Sermon Bones, Vol. 5 hd48

Sermon Bones Vol. 5

23 Tested Sermon Outlines From Expository Series

Pastor Sam Whittaker

Copyright © 2017 by Sam Whittaker

Sermon Bones, Vol. 5 by Sam Whittaker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks ed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Author’s Note

The following Sermon Outlines were written and delivered at various points in 2004, 2005, and 2006 at Grace Bible Church in Newaygo, Michigan.

These sermons represent some of my very earliest work in sermon writing around the time of my second year as a Pastor, and a Preacher of God’s Word. As such the outlines are less actual outlines and closer to full manuscript in outline form. This is a natural product of inexperience and insecurity at the task.

I present them, as with previous volumes, with the hope they will be helpful for Pastors, Sunday School Teachers, Small Group Leaders, or anyone who is interested in sermons and the study of God’s Word.

Ruth #1

I. The book of Ruth is very important for a number of different reasons. One thing I want to point out to you first is the very strong parallels between the story in this one book and the entire history of Israel. Ruth 1:1-5.

A.) God commands Abraham’s descendants to stay in “the Land.” This is important because so much of what God promises Israel is centered on the idea of “the Land.” Gen 26:1-6.

i.) Almost every time the Promised Land is mentioned in connection with God’s covenant with Abraham the main idea is prosperity because the people are following the covenant or famine because they aren’t.

ii.) The story of the book of Ruth begins in “the Promised Land” where there is a famine. The man Elimelek’s name means ‘God is King,’ which becomes important later on in the story on so many levels.

B.) At the end of the book of Genesis Abraham’s descendants all move to Egypt, leaving the Land where God commanded them to stay. Exodus 1:6-14.

i.) The most commonly repeated form of distress for God’s people in the Bible is that of ‘exile.’ For Israel in late Genesis/early Exodus the exile is self-inflicted: it is done of their own will.

ii.) The same goes for Elimelek. The mistake Elimelek and his family made was leaving the Land. It’s likely that the tragedies this family experienced were an outcome of leaving their homeland.

C.) So God allows His people to experience a time of great distress and bitterness. All this time they cry out to God until one day God answers their cries by sending someone to deliver them. Exodus 3:1-10.

i.) The deliverance isn’t easy though. For Israel they were going to enter the land for the first time as a Nation. Many caused problems and God kept them from entering for 40 years. A whole generation dies before Israel is allowed back into the Promised Land.

ii.) There’s a strong similarity in the Ruth narrative in that all of the men of the family die. Naomi is the only one who makes the return trip because Ruth is not originally from Israel; she’s from Moab.

II. The form of deliverance comes early in this story when God removes the famine from the land of Israel and draws back the remnant of Elimelek’s family. Ruth 1:6-15.

A.) When Naomi hears that God has provided food back home she decides to go back where she belongs, she decides to return to her people.

i.) This is not just a food issue but probably also an issue of realizing it was wrong to leave in the first place. Returning to the Land is more than a locational change, a return to the center of God’s covenant.

ii.) Naomi’s return may have been done out of a motivation of obedience to God. Understand that for the Jewish person every little daily act is to be centered around Torah, around God’s covenant with them.

B.) Part of the way on the journey back to the land, Naomi decides she doesn’t want her daughters-in-law to come with her. So she tells them to go back home to their own mother’s homes and find someone to marry.

i.) When Naomi wishes the Lord to show kindness on her daughters-in-law it’s more than just that God would be nice to them. The word is “hesed,” which is one of the ways the Bible characterizes God himself. It’s not just kindness, it’s God’s loving kindness or steadfast love.

ii.) The way God usually expresses this loving kindness in the Old Testament is in connection with the covenant with His people. This is a really powerful statement from Naomi.

C.) Naomi is able to convince one of them, and so Orpah leaves, but the narrative then goes on to inform us that “Ruth clung to her.”

i.) Interestingly the word “clung” is the same Hebrew word Genesis uses to describe the strength of the bond between a man who leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife. Gen 2:24.

ii.) This implies a very strong connection between Ruth and her mother-in-law. As we’re going to see in the next part of the age Ruth is the kind of person devoted not only to a person but to what is right.

III. This person, Ruth, shows her devotion to her mother-in-law by absolutely refusing to leave her. This is a strong statement of the kind of person Ruth is. Listen to the words of her devotion: Ruth 1:16-22.

A.) I wonder if part of the idea of the strength of the bond in Ruth clinging to Naomi in verse 14 is enlarged in Ruth’s speech here where she takes Naomi’s lifestyle, culture and religion as her own.

i.) Even though Ruth is a Gentile from Moab she vows here to convert to the Jewish way of life in all its aspects. We should understand Ruth’s speech as a statement of conversion.

ii.) Conversion to Judaism was then as it is even now a serious and very rigorous procedure. READ: Pages 69-70 of the Everything Torah Book. (step one: Reconsider!)

B.) Ruth’s very positive statement of devotion and conversion is followed by Naomi’s very negative personal statement of bitterness.

i.) The name Naomi means “the pleasant one,” and when someone identifies her by her name her immediate response it to change her name. Each Biblical name has some sort of significant meaning.

ii.) Because of the many tragedies she has experienced Naomi says, don’t call me pleasant: call me ‘bitter.’ This is a recognition of both her emotional state and her situation in life: bitterness.

C.) This is the set-up for the rest of the story. It is in this dire situation, when the main people who populate this story are in their most desperate place, that God begins to work and bring them greater deliverance.

i.) The deliverance they experience at the very beginning of the story when God allows for them to return to the Land is but a taste, a shadow of the redemption they experience at the end. So it is for us as well.

ii.) The last line that says they “arrive[d] in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning” is absolutely pregnant with meaning and foreshadowing what’s next. We’ll get to that next week.

Ruth #2

I. At the beginning of chapter 2 we are introduced to a new character. His name is Boaz and he is a relative of Elimelek, Naomi’s deceased husband. Ruth 2:1-7.

A.) What we learn about Boaz, other than the fact that he is Elimelek’s kinsman is that he is also apparently well-off financially.

i.) Even though Boaz is kin to Elimelek, his character serves as a contrast to Elimelek in that Elimelek’s family violated the Covenant and was punished but Boaz remained true to the covenant and is blessed.

ii.) The wealth and prosperity of Boaz is going to be the instrument God uses to bring aide to and redeem the remnant of Elimelek’s family.

B.) Last week we left off with the phrase that told us Ruth & Naomi arrived in Bethlehem as the Barely harvest was beginning.

i.) The activity we find Ruth participating in here is called “Gleaning,” which was a common Old Testament practice based on Torah Law. Leviticus 19:9.

ii.) Landowners left parts of their fields un-harvested so foreigners and the poor could have something to eat. Ruth is both a foreigner and poor. If there is anybody Lev 19 applies to it’s definitely her.

C.) When Boaz asks the person in charge of his harvesting staff about Ruth we need to understand there’s an implied attraction.

i.) It might not be easy to see that looking at the text, but that’s because it’s a different culture and we have a translation. Contemporary: “Dude, who’s that. Is she available?” “Ruth, from Moab.” “That’s Ruth?”

ii.) This element of attraction is going to be important later on. It shouldn’t be a surprise for you to figure out that Boaz and Ruth marry at the end of the book. But the implications of that marriage are big.

II. The next section shows us exactly the kind of person Boaz is. After he finds out who Ruth is he approaches her and offers special privileges. Ruth 2:8-16.

A.) What Boaz does for this foreigner named Ruth goes beyond allowing her to merely glean in his fields. What he provides for her is generously above and beyond what the Law requires.

i.) There’s an example to be learned from here. OT Law provided guidelines for helping those who couldn’t make it on their own. Many would just do the bare

minimum required by the Law.

ii.) Sometimes we have to ask ourselves: are we bare-minimum kind of people, or are we the generous kind of people? The answer to that question will reveal, in part, our attitude toward God.

B.) What does Boaz’s generosity tell us about him and his attitude toward God?

i.) Boaz recognizes and is thankful that his wealth is a result of God’s intervention and faithfulness to His Covenant. God told Israel that prosperity was a result of the covenant. Psalm 112:1-3.

ii.) But as a visible expression of that thankfulness Boaz takes the wealth God blesses him with and distributes it generously to someone in need. Psalm 112:45, 9.

iii.) True thanksgiving isn’t about gathering with family and enjoying a large turkey dinner and sharing things we’re thankful for. It’s about showing thanks by blessing others with what God blesses us with.

C.) What is Ruth’s response to Boaz’s generosity? Again, the response we find is one of thankfulness.

i.) In what Ruth says to Boaz we can see a recognition that Boaz is treating her better than her position deserves. Also the phrase “have spoken kindly” appears to be an OT expression of assurance of the future.

ii.) This also reflects the way that God continues to deal with humanity: God treats us better than we deserve and assures us of a secure future in Him. We call this truth the “Grace of God.”

III. In the final part of chapter 2 Ruth returns home with her sizeable harvest, much to the surprise of her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asks her how she came by it. Ruth 2:17-23.

A.) Ruth explains to Naomi what happened to her, including where she gleaned and whose field it was she gleaned at.

i.) She doesn’t have any clue who Boaz is. Notice that when she asked him why she had found favor in his eyes, he never revealed his relation to the clan of Elimelek, Naomi’s dead husband.

ii.) Sometimes we also don’t have any clue just how generous God is with us. We just assume, ‘that’s life.’ It’s really easy for us to think about how we would like our lives to be blessed even more. There are many things we don’t recognize as blessings that truly are gifts from God.

B.) Naomi, of course, knows who Boaz is. When she hears it is his field Ruth has been to she gets excited.

i.) Clearly some of the bitterness we saw in Naomi at the end of the first chapter is starting to diminish. In this age she seems to become quite happy. But it’s not simply a result of Ruth bringing home a steady food supply. So why, then, is Naomi so pleased that Ruth is going to Boaz’s field?

ii.) During Naomi’s little speech we run across the term ‘family guardian’ (kinsman-redeemer). I won’t go into detail now, but I want you that phrase because it comes up 4 more times in this book.

C.) Obviously both Naomi and Ruth have to thank God for. At the beginning of the story their situation was desperate. But here, God has taken their desperation and exchanged it for relief.

i.) This week as you gather with your families for Thanksgiving, be truly thankful for what God has blessed you with. And , the best way to show thanks to God is to bless someone else.

ii.) The final phrase we come across is “and she lived with her mother-in-law.” How many of you would be thankful for that? This phrase sets up the next portion of the story in which major events of the rest of the entire Biblical narrative hang. We’ll get to that next week.

Ruth #3 I. Last time we ended with “and she lived with her mother-in-law.” We will pick up from there with Naomi recognizing that Ruth would have to one day have part of her own family. Ruth 3:1-6.

A.) Naomi formulates a plan to marry Ruth off to Boaz, the wealthy farmer we first met in our look at the Ruth narrative last week.

i.) This gives new meaning to the phrase “fishers of men.” Naomi knows that Ruth’s best option for ending up in a home where she is provided for is Boaz.

ii.) She instructs Ruth to be as clear as she can about her desire and need for Boaz to provide the kind of life where she will be taken care of. All of the things Naomi instructs appear to be the Jewish ritualistic preparation for marriage. In today’s , she’s putting on a wedding dress.

B.) Ruth agrees to Naomi’s plan and travels to the threshing floor where Boaz is working on winnowing his barley harvest.

i.) Floor: On an elevated area where the wind would help. 25-40 feet in diameter. Smash barley with stone-studded sledges drawn by oxen. A fork or shovel was used to throw it into air and wind would carry the chaff away leaving the heavier grain. This was long and hard work and required periods of rest.

ii.) Naomi knows this and sends Ruth to wait until Boaz takes a rest. This may be because others were threshing with him because entire families threshed together.

C.) Now, why does Naomi instruct Ruth to appeal to Boaz for Marriage? Because Boaz is a Family Guardian. Let’s look at the function of a “Goël” (Kinsman Redeemer/Family Guardian) in Israel.

i.) 3 functions: Avenge murder, redeem family from slavery/property, and Levirate marriage. Deuteronomy 25:5-6.

ii.) Naomi doesn’t instruct Ruth to appeal for marriage because of the previous kindness Boaz showed them. As a Family Guardian Boaz has the potential of fulfilling the responsibility of Levirate marriage.

II. In the next part of the story we find Boaz at the threshing floor and Ruth approaches him and appeals to him to fulfill his role as the Family Guardian or Kinsman Redeemer. Ruth 3:7-13.

A.) We find Boaz winnowing his barley, stopping to rest, eat and drink. When he’s finished he’s happy and content and lays down by his grain pile (probably to protect it from people stealing from it).

i.) When we read that Ruth “uncovers his feet” this appears to be part of the process in which a person appeals to another to fulfill a legal obligation, in particular the transfer of property or land.

ii.) The origin of the custom has been traced to an ancient practice of taking possession of property by walking on the soil that was being claimed Deut. 11:22-24. Removing the sandal and handing it to another became a symbol of the transfer of the land. We will see this again in chapter 4.

B.) Boaz wakes up and notices his feet are uncovered and that there is a woman lying there. Obviously this startles him and he begins asking questions. So he and Ruth discuss the arrangements of his obligation.

i.) One interesting phrase Ruth uses is “Spread the corner of your garment over me.” This particular metaphor is used in Ezekiel 16:8 for the commitment of marriage. Reflects Boaz statement in 2:12.

ii.) Boaz understands and agrees with Ruth’s proposal. He says “I will do for you all you ask.” He sees what Ruth is doing as “kindness.” Because of this kindness, he happily agrees to marry Ruth.

C.) Basically everything goes along as planned until Boaz points out that there is a person ahead of him in line to fulfill the obligation of the Family Guardian.

i.) Before Boaz can accept the obligation of Levirate marriage the option must legally be offered to the closest related male in the clan. If he accepts, Ruth must marry him.

ii.) This tells us that even though Boaz has a great desire to Be Ruth’s husband he also has a great deal of integrity where God’s Law is concerned. For us too, God’s will must be put above our own.

III. The last section of the narrative we’ll look at today finds Ruth traveling back home to Naomi to report the progress of Boaz’s desire to act as the Family Guardian and redeem Ruth. Ruth 3:14-18.

A.) The first thing we should notice is that Ruth leaves early in the morning while it’s still dark out (“before anyone could be recognized”).

i.) Maybe to avoid gossip, but more likely so Boaz can appeal to the person who is the family guardian in a specific way. We’ll get to that next week though.

ii.) The narrative tells us that Boaz gave Ruth “Six measures of barley.” As best as we can tell this means about 88 lbs. Aside from being given out of kindness this may also be a show of confidence.

B.) When Ruth returns to Naomi’s home, Naomi is obviously eager to know how her plan turned out and begins asking Ruth questions.

i.) Ruth tells Naomi what Boaz said about not returning “empty-handed.” This illustrates one of this book’s central themes: How God takes those who are empty and makes them full.

ii.) What is Naomi’s complaint in Ruth 1:21? It seems as we read through the entire biblical narrative that God seems to have a special place in his heart for the empty (weak, poor, oppressed). He fills them.

C.) At the end of it all Naomi wisely encourages Ruth to “wait.” Don’t mess with it, don’t try to settle it on your own, just wait and if it is something God has promised, He will take care of it.

i.) We get so anxious waiting for certain things to come about that sometimes we begin to lose our patience and interfere with the way God wants them to be done.

ii.) Faith teaches us (sometimes painfully) to wait. We need to allow God time to work. Sometimes he takes minutes, sometimes decades, but in each instance it is always the right time. With that we will wait until next week to see the conclusion of this story and how

the rest of the Bible is affected.

Ruth #4 I. The story we find ourselves in today is the conclusion of the Ruth narrative but also the turning point for the rest of the biblical narrative. Here we will see the results of the union of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth 4:1-6.

A.) : last time Boaz revealed to Ruth there was another Family Guardian ahead of him who had the right to marry and redeem Ruth from her situation.

i.) To resolve the matter, Boaz travels to the City Gate of Bethlehem. City Gates were places where legal decisions and disputes were settled. Boaz goes there for the legalities surrounding Family Guardianship.

ii.) He gathers 10 elders. These were the people that acted as judges. In this case Boaz isn’t asking them to make a decision; he’s merely asking them to serve as witnesses of his legal transaction.

B.) The way Boaz presents the situation to the family Guardian is of interest because he doesn’t come right out with the fact that he would be responsible for performing the duty of levirate marriage with Ruth.

i.) that one of a Goël’s responsibilities is to redeem or purchase a

relative’s property if they can’t afford to maintain and keep it themselves. Although it hasn’t been mentioned it’s probably true.

ii.) What Boaz does is actually very wise. In suggesting the purchase of the property he suggests expansion of the Goël’s own property, which was always viewed a good thing. The he slides in marriage to Ruth as a condition.

C.) The thing about the Levirate marriage that would have been discouraging was that the Goël would have potentially endangered the inheritance for his own children (probably already had a wife and children).

i.) The result of Boaz’s wisdom is that he is able to convince the Family Guardian ahead of him to transfer the responsibility of Goël to Boaz.

ii.) Now, not only can Boaz can marry Ruth, but he will also purchase the land formerly belonging to Elimelek. He will have to give to his and Ruth’s child when he is of age, but he can use it until then.

II. The second portion of today’s narrative finalizes the union of Boaz and Ruth. In this section the relationship becomes legal and binding in the eyes of God. Ruth 4:7-12.

A.) After the legal agreement is ratified by the sandal transfer, Boaz makes a public statement to all of the witnesses present.

i.) Boaz’s public address to the witnesses is a call for them to remain faithful in their witness of the event and proceedings at the city gates.

ii.) This is a good tune for us to pick up on in of our own witness of what Christ has done in our lives. Just as Boaz redeems Ruth in a sense we have been redeemed by Christ. And the redeemer calls us to be vocal witnesses about the redemption found in Christ.

B.) After Boaz’s statement the 10 elders of the town of Bethlehem reciprocate with a blessing.

i.) “Like Rachel and Leah.” This reference means “may Ruth build up the house and name of both Mahlon (who died)” and also probably build up the house and name of Boaz. Ps 127.

ii.) “Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” The story referred to here occurred in Genesis 38 and is strikingly similar to the story we find in Ruth. Judah serves as a Goël and Perez is born. So the reference means, may your child be like Perez and carry on the name of the deceased.

