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The Meaning of Contentment (
Philippians #16)
Christ Church on October 1, 2023
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That Passes Understanding (
Philippians #15)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Paul is following his typical pattern here. He loves to conclude his epistles with a set of rapid-fire exhortations, which is what he is doing here in our passage. The two larger themes to take away from this would be peace and purity—the peace of God, and purity of heart. These are the two main points to take away with us today. God wants His people protected from anxiety, and He wants them to cultivate purity of mind. 

THE TEXT

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:4–9). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Christian has a solemn obligation to live a life of joy (v. 4). Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord all the time, and then he anchors the point a second time—rejoice (v. 4). He then says that Christians are to be steady people, and that their steady moderation should be visible to others (v. 5). Why? Because the Lord is at hand. One of the things that interferes with joy is anxiety, and so he then says to be anxious for nothing (v. 6). Rather than be anxious, he says that we are to present our requests to God with “prayer and supplication”—with thanksgiving. If you do this, then the peace of God—beyond our understanding—will protect your hearts and minds through Christ (v. 7). Thus protected, what are we supposed to do then? We are to set our minds to run a particular course. We are to think (logizomai) on certain objects. What should those objects be like? They should be true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue or any praise. Pay attention to how wide ranging this is. Look at the “whatsoever” and “if there be any.” Those descriptions should be applied across the board. Paul then pronounces a blessing on those who do what they have learned, received, heard, and observed (v. 9). If they do this, then the peace of God—the guardian of their hearts and minds earlier—will accompany them. 

FREEDOM FROM ANXIETY

Worry is a basic challenge that many Christians struggle with. One of the reasons we have so much trouble is that we have a tendency to take this verse and pull it inside out. We have an anxiety and so we pray and pray and pray. What we are doing actually is worrying on our knees. This happens because we imagine the peace of God to be down inside us somewhere, and we try to arrange and configure our hearts and minds so as to protect that deep, inner peace of God. But this is exactly backwards. Notice that Paul says the peace of God protects our hearts and minds, not that our hearts and minds protect the peace of God.

The peace of God is the armor we must put on. The peace of God is the helmet that protects your head. The peace of God is the breastplate that protects your innards. Your head is not the helmet. Your stomach is not made of bronze. 

So how do we put the armor on? Paul tells us the basic steps here. 1. Don’t exclude anything. If it is big enough to trouble you, it is not too small to bring to God—“in every thing.” 2. Present your requests to God. Lay them all out. 3. With thanksgiving. This is often the missing piece. When you are done laying out your worries before God, find a place where you can sing a hymn of thanksgiving. You don’t simply thank God after He answers your prayers. You should thank Him, really thank Him, before He does. Remember that you are dealing with two things here—your prayer about “the issue,” and your “anxiety about the issue.”

TRUE AND LOVELY

Now this next part of the passage—whatever is true, whatever is lovely—applies to absolutely everyone here. We all must take it to heart. But I want to take a moment to address you young people on this topic. This is because you have been flattered into thinking that none of this applies to you, and yet it actually applies especially to you.  

If your Spotify playlist has at least one song that has that explicit warning attached, then you are not nearly as wise as you think you are. And this applies more broadly as well. It applies to the books you read, the TikTok videos you watch, the movies you take in, and the web sites you visit. And of course it applies to porn and almost porn. It is a bad business for someone to gunk up his brains at any time of life, but your brains are still growing into a particular shape—the concrete is still wet. Do you really want a patio with that many dried waves in it? And whether or not your folks were too careless in letting you run feral in cyber-space, you are still Christians with your own set of responsibilities before God. Stop putting dog doo in your salads, and then feeling virtuous because you know how to eat around the worst bits.  

C.S. Lewis made the point this way:

“Literature exists to teach what is useful, to honour what deserves honour, to appreciate what is delightful” (The Discarded Image, p. 214).

