Into The World - Philippi

Into The World – Philippi
Dr. Rob Sidwell
8/16/2024

Good evening once again. It’s good to see everyone out this evening. I have more to say after we're done with our invitation song. I'd like to thank you all once again for the opportunity you've given to me and the great kindness and generosity you've shown to me and the encouragement that you've given to me this week. It means a lot to me. I'll stop that right now, and get to the lesson for this evening.

We're talking about places this week. We have to do a brief review. We've learned that one can be saved regardless of where you're from. We shouldn't trust in a place to save us. We shouldn't trust in an object to save us. We shouldn't trust in the relationship our parents had or didn't have with God to save us. We should treat others well. We should treat others well not to be saved, but because we are saved. We talked about taking revenge and how we shouldn't do that. We should, in fact, show kindness, even to those who are unkind to us.

Last night we talked about how anyone and everyone who works righteousness can come, even of races as despised as Samaritans, with a history as bad as theirs. We talked about responding to Jesus in the right way. This evening we're going to talk about a city called, Philippi.

Philippi in Macedonia was the first city on the continent of Europe, as far as we know, where the gospel is preached. Thus it was privileged. This is not the same place as Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus preached. That's in Palestine. Here we're talking about the Philippi that Paul is going to visit, the Philippi that Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians to. There are lots of places called Philippi in the world today.

If anyone here is from West Virginia, you know that there's a place in West Virginia called Philippi. It was the site of one of the first military engagements of the American Civil War. So if you go down there, you see a plaque. By the way, it's not a national plaque. It's one of the state of West Virginia, Memorial historical plaques. There's a wooden bridge left that dates from the Civil War period. That's it. That's the only historical structure that remains. We were visiting civil war sites and went down there. There's not a lot. Philippi, WV was not a huge engagement in the Civil War, and so it doesn't get noticed that much. There is a town there, I should point out, and it's important to actually point this out. It's like most West Virginia towns. It's a few houses on the side of a mountain.

What about biblical Philippi? Philippi, West Virginia, is better off than biblical Philippi, because biblical Philippi also had wars that raged in and around it, and it was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries. By the time Paul was in it, it had already been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Today, only a few scattered stones can be found. No one lives there anymore. It's not like Philippi, West Virginia, with a little few houses. Today, only a few scattered stones are left. Philippi was once a wealthy city in its day. It was near gold, as in gold you dig out of the ground, gold mines.

Turn to Acts 16. Acts 16 which tells us Paul is going to sail to Philippi. Paul That was his original plan. If you read, for the sake of time, I will paraphrase, verses 1 through 10. That was his original plan. He wanted to turn a different direction.

He wanted to go into Asia. The Asia we're talking about is the Roman province of Asia. We're not talking China and Mongolia, although that's part of the continent of Asia, but the Roman province of Asia. In verse 9 a vision then told Paul, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

Macedonia was then and where it is now, basically. There's a nation today that's called North Macedonia. It used to just be called Macedonia, and the people insisted that they add the north to it. It's more or less in the same region. It's in Southeastern Europe. This makes Philippi one of the first places in Europe, if not the first place, where the gospel is preached.

We're picking up now in verse 11, New King James. It says, Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony.

Now stop right there for a second. Philippi was a Roman colony. The place had been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. The latest before Paul arrived would have been in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar. That's the place where Mark Anthony defeated Brutus and Cassius, the ones who had stabbed Caesar, one of the many battles of Philippi that were fought over the centuries. When the Romans destroyed cities, if the site was still habitable, that's where they put their soldiers.

We talked earlier this week about Roman soldiers having a hard life, 20 years service. After 20 years, you need some land to settle. Philippi was one such place. That tells us immediately this is a Gentile city. Roman soldiers, their families, their descendants are going to make up a big part of the population.

We're in the middle of verse 12. And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

Paul is going into this prosperous city. Where did he go? To see the sights? To see the gold mines? No, it says he went to the riverside, where prayer was usually made, where people were interested in religious things, in godly ways, where prayer was customarily made, it says. Some people did worship God, like Lydia. People often ask, how do we carry the gospel into a place? A good place to start is with people who are at least interested. If you're trying to get a foothold in a community, that's probably the best place to go is not the local insert whatever den of iniquity you want here. Probably a good place to start is where people are interested in religious things or godly sorts of things.

