Final Encouragement Pt 1

Introduction

In the last several weeks we have been looking at Paul’s warning to this church, the warning to stay joyful. He knows the dangers that are in store for them, the same dangers that are in store for any Christian. Through the threats of persecution, division, and false teaching is one major threat, the root of all the real danger that exists in the Christian life. That threat is the absence of joy in Christ. It starts when someone doesn’t see value in Christ, the great worth that is gained in following him. Then the person stops desiring the things that draw us closer to Christ, since they no longer see the point. Why give your life for something that just doesn’t seem worth it? Then when there is no desire, their Christian life becomes dull and stale, and they fail to see why they are even pursuing Christ anymore. When they stop actively and passionately pursuing Christ, they They see all the fun the world is having, all the material things they are hording for themselves and the progress they are making in accomplishing their goals and fulfilling their desires and this person begins to wonder, “why am I not doing that? What’s to stop me from running after that? What’s to stop me from tasting the pleasure of sin? Why shouldn’t I feel proud of my own righteous deeds? Why shouldn’t I consider this new and exciting preacher who proclaims a new gospel?” These feelings, even if unspoken, begin to fester until they reach a breaking point. The temptation becomes too much. They have lost sight of the glory of Christ and their legs have crumbled under the weight of temptation and selfish desires. This is the road to destruction for a professing Christian, and Paul realizes that the answer to this problem is not to harp on the symptoms, but on the cause. When someone doesn’t want to go to church or read their Bible, their root problem is not that they need to do these things, the bigger and more systemic problem is that they have ceased to rejoice in the Lord, and that lack of joy chokes out the fruit of their life. Joy in Christ that is achieved through desiring him because he is worth pursuing is the only answer to a stale Christian life.

With that being the meat of his letter, Paul now begins to bring the letter to a close. While there is still a whole chapter left, he wants to spend some time on encouragement and challenge. These two ideas are not separate for Paul, even the challenges are meant to be encouraging by building up the church. We must read our passage in light of the transitional verse in 4:1. Paul cares for this church deeply. He has given up his freedom and will one day give up his life for the churches that he serves and plants and to him they are his spiritual children. He has no desire to extort them, in fact he has spent his whole life helping them and the other bodies of faith throughout the Roman world. Verse 1 shows us the great love and affection that he had for this church. If you want to convince someone that they should trust you, the best way is to first convince them that you love them. Paul knows this church is aware of his love, but stresses it to remind them that his exhortations are for their good. There are four exhortations that we will be looking at. We will examine three today, and one next week.

Agreeing in the Lord

The first of these encouraging exhortations is given to two specific individuals in the church: Euodia and to Syntyche. Some have imagined that these two woman represented the troublemakers of the church and Paul is frustratingly telling them to just get along, but that is not the conclusion the text would lead us to. Paul refers to these two ladies as those who have struggled for the faith, just like he himself has. These are not immature or new believers, rather they are women whose metal has been tested. They have been through the fire of trials and tribulations and have faithfully struggled for the Gospel. They have prevailed in the truth and become an example, both of them, to the rest of the church. Last week we talked about the type of people we should imitate. They are those whose mind is set on the end, the glory of the return of Christ and the resurrection from the dead. These are the kind of people we should imitate in almost every area, every area except one. While Euodia and to Syntyche have been examples of steadfast work in the Gospel, they have also become the source of some disagreement in the church. This disagreement was apparently serious enough for Epaphroditus to bring it to Paul’s attention. However, it was not serious enough for Paul to take sides. He simply tells them to agree in the Lord.

But what exactly is he implying in saying that?

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Rejoice in Lord (Again!)

Do not be Anxious

Conclusion