Verse-by-verse through Philippians (4:8, Part 5)

(The following is a lesson I taught on the Sunday following the Super Bowl)

We finish up this verse today. An idol isn't necessarily something made with hands. And a lot of times we don’t even recognize that something like that is an idol. If you grow up around Knoxville—or Syracuse, like I did—college football and basketball are part of the cultural fabric. You don’t think of it as something you “put before God.” It’s just like eating and sleeping. If the Georgetown game starts at noon, a lot of people miss church in the morning. Around here, if the Florida game is on Saturday night, “Bobby Joe ain't here this morning; he must have watched the game last night.” But the fact that these things are “part of the culture” is not an excuse.

When the apostle Paul was writing his various letters to the different churches, he didn’t excuse the cultural influences of those areas. For example, Paul lays into the church at Corinth about their tolerance of sin in 1st Corinthians 5:1-2—It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. Apparently, it was a common practice for these people to have relations with—from everything I've read—their stepmother. “Hey, what’s so wrong with that—everybody does it!” What would be some example of that today? People living together before they're married. Teenagers having sex. Female teachers seducing young boys. Drugs. Many people who want to see marijuana legalized send up the crythat “It’s just pot!” Uh, just for the record--no, it's not "just pot." It leads to other things that we do not have time or room to gatalog here.

And just like the church at Corinth, there are many Christians who wouldn’t have a problem compromising on these things. And for no other reason than the fact that these things are part of the culture we live in. And that’s all Satan really wants, is just a little bit of compromise, so that he can slither in and widen that gap between the church and holiness.

These Philippians were, more than likely, being influenced by Roman philosophy, which was filled with humanism. Just like the Corinthians were steeped in Greek philosophy, which was also filled with humanism. So these Philippians had the same problem that faces any new believer in Christ today. “I’ve been watching this stuff and listening to this stuff and doing all this garbage all my life—what do I do now?” I think Paul would say, “Chuck it all; get rid of it.” And it’s interesting, in this verse, he doesn’t give us a list of things that we shouldn’t read or watch or listen to. Because if he did, the scroll would probably be about 2 feet across, and if you rolled it out it would go all the way to Virginia Ave. But he does give us a snapshot of the qualities we should look for in those things we use to occupy our time.

Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Any parents reading this, stop me if you’ve ever had this conversation with your kids: They ask if they can go over to Jimmy’s house. You say, “Yeah, but don’t go anywhere else.” But then they ask, “Well, we were thinking about going over to Donny’s place.” And you know the kind of kid Donny is, and you say, “Absolutely not!” Then, “…Well, can we at least go over to—” “NO!! You can go to Jimmy’s. That’s it!!”

Do you necessarily give him this big long list of places he can't go? No. What do you give him? A short list of places he can go. That is what Paul does here. Rather than spell out this exhaustive list of things to avoid, he gives a list of the qualities of things they should meditate upon. And notice something else—he doesn’t point out specific writers or authors to avoid, and he doesn’t give a list of specific writers and authors that they should read. He simply gives us a litmus test to use when considering those things that we should put before our eyes and take in through our ears. We’ve seen that we should meditate on things that teach truth. Things that are dedicated to the worship of God. Things that lead one into righteousness. Things that teach us how to live in purity. Things that bring us into brotherly love with one another. Things that declare good things. And today we’re going to look at these last two qualities that Paul lists.

First, if there is any virtue. The word translated “virtue” literally means “a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; moral excellence.” What Paul is saying here is, “Anything that displays 'a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action'--think on it.” And keep thinking on it. And live it.” Much like what he said back in Philippians 3:17—Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. I was just listening one of my pastor's messages from about 2008 about that passage in Philippians 3. And he mentioned that other than the Bible, his next favorite things to read are the biographies of godly men—men who have lived their lives as a pattern of “virtue”—that is, “a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action” in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna give you a little snippet from that message:

“Next to the Bible, my life has been most drastically touched by reading the biographies of men and women that have been tremendously used by God. Their flaws have actually served as an encouragement to me…I was thinking of the biographies that I read at different stages of my life and how they impacted me. One of the earliest was C. T. Studd who was extremely wealthy and gave it all away and spent much of his life in Africa…and was used of God to bring untold numbers of Africans to Christ. Then there was Reece Howells…When I saw his passion for prayer, my life and my prayer life was deeply impacted. I remember reading…of Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Navigators and developed a hunger to memorize Scripture and disciple people who come to Christ. Then, there was Hudson Taylor and His willingness to pay any price to get the gospel to the Chinese.”

You see what happens? When you meditate on things that have “virtue”—things that map out “a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action,” then you live a life that has, as its pattern, “a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action.” And I think it’s safe to say that Pastor Phil puts that principle on display in his own life. That his life displays the virtue and moral excellence of these other godly men.

Now, this word that Paul uses, this is the only time he uses it. But the apostle Peter uses it three times in his two letters. 1st Peter 2:9 (ESV, NASB)—But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. See where it says that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you? The KJV and the NKJV, instead of "excellencies", they both translate that word as “praises.” That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you. That’s not necessarily wrong, because praise is excellent. But it kinda misses the mark just a little. What Peter is saying is that God has chosen us, called us, set us apart for His possession so that we may proclaim to the world how excellent He is. Peter wrote his 2nd epistle as a warning to avoid false teachers. And in 2nd Peter 1:5-7—Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. Notice the first thing he tells us to do. He says if you have faith, add to it “moral excellence.” And when you have added moral excellence to your faith, add knowledge to both of them. Then when you have added virtue and knowledge to your faith, add self-control to all three of those, and so on.

