Verse-by-Verse through Philippians (4:2-4:4)

Got a question for you. Which of the following does more harm to a local church congregation:

A) Being surrounded by beer joints and strip clubs?

Or

B) Having an unresolved dispute going on between two members?

We can get a bar closed down. We can go to whatever board it is and say, “There are always fights at this bar, people getting shot and stabbed.” And the board can decide to close the place down. But then what happens? Another one pops up to take its place. You see, as long as we live in this world of wickedness and sin we are always going to be surrounded by wickedness and sin. BUT, the Lord Jesus Christ commands all those who belong to Him, to be united—to be of the same mind, of one accord—one body. Romans 12:4-5—For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. We will always be surrounded by evil. That is to be expected. And evil will always try and find its way into the church and drag us away.

That’s what evil does. It creeps in, from the outside, and it drags us away. But sometimes a disagreement comes up within the church—and don’t get me wrong, we’re not always going to agree 100% all of the time with every single person—but when we start fussing with one another—when we just simply don’t like someone or what that someone is doing—and we lash out, in whatever way, at that person, who are we letting in the door? Satan! Because when we act in such a way—what is causing us to act that way? Five letters, starts with a ‘P’. Rhymes with "pride." What does God think about pride? James 4:6—God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

We’re going to see today that no matter what our quarrel is with someone, we need to let it go. Because it ain't about us. I don’t stand up here, Richard doesn’t stand up here, we don’t do this just to hear our own voice. The church does not come together and meet just to have something to do on a Sunday morning. When we come together we should have only one focus—and if we have that one focus, we should be guiding people to focus on that same focus. And that’s what we will see this morning. Your translation may be different, your mileage may vary.

Philippians 4:2-3—2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

Anybody here ever heard of MRSA? Staph infection? Here’s the funny thing about MRSA. You’ve got it. The person next to you has it. I have it. We all have MRSA. It is part of the natural bacteria we all have on our skin. So if it’s one of the normal bacteria that live on our skin and we are surrounded by it, how do we get infected with it? I'm glad you asked! You get a cut. You pull a hangnail. It gets underneath the skin, and it grows. You see where I'm going with this? Pride is all around us. But if we give pride an opening—same thing’s gonna happen. We’re gonna be infected. Is it gonna be our physical body that gets infected? No. It will be our mind, our soul, our spirit. And when it happens in the church, whose body are we ultimately infecting? Christ’s!

Verse 2. I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. These were two ladies in the Philippian church. They were having a dispute that was coming between them. And what was that dispute? What do you mean it doesn’t say what the dispute was? Oh, maybe that’s the point. This is one of those times where it shows that God Himself spoke these words to Paul. Why do I say that? I'm glad you asked! There are places where the writer is addressing some issue in one particular congregation. And we could be sore tempted to simply skip over those passages. Romans 16 is a good example. “They're just salutations; they're not that important.” If God thought enough to have those words written down—do you think it might be important? Those are places you have to study. Just like those words that didn’t exist in the Greek at the time, so Paul had to stick this prefix on this word to express himself properly. And as we get to this little blurb about Euodia and Syntyche, Paul really says a whole lot—by not saying a whole lot.

Again, we don’t know the cause of the conflict here. And there’s a reason why we don’t know—what might that reason be? Yeah, it doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter what it was about! The fact of the matter was, these two women were butting heads with each other and causing division within the body of Christ. That little MRSA organism doesn’t care what kind of opening it gets. If it sees a break in the skin—it’s in! Just like pride. Pride does not care how it gets into the members of the body of Christ—just so long as it finds it way in. Richard, what is it that Pastor Phil says all the time about church fusses? Satan would rather start ONE church fuss than open up 100 beer joints and strip clubs. And why? Because the people that go into the beer joints and strip clubs already belong to Satan.

Besides:
• How many churches have split because of a new beer joint opening up down the street?
• How many churches split because they built a new strip club on the other side of town?
• How many churches have split because somebody decided to put up a new liquor store?

Now, how many churches have split because of pride? Hebrews 12:14-15—Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. Satan is always looking to take away members from the body of Christ. Question is, are you going to join him?

