Recipe For Standing

I really wish I could discipline myself to be more consistent in my study of the Word. It is where I find the best fellowship with the Lord… except for those times of intimate worship in His presence. Anyway, I want to deviate in this post from the study of Philippians and share an insight with you that the Lord shared with me at church yesterday.
The message was on Ephesians 6, putting on the armor or God. The pastor preached on the shield of faith and took a different spin on it. It was really good. If you want to listen to the message, it can be found at http://www.bridgewaychurch.net/#/media. Find the sermon from 11/6/2011. It hasn’t been posted as write this, but I am pretty sure it will be soon.

So here is what the Lord showed me. Every time I have ever heard anyone preach on this passage the emphasis has been on the pieces of the armor… the loin cloth, the helmet, the sword, the shoes, etc. And people always want to talk about how you put those pieces of armor on. I have heard some, shall we say, interesting sermon about how to go about putting on the whole armor of God. But now I am rethinking that whole emphasis. I am thinking that the whole armor is not the emphasis, the elements are the emphasis.The Truth
We must know and walk in the truth if we are going to be successful in our Christian life. Our lives must be grounded in and built on the bedrock of the truth of God’s Word. Without it, nothing else will “work” as God intends it to work.Righteousness
This word means, among other things, right acting and it is tied directly to the truth. Righteousness in one sense is a gift from God. That is our standing before Him thanks to the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb. In another sense, righteous is a description of how we should act… with integrity, virtue, purity, correctness of thinking. Righteousness is acting the way the truth teaches us we should act.

The Gospel Of Peace
On this one I don’t have a clear understanding yet. It could be “the good news that we can have peace no matter what the circumstances of life.” That actually makes some sense (I’m thinking out loud here… or as I type). Life is going to throw us some curve balls. We are going to experience difficulties. The way we face those difficulties may well determine if we benefit from them or if they bring destruction to our lives. One thing we can do is stand firm in the fact that we can have the peace of God that passes understanding, even in the midst of the storms of life. How does one do that?

Faith
Faith is the element that ties all the others together. If we don’t believe the truth it will mean nothing to us and have no impact on our lives. We won’t walk in it if we don’t believe it. And when those storms come, faith is what enables us to face them with peace that makes no sense. Notice that Paul says “And above all….” Faith is the element that gives life to the others, that drives the others, that makes the others “work.”

Salvation
Hebrews 12:1-2 comes to mind here… “and let us run with patience the race that is set before, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” We should never forget that we are heirs of a heavenly kingdom. Christ has paid an awful price so that we can have eternal life… salvation. We should never loose sight of that fact. James said that it is possible to forget that we have been purged from our old sins. Don’t let that happen to you. Paul said “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve [me] unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Salvation preserves us for and unto that heavenly kingdom.

The Word of God
We are back to the truth. It is vitally important that we know the truth. Not only must we know it, we must know how to use it… apply it… walk in it

Prayer
Communion with Him is the last vital piece required to live a successful life in Christ. We must talk to and listen to Him.

So there you have it, the recipe for success. Paul said “and having done all, to stand.” Many times we want to skip the doing all part. I believe the doing all is just what I have described here,  digging into the truth, believing it to the point that we apply it to our daily lives, fixing our eyes on Jesus and communing with Him. Having done so, we will be able to stand. You can declare that you have the armor of God all day every day. And maybe we should. But all that declaring isn’t going to do us any good until we are “doing all.” And having done all, we WILL be able to stand.

You ARE Better Than Me – Philippians 2:3

“…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

Notice that this phrase starts with the word “but.” That is a word that indicates contrast. In contrast to or instead of acting out of a motivation of self-advancement or with false pride, what we should do is… and then he describes what we should be doing.

