The Fabulous Benefits of Wisdom (No Foolin'!)--Proverbs series

During my college days at Calvary Bible College, the music department put on a production of the musical “The Music Man.” I decided to try out for the show, and I managed to land the role of Harold Hill—the Music Man himself. If you’re not familiar with this musical, its set back in the early 1900’s, and Harold Hill is a rather dishonest travelling salesman who travels around small Midwestern towns trying to make a buck. His pitch is to sell the townspeople on the benefits of starting a boys marching band, but his real plan is to collect the money for instruments, uniforms, and instruction books and then keep it all himself and get out of town before anyone can catch him.

One of the most famous songs from that musical is the song “Trouble.” In this song, Harold Hill begins to set the townspeople up for his sales pitch by telling them about all the trouble that they can avoid with their children if they can find a way to keep them busy after school. They can keep their kids from fritterin’ away time at the pool hall or from gambling on horse-track races. They can keep them from dancing to rag-time music and from hiding dirty books in the corn crib. And best of all, they can keep them from using words like “swell” or phrases like “so’s your old man!” And of course, Harold Hill then offers to form a boys’ band as the perfect way of providing all of these benefits.

Now the reason that I mention all of this to you is because this morning I am going to try and sell you on the benefits of wisdom, and the benefits that I am about to describe to you will sound fabulous and so amazing that you may think I’m some kind of con artist. The benefits that we are going to discover will sound too good to be true—and they would be, if they weren’t all listed right here for us to read in the Bible.

This morning we are going to start a study in the book of Proverbs, and we’re going to begin by studying the concept of biblical wisdom. We’re going to answer two questions today: first of all, what is wisdom, and second, what are the benefits of wisdom. Let’s waste no time here in addressing these questions.

I. What is wisdom?

Many different ideas may come to your mind when you hear the word “wisdom.” You may think of a guru sitting on a far-away mountain top, pondering the complexities of life. Or perhaps you think of a college professor sitting an office filled with books. Or maybe you think of one of your parents or a grandparent or some mentor who has shared some valuable life-lessons with you.

Well the book of Proverbs has an awful lot to say about the subject of wisdom, so as we begin this study it will be very helpful for us to define what wisdom is according to the Bible. Now Proverbs doesn’t exactly offer a dictionary definition of wisdom; rather, it tells us the kind of person in whom wisdom is found, and to sum up this description of wisdom we could say this:

Wisdom is found in the person who fears God and thus recognizes and lives by the moral laws that God has established in our world.

Notice a couple of things about this description of wisdom. First, wisdom is not primarily an intellectual trait—it is first and foremost a moral trait. You do not have to be Albert Einstein in order to have wisdom. In fact the mental aspect of wisdom comes into play only after a moral choice has been made to fear God and thus to honor Him with your life. It is only after you have made that choice that you can truly understand the moral laws that God has established in our world.

Second, notice this concept of moral laws. Just as there are physical laws in our world—like the law of gravity—there are also moral laws that God has built into our world. These moral laws tell us what the normal outcome of our choices will be unless some other factor intervenes. In this respect they are exactly like the physical laws of nature. Think for a moment about how these physical laws work. For example, the law of gravity tells us that if we see a large metal object in the sky, it is going to fall to the ground. However, if that large metal object is an airplane, then the laws of aerodynamics intervene so that the airplane does not fall to the ground. This doesn’t mean that the law of gravity is false—it simply means that something else intervened in this particular case.

Now the moral laws that we encounter in Proverbs function exactly the same way, and what this tells us is that we are not to regard the Proverbs as promises, but rather as principles. The Proverbs don’t tell us what will always happen; they tell us what will normally happen unless something else intervenes. Let’s take a very familiar proverb as an example of this so you can see what I’m talking about. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This Proverb tells us what normally happens when you train and instruct your children—normally that training will stick with them and they will continue to live the way that we have trained them. But we all know that at times other things intervene, like the child’s own will. Sometimes they choose to reject the training that they’ve received. But this doesn’t make the proverb false because it was never intended to be a promise, but a principle.

So that is how these moral laws work, and according to Proverbs the wise person will come to recognize and live by these moral laws because he or she has chosen to fear the Lord. That moral choice to fear the Lord puts us in the proper frame of mind to acquire wisdom and thus to reap the abundant benefits that come from living in a wise manner.

And just what are the benefits of wisdom? Why is wisdom such a desirable thing to possess?

II. What are the benefits of wisdom?

The book of Proverbs was written mostly by King Solomon, and Solomon described the benefits of wisdom in several lengthy passages within the first nine chapters of the book. We’re going to make a quick run through these passages this morning to discover the benefits of wisdom. Let’s start with a look at Proverbs 2:1–22.

Proverbs 2:1–22
[READ 2:1–5]

I. Allows us to discover the knowledge of God—2:5
Here we find the first benefit of wisdom—it allows us to discover the knowledge of God. Not long ago we studied Philippians 3, and in that chapter the apostle Paul goes on and on about the all-surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ—getting to know His mindset and the way He thinks. Some of the fathers of modern science used to say that they were simply trying to think God’s thoughts after Him, and that’s what wisdom allows us to do in the moral realm. It allows us to understand God’s moral point of view and thus adopt His mindset toward the world.

Let’s continue reading [READ 2:6–8]

II. Gives us protection from injustice and evil—2:6–8, 11–15
Wisdom does this in a variety of ways. In these verses we are told that God Himself provides protection for those who live in a wise manner. We will also see that wisdom helps us avoid getting involved with evil people, and one of the lessons of Proverbs is that evil people often get trapped by their own schemes. So wisdom helps us avoid bringing evil upon ourselves by teaching us how to avoid evil choices.

Continuing on [READ 2:9]

III. Allows us to make decisions that are right and just—2:9
One of the most common questions that Christians wrestle with is “How do I know God’s will?” or “How do I know what choice God wants me to make in this situation?” According to this verse, wisdom helps us answer those questions; it helps us understand which choice to make. It says that wisdom allows us to discern righteousness, which means that we will understand which choices actually line up with God’s standards. It says that wisdom will help us make decisions with justice and equity. This is very important for anyone in a position of leadership. That would include parents, bosses, or administrators of any kind. Wisdom will help you make decisions that are fair.

Let’s keep reading [READ 2:10–19]

IV. Delivers us from sexual sin—2:16–19
In our country today, sexual sins are more acceptable than they have ever been in our nation’s history, and so we find ourselves living in a culture that is highly sexualized. Sexual images and suggestions are almost everywhere around us, and so we encounter almost constant temptation in this area.

But the reality is that sexual sin is no less harmful than it has ever been, so the stakes are very high for us as we battle sexual temptation. According to Proverbs, wisdom will help us avoid sexual sin by helping us cut through the lies that we are told about stepping outside of God’s designated boundaries in this area. Wisdom will help us hold on to the truth so that we are not lead astray by misplaced desires or by the temptations of other people.