When the church is doing what it’s supposed to be doing, does that make front-page news? No. When do you see the church in the news? Now, does Satan care what kind of fuss he starts? NO! He is going to use whatever makes people puffed up. Just so long as he can stir up strife in the body of Christ—he’s happy! And that’s why we don’t know the details here. Paul is simply telling these women, “Look, whatever it is—knock it off!” Steve, stop me if you’ve heard your kids tell you this when you break up an argument: “He started it!” And you say? “I don’t care who started it—I'm gonna finish it!” Here’s an example of “letting it go” from back in the 1600’s. George Whitefield and John Wesley—two men who had some very different opinions on certain doctrines. One day someone asked, “Mr. Whitefield, do you think that we will see John Wesley in heaven?” Whitefield responded, “No, I doubt we will see Mr. Wesley in heaven. He will be so close to the throne of God that we will be fortunate to even catch a glimpse of his back.” Be of one mind in the Lord.

Verse 3. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Let’s talk a little about the Book of Life. And believe me, I do not consider myself an expert by any means on this subject. I am confident in what I believe, but as with other doctrines, there are men who know a whole lot more than I do, and they could probably articulate a little better than I could. But here goes. The “Book of Life” contains the names of all those who belong to Christ—those who are living on earth now, those who have already “fallen asleep” and those who have not yet been born.

Now, just as there are names which are written in the Book of Life, there are names which are NOT written in the Book of Life. In the 13th chapter of Revelation, when the apostle John is warning us about the Beast who will rule upon the earth during the Great Tribulation, he says, Revelation 13:8—All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Those who will worship the Beast—their names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Their names are not in there. Never were. Never will be. God never wrote their names in the Book of Life. Because the Book of life ONLY contains the names of Christians. The only names in there are the names of those who followed Christ, who are following Christ, and who will follow Christ. There will never be a name in there that does not belong.

Because this is a record that was written before even the creation of the heavens and the earth. Revelation 17:8—“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.” And it is that Book of Life that will be the final piece of evidence that God will use to render an eternal verdict of “GUILTY” upon sinners. Revelation 20:11-15—Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it…And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books…Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. It will not matter how “good” a person was. It will not matter whether that person volunteered at a homeless shelter. It will not matter if that person sat in church their whole life. If that person does not turn away from sin; if that person does not acknowledge the fact that Jesus Christ is LORD; if that person tries to make themselves righteous by their vile human works, then on that Day when the books are opened, and the Book of Life is opened, they will be judged by their works, they will be found lacking, they will be cast into Hell for all eternity.

Question: somebody dies, and let’s say they were an unrepentant homosexual. They spent all their years going from one relationship to another. And, as so often happens, they wind up with AIDS. They spend the next five years going through all kinds of treatments, but eventually their body can't fight off the infections anymore, and they die a very slow, very painful death. All their friends gather around after the person dies, and they all comfort themselves by telling each other…what? “He’s in a better place!” Not necessarily. You see, it doesn’t matter how a person dies. All that matters is they died. If their name is not in the Book of Life—they're not going to Heaven. Revelation 21:7-8—“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” There’s not a whole lot of wiggle room there.

A little later on in the same chapter, John sees the holy city—New Jerusalem—descending from the clouds. And he sees who enters into it—and who doesn’t. Revelation 21:24, 27—And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light…But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. A person could die the most horrific, terrifying, painful death you could ever imagine—but if their name is not in the Book of Life, they will face an eternity that will make the way they died seem almost bearable.

BUT!! You can't know how good the good news is until you know how bad the bad news is, right? IF we do turn away from sin; if we do acknowledge the fact that Jesus Christ is LORD; if we do know that there is no way/no how that we could ever make ourselves righteous by our vile human works, that our righteousness is filthy rags and that true righteousness is from God by faith (Philippians 3:9)—then on that Day, when the books are opened, and the Book of Life is opened, we will NOT be judged by our works, but we will be found sinless because our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), and because Christ has become sin for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him (2nd Corinthians 5:21), and we will live for all of eternity in the presence of Almighty God and the Lamb. And if our name is in the Book of Life, and IF we endure to the end, and IF we keep pressing toward the mark, and IF we keep fighting the good fight of faith, then God hasn’t put it in there using pencil—He used a big, fat, Sharpie® permanent marker! It’s painted there, chiseled in stone, and it ain't coming out! Revelation 3:5—He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