CHRIST IS THE PEACE OF GOD

In verse 7, it says the peace of God will do its guarding of our hearts and minds through Christ. We are told in Ephesians to put on the full armor of God. The helmet of salvation—well, Christ is our salvation (Eph. 6:17; Is. 59:17). We are to have the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14). Well, Christ is the truth (John 14:6). Our breastplate is righteousness (Eph. 6:14; Is. 59:17), and Christ is our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). Our feet are shod with the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), and Christ is the gospel. We have the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16), and we are saved by the faith of Christ Jesus (Gal. 2:16). When we put on this armor, we are putting on Christ. When we walk in this way, we are walking with Christ, who always accompanies us. 

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Angels and a Prison Break (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #19) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

When we began this series, we said that Acts is the continuing adventures of Jesus, that Acts is a book of action and adventure driven by the Spirit of God, and here we see that point in high relief. Walking with God is the greatest adventure.

The Text: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:1-25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After killing James (one of the sons of thunder), Herod arrested Peter and put him under close guard, intending to put him to death after Easter (Passover) (Acts 12:1-4). The whole church was praying to God for Peter, and if this is referring to the Jewish Passover, and if Herod was planning to kill Peter the very next day, then that “same night” would be the Saturday of our Christian Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead (Acts 12:5-6).

Guarded by four soldiers and chains, an angel of the Lord appeared in the prison, struck Peter on the side (presumably to wake him up), and the chains fell from his hands and following the angel’s instructions, he was led out of the prison, with the iron gate of the city opening by itself (Acts 12:7-10). Thinking it was a vision, when Peter was fully awake, he realized he had been delivered from Herod and the Jews and went to one of the houses where he knew they would be praying (Acts 12:11-12). Knocking at the gate, a young lady named Rhoda recognized Peter’s voice and told the disciples but they didn’t believe her, saying it was merely Peter’s angel (Acts 12:13-15). After knocking some more, they finally opened the door, were astonished, and heard his story, before he disappeared, and the next day there was a fierce commotion at the prison (Acts 12:16-19). 

This episode closes with pagan politics, manipulation and flattery among the people of Tyre and Sidon, which ends with the people calling Herod a god and the angel of the Lord shows up once more to strike him with worms that kill him (Acts 12:20-23). And the word of God continued to multiply and Saul and Barnabas returned to Antioch with John Mark (Acts 12:24-25).

A BRIEF THEOLOGY OF ANGELS

God may have created angels when He said let there be light, or since there is a close connection between stars and angels in Scripture (Jdg. 5:20, Lk. 2:13), maybe they were made on the fourth day with the other heavenly lights, but regardless, they sang for joy as God created the world (Job 38:7). 

Cherubim are sphinx-like creatures, having some sort of beastly body with different faces (lion, eagle, ox, man), having arms like men and large wings (Ez. 1, 10). They guarded the entrance of the garden (Gen. 3:24) and their carved forms were over the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 37:7). 

Seraphim are dragon-like creatures with six wings and famously cleansed Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal (Is. 6), and their name means “burning ones.” In Numbers 21, God sent “fiery serpents” (literally “seraphim serpents”) to bite the people and many died. When the people pray for deliverance, God instructs Moses to make a bronze “seraph” and pierce it on a pole, and all who look upon it are healed (Num. 21:7-9).  

The only other kind of angels appear as shining men (e.g. Gabriel, Michael, armies), and the “Angel of the Lord” is God Himself, the second person of the Trinity (e.g. Gen. 18, 32:24ff, Ex. 3:2ff, Josh. 5:13, Dan. 3:25). The angels of God are described as being “ministers of flame” (Ps. 104:4) whom God gives assignments to guard and protect His people (Ps. 91, sometimes incognito, e.g. Heb. 13:2), particularly the weak and vulnerable (Gen. 16, Mt. 18:10). The Bible also describes the spirits of people as having a similar appearance to their bodies (e.g. Samuel, 1 Sam. 28:14). And it may be that this is what the disciples are referring to when they heard Rhoda’s report that Peter is at the door. 

