Sovereignty

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

Is God in control? No, I mean is God really in control? Of everything?

These are the questions we find ourselves asking sometimes, especially when things are not going the way we think they should. We often have things worked out in our minds--the way we think they should go--and when things don't happen according to our plan, or the way we think God ought to work, then we wonder. We question.

I want you to know without any doubt that God is in control of his universe. Nothing is random. Nothing is happenstance. Nothing is coincidence. God rules. Paul says so in Romans:

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36 ESV)

And Ephesians:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (Ephesians 1:11 ESV) (emphasis mine)

To illustrate this there once was a great King who ruled a great empire. He took great pride in his empire, and his city, and his great accomplishments. He was filled with so much pride that he secretly believed himself to be the most powerful man ever. He ruled the world! You may have heard of this guy. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. His empire was Babylon. 

In Daniel 4:30 we read where Nebuchadnezzar says this: "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 

But God had a lesson for him. Nebuchadnezzar needed to learn who was really in charge, who had control of this world, who had built his Babylon. So he was driven mad for seven years and when he returned to his senses this is what he had to say:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35 ESV)

The lesson is clear. We may think we are in control, but we are not. It may seem sometimes as if God is not in control, but he is. Always. He does according to his will both in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stop him from accomplishing his purposes. None is in a position to question him. Not you. Not me. Not Nebuchadnezzar. Not Caesar Nero. God is at work. Always.

That's a comforting thought! God is always at work in the world accomplishing his purposes. Paul's enemies may conspire against him. The governors of this world may do their worst. Paul may even be bound in prison for years. But make no mistake. It is all coming to pass in fulfillment of God's purposes. The gospel is not being thwarted. The gospel is being advanced. Isn't that amazing? We may think that Satan or this world are getting the upper hand, but they are never getting the upper hand. Never. God is always in control.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

Now, doesn't that make you smile?

Gospel Advancement

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

What is our chief concern in life? What is most important to us? What is our reason for being here?

For the Christian, the answer to these questions is not that difficult. One famous Christian document (the Westminster Shorter Catechism) asked and answered that question in this way:

Q. What is the chief end of man?

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

We have already noted in this epistle two things that are important to our discussion about the correct answers to these questions. One is that Paul has already expressed thanksgiving that the saints at Philippi (and we) are members of the Fellowship of the Gospel. Whatever else we are in life, this is our most important distinction. The second is when he prays for them to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. He does so, as he explicitly states, for 'the glory and praise of God.'

With those two things in mind, and with our question and answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism thrown in for good measure, let's see how we can attempt to answer our questions.

Q. What is our chief concern in life?

The glory of God.

Q. What is most important to us?

The glory of God.

Q. What is our reason for being here?

To glorify God.

The question then remains to be asked, how shall we do that? How shall we glorify God? The answer to that question will be found when we can answer another question that is equally if not more important than this one. What has God done in this world to glorify himself?

The answer is Immanuel--God manifested in the flesh. The answer is the cross. The answer is Christ crucified. The answer is Jesus crucified, risen, and coming again. The answer is the Kingdom of Christ. The answer is the GOSPEL.

Our chief concern in life should be Christ's kingdom and the advancement of that kingdom through the gospel. What should be most important to us is living, loving, and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Our reason for being here in this world is for the Fellowship of the Gospel. Our chief concern should not be our health or our wealth or our prosperity or our liberty or anything else other than the glory of God through the gospel. When any of those other things takes the place of Christ and his kingdom and the gospel as our chief concern, then we are in danger of becoming idolaters, at least in our minds.

Oh, there is certainly room in our thinking for other things. We should be concerned for our families, our communities, our business, our responsibilities, yes. But none of these things should be our chief concern. Our chief concern should always be for the gospel and its advancement.

And that is what Paul is concerned with here in our verse above. 'Don't worry about my well-being,' he might as well write. 'Worry about the gospel and its well-being.'

