Thinking and Acting Like a Christian
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Textual Sermon OutlinesINTRODUCTION: Philippians 4:8-9
A. To live the Christian life, one must think clearly and act correctly.
1. One who thinks without acting is like a hunter who aims his gun but never fires it
2. One who acts without thinking is like a hunter who fires his gun without aiming.
B. Both thinking and acting are addressed in our present text
DISCUSSION:
A. THINKING LIKE A CHRISTIAN
1. Philippians 4:8a
a. Paul begins this verse with the word “finally”
b. This could mean that Paul is drawing his letter to a close, or it could mean that these are the final observations concerning his line of thought began in verse 4
2. Rights Traits
a. To thing like a Christian we must be thinking on the correct traits
1) “True” – signifies that which is genuine or real
2) “Honorable” (honest – KJV; noble – NKJ) – refers to lofty things, majestic things, things that lift the mind from the cheap and crude to that which is noble and good and of moral worth
3) “Just” (right – NAS) – refers to doing what is right, whether God or man
4) “Pure” – translated from the same root word as the word for holy (hogios), morally undefiled
5) “Lovely” – is from a compound word (pros/phileo) meaning toward love, it refers to that which evokes a response of love
6) “Good report” (commendable – ESV; gracious – RSV) – that which is well-spoken of; from a compound word – lit. good saying
b. This list of qualities is followed by two conditional phrases:
1) Philippians 4:8b
2) “Virtue” (excellence – ESV, RSV) refers to the excellence that the righteous are to maintain, and “praise,” that is anything worthy of praise
3) The thought here is “if there is anything excellent – and there is, and if there be anything worthy praise – and there is, then we should respond in a certain way
4) What is the proper response?…
3. Right Thinking
a. Philippians 4:8
1) We are to think carefully, we are to make the afore mentioned traits the subject of our thoughtful consideration
2) We must focus on them
b. Look again at the words true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and good report
1) What is important is not so much the definitions of these words, but the general impression left by the combination of words: that which is good and uplifting, in contrast with that which is dirty and degrading
2) Paul’s admonition viewed negatively might read: Do not let you mind dwell on things that are false, dishonorable, immoral, etc.
a) The mind naturally dwells on something
b) Paul instructs us to fix our thoughts on good things, not bad things – on positive things, not negative things – on things that build us up, not tear us down
c. Two great discoveries of modern psychology are that our lives are governed by our thoughts and we can control our thoughts
1) Thus, every individual has the power, in one sense, to control their lives
2) Proverbs 23:7
3) “Think on these things” (Phil. 4:8)
4) “A man is what he thinks about all day long” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
5) “The soul is dyed the color of its thinking”
d. By now, someone is probably protesting: “But I can’t control my thoughts. From time to time, bad thoughts slip into my mind – there is noting I can do about it.
1) There is an old saying, “You can’t keep the birds from flying overhead, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.”
2) We all have thoughts we should not have.
a) The question is not “will we have them?” but “will be dwell on them?”
b) When bad thoughts come into our heard – think on those things that are true, honorable, just, and etc.
e. The more we control our thoughts the easier it will be to…
B. ACTING LIKE A CHRISTIAN
1. Philippians 4:9a
a. Why does Paul want us to concentrate our thoughts on edifying things?
1) Is it a mere mental exercise?
2) No – he knew that those thoughts would shape our actions
b. It is insufficient to think like Christians and not act like Christians. In acting like Christians, we need…
2. Right Teaching
a. They had “heard” Paul teach and preach
1) Acts 20:20, 27
2) 2 Timothy 4:2
b. They had “learned” God’s word from Paul
1) Comprehended what he taught and remembered it
2) John 6:45
c. They “saw” the example of Paul
1) Unlike the Pharisees (Mt. 23:3), Paul not only “said,” but he also “did”
2) Nothing helps understanding like an appropriate example
a) 1 Timothy 4:12
b) Titus 2:7
d. They “received” what Paul had instructed
1) It is vital that we “receive” the instruction
2) We must accept and abide by the teaching
3) Matthew 7:21
e. Not only do we need the right teaching, we need the…
3. Right Training
a. “These things do” [practice – ESV] (4:9b)
1) “Do” or “practice” comes from prasso and denotes a habit – it stresses the process leading to a certain accomplishment
2) The word suggests repeating an action until it becomes natural
b. What limits our capabilities is our aversion to practice
1) Some want to excel in certain sports – but they hate to practice, so they will not excel
2) There are many Christians who are unwilling to develop their skills of Christian living through practice
CONCLUSION:
A. Philippians 4:9c
1. Here we return to the theme of peace
2. Paul is saying that if you will think as you should and act as you should you will have peace
B. To become a Christian and have access to the peace of God we must
1. Think Clearly
a. Jesus is the personification of all the virtues mentioned in verse 8
b. John 14:1
2. Act Appropriately
a. Plan of Salvation
b. Will you act appropriately?