On Friday morning I was sitting in the Honda Dealership doing my devotion while waiting on my car. As I thought about the book of Philippians this chart came to mind so I drew it out on a napkin. Here is an explanation of the chart that I drew in my devotion time.
First there is a beginning point for all of us in the Christian life.
According the Lord Jesus as He spoke to Nicodemus "unless a man is born again he can not see the kingdom of God." As I mentioned in our class the other night when you look at the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16:10 you see a picture of someone who has been born again. You might even ask the question "what happened to Lydia?" (Side note: check out the priority of actions as to what first happened and then what resulted)
We see that first, the Lord opened her heart and then she responded to the gospel.
Second there is a ending point so to speak. And that for me is the glory of God, check out 1John 3:2 "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."
I continue to be amazed at the language in the New Testament regarding how often the apostles spoke in terms of this future glory. We as Christians must understand that our residence here is temporal and that our citizenship is in heaven.
Third we are living out the Christian life between our conversion in Christ that we label our justification and our finishing in Christ that we call future glorification.
As I was meditating on these things it was the prayer of the apostle (Philippians 1:9-11) that came to mind. Look at the steps in this prayer as they are reflected in this chart.
1. The love Paul is discussing is a two-fold love that he is praying for in the lives of these Philippians. First that there love for God would continue to grow. As their love for God grows the overflow will naturally result in their love for others.
Question for us to ask at this point? Is our love for God growing? Allow me to be clear on this point. I am not talking about our love for the blessings of God but rather the Blessor. I am not talking about the gifts but rather the Giver. How easy it is today to find many in the church being sold on the benefits of being a Christian. Think about this for a minute:
- who really wants to go to hell for eternity?
- who doesn't want their sins forgiven?
- who would not be in favor of the wrath of God being removed from their life?
- who would not want to have guilt removed from the conscience in day to day life?
- don't most people want to go to heaven and live in eternal peace, joy and happiness
But what if you could go to heaven and have all these things and the Lord Jesus was not there - would you still want to go?
The reason all the things mentioned above are so important is they remove the obstacles that bring us to God. Do you have a passionate, delighting in and treasuring of the Lord Jesus in your daily life? Are you drawn to His word, community and service in a way that He is demonstrated as great?
2. Knowledge and Discernment is the next in the chain that Paul prays for these Philippians. A growing love for God will mean a growing knowledge of Him. In the dealership I wrote down the following sentence "how can one know God in an ever increasing and glorious way without knowing His word?" Carmel Warriors isn't that the real "WHY" of studying the word of God. Our heavenly Father has given us His word in order that we might know Him, His thoughts and His ways! When we get to the word discernment I think this means the practical application of that knowledge.
3. Approve the things that are excellent.
Approve
The word translated "approve" (Gk., dokimazo) was used in classical Greek to describe the process of evaluating metal to determine its properties and purity. It also described testing money to be sure it wasn't counterfeit.
Paul wanted the Philippians to be able to evaluate and determine what is excellent.
Excellent
In Greek the word diaphero (translated excellent) means "to differ."
The Philippians needed to know the difference between things so they could establish priorities and seek after what is truly vital and important.
Conclusion
Paul was not referring merely to the ability to distinguish not only between good and evil but also between what is good and what is best.
Check out the prayer chain so far:
Love for God
Love of others
Knowledge of Him
Discernment of Him
Approve the things that are excellent
4. And finally
Sincerity
James Montgomery Boice in Philippians: An Expositional Commentary tells us that "in ancient times . . . the finest pottery was thin. It had a clear color, and it bought a high price. Fine pottery was very fragile both before and after firing. And it was often the case that this pottery would crack in the oven. Cracked pottery should have been thrown away. But dishonest dealers were in the habit of filling cracks with a hard pearly wax that would blend in with the color of the pottery. This made the cracks practically undetectable in the shops, especially when painted or glazed; but the wax was immediately detectable if the pottery was held up to light, especially to the sun. In that case the cracks would show up darker. It was said that the artificial element was detected by 'sun-testing. ' Honest dealers marked their finer product by the caption sine cera--'without wax'" ([Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971], p. 55) .
So just as in ancient times pottery was tested by holding it up to the sun, our lives need to be tested for the wax of hypocrisy. In the church are those who appear as fine pottery but are not. There are cracks of sin in their lives filled with the wax of religious ceremony and activity. When held up to the light of God's Word their cracks become evident. When persecution or difficulty comes, they melt (cf. Matt. 13:5-6, 20-21)
Blamelessness
The Greek word translated "blameless" in Philippians 1:10 describes relational integrity. It means living a life that doesn't cause others to stumble. Scripture clearly teaches that believers are not to cause others to stumble (Luke 17:1-4)
Hey Carmel Warriors is this the race that we are running in our Christian life?
Love that leads to Knowledge that leads to Integrity that leads to Glory
You will notice a couple of other thoughts that are reflected on this chart. One is the phrase "in Christ." I heard a professor once say that your life in Christ and the life of Christ in you is worthy of a lifetime of meditation and prayer. I often think we as Christians don't understand that we are to possess what we have already occupied. In other words we are in Christ and therefore we need to possess all those things that have been given to us as a result of His occupation in us and our occupation in Him. Are you thinking back to the Israelites when they came into the Promised Land. They not only had the land as their possession but they now were commanded to occupy that which had been given to them.
In Ephesians 6 the apostle Paul issues this command when talking about putting on the full armor of God. He says "STAND FIRM", have you ever wondered about that expression? Paul is telling us not to retreat or move forward but rather stand firm on that which we already possess. The devil is never to occupy any of the land which has been given to you in Christ, therefore stand firm!
I am sharing this with you as fresh from my devotion yesterday hoping that it will encourage your continued Bible reading, devotion and study of God's word. This is not meant to be a teaching lesson but just insight on what happens to me as I go through my daily devotions. I want to have my mind totally saturated into and through the word of God! This is the renewal of the mind that is absolutely critical to our spiritual growth and maturity as we go through our Christian life. (Romans 12:1-2)
When I left the dealership I had my notes on the napkin and in my notebook and was absolutely delighting in the Lord Jesus Christ!