Introduction
What do you say when you say goodbye? When your friends leave to study in another country for 3 or 4 years; or when your “BFF” (Best Friend Forever) leaves on 6 Jan for a 6 months exchange in the USA. When the goodbye moment comes, what would you say and wish for him or her. What would you hope to see your friends doing and becoming until you meet them again? This thought of saying goodbye too occupied my thoughts as I prepared for this evening’s short message – what do I say to you; many whom I’ve the privilege and the joy of calling my friends. What do I say to you all as I leave to pursue the calling God has placed on me?
Well, my friends, I found help from Paul from the Book of Philippians. Paul writes this book to the Christians of the Roman Colony at Philippi. At the time of writing, Paul was a prisoner awaiting trial and possible imminent death and perhaps never ever being able to see his friends again. And yet, this book is filled with joy as Paul writes to his friends, in a kind of a farewell letter. I’ve personally found the book of Philippians to be filled with many lessons and intensely meditational. It is definitely life changing.
So what does Paul writes? Turn with me to Philippians 1; Philippians 1:3-11. I shall be reading from the English Standard Version.
3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Philippians 1:3-11 (ESV)
All through these verses, you can hear and sense Paul’s love for his friends at Philippi; and in it he gives some advice as to what he hopes his friends will be doing and becoming. Paul’s sentiments and wishes are also my sentiments and wishes for you all. I will miss you all.
Shall we pray before we look at this passage further?
“Oh Father God, saying goodbyes is always difficult. Friends we love leaving for another place or school or country; sadly parting ways and occasionally communicating only via emails, Facebook or MSN, but it is not the same as being together in person. Father we hear too, Paul’s love for the Philippians and his desire to be with them. We hear also of his joy and his advice to them. Father as we look at this passage together, may you open our eyes and ears; grant us understanding as we learn from Paul what we are to be doing and becoming till we as friends meet once again. In Christ Name, amen.”
A. Paul’s Joy (v.3-5)
3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
We see here that Paul prays for the Philippians with thanksgiving and Joy because of their partnership with him in the Gospel. The original word for partnership here is “koinōnia” which is often translated into “fellowship” – it means a close mutual association. Fellowship in the bible is not about just about hanging out together; or having fun; or getting to know one another, though this is good for building friendships. “Koinōnia” is always around some cause or mission, and there is no greater cause than fellowshipping together for the Gospel. When we fellowship or partner together for a cause, the friendship is deeper and sweeter. Just like for the recent Youth Camp, I’m sure Bibs, WeiCheng, Debses , Sam, Poon, Xingyi and Nic and the Group Leaders and others can attest to the deep connection as we worked together for the Gospel and God’s Kingdom.
And the main thing is the Gospel. Just what is the Gospel? The Gospel is the good news of salvation – of how through the person and work of Jesus Christ we can be saved from the penalty and enslavement of sin. I think Mark Dever often use “God, Man, Christ and Response” as an easy handle to describe the Gospel. In brief, God is holy and He created everything and it was good. Man sinned and the just penalty is judgement. Man has tried many other ways to be reconciled with God but to no avail. Christ as fully man and fully God came to live for us and to die for us while we were still sinners. Christ died on the cross and became the substitute for our sins, and made the payment for us once and for all, turning away God’s anger caused by our sin. Christ work on the cross took on our sins and credits His righteousness to us, so that we can be counted as righteous before God if we but believe into Jesus. Justice and love meets at the cross and this is the Gospel.
For my non-christian friends here; or for those of you who are not sure whether you are Christian, I invite you then to repent of your sins, believe into Jesus and follow Him as Lord and Saviour. My friends, my wish is that you know for sure the peace that comes from the forgiveness of sins; and to know the joy of partnering with the universal Church for the work of the Gospel. If this is your desire, you can approach me or any of the youth leaders later and we can share with you the steps necessary for Faith in Jesus.
B. Paul’s Confidence (v. 6)
6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Paul is confident that God who initiated the good work in the Philippians at salvation, will complete the good work. Paul prays, with a confidence not based on the Philippians’ own abilities or past achievements, but on the power and love of God and because God can be relied upon to bring what he begins to completion. What God initiates, He will sustain and complete. So that in the coming day of Christ Jesus, we be might be presented before God mature and unashamed.
