“I have you in my heart”
[Philippians 1:7-11]
What do you think when you think of your loved ones in your heart? Especially when the beloved one are far away, or even have already passed away, what memories come to your mind when you think of them? I personally think that we, the parents, should instill good memories of the Lord's love to our children. The reason is that if those memories are written in their heart then even when we die, our children can love each other and love their neighbors. In that respect, we must make many good memories with our loved ones in the Lord. Especially we need to make lots of good memories with those whom we are working together for the Lord, His church and His kingdom. If we do so, we will be able to thank God for the grace and love that He has given to us through fellowship with them in the Lord even after we have to be parted with them. Do you have this thanksgiving? Are you thanking God for the grace and love God has given to you through the fellowship in the Lord with those whom God has brought into our lives?
Last week we thought about two things that Apostle Paul said to the Philippian church saints based on Philippians 1:1-6: (1) First, “I thank my God every time I remember you” (v. 3), and (2) Second, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” (v. 4). Why did Paul always thank God and prayed to God with joy when he remembered the Philippian church saints? The ultimate reason was that God had given them the grace of salvation in Jesus Christ ("Grace and peace", 1:2). More specifically, we learned two reasons why Paul thanked God and prayed for them with joy: (1) The first reason was ‘because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now’ (v. 5), and (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).
As Apostle Paul wrote a letter to all the saints in the Philippian Church, he expressed his love for them as follows: “… since I have you in my heart …” (1:7). Basically, he said to them ‘You are in my heart.’ So I want to think about what Paul did for them in love so that we may learn and apply in our lives and our church.
First, Paul always thought about the saints in the Philippian church in his heart.
Look at Philippians 1:7 – “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me.” Whenever Paul thought about the Philippian church saints, he thanked God (v. 3). And in all his prayers for all of them, he always prayed with joy (v. 4). Why was that? We have learned that there are three reasons for this: (1) The first reason was that God had given them the grace of salvation in Jesus Christ so that they reconciled with God (v. 2). (2) The second reason was because the Philippian church saints were participating in Paul’s evangelism ministry (v. 5). Paul thanked the Philippian church saints for supporting Paul’s needs materially again and again for his evangelism ministry (4:15-16). (3) The third reason was that Paul was convinced and confident that the faithful God would fulfill the salvation work that He began in the saints of the Philippian church until "the day of Christ Jesus" (v.6) . Then Paul told the saints in Philippian church in verse 7, “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you …..” In Modern English Version, it says “It is right for me to think this of you all ….” Here we can see that Paul always thought of the beloved Philippian church saints in his heart. And whenever he thought of them in his heart, he thanked God (v. 3). Why did Paul thank God? The reason was that the saints of the Philippian church were all partakers of grace with Paul (v. 7). Here, what is the “grace” that Paul spoke about? That grace refers to the Philippian church saints’ participation in the gospel (v. 5), especially how they gave aids to Paul’s need (4:15) when he was in the prison of Rom [“my imprisonment” (1:13)]. When Paul thought about this, he said to the saints of the Philippian Church: 'You are all who have participated in the grace of God. So I thank God whenever I always think of you in my heart.' But Paul didn’t thank God just for this reason. Another reason he thanked God was that all the saints in the Philippian church were partakers of grace with Paul in the defense and confirmation of the gospel (v. 7). Here, I think the grace that the saints of the Philippian church partook in the defense and confirmation of the gospel refers to their participation in the suffering and adversity of Paul’s evangelism ministry. I think that was why Paul said in Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” [“For God has graciously given you the privilege not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for him” (The Passion Translation)]. The reason why Paul always thanked God whenever he thought about the saints of the Philippian church was because they were suffering for Jesus for the faith they had in Jesus Christ and for preaching His gospel with Paul. And Paul says this is the grace of God. In other words, it is God's grace to suffer when they preached of the gospel of Jesus Christ by faith. In this grace of God, the saints of the Philippian church partook with Paul, so Paul always gave thanks to God whenever he thought of them in his heart.
Do you have any of those beloved people whom you always think in your heart who, like the Philippian church saints, participated in the grace of God with you? Do you have any of those beloved ones who suffer for Jesus while preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? When I think of my church, there are people who love God and who love people so they preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with passion, hard work and even willing to suffer His sake and His gospel’s sake. They are those who refuse to live in the United States comfortably, carry the gospel of Jesus Christ, and go to other nations with different languages and cultures. They are those who serve Him with thanksgiving in their hearts but without a name or fame. They are those who are grateful for the grace of God's salvation and who cannot but offer their lives to the Lord and serve Him and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever they go. And they are not afraid of any adversity, difficulty or suffering in the preaching of the gospel, but rather they regard it as the God’s grace. I hope and pray that we can follow their example and partake in the grace of God.
