Dear Class, Thank you for a good class last Thursday as we studied the books of Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. This week, Thursday, March 22, 2012, we will be in the books of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. NOTE: as of next week, we will be almost 2/3rds through New Testament Survey! Keep up the good work. Reminders: -if you did not get the Ephesian prayer cards or masters, let me know so that I can bring ample copies next week. Feel free to email me with questions on possible ways to use them in your small groups. -be sure and vote for Rachel's Peachtree Road Race tee shirt design...and congrats on being in the top 5 Rachel! -and catch KJ's (Kenneth Jones) 700 Club testimony on You tube. -for Easter week, we break from class on April 5. Recap of Thursday night, March 15, 2012, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon: Our goals for the night: -that we see how the books of Philippians and Colossians contribute to our understanding of who Christ is -that we put to death those attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words that make us unfruitful as followers of Christ -that we determine to live lives worthy of the gospel and of the Lord, so that we validate the truth of the gospel and not vandalize it We looked at goal #6 and #3 on manual page 8 and read Jn.20:30-31 and 2Pet. 3:17-18 noting that we have all the information we need about the Lord Jesus to believe in him and worship him. As well, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, i.e. we must engage our minds and think aright about who he is and who we are in relationship to him. On page 21 in your manual, we then looked at where Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon fit in the New Testament, i.e. as three of the four "Prison Epistles". (Ephesians being the fourth) In order to get the historical context for Philippians, we read part of the "Second missionary journey journal" in Acts 16:6-40 that contains the account of Paul's first visit to Philippi and the founding of the church there. We noted: -apparently no synagogue in Philippi, and since it took a population of ten Jewish men to establish a synagogue, probably not a large Jewish population there.
-on the way for prayer near the Gangites river, Paul encountered Lydia, "a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira" who was a "worshipper of God". Lydia and members of her household believed and were baptized. (See Acts 10 for a similar description of Cornelius, a Roman centurion; he and his family were "devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." -later and again on the way to the place of prayer, Paul commanded a wicked spirit (demon) in a slave girl to come out of her, this causing the girl's owners to respond by dragging Paul and Silas in the marketplace to face the authorities. -Paul and Silas were imprisoned and after miraculous escape, the jailer and his family believed and were baptized. -Paul indicated that he and Silas were Romans, i.e. citizens, thus they were ultimately released from further abuse. A citizen is, "one who is a member of a state; a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it". (Emphasis mine) See the study note on Acts 22:28; there were three ways to obtain Roman citizenship: 1. as a reward for some outstanding service to Rome, 2. buy it at considerable price, 3. be born into a family of Roman citizens. (So to speak, "deeds, denarii, descendancy", or "deeds, dollars, or descendancy") Apparently, Paul's father was a citizen of Roman Tarsus, thus Paul was one as well. Acts 28:22b Maps below from: www.padfield.com, and are similar to your NIV maps both in Acts and at the back of your bible. Look at the movement on the map from Troas, West to the port of Neapolis, to Philippi, and for this week, on to Thessolonica, modern-day Thessaloniki or Solonika. Map of Philippi
Note in the Philippi map the Via Egnatia, also known as the Via Ignatia or the Egnatian Way or the Ignatian Way. This is an important first-century trade route. It covered a total distance of about 696 miles going East and West from Byzantium, modern Istanbul, on the East to the Adriatic Sea. Paul must have travelled it the short distance from his landing at Neopolis into the city of Philippi. Thus when Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray that, " the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you", one can see that the transportation links in the region were a vital practical aspect of that prayer. (From Bibleplaces.com) Egnatian Way The Via Egnatia was built beginning in 145 B.C. and at its greatest extent connected Byzantium with the Adriatic ports. This route was Rome's primary artery to the east and Philippi was an important outpost along the road. The Egnatian Way made it easier for Rome to move troops throughout the empire and it was the route that Paul traveled on from Neapolis to Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia and Thessolonica. And if you need a "pit stop" traveling the Egnatian Way... Latrines Public bathrooms were not uncommon in ancient Roman cities, but this one is a good illustration for Paul's reference to scubalon, or human waste. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (3:8 NIV). Note that Paul visits Philippi and Thessolonica on both his second and third
missionary journeys. Philippians: Having the same attitude as Christ Jesus Paul wrote to believers proud of their Roman citizenship and reminded them that their true citizenship was in heaven! We looked at Paul's challenge to the believers at Philippi to: 1. Have a single mind 2. Have a servant mind 3. Maintain a spiritual mind 4. Trust the Lord with all things in order to have a secure mind Especially in Philippians 2 we have key christological truth presented. Jesus is both fully God and fully Man. He veiled His glory and took on human flesh to live as a real man. This is called the "kenosis" passage and denotes as Charles Ryrie says, the voluntary non-use of some of his divine attributes. Someone else has said, this was the divesting of his self-interest, not the divesting of his deity. See Dennis' notes on manual page 154. He lived the perfectly obedient life that none of us could, so that he could pay the price for all of our sins by dying on