C.) Understand that God has acted toward us in a very similar way: He has redeemed us from our desperate situation. Jesus is our Goël (KinsmanRedeemer/Family Guardian).

i.) We need to revisit the word redeem for a second. Too often we think of the word redeem as a theological word. It isn’t. It is originally a word used in trade or commerce.

ii.) It literally means “to buy back,” often used in the NT of slaves bought in market. Just as Boaz purchased and rescued Ruth from distress, God bought us back from sin and death. Titus 2:11-14.

iii.) So just as Boaz redeemed Ruth for a purpose, God through Jesus’ blood redeemed us for a purpose. That purpose is not simply to save us, but according to Titus it is to become a people eager to do good.

III. The purpose of a Family Guardian performing the duty of Levirate Marriage was to produce a child to carry on the name of the deceased relative. This is the subject of the final portion of the Ruth narrative. Ruth 4:13-22.

A.) Interestingly, the story returns back to Naomi instead of focusing on Ruth and Boaz. We should also notice the presence of what the narrative refers to as “the women.”

i.) These are probably the same women who witnessed Naomi’s bitter speech in 1:20-21. The situation has been reversed and the women are able to offer a blessing to Naomi because of the child’s birth.

ii.) And it all comes back to God. It is God who works behind the scenes to set things right, which we should for ourselves. To live apart from God in daily life brings ruin. Returning brings life.

B.) The birth of Boaz and Ruth’s son is the pivotal moment the entire Ruth narrative has been working up to. Most importantly, the child of their union is the grandfather of Israel’s most famous King: David.

i.) If you look at the next page you’ll notice the book of 1 Sam. This is of course where we first meet David and Israel’s 1st kings begin their reign. Ruth is really the beginning of David’s story.

ii.) One thing this should help us understand is just how unified the Bible really is. Without the book of Ruth there would have been no David. While each book is separate, they are also connected somehow.

C.) But, there is something deeper and more important that occurs as a result of the birth of Obed. The most important descendant of Obed was born in a Bethlehem stable about 2,000 years ago. Matthew 2:1-6.

i.) Mary, who gave Jesus flesh, belongs to the family line of David. While it’s striking to say ‘without Ruth there would have been no David’ is overshadowed by the fact that ‘without Ruth there would have been no Jesus.’

ii.) One more parallel between the story we find in Ruth and our own story today. Levirate marriage was intended to produce a child to carry on the name of the deceased so it wouldn’t be lost to history.

iii.) Acts 11:25-26. We carry the name of the one who died so that the name of Christ won’t be lost to history. This brings us back to the “witness” idea. We must be faithful witnesses to our redemption so more people will believe and accept Christ as savior and accept his name.

Esther #1

I. Before we get into the actual content of the book of Esther we need to understand some things about it and what exactly makes the book of Esther such a unique book, even more unique than some of the other biblical books. As a matter of fact, it is many of these unique attributes that made Esther a book that was disputed by many people who did not want it in the Bible.

A.) Linguistically speaking there is one particularly interesting thing to point out about Esther; Esther is the only book of the Bible which does not mention several things which would seem like important aspects of almost every other Old Testament book; things like worship, prayer, and sacrifice are all absent from the narrative. But the most prominent absence is the fact that there is no explicit mention of God by name.

i.) At first glance the absence of so many important religious elements from this book makes it appear somewhat secular and not religious. However, the more carefully one reads this book, the more it appears that there are strong underlying Jewish-religious themes woven into the text.

ii.) Even though God is not mentioned directly in the text of the book, His chosen people during the Old Testament, the Israelites are the most prominent feature of the book and the kingdom of Persia is merely the backdrop and stage setting against which the Jewish characters of the book act.

iii.) There is an outside chance that casually observing the fact that God is not

mentioned in Esther is actually incorrect. In Chapter one, verse 20 we must take note of the phrase “all the women will respect.” In the English translation this looks fairly benign or normal. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. But if you look at the Hebrew phrase it is translated from, and make a reverse acrostic of the words what you get as a result is the word Yahweh. Besides this there are seven other possible acrostic references to 4 of God’s divine names in the book. And all of them are at crucial points in the story.

B.) Another thing which makes Esther unique is that it is a book of some very strong apparent coincidences.

i.) As the world might understand things, I can definitely see how the book of Esther would appear to be full of what would seem like coincidences. But this is just one case of many in which Christians need to understand the major difference between our world view and the worldviews of others.

ii.) Nothing can happen to us or anyone else without the permission of God. Nothing that has ever happened or will ever happen can occur without God knowing about it and allowing it. There is no such thing as a coincidence or an accident in the Christian perspective.

iii.) Therefore there is no coincidence (at least not in the popular use of the term) in the book of Esther. So, while God is not explicitly mentioned by name in the book of Esther, His hand is clearly seen though the events, which lead to the preservation of the Jewish people, which is one of the major themes of the book: God’s fulfillment of is promise to preserve the Jews.

C.) So with all of that in mind we come to the question; “What is the book of Esther about?” Who wrote the book, what is the purpose of the writing, and what lesson or lessons can we draw from the book?

i.) First, who is the author? The answer is that we have no idea! No name is given, but we can draw some inferences about the author. First: He was Jewish because the author seems to have a vast knowledge of Jewish practice and belief (Holidays, etc…). Second: He was an eyewitness to the events. The events are described in too great a detail for the book to be written by someone who was not an eyewitness (See the ‘banquet’ ages). This means that the author could be one of the characters or someone who knew them. My personal opinion, I think Mordecai might have written it.

ii.) The purpose of writing is at least two-fold, but maybe more than that. The first purpose is to establish the fact that God continues to watch over and sustain the Jewish people, which He will not allow them to perish from the earth. The second purpose is to establish the origin of the Jewish holiday called Purim (Based upon the Hebrew word Pur which means Lots—as in the casting of lots) because of 3:7 and 9:26-27.

iii.) The third question we ask is ‘what lessons can we draw from this book?’ Using the characters of Esther and Mordecai, the two main protagonists as models, there is much we can learn about faith in God while in the fact of trials, especially when God’s hand is not always apparent. That, I believe is part of the reason for not mentioning God in the book. Not that it secularizes the book, but that it actually is a device used to encourage the faith of the readers of it.

Transition: Now that we know a little bit of the background of the book of Esther let’s get into the content a bit.

II. Before we start reading the text of the book itself, I think it is important for us to become acquainted with the characters that play important roles in the section we will be looking at today. We will be doing the same thing in future sermons when new characters enter the picture.

A.) There are four characters who appear in the section for today which are important to the story that we will very briefly examine.

i.) King Xerxes – Xerxes (also called Ahasuerus) ruled the Medo-Persian empire from 486-465 B.C. (20 years) before he was assassinated by Artabanus, his advisor who placed the king’s son, Artaxerxes, on the throne. King Xerxes was known for his explosive anger and rash decisions. For example he boldly attempted to conquer Greece, which turned out to be a disaster. So King Xerxes’ reign is characterized by his ability to be easily angered.

ii.) Queen Vashti – This name does not appear in any of the secular documents of the time. The Bible is the only record of this name for the queen. Her Persian name is Amestris. She was the mother of the King’s children, not Esther. The following king, Artaxerxes I is her son. History has it that she was quite a cruel person. She mutilated the mother of one of Xerxes’ mistresses, and later when her son becomes king she pressures him to behead 50 prisoners.

iii.) Mordecai, a Jew – Mordecai is something of a study in wisdom. It is this man who influences his cousin, Esther, to approach the king about the plot to destroy the Jews, which is devised by Haman, the king’s high advisor. There is no extra biblical reference that explicitly refers to a Jew named Mordecai in

Xerxes’ service, but there are possible hints.

iv.) Hadassah, also called Esther – She is the heroin of the book. It is in the circumstances Esther finds herself in that the readers of the book most clearly see the hand of God at work. She is described as being very beautiful and this is the asset that God uses greatly in the activity of saving the Jews from ultimate destruction. It is because of her beauty and charm God has given her that she is able to become the new queen of Persia.

B.) The book of Esther opens with a trio of royal banquets; two given by King Xerxes himself, and one given by Queen Vashti. It is during the second and third banquets, which coincide with each other that the story truly begins to take form and God’s hand first becomes apparent.

i.) Esther 1:1-5, 9-12, 16-22

C.) Vashti is removed from being the queen merely for refusing to come to the peoples’ banquet. Why would this be such a big deal? Why does she refuse the King’s command?

i.) There are several possible answers to this question. One possible answer could be she was very proud and didn’t feel she needed to listen to the king. This would fit her character description that we saw earlier, she would be very abrasive in personality and hard to get along with.

ii.) Another possible explanation could be that she was pregnant at the time and felt that she was in no condition to enter a wild drunken banquet so the king could parade her around. One thing, which might validate this, is that this would have been around the time that Artaxerxes was born. What doesn’t fit is that if she were fully pregnant, she wouldn’t fit the text’s description of being “beautiful,” and “lovely to look at.”

iii.) The third and most likely reason is hard to get from the text unless you read it just right. In what way did Xerxes command for Vashti to come? Vv. 11 “Wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people…” What this means is “wearing ONLY her royal crown.” He wanted her to come naked and she became angry and refused. So he makes a mandate that she is never to come into his presence again.

iv.) We must briefly note that Vashti is not banished from the king’s palace, only from the king’s presence. Vashti appears later in history after the king is assassinated. She doesn’t die until 424 B.C., almost 40 years after Xerxes dies. After he dies, she takes control of the throne until their son, Artaxerxes, is of age to rule.

III. So the stage has been set and it is decided that Xerxes needs to get himself a new queen, a better queen. Esther 2:1-4

A.) The solution to the problem of a misbehaving queen is apparent to the men Xerxes appointed as his personal attendants: if the old queen doesn’t do what she’s told, then get a new queen.

i.) So the king has all the beautiful young virgins of the entire kingdom gathered at the palace’s harem where they can be given beauty treatments and then paraded one at a time before the king so he may chose the one he likes best.

ii.) Wouldn’t this make an interesting reality TV show? They could call it “Harem Survivor” or “Who wants to marry a Persian King?”

iii.) This is the point of the story where we meet the two human heroes: Mordecai and Esther.

B.) The search for a new Persian queen leads to a very unlikely spot: a Jewish girl by the name of Hadassah, or Esther. Esther 2:5-11

i.) When we finally meet the characters of Mordecai and Esther the book takes pains to clarify the fact that they are Jews. It purposefully marks them as belonging to Israel, God’s chosen people. This is why the book gives a short genealogy: in order to validate the historical reliability of the story. There also appears to be another reason for identifying them as Jews: there seems to be some sort of prejudice against Jews at this time. This is why Mordecai instructs Esther not to reveal her nationality. The prejudice is emphasized later in the book through Haman.

ii.) The name Mordecai is actually derived from a Babylonian deity named Marduk. Scholars have found a tablet near Babylon, which mentions an

ant named Mardukaya, which they believe, refers to the “Mordecai” of the book of Esther. It is common, however, to find Jewish Bible characters with two names, a gentile name and a Jewish name. It is this Mordecai who helps Esther save the Jews while she is queen.

iii.) The name “Esther” means something like “shinning star”. Esther was Hadassah’s gentile name and it describes for us how the people of the palace received her. Hadassah was probably given the name “shinning star” because of her great beauty. It was Esther’s great beauty combined with Mordecai’s wisdom that saved the Jewish people from certain destruction near the end of the book. Because of her beauty she is accepted into the Harem and given a place of honor. This put her in a good position to become queen.

C.) Next we have a description of the process that all of the girls went through in order to remain candidates for becoming queen. Esther 2:12-18

i.) The girls’ beauty treatments lasted for an entire year. The first six months were devoted to treatments involving oil and Myrrh. The oil had something to do with skin care. While Rachel and I were in Africa some of the cooking ladies at one of the missionary’s houses put Petroleum jelly on their faces for this same purpose, so it appears to be custom that evolved in the east. The Myrrh was used because of its use as a spice used in some perfumes. So the first six months were given to skin care and smell. The second six months were dedicated to different kinds of perfumes and different kinds of cosmetics.

ii.) After a girl’s year of treatment was completed she would visit the king for one night before he made a decision on her. She could approach the King’s chamber however she chose. She could wear as much jewelry and perfume and

fancy clothes as she wanted, or as little as she wanted. , we’re dealing with pagans here so anything goes for them.

iii.) When Esther’s turn came to stay with the king she wore only what the keeper of the Harem suggested. , Esther is naturally beautiful so she would probably have entered the king’s chamber very simply adorned because she didn’t need all of the extra razzle-dazzle. This reinforces another biblical theme of the NT: A woman’s beauty does not come from all of the extra things she can put on (make up, jewelry, perfume) but instead from what God has given her. And that is how Esther wins the favor of the entire palace, including the king who favors Esther above all others and chooses her for his queen.

Esther #2

I. Mordecai, while sitting at the king’s gate, uncovers a plot by two of the king’s officers to assassinate king Xerxes. Thinking quickly Mordecai informs Esther who then informs the king. Esther 2:19-23

A.) Let us briefly examine the setting of this part of the narrative. What is the deal with “the king’s gate” and why is Mordecai sitting there?

i.) First we need to describe what the purpose of the King’s gate is. The king’s gate serves several purposes ranging from commercial to legal. Often times there were markets held at the king’s gate. People would come and buy and sell wares to earn a living. Also, courts were held at the king’s gate and sometimes the king himself would come to the gate in order to hold an audience with someone.

ii.) This information tells us that Mordecai was a somewhat highly regarded civil service official in Persia. Because Mordecai is at the king’s gate he has his ear to what the people of Persia are expressing and sometime he hears when certain elements fall into discontent with the way things are.

iii.) Bigthana and Teresh are two examples of the discontent which Mordecai here’s. But this time the discontent comes from people who are not only citizens of Persia, but who are officials of Persia. Apparently they become so angry that they decide that new leadership for the kingdom is needed. So they plan to kill a king.

B.) What is Mordecai’s response to the obvious problem of what Bigthana and Teresh are planning to do?

i.) Mordecai understands that he has a responsibility to protect the king. Why? Why would Mordecai, a Jew care one bit what happens to a pagan king? Particularly a pagan king who is known for his violent outbursts and erratic decision-making based on how he feels at the moment? Mordecai acts as he does probably because he has read the book of Daniel at this point.

ii.) Three times the book of Daniel says: ‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.’ Mordecai would have understood this to mean that if God had set up a ruler, he had done so for a reason. And it was also God’s responsibility to remove any leader God had raised up. Other men, men like Bigthana and Teresh, had no say.

iii.) Armed with this knowledge, Mordecai rushed to Esther, who would have easier access to the king than he would and gave her the information. Then she in turn told the king who had the scheme investigated and found to be true.

C.) Something needs to be said about what happens to Bigthana and Teresh after their plot is discovered.

i.) The biblical text states that they were “hanged on a gallows.” What you need to understand about the gallows that are referred to in this text is that they are not the kind of gallows people usually think of.

ii.) These gallows are not a wooden structure with a rope noose attached which is placed around the person’s neck. Instead it was a large wooden pole that was sharpened at one end. The person intended for hanging was impaled in the sharpened end of the pole. This was the fate of Bigthana and Teresh.

iii.) After all of this the Bible says that these events were “recorded in the annals before the king.” This becomes very important to the story and the seeds of this importance are watered and nurtured for growth in the next section of Scripture.

II. At the beginning of the third chapter of the book we finally meet the villain of the story: a man named Haman who provides a stark contrast to the character of Mordecai on many levels. Esther 3:1-7

A.) Now let us briefly examine the character of Haman.

i.) The unmerited reward of Haman provides a contrast to Mordecai’s unrewarded merit. It is interesting to note here that Haman gets a reward for doing nothing while Mordecai, who is responsible for saving the king’s life, gets nothing for a reward.

ii.) Haman seeks power and prestige. Haman is certainly not interested in the greater well being of the subjects of Persia, or even for the well being of those in Persian high society, including the king. Haman is a vindictive self-serving schemer who desires nothing more than personal advancement.

iii.) Haman, who basically stands for everything that God is against, serves as antagonist, the villain of the book of Esther. He seeks to destroy Mordecai and Mordecai’s people, the Jews because Mordecai refuses to bow before Haman. But there is another possible motivation for Haman.

iv.) Haman is an Agagite. This means he is descended from Agag, King of Amalek or the Amalekites. The Amalekites were one of the fiercest enemies of Israel during the Exodus. God was highly displeased with the Amalekites. Later King Saul, a Benjamite (from the Israeli tribe of Benjamin) led an assault on Amalek and killed king Agag. Saul was a Benjamite. Mordecai was also a Benjamite. The king of Amalek was Agag who was killed by Saul. Haman is an Agagite. The dispute between Mordecai the Benjamite and Haman the Agagite began 500 years prior to the story of Esther.

B.) So Haman becomes elevated in his official position by king Xerxes. With this elevation comes the honor of having everyone else show respect to him by bowing to Him. Mordecai, however, refuses to bow to Haman. Why?

i.) Now , the king has commanded that everyone obey the law of respect to Haman by bowing to him. So Mordecai disobeys a direct order of the king. We must understand that this isn’t something personal between Mordecai and Haman. It’s not just that they don’t like each other. It’s deeper than that.

ii.) What is the reason that Mordecai gives for his not bowing to Haman to show respect? What does he say to the other advisors? He says he won’t bow because he is a Jew. Okay, what does that have to do with bowing? It is very simple: bowing is an act of worship.

iii.) Because Mordecai is a Jew he is expressly forbidden to worship anything or anyone other than the one true living God of Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph. Mordecai refuses to obey the Persian law because it would be a violation of God’s law.

C.) Here Mordecai provides us with an example of godliness and faithfulness in the face of trial and possible persecution.

i.) Even though Mordecai could slip through the cracks and not be noticed as a possible dissenter to the Persian law by following the law, he instead stands by his convictions

ii.) Mordecai knew that the place where he got his convictions from, God’s Word, had more power than any other law decreed by man could ever have. Mordecai knew that God who is the cause of the circumstance is greater than the circumstance. He looked beyond the circumstance to see and trust in the cause.

iii.) We too need to be able to look past our circumstance and know the cause. The cause is God. We know that we must ultimately trust what God has planned

although it may be difficult, or downright hard for us to face. Understand that God is bigger than any problem you’ll ever face. This proves true for Mordecai and Esther as Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews begins to take shape.

III. Haman uses craftiness and subtlety to approach king Xerxes about the destruction of the Jews, and the king unwittingly agrees to Haman’s . Esther 3:8-15

A.) Haman slyly submits a plea to the king to annihilate the Jews by not mentioning the Jews by name, only saying, “There is a certain people…who do not obey the king’s laws.”

i.) Haman describes them in very generic language so as not to reveal their identity. He says they are dispersed and scattered. These don’t mean the same thing. “Dispersed” means geographically spread through the empire. “Scattered” has a bit of a different meaning. It could better be translated as “Unassimilated.”

ii.) Now, being unassimilated and having their own customs was not a crime in Persia. Persian rule was often very tolerant of people from different cultures who lived in the empire. Haman is merely using these phrases and generic to build his way up to his condemning point.

iii.) What really condemns the Jews in Xerxes eyes, although he doesn’t know it is the Jews, is that they refuse to follow the King’s laws. This would have been totally unacceptable; a great violation of Persian law which could possibly lead to death. In this case, that is Haman’s goal.