Second, Paul longed for the Philippian Church saints with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Look at Philippians 1:8 – “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Paul wrote to the saints in Philippian church and said, ‘You are in my heart. I thank God whenever I think of you. It is right for me to think this way. The reason is that all of you are partakers of grace with me.’ Then, in verse 8, Paul said to them, “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” When we look at this part of the letter, we can at least know little bit how much Paul loved the saints of the Philippian church in his heart. And he expresses the love to them through the letter like this. In order to express his love for them was true and genuine, Paul said, “For God is my witness.” What did he mean? Paul meant that God knew that his heart toward the saints in Philippian church was true and genuine love.
Is our love toward our neighbors true and genuine? Do we love our neighbors with the affection of Jesus Christ? This year out church theme is “With affection of Jesus Christ.” What does it mean by longing for our neighbors with affection of Jesus Christ? It means to yearn for them with the love of Jesus Christ. Here we can think about yearning for our neighbors in two ways:
(1) Yearning for our neighbors means that we should be compassionate to our neighbors with the love of Jesus.
Look at Jeremiah 31:20 – “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him," declares the LORD.” Whenever our heavenly Father God speaks and reproves us, who are His beloved and delightful children, He thinks deeply. Also, our Father God’s heart toward us is compassionate. His heart yearns for us. He will surely have mercy on us. As we embrace the heart of our Heavenly Father, we also should love our neighbors by having compassion, mercy and sympathy for them.
(2) Yearning for our neighbors means that we should be jealously desires our neighbors with the love of Jesus.
Look at James 4:5 – “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us’?” The Scripture says that the indwelling Holy Spirit jealously desires us. Also the Holy Spirit bears the fruit of love so that we may be able to love our neighbors as we jealously desire them. Therefore, we must love our neighbors as we jealously desire them. Here we should keep in mind that there is not only bad sinful jealousy, but also good jealousy. Just as God loves us with good jealousy, we must love our wives with good jealousy in our marriage. This is true couple love. Likewise, we must love our neighbors.
Third and last, Paul prayed for the Philippian church saints.
Look at Philippians 1:9-11: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” What do you think is the best expression of love you can do for your loved ones? Don’t you think it is a prayer? If we love and care for our neighbors with the affection of Jesus Christ and have a compassion for them, what will we do first for our neighbors? We will just kneel down and pray to Heavenly Father for our neighbors. We will pray diligently to our Heavenly Father for our neighbors. We will pray every day until our prayers are answered.
That’s why Apostle Paul today. He prayed for his neighbor, the Philippian Church saints (v.4). He didn’t pray only once or twice. In Scripture, Philippians 1:4 says, "In all my prayers.” It means that Paul always thought about them (v. 3) and prayed for them. And whenever he prayed for the Philippian church saints, he always prayed with thanksgiving and joy (vv. 3-4). This was ‘because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now’ (v. 5). Moreover, Paul prayed to God with confidence in his petition to God for the Philippian church saints. The conviction was that the God of the covenant of truth who had already begun the good work of salvation in saints of the Philippian church would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (v. 6). Paul, who prayed for the Philippian church saints with this confidence, thanksgiving, and joy, prayed especially for ‘love’ (v. 9). What kind of love? It was a love that might abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (v. 9). What was Paul's purpose for asking this love for the Philippian church saints? Look at verse 10: “so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” The purpose why Paul prayed for love that abounded more and more in knowledge and depth of insight was because he wanted the Philippian church saints to be able to discern what was best in order for them to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. In other words, Paul’s purpose of praying for the Philippian church saints was so that they could discern God's will (Park Yun-sun). Therefore, Paul wanted the saints of the Philippian church to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ (v. 10). In other words, Paul asked God for them so that they might not fall (Park Yun-sun). And Paul desperately wanted the saints of the Philippian church to be filled with the fruit of righteousness (v. 11). He prayed that by faith they would be filled with the fruit of good works as those who received God's righteousness (Park Yun-sun).
We should also offer these prayers to our Heavenly Father for our neighbors. We should ask Him for them so that they can be abounded in the fruit of love. We should pray that we may become more and more abound in knowledge and depth of insight. Therefore, we must be able to discern what is best and to be established as true and incorruptible Christians and to live the worthy life of the gospel.
Would you say to someone you love, like Paul, “I have you in my heart”? Don’t you want to say to the beloved ones whom you always think and whom you have been praying for with the affection of Jesus Christ and will pray until you die, “I have you in my heart”? Now Jesus, who loves us, is saying to us “I have you in My heart.” Because we are in the Lord’s heart, the Lord always thinks of us, and His thoughts are so numerous that there are more than sand. Also, the Lord longs for us very much. And now the Lord is praying for us at the right hand of the throne of God. The reason is that the Lord loves us as much as giving up even His life on the cross for us. So with thanksgiving in our hearts, may we be able to love our neighbors with His great love.