As I began to study through the book of Philippians, I must confess that I was looking forward to chapters 2-4. Those are some of my favorite chapters in the Bible. However, chapter one has held some wonderful surprises for me. As I look back over my notes from this chapter I am overwhelmed by what I have seen of Paul’s love for the believers at Philippi.
I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be one of the Philippian believers hearing this letter read as Paul expresses his deep thankfulness to God for their faithful partnership with him in the gospel. How their hearts must have been encouraged as Paul explained to them the hand of God at work in his imprisonment. How this body of believers must have been strengthened by Paul’s exhortation to be faithful in the midst of their sufferings for Christ. Paul cared for these people deeply.
But probably most revealing are verses 21-26.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.
Even though Paul’s longing was to go be with Christ, which was by far much better than his current existence, yet he was willing to stay here to be of benefit to these people of God. This is no small thing. Paul’s life as a believer had been no picnic. Full of persecutions and all manner of trouble, when Paul wasn’t imprisoned, he was frequently fleeing from one city only to be persecuted in the next. Death would have been easier for Paul than life. For Paul, life was painful. And yet he says, “it is needful for you”.
How beautifully this portrays our Jesus, who thought not of His own comfort or convenience, but who left His eternal dwelling in glory to walk among us, to serve and give, to lay His life down. This is something far more glorious than my mind can fully comprehend. “Why Lord?” I ask. “Why did you do it?”
“Because it was needful for you”
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
…that in nothing I shall be ashamed… Philippians 1:20
To be ashamed is to have a feeling of fear or shame which prevents a person from doing a thing. It could either be the external rejection and condemnation levied against us by others, or perhaps it is the accusation of our own conscience. Either way, shame is a silencer.
What must it have felt like for Paul, once a highly respected man of religion, to now be chained as a common criminal and hated and reviled by those (the Pharisees) who had once been his brothers? He was an educated man with an impressive pedigree. Now he is a prisoner. A prisoner for Christ, but still a prisoner.
This is the same Paul who imprisoned believers before his conversion, and now he himself is in prison. How he must have been mocked.
The story of Peter’s rescue from prison by angels was surely not unknown to him and the other believers. As happened to Jesus on the cross, was Paul taunted by those who asked why his God didn’t rescue him?
There must surely have been moments when Paul was confronted by all of these thoughts. But even though Paul is confined by the walls of his prison, he will not allow himself to be confined by a shame that keeps him from speaking boldly for Christ. Very possibly he has always known that he was not worthy to carry the message of the gospel, as he tells the Philippians in verse 29 that their faith (as well as his) has been granted for the sake of Christ. So also, for the sake of Christ, Paul is a messenger of the gospel. No need to be ashamed of not being worthy now. He never was.
His words are – in nothing I shall be ashamed.
Not his past
Not his present
Not his circumstances
Not his God
Shame loses its power when we can fall back into the grace of God and no longer feel compelled to prove that we are worthy of it. We’re not. That’s why it’s grace.
Sweet, sweet grace that silences the screeching of shame and opens our mouths to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that others can also be free of sin and shame.
And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, “These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ Matthew 20:11-12 (For the complete story, read verses 1-16)
What a curious and ugly bit of human nature is exposed by this story. We all like to have good things happen to us. We rejoice when we receive a promotion at work, or an unexpected financial blessing, or some undeserved benefit. But when it happens to someone else, our hearts become tainted with envy. We can think of 100 reasons why they didn’t deserve it and we did, convincing ourselves that life (and God) is unfair. Oh let the pity party begin.
But who is our complaining directed against? This story tells us that the laborers grumbled against the master of the house. We may think it is against the apparent unfairness of the situation, but in actuality, it is directed against God. Have we not realized that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above”? This Master who is so generous to others has also been generous to us in 10,000 different ways that we have long since forgotten or become too busy to notice. They forgot that had it not been for the master, they would still be idle in the marketplace with no denarius at all.
However, in spite of the horrible response of the laborers to the generosity of the master, his response to them is “Friend, I am doing you no wrong.”
Friend – the word means comrade (intimate friend or associate) and mate (an assistant to a more skilled worker). This implies that they not only worked for the master, but with the master. They had begun to know him. A relationship was being formed – a benefit of working the whole day with him. But these are the very ones who complain – those who have been laboring with the master the longest, yet apparently do not yet know his heart.
