Pest Control - Part A

Now Paul writes about not problem circumstances problem. People forget this. Their Christian people that are the problem. Christian people that are opposed to Paul this dissolution. Lots of the who, after they come to Christ say something like what I thought it would be much different among Christians. I thought Christians would be so wonderful all the time. It's a good thought, but the reality is were all fallen for all sin were all imperfect and yet we all get together.

How do you deal with conflict in the church.

That's the question Skippy to tackles today on connect with skip-to them and discover how the apostle Paul handle conflict in the body of Christ and how you can be a part of uniting the church. But first Skip was to share about another way you can hear these encouraging Bible messages. I want to invite you to follow my podcast so you can get even more inspiring teachings.

Just search Skip Heitzigs it that Skip HP IT CIG fonts modify Apple podcasts for anywhere you listen to your podcast and don't forget to follow the podcasts so you know when a new teaching is available then Skip right now want to share about a resource that can help you become more familiar with the Holy Spirit and how he helps you live in victory.

The Holy Spirit is mysterious in the Bible.

Jesus even said to moves like the wind, so Christians are instructed to know sensitive to the Holy Spirit and his health Council and comfort Skip I think reminds us, you can't neglect the Holy Spirit is the Scripture is from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. Not only is the Bible full of the Holy Spirit you candy to the Holy Spirit is a divine person who helps us how many of you think you need all the help you can get to live your Christian life. John Heimlich.

We need help discover the Holy Spirit is pastor Skip DVD study expound Holy Spirit and for a limited time you can also get a copy of Lenny, and I think the booklet called empower discover your spiritual gifts. Both resources are our things, your gift of $25 or more to help expand the title teaching outreach to get online securely connect with Steph.com/offer or call 800-922-1888, chapter 1 as we got into her study with Skip Kaiser so there was a man he was stranded on a desert island all alone for years. Finally, he was found in a rescue team was sent to palm off the iron to bring back to civilization. Well, they get to the island of before they take them off he goes. Let me show you around.

First so you can see what I've done with the place so he brought them to a hot that he lived in he goes. This is the home that I built with my own two hands.

They were impressed and then he showed them a second building and he said this is the church that I built with my own two hands and he was alone on the island but is like this of the church. I built with my own two hands, and then somebody from the rescue party noticed 1/3 building. He said what about that building.

He said all that's the church I used to go to if you gone to church for very long, you know that that sentiment is not far off that the longer you go to church, you discover that church history is filled with contention sometimes and discord over years and it's one of the things that unbelievers have noticed people who do not believe in the Jesus we follow will sometimes back oftentimes say you know there's a lot of denominations in the Christian world and it just seems like you guys can get your act together.

You don't all agree on all the points you know it's like the old Joe company Christians of the take to change a lightbulb and is not an easy answer. Presbyterians none lights will go on and off the predestined times Catholics none candles only Baptists at least 15 one to change the lightbulb and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad Episcopalians 31 to call the electrician one to mix the drinks and want to talk about how much better the old lightbulb was charismatics only one hands are already in the air. Pentecostals 10 one to change the bulb and nine the price against the spirit of darkness Unitarians. We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for lightbulb's. However, if you're in your own journey you found the lightbulb's work for you that's fine. You're invited to write a Palmer composer modern dance about your lightbulb for next Sunday's service in which we will explore a number of lightbulb traditions including incandescent florescent three-way long life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence Methodists undetermined whether your light is bright or dull or completely out. You are loved. You can be a lightbulb returnable or tulip bulb Christian or churchwide lighting services plan for next Sunday bring the bulb of your choice and a covered dish Nazarenes 61 woman to replace the ball while five men review the church lighting policy Lutherans. None Lutherans don't believe in change. Amish. What's a lightbulb will now that I've effectively ditched all denominations and offended everyone. I want to go to the text itself. In Philippians chapter 1 were going to be looking at verses 15 through 18.

And here's where we are. Last time we were together. We noted that Paul was dealing with problem circumstances. He had been on trial. It was a mistrial. It was a miscarriage of justice. It landed him in prison in Caesarea than in prison in Rome.

Now Paul writes about not problem circumstances, but problem people but get this, there Christian people that are the problem. Christian people that are opposed to Paul this dissolutions lots of people who after they come to Christ say something like well I thought it would be much different among Christians. I thought Christians would be so wonderful all the time. It's a good thought, but the reality is were all fallen were all sinful were all imperfect and yet we all get together.

