During my wife’s recent pregnancy, and now since our daughter has been born, I’ve found my protective instinct getting stronger. I have always been a very sound sleeper, but while my wife was pregnant I never slept as well as I did before. I’m sure there are several reasons for that, but I think one reason is that I always wanted to be “on the alert;” I always wanted to make sure that she was doing okay. But ironically, I have become a sound sleeper again now that our baby has actually been born! It’s funny how that happens…
But as I think about trying to protect my daughter, I find myself thinking, “What kind of world are we bringing her into? What kind of world will she face in twenty, thirty, forty, or even fifty years?” As I think about questions like that, it becomes very easy to worry, and to have a feeling of pessimism wash over me.
It seems today that many American Christians are dealing with those exact same feelings. We look at our society and we sense a general decline in morality and godly behavior, and we become worried. We watch the news, and we become frightened. We listen to the cultural commentators and we feel anxious about what tomorrow has in store.
It can all add up to a general anxiety or fear about life that’s kind of like a nagging cold—its not bad enough to keep you down, but it just keeps hanging around. Philosophers refer to this general feeling of anxiety as “angst.” Angst is not the fear of a specific threat, like the way that you would be afraid of a dog chasing you. Rather, it is a general dread or uneasiness about the world and how you will make your way through the world.
If I could check the spiritual health of Christians in America today, I think I would find a lot of people dealing with angst. But its probably no surprise to you that the Bible tells us that things don’t have to be this way. We don’t need to be dogged by doubts or fatigued by fear. But what should characterize us instead?
What traits should characterize our lives at all times and in every circumstance?
That’s the question before us today as we look at God’s Word together. Turn with me, please, to Philippians 4:4–7. Paul has just dealt with a very specific situation facing the Christians in Philippi, and he told them what to do to handle it. Now in 4:4–7, it seems that he turns his thoughts back toward the general life setting that the Philippians found themselves in. You might remember that these believers were under persecution at the time that Paul wrote to them. Back in 1:27–30, Paul mentioned some opponents who had brought suffering and conflict into their lives. So considering their situation, what traits were to characterize the lives of the Philippians—not only in that situation, but at all times? Let’s find out [READ 4:4–7].
I. A joyful attitude born out of our relationship with God (v. 4)
Paul’s repeated commands to rejoice might sound like a broken record if they weren’t so sweet to our ears! Here in v. 4 he issues this command again and says, “Rejoice in the Lord when things are going well, and complain when they’re not.” Wait…you mean that’s not the biblical approach? Then why do Christians take that approach so often? Hmm…that’s funny.
No, Paul says “rejoice in the Lord always.” Remember, he wrote these words to people who were being persecuted for their faith! He didn’t say, “rejoice in the good ol’ days;” he said, “rejoice in the Lord always.” Then he repeated his command: “again I will say, rejoice!” The verb that Paul used here is in the future tense, so it’s like he’s saying, “I’ve said it today, and I’ll say it again tomorrow—rejoice!” Every day that we receive from God is a day in which we can rejoice—every day without exception.
Now of course, this can only be true if we remember the source and the object of our joy, which Paul spells out for us here. He says, “rejoice in the Lord.” Our joy comes in light of our relationship with Jesus. That’s why we can rejoice every day! Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” so his love for us and his promises to us never change. That’s why we can rejoice in the midst of changing circumstances—because we have this constant in our lives!
So we may not always rejoice over our circumstances, but we can rejoice in our circumstances because the Lord never changes. But this reminds us that we must allow Jesus to be the delight of our hearts. We must not derive our primary pleasure from our circumstances, our possessions, or even our human relationships because they are all subject to change, and if they do they will take our joy with them.
But delighting in Jesus will allow us to be joyful people no matter how other things may change around us. To quote the author of Hebrews again, the hope we have in Jesus is “an anchor for the soul” (Heb. 6:19) to keep us from being tossed about every time the winds of circumstance may change. A joy that is grounded in the Lord is a joy unshakeable!
And so we should, at all times and in every circumstance, be characterized by a joyful attitude born out of our relationship with God. And second, we should be characterized by…
II. A gentle spirit toward all people (v. 5)
In v. 5, Paul simply says, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.” We must recognize here that Paul once again offers no exceptions to his command—just as we are to rejoice always, without exception, so we are also to be gentle to all people, without exception. The word that is translated as “gentle” here speaks of being patient with the faults of others, or acting reasonably toward others even if they act unreasonably toward us. Remember that Paul was writing these words to people who were suffering persecution. A situation like that could easily breed thoughts of revenge and retaliation, so this command was very fitting for their situation.
Notice also that he gives this command in light of another reality—the return of Christ. At the end of v. 5 he simply reminds them that “the Lord is near.” His point seems to be that there is no need for them to take matters into their own hands by seeking retaliation, because the Lord Jesus is coming back, and He will make all things right. There is no need for us to respond to others with vindictiveness because God will make all things right.
Not surprisingly, our best example of this behavior is the Lord Jesus himself. Peter makes this point in 1 Peter 2:21–23. Just before these verses, Peter wrote about submitting to the government and doing what is right as citizens, and then he wrote to slaves telling them to be submissive even to unreasonable masters. Then he wrote this, beginning in v. 21 [READ 1 Peter 2:21–23]. That really is the key—when we entrust our lives to God, we don’t have to worry about taking matters into our own hands, because God will sort everything out and see to it that perfect justice is achieved.
Now, commands like this—to be gentle to all people—sound somewhat crazy to our modern ears. It’s easy for us to think, “Sure…an approach like that may have worked back then, but it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there today! I’ll get walked all over if I respond to people like that today!” When we think like that, we rather naively and ignorantly assume that we’re living in conditions today that no one has ever faced before. We are all also quietly suggesting that God doesn’t really understand the human heart if He’s going to ask us to do something like this.
But the heart is much like our bones—both will break if they are surrounded by gentleness. In a healthy person, our bones are hardened as we walk around and work. When our legs are constantly confronted by the hardness of the pavement or the ground beneath our feet, our bones compress with each step and grow harder. But when a person is bed-ridden for long periods of time, their bones become fragile and will break much more easily because they’ve been so long in the soft and gentle environment of the bed.
Our hearts are very similar. When we are consistently confronted by hard-heartedness in other people, our hearts tend to become hardened as well. But when our hearts encounter gentleness and patience, they tend to soften, and the hardness in our hearts breaks down. That’s why God asks us to respond in this way, because gentleness can actually lead to the end of hostility between people.
