Paul loved the church in Philippi. He seemed to be closer to this group of people than to most of the other congregations of Christians. We can see his affection beginning in the first chapter and extending throughout. “I thank by God upon every remembrance of you.” “I have you in my heart.” “I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” After these direct expressions of his love, there are yet other more incidental reflections of his heart. And our text is another one of those expressions – “my brethren dearly beloved and longed for…” He longed for them. He yearned to see them all once again.
You as you know, Paul was the missionary who started this ecclesia in Christ. Many of the people still in the church were his spiritual children. He led them to the Saviour; he was the spiritual midwife when they were born again. Maybe as he dictated, or wrote, this letter, he pictured Lydia and the jailer who had been saved after beating him and locking him into the prison of which he was the overseer. These people were his “beloved and longed for;” they were his “joy and crown.”
One thing we see in this book is that Paul never assumed any Apostolic supremacy over these people. His title never comes up in these few chapters. He speaks to them as if they were equals in some ways, at least as if they were close friends. The only difference between him and them was his experience, his calling and his God-given wisdom. They all knew that he was a special ambassador of the Lord; they knew he was an apostle. But in a sense, he was not in management while they were the employees. He was not the guru, and they were the initiates. He was not the drill sergeant, and they were the recruits. Paul was a fellow soldier, but it was as a corporal going into battle beside them, not from the command post far behind the lines. He treated these people as fellow pilgrims traveling up the road to glory. And, I assume, they considered themselves to be his friends as well.
But the people of Philippi were also some day going to be Paul’s “stephanos” – his victory crown. As he writes, he may be thinking about the day that they were going to stand together before the Lord. “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he that done, whether it be good or bad.” And one of the best things is helping to turn sinners toward righteousness. There will be many at the “bema” – the judgment Seat of Christ – who are honored above nearly all others. And one of keys to their joy that day, will be the hundreds who stand behind them as result their ministry. And “they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as lights in the brightness of the firmament.” Paul undoubtedly will be one of those people with a huge train of souls behind him.
This relationship gives Paul the ear of the people to whom he was writing. How hard it is to hear the exhortation when the hearers don’t respect the teacher. Paul had the respect and love of the people of Philippi. And in that love he said – “My brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”
Stand fast in the Lord.
This is one of Paul’s most common exhortations: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” “Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” “Brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
There may be a dozen scriptures like these. Why? It is because we are surrounded by forces and enemies who want to knock us off our spiritual feet. Our legs are incapable – on their own – of withstanding the onslaught of the spiritual attackers. We may be wearing shoes made with material from “the preparation of the gospel of peace.” But if we aren’t standing firm in the Lord Jesus, we are still very apt to be knocked down. “Stand fast in the Lord.”
What are some of the things which can shake our steadfastness and sweep us away? First, there are the common but powerful forces of every day life. Our secular duties, our occupations, our daily distractions, at times imperceptible – push us off center. There is nothing so strong as gentle pressure, constantly applied. Have you ever wondered what happened to the nose on the famous Sphinx in Egypt? I know you have. That huge tomb took decades to create and wore out thousands of chisels, hammers and workmen. When the last of those workmen were finished, you can be sure the face the Sphinx was quite handsome. But today there is no nose on that noble face. It wasn’t looters or drunken men with rifles who that knocked it off. It was the continual onslaught of a trillion tiny grains of sand. The little things are always working on us to knock off our nose and drive us away from our nearness Christ.
Then there are the sudden attacks of bigger temptations. Have you ever been greeted by a friend with your right hand outstretched in order to shake his hand. But when he finishes the proscribed 3 pumps, he doesn’t let go, but pulls your hand toward himself? Because you aren’t prepared, you are almost pulled right down on your own Sphinx nose. It is meant as a joke, and the context is good, but the end result could have been bad. Every day there are powerful gusts of sinful wind which can catch us standing balanced on only one foot. We have to be either strong or very nimble not to fall right over. By our agility and skill we are able to keep upright today, there is no guarantee we’ll still be standing tomorrow.
