Paul's Prayer for the Philippians, Part IV

"...In order to be sincere..." Philippians 1:10b

As Paul opens his heart to the Philippian believers. He is praying for three things - the depth of their love and secondly - their devotion to Christ's character. Paul also prays that they might have - a mature Christian character, that is sincere and blameless. The Greek word translated sincere may have several meanings. Some translate it 'tested by sunlight.' The sincere Christian is not afraid to stand in the light!

James Montgomery Boice, in Philippians:An Expositional Commentary, tells us that in ancient times, the finest pottery was thin, it had a clear color, and it brought a high price. Fine pottery was very fragile both before and after firing, and this pottery should have been thrown away. But dishonest dealers were in the habit of filling cracks with a hard pearly wax that would blend-in with the color of the pottery. This made the cracks practically undetectable in the shops, especially when painted or glazed,but the wax was immediately detectable if the pottery was held up to the light, especially to the sun. In that case the cracks would show up darker. It was said that the artificial element was detected by ‘sun-testing.’ Honest dealers marked their finer product by the caption sine cera -- ‘without wax’”

So just as in ancient times, as pottery was tested by holding it up to the sun, our lives need to be tested for the wax of hypocrisy. In the church are those who appear as fine pottery but are not. There are cracks of sin in their lives filled with the wax of religious ceremony and activity. When held up to the light of God’s Word their cracks become evident, when persecution or difficulty comes, they melt.

Our goal is to live according to His Word, filled with His spirit and stand in faith when the trials of life come our way.