Sermon Brief
Date Written: July 30, 2011
Date Preached: July 31, 2011
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Series from Philippians
Sermon Title: Walking the Talk – Living the Life
Sermon Text: Philippians 2:1-4 [ESV]
Introduction:
“Christians are nothing more than hypocrites! They say they love everyone but then they JUDGE everyone!”
Have you ever heard someone judge Christians like that? Have you ever had to face that personally? Many of us have heard those words… and even tho’ they may not have been directed in our direction, they are out there and there are many people in this world who feel this way about Christians… and about the church.
Now there are several reasons for those in the world and outside of God’s grace to have those feelings. The very FIRST thing I can see that makes them have these feelings is their own human nature. How many people do you know that actually WANT to be told they are in the wrong?
In fact, even AFTER we come to know Christ as Savior, we don’t like being told we are in the wrong and it is in our very nature to defend ourselves when others tell us we are wrong.
The 2nd reason I see is this thing we all deal with… and that is sin in our lives. I know that we ALL have our deep dark secrets and we all know ourselves better than anyone else besides God, and we don’t want anyone else to know these things… and we think that if we admit we are wrong, and if we admit that we are sinners… then that brings about the reality that we have done wrong, and we don’t want that…
The 3rd reason I can see is tied to the first two and it is the human self-defense mechanism. This human defense mechanism ALWAYS wants to take what we do and how we live and make it ok with God. These people say things like, “God wouldn’t punish me, God is loving, God is kind, God doesn’t judge me… only people judge me!”
The final reason I can see is what I believe to be THE MOST important for us this morning is that people react and say things like, “Christians are hypocrites!” because they see Christians living lives that do NOT reflect the Christ they proclaim! They see people professing Christianity but living a life that is NO different than those in the world!
This morning I want us to understand that much of the doubt and critical viewpoint of the church is NOT because people don’t want to try spiritual things OR that they don’t believe in God! It is because they see other people who say one thing and live a totally different way! We are called to LIVE what we SAY! We are called to WALK the TALK!
Last week we looked at how Paul laid out his attitude toward adversity and how he lived out his attitude… how HE walked the talk, and so in these next few verses we find Paul challenging the Philippian church to begin to WALK their TALK by fleshing out their own attitude with their own actions…
Let’s look at Phil 2:1-4 and see what Paul is saying…
Show verses 1-4 here…I will read
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...
In challenging the Philippian believers to live out their faith, Paul speaks about their profession, their presentation and most importantly their purpose in Christ… let’s look first at their presentation…
Your Profession (v.1)
Let’s understand that Paul is writing this letter to a group of fellow believers and people who shared His love for Christ, or at the very least, people who PROFESSED Christ with their lips…
And here in this passage Paul is asking these believers a rhetorical question here in v.1
Show verses 1 here…I will read
1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
Encouragement from promises of God
“In Christ” was a favorite term used by Paul and it was his way of relating to our position after salvation.
When we are ‘in Christ’ we are forgiven, Christ provided forgiveness of ALL our sin.
When we are ‘in Christ’ we are submerged in the grace of God, free from the world!
When we are ‘in Christ’ we are not only saved by God’s grace and forgiven by His death, but we are sealed by His promise… We are sealed and there is NOTHING the enemy can do to change that…
Paul knew the Philippian church would have understood these things and so he tells them if you find encouragement in your forgiveness of sin, in the grace of God and in the fact you are sealed with God forever… IF you are encouraged by this then your life should reflect that encouragement!
But Paul also says, ‘if you find comfort from the love’ that you experience ‘in Christ’, meaning the love God showed for you to come to earth and die on a cross… the love God showed to you by inviting you to be a part of His family… if this brings you encouragement, then Paul challenges the Philippians to LIVE out that love in Christ and WALK their talk… he calls them to live out their faith!
But Paul goes on here to ask them if they are encouraged by their ‘Involvement in the Spirit’s work’ … In other words, if the very fact that God has decided to include YOU in His work of redeeming the world, if this brings you encouragement… then LIVE out your faith… WALK worthy is one way Paul chose to write about what he was calling them to do!
Finally in v.1 we find Paul addresses the fellowship that comes when fellow believers come together under the banner of Christ as he asks them if they find any encouragement in their, “Affection and sympathy for the sake of Christ” IN OTHER WORDS if all the love you feel in this fellowship… if that love between you and your brothers and sisters in Christ brings you encouragement… then Paul challenges them to live out their faith in Christ!
