Abounding in Love (Philippians 1:9-11)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here if you will grab your Bible and go to Philippians uh chapter 1 we're working our way through the book of Philippians if you don't own a Bible grab one of the blue ones in the seat in front of you in that little rack and it's on page 570 this is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi while he was in prison and so he's writing this letter to instruct the Church they have just sent a gift to help care.
For him because while in prison he's in house arrest where he would have been chained in Rome to a guard um but while you're under house arrest you have to provide for your own means you have to cover your own food and everything so he's at the mercy of those outside to tend to him and the Church at Philippi sent a gift 800 miles to him so that he might have his needs met and he's writing this letter back in thanks and appreciation and um talking to them about what it is to follow.
Jesus and what they should look like as a Church how do you go about making decisions there there are some things in life you didn't get to pick you didn't get to pick your parents you didn't get to pick where you were born you didn't get to pick uh some of your genetics I mean there's no you didn't get to pick any of your genetics sorry made it sound like you could pick some you don't get to pick any of them uh there's some things that you don't have any choice over there are things that happened to you in life that you had uh you just have to deal with that you didn't get to.
Choose but then there are a lot of things in life that you pick that you choose whether you're going to give energy to you're going to give attention to you're going to give effort towards that you're going to do this or not do that you're going to to pursue this or not pursue that and how do you go about making those decisions because we're going to see this morning In this passage that we're looking at verses 9- 11 in chapter 1 that Paul's talking about a prayer that he has.
For them and one of the things that we're going to see is that how we love and how we think affects what we choose which affects the trajectory of our lives so how we love and how we think affects what we choose the choices that we make the things that we bring in or reject and that affects the trajectory of our lives and Paul is writing to Christians which is very important for us as we understand this that this letter is written to Christians those who have trusted in.
Jesus and who have had him uh atone for their sins who have accepted his sacrifice on their behalf and he's talking about what it looks like as they follow Jesus and what his prayer for them as they follow Jesus and so this doesn't apply in general to all people but it applies specifically to this Church that he's saying as y'all are following Jesus this what I'm praying for you so let's read the passage together we'll pray briefly together and then we'll walk through it bit by bit.
So we're looking at chapter 1: 9-1 and it is my prayer that your your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so 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 father as we study this passage this morning this is our prayer for our Church family that we by your grace and by the work of your spirit would abound more and more in love with all knowledge and discernment.
So that we may approve what is excellent and so 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 help us to understand this and to get to walk in it by your grace in Jesus name amen all right so he says and it is my prayer that's the first thing we're looking at is this is a prayer and he's bringing them in on this is a prayer.
Now I would ask do you pray for people and if you do what do you pray for people and this is a good one so maybe start including this as a a thing that you would pray for yourself you would pray for others uh there are several prayers found in Paul's letters they're helpful for you to go you know I want to pray for my Church family I want to pray for my community group I even want to pray for myself as I follow the.
Lord what should I pray for and there are some that are in Scriptures this is a good one write it down h mark where it is and use this to help guide some of your prayers but he says this is what I'm praying for you on he says that your love may abound more and more we got to talk about that word your for a second so in English the word you can mean singular or plural so you you this is this is unclear at times someone's looked at you and a group of people and said all right you can come and you do that just me all these people also all of the.
And if they turn around and walk off you'll look at each other like did they make eye contact was there a point do they mean and and so in all the places in the country we've basically we've just fix this we have things like 's and you guys and yans and you guys all of which are dumb and so we say y'all we've got the best one and if you're angry you say all y'all and then you tell them what all y'all can do you know the this word you're here in Greek they don't have this problem they have plural youu and and singular you and this is the y'all version of you in Greek.
So that's y'all's it is my prayer that that y'all's love may abound more and more or some of y'all say y'all's for some reason y'all's love would more and more but that's who he's talking to he's talking to the Church and so I want you to hear this not as just a singular you which it does include you but he's writing to y'all he's writing to I don't know if you've ever been on a team and somebody was given the pregame speech or whatever and they said I want you to fight I want you to overcome you understood they meant you.
