Christ’s Example of Humility (Phil. 2:5-11) NOTE: the contextual connection with Phil 2:1-4 must be explained.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on August 6, 2023

Joni

Last week my pastor used an illustration that opened a small window on how “beyond us” God is. Let’s suppose you were a completely flat little water bug who lived only on the water’s surface. As such, you are aware of length and width, but up and down does not exist for you.

Now, suppose a human being stepped into the water. You, as a buoyant creature skimming the water’s surface, would come to know this awesome being by the qualities of, well, the human’s leg where it intersected the water. Poor little you couldn’t begin to understand the portion of the leg beneath the water or the part above, let alone the arms, torso, and head that tower above the water.

In your little bug mind, you know that one day you will live in the world of this awesome being and be transformed into a three-dimensional figure like him, with height and width. But for now you don’t understand what it means. You have to take it on faith.

When the Father revealed himself through Jesus, he was only showing us a slice of himself, a part of all that he is. But there’s so much about him we don’t comprehend, so much beneath and above our universe of understanding. When we go to be with him, we will live in his heavenly world. We will be transformed and lifted out of our limitations. I can’t take that in, so I’ll just have to take it on faith. When I do, it stirs reverence and awe in me. How about you?

Think about ways in which you’ve limited God based on your small slice of knowledge. Then expand your vision as you try to imagine what’s above and beneath your comprehension.

Lord, when I sense how big you are and how small I am, remind me to feel not diminished but rather released to expect great and mighty things from one so capable of so much.[1]

Do we realize how amazing God is? Do we realize how amazing it is that He became fully human? Do we realize that He became part of His creation in order to be brought low? He did this to die for us.

We have been preaching through Philippians. We now come to Philippians 2:5-11.

My theme today:

Paul gives Christ as the example of humility.

1. Let’s put this passage in context.
   1. This passage picks up from verses 3-4:
   2. Philippians 2:3–4 (ESV) ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
   3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. In other words, don’t do anything from selfishness or with empty pride. This is not the idea of some things, but no things, nothing. Don’t do anything from selfishness!
   4. Paul continues; with humility of mind consider others more important than yourselves.
   5. This is a mindset; it starts in the mind.
   6. The test is in the rest of the verse: consider others more important than yourself.
   7. How are we doing with this?
   8. Remember that Paul is writing this from a prison. Paul is a Roman citizen; Paul is highly educated, yet he is writing about humility. He is also living humility. You know, not once do I see Paul writing, “This is below me; people of Philippi, get me out of this prison!” No, instead, he talks about how much of a witness he can have with the prison guard. Paul is living in humility.
   9. In verse 4, Paul says to look out for the interests of others. Again, this is the idea of humility.
   10. You know, humility is a good thing in our culture. If we say someone is humble, that is a compliment. But did you know that in the first century, it was not a compliment to be humble?
   11. So that is the context and some review from last week.
2. Now, we are exhorted to have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5).
   1. 2:5: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…
   2. So, Paul told them to consider others more important than themselves.
   3. Paul told them to consider the needs of others first.
   4. Now, Paul says have the mind of Christ.
   5. What was Paul’s mindset?
3. In verses 6-8, we see the humility of Jesus.
   1. Philippians 2:6–8 (ESV): ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
   2. Verse 6 talks about how Jesus existed in the form of God.
   3. Jesus is God; Jesus was God, yet what does this passage go on to say? He did not consider being God a thing to be grasped. That is a hard thing to understand, but it basically means that Jesus was willing to become a human being, submitting to the creation that He created. He willingly set aside Divine abilities.
   4. It was not something to be grasped, to be kept and exploited for his own benefit or advantage. Instead, he had a mind-set of service. “Christ did not please himself” (Rom. 15:3). In humility, he counted the interests of others as more significant than his own (Phil. 2:3–4).^[2]
   5. D. A. Carson: The expression is not what he emptied himself of; it’s an idiomatic way of saying he became a nobody, he humbled himself completely, not only to become a human being, but to go all the way to the ignominy and shame and torture of the cross. . . . It’s talking about the astonishing, unequal, unimaginable, indescribable, self-humiliation in becoming human and then going so far not only to be a slave, but a slave who dies on the cross.
   6. This helps me to put this into the whole picture: Paul is getting ready to talk about the crucifixion, and going into the crucifixion if Christ wanted to, He could have called down ten armies of angels to conquer and rescue Him back to being with God. He could have called down ten legions of angels; each legion is between 4000 and 6000 angels. So, Jesus could have called down at least 40,000 angels to rescue Him from the cross (Matthew 26:53). That would have been using “being God” to His advantage. Instead, He died as a Human servant. Instead, Paul is just about to talk about what Christ did.
   7. Christ had everything; He had everything and gave it up. He gave up His royal robes for our salvation.
   8. Christ has always been God.
   9. Jesus created everything (John 1:1-14). Jesus holds all creation together (Col. 1:15-20). Jesus is the very imprint of God (Heb 1:3). Jesus has always existed as God. Bethlehem was not His beginning, but when He became a human being (Rev. 1:8 and Jesus saying that He is the alpha and the omega…).
   10. The American Dream is to start at the bottom and work your way to the top. Christ started at the top and worked His way down to His death on the cross. His life was the opposite of the American Dream. Ask yourself:
   11. Am I willing to sacrifice the American way for Christ?
   12. Am I willing to be humiliated for Christ? Are you? How? Witnessing? Stepping outside of your comfort zone. We live in a comfort zone country. The Christian life is not about comfort zones. We are not called to live in comfort zones. How about working at a homeless shelter? Missions? Inner city ministry? Being a friend to the one no one else will be a friend to? Jesus talked to the outcast. The woman at the well (John 4).
   13. Mother Teresa, founder of the Roman Catholic Missionaries of Charity, working saint of the streets in Calcutta, and the recipient of the Nobel peace prize in 1979, says she finds the same thing missing in the lands of plenty as in the lands of poverty—compassion. “Maybe they are starved for bread in Africa. You are starved for love in the United States.”^[3]
   14. Now, verses 7-8:
   15. Christ emptied Himself, He became a nobody.
   16. Christ being equal with God, still patiently waited to return to His place on the throne. While He waited, He continued in the position of a servant.
   17. Let’s start with a rhetorical question, “How was Christ born? Think about it…..
   18. Alright, Christ was born in a manger or a barn in a feeding trough on what was probably a cold night to a virgin woman.
   19. You and I always think of Mary as the virgin woman that was blessed by God to give birth to Jesus.
   20. That is correct; she was a very good and honorable woman. However, do you think all the other people thought of her that way? They thought of Mary as a woman committing adultery; they thought of her as a prostitute. I had one New Testament professor put it this way, “People would see Jesus and say, “Look! There is Jesus, the son of that prostitute Mary.”
   21. We would think of a King coming down to earth and being born in a castle into royal Robes, but no, that wasn’t Christ. Christ was born in a barn, into a trough where you would usually put food or water. This is how the Creator became part of His creation.
   22. Jesus was raised and suffered just like anyone else. He probably mourned the death of his earthly father. He went through pain and sickness, I am sure. He had emotions; in fact, the Bible says that Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus (John 11:35). He had to work and learn a trade.
   23. If I was Jesus talking to God the Father in eternity past and God the Father said, “I am going to create people, and they are going to break my law, will you become one of them and die for them?” I would think I would say, “All right, I’ll do it but I have to be born into a castle with running water, air conditioning, breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day on time at the same time. I don’t want to have to work. I’ll teach the people, but you can make them come to me and sit in front of my throne while I talk to them. Then, I guess I have to die; just make someone assassinate me while I am asleep so I don’t feel it!!!!” No, this wasn’t Jesus. Think about Him. He is God; he created the universe. He was with God in the creation, He knew that He would return to the form of God again, but He decided to become part of His Creation. He created man, and He created the laws we live by, and now He is subject to them. He was all-knowing; now, the Bible says that He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52), which means He doesn’t know everything anymore. I am sure he was subject to body odor and bad breath, just like you and I are. At least, I am. He was once all-powerful and will be again, but for His lifetime, He submitted to corrupt powers and authorities. That is what Christ did!
   24. The text in verse 8 says that He was obedient to death, even the death on the cross.
4. Let’s read the last three verses of our text: 9-11

1. 1. Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
   2. Jesus isn’t dead anymore. We serve a risen Savior. Everyone will acknowledge someday that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Conclusion:

We must be Christ-like. We must follow Christ’s example in this way. The church has everything to offer the community, not vice versa. However, to help people, you have to be a servant. To be a servant, you must be humbled.

• How are we treating others?
• Christians?
• Non-Christians?
• Are we looking upon others as better than ourselves?
• Are we being humble?
• Are we willing to die a humiliating death to help someone else? I know this is a strong statement, but verse 5 said to have the attitude of Christ; what did He do? He died for the gospel.
• Once again, are we willing to be humiliated to help others?

This all has to do with your perspective; are you storing up treasures in Heaven or on Earth? Martin Luther said, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Are you being humble as Jesus is humble?

Pray

[1] Taken from More Precious than Silver By Joni Eareckson Tada; Copyright © 1998; Published in Print by Zondervan, Grand Rapids; All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version.

^[2] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2283.

^[3] Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (257). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

Encouragement to Unity and Faithful Service to One Another (Phil 2:1-4) NOTE: Phil 2:5-11 flows from this and that should be explained.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on July 30, 2023

We have been walking through Philippians.

Swindoll writes:

“What’s the secret to a great life?” People have pondered this question for millennia—since long before there was a self-help section at a bookstore … or twinkle-eyed preachers trading in shallow “believe in yourself” platitudes … or cabinets full of supplements and drugs to increase our energy or enhance our effectiveness.

The Bible’s answer to that question isn’t long, convoluted, or complex. As already indicated, we can sum it up in two words: selfless humility. Not the kind we conjure through mantras or summon through meditation or instill through methods of behavior modification. This is a supernatural kind of selfless humility that has its source in our identification with and imitation of Christ. It results in love, fellowship, affection, compassion, unity, service, and joy. Of all the virtues Christ embodied, selfless humility seems to sum up well His overall character.^[1]

This is what we will get into today.

A flight attendant one day wanted to go on a trip and she received a seat that was available in first class. At no cost to her, she was able to fly to Europe. An emergency occurred on the airplane that made it so that they were in need of another flight attendant. She raised her hand and let them know she was a fight attendant, and even though she was on vacation taking a trip to Europe, she would be glad to serve as the additional help that was needed. She was not serving to get to Europe; that had already been taken care of. It was part of the package of being a flight attendant for the airline. But she had no problem serving on the airplane either, because she was just so grateful for the benefit to be able to ride to Europe at no cost to her. That service was a joy and not a complaint.

It is unfortunate today that many people are serving Christ in order to earn brownie points to make sure they’re saved, rather than serving Christ out of the overwhelming joy of the free ride. God wants your service not as validation for your salvation. He wants your service out of your joy for the assurance of your salvation.^829[2]

Now Paul continues the theme of unity.

My theme today is:

Paul urges the Philippians to be united, thinking of others as more important than ourselves, and serving one another.