Paul is telling these believers, if you are going to PROFESS faith in Christ then your life much match your profession of faith IN Christ! But Paul goes further… it’s not just about the words we speak, but its about how we present ourselves to the world around us…
Your Presentation (v.2)
2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Complete MY joy – thinking of others first
Paul says that if they will begin to LIVE out their faith in Christ then IN that he is going to find completing joy… His joy is in serving God and to see his service to God blossom and mature.
This is the joy Paul was speaking about here… the joy of a parent seeing their child blossom into adulthood…the joy of a teacher seeing their student not only pass the test of knowledge but see them apply that knowledge to better themselves… Paul wanted to see them WALK the talk… as he had done and was doing!
Paul lists a few ways that they can PRESENT themselves to the world as faithful followers of Christ. First Paul tells them to be of the ‘Same mind’ which means to have the same focus, the same goals… Can you imagine how focused and goal oriented the New Orleans Saints are? What is their focus? What are their goals?
I can tell you if they are NOT all on the same page, the season will not go like it should! If there is back biting and fueding on the team… the fans will see it… the people will see it… and they won’t be able to convince anyone that they want to win… no matter how much they say, because their actions betray their words… Paul is saying the same thing is true with the church… we must stand strong in one mind, with one focus, with one purpose!
Paul also mentions that the world can see our faith when we all have the ‘Same Love’ Now I want to share with you that this LOVE he is speaking about is the Greek word for love that we ALL have heard about… AGAPE! This is the love Jesus showed in coming to earth and when it comes to Paul and his teachings, it always goes back to Jesus!
We are to have the same love Christ had for the world! We are to have that love EVIDENT in our lives! If the world is going to believe in what we say, they are going to have to see it in action in our lives!
And then Paul completes his thought by letting them know that Christianity… or Walking the Talk is NOT meant to be an individual thing… we are called to accept Christ individually but living out our faith has ALWAYS been geared toward living out our faith in community! Paul calls them to BE in Full Accord with each other.
In other words Paul say that they have to work together for the sake of Christ! If the world is going to take notice of the message we proclaim, we are going to have to PRESENT ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ Himself!
We can TALK the TALK and we can WALK the WALK but why is this important! It is important in that we do this not to find approval for ourselves but to serve a greater purpose for the Kingdom of God.
Your Purpose (v.3-4)
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...
Paul goes on to give some MORE example of how we can live out our purpose of bringing others to Christ… more advice on how we can WALK our Talk so that the world will come to know Christ!
Don’t be in competition with one another
Don’t think that you are somehow more special to the fellowship than any other member
These things tear at the very fabric of what we know as FELLOWSHIP! Instead Paul instructs believers to be humble…
Now humility is seen by many in this world as a weakness, but in the world of Christ, humility is a strong and binding force that propels the fellowship to do what God has set out for them to do… for them to be able to WALK the TALK, they must be humble of spirit and heart toward each other and toward the world around them! Pride, envy and competition for notoriety has NO place in the body of Christ!
We are called to place others before ourselves and this in and of itself will cause the world to sit up and take notice of who we are… in our world today it’s all about looking out for #1… but God calls us to look out for each other! When the world sees our fellowship loving each other and looking out for each other… they are going to see that there is something special about us! They are going to want to know what it is and we can then share with them…
We can TALK the TALK, and we are called to share our faith and tell of Jesus! But until we learn to faithfully WALK the WALK even in the middle of adversity and difficult times… the world is never going to listen to what we have to say! Are you ready to WALK the TALK today? Are you ready to live as you have been called to live!
This morning you may be here and you may have made a profession of faith in Christ… but are you living out your faith? Are you walking the talk in your daily life? Today if you have NOT been living as God has called you to live, I call on you to come and repent… come and confess!
The standards God has set for His children are very HIGH and tremendously UNCOMPROMISING! And I am here to tell you that God expects us to abide by HIS standards and not our own! These high standards are there because what we do is SO IMPORTANT!
The eternal destination for the souls of this world is in large part determined by how we live out the standards of God in our lives! ARE YOU WALKING THE TALK TODAY? Come and repent if you are not!
This morning if you are hear and God has convicted your heart to surrender to Him, I want to invite you to come, come and pray with me! Come and we will go to God together and find the forgiveness, mercy and love God has promised!
I don’t have any magical words for you to say, it is all about the attitude in your heart… if you are truthfully sorrowful for your sin and want to repent, God is here, God is waiting and God will forgive and save! Won’t you come today… come and begin the walk with God that will radically change your life! Would you all stand as Bro Ken comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation…
