With All Boldness

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:19-20)

Paul is under house arrest in Rome, but the gospel is being preached and the Lord Jesus is being exalted now more than ever. And Paul is very happy about that. Of course, he still desires to be released from his chains, to make a good case for the gospel and win a favorable verdict, not only before the Roman courts but also in the hearts of people everywhere. But he is not particularly concerned about his personal fate. He is ready to die, if need be, for the sake of the Messiah being proclaimed throughout the world.

What would be a tragedy for Paul is if he were somehow backed down from preaching the good news about Jesus. His desire is that, whatever happens, he will be completely bold in dealing with it. He has always been outspoken for the gospel and he does not want to be any less so now. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). What matters most to him is that Messiah be magnified by his life, or if he dies, by his death. But Paul has every confidence that he will indeed be delivered both from shame and a poor outcome, and he is encouraged in this by three things:

• Messiah is being preached with boldness. That is what matters above all, that the Lord Jesus be magnified in every way.
• The believers at Philippi, his partners in the gospel from the beginning, are praying for him. Prayer is key. “Be anxious for nothing,” will be his instruction, “but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
• The Spirit of Jesus the Messiah, that is, the Holy Spirit, is supporting and supplying him with everything he needs. Perhaps Paul has in mind the instruction Jesus gave to the disciples for when they would find themselves in such a situation as Paul now faced: “But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11).

Because of these, then, Paul is watching and waiting in confident expectation that everything will come out well.

Focus Questions

1. Can you think of a difficult time when you were truly encouraged because you knew someone was praying for you?
2. What supply do you think Paul might have received from the Holy Spirit? Do you believe that supply is available to you, too?
3. Does the preaching of the gospel, the announcement that Jesus is Lord over all, fill you with expectation and confidence?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Sorting Out Motives

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)

Paul is bold for the gospel even when he is in chains for preaching it. Instead of causing other Christians to back off from proclaiming King Jesus, it has challenged them to become even bolder. This response, however, turns out to be something of a mixed blessing because, for some, there is a partisan spirit. Not all are like this, of course, but some are.

Paul has run into this kind of thing before. He dealt with it in the church at Corinth, where the division appeared to be along ethnic lines. Some said, “I am of Paul” (the Roman citizen), others countered, “I am of Apollos” (the Greek), still others said, “I am of Cephas” (Peter, the Jew), and some declared, “I am of Christ” (as if the rest were not). But Paul would have none of it, not even from the ones who claimed to be “of” him. “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:13). “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1Corinthians 1:10).

Now the partisan spirit has come up again. Paul does not name names or identify where this is taking place, but he does recognize some distinct differences:

• Some preach from envy and strife, selfish ambition, in pretense, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to Paul’s chains or somehow show him up. There may even be some who are talking about the gospel as part of the chatter on the street, spreading it as the news of the day.
• Others preach from goodwill, out of love and in truth, knowing that Paul has been divinely placed in this situation not for his own aggrandizement or reputation but for the sake of the gospel.

Yet, however different their motivations, they are all proclaiming the same thing, the good news about Jesus the Messiah. The good news is getting around, and for Paul, that is a definitely a cause for rejoicing.

Surely Paul thinks of the believers at Philippi as part of the latter group, who preach Jesus out of love and sincerity. After all, they have been partners with him in the gospel since they first learned it from him many years ago. But perhaps they have heard of some of that things that are happening with the former group, and Paul is assuring them that, overall, the gospel is being preached, so there is still something to rejoice about.

However, it is good for the Philippian believers to be aware of how such distasteful and “grubby” motives can slip in. So perhaps Paul is hinting to them to take care that they do not become like that. He is aware of some tensions among them that need to be remedied (for example, in Philippians 4:2) and he will soon be laying before them the example of the Lord Jesus, who did not do anything out of envy or rivalry or selfish ambition but He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:1-11).

Focus Questions

1. What role do you think motivation plays in proclaiming Jesus in such a way that is persuasive to others?
2. Are some people more susceptible to selfish motives than are others?
3. How can we cultivate the better motives in our lives?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

An Unexpected Turnaround

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14)

When all the principalities and powers conspired to put the Lord Jesus on the cross on Friday afternoon, that seemed to them a good idea at the time. But then Sunday morning rolled around, when God raised Jesus from the dead. That’s when they realized God had turned it around on them.

Something similar happened with the gospel when Paul was put in chains at Rome for preaching the good news about Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God. I expect the Roman authorities figured that would flatten his tires and put a crimp in his ministry and message.

But there was an unexpected turnaround, and Paul wants the Jesus believers at Philippi to know about it. They were partners with him in the gospel and the grace of God ever since Paul first preached it to them years earlier. They were standing with him now during his time of imprisonment, and anxious to know what was happening. What they would have expected to be an impediment to the ministry actually turned out to be an advantage that advanced the gospel, and that was good news in itself.

The word for “furtherance” literally means to “cut forward.” Perhaps that is the meaning Paul has in mind in this context, the idea being that of preparing the way for an army to move forward. The gospel is “on the march,” and Paul identifies two specific benefits and the “armies” he has in mind (one of which is literal).

