Finally, My Brethern

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” (Philippians 3:1)

A little boy at church asked his mother sitting beside him, “Mom, what does it mean when the preacher says, ‘Finally?’” His mother said, “Honey, it doesn’t mean a thing.” We all laugh at that. Paul is not guilty of declaring he is through while continuing on.  He has more to say.

Joy is the major theme of Philippians. Standing strong against false doctrine, maintaining unity and accord in the local church, making sure the believers are under the Lordship of Christ and that they are behaving as blood-bought people is the way to remain joyful. These are some of the main ideas in the first two chapters of Philippians.

These reminders, plus those to come in this epistle, are not burdensome for Paul. Any teacher knows that repetition is one of the keys to learning. Do you recall memorizing the alphabet and the multiplication table? What about John 3:16? The safest thing for the saints at Philippi, as well as the saints today, is to hear the old, old story again and again. One of the reasons so many professing Christians are not rejoicing today is because they are trying to be friends with the world and have fellowship with Christ at the same time. It has never worked and it never will.