{"id":659,"date":"2018-12-06T11:10:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T19:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=659"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:38:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:38:38","slug":"philippians-part-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/philippians-part-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippians – Part 15"},"content":{"rendered":"
Powering Up the DeLorean<\/span><\/div>\n

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\nOur study today brings us to the close of this great Bible epistle written by Paul to his friends living in Philippi. I hope you\u2019ve been as blessed and encouraged as I have been as we\u2019ve tried to identify with the challenges of being a Christian 2,000 years ago. And this Sabbath, we\u2019re going to find yet again that the words of the Bible are timeless and eternally beneficial.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an old Christian story coming out of World War II, from the great heroic survivor, Corrie ten Boom. Perhaps you\u2019ve heard how, years after the war ended, she was speaking to a gathering of believers. And of course, Corrie ten Boom and I both know that it\u2019s one thing to stand before some people and simply\u00a0talk<\/em>\u00a0about obedience, about sacrifice, about loving our enemies and doing good to those who despitefully use us. Talk is cheap today, and it always has been. But Corrie was sharing the love of God with these very nice people.<\/p>\n

Then, all of a sudden, at the close, she saw a man walking toward her. Instantly she recognized that he was a former guard at the concentration camp. And not just a guard, but one of the most brutal in the regime. A tormenter, a sadistic soldier whose cruelty had been in large part responsible for the death of her own sister, Betsie. So instantly a million wrenching, painful thoughts and emotions flooded through her. It was impossible not to remember; it was impossible not to hate. This man walking up was a murderer.<\/p>\n

And with a flash she realized what was about to happen. This was a Christian meeting; she was the speaker. Obviously this guard, all these years later, was going to seek forgiveness from her. It was written all over his face.<\/p>\n

And do you know what? That was simply an impossibility. It was one of those situations that you and I both know so well. You can talk to yourself about what\u2019s the right thing to do; you can pin up on the wall those words in the Bible about \u201clove your enemy\u201d and turn the other cheek and all the rest. But tell your\u00a0gut<\/em>\u00a0about forgiveness, and you suddenly realize that what Corrie ten Boom was facing just could not happen. It was a physical and emotional impossibility. There was no way. No matter how brave a woman she was, no matter how heroic her story and her character were, this was beyond the pale. She couldn\u2019t do it. Forgive this monster, this psychotic Nazi megalomaniac who had snuffed out Betsie\u2019s life in the cruelest way imaginable? Not a chance. And in that very moment, with a sense of horror, she instantly knew it.<\/p>\n

As we close up with this marvelous, incredible book of the Bible called Philippians, we find here in chapter four a verse which tells us NOTHING should be impossible. Here it is in verse 13:\u00a0\u201cI can do everything through Him who gives me strength.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of you remember these words in the more familiar King James, but the force of what Paul writes isn\u2019t sugar-coated at all:\u00a0\u201cI can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.\u201d
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\nThe New International Version text notes for this hopelessly challenging verse say this: \u201cUnion with the living, exalted Christ is the secret of being content\u201d\u2014we discussed that idea last Sabbath, you recall\u2014\u201cAND the source of Paul\u2019s abiding strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s all agree on one thing right here. No one could deny that this Corrie ten Boom was living in unity with Christ. She was one of the most beautiful, loving Christians in the world. And yet, as this former\u00a0gendarme<\/em>, stripped of his former Nazi uniform, but still with the imprint of those war years on his face, walked slowly toward her in that church, she could tell that an impossible moment, an insurmountable confrontation was about to occur. This man had made life hell for her! He had helped to destroy her own flesh and blood, her beloved sister. There was no way she could forgive him or love him. Oh, she could probably\u00a0lie<\/em>\u00a0and force some smooth, hypocritical words out of her mouth, in keeping with the testimony and sermon she had just shared. But what kind of a witness was that?<\/p>\n

Sometimes when you and I face a crisis, all we\u2019re going to have is a few seconds. We can\u2019t hit a pause button and go find our Bibles and get into our prayer closets and pray for half an hour. We can\u2019t tell our enemy to wait while we go off to a seminar and recharge our batteries. No, the reflecting we\u2019ve already done, the verses we\u2019ve already hidden in our hearts, the spiritual decisions we\u2019ve made in earlier moments before the storm . . . they have to pay off right now and they have to pay off with frightening immediacy.<\/p>\n