B.) How does Xerxes respond to Haman telling him that there is a group of people who refuse to follow the laws that the king decrees?

i.) , we discussed in the first sermon how king Xerxes was known for his explosive anger and making some very rash decisions because of it? That is exactly what happens here.

ii.) When Haman tells Xerxes that there is a certain group of people who refuse to follow Xerxes’ royal decrees, how do you think that made Xerxes feels? Well, did anybody here ever watch the old Incredible Hulk TV show from the 80’s where when the guy would get angry he would turn into a big hulking brute that was really strong? What was it the main character used to say? He would say, “Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

iii.) The same is true with king Xerxes. People didn’t like him when he was angry because people had a tendency to die around Xerxes when he became angry. Haman cleverly uses Xerxes’ anger as a weapon and directs it at the Jews. Haman hardly has to lift a finger. Sometimes it’s dangerous to have a man like Xerxes in power. But it’s worse when a man like Haman is there to manipulate him.

C.) The campaign to destroy the Jews is kingdom-wide. Wherever there are Jews in the Persian Empire, they are now targeted for extinction because of Haman.

i.) Verses 12-14 are written for us to know that the edict to destroy the Jews was a very serious matter that covered the entire Persian Empire. There was no corner of the empire that was forgotten in regards to this edict.

ii.) Notice that the edict was to be issued “as law.” What does that mean in the context of this story? earlier in the book, it was made clear that the Persian law, once it was made official could not be repealed or halted, not even by the king. Once the law is set in motion, nothing can stop. Or can it? Perhaps that is something for you to ponder.

iii.) There’s an interesting contrast drawn at the end of verse 15. It says, “The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.” This phrase is probably used to show that the king was out of touch with his people. It may also imply that God is never out of touch with his people. We will see that God, although never explicitly named in this book was in touch with His people, protecting them from Haman’s wicked plan. But we’ll talk more about that next time.

Esther #3

I. In the previous message we saw that Haman tricked King Xerxes into allowing a royal edict to be created which provided that all of the Jews in Persia were to be killed. Now we will see how the Jewish community and specifically Mordecai and Esther react to the publication of the decree. Esther 4:1-8.

A.) Mordecai is the first reaction that we see to the edict from a Jewish perspective and is somewhat representative of what the rest of the Jewish community in Persia probably felt.

i.) Mordecai presents for us a typical picture of mourning and great distress. But it is difficult to interpret what exactly some of these customs mean and why they are done. Generally speaking it is accepted that tearing of clothes, wearing sackcloth, and putting on Ashes are all signs of grief or pain.

ii.) These all seem to indicate the same sort of feeling: discomfort. Ripping ones clothes and then replacing them with sackcloth would be very uncomfortable. Sackcloth is a heavy, scratchy burlap kind of material, which would not be pleasant to wear. It would also be likewise uncomfortable to smear ash on your body. What all of these customs seem to mean is that the person doing them feels great discomfort on the inside emotionally and is expressing that through physical discomfort.

iii.) Does this mean that Mordecai has lost his faith? No. As a matter of fact, the Bible shows us in many places where people are able to have a closer

relationship with God because of physical and emotional pain. Why because pain shows us our weaknesses and reveals to us our need for God. In our pain we cry out to God. That is often the most sincere kind of prayer we may do: crying out to God to help us with our pain. Job did it, David did it, and Mordecai did it also.

B.) We see that in other areas where there are Jews residing and where the edict is posted, the same general reaction occurs.

i.) Mordecai is not the only one who mourns. Every Jew who hears about the decree does the same thing as Mordecai. They weep and wail and dress in sackcloth. There is great distress in Persia over the decree.

ii.) This widespread reaction causes another problem for the Jews. Now, not only are the Jews slated for extermination, but they also have just announced who they are to everyone. The identity of all of the Jews is clear, and those whose job it is to slay them now have their targets identified for them.

iii.) Things are not looking good for the Jews at this point. Their destruction seems sure because the law of the Persians, which has just stated that the Jews are to be killed, cannot be repealed. Once the law is made, it cannot be unmade. But this is also the point where a glimmer of hope begins to shine for the Jews. It is in their darkest hour that God reveals His hand of providence to the Jews.

C.) Esther is confused about Mordecai’s behavior and so she sends one of the royal servants to ascertain what the problem is with Mordecai.

i.) The first thing we need to note is that Esther doesn’t seem to be disturbed by the decree. The reason for this is that, like king Xerxes, she is separated from the people. She isn’t disturbed by the decree probably because she doesn’t know about it. But what she does know about is that Mordecai is acting very strangely. She doesn’t know why he is grieved so she sends a messenger with clothes for him and to find out what the problem is.

ii.) Mordecai refuses to put the fresh clothes on because the situation is too grave and then he sends a copy of the edict to Esther. The Bible says that Mordecai had to have the edict explained to her. He made sure that the situation was clear to her. This affirms for us that Esther has not seen the edict. She is out of touch with the people. She doesn’t know what is going on.

iii.) Mordecai, however, knows exactly what is going on and so he devises a plan to save the Jewish people from destruction. He instructs Esther to go before the king and plead with him for the life of the Jews. You see he knows that Esther has easier access and greater influence over Xerxes than Mordecai himself or any other Jew does.

II. Next we find out that Esther is reluctant to follow Mordecai’s instructions for some of her own reasons, but we will also see where Mordecai’s wisdom begins to shine through. Esther 4:9-17.

A.) Esther’s first response to Mordecai’s instruction is that she tries to get out of doing it. In Esther’s mind there is some personal danger involved.

i.) According to the Persian law there was a potential danger for a person to be killed if the king did not invite that person to approach him and they approached him anyway. This is Esther’s excuse for not wanted to approach the king uninvited. Esther thinks she will be spared if she doesn’t say anything. She intends to keep quite.

ii.) Is Esther justified in her fear of what will happen? We find the answer to that question, when we answer this question: Are we justified in our own fear when we are doing the Lord’s work? The answer is no!

iii.) Mordecai has no problem seeing through Esther’s fear and getting at the heart of the matter. When Mordecai sends his reply to Esther we see where true wisdom finds its origin.

B.) Mordecai replies to Esther and wisely tells her that if she does not do what he asks her, she and many other people will die.

i.) “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.” Mordecai reminds Esther that she herself is Jewish and the edict applies to her as well. If Esther does not try to persuade the king to help her and her people, she along with her family and countless others, will be murdered.

ii.) Despite all of this it is interesting to note that Mordecai believes that “relief

and deliverance” will come from another source. In the statement he makes in vs. 14, we see the faith of Mordecai expressed although God is not mentioned by name. This seems to indicate that Mordecai believed God’s promise to preserve the Jewish people and also his belief in Messiah, the deliverer.

iii.) Mordecai also recognizes that there seems to be divine purpose to Esther being placed in the position of queen. He says, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Why didn’t Esther think of this? Maybe because it is hard for all of us to recognize that we have been led to certain places at certain times for specific reasons. Have you ever considered that you are where you are today for a reason. For such a time as this you have been placed where you are by God.

C.) Mordecai’s message to Esther gives her the courage she needs to do what is right.

i.) Realizing that Mordecai is right Esther decides that she has no choice but to do what he asks. But I do not think that it is the fact that she knows either way she will die that convinces her to act. I believe it is trust, faith.

ii.) Earlier in this series, I told you that faith in God in the face of persecution, even when God is not always apparent in the circumstance is one of the themes of the book of Esther. This is one of the spots in the book where this theme is illustrated.

iii.) “If I perish, I perish.” What greater statement of faith can there be than this?

This is not a statement that says, “Well, I guess I have nothing to lose!” No, rather what Esther is saying is that “I have faith that this is the right thing to do!”

III. At this point, Esther decides to capitalize on the old saying that goes, “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Esther’s plan to save her people involves two banquets, the first of which we will be looking at today. Esther 5:18.

A.) Esther’s reluctance to enter the presence of the king un-summoned turns out to be unfounded. Xerxes has no problem with Esther approaching him. Why is this?

i.) Part of it may be because Xerxes truly loved Esther, or enjoyed her presence at the least and he would not have wanted her to be killed. So when Xerxes sees her, there is little or no hesitation in his welcoming her into his presence.

ii.) Another part of it may be that Esther was quite naturally beautiful, as we’ve already talked about a great deal. The text says that she “put on her royal robes” before she went to stand before the king. On top of her natural beauty, she added more beautiful clothing and Xerxes was not about to destroy his queen, especially when she looked so beautiful. She pleased his eye, so he allowed to her to be welcomed into his presence.

iii.) While these reasons may be true, it is most important to first recognize the fact that God has his hand on the situation. Just as God hardened Pharaoh’s heart before the exodus, God softens king Xerxes heart toward Esther. This serves as

yet another example to us how we need to trust in God to take care of us even though His hand and His working are invisible to us.

B.) Esther’s plan to get king Xerxes to grant her request to help the Jews involves giving a banquet for not only Xerxes but also Haman. Now it makes perfect sense to get into Xerxes favor before asking a special request of him, but why have Haman there too?

i.) Haman is clearly the enemy here. We’ve observed his conniving character before and also how he is very crafty and subtle. Why would Esther want him present at the banquet where she approaches the king about reversing the plot that Haman devised? Wouldn’t this be dangerous?

ii.) Actually this is a very subtle move on Esther’s part. Esther probably understood that if she could get Haman to reveal his guilt in plotting against the queen’s people, therefore also that he was plotting against the queen, howbeit unwittingly, not only would she be able to get Xerxes to take care of the plot, but also he would take care of Haman, the root of the problem.

iii.) Also by inviting Haman to the banquet, Esther accomplishes something else important. You see, Haman doesn’t know that Esther is a relation of Mordecai, which means that He doesn’t now that Esther is a Jew. What the invitation accomplishes for Esther is that it brings her into favor with Haman. It gets Haman to let his guard down when he is around Esther. So when it is discovered that Esther is Jewish, it makes it look like Haman was plotting against the royal family as well as the Jews.

C.) After all the preparation and after the banquet has been given it is interesting to note that Esther holds off on telling her request to Xerxes. Why does she do this? Isn’t this a good opportunity?

i.) Some suggest that Esther lost her nerve. Is she afraid? Did she lose her faith? No, this is not what happened.

ii.) Some suggest that this is a plot device to raise the tension of the story. I don’t buy it.

iii.) The best answer to that question is this: God has a few more things planned that must happen before Esther’s request is given. What are those things? Come back next week and find out.

Esther #4

I. Esther 5:9-14 We now come to the point in the story where we see Haman’s bitterness against Mordecai manifested. It is this bitterness that leads Haman to heed the advice of others to not wait until the designated time of the execution of the Jews, but instead he approaches the king about having Mordecai dispatched once and for all as soon as possible. But it really doesn’t work out quite the way he plans.

II. Esther 6:1-6 It just so happens that the King is unable to sleep and so he orders a copy of the chronicles of the Persian empire under his reign to be brought to him so he can be bored to sleep. Sounds a lot like some people I knew back in college who would read their homework so they could get to sleep. His little foray into the world of history produces a slightly different result than he was expecting though.

III. Esther 6:7-14 Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where this is going. Because Haman was proud and thought he was on top of the world, he set himself up for the worst possible fall he could take. Haman’s pride and overconfidence is his weakness, and here it gets the better of him.

*Author’s Note: For some reason, only the three main points of this sermon survived. In my original file there remained two tiers of sub-points under each main point but they were all empty.

Esther #5

I. When we finally arrive at the 7th chapter of Esther we find that one of the major conflicts of the story, the hostility between Haman and the Jews, but especially the Jew Mordecai, at last becomes resolved.

A.) In this second banquet given by the Queen, Esther finally reveals to Xerxes the reason for her requesting both the King’s and Haman’s presences. Esther 7:1-4.

i.) This section begins with Xerxes again desiring to know what Esther’s request and petition is. He assures her that whatever it is, he will make certain that it is taken care of. This is the second time in the book that we see the phrase “Ask for up to half of the kingdom, and it will be given to you.” This is not a literal promise on the part of Xerxes, but instead it is an oriental expression of promise or an Oath. We see Herod do the same thing in Mark 6:22-23.

ii.) When at last Esther brings her request and petition to the king’s attention she does so in a very careful and respectful manner. She knows that either way, whether it will be directed at Haman, or at Her and possibly her people, Xerxes is about to become angry. Esther knows very well that when the king becomes angry he also becomes deadly. This is the moment of truth and the climax of the story.

iii.) When Esther reveals that her people have been sold into annihilation she reveals to both Xerxes and Haman that she is a Jew. , Mordecai told her not to reveal her nationality while she was in the

Harem before the king chose his new queen. also that at the beginning of this series on Esther we noted that there was a possible discrimination or general feeling of disgust with the Jews in Persia at this time. Esther is taking a big time risk by revealing her nationality now at this crucial moment of the story. No doubt both Xerxes and Haman were shocked by the announcement.

B.) When Esther reveals to the king who is responsible for the plot to destroy the Jews Xerxes responds in typical king Xerxes fashion: He gets angry. Esther 7:5-7.

i.) Xerxes is so angry at the situation that he gets up without a word and leaves the room. There is quite a bit of stuff here to make him angry. First there is Haman. Haman duped him into ordering the execution of the people of his queen and thereby ordering the execution of his queen also. Second there is Esther. She kept a secret from him. Who can he trust?

ii.) Esther and Haman stay behind, not daring to follow him out. We don’t know what was going through Esther’s mind at this point, but the Bible allows us insight into Haman’s thinking. Haman knows that he’s dead meat. He sees his only shot at surviving as physically throwing himself at the queen and begging for his life, pleading her to change Xerxes’ mind about killing him.

iii.) So we see Haman, the one who was so sure of himself, so certain of the security he created for himself by his own pride, so proud of his own his own achievements, is reduced to groveling for his life. Not only does he grovel, but also he grovels to a Jew, and not just any Jew, but a relative of Mordecai, Haman’s arch enemy.

C.) The book of Esther at last arrives at Haman’s fate and it is positively poetic in the truest sense of the word. Esther 7:8-10.

i.) When Xerxes comes back after he has cooled down a little, but probably not much he sees Haman falling on his queen begging for his life, but the king interprets the attempt a little differently. What he thinks he is witnessing is Haman trying to rape his queen. Haman’s attempt at pleading with Esther for his life by physically falling at her feet is his last mistake.

ii.) The king voices his question about this out loud and the servants, whether they were present for the whole thing or came in at the sound of the commotion “covered Haman’s face.” This means they either blindfolded him, or put an execution shroud over his head. Both have the same meaning: Haman is finished and it’s entirely his own fault.

iii.) I said that Haman’s fate was “poetic.” What do I mean by that? The Greek word that we get our words “Poem” and “Poetic” from is Poieo simply means “to do, to make, or to create.” Haman’s fate is poetic in the sense that it was created or crafted by an intelligent mind. There is no coincidence here. There is only God’s design. Haman’s fate was to be hanged on the gallows he had constructed for Mordecai. What Haman intended for evil God intended for good. Genesis 50:18-20, Romans 8:28.

II. Next we see in chapter 8 that several wrongs become righted and strong blessings flow out to God’s people. We especially may note that the plight of the Jews becomes completely reversed and Mordecai becomes elevated in his position in Persia. Esther 8:16

A.) The first thing we see is that Mordecai becomes highly elevated in his position in Persia.

i.) The Bible says that Mordecai “came into the presence of the king.” This phrase has two meanings behind it which apply to our story. The first sense or meaning to the phrase is very literal. It means he was summoned, so he came.

ii.) The second meaning concerns Mordecai’s official rank in the kingdom. When the Bible says in Genesis that Joseph “stood before” the Pharaoh, and in Daniel where Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the Bible says they stood before the king, what is meant is

that they all took very High positions in the service of the kingdom

iii.) What this means for Mordecai essentially is that he has become the prime minister of Persia and he represent the king and sometimes even speaks for him. Mordecai also receives the estate of his dead enemy, Haman. All that Haman boasted about now belong to Mordecai.

B.) The major problem with correcting the Persian law once it is made is that it cannot be touched, added to or taken away from. So how do you get around that? The answer is found in Xerxes’ reply to Esther and Mordecai’s plea for help. Esther 8:7-12.

i.) Xerxes told Mordecai to create a new law that would serve to allow the Jews to be saved. He left the exact details up to Mordecai and Esther to come up with though.

ii.) The way they get around the law that resulted from Haman’s schemes was not to add to or subtract from the law, but to create an entirely new law which granted the Israelites the right to defend themselves in large numbers.

iii.) Now the Jews had the government of the Persia on their side instead of against them. While anyone could still use the first decree as a legal defense of attacking and killing Jews on the 13th of Adar, they would still have Mordecai who was now second in command of the kingdom to deal with. Many were afraid of Mordecai after this point and didn’t want to stand up to him.

C.) The second decree serves as a contrast to the first. Like when the first decree was issued, there was a great response from the Jewish community after the second decree was issued. However, the tone of the response was completely different this time around. Esther 8:13-17.

i.) When the first response was issued, the Israelites responded with tremendous mourning and grief. They wore sackcloth and ashes and wailed bitterly.

ii.) When the second decree is issued, the exact opposite happens. The Israelites respond with tremendous joy and celebration. They celebrate by feasting. They have huge synagogue potlucks!

iii.) Notice Mordecai’s clothing. After the first decree was issued, he wore uncomfortable sackcloth and ashes. After the second decree came out he wore royal garments and fine comfortable clothes.

iv.) Another small contrast here is that when the first decree came out the Jews openly wailed and basically announced their presence to the public. After the second decree, many who are not Jews pretend to be Jews so they won’t be discovered. The Jews loudly announced their presence, while the gentiles quietly hid. The second decree serves as a contrast to the first.

III. The last large section of the book of Esther, which comprises all of chapter 9, details the victory of the Jews over the schemes of Haman and the establishment of the Jewish holiday called Purim.

