love

Philippians 1:1-18: The Joys of the Life of Paul

/ Neal Embry / 2 Comments

Tonight, I want to begin walking through the book of Philippians.  The letter written to the church at Philippi was written to encourage a healthy and faithful church, and I hope that my posts over the next few weeks will encourage you, and myself, in our faith, found in Christ and His work.  So let’s get started. 

Go ahead and read the first 18 verses of chapter one, and pick up with me afterwards. 

Even though the first few verses seem to only be an introduction, let’s not skip past them.  Look at the fourth word in the letter.  Paul identifies himself and Timothy as “servants.”  Usually, he calls himself an apostle.  But here, in Philippians, he says “servant.”  Why?

The book of Philippians is all about having a joy in the Lord and treasuring Him in and above all things, and letting Christ be our life.  In doing so, we cease to exist for ourselves and live for Him and others.  In this, Paul confidently and joyfully calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus.

Moving on, let’s tackle verses 3-8.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” 

Paul’s joy is primarily found in the church’s love for the gospel. 

In the next verse, Paul tells them that God finishes what He started.  Again, I’ll note the power of this truth: Our salvation wasn’t bought when we prayed a perfect prayer.  It was paid for and bought in Christ’s life, death and resurrection and He gives it to us through faith in Him, by His power, by His grace.  Our new life starts with God forgiving us and cleansing us through faith in His Son, and all of that comes before we do anything.  And so it is surely God who will finish what He started (sanctification–>glorification).  So what do we do?  Seek God and trust in Him and develop a love for Him.  Work because God is working first.

Paul’s joy is found in the church’s growth and hope/confidence in God’s future work in their lives.

Paul sees God pouring His grace on the church, and this brings him joy.

So the question for us is: Where is our joy in the church?  Do we take joy when we get a new worship center?  Do we have joy when our brothers and sisters in Christ are blessed materially?  Do we have joy because we have a great new sound system?  Or is our PRIMARY joy in the gospel’s work in our church?  None of the things I just listed are bad, and if your church feels led to have a new center or sound system, by all means, do it to the glory of God.  But our deepest joy should be the gospel taking root in people’s lives and manifesting itself in their love for God and others.

That leads us to Paul’s prayer in verses 9-11.  These are some beautiful verses.  Read with me:

“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, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of Christ.”

More than we need to pray for the physical health or financial well-being of those in our churches, we need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow in their love for the Lord.  Paul understood that a love for the Lord, the result of saving faith, is a huge, if not the key factor, in our sanctification.

Let me put it this way: As a teenager, I struggled with sin and I asked Jesus to forgive me every time.  But there was never any decision to follow Jesus in new life.  There was never a desire for a greater joy to replace my sin.  In other words…I was happy in my sin.  In Christ, we’ll still sin.  More than we’ll care to admit.  However, we’ll hate our sin.  We’ll fight it.  And with the joy of the Lord as our strength, we’ll love Jesus more and grow to be like Him.

Paul teaches us that a love for the Lord leads to wise decision-making and purity of heart and growth in sanctification.  So while it’s important that I pray for my family member’s health or my best friend’s job status, it’s eternally more important I pray that their heart’s desire would be Jesus alone.

In verse 11, Paul tells the church he’s praying for the “fruit of righteousness.”  In Christ, the fruit being born is righteousness.  However, our standard is the one this comes from, and not some standard we set.  I don’t want to be perfect.  I don’t want to just be “holy” or “righteous.” I want to be Christlike.  It is possible to work for righteousness outside of Christ, but it doesn’t resemble Christ.  It resembles legalism, pride and attitudes that have nothing to do with Jesus.  Strive for righteousness in Christ, in His likeness, as you trust in Him to be your righteousness before God for eternity. This will result not in us meeting a standard, but joyfully bringing glory to Christ as He finishes what He started.

Jump to verse 12.  Let’s look at Paul’s attitude.

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”  Paul’s attitude is one we should mimic, but one I think few of us really hold.

Paul is in prison when he writes Philippians.  But instead of moaning and being discouraged because of the persecution he’s suffered, he sees it as another way to advance the gospel.  This drives Paul’s life.  It changes the way he sees everything.