• “It has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ.”
• “Most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

In his house arrest at Rome (about which, see Acts 28:16-31), Paul is always guarded by a Roman soldier, so he always has a captive audience and an opportunity to talk about the Lord Jesus. When a new guard comes on duty, there was a new opportunity. Over the two years Paul is in this situation, he has gotten to know the guards quite well, and they him. It is no real stretch to suppose that some of them, perhaps even many of them, have become believers themselves. Imagine the discussion in the barracks as they speak of Paul and the good news he brings. They are used to hearing that Caesar is Lord (that is, the divine king), but Paul is proclaiming that Jesus, not Caesar, is Lord. This announcement is electric and runs through the whole praetorian guard (Caesar’s own guards).

Also during this time Paul has many visitors, and his message to them is exactly the same has always been. He has not let up on it one bit because of his circumstances. In fact, he has leveraged his circumstances to advance the gospel in a new stage of his ministry — he is not going to the people, they are coming to him.

So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved …

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. (Acts 24:23-24, 30-31)

Here is Paul, then, under arrest but as bold as ever. Though he is in chains, his message cannot be bound. Some of his visitors believe and come away with the good news about Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God. Others have probably visited Paul to encourage him, but they come away encouraged themselves. Seeing the confidence of Paul, even in his chains, makes them much bolder to go and spread the good news around themselves. For Paul, it is win/win, and reason to rejoice.

Focus Questions

1. Do you think Paul was surprised by this turnaround?
2. Do you think Paul was being unrealistically optimistic about this?
3. When you hear of Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith, yet they rejoice, does that encourage you to be bolder in your witness about King Jesus?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

That Your Love May Abound

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

Paul spoke earlier of praying with thanks and joy for the Jesus believers at Philippi. Now he reveals the substance and purpose of those prayers:

• That your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.
• That you may approve the things that are excellent.
• That you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.

This is not just about their love for God or for Paul, though those would certainly be included. But more than that, it is about their love for each other — and for everyone. The Greek word for “love” here is agape, a love that keeps on giving. “God so loved [agape] the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).

We need to keep growing in love, but not in a sentimental or abstract way. Love has a purpose, a focus and a tangible expression. It is not a feeling, but a willful commitment to the welfare of another. We need to know how best to do that, however, so Paul prays for a love that acts according to “knowledge and all discernment.” This is not about the love of knowledge but the knowledge of love. In its richest form, it is the knowledge of God Himself, for He is love.

The word Paul uses for “knowledge” here is epignosis. It is not theoretical or about gaining information. It is a fullness of knowledge, an experiential, personal knowledge. It is not merely knowing about God but knowing God Himself. In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul prayed that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that they may “know” (epignosis) God more and more (Ephesians 1:17). This can come only because God reveals Himself to us in Jesus the Messiah and by the Holy Spirit.

Discernment is the exercise of good judgment, moral perception and wise understanding. Love has a value system. To love well, we must discern between good and bad, true and false, wise and foolish. This requires a depth of insight that helps us “approve what is excellent,” that is, to choose what is the best way. In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul said, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). The word for “prove” there is the same as the word for “approve” here. This transformation is not our own work but comes about by the renewing of our minds. Even that is not our own work but comes from God. Our part is to let Him do the work in us.

Love must be “sincere and without offense,” which means that we must be “sincere and without offense.” To be “sincere” means to be genuine, without hidden motives or evil intent. To be “without offense” means that we are not to become a stumbling block that causes others to falter or fall. Some may be offended because of the truth of the gospel but we must be careful that we cause no one to stumble because we have failed to live in honesty and love.

The “day of Christ” is the day King Jesus comes again to judge the world and set things right, so Paul’s prayer is that believers be filled with the “fruits of righteousness.” In a different context, he speaks of the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). That would not be much different from what he has in mind here. This fruit manifests the love of God and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

When we show excellence in our love, and do not give offense, we demonstrate the goodness of God and bring praise to His name. And that is the ultimate purpose of this prayer — that God may be glorified in the life of every believer.

Focus Questions

1. How does knowing God more help our love abound for others?
2. How does the example of the Lord Jesus help our love abound for others?
3. How does being filled with the Holy Spirit help our love abound for others?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Fellow Partakers of Gospel Joy and Grace

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:3-8)

Every time Paul thinks about the Jesus believers at Philippi, it brings a smile to his face and he is thankful. He prays for them regularly, and it is quite a joyful thing. “Always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,” he says. He greatly values their “fellowship in the gospel.”

The word for “fellowship” is koinonia and speaks of “partnership,” which is how the HCSB translates it. They share the same interest, the same focus, the same concern — the same joy as Paul. He recalls how they have partnered with him in the ministry of the gospel from the very first day He preached it to them, when Lydia and her household embraced King Jesus, and the Philippian Jailer soon became a believer, too. The church at Philippi has continued as Paul’s partners in the gospel ever since, supporting him with their prayers (Philippians 1:19), with personal assistance (Philippians 2:25) and generously with their finances (Philippians 4:15-18, see also, Out of the Abundance of Joy). Now Paul was in jail again and awaiting trial for preaching the gospel, and he had no doubt that they would be there for him.

God began a work in them on that very first day. Paul is confident of this, and just as certain that God will keep working in them, bringing them to maturity. On the day King Jesus returns to judge the world, He will find that God’s work in them is complete. As the apostle John said, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

How could Paul be so sure that there was a work of God going on in them? Just this: He has them in his heart, and every remembrance he has of them gives the evidence. Even now in his present imprisonment, he knows they have not forgotten him, but are pulling for him all the way, especially as he prepares for his “defense” and the “confirmation” of the gospel.

