Sermon Tone Analysis

The point of these verses are: ‘Don’t just start well but continue and finish well.’

And it is to this end that Paul concludes what he is saying here.

He wants to see the results of his work; that it has not been worthless; that there is a heavenly legacy.

This is incredibly important for ministers.

After all I and others like me will be judged by God for the efforts put into ministry and making sure there is no lack of results from the work done and the quality of it.

I want to see you do well.

I want to see that you are people of the Word who practice their faith accordingly.

That you are growing in Christ and in His knowledge and participating in the life of the fellowship making Christ known to others.

And also sharing with me in what you learn so that I may learn too.

This is what Paul wants of the Philippians, after all, these are they who came to faith in Christ through him and he wants them to stand and persevere and to be light in the generation that they live.

Paul wants his people to get it right and, as we mentioned last week, he wants them to fulfil what Daniel says in:

And that Paul wants to rejoice in the day of Christ for those who follow Christ.

Throughout this letter he continually refers to what we call eschatological things or as we would normally say: Last things or Last Days.

Paul’s all is for Christ but he is set upon the goal of presenting himself and others on the day of Christ to Christ worthy of His name.

Truly Paul is reserving his boasting and glorying and rejoicing for the Day of Christ when all those who have come to faith through him and been established in the faith will be the evidence of a man who has done the work of Christ.

In another place he says in

Paul wants there to be a lasting legacy which will be evident in Heaven.

Paul is so spiritually and emotionally involved with the Christians in Philippi that he sees, in their lives and his, that both their loyalty and his loyalty to Christ is what gives his life meaning; that it has counted for something.

When he says that I have not run or laboured in vain he is not giving in to doubt but knows that they will actually finish the race.

He is confident – very confident that Christ who began a good work in them will complete it.

But there is cause for concern because there were the niggles going on between some in the fellowship which could become something larger if they do not hear him and obey but since he is addressing these things then he knows it’ll turn out right.

He’s done his job.

Let’s be clear; Paul is not rejoicing because he has succeeded but because Christ has succeeded through him.

He clearly states this in

In other words he will not boast about anything other than what Christ has accomplished.

And in

If Paul says he cannot boast about what he has done, only about what Christ has done through him, then, equally, we ought to be on the look out to make sure we are not full of pride and thinking we are something more than we are; thinking we have done something worthwhile when it is Christ in us who wills and does for His good pleasure.

There is no room for boasting for it is all of grace and without it we would be nothing.

About boasting Paul is clear; he says in:

Indeed Jesus says in:

This is the second time today I have said this but not intentionally.

Let us be clear; there is no room for boasting for it is God at work in us for without Him we can do nothing and we can achieve nothing.

Paul’s evidence for what he has done in Christ will be evident on the day of Christ when he is surrounded by all those who came to faith through him and were built up in Christ in Him.

And that he and they will be rejoicing together in Christ in that day.

As for ‘run in vain or laboured in vain’ he has combined his two main images for ministry.

Running is something taken from the games which we will return to in the next chapter of Philippians and labour is equated with manual labour something like his tent making.

He says that this was something that was hard work:

Paul had worked hard all his Christian life seeking that others will receive the prize in running and seeing the fruit of their work – for Paul, the prize for him is seeing others there with him in glory also receiving rewards.

Indeed our work needs to carry with it the idea of the prize when we are before Christ.

What will be our legacy?

Every year, at Christmas time, one of my favourite movies is shown on TV: "It’s A Wonderful Life", staring Jimmy Stewart.

In the movie Jimmy plays a man named George Bailey.

George has big dreams of going to college and being a world traveller.

Instead, he winds up having to take over his father’s building and loan, which is more like a charity than a business.

George becomes so disappointed in what he has become that one day he decides to take his own life.

He says, "I wish I’d never been born".

At that moment his guardian angel Clarence intervenes and shows him what life would have been like had he never been born.

His home town "Bedford Falls" would have become "Pottersville" named after the greedy old banker.

His old boss ,the chemist, would have turned into the town drunk because George wouldn’t have been there to stop him from making a fatal error in a prescription.

The angel shows him how many lives he touched with his life.

All of us want to be like George Bailey.

We all want to know that our lives have counted, that we have made a difference in the lives of others.

Many people consider their legacy when they are in their twilight years.

Some get consumed in finding ways to be remembered when they are dead.

The vast majority will be forgotten in death and come another 100 years perhaps no one will remember that you or I even existed except as a name in a register or unless we did something spectacular – but who we are will have been forgotten.

I once watched a program called ‘Forever’.

The script said this:

When Gloria Carlyle died, 91 years’ worth of memories disappeared in an instant.

People, places, loved ones and enemies alike, all gone, lost forever.

Even one distant memory of her.

We can only imagine what her final thoughts were.

Fear, anger, we’ll never know.

Everything is forgotten in death.

Now this fictional character Gloria Carlyle, if she was real, would be all too aware of her own memories after death but the point is that no one else would know them.

They are lost.

All the experience of life will no longer be of any use.

No wonder Solomon wants to add his two-pennies worth here:

Now you are hearing another preacher saying all is vanity, emptiness, a waste of time.

Do we want to run or work in vain chasing our own dreams making memories that will be lost?

So, what kind of life do we want to create for ourselves whilst we are here?

If we want a real legacy it surely is to be found doing what God wants us to do and doing it with all our might.

success comes by allowing God to accomplish His purposes through our lives

The two metaphors used by Paul ‘running’ and ‘labour’ are insightful.

Running needs exertion.

It is not a walk in the park – though for some this may mean exertion if we are that unfit!

But running always takes effort.

Labouring also is hard work.

Both running and working are active words not passive.

Passive means we sit where we are like we do in front of our TVs and consume everything we watch, having no effect placed upon us to do anything – except perhaps if we are watching ‘X Factor’ – we might exert ourselves to reach for our phones and vote – which is about as much an effort as we can muster whilst sitting on the sofa.

Passive really means we do nothing.

Active means we do something.

Running means we do things full-on.

There’s a goal to run towards.

Jesus, in His prayer prayed for us:

We have a purpose in being here on the earth.

Otherwise we would be with Him right now where He is.

His purposes are different to ours.

God has left us here to be lights – and to shine brightly – to run and labour for His purposes.

I finish today with looking at verses 17 and 18 which speaks of sacrifice and service and the joy that can result.

Let me read it to you again:

Paul is saying that if I were to die that would be a great offering to God on their behalf but, even though he thinks he will be released, he is being poured out for them anyway.

He has put every effort into serving the people at Philippi.

There is a story I want to tell you about a man by the name of Abraham Bininger.

Born in Switzerland in the 1700s he and his parents left their homeland and boarded a ship for America.

During the journey both his father and mother died and were buried at sea.

While just a boy he found himself in a strange land where he knew absolutely no one.

However he never let his misfortunes hold him back.

As a young man he professed Christ as his saviour.

After hearing of the great misery and poverty among the black people on St. Thomas he sought to travel there to preach the gospel.

Upon his arrival he discovered that was against the law for any person but a slave to preach to the slaves.