This is an assurance from Christ that those who love Him and worship Him and obey Him will always and forever have their names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Let me give you a little background on this verse, because there are some who read that verse and say, “Well, if Christ says He will not blot out the names of those who overcome, then that must mean He will blot out the names of those who don’t overcome.” That is not what He’s saying. John 1:12-13--But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We did not bring about our own new birth--if we are in Christ, we were born from above--not by our own will, but by the will of God. 1st John 5:4-5--For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? In other words, if a person has been truly born of God, that person WILL overcome the world. It's not a case of "If you do everything you can, you might be able to be saved"--it's a case of "If God has saved you--you WILL be saved to the uttermost." That is, if your name has been written in the Book of Life, it ain't gonna be taken out!!

In Revelation, Jesus told the apostle John to write those words to the church in a city called Sardis, another Roman colony much like Philippi. And in Roman cities—same as in any other culture at the time—they would have a roll which contained the names of all the citizens living there. And what would happen to the name of a citizen of such an area when they died? “Well, Marcus Maximus just died—take his name off the tax roll.” But when a person “falls asleep”—that is, their body ceases to function—does that person cease to exist? Now, if such a person was truly “in Christ”—if they had repented from sin, loved Christ and obeyed Christ until the very end—will their names be taken off of that roll call? Of course not!

Keep in mind the whole “citizenship” issue. We saw a couple weeks ago that Paul said in Philippians 3:20—For our citizenship is in heaven. Where are our names written? And in Heaven, our names are written in that Book of Life. If we are citizens of Heaven, and our name is written in that registry up there, and if we continue to imitate those who imitate Christ—will our names be removed from that roll? No. That is the point Christ is making. He’s saying that if our name is on that roll it ain't gonna come off!

Because it was written there before even the first spark of creation. And who wrote our name in that Book of Life? It was God Himself. Jesus reaffirms this idea in Luke 10:20--"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Not "will be written" or "may be written at a later date." But our names ARE written in Heaven, in the Lamb's Book of Life--never to be taken out!!

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Verse-by-verse through Philippians (3:21-4:1)

Before we get to finishing up this last verse of chapter 3, I’d kinda like to review what we have seen so far in this chapter. He starts out in verses 2-3 by warning the people to Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:2-3). There were a group of men going around telling these people that in order for a person to be saved, they had to keep the OT Jewish Law—all the commandments and offerings and sacrifices. And be circumcised. That was what he says, “beware the mutilation.” And in fact, he goes on to say that if anyone could make themselves righteous by keeping the whole Law—it was Paul himself. Philippians 3:4-6 (ESV)--If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

This leads him to express how the grace of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord is so much greater than the works of the Law—and how all the years he spent trying to keep that Law were, for all intents and purposes, waste. Philippians 3:7-9--But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

Then, we see that by setting aside our own righteousness, we find that true life is not found in holding on to our earthly life—but by letting go of it. Philippians 3:10-11--That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. But, are we there yet? We have eternal life in us—if indeed Christ is in us. But we are not yet perfect, we are still trapped in these bodies of flesh that keep trying to wander off the path, so that we are constantly torn between doing what our flesh wants us to do and what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. So that all we can do until that day when we are perfected, is to strain and struggle and fight to make it through to the end of this race so that we might win that crown of righteousness Christ will give us on that Day.

Philippians 3:12-14--Not that I have already arrived, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have laid hold of it; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Having said that, he goes on to stir us up to all look toward the same One—Christ—so that whatever we do as the body, we are all doing for one reason and one reason only—the glory of God. Philippians 3:15-16--Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. And this brings him back around almost to where he started, by urging us to follow those people whose lives are patterns of godliness and holiness and righteousness—not their own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ—and follow them, because they follow Christ. A=B, B=C, A=C and all that.