Then the final verses of this chapter say [READ 2:20–22]. Now go with me into chapter 3, beginning with v. 13 [READ 3:13–15].

Proverbs 3:13–26

I. Yields a profit for life that is better than silver and gold—3:14–15
I’m sure many people can’t imagine that anything can yield a better profit for life than money can, but wisdom does according to the book of Proverbs. It’s really not hard to see why when we stop and think about it. Money can buy us some nice things in life, but it can’t even begin to meet the spiritual and emotional needs that we have. But wisdom will give us spiritual peace, emotional peace, and even financial peace as well. Money can only touch on one of those areas, whereas wisdom gives us all three. And we all know how quickly money can disappear—just ask anyone who had invested funds with Bernie Madoff! But wisdom will always be with you. Remember—wisdom is based on the moral laws that God has built into our world. They are not subject to the whims of the stock market or anything else.

Let’s keep reading [READ 3:16]

II. Results in long life—3:16
Now it may surprise you that wisdom will help you have a long life, but according to the Bible, its true! It seems that wisdom primarily accomplishes this by helping us avoid foolish choices that may cause us to die prematurely. In Proverbs, it seems that the most likely foolish choice in this area would be the choice to get involved with violent people who scheme and plot to do violence to others. According to Proverbs, these people often end up falling into their own traps. Proverbs also exalts the benefits of diligent labor over laziness, and we all know the harmful effects that laziness can have on our overall health. So wisdom can help us lead a long life.

III. Results in honor—3:16
Also here in this verse we find that wisdom can lead to honor. It also mentions riches here, but we’ll talk more about that in a moment. We all know that no one really respects a foolish person. A fool usually brings nothing but embarrassment upon himself. But according to Proverbs, one of the direct results of wisdom is a life of integrity, and everyone can respect a person who has integrity. A person with integrity finds a good reputation with other people and is thus highly respected and honored. So wisdom will result in honor for us as well.

Let’s keep reading in v. 17 [READ 3:17]

IV. Leads to a pleasant and peaceful life—3:17
This benefit almost sounds good enough on its own! Wisdom helps us avoid bringing unnecessary trouble into our lives. Many of the problems that we face in life are problems of our own making, but wisdom will help us avoid these things so that life can be more pleasant and peaceful.

Then the rest of this passage describes some benefits that we have already seen [READ 3:18–26]. Now finally, let’s go over to chapter 8 and discover a few more of the benefits of wisdom. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon is writing first and foremost to his own sons, and so in several passages he describes wisdom as a desirable woman whom his sons should pursue. And that’s what we find in chapter 8 [READ 8:1–18]

Proverbs 8:1–36

I. Shows us how to live a righteous life—8:18, 20
When we assess our lifestyles, we’re often tempted to measure ourselves against other people, and we can all find someone who seems to be worse than us so we can pat ourselves on the back and say that we’re doing okay. But righteousness is the idea of meeting God’s standards, and wisdom will help us lead a life that does that. Remember, wisdom helps us understand God’s moral point of view, and with that understanding in mind, we can focus on meeting His standards instead of measuring ourselves by different standards.

Let’s continue here [READ 8:19–21]

II. Results in wealth—8:21
We’ve already read several times that wisdom results in riches and wealth. Now this is not a prosperity gospel or anything like that that would teach us that we’re all supposed to be like Bill Gates. These verses just express a very simple principle—if you handle your money in a wise manner, the normal result is that you will hang on to more of it. You won’t be wasting your money by spending it on foolish things and pursuits. You will use it in a wise way that will lead to financial strength and prosperity.

Now remember what we said earlier—proverbs express principles, not promises. This lesson does not mean that every rich person is wise or that every poor person is foolish. Nor do these verses teach that God is promising us a fat bank account. They are simply telling us that the normal result of wise financial management is that you will prosper.

Let’s read the rest of this passage [READ 8:22–36]

III. Leads to blessing from God—8:35
When we live in a wise manner, we will have a lifestyle that God supports rather than one that God opposes, so rather than receiving a lot of discipline from God, we will receive encouragement from Him. Verse 35 says that we will obtain favor from the Lord. He will bless us, and those blessings will probably take the form of the benefits that we’ve just described from wisdom.

These are the benefits that can be yours if you will pursue biblical wisdom in your life. And after hearing all of these different benefits, if you can honestly say that you’re not interested in gaining more wisdom, I don’t know what more it will take to convince you. If you don’t want to play the part of a wise person, Proverbs does offer another role for you to play in life. It is called “the fool.” So as Solomon set before his son a choice between wisdom and foolishness, I set the same choice before you today. And shouldn’t have to tell you—choose wisely!

New Sermon Series!

You may have noticed that with yesterday's sermon, we have now completed our series through the book of Philippians. Starting next week, we will be starting a topical series through the book of Proverbs. So keep checking back for some very practical lessons from God's Word!

"Funny Money"--Philippians 4:15-23

A few years ago, I worked part-time at a bank as I was going through seminary, and there’s nothing quite like working at a bank to change your perspective about money. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time that I held $100,000 in cash in my hands. The first time you do it, it’s pretty cool, but the funny thing is that the second time you do it, it’s not quite the same rush, and then eventually it’s no big deal at all. It’s just another day at the office.

Actually, handling money all day is pretty gross. Most days my fingertips would be black by the end of the day because of all of the dirt and grime on the bills. Here’s something for you germ-o-phobes to think about: picture a five-dollar bill that’s been in circulation for ten years, and think about how many people have touched that piece of paper. And it’s probably never been washed either, because money only gets washed by accident, right? Now think about handling thousands of those pieces of paper every day. That’s kind of gross to think about.

At the bank I encountered people with all kinds of different perspectives about money. I encountered rich people who were greedy and who seemingly worshiped their money, and then I encountered poor people who were greedy and who seemingly worshiped their money. I encountered people who should have been rich who bounced several checks a week. I’ll never forget a doctor who banked with us who had to work a part-time job on the side because his wife and kids blew through his paycheck as soon as it came in. Then I encountered people who by all accounts should have been poor, but they had so much money that my boss told me to make sure and call them by name so they would feel special.

People get kind of funny around money, and we get particularly funny when we start to think about the matter of giving and receiving financial assistance from others. We have all kinds of unwritten social rules about how we’re supposed to approach a transaction like that, but what should our perspective on this matter be, from a biblical point of view? That is the question that we will answer from the book of Philippians today:

What should our attitude be toward giving and receiving financial assistance?

Let’s take a look at Philippians 4:15–23. Here Paul discusses the financial gift that the Philippians had sent to him while he was in prison, and he offers some helpful perspectives for us on this whole matter of financial assistance. Would you follow along with me as I read [READ 4:15–23]. We’re going to take a look today at three perspectives surrounding the matter of financial assistance—first, the recipient’s perspective, then the giver’s perspective, and finally the Lord’s perspective.

