Sermon Tone Analysis

Review

Quick Review of Philippians and where we have been thus far in our study.

The epistle was written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62. Paul is imprisoned in Rome awaiting trail before Caesar.

Philippi was a part of the Roman empire and the place where Octavian and Mark Antony defeated and killed Brutus.

The surrounding region at that time was known as Macedonia.

We read in of Lydia’s conversion which was the first recorded conversion to take place on European soil.

The church was founded under Paul and as we can gather from this letter, a church was near and dear to Paul’s heart.

There is very little in the way or rebuke as we see in other NT epistles i.e.

Galatians, 1-2 Corinthians.

It is a very warm-hearted letter.

In chapter 1 Paul gives a ministry update if you will on his ministry in Rome.

Paul expresses his uncertainty as to what will happen to him (Philippians 1:20)

In verse 27 of chapter 1 Paul exhorts the Philippians church to ‘stand firm in one spirit’.

Unity is most definitely a central theme in this letter.

Chapter 2 is one of the most profound chapters in all the Bible as Paul’s reference’s Christ’s incarnation and humiliation in ‘being born in the likeness of men.’

Also his obedience to the father to the point of dying on the cross.

Chapter 3 Paul contrasts his self righteousness with the righteousness of Christ.

His own righteousness being regarded as ‘Rubbish’.

He counts everything as a loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.

The other central theme in the book is Paul’s joy in Jesus.

The satisfaction for his soul that can only be known and experienced through a personal relationship through faith with Christ.

At the begining of chapter 3 Paul issues a warning against false teachers and does so again in our text for today.

Read from 3:1-4:1

Our text for today is 3:17-4:1.

Introduction

So Paul in verse 17 brings back into view false teachers and pagan/hedonistic living.

Paul’s focus in these verses is of a pastor’s heart.

His pastoral concerns for Philippi would be consistent with any faithful pastor.

We have seen multiple times in this epistle both Paul’s concern and affection for the Church at Philippi.

Our text today is really a call to perseverance.

4:1 Paul admonishes them to stand firm in the Lord.

Focus

Paul starts verse 17 and addresses them as brothers.

Another affectionate term that Paul uses to express his love and concern for the have mentioned before but as I read this epistle one thing that has stood out to me more than before is an increase or a heightened intensity in Paul’s emotion.

I think Paul’s emotions are intensified as he draws nearer to the end of his ministry on earth.

Paul just finished telling them that he is not perfect (3:12) and now tells them to imitate him.

This is important and Paul says similarly many times in his NT writings.

Question: What should we make of this?

Aren’t we to follow Christ?

Certainly Christ is the ultimate example for us yet there is much benefit for us in surrounding ourselves with other godly saints.

We can follow others and go by their example so far as it is consistent with Christ’s life and teaching.

Again, this is Paul expressing a pastoral concern and as such seeks to not only tell them how to live but show them by his own life.

We must realize that at this time they would not have had a complete copy of the NT.

They may have had very little and so both the instruction that Paul has personally given them in conjunction with his example and personal life would have been massively important in their day to day lives.

Paul says (ESV) to keep your eyes on those who walking according to the example you have in us.

The NASB says “observe those who walk”.

The idea here is about focus.

To keep your eyes on something or to observe is to stay focused on it.

This is very practical and we can certainly identify with this.

What we focus on will shape our attitudes, our interests, our desires.

It’s impossible to focus on ungodly endeavors and expect to produce fruitful lives before God.

I mentioned before I believe but in horse racing the trainers actually put blinders on the horses.

This is to keep them looking forward at the race track and to prevent them from becoming distracted by looking around at other things.

Focus is most definitely a spiritual discipline we must learn.

I think we can take inventory of our own lives and see how we are affected by what we focus our time, energy, and affections on.

We discussed before how our progressive sanctification is both God’s work and our work.

Focus is a discipline we must learn and exercise in our ‘working out’ of our own salvation.

We, like the horse trainers, want to remove potential distractions that would slow us in our pursuit of the finish line, Christ-likeness.

And again just a quick restatement, Paul is telling them to focus on, or observe, those who walk according to the example they have seen and known in Paul and those close to him.

Hard truths and Holy Tears

Verse 18 starts with a “For” indicating a purpose clause.

In others words it provides a “here’s why I just said what I said.”

Paul indicates that there are many, whom he has spoken of before, who walk in opposition to Paul's life and teaching and ultimately in opposition to the cross.

Who exactly Paul is referring to is unclear.

In chapter 1 he mentions those who preach Christ out of rivalry.

Also, he cautions them here in chapter 3 against the Judaizers.

This is those who are teaching circumcision as a necessary work for salvation.

Basically salvation through OT law keeping.

Certainly the warning from false teachers is here but perhaps it includes the general pagan population there in Philippi as well.

The culture there was certainly not a Christian one.

This is true in our case as well.

The temptations of the world and others around us is a real concern.

He describes them as “enemies of the cross of Christ.”

SF: “The cross is the touchstone of both true doctrine and true practice.

When we hear new teaching, or when a preacher or teacher is given special prominence, we must always ask: ‘What does he say (or not say) about the cross?’ ‘What place does the cross have in their lives?’

“The Cross” encompasses Christ’s sufficient substitutionary atoning work.

It is the acknowledgment of our inadequacies, our utter helplessness before God and is the acknowledgment of conversely Christ’s sufficiency.

In His life, death, burial and resurrection.

It is death to self and life in and through Christ.

The emphasis is always on Christ as Lord and Savior.

In Paul references the ‘offense of the cross.’

Galatinas 5:11

The cross is offensive because it removes mankind from having any part in salvation, any glory, any wisdom.

It is all taken away from us at the cross and bestowed solely on Christ.

For our LDS friends, the cross takes away the ‘worthiness’ they are seeking and trust me the Cross is very offensive to them as it strips them of everything.

The religious pursuits of Mormonism are in complete opposition to the cross.

The reason I mention Mormons specifically is because 1) they are all around us and 2) they claim they are Christians.

I referenced SF’s quote where the cross is the touchstone of both true doctrine and true practice.

It is so foundational to what we believe and shapes how we live.

The cross is equally offensive to the non-religious or irreligious because it imposes they are guilty before their Holy Creator.

Unsaved people find it offensive to be told they need to be saved.

Paul also says that he tells them this ‘even with tears’.

We will come back to this in just a minute.

Verse 19

Here Paul has some hard truths.

Whoever the people Paul is concerned with our are most certainly in opposition to the cross of Christ.

John Calvin

“He adds this in order that the Philippians, appalled by the danger, may be so much the more carefully on their guard, that they may not involve themselves in the ruin of those persons."

Calvin, J., & Pringle, J. (2010).

Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (p.