But they meant all y'all and so that's what he's talking about this is to the Church this is to us together to them together the Church of Philippi and they would have understood that when they read it so it's that y'all's love may abound more and more that's the first thing he says is that your love may abound more and more now he's not going to say love for what he just means love that that it would be not just love directed at this certain thing.
But it would be that you would be loving people that you would abound in love that you would have a source of love that would grow and grow his prayer would be that y'all were loving people I think sometimes the American version of praying that prays for abounding we want to abound in what abundance stuff yeah when we pray for abundance we mean you know more and people like more of what it all of it the good stuff and I think in Life As Americans most of us have probably had more of a taste of abounding in abundance we more often have overeaten overindulged partaken in things that were I mean we we live in.
A historically globally y'all we live like kings I read sometimes about King Solomon and it talks about that the Queen of Sheba came and visited him and it said at no other time in in Israel was there ever that amount of spices and I'm like I can I mean there's an international aisle at the food Lon I can go hit that up I think if I could go back in time and just hand King Solomon a MoonPie he'd be like you're a world-renowned chef I'd be like.
Well I mean let me you don't had even met Debbie she got all kind of stuff like the amount that we get to participate in all of this abundance and that's what we so often are craving and wanting and praying for but y'all have you abounded in love have you ever had a season of life where you were surrounded by love where you dwelt in love where you in a household of love when you were in relationships filled with love when you were in a Church filled with love and that that is way better than this.
So let's quit praying for this and start praying that we might abound in love that that might be what this is like and I just want to say Church family I think that we've tasted this as a Church family I don't think we're an unloving group but the hope is that we would grow and grow and grow and that five years from now you'd be more loving than you are today that the trajectory of the Christian Life is that we would grow in sweetness and kindness and patience and graciousness towards one another.
So let's read about love for just a second so we might understand exactly what is he talking about what does he mean when he says love well Paul defines love gives us a lot of tangible handles on it in 1 Corinthians 13 I know it's hard for us to read this passage without first hearing Canon and D but this isn't just about romantic love while it applies to that it's much more broad it's written WR to the Church and so this is what he says love is patient and kind is that one of the beautiful things about people who are loving does they have space.
For you you ever noticed that you need something you need help you show up at the doorstep and they have space it's one of the things that love does it creates room for people it's patient and kind love does not envy or boasts you ever seen somebody get something good and the first thing you think about is yourself I wish I had that rather than being able to just Rejoice with them that they have a thing that they got a thing it's not envious it it Delights with everything that other people get it joins in.
And then it doesn't boast on the other side when they have something good for yourself you're not bragging about it you just appreciate it but you open handedly hold it it's not arrogant or rude it does not insist on its own way love is not irritable and resentful I I love that because irritable and resentful are like the front end and the back end of anger irritable is easily angered resentful is angered for a long time holding on to it.
When it comes to your relationships with your Church family are you trying to abound in love or do you show up to hang out with your community group irritable ready for these people to get on your nerv again you ever show up on Sunday just walk around and be like watch watch how they going to act ain't nobody going to talk to me you're not talking to anybody and you're making a face like you don't want people to talk to you.
Because you're judging all of them but you're waiting to prove it you've shown up irritable you're ready for them to offend you or do you ever the other side of that where it's you hold on to something you rehearse in your mind things that have happened to you a long time ago oh what if we abounded in love what if if we weren't irritable or resentful wouldn't that be nice and I'm talking about you not the person you're thinking about I wish they weren't irritable no that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about you growing in this sounded like resentment honestly.
When you said it it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things Love Never Ends specifically verse 8 that's the beginning of it it goes on to say that there are other things that basically don't carry into eternity but loved uses but y'all if you have a Church family that Bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things and we can get through all things.
So he's saying to the Philippian Church H I pray that y'all be a people who abound in love love is the foundation but it's also the furniture the walls the roof it's everything love is what we're supposed to dwell in and abound in that we would grow in that that we'd be blessed in that that we'd be the type of people who overflow in love so he says my prayer that your love may abound more and more so he's told us basically the quantity of love that there would be it would be abound in it there' be more and more.
But he's going to give a qualifier he's going to give quality of that type of the type of love that we're about to have he says with knowledge and all discernment so what kind of love we would have would be an informed love it's knowledge discernment means judging rightly so an informed and choosy love a picky Love A Love That rightly chooses what's good and not good that this is the type of love that the Church is meant to be marked with abundant love that's patient and kind endures Bears isn't resentful isn't angry.
But that doesn't Rejoice with wrongo doing but rejoices with the truth a love that's filled with knowledge and discernment the the difference between knowledge and discernment first of all one of the things he's saying to them is that they would know their Bibles they'd know the the teaching of the New Testament they'd know the teaching the letters that he's writing they'd know the teaching of the Apostles and for us that means that we would know our Bibles that's the knowledge we're meant to have not just general knowledge.
But that we would have specific biblical knowledge that we would know what is true and good and right from the Scriptures that we would be Bible people so that we would grow in knowledge but then we would use that knowledge practically for helpful decision making that we would judge what is right and wrong and good and bad the the distinction between uh knowledge and discernment is shown to us in like a ton of our television sh so Sherlock Holmes he has knowledge.
But the whole point of the show is that like put knowledge together and then he's the one who's able to decipher how that knowledge applies in a helpful way and the really good ones are when you already had all the pieces of evidence and then they explained at the end you're like a but that's a ton of our shows that's Sherlock Holmes that's house house is just Sherlock Holmes but he's a doctor Monk Is Just Sherlock Holmes but he has OCD Psych is just Sherlock hes.
But he thinks everything's a joke and Bones she's Sherlock Holmes but a lady and a doctor with OCD who thinks nothing is a joke so these are these are our TV shows where they they build up knowledge but then discernment is the ability to use it in a helpful way to make a right choice and that's the type of love we're supposed to have as a Church and just so you know as soon as knowledge and discernment are added we we leave our culture behind cuz America us culture we could stand at an inauguration and say we pray that your love would abound more and more.
And then just close the Bible and everybody in our culture would go yes it's exactly what we want but as soon as you say a choosy Discerning love that knows right from wrong it's like oo no because what we celebrate culturally is approval love I'm just on your team that real love culturally this is what we celebrate is for me to say I just want you to be happy and I'm not evaluating what makes you happy I'm just saying I want you to be happy I'm just on your team whatever you say is good.
For you is good for you whatever you want that's I'm I'm on your team I'm not ever going to tell you that you're wrong about anything I'm just going to tell you I'm on your team like I thoroughly enjoyed the movie wreck at Ralph and then the second movie came out and the little girl girl in the movie was like I'm going to leave my video game and go live on the internet and Ralph says that's a bad idea and I thought what a hero.
Because if a little girl tells you she's going to go live on the internet you should say no that's a bad idea the internet is is not don't do that but the the movie was that he's the bad guy he turns into a big monster at the end because he didn't just celebrate what she wanted and he has to learn to just let her have what she wants that's the that's the story that's at least how I took the story and you might have taken it differently.
But I'm still mad about it because culturally the hero is the person who says I just want you to be happy and anybody who would step in and say I don't think that's good for you is actually not right but we also overreact to this as Christians and we have knowledge and discernment without love which is just we know what's right and they're wrong well they're wrong they're idiots they're they're wrong about this there's tons of YouTube channels videos that you can watch where someone just I would say sometimes very rightfully walking through the Bible and saying this is right this isn't right this is wrong.
But they do it gleefully like they're happy and angry that that all of this it's weird it's this weird mix of angry and happy of like I'm mad at them but I'm also so happy that it tastes so good to be right and for us to to operate the way we're supposed to we're supposed to be abounding in love and a love that has knowledge and discernment so that we know our Bibles and we choose well and it's quite possible that you lean in one of those directions that it's easier.
