Sincere Love

Good morning! Thanks so much for joining us here at Valley Church Clinton.

Today, our scripture is Philippians 1:3-11, and if you would, pray with me as we get into our message.

Pray

So, I think most people would describe me as a pretty normal guy, I enjoy normal things.

But one thing I really struggle with enjoying is live music. And don’t get me wrong, I love seeing bands perform, but I just like doing it from far away, away from the people and the crowds.

For example, Winter Jam in Indianapolis - every year it’s a wonderful set, great bands and music, and I’ve found that a lot of people will buy floor tickets so they can squeeze in right in front of the band, shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans.

But no, not me. No, my family and I were in the nosebleeds, way up in the flip down chairs. And guess what? We had a great time, no one to fight with for seats, we could see literally everything. It was great.

But there’s something about hearing your favorite band, it affects your psyche. Because it’s one thing to your favorite band on the radio, but it’s a whole other thing to watch them perform your favorite songs,

For example, I have a really vivid memory of a time before children when my wife and I went to Chicago to see a band called Flogging Molly, and would end up seeing another band called Flatfoot 56.

And I loved listening to these bands on Spotify, but after that show, there’s a totally different connection.

The music now, it takes me back to that night, that New Year’s Eve night, driving to Downtown Chicago, cramming in to this little theater to see Flogging Molly, feeling the energy in the room and seeing how much fun the bands were having living their dream.

Now, listening to that music, we have a connection to that place, those fond memories, and it enhances the music we already loved, the songs actually sound better to me now that I’ve heard them live.

And I think this is what we run into in our Christian life. Because certainly we could all stay at home, we could absorb the concepts that Jesus wants us to know by reading our Bibles.

We could have the knowledge of what it takes to be a follower of Jesus, we can be experts in the theory.

But until we live it, until we go to church, go into our community, until we live it out in real life, we can’t live it to the fullest.

We can listen to the song, but without hearing it live, we miss the fullest possible experience.

And this is what we’re going to see in Philippians 1:3-11 - Paul is lovingly writing to his community in Philippi with such adoration and appreciation, not because he has to, but because he experienced this sincere love by living life with these people.

So, I’m going to invite our Scripture reader up, Phil.

Scripture Reading

Thank you Phil.

So, there are a few distinct sections of this passage that I’d like to explore this morning that show why Paul loved these people so much.

And the first of these is:

Remembrance and Prayer

Look at how Paul initially addresses the church in Philippi:

Philippians 1:3–5 CSB

3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

So, Paul doesn’t commend these people on their building, or any fruits he may have seen, growing numbers, nothing like that.

What Paul is interested in, is them. He truly loves the people there, and they truly love him. Like we explored last week, there was true, genuine faith that came out of this body of believers in Philippi.

This is Paul’s ultimate goal, a people who have been changed by the gospel of Christ. This is why he travelled on these missionary journeys, not to simply set up churches for the sake of planting, but to establish groups of true believers.

And this group of believers in Philippi Paul is especially thankful for. Because it’s a unique relationship - they aren’t simply acquaintances, because notice the word Paul uses to describe their work - partnership.

Because of your partnership in the gospel, form the first day until now.

See, the Philippians were completley in on the mission of Paul, which was to share the gospel of Christ around the world - to all nations, to make disciples.

They persevered with Paul, fought for truth with Paul, there was such a unique relationship. They weren’t on the sidelines in Paul’s missionary journey - they were fellow participants.

And now, remember, Paul is sitting in a Roman prison. He’s holed up, completley reliant on the outside world to bring him the things he needs including food and water.

Paul is completley reliant on his friends for survival.

And in the midst of cold, hunger, thirst, depression, Paul gives thanks to God for simply remembering his friends back in Philippi.

See this, this is such a wonderful picture of community. Paul, the apostle called on by God, literally knocked to the ground by Christ Himself, perhaps the clearest call into Christian leadership in the New Testament.

That guy - highly educated, studied for years the Jewish scriptures, eloquent, smart, connected.

Paul had all the things going for him, but what he still needed was community. To keep him going, to keep him alive.

