Podcasts about philippian christians

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:18-21). Yesterday, Kyra adeptly explored Paul's ability to rejoice in the proclamation of the gospel, even when that proclamation comes from impure motives. This rejoicing leads him to reflect on his current situation: imprisonment for the gospel. He expects deliverance by either of two means: release from prison or death. It doesn't matter which. Both are a good end if he does not bring shame to Christ. Is Paul being flippant about his life? Does his life have only marginal value? Not in the least! To understand this, we remember the first great commandment, “love the Lord our God will all of our being” (Mark 12:30). This includes our bodies. Secondly, we recall Jesus words in Luke 9:23, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Since he met Jesus on the road to Damascus Paul has been practicing this kind of life. He has been dying and rising with Christ. Daily denying himself. Daily loving God with his body. Daily facing death for and with Jesus. Daily experiencing Christ's new life. His life hinges on his Lord's death and resurrection. Having daily lived this kind of life, Paul is convinced that through the prayers of the Philippian Christians and the Holy Spirit, God will deliver him, either by release from prison or by death. Following Jesus, Paul has daily picked up his own cross—a thorn in the flesh, enduring suffering and hardship, bearing grief, tending to difficult relationships, repenting from sin. In this work of dying to self: relinquishing control, admitting weakness, grieving well, turning from sin, offering forgiveness and blessing to enemies—Paul has learned what it means to face death well. To face it, indeed, with hope and trust that the Spirit works to bring the new life and fruitfulness of Christ in every circumstance. As he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.” That's how Paul lived. Paul knows the Lord may secure his release from prison. Even so, he will die soon. He knows that. He is an old man. But, since he has lived for many years, picking up his cross daily, dying to himself with Christ, and thereby, discovering the new life of Christ in his own body, he can rejoice. He has discovered that dying to self always leads to new life in Jesus. The future holds no fear for him: he will keep living for Christ or gain all the glories promised for believers. An old Christian tradition says that the role of the church is to prepare us for a good death. When we live for ourselves, life is always too short. There is never enough time to satisfy our itches. Death cannot be good. When we live for Christ by dying to self, then life and death are not so different. Then physical death is just another way of dying to self to be filled with the life of Christ. Do you live in this way? Do you already now practice for a good, Christian death? If not, you can start today. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

Maybe you feel like you're alone making major decisions or struggling through transitions, changes, and challenges. And if so, you might wonder, “Where is God?” Is God on the sidelines, judging how well you're doing or does God jump in and do it all for us? God cares about this world and God has chosen to change individual people, to give them life by the Holy Spirit, so that as God's people, the church can be the change that God wants to bring about in this world.   God empowers, energizes, puts in us new desires and new abilities, but it's not coercive.  God has begun a work in us and God will continue that work and at the same time, Paul repeatedly encourages the Philippian Christians to choose to live the way God is calling them to live. 

Maybe you feel like you're alone making major decisions or struggling through transitions, changes, and challenges. And if so, you might wonder, “Where is God?” Is God on the sidelines, judging how well you're doing or does God jump in and do it all for us? God cares about this world and God has chosen to change individual people, to give them life by the Holy Spirit, so that as God's people, the church can be the change that God wants to bring about in this world.   God empowers, energizes, puts in us new desires and new abilities, but it's not coercive.  God has begun a work in us and God will continue that work and at the same time, Paul repeatedly encourages the Philippian Christians to choose to live the way God is calling them to live. 

I recently heard a story of a young couple who began to feel that their well-funded, organized, all-American lifestyle was starting to feel empty and meaningless.  So, they decided to have children, which ultimately didn't work out, as they could not conceive.  The next step for them was taking care of foster children and then adopting a couple of their foster kids.  Along the way of working in the foster care system, though, they recognized an ongoing problem:  most of the young, single mothers who were losing their kids to foster care did not have the ability or resources to do anything for themselves and improve their lives.  They began to form a plan for how they might affect a change to this problem.             The couple came up with an idea: they would open their home to the foster system, but instead of just taking in a child with an at-risk mother, they would bring the mother, with her child, into their home for the long term!  They would nurture and care for the child and nurture, support, and train the young mother to care for her own child.  This was an intrusive, complicated, expensive, and life-changing decision on their part – and they were convinced this was what God was calling them to do!             Their experience with the young mother they 'adopted' and the mother's baby was heartwarming.  It was busy and expensive, of course, and interrupted their home life more than they could have imagined.   But the positive results were priceless.  They formed a forever bond with the young mother and her child and helped her navigate young motherhood.  Too, when the young mother began to respond to their nurture and instruction, she grew and matured and took on characteristics that would benefit her and her child for the rest of their lives.  Another thing:  the young couple performing this 'ministry' to a young family were growing in their faith due to how God worked through their efforts and prayers. As the mother said, she spoke of how she felt God's presence in her life, "I'm just loving him more and more each day."   What a lesson in real-life ministry!  When people give of themselves in ministry, they benefit those they serve and grow in their faith as they serve others, open their lives to those in need, and trust in God for strength and guidance. This is precisely what the Bible teaches!             In the book of I Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul speaks of how God had worked in these very ways.  The Christians in Philippi had given to his ministry, and when Paul worked in the distant city of Thessalonica, peoples' needs were met, they were nurtured in their faith, and those who worked the ministry were blessed.  Paul wrote this, first in Philippians 4: 15-16, "And you also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs."  Paul here commends the Philippian Christians for their giving to his missionary efforts in Thessalonica.  Later, in his letter to the new Christians, he wrote, "You also became imitators of us. . . so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia."  I Thessalonians I:6-7.  Paul commended the Philippian Christians for giving to the ministry in Thessalonica. He then commended the Thessalonian Christians, who had received generous gifts from the Philippians because they had grown in the faith and were great witnesses of the power of the Gospel!              When you give, others are healed; when you give, you are also healed.  This is just one of the reasons God wants us to give to others all our gifts and possessions!              Please give – that God might work in your lives and the lives of others – it is part of God's plan for his people.   Your support is invaluable in spreading the message of our ministry. By sharing our podcasts with your friends and family, you play a significant role in building a community of believers who find strength in our shared faith. We sincerely appreciate your contributions and urge you to inspire others to join us in this mission. Your involvement is significant and integral to our ministry's success, helping to keep our community connected and thriving.   Your financial contributions are the backbone of our ministry. They enable us to run outreach programs, maintain our facilities, and provide resources for our community. Your generosity is a testament to your commitment to our mission, and we deeply value your role in making this ministry a reality. Your contributions are used with transparency and accountability, making a real difference in the lives of those we serve. You can contribute here https://firstbaptistofindependence.aware3.net/give/   To stay updated on all things FBC, download our App here: https://a3a.me/firstbaptistofindependence or like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/1stBaptist/. These platforms are not just for information but also for engagement. They are a great way to connect with our community, support our mission, and be part of our journey.   Thank you for your continued support and involvement. We look forward to continuing this journey with you as an integral part of our ministry. See you next week!

Rather than focusing on perfection, we should pursue what is right and abide in God's grace. #theloriclineshow Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org! ~~~ What changes do you need to make this NEW year? Some of mine are obvious, others might not be so easy to see. I'm not talking about resolutions, but with each NEW day, we are given an opportunity to CHOOSE to take steps toward change we want to see in every area of our life. The new year is a great time to self examine a bit and look back at where you've been, maybe hold up a mirror and see where you are and then pray about where God would have you be or even go! Caution! This is a process that often requires you to be mean to yourself just a bit. Seriously! We settle into comfortable rhythms and routines, which could be doing more harm than good. We desire physical health, joy and fulfillment in our work and at home, spiritual maturity, community and authentic relationships but we aren't taking the steps to MOVE in the direction to get there! When your car is out of alignment, you know it. You have to work harder to keep it between the lines. It's pulling one way and you keep bringing it back to center. In the same way, when something is out of sync in your LIFE, you know it. But often we keep living with it that way. We choose to ignore it, which leads us to gradually drift off course and the constant pull and stress of it all wears us down. There are changes you know you need to make right now that you can see and then there are changes you need to make you maybe can't see. Thankfully, the one who knows you and loves you best can not only reveal what those are but He will give you the grace and strength you need to take the steps that lead to change. Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Paul was in prison when he wrote this encouragement to the Philippian Christians! And he still had a perspective of pressing on and taking HOLD of all God had called him to. He wanted to finish well. He was focused. He was disciplined. He wasn't pulled to the right or left. He knew the direction he was headed. He would not be paralyzed by his past or discouraged by the present. He saw beyond it. He had a kingdom perspective. His purpose was clear because it had been revealed through Christ Jesus. Paul was far from perfect, but he didn't focus on that! He focused on what he knew to be true and he kept taking the steps he needed to press on. That's where discipline comes in. You move when you don't feel like it. You stand firm when those around you are falling away. You make changes in areas of your life you need to make to honor God in all you do. Paul took the step of aligning his life to God's way and God's word.  He took the step of pursuing righteousness. Even in prison, he took the step of NOT complaining and NOT giving up. He lived his life for Jesus alone and in doing so he encourages you and I today to do the same. That's the truth. It's not about perfection, it's pressing on each and every day pursuing what is right and as we do, we'll begin to see change in our life as we abide in God's grace along the journey. I'm Lori Cline.

Philippians was written during Paul's first Roman Imprisonment and is known as a 'Prison Letter,' along with Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. The Church at Philippi had sent Paul a gift by way of Epaphroditus, their messenger. Epaphroditus had become sick in Rome and the Philippian Christians were concerned about him. The theme of the book is "joy," or "rejoicing in the Lord." The word 'joy' in its various forms occurs 16 times. There were also perils to watch for, because there were enemies of the church, both inside and outside. Paul warns the Philippians of the present dangers of a self-seeking attitude and an attitude of pride, both of which could lead to harmful divisions. FaithLife Christian Ministries: Download our Free App: https://get.theapp.co/hghq Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faithlife-christian-ministries/id1606442323 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithlifecm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithlifecm?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== X: https://x.com/faithlifecm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlife-christian-ministries-82ab77191/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaithLifeChristianMinistries Website: https://faithlifecm.com Donate: https://subsplash.com/u/faithlifechristianminist/give

Philippians was written during Paul's first Roman Imprisonment and is known as a 'Prison Letter,' along with Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. The Church at Philippi had sent Paul a gift by way of Epaphroditus, their messenger. Epaphroditus had become sick in Rome and the Philippian Christians were concerned about him. The theme of the book is "joy," or "rejoicing in the Lord." The word 'joy' in its various forms occurs 16 times. There were also perils to watch for, because there were enemies of the church, both inside and outside. Paul warns the Philippians of the present dangers of a self-seeking attitude and an attitude of pride, both of which could lead to harmful divisions. FaithLife Christian Ministries: Download our Free App: https://get.theapp.co/hghq Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faithlife-christian-ministries/id1606442323 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithlifecm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithlifecm?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== X: https://x.com/faithlifecm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlife-christian-ministries-82ab77191/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaithLifeChristianMinistries Website: https://faithlifecm.com Donate: https://subsplash.com/u/faithlifechristianminist/give

Philippians was written during Paul's first Roman Imprisonment and is known as a 'Prison Letter,' along with Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. The Church at Philippi had sent Paul a gift by way of Epaphroditus, their messenger. Epaphroditus had become sick in Rome and the Philippian Christians were concerned about him. The theme of the book is "joy," or "rejoicing in the Lord." The word 'joy' in its various forms occurs 16 times. There were also perils to watch for, because there were enemies of the church, both inside and outside. Paul warns the Philippians of the present dangers of a self-seeking attitude and an attitude of pride, both of which could lead to harmful divisions. FaithLife Christian Ministries: Download our Free App: https://get.theapp.co/hghq Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faithlife-christian-ministries/id1606442323 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithlifecm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithlifecm?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== X: https://x.com/faithlifecm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlife-christian-ministries-82ab77191/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaithLifeChristianMinistries Website: https://faithlifecm.com Donate: https://subsplash.com/u/faithlifechristianminist/give Table Talk with Yvette Gallinar: https://www.instagram.com/yvette_gallinar/ https://www.facebook.com/yvettegallinar https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/table-talk-with-yvette-gallinar/id1729036339 https://rumble.com/user/tabletalkwithyvettegallinar https://x.com/Yvettegallinar https://www.youtube.com/@tabletalkwithyvettegallinar

Philippians was written during Paul's first Roman Imprisonment and is known as a 'Prison Letter,' along with Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. The Church at Philippi had sent Paul a gift by way of Epaphroditus, their messenger. Epaphroditus had become sick in Rome and the Philippian Christians were concerned about him. The theme of the book is "joy," or "rejoicing in the Lord." The word 'joy' in its various forms occurs 16 times. There were also perils to watch for, because there were enemies of the church, both inside and outside. Paul warns the Philippians of the present dangers of a self-seeking attitude and an attitude of pride, both of which could lead to harmful divisions. Message Points: 1. Be United in Spirit 2. Be Humble and Selfless 3. Obedience is Paramount 4. Quit Complaining FaithLife Christian Ministries: Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faithlife-christian-ministries/id1606442323 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faithlifecm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithlifecm?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== X: https://x.com/faithlifecm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlife-christian-ministries-82ab77191/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaithLifeChristianMinistries Website: https://faithlifecm.com Donate: https://subsplash.com/u/faithlifechristianminist/give

Listen along as Mike Gaston teaches through Philippians 4:1-3. Notes//Quotes: Phil 4:1-3 - Zyler   Slides Philippians 4   Slide 1   Big Idea:   Our understanding of beautiful theological truth must be accompanied by healthy personal relationships.   An application of powerful theology (v 1)   An intervention for healthy relationships (v 2-3)     Slide 2    JPEG of Selah Suite wall coming by email     Slide 3   For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?  For you are our glory and joy.   1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 Slide 4   “The Greek word for crown … was commonly used to denote the festive garland, worn as a sign of gladness, or the wreath awarded to the victor of the athletic contest. If the metaphor is to be applied here, it means that the Philippian Christians would be regarded as his ‘reward,' the seal of his apostleship … at the last day, the triumph of grace would be seen in the perseverance of the saints to the inexpressible joy of their spiritual mentors.” Ralph P. Martin     Slide 5   Two pics of Gettysburg, side by side, coming by email               Slide 6   “Paul's willingness to call out two women when he knew the letter would be read to the whole congregation demonstrates the fact that he cared more about the unity of the church than about the church having a superficial, “everything is going to be alright” sentimental warmth. Paul's most joyful letter expresses his willingness to do the hard work of pursuing unity rather than just papering over problems… Paul tells them to agree in the Lord. And he urges the church to help them. He doesn't say, “Hey everyone else, stay out of it. It's none of your business!” He expects the church to be involved in bringing about reconciliation. Why? Because of the gospel. The church is made up of the servants of the Lord. We are servants of Jesus Christ. We should be of the same mind because we love the same God. We believe in the same Jesus. We're indwelled by the same Spirit. Reconciliation isn't easy, but pursuing it says something about the power of the gospel. So let's be Christians who are so steeped in grace that we pursue unity in the church and with other people. Let's be willing to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of reconciliation or to get involved and help other people reconcile because we want people to see what it looks like when grace reigns supreme.” Trevin Wax, The Gospel Coalition   Slide 7 “People know Jesus, not just by what we say, but how we live. The way we serve one another, love one another, bear with one another, rejoice with one another, weep with one another, everything we do with one another is either evidence for or against the reality of the Gospel. In the 3rd Century, Christian Theologian Tertullian recorded how the pagans surrounding the church in North Africa exclaimed, “See how these Christians Love one another!” Love has been, and always will be, the sign of Christian maturity and evidence of the Gospel.    Andrew McClure   Slide 8   Big Idea:   Our understanding of beautiful theological truth must be accompanied by healthy personal relationships.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians telling them how to pray right, what to think about, and how to live, to experience the God of peace.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians telling them how to pray right, what to think about, and how to live, to experience the God of peace.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians telling them how to pray right, what to think about, and how to live, to experience the God of peace.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians instructing them how to deal with their worries.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians instructing them how to deal with their worries.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians instructing them how to deal with their worries.

Welcome to Day 2335 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Philippians-10 The Cure for Anger and Anxiety – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message – 02/11/2023 Joy in Sharing – The Cure for Anger and Anxiety Philippians 4:1-9 Last week, we focused on Standing Firm without Standing Still in a message titled Hanging Tough and Looking Up. Today, we begin the last section of Philippians, Joy in Resting, and specifically focus on how we often fight for peace /when we have already been given The Cure for Anger and Anxiety. Today's scripture passage is Philippians 4:1-9 on page 1829, in your Pew Bibles. 1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. Final Exhortations 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.   In Philippians 4, Paul puts the finishing touches on his symphonic “Ode to Joy” with a soaring, moving, inspiring conclusion. Some of the most quoted, best-loved passages of Scripture are found in Philippians 4—as are a few obscure lines. We also get a sneak peek into the lives of some Philippian Christians and their real-life conflict. In this final chapter, Paul argues that there is joy in resting. He includes perhaps the finest passage on contentment in all the Scriptures, and this contentment is the essence of joyful living amid a restless world. Whether the cause of our unrest is disunity (4:1–3), anxiety (4:4–7), lack of peace (4:8–9), discontent (4:10–13), or need (4:14–19), Paul encourages believers to find Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered joy in resting in God, and God alone. “Stand firm in the Lord!” (Stay True to the Lord NLT) With this command, Paul begins to wrap up his letter to the Philippians. But what does it look like to “stand firm”? Psalm 1:3 describes this well:  They are like...

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:4-5)   We are back to finish off the letter to the Philippians now that our Vibrant Weekend and Prayer Guide have finished up!  We find ourselves flipping a new page in the Philippian letter.  Paul has taken the first few chapters to tell us of the mindset of Jesus (i.e. humbling himself to the cross and submitting himself to the Father alone and not to his own recourse), how he himself has sought to live out of this same mindset of Jesus, and how the Philippian church and those within it experiencing fights and division (like Euodia and Syntyche) should live out that Jesus-mindset too. Having said all that, Paul returns to the theme of joy.  This is also where he began back in chapter one as he told of his praying in joy for the Philippian Christians, thankful for their partnership in the Gospel and for God's work in them that God himself would see to completion.  Even as Paul rejoiced in his prayers, now he invites the Philippians into the same.  Joy and prayers.  We'll come to the praying part tomorrow.  Today it's enough to talk about joy.  One of the most significant antidotes to the mistrust of our fellow Christians that breeds division like that between Euodia and Syntyche, is a healthy sense of the joy of the Lord.  If we remember the angel's announcement to the shepherds that we heard last week: the Gospel is good news of great joy for all people.  If we somehow recognize that our joy is gone or has been replaced by fear, doubts, or suspicions, it is an indicator that our own heart needs tending in the presence of God before we can engage fruitfully again with our fellow Christians.  We somehow need to receive again the good news of great joy in our own hearts so that what spills out of us in encounter with others might also be seen and heard as a joyful, Gospel word.  How do we do that?  Many ways.  One is simply by practicing.  If you don't feel joyful: try rejoicing and giving thanks to God anyway.  It very often is the case that working a habit like rejoicing for an extended period of time, even when we aren't emotionally in the mood for it, can serve to usher our emotions gently along until we do begin to feel it.  Another way to find joy in the Lord once again is to remember and to seek to trust that indeed “the Lord is near.”  Even when everything else might feel like its coming undone or when it feels like there are enemies all around—a recognition of the presence of God in that place can change things.  Even valleys of death's shadow can be transformed into an experience of God's care and provision when we remember that he is there, too.  Of course, a third way to renew our joy is simply by talking to God.  We'll touch on that more tomorrow.  This kind of joy in Christ makes it possible to make known the mind of Christ to those around us.  The word Paul uses to describe it here is “gentleness.”  Another word for that gentleness Paul tells us to make evident to all, is forbearance.  A willingness to let things go or to delay our reaction or desire for retribution.  Doing so offers a gracious, merciful forbearance as God has done for us.  Again, we can do this because the Lord who has displayed his gentle forbearance with us, is near.  It's a cause of joy.  A cause for taking on the same mindset.  So: rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh… (Philippians 3:1-3). As Pastor Anthony mentioned yesterday, the opening words of this chapter echo the beginning of the letter. But they also appear to introduce the second half. When Paul mentions repeating himself, it is not clear whether he is referring to what came before or what comes after. I think it is helpful to remember that this is a letter, not a theological treatise. Paul is not a professor delivering a lecture from a distance, but a pastor writing to a congregation dear to his heart. As Paul begins to address the issue of false teaching, his tone changes. Clearly, he is upset with these people and the things they are teaching. But I think there is more. He is warning the Philippian Christians not to believe these things; it will rob them of their Christian joy. We must recognize that we do not know who these people were. They are not named, nor does Paul give their teaching a specific title. By referring to them as dogs, evildoers, mutilators of the flesh, it is abundantly clear he passionately opposes them. In his day, dogs were not pets, but scavengers, roaming the streets rummaging through garbage in search of food scraps. Often roaming in packs, they could be dangerous. What these people believed will become clearer later in the chapter. For today, it is sufficient to say that they believed in Jesus Christ's saving work, but also that believers needed to adhere to certain elements of the Mosaic laws to be real Christians. The big issue in Philippi was circumcision. For Gentile Christians to be genuine, they needed to get circumcised in the flesh. These teachers denied the sufficiency of the work of Christ; to be righteous before God, one also needed to be circumcised. Paul refuses to give them the dignity of being true followers of Moses. At times, the Israelites had placed such confidence in this physical mark they felt their election was secure even if they worshipped other gods. In response, their prophets reminded them that the physical rite should be symbolic of a deeper commitment. They called this commitment “circumcision of the heart,” and they looked forward to a time when God would circumcise the hearts of his people so that they might be committed to him (Jer. 4:4; cf. 9:25; Deut. 30:6). Paul believes that this time has arrived, and that circumcision of the heart is the critical qualification for entrance into God's new people. Physical circumcision is now irrelevant (Colossians. 2:11-12). Those led by the Spirit are the true circumcision. Paul mentions three things that characterize such people. One, they serve God by his Spirit. The word serve is often translated worship, in that through the Spirit, we ‘offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God' (cf. Romans 12:1). Two, that we boast in Christ Jesus, meaning that we rely totally on the work of Jesus for our salvation. Here is the root of our Christian joy. Our place with God and among his people is settled by our faith in Christ. We don't have to do a thing but believe. This leads to Paul's third point, we put no confidence in the flesh. The reference here is primarily to getting circumcised to be counted among the faithful. But there is probably more. Any stock we place in our pedigree, intellect, spiritual practices, or heritages is ruled out of order. There remains a tendency to put stock in things in addition to Christ. In the past, Christian Reformed folks often questioned the salvation of other Christians because they didn't believe what we believed, nor did they practice the faith the way we did. In challenging these false teachings, Paul desires to bolster both the confidence and the joy of the young believers in Philippi. I encourage you to take some time to consider where you find your joy and comfort. Further, identify some things that you might inadvertently be adding to your faith in Christ.

Most of us don't realize just much of our lives come down to our own personal choices. We have far more power over how we handle our everyday experiences than we give ourselves credit for. Why wouldn't we claim this power so we can better influence our path? Because we subtly and regularly fall into habits of thinking that lull us into a lukewarm and compliant attitude of submission. The Apostle Paul was all about helping us, as his fellow disciples of Christ, challenge the status quo and reset our minds so we can daily think and choose with spiritual clarity. Much of the letter he wrote to the Philippian Christians focused in on the adverse conditions in life and how to think through them. Examining this letter is the first step to better focusing our Christian thinking! The Apostle Paul really loved his fellow Christians at Philippi. While on house arrest under Roman guard, he wrote them a comprehensive letter concerning their Christian growth and development. One of his conclusionary teachings in this letter is found in the commonly read verse of Philippians 4:8. Paraphrased it says, "Finally, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure lovely or of good report, if there is anything excellent or praiseworthy, dwell on these things." This letter to the Philippians is a tutorial on several of the high standards that true discipleship requires. Paul showed us how to handle limiting circumstances by talking about his own imprisonment. He implored all of his brethren to work through their issues in a unified fashion. He focused us on the importance of leaving our old standards of success behind and instead seeking success in a life of sacrifice. These and many other teachings were all in place to address the building up of a mature Christian mind. A special list Paul then gave us the list of things he pointed us to and what we should dwell upon. This was no mere listing of nice things to preoccupied us. This was a list of solid, connected, sequential and spiritually-sound priorities. Dwelling on them meant we were to use them as solid foundation stones of our Christian lives. First on this list was the instruction to dwell on what is true. As we dig more deeply into his teaching, we realize the apostle was pointing us not to general worldly truth, but to godly eternal truth. All of the rest of his “think about this” list had its foundation in this solid beginning. Check out our May 15, 2023 podcast, “We Are What We Think About, So What Are We Thinking About? (Part I)” for more. After comprehensively summarizing the letter to the Philippians, we delve into the meaning of what is true, what is honorable, what is right and what is pure. What we find is the beginnings of a profound and life-altering approach to setting our minds up for true Christian thinking. Join us as we begin to learn what to think about and how to think about it!    

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So, you too should be glad and rejoice with me (Philippians 2:17-18). We are still following Paul's reflections on ‘working out your salvation with fear and trembling'. Or, as Pastor Anthony said yesterday, ‘working out what Christ has worked in'. As we have noted before, ‘in fear and trembling,' does not mean nervous apprehension with which we face a judge when we are guilty of a crime. Rather, this phrase expresses the awe that we experience in the presence of God. Now we discover that this fear and trembling includes joy; the deep, foundational joy of the Christian life. The salvation process in which the Spirit and the Christian both participate is worked out in all circumstances, even in pain, suffering, loss, death, prison, uncertainty, perplexity. It is not that we are glad for the pain, but we know the suffering is temporary and God is at work within it. So, even during unpleasant circumstances we know the ‘joy of our salvation' (Psalm 51:12). In yesterday's devotion, we were brought back to Israel's wilderness wanderings. In today's verses, Paul picks up a different image introduced during those years, namely, sacrifices made to God, especially freewill and thank offerings. We will get to that in a moment. First, these words from the book of Hebrews, “For the joy set before him, [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). Our salvation was wrought through the shame and suffering of this cross. However, for the writer of Hebrews and for Paul, the cross is more than just the instrument of salvation. Christ's suffering also stands as an example for us to follow. He endured the torture, at least in part, because he knew the joy salvation would bring to us. Likewise, we are called to suffer for the sake of the gospel because of the joy it will bring to others. Here is an element of the Christian faith that we may have lost touch with. My parent's generation speak of the sacrifices they made to establish churches and Christian schools and to send out missionaries. They often went without because they believed God called them to make sacrifices for his kingdom. Are we willing to make those kinds of sacrifices today? Take some time to reflect on how much you have sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. Let the Holy Spirit speak truth to you. Now, back to the sacrifices of Israel. If you don't know much about them, read the book of Leviticus. After a few chapters, you'll get the picture. The Philippians have done much and sacrificed much to aid Paul in his proclamation of the gospel; he names this “the sacrifice and service coming from your faith”.  In Leviticus, there are several passing references to a ‘drink offering'. It is not well explained, but the common understanding is that these were poured on the altar as a small gift to wrap up the offerings that had been made to God. It was also a common practice in pagan rituals in Paul's day, so the Philippian Christians would have understood his reference. Paul knows that he may soon be executed for the gospel. He alludes to his potential death as but ‘a drink offering' added to all the sacrifices the Philippian Christians have made for the gospel in the process of “working out their salvation with fear and trembling”. He will be glad to give his life for the sake of the gospel in addition to all that the Philippians have given. Paul views the Philippians' continued obedience and steadfastness amid persecution as an offering to God of greater worth than the offering of his own apostolic labors—labors that may end in his death. We have no animals to bring but we do have a sacrifice acceptable to God. The gift of a life of obedience, character-building, holiness and witness—the life to which our faith prompts us. This is our priestly service to God. May we all joyfully offer it to him.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:27-30)   Paul had just concluded in the previous verses that “he knew that he would remain and continue with them.”  Now he says something quite different.  Now it's qualified, uncertain.  “Whether or not I come,” he says.  Paul is driving at something deeper here than travel plans.  He does not desire that the faith of the Philippian church should be dependent upon him, but rather upon Christ.  He desires that in the way they suffer and in the way that they contend for the faith of the gospel—as athletes working together side-by-side on one team—that in this, the society and even the persecutors around them might see Christ.   When neighbours look at the Philippian Christians, their witness should not be to Paul or Paul's support, or Paul's strength of faith, but rather to Christ.  This will be the witness, the sign to these others that they might be destroyed.  It's not that the church is to preach this destruction and it's not that the church is to seek to enact it by being cruel or retaliatory toward those that persecute them.  Rather, in the way that these Christians bear their suffering in the same humble way of Christ, they are to witness to the fact that there is something they have in God through Christ that is greater than any threat of life or death that the state or the world around them could hang over them. Older baptismal traditions have a beautiful way of symbolizing this.  There's a old stone baptistry in Philippi where those being baptized would walk down steps into the waters of a running river.  They would take off their old clothes as they descended into the water—a sign of dying to themselves and their old way of life in the death of Christ.  Then, having been baptized, they would walk up the other side out of the water.  On their ascent, they would be given a new white robe signifying the new life of Christ to which they had just been united.  It was a mystery to Caesar and his subjects as to why the Christians could stand and face martyrdom willingly, even with joy.  But the thing is, you just can't scare dead people.  These Christians were already dead in the death of Christ.  They had nothing to fear.  All that was on display within them was the life of Christ then: the joy, peace, patience, and persevering love—all the fruit of the Spirit. We too are baptized saints: baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  To those around us—whether we are suffering or living in relative peace and joy—do they see this clear witness to Christ within us?  That we are a people who live without fear?  That contend together as one for the faith of the gospel?  That live in the fruit of the Spirit and the life of Christ no matter what we face?  Paul's prayer and invitation is that we do.   

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:4-6)   Three interesting tidbits of church life spill out in this second item Paul gives thanks to God for in his prayers for the Philippians.  Firstly, he's giving thanks to God because of the Philippians' partnership in the Gospel.  The word used for partnership is the word often used for community, communion, fellowship, or sharing.  With the Philippians however, it was quite tangible.  They were together in this ministry of spreading the good news of Jesus.  As we hear at the end of the letter: this little church had often supported Paul—right from the very beginning—through gifts and encouragement in times of need as he went about his missionary work.  The Philippians were invested in this spreading of the gospel—partnering as full communion partners in the work of sharing the good news of Jesus.  Secondly, what the Philippians were working out in partnership with Paul, were the very same things that God was working into them.  The Gospel was being knit into the lives of the Philippian church through a sharing in the sufferings of the cross and the joys of the new resurrection life of Jesus: a dying and rising, a taking up the cross and following.  God had once and for all saved these people through Jesus, and through the Spirit, God would continue to sanctify these people into the likeness of Jesus until the day of Christ's return.  Paul was confident of this, and the gospel he preached everywhere confirms it.  As does Jesus in John 5:17, where he says: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”  Thirdly, when these threads were taken together as the gospel's fruitfulness in the life of the Philippians—for Paul, it was a cause for joy.  Even if church life still had conflicts, even if Paul was in prison and being poured out like a drink offering, even if hardship faced the daily life of the Philippian Christians—even still—God was at work, and what God was working into them was working itself out in a good word about Jesus that they, by their very life, were living. It's true: church life is not always beautiful.  At times we fight.  At times we feel in the cultural minority and rather ineffective.  At times our heroes and leaders in the faith fall or are lost.  But that does not mean that God is not at work or that his church is no longer fruitful.    No matter how dark the situation, there is always a reason for joy and thanks before God.  Because God always carries on his work.  And if God is any God at all: the gospel news of Jesus that he works into us cannot but be fruitful as our life is lived out.  Ultimately, Paul can give joyful thanks and we can too, because the emphasis does not rest finally on our work, but on God's.      

This past Sunday was Easter Sunday!   Praise God we will be gathering as a Waterbrooke family to celebrate the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death as He rose victorious from the grave! Our sermon title is "The Power of the Resurrection". We will be studying Philippians 3:7-10 and seeing why the apostle Paul was overjoyed as he wrote this letter even while in prison for Christ.  Paul repeatedly urges the Philippian Christians in this letter to rejoice in the Lord. Why? It is because the resurrection is not just a fact but it is a force for freedom in the life of the Christian. Jesus' resurrection completely frees us from some of the things that leave us joyless because of guilt and shame, fear and disappointment. The Philippian Christians were faced with opposition from the religious forces and the political forces that surrounded them. Yet Paul, who knew both of those pressures in his past and in the present, was free! He was freed by Christ to live for Christ without fear of man or fear of failure.  What about you? Do you have the joy of the Lord this Easter? Do you feel truly free from the pressures without and from the pressures within? Come this Easter and celebrate the Power of the Resurrection. Your life can be completely different than it's ever been because of the resurrection of Jesus. Looking forward to a great celebration together this Sunday morning!

#083 Welcome to Episode #083 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our third of eight episodes in our eleventh mini-series. This mini-series is entitled, Mystery of Christ | Galatians to 2 Thessalonians. On this episode we're going to overview the book of Philippians which has been noted as one of Paul's most personal letters. Philippians was written by Paul around 62 AD while he was in prison in Rome. In four short chapters Paul gives an account for his prison circumstances and then appeals to the Philippians to have the Mind, Knowledge, and Peace of Christ. When reading it you get the sense that Paul was writing to genuine supporters of his ministry who he hoped to encourage and bring joy into their own adverse circumstances.Paul openly expresses his affection for the Philippian Christians as they have demonstrated consistency in their testimony of Christ and financial and prayerful support for he and his ministry team. He lovingly encourages them to continue their pursuit of both the person and power of Christ through their thoughts and actions.While we are in overview mode, if you've done much work in discipleship, you'll likely recognize many of the passages we'll be going over today. So sit back and enjoy the listen as we get started with Paul's opening salutation. ShowNotes: https://47d800ed-2293-49f4-b1f4-6964b8bcb082.filesusr.com/ugd/ec4c20_59f113df39ad4a169a7d47667c3ee1e0.pdf

At the beginning ofthe New Year, many people make New Year resolutions which are usually forgotten about in a day or two. The Apostle Paul tells the Philippian Christians how they are to live their lives at all times.

It’s been said that there are two types of people in the world. I’m not talking about the “Haves” and “Have Nots” or introverts and extroverts. There are “Here I am!” people and “There you are!” people. The “Here I am!” people walk into a room with a look-at-me attitude and a mouth full of their accomplishments. But “There you are!” people walk into a room and immediately show genuine interest in somebody else. They inquire about and ask questions to really get to know someone, to make a deep connection. God is in the business of turning “Here I am!” Christians into “There you are!” Christians. In today’s passage, Paul reminds the Philippians they are to treat one another with humility and love, just like Jesus. He begins in verse one with four rhetorical questions reminding the Philippian Christians that, since they have received these things, what follows is how they must behave. Paul says that his joy is complete when believers live in unity with one another (v. 2). But how are they to do that? By becoming “There you are!” people. Paul says that unity comes when each person cares less about themselves and more about the people around them (v. 3). Being humble is a daily choice to give glory to God and credit to others for our accomplishments. It is seeing others as Christ sees you, as someone who has value and importance. One of the best ways you can value one another is by caring about what other people care about (v. 4). Perhaps that means taking an interest in someone else’s hobby or maybe it is really trying to understand someone else’s background and situation. Whatever it may be, try being humble like Jesus and become a “There you are!” person the next time you go somewhere. >> Which type of person are you? Read the next seven verses as Paul describes the attitude Christ had when coming to earth. Allow Him to be your guide on the road to humility.

This Bible study covers a prayer from the Apostle Paul for the Christians in Philippi. In the prayer Paul asks that these Philippian Christians will have love that abounds, that they will discern what is best, and that they will be filled with the fruit of righteousness. This is a prayer for God's Glory in them.

How should Christians relate to beauty and ugliness? For that matter, how should followers of Jesus relate to truth and falsehood? To begin to answer these questions, I look to Philippians 4:5-9 where the Apostle Paul writes about what we think about and how we feel, as well as what our expectation of benefit should be when our hearts and our minds are oriented and calibrated correctly. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone," he says. And I take this as a mandate to reasoning and logic out loud and in the open. Next Paul reminds the church at Philippi that "The Lord is at hand," and to not be anxious. Instead, we are to present our requests to God "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." Then Paul says to think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. And what if we made the study of all these things a systematic and logical thing within the broader context of love for and devotion to the Almighty? As it turns out, I think this is precisely what historically happened, and that the same explains the rise of advanced sciences in the West in a way those pursuits and their codification did not happen outside the influence of Theology being "the queen of the sciences." Moreover, given such an origin story for the scientific method, the advanced sciences cannot long be sustained in a practically beneficial way except in the context in which they arose - love for God and love for our neighbor. But we must believe that truth, honor, justice, purity, and loveliness - also alternatively known as beauty - are real things that exist in order to think on them, much less make an orderly and productive study of them. This is just another way of saying that this presumption to God's glory is the root of scientific research. So also, what follows in Paul's letter to Philippian Christians about practicing what we have learned, received, and heard, plus the promise of the God of peace being with us, is the basis for practical sciences to the end of developing technology useful to craftsmanship and human flourishing. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/support

Series: Building Unity Through a Common MissionService: Sun AM WorshipType: SermonSpeaker: Philip WilliamsThis sermon is from the last half of Philippians 4 where Paul describes the gift that the Philippian Christians had sent him. 

