LESSON 27

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus; 
* to grow TOGETHER in our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT ON ISSUES OF VARIOUS THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT, WE MOST CERTAINLY MUST AGREE ON THIS: THAT WE HAVE BEEN BOUGHT BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF A MOST LOVING SAVIOR AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY:
Lest we forget where we've been, let's make a quick review:
1:1-11  Greetings and Gratitude
1:12-26  "Pauls Personal Circumstances: the Preaching of Christ"
1:27-2:30  "The Pattern of the Christian Life: The Humility of Christ"
3:1-21  "The Hope of the Christian Life: The Knowledge of Christ"

And NOW we start the final section of Pauls letter: 
4:1-23  The Peace of the Christian Life: The Presence of Christ
4:1-3  Peace with Others
4:4-9  Peace with Ourselves
4:10-23  Peace with Circumstances

Last time we studied the first part of chapter 4; we saw Paul tenderly call to his precious Philippians, telling them about having peace with each other by "thinking the same thing" in Christ Jesus: by having HIS mind, through the power of His Life in us and through us; How even beloved co-workers in the Lord can forget this priceless truth; and that hopefully every church will always have within it's fellowship "True Yokefellows", men and women hungry and burdened for reconciliation within their body of believers, and willing to take the risks of love to help restore it; 

4:4-9  And NOW we begin a new section; One where Paul yearns for us to learn how to have peace with ourselves; 

[HAVE THEM READ VSS 4-9]

4:4  I view this as a transitional verse, looking BOTH back to the previous section but ALSO leading into the next; it's exhortation fits BOTH topics of discussion; 
In looking back, he has just finished exhorting them to quit fighting and become reconciled, and now he could be saying, instead of hurting and being hurt, REJOICE! 
But further, he's about to begin a section where he's going to make some pretty tough suggestions to a church that is feeling the heat of persecution and pressure of opposition, both inside and outside their tiny congregation; he may ALSO want to get their focus of attention in the right place before he proceeds; he wants them to know they CAN START from a a place of JOY; 
It's important to note what Paul did NOT say; he did NOT say "be mindlessly SILLY"!!; 
AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: HE DOESN'T JUST SAY "REJOICE"; This is not just some pointless mindless encouragement; it's NOT some Pauline version of "have a nice day"; 
FOR PAUL IT IS ALWAYS "REJOICE IN THE LORD!!!; It is their confidence in the Lord, in WHO HE IS, which makes their rejoicing in the midst of trouble a glorious possibility; AND THIS IS THE WHOLE FUNDAMENTAL BASIS OF THE ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT THE WORLD TRIES AND WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO DO; 
They knew that Paul wasn't just blowing smoke up their togas; they knew he was in prison and NOT likely to be free any time soon; they KNEW he was able to speak from a DEEP experience since he had first experienced the BEST their fair city could offer it's visitors through it's fine PRISON SYSTEM; complete with the standard severe beatings and stocks, yet SINGING to each other when the angels came to break him out (Acts 16:23ff); ONLY Paul COULD get away with such a direct and persistant call to do what would seem ridiculous to the world; 

4:5  (KJV) "...moderation..."; the greek word is epieikes; a better TRANS is "forebearing" (NASV) or "gentleness (NIV); to the Philippians it would carry the sense "fairmindedness, the attitude of a man who is charitable towards men's faults and merciful in his judgements of their failings because he takes their whole situation into his reconing"; Maybe the best single English word would be "graciousness"; In the context here for the Philippians it would describe a spirit of willingness to yield under trial by REFUSING to retaliate when attacked; WOW!! TRY TELLING THAT TO A BUNCH OF ROMAN LEGION RETIREES!! 
Why does he make this an additional issue?? Why can't he just settle for our having joy when we're hassled?? As one commentator puts it: Joy is an inner quality in relation to circumstances and may not always be seen; BUT the way we react to OTHERS - whether with gentleness or harshness- now THAT will get noticed!! 
TO WHOM DOES HE SAY THEY (AND WE) ARE TO SHOW THIS "GRACIOUSNESS"?? "...ALL MEN..."; This means both INSIDE AND OUTSIDE our own body of believers; Which do YOU think is the toughest part of that?? Sometimes I think it's the INSIDE part; it's a WHOLE lot easier to be "nice" to total strangers than to our own family; I mean, you'll probably never see the strangers again, but the REST of us you're STUCK with EVERY SUNDAY!!! Strangers are a one time good deal, but FAMILY, >UGH!!< you gotta go for consistancy, for "distance"; 
But, then again, maybe it's the OUTSIDE part; I mean, when I'm surrounded by loving brothers and sisters in the Lord it's pretty EASY to be "gentle" and "gracious"; BUT in the WORLD, well, THAT'S the place where that CLOWN cut me off in TRAFFIC!! I mean, DID YOU SEE THAT BLANKETY-BLANK???!!! Or maybe it's at work; "If that guy does that to me just ONE MORE TIME, I'M GONNA FEED HIS LIVER TO MY DOG!!!" 
[SHARE MY MEETING WITH CE, complicated by the fact that he WAS a Christian]
(KJV) "The Lord is at hand"; LIT TRANS: "The Lord is near"; WHAT did he mean by this?? Some have suggested that Paul was trying to say "Be gracious because of the nearness of our personal fellowship with Jesus"; Perhaps even quoting from Ps 145:18 and Ps 119:151; 
Another more widely accepted view is that Paul is refering to the coming return of our Lord at the Rapture; It may have even been a variation of the early Christian watchword and invocation concerning our Lord's coming, Marana tha, "Our Lord Come!!"; 