By the way, this is a good lesson for parents to remember. If we are constantly hard on our kids, we’ll often harden their hearts against us. If we’re always critical of them or impatient with them, they will usually just grow to resent us. But if we will balance our discipline with gentleness, we’ll give them not only the correction that they need, but our gentleness will give them an affection for us that makes them want to obey. That’s easier said than done, isn’t it? But it’s what we must strive for.
So at all times and in every circumstance we should be characterized by a joyful attitude, a gentle spirit, and…
III. A peace of mind sustained by prayer (vv. 6–7)
Many of you have probably memorized the words that Paul wrote in verses 6–7. He says, [READ vv. 6–7] Such a beautiful promise of the peace of mind that we can have through prayer. Let’s see how we can get there.
We see first that Paul again offers a command with no exceptions. He says, “be anxious for nothing.” There is no situation in which anxiety should overwhelm us. Will it tempt us? Certainly; but we should allow anxiety to settle in our hearts no longer than we would allow a thief to settle in our homes. That’s what anxiety is—a thief. It steals our peace of mind, our trust in God, and sometimes even our sleep and our physical health.
But what’s the difference between anxiety and just thinking about something a lot? How can we know if we’re giving proper thought to our problems, or if we’re worrying about them? It’s interesting to note that the Greek word that is translated “be anxious” is actually used elsewhere as a positive frame of mind. In fact, Paul uses it in 2:20 when he says of Timothy, “I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.” In that verse it is clearly a positive frame of mind.
So I think this tells us that anxiety is simply a good thing gone bad. It’s a healthy thoughtfulness that’s become diseased. Anxiety is like spoiled food—it comes from something that used to be good for you, but now its just rotten. But how do we know when we’ve crossed the line? Well, our emotional response often tells us, doesn’t it, as we start to feel stressed out and sick? Our ability to think about other things will usually tell us as well. If we find ourselves unable to set those thoughts aside in order to focus on other necessary things, then we’ve crossed the line into the realm of anxiety.
The cure for this malady of the mind is to prayerfully ask God for what we need with an attitude of thanksgiving. Paul says that with “prayer and supplication” we should let our requests be made known to God. “Prayer” is a more general term that encompasses everything we might do in prayer, such as praising God, confessing sin, or making requests. “Supplication” is a more specific word that focuses on offering specific requests to God for the things that we need.
So in order to overcome anxiety, we are to pray to God with specific requests for the things that we need, and we are to do it all with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is so powerful for overcoming anxiety because it reminds us about how good God has been to us in the past. In order to say “thank you” we have to identify specific blessings that God has already given us, and when our minds start down that path, we start to remember how faithful God has been to meet each and every one of our needs.
The result of this kind of prayer is that God’s peace becomes a shield of protection for our emotions and our thoughts. Paul says that God’s peace will “guard” us. The Greek word behind that translation can also be used to describe a garrison of soldiers keeping watch over a city. So God’s peace is like a divine warrior, fighting off the arrows of anxiety that Satan shoots at us. And this peace is one that passes all comprehension; it is beyond our ability to understand. How many times in your life have you seen someone amazed by the way they’ve seen a Christian handle bad news? I don’t envy doctors when they have to tell patients that they’re dying, but I’ve heard so many stories about doctors who have been led to praise God because of the incomprehensible peace that their patients have received from Him. When our minds run wild with worry, the peace of God can tame even the most stubborn doubts and fears.
Rejoice in the Lord always; let your gentle spirit be known to all men; be anxious for nothing. There is no situation that you might face where joy, gentleness, and peace cannot be yours. Rejoice in the Lord; let your gentle spirit be known for the Lord is near; in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. God can carry you through the deepest valleys in your life—center your joy in Him, remember His return, and go to Him with your needs. You will not be disappointed!
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
"Wanted: A Relationship with Christ--No Resume Required"--Philippians 3:1-7
How many of you would say that you just love to go through a job interview? Or how about a scholarship application process? Experiences like that are always nerve-wracking, not just because of what’s at stake, but because it’s virtually impossible to know how to answer some of the questions that you’ll face. Obviously we need to be honest in those moments, but with some questions it’s possible to be honest and still have several possible ways that you could answer. And invariably, the person performing the interview is going to ask one of those annoying questions like, “Why should I hire you and not one of these other people?” The sarcastic side of me has always wanted to say, “I thought it was your job to figure that out!”
Now imagine for a moment that you had to go through a similar process to get into heaven. Imagine that you passed away, and stood before God, and He asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” And this is all hypothetical of course, but imagine that you didn’t have Christ’s payment for sins to rely on—imagine that His life and death and resurrection had never happened, and you really did have to try and convince God to let you into heaven based on nothing but your own accomplishments. Talk about a nerve-wracking experience!
But fortunately, we know from the Bible that that’s not the case. We don’t have to take our resume to the pearly gates, because our entrance into heaven isn’t based on anything that we accomplish—its based on what Jesus accomplished. But nevertheless, its very easy to slip into that mindset of thinking that our relationship with God is all based on the things that we can accomplish in our spiritual lives. And along with that comes the temptation to think that we really are a little better than others—a little closer to God because of some of the things that we’ve done in our lives. But in our study of Philippians today, Paul is going to steer us away from that mindset with a lesson that is easy to understand, but not always easy to live by. Our lesson today is this:
Rejoice over what you have in Christ; don’t place your pride in your own achievements.
Turn with me if you would to Philippians 3:1–7. Let’s read these verses, and then we’ll talk about a little bit of historical background that will help us understand these verses [READ 3:1–7].
Now let me mention just a few things about the historical setting of this time that will help us understand what Paul is talking about in these verses. One of the realities that the early church had to deal with was the fact that Christianity was born out of Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, as were all of the apostles, and the church that Jesus founded was the fulfillment of the Jewish religious system in the Old Testament.
But at this time, there was some racism that existed between Jews and non-Jewish people (or Gentiles), so when non-Jewish people started to become part of the church, this created some conflict. Initially, some of the Jewish Christians felt that non-Jewish people needed to adopt the customs of the Law of Moses before they could join the church. This matter was settled at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 when the apostles declared that God had accepted non-Jewish people apart from the Law of Moses, but after that Council there were still some unbelieving Jews who tried to bring the Gentile Christians under the Law of Moses. So that’s the background to what Paul is discussing in these verses.
