Sermon Tone Analysis

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*PRESSING ON IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH*

*Philippians 4:4-9*

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*October 28, 2008*

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*Nathan J. Pellegra*

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*Biblical Preaching I*

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*A.    **The Rapport for the time*

 

As a young boy, I had a creative energy that burned all day and night long.

I was a big fan or art and I would draw and create for hours on end.

One of the stores I like to visit was Hobby Lobby which was an arts and crafts store.

Sometimes I liked to buy colored t-shirts with nothing on them and some of those iron-on or press-on letters and go home and make t-shirts that said stuff like, “I‘m with stupid”  or “I Fought the Lawn and the Lawn Won.”

Some other humorous ones you could use to make your own t-shirts are:

Ø  IRS – Be Audit You Can Be

Ø  Gravity... It's Not Just a Good Idea.

It's the Law,

Ø  If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen,

Ø  First National Bank of Dad; Sorry, Closed

Ø  Love May Be Blind, but Marriage Is a Real Eye-Opener.

Ø  If at First You Don't Succeed, Skydiving Isn't for You.

Ø  The Trouble With the Gene Pool Is That There's No Lifeguard.

But the truth about those press-on letters is that they promised they were permanent but after a while the washing machine could get them to come off.

So they were not as permanent as they said they would be.

The idea I want to carry into the message today is permanency.

As we read today in our text, Paul is challenging us today to press on in our faith.

And what he is calling us to do is to remain, become permanent, or stand firm in our walk with Christ.

*B.

**The Reading of the text*

So I ask that you turn in your bibles to Philippians chapter 4, verses 4-9, that’s Philippians 4:4-9 and please stand in honor of the reading of the mighty word of God,

"/Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice!

//Let your gentleness be known to all men.

The Lord is at hand.

//Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; //and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

//Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

//The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you./"

Let’s pray,

/“Father, anoint our time together today as we seek out Godly truth and wisdom for our lives.

We desire to hear from you as we focus on pressing on in our Christian lives.

Teach us today with your Spirit, in Jesus name, Amen.” /

 

*C.

The Relevance of the Text*

*            *The writer of Philippians, the apostle Paul, while imprisoned in Rome awaiting his sentence from the Emperor, is addressing some issues with the Philippians, his favorite congregation of all the church congregations in the Bible.

Philippi was a giving church, a loving church and a supportive church and like many others during that time, they were trying to endure the entrance of false doctrine into their congregational teachings.

Paul’s main theme of the letter is to rejoice and stand firm in the trials, like false teachings, that Christians will face.

It is the latter part of that theme that we will focus on today; (KEY QUESTION) how do we press on in the Christian faith amongst trials and tribulations?

Paul challenges this congregation to stand firm or press on in the context of the passages we are studying today when he says,

"/Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved./"

(Philippians 4:1, NKJV)

 

The word for “stand fast” provides us imagery of a soldier who stands firm in his post even in the danger of the enemy or even death.

Can we agree that the enemy, Satan, is prowling around like a “roaring lion” ready to devour the weak or injured Christian?

But we must stand firm and “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

*TS:  Today, I want you to walk away with three important truths about pressing on in the Christian faith.

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*                   I.      **Our Gladness and Gentleness Toward Others Points to the Position of Our Person ( Philippians 3:20-4:1, 4:4-4:5)*

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"/For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, //who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

//Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved./"

(Philippians 3:20-4:1, NKJV)

"/Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice!

//Let your gentleness be known to all men.

The Lord is at hand./" (Philippians 4:4-5, NKJV)

            If we go back a couple of verses into chapter 3 of Philippians, we see that Paul places special emphasis on the citizenship of heaven that Christians have and how those who are citizens of heaven will return there one day when Christ returns.

Then in verse1 of chapter 4, Paul gives his theme of these verses, standing firm in the faith.

With this overall theme, Paul addresses many issues with Christians standing firm in their faith.

In verses 1-2, Paul exhorts Christians to unite and care for those believers who are disgruntled like Euodia and Syntyche.

Then he addresses two important aspects that we will discuss further:  joy and gentleness.

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**Our Joy in the Lord*

Paul rejoices because of his position as a regenerated person and thus he knows that when Christ does return, that he will accompany Him to Heaven.

He rejoices in this way in spite of the persecution that he faced and the imprisonment that was facing.

Joy in the Christian faith is a major theme in the Pauline Epistles, where he uses the word “rejoice” over 40 times, 12 times alone in the book of Philippians.

Think about the impact on the world that Christianity could have if we displayed a joyful attitude in all circumstances.

People would think we were crazy and they would want to know what was wrong with us.

Newspapers would write articles about those “loony Christians” because of the way we showed joy in even the most disturbing times.

We would get the world’s attention and people would be led to salvation in Jesus Christ.

As Christians, Paul is challenging us to be set apart from the world and display joy in times of trouble because of our heavenly position.

We must derive that joy, not from fake emotions but in the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

Expressing joy in our daily walk is a sign that we are pressing on or standing firm in our faith.

*TS: Not only joy, but gentleness is a sign we are pressing on in our faith.

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*B.     **Our Gentleness to Others*

Paul also wants Christians to show gentleness toward others because of their Heavenly destination.

The word gentleness in the NT Greek is a difficult word to translate and can best be explained by using the following example:

“There are two students.

We correct their examination papers.

We apply justice and find that one has eight per cent and the other fifty per cent.

But we go a little further and find that the man who got eighty per cent has been able to do his work in ideal conditions with books, leisure and peace to study, while the man who got fifty per cent is from a poor home and has inadequate equipment, or has been ill, or has recently come through some time of sorrow or strain.

In justice this man deserves fifty per cent and no more; but epieikeia(gentleness) will value his paper far higher than that.”[1]

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The Greek word in question here is translated as gentleness but can be summarized as grace, an unmerited favor on someone.

Imagine again for a moment in life, not only did Christians seem overly happy in tough times, but they also appeared to show supernatural amounts of graciousness to those around them, even to those who hurt them.

Imagine what an impact that would have upon the world if we began to show that “gentleness” or “graciousness” to others.

This is the gentleness that Jesus showed the hemorrhaging woman, Zacchaeus, and many others during his time on earth.

We should show this gentleness to all people today because Christ lives in our heart and he should be reflected to those around us as light shining in the darkness.

*TS:  To press on in the faith, not only must we show joy and gentleness to others but we must also avoid fleshly worry by praying to God.*

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*                II.

**Grateful Prayer Brings the Protection of Godly Peace( Philippians 4:6-7)*

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"/Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; //and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus./"

(Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV)

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The Prayer of Man*

Paul makes a very important contrast in this set of verses.

He knows, as we know today, that worry or anxiety is a huge illness that plagues the mind of our world.

It is a way that Satan incapacitates us and keeps us in bondage to our fears of starvation, bankruptcy or emotional letdown.