Text: Philippians 4:1-8
Sermon Title: Highway to Excellence
Oskaloosa Community Church Sunday, August 20, 2000
Scripture Introduction:
In the Scripture just prior to this mornings reading, Paul has just finished telling us that we should have a goal in our lives and that goal is Christ. Everything in our lives pales by comparison, all of our worldly possessions are worthless, or in the words of Paul, rubbish. He tells us “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul says, Whatever you have, give it away. How do you think this sets with someone who is driving a brand new luxury car? First of all I want to say that there is nothing wrong with having a luxury car, if, that is what the Lord has in store for your life. Just imagine for a moment, you find yourself with a brand new Rolls Royce and the Lord tells you to give it away. The difference between those that can give it away and those that will hold on are described by Paul in the latter part of verse 13 and on into the 14th verse of chapter 3, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. We have to leave our past behind us and look forward to the future that God has in store for us. Look at what happened to Lot’s family that escaped out of Sodom. They escaped their lives of sin, all that is but Lot’s wife, who looked back over her shoulder. We need to let go of our past and the treasures that we held dear. Our treasures are now ahead of us.
Please Join me in the reading of God’s Holy Word!
Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-8
1 Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. 3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Introduction:
There is a certain thing that we are taught from the day we first understand anything and that is the need to work together as a team we are told from day one to Stick together and work together. The reason that this is drummed into our heads over and over again is because it is not a natural desire. The carnal nature that we are born with tells us that we should look out for number one. What is in it for me? What do I have to do in order to get that. I’m working to get that particular item or attention for me. The only teamwork that we were born with was for the furthering of the team that consists of me, myself, and I. Satan likes the divided church, because a single Christian will fall easier then a church united. In warfare one of the greatest strategies is to divide and conquer. And I tell you this is a war with the goal of battle not for land and possessions but our eternity.
I think a lot of times, we take for granted just how good we have it in these United States. We have our Christian brothers over in China executed for the simple reason of having a Bible in their possession. Paul tells us, Be thankful always. We need to be thankful in bad times as well as the good. It is the times that we keep our focus on God even through the times that are terrible that cause us to draw closer and realize just how awesome of a God we have.
Paul also tells us to Live the way God intended for us to live. It isn’t just a manner of prayer or the study of the Scripture, we need to apply all that we learn to our daily lives. What we need to apply doesn’t come from the mind of men but from the Spirit of God and through His Word. We need to be so careful that we don’t follow those who take God’s Word and edit to suit their moral inconsistencies.
Let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.
Point 1.
We need to work together as a group. In the opening verses Paul has concern for a few people in the first part of this Scripture, and I looked them up: Euodia - EUODIA [you OH dih uh] which means - (good journey) — a Christian woman at Philippi (Phil. 4:2; Euodias, KJV). Euodia and Syntyche, both of whom may have been deaconesses at Philippi, had an argument. The apostle Paul charged them to “be of the same mind in the Lord.”
SYNTYCHE [SIN tih keh] — a woman in the church at Philippi who apparently was in conflict with another church member. The apostle Paul called upon them to settle their differences (Phil. 4:2).
CLEMENT [KLEM ent] (merciful) — a Christian who worked with the apostle Paul, apparently at Philippi (Phil. 4:3). Writers such as Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome supposed this Clement to be the apostolic father known as Clement of Rome. Modern scholars, however, believe this identification is highly unlikely.
So here we have Paul showing his concern for three members of this church. Paul is urging them to work together. This same thing applies to us right here as well. We are to work together as a team. We may differ with one another from time to time but we still share a common task, and that is to preach the Gospel message. Now after Paul got done with this church what message do you think he gave the other churches in the area? Here is where man has created their own problem, out of the one true church we see the manmade splits that we now call denominations. We need to all be in one place in one accord again.
[Paul began this section of the text with a plea for unity in the young Philippian church. We have complicated that with the variety of denominations that have cropped up. As a group we need to pray away all of the non-Biblical doctrines so that we are left with nothing more than the God breathed standards. These are the articles with which we need to live by. Not only should their be unity among all, we should be thankful for our circumstances. ]
POINT 2.
Paul continues on in verses 4-7, 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
What does Paul say to us here? We are to rejoice in the Lord. Now that piece of Scripture isn’t to hard to live with. Paul adds a single word that really changes the way we look at things. That single word that he uses to conclude this statement is ALWAYS. We are to rejoice in the Lord always!
è We get a new car! Amen, rejoice in the Lord.
è I got that new VCR I’ve wanted! Amen, rejoice in the Lord.
è I got hired as an executive at that new factory in Town! Amen, rejoice in the Lord.
è I got a new pair of designer jeans for my birthday! Amen, rejoice in the Lord.
è The company I worked for folded and my job and my retirement is out the door! Amen, rejoice in the Lord.
We really don’t feel that way a lot of times when things go bad do we? This is why Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Not only does Paul say it once, but he repeats it, he is wanting to make a point. When we look at these things that have gone wrong, and we feel our world comes unraveled, can you think of a better time to rejoice in the Lord? When things go wrong, our ability to lay our heads on His strong shoulders will see us through the worst of conditions. And there are so many that would rather place the blame on God than to thank Him for being there when we really need Him.
In verse 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Now here is a challenge and a warning. When life and all of the circumstances that surround them go against what society considers good, beneficial, or lucrative, we should strive not to show our rear end. Now for those that know the Lord, can say I didn’t used to act that way. For those that don’t know the Lord, you have just learned the reason why Christians can be the Timex’s of the human race. They take a licking and keep on ticking. And for those confused followers of Jesus, that may feel that they could possibly get away with less than model behavior. Paul adds a little incentive, The Lord is near. Jesus is watching over us.
