“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. 2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
I guess that we would all like to live what would be considered “a worthy Christian life.” We probably think that to live such a life would entail being a super-spiritual person who talks holy talk and knows all of the holy moves. By that description, Jesus would have lauded the Pharisees as living a worthy life. But instead of praising the Pharisees, He compared them to a bunch of snakes. Paul, who was once a Pharisee, but got over it after Jesus took over his life, gave the ideal description of the worthy life in Ephesians 4:1-3. In order to live a worthy Christian life, we will live humbly – in “lowliness and meekness.” In our affluent society the worthy life can be described as seeking greatness in the eyes of the world. But the worthy Christian life is not the result of seeking personal greatness, in fact, it is the opposite. It is seeking humility. Humility is not something that we can achieve, because if we think that we have achieved it, we are no longer humble. This does not mean that humble people must have an inferiority complex. We have a great misunderstanding of what Christian humility is. We seem to think that it entails being a doormat for the world. Nothing is further from the truth. In fact, in order for people to live humbly in this proud world, they have to be secure in Jesus, subsequently in themselves. Humility does not come from a sense of inferiority, or insecurity, but from a sense of personal well-being and security. In order to let other people go first, one really has to be secure in oneself. In order to live a worthy Christian life we will live patiently – “With longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” The Greek word translated “longsuffering” could be called “bulldog tenacity” today. Patience, or longsuffering, is not just sitting and waiting, taking on a martyr complex, or a spirit of resignation. It means to persist in Christian living, meeting life’s hardships without bitterness and complaint. It appears today that few people are aiming for this kind of patience, even in churches. It also means that we should “forbear one another in love.” This does not mean to merely put up with people; it means to forbear because we love people. We will certainly get “out of sorts” with each other, but we do not have to stay that way. Patience, love and forbearance equal worthy Christian living. In order to live a worthy Christian life, we will live in unity – “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Humility, patience, forbearance and love are results of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Only He can lead us to humble and patient living, and only He can lead us to unity in Himself. If we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will not be led into disunity. Because we are human, we will have disagreements, but in spite of these disagreements, the Holy Spirit will not lead us into disunity. We are divided in our fellowship because of us, not because of the Holy Spirit. Disunity is Satan’s domain. Certainly a worthy Christian life will not lead to disunity. In light of this text, will you live humbly, patiently and in the unity of the Spirit? If you will, you will live a worthy Christian life. Bro. Joe
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“Do all things without murmuring and disputing. 15. That you might be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in a dark world.”
The point of Paul’s reminder to the Philippians was that they conduct themselves in a way that they would “shine as lights in a dark world.” This was one of the first commands that Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Just as Jesus saw the world in darkness, so did Paul, and so will we if we will just look around. This darkness did not start in the last few years. According to the Bible, the world has always been a place of darkness in need of God’s light. As Jesus ordered and as Paul admonished, we are to be the means of showing God’s light to the world. How do we do this? We do not do it by being religious, judgmental or acting like Pharisees. We let our lights shine through the lives that we live. Paul gave two examples of things that we shouldn’t do if we are to “shine as lights in a dark world.” He wrote for them to “do all things without murmuring….” The modern translation of this word is complaining. Before I come down hard on complaining, let me remind you that we all complain at some time or other. Let’s just go ahead and confess it at the outset. The problem is that for a lot of people, even Christians, complaining is a chronic condition. What is wrong with complaining? One thing is that its source is anger, and when complaining is chronic it means that the anger has found root in the person’s heart. When anger becomes engrained in the heart it tends to make one dissatisfied with everything. This is one of the devil’s tools. He loves to maket us angry and get us to complain about everything. Another thing wrong with complaining is that it is not grounded in love. If we constantly complain about people it means that we do not love them as we should. Yes, I know that some people constantly get on our nerves, but we should not let them determine how we talk or act. Evidently, complaining had become a problem in the Philippian church and was dimming the church’s light; therefore, Paul reminded them that they needed to stop complaining. If complaining was making their lights dim, it will make our lights dim as well. He wrote for them to do “all things without