What Really Matters

What Really Matters Philippians 1.11.2015 Introduction

We are going to study … Paul’s letter to the believers in an ancient city called Philippi

Letter was written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Philippi He wrote it while he was in chains in Rome

It is incredible that a handwritten letter by an obscure Jewish man to a tiny group of believers in a remote city would make it down through history Today - of course they would survive – they were written by PAUL – sometimes referred to as the 2nd most important person in Western History But 2000 years ago if Jesus was just a blip in what was occurring Paul was a micro-blip

Think about the chances of a letter like that surviving There are so few letters that survived antiquity – miniscule – and that this letter would be one of them Unprecedented – What was it that caused these letters to survive? - Better yet - Who was it?

In the early days of the church – right at the beginning – Jewish people who began following Jesus as the Messiah – the Son of God Within a short time though – there were non-Jewish people who began to follow Jesus Disagreement arose between the leaders as to what it really required to be a follower of Jesus

Some said – it is trusting in Jesus and be baptized Others though – Trusting in Jesus and baptism and observing the Sabbath laws and every man had to be circumcised

Can you imagine the difficulty of learning all the nuances of the Sabbath? How far you could walk – 1000 steps What you could carry and not carry Not cooking food on the Sabbath

What about all of the men lining up right after baptism and slice/slice?

There was significant disagreement Jesus never told us about any of this! What do we do now?

The church leaders got together from around the Roman Empire to talk about what was required. They met in Jerusalem There were some heated moments

They came to a conclusion as to what the HS was saying about the matter Great line in their discussion from the Apostle James

My judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Acts 15:19 NLT Here is a portion of a note that was sent by the church leaders out to the various parts of the region

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. Acts 15:28-29 NIV Paul and Barnabas took the message from Jerusalem to Antioch

Right in the middle of Paul and Barnabas taking the report to the believers in Antioch they had a disagreement They actually quit traveling together The went their separate ways

Paul teamed up with Silas head back to the Asia Minor region

MAP Asia – Turkey Thrace – Bulgaria/Romania Greece Dalmatia – Serbia/Croatia/Hungry/Austria

Paul wanted to go to Ephesus but they were stopped by the HS. They then decided to go to Bithynia by the Black Sea, but they were again prevented by the HS from going.

Paul and Silas were joined by Timothy and then Dr. Luke One night Paul had a dream that a man was calling them to come to a region called Macedonia

They got in a boat and took a two day trip across the water They then walked the 9 miles along the Egnatian Way to Philippi. The Egnatian Way was a main road between the region of Macedonia and Rome

Philippi was a 400 year old city. It had been founded by in the fourth century B.C. by Phillip the father of Alexander the Great

Philippi was a prominent Roman city in that region There were about 10,000 people living in the city Just outside the city of Philippi there had been historic battles Names like: Cassius and Brutus, Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus/Octavian and Mark Antony

After some famous battles that occurred in the region around Philippi The city became a community for retired soldiers Eventually the city was made a Roman province That meant that the people didn’t have to pay taxes and had all the privileges and rights of the citizens of Rome. Latin was the official language Greek was the everyday language Dress followed Roman tradition People's clothes revealed their social status Slaves, Freedman, togas and Equestrians

Language also revealed the social status – Latin – upperclass – Greek – working population – tradesman, The upper class/1% - spoke Latin The lower classes – 99% - spoke Greek – Working population – tradesmen/merchants

When Paul would go into a region/city First thing that he would do is go find the synagogue and teach them about Jesus Life, death, burial and his resurrection

When Paul and the others arrived in Philippi they found that there was not enough Jewish men/maybe none for there to be a gathering of Jewish believers/synagogue - 10 was the minimum number of circumcised men to form a synagogue

On the Sabbath day, Paul and the group went out to the river where they had heard that there was a group of women who met for prayer Just outside the southern gate of the city at the bank of the Gangites River

They found a group of women who were meeting for prayer One of the women that was there was a met a woman named Lydia She was a woman who sold/dealt in purple dye The dye that she sold/dealt was a special dye A person had to have a license from the Roman officials in order to sell it. The dye was the kind that was used in the sashes and tassels on togas of the Equestrians/Elites Lydia put her life into Jesus hands – was baptized She was the first one to begin to follow Jesus in Philippi Lydia was a wealthy woman She had a villa that was large enough that she asked and then persuaded the entourage to stay with her.

Most likely some of the other women that were part of the early group of believers lived with Lydia.

Lydia became a follower of Jesus Others also became followers People wanted to know about this Jesus who rose from the dead Paul was taking every opportunity to tell people about the: Life, death, resurrection and the new life found for a person who trusts their life into Jesus hands.

One day when they were going out to the place of prayer they were followed by a slave girl – her clothes gave her away This slave girl had a spirit in her – she made money for her owners by telling people their futures The slave girl called out – These men are servants of the Most High God and they know the way for people to gain eternal life/real life.

