To listen to this message please click on the link in green type below –
Sermon 2019-02-17 Geoff Follas
Philippians 4:2-9
SOME PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS
In most of Paul’s letters he talks first of all about Christian beliefs [doctrine] and then he moves on to how we are to put our beliefs into practice. And in this passage, Paul does just that. And there are 3 areas in which he gives us some practical teaching.
Our relational life, our prayer life and our thought life.
OUR RELATIONAL LIFE v2-3
In the church of Philippi there were 2 leading women, Euodia and Syntyche. These two women helped Paul from the time he established the church there. And Paul heard that they were having problems in their relationship. It seems that Euodia had her own ideas about how things should be done and Syntyche had different ideas and they were allowing their differences to come between them. Does this sound familiar?
Paul said here, “I plead with them to be of the same mind in the Lord.” The key phrase here is “in the Lord.”
What binds us together as believers? The Lord. Listen to Paul’s words from Ephesians 4:3-6 “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of us all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”
If we love Jesus and His Spirit is in you and in me then we are one in Christ, but Paul says we must do everything we can to maintain that unity of the Spirit. Don’t let anything destroy it.
To be of one mind in the Lord means that in those things that are essential to the Christian faith we need to be in agreement and in those things that are not essential we need to respect one another views even if we disagree.
I was talking to one the men in our church who I respect very much and I hope he won’t mind me mentioning this. But he told me he very opposed to to Christians drinking alcohol. I said to him that from the NT I can see that it is wrong for believers to get drunk but I couldn’t see in scripture where Christians are not allowed to drink alcohol. We had quite a discussion about it at the end I said, “I may not agree with your viewpoint but I respect your right to hold it and I would never allow that to come between us as brothers in the Lord.”
Scripture teaches that we are to agree on those things the Bible says are essential to our Christian faith, but we also need to lovingly and respectfully disagree on those things that are not and never allow them to come between us.
The two greatest evangelists of 18th Century England were John Wesley and George Whitfield. They both led thousands of people to Christ, but they both disagreed with each other on one point of doctrine. Whitfield believed that no one could become a Christian unless God called them and Wesley believed that anyone could become a Christian if they chose to. One said it is God’s choice the other said it is man’s choice. They had a few strong arguments about their differing viewpoints but they chose not to allow that to destroy their relationship as brothers in Christ. In fact when one of Whitfield’s supporters asked him if they would see John Wesley in heaven, Whitfield answered “We won’t see John Wesley in heaven, He will be so close to the Throne of God and we will be so far away, that we won’t be able to see him!”
Paul Brett disagreed with the direction the church was heading and started talking critically and negatively to others about the church. I told him he was obviously unhappy in the church and it would be better for him to find another church. 2 years later.
One incident that stands out in my mind happened when we were in Stratford. The church leaders decided to ask the church members for their okay to build a new auditorium. We put the motion to the members and I said, “All in favour, say Aye.” Every person except one longstanding member voted in favour. This man voted against it and asked that his vote be recorded.
On the day we held our first working bee to clear the site, one of the first men to turn up was the member who had voted against the project and he worked like a Trojan. That day he went right up in my estimation. And I thought to myself, “That is spiritual maturity.”
Listen, we are not always going to agree on everything but spiritual maturity is when we can disagree and still remain united in Christ. If you and I are in the Lord then we have the unity of the Spirit and it is our job to maintain, to safeguard it to ensure that nothing destroys it.
OUR PRAYER LIFE v4-7
Paul says here, “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice.”
You might think that it was okay for Paul to say this, but what about me and my situation. How can I be expected to rejoice in the Lord when I’ve got so many things going wrong for me? How can I rejoice when my circumstances are so stressful and seemingly hopeless.
Paul wrote this when he was imprisoned in Rome awaiting a trial that could have led to his execution and yet he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord.”
How could Paul Rejoice in these circumstances? He didn’t say rejoice in your physical circumstances, he said: “Rejoice in the Lord.”
What did he mean by that?
“When I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, I said to the radiologist.” “That’s okay” And he said to me, “You are taking this very calmly.” Then I told him that I was a Christian and that my life was in God’s hands.”
My physical condition was that I was in hospital facing cancer, but my true condition was that my life was hidden with Christ in God as Paul says in Colossians 3
Paul doesn’t say rejoice in your circumstances, because they change and sometimes they are not pleasant, but if you belong to Jesus your true life is hidden with Christ in God.
When we become believers, God places us in Christ and nothing, and no one, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus said, “No one can pluck you out of my hand or the Fathers hand. Your position in Christ is 100% secure, permanent and eternal.
In the 18th Century, Madam Guyon was placed in solitary confinement in the Bastille for 7 years because of her faith. The cell was suffocatingly hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. Although her physical circumstances were unbearable she managed to scratch these words on the stone wall.
“My cage confines me round, Abroad I cannot fly, But though my wings are closely bound my heart’s at liberty. These prison walls cannot control the flight the freedom of the soul. And in God’s mighty will I find the joy, the freedom of the mind.”
We can rejoice when we become more conscious of God in our circumstances than the circumstances themselves.
A woman dying of cancer I visited in Greenlane hospital. I went to bring her some comfort and encouragement. What struck me was that her face was radiant and everything she said was so positive and full of the joy of the Lord. I came away feeling that she had ministered to me. She was more conscious of the Lord than she was of her deteriorating condition. Talk about rejoicing in the Lord.
I don’t know what your physical circumstances are but if you are a true believer, I encourage you to realise that your true life is not buried or bound by your circumstances, your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when your circumstances change, you will still be in the Lord and when you leave this troubled world you will remain eternally in the Lord.