So the good news is that not only are we made righteous (or justified) by faith through grace; once we are converted, we are new creations – there is a new birth. This transformation allows us to grow in holiness (or sanctification). God’s Spirit initiates and sustains our growth and progression towards becoming like Christ – our role is to act in dependent response. We cannot be passive and give up our role in this; and yet we cannot act independently of God. We are to as Jerry Bridges would say, respond in dependent discipline – like the two wings of a plane, dependence on God and discipline goes hand in hand. With this, we can pursue holiness and grow to be more like Christ.
Though on this side of heaven we will not be perfectly like Christ, there is a hope and guarantee that we will become like Christ fully when He comes again (or future glorification). All of this is by grace!
C. Paul’s Prayer (v. 9-11)
Paul confidence in the Philippians, being anchored on what God started and will complete, prays for what the Philippians are to do and become.
9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
This too is my prayer for you all and the Youth Ministry here at Grace Baptist Church – that we are to love rightly; judge rightly; and to live rightly.
I. Love Rightly (v. 9)
“Love abound more and more with knowledge and discernment.”
Paul’s desire and prayer was not only the Philippians love each other more and more; but this love would find expression in wise actions that would truly benefit others and bring God glory. Love alone can degenerate into mere sentimentality or blind enthusiasm or emotionalism. We can “love” but it will not be a love that “rejoices with the Truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). And not being grounded in truth and discernment, this will often bring hurt and ill on others. Love must be together with knowledge and discernment – a sensitivity to the truth of God and the needs of others, and the understanding of one’s situation, so that we can truly love others for their good. Friends, love in truth for the good of one another.
II. Judge Rightly (v. 10)
10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
The word here “approve” has the meaning of regarding what is worthwhile or judging something’s value. What we regard as worthwhile, what we value will deeply affect our beliefs and our behaviour. It is vital that which we regard as worthwhile or judge is of the greatest value. The standard or measure for which we are to use to judge is the Word of God – God has already revealed what is to be valued. So my friends anchor yourself on the Word of God. Love the Word, Read the Word, Do Devos on the Word, Study the Word, Memorise the Word and Apply the Word, so that you would have the right measure from which to judge.
And Paul here continues that we are to pursue being pure and blameless for the day of Christ. The word used for “pure” suggests ‘sincerity’ or ‘transparent character’, while the word used for “blameless” can also mean ‘not stumbling’ others (Acts 24:16). So we are to regard as worthwhile or judge as worthy lives of transparent character – this means living honest authentic lives with integrity; which build up other Christian brothers and sisters; helping them to grow spiritually. We would then live upright and blameless lives. This would bring a smile to Jesus when we meet Him or when He comes again.
III. Live Rightly (v. 11)
11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
And lastly, Paul prays that the Philippians live a Christian life is that is fruitful not only in activity, but in character (Gal. 5:22–23); both character and conduct are to bear fruits of Christ-likeness – exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Galatians 5:22). This means living in full dependence on God and the goal is nothing other than the glory and praise of God as we live lives that testify to His love.
D. For God’s Glory (v. 11)
The Westminster Shorter Catechism in response to the question, “What is the chief end of man?” writes “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” The end goal of our doing and becoming is to bring glory to God. We are to bring glory to God and to enjoy Him forever!
I refer to a quote by my historical hero in the Faith, Charles Spurgeon. He writes,
“To him be glory forever. Amen.” This should be the single desire of the Christian. All other wishes must be subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it may help him to promote this—“To him be glory forever.” He may desire to attain more gifts and more graces, but it should only be that “To him may be glory forever.” You are not acting as you ought to do when you are moved by any other motive than a single eye to your Lord’s glory. As a Christian, you are “of God, and through God,” then live “to God.” Let nothing ever set your heart beating so mightily as love to him. Let this ambition fire your soul; be this the foundation of every enterprise upon which you enter, and this your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chill; make God your only object.”
Wow… make God your only object!
My prayer for you my young friends is that in my absence, you would love rightly, judge rightly, live rightly and you would worked together in partnership for the Gospel in the Youth Ministry, thus making God and God’s glory your only object of fore-most value.
Shall we pray? “Father God, God of Glory. Though we here as friends may part ways, I pray for all of us, that in each other’s absence we may respond to you in dependent discipline and grow to love rightly, discern rightly and to live rightly. Also we ask that you continue to strengthen our desires and efforts of the Gospel work here in the Youth Ministry at Grace Baptist Church. So that when we do meet again, we can celebrate of your Goodness and Sovereignty and to rejoice together at what you have done and are doing in our midst. May we make you and your Glory, the sole object of value and desire. In Christ’s Name, Amen.
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Grace and Peace
Oliver “Ollie” Chia
31 Dec 2008
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