Philippians: Introduction
Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life
KBF & 00-03-18 & Tim Olson
*PowerPoint file available on our web site: http://kbftokyo.org
INTRO: A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
Last week after church I came across a piece of paper someone left on one of the seats. I was kind of bugged by what it said. Let me read it to you.
Thank you for the directions you gave me, although I was kind of hoping your directions were wrong and I’d get lost on the way. I can’t believe it’s been three years since my last visit, and boy that was a painful experience. This one wasn’t good either. The others who were there looked miserable. Who would want to spend their day off in a place like that? The music was designed to put you to sleep. And actually, I would have loved to have slept through the whole thing, but the sensei kept talking and talking. Of course I couldn’t say anything back so I had to just sit there and endure his boring stories and bad jokes. I was so glad to get out of there. It’ll probably be a few days till the pain fades away. I couldn’t believe the sensei asked me to come back next week. I’d do anything to avoid that. It’s not only painful, it would drain my bank account. I tried drinking some coffee afterward but it tasted horrible. I don’t mean to complain so much. Probably most people feel the same way I do. I suppose I’ll have to go back next week. I don’t want to but I know it’s good for me.
I don’t know the person who wrote it, but it was addressed, "Dear Jeannie." I assume that’s Jeannie Johnson. Am I right? Jeannie, I’d like to ask you to give a message to the person who wrote this.
Jeannie: Well, before you go on pastor, I think you should know that the note isn’t about church. It’s a thank you note from my friend because I gave her directions so she could go see a dentist.
A dentist?! Oh, I see. (Pause) Well, let’s get started with the message. Our introduction says, A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.
It’s difficult to understand a letter (or even a note) if we don’t have some idea of the background. Who wrote it? Why did they write it? Etcetera. Today we start a new series in Philippians. So before we actually start studying the contents of this letter, I want us to understand a few things about the author and the circumstances that led to this letter being written. This will help us get more benefit out of this series.
The title of today’s message is HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. As we study about the author and background of this letter, we’re going to discover 5 BELIEFS THAT WILL HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
The author of this letter to the Philippian church was the apostle Paul. Paul was a person who knew how to make the most of the rest of his life. As we go through this letter we’re going to learn invaluable truths that will help us get the most out of the rest of our lives. But I think it’s important for us to know that Paul practiced what he preached. His life was a testimony to the truths that are presented in this letter. So by taking a brief look at the life of Paul and the circumstances that led to the writing of Philippians we’re going to see how Paul put these things into practice.
First of all, in order to make the most of the rest of our lives, each of us needs to know that: GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE
1. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE
(Paul begins his 2nd missionary journey)
Paul (whose previous name was Saul) thought he knew God’s purpose for his life. He was a devoted Jew who was so dedicated to serving the Jewish God that he was actively involved in persecuting Christians, whom he believed were evil and needed to be destroyed.
In fact, he was on his way to Damascus intending to persecute the Christians there when Jesus Christ appeared to him.
Acts 9:3-6
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
A few days later God revealed his purpose for Paul.
Acts 9:15-16
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go!
This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
Paul was called by God to bring the good news about Jesus Christ, especially to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). This purpose for his life was confirmed by church.
Acts 13:2
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
So Paul and Barnabas set off on what’s called "The first missionary journey." Here’s a picture of where this journey took them.
When they finished this journey they returned to Antioch and reported to the church about all the wonderful things God had done. Paul knew that God had a purpose for his life and he was obedient to God’s calling.
Paul then came to believe what our next point says: GOD WILL WORK ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD.
2. GOD WILL WORK ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD
(Disagreement with Barnabus)
Acts 15:36-41
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
I’m sure this disagreement with Barnabas was a difficult thing for Paul. Barnabas was a good friend and coworker who had given him a lot of comfort. As time passed and Paul looked back on this he began to see how God uses even difficulties for his purposes. It resulted in 2 missionary teams. Paul maintained his friendship with Barnabas. Mark was helped to mature in his faith (as I mention in another message, Mark needed the rebuke of Paul, as well as, the encouragement of Barnabas, to spur his growth as a Christian).
This disagreement with Barnabas was not the only difficulty that Paul experienced. Some of his other hardships are listed in 2 Corinthians 12. Let’s read a few of these.
