Paul warned the Philippians against the Judaizers who would have the Christians live under the law of circumcision once again, rather than the law of the Spirit. He taught them to “rely” on Christ’s finished work on the cross, rather than their own human effort. When we have acknowledged and accepted the finished work of Christ, we are able to have the complete joy and freedom that we are fully accepted by God. Our confidence, and therefore our joy, is in Christ alone!
Paul taught the Philippians that they should live as “citizens of heaven,” remembering the gospel in their conduct. When we live as worldly, our message has no consistency and our gospel comes across hypocritical. Our lives should be consistent with the good news we believe. Our lifestyle should in fact cause people to ask about our faith, so that the gospel comes out easily. One cannot be excluded from the other. We are called to both live and share the Good News.
Paul prayed that the Philippians would understand what “really matters.” He prayed that their priorities would focus on becoming more and more like Jesus until the Day of completion when Christ returns. What are you focused on today? Will today’s concerns matter tomorrow? Lord, help us to focus on what “really matters” today.
In a generation of course communication we are to be different. Jesus taught that our words are an expression of our heart condition, saying, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do you speak for the edification of the hearer or to benefit yourself? Do you often need to just “air it out?” Or just get things “off your chest?” Do your words flow from a spiritually renewed heart, filled with the Holy Spirit? Or are they vomited forth from the old nature? Give your heart and your tongue to Jesus. Ask Him to tame your tongue and fill your communication with blessings and beauty.
God gave Isaiah a prophecy against Babylon and its idol worship. It is almost sarcastic in its imagery, predicting that Babylon’s idols will “bow” down as they are lowered onto ox carts and carried away by the very people who used to “bow” down before them. Even the oxen are “bowed-down” under the weight of pulling these massive, manmade gods. This illustrates the ridiculous nature of those who would make gods of their wealth and possessions. In the end, their wealth cannot protect them and they cannot preserve it. They both “go off into captivity together,” as if in a funeral procession with heads bowed down. Yet, those who trust in the Lord are not weighed down, but lifted up by the Redeemer who can save to the uttermost!
I often heard my mother quote this psalm in prayer after my father died. She was only 31 years old when she found herself a widow raising four children alone. She called on God to keep His promise to be a Father to her fatherless children and a Defender, a Husband, to her. I think He heard her prayers. My life and calling are a testament to them.
This psalm was to be sung in the Temple accompanied by instruments. It is a prayer, asking God to make Himself known to people everywhere. This prayer is consistent with God’s will and it is being answered today, perhaps even in this generation. Jesus has commanded us to go to the nations and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20) and He also said that when every nation has heard the gospel, the end would come (Matt 24:14). So, we pray this psalm to God, knowing that only He can save and make Himself known, yet also knowing that we are called to be His heralds, announcing the gospel to the nations, so that they may hear and be saved.
Through the centuries the Bible has been burned and banned by dictators seeking to stamp it out. It has been accused of being corrupted by copyists and filled with inconsistencies by unbelieving skeptics. Yet, while the dictators and skeptics pass away, the Word still stands. God has preserved His Word, so that we might receive the revelation of His Son. We can trust the everlasting Word of God. It stands forever.
When King Sennacherib sent a letter threatening Jerusalem, King Hezekiah put on burlap, went up to the Temple, and spread the letter out on the floor for the Lord to consider. And God heard his prayer and defended him. What threat do you fear today? Have you brought it to the Lord? Spread your trouble out before God. Let Him handle it.
We are to be like executioners, dealing cruelly with our own sin. When we see sin in others, we do not hesitate to judge, assigning it to their character. Yet, when we see it in ourselves, we make excuses for it, claiming some external cause or momentary lapse. Or we go the opposite way, and make sin our identity, calling ourselves by sin’s name (thief, liar, adulterer, addict, murderer…). Neither our tendency to condemn sin in others, nor to excuse or identify with it in ourselves is right. Those “who belong to Christ” count their sin nature dead with Christ, so that they might live in Christ. Counting sin dead, it is not excused, nor is it allowed to live and become our identity. Our identity is in Christ!