Grosey's Messages

Philippians 1  Your Prayer Life

3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

 

You are being prayed for at this very moment.  But isn't it wonderful when somebody on the planet models the Savior; somebody in your world, made out of the same cloth, who makes the same mistakes, who needs the same grace says, "I'm going to pray for you . . . you're going on my prayer list." And the first personal thing he tells them in chapter 1 and verse 3 is that he is always praying for them.

They're on his prayer list.  He's already informed them they are on his mind – verse 3  And they are on his heart – verse 7  He's effectively coming up to each of them, saying, "I want you to know, I'm praying for you every day, for the rest of my life."  And he means it.

He writes, I yearn for you all with the affection – the same desires – that Jesus has for you.  I long for your best, in this regard.

The phrase, I yearn for you, is a word that means to strain toward. Dwight Pentecost in his commentary on this text brought up another original context for this word as a word that illustrated the athlete nearing the finish line. He's at the front of the race, and victory appears to be his; but he hears footsteps on the track immediately behind him, and another contestant threatens to overtake him. So he strains with every muscle and nerve and fiber of his body and as he reaches the finish line, he leans forward – straining to cross the finish line first.ii

That's Paul's passion here – I am straining with everything in my being on your behalf – I am putting everything I've got into praying for you in the church at Philippi.

There are at least 9 prayer requests

Paul prays for  1. Their Passion in Life

Notice verse 9. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.

The word abound perisseuo in the present tense is progressive and it expresses the idea of continuing, overflowing, abounding love.iii

That kind of love isn't sentimental . . . it isn't a few warm fuzzies here or there . . . it's the word agape for deep, undying commitment.  In other words, Paul says, "I am praying every day for you – that your love will overflow the banks of your heart and life." Paul isn't saying, "That your love for me may abound." He doesn't even say, "that your love for God may abound"; or "That your love for each other . . . or for the world . . . or for the word . . . or for your family . . ." may abound.  Paul doesn't specify the object of your love . . . which means that Paul is actually telling them that all the above would be true.  In other words, in every dimension of life we are to demonstrate a lavish, ongoing, limitless love – one author writes – an unremitting geyser of love to God and a flood of love that overflows to everybody else.iv

The old Latin commentator, Bengel writes of this text, "The fire in the apostle never says, "It is enough." Paul is saying, more love . . . more love.v

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee;  Hear Thou the prayer I make, on bended knee;

This is my earnest plea, more love, O Christ to Thee,  More love Thee . . . more love to Thee.vi

Paul is demonstrating a prayer life that looks nothing like a tourist stop in the body of Christ.  He's describing a church body that views itself as critically essential in the growth and development of the believer and the concentrated outgrowth of the gospel.  Paul is referring to the kind of passionate love that bothers enough to take up residency. You see, agape is a love that moves in and settles down and rolls up its sleeves . . . and endures the heat of discipleship and servanthood and spiritual disciplines.

Paul prays for:  2. Their Progress in Life

Paul says, "I am praying for your love to abound more and more, notice, with knowledge".

The word used here for knowledge is used without exception in the New Testament for spiritual issues – the knowledge of God; the knowledge of spiritual truth; the knowledge of doctrine – it's a knowledge that comes from the study of God's word.viii  In other words, Paul wants these believers to learn more about God because when they do, their love for Him will be deeper and richer and more grateful.

Paul is also saying to the Philippians, "I'm longing for you all to develop in your knowledge of love – and not just whatever you think love might be – or what others consider love, but true, knowledgeable, spiritually originating, biblical love."  Listen, our world is becoming like his world more and more all the time.

Adultery, the acceptance of mistresses, polygamy, pornography, homosexuality, promiscuity, one-night stands between strangers, all kinds of fornication – all these forms of sexual experiences and experiments were applauded by the Roman Empire.  And Paul didn't stick his head in the sand either.  He knew his generation would have to learn the boundaries of a brand new kind of love – a biblical love. Our sinful nature knows nothing of biblical love.  Everything we thought we knew about love has to relearned . . . redefined . . . reconstructed now that we've been forgiven.  And much of what we've been forgiven of – and will still be forgiven of day in and day out – is loving the wrong way.