Those are legal terms. The Greek word for “defense” is apologia and refers to answering charges and presenting one’s case in court. It is the word Peter uses in his letter to Jesus believers scattered abroad.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense [apologia] to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

The word for “confirmation” is bebaios. Where apologia is about presenting the case, bebaios is about establishing the case and winning a favorable verdict. The “defense and confirmation” Paul has in mind is not for his own sake but for the sake of the gospel. It is not his own freedom he seeks but that the good news about King Jesus the Messiah might circulate throughout the Roman Empire.

In all of this, Paul says, “You are partakers with me of grace.” The word for “partakers” is sugkoinonos (the prefix sug with the word koinonos), which means “fellow-partakers.” The same grace that is available for Paul is available for them, too. They are joined up together in this grace with Paul and benefit from it just as Paul does. They are “fellow-partakers of grace.”

The Vulgate, Jerome’s Latin version of the Greek New Testament, has this as “partakers of joy,” apparently mistaking the word charitos (a form of charis, grace) for a form of chara (joy). This translation does not go too far afield, though, since there is, after all, a connection between charis and chara. Thayer’s Greek Definitions has charis as “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.” Given how prominent “joy” and “rejoicing” is in Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers, “fellow-partakers of joy” would be just as true as “fellow-partakers of grace.” They share in the same joy with Paul, as well as the same grace.

“God is my witness,” Paul says, about the love he has for these believers, his partners in grace and the gospel. It is a love full of “the affection of Jesus Christ,” that is, the same kind of love and tenderness that the Lord Jesus has for them. Paul’s feeling toward them is more than he can say — but God knows.

Focus Questions

1. How would you describe the level of your passion for the Lord Jesus and His kingdom?
2. How would you describe the level of your joy in the good news?
3. Who partners with you in this, and how would you describe your affection for them?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Divine Favor and Total Well-Being

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2)

Paul offers the Jesus believers at Philippi a benediction, as he does so often in his letters. A benediction is a prayer of blessing. Literally, a benediction is a “good word.”

A common Jewish salutation in Paul’s days was “Greetings and peace.” The Greek word for “greetings” is chairein, but Paul has replaced that with a related word, one that is, theologically, much more potent: charis — grace! Grace is the favor of God, who opens up all the resources of heaven on our behalf.

The Greek word for “peace” is irene, but Paul, being Jewish, no doubt has the Hebrew word shalom in mind, which is, again, more theologically profound. Shalom speaks of wholeness and restoration. It is total well-being, with nothing missing or broken. The shalom of God is the wholeness that comes from being in right relationship with Him.

The divine favor and wholeness of which Paul speaks comes from “God our Father.” Fatherhood speaks of family, household and inheritance. A good father blesses his children with good things. God our Father blesses us with the inheritance of grace and peace, and we share in it together (there are no Second Class saints). It comes to us through King Jesus the Messiah, who He is and what He has done for us. We receive this divine inheritance of favor and total well-being through faith in Him. “The LORD be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant” (Psalm 35:27 NIV).

Focus Questions

1. Do you believe God looks on you with favor and desires for you to be made whole?
2. Do your words to yourself speak God’s favor and well-being for your life?
3. Do your words to others minister God’s grace and peace to them?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

No Second Class Saints

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. (Philippians 1:1)

Paul addresses his letter to “all the saints in Christ Jesus” at Philippi, by which he means every believer in Jesus who is at Philippi. The Greek word for “saint” is hagios, which speaks of what is holy and consecrated, set apart for God. In this case, it is about being set apart by God, as His own. They are holy because they are in Jesus the Messiah, who is holy — set apart and anointed by God . Through their faith in the Lord Jesus, God sees them as in Jesus, every one of them. There are no levels of distinction in this, no division of saints into First Class, Second Class, etc. All who belong to God through faith in Jesus the Messiah are equal before God.

Yet Paul does recognize that there are various roles among the saints, so he addresses those among the saints who are bishops and deacons. These are positions of oversight and service. The Greek word for “bishop” is episkopos and is often translated as “overseer,” one who watches over.

When we speak of the church at Philippi, or anywhere else for that matter, we are not talking about a building but a people. In the early days, the church did not meet in public structures but in private homes. The church at Philippi probably first met in Lydia’s home. As more people came to faith in Jesus the Messiah and the church grew, there would be additional homes for them to meet together in for worship. Overseers would be established to direct the affairs of the church. In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul lists the qualifications for those who would watch over the house churches (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).

The Greek word for “deacon” is diakonos . Like doulos, “bondservant,” it speaks of one who serves. The distinction is that doulos refers to one’s relationship to his master while diakonos speaks in regard to the work or service one performs. As with the qualifications of overseer, Paul also lists the qualities of a good deacon (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

It is unusual that Paul includes specific greetings to the overseers and deacons in his opening — he does not do that in any of his other letters to the churches. Some have suggested that Paul’s earlier letters were to churches not yet developed enough as to require overseers and deacons, while the church at Philippi was now established. But that hardly seems likely, since deacons were introduced fairly early in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 6:1-7), and Paul recognized overseers of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:28), which was after the church at Philippi was established.

