FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.

The Tongue and the Mind

The Bible also teaches that Christ must be magnified in the way we use our tongues. In fact, a whole chapter of the Book of James is given over to that teaching. James comments on the power of the tongue for good and evil, and he notes the difficulty people have in taming it. It is a difficulty even for Christians. He concluded that “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” – James 3:9–10.

Frank E. Gaebelein, one of the editors of the New Scofield Bible, has written of these verses:

“James is right; so far as man goes, the tongue is incorrigible. Yet as James’ divine brother declared: ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God’ (Luke 18:27). The fact is that many Christians through the ages have been given the grace to control their tongues and use them constructively to God’s glory. They have not retreated into monasteries, but in the temptations and difficulties of daily living they have been given victory over the unruly member. They have done it, not in their own strength, but through submission of mind and heart to the indwelling Christ.” ¹

How are we to gain control of our tongues? Only by submitting our minds to Christ. We speak what we think. Therefore, if Jesus is to be magnified in the way we use our tongue, He must be magnified in the way we use our mind also. Paul writes of Christians: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5. Paul knew that there can be no purity of speech apart from a genuine purification of our minds. Jesus also taught this truth when He said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” – Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45. Righteous words come from a righteous heart, one that has been surrendered to Christ, cleansed by Him, and filled with the thoughts He strives to place there.

If Jesus Christ is to be honored in your thoughts and your words, as He desires to be, there must be no preoccupation with idle thoughts, even less with anger and cursing. Instead you must fill your mind with God. Moreover, you must participate in a constant and sympathetic encouragement of other believers, as spiritual truths and spiritual lessons are shared between you.

To Be Continued

Adaptation of excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, Philippians: An Expositional Commentary.
¹ Frank E. Gaebelein, The Practical Epistle of James (New York: Channel Press, 1955), 80.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.

The Temple of Solomon

Someone I’m sure, is going to object and state that God did dwell in the Jewish temple, first in the wilderness and later in Jerusalem, and that this was dramatized by the presence of the cloud or Shekinah. But there are two things wrong with this objection. In the first place, the presence of God in the temple (symbolized by the cloud) was only a figurative way of teaching certain lessons. Hence, even Solomon in his great prayer of dedication of the magnificent first temple acknowledged that heaven and earth could not contain God, much less a building that he had constructed. The second error is this: Even granting that in a certain sense Jehovah was present in the temple, that is now past from the perspective of God’s ongoing revelation in history. When Jesus came to earth He claimed that His body was God’s temple (John 2:18–21). And when He departed into heaven He promised that God would come to dwell within those who believe in Him (John 14:16–17). It is on this basis that Paul later claims, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19. Paul adds, “So glorify God in your body.” – verse 20.

The Eyes

The second truth arising out of Philippians 1:20 is that if Christ is to be magnified in our bodies, He must be magnified in each of its constituent parts.

This means, first of all, Jesus must be magnified in our eyes. I have been impressed in a study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) by the fact that the eyes are mentioned twice in this chapter, once in a passage warning against sexual sins and once in a passage warning against materialism. How closely each of these errors is connected with the eyes! In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the eyes, saying, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29. It is quite evident that this is a warning against the snares of improper sexual desires; for the verses that come just before refer to adultery, and the verses that immediately follow deal with the problems of divorce. Similarly, in Matthew chapter 6 He deals with the role of the eyes in materialism. Jesus begins with a reference to human greed; He finishes with the truth that a person cannot serve both God and money. In the middle He says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” – Matthew 6:22-23. Jesus recognized that the eyes are the primary means by which one is tempted to sexual sins and greed.

This is particularly true in American culture. Radio, television, billboards, and newspapers bombard us with stimulants to covet the abundant life. Movies and magazines encourage adultery and invite our participation in sexual sins. America is preoccupied with sex and committed to materialism, but this is not to be the rule for Christians. Christians are to serve the Lord, and they must use their eyes for that purpose. They must look at all that is wholesome and must direct their desires accordingly. One young woman told me that one of her first great steps forward in the Christian life took place when she realized that the majority (if not all) advertising generally appeals to non-Christian elements in our character, and she determined to shift her life accordingly.

To Be Continued

Adaptation of excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, Philippians: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.

God’s Temple

The first truth we must establish on the basis of this text is that in this life Christ must be magnified in the bodies of those who believe in Him. This is because God dwells only within His children, not in unbelievers, and if He is to be seen at all in this life, He must be seen in the lives of those who know Him.

Throughout the history of the Christian church this truth has been perverted over and over again. People have often made the mistake of identifying the hand of God with the development of the Reformation churches, the cause of democracy, the movement for prohibition, pacifism, or even civil rights. But God is not magnified by these. There is no doubt that many of these movements have been based on Christian principles, at least in part, and that God has often blessed them and blessed people through them. But God’s hand is never seen in the movement itself; it is seen in the lives of those who guided it. Where people honor God in their bodies God prospers their work. When they cease to honor Him the institution ceases to be a vehicle in which His glory is seen, even though its beneficent effects may last for generations.

Some people have sought to limit God to the Bible, but this is wrong also. The Bible is free of error and God has chosen to honor it as He will honor no human words. But God does not dwell in the Bible. God is only magnified as He enters into the life of believers through the Bible and forms their lives in accordance with its principles.

Some people have sought to glorify God by building great churches, but Christ is not magnified in buildings. I have a friend who is very sentimental in his nature who is certain that God is to be found in great churches more than in other places. It is a fine thought, but it is wrong. I have answered by telling him about the three greatest churches I have read about and heard of being visited by close Christian friends. The first is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This church is built over the site that Constantine selected as the original location of the cross and tomb of Christ about A.D. 325. You would think that such a site would be holy. But I’ve been told that if you have ever been there, you know that the church is divided into areas in which the various church orders compete for prominence and seek to entice tourists to their particular attraction. Imagine God dwelling in a place like that!

The second church is Chartres Cathedral, the highest flowering of the genius of Gothic architecture in Europe. But one must remember that this church was constructed in the Middle Ages when the common people who built the cathedral were held in spiritual bondage through their fear of God. The famous east portal contains the stern terrors of Christ presiding over the final judgment, and the entire period of the construction of the cathedral was marked by fits of self-chastisement as people tried to ward off evils they believed God had sent upon them. Imagine God dwelling in a building constructed out of such distorted conceptions of God’s nature and of the Christian message!

The third church I want to mention is the great basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. Here is the pinnacle of Renaissance architecture embellished with the highest achievement of Renaissance art. Michelangelo worked here, and so did Raphael. But these men were paid with the indulgence money squeezed from the peasants of Germany, and it was in protest against such injustices that Luther started on the path that gave birth to the Protestant Reformation. It’s no wonder that Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens and reminded the Greeks of his day that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.” – Acts 17:24.

To Be Continued

Adaptation of excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, Philippians: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.