We could take a cue from Paul. How is the gospel today in your world? Are you living it? Are you proclaiming it through your words and actions? Is your worship centered around it? Are you concerned first and foremost for its advancement? 

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

What is more important? For Paul to be free from prison? Or for the gospel to be advanced? What would be more important for you?

Reassurance

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

As we read this letter from Paul to the Philippians we are touched by his love for them. It is a very personal and affectionate epistle. Because Paul knows them, and knows human nature, he is concerned about their faith and wants to give them some assurances.

Let's try to put ourselves in their shoes. They are obviously concerned about Paul and his well-being. They have taken a collection, even sacrificed, to supply some of his needs while in prison. They have sent one of their own, Epaphroditus, not only to bring Paul this gift, but also to remain, if necessary, and minister to Paul while he is there. Concern for him is at the forefront of their minds.

But there is likely more going on than this. These saints at Philippi are all relatively recent converts to the faith. It has been at the most ten years since Paul and company founded this church in Acts 16. Now that the Church is facing adversity and persecution they may be entertaining doubts. What if God is not really in this? What if it all isn't true? What if they've bought into a lie? After all, if this is a work of God, then why is it that Paul seems to be defeated, silenced?

True, Paul and Silas were jailed the very first time they came to Philippi, so the concept of opposition is not new to the Philippians. But that first time Paul was jailed he was miraculously released and even apologized to before he left the city. Not this time. This time Paul has been imprisoned for several years. An imprisonment that began in Jerusalem has extended itself to Rome with no end in sight. Further, the Empire, it seems, has turned against the Church it once tolerated. If God is for them, if this is a work of God, then why are they experiencing so much adversity? And if the gospel Paul preaches is indeed the gospel of God, then why has God silenced him? Could Paul be wrong? Or if Paul is right, is God powerless against the might of Rome? Maybe God just doesn't care.

Add to that the fact, as internal evidence would indicate, that these Philippians themselves are beginning to suffer persecution for their faith, and that from the very Empire of which they are citizens. At the moment, some might point out that the Roman god (Caesar) seems to hold power over the Christian God (Jesus). What is going on?

Sitting there in that Roman prison Paul probably realizes that at least some of them may be having these thoughts, and so he writes to reassure them.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, (Philippians 1:12 ESV)

Say what? Paul, be real. You're in prison. You, who have preached the gospel to more people in more cities across more miles than anyone in history, have now been silenced, shut up in prison. And you're telling us that what has happened to you has really served to advance the gospel? How can that be?

But it is so.

Before we get into why this was so (and we will) I want to take a moment to reassure you. I don't know what your circumstances are, what adversity you might be experiencing, or what doubts you may be entertaining because of it, but I want you to know that God is still on his throne. God is still at work in the world. God is marching through history, through his Church, bringing glory and honor to his name. 1950 years have passed since Paul's imprisonment and the gospel has not been quenched. Indeed it has been preached all over the world and is even now being proclaimed to more people groups and in more places than ever before in history. And it still faces opposition. And that opposition will fail as it always does. And the Church will come out stronger because of it.

Take heart. Whatever you are facing, God is with you. He will not forsake you. His faithfulness is to all generations. And he will not rest until he has put all enemies under his feet. 

Glory and Praise

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11 ESV)

What Paul is praying for is for God to continue his gracious work of salvation in them until it is complete. He is praying for them to be sanctified in this life and then finally glorified with Christ in the next. When he expresses his wish that they would be 'filled with the fruit of righteousness' he makes sure to point out that he means, not a self-generated righteousness that comes through our own efforts, but the righteousness 'that comes through Jesus Christ'--and this 'to the glory and praise of God.'

God wants us to be sanctified. In other words, God wants us to be practically holy, or practically like him. God is working in us constantly to make us into the image of Christ. The more like Christ we are, the more we will be 'filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ'.

When Jesus tells us that we are 'the light of the world' he intends for us to understand that, as the light of the world, we are to shine the light of God's righteousness to all the world around us.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)

Notice that the purpose of our good works being seen is so that those who see those good works will glorify our Father in heaven.