One of the most moving moments in Paul's letters is recorded in the opening verses of Philippians. Paul is in prison. The Philippian Christians have sent word to encourage Paul, to let him know that they are praying for him. What they hear back from Paul is his own words of encouragement to them: God is at work even in this dismal situation of prison. Therefore, do not be afraid. Rev. Tom Are journeys with Paul who has left us these words of encouragement. Our scripture reading is Philippians 1:12-14. Support the show

A Sermon for Palm Sunday Philippians 2:5-11 & St. Matthew 21:1-17 by William Klock Two Gospels in one service!  We began this morning reading St. Matthew's account of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  It wouldn't be Palm Sunday without that Gospel, without waving our own palms as we sing “All glory, laud, and honour”.  This is the Sunday we hail the King.  And then St. Matthew's Passion narrative.  That long reading that we all join in.  The one time of the year when we literally put ourselves in the biblical story.  (Did you know that tradition goes back to the Middle Ages?  Choristers would sing the various parts that today we hand out to members of the congregation.  That tradition was carried on in the Lutheran churches of the Reformation and gave us the great Passion oratorios by the likes of Bach.)  Today's Gospels powerfully show us Jesus and, even if we miss the other services and lessons of Holy Week, they lead us right to Easter.  But they do not stand alone.  As powerful as the readings from St. Matthew are, our Epistle today, the lesson from the second chapter of Philippians, is the lens through which we read the Gospel.  St. Paul tells the same story, but in a very different way.  What's remarkable to me is that what took Matthew two long chapters to tell—we only read the second of those two chapters this morning—what took Matthew two long chapters to tell, St. Paul summarises in a mere thirty-six Greek words as he tells us about the servant-king.  Most scholars think that verses 6-11 of our Epistle were actually an early Christian hymn, maybe even written by St. Paul himself.  Whatever the case, this poem brilliantly and succinctly sums up who Jesus is as it draws on both Israel's story and the story of the whole fallen human race.  It opens the Passion narrative of the Gospel-writers and shows us the theological cogs and gears inside—and, I think most importantly, it tells us what to do with it. In today's Gospel Matthew shows us the King.  For most of us Christians, we know the story, we know that Jesus is a different kind of king than earthly kings, but Palm Sunday comes around every year and makes sure we don't take that for granted.  The lessons ought to prompt us to think about what a king is, because, as St. Paul reminds us today, who Jesus is says something powerful about who we are as his people and what sort of life and character ought to be manifest in us. So what is a king?  What's a king like?  Today we might think of some of the modern kings of the world—or queens.  Today they're mostly figureheads and public servants.  Five years ago, when our own Queen turned ninety, the Bible Society published a commemorative book titled “The Servant Queen and the King She Serves”.  In it the Queen spoke of her faith and how it shapes her role as monarch.  But the title highlights the role we expect of modern monarchs.  Today's kings—or their viceroys—may open Parliament, but they make no decisions.  That's for the legislators.  When there's a war modern kings stay home and work to bolster the morale of their people.  Politicians make declarations of war, generals plan strategy, and soldiers go off to fight.  But ancient kings—kings in Paul's day were very different.  Alexander went off at the head of an army and conquered most of the known world.  The Emperor Augustus headed an army that ended the Roman civil war and brought peace to the empire.  Alexander and Augustus did great things—and because of what they'd accomplished, both believed they had a right to divinity.  They didn't serve God; they were gods.  They claimed that right because they had taken charge, destroyed their enemies, and wrestled whole empires into peace with the threat of further violence.  Why was Rome at peace under Augustus?  Because he'd destroyed his enemies once and any would-be future enemies knew he could probably do it again.  Kings and emperors grasped at divinity, men like Pharaoh and Alexander and Caesar.  Even many of Israel's own leaders in the Old Testament, in Jesus' day, and in Paul's grasped for power—even for divnity in all but name.  Jewish leaders knew better than to claim divinity like the pagan rulers did, but they grasped at the same power that Caesar held and they sought to control the reigns of empire in the hopes of one day climbing to the top of the heap. And yet this was not just the problem of kings or would-be kings.  Brothers and Sisters, this is the problem of the whole human race.  Ever since Adam believed the serpent's lie and grasped at divinity for himself, we humans have been doing the same in one way or another.  We fight, we kill, we steal, we cheat, we do whatever we can get away with to look out for ourselves, to get what we want, to climb to the top of the heap. Look at the book of Genesis.  Adam rebels and in a single generation brother is murdering brother.  Noah comes along in Chapter 6 and his story is introduced by the announcement that the earth was filled with violence.  Noah was the only righteous man left.  And so the Lord destroyed all but Noah and started over.  But even the righteous bear the seed of humanity's fall.  Only a single chapter separates the story of Noah from story of the Tower of Babel.  Once again the human race lost all knowledge of God and sank into pride, idolatry, and sin.  And yet this time the Lord did something different.  Out of the darkness the Lord called Abraham.  The Lord's solution to humanity's problem was to call forth a people for himself, a people who lived in his presence for the life of the whole world, a nation of servants.  Long before Isaiah's song of the Suffering Servant was claimed by Jesus, Israel understood this to be her unique role. But, of course, like Noah in his day, Israel suffered from the same problem as the rest of humanity and so Paul uses this hymn in our Epistle, in Philippians 2, to show us the solution.  Look at Philippians 2:6-8 where Paul writes these words about Jesus. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:6-8) God humbled himself.  Jesus, who the hymn says was in the form of God, who was in some way God himself, emptied himself to take on Adam's flesh and Israel's servant role.  Paul is clear that this doesn't mean that Jesus ceased to be God or that he gave up his divinity in some way.  Just the opposite.  Jesus actually shows us what true divinity looks like.  It doesn't look at all like Adam's grasping or Pharaoh's grasping or Alexander's grasping or Caesar's grasping at power, authority, or divine prerogative.  Instead, true divinity is revealed as God humbles himself for the sake of his rebellious people and offers himself as a sacrifice for their sins.  It's utterly backwards to anything humanity ever expected.  Humans are supposed to offer sacrifices to the gods to placate their anger, but this God—the one, true God—instead offers himself as a sacrifice on our behalf and he does so out of love. Think of today's Gospel.  Jesus was rejected.  At the time, almost no one could accept that this is what divinity looks like, that this is what God would do.  When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people may have thought it weird that he rode a humble donkey, but they expected him to finally start an uprising—to bash some Roman and Herodian heads and to set things right.  When later that day he flipped the tables in the temple and drove out the merchants, people were sure that this was it.  Jesus was ready to clean house.  But then it didn't happen.  He got the people's hopes up.  Here, finally was the Messiah.  But—apparently—not.  At least that's how most of Jerusalem took it.  Jesus' own people, in anger, cried out for his crucifixion.  As far as they were concerned, he was a blasphemous impostor.  He rode into the city as the Messiah, but then he let everyone down.  Even the servant people themselves could not understand the serving God. And yet, it was there all along in Israel's Scriptures.  Matthew tells us that Jesus' entry into the city on a donkey fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah and Zechariah.  He cites Zechariah 9:9, but what's interesting is that it's the next verse, Zechariah 9:10 that points to the significance of the donkey.  Matthew's first readers would have known this.  Not knowing the Old Testamant like they did, we probably don't.  Here's what Zechariah writes: I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim          and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off,          and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea,          and from the River to the ends of the earth. The Lord's King would not come in might, but in humility.  He would not come with the cavalry or an army of chariots.  He would not come with a bow, ready to do violence.  Just the opposite—and just as we see in the Gospels.  By humbling himself he would take his throne and bring peace to the nations.  His rejection and death would qualify him for the role and by his resurrection alone would he defeat his enemies and take is throne.  It's right there, but almost no one could see it. But, of course, God knew this and so the hymn turns on verse 9. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:9-11) The people crucified Jesus as a false messiah and God overturned their verdict against him.  Precisely because Jesus had humbled himself and taken on the role of the suffering servant for the sake of his people, God raised him from the grave and exalted him to his right hand—God declared Jesus to be the world's true King so that in time every knee will bow and every tongue confess—that one day everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is creation's Lord—and that in this God will be supremely glorified.  This is how God sets creation to rights, this is how God sets fallen humanity to rights: Not by charging in with a sword, but by submitting himself to the cross—by allowing evil and death to do their worst, by dying himself, so that he can pass through to the other side and leave them powerless over him—and then powerless over all those with him.  This is the new exodus that leads, not through the Red Sea, but through death itself to the life of God. Now, back to verse 5.  Paul doesn't simply tell us this so that we better understand who Jesus is and what he's done.  That's important, but Paul has a very practical reason for writing this to the Philippian Christians.  Remember that who Jesus is, what kind of King he is, tells us what sort of people we are or should be as his subjects.  He writes: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus… “Have this mind among yourselves.”  Jesus' people are to “have this mind among yourselves”.  That's why he's done what he's done, to solve the problem that began when Adam grasped at divinity for himself.  As we identify with Jesus, we become a part of the renewed servant people of God.  We are forgiven our past grasping, our past selfishness, and are filled with God's own Spirit.  As the Spirit turns our hearts and minds to the self-giving God, we become a people whose chief characteristic is self-giving humility.  As we pass through death to ourselves we come out the other side alive to God.  The Spirit works a miracle in our hearts, he purges us of selfishness, of that powerful desire to grasp at whatever we can for our own benefit, and places in us a desire for God, a desire to please God, a desire to do the things that please God.  In Jesus and the Spirit we finally become that servant people. What does that look like?  Well, it looks like the fruit of the Spirit.  We're the people who should be characterised by love, by joy, by peace, by patience, by kindness, by goodness, by gentleness, and by self-control.  There are all sorts of things that ought to mark out the people of God, but first and foremost, it's these seven fruits of the Spirit by which we should be known.  They don't grow all at once.  The Spirit plants them, but they require cultivation by the means of grace—by the sacraments, by immersion in the word, by prayer, and by fellowship with each other.  They grow.  And the more we put them into practise the more they grow and multiply in us and in our brothers and sisters.  It starts here in the Church.  Brothers and Sisters, Paul wrote these words as an exhortation to the Philippians to be that servant people God has created for the life of the world.  We can't be that people for the world when we aren't first the people for each other in the Church. Here's how he put it to the Ephesians: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  (Ephesians 4:1-3) Even in the Church it's easy to forget who we are in Jesus.  It's easy to act out of selfishness or anger or fear.  It's easy to be impatient with each other.  So, Friends, remember the Servant King.  When you're tempted to act out of anger or fear, when you're tempted by impatience with a brother or a sister, when you've been wronged and all you can think about is righting the injustice, think of our King riding on the donkey, our King mocked and scourged, our King on the cross—for our sake.  There we see humility and gentleness and patience as he bore with his sinful people out of love, eager to reconcile us to himself, eager to establish a new people united in the Spirit.  And it's in that that we see God glorified as never before or since. Let's pray: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for mankind you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility:  Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

An Upside Down World— Hello and welcome to the show today. Before we dive into our study of Acts 17 today, I'd just like to say how fascinating it is that today in our increasingly god-less society (where belief in the Christian God is being systematically attacked) at the same time you have an ever-increasing awareness that there is a deep brokenness in our world. It doesn't matter who you are talking to or what positions they hold to; what their world-views even are. There is not a person alive who looks at our world today and says "this is exactly how it is supposed to be.” Even those who claim there is no god and who's worldview claims that everything has come about out of chaos, is naturally uncomfortable with that chaos. They crave order; a higher standard. And one might argue that the fact that they are craving for something greater than what we experience in this world is evidence that there is a standard outside of ourselves to which all things were designed to conform to. But many people don't make that logical deduction. Now Christians understand this better than most because the Bible reveals to us that the world was in fact created by a benevolent God; and it was created perfect. However, because of the fall of mankind, the world fell under a curse. And that curse has twisted everything around, turning the world upside down to where we find ourselves trapped in a world system that is hostile to God. Where People Walk Upside Down— In the classic children's novel Alice in Wonderland, Alice follows a white rabbit into a hole and suddenly falls down towards a world of chaos (wonderland). And she is falling and falling for a long time. And while falling, she says “What if I should fall right through the center of the earth... oh, and come out the other side, where people walk upside down.” Now to us that is silly. But when she eventually comes to Wonderland, she does discover a land filled with people who are upside down; not physically, but mentally. Nothing makes sense in Wonderland. Nothing is logical. And that (sadly) is what our world seems to be becoming more like every single day. And Christians, who carry the Gospel to people into our world find that their light is hated by the darkness (John 3:20). People who are living in Wonderland are committed to the ways they are living their lives and are deeply threatened by anybody who challenges them, even though Christians are not (as claimed in this passage) trying to turn the world upside down, but rather are trying to turn the world right side up. But when we do that; when we upset the system and disturb the comfort of sinners, we are going to meet resistance; sometimes violent resistance. And this has been the case stretching all the way back to the Old Testament. Elijah— In the book of 1 Kings you remember that king Ahab, who was more wicked than all of his predecessors, was sitting on the throne of Israel. And to make matters worse, he was married to Jezebel, who was the wicked daughter of the pagan king of Sidon and incredibly wicked herself. And she incited Ahab and caused him to lead Israel into idolatry. Now God sent a man by the name of Elijah (a man whose name literally means "Yahweh is God”) to confront Ahab. And Elijah declares that there will be a drought that will strike Israel. And when Ahab and Elijah eventually meet face to face, the exasperated Ahab exclaims, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17). In other words, it is not his fault but Elijah's! Jeremiah— Another King that we read about in the book of Jeremiah is the last king of Judah, Zedekiah. Jerusalem had been besieged by Babylon, but now the Babylonian army has withdrawn temporarily to deal with the threat of Pharaoh's forces (Jer. 37:11). But despite this, Jeremiah insisted that Judah would fall and anybody remaining in the city would be killed either by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence. And a group of court officials were infuriated at Jeremiah and dragged him before King Zedekiah, beseeching the King, saying “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.” (Jer. 38:4) And so we see that because Jeremiah was willing to proclaim God's message to His people, because they had an upside-down perspective, they accused him (basically) of treason. Amos— During the period of the divided kingdom there was a prophet of God by the name of Amos, who was a native of the southern kingdom of Judah. However, God sent him to the northern kingdom of Israel with a message of doom. But it says in… Amos 7:10-12 (NKJV)— 10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, And Israel shall surely be led away captive From their own land.' ” 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, And there prophesy. A Recurring Pattern— You see, Amos was turning Amaziah's world upside down, and Amaziah wouldn't have it. Now these are just a few examples. But you can see this pattern all over. Joseph is thrown into pit and prison for dreaming. Daniel is thrown into the lion's den for praying. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. Wherever we look in scripture and find men and women proclaiming God's message, we most often find them suffering because of their message. And Jesus tells us why this is in… John 15:18-21 (NKJV)— 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. Disturbers of The Peace— And we definitely see that here in the book of Acts as  Christians (like Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke) face that same enmity from the world, as in every city they minister in, there is often first a positive response to their message followed by a subsequent disturbance from those who do not want to face the truth and turn away from their sin to Jesus Christ. And this missionary team has most recently left Philippi (where their ministry upset the pagan Greeks) and now they are moving on to the next city, where they will encounter similar resistance. It says in… Acts 17:1 (NKJV)— 1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. From Philippi to Thessalonica— Now note the shift back to the third person, which seems to signify that Luke stayed behind in Philippi to minister to the Church there. As a Gentile, he would have been less of a target and therefore a good man to choose to do that. It is also possible that Timothy (a half-Jew) remained behind as well. But the rest of the team moves on. And so [Leaving Philippi, the missionaries traveled southwest along the important Roman highway known as the Egnatian Way, through Amphipolis and Apollonia]. Now they don't seem to have ministered in Amphipolis and Apollonia, likely because there were no synagogues in those cities and Paul no doubt expected the Philippian Christians to carry the message to them. [It was Paul's policy to minister in the larger cities and make them centers for evangelizing a whole district (see Acts 19:10, 26; 1 Thess. 1:8).] And so they move on to Thessalonica. And these places were somewhat far apart from each other. [Amphipolis was about thirty miles from Philippi, Apollonia about thirty miles from Amphipolis, and Thessalonica just under forty miles from Apollonia. The narrative implies that they made the journey from Philippi to Thessalonica in three days, stopping for the night at Amphipolis and again at Apollonia. If so, they covered about thirty miles a day, leading some commentators to speculate that they traveled on horses (perhaps supplied through the generosity of the Philippian church). {And that is because} It is difficult to imagine that Paul and Silas, weakened by their beating at Philippi, could have walked nearly one hundred miles in three days.] But whatever the case, they arrive at Thessalonica. Thessalonica— Now Thessalonica was the capital and most important city of Macedonia and had a population of about 200,000 people. It [was a major port and an important commercial center.] And it has remained a significant city in Greece even up to the present day. And when they arrive there, Paul does what he always does when possible; he goes to the local synagogue and begins to courageously proclaim the Gospel. It says in… Acts 17:2-3 (NKJV)—  2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” A Dialogue— Now that word “Reasoned” [is from {the Greek word} dialegomai, from which the English word dialogue derives.] And so Paul is not standing up and delivering a long lecture, with his listeners just sitting and listening. No, this was a discussion; a dialogue. Paul is fielding questions, which was (by the way) how teaching was done in Jewish culture, and how Paul typically ministered in synagogues (cf. Acts 18:4,19; 19:8–9). And that is why, if we are going to be effective witnesses for Christ, we need to be able to answer people's questions about our faith. Coffee & Questions— Some time ago I had the opportunity to witness to a young man in a coffee shop. He used to be a Christian (even a youth pastor) but eventually left the faith because he had questions that Christians he knew wouldn't answer and actually looked down on him for having. And so I talked with him for a few hours and did my best to shed light on those issues for him. I didn't ridicule his views, but simply offered insight where I could in a way that made him feel heard. And he said that he never had anyone talk with him like that. But the conversation ended by his saying he was going to start going back to church. All because of one conversation! And that has always reminded me of 1 Peter 3:15, which says… 1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)— 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; Prepare to Answer— And so let us be men and women who are prepared to engage with people, answer their questions, and present the reasons for our faith. Who knows? Some may just choose to follow Jesus because of you. Let's be faithful witnesses this week. Amen.

The apostle Paul exhorted the Philippian Christians to be united in Christ, which is likewise applicable for today's church. The basis of our unity lies in our union with Christ and with one another in the Spirit. This leads to the unity of mind and love towards the same Christ. In light of these, believers are called to serve others in humility, which is rooted in the self-giving of Christ Himself. Preacher: Joel Sim Date: 13 February 2022

December 12, 2021 AM, Philippians 1:19-26.Paul trusted he would be delivered to minister longer, but if not, that Jesus Christ would be honored in him anyway. Like Paul, we can have a sense that as long as God is not ready to call us heavenward, we ought to have this mindset: to live is Christ, to minister for fruit, and to help other people grow in grace and joy in their faith. But when time comes to die, we can look forward to a far better situation. And like the Philippian Christians, we can strive to make progress and growth in our faith and to continue in joy. Our Scripture reading was found in Ezekiel 20:1-26.

Text: Philippians 4:10-20 Opening Statement: The Philippian Christians had learned the secret of joyful, liberal financial giving. The church in Philippi had taken up an offering to give to Paul, while he was in prison because of his faith. Paul wrote back to the church and expressed his joy. Joy, or its result, occurs almost 20 times in this letter. Have you discovered the joy of giving? I) Giving revives our concern (v. 10) The Philippian Christians had been barren in expressing their concern for Paul, but now, with the gift of money they sent him, they were blossoming anew with concern for Paul's welfare and the furtherance of the Gospel. Giving takes the focus off ourselves and puts it onto someone or something else. Giving becomes a tangible way we can express concern and love to other people. As we focus on the needs of others, and give to help meet those needs, we experience joy. Giving revives our concern for people. II) Giving teaches us contentment (v. 11) Paul did not want this church to think that his joy rested on whether he had money. Paul had schooled himself to be satisfied with whatever he had. He had joy in his life, not because his purse was full, but because he had learned contentment. How do you define contentment? Contentment is not trimming down your desires. Contentment means living with a sense of God's adequacy, a conviction that God is adequate for any need we face. Therefore, we can give joyfully, knowing God will supply our needs. III) Giving makes us partners in ministry (v. 14) Paul said this about this gift of money sent by the church at Philippi. Each time we give to the Lord's work, we partner with other Christians to help advance the kingdom. That exciting thought should put joy in our hearts. Southern Baptists recognize the importance of partnering with one another. We do this through the Cooperative Program, Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offering these are a partnership missions support plan that allows us to do far more together than we could individually. IV) Giving pays spiritual dividends (vs. 17-18) Paul made it clear he was not looking for monetary gifts for his own benefit. Giving blesses the one who gives more than the one who receives the gift. The phrase "credited to your account" implies that giving to the Lord is like investing in kingdom matters. Kingdom work pays spiritual dividends. V) Giving grows our faith in God (v. 19) Perhaps some of the members of the church at Philippi had given to Paul's ministry but were worried they might not have enough money left to meet their own needs. Paul gave them a great promise to stand upon. Verse 19 encourages us to take the step of faith and to give, trusting God to meet our needs. • God meets our needs personally ("my God"). • He meets our needs liberally ("all your needs"). • He meets our needs gloriously ("according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"). In Closing: Paul paints a picture of joy in stewardship that is still true today. Does your life express joyful stewardship? Watch us on our YouTube channel, our website or our Facebook page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7C66QudDzbTDtA-DaSQBw/ https://midwaybaptistnc.org https://facebook.com/midwaybaptistnc

When it comes to their identity as followers of Jesus, the apostle Paul warns the Philippian Christians about putting their confidence in the wrong things. Whether it's “good” works, religious activities or personal achievement, Philippians 3 reminds us that our confidence is to be rooted in something else altogether. The result is not only a renewed perspective filled with joy, but a deep resolve filled with purpose.

Paul's prayer for the Philippian Christians reveals the spiritual needs of all believers.

Paul encourages the Philippian Christians to be content in their circumstances - Philippians 4:10-13I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.Paul's certainty was in God. Nothing can separate us from God's love.

The Apostle Paul assures Philippian Christians—and by way of extension all believers—that the Lord is near. Christ's presence enables and empowers Christ-followers to live joyfully and faithfully, overcoming anxiety and experiencing God's mind-binding...

The Apostle Paul assures Philippian Christians—and by way of extension all believers—that the Lord is near. Christ's presence enables and empowers Christ-followers to live joyfully and faithfully, overcoming anxiety and experiencing God's mind-binding...

The Apostle Paul assures Philippian Christians—and by way of extension all believers—that the Lord is near. Christ's presence enables and empowers Christ-followers to live joyfully and faithfully, overcoming anxiety and experiencing God's mind-binding...

The Apostle Paul assures Philippian Christians—and by way of extension all believers—that the Lord is near. Christ's presence enables and empowers Christ-followers to live joyfully and faithfully, overcoming anxiety and experiencing God's mind-binding...

Philippians 4.8 NLT 'And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.' Never in history have those words been more important than right now. When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 no-one could have foreseen the way in which it would completely transform the way in which we access information. Our mobile phones are the gateway to a world of information and that has incalculable benefits. But the downside is undeniable. It has never been easier to view destructive and depraved information which is able to ruin lives. In such a situation we desperately need to hear Paul's words. We need to become fixated on those things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Paul lived in the real world. He wasn't inviting the Philippian Christians to hide away from their society. Being a prisoner Paul, of all people, knew about the dark side of Roman life. Doubtless his times in prison gave him a very clear picture of the seamier aspects of society. Paul had no illusions about the world in which he lived, and probably that served to reinforce his conviction that Christians needed to deliberately focus their attention on the true, the pure and the admirable. This is a big challenge for all of us in modern society. Paul knew that what goes on in a Christian's mind is the most crucial issue of all. In Romans 12.2 he urged the Roman Christians not to “copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but to let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think”. As we welcome the true, honourable, right, pure, lovely and admirable influences into our minds, God is able to bring about that amazing transformation. QUESTION: How do you focus your attention on the things that are excellent and praiseworthy? PRAYER: Lord God I invite you to guide my thoughts by your Holy Spirit. Help me to become fixated on those things that will make me stronger in living for you. Amen

Philippians 3.17-18 NLT 'Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.' Paul doesn't pull his punches does he? He tells it like it is! He declares that some people are enemies of Christ. This is very harsh language but he knows that it is essential for the Philippian Christians to know the difference between those who were true followers of Christ and those who were fighting against Him. What they needed was a clear example of what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, and Paul says that he himself was the person they should be following. I don't interpret this as arrogance but as a matter of necessity. The Christians, most of whom would have been very young in their faith, needed to have a clear example of what it meant to live for Christ in everyday life. As Paul wrote this, he was in prison so he invited them to pattern their lives on those who had followed his example. This all begs the question of where Paul got his example from and in 1 Corinthians 11.1 he explains that his life was based on following Christ. It's good to follow the example of other Christians. I know that my Christian life has been massively affected by the example that has been set for me by Christians that I have known. I was given the example of carefulness from Peter, gentleness from Frank, graciousness from Victor, faithfulness from David, cheerfulness from Fred, courage from Tim and so on. I wonder who has inspired you, and I encourage you to keep actively remembering and thanking God for their example. But this works in the other direction as well. People are looking at you and me, whether we like it or not. We too are setting an example of what it means to follow Jesus and we need to make sure that it's a good one. QUESTION: Whose Christian example has been particularly important to you? PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for the people who have shown me what it means to follow you. Help me to set a good example for others. Amen

Philippians 2.14-15 NLT 'Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.' Complaining has always been a part of life. Sometimes we need to complain but as a way of life it can be very destructive. It has been wisely said that complaining doesn't solve problems, it only attracts them. Complaints were clearly a feature of the church in Philippi and Paul is eager that they should stop. His comments remind us of the people of Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness. Even though they had observed God miraculously leading them out of slavery in Egypt it wasn't long before the complaints began. Complaining and arguing are destructive in every way. Paul challenged his readers to live in such a way that they couldn't be criticised, because that could only damage their Christian witness. Paul had no illusions about hard this would be. His description of the world being full of crooked and perverse people was clearly based on his own personal experiences. He knew how tough life in the world was, and he could see that if the Philippian Christians lived out their faith in the way that he had described they would shine like bright lights. They would stand out from the people around them. No doubt they were often tempted to withdraw from the world but Paul insists that their calling was to be in the world. I remember as a teenager attending Christian conferences and holidays and thinking how wonderful it would be if I could have stayed there. I found it very hard to get back into normal life after those precious times. But I had to learn that God has not called us to cut ourselves off but to live our lives in the midst of people who think and act very differently from us. Tough as it may be, we need to play a full part in the life of our communities praying that, miraculously, we might be able to shine the light of Christ in our dark world. QUESTION: In what way are you able to shine for Christ in your daily life? PRAYER: Lord, forgive me for those times when I am prone to complain and argue. Fill me with your Spirit today so that I will be able to shine for you however tough life might be. Amen

Philippians 2.1-2 NLT 'Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.' One of the biggest problems with unity is that it looks so easy. If you listen to a fine orchestra playing harmoniously or a watch Premier Football team playing with skill and precision, it all looks so very straightforward. Surely anyone could do it! But I then recall the hours that I spent in our school orchestra and those regular Saturday afternoons when I played football, and I can assure you that unity is the result of incredibly hard work. Paul was equally clear about this. He knew that the Philippian Christians had received the gift of unity in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. But they still needed to work incredibly hard to ensure that their lives reflected the unity that Jesus had achieved for them. In these verses the apostle Paul pleads for unity. He tells the Philippian church that if they have been touched by Christ's love in any way or experienced the fellowship of the Spirit, then it was their responsibility to do everything possible to build up the unity of the church. In the course of normal life it is often extremely difficult. Agreeing wholeheartedly with one another might be easy if we were the same age and had similar backgrounds, but churches are never like that. And they never should be! Agreeing together is the product of lashings of love, grace and patience but is never easy. Working together with one mind and purpose is so important for every fellowship and I have seen that happen time and again. However, it only occurs when there is an atmosphere of encouragement and forgiveness. Our task is not to dream of a distant vision of harmony but to think through our words and actions to ensure that we are only ever contributing to the unity of the church right now. QUESTION: What are you able to do to build unity amongst the Christians you know? PRAYER: Dear Father, thank you that you are the source of all unity. Help me to work hard to preserve and strengthen the unity that you give us by your Spirit. Amen

Philippians 1.9-11 NLT 'I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.' I'm sure that we are all members of lots of organisations. It may be the National Trust, a car breakdown service, a political party or a sports club. If I asked you whether your relationship with those organisations was growing you would probably think that was a very odd question. You would probably just think of yourself as being in or out – a member or not a member. The idea of having a developing relationship with the organisations wouldn't seem relevant. The problem with the church is that many people look at it in exactly the same way. They are members of the church but would never think of it as a relationship that changed, or needed to change. Throughout Paul's writing he sees his relationship with Christ as being something that is constantly developing and, in this letter, he describes particularly powerfully his desire that it should change more and more. Here at the beginning of the letter he describes his passionate desire that the Philippian Christians should move on in their faith. He wanted their relationship with Christ to become increasingly strong, because in that way their life together as a church would become more united and resilient. Paul prays that the Philippians will overflow with love as they grow in knowledge and insight. In that way they will be able to make increasingly good decisions. It is right that we should pray for one another's illness and challenges, but we need to ensure that we also pray for one another to grow in our relationship with Christ. Standing still is never an option in any relationship, and it isn't one in our Christian lives. If we are not growing stronger in our faith, then we will be getting weaker and that makes us more vulnerable in every way. Let's listen to Paul's words and use them to inspire us to pray for one another with passion and commitment. QUESTION: What is your prayer today for two of the Christians whom you know best? PRAYER: Lord God, give me a greater desire to grow in my love for you. Amen

Philippians 4:10 ESV 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. BE A BLESSING. Paul rejoiced to feel the concern of the brethren at Philippi once more. The generosity of the Philippian Christians was consistent and was much appreciated by Paul. Previously, he had expressed, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phi 1:3–6). He recognized that the brethren at Philippi had the commitment and sincere interest in his well-being. They were seeking always for an opportunity. There is readiness in a generous heart to grab an opportunity to help. As Paul had encouraged us, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”[Gal 6:9,10] Paul said that ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'[Acts 20:35] Blessedness is associated always with giving – not only treasures but time, service and even prayers towards others. You can't give what you don't have, can you? We don't need to have much before we can bless, do we? Jesus had said, “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”[Matt 10:42] Let's find an opportunity to be a blessing today. There are people in the ministry of the gospel like Paul who need our support. Not necessarily material help, but even prayers and encouragements could be a great factor. Can the soldiers at the frontlines advance without the supply and service battalion behind? ------------------------- Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram

A Sermon for Palm Sunday Philippians 2:5-11 by William Klock Our Epistle today, the lesson from the second chapter of Philippians, is the lens through which we read the Gospel.  What’s remarkable to me is that what took Matthew two long chapters to tell—we only read the second of those two chapters this morning—what took Matthew two long chapters to tell, St. Paul summarises in a mere thirty-six Greek words as he tells us about the servant-king.  Most scholars think that verses 6-11 were an early Christian hymn, perhaps even written by St. Paul himself.  Whatever the case, this poem brilliantly and succinctly sums up who Jesus is as it draws on both Israel’s story and the story of the whole fallen human race. What comes to mind when you think of a king?  Today we might think of some of the modern kings of the world—or queens.  Today they’re figureheads and public servants.  A few years ago, when our own Queen turned ninety, the Bible Society published a commemorative book titled “The Servant Queen and the King She Serves”, in which she spoke of her faith.  But the title highlights the role we expect of modern monarchs.  When there’s a war, modern kings stay home and work to bolster the morale of their people.  Politicians make declarations of war, generals plan strategy, and soldiers go off to fight.  But ancient kings—kings in Paul’s day were very different.  Alexander went off at the head of an army and conquered most of the known world.  The Emperor Augustus headed an army that ended the Roman civil war and brought peace to the empire.  Alexander and Augustus did great things—and because of what they’d accomplished, both believed they had a right to divinity.  Because they had taken charge, destroyed their enemies, and wrestled whole empires into peace with the threat of further violence.  Why was Rome at peace under Augustus?  Because he’d destroyed his enemies once and any would-be future enemies knew he could probably do it again.  Kings and emperors grasped at divinity, men like Pharaoh and Alexander and Caesar.  Even many of Israel’s own leaders in the Old Testament, in Jesus’ day, and in Paul’s grasped for power.  Now Jewish leaders knew better than to claim divinity as so many of the pagan rulers did, but they grasped at the same power that Caesar held and sought to control the reigns of empire in the hopes of one day climbing to the top of the heap. And yet this was not just the problem of kings or would-be kings.  Brothers and Sisters, this is the problem of the whole human race.  Ever since Adam believed the serpent’s lie and grasped at divinity for himself, we humans have been doing the same in one way or another.  We fight, we kill, we steal, we cheat, we do whatever we can get away with to look out for ourselves, to get what we want, to climb to the top of the heap.  The Lord’s solution to humanity’s problem was to call forth a people for himself, a people who lived in his presence for the life of the whole world, a nation of servants.  Long before Isaiah’s song of the Suffering Servant was claimed by Jesus, Israel understood this to be her role. Of course, Israel suffered from the same problem as the rest of humanity and Paul uses this hymn to show us the solution. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:6-8) God humbled himself.  Jesus, who the hymn says was in the form of God, who was in some way God himself, emptied himself to take on Adam’s flesh and Israel’s servant role.  Paul is clear that this doesn’t mean that Jesus ceased to be God or that he gave up his divinity in some way.  Just the opposite.  Jesus actually shows us what true divinity looks like.  It doesn’t look at all like Adam’s grasping or Pharaoh’s grasping or Alexander’s grasping or Caesar’s grasping at power, authority, or divine prerogative.  Rather, true divinity is revealed as God humbles himself for the sake of his rebellious people and offers himself as a sacrifice for their sins. Jesus was rejected.  Almost no one could accept that this is what divinity looks like, that this is what God would do.  When he rode into Jerusalem, the people may have thought it weird that he rode a humble donkey, but they expected him to finally start an uprising—to bash some Roman and Herodian heads and to set things right.  When later that day he flipped the tables in the temple and drove out the merchants, people were sure that this was it.  Jesus was ready to clean house.  But then it didn’t happen.  He got the people’s hopes up.  Here, finally as the Messiah.  But—apparently—not.  Jesus’ own people, in anger, cried out for his crucifixion.  As far as they were concerned, he was a blasphemous impostor.  Even the servant people themselves could not understand the serving God.  But, of course, God knew this and so the hymn turns on verse 9. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:9-11) The people crucified Jesus as a false messiah and God overturned their verdict against him.  Precisely because Jesus had humbled himself and taken on the role of the suffering servant for the sake of his people, God raised him from the grave and exalted him to his right hand—God declared Jesus to be the world’s true King so that in time every knee will bow and every tongue confess—that one day everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is creation’s Lord—and that in this God will be supremely glorified.  This how God sets creation to rights, this is how God sets fallen humanity to rights: Not by charging in with a sword, but by submitting himself to the cross—by allowing evil and death to do their worst, by dying himself, so that he can pass through to the other side and leave them powerless over him—and powerless over all those with him.  This is the new exodus and leads, not through the Red Sea, but through death itself to the life of God. Now, back to verse 5.  Paul doesn’t simply tell us this so that we better understand who Jesus is and what he’s done.  That’s important, but Paul has a very practical reason for writing this to the Philippian Christians.  He writes: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus… Jesus’ people are to “have this mind yourselves”.  That’s why he’s done what he’s done, to solve the problem that began when Adam grasped at divinity for himself.  As we identify with Jesus, we become a part of the renewed servant people of God.  We are forgiven our past grasping, our past selfishness, and are filled with God’s own Spirit.  As the Spirit turns out hearts and minds to the self-giving God, we become a people whose chief characteristic is self-giving humility.  As we pass through death to ourselves we come out the other side alive to God.  The Spirit works a miracle in our hearts, he purges us of selfishness, of that powerful desire to grasp at whatever we can for our own benefit, and places in us a desire for God, a desire to please God, a desire to do the things that please God.  In Jesus and the Spirit we finally become that servant people. What does that look like?  Well, it looks like the fruit of the Spirit.  We’re the people characterised by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.  We need this fruit now more than ever.  As I’ve spoken with people over the last year—and particularly this week as we resume services—most of us are in some fearful or angry or impatient or fed-up or anxious.  Everyone’s handling things differently.  But notice that none of these things are the fruit of the Spirit.  They don’t serve others; they turn us inward and have a powerful tendency to turn us against each other when we are confronted by our differences.  Brothers and Sisters, Paul wrote these words as an exhortation to the Philippians to be that servant people God has created for the life of the world.  We can’t be that people for the world when we aren’t the people for each other in the Church. Here’s how he put it to the Ephesians: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  (Ephesians 4:1-3) When you’re tempted to act out of fear or anxiety or anger, think of our King riding on the donkey, our King mocked and scourged, our King on the cross—for our sake.  There we see humility and gentleness and patience as he bore with his sinful people out of love, eagre to establish new body united in the Spirit and in that we see God glorified as never before or since. Let’s pray: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for mankind you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility:  Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

What does it mean when Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" in Philippians 4? Does it mean that through the power of positive thinking, with a sprinkle of Godly goodness, we can accomplish anything in this life? Or is there something deeper, more spiritual, at the heart of his statement. Frank Foreman shares the final message in our current sermon series as a summation of Paul's writing to the Philippian Christians.

What does it mean when Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" in Philippians 4? Does it mean that through the power of positive thinking, with a sprinkle of Godly goodness, we can accomplish anything in this life? Or is there something deeper, more spiritual, at the heart of his statement. Frank Foreman shares the final message in our current sermon series as a summation of Paul's writing to the Philippian Christians.

What does it mean when Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" in Philippians 4? Does it mean that through the power of positive thinking, with a sprinkle of Godly goodness, we can accomplish anything in this life? Or is there something deeper, more spiritual, at the heart of his statement. Frank Foreman shares the final message in our current sermon series as a summation of Paul's writing to the Philippian Christians.

What gives us confidence? Is it when we are thoroughly prepared for what we face? Is it when we feel our God-given talent gives us the ability to do whatever we are called to do? According to the Apostle Paul, confidence in Christ leads to potential suffering. His message to the Philippian Christians was clear that the stuff of this life--good or bad--pales in comparison to what is to come in eternity. That's why we can have such confidence in Christ! Frank shares the truths of this passage in Philippians 3 this week.

What gives us confidence? Is it when we are thoroughly prepared for what we face? Is it when we feel our God-given talent gives us the ability to do whatever we are called to do? According to the Apostle Paul, confidence in Christ leads to potential suffering. His message to the Philippian Christians was clear that the stuff of this life--good or bad--pales in comparison to what is to come in eternity. That's why we can have such confidence in Christ! Frank shares the truths of this passage in Philippians 3 this week.

What gives us confidence? Is it when we are thoroughly prepared for what we face? Is it when we feel our God-given talent gives us the ability to do whatever we are called to do? According to the Apostle Paul, confidence in Christ leads to potential suffering. His message to the Philippian Christians was clear that the stuff of this life--good or bad--pales in comparison to what is to come in eternity. That's why we can have such confidence in Christ! Frank shares the truths of this passage in Philippians 3 this week.

We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations, but have you ever thought of yourself as being “worked on” or “renovated” in your life of faith? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who is continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in verse 6, a “good work” in us. Today, we are in WEEK 3 of our series on this “good work," discovering what the Lord is up to in our lives. Welcome to all who join us for worship!

We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations, but have you ever thought of yourself as being “worked on” or “renovated” in your life of faith? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who is continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in verse 6, a “good work” in us. Today, we are in WEEK 3 of our series on this “good work," discovering what the Lord is up to in our lives. Welcome to all who join us for worship!

We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations, but have you ever thought of yourself as being “worked on” or “renovated” in your life of faith? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who is continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in verse 6, a “good work” in us. Today, we are in WEEK 3 of our series on this “good work," discovering what the Lord is up to in our lives. Welcome to all who join us for worship!

We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations,, but have you ever thought of your life of faith as being “worked on” or “renovated”? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who in continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in Philippians 1:6 “a good work” in us. Today, we continue our series on this “good work,” discovering what the Lord is up too in our lives. Welcome to all who join us for worship!

We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations, but have you ever thought of yourself as being “worked on” or “renovated” in your life of faith? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who is continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in verse 6, a “good work” in us. Today, we begin a new series of messages on this “good work,” discovering what the Lord is up to in our lives. Welcome to all who join us for worship!

Citizens of Heaven Philippians 3:17-21 by William Klock In our Epistle St. Paul writes: “Our citizenship is in heaven”.  Paul wrote these words to the Church in the city of Philippi and he’s warning them about certain people who were “enemies of the cross of Christ.  “Their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things,” he says.  But we—the people of Jesus—are called to be different.  He’s spent a good bit of this epistle explaining specifically how they’re to be different.  Back in Chapter 2 he tells them to be humble and to give themselves for the sake of others because that’s what Jesus did for us: though he was God he didn’t grasp at the prerogatives that gave him, he didn’t seek to exploit his divinity.  Instead—for our sake, for his enemies—he humbled himself, he became one of us, taking our flesh on himself, and then died the degrading and humiliating death of the cross.  Jesus gave himself for us and now we are to give ourselves for the sake of the world too.  Not in quite the same way.  By his sacrifice Jesus redeemed the world and the human race from sin and death and in his resurrection God declared him to be Lord and King of all.  We can’t accomplish what Jesus did.  He’s already done it anyway.  But we do give witness to his death and resurrection by what we preach and proclaim and by how we live.  By our lives we proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord and in that we call the world to repent and to follow him, to find the forgiveness we have, to be released from bondage to sin as we have, and to live in faith in the joyful hope of one day being raised to the life of God as Jesus has. This is what Paul’s getting at when he says to live our lives in the knowledge that our citizenship is in heaven.  Jesus came as King—that’s in large part what the Hebrew word “Messiah” means.  Jesus came as King and he came to inaugurate his kingdom—to set in motion the events and forces that will undo the damage our sinful rebellion has done to his Creation and finally set it to rights.  The world rejected him and crucified him.  At the cross the world rejected Jesus’ kingship.  But when God raised him from the grave, he vindicated Jesus and declared that he really and truly is the King.  His kingdom is breaking in.  And that means we have a choice.  Either we choose to follow this new king or we choose to follow the false rulers of the world.  In Paul’s day the pagans worshipped Caesar or Aphrodite or Mammom.  Our world is no different.  People still worship power and sex and money and a host of other things.  This is why Jesus didn’t come the way the Jews expected the Messiah to come.  They expected him to come vanquish his enemies and establish his kingdom all at once.  But that’s not how God works.  He loves us.  He doesn’t want us left dead in our sins.  He doesn’t delight in destroying sinners.  Instead, he seeks to redeem them.  That’s why he sent Jesus, not to condemn, but to redeem.  That’s why Jesus established his Church and equipped us with the Holy Spirit, that we might build his kingdom here as we call sinners to turn away from the world’s false gods and instead to come to Jesus, the true King.  Yes, as we affirm in the Creed, Jesus will come back as King when this work is finished.  He will judge us all on that day and those who have continued to reject him will be destroyed.  But in the meantime, we are to proclaim the Good News that he is the King.  We are to proclaim the goodness of his rule and of his kingdom.  We are to call men and women to repentance and to turn to Jesus so that when judgement finally does come, they can have a part in Jesus’ kingdom rather than be destroyed.  And our lives need to match our proclamation.  We need to live as people who are citizens of heaven. But what does it mean to be citizens of heaven?  This should be simple, but pop-theology has made a real mess of our theology of heaven and the Christian hope.  This is one of the reasons a narrative-historical approach to how we read the Bible and do theology is so important.  We need to grasp the big story or the big picture.  Only when we’ve done that, can we fit the smaller pieces of the story into it. When we look at the big picture we see that God created the world good.  He populated it with men and women who were to serve him by having “dominion”—that means to be his regents or his stewards and spread his good rule.  This vocation is what it means for us to bear God’s image.  But we rebelled against God’s rule and in doing so we not only cut ourselves off from his presence and from the life he gave to us, but we dragged his Creation down with us.  The rest of the Big Story, then, is God working to set both us and his Creation to rights—to redeem us from sin’s bondage, to restore us to his presence and his life, all so that we can once again fulfil the vocation he originally gave us.  This is what we see at the end of the story in Revelation—not redeemed men and women going to heaven, leaving earth behind, to live in some kind of disembodied spiritual state, but God resurrecting the faithful who then join King Jesus as he returns to establish his kingdom and to reunite earth and heaven that we might dwell in his presence and he in ours. There are a host of things that contributed to Christians getting the story wrong over the years.  In part it was the influence of Greek philosophy which saw the body and the material world as bad and the spirit as good.  Many Greeks looked to death as a good that freed the spirit from the dead weight of the body and the material world.  In part it was the doctrine of purgatory that put so much attention on getting through purgatory to heaven that people forgot that the real hope of Christians is for resurrection.  The good theology has always been there.  It’s in the Creeds we recite every Sunday.  It’s in many of the best hymns.  But the bad theology is there too in just as many hymns.  It’s in the popular books.  The last few years has produced a plethora of books and movies on what some more curmudgeonly types have dubbed “heaven tourism”. But even after getting the Big Picture more or less right, we read Paul’s statement that we are citizens of heaven and some still ask: “When do we get there?  How do we get there?”  And, Brothers and Sisters, that would have left both Paul and the Philippian Christians scratching their heads and looking at us sideways.  Let’s look again at what Paul writes in our Epistle.  This is Philippians 3:17-21. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.  For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.   As you hear me often say, we have to read Scripture in context.  Whatever sense we give to it had to first make sense to the people who originally heard it.  The modern pop-theology of the “heaven tourism” books wouldn’t have made any sense to Paul or the Philippians.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  It would have made sense, but they would have seen these books as teaching something closer to what the pagan Platonist philosophers taught, not what the Old Testament taught or what the Jews believed or what Jesus taught. Here’s the context we have to keep in mind when we read Philippians: Philippi was a Roman colony and as Paul writes his letter to the Christians there he draws on this.  Julius Caesar had been killed about a century before Paul wrote these words.  When Caesar died it plunged the Roman Empire into a civil war.  That war was fought mostly in the Eastern part of the empire and when it was over and Octavian had defeated Antony, he ended up with a large army in Greece.  The soldiers were done fighting.  They couldn’t go to Italy or to Rome.  The Romans feared having large armies on their home soil.  In fact, armies weren’t allowed in Rome at all.  And when you just disband an army and give the soldiers nothing productive to do, they tend to make trouble.  So Octavian’s solution was to settle the soldiers around the Greek city of Philippi, giving them land so that they could farm in peace, and he made the city a Roman colony. Philippi had close ties to Rome.  It was on the road that led across Greece to the narrowest part of the Adriatic Sea, where it was easy to sail back to Italy and to Rome.  The Philippians were proud to be Roman colonists and they did their best to live as Romans despite being surrounded by Greek culture and language.  The newest bit of Roman culture was the imperial cult.  Caesar was to be worshipped as divine, as the saviour and lord of the world.  And the Philippians were happy to do just that to show their loyalty to Rome. Think about Victoria.  It’s much closer than Philippi, but when it was built something similar was done.  The Colonial Office wanted Victoria to be a bastion of British culture and government on the Pacific.  They pressured the Hudson’s Bay Company to welcome British settlers and to discourage Americans.  A lot of people today think the strong British flavour of the city is just a modern gimmick to attract tourists, but it’s not.  It was deliberate and it goes all the way back to the mid-19th Century when the city was a colony on the far edge of the British Empire meant to shine the light of Britannia in the wilderness. This is what Paul’s getting at in Philippians when we writes that we are citizens of heaven.  A lot of people read this and think, “Yes, and so living as citizens of heaven is what we do while we wait for Jesus to come back take us to heaven where we belong.”  But that’s not it at all.  Again, we’ve got to think like the Philippians to whom Paul was writing.  Being a Roman citizen didn’t mean that someday Caesar would come and take you home to Rome with him.  Not at all.  In fact, that’s just the opposite of what it meant to be a colonist.  Rome didn’t need any more people.  It was already overcrowded and had high unemployment. That was why Octavian had settled these colonists in Philippi to begin with.  No, to be a Roman citizen in a colony like Philippi was to bring the light of Roman civilisation and culture to the far reaches of the world.  It was to speak Latin when everyone around spoke Greek.  It was to be a practical, sensible, down-to-earth Roman in the midst of decadent Greeks.  It was to show the Greeks that Caesar was their lord and that his rule and his empire would bring them peace and prosperity. And what if the colony was threatened?  Philippi wasn’t very far from the raiding bands of barbarians in the north.  What if they attacked?  Or what if the Greeks raised a rebellion?  What if the Roman colonists couldn’t deal with it themselves?  Then they looked forward to Caesar coming to their rescue.  He was their “saviour”, after all.  He would come from Rome with his army, squash the barbarians or put down the rebellion, and after it was all over the colony would be as firmly established as Rome itself.  Caesar was the ruler of the known world.  He had the power and he had the authority to make it happen. This is the idea and the mindset that Paul’s drawing on here when he writes to the Philippians about being citizens of heaven.  The Church is a colony of heaven, established by Jesus, settled by his people and our purpose is just what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer.  We pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Our duty as citizens of heaven is to bring the life of God and the rule of Jesus to bear on the people and on the world around us. As we all know, this isn’t always easy to do.  It’s easy to forget who we are when we’re surrounded by people who worship Caesar and Aphrodite and Mammon.  It’s not always easy to stand up to the pressures around us.  It’s not always easy to proclaim that Jesus is Lord when doing so is unpopular and might get us into trouble.  But remember, Brothers and Sisters, that we live in hope.  The Roman colonists trusted that if they got into trouble Caesar would come to their rescue—and they trusted that he would win the fight.  But Jesus has not only given us his promise, he’s told us the end of the story already.  He will return—no ifs, ands, or buts.  What he began when he rose from the grave, what he started when he equipped his Church with the Spirit and sent us out to do as heavenly colonists, he will one day complete.  We don’t know when.  It could be a hundred years or a hundred thousand, but he will complete it through his Church, working in the power of the Spirit.  John gives us a vision of the heavenly city descending to the earth, earth and heaven joined together, and a loud voice crying out: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more”.  We look forward to the day promised by the prophets and apostles when God’s creation has been set to rights and the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Paul writes in verse 21 that Jesus will, on that day, transform our bodies to be like his glorious body.  Think about that.  After his resurrection Jesus’ body was as at home in heaven as it was on earth.  On the one hand his friends could touch and feel him.  Jesus sat and ate with them.  And yet he could also ascend on the clouds to take his throne in heaven.  Jesus will raise us in the same way, making us, too, as at home in heaven as we are on earth—filling us with the very life of God himself so that we can live in the world as God created it—heaven and earth not separate and apart, but joined together and overlapping—God dwelling with men and women.  John’s last vision is of Creation restored, this time not a garden, but a great city, but at the centre of it we see the same thing: the tree of life and a river flowing from the throne of God to give life to the world.  Jesus died and rose again in order to lead us back to the place we started, to restore us to the life and vocation for which God created us.  We are citizens of that kingdom and our duty and vocation today is to live in hope as the people of that kingdom and to proclaim it’s coming and to proclaim its King. That is why Paul writes in the next verse: Therefore, my brothers…stand firm thus in the Lord (Philippians 4:1) Paul was calling the Philippians and urging them to stand firm in their allegiance to the Lord Jesus.  Everyone around them paid allegiance to Caesar, but regardless of how strong the pressure was, they were to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and they were to live in faith, showing by their choices and their values and their allegiance that Jesus is the one, true Lord of Creation.  Paul tells them to imitate him in this.  His situation was a little different.  He writes earlier in the letter about the ways in which he had given up—even thrown aside—his Jewish privilege in order to give his allegiance to Jesus.  That had got him into trouble more times than he liked to count—beaten, stoned, imprisoned.  Not being Jewish, the specifics of the Philippians’ situation were different, but Paul is urging them to do the same thing.  This is what it meant when he told them in Chapter 2 to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  They needed to keep Jesus before them, thinking on his death and resurrection and on his Kingship and then they needed to work out for themselves what it was going to take to follow him and to proclaim him—what things needed to change in their lives, where they needed to change their priorities.  And so for us, Brothers and Sisters.  We need to live with Jesus at the forefront of our minds.  Jesus died and rose for our sake.  He is the world’s true King.  Jesus changes everything, but how does this truth work itself out in each of our lives and in each of our situations?  How does it impact the things we say and do?  How does it impact our priorities and values?  How do we use our money or engage in politics in light of Jesus and his kingdom?  How do we respond to our own troubles or to the trials of others with Jesus in mind?  What does it look like for us when our allegiance to the Lord Jesus runs into the priorities and allegiances and desires of the world and people around us? Abraham Kuyper once wrote, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”  It’s worth noting that Kuyper wasn’t just a theologian.  He was also a statesman and the prime minister of the Netherlands.  He understood the importance of bringing the kingdom of Jesus to bear not just on his own life and personal piety, but on the world around him.  How can we do the same?  You don’t have to be a great theologian or a great political leader.  We’ve each been called and equipped to live the life of Jesus where we are, to live life faithfully and in accordance with our hope that Jesus is setting everything in this world right, knowing that one day the Lord’s glory will fill the earth.  What can you do with your unique gifts and personality and resources and situation to give the world around you a glimpse of Jesus’ kingdom? Let us pray: Gracious Father, you sent your Son into the world, not to condemn, but to redeem.  Through his death and resurrection you’ve forgiven our sins and brought us into the life of your kingdom.  Teach each of us now, how we can bring your redeeming grace to bear on the people and situations around us.  Teach us to live as colonists of your kingdom, speaking your language, showing your character, and living according to your values in the midst of the world so that others will be drawn into your kingdom and know Jesus as we do. We ask this in his name.

