Preaching From Philippians #1

For example, when he wrote to the Corinthians he stated that he was an Apostle in his greetings.

Look at 1 Cor. 1:1 “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother.”

He did not mention that he was an Apostle in his address to the Philippians! He omitted that for a very special reason. He did not need to defend his apostleship to these Philippian Christians. They already knew that he was and did not have a problem with that.

Illus: During the New Hampshire primaries in 2004, Wes Clark came in fourth. He had skipped the Iowa Caucuses and practically had all of New Hampshire to himself for several weeks. But after such a poor showing, some of the pundits were discussing why he came in at fourth place.

(1) One fellow said he was not ready for PRIME TIME on the political trail.

(2) Fred Barnes said the reason that he had such a poor showing was because he had been spending his money on television ads telling everyone that he was a General, when everyone knew that already. Mr. Barnes said, “What the people of New Hampshire wanted to know was what the General stood for in his campaign.”

The people at Philippi knew he was an apostle and accepted it. He did not need to defend his apostleship, so he omitted it in his address to the Philippians. Instead, he refers to himself and Timotheus as “Servants of Jesus Christ.”

In our society, to be a SERVANT is not something you would want to brag about, but to Paul it was something he was proud to declare.

The word “Servant” in the Greek is the word “Doulos” which is the word bond-slave, but there is a very distinct difference between a servant and a slave.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

1. A Servant is free to work for anyone he wants to

2. A Slave is bought and purchased by a master. He is bound by the law to his master. He has no choice.

Paul wanted them to know he was a servant that had chosen to serve the Lord Jesus. He did not serve because he had no other choice, he served because he CHOSE TO SERVE. One of the great needs of the hour today is for Christians to recognize the privilege we have of serving the King of Kings.

Illus: Every time this country elects a President, he chooses men and women to serve in his cabinet. Most of these men and women who serve under the president are willing to take a cut in salary for the honor of serving the president.

If men and women can feel this way about serving the President, how much more should Christians feel honored to serve the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who is truly KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS?

Once Paul greeted these Christians, he wasted no time telling them what makes a GREAT CHURCH. You can go to any Christian book store today and buy all kinds of books that tell you what a great church consists of, such as having:

• The kind of singing that draws a crowd

• The kind of preaching that draws a crowd

• The kinds of program that draws a crowd

• The kinds of building that draws a crowd

And these are good things, do not take me wrong, many of these things are wonderful, but to be honest with you they are simply not the things the Bible says cause people to GROW SPIRITUALLY!

All over America there are churches that have all these things, but when you begin to talk to the members of those churches, you can tell immediately that THEY ARE NOT VERY SPIRITUAL!

As we look at the Book of Philippians, we discover some very IMPORTANT THINGS that will make a church spiritual. For example:

I. HE TALKED TO THEM ABOUT PRAYER

Look at verses 3-4, we read, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.”

Notice, Paul is praying for those who were not with him. We know that because he said, “I thank my God upon every REMEMBRANCE of you…”

Many folks will pray for those who are IN SIGHT, but they very seldom pray for those who are OUT OF SIGHT. It is like, “Out of sight, out of mind!”

Paul is teaching us that the church is not just US, it is WORLDWIDE! We should pray for those WE CAN NOT SEE as much as we pray for those WE CAN SEE!

We should pray for EACH OTHER often, but we must not forget to pray for MISSIONARIES and BELIEVERS in other parts of the world that are having a difficult time in the Lord. They are our brothers and sisters in the Lord as much as those we see each week when we attend church.