I. The recipient—Praise God for providing for you through His work in someone else’s life

In our society it seems that there is often a stigma attached to the idea of receiving financial help, and many people are resistant to receiving such help even when it may truly be beneficial for them. But I think Paul will help us see that such a stigma doesn’t need to exist. Look with me again at what he says in verse 17 [READ v. 17].

Paul offers a couple of helpful thoughts here. First, he reminds us that those who may have a financial need should not use that need simply as a way of getting money out of other people. He writes, “Not that I seek the gift itself.” To put it simply, Paul was reminding the Philippians that he wasn’t after their money. He didn’t treat their friendship as an ATM that he could simply hit up whenever he needed some extra money. In fact, the gifts from the Philippians were completely voluntary, and their friendship with Paul did not depend on these gifts, though the gifts did serve to enhance their friendship.

Elsewhere, Paul wrote that those who are able to provide for themselves should do so. At one point, the church in Thessalonica apparently had some members who were unwilling to work, but still expected the church to provide for them. In 2 Thess. 3:10–12, Paul writes this concerning the matter [READ 2 Thess. 3:10–12]. So the bottom line is this—if you have a financial need, you shouldn’t use it simply as a tool to leverage money out of other people.

However, I think Paul’s perspective also shows us that there is no reason to feel guilty about receiving financial help from other people when you have a legitimate need. Back in Phil. 4:17, Paul finishes his statement by saying, “but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.” Paul is using the metaphor of gaining interest to draw attention to the Philippians’ spiritual growth. What Paul is truly focusing on is God’s work in the life of another person, and we can see in the rest of the passage that their generosity was an act of service to God which really got Paul excited.

So as Paul considered this financial assistance that he received, he wasn’t so much focused on himself or the Philippians, but on the work of God to provide for him through someone else. I think this is a very helpful corrective for us, because often when we receive financial assistance from others, our thoughts are centered on ourselves. We struggle with questions like, “What will other people think of me?” or “How can I respect myself after this?” And sometimes we throw a little pity party when we really would be justified in having a praise party to glorify God for meeting our needs.

The reality is that the generosity of others is one of several means that God may choose at times to meet your needs. Oftentimes, God chooses to provide for us through the work that we do at our jobs, but that is still God’s provision! Let’s not give ourselves too much credit and think that we’re doing it all on our own. After all, who gives you the strength to do your job? God does. Who gives you the health to continue working? God does! Who controls the entire world economy to keep your company stays in business? God does! So even when our needs are met through our own work, we’re still just recipients of God’s generosity.

Occasionally, God may choose to provide for us through unexpected gifts. We can call this the “Beverly Hillbillies” method. You’ll remember how Jed Clampett unexpectedly became rich after “shooting at some food, and up from the ground came a-bubblin’ crude.” Sometimes God chooses to give us unexpected gifts like that. Sometimes He plants a wind farm on your land and allows you to make some income from it.

So whether God chooses to meet your needs through a job, the generosity of others, or an unexpected gift, the end result is the same—God has provided! That is what we need to focus on, and if He does choose to use the generosity of other people, we don’t need to feel ashamed; we can simply feel grateful, and praise God for His provision.

So that’s the perspective that the recipient of financial assistance should adopt. But what about the one who is giving financial assistance?

II. The giver—Have enough faith in God to be generous to those in need

In v. 19, Paul—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—gives a promise that has comforted many believers over the years. He says, [READ v. 19]. Now as Paul wrote those words, he may have had in the back of his mind a social custom of that time that was known as reciprocity. The idea behind reciprocity was this—if someone helped you out in a time of need, there was the social expectation that you would seek to do the same if they were ever in need. It wasn’t that there was an idea of indebtedness toward the other person; it was just simply the notion that a true friend should respond in kind when generosity was shown to them.

Now Paul’s situation, you might remember, was kind of up in the air. He was in prison awaiting trial before Caesar because of some false charges brought against him by enemies of the Gospel, and there was a real possibility that he might not make it out alive. So as he wrote this letter, he knew there was a possibility that he would never have an opportunity to show the Philippians the same generosity that they had shown him. But even though he might not be able to help with any future needs that they might have, he assures them that God will meet their needs. They had sacrificed to send Paul this financial gift, but they didn’t need to fear, because God would see to it that their needs would be met.

This is the perspective that we need to have when we have an opportunity to help someone else in need. Oftentimes, the thing that keeps us from being generous is worry about our own bottom line. Sometimes we even feel like we have some money that we could give today, but we’re hesitant to part with it because of fear about tomorrow. So we might find ourselves thinking, “Well, I could give this money today, but what if I have an unexpected bill that comes up? What if my car needs a new fuel pump tomorrow?” Then the fear of the future creeps in and chokes off our generosity.

But the promise of this verse frees us up to be generous because we can trust God to meet our needs. So we can help those around us who are in financial need without being afraid that our own needs will go unmet. Now notice that this verse does NOT say, “my God will supply you with a fleet of BMW’s.” The promise is that our needs will be met. And how does the Bible define our needs? Well, in 1 Timothy 6:8, Paul says that if we have food and covering, we should be content (“covering” probably refers to clothing and shelter). He doesn’t even include transportation there because that wasn’t really a need for the majority of people in that time. Most people lived on the land that they farmed, or if they had a trade, their shop was right there at home. Transportation is more of a need in our society because many of us have to drive to work, but there are many things that we’ve become accustomed to in our standard of living that really can’t be called “needs.”

We need to keep that in mind when we read this verse so that we don’t find ourselves expecting things from God that He has never promised to give us. What we can be sure of is that we can feel free to be generous without fear, because God will meet our needs until the day He calls us home.

And speaking of God, what is His perspective on this whole matter?

III. The Lord—Our Lord is pleased when we obey Him by being generous

In v. 18, Paul uses a metaphor comparing the Philippians financial gift to the sacrifices of the Old Testament. He writes, [READ v. 18]. In the Old Testament when the sacrifices were offered with the proper motives, they were said to be like a sweet fragrance to God. Many of us enjoyed a sweet fragrance over the last few days as the rains came through, and as you know when you smell an aroma that is pleasing to you, there’s a feeling of contentment or pleasure that comes over you.

That’s what our obedience in this area is like to God! When we are generous to others, its like we’re providing Him with a sweet fragrance, and He is greatly pleased by our actions. So even though it may seem like our money is just going to another person, the Lord views that act of obedience as an offering to Him, and He is pleased by it.

