1. Philippians 4:1
June 3, 2012
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi

2. The MacArthur New
Testament Commentary,
Copyright © Moody Press
and John MacArthur, Jr.,
1983-2007.

3. Barclay's
Daily Study Bible (NT)
William Barclay
1907-1978

4. William Barclay was an
author, radio and television
presenter, Church of
Scotland minister, and
Professor of Divinity and
Biblical Criticism at the

5. University of Glasgow.
*While professor, he
decided to dedicate his life
to "making the best Biblical
scholarship available to the
average reader".

7. ”It frequently happens that
the value of a thing lies in
the fact that someone has
possessed it.
*A very ordinary thing
acquires a new value, if it

8. has been possessed by
some famous person.
*In any museum we will find
quite ordinary things--
clothes, a walking-stick, a
pen, pieces of furniture--

9. which are only of value
because they were
possessed and used by
some great person.
*It is the ownership which
gives them worth.

10. *It is so with the Christian.
*The Christian may be a
very ordinary person, but he
acquires a new value and
dignity and greatness
because he belongs to God.

11. The greatness of the
Christian lies in the fact that
he is God's.”
William Barclay

12. “There are two great days in
a person's life - the day we
are born and the day we
discover why.”
William Barclay

13. *J. Vernon McGee's
Thru The Bible

14. J. Vernon McGee
1904-1988
John Vernon McGee was
born in Hillsboro, Texas.

15. He served churches in
Decatur, Georgia; Nashville,
Tennessee; and Cleburne,
Texas before he moved with
his wife to Pasadena,
California and then to Los

16. Angeles to become the
pastor of the Church of the
Open Door in 1949, where
he continued as pastor until
1970. *In 1967, he began the
Thru the Bible Radio

17. Network program.
*In a systematic study of
each book of the Bible, Dr.
McGee took his listeners
from Genesis to Revelation
in a two and one-half year

18. "Bible bus trip," as he called
it. *After retiring from the
pastorate in January, 1970,
and realizing that two and a
half years was not enough
time to teach the Bible,

19. he completed another study
on the radio of the entire
Bible in a five year period.
*Thru the Bible is still
broadcast on the radio every
day of the week.

20. “Faith is not a leap in the
dark. Faith is not a hope so.
Faith is substance and
evidence - substance for a
scientific mind, and
evidence for a legal mind.”

21. *Warren Wiersbe’s
Expository Outlines

22. Warren Wiersbe
1929-
Warren Wendel Wiersbe is
an American pastor, Bible
teacher, conference speaker

23. and a prolific writer of
Christian literature and
theological works.
*He is a contributing editor
to Baker Book House.

24. He has been writing books
since the 1950s under
several publishing house
labels; completing more
then 150 books including
the popular BE series of

25. commentaries on every
book of the Bible which has
sold over four million copies.

26. Some times referred to as
"the pastor's pastor", he has
become a well known and
trusted Bible theologian and
scholar throughout
Evangelical circles.

27. “People can't see your root
system, but God can.”
Warren Wiersbe

29. “In contrast to the believer,
the ungodly are not like
trees but are like chaff.
They have no roots, produce
no fruit and are blown
about.” Warren Wiersbe

30. “Yes, let God be the Judge.
Your job today is to be a
witness.”
Warren Wiersbe

31. “The way we respond to
criticism pretty much
depends on the way we
respond to praise.
*If praise humbles us, then
criticism will build us up.

32. But if praise inflates us, then
criticism will crush us; and
both responses lead to our
defeat.”
Warren Wiersbe

33. “Let the trials of life make
you a giant, not a midget.”
Warren Wiersbe

34. “Most Christians are being
crucified on a cross between
two thieves: Yesterday's
regrets and tomorrow's
worries.”
Warren Wiersbe

37. Philippians 4:1
“Therefore, my beloved
brethren whom I long to
see, my joy and crown, in
this way stand firm in the
Lord, my beloved.”

