Jonathan is currently a Master of Divinity student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and wants to become an ordained pastor upon graduation. Till then, this blog is in honor of his Dad, the real Pastor Romig. Please do not preach this sermon, but feel free to quote it using proper attribution (aff link).My brother and I decided to go to a new section with less sand and more bog. As we began to wade out into the spongy mud collecting golf balls I got nervous. The mud was deep and sucked at our feet. Nathanael took a wide loop to grab a ball and about mid way through he got stuck. When you’re eleven-years old getting stuck in a bog is like getting stuck in quicksand.
I watched as his legs began to sink into the mud and his face grew gray. This is about the time he said, “Help, I’m sinking, but don’t come any closer.” That made helping him difficult. A man walked by about 60 yards away on the sidewalk and we called for help. He literally laughed at us and walked away.
Both my brother and I were on shaky ground. My brother more so and I was unable to help him. And the man on the sidewalk wasn’t interested in coming to our rescue.
My brother and I made it out alive but there are more bogs in life than lake Estes. Life throws all sorts of problems, challenges, and obstacles our way. When times get bad do we have peace or anxiety? Our foundation determines if we rise or sink. Philippians 4:1-23 speaks to standing firm.
People are relational beings. Even from the beginning Adam needed Eve. Standing with the right people makes a world of difference. So who should we stand with if we want to stand firm?
We stand firm by standing with Christ (Philippians 4:1-9).
What does it mean to stand firm? When Paul writes to the Philippians about standing firm they would have thought of the Roman soldiers in battle. The Roman army was famous for standing firm in the face of any onslaught. So when Paul tells the Philippians to stand firm he has a similar idea.
He wants them to resist the devil’s schemes to take their faith away. He wants them to remain confident in God despite life’s challenges. When hard times come he doesn’t want them to freak out. He wants them to trust in God and remain calm and confident.
So why do believers stand firm? We stand firm because we stand with Christ (4:2-3). 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Paul begins the passage addressing two Christian women who are bickering. The very first thing Paul does is to call them to unity “in the Lord.” He does not call them to unity in themselves.
In fact, he calls upon the whole church and its leadership to restore peace. He calls to the “true companion” and “Clement”(4:3a). He calls to the “fellow workers”(4:3b). What do all of these people have in common? Their names are written in the “book of life.” The two women are able to reconcile because they are reconciled in Christ. A firm foundation is only possible through Christ.
How do we receive this firm foundation? (4:4-9).
First, a strong foundation comes by joy in God (4:4). Paul commands the Philippians to be joyful twice. This joy is different than momentary happiness. It is a consistent and daily joy. But it is only found “in the Lord.” Only by God’s grace and power do we receive it.
Second, a strong foundation comes by the gentleness of God. Today’s culture doesn’t care about gentleness. You don’t win the Discovery Channel’s “One Man Army” with gentleness. But God desires Christians to have a public gentleness (2 Cor 10:1). He desires we have the same gentleness Christ displays. It’s not timidity but having a strong softness that reflects God’s grace.
Third, a strong foundation comes by prayer to God (4:6-7). When life throws trials at us God calls us to prayer. Supplication means to “ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly.”[1] We are to pray to God with everything we got. This passage is heavy emotionally. And I think that is what God wants. He wants us so emotionally and spiritually bonded to him that when trials come we have “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.”
Fourth, a strong foundation comes about by a heart set on God (4:8-9). How are we to set our hearts on God? We are to meditate on the truth of God found in Christ. We are to meditate on what is noble (elderly wisdom, the law, the Sabbath). We are to meditate on the justice of God. We are to meditate on the purity that comes through Christ. We are to meditate on the beauty God has created. And we are to meditate on good things instead of evil or horror. Paul calls them to set their hearts on God just as he has set his (4:9). Like the preceding verses he too promises this will bring God’s peace.
A few months after I graduated I decided to go skydiving with my coworkers. I signed up to go skydiving because I thought we would never go. And as the group began to shrink I thought we would too. And then one Saturday morning I was driving to the jump zone.
In my head I began to worry, “Why did I do this Lord? Why am I here?” I’d begun to pray and meditate on Philippians 4:6-8 earlier in the week. But now the anxiety really kicked in. And honestly, despite my prayers, I was still scared. That didn’t improve when my coworker and me got into a rickety winged bus.
Then my coworker’s jump partner strapped to her back asked her what the last thing to go through her head would be if the parachute didn’t open… His head.
At about 13,000 feet in the air we jumped and the fear left me. I tried to yell Philippians 4:6-8 on the way down but got dry mouth instead.
I’m glad I went but at the time I wasn’t exactly sure why I jumped. I’m afraid of heights and I’m not a fan of spending $5 per second. God showed me why on the ride home when my coworker opened up and began to talk about her struggles and God’s plan for her in them. My life and God’s desires for me were not secure in the parachute but in God. My skydiving adventure wasn’t particularly a trial, but it was a challenge.
Instead of focusing on my fears I set my mind on God through my prayers. And because of that I could see my coworker’s need and minister to her. When we are challenged God wants to use this time to build us up. Prayer and setting our minds on him are where we must start. A firm foundation begins when we stand with Christ.