Now, let’s look at the two parts of our lesson.
I. Rejoice over what you have in Christ (v. 1)
In v. 1, Paul returns to a theme that he has already mentioned several times in this letter—the theme of rejoicing. It’s not hard to see why he may have mentioned this after what he just wrote in chapter 2. We just saw that the Philippians had been distressed over hearing that their friend Epaphroditus was sick. But by the time they would read this letter, Epaphroditus would be with them again, and they would have reason for rejoicing.
But what’s a little more interesting here is the function that rejoicing has in light of what Paul writes in vv. 2–7. At the end of v. 1, Paul writes, “to write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.” Apparently, Paul viewed rejoicing in the Lord as a safeguard against the temptation that was being presented to these Gentile Christians—namely, the temptation to think that they needed to follow the traditions of the Jews in order to draw close to God. These Gentiles could be tempted to think that they were missing out on something by not following the Law of Moses, even though in reality the death and resurrection of Jesus made it unnecessary to follow the Law of Moses any more.
So rejoicing in the Lord would counter the temptation to think that they were missing out because it would remind the Philippians of all that they had in Christ. The same idea is true for us. Rejoicing in the Lord reminds us that we have everything we need in Christ. We are not missing out on something that is necessary to draw close to God; Jesus is all we need.
Now in our corner of the world, we certainly understand what it is like to encounter people who tell us that we are missing out on something in our relationship with God because we don’t follow certain traditions and rules. But we don’t need to be shaken by such a thought, because as Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3, God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” and rejoicing in that fact will help us counter the thought that we are missing out on something.
So rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard for us because it reminds us that Jesus is all we need. Jesus has given us every spiritual blessing; Jesus has made us accepted by God. It is not anything that is based on our own achievements. That reminder forms the second part of our lesson today.
II. Don’t place your pride in your own achievements (v. 2–7)
In v. 2, we find that Paul obviously never had training in how to be politically correct, because notice how he describes the Jewish people who were trying to persuade these Gentiles [READ v. 2]. He refers to them here as the “false circumcision” because even though they were physically circumcised, they were not right with God because they had rejected God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Circumcision was a tremendous source of pride for the Jewish people because it was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, a sign which God had told the Jews to practice. But the physical, external act of circumcision means nothing by itself—it was supposed to be a sign that the people were embracing the same faith that Abraham had in God. But by this point in history, for many Jewish people the external act was not accompanied by the faith; thus, their circumcision did not mean that they were right with God, and that’s why Paul calls it a “false” circumcision here.
Now you dog lovers out there may be wondering why Paul first said, “beware of the dogs.” Was he one of those cat lovers or something? Did Paul have something against dogs? Well, no—we simply need to understand that dogs back then were not the cuddly house pets that many of them are today. At that time, dogs were not widely domesticated in that part of the world. They were wild animals and were mostly scavengers, feeding on trash and dead animals. They often travelled in packs, so they behaved much more like what we know from wolves today. Thus, they were fairly dangerous creatures that humans tended to avoid—and that was obviously Paul’s point with this analogy here. These false teachers were people to be avoided.
But in contrast to these false teachers, Paul describes the believers this way in v. 3 [READ v. 3]. That last statement really captures the difference between the believers and the false teachers well. The false teachers had their confidence placed “in the flesh,” or in other words in their external behavior. They thought they were right with God because they were going through all of the right motions. But the believers, on the other hand, did not have their confidence in any set of religious traditions, but in Jesus Christ. Their glory—or in other words, their boast and their hope—was in what Jesus had accomplished, which is an expression of worshipping in the Spirit of God, and not simply worshipping in external acts.
Now all of this is not to say that our external behavior isn’t important. It is important, but if our external behavior is going to be truly pleasing to God, it has to flow out of an internal faith. It has to come from the right motives and attitudes, and this is what the false teachers were lacking.
Paul then goes on in vv. 4–6 to give a personal testimony that is something of a challenge to the false teachers. He is basically saying that he could beat them at their own game. If any of the Jews had reason to think that they were right with God simply on the basis of external acts or heritage, it was Paul. Let’s take a look at his resume here, and I’ll briefly describe Paul’s qualifications.
First, Paul says he was “circumcised the eighth day.” This was a requirement for every male child under the Law of Moses, and for Paul, this meant that he was brought up under the Law from his earliest days. There was never a time that he did not live under the Law.
Second, Paul says he was “of the nation of Israel.” This means that he was ethnically Jewish. He was not a convert from a Gentile background or anything like that. He had Jewish blood flowing through his veins.
Next, he says he was “of the tribe of Benjamin.” This was a special thing because in the Old Testament, the tribe of Benjamin was one of only two tribes who remained loyal to the descendents of King David after the nation of Israel split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
Then Paul says that he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews.” This meant that Paul’s family had remained loyal to the culture of the Jews. Paul wasn’t actually born in Israel; his family had immigrated to another country. And as you know, sometimes immigrants will adopt and embrace the culture of their new homeland, and sometimes they will retain their ethnic culture. Well, Paul’s family had retained all of the culture of the Jewish people. So Paul was Jewish through and through, both ethnically and culturally.
Next, Paul says “as to the Law, a Pharisee.” The Pharisees were a religious and political group within Israel that was known for their strict observance of the Law. They had even added laws of their own to the Law of Moses that were supposed to help them avoid violating the real laws.
Next, Paul writes, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church.” Like many other Jews, Paul that the church was a threat to Judaism before he was converted. But unlike some other Jews, Paul decided that he was going to take it into his own hands to wipe out the church, so he personally arrested Christians and threw them in prison. This zeal proved how devoted he was to the Jewish way of life.
Finally, Paul writes, “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Here he’s basically saying that if someone had judged his life by the standards of the Law, he would have passed the test.
But then he reveals his new perspective in v. 7 [READ v. 7]. At one time, Paul had had the same viewpoint as the false teachers—he thought he was right with God because he had gone through all of the motions. His resume of religious deeds was impeccable, and he thought that his resume had brought him close to God, but when he (literally) saw the light and accepted Christ, he realized that his old perspective had actually taken him further away from God. His way of thinking had actually been an obstacle between him and the Lord.