No wonder Paul is earnestly praying that believers – then and now – "I'm praying with every ounce of strength I have and every fiber in my being that you will progress in learning how to love and how to live according to biblical knowledge."  Relationships make up the majority of our lives . . . so progress in learning how to relate to others in life – in knowledgeable, biblical love.

Paul is praying for:  3. Their Practice in Life

In other words, how are these believers in Philippi – and us – to handle the daily issues and pressures of life biblically? Paul writes in verse 9. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.  There's his third prayer request – for us to be discerning.  What does it mean to be discerning? Paul uses a word here that never again appears in the New Testament.  It's the word aesthesis  and you can translate it sensibility or insight.x

It's a word that broadly refers to the application of biblical knowledge.  Wisdom!!  So Paul prays that we might possess the truth – that's knowledge; and then that we might practice the truth – that's discernment.  You see the problem with the average Christian isn't that we don't know the truth; it's that we don't want to apply the truth we know. When John Wesley went away to study at Oxford in June of 1720, his godly mother Susanna wisely wrote in one of her letters to him, "Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the delight for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin."xiii

Now Paul continues in verse 10 to pray for our partiality.

Let me show you what I mean . . . let's back up to verse 9 and get a running start; And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10, so that you may approve that which is excellent. The verb Paul uses for approving is dokimazein which means to examine or to test. xiv

It can refer to testing something to determine if it's true or false;  This word can also refer to evaluating the difference between things that are good  and things that are better – in other words, testing something so that you not only determine what's good, but what might be better – or what might be best.  The word can also refer to determining the difference between things that matter and things that don't matter. xv

In classical Greek writings, this verb "to test or to approve" was used in testing money to determine whether or not it was counterfeit.  Counterfeit money was around hundreds of years before Paul wrote this letter. Counterfeiters would coat copper coins with a thin coating of silver and pass them off as more valuable, solid silver coins.  The word was also used in the political world for testing and approving a political candidate – to question them to determine their actual stance on issues. Paul is actually praying that we'll assume anything. He even wrote to the Thessalonians, "He that is spiritual tests everything." (I Thessalonians 5:21)  Put everything to the test . . . make sure it's excellent – it's not only good – but better – and even best – for your heart and your walk and your life, and your mind.

He also prays that we develop purity.

Notice verse 10. So that you may approve through testing what is best/excellent – notice – and so be pure.  In other words, testing and choosing the best things will always lead you toward purity, away from impurity.  The word Paul uses is found only here and in 2 Peter 3:1 were Peter writes that he's attempting to stir up their minds toward sincerity. the Greek words for sunlight and judgment. xvi

Paul says, "Take it out and judge it by the light."  Paul prays, I want you to live lives that can be judged by the light of day and found to be pure.

David wrote, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet – a light unto my pathway." (Psalm 119:105);  The unfolding of Your word gives light (Psalm 119:130)  Paul refers to the gospel as the glorious light of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).  Ephesians 5. Being exposed by the light.

This is especially pointed to the believer to avoid hypocrisy of any form.  In Paul's generation, one of the largest industries in their world was the pottery industry. And pottery varied in quality just as cars and computers and clothing do today. The cheapest pottery was thick and solid and didn't require much skill to make. Archaeologists have unearthed truckloads of it. I have some in my office – thick, orange pottery.  But the finest pottery was thin and delicate. It had a clear colour and brought a high price. Fine pottery was fragile both before and after firing and it would often crack in the oven. Dishonest dealers would take a clear pearly wax and fill in the cracks and crevices where it would blend in with the colour of the pottery. The cracks were nearly undetectable in the shops, especially when they were glazed or painted. But the wax was immediately detectable when the pottery was held up to the light of the sun.  Latin was the official language of the empire and honest merchants would stamp on the bottom of their pottery the Latin caption, sine cera – which gives us our word sincere. It meant, without wax. xvii  With this in mind, Paul isn't saying that the Christian's purity should be flawless. That you shouldn't have any cracks.  The truth is, we're all broken . . . in this vocabulary, we're all cracked pots.  Paul is reinforcing honesty and transparency – don't cover up and try to pass yourself off as fine china . . . it's okay to be an inexpensive thick, cracked, jar. Just don't try to pass off yourself as anything but…