Remember Jesus said when he gave his sermon to that synagogue in Nazareth, he said that he had come his words to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives to give sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, did you hear the description of the audience. He speaks about poor brokenhearted captive lined oppressed sound like a messy bunch. To me, and that is who we are as we are all together, the critical question is how do you handle tests, how do you deal with people who claim to be Christians. Yet at the same time there weird, irritable, sometimes wrong or just plain goofy how you handle them.

What you do well. We are given a threefold strategy in these four verses of Philippians chapter 1. Whether you are a church leader, whether you are a group leader, whether you gather a small group in your home. Are you going to missions trip or you just hang around Christians. These are valuable principles to know.

Let's begin by just looking at our text in verse 15, Paul says these words some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes and will rejoice. The first thing we must do is identify the troublemakers know this will not be difficult.

Troublemakers show themselves. They emerge on their own. You don't have to look for them. You'll find them pretty easily. Paul did in his experience in Rome.

Now, as we examine these words in this text more carefully we discover who he is speaking about. First of all we want to make a note that these people Paul is writing about are believers there believers notice in verse 15 he says some indeed preach Christ some of what some of whom the answers given in the previous verse, verse 14. Most of the brethren in the Lord. Please notice that that's part of the group most of the brethren in the Lord have become confident about my chains and are much more bold to speak the word without fear some, that is, some of them some of those brethren in the Lord indeed preach Christ. So Paul is not dealing with heretics here or Gnostics or Judaizers or unbelieving idol worshipers. He's talking about Christian brothers and sisters who preach Christ evidently leaders in the church in Rome why this is important to make a note of well I've noticed that some of us like to idealize the early church. We think that the early church must've just been perfect all the time and I've heard sentiments such as boy I wish our church to be like the early centuries, those were the good old days, I discovered the good old days is just a combination of a good imagination and a bad memory because if you think about it. The New Testament is filled with early church issues. Example the church at Corinth was an early church ever spent much time in first and second Corinthians. If you have, you understand that when Paul wrote that letter he was speaking to a divided church who were arguing over leadership. There was rampant divorce.

There was lack of love. There was immorality there was the discussion over spiritual gifts that nobody agreed on.

It sounds very contemporary to me. If you're if you're wanting to be like the early church.

I think we've hit that mark. They were not a perfect group of people. I guess the most disturbing issue is why does that happen in the church, what, why, among redeem saved people can there get to be so many problems. The Puritan John Trapp answered that question the best.

He said the devil loves to fish in troubled waters. That's good. And the devil loves to fish in troubled waters.

Satan loves to exploit and amplify any conflict or disagreement or issue that may be among us. If you have never read the book the Screwtape letters, by CS Lewis. I recommend you read it. CS Lewis decided to write a book from the vantage point of the devil trying to undo people. The devil in this book Screwtape. The senior demon is training a younger protégé demon named wormwood on how to mess people's lives up in in one section of the book, he writes a letter to wormwood. My dear wormwood, says Screwtape the senior demon. The church is a fertile field. If you keep them bickering over detail, structure money, property, personal hurts and misunderstandings. One thing you must prevent. Don't ever let Christians look up and see the banner of victory flying because you will lose them. Never let them see the glory of God. That's exactly what Paul does. Paul lets us see the glory of God. That's how he will answer this whole contention issue. You'll notice in the minute he flies the banner of victory and he shows them the glory of God.

Let's let's look at these troublemakers. Let's identify the one thing I want you to notice as they were jealous look in verse 15 of the word and be some indeed preach Christ even from envy. Now we have another word for envy in our language jealousy. They were jealous over Paul.

Why were they jealous over Paul. Well Paul was an easy target. He was quite successful.

Paul was highly intelligent. He was very gifted, extraordinarily successful in spreading the gospel. He had seen with his own eyes, a vision of the resurrected Christ and at the time this was written. Christians were already regarding his letters as holy Scripture.

So he's an easy target and people in St. Paul decided let's shoot him down.

This is just human nature. I noticed this on every level, whether it's people matter Wall Street or the one per centers of the big corporations always the big successful guys that are the easy targets so they were jealous. He uses the word they preach from envy. Not only were they jealous they were a contentious group to the next word. Some indeed preach Christ from envy. That's jealousy and strife that describes somebody who is an argumentative person. That's what strife means to me stirs up conflict argumentative you know any people like that.

The just year-round. There always stirring up conflict always argumentative.

Some people thrive on being argumentative effects. Some people are known more for what they are against rather than what they are for you never quite know what therefore you just know they're against a lot that strife.

