Philippians 3:1-21.  Yesterday I mentioned how personal god is and how he is concerned with our feelings but that does not mean that God just lets us run our lives just by our feelings.  He does not indulge us like little spoiled brats.  When we read through Amos we talked about God’s “holiness”; God has standards, and those standards influence what he does.  We should want the same things he wants for us and when we do, and ask him for them, he gives them to us  (John 16:24).  Asking in “his name” means asking for the kinds of things God would want for us, and because he cared he always wants what is best for us (Matthew 7:7-11).

This next part of the letter turns back to the people among the Philippian believers who are giving them bad advise about God.  Paul wants to keep the Philippian believers focused on the truth about their relationship with God.  Remember that I suggested that these people might be “Judaaizers” (1/12/13 post), Christians who had followed the Old Testament Law before becoming believers in Jesus and still wanted to make things right with God by following those sacrifices and rituals.  Paul uses pretty strong language to describe these false teachers; dogs, evil workers, false circumcision.  Circumcision was a surgical procedure that the Jewish people performed on infant boys to permanently mark them as Jews.  Any male convert to Judaism, at any age, also had to undergo the procedure.  Bu using this term Paul almost certainly identifies the people who were making trouble as Judaizers.  In the culture of the time “dogs” was a term used by Jewish people to put others down, it was one of the worst insults to call someone a dog.  To call a Jewish person a dog would be doubly insulting.  Paul also calls these people “evil workers”.  Paul makes it very clear that he disapproves of these people.

Paul tells the Philippian believers that they are the “true circumcision” they are the ones who are really part of God’s family, really God’s people.  He says this is true because they honor God from their hearts rather than just by trying to follow some physical rules and perform some religious rituals.  One time Jesus was talking to a woman by a well in Samaria.  The woman came to the conclusion that Jesus was a prophet, a person who spoke for God.  So she asked him about the differences between the way Samaritan people honor God and the way Jews or Israelites honor God, who was right?  Jesus’ answer was that really honoring God was a spiritual thing and involved certain facts about God (“worship in spirit and truth”).  Paul is saying a similar thing here, “If you think that religious practices fix your relationship with God you’ve got it all wrong.  It’s not about what you do it’s about what Jesus has done and about listening to the Holy Spirit in you.”  And Paul knows what he is talking about because he had been a very strict follower of the Law of Moses; very religious even to the point of hunting down and killing believers in Christ (the church) (verses 4-6).

In verses 7-11 Paul tells the Philippian church that all that effort he had made following the Law (the Old Testament Law given to Moses by God) had been a waste, they did not bring people closer to the Christ or Messiah (Jesus) but actually interfered with people finding Jesus.  nI verse 8 he begins to explain a second reason why following the Law so strictly had been a waste of time, they had also kept him from having a relationship with Jesus.  Why is that so important to Paul?  Because of what Paul really wanted, to be right with God.  The word “righteousness” means living the “right” way, the way that makes God happy.  The Jewish people thought if they obeyed the Old Testament rules, the Law< that they would be right with God.  Paul told the Roman church that the Law could never make us right with God, that it actually showed us haw messed up we are (Romans 3:19-20).  The good news is, the Good News, that our relationship with God is made right through Jesus (Romans 3:21-22).  According to Paul we all fail (Romans 3:23).  But Jesus didn’t, he lived a prefect life, he didn’t deserve any sort of punishment so when he did die on the cross it was in our place (Romans 3:24-25; 1 John 2:2).  So now as many people as accept who Jesus is (“God with Up”, “God in a Bod”)  and what he has done (taken our punishment for us as the only way to be friends with God again) can have a new forever relationship with God, and I do mean forever, into eternity.   That is why Paul said in Philippians 3:8 that everything he had done before was worthless.  He wanted Jesus who would be the only way for him to be “right” with God.  Our part is to believe it, trust Jesus as the only way, that is what Paul was putting his “faith” in.  In verses 10-11 he talks abut “resurrection”.  The word means to “rise up “ and is talking about coming back to life after we die.  That is part of God’s plan for us to live forever with him in new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).

In verses 12-16 Paul tells the Philippiian believers that he hasn’t arrived there yet but he is living his life with his eyes on Heaven, that is why he can put up with the suffering and even the possibility of death.  In verse 15 he word “perfect” means mature.  He is telling the Philippian believers that if they are mature then they will live their lives the same way.  In verse 16 he talks about the fact that being right with God and being resurrected are a fact (a future fact but he is sure they will happen) so we should live each day with that truth in mind.

In verse 17 he encourages them again, to follow his example and the example of others like him (Epaphroditus and Timothy might be two examples).  In verses 18-19 he warns them not to follow the example of others who live with their eyes on their earthly lives, living for fun and pleasure.  They really have no sense of right and wrong (when they live shameful lives they act like it is “cool”).  Those people are not headed for heaven but for eternal separation from God.  The word for destruction can have the meaning of being put out of the way or set aside and that is what happens to people who do not trust in Jesus, they are put out of Heaven.  In verses 20-21 Paul assures the Philippian believers that we will not be “put out” though, we are citizens of Heaven and will be rescued by Jesus who will give us our new immortal bodies, he has the power and will use it for us.  That is how he could live with pain, suffering, and even death and how we can and should too.

God thank you for the hope of Heaven.  Thank you for using your power for me.  Help me live each day with my eyes on Heaven.  Give me peace and strength to keep my eyes on eternity as I Help other find you here and now.

Philippians 2:19-30.  Yesterday we saw Paul warning the Philippian believers that they were in for some trouble and to stick together.  He used himself and Jesus as examples.

