In last Sundy’s sermon at TDF, we talked about the fact that God-fearers are greater than history-makers. Though we may not see the results of our labors, God has promised to amplify our influence and to use us in ways greater than we know. A great example is David Brainerd, who died at age 29 without seeing much success in his ministry. His greatst work, however, occurred after his death.

Brainerd was orphaned at age 14. At age 21, he dedicated himself fully to Jesus Christ. He enrolled in Yale University, but was expelled for criticizing his tutor. He tried to get back in, but the school wouldn’t let him re-enroll. He developed a burden for the Native Americans in New England, and he determined to do what he could to meet their needs, befriend them, and share the Gospel with them. He worked so hard that he wore himself out, developed tuberculosis, and died young. During his lifetime he saw only a small handful of conversions attributed to his preaching and his ministry.

But Jonathan Edwards was so deeply moved by David Brainerd’s life that his passion was stirred, his prayer life was deepened, and his ministry was inflamed. That led to the Great Awakening, which turned America from infidelity and secularism to Christ.

In England, a man named William Carey was so moved by the story of Brainerd that he dedicated himself to go to India as a missionary; and Carey is known today as the Father of Missions and the founder of the modern missionary movement.

Henry Martyn read the life of Brainerd and devoted himself to a famous career of missionary endeavor in India.

In Scotland, Robert Murray McCheyne read the story of Brainerd and his prayers and sermons brought national revival to his land.

Robert Moffat and David Livingstone read Brainerd’s story and were so moved that they opened darkest Africa to the Gospel.

In the twentieth century, Jim Elliot read Brainerd’s story and was so moved that he and his compatriots dedicated themselves to reach the Auca Indians of Equator, in what came to be one of the most widely-reported missionary endeavors of our lifetimes.

And today at Yale University – the university that expelled David Brainerd and would not let him re-enroll – there is a wing of the great building of the divinity school named in his honor– the only building at Yale to be named for a student who was expelled.

God fearers are greater than history makers, and our works will follow us.

(Some of this material was adapted from William D. Gale, Through Sunshine and Shadows (Cincinnati, Ohio: 2004), 89-99).

Whew! The last few weeks have stretched my nerves a little bit. Katrina’s recovery has been slower and longer than we had expected, but I’m happy to report that the last few days have been more encouraging. She’s still unable move herself from place to place; but once she has gotten into position, she gets busy and manages to get a lot done. She’s doing her therapy each day and getting back to her routines. Her nausea has lessened and her strength is slowly coming back. We can’t wait for the doctor to let her begin using her arms again. Last Saturday was our 34th wedding anniversary, so we’re going to Atlanta this Thursday, eat at our favorite restaurant, and stay overnight in our favorite hotel.

In the meantime, I’ve been working hard on my sermon series/book about angels, my Exodus sermons for TDF, and my upcoming Christmas and January messages. I’m also working on a couple of book projects that need increasing amounts of attention. Last week was our annual staff retreat, which was exhausting but productive.

I have to guard carefully against those little moments when a straw lands on me that breaks the camel’s back. I’ll confess to a moment of frustration yesterday in the checkout line at Krogers. They didn’t have enough lanes open, and I was worn out from my hour of grocery shopping. I tried one lane, then another, finally finding one that seemed shortest. The woman in front of me was almost done, and I crammed all my groceries on the conveyer belt.

But that woman…. she had already questioned how several items had scanned and now she was sure the bread was mispriced by fifty cents. She discussed it at some length with the cashier, and I had the smallest sense that my blood pressure was rising. The woman dug out her Krogers card (why do we have to carry around cards all the time to get ten cents off our toilet paper?). The customer discussed the situation with her companion and then again with the cashier as they decided what to do. The cashier scanned the Kroger card again but the bread was still fifty cents off.

The cashier sent the bag boy to check the price of the bread, and if he had walked any slower he would have gone backwards. By the time he got to the bread aisle he forgot what he had been sent to look for. He wandered around in a daze and finally sauntered back saying he couldn’t remember exactly which loaf to check. My ice cream was starting to melt. The cashier and bag boy inspected the loaf again and wondered what to do. Finally she called for someone important to come from customer service to solve the problem. By and by, here came customer service who I thought would say, “Give the woman her bread and get her out of here.” Instead it was, “I’ll have to go back to the bread department and see what the sticker says on the shelf. Now which loaf of bread was it?”

