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Redeemer Bible Church

Unreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

Rediscovering the Gospel through Paul’s Prayer, Part Two

Philippians 1:8-11

Introduction and Review

When I first trusted Christ I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I was
immeasurably happy. I was relieved, overjoyed, at peace and at rest, and feeling totally
satisfied in God. Yet it wasn’t too long after coming to know Christ that the feeing of joy
started evaporating. As the rigors of life and the complexities of my sin began to
encroach on my walk with God, there was a kind of dulling of my joy.

Some people call the period immediately after one’s conversion the Christian
honeymoon, when everything new and fresh and exciting. They say that it wears off
and that it’s okay—it’s natural. Well, suffice it to say that such thinking is clearly wrong.
It’s not okay that our life with Christ loses the sense of joy that we had at the beginning.
As the Parable of the Sower suggests, this may be the sign that we hadn’t believed to
begin with. Jesus says, “And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was
sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with
joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when
affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark
4:16-17).

While it may be natural for our joy to wane, such a state can never justify a lack
of joy on our part. We are commanded to be joyous. How many times in the Psalms do
we read the commands to the assembly to rejoice in the Lord?

ƒ Ps 2:11: Worship the LORD with reverence, And rejoice with trembling.

ƒ Ps 32:11: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones, And shout for
joy, all you who are upright in heart.

ƒ Ps 70:4a: Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

ƒ Ps 118:24: This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad
in it.

In Phil 2:18 & 3:1, Paul calls on the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord, and in 4:4,
he tells them to do this always. This should be their constant condition. Although our
joy is easily threatened and have a sinful tendency to allow it to wane, does not at all
mean that it is acceptable. It is wholly unacceptable.

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In reality, the Christian life should be a life of increasing, not decreasing joy; for it
is not only from joy that we enter into the Christian life (Matt 13:44) but it is in joy that we
continue to live the Christian life. Peter puts it this way in his first epistle: “and though
you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe
in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1:8-9).

This “joy inexpressible and full of glory” is not referring simply to the joy
experienced immediately following conversion. On the contrary, it is referring to the joy
these Christians were experiencing in the midst of intense trial. The knowledge of their
final salvation at the resurrection is what gives them the joy (and therefore the strength)
to carry on in the midst of intense persecution.

I want all of us to be able to be full of inexpressible joy, glorious joy, not only
when it’s sunny, not only when it’s a “Sunshine Day” and “everybody’s smiling,” but
when we are encountering the gloomy days of trial and tribulation.

But the question is: how do we do this? What do we need to do in order to

maintain the kind of joy that Peter is talking about in 1 Peter and that Paul is talking
about in Philippians?

Well, the first part of the answer is that we need to rediscover the gospel. We
need to be reminded of our participation in it and we need to diligently work hard to at
our progress in it. Paul addresses both of these areas in Phil 1:3-11.

Read the text.

As you can see, the passage is a prayer report in which the apostle sets forth two
main areas of his private prayer for the Christians at Philippi. In the first part he tells
them that every time he prays for them, he thanks God for their participation in the
gospel. I thank my God (v 3), he says, in view of (v 5) their participation in the
gospel. And what this participation means is not only becoming and continuing as a
believer, but actively promoting the message.

This kind of real participation—faith and action—is what characterized the

Philippians. For Paul, this was nowhere more obvious than in the personal interest they
took in him. Notice again v 7: For it is only right for me to feel this way about you
all, because you have me in your heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the
defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

All of this converged to give Paul the confidence that God had indeed begun a
good work in them which God would no doubt bring to perfection at the day of Christ
(v 6). So their participation in the gospel was comprehensive; it embraced the past,
present, and even the future. It was participation from the first day until now…until
the day of Christ Jesus (vv 5-6). And since it was God who did this marvelous work in
their heart, Paul thanked his God with joy (v 4).

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As we move to vv 8-11, Paul reports that not only had he been offering
thanksgiving on behalf of the Philippians, but that he was also faithful to offer prayers of
intercession on their behalf. He not only thanked God for them, but he asked God to do
things for them.

