Philippians 4:2-9 Spiritual Stability

Chuck Musselwhite

Philippians • Sermon • Submitted 22 days ago • Presented 22 days ago

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Intro

There is a video out there of a middle aged man who is doing a workout on his Wii

The workout consists of him standing on this vibrating pad while lifting waits

As he is working out his wife comes and wraps a belly dancers skirt around him which makes all this noise

The husband is powerless to do anything because of the vibrating pad and he is holding weights

The video is meant to be funny but the rationale behind the vibrating bad is that is builds your core while you workout

Doctors and fitness gurus tells us that our core is essential to our overall health

It gives you stability and endurance to do the daily tasks

Today, Paul teaches us about spiritual stability that will help us to weather daily life

Without this stability we get tossed back and forth by every storm

Read Philippians 4:1-5

Transition:

The Philippian church had a special love bond with Paul.

They alone supported him when he left Macedonia (4:15).

Nor did Paul have to sharply rebuke them for wavering doctrinally (as he did the Galatians), or tolerating sin (as he did the Corinthians).

But that does not mean that the church in Philippi was all that it should have been, or that there was no instability there.

There are hints throughout the epistle of the destabilizing threats facing the Philippian congregation.

They were experiencing persecution (1:28–30).

There was a lack of unity, thus Paul urged them, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (2:2), and, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” (2:14).

False teachers also posed a threat (3:18–19).

But perhaps the most serious threat facing the Philippians was the dispute between two prominent women in the congregation

That dispute threatened to split the church into rival factions.

The situation was compounded by the failure of the elders and deacons to deal with it (cf. the discussion of 4:3 below).

As a result of those destabilizing factors, some of the Philippians had failed to trust God and had given way to anxiety

Spiritual instability leads to disappointment, doubt, discouragement, and ineffective witness.

Unstable people are likely to be crushed by their trials

Paul addresses the vital question of how believers can be spiritually stable.

Stand firm is the main verb of verses 1–9

There are four things that bring spiritual stability

vs. 1-3 Cultivate Harmony

The first thing we see that brings stability is that believers agree in the Lord

Paul calls out Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord

These are two ladies who have labored with Paul

They were pillars in the church, but something happened and now they were at odds

Paul tells them that if they can’t come to an agreement then they can agree with what the Lord has done in their lives and in the church

Paul wanted them to cultivate community

Kirby Smart is the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs

He won a national championship and a reporter asked him what the key factor

Coach Smart said culture

He said you have three types of people in your group

Engaged, Not Engaged, and Actively disengaged

You have to move the people from Not engaged to engaged and make sure the actively disengaged don’t destroy the culture

The fellowship and support of the body of Christ is an important factor in developing and maintaining spiritual stability.

The general strength of the fellowship becomes the strength of each individual.

The more isolated a believer is from other Christians, the more spiritually unstable he or she is likely to be.

The church should be a place where people support each other, hold each other accountable, and care for each other

Many times when we can’t agree face to face, we can work shoulder to shoulder

How do you build that culture and create harmony?

You start by agreeing about Jesus

He died for your sins, He gives you life, He fills you with His love

Everything else is secondary

We gotta fight to keep our culture

vs. 4-5 Rejoice & Be Reasonable

The second thing we see that brings stability is to rejoice and be reasonable

Paul tells us to rejoice

Rejoice is just being full of joy

Joy = Closely related to happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice.

In the Old Testament, joy is closely related to victory over one’s enemies.

In the New Testament, “joy” is still used for victory, as shown by the disciples returning with joy since even the evil spirits listened to them.

However, the victory focuses more on salvation and the presence of Christ, the bridegroom, gives reason for joy

When we choose to be joyful because of what Jesus has done in our lives and not based on our circumstances life is much better

Notice how Paul says rejoice always and again I say rejoice?

He repeats it twice to signify its important

That’s how important it is to choose to be joyful

Coupled with that rejoicing with reasonableness and you will start to feel spiritually stable

When joy is attached to emotions it can get out of control

We start to equate joy with blessings and how need God to fill us with blessings instead of joy

What tempers that emotionalism is reasonableness

Reasonable = not insisting on every right of letter of law or custom, yielding, gentle, kind, courteous, tolerant

Are you known as a gentle, kind, and courteous person?

A reasonable person doesn’t allow his highs to get too high or his lows too low.

A reasonable person walks about with right person

James 1:19 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Be levelheaded

vs. 6-7 Conquer Anxiety

The third thing we see that brings stability is to conquer anxiety

Paul had a good excuse to worry—but he did not!

Instead, he took time to explain to us the secret of victory over worry.

What is worry?

The Greek word translated “anxious” (careful) in Philippians 4:6 means “to be pulled in different directions.”

Our hopes pull us in one direction; our fears pull us the opposite direction; and we are pulled apart!

The Old English root from which we get our word “worry” means “to strangle.”

To those who have children now you know why you want to strangle them, they make you worry so much

Worry has definite physical consequences: headaches, neck pains, ulcers, even back pains.

Anxiety affects our thinking, our digestion, and even our coordination.

From the spiritual point of view, Anxiety is wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feeling (the heart) about circumstances, people, and things.

Worry is the greatest thief of joy.

It is not enough for us, however, to tell ourselves to “quit worrying” because that will never capture the thief.

Worry is an “inside job,” and it takes more than good intentions to get the victory.

The antidote to worry is the stable mind:

“And the peace of God … shall keep [garrison, guard like a soldier] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

When you have a stable mind, the peace of God guards you and the God of peace guides you.

With that kind of protection—why worry?

Surpasses all understanding means to be overwhelmed with peace

Jesus can give you peace that overcomes your anxiety and worry

vs. 8-9 Have the Right Mind

The final thing we see that brings stability is to have the right mind

Paul says to think on these things and then practice them

If your mind is not in the right place your heart will be in the wrong place

If your heart is in the wrong place then your mouth is going to say the wrong things

That is going to make you end up in a whole host of problems

Instead focus on those things that are true, honorable, pure, and worthy of praise

Instead of worry focus on the truth

Have you ever noticed that those who are angry and miserable have a hard time with the truth?

Protestors on college campuses

They are angry and want harm to those who don’t believe like they do, but they don’t want you to film them and they wear masks

That means they want what they believe to be true but they have to hide behind their methods because their truth doesn’t stand up

Christians can stand on the truth because it is pure and honorable and not have to worry