That’s when I threw up my hands, said “Oh my goodness!” and turned and walked out of the store with my groceries sitting on the belt. Frankly, I don’t intend to go back and get them.

I guess this is an honest admission. I can get impatient with the best of them. But every caregiver knows these things happen, and I’m only glad I’ve lived long enough to know when to make a strategic exit. Sometimes it’s better to walk away before you say something you really regret. Walking away is always better than blowing up.

Of course, we are running low on toilet paper…

Introduction: In a recent edition of the Washington Post, columnist George Will warned that time is running out for the Middle East. Hamas has tens of thousands of rockets in Gaza, all aimed at Israel. Hezbollah has up to 60,000 missiles in southern Lebanon aimed at Israel. Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, and Iranian leaders claim they need only a solitary nuclear device because tiny Israel is a “one-bomb country.” And if Israel makes any moves to defend itself, it’s treated like a villian in the world press and by the United Nations.  What we read in alarm in our headlines corresponds to what we read prophetically in our Bibles.

Review: Revelation 6 – 18 describes the Great Tribulation, and the material is linked by three visions: Seven seals (chapters 6-7), seven trumpets (8-11), and seven bowls of wrath (chapters 15-16). Between the trumpets and the bowls is an extended parenthesis of chapters 12, 13, and 14 that tell us about the antichrist and his campaign to exterminate Israel.

Verse 1: The woman here represents the nation of Israel. The sun and moon speak of her splendor as God’s chosen nation; the twelve stars point to the twelve tribes. The description of this woman is reminiscent of Joseph’s vision in Genesis 37.

Verse 2: The woman “Israel” produced the Messiah, the baby born in Bethlehem.

Verse 3: The red dragon represents Satan, “that ancient serpent, the devil” (v. 9). Satan has always sought to obliterate Christ by destroying His lineage before birth (such as the attempt to annihilate the Jews in the days of Esther), destroying Him at the time of His birth (as in Herod’s order to kill the boys of Bethlehem), and having Him crucified at the end of His ministry.

Verse 4: Three chapters in the Bible go a long way in helping us understand the devil: Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12. By putting these chapters together we can reconstruct a reasonable profile of the person of Satan. He was a powerful angel who rebelled against God when “wickedness was found” in him. He led a rebellion among the hosts of heaven. He tried to destroy the Messiah the moment He was born.

Verse 5: Here in a single verse is the 33-year earthly life of Christ. He was born; He did the work necessary to fulfill prophecy; He ascended to heaven at the end of His work and was snatched back up to God and to the throne; and He will one day rule the nations with an iron scepter. (The Greek word for “snatched up” is the same for “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4, regarding the rapture of the church. This tells us that the ascension of Christ into heaven was a prototype for the rapture of the church.)

Verse 6a: When attacked during the Great Tribulation, a remnant of Israel will flee to the desert to a place prepared for her by God (some believe this will be the Jordanian city of Petra), where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days, or three and a half years.

Verse 6b: To understand this verse, remember that in the Old Testament the prophets skipped over the Age of the Church. They predicted the coming of Christ, but there was nothing about the church. They described the first and second coming of Christ as though it were one event with no gap for the Age of Grace. God didn’t reveal that information to them. Ephesians 3 says it was God’s secret, a mystery that He didn’t reveal to other generations. Reading Revelation 12 is like reading the Old Testament. The action here doesn’t concern the church, and the writer just skips over the church age. In verse 5, we have the ascension of Christ and in verse 6 we have the Great Tribulation. The 2000-year church age occurs between verses 6 and 7.

Verse 7-9: At this point, war will break out in the heavenly zones. As incredible as it sounds, right now Satan and his demons still have some access to heaven (1 Kings 22:19-22 and Job 1 and 2 and Zechariah 3:1). At this point in the Great Tribulation, Satan and his armies will make a direct frontal attack on heaven. But Michael and the armies of heaven will repel the attack, expelling Satan once and for all from heavenly access.

