"Experiencing Hope!" Philippians Pastor Allan Wooters, D.Min.

So, how’s it going for you during these challenging days? Dumb question? Not at all! Really, how are you doing? If you’re like me, sometimes you’re okay, sometimes, not very good at all. One moment we’re confident but most times we are afraid. It’s understandable. We’re human and let’s face it, it’s hard not to be panicked right now. It’s so easy to be gripped by fear. When officials say things are changing every hour, that’s distressing to say the least. So, what do we do? How do we cope? Well, we have all instituted hygienic guidelines. We are washing our hands until they turn red. We are practicing “social distancing” and more. That’s all good and necessary. But I want to focus on coping emotionally and hence spiritually with the crisis. To do this, we turn to the book of Philippians, a letter written by Paul to arguably his favorite church.

For my entire ministry I have pointed folks to this book when they were facing personal difficulties whatever those difficulties were. The reason for that is that we find Paul in a time of incredible challenge. For starters, he is in jail. He’s there not because he has done anything wrong or has sinned. Rather he is confined for preaching the gospel.

Also, he has people, who claim to be Christians, who hate him. They are rejoicing that he is in prison and wanting to add to his distress (1:14 – 17).

Moreover, he is facing the very real possibility of dying (1:21 – 24).

He is dealing with false teaching at Philippi, weak leadership, and a church conflict focused on two women. So, Paul and his beloved church are both at a crossroads. Both of them are in a time of severe crisis. What can they do? Paul answers this question. It’s one of the major reasons he wrote this letter. And what he says is what I want us to focus on and apply it to our situation. My title is Experiencing Hope and this message is aimed at helping us all sense the hope God gives. I will be very practical in this message but first I need to set the foundation of our hope. Three factors come into play at this juncture. First there is the reality of God.

Anchored in the Reality of God, 1:1 – 5.

Paul has 100 percent confidence in the existence of Jesus. Since Jesus is the Son of God then the existence of God is a given. But, how could Paul be so sure that God exists? Well, like us he had the witness of nature. “The heavens [truly] declare the glory of God” (Ps.19). Paul had this witness just as we do.

Also, Paul had a built-in witness to God’s existence. Most people I have ever talked to tell me they have always just believed in God. Philosophers talk about a type of knowledge that is “properly basic.” They mean by that certain realities that we can take for granted as true. The existence of God is thus properly basic for virtually all people of all times in all places. As Francis Shaeffer said, “God is the God who is there.”

He had the self-authenticating witness of Scripture. The Bible resonated in his soul. It sounded forth what he knew to be true. John Calvin insists that while we can argue for a host of reasons why we know the Bible to be true, the very Word of God, in the end, we experience Scripture as true. It is self-authenticating.

Finally, he had the change in his own life to validate the reality of God. Christ had made Himself known to Paul. From that encounter, Paul was never the same. He was a changed man; a spiritual Scrooge who became a saint.

To the fact of the reality of God, I must quickly add that God’s reality includes His nature. God is great, good, all-knowing, merciful, loving, sovereign, and totally in control of all things including this virus and our lives affected by it. So, we can rightly say God is not fearful right now. He is not wringing His hands wondering what will happen next or what He will do next. As someone has said, “No panic in heaven, only plans!” 

The reality of God, and the nature of our God is foundational to our hope. But next, our hope is anchored in the resourcefulness of God.

Anchored in the Resourcefulness of God

The book of Philippians forms sort of a handbook of theology showing us what our God can do. Let me list what we are told about God in this letter.

First, God has the ability to call us to salvation, 1:6. He can cut through the blindness of our souls caused by sin. Scripture shows that by nature we are children of wrath (Eph 2) and that if God didn’t move on us, none of us would ever reach out to Him. God, by His Spirit, opens our eyes to our need of Christ. He comes and convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come (John 16). It is God who causes us to be born again and once we experience the new birth; God goes to work transforming our character to reflect the image of Jesus Christ. God begins a “good work” in us and He is able to complete it.

Second, God can bring good out of evil, 1:12 – 13. These verses reflect the truth of Romans 8:28 how that God is at work in all things for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. This does not mean COVID-19 is good. It isn’t. It’s evil. It is here because our world is cursed due to human sin. But God is able to transform any evil into something good. He always has. He always will.

God can save us from death or through death, 1:21 – 26. Paul did not know if he was to survive his prison sentence or not. But he was okay with the outcome either way. He was a man who took the message of Christ seriously and it helped him face the final foe which is death itself. In 3:20 – 21 we see this confidence again.

God can calm our anxious hearts, 4:13. That is true no matter what the challenge is we face.

God can meet our material needs, 4:19. We see this in God’s common grace in that our government is moving to help those financially distressed by this crisis. But beyond that, God can make amazing things happen to supply our needs.

Only God can do all these things because He is the Creator and Lord of all things. This gives us hope as does one other fact about our hope. It is anchored in the responsiveness of God.

Anchored in the Responsiveness of God

It is one thing to say a lot of good things about God. It is another to know that God will act in response to our need. The list I just gave above concerning the resourcefulness of God, is also linked to His love. He is at work this instant responding to your need. This letter to the Philippians is one response. This message is another response from our Lord. None of what I’ve said here is original with me. I have simply taken what God has said, put it in a summary form and am delivering it to you.

But more, hasn’t God met your needs in the past? Does He love you any less now? No. Has He changed? That’s impossible! And if God has met our deepest need, that being our need of salvation, how much more is He willing to respond to our lesser needs? This then raises the question:    

How do we experience the reality, resourcefulness, and responsiveness of God? There are several ways.

First, be informed. Go over this letter. It was written for you! Remind yourself of what you know of God in addition to this letter.

Second, meditate on the person, power, and promises of God, 4:13. Before this statement in v.13, Paul said in v.8 that “whatsoever is true… honorable… pure… lovely… of good repute… if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Such meditation puts our minds in the place where we can experience the truth of v.13 that through Christ, we can do all things.

Third, rejoice that you have God with you, 4:4 – 5. Imagine facing this crisis with only your own resources. Yes, we have our government’s help, but it cannot meet our deepest needs. For those needs, the needs of our mind and soul, we need Christ.

Fourth, commit yourself to pray and not panic, 4:6. When fear rises, when sadness invades your heart, use that as a cue to turn right then to your Lord. Ask Him for peace. Seek His wisdom.

Fifth, determine to stay faithful to God, 4:15. Despite their challenging circumstances, those saints in Philippi had stayed faithful to God’s will. Let us determine to do the same. Let us worship, care for one another, give to God’s work as we possibly can, and let us pray.

Doing these things come with a promise, 4:7. That promise is that our panic will be replaced with peace.

It is my prayer that you will experience this amazing peace and that through us God will be glorified.