SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: December 26, 2001
Date Preached: December 26, 2001
Church: BBC (PM) Wed Night
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: Special Counsel for the Christian
Text: Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
ETS: Paul’s desire for the Philippian Christians was to follow God as he had followed God, to use his example.
ESS: This counsel from Paul still remains valid as we also must take Paul’s example and begin to follow Christ as he did!
Introduction:
The young youth minister NEVER knew what he had done!
The author of the book “10 Mistakes Parents Make With Teenagers” Jay Kesler tells of a conversation he had at a summer youth camp in Ohio one time.
Many youth had come forward that night, however, there was one particular girl whom they asked Jay to speak with because she was having so much trouble.
Jay and the young lady sat on the front row in the chapel and over a period of a few short moments, Jay heard a spine tingling story of heartbreak and disillusionment from this young girl.
Starting at 4 years old her father had molested her about 3 times a week and she was carrying a heavy weight of guilt as if it was HER fault for what her father had done.
Jay noticed that this young lady’s wrists had scars on them and he asked her, “What about your wrists?” And the young lady said she had tried but failed to kill herself.
Being an experienced counselor Jay knew that there are basically 2 types of attempted suicide, those who really mean it and follow through with it, and then there are those who are seeking to gain attention from someone or somebody and they do NOT carry through with it. If you want to kill yourself, you will get it done!
Jay asked her why she didn’t follow through with the suicide and the response he got from this young girl startled him. She said I did NOT follow through with it because of our Youth Pastor.
Now Jay immediately was afraid that there was an improper relationship about to be revealed, but that was NOT the case here. The young girl went on to explain that her church had just hired a youth minister and she had begun to ‘watch’ him in all that she could.
She saw him when him and his wife were together, how he ‘squeezed’ her and how he always treated her with respect and honor. She said that one day she saw him walking his wife to the car in the parking lot and there was NO ONE else around, but he still walked her to her door, opened the door for her, closed the door behind her and then walked all the way around to his side and got in the car.
She was so amazed that he would do this…even when there was NO one looking. She asked Jay, do you think that my Youth Minister is a Christian? Jay said he believed that he was!
She then said, “Well I am glad, because I got to thinking that all men might not be like my dad!”
Jay told her that all men were NOT like her dad, men like her Youth Minister were like that because of what had changed in their lives after Jesus had come in! He shared how Jesus changes our lives and she prayed to accept Christ that night.
That young youth minister who was an unwitting example to that young girl was living a life like Christ would desire for us all to live. This young youth minister never knew what he had done. Likewise we can never know when we are being watched and observed in regards to our Christian beliefs and walk with Christ.
Now I know that we have all heard the expression that ADVICE is cheap! And for the most part that expression is very true!
But of all the advice that we seek or receive we NEVER expect someone’s advice to us to be, “You need to be more like me!”
However, that is just what the apostle Paul was saying when he wrote this letter to the Christians in Philippi! In this letter to the Philippian Christians Paul described the elements of noble living that should mark the lives of every Christian.
Paul then ended that letter by saying that they should do things as they had seen HIM do them. To most of us this may seem like unusual advice…but when we explore the Scripture, we find that it was good advice!
Now when we hear or read that Paul told the Philippian Christians to be just like him, he was not speaking of the Paul who was top of his class, or who was possibly on track to being the next High Priest.
Now modeling ourselves after someone is nothing new in our society. In fact, in our society it seems that we are always pushed or influenced to allow someone ELSE to shape our life!
Now this is NOT a bad thing, for we all have role models when we were growing up…some of us had good role models and some of us had bad role models, but our lives were shaped because of these people…good or bad.
Paul saw that the Christians in Philippi were having difficulty with their focus and their walk with Christ and offered himself as a model for them to emulate…so that they would be better servants of Christ.
Let’s take a look at what Paul did that we should recognize as things or actions that we should model after him:
“Things we have learned… Among the things the people had learned from Paul were the teachings of Jesus. Paul put forth the Christian life first and foremost. An example must teach Christian living, and Paul did so be teaching the things of Christ!
Things we have received… The new Christians in Philippi had also received a Christian belief or doctrine through the teachings of Paul. There were many times Paul defended what he called ‘his gospel’ which was the Gospel of Grace. Like these Christians in Philippi we too have received this ‘gospel of grace’
The letters that Paul wrote normally contained 2 sections. The first section was the doctrinal standpoint and the “WHY” of Christianity. But Paul also went further in his 2nd sections by supplying to his readers the practical application of this doctrine…or the “HOW” of Christianity.
