Recent Messages from God's Word
Four Christian Rights
Philippians 4:4-9
March 9th, 2008
We live in a very “rights” fixated culture. Does a Christian have rights? If we think of the word “rights” as in making demands, then the answer is: “No, as Christians we do not have rights.” But we should live out four “rights” in our lives. We should have right attitudes, right praying, right thinking and right living.
I. Right Attitudes, even while in prison. vs. 4- .
1. Be Rejoicing in the LORD vs 4 . We can’t rejoice is every thing, but we can rejoice in the LORD in everything.
A) The LORD is Faithful and Devoted. Rejoice in God’s faithfulness to you and me, his constant devotion, that He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.
B) The LORD is Love. Rejoice that God is always relating to us in love. He wants the best for us.
C) The LORD is Sovereign. Paul is sitting in prison. He has met much opposition in sharing the message of Jesus with others. Yet Paul can rejoice even in prison, because He realizes that God is in control, god is faithful and devoted to him in love. No one and nothing can defeat God. So Paul rejoices.
D) The LORD is with us in whatever we encounter. He does not abandon us. He is there in whatever circumstance you find yourself in. Rejoice in the awareness of His presence with you.
E) Be rejoicing in God always. God does not require us to like everything that happens to us in life. But he does want us to rejoice that we are not facing those things alone, and that God is working out a master plan even through the unpleasant experiences of life.
2. Be Forbearing to all vs. 5… “Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.”
A) The word forbearance in the Greek is hard to translate into English. Some of the words used include: kindness, gentleness, courtesy, considerate, thoughtfulness. It involves making room for the quirks of others, tolerating others.
B) People today are becoming more and more intolerant. This intolerance is exhibited by people on the extremes in both directions. Fundamentalists are shrinking the circle of who is worthy enough to be befriended. If someone doesn’t agree with them, or accept their creedal statements, then they will have nothing to do with them. Yet Liberals are not anymore tolerant. If someone disagrees with them, they, too will expose intolerance and verbally attack that person. God calls us to reality, and to be kind and courteous to all, whether we strongly disagree with them or not.
C) In the church, we need to be forbearing of all. How is that possible? It is possible by recognizing that every one of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is not one righteous, no not one. We all have gone astray. We are all continually subject to temptations, and to occasionally sinning. Thus a proper perspective and a little humility makes it possible for us to realize that no one else will ever be exactly like us and thereby always in every way pleasing to us. Accept reality!
D) God works around my short-comings. He tolerates my quirks. He accepts me as I am, as well as embracing the future character I will become. If God so loves us, should we not love each other in like manner?
3. Be Aware of the LORD’s Presence vs. 5 “The Lord is near.”
A) Recognize that the Lord is present with you.
B) Realize that He is near you, present and presently.
C) Realize that He is near, close by, surrounding you (you are in Christ, He is in you).
4. Be Aware that the LORD is Coming vs. 5 “The Lord is near.”
A) The word near has the implication that His hand is on the door-handle, He is ready to step in. Jesus will come again, and He could come at any moment.
B) The awareness that Jesus is coming again, and could appear at any moment should affect our priorities, attitudes, activities, and actions.
5. Be Peaceful, calm. vs. 6 “Be anxious for nothing.” Illustrate: Airplane in violent storm, passengers stressed out, only one little girl sat calmly during the storm. Aren’t you afraid or worried? No, my father is the pilot. We can be calm in any storm when we remember that God has us in His hand, and He is navigating our way through the storm.
II. Right Praying vs. 7 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.”
1. Be praying confidently … vs. 7.
A) Worrying is a symptom of not trusting God. When we are trusting God, we will not be worrying. We worry when we are trusting ourselves in the situation. We have good cause to worry then, because we are not all that successful at dealing with life without the power and person of God leading the way.
B) Anxiety or worry means that we have not turned the issue or circumstance over to God. Paul could have worried. He was in prison, awaiting a verdict of life or death, yet he writes “rejoice in the Lord, worry about nothing, pray about everything.” He was confident that He was in the LORD, that God was capable of dealing with the situation, because God is bigger than any trouble. So right praying always begins with confidence in God.