38. Whenever you see the word
“therefore”, ask yourself,
“What is that therefore
there for?”

39. Philippians 4:1
The passage opens with the
transitional word therefore,
which indicates that what
Paul is about to write builds
on what he has just written.

40. What Paul wrote in chapter
3 of Philippians describes
our pursuit of Christlikeness,
which is both:
the goal in this life and
the prize in the next life.

41. 8 “For physical training is of
some value, but godliness
has value for all things,
holding promise for both
the present life and the life
to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

42. 2 Peter 1:3
3 “His divine power has given
us everything we need for life
and godliness through our
knowledge of Him Who
called us by His own glory

43. and goodness.”
2 Peter 1:3

44. Philippians 4:1
“Therefore, my beloved
brethren whom I long to see,
my joy and crown, in this
way stand firm in the Lord,
my beloved.”

45. Every teacher enjoys saying
about one of their students,
“That’s one of my boys!”
As the shadows were
closing in around Paul, the
Philippians were some of his

46. converts that brought him
the greatest joy.
He called them his joy and
his crown.
The crown represented
victory after all his toil!

52. The question naturally
arises as to how Paul's
command to stand firm is to
be implemented.

53. Philippians 4:1
“my beloved brethren, in
this way, stand firm in the
Lord,”
Paul's answer, introduced by
the phrase “in this way”,

54. unfolds in verses 2-9.
He lists seven basic,
practical principles that lead
to spiritual stability:
1) cultivating harmony in
the church fellowship,

55. 2) maintaining a spirit of joy,
3) learning to be content,
4) resting on a confident
faith in the Lord,
5) reacting to problems with
thankful prayer,

56. 6) thinking on godly virtues,
7) obeying God's standard.

57. “in this way stand firm in
the Lord, my beloved."
And, as Paul also said to the
Ephesian believers:
11 “Put on the full armor of
God, so that you will be able

58. to stand firm against
the schemes of the devil”.
Ephesians 6:11
The Christian faith will
produce stability of life.

60. Sometimes when we look
back and remember some
time when we didn’t stand
firm or took the wrong turn
or fell to temptation or
shamed ourselves, we say

61. to someone whom we love:
"If you had been here, this
would never have
happened."

63. John 11:21 & 32
21“Martha then said to
Jesus, “ Lord, if You had
been here, my brother
would not have died.”

64. 32 “Therefore, when Mary
came where Jesus was, she
saw Him, and fell at His feet,
saying to Him, “Lord, if You
had been here, my brother
would not have died.”

67. Our only way to stand firm
and have safety against
temptation is to be in the
Lord, always being aware of
His presence around us and
in us.

68. The Church as the body of
Christ and the individual
Christian can stand firm only
when we stand in Christ.

69. *In this passage, Paul
addresses the vital question
of how believers can be
spiritually stable.
*Steko (stand firm) is the
main verb of verses 1-9.

72. Stand firm is an imperative,
a command with almost a
military ring to it.
*Like soldiers in the front
line, believers are
commanded to hold their

73. position while under attack
(Eph 6:11,13,14).
*We are not to collapse
under persecution and
compromise, to fail under
testing and complain, or to

74. yield to temptation and sin.

78. The Lord Jesus Christ
provides the perfect
example of standing firm for
us who await our perfection.

79. Jesus faced persecution, but
never compromised;
He "endured . . . hostility by
sinners against Himself"
without wavering
(Hebrews 12:3).

80. He was "tempted in all
things as we are, yet
without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
Facing a more severe trial
than any believer will ever
undergo, "Jesus . . . for the

81. joy set before Him endured
the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne
of God"
(Hebrews 12:2).

87. Jesus Christ is the perfect
model of standing firm that
we as believers are to
follow.

88. Philippians4:2-3
“I urge Euodia and I urge
Syntyche to live in harmony
in the Lord.

89. *Euodia is pronounced:
“yew-oh-DEE-ah”.
*Syntyche is pronounced:
“Sin-TICK-ay”.

90. Euodia and Syntyche were
church members, not
outside troublemakers.
Apparently these two ladies
were not speaking to each
other.

