(1) В¶ Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: (2) Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first object which engageth our attention, in the opening of this Epistle, is of the persons to whom it is addressed; namely, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, Which were at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Saints, in scripture language, means regenerated sinners. Called to be saints, as the Apostle elsewhere terms it. 1 Corinthians 1:2. Similar to the Apostle Jude's expression; sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called, Jude 1:1. Reader! it is most essentially necessary to have this always in view, through the whole of this Epistle; yea, in all the inspired writings of the Apostles. For there are some things said in them which cannot have reference to the world at large; but are belonging to the Church of God only. And it is the grossest of all mistakes to make application to mankind in general of what belongs only to the saints of God. The Apostle's salutations is to the Church. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The bishops, and deacons, are taken from those saints. What these offices of the Church were, in those early days, is not so easy to be determined. Perhaps the same, as in other Epistles, are called Elders. 1 Peter 5:1. But one thing is certain, that as Paul addressed this Epistle to the Church at Philippi, and calls them bishops, and deacons, in the plural, there were more than one, if not many, of that order, in this Church. Of consequence, the primitive Church, under the Apostles, differed from modern Episcopacy, where there is but one bishop in a Diocese. And one thing more is as certain, namely, that as the Saints are mentioned, prior to the bishops and deacons, the office of the latter, of what kind soever it might be, must have been intended by way of ministry to the former. Peter, who stiles himself an Elder, seems to intimate, by what he recommended to the Elders, that they should consider themselves servants, and not lords over God's heritage: even as Christ himself, who though Lord of all, became servant of all. And that their services should be not by constraint but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. 1 Peter 5:2-3. And what is still more important to observe, from this address of Paul, it is very evident, that as those bishops, and deacons, are included with the saints in Christ Jesus; the whole were considered by him, as forming the body of the Church of Christ; and consequently all had experienced the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost. And, to be sure, the very idea of servants in the ministry of God's holy word and ordinances, carries with it an assurance of having an eminency in the knowledge of divine things, from divine teachings, and from the quickening influences of God the Spirit. For to suppose Elders, Bishops, and Deacons, engaged as instruments under the Holy Ghost, for the conversion of others, while unconverted themselves, would be the most preposterous of all imaginations! Such could not have been the case in the Church, of Philippi. The Apostle directs his Epistle to this Church, as saints in Christ Jesus, with the bishops and deacons, how many soever of each order there might be. And to such he sends his Apostolic benediction of Grace. Reader! let You and I behold this Church of the Philippians, in this most endearing view, and now hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches!