Read Philippians 2:19-30.

Friends.

How many of us have them?

If you remember from Chapter one, you can feel Paul’s affection for his Christian family. He longs to be with them, he is thankful for them in his prayers, and is grateful to have someone to share in grace and in his suffering.

Friendships can be hard. Friendships can be messy. Friendships can be one of the greatest blessings on this Earth.

I have friends that I have known since high school, friends that speak truth in love to me, friends that make me laugh, friends that will sit with me in pain, friends that are a season ahead of me, friends that are a season behind me. Each of these friendships adds value to my life.

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Paul mentions two of his friends in this passage:

Timothy, who was like a son in the faith to him.

Epaphroditus who Paul says was a brother to him.

Both fellow workers in the faith, whom he encouraged and whom he was encouraged by.

Notice how Paul refers to his Christian friends? He uses the terms son and brother. He considers these fellow workers, one he was discipling and training up, and the other who was ministering to him in his time of need, to be like family.

Again, the Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. We are to have others around us to sharpen us, encourage us, and challenge us. I think it’s important to note that Paul didn’t just have friends that were in the same season of life as he was, either. He had Timothy, who was younger and less mature in the faith and he had Epaphroditus who was a fellow worker and encourager. He had someone behind him and someone beside him.

What about you? Do you have a Timothy, someone you’re pouring into? I think we can learn from Paul and see that while we think discipling someone takes much from us, it really in the end adds to our life and fills us. Consider finding someone a season behind you to pour into and then grab some friends to run alongside you.

1. What are some of the characteristics Paul says about these men, his friends?

2. Why do we need friendships?

3. How are your friendships? Do you have friends that are in different seasons or walks of life? What can you do this week to pursue healthy friendships?

Maybe you are Timothy in need of a Paul. The Well has a mentoring program, if you’re interested in being or finding a mentor, you can sign up here: The Well: Mentors

 

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Read Philippians 2:12-18.

One of the greatest lies of the enemy is that we are to work hard to earn our salvation. We must do enough good things to get on God’s good side. He makes us believe our behavior is what matters most in God’s sight.

I know I used to believe that. Which is why the Gospel was so confusing to me at first. And why when I compared myself to others who had done heinous things, I didn’t consider myself so bad.

However, we can never earn our salvation. Not one of us can live a perfect life, even the most goodie-two-shoes of us has still had anger in their heart or told a white lie.

So where does that leave us if we can’t work for our salvation?

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It leaves us with Jesus who has done the work for us.

Finished.

Complete.

Done.

We live in light of his death.

Which is why Paul is telling us in these verses to “work out our salvation”. We don’t work FOR our salvation, but once we are saved we work OUT our salvation.

In other words, if we have truly come to understand the meaning behind the verses we read yesterday, and have truly come to understand Jesus and the Gospel good news that he has saved, our lives should look different. We should live differently after coming into right relationship with God. We should care about our morality, we should care about our work on Earth, we should care about the broken, the poor, the hurting, the lost, because Christ cared enough to die for all of these things.

Our good works don’t earn us salvation, but our good works matter. We can’t be any more approved by God in Christ Jesus, and because of that approval our lives should be full of compassion, love, and good work. So much so, that like Paul says in verse 17 we are to be poured out like a drink offering.

When we truly grasp the Gospel, our lives will be forever changed.

We can work out our salvation because of the work God has already done.

We can work out our salvation because it is God who works in us and through us.

We can live our life poured out as a drink offering because Christ’s blood has been poured out as a sacrifice.

With fear and trembling, let’s work out our salvation and point others to the One who saves.

1. What does God to for us according to verse 13?

2. Why is this significant when considering the good works we may do on earth?

3. Are you still trying to earn God’s approval? How can you rest in the finished work of Christ today?

 

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Read Philippians 2:5-11

These verses found here in Philippians 2 might be some of the most significant verses found in scripture that tell of Christ’s humanity.

Immanuel
God with us
The Word made flesh
Incarnation

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One of the unique qualities of Jesus, of the Christian faith, is a God who came to Earth as a humble servant.

A God who emptied Himself so that we would be filled.
A God who became obedient to death, so that we could have new life.
A God who was brought low so that we would praise His name on high.
A God who dies in humility and is raised up in glory and honor.

This is our LORD and Savior, Christ Jesus.

A perfect God, living the life you and I could never live and dying the death that you and I deserve.

In all of the ways God could have chosen to reveal Himself, He chose to do so personally. He chose to be known by mankind, by making Himself known.

He chose to dwell among so we could know about.

These verses show his full humanity, which is what makes his death a full satisfactory payment for our sin. If He was not fully human, this sacrificial atonement would not fulfill God’s requirement. We know the penalty of sin is death, and without a perfect sacrifice God’s judgment is not satisfied. Christ Jesus taking our punishment is the ultimate example of humility, love, and service.

Again, Paul is telling us how to live. WE do not live in humility or service to others out of our own strength, but out of God’s love and Spirit, modeling after Him. We are called to reflect our God to the world around us. In order to do that, we must incarnate the brokenness and the pain in our world, we must dwell among the lost and the outcast. WE must love in humility just as our LORD Jesus did.

1. What are some of the characteristics of Jesus based on these verses?

2. In today’s culture, is humility a virtue? Why or why not?

3. Does humility mark your life? How can you better follow after Christ and serve others in humility?

 

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Read Philippians 1:9-11

I don’t know about you, but Paul’s prayer life messes with me. Do you remember where he is while writing this letter?

In prison.

When was the last time you were in prison? Okay, maybe you’ve never been in prison so when was the last time you were in a circumstance that felt like prison?

Locked up, no way out, feeling hopeless, alone, and dark.

What was your prayer life like?

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I can tell you when I am in a circumstance that seems hopeless, my prayer life does not look like this:

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (v9-11)

It looks like this:

God GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?? Have you forgotten me? Why are you allowing me to stay in this prison for so long?

What about you? What is your prayer life in times of suffering? Prison? Circumstances that won’t seem to change?

Paul is not even focused on God changing His circumstance. In fact, in the midst of his circumstance, he is praying for others to know and love God more. He is praying that others would grow in their discernment, be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness. Then, he closes his prayer “to the glory and praise of God.”

It’s as if Paul’s greatest aim in life is to bring glory to God, even if that means sitting in a prison cell for days on end, trusting that God will use his circumstance for His purpose and His glory.

I want to learn to pray like that. I want perspective like that. I want to trust God in the midst of my prison sentence because above all, I want His glory above my own comfort and my own plan.

1. List the things Paul prays for.

2. What does it mean to be filled with the fruit of righteousness? Use Galatians 5:22 as a guide.

3. What is your prayer life like in comparison to Paul’s? Is there a circumstance that God has you in right now that is hard to see past? How can you begin to pray with God’s glory in mind?

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