Philippians 1:1-6 God Begins and Finishes the Work!

Philippians 1:1-6  Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

After finishing Paul's letter to the Galatians, we turn to another of his epistles, Philippians.  He wrote this letter to the church he started in Philippi while he was imprisoned in Rome, yet it is one of his most joyful writings with many admonitions to rejoice in the Lord in all situations: in suffering, in fear, and in service.  Paul modeled this behavior in his life and was an example to those he mentored and loved in the Lord.  We see in his opening words that he says he prays with joy for them because of their partnership in the gospel with him.  He also expresses his confidence that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  He does not want the church to doubt God's ability to see them through to the end.  He wants to encourage them in God's power to finish the work of grace He has begun in their lives.  When Paul encourages the church in Ephesus to approach God with confidence, he prayed a similar prayer of God's keeping power: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (Ephesians 3:15-19)  Paul knew he could trust God through the power of the Holy Spirit to establish and to keep the church as they put their trust and faith in God.  Paul had faced many trials and tribulations himself, yet he knew from experience that he served a God who was faithful in all things.  He wanted his Christian brothers and sisters to believe in the same God and Father He followed, the God who promised never to leave them or to forsake them.

Paul begins his letter by saying he sends grace and peace to the believers from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He does not say this merely as a spiritual heading.  He reminds them of who he is in Christ and who they are.  They are all sinners saved by grace, now walking in the peace of the Lord.  Paul expresses this well in his words to his spiritual son, Timothy: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.  (1 Timothy 1:15-16)  We often say to each other when we read these words, if Paul was the worst of sinners, where does that leave us?  But we know that in God's eyes, there is no scale where we are judged according to the weight of our sins.  God sees us all the same: in need of the shed blood of his dear son, in need of his saving grace.  Paul understood this; therefore, he took the Good News to the Gentile world that all might come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He rejoices as he thinks of the harvest of his work in the church he started in Philippi, and he says he thanks God every time he remembers them.  Many believers today use Paul's words when they write an email or pen a note to a friend, for they so well express the love of one Christian for another.  We truly do thank God every time we stop to think of the precious relationship we enjoy with another Christian.  The joy and happiness we have experienced in sharing Jesus with a friend is a gift from God that we treasure.  Life's joys are greater and life's sorrows become easier to bear because we have the fellowship of believers.  John wrote, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)  We see in this verse that our true Christian fellowship is a benefit from walking in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the World.  Paul certainly knew this when he wrote to his converts.

Each of you reading this breakfast has the privilege of walking in the light of our Lord.  You also have received grace and peace from our Lord through the sacrifice of his beloved Son on the cross.  Perhaps some of you are struggling today with a problem in your lives.  It may be a personal difficulty with a relationship or you may be suffering from sickness.  Others may be facing a financial setback or struggles on the job.  Whatever the situation is for you, God knows and understands.  If you are dealing with a hardship, do not let it become a spiritual problem as well.  Remember what Paul wrote in today's verses: he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  God is greater than anything that comes our way.  As the Word says: You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (the spirits of the world), because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  (1 John 4:4)  When we come up against trials and temptations that we think will defeat us, we must go to the Word and find our strength in the Lord.  When Paul prayed to the Lord to deliver him from a difficulty he was facing, the Lord spoke to him: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)  When we are most weak, God is most strong!  We can believe the Bible; we can believe the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our inner ear.  Jesus said, He who has ears, let him hear.  (Matthew 11:15)  There are many negative voices in the world trying to capture our attention.  We must turn to God to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  Always remember: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:35 & 37-39)  We must let God teach us what it means to be more than conquerors.     

 

Galatians 6:11-18 A New Creation, Israel of God!

Galatians 6:11-18  See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!  Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised.  The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.  Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.  Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.  Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.  Amen.

