The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:20-21

Philippians 3:20-21

v20: Remember “this world is not our home,” heaven is.  It is where our Saviour is now, and it is where we hope to be soon.

v21: When Jesus returns, we can be certain that our bodies will be transformed into glorious bodies.  We can have this assurance because “we not only have the Scriptures, which assure us it will happen,” but also we know the power of God is able to carry this out, because it already has in raising Jesus from the dead.  “His resurrection is constant evidence of ours as well as a pattern of ours.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:15-19

Philippians 3:15-19

v15-16: Between Christians who “in all the great things” agree (“that Christ is a Christian’s all, that to gain Christ and be found in him involves our happiness both here and in the next life”), there will be other relatively insignificant matters on which they differ. When this happens, we are to bear with one another and to “wait until God gives… a better understanding, which he will do in his good time.”

v17-19: How do you spot a false teacher? They are those whose “concern is their physical appetite,” who not only sin but also boast of it, who “are taken up with worldly things… and have no enjoyment of spiritual and heavenly things.” They may profess faith in Christ, but their lives tell a different story. Though “their way of life seems pleasant… death and hell lies at its end.” Do not follow their example.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:12-14

Philippians 3:12-14

v12: Our hope of future resurrection is not that we will keep hold of Christ, “but in his keeping hold of us.” Yet if He has taken hold of us, we will press on towards reach heaven, persevering through all the difficulties we experience in this life.

v13-14: “As athletes who run a race never stop short of the end, but continue to run as fast as they can, so those who have heaven in their sight must always press on toward it.” We keep following Jesus because “we cannot go to heaven as our home except through Christ as the way,” for gift of eternal life “come to us through his hand, as it is obtained for us by him.”

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:7-11

Philippians 3:7-11

v7-8: For sinners, knowing Christ is better than everything else, because only He can provide them, in their fallen situation, “with all they need and all they can wish and hope for, with all necessary saving wisdom and saving grace.” Even the best this world has to offer is “not only less valuable than Christ, they are utterly contemptible when they compete with him.”

v9: Jesus provides for us a righteousness that is “complete and perfect,” and we receive this when we believe in Him. “Faith is the ordained means of actually sharing in and knowing the saving benefits of what has been purchased by his blood.”

v10: The desire of a Christian is to not only “receive the benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection” in justifying them, but also in becoming like Him. “To know the power of Christ’s death and resurrection putting to death sin” in them and raising them “to a new life.”

v11: Our happiness although great, will not be complete when our souls at death depart immediately to be with Christ. It is at “resurrection of the dead at the last day,” when our “soul and body will be glorified together” that the happiness of heaven will be fully experienced.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 3:1-6

Philippians 3:1-6

v1: “The more we enjoy [our faith], the more closely we will remain faithful to it,” and “the more we rejoice in Christ, the more willing we will be to act and suffer for him, and the less danger we will be in of being drawn away from him.”  Our enjoyment of Christ is strengthened, not only by hearing new things about Him, but by hearing again those truths we have heard before.

v2: False teachers are like dogs who bark and bite at those who faithfully follow Christ.

v3-6: “We must be taken away from trusting in ourselves so that we may depend only on Jesus Christ.”  It is vital we see that our background, upbringing, learning, obedience, or religious devotion cannot and will not justify us in God’s sight.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:25-30

Philippians 2:25-30

v25-27: “Illness is an adversity common to all people.” Christians, including church leaders, are not exempt from getting ill.  How should we respond when we hear that another Christian is sick?  The Philippians model what it means to bear another’s burdens as not only were they “very said to hear about [Ephaphroditus’] illness,” they were also “heavy in spirit when they heard news about it, just as he was from being sick.”

v28-30: “To have our blessings restored to us after we have been in danger of losing them,” (or for a time have lost them), should “motivate us to value them more and to make the most of them.” 