disputing….” The modern translation of this word is “arguing.” A more colloquial translation is “fussing.” (In Southwest Georgia, it would be translated “fussin’.”) I have to admit that it is difficult not to argue or fuss sometimes. If a person says or does something that is so obviously wrong, we want to straighten him or her out. What I have discovered, however, is that when we argue with someone we don’t get them straightened out. The main result is usually that our blood pressure is raised. I have to admit that there was a time in my life when I was more argumentative than I am now, but after multiple fusses, I began to realize that fussing and arguing didn't solve anything. It really doesn’t solve anything in Christ’s church. There was a problem with fussing and arguing in the church at Philippi. In 3:2, Paul asked the church to “beseech Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” Evidently, Euodia and Syntyche were two powerful women in the church who were having an ongoing argument and it was causing trouble in the church. We do not realize how our fussing can affect other people. If we want to shine as lights in this dark world, we need to remember that if our behavior does not reflect the love of Christ, we will not shine for Him. We need to be careful that we refrain from constantly complaining and arguing. Bro. Joe “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
There is one thing that we learn as we grow into adulthood: We will always have to deal with people – all sorts of people. We have to deal with them at work, at church, and in the communities in which we live. But there is one main person that we have to deal with and this is self. This is the person that we have to deal with twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This is the person that we look at in the mirror every day. Our relationships with others will depend a lot on how we deal with self. Paul gives us some advice on this business of dealing with self. First, he tells us “not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think." That is, that we should not be conceited and think that we are better than everyone else. In order to keep from being conceited we need to not think of ourselves more often than we should think. If we aren’t careful, we will find our days consumed with thoughts about ourselves, and everything that we think or do, has to do with how things will affect “me.” To a certain extent this is natural, but when we think of self too much, we will spiritually and emotionally alienate ourselves from other people. Self preservation is a natural instinct, but to be obsessed with self preservation is not only unspiritual, it is unhealthy. Everything is not about us and how things affect us. Preoccupation with self interferes with our fellowship with each other. Take a little time and consciously try to think of yourself less and others more. Try not to make everything about yourself. Second, he tells us to “think soberly” about ourselves. This means that we should give serious thought to ourselves and be honest with ourselves about ourselves. We should take an honest look at ourselves, and if we are thinking about ourselves too highly or too frequently, we should ask God to help us to have a healthy view of self. I know from personal experience that it is sometimes difficult to look at ourselves honestly and to tell ourselves the truth about ourselves. It will horrify us sometimes that we are as preoccupied with ourselves as we are. Jesus is certainly our example here. I think that Jesus had a healthy view of Himself, and He certainly wasn’t hampered with feelings of inferiority, but He always took time to think about and minister to other people. Even when Jesus tried to get away and spend some time alone, He would always end up ministering to the people who came to Him. He looked with compassion on other people. It is at this point that we need to ask ourselves if we are compassionate toward other people, or if we just tolerate them. Think honestly, now, about your relationships with people. Does “self” keep getting in the way? Third, he told us to think “soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.” We don’t usually think about faith as a gift from God, but it is. He has given us a “measure of faith” so that we can look at ourselves soberly and put ourselves in line with what faith is demanding of us. In the Bible, people like Peter, Andrew, James, and John had to think soberly about themselves. Would their faith enable these ordinary men to give up their occupation as fishermen, follow Jesus and become “fishers of men”? It was by faith that these men surrendered “self” to Jesus and went about doing what He would have them do. Maybe it is time that we took a look at ourselves and ask ourselves what difference our faith is making in our lives pertaining to decisions that we make about service for the Lord. Bro. Joe “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
