AND NOW GOODBYE

January 7, 2001 PM

Phil 4:21-23

INTRO: There are times when goodbye is the hardest word on earth for me. Perhaps the fact that such long spans of time pass between visits with beloved brethren in distant places makes the farewell so difficult. So much can happen in that interval of time. How many are the times I have said goodbye to a precious friend never to see that one again in this life ... for that friend died some time after our goodbyes had been said. So many thoughts fill my heart at the moment of the goodbye. Even the closing of a letter to distant loved ones - or loved ones from whom something other than great distance separates us - can have the same heart filling emotion. Our letter to the Philippian church closes now. In our text we have read Pauls goodbye to his distant friends.

I. HE INCLUDES FOUR GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN THAT CLOSING

A. He salutes the saints in Philippi (4:21a)

1. every saint - each of them is on Pauls mind ... letter is for all of them its encouragement; its advice; its instruction; its prayers; its thanksgivings

2. and here is this word saint again all in Christ

3. no doubt, too, as Paul pens these closing words mental pictures of certain people, events flood his mind most of whom he never saw again

B. The brethren who were with him (4:21b)

1. these were likely close fellow workers joining in greed

2. almost always there was a small group of dedicated laborers who selflessly joined in Pauls work

3. who might they have been?

a. Timothy his own son in the gospel

b. Tychicus a faithful minister (Col 4:7)

c. Onesimus a converted slave (Col 4:9)

d. Aristarchus apparently also imprisoned (Col 4:10)

e. Mark who had once deserted (Col 4:10)

f. Luke beloved physician Col 4:14a & 2 Tim 4:11)

g. Demas who later deserts (Col 4:14b & 2 Tim 4:10)

h. these were evangelists, messengers, supporters and friends who made possible the magnification of Pauls work

C. The Roman saints (4:22a)

1. highlighted here is worldwide brotherhood of the church!

2. some commentators use this verse to speak of the ecumenical spirit of Paul as if to conclude the existence of denominations across whose boundaries Paul worked

3. not so! indeed, no New Testament text supports such a view

D. Especially the saints in/of Caesars household

1. there is an emphasis on this special group ... why?

2. perhaps, to say the gospel goes everywhere influencing

a. earlier Paul had mentioned the palace guard (1:13)

b. now he implies that there are saints found throughout the official family Isa 55:11 (even if Nero is the King)

3. perhaps as a word of encouragement

a. persecution by Rome would begin to be severe

b. but even within the very walls of the palace would be these who would be seeking to influence for good ... who would not be surrendering their faith even that close to the very Beast himself!

II. THE SIMPLE PRAYER OF FAREWELL 4:23

A. This is virtually the same prayer closing all his letters

1. the emphasis on the grace of Christ is so obvious

2. the favor, the unmerited favor, the blessing of Christ as a continuation for them is his prayer

3. not for ease ... but for peace, comfort, contentment, tranquility in the midst of trial

B. But the grace he desires for them is qualified at least in its recipient

1. Phil 4:21 ... for those in Christ

2. Eph 6:24 ... for those loving Jesus in sincerity

3. 1 Thes 5:14-22 ... people who are living the life of saints

CLOSE: As far as we know, Paul never again visited Philippi. But he loved the people there. And the warm, lovely relationship between him and the brethren there lives on in this precious letter.

Cecil A. Hutson

07 January 2001