First our all, we should have an attitude of “lowliness of mind.” That phrase is a translation of a word that means humiliation of mind or modesty. Zodhiates adds “the esteeming of ourselves small, inasmuch as we are so, the correct estimate of ourselves.” The root of this word that this word is derived from means low, not high, particularly of attitude and social positions, poor, not wealthy, of low degree, modest, or humble. So, instead of having an inflated opinion about ourselves or doing things with an eye to enhancing our standing and reputation, the first thing we should do is adopt an attitude that really reflects who we are and what we are… nothing, that is nothing apart from Christ. Apart from Him we have no standing or position. All that we are and all that we have that is worth anything at all is from and because of Him. Our hard work and effort and success… all of it is from Him. Every good gift comes from above from the Father of lights in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. An attitude of humility reflects that.

So, in contrast to doing something (all that we do) with an eye to enhancing our reputation and/or with a false pride, let’s do everything that we do with an attitude that reflects our recognition that apart from Him we can do nothing. Then Paul takes this thing a step further. He says; “and let each esteem others better than themselves.”

The words let and esteem are translated by one Greek word, and the words each and others are both translated by the same word. Let’s take a look at these words and see what we can learn about what the Lord wants us to do and the attitudes that He wants us to have.
The first word means “to lead or go before.” It is used metaphorically to mean “to lead out before the mind, or, to view, regard, esteem, count, reckon, to think to be such and such, or to esteem as something.” So the idea here is that we would have a particular attitude toward others, a basic mindset toward others. There is a way that God wants us to view others and it is in contrast to having an inflated, self-seeking, self-serving opinion about ourselves.

The second word describes who we are supposed to have this attitude towards, and it is kind of interesting. The word means one another in a reciprocal manner or mutually. So there is an attitude that God wants us to have toward one another, but it is not a one-way street, it is a two way street. I should have it toward you and you should have it towards me. It is not a “mutual admiration society” but it might be described as a “mutual esteeming society.” And I want you to know that when you break love down to its basic activities and actions, it is very similar to what we are being told to do here.

So exactly what is the attitude that God wants us to have towards each other? We are to have an attitude that others are “better than” we are. The phrase better than is translated by a Greek word that has several shades of meaning.
1) To have or hold over one
2) To stand out, rise above, overtop
2a) To be above, be superior in rank, authority, power
2a1) the prominent men, rulers
2b) To excel, to be superior, better than, to surpass

Some other words that might help us in understanding this word would be excellence, eminence, prominence, and superior in rank. So in contrast to having a self-serving, self-inflated opinion of our own importance, instead of looking out for number one and being primarily concerned with our own reputation, it is God’s plan that we have another attitude. He wants us to have an attitude that others are more important than me. Others are superior to me. You are better than I am. You rise to the top. You are more prominent than me. And in fact, it would seem that we should probably work to that end, sort of like being a servant. A servant is one who is more concerned about the reputation and success of the one he is serving than he is with his own reputation or success. To help the other person look good and be successful is at the very core of what being a servant is all about. And that seems to be what is being implied here. Only God is telling us that we should be having this kind of servant attitude toward each other reciprocally.

So Paul is telling us to be like-minded, to have this mind, in verse 2. And then, here in verse 3 he begins telling us what mind it is that he wants us to have. In verse 4 he carries it a step further.

Self Esteem or Esteeming Others – Philippians 2:3

From the last post:

“Let nothing be done from a motivation of self-advancement or for the purpose of enhancing one’s reputation. And whatever you do, don’t do it so that you can receive the praise of men or get the upper hand over someone else. Don’t be bragging about the things that you have done because aside from the Lord, you don’t have anything to brag about. Without Him you could never do anything noteworthy or worth bragging about.”

Instead of any of those things, what we should do is always esteem others more highly than ourselves.”…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” So what does that mean?

Notice that this phrase starts with the word “but.” That is a word that indicates contrast. In contrast to or instead of acting out of a motivation of self-advancement or with false pride, what we should do is… and then he describes what we should be doing.