And the reason he teaches us to build up all these things on top of and integrate them into the others is found in 2nd Peter 1:8-10—If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful…he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness…if you do these things you will never stumble. In other words, he’s saying, “Are you saved? You are? Then think like you're saved and act like you're saved and live like you're saved!” Basically. And how do we add virtue to our faith? If there is any virtue…meditate on these things.

Finally, if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. If you find something that gives honest praise to God—if that something displays the greatness, the glory, the holiness and righteousness and justice of God—take it! Take it in. Fill your mind with it. And declare it. During this time, basically the very infancy of the Christian church (let alone the church at Philippi), there weren’t really a lot of writings available to them that gave praise to God and to His Christ. So Paul is basically telling them, “If you find anything that teaches you the truth of God, that directs your worship of Him, that declares His goodness, that directs you in 'a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action,' and which gives praise to Almighty God—meditate on it!”

There were more than enough writings which declared the goodness and praises of men. But we’re talking about a period which was maybe 30 or so years after the death and resurrection of Christ. So the only Christian writings that existed at this time were probably some of Paul’s letters to various churches, and those probably not in wide distribution. Mark’s gospel may have been around for a couple years, maybe Matthew’s gospel. So whatever they could get their hands on, that gave praise to God, they were encouraged to do so.

How many times do we hear people use this phrase: “Praise God!” How many of those people actually mean it? So many people walk around with “Praise God” or “Praise Jesus” on their lips, and they have no idea what they're talking about. And I dare say, somewhere in the backs of their minds they're thinking something like, “Oh, I just made God happy because I said ‘Praise God!’” Question is, what G/god(s) are they praising? Basically, what they are praising is their “good fortune.” Now, don’t get me wrong here. God does cause “good things” to happen to wicked people. Matthew 5:45—“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God even causes the wicked to prosper. Daniel 5:18—“O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor.” Jeremiah 12:1-2 (NASB)—“Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You; indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? You have planted them, they have also taken root; they grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips but far from their mind.” God even heals and gives “good things” to people that He knows will walk away from Him and be ungrateful for their blessing. Luke 17:11-17—Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

Those other nine were like many people today. They have good things happen to them—and let’s put “good things” in quotation marks—their business is successful, their kids get into the best colleges, they have all the material things they need. But they ignore the One that allows them to have all those things. So when those people who have the “good things” constantly ignore God who gave them those things—or, allowed them to have those things—when they say, “Praise the Lord” while they're ignoring the Lord, they are praising what they think got them those things.

But now let’s see what happens when those that God calls His people praise Him in sincerity and with an attitude of worship. Deuteronomy 26:17-19—“Today you have proclaimed YHVH to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today YHVH has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to YHVH your God, just as He has spoken.” Now, that passage is talking about the people of Israel, and we need to be careful about taking promises God gave to Israel and thinking they all apply just the same to us today. But this could just as easily be talking about us. He has taken us to be His people. Jesus tells the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:9 (NASB)—“Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.” Those who do not know God give praise to God—even though they don’t know it’s a kind of phony praise—they are happy for the temporary, earthly things that they are only going to enjoy in this life.

But God has made us His people, and has given us eternal riches and eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord—and shouldn’t we be giving Him even more praise for that than the heathens do for their “stuff?” Acts 2:46-47—So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. And it is our praises that show the world that we know God is king. Psalm 22:3—Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

We sing this old song:
To God be the glory, great things he has done
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son
Who yielded his life an atonement for sin
And opened the lifegate that we may go in.

Great things he has taught us, great things he has done
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder, our gladness, when Jesus we see.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the earth hear his voice
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
And give him the glory; great things he has done.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Verse-by-verse through Philippians (4:8, Part 4)

Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy --- meditate on these things. Last week we were talking about always thinking on those things that are “lovely”—that are, literally, “toward brotherly love.” And we talked about how it is the love that we have for each other—and for those who don’t know Christ—that shows the world that we belong to our Lord Jesus. And we got started talking about those things that are “of good report”—literally, something that “declares good things” or that “makes good things famous.” That it’s not a matter of “Everybody likes this book—let’s read it.” But rather, “This book teaches things that point to Christ—let’s read this!”


A good example of this difference is a book called “The Shack.” Should be called “The Outhouse” because of what it's full of. People looove this book—but it teaches things that are flat-out heresy. On the other hand, there is a book called “The Truth War” by John MacArthur, that shows us how we can know the truth in this day and age where the truth is being assaulted on every front. And we’re gonna pick up where we left off last week by talking about these things that are of good report—things that make good things famous. One of the most underestimated sources of encouragement for the body of Christ is the testimony of the believer. When we hear the stories of lives that are changed by our Lord Jesus Christ. And it doesn’t have to be somebody that was a crack dealer, or a crack addict; doesn’t have to be someone who watched pornography, or made it. Some of the most powerful testimonies are from people who thought they were saved.


The most powerful weapon Satan has in his arsenal is deception. More specifically, deceiving people into thinking they're saved. Which is why the church in America is one of the largest mission fields in the world. Because every parent in America who takes their kids to church on Sunday—is saved. Just ask them, they’ll tell you. “Of course I'm going to Heaven—I go to church don’t I?” But then when that person sees the truth, they give God the glory, and they become one of these things that Paul says is of good report. Because this person finally sees that it wasn’t their “goodness” that saved them—because they finally understand that they had no real goodness to begin with! And it is these testimonies that show the world that our life in Christ is the greatest triumph in the history of all the world!


2nd Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASB)—Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. You’ve seen those wooden sticks you put in the oil, they fill the whole room with that fragrance? That’s us. Everywhere we go, everything we do, we should have Christ pouring out of us. There are four “audiences” to whom we are the “fragrance of Christ.”


