4 Exhortations, A Truth, And A Promise
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Alright everyone, go ahead and turn in your bibles to Philippians 4. We are going to be in the first nine verses. As you’re turning there, let me introduce myself if you’re new. My name is Cody…
Typical greeting stuff
Last thing before we start, if you stuck around last week…wanted to say thank you…and feel free to follow up with any questions.
Alright, at this point you should be in Philippians. Let’s look at it together, and then I’ll tell you what we are doing with the text.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Alright, so as we get to the end of Paul’s letter…we often see him do something like we just read. We see him just start throwing out all this godly advice.
One thing after another.
Paul has these things, that as he’s finishing his words…that he wants to make sure that he says. And these words often take the form of Exhortations.
If you don’t know what that is, let me explain it to you.
To exhort is to strongly urge, push, persuade someone towards something.
An exhortation, is what is given to do that.
For example, many Iowans were exhorted this past week with “please go vote”..get out there to the polls…cast a ballot.
Many of you were just exhorted to register for classes on time...
These are exhortations that happen in our culture today…but the place that true exhortation happens, that ultimate and life changing exhortation happens…is in the pulpit. Through the preached word of God.
Or in this case, the written word of God through the apostle Paul.
And Paul here, has a lot of exhortations for the Philippians…and by extension, a lot of exhortations for us.
And so, I want to title this message…and this passage...
4 Exhortations, A Truth, And A Promise
That will be out outline for tonight. We are walking through the four main exhortations that we see in this passage…and resting in a promise/truth that is also in this passage. So let’s kick it off with the first Exhortation we see.
Exhortation 1: Seek Unity (v. 1-3)
Let me show you where I get this. Look back with me in the first three verses.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
So he starts off with this therefore…meaning, in light of the resurrection from the dead, in light of what he have to look forward to…in light of owning our salvation....all things we covered last week…in light of those things. Stand Firm.
And then, he goes on to give exhortations that relate to standing firm in Christ. Living well for Christ. Being a good and godly disciple of Christ.
And first on the docket? Unity.
Look at verse 2.
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
Agree here…means to have unity. But it’s even more than that.
The word “agree” here doesn’t just mean get along. It doesn’t just mean “don’t argue”.
This is not the same words that your parents yell at you when you’re fighting with a friend or sibling and they desperately say “can’t you just get along?”
This is not that kind of word.
The word here, means “have the same mind”.
Like in Phil. 2:2
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
The passage we just worked through last week..
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
So what Paul is saying here…is that unity isn’t just getting along with someone, being cordial, playing nice, acting like it’s all cool, being in the same room and yet slightly avoiding…that’s not what unity is.
Unity, is having the same mind as one another. and that mind, is the mind of Christ.
Unity, is striving towards Christ together, fighting the think the same way about things....especially to think the same way about things that have occured between you and another person.
Paul, right here in this passage, is encouraging two women to set aside whatever they are disagreeing on, whatever is causing disunity…and he’s telling them not to just get to a place where they are feeling better…but to get to a place where they can have the mind of Christ towards one another and with one another.
So the first way that he’s telling them to have unity is through
Through agreement. (v. 1-2)
and the second way that they are to seek Unity…is
Through assistance. (v.3)
See, Paul acknowledges here that sometimes people aren’t able to get over something on their own. They aren’t able to come to terms, settle a disagreement, restore unity, on their own.
And so, Paul please with either the church, or a specific person, to help these women who have worked in the gospel together and with him and Clement. See it there in verse 3.
3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
So we need to come to a point where we understand that sometimes in our lives…when Unity isn’t happening…we may need help. We need to get a Gospel Partner involved. Maybe it’s a c-group leader, maybe it’s a pastor.
And notice, it’s not just one lady demanding help and the other is against is…it’s Paul seeing that it needs to happen, making it public to the whole church, and expecting that it will happen.
You see, a Godly Christian that is struggling with something like unity, WANTS HELP. And if they don’t WANT it, they are at least HUMBLE enough to receive when it comes knocking at their door.
And I know some of you are thinking right now…about the times I have approached you personally…and had a discussion with you about Unity.
And I know some of you are thinking right now about the time I called it out at our most recent retreat.
And that’s good…because I want you to see that the biblical standard is to call it out…and to expect that a Christian that is standing firm in the Lord will want to seek unity. Unity through agreement, and unity through assitance.
And I want to end this point by making sure I say this...
Guys. There is almost nothing more revealing of a Christian’s immaturity…than their ability to be unified with fellow believers.
