Jesus, the Man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, is the one who gives us joy unspeakable and full of glory. There will be times of sorrow in the midst of our joy, but one day soon, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying. And there will be no more pain because all those things have passed away.
Satan has deceived too many people into believing that they are powerless against sin. While it is true that before Christ, we were powerless. In fact, we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ep 2:1), but through faith in Jesus, which releases the grace of God in us, we have the power to live in victory rather than defeat. We can say no to sin and live to please God. We can tell the devil that he is a liar and has no authority or power over us. Indeed, Jesus has given us authority in His name to put the enemy under our feet so that we can walk in victory.
You’ve been preparing for this! All those prayers, all those hours reading your Bible, all those Sundays that you got up and came to church even when you didn’t feel like it, all those tears, all that praise, all that worship, it has ALL been leading to this. This could be your finest hour because if you endure to the end, you will be victorious! There are witnesses in heaven on the edges of their seats cheering you on. You’ve got this because the battle is the Lord’s, and there is always victory in Jesus.
Having completed the task for which the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write the epistle, the Holy Spirit also inspired Paul with the ending salutation. There are three important points in these three verses: First, we will see that the word “saint” refers to every believer in Christ Jesus. Second, we see that if there could be committed believers serving in the household of Nero, then there is no excuse for not being committed Christians in whatever place or time we are living. And third, we are reminded that God’s grace through Christ Jesus is sufficient to ensure that we gain and maintain our victory.
Paul wasn’t soliciting resources from the Philippians so that he could be at ease while they were struggling. He said that through Christ, he could find contentment with a full belly or an empty belly. He appreciated their giving, but he also wanted them to know that through their generosity, they themselves would be blessed. After all, it was Jesus who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Ac 20:35).
Paul told the believers, “The Lord is at hand” (v. 5), and then he said, “Be anxious for nothing” (v. 6a). The Greek word translated as anxious is merimnao, which means to worry about something or to be constantly anticipating that something bad is about to happen. Paul said, “Don’t do that.”
Paul was genuinely concerned about the believers in Philippi because he knew forces inside and outside the church were trying to tear them down and destroy their faith. In light of these attacks, Paul said, “Stand fast in the Lord.” The Greek word translated as “stand fast” is steko, which means to stand firm or to be immovable; figuratively, it means to persevere and never waver under pressure to compromise.
Someone once told me that when it comes to our children, more things are caught than taught, meaning that we can teach all the right things, read our Bibles, pray with our children, and take them to church, but in the end the way we live our lives in front of our children will have a much more profound impact on them than all the words we speak or the lessons we teach.
As we used to testify in our little West Virginia dirt-road church, “I’ve come too far to turn back now.” I’m not going back; I’m pressing forward and upward. It’s the dog that returns to the vomit and a hog that returns to the wallow (2Pe 2:22), and I’m not a dog or a hog. I’m not going back. I’ve put my hand to the plow and now it’s full steam ahead till Jesus comes.
