Walk The Talk Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: July 30, 2011

Date Preached: July 31, 2011

Where Preached: OPBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: A Series from Philippians

Sermon Title: Walking the Talk – Living the Life

Sermon Text: Philippians 2:1-4 [ESV]

Introduction:

“Christians are nothing more than hypocrites! They say they love everyone but then they JUDGE everyone!”

Have you ever heard someone judge Christians like that? Have you ever had to face that personally? Many of us have heard those words… and even tho’ they may not have been directed in our direction, they are out there and there are many people in this world who feel this way about Christians… and about the church.

Now there are several reasons for those in the world and outside of God’s grace to have those feelings. The very FIRST thing I can see that makes them have these feelings is their own human nature. How many people do you know that actually WANT to be told they are in the wrong?

In fact, even AFTER we come to know Christ as Savior, we don’t like being told we are in the wrong and it is in our very nature to defend ourselves when others tell us we are wrong.

The 2nd reason I see is this thing we all deal with… and that is sin in our lives. I know that we ALL have our deep dark secrets and we all know ourselves better than anyone else besides God, and we don’t want anyone else to know these things… and we think that if we admit we are wrong, and if we admit that we are sinners… then that brings about the reality that we have done wrong, and we don’t want that…

The 3rd reason I can see is tied to the first two and it is the human self-defense mechanism. This human defense mechanism ALWAYS wants to take what we do and how we live and make it ok with God. These people say things like, “God wouldn’t punish me, God is loving, God is kind, God doesn’t judge me… only people judge me!”

The final reason I can see is what I believe to be THE MOST important for us this morning is that people react and say things like, “Christians are hypocrites!” because they see Christians living lives that do NOT reflect the Christ they proclaim! They see people professing Christianity but living a life that is NO different than those in the world!

This morning I want us to understand that much of the doubt and critical viewpoint of the church is NOT because people don’t want to try spiritual things OR that they don’t believe in God! It is because they see other people who say one thing and live a totally different way! We are called to LIVE what we SAY! We are called to WALK the TALK!

Last week we looked at how Paul laid out his attitude toward adversity and how he lived out his attitude… how HE walked the talk, and so in these next few verses we find Paul challenging the Philippian church to begin to WALK their TALK by fleshing out their own attitude with their own actions…

Let’s look at Phil 2:1-4 and see what Paul is saying…

Show verses 1-4 here…I will read

1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others...

In challenging the Philippian believers to live out their faith, Paul speaks about their profession, their presentation and most importantly their purpose in Christ… let’s look first at their presentation…

Your Profession (v.1)

Let’s understand that Paul is writing this letter to a group of fellow believers and people who shared His love for Christ, or at the very least, people who PROFESSED Christ with their lips…

And here in this passage Paul is asking these believers a rhetorical question here in v.1

Show verses 1 here…I will read

1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

Encouragement from promises of God

“In Christ” was a favorite term used by Paul and it was his way of relating to our position after salvation.

When we are ‘in Christ’ we are forgiven, Christ provided forgiveness of ALL our sin.

When we are ‘in Christ’ we are submerged in the grace of God, free from the world!

When we are ‘in Christ’ we are not only saved by God’s grace and forgiven by His death, but we are sealed by His promise… We are sealed and there is NOTHING the enemy can do to change that…