And what we need to realize is that even as believers, we are not immune to that way of thinking. We can also fall into the trap of thinking that God is pleased with our lives as long as we’re going through the right motions. And so I want to ask you—what are the things in your spiritual life that could become potential sources of pride? Or to think of this another way, if you had to put together a Christian resume—like Paul did here with his former life—what would it look like? Perhaps it would sound something like this: “I was born again at a very young age; raised in a devout Christian home; I went to Sunday School every week—I even went to AWANA and finished every book. I went to a Christian college and married a Christian spouse. I’ve taught Sunday School for the last ten years; I’ve served on the board (or the music team or the pulpit committee or the women’s ministry)
And the list could go on and on. Now notice that all of things that I mentioned were good things, but if we have the wrong perspective about them—if we think God was pleased simply because we did them, whether or not we had the right motivation—then it could very well be that those things have actually become an obstacle in our relationship with God, rather than something that actually draws us closer to Him.
So the lesson for us is this—we must not place our pride or our confidence in any such things as this. Our confidence should rest solely upon the work of Jesus Christ. We can rejoice in what he has done, and when we do we will be freed to simply serve Him in love—not to earn His affection or pad our Christian resume or anything like that, but to simply live to honor him because of what he has done for us.
Pastor Timothy Keller once described the growth process that helped him learn this lesson, and I want to read his testimony to you as we close:
When my own personal grasp of the gospel was very weak, my self-view swung wildly between two poles. When I was performing up to my standards- in academic work, professional achievement, or relationships- I felt confident but not humble. I was likely to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. When I was not living up to standards, I felt humble but not confident, a failure. I discovered, however, that the gospel contained the resources to build a unique identity. In Christ I could know I was accepted by grace not only despite my flaws, but because I was willing to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself…so often.*
That’s the kind of peace of mind that this lesson offers us. So rejoice over what you have in Christ; don’t place your pride in your own achievements. You won’t be tempted to think that you’re missing something that you need to draw close to God, and you’ll be freed to serve Him simply from a heart of love.
*Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, (New York: Penguin Group USA, 2008) pg 180-181.
Now imagine for a moment that you had to go through a similar process to get into heaven. Imagine that you passed away, and stood before God, and He asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” And this is all hypothetical of course, but imagine that you didn’t have Christ’s payment for sins to rely on—imagine that His life and death and resurrection had never happened, and you really did have to try and convince God to let you into heaven based on nothing but your own accomplishments. Talk about a nerve-wracking experience!
But fortunately, we know from the Bible that that’s not the case. We don’t have to take our resume to the pearly gates, because our entrance into heaven isn’t based on anything that we accomplish—its based on what Jesus accomplished. But nevertheless, its very easy to slip into that mindset of thinking that our relationship with God is all based on the things that we can accomplish in our spiritual lives. And along with that comes the temptation to think that we really are a little better than others—a little closer to God because of some of the things that we’ve done in our lives. But in our study of Philippians today, Paul is going to steer us away from that mindset with a lesson that is easy to understand, but not always easy to live by. Our lesson today is this:
Rejoice over what you have in Christ; don’t place your pride in your own achievements.
Turn with me if you would to Philippians 3:1–7. Let’s read these verses, and then we’ll talk about a little bit of historical background that will help us understand these verses [READ 3:1–7].
Now let me mention just a few things about the historical setting of this time that will help us understand what Paul is talking about in these verses. One of the realities that the early church had to deal with was the fact that Christianity was born out of Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, as were all of the apostles, and the church that Jesus founded was the fulfillment of the Jewish religious system in the Old Testament.
But at this time, there was some racism that existed between Jews and non-Jewish people (or Gentiles), so when non-Jewish people started to become part of the church, this created some conflict. Initially, some of the Jewish Christians felt that non-Jewish people needed to adopt the customs of the Law of Moses before they could join the church. This matter was settled at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 when the apostles declared that God had accepted non-Jewish people apart from the Law of Moses, but after that Council there were still some unbelieving Jews who tried to bring the Gentile Christians under the Law of Moses. So that’s the background to what Paul is discussing in these verses.
Now, let’s look at the two parts of our lesson.
I. Rejoice over what you have in Christ (v. 1)
In v. 1, Paul returns to a theme that he has already mentioned several times in this letter—the theme of rejoicing. It’s not hard to see why he may have mentioned this after what he just wrote in chapter 2. We just saw that the Philippians had been distressed over hearing that their friend Epaphroditus was sick. But by the time they would read this letter, Epaphroditus would be with them again, and they would have reason for rejoicing.
But what’s a little more interesting here is the function that rejoicing has in light of what Paul writes in vv. 2–7. At the end of v. 1, Paul writes, “to write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.” Apparently, Paul viewed rejoicing in the Lord as a safeguard against the temptation that was being presented to these Gentile Christians—namely, the temptation to think that they needed to follow the traditions of the Jews in order to draw close to God. These Gentiles could be tempted to think that they were missing out on something by not following the Law of Moses, even though in reality the death and resurrection of Jesus made it unnecessary to follow the Law of Moses any more.
So rejoicing in the Lord would counter the temptation to think that they were missing out because it would remind the Philippians of all that they had in Christ. The same idea is true for us. Rejoicing in the Lord reminds us that we have everything we need in Christ. We are not missing out on something that is necessary to draw close to God; Jesus is all we need.
Now in our corner of the world, we certainly understand what it is like to encounter people who tell us that we are missing out on something in our relationship with God because we don’t follow certain traditions and rules. But we don’t need to be shaken by such a thought, because as Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3, God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” and rejoicing in that fact will help us counter the thought that we are missing out on something.
So rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard for us because it reminds us that Jesus is all we need. Jesus has given us every spiritual blessing; Jesus has made us accepted by God. It is not anything that is based on our own achievements. That reminder forms the second part of our lesson today.
II. Don’t place your pride in your own achievements (v. 2–7)
In v. 2, we find that Paul obviously never had training in how to be politically correct, because notice how he describes the Jewish people who were trying to persuade these Gentiles [READ v. 2]. He refers to them here as the “false circumcision” because even though they were physically circumcised, they were not right with God because they had rejected God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Circumcision was a tremendous source of pride for the Jewish people because it was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, a sign which God had told the Jews to practice. But the physical, external act of circumcision means nothing by itself—it was supposed to be a sign that the people were embracing the same faith that Abraham had in God. But by this point in history, for many Jewish people the external act was not accompanied by the faith; thus, their circumcision did not mean that they were right with God, and that’s why Paul calls it a “false” circumcision here.