They exist to slam others and they were slamming Paul the apostle. I have a colleague in the ministry who I've known for years. I respect and he was speaking about answering questions that young ministers were asking him about the minister and if so what is the most difficult experience you've ever had in ministry and he said whether to number one is when people who know truth walk away from it when somebody who should know better. There Christians who've been exposed to truth and exposed to the word bring their Bibles read along. Suddenly one day they, for whatever reason walk away completely from living for Christ. He said, but the second he was speaking about ministers who were coming against him.

He said those who live to attack others in the ministry that it it's like they falsely accuse and they they live just to stir up trouble so envy and strife and we do not know how the strife was expressed, we can only suppose maybe there was a group of people say well you know Paul the apostle, there must be seen in his life.

That's why he's in jail because God would be more faithful and not allow him to be in prison unless something is wrong with him. Or maybe they were saying well. Paul hasn't tapped into the victorious Holy Spirit filled life with. If he did if he had been, he wouldn't be in prison he be free like we have. We are what we do know they were jealous and we do know they were contentious something else. They were they were selfish to go down to verse 16, he amplifies it further. He says the former. That is the first group the guys against in the former preach Christ from selfish ambition very interesting term. It is a political term that speaks about a politician canvassing for office using negative campaigns putting other people down to make himself look better to promote himself. So here's a group of people putting Paul down to puff themselves up like a politician might do in a negative campaign that they got some perverted pleasure by slamming Paul so that they could make other people think they are much better. This is not new. In the New Testament we know that John the apostle spoke about a guy named diopter fees if you know your Bible third John verse nine that little letter toward the end of the New Testament.

He says diopter fees loves to have the preeminence.

He loves to have the preeminence. In other words, he wants to dominate people. He's a control freak director fees loves to have the preeminence among them. Keep this in mind next time you hear gossip and errors.

There are unfortunately too many people, even in the church who love to spread gossip when you hear gossip somebody's ego is being exalted. It's usually shared because I know this and you don't and I am concerned and ego is being exalted is that information is being Diebold a man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package and selfish ambition was part and parcel of what was wrong with these people. They were selfish.

So there jealous or contentious their selfish, Paul mentions them not by name. He doesn't want to make too much out of it. He did then want us be self-serving, but he mentioned what they did but there is 1/4 thing they were malicious on notice in verse 16.

The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely note. Watch this. Supposing or hoping to add affliction to my chains. Now Paul is revealing their motivation. They're doing all this, they are this way. There there pushing me down, pull themselves up, and here's why they want to add affliction to my bonds. What is that mean the word affliction is a common New Testament word for…… Is a word that means pressure or trial, but it literally means an irritation. It means friction is the irritation caused by the rubbing of an object over another object, no notice, it says pulses they want to add affliction or irritation to my chains for two years. Paul was in chains. I know you've heard that. I know we've read that we discussed that, but I just want you to think of what that means.

That means for two years. Paul couldn't take a potty break alone.

He had no freedom. He had no isolation. He had no privacy.

He couldn't eat a meal alone. He couldn't have a conversation and that rented house in Rome for two years.

He was chained to a guard that means there was a shackle around his wrist with a chain attached to the shackle of another soldier who only occupied the place for a few hours at a time, to Paul, 24 hours a day seven days a week two years get a chain that means that that shackle would irritate his skin and his bones and scabs with development it would bleed in it would thicken, etc. you get the picture. So he says the reason these people are this way toward me as they want to add to the irritation that I already have in my chains. That is their motivation that Skip the message from the series Technicolor joy was now a trip to Israel is a life to your Bible study will never be the same Skip his live in Israel, and lead tours. Many many times you refused to invite you. One is next to her.

You know there's always something new to see and experience in Israel. I'm so excited to let you know that I'm taking another tour group to Israel next spring. In 2022 urine for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north.

Seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the temple mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. Now I've been to Israel a number of times over the years that I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed.

It just never gets old. I can't wait to see you in Israel start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzig information and inspiration. Cruises.com/see ABQ. That's inspiration cruises.com/C a BQ think you are a crucial part of helping connect people around the world to the good news of Jesus. If these messages made a difference in your life. Please consider helping connect others to Jesus so they too can experience his love and grace. He can do that by getting a gift today connectwithskip.com/donate.connectwithskip.com/donate or you can call 892 1888 at 800 9218 eight. Thank you.

Tune in tomorrow Skip Heitzig shares how you can have the same attitude of Paul and the gospel centered life upon answers.

He says what that means little question. What then now we would translate that. So why someone what is a matter what, then, only that in every way, whether in pretense there pretending to be sure in their motives, but are not in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and will cannot stand this so Skip presentation of connection communications to go through ever-changing time