Oasis Community Trust

Book of Philippians: Session 1
Interactive Bible Study:

Welcome. You are so welcome, to what I would describe as a fireside Bible Study course.
Along the way we will get to know one another as you interact with what I am saying, and perhaps contact me regarding it. Whatever, sit back and enjoy our journey together.
During the course of this study, you will learn how to engage with God the Holy Spirit, to hear Him and to dialogue with Him.
It would be really helpful for you if you have a pen and paper, or a notebook in order that you can record your journey. I will be asking you some questions later; you can write your answers down and then speak to the Lord about them. This develops our relationship with Him as we discover things about ourselves which perhaps need to change, and come to Him with them. He is delighted to help you in everything; he really enjoys the journey you are on with Him. To Him it’s all about the journey, to us, well, we’re more interested in getting there – that is why we have to develop His mind and outlook on life in order that we are in tune with Him – it’s brilliant!
We will be working our way through the book of Philippians, which was a letter written by Paul to the church in Philippi in distinctly adverse circumstances.
Throughout the book he tells us how to gain joy over circumstances, people, things and anxiety or worry.
He was in a place where he couldn’t affect anything yet he was perfectly at peace; he was rendered powerless, chained between two soldiers, under house arrest, and he spends his time giving us easy to understand instructions in how to overcome in our daily lives, applying the truths that Jesus laid down in His gospel message with ease and clarity. His circumstances do not seem to have any effect on him whatsoever, except to cause him to rejoice even more and to overflow with love for everyone.
So your first task is to read chapter 1 of the book of Philippians. As you read, take a note of how many times Paul talks of ‘joy’ and ‘rejoicing’ and ‘glad and ‘gladness’. Here it is in The Message:
Philippians 1
1-2 ‘Paul and Timothy, both of us committed servants of Christ Jesus, write this letter to all the followers of Jesus in Philippi, pastors and ministers included. We greet you with the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. 3-6 Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. 7-8 It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does! 9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. 12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah. 15-17 It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them. 18-21 So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose. 22-26 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. 27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.’
And now in the New American Standard Version –
‘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.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 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. 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 defence 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.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defence of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents – which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.’
Note where Paul was when he wrote these words.
Chained between two gaolers in a prison in Rome.
Facing death.
So with that in mind let’s start with a few questions about your current circumstances -
Question 1: What prison are you in right now? Maybe you would say you aren’t in a ‘prison’ – but resentment can be a prison, any wrong attitude can imprison us, how about unforgiveness? The bars on that are very thick.
Question 2: If you are not in prison, what difficulty or difficulties are facing you in your life? How are you handling it/them? Do you look for a way of escape, murmur, or complain, or do you worship and rest, knowing that God is in control and knows your plight? Do you ask God that you might grow through these things, not just go through them?
Write down your answers.
Now, talk to the Father about your responses to these questions. Take your time, there is no rush, this is a precious time between Father and child. Maybe you are just getting to know each other afresh.
Question 3: What have you learnt about yourself from your responses?
Write it down.
Question 4: What have you learnt about Him?
Write it down.
Listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.
Question 5: How is He directing you to pray about your circumstances?
Write it down.
You are beginning to discover how to have joy in spite of your circumstances because He has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you and you are receiving the proof of that through your dialogue with Him.
Mark Twain was a ‘professional’ humorist, whose lectures and writings made people around the world laugh for a short time and forget their troubles. However, Twain himself (this is not his real name, it was a pseudonym a ‘pen name’) was, in private life, a man whose life was marked by numerous sorrows. He died in 1910 a broken and lonely man. To my knowledge he never found Jesus as his Saviour but leaned toward parapsychology, the occult.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was a man acquainted with sorrow and grief, yet He possessed deep joy which was beyond anything that the world could throw at Him.
Isaiah 53:3 (New International Version)
‘He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.’
Some versions say He was acquainted with suffering – in other words, He knew about it, but it didn’t govern His life, Hebrews 4:15 tells us that He was in all points tempted as we are yet He was able to retain and live a life of fullness of joy, fully man, fully God. He knows what it is like to live in a human body with all its limitations. Wonderful Saviour – He identified with our weaknesses.
Jesus Himself said:
John 15:11 ‘I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing’.
Those of us who have trusted in Jesus have the privilege of experiencing the fullness of joy which is found in Psalm 16:11 ‘You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.’