A.) The law issued by Mordecai in the king’s name by the king’s permission went into effect on the appointed day and was very successful Esther 9:1-10, 15, 16.

i.) The Bible says that the defense and counter attack was so successful in fact that Esther asked permission for the decree to defend the Jews to be extended into the next day. God’s promise to preserve the Jews and defend them is revealed to be not an idle promise in this book.

ii.) In three verses, three large numbers are given in regards the amount of the Jews’ enemies that are killed. The total number of the enemies of the Jews that are killed is 75,800. That covers the entire 127

provinces belonging to the kingdom of Persia.

iii.) Also, the result of Haman’s demise is felt once again in this chapter with the defeat and demise of his 10 sons. If you , his great number of sons is one of the things Haman was bragging about to his wife and friends earlier in the book. Now even Haman’s confidence in his sons that is shown false by the sons being brought to destruction. 75,810 enemies destroyed.

B.) Another interesting thing to take note of here is that there are three occurrences in this section of the phrase “but they did not lay their hands on any of the plunder”. Esther 9:10, 15, 16.

i.) Why did the Jews refuse to take the plunder from the people they kill while defending themselves? In 8:11 they are clearly given the right, if not the explicit instruction to seize anything they desired from those who they defeated. So why then do the Jews abstain from doing so?

ii.) Think about Haman once again. Who is he? He’s an Agagite. King Agag was king of the Amalekites. Our answers wait for us in Exodus 17:16, Deuteronomy 25:17-19, and 1st Samuel 15:17-19.

iii.) God makes it clear that the Amalekites were the enemy of God and therefore God’s people. Saul lost his kingship because he did not fully obey God’s commands concerning the Amalekites and allowed his

men to plunder their goods and cattle. This is opposite of what God instructed. In Esther, the Jews are trying to complete the instruction to blot out the name of the Amalekites by doing what Saul refused to do. Not all of the people following Haman’s decree were of Amalekite descent, but they did follow Haman who was an Amalekite both in blood and spirit. To be faithful to God’s instructions, they did not plunder their enemies who they utterly destroyed.

C.) Part of the reason that this book was written appears to be to establish the origin of the Jewish Holiday called Purim. Esther 9:17-28.

i.) Mordecai seems to be the person responsible for officially making Purim a Jewish holiday. The God’s Word says that he is the one who wrote letters to the Jews in each province instructing them to annually celebrate the events. Notice it is a two-day celebration. The reason for this is that Esther had king Xerxes extend the defense of the Jews and the destruction of their enemies into the following day.

ii.) It is called Purim because of the way Haman chose the day to destroy the Jews. He cast lots, which were like dice used to consult pagan gods in order to determine important things. One of these lots or dice was called a Pur and the plural form is pronounced Purim.

iii.) Purim is characterized joyous celebration and the

exchanging of gifts between all classes of people. The rich are supposed to give to the poor.

iv.) Purim continues to be a holiday celebrated by the Jewish community to this day. This year Purim was celebrated from Sundown on March 6th into the day on the 7th.

D.) The book of Esther ends with an interesting side note concerning Mordecai and his position in the kingdom of Persia. Esther 10:1-3

i.) Basically this last part serves as an epilogue to the story. The intent behind it seems to be to give the reader of the book of Esther a quick recap of what happens to Mordecai and to bring closure to the story.

ii.) The end of the book serves also as something of a mirror to the beginning of the book. Like at the beginning of the book, the end establishes the power of the Persian kingdom. In the beginning it is stated by numbering the provinces and speaking of the grandness of Persia. In the end it speaks of a kingdom-wide taxation that Xerxes had performed and how the greatness of Persia, Xerxes and Mordecai was recorded in the chronicles of the kingdom.

iii.) The last thing we read is about Mordecai’s rise to the position of the second most prominent man in Persia. It speaks of how greatly he was blessed. God does take care of His people, His servants, even when we cannot see his hand.

Philippians #1 (Philippians 1:1-11) Paul’s letter to the Philippians is so saturated with the idea of Christian unity that most of the he uses when he writes are dripping with the idea that Christians need to work together if our churches are going to be effective.

I. The first thing Paul says after his traditional greeting is that the unity between the believers in Philippi and also the unity between the believers and himself makes him spontaneously give thanks to God and have joy. Philippians 1:1-6.

A.) Christian unity is one of the major themes in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. There’s even a very strong concentration of words showing the idea of unity in the first eleven verses of the first chapter, which we are looking at today.

i.) In the first eleven verses alone there is a total of ten potential references to unity. That’s almost an average of 100 % of the verses speaking about unity. Do you think God is trying to send a message? Maybe that Unity is an important part of the Christian life?

ii.) In verse 5 Paul uses a term that I think we could all adopt into our vocabulary when we think of the people we go to church with: Partnership. Look around you. Go ahead! See those people around you? They are your partners in the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Get to know them if you haven’t already, because they are the people you’re most likely going to be working with to further the Gospel.

iii.) At any rate, in this first part of the age we’re looking at today Paul says that the unity of the believers at Philippi result in two things in his life: Thanksgiving and joy.

B.) First we see that Paul is thankful to God for these particular believers because of the unity that exists in them. What does this tell us about the origin of true Christian unity?

i.) Well, if Paul thanks God for the unity, then the unity does not come from the effort of the believers themselves, but from God himself. Romans 15:5.

ii.) After recognizing that true Christian unity is a gift of God, we can also identify how God gives us this unity, that is a gift given to us by God through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:3.

iii.) The way that we receive God’s gifts that He gives through the Holy Spirit is not to try to cultivate these gifts through our own strength, but in allowing the Holy Spirit to work inside us through the Word of God. Which means that we must take in the word of God. We must read it and believe what it says.

C.) Second we see that the unity of the Philippian believers stirs up great joy in the apostle Paul.

i.) Really what Paul says about joy is that because of their unity; when he prays for them he prays with joy. Do you find prayer boring or lacking joy? It’s not meant to be. Do you find prayer boring because you don’t know what to pray for? Let me let you in on a little secret: I don’t know what to pray for either… and neither did Paul. Romans 8:26-27.

ii.) How do we cure this ignorance on our part of what to pray for, you might ask? By praying in the Spirit! Ephesians 6:18. In Romans Paul tells us that the Spirit helps us to pray. In Ephesians he tells us to pray in the Spirit. We don’t know what people or what matters need prayer, but the Holy Spirit does! Because we share the same Holy Spirit, he can lead me to pray for you and vice versa.

iii.) Now believe it or not, but I haven’t gotten off on a little tangent here. The issues of prayer and unity are linked. Both involve the working of the Spirit in our lives. Both issues include joy as a main ingredient and you cannot have true Christian unity if true Spiritual prayer is absent from the life of the church.

II. This joy that Paul experiences because of the Philippians’ unity also makes him greatly desire to be with them and spend time with them. Philippians 1:7-8.

A.) In Verse 7 Paul says that it is right for him to feel the way he does about the church of the Philippians. This phrase struck me as very odd the first couple of times I read it. Why would he need to say this? It sounds like a defense!

i.) Understand where Paul is coming from when he wrote this letter: he was imprisoned at this time, probably under house arrest in Rome and getting ready to go to trial for spreading the gospel. He even talks about defending and confirming the Gospel in this verse. Both of those words are technical legal in the Greek.

ii.) It sounds like he is defending himself because that is what he is doing! We don’t know who he is defending himself against or why but he is making an argument for the truth of the affection he feels for the Philippians.

iii.) Paul is trying to tell the Philippians here that his love for them is real and that it extends to all of them.

B.) This tells us something else about true Christian unity: it involves heart-felt love and affection for each other.

i.) Unity is much more than simple agreement based upon intellectual knowledge, especially so for Christians. Just because I hold the same set of beliefs as do a number of other Christians does not mean that I have unity with them.

Illustration: Two strangers meet coming from different directions on the Golden Gate Bridge and strike up a conversation. Both turn out to be on vacation. Both turn out to work in the same area of expertise. Both turn out to be believers. Both turn out to be Grace believers. One believes that the 12 are “in” the other thinks

they are “out.” They curse each other and walk away.

ii.) True Christian unity that is fulfilling involves mutual affectionate relationship. You can believe the same thing as another person but until you love that person the way Christ loves them you won’t experience unity with them.

iii.) And you won’t be able to love fellow believers the way Christ does unless you submit to the working of the Holy Spirit in your life. You see, we all have the Holy Spirit living inside us. The first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 is love. The Spirit produces love in Christians.

C.) The mutual love and affection that Paul talks about here is the same love that God expects to produce in churches today…including Grace Bible Church of Newaygo.

i.) Local churches like this one are outposts of God’s love in a world that hates God and His love. In 2 Cor. 5:20 Paul calls all Christians ambassadors from Christ. If believers are ambassadors then local churches are the embassies.

ii.) As Christ’s ambassadors we carry Christ’s message which is love and peace. How will the people we bring this message to believe the message if we do not display love and peace in our lives in true Christian unity?

iii.) For us to be able to display this true unity and love to the world, we must

allow God to produce it in our lives first.

III. The last thing that we’re going to look at today is Paul’s prayer for the Philippians’ Love to grow more and more in Knowledge, and Depth of Insight. Philippians 1:9-11.

A.) I think that it is interesting to note that even though Paul spends a great deal of time giving thanks and rejoicing for the Philippians’ love, that he also says that they still have room to grow in love.

i.) This last section we’re looking at really deals a lot with the maturity of an entire church, not merely individual Christian maturity. As a church Paul wanted the Philippians to grow more in communal love.

ii.) One of the marks or characteristics of a mature assembly of believers is that they never cease to grow in their ability to love and to be loved.

iii.) This part of the age rings true for us as well. There is always room for us to grow in our ability to show love to one another. Let us not ever think that we have arrived at the peak of our ability to love, for when we do we will begin our decline in our ability to love.

B.) One area he gives for the Philippians and also our own love to grow in is in

the realm of knowledge.

i.) What Paul is saying here is that he is praying that God will grow their love and unity to the place where it has a sense of completeness to it.

ii.) The form of the Greek word translated as knowledge here actually means full or mature knowledge. This particular form of the word is used about fifteen times in the NT.

iii.) Therefore, for our love and unity for one another to be complete and mature and correct it must be grounded in the sound doctrine.

C.) The other area that Paul says that love can grow more and more in is in depth of insight.

i.) The phrase depth of insight seems to refer to a church’s ability to discern the pure path of life. This stresses the practical aspect of love and unity.

ii.) When our love that God gives to us is allowed to grow more and more in full or mature knowledge we will be able then discern and apply love practically to the life of the church.

iii.) When this occurs Christ is then able to produce righteous and good fruit in the life of the church and God will be honored and glorified because of it. Let’s pray.

Title: Philippians #2: The Important thing (1:12-30) I. Keeping in mind what we looked at last week, that true Christian unity is a gift of God given through the Spirit, we pick up with Paul telling us that the important thing for us to do is to preach Christ. Philippians 1:12-18.

A.) There’s sort of a natural progression or logical order behind what Paul is talking about here: First he discussed true Christian unity as we saw last week, now he’s talking about preaching the gospel.

i.) Before the preaching of the gospel can go out from an assembly of believers like this one, partnership in the gospel is required. That was the word I said last week would a profitable word for all of us to adopt into our vocabulary when we think or talk about the people we go to church with here: Partnership, which comes from verse 5.

ii.) When true Christian unity or partnership exists, then the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ has a clear channel to travel through.

Illustration. We don’t have cable or Dish satellite TV at our house. I grew up without it and so did Rachel. At our house certain TV channels work better than others. A couple of nights ago the President came on with his state of the union address, which aired on several channels. Now we could get some okay reception on one channel some pretty good reception on another and some great reception on a different one. Some channels we simply don’t get at all. Think of church in of TV reception.

It’s easier to get a clear message or reception of the gospel through a church that has strong unity than it is to get it through a church that has little, some, or no unity/reception. That’s why unity is important in the church.

B.) Paul starts out this section by talking about how the trouble he is going through right now really has served to advance the gospel.

i.) Paul was under house arrest awaiting trial in Rome. He’s basically in prison and he says that this is for the best. He’s trying to encourage the Philippian believers here to not be discouraged that he’s in prison.

ii.) Rather Paul is trying to encourage them by telling them that because of this thing that has happened to him the gospel is being advanced in Rome. He says that because of his imprisonment a lot of believers have been more bold and courageous to preach the good news of Jesus.

iii.) What we often recognize as bad circumstances are the things that God can use the most to make progress with the His plan and desire to bring more people to Him.

C.) Then Paul says that the important thing is that Christ is preached.

i.) It’s sort of a curious thing here that Paul sees two groups of people preaching the gospel: one is preaching from evil motives and the other from good motives,

but he says I don’t care as long as Christ is preached!

ii.) Here Paul is saying that as long as the message of the gospel is true when it is preached that he doesn’t care who preaches it and why. People for some reason who were opposed to Paul and trying to do him harm were preaching the gospel and Paul says, hey, I don’t have a problem with that as long as Christ is preached.

iii.) The good news that Jesus died to save sinners is true no matter who says it. Its validity does not rely upon the character of the person carrying the message. I can send a letter either through then US mail or through UPS and either way the message will be delivered. The messenger is not the important thing. The message is.

II. In this next portion of Scripture Paul describes to us what the whole point of the Christian life is: That is, showing Christ from our lives. Philippians 1:19-26.

A.) Paul refers again to the courage we briefly mentioned from verse 14. This courage is the courage needed to share the gospel and to not be ashamed of the gospel.

i.) Before we go any further with understanding the courage needed to share the gospel and to not be ashamed, it is of ultimate importance that we understand the origin of that courage in our lives.

ii.) This courage for the gospel comes from the same place that we saw last week that true Christian unity comes from. The text of the letter itself tells us in verse 19: Your prayers, and the Help given by the Spirit. Christian courage in the good news of Jesus comes from God, the Holy Spirit when we ask for it in prayer.

iii.) Romans 1:16-17. Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel? Because the power of God flows out of the gospel to those who have faith. The powerful word of God works inside the believer who prays to God in faith. Understand that prayer is an evidence of faith; that a life devoid of prayer is also a life devoid of faith. How’s your prayer life?

B.) In verse 21 we have Paul’s personal view on the meaning of the Christian life: “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”

i.) The word Christian, itself, means one who is a “little Christ.” As a Christian are you a smaller version of Christ? That’s what Paul means when he says in Ephesians 4:13 “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” One of the goals of Christianity is to become “Christ-like.”

ii.) The Christian life is a life similar to the one Christ lived when he was here on earth and the life He now lives in heaven. For now kind of put this on the backburner because he elaborates more on the meaning of a Christ-like life in chapter 2 which we’ll start next week.

iii.) But, this only works for the Christian. For a non-Christian to live is sin. Life

without Christ is a life abandoned to the sinful flesh.

C.) After Paul tells us that “to live is Christ,” he tells us that “to die is gain.”

i.) This refers to the ultimate gain of being ushered from an earthly life of pain and suffering into a life of glory and peace and rest…a life that is ushered into the presence of the God who loved us so much that he sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for us. He is a God who desires to be with us.

ii.) But it is important to understand that it is God who decides when to bring us home to Him, it is not our own decision.

iii.) Once again, this only is true for the true Christian. For a non-Christian death is loss, not gain. It is the loss of any chance to repent and be forgiven by Christ and accept the New Life He gives: the life of Christ.

III. The section that we’re looking at today finishes off with Paul talking about how true Christian unity is a sign to all people of what the effect of the gospel on human lives really is: believing the truth about God the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit no matter the consequences. Philippians 1:27-30.

A.) The unity aspect can be found in verse 27.

i.) Here Paul describes true Christian unity as the whole group standing firm in one spirit. For a church like this one to stand firm as God says in this age it means that we must be united in one common biblical purpose and be likeminded with each other.

ii.) Paul then says that the way this works itself out in the life of the church is that the church will “contend as one man” for the faith of the gospel. The picture here is that of all the people of the church acting in accord with one another toward the same goals. How is this done?

iii.) Go back to verse 19 for a second. For a church to contend as one man for the faith of the gospel the church must constantly pray and submit to the help given by the Spirit. Then we will all not be ashamed of the gospel. Then we will all have the courage to show Christ in our lives. Then we will be able to share Christ with others.

B.) When we as a church stand firm in one spirit and contend as one man for the faith then we are a sign to the world.

i.) As a sign we are here to show people in the world that they are on a path leading to eternal destruction. If we don’t tell them, how will they know?

ii.) As a sign we are also here to show people in the world that there is another path that they may take, a path leading to eternal life with God in heaven. Once

again, if we don’t tell them, how will they know?

iii.) We’re like a sign posted in this world to point in the right direction. How can a sign be any good to anyone when it is smudged, covered in mud or knocked over? It can’t. That’s what Christian disunity is like. It obscures the sign that we’re supposed to be or sometimes even knocks the sign down. Unity is necessary for the sign to work properly.

C.) It is also necessary for us to stand firm in one spirit and contend as one man for the faith because we are also guaranteed that when we do this we will face trouble because the world that we serve as a sign to tends to fight against the way the truth and the life that we preach.

i.) When Christians stand together in the Spirit and true Christian unity and when trouble comes the whole church is there to stand together against it. This doesn’t mean that we have a shield to keep trouble completely out of our individual lives or the life of the church, but instead that when trouble does come it can’t knock us down. The Spirit preserves us in the middle of trouble.

ii.) And as hard as it is to understand sometimes, that kind of trouble is good for us to experience because it gives us the opportunity to rely on God and not ourselves.

iii.) Sometimes that’s how we treat church: We act like the church is a bio-dome to create the perfect atmosphere where nothing bad happens to the Christians, the trees. That’s why so many churches fail to minister the gospel to the

communities surrounding them. What kind of church is this and what kind of tree are you? Just that even though trouble may come for us, the important thing is that Christ is preached.

Philippians #3 Christian dependence (2:1-18)

I. According to this age, life in Christ is a life that is shared by believers. And this goes beyond a simple concept of unity where Christians share the same ideals: instead it is a Christianity pictured as a community of people who live life together, actively loving and helping one another. Philippians 2:1-4.

A.) In this age tell me where you can find the modern western notion of individualism. You can’t, because it’s not there.

i.) One rule we should all keep in mind from now on when we study Paul’s letters is this: Unless he’s writing to an individual like Timothy, Titus, or Philemon, he’s writing to a community of people.

ii.) For the longest time when I would read these portions of the Bible I would think in western, modernistic, American, individualistic because I grew up in America which is a modernistic, western nation which at least up until recently put a high value or on individualism.

iii.) But the problem is that the Bible was not written in that kind of setting. God allowed the Bible to be written in an eastern setting that placed high value on community, because that is what God intends His church to look like.

