Even With Tears

“Even With Tears”

Have you ever been moved to tears for the lost people you know?  The apostle Paul was. Listen to Philippians 3:17-19:

“¹⁷Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” (NIV)

Paul was very concerned that the Philippians understand the threat of false teachers. He said, “I have often told you before and now…present tense…I say again even with tears.” By the way, that’s the only time in the New Testament when Paul actually says he is presently crying. In Romans he talked about having sorrow and continuous heaviness of heart over the lostness of Israel. And in Acts 20, he said, “I warned you night and day with tears.” But this is the only time he says, “As I write I cry, I weep.”

His heart is broken. He grieved over the lostness of people. He grieved over the encroachment of false teachers that disrupted the church and brought a reproach on the name of Christ and led people astray. And here he is literally weeping as he recognizes that they will infiltrate Philippi and they will try to wreak havoc in the church. He is heartbroken. He says, “I now tell you even weeping.”  This is a passionate man. This is a tender-hearted man. This is a man with rich feelings. He loved genuinely. He ached over the lost.

You say, “Why is he weeping? What’s he crying about?” Well, we don’t know, it doesn’t really specifically say but we can certainly surmise. He could have been weeping because these enemies of the cross were lost, for he did have sorrow over lost people (see Romans 9). He could have been weeping because he could see the terrible impact that they would have on the weak in the church.  In Acts 20:31, Paul writes, “and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Those were tears for the church because it could be so easily led astray by false teachers.

So whether it was the damnation of the enemies or whether it was the destructive impact of their effort, it caused him to weep. He loved the church. He loved the Philippians because he loved the Christ of the church and the Christ of the Philippians. And he could see these enemies trying to seduce them and it broke his heart. After all, the Philippian church was the first church in Europe, a sort of beachhead for another world to reach. And it was so important that they stay pure and not get messed up.

Beloved, I need to tell you from the bottom of my heart, that I see the church in America today on the threshold of being deceived by a myriad of the enemies of the cross. And I see a church that is no longer moved to tears for the lost.  My prayer for myself and for you, the church at Cambridge, is that we all would be moved to tears for the lost and for the enemies of the cross of Christ. Destruction awaits them and we may be the only ones who care enough to warn them.

Praying for revival,

Pastor Jay