Preached Sunday, September 23, 2012 from Philippians 4:9
Theme: Putting into practice the instructions and examples of the apostle Paul will lead to joy.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We continue our study of Paul’s letter to the Philippians—and mainly this morning, of just one verse. But it’s a truly remarkable verse.
The New Testament Book of Philippians, as we have been saying, is a book that teaches us how we—as redeemed men and women—can have the very joy of Jesus Christ Himself as an ongoing reality in our own lives. And in Philippians 4:4-8—a passage in which he describes for us how we are to put that joy into practical application in daily life—the apostle Paul writes;
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things (Philippians 4:4-8).
But at the end of that passage, we come to the very remarkable words of verse 9. If what the apostle Paul said in this one verse wasn’t true, then it ought to go down as one of the most outlandish and arrogant claims that any human being could have ever written. But if it is true, then it stands as the summary of everything else he sought to say in this passage; and it should be considered a source of great hope and encouragement to us as believers. Paul wrote,
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).
* * * * * * * * * * *
Now if we only looked at that verse in a superficial way, Paul’s words would sound arrogant to the extreme! He was actually saying, “Look at my life and teaching, do whatever I do and say, and the God of peace will be with you.” Who, ordinarily, would dare to say such a thing? Most of us would be more inclined to say, “If you want to have a close relationship with God, if you want to have an experience of the fullness of joy in your life, if you want to be truly blessed in your walk with a holy God, then I encourage you strongly: Don’t do what I do! I’m far too imperfect! You’d better find a better example than me to follow!” Wouldn’t that, on the surface, seem like the more ‘humble’ and ‘spiritual’ thing to say?
But there is a sense—and I hope you’ll bear with me in this, and not get up and leave!—in which I have grown to understand just a bit of what Paul is talking about. Just a very tiny bit, mind you; but something of it.
If you are an older believer in Christ, and if you have walked faithfully with the Lord Jesus for more years than most of the folks around you; if you have grown to love and trust the Lord Jesus, and have grown to appreciate the work of His grace in your life; if you know by personal experience how good He is to those who trust Him, then you’d also be very aware of others in the faith who are looking up to you in your walk with Him. You’d be aware that they are watching your life as an example to be followed. And if that’s the case, there’s really nothing arrogant about embracing that fact and acting faithfully upon it. There’s a point when you become very conscious of what your example means to others; and out of love toward them and reverence toward the Lord Jesus, you take your role as an example consciously and seriously.
This should obviously be very true of pastors. The apostle Peter once wrote to pastors and told them, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3). I have shared that way of looking at things with other young men who were just beginning in the ministry. I have tried to encourage them not to think of themselves as being placed over a church family in order to ‘do a job for them’, but rather ‘to live a life before them’. A pastor ought to live in such close fellowship with Jesus Christ, and in such faithful obedience to God’s word, that he would be able to tell the people that God has entrusted to his care—certainly with all humility, but equally with full integrity—”Look at my life. Watch carefully how I walk. Listen to how I talk. Follow in my steps. Do as I do. I’m waking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus; and if you trust Him as I do, and walk with Him as I’m walking, and obey Him as I am obeying Him, you’ll be living a life of fellowship with Him too.”
But I think this is not just to true for pastors. It’s also to be true of other mature believers in the church family. When Paul wrote to Pastor Titus and gave him instructions on how to faithfully teach the church family, he told him, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine . . .” (Titus 2:1). And what are those things that he was told to speak to the congregation? They are, “that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, home-makers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works . . .” (vv. 2-7a).
It’s truly a wonderful thing when you realize—after years of walking faithfully with the Lord Jesus—that God has entrusted to you the privilege of serving an example to other ‘younger’ believers of how to walk with Him. It’s a scary and sobering thing too! But it’s truly wonderful. And I believe it’s good and wise to accept that fact, embrace that role, be faithful in it, and—in all humility and in genuine love—tell other young believers, “Here are the things I have learned about the Lord Jesus. Here’s how it looks to walk in fellowship with Him. Let me show you how it’s done. Follow my example. Walk in my steps. Believe as I believe. Speak as I speak. Do as I do.”
I feel that that’s what Paul was getting at earlier in this letter in Philippians 3:17; when he wrote to the Philippians and said, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.”
It’s not a matter of arrogance when a mature believer willingly serves as a model of the Christian life. Far from it. It’s a matter of sincere love to others in the body of Christ. It’s one of the most wonderful ministries we can provide to others in the body of Christ.
* * * * * * * * * *
But in saying all this about the examples we may be to others, there was definitely something special about the example of the apostle Paul. In the providence of God, there was something unique about the life he lived and the impact he left on the world. And I believe that’s because he was given to us by God as the prime example—the example above all other examples in the church—of what it looks like to be a redeemed sinner who walks with Jesus Christ.