And then there are those problems which arise out of our own hearts. How many times has your joy been turned into jealousy, when there really wasn’t any reason for it? How often has your happy smile inexplicably morphed into sadness in a matter of a few minutes? “Stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” The problem seems to be in the shallowness of these hearts of ours. As most of us know, the tides of the ocean are caused by the gravity of the moon. So, for part of the day the seas are moving one direction, and for half the day they lean toward another. But down in the depths of those seas the currents, the fish, the kelp and the crustaceans, know absolutely nothing about those tides. The gravity of the moon has no effect on the deep water. The reason we don’t always enjoy the peace we should, is that we are too shallow. The cause of our blue day, is not chemical, but rather it is that we aren’t standing fast in Lord. Our thin walled hearts are porous – permeable by the weakest of problems. Paul says, “Determine to stand fast in the Lord, dearly beloved.”
Of whom should we beware? There are the heretical dogs, concision and evil workers of the last chapter. There are Satan’s salesmen, trying to sell or addict people to new vices. And there are simply the winds and storms that come up from time to time.
Not only does the text tell us WHAT to do, it suggest HOW we are to get it done.
“In the Lord” not only indicates where we are to stand, but also how. It is only as much as we keep ourselves in fellowship with Christ that we will be able to stand. We’re talking about our hearts, our minds, our wills and our energies.
As you know, our part of the world is prone to really strong winds – especially at this time of year. A couple years ago we had one of those wind storms, and the next morning, there was an inflatable Christmas decoration in the swale in front of our house. Someone spent $30 or $40 for an ugly cartoon “Santa” and planted him in their yard, but the wind put him in mine. I thought about tossing him into my trash or moving him down the street, but I just left him. Thankfully, Monday, someone took him away.
I hope my neighbors know that I am a Christian. I hope they can see me as a child of God staked down to the grass in my front yard. I pray that there is no wind aggressive enough to blow me down or blow me away. I have confidence that as long as my heart is firmly planted in the Saviour, it cannot be taken anywhere. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Now what Paul has been saying is very important to saints of every caliber. But these words are especially important to those who are still young in the faith. The more mature we become through time and experience, the more we stand guard against falling or tumbling over. As many times as Brother Kjeldgaard has tried to pull me over with his sneaky handshake, I have learned to be on may guard. But new-comers might not be so alert. Children are more apt to make poor choices during a day than young adults. Teenagers do not have the experience and insight that their parents have. And even the middle-aged are apt to make more mistakes than the frosty haired folk. But the truth is, no one is as solid-footed as he possibly can be. And the elderly are as apt to fall as the toddler who is just beginning to walk. In fact the older we get the more accident prone we become.
When someone comes along with a doctrine you haven’t considered before, stand fast in what you know. It is always safer to err on the conservative side than to jump to conclusions, switching horses in midstream. We are warned to beware of being “tossed about by every wind of doctrine.” And when a temptation comes your way, you might not at first recognize it to be a temptation to sin. If it is something you’ve never tried before, delay trying it until tomorrow or next week, after you get some mature advice on the matter. Stand where you are, until you’ve had plenty of time to test the spirit of the thing.
Consider the MOTIVATION Paul gives us for standing fast in the Lord.
The words “therefore” and “so” link this verse to the end of chapter 3. Stand fast where you are because of the great hope that you have in Christ Jesus, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” Christ Jesus is coming to make things right – including those things within the lives of His saints. He will perfect the, as yet, incomplete work that has been done in our hearts.
We are reminded in this that the great impetus for our service and faith has nothing to do with whips and laws. Rather we ought to be moved by hope and joy, and we are made steadfast by the same. If we know that very soon our Saviour shall appear, and we shall appear with Him in glory – then we may be sure that keeping on keeping on is a very wise choice. “’Hold the fort for I am coming,’ Jesus signals still. Wave the answer back to heaven, by thy help we will.”
And one other thing – if we not steadfast, it may be an indication we have no right to entertain the Lord’s hope. If we are held to Christ only by a thread, are we going to stand fast? A thread of doctrine is not enough; a thread of some sort of love is not enough. We need the rope of grace tied by faith. If we long to be near Him for eternity, then strive to be near Him today. If we are day-after-day becoming more like the Saviour, then we may have confidence that when he comes we will be fully conformed to His image. But if today, we care not whether we stand or fall – we will fall. If we care not whether He comes or not, then we are in deep spiritual trouble.
So with that I return this morning’s message: Are you looking for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ?