Sermons

Think and Practice These Things

Philippians 4:8-9

 

Let’s turn to Philippians 4:8-9. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand and we will bring them to you. Philippians 4 is on page 982 in the Bibles we are passing out.

 

Philippians 4:8 is not easy to understand. This verse has puzzled me for a long time. So I was looking forward to the week when I would preach from this verse, so I could study and pray about it some more.

 

So what I want to do this week is walk you through the path the Lord led me in, so you can see what I believe Paul is saying in this verse, and then you can judge whether or not I am interpreting this Scripture accurately.

 

So let’s start by reading Philippians 4:8 –

 

8          Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

 

Here Paul is commanding us to think about certain things.  So what are the things Paul wants us to think about?

 

One answer is that Paul wants us to think about things that are true or excellent in general. That’s what I’ve always been taught. So Paul would be saying he wants us to think about true things, not false things; honorable things, not dishonorable things.  So that’s one answer – that Paul wants us to think about things that are true or excellent in general.

 

But recently some scholars have given another answer. They don’t believe Paul is telling us to think about things that are true or excellent in general.  They believe Paul is telling us to think about things that are true or excellent in our culture, as a way to build evangelistic bridges to people in our culture.

 

And there are two main reasons they have come to this conclusion –

 

One is because of the words Paul uses.  They point out that these words true, praiseworthy, and so forth are not words Paul usually uses in his letters. In fact, some of these words aren’t used by Paul in any of his other letters. Not only that, these words were used by the surrounding culture to describe what everyone should be pursuing.

 

So these scholars started to wonder if the reason Paul used words common to the surrounding culture was because he wants us to think about things that are true or excellent in our culture. That maybe Paul is saying -- one way to advance the gospel is by noticing things that are good and excellent in the surrounding culture that can help you connect with people.

 

So, for example, if your culture affirms that racial equality is good and excellent – which it is – then that is something we should affirm in our culture, and which we can use as a connecting point with people.

 

So that’s one reason -- because of the words Paul uses.

 

The second reason is because of the phrase “if there is any.”  Paul says “if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise.”  So these scholars ask: if Paul is making a list of good things we should think about, why would he say “if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise”?  I mean, is there any doubt that there is something excellent and worthy of praise? After all, God is excellent; Jesus is worthy of praise. So why would Paul say if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise?

 

Their answer is that Paul is saying “if there is any excellence in the surrounding culture, affirm that and let that be a connecting point for the gospel; and if there is anything worthy of praise in the surrounding culture, affirm that and let that be a bridge for the gospel.”

 

So these two reasons make some scholars think that in verse 8 Paul is not urging us to set our minds on things that are true or excellent in general. Instead, he is urging us to see what’s true and excellent in our surrounding culture so we can connect with people evangelistically.

 

For example, do any of you remember the movie “Changing Lanes,” starring Ben Affleck and Samuel Johnson?  It was the story of how road rage between a young lawyer and a businessman escalated into a battle that almost destroyed both of them.  And even though the movie did not present the gospel, it did present the truth of how powerful sin is, and raised the question of how we can be set free from sin.

 

So there was something true and commendable in the message of this movie.  So I went to see it with a friend of mine who was not a Christian. And afterwards we had a powerful discussion about that true part of the movie, about the power of sin, and I was able to share my testimony about how Christ’s power was setting me free from sin.

 

So that’s the second way to understand verse 8 – that Paul is not urging us to think about things that are true or excellent in general, but about things that are true or excellent in our culture for missional and evangelistic reasons.

 

And this interpretation was intriguing to me, because I love talking about how to connect with people evangelistically.  But even though this interpretation was intriguing, the more I thought about it, the more doubts I had that in a it was correct.

 

The main thing that bothered me was if that’s what Paul wants to say, he could have said it much more plainly. One principle of Bible study is that you want to go with the simplest, most natural reading.  And if Paul had wanted us to think about things that are true and excellent in our culture for evangelistic reasons, he could have just said that.

 

And then as I looked more closely at the two reasons given by the scholars, they didn’t seem as strong as they seemed at first.

 

First of all, I went through the list of words to see if Paul used them in other letters. And what I discovered was that five of the eight words in the list are used by Paul in his other letters to describe Christian virtues. Three of them are not used by Paul in his other letters, but five of them are.  So if five of the words in verse 8 were used by Paul in other places to describe Christian virtues, there’s not a lot of evidence to think Paul is talking about the surrounding culture.

 

But then second, why does Paul say “if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise”?  Doesn’t that mean Paul is saying there might not be anything excellent or praiseworthy – which would make the most sense if he was talking about our surrounding culture?