Paul used 2 very specific verbs in these sections and they were ‘learn’ and ‘receive’ Instruction in the doctrines of grace and Christian living are 2 things that we should always model!
Things we have heard and seen… The 2nd pair of verbs have their concern in things that we have heard and seen in the life of Paul…some of the characteristics we have observed in Paul.
Let’s look at some of the characteristics of Paul that we can observe through Scripture…
Brokenness/Humility: Let’s look in the book of Acts (9:1-19) When God called Paul…Paul realized and answered the call. He was broken and humble and willing to do what God called him to do.
A Self Starter: Let’s look again at the book of Acts (9:20-22) Paul did not wait for someone ELSE to take the reins…he jumped right in and did what God had called him to do… to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Adaptable: Looking again in Acts 9:23-28 we find that things did not always go as Paul would have planned them…there WERE bumps in the road and he had to make adjustments.
Courageous: Paul did what God told him and from the very start, his life was placed in danger, but Paul continued to do what God had called him to do. This took courage from Paul.
Willingness: In Acts 13:1-4 we find Paul along with Barnabas being set aside by the Holy Spirit for a specific missionary journey. Paul was willing to go because of his broken and humble spirit.
Discerning: In Acts 13:9-11 we find Paul detecting someone trying to derail his mission of spreading the word of Christ to the world. He not only detects it but rebukes it as well.
Paul exhibited a brokenness, a self-starting attitude and work habit, he was adaptable, he was courageous, he was willing to do what God wanted and he was discerning in his ministry.
In reading the NT I can find a multitude MORE of Paul’s characteristics…but these 6 are the most crucial elements of who Paul was as a Christian.
Now I must be VERY careful when I say that because of 2 reasons.
First, I do not want ANYONE here to misunderstand and think that it was these particular characteristics alone that made Paul so successful in ministry. That is NOT the case…
Second, I do NOT want anyone here to misunderstand me and believe that Paul himself could implement these characteristics and “become” the great missionary that he did become.
I give these 2 warnings because I want all to fully understand that even though we are looking at Paul’s life as an example to follow we must realize WHY he says what he says in the book of Philippians… that is they should follow his example.
If we look back to the any of Paul’s writings we can see that he had NEVER believed that his ministry was done in HIS power. He has always acknowledged God’s presence and power in his life and lean on that.
He has always looked to the example of Christ when it came to how to live and how to relate the message he had to relate to the world.
No, Paul did not believe this was HIS thing…He knew it was a calling from God and that without God, it would be impossible for him. In fact he mentions that from a different perspective in Phil 4:13 when he says,
“…I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength…”
So when we hear Paul say to emulate his example, it is because he knows the example that Christ has set and he has lived that example. Paul lived the remainder of his life seeking after and attempting to become more and more like Christ. Paul does not wish us to be like him, but he desired his readers to be more and more like Christ!
Try to imagine how many lives that you influence in your own personal realm of influence. The people you meet at the store, the other parents at school, or your co-workers.
Those other parents down at the playground, another parent who loves to coach sports, the children you interact with in church or in the community…the list can and does go on and on and on.
We must continually strive to be more and more like Christ, we must constantly strive to be more and more like Paul – whose constant goal was to be like Christ everyday of his life…after his conversion!
We must strive to do this because with most people we meet…WE will be the most “Jesus” they will ever meet. We are called Christians for a reason, it means ‘little Christs’ we are to strive to be as much like Jesus as possible.
But there is another reason that we must begin to pattern our lives after what we have learned, what we have received and what we have heard or seen…
Paul said that the “God of peace will be with you…” If we pattern our lives after things we have learned, received, heard and seen, we CAN KNOW and rest assured that the God of peace will be with us, and we WILL be able to do what He has called us to do.
This is not just mere words spoken by Paul to placate the people he was writing to… these were words that Paul lived out in his ministry. Paul relied upon the God of peace to provide from his needs and for his protection. God provided for Paul and God protected Paul in his ministry.
Paul passed on to us this bit of spiritual counsel which came out of his own personal experience in serving the God of peace…the God of provision…the God of protection.
When we begin to take the advice that Paul is giving here, we will become stronger in our walk with Christ and we will become stronger Christians in our community and thus be a force in changing this community for Christ!
Are you willing to do what it takes to be the force we need to be in this community to change it for Christ? Paul was willing and God made him able. If we are but willing God will make us able to change this community for Him.
A new year is right around the corner…let’s not approach this new year with the same old tired perspective…let’s ‘attack’ this new year with a renewed spirit and a renewed sense of what God is calling us to be and do for Him!
