Jesus Can 2007
Part 3: Jesus Can Strengthen Me.
Philippians 4:4-19
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Feb. 4, 2007
*I’ve lost my job. I’ve gotten a bad report from the doctor. My mate has let me down. My child is in trouble. I have miserably failed. I am going through a rough time in life, and I need someone to strengthen me. Jesus Christ can give you all the strength you will ever need.
1. Let Jesus strengthen you today by His close presence. Paul reminded us of the Lord’s presence in vs. 4&5, when he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”
*The Lord is at hand. God is never far away from you. In Psalm 139:7-10, David spoke to the Lord about this wonderful truth and said, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.”
*Psalm 46:1-2 tells us that, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”
*The even more wonderful truth is that if you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit of Christ is literally living in your heart right now. Believers, Jesus is not just in Heaven today. He is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27). And the more we realize this truth, the stronger we will be.
*Frank Laubach and his wife were missionaries who went to the Philippines in 1915. They started churches and worked among the Muslims on the island of Mindanao.
-One of the greatest life-changing moments in Frank’s life happened in January of 1930, when he began to cultivate the habit of turning his mind to Christ for one second out of every minute.
-After only four weeks he reported, “I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself. This sense of cooperation with God in little things is what so astonishes me, for I never have felt it this way before. I need something, and turn round to find it waiting for me. I must work, to be sure, but there is God working along with me.” (1)
2. Let Jesus strengthen you today by His close presence, and by His promise of peace. God promises to give you His peace in vs. 6&7, where the Word of God says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
*Let me tell you something about the peace that passes understanding: It’s real, and God will give it to you as you cast your cares on Him. Linda Washington found this out a few years ago in a memorable way. Linda was going through a very frustrating time in her life. She felt like her prayers were not being heard by God, and she began to get angry with God. It was beginning to keep her from praying at all.
*But on Election Day of that year, Linda showed up at the polling place early. As she was waiting, a man came up to Linda, and out of the blue, he asked, "Are you saved?"
-Linda was a little stunned by the stranger’s bluntness, but she answered, "Yes."
-Then the stranger continued, "Do you think God doesn’t hear your prayers?"
-Linda hesitated, but replied, "Sometimes."
*The stranger responded, "Well, God’s got big ears."
-Then he turned and wandered off into the crowd.
*That brief encounter made a big difference in Linda’s life. She was strongly reassured that God does indeed hear our prayers. (2)
*Today let me be the one to tell you, God’s got big ears! So, tell Him what’s on your heart. Tell Him with a trusting, thankful heart. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
3. Let Jesus Christ strengthen you today by His promise of peace, and by His learning process. Notice the learning Paul talked about in vs. 8-13:
8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.
9. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
10. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.
11. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
*Paul said something in vs. 11 that we all need to be able to say. “I have learned to be content in whatever state I am.” Paul’s connection with Christ was so strong that it gave him contentment to weather any storm. He had found the inner strength that all of us need, but it was a learning process.
*Paul said “I have learned to be content.” Church, I have got to tell you that I am still learning to be content! And we can keep learning, because as Buddy Green once said, “God loves you just the way you are. But He loves you too much to let you stay that way.” (3)
*How can we learn to be content? First we must focus. We must keep focused on the wonderful blessings that God has given to every believer. Paul stressed this in vs. 8, when he said, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.”
-And if you can’t find anything else good to think about, think about the cross!
-Think about the amazing grace of Jesus Christ and how much He loves us.
-That He was willing to leave His home in Heaven and come into this world to die on that Cross for our sins.
-Think about the wonderful truth that Jesus rose from the dead, that He will forgive all of our sins, and that he will give eternal life to all who trust in Him.
*We must focus, and we must follow. So in vs. 9, Paul said, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” God wants to take us to the point where we can truly say, “I have learned to be content in every situation,” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”
*Bob Wieland is a believer like that. Bob completed the Los Angeles and New York City marathons twice and the Marine Corps Marathon once. Those races are 26 miles long! Bob also rode a bicycle from Los Angeles to Washington, covering 2,700 miles in 35 days. He broke the world record for the bench press four times, once lifting 507 pounds. He also completed the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii. All of that is phenomenal, but the thing that makes it amazing is that Bob Wieland is a double amputee. His legs were blown away by a land mine in Vietnam in 1969.
