Jensens survey of the old testament adam 505

Christ. How do these assurances a ect the
believer’s aims and aspirations?
V. THEME, KEY WORDS AND VERSES
Write a list of key words and phrases that
best represent Paul’s emphases in this letter.
Then identify a theme, and choose a key
verse that reflects that theme.
Chart 86 shows 1:21 as a key verse. One
writer has commented on this verse: “This
outlook on life transformed misery into
melody, prisons into palaces, and Roman
soldiers into souls to be won for Christ.”7
VI. APPLICATIONS
Have you ever wondered what the author
of a New Testament book was thinking
about during the minutes after he nished
writing? Here is how one writer has


reconstructed the scene in Paul’s prison
quarters after the apostle had
nished
dictating his Philippian letter:
The voice is silent; the pen is laid
aside. In due time the papyrus roll,
inestimable manuscript, is made
ready for its journey. And perhaps
a s it now lies drying, the
Missionary and his brethren turn to
further
conversation

on
the
beloved Philippian Church, and
recall many a scene in the days
that are over … and they speak
again of the brightness of the
Philippian Christian life, and the
shadows that lie on it here and
there; and then, while the
Praetorian sentinel looks on in
wonder, or perhaps joins in as a
believer, they pray together for
Philippi, and pour out their praises
to the Father and the Son, and


anticipate the day of glory.8

That was almost two thousand years ago.
Only God knows how many lives the letter
has touched since. Like all Scripture, it is
always new, always contemporary. Has it
spoken to your heart? Write a list of
applications that you have derived from the
letter in the course of your survey.
What does Philippians teach about these
experiences and areas of Christian living:
joy in Christ
sufficiency in Christ
industry and rewards

justifiable motives?
VII. REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What made the geographical location of


Philippi a strategic one?
2. How would you describe a typical
citizen of this Macedonian city?
3. What was Paul’s
rst contact in
Philippi?
4. What picture do you have of the
Philippian congregation when Paul wrote
the epistle?
5. How many years had intervened
between the rst conversions at Philippi and
the writing of the letter?
6. What was Luke’s interest and ministry
in Philippi?
7. Where was Paul when he wrote
Philippians? What persecution had he
experienced in Philippi on his rst visit to
the city? Relate these two observations to
the keynote of joy in the epistle.
8. What were Paul’s purposes in writing