out what their burdens, trials, and challenges are, and lift them up to the Lord in prayer as often as you think of them.
- You are confident that God has started a good work in them and will complete it. And you tell them so in order to encourage them to fight the good fight.
- You have them in your heart, long for them, and feel a strong brotherly affection for them.
May God help all of us to go deeper in our relationships with one another! If you are planning an event or trip, why not consider inviting another family or couple to go along with you (Apple Hill or a snow trip, or a trip to the beach). Have them into your home and share a meal and fellowship together. Or if you just don’t have the energy for a meal at home, take them out to share dinner with you in a restaurant. The point is to pursue deeper and stronger relationships because that is where the blessing of Christian fellowship resides.
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