Philippians 4

The Theme of this chapter is:

The power of Christian living, which is:

Joy------------------------------------the source of power

Prayer--------------------------------The secret of power

Concentration of Christ----the sanctuary of power

In Christ----------------------The satisfaction of power

I.       Verse 1

A.    Paul is deeply in love with the Philippians church.

1.     The word “Beloved” here in the Greek is the strongest word for love.

B.    We are going to see in the upcoming verses how much Paul love and thinks of the Philippians.

C.    Paul longed to visit and fellowship with them.

D.    We read here the “Joy” which Paul had for them.

1.     The joy that they were saved.

2.     The joy that they were growing in Christ.

E.     The Philippians were his crown.

1.     The crown is not one a king wears, but one an Olympian would get.

2.     They were the proof of his effective ministry.

F.     Paul tells us to stand fast in the Lord and in the next verses to come his is going to tell us how this can be done.

II.     Verse 2,

A.    Now Paul comes to the only problem in the Philippian church.

B.    It was not a serious problem, but a problem.

1.     The problem needed to be taken care of before it became a big problem.

C.    Two women had a problem and Paul know if it keeps on going it would grow into a big problem.

1.     1 Corinthians 1:10, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

III.    Verse 3,

A.    Paul is asking, those in the church to help bring these woman back into fellowship.

B.    Both of these woman occupied a prominent place in the church and this another reason the problem need to be taken care of.

IV.   Verse 4,

A.    God is telling us not once, but twice that we are to rejoice in the Lord.

B.    Joy comes from the Holy Spirit working in ones life.

1.     Galatians 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.

C.    Who wants to be around someone who is mad, or always complianing about something?

D.    Why would we have joy in our lifes?

1.     We are saved and going to heaven.

2.     We can get victory over anything in our lives.

3.     We have the Holy Spirit praying for us.

4.     We have Christ on the right side of God making intersession for us at all times.

5.     We live under Grace.

E.     In verse 4 here the words mean; “repeated for emphasis in spite of discouragements. Not in the sense of “Farewell” here.” in the Greek.

F.     The words in this verse expresses the Theme of Philippians

G.    Joy comes form putting your trust in God and knowing that everything is going to work out even thought we don’t know how it will work out.

H.    As I mentioned last Sunday, our happiness must rely on the Lord, many people try to put their happiness in their, job, or family, or home, or drinking.

1.     True happiness comes from trusting in God.

2.     Talk to people who are not saved and see if there they have happiness and if it is something they can have over a long period of time.

I.       Knowledge of God is the key to rejoicing. Those who know the great truths about God find it easy to rejoice; those with little knowledge of Him find it difficult to rejoice.[1]

J.      Psalm 1:1-3,1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

K.    Lets talk about rejoicing.

1.     What is rejoicing?

2.     The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires[2]

3.     So what it is saying is you might have trouble

everyway, but you are foucing on Christ which

                        producing joy in your life because He can change

                        things to the good in His will.

4.     So we can focue on Christ and we look to Him to help us with out problems and that gives us joy because we know He will do that.

a)     Philippians 1:6, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

5.     So will we have days were we are unhappy? Sure we will, but we can direct it towards the lord and when we do joy comes into our hearts because we know that God is in control.

V.    Philippians 4:5a, Let your moderation be known unto all men.

A.    Gentle Spirit means, more than any single word can tell us.

1.     graciousness—the graciousness of humility; the humble graciousness that produces the patience to endure injustice, disgrace, and mistreatment without retaliation, bitterness, or vengeance. It is contentment.[3] (Look at Phil 4:11)

2.     All this comes when we really trust God.

3.     Let me give you an example; my wife wanted to get a job back when I was in school. We prayed about it and a lot of things opened up, but not the one we prayed about. We had to wait on God and He did open the door for her to get that job we needed.