91. The resulting discord,
disunity, and conflict could
have devastated the
integrity of the Philippian
church's testimony.

92. Because of the seriousness
of their disagreement, Paul
realized that Euodia and
Syntyche needed the
Church's help to resolve
their animosity.

93. It is significant that when
there was a quarrel at
Philippi, Paul mobilized the
whole resources of the
Church to mend it.

94. He thought no effort too
great to maintain the peace
of the Church. A quarrelling
Church is no Church at all,
for it is one from which
Christ has been shut out.

95. Their dispute was evidently
not over a doctrinal issue.
If it had been, Paul would
have resolved it by siding
with the one who was
correct and rebuking the

96. one who was in error.
*Even if the doctrine is
sound, disunity robs a
church of its power and
destroys its testimony.

97. *A church facing hostile
external enemies cannot
afford to have its members
fighting among themselves.

98. *Such infighting frequently
gives the enemies of the
Cross an avenue of attack.
*The enemies of the Cross
don’t care whose fault it is.

99. It doesn’t matter to them
whether the fault lies with a
church member, a staff
member or even the pastor.
Any time there is disunity in
the Church, they are thrilled.

100. The tragic conflict between
Euodia and Syntyche reveals
that even the most mature,
faithful, and committed
people can become so selfish
as to be embroiled in

101. controversy if they are not
diligent to maintain unity.

104. *Discord leaves the church
collectively and its members
individually vulnerable and
unstable.
*Spiritual stability requires
peace and harmony in the

105. church.
Blessed indeed are the
peacemakers
(Matthew 5:9).

107. *No man can be at peace
with God and at variance
with his fellow-men.
*Paul did not mean that
these ladies must be carbon
copies of each other.

108. They may have had
differences of opinion about
many different things, but
that will not separate two
people who have the mind
of Christ.

109. It is one of the glorious
truths about the body of
Christ that each member
can be different and yet all
are one in Christ.

110. Romans 12:3-5
3 “For by the grace given
me I say to every one of you:
Do not think of yourself
more highly than you ought,
but rather think of yourself

111. with sober judgment, in
accordance with the
measure of faith God has
given you.
4 Just as each of us has one
body with many members,

112. and these members do not
all have the same function,
5 so in Christ we who are
many form one body, and
each member belongs to all
the others.” Romans 12:3-5

114. There is a time when
conflict is acceptable,
namely when truth is at
stake.
Paul even confronted Peter
when the latter was in error:

115. "When Cephas [Peter] came
to Antioch, I opposed him to
his face, because he stood
condemned" (Gal 2:11).

116. But mere personal conflicts
must be resolved and
harmony restored, so Paul
commanded Euodia and
Syntyche to live in harmony.

117. The Greek text literally
reads:
"to be of the same mind" —
an essential prerequisite if
Christians are to live in
harmony.

122. Agreement between Euodia
and Syntyche was essential,
and the sphere in which
they had to find their
harmony was in the Lord.

126. Paul knew that if they both
got right with the Lord, they
would be right with each
other.

127. People can never really love
each other until they love
Christ.
The brotherhood of man is
impossible without the
lordship of Christ.

128. *Loving unity in the
fellowship of believers
creates an environment of
stability.

131. Philippians4:3
“Indeed, true companion, I
ask you also to help these
women who have shared my
struggle in the cause of the
Gospel, together with

132. Clement also and the rest of
my fellow workers, whose
names are in the book of
life.”
Philippians 4:3

133. Paul addressed someone in
verse 3 as true companion.
Suzugos (true comrade)
means "yokefellow," and
refers to someone who
shares a common burden.

134. The picture is one of two
oxen pulling the same load.

135. Suzugos was a genuine
yokefellow, just as
Onesimus was genuinely
useful and Barnabas was a
true son of encouragement.

136. Philippians 4:4
“Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice!”

138. This verse expresses the
theme of the book of
Philippians, that believers
are to “rejoice in the Lord
always” (Philippians 3:1).