This is why we can rejoice in the Lord. We are presently and eternally in the Lord and that is a cause for great rejoicing.
So it follows that if our life is safely and securely in the Lord we don’t need to be anxious about anything. When we worry about this and fret about that it shows we are more conscious of our surrounding circumstances than we are about our position in Christ. Our lives, our circumstances, our future are all in God’s hands.
I have often found myself singing the words of this old hymn.
In heavenly love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here.
The storms may roar without me, My heart may low be laid, But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed?
And Paul says here instead of worrying and fretting over things, hand them over to God in prayer, petition with thanksgiving.
The old Sunday School song went, “Why worry when you can pray. Trust Jesus He’ll find a way.”
For some Christians the song has changed to “Why pray when you can worry.
- Paul says, “Pray with thanksgiving. Pray about these concerns until prayer turns to thanksgiving. And that will happen when you know in heart that God has heard your prayer and has it all in hand. How will we know that God has heard our prayer and has it all in hand? He will give you His peace. “The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee”.
And that is when Prayer turns to thanksgiving.
For 10 years Robert and Mary Moffat poured out their lives in service and persistent prayer for the people of Botswana. During that time they never saw a person come to Christ. Finally, the directors of the mission suggested they pull out. But after praying for so long God gave them this amazing sense of peace that He had heard their prayer and the answer was on the way. They were filled thanksgiving and joy even though there was no sign of a breakthrough. One day a friend from England sent them a letter asking them if there was anything they would like her to send them. In faith, they wrote back, “Send us a communion set, because we are confident that we will need it soon.” God honoured their faith and the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of the villagers. The communion set was delayed in the mail, but on the very day before they were to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the set arrived and they shared communion with their first group of new converts.
OUR THOUGHT LIFE v8-9
Proverbs 23:7 in the King James version says, “As a person thinks in their heart, that is what they are.” In other words, what we allow our minds to dwell on determines what we become.
Do you realise that thoughts have spiritual power behind them? 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every lie that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.”
What we think about affects how we feel, and how we feel motivates our behaviour and our behaviour shapes our character.
Right now there are spiritual forces in our world determined to capture our minds, because they know if they can get us to think the way they want us to think, they will be able to control us.
And they are working through the communication and media industry for this very purpose. T.V., films, books, magazines, newspapers, internet, social media, you name it, all with the purpose of getting us to think their way so they can get us to do what they want.
In 2011 Gary Messinger wrote a book entitled, “The battle for the mind” This book explores how in the last 150 years influential people have used mass communication to revolutionize people’s thinking and mobilised them to do what they have wanted them to do.
If you get people to accept the information you feed them you can get their money, you can get their loyalty, you can have power over them and you can even make them do things they wouldn’t normally do.
Joseph Goebbels was a master at this. He was the minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany and he used the media to fill people’s minds with lies, hatred and bigotry so that they committed terrible crimes against humanity.
The spiritual forces under the direction of Satan the god of this world are right now assaulting people’s minds with godless, evil, greedy, selfish, hateful, lustful, deceitful, lying thoughts in order to turn them against God and all that is good, just, loving and true and use them to bring division, destruction and devastation.
And you and I need to wake up to what is going on and recognise what is happening every time an unloving, unkind, untrue, ungodly thought lands on our doorstep.
We need to do what Paul told us to do in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Take hold of that thought before it takes hold of us and hand it over to Christ for Destruction and replace it with thoughts that are true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and loving, and admirable.
In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul says this is Spiritual warfare and if that is the case we need to be aggressive in this area. If you want to get angry at anything get angry at these lying, ungodly, unloving thoughts that come at you and don’t give them an inch. They have spiritual power and they are designed to undermine your faith, destroy your character and drag you down spiritually.
When Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 12 he said, “Don’t let this godless world squeeze you into its mould, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
You can’t control the beauty of your face, but you can choose the expression on it. You can’t control life’s difficult moments, but you can choose how you’ll respond to them. You can’t control the negative, unloving atmosphere of your world, but you can choose the atmosphere of your mind.
A 90-year-old widow was moved into a rest home because she had gone blind. On the way to her room, the caregiver began to describe her new room. The elderly lady said in response, “I love it!” “But you haven’t even seen it yet,” said the caregiver. “That doesn’t matter,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide ahead of time! Whether or not I like it doesn’t depend on how the furniture’s arranged. It’s how I arrange my mind that’s important, and I’ve already decided to love it. Every morning when I wake I can choose to dwell on the parts of my body that no longer work, or give thanks for the ones that do! Every day is a gift, so even though I can’t see I can focus on the blessings of each new day, and all the great memories I’ve stored away.” What an attitude!
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind….discipline your mind to reject those godless, negative, critical, unloving, deceptive thoughts the world throws at you and replace them with those thoughts that are true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and loving, and admirable.
God has given us believers the Holy Spirit to help us in this area. We don’t have to battle on our own.
Ask the Holy Spirit to alert you when thoughts come into our mind that are unloving and offensive to God. He will give you a sense of uneasiness about them, and then hand those thoughts over to Jesus for destruction and replace them with good, loving, God honouring thoughts.
Here is an example Jesus gave in Matthew 5:43 “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” And it all begins in the mind.
May the mind of Christ, my Saviour, live in me from day to day, by His love and power controlling all I do and say.
May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour, so that all may see I triumph only through His power.
May the peace of God my Father Rule my life in everything, that I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.
May the love of Jesus fill me, as the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self-abasing, this is victory.
May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, looking only unto Jesus as I onward go. May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win, and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him.