Phil. 4:5 Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near. James 5:8 You also be long-suffering; establish your hearts because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.
In 4:5 Paul also says, "The Lord is near." Many readers of Philippians take this as a reference to the Lord's coming. I do not say that this does not refer at all to the coming of the Lord; however, I believe that it does not mainly refer to His coming. On the contrary, it refers primarily to the Lord's presence with us. The Lord is near; He is with us. When we live Him, taking Him as our pattern and counting all things loss in order to gain Him, we sense that He is present with us. He is near both in space and in time. In space, He is close to us, ready to help; in time, He is at hand, coming soon. Since the Lord is near, what need is there for us to be troubled and stirred up? When we live Christ, knowing that He is near, we should let others know our forbearance, our moderation. Paul had no intention to be like Confucius in teaching us to be patient and to bear difficulties. The factor which motivated him to write these verses was his desire to show the expression of a life that lives Christ. Thus, in 4:5-9 we see a picture of a life that lives Christ. If we are living Christ, we should let others know our forbearance. They should see that we are calm, tranquil, and moderate and that nothing can disturb our inward calm. However, when we are not calm, we surely are not in Christ. Then in our experience the Lord is not near. Instead of calm, we may have anxiety, which destroys our tranquility and causes us to lose the inward peace. Whenever we lose our tranquility, we are unable to live Christ. It is not possible to fight with others or to argue and at the same time to live Christ. Living Christ requires absolute tranquility, absolute calm.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 228-229. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
