09-29-13 In This Way Stand Firm In The Lord

Phil. 4:1 Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

This is the concluding statement

in a six verse section of the letter

Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians

from his prison cell in Rome.

The section begins in Phil. 3:17

and runs through this verse in 4:1.

We spent the past two weeks

studying the passage together

and we have almost

but not quite finished with it.

There are some things going on

in this last verse of the section

that are too important

for us to skip over.

And the first thing I want to point out to us

is that one phrase “... in this way stand firm in the Lord...”

For us to appreciate

what Paul is saying in this section

and why he is saying it

we must hear that phrase.

‟... in this way stand firm in the Lord...”

You see,

through that phrase

Paul is telling us he believes

that what he has just shared with us in this section of his letter

will enable us to do just that - to stand firm in the Lord.

In other words,

he believes he has provided his readers

with several tools

that have the ability

to bring significant stability

into the lives of these Christians.

Now I have to tell you that,

from a Bible teacher’s point of view,

finding a statement like this

is like digging a hole in your back yard so that you can plant a tree

and suddenly finding a huge gold nugget

at the bottom of that hole.

This morning in thousands of local churches throughout our country

thousands of frustrated preachers

looked out at their congregations

and wondered how in the world

they could go about

building some measure of stability

into the lives

of those God has entrusted into their care.

And then suddenly you come across a statement that says,

“... in this way stand firm in the Lord...”.

When I see a statement like that

it makes me desperate to understand

what Paul is saying in these verses.

You see,

left to ourselves,

without passages like this one,

our natural tendency is to gravitate

toward human flesh-based techniques

in our attempts to build

stability and consistency into our Christian lives.

You know what those flesh-based techniques are.

We’ve talked about them before.

Maybe we’ll try the pep-rally approach -

get everyone all pumped up

and emotionally excited

about being really good Christians,

and then yell “Charge!!”

as everyone files out of the building.

Or maybe we’ll try to use the negative emotions -

guilt

or fear

or shame.

“After all God has done for you,

shouldn’t you do something for Him?

Look at your life!

Look at the mess you’ve made of it.

Don’t you think you’d better make some changes?

If you don’t shape it up

you’re going to experience

the wrath of God something terrible.”

And we say those things

to ourselves

and to one another,

sometimes times from the most sincere

and genuine longings to bring stability into our lives,

and sometimes as nasty little tools with which to try to control

or manipulate those around us.

Just recently I received an e-mail from a person

who was deeply displeased with they way I had handled something.

In their mind I had failed to do what they thought I should have done.

The e-mail began with the words “SHAME ON YOU...”

and then the same phrase was repeated several times throughout the note.

The person who sent the note is not a part of our fellowship

and we made some progress in addressing their perceived offense,

but in the process I was struck with how powerful those words are

and what a hideous manipulation technique it is

to ever approach another human being that way.

And yet, left to our own resources,

emotion-based manipulation techniques are all we have.

And they all last

just as long as the emotion lasts -

a few minutes,

or a few hours,

or at best a few days.

And then we find a statement like this:

...in this way stand firm in the Lord...

It doesn’t just say, “Stand firm in the Lord!”

It isn’t simply a call to faithfulness.

It says in this way stand firm in the Lord.

It’s Paul saying,

“What I have just told you

will be of tremendous value

in equipping you to build

greater stability into your life.”

And a statement like that

makes me want to go back

and make sure I heard what Paul was saying.

And let me give you four statements

that will help summarize

what Paul has said to us so far.

1. First, he encouraged us to draw strength from the good examples

God has placed around us.

I’m not going to reteach this whole thing again,

but I will say this -

one of Satan’s great lies

in his attempts to defeat the Christian

is to try to convince us that

what God has called us to

is either unreasonable

or unattainable.

Most of you know that

I came to Christ during my sophomore year in college.

For the next several years

all the other Christians I knew personally were college students.

I can remember a point early in my Christian life

suddenly realizing that

I didn’t know one Christian personally

who’s life was actually working well.

I just assumed that defeat

and failure

and frustration

were the norm for the Christian.

I felt that way

because I was isolated in this little group of baby Christians

and we had become our own standard of measure.

And then God began to bring

some mature Christians into my life,

and in so doing

He broke the power of Satan’s lie.

Defeat was not the norm for the child of God.

And the first thing Paul tells us

when he provides us with the tools

to stand firm

is to open our eyes to those around us

who have been where we are

and who have found God faithful.

And through them

He gives us a vision of where God is taking us.

2. Second, Paul talks to us honestly

about the drop-outs,

the failures,

the losers in the church world.

He doesn’t want us naive,

he wants us to know

there will be some of those people around us.

But he also wants us to know

we need never be one of them.

3. Then Paul offers us

the two crucial truths

that have the ability to enable us

to truly stand firm.

The first - our citizenship is in heaven,

and second - our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

can and will transform our physical bodies,

both now,

and at His return.

In other words,

our ability to stand firm

requires our having a vision of where God is taking us,

having an understanding of who we really are,

and then having a clear understanding

of why we still battle sin

and how God brings us victory in that battle.

Now, he doesn’t expand on those topics here,

but he does want us to know

that those are the points of focus

that will bring growing stability into our lives.

I think maybe I’m getting a little too academic here.

Let me turn this passage into an imaginary conversation

between us and our God.

We begin by saying,

“Look, Lord! That Christian over there

seems to have a stability in his or her walk with you that I don’t have.

Why is that?”

And God responds,

“My child, that is because

they has a much better understanding

of who they really are.”

“Well then, who are they, Lord,

and who am I?”

“You are My Holy One,

recreated by Me at the deepest level of your being.

I have placed a pure, perfect heart within you,

and filled you with My Holy Spirit.”

“But Lord, if that’s true,

then why do I still battle sin?