SUPERNATURAL WORLD

Related to the fact that angels really do exist: we live in a magical world. God created the world in six days by His spoken word, and He upholds all things by the word of His power (Gen. 1, Heb. 1). This means we live in God’s personal world, not an impersonal machine. This doesn’t negate the ordinary order of creation, but sometimes God suspends His usual patterns and donkeys talk, men ride into heaven in fiery whirlwinds, the sun stands still, men survive fiery furnaces, a man may walk on water, and sometimes chains fall apart and gates open by themselves, and men are supernaturally struck with worms (Acts 12:7, 23).

CONCLUSION: DELIVERED OUT OF THEM ALL

According to tradition, Peter was eventually crucified upside down in Rome under Nero, but here he disappears from the pages of Scripture a wanted man, with his letters as the only other evidence of his ongoing ministry. But Peter is clearly presented here as a type of the resurrection life that all believers are promised in Christ: sealed and guarded in a prison as good as a tomb, struck on the side, and broken out by God’s miraculous power. As Paul says at the end of his life: “Persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution… And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom…” (2 Tim. 3:11-12, 4:17).

Stories disciple our imaginations and faith. Immerse yourself in the stories of the Bible but also stories that stoke biblical imagination: Dante (Divine Comedy), Edmund Spenser (Fairy Queen), John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress), C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Ransom Trilogy), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings), John Buchan (Richard Hannay series), P.G. Wodehouse, N.D. Wilson, etc. 

By faith, we conquer armies and endure great hardships (Heb. 11). Some are murdered by the sword; others are delivered from the sword. Some go to glory devoured by lions; some tame them. Jesus has the keys to death and Hades (Rev. 1) and His angels guard our every step (Ps. 91). He is the captain of the Lord’s Hosts, and this is how the Church and the Kingdom grow (Acts 12:24). Walking in the light is walking with God and His angels. And all will be well.  

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Likeminded at the Pinch Point 
(Philippians #14)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Everybody thinks that likemindedness is a wonderful thing, and everyone approves of it in the abstract. Behold how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. Oil in Aaron’s beard, and all that (133:1). But we then get caught in what might be called the likemindedness dilemma. We approve of likemindedness when we are not in need of the virtue that makes it possible. And when we are genuinely in need of that virtue, we start to feel like likemindedness is not really “realistic.”

THE TEXT

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:1–3). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is now gearing up for his conclusion to the epistle. And so he addresses the Philippians as “brethren, dearly beloved and longed for” (v. 1). In addition, he calls them his “joy and crown,” just before he urges them to stand fast in the Lord—and then he calls them “dearly beloved” again (v. 1). He says something very similar to the Thessalonians (e.g. joy and crown): “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Paul then turns to a very practical problem in the church. Two women—who had been co-laborers with Paul in the gospel—had had a falling out. We know their names—Euodias and Syntyche—and we know that they were dear to Paul, and that their names were in the book of life, together with some others (v. 3). What we don’t know is what the quarrel was about, or who was in the right. Paul doesn’t go into that, and yet urges them to like-mindedness anyhow (v. 2). They were good Christian women, and had helped Paul, together with Clement and others. The dispute was apparently one in which it was not necessary to go into the details.

THE GALATIONS 6:1 DILEMMA

Here is a basic principle to remember. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

Quarrels erupt when a brother is overtaken in a fault, or when we think a brother is overtaken in a fault. But whether he is at fault, or we only think he is, the injunction that Paul gives us here applies. The erring brother should be restored by someone who is 1. spiritual 2. coming in a spirit of meekness, and 3. mindful of his own vulnerabilities.

The problem is that when you meet these requirements, you are qualified to correct—but have no motivation to correct. And when you are motivated to correct, it is usually because of a disqualification in one or more of these three areas. You are not spiritual, not meek, or not considering yourself. 

This applies to child rearing, by the way. When you are motivated to let the kids have it, you are not qualified. And when you are qualified, it does seem like kind of a hassle to get out of your chair and go deal with it. When you feel like yelling, you aren’t qualified, and when you are qualified to be yelling, you don’t want to. Child discipline must therefore be a matter of obedience, and not be something that runs on an emotional platform.  