Now you dog lovers out there may be wondering why Paul first said, “beware of the dogs.” Was he one of those cat lovers or something? Did Paul have something against dogs? Well, no—we simply need to understand that dogs back then were not the cuddly house pets that many of them are today. At that time, dogs were not widely domesticated in that part of the world. They were wild animals and were mostly scavengers, feeding on trash and dead animals. They often travelled in packs, so they behaved much more like what we know from wolves today. Thus, they were fairly dangerous creatures that humans tended to avoid—and that was obviously Paul’s point with this analogy here. These false teachers were people to be avoided.
But in contrast to these false teachers, Paul describes the believers this way in v. 3 [READ v. 3]. That last statement really captures the difference between the believers and the false teachers well. The false teachers had their confidence placed “in the flesh,” or in other words in their external behavior. They thought they were right with God because they were going through all of the right motions. But the believers, on the other hand, did not have their confidence in any set of religious traditions, but in Jesus Christ. Their glory—or in other words, their boast and their hope—was in what Jesus had accomplished, which is an expression of worshipping in the Spirit of God, and not simply worshipping in external acts.
Now all of this is not to say that our external behavior isn’t important. It is important, but if our external behavior is going to be truly pleasing to God, it has to flow out of an internal faith. It has to come from the right motives and attitudes, and this is what the false teachers were lacking.
Paul then goes on in vv. 4–6 to give a personal testimony that is something of a challenge to the false teachers. He is basically saying that he could beat them at their own game. If any of the Jews had reason to think that they were right with God simply on the basis of external acts or heritage, it was Paul. Let’s take a look at his resume here, and I’ll briefly describe Paul’s qualifications.
First, Paul says he was “circumcised the eighth day.” This was a requirement for every male child under the Law of Moses, and for Paul, this meant that he was brought up under the Law from his earliest days. There was never a time that he did not live under the Law.
Second, Paul says he was “of the nation of Israel.” This means that he was ethnically Jewish. He was not a convert from a Gentile background or anything like that. He had Jewish blood flowing through his veins.
Next, he says he was “of the tribe of Benjamin.” This was a special thing because in the Old Testament, the tribe of Benjamin was one of only two tribes who remained loyal to the descendents of King David after the nation of Israel split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
Then Paul says that he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews.” This meant that Paul’s family had remained loyal to the culture of the Jews. Paul wasn’t actually born in Israel; his family had immigrated to another country. And as you know, sometimes immigrants will adopt and embrace the culture of their new homeland, and sometimes they will retain their ethnic culture. Well, Paul’s family had retained all of the culture of the Jewish people. So Paul was Jewish through and through, both ethnically and culturally.
Next, Paul says “as to the Law, a Pharisee.” The Pharisees were a religious and political group within Israel that was known for their strict observance of the Law. They had even added laws of their own to the Law of Moses that were supposed to help them avoid violating the real laws.
Next, Paul writes, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church.” Like many other Jews, Paul that the church was a threat to Judaism before he was converted. But unlike some other Jews, Paul decided that he was going to take it into his own hands to wipe out the church, so he personally arrested Christians and threw them in prison. This zeal proved how devoted he was to the Jewish way of life.
Finally, Paul writes, “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Here he’s basically saying that if someone had judged his life by the standards of the Law, he would have passed the test.
But then he reveals his new perspective in v. 7 [READ v. 7]. At one time, Paul had had the same viewpoint as the false teachers—he thought he was right with God because he had gone through all of the motions. His resume of religious deeds was impeccable, and he thought that his resume had brought him close to God, but when he (literally) saw the light and accepted Christ, he realized that his old perspective had actually taken him further away from God. His way of thinking had actually been an obstacle between him and the Lord.
And what we need to realize is that even as believers, we are not immune to that way of thinking. We can also fall into the trap of thinking that God is pleased with our lives as long as we’re going through the right motions. And so I want to ask you—what are the things in your spiritual life that could become potential sources of pride? Or to think of this another way, if you had to put together a Christian resume—like Paul did here with his former life—what would it look like? Perhaps it would sound something like this: “I was born again at a very young age; raised in a devout Christian home; I went to Sunday School every week—I even went to AWANA and finished every book. I went to a Christian college and married a Christian spouse. I’ve taught Sunday School for the last ten years; I’ve served on the board (or the music team or the pulpit committee or the women’s ministry)
And the list could go on and on. Now notice that all of things that I mentioned were good things, but if we have the wrong perspective about them—if we think God was pleased simply because we did them, whether or not we had the right motivation—then it could very well be that those things have actually become an obstacle in our relationship with God, rather than something that actually draws us closer to Him.
So the lesson for us is this—we must not place our pride or our confidence in any such things as this. Our confidence should rest solely upon the work of Jesus Christ. We can rejoice in what he has done, and when we do we will be freed to simply serve Him in love—not to earn His affection or pad our Christian resume or anything like that, but to simply live to honor him because of what he has done for us.
Pastor Timothy Keller once described the growth process that helped him learn this lesson, and I want to read his testimony to you as we close:
When my own personal grasp of the gospel was very weak, my self-view swung wildly between two poles. When I was performing up to my standards- in academic work, professional achievement, or relationships- I felt confident but not humble. I was likely to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. When I was not living up to standards, I felt humble but not confident, a failure. I discovered, however, that the gospel contained the resources to build a unique identity. In Christ I could know I was accepted by grace not only despite my flaws, but because I was willing to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself…so often.*
That’s the kind of peace of mind that this lesson offers us. So rejoice over what you have in Christ; don’t place your pride in your own achievements. You won’t be tempted to think that you’re missing something that you need to draw close to God, and you’ll be freed to serve Him simply from a heart of love.
*Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, (New York: Penguin Group USA, 2008) pg 180-181.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Unconquerable Joy--Philippians 1:12-18a
Have you ever noticed how the things we tend to desire most in life are usually the things that are the most difficult to get? And that when we do get them, they’re usually the most difficult things to hold on to? Now I’m not talking about a new boat or a fancy car or things like that—I’m thinking of the emotional needs that we search for in life; things like joy, contentment, peace, acceptance, a sense of purpose and satisfaction. These things are very difficult to get, and when we do get them, they are very difficult to hang on to. I think this is proof enough that something inside of us is seriously out of whack, which is precisely what the Bible teaches us.
According to the Bible, God created us in a state of perfection—we had no sin, and our ancestors Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with each other and with God. But we as humans rebelled against God and decided to go our own way, and ever since then we have had a natural desire to worship ourselves rather than God.