1. The experiences that lead to unity (Phil. 2:1).
   1. 2:1: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy…
   2. Paul begins with “so” or “therefore.” He is continuing from what he had written about. The “so” or “therefore” points back to what he has already written.
   3. In the previous verses, Paul was writing about suffering. Paul wrote about how it was granted to them to suffer for Christ. In Phil. 1:27 Paul wrote about their life being worthy of the Gospel. In that same verse, Paul wrote exhorting them to be of the same mind. Paul was encouraging unity.
   4. This could begin with “since” or “because of.”
   5. Jesus changes us. Jesus changes the way we act toward one another.
   6. Jesus changes our responses.
   7. That is what Paul is getting into now.
   8. “Because of the encouragement in Christ…”
   9. “Since” or “because” there is encouragement in Christ…
   10. “Since” or “because” there is comfort from love…
   11. “Since” or “because” there is participation in the Spirit…
   12. “Since” or “because” there is affection…
   13. “Since” or “because” there is sympathy…
   14. Jesus changes us.
   15. In Christ we can have encouragement. This means that we are emboldened. “Encourage” means an act of emboldening another in belief or course of action, encouragement, exhortation.^[3]
   16. “Encouragement” is from the Gr. word that means “to come alongside and help, counsel, exhort.”^[4]
   17. Jesus does that for us through the Holy Spirit.
   18. Are we leaning on Jesus through the Holy Spirit?
   19. Remember that in the previous verses Paul was writing about suffering for Jesus. Paul is in prison.
   20. Listen, we cannot live the Christian life on our own. Sure, we can if we stay complacent, but if we are to grow up in Him it only happens through Jesus.
   21. We must spend time with the Lord. We must stay connected to the Vine. Jesus is the true Vine (John 15:1-5).
   22. We also have comfort in Christ. “comfort” means to be “consoled” or “encouraged.” Actually, it is translated as “consolation” in the NASB. MacArthur shares: The Gr. word translated “consolation” portrays the Lord coming close and whispering words of gentle cheer or tender counsel in a believer’s ear.^[5]
   23. We have participation in the Spirit. This is translated “fellowship” with the Spirit in the NASB. I like that. This means that as Christians we all have a partnership because we have the same eternal life provided by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
   24. That is powerful. We are all connected with one another as Christians. The Holy Spirit networks the church together (Eph 4:25).
   25. Affection is a word that means “bowels” or “intestines.” It is like we say, “I love you with my whole heart.”
   26. God has given us all deep affection. Because of Jesus, we can love like that.
   27. We also have sympathy, or the NASB says “compassion.” The word means to have concern for one another, pity, or sympathy.
   28. In Christ, we have compassion, sympathy, and pity for one another. This compels us to be united.
2. Be of the same mind (Phil. 2:2)
   1. 2:2: …complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
   2. So, Paul has written about the conditionals, and now he picks up on that.
   3. Hopefully, they have encouragement from Christ. Hopefully, they have comfort from His love, fellowship in the Spirit, affection, and sympathy. Now, complete Paul’s joy by being of the same mind. Paul goes through great detail to show what this means.
   4. Have the same mind and the same love.
   5. Notice then he says to be in full accord and of one mind. The NASB says “united in Spirit” instead of “full accord.” So, he repeats the idea of having the same mind.
   6. Paul says this will complete his joy. In other words, this will make him smile. This is not uniformity but is unity.
   7. In the book, The Divine Conspiracy Dallas Willard asks, “Why are Christians so mean?” He answers because they always have to be right. Listen, we do not always need to be right. Sure, there are critical issues of doctrine that we must separate over, but other times, actually most of the time, we must let things go.
   8. The content of his exhortation is that they be “like-minded.” The verb used here occurs ten times in Philippians (of twenty-three times in the Pauline corpus). It speaks to the intellect (i.e., a way of thinking), but it goes beyond that. It incorporates the will and emotions into a comprehensive outlook which affects the attitude.^[6]
3. Be of self-sacrificial mind and actions (Phil. 2:3-4).

1. 1. 2:3-4: Do nothing from selfish ambition 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.
   2. So, he has exhorted them to be united and have the same mind. He has exhorted them about their encouragement in Christ, the affection, and the unity of the Spirit, and now he gives real concrete actions.
   3. These will lead directly to Phil. 2:5-11. In Phil. 2:5-11 he gives the ultimate example of Jesus and later the example of Timothy and Epaphroditus as well.
   4. Do nothing from “selfish ambition.”
   5. We don’t want our ambition to be selfish.
   6. Do nothing from conceit. “Conceit” means “empty pride” and is only used here in the Greek.
   7. No empty conceit is one word in the Greek that really means to have a highly exaggerated view of oneself. This is hard to translate because Romans and Greeks put nothing on humility. It is possible that Paul coined this word.[7]
   8. This is the opposite of Paul’s opponents in Phil. 1:15-17. They were sharing the gospel for selfish reasons.
   9. Instead of selfishness and conceit we should have humility of mind.
   10. Can we have humility in our thinking?
   11. This begins with our thinking.
   12. Count others more significant than yourselves.
   13. Look at verse 4 (Phil. 2:4): Look not only to your own interests but also the interests of others.
   14. First, we change our mindset (Phil. 2:3), and then we look out for others in deeds. We do have to look out for our own needs. Notice how he says, look “not only” to your own interests… We must look out for our own needs, but he is urging us to look out for the needs of others.
   15. Psychiatrist Dr. Carl Menninger was reportedly asked what he would do if he knew that he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. His reply: “I’d go out, find somebody in need, and help him.”^[8]

1. Applications:
   1. Jesus comes alongside and helps us through the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). Are we allowing Him to help us (Phil. 2:1)?
      1. Are we leaning on Jesus through the Holy Spirit?
      2. Remember that in the previous verses Paul was writing about suffering for Jesus. Paul is in prison.
      3. Listen, we cannot live the Christian life on our own. Sure, we can if we stay complacent, but if we are to grow up in Him it only happens through Jesus.
      4. We must spend time with the Lord. We must stay connected to the Vine. Jesus is the true Vine (John 15:1-5).
   2. Are we allowing the Lord to comfort/console us (Phil. 2:1)?
   3. Do we have the love, the affection, that comes from our inner being, from our gut (Phil. 2:1)? Do we love with our whole heart (Phil. 2:1)?
   4. Can we be united (Phil. 2:2)?
   5. Can we disagree, agreeably (Phil. 2:2)?
   6. Is our ambition selfish (Phil. 2:3)?
   7. Do we have ambitions that exalt others? Do we have ambitions that make others look better? Or, are all of our ambitions things that make us look better and others look worse (Phil. 2:3)?
   8. How is our mindset (Phil. 2:3)?
   9. Do we have humility of mind (Phil. 2:3)?

• Do we consider others more significant than ourselves (Phil. 2:3)?
• Do we look out for the interests of others?
• Do we allow margin in our day so that we have time to help others?

Close:

It was a cold, blustery January night in 1973. Senator John Stennis, the venerable hawkish Democrat from Mississippi, drove from Capitol Hill to his northwest Washington home. Although older (71), he was still the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. At precisely 7:40 p.m., Stennis parked his car and started toward his house 50 feet away.

Out of the darkness jumped two young robbers—little more than kids, really. One nervously waved a .22 caliber pistol as the other relieved the senator of his personal possessions. “Now we’re going to shoot you anyway,” one told Stennis. He did, firing twice.

For six-and-a-half hours, surgeons at Walter Reed Medical Center labored feverishly to repair the damage and save his life.

At 9:15 that same night another politician was driving home from the Senate . . . a man on the opposite end of the political spectrum, a Republican “dove” who had clashed often and sharply with Stennis. His name? Senator Mark Hatfield. The tragedy was reported over Hatfield’s car radio that wintry night. Disregarding the strong differences in their convictions and pulled by a deep admiration for the elderly statesman plus a compassion for his plight, Hatfield later admitted:

“I had no skills to offer. But I knew there was something I must do—and that was to go to that hospital and be nearby where I could be helpful, if possible, to the family.”

There was untold confusion at the hospital as fellow senators, colleagues, and curious friends and reporters overwhelmed the hospital’s telephone operators. Understaffed and disorganized, the hospital crew tried their best but were unable to handle the calls and answer the questions.

Hatfield quickly scoped out the situation, spotted an unattended switchboard, sat down, and voluntarily went to work. Much later—after recovering—Stennis related what he heard happened next: “He told the girls, ‘I know how to work one of these; let me help you out.’ He continued taking calls until daylight.” An exceedingly significant detail is that he never gave anyone his name because someone would surely suspect some political connection, some ulterior motive. Hatfield finally stood up around daylight, stretched, put on his overcoat, and quietly introduced himself to the other operators. “My name is Hatfield . . . happy to help out on behalf of a man I deeply respect,” he said as he walked away.

The press couldn’t handle that story when it leaked out. It boggled their minds! No way did it make sense for a Republican to give a Democrat the time of day, not to mention several long hours of personal assistance in some anonymous, menial task. I mean, that kind of character went out with the horse and buggy and silent movies and saying “ma’am” and “sir” to teachers. Or did it?

Politics and personal preferences and opinions on things like military involvement may vary among members of the body of Christ . . . but there is a bond deep within that binds us to one another. It is the glue of authentic love, expressing itself in compassion, fairness, willingness to support, and (when possible) coming to the aid of another. Personally. Without strings attached. Committed to the protection and dignity of human life . . . regardless of how somebody votes.

And what does it take? Bigness. Being free of grudges, pettiness, vengeance, and prejudice. Seeing another in need—regardless of differences of opinion—and reaching out in solid Christian maturity. Just because you care.

That’s bigness. It’s living above labels . . . it’s seeing beyond hurts . . . it’s caring unconditionally, helping unassumingly.

And therefore it’s rare. As rare as a hawk and a dove in the same nest on a cold winter’s night.[10]

Prayer

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 9, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2017), 39.

^[2] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 278.

^[3] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 766.

^[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Php 2:1.

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 93–94.

[7] Dr Steven Lawson; Renewing Your Mind; 09.23.2022

^[8] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 2:4.

^[9] Ibid.

[10] Excerpt taken from Come before Winter and Share My Hope by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1985, 1988, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/bigness1

Live in unity striving side-by-side according to the gospel (Phil 1:27-30)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on July 23, 2023

Think with me about suffering. What is your view of suffering? How do you reconcile suffering with life? Christianity does have a view of suffering.

Oysters suffer affliction when they get a grain of sand lodged inside their shells. No matter what they do, they can’t get rid of it. The sand gets lodged there and it’s irritating to the oyster. It’s a thorn. It drives them crazy. To bring comfort to their anguish, they begin to coat the grain of sand over and over and over again. Coating the sand doesn’t get rid of it; it just comforts them.

Over time the coating of the grain of sand over and over again produces something that costs a mint. It’s called a pearl. Do you know what a pearl is? A pearl is the result of an irritated oyster. Out of that came something women place great value on.

The pain resulted in beauty. Their pain resulted in elegance. The pain results in something of high value. When God allows us to suffer, He is producing something precious.^944[1]

We do not know what God is doing in our suffering, but we do know He is working in us. We do know that He is building us up and those around us (Romans 5).

We have been walking through Philippians. This is a letter that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi. During this time he is writing from a Roman prison. He is shackled to a guard. However, in the previous verses Paul wrote about how he is ready to go to heaven, but he wants to live for their sake. He also wrote in the previous verse about him coming to them. This brings us to our passage for today.

My theme today is:

Live in unity striving side-by-side according to the gospel.