B.    Gracious humility runs counter to the cult of self-love that was rampant in ancient society, and is rampant in modern society as well. But focusing on self-love, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment leads only to greater and greater instability and anxiety. On the other hand, those whose focus is not on themselves cannot be knocked off balance by inequity, injustice, unfair treatment, lies, or humiliation. They can say with Paul, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (4:11). Spiritual stability belongs to the graciously humble.[4]

VI.   The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, (4:5b–6a)

A.    “Worry about nothing; pray about everything.” Prayer is the secret of power.[5]

1.     If we talk to God about every problem we have in our lives, there will be nothing to worry about.

a)     We leave it into God's hands to work it out.

b)     Think about this, if we leave the little problems to our selves and we keep adding to these little one, they themselves will over whelm us at some point.

B.    Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself as to others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration, just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.[6]

VII.  Verse 6b but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God

A.    The way we seem to do this is take our burden to God and set everything before hand, than when we are done we pick up all our troubles and take them with us.

B.    We have a mockingbird in our yard. He gets my fruit, but I feel it is right for me to pay him something for the song he sings for me in the night. Now, actually, he isn’t singing for me. I don’t think he cares much whether I hear him or not. But he has a mate sitting on some eggs, and it would be a pretty boring job to sit on a bunch of eggs. So this mockingbird sings to his wife all during the night. The other morning I awakened around two o’clock, and my, how he was singing to her! How lovely. While sitting outside on my patio I noticed this mockingbird. He looked at me with disdain, flew right over to my apricot tree and started to eat apricots. He never asked me for permission to eat. He is free. He doesn’t worry about finding something to eat. He knows those apricots will be there for him. My friend, do we really trust God like that? Worry about nothing and pray about everything.[7]

C.    Why should we not worry? Because God can do anything. Let me illustrate.

1.     Every afternoon that young engineer could be seen rowing himself out to the houseboat. One evening he had those long blueprints all spread out while his little son with his toy wagon was playing at his feet. Suddenly the child began to cry. A wheel had come off his wagon. The little fellow had worked with it and tried his best to put it back, but it was a hopeless project for him. Now would you think that the dad would shush him and put him out of the room—maybe tell the mother to come and get him because he was disturbing his work? No. He just laid aside the blueprints of that great canal, picked up his little boy and asked him what was the matter. The youngster held up his wagon in one hand and the wheel in the other. The father took the wheel and put it on the wagon with just one twist of the wrist. He kissed away the little fellow’s tears and put him back on the floor where he played happily. He was a good father.[8]

2.     The more you learn about God the more you will see how much God loves us. He is a compassionate father who is concern with all our problems.

3.     When your wheel comes off and it seems to be one of the biggest problems you have every had, to God it is so simple to fix.

a)     Remember sometimes God does not want us to have whatever we are praying about and the answer will be no.

4.     Matthew 6:27, Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

a)     Matthew 6:25-33

D.    “With Thankgiving”

1.     I used to think that this mean to thank God for all the things He has done which God does teach.

2.     Here it is talking about thanking God about what you just prayed for.

3.     Remember at the beginning of verse 6 it says to be “be careful for nothing” which also means “in nothing be anxious”

a)     We are always in a harry to have everything done. We want our prayers answered as fast as possible.

b)     Relaxes and wait on God.

c)     Now you can be thankful, because you are waiting on God and you know whatever the answer is it is the right one.

E.     Read verse 6 in as many versions has we have to get the full meaning out of it. (Ampliefed)

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F.     You know that while we live in this world, we are going to have problems every day.

1.     2 Timothy 3:12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

2.     Acts 14:22, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

3.     James 4:4, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

4.     1 John 2:15, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

G.    Finally there is an answer,

1.     John 16:33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

a)     Every victory we will ever need took place at the cross.

b)     I hope by now you realize that life is going to be full of problems.

H.    We need to hide verse 6 into our lives, why?

1.     1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

2.     Satan is not hiding from us, he does not care if you know he is coming.

a)     We need verse 6

b)     Psalm 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

I.       1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1.     Happiness comes from God.

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VIII.         Philippians 4:7,7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

A.    What is the peace of God?

1.     Ask everyone.

2.     Isaiah 26:3-4, 3 You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. 4 So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

3.     Romans 15:13, May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

4.     John 14:27, Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

a)     We can have the same peace that Jesus had.

b)     Christ had the perfect peace with the Father and God is telling us here that we can have it to.