I wonder: What would happen if we saw everything that happened to us in our lives, good or bad, as an opportunity to grow in our love for Jesus and advance the gospel?  What kind of impact would that have on our faith and the world around us?

What does this look like?  Let me share a mistake I made.

Fall 2010: After serving as a missionary, I decided to turn down an opportunity to minister to a student at Montevallo.  My roommate needed to commute for the semester, and I was looking at getting a private room.  The Housing director threw another student in my room, and from what I knew about this kid, I didn’t want to live with him, for reasons that will, for his sake, remain undisclosed.  So I paid (rather, my mother paid) for a private room, and that didn’t do any good for me.  I made an idol out of a relationship with a girl that semester and having a private room didn’t help.  Had I kept that roommate, I not only could have avoided creating idols, but I would have had an opportunity to share the gospel with someone.

So, moral of the story: Learn from my mistakes.  That’s a message for myself and you, reader.  When God opens up that door for the gospel, don’t back away because it makes you uncomfortable.  Christianity is not a faith for the comfortable.  There’s nothing comfortable about the cross.  There’s nothing comfortable about missions.  There’s nothing comfortable about repentance.  There’s nothing comfortable about sharing the gospel.  Comfort levels go out the window for the sake of people’s eternal destiny.  If we fail to embrace this truth, we will waste our lives.  Please don’t make the same mistake I did.

What’s the fruit of seeing every situation as a gospel opportunity?

Well, Paul tells us that it encourages the church to be bold (v. 14) and that it moves the gospel forward.  We don’t dwell on past mistakes or failures, but trust in the gospel and move forward in it and sharing it.

Paul shows us how even his enemies are bringing him joy.  He tells us that some are preaching the gospel out of enmity for Paul, just to rattle his cage because they know they don’t see eye to eye, perhaps because of his embracing suffering for Christ.  But, despite their desire to ridicule Paul’s apostleship, they do in fact present a true gospel, and, despite his circumstances and his being neglected, Paul rejoices because Jesus is being proclaimed.

We should seek reconciliation when possible, but we have reason to rejoice when the gospel is preached (truly), even if the person saying it stands against us for one reason or the other.  I add “truly” in there because I don’t rejoice in Osteen/Meyer and other false prophets.  This would be more akin to me having strife with a brother and him preaching the gospel out of the motivation to shame me and promote himself.  As long as Christ is truly proclaimed, we have reason to rejoice.

I hope that just in these opening verses, you’ve learned more about Paul and his heart, and in this, where your heart lies.  Where is your joy?  For Paul, his joy was in God, and no matter the situation, he had joy in Christ despite his circumstances, because Christ was honored.  This will lead Paul to say “to live is Christ, to die is gain,” something we’ll discuss more, hopefully on Sunday.  That statement is a summation of what we’ve already been through tonight, and what we continue to see in Paul’s life.  It’s a cry I hope we can all echo at the end of this series.  It’s a challenge for me, who at times struggles with faith and can get so distracted (This blog post was delayed due to my distraction via YouTube videos).  But I believe God blesses the reading and teaching of His Word when done by those who truly seek Him (Jer. 29:13).

May we love Jesus more.  May we trust in Jesus more.  May our faith in Him as Savior and Lord increase as we become more like Him.  May God bless you and keep you.

God bless,

Neal E.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, comment here or email me at rembry@forum.montevallo.edu.  If you’ve never known the gospel, never trusted in Christ, please let me know so I can tell you what He’s done for you and how you can have life in Him.  Love you guys. 

 

Our View of God–Where We Go Wrong

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

How do we view God?  This is perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves.  A.W. Tozer says that “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

And far too often, God is not God to us.  Too often, God is not God to me.  I fail to honor His authority.  I fail to rest in His supreme love.  And I fail to surrender my all to Him.  And before I begin this post, I admit my own failures, and submit to you, my reader, that the following words are meant for me as much as anyone else.