Verses 10-12: At that moment a great announcement will be made in heaven, proclaiming the defeat of the serpent and claiming victory, authority, and power for Christ.

Verses 13 – 16: Filled with fury, Satan will redouble his attack on Israel, but he cannot seem to find or destroy this core group of Jews who are hiding in the desert. God will protect them for these three and a half years. (Verse 14 might be a prophetic reference to airplanes, for somehow this Jewish remnant will be airlifted to safety).

Verse 17: In a rage, Satan will his attention on the remainder of the Jews and on the tribulation saints, on those who have been saved during the Great Tribulation.

Closing summary: The synopsis of Revelation 12 has to do with the nation of Israel during the Great Tribulation. Israel is the nation that gave birth to the Messiah. Satan tried to destroy the Messiah, not just as His birth but through His life and especially on the cross. When Jesus died, Satan thought He had won. But Jesus conquered death and ascended back to Heaven’s throne. After the age of the church (which isn’t referred to in this narration any more than it was in the Old Testament), Satan will launch a full-fledged war against heaven. He’ll be repelled and thrown out once and for all. Being hurled down to earth, he will again seek to annihilate the nation of Israel. But the people of Israel, or at least a remnant of them, will flee to a place of safety in the desert, and the devil will be unable to destroy them during the Great Tribulation. At that point, Satan will turn his attention to those who have been saved during the Tribulation and unleash the full force of his wrath against them.

I’ve had a hard time waking up and getting started this Saturday morning. It was an exhausting week, and I’ve felt vexed juggling church work, writing deadlines, family responsibilities, and care-giving. But last night and again this morning, I picked up a book I’d purchased in a London shop earlier this year.

It told the story of Martin Rinkart, a German pastor in the early 1600s. It was his misfortune to minister in the worst of times. He lived in a walled town into which hoards of refugees poured during the Thirty Years’ War. Great armies crossed the land, pillaging shops and farms, leaving ruin and desolation behind. Farming activities were so interrupted by the war that famine ensued throughout Saxony. Then the plague broke out. The other two ministers in town died, leaving Martin to care for the multitudes alone. All day he went from bed to bed, nursing the sick and comforting the dying. He conducted thousands of funerals, sometimes reading the funeral service over forty or fifty bodies at once. Among the eight thousand who perished in one particular year was his own wife. A year after the war ended, Martin himself died. But he left behind a remarkable hymn—one of my favorites, but one I hadn’t sung or thought about for awhile.

 It’s one of our greatest hymns of – thanksgiving!

 The writing of this hymn must have provided therapy and vigor for Martin’s own spirit. I especially like the prayer in the middle of verse 2: “And guide us when perplexed….”

The first verse is a declaration of praise:

Now thank we all our God,

With hearts and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom His world rejoices;

Who, from our mother’s arms,

Hath blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

 The second verse becomes a prayer:

O may this bounteous God

Through all our life be near us,

With ever-joyful hearts

And blessed peace to cheer us,

And keep us in His grace,

And guide us when perplexed,

And free us from all ills

In this world and the next.

 The last verse is devoted to Trinitarian praise:

All praise and thanks to God

The Father now be given,

The Son, and Him who reigns

With Them in highest heaven:

The one eternal God,

Whom heaven and earth adore;

For thus is was, is now,

And shall be evermore.

 My recounting of the story above was aided by Elsie Houghton, Christian Hymn-Writers (Evangelical Press of Wales, 1982), chapter 4. If you want to hear the melody for this hymn, click here. For information about my own books of hymn stories, click here.

Introduction: Why does the world have so much Christo-phobia? Eastern Michigan University recently expelled a student—a young African-American woman—over her Christian belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. She was in the graduate program in school counseling, and her explusion was upheld by a federal judge. Legal experts say this could lead to the expulsion of potentially thousands of Christian students from universities across the country. It is going to become increasingly difficult to stand for Christ in an age that is characterized by discrimination against believers. But that’s nothing compared to what will happen to two men who stand for the Lord during the Great Tribulation in Revelation 11.