First our all, we should have an attitude of “lowliness of mind.” That phrase is a translation of a word which means humiliation of mind or modesty. Zodhiates adds” the esteeming of ourselves small, inasmuch as we are so, the correct estimate of ourselves.” The root of this word means low, not high, particularly of attitude and social positions, poor, not wealthy, of low degree, modest, or humble. So, instead of having an inflated opinion about ourselves or doing things with an eye to enhancing our standing and reputation, the first thing we should do is adopt an attitude that really reflects who we are and what we are… nothing, that is nothing apart from Christ. Apart from Him we have no standing or position. All that we are and all that we have that is worth anything at all is from and because of Him. Our hard work and effort and success… all of it is from Him. Every good gift comes from above from the Father of lights in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. At attitude of humility reflects that.

So, in contrast to doing something (all that we do) with an eye to enhancing our reputation and/or with a false pride, let’s do everything that we do with an attitude that reflects our recognition that apart from Him we can do nothing. Then Paul takes this thing a step further. He says; “and let each esteem others better than themselves.” We will take that one up next time.

Making Ourselves of No Reputation

In this post I want to dig a little deeper into the first phrase in verse 3, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. In a previous post I shared this understanding of that phrase: our motivation for doing something should never be to enhance our reputation. In other words, Christ made Himself of no reputation, and so should we.

The phrase “selfish ambition” comes from a Greek word with a base meaning of “intrigue” or “faction.”  Zodhiates says that the root meaning of the word is “to work for hire” and is often used in a bad sense (as it is here) of those who seek only their own. It means contention, strife, and rivalry. It represents a motive of self-interest or even mercenary interest. As you can see the word has a lot of baggage.

As a Christian there is no room in our lives for self-promotion. God says don’t do anything with an eye toward self-advancement. Don’t be mercenary in anything you do. Don’t try to gain an advantage over anyone through your actions. Don’t be self-seeking. Those motivations have no room at all in the kingdom or the life of a believer who would follow the Lord.

Then Paul adds another facet to this diamond. He says, “don’t let anything be done through “conceit”. This word comes from a Greek word that has the meaning of vainglory, empty pride, or the desire for praise. Nothing that we do should be done with a desire for praise. Empty pride is an interesting idea. It means having nothing about which to boast, yet we boast anyway. Nothing we do should be done with boasting because we have nothing about which to boast save Christ and His work in us. If there is anything good in our lives, if we have accomplished anything of note, if we have done anything good at all, it is because of Christ and we should boast on Him and nothing else.

So then, whenever we do anything, don’t brag about it with an eye to receiving the praise of men. Don’t do it to receive the praise of men and don’t boast about it after you have done it unless you are boasting in the Lord for what He has done in and through you.

Let’s put all this together and see what we have. Let nothing be done from a motivation of self-advancement or for the purpose of enhancing one’s reputation. And whatever you do, don’t do it so that you can receive the praise of men or get the upper hand over someone else. Don’t be bragging about the things that you have done because aside from the Lord, you don’t have anything to brag about. Without Him you could never do anything noteworthy or worth bragging about.

JOY!

I want to take a little detour in this post. I have been posting my studies from Philippians Chapter 2 but I have been studying in Philippians Chapter 3 and in verse 1 Paul commands us to rejoice in the Lord. That got me to thinking about rejoicing and what that means. The Greek word means to be glad or full of cheer. The English word means to feel or show great joy. So, simply put, rejoicing is showing or feeling great joy. That got me to thinking about joy. What is it? Where does it come from? How do we get it? One Greek word for joy is used far more frequently than any of the other words used in the New Testament for the English word joy. Here are some observations about joy in the New Testament.

Joy exists in Heaven

Luk 15:7 KJV – I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Joy defines the Kingdom of God

Paul said in Rom 14:17 – For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy is part of the definition of the Kingdom of God. Notice that this joy is joy IN the Holy Ghost.

God want to fill us with joy

Rom 15:13 – Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing , that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Not only does it come from Him, He wants to give it to us… He wants to fill us with it.

