[0:00] Welcome to our services, and as we come together in an act of worship, we will seek the Lord's blessing to be upon us.
[0:15] So let us all unite together in prayer. Eternal and ever-blessed Lord, we give thanks unto thee for this great privilege that thou hast given to us, when we can come around thine own word, and when we can approach thee, enter into the very throne room of God, to lay out our petitions, our desires before thee.
[0:49] Knowing, O Lord, that our boldness and confidence is not to be found in ourselves, but in the merits of thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1:04] And as we come into this act of worship, we seek, O Lord, thine own guidance, thine own leading, that it will please thee to enlighten our understanding, to lead us into thine own truth, and grant that thy Spirit would apply thy truth to our hearts, that it may bring forth evidence in our lives.
[1:32] As we come, O Lord, before thee, we come confessing our sins, acknowledging that we sin in thought, in word and in deed.
[1:44] But blessed be thy name for thy gracious provision for us, and thy Son, Jesus Christ, and for the great promise that thou hast given to us, that if we confess our sins, that thou art faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[2:06] We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, for the gift of thy Son, for his willingness to come, he who was in the form of God, that he made himself of no reputation, that he took upon himself the form of a servant, and that he, being found in the likeness of men, humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.
[2:37] We give thanks that he who died and was buried, that he rose again, and that he has gone up with a shout, and now that he is sitting upon the throne of his holiness, until that day when every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that he is Lord.
[2:58] We seek, O Lord, that thou would grant unto us the spirit of discernment, that we would have the ability to know that which is for our good.
[3:13] We pray, O Lord, that we would be content in all our situations and circumstances that may confront us, and that we indeed would be able to do all things through Christ, which strengthens us.
[3:30] Remember our homes and our families and our communities. O Lord, we pray that it may please thee to outpour thy spirit upon us, bringing us to repentance, and bringing us to seek the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
[3:49] Remember our loved ones, wherever they may be, thou knowest, O Lord, and we pray that out of the riches of thy grace, that thou would meet with them at their point of need.
[4:04] We pray, O Lord, for those who are ill, and seek that thine healing hand may be upon them, and those who mourn. O Lord, we pray, O Lord, we pray, O Lord, that thou would be the great comforter for them, that the void that they find in their homes and in their families and in their hearts may be filled by thy spirit.
[4:25] O Lord, we pray that thou would grant wisdom to those who are in authority over us. Remember our nation, we pray thee, bring healing, O Lord, we pray.
[4:36] And we ask that thou would continue with us now as we come to meditate upon thy word, and as we come, O Lord, to acknowledge thine own sovereignty over us and our dependency upon thee.
[4:53] We seek, O Lord, that in thy mercy and in thy grace, that thou would help us in our time of need. And all that we ask with the forgiveness of our many sins is in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[5:07] Amen. We shall now read the word of God from the New Testament, from Paul's letter to the Philippians, and we'll begin our reading at verse 8.
[5:21] That's Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8. Amen. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.
[5:48] Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
[6:08] Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
[6:19] Everywhere and in all things I am structured both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.
[6:31] Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no judge communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
[6:49] For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but a desired fruit that may abound to your account.
[7:00] But I have all and abound. I am full, having received of Ephaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.
[7:14] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus.
[7:27] The brethren who which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
[7:38] Amen. May the Lord bless unto us the reading of that portion of his word. And seeking the Lord's blessing and help, we can turn to this portion that we have read from verse 8 of Philippians chapter 4.
[8:00] Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.
[8:21] Verse 11, Now that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am therewith, to be content. And verse 19, But my God says, apply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
[8:38] In our study this morning on this chapter, we noted that scholars break up verses 4 to 9 into two sets separate by the word, finally.
[8:54] The first set, verses 4 to 7, we studied, and now we shall look briefly at the second set, verses 8 and 9, and then we shall bring our study on this letter to conclusion by looking at verses 10 to 23.
[9:13] Verses 8 and 9, then, It reads, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.
[9:32] Those things which ye have now learned, both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you. Paul commands them to let their minds ponder on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of a good report and worthy of praise.
[9:55] And he commands them to practice the pattern that they have heard in the gospel and they have seen in those who live Christ-focused lives.
[10:08] Think on these things, Paul says. Because he knows that whatever captures our minds, that they mould and shape our behaviour.
[10:22] But he qualifies his command to think of these things with the words, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise. In other words, he is telling us that we must ponder those things with discernment.
[10:37] Now, what we're going to find in these last verses of this letter is that we come across themes that have already occurred in the letter.
[10:50] And here is one of them. The thought of discernment we have come across before in chapter 1, verses 9, where Paul prays that their love would abode more and more in knowledge or in discernment.
[11:07] There Paul is praying that they would have the spiritual ability to apply the knowledge they have gained to everyday situation. Discernment.
[11:19] The thought of, the thought of having an insight or to be able to see through things. Now, we know that not everything that society calls true and honest and pure and lovely and so on are necessarily things that are of virtue or worthy of praise.
[11:38] So, we must exercise discernment or see through those things. And the standard that he gives us in order to exercise discernment regarding the list of verse 8 is given to us in verse 9.
[11:53] For he says, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you.
[12:05] Again, this thought we have already been given in chapter 3 when he said, Brethren, be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example.
[12:20] Well, what had they seen in Paul? What had they heard from Paul? How could Paul be an example? Well, they had seen the fruit of God's grace in a life that was transformed as we have already studied recently in chapter 3.
[12:43] Paul also has given us many examples of how a Christ-focused heart responds to suffering. Paul has been an example for us of how we are to value the needs of others before our own.
[12:59] How we are to have the mind of Christ, the priceless treasure it is to gain Christ. He has been an example for us that instead of seeking righteousness by our own works or heritage or achievements, we are to seek to be found in Christ, robed in his righteousness.