*For marathons and walks, Bob propels himself in a sitting position, using his arms like crutches to swing his body forward. His hands are padded and he sits in a protective, saddle-like pad. To ride a bike, he uses hand-operated pedals mounted to handlebars.
*Bob completed the New York marathon in 1986, finishing 19,413th -- that’s last. It took him 4 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds. Where did Bob Wieland get the strength to do all of that? It came from above. As Bob once said, “Through faith in God, dedication, and determination, there is nothing within the will of God a person can’t achieve.” (4)
*Bob Wieland has learned to be content in every situation of life, and that’s where the Lord wants to take us. Right now you may feel like you’re on mile marker one of that spiritual marathon, and you are fading fast with 25 miles to go, but Jesus Christ can give you all the strength you need.
4. Let Jesus strengthen you today by His learning process, and by His caring people. We see a great example of God’s caring people in vs. 13-18, as the Christians in Philippi sent money to Paul. Paul put it this way in the New Living Translation:
13. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.
14. But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.
16. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.
17. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
18. At the moment I have all I need-more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him.
*The Christians in Philippi were generous in Godly love, and they showed it by giving. Good thing, because vs. 15 tells us that for a while, they were the only church who did. And what a difference this made to Paul! Here’s how he put it in vs. 10, “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.”
*Christians, we are not Superman. We can’t always do what we would like to do to help, but we must always care. We must do all we can to help other people. And when we need strength, as we all will, we can be sure that God’s people will be there to help. They won’t all be able or willing to help, but God will surely send us the help we need!
*I saw some great examples of God’s people helping others this week, like Thursday night when the Sanctuary Choir went out to VA home to sing and fellowship with the residents. They were a great blessing, but they were also blessed.
*On a more personal note, we are having a serious problem in our family right now. But I know that hundreds, maybe thousands of prayers have gone up for us this week. And God is answering those prayers.
-When I went to see Emmaline Marshall in the hospital on Friday, she insisted that I come over to her bed so she could give me a hug, even though I have had bronchitis this week. And Emmaline said, “I have been praying my heart out for you and your family this week.” Mary and I have the peace that passes understanding, because God’s people care.
5. Let Jesus strengthen you today by His caring people, and by His gracious plenty. Paul talked about it in vs. 19, when he said, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” If you are 4 or 104, God shall supply all your needs! And He can do it, because the whole universe belongs to Him! But notice that our supply must come through Jesus Christ.
-Jesus will give me strength for the storms of life.
-Jesus will give me the strength to serve Him.
-Jesus will give me the strength to stand.
*Luther Bridgers knew that. Luther was born in North Carolina on Valentine’s Day in 1884. He died in Atlanta in 1948, at the age of 64. Luther began preaching when he was only 17. He served as a Methodist pastor and evangelist in the South, but also did mission work in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Russia.
*Luther was also a song writer, and he wrote one of our favorite hymns. We sang it last Sunday evening. A couple of weeks ago, I found out that this song was born in a time of tragedy. Luther came home from an evangelistic meeting to find that his wife and three children had died in a fire that destroyed their family home. The story is that Luther sat on the stone doorstep of that burnt out home and wrote:
-“There’s within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low,
-Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still, in all of life’s ebb and flow.
-All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, Discord filled my heart with pain;
-Jesus swept across the broken strings; Stirred the slumbering chords again.
-Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,
-Trials fall across the way,
-Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
-See his footprints all the way.
-Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. -Sweetest name I know,
-Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.” (5)
Conclusion:
*Jesus Christ will give you all the strength you need. Do you know Jesus?
-Open your heart to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
Adapted from christianglobe.com sermon --And then let the Lord strengthen you.
1. Adapted from: KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 30281 - SOURCE: Book: The Divine Conspiracy - TITLE: Laubach’s One Second Out Of Every Minute - AUTHOR: Dallas Willard - DATE: 1997
2. Linda Washington, Finding God Between a Rock and a Hard Place, compiled by Lil Copan and Elisa Fryling (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1999), pp. 72-73. (Found in christianglobe.com sermon “Teach Us to Pray” by King Duncan - Luke 11:1-13 - July 25, 2004)
3. Quotation by Buddy Green. (Original source unknown)
4. Adapted from christianglobe.com sermon “I Am Christ’s” by Maxie Dunnam - 2 Corin 5-6
5. Adapted from christianglobe.com sermon “Name Above Every Name” by Leonard Mann - Luke 2:21 (Some biographical notes from Cyber Hymnal)
