The thoughts and note material given on these pages are only a possible suggestion of the meaning, they must not be taken as inspired, however they are prayerfully prepared and compared with other similar material. There are many ways in which God’s Word can be analyzed and none must be taken in place of the Word of God itself.

Philippians

WRITER. The letter to the Philippians was written by Paul while in prison in Rome. There is some indication that Paul was twice imprisoned, so it is not known if Philippians was written during the first or second imprisonment. However it is thought to be written about 62 A.D.

The Situation.
Paul had started this local church while on his second missionary journey Acts 16. Epaphrodites, a member of this church had come to Paul in Rome with a financial offering to help Paul.
This letter is a thank you letter to the Philippi but also shows that Paul is full of joy and wanting to encourage them, even though he was in prison.

The main theme of the letter is Christian experience.
We are told in Acts 28:30 that he was a prisoner in his own house, and in Act 28:16 we are also told that he was guarded by a Roman soldier all the time.
Why is he so happy? We find that Paul uses the following words in this letter, "mind," "think," it shows how Paul thinks, it shows his own attitude to his situation, he lives for Christ, to glorify Christ and accepts that God has put him here in prison.

Introduction, greetings. 1:1-7.

Triumph over suffering. 1:8-30.

The Believers pattern is Jesus. 2:1-30.

Believer rejoices even with failures. 3:1-21.

The Believers source of strength. 4:1-23.