Community and friendship is so important to our faith.

I think Proverbs 17:17 is just so fitting to describe this:

Proverbs 17:17 CSB

17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

I mean, even Jesus Himself was surrounded by those he loved and who loved him back. That carried out the gospel mission:

John 15:12–15 CSB

12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.

Jesus called them friends. What an incredible thing.

See, true friends remember one another. Just think of your best friend right now, remember the times you’ve had with them, good and bad, supporting one another with laughter and tears.

We are meant to live and thrive in true friendship. This is how we’re created, this is how we’re meant to exist.

If God didn’t want us to live in companionship, He never would have created Eve.

Genesis 2:20–23 CSB

20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man.

True companionship, true Godly friendship, is worth more than anything we could ever find on this earth or earn. It is a true gift and should be cherished and appreciated.

And this remembrance, of course, leads Paul to continued and constant prayer. Always praying for you in every prayer.

It’s not enough to claim friends, what we should be doing to constantly praying for those around us. Paul was a praying man. Jesus was a praying man.

Complete and total dependence on the Father above.

This is a heavy line in Philippians, because I fear this is where the majority of Christians fall short, in prayer.

At worst, it’s seen as a transactional way to get what we need from God, a purely religious activity that must be done either by a professional or in a specific time and place.

But prayer, at its core, is a way to be with God. And the beauty of this is that God is with us always - in our church building, at our job, at home with screaming kids, in a prison cell.

And being with God naturally leads to an outpouring of care for others, because we simply cannot love God without loving people also.

As Richard Foster writes in his book on prayer:

If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this leads us to prayer. -Richard Foster

We must be a people of prayer. True prayer, praying to God that our brothers and sisters truly proser and find new life in Christ every day.

Because let me tell you, there is no better way to stop strife, jealousy, hatred, envy, thinking of yourself as higher than someone else, than to truly pray for for them.

This is the true Christian experience - a sincere love for one another, and for God. The desire to be with a community of true believers worshipping our creator.

And the neat thing about all of this, is Paul’s position in the work that was started in Philippi, because Paul takes absolutely zero credit for this this, because

God Starts and Finishes the Work

It’s not Paul, or Timothy, or Silas, Paul gives full credit to God for the work happening in Philippi.

Philippians 1:6–7 CSB

6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

See, Paul is never one to be super worried about his present circumstances. In fact, spoiler alert, he writes this a bit later in Philippians:

Philippians 1:21 CSB

21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

What he’s saying there is is he’s alive, he’s going to work for Christ, but if he dies, all the better because he gets to be united fully with Christ.

This is a unique outlook that only followers of Christ have. Because certainly, we don’t believe in the karma system of if I do good things, good works, then I will get good things. As if we can control outcomes.

Rather, our outlook on the future is hope. That no matter our present situation, hope will always win because Jesus Christ walked out of a grave. He defeated death already.

And this, in a sense, is what Paul is referring to. The eschatological hope of Christ. That the work will be completed, and the people of Philippi will have their work completed because the God who started their work always finishes His work.

See, all this is temporary. Our bodies, this earth, and to hang our hope on any of these temporal aspects of life would be a mistake.

Paul, then, is insisting that even in the midst of a hard life, in prison, in persecution, God isn’t done. He’s still completing the work in us, while at the same time having the finished word complete in Jesus Christ.

In fact, this reminds me of a story in Acts, where after speaking in tongues, the apostles are put on trial, and one of the well respected Pharisees, Gamaliel, he started to suspect this whole movement for Christ may actually be from God. This is what he said:

Acts 5:38–39 CSB

38 So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.

History tells us that man made movements fail, but God-made movements succeed. There is no man-centered religion that has lasted without toppling.

This is another reason Paul doesn’t take credit for the church and gospel advancement in Philippi. Because if it was from Paul, it wouldn’t last. It wouldn’t be eternal.

This is why our little church plant in Clinton, it can’t be started by man. It can’t be started and maintained by me, of by you. If it’s source is us, then it fails. We might as well call it right now.

