Sermons by Ken D. Trivette from the Living Word

The Book of Philippians
THE SERMON ON SUNDAY AND THE SAINT ON MONDAY
Philippians 4:9

1. There are two great weaknesses that are common to Christianity in our generation. One has to do with the minister and the other has to do with the members. One weakness of this generation involves the PREACHER IN THE PULPIT ON SUNDAY. I realize that I am the last to judge others when it comes to preaching, but I do feel it is a tragedy that the preaching many people hear on Sunday is sadly lacking in Bible content.

2. I think of a little boy that returned home from Church one Sunday morning and said to his mother, "You know what, Mommy? When I grow up I'm going to be a preacher!." "That's great," said the mother, "What made you decide that you wanted to be a preacher when you grow up?" The little boy replied, "Well, I'll have to go to Church on Sunday anyway and I think it would be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen."

3. I have heard a few sermons that was nothing more than yelling (preached a few as well). There is a difference from preaching from the Bible and preaching the Bible. It has been my conviction for several years that preaching is more than taking a thought from the Bible and using the Bible to create a sermon. Preaching is taking a text from the Bible and using the Bible to create a saint.

4. J. Howard Pew, Board Chairman of the Sun Oil Company once said, "Like most laymen, I go to Church to hear heralded the mind of Christ, not the mind of men. I want to hear expounded the timeless truth contained in the Scriptures, the kind of preaching that gets it power from 'Thus saith the Lord.' Such preaching is hard to find these days." ("Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations" by Paul Lee Tan)

5. I think of what the great British preacher Alexander Maclaren said to a group of young preachers, "I began my ministry with the determination of concentrating all my available strength on the work, the proper work of Christian ministry, the pulpit...I have tried to make my ministry, a ministry of exposition of Scripture."

6. The second great weakness of this present generation is the PEOPLE IN THE PEWS ON MONDAY. Whereas, in many cases, the preacher is weak in Bible content, the people are weak in Bible commitment. They hear the sermon but do not heed the sermon. They get their cups full on Sunday but they are empty on Monday. The Word they hear on Sunday does not translate into a walk on Monday. The sermon on Sunday does not make a saint on Monday.

7. What we are on Sunday and Monday are often two different ways of life. What we hear on Sunday does not find its way into our life on Monday. In Philippians 4:9 we find four verbs, "learned, received, heard, and seen." These verbs call for sermons on Sunday and saints on Monday.

8. "Those things" Paul spoke of was the divine truth he had taught them. We can be sure there was content in his sermons. What Paul is calling for is commitment in the members on Monday. Notice first of all the matter of:

1. RECEIVING WHAT IS TAUGHT!

1. Paul speaks of, "Those things which ye have both learned and received."  Paul had taught them the divine truths of God. They had "learned" and "received" those truth from the preaching and teaching of Paul. Involved in that preaching and teaching was:

A. The Apprehension of Truth

1. First, there was a learning of truth. They had been brought to an understanding of truth. We are reminded that every believer is to be a learner. Every Christian is to be a student of the Word of God. One of the descriptions of the Christian in the New Testament is that of a disciple. The word speaks of a learner, and describes a student who is taught by another.

2. Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:18, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

3. Our knowledge of God's word should be constantly increasing. We should be continually learning more of what God has said.

4. A Bible knowledge test was given to five classes of High school seniors and most failed completely. Among the inaccuracies, Gospel writers were Matthew, Mark, Luther, and John. Eve was created out of an apple and Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.

5. Children in a certain Sunday school were asked and the following answers were received:

6. I wonder if adults would do much better. Every believer is to be a learner. They are to be a student of the Bible. Secondly we see in this matter of receiving the truth:

B. The Appropriation of Truth

1.  There is not only the matter of "learning" but also of "receiving." Paul said they had "both learned and received." One can learn truth without receiving truth. One can have a head knowledge and not have a heart knowledge.

2. The word "received" means, "to bring near, associate oneself with." This receiving of truth is making what you learn a part of your life. There is the apprehension of truth coupled with the appropriation of that truth. It is one thing for you to get in the Bible and another thing for the Bible to get in you.

3. We read in James 1:21, "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." Paul said of the believers in Thessalonica, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

4. There is an interesting statement made in Hebrews 4:2, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." The word was preached, but it did not profit them. Why was there no profit from the preaching of the word? The word was heard but it was not heeded. There was no appropriation of the word. There is to be both a learning and receiving of God's word into our heart and life. The objective of truth is not to make us scholars but saints.

5. The second thing we see is:

2. REVEALING WHAT IS TAUGHT!

1. Paul goes on to mention what was "heard, and seen in me." There is not only a receiving of truth but there is also a revealing of truth. In Paul's case, the truth was seen. What does this revealing of truth imply? First there is:

A. The Sharing of Truth

1. Paul is being very personal and reminds believers that what they had "heard" from him. He had received truth and what he had received he had shared with others. He was saying, "You heard the truth from me. I shared with you the Word of God."