2. Don’t worry, but (in contrast) in everything … pray. In every situation, trouble, decision and circumstance, pray.
3. By means of connecting to God, communicating with God, present your requests to God.
4. Talk with God, making requests of God, and Giving thanks to God for:
A) Thank God for Who He is, and for what He has done in the past … in history, in your family, in your church, and in your own life
B) Thank God for His presence and commitment to us, and for what He is doing in the present situation.
C) Thank God for His Sovereignty and what He is going to do in the future.
D) Thank God for the blessings provided, His loving presence, His promises given, and His proven power.
As we pray with Thanksgiving, it heightens our trust in God by reminding us that God has not failed in the past, and He will not fail now nor in the future.
5. Make your requests known to God. vs. 6
A) Look beyond the difficulties of the present to the unseen Father who by His love and power is capable of accomplishing anything.
B) Remember that God is never held captive by our circumstances.
6. The results of right praying are (cf. vs. 7):
A) The peace of God … peace that belongs to God, that comes from God
B) Peace which passes understanding … the calm in the eye of the tornado, peace that overcomes rationality
C) Peace will guard your heart and mind … protect you from worries, anxieties, doubts, depression
D) You will abide in Christ Jesus … only when we are in Christ Jesus do we abide in a place where we need not worry or fret.
III. Right Thinking vs. 8 “If anything is excellent, or praiseworthy, think on these things” As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What we think about affects our lives. Think about:
1. Whatever is true … true … alethios, real as opposed to unreal. Think on Jesus (Jn. 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life.); Think on God’s word (Jesus said Sanctify them through Your truth, Your word is truth.. John 17:17)
2. Whatever is noble … worthy, that brings glory to God
3. Whatever is right … in right relationship with God and with man
4. Whatever is pure … unmixed, undiluted
5. Whatever is lovely … attractive, full of grace
6. Whatever is admirable, of good reputation … is worth emulating
7. Fix your mind on these things, let these qualities help make your decisions. Again, doing so leads to a life of peace and stability in the midst of a roaring world of chaos. Right thinking will lead to right living which leads to peace.
IV. Right Living vs. 9 “Whatever you have learned, received, and seen in me … practice these things.”
1. Whatever you have learned from me … put into practice. Information that is not used is wasted and brings no change except in the size of someone’s head.
2. Whatever you have received from me … attitudes, perspectives, world view, etc. put into practice. Attitudes, like habits, require repetition to become natural and consistent.
3. Whatever you have seen in me … behaviors, techniques, skills … put into practice. Were you an expert carpenter the first time you tried to use a hammer, or did you bend the nail? Skills take practice to become skillful in using. Paul modeled a lot of different things for us that are recorded in the Bible. Jesus modeled many things for us. In 1Cor. 10:11 we read that the things that were written down and preserved for us in the Bible were recorded to serve as examples to us. In the lives and events recorded in the Bible you will find some bad examples to avoid, and some good examples to emulate.
4. The only thing that will change our lives is what we put into practice. Chancy (Peter Sellers) in the movie Being There … watched, practiced handshakes, repeated phrases (I understand, Hello Bill … it is so nice to meet you… smile, clasp hands, etc.). For years people have studied and learned verses, concepts, techniques, answers to questions, etc. But our lives don’t change until what we have heard, understood, or seen demonstrated, actually becomes a part of our lives, until we put into practice in our daily experiences of life.
Conclusion: Living in the right way leads to a lifestyle of peace, composure, and calm, even in the midst of a chaotic environment. To develop the characteristics that God desires in the lives of all His children requires: Right Attitudes, which come about through Right Praying, which flow out of Right Thinking and into Right Living. If we want to live right, we need right attitudes, right praying, right thinking. The practice of all three of these things leads to Right Living, which leads to experiencing the peace of God that passes all understanding!