2 Cor. 11:24-26
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
It was probably after these experiences that Paul wrote:
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Paul knew he was called according to God’s purpose and he also knew that following God’s purpose for your life is not easy. But he believed that God would work all things together for good.
He also believed what our next point says: GOD WILL GIVE ME TEAMMATES TO WORK WITH.
3. GOD WILL GIVE ME TEAMMATES TO WORK WITH
(Timothy and Luke join with Paul, and later Epaphroditus)
After Paul and Barnabas split, God not only gave him Silas as a teammate, but he kept adding to that number.
Acts 16:1-2
He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
Timothy became a solid coworker with Paul. Look what Paul says about him in this letter to the Philippians.
Philip. 2:20-22
I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
It’s thought that around this time God also brought Luke to join up with Paul. His name is not mentioned, but in Acts 16, as Paul and his team get ready to leave Troas, the focus changes from the 3rd person "they" to the 1st person plural "we." Since Luke is the author of Acts it’s probably that he joined the team at Troas. Later Paul wrote a verse which indicates his appreciation of Luke, as well as, Mark.
2 Tim. 4:11
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
In this letter to the Philippians, another team member is mentioned – Epaphroditus.
Philip. 2:25
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
Philip. 2:30
because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
God brought teammates into Paul’s life because he needed them. The work would not get done without them. There may be a few exceptions to this truth, but in most cases God does not call a person to be a lone ranger Christian (and you have to remember that even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!).
God designed his church to function like a body. The various parts are most efficient when they work together. We need each other. I love serving here at KBF. I always have. But I think my joy in the work here doubled when Tim Johnson joined the staff. He and Jeannie are great to work with. Then my joy increased more when Atsuko Yunokuchi became the secretary. She does so much work and has been great encouragement to me. My joy keeps increasing as I have the privilege of working alongside committed council members, and as I see more and more of you becoming involved, not just as attenders, but as teammates in the work God has given us here. We have been blessed with so many gifted people who make sacrifices to serve God in various ways.
As I mentioned last week, my family and I will be going on home assignment for a year starting this July. It will be hard to leave, but I’ve never been as confident as I am now that the ministry here will continue to grow. I expect God to continue to do great things through you all. We have a great team of people here.
God has designed us to work together. We can be confident that he will always provide what is necessary to finish the work. We’ll see this in more detail next week as we study Philippians 1:6.
Philip. 1:6
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.
This is related to the next belief we must have in order to make the most of the rest of our lives: GOD WILL GUIDE ME IF I TRUST HIM.
4. GOD WILL GUIDE ME IF I TRUST HIM
(Macedonian vision)
As Paul traveled around sharing the good news. God directed him in specific ways.
Acts 16:6-10
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
We’re not told how God kept them from going into Asia and Bithynia, but we are told that it was a vision that God used to direct them to Macedonia. God seems to lead in a variety of ways. There’s no one formula that he uses.
I’ve shared with some of you how God led my family from Hawaii to Japan. God called not by giving me a vision, but by giving me a new thought. Since I was in the shower at the time, I like to refer to it as my "curtain call." We had been pastoring a church on Maui for 6 years and I thought we were going to be there for a long time. Then on Sunday morning I was in the shower thinking about my sermon. Then something strange happened. A thought seemed to come from outside my head. It wasn’t a voice, just a thought, but it wasn’t connected at all to what I was thinking about. It was like someone interrupted my thoughts and put in a totally unrelated thought. The thought that came was this: "Why not go back to Japan to be a pastor of an international church like KBF?" I didn’t know much about KBF – we’d only visited it once and I couldn’t remember much about it. I wasn’t quite sure what I should do with this thought, but I decided to bounce it off Janet. At that point she wasn’t excited about going to live overseas, so I thought this might start an argument. I always try to avoid starting arguments just before I stand up to preach to people about the love of God. This was such a strange experience that I risked the argument and asked Janet, "What would you think of going back to Japan to an English ministry like KBF?’ She looked stunned for a moment and then said, "Yeah, I think that’s what we should do." Nine months later we were in Japan at language school. We’d only told one other couple about the "curtain call" because if this was from the Lord, he would have to do it. We didn’t feel like we could arrive at KBF and say, "You know, a while back, I was in the shower and…" We don’t have time for the whole story now, but we saw God continue to open doors which led to our being invited to come to KBF. I can’t believe that was over 11 years ago!