“Forged through the Fire”The Joy of Gospel FriendshipsPhilippians 1:3-11 This Sunday, we will continue our study of the letter to the Philippians and the subject of Gospel Friendships. The apostle Paul absolutely exudes joy and hope during a time of grave danger, imprisonment, and hostility. It is as if Paul’s joy and confidence is actually ratcheted up as the pressure increases upon him and upon the Philippian Christians.What we need to see is why it is that Paul so deeply delights in his friends at Philippi. What does Paul know that we don’t and why is He so overflowing with joy and hope when he thinks about his Christian friends at Philippi? Looking forward to worshipping over the Word with you all.  This Sunday, we will continue our study of the letter to the Philippians and the subject of Gospel Friendships. The apostle Paul absolutely exudes joy and hope during a time of grave danger, imprisonment, and hostility. It is as if Paul’s joy and confidence is actually ratcheted up as the pressure increases upon him and upon the Philippian Christians.What we need to see is why it is that Paul so deeply delights in his friends at Philippi. What does Paul know that we don’t and why is He so overflowing with joy and hope when he thinks about his Christian friends at Philippi? Looking forward to worshipping over the Word with you all.    Watch previous sermons at www.waterbrooke.church

Audio Transcript: Good morning. Hello. Welcome to another online edition of Mosaic Boston, Brookline. If you are tuning in online, live, thank you so much. We're so glad you're here. Take a couple moments say hello in the chat below. If you are at the beach while we are watching online, enjoy. But thank you for listening after you came home, or on the ride back, and paying attention. With that said, would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's Holy Word?Heavenly Father, we love you and we thank you. We thank you for the gift of life. We thank you that you have designed us to be people who live lives of joy rejoicing in you, and we experience the utmost joy when we are the absolutely, absolutely closest to you. And Lord, show us that often, the fact that we don't pursue you, the fact that we don't press into you, the fact that we don't strain forward, and press ahead to get as close to you as possible.That's actually the cause of so much of our unhappiness, our sadness, our depression, our anxiety. And show us today that the secret to joy is pursuing Christ, who pursued us, pursuing Christ to His perfection. And as we get closer, we get perfected. And as we get perfected, we get more and more whole. And you give us a holistic health, which leads to joy.I pray that you give us these secrets, and give us the power of the Holy Spirit, not just to understand it with our minds, but to receive them with our hearts. And also, empower us to live this out with our wills, our actions. And Lord, I pray that you bless our time, the Holy Word, we're so thankful for it. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.One my favorite things about living in the city, living in Boston is every spring, I love that the Boston Marathon passes right by my street. I live in Pleasant Street, and the runners come right down Beacon Street. It's always amazing. The city is energy packed. It's incredible energy, incredible feel and emotion. And my favorite of all the Boston marathons was the 118th Boston Marathon of 2014.And I remember distinctly because that Easter Sunday was April 20th, the day before the marathon. And for the first time, we were meeting at the Fenway Regal movie theater, and for the first time, we moved the Easter service from theater seven to the biggest theater they had. It was an act of faith. We had no idea how many people would come, and we had hundreds show up. The energy was amazing.And we had dozens of people in the blue little jackets from the Boston Marathon. We've prayed over them. It was incredible. But that marathon was particularly memorable, and emotional because it was the year after the Boston Marathon bombings were three people were killed, and many were wounded. And the whole marathon, and the build up to it was incredibly emotion filled.And in a story book ending, the winner of that marathon, Meb Keflezighi, 38 years old. He was actually the oldest man to win the marathon in 83 years, and the first US citizen to win it since 1983. And he ran with the names of the victims written on the corner of his bib. And as he approached the finish line in Back Bay in Copley Square, as he approached the finish line, there were chants of USA.And as he crossed the finish line, an incredible triumph and joy. He raises his hands. He raises his fist, his arms, and almost collapses, but keeps going. Incredible. I love that. What a memory. Let me ask you, how did he feel when you crossed the finish line? You already know the answer. Triumphant joy, just exploding with joy. Let me ask you a question. How did he feel while he was running it?How did he feel in preparation for the Boston Marathon, the tens of thousands of hours that he hit the pavement by himself with nobody watching, just driving himself pressing into the goal, the purpose that he set for himself full tilt with every nerve, every ounce, every muscle, every fiber of his being because he had a purpose in mind. And the purpose was to win.And this is incredible. This is incredible story in it of itself. But this is actually analogy, the metaphor the St. Paul uses to describe the Christian life. That there's a starting point, and there's a finish line, and in the middle, this is what our life is. You become a Christian, that's the starting line. Scripture talks about this as justification that you are made righteous, just by grace through faith in Christ.And the end is glorification, where you have a brand-new redeemed body just like Christ's resurrected body. But in the meantime, we are called not just follow Jesus slowly. It begins with a walk just like a child crawls and then walks. But then the Lord says, we are to seek maturity, and we are to run after Christ in an ultramarathon way. And this is important because St. Paul says, I'm pursuing perfection in the text that we're going to read today.And this is important because Jesus didn't call us to be good. He actually called us to be perfect. And the closer you get to Jesus, the more you realize how much you lack perfection, and there's this holy tension between a Christian getting more holy, and realizing how unholy he or she is. And the godliest Christians are still so very aware of imperfections.Still, there's a tinge of disappointment in themselves, a personal frustration that fuels them forward to pursue Christ who is perfection. The closer you get to Him, the more perfect you get as you understand your imperfections, which fuels you to keep following him more. This world isn't heaven, we know that. And Robert Browning put it like this. He says a man's reach should exceed his grasp, else what is heaven for?A man's reach should exceed his grasp, meaning I am reaching for a higher-level amount of holiness than I can ever grasp in this life. But that reaching, that hunger, that desire for it is what actually transforms us. Today, we're in Philippians 3:12-21. Would you look at this incredible text with me? Philippians 3:12-21.Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I've made it my own. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with mindset on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative word may write these eternal truths upon our hearts. So, what must I do in order to become perfect as the Lord calls us to become? And the word perfection actually means completeness or wholeness. Assuming that we have, presupposing that we have brokenness in our lives, in our hearts, and we know each one of us do if we're honest with ourselves.So, how do we get that perfection? Well, this frames up our four points for today. Number one, acknowledge imperfection. Number two, press on for perfection. Three, keep growing in maturity, and four, remember what's at stake. One is acknowledge imperfection, you see this in verse 12. How honest St. Paul is with himself.Not that I've already obtained this, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. If anybody qualified as a candidate for perfection besides Jesus Christ, St. Paul was number one, the most likely candidate. He had a spotless spiritual resume on the outside as he told us verses four through six.And then, after becoming a Christian, he pursued sanctification 30 years. This is where he is in his life. He's been a Christian for 30 years. He's already written half of the New Testament. He's planted churches in all four regions of the Roman Empire. He's giving everything, sacrificed everything to follow Christ. A good friend, a member of the church invited me to mass challenge, which is a startup incubator just to see his office.And in the bathroom, there's a sign that says everybody wants to change the world, but no one wants to change the toilet paper. And that's where we find ourselves in the culture. Everyone wants to change everything. No one wants to change the little things. St. Paul actually focusing on the little things, and the most important thing, the gospel actually changed literally, had a global impact with his life.And still, he says I'm not perfect. He still says I have a long way to go. And this is one of the lessons that we can extract from this text is that successful people never stop growing, always developing. They're always expanding, learning. He said I haven't obtained this. I'm not perfect. I don't consider it my own. And actually, verse 13, there's two emphatic personal pronouns before the verb.He says, brothers, I, even I, I, even I have not yet grasped it. Incredible spiritual humility that he learned from time with Christ. Dear friend, do you willingly acknowledge your own imperfections, your own flaws, your own sins? Are you willing to own your mistakes? Are you willing to face your faults, not just to excuse them, not just to play the victim card?And we can do this by the power of the gospel. Because when we acknowledge our sins, and when we show remorse for them, contrition over them, when we repent, there's always grace. Sometimes, we tend to think too highly of ourselves. Romans 12:3, for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.But to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. What he's talking about here is, can you look at yourself with an honest self-assessment? This is called self-awareness to do, an inventory of your life on a regular basis. Sober self-reflection, as Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."And why are we talking about this? Usually, this topic comes up January 1st, or the first Sunday of January New Year's resolutions, like inventory of life. By the way, this is the last Sunday of June, meaning the year is almost halfway over. This is a perfect opt and what a half a year it's been. This is a perfect opportunity to stop, and pause, and say, "Where am I? I need to do a self-inventory." Where am I? Where do I want to be? Where do I need to improve? What am I glaring weaknesses? What are my shortfalls? What are the things that I need to work on? What are my blind spots?Where do I need growth as a person, as a human being, as a Christian, as a friend, as a son, as a daughter, as a husband, as a wife, as a church member, as a child of the family of God, as a student, as a professional? This is a personal inventory. Where do I need to change? And by the way, how thoroughly am I talking about? Like this, do an inventory of yourself as thoroughly as you do an inventory of others.And each one of us, we do, we can see other people's glaring blind spots when they can't, and we feel that. We see them imperfections, and we criticize. With that same perspective, with that same magnifying glass, do an inventory of your life. The first step to pursuing perfection or wholeness, progress in the faith is to acknowledge that you haven't arrived.And this is what it means to grow in faith. Because you know what happens when we think we have arrived, you become proud, and complacent, and you stop moving. Growth always begins in the mind. It's a change of thoughts that leads to a change of feelings, that leads to a change of action. So, thought, I need to keep growing, I need to keep running, I need to keep pressing ahead.Feelings, I want to be the person that God has created me to be. I'm not that yet. Actions, what do I need to work on by God's grace? Philippians 3:15, let those of us who are mature think this way, starts with the mind, and if anything you think otherwise God will reveal that also to you. And by the way, this is so contrary to many people, but many actually Christians in the church.Today, a lot of Christians would rather pretend to be a healthy Christian. We'd rather pretend than change because change always takes work. It's painful. And yes, we're all sinners. Yes, we have problems. Yes, we struggle with doubts. For some people, reputation is more important than transformation. And St. Paul gives us an example of incredible honesty with himself.And by the way, this is a mark of maturity in the faith. There's absolute transparency. This is where I am. This is what I'm struggling with today, this week. And you voice it to other believers, and you ask them to pray for you. And what that does is that gets them to open up as well, and you together can fight the good fight of faith. Proverbs 28:13, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.Don't conceal, instead confess and forsake. Seasoned Christians are acutely aware of inadequacies of what you need to work on. And mature Christians don't just say, "Oh, look how far I've come." That's nice. That's good. But you also have to say in the same breath, look how far I have to go. Philippians 3:12 St. Paul says, not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own.Because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I press on. I overextend myself. I go for it with all I've got. I throw myself into this straining with every nerve, ounce, muscle to reach the price. Incredible intensity, maximum effort, he understands that there's no gain without pain. It's so counterintuitive because one of the idols in our culture is comfort.So, for us, if we idolize comfort, then the opposite of comfort is pain. If we worship comfort, we only pursue comfort. We develop a resistance, a lack of tolerance for pain. And therefore, we don't accomplish the purpose that God has for us. We understand that the most valuable things in life always take pain, work, sacrifice.To create something, to build something, to become a person who edifies others, adds value to their lives, and to serve others, to give to others, which is actually a greater blessing. It's more blessed to give than to receive. What's your motivation St. Paul? That's why whenever you see a driven person, you're like, "What are they motivated by? What gets them up in the morning? What is it?"St. Paul says, this is my motivation. Verse 12, not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but press on to make it my own because Christ has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. He starts with that. He says, Christ made me his own. I am reaching to grasp the righteousness that God has for me because Christ has already grasped me, made me righteous.And this is the interplay between justification and sanctification. Justification is monergistic. Yes, I'm dropping a big theological word on you. You can look it up. monergistic, meaning one way, justification, God says, I choose you, I regenerate you, I change your heart from stone to flesh. Now, you're mine. Now, you're a Christian. It says if He grasped us, as we're running the wrong way, turns us around and now, we're running for Him.That's monergistic justification. Sanctification is synergistic. There's an interplay between God's will, God's energy, God's desire, God's Holy Spirit, and our effort. We can't earn our salvation justification. However, there is an effort to our sanctification that there are things that we have to do. The metaphor for justification in scripture is accounting. You were in sin. God takes your sin upon himself and Christ on the cross.By grace through faith, He recommends you or accounts to you a righteousness that is not your own. That's justification, it's an accounting term. However, what St. Paul is doing here is talking about sanctification, and he doesn't use an accounting term. He's using analogy. He uses an athletic analogy. And athletes know this, if you want to win, you have to experience pain, discipline yourself in absolutely every single facet of life.So, it begins with acknowledging our imperfection, but it doesn't stop there. He continues and talks about pressing on for perfection. So, press on for perfection. Point two, Philippians 3:13, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the price of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. By the way, this is totally unexpected in our culture.Our culture stops at point one and says, "Yeah, I'm not perfect. Yeah, I acknowledge that I'm not perfect. Yes, I have things to work on." And we stopped there. St. Paul says, "No, no, I don't stop there. I'm not perfect, but I pursue perfection." The fact that he has not accomplished these goals actually motivates him, it actually energizes him.Starkly different from our culture, which uses our imperfections as a justification to stay in them. We use our sin as a justification to continue sinning more. I'm not perfect, and I can't stop what I'm doing. So, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. St. Paul says no, no, if you are a Christian, you have no excuse to remain in habitual sins, to remain in sins that dog you, and plague you for years. They keep you ensnared for years.He says fight the good fight, turn to Christ, repent of sin, ask for more the Holy Spirit, put a plan into place of how you're going to wage war on the sin on a daily basis. And he uses his sin, everything that he's done in the past, and he uses that as motivation to pursue perfection. He says but one thing I do, I press on, I press on, it's a present tense verb meaning continuous action. I keep pressing on.And by the way to press on. This is the same word that he used in verse six when he says as the zeal, I persecuted the church. As the zeal I pressed on to get the church. What's he doing? St. Paul is a master wordsmith. Every single word matters. Every single word is planned, and he's filled with the Holy Spirit. What's the Holy Spirit doing through St. Paul's gifts and talents? This is a wordplay.It's a play on what he said. He's saying with the same passion, with the same zeal that I persecuted the church, I am pursuing Jesus Christ, and His righteousness, and I'm trying to make that my own. With the same passion that you pursued sin before meeting Christ, with that same zeal, with that same energy, with that same planning, and you know what I'm talking about.Prior to meeting Christ, there is this part of our imagination that's fallen, where we plan things to do, we plan ahead to sin more, to put ourselves in a position where we provide for the flesh. And he says no, in the same way, you need to plan for sanctification. You need to plan for holiness. Tonight, how am I going to plan to wake up tomorrow, and pursue Christ to fight flesh, and be filled with the Holy Spirit?And what's his trick? St. Paul, how do you do that? And he says this one thing, I do, I do one thing. What do I do? I forget and this is verse 13. This one thing, I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. This is his trick. That St. Paul only do one thing in his life. No, of course not. He did lots of things. But he did everything he did with one purpose, to glorify Christ to the maximum, and to share the gospel.He says this one thing, I do, I proclaim Christ and Him crucified, meaning everything he did in the church as he evangelize, apologetics, as he wrote epistles, as he quipped leaders in the church, and plant the churches, as he defended the faith before kings, and before centurions. Everything he did, he did with one purpose in mind, and how did he make sure that every single detail his life was aligned with that purpose?He says, I forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, forgetting and straining forward. This is important. Because St. Paul, actually, he had a past, what a past he had. Not only did he persecute the church, but as a young man, he was actually present. When the first martyr of the church was executed with stones by the Pharisees, St. Paul was there guarding their clothing, probably looking on with glee, and then he used that to go and persecute church.Did he have a past? Yeah. I was actually talking with someone this week, and we were talking about God, talking about faith. And he said, I got a past. Bad, I got a rap sheet. I said, well, what did you do? And his response was other realm, and it was on text, it was R-E-A-L-mmmmmmm, other realm. And I don't know what that means. But I will tell you this. St. Paul's other realm was worse than that.Because most likely, he was a murderer of Christians. He would take fathers, mothers out of homes to go and imprison them. And ultimately, they were executed for being Christians. And St. Paul says, I forget what's in the past. I forget all the bad things I did. I forget all the defeat that debilitates, and I forget all of my heartbreaking sin, my guilt, my grief, my grudges. And I also forget all the good things I've done, all of the wins.Because sometimes, wins actually drag us down. You get to a place where you did great for the Lord today, and you're like, "Yeah, I did really good." And you take your foot off the gas of continuing pressing forward. He says, I forget what's in the past, I'm not manipulated by my memories, I leave the past in the past. And by the way, this is what we talked about last week. He says every day, I count my gains as losses in order that I may gain Christ more.So, every day, he would sit down and tally up, look at the gains that he had for Christ, all the wins that he had. And he would transfer that to the lost column. And what that does is it empties up the gain column to get more of the Holy Spirit, more of Christ for the next day. You do that one day. The next day, your gain column is a little wider, it's a little bigger, so you can actually do more.Because what happens is if you follow Christ full tilt like this today, tomorrow, you're going to wake up, and you're going to be just a little stronger. And here, I want to use the term compounding sanctification, compounding sanctification. It's like compounding interest, compound interest, you know how that works? Compounding interest, if you don't know how it works, it's incredible.It's where you invest, and you make money, interest off of what your investment. And then, the next year, you make interest off the interest in the compounds. The same thing happens with sanctification. The more you pursue Christ today, the easier it is to pursue Christ tomorrow. So, perhaps you're in a place, and you walk with the Lord where you're like, "I can never even imagine freedom from this particular sin.I can never imagine not wanting this. I can never imagine the taste buds of my soul being so recalibrated that I want the good things, not the bad things. I want the helpful things, not the harmful things." And St. Paul says this is the trick. The trick is I forget what lies behind the good, the bad, the ugly, everything, and the wind. And I press on, I press forward to what lies ahead. That's what gave him power to run the race with Christ.And this is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, one of my favorite passages. He says do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So, run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So, I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air. But I disciplined my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.Incredible. By the way, St. Paul must have been a fan of sports. And I miss sports so much. I can't wait for sports to be back. I'm praying with all I got that the NFL season is going to start on time. I'm going to root for the Pats, of course. Tom Brady, maybe a little, I don't know. I've forgiven him just a little bit. But St. Paul uses these metaphors because he says that's how you understand self-control and self-discipline.Luke 9:62, Jesus said, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. You can't drive a car looking in the rearview mirror, you can't run a race looking backwards. Yes, we definitely learn from our mistakes and our setbacks. But we move forward with those lessons, not with shame, and guilt, and anxiety over the mistakes. We tend to remember things that we should forget.We tend to dwell on our shame and our sin in the past. Why do you keep remembering the things that God has already forgotten? When you repent of sin, God chooses to forget that sin. He cast it behind himself, he cast it into... scripture says as far as the east is from the west, and this is by the way, is a mark of maturity that you're always looking forward, not back. You don't look back to spiritual victories, you don't look back to spiritual defeat.My parents were moving a couple years ago, and we went to help them clean out. It was their house in Cranston, Rhode Island before they moved to Jamestown, and we were in the basement helping them clean out. And my wife was with me, and she discovered my closet growing up. And by this time, we were married, I think 12 years or something.And there's a there was a box with all of my trophies from football, from wrestling, from baseball, from rugby, from all over this. And she walks out in amazement holding this box, and she's like, "Why have you never shown me this?" And I was like, "Baby, because that was high school. And I'm no longer in high school." I never want to be like Uncle Rico. You know who Uncle Rico is? Napoleon Dynamite.That's the guy who lives in a van, and he's always videoing himself throwing footballs, and says he can throw footballs over a mountain, and he's a middle-aged man still living this glory days of high school. Some of you perhaps have something similar happened spiritually where you had a time when you were on fire for the Lord. And you live in those glory days. Remember what I did for Christ?St. Paul never stayed there. What are you doing for Christ today? What are you doing for His glory and His kingdom today? And by the way, looking forward, one of the reasons why we don't look forward, and press forward, and have a forward-thinking mind. For many of us, it's because we live in a culture where youth is an idol. We idolize youth, and therefore a lot of people have a hard time aging.And we can't look back and reminisce. We can't stay there. It leads to this place where we don't enjoy what God has for us today. And I love Proverbs 31:12, and this is the wise woman, the Proverbs 31 woman, strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She laughs the time. God has given me grace today. God will give me grace for tomorrow.And how do I press on for perfection? The key is verse 12, not that I have already obtained this, or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. What's this? What's the it? What's the object? Philippians 3:11, by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.In Paul's mind, the resurrection from the dead, that's the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's the price. So, Paul is pressing in to get Christ, to get the resurrected Christ get His power. Paul pursues perfection by pursuing Jesus. Paul pursues perfection by pursuing the light of Jesus. And he does this into his old age, and that's what gives him strength to keep going.Point three is keep growing in maturity, knowledge, your imperfections, press forward to perfection, and then keep growing in that maturity. Verse 15, let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.I love the fact that he talks about maturity here. When you keep running after Christ by acknowledging imperfections daily, and pursuing perfection by pursuing Christ, that grows you in maturity on a daily basis. And St. Paul says, those of us who mature, we are to think this way. My daughter Milana, she's three years old today, Thursday, the day I'm preaching, this is June 25. You will listen on Sunday.But today Her birthday. And I she's turning three, she turned three, and I love the age of three. That's one of my favorite ages. Now, I'll tell you why. Because now she's in a place, and I've seen this with all four of my daughters. She's now in a place where she is growing in self-sufficiency. She's growing in maturity. She can feed herself. She knows when she needs to go to the bathroom.She can articulate what she wants. She can actually help around the house, and clean up her room. She doesn't scream as often when she doesn't get what she wants, or when she hears the word no. When you become a Christian, dear friend, you are a baby Christian. It's okay to be a baby Christian. You need someone to carry you around. You need someone to feed you, milk you.You need someone who care for you and serve you. Dear Christian, it's not okay to stay there. And I'll just be the real talk right here. A lot of the Christians I know, because of this extended adolescence in our culture, a lot of Christians I know, they stay in this little infant baby toddler child stage of Christianity. Yeah. I've got enough to get to heaven, but you don't continue to grow.And here's how you know that you are an immature Christian. How do you react when you hear the word no from someone in the church family? Number one. Number two, what kind of food do you prefer? Milk or like the mushy baby food? Or have you now gotten to a point where you love spiritual meat, steak as I call it? Children, immature Christians, they need to be served, all of the attention is on me.It's as if I am the only one that exists. That was Milana up until the age three. She's still almost there. Hopefully, we're trying to grow. And part of maturity is you now look to the needs of other people, you now want to serve other people. My daughter, Sophia is there, she's already serving, she's already caring. And that's what it means to grow in maturity. And how do we do that?We do that by pursuing maturity through God's word. Colossians 1:28-29, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. That's the goal St. Paul says of the ministry. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. He says this is the goal of my ministry.This is the goal of our ministry is to get you to a place where you begin to serve, where you begin to feed yourself, where you begin to care for yourself, and when you begin to feed others, and care for others. And the best way to grow in this attainment, grow in this maturity is to find heroes in the faith. And that's why St. Paul says brothers, join in imitating me. Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.This is what I talked about a couple weeks ago that there's things in Christianity that must be taught. And there's things in Christianity that must be caught, where you begin to emulate the example of other people. And this is how I seek to grow in my own life. Look at the people who are few steps ahead of you and emulate them.One of my favorite heroes in the faith, and each one of us should have heroes in the faith is George Mueller, who devoted his life to preach the gospel, and also care for orphans at age 71. He wrote a letter to some of his students at age 71. He said, you know what's the key to my success? Scripture and prayer, and he said I've read the Bible cover-to-cover over 100 times.That's incredible, over 100 times, and he said, every time it's been as if I'm reading for the first time, every time it's refreshed me, and encouraged me. What an example. What an example. Can someone look at your spiritual disciplines, scripture prayer, fasting, silence, and solitude, giving, serving, worshiping the Lord?Can someone look at your clear spiritual disciplines and say, "I want to emulate that?" With George Mueller, I want to emulate him. Every Christian, you need to know that there's always someone watching you. There's always someone following you in some sense. Right now, someone's following and you looks to you to show them the way. Someone prays because they've heard you pray.One of my favorite prayer warriors is my Uncle Victor in DC. Actually, I pray in the same temple as he prays because I've never heard someone pray as passionate as he did, and he is a hero in the faith. Someone is watching you fight the good fight, fighting your battle. Someone wants to be like you, and your Christian walk, and they're cheering you on. Someone sees Christ in you and admires your strength.Someone is borrowing your faith when they don't have any. Someone believes you're the best Christian they know, and that's so true in Boston, Massachusetts. Someone is hanging tough because you're standing tall. If someone's smiling when they think of you. Someone is thanking God for your friendship. Someone is following you. So, keep going. Don't let them down, and keep growing in maturity. Keep growing the people around you in maturity.And number four, remember what's at stake. Verse 18, for many of whom I've often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself.Paul says, watch those who are worthy of imitation, and weep over those who are not. And he's talking about them as enemies of the cross of Christ, the cross of Christ is the general principle of the Christian faith. It's at the very center of what we do. 1 Corinthians 1:18, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.The cross tells us that there's nothing that we can do to save ourselves. The cross tells us that only God can save us. The cross tells us that God, His son died on a cross in excruciating pain, physical, and excruciating pain, spiritual in order to pay the price for our sin. Meaning, we can't save ourselves, and there's two categories of people who are enemies of the cross.Number one, it's legalist. And he talked about beware of the dogs, beware of the evildoers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh. That's the beginning of chapter three. It's people who say the cross isn't enough for salvation, we must add works to it in order to be justified. Says that's an enemy of the cross because you're saying Christ's sacrifice was not sufficient.The other group of enemies of the cross are those who are licentious, legalists, and those who are licentious. Meaning, these are people who say, "Oh, God forgives me of all my sin. Now, I can live any way I want, and God will just continue to forgive me." And St. Paul says, "No, you don't understand the cross." You don't understand that the sacrifice that was made, how precious the blood of Christ was.And he didn't just die on a cross to forgive you of sin. He died on the cross to free you of sin. And he says stop diminishing the value of the cross, and he says their end is destruction as verse 19, destruction here is talking about eternal punishment. It's not temporal punishment. It's destruction, not annihilationism. You don't cease to exist, but you experience the wrath of God, you experienced His judgment.And anytime I talk about the clear teaching about the judgment, for those who reject the gospel, I get pushback where people say, I can't believe in a god like that. But if you reject mercy, you can't expect mercy. If you reject mercy, you don't get mercy. So, receive mercy today. This is the beauty of the gospel. You ask for forgiveness. You repent of your sin. You turn to Christ.All of your sin is blotted out, everything, your whole other realm, rap sheet, everything is forgiven, receive it now. And if you don't receive that mercy, judgment is coming. Jonathan Edwards, commanded this sermon to you. It's called The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, in which he argues, sin against God is a violation of infinite obligations.Therefore, there's an infinitely heinous crime. It's an infinitely heinous crime deserving an infinite punishment. We sinned against an infinite God. And that's an infinite crime, therefore, there's an infinite punishment, and that's a place called hell. And by the way, the destruction, the enemies of the cross, he says their appetite is their god. Their belly is their God. What's he talking about here?That's verse 19. What's he talking about? Is he talking about gluttons, or is he talking about just people who pursue sensual pleasure, or sexual morality? Yes. That's an outward working of something that happened on the inside. And in the context, this belly or this appetite is actually a synonym for the heart. In the ancient world, they felt with their innards, with their bowels.And what he's talking about here is emotions. He's talking about feelings, when feeling is not facts, when emotion is not truth, govern and regulate our life. When we pursue that which feels good, instead of that which is good. That's what he's talking about. And often, that leads to physical and ultimately spiritual destruction. And they get to a point where they glory in their shame, quagmire in a cesspool of shame.Where people take things that are shameful, sinful, hurtful, harmful, and we actually present them as good. We take bad things, and present them as good things, and whoever calls the bad things bad things is actually a bad person. That's where we are in our culture. And in Philippians 3:20, he says, but our citizenship is in heaven.And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself. He's talking to Philippians, who treasured Roman citizenship, and he says Philippian Christians, remember that your identity is not in Roman citizenship, Americans, your identity is not in your American citizenship.Primarily, it's in Christ. We are first Christians, second Americans. And he says we're citizens of this other kingdom. And from it we await Christ will come and power and glory. He's talking about the Second Coming, which is one of the most frequently emphasized truths in scripture. It's in every book of the Bible, except for Galatians, Philemon, and 2 and 3 John. Scripture talks about it all the time.And the same way that Jesus promised He'll come the first time, and He did. He promised that He will come in the second time and He will. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, if you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.And when it comes to the second coming of Christ, there's two truths that we see here. That our bodies will be transformed, our lowly bodies will be transformed into a body like His glorified, our current bodies are subject to disease, death, sin. He says there will be transformation, not just outwardly, but also inwardly. Then we'll never be able or desire to sin. And second of all, he says, Christ will subject all things to Himself.So, if we are not willingly subject to Him in this world, we will be forced into subjection in the next one. Everybody will bow in knee before Jesus. He will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I can't wait. So, make certain dear friend, that you today are in submission to Jesus Christ as Savior, and as Lord so that when He comes, He is your Savior and not your judge.The four points, if you missed them, acknowledge imperfection, press on for perfection, keep growing in maturity, and remember what's at stake. That's what leads to wholeness or perfection. Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, "Lord, make me as holy as a redeemed sinner can be." Keep on the path, keep running your race, and keep your eyes on the prize who is Christ.The more you get of Him, the more perfected you become, and the more joyful that you feel just like Meb as he crossed the finish line of the 2014 Boston Marathon. That said, would you please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. And Lord, I pray that you give us strength to lay aside every weigh and sin, which clings so closely.And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, what a God you are. We love you, we praise you, we glorify you, we honor you, and we pray all this in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Audio Transcript: Good morning. Welcome to another online service of Mosaic Boston, Brookline. Hope you're well. Hope you are abiding in the Lord, rejoicing in him, meditating in the gospel, and being filled with the Spirit daily. So happy that you are tuning in with us. Would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's holy word?Heavenly Father, we pray that you bless our time in the word today. You have, every single week during this crisis. We felt it. People are being ministered to by your word and we're thankful for that. And I pray today, Lord, encourage us in the faith. I pray, Lord, encourage us with the example of Jesus Christ who came not to be served but to serve. Encourage us with the example of St. Paul who did the same. He served. Encourage us with the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus, godly people, godly men who gave everything, sacrificed everything in order to encourage the faith of others, in order to plant the seed of the gospel, in order to plant churches. Lord, bless our time in the Holy Scriptures and continue to edify and encourage each one of us so that we can edify and encourage one another. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name, amen.The title of the sermon today is Here to Serve. The whole text that we are about to read is about service, sacrificial service. St. Paul writes this letter to a church in Philippi, a church that he planted with Timothy. Together, they planted it. And the church is growing and as the church grows, there's potential for disunity, for division. And this is what Satan does. One of his strategies. One of his stratagems is to sow seeds of division. So St. Paul writes this letter and says, "There's nothing more important than the gospel because there's nothing more important than Jesus." And there's nothing more important than people meeting Jesus. So there's nothing more important than for us to devote our lives to get the gospel to people. And we do it together as brothers and sisters partnering in the gospel, getting the gospel to people living in a manner worthy of the gospel. And the greatest example of this is Christ himself.Christ goes from the highest of heights to the lowest of depths in order to serve us, in order to save us. So we're in chapter 2 today. The concluding part of chapter 2 of Philippians, it's started with a glorious text, a gloriously Christological vision of who Christ is, what he did in his incarnation, and how that applies to our lives.Last week, we talked about the interplay between God's sovereignty and our responsibility. God work salvation in us. He gives us that gift. We are to receive that gift, receive and believe. And as we do, we then work out our salvation. God gives us grace but we use that grace, so it's not in vain. So we work as hard as we possibly can. And then from that, from that glorious part of the chapter, St. Paul moves to something that seems at first reading so mundane. He shows us a travel itinerary of a few gentlemen. Why St. Paul, why this text? What does it have to do with our lives?Well, what St. Paul is doing is he's illustrating the points that he just made about Christological service, serving like Christ served. About the interplay between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. And then he shows the example of two godly men who are mirroring, they're reflecting that Christ-like service, they have the heart of Christ. They are here to serve.And the other thing I want to just point out about this travel itinerary is these are real people in real time, in real places. And why is that important? It's important because the New Testament is grounded in real history, in real time, in real space. The gospel is rooted in world history, not mythology. These are real people with real lives, and real emotions, and real pain, and real desires, and hopes, and dreams. The gospel is relevant to them, therefore it's relevant to us. It applied to them. It applied to us. We see if someone got sick, someone couldn't come because they had to be in a different place. People had friends. St. Paul had friends and counted on them like we count on our friends. There's deep fellowship, there's deep emotion here. They lived in the same world that we live in. They're in real history. They're real human beings. These are real lives with real stories.The New Testament is a testimony. It's an account, a historically verifiable account of extraordinary things that happened to ordinary people when they submit their lives to God, in service to him, in service to people. That's where we find ourselves today in Philippians 2:19-30. I'm going to start reading with two verses that we ended with last week, verses 17 and 18, because it all flows together. Would you look at the text with me, Philippians 2:17?"Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I'm glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me. And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill."Indeed, he was ill, near to death. "But God had mercy on him and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me." This is the reading of God's holy, inherent, infallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts.Three points today, we'll talk about the servant's heart, the servant's hardship, and the servant's honor. The context is that St. Paul is in prison in Rome and the Philippians, the church in Philippi, the Philippian Christians take up an offering for St. Paul to meet his monetary needs and they sent it through Epaphroditus who volunteers for the job to travel 800 miles. It took at least six weeks over rough terrain. And on the way, he catches some sickness, some disease, some infection, and it was almost deadly it brought him to the brink of death. But Epaphroditus persists in spite of the pain.Why are we talking about a guy named Epaphroditus? And we need to remember this guy's name, it's important. Because St. Paul knows that the faith, the Christian faith, can't just be taught. It also must be caught. Taught and caught. It's both. He's not just giving them words of faith. He's giving them a real life, flesh and blood examples of this is how you live this out. I know my walk, maybe you can relate, my walk in the faith. I have been impacted by the scripture. I have been impacted by the books of theology, thousands of books of theology that I've read. I have also maybe even more so been impacted by godly people in my life whom I saw serving, whom I saw pouring themselves out for the faith of many, whom I saw sacrificing.I saw this with my parents. I saw this with my dad. I saw this with my uncle. After college, I moved down to Washington, DC for my first job out of college. And I got to live with my uncle who was a church planter in Washington, DC, and my aunt. And I lived with them for a month, and I saw on a daily basis how much they sacrificed, how they worked, how they served one another, how they served their children, how the children served the parents. Incredible gospel-centered family, incredible gospel-centered church. I saw them doing uncomfortable things, getting out of their comfort zone.We would do street evangelism. This is a Russian church, and we would go to on Saturdays, I would work a full week, on Saturdays, I would go to the Russian store and evangelize. Try to share the gospel with these people going to the Russian store. Really uncomfortable, but powerful in bringing many to faith. Moved down to North Carolina, Raleigh-Durham area for seminary. And I remember Andy Davis and his family, and I remember the saints at FBC Durham sacrificing, daily serving one another in radical ways. And that right there ignited a fire in me to give my life to the Lord, to serve him with everything I've got.This week, my wife and I, we celebrated, actually yesterday, Wednesday. You're listening on Sunday, celebrated 14 years of marriage. Praise God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord, and thank you, Tanya, for your patience and forbearance. But in my wife, I see this heart of service. I've always seen this heart of service. She would give everything she has to those in need, be it family or not. The gospel has to be both taught and caught, and that's why we have the example here of people who have Christ's heart.Jesus didn't just come to be served but to serve. To give his life as a ransom for many. Therefore, dear Christians, service for us isn't an option. There's not elite levels of Christians like Navy SEAL Christians who serve and the rest of us are served. No, if you're a Christian, you're called to serve. And the reason why we have to be called to serve and reminded of this, because it doesn't come naturally. It's hard and you got to develop a heart of service, it has to be cultivated. And I think about it like this.Two weeks ago, we talked about developing the mind of Christ, thinking Christ's thoughts with him. That's how we discern what God's will is, by the transformation of our mind. But also, we have to develop not just the mind of Christ but the heart of Christ. A heart of Christ that beats intact with him. His heart that was poured out, that bled for others. It was that heart that motivated his hands. We need to develop both the head of Christ, the heart of Christ, and the hands of Christ. But today, I want to focus in here. I'm going to focus on developing that heart of Christ.Look at St. Paul in this text, how often he mentions Christ in talking about travel itinerary, which almost has nothing to do with the Lord seemingly. Okay, verse 19, "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you." What an interesting phrase. Now I hope to send Timothy to you soon. I hope in the Lord, in the Lord Jesus, what a phrase. Look at verse 24, "And I trust in the Lord that shortly, I myself will come also." I trust in the Lord, meaning if it's the Lord's will. So for St. Paul, every day as he's making plans, as he's thinking what he's going to do in the near future, the Lord and his will informs every decision he makes. It's not just simply common sense, not just simply what he thinks is best, what his wants or his desires are, but he submits everything to the Lord and his will.And he mentions Epaphroditus here, that Epaphroditus got better from his illness. And he doesn't just say, "Oh, thank goodness that Epaphroditus got better." He doesn't say, "Thank goodness," he says, "Thank God." Thank God. Look at verse 27, "Indeed he was ill, near to death but God had mercy on him. Not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." God had mercy on him. God extended his life. Verse 29, "So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men." In the Lord, I hope, I trust in the Lord. God is in control. God is the one who extends mercy by extending life, so receive him in the Lord.The heart of St. Paul is focused on Christ, his heart beats intact with Christ. Jesus is at the center of everything that St. Paul does, thinks, plans, desires, wants. Jesus is at the center. His whole life revolves around Christ. Christ is the focus point. And this is how you develop the heart of Christ. What does Jesus want? What does Jesus love? What does Jesus desire? I want to desire those things. Timothy's focus was the same, it was on Christ. Look at verse 21, "For they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ, but you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father you served me with the gospel." We all have our own interests, every single one of us. And here St. Paul says there are some Christians in Rome at that time, they're believers. They've confessed, they've professed believing in Christ. But still, he's not number one.For them, they can't say that, "For me to live is Christ." Their interests are higher. Their own personal interests are higher than the interests of Christ. This is why I'm talking about developing the heart of Christ. Your interests are those things that you love more than Christ, which actually is a form of idolatry. But Timothy, no, Timothy, he doesn't seek his own interest. He seeks those of Christ by serving in the gospel with St. Paul. And by the way, Timothy was with Paul when they first visited the Church when it was first founded. So St. Paul knew that if I send Timothy to the Church in Philippi, they will be encouraged by his presence. St. Paul says, "I trust in the Lord that I too will come to see you." Meaning, "I hope that I get to travel 800 miles, six weeks over rough terrain, risking life and limb just to be with you. Just to be in your presence. That's how much I love you." And by the way, this has to inform our ecclesiology what it means to be a church, brothers and sisters.I'll tell you, there's people on staff I haven't seen in person since early March. Pastor Andy, I haven't seen in person since March. I get to see him on video once or twice a week. And I'm telling you, I miss him. I miss you, Pastor Andy. Hope you're doing well. Caleb, I saw at my brother's wedding. Raquel, I got to see as she was standing outside of Ruggles Baptist Church at my brother's wedding also. And I'm telling you when I saw them, and perhaps you can relate, when I saw them, it was a treat. It was a gift. It was a gift for the eyes just to be in the presence of this person. There's something there.Yes, online. Sure. We're thankful we can do this. We're thankful we can do CGs via video. We're thankful. But it's not meant to be a substitute for the greatest present that there is, which is each one of us, of our presence. Our presence is a present from the Lord for one another. So that's why I can't wait to finally meet in person, and I trust in the Lord it will be soon. Epaphroditus has the same focus. His heart beat with the heartbeat of Christ. He pushed himself almost to the point of death to bring a gift to St. Paul. The gift of the finances from the Church of Philippi but also the gift of his own presence. And then we see the heartbeat of Christ in Epaphroditus in that when he hears that the church in Philippi heard that he was sick, he's distressed over their distress. And this is incredible.Not only is he sick physically, but he's emotionally sick and worried that these people are sick and worried over him reveals a servant's heart. Verse 25, "I thought it was necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need." Epaphroditus brought this gift and he completed by his presence what the Philippians could not by their absence. Verse 30, "For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me." And I like this word here for service and minister. Both come from the Greek word liturgia, we get the English word liturgy from. And in secular Greek, the word was used of a man or a person who out of love for his city, out of love for the gods, would give a lavish, generous financial gift to the city or finance a great drama, or outfit a battleship. Meaning this was sacrificial.So we see that Epaphroditus is a minister. He sacrificed much offering, everything for Christ. And this is what it means to develop a heart of service. And also, a servant of Christ is willing to go anywhere that Christ sends, anywhere that Christ sends. Do you think it was easy for Timothy to leave St. Paul's side? No. No, of course not. Look at that relationship, verse 22, "But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel," they loved each other. They had a relationship where St. Paul was a spiritual father and Timothy was a spiritual son to St. Paul.But God was calling Timothy to make this trek to sacrifice, to leave his comfort in order to bless others. That wasn't easy, but it was the Lord's will. Do you think it was easy for Epaphroditus to leave the comforts of home? Take this difficult journey to Rome? No, it wasn't easy, but it had to be done. Do you think it was easy for Paul to leave the comforts of Judaism, the comforts of his faith, and his family, and everything, and to be a missionary? No, of course not. But Jesus said, "I have a mission for you. You are my servant." And a servant gets sent wherever the master says to go.So I wonder, have you ever, and by the way, this is an important question. Have you ever said, "Lord, I will go wherever you tell me to go. Lord, I'm willing to go wherever you tell me to go"? He's told me, I'm here. The question I'm wrestling with is, "Lord, am I willing to stay where you've called me to go?" And perhaps that's what many of you are wrestling with. There's other places to live where you can be much more comfortable, perhaps less useful for the kingdom. It's an important question, "Lord, am I willing to go? Lord, am I willing to stay once I am where you've called?" And the servant who has the heart of Christ is willing to go and willing to serve anyone. Timothy served Paul and then he has to go and serve the Philippians. Epaphroditus served the Philippians, now he's willing to serve Paul.Now there's an incredible story of Philip who has a flourishing public ministry of the gospel preaching in Samaria. And then Jesus says, "No, I want you to leave this great ministry where perhaps you can build a platform for yourself, and I want you to go and preach the gospel on a deserted road to reach the Ethiopian eunuch. I want you to go preach the gospel to this one person." Are you available to go where perhaps you won't make the great name for yourself? A servant doesn't care about their own name. A servant cares about the name of the master and servants put others ahead of themselves. Paul's in prison facing execution. He's encouraged by Timothy's presence and understandably he could say, "No, I can't send Timothy. I need him with me now ministering to my needs." He says, "No, I'm putting the Philippians' needs ahead of my own and the Philippians serve Paul financially. And they sent Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus is willing to serve and go to the brink of death, obviously sacrificing for others.Contrast it with these people who are, in verse 20 and 21, are not concerned for their welfare. Look at verse 20, "For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Christ." Now this is a little difficult to understand because we're talking about the church in Rome. And the epistle to the Romans was written five years before this. Romans 16, St. Paul has a whole list of specific Christians whom he admires, and appreciates, and genuinely thanks for their faithfulness. But most likely, once they came to faith, they were dispatched or sent to other cities. That's why he doesn't have anyone other than Timothy and some of these people who care about only their own interest.The other thing I just want to point out here about the heartbeat of Christ, Jesus deeply loved. He deeply loved his disciples. He deeply loved the people around him in a true, tangible, visible, emotional love. And there's so much love in these verses. It oozes with a bromance, of brotherhood, of fellowship. That's the word, not bromance, brotherhood, it's a brotherhood. Epaphroditus here longs for the Philippians. He's distressed that they're distressed. And the word here's the same word that's used for Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane who was distressed. It's deep emotional pain. The Christian life, my friends, is not stoicism. We have felt emotion, deep, raw emotion, rollercoaster of emotion during this time and that's okay. That's good to feel that emotion. It's good to feel that grief, that tenderness, even tears, sorrow, even slight anxiety.And by the way, this is interesting. That St. Paul says this in verse 27, "But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." St. Paul felt sorrow and "I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious." This is fascinating. St. Paul, did you know at the time of your writing Romans 8, which you gave us, Romans 8:28, "For those who are called by God, predestined by God, and who love God, all things work together for the good"? Didn't you know that St. Paul? Don't you know that your troubles are actually, God is going to use those troubles? There's a purpose in your pain. Didn't you know that St. Paul?St. Paul, didn't you know what you're about to write in chapter 4 where it says, "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, present your requests to God"? Didn't you know that? Don't be anxious, you're about to write us? And now you're telling us about your anxiety? Well, this is fascinating. And by the way, anxiety isn't something that you can just suppress. It's not something you can just truncate. It's not something you can just turn off. It's something that we battle or something that we strive to replace with joy, with peace, with tranquility. That doesn't mean in this fleshly body, in this sinful world that our anxiety is just immediately gone completely. Now it's a battle for joy. It's a battle for peace on a daily basis. And St. Paul's not afraid of expressing those deep feelings. And as he does, the Lord uses it to minister to others.So the servant of God is willing to go anywhere, love anyone, and sacrifice anything because they have the heart of Christ. Timothy gave up his interest, Epaphroditus almost lost his life. Paul to the Ephesian elders said this in Acts 20:24, "I do not count my life of any value, nor is precious to myself. If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." St. Paul said, "My life is of no value to me. There's something more important than my life and that's Christ. For me, to live as Christ and die." Again, St. Paul did pay the highest price. We don't know if he ever saw the church in Philippi. Verse 24, he says, "I trust in the Lord that shortly, I myself will come also." Most likely he didn't. And this was part of God's plan for him.The Lord when he called St. Paul to himself and met him on the road to Damascus, and St. Paul was blinded and then God tells Ananias, "Go now and minister Paul," to pray over him. But this is what God tells Ananias in Acts 9:15, "But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.'" God gives St. Paul the gift of salvation. And he gives him the gift of suffering, as we talked about in chapter 1.And for the Christian, yes, death is sad but we don't grieve as those without hope for the saint. Death is a blessing, it's a home-going. Why did I spend so much... This is a typical Pastor Jan. Most of the time of the sermon, I'm going to spend in point one. Why did I do this? Because we can't talk about the servant's hardships and the servant's honor without focusing on the servant's heart. If your heart isn't motivated by love for Christ, you won't be able to endure the hardship. And if you're just motivated by the honor that you will get, you won't be able to endure the hardship. Your heart needs to be filled with the love for Christ.As a Christian, if you're motivated by anything else than Christ, you will burn out in your spiritual walk. You'll burn out and you'll bum out. Why? Because it's hard. You'll get angry by the way people treat you, by the way... You get hurt. You'll grow weary and frustrated by hardships and sacrifices. You'll quit in disgust and disappointment. If serving for any other reason than love for Christ, if you have any other reason than love for Christ who loved you, gave himself for you, you'll give up. But if you are fueled by constantly being captivated by love for Christ, by the love of Christ, it changes everything.A servant's heart and then, point two is a servant's hardship. There's no service without sacrificing, and sacrificing is hard. It's even painful. Philippians 2:27, "Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him. Not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow," meaning, I've already got sorrow. I'm in prison, I'm facing execution, I'm being persecuted, and the death of Epaphroditus would have mounted that sorrow. Verse 25, "I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my needs." How does he describe the Christian life? Work and fight, worker and soldier, that there's work to do to be a Christian, to live on mission. And that there's a fight to battle. This is war.In all my years of being a minister, in all my years of being a Christian, I have not felt demonic oppression. I've not felt it as tangibly, as powerfully. I've not been as sensitive to it as I do today, in the world, in the nation, in our city, in my own life. We're at war. And war is hard. No one goes to war because it's easy. Look at St. Paul and his own life. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.He chronicles his hardships, "Are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, and hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches."Anytime I read that passage, I walk away and saying, "My troubles are nothing compared to this guy's." And as he's enduring all of that, he's got a love for the church that keeps him going. Soldiers into a boot camp to learn how to endure hardships and battle. And servants we must train. When war comes, that's when we're ready. And today, we're going through a season that we've never lived through. Unprecedented is the word, I can't wait till we go back to precedent times. I miss those. But this is what we've been training for, for the hardships. Philippians 2:22, "But you know Timothy's proven worth," he's been proven. His worth has been approved by testing. That's the same word that's used in Romans 5:3-4, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." Proven worth and proven character. That's the same word here in the Greek.A product is tested before it's sold to prove that it's reliable. Cars need to go through crash testing. And that's how you know it's reliable. St. Paul had persecution, hardship, from without, from within, from above. From without, this is the persecution from the Roman Empire. From within, Christians who are motivated by selfish ambition and envy, criticizing St. Paul. And from above, demonic warfare, and he's being pressed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." We are spiritual war.I've been hearing this from a lot of people. I've been saying this a lot. Like nothing makes sense. I don't know what to believe, whom to believe in the news. I don't know what's true. I don't know what's being spun. I don't know what's being exploited in order to create some political advantage. I don't know. Nothing makes sense. But you know what hasn't changed? The truth of God's word, the truth of the gospel, and that we are at war. One of the reasons why things don't make sense in the physical realm is when people around us don't understand that there's a spiritual realm. Yes, it looks like we are at war here with one another. But that's because there's war above us, and we need to be encouraged that we know who wins.I've read the end of the book. The Book of Revelation, I know, Jesus wins, and we can be encouraged with that. But we are at war, Ephesians 6:10-20. I'm going to read the whole passage because it's so relevant for us today. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand or be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace."In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication to that and keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly, to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I'm an ambassador in chains, that I may declare boldly, as I ought to speak."Spiritual warfare that culminates in St. Paul's action. He says, "What is the action?" It's to speak the gospel boldly. Timothy did not look to his own interests, he looked to the interests of Christ. Many of us are afraid to speak the gospel to our unbelieving neighbors, and friends, and colleagues, to speak the truth of the gospel. Because our primary interest is to be liked. We want to be liked by the people around us but that's not the goal. That's not the goal, to be liked. The goal is to be loved. And the way that people can truly love us is when they are transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. So how do we wage the spiritual war? By loving people and telling them the good news of Jesus Christ. Why wouldn't you become a Christian? Why wouldn't you want all of your sins forgiven? Why wouldn't you want to spend eternity with God in paradise where he is at the center?I want to point something out about Epaphroditus risking, Philippians 2:29-30. "So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me," risking. The word for risking in the Greek literally means hazarding his life, gambling. It's a gambling term, it means that he's willing to roll the dice. He's willing to roll the dice with his life, because he sees the pot in the middle. He's willing to risk his life because he knows the reward is greater than the risk. The reward is greater than the risk when you trust in Christ.Blaise Pascal and his Pensées, he had this thing called the Pascal's Wager, in which he said, "Every single person alive today is gambling with their life." And this is the wager, "If God exists, and I live for Him, I have to, in the short term in my life sacrifice finite pleasure, finite comfort. I have to lose something in the short term in order to gain something infinite in the long term." That's the wager. Others are wagering. And they're saying, "No, no, God does not exist. Therefore, in this life, I'm going to live any way I want for my pleasures as if I'm my own king. And I'm risking being miserable in all of eternity, I'd rather be happy as I defined it in the short term." And what he's saying is if like everyone's playing, everyone's gambling, if it turns out there is a God, if it turns out that there is an eternity and that we are eternal souls living in bodies, and we didn't submit to them now, we lose, and we lose for eternity. We lose infinitely. But if you win, you gain everything.I've been watching the Facebook news feed, Sundays, and I get to see who enters the chat, who watches with us. And I've been seeing a lot of my friends from high school, a lot of my friends from college, a lot of my neighbors, and I'm so thankful for that. And from the bottom of my heart, I welcome you. And from the bottom of my heart, I'm calling you to realize the greatness of God and the greatness of his gospel. That God gave his son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and your sins, sins of the whole world, and whosoever believes in Christ shall have eternal life forever, sins forgiven. You'll have blessing in this life. Yes, there are sacrifices. Yes, there are hardship. But there are things that make us stronger and draw us closer to Christ, which is the greatest blessing that there is. It's the greatest deal in the history of all deals.Jesus says, "Come to me, submit to me, give your heart to me and I give you myself," which is better than anything and everything in the world. So it's a no brainer, you should become a Christian. Everyone should. So why go through the hardship? Because you're motivated by Christ, you're motivated by his heart. And you also go through the hardship because there is a servant's honor, that God does honor his servants.And this is point three, the servant's honor, we don't seek honor for ourselves. I want to point that out, but we seek honor for the Lord and the Lord loves to share the honor. The Lord is a generous God who wants to honor his servants. Look at 1 Samuel 2:30, "Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel declares, I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever, and now the Lord declares, far be it from me, for those who honor me, I will honor and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed." And what an interesting thought of a glorious God of the universe, likes to honor, loves to honor. When we honor him, he honors us. 2 Timothy 4:8. "Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." So any hardship that we face will be well worth it when we see his face, when we see the face of God.Matthew 25:21, "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little and I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" The Lord wants to honor his servants, he does, and he will. Paul honors Timothy also by sending him as his representative. Paul honors Epaphroditus by his commendation. In Philippians 2:29, he says, "So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men," honor such people. And by the way, Paul is doing what he's telling them to do. He's honoring these godly people, godly men in this letter. He admires these brothers, appreciates them for their sacrifice, for their faithfulness.James Fraser of Brea, he says this, "The size and the substance of the spirit of a man's soul is at once seen by the spontaneity, and the generosity, and the exuberance, and the warmth of his praises. Just as the smallness, and the stinginess, and the sullenness, and the mulishness of another man's soul is all disclosed to us by his despicable ingratitude to all his benefactors. Almighty God Himself inhabits the praises of Israel. And to praise, and with your whole heart, all those men and women and children who deserve praise at your hands; that, already, is a certain contribution toward your praise of God."What a text. You got to go back and you got to analyze this text. By the way, James Fraser of Brea, I commend you, I salute you, James. What a quote, what a paragraph. And the alliteration, oh my, the pair-off, phenomenal.Here's what I want to say about honoring one another. I grew up in a Slavic church. I grew up in a Slavic church in Providence, Rhode Island. And in Slavic Baptist culture, there's some quirks. There's a lot of quirks. One of the quirks is that they would have a special music time or like special participation. There's the worship, there's the choir singing, there's the sermon. There were actually three sermons. Our service is like three hours. And someone would come up to sing, someone would sing a song.And there would always be a group of people in the church that wanted to clap, that wanted to honor these people for doing a tremendous job. And then, in every conference I've ever been to, Slavic conference, there's always a contingent of people who say, "No, no, no, don't clap, instead, say Praise God." Interesting if you analyze it, and the fear was if you clap for these people, or you say thank you, or you admire, or you say good job. The fear was, they're going to lose their reward in heaven. And by honoring them, we're not honoring God. So let's not even think about them. Let's just think about God.And I understand the heart behind, the heart is that you don't want to breed narcissism, you don't want to inflate the ego, and you don't want to detract from God's honor. No. But this is what this quote is saying, James Fraser, and this will be seen in the text. "We honor God by honoring people." When we see people reflecting God, and we honor them for that, we're actually saying, "You know what? Good job, and God great job because you created this person, and you filled them with the spirit, and you gave them these gifts and abilities. It's not theirs. But they're working. They're working hard at this." And Scripture is full of compliments paid by saints one to another. Thanksgiving for help, for love, for service, for generosity, and the Lord does this himself.The Lord often praises his servants without even drawing attention to the fact that they couldn't do anything apart from him. This is fascinating. Look at Job 1:8, "The Lord says to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?'" That's what he's saying, "Check him out. He's doing a great job." Look at Numbers 12:3, and by the way, this is one of my favorite texts in all Scriptures. "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth." Who wrote the book of Numbers? Moses. So Moses is literally sitting there, and he's saying, "Moses is the most meek person on the face... I am, Moses is the most humble person on the face of the Earth." Now you read that, and it's humorous. It's actually hilarious. Because to say I'm the most humble or the meek man is actually showing that you're far from it. But what's going on here?The Holy Spirit says, "Moses, write this down." Moses was like, "I can't write this down." God's like, "Write this down, because I've noticed something in you, Moses. I want others to see it and I want others to emulate you." God praises Noah for being righteous in this generation. God called Solomon very great, even majestic. Jesus commends the woman of great faith. He notices the widow's generosity as she contributes two mites. Jesus marvels at the fate of the centurion. Jesus affirms Nathaniel for not being a hypocrite.The woman with the alabaster jar who goes and she gives Jesus her life savings in this ointment and to anoint him for his burial and his disciples start grumbling, led by Judas. They said, "Imagine how many people we could have fed if we had taken this alabaster jar and actually sold it," and Jesus says this. He says, "Why do you trouble this woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told the memory of her."It's so important for parents to say, "Good job," to your children, to say, "I love you and I appreciate you." Kids are born with a profound need to be loved and appreciated. And it's devastating when they don't receive it, the love, the praise, the appreciation, and so much of our brokenness, personal brokenness, brokenness in the society. It's because kids have grown up without parents telling them, "I love you. I appreciate you." Without fathers saying to daughters and to sons, "I love you and I appreciate you. I'm so proud of you." Hardly anything has greater influence in our emotional and spiritual welfare. Why? This is so important. Why does every single one of us, why do we crave this appreciation and love? It's because we're created in the image of God, was a Triune God, and in the Trinity, in the internal councils of the Triune God, this praise, appreciation, love, compliments, all circulating all the time. It's what God is. It's what God does, because God is love.It's the Father saying, "Son, great job." It's the Holy Spirit saying, "Father, Son, great job." It's Jesus saying to the Holy Spirit, "Great job in filling people. Great job in anointing people. Great job in building the church." And Jesus and the Holy Spirit's saying to the Father, "Great job. You're great, Dad. Thank you."What keeps the praise from being man-centered? How do we make sure that our praise of people isn't fueling narcissism or inflating ego even with our kids? It's when we say great job because of a great God. Great job because of a great God. This is St. Paul, he said this about him. He, actually, he honored himself, which it's crazy, but he did. He honored how hard he worked. He said, "I am what I am by the grace of God. It's all God, Great God. But his grace in me wasn't in vain. I worked harder than the rest of them. But it wasn't me, it was the grace of God." Great job, Paul. Great job, God. Praise God. That's how, we deflect the honor to the Lord. So honestly, practice this in your families. Husbands, admire your wife, speak appreciation, honor, love. Saying, "Baby, you're doing a great job, tremendous job." And wives, honor your husbands by telling them, "I respect you. I see the sacrifices that you're making for us."Parents, admire your children, appreciate your child. Tell your children they're beautiful. My youngest, Milana, whenever she dresses up and she knows she looks good. First step, she goes to the mirror, she looks at herself. She says, "Hmm, hmm." And then she goes into my room and she just stands there. And what's she doing? She's waiting. She doesn't just want me to see, she wants me to speak. I always say, "Baby, you look so beautiful. Wow. That's amazing." By the way, all of my daughters do that. By the way, my wife does that as well. Tell people that you love them. Tell people that they're beautiful. Tell people that you appreciate them. And obviously, we don't overlook harmful behavior. This isn't flattery or fawning. We encourage the good, we discourage the bad.We're not called to inflate egos, but to encourage servant's heart. By the way, this admiration is generous spirit. This mutual appreciation, it engenders unity. There's nothing that unites like this in teams, in companies, in families, in the church. Honor. And here, one more really important point I want to make. Speaking of unity. Speaking of the climate we're in now. I've seen what's happening now. I've seen this before. It's happening now in the church. Churches around the nation. I've seen this before. I saw this in 2016, summer of 2016. Brothers and sisters in the church, when they realize that their brothers and sisters do not vote like they do, that infuriates so much that they leave the body. They left this church and they left the church. I've seen that.When your politics are the reason why you can't love brothers and sisters, that you're not serving the Lord primarily. There's a Lord higher than the lord. So as we engage in politics and political discourse, let us never forget that there's a higher kingdom and we're not citizens of this world. We're citizens of that kingdom, and there's nothing more important than to be united by the gospel of Jesus Christ, extending honor to one another, and respect, and civility, and kindness, most importantly, love. And I will say this as we talk about, as you make political statements online, as you make political statements to one another, make sure don't forget Romans 13. Romans 13:7, "Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenues are owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." That's everybody. In particular, in that context, it's those in authority over us.We can disagree with those in authority over us. We can do everything that we can in order to get someone else in authority over us. But whoever is in authority over us now, there is an honor and respect that they are due for the office. So be careful of the way that you talk of those in authority or those potentially in authority because Romans 13:4 says, "He is God's servant. For an allotted time, God has a certain purpose for this." And in that context, it was Nero, who was a terrible, terrible, terrible king. But there was an honor. Ecclesiastes 10:20, "Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king. Nor in your bedroom, curse the rich for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter. Give honor to those whom honor is due."In conclusion, when you live like this with a servant's heart, enduring a servant's hardship, to receive a servant's honor, you will live a life where you will be missed when you're gone. And that's how Jesus lived. Jesus had a servant's heart, the greatest servant's heart. Jesus endures servant's hardships, he endured the greatest hardship and Jesus received a servant's honor, the greatest honor and name that is above every name, but today, however, he isn't missed. You know why? Because he came back from the dead and we have the presence of Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit with us. Amen. Hallelujah. Let's pray.Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time and the word. What a rich word, always is. And we pray, Lord, that you cultivate in us a servant's heart, to give us the strength to endure a servant's hardship. And, Lord, we long for the day when we get the servant's honor and we thank you for honoring us even now. Give us a grace so that we honor one another as brothers and sisters, in partnership with the gospel. And we pray that you expand your kingdom even in this time, especially in this time, and I pray that the gospel continues to go forth and we pray all this in the beautiful name of Jesus Christ, amen. Hallelujah. Amen.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=philippians+1%3A27-30&version=ESV (Philippians 1:27-30) Dear friends, I love being a citizen of the United States. Yes, it has its flaws, but those flaws are few in comparison to the benefits and blessings I've received as a citizen. As you know, part of being a citizen is not only receiving blessings and privileges, it also involves responsibility and duty. It means paying taxes, participating in our community, serving our country, and being respectful and honest. Participate in the country. I have a dual citizenship, by the way. Maybe you do too. Anyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ has another citizenship far greater than any other. It's heavenly citizenship. And, as a citizen of God's kingdom, I also have received many spiritual blessings and privileges that I enjoy: a restored relationship with God, forgiveness for my sins, a cleansed conscience, the promise of eternity. And I also have duties and responsibilities as a citizen of this heavenly kingdom. That's what the apostle Paul tells us in our passage for today from Philippians. Let me just set this up for you little bit: Paul's been telling these folks of how he's rejoicing because the gospel's advancing, even where he is, and he's in a prison in Rome. He reports in his letter that he's been using his uncomfortable circumstances to bring Christ Jesus to the soldiers guarding him and that the whole Praetorian Guard has now heard about Jesus from Paul. And not only that, the Christians in Rome who had been kind of shy are now sharing the gospel of Christ more boldly, as they're inspired by Paul. And Paul tells these Philippians that he's all in when it comes to the gospel, “for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Now he turns the conversation away from himself, today, in this passage to the Philippian Christians (and to us as well) as he writes, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel; conduct yourselves in a way that honors Jesus your King and represents Him well in this world of ours.” Paul was actually talking citizenship. The verb, “let your manner of life be”, is literally “live as citizens”. Live as citizens worthy of the gospel, he says, the gospel of Christ. He's telling us it's important to conduct ourselves as good citizens of the kingdom of Christ. We're His representatives in the world. You do that, first of all, with your character, and then also with your conduct. Paul keeps going, he says Conduct yourself this way so that whether I come to you or am absent I may hear these things about you. That you are living life in a manner worthy of the gospel; that you're living like our king Jesus would live, with a loving attitude, with kindness, and mercy, and grace, and truthfulness, and goodness , and integrity, and humility, and compassion towards others, and obedience to the great commandment to love God and love neighbor. Because how you act does say a lot, it tells the real story. He says it's also a continual standing firm in striving for the faith of the gospel. We're to be evangelistic, called to spread the gospel of Jesus to other people. To intentionally, boldly, and gently sprinkle our conversations with others about Jesus and what He did for us at the cross and tomb. To tell others the good news of God's kingdom plan of salvation. To invite people to turn to Christ and receive the forgiveness of sins. Paul says as you're doing those two things, it's so important that you do them together, as the church. It's too hard to do this alone. He says, “I want to hear that you're standing firm in one spirit, striving side-by-side for the faith of the gospel.” That striving side-by-side is a term from the world of athletics. He's talking teamwork — everyone working together as a team for the advancement of the gospel in your community. We need to stay connected to one another, doing His work together, not only as a show of strength, but it's a source of needed strength...