But. If it’s from God, it will transform lives. We will see salvations. True transformation.

See, even though in verse 7 Paul is saying - yeah I’m in prison now, but I have you in my heart because you’re partners, in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

This is true love. This is true salvation. This is a true work from God.

For this Philippian church to still associate with someone in jail, which wasn’t culturally accepted, that means they were fully bought in and loyal to Christ. Their lives looked different. They acted different, they didn’t care about how to the world perceived them.

Their focus was advancing the gospel, at any cost.

And finally, we see this is what Paul wants. This is his prayer:

True Love

Philippians 1:8–11 CSB

8 For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Paul starts this section with what amounts to an oath. For God as my witness. Which basically means may God judge me if I don’t feel this in my heart.

Paul has a true affection for these people - and he wants them to grow in love for one another.

And this love, you’ve probably heard the Greek word for it - Agape love. Selfless, putting yourself lower, complete undying love.

That agape love, interestingly, is to to grow in knowledge and discernment. Clearly, Paul takes a more holistic approach to love here.

See, it’s not a mushy gushy, emotional type of love where we feel a certain way about someone. Rather, it’s a love that supersedes our ability to love. To emote. To feel.

It’s a Godly love.

A love that is going to grow in our closeness to God, knowing Him better, and in our wisdom, our Godly wisdom in how we treat others and love others well.

It take a whole body approach - head and heart combined. There is no separation.

And that growing love is so that we may approve of the things that are superior, and be pure and blameless on the last days.

See, true loves informs us how we need to treat other people. Because let’s be frank, our society has not evolved past the first century, even in the 21st century.

We are still a selfish people, looking out for our own interests, our own bodies, our own bak accounts, and in the western society we live in, it’s even more individualistic that ever before in history.

Moral issues, especially recently, have been skewed, blurred, complicated. The “i feel it, so it must be” and “my truth” eras are still in full effect.

Love gives us the ability to know truth. To know how to tell the truth, to know God’s truth, to know where to draw the line.

As followers of Christ, we are to call on the things that are superior, we with the power of the Spirit are the moral compasses of our day.

We are called to such a higher standard, as we claim Christ. We are called to agape love.

And the result of this agape love Paul says is the fruit of righteousness. Also known as right living.

We are supposed to live rightly with one another, and with God.

Our lives should show clearly this living. This fruit, this byproduct of agape love is loving others how God loved us.

How Christ climbed up on that cross, we are also to love one another. This is what Paul is urging to the Philippians, this is Paul’s view of a successful community of believers. That their love would increase, to the glory of God.

This whole thanksgiving section that Paul writes, I think what it does in our modern context is it informs us of our goals as a people, and as a church.

Our goal isn’t to increase numbers, or do more ministries, or be really cool so all the young people will come.

No.

Our goal is:

Growing Love in Community

The marker of a successful church will always be abounding faith and increasing love.

And I absolutely want that here. It’s my prayer that our God will start and finish the work here, through us.

And I have a few challenges this morning that I think will help us do this:

The first is

Live in Community

We can’t be isolated. We must experience the thing that Jesus created us to live in.

Hebrews 10:24–25 CSB

24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

And this is more than coming here on Sunday morning, which is great. It’s small groups, it’s check-ins, it’s vulnerability. It’s realizing your tribe is around you, you are not better than them, they are not better than you.

Invest in your people.

Pray

We must be a praying church. My challenge for everyone in this room to start and keep a prayer list. Write the names of people you meet, their needs, pray with them on Sunday morning ,follow up throughout the week.

Colossians 4:2 CSB

2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

Just as Paul prayed without stopping, we need to pray for each other.

Be a Friend

Agape love your community. Do you have anyone that would say what Paul said about the Philippians, with deep love? Is there anyone that you are diligent about remembering? Who you couldn’t imagine life without?

We need to be a true friend to one another. To repeat the Gospel of John:

John 15:13 CSB

13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.

True friendship will get us through this life, and will advance the gospel mission. This week, be a friend. Reach out.

This is what were called to, this is the way of Christ.

Let’s pray.