Chapter 4: To All the Saints ============================
From: Meditations on Philippians: Sacrifices of Joy
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 6min
Philippians 1:1 • 5 min. read • grade level: 6
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“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi”.
“Paul and Timotheus, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, to the (ones) being in Philippi.”
Philippians. 1:1
“To all the saints.” The Spirit of God seems to delight to use this little word “all.” We find it again and again in this Epistle. I think the Greek word “all” occurs some 34 times. We can think of Lydia and her household; of the jailor and his household. Two sisters who had a quarrel are also included: and many others, whose names are in the Book of Life. And may we not include ourselves also? If we cannot come in with Lydia or the jailor, perhaps we can with Euodias and Syntache. I doubt not the Spirit of God has given us this little book for the express purpose of putting our names, also, into that little word “all.” May the sweet and solemn sentences that flow from it, sink down deep into each of our hearts!
But I think there is another lesson for us in these words. How often we forget “all the saints.” How often our thoughts and prayers include only the saints in one little group, that is of special interest to us. Let us remember that God’s heart, God’s thought, goes out to “all the saints.” When I was a child, every night and morning my father would pray for “the whole Church of God.” This is as it should be: and if we are walking down here as Christ would have us walk, we will not be content that our hearts should take in any smaller circle than “all the saints.”
We may not be able to walk with them all, in the paths they have chosen, but we may love them, and pray for them, all. Before the assembly at Ephesus had left their first love (Rev. 2:44Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (Revelation 2:4)), Paul could write of their “love unto all the saints” (Eph. 1:1515Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, (Ephesians 1:15)).
And there is another thing that little word “all” makes us think of. Suppose the Postmaster got a letter to deliver, addressed: “To: All the saints in Christ Jesus which are in Toronto, or London, or New York, or Hong Kong.”
How puzzled he would be to know what to do with it! And yet that is the way this letter was addressed: and that is the way the Lord would still have His people: “That they all may be one” (John 17:2121That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)).
These humble people, the woman who sold purple, and the man who guarded a prison cell, were saints. What is a saint? We hear people speak of Saint Peter, and Saint Paul; but we never hear the Bible speak in this way. And yet both Peter and Paul were saints. It has been said, “Paul was a saint, but Saint Paul is a devil.” What is meant by this? Today men and women worship “saints”; and anyone who accepts worship, except God Himself, is in reality the devil. You remember the devil showed our Lord “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:8-108Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4:8‑10)). The moment the devil asked the Lord to worship him, he manifested clearly who he was. True, the Lord knew from the beginning the tempter was the devil: but He did not call him by his name, Satan, until he asked for worship. And so we read in 1 Cor. 10:19, 2019What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? 20But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1 Corinthians 10:19‑20), that those who sacrifice to idols, sacrifice to devils, and not to God. We may know immediately that anything, or anyone, who seeks worship, or who accepts worship or sacrifice, except God only, is a devil. Sad to say this is true, even though the people may call themselves Christians, and though they worship honored servants of God, such as Peter and Paul. See also Acts 14:14-1514Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: (Acts 14:14‑15). Do not let us be deceived, whether men worship idols, or the highest of the apostles, or even angels, (Rev. 22:8-98And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. 9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. (Revelation 22:8‑9); Col. 2:1818Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18)); they are, in reality, worshipping devils. We in China always need to bear these things in mind. And those at home, as well as we in the dark lands, do well to remember the words of the Apostle John: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:2121Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (1 John 5:21)).
But who is a saint? Lydia was a saint: the jailor was a saint: Euodias was a saint, and also Syntache. A saint means a holy person, a person separated to God. A person who is a saint should live “as becometh saints” (Eph. 5:33But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; (Ephesians 5:3)). A saint should live a holy life, and walk in a way that pleases God. Yet that is not what makes a person a saint in God’s eyes, for we find the Spirit of God calls the Corinthians saints, “saints by calling,” (1 Cor. 1:22Unto 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: (1 Corinthians 1:2)), and they were behaving very badly indeed, so the Spirit of God spends most of two long Epistles finding fault with them: but He begins by calling them “saints.” What, then, is a saint? Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a saint. Every person bought with His precious blood is a saint: these are all separated from the world, because they are bought with that blood. In Eph. 2:1919Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19) the Spirit writes to men and women who once were without God, separated from God, (that is the meaning), but now they are separated to God; they are “saints.” He calls them “fellow-citizens with the saints” (Eph. 2:1919Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19)); citizens of Heaven: holy men: saints. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: if you are washed in His precious blood: if you are born again, and have eternal life: then you are a saint: just as truly a saint as the saints in Philippi, or just as truly as the Apostles Peter or Paul themselves. But the word saint should make us think especially of God’s people, separated, or, consecrated, to God: set apart for Him.
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age. Gal. 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)
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