Perhaps the reason Paul especially greets the overseers and deacons here is the same reason he identifies himself as a doulos. Though the church at Philippi was well established by now, it was not without problems. There was some tension and a lack of humility among some of the believers, and this may have included overseers and deacons. The example of Jesus the doulos in Philippians 2 would then be a word intended for all the saints, including the leaders.

Focus Questions

1. Do you think of holiness as more about what one does, or about what one is?
2. How does one become holy?
3. If there is equality among all believers in Jesus, where does pride come from and how does it come in?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Paul the Doulos

Today — finally! — we begin in Paul’s letter to the Jesus believers at Philippi.

Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:1)

About a dozen years have passed since Paul and Timothy, along with Silas and Luke, first came to Philippi. On that visit, Paul and Silas ended up in jail just before they left. Now Paul is under arrest again, probably house arrest in Rome, as described by Luke in Acts 28:23-31. He is under guard and awaiting trial, but he does have some limited freedom to receive visitors and teach them about Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God.

Timothy is with him, at least nearby, and Paul includes him in the greeting. Paul would like to send Timothy to them, that he may find out more particularly how they are doing (Philippians 2:19), but he cannot at this time. Indeed, Paul would like to come himself but, of course, he cannot. This letter will have to suffice for the time being.

Paul does not identify himself as apostle, as he does in so many of his other letters, but as a doulos, a “bondservant” of Jesus the Messiah. The believers at Philippi certainly know Paul as apostle — he is their apostle, the one who came and established them in the faith. But what they need to understand more than that is that he is a servant — a bond slave! — to the Lord Jesus.

Paul writes to them for many reasons, each important in its own way. But there is one matter in particular in which they need the example of the Lord Jesus. There has been a lack of humility, and Paul will address that in what we know as Chapter 2 (Paul’s original letter, of course, was not divided into chapters and verses). There he will exhort them to allow the mind of the Messiah to be at work in them, the mind of the one who humbled Himself and became a doulos, a bondservant for the sake of others (Philippians 2:5-8).

So Paul identifies himself and Timothy as “bondservants of Jesus Christ.”

Focus Questions

1. What sort of authority do you suppose an apostle has?
2. What sort of authority do you suppose a bondservant has?
3. What sort of authority do you suppose Jesus, the Lord who became a bondservant for our sake, has?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Out of the Abundance of Joy

One last bit of backstory before we get into Paul’s letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi.

Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)

Earlier we saw how Paul received a course correction by the Holy Spirit. It was a dream of Macedonia, a vision of a man of that region who stood before him and pleaded, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul and his team set sail for that region and began preaching the good news about King Jesus at Philippi, then on to Thessalonica and Berea. Though there was resistance to the message of the gospel in all those places, and persecutions, those who came to the Lord Jesus there were very excited about following Him. So going to Macedonia at that time proved to be very fruitful for the gospel.

Now, about six years later, Paul was taking up a collection for the followers of Jesus who were at Jerusalem, and in economic need. It would be a show of solidarity between the churches that were composed mostly of Gentile believers to the church at Jerusalem, which was mostly Jewish believers.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul encourages the Jesus believers at Corinth to give bountifully in this undertaking. He begins with the example of the churches in Macedonia, who did not have an abundance of material resources. Quite the opposite, they had very little. “Deep poverty,” Paul calls it. On top of that, they were being severely persecuted for following King Jesus.

But there was one thing they did have in abundance, and that was joy. They loved the Lord Jesus and what He was doing in their lives and in the world, and they wanted to be part of blessing the saints at Jerusalem. Their joy and excitement would let them do no less.

So they begged Paul to receive their offering — apparently Paul was reluctant about accepting such a gift from those who were in great need of it themselves. But they would not take no for an answer, so Paul relented. And what they gave was far beyond what Paul expected. Out of the abundance of their joy, they dug down deep and brought up an amazing wealth of generosity, giving with open hands.

The secret to the joy of their generosity was that they “first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” Jesus taught us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When we give ourselves to the Lord, we are freed up to give to others, knowing that the Lord will take care of us. That’s what happened with the Macedonian believers. First, they gave themselves to the Lord, then they gave themselves to assist Paul however the Lord led them.

This was the grace of God that was bestowed on them, the grace of giving generously and without reserve. And it came forth out of their abundant joy in King Jesus.

Focus Questions

1. Can you imagine this kind of joyful, sacrificial giving apart from the grace of God?
2. Do you suppose that this grace was just for the believers at Macedonia, or does God have this same grace available for all His people?
3. How do grace and faith and love and joy work together here?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Paul’s Ministry Team at Philippi

We should probably take a moment to identify who was part of Paul’s ministry team at Philippi. Paul was never a one-man show.

