“Finding your assigned duty”
(Phil. 1:15-18)
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe
June 15, 2008
I. Introduction
A. Leonardo da Vinci (#2672)
The counselors of Florence asked Leonardo da Vinci, then Italy’s most celebrated artist, to submit sketches for the decorations of the grand hall at Florence. One of the counselors had heard of a young and little-known artist named Michelangelo who had done good work, and asked him to submit sketches also.
The sketches of Leonardo were superb, in keeping with his genius, but when the counselors saw the sketches of Michelangelo, there was spontaneous expression of wonder and enthusiasm. News of this reached Leonardo. He also heard that one of the counselors had said, “Leonardo is getting old.” He was never able to get over the eclipse of his fame by Michelangelo, and the remaining years of his life were clouded with gloom and sorrow.
B. Jealousy and envy starts early in life
1. Between brothers and sisters
2. Prettier than you
3. Better athlete
4. Better grades
5. “Why can’t you be more like your sister?”
6. “Mom and dad like her more”
C. Jealousy is a serious sin
1. Shakespeare called it “The green sickness”
2. A Latin proverb says “Jealousy is the enemy of honor”
3. Charles C. Colton
“For every man who sincerely pities our misfortunes, there are a thousand who sincerely hate our success.”
D. Jealousy in the Bible
1. Lucifer was jealous of God
2. Cain was jealous of Abel
3. Jacob was jealous of Esau
4. Joseph suffered from the jealousy of his older brothers
E. Today…jealousy in the local church
1. The apostle Paul….What a preacher!
a. Brilliant
b. Charismatic
2. God’s blessing upon Paul when he hit Rome
a. People got saved
b. Revival spread
c. Crowds flocked to Paul
3. Some preachers in Rome began to attack Paul
4. Two problems
a. They were serving God for the wrong reasons
b. They were jealous of the success of another
II. Text
A. Serving for the wrong reasons…..v.15 & 17
(15) It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. (16) The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. (17) The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. (18) But what does it matter: The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. *some translations have verses 16 & 17 reversed
1. Some are motivated by envy and rivalry…….v.15
a. Some may not have even been Christians
b. Not just “preachers”
c. Spreading the message of salvation
1. and people were responding
2. Yet not motivated by love, rather by
a. “Envy and rivalry”…..v.15
b. “Selfish ambition”…..v.17
1. Not sincerely
3. “Supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains”…..v.17
a. Preaching against Paul
b. Mean spirited!
c. Why the envy?
1. Paul’s success
2. Paul’s blessing from God
3. Paul’s charisma
4. Paul was an apostle
5. They were there first
e. What they may have said…
1. “Paul is being punished for some sin”
· He probably has a “secret sin”
2. “Paul lacks enough faith to get out”
3. “Paul is playing politics”
· He cut a secret deal
· Should have been martyred
f. Wow, that must have hurt!
2. Some are motivated by selfish ambition…..v.17
a. Pastoring a large church can be the ultimate ego trip
b. Men called to be shepherds trying to act like CEO’s
c. Learning entrepreneurial skills instead of expositional skills
d. Searching for the applause of men and women
e. Celebrities
f. Serving….but with the wrong motives
3. Jealousy emerges from a lack of contentment
a. (I Tim. 6:6)—“But godliness with contentment is great gain”
b. (Hebrews 13:5)
“Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
c. Are you content with your—
1. Possessions
2. Job
3. Spiritual gifts
4. Education
5. Wife / Husband
6. Parents
7. Appearance
· Teenagers
8. Athletic skills
9. Your area of service
4. Comparison is the enemy of contentment
a. Henrietta Mears—“The man who keeps busy helping the man below him won’t have time to envy the man above him—and there may not be anybody above him anyway”
b. You are a “snowflake”
1. One of a kind
2. Not competing with anyone but yourself
3. “Be all that you can be!”
c. Kids and kindergarten
1. All start at 5 years
a. but not all are on the same schedule
2. Parents are always comparing
a. Chad walked at 7 months
b. When they start talking
c. But they all end up walking and talking
d. My friends from college….
1. First to be worth $1 million
2. First to get doctorate
3. First to buy house
e. Midlife crisis
1. “Others further ahead”
2. “Failure!”
f. Quit comparing yourself to others
5. Envy will extract a high cost
a. Disunity
1. Envy will divide a team
2. Los Angeles Lakers
a. Jealous of Kobe
b. Don’t get the ball to him
c. Whole team is hurt
3. Teams need unity to win
b Self pity
1. The price of comparing
a. With brilliant friend
b. Will always feel dumb
2. Compared to beautiful friend
a. Always look plain
3. Stop comparing!
a. You’ll feel inferior to somebody
4. Will begin to wallow in self pity
6. Rejoice in God’s blessing on others
a. Pray for them
1. Ask God to pour out His blessing!
2. You may have no idea what they are going through
3. Wealthy people I know
a. Their kids
b. Buddy
b. We are all part of the same family
e. F.B. Meyer told the following experience
“It was easy,” he said, “to pray for the success of G. Campbell Morgan when he was in America. But when he came back to England and took a church near to mine, it was something different. The old Adam in me was inclined to jealousy, but I got my heel upon his head, and whether I felt right toward my friend, I determined to act right.”
