LESSON 3

Need to sort of summarize what we had last week. 
First: 
Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus
* not to learn about another book in the Bible, but to MEET HIM...here and now; not to finish another epistle, but to grow in each one of our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-today JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* we are not obligated to agree with me or each other

Obligations:
* ONLY ONE - TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY OF GREETINGS/GRATITUDE
JOY/REJOICE
FELLOWSHIP
IN CHRIST
V8-11  Pauls Prayer
1:8  starting from that place of HIS love; stopping to drink deeply from that mighty rushing river of His love and His life He offers to set roaring and pouring out of us into the world - to each other 
1:9  this compels us to pray for each other, and what is it he desired the MOST for them??
wealth?
peace?
prosperity?
success?
NO!!   IT'S LOVE!!

This love is NOT a static or frozen assett; NO, it's abounding more and more; and HOW??  FULL knowledge, a tasting and tested familiarity with Him {epignosis} and discernment (an actively winnowing behavior)

1:10  WHY?? so to be able to recognize and then invest ourselves and our lives in those things that matter and also to be genuine and "blameless"

1:11  thats fine, but HOW?? Paul comes full circle; he started with the love of Jesus and he finishes with the "fruit" of His righteousness IN US;

1:12-30  Paul's Personal Circumstances: Paul now begins to relate NOT JUST the facts of his recent trials and and experiences, but MORE importantly, their meaning and HIS RESPONSE to them. 

Read 1:12-14 first; 

1: 12  Clearly the Phillipians knew something of his plight to have sent Epaphroditis. Paul wants them to see these events from another perspective: from GODS point of view; What to any outside observer would be the worst kind of news, the bleakest sort of circumstances, Paul wants them to see with Spiritual eyes: his imprisonment has furthered {prokope} the Gospel "rather" (KJV) than obstructed it; This Greek word carries with it a sort of metaphor picturing pioneers cutting {kopto} a way before (or in front of) {pro} an army, and so furthering its march; 
What a perfect word for them to hear, as he is the pioneer for his precious army of beloved Phillipians to follow behind as they march onward to spread the Gospel; He MUST have wanted them to see themselves as such; 
And we ourselves AS WELL; and who is it that we are? BOTH the cutters AND the followers: we are able to prepare the way for SO MANY of our precious brothers and sisters, our children and theirs, as well; By lifting up each other in prayer we can cut a way through the harsh and hard burdens we each face every day and every week in the world; HOW CRUCIAL THAT WE PARY FOR EACH OTHER THIS WAY, PRAYING THE LORD TO CLEAR OUT A WAY FOR EACH OTHER; 
But HOW can we pray IF WE DON'T ASK OF EACH OTHER WHAT OUR NEEDS AND BURDENS ARE??? 
We MUST pray for our Pastor, that HIS way will be cleared even as he labors to clear and cut a way ahead for all of US; 

HOW EASY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN/WOULD STILL BE NOW to see Pauls plight and worry and fret about the Churches greatest Missionary shut up and halted from his work, stopped utterly from any really "effective" ministry; He went from an audience of thousands across the entire known world, to a captive audience of ONE hapless Roman guard; 
How easy it would be/STILL IS to say, my opportunities are so small, my circle of influence is too narrow, too restricted, to be of ANY POSSIBLE value or real use, to be of any REAL effectiveness in the world; 
1:13  How MUCH we need to change our point of view!! God can avail MUCH, HE is the God who feeds thousands from a few fish and loaves of bread; Read what he wrote to Timothy in 2Tim2:9; The world can ONLY chain OUR movements, NOT the infinitely subtle and powerful activity of the boundless Spirit of the Living God; 
KJV: "My bonds in Christ are manifest..." his imprisonment became known as connected with Christ, for Christ's sake rather than for trus criminal or purely political activity; 
(KJV) "Palace" {praitorion} lots of discussion as to whether this meant the Emperor's palace vs the physical residence of the governor of the other provinces vs the actual members of the approx 9,000 man Pratorian Guard 1ly garrisoned at Rome or even detachments of this same elite Ptratorian Guard posted for duty at the provincal governors capitol cities; Whether at Rome or at a provincial government center, it is more likely that Paul was talking about the progress of the Gospel among persons rather than in places; 
AND WHAT PROGRESS!!! One at a time, Paul was telling the Gospel to each of his guards who were literally chained at the hand to Paul, day in and day out, until the entire body of soldiers had heard either through Paul directly or through those who had been chained; Soldiers (esp ones on remote tours like provincial cities instead of Rome...) love to talk interminably about their job, especially about the unusual or different duties they are given; Paul HAD to be one of the most WIERD assigments ANY of the guards had EVER had, and hence their after-duty hours "war stories" about Paul and what he said and how he lived in the midst of his imprisonment would be repeated and retold throughout the whole detachment; 
YOU try being chained to someone ALL the time and NOT let them really discover WHO and WHAT you REALLY are; 
NOT ONLY that, these guards would also witness the actions of the other believers towards Paul as they sent their gifts of true Christ-like love; READ John 13:34-35 where the Lord Himself says that its OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER that testifies to the lost about HIM; 
1:14  But that was not the ONLY divinely wrought accomplishment God provided out of this supposed "disaster" in the ministry of Paul; Other believers were so encouraged by the witness of what the Lord had done in and through Paul while he was in the midst of what they ALL had feared (arrest, imprisonment, and possibly execution), that THEY were able to finally stand up and speak a bolder and more forthright witness themselves; 
Lets examine the vs more closely: 
Note: "most" (direct trans "the more") so not all were able to respond to the Lord's demonstration of Sovereign Power over mere worldly circumstances; HOW EASY it is to still be afraid, HOW MUCH we need to eagerly seek out and draw comfort from the testimony of OTHER lives in Christ; [talk about the blessing of reading biographies of other Christians, to witness their weaknessness and failures but also their accounts of how the Lord blessed their lives and seemingly ineffectual efforts ANYWAY has been a GREAT source of comfort to me]; 
(KJV) "brethern in the Lord, waxing confident..." "In the Lord" is better connected with "being confident"; It's essential that we never forget that our confidence must rest SOLEY and ONLY IN THE LORD and no where else; not in what some other brother is doing or able to do, but rather IN WHAT THEIR ACTIONS DEMONSTRATE THAT THE LORD IS ABLE AND WILLING TO DO IN ALL OF US!! 
And what happens when we root or base our confidence in the Lord?? (KJV) We can become "...much more bold"; lit trans of that part of the vs: "...more exceedingly to dare fearlessly..."; we are able to do as the AMP trans: "...acting with more freedom and indifference to the consequences."; 
And when we DO gain more freedom from the Lord what will inevitably occur?? Direct trans "...the Word of God to speak." The Greek verb trans "to speak" really addresses the actual fact that they did speak rather than the substance of speaking; They had finally broken the silence of their lives that they had built about the Lord in the midst of the world they lived in;