Paul didn't erect himself a little pulpit there and stand behind it and preach. There's no indication that Paul preached here. He says, we simply sat down and spoke. They sat down. They talked to others about Jesus. You might say, I can't preach. I'm scared of public speaking. That's not my role in the church. Perhaps it isn't your role in the church, but we can all spread the gospel through what we say and through what we do. We talked earlier this week about having the responsibility to do that. We know that they discussed baptism with Lydia. What do we know about Lydia? She worshiped God and she was a seller of purple.

Colors don't mean a whole lot to us today. If you want a blue shirt, you get a blue shirt. You want a green shirt, you get a green shirt. Colors don't mean much today because we have all these artificial colorings, but 2000 years ago, purple was hard to come by. Some of you already know the story, so I will tell you the details here. As far as to say, it came from sea snails. Getting it was a long and involved process.

Here are a few things you may not know. Guess who tended to wear the Purple? Emperors. Becoming Emperor was often called donning the Imperial Purple. Within the city of Rome, only Roman senators were permitted to wear purple. How did you know, passing someone on the street, if he was a Roman senator? If he was a Roman senator, he had to hold up his toga with one arm. There was a stripe, a purple stripe, down the edge of the toga. This indicated senatorial rank. In Rome, your clothes indicated your rank. And only senators were permitted to wear the purple stripe.

The Emperor, of course, had robes of purple. Roman senators could wear a purple stripe. In other words, Lydia was not poor. Lydia's clientele was even less poor. What did she do when she heard God's word? When she heard the gospel? First she was baptized. I think it bears repeating, even though it's been repeated many times, it should be. You won't find any instance of anyone in this Book of joining the church, being saved, without being baptized, or without being, as some translations have put it, without being immersed. That bears mentioning once again. Then what? She said I've been baptized. I'm saved. We say we’re doing golden deeds. I don't need to do any golden deeds. I've already done my golden deed for my life, so goodbye. What did she do?

It says in verse 15, after she and her household had put on Christ, they were baptized, she begged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.' So she persuaded us. And they stayed. She did what she could. She would have had the room.

I thank you again for your gracious invitation, but I didn’t want to impose on anybody by staying in their house, but she had the means, and she put them to use. We ask ourselves, does our faith show itself by our actions? You don't need to have James 2 repeated to you. Hopefully you all know it. It says that faith without works is... New King James says it's dead. The ESV says it's useless. Lots of people out there will say I believe then they don't do anything with it. When the Bible says faith saves us or belief saves us, it means that it's talking about a faith that is powerful enough to actually move us to do something about it, not as simple, okay, my brain has connected Jesus with being the son of God, the Messiah, and that's it. I have that intellectual image in my head, and that's it. It's we need to actually believe in Jesus and do something with our faith. We show our faith by our good works, our good deeds, our lifestyle. Pick your version here in James 2.

Things started off well. This is Europe. The gospel has now reached Europe because Macedonia is in Europe. The situation soon changed for Paul and Silas. We're staying here in the Acts 16.
Let's just keep reading picking up in verse 16. It says, Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.
Things turned sour, as we would say, rather quickly. Back to verse 18, the slave girl followed them for many days. Why did Paul wait many days before he finally decided this is greatly annoying? He finally had enough to turn around and say I command you, come out of her. In the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her. We may wonder about this, but we can know when the things happened the timing was right in God's mind. Of course, money was involved.

Think back to Lydia. She had money. What was she using her money for? The famous philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote that money, the invention of money was the source of all evil in the world. He wrote that. Is that true? The Bible says, and of course, I'm sure we could all quote that, the love of money is the root of all evil. What does Paul write to Timothy to tell people? He said, Command those who are rich to not be rich? No, he says not to trust in their riches.

So the point is not rich people are always saved or rich people are never saved. The point is, what do we do with our money? Lydia chose to use her money to house Paul and Silas to serve God. Luke was there too, because he says us.

The owners of the slave girl clearly put more emphasis and a much higher importance on money than they did on the life of their slave girl. She made them a bunch of money. That's what they cared about. Paul and Silas ended up in prison when they were severely beaten. Then what happens?

Let's keep reading now in verse 24. Having received such a charge, you put them into the inner prison and fasten their feet in the stocks.

That's why I had to sing 222, Faith of Our Fathers. They were chained in prisons dark. How would you react? How would I react? How would we react? Were they still in heart and conscience free? Would we be willing, like many of them did, to die for God, to die for Christ? What did they do about it? Verse 25, they were praying. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. Has anything bad ever happened to you? Obviously. If you say no, you haven't lived on Earth. Do you feel like singing hymns to God when things that are bad happen? Are they're singing to themselves. No, the other prisoners were listening to them. Do you suppose that might have had an influence on them?