Paul ends his letter to the Philippians with closing greetings and a blessing. He begins by sending his own personal greetings (Philippians 4:21). Then he passes along the greetings of those who were with him (Philippians 4:21-22). Finally, he prays for the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” to be with the Philippians, mirroring the blessing he bestowed upon these Christians at the opening of this letter (Philippians 4:23; 1:2). Although this closing is customary and brief, it should not be read as a mere formality. Even in these few short verses, Paul had something surprising he wanted to reveal to the Philippian readers and to us today. While passing along the greetings of those who were with him, Paul specifically identifies one group of people who wanted to greet the Philippians: “All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:22). There is some debate about what Paul meant by “Caesar’s household.” This debate is related to the question of where Paul was imprisoned when he wrote this letter. What is clear to most modern scholars is that the individuals Paul is alluding to worked in some capacity for the Roman emperor, most likely as slaves, freedmen, or freedwomen. This is clear from hundreds of inscriptions archaeologists have found throughout the Roman Empire that refer to “Caesar’s household.” The significance of this greeting would not have been lost on the original Philippian readers. People who answered to Caesar, a self-proclaimed savior and lord of the universe, had come to pledge their allegiance to Jesus, the world’s true Savior and Lord. This was another reminder that nothing, not even Caesar himself, could stop the “advance” of “the gospel” (Philippians 1:12-13). This also would have been a source of encouragement for the Philippians who were suffering at the hands of those loyal to Caesar. If anyone had reason to be “frightened” that they might “suffer” for their faith, it was those who worked directly for the Roman emperor (Philippians 1:27-29). This special greeting let the Philippian Christians know that they were not alone. The significance of this greeting should not be lost on us either. If any of us have fear or concerns about how others will respond to our faith, we can find encouragement from these Christians who belonged to Caesar’s household. Others have faced this struggle before us and they found the strength to press on. Also, if we ever doubt whether a certain person or group of people could become followers of Jesus, this greeting should give us hope. Any person, no matter how unlikely, can be moved by the gospel and may come to see Jesus as Lord. PHILIPPIANS 4:21–23 FINAL GREETINGS 21 Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. 22 All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Day 19 Questions Notice the repetition of the phrase “all God’s people” in this passage. How does this relate to Paul’s appeals for unity throughout this letter? Are there people in your community of faith that you view as different or you exclude? Do you ever try to avoid someone when you go to church? How could you be more inclusive in the ways you interact with others? Who in your life is like those who “belong to Caesar’s household” – people you thought might never come to believe, or people you doubt will ever believe? What would help you to have courage like Paul’s to make the most of every interaction?

COMMENTARY At the end of yesterday’s reading, Paul provided his religious résumé, listing seven special qualities about himself. These were things that would have distinguished him in the Jewish community. He was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless” (Philippians 3:5-6). Paul’s reason for providing his résumé was to show that none of the Judaizers who presented a threat to the Philippian Christians could stand to benefit more than he from the works-based religion they promoted. Whatever attributes or achievements they claimed for themselves couldn’t measure up to his (Philippians 3:4). In today’s reading, Paul continues this discussion, but we learn that Paul didn’t provide his résumé simply to boast. He provided his résumé to show that he had learned just how worthless human works are in God’s economy. He writes in verse 7, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” Here, Paul talks about his achievements as though they are assets. What he discovered is that the things he previously thought were valuable are actually just the opposite. They are like sinking investments. By this, Paul doesn’t mean that human works are intrinsically wrong and worthless. What he means is that when our attributes and achievements are viewed as assets that bring spiritual gain, they actually result in a net loss because they blind us to the one and only thing that can bring us true spiritual gain, Jesus Christ. Paul goes further. He writes in verse 8, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Here, Paul expands his argument. It’s not just the qualities he listed in verses 5-6 that are losses. “Everything” is loss when compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ! Paul also extends his metaphor: everything is not just “loss.” Everything is “garbage.” The Greek word translated here as “garbage” appears nowhere else in Scripture, but outside the Bible it refers to human excrement or kitchen scraps (like what dogs eat [Philippians 3:2]). By using this vulgar and uncommon word, Paul is expressing in the strongest possible terms that anything in our lives that competes with or distracts us from Jesus should be regarded as waste and sent away. This message is just as relevant for us today. We live in a culture that puts incredible stock in our status and accomplishments. We treasure the things we do and the things we own. Paul’s challenge is for us to know what has true worth and what is just waste. Nothing in this world can make us right before God but Christ, and nothing in this world compares to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Spending your time, thoughts, and energies on your relationship with Him is the most rewarding investment you will ever make. A latrine at the palaestra in Philippi A latrine at the palaestra in Philippi JTP-day12b SCRIPTURE PHILIPPIANS 3:7–11 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. REFLECTION 1. Where does “knowing Christ” rank in the value system of your life? Do you feel like you know Christ? How could you get to know Him better? 2. According to verse 10, one way we can “know Christ” more intimately is through “participation in his sufferings.” What do you think it means to participate in Jesus’ sufferings?Why might this help us know Christ better?

COMMENTARY In Paul’s day, Roman society was made up of a hierarchy of social classes that determined just about everything. They determined what a person could wear, whom they could marry, even where they could sit! So naturally, many people desired to climb the social ladder. One way they could do this was by gaining honor for themselves. We can see this especially in the lives of Roman emperors. Around this time, Roman emperors began to call themselves gods and welcomed the worship of themselves as gods. In doing so, they gained honor for themselves and solidified their spot at the top of the social ladder. In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul critiques this social structure. He does this in part by contrasting Jesus and Caesar. He writes in verses 6-7, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” Here, Paul implicitly distinguishes Jesus from Caesar. Whereas Caesar was a man who wanted to be worshiped as God for his own advantage, Jesus was God but became a man for our advantage. In fact, He became a “servant,” a member of the lowest class in Roman society, and died on a cross, a form of execution reserved for servants. The irony of this is that Jesus’ humiliation ultimately resulted in His exaltation with every person, including Caesar, acknowledging Him as the one true Lord (Philippians 2:9-11)! Jesus therefore flipped the Roman social structure upside down. Paul does not stop there. He continues to critique the Roman social structure by teaching readers to imitate Jesus: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Apparently, some Philippian Christians had sought to advance their social status to the detriment of others and this created division in the church. So, Paul let them know that as citizens of heaven they were not to do as the Romans do, but to do as Jesus did. Jesus did not try to gain honor for Himself. Jesus humbled Himself because He valued people over His position and His pride. A lot has changed since Roman times, but many of us still feel the impulse to climb the social ladder. Paul’s message for us is to imitate Jesus by putting others first. It was through an act of humility that Jesus repaired His relationship with us, and it is through humility that we can maintain healthy relationships with others. SCRIPTURE PHILIPPIANS 2:1–11 CHAPTER 2 IMITATING CHRIST’S HUMILITY 1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. REFLECTION 1. In Philippians 2:5-11, Paul instructs his readers to have a mindset of humble service like Jesus. But Paul is not content to teach only with his words; he also leads the way with his actions. Reflecting back on chapter 1, how had Paul already modeled a mindset of humble service (see especially verses 1, 15-18, 23-25)? Who in your life has modeled a mindset of humble service to you? 2. In Philippians 2:2, Paul pleads with his Philippian readers to have unity with one another. This is neither the first nor the last time that Paul makes this request in this letter (Philippians 1:27; 2:4; 4:2). Unity was obviously a struggle for the church in Philippi, but why do you suppose unity was so important to Paul? What makes unity so hard to achieve even in the church today, and why should unity matter to us?

COMMENTARY When writing a letter, we tend to follow certain formats or conventions. We start by identifying the recipient (e.g., Dear Jane). We then write the body of the letter. Finally, the letter concludes with a polite closing that identifies the writer (e.g., Sincerely, Joe). These conventions vary somewhat depending on the specific type of letter, but they tend to follow a general guide. One of the first and most important things we should notice about the book of Philippians is that it is a letter. When the apostle Paul composed this letter, he followed some of the standard conventions used in his culture – the Greco-Roman culture. This is especially clear in the opening section of Philippians (Philippians 1:1-11). Paul begins this letter by identifying himself as the writer (Philippians 1:1). Then he identifies Philippian Christians as his intended recipients (Philippians 1:1). He follows this with a greeting (Philippians 1:2). Finally, he ends his introduction with a note of thanks and prayer (Philippians 1:3-11). This was the standard way that letters were written in Paul’s culture. While Paul was guided by ancient letter-writing conventions, he also felt the freedom to transform some of these conventions to make powerful points. For example, in this and other letters, Paul created a wordplay on the standard Greek greeting charein (“Greetings”). He did this by substituting it with a theologically profound phrase containing the same letters: charis kai eirene (“Grace and peace”). Paul often greeted people this way because he wanted to express more than a simple “hello.” He wanted his readers to experience the grace and peace of God that had radically transformed his own life. Another way Paul’s letter to the Philippians differed from the conventions of his day is found in the note of thanks and prayer included in verses 3-11. In other Greco-Roman letters, this section usually included a prayer for the health or wealth of the recipients. Paul made no such prayer for the Philippians. Instead, he prayed that their “love may abound more and more” (Philippians 1:9). Paul prayed this, not because he didn’t care about the physical well-being of his Philippian readers, but because he understood from personal experience that allegiance to Christ did not always lead to better physical circumstances (Philippians 1:7, 12-14; 3:10; 4:11-12). What was more important was that these Christians maintained a spirit of love, no matter what situation they found themselves in. This is a prayer that we would do well to make our own. Imagine what our churches would look like if our prayers became less about improving our physical circumstances and more about expanding our capacity to love. SCRIPTURE PHILIPPIANS 1:1–11 CHAPTER 1 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. REFLECTION 1. How would you describe Paul’s feelings toward his Philippian readers? Why does he feel this way about them? Who in your life do you feel this way about and why? 2. After sharing his “affection” for his Philippian readers – an affection that is modeled after the “affection of Christ Jesus” for us – Paul prays that their “love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Philippians 1:8-9). The idea here is that they would have more than just a widespread love, but also a wise and discerning love that is able to distinguish what matters most from what is less important. How have you seen wise love in action? In what relationships could you use more wise love?

Pastor Dale Thornton continues a study in Philippians. One of the problems we have as Christians and in churches is whining or grumbling or complaining, rather than shining like a light in the world. Paul presents the Philippian Christians -- who were under heavy trials -- with a choice. They can either let their lives whine or let their lights shine.-- Pastor Dale Thornton is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Las Colinas -- a family integrated church in the Baptist Missionary Association -BMA-.

