scott-montgomery

Paul wants the lives of the Philippians to reflect "glory and praise" to God. In order to do that, they must be able to discern what God desires from them and put it into practice. The result of discernment in their lives will be that they will be (may be) "pure and blameless until the day of Christ" and enjoy "the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ," which will "bring glory and praise to God." Selfishness clouds discernment because a discerning individual is focused on the other person (their spouse in the example given in the lesson; God in Philippians 1:9-11). If we are selfish, it will be extremely difficult for us to discern what God wants from us (and, therefore, to please God). Discernment requires that we focus on God - and what He desires of us - not on ourselves. We may be all about "good things" that are not what God wants from us. Those things may not be be bad, but they're the enemy of the best because they hinder us from being about "the best" (or what God desires of us).

Paul expects God to "carry ... to completion" the "good work" He began in the Philippians. Paul expects God to do this because it is only through Christ's sacrifice (God's involvement and grace) that we can be saved. Paul bases his confidence on God's faithfulness towards believers. We know God will do this for us because He promised us that if we call on His name and believe, we will be saved. (Acts 2:21 -- "And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.")

We receive spiritual blessings from the entity we are supporting. In just about all cases, we are part of the ministry by virtue of our financial support; we're furthering the Kingdom by supporting people and/or programs that are "out there" doing God's work. Besides financial support, we can also offer prayer support, stay in touch (with missionaries, for example), encourage the people and maybe participate in the program by giving of our time.

A slave is "subject" to his master, committed to the master. A saint is "dedicated or consecrated to the service of God." In both cases, the idea is one of commitment and dedication on the part of Christians to the Lord. We are both slaves (in a joyful sense) and saints (in the sense that we are dedicated to Him).

Hello everyone, I'm Scott Montgomery, currently residing near Baltimore, Maryland, because I'm stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, with the US Army. I was born and raised in a small town in upstate New York. This week I "celebrated" 30 years of active duty service in the Army. I've been a Christian since my early teens and I've attended Baptist churches (or military chapels) all my life. I'm very excited to learn more about Philippians with all of you! Scott Montgomery