The Church at Philippi

Intro: Matthew 7:21-23 reads, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

The Church at Philippi

It’s Congregants are the Redeemed in Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 reads, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Today there are many people who do not understand what Church is, they may be in attendance but are not in Christ.

The Church at Philippi is a local church which is a congregation of professing believers and though it may have lost individuals on its membership role, they will go to Hell for though they are in attendance, they are not in Christ.

Charles Spurgeon said, “If your religion does not make you holy, it will damn you. It is a simply painted pageantry to go to Hell in.”

Today we are an assembly of professing believers who have been publicly baptized as a sign of our entering into the New Covenant, our obedience to Christ, and our unity with one another but if you joined in vain, if you were baptized in vain, and while I am very thankful that you are in attendance, I want you to know that if you are not in Christ you are not apart of His people and you are headed to Hell unless you repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ

If you’ve been under the light of the Gospel for years and are continually rejecting it’s message Luke 12:47-48 speaks clearly to you this morning in saying: “47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”

The Community of the Church.

What Philippi was like? Acts 16

-Philippi became a boom town when they discovered it’s tremendous gold and silver mines. People rushed into that area before there was even a city there and began to mine the area. And due to this tremendous discovery, the place became a commercial center in the ancient world, a great trade center. Its location is exceedingly strategic. So all the major roads ran right across the top edge of the Aegean and Adriatic Sea, which would say they ran right dead through Philippi.

It was also a Roman colony. And to be a Roman colony was really the very, very height of dignity for a town. Roman colonies had military significance. They were a part of the Roman settlement in order to create the Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace. The way Rome founded Philippi was the way they founded most of the cities. They would find a city that was strategic to them. It was already a Greek city, but they wanted it to be a Roman colony, so they would take about 300 soldiers, veteran soldiers near retirement, pack them up and their family, and have them go settle right in the middle of that city, and begin to govern that city and lead that city and turn it into a Roman colony. And that’s what happened; some veteran Roman soldiers came with their families, perhaps some others as well, and settled there with Roman culture, Roman life style.

The people in a Roman colony enjoyed three things: they enjoyed what the Latin language called libertas, which means self-government. They were not governed by Rome. They were governed by themselves. The Roman government gave them that privilege, having sort of ordained their government by settling with soldiers. Secondly, they enjoyed what the Latin language calls immunitas, or immunity. That meant they were never to be taxed by Rome. So they were free from taxation, and they were free from the government of Rome. Thirdly, they enjoyed ius italicum, the rights of Roman citizenry. They had all the rights of anyone who lived in Rome.

They imitated the Roman culture in every sense. William Barclay says, “These colonies had one great characteristic: wherever they were, they were little fragments of Rome, and their pride in their Roman citizenship was their dominating characteristic. The Roman language was spoken. Roman dress was worn. Roman customs were observed. Their magistrates had Roman titles, and carried out the same ceremonies as were carried out in Rome itself. Wherever they were, these colonies were stubbornly and unalterably Roman. They would never have dreamt of becoming assimilated to the people amidst whom they were set. They were parts of Rome, miniature cities of Rome, and they never forgot it,”. They were proud to be Roman citizens.

-Acts 16:16-22

-But the reason we remember Philippi today is not because of its mines, it’s roman status, or even it’s financial stature. The only reason this city was immortalized for eternity is because God had His people there and He had it recorded in His word.

What the purpose of the local church is:

Mark Dever - “The proper ends for a local congregation’s life and actions are the worship of God, the edification of the church, and the evangelization of the world. These three purposes in turn serve the glory of God.”

Apply to our community.

The Caretakers at Philippi

The Commission of the Leaders

Notice the plurality of the leadership.

They are to be in every assembly. Acts 14:23 “ And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

Ephesians 4:11–13 KJV 1900

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The Conduct of the Leaders

1 Timothy 3:1-7, in summary, commands self-discipline, the ability to minister to others both in the Word and in action, and above public ridicule.