1. Strive side by side for the Gospel (verses 27).
   1. Philippians 1:27 (ESV)
   2. ²⁷ Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…
   3. In the Greek Philippians 1, verses 27-30 are one sentence.
   4. He is urging them to let their behavior be worthy of the Gospel.
   5. Paul gives a purpose, and that is that he can hear this about them.
   6. This is likely not about him hearing about them in heaven but whether he comes or hears from a distance.
   7. So, he has just written about coming to see them again, and now, he begins with “only” which is a Greek word, monos, which means “alone” or “only.” So, he is saying this is very important. It is prefaced with “only” to specify it as special.
   8. What is behavior that is worthy of the gospel?
   9. One would think it is what follows in this verse and in verses 28-30. But I think it is also what the book is about. See Phil. 2:3-4 and 4:1-2 which are about unity and self-sacrifice which he will write about here.
   10. Notice what he writes: Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
   11. The Philippians lived in a free Roman city, and thus understood from their own experience what it meant to live as citizens. Paul is here picking up on that motif and elevating it to the citizenship of heaven. Cf. 3:20 (our citizenship is in heaven).^[2]
   12. Did you notice how he qualified a life worthy of the gospel?
   13. Standing firm…
   14. Side by side….
   15. Paul wants them to agree as much as possible. I have said that Philippians is about joy, but it is also about unity.
   16. This is about unity.
   17. Part of conduct worthy of the Gospel is unity and self-sacrifice as we will see again in Phil. 2:3-4 and Phil. 4:1-2.
   18. Christianity is about living as a team with other Christians.
   19. Paul says “standing firm in ‘one Spirit.’”
   20. “One Spirit” this could be one Holy Spirit who unites us but it is hard to tell in the Greek if it is the Holy Spirit or not. However, Phil. 2:1 seems to be the Holy Spirit.
   21. Striving is an offensive term. We are striving for the gospel.
   22. Paul wants to hear that they are “striving side by side.” “Striving together” is a compound word in the Greek, similar to where we get our English word athletics. Christianity is a team sport. The Gospel is mentioned for the sixth time in this first chapter.[3]
   23. Wow! There is a lot in that verse!
   24. Are we striving side by side for the Gospel?
   25. Are we standing firm?
   26. Are we making sure that our conduct is worthy of the Gospel?
   27. Are we united in one Spirit and one mind?
2. Don’t be frightened by your opponent (verse 28).
   1. Philippians 1:28 (ESV)
   2. ²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
   3. This is continuing from what he wrote.
   4. So, be striving side by side in unity.
   5. And now don’t be frightened by your opponents.
   6. The word “frightened” or “alarmed” could describe spooking a horse.
   7. This is a clear sign of their destruction and your salvation. What is the sign?
   8. Maybe not being frightened by them. Maybe standing strong in the faith. Maybe staying united. Maybe all three.
   9. So, when they stand strong for the gospel, it is a sign of their opponents destruction and their salvation. I like that.
   10. As John MacArthur writes: When believers willingly suffer without being “alarmed,” it is a sign that God’s enemies will be destroyed and eternally lost.^[5]
   11. Malcolm Muggeridge died in the fall of 1990. He had been a foreign correspondent, newspaper editor, editor of Punch magazine, and a well-known television personality in Great Britain. As an adult, he finally turned to Christ and wrote of his own dilemmas as a journalist-turned-believer. Among his works are Jesus Rediscovered, Christ and the Media, Something Beautiful for God, and his multivolume autobiography, Chronicles of Wasted Time. He frequently spoke and wrote of “feeling like a stranger” in the world. In an interview a few years before his death, Muggeridge was asked if he would be willing to explain that feeling. His answer is worth repeating. “I’d very gladly do so, because I’ve thought about it often. In the war, when I was in North Africa, I heard some lieutenant colonel first use the phrase “displaced person.” That phrase was very poignant to me. But it’s also a very good definition of a person who’s come to see that life is not about carnal things, or success, but is about eternity rather than time. . . . I don’t really belong here, I’m simply staying here.”[6]
   12. That is true for Christians.
3. The reminder (verses 29-30)
   1. Philippians 1:29–30 (ESV)
   2. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ³⁰ engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
   3. This is important. We, as Christians, have a privilege of suffering for Christ. See Acts 5:41.
   4. We have the privilege of believing and suffering.
   5. Belief is a gift from God:
   6. Acts 3:16 (ESV)
   7. ¹⁶ And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
   8. Acts 11:18 (ESV)
   9. ¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
   10. John 6:44 (ESV)
   11. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
   12. We are also granted to suffer for Christ’s sake:
   13. Matthew 5:10–11 (ESV)
   14. ¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   15. ¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
   16. 1 Peter 4:12–14 (ESV)
   17. ¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
   18. In verse 30 he shares: they are in the same conflict as they observed in the Apostle Paul and know that Paul is still in.
   19. Swindoll shares: In the early days of Christianity, a scoffer once inquired, “What is your Carpenter doing now?” And the answer of the unperturbed Christian was bold: “Making a coffin for your Emperor!”[7]
4.  Applications:
   1. Are we striving side by side for the Gospel (Phil. 1:27)?
   2. Are we standing firm (Phil. 1:27)?
   3. Are we making sure that our conduct is worthy of the Gospel (Phil. 1:27)?
   4. Are we united in one Spirit and one mind (Phil. 1:27)?
   5. We must not be frightened by those who oppose the Gospel (Phil. 1:28). Instead, we must stay united and serve one another. We must stay strong in the faith.
   6. Are we living consistent with our beliefs? If not, do we really believe them?
   7. Do we fear what non-believers think or do we have a confidence in the Gospel (Phil. 1:28)?
   8. Do we allow unnecessary division or do we seek unity (Phil. 1:27)?
   9. Are we contributing members of a local church (Phil. 1:27-30)?
   10. Do we live in community? Do we have friends who will challenge and encourage us? Are we vulnerable with each other (Phil. 1:27-30)?
   11. Do we recognize that we can’t do this on our own? We need grace. We need the Gospel. We need the Spirit’s help. We need each other (Phil. 1:27-30).
   12. Do we have to always be in charge, always be right, do we divide over silly matters, are we a contentious person, always causing arguments? Are we a unifier or a divider?
   13. Are we prepared to suffer for Jesus (Phil. 1:29)?
   14. How do we prepare to suffer for Him? Pray about it. Pray that we can be like those in Acts 5:41 who rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. Pray that God makes us bold AND loving witnesses. Study the Bible about what the Scripture says about suffering. Read testimonies of those who suffered for Christ from the Voice of the Martyrs. Pray for the persecuted church now.

Close:

The reason a woman can endure the pain of childbirth is because something good is coming down the pipe. She can endure because the pain will be worth it in the end as she celebrates the new birth of her child. She bears the suffering because of the joy before her. It is in weakness that God does His greatest birthing.^943[9]

We cannot see things from God’s viewpoint, but He is working even in our suffering.

^[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 314–315.

^[2] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 1:27.

[3] Dr Steven Lawson; Renewing your mind; 09.21.2022

^[4] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 1:28.

^[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Php 1:28.

[6] Swindoll “Laugh Again” pages 73-74

[7] Swindoll, Laugh Again, page 72

[8] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-given-foes-and-god-given-faith?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94074571&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9hbAG0qM3E3WA5nRh1ujD-1qFldL9ScViCie4kW5Z6uRJydWdZHa1iMNaqv3z_lVkN_PVsPo7taY5_4oJT8qPr-Nyp_A&utm_content=94074571&utm_source=hs_email

^[9] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 314.

Prospects for the Future, to Live Is Christ (Phil 1:19-26)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on July 16, 2023

Many handle death through humor. A bumper sticker read, “Don’t take life so seriously. You won’t get out of it alive.”^[1]

Harry Truman told the story of a man who was hit on the head and fell into a deep coma. He stayed there for a long time. People thought he was dead so they sent him to a funeral home and stuck him in a coffin. At two o’clock in the morning, all alone in this dimly lit room, he sat up and looked around. “Good night!” he said. “What’s going on? If I’m alive, why am I in a casket? And, if I’m dead, why do I have to go to the bathroom?”^[2]

We are in a series on Philippians. As we get to Philippians 1:19-26 we see a passage in which Paul is confronting his own death.

My theme today is:

Paul desires to live for the Philippians, but knows if God calls him to heaven, he is better off.

1. Paul’s dilemma (Phil. 1:19-22)
   1. Whether through life or death Paul wants Christ to be glorified.
   2. 1:19-22: ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰ as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
   3. Paul explains the connection with their prayers and the help of the Holy Spirit.
   4. This is powerful. He is making a link with the outcome of his situation and their prayers.
   5. Paul is confident that this will turn out for his deliverance.
   6. What deliverance is he speaking of?
   7. The Greek word is the basic word for salvation but it can also mean “well-being” or “escape.”
   8. Does he think he will be delivered from prison, or from this life?
   9. There are different thoughts on that. Some think Paul is intentional in being ambiguous. It could apply to both. He might first have in mind deliverance from prison, but he wins if he is delivered from this life.
   10. Look at verse 20. Paul has expectations, and they are eager expectations. Paul also hopes that he will not be ashamed.
   11. What would he be ashamed of?
   12. I think he would be ashamed if he denies Christ, or curses God.
   13. In other words, if he curses God while in prison, or denies Christ, he would be ashamed. He explains that more in the rest of the verses.
   14. He writes, “but with full courage…” Another translation says “by my speaking with all boldness…”
   15. He says, “now, as always…” In other words, he can say that he has always tried to honor Christ. He wants this to continue.
   16. He wants Christ to be honored through him, whether in how he lives or how he dies.
   17. Do we think about magnifying Christ as we live and “as we die”?
   18. I recently read about a young mom dying of cancer. Even in her last 30 minutes, she was suffering and vomiting. John Piper answered the question, “How does that glorify God?” He said it glorifies God because even in her suffering, she did not curse God.[4] Like Job in the Old Testament, she did not curse God (Job 1:22; 2:9-11).
   19. Do we ever think about that? Do we ever pray, “Lord no matter what, don’t let me turn my back on you”? Remember the Lord’s prayer says, “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Remember Jesus taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). God will not tempt us, but He will test us (James 1:3, 13). However, God can prevent us from being tempted. God can give us the strength to endure temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). God can deliver us from evil.
   20. It is very Biblical as a Christian to think and pray about standing strong in suffering and the tests. Often, we prepare for everything but not the spiritual. Christians will suffer persecution, and Christians will suffer other trials connected to a world of sickness.
   21. 2 Tim. 3:12 says the Christian pursuing godliness will suffer persecution.
   22. Here is Paul in prison, chained to a guard, saying that he wants to honor Christ whether he lives or dies.
   23. Warren Wiersbe: “The believer’s body is a ‘lens’ that makes a ‘little Christ’ look very big, and a ‘distant Christ’ come very close.”^97[5]
   24. But we can do this because we are never alone.
   25. Verse 20: Piper reminds us that Jesus is always with us. So Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). I think “always” is even more important than the phrase “to the end of the age.” It’s one thing to say he’ll be with us to the end of the age; it’s another for him to say, “I’ll be with you every minute of your life.”
   26. John Paton was a missionary to what’s now the New Hebrides. He was driven up into a tree as 1,300 aboriginal natives were trying to kill him. As they were beneath him, he laid hold of the promise of Matthew 28:19–20: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. . . . I am with you always.”
   27. And here’s what he wrote later, because he survived: Without that abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Savior, nothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably. His words, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” became to me so real that it would not have startled me to behold him, as Stephen did, gazing down upon the scene. I felt his supporting power. . . . It is the sober truth, and it comes back to me sweetly after 20 years, that I had my nearest and dearest glimpses of the face and smiles of my blessed Lord Jesus in those dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my life. (John G. Paton, 342)[6]
   28. Look at verse 21: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
   29. Verse 21: “Is” is not in the original language.
   30. Literally: to live Christ…
   31. Then literally
   32. “To die gain” again there is no “is.”
   33. The greatest gain in heaven is to be with Jesus Christ.
   34. Death is our passageway to be with Jesus.
   35. NONE of this is about suicide. I think he is simply thinking about whether he prays for survival or not. When it seems like God is calling us home to heaven, there is nothing wrong with saying, “Lord, take me when you are ready.” This is when we can tell death is near.
   36. We must remember that our life is in God’s hands. God is the owner. When death seems near, we can ask him to take us, but we cannot ask others to take us. Maybe Paul is having this conversation with the Lord?
   37. Swindoll in Laugh Again, page 56:
   38. Those are the words of a man whose image was secure and whose reputation was not in need of being protected, massaged, or defended. His mind was firmly fixed on essentials, so much so that nothing brought him anxiety. “Whether by life or by death,” his focus was concentrated. He concerned himself only with things that mattered. For all he knew, death might be right around the corner. That thought alone provides an excellent filtering system, enabling us to separate what is essential from what is not. As dear old Samuel Johnson once stated, “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”[7]
   39. Now, verse 22: If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
   40. We see Paul is torn. He knows to serve Christ in the flesh is better for the church at Philippi.
   41. He could’ve thought he might die in prison, or maybe he knew he would be released.
   42. One source shares: Paul’s remaining would help them by virtue of his continuance as a teacher, and perhaps also for legal precedent. Nero was not particularly interested in legal questions, and in d. 62 he freed Jewish hostages that the procurator Felix had previously sent him. Paul was likely released at this time.^[8]
   43. We will see that he continues this in the next few verses. We see that Paul wants to remain in this life for them, for those he serves at the church in Philippi.
2. Paul will remain for them (Phil. 1:23-26).
   1. Verse 23 (Phil. 1:23) seems to be the middle theme of this section.
   2. Look at verse 23 (Phil. 1:23): ²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
   3. So, he strongly desires to let the Lord take him home to heaven.
   4. He has faced a lot of persecution. He has been shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, and left for dead, and now he is in prison (2 Cor 11:16-33; Acts 14:19-20).
   5. He knows how awesome Heaven is. In 2 Cor. 12, Paul talks about going to heaven and seeing things that he was not permitted to speak about. He knows how awesome it will be to be physically with Jesus.
   6. There is a lesson here. There are several of them. How often do we cling to this life like this is all that matters? No, when God calls us home to heaven, we do not miss out on anything. It will be far, far better than anything we are going through. The Christian idea of a bucket list, things we want to do before we die, diminishes the awesomeness of heaven.
   7. Now, look at Phil. 1:24-26: ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
   8. He thinks it is better for them if he remains on Earth. If he keeps trying to live.
   9. I want to repeat: NONE of this is about suicide. I think he is simply thinking about whether he prays for survival or not. When it seems like God is calling us home to heaven, there is nothing wrong with saying, “Lord, take me when you are ready.” This is when we can tell death is near.
   10. Paul is living for them. He wants to live for others.
   11. As we look at this passage, we see his argument.
   12. Verse 25: “Convinced of this…” “Convinced of” what? He is convinced of what he said in verse 24. He is convinced it is better for them if he lives.
   13. He has been convinced. He had an inner turmoil about giving up and the Lord calling him home, or staying, but he was convinced it is better for them if he stays. So, he will stay and continue with them. He will continue for their progress and joy in the faith.
   14. He wants to continue living. However, not for him, but them.
   15. There is no retirement for Paul. There is no complacency in Paul. His life is for them. That applies to us as well.
   16. He is continuing for their progress. He is continuing for their growth in the faith. He is continuing for their joy, but it is joy in the faith.
   17. Statements in the later Pastoral Epistles, as well as in the writings of some of the early church fathers, indicate that Nero released Paul from his first Roman imprisonment in A.D. 62. The apostle then resumed his missionary labors and returned to Macedonia—and probably to Philippi. However the Romans arrested him again, imprisoned him in Rome a second time, and then executed him there. He died as a martyr in A.D. 68. If this historical sequence is accurate, Paul probably did contribute to the spiritual progress and joy of the Philippians in their faith as he said here that he expected he would.^[11]
   18. Let’s wrap this up with verse 26: so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
   19. He wants to come to them again, and he wants them to glory in Christ Jesus. Because of his persistent ministry, he wants that to point to Jesus. He wants all that he does to bring more glory to Christ. It is likely that no one would think he could visit them again, but he wants to visit them. Then he wants them to give God glory for making it happen.
   20. He does not want them to look at him and say great things about him but great things about Christ’s work in him.