• Paul. His conversion story, the original “Damascus Road Experience,” is told in Acts 9, and again in Acts 22 and 26, how he encountered the risen Lord Jesus. He comes to prominence in the last half of the book of Acts, where his ministry shifts more and more from the Jews to the Gentiles. We will learn a bit more about his biography when we get to Philippians 3.
• Silas. We first meet Silas in Acts 15, when the apostles and elders of the church at Jerusalem sent him and Judas Barsabbas, both of them prophets, to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas. He ended up in itinerant ministry with Paul when Barnabas took John Mark and departed to Cyprus. He is also known as Silvanus (of which, Silas is probably a shortened form) and is mentioned by that name in Paul’s letter to the believers at Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:19) and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). He also ministered with Peter and served as the amanuensis (secretary) for the book of First Peter.
• Timothy. When Paul and Silas came to Derbe and Lystra, “a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Derbe” (Acts 16:1-2). Paul was apparently impressed with the young man, because he decided to bring him with them on their mission. Paul mentions him in many of his letters. In Romans 16:21, Paul calls him, “my fellow worker;” in 1 Corinthians 4:17, “my beloved and faithful son in the Lord;” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:2 “our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ.” And of course, Paul’s final letters were to Timothy, to encourage and instruct him in pastoral matters. Paul calls him, “a true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2).
• Luke. Luke was a Gentile who came to faith in Jesus the Messiah. He is mentioned only a few times by name. Paul calls him, “Luke the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). In Philemon 24, he is identified as a “fellow laborer.” And yet, what we know of Paul’s ministry, we know from Luke. He is the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Luke apparently became a member of Paul’s team at Troas. We know this because the pronouns in the narrative shift from “they” (in Act 16:8) to “we” (in Acts 16:11). When Paul, Silas and Timothy moved on from Philippi to Thessalonica, the pronoun shifts back to “they” (Acts 17:1), indicating that Luke stayed behind to help with the new church at Philippi.

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Phil the Jailer

Okay, so his name wasn’t really Phil. We don’t actually know what his name was, and though his story has often been told, he has always been referred to simply as The Philippian Jailer. But I like “Phil,” for short. Phil was likely a Roman soldier who retired to Philippi, a prominent Roman colony in Macedonia, and was made “keeper of the prison.” He was the warden. The jailer.

When Paul and Silas had been stripped and beaten for preaching about King Jesus the Messiah and for casting a demonic spirit out of a slave girl and destroying the profit potential for her masters, the magistrates threw them into prison, giving Phil strict orders to “keep them securely” (Acts 16:23). So Phil took them into the deepest part of the prison, where they were placed in stocks.

He went to sleep that night secure in the knowledge that his prisoners would have no chance of escape. But a little after midnight, he was awakened by a tremendous shaking. An earthquake (v. 26).

Phil dashed down to see what had happened (his house was probably joined next to the prison). When he got there he saw that all the doors had been shaken open and the chains busted loose. Surely all the prisoners had gotten away, including Paul and Silas. That would not just be a career ender — there would be severe penalties to follow. Severe. So, like a good Roman soldier, Phil thought to do the “honorable” thing, the least distasteful thing. He drew out his sword and was about to end his life with it (v. 27).

“Do yourself no harm,” a voice from the dark called out, “for we are all here” (v. 28). Phil called for a light, went in and saw Paul and Silas — his two most important prisoners. They did not run, after all. They did not even try.

Earlier that day, the slave girl with the python spirit had identified them as those who proclaimed “the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Phil would have known of this since it was what got them thrown into his prison in the first place. And he most likely heard some of the things they were singing and preaching in their dungeon cell — the good news that Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God had come into the world. Now he connected the dots and realized that they had something he desperately wanted. So he went for it. He led them out of the dungeon and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). It was a direct question, a “big picture” question: How do I get in on this King and this kingdom you’ve been announcing?

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and your household” they said (v. 31). A direct question deserves a direct answer. It would need some unpacking, of course, so Phil brought Paul and Silas into his house, where they spoke “the word of the Lord” to him and his whole household (v. 32).

What does it mean to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”? It is not merely giving intellectual assent to a proposition, it is a call to believe on a person. What does it mean to believe on this person? It means we are entrust ourselves to Him — all of who we are entrusted to all of who He is. Who, then, is this person to whom we are called to entrust ourselves? The Lord Jesus Christ — and every part of that reveals who He is.

• He is Lord. That is, He is God, the Son. He has been “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:4 NASB).
• He is Savior. The name “Jesus” literally means “Savior.” That is why the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph, concerning Mary, “She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
• He is God’s Anointed King. “Christ” is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Both literally mean “Anointed.” We see the significance of this in Psalm 2, where God speaks of His Son as the one He has anointed to be King over Israel and all the nations.

To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then, is to entrust ourselves to Him as God and Savior and King. The promise for this is that “you will be saved.” King Jesus the Messiah came into the world to deliver His people, Israel, reconcile us all to the Father and put things right in the world. We enter into that by receiving Him, entrusting ourselves to Him.

“You will be saved,” they said, “and your household.” This promise of salvation is not just for some elite group or certain kinds of people. It is offered to everyone — Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, slave or free, old or young. So there they were, Paul and Silas, telling everyone in the Jailer household about King Jesus.

Then Phil took them out by the water, where he washed all their wounds from the beating they had received the day before. That must have got them talking about baptism because the next thing that happened was that Paul and Silas baptized Phil and his family in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (v. 33). Phil brought them into his home and gave them some food, “and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household” (v. 34).

Phil rejoiced. The Greek word is agalliao, which literally means to “jump for joy.” Hours earlier, he was ready to kill himself, but now he was full of joy — wild, exuberant joy. As we go on to study Paul’s letter to the Jesus believers at Philippi, we will see that joy is a common theme. With Jesus, there is always joy.