FAULTS, REAL & IMAGINED

Now these situations are tough enough without us adding extra temptations to the pile. With this many sinners in the room, and in the community, there are bound to be thousands of bumps and bruises. Not only are there actual bumps and bruises, there are also the self-inflicted bumps and bruises. These occur when you imagine why your friend didn’t text you back, after you had texted her three times. You get yourself worked up into a state over it, because if you didn’t text somebody back after they had texted you three times, it would be because you were furious with them. Or perhaps it was because they went boating, and she dropped her phone in the lake (Prov 18:17).

We have enough work to do when we limit ourselves to real offenses. The Lord said that each day has enough trouble of its own, and so we shouldn’t create new and unnecessary ones. So in the same spirit, every relationship has enough troubles—sufficient unto the relationship are the grievances thereof. Love hopes all things, believes all things (1 Cor. 13:7). This means that before you know the whole story, the only speculation you are allowed to indulge in would be the speculation that is exculpatory. You should busy yourself making excuses for the other person. You will not always be correct, but the number of your quarrels will go down.

But when the offense is real, what then? When your brother or sister really has sinned against you, how do we avoid quarrels then? The first way is to let love cover it (Prov. 10:12; 1 Pet. 4:8). This is to sweep things under the carpet . . . but it must be a magic love carpet. This kind of carpet dissolves anything that is swept under it. The carpet doesn’t get lumpy over time. But if the sin is significant enough that it wouldn’t be healthy for anybody to let it ride, then what you do is follow the process laid out in Matthew 18:15-17. These are the only two legitimate options—cover or confront. What isn’t on the table is complaining about it to others.

AVOIDING QUARRELS AS GOSPEL PROCLAMATION

When we stay well away from rancor—whether over promotions, parking spots, or politics—we are doing so on the basis of gospel imitation. 

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31–32).

How are we supposed to be toward one another? Kind. Tenderhearted. Forgiving. Then we are told this is the way Christ was with us. Because Christ was kind to us, because He was tenderhearted toward us, and because He forgave us, so we also as Christians are called to a life of imitation. As the master in the parable forgave his servant an enormous sum (Matt. 18:21-35), so also we are to forgive those comparatively small amounts that we owe one another.

As we do this, we are showing the world what the aroma of forgiveness though Christ is actually like. And that is a gospel aroma.  

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The King’s People (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #18) (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

After the resurrection, Jesus said that since all authority had been given to Him, the apostles were to “therefore, go” disciple all the nations of the world. The center and most essential point of this mission is the regeneration of individual hearts. But the Bible teaches that this ordinarily happens through public and private, national and individual, external and internal means, all of which is not neat and tidy. The story of Peter and Cornelius demonstrates this, as does the controversy following. Jesus is at work by His Spirit ruling through the challenges and opportunities of making a new people and saving the nations of the world. 

The Text: “And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him…” (Acts 11:1-30). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Those Jewish believers who thought that Gentiles must be circumcised to fully join the people of God contended with Peter when he came back to Jerusalem, questioning him specifically about eating with Cornelius (Acts 11:1-3). Peter responded by retelling the story of his vision of the animals in the sheet, and God’s instruction not to call them common or unclean (Acts 11:4-10). Then Peter recalls the Spirit’s instructions to go with the men from Cornelius, and Cornelius’s own testimony of the angel’s instructions to call for Peter, to learn how his household might be saved (Acts 11:11-14). Peter said he just started preaching when the Spirit fell upon them, and he recalled Jesus promising the baptism of the Holy Spirit and concluded it was from God – and the Jewish believers agreed and glorified God (Acts 11:15-18).