4:6  (KJV) "Be careful for nothing..."; WHAT does he mean?? This is obviously NOT a call to be careless or sloppy; The word trans as "careful" is MUCH better trans as "Anxious", as it lit means "be pulled in different directions"; 
Is Paul saying we should have this totally unconcerned and carefree life?? NO!! Paul and Timothy clearly cared for and had a genuine concern for their fellow believers, cf 2Co11:28 and Phil 2:20; BUT they CONTINUED to TRUST in the Lord; Their concern was never turned into a PANIC or HOPELESS ANXIETY for others; 
IT IS GIVEN AS A COMMAND!! The gr word is in the imperative; HOW CAN HE DO THIS?? How would any of us feel if our world was rapidly becoming unraveled right before our very eyes, our sense of fear is rapidly disolving into dispair and someone walks over to us and just DEMANDS that we QUIT WORRYING??? IS THAT IT?? IS THAT ALL??? 
NO!! BECAUSE PAUL GOES ON; He uses one of those WONDERFUL "buts" that are for us SUCH a powerful and precious source of HOPE and JOY!! HERE Paul tells us HOW WE CAN BE FREED OF THAT ANXIETY THAT WOULD PULL US SO HARD IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS THAT WE WOULD FEEL PULLED APART!! 
WHAT does he say we can do INSTEAD of being anxious?? PRAY?? I can here some say "WHAT?? ARE YOU CRAZY?!?! I've got bills I can't pay, illness I can't get cured, I am being overwhelmed by events way outside of MY control and you're just telling me to "PRAY"?? THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!" 
And in some ways that person would be right, for even the pagans will pray when they have run out of all other options; And the historical precident would seem to be that it doesn't really DO much to just start talking out into the dark and unknown universe, like throwing a message in a bottle into the ocean; You need to know the One to whom you're praying; If you don't know Jesus, the only prayer He yearns to hear from you is the one asking Him to be YOUR Saviour too; 
BUT, for those who DO know him, HOW does Paul describe the believer's experience of prayer in the midst of pain and trial and fear? 
There are FOUR terms Paul uses in this verse; Prayer, Supplication, Thanksgiving, and Requests; 
"Prayer" is trans from Gr proseuche; it is a general term used only for the act of communicating with God, never used to describe communion between man to man; 
"Supplication" is trans from Gr deesis; it is a term that was used for both Divine and human requests; to the Greeks it emphasized the sense of NEED behind the act of requesting; Other trans translate it as "petition"; 
"Requests" is trans from Gr aitemata; this word describes the content of prayer as a making of definate and specific petitions; It is a detailed discussion of the exact things you're asking for; Thus prayer isn't just sort of mindless chatter or pointless wanderings; prayer can express itself in DIRECT and SPECIFIC appeals to the Lord; He is a detailed oriented kind of God; There are NO limitations to our prayers, we can ask Him for and about ANYTHING WITHOUT fearing He'll get bored or hacked off; NOTHING is too small or trivial to take to Him in prayer; If it's enough to bother US, it's enough to be important to Him too; ALL THAT WE ARE MATTERS TO HIM!!
"Thanksgiving" is trans from Gr eucharistias; how important this is, how essential an ingredient to EVERY prayer we share with our Lord Jesus; The recalling of God's mercy and goodness and UTTER AND ABSOLUTE FAITHFULNESS will save us from becoming too caught up in the immediate problems and issues that try to distract us from being really and fully focused on Him, the SOURCE of our confidence and hope; 


He's NOT saying "You're a bad rotten Christian for being afraid"; NO NO NO!!! he's saying WE DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID ANYMORE; There IS a way out of the fear that eats away at us, gnawing at our hearts, trying to wash away our hearts with bitter tears of frustration and despare; Right here Jesus is telling us ALL that WE CAN BE FREE of the things that would overwhelm us and make us afraid!!! 
There are riches in this verse for which unsaved men have been willing to sell ALL they ARE, commit ANY act, fight against ANY odds just for a TASTE of such; just to have ONLY for a brief and fleeting MOMENT ANY hope that they might REALLY be able to have such an assurance!!