He prays for:  Their Prudence

Notice verse 10. So that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless…

One British New Testament scholar wrote that purity referred to the inner person and blamelessness refers to the outer behaviour. The word means "without stumbling."  Be prudent in your behaviour. Prudence simply means cautious discretion. It means, being careful.  Paul is praying earnestly and fervently for these believers to live pure, morally transparent lives, free from stumbling because they are careful in their Christian walk.xii

Is Paul using this word in an active sense, or passive sense?  Paul is either telling us to walk with caution so that we don't stumble – that's passive – or he might actually be telling us to walk in such a way that we don't cause someone else to stumble – that's the active sense.xiii One of the marks of maturity in the life of any believer is that they want to be a stepping stone and not a stumbling block.xiv

That's Paul's progression in this prayer list as he adds this closing thought at the end of verse 10. We are to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

A prayer for:  Their Perspective

"and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.  Paul effectively says, "Live for that day." Live for everything that day means – a day you will be evaluated (I Corinthians 5) – that day you will stand before Him – that day when you will give an account for the 1 talent He gave you – or the 5 talents or the 10 talents – that day when you will be rewarded and assigned to your regal post in His Kingdom.  Live with anticipation for that day.

Everything you're doing for the glory and pleasure of Christ on earth is only a prelude to the privilege of serving Him for His glory and His pleasure during the coming Kingdom.  Paul is trying to elevate our perspective.

For Paul the day of Christ wasn't some kind of prophetic obsession, it was a way of thinking . . . and deciding . . . and living.xv

He prays for: Their Productivity

I'm praying – verse 11 that you will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

A good reminder that anything good that we do for Christ is Christ working in us to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

The cause of fruit in our lives is the work of Christ. The agency at work internally is the Spirit of Christ and as we submit to Him we display externally the fruit of the Spirit.  The fruit of righteousness is simply the fruit of a right relationship with God.xvi

When Lawrence of Arabia was in Paris after World War I, he took some of his Middle eastern friends who had never seen the sights and sounds of a modern world. They say all the amazing sights of Paris. But what captured their attention and gripped their imagination were the faucets in their bathrooms. They couldn't get enough of simply turning the faucet on and off – amazed at how the water spilled into the sink at the turn of the handle.

When it came time to pack up and leave, Lawrence found these men in their bathroom, trying to detach the faucets. They still hadn't figured it out and they pleaded, "It's so dry in Arabia, we need these faucets so we can get all the water we need."  Lawrence had to stop them and try to explain that the effectiveness of the faucets were not in themselves, but to the pipes and the reservoir to which they were connected.xvii

A faucet by itself will never produce water.

Jesus Christ said, You believe in me and out of you will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38).  Jesus said to His disciples, You abide in me – you stay connected to my strength and my vitality and my power – and you will bear much fruit for without me you can do nothing (John 15:5).  Otherwise, you're just a faucet packed in somebody's bag; you're just a limb lying on the ground.  You see here, Paul isn't just praying that we'll bear fruit, he's praying that we will understand we must stay in fellowship and submission and communion with the One who produces fruit.

He is diligently praying for:

Their passion – in love

Their progress – in knowledge

Their practice – in discernment

Their partiality – toward excellence

Their purity – with integrity

Their prudence – with carefulness

Their perspective – with anticipation

Their productivity – in fruitful living

Finally, Paul prays for:  Their priority

11. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – notice – to the glory and praise of God.