Epistle To The Philippians
The Church at Philippi was founded by Paul during his second missionary journey. This church had a history that went back all the way to the time when Paul received a calling to bring the Lord’s ministry to Macedonia.
We recall in Acts 16 how Paul was divinely instructed through a dream to preach the gospel in Macedonia. Soon after he arrived, Paul met Lydia and it was written that “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” so that she and her household came to know the Lord and were baptised (Acts 16;14-15). Soon after that – even before his ministry among the Philippians could take off – Paul was taken captive, beaten up and thrown into jail. In his prison cell, Paul’s spirit was not bound; but with Silas, they lifted their voices in prayer and sang hymns to God aloud. As they were doing that, the earth shook beneath them and miraculously, the prison doors that barred them were opened and every chain dropped from Paul and those who were with him. The jailer who was roused from his slumber saw the open doors and was about to kill himself, in anticipation of the judgement he would face on account of the prisoners’ escape. But Paul stopped him and spoke the word of God to him and his family and led them to be baptised. From these early converts, the congregation of believers grew and later, the Philippian church was birthed.
From its inception, the Philippian church displayed a spirit and attitude that was different from that of other churches planted by Paul. The Philippians gave consistent support to Paul and his ministry, identifying with him throughout his ministry, particularly in his labours and afflictions suffered. Their relationship with Paul had never been hurt by distrusts and defaults – the Philippians recognised Paul’s authority as apostle to them. Paul’s letter to the Philippian church revealed nothing less than an affection so deep and dear, its readers could not miss noting the special place Paul reserved for the Philippians in his heart. To the apostle, the Philippian church was his declared “joy and crown”(Phil 4:1).
A beautiful flow of ministry evolved between Paul and the Philippian church. Besides having benefited from Paul’s ministry amongst them, the Philippians had, in more ways than one, ministered to Paul, as and when opportunities open the way for them to - in Thessalonica ( Phil.4:16), in his itineraries ministry (Phil.4:15)and at Corinth (2 Cor.11:8-9). There are valuable lessons we can learn from the ministry of the Philippian church, and we must take some time to study some of them now.
Lessons in Giving
Paul made special mention of the Philippians as being exemplary in their faith and particularly in the area of sacrificial giving. They were not the biggest church Paul founded, nor were they the most affluent people around; yet, they gave to Paul what should have been supplied by other more comfortable churches (2 Cor.11:8-9). For even in the midst of “a great trial of affliction”, they were able to abound in joy; and in spite of their “deep poverty”, they continued to excel in giving. We know also from Paul’s letter that the Philippians gave not just what they could afford, but even beyond their convenience and comfort. More appreciated was that their liberal giving was accompanied by a great willingness and generosity of heart, as demonstrated by their persistent urging of Paul to accept their offerings (2 Cor. 8:1-5).
The fruit of our Giving
Consider the attention Paul gave to the generosity the Philippian church demonstrated in meeting his needs. "Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account." More than a timely charity, their giving was a “sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to the Lord” (Phil 4:18).
As in early times when worshippers placed animal and harvest sacrifices before the Lord on the altar as offerings to Him, believers today are called to come to the altar bringing ourselves as living sacrifices, to be presented holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1). This can be done in a few ways. For one, the giving of our material possessions (since we are talking about the Philippians who made financial and material contribution to Paul’s ministry) is a type of living sacrifice. In referring to the gifts of the Philippians church as an acceptable sacrifice (Phil. 4:18), God drew a straightforward relation between the extent to which our lives have been surrendered to the Lord and our willingness to lay down our financial possessions for His ministry. Life is made up of time – hours and minutes of it. The man who gave hours of his life away at the workplace in exchange for wages, and puts part of the money into God’s kingdom as tithes and offerings, is making a living sacrifice unto the Lord. For he has given to God his life as a living sacrifice when he rendered to God the money that was used to pay for hours of his life. Thus, our offerings and gifts to our fellow brethren are an expression to God of our lives being sacrificed to Him, which is as good and acceptable as sacrifices ever get, if not more.
The Reward of our Giving
In response to the overwhelming generosity of the Philippi church, Paul made efforts to remind and encourage them that God will in turn respond to their giving, by providing for all their need according to His riches in glory (Phil.4:16).
Divine provision finds a channel into our lives only when we begin to accept the futility of our efforts to provide for ourselves. When we realise that God alone is more than sufficient to meet our every need, we will see how earthly possessions can never have the ability or the power to ensure our sustenance. One way to help ourselves yield or surrender to God is to remind ourselves that our every possession is something entrusted to us, of which we must assume faithful stewardship, and not hold as if we have possession in title. It is only when we recognise the Lord as the source of all that we own; be it our finances, our careers, our relationships, that every one of these will become readily available for His use whenever He so requires.
The Christian who consciously or subconsciously places his security on what he owns, is unlikely to ever experience the miraculous provision of the Father, only because he has not positioned himself to receive. He is most likely to be too caught up with trying to heap up treasures on earth rather than looking upward for divine provisions. When one is busy gathering, it is not possible for him to be fixed on receiving from God at the same time. However, when we come to see how our possessions are unable to constitute a reliable ground for security, our dependence on the Lord’s faithfulness to provide deepens; and as we trust and rely on Him to fill up every area of need in our lives, we are suitably humbled before Him to inherit the benefits of promises to provide for our every need.