When we stand for ourselves we’ll end up on the floor. It’s amazing that Martha Stewart is doing well despite lying to the FBI and going to jail. Many Hollywood socialites like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan have also spent time in jail for drunk driving and other mistakes. A life of drugs, alcohol, and fame murdered the singer Amy Winehouse. Heath Ledger was at the top of his career when his medications killed him.
IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn made headline news for treating women inappropriately. Eliot Spitzer messed around with a prostitute and lost his public office. And the Christian Governor Mark Sanford lost it all from his affair.
All of these people looked to themselves for strength. When we rely on ourselves for our foundation we will fall. Paul knew our tendencies to fall as he wrote the next few verses.
We need a foundation stronger than ourselves (Philippians 4:10-13).
We will face trials. Paul faced trials of the worst kind. We read that the church’s care for Paul has “flourished again”(4:10). Although the Philippians church supported Paul more than other churches it was imperfect in supplying for Paul’s needs. And yet, Paul has had many more hardships than this.
He has gone through prison, he was whipped with 39 lashes 4 times, he was beaten with rods three times, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, and even spent a night and a day in the sea (2 Corinthians 11:23-29). Most of us probably won’t face these persecutions for Christ. But when life puts us in difficult places God wants us to have a similar mindset.
If our faith is in Christ, we will not face trials alone. Paul has learned contentment in the good and the bad. But it’s not that he is out alone toughing it like Survivor Man. Philippians 4:13 is one of the most famous verses of the Bible. It’s not that God is strengthening Paul to do whatever Paul wants. God is strengthening Paul to complete God’s desires and good works.
So even in trial and tribulation Paul is able to praise God through God’s strength. He can stand because Christ is standing in him. When we are serving God’s purposes instead of our own we too can take confidence in the Christ who strengthens us (4:13).
We need a foundation tougher than us. Most houses have a wood structure, wood walls, and a wood roof. But not many houses have a wood foundation. If you’ve watched the news after a tornado you’ve seen the trail of devastation. Houses are torn down and demolished. But all the foundations are still planted in the ground. Christ is to be our foundation. When the tornados come he will stand firm even when we cannot. We need a foundation stronger than ourselves.
So we know who we’re standing with—Christ. And we know that as a foundation he is much stronger than us. But who receives this firm foundation? How can we get it as our own?
God gives his firm foundations to those who follow him (Philippians 4:14-23).
The Philippians received Christ’s blessing for standing in Christ. What is amazing about the Philippian church is they had nothing (2 Cor. 8:2). They were poor and went through a time of “deep poverty.” And yet they gave to Paul and his ministry liberally. The Philippians stood for Christ through Paul’s work. They actively sacrificed and cared for him.
Paul sought a reward from God for them because of this. He calls their work a “sweet-smelling aroma” and “an acceptable sacrifice.” And he calls on God to supply all their needs.
God’s faithfulness in not contingent on people’s actions. He is faithful even when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:6). But he does reward those who earnestly seek to follow him with a genuine heart.
We can only stand by God’s grace (Philippians 4:21-23) Paul closes the passage with several greetings and the blessing of God’s grace. Notice that the saints from Caesar’s household greet the Philippians. There is no way that pagan people in a pagan ruler’s household would come to know God but by God’s grace. But this is the power of God’s grace working in his people.
And that same powerful grace is at work in us. We can stand firm in Christ, but only by God’s grace. This is a good way to stand.
Paul wrote to the Philippians as an encouragement. This whole book is Paul encouraging them to be conformed into the image of Christ. And we too are to be conformed through the power and grace of God.
Christians aren’t so much different than other people. We pay taxes, mow our lawns, and many of us like sports. But God does promise that we have a resource available for life’s challenges. We have God himself who is our foundation. This is a great gift and it is available to all who will put their faith in Christ.
A few weeks ago one of the girls in my Thursday evening Bible study brought up Bethany Hamilton as an illustration when we were reading this passage. Bethany is the true-life star of the movie “Soul Surfer.”
She grew up living and breathing surfing in Hawaii. I watched an interview of Bethany’s mom in the special features. She said that Bethany and her began to pray one October that God would use Bethany’s life. God answered two weeks later.
Bethany was out practicing surfing with her instructor and friends As she dangled her arm in the water a 14-foot tiger shark bit her arm off to her shoulder. She almost didn’t make it out alive because she lost 60% of her blood.
She could have lost her footing when this happened. She could have lost her faith in God and said “he hates me.” She could have given up on God and lived for herself. But she didn’t because she stood firm in Christ. She got back onto her surfboard two weeks after the attack with the bandage still on her shoulder.
People from all over the world saw what she was doing and were encouraged. She used this opportunity to tell them all about Christ’s love. God took her arm but gave her a much bigger heart. Bethany Hamilton is now a professional world-class surfer.
She is standing firm in Christ but are we standing firm in Christ? If God allowed something painful to happen to us would we rise or fall? If he took our job, our parents, our spouse, our child, or our security would we still stand? When everything and everyone lets us down will we fall down too? Or will we stand secure in the one who is the chief cornerstone?
When we stand in Christ we don’t have to worry about what life will throw at us. God won’t budge and neither will we when we trust in him. Stand firm in Christ.
[1] Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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