We are saved for God's glory. We are being sanctified for God's glory. God will complete this work in us at the day of Jesus Christ for his glory. This is important to God. He has called us to glorify him with our lives. How shall we do that?

I know how we cannot do that, and that is through our own efforts. We are incapable, apart from his grace, of doing anything that brings glory to his name. No matter how hard we try, we will botch it every time. Self-help, self-effort, self-righteousness, these are the bane of Christianity. They are antithetical to the gospel. The gospel says we are incapable of righteous living and that we must cast ourselves on him, depend wholly upon him. It's not just that we needed Jesus to 'save us' and now from here on out we're on our own, dependent upon our own efforts. No, we need him still, we need him every moment of every day. Not one person ever made himself righteous. Not one person ever achieved any right standing before God. Not one person ever cleaned up his own life. Not one of us ever straightened up and flew right on our own. Not one of us ever pleased God--not to get saved, not to stay saved, not to 'get right with God.' The only thing we can possibly bring to God that will please him is our need.

And, oh, how we need him.

We need to be filled with the fruit of righteousness, but not self-righteousness. Self-righteousness only glorifies self, and God is not about glorifying us. God doesn't share glory. We need to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ because this, and only this, will be 'to the glory and praise of God.'

Today, instead of determining that you will live for God, try this. Say, 'Today I will not live at all. I am dead with Christ. Today, Christ will live in me. Today, I will 'live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.' Jesus bids us to come and die. So come and die, that he might live in you instead.

Jesus, we need you. We give ourselves to you. Live through us today.

Glory

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11 ESV)

What is God's motivation? Why does God do what he does? The short answer is that God does everything that he does for his own glory.

Be honest. That comes across as egotistical, doesn't it? I mean, who does God think that he is . . . ?

Well, he's God.

The reason why we initially shrink back from the idea that God does everything for his own glory, that God's purpose in all that he does is to glorify himself, is because when we as humans behave this way we are behaving badly. We are being arrogant or egotistical or selfish. Self-glorification is bad behavior . . . for humans. But there's a reason for that. The reason it is bad behavior for us to promote ourselves, to live for our own glory, is because there is something, or more specifically someone, who is more worthy than ourselves. That someone is God.

When we do things to glorify ourselves we run the risk of earning the condemnation of Jesus:

"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?"--John 5:44

As God's creatures we were made to glorify Him, not ourselves, for he alone is infinitely worthy of glory. But what about God? Whom should he honor most? Whom should he seek to glorify? The answer is himself. Just as there is no higher being for us to glorify than God, there is no higher being for God to glorify than God. And just as it is the highest virtue for us humans to glorify God in everything we do, it is also God's highest virtue to glorify God in everything he does. As God he can do no less.

Thus everything God does is for his honor and glory. Everything. Because he is God. And that is as it should be.

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Isaiah 42:8 ESV)

Even our salvation is primarily for his glory alone. Witness these words from Isaiah:

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)

And there you have it. God always acts for his own sake. He acts to honor and glorify his own name. He does what he does for his own glory. Anything less would make him less than holy, less than righteous, less than God. His glory will he not give to another.

That's why we are saved by his grace alone. God is not about to share credit with you or me or anyone else for his great work of salvation that he is accomplishing in the world and in us through Christ.

Think on these things. Think deeply. Tomorrow we will look at how this fits into Paul's prayer for them and God's work of sanctification in them (and us).

The Fruit of Righteousness

And it is my prayer . . . filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9a, 11 ESV)

We are approaching the end of Paul's opening prayer for the Philippians and we notice something curious that maybe you've never thought of before. He is praying for them that they will be "filled with the fruit of righteousness". He wants them, like good fruit trees, to bear righteous fruit. He wants their lives to be distinguished by righteous living.

All of that seems pretty elementary so far. After all, aren't we, as Christians, supposed to live like Christ? If we claim to be righteous, shouldn't that be evidenced through actual, practical righteous living? There's nothing extraordinary in this, is there?