At the same time, he warns us about those people he calls the “enemies of the cross of Christ”—who either want to make themselves look better or who want to live without any fear of the wrath of God. Philippians 3:17-19 (NASB)--Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. And now, we wind up at the end of the chapter, by seeing the glorious hope that we have if we trust in Christ, follow Him, love Him, worship Him, we put our hope in Him, He is the one we seek to please.

Philippians 3:20-4:1—20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

We are here on earth on a student visa. We live here on earth for the time being—but we got another country we’re going home to one day. And we look forward to that day and we can't wait to get there! And every pain we’ve ever had. Every illness we may go through—GONE!
And every single struggle and every single battle we have between whether to please our flesh or to please God—GONE! Because then—and only then—will we be fully perfected!

Philippians 4:21. The Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body... The word “transform.” (Gk: μετασχηματίζω, metaschēmatizō) It refers to both the structural make-up, and also the internal characteristics of the body. Back in chapter 2, we saw that Jesus was in the form of God—every single thing that God is, is contained in Christ. In other words, to see Christ is to see God. But, He received upon Himself a body, and anybody who saw Him saw a man. Not that He looked like any particular man. But He looked like a man. He talked like a man. He walked like a man. He needed to eat. He needed to sleep. And, when they drove those nails through His hands and feet, He even bled and died like a man. BUT! Did He sin like a man? No. In fact, did Jesus even have the desire to do anything other than the will of the Father? NO! If anybody says He did, that is blasphemy. Jesus never sinned. Never wanted to. John 5:30—“I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” 1st Peter 2:22 says that Jesus committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.

But what about us? Do we have a struggle sometimes when it comes to doing the will of the Father? You might say that. You might also say—and this is closer to the truth—that if our flesh had its way, the only thing we would ever want to do would be to sin. Genesis 6:5—Then YHVH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That was why He brought the flood. Then, after the flood waters subsided, and Noah made an offering to God, Genesis 8:21—YHVH said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.” From the time we are born the only thing we want to do is what we want to do.

BUT!! Guess what? For those who love Christ and who worship and seek to obey Him, He will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body... Doesn’t mean we’re going to look exactly like Christ when He walked the earth. That’s not quite what the word means here. It doesn’t mean that the body I have will look exactly like Christ, and the body that Steven has will look exactly like Christ, and so on so that every single person in Heaven looks exactly the same. What it means is this—everything that is true about the physical body of Christ will be true of our body. It will never want to sin. It will never die. There is death going on in our bodies as we speak. Cells are dying and new cells are replacing them. Problem is, the speed at which cells are dying is faster than the rate at which they're being replaced. That’s just the way it is. Started as soon as Adam put his grubby mitts on that fruit and took a bite out of it. His body started dying. God told him that “In the day you eat of that fruit you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Translate the Hebrew literally into English, and it reads, “Dying you shall die.” In other words, God was telling Adam, “As soon as you eat that fruit, your body will start dying.”

BUT!! If we belong to Christ, one day He will give us a new body that will be just like His—there will be no death going on inside of it because death is the result of sin and in that new city there will be no sin—and there will be no death! We will be conformed to the glory of Christ. 2nd Thessalonians 2:13-14—God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:3—Christ is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. Now, this is the good part! He will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body... We will be conformed to the image of Christ. Christ is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). So, in other words, we will be re-conformed to the image of God! Just like it was in the beginning! He makes all things new!!

So, to finish up this verse, He will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue even all things to Himself. Everything belongs to Him, Amen? He created it all!

• Colossians 1:15-16—He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
• Revelation 4:11—“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
• Romans 11:36—For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Jesus created all things. They were created BY HIM, they were created THROUGH HIM, and they were created FOR HIM. The whole universe belongs to Christ. And HE is the one who holds it all together. Does He have the power to do what He wants with it? Does He need our permission to do anything? That’s a question that just about answers itself. Of course He doesn’t! He’s God!! We’re not!! And see, that is where the prosperity preachers walk full-blown into blasphemy. They stand up there and they say that God can't do anything without our faith.

• Kenneth Copeland: “God cannot do anything for you apart or separate from faith.”
• Fredrick Price: “God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man…You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God…When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So God cannot do anything in this earth unless we let Him.”