So Corrie had just those few seconds, and all she could do was pray about this impossibility. Jesus, help me! Send me Your Spirit! And sure enough, the man took her hand and began to stutter his apologies. He was so sorry. For years he had wanted absolution. Now, dear sister, could she give him peace of mind by forgiving him?\u00a0Bitte?<\/em>\u00a0Please?<\/p>\n

And you know, all at once, as she looked at this man, she no longer saw the Nazi uniform and the former hate. She saw instead a victim, almost a child, a person who had been himself scarred by sin and evil. And in one miraculous moment, she felt something come into her from an outside source, from a\u00a0higher<\/em>\u00a0source. It wasn\u2019t her; she knew that. But she looked at this man and felt more than pity. She actually loved this fellow child of God. She loved him! And so she poured out words of forgiveness, of acceptance, of love . . . words that were not fake, expressions that were not convenient lies.\u00a0Meine bruder, ich vergeben dich.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cMy brother, I forgive you!\u201d she cried over and over, embracing him.<\/p>\n

Well, we have that story, and then we have this amazing verse.\u00a0\u201cI can do EVERYTHING through Him who gives me strength.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You can take that verse right there, that promise\u2014and if you believe it, you can apply it to all of the hard things we\u2019ve studied together these past few Sabbaths. \u201cRejoice in the Lord\u00a0always.<\/em>\u201d Now that\u2019s hard! When you\u2019ve just lost a job and the country is in an economic meltdown, that sounds impossible! But it\u2019s not impossible if verse 13 is true. \u201cDon\u2019t be anxious about anything,\u201d Paul cheerfully tells us in verse 6 . . . and remember, he\u2019s sending us this happy-face telegram from jail! In verse eight we have the hardest list in the world, a list of eight adjectives, how our thoughts should be continually on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Oh my! To do one of those once in a while would be hard enough; to fulfill all eight of them on a 24\/7 basis sounds herculean? How can we possibly keep our minds on track like that 24 hours a day? You wouldn\u2019t even try, except for this promise from God in verse 13.<\/p>\n

One of the best Bible study tools you can own is to have a Bible with cross-reference notes in it, where one verse sends you over to verses with similar or companion messages. And here, Philippians 4:13 sends us backtracking to another letter of Paul\u2019s, his second epistle to his Christian friends in Corinth. In chapter 12, he confesses to us about a mysterious ailment or \u201cthorn in the flesh\u201d he\u2019s always had. Some Bible scholars suggest that perhaps Paul had really bad eyesight and that Bausch & Lomb weren\u2019t able to do much for him. Three times he asked God to take away his hardship, and the Lord kept saying no. So that doesn\u2019t sound much like \u201cI can do all things\u201d; why doesn\u2019t God take away this persistent curse? But Paul\u2019s concluding thought about it all is this:\u00a0\u201cBut He [the Lord] said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for My POWER is made perfect in weakness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a great insight\u2014how, despite our weaknesses, we have access not just to God\u2019s power, but to the unlimited resources of His power! We can have it all! Is there really any problem we have where, if all God\u2019s power was applied, we couldn\u2019t succeed?<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in the very next chapter after what we\u2019ve studied in this sermon series, Colossians one, Paul uses that very expression:\u00a0\u201cBeing strengthened with ALL power according to His glorious might so that you might have great endurance and patience\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(v. 11).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a gospel song we used to sing in church, although it\u2019s been a while\u2014kind of a military march\u2014which goes like this: \u201cI can run through a troop, And leap over a wall; Hallelujah! Hallelujah! He\u2019s my Strength and my Shield; He gives POWER to all. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s catchy, but you don\u2019t take it too seriously until you discover that the words come right out of the very real battles of the Old Testament. Those words are right from II Samuel 22:30, where none other than King David\u2014or, we should say, General David\u2014writes them:\u00a0\u201cFor by Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In just about the most secular illustration I can think of, this story reminds me of a young man named Marty McFly in the old time-travel film trilogy,\u00a0Back to the Future<\/em>. Every time he drives his friend\u2019s DeLorean time machine sports car at 88 miles per hour, he seems to find himself in a different era of time. That\u2019s another reason to stick to the speed limit! But in this particular story, he\u2019s stuck in the year 1955 with the DeLorean plum out of plutonium. That\u2019s the fuel he needs for safe time-travel. And the mad scientist, Dr. Brown, cries in despair: \u201cIt would take 1.21 jigawatts of power to get you back to the future! It\u2019s hopeless! Where could we find 1.21 jigawatts of nuclear power here in 1955?\u201d And then the interesting line: \u201cThe only thing around here with 1.21 jigawatts of power would be a bolt of lightning.\u201d Which, because of time-travel, they know is coming up that very Saturday night at 10:04 p.m. It\u2019s nice how Hollywood stories work themselves out in such a convenient fashion!<\/p>\n