Prayer and Sovereignty

So Paul intercedes for the Philippians that they would make progress in the
gospel. One thing should be immediately apparent when we talk about Paul’s prayer for
the Philippians’ progress in the gospel. And I’d let to set it forth in the form of a
conditional question: If Paul is so confident that God will finish what he began in these
Christians, why does he bother to ask God to do anything for them? Why would I need
to pray for something that I am assured God will do?

The reasoning goes something like this: If God is definitely going to do it, then
there is no reason for me to pray that he will do it. If our future perfection is absolutely
certain, then there is no reason to pray to be sincere and blameless at the day of
Christ.

It is obvious that Paul is not thinking this way here. Later in Philippians, Paul will
set forth the same notion, but in a different context. Look at 2:12-13: So then, my
beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it
is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

So then, which is it? Are we to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling, or are we to rest in the knowledge that it is God who is at work in us, both
to will and to work for His good pleasure? Well, the biblical answer is both. We are
to be diligent to work out our salvation with fear and trembling trusting in God to work in
us to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The same is true for our understanding of prayer. While it is indeed true that if
we are the genuine recipients of God’s good work that God will be faithful to complete
what he has started, it is also true that unless our love abounds still more and more
in real knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve the things that are
excellent, we will not be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ; we will not be
perfected.

This is because as with everything in the Christian life, God accomplishes his
sovereign purposes through means. He doesn’t simply ordain the ends, but the means
of accomplishing them. Let me give you a few examples.

First, we would all affirm that it is God alone who saves men and women and that
nothing can thwart his purposes in salvation. As Paul says in Rom 9:15-16: “For [the
Lord] says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL
HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.’ So then it does not depend
on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”

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Nevertheless, we also affirm that no one will be saved apart from the work of
evangelism. Listen to Rom 10:14-15a: “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are
sent?”

We might be tempted to reason that if God has elected some to salvation and
passed by others, and if these purposes cannot be thwarted by any creature, then
evangelism is pointless. But Paul does not reason this way. He believes that if we fail
to evangelize, people will not be saved just as much as he believes that God’s purposes
in salvation are invincible. This is why Paul can be persuaded of the Philippians’ future
perfection and at the same time can pray for their future perfection.

Let me give you another example. Turn in your Bibles to Acts 27.

Acts 27 records Paul’s trip to Rome to appeal to Caesar regarding the injustices
done him at the hands of his own government. The time of the year that Paul was
traveling to Rome was attended with dangerous traveling conditions. Paul, in fact,
warned the centurion guarding him that continuing from their stop in the city Lasea in
Crete on to Rome would be too dangerous (Acts 27:10). Nevertheless, the guard,
listening to the sailors, decided to continue.

Well, Paul’s prediction came true. All those aboard found themselves in the
midst of a dangerous storm. We pick things up in vv 15-16: and when the ship was
caught in it, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and let ourselves be
driven along. And running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we
were scarcely able to get the ship's boat under control.

Skip down to vv 18-25: The next day as we were being violently storm-
tossed, they began to jettison the cargo; and on the third day they threw the
ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. And since neither sun nor stars
appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all
hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

And when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in
their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have
set sail from Crete, and incurred this damage and loss. And yet now I urge you to
keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the
ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve
stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar;
and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ Therefore,
keep up your courage, men, for I believe God, that it will turn out exactly as I have
been told.”

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Now look down to vv 30-31: And as the sailors were trying to escape from the
ship, and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending
to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers,
“Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

Well, this time, they followed Paul’s advice, and v 44b records the happy result:
And thus it happened that they all were brought safely to land.

God had indeed promised that there would be no loss of life (vv 22-25). At the
same time, the men needed to stay in the boat in order to be saved: remember v 31:
Paul said, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be
saved.” God assured Paul that no one would die, yet if they had jumped overboard too
soon they would have died. The theology that lies behind this narrative from Acts is the
same theology that allows Paul to be persuaded of future perfection and to pray for
future perfection at the same time.

Here’s one more example; this time from the life of Moses. This one has an even
more direct bearing on the relationship of prayer to the sovereignty of God; for it shows
Moses praying for the people and God relenting concerning the judgment he was about
to bring. Turn to Exod 32.