So Phil the Jailer and his household joined Lydia the Seller of Purple and her household, and possibly several prisoners and the slave girl who was delivered from a demonic spirit, to become the first fellowship of King Jesus followers at Philippi and in Macedonia.

Focus Questions

1. Paul added, “and your household.” He did not do that with Lydia, though her whole household came to the Lord. So why did he add it here?
2. At what point in this progression of events do you think Phil began to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
3. How do you suppose Phil’s life changed after this? In his home? In his work? In his city?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Blessed Sheep and the Cursed Goats

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:2-3)

There is something interesting I realized about this promise that God made to Abraham. It is eschatological. That is, it speaks of the judgment that is to come at the end of the age. When God says to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you,” that is judgment talk. And it will be based on how the world treats Abraham and his seed. God’s purpose in all this is that all the families of the earth should be blessed.

Understanding this as eschatology, now I can see how it will be fulfilled when King Jesus comes again. He told us about it in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats:

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.”

Then they also will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” Then He will answer them, saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

This is a passage that has often been misunderstood. With the very best of intentions, of course, but misunderstood nonetheless. It has been supposed that Jesus is teaching us to be kind to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned in general. As if they are the “brethren” of Jesus merely by virtue of the fact that they are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick or in prison.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for taking care of the poor, the needy and the stranger. And the Scriptures repeatedly teach us to do what we can for them. But that is not what this parable is about. It is talking specifically about the “brethren” of Jesus. So, who are these “brethren”? Well, Jesus has already identified them for us, as we can see in an earlier portion of Matthew’s Gospel:

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50)

Those Jesus identifies as his brothers (and sisters and mother) are those who do the will of God the Father. And what is that will? Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). All those who receive Jesus are his disciples. At a certain point in His ministry, Jesus sent out the Twelve to preach the good news about the kingdom of God.

He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42)

Receiving Jesus’ disciples and the message of the gospel was the same thing as receiving Jesus Himself. Rejecting His disciples and message of the gospel the same as rejecting Jesus Himself.

At the end of Matthew, Jesus commissioned the disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them everything that Jesus Himself taught. This commission extends to all who have become His disciples ever since. These are the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the seed of Abraham. Those who bless them, who believe the good news, will be blessed, and they will inherit the kingdom of God and enter into eternal life. Those who reject them, who reject the gospel, will be subject to chastisement in the age to come.

In the Jailhouse Now

Continuing the back story to Paul’s letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi.

Well, it had been a long day for Paul and Silas, what with preaching the gospel, casting out a python spirit, being hauled before the magistrates because of that, then stripped naked, severely beaten, placed in stocks and thrown into the dungeon (Acts 16:16-24). But it was not quite over yet.

“But at midnight …,” Luke continues, and what follows is not what we would have expected, “… Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (v. 25). The Greek word for “pray” here is proseuchomai, turning toward (pros) God in prayer (about which, see The Towardness of Prayer). They were pressing into God, in intense prayer and praise and fellowship.

You can tell what is going on in a person’s heart by listening to the words that come out of their mouth, especially in pressure situations. I’m sure you will agree that Paul and Silas were under intense pressure, but it only pressed them deeper into God and they threw themselves into worship. Luke adds, “And the prisoners were listening to them.” They did not just hear, they were listening, intently. They had great interest in what Paul and Silas were praying and singing, perhaps wondering how they even had the presence of mind and peace of heart to be able to do that.

Suddenly, there was a great earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison. It may have been a natural event but the timing was supernatural. All the doors sprang open and the prisoners were all loosed from their chains (v. 26). John Chrysostom, in one of his ancient homilies on the book Acts, commented on this scene. “This let us also do, and we shall open for ourselves — not a prison, but — heaven. If we pray, we shall be able even to open heaven” (NPNF, First Series, Vol. 11, Homily 36).

The prison warden (a.k.a., the Philippians Jailer) woke up and saw all the doors hanging wide open, and he supposed that the prisoners had all fled. It seemed to him to be the worst night of his life, for he was responsible to see that the prisoners received their due punishments and, failing that, he would be punished in their place. With all the prisoners escaped, his future did not look at all bright, so he drew out his sword and was just about to kill himself (v. 27). But Paul called out to him just in time and said, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” (v. 28).

Now, it would be easy at this point to go on and talk about Paul’s encounter with the Philippian Jailer and what happened from there. That was my original intention in this section (and that I will do in the next section). But something in Luke’s report caught my eye and I think it deserves a little bit of our attention.

As miraculous as the timing of the earthquake was that shook them all free, here is something I think might be an even greater miracle: None of the prisoners left. The doors were open, the chains were off — and nobody bolted. “We are all here,” Paul said. Amazing.

Why did they not leave when they had the chance? I think it was because of all they had just witnessed. They heard Paul and Silas, in stocks and deep in prison, singing and praising King Jesus and the power of God — and it preached to them. Then they saw the miraculous power of God shake open the cell doors and break them free from all their chains. Now, instead of running, they wanted to see what God would do next, and I don’t think they were disappointed.

We don’t know what happened after this. Again, Luke does not say and Church history appears to be silent. But it is no real stretch to suppose that some of them became followers of King Jesus, and perhaps when (or if) they were released, they joined together with the others at Philippi who came to know and rejoice in the Lord.