Well, in all seriousness, maybe today something is very dark in your life. Perhaps you\u2019ve lost a child, and you\u2019re so completely in despair that you don\u2019t know how you can possibly go on. \u201cI\u2019m powerless to face the future without my little girl!\u201d you scream into the wind.\u00a0And where could you find the power, the bolt of lightning, to face tomorrow?<\/p>\n

Let me tell you a story today about the great Oliver Cromwell, spiritual and military leader of England, who once faced that very kind of anguish. His son had died, and he was absolutely inconsolable. Oh, it was fine for others to preach about the Resurrection and about a future life in the distant future. But this was his own boy! Do you know what saw him through? We find this story in Dr. Ralph P. Martin\u2019s\u00a0Tyndale New Testament Commentaries\u00a0<\/em>for Philippians. Oliver Cromwell found his hope in this verse, Philippians 4:13.\u00a0It was, in his own words, \u201cone beam in a dark place\u201d of utter despondency and misery. \u201cI can do all things through Christ\u201d was the promise that saw him through.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to notice where this promise applies and where it doesn\u2019t. Are we guaranteed here that we can drive 88 miles an hour and not get tickets? Score a perfect 2400 on our SAT\u2019s? Make $250,000 in our next job and get into President Obama\u2019s new higher tax bracket? Bench-press 500 pounds? Should we want to use this verse in a \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d kind of way, where we \u201cname it and claim it\u201d or, as some selfishly put it, \u201cblab it and grab it\u201d? No, the context of this verse\u2014remember, it\u2019s the core promise, the buried nugget in chapter four\u2014is talking about Christian work, about sacrificial witness, about doing God\u2019s work . . . and it\u2019s also about contentment during the trials of living for Jesus Christ. It\u2019s about \u201crejoicing always\u201d when things are less than rosy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis statement, then,\u201d writes Dr. Martin, \u201cdoes not make Paul a wonder-worker, a spiritual \u2018super-man,\u2019 who towers so far above the rest of men that his life is no encouragement to lesser mortals.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, and that\u2019s really the good news as we finish up with the book of Philippians. This verse is for all of us. Not for getting our speeding violations fixed, but when we need power to do God\u2019s will. Not when we want an A on a calculus test, but when we need heaven\u2019s encouragement to face the loss of a best friend. In other words, Philippians 4:13 is for the really big things of life.<\/p>\n

And how do we tap into it? How do we claim those 1.21 jigawatts of raw spiritual power for our own? Well, that power resides in the person of Jesus Christ, so the answer should be obvious. We get with Jesus and we stay with Him. In John 15:5 Christ Himself gives us the recipe.\u00a0\u201cI am the true Vine and you are My branches.\u00a0 If you REMAIN IN ME and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit.\u201d And then the flip side: \u201cWithout Me, you can\u2019t do a thing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You know, the fictional Marty McFly had to have that DeLorean in the right place at exactly 10:04 p.m. to receive that lightning bolt\u2019s power. Thank God you and I can be plugged in . . . all day . . . every day. Shall we pray?<\/p>\n

Father, we want to thank You today for this lasting promise\u2014that we can do all things, all important and eternal things, through Your power. Help us to keep in our vision what the important things are, and then to joyfully trust in You for the supplied power to succeed in Your mighty name. Amen.
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\nSubmitted by David B. Smith. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2009. Click here for\u00a0usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Powering Up the DeLorean Our study today brings us to the close of this great Bible epistle written by Paul to his friends living in Philippi. I hope you\u2019ve been …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[21],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":660,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}