The Philippian Christians had learned the secret of joyful, liberal financial giving. The church in Philippi had taken up an offering to give to Paul, in prison because of his faith. Paul wrote back to the church and expressed his joy (see verse 10). Joy, or its derivative, occurs almost 20 times in this letter. Have you discovered the joy of giving? In what ways can giving make you a joyful person? Gary Hardin “Our consumer-oriented society pressures us to place too much value on material things, to the point that our joy is based on how much we have. This approach to life results in chronic dissatisfaction. We never seem to have enough.” Unknown

The Philippian Christians had learned the secret of joyful, liberal financial giving. The church in Philippi had taken up an offering to give to Paul, in prison because of his faith. Paul wrote back to the church and expressed his joy (see verse 10). Joy, or its derivative, occurs almost 20 times in this letter. Have you discovered the joy of giving? In what ways can giving make you a joyful person? Gary Hardin “Our consumer-oriented society pressures us to place too much value on material things, to the point that our joy is based on how much we have. This approach to life results in chronic dissatisfaction. We never seem to have enough.” Unknown

Preached By: Jeff Lyle Preached On: 01/30/2019 Description: In the last seventy-five years in America, it has become increasingly popular for those who proclaim Jesus as Savior to also proclaim a bold independence from the Church. While it is true to say that salvation is a matter between the individual and his or her God, it is not true to proclaim that following Jesus allows for the possibility of detachment from intentional partnership with other believers. As Paul continues his letter to the Philippian Christians, he takes a helpful approach to remind them that God has designed all believers to gather together, love one another deeply, serve one another, draw courage from each other and, yes, even suffer alongside one another. Salvation is a moment between one person and Jesus, but being a Christian is never done alone. We must follow together those who are following the King. Partner With Us! Text Your Donation To: (678)379-5866 Donate Online At: mynewbridge.church To learn more about us, visit: mynewbridge.church

Introduction: The Information Age So turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We are looking this morning at verses 6-16. We live in an age, relentlessly hungry for information. Some people even call it the information age. It was born by digital technology which has resulted in remarkable devices like the smartphone. It's amazing what these things can do. Search on Google, some words of archaic medieval poem, and it comes up in like three-tenths of a second. It's more than just freaky fast, it's just simply freaky. Google's supercomputers handle 40,000 search queries per second on average, 3.5 billion searches every day, and 1.5 trillion searches a year on average. So there's this relentless thirst for knowledge, for facts. And it extends to an instantaneous awareness of current events. An earthquake in Haiti, or popular uprising in Venezuela, the death of a celebrity, all of it coming to us in real time, as it's happening. This is the power of these smartphones. Data shows that by next year, there may be as many as 2.5 billion smartphone users worldwide. Yet for all of this amazing access to knowledge, there's an appalling lack of wisdom. The world continues to go on, in its foolishness, acting like there is no God, acting like there are no 10 Commandments, that there is no death, and no Judgment Day that follows. The gospel of Jesus Christ is being heard every single day by more people than ever before, in history, but it's also being rejected by more people than ever before in history. Now, the text that we're going to look at today explains why. Look at verse 14. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." But we who are Christians, we have been rescued from that spiritual darkness. And we have been specifically rescued from our darkness by the Holy Spirit of God. And so this morning we as Christians are going to celebrate the sovereign work of the Spirit in our lives. That He was able to speak into the darkness of our hearts, and show us Christ. And He's still doing that, He's going to continue to do that, as long as we live. This is the ministry of the Spirit of God. We're going to continue to follow the argument of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 as he wrote to the Corinthian church concerning the wisdom of God in the cross, and we're going to see specifically the ministry of the Spirit and delivering that wisdom to us. I. The Deep Mystery of God is Infinitely Wise The deep mystery of God is infinitely wise. Paul is tracing out for the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1-2, the apparent foolishness of the Gospel. And he's done it for a very clear reason because the Corinthians, like all Greeks, loved human philosophy, they loved human wisdom, they were enamored with it. Greek philosophy was their glory, it's what made them shine in the world. And Paul is seeking to expose their pride, their arrogance, the utter foolishness of human wisdom. And so he's been revealing effectively the competing systems of wisdom here. God's wisdom versus man's wisdom. They're in direct competition. And he's been revealing how God's wisdom appears to be foolish to the world, to the natural mind. And he does it in three steps. First, in the middle part of 1 Corinthians 1, he begins by talking about the cross of Christ. And the cross of Christ seems foolish. How could a dead Jewish man on a Roman cross be the Savior of the world? That just seems foolish. And then the second step was the Corinthian church itself. How could such an assembly of people that no one really would want, not many wise, not many influential, not many of noble birth, the foolish people really of the world, that no one wants. They are Christ's church. And that seems foolish. And then the third step we looked at last week is how would God choose as a messenger someone like Paul, who was not a very polished speaker and had rejected the strategy of polished rhetoric and speaking. He put that aside, and was even that day, not at his best. He said he was with them in weakness and fear and much trembling. It seems foolish. Why would God use such a messenger? But there is, in fact, an amazing wisdom in all of this. So as Joel began his reading in verse six it starts with the word 'yet.' So, I've been tracing out why we're turning now, we're turning a corner concerning all of this. There actually is an amazing wisdom in all of this. He's been calling Christ crucified the foolishness of God and the weakness of God, but actually it is infinite wisdom, it is infinite strength. And in this competition between God's wisdom and man's wisdom, God is going to have the final word. God is in the business of leveling human pride. Isaiah 2 makes this plain that God is set against human arrogance, human pride, against all the lofty towers and the stately trading vessels, and all the high mountains of human arrogance, those are idolatrous self-worshipping systems of human arrogance. Isaiah 2 says that God is going to level all of that. "The Lord alone will be exalted in that day." And He uses the gospel and the church and messengers of the Gospel to level human pride. The Gospel is Actually an Infinitely Wise Message So actually, Paul says here, we do preach a message of wisdom. Look at verses 6 and 7, "We do however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined, decreed for our glory before time began." So Paul speaks of we, we being messengers like me. Faithful evangelists, faithful missionaries, faithful pastors who are preaching this message. We who are speaking this message, we actually are speaking a message of wisdom. In fact, you're going to see on Judgment Day just how wise this message really was. In my home state of Massachusetts up in Newburyport there is the burial site of one of the greatest evangelists of all time, George Whitefield. And Whitfield wanted this put on his tomb as a memorial, concerning his life, "Here lies George Whitefield. What sort of man he was, Judgment Day will reveal." Now George Whitefield was one of the most famous men on earth at that point. A lot of people spoke for him or against him. He said, "You want to know who I really am, wait till Judgment Day. Then you'll see." That's true of all of us, what kind of person we really were will be revealed on Judgment Day. Well, I want to take that idea and apply it to the Gospel. Here is the Gospel of Christ, how wise it really is will be revealed on Judgment Day. But it would be very good for all of us to see its wisdom now while there's time. Before Judgment Day comes when it's too late to believe this message, it is good for us now, by faith to see how wise the message of Christ and Him crucified, really is. And so he says, "To the mature, we speak a message of wisdom." Or to the perfect, that's one translation but I think it just means to those who have received this gospel message, to those who love it, who are swimming in it, and delight in it, we can see it, can't we? We can see this is a message of wisdom. So, among the mature we are speaking a message of wisdom. And this deep mystery of God is infinitely wise. It is wise because it lines up with the central reality there is in the universe. It's foolish to live in a fantasy, in a fantasy world, in a world that isn't. We believe that God the Creator and the King and the Judge has a throne in Heaven, and that throne is the center of the entire universe. And so it is infinitely foolish to deny that Creator, King and Judge, that God. But this gospel message lines us up with that central reality. So it is very wise. The deep mystery of God and Christ is infinitely wise also because there are just so many dimensions to it, it's a very deep, wise, multi-faceted thing, what God is doing with sinners in the world through Christ. And so, it's very wise actually. And it's so wise and so overwhelming that the Apostle Paul as he was unfolding the deepest clearest exposition of the gospel, which is the book of Romans, as he's going step by step by step, and especially in that section in Romans 9-11, where he's dealing with the perplexing problem of the Jews and why the overwhelming majority of the Jews are rejecting Christ, and he gives us three chapters of answer to that, including the future when all Israel will be saved and he goes through all of that. And then it's almost like he looks at what he's written and he can't fathom everything that the Holy Spirit has told him to write in the book of Romans. And so he just gives this incredible doxology. "Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable His judgments. And His paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord? And who has been His counselor?" And so he's just in awe at the words he wrote that he doesn't understand, but he wrote them as an instrument of the Holy Spirit. And so, it is wise, this gospel is wise, because it is so multi-faceted and complex. Thirdly, this deep mystery of God is infinitely wise, because it is so powerful in humbling humanity, and we need humbling. We have been allied with Satan in his arrogant rebellion against God, who sought to ascend and topple God from His heavenly throne. We joined him in the Garden of Eden, and we have been arrogant and lofty and so proud and boastful, this gospel is wise because it humbles us. And what it's going to do is it's going to rescue people from every tribe, language, people or nation and humble us and quiet us around the throne of God, where we celebrate His grace in saving us. That's what it's going to do. So it's a very wise message. It is also infinitely wise, because it displays all of the perfections, the qualities, the attributes of God, puts them all on display. God's power, His justice, His wisdom, His mercy, His kindness, His patience, His love, all of these things are on display in the cross and in the gospel. And so it's infinitely wise, finally, because it overcomes all of Satan's complex powerful opposition to it. Satan is very intelligent, far more intelligent than any of us, and he set up all of these faulty religions and these idolatrous systems, and they're very persuasive and they're very powerful. God's wisdom is wise because it knows how to topple all of those systems and level them and rescue us out of them all, redeemed in Heaven. So see how wise is this gospel, how infinitely wise. The Ultimate End of this Wisdom: God’s Glory and Ours Now, the ultimate end of all this, look at verse 7, is God's glory in ours, in our glory. That's the end, that's where we're heading. God will be glorified by us being glorified. Look at verse 7, it says, "We speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden, and that God destined or predestined or decreed for our glory, before time began." Now that's amazing. Before time began, God worked out this message, this gospel message, so that we would end up glorious in His presence. Now God does everything for His own glory, it says in Revelation 5:13. And this is a little glimpse of heavenly worship. They're all around the throne, and they are celebrating and this is what they say, "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb," that's Jesus, "be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever." That's what we're going to be doing in heaven, just giving God the honor and the glory. So God does everything for that, for His own glory. But God will be most glorified in us when we are finally glorified in Him. When we are in our resurrection bodies, when we are shining like the sun in the kingdom of our Father, God will get maximum glory from any of His creatures at that point, that's the maximum glory there will ever be. And so God actually destined this message that we would be glorious in His presence, and it'll be His glory in us. It's not an independent glory like we're in competition, we'll be shining with His glory. In Revelation 21:10-11, an angel showed John the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Now listen to this Revelation 21:11, "It shone with the glory of God and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel like a Jasper, clear as crystal." That's the people of God, and we're going to be shinning with the glory of God through Christ. So God destined this message before time began, that we would end up glorious in Him. How powerful is that? II. The Deep Wisdom of God is Hidden from the People of this Age Now, the deep wisdom, this deep wisdom of God that we've been talking about is hidden from the people of this age. It is a secret wisdom. Look again at verse 7, "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." This is a mysterious thing. This is a hidden wisdom. And Paul calls the wisdom of God, the secret thing hidden in the mind of God, he calls them the deep things of God. This is something that the world with all of its philosophical brilliance, or its scientific acumen, with all of the precision of human technology and science, we could never have figured it out, never have plumbed the depths of it. The focus of this wisdom is Christ who was hidden in the mind of God, before He revealed Him. Isaiah 49 speaks of Christ being concealed like a secret arrow in a quiver, and at the right time, He unveiled Him. And little by little He unveiled Him in prophecy, but then at the right time, unveiled Him. This wisdom has been hidden in the mind of God, and God destined for our glory before time began. So that means before God said, "Let there be light," He worked all of this out. Revelation 13:8 speaks of Jesus as the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. So that means He was effectively, it was worked out that He would die for our sins before God said, "Let there be light." All of this was worked out in the mind of God, before time began. And Ephesians 1 tells us that God chose His elect people from every tribe, language, people, and nation, before the world began. It says in Ephesians 1:4 that God "chose us in Christ," "before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." So this is something God had worked out before the creation of the world. Now, God's wisdom is not the wisdom of this age. Verse 6, "Not the wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing." Here he makes it plain that the secret wisdom of God is not the wisdom that Satan is selling in the present age. The rulers of this age rejected it in every generation. So back in the day, the Greek heroes like Alexander the Great, who thought might makes right and won an empire with the edge of his sword, rejected the wisdom of God. And philosophical heroes like Plato and Aristotle and Socrates, they didn't discern the wisdom of God, they didn't discern Christ. And so also the rulers of our age are going to be universally rejecting the gospel of Christ. Don't be shocked by that, that the movers and shakers of the 21st century in America and around the world, the political leaders, the Fortune 500 CEO’s, the best and the brightest, the most brilliant individuals, the talking heads that everybody goes to for all this insight, for them, almost universally, this is foolishness. Just like it was in Paul's age. But Paul says the rulers of this age are coming to nothing. They're going to be exposed on Judgment Day as having been wrong, having been foolish. The crucifixion of Christ as essential moment in human history proves their blindness. Look at verse 8-9, "None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." The rulers of this age proved that they did not understand what God was doing by crucifying Jesus. Some people think the rulers of this age refers to Satan and his demons, and that kind of terminology is used in Ephesians 6, but here I really think it's humans. Because in context he says, "As it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard…'" He's talking about human beings, human rulers. And so, Annas and Caiaphas and the Jewish Sanhedrin, by rejecting Jesus, by the high priest tearing his robes and saying, "He's spoken blasphemy," they didn't recognize that Jesus was what the text says, "the Lord of glory." They didn't see Jesus as the Lord of glory. And why? Because Isaiah 53:3 says, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him." Nothing in His appearance, He just looked like an ordinary man, and they considered it blasphemy that He would be calling Himself the Son of God. And so, they didn't see it. If they had seen and known who He was, they would never have crucified Him. Pontius Pilate, I think he was puzzled by Jesus, he was troubled by Jesus. I think he wondered who Jesus was. His wife had a dream about Him, he was afraid of Jesus in some sense, but he didn't recognize Him as the Lord of Glory. If he had, he would never have given the order to his soldiers to crucify Him. They would not have crucified Him if they had known who He was, the Lord of glory. Supporting verse in verse 9, "However, as it is written, No eye has seen no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." Now people who use this verse to talk about our own future. Like, I'm writing a book now on heaven, and one person said to me, "Well, I don't think we can know anything about heaven 'cause it says, 'No eye has seen no ear has heard, neither has it entered the heart of man what God has prepared for us in heaven.'" Just read the next verse. God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. So, so much for that. But I don't even think it's talking about Heaven, this is talking about Christ crucified and resurrected. It's talking about the gospel and no eye has seen, and no ear has heard and neither has it entered into the heart of man. The natural mind would never have thought of this. We would not have come up with this gospel. No human author, no William Shakespeare, no Charles Dickens, no Mark Twain, would have ever been able to concoct this, they never would have come up with this story. Some time ago I came across a bit of prose, written to just give us a sense of the greatness and the mystery of the life of Christ. Let me read it to you. It Said this: "More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood. He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous, and had neither training nor formal education. In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service. He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the song writers combined. He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students. He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired. He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near. Once each week the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes wend their way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him. The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him. He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Savior." —The Incomparable Christ Now, no human author would come up with that, it's impossible. And the rulers of this age cannot understand this Wisdom. Verse 14, "The natural man," that's the literalistic translation. One translation says, "The man without the Spirit," but it's just the normal man, the non-supernatural man, "does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Every unbeliever around the world is inherently hostile to both the Law and the Gospel. When he hears the law of God, he fights against it. Romans 8:7 says, "The mind of the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot." III. The Spirit Searches Out and Reveals to Us the Deep Wisdom of God The mind of the flesh, that's the natural mind, hates the law of God. Ten commandments, two great commandments, hates, fights against it. But also in this text, we would say the unregenerate mind does not accept the good news of the Gospel either. The blind eye cannot receive sight. No unbeliever can ever be talked into or persuaded to, or threatened or bribed or coerced into faith in Christ, just like none of those things would make a blind eye see. It's beyond us to do that. The Spirit searches out and reveals to us the deep wisdom of God. However, though no eye has seen, though no ear has heard, though it has not entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him, the Spirit has revealed these things to us. When I was going back over the sermon a couple of days ago, it became pretty emotional for me at this point because I have increasingly realized what I owe to the third person of the Trinity for my salvation. I would still be an unbeliever. I was converted at age 19 as a junior at MIT. I've gone on into a career in science and would never believed if it weren't for the Spirit. Look at verse 10, "But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit," unveiled it to us by the Spirit. Look at the powerful work of the Spirit of God in Verse 10-11, "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Now, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. We believe in one God who has eternally existed in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, co-equal with God the Father, and God the Son, and His unique role in all of this, is to reveal Christ to unbelieving minds. To do it powerfully and effectively. And first, the text says, He searches all things, even the deep things of God. This reminds me of the first two verses of the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." So you get the sense of the depths and the darkness, and the Spirit is active and ready to work. The images of undulating chaos and turbulence and darkness and the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, He's ready to bring light and order out of the darkness and out of the chaos. Do not think the Holy Spirit of God was not involved in creation, He was. Just as Jesus was involved in creation, triune God created all things. And so it is with human conversion. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "God who said Let light shine out of darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." This text is saying He does that by the Spirit. By the Spirit, God says Let the light of Christ shine in your heart. That's what the Spirit has done for me and for all of you who are Christians. And what's amazing here, is the Spirit is said to understand the mind of God. And by extension, I'm gonna say He understands the human mind as well, He searches the mind of God, He searches out the deep things of God. Remember that doxology, Oh, the depth of the riches, the wisdom and the knowledge of God. Who has known the mind of the Lord?" This text actually answers. The Spirit has, the Spirit knows the deep things of God, He plumbs the infinite depths of the mind of God. He knows exactly what God the Father wants out of the human race. He knows what God the Father intended in sending His only begotten son Jesus into the world. He's not misunderstood theology, He's actually really good at theology. The Spirit understands predestination, election, He understands justification by faith alone, He understands sanctification, He understands glorification, He understands every heading of theology very, very well. He has searched out the mind of God and knows exactly what God thinks about all of these things. And though it doesn't say overtly here in the text, it's true, He understands your mind too. He's able to plumb the twisted dark depths of the human sinful mind. Says in Jeremiah 17:9-10, "The heart," the human heart, "is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind." He does that by the Spirit. So what that means is the Spirit of God both searches God's mind and searches our minds and is able to convert us and bring us together. He knows how to heal us, He knows how to give us spiritual sight when we are blind. I don't know if this is a good analogy, but I look on Him this morning, at least as a master safe cracker. He's able to pick the locks of your deceitful heart, and suddenly the door swings open. How did that happen? You put up all these defenses against Jesus. How many defenses did Saul of Tarsus put against this gospel? Remember how He said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." He's been pressed, he's been pushed to faith in Christ, but he's resisting, resisting, resisting. But the Spirit of God is able to cause the locked gates of the soul to swing open to Jesus. He has that kind of power, He did it in my heart. All of you who are genuinely converted, He did it in your hearts too. He has that kind of power and that is a miracle, it's called the miracle of the new birth, of being born again. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again." But Nicodemus didn't understand that, and so Jesus used this, in other words He said, "Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. The wind blows where it wishes, you hear its sound but you can't tell where it comes from, where it's going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." So the Spirit works on us to be born again to faith in Christ, and so every Christian in the world owes his or her salvation as much to the Spirit as he does to Christ. Jesus provided the atoning blood, the Spirit painted it on the doorpost and lintels of your soul. Just like the Israelites did on the night of Passover, He has painted the blood of Christ on you, and by that you are saved. Without that, it never happens. Jesus died 2000 years ago, and many people have heard about it and know about it and never believed it and went to hell. And so there needs to be that separate act of the application of the blood of Christ to our souls individually, and the Spirit does that. And the Spirit, verse 12-13, teaches us the words of the Gospel, the words of theology. Look what it says, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truth in spiritual words." So the spirit of the world, Satan, is teaching worldlings, the people of the world, the language of the world. The language of wealth, the language of power, the language of pleasure, the language of self, that's what the spirit of this age is teaching the people of this age. But the Spirit from God teaches us the language of spiritual riches that God is giving us. He puts these riches into words that people like Paul and pastors like me speak, that's all we do. Just words, words that capture how rich Christians are in the Gospel. And the Holy Spirit is able to marry spiritual truths with spiritual words. It's a difficult phrase in the Greek, but the sense is, He's putting together, knitting together, the spiritual truths that God is giving in words where you get to understand what they are. Because they're all invisible. And so the Spirit teaches us the words of theology, the words of preaching, the words of scripture, so that we can understand how rich we are in Jesus IV. The Spirit of God Transforms Our Judgments Now, the Spirit of God also transforms our status and our judgment. Look at Verse 15-16, "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment, for who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." Martin Luther, who was put under a death sentence by the Catholic authorities, the Holy Roman Emperor and by the Pope used this text to say I'm above all of your judgments. You can't do anything to me. I am not judged by any of you. I've been already judged at the cross, and now I am innocent through faith in Christ. And so we're not under any worldly judgment, we've been already judged and now declared to be 'not guilty' through faith in Christ. But we get to evaluate the world, we get to judge the world, we get to say that the pleasures and the powers and the principalities of this world are going to nothingness, and we'll still be standing when they're all swept away by the judgment of God. And then Paul says, amazingly, the last verse of this chapter, "We have the mind of Christ." Isn't that amazing? If you're a Christian you have the mind of Christ. Not you ought to have it, you do. Through the indwelling Spirit, you are already fully capable of thinking like Jesus Christ, about everything. And yet Philippians 2, Paul says to the Philippian Christians there, "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ," and then talks about humility. So it's like, how do I put that together? Ah, contradiction in the Bible. No. He says here, You have the mind of Christ. In Philippians 2, he says, now use it, think like Jesus. And so in everything at every moment of our lives, we're able to think and then live like Jesus, by the power of the Spirit. V. Applications Alright, applications. First to the unconverted, the things of the Gospel, maybe when you walked in here even this morning, might have seemed foolish to you. But maybe this morning, something's happening inside your mind, inside your heart. Happened to me. October of 1982 it happened to me, and all of a sudden things change. Maybe that's happening for you. You've heard the Gospel this morning of God sending His Son who died on the cross for sinners like you and me, that we're justified, we're made righteous by faith, not by works, that's the gospel. And it may be that this is happening to you right now, you're seeing yourself more and more as a person who needs a Savior, that you have violated God's laws, that you need a Savior, and that Jesus is the Savior. If this is happening to you, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. And not only that, He begins to show you how glorious Jesus is, and you feel an attraction, a magnetic attraction, to Jesus and you want to follow Him, this is the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Let me just give you a warning, if today you hear His voice, don't harden your heart, don't put it off, call on the name of the Lord. You don't have to go anywhere, even now you can cry out inside your mind, inside your heart, Jesus save me, and He will. Now for you who are Christians, stand in awe of the wisdom of God in all of this. You have been instructed how amazingly wise this gospel is, just stand in awe of that. This is a wise message. And isn't it amazing that He crafted it for your glory? Think about that. This message will glorify you. It is the power of God for your full salvation, it will get you to glory, just stand in awe of that. And secondly, give the Holy Spirit full credit for your salvation. Thank God for sending the Spirit for you. Understand you would still be in darkness and blind and not born again if it weren't for the Spirit of God. Thirdly, rejoice that the Spirit's not done working on you, He's still hovering over the deep of your heart. He's still got more things to teach you, He's teaching you more and more the significance of the final statement. You have the mind of Christ. Now use it, use it here, use it there, use it in thinking about money, use it in thinking about marriage, use it in thinking about sex, use it in thinking about your time, use it in thinking about everything. You have the mind of Christ, now use it. And feed on this Scripture, feed on the word to know what that means. The mind of Christ totally harmonizes with the words of Scripture and the Spirit can minister that to you. Fifth, understand the state of the lost. We are surrounded by people who are without hope, and without God in the world, and they will never understand this message, and they're lost and they're on their way to hell. If they're not converted, they will be condemned for their sins. This is the only hope for them. And as you begin to talk to them, you're going to begin to realize just how true verse 14 really is. It's going to seem foolishness to them, they're going to push back on it, etcetera. Don't give up, the Holy Spirit has power to transform sinners. He has the power to pick the locks of their soul, and it will swing open, or just maybe blow open all the defenses and then the light floods in. How powerful is that? And so, let us this week, just say, Lord lead me to someone who's ready to hear this message and just open the gates of their soul. I would love to see that happen. I would love to be sharing the gospel with someone who says, "That sounds good. What do I do?" So it's like, Lord lead me to someone who's ready to come to Christ and I will rejoice. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank You for the time that we've had in Your Word, we thank You for the power of the word, we thank You for the power of the Spirit in our lives. Thank you that You hovered over the deep of the mind of God, and You are able to draw the truths from the mind of God and deliver them to us. And thank You that You have hovered over the depths of our own twisted wickedness, the deceitfulness of our minds and You've been able to bring the truth through all of those obstacles, and barriers and hatred and dislikes, in order that we might be saved. God, make us truly thankful and make us bold as never before. Bold in our sharing of the Gospel. It's in Your name that we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.

In Philippians chapter 2 the Apostle Paul explains how the Philippian Christians can live out the gospel and walk worthy of the gospel. In Paul's exhortation he bases the reason for the unity of the Church on the union the saints have in Christ. Listen to hear Kevin Diaz unpack these gospel truths.

In Philippians chapter 2 the Apostle Paul explains how the Philippian Christians can live out the gospel and walk worthy of the gospel. In Paul's exhortation he bases the reason for the unity of the Church on the union the saints have in Christ. Listen to hear Kevin Diaz unpack these gospel truths.

To have someone you know and love praying for you is a great gift. Paul's prayer for the Philippian Christians was powerful and encouraging. Just as this church had someone dear to them praying for them, so too do all Christians today and throughout time.

This is the 15th class on the book of Hebrews. This Bible class was taught at the Pilot Point Church in Pilot Point Texas. The following is the outline of the class. The Work of the Ascended Christ Major points from last week As a system Old Testament Aaronic was inadequate because a new priesthood was prophesied. 2. It was inadequate because it was made up of dying men, where this new priesthood of Jesus isn’t. 3. The Old Testament Aaronic priesthood was appointed by God but there was never an oath given to them. 4. The Old Testament priesthood was tied to the law. 5. With the new priesthood of Jesus we can draw near to God. Hebrews 7 22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. 23Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them 26Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. Hebrews 9 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!  26Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Ephesians 5 1Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. The work of the ascended Christ Chapter 8 Hebrews 8 1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. 3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. Peter’s references to Christians as a “holy priesthood” or a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5, 9; cf. Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). Paul viewed his evangelistic work among the Gentiles, in a manner of speaking, as a priestly work (see “ministering” [Romans 15:16]). His converts were thought of as an “offering” to God. 2. The Philippian Christians were a joy to Paul. Their faith was like a sacrifice that had been given up to God; if necessary, he was willing for his own life to be “poured out as a drink offering” to complement that sacrifice (Philippians 2:17, 2 Timothy 4:6). 3. As the apostle wrote from his incarceration in Rome, he reflected upon the recent support conveyed by Epaphroditus from the church in Philippi. It was an “odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). 4. Note the similar imagery set forth in Hebrews 13:15-16.15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 5. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Revelation 8 3 6. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (12:1-2). Hebrews 8 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. 6But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. 7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said[b]: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord John 1 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 8 10This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest 12For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 13By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Subscribe to the podcast: {Apple Podcasts}{Stitcher}{Google Play}{IHeartRadio}

Christ lived and breathed under the occupation of the Roman Empire. He witnessed first hand the totalitarian might of the militant juggernaut of his day, that sought to prop itself up with the propaganda that it spread to the ends of the world. When his earthly ministry showed people a new way to live - a life in Him - it broke an empire and changed the lives of everyone, for every generation to come. It wasn’t however, for a few hundred years, that Christianity would become the sanctioned and practiced religion of the Roman Empire. Lead Pastor Stuart Starr opens this exciting series of teaching, exploring how, in it’s earliest days, Christianity is caught up in the midst of the Holy Spirit moving across the known world, changing people from the inside-out. Join with the NewLife@Night service, and meditate on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, a letter written from prison - a letter that has no hint of self-pity, self-sympathy or sadness. A letter that radiates joy - joy that Christ was proclaimed, joy in fellowship with the Philippian Christians and, above all, joy in Jesus himself.

Christ lived and breathed under the occupation of the Roman Empire. He witnessed first hand the totalitarian might of the militant juggernaut of his day, that sought to prop itself up with the propaganda that it spread to the ends of the world. When his earthly ministry showed people a new way to live - a life in Him - it broke an empire and changed the lives of everyone, for every generation to come. It wasn’t however, for a few hundred years, that Christianity would become the sanctioned and practiced religion of the Roman Empire. Lead Pastor Stuart Starr opens this exciting series of teaching, exploring how, in it’s earliest days, Christianity is caught up in the midst of the Holy Spirit moving across the known world, changing people from the inside-out. Join with the NewLife@10 service, and meditate on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, a letter written from prison - a letter that has no hint of self-pity, self-sympathy or sadness. A letter that radiates joy - joy that Christ was proclaimed, joy in fellowship with the Philippian Christians and, above all, joy in Jesus himself.

Paul's letter to the Philippian Christians is filled with encouragement for their joy. From the very beginning, Paul shows us that unshakable joy is rooted in the message and mission of the gospel of Jesus.

The Philippian Christians are mostly a mature group. Paul tells them how they can complete his joy and be more as Christ. Christ's Mind in You | Philippians 2:1-30 | Sermon Outline If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and questionings: that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life; that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain neither labor in vain. Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all: and in the same manner do ye also joy, and rejoice with me. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will care truly for your state. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me: but I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come shortly. But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need; since he longed after you all, and was sore troubled, because ye had heard that he was sick: for indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy; and hold such in honor: because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.

Paul has a great relationship with the Philippian Christians. Despite their maturity they still have a need to live as worthy of the Gospel, growing in love and unity. Worthy of the Gospel | Philippians 1:1-30 | Sermon Outline Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. Now I would have you know, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel; so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one do it of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel; but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds. What then? only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in the flesh, - if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide, yea, and abide with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith; that your glorying may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing affrighted by the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God; because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf: having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

sermon transcript Introduction Well, Christmas is a time of journey, it is a time of moving around from place to place, many of you are going to be traveling this week, I know of some of you who have traveled to get here, to be with family, and maybe you are guests or visitors. And so we know this a time of moving around, a time in which people move. They travel to be with family, they're willing to pay elevated air fares or to bear the traffic around urban centers. They're willing to just get in a car packed up with all kinds of gifts or whatever and drive long distances to be with family, and just to sit and to enjoy that family time together. I picture in my mind's eye: a crackling fire in the hearth, that we haven't had one in years but I just love that picture and the tree right there, hopefully not too close to the fire, but just the enjoyment of being with family and friends, it's a time of moving around. I also picture sometimes, this is a time of the year after Christmas in which people go to missions, conferences, I know a year ago we went to the cross-conference and traveling through the hills of West Virginia or Western North Carolina, seeing the snow and all that. It's a great time. A time of movement. Christmas has always been associated with journeys, if you look at the very beginning, in Luke chapter 2, when Caesar Augustus issued his decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And that meant movement. It meant populations moving around within Palestine, as each of the Jews went to their home area to their tribal - their place of tribal ancestry - and they would go there to register, and we know that that's what moved Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, where the prophecy had said that the Christ was to be born. After Jesus was born, shepherds moved a very short distance from the hills outside of Bethlehem to see this incredible thing that the angel had told him about as the angel descended, and who told them, "'Today in the town of David, a Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord.'" And so they said, "Come, let's go see what the angel has told us about." And they left the sheep and went to see, and it was just what the Lord had told them would happen. And of course, we know the story of the Magi, we don't know how far they traveled, but they moved from distant lands and they were following a supernatural light, a star that moved and was able to stop over at the place where the child lay, and they traveled from their great distances because of the birth of Christ. And these long journeys were caused by the coming of Christ into the world. And so people since that time have been traveling also, because Christ came into the world. The entrance of Christ into our sin cursed world, result in massive movements of people, providentially. God has been moving people around to achieve His sovereign goals. I think especially of missionaries who have left their own homes and have gone long, long distances to bring the news of Christ, the coming of Christ and of his birth, of His death and resurrection, to those who have never heard his name. John Paton was a missionary from Scotland in the 19th century. He traveled probably farther than any missionary in history, I don't know that this is true, but I can't think of anyone that traveled farther. From Glasgow, Scotland to Tana in the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. A distance of 9987 miles as the crow flies. Don Richardson, who wrote the missions book, Peace Child, traveled from Calgary, Alberta to Papua New Guinea, a distance of 6167 Miles. William Carey, for him, the distance from London to Serampore, India was 4934 miles as the crow flies, but he had to actually navigate around Africa to get there, an additional 5000 miles. So many people have traveled long distances to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have never heard his name. In 1993, Christie and I boarded a plane with Nathaniel and Jenny. Our two children that were alive at that time - please don't think we left the other three behind, they just weren't born yet, they were in the mind of God. But we took those two and they came with us to Japan, and for us that distance was over 7000 miles and our desire was to bring Christ to what was at that time the largest unreached people group in the world, the Japanese, that they would hear the gospel. Yet I would say that of all of these journeys, no journey is as vast and immeasurable, even indeed infinite as the journey traveled by Christ Himself, in the text that we're going to look at today, in Philippians Chapter 2, it's an infinite journey. The coming of Christ from Heaven to Earth, to the cross, to the grave. No one has traveled so far. Look again at the words of Philippians 2, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." So in this Christmas sermon, we're going to trace out the words from the words of the text, Christ's stunning and amazing journey. Where Christ began in divine and heavenly glory, how Christ traveled downward into human form, how He traveled further downward to human humility, how Christ traveled infinitely downward at the cross. How then God exalted Christ upward in resurrection glory. How God exalted Christ even further to heavenly glory at His right hand. And now, how God through the Spirit has been exalting Christ to worldwide glory, that's the journey we're going to follow. Down and back up again. Where Christ Began: Divine and Heavenly Glory Before the Incarnation, Jesus Existed Eternally in Heavenly Glory And so we're going to start with where Christ began, divine and heavenly glory. Look at verse 6, "Who being in very nature God, speaking of Christ, who being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped." Some of the translations have, "Did not think it robbery to be considered equal with God." So before the incarnation, Jesus existed eternally in heavenly glory, He was not created by God the Father. He was eternally begotten as God the Son and received from Him equal glory and equal worship from the heavenly angels. Now, as we've been studying in the book of Isaiah, we realize that He does not share His glory with any created being. Remember how we saw in Isaiah 42:8, The Lord says this, "'I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.'" There is an infinite gap between God as the creator and all created beings, the creature. A.W. Tozer put it this way In his classic Knowledge of the Holy, he said, "We must not think of God as the highest in an ever ascending order of beings starting with the single cell and going on from there to the fish, to the bird, to the animal, to man, to angel, to cherub, to God. This would be to grant God eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough. We must grant him transcendence in the fullest sense of the word. Forever, God stands apart. In light, unapproachable. He is as high above an archangel, is above a caterpillar. For the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite." End quote. In that quote from Tozer, there is 1 Timothy six, 15 and 16, which says, "God, the Blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who dwells in unapproachable light whom no one ever has seen or can see." That's God. But Jesus shared God's glory equally. He shared his position in the universe as Almighty God equally. We know that, because as his work was nearing an end the night before He was crucified, He asked in John 17:5, "'Father glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began,'" which would be infinitely bold for him to ask if He were not almighty God. Christ Equally God, Equally Glorious, Equally Worshipped So Christ was equally God, equally glorious, equally worshipped. It was not robbery, as one of the translations has, for him to be considered equally God. Another way to look at it is He didn't think it was something He had to grab hold of, to be God or something to hold on to, all the trappings of divine glory. There's different ways to look at that. But He didn't consider it robbery to be considered equally God. It was not arrogance, it was not idolatry, it was not presumption, it was not wickedness. In Isaiah 6, in the call of Isaiah, we have these unforgettable words. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And above Him were seraphim, each with six wings. And with two wings, they covered their faces. And with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another. 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.'" Now, in John 12, the apostle John says, Isaiah spoke about Jesus's glory because he saw him. He saw Jesus's glory and spoke about Him. He said, Jesus's glory, so I think his definitely having in mind Isaiah 6. And so he sees Christ in throne before the incarnation. Jesus's glory was so brilliant before his incarnation that the holy angels couldn't bear to look on him. They'd never committed any sin, they were holy and pure, morally perfect and yet, they're covering their faces. Because Christ dwelt an unapproachable light. 100 million angels, Daniel 7, gives us the implication of a 100 million angels worshipping Christ. That's hard to even fathom what that would have looked like. And so Jesus did not think it robbery to be counted equal with God, it was not robbery to be as divine as God the Father, as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, righteous, just, loving, wrathful, eternal. All the attributes you can think of when you think about God, they are equally true of Christ before his incarnation. It was not robbery to be as glorious as the Father. He was as brilliant, as radiant, as terrifying to the holy angels, as was God the Father. And it was not robbery to be worshipped like God the Father, there was nothing wrong and everything right for the son being worshipped by those 100 million angels. The Downward Journey: To Earth, to Servanthood, to the Cross The Father Sent Him and He Obeyed That's where Jesus was when he began his downward journey - the pinnacle of glory, the pinnacle of deity and worship - but then the downward journey begins, to earth, to servanthood and to the cross. First, we must understand the Father sent Him and he obeyed. 1 Peter 1:20 says that "He was chosen before the creation of the world" to be our savior. The father sent him from his side into the world 40 times in John's Gospel. It is said of Jesus that the Father sent Him. He is the sent one. Again and again in John's gospel, it stresses this, that the Father sent Him. For example, John 6:38 and 39, "'For I have come down from heaven. Jesus said, not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me, and this is the will of Him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.'" Friends, by the way, John 6:38, 39 too are the most encouraging verses in the whole Bible. The Father sent the Son into the world to save his children, and he will not stop until He raises you up on the final day. And isn't that encouraging? But again, clearly, the Father sent Him. Or again, John 8:42, he said, "'I came from God,'" this is Jesus speaking, I came from God and now I'm here. "'I have not come on my own, but He sent me.'" So it is clear that the Father sent Jesus on a mission into the world. The Father sent Jesus to become a baby. Jesus Chose to Become Human The father sent Jesus to seek and to save the lost, but Philippians 2 emphasizes Christ's own decision in the matter. His own will in the matter. In his pre-incarnate state, he chose to enter the world. He willed to do it. He was delighted to do it even. He chose to become a human being. Look again at verses five through seven, "Jesus: who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness." You see the willfulness of it, the choice of it on Jesus's part. He is choosing to do this, it was His will to leave heavenly glory, to make himself nothing. It was his will to become human, to be made in human likeness. And the phraseology here, he was in very nature, God, is the NIV's translation. He became in very nature, servant. I've meditated on it. He was as much servant as he ever was God. He didn't play at being a servant, act at it, he truly to his core was a servant. And the essence of that is he became human in order to do it. Once Made Human, He Chose a Downward Journey From There Now once made human, he chose a downward journey from there. God ordained for the birth of Jesus to be noteworthy in its humility and noteworthy in its poverty, actually. It was extremely poor, the circumstances of his birth. Unusually poor, very few babies in the world are born into as degrading circumstances as was the son of God. You know the story, of course, no room in the end, and so Jesus ends up being born in a stable, it might have been a cave outside Bethlehem, it might have been one of those barn type things that you look at. But it was a degrading situation, surrounded by animals. And then after His birth, He was wrapped in cloths by His mother Mary, who apparently, had no help at all. I'm not trying to be insulting to Joseph, but he was probably no help at all. There were no midwives, there were no nurses, there were no OB-GYN, there was no NICU standing by in case there was a problem with the baby, no one took his Apgar score, I don't think any of that happened. And then he's laid in a box of feeding trough for animals. I mean, you think of all the efforts made at Duke or at UNC to keep new-born babies free from any infections at all and free from viruses, and that's a laudable effort, and I know some of you are involved and I praise God for your work. And it's well done too because the infant mortality rates are - it's just a terrible tragedy, I get that. But none of that was there for Jesus, none of it. He's born into abject poverty. I mean, think about 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our lord Jesus, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor. So that you, through His poverty might become rich." So the vast majority of the world's population is poor, below a certain line of poverty, and Jesus, by being born in this way, identified with their poverty. Downward Further: Servant to All He willingly chose by his humble birth circumstances, but then once he became a man, he made more and more of the same kind of conscious choices. Verse 8 again, "Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient." He was obedient, he always did what the Father told him to do, He was constantly obedient. We talked about that last week with Isaiah 50. The Lord gave him an opened ear, and he was not rebellious, He didn't draw back, He did everything the Father commanded him to do. He humbled himself and served the father. And at the horizontal level, He humbled himself and served anyone and everyone who came to him for anything. I mean, do you read an account of someone coming to Jesus for something and not getting what they came from for? It's amazing how humble He was to people who came and needed something from him. Think about Matthew Chapter 8, "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 'Lord', He said, 'My servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.' Jesus said to Him, 'I will go and heal him.'" Matthew chapter 9, the very next chapter, "…a ruler came and knelt before him and said, 'My daughter has just died, but come and put your hand on her and she will live.' Jesus got up and went with him." Matthew 14, "When Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been executed], He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." All He wants to do is be alone and pray to his father. He was grieving. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering, and He was grieving over the death of John the Baptist, his friend. And so He just wanted to be alone, but the crowds wouldn't let him be alone. When He landed on the other side of the sea, a huge crowd was waiting for him. And when He saw them, “He had compassion on them and healed them” and taught them many things and fed them. And so He fulfilled his own words. Mark 9:35, "If anyone wants to be first, He must be very last and the servant of all." So, Jesus humbled himself and became obedient. But Jesus’ Obedience and His Humbling Went to the Infinite Level But Jesus's obedience and his humbling went to the infinite level. So let's finish the thought, "And being found in appearance as a man", Verse 8, "He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross." The cross was His perfect act of submission and obedience to His Heavenly Father. He said, "The world must learn that I love the Father, and I do everything the Father has told me to do. Including dying." And so He said in Gethsemane, "'Not my will but yours be done.'" He drank the cup for us. Now, the cross was infinitely degrading to Jesus. You cannot measure it, you cannot understand how degrading it was. Isaiah 52:14, which God willing we'll get to soon, it says this, "Just as there were many who were appalled at Him, His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness." Now that's got to be talking about Jesus's death on the cross. And then in the very next chapter, Isaiah 53, it says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." No one can possibly imagine, fathom how infinitely degrading and humiliating it was for Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy Son of God, to bear our sins, our defilements, our iniquities, our wickedness on himself like swimming in a swamp of un-holiness covered with the muck of our lusts and murders, and thefts and blasphemes and corruptions. And then being justly with him as our substitute, crushed by God the Father, suffering the infinite wrath of God for us as our substitute. This was the very reason why He became human. This is why He took on a body that He might lay that body down in our place on the cross, that was the nadir, that was the bottom of this downward journey that we have been tracing out here in Philippians 2, from Heavenly glory to death, even death on a cross, and then to burial in the grave. The Upward Glory: Resurrection, Ascension, Enthronement God Glorified Jesus in His Resurrection But now, we begin the infinite upward journey as well. Resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. Look at Verse 9, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name." God the Father glorified Jesus in His bodily resurrection from the dead. At Christmas time, we celebrate the commitment of God the Son to be human, that is eternal, it's perpetual, he's still human. He took on a body because we humans, we have bodies. He died and laid that body down. God raised him from the dead in a resurrection body to show his perpetual commitment to Christ as human, as our mediator. And so, God glorified Jesus in His resurrection. Verse 4 of Romans Chapter 1 says, "Through the spirit of holiness, Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." So this, just glory as God raised Him from the dead. God Glorified Jesus in His Ascension And then God glorified Jesus in His Ascension to Heaven. I love that moment in Acts 1 verse 9, where Jesus after he'd spent 40 days with His disciples. Teaching them many things about the Kingdom of God took them out to the Mount of Olives. And it says in Acts 1:9, "He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." I remember at one time, a number of years ago, one of my kids got one of those free balloons from Kroger and - a helium balloon - and it wasn't properly secured around the wrist. You know those moments. You ever seen that? And then off it goes, we step out, and it just goes, and I just stood there watching it go higher and higher and higher, thinking about the Ascension of Jesus Christ. It's funny my child wasn't thinking about the Ascension of Christ at that moment. It was a moment of great sadness and sorrow, but I was just thinking, what would it have been like to stand there on that hillside and see Jesus as He went higher and higher until finally, a cloud hid Him from their sight. It must have been an awesome sight. And you get the picture of the apostle just standing there staring and like the world. Their lives have ended. They're just there now. And they're immobile. And so God has to send an angel to say, "Come on, let's move along, now. Go back into Jerusalem. The Lord's going to come and give you the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't stand here waiting. He's coming back some day." But what an awesome glory that was to Jesus to ascend. But the book of Hebrews tells us that even the cloud hiding from the sight. That wasn't enough. Jesus, it says, "Has moved through the heavens," So you can imagine like circle upon circle of heavenly reality and exaltation and glory, and Jesus is going higher and higher and higher, even within the heavenly realms. God Glorified Jesus in His Enthronement at His Right Hand It says in Hebrews 4:14, "We have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, and then God glorified Jesus in His enthronement at His right hand." Mark 16:19 says, "After Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into Heaven and sat at the right hand of God." Psalm 110 verse 1, "The Lord said, to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." Ephesians 1:20-22 kind of captures all of this upward journey that we've just covered so quickly. Ephesians 1:20-22 says this, "That God raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." So that's the upward journey from the grave to a resurrection, to ascension, to sitting at the right hand of God over everything there is in the universe. “Therefore” Means the Humiliation Results in the Exaltation I also want you to notice the link between verse 8 and 9. By the word, therefore, the downward journey was the causal relationship to the upward exaltation. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. No one has humbled himself as much as Jesus, and therefore no one is as exalted as Jesus. There's a connection. Therefore God raised Him from the dead and seated him at His right hand. Therefore, He exalted him to the highest place. Jesus Given the Name that is Above Every Name: God There's a link there. And then it says, Jesus is given "the name that is above every name." Well, that simply is God, He's given the name God or any name that we could refer to God, God the Son, Almighty God, omnipotent, powerful ruler of Heaven and Earth, the one who sits in throne above the circle of the Earth and all its people are like grasshoppers. He is the sustainer of everything in the universe. He is the judge of all the Earth. Any title that could be given that's glorious. Jesus has those titles. Christmas Results in Greater Glory for Jesus Than if He’d Never Come And Christmas results in a greater glory to Jesus than He would have had if He had not come to Earth. He ends up with more glory because of what He did. Revelation 5:9, it says, "They sang a new song in Heaven, singing to Jesus, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." They're celebrating his atoning work, and so He is in Heaven, and He is glorified and exalted. But there is a remaining glory yet for Jesus, and that is a worldwide worship. Look at Verses 9-11, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." The Remaining Glory: Worldwide Worship The Glory of Christ Has Been Spreading Since His Resurrection Now the glory of Christ has been spreading and increasing since His resurrection and ascension. It's been getting greater and greater every day, every single day. On the night of His resurrection, Jesus came to where his disciples were in the upper room where the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, and Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you," and they were stunned when they saw him and filled with joy, and He showed them His hands and His side. The marks of His atoning work. And again, He said to them, "'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so, I am sending you.' And then He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" And with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the church started moving out, started that external journey that we talk about, just pouring out of the Upper Room to those thousands of pilgrims who had come there for the day of Pentecost and began preaching the Gospel beginning in Jerusalem, a church started there, it grew to 3000 baptized that first day, and it just continued to grow in Jerusalem. Persecution broke out, it spread throughout Judea and Samaria, and they preached the Gospel in that area. It was taken down to Ethiopia by that eunuch that Philip witnessed to out in the desert from Isaiah 53; we will get to all that. It spread to the Gentiles by Peter's witnessing to Cornelius and his family. It spread to Cypress and then throughout Asia Minor by Paul and Barnabas as they went on their first missionary journey. And then it spread across to Macedonia and Thessalonica, and down to Athens and Corinth by Paul and Silas as they were called there by the Holy Spirit. It was taken in chains by Paul to Rome, the center of the Roman Empire, but God's word was not chained, and a church was growing up there in Rome and spreading, and everyone in the Roman world heard about that. It continued to spread after the apostolic era through the Roman empire by the blood of martyrs, seed for the church, and our brothers and sisters willing to die for their faith so that the Gospel might spread and Christ might get more and more glory and honor. As the Gospel spread throughout the Roman world, it continued to spread through the barbarian tribes of Europe, it spread to Germania and Britannia, by early Roman missionaries continued little by little to conquer Europe, spread eastward to the vast rolling hills and valleys of Russia, the distant, mysterious kingdoms of India and China in those early centuries, under the Nestorian's, spread along the Silk Road into the steps of Central Asia. Explorers started taking banners of their Christian kings and queens to the New World, but genuine missionaries came too and started sharing the Gospel among those that were already living in the new world, and the Gospel continued to spread. The Name of Jesus is Greater and Greater with Every Day of Missions The last three centuries have seen an explosion of missions to India, Burma, China, distant islands of the South Pacific. After World War II, the unreached people groups began to be isolated and focused on, and more and more turning to the Gospel that they're hearing as this thing relentlessly spread. You know how it says, there's more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 who don't need to repent? Everyone person who turns to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit under the true Gospel, that's more glory for Jesus up in Heaven. Amen. That's awesome. And every saint that dies and is "absent from the body, present with the Lord" and sees his or her Lord face-to-face and is instantly transformed and made holy and perfect in every way, more glory for Jesus, and there is yet more glory to come, there's more and more work to be done. The Gospel is going to continue to spread. We're going to continue to evangelize right here in the Durham area and to be involved in missions to the ends of the Earth. And it's going really, really well. It's exciting, actually. This is a great time to be alive. I read an incredible article in World magazine written by David Garrison. The name of the article was the rising tide of Muslim converts to Christianity. And David Garrisons is an IMB missionary for 25 years, PhD from the University of Chicago. He's written a book called, A Wind in the House of Islam. A Wind in the House of Islam. He believes - and in that book, he does research and relates the results of his research - he believes, based on his research, that somewhere between two and seven million former Muslims have converted to Christianity in the past two decades. He says there's been lots of upheaval in the Muslim world, but some of that has actually loosened the grip of Islam on the hearts of people living in Muslim countries. Key example is Iran. Garrison says that The Ayatollah Khomeini has been one of the greatest evangelists for Christ that Iran has ever seen. He didn't mean to be that way, but that's been the outcome. What do I mean? What did Garrison mean? Well, because of his overwhelming dedication to enforce the Islam that is actually taught in the Quran, hear me carefully, it's not extreme Islam, it's genuine Islam, and he desired to enforce that in Iran, thousands and thousands of Iranians don't want any part of it. Don't want any part of it. They're leaving Islam in record numbers. Tens of thousands and probably hundreds of thousands in Iran are now brothers and sisters in Christ. And Jesus's glory has increased as a result of that. That's happening on a grand scale in many places. Garrison said this; there are movements of Muslims to Christ. And by that, I mean not just individuals, but movements of at least a thousand within a single community who have been baptized or 100 churches planted over the last two decades. Those are his criteria from one end of the Muslim world to the other, so from West Africa to Indonesia and everywhere in between. He said Muslims are having their sleep disturbed by visitations and by answered prayers as well. He said we've talked to a number of folks who just talked about how they tested God. They said, "If this is real, I'm just going to pray, and if you're really there, Lord, I want you to hear this." And Jesus began to reveal Himself through His faithfulness in amazing ways, and they realized that to follow Christ was not to follow a 2000-year-old dead prophet. It was to follow the living Lord. That, for them, was the turning point. Garrison said this, "I traveled more than a quarter of a million miles into the Muslim world, and in every corner I interviewed people, I would never have imagined I'm talking about Sheikhs and Imams and Mullahs, leaders in the Islamic community who gave testimony to having been baptized after having met Jesus and knowing that in doing so, they were saying, "I am willing to die because they knew very well that Islamic law did not allow for conversion from Islam to anything." "Over the next... The course of the next couple of years, as I began compiling lists," said Garrison, "What I discovered was that in the whole course of Muslim-Christian interaction, there have been 82 times, 82 movements of Muslims to Christ of at least a thousand baptisms or 100 church plants over the last two decades," 82 times. Now, here's what's striking, 69 of those have occurred since the year 2000, we're in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history. I don't think the Church of Christ is aware of this. Now, even though it's minuscule, when you look at 1.6 billion Muslims, it's less than 1.5% of Muslims have been touched by the Gospel at all. Yet we're seeing 84% of all the movements that have ever happened in the history of missions right now among the Muslim world, and that's exciting. By the way, all of that's in a book written by David Garrison. It's on my desk, in my office. I will give that book after worship is over. I'm going to go to the back of the church to the first person that promises that they'll read it sometime in the next three months. I mean, all of it. If you make me a promise that you'll read the whole book, I'll give it to you for free. Moving on. Jesus Deserves to Be Worshipped and Glorified as God Jesus deserves to be worshipped and glorified as God. Verse 10:11, "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Simply put, people are saved. They're saved from their sins when by the power of the Holy Spirit, under the hearing of the true Gospel, they confess the deity of Christ. And when they do, Christ's glory increases that much more. This human baby that we're celebrating at Christmas time recognizes fully God and their own savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christmas Leads to Missions! So, therefore, Christmas leads to Missions. Amen. It leads to missions. This is a completely appropriate emphasis of Southern Baptist churches across the nation. The Lottie Moon Offering $120,000 for our goal, 175 million nationwide, if you happen to have 175 million lying around somewhere, give it to The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering or less is fine to consider the widow who gave two copper coins, and we're told she gave more than anyone, whatever God calls you to do. But more than that, lay yourself on the line in 2015 to grow in your commitment to evangelism and missions. You're commitment to seeing Christ's glory expand more and more, that every knee would bow and every tongue would confess. That should be the passion of our hearts. Applications Celebrate with Great Joy! So some final applications, first just celebrate with great joy. Christmas time, enjoy yourselves in a Christian way, enjoy yourselves. Have a good time with your family. But let's be sure that we remember Him who gave everything that we might have all of these gifts. Let's make Him the center of our celebration. Amen. I know we mean to, but often we forget. We've got our own family traditions, etcetera. Don't forget. Don't forget, and I mean, just literally like the text says, bow your knees to Jesus, get down on your knees on Christmas morning, and thank Him for dying for you and rising again. Worship Him as God. I'm going to especially challenge fathers, okay? Lead your families on Christmas morning with the Bible, read scripture, Colossians 1, John 1, Hebrews 1, or the accounts that were so familiar with in Luke and Luke 2, and in Matthew 1 and 2. Focus on Christ and worship Him. Imitate Jesus’ Downward Humility Secondly, imitate Christ's downward journey in your own way. We cannot travel as far as he traveled, but the same downward upward journey is commended by Paul to all Christians in Philippians 2. That's the reason why he's even talking about it. He wanted the Philippian Christians to get along and to serve one another. And so take to heart what he says in Verses 2-5, "Be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest but also to the interest of others." Have this mind in you, which is also in Christ. Think like He did, who went that downward journey. Missions Thirdly, missions. The exaltation of Christ has continued now for 2000 years. God has sent people on long journeys to win the ends of the Earth. Ask God to make you more attentive than ever before to missions, learn more about it, ask him to give you a heart for missions, embrace church members who are serving overseas, who are presently there in the field now. It's actually pretty lonely to be on the field at Christmas time. It's a strange feeling. In Japan, they celebrated Christmas in a purely secular way. There was nothing Christian about it, in that way, similar to the US, but without churches and people assembling together. Other places, it's just another day. There's no difference at all. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are serving on the field. Young people, I just believe that God is going to be calling some of you to go and lay down your lives to the unreached people groups. I'm talking about high schoolers, college students. What is God doing with you? What is He calling you to be and to do? I just would love to see FBC as a launching pad for unreached people group missionaries. And so if you're young, you might be in elementary school and you just, your ears are perking up. You might be in middle school. You might be in high school, college, or just out of college. What do you want to do with your life? How do you want to sacrifice and serve? Could this be something God is calling you to do? Consider it. Come to Christ And then, finally, if I could just say if you're a visitor here, you were invited here, and you know you're on the outside looking in, and you've never given your life to Christ, today is the day for you. Repent and believe. Give your life to Christ, trust in Him. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Close with me in prayer. Father, thank you for this time of celebration that we have, this time of year, in which we get to rejoice and delight in the gift of Jesus Christ for us. Closing Prayer Father, I pray that we would... That we would not think too highly of ourselves. As we're opening gifts, Lord help us to not feel I deserve this, or we deserve this. So Lord, help us to realize that you have lavished grace on us contrary to what we deserve. Thank you for Jesus, who is God in the flesh, and who gave Himself fully for us, and thank you for His bloodshed on the cross. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