B.) Look at the words Paul uses to describe the community God has in mind.

i.) Comfort from His love. This is a comfort and feeling of safety that not only does God’s community receive and experience but also that God’s community displays and shows. This may mean that God’s community is a people who unbelievers do not feel threatened by.

ii.) Fellowship in the Spirit. There is a sense of togetherness, relationship, and brotherhood about God’s community of people. Note that this fellowship is from the Spirit. That means I can fellowship with anybody anywhere as long as they have the Spirit of God in them. That is what Paul is doing with the Philippians… Paul’s in Rome, the Philippians are in Philippi, yet they have fellowship with each other.

iii.) Tender and comionate. God’s community does not turn it’s back on one who needs help. There is a noticeable atmosphere of tender comion among God’s people, emphasis on “noticeable.”

iv.) Like-minded, Same love, one in spirit and purpose, unselfish. This means that all the people of God’s community are moving in the same direction with the same destination in mind. God’s community thinks, desires, and acts as one.

C.) The point is that we need to learn to take our lives and give them up.

i.) Giving ourselves up looks like paying attention to the interests and needs of others. This deals with what we do as a church: ministering to the needs of each other and the lost.

ii.) Giving ourselves up also deals with how we do what we do as a church: ministering to the needs of others in a comforting, fellowshipping, tender and comionate, singularly purposed manner. This is how Paul described the nature of how God’s community acts.

iii.) The community that God desires to build needs to be rid of selfishness and filled with humility. I know you’ve probably heard about how important humility is a million times already, but until we actually give ourselves up and focus on others the community won’t work.

II. After he says these things about Christian dependence on one another, Paul uses Jesus’ attitude as the model for our own mindset. Philippians 2:5-11.

A.) The age says that Jesus was by nature God, but instead of holding onto that, he “made himself nothing.”

i.) That phrase “made himself nothing” means that he emptied himself. He did not set aside his God-nature, but instead he set aside his glory. John 17:5.

ii.) Paul here is using the story of Christ as an example of what God desires the life of Christ’s followers to look like. Since Christ emptied himself of himself, we too must give ourselves up…empty ourselves of ourselves.

B.) After he “emptied himself” he took on, or “filled himself” with the role of a servant.

Illustration: To really get this, take a normal, every drinking glass that you use around the house and fill it with your favorite drink, excluding water. This drink will be your own “glory.” That drink, that glory, is enjoyable to you, it brings you good cheer when you drink it. Now take that drink and put it back in its original container (This may require a funnel and some paper towels if you’re as uncoordinated as I am.) Now, take that same glass, wash it thoroughly and fill it with water and drink it until it’s gone. Did you know that water serves your body better than any other liquid? This water symbolizes servant-hood. Now, make note that when your glass is filled with your own glory, there’s no room for servant-hood. Give yourself up. And even note that when the two are mixed, the servant-hood is not as effective as it could be. Give yourself up.

i.) This section of the age means that Jesus went from the highest possible to the lowest possible.

ii.) Once again this part of the story of Christ is an example for us. The life of Christ was the life of a servant. So is the life of a Christian. Why have you come to church? To be fed from the Word of God? If so, that’s good but it’s only a fraction of the Christian life.

iii.) Being fed with God’s word and trusting in the Holy Spirit is the source of energy for Christian service.

C.) The last part of this age that talks about Jesus’ exaltation has significance for us as well. It is more than merely the story of what happened to Jesus, but it tells us what waits for the believer. Matthew 23:12.

i.) Godly submission in this life leads to greater glory in the future.

ii.) But, a warning: Don’t let ambition for future glory be the motivation of your servant-hood in this life. Real servant-hood is accomplished through real humility. The moment we focus on “what’s in it for me” is the moment humility walks out the door along with the ability to experience real servant-hood.

iii.) Jesus was not exalted for what he did for himself, but instead what he did for others.

III. In this last section we’re going to look at today we see that the result of believers living in a community where they can depend on each other in love and unity is a community life lived pure and in reverence of God. Philippians 2:12-18.

A.) Here Paul views the life of the community of God is a life that is characterized by reverence.

i.) When he says “work out your salvation” he’s talking about the way which we live our new life in Christ. He doesn’t mean work for your salvation, he means let your life in Christ show in your daily lives, together as God’s community.

ii.) And when he says “in fear and trembling” he doesn’t mean to be afraid, but instead to live a life of reverence toward God.

iii.) Also, this does not mean that the life of the Christian community has to be boring. To reverence God is not a boring or dull act. It is an act that is vibrant with life, as you commune with the maker of the universe who loves you and wants to spend time with you.

B.) Paul then warns us to be careful not to “groan or complain.” Why?

i.) Because when we complain about what we have or don’t have or our circumstances, we are really saying that we are unhappy with the life God has given us, and therefore have a lack of trust in him.

ii.) If we have a lack of trust in God, how can we have a relationship with him or the rest of his people? And he’s not saying to merely not show that we have complaints, and just keep them on the inside!

iii.) God means to get rid of the complaining nature in us. But for that to happen, we have to give ourselves up. For when we give ourselves up and are filled with humble servant-hood, we will have no reason to complain.

C.) And when we are this way we will “shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life.”

i.) Why are stars important, especially in this context? Think about it: a star provides light. Now when there are few stars shining is there much light? No. What about when there are many stars? There’s much more light.

ii.) Stars at that time were also used to navigate. Paul may have been implying that when the community of God is functioning as it is intended to, then it will help non-believers be navigated to Christ.

iii.) This is the importance of Christian dependence. This is the importance of God’s community acting as one.

Philippians #4 (2:19-30)

I. There once was a homeless man named Bill. Bill had led a very troubled life that included running away from home at the age of 17 and growing up for 20 years on the streets and becoming addicted to both drugs and alcohol.

A.) One cold, rainy Sunday morning while wallowing in his own misery, Bill ed going to Sunday school as a child. In that memory he recalled hearing the story of the prodigal son. Thinking back, he decided that maybe it was time to do something about his life. He decided that he needed to go to church.

i.) He knew of a church that was only a few blocks from where he slept in an alleyway, in his soggy, urine-stained cardboard box. So he got up and walked up to the doors of the church. The church building was very large and made of carefully carved blocks. There were high vaulted Stained glass windows you could see from a mile away. The doors themselves appeared to be made of a beautiful stained wood. It was clear that the people who went to this church took great care and pride in their place of meeting.

ii.) He opened the door and walked sheepishly inside. He walked right into the sanctuary, which had beautiful new forest green carpet. There were rows upon rows of ornately carved wooden pews filled with well-dressed people: families, singles, grandparents; people who wore three piece suits and looked like businessmen. Bill stared in awe: surely he could find help here.

iii.) Suddenly, a well-dressed man rushed over to him, took him by the arm and escorted him back out the door. “You can’t come in here smelling like that and dressed like that! What’s the matter with you,” the man hissed when they were back outside. “Sorry,” was all that Bill could manage as he stumbled backward a bit.

B.) The next Sunday Bill returned to the church. This time he was able to find a shelter where he was allowed a shower and a shave before he went back to the church. He was even able to get an old, wrinkled suit from the shelter and an old, battered Bible that was missing several pages.

i.) He walked up to the door again, feeling more confident this time. He opened the door to be greeted by the sour face of the same man who escorted him out the previous week. “We don’t want any,” he said. “Get out of here until you can clean yourself up and stop drinking!”

ii.) The beautiful church door slammed in Bill’s face. He was pretty discouraged, but he wasn’t about to give up quite yet.

iii.) He went back to the shelter and started to change his life. He started attending weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. After about a year’s time Bill was finally able to quit drinking. During this time he also studied the four gospels as well as other parts of the Bible. He wanted to be ready and able to converse and ask questions about God to the Pastor who would surely have answers.

C.) Once again, Bill found himself in front of the doors of the church. He knew he wasn’t perfect; he still didn’t have a job or a home, but he wanted to come to church so he could know God.

i.) This time the door opened and the same scowling man stood before Bill along with five other stern looking men and women. “I’ve come to learn about God…” Bill began, but the man in the nice suit cut him off. “Look, we don’t want your kind here, get out of here!” “Wait,” Bill said. “I want to talk with the Pastor.” The man looked angrier yet and said, “I AM the Pastor! Now get out of here before I call the cops and have you arrested for harassment and tresing.” The door slammed in his face.

ii.) Bill sat down on the cement stairs that led up to the Church doors and started crying. Soon he felt an arm come around his shoulder. He looked up into the smiling face of a casually dressed man. “What’s wrong, fried?” the man asked. Through Bill’s sobs he was able to relay the whole story. Finally, in a depressed voice Bill said, “They just won’t let me in.”

iii.) The smiling stranger nodded his head knowingly. Then he said, “Hey, don’t feel too bad about that. They won’t let me in either, and my name is Jesus Christ.” Matthew 25:41-45. Now, let’s talk about Hospitality.

II. First, I think we need to rethink what we picture as “hospitality.” Hospitality for the Christian means so much more than simply letting someone stay in your home for a night or two although that can certainly count: Christian hospitality happens when we, empowered by the Spirit of God, look out for the interests of Christ. Philippians 2:19-24.

A.) True Christian hospitality is an extension of the practice of Christian Community that we looked at last week.

i.) What is hospitality anyway? The word translated as “hospitality” in the Greek literally means a “lover of guests.” There may also be a hint of caring for these guests too. After all, this is the word that we get our term “hospital” from.

ii.) As we practice real Christian community we find that hospitality doesn’t mean letting people into our homes, so much as it means letting people into our lives. Inviting each other and even non-believers who need help into our homes and to sit with us at our tables for meals is only one method through which hospitality can be practiced. Understand that we can’t practice real Christian hospitality without first building and experiencing true Christian community.

iii.) Likewise, true Christian community will cease in its purpose if hospitality isn’t practiced. Take your hand and hold it up. Look at it. Examine it. Pay special attention to your fingers. Your fingers are an organic extension of your hand. What use would your hand be if all of the fingers were cut off? None really. Real Christian hospitality is an organic extension of Christian community like fingers are an organic extension of a hand. If we cut off the hospitality, the community won’t be able to function.

B.) Hospitality means taking a genuine interest in the welfare of someone else. Timothy here is an example of this.

i.) Paul specifically points out Timothy and says that he really does care about what happens to the community in Philippi. And because of this Paul is sending Timothy to see them and find out if they are doing okay. Paul himself is eager to get news about the Philippians’ condition.

ii.) Both Paul and Timothy are practicing Christian hospitality toward the Philippians: Paul does so by sending Timothy to help them if they have a need and Timothy does so by going. Both Paul and Timothy can practice hospitality in this way because they have invited the Philippians into their lives and the Philippians have done the same for them.

iii.) From this we find that hospitality doesn’t have to involve a shared location. Just as fellowship and community aren’t constrained to people being located in the same place, neither is hospitality because they are all acts of the Holy Spirit inside us. And the Holy Spirit is not bound by location.

C.) A Christian community that practices and experiences real hospitality is a Christian community that looks out for the interests of Christ.

i.) Jesus Christ is the ultimate reason and the only source of ability to experience the Christian life. Because of this our interests must be in line with His.

ii.) If you look at the life of Jesus on earth you will find great attention given to hospitality. Jesus invited all kinds of people into His life.

iii.) Since the church is the community which represents and experiences the life of Jesus on earth right now we need to ask ourselves a question: Are we inviting people into the life of this community which shares in the new resurrection life of Jesus? And if so, are we inviting people in with the same interests of Christ, or are we limiting who we allow in like in the story of Bill the homeless man? These are the questions we need to ask if we’re seriously going to rethink Hospitality.

III. Rethinking what hospitality means and looks like will also lead us to understand that hospitality looks like sending help out to someone who needs it but is not able to be with us. Philippians 2:25-30.

A.) This man, Epaphroditus, was sent by the Philippians to minister to the needs of Paul, and now Paul is sending him back to the Philippians to minister to them.

i.) Really in this we see the core of what hospitality means: to care for someone else who is in need without focus on self.

ii.) Let us never forget that care is a verb. Like community, care is something that is practiced. In fact, care is part of community. that last week it was stated that the Christian life is a shared life. That doesn’t always mean a life shared with other believers, however. As we look at the life of Jesus we see that he shared His life with many “unbelievers,” like prostitutes, drunks, tax collectors, lepers, people that society has greatly marginalized.

iii.) In the final chapter titled Comion and the Cross of his book called A Glimpse of Jesus: The stranger to self-hatred Brennan Manning addresses this very issue: (Last 2 paragraphs on Page 123)

B.) Epaphroditus is a great example of the humility that we saw last week as being necessary to real Christian community and dependence.

i.) We looked at this last week when we looked at the idea of “giving ourselves up.”

ii.) Epaphroditus gave himself up to the point that he became sick and almost died. That’s devotion to community and hospitality! Does this mean we should all copy this into our own lives? No, we don’t have to give ourselves up until we almost die.

iii.) The point is that we merely focus solely on loving the Lord our God with all of our mind, heart, soul and strength and loving our neighbors as we would love ourselves.

C.) The final practice of hospitality that Paul pleads for in vs. 29 is to honor people like Epaphroditus.

i.) To give this kind of honor means to celebrate the love of Jesus that is visibly

at work in the lives of the different people of the community.

ii.) For really, what is the community of God’s people besides a celebration of what God has done through His Son Jesus, and what God is doing through His adopted sons and daughters? And how better can we celebrate than by practicing real Christian hospitality?

Philippians #5 Christian Confidence (3:1-11)

I. Philippians 3:1-4. Paul begins this section with an imperative for the Christian community that must not be ignored: “Rejoice in the Lord!” It would be really easy for the casual reader to see that and then move right on to the bulk of the chapter. But we’re not going to do that this morning. This is not a disconnected statement that doesn’t relate to the rest of the chapter, but it fits importantly with the rest of what Paul is talking about. We’re going to answer the question: why? Why is it so important to rejoice in the Lord?

A.) First, we can rejoice because we are not like those who have to put their confidence in the flesh.

i.) Paul is apparently making reference here to a group of legalists, people who believe that they have the power to be pleasing to God without God’s help. These legalists might be harassing and trying to seduce the Philippians away from the message of God’s graciousness. Paul is using this letter as an occasion to encourage and strengthen the Philippians by reminding them of the message of God’s grace (3:1).

ii.) We can tell that the people he’s writing about are legalists from clues in the text: he calls them “mutilators of the flesh” and in the next breath discusses circumcision, emphasizing the spiritual nature of it. Mutilation of the flesh is a reference to physical circumcision. This tells us that the people Paul is warning the Philippians about are probably people trying to get them to submit themselves to the O.T. Law code.

iii.) Then Paul writes that we don’t put our confidence in the flesh. No fleshly ritual can develop spiritual change and spiritual life in us. This implies that we do put our confidence in the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:1-4. According to this, Confidence is not developed through our own effort, but it is a work of the Spirit of the living God. Confidence comes from the Holy Spirit. Just like we saw in the past four weeks that Community, Fellowship, the very ability to Preach Christ, and true Christian Hospitality are all gifts given by the Spirit and received by faith, so also is Confidence in the Spirit. I’m sensing a pattern here, how about you?

B.) Second we can rejoice in the Lord because we are the true community of God’s people in this world.

i.) It’s interesting that Paul calls the true community of God today the “circumcision.” Regularly, the term “circumcision” is associated with the Jews who were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, the 4 Gospels, and the first 9 chapters of the book of Acts. Why then, does he call the Church the circumcision? Colossians 2:9-11.

ii.) Here in Colossians we find an example of a regular practice of Paul in his letters: he takes and phrases essential to the Old Covenant and transforms their meaning to apply to the church today in a Spiritual form. In the Old Testament physical circumcision was a sign of the Old Covenant. In Paul’s letters true circumcision is a spiritual circumcision where the sinful nature has been cut off and the people who experience this are the true of God’s community.

iii.) And since the circumcision isn’t of the flesh, but of the Spirit, we can rejoice and put confidence in the Holy Spirit of God.

C.) Third, we can rejoice in the Lord because we have the ability to worship in the Spirit! John 4:23-24.

i.) According to the age in John, God seeks people who worship in Spirit and in truth. God desires people to stop trying to impress Him with all of their wonderful abilities and talents! God isn’t seeking people to try and impress Him; do you know why? Because there is nothing righteous that we can ever do that He can’t! It’s as simple as that!

ii.) Do you ever stop to think just how foolish and feeble our attempts to do something really truly good and important must look to the God who created everything just by speaking them into existence? How can we ever expect to impress that kind of God with our own efforts? But we can be confident that what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary on our behalf was more than enough to impress God. Therefore we have confidence that we can worship God in Spirit.

iii.) Our confidence comes not from our ability to use the flesh to worship God, because our flesh cannot do that, but instead our confidence can be placed in the Holy Spirit who enables us to worship God, because God is a spiritual being, not a fleshly one.

II. Then Paul says that even if it were the flesh that counted, he could brag about his position more so than the people who were opposing his message. Then he follows that statement up with saying that the flesh and all of the things we do on

our own steam are worthless. Philippians 3:4-8.

A.) Paul here gives a long list of credentials that should make him “impressive” to God according to the standards of those legalistic people causing problems for the Philippians.

i.) Why is it that we think and often act like we can impress God with all of the wonderful things we can do? Sure, we may be able to impress each other with our finely honed talents and abilities, but God? I think we sometimes hope that God is sitting up there on His great throne and notices us doing something fantastic and says, “Wow! I didn’t know he could do that! He’s one of my favorites now!” That’s just silly.

ii.) God is not impressed with our wonderful works of goodness, because He’s the one who prepared them in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). God is not impressed by how good we look, because God created us (Psalm 139:13-14). God certainly isn’t impressed by our Spiritual gifts, because He gave them to us. Everything that we are is a result of God’s shaping hand.

iii.) So, instead of trying to impress God with who we are, let allow ourselves to be impressed and awed by the immeasurable power and wisdom and goodness and faithfulness of the God who created us, watched us fall away into sin in rebellion against Him, and still loved us enough to die for us.

B.) In this age the Bible takes all of those things that should be “impressive” to God according to the standards of men and the flesh and God says that not

only do they not count, but that they count against us.

i.) When we rely on our own strength and try to make it on our own steam, we are essentially saying to God, “We don’t need your help. I can do this life on my own.” This is called pride. We briefly discussed humility last week and noted how essential it is to be humble in order to experience true Christian community and hospitality.

ii.) God will often use pride in the life of His community of people to break our reliance on our own energy, because our own energy eventually runs out. Pride always leads to failure. And when we fail we have two options open to us: 1.) Try Harder. 2.) Stop trying and rely entirely on God.

iii.) If we try harder we may have some small victories here and there, but the resulting failures will be greater and more devastating. If we stop trying and rely on God, we find that we no longer have the urge or need to impress God or anyone else and we will more easily be able to allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God.