Background: As we open this chapter, we’re still awaiting the seventh trumpet. In chapters 6 and 7, we began the Tribulation judgments with seven seals; and as each seal was broken, a new judgment was unleashed. Then in chapter 8, we moved to the seven trumpets, and so far six of the seven have sounded, each one announcing a new catastrophic judgment on earth. As we get to the beginning of chapter 11, we’re coming to a difficult chapter. Some commentators claim this is the hardest chapter in Revelation to interpret. We may not understand some aspects, partiularly of the timing of this chapter, but it helps if we take it with reasonable literality. This is talking about two real men in a real city (Jerusalem) that has a real temple. These men literally die and are resurrected and taken up to heaven just as the chapter claims.

V. 1-2a: In the interim between the sixth and seventh trumpets, John is told to inspect the temple that has been built in Jerusalem. This is the famous Third Temple, and plans for its construction are being made. The first temple was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians. The second temple was built by Zerubbabel and renovated by Herod the Great and destroyed by the Romans. The Muslims came and built the Dome of the Rock on the site and the al-Aqsa Mosque. But the Bible teaches that during the Great Tribulation, a Third Temple will be sitting in Jerusalem. And if you can believe it, the prospect of that Third Temple is behind all the great world events that are frightening us today. What are we fighting wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan? Because of Al-Queda, which is a fundamentalist Islamic movement that targets nations supporting Israel. Why are we in Iraq and considering going to war in Iran? Because of the Islamic hatred of Israel. Why is the Middle East in turmoil? Because of the presence of tiny Israel. The first time I visited Israel in 1976, I remember walking across the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and my pastor said, “This is powder keg of history.” And it seems to me the fuse is lit. There are forces in the world today that are working day and night to rebuild the Third Temple, even though it would mean the desecration or destruction of the Dome of the rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque and lead to world war. An article appeared last week in the Jewish newspaper Haaretz, featuring an interview with the Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi. The reporter asked him if he still believed the Third Temple would be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and he replied, “Certainly. We believe in that. We pray for that three times a day.” The building of the Third Temple is implied in Matthew 24::15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Here in Revelation 11:1-2, we see this Third Temple standing in Jerusalem and John is told to measure its dimensions and to observe its size and scope.

V. 2b-3: The length of time for the Great Tribulation is given in three different ways as three and a half years: 1260 days, 42 months, three and half years. This corresponds to the predictions in Daniel 9:27. (The entire Tribulation will last seven years; the Great Tribulation is the final half of that period. Commentators are divided about whether Revelation 11:2-3 represent the first half or the second half of the Tribulation).

V. 3-6: During the entire duration of this Great Tribulation, there will be two indestructible witnesses preaching in downtown Jerusalem. These may be contemporary characters who were saved during the tribulation period, or they could be Old Testament characters who descend to the earth with prophetic power. If it’s the latter, some have speculated that it might be Elijah and Moses, since these men will call fire down from heaven as Elijah did in the days of Ahab, and will unleash a series of Exodus-like plagues as Moses did in ancient Egypt. Moses and Elijah were both with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses and Elijah would represent the Law and the Prophets. Since the Bible doesn’t give us their identities, there’s no need to speculate. It is their message and ministry that is important, not necessarily their identity.

V. 7a: This is the first of thirty-six references in Revelation to the antichrist (“the beast”).

V. 7b-11: These two witnesses are finally overcome and slain by the antichrist and his forces, which sparks a worldwide celebration. These verses seem to anticipate the era of television and instant global communication; but the jubilation is cut short because these two witnesses suddenly rise from the dead and ascend to heaven.

V. 12: The cry from above that results in their rapture is “Come up here!” Like the cry of Jesus to Lazarus—“Come forth!” or “Come out!”—this cry gives us an indication of what the Lord will shout when He comes again at the rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

V. 13: As the witnesses ascend to heaven, another great earthquake strikes the earth, and a tenth of Jerusalem is destroyed with 7000 fatalities. The result is that the survivors in Jerusalem, the Jewish population, begins to have a change of heart. Perhaps this is the beginning of a spiritual movement that will lead Israel to Christ when Christ returns, as we read in Zechariah 12-14.