Every opportunity for giving is also an opportunity to reap a blessing. Though we do not encourage for it to become a motivation for anyone to do good, it is indeed an avenue for revenue. “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”(Gal 6:7). Accordingly, we can expect to reap reward as we sow selflessly into the lives of others in our giving.
Giving Freely
There would be times when the Lord directs our giving to places where we might never directly experience the impact of our giving. But this should not become an issue, if we correctly perceive ourselves as one body – fellow brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. Not only should we be willing to share but we also should meet one another’s needs. The guiding principle being that the man with two cloaks should give one to the man who has not any. The Philippian church demonstrated their unselfish love for the entire Body of Christ in that though they were sufficiently aware of how their finances would be used to minister to the other churches and not just towards the Macedonian church, it did not stop them from giving freely, or even generously.
Let us therefore broaden our vision of the church from henceforth, for the Church is confined neither within the walls of a physical building, a denomination or even a nation, but is made up of believers bonded as one by sole virtue of our common faith, and therefore, identity – in the Lord Jesus. To truly become a church without walls, we need to put aside selfish pursuit of individuality and lay away base practices of disputing over petty differences, and to strive instead for all members of the Body to be united in Spirit.
Lessons in Joy
The abiding message of Philippians teaches the nature and grounds of Christian joy. For Paul, neither the chains that leashed him nor the pain of the stripes upon his back kept him from singing aloud and praising God. Most of us today may not be in iron chains and metal cuffs, but we are (figuratively speaking) to some extent, prisoners, nevertheless. In the world that we find ourselves in today, we could be chained by emotional entanglements, burdened by pressures from society, or locked in corporate battles of achievement at the work place etc. Whatever it might be, most people find themselves prisoners of some kind and not only are some of us imprisoned, but we even look and act imprisoned as if we have resigned to that state of non-liberty! In other words, we are showing others, as well as reminding ourselves, that we are in ‘chains’; not knowing that such negative feelings and dispositions bring no deliverance from the situation, but only reinforces the tenacity of it. However, no matter how tense the circumstances, we, like Paul, should not let our spirits be chained; but should prevail over the circumstances by lifting our voices and hands to God in worship and praise. For whatever the situation, God remains worthy to be praised and worthy of worship. Since God has provided it, lets put on the “garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness “(Isa.61:3).
Joy of the Lord
There is no other aspect of our beings, which is as vacillating as our minds or emotions. No other area is also as susceptible to the devil's plans to steal, kill and to destroy, than that realm. I once saw a vision of a man walking; and beside him were two supernatural powers. The one on the left was dark in shade, which I perceived to be an evil power and the other on the right was in glitters of gold, and I perceived it to represent the godly power. Then the man began to think, the contents of his thoughts showing as he did so. His mind began first with negative reflections, and as he did, his head emitted an unpleasant odour, which at once attracted the dark-shaded evil power. Immediately, the evil power attached itself to his mind and added even more gloom to his expression. However, when his thoughts shifted to a more positive tangent, his mind gave off a fragrance that drew the godly power to rest itself on his mind. Once that happened, wisdom and revelation began to infuse his mind, which seemed to illuminate truth that broke the spell of depression, liberated his spirit and restored joy to him. More than just an attitude in life, the way we pattern our thoughts is one of the strongest determinants of our destinies in life.
The word of God instructs that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10). Paul too describes true joy as a joy that is in the Lord.
Here, we see that what differentiates true joy from superficial emotions of happiness, lies in its source. There is a joy that does not originate from the Lord but is of the world. Such joy – whether it would be experienced or not – is entirely dependent on the circumstances around us and is hence as unpredictable and inconsistent as the variety and nature of the situations that chance upon us everyday. As Christians, however, we are called to embrace the joy of the Lord, which is not the same as that of the world.
For sure, if our joy were dependent on the events that take place in our lives, Paul would have had every justification to sink into the pit of self-pity and depression during his imprisonment. How is one then, to comprehend the inner joy that did not seemed to depart from Paul for any one moment during that time of trial? Clearly the source of his strength resided not in his external circumstance, but in an indwelling peace, which so guarded his heart against fear and anxiety that he was able to burst into high praises before the Lord even in his prison cell!
So too, every Christian is called to rejoice in the Lord at all times (Phil 4:4). Just as a soldier engaged in warfare does not entangle himself with affairs out of the military’s concern, so too we are called to live a life guided not by our emotions, but by the spirit in whom we can uphold our joy at all times, regardless of what happens because God is what really matters, when we come to the final analysis.
The call to us, therefore, is not one to succumb but to overcome. In John 16:33, Lord Jesus specifically reminds us that while we will have tribulation in this world, we are to take (and not lose) heart for He has overcome the world. Until we learn to hold the ground and remain steadfast in the midst of the storm that rages all around, we will never be able to flee from the frustration and defeat of living a life based on reaction. Hence, as born again believers, it is essential that we learn to overcome the natural and familiar feelings we are so accustomed to, and allow the peace of God that surpasses all understanding and which is able to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus reign instead.
Christ our Life
To Paul, Christ was the author and finisher of his faith – the reason for his existence and the sum and substance of his life. Christ was why Paul lived the life he did.
You and I must learn to consciously let Christ live in us. It is too easy for anyone to start off the Christian walk in faith and obedience, yet proceed along the path in the flesh. In the same way that our salvation was freely given to us through no merit on our part, so we need to recognise that any work, which we hope to do for the Lord must have its source in Him and Him alone. Only work that is done according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will accomplish enduring results.
