Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Review

It has been a while since we have been in Philippians.

Let’s take a short minute to review what we have learned to this point.

Philippians is Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi.

The letter is one between close friends and full of exhortation, commendation, practical advice, and love.

Paul has expressed his appreciation for the Philippians for their support and, also, the fact that Paul and the church are both undergoing persecution at the moment.

Paul reports that the Gospel is advancing and being preached in Rome and that brings him joy.

He then goes into an aside where he describes his intense feelings of wanting to be with Christ but knowing that he has more to do on this Earth.

He concludes by being obedient to stay and continue working with the Philippians in their progress and joy in the faith.

The verses we are considering today are part of a longer passage that starts at 1:27 and goes through 2:30.

In 1:27 through 1:30 we saw the exhortation for the Philippians to live in a manner worthy of Christ.

Living in unity of spirit and purpose and not frightened of those outside the church for suffering for Christ is as much a part of being a Christian as our faith in Christ has saved us.

Chapter 2 begins in the same vein.

Verses 1 - 4 speak of unity in mind and love.

Practically, the Philippians are encouraged to live in humility and consider the needs of others before their own.

This leads into one of the most famous and beautiful passages of the New Testament - verses 5-11 - where Paul shows the Philippians the true meaning of humility.

That meaning is found in Christ incarnated, dying on the cross, so that God would be glorified.

Up to this point, the ideas of obedience and working for the Kingdom have been present but hidden in the background.

That brings us to today's passage where Paul makes them explicit.

But, before we begin, I think this small tale from Charles Swindoll speaks to many who call themselves Christian.

Illustration

“Company President

Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad.

So he says to you and the other trusted employees, “Look, I’m going to leave.

And while I’m gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business.

You manage things while I’m away.

I will write you regularly.

When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.”

Everyone agrees.

He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years.

During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns.

Finally he returns.

He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess--weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room.

Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss.

Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, “What happened?

Didn’t you get my letters?”

You say, “Oh, yeah, sure.

We got all your letters.

We’ve even bound them in a book.

And some of us have memorized them.

In fact, we have ‘letter study’ every Sunday.

You know, those were really great letters.”

I think the president would then ask, “But what did you do about my instructions?”

And, no doubt the employees would respond, “Do?

Well, nothing.

But we read every one!””

Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 242

Obey

Our illustration is cute but it is also to the point.

Just as that fictional company cannot survive and flourish without working to fulfill the CEO’s plans; so too, God’s Kingdom will not flourish in our lives without obedience to His will and working according to His plans.

Christ’s example

In the previous sermon, and in the verses immediately before these, we learned about the ultimate example of not only humility but also obedience and work.

The Son of God, Jesus, was obedient to the Father and came to Earth to live as one of us.

He was so obedient that he also died as one of us.

His perfect obedience brought so much glory to the Father that now the Father has glorified him above all.

Though it is not made explicit in this letter, we know that Jesus did not come to sit cross-legged on a mountain top and dispense the wisdom of the ages.

He did not come, as so many of our teachers do, to teach what he could not do.

He came to work and do the will of the Father.

Manner of

After Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Luke records Jesus announcing his ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth.

There he read from Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,”

When John the Baptist questioned if Jesus was truly the Messiah what was Jesus response?

Matthew 11:5 “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

Jesus called twelve disciples by name to follow him, learn from him, and hear the words of God from him.

There were many other disciples that followed Jesus whose names we do not know.

But one thing we do know, all of what Jesus did was in obedience to his Father’s will.

A will that was given to man throughout the Old Testament.

A will that we abandoned in the Garden and run away from today.

Reasons for

In using Jesus life and death as the example of true obedience, Paul points out to the Philippians, and us, that we are called to no less.

Jesus expected the original disciples to be obedient to God and to his teaching.

We are not called to do more but we can do no less than our Savior.

So many times we act as if we don’t know what we are to obey.

Jesus stated it forthrightly in John 14:15-17 ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

And what are Jesus commandments?

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

John 15:9-17 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

What did Jesus say was the greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:37-40 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

The last words Jesus spoke to the disciples imply obedience.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Work Out