Philippians 4: 1-4 Analysis
Let’s open our Bibles together to Philippians 3. We are continuing our series entitled “Joyful Living”. Today we are going to be looking at Philippians 4:1-4. The title of my sermon is: “Resolving Conflicts God’s Way”. In Philippians 4:1-4, Paul addressees the problem of disunity in the church and gives us some practical and valuable advices on how to resolve relational conflicts God’s way. (read).
“William Borah was a prominent Republican Senator from Idaho. Everyone who knew Idaho’s Senator respected him for his integrity. However, they also knew him as a tough individualist who seldom teamed up with anyone else. As a Senator, Borah was dedicated to principles rather than party loyalty. On several occasions he opposed the policies of the …show more content…
Some of them were moving in a direction contrary to God’s plan. Paul’s instructions in chapter 4 verses 2 through 4 address this concern. It is important to keep in mind Paul’s purpose in writing this letter. Philippians is a thank you note from Paul. While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, the Philippian church had sent him a financial gift and Paul writes back to thank them for their support. But Philippians is more than a mere thank you letter. Paul also uses this occasion to deal with the Philippians discouragement over his imprisonment, their own suffering for the gospel, and disunity in the church. Paul’s goal was to help the Philippians replace their anxiety with joy. He states his consolatory strategy in his prayer in 1:9-11. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. The phrase “what is best” simply means “things that matter”. The Philippian believers have failed to distinguish the things that matter from those that do not, and in doing so they became discouraged. Paul teaches the Philippians that they will be able to replace their anxiety with joy once they are able to discern what is
“William Borah was a prominent Republican Senator from Idaho. Everyone who knew Idaho’s Senator respected him for his integrity. However, they also knew him as a tough individualist who seldom teamed up with anyone else. As a Senator, Borah was dedicated to principles rather than party loyalty. On several occasions he opposed the policies of the …show more content…
Some of them were moving in a direction contrary to God’s plan. Paul’s instructions in chapter 4 verses 2 through 4 address this concern. It is important to keep in mind Paul’s purpose in writing this letter. Philippians is a thank you note from Paul. While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, the Philippian church had sent him a financial gift and Paul writes back to thank them for their support. But Philippians is more than a mere thank you letter. Paul also uses this occasion to deal with the Philippians discouragement over his imprisonment, their own suffering for the gospel, and disunity in the church. Paul’s goal was to help the Philippians replace their anxiety with joy. He states his consolatory strategy in his prayer in 1:9-11. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. The phrase “what is best” simply means “things that matter”. The Philippian believers have failed to distinguish the things that matter from those that do not, and in doing so they became discouraged. Paul teaches the Philippians that they will be able to replace their anxiety with joy once they are able to discern what is