Philippians by James Rochford (2021)

Paul, the greatest Christian leader in the history of the world, did not let being imprisoned in Rome make him become angry, bitter or depressed. Instead, he took it as an opportunity to grow in appreciation for people, to grow in his attitude toward God and to grow in his ability to pray.

Our circumstances are far less important than our view of them. Paul's circumstances were far from ideal by anyone's standards. He was under house-arrest, chained to a rotating crew of Praetorian guards for close to four years. And he was under a possible death sentence! Yet, Paul was not disturbed by these circumstances. Instead, he was overjoyed at how God was bringing good things out a bad situation. The Gospel was being preached fearlessly by those believers in Rome who watched Paul's example. No matter the result of the trial, Paul viewed it as a win-win. If he is ruled innocent, then he has more time for fruitful ministry. If he is found guilty, then instantly after his execution, he will be in the presence of his beloved Savior.

Standing for Christ by standing firm in one spirit and of one mind makes sense because the mission is eternal and therefore worth the sacrifice. Our real citizenship is in heaven and we will be there relatively soon and for ever. Christian community for its own sake is fruitless. It must be in the context of a common mission of sacrificial servant love. Is it difficult? Yes, but so worth it!

Jesus was showing us the way to completely depend and trust in God. This is a supernatural act that cannot be done out of our natural ability. While Jesus was on earth, he kept all of his divine attributes and abilities but willingly chose not to use them. Instead he relied entirely upon God to empower him to do everything that he did. He chose not to grasp equality with God because wanted to grasp us instead.

Paul is not promoting working for your salvation. He is saying work out or live out the salvation God has worked into you when you asked for forgiveness for al your sins based upon the finished work of Jesus on the cross. It is God who is working in you to give you the desire and the power to live a life pleasing to him.

Paul roundly condemns legalism by emphatically denouncing these "dogs," these "evil-doers," for putting any confidence in the flesh. If there ever was one who could put confidence in the flesh it was Paul. He had the best of everything, a good upbringing, a great heritage, an excellent education, the highest religious zeal, but none of these things were good enough to warrant entrance into heaven. Paul counts all his former good deeds as the foulest of excrement. The only thing Paul valued was the surpassing value of knowing Jesus as his Lord.

When Paul talks about the power of the resurrection, he is not referring to life after death but the actual power that can raise the dead. This same power is also what fuels spiritual growth. The five ways to experience God's power in spiritual growth is 1. Share in Jesus' suffering, 2. Forget what happened in the past, 3. Reach forward, 4. Press on and 5. Respond to God's guidance. God changes lives; will you respond to his invitation?

Without eternity, earthly things are all we have in this life. There is no hope, no point to life, no way to face death. With all the knowledge and advances in technology, we still do not know how to prolong life. In a universe without God, this is the end of the story. Thank God this is not the end of the story! Thanks to Jesus, out citizenship is in heaven, provided, that is, that you are a believer.

Heaven will undoubtedly have many surprising features when we arrive there, but here are five of which you may not be aware. God does not discard the earth and make a new one. He renews the one we are living on now to an unfallen state. We will have resurrected bodies of glory like Jesus demonstrated before he ascended to heaven after his crucifixion. We will have reconciled relationships with our fellow citizens of heaven. There will be no more guilt, embarrassment, awkwardness or discord of any kind. There will be people of every race in heaven but there will unity and harmony between the different races. There will be rewards and recognition in heaven. There we will receive praise we hunger for deep in our soul.

Paul calls us to live in harmony with each other in the Lord. Everyone will at one time or another find themselves in conflict with someone. Even highly dedicated Christians will get into conflict. We need to remember both sides have made a contribution to the conflict and thus both sides have a role in resolving the conflict. The first step is to go before God and ask him to speak to you and then in sincerity, repent for anything he shows you. Other steps involve making a plan to meet with the other person to resolve the conflict. Ken Sande's books are very helpful in resolving conflict in a godly way.

Paul contends that we can experience joy even in the midst of suffering. We do this by presenting all our anxious thoughts to God in prayer with thanksgiving. Gratitude affects our prayers by helping us appreciate the goodness of God, makes us bolder and heals our emotional life. By focusing on positive truths, we are not denying the negatives in the world but we are countering our innate negative bias. But, prayer with gratitude is only effective if one actually puts it into practice.

Most people assume good circumstances equals contentment, bad circumstances equals discontent, but Paul tells us we can learn the secret of being content in all circumstances, whether good or bad. The way to contentment involves giving voluntarily to others, receiving from others, making love an ongoing lifestyle, and finding confidence in and from Christ. Paul really, truly believed that Jesus would always love him, never leave him, and will continue to empower him.