Close:

How is death gain for the Christian?

John Piper shares:

How is it “gain” to die?

1) Our spirits will be made perfect (Hebrews 12:22–23).

2) We will be relieved of the pain of this world (Luke 16:24–25).

3) We will be given profound rest in our souls (Revelation 6:9–11).

4) We will experience a deep at-homeness (2 Corinthians 5:8).

5) We will be with Christ (Philippians 1:21–23).

 Christ is a more wonderful person than anyone on earth. He is wiser, stronger, and kinder than anyone you enjoy spending time with. He is endlessly interesting. He knows exactly what to do and what to say at every moment to make his guests as glad as they can possibly be. He overflows in love and with infinite insight into how to use that love to make his loved ones feel loved. Therefore Paul said,

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. [Devotional excerpted from “It Is Great Gain to Die”][12]

Prayer

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 136.

^[2] Ibid.

⁹⁴ Lightfoot, p. 91.

^[3] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:19.

[4] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/not-dead-yet

⁹⁷ Wiersbe, 2:69.

^[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:20.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Swindoll in Laugh Again page 56

^[8] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Php 1:24–26.

[9] Dr Lawson; Renewing Your Mind; 09.19.2022

^[10] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 1:25.

¹¹⁰ Walvoord, p. 43. Cf. Lightfoot, p. 94.

^[11] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:25.

[12] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-reasons-death-is-gain

The Advance of the Gospel (Phil 1:12-18)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, July 9, 2023.

We have been preaching through Philippians. In Philippians we have the apostle Paul writing from prison. Listen to what Joni Eareckson Tada shares:

I’m not like Paul; I’m not in prison—far from it! But I can identify with the bolts and bars of a prison cell. This wheelchair is made of a lot of metal, and in a way it’s confining. I suppose that’s why so many prisoners write me. My testimony has encouraged them, and they look at my bolts and bars and understand.

Even though I know nothing of the kind of imprisonment the apostle Paul went through, I do know I like his attitude. In the Scripture for today he basically says, “Okay, so I’m in chains? My bolts and bars help me spread the Good News. Every time they chain me to another guard, he gets an earful of the gospel. And my imprisonment helps others to become bold.”

I’ve read letters from prisoners who say the same thing. “Okay, so I’m behind bars? It’s a chance for me to draw closer to Christ.” I can say the same thing. “Okay, so I’m in a wheelchair? These bolts and bars give me a chance to spread the Good News to anyone who experiences confinement and limitations.”

What are your chains? Maybe you feel manacled to the kitchen sink. Maybe you feel chained to your desk, with just enough slack to reach the rest room and coffeemaker. Maybe you feel imprisoned in a difficult marriage. Goodness, we all can name the bolts and bars that confine us. Look at today’s verse again. Has what happened to you served to advance Christ’s gospel? It should. It’s the locale from which God wants to work.

Help me today, Lord Jesus, to rejoice in the confinements of my life. Enable me to see my circumstances as boundaries you have erected to work within.[1]

My theme today is:

The Gospel advances and for that Paul rejoices.

1. The gospel cannot be stopped (Phil. 1:12-14).
   1. 1:12-14: ¹² I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴ And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
   2. Okay, so we are in the beginning of Philippians.
   3. Paul has been praying for them, and now he is moving on from the prayer.
   4. Paul begins saying that what has happened to him has advanced the gospel.
   5. One source shares: This verse [verse 12] is a topic sentence for all that follows through verse 26. Whenever Paul wrote, “I want you to know,” he introduced something important (cf. 2 Cor. 13:6; 2 Tim. 3:1).^[3]
   6. Notice that he calls them “brothers”.
   7. He is talking in family language.
   8. He is saying, I want you to know “brothers.” This could be translated “brothers and sisters.”
   9. He is saying, don’t worry about what I have gone through because it has advanced the gospel.
   10. HE had been shipwrecked (Acts 27 and Acts 28; he was bitten by a viper).
   11. He had gone through a lot. Yet, he is not saying “my bed is hard.” He is talking about the advance of the Gospel. See also 2 Cor. 11 and all that he has endured.
   12. How are we doing with this?
   13. Do we care most about the advance of the gospel?
   14. In verse 13 he talked about witnessing to the whole praetorian guard. Those guards switched shifts every 3-4 hours. Paul talked about Jesus so much that the whole praetorian guard knew that his imprisonment was for Christ.
   15. ESV SB: The Latin word praetorium could refer to a governor’s residence and by extension those living in the residence. Those who believe that Paul wrote from Caesarea would understand the word in that sense here (see Acts 23:35). However, the word could also refer to the special guard of the emperor in Rome, as the translation above suggests. ^[4]
   16. This group of guards were like the navy seals of their day.
   17. IVP: No army was allowed in Italy, but the Praetorian Guard consisted of about thirteen to fourteen thousand free Italian soldiers. They were the emperor’s elite bodyguard under the praetorian prefect. Viewed as clients of the emperor (thus part of his household), they were kept loyal with the highest pay in the Roman military; they were also kept loyal by the leadership of a prefect who could never legally become emperor (being a knight rather than a senator).^[5]
   18. In Phil 4:22 Paul says that all the brethren greet you, especially those in Caesar’s household. How would they know? He talked about them.
   19. Two groups of people heard of his imprisonment: The praetorian guard and everyone else.
   20. One source shares: “The soldier to whom he was chained day-to-day might have been in Nero’s body-guard yesterday; his comrade who next relieved guard upon the prisoner, might have been one of the executioners of Octavia [Nero’s wife], and might have carried her head to Poppaea [Nero’s mistress] a few weeks before.”^80[6]
   21. Look at verse 14: Most of the brothers are more confident about the Lord, but why? Because of his imprisonment.
   22. They are much bolder to speak the Word without fear.
   23. The “Word” would be the gospel.
   24. They think if Paul can do it, so can they.
   25. They are more confident and they are confident in the Lord.
   26. Are we confident in the Lord?

• Are we confident in the Lord even in difficult times?

1. Paul rejoices that Christ is proclaimed (Phil. 1:15-18a).
   1. 1:15-18a: ¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶ The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
   2. Grammatically, this is a chiasm.
   3. Paul starts with the people who preach out of envy (verse 15).
   4. Then others who preach out of love (verse 16).
   5. Then comes back to those who preach out of envy (verse 17).
   6. A Chiasm is a grammatical device used to emphasize what is in the middle. What is in the middle here? It is emphasizing those that preach Christ out of love.
   7. So, look at verse 15: Some are preaching Christ, proclaiming the gospel, out of envy.
   8. Notice in this passage Paul is happy as long as the gospel is preached, but they are not preaching bad doctrine. This may be different if the doctrine was wrong. In Galatians he confronts bad doctrine. Here it is their motives.
   9. Why are they preaching Christ out of envy or rivalry? I wonder if they are envious of him. I wonder if they are competing (see 1 Cor. 1:12ff). Verse 17 does seem to show that it has something to do with Paul.
   10. In verse 16 we see that others are preaching out of love. That is what we want. They love Paul. They know that he is there for defending the gospel.
   11. In verse 17, we see that those who are envious are selfish. They want to afflict Paul.
   12. The beginning of verse 18: even if the motives are wrong Christ is preached and that is what matters.
   13. Whether in pretense, which means false motives, hypocrites, or pure motives Christ is preached.
   14. Paul rejoices.
   15. This verse goes into the next section so we will talk more about verse 18 next Sunday.

• Applications:
  1. Do we use what happens to us to advance the Gospel? That car trouble, hospital visit, or whatever else may be God’s providence to advance the gospel.
  2. Paul is in jail…
  3. Things are not as coincidental as we think. Can we see everything for the advance of the gospel? In 2013 I had many things to do, and I had it scheduled in my head. The senior’s group of the church went to a Christmas tree show in Akron and I was going along. We then had lunch at the Hartville Kitchen. I then planned to visit someone in the hospital. As is usual my schedule did not allow enough time. I was leaving the hospital about an hour later than I had hoped. I was walking down the stairs and I saw the hospital chaplain. I knew him and knew some things that he was going through. I asked him about them. We talked awhile and prayed. I don’t believe it was a coincidence that I was leaving the hospital later than I wanted to. I think I had my schedule for me, and God had His schedule for me. God made my schedule fall in line with His schedule.
  4. Are we willing to speak the word of God without fear? Do we pray about this (verse 14)?
  5. Do we care more about what others think or what God thinks?
  6. Do we seek to build up or tear down?
  7. Do our actions during difficult times encourage others to be bolder in their faith?
  8. Can we stop being envious of others (verses 15 and 17)? Can we just be happy to serve and proclaim the gospel? Can we pray about that? Can we pray that God helps our motives to be pure and teaches us humility?
  9. Can we proclaim Christ out of love (verse 16)? We love others and we want them to know Jesus.

