“Paul’s Heart”
Today we begin our series in Philippians. You may remember that I have called the Book of Philippians, the “antidepressant” book of the Bible. I have found that every non-medicinal method I learned as a counselor for treating depression and anxiety is covered in this book. So while we are going to be talking about Paul a lot, I am also going to point out how this book has given us God’s remedy for the most common psychological problems in our culture. So there will be little antidepressant vignettes scattered throughout this series.
Let’s just start with a little background. The apostle Paul is in prison when he writes this letter. Not like we would think of prison, but basically under house arrest in Rome. While his conditions during this imprisonment were pretty good, he did not enjoy a great deal of freedom. But he was allowed visitors. Remember Paul was used to traveling, he was the greatest missionary and church planter of all time. So being stuck in Rome was probably not great for him, he had every right to be depressed, yet he stills writes this joyful letter.
The Philippian church was probably what Paul would have considered the closest thing to his home church. There seems to be a special affectionate relationship going both ways in this church, and they provided much of his material support when he traveled. This is one of the few letters he writes where he doesn’t include his credentials as an apostle. This gives us an indication of how well known he was, and the respect they already had for his authority.
I was looking for modern day example of Paul’s heart, and I found it to some degree in an NFL football player. In a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos on December 10, 2006, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson (known as L.T.) took his position the same way he had done hundreds of times before during the season. But this particular play was different. After receiving the ball and sprinting around two defenders for a seven-yard gain, Tomlinson found himself in the end zone for his NFL record-breaking 29th touchdown of the season.
But, as impressive as this accomplishment was, Tomlinson’s selfless behavior after the run really stole the show. Instead of raising his hands in victory or dancing across the turf like so many other players, Tomlinson beckoned for his offensive line—those inconspicuous behemoths who cleared the path for his success—to join him. With over 67,000 fans cheering wildly, he helped his entire team bask in the glory.
Even more surprising, he refused to acknowledge any individual accomplishment when talking with reporters after the game. Instead, he consistently used plural pronouns to include his teammates: "When we’re old and can’t play this game anymore, those are the moments that we’re going to remember, being able to tell our kids and tell our grandchildren. We made history today, and there’s no better feeling than to share it with the group of guys in that locker room."
That story just scratches the surface of what Paul’s heart was like in the Book of Philippians. A heart that is completely empty of self-interest. So let’s look at six characteristics of Paul’s heart in his letter to this church in Philippi.
I. Paul’s Heart was Spirit-Filled (vv 1-2)
He greeted right from God. He represented Jesus. “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He is speaking like God told him to pass on His greetings. Paul was so connected and focused on Jesus that when he speaks, he is speaking from the heart of Christ. This isn’t possible unless one is filled with the Holy Spirit. Think about our own speech, when we’re talking to or greeting someone, does it sound like we are representing the heart of Christ?
Paul is very aware that speaking in this way would be blasphemy if he did not live according to what he said. He is referring to himself as well as the Romans when he says in Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” Again in Romans 12 … “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Christ has ownership of Paul’s body.
There is no way this zealous Christian killer, and well educated Pharisee could have been converted without a massive filling of the Spirit. He emptied himself out of his body and gave it entirely to the indwelling Spirit of God.
II. Paul’s Heart was Grateful (vv 3-5)
Notice the words “all” and “always”. Paul shows his gratefulness for all God’s people, and that he is grateful every time he remembers them in all his prayers. Implication – All his prayers contain gratitude and joy, and he remembers in his prayers all those who have helped him. Now we can assume that Paul prayed a lot, but he also knew a lot of people in a lot of places, so these statements give us an idea of the amount of time he must have spent in prayer. So here’s,
Antidepressant #1: When we are in a state of gratitude what emotions are most prominent? I challenge you to feel anything but joy and contentment when you are focused on real gratitude. There is always something to be grateful for, even it is just the fact that you are breathing, or don’t have to sleep in the snow. Paul knew this, and I think it’s one of the reasons he later says that he has learned to be content in any situation.
III. Paul’s Heart was also Confident (v. 6)
What is he confident about in verse 6? His work, the work of the church? No, that God will carry out His good work until Jesus comes again. If any Christian had a reason to be confident in the work they were doing, it would have been Paul. There has never been an evangelist, missionary, and church planter like him.
In fact later in chapter three he talks about not putting confidence in the flesh, and that he has more reason than anyone to put confidence in the flesh, but in all his writings, he is very careful to always give credit to God. Where do we put our confidence, especially when things are going well?
Isn’t it like us to put our confidence in God when we are going through difficulties or when we don’t know what else we can do? But what about when we are handling things and life is going smoothly? Is our confidence still in God or does it shift to ourselves? Paul’s confidence was always on God whether things were going well, or poorly.
So often we lose confidence and sometimes self-esteem when we make mistakes or don’t do as well as we would like. But when our confidence is in God, even our failures take on a different meaning, because we trust that God is still behind everything. We don’t have to become hopeless and depressed knowing that God can use our mistakes as well as our successes.
IV. Paul’s Heart was Encouraging (v. 7)
He says right there in verse 7, “I hold you in my heart”. He encourages them by saying that no matter what the circumstances, all of them share in God’s grace with him. He is justifying his confidence in them and his gratitude for them by acknowledging their struggles in defending and confirming the gospel.
For Paul it was very important to be identified with Christ in His suffering, so for him to tell the Philippians that he sees them in that regard would be a huge compliment to their zeal. Paul knew how to be a cheerleader for his disciples. Again he doesn’t single out anyone or give special attention to the “best” Christians in the bunch, but he says ALL of you share in God’s grace.
