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The following notes on Philippians 1:1-11 is from Adrian Warnock’s sermon this past Sunday June 1st.  You can listen to the sermon by clicking here.

I. HOW TO LIVE FOR THE FUTURE—Philippians 1:1-11

• Know Who You Are (verses 1-2)
  • A slave of the RISEN Jesus (NOT man) and saints—i.e. set apart and being cleansed.
  • Conduits of grace and peace.
• Know Where You Are Going (verse 6) BE SURE!
• Know Who You Are Going With — Long-term, heart-felt partnership (verses 5, 7,
• Know What You Are Meant To Do On The Way
  1. Verse 5—“In the gospel,” i.e. live in the good of it and live for its progress, don’t just keep the chair warm! What do we do in its good …
  2. Verse 3—Thankfulness that comes from remembrance.
  3. Verse 4—Prayer that is joyful and full of anticipation.
  4. Verse 9—Abounding, growing love.
  5. Verse 9—Desire to study. We will spend eternity with . . .
  6. Verse 9-10—Resultant wisdom/discernment, i.e. the ability to lovingly apply to life the things we learn.
  7. ALL of this results in verses 10-11—Purity that honors God.

II. RESULTS OF LIVING FOR THE FINAL DAY (Philippians 1:12-17)

• Verse 12-14—Confidence that comes from knowing even tough times are for our good, e.g. prison making confident!
• Verse 14—Boldness to declare this wonderful news!
• Verse 15-17—Preoccupation with the advance of the gospel above all partisanship, etc.
• Verse 17-20—Rejoicing, eager expectation, hope, “full of courage”, honor to Christ.
• Verse 21-30—Glorious indifference to our own life and its sufferings. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22) Let’s study to be prepared to die well.

CONCLUSION
Live a worthy life and fight for the gospel—“It’s all about Jesus!”

BACKGROUND QUOTES

“Hence we have a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner . . .

[The slave is one] who not only has no possibility of evading the tasks laid upon him, but who also has no right of personal choice, who must rather do what another will have done, and refrain from doing what another will not have done.”

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vols. 5-9, edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin, Ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Electronic Ed., 2:261 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-c1976).

“He is not merely putting up with his circumstances, he is going beyond that, he is exulting in his suffering. He is triumphant, he is jubilant. There is a marvellous element in this, he tells them, if they can but see it. This is characteristic New Testament teaching . . . Do not waste your tears on me or on my condition, says the Apostle.”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in Ephesians—The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Chapter 3, p. 17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1972).

“Death was nothing to these apostles. They had already passed from death to life. Having passed from judgment to life in Him, they were not afraid of death. They knew where they were going—they were going “to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Courageous Christianity, 1st U.S. ed., 173 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001).

Before Alexander the Great, the Greek language was an assortment of localized dialects. Alexander wanted a Greek language common to all peoples. It was called ‘koine’ or common. By the time the New Testament was written (mid to late 1st century A.D.) koine Greek had become the common language in Israel.

Koine Greek become more popular in Rome than Latin. One reason was Rome acceptance of all cult religions as long as the Emperor was worshipped as well. One of the titles of the Emperor was the koine word, “kurios,” ( ku/riov ) which means “Lord.” It was a divine title of the emperor! It was the main word used by the LXX (Septuagint) translators of the Old Testament when they translated the Hebrew word, YHVH.

Source:http://www.searchgodsword.org/lex/grk/

What is the Feast of First fruits?

Summary

The feast of first fruits or the “beginning of the harvest” was celebrated on Nisan 16 according to the Jewish calendar.  This was the first day after the Sabbath during the feast of Unleavened Bread.

The priest would wave a sheaf of green barley to symbolize the Jews dedication of the coming barley harvest   to the Lord.

This feast had a great agricultural significance to the Jews after they entered the Promise Land but its spiritual significance goes far beyond grain and barley.  This feast is the feast that represents the Resurrection of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ.

See the timeline around Christ’s death on the Cross and his Resurrection three days later:

Timeline of Christ’s Resurrection

Nisan 14 – Thursday evening – Passover Lamb killed / Christ is Crucified, Dead, and Buried

Nisan 15 – Friday – High Sabbath begins – first day of Unleavened Bread – Stone of the tomb sealed

Nisan 16 – Saturday Day - Waving of the Omar (first fruits)

Nisan 17 – Saturday Evening – Christ Rises from the Dead!

The Jewish timetable has the next day starting at sun down not at midnight!  Therefore Christ’s Resurrection takes place specifically on the evening of the waving of the barley loafs to celebrate the real reason for th Feast of First Fruits. 

Other Important Events that Took place on Feast of First Fruits

a) Noah’s Ark landed on Mt. Ararat (Genesis 8:4).

b) The Jews crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 3:18).

c) Israel ate the first fruits in the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10 12).

d) Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews was foiled (Esther).

e) Jesus Christ rose from the dead (John 12:24).