In verse 26, Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Trouble did not cause Paul and Silas to run away from God. I'm just using this for example, obviously. Do we say but God, how could you let this happen to me? How can you let this happen to me? Did they do that? They continued to sing hymns and pray. They became closer to God through trials and tribulations. God obviously did not abandon them. That earthquake was obviously no accident. Then what happened? What would you do? You’ve been beaten. You've been chained up and you've been put in stocks. That's where they hold your ankle securely, but now there's an earthquake. The prison door is open. What are you going to do? Beat it out of there, right? Run as fast as you possibly can? Head for the hills? You're on the lam now. They'll never catch you. Let's see what they did.

Verse 27, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Obviously, this had an effect, a great effect on the jailer. Then Paul did what? He's going to spread the good news.

Verse 30 says, He brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. (A lot of people stop right there. Let’s keep going.) And then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately, he and all his family were baptized.

He brought them into his house. He set food before them. He rejoiced having believed in God with all his household. Paul used this opportunity. This guy was probably the one turning the keys, fastening him in chains not so long ago. Here Paul is spreading the gospel to him, giving him the answer to that question every human being should be asking, what must I do to be saved? He reacted. Note what the jailer did. He believed in Jesus, and then that was it, right? No.

We've been over this, but here it is again. He and all his family were baptized immediately. A lot of people will carry it to that step. Okay, I believe. I've been baptized. I'm done. I don't need to be doing any more good deeds. I don't need to be looking closer and getting closer to Jesus. I don't need to open that book ever again. The next time that I see the inside of a church building, they'll be carrying me in a box.

That's not, of course, what the jailer did. He then did what? He showed his faith by what he did. He then did what? He washed their stripes, and he set food before the brethren in his house, and he rejoiced. How many people react the way that most of those lepers did, that Jesus cured? They went right on their way. How many people react upon hearing that they have been saved, that they have been baptized, that they are saved people? Do they rejoice? Are they like the lame man, walking and leaping and praising God? Baptism is crucial, but so is a lifestyle.

Other people will stop right there and they won't read the rest of the story. Let’s look at the rest of the account.

Starting with verse 35And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.” So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”
Paul was going to point out that what they had done was illegal. It was not only, spiritually wrong, it was simply illegal. It was against the laws of the Empire. Notice the reaction that we get in verse 38.

And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

We give the jailer credit for being baptized. Too often when we as readers give the jailer credit for being baptized, we give the jailer credit for washing their wounds, we give the jailer credit for feeding them, but we don't give the jailer credit for stopping and waiting to listen to what Paul had to say. The jailer did not obey the magistrates. He didn't simply let them go and get them out of there. That also could have been ugly for the jailer. He had disobeyed an order from his superiors. We’ve talked about what the Romans did to those people.

Peter said by inspiration and acts, we must or we ought to obey God rather than men. Paul and Silas did leave the jail, but they went to the house of Lydia, where they encouraged the brethren. What does that tell us? There's already a church there, and it's growing. That it's more than just Lydia and the jailer. The church there is growing.

They finally departed to move on to Thessalonica as Paul's missionary journeys, as we call them, continue. That's Philippi as we see it physically in the scripture. Paul's relationship with the church of Philippi did not end when he physically left town. He wrote the Book of Philippians. that book is full of joy, reminding them and us about the joy we should have in Christ. Paul also commends the church of Philippi directly. He congratulates their members.

Turn to Philippians, chapter 1, verse 3. And while you're turning there, remember where Philippi was. Philippi was a city in an area that mined gold. There was some money there. There were people with money in Philippi.

Philippians 1:3. He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

Isn't that a nice thought? I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. I'll say, I'm certainly not the apostle Paul, but I think about you people, and I thank God for what you have done and are doing for me. We need to encourage and build each other up. We need to encourage and build each other up.

He continues on in verse 4. He says, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

That's the way he begins this letter right after he says, Grace to you and peace. Too often we skip over the first, 5 to 10 verses of most of Paul's letters. Okay, it's introductory stuff. What can we possibly learn from those 2,000 years later? We can learn the life that Christians need to have. We can learn the things that we need to do for each other. We need to pray for one another, remember each other's service to God, and encourage one another in that service. What did they do for Paul?

