Series: Philippians
Sermon: “God Ain’t Done with Me”
Philippians 1:3-8
A sermon for June 21, 2020
Pastor John Bright
Philippians 1 “3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.”
As I told you last week, I am going to look at some BIG PICTURE ideas from the epistle to the churches in Philippi. This week, I want to look at JOY IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING - The question is not - "Will we suffer?" (If you want to hear a message about avoiding all suffering – go to a church where the preacher will give you the Prosperity Gospel every week.) The real question for you and me is "What is the Christian's response to suffering?" Paul, an innocent man in prison, is filled with joy and he expects the same response from the Philippians who suffer due to the hostility to Christ around them. Here is a list of references to joy in the book of Philippians - 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10
There are so many reasons in today’s world to give up on joy – for bitterness, disappointment, frustration, and let’s not forget the day to day drama on social media – the JOY OF THE LORD is the cure for all those maladies of the modern world. I guess that leaves each of us with a choice – do what God wants or follow the ways of the world. What’s your choice? Today is not the last time in this series we discuss joy. To start off today…
Paul share insight into his prayer life
“3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,”
Paul does not just preach to them about joy – he offers them the chance to hear how he is joyful when he prays for them. As we are going to find out, Paul can be joyful because he can see the evidence of God working in and through the Philippian house churches. These are the reasons he give to them:
Reason One
“5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now”
He sees them as partners in the work of sharing the Gospel. Paul has already moved on to other places and now is in prison as we read about in the Book of Acts. He’s not talking about the joy he had when he was there in Philippi – no, rather the joy he had as he wrote. This partnership or fellowship is expressed by the Greek word – “koinonia.” It is the idea that the work of ministry is shared among all Believers.
This idea in today’s Church is called “The Priesthood of All Believers.” Let me explain – any view of the Church as the place where the pastor produces ministry and the lay people consume ministry is WRONG! Let me tell you what you hear from folks that have this view – “I’m going to look for another church because I’m not being fed spiritually.” The church is NOT the buffet at Golden Corral. Let’s get together – in all the ways we can – and reach out beyond these four walls/parking lot to share the Love of God with a lost and hurting world.
Paul mentions their specific work of helping him financially in 2 Cor. 8 “1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” (That’s where the idea of apportionments came from – sorry) It’s meeting the physical needs of folks, lest we become those who dare to act like what we read about in James 2 – “15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?”
Well, before I step on more toes, let’s move on to
Reason Two
“6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
The good work that had begun was SALVATION – that work of God to make the dead come to life and the blind to see. It is the work of God that is accomplished because of the blood of Jesus on Calvary that wipes away the stain of sin such that we are white as snow in our spirits. It is the work of God that takes our sins and casts them as far as the east is from the west. AND THAT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!
My life is so different than when I answered the knock of Jesus upon the door of my heart. This sermon got me thinking about all the twists and turns since then. I wish it had been one straight path but I would not be where I am today without the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the one step forward and two steps back. There we my days at Yogaville in Buckingham County (that was a low spot) – Tiger King – Bhagavan “Doc” Antle – he was there back then. There was the mountain top experience of Emmaus Walk on the Eastern Shore after a horrible 1-year appointment. I was the one that bounced around and God was always waiting for me to return to Him – to complete the work He began.
There is an ongoing work of God in the life of a believer that we call Sanctification. That is the process by which the Grace of God continues to work in us and we work on staying as close to God as we can – it’s seeking an intimate relationship with God. That’s a great reason He put the Holy Spirit in each Believer when we were saved!
Now part of the ongoing growth of Sanctification is the willingness and ability to do good works. What kind of good works are needed today?
• Teachers have gone above and beyond to help students after schools shut down in March.
• In Arkansas, a couple picked up their meals at a steakhouse and for a tip, they left their stimulus check to help the staff.
• Brawny Paper Towels – “Giants Initiative” – in that commercial is a 7-year-old girl that raised money to buy groceries for over 1500 people.
• After the recent protests and riots, communities came together to help those businesses that had been vandalized.
• To each of us – find a need and meet it, find a hurt and heal it. We can be the hands and feet of Christ in this day and time. We keep funding missions and going on mission trips. We keep packing bags of food for kids in school. We keep praying for folks. We each do our part – remember, it’s not just the Pastor’s job!
For Paul, as we will see over and over again, identifies good works as the evidence of true belief in the Gospel of Christ. As the Saints of God – then and now – we need to lead lives of holiness that will shine brightly and keep the good works of ministry flowing outside the church walls. Oops, stepping on more toes!
Well, here’s the last one for today…
Reason Three
“7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.”
Paul’s joy is personal – they are in his heart. That’s not always easy for a pastor! I choose to remember the good days and minimize the bad days from my previous appointments. There have always been folks who chose to get into the thick of ministry with me – sounds like the same was true for Paul. Now these folks are not in chains with Paul, but they are facing trials and tribulations at the hands of folks opposed to the Church and opposed to Christ.
Today, there are groups that openly oppose God’s Word and the Church. In the coming months, be on the lookout for those who are working hard for Social Justice causes – some/many of these groups have origins and purposes that seek to tear down Western Civilization (that includes the Church and the Bible). I’m not asking you to be suspicious – we need to be discerning! Pray to God for wisdom and He will give it to you for the work of discernment (James 1:5).
Has the work of the Church changed since the time Paul wrote these words until today? I don’t think so.
In Ephesians 3 Paul wrote of the purpose for his ministry – “1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”
Today – it’s not Jews and Gentiles. We live in a world that Jesus described in this way – “36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
There are believers and there are unbelievers – in the world, in the US, in Virginia, in our neighborhoods and even in our families. Do we watch as God completes a work in you and me – inside the church? GOD AIN’T DONE WITH ME OR YOU – THANK GOD! But do we simply watch as God completes that work – as our loved ones and neighbors are heading towards a cliff, in a bus called “this world”, they are going faster and faster – what’s on the other side of that steep drop? HELL! Yes, I said it. If that’s the situation, the most loving thing, the most compassionate thing I can do is warn them – not stop them – warn them of what is coming. If we offer an alternative to the world – not make the church just like the world – if we are shining brightly, being salt and light, some folks will get off the bus.
Can we join together in that work – pastors and congregations?
Let’s answer that question before it’s too late! Amen.