Paul Ties it All Together

Paul also ties the Feast of First Fruits together by linking Christ’s Resurrection to it in 1 Corinithains 15:20-23

20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

The Bible is written with such order and such symbolism that all points to Christ.  He cares for us so much that He has been revealing himself to the world since it’s inception!  Take note of Him now!  Ask Him to be your Lord and Savior.  He can relieve the guilt and pain of sin in your life today.  You must ask Him first and then watch Him work a miracle in your life!

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:4

This verse and event in Acts is a fulfillment of the event Jesus spoke about in the Gospels, see March 16:17 as one example.  It is clear that God used the filling of the 120 disciples and the thousands who heard the Gospel preached for the first time that day as His way to supercharge the growth of the church.  These same disciples who were filled that day were the very same disciples who hid like a dog who just dragged toilet paper all over the house and was caught in the act by it’s owner, just fifty days prior.  By themselves they could not stand up and preach the Good News, but once they were filled with the Holy Spirit they were ready to proclaim the Gospel to all who were near and those who were far off.  This change is even more evident in the way the disciples died.  Almost all of them were martyred for proclaiming the name of Jesus to those who did not want to hear it.

My conclusion is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to be a forceful witness for Christ in our modern age, just as it was in the first century after Christ.  The Lord used this event as a sign to the unbelievers in Jerusalem then and He continues to use this supernatural occurrence as a sign to unbelievers today.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not save you and is not required for salvation but it is absolutely necessary when it comes to witnessing and living a victorious Christian life!

The applications of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the same today as it was on that first Pentecost.  The infilling of the Holy Spirit gives a believer power to proclaim Christ, witness to unbelievers, and a faith that can move mountains. 

The following podcast is from a sermon I preached at our youth Group The Well on May 8th, 2008. The title is

Living For a Single All Satisfying Passion - Jesus Christ!

We have been studying the books Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. This sermon is taken from chapter four of that book.

The podcast is about 40 minutes long. The major scriptures I cover are:

Galatians 6:14

Galatians 2:20

Revelations 3:16

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Philippians 3:7-8

Verse 8 in chapter 1 of Acts says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

This verse gives us an outline for the entire book of Acts.  Luke obviously took this verse from a first-hand experience and used it to structure the rest of the book.  Beginning in Jerusalem (chaps. 1 through 7) they would carry their witness through Judea and Samaria (chaps. 8 through 12) and would continue “to the ends of the earth” (chaps. 13 through 28). (Horton page 40)

The book deals at great length with Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria but the ends of the earth is a much broader term.  It is quite appropriate for Luke to end the book on an open-ended note since the ends of the earth were not reached within the pages he wrote.  Paul began to see and witness to many unsaved Gentiles but there was a great deal of the earth not reached yet.  In fact, our charge to this day is to continue the great work our dear brothers started all those centuries ago.

The major purpose and structure of the book is clearly outlined in Acts 1:8 and carried through to the end of chapter 28, but the actual verse will not be completed until the Lord himself returns.  

Here are eight reasons why Luke did write the book of Acts.

1.    Luke addressed his Gospel and the book of Acts to the same person, Theophilus, as the book of Luke is addressed to. See Acts 1:1 and Luke 1:1-4. 

2.    Paul calls Luke our good friend the doctor in Colossians 4:14.

3.    The Muratorian Canon attributes the authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts to Luke the physician. 

4.    Possibly the largest and most convincing piece of evidence is some refer to as the “We Passages.”  The author uses the term “we” to refer to his participation in Paul’s second and third missionary journeys as well as his journey to Rome.  

5.    If Luke did accompany Paul on these various missionary excursions and to Rome he would have been an eyewitness too the events recorded in Acts. 

6.    Luke’s fact checking ability is very solid.  Luke’s ability to correctly write about the Roman officials during the first century is very impressive and without error.  In addition he is extremely exact when it comes to the geographical information and historical information of the cities throughout the coastal Plain, the road from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and the relation between the Temple and the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem.  Dr. Horton suggests that Luke spent two years checking facts in Jerusalem while Paul was in prison Caesarea. 

7.    Luke was also able to accurately describe the social and cultural settings of many of the places thought Palestine during the first century.  He could not have accurately written about places as diverse as Jerusalem and Antioch without actually visiting those places.  In addition to those two he covers other cities like, Philippi, Athens, Ephesus, and Malta.  Unless one visited those cities and spent time there it would be very hard to write with such clarity as Luke does. 

8.    In Luke’s Gospel he focuses on healings more than others and has a more focused approach to explaining the specific diagnosis of the person who was sick.  Also, when he recorded the parable Jesus spoke about how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, Luke uses the more classical Greek word for a surgeons needle whereas the other Gospel writers used the more common word for a regular needle.  It would be safe to assume that a doctor would have naturally used the word for a surgeon’s needle because of his familiarity with the medical language.