The Work of Christ
Philippians 1:1-11
Introduction/ Greeting
Good morning again, we are in the first week of the New Year … how is that going?
The holiday meals are eaten
The presents opened
Hopefully time has returned to semi-normal.
You have made your New Year’s resolutions… still on track right? Where do you go from here?
Every year… somebody tells you how to save money, lose weight, manage your time, build better relationships that last.
Son got us a yoga program for stretching and exercising. What is he trying to tell me?
How about a message this morning from someone who just wants to encourage you and let you know that you are loved.
Prayer-
Philippians 1:1-11
The message throughout the book of Philippians is Love and Joy. The Apostle Paul and his apprentice Timothy’s love for the church of Christ and the Joy of being a child of God.
He writes to the church-
“To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.”
From the leadership on down to everyone that would sit in the chairs, he desires to see God’s peace and Grace would rest on them.
If you are not sure how to pray for your pastor, that would be a great prayer- God’s Grace and His peace to fall on my life and my family.
You have to take in account of the setting for his writing to the church- (Context of the writing)
He is in prison, He is bound by chains and guards are sitting right next to him at all times.
This is not the time that Paul would just decide to write a love letter.
He had lots of time to think about people and the church and it is from his heart that we see his love for them.
He is writing to them as a word of encouragement for what they are going through.
Think about this a moment- He was in prison for preaching the gospel.
He was in prison for sharing His faith that went against the laws of Rome.
Every public event, Romans acknowledged Cesar as Lord, and every public place Paul went, He exalted Jesus Christ as Lord.
Paul is encouraging the church because they were feeling the pressure of government sponsored persecution.
They were being shunned for their faith.
They were being hassled and tormented from their neighbors and family.
Those that had businesses, they probably didn’t buy there anymore.
They were punished for not flowing with the crowd.
They even had Christian missionaries insisting that even though they weren’t Jewish they had to be circumcised and obey Jewish law. Even in the early church, God’s principals were already being taken out of context and twisted to fit the mold that some wanted.
Paul depicts those false teachers as worshipping their bellies, glorying in their shame, setting their minds on earthly things, he really beings it home and says they are “enemies of the cross.”
(V27) Paul tells us how we are to live out our lives in spite of the persecution, inspite of trials, and live in manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Only if we walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, steadfast, united, can we expect to advance the work of the gospel in the world.”
So how do we do that? How do we live worthy of the gospel while living in a world that despises the things of God?
One way/ Being Thankful and giving Thanksgiving to God
“I thank my God every time I remember you.”
Paul understood that to be thankful was a mindset.
Paul knew that if he was to give God all the honor due Him, he had to be thankful even in the midst of what he was going through.
It was not about how you or I feel at the time, it is about who we are giving thanks too!
We buried my Mother-law this week-
I was amazed at all the people there for a 94 year old women.
Her immediate family was all gone. Her extended family was aging and still the place was full.
Why? Because she had made an impact in their lives.
I am sure there were days she didn’t feel like being thankful.
I am sure there were days she did not want to live out her faith- but she did because it was not all about how she felt, it is about who she was giving thanks too.
If you are not Thankful- you can become bitter-
Paul was in prison, nobody would blame him for being bitter.
No one blame him for not wanting to share his faith.
Blaming God for his situation instead of thankful for his God.
The bitter person is constantly unsatisfied with their life (SermonCentral)
Nothing makes them happy and they purposely make life miserable not only for themselves, but for those that have the misfortune of being around them.
Why me! Life is out to get them.
Jim Moore wrote a book called “You can get bitter or you can get better”
You have a choice of how you will live your life.
Bitter will leave you mad at the world and the world won’t care.
Ralph Sockman, a Methodist minister expressed it this way- “A grief is a sorrow we carry in our heart. A grievance is a chip we carry on our shoulder.” All of us must face trouble. None are immune. Indeed, I stand before you this morning as one whose clerical robe provides no shelter from misfortune. At one time or another trouble will come up to all of us and place its hand on our shoulder, speak our name, and say to us “Come and walk with me awhile.”
