Let’s Do Church Right
(Philippians 1:1-11)
1. Paul and Timothy: The Apostle Paul wrote this letter in about 63 AD to his close friends, the Christians in Philippi, from his Roman house arrest described at the end of Acts (Acts 28:30-31), waiting for his court appearance before Caesar (around the year 61).
2. As you can see, the ruins of ancient Philippi have been excavated.
3. The Philippian church was the first church in Europe, founded by Paul/Lydia/Philippian Jailor
4. When Paul was under house arrest in Rome, they sent him financial support. This letter thanks them, but also addresses some issues in the church.
5. Though it was a very good church, it had its problems. The only churches that do not have problems are what I call "chicken and noodle churches"
6. Jewish synagogues have their problems too; many congregations develop their own traditions, and they can fight over tradition, which is very important to them:
During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting.
The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up...
The rabbi, educated as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn’t know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98 year old man, who was one of the original founders of their temple. The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual temple tradition was, ? so he went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation.
The one whose followers stood during Shema said to the old man, "Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?"
The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." ?
The one whose followers sat asked, "Is the tradition to sit during Shema?" ? The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." ?
"But", the rabbi said to the old man, "the congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether....." ? The old man interrupted, exclaiming.... ? "THAT is the tradition!"
6. The Philippian church was exposed to false teachers who were trying to impose Jewish traditions upon them, but, for the most part, they resisted; they focused upon the REAL work of the LORD, helping believer mature in their faith, building relationships with their brothers and sisters in Christ, reaching the lost by sharing the Gospel, and supporting missions. In many ways, they were an excellent church.
7. Of excellence, Rick Warren writes:
"One reason many people never serve is they fear they are not good enough to serve. They have believed the lie that serving God is only for the superstars. Some churches have fostered this myth by making "excellence" an idol, which makes people of average talent hesitant to get involved."
When I talk about being an excellent church, I simply mean one that conforms to God’s revealed will in His Word. I do not even mean matching the descriptions of the early church, as some do, but rather obeying the prescriptions that God commands for the church in any era. It has nothing to do with the Broadway Production emphasis that some churches emulate.
Main idea: Every church has failings and challenges, but good churches strive after excellence as God defines excellence.
I. We Must Strive to Be A REAL Church (1)
Jesus Christ did not come to establish religious clubs; He said, "I will build my church," a spiritual colony of people who recognize His authority and follow His plan…the Philippian church was such a church…
A. Solid Doctrine: they recognized the teaching of the APOSTLES (1a)
1. By the middle of the second century, there were a number of variations on Christianity; even in Paul’s day, spurious beliefs were troubling the churches.
2. We hold to the “apostolic church” meaning the teaching of the apostles, the men Christ trained to start the church…
• We believe that the only dependable source of apostolic teaching is the Bible (one great difference between the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Episcopal faiths and Evangelical Biblical Faith)
3. Christians who are not into doctrine are unlike the early church
Acts 17:11 is a comment Luke makes to teach us all a lesson: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Many modern Christians think it is almost wrong to test teachings by God’s Word…of course, maybe they might have to actually read, study, and memorize Scripture to do so…can you imagine that?
4. One mark of a cult or false religion is that they have another infallible authority beside the Bible…the Philippians did tend to struggle with Jewish traditions
5. The Philippians so clearly recognized Paul’s special authority as an Apostle that he does not even feel the need to mention it, as in other epistles
B. Regenerate Membership: they were a congregation of BELIEVERS (Saints) (lb)
1. The word “saint” means a set apart one; it is the typical word for a believer in the NT…
2. The term implies that God sovereignly “sets apart” a remnant for Himself
3. When someone applies for membership here, we want to at least know they understand….
C. Biblically Ordered: they sought Biblical patterns of LEADERSHIP (1c)
1. Two offices in the church (can be subdivided): Elders and Deacons
2. Subdivisions (elders are male): teaching elders and ruling elders
3. Subdivision: deacons and deaconesses
4. Nowhere does the Bible say there can only be two offices…but the fact of these two offices is not merely descriptive, but also prescriptive…
Application: A good church has good doctrine because it runs close to the text of the New Testament, restricts it membership to those professing faith in Christ, and seeks to follow the criteria for church leadership mandated in the New Testament.
II. We Must Aim To Be A HUMBLE Church (2-8)
When I use the term church, I do not mean a building or our leaders; I mean each of us as individuals who make up the whole…
A. Humble people value GRACE and PEACE (2)
1. "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (I Peter 5:5c)
2.When we are proud, we make God our opponent; not a pretty picture
3.One possible definition of the humble person is "someone who recognizes his or her need of God’s grace and a seeker of peace."
4. Arrogant people are not really dependent upon God but self-assured; the opposite of grace is self-sufficiency; we are receptive of God’s grace when we sense we are helpless, which is why many people will never get saved…
• They are like the arrogant cannibal who was full of himself.
5. Additionally, there are thousands of Christians right now who are sure that they are above any of us here this morning; maybe they make their wives must wear a doily on their heads, maybe they know exactly who the anti-Christ is, maybe they have visions…it is not differing views that makes one arrogant, but rather the sense of superiority that sometimes accompanies those views… arrogance shows itself most clearly when one repeatedly has a problem with authority…
6.There are thousands of Christians who do not attend church because they have to have it their way…control freaks who think they are better than everyone else…
7. Arrogant people do not value the peace and even enjoy rocking the boat and creating conflict
8. But the Philippians appreciated these two wishes, (1) grace (2) peace
B. Humble people are TEAM PLAYERS and PARTNER with God’s Servants (3-5)
1. Many people resented Paul, as we will find out; but the solid Christians backed him…
2. The Apostles were the first missionaries, and they set the example for modern missions…
3. When we support missionaries through finances and prayer, we participate (fellowship) with them; we also share in their rewards
C. To be humble, one must realize that salvation is totally GOD’S Work (6)
1. He BEGAN it
2. He CONTINUES it
3. He will COMPLETE it
D. Like the Philippians, it is great to be LOVABLE (7-8)
--some Christians we enjoy; we are friends; others are ministries…
III. We Must Decide to Be TEACHABLE (9-11)
A. Paul freely shared his prayer for their GROWTH
B. We all need to keep growing in these TARGETED areas
1. LOVE for God motivates us to study, a word which has been dropped from the modern Christian’s vocabulary
2. KNOWLEDGE comes from our study motivated by love, giving us
3. DISCERNMENT so that we can make wise choices and thus abound in
4. RIGHTEOUSNESS
C. The reason to grow and mature is to better GLORIFY God (11c)
---This is always the bottom line…once saved, the issue is to what degree we glorify God