Do you realize that Paul wrote at least thirteen letters that the Holy Spirit saw fit to preserve for us in our Bibles as authoritative Scripture? (I say “at least thirteen”; but it may be fourteen—depending on where you land on the authorship of the Book of Hebrews.) There is also a major portion of the biblical record of the history of the apostolic era—well-over two-thirds of the Book of Acts—that is devoted to the life, teaching and ministry of Paul. One of the Gospels—the Gospel of Luke—was written by the missionary companion and historical chronicler of Paul’s ministry; and may contain, as some Bible teachers suggest, the basic content of the Gospel message that Paul preached around the world. Even Peter urged his readers, in one of his letters, to consider what they had been taught—”as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you” (2 Peter 3:15); even referring to Paul’s letters as ‘Scripture’ (v. 16). Far and away, the greatest portion of the inspired content of apostolic theology and Christian conduct that that the church has proclaimed and followed over the past two-thousand years has come to us through the life and writings of the apostle Paul.
And he himself was profoundly aware of his God-appointed role as our example. He knew, of course, that he wasn’t an example of how to be a perfect man. (Only the Lord Jesus—the Son of God in human flesh—could provide such an example to us; and Paul himself would say a hearty ‘Amen!’ to that.) In fact—far from being a perfect man—Paul realized that he was a profoundly imperfect man! He had formerly been a vicious antagonist against Jesus Christ and a notorious persecutor of the church. But, by the grace of God, he became the chief example of what it looks like for a sinner to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and to then rise up and walk in fellowship with the Savior. He himself once wrote;
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).
Paul was willing to embrace this role and exhort the believers in the churches to look at his life and follow his example. He wrote to the church in Corinth and reminded them that
though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:15-17).
And this was—in no respect—because he thought that he was an example in and of himself. He put things in perfect perspective for us when, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, he said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”
So; I believe we should certainly look to the godly examples of mature believers that God has put into our lives. We should thank God for them and imitate them. And where we can, I believe we should ourselves seek to be godly examples to others. But I believe we are meant to take Paul quite literally in our verse this morning—and see him as the God-authorized example of what it looks like for a redeemed sinner to live for Jesus Christ unto the full experience of joy—when he wrote,
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).
* * * * * * * * * * *
Now; let’s look at this verse in just a bit more detail. Paul is giving us a command in it. And notice first . . .
1. THE CONTENT OF THIS COMMAND.
Paul wrote to the Philippians of the things “which you learned and received and heard and saw in me . . .” And here, we see four things—put into two main categories—that the believers witnessed in the life of Paul.
First, he mentions the things which they “learned”. The word that Paul uses here is one that speaks of learning in a a very intentional way—to be taught something by practice and experience in such a way as to acquire custom or habit. There’s a difference between learning that there’s such a thing as ‘good cooking’, and learning ‘how to actually be a good cook’. This is ‘how-to’ learning that Paul is speaking of. And so, he called the attention of the believers in Philippi to what they had “learned” from his direct instructions to them concerning the ‘how-to’ matters of the Christian life.
And second, he mentions the things which they “received”. And I think what he means here for the Philippian believers to think back on the things that God gave him to give to them—things which they took from him and “received” as if from God Himself. In 1 Corinthians 11:23, when writing about the instructions he gave them concerning the Lord’s supper, he used this same word told them, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you . . .” Or later on in 1 Corinthians 15:3, in telling them about the Gospel message which he preached, he told the Corinthians, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received . . .”
Now; when he puts these first two things together—whatever things they “learned” and “received” from him—I believe Paul is talking about what we might call the “class-room” matters of the Christian life. In order to know what to do, we must be “taught” in the class-room. But it’s not enough for us to learn only in the class-room. We also need to see live-demonstrations of what we’re taught. And so; when he goes on to talk about the next two matters, I believe that he’s talking about the “field-trip” matters—the things that he actually demonstrated to them in practical action.
First, he reminded them of whatever things they “heard” of him. This would have been the things that they had learned concerning his doings by those who had given a report of them. And second, he reminded them of the things that they had actually “seen” in him when he was in their presence. In Philippians 1:29-30, he urged the Christians in Philippi to be patient in their suffering, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”
And what’s noteworthy is that, in Paul’s life, there was no contradiction between the class-room matters and the field-trip matters. He himself did what he taught. He practiced what he preached. Those believers not only “learned” and “received” things from him in instruction, but they also “heard” and “seen” the same things lived-out in him in action.
That’s the sort of example of the Christian life that we all should be, of course. But it’s the combination of these two things so thoroughly in Paul that has made him such a great example if the Christian life to all Christians throughout the centuries. We all look to lesser examples here and there; but we aren’t left to pick and choose an ultimate example for ourselves. We would most surely pick wrong if we did!