First, we saw last week that we are the “fragrance of Christ” to a lost and dying world. If we are saved, and if we say that Christ Jesus is our Lord, then our lives should display Christ. A person could worship Buddha, they could worship Allah. They could even worship the rocks and trees, and the world will say, “Oh, they're such a spiritual person.” So many people fall all over themselves for the Dali Lama. But tell people that we worship the Lord Jesus Christ—see what kind of reaction you get. Because we’re not like them. If we are preaching Christ to people who don’t know Christ—and who don’t want to know Christ—we are showing them that they are dead in their sins. John 15:19—“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Second, we are the “fragrance of Christ” to God. If we are saved, God no longer turns up His nose at the stench that comes from “this body of death.” Romans 7:24-25—O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! We have, in fact, been conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:29—For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. And when God gets a whiff of us, instead of being abominable to Him—we are a “sweet aroma” that actually pleases Him. All the sacrifices and offerings in the OT Law pointed to Christ’s sacrifice. And if you read from a KJV the passages in Exodus and Leviticus that talk about those offerings being a “sweet savour” unto the LORD—the word “savour” means “aroma” or “odour.” Now, listen to Ephesians 5:2—And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Christ’s sacrifice was a “sweet aroma to God.” And if we are in Christ, our life is a “sweet aroma” to God. Not only that, but those things we do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ are also a “sweet aroma” to God. Philippians 4:18—I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

We should also be the “fragrance of Christ” to ourselves. HUH?? That is, we should continue to remind ourselves that God has accepted Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Because there are times when, even though we know we are saved, and even though we know that we have turned our back on sin and we seek to walk with Christ every day—who is it that doesn’t want us to remember who we are now? Who wants us to think that we are still the slave of sin and Satan and our own flesh? Yeah! Satan would love nothing more than for us to think we still belong to him! Satan would love for us to think we still carry the stain of our old sins on our body—but guess what? If we are in Christ, if we have had our sins forgiven, then we no longer carry the odor of our old sins—we are the fragrance of Christ! Ephesians 1:6—To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

But sometimes we forget that. When we are in a kind of a funk, and we don’t feel too good about ourselves, we think that God must feel that way about us as well. But who is it that is telling us that? Thing is, that could not be any farther from the truth! In fact, Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians to remind them—and us—about who we are if we are indeed saved. And when we begin to think of who we are now, and we remember that if we are indeed saved, we are accepted by God in Christ. Then, we will begin to think on things that we should, we will walk the way we should, and we will do those good works that Paul said in Ephesians 2:10—God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And those good works that we do because we are saved—not that our works save us, because they don’t—those works will act as a spotlight that puts Jesus on display for a world that does not know Him. Matthew 5:14-16—“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Philippians 1:20—My earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. That’s why it is important that we remember who we are in Christ!

Finally, we should be the “fragrance of Christ” to our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think one reason that the apostle Peter was so intent in his epistles on telling us Christians to always remember the kind of person we were and to always be looking to Christ for our hope is because of what kind of man he was at one time. 2nd Peter 1:10-15 (NASB)—Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things—the things he lists a few verses before, like adding to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love…as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. And what reminder will that be? His letters, which lead one into truth and honor and righteousness and purity and brotherly love and which declare good things.

Hebrews 10:23-25—Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. When we meet on Sunday mornings, is it just so we can have coffee and donuts and chit-chat about our week? I would hope not. When the church comes together, it should have one singular focus—to glorify God. And how do we bring glory to God? A few minutes ago, we read Matthew 5:16—“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We don’t do good works for us to be seen—but for God to be glorified. We are to be a lampstand. God is the light. God is to shine out from us, so that the light people see is Christ in us.

And during those times when things aren't going too well in our lives, when we think we’re all alone—is that the time for us to be alone? But isn't that usually the time most people stop coming to church? And that is just the opposite of how it is supposed to be. Look at what it says in Hebrews—And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. We come together, we come along side one another, and we help one another get through those rough times. 1st Corinthians 12:26—And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Galatians 6:2—Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Among those who are lost, we are the light they want to hide from. To God, our lives are a “sweet aroma.” To ourselves, we look in His word and remember that “Hey you know what? God has already forgiven me! And He has called me ‘Loved’!” Among those who are saved, we stir up the love of Christ, Who was merciful to us when we were still sinners.

All the powers that oppose God—He defeated them on the cross and He showed them off as the defeated enemy they are! Look at what it says: He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. He said to the world, “All of the powers that you could bring against Me? I defeated them all on the cross!” Here’s another thing: those captives of the Roman Empire—they were being led to their death. But if we are captives of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are trophies of His power and His might and His triumph over death and Hell and the grave! And if we are His captives, He will lead us to eternal life!

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Verse-by-verse through Philippians (4:8, Part 3)

There are all kinds of things that compete for our attention. And if we’re not careful, we will find ourselves giving way too much of our time to those things. If you were here in Knoxville back in January, and you were to ask someone, “What was the biggest headline of this past week?” There would be no doubt that the answer would be something like “That no-good Lane Kiffin!” They might be able to tell you about something that happened somewhere down there in…oh, that island near Puerto Rico. I think they had some big earthquake or something. Priorities. Around here, more people were upset about being duped by Lane Kiffin than by the fact that thousand sof people died in Haiti.