Having the Heartbeat of Christ
Paul described his yearning for the Philippi church as “a longing with the affection of Jesus Christ” (Phil1:8). He did not long for them out of human attachment but with the affection of Jesus Christ. Consciously or not, we try too hard to love others. However, the word of God says that the flesh profits nothing. When we rely on the inclinations of the flesh to love others, we will inevitably encounter defeat and discouragement along the way. Never for once be deceived into thinking that the command of God to love can be achieved through our own efforts and strength. If that were at all possible, the love of Christ would not have been needed to be shed abroad in our hearts (Rom. 5:5); but that it was, should tell us that we needed His divine love in order to “love one another, as He has loved us…” (John 16:34). Jesus’ commandment was never for us to love one another in the best way that we could, but that we would love with the kind of love that He loved us with. Jesus explained that apart from him, the vine, we as the branches can do nothing. In other words, whatever results we attain – no matter how impressive – count for nothing in the spiritual realm.
Loving must be done through the strength of God. We need to ask the Lord to reveal His own love for the person to us, in order that His love may overflow the banks of the rivers of our love for them. Lean not on our own understanding when we walk in His commandments – be it to love or to minister; but acknowledge Him in every way so we can see Him accomplish His will on earth through us.
Particularly for those of us who have the gift of mercy, giving and compassion, we may fall into the trap of loving ‘foolishly’. Paul's prayer for the Philippian church was that their love would “abound more and more in knowledge and discernment “(Phil 1:9). The Philippi Church was made up of generous givers, so Paul had obvious reasons to fear that they might be taken advantage of. To be effective in ministry of the Lord, we must love with discernment. Although Jesus clearly loved all men, he was not flippant in the selection of his disciples and his closest friends. His labour was focused and targeted. He clearly understood His ministry on earth was primarily to the lost sheep of Israel and not to the world at large. He did whatever and only what He heard the Father telling Him to do. In the same way, we too need to invest our time and labour wisely in the people the Lord has specifically placed burdens for in our hearts. Here again, we see the importance of giving ourselves out of the life of God and not out of our self-directed well-intended efforts. In this way, we will truly experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Beloved of God, watch, and heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and operate entirely on His directions that will reveal the people He wants us to touch, the timing for us to move and the method in which He wants us to accomplish His work.
Having a `Big Heart' like Christ.
Have we, at one time or other, in our Christian walk, come across other Christians who do things differently from us, whose ways we are not in agreement? Perhaps we have, during such times, thought in our hearts that these people who proclaim the same Lord as us, have not really known Him as we do for otherwise how could they behave and think so differently from us on spiritual matters?
Jesus’ disciples apparently felt this way when they reported that men not from their circle were casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Paul spoke also of Christians who preached the gospel for a variety of reasons; some of which were out of selfish ambition and envy, to draw attention to themselves (Phil 1:18). Way before then, Moses himself was urged to stop two men who had not with the rest of the 70 elders, come around the tabernacle to receive the Spirit, but who nevertheless began prophesying in the camp (Num 11:24-29). Let us take note of the responses of our Lord Jesus, Paul and Moses on those occasions. Instead of reproach, they rejoiced that the work of the Lord was being done; and that the gospel was being preached and souls saved; that the Spirit of God was given to more men than they had expected. So too, we should embrace the same graciousness and humility to strive to accept and include, rather than to alienate and marginalise those who are different from us. Let us careful to avoid being subtly entangled in the web of narrow-mindedness by drawing invisible circles around us by delineating those who are not in our ‘camp’ as having no authority or cause for doing the work of the Lord.
Christ as our Supreme concern and Dearest possession.
Living in the joy of the Lord becomes a reality only when we enthrone Christ as the central reason we live. You may wonder if it is indeed possible to say as Paul does, that to him, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). For Paul, life is an opportunity to serve Christ and to bear fruit in the Body of Christ, and is what holds him back on earth. He declares however, that his preference is for death so that He can be with the Lord. Indeed, if Christ is truly reality, our hearts will always long to be where it knows it belongs – in heaven where the Lord is. This leads us inadvertently to the question, `How often do we think of heaven?’ All too often, we desire for just that much more time to spend on earth rather than to be in heaven in the continual presence of the Lord.
Paul continues to talk about Christians who are earthly-minded, and he describes them as enemies of the cross and their end to be destruction “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things”(Phil 3:17-18). How sad it is to be a Christian, yet an enemy of the Cross at the same time because of worldliness. However, he urged us to press in towards God the way he did. For, if we do, we will find ourselves automatically delivered from earthly mindedness.
Being willing to Suffer for His sake
Paul hesitated not in telling the Philippi church that to them “it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”(Phil.1:29). What an unusual perspective this must be to some of us who would gladly receive blessing but reject suffering! From Paul’s point of view, the opportunity to suffer for the Lord is a gift bestowed upon Christians just as salvation is a gift! As Christians dedicated to the Lord’s cause, we must expect to partake of suffering for as long as we continue to do God's work. Nevertheless when Christ is our life, as He was to Paul we will truly be able to rejoice even in the midst of the fiercest persecution.
Christ our Mind
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus “(Phil. 2:5), This verse has direct references to the self-humbling which our Lord possessed. The humility of mind is clearly seen in anyone’s willingness to forsake that which is rightfully his, whatever it may be, for the sake of God’s will. While pride will always demand that our rights are not taken away, humility will always seek first the Lord’s will and lead us to give up what rightly belongs to us, that it might not hinder the work of God. Lord Jesus, though He was God, came to us in the status of a bondservant, being completely obedient, even to the point of death on a cross, willingly becoming a curse for us.
