Sharing Bread Philippians 4:1

SHARING BREAD

¹ Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Phil 4:1 (NIV)

Paul’s love for the Philippian believers is evident throughout his letter to them but it is particularly brought to light in our verse for today.  As a father with his child, they were his joy and his crown.  Indeed, he loved them and loved them dearly.  Part of walking as Jesus walked is being emotive – as Paul was here.  Jesus was moved on many occasions with compassion – He wept with those grieving, He was angered over hypocrisy and greed, He greatly rejoiced when His disciple’s “got it”, He offered up prayers with loud crying and tears – yes, Jesus demonstrated emotion.  Our Lord desires for our heart to beat as His – our feelings to be aligned with what makes Him joyful or mournful.  We can be sure that whenever our hearts are as His, we are privileged to more fully experience His presence.  Once one has tasted and seen that the Lord is good, everything else pales in comparison.  Like Jesus, we here see Paul passionately loving and longing for his “joy and crown” - the believers at Philippi – teaching them how to stand firm in the Lord.

“Human love is capable of great things.  What then must be the depth and height and intensity of divine love?”   Lord Shaftesbury

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”   John 3:16-17 (NIV)

The words John penned in 2 John come to mind:

⁴ It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.   2 John 1:4 (NIV)

Paul always had the Philippian believer’s best interest at heart.  He greatly desired for them to be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit – uppermost in his heart and mind being the beautiful graces of love, joy and peace.  Those who shine forth these graces are greatly compelling in the cause for Christ.  Paul was well aware of the blessings he so desired for these saints and he longed for them to grab hold of it.  Nothing is worse than a life wasted.  He writes in 1 Corinthians:

⁸ Love never fails.   1 Cor 13:8 (NIV)

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:13 (NIV)

“Our task as laymen is to live our personal communion with Christ with such intensity as to make it contagious.”   Paul Tournier

Every believer should have such a high desire for themselves and for those whom they love.  Paul knew that for the Philippian’s to be characterized as such, Christ must be at the center of their hearts and minds.  Flesh is not capable of producing and sustaining such a high calling, it comes only through the Spirit’s power.
     
“The truly meek man is humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, and contented; the very opposite of the man who is proud, harsh, angry, revengeful, and ambitious. It is only the grace of God, as it works in us by the Holy Spirit, that can make us thus meek.”   Charles H. Spurgeon 

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”   John 15:5 (NIV)

Lastly, the apostle urges the saints at Philippi to “stand firm in the Lord”.  He desired for them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they may live a life worthy of the Lord.  Paul writes this prayer in Colossians – a great one for us to pray for ourselves and for our families as well.  This, of course, would be how they would be able to stand firm in the Lord:

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.   Col 1:9-12 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

·       Jesus demonstrated great emotion and I should as well.  It is walking as Jesus walked.

·       Love, joy and peace are compelling graces for the cause of Christ.

·       Apart from the Holy Spirit I can do nothing eternal.  I don’t want to waste my life therefore I desire to go forth in His power.