And I think that lesson tells us why things like joy, peace, and contentment are so hard to find—its because we’re looking in all the wrong places. Since we are estranged from God because of our sin, we start to look to our own accomplishments to bring us joy, or we look to the material things of this world to bring us joy, and what we find is that they never meet that need for us, and yet we often simply continue on down the same path because our sinful mindset continues to turn us away from God and back toward ourselves.
So what is the answer to this problem? How can we find something like lasting joy? Well, the answer the Scripture gives us of course is to rejoice in the Lord. We can find lasting joy by finding it in the Lord. But what does that mean exactly? When we say, “rejoice in the Lord,” that’s still a little bit of an abstract concept. Is it possible to be more specific about how we are to do that?
In our study today from the book of Philippians, we are going to gain some insight from the Apostle Paul as to how we can find a joy in the Lord that is lasting. What we will see from our study today is this…
We can have lasting joy when we rejoice in the unstoppable spread of the gospel.
Would you turn with me please to Phil. 1:12–18? Let’s read these verses, and then I want to look at two realities about the spread of the gospel that give us reason to rejoice [READ Phil. 1:12–18].
I. We can rejoice that the gospel advances despite persecution
In our last study in this letter from Paul to the Philippians, we saw Paul’s greeting to the people of that church. He told them how he prayed for them (with thankfulness and joy) and he also told them what he prayed for them (that they would have a knowledgeable love that would guide them into choosing what is best). Now, Paul begins to tell them about his present circumstances, which for Paul means that he is going to start talking about the gospel. Paul’s entire life was centered around the spread of the gospel, so Paul isn’t really going to talk about how he’s doing, instead he’s going to talk about how the gospel is doing. And perhaps to our surprise, we find that even though Paul was in prison, the gospel was doing quite well.
Notice again v. 12 [READ v. 12]. Now how could this be? Paul was in prison, under persecution first from the Jews, then from the Romans. How could that situation turn out for the greater progress of the gospel? Well, what Paul tells us gives us a couple of insights into how persecution can actually accelerate the spread of the gospel.
A. The gospel often spreads among those who are conducting the persecution
Look at what Paul writes in v. 13 [READ v. 13]. Apparently, all of the soldiers and the people in Rome who had come in contact with Paul realized that he was not an ordinary prisoner. He was not under arrest for a crime, nor was he really a political prisoner—he was under arrest for his preaching about Jesus Christ. This fact had become known among the guards and the officials, and some of them had apparently accepted the gospel themselves, because Paul writes in 4:22, “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” Now at that time, “Caesar’s household” would have also included servants and guards, so this may not have referred to Caesar’s actual family, but nevertheless the gospel had been accepted by some who were in the closest proximity to a man who proclaimed himself lord of all.
This shows us the amazing truth that when the gospel comes under persecution, it doesn’t stamp out the message—it actually causes it to spread farther, sometimes among the same people who are conducting the persecution! This truth has played itself out throughout church history time and time again. Some of the most incredible examples of this truth have come out in just the last few decades from countries that were part of the former Soviet Union. In his book Desiring God, Pastor John Piper records part of the autobiography of a former member of the Russian secret police named Sergei who became a believer through the willingness of Christians to suffer for their faith. I want to read part of that for you. Sergei writes about one of his police raids and he says:
I saw Victor Matveyev reach and grab for a young girl [named Natasha] who was trying to escape to another room. She was a beautiful young girl. What a waste to be a believer. Victor caught her, picked her up above his head, and held her high in the air for a second…Victor threw her so hard she hit the wall at the same height she was thrown, then dropped to the floor, semiconscious, moaning. Victor turned and laughed and exclaimed, “I’ll bet the idea of God went flying out of her head.”
On a later raid, Sergei was shocked to see Natasha again.
I quickly surveyed the room and saw a sight I couldn’t believe! There she was, the same girl! Only three nights before, she had been at the other meeting and had been viciously thrown across the room…I picked her up and flung her on a table facedown. One of my men held her down and I began to beat her again and again.
To Sergei’s shock, he later encountered [Natasha] at yet another prayer meeting. But this time something was different:
There she was again—Natasha! Several of the guys saw her too. Alex Gulyaev moved toward Natasha…then something I never expected to see suddenly happened. Without warning, Victor jumped between Natasha and Alex, facing Alex head-on…Victor’s feet didn’t move. He raised his club and said menacingly, “Alex, I’m telling you, don’t touch her! No one touches her!” Angered, Alex shouted, “You want her for yourself, don’t you?” “No,” Victor shouted back. “She has something we don’t have! Nobody touches her! Nobody!”
The Lord later opened Sergei’s heart to the glorious good news of Jesus Christ. As he later reflected on Natasha…he wrote:
…Natasha, largely because of you, my life is now changed and I am a fellow believer in Christ with you…God has forgiven me; I hope you can also. Thank you, Natasha, wherever you are. I will never, never forget you.*
What an amazing testimony to the way that God can work to advance the gospel through the persecution of his people! Persecution cannot stamp out the gospel, because it often spreads among its persecutors, and moreover
B. The gospel often spreads through believers who gain boldness in the midst of persecution
Look again at what Paul writes in v. 14 [READ v. 14]. Now this sounds awfully strange at first, doesn’t it? How could the other believers become more courageous in preaching the gospel after Paul had been arrested? Don’t you think the temptation would be for them to keep quiet to avoid being arrested themselves? Think of it like this—most of you are probably familiar with Dan Jones and his cowboy church ministry. Imagine that some local official got upset about what Dan was preaching and someone maneuvered to have Dan arrested for preaching the gospel. Don’t you think there would be a temptation for us to keep quiet?
But, imagine if some police officers and some other officials began to accept the gospel because of Dan’s witness in jail. That would probably give us a renewed confidence to preach. We would have living proof that our message cannot be stopped, and I think that’s what these believers around Paul discovered. They had more courage because they saw that nothing can stop the spread of the gospel—not prison, not persecution, NOTHING! And tell me friends, when you’re convinced that something will succeed, doesn’t that make you more confident to attempt it?
So Paul saw this new boldness in others to preach the gospel, and he saw the gospel advancing despite persecution, and this allowed him to rejoice even though his personal circumstances were not great. Nevertheless, he had a lasting joy because it was based on a lasting work—the work of God to advance the gospel through the preaching of his people.
