Friday, March 20, 2020

SERMON: THE PRAYERS OF PAUL -- FULFILLING LIVES



I.  Introduction
            -- turn in Bibles to Philippians 1:9-11

Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.

            -- this morning we are finishing our four-week sermon series on the prayers of Paul
            -- in the first message, we looked at Paul's prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21 and talked about praying for power and about praying bold and specific prayers into that power that God has given us
            -- in the second message we looked at Philemon verses 4-7 and talked about our need to pray that we would be active in sharing our faith and how that means more than evangelism -- it means true koinonia -- the sharing of our lives with each other as we live out our faith in true community
            -- last week, we found ourselves in Romans 15:5-7 looking at Paul's plea for unity in the church -- it was his prayer that we would come together with one purpose, one heart, and one mind -- channeling our individuality towards the common goal of bringing glory to God and fulfilling His calling on earth
            -- if you missed these messages, you can find the video on the Koinonia Facebook page and they are posted online at my blog site listed in the bulletin

            -- the prayer of Paul we will be looking at this morning can best be described as his prayer for the culmination of a life well-lived -- it builds on the other prayers and helps us to discern what is the best direction for our life within the will of God -- this is the prayer for us to be all that we can be -- to live the life that God intends for us to live -- and it encompasses and builds on all the other prayers we have looked at

            -- Paul's prayer for meaning is especially relevant for us today -- as Aldous Huxley predicted in his book, "Brave New World," our modern society in America has become intoxicated with entertainment and self-focus -- living lives of superficiality rather than lives of meaning -- we have reached a point in our society where the daily happenings of the Kardashians and Caitlyn Jenner are more important than the events in Washington, Syria, or China
            -- but the good news is that there seems to be an awakening occurring among this younger generation -- after having fed on a diet of junk entertainment and social media for years -- and living lives without true meaning or purpose -- there seems to be a growing awareness among the younger generations that perhaps they have been wasting their lives by focusing solely on themselves and their own pleasure
            -- I did a Google search for the term "Am I Wasting My Life?" and I had over 24 million results -- including best-selling books on Amazon
            -- people are worried that they are wasting their lives, but that is a good thing -- because this awareness has led to a desire to do something more with their lives than just fill their days with entertainment -- they want to live lives that matter -- they want to do things that matter -- they want to make a difference in the time they have here on earth
            -- and that is the heart of Paul's prayer for the church at Philippi -- don't just be satisfied with where you are now, but grow into the life to which God has called you and make a difference in this world -- don't be just another self-focused Christian who carries the name of Christ but does nothing with their life

            -- let me give you an illustration -- some time ago, I read an article about the heart healthy benefits of pomegranate juice -- so I went to the store to see if I could buy some, just to try it out -- I couldn't find straight pomegranate juice, but there was a bottle on the shelf that said, "Blueberry Pomegranate, 100 percent juice, all natural." -- and it had a picture of a ripe pomegranate cut open and mounds of blueberries -- so I went ahead and got it
            -- put it in the refrigerator and the next morning, I poured a glass -- it was so sweet, I couldn't hardly drink it -- and so I looked at the ingredients -- "Filtered water, pear juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate." -- Where was the blueberry? -- Where was the pomegranate? -- Finally I found them -- fifth and seventh on a list of nine ingredients -- even the mysteriously unspecified ingredient, "natural flavors,” was higher than them on the ingredient list
            -- the label may have promised pomegranate and blueberry, but the actual product didn't fulfill that promise

            -- that's what Paul's concern is for the church at Philippi -- he knows these men and women there are Christians -- they have been saved through grace by faith in Jesus -- they have put on a label that says, "Christian" -- but his concern is that the life they live truly reflects the label they have put on -- that they're not just "Jesus-flavored," but "Jesus-filled" and live lives of meaning and purpose for Christ1
            -- so, as we look back again at this passage, ask yourself these questions as we go through this:  What am I doing as a Christian? -- How am I living my life? -- How should I be living my life?