Epaphroditus, though a fellow worker with Paul, was however not in a position of prominence as Paul had been. Yet, we read that he came close to death for the sake of Christ. We would no doubt agree that much more humility is required to do the work of the Lord when the glory of public recognition does not accompany. It takes that much more crucifying of the flesh to be a subordinate, since human nature would only demand to be in constant limelight. Let us therefore, learn to be content with whatever part of the body God has called us to be, and cultivate the mind of Christ in us.
Mind to fulfil our Call
Having the mind of Christ is for us to always be conscious of fulfilling our call in God. Jesus declared, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
The first and primary part of our calling is none other than to conform to the image of Christ. We are called to know the Father intimately and to experience what it means to be a child of God. It is also that process in which the Holy Spirit moulds and refines us though experiences in life so that we can be prepared to fulfil the ministry aspect of our calling in Christ (Eph 2:10).
Too often, many of us attempt to fulfil the work of God without becoming, first and foremost, a child whose character has been built and developed by a relationship with His heavenly Father. The work of a tested and refined vessel brings forth fruit that has been sweetened by the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Let us not, in our eagerness to serve the Lord, forget that He is immensely more concerned with having ‘sons’ than in engaging ‘servants’ for His work.
“…but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me”(Phil 3:12).
In Christian goal-setting, secular thinking has subtly crept into the church so that it is not uncommon to hear teaching that we should never be contented with what we can do for the Lord. Paul stresses that what he strives to lay hold of, is that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of in him. We should strive to progress only in that area and the extent to which the Lord has impressed upon us. A common misconception is that there is a natural ladder of progression in terms of church portfolios, which a Christian needs to move along as he matures in the Lord. This is not necessarily true. Committing ourselves to anything beyond what the Lord has called us to could only be from selfish ambition and not a sincere desire to please the Lord.
Obedience does not always require action on our part. In fact, it takes just as much to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit to be still and remain where we are when He wants us to. Truly, the Lord delights in our obedience over the sacrifice of whatever fleshly efforts.
Paul reminds us that godliness with contentment is great gain. Contentment, however, should not be confused with passivity or even laziness. We should still maximise the use of our God-given talents in whatever the Lord has called us to.
Christ our Goal
The sole quest of Paul was to gain Christ. His intense focus and passion for the Lord re-directed his life so much so that what he formerly held dearest to his heart now paled in worth to Christ. Paul’s conversion to Christianity demanded the sacrifice of his inheritance as a Pharisee – an identity he had worked hard to achieve and which he held till his encounter with Christ. It had undoubtedly been a source of personal glory and pride for him. Yet, he counted it nothing in comparison to knowing Christ.
Perhaps we have not been able to say as Paul said, that the things we value most in our lives are as `rubbish’ compared to the Lord. Nevertheless, as we take the first step of obedience, the Lord will not hesitate to reveal an increasing measure of His glory and power with every sacrifice we make for His sake. Just as a mustard seed grows to become one of the largest plants on earth, so what begins as a seemingly insignificant act of faith can potentially develop into the very devotion and fervency we behold in our Lord Jesus to see the Kingdom of God come on earth.
Christ our Strength (Phil 4:6-13)
True believers can expect to experience the peace of God even during the darkest moments in life.
Nevertheless, in order to let the peace of God reign in our hearts, Christ needs to be more than just what we know in our minds. We need for Him to become a living reality in us. He needs to become more real than what we see with our physical eyes or touch with our hands. And we need to experience his love for us so deeply that we know without a doubt that He will provide and take care of our every need. Perhaps we should take some moments to reflect on our attitude in prayer. Do we honestly believe in our loving Father to take care of everything we ask for or are we merely going through the motions of faithless prayer?
Having said this, how then, do we actually bring this promise of God for the peace, which surpasses all understanding to pass in our hearts? The key to this is revealed in Phil 4:9. We must learn to meditate on and do the things we have been taught.
The mind is the battlefield in which Satan operates. In order to be strong in the Lord, we must be careful to guard the joy, which he constantly seeks to steal by instilling fear into our hearts. Fear finds a way into our lives when we choose to meditate on negative and ungodly thoughts. The only way to win the battle is to focus instead on faith-filled truths, which the Holy Spirit has imparted to us at various points in our lives. During times like these, we need to use the word of God strategically as a weapon against the overwhelming force of the doubts that come against us. Take heed therefore; for once we lose the joy of the Lord, we effectively relinquish the strength we have in Him to overcome.
Depression is not uncommon, even among Spirit-filled believers. It is normally triggered off by tragic events such as the loss of loved ones or the death of a vision. Christians need to be particularly careful not to sink into depression by feeding their thoughts on unhealthy memories and ill feelings no matter how tempting these may be. For it is precisely in this area of our emotions that the devil will seize the opportunity to cripple our faith and to render us ineffective.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)
While it has been commonly understood that Paul was referring to the strength of Christ to help him perform whatever was necessary for the kingdom of God, the original translation is rightly “I can bear all things through Christ who strengthens me”. We infer from here that Paul is more likely talking about enduring difficulties and more specifically the troubles he has gone through. If we truly live out a life of obedience through the power of Christ who lives in us, we will surely be empowered with His strength and wisdom to bear all things.
