Phil. 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment. 1 Thes. 3:12 And the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we also to you.
It is significant that Paul prayed that their [the Philippians'] love would abound "in full knowledge and all discernment." The Philippian believers had much love. Yet their love needed to abound, to overflow more and more, not foolishly, but in full knowledge; not in ignorance, but in all discernment, that they might prove by testing the things which differed. This should include discernment of the different preachings of the gospel in 1:15-18 and of the different peoples in 3:2-3. Paul did not pray that the Philippians' love would abound in zeal or in the affection of a good heart. As we all know, love is related to emotion. However, Paul prayed that their love would abound in full knowledge and all discernment, both of which are related to the mind. According to common human experience, love is blind. When a person exercises himself to have a sober mind, when he is calm, clear, and knowledgeable, love is gone. It seems that being loving and having a sober mind cannot exist together. Either a brother loves his wife foolishly, or, being clear in his understanding and sober in his mind, he becomes cold in his love for her. Paul prayed that our love would abound more and more in full knowledge and all discernment. The Greek word for discernment means sensitive perception, moral tact. Discernment is the ability to sense things. Paul did not want the Philippians to love in a foolish way. On the contrary, he encouraged them to love with a mind full of knowledge and discernment, sensitive perception, and moral tact. The knowledge and discernment about which Paul speaks in 1:9 are actually Christ Himself. When we experience Christ, He becomes our knowledge and discernment. The reason we lack the knowledge and the discernment to differentiate between the different kinds of preaching is that we are short of the experience of Christ.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 17-18. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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