Is there a perfect church? Have you found it? Lets read on...
There are some bachelors who are looking out for the perfect
wife; some ladies are looking out for the perfect husband. There are some Christians
looking out for the perfect church! There is no such place here on earth but
one day we will have it in heaven.
I want us to look at the church in Philippi. Paul is writing to them full of love and
affection. They have a special place in his heart.
Phil 1:3 I thank God very time I think of you. Maybe he had
Lydia and family in mind. In Acts 16:14 we see how Lydia gets saved amongst
others.
Verse 4. He prayed for them with joy. Are we full of joy when we pray for people?
There are some
lessons we can learn from the Philippians.
1. Verse 5. They partnered
with him. They were with him in his mission.
Verse 8. He longed for them. He was not a detached apostle
but had a deep love in his heart for them.
Acts 16:33 The Philippians jailer was saved and so was his
family.
2 .Phil 1:9 Not only does he love and pray for them, the Philippians
prayed for him too. They were a people
of prayer.
3. Phil 2:12 they were obedient. A higher level of
commendation is that they were obedient
in his absence as well.
4. They were living at a high standard. Acts 3:15-16 He commends
their life style. He commended their leaders, elders and saints.
5. Phil 1:9 That your love may abound more and more”. They were a loving people.
6. Phil 4:14-16 They were a generous people. They were only one who supported him even in
Thessalonica. They even sent Ephaphrodites. With gifts for Paul.
When Paul wrote to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians,
Galatians he wrote to correct doctrinal errors that needed to be corrected. eg)
Gal is a stiff strong letter. Gal 5:12 – very strong language.
Gal 2:16 He summaries the gospel
Gal 3:24 the purpose of the law is to lead us to Christ that
we may be justified by faith.
With the Philippians there was no doctrinal deviation.
The Corinthians had divisions. Dis unity. 1Cor 1:10, 1Cor
5:1 Sexual immorality in the church that is worse than the outsiders!
If there was no
correction to the Philippians what was the purpose of the letter? Although
it seems calm on the surface Paul wants to address something that is hiding in the
background.
He is addressing the
deadly poison of disunity, discord and conflict that is lurking. We get glimpses
of this in Phil1:27, Phil 4:1-3 We see it more obviously. I plead with Euodia
and Syntche to agree with each other.
Verse 3 tells us that they were no ordinary woman but
contenders for the gospel! Paul was addressing the lurking danger of disunity. This
is not just for the Philippians but for all of us.
Phil 2:1-4 Paul lists out the motives for unity. He lists
out the marks of unity and the means of unity.
Paul is in prison writing this letter. The key thing is that Paul wanted the church united. This was the
thrust of what he was writing. We shall look at it in detail next week.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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