The Church at Philippi was founded by Paul during his second missionary journey. This church had a history that went back all the way to the time when Paul received a calling to bring the Lord’s ministry to Macedonia.
We recall in Acts 16 how Paul was divinely instructed through a dream to preach the gospel in Macedonia. Soon after he arrived, Paul met Lydia and it was written that “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” so that she and her household came to know the Lord and were baptised (Acts 16;14-15). Soon after that – even before his ministry among the Philippians could take off – Paul was taken captive, beaten up and thrown into jail. In his prison cell, Paul’s spirit was not bound; but with Silas, they lifted their voices in prayer and sang hymns to God aloud. As they were doing that, the earth shook beneath them and miraculously, the prison doors that barred them were opened and every chain dropped from Paul and those who were with him. The jailer who was roused from his slumber saw the open doors and was about to kill himself, in anticipation of the judgement he would face on account of the prisoners’ escape. But Paul stopped him and spoke the word of God to him and his family and led them to be baptised. From these early converts, the congregation of believers grew and later, the Philippian church was birthed.
From its inception, the Philippian church displayed a spirit and attitude that was different from that of other churches planted by Paul. The Philippians gave consistent support to Paul and his ministry, identifying with him throughout his ministry, particularly in his labours and afflictions suffered. Their relationship with Paul had never been hurt by distrusts and defaults – the Philippians recognised Paul’s authority as apostle to them. Paul’s letter to the Philippian church revealed nothing less than an affection so deep and dear, its readers could not miss noting the special place Paul reserved for the Philippians in his heart. To the apostle, the Philippian church was his declared “joy and crown”(Phil 4:1).
A beautiful flow of ministry evolved between Paul and the Philippian church. Besides having benefited from Paul’s ministry amongst them, the Philippians had, in more ways than one, ministered to Paul, as and when opportunities open the way for them to - in Thessalonica ( Phil.4:16), in his itineraries ministry (Phil.4:15)and at Corinth (2 Cor.11:8-9). There are valuable lessons we can learn from the ministry of the Philippian church, and we must take some time to study some of them now.
Lessons in Giving
Paul made special mention of the Philippians as being exemplary in their faith and particularly in the area of sacrificial giving. They were not the biggest church Paul founded, nor were they the most affluent people around; yet, they gave to Paul what should have been supplied by other more comfortable churches (2 Cor.11:8-9). For even in the midst of “a great trial of affliction”, they were able to abound in joy; and in spite of their “deep poverty”, they continued to excel in giving. We know also from Paul’s letter that the Philippians gave not just what they could afford, but even beyond their convenience and comfort. More appreciated was that their liberal giving was accompanied by a great willingness and generosity of heart, as demonstrated by their persistent urging of Paul to accept their offerings (2 Cor. 8:1-5).
The fruit of our Giving
Consider the attention Paul gave to the generosity the Philippian church demonstrated in meeting his needs. "Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account." More than a timely charity, their giving was a “sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to the Lord” (Phil 4:18).
As in early times when worshippers placed animal and harvest sacrifices before the Lord on the altar as offerings to Him, believers today are called to come to the altar bringing ourselves as living sacrifices, to be presented holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1). This can be done in a few ways. For one, the giving of our material possessions (since we are talking about the Philippians who made financial and material contribution to Paul’s ministry) is a type of living sacrifice. In referring to the gifts of the Philippians church as an acceptable sacrifice (Phil. 4:18), God drew a straightforward relation between the extent to which our lives have been surrendered to the Lord and our willingness to lay down our financial possessions for His ministry. Life is made up of time – hours and minutes of it. The man who gave hours of his life away at the workplace in exchange for wages, and puts part of the money into God’s kingdom as tithes and offerings, is making a living sacrifice unto the Lord. For he has given to God his life as a living sacrifice when he rendered to God the money that was used to pay for hours of his life. Thus, our offerings and gifts to our fellow brethren are an expression to God of our lives being sacrificed to Him, which is as good and acceptable as sacrifices ever get, if not more.
The Reward of our Giving
In response to the overwhelming generosity of the Philippi church, Paul made efforts to remind and encourage them that God will in turn respond to their giving, by providing for all their need according to His riches in glory (Phil.4:16).
Divine provision finds a channel into our lives only when we begin to accept the futility of our efforts to provide for ourselves. When we realise that God alone is more than sufficient to meet our every need, we will see how earthly possessions can never have the ability or the power to ensure our sustenance. One way to help ourselves yield or surrender to God is to remind ourselves that our every possession is something entrusted to us, of which we must assume faithful stewardship, and not hold as if we have possession in title. It is only when we recognise the Lord as the source of all that we own; be it our finances, our careers, our relationships, that every one of these will become readily available for His use whenever He so requires.
The Christian who consciously or subconsciously places his security on what he owns, is unlikely to ever experience the miraculous provision of the Father, only because he has not positioned himself to receive. He is most likely to be too caught up with trying to heap up treasures on earth rather than looking upward for divine provisions. When one is busy gathering, it is not possible for him to be fixed on receiving from God at the same time. However, when we come to see how our possessions are unable to constitute a reliable ground for security, our dependence on the Lord’s faithfulness to provide deepens; and as we trust and rely on Him to fill up every area of need in our lives, we are suitably humbled before Him to inherit the benefits of promises to provide for our every need.
