Philippians 1:3-8 November 8, 1998 A spirit of confusion often hovers over believers when pressed to explain what our role is in the Christian life. We may well understand that when it comes to the work of regeneration, to the new birth, God is certainly the only active agent. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that it was while we were dead in sin that God made us alive. When it comes to justification, certainly, God is the only one who works. But what about the Christian life from the point of new birth on? As we acknowledge our sinfulness and place our faith in Christ, what is to be our role now? If before we were bound in sin, if our hearts were hardened and cold, but by God’s grace we are free now to love and serve, how should we view the Christian life now? Am I supposed to participate in the Christian life or am I an inactive agent in which God is working? What is the relationship to God’s grace and my response? Paul’s letter to the Philippians deals with this issue. In the opening of the letter, Paul is thankful to God for the recipients in Philippi. As he praises God for them, he gives us a glimpse as to the important relationship of God’s grace in our lives which moves us to action.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS ONE OF PARTICIPATION - (verses 3-5,7-8) Participation produces joy over time (verses 3-5). Philippians has been called the letter of joy, but the joy expressed here is not exuberance in good times, but delight in the midst of sufferings. That joy comes out early in the letter as Paul opens with a prayer of thanksgiving. The syntax of these verse is hard to unravel. Paul is not being thoughtlessly repetitive but deliberately emphatic. It is the intensity of Paul’s emotion that accounts for the fourfold recurrence of the Greek pas: every time, all, always. Paul’s thankfulness of the Philippians, his constant response of prayer for them is always accompanied with joy. Joy lies at the heart of our experience of the gospel. It is the fruit of the Spirit in the Christian life, serving as an evidence that God has made you one of His own. The joy Paul describes here is despite his present circumstances, as he is now under house arrest, chained and awaiting a trial which he knows may well end in his death. He remembers them with joy even though it was in Philippi that he was arrested, beaten and imprisoned. In Acts 16 we read of how Paul and his partner Silas were stripped and whipped, thrown in prison and placed in stocks. Later that night, around midnight, Luke tells us, they were praying and singing hymns to God. Paul’s joyful response to his adversity arises not from a consideration of personal well-being but from the recognition that his apostolic ministry is bearing fruit, as he makes clear in Philippians 1:12: "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." But now Paul, whenever he remembers the believers in Philippi, is moved to joy. It has been said that "God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December." I don’t know about you, but when if I were to endure the troubles Paul did in Philippi, my memories would be the harsh treatment by the many, not the wonderful response of the few. Notice what produces joy in Paul when he remembers those in Philippi. It is their partnership in the Gospel. They showed their interest in the Gospel by their continued help of Paul; and it is their generosity which is in view. The word here for partnership has often used by Christians - it is koinonia, often translated as "fellowship." Koinonia was used of business partners, of a society of friends who would band together to work. Often when we think of fellowship we picture donuts and coffee, a back slap or handshake, small talk and them move on. Fellowship is a more passive than active. But Paul does not mean that the Philippians were just nice folk who enjoyed a danish and chit-chat. They actively participated, became partners with Paul. Their unity with Paul was demonstrated by working along with him. Let’s take a look at what we know about the Philippian partnership from Acts 16. When Paul arrived in Philippi the first person to respond to the Gospel was a businesswoman, named Lydia. In response to the Gospel, she and her household were baptized. But what is more, she invited Paul and his companions to stay with her (verse 15). Paul and Silas were introduced to the town jailer in less than an ideal situation. Yet, like Lydia’s response, when he heard the Gospel, he washed their wounds, took them into his own home, made them a meal. Acts 16:34 then says “he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole family.” An important reason for Paul in writing this letter is to thank the Philippians for the financial support they’ve provided Paul, support that has came not just once, but repeatedly.
