Sermon Brief
Date Written: July 2011
Date Preached: July 10, 2011
Series Title: A Series in Philippians
Sermon Title: Letter from A Pastor’s Heart
Sermon Text: Philippians 1-4 [ESV] 4:1 listed
1Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Introduction:
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
These words were penned by Friar Brennan Manning, a former Marine turned Franciscan priest, from the 1960’s whose radical approach to Christianity challenged the very core of the Catholic Church.
In a world where the ‘institution’ of the church is under attack… in a world where the church has failed the people time and time again… it is time for church leaders to step up and become the leaders they SHOULD be… leaders serving those they lead and not lording over them…
Jesus, Himself is quoted in Mark 10:42-45 [ESV] when He says: “You know that those who are considered rulers [leaders] of the Gentiles LORD it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. BUT is shall NOT be so among you [disciples]. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came NOT to be served but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many…”
Paul understood this leadership principle and in his letter to the Philippian church is an outline on how church leaders should love the church.
In a discussion with a young seminary student about how he had managed to pastor such large churches, Dr W.A. Criswell is quoted as saying to this young minister, ‘son you gotta bloom where you are planted’! In other words, Dr. Criswell was saying that church leaders MUST love those whom God has placed them with, warts and all!
The biblical model for the pastor reveals that he is called to be the guide, mentor and spiritual leader for a gathering of believers! However, this is not only applicable to the position of the pastor, but this principle extends to all who are in Christian leadership… staff, SS teachers, deacons or anyone serving in a leadership role within the body!
Wherever you are serving in the body, you know that God has placed you there in that very special position, so the question to you is, “are you willing to LOVE as Paul is teaching? Are you willing to hear the Word of God and submit to His plan?”
This morning I want to share 4 aspects of love a leader must have for the church… people these are traits your pastor and ALL leaders within your fellowship should have and should be held accountable for…the first aspect is that the Christian leader should…
Love of the People of the Kingdom and Kingdom Work (1:1-30)
As we look at how Paul begins this letter to the Philippian church we can be rather impressed on how close he felt to them. They were considered by Paul as co-workers or co-laborers in Kingdom. In this opening of the letter Paul uses four words to describe these believers. (Phil 1:1-2 -ESV)
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we look over this letter we can see that Paul considers this fellowship to be equals with Him in the ministry as their spiritual maturity is higher than other congregations to whom he has ministered.
He uses the term servants and by the tone of this letter, we can know that he includes these believers as servants, as well. This word ‘servant’ represents the hearts of those serving… hearts in a total submission to serving God. People who completely understand Jesus is charge, Paul knew and understood that Christ was in charge and he thought these believers knew this as well.
Paul also uses the term saints which is the Greek word ‘hagi-oss’ which means to be set aside for a purpose. It is also translated as ‘holy’ in other parts of Scripture.
Paul’s personal experience with Jesus was a definite ‘set-aside’ experience… Jesus set Paul aside for a specific purpose! Do you remember the story when Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus and called by Jesus to serve Him in reaching the Gentiles instead of persecuting the church?
Paul completes his greeting by mentioning two other terms used for those who are dedicated in their service to God, the overseers and the deacons.
Now the first two terms Paul used (servant/saint) were pretty general in their application to the believers… they applied to ALL the body! However, these latter two terms are much more specific. The term overseer is the Greek word epis-kah-poss which refers to one overseeing all things within the church. This equates to what we would call a pastor today… which means that this term was not for ALL the believers BUT for only those God had chosen to pastor/oversee the church…
The last term deacon is the Greek word diakonos which is an office within the church. It was originally established in Acts 6 for a specific purpose of being servants to the church body. So we can know in these last two words that Paul was speaking specifically TO the church leadership in Philippi and these words also apply to all church leaders throughout the Christian world…The point I am making here is that Paul felt this church was equal partners with him in the Gospel ministry and he was glad and pleased to work with them and write to them.
Phil 1:3-11 [ESV]
3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Paul prayed for these people often and he actually begins the body of this letter with a prayer for these believers. His prayer was one of a thankful heart for their partnership with him in the ministry of the Gospel and that what God had started He would surely finish in them.
He praised them for not being ashamed of his incarceration and expressed a yearning to be with them! A yearning steeped in a deep and abiding love for this fellowship. He prays for them to grow and abound in the love of Christ and that their works will be fruit-filled all for the glory of God.