See, the more time we dedicate to certain things, the more of our attention those things get, the more our lives are shaped and formed by those things. Don’t get me wrong—I love football. I love UT football. And I was just as upset as most people—just not enough to go burning my mattress down at Circle Park. But there was a time when I probably would have. Because, at the time, to me, college football was everything. If my Michigan Wolverines had been getting smoked by Ohio State the way they have been over the last 6 years, I probably would have been close to suicide. But you know, something funny happened a few years ago. Somebody got a hold of me. Somebody that’s a whole lot bigger than football. And it took a while, but I learned that there are some things that are a whole lot more important than football. I still like football. But it just doesn’t have the same hold on me as it used to. I've learned that there are books to read, and preaching to hear, and teaching to do—and those are a whole lot more important.

We’re working our way through this list of qualities that should act as a kind of framework to encourage us to take advantage of any good thing that may help us to come to a deeper knowledge of Christ. We saw that the first quality is truth. We should always fill ourselves with truth, since Jesus said He is “the Way, THE TRUTH, and the Life,” and that if we have the truth, the truth will set us free. So we focus on things that are true, things that are noble—things that glorify God, and are devoted to the worship of God. If something is true, and if it is noble, then it will be just. If something is true and noble and just then it will be pure. The next two qualities we will see this week are that we think on things that are lovely and things that are of good report. If something is true and noble and just and pure then it will be lovely. If it is true and noble and just and pure and lovely, then it will be of good report. I think you get the idea.

For example, the Law of God is true—it was spoken by God Himself. The Law of God is noble—it shows us how absolutely perfect God is, and how absolutely un-perfect we are. The Law of God is just—it is the ONE standard that every single person who ever lives must measure up to. The Law of God is pure—we read that from Psalm 12 last week that it is purer than gold that goes through a furnace 7 times. The Law of God is lovely. “Thou shalt love the LORD your God…and you shall love thy neighbor as thyself—on these hang all the Law and the prophets” (Mark 12:30-31 KJV). The Law of God is of good report—those who love God love His Law. Psalm 112:1—Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. The Law of God possesses all of these qualities listed in our verse here in Philippians. So, we are moving forward, pressing toward the mark.

Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

We are gonna look at the next two qualities. First …whatever things are lovely… When we think of the word “lovely,” what kind of context do we usually give it? We usually think of outward appearance. We say, “Oh, that’s a lovely dress you're wearing” or “Did you see that lovely sunset?” But that’s not Paul’s intention here. You’ve heard me say before that there are some places where Paul did not have a word in the Greek language that really expressed his ideas. So he had to take a word, add a suffix or prefix, and develop a new word. And some of those words only appear once in the whole NT. This is another one of them. In fact, it almost seems like Philippians and Romans have more of those words than any other of his epistles. The word that is translated “lovely” literally means “toward brotherly love.” Whatever encourages us to love the brethren; whatever stirs us up to think more highly of that other person than we think of ourselves—think on that. Galatians 5:22--The fruit of the Spirit is...what? Love...

Question: What did Jesus tell His disciples would be the #1 quality that would show the world that we belong to Him? John 13:34-35—“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now, He uses the word agape there—but the idea is the same. If we belong to Christ, we will have love for one another. So what would this mean for someone who does not love his brother? We may not be able to bang the gavel on that person, but chances are they have never really given themselves to Christ, because the one thing we should have is love for each other. 1st John 2:9-11—He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness… Not a lot of wiggle room. And let me say this—and this leads into another passage of Scripture—anyone who claims to be a Christian, and is a racist, and who hates people who don’t happen to share the same skin color—take them to 1st John 2:9.

If you want a real good example of someone who needed to understand the commandment to “love all men” (1st Thessalonians 3:12) it was the apostle Peter. When he went out and preached the gospel, he was not about to have anything to do with the Gentiles. “They're unclean!” In fact, God had to appear to Peter in a vision to convince him to go to the Gentiles. And in Acts 10, he finally goes to the house of the Roman centurion named Cornelius, and leads him to Christ. But in the next probably 14 or so years, guess how many Gentiles he teaches about Christ? ZERO. But, in Galatians 2:11-14, Paul sees how Peter is being hypocritical in that he would sit and eat with Gentiles, but when the Jews came by, “See ya!!” And it wasn’t until Paul confronted him about it that Peter was convicted about it.

Which is why, I believe, Peter wrote what he did in the first few verses of his 2nd epistle. 2nd Peter 1:5-9—giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Do you sense a bit of finger-pointing going on in these verses? And who is he pointing his finger at? Himself! Whatever encourages us to move toward having brotherly love for one another, think on those things. If we are lacking in brotherly kindness for one another, think on this verse. In that passage in 2nd Peter, the phrase “brotherly kindness” is the Greek word “philadelphia.” From the same root word as “lovely” in Philippians 4:8.

And all the things that are “toward love” are true.

• Zachariah 8:19—“Therefore, love truth and peace.”
• Ephesians 4:14-15—We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into…Christ.
• 2nd John 1:3—Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

The things that are “toward love” are noble.

• Titus 2:1-2—Speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love.

Those things that are “toward love” are just.

• Micah 6:8—And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy.

Those things that are “toward love” are pure.

• 1st Peter 1:22—Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.

Whatever is “toward love,” think on those things.

Then …whatever is of good report… Guess how many times Paul uses the Greek word for “good report” in the entire NT? ONCE. Those things that are “of good report”—he doesn’t mean “Well, I've heard this fellow’s pretty smart, so we should listen to him.” Paul is not saying that the church should look to the world to set the standard for what we consider being “of good report.” It’s not a matter of “this book is well-spoken of and highly popular.” It’s a matter of “this communicates good things.” To put it another way—a person could go to the Knoxville Coliseum and see a concert by a band that the world just absolutely loves. The world will say, “These guys are really good! They’ve sold a bunch of records and won 15 Grammys! And man, everybody loves their songs!” That might all be true. They may have sold a ton of records. They may have won a truckload of awards. And yes, everybody may love their music. BUT…it may be that the reason they sell so many records is because they play songs that glorify sex and drinking and drugs and all sorts of uncleanness. Should we Christians think on those things? No.

