How will you be remembered?

Steve Brown:
How will you be remembered? Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’re sick of guilt and manipulation, and if you’re looking for an honest and thoughtful presentation of Biblical truth, you’ve come to the right place. This is Key Life, with the founder of Key Life Network, Steve Brown. Keep listening for teaching that will make you free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at two verses in Philippians, and that’s all. The fourth chapter of Philippians, verse two and three. And mostly, we’re going to talk about how Christians can get along, how to win arguments for Jesus and not yourself. You’re going to be surprised at how, and I’ve prayed about it, how much I found in those two verses. Paul says.

I entreat you Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord. And I ask you also, true yoke fellow, help these women, for they have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

I want you to note, if you will, that these two ladies are never mentioned again in the Bible, this is it. I mean there may be, I didn’t look, but these specific ladies are never mentioned again. There may have been some others with names similar, but these, this is it. Do you know what they’re remembered for? They’re remembered because they had an argument. How about that? They’re remembered because they had an argument. I’m reminded of the fifth chapter of Genesis. And that’s where Methuselah is mentioned. It’s in verse 27. And the text says.

He lived 969 years.

And when I’ve read that, I’ve thought, What did he do? I mean, in that many hundreds of years, you ought to have been able to achieve something. At least win a Sunday school award. I mean, tell us what Methuselah, we don’t know anything about Methuselah, except that he lived 969 years. You know, I’m as old as dirt and I don’t want people to say, you know, Brown hung on for a very long time. I don’t want that to be the reason I’m remembered. When I was a kid, as some of you know, I’m double jointed. In other words, I can bend my fingers all the way back. And that was the thing I was known for when I was a kid. In fact, if you come upon people who are still alive, who grew up with me, and you mention my name, the first thing they will say is, Oh yeah, I remember him. He was weird. He could move his fingers all the way back because he was double jointed. I don’t want that to be my legacy. Do you know what I want to be my legacy? That I was kind and merciful and clung to Jesus with all I had. My mentor, Fred Smith used to tell a story about a man who married Millie, and she died. And after a year he met Tilly, and he married her. And then he died, after she had died. And he gave instructions to people when they buried him, bury me between Millie and Tilly, and tilt me a little bit in Millie’s direction. You want that on your tombstone? You want to be remembered for that? No, you really don’t. And these two ladies were remembered for their argument, and I thought I would just point it out as we went by. Okay. We spent a long time talking about Paul’s love for the church. And we’ve seen, as we’ve studied Philippians, that this was his favorite church. If he kept his church letter in a church, it would be in the church at Philippi. I mean, these people had stood with Paul in thick and thin, they had bound up his wounds, they had encouraged him, they had prayed for him, and they had given of their time and their talents and their money. I mean, these were his people. This was home. This was his church. And, you know, you begin to think, well, why did Paul love this church so much? Well, for a lot of reasons, but it wasn’t because they were perfect, or because they never disagreed, or because there were no divisions. As you read through Philippians, you find that all of those things are going on. And so, what we’re going to do is look at this argument these two ladies had, and then we’re going to look at what Paul said about that. And I’m going to show you seven things that made a difference. It’s the way you win a division argument for Jesus and not for yourself. But right now I want you to note that in the best church you could find in the town, in a church that the apostle Paul loved and praised, in a church he was a part of, in a church where the Christians were known for their faithfulness. You’ve got division, you’ve got complication, You’ve got disagreement. So, when you find that in your church. And I find it in my church, remember Philippians the fourth chapter. And say, Jesus died for them too. Hey, you think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
We’re exploring the book of Philippians, but more specifically, we’re going to learn about how to win arguments. Yay. Well, not winning in the way we usually think about it. More on that tomorrow, so do join us. Well, one of the most asked questions we get at Key Life deals with assurance, how to know for sure that you’re saved. Do you ever struggle with those doubts and questions? Then take a listen to part of a sermon from Steve based on Hebrews 6, then I’ll be back to tell you about a special free offer. Here’s Steve.