There are at least some people in every church like the Philippian Christians.

There are at least some people in every church like the Philippian Christians.

We're picking up in Romans chapter six, and this is where we left off. And we're gonna zip right through the end of the chapter, because this is where Paul is in a series of repetitions. Then we're going to get to chapter seven, where we're going to encounter what may be the most unexpected metaphor about what Paul's been talking about here–and that is the relationship of the believer to sin and how our newness of life in Christ is supposed to transform that entire equation. But we pick up in chapter six, verse 12, with the theme verse for this chapter: “Therefore do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Now in chapter six, verse one, Paul asked this question, “What shall we say then are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”Then he answers it in verse two, “may it never be!” How shall you, who died to sin, or we, who died to sin, still live in it?”  One of the accusations against the gospel is that it leads to antinomianism, which means no-law-ism. In other words, the idea that one can live however one wants to live. And you have to remember that our original context is very important. And even though it is the original context, 20 centuries ago, it's pretty close to how we live today as well, in that the first audience for this letter is the Roman congregation, and we've talked about this so many times, were made up Christians. Some of whom had been Jews who came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and some had been Gentiles. Now before Christ, what was the big difference between the Jew and the Gentile? The law. The Jews had the law. The law was the special revelation of God given to the children of Israel. Most preeminently in Mount Sinai, through Moses, God gave it to the people of Israel. First, these 10 words, the 10 Commandments, and then also the entire body of law. And that's what made Israel distinctive. The law was a representation of the covenant, the special covenant that God had with his chosen people, Israel. So, in this church are those who had come out of the religion of the law. And then there were those who had come out of the lifestyles of lawlessness. They had come together and here they are in one church made up of believers in Jesus Christ. By definition new believers, because this is a young church, a first generation church. And Paul's trying to help them see the realities of what the Christian life is supposed to be like.But it's interesting, isn't it? Paul has to raise and answer this question, because obviously there are some people who are saying, “Hey, the more we sin, grace much more abounds, so let's just sin, so we'll see more grace.” And you can understand how a fallen human mind could think this way. Look, if God loves to forgive sin, let's let Him have a lot of pleasure in forgiving sin. Let's sin a lot so that He would be pleased and forgiving a lot. Paul shows that to be among the most perverse forms of logic. We could imagine when Paul says, “may it never be!” That's one of his strongest statements and he uses it several times in the book of Romans, and at least twice in this chapter, “may it never be!” As you see, also in verse 15, he makes this very clear. This is not the answer.Then he explains in the remainder of chapter six  why it's not the answer; why we as Christians, can't give ourselves to sin. We can't use the excuse that since there's grace abounding to the greatest of sinners, we should sin as much as possible. Paul says that shows that you just don't understand the gospel. Frankly it calls into question whether or not you actually have had this saving encounter with Christ. Because if you have, you will begin to hate those things, which you had loved. The transformation of the gospel is not just in who we are and it's not even just in what we do, it's in what we want. That's what Paul wants us to see. The transforming power of grace in the Christian's life is not just demonstrated in the fact that there is an objective difference now that we are no longer under wrath and under grace.It's no longer just that we do things we had never done before. And we do not do things we had done before. It's that our very wants are realigned. And that's a demonstration of what grace really does in the life of the believers. So Paul goes on in Romans chapter six, as we saw, by using a metaphor of baptism in verse four: “Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death. So just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” This newness of life. It's not just like a new page. It's a new dimension, a new experience living under the covenant of grace. We learn what it is to live, no longer by the law, but the law of Christ, which isn't a lower law, it's a higher law. Jesus recites the law for instance, on the Sermon of the Mount, he says, “You have heard it said”, and then he says, “But I say to you,” –he never minimizes the law.When it comes to adultery, he never says, “You have heard it said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, it's no big deal.”  That's not what Jesus does. He does the opposite. He says, “You have heard it said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, if a man lusts in his heart, he has committed adultery.” And what is Jesus doing there? He is not just upping the ante, so to speak. He's getting to the heart. Jesus is concerned with the heart. Christianity addresses itself to the heart. The heart is the metaphor for the being, who the person really is. And so when we talk about a transformed heart, we are talking about a difference in who we are–even in what we desire. We ended with verse 12 last time. We pick up on verse 13, as Paul says, “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin.”Now, what are the members of our body? Well, the limbs, that's what he was talking about. Actually the entirety of the human body and what he is saying here is that the body's important. Now, why is this really important for us to recognize? Well it's because Christianity is a holistic faith and there are some faiths that really have no concern for the body whatsoever. Then there are other religions that make the body the issue. There are those who think that the issue is to starve the body or to punish the body in terms of atonement for sin. We don't believe that. You could beat yourself up. You could starve yourself. And that has nothing to do with your salvation. Then there are those who say that the body doesn't matter at all. And these are dualistic fatihs, in which it's just what you have on the inside that matters in terms of your own personality and your own consciousness and all the rest, and what you do with your body really isn't all that important. Now these are ancient heresies, but I tell you, they are alive in our culture today. Because this dualism is how a lot of very sophisticated sin. I say very sophisticated sinners because they think “I can do this with my body without doing this with my heart”  And the Bible calls that a lie. You know, the Bible says the one who commits adultery is an adulterer. None of that works. Your heart betrays who you are because your body has betrayed your heart. And there are some who can rationalize this. They can say this, “Look, my, my body can do any number of things, but my internal soul was unblemished by all this.”  And Christianity would answer that with a thunderous, “nonsense.” So Paul says, “do not go on.” And the verb tense there is very interesting. It's the progressive “do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin” How? “As instruments of unrighteousness.” So our body is an instrument of one thing or another. It's either an instrument for righteousness or unrighteousness. And what we do with our body is a big and very important indicator of who we really are and whether or not we've transformed by the power of Christ.The power of the resurrection comes in here, too. We are to present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead. We were dead. So we had a dead body. Now the body that is alive in Christ is owned by him. Our members are then to be instruments of righteousness for “sin shall not be master over you for you are not under the law, but under grace” What then, shall we sin? Because we are not under the law, but under grace? May it never be” There's that second time he comes thunderously with this. Here's that perverse logic again, “let's sin because we're not under the law. We're under grace.” Now I am certain that any of you have been Christians for any number of years. You've heard this. It's almost as if some people don't even know this verse in the Bible, because they say exactly the opposite. We're not under the law. We're under grace. Okay. That's true. What does that mean? So we can do this, or we can do that. Sorry. Grace is not a lower law. It's a higher law. But it's not a law that measures your own righteousness in terms of whether you measure up to this. But it's a state which is achieved by Christ's own righteousness, imputed to us. But that righteousness is to become evident in us. That's the doctrine of sanctification. “Do you not know?” And, by the way, Paul uses legal language very commonly. When Paul in his letter says, “do you not know” that is his emphatic way of saying, “you're supposed to know this.” “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or obedience resulting in righteousness?” You're going to be enslaved, to one thing or another. The apostle Paul uses these contrasts all the time. For instance, he makes it very clear we're going to be a fool of one kind or another. I talked about this in a message at the Seminary just a few weeks ago, you're either going to be a fool for Christ's sake, or you're going to be a fool for neglecting the revelation of God. Paul makes that very clear. You're gonna be a slave of one kind or another. You're going to have to choose what kind of fool you're going to be: A fool in the face of the world who believes in Christ, or a fool in the face of Christ who rejects his revelation. You're going to be a slave to one master or another. You're going to be a slave either to the Lord, Jesus Christ, or you're going to be a slave to your lust. That's it. One leads to life, the other to death. Verse 17: “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching, to which you were committed.” This is another one of Paul's very pastoral strategies: You-were-then versus you-are-now. He does this also in I Corinthians chapter six, where he gives an entire list of persons who will not inherit the kingdom of God. And then he turns to the church and he says, “such were some of you.” There's a past tense and there's a present tense. In fact, for the Apostle Paul, there's the past tense, the present tense, and the future tense. And the past tense is we all came out of sin. We were sinners; that's by definition who we were. The most important thing about us is that we were a sinner and we were slaves to sin. But by the power of God, we are no longer slaves to sin. And, therefore, as Paul says here, it's true that we were slaves of sin, but it's no longer true that we are slaves of sin. You became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching, to which you were committed. That's the gospel. And this is an interesting little phrase here. Paul uses it at four or five different places in his, in his letters where he says this form of teaching. Now one can easily pass right over it, because remember Paul's using some idioms, some of the phrases of his own time, and that “form of teaching” is a pretty technical phrase. That means a “philosophy of life.”And in other words, this was the entire worldview we could say to which you have become committed by Christ. And then in verse 18, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. So there it is: Rather than slaves of unrighteousness. We are now slaves of righteousness. I'm speaking in human terms, Paul says, because of the weakness of your flesh for just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness resulting in what? That last word: Sanctification. Paul here continues his argument, and he's contrasting again: You were once slaves to unrighteousness. Now, when you're a slave, what do you do? Well, you do whatever your master says. And if you're a slave to unrighteousness, then you are mastered by unrighteousness. How surprised should we be when sinners sin. Not surprised, right? Let's talk about that for a moment. It's one of the problems with secular psychology. You see, the default for secular psychology is that people are basically good. And we're surprised when something goes wrong. We're surprised by misbehavior. But the biblical worldview is the opposite. We are broken from the moment we are born; in sin in our mother's womb we were conceived and we are born as sinners. And we should expect that sinners will sin. Now, why do sinners not sin? I mean, without a relationship to Christ, why do sinners not sin?Well, Paul says in chapter two, as we saw, there is the function of conscience. Conscience is a limiting factor. Conscience is a limiting factor in that it is a restraining influence in the life for the individual who would otherwise give himself or herself completely to sin. So we should be thankful to conscience, but conscience is not a perfect guide, not by any means because Paul says it ultimately becomes a matter for either excusing us or condemning us because we rationalize. So it is a restraining factor, but it's not ultimately able to restrain persons from sin. By the way, a new book out in the bookstores argues that one out of every 25 human beings has no conscience. Obviously they have the moral capacity God put in them. But in other words, they have so given themselves to immorality and so opposed themselves to the very concept of right and wrong that they really have no conscience. And what this book is talking about is the fact that what used to be called “psychopathology” or a “psychopath” is now becoming more and more common because there are persons who literally have no conscience in misbehavior. That's a scary thought. We'll leave that to the secular authors for a moment. But let's go back to this. Paul says we should expect sinners to sin because sinners are slaves to sin. Why do sinners not sin? Well, the conscience is one factor. What is another factor? Paul will deal with this in Romans chapter 13. What is another factor why sinners don't sin? Will choose in the moment not to do something they otherwise would do is the fear of punishment, right? In Romans chapter 13. Paul says, that's why God has given the government this authority because sin must be restrained. So with the government, you enforce civil law and criminal law, and have the power to enforce that law, and to prosecute violations of that law, and to incarcerate or to punish the violators of that law. It does have an effect. There's no doubt about it. As a matter of fact, any criminologist will tell you that the closer the tie between crime and punishment, the more evident the lesson is that should be very clear, and you don't have to be a criminologist to figure this out. All you have to do is be a mom or dad. I mean, that's the way it works. You know, “How do you keep Junior from doing this?” Well, can you get inside Junior's heart and rearrange the furniture so that he no longer wants to desire to do this? No, you can't do that. It's not given to us to do that. So what do we do? “You do this, I will do this.” It's a promise. You just make it very clear: cause and effect. That's why parental discipline is so important. And that's why understanding, from a Christian worldview, that we are dealing with a sinner is very important. Because those in the secular psychotherapeutic community treat children as if they're just neutral, whatever they do is because of some environmental influence for all the rest. We know better than that. It's what comes from the heart. So there are restraints upon evil doing. There's the restraint of conscience. There's the restraint of the government. There's the restraint of authority.And there are other things that come into play there. But none of that is enough to keep sinners from sin. That's why we still have to build prisons. That's why parents still have to discipline. So Paul says, we understand this is a slavery. We expect sinners to sin because they are slaves to sin, but the transforming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ means, as he says, in verse 14, that sin “cannot be master over us over believers.” Can't be a master. Now, we've already talked about the fact that this doesn't mean that believers don't sin. That's why we have Romans seven ahead of us. It does mean that we can't give ourselves to sin. We cannot serve sin as a master. We are to be slaves for obedience, as he says, in verse 16 and 17, rather than slaves of disobedience. In verse 19 he says, “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.” In other words, Paul says, I'm having to speak about this entire matter, and I'm having to speak in this elementary form of teaching because you're weak. Now let's think about that for a moment. Is the weakness of your flesh that Paul is talking just about the Roman church in a particular moment of weakness, or is he talking to believers about a constant state of weakness? Or is he talking about something here that we can't understand? Those are the three options. And I'll tell you why it's important. It is because there are some who argue that sanctification can be perfectly achieved in this life and that we can learn to be perfect. That Christians can never sin. When we reach that state of sinlessness. And thus Paul here is speaking about a weakness of the full flesh that can be overcome. There are others who say no, the weakness of the flesh is an ongoing thing. That's why we must look forward to the glorification that is yet to come,  because so long as we are human beings on planet earth, we're going to be afflicted by this kind of weakness. And there are others who say, “we really can't know what Paul means here.”  Well, I think number one, it's ridiculous to insult the Scripture to say, “we can't know what Paul means here.” Paul obviously intended for us to understand what he meant. And it can't be perfectionism because we do have Roman seven coming. Paul's gonna tell us that we do sin, but we can't give ourselves to sin. So once this weakness is the incompleteness of the word that has been begun in us. The moment we come to faith in Christ, our eternal destiny is sealed. We are given the gift of eternal life. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. But we still sin. Not as the master over us, but nonetheless, as the problem that it sets us, and we understand that sanctification is an ongoing process in this life, whereby the Holy Spirit, through the word, conforms us to the likeness of Christ, and it will be completed only on that day.That “day” is the day of judgment, the day of resurrection, the day of completion, the day when God does all things that bring his will to absolute completion. And that's why in the book of Philippians, Paul will say to the Philippian Christians, “I am very confident, fully confident, absolutely confident that he who began a good work in you will complete it on the day of the Lord, Jesus Christ.” For when you were slaves of sin, we read in verse 20, you were free in regard to righteousness. “Therefore, what benefits were you deriving from the things which you are now ashamed of?”  For the things which you are now ashamed of, the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit resulting in sanctification. There's that word. And the outcome: eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life and righteous in Jesus, our Lord. Fascinating. Isn't it? Paul does the “if–then,” the “before and the now.” You were slaves of sin. And when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What does that mean? You didn't care. You weren't concerned about it.  The problem was that righteousness was not your kid, your goal, it was not your concern. And as evidence of that in verse 21, you were doing all kinds of things from which you thought you derived some benefit.This is an interesting argument. Why does this sinner sin? He thinks this to his benefit. I mean, you know, a sinner generally does not sin in order to deny himself, but rather to, to receive some kind of gain. And so whether it's the robber robbing, the thief, or the liar lying, or the disobedient in disobedience, whatever. The covetous person in the coveting, etc. Why does one sin? It is because one sees a benefit in this sinning. Paul says, you know, on the other side of salvation, what kind of benefit was there? What did, what did your, what did your fornication gain you? What did your lawlessness get for you? What did your rebellion reap? The outcome of those things is death, Paul says.  Now that's about the strongest word we can imagine. And it's stronger than anything we have been prepared to encounter yet. Because we know the verse “For the of wages of sin are death.” We know that, but we're not there yet. This is where we have to remember when we study a book like this, we need to do our very best to try to follow it in sequence as the original hearers would've heard it. And, and so all of a sudden, Paul just drops this. The outcome of those things is death.The fornicator doesn't say, “Hey, I'm gonna commit suicide.” But when he fornicates, he is. I mean, he's giving himself over to death. The murderer, the thief, the liar, the rebellious. We know that catalog from Roman chapter one, we're all there. Some were “inventors of evil things.” The outcome of those things is death. That is such strong language because that flies in the face of virtually every worldview you could imagine, other than the Christian gospel. Other worldviews, the worldviews of the East, say the way to get out of this is simply to deny desire. The outcome of this isn't death. The outcome of this is a giant weight. One brings on oneself and one must free oneself of. That's basically what Eastern philosophies are all about: Daoism, Buddhism. There are others who say the way out of this is by certain liturgy, certain practices, certain acts of devotion and all the rest. But Paul says all this, it just leads to death. There's only one way to be out of it. And that's in verse 22, but having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit resulting in sanctification, in the outcome of eternal life, that's where it benefits. interesting. Isn't it? The sinner sins because she thinks she's gonna benefit by this end. I mean, that's why an individual would do this. There's some benefit to it. There's some benefit whether it's pleasure or gain or, or esteem or power, whatever, no one sins against his best interest, as he understands it. Sin is the demonstration of self-interest, not the denial of self-interest. The sin is looking forward to a benefit. And Paul says, what kind of benefit do you get? Death. But on the other hand, for those who've been transformed by the power of God, there is a benefit and that results in sanctification. And the outcome is eternal life.Paul helps us to see the contrast here. He's not just doing some kind of cosmic, “let's make a deal.” Behind curtain number one, sin that leads to death. Meanwhile, Jane points to behind door number two, which is sanctification, that leads to eternal life. You make your choice, Nothing as crass as that. But the contrast is as clear as that. Paul says, look, you're Christians. You have come under faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. We can have an honest discussion about sin. And in this honest discussion, we're gonna say we want sin because we thought we were gonna get a benefit out of it. And what do we get? Death. But by the grace of God, there's an entirely different benefit. That is our aim and our gift by God's grace. That is sanctification that process whereby we are conformed to the image of Christ that results in eternal life. Paul uses the word that's translated here: outcome. The outcome of those things is death verse 21, the outcome in verse 22 is eternal life. And then we have that great verse, Roman 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Double contrast there: Not only do you have sin that leads to death and grace that leads to life. You have sin with wages and salvation as a gift. Paul, inspired by the Holy spirit, just loads this verse, just a few words, with such meaning because of the contrast. It's not only between life and death; sin, leading to death, faith, leading to life, grace, and  justification as God's gift to us in salvation, leading to life. It's also that sin comes by wages. What you earn is what you get. What you sow is what you reap. The use of  the word wages there is very clear. And, and by the way, the word wages is a class-specific word in the Roman empire. It's not so class-specific to us, virtually everybody at every level of American society, every stratum, works for salary or works for wages. We understand that. But we have to realize in the Greco-Roman world, only people at the bottom got wages. Everybody else had property. And would have income from the property or from an estate or something even larger. But those who were at the lowest level of society had wages. And how did you get your wages? You worked for it. That's why the parables of Jesus come into play here with, with his parables of employment. But the wages of sin is death. Everybody can understand this. You work for sin and sin pays you back with death. That's the deal. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The break that takes place here between chapter six and chapter seven is an artificial break. In other words, the argument just continues. But,  Robert Stefanos, the printer who put this in, wanted to break it up enough so that we could find texts easily. So I'm gonna continue through just verse three of chapter seven. We have time to get that far, through the first three verses, because it introduces something we're going to pick up next time. Paul says, “Or do you not know, brothers]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.”Is that perfectly clear to you? Perhaps not? What is Paul saying here? He's saying, look, not only are you one kind of fool or another, and one kind of slave or another, it is as if you're married to one kind of master or another. And what's very interesting here. Paul is using the metaphor of the bride of Christ, of Christians as the bride of Christ. And what he's saying here is if Christ be dead, there's no allegiance owed to him. You say, if a wife becomes a widow, she's no longer obligated in marriage to her husband, he's dead. A look at verse four. “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” That is one of the most amazing metaphors found anywhere in the book of Romans. And it's pretty complex. But what he's saying here is that you were, in verse four, once made to die to the law. You had to die to the law. That's necessary for our salvation. To die to pretensions that we can achieve righteousness by the law. That's what he's talking about here. We die to the claim that we can make ourselves righteous. You have to die to that. But now we've been made alive in Christ. We've been joined to another. We had to die to the law as if the law was our first husband, speaking of, of the bride of Christ.But now we are married to Christ and he was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. In other words, we have a living spouse, as the church. Now this is an awkward metaphor for most of us, because it's difficult for us to talk in these terms about what it means to be the bride of Christ.  Paul says, look, what makes the bride of Christ different is the bride of Christ, the church, is made up of people who are once married to the law, which means married to sin. But now we're married to Christ and sin is now as good as dead to us. Like a first spouse who dies. We're no longer obligated to sin, But now we're obligated to Christ. He was raised from the dead and forever lives. The bride of Christ now owes her allegiance to the bride groom, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us by his grace and will ever live, and whose claim upon his church will never cease.Now, there are a lot of Christians who have been in churches all their lives and heard biblical preaching for years and have never encountered this because this is one of those texts that preachers tend to jump over when they're doing highlights in the book of Romans, because this is pretty technical stuff. And you have to go through it just about the way we went through chapter six, in order to understand what Paul's saying here: you're going to be one kind of fool or another. He says elsewhere, earlier in Romans, you're going be one kind of slave or another. And you're also going to be one kind of bride or another. Now hang with me. This metaphor is a little awkward, but it's intentional. So because we, as Christians, all together, are part of the bride of Chris. And the church is going to be married, either through the law, which leads to death (that's what we came out of), the first spouse, or to Christ the risen Lord, the way that leads to life. That's enough to make you think for a week As we ponder these metaphors that Paul uses, he wants us to see that we are to be dead to sin in terms of sin having a claim on us. That's the big thing: Do we continue to sin? Yes. But we have something as believers that we did not have before. Not only the gift of eternal life, but we also have Christ in us, the hope of glory. So that Christ in us, as we give ourselves to him, as we are by the process of sanctification made like him, as Paul would say, we are now united with him, it is not necessary that we sin. And so what Paul will encourage is for Christians to learn to grow in grace. So that sin becomes something that we gain victory over day by day, and month by month, and year by year. Not because of our willpower, but because of the power of Christ within us. Not because of our strength, but because of the strength of Christ. You put all that together and you realize Paul's about to set up an incredible argument. And next week we're gonna encounter law and grace, and Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde, I look forward to seeing you then. Let's pray together. Our Father, we are so thankful that you've given us this word of life. May it be unto life for us. And may we live for you. We pray this in the name of your Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.You can find Dr. Mohler's other Line by Line sermons here.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.