The Bible repeatedly talks about God’s concern for the poor and His desire that His people would look after their needs. In the Old Testament law God laid out specific commands that were designed to see to it that the community looked out for those among them who had needs. The book of Proverbs also says much about this matter. Proverbs 19:17 says, “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Likewise, Proverbs 28:27 says, “The one who gives to the poor will not lack, but whoever shuts his eyes to them will receive many curses.” And over in James 1:27 it is put very simply: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Would you like to do something today that you know will be greatly pleasing to God? That sounds pretty good doesn’t it—a sure-fire way to please God? Then keep your eyes open to see those around you who have financial needs, and be generous toward them. Don’t let fear about the future keep you from being generous to other people. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:31–33, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

God is always faithful to provide. As we noted earlier, sometimes He provides for you through the generosity of others, and when He does, there’s no need to be ashamed about that, but you can simply be grateful to Him. And all of us need to be aware of moments where God may be seeking to provide for someone through our generosity, and in those moments we need to respond in obedience to Him, knowing that He will be greatly pleased when we do.

"Babies: A Bonanza From the Lord"--Psalm 127

Over the last couple of years, I’ve become a casual fan of the old TV show “Bonanza.” A few years ago I ran across one of those DVD specials at Wal-Mart where I picked up a box set of 30 episodes of Bonanza for $5, and now every so often when I want to relax, I’ll put on an episode and get lost on the Ponderosa.

One thing you can always count on when you watch an episode of “Bonanza” is that no matter what kind of fights the Cartwrights have with each other during the course of the show, they will always be fighting for each other by the end. Ben and his sons has their disagreements, but they could always count on each other in a gun fight, or when the cattle got loose. They always pulled together to protect each other and to help each other out.

I think that aspect of “Bonanza” captures what King Solomon was trying to say in Psalm 127. In this Psalm, he describes how children are a precious gift that God gives for the success and protection of the family [READ Psalm 127].

Now at first glance, this psalm appears to have two halves that have very little to do with each other. Solomon starts out the psalm talking about building a house and guarding a city, and then he wraps it up by talking about children. How does all of this fit together?

Well, to put it simply, we can trace the main idea like this: Solomon starts out by talking about the necessity of God’s blessing for our well-being and protection. Then, in the last part of the psalm, Solomon states that children are one such blessing that the Lord gives for the well-being and protection of the family.

He begins talking about the blessing of children in v. 3 when he writes [READ v. 3]. Then in vv. 4–5, he gives a simile and an illustration of how children provide protection for the family. In verse 4 we find the simile—he writes [READ v. 4]. Here he pictures children as being a weapon of defense for their parents. We have to keep in mind that Solomon was writing in a time in which there was no Social Security or Medicare, there were no retirement communities or anything like that. So who would take care of people in their old age to make sure that they were cared for and not taken advantage of? Their children would—and of course we still see a lot of that today, even if the circumstances are a little different.

Then Solomon goes on in v. 5 to offer an illustration of how that protection might play out. He continues the archery imagery in the first part of the verse as he writes [READ v. 5] Now what is he talking about with the “gate” here? Well at that time, cities were all built with walls around them for protection against invasion, and there was a main gate in the wall where people could enter and exit the city. That meant that the gate was a high-traffic area; it was a public place, and because of that, in most towns legal proceedings and court cases were held in an area right by the city gate so that they would be open to the public.

So what Solomon is talking about here is a situation where the family has some kind of legal dispute with some enemies, and it seems that what Solomon is saying is that the family can band together to see to it that they don’t become the victims of injustice. He may again be thinking of parents in their old age—elderly people could have been taken advantage of if they were all alone, but their children could ensure that they received justice.

Overall, I think we can take a lesson from this psalm that we desperately need to hear in our society today, and the lesson is simply this—children are a blessing, not a burden. Ever since the sexual revolution of the 1960’s and the legalization of abortion in 1973, children have been increasingly viewed as something of an optional accessory in life, which we can take or leave according to our whim. Our society has correctly observed that raising children requires parents to make personal sacrifices, but rather than affirm the inherent goodness of those sacrifices, people have increasingly concluded that such sacrifices are a burden, and our birthrate has plummeted accordingly.

But Christians must never view children as a burden when the Bible so clearly calls them a blessing. Let me briefly spell out a few of the implications of the Bible’s view of children.

First, I think this tells us that every Christian couple should desire to have children. When two Christians get married, there should be no question about whether or not they will try to have children. Now we know that God, for His own reasons, does not always allow that to happen, but that should be the desire of every Christian couple.

Second, we should never downplay the importance of our role as parents. God has made us caretakers of His blessings, and we should take that very seriously. That means we should never shove our kids into second or third place behind our careers or our personal hobbies or anything else. We need to place our role as parents ahead of those things. Dads, we shouldn’t think that raising children is “women’s work” and thus neglect our responsibilities. Moms, you shouldn’t think that dads are optional either, like many people sadly seem to think today. Nor should we as Christians ever be guilty of suggesting that a stay-at-home mom isn’t really doing anything important. We need to elevate our role as parents to a position of primary importance in our lives.

Third, we as Christians should be at the forefront of protecting and caring for all children—including the unborn and the orphan. This has been a hallmark of Christianity since its earliest days. Who do you think have been the first to build orphanages in countries around the world? Who do you think cares for AIDS orphans in Africa and children in China who have been abandoned because of that country’s policies? Christians have always made this a priority, and we must keep that alive. This means that we need to stand up for the lives of unborn children and live in compassion toward the needy children around us. We need to be supportive of families in our church who might adopt children, and in all honestly this probably means that many of us should consider adoption as a way to express God’s love for orphans.

Children are a blessing, not a burden, and that lesson should influence every aspect of the way that we think about children in this world—from desiring to have our own to loving those whom no one else wants. Let’s ask God to help us love these little blessings that He sends into our world.

Sovereignty--God's Royal Reign

Have you ever listened to someone talk about why they don’t like to fly in an airplane? I, for one, kind of enjoy it—I feel like I get to sit back and relax while I’m travelling somewhere. But I know a lot of people really don’t enjoy flying, and they have a lot of different reasons for that opinion. For some people, it might be the fact that they’re afraid of heights—they don’t like to think about being thousands of feet up in the air. Other people just feel too confined when they’re in a plane—they don’t like sharing an armrest with the person next to them or going into those tiny restrooms on the plane.

But one reason that I’ve heard from people a number of times is that they don’t like to fly because they’re not in control of the plane. They feel much safer in a car because they’re in control of the vehicle. But in a plane, they don’t know what’s going on in the cockpit; they don’t know what all of those strange noises are; they don’t know if the pilot is actually paying attention!

So for people who feel this way, the feel uneasy because they are not in control of the plane. You know, sometimes I think life can make us feel the same way. Life offers us many, many reminders that we are not in control. We are not in control of the people around us, we are not in control of the economy or the stock market or the weather or the future or even the present day, and these reminders can make us feel very uneasy. We feel unsettled because we can start to feel helpless in the face of all of these things, and when we realize that we are not in control of all of these things, deep down we want to know that someone is. We know we’re not in control, but if we have the reassurance that someone is, it can go a long way toward bringing rest to our souls.

