Philippians 1:1-11      Christian Confidence

Rev. David Holwick   ZE                             PHILIPPIANS

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

September 24, 2017

                                                    Philippians 1:1-11


                    CHRISTIAN CONFIDENCE



  I. The happy letter.

      A. Americans like happy.

          1) Browsing the greeting card section of Walmart this week.

          2) I had to get a birthday card and a happy anniversary card.

          3) Almost all the cards are light-hearted.  We like that.

          4) Philippians has an encouraging tone, just like these cards.


      B. Life is often not happy at all.

          1) The tragedy for the Borkowski family is hard to answer with

                a light-hearted card.  [Mrs. Borkowski was killed in an

                   accident while at a New Jersey Baptist conference.]

              a) Karen did so much for other people, and her life was

                    snuffed out in an instant.

              b) It seems so unfair.  But Christianity is founded on

                     a very unfair event - the death of Jesus on a cross.

          2) Paul is writing under stressful circumstances.

              a) He is in jail.

                  1> We're not sure exactly where: Rome, Ephesus, Israel.

              b) Warped Christians are trying to take his place and get

                    his glory for themselves.

              c) A lot of bickering is going on in the church.

                  1> As Ecclesiastes says, there's nothing new under

                        the sun!


      C. Yet Paul feels blessed.

          1) He knows good people are in Philippi.

          2) He sees God working through it all, even the bad stuff.

          3) How can we get an attitude like this, when the bottom

                drops out of our world?


II. Paul had confidence in his spiritual bond with the Philippians.

      A. Paul is grateful God had put them in his life.

          1) He remembered them often in his prayers.

              a) And when he prayed for them, he had a good feeling.

          2) Who are you thankful for, in a spiritual sense?

              a) The Thursday morning Bible study thinks I should be

                    thankful for having such a great wife.

              b) Of course, I have to say that, but when other women

                    say it, it means something!

              c) I hope each of you knows a fellow Christian who

                    encourages you and sharpens you.

              d) If you don't, seek one out.


      B. They were partners with him in the gospel.

          1) The Philippians got in on the ground level.

              a) Almost no one was a Christian when they became

                    believers.

              b) But they had worked hard, and together had seen their

                    church grow tremendously.

          2) The church has always been a team effort.

              a) It is not one person who does it all, even if you feel

                    only one person does - and it is you.

              b) There are always others or the church evaporates.

              c) Remember this as we transition to a new pastor in the

                    coming year... he won't do everything for you.


III. Paul had confidence in their spiritual progress.

      A. He knows God had started something with them.

          1) A Christian's salvation starts only with faith in the

                sacrifice of Jesus for them.

          2) They may not have much knowledge or even consistent

                character, but they have a beginning in believing.

          3) The rest of the Christian life grows out of this.

          4) Have YOU have a beginning?

              a) Jesus called it being born again.

              b) It is an intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus

                    that should grow deeper and wider over time.


      B. Paul takes the long view.

          1) God has started with the Philippians but has not finished

                with them yet.

              a) They have a lot of growing to do, and time to do it.

              b) Paul considers the whole sweep of Christian history

                    until Jesus comes back to the earth.

          2) Our Christian life will not be all "onward and upward."

              a) Every believer has dry periods and times of defeat,

                    even opposition to God.

              b) Remember that God is not done with you until you

                    breathe your last.

          3) It takes faith to have confidence another person's faith

                will go the distance.


             When I was a young Christian - I only became saved when

                I was 17, and on this occasion I was a sophomore at

                   Wheaton College - I met Billy Graham.

             He was walking through our dorm and I asked him to

                autograph my Bible.

             It was my high school Bible with lots of notes and

                doodles in it, like a high school yearbook, and I

                   wanted him to add his signature.

             It must be a real drag to be a celebrity and to have

                to put up with this kind of stuff, but he graciously

                   did it.

             And he didn't just sign his name - he wrote this very

                verse below his name.


             He is now 98 years old, and I am on the verge of retirement.

             Neither of us are spring chickens, but God is not done

                 with us.

             I am hopeful that both of us can go the distance.