For you to just be gracious and kind and welcoming and patient really hard for you to look at someone and say I think if you choose that it'll be bad for you but discernment is wonderful because there are are things that are bad for you and if you have no radar for that if you have no ability to to know what is good and right and wrong and choose well it harms you I have I have a son who uh was born with food allergies we were walk we were carrying him around I always feel bad about this we were we were with him somewhere he was a little baby and somebody looked at us.
And said what's going on with his skin and we were like I don't know he's itchy and they were like he looks like he's allergic to milk we were like you think and they were like yeah guess what he was allergic to milk we were harming him he was also allergic to oats which we started adding to his milk I guess to try to absolutely destroy this child but we also found out he was allergic to eggs and milk he eggs milk and um wheat which means you can't have anything that tastes good there's no no cake no can candy no cookie no I mean like it just he cut out all kinds of stuff.
There were many a night where he ate green beans while the rest of his family ate pizza because we're not going to not eat pizza cuz you can't it's tough man it's going to be your whole life just I don't know eat your beans let's go but he's had to learn to have a discernment for what he takes in he's got to be able to approve he's got to be able to choose whether or not it's good or bad for him he's got to be able to do that all the time even as a four five six-year-old and he's thankfully outgrown some things.
But here's what's happened to him he's begun to do what this what Paul says is supposed to happen here because Paul's about to tell us what matters why this matters why it matters that we would abound in love with all knowledge and discernment with knowledge and all discernment verse 10 so that when you're reading your Bible those phrases are very important so so that if then any of those kind of things help you understand how the flow of thought works so that.
So the reason that we're abounding in love with all with discernment with knowledge and all discernment is so that you may approve what is excellent and so that we'd pick the good stuff in life we choose what was right we choose what would bring life and joy and Delight what's funny now is that when we when him and his brother are having to eat like regular healthy meals his brother would be like I don't like this and he's younger so he always be yeah me neither.
And then he'll start eating and go it's actually okay because he's so used to eating just butter beans and green beans and white rice you can just feed him healthy stuff and he just tears it up I know some of you are like white rice isn't healthy well you should see how we the other meals we eat white rice is great it's basically a vegetable but he takes in what is good for him and that's what he's saying is that we would learn how to approve approve what is excellent how to approve what is healthy that we would learn what is right and wrong and good.
And then we would choose it now that's a prayer that you would learn how to love what was excellent look Step One is knowing what is excellent step two is being able to discern well to choose what is excellent and many of us are there a lot I mean as a pastor sometimes we talk to people and they'll say I know the Bible says I just don't want to do that yeah I know what it says I don't want that we plead with them and by God's grace some of them as the spirit Works in them still choose what is good and some of you that's where you are you're like I know what's right.
And so I'm choosing it I don't like it yet I like Jesus I love him I wish this weren't true but I'm going to choose it because it's what's excellent it's what he tells me will be good for me it's what he tells me will bring joy even though doesn't feel like that but the hope the prayer would be eventually we wouldn't just approve what is excellent but we would also love what is excellent we would Delight in what was good and that we would Delight in Christ as we Delight in what is good and that we would grow to have a discernment radar and choose what is good.
Because how do you choose right now what you want so often we do we base it off of what we think and what we feel which is what he's talking about that you'd have knowledge and discernment that's the thinking part and that we would abound in love that's the feeling part but the hope is that we would do all of that in Christ it would be Christ empowered love Christ empowered knowledge and discernment so that we would choose what is excellent.
But so often we're just you know how many decisions you're making all the time big ones little ones sometimes you make big intentional ones sometimes you make little ones over and over and over and over and over again that make a really big decision for you so it's never a big decision it's just a repeated little decision but it makes a massively big decision for you we do this all the time based off of what we think and what we feel and what he's saying is his prayer is that would be.
