Philippians 1 cont...
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Philippians chapter 1 ....(continued)....
Philippians chapter 1 ....(continued)....
Tonight we come back to the first chapter of Philippians as we begins to look at Paul’s exhortation and encouragement to the church there in Philippi.
Do you remember from last week, we looked at Paul’s opening salutation, and we had a chance to see his heart, he loved those people, and respectively he was heart broken to know that the false ones has entered and were seeking to lead it astray.
And we are going to chapter 1 and pick up with verse 9 and move down through verse 18 today.
So lets look at the text...
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
V 9. So lets begin with verse 9
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
So listen to how Paul prays for them. He prays that their love more abound more and more, what does this mean? Love epitomizes the responsibility we as Christians should have for other Christians.
I mean consider this… Love is so important that we find it mentioned in the Scriptures in significant ways...
A. Love fulfills the greatest commandment, The Bible tells us that we should what? Listen to the Deut 6, verse 5
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
And Jesus also told us in the gospel of Luke, that the second was like it in that we should love our neighbor as our self.
B. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. The very first fruit of the Spirit mentioned is love. It should be the very first of what we exhibit as the body of Christ because it is the what the Holy Spirit produces in us.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
C. Love is the most important virtue: In I Corinthians 13, we find that Love is one of three excellent virtues mentioned by the Apostle, but of the three love is the most important.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
You see the word for love here is Agape, it is a God type of love, it is the love that abounded in him toward us and this is to be our love for the world around us.
Richard Melick says “it is a selfless action that benefits others ...” “....There are no boundaries for a Christian’s neighborhood.”
Love is the driving force of obedience, John 14
So think of this.. What Paul prays for them is so important. They can only be the church, the true body if they love those around them and around their world.
Paul prays for them to have more love, their is room for growth in their lives. It needed to abound more and more for them
And Paul also says they should have love with 2 qualifiers : with Knowledge and Discernment
The word knowledge speaks of an experiential knowledge, with discernment, so knowledge that has deductive reasoning.
The comprehensive knowledge includes an accurate understanding of God and the world, as well as the “lover” himself. - Melick
This is at the heart of the needs which the church needed… they had division in them because of different factions, they needed Christian love to be demonstrated with each other if they hope to reach out to the world.
This would only happen as they prayed in love with Spiritual wisdom and discernment…for each other and the world
And now apply this to us today… We need to pray this for ourselves, our brothers and sisters, for our families that we might be in harmony and have the capacity to love those around us.
What good will we be if we don’t love those around us.
Now going back to the idea of Prayer that Paul spoke of in this verse,
Paul said it was his prayer that your love abound.... The word “prayer” that Paul uses is a important word. It has the meaning of being face to face when you pray. You are praying face to face with God, in fact it is the same word used in John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
They were together face to face....we are to become the throne of God when we pray. It is not this quick, jumbled prayer. it was laboring in prayer before God for others out of love.
WOW.
And He says I am praying that your love may abound more and more… to pray for it to abound means to overflow the river banks, so much prayer because there is so much love.
When was the last time we labored in front of God for those around us.........
Now lets move forward...
Verse 10 ( Phil 1)
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
When we look at that verse, there are 3 words we need to pay attention to right off the bat.
Paul says...let your love abound all the more, with knowledge and discernment. so that you may approve what is excellent , and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ...
Paul envisioned a body of believers who loved each other, loved those around them, who also acted in wisdom and discernment, It is here they could tell what was good… the word he uses is excellent...
Discernment build character… a growing love produces a character that has developed and is obedient to God’s ways. As such, in this we are pure and blameless at the day of judgment.
The word “Pure” here is found only one other time in the NT, it has the meaning of being able to hold up in the light at the time of inspection. The word blameless is to have a clear conscience, I have done what I am supposed too.
Paul is praying that the Philippians would be able to live and love in such a way that they would be without blame on that day.
Lets stop right there...
How would you define your love?
Does your love abound, is it pure, does it seek what God wants above all else.
How does God actually see your love in what you do?
Now lets look at verse 11
V 11.
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Similar to the first opinion, Paul provided a context out of which character could come....
So by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus produces love in us, and we put it into actions, the righteousness here is practical or ethical righteousness.
So as soon as a person becomes a believer, they began to show love to others because of being filled with the Spirit.
There is no second filling of grace, no it all began the moment of our regeneration. You are saved and God is at work you in because of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Understand everything comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus produces every good action in us by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in us. This is God;s will for our lives.
So love is a choice we make, to step out and to give ourselves to others,, but it is the work of God, His overarching purpose in our lives for His good pleasure.
Love is a supernatural work of God in our own hearts and it is for glory and praise of God Soli Deo Gloria.... is the Latin phrase.
When we love others like this, it brings glory to God...
Listen to what Jesus said in John 15:8
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
If you want to glorify God in your life today, then extend yourself to others in love.
Now Verse 12
Verse 12
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
Paul interpreted his circumstances always through the lens of the light of the gospel,
The church at Philippi were concerned about Paul, they sent to a gift and a servant, Epaphroditus. But Paul isn’t worried about His circumstances, instead He is worried about the church there at Philippi.
