Feel Good Philippians

Kokavkrystallos · Jun 10, 2024

I heard a sermon once talking about churches that preach only a partial gospel, and how they like to preach messages from "Feel Good Philippians." They spoke like the book of Philippians is all light and airy, all happiness, and nothing hard in it, that it won't offend or convict people of their sins.

I even found this on Google when I entered "Feel Good Philippians"

Well, you get the idea. So I was prompted of course to read the entire book of Philippians in one setting last year after hearing that message, as I knew there are actually some hard verses in the book, even though I must admit, most of the time people go to the "feel good" verses.

First, I'll list those feel good verses for us, before I get into the tough meat of the book. I'm not mocking Philippians here in any way. These are great verses, and very powerful, and we can rejoice in them, and should obey them.

Philippians 1:3-6,
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

2:1-2,
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."

2:16-19,
"Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state."

3:1a,
"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord"

3:10a,
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection"

3:13,
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

4:1,
"Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."

4:4,
"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

4:7-8,
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

4:13,
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

4:18-19,
"But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Now let's get into the hard portions of Philippians, some of which is quite convicting, and some which might make you squirm.

Philippians 1:15-16,
"Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds"

This is a heavy indictment Paul lays upon those who are insincere in their preaching. We should be warned as to how we handle the Word of God, for it can be used wrongfully as a weapon, when one lacks discernment, or even deliberately uses the Word to harm and cut someone, rather than heal. There are times the Sword of the Spirit may be used to cut, but when applied to other believers, it should cut as a scalpel for surgery, and ultimately for the healing and good of the person.

1:27-29,
"Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;"

Here we are admonished to stand fast as one, in unity, striving for the faith of the gospel. In another place, Jude writes "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 1 & 2)

Paul is also exhorting not to be terrified or fearful of your adversaries, and to be honest, sometimes they can be terrifying. But we know our help cometh from the LORD, who is all powerful, and we have salvation through Him, no matter what any adversary says or does.
Further, it says to suffer for His sake. People don't like that part. Certainly is not a "feel good" verse. The prosperity preachers hate it, or just plain avoid it and never preach it. But suffering is part of the Christians life, and there are different degrees of suffering God has allotted to each, some more, some less; and all is according to His pleasure and His will for His ultimate purposes we most likely will not realize till we are with Him in glory.

2:3,
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

This little verse is a destroyer of pride. It is a hard verse, because both the flesh and the devil love pride, and the flesh often seeks its own glory, and is expert at fomenting strife. It speaks to the necessity of humility, and calls for such lowliness in all things.

2:10-11,
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

While we could also include this along with the feel good positive verses, it has another side to it, in that, it is a hard verse, especially to those who are ungodly, unbelievers, and godless in the world. It also has the implication that EVERYTHING shall bow, whether willingly or by the sheep power of God, so that even the devils and Satan himself will bow to Jesus Christ. In that sense it can be a very fearful passage of Scripture, as in the fear of God, to whom everyone and everything shall bow, even if they are haters of God.

2:12,
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

The verse just prior to one of the feel good verses, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Working out your salvation with fear and trembling is not some symbolic thing, nor is it a suggestion, but a command. We as believers are to do this. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31) When we realize our vileness, and the depths of sin, we should tremble and quake, and even fear exceedingly, and confess our sins in humility before the LORD. In fact, if we read chapter 2:9-13 together we get the context and see how all this entwines together.

I'll continue chapters 3 & 4 in my next post. Still working on it (as I'm doing laundry!)

Kokavkrystallos · Jun 10, 2024

Continued:

3:2-3,
"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

Here we have a "beware" verse: a warning. Dogs are usually people with an impure mind, or an impudent man. In some cases it referred to Gentiles, but that would not apply here. In other cases it may mean a sodomite, a homosexual, but here I don't believe it to be that either. He is likely referring to impure and disrespectful people, perhaps mockers who try to weasel their way into the congregation, for earlier we were warned about strife.

Concision means mutilation, and was specifically directed at those who boasted of circumcision, or who thought you must be circumcised to enter the congregation, or to even be saved. Paul deals with these specifically in the book of Galatians. In a broader sense we could include legalism with the concision: those who create sets of outward rules one must follow to be "holy." For example, teaching a woman cannot cut her hair at all. I know some holy women with short hair. It's a matter of the heart, not outward appearance, and while one should certainly dress modestly, we should not rely on traditions of men for this.

3:8,
"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"

This is a hard verse. It is not just referring to our past life, which we should be glad to be rid of. This goes more along with Jesus saying, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33) or, Matthew 19:29, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
And Luke 14:26, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

The disciples forsook all to follow Jesus. They suffered loss of all things dear to them in some cases. Some are rejected by family and long time friends. Some may even lose a job. It can happen if you are serious about following Jesus, and your boss wants you to lie and deceive people, and you take a stand - yes, you can be fired, demoted, or any number of nasty things can happen. Count the cost of being His disciple. He paid a great price for your redemption, and all we have to give Him is our very lives as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1)

3:10-11,
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

Now, you'll notice I included the first part of verse 10 in the feel good verses. A lot of times people want the power of His resurrection without the fellowship of His sufferings. I'm guilty here; are you? Being made conformable to His death. Ouch. Jesus death was brutal, and He was tortured beforehand. It didn't feel good. He asked His father that this cup may pass, and then to be clear with everyone, said, not my will but thine be done. And He went to the cross. Do you take up your cross daily and follow Him? (Luke 9:23) That is exactly what this passage in Philippians entails: being made conformable to His death.

3:18-19,
"(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)"

There are people who come into the church who are enemies of the cross, plain and simple. These are thorns in our sides at times, and thorns and goads in the side of the whole congregation. This is not just talking about worldly folk outside the church, but those within as well. We must be diligent to discern these things, and avoid getting caught up in them ourselves.

4:12-13,
"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Again, I included verse 13 in the feel good portion, but we must look at what precedes it. Doing all things through Christ who strengthens me is often used for gain, and for power, and for all form of positive confession, name it and claim it, and health, wealth, and prosperity.
But truth is we can endure the hard times too, when we may not be so rich in blessings, and in fact may be poor. Will you follow Him then, or will you complain, whine, and moan that God has forsaken you, and perhaps forsake God because He isn't supplying your wants, but only your needs?

Let's begin to look at all of the Bible in all of its context. It's easy to take select verses here and there and build a super positive sounding message, but one that is sadly built on a foundation of shifting sand, for there is a hard side of the gospel as well, and we are often purified by the very fire, and the very thorns, and the things the positive confession people wish to avoid.

If we believe and obey the whole gospel, we will be able to stand in all circumstances, we are truly following Jesus, and great shall be thy reward. Amen.

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Feel Good Philippians

Kokavkrystallos

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Kokavkrystallos

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