“My church gave a reception for him, and I acknowledged that if it was not necessary for me to preach Sunday evenings I would dearly love to go and hear him myself. Well, that made me feel right toward him. But just see how the dear Lord helped me out of my difficulty. There was Charles Spurgeon preaching wonderfully on the other side of me. He and Mr. Morgan were so popular, and drew such crowds, that our church caught the overflow, and we had all we could accommodate.”
f. John Wesley
It is a matter of historic record that the two great English evangelists, John Wesley and George Whitefield, disagreed on doctrinal matters. Both of them were very successful, preaching to thousands of people and seeing multitudes come to Christ. It is reported that somebody asked Wesley if he expected to see Whitefield in heaven, and the evangelist replied, “No I do not.”
“Then you do not think Whitefield is a converted man?”
“Of course he is a converted man!” Wesley said. “But I do not expect to see him in heaven—because he will be so close to the throne of God and I so far away that I will not be able to see him!” Though he differed with his brother in some matters, Wesley did not have any envy in his heart, nor did he seek to oppose Whitefield’s ministry.
B. But fortunately some had proper motives
(15) It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. (16) The latter do so in love,
1. “but others out of good will”…..v.15-16
2. The latter out of love
a. The proper motive for sharing Christ
3. Knew that God told Paul to defend the Gospel
a. No impure motives
b. Just doing his duty
c. That God had assigned Paul that “duty post”
C. Your assigned duty post…..v.16
1. God has assigned each of us a “duty post”
(15) It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. (16) The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
a. “I am put here” …..v.16
1. “kei mai” (ki ma hee)
a. “I am appointed or assigned”
2. Word was familiar to Roman soldiers
a. Every soldier was “assigned a duty post”
b. The soldiers “assigned” to guard the tomb of Jesus
c. They would stay there to the death or reassignment
3. Every soldier today is assigned a duty post
a. Letter from Captain Aaron Combs
Dr. Koole,
As you talked about Peter being chained to a guard continuously for years, and that being his "assigned post" I really felt a strong correlation to something that is beaten into every single soldier that has been in the Army, “The General Orders.” The 3 General Orders that every soldier has memorized and can recite verbatim on command in their sleep are as follows:
General Order #1: "I will guard everything within the limits of my post, and quit my post only when properly relieved"
General Order #2: "I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner"
General Order #3: "I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief"
We don't always ask to be posted where we end up, but we understand that someone higher up the chain of command has made a decision and us staying in our assigned post is vital to accomplishing the mission, whatever it may be.
b. Paul didn’t choose to be in Rome as a prisoner
1. God “assigned him there”
2. God saw the “big picture
c. Each of us has been assigned a “duty post”
1. A place to serve God
2. God sees the “big picture”
2. Each duty post is essential to the success of the mission
a. Digging through my parents’ house
1. Finding “the book”
b. Mom’s work with toddlers for 40 years
1. While a half-dozen pastors came and went
c. My mother’s impact
1. Letters in the book
2. Leaders at Chapel Pointe
a. Jennifer
3. Taught Jen “O be careful little eyes what you see…”
d. Our need for volunteers to work with our children
1. Why so important
2. We have got to reach our own children
3. And we’ve got to reach them while they are young
4. More evangelism in the children’s service than right here
e. Pastors receive a lot of attention on earth….but God knows the impact of those working with children
3. Be content with where God has assigned you to serve
a. Contentment in your Marriage
1. Your vows
a. “for better or for worse”
b. “for richer or for poorer”
c. “in sickness or in health”
b. Contentment in serving God
c. Your earthly comfort is not the issue
d. Focus on eternity
1. Only what’s done for God will last
e. Faithful service is hard work
1. My charge to the pastors and elders
2. Take it to the next level
a. Passion
b. Persistence
3. Leaving “skin on the floor”
f. Where has God assigned you?
1. Did you show up?
2. Have you gone AWOL?
3. Are you just going through the motions?
4. Are you jeopardizing the mission?
g. General Order #1: "I will guard everything within the limits of my post, and quit my post only when properly relieved"
We don't always ask to be posted where we end up, but we understand that someone higher up the chain of command has made a decision and us staying in our assigned post is vital to accomplishing the mission, whatever it may be.
4. The mission is jeopardized when just one individual fails to report to their assigned duty
a. How we did it in California
1. Faithful preaching of the Bible
2. Dynamic praise and worship
3. Children’s ministries
4. Youth ministries
b. It was the volunteers that made Tri-City great
1. We had 10 full-time pastors
a. But the key was the people of the church
2. Volunteers for children’s ministries
a. 120 adults for AWANA every Wednesday night
3. During our three services
a. Unbelievable children’s ministries
c. Why it’s so important
1. Realized the importance of reaching our own children
d. List of needs for children’s ministries
1. We need your help
5. Just showing up for your duty is not good enough
(16) The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
a. We are in a battle for the souls of our children
b. Our enemy is clever and persistent
c. It’s not good enough for us to just go through the motions
d. My sense of responsibility for my people
1. God will one day ask me to give an accounting
2. Just going through the motions is not an option
3. Church members and the Great White Throne of Judgment
a. Our responsibility
e. We have been blessed as a church
1. Not based on how hard we’ve worked
2. But by the grace and favor of God
f. Each of us will some day be asked to give an accounting
g. If you are not yet in the game…
1. A spectator in the stands
2. Get in the game
h. If you’re already in the game…
1. Take it to the next level
2. Be ready to leave some skin on the floor
3. To pour your life into one specific area of ministry
IV. Summary
A. The power of the Gospel…..v.18
(18) But what does it matter: The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
1. People got saved despite the messengers
2. The message is more powerful than the messenger!