Praise the Lord! The Lord has been good to us throughout the past week and He remains good to us right now and He will continue to be good to us even the days to come. In response to God’s faithfulness toward us, (i) we also need to remain faithful to Him, and (ii) keep obeying His righteous laws, decrees, and commands, and (iii) live our life according to His will and (iv) fulfill His purpose in and through our lives, and (v) live a life that is worthy of His calling. If we remain faithful to Him who called us out of darkness into His glorious light to be His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9), He who called us also will remain faithful to us (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Apostle Paul stated: The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

As the faithful followers of Christ, we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ (Philippians 1:10), since the day of Christ is very much important in the life of every faithful follower of Christ. For a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord would also be a day of great joy and rejoicing and jubilation. If we try to illustrate it, one of the best suitable examples would be like the day of graduation for the students who have completed their [academic or professional] program successfully. For the students, the day of graduation would be a day of celebration, the day they unload all their pains and struggles they went through during the days of their educational program and enjoy the freedom of completion of the program and celebrate it with their family and friends. On the day of graduation, those students who graduate do not think about anything else but how to celebrate the completion of their educational program. At that time, they are empowered by satisfaction, happiness, gratitude, thankfulness, and peace. The risks they took for the cause of their education would vanish away on the day of their graduation when they count on their accomplishments and achievements. Even the world around them (including their family, friends, and well-wishers) joins with them to celebrate the exciting moment of graduation despite the burden of unpaid fees or loans that have to be paid off later. Perhaps, many of them may not be thinking about any of those troubling things at that particular time except celebrating the moment with family and friends. Everyone, including any passerby, could notice the exciting expressions and blissful satisfaction on their faces for their academic achievements and accomplishments.

Although it is inappropriate to compare any exciting event that come across one’s life, including the day of graduation in a student’s life, with the day of Christ, it would help us to imagine the kind of excitement a faithful follower of Christ may feel in their life on the day of Christ. In fact, the coming of the Lord, which Apostle Paul noted as the day of Christ, would bring much more excitement for the faithful followers of Christ than any other achievement one could earn in this world (whatever achievement it might be – you name the achievement you earned). For the day of Christ would bring greater achievements in one’s life than any other achievements earned in this world. It is because God promised us that He will reward us for sure for all the risks we took in life. For instance, the risks we took for the cause of our life in the Lord, the pain we suffered for the cause of our faith in Jesus Christ, the blame we dealt with due to our hope in the Lord, the anguish we carried along as the enemies of the gospel confronted us with wrong motives, and all the troubles and struggles we went through as we continued to live our life according to God’s will and purpose. The Lord God who is compassionate and righteous will not change His Word or His mind but He will reward us on the day of Christ for keeping His righteous laws, decrees, and commands. Thus, the day of Christ would mark as the day of rewarding for everyone whose walk is blameless and righteous in God’s sight. According to Psalm 15:2-5, king David lists the distinctive traits of a righteous and blameless person in the sight of God and man:

• • Those whose walk is blameless (15:2a)
  • Those who do what is righteous (152b)
  • Those who speak the truth from their heart (15:2c)
  • Those whose tongue utters no slander (15:3a)
  • Those who do no wrong to a neighbor (15:3b)
  • Those who do not cast slur on others (15:3c)
  • Those who despise a vile person (15:4a)
  • Those who honor those who fear the Lord (15:4b)
  • Those who keep an oath even when it hurts (15:4c)
  • Those who do not change their mind (15:4d)
  • Those who lend money to the poor without interest (15:5a)
  • Those who do not accept a bribe against the innocent (15:5b)

The Scripture states that a righteous and blameless person will never be shaken in times of trouble and trials (Psalm 15:5b). The righteous and blameless people will be rewarded for their righteous deeds and blameless life. Apostle Paul continued to pray for the believers everywhere for their spiritual strength inwardly and outwardly and their growth in the Lord. As he prayed for all the believers in Asia Minor and beyond who faithfully followed Christ and everyone else who were yet to become His followers, he prayed for the believers in Philippi also, as he stated: And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11) …

• • Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of praying for one another (1:9a)
  • Apostle Paul prays for the believers everywhere (1:9b)
  • Prayer helps us to be abundant in love (1:9c)
  • Prayer helps us bring unity in the family of God / church (1:9d)
  • Prayer helps us keep spiritual relationships intact among God’s people (1:9e)
  • Prayer helps us increase our love for God and others (1:9f)
  • Prayer helps us broaden one’s knowledge about God (1:9g)
  • Prayer helps us to evaluate our relationship with God and with one another (1:9h)
  • Prayer helps us to discern what is best for the day of Christ (1:10a)
  • Prayer helps us remain pure and blameless for the day of Christ (1:10b)
  • Prayer helps us to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (1:11a)
  • Prayer helps us to bear the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ (1:11b)
  • Prayer helps us to know God very personally and glorify Him (1:11c)
  • Prayer helps us to praise the Lord for all His goodness to us (1:11d)
  • Prayer helps us to bring glory and honor to God’s name through our life and ministry (1:11e)

Paul prayed for believers in Philippi that their love ought to outgrow and overflow with the knowledge of God. As Jesus set an example of praying for His followers for their sanctification, protection, provision, redemption, and so on (John 17:6-26; also refer to Matthew 5:44; Luke 23:34; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), Apostle Paul also set an example for ministers of the gospel and believers to pray for one another. As God answered the prayers of Jesus as well as the prayers of the apostles, He will definitely hear our prayers for one another and answer them accordingly.

As the result of the gospel of Christ being preached powerfully by the apostles and the other disciples of Jesus Christ, the New Testament churches were founded in Jerusalem. When the church was well rooted and established in Jerusalem, it began to expand beyond the borders of Jerusalem and its neighboring regions. As a result, numerous churches were established across the regions, including Asia Minor and Rome. In the course of time, Apostle Paul along with his ministry companions (during Paul’s second missionary journey) started the church at Philippi, a Roman Colony (Acts 16:6-12), with a handful of people, including Lydia who was a dealer in purple cloth along with her family (Acts 16:13-15), a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future whom the Lord had delivered at Apostle Paul’s rebuke (Acts 16:16-19), and a Roman jailer along with his whole household (Acts 16:27-34).  All of these believers placed their trust in Christ Jesus through the ministry of Paul. In a short period of time, the Holy Spirit enabled the church at Philippi to expand and grow beyond human limitations. As the church was established and expanded within (spiritually) and beyond (numerically), conflicts also began to spring up in the church and disturbed its smooth functioning. For instance, issues related to doctrines began to rise from within the church (that is, among the believers due to rise of false teachers and their teachings) as well as religious, social, political, cultural, and similar issues which began to trouble the believers from outside the church. In the midst all such chaos, Paul did his best to defend his faith as well as the faith of the members who faithfully followed Jesus Christ through his presence, prayer, and letters. The ungodly and godless people continuously attempted to shatter the believers’ faith in Jesus Christ and the fruitful functioning of the church in a troublesome society. Paul urged and admonished the believers in Philippi saying that:

1. 1. 1. the aspiration of life in Christ ought to abound in love (1:9)
      2. the outcome of life in Christ ought to be purity and blamelessness in life (1:10)
      3. the purpose of life in Christ is to bear fruit through Jesus Christ (1:11a), and
      4. the ultimate goal of life in Christ is to glorify the Lord God Almighty (1:11b).

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, as dearly loved children of God, it is our call to remain under the umbrella of God’s love. In order to continue to live in the love of God, we need to keep praying to Him, which means do not break communication with Him. We need to know the fact that God’s love is indestructible and everlasting. In order to continue to grow in God’s love, we need to maintain our right relationship/fellowship with Him. We need to Love God and we need to love His people. This needs to be the number one priority in our life more than anything else in the world (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; 10:27).

May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!