Focus Questions

1. Suppose you had been in that prison that night, what would you think if you heard Paul and Silas loudly singing and praising God?
2. When the earthquake happened, opening the doors and loosing the chains, would you have connected it to what Paul and Silas were singing about?
3. If you the chance to run at that moment, would you have fled? Why or why not?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Python Lady

Looking at the “back story” of Paul’s letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi, we recently met Lydia, the “Seller of Purple.” Now let’s meet the Python Lady. We do not know her name. All we know is that she had a spirit of divination. Luke tells the story.

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days.

But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. (Acts 16:16-19)

Now, the reason I call her the Python Lady is because of the Greek word for “divination,” which is … python. According to The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich), python referred to “the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle; it lived at the foot of Mt. Parnassus, and was slain by Apollo. Later the word came to designate a spirit of divination, then also a ventriloquist, who was believed to have such a spirit dwelling in his (or her) belly.” This woman was not a ventriloquist as we think of today, but she was being used as a mouthpiece by the demonic spirit that somehow had possession of her.

This young girl followed Paul and his team (which included Silas, Timothy and Luke) around and the demonic spirit in her “cried out” (the Greek word means to croak, like a raven, to scream or shriek): “These men are the servants of the Most High God.” It is unclear what this spirit hoped to gain in that. Various answers have been proposed.

• Perhaps it was to give the impression that Paul and Silas were somehow associated with this spirit, so to blunt their effectiveness.
• Perhaps it was to somehow gain favor with them by affirming them, so that they would not cast out this demonic spirit.
• Perhaps, recognizing that they were from God, it was to gain status as one who identified them and what they were doing.

After a number of days, Paul had finally had enough of it. He turned and cast out the spirit in the name of Jesus the Messiah. It is important to note that Paul’s problem was not with the young slave woman but with that spirit that possessed her. For she was not just enslaved by her human masters, who sought to exploit her unusual ability for their own profit, she was enslaved by the evil entity that invaded her being. In expelling the demonic spirit, Paul set this young woman free. But her masters were not happy about this.

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” (Acts 16:19-21)

Paul commanded the demon to “come out” (Greek, exerchomai) and it “came out” (exerchomai). The girls masters realized that, with that, their expectation of profiting from her “was gone” (exerchomai) — literally, that it, too, had come out of her. So, instead of rejoicing that this young woman had been freed from demonic oppression, they forcefully seized Paul and Silas, hauled them before the city authorities and lodged their complaint.

The crowd that had gathered rose up together against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be stripped and beaten. After being severely scourged (let it be sufficient here to note that this was not a sight for the squeamish), they were put into stocks and thrown into the dungeon. (We will look at happened with them next when we continue our “back story.”)

But what about the young slave woman who was now delivered from demonic oppression? Luke does not say and Church history does not really tell us. But having now been set free by the power of King Jesus, perhaps she became a follower of Jesus, just as Lydia and her household had done.

Focus Questions

1. Though specifically led to Macedonia by the Holy Spirit, Paul and associates were beginning to face strong opposition. Should that be surprising?
2. Luke does not tell us the name of this young woman. Why do you suppose that is?
3. At this point, what would you imagine the prospects would be for a healthy, vital and joyful Church being formed at Philippi?

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There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Marriage According to Jesus

Some people say that Jesus did not say anything about “gay marriage.” In a way, that is true — He did not recognize any such a thing as “gay marriage,” so He did not mention it. But in another way, what Jesus did say about marriage is very important in regard to that issue. It leaves no room for marriage between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.

But from the beginning of the creation, God “made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. (Mark 10:6-9)

According to Jesus, marriage is between a male and a female, a man and his wife, joined together by God. That’s how it was from the beginning. Jesus did not change that in His day and He left us no option to change it in ours.

Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-a, started a firestorm when he affirmed in a recent interview that marriage is between a man and a woman. “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” he said.

Protests, insults, slurs and charges of bigotry have rained down on the company since. The city of Boston, MA has told the restaurant chain that it is no longer welcome to open up locations in that city.

In response, supporters of the chain and the stand it has taken are planning a “Chick-fil-a Appreciation Day” for Wednesday, August 1. That sounds like a good day to go in and have a chicken sandwich and some waffle fries, or in my case, chicken strips and a salad. Come Wednesday, I will be heading over to my local Chick-fil-a store around lunch time to enjoy a nice meal.

Anybody who wants to protest or cast slurs and insults at Chick-fil-a might as well do the same to Jesus. Because their view on marriage is the one Jesus taught.

Confidence in Prayer

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:14-15)

When we do not have confidence that God answers our prayers (in the Bible, to “hear” is to answer), we will not be very inclined to pray. A lot of Christians pray with little confidence and little expectation that they will receive the answer they need. Instead, they salt their prayers with “if it be thy will.”

That’s well and good for prayers of consecration, when you’re looking for direction and committing your way to the Lord. But the apostle John is talking here about petitioning prayer, and that is about praying “according to His will.” Now, he is not speaking of the will of God as some mysterious thing that God plays close to the chest and about which we cannot know but must continually guess. That leads to a sort of fatalism, and “if it be Thy will” becomes an escape clause when our prayers are not answered — “Oh, well, I guess that just wasn’t God’s will.”

