For The Philippians

by Terrell, J. D. | Category: Paul's Prison Prayers | Jun 1996

The prayers of the saints are the incense of heaven. So we read in the book of Revelation (5:8); and there can surely be no incense sweeter than that emanating from a prison cell where a disciple of Christ is sharing in 'the fellowship of His suffering'. This latter expression is one used by Paul in his letter to the Philippians (3:10). He speaks of it as an attainment along with knowing the 'power of His resurrection'. The apostle's supplication for the disciples in Philippi, which is the subject of our writing, was not the first

he had offered for these people who had become so dear to him. Among his earliest memories of their province and city was that of stripes and imprisonment. In Acts 16:25 we read, 'But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them'. An important part of that prayer must surely have been for the preservation and welfare of those dear disciples who had embraced the truth of God as preached by Paul and his companions initially, and very significantly, at a 'place of prayer' (Acts 16:13).

Some ten years had passed and again the apostle is in fetters, now in the imperial city itself, rather than one of its provincial centres; and again the long hours are redeemed in prayer, thanksgiving and supplication. In the course of his letter, entrusted doubtless to Epaphroditus, a window is opened on to Paul's faithful and fervent prayer life for those whom he regarded affectionately as his spiritual offspring. The entire passage of chapter 1, verses 3 to 11 of Philippians breathes a spirit of earnest prayer, though only verses 9 to 11 are condensed into specific prayer terms. Joy and thankfulness are the very atmosphere of his supplication as he recalls the early spirit of active, practical fellowship, which had characterized the first Philippian disciples of Christ. 'If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us' - the words of the open -hearted Lydia, which seem to have set a seal on Paul's relationship with the resultant Church. It begat a confidence which was to be cemented by the spontaneous gratitude and practical kindness of the keeper of the Roman prison (Acts 16:32-34). From day one in Philippi Paul was in no doubt that he had men and women there fully committed to 'the furtherance of the gospel'. Little wonder he could speak of them as being 'in my heart', fellow-disciples who had been unashamed of his bonds and consequently 'partakers with me of grace'.

Now his longing after these dear people stretches upward to the throne of heaven in ambitious prayer for their unhindered spiritual progress. The heart of this short and precious prayer is 'that ye may approve the things that are excellent'; and how we could wish that the apostle had expanded on this noble theme! It reflected his own Christian experience as expressed later in chapter 3, verses 7 and 8:

Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung, that I may gain Christ.

Among 'the others things that are excellent' there is none grander than 'the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord'. So Paul prefaces his central supplication of verse 10 by pleading for the Philippians that their love would 'abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment'. Well he understood that knowledge and discernment, so essential in approving the things that are excellent, would be unfruitful unless matured by real love for the Lord and for one another. He had still to come to the powerful exhortation of chapter 2 -'have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus'. But first they should appreciate that his prayer preceded his exhortations, and undergirded them with such transparent personal affection and longing - longing 'in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus' an expression which almost defies attempts at further exposition but rather succeeds in conveying the reality and beauty of the Master's own unqualified love for His own.

'Approve the things that are excellent'. Many translators have tried to capture the central thought here. Perhaps J.B. Phillips has caught the sentiment well, 'I want you to be able always to recognize the highest and the best'. The word translated 'approve' here contains the thought of discrimination. Christian experience can so readily become a story of 'the second best'; of choices which express something less than the Lord's highest ambition for us; that fall short of the heights He wants us to scale. We fail to 'approve', to discern clearly the highest priorities of Christian living and settle for mediocrity. This comes about because of failure in clear discrimination; getting our eye off the mark, and that mark is Christ, in all the excellence of the knowledge of Him that is offered to us in the Word, and in fellowship with Him from day to day.

Paul had travelled this road and proved its excellence over all other prizes in life; he had learned to count them all as refuse that he might 'gain Christ' (3:8). The sincerity and inoffensiveness associated with such an attitude truly reflect Christlikeness; and this represents the high-water mark of Christian attainment. Finishing the course - 'unto the day of Christ' - is also very much before the mind of the apostle, himself a grand finisher (2 Tim. 4:7). Meantime, this inner approval, and consequent sterling Christian character, are evidenced in 'the fruits of righteousness'. Did Paul know that his fellow apostle, John, had stored in his mind the words of the Lord for recording in due course

- 'abide in Me, and I in you ... herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit' (John 15:4,8) - 'the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God'. For is not the old Catechism right, 'Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever'?

It was in 42 BC that Octavian and Antony were ranged in battle at Philippi against Brutus and Cassius. The latter were making a despairing stand against despotism in Rome, and it cost them their lives. A few years later Octavian and Antony became enemies, with defeat for Antony. So human power first triumphed over nobler motives; and then, inevitably, declined into self-destruction. What a total contrast with the longings of Paul's prayer for the disciples of Christ in this notable city, developed for the personal glory of one powerful ruler, and then the scene of carnage between others. A short prayer indeed,

but saying it all so effectively for the Philippian disciples whom Paul loved so dearly; and no less clearly for us today.

Though Philippi was one of the 'no mean cities' of the Roman world, 'our citizenship', Paul reminds his friends, 'is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ' (3:20). Paul's prayer reveals that he identified with David's sentiment in Psalm 16:3. 'As for the saints that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight'. 'That ye may approve the things that are excellent'.

Terrell, J. D. | Jun 1996
Paul's Prison Prayers