God empowered Spirit empowered Bible aligned that Jesus would be at work in it that they would abound in love but it would be a knowledge and Discerning love so they might choose what is excellent so this why does that matter he says and so so this is the next part so he's saying that you would abound in love with knowledge and all discernment so that you might approve what is excellent and so so if we're doing that if we're abounding in love with knowledge and discernment and approving what is excellent.
If the Church is doing that if Philippi is doing that if we're doing that here's what happens next and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ often when the Bible refers to pure and blameless in Paul's writing he means eternally theologically accomplished by Jesus on your behalf here he means practically in life because he's talking about the choices that they're making that they would approve what is excellent and so as they continue to do that their life would have a tenor of being pure and blameless and there are other places where he uses blameless kind of in that way and even this word blameless is translated a Greek word that usually the.
Word blameless in your text is is not this Greek word this Greek word kind of means un undamaged so he's saying that we would abound in love with knowledge and all discernment so that we might approve what is blame us so that we could drive the course of life without running into the wall y' that's what we want if you belong to Jesus that's what you want that's sounds wonderful that we might abound in love that we might make good decisions and that we'd be walking through life.
Well for the day of Christ and the day of Christ we looked at last week is the day that he judges the world it's the day when everyone presents thems to Christ and Christ displays the Church in glory and Christ judges those who rebelled against him it's the day and he's saying that we would make it to that day undamaged now in verse six which we looked at last week he says I'm sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of.
Jesus Christ we celebrated that Jesus if he's at work in you on that day he makes you whole and complete and this is talking about now his work that's for the day of Christ meaning that he's at work in our lives practically as we go so that it's both that at that that day he makes us whole and complete through his work but also through his work he's working in us now I heard a comedian one time say I'm sick of following my dreams I just want to find out where they're going and meet up with them later and sometimes I feel like that's the way we feel about us growing as a Christian really.
Tired of the process super looking forward to the awesome version of me later and I'm just going to wait till he shows up but that's not how it works it's a daily thing where he works in us to grow Us in patience and kindness you actually have to grow to be less irritable as love is at working you to abound being irritable sometimes is kind of fun way more fun than feeling irritable and controlling that resentfulness sometimes is like a security blanket there is I'm secretly mad at them take that I don't know why we think that feels good.
But it does there's something to it and it's like no we're actually supposed to be repenting of these things we supposed to be growing in love and this is going to happen us over time as we walk in Church family and as we carry this out and it's going to be something he does in us over time as he develops us and works in us and if you're paying attention this prayer is for their entire life here's my he says here's my prayer.
For you you'd bound in love more and more with all knowledge and discernment so that you might approve what is blameless he's now talking about the decisions they're making and what they're choosing what they're putting in their life and what they're doing so that on the day you meet Jesus that's their whole life on the day you stand before him and he judges the world this this a lifelong process and a lifelong prayer and a lifelong hope and a lifelong work that he does in us I want you to.
See what happens next next because this is a lifelong work that he does in US it says this in verse filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God now if you're not a Christian and you're not familiar with the Scriptures that logic feels broken feels like his argument just broke down and what he just said doesn't make any sense because the way that sentence should work if we're following this logic is we following this progression is it should say filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through what good decision making that discernment we just talked about choosing what is what is excellent like it.
Should say something like that it would have to do with how you picked the things that were in your life and then it would say to the praise and glory of you or your discernment or your good decision-making you'd get to the end and you wouldn't have wrecked your life and people would say how'd you not wreck your life and you'd say cuz I'm smart I have this thing called discernment ever heard of it maybe you've seen the show House he had it whatever you it would be you at the end that people would celebrate and clap.
For and be excited for it would be the glory and praise of you that would be the logic of this statement but if you're a Christian you see this and you immediately go yes exactly that's exactly how this works we're filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus because he's the one who's at work in us to do this there's nothing good in myself but it's Christ at work in me to accomplish these things that Jesus is the one who's accomplished this.