So Paul encourages them to see that while many think His circumstances are horrible, Paul says look, this has happened so that the gospel might be advanced. He is saying I’m ok, and look at where all the gospel is going…wow
So Paul viewed this trial he was enduring through the paradigm of how does this further the gospel
Consider this my friends..... When do we look at our circumstances and see that everything that happens to us can be used to to further the gospel.
So if you end up in the repair shop… opportunity to further the gospel and if you are in the hospital, it is an opportunity to share the gospel.
It is an opportunity to use it for His glory and your good! Greater love will be produced the more you exercise your faith
V 13....
13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
The word imprisonment here in the Greek literally means in bonds or chains if you will. His house arrest meant that he was chained to someone else during this time. He is suffering for the cause of Christ. Suffering for righteousness,
And his cause, imprisoned for the sake of the gospel had became known through the entire Imperial guard, the Praetorium guard was the most elite of all the forces of Rome. These were the personal bodyguard of Caesar.
And because Paul is such an important prisoner, they are to guard him as well, to keep him safe but to also keep him imprisoned. The gospel is always so controversial , the gospel always shakes things up. And it makes Paul such a controversial figure, that the imperial guard is set to keep Paul under arrest until his trial.
Paul’s case is an important one, like roe vs Wade here, it will shake up the land, but its the gospel that He shares with so many that will spread across so many lives because He is there.
Now lets move on to verse 14
v 14.....
14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
And here is the second result of Paul’s circumstances being imprisoned in Rome, is that a new evangelistic effort is sparked, Paul says many brothers are bolder to speak for Jesus.
His life had an effect on others, and he being strong in hardship encourages others...
Do you realize today that the gospel is always advancing in adversity, in adversity we see people paying attention to their gospel leaders and their lives impacts them. They ( those brothers ) were encouraged by Paul.)
So the gospel is advancing in adversity....…Because in prosperity,people become lax, we become self reliant, we become worldly and and we are distracted. But in adversity we are weaned off the world and we are on our knees in prayer.
So there Rome and in the surrounding areas, Paul says most of the brothers, most implies large numbers… They have far more courage.. the phrase “far more” means beyond measure, exceedingly more.. They are becoming daring in their work for Christ.
Listen if Paul can speak out while chained up in Rome, surely we can speak up in the marketplace, in the streets.. It was like Paul’s example shamed them and it revealed to them we can do that as well....
These brothers could do so trusting in the Lord. So we are as well, we are trusting in the Lord to work in us for His good …and for our good.
Listen Paul isn’t a superman, he was like us, and he needed the Lord strength and help to do as he needed, He at times asked others to pray for him to do the work faithfully.
Alexander McLaren a famous Scottish theologian and preacher said this quote. One soul all on flame has the power to kindle others One man or woman on fire from God, can ignite others to catch fire for God.
Then we need to spread that fire to others all the time.......
V 15....
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
When you look at these verses, 15-17 you see that some like Paul and some hate him...
Now, Paul will speak of some whose intentions are not always the best. some preached out of envy or rivalry…those terms speaks of relationships that have gone bad, they can’t let a brother out do them.
They indeed preached Christ… how can this bee, right message but rotten attitude
The word envy means jealous, they hate his strength, his power- he is an apostle, his intellect and yes his success. They probably hated that God loved him and his walk with Him.
These people full of ill will, force the people to take sides if you will, you stand with them or with the other side, the side of Paul… There is no middle ground.
But there were some who did it out of good will, Their hearts were right, their message was right...
now walking righ tin to verse 16-17
16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
The latter do it out of love, … love for Paul and for God.. They know Paul is a man of God and when he opens his mouth truth comes out,. They know Paul is geninue and authentic.
They know he is appointed to this task , to be the apostle to the Gentiles
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
Now lets look right at verse 17… and Paul speaks more
17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.
Paul jumps back to the first group, they preach out of selfish ambition, they preach to make their name great, to be famous and to be seen by others. It is like those who say, you are not really a good pastor or preacher unless you have a large church.
Through the years I have seen so many whose goal was to have a big church and all the fan fare… a church that grows is great, but its not a pastor goal, the goal is a healthy church
But Paul says they enjoy tearing me down, to build them up… thinking to cause me stress. They want to kick Paul while he is down
But not look at v 18....
18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
IN all this Paul was optimistic, what effect does it have on me… well He rejoiced when Christ was proclaimed… if it was the selfish preachers, or the good ones… He is not rejoicing in sin of those people, but He rejoiced in the mere fact that Christ is proclaimed.
Again do you see how Paul handled difficulty, adversity.. He took the eternal perspective, what ever happened to him He was ok with as long as Christ is exalted.
Paul said i will rejoice in this…that Christ is exalthed. That caused him joy… why??? He wanted all to hear of the love of God.
Now the last section, verses 19-20
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Paul was confident that God would take care of him, He knew he would be delivered..
In all this Paul knew the church prayed for him...
Either set free and he would keep preaching or the body would be put to death and he would be in heaven
Now we know that Paul was released this time and there would be a second imprisonment and that time he would be executed.
But all he wanted was to be faithful until the end....
Listen my friends, for Paul, the bottom line was faithfulness to Christ. In all things he wanted that and that alone. He wanted to be a faithful person to share the love of Jesus. his was his ultimate goal
In truth it should be our ultimate goal. Do you want to be faithful to God in Christ is all you do? Then make that your aim.
To do that… what needs to change in your life?
Pray