Every opportunity for giving is also an opportunity to reap a blessing. Though we do not encourage for it to become a motivation for anyone to do good, it is indeed an avenue for revenue. “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”(Gal 6:7). Accordingly, we can expect to reap reward as we sow selflessly into the lives of others in our giving.
Giving Freely
There would be times when the Lord directs our giving to places where we might never directly experience the impact of our giving. But this should not become an issue, if we correctly perceive ourselves as one body – fellow brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. Not only should we be willing to share but we also should meet one another’s needs. The guiding principle being that the man with two cloaks should give one to the man who has not any. The Philippian church demonstrated their unselfish love for the entire Body of Christ in that though they were sufficiently aware of how their finances would be used to minister to the other churches and not just towards the Macedonian church, it did not stop them from giving freely, or even generously.
Let us therefore broaden our vision of the church from henceforth, for the Church is confined neither within the walls of a physical building, a denomination or even a nation, but is made up of believers bonded as one by sole virtue of our common faith, and therefore, identity – in the Lord Jesus. To truly become a church without walls, we need to put aside selfish pursuit of individuality and lay away base practices of disputing over petty differences, and to strive instead for all members of the Body to be united in Spirit.
Lessons in Joy
The abiding message of Philippians teaches the nature and grounds of Christian joy. For Paul, neither the chains that leashed him nor the pain of the stripes upon his back kept him from singing aloud and praising God. Most of us today may not be in iron chains and metal cuffs, but we are (figuratively speaking) to some extent, prisoners, nevertheless. In the world that we find ourselves in today, we could be chained by emotional entanglements, burdened by pressures from society, or locked in corporate battles of achievement at the work place etc. Whatever it might be, most people find themselves prisoners of some kind and not only are some of us imprisoned, but we even look and act imprisoned as if we have resigned to that state of non-liberty! In other words, we are showing others, as well as reminding ourselves, that we are in ‘chains’; not knowing that such negative feelings and dispositions bring no deliverance from the situation, but only reinforces the tenacity of it. However, no matter how tense the circumstances, we, like Paul, should not let our spirits be chained; but should prevail over the circumstances by lifting our voices and hands to God in worship and praise. For whatever the situation, God remains worthy to be praised and worthy of worship. Since God has provided it, lets put on the “garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness “(Isa.61:3).
Joy of the Lord
There is no other aspect of our beings, which is as vacillating as our minds or emotions. No other area is also as susceptible to the devil's plans to steal, kill and to destroy, than that realm. I once saw a vision of a man walking; and beside him were two supernatural powers. The one on the left was dark in shade, which I perceived to be an evil power and the other on the right was in glitters of gold, and I perceived it to represent the godly power. Then the man began to think, the contents of his thoughts showing as he did so. His mind began first with negative reflections, and as he did, his head emitted an unpleasant odour, which at once attracted the dark-shaded evil power. Immediately, the evil power attached itself to his mind and added even more gloom to his expression. However, when his thoughts shifted to a more positive tangent, his mind gave off a fragrance that drew the godly power to rest itself on his mind. Once that happened, wisdom and revelation began to infuse his mind, which seemed to illuminate truth that broke the spell of depression, liberated his spirit and restored joy to him. More than just an attitude in life, the way we pattern our thoughts is one of the strongest determinants of our destinies in life.
The word of God instructs that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10). Paul too describes true joy as a joy that is in the Lord.
Here, we see that what differentiates true joy from superficial emotions of happiness, lies in its source. There is a joy that does not originate from the Lord but is of the world. Such joy – whether it would be experienced or not – is entirely dependent on the circumstances around us and is hence as unpredictable and inconsistent as the variety and nature of the situations that chance upon us everyday. As Christians, however, we are called to embrace the joy of the Lord, which is not the same as that of the world.
For sure, if our joy were dependent on the events that take place in our lives, Paul would have had every justification to sink into the pit of self-pity and depression during his imprisonment. How is one then, to comprehend the inner joy that did not seemed to depart from Paul for any one moment during that time of trial? Clearly the source of his strength resided not in his external circumstance, but in an indwelling peace, which so guarded his heart against fear and anxiety that he was able to burst into high praises before the Lord even in his prison cell!
So too, every Christian is called to rejoice in the Lord at all times (Phil 4:4). Just as a soldier engaged in warfare does not entangle himself with affairs out of the military’s concern, so too we are called to live a life guided not by our emotions, but by the spirit in whom we can uphold our joy at all times, regardless of what happens because God is what really matters, when we come to the final analysis.
The call to us, therefore, is not one to succumb but to overcome. In John 16:33, Lord Jesus specifically reminds us that while we will have tribulation in this world, we are to take (and not lose) heart for He has overcome the world. Until we learn to hold the ground and remain steadfast in the midst of the storm that rages all around, we will never be able to flee from the frustration and defeat of living a life based on reaction. Hence, as born again believers, it is essential that we learn to overcome the natural and familiar feelings we are so accustomed to, and allow the peace of God that surpasses all understanding and which is able to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus reign instead.
Christ our Life
To Paul, Christ was the author and finisher of his faith – the reason for his existence and the sum and substance of his life. Christ was why Paul lived the life he did.
You and I must learn to consciously let Christ live in us. It is too easy for anyone to start off the Christian walk in faith and obedience, yet proceed along the path in the flesh. In the same way that our salvation was freely given to us through no merit on our part, so we need to recognise that any work, which we hope to do for the Lord must have its source in Him and Him alone. Only work that is done according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will accomplish enduring results.