Jesus Christ has walked on this earth as our Lord and Master; and we poor redeemed sinners are to be His followers. We’re to be “Christ followers”; not “Paul followers”. But the authoritative example of what it means to be a poor redeemed sinner who follows Jesus is this very poor and yet very redeemed sinner named Paul. We are to look carefully to the things we have ‘learned’ or ‘received’ or ‘heard’ or ‘seen’ in him; and to measure all other ‘lesser’ examples of the Christian life by the example God has graciously set for us through him.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; that’s the content of this command. But next, notice . . .
2. THE KEEPING OF THIS COMMAND.
He wrote, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do . . .” These aren’t bits and pieces of ‘class-room instruction’ and ‘field-trips’ that are to simply be kept in our heads and in our hearts and in our spiritual notebooks. They are to be put to action—through our hands and feet and lips and lives—in the arena of daily living.
The main verb of command that Paul used in this verse is one that refers to putting something into practice. And it’s fascinating when you compare it with the main verb of command from the previous verse. Back in verse eight, Paul wrote; ” Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” They were things that the people of God were to “meditate” on—things that they were to give ‘focused consideration’ to. And Paul didn’t just tell his brothers and sisters about what to meditate on, but actually demonstrated them in his own life. They were the things that they had learned, received, heard and seen in him. But now, he tells them to put those things into practice and “do” them. Meditation was to lead to practice—not just once in a while, but as a regular habit of life.
I had the crazy thought, in preparing this sermon, of trying to make a list of what those things were that they were to do—the things they had learned, received, heard and saw in Paul. I quickly realized, of course, that I could never do it and fit it all into one sermon—or even into one series of sermons! I think the best I can do would be to highlight a few examples from this letter.
For example, in the first chapter of his letter, Paul wrote about how God was using his time of imprisonment to spread the gospel. Some were emboldened to preach on his behalf. Others preached his gospel ‘in pretense’—as if to make him feel bad. But he rejoiced either way—affirming that “the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel . . .” (1:12). What an example he gave us of confidence in the sovereignty of God to work through our trials!
Another example is found in how he didn’t know whether he would be released from prison, or would be executed. But he had great confidence in Christ—that if he lived, he’d live on to serve God’s people; but if he was put to death, he’d go immediately to the Lord. And so he could say, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (1:21). I wonder how many suffering Christians have been encouraged to stay true to Christ even while facing death by Paul’s wonderful example.
In chapter 2, he talked about following the self-sacrificing example of the Lord Jesus Christ—who humbled Himself to the death of the cross in order to be our Redeemer. He talked about how we are to be like Jesus in having an unselfish attitude toward one another, and in preferring one another before ourselves. Paul was able to say, “Yes, and if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all” (2:17). Paul followed the example of Jesus; and his faithfulness in doing so has inspired countless Christians to go into the mission fields of humble, sacrificial service for others.
In chapter 3, Paul talked about how he used to boast in his own works of righteousness. But he went on to explain how he forsook all those works and counted them loss for Christ. He wrote, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith . . .” (3:8-9). Only God Himself could know how many people have been delivered from the bondage of man-made religion and works-righteousness through Paul’s example of faith in God’s grace through Christ alone!
We could go on and on and on—talking about Paul’s example of devotion to Scripture, his faithfulness in prayer, his preaching in the face of danger, and his sacrifice in service to God’s people. If we would want to fill our minds and hearts with all that there is to learn and receive and hear and see in Paul, then we need to be regular readers of the Bible—not just Paul’s letters that are found in the Bible; but as I’m sure Paul himself would stress to us, the whole counsel of God which he sought to follow!
But in learning all these things that Paul’s example sets before us, we must take them out of the realm of theory and put them into the realm of practice. As he himself stresses, we must “do” them.
* * * * * * * * * *
And finally, look at why. The reason that Paul would want for us to imitate his walk is not so that we would experience him—but so that we will experience Another. Look at what he tells us is . . .
3. THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS COMMAND.
” . . . and the God of peace will be with you.” In verse 7, he told us that if we let our concerns be known to God, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” But here, he tells us that it won’t just be that we will experience “peace”. He promises that the God of peace Himself—the very God who gives peace—will be with us. It’s as if our wonderful Savior and Lord gives us His own peace; and then stays right there with us to make sure we keep on experiencing that unending supply of peace that only He can minister to us.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; following the example that God has set before us through His servant Paul isn’t really an optional matter. Paul sets before us poor, weak, fallen, redeemed sinners the pattern of the Christian life that leads to the actual experience of the very joy of Jesus Christ Himself in our daily lives.
May God help us to be good students—and what’s more, good practitioners—of Paul’s example of life to us. Because the promise of God to us through Paul is this:
The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).