What I’m saying is to the extent that someone is isolating themselves and pushing away from unity…to the extent in which we run away to avoid problems with the community rather than striving together for agreement…to the extent that that is happening in your life…is the extent in which you are revealing how immature you are in this aspect of your discipleship.
You don’t need to look any further than this text to see that…but if you need some real world example, that’s pretty easy to find as well.
I got the opportunity to spend Monday with my sister, who lives in Hawaii, and my nephews and nieces...
You guys…any of you who have ever interacted with a toddler, know that when it comes to feeling uncomfortable, not getting their way, or being upset about something…they take their ball and they go home.
They separate themselves, isolate themselves, and try to bring others down with them.
And what I’m saying is…do you see how childish that is?
Do you see that when something makes you uncomfortable at church, or in your group of christian friends, when something irritates you, when something is happening in the group that you don’t like…do you see how avoiding the unity, breaking the unity, or causing others to be dis-unified makes you no different than a toddler throwing a fit.
Guys. I love you. I love you deeply…and I’ve given much of my life to serve you and to faithfully disciple you. I love you.
And I love you enough to tell you these things.
I love you enough to tell you, that if you’re standing firm in the lord, if you’re maturing in Christ…then you are seeking unity. Not isolating, not causing disunity, not avoiding the problem.
You’re seeking unity through agreement, and maybe through assistance.
Let’s move on.
These ones are getting a lot happier pretty quickly...
Exhortation 2: Choose Joy (v. 4-5a)
Look back at the passage with me.
Philippians 4:4–5 (ESV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
I’ve preached on Joy a lot in my time as a pastor…and for good reason. Because Joy is essential to the life of a Christian. Joy that transcends all circumstances, that persists despite hardship…is joy that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you were around this past Sunday at our church, I preached a whole section on Joy, and gave 6 truths that inspire joy. Honestly, I just encourage you to go on Facebook or our website and watch at least the last 15 minutes of the message.
I’m not going to repeat all those things tonight…but I am going to introduce something about joy that Paul introduces about joy…and that is that it should be felt by others.
You should have a joy that is felt by others.
You see, in the same breath…Paul not only tells them to have joy…to choose joy…but he pairs it with this idea of reasonableness…and the fact that this “reasonableness” should be seen by others.
Now, let’s focus on this word “reasonableness” for a minute.
If you have a different translation, or if you look at the esv footnote, you’ll see that this word may be translated as gentleness.
So why is it reasonableness, well…it’s because the translators are trying to accurately portray the true nature and intent of the word here.
Because what they are trying to portray is that joy doesn’t just make you gentle towards others…but it makes your response to others well natured, full of grace, and as a result is gentle/kind/loving.
I like the way the CSB translates it…it says let your “graciousness” be known to others.
So what I want to say tonight about Joy, on top of all the other things I preached about it this week…is this.
You will know…that you have truly chosen to be joyful…when your interactions with others is seen as full of grace, full of gentleness, full of a reasonableness towards them.
It’s not short, it’s not snappy, it’s not wallowy like eeore from winnie the pooh…no
If you’re truly choosing joy in life…then it is felt by others in a way that presents you as full of grace.
So…not only should those who have joy seems to be…you know…full of joy…but they should also seem to be full of grace.
That’s all I’m going to say…but seriously, I should have said a lot more about Joy…but because I already preached it in a way for you to hear it this week…please go check that out if you haven’t.
Alright…let’s move on.
Let’s pick it up at the end of verse 5.
Philippians 4:5–7 (ESV)
5 The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So Paul starts off this exhortation (which we will get to in a minute) with a truth. Yes, it’s the truth that I told you about tonight. And it’s this..
A Truth: The Lord is at Hand
It’s such a simple truth, but what Paul is about to say rests upon this truth. And so we just need to make sure we understand it.
When Paul says “the Lord is at Hand” he is reminding the Philippians that Jesus Christ is returning. That he’s never more than a moment away from returning.
I heard this quote a few weeks ago and loved it..
“You are never closer to eternity and Christ’s return than you are right now”. Every second, every minute, brings you closer and closer to the long awaited return of your savior…the long await return of the one who gives you life, and light, and hope.
Every moment that passes brings you a moment closer than you’ve ever been to the return of Christ.
The implication is that every minute you breathe, even if it’s full of pain and hardship, is still counting you down to the greatest moment and experience of joy and bliss that will ever exist.
Think of it like a roller coaster…every moment you’re ticking up that coaster, doesn’t matter what you’re experiencing, you’re still getting closer to that drop…the reason you’re on the coaster.