Having the Heartbeat of Christ
Paul described his yearning for the Philippi church as “a longing with the affection of Jesus Christ” (Phil1:8). He did not long for them out of human attachment but with the affection of Jesus Christ. Consciously or not, we try too hard to love others. However, the word of God says that the flesh profits nothing. When we rely on the inclinations of the flesh to love others, we will inevitably encounter defeat and discouragement along the way. Never for once be deceived into thinking that the command of God to love can be achieved through our own efforts and strength. If that were at all possible, the love of Christ would not have been needed to be shed abroad in our hearts (Rom. 5:5); but that it was, should tell us that we needed His divine love in order to “love one another, as He has loved us…” (John 16:34). Jesus’ commandment was never for us to love one another in the best way that we could, but that we would love with the kind of love that He loved us with. Jesus explained that apart from him, the vine, we as the branches can do nothing. In other words, whatever results we attain – no matter how impressive – count for nothing in the spiritual realm.
Loving must be done through the strength of God. We need to ask the Lord to reveal His own love for the person to us, in order that His love may overflow the banks of the rivers of our love for them. Lean not on our own understanding when we walk in His commandments – be it to love or to minister; but acknowledge Him in every way so we can see Him accomplish His will on earth through us.
Particularly for those of us who have the gift of mercy, giving and compassion, we may fall into the trap of loving ‘foolishly’. Paul's prayer for the Philippian church was that their love would “abound more and more in knowledge and discernment “(Phil 1:9). The Philippi Church was made up of generous givers, so Paul had obvious reasons to fear that they might be taken advantage of. To be effective in ministry of the Lord, we must love with discernment. Although Jesus clearly loved all men, he was not flippant in the selection of his disciples and his closest friends. His labour was focused and targeted. He clearly understood His ministry on earth was primarily to the lost sheep of Israel and not to the world at large. He did whatever and only what He heard the Father telling Him to do. In the same way, we too need to invest our time and labour wisely in the people the Lord has specifically placed burdens for in our hearts. Here again, we see the importance of giving ourselves out of the life of God and not out of our self-directed well-intended efforts. In this way, we will truly experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Beloved of God, watch, and heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and operate entirely on His directions that will reveal the people He wants us to touch, the timing for us to move and the method in which He wants us to accomplish His work.
Having a `Big Heart' like Christ.
Have we, at one time or other, in our Christian walk, come across other Christians who do things differently from us, whose ways we are not in agreement? Perhaps we have, during such times, thought in our hearts that these people who proclaim the same Lord as us, have not really known Him as we do for otherwise how could they behave and think so differently from us on spiritual matters?
Jesus’ disciples apparently felt this way when they reported that men not from their circle were casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Paul spoke also of Christians who preached the gospel for a variety of reasons; some of which were out of selfish ambition and envy, to draw attention to themselves (Phil 1:18). Way before then, Moses himself was urged to stop two men who had not with the rest of the 70 elders, come around the tabernacle to receive the Spirit, but who nevertheless began prophesying in the camp (Num 11:24-29). Let us take note of the responses of our Lord Jesus, Paul and Moses on those occasions. Instead of reproach, they rejoiced that the work of the Lord was being done; and that the gospel was being preached and souls saved; that the Spirit of God was given to more men than they had expected. So too, we should embrace the same graciousness and humility to strive to accept and include, rather than to alienate and marginalise those who are different from us. Let us careful to avoid being subtly entangled in the web of narrow-mindedness by drawing invisible circles around us by delineating those who are not in our ‘camp’ as having no authority or cause for doing the work of the Lord.
Christ as our Supreme concern and Dearest possession.
Living in the joy of the Lord becomes a reality only when we enthrone Christ as the central reason we live. You may wonder if it is indeed possible to say as Paul does, that to him, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). For Paul, life is an opportunity to serve Christ and to bear fruit in the Body of Christ, and is what holds him back on earth. He declares however, that his preference is for death so that He can be with the Lord. Indeed, if Christ is truly reality, our hearts will always long to be where it knows it belongs – in heaven where the Lord is. This leads us inadvertently to the question, `How often do we think of heaven?’ All too often, we desire for just that much more time to spend on earth rather than to be in heaven in the continual presence of the Lord.
Paul continues to talk about Christians who are earthly-minded, and he describes them as enemies of the cross and their end to be destruction “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things”(Phil 3:17-18). How sad it is to be a Christian, yet an enemy of the Cross at the same time because of worldliness. However, he urged us to press in towards God the way he did. For, if we do, we will find ourselves automatically delivered from earthly mindedness.
Being willing to Suffer for His sake
Paul hesitated not in telling the Philippi church that to them “it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”(Phil.1:29). What an unusual perspective this must be to some of us who would gladly receive blessing but reject suffering! From Paul’s point of view, the opportunity to suffer for the Lord is a gift bestowed upon Christians just as salvation is a gift! As Christians dedicated to the Lord’s cause, we must expect to partake of suffering for as long as we continue to do God's work. Nevertheless when Christ is our life, as He was to Paul we will truly be able to rejoice even in the midst of the fiercest persecution.
Christ our Mind
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus “(Phil. 2:5), This verse has direct references to the self-humbling which our Lord possessed. The humility of mind is clearly seen in anyone’s willingness to forsake that which is rightfully his, whatever it may be, for the sake of God’s will. While pride will always demand that our rights are not taken away, humility will always seek first the Lord’s will and lead us to give up what rightly belongs to us, that it might not hinder the work of God. Lord Jesus, though He was God, came to us in the status of a bondservant, being completely obedient, even to the point of death on a cross, willingly becoming a curse for us.