She kept following them and making the same proclamation. Day after day after day Paul eventually got so perturbed that he turned and spoke to the spirit – In the name of Jesus come out of her. Immediately the spirit left her. She was in her right mind

When her owners realized that she could no longer tell people their future they were furious They grabbed a hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them to the market to the authorities The authorities ordered Paul/Silas to be stripped and beaten Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison and their feet were locked in chains During the night Paul and Silas were praying and singing The other prisoners were listening

Suddenly there was a violent earthquake and the prison doors were opened and the chains came loose

When the jailer woke up and realized what had happened he determined that his only option was to kill himself Paul yelled out for the man to not kill himself The jailer called for a torch and when he saw what was happening He realized that these men were servants of God and a miracle had just happened The jailer wanted to know how he could gain eternal life

Here’s how Dr. Luke records what occurred with the jailer They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family. Acts 16:31-34 NIV

When daylight and the authorities heard what had happened – they ordered that Paul and Silas to be released

Paul told the jailers – The authorities told us to be beaten and then thrown in prison and now we are supposed to be released and forget about it? Tell the authorities to come and release us themselves.

When the authorities realized that Paul and the men were Roman citizens they were afraid of what they had done and came to Paul and the group and begged them to leave the city Paul and the men left the jail and went to Lydia’s house They encouraged the believers and then left the city

It is clear from Paul’s writings to the church in Corinth that Paul visited the city at least 2 other times. In early AD 60s Paul was in prison in Rome and he heard from some visitors about what was happening in Philippi and he wrote a letter to the believers

These letters were not meant to be read like a book or like letters today Only about 15% of the population was able to read This is what a letter would have looked like This is English and not Greek but it will give you the gist ioncethoughtthesethingswerevaluablebutnowiconsiderthemworthlessbecauseofwhatChristhasdoneyesever ythingelseisworthlesswhencomparedwiththeinfinitevalueofknowingChristJesumyLordforhissakeihavediscar dedeverythingelsecountingitallasgarbagesothaticouldgainChristandbecomeonewithhim

Letters like Paul’s letter to Philippi was meant to be read by a scribe or a trained letter reader

Paul is writing the church to thank them for their generous support of Paul and the team’s ministry He is also writing them to encourage them while they are undergoing opposition by the people of the city In the middle of the opposition they are experiencing internal attitudes that if they are not corrected or brought under check could lead to divisions that will hinder the Gospel.

Paul writes things like this:  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit  Consider others better than yourselves.  You should look not only to your own interests  Look to the interests of others  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus  Do everything without complaining or arguing  Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ

Why should Paul write these kinds of instructions?  He had gotten reports that believers were being selfish, arrogant  They were acting as if they were better than others  They weren't considering what was best for others or for the group  They had lost sight of the attitude that they had learned Jesus had  They had slipped into complaining and arguing  They were not living in a gospel honoring way  In some ways they were embarrassing Jesus

Jesus had taught the disciples to put others first  Serve one another  Love others  Humility

They were losing sight of the values of Jesus

Paul knew that if this group of believers continued to let attitudes like this fester it would end in division

There is one line in Paul’s letter that gives a little insight into what Paul hopes to accomplish through his letter

I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. Philippians 1:10 NLT

I want you to understand what really matters

CEB – Decide what really matters ESV – Approve what is excellent HCSB -Approve the things that are superior

It is so easy to get confused about what really matters To some people what really matters is: Reputation – Credit Score – Looks/appearance – children – reputation/approval – happiness – money – financial security – work – sports – pets – hobby – environment – being right

Paul wants to help them understand what really matters Often what really matters to someone is revealed by what they sacrifice their valuable s for

This matters so much that I will sacrifice ______for it

Having a jet is what really matters and I’ll sacrifice health, time, family, marriage, God in order to have it.

That vacation place by the lake is what really matters – I’ll give up a church family, volunteering so that I can have it and spend weekends there.

Some of the attitudes that Paul was concerned about - selfish ambition or vain conceit, complaining and arguing were a result of the believers having lost sight of what really matters in life

They were saying – by their actions – to each other What really matters in life is not what YOU want but what I want! Who has the remote control is what really matters! What I want to watch is what really matters and I’m willing to fight for it!

It is not uncommon for people who are going through crisis to reevaluate ‘What really matters’

If I had known I only had 6 months with them I would have … But I lost sight of what matters People begin to evaluate – and understand what really matters

Here is Paul in Rome – he knows that any day/hour the word might come and his head will be removed He hears about what is happening and he thinks to himself They are losing sight of what really matters in life Does that really matter? REALLY?

If he were with them and not in chains in Rome – he might look across the table/look his friends in the eye and ask – Is this what really matters in life? REALLY?

But he can’t look them in the eye – so he writes them a letter He can’t look us in the eye and ask us – Is that what really matters? REALLY?

We are going to journey through this letter Look at all kinds of things As we do – we are going to look at and hopefully come to understand what really matters in life.

I hope that you’ll plan to be here every time you can for this series I hope that you’ll listen to the sessions that you miss – you can listen via iTunes and our website

This week – I hope that – this idea runs through your mind over and over

Is this what really matters? REALLY!