II.  Scripture Lesson (Philippians 1:9-11)

            -- verse 9 [read vs. 9]

Philippians 1:9 (NIV)
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight

            -- when Paul wrote this letter, he was in chains in a Roman prison waiting for an audience with the Emperor -- for all he knew, this would be the last day of his life -- and so he puts pen to paper and writes this heart response to his friends in Philippi
            -- what would you tell someone if you knew it was the last words you would ever say to them? -- what would be important to you? -- what would you want them to know?
            -- Paul's prayer was that the seed he had planted in them would continue to grow -- that they would continue to mature in the grace of God -- that they would come to know God and His love more and more -- that His love would abound in them and that God would complete the good work He began in them on the day they responded to the gospel

            -- what does Paul mean by "abounding love?" -- he means a love that is overflowing -- a love that so completely fills the lives of the Philippians that they can't help but give it out to others -- a love that defines who they are and what they do
            -- Paul prays that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight -- Paul is praying here for more than just emotional love -- he is praying here for experiential and relational love -- he is praying that the Philippians would know and experience the love of God in their lives in a real way -- that they would wake up in the morning knowing that God loves them and that they would experience God's love in their lives every moment of every day
            -- but knowing and experiencing God's love is not enough -- Paul prays the Philippians have depth of insight, meaning wisdom -- knowing what to do with their knowledge of God's love
            -- the question he is asking them through this prayer is "Okay, you know how much God loves you, now what are going to do with that knowledge? -- what difference is it going to make in your life?"

            -- look back at verse 9 again [read vs. 9-11]

Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)
9 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 until the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.

            -- "so that" -- once again, we see Paul praying with purpose -- I pray that your love may abound more and more -- that it may grow larger and larger in knowledge and experience and depth of insight -- So That you might be able to know what to do with the rest of your life
            -- Paul prays that the Philippians would know God's love and understand God's love and let that love help them make a choice in the direction they were going to go and the things they were going to do
            -- we are constantly faced with choices in our lives -- the world offers us myriad choices every moment of every day -- we are constantly coming to forks in our lives where we have to choose which direction to go -- and instead of following the wisdom of Yogi Berra, who said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it" -- Paul says, "When you come to a fork in the road, discern what is best for you to do based on God's love"
            -- don't just follow the easy path -- don't just go with the flow and follow the crowd -- but stop and ask yourself, "What would God have me do? -- is this the direction I should go?"

            -- there's a point we need to make here in regards to choices -- in order to choose a direction, we kind of need to know where we're going in the first place -- when I pull out of my drive each morning and come to the hard road, I have a choice of direction -- I can go north or I can go south -- those are my only two choices -- but the direction I turn in is based on the place I need to go
            -- in other words, we have to know where we're going in order to choose the path to follow -- our destination as Christians should be determined by God's will for our lives -- there are many forks and many choices in life -- and sometimes it's not a matter of choosing good versus evil, but choosing the best over better -- our decision must be based on our ultimate goal for life in Christ
            -- Paul prays here the Philippians discern and choose the path that leads to pure and blameless lives -- lives that fulfill the call of God for them and produce fruits of righteousness for His glory

            -- by relying on our knowledge and experience of God's love, we can discern the direction He is leading us and choose the right path He has for us -- the path that will grow us in grace and make us into the people He has called us to be
            -- in my office, I have a list of questions that I refer to from time to time when I have a decision to make -- whether it's what to say in response to something or whether it's what to do when confronted with a decision
            -- these questions answered in the light of God's love will help you discern the right path to take:

            1)  Is it helpful -- physically, spiritually, and mentally? -- 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial"

            2)  Does it bring me under its power?  -- the second part of 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything"

            3)  Does it hurt others? -- 1 Corinthians 8:13 says, "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall"

            4)  Does it glorify God? -- 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
           
            -- Christian love is purposeful -- it has direction -- it leads us towards our ultimate goal and destination with Christ -- a Christian matures in love as they grow in their knowledge and depth of insight of Jesus and move towards obedience and bearing fruit as an offering for Him

III.  Closing
            -- okay, so let's bring this home -- let me summarize Paul's prayer for us today:

            -- first, he prays that love may abound -- that the love we have will grow more and more expansive and that that love will overflow our hearts and direct our paths in the future
            -- secondly, he prays that we would discern what is best for our lives -- not just what is good or what is better, but what is best -- what God wants for us -- He prays that the love and understanding of God that changes our lives would help us make decisions on the actions we undertake -- on the paths we choose to follow
            -- and, finally, Paul prays that we would live pure and blameless lives -- filled with righteousness and overflowing with the fruit of good works done to bring glory and praise to Jesus
            -- to make progress in life, we have to know where we are going -- we have to choose between the good and the best -- we have to make sacrifices to achieve and to become all that God wants us to be

            -- so, in addition to praying on a daily basis for power and boldness in our lives -- that we would be active in sharing our faith -- and that we would be one as Christ is one in complete unity -- let us also pray that we would become more loving, more discerning, and more righteous as we move forward towards God's heavenly reward
            -- let us pray

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1 Modified from article in publication Kyria, © 2009 Christianity Today International, Kyria.com, based on personal experience


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