We live in a society where religion supersedes relationship.  We are too pleased with going to church on Sunday, giving change, and just simply “showing up.”  Woody Allen, the filmmaker, said that 95% of life is “just showing up.”  I heard that quote for the first time yesterday, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.  I mean, seriously?  Is that what God wants from us, for us to simply “show up?”  We see God as someone who’s looking for a good effort, and that earns our place in His presence. 

I submit that we simply “show up” out of fear.  We’re afraid of going to hell, but there is no fear of a wasted life.  We fear eternal damnation, but not enough to surrender material things.  We fear God’s wrath, but we completely miss God’s amazing love for us in Christ Jesus, which is able to give us full, abundant life.

We live in a society where God is not God, but a means to an end.  Christ is able to give us full, abundant life, but that life is IN HIM, not FROM HIM.  It is through union with Christ, a trust in Christ, and Holy Spirit, grace-driven obedience, albeit inconsistent at times, to Christ that gives us full life.  It is when we are in God’s will, and in union with Him, that we have full, abundant life.  Christ is not a means to an end.  He does not intend to be used to a healthy, happy, successful life, apart from His will, but indeed, a God-exalting, Christ-honoring, and Holy Spirit-driven life IN His will.  This destroys the heresy of the prosperity gospel.  God’s greatest gift is Himself.  God is not a butler, ready to serve us with material things.  God, for believers, is a heavenly Father that intends to use us for His glory, giving us joy in Him, as we walk in relationship with Him.  We don’t use God.  We find joy in being used by Him, as we submit to His will for our lives, realizing that our hope is in Him, not in this world.

We live in a society where God’s authority is not respected.  We live in a world where it’s all about me, myself and I.  We have NO respect for God’s authority, and we try to fashion God to be who we want Him to be, instead of submitting to who He is.  We say that we’re cool with God, as long as He meets our expectations and our agenda.  This is the same problem the Pharisees had.  They expected Jesus to be this great king that would lead them from under Roman rule.  When Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, they crucified Him.  While this was God’s plan, it does not mean that the people were not responsible.  Peter tells them plainly in Acts 2 that it is Jesus “whom you crucified.”  The good news is, these people were “cut to the heart,” and looked to the one who defeated sin and death on their behalf for forgiveness and new life.  We must do the same. 

We live in a society where doing good things is not about loving other people or loving God, but about feeling better for ourselves.  We care more about our image than we do about God’s glory.  There’s a charity of some sort, whose name I can’t remember, and they have a trailer somewhere in the Alabaster/Montevallo area.  On it, their slogan says “Get that good feeling!”  That slogan disgusts me.  If we do good things just so we feel better about ourselves, that’s not love.  That’s selfishness and hypocrisy. 

We make Christianity out to be all about taking bad people and making them into pious people who meet once a week and do good things.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about love.  Love is to separate us from the rest of the world.  Not an emotion.  Not a feeling.  Not just a general liking of other people.  But a love that takes up our time, our money, and forces us to humble ourselves and make ourselves nothing.  A love that ultimately leads us to the gospel, to God’s love.  If it isn’t heading towards the cross, then all we’re doing is being good philanthropists.  I can do all the community service I want, but in God’s eyes, if that’s done for anything else than His glory, and my motivations aren’t right, it’s sin.  If I’m not doing it with eyes open to opportunities to share the gospel, then I’m missing the point altogether.

We put social action in front of the gospel.  Human trafficking, AIDS, corrupt governments, and other social ills need to be addressed.  Hear me out.  Due to the influence of events like Passion, young people are more motivated to end human trafficking.  And that’s a great thing.  But if it’s not done for the sake of the gospel, it is worthless.  Again…if social movements and social justice are done for anything less than the gospel, it is worthless.  It will not last.  We are so focused on this life that we fail to remember that there is an eternal life that awaits all of us, either in hell or in heaven.  And even if we free women and children from the bondage of human trafficking, if we fail to share the gospel with them, it is meaningless.  We’ve freed them from slavery in this life, but we haven’t told them of the one who frees them from slavery to sin, from God’s wrath and from eternal damnation.  And too often, going back to my last paragraph, we do it out of guilt, or out of a need to confirm our own identity.  We do it to make ourselves feel better, with no true concern for other people.  It should disgust us when we hear people talking about doing “good things” because “it just makes you feel good about yourself.” 