So Paul starts off with this amazing reminder…this amazing Truth. Almost as a way of completing the thought that we should rejoice..and also to set up our next exhortation. And that is...
Exhortation 3: Find Peace (v.6-7)
Now, I want to note something. We, in this verse 6, are talking about anxiousness.
We are not talking about the medical disorder that is related to this and sometimes goes hand in hand with it, but also has some physical trauma things with it…I’m not talking about trauma induced anxiety...
I’m talking about anxiousness. That is, the worrying of what is to come, of what is going to happen.
This scripture is talking about the ways in which we elevate our circumstances, and diminish our God. The ways in which we think the giants of the unknown, and the uncontrollable, will overcome the giant slayer that is Jesus Christ.
That’s what we mean by anxious. And clearly the Philippians must have been dealing with some anxiousness…and to that many of you in there room say, yeah…me too bro.
And to that I say, good…then listen up.
Cause Paul has some things for you to put into practice.
Paul wants you to find peace…and he wants you to find peace by prayer and supplication.
If you’re wondering what that means, supplication means petitioning.
So Paul is saying, don’t be anxious, but rather pray to God…and petition him. Speak to him…and literally ask him for things.
And I know that for some of you that doesn’t seem like enough…well that’s okay, because Paul didn’t stop there.
He went on and he qualified the manner in which you are to pray…and the manner in which you are to petition God. You see it there in verse 6…he says you are to pray and petition WITH Thanksgiving.
Meaning, your prayers…in the fight against anxiousness, are to be prayers of thankfulness to God. Your petitions in the fight against anxiousness, are to be petitions filled with thankfulness.
Example
And what happens if you can learn to do that? The PEACE OF GOD, which surpasses all understanding, which means it’s incomprehensible…the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.
So let’s put this in perspective.
When anxiousness comes knocking on your door…what does it attack?
Your heart. And Your Mind.
Meaning, it attacks your emotions…causes you to feel things you shouldn’t. It steals your joy, steals your happiness, steals your sense of security…all these things that are felt. And it doesn’t only just attack your heart...
It attacks your mind. Makes you think things that you shouldn’t. Assume things that you shouldn’t. Think of others in a way that you shouldn’t.
That’s what anxiousness does…it’s a poison that attacks the heart and mind…and yet. What does scripture promise?
Scripture promises that the GOD OF PEACE himself…will guard your heart. THE GOD OF PEACE HIMSELF will guard your mind. IF, you pray and petition with…THANKFULNESS.
So I don’t know what you need to do to increase your thankfulness to God. Write it down, ask some friends for ways they’ve seen God be faithful..whatever it is...
Get some thankfulness, and offer it to God…ESPECIALLY in times of anxiousness.
So that’s exhortation 3, and honestly a little hint of the promise to come…let’s move on to our last exhortation.
Exhortation 4: Stay Focused (v.8-9)
So after his discourse on anxiousness and the God of peace, Paul makes a wrap up statement with the word Finally in verse 8. Look at it.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
So Paul’s ends this part of the passage with what appears to be a two part command…and the promise. Let’s start with the command.
The first part of the command…think.
The second part of the command…practice.
So what are we to think about? He says it…whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praise-worthy.
You know, the beautiful part of preaching this passage…is that you instinctually know these things. Because these are the things that the Holy Spirit speaks to your soul about. These are the things that the Holy Spirit directs you towards…because these are things that are true of God and his works.
God is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praise-worthy.
And the things God does are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praise-worthy.
The the first part of staying focused…is keeping your eye on these things. Noting them. Taking them in. Internalizing them. Recognizing them when they are before you. Hearing them in a sermon and writing them down…having conversations about them with friends…highlighting them in scripture....commending them to people you see practicing them...
The first part is to think of them.
And the second part is to put them to practice yourself. It says that near the end of v.9.
After speaking of how Paul modeled them to the Philippians, he tells them to practice them.
As in…walk in them. Do them. Try them, fail, and try again. That’s what practice is. It’s the way we act…our “typical” practice of things....but it’s also the things we grow in. The things we “practice”.
Do both. Stay focussed by not only thinking these things, but also doing them. This is not different than the passage in James that tells us to be a hearer AND a doer.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Do you see how much this passage reflects the one that is in Philippians?
Go over passage.
And what does it say at the end? The person who does this…the person who stays focused, by putting the things of God into practice…will be blessed in his doing.
And our passage in Philippians shows us what part of this blessing is.
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
And that takes us to our promise.
A Promise: The God of Peace will be with you. (v.7,9b)