The word we are going to study today teaches us that God is in control of all things. Today we are going to study the word “sovereignty.” We’ll take a look first of all at what the word “sovereignty” means and then we’ll look at a couple of aspects of God’s sovereignty.

I. What does the word “sovereignty” mean? Dan. 4

The word “sovereignty” refers to the power or authority that someone exercises over a certain area, like a kingdom or a nation. This is illustrated well in Daniel 4—why don’t you turn there with me? In Dan. 4, King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has an unusual dream about a large and mighty tree. In the dream, this tree was cut down and stripped of all of its foliage and fruit, but its stump was still left in the ground. Eventually, King Nebuchadnezzar had Daniel interpret this dream, and Daniel revealed that the tree represented the king. The fact that it was cut down meant that Nebuchadnezzar was going to lose his power for a while, but the remnant of the stump meant that the king would regain his power after a period of time.

The fulfillment of this dream is recorded beginning in v. 28 [READ Dan. 4:28–32]. So we see here in v. 32 that the king’s sovereignty was removed from him, and we can see exactly what that means—his authority and power was taken away from him. And in this case, his reason was, too, because he started acting like an animal!

But then we have the rest of the story beginning in v. 34 [READ Dan. 4:34–36]. So now the king’s sovereignty has returned—he has lost his sovereignty at first, but then he regained it, and its not hard for us to see what that means: he lost his power (when he went insane) and then he got it back. During that period he didn’t have authority over the kingdom, but eventually he regained his authority.

So the word “sovereignty” is not a difficult word to define. Again, it refers to the power or authority that someone exercises over a certain area. Now when we read the Bible, we read over and over again that it is God who exercises sovereignty over all of creation. God is pictured as a majestic and glorious king over all of the universe. Let’s take a moment to see how God is pictured in His sovereignty.

II. How is God pictured in His sovereignty? Ps. 103:19–22

A. God’s sovereignty is a settled fact

Verse 19 says [READ v. 19]. Just a few verses prior to this, David mentioned how quickly we as men pass away [READ vv. 15–16]. But God and His sovereignty stand in contrast to this; His throne is established in the heavens. You know, sometimes when you walk into a building you’ll see a cornerstone or a plaque that says, “Built: 1932,” or “Est. 1932.” Well, if God’s throne had a plaque like that it would say, “Est.—eternity past!”

God’s position of authority in the universe is established; it is set, fixed, and it includes all things. There have been religions in the past that have taught that our universe is ruled by two gods—one that is good and one that is evil, and these two gods are in constant competition with one another. But the Bible won’t allow us to believe any notion like that, because it clearly declares that God’s sovereignty is over all. There isn’t a corner in this universe where God doesn’t have control, and there isn’t a being in this universe over whom God doesn’t have control. His sovereignty rules over all!

B. God’s sovereign will is carried out by mighty angels

Look at vv. 20–21 again [READ vv. 20–21]. Here King David mentions a group of beings that carry out the Lord’s commands. Like any king, God has servants in His presence who wait to carry out His every command. They are at His beck and call, and David says they are mighty in strength. Apparently, they are strong enough to carry out whatever it is that God asks of them.

In fact, the word “hosts” is a military term that pictures these angels as warriors. Whenever you see God called “Lord of hosts” in the Old Testament, the idea is that God is the commander of a vast and mighty army that stands ready to carry out his orders.

Think about this in human terms for a moment—a king really doesn’t have much power unless he has control of an army. Kings and presidents get overthrown all the time when the army turns against them. But with an army under his command, a king’s authority is reinforced.

So it is with God—He has authority, He has sovereignty and His sovereignty can be seen among the ranks of angels who stand ready to do His will.

C. God’s sovereignty is displayed in His creation

In verse 22, David reminds us of God’s power as creator [READ v. 22]. What a powerful reminder for us of our place in this universe! No matter how great we might think we are, we are still simply the works of God’s hands. We didn’t bring ourselves into existence—God did! Nor are we the product of any process of evolution. We were designed and we were brought to life by God, and we are still dependent upon Him for the necessities of life at every moment.

Oh, we can curse God and speak against Him, but the breath that we use will be a breath that He has allowed us to take! We can oppose Him or run from Him, but the energy we use will be energy that He has allowed us to have. Lest we ever be tempted to think that God is not Lord of all, we need only to remember that God is the creator of all things, and He sustains us in this world according to His good pleasure.

So this picture of God in His sovereignty should keep us from ever thinking that we are on the same level as God. We should never be so foolish as to think—as Satan did!—that we can ascend to the same level of power and authority as God, because as David said, “His sovereignty rules over all.” God created all things and He rules over them according to His will.

So God is sovereign, but how does God exercise His sovereignty? What does that look like in our world?

III. How does God exercise His sovereignty? 1 Tim. 6:15

A. By controlling and ordering the events of history

Let’s start reading back at v. 13 so we can get the complete thought here [READ vv. 13–15]. The important idea for us to focus on is at the end of v. 14 going into v. 15, where Paul says that God will bring about the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ at the proper time. Paul is talking about the moment that Jesus will return to this world, and he is affirming that God is in control of the timing of that event. The New American Standard translation says God will bring that event about “at the proper time.” I think the NIV has a better translation here—it says that God will bring it about “in His own time.” Or if we really want to bring this into everyday language we could say that God will bring it about when He is good and ready! It’s God’s decision, because He is in control of how history plays out!

Now there is a teaching in some Christian churches today that says that God doesn’t really know what’s going to happen in the future. Those who teach from this perspective would say, “God knows everything that might happen tomorrow, but He doesn’t know what actually will happen tomorrow; He knows all of the possibilities, but He doesn’t know which possibility will actually play itself out.” I think this teaching is a misguided attempt to answer questions about how our choices play into God’s plan, because it seems clear that this verse here tells us that God is in full control of everything that will happen in the future. Let us never reject that truth simply because we cannot understand it!

Now lest we be tempted to think that God’s plans for the future might actually be bad and harmful, Paul tells us something very important in v. 15 when he says that God is “blessed.” Now sometimes when we say that someone is blessed, what we mean is that they are fortunate or lucky. But the word that Paul uses here actually carries the idea of being happy or contented. So, as one of professors in college loved to say, God is a happy God. He is not grumpy or angry or vengeful as many people tend to think He is. It is true that He shows wrath toward sin, but that is not His basic frame of mind. God is a happy God, and so we can be encouraged to know that such a God controls the events of history. We can rest assured that God’s plan is a good plan—it is not based on evil motives or intentions, but instead it flows out of a heart of love.