I’m sorry, what? God can't do anything unless we let Him? Oh, poor God! Sitting up there, fretting and worrying about whether or not we great and glorious humans will allow Him the privilege of doing something! That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard! Come, incline your ear to the Word of God.

• Psalm 115:3—But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
• Psalm 24:1—The earth is YHVH’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.
• 1st Corinthians 15:24-27—Then comes the end, when [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For He has put all things under His feet.

Hear that? It all belongs to Christ. And the power by which He rules over this entire universe is the same power by which He will cause these broken down old bodies of sin and death to be perfect and sinless and eternal and everlasting as His own. And He doesn’t need our faith or our permission to do it.

So, chapter 3—CLOSED!! Just 23 more verses until the end of the book. Eh, 6 months—tops. Christ will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 4:1--Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. Look at the words Paul uses.Beloved.

• Longed-for.
• Brethren.
• Joy and crown.
• Beloved.

Do you think he felt some kindly affection toward these people? He uses the word “beloved” three times in this letter. He calls them “brethren” 8 times. "Fellow-workers" 3 times. He urges them to have the same love, be of the same mind, the same rule, one accord, one mind (Philippians 2:2). Over and over and over again, he is urging them—and us—to unity in the faith in Jesus Christ. That we all walk in the same direction, and point the world toward Christ. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren... Does it sound like Paul loved these people? Yeah, maybe a little bit. That word “beloved”—there really isn't another word like it. It is probably one of the deepest expressions of sincere, flat-out love that you can come up with. It’s the word that God the Father used to describe Jesus and point Him out to the people. When Jesus was being baptized, Matthew 3:17—He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” When Jesus was transfigured on the Mount of Olives, Matthew 17:4-5—Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here…let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

Now this is where it gets really cool. Just as Jesus was the Beloved Son of God, we too are “beloved” of God.

• Romans 1:7—To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints.
• 2nd Thessalonians 2:13—But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord.
• Ephesians 1:6—To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
• Romans 9:25—“I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”

Now, if God calls us “beloved” and He loved us when there was no other reason for Him to love us other than the fact that He is infinitely merciful and patient then should we be loving one another? Should we be longing to see one another?

Then he calls them his joy and crown. He uses the same phrase to describe the Thessalonians. 1st Thessalonians 2:19-20—For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. So, what would this mean for these Philippian believers? Philippi was a city under Roman control. And in the Roman culture, all the important government officials—including the emperor—would wear a crown of laurels as a symbol of their authority. That was one of the reasons they put the crown of thorns on Christ’s head. He claimed to be a King, so the soldiers mocked Him by putting a crown on Him—not a crown of laurels, but a crown of thorns. Now, here’s the thing: anybody can twist a couple of branches together and call it a “crown” and what’s gonna happen to it in a couple days? The leaves are gonna die, and the whole thing is gonna fall apart.

BUT!! You are my crown. I am your crown. We are each other’s crown! Our fellowship, our brotherhood, our being one in Christ identifies us as kings! Really! We are kings! Revelation 1:5-6—To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We are kings and priests to God Himself! His word says so!

Finally, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. Stand fast. (Greek: στήκω, stēko). Plant your feet. Keep your back straight and your head up. Comes from the same word Paul uses when he talks about the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18, and he uses the word “stand” or “withstand” 4 times in 4 verses. It means, “To stand firm; to persevere, to persist; to keep one’s standing.” He uses it again in Galatians 5:1—Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. And, in a verse that pretty much sums up the theme of this whole letter, Philippians 1:27—Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

He is encouraging us to not back down when someone comes along saying that it’s not only the blood of Jesus that saves us, but that we have to DO a bunch of other things in order to be saved. When they say, “Well, yes, we are cleansed by the blood of Christ. But before that, we have to make ourselves worthy of being saved by doing X, Y and Z, and memorizing our catechism and…” We may not always have all the answers when some wolf comes in saying we’re not saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But we don’t have to. We don’t have to always get into a discussion. But if we know that we know that we know that we’re saved, we can just point and say, “I don’t know everything. But I do know this: Down at the cross where my Savior died, down where for cleansing from sin I cried, there to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His Name!”

