Date: 9/4/17
Text: Philippians 4:2 - 23
Title: Putting things right in Philippi
Place: Rhema
File: MFFL#10
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
Slide 1
Like it or not I spend quite a bit of my time in hospitals. And in hospitals today there are more machines than people. Have you noticed that? When a patient is in hospital nowadays they always seem attached to some machine or other which is monitoring their vital signs. Things like their heart rate, blood pressure or brain activity are measured to see what shape the patient is in physically.
Slide 2
But in the last chapter of his letter to the Philippians we find that the Apostle Paul has hooked us up to measure our vital signs, but this time these signs are not physical but spiritual. He starts looking at the people within the Church and asks the question, are we working out our salvation in five key areas. Do we have right relationships? Do we have the right focus? The right thinking? The right attitude? And the right finances? The answers to these questions will determine what spiritual state we are in. So let Dr Paul give us a faith check up this morning by firstly looking at
Slide 3
1. The Right Relationships (v.2-3) 2”I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mindin the Lord.3Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life”.
Slide 4
Here we see that there is a fight going on within the Church. A fight between two women Euodia and Syntyche. A fight between two key women, for both of these women have laboured hard for the sake of the gospel up until now and Paul knows them well and has much time for them. But two women who were once partners are now divided. And Paul who is hundreds of kilometres away hears about this division.
We are not told what the fight is about. Nor are we told who is in the right or who is in the wrong. Paul probably knew who, but notice he doesn't tell us. He just encourages the two to become reconciled, to agree. And notice he places the responsibility to become reconciled not on the party who has been wronged but on both parties - "I plead with you Euodia, I plead with you Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord."
So often we as Christians stand on our high horses when we have been wronged and refuse to do anything until the other party makes the first move. The problem is that the other party is often doing exactly the same thing because they feel they are the one who has been wronged! But this passage here reminds us that it is our Christian duty to ensure we have right relationships, and so even if we have been hurt, we need to make reconciliation, so that we can agree with one another in the Lord.
Slide 5
For God hates division among his followers. As the old saying says "United we stand, divided we fall." If we are divided among ourselves then all our energies will be concentrated on dealing with internal problems, and we will not be reaching up to God in praise and reaching out to those who don't know God in evangelism. We will have lost our focus, and the work of the gospel will go backwards rather than forwards.
Slide 6
A young boy was once asked to break a bundle of stick up so that they would be the right size to use in a campfire. He took the sticks, tied up with a rope and sought to crash them over his knee. Not one broke. Then he leant them against a tree and jumped onto the bundle, still nothing happened. His father notices the son's difficulties, so went over, untied the rope and started breaking the sticks one by one. For the sticks gained its strength when they were together.
Slide 7
It’s the same with the Church. Our strength comes when we are unified in the Lord. We will have our arguments, our disagreements, our fights. But are we going to become divided? Are we going to gossip about others?
Paul says that those whose names are in the book of life should not be divided, they should seek to cultivate right relationships. So do you have anything against anyone else? Has someone in your family, or in your Church family hurt you? Have you hurt someone yourself? Do you hold a grudge? If you have, it’s important that you do not let that division stand, whether you are in the right or in the wrong.
And if we are seeing disputes amongst our fellow believers around us, then we must be like Paul’s true companion who is encouraged to bring the two parties together. In a way it is much easier to just let it go. But if disunity is dangerous, then it is up to us, even if we are not part of the dispute to help bring a resolution. It is important that we are working towards unity and peace in the people around us.
Slide 8
But notice that Paul doesn't just give us the negative here, there is a positive as well. For in this context we find the famous phrase to "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." This is not some Pauline thought for the day like "Don’t worry, be happy!” Or “Always look on the bright side of life.” Paul wants those who are divided to rejoice on what they do have, rather than be divided in what they don’t have. Rejoice in the Lord. Agree with each other in the Lord. We have the Lord in common. We have the most important thing in common.
Slide 9
And so because the Lord is near, verse 5. Because God is with you and because he is with those who might disagree with you in the Church, then that should make us gentle, merciful, patient with others. Gentleness is not a common virtue today. It seems today we have to get things off our chest, we need to speak the truth, we need to crack heads to solve our problems, well don’t we? Do we? The harder you go at someone else the harder they return serve. Proverbs 15:1 says “a gentle answer turns away wrath.”
But that doesn’t mean you say nothing or walk away and go to another Church, you will only take your pain and hurt with you. We need to continually be seeking the right relationships with other people
Slide 10
2. The Right Focus. For Paul then moves on, because there are other vital spiritual signs he wants to talk about. Let’s hear what he has to say. 6“Do not be anxious about anything,but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
It’s not “Don’t worry, be happy” but “Don’t worry, be prayerful” For anxiety and worry, are the opposite to prayer. Now what do I mean by this?Well when you are anxious or worried, you are concerned about a certain situation. You don’t know how you are going to cope, you don't know what the future will hold. Thus anxiety is a lack of faith in God's ability to look after you. Whereas prayer on the other hand is a desire to give the situation over to God, to ask Him for His wisdom, His strength, His help. Prayer then is a trust in God's ability to help you out.
But I want you to remember where Paul is when he writes these words. We have already heard that he is in prison, with an uncertain future. He is lonely as many of his companions have disowned him. He is frustrated as he sees the task that God has given him to preach the gospel being put on hold, and he hears news of divisions and problems in many of the Churches he has founded.
It is into this situation that Paul says "Don't worry be prayerful." He knows what it is to be anxiousto face stress but this is the answer, take your worry & give it to God. But more than that, pray with thanksgiving. Be thankful for you have a God who is bigger than your biggest problems. We have a God who has given us these circumstances. He is in control. He knows what he is doing. So be thankful for the way he has looked after you in the past & accept his wisdom now. No matter how hard it seems.