B.    Remember, there is no peace with those not following God.

1.     Isaiah 48:22, There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.

C.    Remember this, the more you learn about God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the more peace you will have in your life.

1.     How many of you understood what Grace is as tough last Sunday? How did it help you?

2.     The more one learns God's Word the more peace one will have, because you understand how it works.

3.     The results will be: Isaiah 26:3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

a)     This just keeps building up more and more.

D.    Paul further define peace in verse 7.

1.     “Which surpasses all comprehension”

a)     It transcends all human comprehension.

b)     God's peace is far greater than anything we can muster together.

2.     When we honor God by trusting in Him will experience the blessings of His perfect peace.

a)     God wants us to depend on Him and in doing so God blesses us and we enjoy his peace.

E.     Next in verse 7 it says, “will guard you”.

1.     This is a military term meaning, on guard duty.

2.     When we comprehend that God helps us, as we trust in Him, His peace will guard us.

F.     God reminds us that true peace, is only by God.

1.     Peace by other means is only temporary.

2.     Think of those who won Lotteries.

3.     Nothing in this world satisfies in a long-term situation. If there is one can someone name one?

G.    Lets talk about problems for a moment.

1.     Are they going to go away?

2.     How long will we have them?

3.     So what do we do with them?

4.     How do we do this?

H.    Prayer does not change things for us, but prayer helps us go through whatever problem we are having at the time.

IX.   Philippians 4:8,8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

A.    “Finally brethren” Paul is coming to the conclusion of the whole matter.

B.    God is telling us to keep the following things in our minds and thoughts. Why?

1.     Lets take a look at Mark 7:20-23, 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

2.     We need to fill our hearts and minds with the things of God to counter act the things in Mark 7.

3.     Look at what the God's word says about our heart.

a)     Proverbs 23:7, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

b)     Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

!!! 4.     Why do we come to church, to get a spiritual high or to learn about truth?

a)     Acts 17:11, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

b)     John 15:11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

c)     1 John 1:4, And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

d)     The conclusion of these verses is we come to church to learn truth and as we learn truth our joy grows.

If there is a religion in the world which exalts the office of teaching, it is safe to say that it is the religion of Jesus Christ. It has been frequently remarked that in pagan religions the doctrinal element is at a minimum—the chief thing there is the performance of a ritual. But this is precisely where Christianity distinguishes itself from other religions—it does contain doctrine. It comes to men with definite, positive teaching; it claims to be the truth; it bases religion on knowledge, though a knowledge which is only attainable under moral conditions. I do not see how any one can deal fairly with the facts as they lie before us in the Gospels and Epistles, without coming to the conclusion that the New Testament is full of doctrine.… A religion divorced from earnest and lofty thought has always, down the whole history of the Church, tended to become weak, and unwholesome; while the intellect, deprived of its rights within religion, has sought its satisfaction without, and developed into godless rationalism. (The Christian View of God and the World [New York: Scribner, 1897], 20–21)

C.    Whatsoever things are true.

1.     Means taking the word of God and reading it and      studying it, analyzing, and meditating on it.

D.    The rest of the list is based on truth. All of them are ways to view the truths of scripture.

E.     Second is whatsoever things are honest or honorable.

1.     Worthy of respect.

2.     Come from the word “to worship”.

3.     Think on things worthy of awe, adoration, and praise.

F.     Third, is “whatsoever is right”

1.     Can be translated “righteous”

2.     Believers are to think on things that are consistent with God's law.

G.    Fourth, believers are to think on “whatsoever is pure”.

1.     Pure is what God defines as Holy, moral, or clean.

2.     Free from sin.

3.     1 John 3:3, And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

H.    Fifth, whatsoever things are lonely.

1.     This word in the Greek only appears here in the Bible.

2.     It can be translated, sweet, gracious, generous, and patient.

3.     We are to focus on their thoughts on what the Bible says is pleasing before God.

I.       Sixth, is what is of good report.

1.     What is highly thought of or regarded.

2.     When we read any type of book weather good or bad, the thoughts of that book stick with us.

3.     This is one reason we need to be in the Word as much as we can.

J.      Summary:

1.     The key to Godly living is Godly thinking.

2.     Proverbs 4:23, Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

X.     Verse 9, Philippians 4:9, Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

A.    It all boils down to this, he who knows more lives better.

1.     The more one knows the Bible the more one can use it to enrich their lives.

2.     The more one knows the Bible the less one sins against God.

3.     The more one knows the Bible the less problems they have when difficulty comes into ones live.

B.    The word “does” means to practice.

1.     We think of a doctor or lawyer as having a practice.

a)     They have a normal routine.

