The Apostle's Blog

  Some churches approach ministry like they are planning a marketing campaign. They talk about platforms and branding. They use social media to create a positive public image. The more people who know about the church, the better their image and the more successful they think they will be. What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. PHILIPPIANS 1:12 Maybe that’s why God’s strategy with the apostle Paul seems incomprehensible to many of us today. It also puzzled the Philippians. What was God thinking? What possible good could come from Paul’s imprisonment? In verse 12, the apostle points out that the effect of confinement was the opposite of what one would expect. Instead of hurting Paul’s reputation and hindering the spread of the gospel, its message was heard “throughout the whole palace guard.” This comment suggests that Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Paul’s circumstances also had an unexpected effect on others who proclaimed the gospel. Instead of making the...

  God exalted him to the highest place. PHILIPPIANS 2:9 Jesus’ story did not end at the cross. Nor did it end at the empty tomb. Because Jesus was obedient to the point of death on a cross, “God exalted him to the highest place” (v. 9). All the benefits that we enjoy in the Christian life come from the exalted Christ who is seated “at the right hand of God” (Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1). The resurrection and ascension of Christ is proof that God accepted Christ’s payment on our behalf. The risen and ascended Christ sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers and empower the church (John 16:7). At the end of time, the coming of the kingdom will draw the earth into the glory that Christ already enjoys in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Jesus spoke of His exaltation as a kind of restoration. “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do,” He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John ...