November 28, 2010
Morning Worship
Text: Philippians 1:3-11
Subject: Mentoring
Title: We All Need Somebody to Lean On
In keeping with the celebration of Thanksgiving, and in conjunction with the message from last Sunday morning about mentoring new believers and developing spiritual relationships, I want to share with you the lyrics of a 1970’s song. Does it seem like I do that a lot? It’s because that is where I came from and I draw on my BC (before Christ) life to help me relate to what God wants to do in my life now.
Lean on Me…
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Today we are going to look at Philippians 1:3-11 and as we do I want you to notice how Paul gives a great example with his words of what a spiritual relationship looks like. Let’s look at three principles that will help us develop those spiritual relationships.
Read Philippians 1:3-11.
Lord, open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS INVOLVE PRAYING FOR ONE ANOTHER. Look at how Paul begins. 3 I thank my God every time I remember you… Your relationship with other Christians should invoke remembrance. When you pray how do you go about it? Do you take your “set” list into your prayer room and then go down it checking off the names as you go? Not that it’s the wrong thing to do – the main thing is that we pray… but are you limited to that kind of prayer? Paul says that the first thing he does is to thank God for his Christian relationships. Especially those from the church in Philippi. It was that church body that supported Paul financially for much of his ministry. Even though we learn in 2 Corinthians 8 that in spite of a terrible economic downturn (2 Out of the most severe trial … and their extreme poverty) that they gave and gave. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. Yes, Paul was thankful for their giving, but it was the relationships that he built that really caused him to be thankful. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now… There is a significant word in verse 5that I want to look at – the word “partnership”. It is the Greek word koinonia and it is often translated (as in the KJV) as fellowship. As a matter of fact when we see that word the idea of fellowship immediately comes to mind. It conjures up thoughts of a unified church that is bound together by the blood of Christ. J. I. Packer says this about fellowship, The Greek word for fellowship comes from a root meaning common or shared. So fellowship means common participation in something either by giving what you have to the other person or receiving what he or she has. Give and take is the essence of fellowship, and give and take must be the way of fellowship in the common life of the body of Christ. Christian fellowship is two-dimensional, and it has to be vertical before it can be horizontal. We must know the reality of fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ before we can know the reality of fellowship with each other in our common relationship to God (1 John 1:3). The person who is not in fellowship with the Father and the Son is no Christian at all, and so cannot share with Christians the realities of their fellowship. Paul lifts these believers up in prayer because he is thankful that he doesn’t have to engage in ministry alone. He is in a partnership that demands active participation. Later on in Philippians in 4:19, Paul writes, 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Can you see how the promise for needs being met is directly connected to their giving? Listen how the Amplified Bible reads for verse 5, [I thank my God] for your fellowship (your sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership) in advancing the good news (the Gospel) from the first day [you heard it] until now. Now, Paul not only says that he prays for them, but that he prays with joy. 1) joyful that they are saved… 2) joyful that they partner with him… 3) joyful that God is faithful… 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Do you see the partnership at work? God working through the Philippians in their giving. Paul working in the power of God as he is enabled by the Holy Spirit and the financial support of the church. God working in the church as we will later see in verse 19, …for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance… a three way partnership at work. But there is a wonderful spiritual connection between Paul and the church. He realizes that he needs someone to lean on.
II. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHPS INVOLVE A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION TO ONE ANOTHER. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart… Heart is used in Scripture to describe the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as "the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity. (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind); the middle. It is the place where God connections are made, the spirit man. The Holy Spirit abides in the heart of a man and Paul says that the Philippians do also. In other words, his affections for them go beyond natural affections – they are deeply spiritual. I can honestly stand here today and say “I love you” to everyone of you here. It may not be an affectionate love or an emotional love but there is that “agape” love that stems from the spirit man that I have and can say that it never diminishes. It is a love that continues to grow as my desire for the things of God increases. And it is not affected by my circumstances. … for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 12. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ… But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. You cannot be a Christian without being automatically connected to other Christians. Now the truth is that many try to do so – the separate themselves from “organized religion”. I don’t blame people who want to do that. I don’t want anything to do with organized or institutionalized religion. I want to participate in a relationship with the life giving, miracle working, Holy Ghost baptizing, word confirming God of the bible. And I won’t do it on my own. I will enter into that relationship as a part of the Body… That means you complete me and I complete you and you complete one another. It doesn’t matter if Paul was in chains… he is still sharing in God’s grace with us. It doesn’t matter if he is defending the gospel – we’re still one body. It doesn’t matter if God is confirming His word with signs and wonders. Paul is not alone. If you stop and consider it, 2000 years ago Paul was sharing in God’s grace with you and you with him. But you have a more intimate sharing that you can do right now with others in the church. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Can you see the spiritual connection? Paul has a yearning to see the church, to be with them, but it is not a desire that can be understood from a natural viewpoint. The longing he has is with the affection of Christ Jesus… This is more than jut wanting to be with his friends. It comes from the affection of Christ. It is a spiritual affection coming from his spirit man where the Holy Spirit has magnified love so that it can be equated with God’s “agape” love. For God so loved the world… God demonstrates His own love for us in this… that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 8:38, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You have someone to lean on through your relationship with Christ.
III. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS INVOLVE GOING ALL OUT FOR THE DISTANCE. We hear a lot about burnout in the church. You hear it mainly about pastors who try to do too much for too long. It’s not only pastors but people in every walk of life can experience burnout. But I really think burnout comes when you try to accomplish what God wants in your own power. The same holds true in your relationships. God does not want you to burn out but to remain faithful in building one another up. Paul says in verse 9, And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ… Look at the three aspects of Paul’s prayer for the church. 1) that love may abound more and more… What is the greatest expression of love that can be seen? It is in giving. God so loved the world that He what?… He gave! How does God give? God gives generously or liberally. James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault… God gives richly. Romans 10:12, …the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him… And God gives freely. 1 Corinthians 2:12, We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And He gives abundantly. John 10:10, 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. So if we reason this out we are to love with the same affection that Christ had; and that love is supposed to abound more and more – actually there is no word for abound. It really means to super abound. That sounds like going all out. And if the greatest expression of love is giving the way that God gave then we give of ourselves, our money, our lives, our time, our works, our talents more and more to each other… 2) in knowledge and depth of insight… Knowledge is speaking of spiritual knowledge; knowledge not from the mind of man but from the Spirit of God. Now, since Paul is talking about this in the light of the partnership that is among Christians, consider those within the church that you may think that you have nothing in common with. You couldn’t relate to them if you tried to talk. You can’t understand what they are going through because you have never been there. But according to Paul’s prayer you can super abound in knowledge (from the Spirit) and depth of insight. It may be that you don’t have that because you have never asked God for it. I may not have experienced the physical pain that some of you have endured but I can still have spiritual knowledge and depth of insight concerning your struggle so I can somehow give something that will benefit you. 3) 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ… Knowledge and depth of insight is spiritual. Discerning what is best and being pure and blameless is applying what you have spiritually to the natural man – putting it to work. And here is where we see that we need to persevere in our relationships… until the day of Christ means that we partner with one another until Jesus comes back for His church. Over the years Charlotte and I have been involved with other Christians – trying to help them mature to the point where they in turn could help others. And I have to be honest; there were some who would just wear you out. One couple in particular at our home church in Troy. We would meet with them weekly for prayer and bible study. The husband was sincere – all he wanted was a deeper walk with the Lord. The wife on the other hand – well, I can’t say for sure what she was after. She had a background in so called “spiritual” activities. She would come for a while then it seemed that a strange illness would overtake her on the day we were supposed to meet. He asked questions while she cast doubt. And it wore us out. She was literally draining our strength from us t the point that we finally just quit. Were we right in doing so – I can’t say. It seemed as though we were casting pearls before swine. I do know that eventually the whole family just fell away from the Lord. Would it had been different had we not burned out? I don’t know. If we had to it to do again would we continue? I think so. That is what Paul talks about in verse 11, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Your relationships will bring fruit through Jesus Christ and will glorify God.
A study was done by Leonard Syme in the 1980’s that shows the close relationship between social ties and health. The study points to Japan as being number one in the world with respect to health and then discusses the close social, cultural, and traditional ties in that country as the reason. He believes that the more social ties, the better the health and the lower the death rate. Conversely, he indicates that the more isolated the person, the poorer the health and the higher the death rate. Social ties are good preventative medicine for physical problems and for mental-emotional-behavior problems.
Martin & Diedre Bobgan, How To Counsel From Scripture, Moody Press, 1985, p. 18.
That study done in connection with worldly relationships also holds true in the church. You not only have a responsibility to partner with someone to help raise them up in their faith, you will receive benefits from it as well.
We all need somebody to lean on.
Have you found someone to partner with?
Have you found someone to disciple?
Have you found someone to connect with to help you grow?
Don’t you think it’s time?