Stand fast in the Lord, beloved brethren!
My joy and crown!

Jesus Christ is Lord!
Amen!

Pray for Afghan Christians

From persecution.org:

Afghan Christians are requesting our prayers as they have fallen under attack from their own government. Just recently, an Afghan parliamentarian called for the execution of converts to Christianity. That’s right, the same ideas the Taliban espouse are being expressed in Afghanistan’s parliament.

In addition, the Afghan government is cracking down on Christian aid organizations and the Afghan church. Afghan Christians are currently in hiding as an overwhelming sense of fear and confusion has moved throughout the church. Authorities are pressuring Afghan Christians and others to disclose the names and locations of Christian converts. Sadly, under government pressure, some Afghans have given in to this pressure by turning Christians over to authorities.

ICC posted a Press Release yesterday that compares the extreme language used on the floor of the Afghan parliament – a parliamentarians call to execute Christians – to the tyrannical ethics preached by the Taliban [see ICC Press Release].

Tomorrow, ICC will issue another press release with more details on the extent of the government crackdown upon the Afghan church. Stay tuned!

Now is the time for the western church to take notice of the severe persecution faced by Christian Afghans. Let us unite together in prayer.

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” - 1 John 5:14

Please pray:

• For the Afghan church, that God will sustain them during this period of great trial. That they may remain strong in faith, and persevere in the face of government oppression.
• For Christian aid organizations in Afghanistan, that their work may be allowed to continue and that through their actions in helping the Afghan people, they may display the love of Jesus Christ.
• For the Afghan Christian who is currently in jail – that he will trust and find courage in the Lord. Pray also that if is be God’s will, the he will be released, and if not, he will exemplify Christ in whatever circumstances.

Left-wing media takes opportunity to smear Israel

This past weekend, an event took place that many in the left-wing media only dream about seeing: a ship carrying "peaceful, humanitarian activists" (quote-unquote) headed for Palestine carrying "relief supplies" (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). The Israeli military took the bait, attempted to board the ship, were then attacked by the "peaceful, humanitarian activists" (quote-unquote)--thus giving the left-wing media here (CBS, ABC, PMSNBC) and around the world (BBC, Speigel, etc) the chance to launch another of their patented smear campaigns against the one entity they hate as much as (if not more than) former president George W. Bush.

However, before you open wide and swallow what they are trying to feed you, read these articles. First, from Daniel Pipes (you really need to go to the links in the article):

Israel's command structure, having mastered the old ways of war (the ones that lasted to 1973), has shown utter strategic incompetence at the new ways of war (in place since 1982). The new rules require an agile sense of public relations, which means that a powerful state never physically harms, even inadvertently, its rag-tag political adversaries.

Rachel Corrie has been an albatross around Israel's neck since 2003; today's dead on the seas off Gaza will prove an even worse source of anti-Zionism. Thus did the "armada of hate and violence" achieve its purpose. Thus did the Israelis fall into a trap.

And the UK Spectator (Again, check out the links contained therein):

And this flotilla was but the latest jihadi attack, deploying the Islamists’ signature strategy of violence and media manipulation. Here from MEMRI (via Just Journalism) is a clip showing the hysteria against Israel being whipped up on board before the ships set sail, with the chanting of intifada songs about ‘Khaybar’ – the iconic slaughter of Jews by Muslims in the 7^th century which is used as a rallying cry to kill the Jews today -- and threats of ‘martyrdom’. This was not merely a propaganda stunt, but a terrorist attack.

Some of this footage is now available on the web but much of it is hard to follow: as ever, the Israelis have been far too slow in making the most telling images and information available in comprehensible form (including in English rather than in Hebrew, for heaven’s sake!). This clip appears to show masked and armed flotilla activists beating Israeli soldiers (although here is the BBC report accompanying that footage, in which the voiceover appears to be claiming, perversely, that the people in masks were Israeli soldiers. That said, the report on Radio Four’s World at One was fair and balanced).

This clip shows an Israeli soldier being stabbed. This IDF clip and this one show attacks on the commandoes including throwing one off the deck, attacking others with a metal pole and a firebomb and an attempted kidnap of another.