Paul then encourages these believers to remain focused on Christ in their walk. He tells them NOT to worry about those who may disagree or have different motives for preaching Christ! If Christ is being proclaimed, then glory comes to Christ! And that is the most important thing… It is more important than any position and or any type of self-worth. Because when Christ is proclaimed, no matter how, GOD IS GLORIFIED!
What Paul wanted these believers to understand was the OT precept that says that God’s word will not return void! It doesn’t matter if those who preach it, preach in envy and strife. God can and will use it for His glory and God can and will make a permanent difference in those who lives it touches.
Paul wanted them to understand that he loved kingdom work and he loved kingdom workers, but Paul also wanted to share with these people the love he had for LIVING for Christ and that they should love living for Christ as well.
Love of Your Life IN Christ (2:1-30)
Phil 2:1-4 [ESV] 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have you ever thought about your life in Christ? Do you LOVE your life in Christ? Have you ever thought about how much you LOVE to live this life you have in Christ? Paul shares in chapter 2 that the life in Christ is a special life and he wants us to love the life to which we have been called. Church leaders should love their life in Christ… and should loving LIVING FOR Christ! We have too many church leaders today who complain about the trials and difficulties, and they miss out on the joy of the journey! As Christian leaders we are called to LOVE living our life in Christ!!
Paul begins this chapter by sharing with the Philippians how their love for one another was a strong force against Satan and that a healthy love for each other… He used words like comfort, love, affection and sympathy and calls the believers in Philippi to complete his joy by being of the same mind and heart with each other. He wanted them to understand that this was all a team effort and to work well as a team they would have to be of the same mind and in full accord with each other. In humility they were called to put others ahead of themselves.
Paul then launches off into the great Christological hymn we know as Philippians 2:5-11 which reveals the humility of Christ and shows how Jesus is our example of the love that we are to have for one another. In a few weeks we are going to be looking at these verses in more detail.
But for the purpose of this morning’s sermon we just need to understand that Paul was sharing with the believers in Philippi that Jesus was THE example of loving His life being lived for God… God sent Jesus on a mission and Jesus loved God and loved what God had sent him to do…
After giving Christ as THE prime example of living the life of God, Paul then moves on to instruction for the Philippians…
12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Here Paul calls them to ‘work out their salvation’ in fear and trembling. However the point Paul is making here is often misunderstood because Paul was not saying to these believers that they could GET SAVED by working harder… or even that they could do anything to help them deserve salvation OR enable then to KEEP their salvation... actually what Paul is saying is quite to the contrary of these thoughts…
In this verse Paul was speaking about BELIEVERS [those who already knew Christ, those who were saved!] Paul was challenging them to live their lives out loud for Christ in the world around them.
For these believers to live their love for Christ out loud, Paul called on them to live without grumbling or complaining, and to hold fast to the Scripture of life, and finally Paul instructs them that no matter what, they are to rejoice in their savior Christ Jesus. In other words, love your life in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Paul told the Philippian believers that he loved them and loved the work of the kingdom. And Paul gives two examples of Christian men loving their life in the Lord, Timothy and Epaphroditus.
Timothy was a man of great faith and had a great love for the people of God and the things of God, and Timothy was willing to sacrifice for the Kingdom of God. Paul wanted those in Philippi to see Timothy’s example of love and devotion to God. Paul believed that as they had seen his own example in life, they would see Timothy in the same light. Timothy was concerned for them out of his love for Christ and his brothers and sisters in Christ.
Epaphroditus was a man sent from the Philippian church, who became ill on the journey to Rome to see Paul. He was sent by his church to care to the needs of Paul and because of his illness he had to be taken care of instead of being the caretaker.
Paul was sending Epaphroditus back, not as a shamed worker, but as a partner in the ministry of the Gospel. Epaphroditus reflected a love for his church and fellowship back in Philippi and there is great evidence Paul believed him to be a full partner in the mission of God.
Love the people of God, love the plans of God and love the LIFE we have in God… but not only that, Paul also wanted the church in Philippi to know that he had a…
Love for the Righteousness of Christ (3:1-21)
When we look at chapter 3 we can see that is begins with some warnings and Paul stresses for these believers to avoid these dangers and pitfalls. The believers are warned in v.2 to not be sidetracked by distractions and those who seek to derail your witness and service to God. Beware of the dogs, those who profane what is clean.
2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
A dog in the 1st century was not the cuddly, friendly animal we think about today. They were not yet domesticated and basically ran in packs and scavenged and attacked. To the Jew, a dog was an unclean animal and they did not want any part of them.
