2021-09-05 – Philippians 4:1-9 – Prescription for Growing Godly
2021-09-05 – Philippians 4:1-9 – Prescription for Growing Godly
Good morning everyone. It is so nice to be able to spend some time with you all in fellowship with the Lord. Thank you and God bless you for being with us today.
Our world is changing before our eyes brothers and sisters. What we once thought was wrong is right, and what we thought was right is wrong by secular standards anyway. So many radical changes too. I just read where the the FDA approved the first prescription video game for behavior disorders. Apparently, there is a game called EndeavorRX which can now be prescribed to treat children with ADHD. [SLIDE] I would guess that it is just the first of many future prescribed virtual therapies for whatever now ails ya. Sadly but surely, I think we are getting closer and closer to a true Matrix-like environment, where people check-out of life and check-in to a virtual fantasy existence. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against innovative treatments or technology, but from a Christian perspective, we need to maintain a healthy balance that prescribes faith and natural remedies along with what doctors might have to prescribe.
Today we are going to see one of many Godly prescriptions for life from scripture. My prayer is that you learn to love more The Great Physicians guidance for your lives going forward. You can trust in the Lord brothers and sisters, for He is so good, and He loves you so, Amen?
Please turn with me now to Philippians 4:1, page 1042 in your pew Bibles, which we call God’s Inspired, Infallible and Living Word. Prayer..
Last week, as we started the fourth chapter of the of this Philippians letter-book written by the apostle Paul, he gave us four goals; 1) To know Jesus Christ;
2) To know the power of the resurrection; 3) To know or understand the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings; and 4) To become conformed to His death. Then Paul suggested that we imitate him in this regard and to “stand firm” in our faith. And that is now where we will continue in this letter today. Verse one reads:
41 So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.
As we are in the last chapter of this book, it is easy to surmise that Paul puts much emphasis on the issue of unity. Unity with each other and unity within the church for the benefit of the Gospel. The ladies Paul mentions here in this section, Euodia and Syntyche, were obviously important and influential members of the church. Paul learned about their quarreling, and pleaded for their reconciliation. As I explained a couple sermons ago, being like-minded doesn’t necessarily mean that we all agree in all matters of life. I would guess that there are several topics in which each of you and I would not agree about completely. However, when it comes to the unity of the church, and the authority of the Bible, we must all agree so that we can be effective at doing what the Lord has appointed us to do, to share His love to the world. We cannot have spiteful grievances as we serve the Lord. Apparently, Euodia and Syntyche was causing a commotion, and Paul was pleading with the Philippian church leadership to step-in. Paul, like a good-shepherd, obviously cared and respected these ladies and he didn’t want this disagreement to render them or the church ineffective in ministry.
In our church, we too will have disagreements on occasion, and that is okay, but it should never get to the point that we become vindictive and spiteful. It should never get to the point that it paralyzes our ministry. If and when that happens, it would be appropriate for the leadership to lovingly step-in. We cannot ignore it, because in doing so it might even make more faith casualties. That is what Paul was getting to in this letter. God is not honored in this dear friends. Jesus wrote about this Himself, as written in Matthew 5 [SLIDE] He said,
22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell. 23So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift”.
I hope you can see in all this that God wants us as a church to get along with one another; to forgive one another, to sacrifice for one another, and to exercise much grace. Jesus wants your heart, and I think you will agree, He certainly has earned it. As a church family of believers, like the church in Philippi, we should endeavor to maintain the unity within our ranks, for the sake of His ministry. Amen? Paul now continues at verse 4. He writes:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
This section of verses, as well as the next in my opinion, should be plastered on our walls, posted on our refrigerators, and recited frequently, as I believe they can change a person’s whole outlook on life. Two-times in this letter Paul urges the Christians at Philippi to “Rejoice in the Lord”. The first was in verse 3:1, and now here in verse 4:4. And this second time he says it twice “Rejoice… again I say rejoice! (with an explanation mark). I would suggest that this was actually the general theme of the Paul’s Christian life. He also suggested in 1 Thess. 5:17 that we are to “Rejoice at all times” even. Ladies and Gentlemen, this life is sometimes hard, that is for sure. However, when you truly comprehend the fact that as Christians, we get to go to heaven for all of eternity, that thought should then melt away the some of the stress and struggles and sorrow of the world, and even bring you to the point of rejoicing despite the challenges we all face.