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:19-24

Philippians 2:19-24

v19: Receiving news of how the Lord Jesus is building His church in other places should encourage us and something we should desire to hear of. Though our primary concern is the local church we are part of, it should not be restricted to this.

v20-21: It is good to have pastors and elders who are “genuinely concerned for the state and welfare of their people.”

v22-24: Any “hope and confidence” we have concerning the plans we make for our future, needs to be balanced “with a humble dependence and submission to God’s will,” for we cannot be absolutely certain about how events will turn out.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:12-18

Philippians 2:12-18

v12-13: This is a call to “live the Christian life conscientiously and seriously” by using all the means God gives us to follow Christ and persevere in following Him to the end.  However, we are only able to do this, because of God’s working in us.  “It is the grace of God that inclines the will to do what is good” and “it is the grace of God that then enables us to perform it.”

v14-15: “The children of God should be different from the children of the world.” 

v16-18: The gospel is the word of life “because it reveals and offers to us eternal life through Jesus Christ.” As well as holding firmly to it “for our own benefit,” we are “to hold it out for the benefit of others.” 

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11

v5: “We must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps as the Lord Jesus, who humbled himself to suffer and die for us, not only to satisfy God’s justice and pay the price of our redemption, but also to set us an example, so that we could follow in his steps.”

v6-7: Christ has two natures, His divine nature, and His human nature.  As the only begotten Son of God, He shares in the divine nature.  He was also “really and truly human,” as He clothed “himself with the rags of human nature” in order to be like us and be a substitute for us.

v8-9: As well as two natures, Christ has two states, the state of humiliation and the state of exaltation.  “His whole life was a life of humiliation, lowliness, poverty and disgrace,” but the lowest moment “was when he died on the cross… a cursed, painful and shameful death.”  Because He willingly humbled Himself, “God exalted him… Christ’s whole person,” both the human and divine nature.

v10-11: The exaltation of His divine nature “was not any new acquisition of glory,” but “the recognising of his rights, or the display and appearance of his glory.”  The exaltation of His human nature consisted of “honour and power.”  The honour of having a name above every name, and power as “the whole of creation is put in submission to him” and publicly acknowledges that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:1-4

Philippians 2:1-4

v1-2: It brings great to delight to the elders of a local church when they see its members living together in harmony and love. This harmony and love comes when they are in agreement “on the great things of God” (those truths found in God’s Word which are essential to our salvation), and when they are committed to maintaining the unity that the Spirit has brought about between them.

v3-4: The enemy of harmony and love within a local church is pride. “Let there not be a spirit of pride among us.” Instead, we should be “quick to notice our own defects and weaknesses but ready to overlook and make favourable allowances for the defects of others.” It is good also to take an interest in the concerns of others, “not out of curiosity or a desire to criticise,” nor to interfere in their lives, but out of concern for their comfort, security, and prosperity.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:27-30

Philippians 1:27-30

v27: Those who follow Christ are to live lives that are worthy of the gospel.  Our conduct is to show that we “believe Gospel truths, submit to Gospel laws, and depend on Gospel promises.” Living lives worthy of the gospel will include standing firm in the faith, being united with other believers, and together with them striving to make the gospel known in the face of opposition.

v28-30: Belief in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is a gift from God as the ability to do this comes from God alone. Like belief is a gift, so is suffering for the gospel. Recognising this helps us “to be courageous and faithful” in the face of persecution and “if we suffer shame and loss for Christ.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:21-26

Philippians 1:21-26

v21-22: Death is a great gain for all who live for Christ, with His glory as the goal of their life, His grace the motivating force of their life, and His Word their rule. It is a great gain “because it is the end of all their weakness and misery and the perfection of their comforts and accomplishment of their hopes.”

v23-24: If we “know the value of Christ and heaven” we “will readily acknowledge that it is far better to be in heaven than to be in this world,” because “if we go to be with Christ, we say farewell to sin and temptation, sorrow and death, forever.”

v25-26: “God will do whatever is best for the church” and this will include providing pastors who are committed to a local church, “not only for the conviction and conversion of sinners but also for the building up of saints and their progress in spiritual advancement.” When this happens, it “should be a matter of joy” for those “who wish the church and its interests well.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)