Introduction: Two Great Drives in the Universe As I thought earlier in this week about the most famous and most expensive bowl of stew in history, I was thinking it must have been incredible. I mean, it must have really tasted good. Of course, I'm talking about when Esau came in from the field and was famished and spend a day of hunting and apparently came up empty. And his stomach was calling and he smelled Jacob's stew bubbling and... I just thought it must have been incredible lentil stew. Now, I've never eaten a lentil stew that was worth selling a birthright for, but I thought it must have been an incredible stew. But then last few days, I think I changed a little bit and now I feel like it must have been probably leftovers, just heated up, because isn't it what the devil does? I mean, wouldn't that greatly honor the devil's whole scheme, is to get somebody like Esau to trade it off for a below average bowl of soup. Isn't that in effect what C S Lewis said in, The Screwtape Letters when he said, "The whole program of the devil is to get you ever increasingly enslaved to something that ever decreasingly pleases you?" That's what he's about. And I think, therefore, it must have been leftovers, that he sold his birthright for. What a tragic thing that anybody would trade faith for something physical, that Abraham's grandson would trade it all for a bowl of soup. And I'm thinking about this, that Abraham, the great man of faith, who turned his back on a lucrative lifestyle in early Chaldeans and sold most of it, and was willing to live in tents and never get what was promised to him and just lived by faith should have a grandson like that. What a scandal. What a tragedy. But I see around me in the country I live in, and I see within me in my own nature, the same tendency, the same drive, as it were. And that drive is strong, isn't it, brothers and sisters? And the sanctification that we're called to is in direct opposition to that drive at every moment. John Piper has clarified for us that there are two great drives in the universe, strong and powerful drives. One is the drive that each individual person has to be happy. And the second is God's drive to be glorified in and by his creation. These are strong drives, aren't they? And you cannot resist or refute your internal drive to be happy, you can't deny it. You can't say it's not there. You can do some things about it, we're going to talk about those in this message, but you can't refute it, because it's there. And whether you know it or not, the other drive predated yours and is stronger, and more powerful, God will be glorified in his creation. That's why we were created. And what John Piper's done for me and for so many others is said that in effect the two become one for the believer. We find our happiness in God's glory. We find the meeting of every need, anything that you could want, we find in God's exaltation and his glory. The Dual Danger of Legalism and License Now, the Apostle Paul writing this greatest probably of all thank you notes, book of Philippians, obviously has more than just thanking them for the money that he has in mind here. He is a pastor and he's concerned about these folks. The background of his concern is in the devil's relentless attack on the church. The devil is never going to let us alone, ever, for a moment our steps are going to be dogged by this enemy. And so he's always pumping out things to try to stop the work of God, and in this one chapter, Philippians, we see two of his greatest lies. And what's so interesting about them is that they're in one sense, kind of opposites of each other. I think in the end they become the same thing, just different means, but they are legalism and license. We see them both in this chapter, legalism and license. And Paul, the pastor's, concerned about both. He begins the chapter by looking at it, he's concerned about it. He says, "Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh, for it is we who are the circumcision." Now, we are the true circumcision, not those Judaizers who want to subjugate you Greeks into a system of laws and rules and regulations and sap all your joy. "I want to tell you... " in effect, he says in Philippians 3. "I want to tell you about my own pilgrimage. I came to reject all that as trash and all of my efforts in legalism led to nothing. A joyless existence. I found something that drove all of them out, and that was I saw Christ, the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. I saw His glory, and there was awakened in me such a longing and desire that has never been fully quenched. I stand as a man who's satisfied, and yet never satisfied, always wanting more, but I know what it is I want. I want Christ. I want to know Christ. Even if it means suffering for me, even if it means death. I want to know him." And so that drove out any concern over legalism. I knew that my legalistic life as a Pharisee would never lead me to Christ. Actually, was leading me away because it made me proud and hard and self-righteous, and I didn't want any of that." And so he says, "Be like me, follow my example, live like me." And if, in some point, you think differently, God will make that clear to you too, okay. Because I'm not wrong about the Christian life. That's what he's saying. And so he's resisted and he's turned away from legalism. But now interestingly, he turns in verse 17 on toward the opposite error. And that's this whole issue of license. And he wants to warn them about it. Now, we've talked the last few weeks about verse 17, "Join with others and following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you." Well, we kind of took that verse out and talked about it on its own merits, and saw that across Paul's writing, and really across the whole New Testament, that there's a theology of discipleship here that was worth listening to. But now I want to set the verse back in its context and understand it in Philippians 3. And he's saying, "I want you to follow my pattern because there are people around you who are living like godless hedonists, pagans, and that life leads to hell. It leads to destruction. And I want you to be warned about it." So he's a good pastor, you see. He's warning against legalism on the one side and then he's warning against license on the other. The interesting thing is that both, I think, in the end, turn out to be the same thing. Both of them are intensely me focused, aren't they? Both of them looking inward like that Pharisee that was so self-righteous in Luke and stood up and prayed about himself. "God, I thank you that I'm not like other men." Well, it's very self-focused, that legalistic self-righteous approach, but so also is the God is their stomach approach too, isn't it? Always thinking about, "My drive and what I want out of life. What my urges are and how to meet them." It's a very selfish way to live. And so we have selfishness in its religious garb, and then selfishness in its pagan garb, and it ends up about the same thing. I. The Condemnation of Godless Hedonists Now, when he talks about people whose God is their stomach, it's an interesting phrase, isn't it? Look at it again. He says in verse 18, "For as I often told you before, and I'll say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ, their destiny is destruction." Verse 19 he says, "Their God is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things." Now, the stomach certainly was designed by God to digest food, and it does represent food here, I think certainly. But I think it goes deeper than food. I think it represents any fleshly drive, any appetite, any lust, any desire. Frankly, anything tied to the body and to an exclusively earthly lifestyle. If your stomach is your God, it means that the center and focus of your existence is meeting your earthly drives and desires. It's why you're alive. Your free time is spent on those drives and desires. Your free mental time is spent on them as well. Frankly, all your time is spent on it because even in your professional life, or if you're a student and you're training and preparing, you're thinking about meeting that drive and desire. The Book of Ecclesiastes says that all men's efforts are for his mouth. And what it means is there's just a focus on the earthly side of life to the exclusion of everything else. I think that's what it means if your God is your stomach. In the end, you worship only yourself, and your own body drives, and you live to meet them. That's all. Now, Esau is of course the ultimate biblical example. And so I brought into our pastoral ministry a while ago, the term, "Esauishness," which doesn't exist in the dictionary. I've looked it up, it's not there. But you know what I mean, it's what we live around all the time. America is surrounded... We're surrounded by Esaus. We're surrounded by people who live for their stomachs. And it's a very difficult thing to observe. I worked for 10 years in industry, and I just... The motive, they put up with the work week and live for the weekend. And it's just a drive all the time toward the pleasure and toward physical delights. Hebrews 12:16 points this out concerning Esau, says, "See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as his oldest son." And so we have these overpowering drives of the flesh. Now, there are different strategies for dealing with them. The body itself is a remarkable gift of God, isn't it? If you really think about it theologically, it is the highest pinnacle of God's physical creation. I think He made nothing better than the human body, including the human mind. It's the peak of what he made physically. And so you are amazing and intricate balance of biological systems, the circulatory system, the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems, and the digestive system certainly, and the reproductive system, all of these things fearfully and wonderfully made, King David said. And it was a ground for praising God. It's not a bad thing. We're not Greeks saying that the body is evil and we must subject all of its strives. Well, there are different strategies for dealing with these drives. Now, what drives are they? Well, drives for food and drink, to eat something that's delicious and drink something that's pleasing to the palette or drive for visual stimulation, for sights that are beautiful. Could be anything from a beautiful tree or flower, to a mountain, valley, or anything else that's beautiful to your eye. Drive for sexual pleasure. A good thing from God. It receives an awful lot of press, doesn't it? Even in the recent weeks, when you look at what's happening in our country about marriage, at the core of it is the drive for meeting sexual needs. The drive for sensory comfort. A comfortable blanket on a cold night, I used that even recently. I like a nice, soft, warm blanket when the weather gets like it does, and we have insufficient insulation. Working on that. But get out of the shower and your body is dripping, nothing like a plush thirsty towel. I mean, these are the sensory things of life, and they're not evil. Skillfully-designed furniture, a couch that doesn't have a spring poking up in your back, something like that. And these are not bad things. Jesus slept on a cushion in Mark's Gospel in the back of the boat. What was the cushion there for? Well, ask him when you get to Heaven, but I think it was to make Him more comfortable. I would think you don't need to go much further than that. And the drive for pleasing sounds, whatever your favorite music is. Those are all things that are around us. Now, the problem really comes ultimately with boundaries, doesn't it? That's the issue. The issue is that God has set boundaries around these drives. He's given the drives, he's given the desires, and then he put boundaries up. Says in Psalm 16, King David says, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." That's a contented man, it's somebody who's happy and content with where the fences are set up in his life. But if you jump the fences, you become a transgressor. So there are fences, there are boundaries in life. Now one strategy of dealing with the fleshy drives and desires is to say, "There are no boundaries, literally, there are no fences anywhere." That's the ultimate of hedonism, the ultimate of me-ism, that I can have whatever brings me pleasure. Some people even kind of baptize this theologically and say that the death of Christ on the cross covers that so you can live any way you want. That is the grace of God transformed into a license for immorality in Jude 4. It's mentioned also in 2 Peter 2:18 and 19, it speaks of these false teachers, "They mouth empty boastful words and by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are actually slaves of depravity. For man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." So ironically, they are talking about freedom, but they are living like the ultimate slaves. But that's one strategy, saying that there are no fences, no boundaries, nothing, anything goes, whatever makes you happy. The other sinful strategy is legalism or asceticism. In that case, there are boundaries set much too narrowly. You're to be inside this little area here, and anything beyond it is wickedness and sin. And so these folks draw in excluding territory that God has said is good and right, such as marriage, for example, or eating, or other things. Things that, it says in 1 Timothy, God made so that He would be thanked, that He would be honored, but they draw in the boundaries so narrowly and say, "You must live here and anything beyond it is wickedness and sin." Some of the ascetic monks, these are some of my most favorite people to study in church history like Simeon Stylites, the one who sat on a pillar six to eight feet high, to get away from everything. By the time his monk career ended, his pillar was 80 feet high, and he would stand for 20 days at a time and pray and sit for 20 days at a time and pray, and they'd give him a modicum of food and he would eat it, wishing probably didn't have to. That was a life of asceticism. The problem with that kind of asceticism is, number one, it doesn't work. Colossians 2 tells me it doesn't work. These kinds of extreme regulations, "'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch…' These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." They don't change your heart, you're every bit as lustful as you were before, and God is looking at the heart, isn't he? So they don't work. Secondly, in that they do work, they produce some negative effects, harsh thoughts toward God, judgmental attitudes toward others, brothers and sisters, who don't make the same commitments that you do. And so, if you decide to give up something, spectator sports, television, any kind of entertainment, computer games, vacations, I mean the list goes on and on. I actually made a list of the different ways that Americans meet their pleasure needs, and it really was amazing, cruises... I mean, we could go on and on. But if you say, "I'm going to give up all of these things." You are strongly tempted to feel negatively and arrogantly toward those who don't give them up. Well, those are different strategies. Here the focus is on Godless hedonism. Now the word, "Hedonism," comes from the Greek word, "Pleasure," Hedonis is a Greek work for pleasure. And the definition would be, whatever most increases pleasure is right, regardless of who it is it hurts. Now Greece was the center of certain schools of philosophy concerning this, Epicurus for example, taught this, but I don't really think that Paul was looking into schools of philosophy with the Pagans that surrounded his Philippian Christians, he just said that's the way that Pagans naturally live. Whether they have it organized into a system of philosophy or not, this is what they live for, their god is their stomach. Paul’s Four-fold Assessment of Godless Hedonism Now, he says four things about them here, he assesses them, he says, first of all, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Look at that in verse 18, "many live as enemies of the cross of Christ." The center of Christ's life was the cross, that's why he came to die on the cross, he came to die, to suffer and die. And he calls on all of his followers to pick up their cross daily and follow him. If you don't carry your cross, you're not worthy of him. Jesus said it plainly. And so the lifestyle of a Christian is the lifestyle of the cross. It's what Martin Luther called the theology of the cross, of self-denial for something better, something higher, a greater joy. And Jesus did it all for joy. He wasn't that kind of Godless ascetic, and there are, by the way, ascetics in every religion, it's not just Christianity. There are some in Buddhism and Hinduism that do the same thing with the earthly drives. But he said, these people they live as enemies of the cross of Christ, they hate the preaching of the cross, and they certainly hate the lifestyle of the cross, they're enemies of the cross. And secondly, he says, "Their end is destruction." I think end is better than the NIV's pick choice of destiny here. Destiny's a little strong. It just tell us... Which is the end, the end of that road, you living like that, the end of that road is hell. Now that there's no question. Maybe destiny too strong but hell is not too strong. From which we get the word apollyon in the book of revelation.The end is hell. The end of that lifestyle is hell. It says in Matthew 7:13, same word, "Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it." It's the same word. Some people say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but here it seems to say the road to hell is paved with a bunch of good times. One party after another, one good time after another. Thirdly, he says, "They glory in their shame." Interesting expression here, I think what it means is that that which they will in the end truly be ashamed of they presently boast in and are excited about. They boast about whoever can drink the most alcohol or have the most pleasure in a variety of ways and there is a bragging and an enticing there. Puritan, Thomas Manton put it this way. He said, "First we practice sin then we defend it and then we boast of it." And that's what I think he is meaning here when he says their glory is in their shame. And then fourthly, he says, "Their mind is on earthly matters." They think about this stuff all the time. You can't get their minds off of the earthly stuff up into the heavenly realms. They can't think about it, it's not the way they're wired. And so they are always thinking about the next exciting ball game or a sensuous night, or a great meal, or something earthy. That's what they live for. And it says in Romans 8:6, "The mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." And so we see the condemnation of godless hedonists. II. The Compassion of Paul But let's not miss something in what Paul does here. I went right over it but I don't want you to miss it. In verse 18, he says, "For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears..." It's easy for Christians to miss this, isn't it? What is Paul's attitude toward the people who are living like this? Are you shattered over it? I mean, he is crying for them. There is an incredible compassion here for these folks. And this is actually a regular part of Paul's ministry. He did the same thing in Romans 9 when he's talking about Christ-less Jews, those who have not trusted in Christ. Now, he was a Jew that had trusted in Christ but there were many who had rejected Christ. And what he says in Romans 9 is that, "I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscious confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers those of my own race, the people of Israel." He is weeping for the Jews who don't know Christ. Weeping for them. Just like he is weeping here for the pagans who don't know Christ, whose God is their stomach. He's crying for them. He does the same thing toward Christians, 2 Corinthians 2:4, he had to write a very harsh letter dealing with sin, 1 Corinthians 5 covers it and he wants them to know it was not easy for him to write that disciplinary letter. And so he says in 2 Corinthians 2:4, "I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears not to grieve you, but to show you of the depth of my love for you." And he just sums up his whole ministry to the elders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20 verse 31 he says, "So be on your guard. Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." The tears of Paul here, his great compassion. And it was really the tears of Christ because he is patterning it after Christ who stood over Jerusalem and wept over the city. "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you would not." The compassion of Christ for the lost is coming out in his apostle. The tears that he weeps here. Ultimately, though, I think his compassion is towards Christians, isn't it? Because he says, "As I have often told you before and now I say again even as tears, many are living in this godless pagan way." Don't do it Philippians, please. Don't live that kind of life. So his compassion is really ultimately for the Philippians here. Although he does grieve for the pagans. III. The Conduct of Citizens of Heaven And by way of contrast, he says that's the way they are living, I'm warning you against it but I want to show you the way your life should be. Your citizenship he says is in heaven. You're at a different level. Verse 20 and 21, "Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." There is a strong contrast being set up here between the godless pagans, the hedonists that are living for their stomach, and you Christians, the Philippian Christians. There is a difference. Their God is their stomach, your God is the eternal creator of the universe. They are enemies of the cross of Christ. You embrace the cross as your salvation, first through the atoning sacrifice of Christ so that his blood shed on the cross removes forever the wrath and curse of God. Condemnation gone through the cross of Christ and you know it. So you embrace it as your salvation but secondly, in terms of lifestyle, it becomes the way you live your life. You take up your cross everyday and follow. And it frees you up from the enslavement to passions. And so they're the enemies of the cross of Christ. For you, the cross is salvation. Their end is destruction, but your end is heaven. Your citizenship's in heaven. There's a contrast here. And he says, "Their mind is chained to earth, but your mind is free to fly to the heavens, because everything in heaven and earth is given to you through faith in Christ. All of it is yours, kept in the heavens for you." It's incredible contrast here. Well, why does he speak like this? Well, he says, "We're citizens of heaven." And I think the Philippians would've embraced or understood this, because they were very proud. The Philippian people were proud of being citizens of Rome. They were a citizen colony of Rome. And what that meant was that any natural born Philippian was a citizen of Rome. Paul himself was a citizen of Rome, and he used that a couple of times to get out of being beaten or some other things. He thought like a citizen of Rome, and I think he wanted to be a good citizen of Rome, but his higher allegiance was to heaven. Our citizenship's in heaven. I'm speaking mostly I think to Americans. I think since 9/11, there's been an upsurge of patriotism and I understand that. And I think we should be patriotic to a point, but there's boundaries to that, isn't there? If you ever want to study a good case study on patriotism with no boundaries, study Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles, Germany over everything. Well, I would say Jesus Christ over everything. Our citizenship's in heaven. So we must be good American citizens like the apostle Paul was a good Roman citizen. And the early Christians prayed for the emperor and were submissive to authority and carried out their duties and responsibilities as much as their conscience allowed them to, and so must we. But our citizenship's in heaven. So Paul's point here is ethical. If our citizenship's in heaven, how should we live? Well, not in lust and drunkenness. Not in orgies and wickedness. Romans 13 says, "Let us behave decently as in the daytime, not in orgies or drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." And this is going on as we eagerly await a savior from heaven, Jesus Christ. So while you're waiting, what should you do? Is Jesus going to come back today? Oh, I hope so. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't it be great to have the prayer meeting tonight cancelled because Jesus came back? I'd be happy about that. He has that authority, he can cancel any prayer meeting he wants to. It's his church. So if he cancels the prayer meeting because he comes back, I'll be delighted. And we'll talk to him more directly, won't we? And that'll be wonderful. But if he doesn't come back, how should we wait? Well, I'm going to give you again those internal and external journeys. Internally, puts into death. Externally, let's speed up the day of God. Both of these come together beautifully in 2 Peter 3. Listen to this: "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" You ought to behave like citizens of heaven. "What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live Holy and Godly lives, as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." How do you speed the coming of the day of God? Well, get busy in evangelism, make disciples of all nations. And how do you speed its coming? Put sin to death in your own life. That's what he says. Behave like a citizen of heaven, that's what you are. IV. The Consummation of Salvation And then fourth, we see beautifully the consummation of salvation. He says, "We eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Oh, I'm waiting for that. I'm excited about that. I'll tell you more in a minute. I had no voice when I woke up this morning. That I can speak at all is a grace of God. But God is good. But here, he mentions is the second coming of Christ. We are eagerly awaiting Christ to come back. It's like Scott said in the baptism today twice. Are you waiting for Christ to come back? Our sinless savior to come back that we might look up in the heavens and see him there. And that he would at last get what he truly deserves, unfeigned worship. Christ will descend with the clouds, he will come back with the armies of heaven. And he will come back as our final savior from this vile world and all of its temptations and its attacks. Secondly, everything is going to be brought under his control, that's what it says. All of this disarray that we see in the newspapers and we read about all over the world, we're talking about tyrants that use their political power to strip the rights and freedoms of people and beat on their bodies and even take their lives. We're talking about the scourge of poverty. We're talking about the temptations to the animal drives and lust that we've talked about earlier. This stuff seems like it's out of control. And we're talking about within the bodies even of Christians diseases and decay and problems. And it seems like it's out of control, but it isn't. Jesus Christ has the kingly right to this whole world. It's already been given to him. All the authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. It's his already. But there's a process going on here, isn't there? And so the father said to the son, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." And that's going on. But when he comes back, he's going to finish that job and everything is going to be brought, the Greek here is very strong, under his arranging control. He will bring all the disarray and make it arranged beautifully as our king, and that includes your bodies. And so we end up where we began, with your body. Yes, those drives, those desires, the fleshly side of you, which is so much of a battleground now, isn't it? And it makes it so hard to walk a single day in godliness. Paul says in Romans 7 that when he wants to do good, evil is right there with him. Well, it's in the body. He calls it "the body of death," he calls it "the body of sin," he calls it "the mortal body." Here he calls it the "the lowly body, the humiliated body." This is the only vehicle we have for service for Christ in this world. We must have it, but we must keep it under subjection. And what a struggle it is every day. But the same power that enables Jesus to bring the whole world under his control is going to be at work in your body. Isn't that exciting? And He's going to give you a new one. You know why? Because the old one cannot make it to heaven. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You must be transformed from the corruptible to the incorruptible. You must be made like Christ. And this, at last, is the finish line of your salvation. And when you've crossed it, you will have been completely saved. And until this happens, until Philippians 3:21 is fulfilled in you and in all of God's chosen people, salvation's not finished yet. We're not fully saved. This is what was stated in Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called, and those he called he also justified, and those he justified he also..." What? "Glorified." He's going to make you just like Jesus. You're going to be conformed to his image. In your body as well as in your soul. And that's going to be glorious. V. Applications Now, what is our application for this? Well, really kind of infinite. But I'm only going to hold you for another hour. I know your stomachs are grumbling. I know you're hungry. But I kind of gotcha this morning, don't I? Because who's going to admit, I'm too hungry to listen to this sermon. I got to go. But I'm not cruel and I'm not unkind. Just briefly. A Balanced Life A balanced life. Can I urge you to look at the legal, lawful pleasures, which God wants you to enjoy? Look at them like a child of God. In that internal journey, I want to urge on you a balanced life of lawful pleasures and self-control. Rejecting, on the one hand, self-righteous legalism and on the other hand, license and freedom to eat and drink and do whatever you want. Obviously now, hear me, Christians must reject all sinful pleasures out of hand. They are rejected and wicked and if you're struggling with anything you know is sin, you must put it to death. Like John Owen said, "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you." But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the beauties of nature, the taste of food that you enjoy, marital life together in a family, enjoyment of hobbies, other things. How shall we use those things? And what I'm asking you to do is to live a life of self-control in these areas. 1 Corinthians 7, Paul's talking about marriage, and he says, "What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short." This is 7:29-31. "From now on, those who have wives should live as if they had none." Very interesting statement. "Those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; and those who use the things of this world, as if not engrossed in them." That's what I'm talking about. "For this world and its present form is passing away." So, don't be engrossed in anything in this world. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is lawful for me, but not everything's beneficial. Everything's lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." How can you tell if you're mastered by something? Can I urge you to give it up sometime? Seriously, for a little while. Fast from it. Whether food, or marital relations, or spectator sports, or hobbies, or other things. And find out how important it is in your life. You may actually be surprised how important it has become in your life. It could be that some mastery crept in unawares, and you lost self-control in that area. Can I urge you to come back to a disciplined life? And it could be even that some lawful thing has so consistently led you into sin in the past that you must give it up forever. And you have to decide what those are. Jesus said, "If your right eye caused you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than your whole body to go into hell. And if your right hand caused you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." But if God leads you to do that, don't boast about it, please. We're not even supposed to know when you're fasting. You're supposed to put oil in your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you're fasting, but only to your Father who's in heaven. Don't go walking around saying, "Look what I've given up." Because then you've gone that short route from discipline to boastfulness, and you're right into a different sin. Self-control in these things. A Compassionate Heart Secondly, can I urge on the external journey? A compassionate heart. I was convicted by this. I don't weep enough for the lost. I'm just confessing that to you. I don't care enough. I don't care as much as Jesus did. And I don't care as much as Paul did. And I want that to change. And the only way that I can do it is to get closer to Christ, to love more what He loves, and to hate more what he hates, and to feel more what He feels when He looks out over Jerusalem. I want to weep more. And I want you to too because it's healthy, isn't it? To weep for the Jews that don't know Christ, like Paul did. And to weep for the pagans that are living for their stomachs. Pursue Joy in God And thirdly, John Piper in Desiring God espouses a different kind of hedonism, the kind where the ultimate pleasure is God himself. Because you know in the end that's what you're going to get in heaven. Isn't that marvelous? It's incredible, isn't it? The feast of the wedding banquet is going to be God. And I don't want it to be anything else. I want God, I want him to satisfy me. Might I suggest that you not turn your back on pleasure, but have pleasure be ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Let Christ be your pleasure.

Introduction: The Astonishing Mysteries of Christianity We’re looking this morning at Philippians 2:12 and 13, and I just couldn’t get it to work in one sermon. So I can’t, I just won’t. And so your outline is only part of what we’re going to say on these two verses. We’re going to, God willing, if God gives us time, look at it again next week. So rest easy as we move through this. And I was hesitant to do it because we have the perfect synergy, the perfect working together here in these two verses, of God and man. And therefore, it’s with some trepidation that I don’t want to do it all at once, but there’s enough of that working together in the first part of the message that I felt that you would understand, that we are called to work out our salvation because it is God who’s at work in us. Now, I think that Christianity, our faith, our wonderful faith, is essentially mysterious. I mean, it’s a great mystery and it’s not just one mystery but it’s one mystery after another. And so it is in Philippians 2 that we leave one great mystery of Christianity, the incarnation of Jesus Christ and go to the next great mystery of Christianity, namely, the sovereignty of God and human responsibility working together on our salvation. And you know something? The fact that my mind cannot fully work these things out is not troubling to me. I accept fully that Jesus is God, the true God, the eternal God, and that he was truly man. He took on truly a human body. And I cannot perfectly work that out, and I just accept it. Now, in accepting that, I don’t stop thinking about it. I think about it a lot, more and more actually, and the more I think, the more insights and the more appreciation I get. But I’m never going to take it all in. I’m never going to comprehend it, if that means to take it totally into my mind so that I’ve got it. No question about it. And neither can I do that with this issue here, the working together of God’s kingly sovereignty and my responsibility. God’s energy, his power, his work and mine, how they work together. And the fact that Christianity is essentially mysterious to me does not make it any less true. Actually, I think, the opposite would be true. If I could kind of figure it all out and say, “Listen, it’s really quite simple. It’s not as complex as you thought. Now, this is what you need to know… ” If I could do that then I would think it would be proof that this book, this Bible, is a human book. It’s not really what it claims to be, namely from the mind of God, because the mind of God’s far higher than mine, his ways are far higher than mine, his thoughts infinitely above mine. And so, it makes sense that there’s going to be one mystery after another. It doesn’t trouble me, but I don’t stop working on it either. And so, as I come to Philippians 2:12 and 13, I just say with the Apostle Paul, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his path beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.” and Amen. I. The Deep Mystery of Salvation in Two Parts: Our Work and God’s Now, as we come to this, we’re looking at the mystery of our salvation, our work and God’s. Look again at these two verses, Philippians 2:12 and 13. He says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Now, we’ve been saying in the book of Philippians, that there are two infinite journeys. There is that internal journey of holiness, where a sinner is transformed from being rotten, and sinful, and wicked to being just like Jesus Christ. The internal journey of holiness. And then there’s that external journey of worldwide evangelization where lost people are brought into faith in Christ so that there is representation from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation on the face of this earth. Internal journey of holiness, external journey of worldwide evangelization. Now, here in these two verses, the focus is on the internal journey, isn’t it? That we are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. II. Questions of Context In the next section of the next message, with the next section, we have some of the external journey. As we’re told, you know, to hold out the word of life in a crooked and depraved generation in which we shine like stars in the universe. We hold out the Gospel; that’s that external journey. So we go from one to the other in Philippians again and again. And they are intimately related but I’m not going to say how this morning, that’s for another message. But here we’re looking very carefully at that internal, that journey of salvation. And having said that, we get right to some corrective doctrine right away, salvation is a journey. There I said it. It’s not heretical to say that salvation is a process, that if you’re here in this room listening to me right now, you’re not done being saved yet. Now, I know you’re thinking, “Okay, he used to be Roman Catholic and he’s thinking of that, the old works thing. Are we going to get the works thing back in here?” No, I did used to be Roman Catholic, but I’m not misunderstanding. I’m just saying that salvation is a journey, and I think it’s because Scripture teaches me that salvation is a journey. Now, we Baptists, we evangelicals, will use this kind of expression, “Are you saved?” or, “When were you saved?” or, “Tell me how you got saved.” Or we might use this expression, “Once saved, always saved.” Now, I don’t reject these slogans as untrue, biblically. They are true, every one of them. We can speak in that language. The Bible does speak of salvation as a past event. We can say, “I was saved when I was 10,” we can say that. But the problem is that it starts to limit our way of thinking about salvation, thinking that it’s just a once for all instantaneous thing and in no way a process, and that is false. And so, we would say something like, “Well, you’re not saved by works. Remember that, you’re not saved by works.” Well, that’s not entirely true, because if that were true, then how could we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? So, I think instead, we need to be a little more careful in talking about salvation. What is it? And theologically, kind of comes at us in three parts. First there’s justification, then there’s sanctification, and then glorification. First, justification. And in this I will say with all my heart in the good Protestant tradition that we are not in any way justified by works, by our works. Oh we’re certainly justified by works, but they’re all Christ’s; he did the work. And so, we are justified by works but by Christ’s work. When it comes to our works, in no way are we justified by our works. Perish the thought, that is the great Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone, apart from works of the law. Your works will never justify you. You cannot stand before God freed from the guilt of sin because of some good thing you do, it’s impossible. And that is instantaneous. At the moment of faith, you are justified, you are declared not guilty. God sees you in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen. And on judgment day, no matter how much you work out your salvation with fear and trembling, it’s not that righteousness you’re going to be standing before God in; it’s going to be Christ’s perfect righteousness, Amen, because you’re not going to get far enough in your journey. You’re not actually going to get very far at all. I don’t mean to be discouraging to you, but the standard is infinite perfection to be just like Jesus all the time internally and externally, in motive and in action, never leaving anything undone that he would have done, and never doing anything that he would not have done. Perfect conformity of the law of God, how much progress in that you really think you’re going to make? Now, real progress is possible, and real progress is important, and real progress is glorifying, greatly glorifying to God, but you are not in the end going to be standing before God, in sanctification, righteousness, it will still look like a tattered robe in that holy place. Now, you’re going to be standing in justification and that is instantaneous not by works. Are we clear on that? We’re clear, it’s very important. Now, sanctification is a gradual process whereby the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is perfectly ascribed to us, positionally is then little by little, gradually worked out in our actual performance, so that we start to behave differently. We start to think differently. We start to act differently. We are little by little changed, more and more to be like Christ. And it’s an uncertain process. As Chuck Swindoll said, “Three steps forward and two steps back.” Have you ever felt that? And that’s about what it feels like day by day. It’s a partnership where God works and we work, and the verses we’re looking at today and God willing next week are the perfect linked verses to show how the two go together. God works and we work, but it’s a partnership sanctification. And the third, glorification. And this is also an instantaneous transformation by the power of God entirely apart from your works, because you’ll be dead. Entirely apart from your works and your effort where you will be made completely like Jesus, in body, soul, and spirit in every way. Glorification. Now, we are therefore saved by works in the middle section. Our works have no place at all in the first, justification, no place at all in the third, glorification, but we are called here in Philippians 2, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is sanctification. III. Our Lesser Work: Working Out Salvation Now, here we come to a deep mystery. We come to the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our human responsibility, and we are not finally going to solve it today; we’re not. I can assure you, I can make a lot of promises and one promise is that I will not solve this one today. It’s an ancient debate. It goes back probably further, much further, even than Augustine and Pelagius, but at least we know they debated over it. Martin Luther and Erasmus debated over it. John Calvin and Albert Pighius debated over it. The Dutch Reformed believers, and the Remonstrants debated over it. In the 17th century, George Whitfield and John Wesley debated over it. Jonathan Edwards and many of the ministers in New England who preached the doctrine of free will and Arminianism, they debated over it. Charles Spurgeon and the 19th century British Arminians, they debated over it. And in our era, James White and Norm Geisler, and many others have debated this topic. And we’re not going to solve it perfectly. And the question is, how do we reconcile God’s sovereignty and human responsibility? Charles Spurgeon was asked that very question. How do you reconcile God’s sovereignty and human responsibility? And he answered, “I never tried to reconcile friends.” Isn’t that a beautiful statement? And they are friends because they’re side by side in these two verses, do you see it? They’re just side by side, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” They seem quite friendly to me, side by side, and so in so many other places as well. And so, we’ve got divine sovereign energy, we’ve got diligent human effort in working out salvation here presented as friends and allies. Danger: Pushing to the Extremes Now, we have a danger here, and the danger is in pushing to extremes. We have presented before us the need for diligent human effort in sanctification to make progress as a Christian. And we have also presented before us God’s sovereign energy and effort in that matter. And in church history, some have pushed too far one way or too far the other way. Some have so emphasized God’s activity and sanctification, that they neglected the need for any human effort at all. For example, there are the quietists, Madame Guyon and Bishop Fenelon, the 17th century mystics. They get their name from the need to be quiet, to just quiet yourself before God, to be totally passive in the Christian life. They sought to abandon self in the sea of God. Sounds a little like Hinduism and Buddhism, some of the eastern mystics, to just lose yourself in God, and lose any sense of self whatsoever. And some of the quietists went so far as to say, you shouldn’t even resist any temptation or lust because you might get pulled back into a self awareness. And so, some of them actually went into great immorality in following this quietistic approach, that they were not going to fight, they were going to be essentially passive. Some of the Quakers in seeking the inner light followed that same approach. Perhaps, more familiar to you would be the Victorious Life people, who teach that in an instantaneous transformation, you can lose all your sin and immediately live the victorious and the higher life, and the essence of it is a complete ceasing of struggling and striving in the Christian life. Doesn’t that sound good? Oh God, do it to me today. I would like instantaneously to never struggle with sin ever again the rest of my life. A simple solution? I remember when I was about two years into the Christian life, struggling, wrestling with sin. And I came across, this in 1 John, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And we know that if he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him.” Well, being kind of essentially logical and mathematical, I said, “Well point one, God wants me to be pure, and holy, and free from all sin. Point two, all I have to do is ask for what I want according to his will and he will give it to me.” I don’t know why I didn’t see it before! And so, in all reverence, I got down to my knees and said, “God, make me perfect right now. I mean, absolutely perfect, take away all of my sin, in Jesus’ name, amen.” …It didn’t work. I rose up from that prayer about like I knelt down, and more curious to know what went wrong in the mathematics and the calculus of holiness. What went wrong? I was not praying according to God’s will. It was not God’s will instantaneously to make me victorious for the rest of my life. You know why? He wanted to see me work it out. He wanted to see me on 1,000 or 100,000 battlefields by faith conquering lust after lust, temptation after temptation, cowardice after cowardice. He wanted it done, yes, and he was going to give me everything I needed to be victorious in each of those battles; that was his way. Now, you say, but that’s so much suffering, it’s so much struggle. Yes, it’s the very thing the Victorious Life people tell you you don’t need anymore, just be passive, this is what they say. The essence is surrender, have you heard this before? You’ve got to just surrender to God. You’ve got to surrender all things to Christ. “We are to stand,” I’m quoting now, “We are to stand not struggle, the good fight of faith cannot be a struggle, the secret of victory is the indwelling Christ. Christ never struggled with sin,” they say. “So victory is in trusting not in trying. Victory over sin is a gift of God and not a growth.” Did you hear that? It’s an instantaneous gift, it’s not something you grow in. The victorious life is not secured gradually nor by effort and striving on our part. The motto of this is, “Let go and let God.” Have you heard that before? Let go and let God. And the key to the Christian life then is learning just how to let go and let God do it. I read a poem about this, by Jason Ramer: “As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God because he was my friend. But then, instead of leaving him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own. At last I snatched them back and cried, “How can you be so slow?” “My child,” he said, “What could I do, you never did let go.” Doesn’t that sound wonderful? It really does, but it doesn’t line up with the text we’re looking at today. Does God teach you to give it to him and let go, so that you stop striving? I don’t think so, you were told to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. He wants you right in the midst of the battle. He has committed the responsibility to you. There are others that so emphasize God’s side. Hyper-Calvinists, who take the idea of God sovereignty so far as to say, “You don’t need to do anything in the Christian life.” Calvin never taught that, reformed people, the Puritans sure never taught that. And then, lazy mainstream evangelicals, who say, “Hey now, I walked the aisle. I remember it distinctly. I prayed the prayer. What do I need to work out my salvation with fear and... What do I need to do that for? Once saved, always saved, my pastor taught me that, I believe it. It’s a Biblical doctrine. So, what do I need to do?” And so, there is overemphasis on that idea, saying that, therefore, we don’t need to do anything in the Christian life. That’s all the one error. IV. God’s Greater Work: God Working In Us But then on the other side, there are some that so emphasize human effort and human striving and human work that they forget that, “…it is God who works in you, to will and to do, according to His good purpose.” That the Scripture actually always gives the emphasis to God’s work first and ours second. And that’s why, when I get to talking about our work and God’s, ours is the lesser work and God’s is the greater work. Among these would be anxious Arminians, who believe that at any moment, you can lose your salvation, so you better keep doing it and God is sitting back watching and seeing what you can do. And he’s not going to lift a finger. He’s done enough through providing the blood of Jesus Christ. The rest is up to your free will. And you better keep working at it, you better keep cranking it out, because if you don’t, you’ll lose your salvation. Some Holiness churches teach this. The Roman Catholic monks and ascetics, totally focused on themselves and their own works and what they could do, and not understanding God’s sovereignty in all of this. Let’s not make either one of these errors. There is deep mystery here. But let’s totally embrace the fact that the Christian life is going to be a hard-working, energetic battle the rest of your life, don’t expect anything else. But that it is “God who’s at work in you at every moment, to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Let’s hold both of them together. Now, let’s dig in and try to understand this in terms of its context. Philippians was a thank you letter. You remember that Paul was in chains for Christ and the Philippian church was concerned and so they sent him some money with Epaphroditus, they sent him some money. Paul, just being an honorable person, just wanted to say, “Thank you”. And so, he wrote a thank you letter. But his thank you letters are just much better than ours, much better than ours. And so, we’re still reading his, two millennia later. Because he’s going well beyond just saying, “Thank you.” He’s concerned that they understand the Christian life. He wants them to understand his struggle and his being in chains, in terms of those two infinite journeys. The internal journey of holiness, the external journey of worldwide evangelization. Because you see, the Philippians were also going through struggles. They were getting persecuted, they were needing to stand up for Christ. And so, he wrote, so that they would have what they needed to stand firm in the day of testing. Also, it turns out that the Philippian church was being rent by divisions and by arguments and conflicts, they were not united. And so, in Chapter 2, he writes saying “Please, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” And then, he gives that beautiful, that soaring example of Jesus Christ, “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. And He took His servanthood to the utter extreme of death, even death on a cross.” And so, therefore Philippians, “as you have always obeyed,” you see the link there, Jesus obeyed even to death on the cross. Now, “as you also have always obeyed, continue to obey.” To the point where in Verse 14, you “do everything without complaining or arguing.” You see how that works? And so the internal growth of holiness in Christ will enable you to stop arguing with each other. And that will enable you to hold out the word of life to a crooked and depraving generation. V. The Relationship Between Our Work and God’s Work In Us That’s the context of Philippians 2:12-13. He wants them to be blameless. Now, let’s look at our lesser work, our lesser work. We will not finish contemplating God’s greater work. We will do that, God willing, next time. But let’s look at our lesser work. Now first, why do I call our work, “The lesser work?” Well, we know from this verse that we work in salvation, and God works. We work and God works. But what is the relationship between the two? Now, we’ve studied in 1 John, perhaps even this morning some of you looked at 1 John 4:19, which says, “We love because He first loved us.” It puts the priority on God’s love. That means that our love is a flower, like a harvest that comes out of the root and the seed-bed and the nourishing soil of God’s love for us. That’s where it comes. So, we put the priority on God’s love. “We love because He first loved us.” Well, I think Philippians 2:12-13 would then say something like this, “We work because God first worked in us.” Let me say that again, “We work,” in a Christian life, “We work because God first worked in us.” Do you think you’re ever going to get ahead of God? Where he’ll... he’s praying, “I wish I’d thought of that, but I’m so glad he’s doing that.” I can’t imagine that. Could it be that you’re only ever keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. He’s leading out, you’re following? So, if you’re down on your knees praying, if you’re studying the Scriptures, if you’re putting sin to death, it’s because that is exactly what the Holy Spirit is working in you at that moment. And for a change, you’re not hardening your heart. “We work because he first worked in us.” And so, therefore our work is the lesser work. Now, what is the nature of our work? Look again at Verse 12. “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue-” Gentle encouragement Now, first of all, I just want to comment pastorally. Do you see how sweet spirited he is toward these folks? Paul just has a sweet spirit toward the Philippians. He calls them his dear friends. He cherishes them. He loves them. And then he encourages them. “As you have always obeyed…” Isn’t that encouraging to hear that from Paul? “Just as I look at your lives, since the first time I knew you. And since the first day that you began as Christians, you have always obeyed.” And so, he’s very sweetly encouraging to them. I think this is a lesson to parents and a lesson to disciplers. Be greatly encouraging to those entrusted to you. Growth happens in an environment of hope and encouragement, not in a harsh negativity of, “Look how poorly you’re doing.” But rather, Paul says, “Look how well you’re doing, but just keep doing it all the more.” He’s very encouraging to them. Now, the focus then here is obedience. I asked what is the nature of our work? The issue is obedience. “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” If you just put it together, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, is a matter of growing obedience. “As you have always obeyed,” continue to obey. That is, to work out your salvation. Do you see the logic of it there? So the working out is matter of growth and obedience to Christ. Obedience to Christ is essential for salvation. Now realize the essence of sin is rebellion, transgression against the commands of God. And so, if God is going to save you, he’s going to get you out of that. You’re going to obey. You’re going to submit your life to a King. That’s what salvation is. To stop being a rebel. Christ saves us, by calling us back into his Kingdom. He says in Mark 1:15, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” What’s the good news? That the King against whom you have rebelled is willing to take you back and to transform you so that you are his loyal subject again. Christ has the right to demand faith filled obedience Now, we’ve looked at this before in Matthew 11, but I can’t get over it. It was read earlier. Matthew 11:28-30. Every chance we get, we should look at it. “But there the King stands before us and says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” And then He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Do you know what he’s calling you to do? To bend that stiff neck of yours under his yoke and yield to him as your King. The Biblical image is one of yielding to, submitting to a King. So that he is your sovereign, he has the right to rule over you. And he’s a gentle and loving King. This is not a burden. And so, it’s a matter of obedience. It’s a matter of submission to Christ. And therefore, we must constantly seek to obey our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 12, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now much more in my absence.” Let me tell you something. If you have no desire to obey Jesus Christ, you are not a Christian. If you have no desire to obey the commands of Christ, you’re not a Christian. If you think it a light thing to obey Christ, you have not understood the Gospel. The Philippians showed their faith by immediate and heartfelt obedience, not only to Christ but also to Christ’s messenger, the Apostle Paul. Now, what kind of obedience are we talking about? Well, immediate obedience. Look back at Philippians 1:5. There Paul speaks of their partnership. Do you see this? Philippians 1:5, he thanks God because of “their partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now.” Do you see that? Right from the start, these Philippian Christians were obeying Christ and obeying Paul, Christ messenger. They didn’t wait to obey. Now, some people think “Well, I’m ready to accept Jesus as my Savior, but I’m not yet ready to accept him as my Lord.” As though he’s somehow schizophrenic. Some days he’s going to be Savior and some days he’s going to be Lord. Well, that’s not the case. He is Savior and he is Lord. Jesus called people to immediate obedience. “As he was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers. And they were Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, they were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going a little further, He found James and John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus said, ‘Follow Me.’And at once they left their father and their nets and followed Jesus.” He found Matthew the tax collector the same way. “Come follow me,” And he got up and followed him and he obeyed him. One disciple said, “Lord first let me go and bury my father.” And he said, “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.” To the rich young ruler, he said, “If you want to be perfect, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you’ll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” He called for immediate complete obedience. And faith filled obedience. “An obedience,” it says in Romans 5, “that comes from faith.” A faith filled obedience. Now, Paul points this out. He says, “As you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence.” They seem to have grown in their obedience. They’re even more obeying Christ now than when he was there before. This is a great sign of a true living faith. When it’s only you and Jesus: Consistent obedience Early in my Christian life, when I was a college student, I had as a job, going around from place to place at the university and inspecting fire extinguishers. It wasn’t a living. I just made money, pocket money, wasn’t very exciting. But I would look and I would sign my name on the little tag. I went back there a few years later and actually saw one of the tags I signed, so it made me feel good. Andy Davis was here, there it was. But I went into this little, kind of room, closet or something like that and went in, turned on the light, closed the door. And then, I turned and there on the wall was a poster. The only purpose of which was to excite lust. I was totally alone, the door was closed and I turned away. This is about six months after I had become a Christian, there was nobody in the room, except me and Jesus and that was enough. There’s an obedience that comes from faith and faith is measured by what you do when it’s only you and Jesus. And so, he says, “Not only in my presence, but now that I’m not even there anymore, you’re obeying more and more.” And why? Because Jesus is still there, the Lord is still there. So it’s a faith filled obedience and it’s a consistent obedience. “As you have always obeyed, even now continue to obey.” What’s this going to lead to? Well, hard work. “Work out your salvation.” The word is related to “energy”. Show energy in your Christian life. Work it out, energy. He’s talking here, as we’ve said, about sanctification. Growth and godliness requires sweat and toil and suffering and hard work. You’re not going to grow without it. I know the victorious higher life people are promising you something, but you’re not going to find it. The Bible doesn’t promise it to you. The Bible promises you battle. But it promises you weapons and defenses that are suitable for the task. Just having a quiet time every day is a battle. Amen. Just getting up early in the morning and having a good time with the Lord is a battle. You’ve got to do it, work out your salvation. Now, what does it mean “with fear and trembling?” Some of you I think studied in 1 John, where it says, “Perfect love drives out fear.” Romans 8 says that, “God did not make us a slave again to fear.” Well, what then is this fear and trembling? Well, it’s not the fear and trembling of a slave at Mount Sinai, thinking that, “If I don’t obey this whole law, I’m going to hell.” No, that’s not what it is. That’s not the fear and trembling here. I think it’s different. Paul uses the same expression in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5, when he talked about his preaching ministry in Corinth. He says, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling. My message in my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with the demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.” So, I think what it means is, you work out your salvation with a constant awareness that you can do nothing without Jesus’ help. “I am the vine and you are the branches, apart from Me you can do nothing.” A constant kind of trembling awareness of dependence on Jesus. “Taking heed, you who stand, lest you might fall today into sin.” Fearful of the devil and his temptations, fearful of your own sin and your own habits and patterns, fearful of having to give Christ an account for yet more sin. With fear and trembling, with the sense of the seriousness of this battle, we are going to work out our salvation. Now, that is our lesser work. God willing, next time, we’re going to see God’s greater work in us. VI. Application What kind of application are we going to take from this? First, accept the mystery. You have a responsibility in your Christian life, accept it. Accept responsibility. You must work in your Christian life. And you must work hard. And if you don’t work hard, you will not make great progress in your Christian life. You must do your part, your lesser work. If you want to grow in knowledge of the Bible, you must study. You must memorize. You must meditate. You must work at it. If you want to grow in your prayer life, like Ole Hallesby said, “Prayer is work.” That’s the name of his book. You want to grow, you have to work at it. Is it easy to kneel down and pray for an hour? No, it’s hard, it’s hard work and if you expect it to be easy, you’re going to be greatly disappointed. But if you know that prayer is work and growth in prayer is work, then you will know. That is exactly what I was told and so, I must work at it. Suppose you have bad habits present, like overeating, for example, it’s not going to go away without effort. You must work at it. Yes, you must work it by the power of the Spirit, but you must work to put sin to death. If there are good habits that are absent, for example, personal witnessing, you must be willing to work at it so that you became a better witness. Study, work at it, put yourself under somebody who is a good witness, so that you can learn how to be a witness. Suppose you have bad character traits present, like complaining. It’s not going to go away like the morning mist, “Then one day I never complained again.” Oh, wouldn’t that be sweet? But I don’t think it’s going to happen. As matter of fact, this verse gives me an indication that it is not going to happen. There isn’t going to be, “Then one day I never did such and such again.” It could happen statistically that from that day forth you never did. But it happens through hard work by the power of God working in you. And if you are quietistic and laid back, you will continue to complain. You will continue to be who you’ve always been. And concerning good traits, character traits, that are absent like compassion, you must work at acquiring Christ’s compassion for the suffering and needy. Now, if you don’t make progress, don’t get discouraged. Stealing some from next week’s sermon, “It is God who works in you so that you can work.” You will win in the end, you will be victorious. Just don’t give up. Don’t give up, keep working at it. Because God’s doing the same work in you that you are doing in yourself. So if you don’t see progress, don’t get discouraged. But if you do see progress, don’t get arrogant and start saying, “I have found the secret.” And sure don’t write the book called, “The Victorious Life,” alright, thus discouraging generations of people who haven’t found your secret, whatever it is. Don’t get arrogant. And if you are not a Christian today, don’t work. Don’t work at all. Because all so called good works before justification are actually sins. You just need to humble yourself before the cross of Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior, that his blood will cleanse you from sin.