You’ll remember that Moses had been up on the mountain for nearly forty days
(too long in the minds of the people) (Exod 32:1). So the people, under Aaron’s
leadership, decide to make a golden calf the image of the living God who brought them
up from the land of Egypt (Exod 32:2-6). As God observed their festival, he told Moses
what was happening and commanded him to return to the people (Exod 32:7-8). Let’s
pick things up in vv 9-10: And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people,
and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger
may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a
great nation.”

So in response to Israel’s idolatry, God tells Moses that he will destroy them and
instead make of Moses a great nation. But Moses refuses to leave God alone in his
anger. Beginning in v 11, Moses prays, pleading with God on behalf of the people and
for the sake of God’s name. Look at Moses’ prayer in vv 11-13: Then Moses entreated
the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your anger burn against your
people whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and
with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He
brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face
of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and change your mind about doing
harm to your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to
whom you swore by yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to
your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

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God has made his purposes clear: he will destroy Israel for their obstinate
idolatry. But Moses, knowing that God is the God who hears, begs God to change his
mind about doing harm to his people. Moses knew that God made a promise to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and that God could not break his promise.
Why didn’t Moses simply keep his mouth shut and watch God get himself out of this
dilemma? Because Moses understood the same thing that Paul understood: that God
is as personal as he is sovereign, he can be appealed to (and ought to be appealed to)
in prayer.

And what was God’s response to Moses’ prayer? Let’s read v 14: So the LORD
changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. God
listened to Moses’ plea and relented concerning the harm which he said he would do
to his people. So God’s promise to the Patriarchs is fulfilled by means of Moses’
prayer on behalf of the people. It is not simply the end that God appoints but the means
as well. One of the ways in which God fulfills his promises is through the prayers of his
people.

So rather than God’s absolute sovereignty diminishing the need for prayer, it is
his sovereignty that actually heightens the need for prayer. In the words of D A Carson,

By this God-appointed means I become an instrument to bring about a

God-appointed end. If I do not pray, it is not as if the God-appointed end fails,
leaving God somewhat frustrated. Instead, the entire situation has now changed,
and my prayerlessness, for which I am entirely responsible, cannot…escape the
reaches of God’s sovereignty, forcing me to conclude that in that case there are
other God-appointed ends in view, possibly including judgment on me and on
those for whom I should have been interceding!1

Since Paul knows that God’s appointed end (completing his good work in
believers) is accomplished through his appointed means (prayer), he is committed to
praying for the very things about which he is persuaded God will accomplish.

In the devotional, A Godward Life by John Piper, there is a short meditation on

the relationship between prayer and sovereignty in the form of a dialogue between
“Prayerful” and “Prayerless.” It is extremely helpful and worth quoting at length:

Prayerless: I understand that you believe in the providence of God. Is

that right?
Prayerful: Yes.
PL: Does that mean you believe…that nothing comes about by chance,
but only by God’s design and plan?
PF: Yes, I believe that’s what the Bible teaches.
PL: Then why do you pray?
PF: I don’t see the problem. Why shouldn’t we pray?
PL: Well, if God ordains and controls everything, then what he plans from
of old will come to pass, right?

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D A Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Baker, 1992), 165.

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PF: Yes.
PL: So it’s going to come to pass whether you pray or not, right?
PF: That depends on whether God ordained it to come to pass [as an]
answer to prayer. If God predestined something to happen in answer to prayer, it
won’t happen without prayer.
PL: Wait a minute, this is confusing. Are you saying that every answer to
prayer is predestined?
PF: Yes it is. It’s predestined as an answer to prayer.
PL: So if the prayer doesn’t happen, the answer doesn’t happen?
PF: That’s right.
PL: So the event is contingent on our praying for it to happen?
PF: Yes…prayer is a real reason why the event happens, and without the
prayer the event would not happen.
PL: Can you give me some examples?
PF: Sure. If God predestines that I die of a bullet wound, then I will not
die if no bullet is fired. If God predestines that I be healed by surgery, then if
there is no surgery, I will not be healed. If God predestines heat to fill my home
by a fire in the furnace, then if there is no fire, there will be no heat. Would you
say, “Since God predestines that the sun be bright, it will be bright whether there
is fire in the sun or not”?
PL: No.
PF: I agree. Why not?
PL: Because the brightness of the sun comes from the fire.
PF: Right. That’s the way I think about answers to prayer. They are the
brightness and prayer is the fire. God has established the universe so that in
large measure it runs by prayer, the same way he has established brightness so
that in [large] measure it happens by fire. Doesn’t that make sense?
PL: I think it does.
PF: Then let’s stop thinking up problems and go with what the Scriptures
say: “Ask, and you will receive” (John 16:24), and “You do not have, because you
do not ask” (James 4:2).2