 

But then I remembered that Paul uses that same language in chapter 2 verse 1.  Turn there and look at what he says –

1          So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy …

 2         complete my joy by being of the same mind…

 

So when Paul says “if there is any encouragement in Christ,” he is not saying there might not be any encouragement in Christ.  And the reason is that in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the word “if” can also mean since, or because. So what Paul is saying is since there is encouragement in Christ.

 

So, since that’s how Paul uses that language back in Chapter 2, it makes sense to think that’s how he’s using it here in chapter 4. So Paul is not saying there might not be anything excellent or praiseworthy – he is saying since there is something excellent and praiseworthy – think on those things.

 

So I don’t think Paul’s point is to urge us to think about things that are true or excellent in our surrounding culture.  So what is Paul urging us to think about? Maybe the first answer is right – that Paul is calling us to think about things that are true or honorable in general.  But as I kept studying, I saw a 3^rd alternative – that maybe Paul is urging us to think about what is true and excellent in his own life and words and teaching.

 

Here’s why.  First, I noticed that verse 9 sounds similar to verse 8. To see that, let’s read them together –

8          Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

9          What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

In verse 9 Paul urges them to practice the things they had learned and received and heard and seen about Paul -- that would include things they had seen when he was with them, as well as what he had just written in this letter.

 

So I started wondering if maybe in verse 8 Paul is urging us to think about all that is true and excellent in his own life and words and teaching.

 

Then second, I noticed that word “finally” at the beginning of verse 8.  That word “finally” makes it sound like verse 8 begins the conclusion of Paul’s whole letter.  And it seems fitting that the conclusion of Paul’s whole letter would be to urge us to think about what is true and excellent in his own life and words in teaching.

 

Then third, I noticed that Paul uses the words “these things” both at the end of verse 8 and the end of verse 9.  So that made me wonder if he’s talking about the same “these things” at the end of both verses.

 

So my conclusion, tentatively, is that in verse eight Paul is saying “finally, brothers, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise from my life and words and teaching -- think about these things.

 

Now the reason I say this is my tentative conclusion is because I’m not 100% sure about verse 8.  But I am 100% sure about verse 9, and so for the rest of our time I want to focus there.  Here Paul is urging us to practice the things we have learned in this letter and seen in Paul.  But that’s not all he says in verse 9.  He also gives us a promise to motivate us.

 

And to see this, let’s ask – what should motivate us to practice these things?  Let’s read verse 9 again, and notice what Paul says –

9          What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

So why should we practice these things? It’s because when we do, the God of peace will be with us.  What does that mean?

 

We know that God is omnipresent – that his presence and influence is everywhere. But the Bible also teaches that there are times when God makes his presence especially real to us, so we know and feel and experience his presence.

 

Think about the creator God of the universe making his presence specially real to you. So Paul is saying that if we will practice the things we have learned and received and heard and seen in Paul and this letter, then God will make his presence specially real to us. 

 

But it’s not that our obedience earns this from God. We are sinful people. And even in our best moments here on earth we don’t deserve God’s presence. But because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God mercifully chooses to reward our undeserving obedience with this special manifestation of his presence.  And notice that it is the God of peace who will be with us – which means that when God brings his presence upon us, we will be filled with peace.

 

That’s why we should practice these things. So with that in mind, let’s ask one last question – what things have we learned and heard and seen in Paul?  Let me mention eleven of the main points we have seen in Philippians – and as we go through these ask the Holy Spirit to take one of them in deeply stir your heart that this is something he wants you to pursue this week.

 

1:13 – be bold to share the gospel, even if you are surrounded by soldiers who could kill you. 

 

1:18 – let Christ’s worth overcome any divisions there might be between you and other believers.

 

1:21 – live for the joy of knowing and glorifying Christ, and fight to see the worth of Christ so clearly that you see death as gain, because it will bring you to him.

 

1:27 – work together to advance the gospel and bring people to faith.

 

1:28 – fight to see what a treasure you have in Christ so you will not fear whatever persecution people can bring you.

 

2:1 – pursue humble and loving unity with your brothers and sisters, by seeing all the encouragement and love you have in Christ.

 

2:14-16 – don’t grumble or question, but hold fast to the word of life.

 

2:19-30 -- be like Timothy and Epathroditus, who were genuinely concerned for the welfare of others.

 

3:1 – rejoice in the Lord by praying over the truth of Jesus Christ until the Spirit fills your heart.

 

3:8 – be like Paul who counted everything else as loss because he saw and felt the reality of Christ as his all-satisfying treasure.

 

4:6-7 – do not be anxious about anything, by praying, thanking God for all you have in Christ, and pouring out your requests before him.

 

And in with those commands ringing in our ears, let’s read verse 9 again –

9          What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.