B. By ruling over those who have power within history

In the last part of v. 15, Paul describes God as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His meaning is very clear—with respect to anyone who can be called a king, God is their king; or with respect to anyone who can be called a lord, God is their lord. Anyone in human history who has held power has received only because God has allowed them to have it.

This is the consistent teaching of Scripture with respect to those who are in power. In Romans 13:1 Paul said, “There is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” When Jesus was on trial before Pontius Pilate, He told Pilate, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.” Even King Nebuchadnezzar back in Daniel 4 had to acknowledge “that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men” (Dan. 4:17).

So what this tells us is that every ruler in this world, whether good or evil, is under the sovereign power and control of God. It may puzzle us why God allows certain leaders to come to power, but they can never—not for a single moment!—act in a way over which God has no control. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

So once again we can rest assured that our happy God, who controls the events of history, also rules over the movers and shakers of history—those who rule over tribes or nations or kingdoms. Even though such leaders might reject God, they cannot change the fact that God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who orders all things for our good and for His glory.

So how are we to respond to all of this? I think Ravi Zacharias said it well in an illustration from his autobiography. Allow me to read it for you in closing:

"If you travel to the north of India, you will see the most magnificent saris ever made, and Varanasi is where the wedding saris are handwoven. The gold, the silver, the reds, the blues, - all the marvelous colors threaded together are spectacular. These saris are usually made by just two people- a father who sits on a platform and a son who sits two steps down from him. That father has all the spools of silk threads around him. As he begins to pull the threads together, he nods, and the son responds by moving the shuttle from one side to another. Then the process begins again, with the dad nodding and the son responding. Everything is done with a simple nod of the father. It's a long, tedious process to watch. But if you come back in two or three weeks, you'll see the magnificent pattern emerging.
This is an image I always remind myself of: we may be moving the shuttle, but the design is in the mind of the Father. The son has no idea what pattern is emerging. He just responds to the father's nod.”*

And so it should be with us. Since we know that God is in control, our response should one of humble obedience to His will. Even though we can’t see the whole plan that he has for our lives, we know that He is good, and the plan that unfolds will be beautiful if we simply do what He has called us to do in His word.


*Ravi Zacharias, Walking from East to West, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2006) 27.

"Satisfied Through Christ's Strength"--Philippians 4:10-14

How many of you enjoy riding roller coasters? Now let me ask a related question—how many of you are invested in the stock market? Emotionally, that can feel like the same thing, right? We watch our investments go up and down and sideways, and then every so often one of them goes upside down! The stock market is well-described by the old children’s rhyme: “Round and round it goes; where it stops, nobody knows!”

My wife told me the other day about a story her grandfather likes to tell about a time where he had the opportunity to invest in one of two fried chicken restaurants. He chose to invest in the one that was sure to take off—Daniel Boone Chicken. After all, it was named after a national hero; how it could fail to do well? And who would choose to eat at the other place, anyway, with a boring name like Kentucky Fried Chicken? Well, you probably know how that investment turned out!

He’s able to laugh about that story today, but there are few things in life that can wipe a smile off our face the way that our finances can. Who doesn’t cringe when you hear the words, “payment due?” I don’t care how much money you have—there’s always reason to worry about it, isn’t there? If you don’t have much, it’s easy to worry about how you’ll pay the bills. If you have a lot, it’s easy to worry about losing it, or about who might be trying to take it from you.

Many years ago the Beatles sang that “money can’t buy me love.” Well, it turns out that it can’t buy contentment either. We can wind up facing anxiety in any financial situation that we might endure. So is there any hope of finding contentment with respect to our cash? Can we find a contentment that will last through all of the financial ups and downs of life? And how about when we see others hit with financial hardship—how should we respond? In our study of Philippians today, we’re going to learn that…

We should be content through Christ in our own financial circumstances and concerned for others who are facing financial hardships.

Why don’t you turn with me to Philippians 4:10–14? You may remember that this letter to the Philippians was intended to serve as a thank you note from Paul for the financial gift that the church in Philippi had sent to him. At the time that Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison in Rome awaiting trial on some trumped up charges that the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem had brought against him. Now the Roman government didn’t feel that it was their responsibility to take care of their prisoners; in fact, they didn’t even provide food for them, so if a prisoner was going to survive he had to rely on friends and family to bring him meals. Well, the Philippians couldn’t be there to bring him food themselves, but their gift of money would allow Paul to make some arrangements to receive food, so it was a very helpful and thoughtful gesture on the part of the Philippians. So Paul wanted to thank them for their gift, and as he does so he lets them in on a little secret that he had learned about contentment. Let’s read these verses [READ 4:10–14].

Let’s look first of all at what we can learn about being content.

I. Be content through Christ in your own financial circumstances

Some people have seriously misread what Paul was saying in these verses. They’ve thought he was basically saying, “Well, I’m glad you all finally got around to sending me some money. Not that I really needed it anyway because I was content. So, thanks for thinking of me, I guess.”

That’s really not what Paul was trying to say at all! We can see how thankful he was from v. 10 [READ v. 10]. Paul knew that they hadn’t sent him a gift because they simply hadn’t had the opportunity. As we’ll see when we get to vv. 15–16, the Philippians had sent financial gifts to Paul on a regular basis before, but for awhile now they hadn’t had the opportunity—which would seem to mean that they either didn’t have the money, or they had no way of sending it to him.

But now the Philippians had once again sent a gift to him, and Paul wanted them to know how thankful he was to receive it even though he had not given in to despair about his financial situation. In fact, it was quite the opposite—he was actually content, and he describes this in the next few verses [READ vv. 11–12].

Now notice that Paul says he had to learn how to be content BOTH in poverty AND in prosperity. We might think that its easier to be content in a state of prosperity, but in reality both conditions provide their own challenges to our contentment. If we’re in poverty, it may be difficult to be content because we may always be tempted to want more. Jealousy may also tempt us when we see other people who have more than we do. Or, we may not be content because we may desire the peace of mind that seems to come when we have some extra cash in the bank.

But prosperity doesn’t automatically usher in contentment, either. A very wealthy man was once asked, “How much money is enough money?” His answer was very telling—he said, “A little bit more.” Isn’t that so true? No matter how much we have, its easy to think, “You know, if I just had a little bit more, then I would be content.”

If we’re in a state of prosperity, greed may kick in and compel us to want still more and more. Or, we may start to look to our money for a feeling of security in life, and when that happens, we will never have enough money to feel content! We will always be worried about that one bad day on the stock market that could wipe us out, or that one failed bank or failed business. Money almost always goes easier than it comes, so if we base our sense of security upon it, contentment will be impossible to find.