But it's not the request that is curious, it is the nature of the request, or perhaps better expressed this way . . . it is the manner in which he expects his prayer to be answered that maybe you've never thought of before. Paul asks for them, in his prayer, that they might be filled with the fruit of righteousness "that comes through Jesus Christ."

He is not praying that God will give them the strength to be righteous in and of themselves, nor is he praying that their own, inherent, righteousness will somehow come shining forth. No, he is praying that an alien righteousness might somehow manifest itself in their lives. He is not praying that they might live righteously, but that Christ might live righteously through them.

We are saved by a righteousness that is not our own. We live by a faith that is not our own. We manifest daily the fruit of a righteousness that is not our own. We are, from beginning to end, a product of the grace of God.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)(emphasis mine)

So, instead of lacing up your boot straps each and every day and praying, "Lord, let this be the day that I live for you to the very best of my abilities. Use me today." Try this. Try confessing your inability and your need for Christ. "Lord, I am incapable of living for you today. I cannot possibly be filled with the fruit of righteousness--I am too sinful. By your grace may Christ live through me. And the life that I live today, may I live it by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."

That's a prayer that is pleasing to God. That's a prayer that he will answer. It's not a magic formula. No, it's a daily dying to self and living to God. It is the gospel in action in our lives. We do not just live because of the gospel, we live each day in the gospel and of the gospel.

Any righteousness of our own is nothing more than a filthy rag. Discard it. Come to Christ with your need, not your ability. Ask him to live through you today. Be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

A Prayer for Salvation

so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:10 ESV)

There it is again: "the day of Christ."

We are only a few verses into Paul's letter, yet this is already the second time we have run across it. The first time was in verse 6 where we were promised that the work God had begun in us would be performed until the day of Christ. Now we see how God is working in us with a purpose, that purpose being that we might be "pure and blameless for the day of Christ." God is sanctifying us now, in part, to prepare us for the next world.

This is our salvation. There is coming a day when God will judge the world, and this judgment will be done in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said so in John 5:

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:26-27 ESV)

Paul affirms this in his sermon before the philosophers at the famous Areopagus in Athens:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV)

Knowing that this is so, Paul prays for the saints at Philippi that they will be found "pure and blameless" for that day of judgment.

Do you find it odd that he prays for their full and complete salvation when he has already said that he is "sure" of it in verse 6? It may seem odd to us, but it shouldn't. Salvation is a work of God's grace in us from beginning to end, that is certain, but that work is brought about through means--chiefly the gospel. We are not fully and finally saved the moment we believe the gospel. No, that's just a beginning. The gospel, and faith in Christ and the gospel, are what carry us through all the way to the finish. And though the work is sure because it rests upon God's faithfulness, nevertheless we pray for it to be done in us and others every day. This is what faith does--it goes to God in faith, claiming his promises, and asking him to do what he has promised to do. It is because he knows God is faithful that Paul can boldly go to God in prayer asking him to complete his work of grace in them.

In the same way we should pray for each other, that God's sanctifying work of grace will be done in us, that we will be found pure and blameless for the day of Christ. 

In the same way parents should pray for their children. We do not just pray for their souls until they make some sort of 'profession of faith' and then quit. We pray for them continuously, night and day, until God has completed that work in them. In so doing we imitate the apostle. Indeed, we imitate Jesus himself (see John 17).

So I believe you and I have some praying to do today--because that day is soon coming. For whom are you praying?

Goodness

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:9-10 ESV)

Love for God means a love for goodness. Sin has made us evil, God desires to make us good again. His love for us is a restorative love. Salvation is the process by which God is restoring us back into what we were before the Fall. The first thing he does is give us a new heart, a heart that loves goodness again, a heart that longs to be good because it loves God.

The path to this place of goodness is a path of love for God. The formula is quite simple. Love God actively and passionately and we will become what God wants us to be. This is what Paul is praying for when he says "that you may approve what is excellent." He longs for, and asks God for, that character to be developed in them.

