Philippains Sunday School

I have been teaching the Adult Sunday School class once again at West Corners. I did a two week study on "When God Gets Mad: Understanding God's full character." It was good to look at what most people fail to realize about God's character; the He is a God of mercy and grace, but also a holy God that turns away from sin and punishes it. Now I have been doing the Book of Philippians. I have been doing it for several weeks now. We did Philippians 2.1-2 today. We only had 45 minutes for Sunday School as many people couldn't make it to church with all the snow on the ground. About 4 inches fell in the early morning of Sunday. I have learned a lot going through Philippians. Depending on the week we get 5-7 verses done at a time. I like to get into the Greek and into Commentaries and just read it over and over again to let the Holy Spirit work. Some verses that stood out to me were Philippians 1.27-30:

27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. (NKJV)

They stood out for several different reasons. Verse 28 shows a mark for believers. The persecution and trials from our enemies is a mark of the truth of salvation. It might not see that way in the midst of it, but Paul is writing from experience. He at the time of writing is under House arrest in Rome. The fact that God is allowing Satan to do these things is proof of hell and proof our salvation.

The second thing that stands out is in the next verse. Not only has it been granted to us (believers) to believe in Christ, but to suffer for His sake. It might not be the warm fuzzy, but the Christian life is not all about warm fuzzy feelings. If you want warm fuzzy get a blanket. The life of believer in Christ is that of a spiritual war that is going on. A war in America against apathy, false prophets, and churches that don't preach the true and only ONE Gospel: That Jesus Christ IS the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH, the ONLY LIFE!!! It is by His Blood we are made new.

Going through Philippians has opened my eyes to things I have never seen and I thank God for the Holy Spirit to guide me in the WORD.