Philippians 1:1 - Paul, a Bondservant of Jesus Christ

Today,we’re beginning our journey through the book of Philippians. It’s amazing thatthe Apostle Paul wrote one of the most joyful books in the Bible from a prisoncell, encouraging believers—through difficult and terrible circumstances in theworld at that time—to be joyful and to have a joyful mind. As a matter of fact,I believe we’ve already mentioned this, but some 19 times the word joy appearsin one form or another in this book.  I want toencourage you to take time to read through this entire book, thinking about howGod is encouraging us—even today, despite our circumstances—to have a joyfulmind. Noticehow this book begins: “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to allthe saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Rightaway, the Apostle Paul says something very interesting. He does not say, “Paul,an apostle.” If you go through his thirteen epistles, you’ll find that in mostof them he does refer to himself as an apostle of Christ, or called to be anapostle. But in the book of Philippians, as well as in 1 and 2 Thessaloniansand Philemon, he does not mention his apostleship. However,in all his letters, he emphasizes that he is a bondservant—a servant, aslave—of Jesus Christ. The word bondservant refers to someone who belongscompletely to another. When Paul says this, he is essentially saying, “My lifeis not my own anymore. I belong to Jesus Christ.” You don’t have your ownagenda. You don’t simply do what you want to do. Instead, your focus is on whatthe Master—your Lord—wants you to do. Myfriend, in this book we see that Jesus Christ is the owner of our lives when wefully yield ourselves to Him. We want to be where He is. That’s why Jesus saidin John 12:26: “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am,there My servant will be also.” Why? Because we are there to do what Hewants us to do. We don’t have our own agenda. WhenI began to understand that as a pastor—after about twenty years inministry—everything changed. I didn’t have to prove anything. I didn’t have tostrive to be a “big-time” pastor or try to win the whole world to Jesus Christon my own. All I had to do was be where my Master, Jesus Christ, is—follow Him,embrace His agenda, and do what He wants me to do. This truth is one of themost powerful realities at the heart of the Christian life. Salvation is notsimply believing something about Jesus—it is surrendering our lives to Him. Itis loving Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. Paulincludes Timothy here—Timothy, his spiritual son in the faith, whom he mentoredand loved deeply. We also notice that this letter was written “to all thesaints in Christ Jesus.” When Paul refers to “all the saints,” he is speakingof those who are in Christ Jesus. A saint is not someone who has lived aperfect life or someone recognized for extraordinary deeds. No, we are saintsbecause we have been set apart. The moment we trust Jesus Christ as our Lordand Savior, we are set apart—set apart to live for God, to live for His glory,and to proclaim His name to the world around us. Paulalso mentions the bishops and deacons, reminding us that the church is tofunction with spiritual order and servant leadership. And that’s what we’ll betalking about tomorrow—servant leadership—because Paul makes it clear that hehimself is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Solet me ask you: Are you seeing yourself that way? As someone who belongs toHim—His servant—doing what He wants you to do, going where He is, andfaithfully following Him? God bless you, andmay you have a wonderful, wonderful day.