V. 15-18: Now the seventh trumpet sounds, but we aren’t told of what happens on earth at the sounding of the trumpet. Instead the scene shifts to the celebration in heaven and another convocation of worship occurs with loud songs and intense praise.

V. 19: This verse with its description of heavenly pyrotechnics is the prelude to the next several chapters that are an extended parenthesis in the story (chapters 12-14) and introduce us to the seven great personages that will dominate the headlines during the Great Tribulation.

V. 15-18: Now the seventh trumpet sounds, but we aren’t told of what happens on earth at the sounding of the trumpet. Instead the scene shifts to the celebration in heaven and another convocation of worship occurs with loud songs and intense praise.

V. 19: This verse with its description of heavenly pyrotechnics is the prelude to the next several chapters that are an extended parenthesis in the story (chapters 12-14) and introduce us to the seven great personages that will dominate the headlines during the Great Tribulation.

A couple of years ago, Andrea Doering, the outgoing (and outstanding) senior acquisitions editor at Revell Books, asked if I had any ideas for a devotional book based on hymns. I suggested a date-based approach to mining the riches of the hymnbook. I had in mind a cross between the concepts behind two of my other books: “On This Day” and “Then Sings My Soul.”

The result is a brand new devotional book, “Near to the Heart of God,” 366 stories about hymns presented day by day, each on a day connected with that hymn.

Here are some examples from among the January installments:

• You might be surprised to learn that “Amazing Grace” was originally a New Year’s hymn. It was first presented on January 1, 1773, as part of a New Year’s sermon preached by John Newton in Olney, England.
• The wonderful music for the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” was written by Lowell Mason, the “Father of American Church Music,” who was born January 8, 1792.
• The great hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me,” was sung by the perishing passengers aboard the steamship London as it sank in a gale on January 11, 1866.
• B.B. McKinney wrote the powerful invitational hymn, “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go,” during a Sunday School Convention on January 17, 1936, in Clanton, Alabama.
• January 21 is the birthday of Edward Mote, a cabinetmaker and preacher, who wrote the favorite Gospel song, “The Solid Rock” (“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”).

Out of the lives of composers, poets, hymnists, and out of the stories of the hymns themselves come 366 true stories, plus the words of these theological gems we call hymns — all with the purpose of encouraging your day with the deep, timeless truths of our Scriptures and our songbooks.

“Near to the Heart of God” will be released in October. Find out how you can reserve one of the first copies at an incredibly low price by clicking here.

Introduction: Let’s play some Bible trivia. Where in the Bible do you find these verses?

• Rejoice in Lord always
• Don’t be anxious about anything but pray about everything
•  I have learned to be content in any & every cirircumstace
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
• My God will supply all your needs out of the riches of His glorious grace
  

They are all in Philippians 4. This is the chapter that tells us how to be an uplifter. In Guideposts Magazine Donald Vairin of Oceanside, California, told of serving as a young hospital corpsman in the invasion of Guam during World War II.  Suddenly his boat came to a grinding halt.  They had hit a coral reef, and the commanding officer ordered everyone off the ship. Donald jumped into the ocean and sank like a rock, his carbine rifle, medical pack, canteen, and boots dragging him down.  He forced himself to the surface, gasping for air, only to sink again.  He tried to pull off his boots, but the effort exhausted him, and he suddenly realized he wasn’t going to make it. Just then he saw a man thrashing in the water next to him, and in desperation he clutched onto him.  That proved enough to hold him up and get him to the reef where he was picked up by a rescue boat.  But Donald felt so guilty about grabbing the drowning man to save himself that he never told anyone what had happened. About six months later on shore leave in San Francisco, he stopped in a restaurant.  A sailor in uniform waved him over to sit with him, and as he did so he announced to his friends, “This is my buddy.  He saved my life.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Donald.
“Don’t you remember,” said the man.  “We were in the water together at Guam.  You grabbed on to me.  I was going down, and you held me up.”
Paul and the Philippians were holding each other up; and that’s what we, too, are called to do and to be. As uplifters, we need:

1. Consistency (v. 1) – Compare this verse with Philippians 1:27. We get the idea that Philippians 1:1-26 is an extended personal introduction, and that Paul doesn’t start the body of the letter until 1:27: Conduct youselves in a manner worth of the Gospel… Stand firm…. That theme of “standing firm” unfolds through chapters 2 and 3, and Paul ends the body of the letter in 4:1: Therefore, my brothers…that is how you should stand firm. The remainder of the book is an extended personal conclusion. If the body of the letter is bookended, then, by 1:27 and 4:1, the theme of Philippians is “standing firm.” This is a military term in the Greek, indicating that we are not to abandon our posts during combat. We must remain faithful and consistent in both our beliefs and practices.

2. Congeniality (v. 2-3) – I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in these verses, because I’m curious about the cause of the conflict between these two women. We’ll all witnessed lots of church conflicts. But we can’t uplift others if we’re estranged from them. We’ve got to learn to be congenial even if we don’t always get our way. This is the application of the teaching in chapter 2 about being like-minded.

3. Composure (v. 4-9 – This passage is Paul’s definitive treatment of worry and anxiety, just as Christ had addressed the subject in Matthew 6. We can only uplift others if we ourselves are composed and at peace. This is as close as the apostle ever came to giving a series of “steps” or “bullet points.” The outline seems very clear to me. The way to have inner peace (the peace of God and the God of peace) is to:

A. Rejoice in the Lord
B. Be Gentle
C. Practice the Lord’s nearness
D. Don’t worry, but pray about everything with thanksgiving
E. Think about and meditate on God’s Word, which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.

4. Contentment (v. 10-20) – In this section, Paul is responding to the financial gift sent by the Philippians through Epaphroditus. He reassures them that he is grateful for the gift and it has met his needs, although he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances, for he has learned he can do all things (even be content in poverty and in prison) through Christ. Because of the Philippians’ generosity, he said, God would supply their every need.

5. Christ (v. 20-23) – The book of Philippians ends with a doxology and a blessing. We can be uplifters because Christ has lifted us. He is our all-sufficient Savior. “Once it was the blessing; now it is the Lord.”

Conclusion: There’s an old song that says, “I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, / Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more; / But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, / From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.” We’ve been uplifted to be uplifters.

There was a curious article this week about ministerial exhaustion. It appeared in, of all places, the New York Times. The newspaper reported that clergymen now suffer from obesity, hypertension, and depression at rates higher than the general population (no surprise there), and that in the last decade use of antidepressants has increased among the clergy while life expectancy has fallen. “Many would change jobs if they could,” said the Times. The newspaper wondered why so many men and women of God have become “so unhealthy and unhappy.”

Many pastors and staffers are on call 24/7 and are driven by a sense of duty. Cell phones and social media have invaded the pastor’s quiet zones. Workweeks are long, and the weekends are work. Few pastors take Sabbaths or Sabbaticals, and the “personal boundaries” of church workers are constantly being overtaken by the urgency of other people’s needs.

Experts say there is one simple remedy: Take more time off.

The whole article was aimed at suggesting ministers take a day off a week, regular vacations, and occasional getaways.

For once, I agree with the New York Times. I don’t mind working hard, and for years I was a virtual workaholic. Maybe I still am. But I grew up in a family that took its much-anticipated vacation every year, I love to travel, and I get a lot of joy out of planning my trips away. Furthermore, in the last several years I’ve begun to learn how to take most Saturdays “off.”  My “Sabbath” is from sundown of Friday to sundown of Saturday. Katrina and I almost always have an in-house dinner and movie on Friday nights, and on Saturdays I try not to do anything that feels too much like my regular work. Sometimes on preaching or writing trips, I’ll take an extra day for R & R.

This is biblical. It goes all the way back to the creation when God “rested on the seventh day,” and all the way back to Jesus who told His weary disciples, “Come apart and rest awhile.” The word “rest” is an important biblical concept, and the idea of “stillness” is woven into the contemplative life the Lord wants us to enjoy. Green pastures and still waters are still needed, and those of us in ministry will do well to listen to the apostle Paul’s advice to the Ephesians elders: “Take heed to yourself and to all the flock over which God has appointed you as overseers.”