So first, we can rejoice that the gospel advances despite persecution. And second,
II. We can rejoice that the gospel advances despite the sinful motives of some who preach it
In v. 14, Paul mentioned that the believers around him in Rome had grown bolder in preaching the gospel, but in vv. 15–17, he goes on to state that they didn’t all have pure motives behind their preaching [READ vv. 15–17].
Now let’s distinguish these two groups. On one side, we had a group that was spreading the gospel out of love—probably love for Paul and for God. They apparently understood that even though Paul was in prison, he was right where God had placed him for the defense of the gospel, and they were motivated to carry on Paul’s evangelistic work.
On the other side, we had a group of Christians who apparently saw Paul’s imprisonment as an opportunity to gain something for themselves by preaching the gospel. Perhaps they saw the notoriety that Paul had achieved and the fact that people were sending him money and they thought, “Hey! Here’s my chance to get a piece of the pie!” For some reason they saw Paul as a rival, and therefore they viewed his imprisonment as a chance to get ahead.
Now we don’t know exactly who these believers were. They may have been Jewish Christians who thought that Paul wasn’t promoting the Jewish traditions enough. They may have been Gentile Christians who saw religion as a means for financial gain the way it was for the pagan priests. But please not that they were not spreading false doctrine. Verse 14 affirms that they were preaching “the word of God.” Paul would not have rejoiced in their preaching if they were spreading false doctrine, but as it was, Paul was able to say in verse 18 [READ v. 18]. Paul could rejoice because even though the proclamation wasn’t perfect, even though some people had sinful motives, Christ was still being proclaimed, and that was enough for him.
I’m sure in our own day that there are Christians who have sinful motives in preaching the gospel. In many different ways, Christianity has become “big business” today. There is a lot of money that changes hands in the Christians music industry and the Christian publishing industry, and wherever the possibility for profit exists you can be sure that the temptations of greed and selfishness are there as well.
Sometimes churches can engage in “turf wars” with one another where there is a subtle competition to become the biggest or the wealthiest church. Paul is not telling us here that such motives are okay, but he’s telling us to keep the big picture in mind. The crux of the matter is this—is the gospel being proclaimed? If it is, fantastic! If someone has sinful motives in their ministry, God will deal with them on that, but on our part, we can share in the joy that Paul demonstrates here over the spread of the gospel.
And that I believe is an important key for us if we want to have lasting joy. If we base our joy on temporary or transitory things, then our joy will come and go; but if we can learn to find joy in the spread of the gospel, we can have unconquerable joy because the gospel is unconquerable. It cannot be stopped by persecution or by the imperfections of those who proclaim it. So if you want to have more joy in your life, find out how the gospel is doing around you. Ask your Christian friends about people they might be witnessing to, stay informed about ministries in the US that are trying to spread the gospel. Keep up to date with the missionaries we support and find out how God is blessing their efforts. Base your joy in the spread of the gospel, and your joy will never be extinguished.
But of course, finding joy in the spread of the gospel means that you must accept the gospel message yourself, and you can do that today if you’ve never done that before.
*John Piper, Desiring God, 2003 Edition (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003), 275–278.
According to the Bible, God created us in a state of perfection—we had no sin, and our ancestors Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with each other and with God. But we as humans rebelled against God and decided to go our own way, and ever since then we have had a natural desire to worship ourselves rather than God.
And I think that lesson tells us why things like joy, peace, and contentment are so hard to find—its because we’re looking in all the wrong places. Since we are estranged from God because of our sin, we start to look to our own accomplishments to bring us joy, or we look to the material things of this world to bring us joy, and what we find is that they never meet that need for us, and yet we often simply continue on down the same path because our sinful mindset continues to turn us away from God and back toward ourselves.
So what is the answer to this problem? How can we find something like lasting joy? Well, the answer the Scripture gives us of course is to rejoice in the Lord. We can find lasting joy by finding it in the Lord. But what does that mean exactly? When we say, “rejoice in the Lord,” that’s still a little bit of an abstract concept. Is it possible to be more specific about how we are to do that?
In our study today from the book of Philippians, we are going to gain some insight from the Apostle Paul as to how we can find a joy in the Lord that is lasting. What we will see from our study today is this…
We can have lasting joy when we rejoice in the unstoppable spread of the gospel.
Would you turn with me please to Phil. 1:12–18? Let’s read these verses, and then I want to look at two realities about the spread of the gospel that give us reason to rejoice [READ Phil. 1:12–18].
I. We can rejoice that the gospel advances despite persecution
In our last study in this letter from Paul to the Philippians, we saw Paul’s greeting to the people of that church. He told them how he prayed for them (with thankfulness and joy) and he also told them what he prayed for them (that they would have a knowledgeable love that would guide them into choosing what is best). Now, Paul begins to tell them about his present circumstances, which for Paul means that he is going to start talking about the gospel. Paul’s entire life was centered around the spread of the gospel, so Paul isn’t really going to talk about how he’s doing, instead he’s going to talk about how the gospel is doing. And perhaps to our surprise, we find that even though Paul was in prison, the gospel was doing quite well.
Notice again v. 12 [READ v. 12]. Now how could this be? Paul was in prison, under persecution first from the Jews, then from the Romans. How could that situation turn out for the greater progress of the gospel? Well, what Paul tells us gives us a couple of insights into how persecution can actually accelerate the spread of the gospel.
A. The gospel often spreads among those who are conducting the persecution
Look at what Paul writes in v. 13 [READ v. 13]. Apparently, all of the soldiers and the people in Rome who had come in contact with Paul realized that he was not an ordinary prisoner. He was not under arrest for a crime, nor was he really a political prisoner—he was under arrest for his preaching about Jesus Christ. This fact had become known among the guards and the officials, and some of them had apparently accepted the gospel themselves, because Paul writes in 4:22, “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” Now at that time, “Caesar’s household” would have also included servants and guards, so this may not have referred to Caesar’s actual family, but nevertheless the gospel had been accepted by some who were in the closest proximity to a man who proclaimed himself lord of all.
