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Audio / Video Verse-by-Verse Bible Studies in Philippians

Philippians 1 | Philippians 2 | Philippians 3 | Philippians 4

Quick Links to All Available Philippians Studies:

Detailed Information About Each Study:

  • Philippians 1:
    • Introduction to Philippians / Philippians 1:1-2 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Background on the city of Philippi — Paul in Philippi — The variety of people who founded the church in Philippi — The background of the writing of the epistle — The elements of the greeting: the senders; the addresses; the greeting — Timothy and Paul — Paul’s identity as a “slave of Christ Jesus” — The true meaning of the words “saint” in the New Testament — The phrase “in Christ Jesus” — Paul’s trademark blessing: “grace and peace.”
    • Philippians 1:3-6 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s message of thanksgiving — The importance of thanking God — Paul’s close relationship with God — Praying at all times — The strong partnership all Christians have, expressed in the Greek word “koinonia”. — How the Philippians expressed this “koinonia” relationship — This strong partnership implies active participation — God’s role in beginning “a good work in us” — The perseverance of God in supporting us in our service to God.
    • Philippians 1:7-11 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The “koinonia” of Paul and the Philippians — This partnership resulting in the Philippians sharing with Paul in his ministry — The strong partnership, extending both to Paul’s “defending the Gospel” and extending also to Paul being “in chains” — Paul’s “chains”, a part of his ministry — The unity of the Philippian church, expressed in Paul’s addressing them often as “all of you” — The strength of Paul’s feeling for the Philippians, through his statement that his longing for them comes from the “bowels” — What “the bowels” meant for the Greeks — Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in vss. 9-11: That their “love may abound” — The importance of having a growing love — Love based on “knowledge and depth of insight.”
    • Philippians 1:11-12 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The outworkings of Christian love: “the fruit of righteousness” — The “purity and blamelessness” of that love — The “fullness” of that love — This fruit coming to us “through Jesus Christ” — This fruit done “to the glory and praise of God” — Trials and suffering in the lives of Christians: not necessarily a sign of displeasure from God — The discipline of God, described in Heb. 12:5-12 — The “advance of the Gospel” through Paul’s trials — The providence of God overseeing Paul’s trials — Other examples of this: Joseph, and the early Christian church in Jerusalem — A possible motto of the church: “… what has happened to me has served to advance the Gospel.”
    • Philippians 1:12-18 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The Gospel advancing, despite Paul’s trials — Proofs of this, in vss. 13 and 14 — Paul’s ability to reach people with the gospel, because of his trials — Boldness of the witnesses of Paul’s behavior during his trials — Varying motives of those preaching the Gospel — God’s use of flawed teachers — The focus of any service: glorifying God, rather than oneself.
    • Philippians 1:19-21 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s attitude while facing a possible imminent death — Paul’s reasons for thinking that his time on earth is not done — The sources of Paul’s confidence in this — The effectiveness of prayer — The help of the Holy Spirit to Paul — Paul’s acceptance of either outcome: life or death — The goal through either outcome: the exaltation of Christ — Paul’s overriding attitude in life: “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” — Meditations on the phrase: “To live is Christ.”
    • Philippians 1:21-26 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Meditations on the phrase “… to die is gain” — Our natural instincts versus the ways we are called to live as Christians — Paul’s hypothetical choice: To “depart and be with Christ”; to “go on living in the body” — The reason Paul believes he will continue in the body: God’s not finished with him on earth — Paul’s “fruitful labor” in service to God, giving his life purpose — A meditation on where those of the world seek to find “purpose”: fame, power, riches — The history of the city of Philippi as a metaphor for this.
    • Philippians 1:27-30 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: A meditation: What it means to “live in a manner worthy of the Gospel” — Our dual citizenship — The imagery of the Macedonian phalanx, applied to the unity of Christians — Paul’s words to the Philippians, to prepare them for the trials ahead — The “granting” to us of suffering — In what ways is our suffering a “granting” or gift of God to us.
  • Philippians 2
    • Philippians 2:1-4 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Four motives for unity in the church — How Paul’s style of writing in verse 1 leads to meditation — The specific connotations of the words “consolation” and “comfort” in verse 1 — The strong emotional words “tenderness” and “compassion” — The omission of the “basics” of Christianity in the four motives to unity — The three ways to unity, laid out in verse 2 — The strength of Paul’s instruction against faulty motives in service — The importance of humility in service — Looking ahead: Christ as our example of humility.
    • Philippians 2:5-8 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The first half of Paul’s poem: The humbling of Christ — Christ, our example in this — The deity of Christ, before he came to earth: affirmed many places in the Bible — The vast gulf between who Christ was before He came to earth, and His humble life as a man on earth — Satan’s temptations of Christ all encourage Christ to give up His humble existence, and live on earth in glory — Acting in Christ-like humility, in our day-to-day lives — Meditation on why Christ died the humiliating death that He did, rather than a more honorable death.