2. We read in Hebrews 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." The write of Hebrews was saying that a believer ought to be teachers, that is, a sharer of the truth they have received and learned. As a believer, when we receive the truth and learn the truth, there is the responsibility of sharing the truth.

3. As one has said, "A Christian must keep the faith but not to himself."

4. There is also the matter of:

B. The Showing of Truth

1. These Philippians believers had not only received the truth from Paul but they had "seen" the truth in him. He shared the truth and showed the truth. They had seen practiced in his life what he preached. Paul had been a model of his message.

2. There is to be a revealing of truth in our life. People are to see in us the very truth we proclaim. As Paul said in verse 5, "Let your moderation be known unto all men."

3. One Sunday on their way home from Church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me." The asked why. The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" "Yes," said the mother, "that is true." "And he also said that God lives in us. Is that true?" "Yes, honey, that is true." "Well" said the little girl, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?"

4. It has been well said that people may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do. We are to be a "Living Bible" to the world around us. We are to share the Word of God by our lips and then show it by our life.

5. Thirdly we see the matter of:

3. REAPING WHAT IS TAUGHT!

1. Finally Paul tells us that if one will be obedient to truth they will reap the blessings of God in their life. He says, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard; and seen in me, do." There is the matter of "doing" what the Bible says. Think with me of:

A. The Requirement of Obedience

1. What we have heard and received, we are to "do." The word simply means to put into practice what we have heard and received. It is to be practiced as a habit in our life. As James said, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22).

2. When a person hears truth, learns truth, receives truth, and sees truth, then one is to "do" that truth. Every time there is a moment of enlightenment there is a call to commitment.

3. Charles Colson tells the story of how he was the Bill Buckley television show talking about restitution and criminal justice. A few days he got a call from Jack Eckerd, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain. He had seen Colson on the program and asked him to come to Florida. He agreed that Florida had a criminal justice crisis and wanted Colson to come down and do something about it. Colson went and they got the Attorney General of the state, the president of the senate of the Florida senate and got on Jack Eckerd's Lear Jet and went around the state of Florida advocating criminal justice reforms. Everywhere they went Jack Eckerd would introduce Colson to the crowds and say, "This is Chuck Colson, my friend. I met him on the Bill Buckley television program. He's born-again, I'm not. I wish I were, " and then sit down. They would get back on the plane and Colson would talk to him about Jesus. They would get off at the next stop and Eckerd would once again introduce Colson the same way. They would get back on the plane and once again Colson would talk to him about Jesus.

4. About a year went by and Colson kept talking to Eckerd. Eventually Jack Eckerd received Christ as his Saviour and was saved. Shortly thereafter, Eckerd walked into one of his drug stores and walked by the bookshelves and he saw Playboy and Penthouse on the shelves. He'd seen it there several times before, but it never bothered him. Now he saw them with new eyes. He had been saved and was now a Christian. He went back to his office and called in his president. He said, "Take Playboy and Penthouse out of my stores." The president said, "You can't mean that, Mr. Eckerd. We make three million dollars a year on those magazines." Eckerd said, "Take em' out of my stores." In 1,700 stores across America, by one man's decision, those magazines were removed from the book shelves.

5. Colson called up Eckerd and said, "I want to use that story. Did you do that because of your commitment to Christ?" Eckerd replied, "Why else would I give away three million dollars? The Lord wouldn't let me off the hook."

6. I have got news for you if you are saved. The Lord will not let you off the hook. When truth has been learned, received, heard, and seen, there is to be obedience to that truth.

7. Notice also:

B. The Results of Obedience

1. Paul tells us that if we will "do" those things, "the God of peace shall be with you." He is simply telling us that we will reap the blessings and benefits of truth if we obey. For one thing, we will enjoy the peace of God. The peace of God from the God of peace will bring a wonderful contentment, certainty, and calmness to life.

2. For another thing, we will enjoy the presence of God. The God of peace will be with us. We will not only enjoy the blessings but also the Blesser!

3. A Christian businessman was in a mining area and called on a Christian friend that was a miner. It was late in the afternoon, and the miner, was found pouring over his well-worn Bible. The visitor asked, "Well, Jamie, where are you gleaning today?" His reply, "In Romans 8." A few weeks later the businessman called on his friend at his home and as before he found him studying his Bible. He was still reading in Romans 8. "Why, Jamie, you were digging into that chapter when I came to see you a few weeks ago." The miner replied, "Aye, I'm sinking a shaft here."

4. Can I say that we need to sink a shaft into God's Word and learn it, love it, and live it. If we do, the God of peace shall be with us.