C.) Then Paul writes that what really counts is knowing Christ Jesus our Lord and setting all of that other “impressive stuff” behind us.

i.) The result of dispensing with the foolishness of trying to impress God and others is that we gain Christ.

ii.) “Gaining” Christ here does not mean salvation from an eternity in Hell. Gaining Christ is something that occurs after the fact. Instead it means “knowing Christ” more deeply and intimately and becoming more like Him. It means that the community of Christ individually and corporately gains the likeness of Jesus. And we can have confidence in this because we don’t put confidence in the flesh.

III. Finally, in this last section Paul expands on the idea of “gaining Christ” by talking about “growing” in the Righteousness of Christ, “knowing” Christ, and “overflowing” with the resurrection power of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:9-11.

A.) Gaining Christ looks like a life that grows toward a godly righteousness, which can only be given to us as part of the new life of Jesus Christ that is given to us.

i.) This age once again directs our confidence toward God and not to our flesh in order to receive this righteousness.

ii.) Notice the stress that Paul puts on the external origin of this righteousness. He says “not having a righteousness of my own…” This means that I don’t create this righteousness inside of myself through my own means. He further identifies that the righteousness does not come from “the Law.” In short this means we cannot DO anything to get it.

iii.) Instead we receive the righteousness of Christ by faith. This righteousness comes from outside of ourselves. It comes from God.

B.) Gaining Christ also looks like knowing Christ.

i.) To “Know Christ” means an intimate life that is shared by God’s community and Jesus. We’ve emphasized before in this series that the Christian life is a shared life. Christ shares it with us, we share it with Him and each other and then we share it with unbelievers. This tells us that knowing Christ means showing Christ.

ii.) When we know Jesus intimately, we become conformed to His image. It’s like He seeps out through our pores and overtake us. We look less like ourselves, and more like the Son of the living God.

iii.) In knowing Jesus Christ, Jesus becomes more apparent to those who look at us. Our desire must be that when people look at us, they don’t see us, but instead that they see Christ.

C.) Lastly, gaining Christ looks like having the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in the life of the community of God…now what on earth does that mean? Ephesians 1:17-20.

i.) The true Community of God’s people experience God’s power. This is that power that Paul says radiates from the Gospel of Christ in Romans 1:16-17 that enables us to not be ashamed and to preach the Gospel. , preaching the gospel is more than simply giving a salvation message to someone. Not

being ashamed of the Gospel first means to live a shared life with Jesus and also to live with His community of people here on earth, to be a display of god’s love in this world.

ii.) Then, when unbelievers see that display and desire to know about Jesus, we share how to enter into His community, how to live in that community here and now, and what it looks like when we die: that we will be raised from the dead to everlasting life: That’s why it is called “resurrection power.”

iii.) In short, having the resurrection power of Jesus in the life of God’s community looks like confidence in the power of God to fulfill His promise to raise us from the dead and the enabling of the working of God’s power inside us.

Philippians #6 Taking hold (3:12-4:1)

I. Last week we looked at how Christian confidence is meant to be directed at the Spirit of God and not the flesh and how this is important in the process of becoming more Christ-like: Without confidence in God we cannot become more like Jesus. In the section we’re going to look at today Paul continues to talk about becoming more Christ-like and he speaks to the endurance we need to become more like Christ. Philippians 3:12-16

A.) First, Paul acknowledges his place in the process of becoming “Christ-like” as being unfinished.

i.) Think of God as a great artist, whether he is a painter, sculptor, composer, writer, or stage director. He is a master at every stroke of the paintbrush, every angle he chisels, every measure he composes, every sentence he writes and every stage direction he gives. All of his works are masterful and ired by countless people, even if they don’t quite know whom the artist is. He now has many works in progress. Many projects have only just now begun and many are nearing completion.

ii.) Right now, we are an incomplete work of art. God still has much he’s planning to do to shape his community. Obtaining or taking hold of Christlikeness means pressing on or pressing forward. In this age the phrase “pressing on” means to move closer to the goal of Christ. It means that we need to submit ourselves to the shaping work of the Master Artist.

iii.) In order to do so, we need much endurance. The shaping work of God is a difficult thing to go through, but well worth it in the end. For in the end we will take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of us: we will be like Jesus.

B.) Paul tells us that the one thing we can be sure that we have taken a hold of is “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”

i.) When the Master Artist shapes, he brushes away fragments that cover and obscure Christ-likeness. These fragments are the past. The purpose of the shaping work of God is to do away with our past guilt, past sin, past evil so that we can reflect the work of the Master Artist in our life.

ii.) We must forget those past things. What good would it do for the art to rebel against the Artist and go and take those past things the Artist has brushed away and then reapply them to itself? Taking hold of Christ-likeness means forgetting those past things and stretching forward to what waits ahead.

iii.) Christ-likeness in this age is pictured as a grand prize that is won at the end of a race. This means that Christ-likeness is the highest possible honor. Paul says that Christ-likeness is the reason that God has called us heavenward. It is the reason that we are saved. It is the reason that we are being changed. How can we expect to move closer to the grand prize if we, while running the race, run backwards into the past parts of the race that have already been completed?

C.) Paul says that those of us who are mature need to think this way.

i.) This maturity is an experience and understanding of becoming Christ-like. The more we become like Christ, the more mature we become also. The word maturity often carries with it the idea of being complete. The more we experience Christ-likeness the more complete we are.

ii.) It is a recognition of what God is doing in the lives of individuals and community.

iii.) So we must “Live up to what we’ve already attained.” God has already shaped so much in his community here. Let us live accordingly. Let us share our lives with one another in service, in help in simple friendship.

II. God views the process of becoming Christ-like and the endurance of the process as a community process. Philippians 3:17-19

A.) “ with others in following my example.”

i.) ing with others means more than simply working side by side with each other. The community of God’s people becomes more like Christ together, only when we share with each other from who we are.

ii.) This means becoming friends with each other. Have you ever thought of the people around you in this room as your friends? How much time do we spend together outside of the walls of this building? Or how about just over the phone?

iii.) We’re in this together. We don’t have to go it alone. We have friends here. We can be comfortable with each other. Think of how you are with people you consider your “best friends.” Do you find that when we gather for church? If not, ask yourself why not? And if your answer is “because no one has approached me about being a friend,” then you also have to ask why you haven’t approached anyone about being his or her friend!

B.) “Take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

i.) “Taking note” of others here is more than noticing someone who is walking well with the Lord. It is instead walking with them.

ii.) We are best able to “take note” of others by entering into their lives. Become a part of their life and allow them to become a part of your life. That is how community is formed. A bunch of people living in the same area without being involved with each other is not a community.

iii.) Why are we so afraid of spending time with each other? What do we have to fear in a loving community of God’s people? But how can we be a loving community of God’s people if we don’t love each other? And how can we love each other if we don’t hang out with each other?

C.) Paul says to the Philippians “I have told you before…many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.”

i.) The goal is to share God’s love in God’s community with other believers and also non-believers. Paul calls these non-believers “enemies of the cross of Christ.” He tells the sad tale of their destiny. He says that their appetites rule them, the things of this world dominated their thoughts, and as a result they are destined for destruction.

ii.) Unless we share the love of God with them. How can we share the love of God with these enemies of the cross unless we invite them into God’s community? This is where God’s love is found; in the people who believe and love.

iii.) And when we invite them into our lives and share God’s love with them, then they may be taken hold of by Christ and take hold of him and take hold of his likeness. And then they too will be eligible for the final prize.

III. The final prize comes at the end of the race when we will finally enjoy our heavenly citizenship that already belongs to us. Philippians 3:20-4:1

A.) The final prize is something that we can be eager for.

i.) It is of the highest value. It’s value and worth is greater than anything we have ever experienced yet.

ii.) Jesus is the final prize. Do you last week when we talked about “gaining Christ”? That is the prize. First, during the race we run closer to Jesus and therefore become more like him. Then when we reach the finish line we run into the presence of Jesus and into being transformed completely into the likeness of Jesus.

iii.) But there is something different about this prize; The prize of Jesus is not a reward for running the race. It is a reward for entering the race. Because we accepted the invitation to run, we are guaranteed the prize and all of the benefits that come from the prize.

B.) The greatest benefit from the prize is the “transformation of our lowly bodies.”

i.) The shaping work of the Master Artist is the work of being ever changed by his hand. From the moment that we allow the New Life of Jesus to enter us we will never be the same. Walking with Jesus and listening to his words means being changed by him.

ii.) In the end when we receive the prize that Jesus earned for us we will reach the completeness of change that he has had in mind for us since before he

created us. We will leave behind this imperfect flesh and inherit a body that does not perish. We will inherit a health that doesn’t fail, and a life that doesn’t end.

iii.) This is what God’s community has to look forward to. This is the reason that we forget what is behind. This is the thing that we stretch out to and press forward for. This is the prize of the heavenward calling of Jesus.

C.) Therefore we must “Stand firm in the lord” until that time when Jesus comes again.

i.) Because of this great prize of transformation, we stand firmly in the lord. God’s community of people always resides in the new life of Christ. God’s community of people doesn’t need to return to the old life of being an enemy of the cross of Christ.

ii.) Standing firm in the lord is the experience of becoming more like the lord. Like a mighty tree that draws its nutrients from the soil that it is rooted in, so we too draw our life from the power of Jesus who we stand in.

iii.) And standing in Jesus means taking hold of that shared life of the community of Jesus.

Philippians #7 (4:2-9)

In the age we’re going to look at today Paul encourages God’s community of believers in several ways. These encouragements really deal with how the community of God’s people is intended to operate. In other words these are all practical issues we’re going to be looking at today.

I. The first thing that Paul encourages is peace among the of God’s community. Philippians 4:2-3.

A.) When Paul wrote this, he had some specific people in mind that were experiencing disunity: their names are Euodia and Syntyche. This is the only age where these two ladies are named and so anything we can gather about them is going to come from this age.

i.) What we can tell about them is that they are believers who have served along side of Paul and others. That’s all we really know about them, but that does tell us something about the operation of the people of God’s community.

ii.) Notice that there are no special titles given for what these two ladies are doing. They don’t appear to have any special or different office apart from anyone else. They are simply two ladies from the congregation of God’s community in Philippi. This tells us something about the operation of the church: You don’t have to be elected to an office to serve in God’s community. That’s what God’s community was formed for: Service.

iii.) Statistics from the average church suggests that about 90% of the work is done by about 5 to 10% of the people. And yet we still wonder why so many deacons and elders of churches burnout and stop serving. And we wonder why the typical span of time that a pastor will remain at the same church is only 5 to 8 years. You don’t have to be a pastor or “official” worker of the church to help out.

B.) What we also know about Euodia and Syntyche is that they have some sort of problem with each other.

i.) We don’t know exactly what the problem was between these two people, but it probably wasn’t something more serious than a conflict of personality because he really doesn’t address any particular doctrinal issue like he does so often in other letters to other communities of believers.

ii.) Paul is concerned simply that the people in God’s community get along with one another. This may be why Paul has spent so much of the letter up to this point focusing on unity and being together in community.

iii.) Euodia and Syntyche are an example for us. So much of the theology we get from reading the letters of the Apostle Paul deals with reconciliation and peace between God and people and also between people and other people. Peace is important to God.

C.) When Paul addresses the “loyal yolk-fellow” in verse 3 he is possibly referring to a specific person named “Syzygus” which means “yolk-fellow.”

i.) Paul does this sometimes: he takes a person whose name means something, and encourages them to act like their name suggests for the benefit of God’s community. Here he’s asking somebody named Syzygus to help Euodia and Syntyche become united again and work together as two oxen are united and work together when ed together by the same yolk.

ii.) Notice again that Paul appeals not to the pastor or the elders, but to someone from the congregation to help out. I know I’ve already said this about a million times already during this series, but I believe it bears repeating: The Christian life is a shared life.

iii.) The shared life of the Christian community means that the work is shared as well as the joy. We’re in this life together. Let’s not waste it.

II. The second thing that Paul encourages the Philippians and also ourselves about is how much we worry about stuff. Philippians 4:4-7.

A.) The first thing Paul does in verse 4 is to tell us to rejoice…twice!

i.) “Rejoice” is given here as an alternative to anxiety, because later Paul says, “be anxious for nothing…” here he gives us something that we can do instead of

being anxious. And he really wants us to get it so he emphasizes rejoicing by saying it twice: “rejoice in the lord always. I’ll say it again: Rejoice!”

ii.) Why does he offer this as an alternative? Because in the mind of Christ, rejoicing is better than worrying. Matthew 6:25, 28, 31, 34, Matthew 10:19. What does Jesus think of worrying? He tells us that worrying isn’t worth the trouble and the energy it takes to worry. Therefore Paul offers an alternative: rejoice in the Lord.

iii.) How often are we told to seek this alternative? Always! “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Rejoicing in the Lord is a continuous exercise of the Christian community and faith.

B.) Next Paul encourages all of us in God’s community to continue in letting our gentleness be apparent to everyone and then he reminds us that the Lord is near. i.) Here Paul encourages gentleness as a characteristic of God’s people. What is gentleness anyway? Some see gentleness as weakness, but that’s not true. Gentleness has more to do with strength than anything else.

ii.) A better description for gentleness is “power under control.” God’s word often describes the gospel as “powerful.” Being gentle with the message of the gospel of God’s grace means being careful in how we present it. We must not do it harshly, but instead speak the truth in love. So be gentle.

iii.) What does Paul mean when he says: “the Lord is near?” Well, the context of

the age tells us that Paul is giving assurances to the community of believers so they will stop worrying. When Paul says, “The Lord is near,” he’s probably giving us another reason to not be afraid. Jesus promises to never leave us… hence the Lord is near. Others interpret it as meaning the return of Christ is near, but that doesn’t seem to fit the context of what Paul is talking about.

C.) In verse 6 Paul comes right to the point by telling us that we need to stop worrying, and instead bring all of our concerns to God in prayer.

i.) Prayer does something for us that nothing else can; it helps us to let go of the control of our life and to turn it over to Jesus. Are you aware that the control of our lives doesn’t belong to us? Man, that is hard to it. It’s even harder to practice.

ii.) Presenting our concerns and requests to God means giving them up. In exchange for our anxieties and concerns we receive peace from God. But we have to trust him for it. And we have to be ready to not understand this peace, for God tells us that it transcends all understanding. It transcends understanding because it comes from beyond us, from God.

iii.) We are also told in this age that this peace acts like an armed guard, standing guard duty over our hearts and minds. We don’t have to understand it, just accept it. You know I often have such a hard time with that part…I always want to understand everything. I always want to be “in the know.” Do you find yourself having that problem? Me too.

III. The last thing that we’re going to look at today deals with Paul’s encouragements about the Christian thought life. Philippians 4:8-9.

A.) How do God’s people think? What do God’s people think about? What dominates our thoughts?

i.) First, we think about what is true and noble. This means we focus on the truth that we find in God’s word, which is noble, meaning that it is placed in a position of very high importance and value.

ii.) Second, we think about what is right and pure. Thinking about what is right means that our thoughts are made correct and justified by the true and noble word of God, which purifies our minds.

iii.) Third, we think about what is lovely and irable. This means that our purified minds will see the loveliness or beauty of God and God’s redemptive work in his creation. All of these are good and therefore deserve our attention. So think on them.

B.) We’re told in this age to think on the things that are “excellent” and “praiseworthy.”

i.) What is excellent? What is praiseworthy? What is it that we must think of? These are the things that come from God. James 1:17 tells us that every good

and perfect gift comes from God.

ii.) Anything that is excellent or praiseworthy is going to be from God. So what are we going to think about? We’re going to think about the things that are of God.

iii.) Not only are we going to think about the things of God but we’re also going to put those things into practice in the life of this community of believers.

C.) The thing to understand about our thought life is that it feeds directly into our practical life. Notice how Paul makes the transition from thought to practice here.

i.) He starts out talking about all of the things that need to saturate the mind of God’s community, then he says that everything that he’s taught them about all of that stuff to put it into practice. When we’re instructed by God’s word, it is God’s desire that all of us put into play in the life of the community.

ii.) God’s community is not just about coming together and hearing from God’s word and feeding on it, although that is part of the reason we come together. Feeding from God’s word is very important, but why feed if we’re not going to use the nourishment work?

iii.) Being part of the Christian community means more than thinking the same

kind of thoughts as Christ, but it also means acting in a way that reflects Christ. Therefore we are called and encouraged to practice Christ.

Philippians #8 (4:10-23)

I. It is necessary for the community of true believers in Jesus Christ to be a people who understand how to be content in every circumstance of life. Philippians 4:10-13.

A) What does it mean for us to be content? What does it take to make us that way?

i.) In the fifth century, a man named Arenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the conforms of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through its bazaars. Asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn't need. Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of that desert dweller. A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 articles; today (2005) it carries 30,000. How many of them are absolutely essential? How many are superfluous?

ii.) We are living in a society that never ceases its bombardment of our senses with images and messages seducing us to be consumers. “Just do it,” “Have it your way,” “Obey your Thirst,” “You need a break today.” Those are all popular slogans from popular business franchises such as Nike, Burger King, Sprite, and MacDonald’s. With these ads and slogans these companies are unapologetically commanding us to consume.

iii.) We have all of us been duped into thinking that we either need or at the very least deserve the stuff that that these people are shoving in our faces. If every single person in this room were to go home and find that everything unnecessary to life had magically disappeared what would we find? What would our homes look like?

B.) Contentment doesn’t mean having everything you want, nor do I think that it means having everything that you need. Instead I define contentment as being happy with what you have, whether or not you have everything you want or need. I Timothy 6:6-10.

i.) The real scary thing happens when a person not only has everything they need, but also much of what they want, and still are not content. What kind of life does that lead to? “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” (6:9)

ii.) Have you ever met anyone who is always about those get-rich-quick scams? Are they ever happy? No. Why? because their life is focused on obtaining money, which never lasts. It is like chasing after the wind. You can’t hold onto it.

iii.) We can have contentment. Contentment is not something that is an idea that is floating out somewhere beyond us that we can never reach. Contentment is available to us. And when we combine that contentment with godliness, then we experience great gain. Not financial gain, which never lasts, but we gain Christlikeness, which is eternal.

C.) Jesus, our savior, is the one who offers this contentment to us.

i.) True Christian contentment comes only when we rest fully and trust entirely in the God who made us, the God who saved us. Our first and primary need in this life as human beings is not food, not water, not clothing, not shelter.

ii.) Our first and primary need is to have and to sustain a relationship with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the continuous working of the Holy Spirit inside us who believe.

iii.) Paul says, “I can do all things through Him.” What he’s talking about in this most often quoted but misunderstood ages, when he says he can do “all things” he is referring specifically to the ability to be content in every and all circumstances whether or not he has enough financial ability to get by or not. This age is a financial age and it speaks to The Christian relying solely on Christ in life’s situations and to not worry about your finances.