So, that’s what Paul is NOT saying. What he IS saying is that we are to think on those things that give a good report—things that lead one into truth and honor and righteousness and purity and brotherly love. The Greek word Paul uses here literally means “reporting or declaring good things.” Thayer says it means “Uttering words of good omen… things spoken in a kindly spirit, with good-will to others.” Check this out—it comes from the word that Jesus uses in the Parable of the Talents, when He tells the one, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:22-23; Luke 19:17). The same words, I believe, we will hear at the Judgment Seat of Christ if we have been faithful with what He has trusted us with. That phrase “Well done” is a root word of the word Paul uses here to encourage us to think on things that are of good report—things that make good things famous. Basically, it refers to anything that displays the qualities a Christian should display; anything that draws attention to the qualities of Christ and puts a big huge spotlight on Him. Does that sound like what we should be doing?

Whenever Lance Cunningham is having a big car sale, what does he do? He breaks out those huge spotlights that you can see from Sevierville. That's what we are to do with those things that point us to Christ. We think on those things, and we shine a spotlight on Christ by declaring the good things of God.

We’re gonna spend the balance of our time today and the first part of next week talking about the importance of thinking on things that are of “good report.” It may not seem like it right now, but next week we’ll see how it all fits together. You’ve seen those wooden sticks you put in the oil, supposed to fill the whole room with that fragrance? That’s us. Everywhere we go, everything we do, we should have Christ pouring out of us. We live in a world that smells like sin. Smells like death. We should be different. We should smell like life. 1st Thessalonians 4:3—This is the will of God—your sanctification. It is God’s will that we look completely different from this sinful world. 2nd Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASB)—Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.

In this world, we are not always celebrated for being Christians. The world hates us. A person could worship Buddha, Allah, could worship the rocks and trees. And the world will say, “Oh, they're such a spiritual person.” So many people fall all over themselves for the Dali Lama. But tell people that we worship the Lord Jesus Christ—those same people start calling us all kinds of things, using words that I rather not repeat. Why? Why don’t they like us? Because we’re not like them. If we are preaching Christ to people who don’t want to know Christ, we are showing them that they are dead in their sins. John 3:19-20—“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” John 15:19—“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. Among those who are saved, we display the love of Christ, Who was merciful to us when we were still sinners. We see another illustration of this in Colossians 2:15—When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Here and in that passage from 2nd Corinthians, the picture is of a triumphal procession through the streets of Rome, when the Roman army would come back after defeating some foreign country. I'll let Marvin Vincent explain it—

Some find here [a reference] to a revolting feature of the Roman triumph. Just as the procession was ascending the Capitoline Hill, some of the captive chiefs were taken into the adjoining prison and put to death. “Thus the sweet odors which to the victor…and to the spectators were a symbol of glory and success and happiness, were to the wretched victims…an odor of death” (Farrar).

Think about it. The triumphant Roman army comes marching into town. All the people are cheering. They're throwing flowers and laurels to the soldiers, and hailing the emperor and the generals. But you are a captive of that Roman army. They're marching you down the main street, showing you off to the people. Would you be feeling very good right about now? But here’s the thing: those captives of Rome, who were being displayed as the trophies of the might and power of the Roman Empire—they were being led to their death. But if we are captives of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are trophies of His power and His might and His triumph over death and Hell and the grave! And is we are His captives, He will lead us to eternal life!

I think we’ll stop right there and pick that up next week, because there is a bit more I want to say on this matter of whatever is of good report. And we’ll see how this whole triumphal march and being taken captive by Christ kinda all fits together. Because it does, believe it or not!

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Verse-by-verse through Philippians (4:8, Part 2)

Last time, we started talking about things we should meditate upon—those things that will help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2nd Peter 3:18). Those things that we should set aside time for every day. Being surrounded by the evil that competes for our attention, it’s hard sometimes for a Christian to know what kinds of things they should read or listen to. Our salvation does not necessarily depend on what we watch or read—but if we say we love God, and we listen to music or watch movies that glamorize those things He hates, then we are grieving His heart, and we should avoid those things. First we saw that the things we spend time reading or watching should be true. If we surround ourselves with truth, we will be less likely to believe the lies of the devil. We should meditate on things that are noble. Those things that have, as their main purpose, the glory and the worship of God. And today we’re going to continue down the list.

Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

When we read this verse, we could be tempted to think, “Well, that’s easy for him to say—they didn’t have all the influences we have today.” But that is not necessarily true. These Philippians were in a situation not unlike the one we find ourselves in today. Philippi was a Roman colony. They were under Roman government, they were surrounded by Roman culture and it would be very easy for them to be influenced by Roman paganism. And, of course, there were all the Roman philosophers and writers. So we can see that they didn’t have it any easier than we do. They were actually at a disadvantage compared to us, because they couldn’t just run down to the local Wal-Mart and plunk down $5 to buy their own copy of the Bible. So, when Paul gives them this list of things to meditate upon, it wasn’t any less of a difficulty for these Philippians than it is for us today. And it is actually less difficult for us because we have nearly 2000 years of understanding and teaching to help us. So let’s take a look at what Paul is telling them—and us—to meditate on in our text today. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just… Or, “righteous.”

