Philippians- Part 4

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Generational Blessings

When we study Scripture, there are several approaches that we can take.
Sometimes we take an expository approach where take Scripture and discuss what is written verse by verse and thought for thought.
Other times we read Scripture and we take a topical approach where the idea of the specific Scriptural text leads us to discuss an idea that is exposed.
In this study, we are going to take the topical approach and expound with supporting Scriptures.
Philippians 2:19-30

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Wow! What a kind, generous and encouraging word from Paul regarding Timothy and Epaphroditus!
In a world that sometimes is so self-centered and self-righteous and full of envy and jealousy...it so good and refreshing to hear Paul’s words.
And as a reminder, Paul is imprisoned and in physical anguish and yet he takes the time to prop up these individuals and encourage the church to honor their service to the Lord and follow their example.
It is good to hear these words because they aren’t words of condemnation, but words of admiration, acknowledgment, adoration...these are words of blessing and words of love and words of life.
In the Church, we hear a lot of affirming words and encouragements toward us as Believers and non-Believers...about God’s love and His grace and His mercy; which we need to hear spoken...absolutely.
But transversely, we don’t always hear as much about what it looks like to love God and love others.
So in this study, we are going to look at what loving God looks like and how words and actions bring about blessings, rather than curses in our lives, our families and church for generations to come.

What does loving God look like?

1. Loving God means loving what He has commanded for us to do!

1 John 5:1-5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3

Just as the Israelites found out as they left Egypt...they could not do anything or overcome anything without the Lord.
They had to do everything God’s way or it couldn’t be done.
He protected them...He gave them food...He gave them water...He led them, giving them shade by day and light by night.
His only requirement was to obey His commands!
And to this day… by the blood of Jesus and the leadership and empowerment of the Holy Spirit we have the victory to overcome this world as we are faithful to His commands.
Loving God means we love to please and honor Him, by obeying His commands.

2. Loving God means that we teach others to do the same.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19

Loving God is about making disciples through evangelism and the preaching of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Loving God is about baptizing believers proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as well as, a connection to the body of Christ.
But Loving God is also about teaching disciples to observe or obey the commands of the Lord.
The word in Greek is TEREO (pronounced tee-ray-oh) which means to keep, observe, guard, watch over
And I know we often think we are free from the Law because of the grace of God
But in reality we are set free from the burden of sin for transgressing the Law of God by the grace and mercy given by the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed the Law was incapable of saving anyone...but it always pointed to the One who could!
Romans 3:19-20

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Matthew 5:17-20

17 “

So why would I bring up all this? Because loving God means that we love His Word and we love His commands and we love who God loves and we teach others to do the same.
And loving God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength is not a theoretical thing, but a real and daily concrete thing.
If we love God, we want to honor God and please Him...for He alone is deserving.
And in doing so, Scripture tells us that there are blessings and curses based on our obedience to His commands.

Blessings:

Deuteronomy 7:6-11

6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9

Psalm 103:15-19

15  As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16  for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

17  But

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and

Proverbs 20:7

7  The righteous who walks in his integrity—

Curses:

Exodus 20:3-6

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for

Exodus 34:5-7

5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “

Numbers 14:17-19

17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘T

With the Lord’s help, we are not doomed to generational curses.

We break the curses when we choose no longer follow in the sinful footsteps of our earthly fathers and choose to walk in ways of our Heavenly Father.
Ezekiel 18:10-18

10 “If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things 11 (though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, 13 lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

14 “Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: 15 he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 17 withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes;

I have said it before, but I will say it again.
When my children were growing up, I often said this, “We Traweeks are Christians...and as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
I know a lot of people that treat their children like little pagans and if you do it long enough, they will start to believe it and truly act like it.
There are generational blessings and curses...but which one we are defined by are determined by how we Love God and Love others, by obeying His commands and trusting Him at His Word!

Like Paul in this original passage, as Believers, we are to have words of BLESSING and ENCOURGEMENT and LIFE!

Proverbs 18: 20-21

20  From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;

he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

21

Proverbs 15:4
Proverbs 12:18

18  There is

Proverbs 10:11
Ephesians 4:29

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Colossians 4:6

6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

1. May the Lord guard our mouths that they may speak life into His bride and not curses.

Psalm 141:3

3  Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

keep watch over the door of my lips!

2. We need the Lord’s help to accomplish this because the task is just too great on our own.

James 3:1-12

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

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