One source shares:

Verses 12–18 present Paul as a positive model for all believers. Rather than valuing his own comfort, reputation, and freedom above all else, he put the advancement of God’s plan first. He discerned what was best (v. 10). He could maintain a truly joyful attitude, even in unpleasant circumstances, because he derived his joy from seeing God glorified, rather than from seeing himself exalted. His behavior in prison had been pure and blameless (cf. v. 10).^[7]

Carrot, egg, coffee beans

• CARROT: First, what happens when we put a carrot in hot boiling water? That’s right it turns soft like this carrot I have here. It is no longer hard but soft.
• EGG: Now what happens when an egg is boiled in water? That’s right it has the opposite effect of the carrot. While this egg is fragile and will break if dropped, this egg now has a hard shell and is less fragile.
• COFFEE BEANS: Does anyone know what happens when we boil coffee beans? The beans not only change the color of the water but also spreads a delicious aroma.
• APPLICATION: So here is how each of us are either like the carrot, egg or coffee beans.
• The boiling water symbolizes problems and trials in our life.
• The carrots, eggs, and coffee beans symbolize our different reactions to these problems or pressures.
• The soft carrots represent people who grumble, complain, and pity themselves when faced with problems.
• The hardened eggs represent those who become stubborn, rebellious, and angry at God during tribulations.
• But the coffee beans represent people who obey and trust God, changing the atmosphere around them while spreading the fragrance of Christ.
• So see, God offers each of us faith that is greater than any problems we may face. It doesn’t matter how big or small the problem is but what is important is how we react to the problem.
• Our faith determines how we will respond as we meet the challenges of daily life — as a carrot, a hard-boiled egg, or a coffee bean.
• God wants to use us like coffee beans when we face difficulties. Paul is in prison and he rejoices for the spread of the gospel. Let’s do the same.

Prayer

[1] Taken from More Precious than Silver By Joni Eareckson Tada; Copyright © 1998

Published in Print by Zondervan, Grand Rapids

⁷⁵ Martin, p. 67.

^[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:12.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2281.

^[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Php 1:13.

⁸⁰ Conybeare, p. 734.

^[6] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:13.

^[7] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:18.

Come, Lord Jesus! (Matthew 6:10; John 18:36; Rev. 22:20)!

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, July 2, 2023

It is the time of year that we celebrate our nations independence. We celebrate the commitment of our founding fathers separating from England. Our founding fathers were committed to the cause. One of them who was committed was John Adams. John Adams was so committed that he did not want to focus on the arts as that was a distraction. In a biography about him David McCullough writes:

The conflict between the appeal of the arts and the sense that they were the product of a luxury-loving (and thus corrupt) foreign society played heavily on his mind. Delightful as it was to stroll the gardens of Paris, enticing as were science and the arts, he, John Adams, had work to do, a public trust to uphold. The science of government was his duty; the art of negotiation must take precedence.

Then, in a prophetic paragraph that would be quoted for generations within the Adams family and beyond, he wrote:

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.[1]

America has changed a lot since that time, though I still believe we are the greatest country in the world. Two years ago on July 4, I spoke about God’s providence in our history. Last year, I talked about praying for our leaders. Today, I want to talk about seeking the Lord’s Kingdom.

I believe it is right to be patriotic. I really do. I think it is right to serve the country, I really do. I think we need to vote. I think we should care about our country. However, we must pray “thy Kingdom come…” and seek the Lord’s Kingdom above all else.

Today, my theme is:

Come, Lord Jesus!

1. Whose Kingdom do you seek?
   1. As I said, I believe in being patriotic.
   2. I believe it is good to be patriotic.
   3. I have preached that, but ultimately, whose Kingdom do we seek?
   4. Do we seek the Lord’s Kingdom?
2. Let’s look at John 18:36.
   1. John 18:36 (ESV) ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
   2. Notice that Jesus did not have them fighting Rome. That passage is Jesus before Pilate. Jesus could have taken down Rome, but He did not. His Kingdom is different. Jesus has a different way.
   3. Does that mean that we should not do anything and just wait for Jesus’s way?
   4. No, that is not what the early church did and that is not what we are to do.
   5. No, we are to continue to make this world a better place.
   6. We must remember that the ultimate Kingdom is Jesus’s Kingdom.
   7. But we still live in this kingdom (little k).
   8. One source writing about legislation and political involvement shares the following: “…for most of the Church’s history, Christians have agreed that civil laws should in some way reflect biblical morality. Neither Catholics, Orthodox, nor most Protestants believed that being apolitical was a good or godly thing. While there were occasions over the centuries when Christians shunned political involvement for a variety of reasons, often because they were prohibited from any involvement, it wasn’t until the Radical Reformation and movements like the Anabaptists in the 1500s that swearing off politics gained traction as a principle for following Christ. Even then, it was a minority opinion. On the contrary, for most Christians, being a civil magistrate has always been seen as a high and noble calling.   
   9. This, of course, makes a lot of sense since there is really no such thing as not legislating morality. No matter who writes the laws of a land, those laws always reflect someone’s moral beliefs. Protecting innocent lives from deadly violence, something that occurs in abortion and other forms of murder, is the central function of good government. God created government to serve that purpose. 
   10. …many theologians have noted over the years: that when Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world” in John 18:36, He did not mean “my kingdom has nothing to do with this world.” Rather, He meant that His kingdom is not from this world, does not use this world’s methods (such as violent revolution), and does not aim at the world’s ends.
   11. In A.D. 325, the Emperor Constantine ended the official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Just decades later, in the year 380, Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a matter of simple historical fact, Christians did take over Rome! 
   12. Early Christians showed intense interest in impacting governments in everything from the outlawing of infant exposure to ending persecution to the ending of the gladiatorial games. 
   13. The assault of the Church against the gates of Hell progresses, of course, through the preaching of the Gospel and the conversion of souls—what the Apostle Paul called “spiritual weapons.” But by advocating for good and just governments—especially when it comes to protecting innocent lives—Christians are loving their neighbors and fulfilling the other half of our calling in this world: to pray and obediently work so that God’s kingdom will come and His will be done “on earth as it is in Heaven.” 
   14. We are saved for a purpose. Along with evangelism and worship, we are to be good citizens and to love our neighbors. This will involve supporting righteous laws and opposing wicked ones.[2]
   15. Those are VERY important thoughts as we continue this message.
   16. But, again, whose kingdom do we seek?
   17. Jesus does say that His Kingdom is different. Jesus did not overthrow Rome through a battle, though He could have. He had a different way. He went to the cross to save us, and then His church organically, by the power of the Holy Spirit changed the world.
   18. So, when Peter was prepared to do battle, cutting off a servant’s ear (John 18:10-11), Jesus had a different way.
   19. We must seek His Kingdom.
   20. We must pray as He taught us to pray: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
   21. Again, I must emphasize, this does not mean we do not do anything. No, we should be the best citizens, the best servants, we should be Christians and that means that we love one another. That means that our love has arms and legs that serve. But in the end, we are seeking Jesus’s Kingdom. Jesus’s Kingdom calls us to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39).
   22. Now, let’s turn to the last prayer in the Bible.
3. The last prayer in the Bible (Rev. 22:20).
   1. Revelation 22:20 (ESV)
   2. ²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Come, Lord Jesus!
   3. Here is John on the island of Patmos for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:2; 6:9; 12:17) . Here he is being persecuted.
   4. Jesus communicates with him this prophetic message.
   5. Jesus gives him these letters for the seven churches (Rev. 2-3).
   6. Jesus tells him things to take place and maybe some that are already taking place in the heavenly realm. They are being persecuted.
   7. They are in a nation that is allowing and even encouraging persecution of Christians.
   8. Yet, the Gospel is spreading.
   9. The Gospel will continue to spread. I already shared with you how Christianity later became the religion of Rome.
   10. How did that happen?
   11. It happened by the Holy Spirit leading Christians to be Christians.
   12. It happened because Christians did not try to tackle Rome, but kept living as Christians one day-at-a-time.
   13. It happened because they lived for Christ’s Kingdom in this kingdom.
   14. Then, after John sees this whole vision, how does he respond?
   15. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20).
   16. John is not the only one who prayed that. In 1 Cor. 16:21 Paul wrote, “Our Lord Come.”
   17. Do we seek the Lord’s coming?
   18. Do we recognize that His Kingdom is ultimate?
   19. Or, do we think His Kingdom is penultimate and the current kingdom is ultimate?
   20. No! His way is best. His Kingdom is ultimate.
4. This is many prayers in one.
   1. I like how one writer said that this is many prayers in one.[3]
   2. Realize that when Jesus comes, there will be judgment (Rev. 19-20).
   3. Realize that when Jesus comes, He will dry our tears (Rev. 21:4). In this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33), but one day He will make it right.
   4. Rev. 21:4: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
   5. Realize that when Jesus comes, He will end our pain (Rev. 21:4).
   6. Realize when Jesus comes, He will put “death to death.”[4]
   7. Realize when Jesus come, he will get rid of sin. We will be like Him (1 John 3:2).
   8. Matthew 13:41-42: The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
   9. When Jesus comes, He will make all things new (Rev. 21:1).
   10. Come, Lord Jesus is many prayers in one.
   11. Come, Lord Jesus is a prayer for Him.
   12. Do we desire Him?
   13. He will bring about His ultimate Kingdom with the New Heaven and the new earth and it will be the ultimate Kingdom.
   14. I like what one writer shares: The burning heart of John’s three-word plea is not for what Jesus does, but for who he is. This is clear throughout the book of Revelation. The world to come is a world to want because Jesus lives there. John’s prayer, after all — “Come, Lord Jesus!” — is a response to Jesus promising three times in the previous verses, “Behold, I am coming soon. . . . Behold, I am coming soon. . . . Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20).[5]
   15. Randy Alcorn shares: Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for Heaven. We think that what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, a large-screen television, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. What we really want is the person we were made for, Jesus, and the place we were made for, Heaven. Nothing less can satisfy us. . . . We may imagine we want a thousand different things, but God is the one we really long for. His presence brings satisfaction; his absence brings thirst and longing. Our longing for Heaven is a longing for God. (Heaven, 166, 171)
5. Come, to Jesus.
   1. Look back at that passage in Rev. 22:20, but look up a few verses:
   2. Revelation 22:17 (ESV)
   3. ¹⁷ The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
   4. This is an allusion to:
   5. Isaiah 55:1 (ESV)
   6. 55 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
   7. come to the waters;
   8. and he who has no money,
   9. come, buy and eat!
   10. Come, buy wine and milk
   11. without money and without price.
   12. When Jesus comes, He will make all things right. First, we will have the millennial reign, but when He comes and the New Heaven and the new earth come, all will be made right and He is calling for us to come.
   13. Jesus’s Kingdom will be awesome!
   14. Marshall Segal writing on Desiring God shares: When Jesus comes, we will eat and drink and enjoy without end. Hunger and thirst will become distant memories. If sorrows have robbed you of sleep, if pain has made even normal days hard, if death has taken ones you love, if life has sometimes seemed stacked against you, if you can’t shake a restless ache for more, then come and eat with him. This world may be the only world you’ve known, but a better world is coming — and there’s still room at the table.[6]

I began this sermon with the quote from John Adams. I find it an important quote. It does not only apply to the founding of our country. It applies to us as people. The diligence of our founding fathers must be appreciated. God used them to build up an amazing country. Of course, it would not have happened except by God.

So, we are to pray and seek His Kingdom. But this does NOT mean we bury our head in the sand and do not do anything now. I believe the United States is the greatest country in the world. I believe we should be patriotic. We are to pray for God’s Kingdom and while we pray and seek God’s Kingdom we should live as good citizens in our current kingdom.

However, in the end, we must seek God’s Kingdom. We must cry out, “Come, Lord, Jesus Come!” That will be when everything is made right.

Will you be there? Have you received Him as Lord and Savior? Are you treasuring Him as your Savior?

Prayer

[1] McCullough, David. John Adams (pp. 284-285). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

[2] https://www.breakpoint.org/what-not-of-this-world-doesnt-mean-why-christians-are-called-to-politics/

[3] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-prayer-to-end-all-prayers?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=207260996&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9i77U4mWhPBsbEE1hQ5E4uF7OMo0x-OWhDCfQh1MR4Wm-XhiY1f4n-G8fZTlkvYOxUqhvJeRRU2x-huH_Oa6p9oES36w&utm_content=207260996&utm_source=hs_email

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and prayer for the Philippians (Phil 1:3-11)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church on Sunday, June 25, 2023

We just began our preaching series on Philippians. As we continue notice joy and thanksgiving in this letter.

Why do we lack thankfulness?

Swindoll shares: A good reminder of this is the short story by G. W. Target entitled “The Window,” which tells of two men, both seriously ill, who occupied the same small hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.  