It is His joy

Jhn 15:11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full .” There are some powerful truths in this verse. His joy can remain or abide in us. It can be the state of our life. But that is only true because of the Word, the things that He has spoken to us. One way to cultivate joy in our lives is to spend time in the Word, in the things that He has spoken untio us. And not only can we have joy, but we can have full joy, complete joy, joy that leaves room for nothing else.

Joy  is a fruit of the Spirit

Gal 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” In other words, it is a natural byproduct of being filled with the Holy Spirit and it is His fruit. It comes from Him. We get it from Him. Joy is a fruit OF THE Spirit.

Joy comes from being faithful

Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. One way to cultivate joy in our lives is to do whatever God has assigned us to do, and do it faithfully.

Joy comes from the Word

1Jo 1:4 – And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full . Full joy comes from the things written unto us. The more we learn of Him in His word, the more joy we will have at our disposal for rejoicing. The cultivate joy in our lives, spend time in the Word.

Joy comes from serving

1Th 2:19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Another way to cultivate joy in our lives is to serve others. The Thessalonian believers were Paul’s joy. The fact that they were going to to be in the presence of the Lord at His coming was a source of joy, even a crown of rejoicing to him. Serving others is a way to cultivate joy in our lives.

Joy is a choice

Jam 1:2 – My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
We are commanded here to consider it a joy when something seemingly negative happens. That is an act of the will, not emotions or feelings. Be joyful when something bad happens.

No Ulterior Motive, No Selfish Gain – Phil 2:3

In verse 3 Paul says; “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
This is an interesting verse. It seems to be a further application of what has come before and a transition to what is coming next.  It is as though Paul says; “Oh, and by the way, let me take this a little further. Not only do I want you to apply these principals to your life when you are experiencing suffering, I want you to understand that these principles are for all of life all the time.

As you experience His comfort and then give it to others, as you have fellowship with the Spirit and then with other believers, and as you experience and share His tenderness and compassion, do it with no ulterior motive for selfish gain. Do everything you do with a pure heart no selfish ambition or conceit. Be lowly of mind when considering or thinking about yourselves and esteem others more highly than you esteem yourselves. And again, this applies not only to suffering for His name sake, but to all of life.

We are going to dig into this verse in depth in future posts. Here is a “sneak peak” at the next one. The phrase “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit” can be understood like this… “Don’t do anything with a motivation or out of a desire to put ones self forward.”  That puts an interesting spin on this verse. Our motivation for doing anything should never be “to put ones self forward.” In other words, our motivation for doing something should never be to enhance our reputation. I want you to stop and think about that for a minute. That is another pretty tall order that flies in the face of our culture. Yet there it is in black and white from the very Word of God.  Is it time for an adjustment? Seems like it might be for me.

Like-minded When We Suffer – Phil 2:2

In verse 2 Paul says “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” In other words, if there is any of that “stuff,” any of those heavenly resources in Christ, and there is, here is what I want you to do when suffering comes your way. Be like Christ. Respond to suffering like He did. Think like He did, love like He does, and do it all together, all of you (be of one accord and one mind).

I can type that so fast and you can read it so fast, but that is a mouthful. That is a tall order. Yet that is the “order.” So how do we do that? How do we act in a Christlike manner when we are suffering? How can we possibly respond to suffering like He did? How can we think like He did? We can do that, we can only do that by accessing those heavenly resources that he talks about it verse 1.

We draw near and receive an impartation from Him. We receive encouragement from Him.

We draw near and receive the comfort that flows from His unending, unconditional love.

We fellowship with Him and with others through and by the Holy Spirit.

We draw near and draw on His tenderness and compassion.

Then and only then will we be able to be Christlike in the face of suffering, respond to suffering like He did, think like He did, love like He does, and do it all together.