One fellow said, “Giving to God what belongs to him, and to man what is his due; studying to exercise a conscience void of offence to both; [being] in opposition to all injustice, violence, and oppression.” Three times in the book of Acts, this word “just” (or “righteous”) is used as a title for Christ. Acts 3:14—“But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.” Acts 7:52—“And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers.” Acts 22:14—“Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.’” The most just and the most righteous thing we can ever think upon is our Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:21-26, Paul uses words like “righteous” and “righteousness” and “justified” and “the justifier”—all from the same root word. Romans 3:21-26—But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

To all who believe, God gives the righteousness—the “just-ness”—of Christ. Christ paid the price for all who believe—so that we don’t have to! And because Jesus has paid that price, God can be just in justifying us by our faith. He is the “Justifier” and He is “Just.” Paul is saying, “Think about that.” Think about the “just-ness” we have in Christ! And to go a step further, if we are all meditating upon Christ, then we will all be what Paul encouraged us to be back in chapter 2. Philippians 2:2-5—Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind…let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. It’s the whole “How do you tune 100 pianos” question. You tune 1, then you tune the rest by that one. If we set our minds on the Just One, then the thoughts we have are more likely to be in line with the thoughts of that Just One.

And if our thoughts are in line with that Just One, then the words we speak will be more like that Just One. Matthew 15:18-20—“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man…” Those are things that are in the heart. Also, the kind of man we are will depend—not entirely, maybe, but largely—on what we put before our eyes and take in through our ears. Matthew 6:22—“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” What was Jesus’ main accusation about the Pharisees? They looked good—on the outside. And in Matthew 23, He compared them to whitewashed tombs. Matthew 23:27-28—“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Next time someone tells you that you are wrong for speaking the truth,a nd that you "Need to be more like Jesus"--point them to Matthew 23.

It’s not enough to look good on the outside. Our hearts and our minds have to be right. We can come to church every Sunday, even sing in the choir—but if we’re still sinful and evil on the inside, we’re just whitewashed tombs. We are full of all uncleanness and wickedness and sin. Because we are not taking in those things that point us toward that Just One. We’re gonna forget the things of that Just One, and we’re gonna drift off, and drift off, and the next thing we know we’re gonna be in the middle of the ocean, all by ourselves, and we’re gonna wonder “How did I get here?” Because we didn’t meditate on things that are just. Righteous. Now, is the Law of God just and righteous? Romans 7:12—Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Every single human being who does not know Christ will be judged by that same Law. Romans 2:12—For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.

This leads us into our next topic. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure... Psalm 12:6—The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Has anybody heard the story of how a silversmith refines silver? The refiner sits over the smelting pot, and as the silver heats up, the impurities rise to the top. This is called “dross,” and it is scraped away. Then the refiner waits for more impurities to rise, and scrapes them off. And he keeps doing this until the silver is as pure as it can be. And how does he know it’s done? When he can see a reflection of himself in the silver. Sounds like our God, doesn’t it? Galatians 4:19 (NET)—My children—I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! Malachi 3:2-3 (KJV)—But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

You know what God does? If there are impurities in His children, He will sit as a refiner of fire, and He will allow circumstances to happen in our lives to “turn up the heat” as it were. In the OT when you see a phrase that says something like “try me O LORD”—when you see the word “try” or “tried” it quite often has this meaning. That God is examining us like silver, and He will either use His word or He will allow circumstance into our life to show us some impurity within us, so that we can lift it up to Him in prayer, and ask Him to take it away. Psalm 26:2—Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. Psalm 66:10 (KJV)—For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

Would it be better for us to suffer things in this life—or in the life to come? So would it be better to keep our minds on things that are pure and that keep us pure—or would we rather have God allow our circumstances to purify us? Hebrews 12:5-11 (NASB)—“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? My daddy whooped me at 5 for calling my sister the “B” word. Guess how many times he heard me cuss after that?

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. In other words, so that when He looks in that smelting pot, He sees a reflection of Himself.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Or, “just-ness.” I think we would all agree that it is better to suffer in the body than to suffer in Hell. And when does this chastisement usually happen? What kind of condition are we usually in when God chastises us? Now, does that happen all of a sudden? I mean, do we just wake up one morning and say, “You know, it’s such a beautiful day, I think I'll get hooked on pornography today?” What happens? What is that little song we teach children? “Be careful little eyes what you see/Be careful little hands what you do/Be careful little feet where you go/Be careful little heart what you love.” There is a reason we teach this song to children. And what is that reason? Because when we find ourselves on the road of sin, it's not usually because we jumped on it with both feet. It happened because we weren't careful about what we looked at, what we listened to, and little by little we started down the road.

So we sing that song to children. Now, do we ever stop being children, really? We call ourselves adults—should our eyes be careful what we see? Our hands what we do? Our feet where we go? Our hearts what we love? Casting Crowns came out with a song called “Slow Fade.” Listen to these lyrics:

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade.

How many adulterous affairs start with sex? The journey of a thousand miles… How many times does a church simply jump head-first right smack-dab into heresy? They don’t, usually. Typically, it starts with compromising one seemingly “small” doctrine. Thing is, it’s usually a doctrine that has something to do with the nature of God or the means of salvation. And when they compromise on, say, the virgin birth of Christ, they have to give up teaching that Christ was sinless. If they give up teaching that Christ was sinless, they need to give up teaching that Jesus Christ was God the Son. Finally, they give up teaching the Trinity. By the time they're done, they're worshiping a God of their own design. All because they compromised on that one doctrine. All because they did not keep themselves pure. 1st John 3:2-3—When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

If we are children of God, if we have been saved by the blood of Christ, then we need to keep ourselves pure—NOT that we keep ourselves SAVED, God does that—but we keep ourselves pure. When Jesus was washing Peter’s feet, John 13:9-10—Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean…” James 1:27—Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. 2nd Corinthians 11:2—I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Hebrews 10:22—Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Ephesians 5:25-27—Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Listen to that again. That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.