So what is the secret to contentment that Paul refers to in v.12? It is his famous statement in v. 13—“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Now I fear that I’m about to step on some toes here, but please hear me out for a moment. Perhaps more than any other verse in the Bible, we use and quote this verse with complete disregard for the context in which it was written. And so we see athletes writing this verse reference on their shoes, or on the eye black underneath their eyes, as if to say, “I can win this game through Him who strengthens me.” Now I appreciate their desire to publicly display their faith in Christ, but that’s not what this verse is talking about. Nor should I use this verse and say, “I can dunk a basketball through Him who strengthens me.” That would truly be a miracle if I dunked a basketball!

So what is this verse talking about? What does Paul mean when he says, “I can do all things?” I think we understand that he’s not talking about leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, but what is he saying? Remember that Paul is sharing this thought as the secret of remaining content in whatever circumstance he’s in, particularly in whatever financial circumstance he’s in. So a basic paraphrase of Paul’s point would be this—“I can overcome any obstacle to contentment through Him who strengthens me.” So if his situation tempts him to be jealous or greedy, he can overcome that through Christ. Or if his situation tempts him to be fearful and anxious, he can overcome that. He had learned to step off of the spiritual roller coaster that circumstances could put him on by drawing close to Jesus for strength.

As we saw a few weeks ago when we looked at vv. 6–7, our hearts and minds can be guarded by the peace of God in everything when we communicate with God in prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving. We really find the same idea here—we can overcome whatever temptation our circumstances might throw at us by drawing strength from Christ—whether its changing financial circumstances or anything else. Christ will give us the strength to handle our circumstances in a way that honors Him.

So in any circumstance—and in these verses in particular, in any financial circumstance—we can be content by drawing strength from Jesus. But Paul also communicates an important lesson here about helping others when they’re in tough financial circumstances.

II. Be concerned for others who are facing financial hardships

Now Paul didn’t want the Philippians to get the wrong idea here. He has just said that he has learned to be content in any circumstance, so presumably he also meant that he would have been content whether he had received their gift or not. But he wants to make sure that they know they’ve done a good thing, so he says in v. 14 [READ v. 14]. So even though on Paul’s part, he was content with or without their gift, they had done well by giving it to him.

His statement here reminds us of a very simple but important lesson—it is a good thing to give financial assistance to those who have had financial hardship thrust upon them. When we see a Christian brother or sister in need, that is not the time for us to say, “Wow! What a great chance for you to learn to trust in God! Oh, what an opportunity for you to learn how to be content! God is going to teach you some great spiritual lessons through this.”

Well, whatever God may want them to learn, that’s between them and God. On our part, we are supposed to take the good step of offering whatever assistance we can. 1 John 3:17–18 says, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

So we are to give what we can, and notice how Paul describes it here—he describes it as sharing in another person’s affliction. This comes through very clearly in the NIV translation, which says, “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.” Let’s think through this idea, because its very different than just giving someone a handout. Think about this, by way of analogy. Imagine that you came upon someone who was trying to lift something that was too heavy for them, so you said, “Here, I’ll give you a hand.” Now what happens is that you take on part of the weight, and they take on part of the weight, and the two of you lift it together.

Now think about that same idea in terms of helping someone who’s facing a financial hardship. When you help that person, its like saying, “Here, I’ll take on some financial hardship, too, and we can overcome this together,” because when you give them some of your financial resources, you’re making a sacrifice in order to help them. You’re introducing some financial hardship into your life in order to absorb some of the hardship that they are facing.

I think this picture helps us keep a healthy mindset about giving and receiving help from others, because this picture makes us partners rather than a donor and a recipient. It maintains the dignity of the person who is receiving help, because it can feel like a very humiliating thing to receive help from others. A great novelist once wrote, “It’s horribly painful for a man down on his luck when every person he meets looks at him as if he were his benefactor.”* As that quote suggests, it can also be very tempting for the person who is offering help to become proud and think himself as better than the person whom he is helping.

But the biblical picture keeps things in the proper perspective. If you help someone out financially, its just like you’re helping them pick up something that’s too heavy for them. You’re just joining in the struggle with them to help them overcome it. And if you receive financial help from someone, it’s the same thing. If someone helps you lift something, there’s nothing to be ashamed about—you’re just two people working together to accomplish something.

So I guess we can sum up what we’ve learned today like this—we should be content in our own financial circumstances, and discontent over the financial hardships of others, and that discontent should lead us to share that hardship with them. Money doesn’t have to master our lives. We don’t have to worry about it when we have very little, or obsess over it when we have a lot. We can get off the money merry-go-round that leaves us dizzy and unstable. Instead we can find strength in Jesus to overcome the temptations that threaten our contentment, and once again we can know that peace from God which surpasses all comprehension as it guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.


* Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, (New York: Random House, 2003) p. 286.

"Philippians in a Nutshell"--Philippians 4:8-9

Labor Day weekend has long represented two things in our country—the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Many schools get started a week or two before Labor Day, but many colleges in particular don’t really get going until after the holiday. So right now, college students all over the country are heading off to school, and some of them are stepping onto a college campus for the first time—which means that they are quickly becoming familiar with the three C’s of college: credit cards, coffee, and CliffsNotes.

If you’re not familiar with CliffsNotes, they’re booklets that summarize that contents, characters, and themes of major literary works like “Romeo and Juliet” or “War and Peace.” Many students turn to CliffsNotes rather than the actual books in order to survive freshman English. That way, they don’t have to read the whole book in order to get an idea of what it says—they can just read these summaries and have all the information they need to write their papers.

In our study of Philippians today, I believe we’re going to encounter the CliffsNotes version of the book. Now, like all of those English teachers out there who despise CliffsNotes, I obviously think that we should study the entire book of Philippians. But in 4:8–9, I believe we find the book of Philippians in a nutshell—a summary of the basic ideas that Paul has been trying to communicate in this letter. What is that summary? I believe its essence is this:

The keys to living in peace are having the right mindset and following the right example.

Turn with me to Philippians 4:8–9. In these two verses, Paul makes a final statement about two of his major themes and how they relate to his overall theme of living in unity under the God of peace. Let’s read these verses [READ Phil. 4:8–9].

Let’s look at Paul’s final statement on these two themes…

I. Have the right mindset (v. 8)

It may have escaped your notice as we’ve gone through this book, but one of Paul’s points of emphasis has been having the right mindset—about ourselves, about others, and about our relationship with Christ. This theme started all the way back in 1:9–10 when Paul prayed for the Philippians to have a love that would “abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent.” And what does Paul tell us to dwell on in 4:8? Anything of excellence.

Then in chapter 2, Paul asks the Philippians to be of the same mind (v. 2), to have humility of mind (v. 3), and to let the mind or the attitude of Christ dwell in them (v. 5). Then in chapter 3, he spent several verses talking about the surpassing value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord (vv. 7–11).

