Philippians 1:1
Paul and aTimotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to ball the saints in Christ Jesus which are at cPhilippi, with the d*bishops and deacons:
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος, δοῦλοι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις, σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις·
Textual key: no entry
a:
2 Corinthians 1:1 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
Colossians 1:1 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
1 Thessalonians 1:1 PAUL, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:1 PAUL, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Romans 1:1 PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Acts 16:1 Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
b:
Ephesians 1:1 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Hebrews 3:1 WHEREFORE, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
c:
Acts 16:12-16:40 12. And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. 13. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 14. ¶And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. 16. ¶And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. 19. ¶And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25. ¶And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 38. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 39. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. 40. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
d:
Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
Acts 20:28 ¶Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
*:
bishops-overseers.
Philippians Chapter 1
Php 1:1,2 Paul saluteth the Philippians,
Php 1:3-7 and testifieth his thankfulness to God for their
uninterrupted fellowship in the gospel,
Php 1:8 his affection for them,
Php 1:9-11 and prayers for their spiritual improvement.
Php 1:12-20 He informeth them that his bonds at Rome had turned
out to the advancement of the gospel: which many were
thereby induced to preach, though with different views,
Php 1:21-24 that, considering how serviceable his life might be
to the cause of Christ, though for himself it were
happier to die, he was doubtful in his choice,
Php 1:25,26 but that he knew he should soon be at liberty to
visit them again for their comfort,
Php 1:25-30 He exhorteth them to walk worthy of their profession,
and to be steady and unanimous in the faith, for
which they had already been fellow sufferers with him.
i.e. the author and approver, intimating the good agreement between Paul and Timothy, whom they well knew, to gain their fuller assent to what should be written, Mat 18:16: see 1Co 1:1 2Co 1:1.
in a special manner being wholly and perpetually dedicated to his more immediate service in the ministry of reconciliation, Act 13:2 Rom 1:1 1Co 4:1 2Co 5:18 Gal 1:1 Jas 1:1.
i.e. all the community of church members at Philippi, called out of the world to Christ, sanctified, separated, and dedicated to him, by a credible profession of faith in him and obedience to him, 1Co 1:2 Eph 1:1 Col 1:2; the apostle now being well persuaded of their perseverance, Php 1:6,7.
from the Syriac version it is rendered presbyters and ministers. And there appears no cogent reason why we should not adhere to the exposition of ancient and modern interpreters, who understand the apostle writing in the plural number, particularly, to the church and her officers living in this city, as meaning the two orders of ordinary standing officers, which are appointed for the church, and not the church for the officers.
By the former of which are meant such pastors and teachers as did agree in name, office, and power with the bishops during the apostles’ times, as they collect from several other scriptures besides this, compared together, viz. Act 20:17,20,25,28, with Act 11:30 1Co 4:1 12:28 1Th 5:12,13 1Ti 3:1-8 5:17 Tit 1:5,7 Heb 13:17 Jas 5:14 1Pe 5:1,3 3Jn 1:1,9: these, whether bishops or elders, having the oversight, rule, guidance, feeding of the people, preaching of the word, and administration of the sacraments or mystical ordinances of the gospel, committed to them in common.
By the latter, those to whom the special care was committed for serving of tables, the Lord’s table and the poor’s, together with a receiving and orderly disposing and distributing the collected alms and other goods of the church given to pious uses, according to their own discretion, taking advice of the pastors, for the support and benefit of the poor members of the church who needed as to this temporal life, to orphans, widows, yea, and strangers, especially of the household of faith, that their bodily necessities might be supplied, Act 6:2, &c. with Rom 12:7,8 Ro 15:25-27 16:1 1Co 12:28 2Co 9:1,2,12 1Ti 3:8, with 1Pe 4:11 Gal 6:10,11 Php 2:1,25,30, with Php 4:18 Jud 1:12. "But two learned doctors amongst us have opposed this and made it difficult, the one by restraining the word bishops to diocesans, and the other by enlarging the word deacons to note their presbyters.
He would have no such order of presbyters as now in the apostles’ days; this would have deacons then to be only temporary, not standing officers in the church; and so they agree not. The former finding Clement and Polycarp agreed with the apostle here, as to two distinct orders of bishops and deacons, going upon an unproved supposition that Philippi was then a metropolis, he would, without any satisfactory evidence to one that doubted, infer the bishops here were diocesans; however, the forementioned scriptures compared, all prove the words bishop and elder in the apostles’ days, to be used promiscuously, only the word elders, or presbyters, more frequently than that of bishops; conceiving that the office of presbyters was not in use till after-ages, though he assigns not the time how and when it came in. So that in effect he would have Philippi to be a mother church (that then had several daughter churches) in her infancy.