the cross. The kenosis passage makes the challenge in 2:5, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus", one particularly poignant. Colossians: Living a life worthy of the pre-eminent Christ While Paul did not visit Colosse, this letter to the church there was written during the same "house arrest" period in Rome. Epaphras is the one who likely took the Gospel message from Ephesus to Colosse and then to Laodicea and Hierapolis. (1:7) These locations are known as the triple cities. Paul follows up with this letter to the "holy and faithful brothers in Christ in Colosse. He also instructs them to have his letter read in Laodicea. Colosse was on the great East-West trade route going East from Ephesus on the Aegean Sea, to the Euphrates River. By the first century A.D., Colosse was diminished to a second-rate market town but in terms of the gospel, quite significant. As the NIV states, Paul's purpose is to refute the Colossian heresy. Paul never
explicitly describes the false teaching he opposes in the Colossian letter. The nature of the heresy must be inferred from statements he made in opposition to the false teachers. The theme of Colossians is the complete adequacy of Christ contrasted with the emptiness of mere human philosophy. There are four chapters and four divisions: 1. Greetings 1:1-8 Paul said he always thanked God for them, because he had heard of their faith in Christ Jesus and their love for the saints which springs from the hope stored up for them in Heaven with Christ. 2. Priority of Christ 1:9-2:23 Paul exalts Christ to refute the heresy and presents Jesus Christ as the very image of God (1:15), the Creator (1:16), the pre-existent sustainer of all things (1:17), the Head of the church (1:18), the first to be resurrected (1:18), the fullness of deity in bodily form (1:19: 2:9), and the reconciler in 1:20-22. In short, Christ is supreme. As such, praying or communicating to Him and pleasing Him by bearing fruit, growing in maturity, and being strengthened with His power are all important. He admonished the Colossian believers to choose Christ over empty human philosophy and false teachers. 3. Practice of Christ The first two chapters explain our position in Christ. The last two deal with living consistently in line with that positional truth. We are told to set our mind on spiritual things, to put off the old nature and put on the new. The passage in 3:18-4:1 is very similar to the teaching in Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. However there is more information given to both workers and employers (slaves and masters). 4. Closing 4:7-18 Paul specifically mentions several people who were helpful to him in ministry. He tells the Colossians to pass on this letter to Laodicea and Hierapolis after it has been read to them. We looked at the introduction to 1John to get a grip on the "Colossian heresy" early or incipient gnosticism. Here is the intro from the NIV. Gnosticism One of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church was Gnosticism. Its central teaching was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. From this unbiblical dualism flowed five important errors:
The human body, which is matter, is therefore evil. It is to be contrasted with God, who is wholly spirit and therefore good. Salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by special knowledge (the Greek word for knowledge is gnosis, hence Gnosticism). Christ s true humanity was denied in two ways: (1) Some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called Docetism, from the Greek dokeo ( to seem ), and (2) others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died, a view called Cerinthianism, after its most prominent spokesman, Cerinthus. This view is the background of much of 1 John (see 1:1; 2:22; 4:2 3 and notes). Since the body was considered evil, it was to be treated harshly. This ascetic form of Gnosticism is the background of part of the letter to the Colossians (see Col 2:21,23 and notes). Paradoxically, this dualism also led to licentiousness. The reasoning was that, since matter and not the breaking of God s law (1Jn 3:4) was considered evil, breaking his law was of no moral consequence. The Gnosticism addressed in the NT was an early form of the heresy, not the intricately developed system of the second and third centuries. In addition to that seen in Colossians and in John s letters, acquaintance with early Gnosticism is reflected in 1,2 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Peter and perhaps 1 Corinthians. --end-- Philemon: An appeal to a brother in Christ Paul sent Tychicus and Onesimus with the letter to the Colossians and also apparently with this very personal letter of appeal to Philemon in regards to Onesimus the runaway slave and thief who has now believed in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 4:7-9) In this seemingly obscure book we see: - The truth that we need to share our faith in order to fully understand the Gospel. (v. - The theme of the Gospel taking people beyond their culture, "From bondage to brotherhood", presented doctrinally in Colossians (see Col. 3:11), is illustrated very personally in the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon. The gospel is "supra-cultural" i.e. above, not subject to culture. Philemon 15-16 - "Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord."
Here is a good summary of a response to those who say that the Bible endorses slavery. Assignment for this Thursday, March 22nd: 1. Read 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2. Read pages 171-190, and state the central truth in the following passages. We will form in groups to gather your results. The groups and passages are: Group 1: Tony, Scott, Rachel, Christie, Matt 1Thes. 1:8-10 and 2Thes. 1:5-7 Group 2: Drue, Sharon, Sandy Ciolino, Dan Lyford, Alan 1Thes. 2:5-9 and 2 Thes.2:1-4 Group 3: Leigh, Jim Burzotta, Jon, KJ, Jim Martell, Dan Stonaker 1Thes. 3:11-13 and 2 Thes.2:13-15 Group 4: Tim, Mark, Melissa, David, Rick, Sandy Schopke 1Thes. 4:13-18 and 2 Thes. 3:1-5 May our understanding of the supremacy of Christ, lead us to more fully comprehend what he did for us in his incarnation and result in our full surrender of ourselves to him for his purposes. Lord willing, I will see you Thursday. Randy