Church Members That God Is Looking For

“ Church Members That God is Looking for ”

“Philippians 2:1-5

I. Every Pastor Wishes To See In Members

A) To be Like-minded

Notice in verse 2… Paul says to the people in Philippi… “ Fulfil ye my joy” He means here…Make me happy by doing this…

Being “like-minded” (Follow the example as pastor follow Christ)
“Have the same love” (Love for God and the Brethren, as Christ does)
“Being of one accord” (to be in harmony, to agree, Christ-like)
“of one mind” (thinking the same, Christ-like)
Verse 3…“ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;” (Do not oppose other members, but work together.
“let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Think of other members being better than you.)
Verse 4…“ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Be not selfish. Do not let your care and attention be wholly absorbed by your own concerns, or by the concerns of your own family.
Church members should and most generally act the same as their pastor.
When a member acts bad it makes the Pastor and other members look bad.
When a pastor acts bad, it makes the people look bad, and Christ look bad.
Verse 5… We are to have the same mind as Christ which is what Paul said here.

II. Those Who Will Humble Themselves

A) As Christ (Our example) Did

Read now in verses 6-11…
Verse 6… Jesus did not think he was “equal” with God.
Verse 7… He was not out to make a reputation for himself.
Took on the form of a servant.
Verse 8… HE HUMBLED HIMSELF !
And became obedient To God…All the way up to His death (At the Cross)

B) And know that Jesus is Lord

Verse 9… God has “exhalted” (lift high) Him (Jesus)
Verses 10,11… Every “knee” shall bow to him.
“Every tongue shall confess” that He is Lord!

III. Work Out Your Own Salvation

A) Worry about yourself, not others.

Read verse 12… “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
What does that mean? Work things out for yourself not fearing about others and what they may say about you.
Note verse 13… Paul gives us the reason for us worrying about ourselves only… It is God that works in us so that what we will do will be for His (God’s ) pleasure.
Ephesians 6:5… Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

IV. Do All Things Without Murmurings and Disputings

A) Griping

Read now verse 14…
Here are some things that members gripe about…

Church is too boring– If you say this then you are telling God that you need to be entertained not schooled.
Church is too long – Saying this means that you feel that you have more important things to do than waste your time in God’s house.
The preacher hurts my feelings by the way he preaches – Saying or thinking this is your heart grieving the Holy Spirit by rejecting your guilty feelings and blaming the pastor. The pastor is the man of God, called of God to deliver the word of God. If you have a problem with that then you should be giving your supplications towards God not others.
I don’t like someone that goes to my church – I will say that there is someone at your work, or in your family, or even the President of the United States that you do not like. There will always be people in this world that we do not like or maybe hard to get along with. THAT IS LIFE. Learn how, and discipline yourself to love them no matter what the situation, status, or past of the person.
People at church judge me – People in the world judge you as well. We all know that we are not to judge one another., but that does not mean that judging will stop. No matter where you go, what you do in life, you will be judged. Do not use this lame excuse.
Some one else is sitting in my seat – This is a childish reply. As far as I know, your name is not on the seat. In fact, you should be happy that someone is coming to the house of God even though they have to listen to people complain and moan about some sitting in their seat.
It’s too hot or it’s too cold in the church building – If it’s too hot, bring a fan. If it’s too cold, wear more clothes. The church cannot pacify everyone that want’s to change the temperature in the church to accommodate their personal thermometer.
The church expects too much from it’s members – This may be true in some instances. But know this… God expects us to EXCEED the righteousness of the Pharisees. You want to talk about expectations? Look at God’s expectations and focus on that rather than the expectations of the church.

B) And opposing

Some members oppose everything other members do. It is more than likely these people will always oppose everything and anything that comes in their path.
Opposition of the church and it’s members are totally an act of Satan and his demons. Satan has always opposed the church or anything that is associated with God.
Some members oppose everything the pastor says. Again, to oppose the pastor who is the man of God called of God to preach the Word of God to the people of God is to oppose God Himself.

V. Be Blameless and Harmless,Without Rebuke

A) Blameless

Look at verse 15…We should be able to talk to anyone, go anywhere and know that no one can blame us for something we have done wrong.
What does “blameless” mean; Luke 1:6…. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

B) Harmless

Harmless here means; simple without guile (deceit)
We should really be a person that is not hard to figure out. One look at a harmless person and you should know what they are.
Matthew 10:16… ¶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

C) Without rebuke

The words“without rebuke”here means; without blame. Do not be put in a position where some one can blame you for something you did that was bad.
Be careful who you hang around with. Do not go near troublemakers!

VI. Shine as Lights In The World

A) “Holding Forth The Word Of Life”

Back in our text of Philippians 2: read verse 16…
What does “Holding forth the word of life” mean?
Let us brake it up.. “Holding” means to grab onto something and do not let it go.
The word of life is… God’s word… “the Bible”
So what Paul is telling us here is to hold onto the bible, study what is inside and do not let it’s word and commandments escape you… HOLD ON TO IT !

ARE YOU A CHURCH MEMBER WHO GOD WANTS?

One that is Like minded with Christ

Humble

Worry only for yourself

Doing all things without griping or opposing

Blameless, Harmless, without rebuke

Do we shine in a dark world?