Philippi was another one of those cities set right in the middle of the way where roads met coming through the mountain pass from the east and west. It was a great place for business, and for getting rich. The city took great pride in being Roman.
Lydia, the rich merchant lady from Thyratira, was there. She was a dealer in purple, one of the most costly substances in the ancient world. She was one of Paul’s converts.
The time Paul spent at Philippi had been a happy time for Paul. The people of Philippi responded warmly to the good news about Jesus. They loved Jesus. They loved Paul. Paul would have stayed longer with them. But he got into trouble when he cast a demon out of a slave girl.
It was the demon’s fault. It kept pestering Paul. However, the slave girl’s owners didn’t look at it that way. They were making a lot of money off the demon. When Paul cast the demon out, they lost their source of income. They got even by telling lies about Paul and stirring up the city. Unfortunately, some of this persecution was directed against the Christian church in Philippi. Paul had to leave.
Everywhere Paul went he earned his living by making tents. Paul reasoned the Gospel was free. It was God’s gift of love and grace. He wanted to give it away freely. So, wherever he went he refused to accept any money for himself. Salvation was God’s gift with no strings attached. That is why Paul supported himself and those who traveled with him by making tents.
A Bond of Love
A great bond of love grew between Paul and the Philippian Christians. Long after he fled from the city their gratitude and love and esteem for him continued. Whenever they heard that Paul was in need, they jumped at the chance to send him money and help. When news came that Paul was in prison in Rome they sent him an offering. They also sent Epaphroditus as their ambassador to stay with Paul and help him in any way he could.
This church had given Paul great joy in the past. Now, it overwhelmed Paul again with joy through this unexpected gift and show of love. He writes to thank them for their generosity and to tell them how much pleasure the happy memories give him.
This letter is much more than a simple thank you and encouragement. You will discover that if you read it as a letter written personally to you. Read it every day, out loud, for a month. It only takes 19 minutes. Every place where it refers to the Philippians, insert your name. You will discover some exciting things.
Paul writes: “I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ -right up to the time of His return – developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” (Philippians 1:6 AMPC)
Our Intentions vs. Our Actions
I have been priviliged to attend the Camps Farthest Out in Nebraska for many years.
It seems strange to me that these Nebraska Camp Farthest Out people love me like they do. They seem to have the idea that I am an asset to their camp. They are always asking me to be part of the leadership. They say they want my advice and my wisdom! -a thing which continues to amaze me!
I come home from CFO inspired and basking in all the nice things people said about me. My conscience pricks me a little, so I also come home with all kinds of good intentions about things I’m going to do. I’m going to be more serious, and more intentional in my praying. I’m going to do a better job of reading my Bible. Sometimes I really get carried away and go so far as to think I’ll even be nicer to Helen!
The trouble is the gap between what I want to do and what I really do. As the days go by the gap seems to get wider and wider. Paul talks about me and my situation in his letter to the Christians in Rome. To be polite he is using his own name, but I know he is talking about me:
“I don’t understand myself at all,” he writes, “for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to- what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, but I can’t help myself. When I want to do good I don’t, and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned: but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.”
“In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin…Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.” (Romans 7:15-25 TLB)
I come home from a CFO camp full of all these good intentions. But one by one I fail. Then, just when I’m ready to throw in the towel and give up, Paul writes these words of encouragement.
“Hey!” he says. “Don’t sweat it. God’s got everything under control. I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ – right up to the time of His return – developing (that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.”
God Knew We'd Not Measure Up
Paul’s first words to the Philippian Christians are:
“Don’t sweat it! God’s got everything under control. He’ll do in you what you can’t do for yourself!”
When I hear those words I go, “Whew! Boy is that a load off my back!” If you read this letter to the Philippians, inserting your name in place of the Philippians, you’ll discover how great news this is.
Having given them this encouraging word Paul then tells them that he is praying that their love will grow greater every day. Don’t make the mistake of thinking these were unloving people. We already saw their love expressed in their gift to Paul, and in sending Epaphroditus to help him.
Love Is the Key
Paul wants the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love to grow in them. It is love that is known for its patience, its kindness, its humility, selflessness, its lack of irritability or touchiness or holding grudges. It is a love that is loyal no matter what the cost. It is a love that believes in and expects the best of the other person and will defend that person no matter what.
When you, as a student, love a subject with this kind of love you study to learn all you can about it. All the scientific discoveries and all the technological advances we enjoy are the result of love for the subject.
When you love a person with this kind of love, you want to learn all you can about that person. That doesn’t mean learning all the dirt about a person. It means to discover the uniqueness and wonder of the person. It is to discover that the quiet girl with epileptic seizures writes the most fascinating things for children. It is to discover that the girl left weak from an auto accident is a gifted artist. It is to learn that the woman on crutches, who seems to bubble with joy in the midst of her pain, has an active prison ministry.
Paul prays for the Philippians to grow in love. The more they love the smarter they will get. Love and intelligence go together. This love isn’t the easy good nature that tolerates anything and everything, which isn’t very smart at all. This is the kind of love that is full of knowledge and wise insight.
A God Who Heals
Dr. Bill Reed was one of the speakers at the Nebraska CFO. It is his belief that it is God who heals. Doctors only do what they can to assist the healing process. In order to help the patient, the doctor must take time to love the patient with the God kind of Love Paul is talking about. Loving that way, with one ear turned to the patient, and with the other ear tuned to God, the doctor will gain the insight he needs to treat the patient.