[We should rejoice in everything because Jesus is nearby. There are certain standards that we can live by that will increase our ability to rejoice in all things. As Christians we are all looking forward to that day when we are united with God in heaven for an eternity. Now as glorious as that may sound, not everyone wishes to speed the process of death. When we begin living for Christ, the quality of our earthly existence becomes significantly improved
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Paul tells us that we need not get overly worked up over things, and then he tells us how to accomplish this task. We are to pray and petition God. But Paul doesn’t leave it as a matter of prayer, he goes on to tell us that we should go to the Lord in prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving. I tell you we should all go to the Lord in prayer with thanksgiving because we have a God that answers prayers.
Now what happens to us when we give ourselves completely to a time of prayer with God where nothing gets in the way, we bring none of our day to day baggage, we just listen to what God has to say to us. Paul tells us in verse 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Can you imagine that, being at such a state of peace that there are no words that can even come close to conveying the meaning. Now can you imagine something that is so grand that the very effort of trying to explain would leave one speechless? Can you imagine a peace so powerful that it would protect our heart and our mind in Christ Jesus? Jesus has the power and authority to give us such peace.
POINT 3.
Paul gives us the standards that we have to live up to in order to achieve the excellence that God’s wants from each and every one of us. Paul tells us in verse 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul gives us a list of things that we should emulate in our walk with Christ. These are the things which we are to pursue:
è TRUTH – Now the dictionary defines truth as the act of being true. If a carpenter looks at a piece of lumber and says it is true, he means that as he sights down the length he views it as true. When our lives are examined will we be found to be true, that is not fluctuating from side to side as we follow God’s will for our lives. If someone makes change and mistakenly gives us to much, what are we going to do? Are we going to be true? Are we true to God’s Word?
è HONOR – is defined as high esteem, fidelity to principles or obligations, fairness in dealings, conformance with the highest standards of behavior. We are to portray the highest of standards in all that we do. Personal, professional and above all in our spiritual lives. This isn’t something that we do on our own, this is something that others will see in us.
è PURE – is defined as free from pollution, or impurities. This is something that we can really take to heart when it comes to the word of God being our directing force. Are the things that we are following found in God’s word or is it something that was derived from God’s word. Now when we listen to people tell us how we could apply God’s word to our lives, do they really derive or are they out to deceive? Prayer and study is something that would help us in these areas.
è LOVELY – At first glance we envision lovely as being a measure of some type of outward beauty. We need to look at the inner beauty. Sinful things may at times disguise themselves as externally beautiful but when we realize what lies within, when we realize the hidden agenda of that sinful act we see it for what it really is.
è REPUTABLE – means to hold in high regard, to esteem highly.
These are obviously all qualities which we should strive to attain. Paul finishes this section of the Scripture with, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. What does he mean by dwell? Now the first thing that comes to mind is a negative meaning of this word. I know when Laura and I have disagreements, and I know it is hard for anyone to imagine a disagreement between the two of us, I usually tell her to stop dwelling on the issue, OK now we know what Paul didn’t mean. Let’s look at it from the standpoint of where we live, physically we reside in a dwelling, we dwell in a house. Paul is telling us that these are all attributes that we should dwell in. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, these are the things that we should base our lives upon. Now what part of our lives should we base on these items, we should base every single aspect of our lives on these traits.
I visited a friend of mine at his church a while back and I heard him teach his youth group based on that particular section of the Scripture. They were discussing the censorship of their own television viewing and they were shown how they could base their viewing habits on these particular standards. If any of the programs went against any of these items then it was not worthy of our time. If it didn’t go against but also didn’t promote any of these values it was also unworthy of our time. In all things that we do, we must always push forward for the cause of God’s kingdom, standing still leads to stagnation and stagnation is the first step toward spiritual death.
Conclusion:
Let’s take a moment to reflect on what Paul has brought out in this particular passage. He tells us of the need of unity within the church. This is accomplished through the help and cooperation within the church’s members. Now we have to realize that this is something that also must bridge the denominational boundaries. We must prayerfully approach our denominational differences and hold our brothers and sisters accountable to following God’s Word as it is written.
Be thankful always. Even though we find that it takes a little extra to be thankful in times that are truly sad and emotionally oppressing, we find that in our faith and trust in God will give us that peace that passeth all understanding. We have to realize that this is something we receive only through a relationship with God that is possible through our Lord Jesus. That’s the only way, and if you have Jesus and that relationship with God, you will also receive that peace. If you don’t then something needs to change within your lives. You need to come to the life that is possible through Jesus, you need to ask that forgiveness and with His help you need to walk the other way. There are no shortcuts or alternate routes to heaven.
Now once we have given the control of our lives over to Jesus, we need to begin effecting some changes in the way that we live. The Bible lists what is required. In this particular section of Scripture we are told how to live the way God intended for us to live. Paul tells us, Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, these are the things that we need to live.
I would like to close with an invitational hymn. An invitation is exactly that. If you do not know for a fact that you are living for Jesus, then this is what the invitation is for. Pray for our Lord’s guidance. Now an invitation isn’t always for those that have never received or accepted that invitation. The invitation is for all those that have come and for one reason or another turned and walked the other way. Or those that just need the assurance of His presence close to them. There are a million reasons why you can’t live for Jesus, but there isn’t a single good reason to avoid it.
Jesus wants us all, those who never knew Him, those that knew Him but for one reason or another have forgotten, and those that simply wish to be in His presence to draw from His great and comforting strength. The opportunity is here, however let us consider one thing - will the time ever be right again if we let this chance slip by. You know just as the opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life can slip by, so can our lives slip by and we find ourselves at the threshold of our eternity. I’m choosing Jesus, how about you? Remember after our eternity has begun the decision has already been set, there will be no turning back.