Paul’s Passion for Prayer

For Paul, like Prayerful, there is no conflict between his confidence in the
Philippians arrival at final salvation and his conviction of his need to pray for their arrival
at final salvation. So when Paul intercedes for the Philippians, he is not doing it
mechanically. He is doing it earnestly. Notice v 8: For God is my witness, how I long
for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. This is the foundation for his requests
that will follow in vv 9-11. He prays because he longs for them with the affection of
Christ Jesus.

Paul is deeply committed to the Philippians progress and joy in the faith (v 25).
This is what his longing for them means. It does not refer to a longing to see them, but
a longing for them. In other words, he is profoundly concerned for their welfare. It is
clear that Paul was not simply interested in getting together, but in seeing them grow.
Later in Ch 1 he will say that they ought to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of

2
John Piper, A Godward Life (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1997),144-46.

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the gospel, so that whether he comes and sees them or remains absent, he may
hear that they are obeying (v 27).

And he puts his concern for their well-being on a par with Jesus compassion.
The word translated affection is the word that when used literally refers to the bowels.
It is also used figuratively to refer to compassion. Because when you feel compassion
for someone, when you have genuine concern for them, you feel it in your gut. Paul
says that his concern is the same as Jesus’. And so we need to ask what Jesus’ is like.

ƒ Jesus felt compassion when he saw the multitudes being oppressed by their
leaders, like sheep without shepherds (Matt 9:36; Mark 6:34). He taught them
and met their material needs.

ƒ Jesus felt compassion when the multitudes were hungry after following him three
days without food, so he fed them (Matt 15:32; Mark 8:2).

ƒ When two blind men asked Jesus to restore their sight, Jesus did so acting on
compassion for them (Matt 20:34).

ƒ A leper approached Jesus for a healing and Jesus did so acting on compassion
for him (Mark 1:41).

ƒ When Jesus saw the grief of a widow over the death of her only son (and sole
means of support), he felt compassion for her, told her not to weep, and raised
her son from the dead (Luke 7:12-14).

Jesus compassion, the feeling of merciful love that he has for people is not a
stagnant, superficial feeling. It is genuine; felt in the gut. And it motivates to action. So
when Paul says, I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus, he means that
his concern for them is as sincere and genuine and heartfelt (bowel-felt!) as Jesus’ own
compassion for people.

And it is this concern that motivates his intercession for the Philippians. He is not
praying for the Philippians as a fatalist. He is not saying, “God will finish his good work
in the Philippians regardless of whether or not I pray, but I need to pray anyway
because God tells me to.” He is saying, “God will finish his good work in the Philippians
as an answer to my prayer, so I pray for them out of my deep concern for their souls.”

So God’s sovereignty and prayer are not at odds with each other. They are
compatible; they are friends. And to borrow language from Spurgeon, we don’t have to
reconcile friends. They work hand in hand. So should it be for us. Our belief in the
sovereignty of God in salvation should never crowd out our need to pray for one
another’s sanctification. His sovereignty should be the very thing that motivates it; for
only God can bring about a community whose love abounds still more and more in
real knowledge and all discernment, so that it may approve the things that are
excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having

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been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to
the glory and praise of God.

In the words of Prayerful, “Let’s stop thinking up problems and go with what the
Scriptures say: ‘Ask, and you will receive’ (John 16:24), and ‘You do not have, because
you do not ask’ (James 4:2).3

Redeemer Bible Church

16205 Highway 7
Minnetonka, MN 55345
Office: 952.935.2425
Fax: 952.938.8299
info@redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.solidfood.net

3
Ibid., 146.

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