Let’s return to Paul’s story. It’s clear that Paul and his companions were sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They trusted God to guide them and he did. So they sailed across the Aegean Sea to Samothrace, then to and the next day on to Neapolis. From there they traveled to Philippi which was the gateway to Europe.
It lay on the great Roman road known as the Egnatian Way. The city was named after Philip of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great. The site was a natural fortress, sitting on a range of hills that separated Europe from Asia, the East from the West. The city was a strategic center commanding the great Egnatian Way. Philippi was also a proud Roman colony. In fact, it was famous as a miniature Rome.
This was new territory to Paul. How was he going to try and reach these Romans for Christ? He’d have to change his strategy. He was probably a little worried about how things were going to work out. Which is why he also needed to believe the truth of our next point: GOD WILL GIVE ME SUCCESS IF I REMAIN FAITHFUL.
5. GOD WILL GIVE ME SUCCESS IF I REMAIN FAITHFUL
Salvation of Lydia, demon-possessed girl & jailor)
When Paul entered a new city, he usually started his work in the Jewish synagogue. Every city that had at least 10 Jewish males had a synagogue. There was no synagogue in Philippi. What was Paul going to do now?
Acts 16:13-18
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Paul was faithful and God did a miracle. One commentator wrote:
Luke simply tells us that the Lord “opened Lydia’s heart” to respond to the gospel which Paul proclaimed (16:14). I have always regarded this statement about Lydia’s salvation as being of great significance because it indicates that the Lord is the “first cause” of salvation. It is God who opens the hearts of men, so that men may believe (see John 6:37, 44, 65). [Bob Deffinbaugh]
15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Then God brought along another opportunity involving a young girl who was demon possessed.
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
Paul probably had no idea that God would start the church of Philippi by using a business woman and a slave girl. We don’t know for sure that the girl became a Christian and joined the church, but at least she was saved from demon possession. And then God used that event to anger the local merchants who saw to it that Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison.
And that’s where the next church member was found. We’ll talk more about the miraculous event that happened in the prison in just a moment. But for now I want us to focus on one of the results – a new family joins the church.
Acts 16:29-33
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
What caused this man and his family to become believers? It happened as a result of another important belief that Paul had: GOD WILL GIVE ME JOY EVEN IN DARK PLACES.
CONC: GOD WILL GIVE ME JOY EVEN IN DARK PLACES
(Paul experiences joy even in prison)
Acts 16:23-25
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Paul could have been depressed. He could have wondered, "Did I misunderstand the vision at Troas? We’ve only been able to talk to a few women, then we get harassed by a demon-possessed girl and wind up beaten and in prison! What in the world did I think I was doing when I came to this foreign place?"
Paul and Silas could have thought like that, but they believed:
1. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE
2. GOD WILL WORK ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD
3. GOD WILL GIVE ME TEAMMATES TO WORK WITH
4. GOD WILL GUIDE ME IF I TRUST HIM
5. GOD WILL GIVE ME SUCCESS IF I REMAIN FAITHFUL
These beliefs motivated them to experience joy even when things got difficult. And God remained faithful. He delivered them from prison. The church at Philippi was established and grew strong. And years later Paul would write a letter to them. The letter to the Philippians. He would write the letter from another prison and he would talk a lot about joy. "Joy" is mentioned 18 times in this letter.
And the people in the Philippian church would have no problem knowing that it was possible for Paul to have such joy even though he was in prison. They would be encouraged by his words – words that were inspired by the Holy Spirit – words that were backed up a man who practiced what he preached. It’s my prayer that we’ll all be encouraged as we study this powerful letter together in the coming weeks.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
INTRO: A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
5 BELIEFS THAT WILL HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE:
1. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE
(Paul begins his 2nd missionary journey)
2. GOD WILL WORK ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD
(Disagreement with Barnabus)
3. GOD WILL GIVE ME TEAMMATES TO WORK WITH
(Timothy and Luke join with Paul, and later Epaphroditus)
4. GOD WILL GUIDE ME IF I TRUST HIM
(Macedonian vision)
5. GOD WILL GIVE ME SUCCESS IF I REMAIN FAITHFUL
(Salvation of Lydia, demon-possessed girl & jailor)
CONC: GOD WILL GIVE ME JOY EVEN IN DARK PLACES
(Paul experiences joy even in prison)
*The rest of this series will be added to our web site as developed: http://kbftokyo.org