But we don't get there through self-effort. This is not something we do. This is a change God makes in us when our love "abounds more and more." Theologians like to give names for concepts like this. They develop a sort of short-hand of terms that sometimes look a little frightening when we are unfamiliar with them. This particular word, though, is not that big a word. It is, however, chock full of meaning. The concept involved here is called sanctification. It simply means that God is working in us to make us holy in a practical way. God is working in us to change us and make us more like him in character. And that godly character begins in and works itself out through love.

I don't think it is possible to over-emphasize the role of love in our sanctification or the importance of love to our Christian living. I will give you two passages that emphasize this and then leave you to reflect. The first is this statement by Jesus to his disciples in the upper room on the night he was betrayed.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV)

Love is to be so strong a character trait in us that it becomes that by which we are known. If we were who we are supposed to be then we would be known as the people of love.

The second is this passage from the first epistle of John:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 ESV)

In this passage it becomes clear that love is the determining factor in whether we are genuinely Christians or not. Genuine love is from God. Those who genuinely love have been born of God and know God. If we do not love, then we do not really know God, no matter what we may profess, for God is love.

It is love that makes us who we ought to be in Christ. Only in love and through love will we learn to "approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

Maturity

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:9-10 ESV)

Paul's prayer for the Philippians has two parts. The first part is a prayer for their sanctification in this life. The second part looks forward to their glorification in Christ at the resurrection. The first part of the prayer finds its fulfillment in the here and now. The second part of the prayer in the hereafter. We find ourselves today coming to the end or purpose of the first half of Paul's prayer for them and it is expressed in the words "so that you may approve what is excellent."

What does he mean by that? What is he asking for God to do in them? He is asking for God to so work in them that the character of their lives might be examples of spiritual and moral excellence. He wants them to be good, moral people, reflecting the righteous moral character of God. He wants them to grow in grace that their lives might demonstrate the virtues taught and exemplified by Jesus.

Once we understand that excellence in Christian virtue is the goal then we can get a better grasp of how Paul expects for them to get there. The pathway to Christian maturity is the love that stirs us up to have a closer relationship with God and spills over into a life of doing good things for our neighbors. It is a love that causes us to grow in knowledge and discernment and teaches us how to properly love God and our neighbors. It is not a love that ignores the knowledge of God or the moral virtue that comes from knowing him.

True Christian love never ignores immorality. It loves in spite of immorality, but it is so loving that it could never condone immorality. Think of it this way. If we are to love a person genuinely, then we must oppose those things that will destroy them.

When we love a cancer patient, we love them in spite of the cancer, but we don't love the cancer. In fact, we wish for them to be rid of the cancer because the cancer is bad for them. The cancer is destroying them. We love the cancer patient. We hate the cancer. We would never say of a cancer patient, "I love the fact that they have cancer because that cancer is a part of what makes them who they are." Can you imagine anything so absurd?

Yet this is what we do with certain besetting sins. We love the sinner so much we want to excuse or even condone the sin--the very thing that is destroying them. We cannot possibly love the sinner and the sin which is poisoning their very soul at the same time.

A mature Christian is one who has learned to love--fully, passionately, sacrificially--but with discernment also, enough discernment to know right from wrong and be able to make sound moral judgments based on the full revelation of God in his word. God has called us to love in this way and it is not an easy task. It is something we strive for, grow into. It is our goal. Indeed, it is Paul's prayer for them.

Love the sinner, hate the sin. Yes, it is a clichè. But, clichè or not, it is true. It is our calling. It is exactly what Jesus did in this life. He went about loving sinners, forgiving sinners, healing sinners, giving hope to sinners, and telling each and every one of them to "go and sin no more."

Now you go and do the same.