Slide 11
If we aren't anxious, but we pray with thanksgiving, then Paul says that this will lead us to peace, "the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." So a person who has cancer and whose cancer has been arrested, has been stopped, they may say to God, "I am so thankful." And in that act they are praising God for his power. But a person who is dying of cancer and in pain may say "Everything is all right. The Lord doesn't make mistakes, he is in control”. That will give him peace, God’s peace in his heart.
God can give you peace, even when he doesn't seem to be answering your prayer. Even when the situation doesn't seem to change. For the peace comes through the fact that God is still working out his plan. Even if his plan is different to ours. It is a matter of the right focus. Do we focus on our troubles? Or do we focus on God? We can't change what happens to us, but we can change our response. And the response God wants out of each of us, is that when the going gets tough, the tough get on their knees.
3. Right Thinking. So the monitors recording our vital spiritual signs have a reading for right relationships, right focus and the third one looks at whether we are thinking right. "Finally my brothers whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is praiseworthy - think about such things."
Slide 13
They used to say that you are what you eat. But nowadays there are people who say you are what you think. Garbage in, garbage out. For we have rediscovered a biblical notion in recent times that what you put into your mind will affect how your body performs. That is why most businessmen and sportsman surround themselves with experts on positive thinking, which try to give them the edge in their careers or their chosen sport.
But the Bible was the first to recognise this fact. For what we think about, what we dwell on, affects how we live. Now to avoid all bad influences you would have to live in the outback. And God probably doesn't want us to do that because he wants us to shine like stars as we hold out the word of life. But we have to be careful that we don't just fill our minds with the unhelpful stuff, instead we should fill them with what is noble, true, right, pure or lovely.
Slide 15
I would like to you do some maths in your head. I want you to work out how many hours each day you would spend watching TV. Have you got that? Then add to that how much time you read the newspaper or magazines. Then add how much device or computer time? Add to that how much time you listen to secular music. Have you got a number?
Well compare it to how much time you spend in prayer, reading the Bible, listening to Christian preaching or music, or going to Church. What comes up on top? Are the 2 numbers even close? I was surprised when I did that calculation on my own life.
Slide 16
We need to know what is going on in the world, but we can’t reflect the world’s values back to it we must reflect God’s values and that means thinking, mediating, reflecting on God and his ways, every day so that we are ready. But Paul says that we should also look to other Christians, looking at how they live as he said "Whatever you have learned or receive or heard from me or seen in me - put into practice." Just by meeting together as Christians we can be encouraged to live in the right way. Just by looking at the example of those who have gone before us we can learn how to live a godly life.
Slide 17
4. Right Response. That's the third vital spiritual sign and the fourth is how we respond to our circumstances. Pauls says, “for I have learned to be contentwhatever the circumstances.12I know what it is to be in need & I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any & every situation, whether well fed or hungrywhether living in plenty or in want.13I can do all this through him who gives me strength
Paul says I can be content whether its 2 minute noodles with frozen peas on the menu. Or roast chicken wrapped in Pancetta served with baby carrots cooked by a Masterchefcontestant. Either way he's content. But how can be content? Because firstly he is confident in God’s provision. He has been in need and he has been in plenty and God was good to him in the midst of both circumstances.
For no matter what his situation was Paul also realised that he was strengthened by God’s power. Paul knows that no circumstance is beyond God’s power and so if that power is available to Paul then no circumstance can beat Paul either.
Slide 18
5. Right relationships, right focus, right thinking, right attitude and lastly Right Finances.
For what we do with our money is the last vital sign. Paul talks about the Philippians being eager to help in the expansion of the gospel. Giving time and time again when there was a need, but not just among their own people, but to the apostle as he sought to tell people about Jesus in other places, states and countries.
“You were the only one who helped me” says Paul. Really? Paul was sent out by the Antioch Church. He set up Churches in Cyprus, in Pisidian Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra and Derbe, in Philippi, in in Thessalonica, in Berea, in Athens and many more and the Philippians were the only ones who helped out? I find that incredible.
They had been saved by the preaching of the good news, surely they would want more people to know that very same good news? Yet we see the same thing today. There are some people who are generous, incredibly generous with their time, talent and money, giving it to the work of the gospel and others who give what they have to or nothing.
Slide 20
But Paul says he doesn’t want the Philippians to give for his sake but so that their account might be credited. For he knows that you can’t out give God. He knows that if you are generous, God can and will meet your needs. Now that is a lesson I have to keep on learning. I remember at theological college finding out that one of my fellow students was doing it particularly tough so I went to the bank took some money out and put it anonymously in his pigeon hole. The next morning the same amount of money was placed anonymously in my pigeon hole but with different notes making up the total. And I thought to myself “why didn’t I give more”?
God is no man’s debtor. He can and will supply every need. But we need to get the right finances together. For Paul reminds them that God rewards those who are generous, and that out of God's riches all our needs will be fulfilled.
Slide 21
So we have five spiritual vital signs - monitoring right relationships, right focus, right thinking, right attitudes, rightfinances. And if we are healthy what will we receive? Peace and joy. Peace with God and with others. Joy that God is doing a good work inside of you and will bring it to completion. So as I conclude I would like us to look seriously at our spiritual health. Are we well or sick? Are we growing stronger or weaker? For Paul has sent this letter to the Philippians but in God's providence he has also sent it to you. And he wants us to use it as a bit of a spiritual check up. Relationships? Focus? Thinking? Attitude? Finances? Surely there is something in those five things that we could do that would make a difference for the week to come.
Slide 23
Preacher Billy Sunday once said, “The trouble with many men is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in religion, you’ve got a leak in your religion.” My prayer is that as you grow spiritually, you will have a growth in joy and peace because you will have more and more of Jesus working inside of you.