And how pure is the Word of the Lord again? Psalm 12:6—The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. What’s the purest that gold can be? It can never be called “100% pure gold.” Are there any impurities in the Word of God? Should we meditate on those words? Whatever is pure…meditate on these things. Charles Spurgeon, from The Treasury of David:

“What a contrast between the vain words of man, and the pure words of Jehovah. Man's words are yea and nay, but the Lord's promises are yea and amen. For truth, certainty, holiness, faithfulness, the words of the Lord are pure as well-refined silver. In the original there is an allusion to the most severely-purifying process known to the ancients, through which silver was passed when the greatest possible purity was desired; the dross was all consumed, and only the bright and precious metal remained. So clear and free from all error or unfaithfulness is the book of the words of the Lord. The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt, and scientific discovery, and has lost nothing but human interpretations which clung to it as alloy to precious ore. The experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive hearing. What God's words are, the words of his children should be. If we would be Godlike in conversation, we must watch our language, and maintain the strictest purity of integrity and holiness in all our communications.”

Whatever things are true…noble…just…pure…meditate on these things.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Verse-by-verse through Philippians (4:8, Part 1)

Before we begin today, I want to clear up something I talked about last week. I talked about having peace in the world and with the world. And I used a quote from Christ, when He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” In Scripture, there is a difference between “the world” and “the world.” Huh? John 3:16—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” Yet 1st John 2:15—Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Just so we don’t have any confusion on this, we are IN the world—that is, our surroundings, our neighborhood, this great big planet we live on; the mass of humanity that God loved so much that He sent His only begotten Son. But we are not to be OF the world. Well, here is the difference, basically—when the Bible says we are not to “love the world,” it’s talking about the values and wants and desires of the world system that is opposed to God. A couple of quotes kinda help to explain this. A.T. Robertson:

“The love of the world is forbidden with reference to the objects sought…[or] the principles that reign in that community that lives for this world as distinguished from [those who live for] the world to come…We are not to make this world the object of our chief affection; we are not to be influenced by the [principles] and feelings which prevail among those who do.”

John MacArthur:

“We're not talking about the physical world. We're not talking about nature…It's the invisible spiritual system of evil. That is the world that we are not to love. It is that... order that is run by Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience…It is that system…It is that evil order with all of its elements and all of its components that work against the things of God…This is the system that's run by the enemy.”

See, God loved the people that live in this world so much that He sent His Son, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. BUT we Christians are not to embrace the values and wants and desires of those who remain opposed to God and what He desires for us.

And all of these comments fit rather well into the subject we will be studying this morning. Because the things that make up that evil system are always competing for our attention. We’ve got movies, and we've got TV, and we've got music and magazines and books and computers and the internet. And if we are Christians in this day and age, it’s very easy to see that no matter where we look, we are surrounded by evil. And not only does this evil surround us, it does everything it can to appeal to us. Take MTV for example. It started out as a network that simply showed music videos. How many music videos do they show on MTV these days? Eh, not so many. Now, I don’t watch MTV—have no desire to. I would be more than happy if they took it off the air altogether.

I don’t know a lot about MTV anymore, but I do know this—their programming focuses on things that have no business being shown—drinking and drugs and partying and all sorts of uncleanness. And what is the age of the audience it is marketed toward? What is their target audience? Young people. Teenagers. Telling them, basically, “Hey kids!! If you want to really have fun, this is the kind of lifestyle you want to have!! You gotta be like Spencer and Heidi and all these kids on ‘The Hills’!!” And it’s not just MTV either. Broadcast networks are pushing shows like “Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill” which glamorize promiscuity and homosexuality. In fact, the entire entertainment industry is geared toward one thing—telling kids that they need to be like Lindsey Lohan or Kim Kardashian—and be very glad if you don’t know who those people are.

And for some Christians, being constantly surrounded by this stuff, and growing up in this culture, it’s really easy to think, “Well, it’s just music” or “it’s just a movie” or a book or whatever—“God doesn’t really care what I watch or read.” But we’re gonna see today that that is not quite true. In fact, in our text today, we will kinda get an outline of what those things look like and sound like that we should put before our eyes and into our ears.

Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Does the fact that a person listens to, say, Snoop Dogg or Britney Spears or whoever—does that mean that they're not saved? I can't make that call, and I never will. But whenever somebody asks me that, my response is usually something like, “Well, you say you love God. Why would you want to listen to music that glorifies the things God hates?” Habakkuk 1:13—“You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” God does not take pleasure in wickedness. So why do people who claim to love God take pleasure in wickedness? Psalm 101:3—I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. We know what kind of things to avoid. So what kinds of things should we put before us? Well, there are 8 characteristics to the things that we should meditate upon.

First, whatever things are true… Now, why do you think Paul puts this quality first? In fact, when Paul discusses the “armor of God” in Ephesians 6, the first thing he lists is to stand fast, having girded your waist with truth (Ephesians 6:14).Well, if we surround ourselves with the truth, we can see the lies coming from a mile away. Not only that, but if we are to worship the TRUE God, we must worship Him in truth. John 4:24—“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 17:3—“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” If we do not worship the TRUE God, can we have eternal life? There are systems of worship that claim to be pointing toward the God that we worship. These systems claim to be worshipping the God that speaks through this word. But, you see, they actually worship a “God” that is the product of their own distorted view of Scripture.