II. It is also good for us to recognize that contentment is not merely something that individuals experience, but because the Christian life is a shared life, so contentment in God’s community of believers is a result of Christian sharing. Philippians 4:14-17.

A.) Think back to when you were very young and when you went to kindergarten or pre-school. One of the things the teacher would always emphasize was sharing. “Share the crayons,” “Share the toys,” “Share this and that.” Have we carried this on into adult life?

i.) Sharing, however, is not just something that we learn as little children in kindergarten. Sharing is a biblical principle. I Thess. 2:8. “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

ii.) Sharing means more than simply donating money to help feed the homeless or putting money in the offering plate as it goes by on Sunday mornings. Sharing means donating our lives to someone who needs help. God intends that we open our lives to one another just as He opened new life to us.

B.) Sharing with somebody can change their life.

i.) I once heard a story about two people who became friends when they met in their freshman year of high school. One of the two was very unpopular and ignored by most of the other student. One day the other boy saw the unpopular boy trying to carry a stack of books and papers home. Some other boys came along and knocked him over, scattering his pile all over the ground. The other boy ran over to help him.

ii.) The unpopular boy was reluctant to accept help at first, but eventually gave in. Soon the two were talking and became fast friends. Over the years the two became the best of friends and were almost inseparable. Graduation day came and the boy who was unpopular was now Valedictorian. In his speech he recounted the story of how the other boy had come to his aide that one day. What he had never told anybody, not even his close friend, was that he was on his way home to commit suicide that day.

iii.) All of the things he was carrying home that were from his locker. He cleaned his locker out at the end of the day because he didn’t want anybody to have to worry about cleaning out his mess. He said because one person shared his life with me, I am here, alive today. You never know what a difference sharing your life can make.

C.) When we share with one another it is “credited to our ” according to the Bible.

i.) This is almost sort of a pun or a play on words on Paul’s part here. He’s just talked about how it is good to be content both with and without financial means in life, and then he talks about sharing being credited to our …that’s financial terminology.

ii.) But Paul isn’t talking about money being credited to us. He’s talking about something else. What Paul is talking about Spiritual credit. That’s basically an analogy meaning that God has used the financial gifts that the Philippians had sent to Paul to advance the Gospel. So the Philippians have participated in advancing the Kingdom of God. God recognizes this participation and will reward them somehow for that.

iii.) So when we share of ourselves, whether it be financially or in some other way that God uses to advance His redemptive plan for creation, God credits that to our and intends to reward is somehow. That reward is described at the end of the last section we’re going to look at.

III. When we sacrifice of ourselves in sharing to make sure that the needs of the whole community of God are amply supplied, God is pleased. Philippians 4:1823.

A.) When we share of ourselves, it is like a wonderful smelling offering to God.

i.) The burning of incense was a common practice for worship and prayer in the Old Testament with Israel and even somewhat in the New Testament church. The use of incense was as a symbol representing human worship and sacrifice as being something that aroused God’s senses and was pleasing to Him.

ii.) Some new churches made primarily of younger people have questioned why this practice of the symbol has stopped and reinstated the burning of incense during times of worship to once again symbolize the beautiful fragrance human worship is to God.

iii.) This is how God views sharing, according to this age. When we share to help others and give up something of ourselves, God views that as a pleasant aroma. It pleases Him.

B.) Think of how we react to smells, whether strong or faint.

i.) Our sense of smell evokes some powerful emotions in us. Smell can alert us to danger if we smell smoke in our home. Smell can be the final satisfaction in completing work when we mow the lawn and smell that freshly cut grass during the summer. Smell can either remind us that it is time to eat, or make us lose our appetite.

ii.) Whenever we have a potluck here at the church after the service, and we walk into the multi-purpose building, what’s the first thing you distinctly notice? It is the Smell! I love the smell of cooked meat, and can’t wait to dig in. What is your favorite smell from a potluck?

iii.) One of God’s favorite smells is when we share. It is an aroma that He finds pleasing.

C.) Verses 21-23 don’t hold much in of content that required commentary, except for one thing. What is Paul doing with this last section? He’s giving a greeting.

i.) What is greeting? Greeting someone is a way of acknowledging friendship. Do you ever walk up to complete strangers and greet them? Probably not, because you don’t know them. You only greet the people you know.

ii.) Greeting one another in the Lord is part of what it means to share our lives with each other. It is a way of acknowledging that we share in something greater than ourselves.

iii.) So when you see a fellow Christian out on the street, greet them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t just say ‘hello’ to them. Saying hello to someone isn’t a real greeting. Greeting involves sharing in their time and sharing in their life.

Colossians #1 (1:1-23)

I. Before we get into what Paul is writing, we first need an understanding of who it is Paul writes to and what his relationship is to them. Colossians 1:1-8.

A.) The church Paul writes to is in a city called Colossae, which was originally important, but hundreds of years later when Paul writes to them they’re a 2nd rate market town, overshadowed by neighboring cities.

i.) Colossae was situated in Asia minor where modern-day Turkey is now and was located near Hieropolis and Laodicea, 2 towns that overshadowed it in importance.

ii.) Today Colossae exists as an unexcavated site. It can be found in a mound of dirt called a “Tel.” It’s located in a beautiful mountain valley called the Lycus Valley.

B.) An interesting thing for us to notice is that even though Paul has some very good things to say about this church, he’s never been there before, never met them, and he probably never did later on.

i.) We find out that the church was probably established by a person named Epaphras and he was probably the pastor there. However, he was with Paul at the writing of the letter and serving him.

ii.) This should probably lead us to start asking questions: Why did Epaphras leave and go to Paul at Rome? You see there are some good things going on in Colossae, but some bad things too.

C.) In the beginning of the letter Paul overflows with praise for their faith, love and hope, which is the fruit of the gospel in their lives.

i.) Paul notes how not only the gospel is impacting the whole world, but also their unimportant town.

ii.) The gospel of Jesus Christ and its results for humanity are central themes to this letter. This becomes important in light of the reason Paul writes to the Colossians, whom he’s never met.

II. Next we get into the reason Paul wrote the letter. He begins by laying out basic, but important truths. The reason he writes these things is to counteract false teachings that have crept in among them. Colossians 1:9-14.

A.) About 100 years later in the 2nd century the church struggled with a big heresy called “Gnosticism.” The Gnostics held a number of beliefs contrary to the Bible. Their main motivation was “knowledge” (Gnosis).

i.) Their approach to gaining knowledge was: 1) Rationalistic (Answers questions outside the scope of the Bible). 2.) Mystical (seeks identification & absorption in the supernatural). 3.) Mythological (It holds a system of myths to express truth, as a supplement to [or in some cases substitute for] the Bible.)

ii.) Interestingly there has been a revival of this thinking and belief today. Its influences can be clearly felt in 2 major media examples within recent memory: “The Da Vinci Code” and “The Matrix.”

iii.) The false teaching Paul deals with in his letter to the Colossians about 100 years before the major appearance of Gnosticism appears to be a very early form of the same heresy.

B.) Notice what Paul says he’s been praying for the Colossians: for God to fill them with the “knowledge of his will through wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”

i.) The phrase “the knowledge of his will” is important. What were the Gnostics after? They wanted knowledge of the supernatural. They wanted what God offers…but not through God’s way.

ii.) God’s way is described in Paul’s phrase “through wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” John 16:13-15. They way the Spirit guided the apostles was through revelation. We call it the New Testament.

C.) According to Paul the result of being filled with God’s will through God’s way (through the Holy Spirit) was that the lives we live can then be worthy of and pleasing to God.

i.) This is opposite of Gnostic belief. They believed the lives we live in this world are pointless: what we see and do here is a veil we must get beyond. God says life here is meaningful and has a purpose.

ii.) There’s a strong element of thanks to God that needs to present in our lives according to Paul. And the thanks is primarily for our redemption. In 12-14 Paul builds a miniature doctrine of redemption.

III. Next Paul combats the false teaching by piecing together a strong theology of Jesus Christ in which he unmistakably talks about Christ being God and the one in charge of all things. Colossians 1:15-23.

A.) One of the teachings of 2nd century Gnosticism and probably this early form that Paul deals with is that it denied that God could be close to his creation: He was far away, so Jesus couldn’t be God in the flesh.

i.) Some Gnostics believed it only appeared that God took on flesh. Paul calls Jesus the “image” of the invisible God. There are 2 ideas we need to understand to catch in Paul’s use of the word “image.”

ii.) The 1st idea in the word image is “likeness.” Christ is the image of God in the sense that he is the exact likeness of God, like the image on a coin or the reflection in a mirror. Hebrews 1:1-3.

iii.) The 2nd idea in the word image is “manifestation.” Christ is the image of God in the sense that the nature and being of God are perfectly revealed in him. In Jesus shows God up. John 14:6-10.

B.) Another belief of the Gnostics was that maybe Jesus wasn’t God at all, just a righteous person that angelic beings enabled to do interesting things. This would mean Jesus, like everyone else, was finite.

i.) The way Paul attacks this false idea is through the use of the phrase “the firstborn over all creation.” What this does not refer to is the idea of a chronological birth order.

ii.) The phrase “firstborn” is a title. And that title means not # 1 in order of appearance, but in order of importance. It means Jesus was before creation and that creation belongs to him, because it’s his work.

C.) To finish off this section Paul rehearses the story of redemption and how it has intersected with the lives that the people of Colossae live in the world.

i.) Of great importance is the emphasis Paul places on the physicality of Jesus’

body and that of the activity of our daily lives. Our lives are a combination and balance of the temporary and the eternal.

ii.) Because Paul emphasized the fact that Jesus is completely God earlier he now emphasizes the importance of his physical body. In Gk., “The body of his flesh.” Without his body there’s no sacrifice.

iii.) Likewise, our physical lives are important, because it’s how we interact with creation. Gnostics: spiritual = good, but physical = bad. In historic orthodox Christian faith, both are worthy of redemption.

Colossians #2 (1:24-2:23)

I. In our first section today Paul really emphasizes how important it is for the Church to continue growing and to become increasingly mature. Colossians 1:24-2:5.

A.) Paul begins this section by talking about a maturity that comes about through suffering. He gives us a glimpse of the pain he suffers and how it enables the church to grow into maturity.

i.) The suffering he writes about likely concerns his imprisonment (house arrest) for the gospel of Christ. What does he say about the things he suffers? Is he angry about it? Does he complain? He rejoices!

ii.) He rejoices because it’s for the sake of the church. It gives him an opportunity to serve the church by fulfilling God’s commission to him. What is that commission? Present the Word of God in its fullness.

iii.) This meant completing the written portion of the revelation given to Paul. He does this through letters like Colossians which Paul wrote while in prison. God’s Word makes the church mature.

B.) Next Paul talks about how Jesus Christ must be proclaimed! It’s not an option to simply believe the truth with your mind. The truth must be spoken.

i.) Paul says he and his companions warn and teach everyone. The message of Jesus is not for a select few. Everyone means everyone. And Paul says he wants everyone to be presented as mature in Christ.

ii.) To do that Paul says they strenuously contend. It’s no easy task to do what God asks of us. But he says the difficult task is made possible by the energy Christ works in us. God gives us energy.

C.) At the end of this section we’re given a clue as to what this maturity looks like: it looks like an unshakeable faith.

i.) Paul says the wisdom, and knowledge and maturity prevent us from being deceived by arguments that sound good, but are really false. You want to not be deceived? You want an unshakeable faith?

ii.) Then Gain the maturity that can only be gotten through God’s complete Word. There is nowhere else for you to get it. Not in the Koran, not in Buddhist teachings, not in philosophy texts; only in the Bible.

II. Next Paul gives a lot of attention to what Jesus has done for us and how we are to remain rooted and built on the foundation of him and his work. Colossians 2:6-15.

A.) To live the way God intends us to live we not only have to place our faith in Jesus once, but all the time.

i.) First we have to be rooted in Jesus. Before a tree grows all the way up, it has to grow down. Roots draw nourishment. Likewise, we have to let our roots be planted and nourished in Christ Jesus.

ii.) Then we have to be built up in him. It doesn’t make sense to pour a foundation if you’re not going to build on it. Likewise, it doesn’t make sense to have Jesus as our foundation if we don’t live in Him.

iii.) The result of continually living our lives in the light of Jesus is we won’t be taken captive by bad teaching. Again, he’s dealing with the false teachers of Colossae. He identifies the bad teaching as having its origin in both human tradition and supernatural communication. All other religions do this.

B.) The reason we’re instructed to continue to live in Jesus daily is completely God and it is only through him we can be made mature. To explain this God transforms 2 physical Jewish rituals into spiritual realities.

i.) #1: Spiritual Circumcision. This is the cutting off of the old, sinful nature. It has been surgically removed by God so we don’t have to live in the old life, but now can live in the new life of Jesus.

ii.) #2: Spiritual Baptism. This is the Holy Spirit immersing us into the death and the new life of Jesus. Baptism was not only a ritual of cleansing but one of identification (in this case with Jesus).

C.) We needed God to do this for us because we were dead. But Christ made us alive. That is why we must continue to live in Christ because to do otherwise is live in a graveyard.

i.) And that which killed us and kept us dead until Christ came along was the Law of God’s righteousness we could never live up to or fulfill. But he canceled the charge of our legal debt.

ii.) It’s interesting that Paul writes that the legal debt was nailed to the cross. Where do we find that legal debt? The Torah. The Torah itself was nailed to the cross because Jesus is the Torah/Word/Law. John 1:1.

III. In the last section we’ll look at today the apostle Paul writes about our freedom from religious rules and regulations that have nothing to do with what God is doing in this world now. Colossians 2:16-23.

A.) Because the Torah was nailed to the cross in Jesus the Physical regulations of the Law and its rituals are of no effect in our lives. That was the old life; a righteous standard we couldn’t live keep.

i.) Paul instructs us not to let anyway judge us based on the physical regulations and rituals. That’s why in verses 11-12 he talks about circumcision and baptism as spiritual realities and not as physical rituals.

ii.) In verse 17 he says how those things were always temporary in God’s mind and how they were only shadows that signified the reality to come later in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

B.) Then Paul switches back to the problem of dealing with the false teachers in Colossae. He helps us by identifying some of their teachings and heretical claims through 3 phrases he uses.

i.) False humility. This means their denial of the importance of the physical world, which in practice works out as a denial of the needs of the human body. In a world without today’s medicine this was bad.

ii.) Worship of angels. Like the 2nd cent. Gnostics, these false teachers believed in worshipping supernatural beings other than God. Probably believed Jesus was human and angels helped him do miracles. Hebrews 1:4-9. The Bible clearly teaches to worship God and none other.

iii.) What they have seen. This probably refers to some kind of vision these teachers claim to receive, probably from the angels they worship. Galatians 1:68.

C.) Lastly Paul instructs the Colossians (and us) not to submit to religious teachings and regulations based on human tradition which have nothing to do with mature life in Jesus.

i.) The 3 rules Paul lists in vs. 21 are all based on a pointless denial of our physical senses. Those rules are worldly and we are dead to them because in Christ we are dead to the power of the world.

ii.) Paul’s final analysis of the heretics teaching is that they have no value. They can’t even do what they claim. They appear wise, but can’t be because the only true wisdom comes through Christ.

Colossians #3 (3:1-4:1)

I. Last week we studied Paul’s teaching on Maturity in Christ. In the first section of Scripture we’re going to study today Paul teaches us that maturity means rising above the old nature. Colossians 3:1-11.

A.) To become mature and rise above our old nature means we must make God’s priorities our priorities and disregard the things the world holds to be more important than what God says is important.

i.) The Bible says here to “set your mind on things above,” which sounds very ive. But reading it in the Greek it has a more active feel.

ii.) The English phrase “set your mind on” is better translated as “to look for,” “to seek out,” “to try to obtain,” “desire to possess,” “strive for.” This requires diligent activity on our part, not sitting around.

iii.) And what Paul means by the phrase “the things above” are the new priorities we receive when we become part of the body of Christ. He’ll tell us what those or later on in verse 12.

B.) Paul instructs us that to rise above our old sinful nature and to be able to strive for the things above, we must first put out of our lives those things which mark the working of the sinful flesh.

i.) He gives 2 lists of activities and attitudes of the sinful nature, which deserve their own series of sermons, but we’ll let them speak for themselves for. The main thing is to “put them off.”

ii.) He’s using the imagery of Clothes to illustrate his meaning. Take off the old sinful nature as if it were a ruined shirt. Not easy. I have clothes Rachel wants to throw away because they’re comfortable.

C.) We have to put those things out of our lives because they diminish and slow down the work of God not only in our personal lives, but also in the life of the entire Church.

i.) They destroy equality (through an illusion of superiority). “There is no…”

ii.) They destroy unity (through creating an atmosphere of hostility). “Christ is all, and is in all.”

II. In the 2nd section of God’s Word we’re studying today we can be taught how after rising above the old sinful nature, maturity is produced by “putting on” the new nature Christ gives us. Colossians 3:12-17.

A.) Paul instructs us that to put on our new nature, we must put in our lives those things which mark the working of the Holy Spirit in the new life of the believer.

i.) Again he gives a list, which deserves its own series but speaks for itself. And again he uses a clothing image. After your wife throws away the old ratty she replaces it with fresh new. (I love clean socks.)

ii.) Since the fresh new clothes of our new life come through Forgiveness, forgiveness must characterize how we live with each other. But know that forgiveness does not mean “no consequences to our action.”

iii.) Then we’re told the binding force of all of these things is love. Not romance movie love, not park bench love; dying on a cross love so someone else doesn’t have to. John 15:12-13.

B.) All of these things signify the atmosphere God desires His Church to shine and which God wants the Church to generate in the world: God wants His Church and His world to experience peace.

i.) And that biblical concept of peace means much more than lack of conflict, it means “the way things are supposed to be.” That’s why the Bible sometimes speaks of Christ’s work as restoration.

ii.) God created the Church not for its own sake, but to be a compelling force for

good and peace in this world. Since 2003, 200,000 people have been slaughtered in an attempted genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

iii.) God designed the Church to do something about that sort of thing. Maybe it’s not to march in there with guns, but maybe to take refugees, to urge the leaders of the world to step in and do something.

C.) For this peace to become a reality in our lives, in our community, in our world everything we do and say must be the representation of the name of Jesus Christ.

i.) , we’re representing Jesus here. We are the hands, feet and face of Jesus today in our world. The way people react to the message of the cross and the empty grave is because of us.

ii.) We must immerse ourselves in Christ. Christ within me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ above me, Christ to my left and my right, Christ where I lie and where I rise. Christ in the hearts of all who think of me, Christ on the lips of all who speak of me, Christ in the eyes of all who see me.

