PHILIPPIANS 4:1June 3, 2012FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Copyright © Moody Press and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2007

Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

William Barclay1907-1978

William Barclay was an author, radio and television presenter, Church of Scotland minister, and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow.

While professor, he decided to dedicate his life to "making the best Biblical scholarship available to the average reader".

”It frequently happens that the value of a thing lies in the fact that someone has possessed it.

A very ordinary thing acquires a new value, if it has been possessed by some famous person.

In any museum we will find quite ordinary things--clothes, a walking-stick, a pen, pieces of furniture--which are only of value because they were possessed and used by some great person.

It is the ownership which gives them worth. It is so with the Christian. The Christian may be a very ordinary person, but he acquires a new value and

dignity and greatness because he belongs to God.

The greatness of the Christian lies in the fact that he is God's.”William Barclay

“There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.”

William Barclay

J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible

J. Vernon McGee1904-1988John Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas.

He served churches in Decatur, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and Cleburne, Texas before he moved with his wife to Pasadena, California and then to Los Angeles to become the pastor of the Church of the Open Door in 1949, where he continued as pastor until 1970.

In 1967, he began the Thru the Bible Radio Network program. In a systematic study of each book of the Bible, Dr. McGee took his listeners

from Genesis to Revelation in a two and one-half year "Bible bus trip," as he called it.

After retiring from the pastorate in January, 1970, and realizing that two and a half years was not enough time to teach the Bible, he completed another study on the radio of the entire Bible in a five year period.

Thru the Bible is still broadcast on the radio every day of the week.

“Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is not a hope so. Faith is substance and evidence - substance for a scientific mind, and evidence for a legal mind.”

Warren Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines

Warren Wiersbe1929-

Warren Wendel Wiersbe is an American pastor, Bible teacher, conference speaker and a prolific writer of Christian literature and theological works.

He is a contributing editor to Baker Book House.

He has been writing books since the 1950s under several publishing house labels; completing more then 150 books including the popular BE series of commentaries on every book of the Bible which has sold over four million copies.

Some times referred to as "the pastor's pastor", he has become a well known and trusted Bible theologian and scholar throughout Evangelical circles.

“People can't see your root system, but God can.”Warren Wiersbe

“In contrast to the believer, the ungodly are not like trees but are like chaff. They have no roots, produce no fruit and are blown about.”

Warren Wiersbe

“Yes, let God be the Judge. Your job today is to be a witness.”Warren Wiersbe

“The way we respond to criticism pretty much depends on the way we respond to praise.

If praise humbles us, then criticism will build us up. But if praise inflates us, then criticism will crush us; and both responses lead to

our defeat.”Warren Wiersbe

“Let the trials of life make you a giant, not a midget.”Warren Wiersbe

“Most Christians are being crucified on a cross between two thieves: Yesterday's regrets and tomorrow's worries.”

Warren Wiersbe

LessonPhilippians 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.” Philippians 4:1

Whenever you see the word “therefore”, ask yourself, “What is that therefore there for?”

Philippians 4:1The passage opens with the transitional word therefore, which indicates that what Paul is about to write builds on what he has just written.

What Paul wrote in chapter 3 of Philippians describes our pursuit of Christlikeness, which is both: the goal in this life and the prize in the next life.

1 Timothy 4:88 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

2 Peter 1:3 3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

Philippians 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.” Philippians 4:1

Every teacher enjoys saying about one of their students, “That’s one of my boys!”

As the shadows were closing in around Paul, the Philippians were some of his converts that brought him the greatest joy. He called them his joy and his crown. The crown represented victory after all his toil!

The question naturally arises as to how Paul's command to stand firm is to be implemented.

Philippians 4:1“my beloved brethren, in this way, stand firm in the Lord,”

Paul's answer, introduced by the phrase “in this way”, unfolds in verses 2-9. He lists seven basic, practical principles that lead to spiritual stability:

1) cultivating harmony in the church fellowship, 2) maintaining a spirit of joy, 3) learning to be content, 4) resting on a confident faith in the Lord, 5) reacting to problems with thankful prayer, 6) thinking on godly virtues, 7) obeying God's standard.

“in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved." And, as Paul also said to the Ephesian believers: 11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil”. Ephesians 6:11

The Christian faith will produce stability of life.

Sometimes when we look back and remember some time when we didn’t stand firm or took the wrong turn or fell to temptation or shamed ourselves, we say to someone whom we love: "If you had been here, this would never have happened."

John 11:21&32 21“Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Our only way to stand firm and have safety against temptation is to be in the Lord, always being aware of His presence around us and in us.

The Church as the body of Christ and the individual Christian can stand firm only when we stand in Christ .

In this passage, Paul addresses the vital question of how believers can be spiritually stable.

Steko (stand firm) is the main verb of verses 1-9.

Stand firm is an imperative, a command with almost a military ring to it.

Like soldiers in the front line, believers are commanded to hold their position while under attack (Eph 6:11,13,14).

We are not to collapse under persecution and compromise, to fail under testing and complain, or to yield to temptation and sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ provides the perfect example of standing firm for us who await our perfection.

Jesus faced persecution, but never compromised; He "endured . . . hostility by sinners against Himself" without wavering (Hebrews 12:3).

He was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

Facing a more severe trial than any believer will ever undergo, "Jesus . . . for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus Christ is the perfect model of standing firm that we as believers are to follow.

Philippians 4:2-3 “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.