AsPaul comes to the end of his letter to the Galatians, he indicates that we who are alive IN CHRIST are the Israel of God: the chosen ones.  Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.  WHAT RULE DO WE FOLLOW?  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.  God protects his new creation by placing the Holy Spirit within us.  The Holy Spirit teaches us as God's children; and we learn what has been, what is, and what will come through our walk in the Lord.  As Paul said to the church in Ephesus, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 2: 6-7)  No other destination other than the heavenly realm is God's will for our lives.  But to completely understand God's will for us at this time, we must appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit within us.  He is bringing the likeness of Christ into our lives.  He is bringing new insight into our minds and spirits on how to think and act in the image of Christ.  Sometimes the difficulties in our lives are the Spirit's workshop to develop Christ in us.  As new creatures, we often have little comprehension of how to live out that life.  The old perspective of life is deeply embedded in us; consequently, a new way of thinking and living is often hard to understand or to implement into daily living.  We must have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us in every situation.  We must allow for the flesh to die if the new creature is to thrive.  We must boast only in the cross, not in our human accomplishments or failures.  Christ alone has made us alive; therefore, He is our focus.

As new creations in these vessels of flesh, we should live as Paul lived, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  He found nothing in this world that would sustain his new life.  He was in the world, but not of the world.  He could not love the world and the things in it without compromising the new life he found by faith in Jesus Christ.  John wrote: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (1 John 2:15)   If Paul walked this world with only the knowledge and wisdom of man, he would always be frustrated, always worried and afraid.  He had to be governed by a power greater than his own strength, the power of the Spirit of God.  The Spirit of God elevated his life to a reality greater than his own will and desires.  He spent his life working for God by spreading the message of redemption to all who would hear.  He not only preached to his own people, the Jews, but to the Gentiles as well.  In fact, the latter became his primary mission.  Paul was driven to preach and to teach, to reveal a loving God to the world.  No other life would satisfy the new creation in him.  He was so fully committed to the Lord and filled with the Spirit that he said, Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach.  (1 Corinthians 9:16)  Paul was totally accountable to God.  The question we all must answer is what kind of life will satisfy us.  Does a new creature's life satisfy me or am I satisfied primarily by the old creature's life?  If we don't know, we are double-minded, lukewarm.  The Bible says a double-minded person is unstable and God wants to spew the lukewarm out of his mouth.  If we are not living up to our privileges, our passion for God and his work is missing.  Our worship and praise will be hollow, simply going through the motions.  Our minds will seek the routine, the mundane of life rather than the excitement of knowing God's will in our lives.

Throughout Paul's writings to the church, he often tells believers to find joy in their walk: Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  (Philippians 4:4)  Paul knew regardless of human realities or circumstances, whether he was imprisoned or free, his gift in the Spirit was the joy that Peter described when he wrote about rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory.  (1 Peter 1:8)  Paul had just told the Galatians that God wants their lives free from the acts of the sinful nature.  He knows that circumcision or uncircumcision of the flesh will not make this happen.  They must embrace their new creation in Christ Jesus.  As they walk out this new life through the power of the Holy Spirit, they will see the fruit of the Spirit coming forth in abundance.  As they follow the teachings of their spiritual father, Paul, they will grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, and they will not easily be led astray by those who would come to spy out their liberty in Christ.  We must ask ourselves today if we are walking in the fulness of our inheritance.  Are we taking full advantage of the freedom we have as believers?  We read that the Lord has set us free.  The Bible says: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  (2 Corinthians 3:17)  We walk in the Spirit, but do we walk in freedom?  The answer is probably sometimes yes and sometimes no.  Our prayer is that we might walk in freedom more and more as the Israel of God.  May we rejoice in Christ our Savior and as the Bible tells us: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.   (1 Peter 3:15)  Remember, we do not desire to make a good outward impression upon those we meet.  We want them to say, "There was something different about that person: a peace, a joy, an inner grace."  

Galatians 6:7-10 Do Good to All People!

Galatians 6:7-10  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. 