The Cure

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

Whom are we to love? God first, then our neighbor--in that order. Loving neighbor more than God is idolatry and it does no eternal good for our neighbor. No, the order must be correct--God first, then our neighbor. If we do not love God first, then we will never understand how to love our neighbor anyway. This is what Paul means when he says that he prays for their love to "abound more and more with all knowledge and discernment." Knowing how to love our neighbor is as important as loving him, for if we are to love him, we must love him right.

Here again, we take our cue from God and his love for us. How did God love us? He loved us by giving. He loved us by giving in a sacrificial way. He loved us by doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. He loved us by giving us what was best for us. He did not come to merely treat the symptoms of our disease. He came to cure us of the disease.

Make no mistake about it, sin is a disease. It is destructive in nature, wreaking havoc on every good thing in this life. The problems in this world, every problem in this world, have as their root cause rebellion against God. Our desire to rule ourselves has ruined us. To be made well again we must be fully and finally cured of sin. Sin must be eradicated from our lives and from the universe before all will be well again. This is what Christ came to do. This is the good news of the gospel.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 ESV)

If we are to love our neighbor we cannot behave as if sin is unimportant. Sin is our problem. Sin is our neighbor's problem. Sin is the disease, everything else is just a symptom. The gospel is the cure for that disease.

Love compels us to feed our neighbor when he is hungry. Love compels us to heal the sick. Love compels us to visit the widows and the orphans in their affliction, to reach out to the down and out, to provide shelter for the homeless. Love compels us to work for justice for the downtrodden. But all of these things are symptoms. The disease is sin. If we treat the symptoms and ignore the disease then in the end we have done nothing for our neighbor that is of any lasting value. Jesus came to save his people from their sins."

If we love our neighbor as we should, then, we will lovingly give him the gospel and point him to Christ. Anything less is not love. Neither is it love to ignore the problem of sin or pretend it is unimportant. Sin is the cancer that is killing us all. 

Everyone enters the kingdom through the same door. That door is Christ (John 10:9). And everyone approaches Christ the same way--guilty and begging for forgiveness, knowing he receives sinners. We cannot approach Christ in repentance and faith and at the same time justify our sin in our minds. We cannot pretend to repent and not agree with him about our sin or its destructive nature.

The gospel is that Jesus loves, forgives, and saves sinners from their sin. Loving our neighbor is giving them that wonderful message, but we cannot ever dilute the offensive part of the message--that our sin is an affront to God. Love never condones sin, but always loves the sinful. It's kind of like Jesus in that way.

Philanthropy

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

If my love is to abound more and more it must be a love that is demonstrated by action. Heed the words of John:

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18 ESV)

To love in deed and in truth is to help those in need. It is to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. It is to heal the broken and help the elderly. It is to do good to others. Indeed, if we are to love our neighbor as we should that means to love our neighbor "as ourself", to treat our neighbor always as we would wish to be treated.

And there you have the Golden Rule. Jesus was not the first to teach this concept, but Jesus upped the ante. While previous Eastern teachers had conveyed the principle of not ever doing to anyone what we would not want done to ourselves, Jesus turned that negative precept into a positive one. If we would follow Jesus' teaching right, simply not mistreating others is not enough, for it does not go far enough. We must actively and positively seek to do well for our neighbors. We must do.

Too many times, I think, we confuse "good works" with moral living. While both are important, they are not the same. Moral living is too often defined as what we don't do (which is a mistake, I think, but that's for another day). Good works, by contrast, are not about what we don't, but what we do. Who is our greatest example in this?

In Acts chapter 10, Peter describes Jesus in this way: "He went about doing good . . ."

What a tremendous summary of Jesus' ministry. "He went about doing good . . ." To go about doing good is to always have our eyes open to see the needs around us and to be ready to step in and do something to help. It means charitable work. It means helping. It means taking responsibility, reaching out, giving of our time, our talents, and ourselves. It means actively looking to the needs of others, looking for ways that we might serve others. It is unselfish living.