And the saddest part of this story is the master’s words to these complaining laborers in verse 14 – “Take what belongs to you and go.” So now having reviled the kindness of the master, they are sent away from his presence.
Oh let us take this story to heart, being mindful that all we have received from God is a gift of grace. We may live in an entitlement society, but God’s is not an entitlement kingdom, and He is not pleased with those who are angry over His kindness to others.
So let us rejoice with those who rejoice and learn to celebrate the goodness of God, not only in our lives but also in the lives of others.
Scripture tells us that one noticeable quality of the last days is the increase in deception, false teaching and false doctrines. Who can deny that we are seeing this very thing in our own day? I find it amazing that so many people no longer want to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but prefer to be hyped up about their next level. Very rarely do you hear preaching on sin, repentance and holiness, while at the same time there is an abundance of preachers promoting a message of prosperity and destiny. The focus in all of these dangerous doctrines, in whatever form they are presented, is that they take the focus off Christ and make us, humanity, the focus of the gospel. While there is no doubt that Jesus came into the world to save lost humanity, the ultimate purpose was that the glory of God might be demonstrated by His mercy displayed towards us through Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that those who are fooled by this rampant deception (and thus led astray from the simplicity of the true gospel of Christ) are led astray because they did not receive the love of the truth. When God’s Word is not esteemed and treasured as the very words of God, when it is not read and studied, when it is not used as the standard to judge all teachings, we become ripe for deception. The Bible tells us that the human heart is deceitfully wicked, yet we trust this heart to guide us into truth when we neglect to fill it with God’s word?? My heart will always gravitate to what pleases my flesh, not what pleases God. My heart will always exalt me, not God.
It is only as we cultivate a love of the truth that we will be safe from the false. When we love the truth, really love it, we will treasure and obey even the difficult commands of Scripture that require sacrifice on our part. When we love the truth, we would rather be excluded and thought poorly of than to compromise on the doctrines of the faith and fit in with others who are following those who speak to their itching ears.
Let us therefore be diligent to hide His truth in our hearts. Let us treasure it, love it and hold fast to it.
“Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17
I marvel at how the Apostle Paul was so consistently a man with a single purpose – the proclamation of the gospel. After meeting Christ, everything in his life seems to come back to this one goal.
In his letter to the Philippians he writes “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (V 12-13)
As he pens this letter, Paul helps the Philippian believers to see God’s perfectly unfolding plan – even in his chains. So although his freedom has been taken from him and his circumstances are less than ideal (to say the least), it all comes back to one thing for him – preaching the gospel. And this he can do even in his chains. The message is not hindered, only redirected to a new, previously unreached audience.
All of life, the good and the bad, is an opportunity to proclaim Christ. Although when life is less than perfect, and when difficult circumstances threaten our willingness to proclaim Christ, might it not be in these very difficulties that our witness may be most effective?
There is no time to be a fair weather Christian. There are yet multitudes who have not heard the saving message of Jesus Christ. And even if, in the midst of our sufferings, we cannot seem to find any compassion for our fellow human beings, couldn’t we still be so overwhelmed with His glorious grace that we cannot help but proclaim it?
May the Spirit of God strengthen us all to proclaim Christ, with all of our heart and all of our strength, even in our chains.
When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.” Mark 6:53-56
Every time I read this passage I have to stop and think about it. It creates a mental image of people running around frantically, rushing to bring their sick loved ones to Him. They knew who He was and what He could do, so the only thing that mattered at that moment was getting that news to the people who needed to hear it.
There is something here of a desperation to get people to Jesus.
I find it also in Luke 5:18-19. “Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.”
See this scene – Jesus is teaching, people are all around him, and like a spider on a silken thread, this paralyzed man is lowered from the roof into the midst of the crowd. Debris from the roof may have been falling on the people who had gathered to listen to Jesus. The whole meeting was likely disrupted as this man came to rest on the ground before Jesus. Somehow I don’t think this man or his friends were very concerned about that. They just had to get him to Jesus. Verse 20 says “when He saw their faith”. This type of determination to bring someone to Jesus, convinced that in Him they will find all needs met was a demonstration of their faith in Christ as all sufficient.
