Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 18th October service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verses are:
Php 4:21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.
Php 4:22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
Php 4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Salute Every Saint
The final few verses of Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians may appear, at first reading, to contain little of special note and little to merit dedicating to them a full sermon. Yet, let us not forget that all of scripture is revealed to us by God the Holy Spirit and is ‘profitable … for instruction in righteousness’. We ought never to skip over Paul’s introductions or skimp on his farewells for these, too, are inspired by the Holy Ghost and valuable.
What makes a saint?
First we notice Paul’s greeting to every saint. Saints are not super-Christians but simply believers. Every child of God has been sanctified in Jesus Christ, set apart by the Father’s will, washed in the Saviour’s blood and clothed with God’s righteousness. All who trust the Lord do so because they are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). Sanctification is God’s work and saints are those who have been justified, cleansed and made holy in Christ.
The whole body of believers
Not one of these dear brothers and sisters in Christ, not one of the saints at Philippi, was left out of the Apostle’s thinking. He salutes each one personally. Each one was individually known to God. Their names were written in the Book of Life, their times were in His hands. Jesus calls each of His sheep by name. He loves them, not as a group or category of person but particularly and personally. They are members together of Christ’s body. Consequently, each one had a part in the Apostle’s affections for Christ’s sake
All one in Christ
There may have been many poor saints in this congregation. There may have been some wealthy ones. Paul salutes them equally in Christ. This is a fine example for us all to follow. James wrote to the church saying, ‘My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons’ and here Paul exemplifies this principle. Talents may vary and characters differ but every child of God is equally precious to the Father and every one ought to be respected and cared for as a brother or sister in the Lord.
Paul’s fellow workers
So, too, Paul acknowledges the brethren who are with him in Rome and takes this opportunity to convey their greetings to Philippi. These included Timothy, whom Paul hoped shortly to send to Philippi, Epaphras and Aristarchus who were fellow-prisoners, and others as we learn from Paul’s letter to Colosse and Philemon. John Gill comments here that Paul ‘makes no mention of Peter anywhere, when he writes from Rome or to it, which shows he was not there then, or a bishop of that place, as the Papists say’.
The church at Rome
‘All the saints salute you’ appears to be a reference to greetings from the church at Rome with whom Paul is in contact despite his detention and here the Apostle includes, ‘chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household’. The emperor at this time was Nero. He persecuted Christians. Paul’s presence in Rome for trial was known in Nero’s court and residence. Paul told the Philippians, ‘my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace’. Despite Caesar’s hostility some of his household had been converted and now identified with the Apostle and the church.
God’s sovereign grace
In this we observe another beautiful example of sovereign, distinguishing grace. We cannot say who these individuals were but they evidently heard Paul preach, which he was able to do, and were drawn to His Saviour. It is possible they included Paul’s guards who were regularly exposed to the Apostle’s ministry and heard the gospel of Christ from Paul’s own lips. Paul was confined to his own rented house at this time and was able to receive visitors. Paul’s guards would have heard all the conversations, prayers, worship and preaching of their charge which no doubt was blessed to the souls of at least some of these men.
Final blessings
Paul finishes his epistle with a prayer for God’s blessing upon His friends. Having recently written, ‘Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ He now concludes, ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’ It is always right to thank and glorify God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for all grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul desires that the daily grace he draws personally from His Saviour will be known by the Philippian saints, too.
Amen
Hymn 71
Free Grace in Revealing Christ. Matt. 11. 25, 26
I. Watts C.M.
1
Jesus, the Man of constant grief,
A mourner all his days;
His spirit once rejoiced aloud,
And turned his joy to praise:
2
“Father, I thank thy wondrous love,
That has revealed thy Son
To men unlearnèd; and to babes
Has made the gospel known.
3
“The mysteries of redeeming grace
Are hidden from the wise;
While pride and carnal reasonings join
To swell and blind their eyes.”
4
Thus does the Lord of heaven and earth
His great decrees fulfil,
And order all his works of grace
By his own sovereign will.
Hymn 1137
“Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance.” Ps. 28. 9
T. Kelly 8.7.4.
1
God of our salvation, hear us;
Bless, O bless us, ere we go;
When we join the world, be near us,
Lest thy people careless grow;
Saviour, keep us,
Keep us safe from every foe.
2
In the day of thy appearing,
When the trump of God shall sound,
May we hear it, nothing fearing,
Though all nature sinks around,
By our Saviour
Raised, and then with glory crowned.
If I am in Christ it means that when God looks at me He sees His Son Jesus Christ. Then, when He looks at His dearly beloved Son, He sees me. All my corruption as a fallen sinner has been laid upon Christ Jesus and owned as His. All the perfections of the GodMan Jesus Christ are reckoned to be mine.