Philippians 1:12-26 (Paul’s Circumstances)

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Phil 1:12-18 In what two ways had Paul’s imprisonment actually resulted in the greater progress of the gospel?  See Phil 1:13-14.  What was the praetorian guard?  See NASB text note and also Mark 15:16, Acts 23:35; note: this was the palace guard.  “There were originally ten thousand of these picked soldiers, concentrated in Rome by…

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Philippians 1:1-11 (Paul’s Love and Prayer for the Philippians)

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Phil 1:1-2     What was Timothy’s relationship to the Philippians that Paul should include him in the greeting?  See Phil 2:19, Acts 16:1,3, 11-12, 19:22, 20:4.  What words does Paul use to describe himself and Timothy, and those to whom he is writing?  Do these words describe God’s ministers and people today?  What two categories of…

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Philippians Background

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After being arrested in Jerusalem at the instigation of the Jews who abhorred Paul for his ministry to the Gentiles, he spent two years in prison in Caesarea before appealing to Caesar and going to Rome.  There he spent two more years under house arrest while awaiting his trial before the emperor (see Acts 28:30). …

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Philemon

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Phm 1:1-3:     How do we know Philemon was from Colossae?  See Phm 1:10, Col 4:9.  What seems to be the relationship between Philemon, Apphia and Archippus?  See also Col 4:17.  In what sense was Philemon Paul’s “fellow worker”?  See Phm 1:2,7.  Do you think it significant that in the first two centuries when the Church…

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Background to Philemon

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Background Philemon was a prominent Christian in Colossae whose house served as a meeting place for at least part of the church there (Phm 1:2).  Like Epaphras, he had likely come to know the Lord through Paul’s three year ministry in Ephesus when “all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Phm…

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Colossians 2:16-3:4 (Freedom From the Commandments and Teachings of Men)

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Col 2:16-17 In the previous verses Paul taught that the Gentile believers were made alive together with Christ while they were yet dead in the uncircumcision of their flesh, and that in Christ man’s debt to the ceremonial law of the Jews was taken away and nailed to the cross.  What conclusion does Paul draw…

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Colossians 2:8-15 (The Sufficiency of Christ)

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Col 2:8-12   What is the basic falsehood and deception behind the “elementary principles of the world” and that underlies all of the philosophies and traditions of men?  Hint: contrast Col 2:10a and Jer 33:2-3 with the summarizing statement of the first tenet of the Humanist Manifesto (II): “While there is much that we do not…

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Colossians 2:1-8 (Philosophy and Empty Deception)

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Col 2:1-3     What was the struggle Paul had for the Gentile Christians in Colossae, Laodicea, and other places he had never visited?  Why would their knowing of his struggle on their behalf encourage or comfort their hearts (Col 2:2)?  When a church is confronted by false teaching does everyone immediately see it as false?  What…

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