Now, just how important is it that we who know God should continually meditate on whatever things are true? Well, consider this: suppose a person has just started going to church, just started learning the Scriptures. They're sitting at home one evening. KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK. They open the door, and a couple od sharply-dressed young men on bicycles tells them, “Hello, we’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, and we want to share the gospel that was restored by our prophet Joseph Smith.” And they are slick! They know exactly what they are going to say, when to say it. Many times, they even prepare for questions about certain parts of Scripture that contradict their claims. So what happens to that person that has just started getting exposed to truth? And it’s not just new “Christians.” People who have been in church for years can get sucked into it. And what do you think is the number one reason that long-time church members get sucked into something like Mormonism? Either (a) they stop going to church, (b) their church stops teaching truth, or (c) they just don’t take time to study the Word. They may know what the Bible says—but they don’t take the time to fully understand what it means.

Which is just one reason I thank God for men like Pastor Phil. Because I probably wouldn’t even know how to study the Bible if it wasn’t for him. Because he encourages us to study—not just read—the Bible. That a certain verse may read a certain way in a certain translation. But we need to get past translationism and understand that that might not be the best way to translate that word. That the Greek it was written in may actually mean something else. 2nd Timothy 2:15 (NASB)—Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. How can we “accurately handle the Word of truth” if we don’t know what it means? 1st Timothy 4:13-16—Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine…Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save yourself and those who hear you. We are to give attention to reading and to doctrine. We are to always put this word before us, meditate on it, study its truths, so that when someone asks us why we shouldn’t listen to those nice young men in the clean white shirts and dark neckties, we can tell them.

Let me give you one more illustration before we move on. Suppose I set before my eyes a football game. It's easy to tell which team people were rooting for, because one team’s colors are red and white, the other team blue and white. And it's almost like there is a line that separates the fans—the ones over here for one team, the ones over there for the other. BUT—you can see a few red shirts in with the blue, and some blue shirts in with the red. That is what is happening in the church today. There are many false teachers who are infiltrating the house of God. Problem is, they don't wear clothing that advertises their falseness. And if we don’t meditate on and study the things of God, we are in danger of following right along with them. Only we’re not going to know it. We’re gonna think are on the side of truth; we will be following a system that sounds good—hey, they read the Bible, they're very moral, very devoted. But they're also very deceived. So, whatever things are true…meditate on these things.

Next, whatever things are noble… (KJV—honest). Other translations say “honorable.” Any of those is correct. In 1st Timothy and in Titus the word is rendered “grave” or “reverent.” The best way to say it is “venerable.” Webster’s dictionary defines the word “venerable” as meaning “Worthy of veneration or reverence; deserving honor and respect…[dedicated] to God and to his worship; to be regarded with awe and treated with reverence.” We should always put things before our eyes that are deserving of honor and respect; things that have, as their main purpose, the knowledge and the worship of God. Now, does this mean we shouldn’t watch a football game? No. What Paul is saying here is this—that if something "deserves honor and respect and if that something is [dedicated] to God and to his worship", then we should count those things worthy of more of our time and attention. Those things that lead us into truth, and whose main focus is the glory of God should get more of our time than a football game. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

If we are going to live a life dedicated to God, shouldn’t we meditate on things that are dedicated to God? Matthew 6:33 (KJV)—“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Colossians 3:1-2—If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. As I said at the outset, there are many things competing for our attention. There are also many things that are competing for our worship. I think we would all agree that everybody worships something. BUT one problem we see all around us today is this sentiment that says “Well, as long as they worship something, and as long as they have a good set of morals, that’s all God really cares about!” Yeah, sure, God doesn’t care if you worship Him or if you worship a tree. Just so long as you worship…something.

Right?

WRONG!!

Romans 1:21-25—…although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Now, hearing that, does it sound like worshipping something or someone other than the true God is something that the apostle Paul would have considered to be “noble”? And this fits in rather well with what he just told us, because if something is teaching the truth of God—will that be “noble” and “honest”? Which is why we are to study the Bible constantly. So that we can impart the truths of God’s word to others and so that we can, as Paul told the Romans a little later, Romans 16:17—Note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

Unfortunately, these days, when we note those who cause divisions and offenses, and we point them out as teaching something contrary to the truth of God—who is it that gets labeled as “causing division?” We are!! Because it’s all about “unity!!” We shouldn’t be worrying about what people are teaching because “Jesus just wants us to love one another!” And if you dare point out the wolves that are roaming about among the sheep, you know what that makes you? “You're a Pharisee!!” And if one more person quotes, “Judge not lest ye be judged!!” without knowing what that actually means I'm gonna barf! That is a sign that you are talking to someone who doesn’t want to hear the truth, and who does not want to think about things that are “true” and “noble.” They would rather worship and serve the creation rather than the Creator.

But Paul warned us about these people as well. 2nd Timothy 3:1-5—In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—and here is the key phrase—having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! The warning is for us to avoid those who claim to be Christians, while they continue to live in open rebellion against God. Those who are unholy, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, etc—yet they will stand there and quote Scripture as if they have the truth on their side. Paul says that we are to be as separate from them as possible. And instead, we are to focus our minds, our thoughts and our time on those things that bring glory to God and show the world that we belong to Christ.

And there is nothing more noble than to know that if we belong to Christ, we have been set free from sin, and we are now free to follow Christ and obey His commands—and to show that to a lost and fallen world. James 1:25—He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. Or, as it says in the song we like to sing sometimes

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
Then the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

If we meditate on those things that are true, and noble, and honorable, then we will be led to meditate on those things that we will talk about next time—those things that are pure and lovely.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.