If I’m being honest, it has been a while since I’ve researched the church in Philippi: I was on a blog-writing streak over spring break, but then the business of spring caught up to me. So, I am excited to get back into it, because the book of Philippians is one that I love to go back to for some encouragement and conviction. In addition, I have grown very fond of this series, and love getting to know the history of the cities that Paul wrote to.
About Philippi
The city of Philippi was a Roman colony located in Macedonia. Many of the members of Philippi were retired soldiers, which meant the city as a whole had a sense of patriotic nationalism. In addition, many people passed through Philippi on their way to Rome. Because of these factors, the city of Philippi was very prideful. Paul had planted the church in Philippi around 50-51 AD, and the church had proved to be very steadfast, and extremely generous to Paul, even sending him money when he was in jail.
Paul in Philippi
Paul’s adventures in Philippi are very interesting, because they were filled with both prosperity and suffering. Paul came to Philippi on his second and third missionary journeys, and much happened in those two journeys. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:8-10) This passage may seem normal, because it just marks that Paul is heading to Macedonia, but I see this as a beautiful example of obedience. We can take this as a devotional application, because we all have times in our lives where God is clearly calling us to go somewhere, whether it is a new home, new job, college, or anywhere else. Paul displays complete obedience by going without hesitation, because he understood the importance of what God was telling him to do.
In Philippi, they met a woman named Lydia, and Acts 16:14 says that “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” After that, her and her household was baptized, and she gave them a place to stay. God opened Lydia’s heart, and she was saved because of Paul’s obedience. Oftentimes, sharing the gospel with somebody can be scary, especially when we don’t think that they are going to respond well. This verse is proof that God can open people’s hearts, but we need to give people the opportunity to open their hearts, and we do that through obedience to God.
However, Paul, Timothy, and Silas experienced some hardships among these blessings.
“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. She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.’ The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.” (Acts 16:16-24).
Firstly, this example of the slave girl being set free from her spirit is a wonderful testament to the power of God. The spirit in her recognized God and His salvation, which shows that even the spirits know His power. It is so beautiful to think that Paul’s obedience caused her to be freed from this lifestyle she was forced into.
This second part should be of no surprise to us believers. John 15:18-19 says that “if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” These people saw that the girl was freed of the spirit, and their greed overtook them, and caused Paul and Silas to end up in jail. However, God was still good to them in the midst of this trouble.
Later in Acts 16, the prison that they were in experienced an earthquake, giving the prisoners a chance to escape. However, Paul and Silas stayed, which meant that the jailer was out of major trouble. If they had escaped, the jailer would have lost his job, and might even have been killed for it. This act caused the jailer to be saved from this, and God was able to use that to bring the jailer to Christ. “Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31) That day, the jailer and his whole family were saved. I love seeing how God can take our less-than-ideal circumstances and use them to build His kingdom.
I can’t imagine what they had been through during their trips to Philippi, because it was full of both prosperity from the church and persecution from the world.
The Book of Philippians
One interesting thing about the book of Philippians is that Paul had nothing negative to say about the church in Philippi. The members of the church were faithful and generous, and this was a very prosperous time for that church. Because of that, this letter is focused on encouraging the church to continue their good works through faith, and to give them advice to help them grow even more. Philippians 1:1-11 is an opening prayer and message of thanksgiving to the church. Paul even says that “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3-5).
Afterwards, interestingly enough, Paul talks about his imprisonment. He was in prison at the time, as mentioned earlier, but the way he talks about it is what really stands out. “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (Philippians 1:12-13). While many people would consider Paul’s imprisonment as hindering his missionary journey, Paul recognized that everything is an opportunity from God, and he was able to do great work in the prison. Afterwards, he spends the rest of the first chapter and the first half of the second chapter explaining how to follow Jesus’ example, and that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21). He shows examples of this in Timothy and Epaphroditus. Timothy is said to be genuinely concerned about the welfare of the Philippians, and Epaphroditus, who brought this letter to the church in Philippi, is said to have nearly died for the work of Christ, showing his faithfulness and dedication to the work of the Lord.
Then, Paul ends with a challenge to live to be an example of Christ. He explains how to rejoice in the Lord, and shows how to practically come to God in all parts of life. Paul says this well-known passage, saying that “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
And then again, Paul commends the church in Philippi by saying that “you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.” (Philippians 4:15) Again, this church is thought of very highly by Paul, and we can infer that this letter gave them encouragement and helped them to continue doing the work of the Lord.
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There is so much more in the book of Philippians that I haven’t even touched on, so take some time and read it out. The book of Philippians is only four chapters, so even taking the next four days to read a chapter will be a great way for you to dissect this book and really understand Paul’s message to this church. Thank you again for your continued support, it means the world!
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