So now as Paul writes, “Finally, brethren,” and brings the main teaching portion of his letter to an end, he wants to emphasize the proper mindset one final time. He lists a series of characteristics here to help us discern what kind of things to focus our minds on—let’s take a look at them. First, he says “whatever is true.” We know what this idea means—it refers to those things which are accurate, those claims or thoughts that line up with the way things really are.

Second, he says “whatever is honorable.” In our country, we refer to judges as “The Honorable Judge So-and-So,” and the idea is that a judge is dignified and worthy of respect. That’s the idea here in this statement as well.

Third, Paul writes, “whatever is right.” This refers to things which meet the standard of what is acceptable according to the proper standard of right and wrong. Fourth, he writes, “whatever is pure.” This idea refers to things that are not tainted by contaminants. They are clean, and without blemish.

Fifth, Paul says, “whatever is lovely.” We know what we mean when we call a woman lovely—we mean that her appearance is pleasant to look at and attractive. That’s what Paul is talking about here—those things which have a moral beauty about them which make them pleasant and enjoyable to think about.

Sixth, Paul writes, “whatever is of good repute” or good reputation. People with a good reputation are spoken well of by others, and that’s Paul’s thought. He’s referring to things that deserve to be praised. Finally, Paul summarizes these traits by saying “if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Now this verse is often discussed as a helpful guideline for making good entertainment choices. It is described as a filter to help us make wise decisions regarding TV shows, movies, and music choices. I do think that is a good application of this verse; if we would keep these standards in mind when we make choices about entertainment, we would do well. But we must realize that this was not Paul’s primary point. He wasn’t teaching the Philippians how to make good TV choices because they didn’t have TV!

In fact, Paul really hasn’t been talking about how to interact with the culture in this letter. What he has been talking about is the kind of mindset that makes for peace within the body of Christ, so I think he is once again focusing on that idea. If we as individuals would follow this standard, particularly in the way that we think about each other, can you imagine the way that our relationships with each other would be enhanced? What if we chose to focus on what we know to be true about other people? What if we chose not to simply believe everything we hear through gossip, or if we chose not to exaggerate someone’s faults in our minds? How about if we chose to think about the things in other people that are honorable and praiseworthy? We might find some admirable things, even in people that we disagree with. What if we chose to focus on the areas of their life that are right and pure, those areas where we can see that they’re living according to God’s standards? How about if we looked for what is lovely and attractive in other people? At the very least we can see the image of God in others, because all people are made in His image.

What a difference it would make in our outlook if we chose to use those guidelines to think about others rather than camp out on their faults! This is the attitude of Jesus, who chose to take on the form of a servant and regard others as more important than Himself. This is the way for us to think about each other if we want to remain a strong, united congregation. When we choose to think according to a different standard, we will sow the seeds of division in our church. But this mindset will hold us together through thick and thin.

So to live in peace we must first have the right mindset, and second we must…

II. Follow the right example (v. 9)

Throughout this letter Paul has been holding different people up as models or examples of the lessons that he was trying to teach. In chapter two, he holds up Jesus as the prime example of what it looks like to humbly put the interests of other people ahead of your own. Through His willingness to take on a human nature and come into this world as a servant and ultimately to die on the cross for our sins, Jesus demonstrates the kind of willingness that we should have to give ourselves for others.

Then, in the last part of chapter two, Paul held up Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of men who were also more concerned about others than themselves. Timothy was a trustworthy partner for Paul because of his genuine concern for others, and Epaphroditus risked his life to see that the needs of others were met.

Then in chapter three, Paul called the Philippians to imitate his example of considering everything to be of no value when compared to the all-surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ. Paul described his continual and ongoing pursuit of a more intimate knowledge of Christ, and he asked the Philippians to adopt the same pursuit.

And now, once again, Paul calls the Philippians to follow his example. Perhaps that sounds a little arrogant to you, that Paul would again say, “follow me,” but keep a couple of things in mind here. First, imitating someone else’s example is almost always the easiest way to learn how to do something. If you like to try do-it-yourself repairs around your house, you know what I mean. It’s not often easy to read about how to do something and then do it; it’s almost always easier if you have someone who can say, “Here—let me show you how it’s done.” So Paul wasn’t being arrogant, he was simply tapping into this reality of learning.

Second, remember that literacy back then was not what it is today. Not everyone learned how to read, and even for those who did, there weren’t personal copies of the Bible available for them to take home and study. So people had to rely on another way of learning the Scriptures and of learning how to live as a Christian, and as I just said, imitating someone else’s example is a powerful way to learn.

Now Paul specifically told the Philippians to take the things they had learned and received and heard and seen in him and to put them into practice. This is the perfect follow-up to what he just said in v. 8, because it does us no good to have the right mindset if we don’t live out that mindset with the right actions.

In James 1:21–25, James calls us to be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. We delude ourselves by thinking that we will be blessed by God for simply hearing the Word, but James says that those who hear it and live it out are the ones who will be blessed. I believe that one of the greatest dangers facing conservative churches today is that we would find ourselves simply being hearers of the Word, and not doers of the Word. We love to hear the Word, don’t we? We could probably fill up every night of the week with Bible studies because we love to learn God’s Word. But if we only learn the Word and we don’t take the next step to live out the Word, we are deceiving ourselves if we think that God is pleased with that. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul writes that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. In others words, knowledge builds up my ego, but love builds up other people.

Do you know who the serious Bible students were in Jesus’ time? The Pharisees, and they were a wonderful bunch of people, right? Always so kind and compassionate toward other people, and humble too! No, what did Jesus say about them? These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Matt. 15:8). They looked so godly on the outside—they went to church every Sunday, they wore Christian t-shirts, they had fish symbols on their cars. Wait, that’s us, isn’t it? But what good does that fish symbol do if I fight with my wife while I drive that car? What good does that Christian t-shirt do if I’m not kind toward others while I’m wearing it?

God does not want mere formality from us. He doesn’t want us to simply have all the right knowledge—He wants us to live it out! We have to have the right mindset AND follow the right example by being doers of the Word and not hearers only. The Philippians had heard—Paul himself had taught them—and now he called them to put the things they had learned into practice. And Paul told them that if they would do this, the God of peace would be with them. Paul referred to God as the God of peace when we wrote to several congregations who had some internal strife among them. To the Romans, the Corinthians, and here to the Philippians, Paul reminds them that God is not a God of strife and conflict but of peace, and they could know His peace in their midst if they would do the things he had told them.

And the same is true for us. I feel that we have a spirit of peace in our church, and for that I’m very thankful. But we could lose that peace if we don’t have the right mindset and if we don’t follow the right example. If we choose to think about each other in negative, critical, or unloving ways, all it would take would be one spark to set off a wildfire of anger in our church. Our if we follow the example of those who view church as a place to be served rather than serve others, we would find the weeds of disunity springing up very quickly. But living together in God’s peace is possible, so let’s pursue it and maintain it by having the right mindset and following the right example.