In this next section of the letter Paul doesn’t just leave them with a big wish for endurance and unity he actually does something to help them.  In this case he must have felt that they needed more personal “hands on” care.  The first thing he was going to do was sent the letter (Philippians) to them in the hands of their very own messenger Epaphroditus.  Remember Epaphroditus had brought a gift of money to Paul from the church to help him with his bills.  Epaphroditus had become very sick on the trip (at least 800 miles, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2 months of walking).  The church had wanted Epaphroditus to stay with Paul and help him in whatever way he could.  Paul knew that the church had heard of Epaphroditus’ illness and were worried about this faithful member.  So Paul was sending him back.  The second thing Paul was going to do was sent his own helper, Timothy.  Timothy had helped Paul start the church at Philippi and been his faithful helper on the second and third journeys Paul made around the Mediterranean world.  Finally Paul hoped to return to Philippi himself if things turned out well in his trial.

The way Paul describes Timothy in verses 20-23 tell us that it is a big sacrifice for Paul to send Timothy away.  Paul was in a bad spot, under house arrest for at least a year at this point and having spent the two years before that in jail back in Israel.  He wasn’t out starting churches which is what he wanted to do more than anything.  I’m sure it would be discouraging.  And to give up his helper would have been hard too.

I am self-employed, I work on peoples houses, fixing them up and making them bigger sometimes.  I have done this work almost all my life (my Dad told people I was 5 when I started doing real work on jobs).  I worked with my dad when I was younger and in college.  My dad sort of drifted off while I was in college so when I got married I started working on my own.  It was a tough time and various rules made it almost impossible to have employees.  When they got a little older my kids would come to work with me but most of the time I worked alone.  Sometimes it was hard and discouraging.  About 10 years ago my son-in-law became a partner in the business and that was very encouraging.  We both had similar ideas about God and work.  In 2008 he came to me and said he thought he wanted to be a fireman.  We had just finished building a big hose and things had been going so well, it was very sad for me.  He hs stayed a partner while pursuing the fire job but only works part time.  On top of that we have been in a recession singe 2008.  Very discouraging.  But I am happy for the good things that have been happening in my son-in-law’s life as a result of trying to be a fireman.  I think that is what Paul was going through.   Verse 20 shows us this side of Paul’s heart because he describes Timothy as a person who shared his desires and would be genuinely concerned about the spiritual well being of the Philippian believers.  We also see that many of those around paul and around the Philippian believers were not really concerned with the Philippian believers spiritual lives.  Maybe these were the same people described earlier as “talking abut Jesus out of selfish motives.”  So Paul was sending “his right hand man” to the Philippian church to help them through what ever hard time they were having.

In the mean time he had sent Epaphroditus back with the letter.  Paul describes Epaphroditus in  language similar to the way he described Timothy.  He called Epaphroditus his brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier.  He wasn’t literally a brother (although in other writings by Paul he talks about how we are adopted into God family).  In most of the world for most of time families were very important.  Families formed a unit of care and survival.  In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 we are told of the importance of having help in life and families are God’s first and best design for that.  Epaphroditus also probably did not literally work next to Paul day to day, like Timothy had, but they both worked for the same “boss” (God) and were therefore fellow workers.  Finally Epaphroditus and Paul were not literal soldiers in an army.  A few years ago our theme for the youth group at church was “War” and the theme verses were 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  Our battle is one for minds and hearts and it is fought with truth and love, not guns and bombs.  But it does take dedication and commitment and sacrifice just like being a soldier.  Epaphroditus was all of these things to Paul.

In sure there was a lot of conflict inside of Epaphroditus over going home, he was there to be with Paul but now he was going back.  Since he had been sick he probably hadn’t done much “work” for Paul.  But Paul had been encouraged just by the effort and he knew the people back “home” were worried about Epaphroditus so he was sending them back.  I’m sure there were those back home who would see Epaphroditus as a failure, “What’s the matter cant take a little 800 mile stroll?”  But Paul wanted them to know that he had done a great deal for Paul, not by bringing him the money, but just for making the effort to come.  Now paul wanted them to have that same kind of encouragement by having their friend back with them.  In verse 28 we see that Paul dind’t want to have to worry about them worrying.  It seems kind of sad that Paul has to tell them to joyfully have him home and to respect him.  In verse 30 he basically tells them that Epaphroditus has done what they couldn’t do, he came close to dying to carry their gift to Paul.

I love how personal God is.  Remember that although Paul is writing to a church in Philippi that God is writing to us too.  In a letter written by one of Jesus’ original followers, Peter, Peter tells us that “scripture” (which means writing or written words but came to mean God’s written word), the Bible was given to certain men by the Holy Spirit (God, see “Three or One?”)(2 Peter 1:20-21).  Later on in that same letter Peter says that those writings, that “scripture”, God’s communication to us, includes the letters written by Paul (2 Peter 3:15-16).  So Paul’s letters are God’s words and according to what Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:16) God’s words are profitable for us.  But God’s words here are not some vague principles, like says of Confucius or an Aesop’s fable, this letter is very direct and very practical.  God cares when we are worried or scared or hurting or discouraged or in need.  And God uses his people to help each other out in all of those areas.  God cared about Epaphroditus’ feelings, Paul’s feelings, the Philipian believers’ feelings and he cares about ours too.  One thing I try to get you all to understand in Sunday School or at Friday Night Alive or whenever we talk is that God is not some disinterested far away person who is out of touch with life or you or your feelings.  God is personal and wants to be personally involved in your life.

God thank you for caring about me.  Thank you for caring about each one of us.  Thank you for knowing us and our feelings.  Help me trust you with my life and my feelings.  Help me have the same desires that you have.  Help all of us want the same things you want.  Help up be brothers, fellow workers, and soldiers for you dedicated to your work in the hearts and lives of people.