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The other man had to lie flat on his back. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn’t seem fair.

As the thought fermented the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window—that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now there was only silence— deathly silence.

The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away—no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.[1]

As we look at this passage notice Paul’s joy.

My theme:

Paul’s Thanksgiving and prayer for the Philippians (Phil 1:3-11)

My applications:

Pray like Paul, have affections for God and others like Paul, and be joyful.

1. Paul gives thanks in prayer (Philippians 1:3-5).
   1. Philippians 1:3–5 (ESV)
   2. ³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
   3. Verse 3: Thanks, is in the present tense, meaning continual.
   4. He is thanking God.
   5. He is thanking God as he remembers them.
   6. It seems that Paul has a special relationship with them.
   7. Do we thank God as we think of other people?
   8. In verse 4 Paul goes on.
   9. He is thanking God in his remembrance of them when he prays.
   10. He is making his prayer with joy.
   11. Joy is a dominant theme in Philippians (vv. 18, 25; 2:2, 17, 18, 28, 29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10).^[2]
   12. I also notice the repetition of the adjective “all” or “every.” There is also the adverb “always.”
   13. “All” his remembrance of them.
   14. “Always” in “every” prayer.
   15. He is making his prayer with joy.
   16. This comes off choppy. But look at the NAB rendering: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all…
   17. He is always thanking God for his remembrance of them…
   18. He is always offering prayers with joy.
   19. This happens in every prayer for them.
   20. In verse 5 Paul shares that he is thankful for their partnership in the gospel.
   21. This is what he is thankful for. He is thankful that they partnered in the gospel from the first day until now.
   22. The Philippians partnered with him financially (Phil. 4:10-20).
   23. Are we partnering in the gospel?
   24. Let’s move to the next verse:
2. God will complete what He began (Philippians 1:6).
   1. Philippians 1:6: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
   2. Paul says that he is sure… Notice that.
   3. He who began a good work…
   4. Who began the work?
   5. Who do you think?
   6. It is God.
   7. God is the One Who initiates salvation.
   8. John 6:44 (ESV)
   9. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
   10. God does the saving.
   11. God will also bring our salvation to completion at the day of Christ.
   12. It is more literally that He will perfect it UNTIL the day of Christ.
   13. He will keep working in us to grow in grace and godliness until Jesus comes again.
   14. This means that when God makes all things right. This is either when Jesus raptures us or when He comes to usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. It could be somewhere in between.
   15. God is at work and He will finish the work.
   16. Do we trust Him?
   17. We may not finish a job, but He does. God is faithful.
   18. Now, let’s see Paul’s affection for the Philippians.

• Paul’s affection for the Philippians (Philippians 1:7-8).
  1. Philippians 1:7–8 (ESV)
  2. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
  3. Swindoll, ”Laugh Again”
  4. His memory of them made him smile. Meaning what? What were Paul’s happy memories? He had no regrets, he nursed no ill feelings, he struggled through no unresolved conflicts. When he looked back over a full decade and thought of the Philippians, he laughed!
  5. I wonder how many pastors can say that about former churches they have served? Could you say that about former friends you have had? Or places where you have worked? Are yours happy memories? Unfortunately, the memory of certain people makes us churn. When we call them to mind, they bring sad or disappointing mental images. Paul knew no such memories from his days in Philippi. Amazingly, he could not remember one whom he would accuse or feel ill toward, not even those who threw him in prison or those who stood in a courtroom and made accusations against him. He entertained only good memories of Philippi. Positive memories make life so much lighter.[3]
  6. Look at that.
  7. He holds them in his heart.
  8. He has a personal relationship with them and he will say why.
  9. They are fellow partakers of God’s grace.
  10. This is true where he is at currently, remember he is in prison.
  11. This is also true in his gospel work.
  12. One source shares: Paul’s imprisonment would have been a source of great shame in the ancient world, but the Philippians have nonetheless stood in solidarity with him. This was no doubt an encouragement as he shared the good news with his captors and judges.^[4]
  13. Verse 8, he yearns for them.
  14. He even says with the affection of Christ Jesus.
  15. Wow!
  16. Are we thankful?

1. Paul’s prayer for the Philippians (Philippians 1:9-11).
   1. Philippians 1:9–11 (ESV)
   2. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
   3. Now, Paul is really praying.
   4. This is important.
   5. It is important to see his heart’s desire for them.
   6. He wants their love to abound more and more.
   7. He prays that they have knowledge and discernment.
   8. Verse 10 is purpose.
   9. When they have that love with knowledge and discernment they may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the Day of Christ.
   10. Paul wants to see them pure and blameless.
   11. That is awesome!
   12. Do we want to be pure and blameless when Jesus comes again?
   13. He prays that they would be filled with the fruit of righteousness. I think that is the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23.
   14. That fruit of righteousness only comes through Jesus.
   15. See John 15:8 and Eph 2:10 for that.
   16. This is about the Holy Spirit gradually working in our lives until we go to heaven or Jesus comes again.
   17. This is to the glory and praise of God.
2. Application
   1. Do we thank God as we think of other people?
   2. Swindoll shares: If you have not yet read John Powell’s Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am? you are missing a great experience. There is a section in the book that is worth a great deal of your time and attention. It is where the author presents the five levels of communication, which, he says, are like concentric circles—from the most shallow and superficial level (outer circle) to the deepest, most intimate level (smallest circle at the core).
   3. Level five, the outer circle of superficiality, is the level he calls “cliché conversation.”
   4. On this level, we talk in clichés, such as: “How are you? . . . How is your family? . . . 
   5. That’s cliché communication. Tragically, that is the deepest many people choose to go.
   6. Level four is where we “report facts” about each other. We remain contented to tell others what so-and-so has said or done. We offer no personal, self-revelatory commentary on these facts, but simply report them.
   7. This is the realm of gossip and petty, meaningless little tales about others.
   8. Level three leads us into the area of ideas and judgments. Rarely do people communicate at this deeper level. They are able, but they’re not willing.
   9. As I communicate my ideas, etc., I will be watching you carefully. I want to test the temperature of the water before I leap in. I want to be sure that you accept me with my ideas, judgments, and decisions. If you raise your eyebrows or narrow your eyes, if you yawn or look at your watch, I will probably retreat to safer ground. I will run for the cover of silence, or change the subject of conversation.
   10. Level two moves into “feelings.” If I really want you to know who I am, I must tell you about my stomach (gut-level) as well as my head. My ideas, judgments, and decisions are quite conventional.
   11. Level one is the most personal, intimate form of communication.
   12. All deep and authentic friendships, and especially the union of those who are married, must be based on absolute openness and honesty. . . . Among close friends or between partners in marriage there will come from time to time a complete emotional and personal communion.
   13. Such depth of communication, which Paul seems to have practiced on a regular basis, brings a satisfaction—and joy—like few things on earth.[6]
   14. Do we thank God for reminding us of each other as we pray?
   15. Do we pray with joy?
   16. Are we remembering each other in prayer?
   17. Are we partnering in the gospel? We see in verse 5 that Paul was thankful for their partnership in the gospel?
   18. How do we feel about the gospel?
   19. Do we believe the Gospel?
   20. If you believe these truths say Amen.
   21. Is Jesus the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father, but by Him?
   22. Amen
   23. Do you believe John 3:16, if so say amen after I read it:
   24. John 3:16 (ESV)

• ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1. 1:6 shows that God does the saving, and He will also complete the saving. We must give Him the glory and we must trust Him.

• We must have affections for others who are in gospel work with us.

1. Do we yearn for other Christians like Paul does in verse 8?
2. Do we model our prayer off of how Paul prayed in verses 9-11?

• Do we want to love Jesus?
• Do we want to be pure and blameless?

1. Do we want to be able to approve what is excellent?
2. Verse 11: Do we want to be filled with the fruit of righteousness (see Gal 5:22-23)?

• Do we glorify God and praise Him?

Paul talked about their partnership in the gospel.

Let’s read this early church creed together.

Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (Nicene Creed AD 325 edited at the Council of Constantinople in 381)

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.[7]

[1] Swindoll, Charles R.. Laugh Again (pp. 50-51). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

^[2] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 2108.

[3] Swindoll, Charles R.. Laugh Again (p. 38). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2280.

^[5] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 2108.

[6] Swindoll, Charles R.. Laugh Again (pp.42- 43). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[7]  Elliot Ritzema, “Nicene Creed,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

I enjoy being a father. It is the most important job that I have. I notice certain things about this job more and more. I notice responsibilities, pressures, and joys.

On December 6, 1907, a massive explosion decimated a coal mine in Monongah, West Virginia. Three hundred and sixty-two miners were killed, making this the worst mining disaster in U.S. history. The tragedy devastated the small town and led eventually to the establishment of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.  

The Monongah mine disaster also marked another beginning. Several months after the explosion, a local church held a special service in honor of the 362 miners, most of whom had left behind wives and children. This is the first event on record in the United States set aside specifically to honor dads. 

Two years later, a woman from Spokane who, along with her five siblings, was raised by her widowed father, began a public campaign to establish a national Father’s Day. A day for mothers was already in the works and, according to historical accounts, was a much easier sell to the public. By 1916, President Woodrow Wilson had officially recognized Father’s Day, though it would not be recognized as a national holiday until 1972. 

A little over a hundred years after the mining disaster that birthed Father’s Day, the United States is now suffering a crisis of fatherlessness. One in four American kids are, like so many in that West Virginia town, growing up without their father at home. That amounts to 18.5 million kids. 

If statistics hold, this means that 18.5 million children are three times more likely to engage in criminal activity than those who have dads at home. Those 18.5 million kids are more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier, are less likely to go to college, more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems, more likely to struggle academically, are twice as likely to commit suicide, and much more likely to commit violence. The vast majority of mass shooters in the past 20 years were young men who were, in some way, estranged from their fathers. 

Almost any social good that can be named is dependent on dads who commit to their families and is at risk when they don’t. This does not mean that every child who grows up without dad in the home will not succeed.

Showing up, sticking around, and discipling kids as only a father can is a powerful witness to the beautiful design and the steadfast love of our own heavenly Father. Every kid needs and deserves one.[1] 

Fathers and mothers, and the family are part of God’s natural law. Natural law is the ethical or moral structure that God has revealed to humans in creation (both within their consciences and in the providential unfolding of history) and which is discerned through reason and experience.  The concept of natural law has existed since the earliest days of the church. When Paul wrote of those who “by nature do what the law requires” (Romans 2:14), he may have been thinking in terms of natural law.^[2]

As we celebrate Father’s Day I want to focus on God’s order. God established the family.

My theme today is that God established the family as the first institution. We must honor the family.