    • Philippians 2:9-11 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: How Christ’s humility leads to the exaltation of Christ — It is God the Father who exalts Christ, just as it is God the Father who will raise us up — Jesus exalted to the highest place — Jesus’ name above every name — The uniqueness of the name of Jesus in the world — The two aspects of worship: “bowing the knee” (actions), and “confessing with the tongue” (words) — The importance of verbal acknowledgement of Christ as Lord — In the end, acknowledgement of Christ as Lord will be universal.
    • Philippians 2:12-13 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: What our reaction should be to Paul’s hymn about Christ in verses 6 to 11 — The controversy about verse 12 — Reconciling verse 12 (about “working out your salvation”) with Ephesians 2:8-9 — The scope of our salvation — Normally, we only consider one aspect of our salvation — The aspect of our salvation here on earth — Why we need to “work”, concerning the current aspect of our salvation — This struggle, as described in Romans 6 — Why “with fear and trembling”? — God’s help in all of this.
    • Philippians 2:14-18 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: How to carry out Paul’s instruction from verse 5, to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus (see verses 14 to 16) — The strict, unambiguous teaching in verse 16 — God’s hatred of complaining and grumbling, as shown in Numbers 11 — A reason to follow Paul’s instruction: a better Christian witness — Two groups of people: “children of God” vs. “a warped and crooked generation” — Christians as “lights in the world” — “Holding firmly” and “holding forth” the word of life — Contrast between Paul’s situation in Philippians, versus when he wrote 2 Timothy — The circumstances which should bring Christians to rejoice.
    • Philippians 2:19-30 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: A comparison of two servants of God — The true-to-life depictions of God’s servants in the Bible: strengths and weaknesses — Timothy’s importance to Paul’s service — Timothy as Paul’s “kindred spirit” — Timothy’s “selflessness” in a world of “selfishness” — The importance of a pure heart in service — Timothy “proven” character — Epaphroditus’s plans — The myth that God’s servants have a supernatural force-field around them — The universality of affliction against those who serve God — Perseverance in service — Why God allows trials to afflict His faithful servants — The importance of the preparation for opposition when serving God.
  • Philippians 3:
    • Philippians 3:1-6 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s diversion — Warning against the Judaizers — The incompatibility of “works” and “grace” — Is faith a “work”? — Faith as the acceptance of God’s grace — Christians as “the circumcision” — Circumcision of the heart — Boasting in Christ Jesus, and putting no confidence in the flesh — Paul’s previous qualifications to “put confidence in the flesh”.
    • Philippians 3:7-11 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s reconsideration of his previous accomplishments: all things a “loss”, even “rubbish” — The scope of Christ’s identity in the four words “Christ”, “Jesus”, “my”, “Lord” — What it is to be “in Christ” — The value of a “righteousness from God” — Paul’s deep desire to “know Christ” — “The power of His resurrection” — “The fellowship of His sufferings” — “Becoming like Him in His death” — The humility of the phrase, “… and so somehow, attaining the resurrection of the dead”.
    • Philippians 3:12-16 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s continued Christian growth — The goal of perfection in sanctification — The importance for all of us to “press on” — “Forgetting what is behind”: Not letting past failures or successes hinder our Christian growth — Acknowledging that all Christians are at different levels of maturity in their faith — Taking advantages of modern technology to aid in our Christian growth.
    • Philippians 3:17-21 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The importance of Christian mentors and examples — Jesus as the ultimate example — Many professing Christians are not worthy examples — In the Bible, the use of the word “walk” to represent one’s spiritual journey — What it means to be “an enemy of the cross of Christ” — Characteristics of enemies of the cross of Christ — The Christian frame of mind: “citizenship in heaven”, rather than “mind of earthly things” — The eventual transformation of our bodies through Christ’s power.
  • Philippians 4:
    • Philippians 4:1-7 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: Paul’s true love for the Philippians — The harm of squabbles within a church — General instructions by Paul, at the end of Philippians — The importance of Christians to “Rejoice” — The importance of a “gentle and selfless” spirit — The antidote for anxiety — The privilege of being able to “present our requests to God” — The importance of “thanksgiving” in prayer — The importance of praying for “everything’ — A consequence of praying for everything: Peace.
    • Philippians 4:8-13 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: What we should think about, and what we should filter out — The importance of internal purity — The importance of “learning” and “receiving” — The importance of being a godly example — The importance and value of contentment — Being content with the situation in which God has put you — “Learning” contentment.
    • Philippians 4:13-23 – (YouTube link) / (Video File) / (Audio Only)
      Topics covered: The importance of context, in the Bible — The contextual tie of verse 13 to the previous verses — The Philippians’ financial support of Paul — Principles concerning Christian giving — God’s sovereignty over our ability to produce wealth — Giving, and our business partnership with the church — Bible guidelines about giving to our local place of worship — The tithe — Tithing and “robbing God” — The permission to “test God” concerning financial giving — The rewards of giving — The promise that God will “meet our needs” — Final greetings to the Philippians — Those of “Caesar’s household”.