Day 351 (Philippians 1-4) - Year 6
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today in our New Testament plan, we finished book 16, and in our full Bible plan, we finished book 55.

We first met the Philippians in Acts 16. Here's a quick refresher. Philippi is where Paul and Silas were arrested, and God used that to save their prison guard and his whole family. It's also where they met Lydia, whose whole family converted to Christianity too. And it's also where they met a demonized girl and set her free from the demon and from slavery.

Today, Paul writes an encouragement-filled letter to the church here. From day one, they've had a unique relationship with Paul. He planted this church, and he's watched it grow, and he's confident that God will finish what he started in them. He repeats this idea a few times in this short letter. In 1.6, he says, "...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus."

And in 2, 12-13, he says, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

He indicates that God is the one doing the good works through them and even creating the desire in them to do those things. And here's one important point of clarification. Paul's words to work out their own salvation is not a call to figure out how to save yourself. If you could do that, you wouldn't need a savior. The context here and in everything else he says helps clarify that he's talking about living lives that demonstrate the gratitude and awe we feel toward God for saving us.

This is a nod to the process of sanctification, where God works in us to conform us to the image of his Son. The Philippians have already seen firsthand how Paul responds to being imprisoned. When they imprisoned him, he used it as an opportunity to share the gospel.

In fact, there's a good chance his former prison guard is one of the people reading this letter. And now Paul is in prison again, probably in Rome at this point, and he's still singing the same tune, the gospel of Christ, all day long. He knows that his trials aren't without purpose. Trials can even cause our confidence in Christ to increase, he says. He doesn't know how things will shake out, but he's hopeful and trusting and surrendered. He gets pretty vulnerable with them and says, Look,

Look, I'd rather just step over death and into the other realm and be with Jesus right now. But on the other hand, it's probably better for you guys if I stick around a little bit longer. So I'm guessing that's what he has in store. But I'm good with whatever.

He encourages them to be strong in the face of persecution too, not to be frightened by it all. And in 129, he says something that none of us really want to hear. He says that not only has belief been granted to us, but that suffering has been granted to us. That's not really the prize I was hoping for. I'm more interested in the crowns. But he goes on to say how we should live in harmony in the midst of suffering. This is a very important point.

This is important because suffering can bring out the worst in you. It can prompt you to be short-tempered and selfish and live from a scarcity mentality. So Paul reminds them to count others as more significant, not equal, but better. He says to look to other people's interests. That's what Jesus did, after all.

In this letter, Paul highlights God's work through Timothy and Epaphroditus. We met Timothy in Acts 16. He's the Gentile Paul had circumcised before he sent them to preach the gospel so that any Jews he encountered wouldn't be able to discredit him on that basis. Paul tells the Philippians that he wants to send Timothy to them soon. We'll read Paul's first letter to Timothy tomorrow. Speaking of circumcision, Paul warns them about the people who insist on circumcision because they're adding to the gospel.

Paul says, look, as a Jew, obviously I'm circumcised and I can tell you it has zero impact on my relationship with God. In fact, my whole list of credentials means absolutely nothing compared to knowing Jesus. Everything I worked so hard for and everything that was given to me in my privilege, it's garbage.

The word Paul uses here for garbage or rubbish would be a curse word in modern language. That's how strong the contrast is between what the world values and the all-surpassing value of knowing Jesus. And Paul says he knows Jesus, but he wants to know him more. He presses on. He leans in. Nothing about Paul is in neutral. He encourages them to kick things into gear too, because there have been some people in their church, it seems, who have walked away from Christ.

Then Paul turns to thank and encourage those who have stood firm alongside him. He mentions two women who have been co-laborers with him in his ministry. And we don't know for sure, but they could be from Lydia's prayer group back in Acts 16. Or maybe one of them is even that formerly demonized girl. Jesus had a formerly demonized woman in his inner circle, so why not Paul too? Regardless, there is a rift between these two women, and Paul wants to help restore the relationship.

He tells them to rejoice, to be reasonable, to be prayerful, and to be peaceful. These things are all tied together in one stream of thought.

Rejoicing sets the tone. It arcs our heart toward God and His goodness. When that's our focus, we can move through life with reasonableness. Another translation uses the word gentleness here. Because if you've got a reasonable argument, you don't have to come across as hot-headed. You can be rational and gentle. And when you're aware of the nearness of the Lord, like Paul says in the next line, you know you don't have to strive after anything. He can be trusted to work on your behalf.

So talk to him about what you need and want. Present your request to him. And the peace that comes from trusting him and talking to him and remembering his nearness, that peace will act like a bodyguard at the door of your heart and your mind.

If anyone would have experience in this area, trying to present a reasonable argument and not be hot-headed, having peace in situations that call for anxiety, it's Paul. He's been through the ringer. And from that vantage point, he says, I've learned that there's only one thing that really matters. Whether I'm rich or poor or regardless of what challenges or blessings I face, with Christ, I can endure all things.

He thanks them for helping provide for him in prison. They've sent financial relief his way, and he's grateful because in this day, prisoners have to rely on their friends for provision. There are some wealthy people in Philippi, like Lydia, but it's possible that some of the others may have been stretched to help send Paul resources. These people have repeatedly been extra generous to Paul in ways that other churches haven't. So he reminds them, just as you've provided for me, God is providing for you.

My Godshot was in 4, 8-9, where Paul says, Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

If I put my thoughts through those filters, many of them will get stopped at the first one. Is this true? Lots of my thoughts are hypothetical problems or things I've created in my head, false fears. So I use the truth filter to block them out. They don't stand a chance against most of the other filters either.

But the gospel of Christ meets every criteria of what Paul says to think about. True, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy. It is all of those things and more. That's why I'm so glad we're spending every day reminding our hearts to think about it.

God gets it into our brains first, then into our hearts where it can be pumped out through all our blood vessels into every square inch of our body, where it can take root and bear fruit in things like rejoicing and gentleness and prayer and peace. God is all those beautiful things. And by fixing our eyes and minds on who he is, our thoughts are filled with beauty.

He's where the joy is. Tomorrow, we'll be reading Paul's first letter to Timothy. It's six chapters long. We've linked to a video in the show notes to give you a quick overview. So check that out if you've got nine minutes to spare.

We are so excited to announce the release of TBR's fourth Bible study in our Knowing Jesus series. It's called Knowing Jesus as God, a 10-session study on the Gospel of John. John the disciple was one of Jesus' inner circle, and he describes his time with Jesus in a way that just feels really up close and personal.

Writing this Knowing Jesus series has been a labor of love for our team, and I believe this study is going to help you know and love Jesus more. Get a copy for yourself or your small group at amazon.com or bakerbookhouse.com or wherever you buy books, or click the link in the show notes.