Lesson for January 12, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 1:9-14
Verses 9-11
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
In verses 9-11 we have a passage which tells us how to pray for a congregation of spiritually mature believers. Behind this prayer is Paul’s love for the Philippians and also the greatness of the Philippians; they were a spiritually mature congregation. How do you pray for people who have everything and who are being blessed to the maximum by God? The prayer in this verse is for further spiritual advance; that they will complete their objective of going further into spiritual maturity and super-grace.
That your love may abound still more indicates the fact that even though they have a spiritually mature love, it can still go higher. How could this prayer be accomplished? Paul cannot simply pray for their continued advance unless he mentioned in his prayer the means by which this advance is continued. More in real knowledge is the key to advance. The only way to advance in the spiritual life is understanding and application of accurate Bible doctrine (real knowledge). You must first know the doctrine. Doctrine doesn’t cause a believer to grow spiritually when it is stored in the Word of God. When doctrine is stored in the soul that causes spiritual growth. So, Paul was praying for them to continue to grow spiritually.
All discernment is a reference to spiritual discernment, and it is comparable to the unbeliever’s spiritual common sense. It is the application of doctrine, the power of evaluation and discrimination based upon doctrine resident in the soul. First comes “epignosis” knowledge (spiritual knowledge) of doctrine, then comes discernment.
This is a prayer for the Philippians to advance to ultra-super-grace. They are spiritually mature believers; they have not, however, reached the final stage of spiritually maturity. This is a prayer for the advance to ultra-super-grace with emphasis on occupation with Christ being intensified. Occupation with Christ occurs in super-grace as a spiritual blessing. This is a prayer for the maximization of occupation with Christ.
So that you may approve the things that are excellent, means to test for the purpose of approval, to put to the test, to examine with reference to the result of the examination, to prove by testing. Here it means to approve, and it must be related to the last word of the previous verse which is “discernment.” When you are approving or disapproving something it is merely an expression of your scale of values. You are deciding which is more important. For example, are you going to continue with doctrine? For those who continue with doctrine, it is inevitable that they will reach spiritual maturity. Approval is based on your scale of values. You may not realize it but everything in your life is tested by your scale of values. So spiritual discernment is based upon always keeping doctrine number one in your priorities in life. Excellent means to be worth more or to be of greater value. Discernment is the use of your accumulated doctrine to select things of greater value. You must approve Bible doctrine above all.
In order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christdenotes something that had not yet occurred: the ultra-super-grace status. They are on the verge, and this is a prayer that they reach the goal. This is regarded as so definite that it is put in the present tense, even though it is a future objective. Paul believed they would get there.
The Greek word for sincere is “eilikrines”[eili = sunlight; krinw = to judge], which means to judge purity by sunlight. This does not mean “sincerity.” Sincerity is not even considered a virtue in Christianity. This means to judge the quality of something by holding it up to sunlight. Purity is determined by the sunlight test (that you might be tested by sunlight). Sunlight refers to Bible doctrine. The word “sincere” really means to be completely pure and unmixed. It was used in the ancient world to test wine to see if there were any impurities in it, or if there was too much water in it. So, it means to get rid of human viewpoint (“water of the soul”) and to replace it with divine viewpoint (“pure wine”). So, sincere means completely pure, but it doesn’t mean sinlessness, it simply means a genuine, spiritually mature believer. In other words, the soul is free from the contamination of Human Viewpoint Thinking which leads to false doctrine.
Blameless means to have a perfect scale of values by assigning the Word of God number one priority. So, the super-grace believer is completely pure in soul, and that means free from contamination and infiltration of satanic policy and doctrines. It has to do with pure thought, not with the absence of sin in your life. Blameless means undamaged, without offence or not a stumbling block to others. Blameless means freedom from human good and evil. Until the day of Christ indicates the fact that this is talking about the Rapture of the Church.
Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God is a prayer for ultra-super-grace production in contrast to the production of human good and evil. The Greek word for filledis “pleroo,” which in this verse means to be filled with the highest possible quality. The highest possible quality is the production of righteousness which is the total fulfilment of spiritual progress and is a technical word here for ultra-super-grace. Through Jesus Christ means that all spiritual production comes by means of or from the source of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus Christ is personally glorified when the believer is fulfilling the Protocol Plan of God. Praise of God means approval and recognition. Ultra-super-grace production glorifies God forever.
Verses 12-14
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”
Paul was a super-grace prisoner in Rome from where he was writing. The principle and pattern of life in super-grace is total faith in God in all circumstances of life. This verse is like Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28. They all demonstrate the same principle that God works all things together for good for the spiritually mature believer. Now means to wish, to want, to desire, and it is often used in the sense of desiring to clarify a point with someone you love. Paul has already declared his love for the Philippian believers; these are his greatest friends. Because they are his loved ones, an explanation regarding his imprisonment is forthcoming. Paul recognized that there would be believers in every generation for the rest of the Church Age and he wanted everyone to understand his explanation.
That my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel is a principle of doctrine found in Romans 8:28, which is fulfilled in super-grace. As a super-grace believer, the Roman imprisonment had worked together for good. Four epistles were written while Paul was in prison in Rome. Of the four epistles, Philippians was the last one. Ephesians prepared a person to reach spiritual maturity and tells a believer what he must know to be a spiritually mature believer. Philippians tells a believer how to reach super-grace as a spiritually mature believer. The greater progress of the Gospel is the end result of God working all things together for good.
So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else is Paul’s explanation of the greater progress of the Gospel has occurred. It was no accident that for two years of Paul’s life he was a prisoner in Rome and that for two years the final decision on his appeal had been delayed before he would go before the ruling Caesar, Nero. Paul had an impact on the military organization of that day and all of Rome at that time.
It is obvious, therefore, that for anyone who is positive toward doctrine and operating within the framework of the plan of God, that all things are working in the proper direction. Jesus Christ controls history and for those who are in Christ and advancing in God’s plan things will ultimately work out for their good, as they did for Paul.
And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Paul’s attitude and application of Bible doctrine while imprisoned became a source of great encouragement to all believers resulting in more courage to speak the Word of God. The believers had received confidence because of his imprisonment—not because he was in prison but because in prison he continued to operate under his spiritual gift of apostleship. He continued to teach the Word of God and to lead the Church.
The fact that Paul was in prison and awaiting a very serious trial had not intimidated him at all. Certain Roman believers saw that Paul was not intimidated by prison and was bolder than ever and they became bold as well. Witnessing for Christ isn’t something you do all the time, it is something you do as a result of Bible doctrine resident in the soul, as a result of spiritual progress, and at the times when God gives opportunity. It is something you never force; it is something that God drops in your lap.