Scripture: Philippians 4:1-3 I. Church should be a place of fighting against enemies and evil. A. Yes, the apostle Paul thinks that church should be a place of love. Notice all the terms of endearment that Paul piles on top of one another to describe how he feels about the people in the Philippian church…

Scripture: Philippians 3:17-19 I. You do not follow enemies of the cross because they live opposite to Christ’s way. A. Paul makes a bold request in vs. 17: “Brothers, join in imitating me.” He is saying, “If you want an example of what a Christian looks like, look at me. Follow my example.” Paul recognizes…

Scripture: Philippians 3:13-16 I. You grow up in Christ through effort. A. Paul has already made it clear that there is no room for laziness in the Christian life. See Phil. 1:27, 2:12, 2:16. And we Christians are people who are straining (Phil. 3:13). Holiness and righteousness are expected of every Christian. Every Christian has…

Scripture: Philippians 3:9-12 I. If I have Jesus, I gain righteousness. Paul uses the word righteousness twice in verse 9. Righteousness means being in the right with God. Righteousness is from God (vs. 9). In other words, it is a gift from God. 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin…

Scripture: Philippians 3:4-8 I. You have to know what is a loss to be confident in God’s presence. A. Paul uses the word confidence twice in verse 4. What does Paul mean by confidence here? He is talking about confidence in the presence of God. The Judaizers apparently found their confidence in the flesh to…

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-3 I. You grow in joy through a relationship with Jesus. A. Remember where Paul says that joy can be found in verse 1: Rejoice in the Lord. If you want to grow in joy, you have to know where to look for it. And joy is found in Jesus. All joy-seekers are…

Scripture: Philippians 2:12-18 I. You and God together need to work out your salvation. A. Which is it, Paul? Is it me who works or is it God who works? And Paul’s answer is yes. It’s both. God works and you work (vs. 12 and 13). We work out. God works in. This means that…

Scripture: Philippians 2:9-11 I. God lifted Jesus up because God always exalts the humble. A. Because Jesus emptied himself in humility, because Jesus was obedient to God the Father, because Jesus died on the cross, therefore (vs. 9) God highly exalted him. In the ascension, God makes a value judgment about Jesus. Nothing else would do…

Scripture: Philippians 2:1-4 I. Look out to God for joy. A. In verse 1 Paul lists the facts about what every Christian has experienced. Where do all of these blessings listed in verse 1 come from? God! These blessings of verse 1 come from the three persons in the one God. Notice how similar verse…

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30 I. You live worthy of the Gospel by fighting together for the Gospel. A. Paul begins verse 27 with the word only. He is saying, “I want you to focus on this one thing and one thing only.” Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. He is…