Epaphroditus, though a fellow worker with Paul, was however not in a position of prominence as Paul had been. Yet, we read that he came close to death for the sake of Christ. We would no doubt agree that much more humility is required to do the work of the Lord when the glory of public recognition does not accompany. It takes that much more crucifying of the flesh to be a subordinate, since human nature would only demand to be in constant limelight. Let us therefore, learn to be content with whatever part of the body God has called us to be, and cultivate the mind of Christ in us.
Mind to fulfil our Call
Having the mind of Christ is for us to always be conscious of fulfilling our call in God. Jesus declared, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
The first and primary part of our calling is none other than to conform to the image of Christ. We are called to know the Father intimately and to experience what it means to be a child of God. It is also that process in which the Holy Spirit moulds and refines us though experiences in life so that we can be prepared to fulfil the ministry aspect of our calling in Christ (Eph 2:10).
Too often, many of us attempt to fulfil the work of God without becoming, first and foremost, a child whose character has been built and developed by a relationship with His heavenly Father. The work of a tested and refined vessel brings forth fruit that has been sweetened by the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Let us not, in our eagerness to serve the Lord, forget that He is immensely more concerned with having ‘sons’ than in engaging ‘servants’ for His work.
“…but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me”(Phil 3:12).
In Christian goal-setting, secular thinking has subtly crept into the church so that it is not uncommon to hear teaching that we should never be contented with what we can do for the Lord. Paul stresses that what he strives to lay hold of, is that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of in him. We should strive to progress only in that area and the extent to which the Lord has impressed upon us. A common misconception is that there is a natural ladder of progression in terms of church portfolios, which a Christian needs to move along as he matures in the Lord. This is not necessarily true. Committing ourselves to anything beyond what the Lord has called us to could only be from selfish ambition and not a sincere desire to please the Lord.
Obedience does not always require action on our part. In fact, it takes just as much to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit to be still and remain where we are when He wants us to. Truly, the Lord delights in our obedience over the sacrifice of whatever fleshly efforts.
Paul reminds us that godliness with contentment is great gain. Contentment, however, should not be confused with passivity or even laziness. We should still maximise the use of our God-given talents in whatever the Lord has called us to.
Christ our Goal
The sole quest of Paul was to gain Christ. His intense focus and passion for the Lord re-directed his life so much so that what he formerly held dearest to his heart now paled in worth to Christ. Paul’s conversion to Christianity demanded the sacrifice of his inheritance as a Pharisee – an identity he had worked hard to achieve and which he held till his encounter with Christ. It had undoubtedly been a source of personal glory and pride for him. Yet, he counted it nothing in comparison to knowing Christ.
Perhaps we have not been able to say as Paul said, that the things we value most in our lives are as `rubbish’ compared to the Lord. Nevertheless, as we take the first step of obedience, the Lord will not hesitate to reveal an increasing measure of His glory and power with every sacrifice we make for His sake. Just as a mustard seed grows to become one of the largest plants on earth, so what begins as a seemingly insignificant act of faith can potentially develop into the very devotion and fervency we behold in our Lord Jesus to see the Kingdom of God come on earth.
Christ our Strength (Phil 4:6-13)
True believers can expect to experience the peace of God even during the darkest moments in life.
Nevertheless, in order to let the peace of God reign in our hearts, Christ needs to be more than just what we know in our minds. We need for Him to become a living reality in us. He needs to become more real than what we see with our physical eyes or touch with our hands. And we need to experience his love for us so deeply that we know without a doubt that He will provide and take care of our every need. Perhaps we should take some moments to reflect on our attitude in prayer. Do we honestly believe in our loving Father to take care of everything we ask for or are we merely going through the motions of faithless prayer?
Having said this, how then, do we actually bring this promise of God for the peace, which surpasses all understanding to pass in our hearts? The key to this is revealed in Phil 4:9. We must learn to meditate on and do the things we have been taught.
The mind is the battlefield in which Satan operates. In order to be strong in the Lord, we must be careful to guard the joy, which he constantly seeks to steal by instilling fear into our hearts. Fear finds a way into our lives when we choose to meditate on negative and ungodly thoughts. The only way to win the battle is to focus instead on faith-filled truths, which the Holy Spirit has imparted to us at various points in our lives. During times like these, we need to use the word of God strategically as a weapon against the overwhelming force of the doubts that come against us. Take heed therefore; for once we lose the joy of the Lord, we effectively relinquish the strength we have in Him to overcome.
Depression is not uncommon, even among Spirit-filled believers. It is normally triggered off by tragic events such as the loss of loved ones or the death of a vision. Christians need to be particularly careful not to sink into depression by feeding their thoughts on unhealthy memories and ill feelings no matter how tempting these may be. For it is precisely in this area of our emotions that the devil will seize the opportunity to cripple our faith and to render us ineffective.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)
While it has been commonly understood that Paul was referring to the strength of Christ to help him perform whatever was necessary for the kingdom of God, the original translation is rightly “I can bear all things through Christ who strengthens me”. We infer from here that Paul is more likely talking about enduring difficulties and more specifically the troubles he has gone through. If we truly live out a life of obedience through the power of Christ who lives in us, we will surely be empowered with His strength and wisdom to bear all things.