Good morning Frank,
Let’s please
look at Philippians 4:9.
“The things you
have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace
will be with you.”
What do we see
here?
I’m reminded of
James 1:22, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who
delude themselves.” Also of Matthew 7:24 – 27 and of the difference between those
who hear and do the Word of Jesus and those who hear the Word of Jesus
without responding in obedience.
But of course we
have a more fundamental question with Philippians 4:9, and that is, “Just what
are these “things” that Paul is writing about?”
What must be the
foundation of our answer? Shall it be guesswork? Shall it be hearsay? Shall it
be personal experience and knowledge?
Paul writes that
if we do the things we have learned and received and heard and seen in him that
“the God of peace” will be with us. In verse 7 Paul writes of “the peace of God”
and here in verse 9 he writes of “the God of peace.” Verse 6 leads us into the experience
of the peace of God of verse 7, and verse 9a leads us into the God of peace of
9b.
In the Upper
Room Jesus speaks of giving us His peace (John 14:1, 27; 16:33), but He also
speaks of us obeying His commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10). How can we
obey that which we don’t know? How can we know that of which we are willfully
ignorant?
How can we know
His Word if we do not read and receive and respond in obedience to His Word by
His grace and the Holy Spirit?
How can we know
what Paul taught so that we might learn it and receive it if we do not read
both what Paul wrote and about what Paul did? How can we hear Paul and see Paul
if we do not read Paul’s letters and read about Paul in the Acts of the
Apostles? And let us keep in mind that we are reading more than the words of
Paul, that we are foremost reading the Word of God (2 Peter 3:14 – 16).
Consider that
Peter, who walked with God of very God in Jesus Christ, testifies that Paul is
writing Scripture, the very Word of God! (See also 2 Peter 1:16 – 21 and 2 Peter
1:4).
Learning and
receiving and hearing and seeing Paul, the Word of God living in and through
Paul, when pondering Philippians 4:9, begins at the very least with his letter
to the Philippians; in other words, it begins with the immediate context. Then it
moves to Acts Chapter 16 and Paul and Silas coming to Philippi.
Beyond this, we
embrace the body of Paul’s letters, and beyond that we embrace the entire
Bible, for Paul ministered out of the entire body of Scripture, both out of
what had been written and out of what was being written – for all is a unity in
Christ, the Word of God, the Logos of God, “the Word was God.”
If there is anything
close to a “quick start guide” to knowing the peace of God in 4:6 – 9 it is the
immediate context of the entire epistle, but this letter is hardly a “quick
start” for consider the depth of what precedes 4:6 – 9.
The person who
is not willing to journey in obedience through 1:1 – 4:5 is not likely
to know the peace of 4:6 – 9. Will we behold the majesty of Jesus Christ, His Incarnation,
His death, and His exaltation (2:1 – 11)? Will we count all things as loss in order
that we may know Christ Jesus (3:7 – 11)? Do we see ourselves as citizens of
heaven (3:20)? Do we have a growing desire to depart and be with Christ (1:23;
see also 2 Cor. 5:1 – 10)? Is our love growing in discernment and knowledge
(1:9 – 11)? Are we embracing suffering for Jesus Christ (1:29)?
Well, these are
just some of the things to ponder as we consider what Paul taught and what we
see and hear in Paul – as we consider the import of 4:9.
To know and
experience 4:6 – 9 we must begin with 1:1 and work forward, and to do that we
must actually read the Word, ponder the Word, receive the Word, and seek God’s
grace and the Holy Spirit to engraft the Word within us and transform us into
the image of the Firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29).
What a glorious relationship
we are called to in our Father, our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit…and with
one another!
What a calling
to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship [koinonia!]
of His sufferings” (3:10)!
This is our
purpose and destiny in Jesus Christ; with Paul let us forget what is behind and
reach forward to what is ahead, pressing onward toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus! (3:13 – 14).
Hallelujah!!!
Much love,
Bob
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