Philippians Part One

 Philippi is the first city in Macedonia that Paul visited which you can read about in Acts Chapter 16. The people of Philippi hold a special place in Paul’s heart. They are the only people that continued to support Paul after he left them. This letter was not a letter that would be circulated to any other church. It was specifically for those at Philippi who had becomes partners with Paul.

In verse 10 Paul is encouraging the Philippians to live pure (sincere) and blameless lives. The Greek word used here for sincere is eilikrines which means judged by sunlight, sun-tested as genuine. In order for us become pure we need to be sun tested. One of my favourite bible teachers Andrew Wommack explained the process by which people would take broken pots and fix them by melting wax to repair them. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Until the pot was put out in the sun. The wax would melt and you would see that it was indeed broken. In the same way we need to be tested under the heat of life to show what is really on the inside. We cannot heal that which we keep hidden. Rather than trying to cover up our broken parts we should work together with God in order to heal and grow, allowing ourselves to be tested and moulded.

This reminded me of Malachi 3:3 where it says He will sit as a purifier and refiner of silver. A lady visited a silversmith to watch the process of refining silver. As she watched him he held a piece of silver over the fire, he explained that he had to hold the silver in the centre of the fire where the flames were the hottest as to burn all the impurities. The silversmith had to sit in front of the fire the entire time the silver was in the fire. Not only did he have to sit there but he had to keep such a close watch on it. If it was left a moment too long then it would be damaged. The lady then asked the silversmith how you know that the silver is purified. His reply was that you know the silver is fully refined when you see your image in it.

God holds us in the refiners fire to sun test us as genuine to purify us. He keeps a close watch on us and does not take his eye off us until he can see his image in us.

In Philippians Chapter 2 we see Paul encourage the people to love one another and work together with one mind and purpose, not to be selfish or try to impress others. To be humble, not looking out just for their own interests but to take an interest in others too. Having the same attitude that Jesus had.

So the main themes to look at here are Humility, Unity and Love

Humility – (tapeinophrosune – Strongs g5012)

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. It is the absence of pride and arrogance. Pride stops the flow of God’s grace.

Humility is to recognise our own limitations and dependance upon God. It is essential for spiritual growth and a closer relationship with God. Humility is a lack of arrogance, not a lack of confidence. It is not inferiority in the sense of self-worth, rather lowly in nature – so we can forgive those who persecute us. He taught us how to rebuke and move on from offence (Luke 17:3) – which means we shouldn’t accept all kinds of treatment. Humility does not mean accepting toxic behaviour from others. You can be confident in who you are in Christ and how you deserve to be treated, whilst thinking of others more and looking after others needs.

Psalm 25:9 says He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

Unity

We are to work together with one mind and purpose embracing the mindset of Christ. So how do we achieve this?

The Greek word phroneo (Strongs g5426) is used here when Paul talks about having the mind of Christ. It signifies the overall mental attitude and disposition of a person, encompassing their thoughts, feelings and opinions. Phroneo is used to describe the direction and focus of ones mind.

Paul goes on to describe from verse 6 onwards how Jesus, even though fully God, gave up divine privileges taking on the humble position of a slave, born human, humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminals death on a cross. This is the attitude we should assume. Humble andobedient.

Obedience isn’t about following the rules because we will be disciplined harshly if we don’t tow the line. Obedience and discipline are really about God’s protection. If we are aware not just of what we have been saved to, but what we have been saved from, then we will understand more and more why we need to be obedient to everything God asks of us to do. Why our minds need to be renewed to the Word of God constantly. Why we need to take every thought captive. Why we need to be careful with our Words – because life and death is in the power of the tongue. God’s discipline is always about protection, keeping you safe. In obedience we trust that God knows best and regardless of our own personal feelings, obedience will always lead to a fuller, richer life.

Love.

1 Corinthians 13 lays out all the things that love is. It is patient, It is kind, It isn’t jealous, boastful, proud or rude, It doesn’t demand it’s own way, It isn’t irritable, It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, It rejoices whenever the truth wins out, It never gives up, never loses faith. It is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. We are told that of the three things that will last forever – faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love.

So when we are asked to love one another. How is that expressed. We are told what love is, but we’re not told what love is not. What happens when we aren’t particularly loving to someone else – how do we walk through that. Or when someone isn’t particularly loving to us. And here I’m really focussing on others who are also walking with Christ.

Matthew 18:15-17 gives us directions on how to handle other believers who sin against you. These are specific instructions for conflict resolution within the church. It is not a license for an attack on every person who hurts or slights us. It’s not a license to start a destructive gossip campaign. Having said that, if and when someone does hurt us, rather than give heed to resentment or engage in gossip we should go straight to that person first. We should address the issue head on. If the person is unwilling to listen or engage then there are other steps we should follow laid out here.

I was brought up in the Methodist church. Within that Methodist church the minister was involved in abuse of vulnerable women. Women who turned to him for pastoral support. There were whistle-blowers who knew what was happening and reported it. Those people got moved on to other churches (they were leaders in the church themselves). People in the church refused to believe the truth. One of the victims of the abuse was blamed for causing disruption and not believed. Other leaders were silenced and not able to tell the congregation the truth. This may be an extreme example, but is a good example of why we need to tackle situations head on right at the beginning without letting them continue on. We should be seekers of the truth always.

Love means standing on the side of truth, standing on the side of justice. And like my friend who was the victim here, even if it means standing alone. Love does not mean allowing yourself to be treated like a doormat. It does not mean staying silent when others are hurting. It does not mean forgiveness without consequence. It does not always mean reconciliation. You can still love someone from a distance whilst refusing for their behaviour to infect your life with toxicity.

Matthew 7:15-20 teaches us about how to recognise the fruit in peoples lives. You can know by someone’s actions. People can say all the beautiful things, but their actions will reveal where their heart is. A bad tree can’t produce good fruit. And a good tree can’t produce bad fruit. You can’t fake fruit. It is also good to recognise that the fruit of a tree is not for the tree itself. The fruit of a tree is for the passers by, the people in proximity. The people around you are the ones who will benefit from the fruit in your life. And so you can also recognise good fruit in other peoples lives by the people around them.

Verse 13 says God will give you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

None of this advice, or encouragement to do what is right, be humble, be in unity, love one another is to be done in our own strength. I think we would burn out pretty quickly if we attempted to do all of this in our own strength. The strength of God is alive on the inside of us. When you are in Him he has given you the power and the desire to do whatever pleases him. As we continue to learn and grow in knowledge of Jesus, renewing our minds to the Word of God, the more the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) and all these things Paul encourages for us to be and do will come naturally out of relationship with Jesus. It will be effortless because we carry with us the power of God to achieve it all.