Friday, January 18, 2019


WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday January 20, 2019

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REJOICE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
(GOD uses our circumstances to further the Gospel)
(Philippians 1:12-21)

   It was in A.D. 52 that Paul first visited the city of Philippi, during his second missionary journey with Silas. It later became the first European city in which a Christian church was established. Lydia and her family (Acts 16:11-15), and later, the Philippian jailer and his household (Acts 16:16-36), were all converted to Christianity by Paul and Silas, during the two men’s visit, and incarceration, there in Philippi.
    Ironically, Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, while jailed under house arrest in Rome, some 10 years later. It was written in response to the financial generosity of the Philippian Church, during and after his visit there in Macedonia. Paul says that, they were the only church to respond in such a way, when he delivered to them, the good news about CHRIST JESUS.
    Paul testifies that the Philippians had already ministered to his needs on three earlier occasions, twice while he was in Thessalonica (Philippians 4:15-16), and once in Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:9). And now, during this imprisonment in Rome, the church at Philippi sends their pastor, Epaphroditus, to minister to him there. Epaphroditus personally expressed to Paul, the affection that the church had for him, and he also delivered yet another financial blessing to Paul, in an effort to make his incarceration more comfortable.
    This letter to the Philippians has a tone that is both, personal and practical in its instructions. All throughout, we can see a theme building that is joyful, and encouraging. Christians who were at odds with each other, were encouraged to make amends, and all believers were encouraged to aspire to obtain, and maintain, the high standards of GOD in their lives, and to encourage others to do the same.
    At this point, Paul is unsure whether or not, he will die during his incarceration in Rome, however, he declares that, if death does come, he assures the believers that he will rejoice in the presence of GOD, and if he does not die, he will continue to serve GOD to the best of his ability.
    As we read through the words of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we are made aware, through his experiences, of those things that can bring us joy through times of tribulation. The outstanding way in which the verses of chapter 2 exalts CHRIST as someone who chose to come to earth to suffer a death by Roman method, on a cross, and was raised by GOD to the highest and most exalted place of all, at the right hand of GOD the FATHER, certainly makes it one of the most encouraging passages in all of Scripture.
   After a sincere prayer of thanksgiving for, and vote of confidence in, the Christian Church at Philippi (vs. 1-11), Paul moves on to describe some of the problems that he was currently faced with in Rome. He wanted all of the Christian brothers and sisters to know that everything that was happening to him in Rome would contribute to the spread of the Good News about JESUS CHRIST (vs. 12-14)). And even though some were preaching out of jealousy and rivalry to Paul, most were preaching out of a love for him, and most of all, a love for JESUS CHRIST. Paul was confident that the prayers of the saints and the SPIRIT of CHRIST JESUS would deliver him from his pain (vs. 15-19).
    In the biblical Greek, the word used for “earnest expectation” or “hope for the future” is “apokaradokia” (a-pok-a-ra-do-kee-yah). It describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon, with his head stretched forward, as he eagerly anticipates the first signs of the coming of the glory of GOD.
    You see, for Paul, life was not a long, hopelessly defeated waiting, but rather, it was a thriving and very vivid expectation of eternal joy. The Christian has always been, is now, and will forever be, a part of “the human experience”. By that I mean, from within, we all have to suffer with our own “sin nature”, which is, in the Greek “epithumia”, and it is that battle that constantly goes on within ourselves between “the reason to do right” and “the passion to want to do wrong”.
   When we give in to the “passion” of our human flesh, we sin, but when we yield to the “reasoning” of the HOLY SPIRIT, we are able to avoid the clutches of sin. In addition to suffering with our own sin nature, we are also affected by the sins of others. However, we must learn how to, in the power of CHRIST, live in a world that is full of death and decay, and we must also withstand the suffering caused by sins that are not our own, just as JESUS did.
    In Philippians 1, verse 20, Paul says that he lived in “earnest expectation and hope” that he would never again do anything that would cause shame to himself, or to CHRIST JESUS, neither in life, nor, in death. He resolved that his living would be for CHRIST, and, that his dying for CHRIST would be even better.
    Paul was torn between two desires, living in service to CHRIST, and, dying for the sake of CHRIST. But he reasoned in the only “unselfish” way that he could, and that was that, it would be better for those who were lost, that he lived on, working in hopes that one day, they too, could experience the joy that he himself had found in CHRIST JESUS (Vs.20-26).
    To exalt CHRIST through our behavior results in a life well lived. In the biblical times the word “conversation” (v.27) meant “your whole way of life”, or, how you lived, what your manner of living was, what you did, and how you did it. Sadly, today “conversation” only means “the way you talk”, and has nothing to do with the way you really are.
    Professed Christians must begin to let their “conversation” (way of life) be worthy of CHRIST, because we are, in reality, professing to be citizens of Heaven. We must give up the desire to conform to the ways of the world, even, and especially in the Christian Church house. We have to transform from the world before we can enter into Heaven, and we can take nothing of this world with us when we make our transitions. We must make sure that our “messages” and our “motives” line up with the Word of GOD, at all times.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
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