"Let us do good to ALL PEOPLE" presents a difficult challenge for most of us.  We do not mind doing good to those who love us or care about us, but we often have difficulty doing good to all people, especially those outside of our general acquaintance or familiarity.  It is easier to love those who look like us, talk like us, live like us.  Most of the time we have some difficulty aiding or helping those we do not appreciate, understand or care for, particularly those who will not or cannot reciprocate our goodness to them.  Our unreserved love often stops on the shore of life with those who love us.  We are not likely to jump into the boat to venture out into the sea of being GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE.  Jesus was very direct in this idea of venturing out beyond that which is comfortable for us emotionally or psychologically.  We put his words in last week's breakfast, and we do well to read them again: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:43-48)  Why did Jesus ask us to sail out into waters that are unfamiliar, that go far beyond our natural inclinations?  For we are made of flesh where our very survival can depend upon hating those who hate us or destroying our enemies before they destroy us?  Why ask us to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors?  How unsound is this idea of caring for those who hate us in a real world of absolute consequences?   Why claim that we can only be perfect as He is perfect if we do good to those who wish to harm us?  Is this not asking too much of us?

Jesus' words of loving everyone definitely go far beyond our human abilities.  We often fail, and sometimes we fail miserably, without any pretense of doing the right or the good thing to people with whom we are at odds.  But still, the Bible says that we were made in the image of God.  We were made to love ALL PEOPLE as God loves all people.  Why don't we?  Sin, division, came into the world when Adam and Eve decided to go their own way and eat of the Tree of Knowledge.  This act deeply marred our understanding of infinite, true love: God's love.  We became self-oriented, willing to oppose others to get our way.  Without a doubt, we are not lovers or servants to all.  When God came to Cain and asked, “Where is your brother Abel?”  Cain responded somewhat sarcastically, “I don’t know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?”  (Genesis 4:9)  The answers is "Yes, you are your brothers keeper."  You are to love him as you love yourself.  You are to elevate him in your eyes, even to the point of being a servant to him.  But sin had entered the world.  No longer would brotherly love exist unreservedly and in abundance.  Rather, the self-seeking, self-aggrandizing spirit became predominant in the world, between people, between communities, between nations.  The product of our self-interested decisions tends not to lead to love, cooperation, healing, or peace; but instead to divisions and worse: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  We do reap what we sow.  The love God designed us to possess should be the inexorable result of being human.  God made us to be inescapably as He is, the lover of all He made.  When we do not love what He created, we cannot love him.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  (1 John 4:20)  God is love; we were made in his image; we were made to express love.  This is the essence of being God-like or children of God.  Outside of Christ, we cannot love as God loves, but in Christ, we are brought back to God's love, back to the heart of God, with the inclination to love everyone as God loves them.  

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.  (1 John 2:9-11)  Because of sin, a shadow fell over humankind.  We have trouble seeing the true likeness of God.  We have a notion that God is good and that He can be trusted, but we do not fully believe we can be as He is, for we see the realities of the world with its problems and downfalls.  How can we love when people hurt us and attempt to devour us?  How can we love in such a world as this where we have to look out for ourselves?  But God has given the world the essence of his love, Jesus Christ.  We know Christ loves the world because He gave himself for it.  We know as Christians we also should love the world as He did.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  (1 John 4:10-11)   When we have trouble loving or doing good to those who hate us, we must place our reliance on Jesus' love for the world.  He alone is perfect in everything.  We must be faithful to his calling.  With all our strength, we must try to be as He is: full of love for the world.  IN CHRIST, we are no longer under the shadow of sin, for He is light.  We live in the LIGHT and walk in the light.  Therefore dear friends, in every way attempt to express his love to all people.  Give a glass of water to the thirsty, a handout to those in need, deference to those who need respect.  Treat people exactly as you want to be treated.  But most of all, when you fail, hide in Christ, and ask him to teach you how to love as He loves for we WERE MADE IN HIS IMAGE.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  (1 John 4:7-8)  If you have been weary, find strength in the Lord.  Walk in his love and share that love as you do good to all people.  

Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-5 Live by the Spirit in Love!

Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-5  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.  Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

We are to carry our own load, living responsible to our cross and true to our journey.  We must beware when we look too much to our brother's garden, complaining about his weeds, his lack of organization, and his unacceptable presentation to the world.  Instead, our primary concern is to tend our garden, to carry the load God has given us.  Rather than thinking we have all the answers to life, we must stop and think about who God is and who we are not.  We read in the Bible: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  (Isaiah 55:8)  We are not God; we follow him the best we can as we hear his Spirit in us and ingest his Word into our lives.  In today's focus, we hear Paul closing his dissertation on grace and works with these words, Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Or, let us not think because we have the right theology on grace and works that we can lord it over those who have less knowledge or understanding, for this is exactly what those people who were preaching circumcision did.  They said that those who believed in the unmerited favor from God as the final work of salvation were lesser Christians because they rejected the additional act of circumcision as a necessary action by men to please God.  They were Christians without the whole truth, the pure truth.  Undoubtedly, some of the circumcision brethren labeled those as nonChristians who believed in the efficacy of grace without circumcision.  Their skewed theology was destroying the community of believers in Galatia, leading believers back to the law for righteousness, rather than to the completed work of Christ and the cross.  No wonder Paul challenges them to keep in step with the Spirit.  He knew the conflicts in the church would lead to division and a lack of the fruit of the Spirit.  He also knew God's promise to bring a new covenant to his people: This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  (Hebrews 8:10)  Chaos in the church would not usher in the perfect will of God.

Paul wants the church to walk in the light of God's new covenant.  He asks the Galatians to consider the law of Christ in everything they do, even in their judgments of others because of theological differences.  Jesus said the second commandment was, Love your neighbor as yourself.  (Mark 12:31)  But we know that He did not stop there.  He also said in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?"  (Matthew 5:43-47)  If someone is caught in a belief that leads him to sin, believers are to restore that person back to the truth in a gentle manner.  Of course, we do not dismiss the sin or corrupting lifestyle as harmless, for all unrighteousness will lead to death; but we are to be loving in our corrections and help.  The errant circumcision believers were destroying the flock with their harsh judgments about those who believed in grace as the complete work.  They were not gentle at all, they lacked the law of Christ in their hearts.  They were willing to destroy rather than build up.  Paul knew their spirit contained the works of the flesh, not the works of Jesus.  He was very direct with them because they were destructive, not displaying the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of the flesh.  He boldly called them out on their sinful behavior, but he called them according to a standard of love.  When Paul spoke to the entire church, he said, You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  (Galatians 5:13-15)  He warned the church because he wanted them to walk in the freedom of Christ their Savior. 

In today's verses, Paul says, watch yourself, to the Galatians.  He wants them to take care when they help others find their way out of sin or wrongful thinking.  This teaching stands true for us: we all struggle.  If we are too bold and too sure of ourselves, we might find ourselves in the same self-willed sin of destroying others rather than correcting or saving them.  Instead of carrying the burdens and dysfunctions of others as Christ has showered us with his unmerited favor and endless love, we can become harsh and judgmental.  Paul says, don't think of yourselves too highly, as if you have all the answers, for you are but flesh, not knowing the complete mind of God.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul emphatically states that righteousness comes from Christ's work and not our own.  We are God's children because of his grace and mercy and not our good deeds.  In the beginning section of his letter, he made this clear: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”  (Galatians 2:20-21)  Consequently, at the end of his argument, he asks us to be gracious and loving in dealing with the unloving, the careless, the wayward.  He instructs us to restore them out of love, not out of condemnation or judgment.  God is love.  (1 John 4:8)  Sometimes, we reflect the opposite of love when we see a world of seemingly hopeless destruction.  We stand on the other side of the fence of grace and yell, "Why don't you change!"  But we are as the sinners are when we do that.  We need to find a way to open up a gate in the fence, to come alongside of them, to lift them up gently, to help them with acts of love, to point them to the grace and mercy of God.  This is keeping in step with the Spirit; this is fulfilling Christ's law of love, this is bearing each other's burdens; this is carrying our load.  God bless you!