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More Exhortations (Philippians 3:15-4:9)
Following Paul’s Example (3:15-21)
As Paul transitions from his past & future in Phil. 3:4-14, he states in vs. 14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” He is stating that through all the positive and negative stuff that he had to encounter because of his “preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ”, he is keeping his eyes focused on his future prize (living with God in heaven forever).
In 3:15-21 he focuses on this attitude and focus on heavenly things. Stating that this is what all mature Christians should be doing. We are to follow Paul’s example. We should be looking forward to the day when Christ transforms our earthly bodies into heavenly bodies that will be like Christ’s glorious body.
Paul’s Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity (4:1-9)
In these verses Paul is telling us to “stand firm in the Lord in our views of heavenly focus & thinking”. He commands the Christian to “Rejoice in the Lord Always.” Our gentleness is to be seen by those who are watching. Because the Lord is near, we should not be anxious about anything. In all things we should present our requests to God through prayer & petitions with thanksgiving. We are to make the desires of our heart be known to God. Our hearts & minds will be guarded by Christ Jesus through peace & understanding.
The final part of this passage Paul tells us to think of all the things that He has presented to the Christian to model. He lists them as truth, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. He states that we should put these things into practice. May our hearts be seen through our words and deeds. God will grant us peace if we do these things.
Personal Thoughts
As I reflected on Paul’s words to the Philippians, I have been challenged to evaluate my daily walk with God. Is it genuine? Is it consistent? Is it viewed by the world in a godly positive way? But more importantly, is it pleasing to God? It doesn’t take long to ruin your witness when your words and deeds are not focused on God properly. I recalled an incident about 35 years ago when my family went to Dorney Park with my brother and his new wife. We were playing the skee ball machines. By the way, I love to play skee ball. I can get very competitive with this game. This particular time, my new sister-in-law was next to me when I ran out of quarters to put into the machine. I stepped about 3 feet away from the machine to get some more quarters. In just a split second, a young boy slipped in and took over my skeeball machine. I leaned over to my sisterin-law and said “I would just love to send that kid to the moon.” She said to me, “Well, that would be the
Christian thing to do!” In one split second, I did damage to my Christian testimony because my eyes were on something earthly NOT heavenly.
As Christians, may we all prayerfully strive to model consistently the examples that Paul has given to us in this passage.
– Blessings from Carlton Ringer
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