Philippians 4:2-9

Introduction

I have just recently became a father as of December 3, 2020. Show picture.

It seems as if there was nothing that could have ever prepared me for that moment. As soon as I saw that little face, that was part me and part Lindsey, I was in love. With such a great gift I also realized the great responsibility that I had been given as her father.

This leads me to the question, what makes a great father? (Open Question)

A great father is a good leader for his family. If the family is not led well in the faith, the father could be considered as lacking on his God given responsibility that comes with the role.

A great father also sets an example of how to live right. You can’t expect your kids to live one way, while the way you live is completely opposite. As a father, you are under the microscope as your kids observe your every move and want to be like dad.

He will not only model how to live life well, but we will give you advice on how to do so. The kids may see you doing certain things and wonder why you did it that way. The advice from a good dad on how to live will be based on the way God wants you to live and these are the things that he will communicate to his children.

A good dad will not want his kids to worry or be anxious. When I picture a good father, I picture somebody who provides for their kids and wants to see them happy. He would also point them to our peace in life, Jesus Christ. Even when it seems that things aren’t going well, the God of the universe hears our prayers and gives us comfort.

Finally, just like all the TV shows and movies, a good dad wants the kids to get along with each other. When the kids are constantly fighting, it will effect the whole family and fighting is not a fruit of the Spirit that he is training them to live by. A family is to be a team and when there are members of a team that does not get along, it effects the whole team.

A good father loves his kids.

The text we will be looking at today shows that Paul was not just a church planter and a preacher, but he cared for the churches he planted like a good father cares for his children. We will see that Paul posesses these characteristics of a good father in his love for this Philippian church.

Philippians 4:2-9

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The Kids Not Getting Along

In the beginning of our text, we see there is a problem beween two women in the church. We are not told what the problem was between the two women, but we see that it caught the attention of old dad and he decided to mention it in his letter. There were probably people that ran into disagreements all the time, so why does he find the need to mention it here? Euodia and Syntyche were not known for this behavior and appeared to be really mature in the faith, even working with Paul and others in the gospel. When two of the kids who are usually on their best behavior start having problems with one another, it is time for dad to step in to solve the problem before it starts effecting the rest of the family. The only problem is that Paul is in prison and unable to do it in person, so he mentions it in his letter and also calls for someone by the name of true companion to help these women. He doesn’t set out to play counselor, who was wrong and who was right, but he urges them to “agree in the Lord.” When we start thinking inward towards our own wants and feelings, we tend to lose sight of the big picture and the mission we are on. These two women are members of the church, whose names are written in the book of life, who were striving side by side with Paul for the gospel, and now they have noticed some differences between themselves. Whatever those differences might be, they are not more imortant than the spread of the gospel and the building up of the church, so Paul tells them the one thing you have in common is far greater than whatever your differences may be, so agree in the Lord.

Rejoicing and Praying with Peace

Paul just called for peace between the two women in the church who had a disagreement, so that it would not effect the church and they could get back to working as a team for the sake of the gospel. He has just told them to agree in the Lord and now he mentions to the whole church that they should rejoice in the Lord always. Not sometimes but always. When our joy is found in God, it makes the burdens and disagreements in life sound so much less important. If you think about it, its also really hard to be mad and happy at the same time. If we are looking to our lives and what happens to us in this world, we could find tons of things that would make us sad or mad. There are endless reasons to rejoice in the Lord, so if we are doing that always as Paul has told us to do, we will find that a lot those things that bothered us weren’t such a big deal after all. If Euodia was always rejoicing in the Lord, she may not have found it such a big deal that Syntyche kept taking her seat at church every Sunday. If I was always rejoicing in the Lord, I wouldn’t get upset when the guys at my job leave me their work to do on top of mine. We are called to let our gentleness be known to everyone, so this means that even when people wrong us, we are still to treat them right. That seems impossible right? We are not left to do this on our own. The text tells us that the Lord is at hand or the Lord is near. The Lord is not far off, somewhere far away leaving us to live this life on our own but the Lord is near. Sometimes these situations in our lives will make us anxious or bring us fear. If we know that the Lord is near, we should call upon him regarding these things. Not just these things but everything. Just as we are not to rejoice in the Lord sometimes but always, we are not called to just pray about some things but all things. In prayer, by letting our requests be made known to God, we are given peace. We know that we have just spoken to the God who created the universe who cares about us and hears our every little prayer. The result of our praying about all things is that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Of all the tools on the Christians toolbelt, prayer is like the one size fits all for every problem. If we are looking for the peace of God to guard us, we must bring everything to him in prayer.