III. In the last section of the text we’re studying today the apostle Paul gives us practical instructions, showing us what it looks like to live a life of Grace. Colossians 3:18-4:1.

A.) Paul addresses 2 areas of life that are common and essential to the entire human experience: he addresses family and he addresses work.

i.) Unless you miraculously appeared one day, you have a family. And for those separated from family, they usually are adopted or form some sort of unofficial family bond with people. Otherwise that person will grow up and experience some major psychological issues.

ii.) Unless you want to starve and be homeless, you have work. Work is essential to a functioning life. Those who completely avoid work experience unbalance in life. Both family and work are essential.

B.) Notice that in these 2 necessary areas of life, Paul does not focus on some distant representative concept of what those things are supposed to be, but instead he focuses on the relationship dynamic of them both.

i.) The instructions we’re given here are designed not to give us something to do, but to strengthen our relationships with each other and with God. They’re instructions on how to relate with each other.

ii.) Too many Christians think of our Christian experience as a list of what’s right to do and what’s wrong to do and if we follow the right checklist, then we’ll be good. Christian faith isn’t a checklist.

C.) Why does Paul only address these areas of life? Why doesn’t he talk about other things that are equally as important? Because in both family and work we have a glimpse of how God desires relationship with us.

i.) The Christian way is about being drawn closer into a faithful relationship with the one true living God. It’s not a religious or philosophical system; it’s a relationship. How do we relate to God and others?

ii.) Inherent in both family and work are issues of submission, love and fairness. To understand how those things work between God & the Church, Paul points to the way those things are supposed work in what we already know: family and work. This echoes Ephesians 5:21-6:9.

Colossians #4 (4:2-18)

I. In the 1st section we’re going to study today, the apostle Paul gives instructions on the advancement of the Church’s maturity through spreading God’s message. Colossians 4:2-6.

A.) Paul’s first instruction in this section is for the Colossians to devote themselves in prayer so a door might be opened for the message they carry.

i.) Paul’s ministry, as many of you know, was a traveling one. At this point his travels have stopped because he’s under arrest in Rome. But that doesn’t mean his ministry stops.

ii.) There is an indication in Philippians 4:22 that Paul evangelized his captors and some of them were saved. Now Paul prays for more opportunity to evangelize the rest of them. What an example for us!

iii.) For people to be saved who start out against Christianity is an extraordinary work of God. Paul shows us that God can and has done it. With God nothing is impossible. Let’s pray for those doors too.

B.) Paul also requests prayer that when a door is opened for their message that it might be communicated clearly.

i.) What Paul is really asking for here is that the Colossians would pray for help from the Holy Spirit of God for Paul’s ability to relate the gospel message. 1 Cor 2:1-5.

ii.) We only effectively share the gospel of God’s grace through the power God gives by the Holy Spirit. And people can only receive the gospel through the Spirit leading them to receive it. 1 Cor 2:13-14.

C.) Paul’s third major instruction in this section deals with how Christians should act toward “outsiders.”

i.) Make the most of every opportunity. We have to recognize opportunities and go for them. An opportunity to share the gospel is when we are with unsaved people who are open to it. Paul’s “door.”

ii.) Let your conversation be full of grace. Don’t be pushy, don’t be mean, don’t be self-righteous or superior. Be gentle, kind, comionate. Talk with people in a way that displays God’s love.

II. In the next section of chapter 4 Paul provides us with some examples of people working with him and how they help mature the Church in their own ways. Colossians 4:7-11.

A.) Tychicus was sent so that he could encourage the hearts of the Colossian believers. Heb 3:12-14.

i.) Are you someone who can encourage others in their faith? Do you see what a powerful impact this can have? To encourage means to give courage to or strengthen the resolve of someone’s faith.

ii.) Do you know people who have slipped away from their faith in God? Maybe it’s because no one encouraged them. Are you a Tychicus? If you can encourage people’s faith then do it!

B.) Onesimus is a person we know of as one of the main subjects of another of Paul’s letters: Philemon. He was a runaway slave, turned Christian convert. Philemon 8-12.

i.) Notice Paul’s use of the words useless and useful. Onesimus’ name means useful. Slaves were of little value, not equal to the rest of humanity in Roman eyes. Paul says God thinks he’s useful.

ii.) He was so useful in fact that some scholars think he became the Overseer of the churches in the city Ephesus. Are you an Onesimus? Do some think you’re useless? Well God knows you’re useful to Him.

C.) Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus (called Justus). These are the only Jewish people who have ed up with Paul and aid him in his ministry. The question we need to answer is: What’s the big deal? Acts 14:1-7.

i.) If you read Acts you might notice a patter to Paul’s ministry. When he enters a city the first place he goes is the synagogue. He reasons with the Jews and devout Gentiles from Scripture about the Messiah.

ii.) Every time the Jews get angry and try to kill Paul, but the Gentiles believe. For Paul to identify Jewish people as his helpers tells you about their faithfulness and endurance. Are you one of these?

III. Paul continues giving us examples of people working with him in the working of spreading the message of Jesus and he gives a few other specific instructions. Colossians 4:12-18.

A.) Epaphras provides us with an example of what it means to be a real prayer warrior. Ephesians 6:18-20.

i.) what we learned about prayer in the study in Our Fight against Satan and his DSF: prayer is the battle. We’re told Epaphras is always wrestling and working hard in prayer. He’s a prayer warrior!

ii.) Do you understand what great influence faithful prayer warriors can have on the world? Are you an Epaphras? Are you a prayer warrior, fighting the DSF on behalf of other people?

B.) What we know is that Luke appears to be someone responsible for chronicling the life of the early Church. He wrote The Gospel of Luke and Acts. Psalm 96:3. The NLT says “Publish His glorious deeds.”

i.) How many people are familiar with the story of Grace Bible Church? What has happened here? What good things? What things could have gone better?

ii.) Those of you that do know, I suggest you get together and write it down for future generations. Once you’re gone, the story is too. Are you a Luke? Write for the encouragement of generations to come.

C.) To finish off there is some discussion about a person named Archippus. What he is told is to “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”

i.) All of these people who serve as examples to us had work God gave them they needed to complete. So each one of us has some work to complete. What is it? I can only say it’s different for each of us.

ii.) At the end of your life will you be able to say with Paul: 2 Tim 4:6-8? Will you be an Archippus? Will you be a Paul? Will you discover what God’s work is for you, and complete it?

Philemon Spread the love

I. The love and faith that we receive from Jesus Christ is something that refreshes us, especially when we receive this love and encouragement in faith from another believer. Philemon 1-7.

A.) Paul begins with the fact that he is ever thankful to God for hearing about their faith in the Lord and their love for all of the believers.

i.) This tells us something important about the community of believers that Paul is writing to here: These people are active in their love and in their faith. This tells us that this is a mature assembly of believers that Paul is writing to. These are not monks sequestered and hidden away in a monastery, keeping themselves away from the world.

ii.) Their faith in Jesus is something that is continuously developed and acted upon by Philemon and this particular church. What this tells us is that these believers actively engage in prayer and the careful study of God’s word, because those two things are necessary for faith to grow. They are the soil and sunlight of the plant that is spiritual growth.

iii.) Their love for other believers is something that is active and alive in this congregation. This tells us that these believers are not content merely to communicate with God in prayer and reading of the word, but also that these elements work themselves out in a practical form in their lives. They love other believers by caring for them and meeting needs.

B.) Paul then says that Philemon and the others who meet in his house for church need to be active in sharing their faith with others.

i.) Basically Paul says, “Spread the Love!” Don’t be content to sit and stay inside your Christian community: Go outside of the walls of your church and meet people who need to know about Jesus and share the faith with them. Love that is contained and kept away from people does no good to them.

ii.) Does this mean that the very first time you meet a person that does not know Christ that you have to present the full Gospel message to them? No. As a matter of fact that is probably the least desirable way to do it unless they ask you for it. We need to build relationships with people.

iii.) Sharing the love of Christ and sharing the faith with somebody means more than telling them the content of the gospel message. Do you our series on the book of Philippians? One of the things that I said over and over during that series was that the Christian life is a shared life. It is a life we share with non-believers as well as believers. Do they have a need we could meet? An old saying goes something like: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

C.) When we spread the love we also spread encouragement to other believers and refresh them.

i.) Another reason for Christianity to exist in the form of a community is so that we can refresh each other. You ever feel run down? You ever feel like you want to just give up? God’s intended solution to this is this community of believers He has placed here. We are meant to refresh each other. We do this by loving one another.

ii.) What does refreshment look like? I think of refreshment as a period of time in between periods of work where we are made ready, or prepared. It’s like taking a break at work. Maybe this summer some of you will work outside on gardens or your lawns under a hot Sun. At some point hopefully you will go back inside your house, rest for a few minutes, drink a cold glass of lemonade or something and be refreshed. Now, translate that same feeling of refreshment into you Christianity. That is what we are meant to do for each other.

iii.) We all need encouragement at times. That is one of the reasons I’m thankful to God for this church. I’ve been encouraged by so many people here. People who come up to me and say, “thanks for that message.” That’s an encouragement.

II. This love that we have on behalf of Jesus and receive through the love of fellow believers changes our relationships with each other. Philemon 8-16.

A.) In this letter to Philemon the relationship that is changed is that between a slave, or servant, and his master.

i.) First we need to understand something about Slave/master relations in the 1st

Century: First we need to understand that slavery during the time that Paul is writing is not exactly like it is when we think of slavery in it’s American context toward the early years of our country, but there are some notable similarities.

ii.) Slaves were thought of at that time as possessions, commercial assets that might be bought or sold or their ownership could be otherwise transferred without any say on their part. One became a slave by either being captured, born into it, or selling oneself into it. The only way a person could get out of slavery was by either dying or being freed by the owner or civil authorities.

iii.) This is the background that we need to have in mind before we read the various New Testament ages that use slavery as a metaphor for bondage to sin or even being a slave of Christ as Paul sometimes refers to himself. We also need to understand the importance of slavery in the ancient Roman world if we’re to understand the circumstance of the character called Onesimus in this letter to Philemon.

B.) You see, Philemon had a slave named Onesimus who apparently ran away.

i.) Another thing we need to understand is that one of the potential punishments for runaway slaves was death. According to Roman slave laws, Philemon was perfectly in his right to have Onesimus executed for his crime. But the law of love in Christ Jesus supersedes the Roman law. This is what Paul appeals to.

ii.) According to Paul, after Onesimus had run away from Philemon, he ran into Paul. Paul probably recognized him from Philemon’s house and talked with him.

Through this conversation, Paul leads Onesimus to the Lord. Onesimus is now a brother in Christ to both Paul and Philemon.

iii.) Paul appeals to Philemon on the grounds of love that he ought to welcome Onesimus back into his life, but in a different capacity than he existed in before. Onesimus can no longer be a slave to Philemon.

C.) Here Paul pleads with Philemon to receive Onesimus back for good, not as a slave, but instead as a brother in Christ.

i.) 1st Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:28. The theology we get from reading Paul’s letters tell us that that there is no difference in Christ between slaves and free people. There may be an implication in this that Christians are not supposed to keep slaves of each other. Now, this isn’t a problem for us in 21st century America, but at that time, it was very conceivably a problem that had to be addressed.

ii.) So now, Onesimus cannot be considered a slave by Philemon. Instead Paul instructs Philemon to view his former slave as a brother. I probably don’t have to tell you that there was a great difference in how a person treated a slave and how they treated family even in the Pagan, Roman society of the first century.

iii.) Onesimus has now been welcomed as a member of the Christian community, and all of the rights and privileges that come along with it. He is now equal to his former master. This is in part what Paul means when he says in Philippians, “Consider others better than yourselves.”

III. The relationships within the Christian community are intended to be so strong that we are meant by God to care for and bear each other’s burdens. Philemon 17-25.

A.) Paul offers to bear the burden caused by Onesimus running away from Philemon.

i.) When Paul says “if he has done anything wrong or owes you anything…” he may be referring to a possibility that Onesimus might have stolen from Philemon before he ran away. Maybe he stole supplies for his journey, or money, or something else, but the fact remains that Onesimus owed some sort of debt to Philemon.

ii.) A major part of our Christian theology, however, is the idea of having a debt we cannot repay removed for us. Paul shows us that this idea is to be translated into practical living by offering to repay the debt owed by a fellow believer, Onesimus.

iii.) What Paul is essentially telling Philemon, and what he is also telling us, is to accept each other, as we are without any debt or obligation. Notice in verse 14 that Paul tells Philemon that he doesn’t want his actions to be forced? That means grace. No obligation.

B.) Here Paul revisits once again one of the themes that he touches numerous

times in the book of Philippians: The Christian life is a shared life.

i.) Our lives don’t belong to us. We can’t say, “hey, it’s my life. I can do with it what I want!” 1st Corinthians 7:22-23.

ii.) Understand that Christ bought us! We belong to Christ. The Corinthians age goes so far as to say we are Christ’s “slaves.” Do you what I said earlier about how a slave could be sold or transferred to another master? Once we were slaves of sin. But now we have been bought by Christ and are His.

iii.) The command of the Master is to share our lives with each other. Our Master’s orders are to be a community. The Christian life is a shared life. Share it.

C.) This sharing of life is not a one-way thing, but it is intended to be reciprocal.

i.) An example of this is found right in the text. Paul tells Philemon that he will take care of Onesimus’ debt. But then he asks for something from Philemon and the church that meets in his house. He asks to be refreshed and he asks for a place to stay if he travels that way again.

ii.) Sharing our lives with other believers does not mean that we contribute of ourselves until there’s nothing left and receive no help in return from other

believers. This sharing is meant to be a two-way street. We take care of each other. I take care of you, and you take care of me.

iii.) It’s really easy for people to receive, but it seems it is much harder to give sometimes. That’s not the way God intended it to be. God intended for all of us to help out with each other’s burdens in the way that God has gifted us. How has God gifted you? Then that is how you are meant to help out. How has God gifted me? Then that is how I am designed to help out.

Jude Fight for the Faith

I. The letter from Jude is probably one of the most ignored writings of the New Testament, if not the whole Bible. Therefore, it raises the most questions for us. Jude 1-10.

A.) One of the most foundational questions we need to ask is, “Who is this Jude person anyway?” Jude, a very common 1st century name, is most likely one of the half-brothers of Jesus Matthew 13:55.

i.) Equally as important as the fact that Jude is the half-brother of Jesus, is the fact that he identifies himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ.” He sees himself as a servant before he sees himself a brother.

ii.) Jude's calling himself a servant implies that what he is about to write is what his Master wants him to say. Jude is not only a brother of Jesus, but he also carries his message.

B.) The message Jude writes to his readers has the flavor of a warning. The thing he warns them about is false teachers who have crept in among them. In this way, it is similar to what we read in Colossians.

i.) Jude’s stated purpose is to urge these people to contend for the faith. Sometimes in order to keep faith we must fight for it. The word for this we use

today is “apologetics.” This means “defense.”

ii.) 1 Peter 3:15. “Answer” in this age is the Greek “Apologia.” Always be ready to defend or give an for the meaning of your faith. People will question it. Later he instructs us how to defend.

C.) In the warning he gives about the false teachers, Jude uses several examples from history about people and angels who received judgment on of their ungodliness.

i.) The stories of judgment after the exodus and the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah are easily recognizable, but what about his comments on angels who abandoned their proper dwelling. Gen 6:1-4.

ii.) Another story concerns the Devil and Michael arguing over the body of Moses (from the apocryphal Assumption of Moses). How can Jude quote it if the book doesn’t belong in the Bible? Hold that thought.

II. The next section is a prediction of major judgment on these false teachers for their vast ungodliness and refusal to acknowledge Jesus Christ. Jude 11-16.

A.) Jude pronounces “woe” upon them. Then he likens them to 3 specific examples of judgment from the Old Testament: Cain (rejected God’s provision), Balaam (deceitful and covetous), and Korah’s rebellion.

i.) Numbers 16:1-3, 28-35. Korah’s sin was rejection of the God-ordained authority over Israel. Note that Jude doesn’t just the false teachers will be judged like these 3, but also their sins are like these 3.

ii.) What’s interesting about the way Jude writes his age is that it is given in the past tense. What Jude means by this is that their judgment is certain. There is no escape for these particular people.

B.) Another thing Jude writes about these false teachers concerns the fact that they are useless and act as dead weight to the church.

i.) Jude calls them blemishes at their love feasts (communion). A blemish is a visible corruption of what is seen. Christian spirituality is supposed to have visible expression. These teachers were corrupting that.

ii.) Because the church he writes to had visible trouble, it affected their witness. The presence of these people was dragging down the church. Because of this great judgment is reserved for them.

C.) To add to the certainty of the judgment Jude quotes an ancient prophesy about them. The content of the prophecy is pretty clear. What’s curious is the origin or the source of the prophecy.

i.) For the 2nd time in his short letter, Jude references a writing which is not found in the Bible. This time it is the pseudepigraphal book of I Enoch.

ii.) Jude isn’t the only one to do something like this. Acts 17:24-28, 1 Cor 15:33, Titus 1:12-13. 3 times the apostle Paul quotes sources outside the Bible as being “true.” Affirm the truth wherever we find it.

III. In the last section of Jude, we are called and encouraged to persevere in our faith, even in the face of opposition. We’re also given instruction on how to interact with people who experience doubt. Jude 17-25.

A.) Jude begins this last section with an appeal to the teachings of the apostles concerning false teachers.

i.) He appeals to the teachings of the apostles. This church may have received first-hand teaching from some of them. Where do we find these teachings today? We find them in the pages of the Bible.

ii.) The first thing which makes our apologetics (defense of our faith) possible is to know the teaching of God’s Word. We don’t have to all be professionals, but we must be trained to study the Scriptures.

B.) Jude tells us that the way to be protected from these false teachings is to build ourselves up in the faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

i.) Building ourselves up in the faith is what happens when we study the Scriptures because gain familiarity with God’s teachings. But then we need the Holy Spirit to energize those teachings in us.

ii.) So, the 2nd thing which makes our apologetics possible is the Holy Spirit of God using the teachings of the Bible in our lives to defend our faith against false teaching.

C.) Then Jude tells us the manner in which we are to defend the faith, by telling us how we are supposed to act toward people who have doubt.

i.) Our relation to those who doubt must be merciful. Does this sound familiar? Colossians 4:5-6.

ii.) Jude closes his letter with a doxology. Doxology simply means “words that glorify.” Our lives need to be characterized by doxology, words that glorify God. Our apologetics, defense must use doxology.

iii.) But how can they if we’re not in God’s Word? How can our lives be doxology if we don’t allow the Spirit to take God’s Word and transform us? How can our lives be doxology if our transformed lives mistreat others and show them

no grace with our words and actions?