Philippians 4: 1-4 Analysis

Let’s open our Bibles together to Philippians 3. We are continuing our series entitled “Joyful Living”. Today we are going to be looking at Philippians 4:1-4. The title of my sermon is: “Resolving Conflicts God’s Way”. In Philippians 4:1-4, Paul addressees the problem of disunity in the church and gives us some practical and valuable advices on how to resolve relational conflicts God’s way. (read).
“William Borah was a prominent Republican Senator from Idaho. Everyone who knew Idaho’s Senator respected him for his integrity. However, they also knew him as a tough individualist who seldom teamed up with anyone else. As a Senator, Borah was dedicated to principles rather than party loyalty. On several occasions he opposed the policies of the
president of his own party. This earned him the nickname “The Great Opposer”. Reportedly, Senator Borah was horseback riding near the White House one day when President Coolidge’s secretary looked out the window and commented, “The senator from Idaho is riding a beautiful horse”. Turning to look for himself, President Coolidge said, “A most remarkable sight indeed.” The secretary, who had seen Senator Borah riding on other occasions and thought he rode well, asked, “What is so remarkable about the sight?” The President replied, “Senator Borah and the horse are going in the same direction.” (Arp, The Joyful Life, p.101).
In Paul’s day, not all of the Christians in Philippi were moving in the same direction.
Some of them were moving in a direction contrary to God’s plan. Paul’s instructions in chapter 4 verses 2 through 4 address this concern. It is important to keep in mind Paul’s purpose in writing this letter. Philippians is a thank you note from Paul. While Paul was under house arrest in Rome, the Philippian church had sent him a financial gift and Paul writes back to thank them for their support. But Philippians is more than a mere thank you letter. Paul also uses this occasion to deal with the Philippians discouragement over his imprisonment, their own suffering for the gospel, and disunity in the church. Paul’s goal was to help the Philippians replace their anxiety with joy. He states his consolatory strategy in his prayer in 1:9-11. 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 for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. The phrase “what is best” simply means “things that matter”. The Philippian believers have failed to distinguish the things that matter from those that do not, and in doing so they became discouraged. Paul teaches the Philippians that they will be able to replace their anxiety with joy once they are able to discern what is
important. As Paul addresses their circumstances, he highlights throughout the letter what are the things that really matter in life. He puts them in a form of a command. In chapter 1, Paul highlights this: 1.Put the advancement of the gospel at the center of your aspirations. 2. Adopt Jesus’ attitude of selfless humility and 3. Imitate those who pursue Christlikeness. And now in chapter 4, Paul’s command is this: Remain steadfast in your Christian walk. Paul begins chapter 4 by saying, “Stand firm in the Lord”. Paul’s exhortations in chapter 4 deals with the anxieties of the Philippian church. The key verse of chapter 4 is verse 6: “Do not be anxious about anything!” Opposition