Philippians 4:5 …The nearness of the Lord (02/25/17)
“Let your gentleness be known to everyone …
The Lord is near” ~ Paul (Philippians 4:5)
The Lord is indeed always near, my Friends — not in the “benevolent dictator hovering above” sense meant by Paul (and his followers in the modern-day Christian church), but rather in the “always residing within” sense of Jesus Christ (see John 14:20-26) …
And whereas Paul would have us be gentle towards others for fear of rebuke from God, Jesus would have us be gentle to others solely for their benefit – and only therein & thereby remember how it feels to act as an agent of God, instead of as a mere worshipper thereof (see Matthew 5:48, Luke 6:36, Matthew 8:21-22, John 16:33et al).
Note as well that that Paul’s “everyone” is not the same as Jesus’ “everyone” – that the former implies those who are nearby and primarily those who are one’s allies (Paul is only admonishing fellow believers in Philippians 4), while Jesus means for us to Love everyone (Matthew 8:21-22) – especially our enemies (Matthew 5:40-44 + Luke 10:25-37) &/or the downtrodden among us (Matthew 25:35-40 et al).
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