In these verses here, we can see the first of two prescriptions by the apostle for us to consider. To paraphrase verses 6 & 7 again, Paul suggests that when we exercise prayer we will receive peace. And not just a little piece of peace, but instead he calls it “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding”. I don’t know about you, but I could use a dose of that kind of peace these days. But please keep in mind that Paul isn’t suggesting a magic pill here. This prayer exercise that he speaks about, is not just a bedtime or morning repetition of words. The prayer that Paul is talking about here is the serious business of bringing our lives before Father God. Truly examining our dependence upon Him, and placing our eternal lives in God’s hands for it to be used. In our prayers we also remember and celebrate what God has already done for us, and we confess our needs and petitions Him. Prayer is serious business, for you are communicating to the Creator and Sustainer of Heaven and Earth. And when we do that prayer right, with a humble heart, God will ease your mind and your burden. He will give you peace even in the most trying of circumstances. There is an old quote that says, “The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything”. So cast your burdens upon the cross and be set free. Amen?
Our last section of verses is another prescription that I use frequently in my counseling sessions with folks. Starting at verse 8 Paul writes:
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
What Paul suggests here was true then and is still true today, “we are what we think”. Sour dispositions create not only sick souls but also sick bodies. The feelings of worthlessness, bitter resentment and self-pity diminish us to broken fragments. Self-centeredness thinking just shrivels up the soul, and it creates a dysfunctional spirit within us that distorts our perceptions, blurs our perspectives, and prevents any healing that we might need.
But as Paul lays out in these verses, the opposite of that negative dynamic is also true. Those who fill their minds with positive affirmations, who concentrate on the noble virtues that make life meaningful, set the stage for healing and makes possible for the wholeness that God’s designed and intended.
Two-thousand years before psychologists were teaching this truth, Paul wrote this prescription. Paul said, “dwell on these things”, or meditate on this, because we are (or we will become) what we think, indeed.
Norman Vincent Peale was an American minister and author who is best known for his work in popularizing the concept and The Power of Positive Thinking. He has coined many motivational phrases over the years, I have a few to share with you know that goes along with what Paul wrote here in our verses today.
In this letter-book that Paul wrote to the church of Philippi, we can learn so much that we can then choose to apply to our lives. But we should also keep in mind that this most joyous book in our Bibles comes from the pen of the author who wrote it while he was still chained-up in prison to a Roman guard. Many scholars also believe that Paul wrote this just about the time Nero began feeding Christians to ravenous lions and burning them as torches to illuminate his banquets. In such a horrible environment, Paul still found his joy when he wrote this letter. I would suggest that his inspired prescription here is most worthy of our repeating. Maybe you can read it aloud with me this time.
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
The Bible is full of inspired prescriptions for our Christian living. We should take the time to read them and then choose to apply them to our daily faith walk.
Now, I will call your attention to our Pew Bibles on page 1105. In it you will see that the publisher has elected to list some of those Bible prescriptions with the corresponding verses and page numbers listed. And if you just scan down the page to about ¾ way down there, you will see Philippians 4:8 listed that we just read. And to the left you will see the title of that prescription which reads “When you need to get your head on right”. Isn’t that just a great title 😊
Finally dear friends, I will leave you with one final prescription if you will. This one comes from a local resident. Local in proximity, but it is one that was coined some 100 years ago as captured in this antique book my daughter Estelle recently purchased. The book is called Favorite Quotations of the Orion, Illinois People dated 1920. [SLIDE]
In it, Miss Marion Magnuson quoted her prescription which reads, “A laugh is just like music, it lingers in the heart, And where it’s melody is heard, the ills of life depart; And happy thoughts come crowding, it’s joyful notes to greet, A laugh is just like music, For making living sweet.”
Would you please stand now and let us close together in prayer.