Study Guide: "Back to the Future"

Text: Philippians 4:10-23

OPEN:

Do you remember the popular movie from 1985, Back to the Future staring Michael J Fox?  In the pop science fiction comedy, a teenage boy befriends a comic mad scientist who builds a time travel machine out of a Delorean car.  They travel back in time so that the boy can make sure the future is what it is supposed to be.

That's more or less what we are doing as we come to the end of Paul's letter to his believed Philippians brothers and sisters in Christ.  He takes us back to the beginning where he speaks of joy in spite of the most dire circumstances.  Let me remind you for a moment of what we've learned over the past couple of months:

The circumstances of both the writer and the recipients of this brief letter were not those that would be expected to produce joy and happiness.  When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to his beloved Philippian congregation, he was in his fourth year of Roman imprisonment, awaiting Emperor Nero’s final decision in his case.  The Philippian church also had its share of problems:

Its members were desperately poor, so much so that Paul was surprised at their contribution to the offering he was collecting for Jerusalem (2 Co 8:1-5).

Like Paul, they were being persecuted for the cause of Christ (1:27-30).

Worse, they were being attacked by false teachers (3:2, 18-19).

On top of everything else, a feud between two prominent women in the congregation threatened the unity of the church (4:2-3).

And yet, the theme of this letter is unmistakeable -- joy.

In this series "Shout for Joy: Rediscovering the Joy of Living" we've been learning the secret of experiencing joy regardless of our circumstances.

Here at the end of the last chapter, Paul closes out his discourse on joy with three concluding thoughts:

I.  The Prerequisite to Joy is Contentment (4:10-13, 19).

According to the Holman Bible Dictionary: "Contentment is an internal satisfaction which does not demand changes in external circumstances."

Perhaps our greatest challenge in this area is distinguishing between what we need and what we want.

II.  The Clearest Expression of Joy is Compassionate Ministry (4:14-18).

Contrary to popular opinion, joy is not a self-serving emotion.

Joy is a platform for selfless ministry.

III.  We are First and Foremost Saints (4:21-23; 1:1-2).

The term “servants” that Paul applies to himself and Timothy and the term “saints” that he applies to the Philippian Christians are to be seen as parallel terms.  In other words, believers in Christ are both servants and saints.

"Servants"

This word is far too weak a one to represent the Greek douloi: most translate this more accurately as “bond-slaves”—a concept that would be vividly familiar to every reader of this letter.  Many of the church were, or had been, slaves themselves—and the word would have immediately caught their attention.

The word doulos refers to one bound to another.  Paul’s use refers to one whose will is swallowed up in the will of another.  It refers to one who serves another to the disregard of his/her own interests.  They are of no consequence.  Paul frequently uses this term in his letters indicating his relationship to Jesus Christ.

There is a major difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant.  

If choosing to serve, you are still in control.  If choosing to be a servant, you relinquish that control to another.

The master is responsible for his slaves’ needs—feeding, clothing, housing, and all else is the slave-owner’s concern (Mt 6:24-25; Phil 4:19).

The master is responsible for his slave’s duties—slaves do not choose their own task or their own sphere of influence.  Size and sphere is the master’s choice.

The master is responsible for the slave’s supplies.  Whatever God tells us to do, we can do it, because we will never lack God’s supply.

"Saints"

The word “saints” is the translation of a Greek word (hagiois) meaning “to set apart” in its verb form, and “set apart ones” in its noun form.

The pagan Greeks set apart buildings as temples, consecrating them for religious purposes.  These became the objects of veneration and reverence.

Therefore, saints are set apart from sin to holiness, set apart from Satan to God, thus being consecrated for God’s sacred fellowship and service.

“In Christ.”

All believers are saints, not because they are themselves righteous, but because they are “in Christ Jesus.”  Our position is “in Him.”

Ephesians 2:4-6; Galatians 2:20

In Paul’s letters, the phrase “in Christ Jesus” occurs 50 times, “in Christ” 29 times, and “in the Lord” 45 times.

The word “in” (en) is used with the locative of sphere in the Greek.  These saints were saints in the sphere of Christ.  That is, Christ is the sphere in which the believer has his/her new life and all his/her interests and activities.

“For me to live is Christ.”

“For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)

This is the key that unlocks the door to joy.

We are positionally “in Him” and are to live practically “in Him.”

There would be something wrong about a prince living like a pauper, about an adult acting like a child.

Saints act like saints because we are saints.  It is one of the most damaging accusations against us that we do not practice our position.

A word of caution is in order here: We do not learn to live like saints by focusing on a set of rules and regulations majoring on what saints don’t do.  We learn to live like saints by focusing on what it means to be “in Him,” to operate within the sphere of Jesus Christ.

CLOSE:

Let's go back to the future.  Let me state again our purpose in undertaking this study.  Our goal was to learn the secret of joy, peace, and contentment regardless of our circumstances.  How do we face all that we face and endure all that we endure and through it all experience genuine joy? Here is the conclusion:

Be satisfied with Christ regardless of our circumstances.

Practice selfless ministry.

Live like saints

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)