And then ultimately will stand with any amount of righteousness we have both uh theologically eternally and also practically in life and we'll say all glory be to God who's this good who's at work in me in this way Praise Jesus that he did this and praise God God that his glory is manifested through fruitfulness in life and y'all that's the hope that's that's wonderful that's what we want that's why Paul's said I'm praying this for you he's actually he's praying that.
Jesus is going to do what Jesus does and y'all we should pray that when you're facing sin and Temptation you should say hey I pray that you'll break me over this you'll lead me to repentance you'll do what you do you'll grow this in me that you'll help me walk away from this that you'll put in me your spirit so that I might walk with you that you'll do what you do to help walk in me to keep me from running this off the road and yesterday I got to my day was filled up we went to um a a funeral visitation and we went to my uh granddad's 95th birthday party and can't help.
But consider the impact in those situations the impact that our lives have on other lives the Practical real impact of living a life and making decisions and choosing to be this way or that way to pour your energy into this or that and how that affects people and this is the hope that at the end of all of it Jesus says a a good tree will bear good fruit and a bad tree will bear bad fruit and when when we become Christians he changes us from from The Roots up from the inside out.
So that Christians should bear good fruit but as we do it the hope is that it's this we're filled with fruitfulness that was brought through Jesus to the glory of God so that's the hope is that at your 95th birthday party or your funeral service it'd be packed out with people who'd say they did this they love me in this situation they didn't have to you don't know how secretly generous they were you don't know the time that they they talked me off a ledge that they got me to make a wise decision they kept our marriage together that they fought.
For this that people would come and gather and they'd say oh and then they'd all go Praise Jesus for a life like that oh may God be glorified with a life like that and that one day the whole Church will be gathered in front of the Lord and He unveils Us in righteousness that's not our own filled with righteousness that's not our own and it's it's this display of all that has happened in our lives and all the things that we fought.
For worked for and labored over and repented of and worked in and all this would be to praise the glory of God as he's worked in sinners like us to bring about being filled with the fruit of righteousness there's not a there's not a Bear tree in the place but we're filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God that's our hope that's the prayer that we would be people who would abound in love more and more with knowledge and all discernment.
So that we might approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ Jesus filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus to the glory and praise of God let's pray Lord we ask for the work of your spirit that we would abound in love you'd help us to repent of all the places that we're impatient unkind irritable resentful all the places where we've rejoiced with wrongdoing or failed to Rejoice with the truth we pray.
Lord that you would be at work in us that we might be a loving people that our Church might be a loving place and Lord we pray that we would be filled with love that is anchored in your word so that we might fight for what is true and good and right in a gracious and kind and patient way that we would tell each other you're wrong here but we would do it because we love each other so deeply that we cannot watch someone walk off into sin and pain and hurt and choose something that is not excellent.
Because we so love them we ask Lord that you would help us to approve what is excellent forgive us for all the times that we have approved of something that isn't Lord keep us pure and blameless to the work of your spirit in US fill us with the fruit of righteousness and may your name be praised may this be a place and our community groups be places where when someone comes around who doesn't know you that they hang out for a.
While and they don't come to the conclusion what nice people but they come to the conclusion how good is Jesus that people would see our lives and walk in our lives that we would love and serve and care and that eventually someone would just go oh praise God that he's at work we love you Lord in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and we're going to sing and I would encourage you to take a moment to consider how you make decisions whether or not you need to grow in love whether not you need to grow in discernment whether or not it's like I need to start reading my Bible.
Because I I feel loving and I feel like I'm gracious and patient but I just don't know what's right I don't know how to choose some of you you know what's right but you need to grow in your patience and your kindness towards others but we need to ask the Lord for a moment just take a moment and say Lord help us here some of you know people you've been irritable or resentful towards you need to go talk to them to work some of these things out as we grow to be a place where we Bear all things believe all things hope all things things and endure all things together to the glory of.
God and then we'll sing.