If we don’t take care of ourselves, how will we take care of God’s flock?

Scripture: All of us how are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that, too, God will make clear to you.  (Philippians 3:15)

Introduction: Many of today’s ills care caused by immaturity. Many of our marriage problems are maturity problems. Ditto our money problems. Many of our relational and vocational problems result from our immaturity. As Christians, we should be growing ever more mature in our personalities, perspectives, and spiritual progress. Philippians 3 gives us seven marks of maturity. As you read through Philippians 3, underline the following seven phrases.

1.  Rejoice in the Lord (v. 1): Mature people learn to work their way through difficulties and arrive at the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. We can’t always rejoice in our circumstances, but we can always rejoice in the Lord. In this prison letter of Philippians, Paul uses the words “joy,” “rejoice,” “glad,” and “cheer” a total of 18 times.

2. Watch out for the Dogs (v. 2): Paul’s blunt language was targeting the Judaizers, who wanted to add Jewish ceremonialism to the doctrine of justification by grace. Right living never comes from wrong thinking. Mature people maintain the integrity of their doctrines and beliefs.

3. Worship by the Spirit (v. 3a): Mature people worship publically, personally, privately, and perpetually.

4. Glory in Christ Jesus (v. 3b): Borrowing from the last verses of Jeremiah 9, Paul tells us to be proud of our relationship with Christ. We should boast only of Him.

5. Put No Confidence in the Flesh (v. 3c-11). We can never establish or maintain a relationship with God based on our own accomplishments or merits. Maturity rests in Christ alone for its spiritual and eternal security.

6. Press on Toward the Goal (v. 12-16). Mature people don’t give up when discouraged. They don’t give in when tempted. And if they do, they quickly get back on their feet. See Proverbs 24:16. We may lose a few battles, but the war it already won on our behalf. He who has begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion (Phil. 1:6), and so we press on the upward way.

7. Eagerly Await the Savior (v. 17-21): Spiritual maturity brings with it daily anticipation. We’re not citizens of earth going to heaven; we’re citizens of heaven traveling through earth, waiting the glorious transformation of our bodies to be like His. The resurrection body of Christ is the proof, provision, pattern, and prototype of our own future  resurrection bodies.

Conclusion: “I’m pressing on the upward way; / New heights I’m gaining every day; / Still praying as I’m onward bound, / Lord plant my feet on higher ground.”

Introduction: Everyone has relationship issues. The best passage in the Bible for dealing with these is arguably the second chapter of the book of Philippians. This chapter has three paragraphs that tell us exactly what to do.

1.  We need the Right Minds (Philippians 2:1-11)

• An Exhortation (v. 1-5): Since we have encouragement from Christ, comfort from His love, fellowship with His Spirit, and since we have His realities of tenderness and compassion, we should be “like-minded.” That doesn’t mean we should have uniformity of opinion on everything, but that we should have an agreeable, cooperative spirit.
• An Example (v. 6-11): Our great example of this is Christ. Let this mind (attitude) be in you which also is in Christ. Verses 6-11 is a poem or hymn, probably composed by Paul, that covers the pre-existence, incarnation, crucifixion, ascension, and glorification of Christ. It’s designed to show us that if Jesus could humble Himself as He did, we should be willing to do the same.

2.  We Need the Right Manners (Philippians 2:12-18): We must let our salvation work its way out in daily practice, doing things without complaining or arguing. If people have to walk on eggshells around us for fear of provoking us, or if we have a history of broken friendships, or if we’re difficult and demanding with others, or if we become embittered with someone—it’s a lack of Christlikeness. It’s God who gives us the desire and the ability to be cooperative and agreeable with others.

3. We Need the Right Models (Philippians 2:19-30): The final paragraph in this chapter gives us two models who demonstrated relational maturity by their lives.

•  Timothy (v. 19-24)
• Epaphroditus (v. 25-30)

Conclusion:  It’s a shame when our relationships break down. We can minimize that and repair many of our relationships (in marriages, families, homes, churches, friendships, and denominations) by having the right mind, exercising the right manners, and emulating the right models.