Meanwhile, when the believers had been scattered after the death of Stephen, some landed in Antioch, and many Jews and Gentiles believed (Acts 11:19-21). So the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to encourage them, who did so, and who then also invited Saul to join him in that work (Acts 11:22-26). It was there in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians, and it was in those days that the Spirit indicated that there would be a severe famine and so an offering was collected for the saints and delivered by Saul and Barnabas (Acts 11:27-30). 

FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS IN ANTIOCH

Beginning with the contention of the Jewish believers “of the circumcision” and Peter’s explanation of what happened with Cornelius and then continuing north, in Antioch, both Jews and Gentiles were turning to the Lord, and they were all coming to be called “Christians” (Acts 11:26). This new name highlights the Jewish roots but also the new people being formed. The word “Christ” means “anointed” and could also be translated as Messiah or King. So to be “Christian” is to be associated with the King, or the King’s people. The word “Christian” is only used two other places in the New Testament: when King Agrippa says that Paul almost persuaded him to become a Christian (Acts 26:28) and when Peter encourages believers not to be ashamed if they suffer as Christians (1 Pet. 4:16). 

OUTWARD & INWARD

The thing to notice is that in all three instances, the name is an objective, public title. It was not used in the first instance as an exact description of those going to heaven. And this corresponds to how the name Israelite/Jew also functioned. The objective, public sense of the name referred to all who were covenantally connected to the family of Abraham through circumcision, but that outward sign was always meant to be a call to believe in the promises of God and so be circumcised in the heart (Dt. 10:16, 30:6, Jer. 4:4). A true Jew is one who is circumcised in his heart (Rom. 2:29); so not all Israelites were really Israelites (Rom. 9:6). In the same way, we might say, not all Christians are really Christians, and a true Christian is one whose heart is baptized. In Romans 3, Paul immediately asks, then what advantage is the outward, covenantal connection, and he says: “much in every way” because God is still faithful and works through His public people, even if some do not believe (Rom. 3:1-4). Christ rules through His covenant. 

APPLICATIONS

The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant in quality (fullness of Christ), quantity (fullness of forgiveness and the Spirit), and extent (for the whole world) (Heb. 8-10). But the New Covenant is not made out of stainless steel. Jesus says He is a vine, and we are the branches (Jn. 15). Likewise, the covenant is an Olive Tree, which unbelieving Israel has been cut out of and Gentiles have been grafted into (Rom. 11). Old Israel had baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Christ in the wilderness, but they lusted for evil things, served idols, and complained – and the Spirit wrote those things as warnings for us (1 Cor. 10:1-11).

A married man who commits serial adultery is not at all acting as a husband, but he is a husband by covenant – that’s what makes his crime so hideous. Likewise, we live in a land full of baptized unbelievers or unbelieving covenant Christians, which is what makes our situation far worse. Many have trampled the blood of the covenant (Heb. 10:29 cf. 2 Pet. 2:20-21). 

Matthew Henry’s father is remembered as saying that whenever his children misbehaved, he would “grab them by their baptism.” The point is that in baptism God says something objectively about us, putting His name on us, and that covenantal reality must be part of our appeal to our children, one another, other churches, and many of our neighbors. When Israel was worshipping idols and committing abominations, they were still God’s people and that only made it worse. We do not confuse the covenantal and eternal realities: John (and other ministers) baptize with covenantal water, but Jesus is the only One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit who seals us forever (Lk. 3:16, Acts 11:16). And His fruit is unmistakable (Gal. 5). 

It was hard for faithful Jews to accept Gentiles as full members of the covenant (e.g. Lk. 15:28, Jonah, Habakkuk), and it is often easy to resent how God works in the covenant, with believers and unbelievers, strong and weak, wise and foolish, even heroes and scoundrels. There are plenty of opportunities for envy, resentment, bitterness, or despair. But notice how Barnabas was glad and served the new Christians in Antioch and then promoted Saul (Acts 11:23-26). And notice how the new Christians in Antioch gave freely to the needs in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-30). Our job is not to sort it all out (Mt. 13). This is the King’s mission. He rules. We obey and glorify Him as we see Him work. We are the King’s people. We are Christians.

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