Paul is comparing those who had come in and tried to teach a false gospel with a dog. He was saying that tWhat he was saying was that they and their teaching was spiritually unclean and unworthy to be heard, and for the church to have nothing to do with them. He was saying that these men were spiritual scavengers who would attack and were attacking those who loved Christ.
Paul uses another word to describe these people, and it is ‘evildoers’. Evildoers are those who do what against God’s plan, and these teachers were definitely advocating a life against the plan of God. It added human tradition to faith in Christ, and to Paul such a notion was evil!
Paul uses one other phrase to describe these false teachers and it was ‘those who mutilate the flesh’. This was in reference to those Judaizers who were teaching that for one to become a true Christian they had to BOTH… surrender to Christ AND submit to the Law of Moses. They could not be a Christian without each part… Paul knew this to be false…
This particular reference by Paul is directed at one of those rituals; the act of circumcision. They believed all male Christians must be circumcised or they were not true believers. Paul refutes this in many of his letters to the church. Paul msg from day one that Jesus Christ was all sufficient for salvation and eternal life, and nothing else was required by God! Paul ends his warnings in v.3 by telling the Philippian believers to, “put no confidence in the flesh.”
Paul had every reason to have confidence in the flesh, but he goes to great lengths in this chapter to let these believers know that any fleshly accomplishments are worthless when compared to the ‘…surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord…’ [Phil 3:8b – ESV] Don’t place your faith in the flesh but love the righteousness that is Christ!
Paul concludes this chapter by encouraging these believers in Philippi to press ever forward, to strain and strive in their service for Christ, and encourages them to imitate him as they have seen him live and serve, not that he was perfect, but that he was pressing ever forward and he was encouraging them to do so as well.
Paul was encouraging them to press forward and love the righteousness that comes as a result of serving Christ… love Christ and love the righteousness He brings into your life.
Love of God’s plan and people, love of the LIFE we have in Christ and love of the Righteousness that comes from Christ… Paul encourages the church in Philippi to join him in these things but he also has one more request, Paul reveals that he had a great... calls the church in Philippi to…
Love of the Fellowship in Christ [local body] (4:1-20)
1Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Here in this chapter Paul wants the church to understand two very important and basic principles for the church to serve God and be the church God desires them to become.
The first of those principles is that they are called to love one another within the body of believers! Jesus understood that we are all different in personality, but second Paul stressed the need to be unified in stance for the Gospel. Here we find Paul issuing three challenges to the church in Philippi to stand firm in their faith…
Stand firm and united in their faith was Paul’s challenge to these believers. Stand firm against division among themselves. Jesus taught that a house divided against itself cannot stand and Paul is urging and encouraging two members of this fellowship who were obviously at odds with each other, Paul encourage them to reconcile and restore the relationship. Paul calls on a peacemaker, who he calls ‘true companion’ [ESV] to help the women reconcile. Stand firm and guard against division…
Paul also encouraged them to stand firm in their faith in Christ, by encouraging them to pray and turn all over to Christ Paul is challenging them to remain firm in their faith in Christ, and for them to seek out the good and live out what they have been taught by Paul and others.
Finally Paul encourages these believers to stand firm in their expectations from God… or better yet, stand firm in the promises of God. Paul lets them know how God has provided for him in any situation and how God will provide for them as well, according the riches in glory in Christ Jesus! Stand firm! Know God is going to fulfill His promises because God loves the church!
Conclusion:
Finally Paul concludes this letter of love to the Philippian believers by to greet one another in the Lord. All love and greetings come from Paul and those serving with him in Rome to the believers there in Philippi…
Love for our Savior is expressed in our love for each other and our obedience to God’s calling on our lives. To be a loving church God has called us to LOVE… Love is an action word…Love is a verb! For us to be a loving church means that we have to become a church of action… a church of obedience… What does that mean?
Are we a church that reaches out OR are we a church that simply doesn’t mind who shows up? There is a difference! Do we really and truly love the people around our church? If so, what are we doing to reach them? Who is willing to reach out? Who is willing to ACTIVELY love as Christ has called us?
Are we a church that cares about the lost? OR do we simply want ready-made members to join to help our bottom line! That sounds harsh, but the question must be answered… what sort of church are we going to be? God is calling us to LOVE ACTIVELY, are we going to answer…
Offer invitation…