Many of us fail to take advantage of the privilege of living in the fullness of joy that Jesus gives us because we just don’t know how. Very often we live under a cloud of disappointment, instead of walking in the bright sunshine of joy. What robs us? The answer is found in the four chapters of this letter, written centuries ago by Paul when he was a prisoner in Rome in about 62AD.
The letter was sent to his fellow Christians at the church in Philippi which was founded by Paul. It is full of thanksgiving to them, but more than that, he shares of his secret of maintaining his joy in adverse circumstances.
If you look carefully you will see that at least sixteen times in these four chapters, Paul talks about joy, rejoicing and/or gladness. You did that exercise didn’t you? If you didn’t, go back and do it now, read chapter 1 of Philippians and I’ll wait here for you to come back.
The thing about this letter is that there actually appears to be no reason for Paul to be rejoicing. He was a prisoner of the Romans, his case was coming up shortly, he had no idea of the outcome; it could mean death or freedom.
Paul had longed to go to Rome, but I don’t suppose this was the way he thought he would arrive there! He had come as a prisoner and the believers at Rome were apparently divided – some for him, some against. In fact, some of the Christians even wanted to make things even more difficult for him. But in spite of the danger and discomfort, Paul overflowed with joy.
Just read the passage again, it pulses with life doesn’t it?
How does he do it?
The secret is found in another word that is often repeated in this letter and it is the word ‘mind’.
The secret of Paul’s joy in spite of circumstances is in the way he thinks. It is in his mind. Our greatest battleground.
Our attitude and outlook determine the outcome. Or you could say – your attitude determines your altitude! The higher and deeper you go with Jesus, the less you are concerned with circumstances, people, things and anxiety or worry.
So Philippians is a book that explains the mind the believer must adopt if he is going to experience Christian joy in a world full of distress and trouble.
Philippians is a Christian psychology book based solidly on Bible doctrine. It is not a self help book on the power of positive thinking! It is a book that explains the mind the believer must have if he is going to experience Christian joy in a word filled with trouble and pain.
Like anything else, before we can look at the solution, we need to discover the problem. What exactly is it that robs us of our joy? It is a commodity that is very scarce amongst Christians, yet Jesus said ‘I am come that your joy may be full’ John 15:11.
I would conjecture that there are four main reasons we either lose or joy or never had it in the first place:
1. Circumstances – most of us confess that when things are going our way we feel a lot happier and we are much easier to live with! But have you ever considered how few of the circumstances or situations of life are actually under our control. We have no control over the weather, the traffic or over the things that other people say or do. The only control we have is over how we respond to these things. If our happiness depends on what happens, we are going to be of all people most miserable.
2. People – all of us have lost our joy because of people. What they are, what they say, what they do and no doubt we have been the cause of others losing their joy! As we cannot live in isolation, we have to learn how to be joyful in spite of what we perceive others do to us or say to us – or about us – or we are going to be miserable. So is there a way to be joyful in spite of people?
3. Things – the third thing that will come to trip us up is possessions. You may have heard the story of the wealthy man who was moving into his mansion and his Quaker neighbour, who believed in the simplicities of life, was watching these activities carefully. He counted all the things being carried into the house, finally he said to the lord of the mansion ‘Neighbour if thou dost need anything come to see me and I will tell thee how to get along without it.’
And Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with his two sons who were crying and fighting ‘What’s the matter with the boys?’ a friend asked ‘The same thing that is wrong with the whole word’ Lincoln replied ‘I have three walnuts and each of the boys wants two’.
Things – what thieves they can be.
Just stop there for a moment and ask the Lord about these three reasons that stunt and stifle our joy and which, if any, apply to you.
Write down your answer and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. Remember, if the Holy Spirit convicts you of something, He will also show you His provision for that change at the same time. Graham Cooke calls it the ‘language of promise’. There is never a problem without provision. Isn’t He wonderful?
Then we come to -
4. Worry or anxiety – this is the worst robber of all. Many people are robbed of peace and fulfilment because of anxious thoughts and worry. Worry has physical consequences, medicine can remove the symptoms, but it cannot remove the cause. Worry is an inside job. You can purchase sleep at a chemist’s shop, but you cannot purchase rest.
If Paul had wanted to worry, he had plenty of opportunities. He was a political prisoner, facing possible execution, his friends in Rome were divided in their attitude towards him, he had no missionary board supporting him, no lawyer to defend him, but despite all of these difficulties Paul does not worry, but instead, writes a letter filled with joy and tells us how to stop worrying! It’s like he is terminally ill but he is writing with concern about the state of our health!
These are the four things that rob us of our joy.
Circumstances, things, people and worry. To recover ourselves we need to change our outlook and cultivate the right kind of mind.
Next time we will look at the four attitudes of mind we will need to cultivate in order to regain and keep our joy.
May God richly bless you as you study His word.

There is currently no copyright on this material. Please feel free to copy it in its entirety.
Oasis Community Trust is a Registered Charity Number 1029128.
www.psalm131.com