Why do I still sometimes find myself

so powerfully drawn to evil?”

“It’s because your body doesn’t believe the truth about who you are.

Before we met,

before you were my child,

when your heart was in rebellion against Me,

hiding from Me,

running from Me,

you trained your mind

and your emotions to act as though I didn’t exist,

or as though I didn’t matter.

Now all those memories,

and emotions,

and flawed reasoning processes

continue to exert tremendous force in your life,

telling you lies about who you are,

lies about who I am,

lies about how your needs can be met.”

“But Lord, then what can be done about it? What hope is there for me?”

“My child - I am your hope. My Son will transform the body of your humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. He will work with you,

here and now,

to bring changes into your mental

and emotional processes.

And when you see Him face-to-face

He will complete the process

by giving your spirit a brand new body.”

It is that learning, growing process

that Paul is reminding us of,

and it is through that process

that he calls us to in this way stand firm in the Lord.

And before we move on

there is one more ingredient in this passage

that I want to point out

in order to complete the picture.

Did you notice the tone Paul brings

to this whole learning process?

Here he is,

talking with us about some of the hardest growth issues in our lives,

teaching us how to stand firm.

And yet, he wraps this entire conversation

in a blanket of respect, and affection,

and love.

Look at the way in which

Paul addresses his readers

in that first verse of chapter 4.

He calls them “my beloved”,

he calls them “my brethren”,

he calls them “the ones I long to see”,

he calls them “my joy”,

he calls them “my crown”,

and then a second time in that one verse

he calls them “my beloved.”

And through those titles

I see Paul doing three things.

First, of course, he’s telling the Philippians

how he really feels about them.

He’s opening up his heart

and allowing them to see

the place they hold in his life.

Second, his love is giving them

both the freedom

and the motivation to grow.

Have you ever had a person in your life

who truly believes in you,

someone who sees good

where no one else saw it before,

someone who cares deeply about you

and sees strength in you

in places you can’t even see it yourself?

If you were fortunate

your parents were that way.

Or maybe it was a teacher,

or a coach,

or an employer,

or a very close friend.

If you had such a person,

how did their confidence in you

make you feel?

Very likely it gave you hope,

and strength,

and encouragement,

and a hunger to grow.

Paul was doing that for his friends at Philippi.

But there is something else going on here as well.

Paul was writing specifically to the Philippian church.

But he was also being used by God

to write a letter

to every Christian who would ever live,

a letter written by Paul,

but a letter written FROM God Himself.

And in this first verse of chapter 4

Paul is also mirroring

God’s attitude toward us.

Every one of these titles

that Paul uses for the Philippians

are also titles

that God uses for us.

My beloved...

The term “beloved” appears 59 times in the New Testament.

9 of those times

it is used to describe God the Father’s attitude toward Jesus Christ -

“My beloved Son...”

Most of the other 50 uses

describe God’s attitude toward us -

His people,

His children,

those who are “beloved of God”.

And I hope you heard what I just said.

God the Father uses exactly the same word

to describe His love for Christ

and His love for us.

“My beloved.”

Then He calls us “his brethren”.

And the remarkable thing is

our Lord,

our King,

our Redeemer is not ashamed to call us His brothers, His sisters.

Heb. 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

And then Paul tells the Philippians

that he longs for them.

The New American Standard translation

uses the phrase “I long to see you”,

but the literal translation

says simply “I long for you”.

And remarkably,

in James 4:5 James quotes God Himself

as saying that the Holy Spirit

whom God has made to dwell in us

LONGS TO dwell in us...

And it’s the same word.

God’s Spirit longs to be with us

just as Paul longed to be with his friends in Philippi.

Do you remember that remarkable passage in Psalm 139

where David describes for us

God’s attitude toward us?

Ps. 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts toward me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Ps. 139:18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Do you know why He is still with us

when we awake?

Do you know why

when we leave Him in sleep

he doesn’t leave us?

Because He doesn’t want to.

Because He longs for us,

He wants to be with us.

And then Paul talks about

the Philippians being his joy,

just as Christ

talked about US being HIS joy.

Heb. 12:2 ... who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, ...

That joy, His joy was us -

the relationship with us

that He would know

as a result of His work on the cross.

And then Paul talks about

the Philippians being his crown -

his reward.

And in the same way

Christ talks about us being His reward.

In fact, Paul wrote the book of Ephesians

to reveal to us

the position we hold

in God’s overall plan

and the riches He receives through us.

He begins that letter by saying,

Eph. 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know ... what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

Did you hear that?

He is praying

not that we will know what OUR inheritance is in God,

but rather what GOD’S inheritance is in us.

In other words,

he wants us to understand

why God was well pleased

with what He received as His inheritance

as a result of the death of Christ.

When the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ

was read in heaven

following the death of Christ

God inherited US

and He was well pleased!!

Paul goes on in that same book of Ephesians to explain why.

He says,

Eph. 3:10 ... the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

In other words,

our very existence as the people of God

proves to all of creation

the manifold wisdom of God.

He began with a creation

in total rebellion against him,

dead in our trespasses and sins,

by our very nature children of wrath,

having no hope

and totally without God in this world.

And from that

He designed a way in which

we could be reunited in an eternal love union with Him.

And our existence as the children of God

crowns Him with honor and glory.

Paul says to the Philippians,

... my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown...

And our God says to each of us,

...my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and My great and crowning achievement...

Now tell me,

is that what you expected

when you first turned to Him?

Or did you perhaps expect

the scowl of disapproval,

the thinly veiled wrath,

the hesitant and conditional acceptance.

There is only one battle we ever fight -

it is the battle to once again

discover and reaffirm

the ultimate truth of all existence -

that our God is GOOD,

and that He is eternally GOOD

to all those who come to Him.

Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.