But John is speaking of the will of God as something that we can know. Indeed, the Scriptures are full of the will of God. He makes it known at every turn — through His words, His deeds, His promises.

So, for example, when we go to the Lord about a particular need, we do not have to add, “If it be Thy will,” because God has already revealed His will about that: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). When we add “if it be Thy will” where God has already revealed His will, we are not standing in faith but in doubt. Faith comes claiming the promise.

When we know and understand the will of God, and we pray according to it, in agreement with it, claiming and confessing it, we can pray with confidence, knowing that God will hear and give us the answer we seek. And when we have confidence that God answers our prayers, we will be going to Him regularly about everything.

Gospel and Kingdom Fulfillment

The more I read the Bible, the more I see what a rich tapestry it is, intricately woven together into a grand design from beginning to end. I see this in the Gospel According to Luke, even from the very first verse, where Luke lays out his purpose. “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us …” (Luke 1:1). It is there in the word “fulfilled.” What he writes is about fulfillment. It is an indication that what we have here is not a brand new story but the continuation, leading to completion, of an old, old story, one that God began with the creation of the heavens and the earth. What is fulfilled is the trajectory of that story, and all the promises God made concerning the Messiah who would come to rule and reign and set everything right in the world.

• We find this echoed when the angel of the Lord comes to the aged Zechariah and announces that he and his wife Elizabeth (also old, and barren) would have a son. This son (John the Baptist) would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, that he would, in the words of Malachi, “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children” (Luke 1:16-17, quoting Malachi 4:6).
• We see it again when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she would bring forth a Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and His name would be Jesus (which means “Yahweh saves”). He would sit on the throne of King David, to whom He was heir. “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).
• We hear it in the song Mary sang, magnifying the Lord because He had now come to rescue His people and set things right in the world, in fulfillment of the promises He made to Abraham and the fathers of Israel” (Luke 1:46-56).
• We hear it again in the song Zechariah sang over his newborn son, John, about how the Lord had remembered His covenant promises to Abraham and the fathers of Israel (Luke 1:68-79).
• We hear it in the song the angels sang when they announced the good news to the shepherds, about the birth of the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, in the city of King David. The time of God’s messianic peace was at hand (Luke 2:10-14).
• We hear it once more in the song Simeon sang as he held the infant Jesus in his arms. His eyes were now beholding the salvation which God had prepared for all peoples. God’s promise was beginning to be fulfilled, right before his eyes (Luke 2:29-35).
• We see it in Anna, a prophetess who was standing nearby at the time. She had long been looking for “redemption in Jerusalem,” and now here He was in their midst (Luke 2:36-38).
• We see it again in the witness of John the Baptist, who came in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the LORD” (Luke 3:4-6, quoting from Isaiah 40). This Messiah, soon to come, would baptize with the Holy Spirit and also with fire (Luke 3:16-17). He would gather in the “wheat” (the just) and burn the “chaff” (the wicked). All this in fulfillment of major prophetic themes and promises in the Old Testament.
• We see it when Jesus was baptized of John (Luke 3:21-22). The Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the voice of the Father said, “You are My beloved son; in You I am well pleased.” This echoes the messianic passage in Isaiah 42:1, “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him.”
• We read it in the genealogy Luke gives, where he traces the lineage of Jesus all the way back through King David, all the way back through Abraham, all the way back to Adam, and from Adam to God (Luke 3:23-38).
• We see it when, after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where He was tested by the devil. “If You are the Son of God …” came the taunts, and the offer of all the kingdoms of the world — on the devil’s terms. But Jesus the Messiah would fulfill God’s promise only in God’s way (Luke 4:1-13).

This brings us to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He returned from the wilderness “in the power of the Spirit” and began preaching in the synagogues of Galilee and the surrounding regions (Luke 4:14). Mark’s account puts it this way: After the temptation in the wilderness, John was put in prison, and “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:14-15). Matthew’s account shows Jesus, after the temptation, coming to Galilee with the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). A fuller explanation is given in Matthew 5, in what we call the Sermon on the Mount (I like to call it The Sermon of Heaven on Earth, which is what the kingdom of God is about). It begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Luke, however, chose to use a different moment to highlight Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom. After the temptation, when Jesus began preaching in Galilee and the regions, He came to Nazareth, his home town. On the Sabbath day, He went into the synagogue, where He was invited to give a Scripture lesson. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah, which He opened up to the portion we know as Isaiah 61 (there were no chapter and verse divisions in those days):

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

(Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)

It was a passage about the messianic age and the one anointed with the Spirit of God. It was about good news for the poor, healing the broken, freeing the captive and oppressed. It was about the time of God’s favor, of God’s kingdom coming into the world, with God’s anointed King establishing righteousness (that is, setting everything right).

Jesus closed the scroll, handed it to the attendant and sat down — the sign that He was about to give the lesson. All eyes were on Him as He began to teach:

Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

This was a stunning announcement, and from one of their own, the son of Joseph the carpenter. Jesus knew that many of them would not be willing to accept it, because it did not come in the way and the form they wanted. But He also knew that, though many in Israel would reject it, many Gentiles would gladly welcome it. And that morning, He told the congregation as much. This infuriated them and they wanted to throw him over the cliff — literally.

But He somehow passed through their midst unscathed, and He went to other towns to preach the message. “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43).

There is fulfillment all the way through. But we will stop here for now.