I. Paul’s Central Desire: That Christ Be Exalted We’re looking this morning at Philippians 1:12-26. And as you give your attention to that text, I want to begin by asking you kind of a central question. What is your main purpose today? What is your goal? What do you hope to accomplish today? What is your goal for today? That’s kind of a strange question, but I’m asking it because you are to be a purposeful being. Why are you alive today? And not just today, but for your whole life? What is the central desire of your life? What is the one thing that if that did not get accomplished, your life would be worthless? What are you living for? And I think in Philippians 1:12-26, we have a clear statement from the Apostle Paul of what his central purpose was, and nothing else mattered other than that purpose. Ordinarily, as an expositor, I just begin at verse 12, in this case, and just move through, but I want to start at verse 20. Look at verse 20 and you’re going to see in verse 20, I believe Paul’s central purpose in his life. He says, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage, so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” That Christ be exalted, now that was the central purpose of Paul’s life. That was his central desire. In what way is God too small? Now, this word “exalted,” “megaluno” in the Greek, is a fascinating word. It means to enlarge, to make bigger, to make greater. It’s used of a child growing up. It’s used of a king that expands his horizons, the horizons of his empire to make it larger. It’s used of a man’s fame and reputation, spreading far and wide. It’s used of the size and scope of one’s opportunities getting larger. It has to do with something being of a certain size and then getting larger, becoming greater. Paul’s deepest desire, then, is that that would happen to Christ. That Christ would be enlarged, that Christ would be made greater, that He would grow immense. Now, this is an odd thing. If you think about the Old Testament scripture verse that you’ve heard before, a worship verse in Psalms 34:3, it says, “O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.” And we’ve been doing that this morning in worship. It’s been a delight and we’ve gotten together as believers in Christ and we have magnified the Lord. Literally, let’s get together and make God bigger. The more I go on like this, the more you see that it’s a strange way to think. How can you, a finite, sinful being, make an infinite God bigger? How can you make Him greater? Solomon in his prayer of dedication for the temple said, “But will God really dwell on the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I have built?” The word “contain” there in that verse means hold in, like a container. It’s used of the bronze bath of 3,000 baths out front of the temple. 17,500 gallons, it contained. When you think about a milk jug on a breakfast table this morning, the milk was contained in the container. Solomon said, “There’s no container for you, God. The infinite universe is not big enough to hold you in.” And so we sang this morning, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.” The heavens aren’t big enough for you, God. Jeremiah the prophet said, “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Declares the Lord.” Yes, you do, Lord. You are an infinite, infinite being. The universe is immeasurably vast, able to hold trillions and trillions of huge stars, and it’s not big enough to contain the infinite God. And so I’ve come back to that same question. How can finite, sinful human beings like us make God bigger? In what way is God too small? Well, he’s too small in our hearts and he’s too small in our minds, too. His reputation in this world is too small. People think too small thoughts of Christ all the time. And in that way, and in that way alone is Christ to be exalted, made greater, made bigger. I want to do that this morning. I want to think greater thoughts of Christ as a result of our worship time together. I want to have a far greater estimation of his magnitude than I did when I walked in here this morning. The issue is that he, that Christ, is too small to me and you and to the lost world around us. That’s the problem. And Paul lived that that would no longer be the case, that Christ would be exalted in his body. That’s what he wanted. An example: Jupiter By way of illustration, if you think about the planet Jupiter, it’s approximately 11 times larger than the Earth. It’s about 100,000 miles in diameter, could hold all the other planets in the solar system inside it. It’s an immense, immense ball of gas in the middle of space, but to us, it appears as a tiny dot of light. How can that be? Because we’re so far removed from it. It’s just one of the physical principles of light that the further away you are from something, the smaller it appears. And so it is relationally with God. The further and further we are away from him, the tinier he appears to us. In 1610, January, when Galileo pointed his new telescope up at Jupiter, he could see four moons orbiting Jupiter. It’s also, there’s some indication that he could see for the first time that great red spot, that giant red spot, which I think is twice as large as the Earth. Just immense, but invisible to the naked eye. The telescope made Jupiter appear larger to him, but it didn’t do a thing to Jupiter. It didn’t change it at all. Christ’s Kingdom is too small And so it is with our worship and with our evangelism and with all of these things, they don’t do anything to God in himself. He is, he always has been, he always will be immense, majestic, powerful and glorious. But he makes all of these things, worship and evangelism, makes God appear greater to us and Paul lived for that. That’s why he was alive. He said, “I just want to be used by you, God, that others would see you greater than they have before.” I want to exalt Christ. Christ is too small, therefore, not in reality, but in our estimation. And so, the Apostle Paul said, “Here I am today, use me, pour me out for your glory, that you be exalted. That your reputation will be increased, that people would see you as you really are.” Not only is Christ too small, not in reality but in our estimation, but Christ’s kingdom is too small. God the Father had measured out a bigger scope than it presently contains. And so the kingdom must advance, it must grow. Revelations 7:9, which we have quoted many times, “After that, the Apostle John said, ‘I looked and there I saw before the throne and before the lamb, a great multitude that no one could count from every tribe and language, and people and nations standing before the throne and in front of the lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches and worshipping Christ.”And so God has marked out a bigger territory than Christ’s kingdom presently contains. And so therefore, his kingdom is too small. And at every moment, the Apostle Paul said, “I want to use my body, my time, my resources, that Christ be exalted.” I want him to be exalted. Now, he says in the verse, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” You see, therefore, the need for courage that Christ be exalted. Also, the whole epistle is an epistle of joy. There’s a need for joy. And he says, “I am fully confident that I’m going to get everything I need that Christ would be exalted.” I’m not going to be ashamed of Christ. And I’m going to rejoice in my suffering, to the end that Christ be exalted. And so that’s what the whole Book of Philippians is about, it’s what the whole New Testament is about, it’s what the whole Bible is about, that Christ be exalted. And it’s what Paul’s life was about too, in his body, whether by life or by death. That’s what he cared about. That’s the center of this text that we’re looking at this morning. The advance of the Gospel Verse 20. It’s an odd place to begin, I know, but I wanted to begin logically and not in order. So we’re starting at verse 20 and we’re saying this is the reason for everything. Now, what were the means to that end? God is a God not just of the end but of the means. How is he going to get there? How is Christ going to be exalted? There are two means, one is in verse 12 and the other in verse 25. For Christ to be magnified, there must be growth, right? There must be a greater and greater thing happening. There must be advance or progress. Now, look at verse 12. He says, “Now, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” Do you see that word advance? It’s an important word. Now, what does he mean, what has happened to me? Well, he is in chains for Christ, he is incarcerated. He may be in a prison, he may be under house arrest but he is in chains for Christ. And he wants them to know that it’s actually served to advance the gospel. II. Paul’s Two Subordinate Means: The Gospel Advance Globally and Individually So the subordinate meaning number one is that Christ is to be exalted to the global worldwide advance of the gospel, that Christ is preached globally, worldwide, the global advance. The second is individual personal progress in Christ, and we see that in verse 25. He says, “I expect that I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.” Do you see the word “progress”? If you were the kind of person that writes in your Bible, I’m not, but you may be, you would circle the word “advance” in verse 12 and the word “progress” in verse 25. They’re both from the same Greek word, prokope. They both mean the same thing. This is where I get the idea of Two Journeys, two things that we’re making progress in: The worldwide global advance of the gospel among the nations through the preaching of Christ is the “advance” in verse 12; And then individual progress made by specific Philippian Christians, that we as believers would make progress in Christ for the gospel is the “progress” in verse 25. Paul cares nothing for his physical life except for those two things. That’s why he lives. He lives that Christ will be magnified through these two ways, that the gospel be advanced globally, and that you Philippian Christians would make progress in your faith. That’s why he’s alive, and he’s very clear about that. It was all about progress. Now, the Philippian epistle, the whole letter, is very clear about the need for progress. We’ve already seen it in that majestic verse, in verse 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” That’s of that second category, that second type, that individual Christians would be built up to full, Christ-like maturity. There’s going to be progress made. It says the same thing in chapter 2, in which he says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” -again, individual progress. And then he speaks about his own individual progress. He says in chapter 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” There’s internal progress that Paul is making. Same thing in 3:14. He says, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” So the whole letter is an epistle of progress, of making progress in the journey. And we get that out of 1:12, “What has happened to me has served to advance the Gospel.” And 1:25, “I expect that I will stay for your progress in the faith.” Those are the subordinate meanings. So number one, that Christ would be exalted. Well, how is He going to be exalted? By growth in two ways- globally through the preaching of the gospel worldwide, and individually through each Christian growing up to full maturity in Christ. III. God’s Chosen Strategy: Pouring Paul Out Like a Drink Offering What is your strategy, Lord? Can you imagine a strategy conference between the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, and Jesus Christ, his Lord? “Here I am, Lord, I’m finally converted after all that time, the road to Damascus has happened and you have, for some reason, appointed me Apostle to the Gentiles. There’s a huge gentile world out there. Romans and Greeks, Scythians and all kinds of folks that need to come to faith in Christ. I am willing to preach one rally after another. I’m willing to go from city to city to preach to tens of thousands. I’m willing to do anything for you. What is your strategy?” Well, the Lord would say, “This is my approach. I’m going to put you in chains under house arrest or in prison somewhere, and you’re going to sit there. And I’m going to bring one Praetorian guard a day, or maybe two or three a day, and I’m going to give you that one shot every day. Make the most of it. Make the most of it. ” Now, God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts.” We would think, “What a waste! Here’s this fluent, confident, powerful preacher for Christ, and you’re going to lock him up with one Praetorian guard a day, or two or three at the most?” But God knew what he was doing. Do you realize that within the end of the first century AD, church history shows that there were local congregations planted in the North of England? There were Christians at the end of the first century. How do you think they got there? Look at verse 13. He says, “As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard,” in the NIV, do you see the palace guard there? Praetorian is the Greek word. Now, the Praetorian guards were the elite. They were the cream of the cream. They were the best. They were Caesar’s personal bodyguard and his emissaries all over the world. They were the sharpest soldiers, the best soldiers in the world. They were world conquerors. And Paul was chained to at least one of them a day. God’s chosen strategy, then, for Paul, was that he be poured out like a drink offering. Now, first century prisons involved immense suffering. You remember the scene of Paul and Silas in that darkened dungeon in the middle of the night singing praise songs. It was all they could do because it was such a horrendous situation. There was no food, no water, there was no light, nothing but suffering. And so it was for the Apostle Paul, and it was that way right from the very beginning of his life when he was first called to be an apostle, when he was first called to be a Christian. Ananias went to lay hands on him and heal his eyes and to baptize him as a Christian. And Ananias did not want to go. And the Lord spoke to him and said, “Go. This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” And he had been showing him. He had been showing him day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, showing him how much he had to suffer for Christ. IV. Paul’s Daily Example: Joy and Boldness in Suffering In Acts 20, Paul says, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I count my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” And what were those sufferings like? Well, he gives a litany of them in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he says, “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a day and a night in the open sea. I’ve been constantly on the move. I’ve been in danger from rivers and danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea and in danger from false brothers, I have labored and toiled. And I’ve often gone without sleep. I’ve known hunger and thirst, and I’ve often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Beside everything else I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” That was the nature of Paul’s life. And even in Philippians 2 we see it. In Philippians 2:17, he says, “Even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” Poured out like a drink offering, that’s just like wine poured on the fire of sacrifice. That means poured out unto death. And he said, “Even if that’s what happens to me, poured out like a drink offering, I rejoice.” And so God’s strategy for worldwide global advance and for the individual progress of the Philippians was suffering for the messenger, namely the Apostle Paul. Very much following after Jesus’ pattern in John 12:24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself a single seed, but if it dies it bears many seeds.” And so here’s the thing, Christ should be exalted and magnified. How? Through the global progress of the gospel and the individual progress of Christians in the gospel. God’s strategy is suffering for both of those, and apart from suffering, neither one happens. It’s impossible. Alright, well, now we get to the core of this whole section, verses 12-26. And the core really has to do with attitude. It has to do with your attitude, how you feel about it. He said, “I want you to known brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” I want you to know it and I want you to know my attitude toward this. Paul actually was going through suffering. He actually was suffering for Christ. It wasn’t just theory. It’s one thing for us here at First Baptist Church, in these pews and in our clothes and all that, to talk about suffering for the gospel. Paul didn’t just talk about suffering for the gospel, he was going through it. God was putting him on display. Nobody lights a lamp and hides it under a bushel. Instead he puts it up on a stand and gives light to everyone in the house. He was putting Paul on display, and so he was going through suffering. And every day he was willing to suffer more. “I want to preach the gospel, I want to preach Christ, I want to preach boldly.” William Tyndale I think about the story of William Tyndale. He was arrested for translating the Bible, the scriptures, into the common vernacular, into English. And Tyndale’s words are immortalized in the King James Version. Most of the King James Version comes from Tyndale. He’s an amazing linguist, translator. And what brought great suffering into his life was this translation work, he was arrested for it, put in prison. He was in a freezing prison cell in the Netherlands. And he wrote to the officials who were in charge of his incarceration with a request, he said, “I would like a warmer blanket, I would like a coat and a hat. But above all, if you send me none of these things, please send the following: My Hebrew Bible, my Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary so I can continue my work.” Now, that’s bold. Alright, it’s cold here in the Netherlands, especially in the winter, so send a hat and a blanket and a coat, but if you don’t send any of those things, send me my Hebrew work so I can keep going in my translation. That’s the boldness of the messenger of God. John Bunyan Same thing with John Bunyan, a Baptist preacher in prison for preaching the gospel in England without a license. He was offered his freedom again and again, if he would just simply make a promise not to preach anymore. It’s one thing to be incarcerated, but it’s another thing to be incarcerated when you have the key right in your hand. When you can walk out any time you want if you’ll just make a simple promise that you will not preach without a license again. And he suffered greatly. He said, “The parting of me from my wife and my children has been as the ripping of my flesh from my bones.” It caused him intense psychological suffering to be away from his wife and his blind daughter. And yet he refused to give up preaching the gospel and he said to his jailer, when offered again if you will just simply promise not to preach anymore, he said, “I can make you this promise, if I am free today, I will preach tomorrow.” And so he stayed in prison and he refused to give in to self-pity. He refused to give in to the blackness of despair and discouragement. He just wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. He made the most of his time. And so Paul’s attitude is put on display, “I want you to know how I think about my suffering. I want you to see my attitude. I’m in chains for Christ and I’m glad and I rejoice. Now, God’s strategy is he’s bringing me one Praetorian a day, at least. If I act like all the other pagan prisoners, what effect am I going to have on that Praetorian guard? None. But if, on the other hand, I live and preach and act and display Christ so clearly that when that man walks out, he’s wondering who is the prisoner, and who’s the free man? Then God can use what’s going on for me.” The principle of the mustard seed will take over. One day with one Praetorian is worth more than a hundred preaching in front of huge crowds if God is in the one and not in the other. “And so just give me my one guard today, I’m going to make the most of it. I’m going to make the most of it.” V. The Fruit Already Seen And so we’ve already seen fruit. There’s specific fruit that’s already come. Look at verse 14. He says, “As a result of my preaching, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” In essence, “My brothers and sisters are preaching more boldly because they see what’s happening to me. I’ve already been arrested, I’m suffering, and yet I’m thriving. I’m closer to Christ than I ever was before. And they’re saying, ‘Whatever he has, I want some of that. I’m not afraid anymore.’ And they’re bold to go out and preach. And so, my one imprisonment has made a bunch of preachers and sharers of the gospel and evangelists. They’re bold now. They’re not afraid anymore.” And so it is with us when we read testimonies from Voice of the Martyrs, or some of these other things of our brothers and sisters in Christ in China and in Muslim countries that are going through great physical suffering for Christ, and they’re not yielding. It gives us courage. We’re willing to pay the price to witness to a co-worker or to a neighbor, or a relative, somebody sitting next to us on an airplane. Ours is a small price to pay and there is almost a sense of shame that we would even hesitate, compared to the suffering that others have gone through. And so we’re willing to pay the price. And so look at the good fruit, look at the good things that are coming. “Because I am thriving in prison. I’m not gloomy, I’m not depressed, I’m not irritable, I’m thriving, I’m joyful, I’m trusting God, the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to be bolder with the gospel, too. And an odd thing has happened, too- some of my enemies are preaching the true gospel.” What an odd thing. The strangest people I said when I mentioned this a few weeks ago, these are some of the strangest people in the whole Bible. I don’t understand them. Preaching the true gospel to get Paul in trouble? That’s an odd thing, really. Now, we mentioned at the time that if they were preaching a false gospel, Paul would put the anathema on them, they’d be eternally cursed if they preached the false gospel, but they didn’t do that here. So they’re preaching the true gospel from bad motives- trying to stir up trouble for him while he’s in chains. And he says, “What do I care? I might die today, it doesn’t matter what happens to me. The important thing is that Christ is being exalted, that he’s being magnified through the preaching of the true gospel. That’s what matters to me. So we’re seeing good things and I still get my one Praetorian every day. Some of them have requested to be chained up with me again!” They want part two with that man! “He’s an odd guy, but I feel differently when I talk to him. Things become clear, and then other things become a little muddled, and I just want to talk to him some more.” Now, we don’t have any record that there were any Praetorians that specifically requested to be chained to Paul the second time. But we do have something. Look at the end of this book, in Philippians 4:21, he says, “Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings.” And then he says in verse 22, “All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.” Hmmm. Now, read between the lines. What’s going on here? Could this be the Praetorian Guard? Could it be that some of them have come to faith in Christ? Could it be they’ve led some of Caesar’s relatives, some cousins, some sisters, brothers to Christ? Could it be that the gospel is making the kind of progress it would have needed to make for the Roman Emperor to declare himself a Christian three centuries later? Oh, yes! The gospel is making good progress. It’s working. Christ is being exalted in my body. By the worldwide advance of the gospel as God gets a bunch of secret service zealous Roman soldiers to come to faith in Christ, and go to Northern England and preach the gospel there. Fearless men they were. Bold and courageous, coming to faith in Christ, leading some of Caesar’s relatives to faith as well. “It’s working! The gospel’s advancing around the world! Gentiles are coming to faith in Christ. The gospel is being preached. And, meanwhile, my example is helping individual Roman Christians grow in their faith. And Philippians, I want you to grow, too. I want you to be bold. I want you to be confident. I want you to stand firm for the Lord.” He’ll get to that at the end of chapter 1. “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.” I want you to grow. It’s all happening. But attitude is the key.” VI. Paul’s Greatest Pressing Need: Protection of His Joy and Boldness Now, let me ask you a question. You don’t need to answer, but just think about it. If you entered that trial with the same attitude with which you enter most of the trials you face in your life, what kind of fruit would have come from your incarceration? How do you carry yourself when your vessel is upset and jolted a bit? What comes out? What reveals itself at that time? And that’s a convicting question for me, too. Do I rejoice when suffering and trouble comes to me, because then I can put Christ on display and exalt and magnify him through my troubles? I want to. I yearn that my life would be used that way. And Paul felt that too. Paul was not a superman, he was flesh and blood. And so therefore his greatest need, he then reveals to the Philippians, it’s not that he would be released. “Get me out of here! Thanks for the money, but get me out of here!” He’s not saying that. He does say thank you for the money in chapter 4, but he doesn’t say, “Get me out of here.” He says, “Pray for me. Pray for me that I’ll keep having a joyful, spirit-filled, godly Christ-like attitude.” That’s the key to the whole system, “Pray for me.” He asked for prayer. His pressing need was prayer, not that he would be released. He says in verses 18-20, “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” My deliverance from what? Well, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body.” “I need deliverance from shame. I need deliverance from weakness. I need deliverance from cowardice. I need deliverance from worldliness. All these things that sap the strength of the gospel power working through me. So Philippians, pray for me, that’s what I really need. I need deliverance from wickedness and sin so that Christ will be exalted in my body through my confident, bold, joyful proclamation.” And so, there’s a partnership, “Philippians, join with the Holy Spirit of God in giving me what I need to see my ministry through.” He says, “You know, I’m not eager to get out of here. I wouldn’t mind dying. I’d be happy to do that.” We’ll talk about that, God willing, next time. Verse 21, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” “If it’s my choice, I want to leave and go and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it’s better for you if I stay. And so, I’m not praying to get out of here. I’m not trying to get out of my circumstance. No, no, I’m praying that I will be bold and courageous for the gospel for Jesus Christ. And so please keep praying for me.” VII. Application to the Philippians and to Us: Live Worthy of the Gospel Now, what application can we take for this for ourselves? Well, I look at verse 27, now, we’re not going to get there until probably, God willing, two weeks hence, that says, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Imitate me.” It’s in effect what he’s saying. When you are suffering for the gospel, be joyful, be bold, be courageous, stand firm, don’t be afraid, but keep preaching, keep preaching the gospel so that Christ will be exalted. And so, I say to you first, fix your heart on Christ and on His glory first above all things, live for that. Let that be the center of your day to day. I asked you at the beginning, what are you alive for today? What is your purpose today? What’s your number one goal? Let Christ be exalted in your body, whether you live or die. Number one, set your heart on that. Now, you cannot do that if you’re a non-Christian. If you come in here today and you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you have never given your life to Christ, you can’t set your heart on Christ’s exaltation until you come to faith in Christ. And it wouldn’t do for you to come hear me talk about the preaching of the gospel to others and you miss it yourselves. Jesus died on the cross for sin, that he might bring you to heaven. Don’t leave this place without trusting in Christ today, without talking to me or to some brother or sister and say, “I need Christ, I want him to be my Savior today.” But if you’ve already trusted in Christ, then set your heart above all things on this, that Christ be exalted in your body. And then, live for the magnification of Christ through the worldwide global advance of the gospel and through your own progress in Christ. Live that Christ be exalted that way. Spend your time that way. Spend your effort that way, your money, spend it that way. Your resources, everything, spend it on that. The worldwide advance of the gospel and yourself, progress in Christ. Come to the sharing and the witnessing next Sunday after worship. Now, there’s a practical application. We’re going to be going door to door, witnessing and trying to lead people to Christ. You may be able to lead someone to Christ, or you may get a door slammed in your face. Count it all joy, just like Paul did. But come and serve next Sunday. And understand that no progress can be made without some kind of suffering. And then finally, if I could urge you to pray for suffering Christians around the world. You notice in this text, Paul says, “Please join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” Do you know you have brothers and sisters in Christ that are getting beaten, probably right now as I speak, because they’re Christians? I think in all the world, there may be no worse physical situation to be in than to be incarcerated by a torturer. I mean, think about it, it’s worse than any disease, it’s worse than any physical situation that you can think of, that you would be incarcerated by somebody who’s using their mind and their creativity to bring you pain and suffering. And there are brothers and sisters in Christ, in China and Muslim countries and Hindu places that are facing those kinds of things. Pray for them. Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners.” Sustain them in prayer.

Pray for What is Certain We are looking at Philippians chapter one. We’re going to focus on verse 9-11. The section of Scripture that was read this morning, verse 3-11, includes an example of Paul’s prayer life. Here Paul prays for the perfection of those who are in ministry partnership with him. He’s praying for the perfection of the Philippian Christians, and here we come to the essential, mysterious nature of our faith. Paul has absolute confidence, un-shakable confidence, that the God who began the good work in the Philippians will most certainly carry it on to perfection in the day of Christ Jesus. He is absolutely confident about that. There’s no doubt in his mind, (now I’m going to speak in the human way, the way I think) and yet he prays. Now, I say “and yet” because that’s the way we think, right? Well, if something is absolutely certain, if God’s already said he’s going to do it, there’s no doubt about it. It’s guaranteed. What do we need to pray for? Why do we need to be involved in that? And so we think, “It’s absolutely certain, and yet he prays,” as though those two things didn’t go together; but they do go together. The apostle Paul prays for what is absolutely certain. He asks God to do what he’s already determined to do. And this is exactly what Jesus is doing right now for you if you’re a child of God. He is praying to his Heavenly Father to complete his purpose in your life. Is there any doubt in Jesus’ mind about whether that will happen? None at all, and yet, speaking in that human way, He prays for you all the time. I would want to turn the whole thing around this morning and say, “And therefore he prays.” Not, “And yet he prays.” “Therefore he prays because it’s absolutely guaranteed. Therefore he prays because it’s in the will of God. Therefore he prays because God has said this is what he’s going to do.” May all prayers outside of God’s will be swept away like chaff. They’re worthless, they’re meaningless. Why should we pray anything but what God has willed? And so it is our desire to pray in accordance with what God is doing, and God is revealing it to us by his will. We need to pray, and we need to pray more spiritually than we do. We pray too earthly, don’t we? We need to pray more spiritually like the apostle Paul does. Jonathan Edwards In 1742, during the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards was sifting through all of the effects of that great revival. Revivals are exciting and we continue to receive from one of you, anonymously, a prayer for revival. Keep it coming and keep praying for us, that God would pour out His Spirit. It’s a wonderful thing. But there’s a lot of upheaval that comes at times like that, and a lot of uncertainty as people are responding emotionally and people’s lives are being turned upside down, and it’s hard to know always what is really happening there. Has somebody, for example, really been converted to Christ or are they just going through the show on the outside? And so He’s dealing with the issue between those that are genuinely converted and those that are gospel hypocrites. And He zeros in on this matter of prayer, and it’s a very interesting thing. I came across this sermon when I was in Japan and the title alone stuck me; Hypocrites Deficient In Private Prayer, that’s the title of the sermon. Hypocrites Deficient In Private Prayer, and this is what he says: “I would exhort those who have entertained a hope of there being true converts, and yet, since their supposed conversion, have left off the duty of secret prayer and do ordinarily allow themselves in the omission of it to throw away their hope. If you have left off calling upon God, it is time for you to leave off hoping and flattering yourselves with an imagination that you are children of God. Probably, it will be a very difficult thing for you to do this. It is hard for a man to let go of a hope of Heaven on which he has once allowed himself to lay hold and which he has retained for a considerable time. True conversion is a rare thing. But that men are brought off from a false hope of conversion after they are once settled and established in it and have continued in it for some time is much more rare still.” Now, what is he doing? He is just being a physician of the soul under the leadership of God, saying, “If you don’t pray at all in your private prayer closet, you are not truly a Christian because this is something that God works when he truly saves you.” But I began to think about the title more, and I thought if we could go back in time and talk to the esteemed and humble Mr. Edwards and say, “Mr. Edwards, is your prayer life everything you would like it to be? Do you pray always according to God’s will? Do you pray with the fervency and the passion and the faith that you should,” he would say, “No. I also am deficient in private prayer.” Paul, Our Tutor So I stand under that today as well. I find myself deficient in private prayer. I pray. I pray all the time. I pray daily. I enjoy prayer. But I am deficient in private prayer. And I want to learn more about it. I want to pray better than I do. And I don’t think you can come to a better mentor and teacher than the Apostle Paul. We’re sitting under his tutelage this morning. We’re going to learn from him how to pray. We’re going to learn from him. And we began last week in three steps. We looked at the first step, namely the character of Paul’s prayer life in verse 3-8. This morning, with God’s help, we’re going to complete the three-step look at Paul’s prayers here; at the content of Paul’s prayer life, and also the goal of Paul’s prayer life: Three Steps: 1) The Character of Paul’s Prayer Life (verses 3-8) 2) The Content of Paul’s Prayer Life (verses 9-11a) 3) The Goal of Paul’s Prayer Life (verse 11b) I. The Character of Paul’s Prayer Life (verses 3-8) First, by way of review, in verses 3-8, we have the character of Paul’s prayer life. We looked at this last week, and we saw eight features: Thankfulness, for example, in verse 3, “I thank my God every time I remember you,” that also brought us to remembrance that he was constantly remembering, was other-centered in that regard. We see, thirdly, the constancy or the consistency of Paul. He says, “Every time I remember you in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” There is a repetition here, a sense of constancy. He doesn’t pray just once, but he prays all the time. And fourth, he prays with joy. There is a great joy in his prayer life; not drudgery, but a sense of delight in being a partner with God and what God is doing in the lives of the Philippians. And the reasons why he prays for them- he’s not an unreasoning prayer man, but he has joy for a reason and he prays for a reason. And what are those reasons? Well, the fellowship or the partnership. He saw himself as a partner with God and what God was doing in the life of the Philippians, just as they were partners with him financially, they’d given him money, and what he was doing in his ministry. And then we also see confidence. Being confident of this, “That he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” I almost can’t say that verse enough. Doesn’t it delight you to know that God doesn’t quit on us, but he continues to work until his purposes are complete, until we are perfect? And then finally we saw affection, verse 7 and 8. “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart, for whether I am in chains or defending or confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” Verse 8, “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” The affectionate relationship he had with them and so it flowed out into prayer. II. The Content of Paul’s Prayer Life (verses 9-11a) So that was the character of Paul’s prayer life last time, but now we have to look at content and we need to be instructed in this matter of content, the Bible tells us so. It says so. It says in Romans 8:26, “In the same way the spirit helps us in our weakness; we don’t know what to pray for.” There it is. Well, don’t be insulted by that, it’s true of us all. We don’t know what to pray for. We want to pray, we have the spirit of adoption within us, we cry out, “Abba Father,” but now give us some prayer work to do. Tell us what we can pray for because we can’t think of what it should be. We need help in this matter of the content of our prayer life. We need to be instructed. If left to ourselves, we will pray for what we ought not to pray for. We’ll even pray for things that we can spend on our carnal pleasures. In James chapter 4, “When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” So we need to be instructed. And why? Because we want a fruitful prayer life. We want to pray for things that God wants to do. We want to pray for things that will result in an abundant harvest of fruit to the glory of God. That’s what we want to pray for because it says in 1 John 5, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of Him. I want that kind of a prayer life. So I need to be instructed by Paul what to pray for, and that’s what he does here in verse 9 through 11a, “And this is my prayer,” he says. “This is what I pray for so that you will know how I’m praying for you. This is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” A.W. Pink And so we can learn what we should be praying for. A.W. Pink clears away a misunderstanding about prayer for us in this matter. “The prevailing idea,” says Pink, “seems to be that I come to God and ask him for something that I want and then I expect him to give me that which I have asked, but this is a most dishonoring and degrading conception. The popular belief reduces God to a servant, our servant, doing our bidding, performing our pleasure, granting our desires. Prayer is not intended to change God’s purpose nor is it to move him to form fresh purposes. God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass through the means he has appointed for their accomplishment. Prayer is the way and means that God has appointed for the communication of the blessings of his goodness to his people.” I think that clears it. We’re not coming to God and saying, “Here’s my idea of what would be good for you to do.” It’s not that at all, but rather we are asking that God would do his will. Martin Luther says, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of his willingness.” And God is willing to give us those things that are in concert with his purpose in his plan. So we want to pray that way. Paul here shows us what kinds of things we should be asking God for as we pray for one another. Six requests in Paul’s prayer life Let’s look at the first one, it says, “Love abounding more and more,” in verse 9. He starts with their love. It’s a good place to begin because love is really the point of the gospel. Jesus said that the two great commandments, the two greatest commandments, the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, I believe the gospel enables us to obey those two great commandments. That is what the spirit is working in us, that we should love God and that we should love others. It says in 1 Timothy 1:5, “The goal of this command is love.” Our instruction in the home or in church that does not result in love has missed the point. We’re seeking to love God and to love others. And what kind of love? We should have love for God as who He really is, love for God as revealed in Scripture, love for His attributes and for His nature, for His holiness and for His perfections, for all of the attributes that are revealed in the words of Scripture. We should love God that way. We should love His plans and His purposes and what He’s doing in the world.We should love the Trinity, love for the Father, love for the Son, and love for the Holy Spirit. We should love God as he has revealed in Scripture. We should love also God’s perfect word, the way he has spoken to us. Now, if you had none of this love, you would not be a Christian. Can you see that? This is what the Holy Spirit does when you are born again. But what Paul wants is that their love, this love, what’s in them, would abound more and more; that they would love God more and more. It must increase. And not just love for God, but love for others, love for other Christians. And this prayer comes together with the purpose of God. We show a great deal of love for other Christians by joining with them in their struggles, by standing with them in their ministry, by loving them through prayer. And also, love for the lost. Love for God, love for other Christians, and love for the lost, that we should have a passion for those who are lost and that this love must increase, that it must abound more and more, that there be within your heart a rich feast of love. Not a scanty amount, not a scrap from the table, but abundance in love; love abounding more and more; a dynamic; a great increase. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the apostle Paul speaking to the Thessalonian Christians there says this, he says, “Now, about brotherly love, we do not need to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And, in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more, more and more. ” You already have love for God. Love Him more. You already have love for others, love for your brothers, love for the lost. love them more. That’s his first prayer. Secondly, he prays for knowledge and for depth of insight. Now, this brings us to an interesting discussion in the Christian life. Have you ever heard the discussion between head knowledge and heart knowledge - head knowledge and heart knowledge?. I feel sorry for head knowledge. It’s always in the short end of that discussion. Oh, it was head knowledge and then suddenly, with God’s grace, it became heart knowledge, as though head knowledge is something you’re embarrassed about, something that should be hidden away at a family reunion or something like that. “We don’t want head knowledge, what we really want is heart knowledge.” Can I tell you something? I don’t believe anything ever gets to be heart knowledge without first being head knowledge, that’s the way God has set it up. It comes in through our minds, but the issue is it mustn’t just be intellectual knowledge like you could write on a test. And so we have a beautiful combination, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. That’s the combination of the head and the heart so beautifully; right doctrine and passion for Christ and for others. This is what He’s praying for. He wants them to know a lot. He really does. He wants them to study the Bible, he wants them to be expert theologians, he wants them to know the plans and purposes of God, he wants them to be able to ace a theology exam. These are good things, but if all you have is that kind of what we have called head knowledge without any passion or love for God, you’re nothing more than a Pharisee, really. And if, on the other hand, you have all this gushy, overwhelming passion, but you don’t know the first thing doctrinally, it may be that you’re an idolater, frankly. You worship what you do not know. Jesus talked about this in John 4, “We need to worship in spirit and in truth, with passion and with the knowledge of the God that we really love.” And so He prays that their love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. The word here “knowledge” is epignosis; a deep personal knowledge. Yes, knowledge about God, yes, but also knowledge of Him personally. And so He wants this for them. Thirdly, He prays for discernment. This is a word that is related to aesthetics. Aesthetics. He wants them to be able to discern. Look in verse 9 and 10: “This is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best.” The result of the growth in love of knowledge is a discerning spirit. Now, discernment is a refined sensibility, kind of like the refined sense of a connoisseur. A diamond connoisseur, for example, an expert in diamonds, can look at a diamond and know its color and its cut and clarity and everything just by looking at it. He can discern the quality of the diamond because he’s an expert. He can discern. An expert in art can tell the difference between a Rembrandt and a forgery, he knows what to look for. He studied the brush strokes and the kind of paint that Rembrandt used and the kind of materials. And maybe not right away, but he can discern the difference between an authentic Rembrandt and a forgery. So we also are called to be discerning. We’re called to have a refinement of discernment. Now, what are we to discern? First, we are to discern good from evil, discernment of good from evil. It says in Hebrews 5:14, “Solid food is for the mature who, by constant use, have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” So by constantly taking in the Word of God, meditating on it, reflecting on it, learning, listening to good sermons, going to good Sunday school classes, reading good books, just flooding your mind with the truth of God, you will be able to discern the difference between good and evil. For example, false doctrine will just jump out to you. You will just know that it’s false. You won’t be tossed to and fro like an immature Christian who can’t tell the difference between sound doctrine and false. It’s a mark of spiritual maturity to be able to discern the difference between good and evil in doctrine, but also in lifestyle to tell what is good and what is pure and right from what is evil. But that is really just the beginning; we also have to discern not just good from evil, but excellent from good. Excellent from good, it says in verse 10, “So that you may be able to discern what is best”, the word is excellent there. New American Standard has it this way, Philippians 1:10, “So that you may approve the things that are excellent.” I like that translation. Not just that we would be able to know what’s excellent, but from our hearts approve it, put our stamp of approval and say, “That’s what I want in my life. I want what’s excellent.” Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is that good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” So as you flood your mind with scripture, you understand the Word of God better, you will be able to discern the difference between what is excellent and what is merely good. So many of the hardest decisions in the Christian life come between what is good and what is excellent. At the beginning of the year, the ministerial staff here put out top 10 ministry priorities. That was quite a discussion to get it down to 10. There were so many things we could be doing as a church. First of all, that we would even have a list of 10, that was a matter of discernment. “Should we do that or should we just do everything?” Well, after a while, you realize, “You can’t do everything. We’re limited, and so we need to concentrate.” That was a matter of discernment, that we should concentrate. And the next, “What should we concentrate on? Why this and not that? Both of them were good things, but we chose to go in this direction.” Sometimes in Missiology, the study of missions, there’s a big discussion on where the labor should go. “Should they go to where there is revival and lots of people coming to Christ? Should we just throw workers in there? Or should we have a uniform approach all over the world?” Some believe one way and some another. It’s not a difference between what’s good and evil, but between what is excellent, what is really lined up with the Word of God and with his will, and what is merely good, and so Paul prays for that kind of discernment. Fourthly, he prays also for purity of life. The outcome of an abundance of love and knowledge and deep insight, it says in verse 10, “So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” Now, the word pure there means literally tested by the sunlight. Realize that the most powerful light the first century folks had was the sunlight, and so they might take a glass jar of a fluid and hold it up and be able to see if there were impurities. It was tested by the sun. Sunlight, and that’s what this word means. Sincere, free of any mixture or any pollution, that you may be pure. A good word for this is holy, that you may be holy. God intends that you live a holy life. Not just that you have all this knowledge and these emotions, but that you actually put sin to death, that you be holy as he is holy. He wants you to be blameless, and Paul says in Acts 24:16, “I always take pains to have a clear conscious toward God and toward men.” Paul wants them to have a holy life so he is praying for this. Fifthly, he prays also for perseverance so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Now, this phrase “until the day of Christ” means until you stand face to face before Jesus Christ on judgment day. I really think it’s one of the primary roles of a preacher or a pastor when teaching the word is to keep judgment day in front of the people all the time, just to remind you that it is appointed unto man to die once and then face judgment. And it’s coming for us all, all of us are going to judgment day. And if you are a Christian, you will be delivered from God’s wrath through him on that day, but you will stand before him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. You will give an account of yourself to Christ, and so Paul wanted them to think about that and that they would persevere in holiness, that they would keep walking with Christ until the day of Christ. Now, part of that is our responsibility, but if it were left to ourselves, we would lose. Do you realize how powerful are the demonic force of evil around you all the time? And so we need protection, don’t we? We need prayer. We need to pray for each other. If you are struggling with sin, if you are having a hard time, find somebody you can trust and say, “Pray for me in this area that I would persevere in holiness until the day of Christ.” Don’t go it alone, that’s what the church is for. Perseverance right until the end. He also prayed, sixthly, for their fruitfulness. It says, “Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” Now, it is so important you understand this. The moment you come to Christ, the moment you have faith in Jesus, you are clothed with a perfect righteousness. It’s what we call justification. You are clothed with the imputed, the gift of righteousness though Jesus Christ. Perfect righteousness. Look for a minute at Philippians 3, VERSE 9, turn over and look at it. Paul says there that he wants to gain Christ, in verse eight, and then verse nine, “And be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.” The righteousness that comes from God and is by faith, that is justification righteousness. It’s a perfect gift of righteousness that you get the moment you come to faith in Christ. The Sanctification Calling Now, in our study in Philippians, we’re going to see that God is calling us to an internal journey of holiness we call sanctification, and you’re going to be called to work out your salvation with fear and trembling and to become more and more like Jesus. But let me tell you something, no matter how well you do in that journey, in that battle, you will never do enough to satisfy God’s justice for judgment day. Never. And so you will, in the end, stand before Christ in justification righteousness, a gift of Christ’s perfect righteousness given to you at the moment you believed, by faith alone, a gift of perfect righteousness. And if you’re a Christian today, that’s how God sees you right now as you’re sitting there in the pew. Isn’t that wonderful? He just sees you in Christ. He sees you in His perfect righteousness. And yet He wants you to be filled with the fruit of that righteousness. He wants it to bear fruit in your life. He wants you yourself to be a righteous man or woman. He wants you to live a righteous and upright life. The fruit of righteousness, a full harvest that glorifies God, of temptations that are hard for you to say no to but you do, by faith, through the Holy Spirit, put that sin to death. He is greatly honored by that. He wants that fruit of prayers prayed for the glory of God after the pattern that we’ve been talking about this morning. You go into the room, you close the door, and you pray to your father who’s unseen and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. He sees that righteousness, of money given to ministries or to the poor when the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing, just by faith to honor Him. He wants that fruit of righteousness, of evangelism and missions done to the glory of God, standing firm and proclaiming the good news to the lost so that they might have eternal life. He wants that fruit. He wants you to be filled with fruitful labor and righteousness until the day of Christ. And so this is what He yearns for, and so He’s praying for discernment for the Philippians that they would be protected negatively from all that might defile them, from false doctrines and from false practices, and then He prays positively that they will be filled to overflowing with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. Isn’t that marvelous? And so we have seen, in a beautiful way, the character of Paul’s prayer life. We saw it last time. How did he carry himself in his prayers? And today, so far, we’ve seen the content. What is he praying for? III. The Goal of Paul’s Prayer Life (verses 11b) Finally, we’re going to see the goal of Paul’s prayer life, in verse 11B, it says, “To the glory and praise of God.” Oh, this is so vital. It’s so important that you understand that this is Paul’s ultimate goal. Our salvation, as vital, as important as it is, is not an end in itself. Our salvation was done for the glory and praise of God, that he might be glorified by saving sinners like us. Our salvation is vitally important. This world that we live in, this physical world is delightful. The beauty of the earth and the power of hurricanes and all the things that we can see is a valuable thing, for God made it. But Jesus said that the value of one single soul is greater than the whole physical world. “For what would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” So in Jesus’ hierarchy, his way of thinking, the physical world is here, a single human soul is higher than the physical world. And let me pause here and say if you are listening to me today and you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and savior, this is the most vital moment for you because you’re confronted with the righteousness of Jesus Christ through the blood that He shed on the cross. Do you know Him as your savior? It wouldn’t profit you at all to listen to a thousand sermons and own a thousand companies and have millions and billions of dollars if you lost your soul. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? But as vitally important as your soul is, there is something higher, and that is the glory of God, the Glory of God. Now, I was the Southern Baptist Convention years ago in Saint Louis. Rick Warren was there speaking and he’s a very effective, energetic pastor and he’s written a book, I think is in the top 10 right now in The New York Times Best Seller list. That’s remarkable, for a pastor to write a book that makes it to the Top 10 New York Times Best Seller. He already wrote The Purpose Driven Church and now he’s making it personal, The Purpose Driven Life. I’ve heard it’s very good and I’m looking forward to reading it. I really am. Anyway, he was up there and he was talking about evangelism, very passionately, and it was very moving. And I have a very, very soft heart for evangelism, missions, and a desire to lead the lost to Christ. It’s worth living for and it’s worth dying for, it really is. He was talking about how his father on his deathbed was begging him to be active in evangelism and missions. Now, you can imagine how effective that was and moving. He showed a video clip of many people getting baptized, in slow motion even. Baptism in slow motion. As I was looking at it, I was moved and I just yearned for that in our church. I yearn to see people getting baptized here far more than they are and that you would all be faithful and effective witnesses for Christ, that is my prayer and my desire. Now, in the Southern Baptist Convention, there are microphones set up all over the auditorium for the business meetings that are going to come later. And Rick Warren, at the end of his presentation, said, “If anyone can think of a higher value than the salvation of a single soul, I want you to come to the microphone now and tell us what it is. Come on, anybody. Come and tell us what could be of a higher value than the salvation of a single soul.” I decided to stay in my seat. I didn’t think it would be in good order, but if I had gotten up, I would have said, “The glory of God.” And you know what he would have said? “Well, yes, that, of course!” But how easily we forget! How easily we reverse them. To the glory and praise of God, that’s why I’m praying, that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. That’s the purpose- that God would be glorified. When we get to heaven and all of our righteous acts are revealed, they will be purified by his grace and we will have our crowns and all of our glory. We will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God and we will be glorified as Christians. We will be. Do you realize that all of your radiance will be borrowed from Christ? All of it is his. The whole city, the New Jerusalem will be clear, so that the glory of God can permeate and move through and be beautiful and majestic. Your salvation is a glorious display of God and his attributes- his justice, his mercy, his righteousness, his compassion, his long suffering. We’re on display for God’s glory, and so also Paul is praying that the Philippians would be on display for God’s glory. To the glory and praise of God, that’s why he prays. Christ has figured your salvation out. He’s written the book. He knows how to get you saved, and I mean saved to the uttermost. He knows how to get you all the way. He is the author and he will be the perfecter of your faith, but all of it is for the purpose of the glory and praise of God. And so, turn to the very end of this book, chapter four, verse 20, not the final word, but close, verse19 says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” verse 20, “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Now, that is why he prays, and that is why you need to pray too; that God will be revealed, that he would be glorified. IV. Application Now, what kind of application can we take from this? First, understand Paul’s prayer life, understand his character, how he carried himself in his prayer life. Understand what he prayed for. “Well, Pastor, that sounds a lot like head knowledge.” Well, yes it is, head knowledge. Understand his prayer life. Read these things, look over them, understand them. Understand his prayer life. Understand the way he carried himself and what he prayed for, that love may abound more and more, that they would have knowledge and depth of insight, that they might be discerning, that they might have purity of life and perseverance and fruitfulness right to the end. And understand the goal, the ultimate goal of Paul’s prayer life, that God be glorified. So take in all that head knowledge, understand what prayer really is, and then ask that God would move it into your heart and transform the way you really pray. Pray this way. Pray for each other this way. I would urge you today, before you go to bed, to choose somebody that you know, another Christian, and just take their name through verse 9 through 11. For example, pray for your friend Jim, “I pray for Jim, that Jim’s love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that he might be able to discern what is best, and that Jim might be pure and blameless in his life, that he might be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” You pray like that and you’re going to be changed too. It’s a transforming prayer. Pray like that. I’ve put together a list of all of Paul’s prayers and if you come tonight, I’ll give it out to as many as... I did about a hundred copies, and what I’d like to do is actually just read over Paul’s prayers and just pray them for people. You go to prayer meetings at churches and there’s a lot of physical praying going on, and I think that’s fine because our bodies were given to us by God and we pray for people’s ailments and we pray for their surgeries and we pray for their cancer and their tumor, and we should. But someone once said, “More prayers are going out for the Saints to keep them from going to heaven than to help them along their journey spiritually to heaven.” Sooner or later, we’re going to go, and so I think it would be better for us to realize we are going to leave these bodies behind when we go to heaven, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So let’s pray spiritually, to the glory and praise of God.