Leading by Example

There is a lot of ugly things in this world. All we have to do is turn on the news and we will see enough to leave us worried about whats going to happen next. We see people being killed, wars happening, natural disasters, all kinds of terrible things. If we think about these thing all the time, we are going to be left constantly worrying and anxious. It is inevitable that these things are going to happen but that does not mean that we should constantly be thinking about these things. Paul tells us here the kinds of things we should think about. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Notice he didnt say, think about what you will do if they arrest you and throw you in prison like they did me or how you will act if Syntyche decided to steal your seat at church too. He doesn’t tell us to think about any of the bad things that happen in life but only good things. If you are only thinking about these things that Paul has mentioned here, you should find no place for worry or for anxiety. This is the standard that we should strive for but we know that in our human weakness, we will find ourself in the position of worry and anxiety quite a bit. If we do happen to wander out of the mindstate that Paul has mentioned, we are able to go to God in prayer in which his peace will guard our hearts and minds. Look at Paul, ol Dad, sitting in prison. You would think if there was anybody that had reason for anxiety it would have been him right? It sure seems that the peace of God is guarding him for him to be such a happy man in prison. It would seem that Paul has found his joy in the Lord so no matter what situation he was in, he wasn’t focused on the all of the bad things but whatever is true, honorable, just, pure lovely, commendable. As a spiritual father, Paul was to set the example on how to live the Christian life. All of the things that he has urged the church to do, they can see him practicing in his life. We discussed how a good father was a good leader, and we see Paul boldly leading by example for this Philippian church.

Summary

We have seen that Paul bears all the marks of a great father in his dealing with the Philippian church. Paul is leading by example, practicing the way of life that he is asking them to live. He not only lives the Christian life well, but gives them advice on how they can do the same. He explains to them how they can deal with anxiety and the different troubles they face in life. We also see Paul concerned about about some of his kids in the church that are not getting along. We see that Paul has a great love for this church and desires them to live for Christ and have peace in the Lord.

Application

How does this passage apply to us? Well the passage is actually full of application.

We see in verse 2 how Paul mentions to Euodia and Syntche to agree in the Lord. Is there people in the church that you don’t get a long with? What about outside of church? The passage tells us to let our gentleness be known to everyone. If there are people in your life that you dont get along with, I want you to consider the big picture and how the issues you have with that person relate. Ask yourself this question. If I were to find my joy in the Lord, would this really be such a big deal. After realizing that it isn’t, I challenge you, whether you were right or wrong, to go out of your way to make ammends with this person. This can be really hard to do but it is a really good example of the gentleness that Paul is urging to show towards others.

I also want you to think about what in your life is causing you anxiety. I bet everyone of us could think of quite a few things we tend to worry about on a daily basis. Are these things you are conistently bringing to God in prayer. If not, I want you to make a habit of bringing these things to God. Those of us who are anxious are looking for peace, and the passage tells us the peace of God will guard our hearts as we bring our anxietys to him in prayer. If you already make a habit of praying about your anxietys and even if you don’t, I want you to consider praying for others. I love when people ask me if there is anything they can pray for me about. Maybe you know somebody at church or in your life is struggling. For most people, it would make their day to know they have somebody praying for them regarding the troubles they are going through.

Finally, what are the things you think about the most? Are you filling your minds with true and pure thoughts or are you doing the opposite? The text tells us the kinds of things we should be thinking about and if we don’t think about these things a lot, chances are these are the people that find themselves the most anxious and worried. What are the anxietys that you are worried about that you are praying for? I challenge you to think about something lovely and commendable in the place of those things. For example: If you are still worrying about Syntyche, who wont stop taking your seat at church, you could think about the lovely fact that God has given you a seat in his church, membership in his body. This is a great gift that should bring plenty of joy.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Lets Pray!