b)     We as Christians should have a practice a normal routine of living a Godly life.

2.     Romans 12:21, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

a)     We must always overcome problems in our lives with God's help.

b)     If we try to do it ourselves we will get tired and frustrated.

C.    Paul is telling us to follow his example and not just his teaching.

1.     If the word of God has changed his life than do it also for your life.

D.    The word “received” here mean what God has given.

1.     1 Thessalonians 2:13, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

E.     We are also to teach others or be a witness to others.

1.     2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

2.     In verse 9 it says “what you seen me do”.

a)     We are to do what we seen or in this case read how Paul lived his live.

b)     Our testimony should be the same so others can see and do what we do.

F.     And the promise God gives is “the God of peace will be with you all”.

1.     Look at the lives at the christians in the past and see if you don’t see people who had much joy and peace.

XI.   Verse 10

A.    The Philippian church had lost track of Paul for two years.

B.    The Philippian church apologized to Paul for that.

C.    Paul said that it was no problem and that he was happy that they are supporting him again.

XII. Verse 11

A.    Paul never sent out a SOS to the Philippians.

B.    Paul learned to be content in whatever state he was in.

C.    People think if everything is going right than we are in God's will because we are content.

1.     Paul is telling us just the opposite. We need to be content in whatever state we are in.

D.    Paul is telling us to be just as content when we are on vacation in Hawaii as compare to just being at work.

XIII.          Verse 12

XIV.         Verse 13

A.    Instead of through it should be in.

B.    Whatever God has for us in our life, He will supply the power need to fulfill it.

My favorite mode of travel is by train. I fly only because I must. The train has lots more romance connected with it, and it is much more enjoyable. It gets you there later, but it gets you there. The Santa Fe Railroad used to have a train called the Super Chief which ran between Los Angeles and Chicago. That was a wonderful train, and I enjoyed traveling on it. It traveled with tremendous power. That Super Chief could say, “I can do all things a Super Chief is supposed to do on the tracks between Chicago and Los Angeles. I can pull up the Cajon Pass, the highest pass for any railroad in this country. I slow down a little bit, but I do not hesitate. I go right up to the top and down the other side. I can do all things!”

Now suppose the Super Chief had said, “For years I have been taking people back and forth from Chicago to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Chicago, and it gets a little monotonous. I noticed a little group of people got off at Williams, Arizona, to go to the Grand Canyon. I’ve been coming by here for years, and I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon. I think I’ll just take off across the desert here and look at the canyon for myself.” Now I don’t know that the train actually ever said that, but I do know that it left the tracks one day over on the side toward the Grand Canyon. I’m here to tell you that it never did make it to the Grand Canyon. The minute it left the tracks, it was a wreck. The train was helpless and hopeless the moment it left the tracks. As long as the Super Chief was on the tracks, as long as it was doing the thing it was supposed to do, it could do all the things a Super Chief should do. It could go up and down over those mountains, back and forth from Chicago to Los Angeles. But it was absolutely helpless when it left the tracks.

[9]

XV.Verse 14

A.    Paul say thank you.

XVI.         Verse 15

A.     

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2MacArthur, John: Philippians. Chicago : Moody Press, 2001, S. 274

[2]Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass., U.S.A. : Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993

[4]MacArthur, John: Philippians. Chicago : Moody Press, 2001, S. 276

[5]McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Php 4:6

[6]McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Php 4:6

[7]McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Php 4:6

[8]McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Php 4:6

[9]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:327). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.