They gave of their homes, their food, their finances. Participation produces affection despite the circumstances (verses 7-8). Right feelings do not depend on circumstances. The joy Paul feels for the Philippians is further expressed as heartfelt affection. This love Paul has for them is a settled issue for him. In verse 7 he says that ”it is right for me to feel this way...” Paul’s “feelings” in verse 7 is a term he uses throughout this letter, but it often translated differently. In 2:2 it is “like-minded” and “one purpose,” 2:5 "one attitude;" it is translated “mind” in 3:19 and “agree with one another" in 4:2 and it is the word “concern” in 4:10. The word signifies both intellectual and affective activity, touching both head and heart. It is more than a gut feeling, but a discerned attitude one chooses to make which affects the whole person. This deep love Paul has for the Philippians is certain no matter what the circumstances in which Paul finds himself. While he was held captive, he knew others who still supported him. While he made his defense in court or preaching the Gospel, they were partners with him. Again Paul refers to their patnership: “all of you share in God’s grace with me.” This time he uses a compound word, sugkoinonia, "fellowship together," to intensify the unity he shares with them. Just as God’s grace is at work in Paul, he knows that it is at work in them as well. Several years ago studies were conducted among former American POWs to determine what methods were most effective in breaking their spirit. The findings revealed that they did not break down from physical deprivation and torture as quickly as they did from solitary confinement or from disrupted friendships caused by frequent changing of personnel. Attempts to get the prisoners divided in their attitudes toward one another proved to be the most successful method of discouraging them. It was further learned that the soldiers were not sustained primarily by faith in their country or by the rightness of the cause for which they fought. They drew their greatest strength from the from the close attachments they had formed to the small military units to which they belonged. Paul sustains himself knowing that there are others standing with him for the Gospel. The Elijah complex is all too common. After defeating the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Elijah fled to Horeb and there, while physically exhausted and spiritually drained, cried out to God to die, since he alone is the only one who serves the Lord. It is then God reminded him that there are 7000 others who, like Elijah, have not worshipped Baal. As Christians we all need to know that others here are participating with them. As a pastor, as much as the notes of encouragement are appreciated, engaging in serving others helps me to press on. Your partnership in the gospel is best seen when you invite people to church, when you open up your home for hospitality, when you not only learn, but lovingly communicate those truths to others. It is then I have you in my heart. Right affection flows from Christ. Paul’s pulse beats with the pulse of Christ; his heart throbs with the heart of Christ. In the form of an oath, he makes his love for his readers clear. The love he has for them is the love of Christ overflowing. What the NIV translates as "affection" is splagchnon - the inward parts, the bowels. We could say, from the depth of his being, he desires to be with them. Christ loves the Philippians in and through Paul. It is not Paul who lives inside of Paul, but Jesus Christ. That Paul is not an academic, but a passionate lover of Christ Jesus, is made plain by the deep and uninhibited expressions of affection that permeate this thanksgiving. Academics tend to be embarrassed by such displays. The emotion in Paul is simply the outflow of his theology and the spirituality that issues from such theology. The theology has to do with the Gospel. Christianity has been defined as the “life of God in the soul of man” and that is well seen in Paul. What kind of partnership do we have? The greatest thing that can be said about any church is that it has a partnership, a koinonia, in the Gospel. For this means there is a bond, a deep tie, an abiding relationship between that church and the Gospel. The Philippians did not think for a moment that Christian faith was a ticket to inactivity and neither should we. How have you responded to the good news of the Gospel? Have you seen your life as a Christian as a partnership in the Gospel, that your job is to encourage and support the work of Christ’s church in powerful ways? Does your response produce joy in those who receive it? Are you committed to the long haul, from the first day to the last? THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS ONE OF PRESERVATION - (verse 6) We skipped over verse six not because it is unimportant nor because its importance negates what we’ve seen so far. But this provides the means by which the partnership is possible. Our participation is the evidence of God’s preservation. When we roll up our sleeves as Christians and become involved with others, that serves a wonderful reminder of what God is doing in and through us. Participation in the Christian life