Steve Brown:
Now, if you were here last week, you’re aware that I took the time to show you that the Bible teaches that if you’re a Christian, you’re always going to be a Christian. I am the son of Newton Webb Brown. I was born that way. And if I go to a court and have my name changed, I’m still going to be the son of Newton Webb Brown. And no matter what happens to me, no matter whether I’m faithful to the principles taught to me by my father or not, I’m still the son of Newton Webb Brown, and I’m going to be his son until the day I die. Now, if you’re a Christian, according to 112, you became a child of another Father. And that will never, ever change, because he holds you, you do not hold him. If you were here last week, you are also aware that we saw through Hebrews 6: 1 through 6, And a number of other Scriptures that there are in the church, two kinds of Christians, the real ones and the false ones, the weeds and the wheat. And we saw that it is possible and I didn’t have anybody particular in mind when I said, that it was possible for you to be an officer in the church and not to know Christ, to play the game so perfectly that you fool all of the brethren into thinking that you’re the real thing when you’re a counterfeit. Buck Coombs was telling us this morning that he was a deacon in this church for one year before he became a Christian. So, it’s possible to be a pastor, it’s possible to be on the staff of the church, it’s possible to be a weed Christian and to fool everybody except you and God. You heard about the man from the mountains who was dressed fit to kill with a big black Bible under his arm and he was approached by a friend and said, Why are you dressed up like that? And he said, I heard about New Orleans and I heard that they have women running all over the place down there and booze is flowing like a river and they’ve got a poker game on every corner. And I decided that if it was that good, I was going down there. And he said, well, I understand that, but how come the big black Bible under your arm? He said, well, I figured if it was as good as they said it was, I’d stay over till Sunday and I certainly wouldn’t want to miss church. And there are lots of folks in the church just like that. Now, in response to what I said last week, there were a lot of questions. And I want to deal with those questions this morning. Or rather, to allow the writer of Hebrews to deal with those questions. Evidently, a lot of people got scared after last Sunday, and they wondered if they were really Christians. That’s not bad, I hope you were scared good for a whole week. That’s what the writer of Hebrews does, for the first six verses, he scares the socks off you, and then when you get to the next, to the ninth verse, he begins to pour oil on the troubled waters. And so, even though I didn’t plan it that way, I suggest that what happened to you if you’ve been frightened all week about your salvation is probably a pretty Biblical thing to happen to you. But the question was something like this, I realize that Christians are eternally secure. I realize that the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is a true doctrine and a Biblical doctrine. I recognize that if I’ve put my hand in his hand, he’s going to hold on to me right on through to the end if Philippians 1:6 is true.

That he who began it in me is going to bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

But my problem is that I’m not sure whether or not I’m a Christian. And so, this morning I propose to let you know how to know that you know Him. Seems appropriate, before we turn to the text, that we take a few moments to examine five facts that have to do with how one comes into a relationship with Christ. For those of you who are searching, I want you to listen very carefully. You may not I like what I’m going to say. You may think that it’s old fashioned that it went out with your grandfather’s spats, but after I tell you, you’ll never again be able to say, Nobody ever told me. I am not an evangelist and it’s very rare in this church when I present a plan of salvation. And so, if you’ve been here and you’ve never heard it and you’re not sure, listen very carefully, cause I’m going to very quickly cover the five points that you need to know when you come into that initial relationship with Jesus Christ.

Matthew Porter:
What are those five points? Well, that’s what Steve covers in the rest of this classic sermon. Listen, we can’t play the whole thing here, so we put it on a CD that we will mail to you for free. So, grab your phone and call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the U.S. and Canada. Just ask for your free copy of the CD called How to Know that You Know Him. And finally, if you’re blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others by giving? Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can give through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950. And please remember that big or small, monthly or one time, every gift matters and every gift helps. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.