June Newsletter

To the Saints in Christ Jesus at Drakes Branch

Late in the Apostle Paul’s life he experienced great hardship and pain. As his life drew to a close Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea, without a trial, for two years. He was then moved to Rome, after surviving assassination attempts and a hazardous storm on the Mediterranean, and was imprisoned for an unknown length of time. While living in a cell in Rome, Paul learned that many of his followers and fellow Christians had turned their back on him: some pastors preached against Paul, attempting to get him in greater trouble with Rome; while other just deserted him. The great Apostle Paul was abandoned by virtually everyone, left to spend his remaining days alone in prison. All this, plus Paul was expecting his imminent execution because of his stand for Jesus. It is under these terrible circumstances that Paul penned his epistle to the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi (1:1). And yet, despite the great extent of Paul’s suffering, no book in the Bible is more filled with joy as Philippians!

How can this be? How can Paul have joy in such a place at such a time? And why do so few of us affluent comfortable Americans have it? What is Paul’s secret? Quite simply, Paul set his mind on Christ. In fact, he mentions the name of Jesus seventeen times in chapter one alone. It has been said that the mind cannot think on two things at once. One cannot think about back pain and at the same time think about how much water to put in the coffee maker. Likewise, one cannot think about trials and at the same time think about Jesus.

So Paul filled his mind with Christ, and was consequently filled with joy. Paul confessed that his greatest longing was not freedom or fellowship, but rather it was to know Jesus more and more intimately. Indeed, this greatly accomplished man considered his countless achievements as loss “compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord” (3:8).

What a lesson for us to learn. May we long to know the surpassing greatness of our Lord as well. May God grant us that desire as we begin our study of the book of Philippians.

Your brother in Christ

Steven