That hit home to me this week, maybe it did for you too- we have a choice and we live with our choice.
If you are not thankful- you can become discouraged
Life has a way of tearing you down- usually at your weakest point.
Jesus never promised it would be easy.
He says for a believer that He would never leave you or forsake you.
Paul tells the church to rejoice in the Lord always! The only way you could rejoice always was “in the Lord” because life is not fair and it deals bad hands at times that are out of our control and we do not always understand what is going on.
Comforting words from Jesus! “Let not your heart be troubled” Jesus knows that things change. He knows that there are 1000’s of things that could ruin your well laid plans- “let not you heart be troubled” Do not be discouraged.
One of Paul’s distinctive features was that He had a close relationship with the Lord and he wanted others to experience Jesus the same way.
Paul was obsessed by Christ- His passion was “ the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.”
He was not going to let his immediate situation change the way He felt for Christ.
If we are not thankful- we become arrogant and proud
God is the giver of everything good- I did not say it, the Lord said it. So we are to be thankful for the things he does and the things that have been given us by God or we become prideful and conceited and think that the world revolves around us or that we deserved what we get that Is good and upset when anything does not go our way.
We pray crazy blessings like this- “O Lord, we planted the seed, then we harvested the crop, if we had not put the food on the table it wouldn’t be sitting her. But Lord, we give you thanks anyway.”
It is hard to be arrogant when you are praying like this-
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I pray with Joy because of your partnership in the gospel.” Goes on to say “it is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.”
You see, once we understand that we are not holy in ourselves but holy because of who we are in Christ. We live different.
Being in Christ means as believers we are in a close union with Christ and the community of believers founded by Christ. We then live out our lives as believers with believers and want to see others become believers.
We are not arrogant- we become Christ-like, humble and wanting to see Christ glorified.
For Paul, Joy was to be wed with hope. Hope was in Christ. It was never to be determined by circumstances- it was to be by the saving grace and works of Christ.
If we are to evangelize like Christ and bring the gospel
Suffer for the gospel as Paul did
Be an intercessory prayer warrior
Live in a way that is truly worthy of the gospel… then we are to be thankful to God and not let circumstances get in the way of it
Finally, one of the top five verses for me in the Bible-
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Part of our text
We do not have to do it- we just have to be willing to allow the Lord to do it and what He begins He will finish, that is a word for someone this morning- He will not quit until He finishes what He starts.
The source of Paul’s confidence is the faithfulness of God to accomplish what He purposes to do.
Paul’s confidence is not in the Christianity of Christians, but in the God-ness of God.
Who is extremely trustworthy, able, and committed to finishing the work He has begun.
As we close, think about this-
We do not have to clean ourselves up, it is the work of Christ that cleans us up.
We just have to be willing to surrender that broken life, that habit, those things that keep us up at night to our Lord and allow Him entrance in to begin to change our attitude toward the.
Are you willing to do that this morning? Would you bow your head and be sensitive to the Lord.
Attitude is the first step- Lord, I do not want these things in my life anymore- I need you to take it out.
Lord, I am thankful that I belong to you- “Christ in me” allows me to break free, a clean start.
Give me everything that I need and give me the strength to get up more times than I fall down.
I know Lord that if I am not thankful, I know that if I do not believe that you who has started a good work in me will carry it through until your return or my death, I would become discouraged, I would become bitter, I could become proud.
I do not want that Lord. I want you this morning to wash me clean, I want you to set me up on my feet, and I want you to give me the strength needed to get me past this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ.
If you do not know the Lord that intimate this morning, today would be a good day to ask Him to be lord of your life-maybe you have struggled and you have gone away from Him and today, He Is lovingly speaking to you.
Maybe, we could all just come to this altar and take a minute to thank the Lord for his goodness, his grace and his mercy in our lives. Don’t look around I am going to be the first one coming this morning- I need him to do something in me and I just need to thank Him for what He has already done.
You come and we will have a moment of prayer and you will be dismissed.