With his history of persecution, Paul understood how amazing grace was in his life. It was the same with the former slave trader, John Newton, who wrote the song “Amazing Grace.” I want to share my thoughts on the subject. Grace is so amazing because it reminds us that God loves us in spite of ourselves. There is no way on this earth that we can earn the boundless love that God has for us. Jesus loved us enough that He died for our sins. I identify with the song that says, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.” (Or something akin to that.) You probably feel the same way. That is love beyond human understanding; we just have to accept it as amazing grace. Grace is so amazing because it is through grace that God forgives us in spite of our sins. You might think that your sins are so enormous that Jesus cannot forgive you. Read the text written above. If Jesus could forgive Paul, He can and will forgive you. On the other hand, you might be one of those people who says that you do not need God’s grace, that you are good enough without it. That is why you will never experience amazing grace until you come to him in humility, confessing the sin of pride. We all need to grasp the meaning of 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though, He was rich, yet for your sake He become poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.” Grace is so amazing because it is through grace that the Holy Spirit is actively at work in our lives, using us for God’s work in spite of our sins. Paul was amazed that God used Him in all that He did. I am truly amazed that God has used me in spite of myself. Every time someone tells me that something I have said, or written, blessed them, I truly have to thank God for it, for it was His amazing grace working through me. God can use you too in spite of yourself. For example, it might be that the Sunday School class that you teach has been a blessing to many people, beyond what you could imagine. That solo that you sang, probably blessed many people beyond what you imagined. I could go on. Just suffice it to say that whatever you do for the Lord, His grace is working through you to be a blessing to others. My epitaph will be: “By the grace of God he was a blessing.” (That will truly be on my tombstone.) Grace is so amazing for thousands of reasons beyond these three points. Thank God for His grace in your life. Bro. Joe “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
I don’t want to be misunderstood, I believe in individualism and the rights of the individual, but individualism, like everything else, can be taken to extremes. If we aren’t careful in our free society it can become narcissism. A narcissist only thinks of himself or herself. That runs counter to what Jesus taught in the New Testament. For example in Luke 6:21 Jesus said: “And as you would that men should to do you, do you also to them likewise.” (We call that the “Golden Rule.”) As Christians we need to realize that we can’t always do what just satisfies “me.” Let’s look at how we can avoid the all-important “I.” We can realize that when we became Christians, we became servants of God. Jesus told His disciples that even He “did not come to be served but to serve.” In a beautiful picture of servanthood, Jesus washed His disciple’s feet. Jesus demonstrated a selfless act for them, and demanded that they have the same view of servanthood when he told them that as He, their Lord, had washed their feet, they should also wash each other’s feet. You know, it takes a lot of inner security and faith to do something as selfless as washing someone’s feet. If we consider ourselves servants of Jesus, we should follow His example. He will help us realize that when we stoop to serve we don’t lose one iota of our individualism. In fact, we become better individuals. We can realize that the world is watching us and determining what kind of Christians we are by how we are willing to forget self and serve. I think that this all-important “I” is seen all too often in churches when we gather into cliques and demand our way. I have known people in churches who had the idea that “it is my way or the highway.” I call that carrying individualism to extremes. In fact, I have to admit that I have to be careful not to have this attitude, and if you are honest you probably have to watch the same thing. But this all-important “I” is seen as well by how we live our lives outside of the church. If we are selfish, it will show and it will be a poor witness to a world that is in dire need of good Christian humility. We can realize that what we want is not always the most important thing in the world. Jesus gave a parable of a farmer who had a bumper crop. As he looked at his good fortune, he thought only of himself. He said: “Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll build bigger barns to store all of these excess goods. I will say to myself, ‘eat drink and be merry.’”(Beauchamp translation) It did not occur to this greedy man that he could share his good fortune with others. He was tragically unaware that there might be people who could use some of these goods that he stored up for himself. This man’s attitude betrays a lack of trust in God and lack of love for people. These are two important things in the Christian life. We are saved by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior and we are saved to love people. Jesus Himself said that people “will know that we are Christians by our love.” Selfishness and love do not mix well – kind of like oil and water. We need to take a good long look at our own lives. We need to check and see if our instinct is to always look out for ourselves. This doesn’t mean that we should never look out for ourselves, but that this should not be our predominate lifestyle. The world is literally crying out for us to act like Christians and not always give way to the all-important “I.” This is a challenge for me. I'm certain that it is a challenge for you. Bro. Joe “But as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy; and in your fear will I worship toward your holy temple. 8. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before my face.”
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
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