Introduction
We come to our third and final message in this series today. If you remember the first two messages Paul is praying for the entire church family at Philippi. There are problems in this house church at Philippi, mainly a couple of people are not getting along, and so instead of praying for just those two, he is praying for the whole church.
And what this tells me is that no matter how big the church, the smallest problem in the church can damage the sweet fellowship of the church.
So, Paul prays that the entire church would grow in love more and more. And we asked ourselves some questions to determine if our love is growing more and more. Then Paul prayed that the entire church in the knowledge of God have all discernment. And once again, we asked ourselves some questions to determine if we are using the knowledge of God to determine right from wrong and good from evil.
Today, we are going to use that same format of asking ourselves some questions to determine if people see Jesus in me. Paul’s final part of this prayer is that we all be filled with all the fruits of righteousness. The purpose of the fruits of righteousness is to make us look like Jesus. In Galatians 5, Paul list those fruits as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Jesus possesses all those traits and we as believers in Christ should possess them in our lives.
Listen to Paul’s prayer again in Philippians 1:9-11. And then, let’s ask ourselves the questions.
Scripture
Philippians 1:9–11 (NKJV)
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Question #1
When our back is against the wall, when we find ourselves in enemy territory, do we find ourselves acting like Jesus or does our old nature come out?
The New King James Version Chapter 14
66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again.
And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.”
71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”
72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.
In our passage of Scripture, Peter is in the courtyard of the high priest. The high priest who wants to have Jesus killed. He is in the enemy’s territory.
Bro. Greg, in his preaching to us, always reminds us that outside the doors of this church is a mission field. But I must remind you that a lot of times, outside the doors of this church, the devil has you one against many out in the world. He has you in enemy territory.
On your job, you may be the only Christian in the workforce of many. A work force that curses and makes fun of Jesus Christ. If you find yourself there, you are in enemy territory.
Heather, you are going to Meridian Community College in the fall, and you may find yourself in a classroom where the teacher makes known to the class his anti-Jesus views and his dislike for Christians. You might just find yourself in enemy territory in some classes.
In our passage, Peter is in enemy territory. Probably, many have followed to see what the Jewish leaders are going to do with Jesus. And so, some are gathered around the fire waiting on word, others probably walking around talking to one another speculating what will happen to Jesus. The people who are obviously absent from the scene are the other ten disciples. That makes Peter alone in enemy territory.
When you are in enemy territory, as a Christian you only have two options. You can act like a Christian should act; or you can allow your old nature to come out.
Unfortunately, Peter, in this instance, allowed his old nature to come out. In verse 71, Peter began to curse and swear as he denied Christ the third time.
If you ever been around commercial fishermen down in Louisiana, you know it is commonplace for them to curse and swear. It is not commonplace for a person to be a follower of Jesus to curse and swear.
Peter’s back was against the wall and his old nature came out. The good news was that after he did it, he came under conviction, and he wept.
If you say that you are a Christian and your old nature comes out and you don’t feel conviction, there is something wrong. Peter came under conviction, and he wept.
But the people that night did not see Jesus in him.
Question #2
When you discover that a fellow Christian has a burden he or she is dealing with, are you moved to action to help them, or do you say to yourself that is their problem?
The New King James Version Chapter 14
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
That Scripture, we just read, tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion. But that is not the only Scripture where Jesus is moved to compassion.
When Jesus saw his friends weeping over the death of Lazarus, the Bible says that Jesus was moved with compassion.
In the Gospel of Mark Chapter 1, a leper came to Jesus imploring Him to be healed, and the Scripture says that moved with compassion Jesus cleansed the man from his leprosy.
Now we may not be able to feed a multitude; or raise someone from the dead; or heal a man from a severe illness, but the Bible certainly makes it clear that we can do something.
Listen to I John 3: 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
There are times that we might need to step in and financially help a brother or sister who is struggling by no making of their own.
But there are times the struggle is of their own making. A lot of times people create problems on their own. This is a real-life example I have dealt with as pastor. Let’s say the person used the money to pay their utility bill on gambling at a Gulf Coast Casino. Naturally, they lost the utility bill money, and then they came to the church for help. In those cases, I don’t believe that you are helping them by paying their utility bill. You are enabling them. They have to grow up and become better stewards of their money. You help them by holding them responsible for their actions.
And there are times when throwing money at the problem is not the answer. Sometimes the answer is prayer. Lori’s sister was in a horrible motorcycle accident recently. She didn’t need our money; she needed our prayers. And we prayed, and praise God, she is getting better.
Bro. Greg’s sister is dying of cancer. Throwing money at Barbara Gail’s problem will do nothing for her at this moment. What she needs is our prayer. And those moved with compassion, your prayers are working. She is not in a lot of pain and the migraine headaches she suffered with all her life have seem to disappear during this time. The result of God’s people praying.
I believe 1 John 3:17 tells us the secret about how to allow people to see Jesus in us. And the answer is this: we don’t shut up our heart.
If your heart is shut to the hurting of others, people will never see Christ in you. If your heart is open to the hurting of others, you will seek God and He will show you a way to be a blessing and allow others to see Jesus in you.
It may be cooking a meal, it may be sending a card telling them that they are in our prayers, it may be just as simple as a phone call. But you opened your heart to the burden of someone else and they saw Jesus in you.
Question # 3
When you are around a gathering of mostly non-Christians, do you maintain your Christ-like character, or do you find yourself talking and acting like they do?
The New King James Version 1 Corinthians (Chapter 15)
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
The easy way of life is to allow the people around you, who are mostly non-Christian to influence you rather than you as a Christian influencing theme. In other words, the evil company has the easier job of the two. The Christian has an uphill battle to show Christ to evil company. But verse 34 says, “Awake to righteousness”- it can be done.
Here is the point. To show Christ to evil company is not impossible. The Bible has examples of this to prove this point.
There was Joseph who was thrown into an Egyptian prison by Potiphar’s wife for something he did not do. He did not allow that to change him. When the chief butler did not remember Joseph upon his release from prison, and he had to spend more time in prison, he did not allow that to change him. Think about being around the worst of the worst day in and day out for years. There is no exact time that the Bible specifies that he was in prison, but we know that it has to be between 2 and 13 years. And for that time Joseph did not let the evil company influence him; he influenced the evil company. And they saw Jesus in him.
You say that is just one example. What about Daniel who continued to worship his God even though there was an active plot against Daniel to have him killed because they could not get him to depart from his God’s ways and adopt their pagan ways.
How about Stephen in the New Testament before the Sanhedrin giving his defense of his belief in Jesus Christ rather than bending to the will of the council which resulted in his stoning.
The council saw Jesus in him because it is recorded that the council saw his face as the face of an angel. They did not like it, but they say Jesus in him.
When we are the influencer rather than the ones being influenced, they will see Jesus in us.
Conclusion
When we allow a lost and dying world to see Jesus in us, it goes to the glory and praise of God.
God is praised when your back is against the wall, and you find yourself in enemy territory and you still act like a Christian should act.
God is praised when one Christian helps another Christian who is burdened with a problem.
God is praised when you are in a situation where there are a lot of non-Christians, and you maintain your Christianity.
What an unbelievable prayer Paul offered for the entire church at Philippi.
It is a prayer as pastor of Bala Chitto that I would love you to pray for our whole church- that your love grows more and more, that in the knowledge of God you grow in discernment, and that the lost and dying world will see Jesus in us.
