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 Tiberius. They had double pay and special privileges and became so powerful that emperors had to court their favor. Paul had contact with one after another of these soldiers.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). In what way would Paul’s bonds give courage to the brethren to speak the word of God without fear? See again Phil 1:12-13, Acts 26:28, 31-32; see also Phil 1:16. To whom does Paul refer in Phil 1:15-17 as preaching Christ from selfish ambition, envy and strife? See Phil 3:2-3, Gal 4:17, 6:12. Why did Paul’s imprisonment inspire the Judaizers to preach Christ all the more? See Phil 1:17. Did Paul fret because he was unable to freely oppose the false teaching of the Judaizers that was being proclaimed while he was a prisoner? How did he understand God’s sovereign control of the matter? See Phil 1:18. In spite of whatever battles were lost to the Judaizers while he was in prison, what ministry of Paul’s took place while he was in prison that ensured the long-term victory of the gospel? Hint: recall the books of the Bible that were written while he was in prison, including Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. What does Paul’s example and words in Phil 1:18 teach us about how we should view so-called Christian ministries that in fact are unorthodox or even heretical? Does God use them for His own ultimate purposes? See also 2 Thess 2:11-12.
Phil 1:19-26 Note: “deliverance” in Phil 1:19 is literally “salvation”; does Paul refer only to deliverance in the sense of being set free from the Roman authority? See Phil 1:20. If the truth of the gospel should prevail in Paul’s case, in what sense would it turn out for his salvation? If the pretense of those who sought to cause Paul distress in his imprisonment should prevail, in what sense would it still turn out for his salvation? What do these verses teach us about the can’t-lose outcomes for the true Christian? See Phil 1:21. Do we have the same attitude toward life and death as Paul did? What were the two possible outcomes of Paul’s trial, and how did he view their different results? See Phil 1:22-24. What did he see as “better”, and what as “more necessary”? Which outcome did he expect to result? See Phil 1:25-26, 2:24, Philemon 1:22. Note: several quasi-orthodox groups like the Seventh Day Adventists teach that upon physical death the human soul “sleeps” in the grave along with the body and does not separate from the body to be with the Lord. How do Paul’s words in Phil 1:23 argue against this understanding. See also Luke 23:43, 2 Cor 5:8, 1 Thess 4:14.
Dear Brother in Christ,
We need your Fellowship We Greet you in the Magnanimous name of our loving Lord and living Savior Jesus Christ. We feel very happy for the opportunity given by God in sharing with you at this precious time about our Ministry and its activities in India. We also believe it is a privilege and honor to send this e-mail message to you today. At this juncture, I introduce to you as Pastor Samuel Diamond Babu born in a Christian family and his mother inspired him to attend to Sunday school classes promptly ever since his childhood. His mother is the root cause and inspiration to him in moulding his life as a servant of God.
In the year 1999, God called him to do His Ministry and Pastor Samuel is obeyed His call doing His service among Hindu & Muslim community People. We are established 11 Church Congregations and appointed 11 Pastors, who are young, anointed and dedicated to the service of God. It is not an easy matter to proclaiming the good news of the gospel among Hindu & Muslim community People in India. So many times, we are facing several hardships in spreading the word of God; however, we are reaching the unreached with utmost Faith only. You are aware India is the Hindu Country and it stood 2nd in population in the World. Christians are minorities than Muslims.
God laid on me the burden of taking special care of the Orphan Children and Widows. We started an Orphan Home in the year 2002 with only 3 Children. Now there are 25 Children getting accommodation, food, clothing, education, medical care and attention. All this is done within the purview of our limited might. We are providing monthly provisions to the 40 Widows every month promptly. These Widows are lost their husbands and there will be none to look after their welfare and protection.
We are maintaining Bible College in which there are 35 students getting training and equipping with a view to make them as the servants of God and sending them for spreading the gospel of Jesus to various places and parts of our Country, India. Every year 35 stewards are being anointed and dedicated to the service of Lord Jesus Christ.
Invitation to you to India:
We are much interested to work with you on your Ministry behalf here in India. At this juncture, we are cordially inviting you to visit India to see our services personally and to share the gospel of Jesus with our People and to equip Bible training to our Co-Pastors to get them strengthened. We are prepared to provide you necessary arrangements while you are with us here in India.
Here, we are praying God for you, your Dear Family members, abundance of your Ministry and requesting you kindly consider our invitation to visit India soon. We shall await for your further valuable and fruitful response at an earliest in this regard with hopefully and prayerfully in Christ.
With much love in Christ Jesus.
Thanking you,
Yours Brother in His mighty service
Pastor Samuel Diamond Babu
Founder & Director
Fragrance Grace Ministries
India.
Dear Brother Samuel,
Christian Greetings to you, and thank you for visiting my website and the kind invitation to visit your ministry. I am not in a position at this time to visit you, but thank God for the ministries you have established that demonstrate the substance of true religion (Jam 1:26-27).
I am a Bible teacher and believe God would use me to equip saints for works of service, and perhaps at some future time if God so willed He would direct me to visit in person and help build His kingdom in India. Until such time though, the site from which you contacted me is designed to lead sincere seekers to discover the sound doctrine of Scripture for themselves through inductive studies of the Bible. These studies ask probing questions about a passage and direct readers to the Scripture that answers those questions.
I would encourage you to explore this site further, as it is a repository of hundreds of studies on topics throughout Scripture that address the many facets of life in God’s kingdom. I believe you will find them to be deep in their understanding and commitment to the Lord, and faithful to call seekers to a closer, more obedient walk with Christ. I believe you will find the studies an excellent resource for your Bible school students.
If the resources at this site would be useful to your Bible students or church members in another format, please let me know, as I also have all of them in print format for class work that I would be happy to provide if so desired. Please visit http://inductivebible.org/?page_id=78 as an example.
Thank you for your prayers for me and my family; I am most grateful for the effectual prayers of God’s righteous saints as they avail much. God bless you for your faithful service to Christ’s kingdom!
Sincerely in Christ,
Clark Brown