“Every time I remember you”
[Philippians 1:1-6]
How much do you think of the person whom you love? How many times a day do you think of your beloved family members? Do you think about them around a thousand times a day? Maybe ten thousand times a day? Perhaps we have never count the numbers how many times a day we think about our loved ones. That’s why we are not familiar with the question, ‘How many times a day do you think of your beloved ones?' So maybe if we could do our best to answer the question, we would say: 'I think of my loved ones in countless numbers a day.'
I meditated on Psalms 144 during the Morning Prayer last Tuesday and I wondered why we Christians were happy people. We are happy people because God whom we trust (Ps. 144:15) is "my loving God" (v. 2). David, who wrote Psalms 144, experienced God's love through grace because God gave him victory in battle (v. 10) and He delivered him from the hands of foreigners (vv. 7, 11). David, who experienced that love of God, confessed: “O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow” (vv. 3-4). When I meditated on this David's confession “the son of man that you think of him?”, I remembered Psalms 139:17-18: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.” The Bible says that the number of precious Lord's thoughts for us outnumbers the grains of sand. Do you feel God's love for you when you hear this word of God? The Bible tells us that God loves us so much that His thoughts towards us cannot be counted. Even though parents love their children and think about their children thousands of times a day, they cannot think about their children when they are sleeping at night. But God who watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps (121:4) and thinks about us countless times a day. What is man that God cares for us and He thinks of us so many countless times a day?
When we look at Philippians 1:3-4, the servant of Christ Jesus Paul wrote to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi with the overseers and deacons (v. 1) as follow: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” Here, Paul said two things to the overseers and deacons and all the saints in the Philippian church:
First, Paul said “I thank my God every time I remember you.”
Look at Philippians 1:3 - “I thank my God every time I remember you.” Do you thank God every time you think about your beloved family members? If you are, why do you give thanks to God when you think about your beloved family members? Why is that? I reread the letter I wrote to my beloved son on May 4, 2008 before celebrating Children's Day, and I saw the following letter at the beginning: “Dear our son Dillon, Daddy and Mommy are very thankful to you. Thank you for being our son. Thank you for being nice to us and your sisters. Thank you for being who you are.” I also reread the letter I wrote to my beloved daughter and this is what I wrote to her: “Mommy and Daddy thank God for bringing you into our lives.” The reason why I wrote to her like that was because she is precious gift of God to us.
Why did Apostle Paul give thanks to God whenever he remembered all the saints in Philippi? I think Philippians 1:2 gives us the ultimate reason: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, the ultimate reason why Paul gave thanks to God whenever he remembered the saints in the Philippian church was because of God’s grace and peace. Here, the word “grace” means an undeserved gift to those who deserve to be destroyed and that underserved gift is eternal life in Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:23). In other words, God’s grace to the saints in the Philippian church was that God’s redemption and salvation in Christ Jesus. As a result the blessing that the Christ’s church enjoy is “peace.” That is, because God in Christ gave grace to the sinners and they were reconciled to God in Christ and enjoy spiritual peace (Park Yun-sun). When Apostle Paul thought about this grace and peace of God that was given to the saints in the Philippian church, he couldn’t but give thanks to God. That was why Paul wrote to all the saints of the Philippian church, saying that the ultimate reason why he gave thanks to God whenever he remembered them was because of God’s grace and peace that was given to them in Jesus Christ. When Apostle Paul thought about God’s grace of salvation, he couldn’t but gave thanks to God whenever he remembered the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi.
This is what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” The Bible says that giving thanks in all circumstances is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. We must obey this God's will. Why then should we give thanks to God when we think of ourselves or our church? The reason is because God forgave all our sins and saved us Jesus Christ. In other words, we must give thanks in all circumstances whenever we think about God’s grace of salvation that He has given us. When we think of the grace of this salvation, we must give thanks to God for all the days of our lives and forevermore.
Second, Paul said, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”
Look at Philippians 1:4 – “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” After expressing my gratitude when I wrote to my beloved son, this is what I wrote to him: “Daddy and Mommy are praying for you, Dillon. Our prayer for you is that you may know who Jesus Christ is and believe in Him. He is your Lord and Savior. It is our prayer that you may understand and experience His love for you all the days of your life so that you may love Him also. Our prayer for you is that you may live your life according to the meaning of your name ‘Dillon’ (Truthful and Faithful). Jesus is the Truth. And He is Faithful. May the Lord bless and gracious to you so that you may imitate our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Apostle Paul didn’t only think about the saints in the Philippian Church, but he also prayed to God for them. In other words, he prayed for them as he was thinking about them. And as he was thinking about them and praying for them, not only he gave thanks to God but also had joy. Why did he give thanks to God and prayed with joy for them? There were two reasons for this:
(1) The first reason was ‘because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now’ (v. 5).
The first reason why Paul thanked God and prayed with joy was because the Philippian church saints were involved in Paul's evangelism ministry. How did they involve in Paul's evangelism ministry? Look at Philippians 4:15-16: “Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.” The saints of the Philippian church participated in Paul’s evangelism ministry by sending him aid “again and again” when he was in need. In a sense, the Philippian church saints were sponsoring Paul’s evangelism ministry materially. That was why Paul, who had received the support from them, was grateful and joyful to God whenever he remembered them and prayed for the saints in the Philippian church.
(2) The second reason was because Paul was confident that God who began a good work in them would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (v. 6).
The second reason why Paul thanked God and prayed with joy was because he had confidence in the Lord. What was his confidence? He was confident that God who began the good work, that is salvation, would surely carry it on to completion (Park Yun-sun). This confidence was never based on the Philippian church saints. Rather, this confidence was based on God. Since Paul had this assurance and conviction that God who loved and chose the Philippian church saints would surely bring their salvation complete, he always prayed with joy and thanked God every time he remembered them.
This is what Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:13 – “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” The reason why God is faithful even though we are faithless is because God is the faithful God and He cannot deny Himself. So the work of salvation that the faithful God has begun for us will be completed even though we are unfaithful. Therefore, the conviction of salvation that we have is based on God, not on us. The faithful God who has begun the work of salvation in us is now saving us and will bring our salvation to completion on the day when the Lord Jesus comes back. Therefore, like the Philippian church saints, we must participate in evangelism ministry with this confidence and assurance of salvation.
Last week, when our church celebrated its 34th anniversary, the message we received as we worshiped God was ‘Let us please God more.’ And a week later today as we worship God, I told my church members that the retired pastor Kim will be headed toward a mission field tonight and Deacon Kim will be headed toward Egypt for a mission. I believe that Deacon Kim devoted his life in evangelism and mission as he moves around different countries every three years or so. So let us pray for them as we remember them in our prayers. And as we pray for them, let us ask our faithful God to use them to not only preach the gospel of Jesus Christ but also to start His work of salvation and bring it to completion. Also, let us participate in their mission work as we support them materially as well. In addition, let us pray to God for our church missionaries and their families and ministries whom our church is supporting now. As we pray for them, their families and their ministries, let us pray with thanksgiving and joy in our hearts, believing that God who has begun the work of salvation through them to those who are in the mission fields will carry it on to completion. With this faith and conviction, let us remember and pray for them so that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the evangelism and mission work may spread more throughout the world. May God bless them all.