Heavenly Resources – Philippians 2:1

Exhortation, instruction, encouragement, comfort, solace, refreshment, fellowship, communion, affection, mercy, tenderness, compassion. Those are the heavenly resources that we have at our disposal when we go through suffering and they all depend on or are available to us as we draw near to God and hopefully other believers. We can experience the encouragement and comfort and a closeness and genuine, heart-felt concern for our needs and situations that only God can give. If we find ourselves in a body of believers, we can draw near to other believers and draw from their experiences with God. And, we can also share our encouragement and the comfort that we have received and fellowship and tenderness and compassion with others who are going through suffering. That really is a main point, a theme in this passage.Those are the heavenly resources that we have at our disposal when we go through suffering and they all depend on or are available to us as we draw near to God and hopefully other believers. We can experience the encouragement and comfort and a closeness and genuine, heart-felt concern for our needs and situations that only God can give. If we find ourselves in a body of believers, we can draw near to other believers and draw from their experiences with God. And, we can also share our encouragement and the comfort that we have received and fellowship and tenderness and compassion with others who are going through suffering. That really is a main point, a theme in this passage.

The Affection and Mercy of the Savior – Phil 2:1

The last two things that Paul mentions in this wonderful list of heavenly assets that we can access in Christ are affection and mercy. What is affection and why do we need it when we are suffering? It seems that most translations and most commentators put the last two items in this list together and I will use the words tenderness and compassion to translate the “affection and mercy” of the NKJ version. So when you are going through suffering, there is a tenderness and a compassion that comes from Christ. We must needs draw on that tenderness and mercy if we are going to “make it.” What does it mean that Christ has tenderness and compassion toward us? I like the way Gill says it. He says that having or showing tenderness and compassion is to “express the most hearty, inward, tender, and compassionate concern for another’s welfare, be that temporal or spiritual.” When we are going through suffering we can be 100% confident that God is ready, willing, and able to demonstrate His heart-felt, inward, tender and compassionate concern for our welfare and for us. God cares about us and He cares about us deeply. He cares about us all the time, not just when we are suffering. But when we are suffering, our perceived need for that care and concern is more urgent and more desperate than when things are going well. If we will draw near to Him in the midst of the suffering that we must endure, we can and will experience His tenderness and compassion and we will make it through to the other side.
Again, there is another facet of this truth. When we, as believers and brothers and sisters see others who are suffering, we should respond to them with that same heart-felt, inward, tender and compassionate concern for their welfare and well-being.

The Fellowship of the Spirit – Philippians 2:1

In addition to consolation and comfort, there is also a fellowship in the Spirit that will help us when we suffer. The word fellowship is the Greek word “koinania” and it means fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, and intercourse. We can be and indeed we are associated with the Spirit of the living God. We can commune with Him; we can participate together with Him in what He is doing. There can be an intercourse or interactions between us the Him. And the time that we need that communion and interaction and joint participation the most is when we are suffering. If we will draw near and commune with the Spirit of God, we will find strength and wisdom and courage and all the other “stuff” that we need in order to be able to endure the trials and tribulations that bring us suffering. So, when we suffer, we should fellowship. We should draw on our association with the Spirit of the Living God and interact with Him.
There is another element here that we should at least mention. One commentator says that the fellowship mentioned here is the communion together as Christians, flowing from our joint participation in the Spirit. In other words, when we face suffering, we should seek out the fellowship or communion of other believers. That is often the exact opposite of what we actually do. Why would God want us to draw near to others when we go through the fire? I’m sure there are many answers to that question. We know that the Philippian Christians were a great source of support, comfort, and encouragement to Paul when he was in prison. And I think that is the answer. God will use other believers to impart that which is needed when we suffer. Paul said in II Cor. 1:4 that we can comfort others with the comfort that we have been comforted with. When we seek out the fellowship of other believers in times of suffering there is a good chance that we will “connect” with one who has walked in the same valley down the same path that we are currently on. That person can offer us something that we really need in a time of suffering… he can offer us the comfort that God comforted him with when he was in this very same valley. We should not isolate ourselves when we are going through problems, we should do just the opposite. Draw near to God and draw near to God’s people.