1. God established the family (Genesis 2:18-24).
   1. In Gen. 2:18 the Lord says that it is not good for man to be alone and so the Lord created Eve.
   2. Look at: Genesis 2:21–24 (ESV): ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
   3. In that passage God is setting the first institution, which is the family.
   4. God officiated the wedding for Adam and Eve.
   5. As one writes: This is a wedding. You know how the father brings the bride down the aisle to the groom? In this case, the father is God. God is doing the honors, and he’s bringing the wife to the husband. When Adam sees Eve, he literally explodes into art. This is the first piece of art in the history of the world, according to the Bible. This is Hebrew poetry using parallelism, assonance, word play, and a chiastic structure. It’s a song. He’s exploding into poetry and song…[3]
   6. In Genesis 3, the devil temps Eve and Adam does not step up and defend his wife. Sin then enters the world.
   7. In Genesis 4, the two, Adam and Eve, become 4, and then many more Cain and Abel followed by others.
   8. This is the family, the first institution given to society.
   9. There is a principle, it is This means the closest people to a situation are most equipped to handle the situation. Your family is most equipped to take care of the needs of your family. Poland is most equipped to handle the needs of Poland. Ohio is most equipped to handle the needs of Ohio. It is not good to micromanage.
   10. Family is critical for the health of society. God established the family. God established and placed it on our hearts as part of natural law the idea of mom, dad, and family order.
   11. Exodus 20:12 (ESV) ¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
   12. Paul later says in Eph. 6:2 that this is the only commandment with a promise. The point is that no civilization can live well in the land without respect for parents.
   13. Family was God’s idea, not man’s.
2. Father’s have a significant rule as provider and spiritual leader in the family.
   1. Sticking with the Old Testament we can see the consequences when dad’s don’t lead in the family. In 2 Samuel 13 David’s son Amnon raped his sister Tamar. David did not do anything about it. This led to David’s son Absalom taking matters into his own hands and then eventually David almost lost the kingdom. David should have been the dad.
   2. But what about the New Testament?
   3. In the New Testament we have household codes. We find these in Eph. 5:22-6:9; Col. 3:18, 22, and 1 Peter 3. In the Pauline household codes Paul reflects the household codes of the Greco-Roman world, but he is a little subversive. In the Greco-Roman world the father was the head of the house and his rule was absolute. The male head of household is referred to as the paterfamilias. The paterfamilias maintained power over property and family members—even power of life and death. ^[4]
   4. But in Ephesians 5:21, before Paul writes about family order he writes:
   5. Ephesians 5:21 (ESV) …²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
   6. Then Paul writes: “Wives to your husbands, as to the Lord…” (Eph. 5:22).
   7. There is still an order in the family, but we have mutual submission. I think Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is still considering the husband, the leader of the family, the spiritual leader, and the head, but we must be servant leaders. As we continue in Ephesians 5 Paul gives the example of what Jesus did. Husbands are to be like Jesus. What did Jesus do? He came and served us. He came and died to take care of our sin problem.
   8. Ephesians 5:23–25 (ESV) ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…
   9. Now, look at this Jesus is the head of the church and He died for the church. The church is the bride of Christ, there is family language again. Jesus took care of the bride’s spiritual need.
   10. Husbands, fathers, must be spiritual leaders of our family.
   11. We are the pastor of our family.
   12. What does it mean to watch over our children spiritually?
   13. The Bible makes it clear that we are to pass on the faith to the next generation:
   14. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV) ⁴“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
   15. All through the Old Testament it talked about teaching our children and grandchildren about the Lord. Not just about God in a generic sense, but the Lord.
   16. It means to introduce them to Jesus. Show them that you love Jesus. Show them that you treasure Jesus. Bring them with you to church. Read the Bible with them. Pray with them. Pray for them. Discipleship begins at home, and, again, you are the pastor of your family.
   17. Sitting at his father’s bedside after watching him take his last breath, John Piper spoke these words:I look you in the face and promise you with all my heart: Never will I forsake your gospel. O how you believed in hell and heaven and Christ and cross and blood and righteousness and faith and salvation and the Holy Spirit and the life of holiness and love. I rededicate myself, Daddy, to serve your great and glorious Lord Jesus with all my heart and with all my strength. You have not lived in vain. Your life goes on in thousands. I am glad to be one.

• The family is a gift from God.
  1. This is God’s order.
  2. God established the family.
  3. God established the family with husbands, and wives, children, and grandchildren. The world may be confused, but we should not be confused.
  4. The world is confused.
  5. Gavin Ortlund writes;
  6. The sense of chaos and disintegration introduced by atheism is powerfully conveyed in Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous parableof the “madman.” This character (generally regarded as representing Nietzsche) runs to the marketplace and cries out,
  7. “Whither is God?” . . . “I will tell you. We have killed him—you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us?”[5]
  8. Once they take away God there is no hope, no backward, sideward, forward. It is empty and cold. The world may be confused about the family, but we do not need to be confused about the family.
  9. In his famous essay on existentialism, for example, Jean-Paul Sartre rejected the efforts of earlier French atheists to retain objective morality apart from God, statingthat “the existentialist . . . finds it extremely embarrassing that God does not exist, for there disappears with Him all possibility of finding values in an intelligible heaven.”[6]
  10. When God is rejected, when His values are rejected, what follows is the rejection of morality, ethics, values, and of course family.
  11. God gave us family.
  12. We don’t need to be confused. We must be model examples.
  13. God created family. God gave family as a gift.
  14. Do you realize that family is a gift given by God?
  15. God created Eve for Adam because there was a need. It was not right that man should be alone (Gen. 2:18). In other words, though we say God should be enough, the norm is that we need other people. This is natural law. This is God’s natural order which He established with creation. God gave family as a gift.
  16. The family is God’s first institution.
  17. Dads are the pastor of the family.

By the way, AND this is very important, sometimes families are divided. Sometimes dads are absent. This happens too often, and it is tragic. We must all remember that God is our heavenly Father. We must all remember that the church is our family. Family is a central metaphor for understanding our relationship to God. Israel is portrayed as the Lord’s daughter or wife (Jer 3:20; 31:22). Jesus’ followers are children of God; His brothers and sisters (Mark 3:31–35). In many of the letters of the apostles, followers of Jesus are referred to as brothers and sisters (Rom 16:17). The covenant with God is understood as a great extended family.^[7]

Sometimes, families are even divided by the Gospel. Jesus said that would happen (Matthew 10:21, 36; Mark 13:12). Still, that is part of the sinful world. God’s order for the family was established in the Garden of Eden. Praise God for family. Praise God for fathers, mothers, children, and grandchildren.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] https://breakpoint.org/healthy-cultures-rest-on-dads-shoulders/

^[2] Brian Collins, “Natural Law,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[4] Ibid.

[5] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/apologetics-age-despair/

[6] Ibid.

^[7] Michelle J. Morris, “Family,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Most folks have a key chain and on that key chain there are a plethora of keys, each designed to open a certain lock. It is quite normal to have a number of keys. There is probably one for the house, one for the car, one for the office, and so on. Each key has been uniquely cut to fit a specific lock in order to enter or gain access to a specific location.

I have a number of keys that look alike, are the same length, and appear similar in shape, but they won’t open the same door because they have each been uniquely crafted from a different master key. Each key has been uniquely crafted for a special place.

In our context, God is the master key. He opens everything, but He has uniquely crafted every believer for a specific place in which He wants you to make a difference in the lives of others as a recipient of the manifold grace of God.^825[1]

Today, we begin a sermon series on the New Testament letter of Philippians. As we begin this letter, we see the apostle Paul describe himself as a servant. Paul also extends grace and peace. Let’s begin this letter.

Today, my theme is:

Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:1-2)

My application: As a church let’s serve the Lord in unity.

1. Allow me to intro Philippians:
   1. One source says that Philippians is Theology in street clothes.
   2. Author: The Apostle Paul is identified as the author
   3. When was this letter written? Paul clearly writes Philippians from prison, but he doesn’t say where.
   4. The date is dependent on where he wrote this from. Acts speaks only of his two-year detention in Caesarea Maritime in Palestine 58-60 AD. Followed by another two-year stent in house arrest in Rome awaiting trial (60-62). He was imprisoned on another occasion prior to 58 AD. But we are unsure of where and when (2 Cor 6:5; 11:23). Evidence leads towards Paul’s Roman imprisonment making this one of his latest letters.
   5. Paul’s triumphant declaration that his imprisonment for the sake of Christ, “has become known to the whole praetorian” (Phil 1:13) and his word of greetings for converts within “Caesar’s household” (Phil 4:22) are most natural and most impressive in Roman settings (DeSilva 646).
   6. Paul planted the church at Philippi during his second missionary journey (AD 50) in response to his “Macedonian vision” (Ac 16:9–10). This was the first church in Europe (Ac 16).
   7. One source adds: The text of this letter from Paul suggests several characteristics of the church at Philippi. First, Gentiles predominated. Few Jews lived in Philippi, and, apparently, the church had few. Second, women had a significant role (Ac 16:11–15; Php 4:1–2). Third, the church was generous. Fourth, they remained deeply loyal to Paul.^[2]
   8. ESV SB: The church at Philippi had a special significance for Paul, since it was the first church he founded in Europe (see Acts 16:6–40). The first convert was Lydia, a seller of purple goods, and women continued to have a prominent role in the Philippian church (e.g., Phil. 4:2). Paul and Silas were imprisoned there for exorcising a demon from a fortune-telling slave girl, but God miraculously delivered them, and they proclaimed the gospel to the Philippian jailer. Paul likely visited the Philippians a few times after his initial departure, and they maintained active support for his ministry ( 4:15–16).^[3]
   9. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great took over the Agricultural settlement called Krenides in 356 BCE renaming it Philippi. Macedonia came under Roman control in 168 BC, but Philippi as Paul knew it really took shape during the Civil wars that rocked the Roman Republic during the second half of the first century BC. The final battle between Caesar’s armies, led by Marc Antony and Octavian (Later the emperor Augustus), and the armies of the assassins of Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius, took place near Philippi in 42 BC. Antony and Octavian rewarded veterans with settlements in Philippi and generous grants of farmland in the hinterland of that city. After the alliance between Antony and Octavian broke down, the second civil war was effectively ended with Antony’s defeat near Actium in 31 BC. Octavian settled many of Antony’s soldiers in Philippi since they had forfeited their claims to land in Italy. Philippi was refounded as a colony of Rome (Acts 16:12) and named after Augustus’s daughter (Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis), whose citizens enjoyed Roman citizenship) (DeSilva 640-641). This made Philippi under Roman law. The citizens in Acts 16:21 saw themselves as Romans first. Philippi was not a major city. Philippi had several temples and the typical cultic practices of Romans and Greek gods. The imperial cult was strong. The GK gods such as Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Artemis were strong in this city. There was probably high tension between the Christian community and the world they left behind.
   10. ESV SB: On balance, it seems most likely that the letter was written from Rome, c. d. 62. This also fits most naturally with the mention of the praetorium and “Caesar’s household” (Phil. 1:13 and 4:22).^[4]
   11. Theme (from the ESV SB): The chief theme of Philippians is encouragement: Paul wants to encourage the Philippians to live out their lives as citizens of a heavenly colony, as evidenced by a growing commitment to service to God and to one another. The way of life that Paul encourages was manifested uniquely in Jesus Christ; it was also evident in the lives of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus.^[5]
   12. Interesting: Many of Paul’s letters can be divided into theological and practical sections, but Philippians does not follow that pattern. Paul’s theological instruction is woven throughout the fabric of a highly personal letter.^[6]
2. Grace and peace
   1. Now, let’s focus on Paul’s opening words.
   2. Philippians 1:1 (ESV)
   3. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
   4. Paul begins saying who the letter is from.
   5. Paul and Timothy wrote this.
   6. Why was Timothy mentioned?
   7. It does seem that Timothy was with him but did not write the letter. It is most likely giving Timothy’s name makes a nice personal connection.
   8. It is possible that he was Paul’s scribe.
   9. New American Commentary: Paul mentioned him in the salutations of six epistles (2 Cor; Col; Phil; 1, 2 Thess; Phlm) and wrote two epistles to him (1, 2 Tim).^4[7]
   10. Notice how he says that they are servants of Christ.
   11. He does not identify himself as an apostle.
   12. Maybe this is because this is a friendly letter. He is not writing with a rebuke like in Galatians. He does address concerns later, but the overall letter is mainly one of joy, thanks, and encouragement.
   13. Paul and Timothy are servants of who?
   14. Servants of Christ Jesus.
   15. Christ means the “Messiah,” which means, “anointed one.”
   16. Jesus means “the Lord saves.”
   17. They are servants of the Savior.
   18. The Greek is more literally slaves, or bond-servant. This is like an indentured servant.
   19. The letter is to all the saints.
   20. Every believer is a saint, so the letter is to every believer in Christ at Philippi.
   21. Saint means “holy-ones.”
   22. Paul also addresses the church leadership. He addresses the overseers and deacons.
   23. Overseers would be elders.
   24. New American Commentary: The other group consisted of bishops and deacons. This is the only time Paul used the word “bishop” [translated “overseers” in the ESV] outside of the Pastoral Epistles.^12[8]
   25. “Deacon” means “servants.”
   26. These are elders and deacons, and they have an inseparable logical order in church leadership.
   27. Grace and peace

• Who are the grace and peace from?
• God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Notice he references God as our Father.
• God is our loving Father.
• He also references the Lord, Jesus Christ.