is absolutely necessary. It is not optional. But when faced with the question “how can this be done?” we find comfort in verse 6. Paul’s confidence in them, however, is not an scholastic consideration, but flows out of their participation with him in the gospel. The source of our preservation: He who began God’s work among Philippians is evident from the beginning. There was not a petition drive by the city of Philippi to entice Paul to come start a church. God worked outside of normal boundaries to get Paul into Philippi. Placing faith in Christ was the far from their minds. Philippi was a Roman town. There were so few Jews and Judaism was so minimal, that there was no synagogue in town. Paul had to go outside the city to find anyone who would be sympathetic to the Gospel. His first convert? A woman. I could imagine Paul about now looking up heavenward, inquiring as to the man he saw in his dream. Nevertheless, Acts 16:14 tells us that the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. As for the jailer, how about this reception? Come to town, get beat up, thrown in jail, endure an earthquake. But through all this, God was very much at work in starting a new church. Despite the seeming failures, this was where Paul was to be for this was where God was working. Stop sometime and take an account of your life, your spiritual journey. It is not what you would have expected, I’m sure. You may have wandered down numerous roads before you came to faith in Christ, but still God brought you to that point. I came to Wisconsin over 11 years ago with much different plans than I have now. But looking back on God’s providence, I see that He used my plans to work His will, even when my plans were far from what He intended. God was at work. The evidence of preservation: a good work in you. What does God do?
A good work. Notice the place of the good work. He doesn’t say, "good work despite you," but in you! There should be no debate as to the source of our good work, but we often forget that they actual do occur in us. But we must never neglect that God’s work of grace is very much in us. The God who made a universe out of nothing, can certainly take sinful people like us to glorify His name. The work of salvation is God’s from beginning to end, but God’s work of salvation is in us and through us. By God’s grace, we do participate. There is a relationship between our accountability for our own spiritual conduct and our need to rely totally on God’s grace in order to meet that obligation. Paul further explores this same wonderful relationship in 2:12-13. We are called to obey, to work out our salvation. But all this is by the power of God who works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure. These are not contradictory statements, but recognition of God’s grace in us. Nothing could be further from the truth to imagine that this is a ticket to ease and a cessation from working. The Christian life is the wonderful, exciting experience of seeing God’s persevering work in you so that you participate in the life of God. This great relationship between God’s grace at work in you and His demands for you to work will never leave you twiddling your thumbs wondering what to do for Christ. Because of God’s love for you and His power to accomplish what He wills, you can obey what He commands, do what He desires. Paul speaks with confidence as to the goal of God’s grace. His certainty is not because of their past history, but that history is evidence of a gracious God who will not stop from working in and through them until the end to time. We are a people of the future. God’s work in us is all working
toward the final goal of heaven. God will carry it to completion; God will perfect and
finalize His work in us. Unlike you and I who begin many things, God will finalize what He has started. “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:29) Our guarantee is nothing less than the character of God Himself. Definition of perseverance: "Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." --Newt Gingrich. Well, that works only so long. God has given us something which works so much better. A good illustration of the Christian life is seen in the proper way to climb a telephone pole. The secret of climbing a telephone pole is to lean back, allowing your weight to rest on the broad leather belt that encircles yourself and the pole, allowing your spikes to dig into the pole at as broad an angle as possible. Climbing a pole is easy-- as long as you lean back, resting in the belt. But if all you do is rest in the belt you will stay at the bottom of the pole and not go anywhere. But if you begin to climb using your effort yet the whole time relying on that belt, you'll be alright. Of course, if you fail to lean back and pull yourself toward the pole, then your spikes will not dig in and you'll slip. And it isn't very pleasant to slip because the pole is covered with splinters, and these easily dig into your body. That is what the Christian life is like; we are to depend on God, lean on Him, trust in Him. Yet, we discipline ourselves to move. When we start counting on ourselves in the Christian life, just
like trying to cling to the pole, we will slide down. When we slide down it hurts. |