The Philippian church wasn’t afraid to identify with Paul even though he was in prison. By sending Epaphroditus with a gift to Paul in prison, they were willingly saying we support Paul, and that made it very possible that they too could be arrested. Anyone associated with that church could now be a target for Roman persecution.
Could Paul say this about us? Would he be very confident that all of us share in God’s grace because of the good work Christ is doing in us? That should be our prayer. If our friend was in jail, or got beaten because he or she shared the gospel, would we have the courage to be identified with them and continue their mission?
V. Paul’s Heart was Affectionate (v. 8)
Paul was tough. There was no disciple of Christ that was beaten and imprisoned more than Paul. Remember that he was basically a Christian killer before his conversion. And he pulled no punches when he needed to rebuke God’s people. But here he tenderly expresses his longing and affection for them.
It is no small thing that he says that God can witness to this. He means that his whole heart is in it. Kind of like us saying: “Words cannot describe how much I long for you and love you”. Being affectionate is indeed a “manly” trait.
I am going to ask us to just pause for a second here and look inside our own hearts. Can we say that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ like this? Do we have that kind of relationship with Jesus? …This is the great commandment and it is how people will know we are Christians.
If not, there is something missing in what we have allowed the Holy Spirit to do in our hearts, and I encourage us all to pray that He would put this love in us. There is no greater feeling than weeping because of our uncontainable love for our Lord and our fellow sojourners on this earth.
What is this affection of Christ Jesus. Complete sacrifice, Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. Jesus did it, and Paul did it. He was willing to take the punishment for them. This of course makes the next point obvious that:
VI. Paul’s Heart was Concerned for Others and Kingdom Focused (vv 9-11)
What does he pray for? Certainly not himself. He prays that their love will grow as love needs to do. How does love grow? In knowledge of what? God’s will and God’s character. In Colossians 1:9 Paul’s prayer echoes this as he says “we ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”.
Antidepressant #2: Focus more on others than yourself. Depression and anxiety are largely self-centered disorders. It is all about what I am feeling, what’s wrong with my life, what I am afraid of. If your child was being attacked by a bear, do you think you would be afraid to intervene? Would you continue to feel self-pity as you are talking to someone who has just lost their whole family in a car accident?
These are extremes, but the simple fact of focusing on others can get us out of our own mind, which is where our negative thinking occurs. When I was a counselor, the best thing for my own mental health was to go to work and focus on listening to and loving other people. We have to have faith to do this though, faith that God will be there to meet our needs if we make the choice to be there for others.
Paul also wants their love to grow in “depth of insight” or practical discernment and sensitivity. Christian love is not just emotional, but requires knowledge and discernment. It is a choice, and sometimes requires “tough love” when that is in the other person’s best interest. Look what it says in Hebrews 12:11, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it”.
Why does he want them to grow in this love? So they can discern what is best, and that they may be pure and blameless for when Christ comes. He is utterly concerned for their spiritual future.
Paul wants them to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. What is this fruit of righteousness? Well, we know from the Hebrews passage we just read that it comes from effective, Godly, and often unpleasant discipline. James says, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”
I’m sure the 9 fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5 would also be included here. What Paul is saying is that in order for these fruit to come from us, we must grow in love. Then he says in verse 11, that all of this “comes through Jesus Christ”. There is no other way to get it. We can’t really love without Jesus, and we can’t bear fruit without Jesus who says, “you can do nothing without me”. Nothing good or righteous that is, we can be as evil as we want without Him.
But here is the most important part at the end of verse 11. Why does Paul pray for these things? So that God may be glorified and praised. He is not wishing any of this for the Philippians sake per se, he has no confidence in the flesh and realizes as we see in chapter 3, that none of this fruitfulness matters if it does not glorify God. Paul is completely consumed with doing everything for God, he is completely dead to himself.
The heart of Paul and the heart of Christ: —Bengel says, “Christ, not
Paul, lived in Paul; wherefore Paul is moved not in the heart of Paul, but in
the heart of Jesus Christ.” Springing from such a depth, Paul’s love could
not but rise to vast proportions. The heart of Jesus, infinitely tender,
thrown open to men, was the home of the captive apostle — the well
spring of sacrificing love; where man is brought nearest to God.
(G. G. Ballard.)
You may be saying, “yeah but Paul wasn’t married, he didn’t have kids, or a mortgage. It was easy for him to completely sell out his life for Christ”. Those things are true, but remember what the title of this message is, “Paul’s Heart”. Very few of us if any, will have even close to the impact that Paul did, and could never really live like he did in our culture anyway.
But, what about our heart? Not just what we say, but when we reflect in isolation on our deepest desires, can we say from our heart that glorifying God and growing His kingdom is the most important thing on our heart. More important than family, friends, possessions, activities.
We don’t have to forsake all these things totally, in fact the family is probably where we are most tested to live in a righteous way submitted to Christ, but in our family are we promoting a total devotion to glorify God, and live in obedience to Him? When we have to make a choice between these worldly things and God, what do we choose? If we choose the world, do we at least speak to God and let Him know from our heart that we want to glorify Him? Are we at least unsettled when we make the choice to choose the world over Him?
It’s a new year, a potential for new beginnings. That includes our faith. There’s no better time to get your heart right with God, to build your relationship with Jesus. He knows your heart beyond what you do. We know where Paul’s heart was, and though we fall short, can God at least have confidence that our heart belongs to Him. How are we going to show Him that this year?
