I have reached the age and stage in life where several of my friends have taken up marathon running or triathlons to prove how young they no longer are. That’s fine that they feel the need to do that – good for them! But my great fear of entering a triathlon is not only the thought of drowning during the swim, but of not finishing the race. To pay all that money (and they are quite expensive), to go to all that effort training and getting hold of the kit and equipment, but then failing to finish.
As Paul draws his letter to the Philippians to a close, he gathers several threads together and they all seem to be encouraging these followers of Christ to keep following Christ, to not give up. And as it was for them, so it is for us. The greatest threat we all face is not overworking or having too little money or global warming or failing health. The greatest threat we all face is to stop running the Christian race.
At the start of Philippians 4, we find three training tips in verses 1–4 that will keep us in the Christian race. They’re centred around the recurring phrase that comes three times in these four verses: in the Lord (1, 2 and 4).
First training tip: stand firm in the Lord (1).
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord.
Verse 1 acts a bit like a hinge, closing off one section and opening the way to the final section in the letter. And with the therefore at the beginning of the verse and the phrase in this way towards the end Paul is linking back to what he has just said – which is a glorious summary of the gospel in chapter 3. We’ve been justified by faith, our hope and identity is in Jesus and we have all we need to keep the gospel clear in our minds and close in our hearts. We have all we need to stay secure in the race.
There is a very real sense that when we lose sight of what we have been saved from – that is hell – and when we go blurry on what we have been saved for – that is heaven – and when we forget that we are to live entirely by grace in the strength that his Spirit alone can provide – that is when we fall out of the race.
How many of us will know people who once started so well but are now nowhere? Sometimes there are massive moral scandals, or an online intellectual knockdown argument actually knocks someone off course. But often and much more quietly, they simply stopped keeping the main thing, the main thing. Their vision blurred. Their heart grew cold.
The only way we will remain secure is to stand firm in the Lord. Practically this will mean keeping the gospel absolutely central in our lives day by day. I find one of John Stott’s phrase so helpful in this respect, Daily I abhor my sin, daily I adore my Saviour. What will this look like for you?
Second training tip: Agree with each other in the Lord (2–3).
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntche to agree with each other in the Lord.
We have no idea why these two women have fallen out, but we do how much it grieves Paul. It is simply awful when Christians fall out. In 1, Paul has revealed the extent of his affection for these Christians, and now he is pleading with them twice to be reconciled.
This falling out is so painful because these two women were gospel partners (3) and co-workers. They’d been on the same gap year team, they had served together on the same PCC, mission committee and music team. They’re not fringe flaky types. Just like Paul, they had their names written in the Lambs’ book of life (3).
One commentator helpfully puts it like this – Where there is agreement as to what the gospel is and what ought to be done with it, there is no room for personal disagreement.
For those who are standing firm in the Lord, keeping the main thing – the gospel – the main thing, we are to agree in the Lord.
Now we must take care, it’s not a unity for unity’s sake. No, it’s a unity founded on Jesus and the gospel that his word reveals to us. The Ecumenical movement will always be doomed to failure, as different religious strands are starting from different places rather than all standing on the rock.
A saint who has now gone into glory used to remind me that Christian unity – be that in a marriage, or a church, or a staff team – is a bit like the wheel on a bike. With Jesus at the centre, the closer we get to him at the hub, the closer we shall grow to one another like the spokes in the wheel.
The Christian race is tough, and we need one another to help us in the race. Disunity and disagreement and falling out is the biggest threat any church and therefore any Christian ministry can face. So, Paul’s second training tip is to agree with one another in the Lord. We might have very different personalities, different gifts and abilities – in fact we must pray that we do and we must praise God for them and appreciate them in one another! But as gospel people, there is no room for personal disagreement.
Third training tip: rejoice in the Lord (4).
Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again. Rejoice!
Joy is a big theme of Philippians. As Paul writes from prison, he’s not encouraging Christians to hang on in a rather stoical way, but to rejoice! Now in one sense this seems obvious: we have so much to be thankful for. We have pardon for our sins, peace with God, purpose for life! And yet how quickly we forget. We need Paul’s reminder of the grounds for Christian joy: rejoice in the Lord always!
Our circumstances will vary hugely as we go through life. Whether it’s the pain we feel from being single, the frustration of work, the heartache of parenting children rather than robots, the health conditions we battle that others are possibly unaware of, our circumstances will vary hugely. The danger is that our joy will vary hugely too.
And yet what does Paul say? Rejoice in the Lord always. This might feel like an impossible command, but the grounds for our true joy are found in the Lord. Paul knows what it is to be human – to feel on top of the world one day, to barely be able to drag ourselves out of bed the next. And Paul isn’t talking about only happiness here either. This isn’t joy for joy’s sake. The end of the verse makes all the difference.
This is why our daily time with the Lord and daily walk with the Lord are so important. The aim of our quiet times is not primarily to increase our Bible knowledge or pray for others but to find our joy in the Lord so we might be equipped to face the day.
So, three training tips to keep us in the race.
Stand firm in the Lord, because our security comes from the gospel.
Agree with another in the Lord; we need one another so keep the unity of the Spirit, through that bond of peace.
Rejoice in the Lord, because of what he has done and where we are going.