Dr. Reed told of an incident that happened one time when he was in a restaurant meeting with the Board of Directors of his Christian Medical Foundation. A call came in over the loudspeaker asking if there was a doctor in the restaurant, would he please come to the cashier’s cage.
Dr. Reed is a surgeon. At first, he wasn’t going to go because they didn’t need a surgeon. But he felt an urgency to go. He found that a woman had collapsed just as she was leaving the restaurant. Another doctor had already examined the lady and pronounced her dead. One of Dr. Reed’s friends happened to be there and spoke up:
“Here comes Dr. Reed. See what happens now!”
Dr. Reed spoke to the husband, “Sir, it looks like you’ve lost your wife. But let me try something. Then he prayed for the lady. He hit her chest using a technique he knew. She gasped and came back to life. An ambulance came to take her to the hospital. Dr. Reed went back to his meeting.
About an hour and a half later a man came into the restaurant looking for Dr. Reed. He introduced himself. He was the secretary of agriculture for the state of New Jersey. He said tests were given and his wife pronounced okay. She was in the car. He had come back to thank Dr. Reed.
Love made the difference. To the first doctor the woman was just another body, unknown, and about whom he really didn’t care. To Dr, Reed this woman was a person needing to be loved. Not knowing her, he still loved her. Love enabled Dr. Reed to tune in to this woman, and in to God. In that moment God gave him wisdom, and he acted on the wisdom God gave him.
That’s the kind of love Paul is praying will grow in the Philippians. If you stick your name in there, that is the kind of love Paul is praying will grow in you. Think of the possibilities. As your love for Jesus grows, you will want to learn more and more about Jesus. Out of love you will want to please and honor Jesus in all you do.
When you bring love into the equation, it takes the work out of prayer and Bible reading and makes it something you enjoy and look forward to doing. Growing in love makes it easier because you find yourself wanting to, not having to.
Another benefit is how it helps you love people. As this love grows in you, you will find yourself loving the people around you -your mate, your parents, your children, your neighbors, your co-workers. You will want to learn more and more about that person. This kind of love will make you sensitive to Jesus’ will and to the mind and heart of the person you love or are with at the moment.
Free From Burdens
At the Nebraska CFO, we were divided into prayer groups of 5 or 6. A lady in our group was burdened down with cares and frustrations and worry. We could sense her pain. The love she felt from us encouraged her to unburden herself. As she shared her pain we all just loved on her. As we loved on her, her burdens lifted, her pain went away, and joy flooded her face.
It’s not hard to love on someone. All you do is see yourself like a big hose out of which God’s Love is flowing. We let God’s love flow through us, and we soaked her with it. As she talked her burden lifted, her countenance changed from darkness into light. We prayed for her, of course. But the answer had already come.
The greatest blessing we can give people is to love on them. Not emotional stuff. Let God’s love flow through you and wash over the person. Many times, it will bring healing to their wounded spirits. God wants to grow that kind of love in us. Paul’s prayer is that it grows in us.
Paul ends this prayer with more encouraging words. He prays that we “may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:10 NIV)
The words, “that comes through Jesus Christ,” means that all we have to do is stay connected and it will happen. It is Jesus who changes us into new people. We don’t change ourselves. We don’t try to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We stay connected, and it is Jesus who changes us into new people.
Jesus Changes Us
At the Nebraska CFO we saw Jesus change people into new people. It was fun watching it happen. It was fun watching joy come into a girl’s eyes who had been depressed for many months. It was fun watching people who wanted a deeper walk with Jesus go home satisfied. It was fun watching a man who had been at death’s door come back to life, back to his old joyous self. These had been souls’ sincere desires -their answer to the question, “What do you want Jesus to do for you?”
It is Jesus who changes us into new people. All we have to do is stay connected. Don’t sweat it. God’s got everything under control.
There is one final area in which God has everything under control. In verse 21 Paul writes: “For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying_ well, that’s better yet!”
Paul had been writing about his imprisonment. Even his imprisonment had been working out great for the spread of the Gospel. Others had gained the boldness to proclaim the Good News of Jesus. The whole Praetorian Guard, the Imperial Guard of Rome, had heard the Gospel. In fact, Paul makes it sound as though his imprisonment has worked out better for spreading the Gospel than if he had come to Rome a free man.
Having said all that, Paul talks about the prospect of dying. What he has to say about death is really quite exciting. “Living,” he said, “means opportunities for Christ.” There was still a lot of work to do. He felt he needed to visit the churches once again to strengthen them. Some places still hadn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. He never grew tired of talking about Jesus. And there were the mighty wonders and miracles that happened wherever he went. And he could see that Jesus might want him to continue a bit longer.
But Paul was getting old. His travels and the care of the churches was beginning to wear on him. He wasn’t a teenager anymore. He could say without hesitation: “I have fought long and hard for my Lord, and through it all I have kept true to him. And now the time has come for me to stop fighting and rest.” (2 Timothy 4:7-9 NLT) “Living means opportunities for Christ, and dying – well, that’s better yet!” Dying is better yet! No falling asleep. No waiting for some general resurrection.”
To die meant to step immediately into the presence of Jesus. “I am hard-pressed,” said Paul. “My desire is to strike camp -to loosen the tent ropes, pull up the tent pins” and step into the presence of Jesus.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of death? Strike camp and step into the presence of Jesus.
A Challenge To Let God Work Through You
I challenge you to read Paul’s letter as a letter written to you. Read it every day, out loud, for one month. Write down the ideas, thoughts and insights that come to you. Remember the good news with which Paul begins his letter:
“Hey!” he says. “Don’t sweat it. God’s got everything under control. I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ – right up to the time of His return – developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.”