This shows us the amazing truth that when the gospel comes under persecution, it doesn’t stamp out the message—it actually causes it to spread farther, sometimes among the same people who are conducting the persecution! This truth has played itself out throughout church history time and time again. Some of the most incredible examples of this truth have come out in just the last few decades from countries that were part of the former Soviet Union. In his book Desiring God, Pastor John Piper records part of the autobiography of a former member of the Russian secret police named Sergei who became a believer through the willingness of Christians to suffer for their faith. I want to read part of that for you. Sergei writes about one of his police raids and he says:
I saw Victor Matveyev reach and grab for a young girl [named Natasha] who was trying to escape to another room. She was a beautiful young girl. What a waste to be a believer. Victor caught her, picked her up above his head, and held her high in the air for a second…Victor threw her so hard she hit the wall at the same height she was thrown, then dropped to the floor, semiconscious, moaning. Victor turned and laughed and exclaimed, “I’ll bet the idea of God went flying out of her head.”
On a later raid, Sergei was shocked to see Natasha again.
I quickly surveyed the room and saw a sight I couldn’t believe! There she was, the same girl! Only three nights before, she had been at the other meeting and had been viciously thrown across the room…I picked her up and flung her on a table facedown. One of my men held her down and I began to beat her again and again.
To Sergei’s shock, he later encountered [Natasha] at yet another prayer meeting. But this time something was different:
There she was again—Natasha! Several of the guys saw her too. Alex Gulyaev moved toward Natasha…then something I never expected to see suddenly happened. Without warning, Victor jumped between Natasha and Alex, facing Alex head-on…Victor’s feet didn’t move. He raised his club and said menacingly, “Alex, I’m telling you, don’t touch her! No one touches her!” Angered, Alex shouted, “You want her for yourself, don’t you?” “No,” Victor shouted back. “She has something we don’t have! Nobody touches her! Nobody!”
The Lord later opened Sergei’s heart to the glorious good news of Jesus Christ. As he later reflected on Natasha…he wrote:
…Natasha, largely because of you, my life is now changed and I am a fellow believer in Christ with you…God has forgiven me; I hope you can also. Thank you, Natasha, wherever you are. I will never, never forget you.*
What an amazing testimony to the way that God can work to advance the gospel through the persecution of his people! Persecution cannot stamp out the gospel, because it often spreads among its persecutors, and moreover
B. The gospel often spreads through believers who gain boldness in the midst of persecution
Look again at what Paul writes in v. 14 [READ v. 14]. Now this sounds awfully strange at first, doesn’t it? How could the other believers become more courageous in preaching the gospel after Paul had been arrested? Don’t you think the temptation would be for them to keep quiet to avoid being arrested themselves? Think of it like this—most of you are probably familiar with Dan Jones and his cowboy church ministry. Imagine that some local official got upset about what Dan was preaching and someone maneuvered to have Dan arrested for preaching the gospel. Don’t you think there would be a temptation for us to keep quiet?
But, imagine if some police officers and some other officials began to accept the gospel because of Dan’s witness in jail. That would probably give us a renewed confidence to preach. We would have living proof that our message cannot be stopped, and I think that’s what these believers around Paul discovered. They had more courage because they saw that nothing can stop the spread of the gospel—not prison, not persecution, NOTHING! And tell me friends, when you’re convinced that something will succeed, doesn’t that make you more confident to attempt it?
So Paul saw this new boldness in others to preach the gospel, and he saw the gospel advancing despite persecution, and this allowed him to rejoice even though his personal circumstances were not great. Nevertheless, he had a lasting joy because it was based on a lasting work—the work of God to advance the gospel through the preaching of his people.
So first, we can rejoice that the gospel advances despite persecution. And second,
II. We can rejoice that the gospel advances despite the sinful motives of some who preach it
In v. 14, Paul mentioned that the believers around him in Rome had grown bolder in preaching the gospel, but in vv. 15–17, he goes on to state that they didn’t all have pure motives behind their preaching [READ vv. 15–17].
Now let’s distinguish these two groups. On one side, we had a group that was spreading the gospel out of love—probably love for Paul and for God. They apparently understood that even though Paul was in prison, he was right where God had placed him for the defense of the gospel, and they were motivated to carry on Paul’s evangelistic work.
On the other side, we had a group of Christians who apparently saw Paul’s imprisonment as an opportunity to gain something for themselves by preaching the gospel. Perhaps they saw the notoriety that Paul had achieved and the fact that people were sending him money and they thought, “Hey! Here’s my chance to get a piece of the pie!” For some reason they saw Paul as a rival, and therefore they viewed his imprisonment as a chance to get ahead.
Now we don’t know exactly who these believers were. They may have been Jewish Christians who thought that Paul wasn’t promoting the Jewish traditions enough. They may have been Gentile Christians who saw religion as a means for financial gain the way it was for the pagan priests. But please not that they were not spreading false doctrine. Verse 14 affirms that they were preaching “the word of God.” Paul would not have rejoiced in their preaching if they were spreading false doctrine, but as it was, Paul was able to say in verse 18 [READ v. 18]. Paul could rejoice because even though the proclamation wasn’t perfect, even though some people had sinful motives, Christ was still being proclaimed, and that was enough for him.
I’m sure in our own day that there are Christians who have sinful motives in preaching the gospel. In many different ways, Christianity has become “big business” today. There is a lot of money that changes hands in the Christians music industry and the Christian publishing industry, and wherever the possibility for profit exists you can be sure that the temptations of greed and selfishness are there as well.
Sometimes churches can engage in “turf wars” with one another where there is a subtle competition to become the biggest or the wealthiest church. Paul is not telling us here that such motives are okay, but he’s telling us to keep the big picture in mind. The crux of the matter is this—is the gospel being proclaimed? If it is, fantastic! If someone has sinful motives in their ministry, God will deal with them on that, but on our part, we can share in the joy that Paul demonstrates here over the spread of the gospel.
And that I believe is an important key for us if we want to have lasting joy. If we base our joy on temporary or transitory things, then our joy will come and go; but if we can learn to find joy in the spread of the gospel, we can have unconquerable joy because the gospel is unconquerable. It cannot be stopped by persecution or by the imperfections of those who proclaim it. So if you want to have more joy in your life, find out how the gospel is doing around you. Ask your Christian friends about people they might be witnessing to, stay informed about ministries in the US that are trying to spread the gospel. Keep up to date with the missionaries we support and find out how God is blessing their efforts. Base your joy in the spread of the gospel, and your joy will never be extinguished.
But of course, finding joy in the spread of the gospel means that you must accept the gospel message yourself, and you can do that today if you’ve never done that before.
*John Piper, Desiring God, 2003 Edition (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003), 275–278.
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