That requires love, doesn't it? It requires a lot of love. In fact, it requires us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Paul will come back to this theme later in the letter, and so will we. In the mean time, see how Paul puts it in his letter to the Galatians:

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10 ESV)

Do good. To everyone. What a testimony that would be if it could be said of us that we "did good to everyone." That kind of living is rare indeed, and our fallen world is starving for it.

Philadelphia (brotherly love)

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

If the first and greatest commandment is "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength," then the second commandment is very similar. It is to "love your neighbor as yourself."

It is impossible to love God without loving what he loves, and God loves our neighbor. Look around you. Look at the culture and the people. Look on the sidewalks and in the neighborhoods. Look downtown and uptown and across the tracks. Look out in the fields and the farms, urban centers and suburbia. Jesus loves those people. And we are called to love them too.

Look at your friends, your family, your peers; your co-workers, associates, employees, employers. Look at the boss and the janitor, the manager and the maintenance man. Look at the children and the elderly, the middle-aged man and the mom. Settle in and really see the people. 

Look at the people around you who are like you, and then look at the people who are different than you. Maybe their skin color is different. Or perhaps their culture is different. Their language may be different. They think differently or act differently. They have different likes and different loves and different moral values. They are different. Yet Jesus loves them.

Now think about your enemies and consider the fact that God loves them, too. Don't believe me? Consider the words of Jesus:

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45 ESV)

God loves his enemies. God loves your enemies. And we who are his children should love them, too.

A man once asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Instead of answering him directly Jesus told him a story. You may have heard of it. It's known as "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37). In the story Jesus does not directly answer the question "who is my neighbor?" Rather, Jesus tells what it means to love.

When Paul prays for the people that their love might "abound more and more" he has more in mind than just their love for God. This is because Paul understands that it is impossible to love God properly without loving our neighbors. In fact, Paul wants us to understand that to love God well we must love our neighbors--with the same love that God has for them, with the love shown by the Good Samaritan for the man who fell among thieves and was left for dead.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:20-21 ESV)

How Shall We Love God?

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge . . . (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

Love for God is the supreme motive for all Christian work and worship. Love for God is also what we lost in the fall. Thankfully, it is love for God that is being restored to us in Christ. This love for God indeed changes everything in us. It gives us a heart for worship and a desire for knowing God more. It gives us a purpose and a hope--for we know that if we love God it is only because he first loved us. John says so in his first epistle.

We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 KJV)

God alone is supremely worthy of love and that lack of love for him in us is the confirmation of our fallenness. Conversely, the restoration of that love is confirmation of the Spirit's work within us. When we love God the way we should, we desire to obey him. We desire to please him. We desire for him to be glorified in us and through our lives. Jesus put it bluntly:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15 ESV)

Is that true? Think about it. When we live for self it is because we love self supremely. This is our default position. This is where we all are without Christ. Self is king. Self is whom we serve. But when we begin to love God more than self then things begin to change. God resumes his rightful place in our hearts. We desire what he desires. We seek to please him. We honor him and want to serve him. Our lack of service for God is nothing more nor less than a lack of love for him. But when we love him, we keep his commandments just as Jesus said.

What happens when our hearts are given to God? We begin to desire the things that he desires. We begin to see things in the way that he does. We desire his glory. His priorities become ours and we give ourselves to him completely.

When Paul says about the Philippians that he prays for them that their love would "abound more and more" he is implying that a love for God already exists within them. Well, of course it does. All those who are genuinely in Christ have a love for God. But how does Paul know this for certain about the Philippians to whom he is writing? What is the evidence of their love for God that is foremost in his mind as he writes?

The evidence of their love is the gift they have sent to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus. Because they love God they have desired to take part in the work of God. They understand that they have a role to play in the Fellowship of the Gospel and part of that role is ministering to Paul's needs as he waits to go before Caesar for "the defense and confirmation of the gospel." As their already evident love for God begins to "abound more and more" they will serve God in even greater ways than this, and this is what Paul is praying for in them.