141. Joy is such a vitally
important factor in
believers' spiritual stability
that Paul repeats his
command for emphasis:
“again I will say, rejoice!”

142. *This repetition
presupposes the reality that
it was not easy to be joyful.
*The Philippians needed to
rise above their
circumstances.

143. Some folks, who wrongly
identify joy as a purely
human emotion, find Paul's
twice-repeated command to
rejoice puzzling.

144. How, they ask, can people
be commanded to produce
an emotion?
But joy is not just a feeling;
it is also the deep-down
confidence that

145. God is in control of
everything for the believer's
good and His own glory, and
thus all is well no matter
what the circumstances.

149. Chairete (rejoice) is a
present imperative, calling
believers to the continual,
habitual practice of
rejoicing.

150. The night before the Cross--
Jesus said, "These things
have I spoken unto you that
My joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be
full." John 15:11

151. Well, what a strange kind of
a joy that could be.
When Job had lost his
children and lost his house
and lost his lands and lost
everything.

152. And, in want and in poverty,
sat down and said,
“Naked came I from my
mother's womb. And naked
shall I return thither. The
Lord gave and the Lord hath

153. taken away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord.” Job 1:21
So, I find that this joy of the
Bible--"Rejoice evermore"—
is in every fortune and trial
and season of life.

154. *First, it is inward and not
outwardly conditioned.
*How it is on the outside
doesn't matter.
*And Paul and Silas, at
midnight, beat, with their

155. backs covered with blood,
thrust into the inner
dungeons, and they prayed
and sang praises unto God.
"For I have learned," he said,
"in whatsoever state I am, to

156. be content---to rejoice
evermore."
Beat, then thanking God He
counted us worthy to suffer
for His name’s sake; poor,
then rich toward God,

157. having a hard, hard time.
But, His strength is made
perfect in my weakness.

158. Luke 10 17-20
17 “The seventy returned
with joy, saying, “Lord,
even the demons are
subject to us in Your name.”

159. 18 And He said to them,
“I was watching Satan fall
from heaven like lightning.
19 Behold, I have given you
authority to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and

160. over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing will
injure you.
20 Nevertheless do not
rejoice in this, that the
spirits are subject to you,

161. but rejoice that your names
are recorded in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20

162. Is there any time when I
can't be glad in that?
My name is written on the
page bright and fair.
My name is written on the
Lamb's Book of Life.

163. When I think of that--I may
grow ancient and infirm. I
may be sick.
And my family may be
dissolving, and they do, and
they will. But, think of that.

164. Your names are written in
the Lamb's Book of Life.
“In that,” said Jesus,
“Rejoice!”
There's another one, and it
is this:

165. Luke 15:3-7
3 “So He told them this
parable, saying,
4 “ What man among you, if
he has a hundred sheep and
has lost one of them, does

166. not leave the ninety-nine in
the open pasture and go
after the one which is lost
until he finds it?
5 When he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders,

167. rejoicing. 6 And when he
comes home, he calls
together his friends and his
neighbors, saying to them,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep which

168. was lost!’
7 I tell you that in the same
way, there will be more joy
in heaven over one sinner
who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous

169. persons who need no
repentance.”
Luke 15:3-7

170. Rejoicing over God's people
coming home; somebody
saved; somebody added to
the great roll call in glory.
I have been in services where
I didn't know anyone.

171. An absolute stranger, but
the Spirit of God was there.
And, when the appeal was
made, people were saved.
I have stood there while the
invitation hymn was being

172. sung, and watching those
people saved, just cry.
Tears roll down my face. I
do not know how to
describe it. If you've never
felt it, you'd never know it.

173. But it is a fountain opened
up.
It is a gladness that
overflows.
It's the welling up of the
soul.

174. It is the rejoicing in God.
Well, may the Lord give us
that gladness. It is hard.
All life inevitably and finally
becomes hard, becomes
difficult.

175. But these things never
change, and we are to
rejoice and be glad in them.

176. Neither Paul's
imprisonment nor the
Philippians' trials should
eclipse their joy.