Philippians is a letter filled with joy despite the writer himself being imprisoned and in chains. It goes to show that real joy is not a product of outward circumstances or inward conditions, but the abiding peace of God that keeps our hearts and minds through Christ. Indeed, Paul was so confident of this fact that he asserted:
4:9 Those things which you have both learned and received, and heard and seen in me—do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
This prison cell epistle is perhaps the most personal of all the letters Paul ever wrote. The main topics he touched on include: his fellowship of love with the church, the mind of Christ to emulate, and the joy of the Christian. Paul could not have put it clearer what a Christian's lifelong pursuit should be when he made reference to his own personal aspiration ever since his encounter with the resurrected Christ:
3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
For Paul, Jesus Christ was everything to him.
OUTLINE OF PHILIPPIANS
1. Introduction (1:1-11)
a. Greetings (1:1-2)
b. Prayer of Thanksgiving (1:3-11)
2. Christ is Our Preoccupation (1:12-30)
a. Paul's Desire for the Gospel (1:12-18)
b. Paul's Dilemma for the Believers (1:19-30)
3. Christ is Our Example (2:1-30)
a. Christ's Example of Humility (2:1-11)
b. Christian's Exemplary Life (2:12-18)
c. Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30)
4. Christ is Our Treasure (3:1-21)
a. Vanity of Glorying in the Flesh (3:1-7)
b. Value of Prizing Christ Above All Else (3:8-21)
5. Christ is Our Sufficiency (4:1-13)
a. Living at Peace with One Another (4:1-3)
b. Having the Peace of God (4:4-9)
c. Being at Peace in All Situations (4:10-13)
6. Conclusion (4:14-23)
a. Thanking for the Gifts (4:14-19)
b. Final Words (4:20-23)
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