1 Peter 5 is also a wonderful passage concerning the duty of the conduct of the leadership of the church. He gives us a few sins in leadership to beware of in v2-3.

First, we are to lead not because we have to, but because we genuinely desire to!

Second, we must not serve for the intent of “filthy lucre” or “shameful gain”. This is in reference to those who serve the church only for the desire of financial growth and prosperity for themselves. Our service should not be motivated by financial motives and wrapped up in trying to gain more and more, but our service should be of a “ready mind” which means we are to serve eagerly and excitedly.

Third, in v3 we are called to lead by example not enslaving. If you have ever been under this kind of leadership, it will not take to much of this study to reveal it to you. There are men who take leadership of churches in a way that God has not given them. domineering (katakyrieuō) means ‘forcefully ruling over, subduing’, and can carry the meaning of a harsh or excessive use of authority. The word always seems to involve bringing something into subjection by the use of force, whether physical, military, or political. Here Peter forbids the use of arbitrary, arrogant, selfish, or excessively restrictive rule. He implies that elders should govern not by the use of threats, emotional intimidation, or flaunting of power, nor generally by the use of ‘political’ force within the church. Let me quickly say that the “weaker-brother” should never be given the office of an elder in the Church. In Romans 14, Paul begins to discuss the issue of Christian liberty in the Church and how the more mature Saints must be careful not to flaunt their liberty before the weaker-brothers in the faith who may still have conscientious problems with something they may be doing and we are encouraged to be loving and respectful of them until they are more mature. However, what happens when the weaker-brothers are the leaders? It is then that we will find what is called the “Tyranny of the Weaker-brother” where he will not only prefer you not do something in front of him because of his conscience, but he will declare that the enjoyment of your Christian liberty, NOT THE ENJOYMENT OF SIN, but he will begin to declare that the enjoyment of your Christian liberty is actually a sin and will strip you of your freedom and place you under the bondage of his preferences. This is a problem in many of our churches today and as these men become leaders the next generation will grow up to have no division between what is preference and what is sin and will begin to judge fellow believers. It is important, however, to realize that the leadership of the Church does have authority, based on Scriptural leadership, and the office is one that the body should obey as we see in 1 Peter 5:5.

The Care of the Leaders

Leadership is to be done with Compassion. Philippians 1:1, 1 Peter 5:1-2, Acts 20:28

Compassion in Communion (With/Among)

Compassion in Devotion

Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

We are Called to Care by Protecting the Flock. 1 Peter 5:2, Acts 20:28, Titus 2:15, Matthew 18:15-20

One of a pastor’s foremost responsibilities is to protect his sheep, for just like sheep need the protection of a shepherd, God’s people need the protection of pastors. Paul’s farewell address makes it clear that this includes protection from false teachers: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28). It also includes protection from their own sinfulness, which is why a pastor is called to a ministry of exhortation—of calling people away from behavior that is dishonoring to God and toward behavior that is pleasing to him (Titus 2:15). It is why pastors eventually confront ongoing, unrepentant sin and enforce church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20).

By Feeding the Flock - Acts 6;1-4, 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:1-3

1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine

2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

-John Owen “He is no Pastor who doth not feed his flock.”

-My job is not to get you to shout, it is to preach the Word of God to you.

Conclusion:

Thom Rainer, Founder of Church Answers published a study not long ago on “What Church Members Want From Their Pastor” that included these ten things:

Love of congregation.

Effective preaching.

Strong character.

Good work ethic.

Casts a vision.

Demonstrates healthy leadership.

Joyous.

Does not yield to critics.

Transparent.

Models evangelism.

I believe this is certainly a reasonable list! But very quickly in closing I want to give you three things you can expect from me from God’s Word:

I am committed to the study and preaching of the Word of God as is expected in Acts 6, 1 Timothy 3-4, 2 Timothy 4, and 1 Peter 5.

Though I fail, by the Grace of God I am committed to by character as expected in 1 Timothy 3.

Lastly, I am committed to you as my Church family Acts 20:28.