Title: A Prayer for Christian Growth
Text: Phil 1:9-11

Last week we talked about being remembered. Do people remember you and how do they remember you was the central question and we saw the challenge we face is to live in such a way that people would thank God when they remembered us.

That's what Paul did when he thought about the believers in Philippi. One of the reasons he gave for his thankfulness was because of their confirmation of the gospel. Confirmation of the gospel is a changed life. "Transformed lives are the demonstration that God works in believers." (Homer Kent, EBC, vol. 11, p. 108.)

Because of this transformation that took place in their lives Paul prayed for continued growth. We want to look first this morning at verse 11. Something took place when their lives were transformed. Actually a number of things took place, but Paul mentions one in particular result of the new birth. Their lives evidence the presence of the Spirit of God within them which produces righteous fruit. Having been filled in the Greek is in the perfect tense which means a continual filling - having been filled and continually being filled so there is no room for anything else but righteous fruit.

Fruit here is singular just as in Gal 5:22 where Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit here, however is good works as Eph 2:10 where he wrote, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (NAS) These good works, which are varied, are products by the singular fruit - righteousness. This fruit which produces in believers these good works or deeds comes only through Jesus Christ and results in the glory and praise of God.

Does that mean others can't do good works. Obviously not, we know all sorts of people, with all kinds of belief systems, that do good things, but the heart of the issue is the motive behind the good. There are those who have a utilitarian motivation, doing something good has practical value - it brings honor, or notoriety, it eases the conscience and makes a person feel better, it brings a sense of respectability. Others do good to appease God, or to try and win His favor, some believe it is the way to heaven and must be done. But, Jesus told us in Matt 5:16, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (NAS) The difference in motivation determines who receives the glory.

Now, Paul expresses his genuine concern for the Philippian believers. He wrote because you have been and are being filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus I am continually praying for your continued growth. Verse 9 "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment," (NAS)

The basic petition is for their love to abound more and more. May your love keep on overflowing in a perpetual flood of love.( A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures) Love enables all other Christian virtues to be exercised properly. The Bible says in 1 Cor 13:1-3, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have {the gift of} prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed {the poor,} and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." (NAS) This kind of love is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

The Bible uses the metaphor of fruit a number of times to distinguish that which is produced by God as opposed to that which is from the natural man. That's what he did in verse 11 and we see that distinction especially clear in Gal 5:19-23 where he contrasts the deeds of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (NAS)

Again we can see how this ties in with the thought of motivation for doing good. We are motivated to do good, which includes our thought process as well as our actions by love which is a fruit of the Spirit which is a fruit of righteousness. The righteousness of Christ implanted and growing in our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit which produces spiritual fruit which in turn gives birth to action.

These believers had expressed their love in generously giving to support Paul and his ministry. Paul's commendation for their love, however, is not limited to this one expression, just as we saw last week when we talked about participation, and his prayer is for a continuing demonstration of love expressed in unlimited ways. This kind of genuine love never reaches a saturation point.

The love Paul speaks of here is agape love. We talked about that just a few weeks ago when we looked at the Lord's questioning of Peter in John's gospel. We described agape love as self-less love, a reasoning, discriminating love, a love that does not desire, but gives. Paul's emphasis is on the self-sacrificial love modeled most completely by Jesus, who gave Himself for the sins of the world.

Paul prayed that for the Philippians, and for all believers this kind of love, demonstrated by their Christ-like attitude of self-sacrifice would continue more and more. It is important to understand, as we saw in our definition of agape love, this kind of love and the actions it brings about it is not mindless sentimentalism, it is reasoning and discriminating.

Paul picks up on these two elements of agape love when he prays "that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment," (NAS) Paul isn't praying that we all become flower children, that we use love as some type of over arching umbrella or tent to embrace everything in the name of love to the point where we are affirming sin in the name of love.

Paul is praying for love that has intellectual perception. By that I mean, Paul is speaking of a love that has recognized principles from the Word of God as illuminated by the Holy Spirit. This type of mental perception or thought process arises from spiritual knowledge, which is gained from an understanding of God's divine revelation that enables believers to love the things God loves in the way He reveals. Genuine agape love must comprehend the truth then apply the truth with discrimination and ethical common sense.

The way we discern good from evil is by the acquisition and application of spiritual knowledge that comes from daily fellowship with Christ - we also talked about that last week, abiding in Christ, as well as a continual habit of being involved in reading, studying and applying God's Word. While this love exercises intellectual perception or true knowledge, as Paul said, this knowledge is acquired experientially. By that I mean it is not acquired simply by learning facts about Jesus and about the Bible, but comes through a personal relationship with Christ.

The addition of the word discernment to real knowledge in verse 9 stresses moral perception and the practical application of this real knowledge to the varying situations and circumstances of life.

Verse 10 explains why this knowledge and discernment are necessary. We have already touched on that, but, it is to as the NAS says, "approve the things that are excellent." It is a phrase that means to test the things that differ (from Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament). The first test of this discerning knowledge is to distinguish between good and evil. The Bible says in Rom 12:9, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good." (NAS) Some things are clearly good or bad, in other things, especially in the complex world in which we live today, the distinction isn't as readily evident.

When Jesus sent the disciples out in Matt 10, he warned them in verse 16 saying, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves." (NAS) Other translations use the word wise in that verse. My thesaurus gives a definition for shrewd as having discerning intellect. We are to use discerning intellect based on the Word of God in distinguishing good from evil.

In Christian conduct, and in the application of agape love, however, other factors besides good and evil must be considered as well. Paul writing to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 10:23 said, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." (NAS) That means influence on others as well as the effect on ourselves must also be considered. We must discern not only is something harmful, but also is it beneficial.

Paul prayed that the Philippian believers would exercise a love based not on feelings, but on God and His revelation, that they would have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, necessary and trivial, harmful and helpful. That they might grow in their Christian faith.

As we grow in out Christian faith our heart and our mind must grow together that we too, to use the words of Jesus might be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves in our world. Is your love and discernment growing?

[back]