Please turn to Philippians 4:14. New King James says, nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress.

The ESV says, It was you to share my trouble. In verses 10 through 13 Paul says they were concerned for him. Why were they concerned? Read through the rest of the Book of Acts and what he lists in 2 Corinthians. How many times has he been stoned? How many times he's been shipwrecked? How many times he's been threatened by Jews and by Gentiles alike? He had more than his share of troubles. He certainly faced dungeon fire and sword, to go back to that song we were singing.

They were concerned about him, and they did what they could to help. Are we, you and I, encouraging fellow Christians? Although words are very important, it goes beyond that. What did Jesus say? If you say to someone who needs something, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, and you don't help them, what good is that? That's no good.

He continues on, verse 15, Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.

You sent me help for my needs, says ESV. Once and again, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

Was Paul in this for the money? Paul warned about that? Perhaps that one should stand out. We're talking today about people taking advantage of people. There are people out there who will take your money. They're in this for the money. This is a world where many people, if not most people, are much more like the owners of that slave girl than they are like Lydia. They're interested in money, and they don't care who gets hurt. What's our attitude towards things? What's our attitude toward money? Was Paul interested in money?

He says, verse 17 (ESV) Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

What meant more to him was not the money in his purse, the money in his money bag, but the encouragement, the fact that they were willing to put themselves outward to help him and to help the cause of Christ.

Please stay in Philippians. Let's have one reference from a couple of other chapters here.

Philippians 2, verse 12. He says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation.

I thought people were allergic to that four-letter word. It starts with W, work. In other words, put some effort into proving that not to get saved, you can't earn salvation. Work because you to work. Work because you love God. I used to think people were allergic to that word then I started subbing in high school. I found out people are just allergic to that word. It's down right toxic to a lot of people. Work is not the thing people enjoy doing.

The Philippians church, and by extension us, we today, are supposed to put some effort into it. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do or to work, ESV, for his good pleasure.

We're supposed to put some effort into it. Over and over again scripture tell us to give diligence, put some effort, and make every effort, depending on your version.

2 Peter 1 goes through that list of things that we need to add to faith. That takes work. That takes effort. We read this earlier this week, since we're in Philippians. Philippians 3:20. We said already about Paul and his citizenship, but here it is again. He says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you're eagerly awaiting Jesus, what does that imply? It implies you're not too attached to things of this world. You can't wait to leave. You eagerly wait Jesus. One more reference from Philippians.

Go to the last chapter, back to chapter four verse 1. He says, New King James, Therefore, my beloved and longed-for Brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

What can we learn from Philippi and the events in Philippi? Firstly, we could learn that God's always had a plan to carry that gospel throughout the world. We'll come back to that in the last point we're going to make. Secondly, we learned what our attitude should be about money? The thing people really get attached to is money. Is having money wrong? No. Is craving money wrong? Absolutely. We need to have the correct attitude towards wealth, the correct attitude towards money that too many in the world do not have. Thirdly, Why? Faith is great, but faith alone is (James 2) worthless, useless, vain. It has to be supported by action. Our faith, the biblical faith, should be a faith that is so strong that it moves us to actually do something about it. Do something because we have faith. Serve God because you're saved, not to get saved.

Finally, building on that, what are we doing? How hard are we working for God? It is a nice lesson to end a meeting with. How hard are you and I working? There is, to quote another song we didn't sing, There's Room in the Kingdom of God for workers who are loyal to him and true. There's room in the Kingdom. There's a place in the service. Was I somebody today who said, I can't do anything anymore. There is work that we all can do.

Hopefully this series of lessons has been helpful to you. I know it's your presence and the lessons and the word of God have been helpful and encouraging to me.

I ask you now, where's your citizenship once again? Who are you working for? Are you working for money? If so, you're working for yourself? What's your alternative? Working for Jesus. Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon. That means money or things. What's your choice? What is your choice going to be? Is Jesus going to find us watching, ready, or is he going to find us distracted by the world, distracted by its wealth, distracted by all the many distractions that are in the world?

You need to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. You need to be willing to confess your faith in him before men. You need to be willing to repent of your sins and put him on in what Lydia, the jailer, everyone else in Acts did. Put Him on in baptism. Then you need to continue to work. There's that word again. You need to continue to work, not to be saved, but because you are saved. If there's any need that you have, then please let it be known as together we stand and sing this song.