Whereas the apostle writes to those who were church officers in that city, yet he would have them none of that order which we now call presbyters; thinking, whatever the apostle writes of laying on the hands of the presbytery, there were then no presbyters ordained in the church: which is a singular opinion, of holding all the places in the New Testament where presbyters are named, precisely to intend diocesan bishops in distinction from them who are only deacons, allowing the office of deacons, and the continuance of it, to be appointed therein, when that of elders (acknowledged to be superior) is not. But if, according to this novel tenet, there were not then preaching presbyters, that were not metropolitans or diocesans, how could diocesans have presbyters under them? And if they had none, what should denominate them properly diocesans?
When it seems to be of the formal reason of a diocesan, to be chosen out of presbyters, or to have them to govern. And if the diocesan bishops were then as the apostles, who must the pastors and teachers be? 1Co 12:28,29 Eph 4:11,12. Exhorting, teaching, ruling were then present offices, which the apostles ordained in every church, Act 14:23. Cenchrea was no diocess or metropolis, neither was Aquila’s and Priscilla’s house, Rom 16:3,4 1Co 16:19, yet are said to be churches, in the plural number, 1Co 14:33,34. If metropolitical or diocesan, how hath not the Scripture the name or thing?
This appears not to be agreeable to the apostle’s way who writes particularly to churches in cities, towns, and countries, as to the Hebrews. He distinguisheth Thessalonica, in directions from Macedonia and Achaia, 1Th 1:7,8; Colosse and Laodicea, Col 4:13. And as there were bishops, plural, in this city of Philippi, so more doing the office in Thessalonica. 1Th 5:12, which was in Macedonia too. And would it not look oddly: Ye Christians of Macedonia are examples to all the Christians of Macedonia?
In Colosse were more bishops or presbyters, because there is mention made of Epaphras and Archippus, Col 4:12,17. And would it not appear strange, when they were charged, upon persons being sick, to send for the elders of the church, to conclude the intent of the injunction was to send for all the diocesans of the metropolis? Jas 5:14. If so he would likely have enjoined them to have called the elders of the churches, not of the church, of which, in the singular, at Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas were received, and of the apostles and elders, Act 15:4, who were all present at Jerusalem, Act 21:18, which, under the Roman power, was not the metropolis of Palestine, but Caesarea was chief.
The latter, contradictory to the former doctor, and to the office of the Church of England for ordaining of deacons, would have the term deacons to note the order of presbyters, looking upon deacons only as temporary and occasional trustees, whose office Paul in his Epistle did not so much as hint, thinking it unreasonable by deacon in those Epistles to understand any other office than that of presbyters as now used. Whereas the word deacons being analogous and put absolutely here, in contradistinction to bishops, should, according to right reason, be expounded in the most famous and distinctive signification, wherein, no doubt, Luke, a good Grecian, and Paul’s companion at Philippi, used it in the Acts, {Act 6:3,4, &c.} written after this Epistle;
unto which special import we should rather understand Paul using it here, for those who were not mere occasional and prudential temporary officers, but such as were to abide in the church: wherein, upon the multiplying of disciples, the bodily necessities of the poor saints, always with us, Joh 12:8, did require such who should have the peculiar care of these committed to them, Act 20:34,35. We find the apostle in his Epistles evidently enough appointing and describing such a special ministry, yea, and giving directions about it as a distinct branch from prophecy and teaching, if we compare places, Rom 12:6-8, with Rom 15:26,27 16:1 2Co 8:19 9:1,2,12;
and what is said in this Epistle, Php 2:25,30 4:18; answerable to Luke’s history of the Acts, and to what is written by Peter, 1Pe 4:11; taking in what Paul wrote to Timothy about this office, in distinction from his who was to be apt to teach, that he should be grave, temperate, giving proof of freedom from covetousness, of conversation blameless, having a faithful wife, and governing his family (that he may be hospitable) orderly, 1Ti 3:8-13, qualified to distribute, as in the texts forementioned, &c. The Church of England, in her ordination, hath reference to this special office, when yet it calls deacons, ministers;
declaring there, ’It appertains to the deacon’s office to assist the presbyter in distribution of the elements, gladly and willingly to search for the poor, sick, and impotent, that they may be relieved. Praying that they may be modest, humble, and constant in their ministration.’"