Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 4. The redemption of tithes 27:30-34
  God claimed as His possession one tenth of the seed, fruit, and livestock of the Israelites. If the owner wished to keep some of this himself, he had to pay the value of what he kept to God plus 20 percent. This tithe was a c...
• VI. Oracle five: The people's sin of robbing God 3:7-12
  The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
• The cost and reward of discipleship 16:24-27 (cf. Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-26)
  Jesus proceeded to clarify the way of discipleship. In view of Jesus' death His disciples, as well as He, would have to die to self. However, they could rejoice in the assurance that the kingdom would come eventually. Glory w...
• Builders of God's temple 3:10-15
  3:10 In the new illustration Paul laid the foundation of the church in Corinth by founding the church, and others added the walls and continued building on that foundation. Paul's special mission from God was to found churche...
• Historical background
  The name of the city of Philippi was originally Krinides (lit. springs). It stood about 10 miles inland from the Aegean Sea in the Roman province of Macedonia. In 356 B.C. Philip II, king of Macedonia and father of Alexander ...
• Message8
  The Philippian Christians were special favorites of the apostle Paul. Their response to the gospel and their subsequent progress in the faith were exemplary. However the connections between Paul and Philippi that the New Test...
• Outline
  I. Salutation 1:1-2II. Prologue 1:3-26A. Thanksgiving 1:3-8B. Prayer 1:9-11C. Progress report 1:12-261. Paul's present imprisonment 1:12-182. Paul's anticipated deliverance 1:19-26III. Partnership in the gospel 1:27-4:9A. A w...
• I. Salutation 1:1-2
  Paul began this epistle by identifying himself and his companion and by wishing God's richest blessings on his readers."Almost all letters from the Greco-Roman period began with a threefold salutation: The Writer, to the Addr...
• A. Thanksgiving 1:3-8
  The apostle proceeded to express his sincere gratitude to God for his friends in Philippi. He did this to assure them of God's continuing working for them and his satisfaction with their partnership in the work of the gospel....
• A. A worthy walk 1:27-30
  The first sub-section (1:27-30) begins with a topic sentence that expresses Paul's desire for the Philippians. Then he proceeded to explain and to illustrate what constitutes a worthy walk (2:1-4:9)."With this section we come...
• The responsibility of the believer 2:12-16
  "The detailed attention just given to the Christ-hymn must not obscure the fact that vv 12-18 are part of a larger parenetic section--1:27-2:18. Exhortation is resumed again through the frequent use of the imperative mood, or...
• The example of Timothy 2:19-24
  The apostle's reference to his present sufferings (vv. 17-18) led him to tell the Philippians about his plans. He wanted to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to Philippi. He said things about those two faithful fellow workers tha...
• The introductory charge to rejoice in the Lord 3:1
  Having created joy in his readers by referring to the sterling examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus, Paul warned them about certain other people who professed to be servants of God.He introduced this section of his epistle wi...
• The concluding charge to stand fast in the Lord 4:1
  The key word "Therefore"(Gr. hoste) and the repetition of "stand firm"(cf. 1:27) point to a conclusion of the main subject. This verse begins the rather protracted conclusion of the letter. The apostle did not want his reader...
• C. Specific duties 4:2-9
  This last section (4:2-9) of the body of the epistle (1:27-4:9) deals with the same two subjects as the preceding two sections, unity and steadfastness, but in more detail. Paul gave his readers specific instructions about wh...
• 1. Restoring unity 4:2-3
  4:2 Euodia ("Success") and Syntyche ("Lucky") were evidently two women in the Philippian congregation.145"For the Pauline letters, this is a remarkable moment indeed, since Paul does here what he seldom does elsewhere in conf...
• 2. Maintaining tranquillity 4:4-9
  Paul gave his readers five other brief positive exhortations all of which are vitally important for individual and corporate Christian living. They all result in the maintenance of peace in the body so the saints can work tog...
• IV. Epilogue 4:10-20
  The apostle began this epistle by sharing some personal information about his situation in Rome (1:12-26). He now returned from his concerns for the Philippians (1:27-4:9) to his own circumstances (4:10-20). Notice the somewh...
• B. The previous gifts 4:15-20
  Paul seems to have intended the references in these verses to previous gifts that the Philippians had sent him to dispel any doubts they may have had about the genuineness of his gratitude.4:15 The Philippians had been very t...
• 3. Slaves and masters 3:22-4:1 (cf. Eph. 6:5-9)
  3:22 Paul probably made this section longer than the preceding two because he sent this epistle to Colosse with the Epistle to Philemon. Onesimus, Philemon's run-away slave, carried them.166Moreover there may well have been m...
• VI. Women in the Ministry and Teaching of Paul and Peter
  A. Paul affirms the personal equality of man and woman in the new creation by stating that in Christ there is "neither male nor female"(Gal. 3:28).A woman obtains salvation by faith exactly as a man does (Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 1...
• C. The Possibility of Rest for God's People 4:1-14
  The writer returned again from exhortation to exposition. He now posed the alternatives of rest and peril that confronted the new people of God, Christians.127The writer warned his readers so they would not fail to enter into...
• The final purging of sin 9:11-28
  The writer now focused on the issue of sacrifice."The argument moves a stage further as the author turns specifically to what Christ has done. The sacrifices of the old covenant were ineffectual. But in strong contrast Christ...
• 1. The responsibility of the elders 5:1-4
  5:1 In view of the inevitability of trials and God's judgment Peter gave a special charge to the elders (overseers) of the congregations of his readers. Peter himself was an elder as well as an apostle. As an elder he spoke f...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• A Tender Exhortation
  Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for. my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.'--Phil. 4:1.THE words I have chosen set forth very simply and beautifully the bond which knit Paul and the...