Do you love God? I know you do. Then serve him. Give yourself to him. Find a need within the ministries of your church that fits your gifts and abilities and jump in. Don't do it half-heartedly, for that would be a reflection of a shallow love. Do it completely. Love God deeply and serve him with everything you have. This is the key to joy. This is real living.

Knowing

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge . . . (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

What does love mean and what is the right way to love? More importantly, who is it we are to love?

When Paul says that he prays for them that their love will abound more and more, he prays that this love will be a knowledgeable love. But about what kind of knowledge is he speaking? Is it a knowledge that comes from deductive reasoning or a memorization of facts? Is it a scientific knowledge? Or is it an experiential knowledge--one that comes from knowing a person or a place?

The Greek word is gnosis and the knowledge he speaks of is an experiential one. So Paul's prayer is that their love will abound more and more through knowing in an experiential way. But whom is to be the object of such an abounding love? To find an answer we would do well to go to Christ and see what he has said on the matter, this because Paul has already addressed himself as a slave (doulos) to Christ earlier in the letter.

We find this in Mark's Gospel, chapter 12:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)

So which commandment is the most important of all? The most important is that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. If this is the greatest commandment then this is of primary importance to the Philippians (and to us). So when Paul prays for them that their love would abound more and more with all knowledge, knowing that that knowledge is an experiential knowledge tells us that Paul is praying for them to know God more in an experiential way.

To know Him is to love Him.

The more we know of God, the more we will love him. True, this includes a knowledge of facts about him. How could it not? But this knowledge cannot be merely academic. It is a knowledge developed by experience. If we are to know him, we must try him. We must trust him. We must daily taste and see that he is good. This kind of knowledge comes both from walking with him in the Bible and in prayer and also from walking with him daily through life, trusting him, trying him, seeing if his words and ways are true. It comes from worship, both corporate and private. It comes from confession of sin and confession of faith. It comes from knowing him.

Do you know him? The more you know him the more you will love him, the more your love will abound. Today, make Paul's prayer your own. Pray that God will teach you to know him better and to love him more. This love will carry you through all the trials of life. This love will choose your path for you, every step. This love will change you forever.

Abounding Love

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, . . . (Philippians 1:9 ESV)

What a privilege it is to be able to get a glimpse into the prayers of Paul. Here Paul tells the Philippians what it is that he is praying for when he prays for them. There are several things in this prayer and we will take the time to look at each one of them before considering the prayer as a whole.

The first thing God asks for them is that they may abound in love.

Of all the things that might be on his mind that they would need, isn't it interesting that this is the first? He could ask for their physical well-being, but he doesn't. He could ask that God would supply them with material wealth, but he does not. He could ask for them to be protected from coming persecution, but again, this is not his request. What he does ask is that they would become a people who abound in love.

If you could ask God for anything, what would you ask? We have all contemplated this, though probably in a different format. We have all come across the old cliché about the three wishes and what would you ask for if you had them. Probably we have thought about it even, especially when we were younger. But, I'm being serious now. If we could have anything from God, for what would we ask?

The first thing Paul asks for, for them, is that their love might abound. Paul wants them to be a people known by their love. Wouldn't it be something if we were a people known by love? If our churches were known by their love? What would it be like if the first image conjured up by the world when they heard the word 'Christian' or 'follower of Christ' or 'disciple of Christ' were love? Sound a little far-fetched? Sound a little too liberal perhaps? What if the most loving place in the world were that place behind the doors of a church building, in the sanctuary, in the pews, among the disciples of Jesus Christ?

What is it that distinguishes us from the world around us? Or better put, what is supposed to be the thing that distinguishes us from the world around us? What is it that sets us apart? What is it, in Paul's mind, that we need before anything else?

Love.

And not just that we would know love and be the recipients of love, but that we would abound in love. That is, that our lives would be known by the abundance of love that we show for God, for each other, and for the loveless world around us.

What does our Christian community tend to project to the culture at large? By what are we known? What does your church project to your community? What do you project to the world around you? This day and every day, let it be an abundance of love.