             I hope you will go the distance with me.


      C. Notice where Paul bases his confidence.

          1) It is in God alone, not in the Philippians.

          2) God is the one who builds our spiritual life.

          3) Christians like me who believe you can never lose your

                salvation, is not because I have confidence in our

                   own ability to stay true.

              a) Not at all!

              b) My confidence is in the God who will never let me go.


      D. Don't give up on other Christians.

          1) Some in this church have been sporadic attenders over the

                years.

          2) But then something significant happens in their life,

                and they come back to God in a big way.

          3) Expect that of Christians you care for.

          4) Expect that God started something, and he will complete it.


IV. Paul was confident in his heart relationship with them.

      A. They share in God's grace with Paul.

          1) God's grace is not determined by our circumstances.

              a) Paul still felt that grace when he was in prison.

              b) I hope the Borkowski family can feel that grace even

                    as they prepare to say goodbye to Karen.

          2) Grace is a wonderful theme in the Bible, and a difficult

                one to grasp.

              a) We like the idea of God forgiving us at no cost.

              b) We are not as keen on God doing this to people we

                    don't like, people who are bad.

              c) But if God can give freely to us, he can do it to

                    anyone he wants.

                  1> As Jesus said, God sends his good rain on the just

                        and the unjust.


      B. Paul feels deeply for them himself.

          1) Literally, he feels the "guts" of Jesus for them.

              a) The King James Bible calls it the bowels of Christ.

              b) It is not the intestines, but closer to the gall bladder.

          2) To the ancient Greeks, this was the seat of love and emotion.

              a) If you have ever had a gall bladder attack, you know

                    how intense that can be.

              b) Christian love should have this same intensity.


      C. Who do you feel a spiritual bond with?

          1) Perhaps you are a Lone Ranger Christian and don't really

                bond with anyone on a spiritual level.

          2) Even in a church it is not hard to keep things superficial.

          3) But it is so much better to have believers who care for

                you and who encourage you in the things of God.

          4) (examples in my life.)


  V. Paul had confidence in their spiritual future.

      A. He already considered them Christians.

          1) In verse 1, he calls them saints.  (NIV - God's holy people)

              a) Saints are not concrete statues in your rose garden.

              b) They are not dead super-Christians who can influence

                    God on your behalf.

              c) Saints are people who have sincerely accepted Jesus

                    as their savior, and try to live a holy life.

                  1> Saints are not perfect people, just saved people.

          2) Are you a saint?

              a) I hope so!

              b) But I would not recommend you announce it in your

                    neighborhood - too many Catholics around here.


      B. He wants even better things for them.

          1) He wants their spiritual love to grow.

          2) He wants their understanding and insight to deepen.

          3) He wants their morality to be spotless.

          4) In short, he wants them to be mature and consistent

                Christians.

              a) Who wouldn't want this for themselves?

              b) An observation from modern psychology.


          One of the great intellects of the 20th century was the

             psychologist Abraham Maslow.

          Ever since Freud, psychologists and psychiatrists focused

             all their attention on people who were mentally unbalanced

                and sick.

          They figured these neurotic patients could reveal the forces

             that shape human development.


          Dr. Maslow took an entirely different approach.

          Instead of focusing on sick people, he studied people who

             were vitally alive and fully functioning.

          He wanted to know what made them radiantly happy and whole.


          In the process, Maslow developed a theory he called

             "self-actualization.

          In his search for what made people self-actualized and happy,

             he found this secret:

          He writes, "WITHOUT EXCEPTION, I found that every person who

             was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a

                purpose or a cause beyond himself."

                                                                    #4254


          You can have no greater purpose than to live for the glory

             of God and his Kingdom!


      C. Good attitudes are not enough - produce something.

          1) Paul talks about the fruit of righteousness.

          2) If God is in you, good stuff will come out.

          3) And good stuff will be inside - purity that others can see.

          4) What does God see in you?



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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:


#4254  Living For A Purpose Beyond Yourself, from an old sermon by

          Rev. David Holwick, May 13, 1984.  The original source of the

          illustration cannot be located.


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