Euodia is pronounced: “yew-oh-DEE-ah”. Syntyche is pronounced: “Sin-TICK-ay”

Euodia and Syntyche were church members, not outside troublemakers. Apparently these two ladies were not speaking to each other.

The resulting discord, disunity, and conflict could have devastated the integrity of the Philippian church's testimony.

Because of the seriousness of their disagreement, Paul realized that Euodia and Syntyche needed the Church's help to resolve their animosity.

It is significant that when there was a quarrel at Philippi, Paul mobilized the whole resources of the Church to mend it.

He thought no effort too great to maintain the peace of the Church.

A quarrelling Church is no Church at all, for it is one from which Christ has been shut out.

Their dispute was evidently not over a doctrinal issue.

If it had been, Paul would have resolved it by siding with the one who was correct and rebuking the one who was in error.

Even if the doctrine is sound, disunity robs a church of its power and destroys its testimony.

A church facing hostile external enemies cannot afford to have its members fighting among themselves.

Such infighting frequently gives the enemies of the Cross an avenue of attack. The enemies of the Cross don’t care whose fault it is. It doesn’t matter to them whether the fault lies with a church member, a staff

member or even the pastor. Any time there is disunity in the Church, they are thrilled.

The tragic conflict between Euodia and Syntyche reveals that even the most mature, faithful, and committed people can become so selfish as to be embroiled in controversy if they are not diligent to maintain unity.

• Discord leaves the church collectively and its members individually vulnerable and unstable.

• Spiritual stability requires peace and harmony in the church.

Blessed indeed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).

• No man can be at peace with God and at variance with his fellow-men. • Paul did not mean that these ladies must be carbon copies of each other.

They may have had differences of opinion about many different things, but that will not separate two people who have the mind of Christ.

It is one of the glorious truths about the body of Christ that each member can be different and yet all are one in Christ.

Romans 12:3-53 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:3-5

There is a time when conflict is acceptable, namely when truth is at stake.

Paul even confronted Peter when the latter was in error:"When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned" (Gal 2:11).

But mere personal conflicts must be resolved and harmony restored, so Paul commanded Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony.

The Greek text literally reads: "to be of the same mind" — an essential prerequisite if Christians are to live in harmony.

Agreement between Euodia and Syntyche was essential, and the sphere in which they had to find their harmony was in the Lord.

Paul knew that if they both got right with the Lord, they would be right with each other.

People can never really love each other until they love Christ.

The brotherhood of man is impossible without the lordship of Christ.

• Loving unity in the fellowship of believers creates an environment of stability.

Philippians 4:3 “Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the Gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:3

Paul addressed someone in verse 3 as true companion. Suzugos (true comrade) means "yokefellow," and refers to someone who shares a common burden.

The picture is one of two oxen pulling the same load.

Suzugos was a genuine yokefellow, just as Onesimus was genuinely useful and Barnabas was a true son of encouragement.

Philippians 4:4“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

This verse expresses the theme of the book of Philippians, that believers are to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 3:1).

Joy is such a vitally important factor in believers' spiritual stability that Paul repeats his command for emphasis: “again I will say, rejoice!”

• This repetition presupposes the reality that it was not easy to be joyful. • The Philippians needed to rise above their circumstances.

Some folks, who wrongly identify joy as a purely human emotion, find Paul's twice-repeated command to rejoice puzzling.

How, they ask, can people be commanded to produce an emotion?

But joy is not just a feeling; it is also the deep-down confidence that God is in control of everything for the believer's good and His own glory, and thus all is well no matter what the circumstances.

Chairete (rejoice) is a present imperative, calling believers to the continual, habitual practice of rejoicing.

The night before the Cross--Jesus said, "These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11

Well, what a strange kind of a joy that could be.

When Job had lost his children and lost his house and lost his lands and lost everything. And, in want and in poverty, sat down and said, “Naked came I from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

So, I find that this joy of the Bible--"Rejoice evermore"—is in every fortune and trial and season of life.

• First, it is inward and not outwardly conditioned. • How it is on the outside doesn't matter. • And Paul and Silas, at midnight, beat, with their backs covered with blood,

thrust into the inner dungeons, and they prayed and sang praises unto God. "For I have learned," he said, "in whatsoever state I am, to be content---to rejoice evermore." Beat, then thanking God He counted us worthy to suffer for His name’s sake; poor, then rich toward God, having a hard, hard time. But, His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Luke 10 17-2017 “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20

Is there any time when I can't be glad in that? My name is written on the page bright and fair. My name is written on the Lamb's Book of Life.When I think of that--I may grow ancient and infirm. I may be sick.And my family may be dissolving, and they do, and they will. But, think of that.Your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.“In that,” said Jesus, “Rejoice!”

There's another one, and it is this:Luke 15:3-73 “So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Luke 15:3-7

Rejoicing over God's people coming home; somebody saved; somebody added to the great roll call in glory. I have been in services where I didn't know anyone. An absolute stranger, but the Spirit of God was there. And, when the appeal was made, people were saved. I have stood there while the invitation hymn was being sung, and watching those people saved, just cry. Tears roll down my face. I do not know how to describe it. If you've never felt it, you'd never know it. But it is a fountain opened up. It is a gladness that overflows. It's the welling up of the soul. It is the rejoicing in God. Well, may the Lord give us that gladness.

It is hard. All life inevitably and finally becomes hard, becomes difficult. But these things never change, and we are to rejoice and be glad in them.

Neither Paul's imprisonment nor the Philippians' trials should eclipse their joy.