Guard Your Heart
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Guard your heart, above all else, for it is the wellspring of life.
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,
2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.
11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.
12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Phoebe - Deaconess and supporter of missionaries
Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila - Faithful workers mentioned in , a tumultuous time because of persecution toward the gospel. Church starters
Epenetus - the first convert in Asia
The list goes on of workers, tested and approved.
Why does Paul give so much ink to naming people? He is connecting the dots of community. In the 20+ years since the ascension many of these people had met or had common acquaintances. He was highlighting the NETwork of believers who would know, or know of, one another. And in doing so, encouraging, spurring them on toward good works.
How did these become so esteemed as to be included in scripture? Their hearts were pure and their work for the gospel confirmed what was in their hearts.
Guard your heart, it is the wellspring of life.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
17-20 - look out for deceivers. Dissension-stirrers. Division builders. Obstacle placers. They are tearing down what God is building.
Avoid them
Be wise to their schemes -
They seem to have an angle contrary to the rest of what is happening here.
They practice putting obstacles in the way of the unfolding of God’s purpose. Directly related to doctrine. These are primary and tertiary issues. When we are immature and foolish enough to create division over secondary issues we have whole ‘nother set of problems.
Avoid them
Because they are not serving our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own selfish appetites.
It is clear instruction not to be aggressive - the cold shoulder is most effective because it removes their audience. And because they are narcissistic this is terrible punishment for them. Those who are spiritual may go to them and lovingly confront them but the church as a whole is to avoid them.
Jesus even gave us instruction on how to handle those in the church who are opposed to the church when He told the parable of the wheat and the tares. They will be gathered and judged at the end.
When someone is
Constantly concerned with their opinion at the expense of others
Hypocritical, smooth-talkers, flatterers
Deceivers because they themselves are deceived
Target naive people
…chaos will brew in a fellowship. And let’s recognize he is talking about church members. Lest we immediately categorize this as the mega-church prosperity preachers, we need to know he is talking about those who would do this as members in the fellowship. Over the years I have known this church member 2 or 3 times.
Those I knew would constantly point away from scripture toward other writings with a desire to study them in the church. They were constantly dissatisfied with how the word was preached. They would spend time after services talking to whoever would listen about their opinions and agendas. One moved on to another church down the road. The other was repeatedly rebuked, corrected and told to ‘shut his mouth’ but stayed in that church.
The Doxology 25-27
How does a doxology fit into guarding my heart? A doxology is an ascription of glory to God.
When I glorify Him instead of myself my heart is guarded by the power of His name.
11 I am coming to you; I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they will be one, just as you and I are one.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