Christ didn’t die so that I could feel better about myself.  He didn’t come to give me self-worth.  He came to rid me of dependance on myself for identity.  He came to give me a new identity in Him!  He didn’t come and die, paying for every sin that I ever committed and ever will commit, so that I can have my “best life now.”

No…Jesus came and lived a righteous life so that I could trust in Him, not my good works, to make me right with God, by His righteousness which I love and trust in.  Jesus came and died on the cross and took the wrath of God for me, not so that I can see Him as a means to an end, but so I may rest in His grace and love, that I may rejoice and worship Him for the great things He has done.  Jesus came to die and rise again so that I may follow Him as Lord, as Ruler.  His authority is a good thing.  It keeps me from going back to the old man.  It gives me joy in Christ.  It makes me new.  In the gospel, our view of the law changes.  The law, God’s authority, whatever you may call it, is now not a ladder we must climb, but a way in which we know God more.  We learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates.  We are free to follow and obey out of joy, in a desire to grow in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, trusting that Christ first kept it for us to give us salvation.  We now have joy in walking it out in sanctification.

And a gospel-centered view of missions doesn’t stop at social action.  It sees social action, movements like the End It Movement and other similar projects, as a way to share God’s love with the world, that they may be saved, eternally.  Let us fix our eyes on eternity, and consider how we spend our days.  Let me do this.

So what is your view of God?  Is He a tyrant?  Is He someone you respect?  Is He Lord?  Part of following Jesus as Lord is confessing and repenting when we realize we have acted in such a way to say that He is not Lord.  Is God someone you trust?  Do you look to Him for a better life, or do you look to Him for life itself?

I’m tired of being lukewarm and cozy.  I’m tired of inconsistency.  I’m tired of hypocrisy.  I’m tired of seeing my own wrong views of God.  I’m tired of holding back.  And I’m tired of not pursuing God in everything I do.  I’m tired of not finding ultimate joy in Him.  I’m tired…just flat out tired of immaturity in my own life, where I fail to honor Jesus as Lord.  I know I’ll mess up again, and I’m trusting that Jesus will pick me up.  But I refuse to stay the same.  I refuse, and invite God to come and change me, once again.  I invite you to join me at the cross, where Jesus stands ready to forgive and make new, through His once-for-all sacrifice for all my sin.  I believe it.  I trust Him, that He did that for me.  And by His blood, by His grace, through this faith, because of what He has done, He tells me I’m saved.  But saved for a reason.  To follow Him.  Join me in this, dear reader.

Lord, I repent of my failures, of my sins, of my immaturity.  I have failed in so many ways, and honestly, find it hard to believe at times that you forgive me.  But you are God, and you ordained all things, and said that forgiveness is granted to those who ask it.  You took the punishment for my sin.  You took the wrath of God for me, and you truly paid it all.  I can trust that all my sin is paid for.  So I can confess boldly, knowing the payment has been made.  But may I never forget at what cost it came–Your blood, Jesus.  I ask you to come lead me as Lord, once again.  When I fall down, pick me up, remind me of the cross, and help me grow.  Lord, help me put off laziness.  Help me grow spiritually, and not be content with complacency, excusing it as struggles that everyone has.  Your authority is good, and I joyfully submit to it.  Make me right with God, Jesus, not because of anything I’ve done, but through your righteousness.  I trust in You.  Help me to love you and continue to follow you.  Come and work in and through me by your grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  None of this is possible unless you move.  Come, Lord Jesus.

May we never forget the cross, where Jesus made an end of all our sin, for those who will believe in Him and trust in His work.  May we be quick to confess our sin, and be diligent in putting it off.  May we seek to renew our mind, with the right view of God.  May we seek to love Jesus more, and make Him known.  May all that we do bring Him honor and glory.  May we always trust in Christ and the cross, and the empty tomb, where our salvation comes from. 

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”–Psalms 20:7

God bless,

Neal E.

If you have any questions, comments, or future blog ideas, feel free to comment on here, look me up on Facebook or Twitter (@NealEmbry) or email me at rembry@forum.montevallo.edu.  I’d love to hear from you!