In our day of multitudinous solutions offered to solve our problems – medication, therapy, whatever – Jesus is still the only answer. Only as we, His people, are completely convinced of this will we demonstrate this type of determination to bring others to Him.
What exactly would it look like to give all to Jesus? To totally devote the entirety of your life to Him? It would probably look different for each one of us. I’m sure not everyone would be called to preach or be a missionary. Almost certainly there would be some changes though.
But what would it look like for me? I have been wondering this lately. I have a nice life. Nothing fancy. Simple, but nice. I love Jesus with all my heart and spend almost all of my free time in some type of spiritual activity. But is this giving all my life to Jesus?
I am asking Him this type of question these days. Life has been, for the most part, safe and predictable. Not much risk. Not much danger.
Not much accomplished to glorify God in the furtherance of His kingdom.
That’s how it seems to me right now, anyway. And I am seriously wondering what it would look like for me to give it all to Jesus.
This piece of Scripture expresses what has been resonating in my soul for many months. In a world filled with many voices speaking loudly, and almost all of them speaking forth things that are contrary to the Word of God, how desperately we need to hold fast to the faithful Word of God.
Notice that it is not a faithful word, it is THE faithful Word.
Oh God, help me to cling to the truth of Your Word, casting away all that contradicts the pure message of the gospel. Daily I am bombarded by the world’s messages that attempt to persuade me to believe lies. The only safety for me is to have a heart filled with the Word of God. So fill my heart, Oh God, as I read and study. Fill it with Your precious truth.
The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Psalm 119:72
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97
Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they are the rejoicing of my heart Psalm 119:111
Your testimonies, which You have commanded, Are righteous and very faithful. Psalm 119:138
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160
Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. Psalm 119:165
Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. Matthew 15:29-31
While reading this passage today, I stopped to meditate on it for a moment. These great crowds that came to Jesus this day, many of them had with them a friend or loved one with a need. What a massive amount of human suffering was represented in this group of people. I wonder how many of them had given up hope of ever being well and had become resigned to this suffering as their lot in life – some bearing it well, some not so well.
Imagine hearing the news that there is a man who is able to heal. What hope must have begun to spring up in the hearts of the people. So they came, bringing their sick ones. And they did not gently lay them at Jesus’ feet, but the word used here means they flung them down before Him in haste, as many others pushed to get their sick ones before Jesus. What a chaotic scene!
But then imagine the rejoicing that must surely have followed as one after another the sick were healed. Family after family received their loved ones back in wholeness. Oh what a joyous celebration there must have been, with shouts of joy mixed with tears of thanksgiving. Mothers weeping over the child whose suffering from sickness is over, wives hugging the husband whose injury has been healed.
I have wondered what it was like for Jesus to watch the response of the people to the miraculous works He was performing. Did He enter into the joy of the moment? I feel certain He must have. But even more than that, He surely was pleased with this: “And they glorified the God of Israel.”
More and more I find this one phrase has become the passion and desire of my life – “all things for the glory of God.” There is no higher goal, no purpose of life that brings God more pleasure than living all of it for His glory. All my good works, all my diligent devotion, what good is any of it if it brings attention to my (supposed) goodness and knowledge, but does not point others to the glorious God who works in me both to will and to do?
Can I lay down my desire to be noticed and praised in order to bring notice and praise to the only worthy One? By the power of His Spirit I can, and I must. God help us all to live each day, each moment for His glory alone.
Recently in prayer meeting we sang that old hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” and I haven’t been able to get this phrase out of my mind – “merciful and mighty”.Our God is powerful, mighty, able to destroy me with a glance if He so desired.And He would not be unjust to do so.But He is also merciful, and because of this great mercy He directed his great power toward my redemption, not my destruction.
Ephesians 2:4-7But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God is glorified by the display of His grace in me.We, the church, are like a trophy case.God points to us and says to all powers and principalities “Do you see this one?Particularly wicked, she was.But now, spotless, blameless and righteous through the blood of My Son.”And all of heaven and earth can do no less than marvel at the kindness and mercy of God towards one so undeserving.It is a grace that astonishes and leaves one with their eyes wide with wonder.
He is my Delight 