“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.”
Philippians 1:9-11 NASB95
William Carey is often called “the father of modern missions.” But it was his sister, bedridden for years, who spent hours each day interceding for the ministry of her brother and for others who were beginning to follow in his footsteps. The Lord has commanded us to pray but sometimes we don’t know what to include in our prayers. In the passage above we have a great example from the Apostle Paul. In this prayer, Paul asks God to work non-stop in the lives of the Philippians. He has three primary goals in mind as he prays for these precious people:
A. CLOSE-RANGE GOAL – “…your love may abound still more & more in real knowledge and all discernment.” Paul asks that their love (sacrificial giving for the benefit of the person/object loved) would abound (grow so deep that it would continuously overflow) into the future. It wasn’t that they lacked love; it was just that they shouldn’t limit it! They should grow more and more in love (Eph. 3:14-21). The reality is that love can grow cold or become misguided (Rev. 2). Paul prayed that their love would abound continuously.
The love for which Paul prays is not an end, but it is a means to an end. Paul isn’t content that their love would only abound; he also wanted it to be GUIDED in the right direction. Love can’t be blind! It can’t be “sloppy agape.” Paul knew how easy it was for people to get caught up in loving the wrong things so he prayed that their love would abound more and more IN real knowledge and all discernment. Paul is talking about in-depth, practical, experiential knowledge that enables us to have the right insight or perception of life. The word for discernment is one from which we get the word “aesthetic” today. Here it refers to the “senses” (Heb. 5:14) being able to “perceive” (Lk. 9:45) what is the BEST! Paul wants their love to discern what is truly beautiful, pleasing, and right for that moment in time. When we have an in-depth understanding of God’s Word that produces in us an overwhelming commitment to what is morally pure, then our love can be focused in the right direction. These constraints do not stifle love. Far from it, they ensure its purity and value.
One might call this LASER BEAM LOVE! Overflowing love that is powerful, pointed, and penetrating. 20+ years ago, I had laser surgery on my eyes. I am so grateful that the surgeon had real knowledge and all discernment so he could focus that laser beam exactly on the areas that needed to be touched and changed. Because of his skill in directing that beam, my vision was profoundly changed for the better. Paul prays that our love will grow more and more every day in knowledge and discernment. This is the close-range goal
B. MID-RANGE GOAL – v. 10 “so that you may approve the things that are excellent.” This literally means that we might test and approve the things that differ from one another. Paul is saying that there are a lot of things out there that will clamor for our love and attention. Sometimes it is a choice between things that are good and things that are bad. Other times it is between multiple things that are good. His prayer is that their growing laser beam love will be able to choose what is BEST. The word “excellent” can refer to things that are worthwhile, excellent, vital, or essential. We need extraordinary discernment that helps us perceive how things differ and then make the best possible choice. This discernment comes from God and His Word, and it comes from prayer. D.A. Carson put it this way,
“The pursuit of such excellence does not turn on transparent distinctions between right and wrong. It turns, rather, on delicate choices that reflect one’s entire value system, one’s entire set of priorities, one’s heart and mind”
“A Call To Spiritual Reformation,” p. 128
There are so many choices we face each day: how we spend time or money; what we will read; relationships we will prioritize; how often and who we will pray for; what and how much we will eat; how far we will step outside our comfort zones… THE BIG ISSUE is that many of us make those decisions out of GUILT rather than out of LOVE! Paul wants them to make the BEST choice out of love! This is incredibly freeing to many of us who have been driven by legalistic standards, desire for approval, or the fear of man. Paul wants them driven by a discerning love to choose the very best and do it! “But CHANGE is so hard! I’m comfortable living this way.” That’s why it will take abounding LOVE (sacrificial giving for the benefit of the person/object loved).
C. LONG-RANGE GOAL – v. 10 “in order to be sincere & blameless until the day of Christ…” When the first two goals are true, our lives will be characterized by three things when Jesus returns for us: 1) “SINCERE” = morally pure, clean, spotless, genuine. 2) “BLAMELESS” = not causing others to stumble; and not stumbling ourselves. 3) “FILLED WITH THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS… THROUGH JESUS CHRIST” = lives characterized by godly character (Gal. 5:22f); reaching lost souls (Rom. 1:13); living in holiness (Rom. 6:22); doing good works (Col. 1:10); and praising God (Heb. 13:15). All of this done by Jesus working in and through us, not us doing it ourselves (John 15:1-5).
D. ULTIMATE GOAL – v. 11 “to the glory and praise of God.” Abounding love, guided by discriminating spiritual knowledge, will choose the most excellent things in life, which will produce sincerity, blamelessness & fruit, which will bring GLORY & PRAISE TO GOD, not to any of us! (Jn. 17:22-26; I Cor. 10:31)
Would you please pray these things for me and the rest of the pastors at The Bridge?
We could easily work 80+ hours each week because of all the “good” things around us that cry out for attention (studying, prayer meetings, counseling appointments, administrative tasks, staff relationships, professional meetings, reading journal articles & good books, watching instructional videos, planning special outreach events/camps/meetings, attending committee meetings, raising funds, training new leaders, leading bible studies, recruiting new workers, long-range planning sessions, breakfast or lunch appointments, etc.). We need love to abound in our lives combined with laser beam knowledge & discernment to know what GOD wants us to do each moment of the day. Sometimes those choices are painful and often they won’t make sense to others, but we need to make them ultimately for the glory of God. We want our love to be discerning in the little decisions of life so Jesus will receive all the praise and honor and glory.
We need your prayers! Behind every William Carey was a faithful sister (or brother). We need you! “Brethren, pray for us!” (1 Thess. 5:25)