The Book of Philippians Pt. 9 Confident Faith, Spiritual Progress and Great Joy.
We are nearing the end of Philippians 1 and so far, we have received much encouragement and enjoyed great blessings from the inspired pen of Paul.
Paul believed God with confidence.
Philippians 1:25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
Paul used more word pictures in his letter to the church at Philippi. He has great confidence of being permitted by the Lord to see them all again. The word "confidence" means being persuaded by words to believe, and is connected to what the Lord told him at that time.
"Confidence" also indicates the spiritual passion of Paul, because it means listening to God or yielding to Him as we obey or comply with His word. I am sure that we all see the application for believers. We are to be fully persuaded in our minds by what God reveals in His Word.
What was Paul fully persuaded about? That he will abide and continue with the Philippians. The word "abide" means that he planned to remain and dwell with them. The word "continue" compounds the word “abide” and means that Paul planned a lengthy visit with the people that he loved.
Paul wanted to help believers make spiritual progress for Christ.
We know enough about Paul to know that nothing he did was purposeless and that he was not planning on a nice friendly visit. Rather, his concern was to help them grow in their faith in Christ. He came for their "furtherance."
The word "furtherance" means to cut down, cut forward or cut through something. The word "furtherance" has the action of using a sharp machete to clear a path through dense growth and tangled vines.
It is well documented that Roman engineering was excellent and many Roman roads or aqueducts are still in use today. They learned how to mix concrete that hardened underwater. The Romans constructed many public highways connecting cities throughout the empire. For example, the Via Ignatia connected Philippi and Macedonia with Rome.
The context makes it clear Paul is not speaking about the need to chop down dense vegetation in order to make a path forward. Paul must be speaking about issues of the heart and soul of each believer. In this sense, the word "furtherance" means to make progress or demonstrate advancement of faith and gospel ministry.
Thus, Paul is telling the Philippians that he wants to have a long visit with them in order to help them make progress in their faith and in advancing the spread of the gospel. He wanted to "further" their faith and the spread of the gospel of Christ.
The ministry of the Spirit of God with the Word of God in the heart of man.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Remember that this verse began by speaking of his confidence because he was fully persuaded by the Word of God. This is coupled with the word "furtherance" which is connected to a cutting away of things that hinder our progress.
Now, think about both of these words (confidence and furtherance) and see how they join together in the actions of the Holy Word of God. His word is the sharpest sword that can cut in both directions. His word is quick which means it is living truth, never stagnant, always accomplishing the will of God (Isaiah 55:8-11).
The sword of God's Word can cut down all obstacles to our spiritual progress, whether large and many or few and small. It reveals the true character of our heart and shows us whether our motivations are pure and God centered, or impure and self centered.
The picture Paul gives us in this text is of his heart's desire to come for an extended stay with believers that he loved dearly. He wanted to give them more apostolic teaching and gospel truth along with the application of God's word for their lives.
He was fully persuaded by the promises of God and securely anchored to His Word. He knew it was living truth from God, a powerful sword that the Spirit of God uses as a machete (two edged sword) to cut our hearts wide open so we see our need of a Savior, Jesus Christ.
Yet, the Spirit will also use the Word like a fine surgeon's scalpel that pierces the inner man, to do life saving surgery in our hearts, so we might be regenerated, revived and strengthened for the glory of God.
God will grant us joy and the abundant life.
Philippians 1:26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
Paul emphasized the believer's standing as being "in Christ." We have seventeen lessons on what it means to be "in Christ" that are in the archives, from December 8, 2019 through January 2, 2020. I urge you to read them again and you will see why Paul tells us that we will be rejoicing "in Christ."
The word "rejoicing" means having a heart full of worship for our glorious God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It means having a fiery passion for our Lord to the degree that we are boasting about Jesus to others, and exalting Him with our thoughts, words and deeds.
Paul looked forward to seeing the Philippian believers again so that all could rejoice together for the work of God in their lives and so they could glory in Jesus Christ.
Thoughts to Ponder..
Do we have a growing confidence in what God says in His Word? If we are not fully persuaded by scripture, then we will struggle with living for Christ and pursuing holiness, as God has called us to do. If our confidence is in what we have accumulated in life (money, possessions, status) then our trust is in vain. Only that which is tethered to the scriptures will withstand the storms of life that will come (Matthew 7:24-27).
Are we making spiritual progress in our walk with the Lord? There is no plateau for Christians to reach that allows us to coast through life. Each moment of each day, we are either drawing closer to God and being more conformed to His image, or we are drifting away from Him and being squeezed into the world's mold.
Are we experiencing the "furtherance" of God working in our lives? We must pick up the word of God because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is God's weapon to cut down the distractions of life that hinder our progress. It is the battle sword of God that protects us from enemy attacks. It is the scalpel of the Holy Spirit, who dissects the motivations and thoughts of our heart to show us where He needs to change us.
Are we praising our Lord Jesus Christ and worshiping God? A Christian is called to be a happy, fruit producing child of God who seeks to please his Master, Jesus Christ at all times, and who glories in Christ.
May the Spirit of the Living God make each of these truths very real to all who read this blog, and may they give us peace in the midst of chaos, happiness in the midst of hate and a heart fully surrendered to Christ.
Bob
Comments
Post a Comment