• Piper: Grace is with them as they go on their way and “to you” in the front.
• That is the case in all 13  of Paul’s letters without exception. It is grace to you in the beginning and grace with you in the end.
• As you begin to read the letter God will mediate grace and as you end the letter grace will be with you, strengthening you as you leave.
• “From God our Father.”

• If you do a study, you will see that the word “grace” and “Father” are connected at every single letter of the Apostle Paul.
• In his mind to be a child of God is to be in a state of grace that is inexpressibly great.
• We are a family with God as our Father.

• With God as our Father, grace is coming to us all the time.
• In the Old Testament God is considered the Father of Israel, but almost never do you see individuals talking of God as “My Father.” Sometimes, not regularly, but that is the reality of being a saint, a child of God.[9]
• MacArthur: It is said that when Bible translators were seeking a word or phrase for “peace” in the language of the Chol Indians of South Mexico, they discovered that the words for “a quiet heart” gave just the meaning they were looking for. That’s an appropriate parallel because peace guards the soul against anxiety and strife, granting solace and harmony.[10]

• Applications and review:
  1. Paul and Timothy are servants of Christ (Phil. 1:1). We must strive to consider ourselves as servants. We must strive to serve however we can.
  2. Paul lists himself not using the “apostle” title, but equally with Timothy as a servant. We must consider ourselves equal servants of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:1).
  3. We must not try to bring up rank but be a servant (Phil. 1:1; 2:3-4).
  4. We must think of how we can serve one another.
  5. Maybe God is calling us to be more of a servant.
  6. Maybe God is calling us to think about how to sacrifice more.
  7. Paul lists the saints, alongside the leadership (Phil. 1:1). We must consider the church holistically. We are all saints. We are all holy ones.
  8. We must extend grace and peace from the Lord (Phil. 2:2).

Tony Evans shares:

We have a computer network in operation on our church campus. This network only functions because of its servers. Servers enable the computers to communicate with each other so that all of the campus computers can “be on the same page.” Our capacity to maximize our campus productivity is enhanced because our servers are in place doing their jobs.

God wants a networked campus of hearts who love Him and who love one another because they are networked by servers—men and women who give of themselves because they have received the manifold grace of God.^824[11]

Prayer

^[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 276.

AD In the year of our Lord

^[2] Richard R. Melick Jr., “Philippians,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1882.

^[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

1. about, approximately

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

^[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2275.

^[6] Richard R. Melick Jr., “Philippians,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1883.

^[7] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 47.

¹² It only occurs twice there, 1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:7. A related word, ἐπισκοπῆς (rather than ἐπίσκοπος), occurs in 1 Tim 3:1. Peter used each word (1 Pet 2:12; 2:25). Ἐπίσκοπος also occurs in Acts 20:28.

^[8] Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 49.

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbz5d8Np9eQ&feature=youtu.be

[10] Devotion originally at: https://www.gty.org/library/devotionals/drawing-near?utm_source=mailerlite&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=read_todays_drawing_near_devotional&utm_term=2019-02-09

^[11] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 276.

God’s Love Enables You to Love Others (1 John 4:11)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 4, 2023

David Jeremiah shares the following story:

Rick Garmon opened his gun cabinet and took a long look at the weapons within it. He lifted his best rifle and began polishing it. He had been doing all he could to hide the rage inside him, but people knew.

What they could not know was that the fantasy of vengeance that had crept into his mind months ago had put down roots and grown into a genuine intention. He was going to take this gun, place it on the floor of his car, and drive slowly through the college campus. Sooner or later he would see him—the student who had raped his daughter Katie. Then he would calmly pick up the gun, aim it, and deliver justice.

His sweet Katie had been only eighteen, a college freshman. She couldn’t tell anyone for a long time. Instead, she switched schools, developed eating disorders, and fought severe depression. It was Katie’s mother—Rick’s wife—who finally got the truth out of her. She told her mother about the date rape and gave her the name of the boy. But it didn’t help. Katie became more and more withdrawn. It took a year of prayer and therapy before she finally began to turn the corner and get on with her life.

But her protective father did not turn that corner. He seethed with ever-deepening fury over the punk who had devastated his daughter. First Rick merely daydreamed about revenge, but at some point he found himself making solid plans.

Now he stood at the gun cabinet, ready to turn those plans into action. That’s when his young son Thomas came up behind him. “You going hunting, Dad? Cleaning your guns? Can I help you?”

For a moment Rick just stood without responding. When he turned around, he saw tears in his son’s eyes. He knows, Rick thought. Dear God, I think my son knows my plan.

Some kind of spell broke at that moment. “Come here, son. Give me a hug.”

Thomas ran over to his dad and then wrapped his arms around his father, hugging him with all the love and affection he could muster. And that was when the father realized the truth. He had thought his bitterness defined him—that nothing could stop the overwhelming hatred from growing stronger in his heart. Now he knew he was wrong. Love was stronger. A son’s love. A Savior’s love. It took a great deal more strength to restrain one’s rage than it did to act it out. That strength could be found only in love.

As Rick replaced the gun and locked the cabinet decisively, he also locked away something within himself. He would not exercise his anger. He would not be judge and jury; he would be a servant of God instead, and that meant forgiving. It would be the hardest thing he had ever done, and it might take several months, and innumerable prayers. But through the power of God’s love, Rick Garmon was going to forgive the man who had violently abused his daughter.^1[1]

That day Rick Garmon encountered God’s transforming love in his son’s embrace. God’s love is more than just talk. It is real. It completely changes the way we think, the way we see others, the way we live each day. Love delivers us from the vicious cycle of vengeful retaliation. It makes life worth living. It changes everything.^[2]

We have been talking about God’s love. Today, I focus on God’s love enables you to love others.

Today, my theme is:

God’s love enables you to love others.

(I am grateful to David Jeremiah’s book “God Loves You” for some of my main points and illustrations. Anything that is a direct quote, or illustration is footnoted)

1. Because God loves us, we can love others (1 John 4:10)
   1. Let’s look at 1 John 4:10 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
   3. God initiated love. He loved us when we were still in our sins.
   4. He sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. This means Jesus appeased the wrath of God.
   5. God loves us and this leads to us loving others.
   6. David Jeremiah: Just as the sun is our only source of daylight, God is our only source of love. Sunrays reflect from all objects they strike, permeating the air with light and making it possible for us to see. In a similar way, God’s love enters the world and reflects off our hearts, making it possible for us to love Him and others. We have no innate capacity, no self-originating store of love to give. We can give only what we receive from Him.^[3]
2. Because God loves us, we can love one another (1 John 4:11)
   1. Look with me at 1 John 4:11 (ESV)
   2. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
   3. We extend God’s love for us to others.
   4. See the progression in John’s writings:
   5. John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
   6. John 15:12: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
   7. 1 John 3:10: By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
   8. 1 John 4:8: Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
   9. David Jeremiah sharing from Francis Shaeffer: In his book The Mark of a Christian, the late Francis Schaeffer pointed out that Jesus gives the world the right to judge believers by their love for one another:
   10. Jesus says, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present dying culture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians.
   11. That’s pretty frightening. Jesus turns to the world and says, “I’ve something to say to you. On the basis of my authority, I give you a right: you may judge whether or not an individual is a Christian on the basis of the love he shows to all Christians.”
   12. In other words, if people come up to us and cast in our teeth the judgment that we are not Christians because we have not shown love toward other Christians, we must understand that they are only exercising a prerogative which Jesus gave them.
   13. And we must not get angry. If people say, “You don’t love other Christians,” we must go home, get down on our knees, and ask God whether or not they are right. And if they are, then they have a right to have said what they said.^2[4]
   14. Wow! That is powerful, isn’t it? But it comes right from the Bible. I read the passages to you.
   15. Another example from David Jeremiah: This can turn out to be a pretty tough task. We can heartily agree with one Christian writer who describes how nothing in the world is more important or more difficult than truly loving other people:
   16. That odorous person with the nasty cough who sat next to you on the plane, shoving his newspaper into your face; those crude louts in the neighborhood with the barking dog, that smooth liar who took you in so completely last week—by what magic are you supposed to feel toward these people anything but revulsion, distrust and resentment, and justified desire to have nothing to do with them?^3[5]
   17. We can look at many other scriptures:
   18. The greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-39.
   19. Love your enemy (Matthew 5:43-45, 48).
   20. Clearly, loving others is what we are to do.

• Applications:
  1. How do we love?
  2. God loved us (1 John 4:10), we must worship Him.
  3. We must thank God and worship Him for His love.
  4. God loves us so much that He took care of our sin. Jesus became the sin offering. Jesus took the wrath of God and turned it into favor (1 John 4:10). We must thank Him and worship Him.
  5. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God in our place. Praise God!
  6. What can we do, but love Him and love others.
  7. We must love others (1 John 4:11).
  8. We must encourage others (1 Thess 5:11; Heb. 10:24-25).
  9. In his book A Simple Blessing, singer Michael W. Smith tells of Justin, a high school freshman who was walking home from school one day when he saw a group of students bullying a smaller boy. They knocked him to the ground, scattering his books and sending his glasses flying. Justin started to walk on, but when he saw the hurt in the boy’s eyes, he stopped, found his glasses, and helped him pick up his books. The boy was so overloaded with books that Justin offered to help him carry them home. On the way, he learned that the boy, Kyle, was a recent transfer to the school, had no friends, and was often harassed by those bullies.
  10. Out of sheer pity, Justin invited Kyle to come over and toss a football with him. The two became fast friends, and at the end of their senior year Kyle emerged as valedictorian of the graduating class. As he began his valedictory speech, Justin was stunned. Kyle told of his early misery. Uprooted, friendless, bullied, and hopeless, he had decided to end his life and was taking his books home so his mother would not have to clean out his locker. But this time when the bullies attacked, Justin came along with kindness and encouragement, which turned Kyle away from despair and gave him a new grip on life and hope.^5[6]
  11. We must say things to encourage others with our words (Eph 4:29).
  12. We must share with one another (Eph 4:28).
  13. We must serve one another (Matthew 5:16; Heb 6:10).
  14. We must be kind to one another, forgive one another (Eph 4:32).
  15. These applications could go on and on.

Christians have always been different. From the beginning Jesus freed us to love self-sacrificially:

Tim Keller shares:

Rodney Stark wrote a book called The Rise of Christianity. If you want a book that gives you a synopsis of early Christianity and why it triumphed in the Roman Empire, you couldn’t do better than that book. It’s readable, great scholarship. It uses sociology as well as historical scholarship. In the book he says there were at least three major ways in which the early Christians were remarkably different than their pagan neighbors.

One is when the great epidemics hit the urban centers of the Greco-Roman world, while other people just fled the cities, Christians stayed in the cities, took care of the sick, even though in many cases they died doing so. Secondly, when Christians were persecuted, that is when they were put to death unjustly, they did not respond with terrorism. They did not respond in violent retaliation. They did not respond with guerrilla warfare, but they died praying for their enemies’ forgiveness.

Rodney Stark points out the third thing. At the height of the Roman Empire, Rome had conquered all the nations in that part of the world. It had never happened before. For the first time really in history in that part of the world, all national borders were open. The nations weren’t against each other. They were all subjugated to Rome, and that meant for the first time in history the cities of the Roman Empire became fiercely multiethnic. That had never happened before.

In those cities there was a great deal of ethnic tension. Those kinds of folks had never lived together before. Rodney Stark said the Christian church was the first institution in the history of the world that brought people together across those ethnic barriers and said, “Race means nothing. Race isn’t important. There’s no pecking order of races and cultures here.” Rodney Stark said no institution had ever done anything like that.^[7]

You see Christians have always been different.

This week, remember God loves you and go and serve in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer

¹ Rick Garmon, “My Secret Hate,” Today’s Christian (May–June 2006). Cited in Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 226–27.

^[1] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

^[2] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

^[3] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

² Francis Schaeffer, The Mark of a Christian (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1970), 13.

^[4] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

³ Quoted in Ray Stedman, “The One Commandment,” May 10, 1985, accessed May 21, 2012, http://www.pbc.org/system/message_files/4298/3867.html.

^[5] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

⁵ Michael W. Smith, A Simple Blessing (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 145–46.

^[6] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).

^[7] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).