[13:24] He is an example to us to be resting in the achievements of Jesus Christ alone, to have our desires and longings stirred up with an appetite to know Christ more and more, to know the blessings that he has earned for us, to know his resurrected power working in us, to attain the resurrection from the dead and to be made perfect.
[13:55] And not only has Paul been an example for us, but also if Haberdotus and Timothy has been an example for us of how faith in Christ works out in practice.
[14:07] those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you.
[14:24] Then Paul expresses his joy for the Philippians and he here expresses his joy because of the expression of thoughtfulness which they have demonstrated by their gift that was sent to him and delivered to him by Haberdotus.
[14:48] He says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein ye were also careful but ye lacked opportunity.
[15:01] this theme of rejoicing is expressed at the very beginning of the letter when he says always in every prayer of mind for you all make a request with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now and here again at the end of the letter he expresses his joy for Paul joy repeatedly bursts forth from his heart throughout the letter but notice that Paul's joy was always in the Lord he always rejoices in the Lord he rejoices because of his relationship with the Lord his joy was always based on his relationship in the Lord now he is thankful for the gift that he has received but his mind is not diverted from rejoicing in the Lord who is the giver of all good gifts thankful for the gift and yet his mind is not diverted from rejoicing in the
[16:27] Lord God but here Paul is also stressing that the gift that he has received not only leaves him rejoicing in the Lord but that it comes as evidence of the long term friendship that existed between the Philippians and himself in the gospel
[17:44] Paul wants to stress that their friendship in the gospel that their friendship is not based on need so in verses 11 to 13 we read not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am there was to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me Paul has just told them not to be anxious about anything but to leave their circumstances and their situation in God's care who as a God of peace will keep their hearts and minds in Christ and now he gives himself as the example and shows how in
[18:45] Christ one can truly know contentment in any and in all circumstances he says I know both how to be abased and how to abound he knows how to be humbled here he is using the same word that he used when speaking of Jesus in chapter two possibly he is picturing himself as one who is an example for us demonstrating the attitude of Jesus Christ to humble himself now Paul did not learn this in a day but throughout his lifetime and that is also going to be true for me and for you he knows or has experienced both plenty and want he has learned to be content in poverty as well as in prosperity he knew how to be full and to be hungry and to be hungry means to feel the pains due to lack of food we must remember that contentment does not mean the lack of pain and the lack of emotions physical pain and emotions are all inherent in these experiences of hunger and need to have the attitude of contentment both in poverty and prosperity is something that is really very unusual it is not part of our natural makeup but it doesn't come to us naturally to be content both in poverty and in prosperity very often poverty brings us to be a complaining people and prosperity brings us to be wanting more and more and more but
[20:47] Paul goes on to explain how he has learned to live in contentment both in poverty and in prosperity he says I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me in other words he is telling me and you and the Philippians that his contentment is not because he is self sufficient but because of the sufficiency of Christ Paul finds Christ sufficient in times of plenty as well as in times of want he is thankful and rejoices in the gift from the Philippians but he will not allow their gift to take the place of Jesus Christ Christ we have noted this more than once what we find in this letter among other things is how Christ focused Paul was in his life and maybe if there is anything in the life of
[21:50] Paul that we envy more it is his Christ focused life not that we would take that away from Paul but we would desire that our own lives were molded in the same manner to have a Christ focused life and that is what we see in Paul in chapter one he said for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain in chapter two he shows his confidence in the Lord when he said but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly in chapter three he says but what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ yet doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and to count them but done that I may win
[22:51] Christ all that I may know him and the of his suffering been made conformable unto his death and as we have already noted he rejoices greatly in the Lord all his activities and all his emotions and all his affections and all his thoughts are within the sphere of the presence of Christ what we have is the Christ centredness of Paul's whole life he is definitely a man in Christ and he is a man in Christ in plenty and he is a man in poverty he has just said those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do you see this is an important lesson for us to learn and practice that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves and in whatever situations may confront us that our life in
[23:55] Christ should enable us to find contentment Paul's joy in the Lord was not heightened by prosperity and it wasn't diminished by poverty but we must also note that his contentment in the Lord in all circumstances was not a passive acceptance it was not whatever will will be attitude but it was within an active pursuit of the goal to know Christ more and more and to preach Christ more and more a totally holy Christ centred life then Paul turns to speak specifically of the gift that he had received notwithstanding ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction now ye
[24:56] Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no judge communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity again picking up on a theme which he has already mentioned in the letter their partnership with him in the gospel he wanted to make sure that the Philippians would not misunderstand what he has said by thinking that he implied that he was content even without their support as if he did not value their support he turns their attention to consider the relationship in the gospel there were people who communicated with his affliction well what does that mean by sending if abraditus to bring their gift of support while he was imprisoned and in chains they also actively participated in his affliction for which
[26:03] Paul is very grateful he is thankful for the gift but even so he is thankful far more for what it represents it represents their participation with him in the gospel and he elaborates on their fellowship and their generosity tells him in the gospel from the time that he departed from Macedonia in Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth in chapter 11 we find these words and when I was present with you and wanted I was chargeable to no man for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied making reference to the support of the Philippians for his ministry at Corinth he recalls how they helped him when he went to the Macedonian city of Thessalonica not once but many times and then he tells them what he desires for them not because
[27:13] I decide a gift but I decide fruit that may abound to your account now the word fruit given here is really a financial term which means gain or profit and by combining the word with the financial sense of account fruit that may abound to your account Paul is using the language of an investment manager who decides continuous profits for the account of the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ into the glory and praise of God there Paul is speaking of the day of Christ when we which we saw spoke of the second coming of
[28:15] Christ so what Paul here means in chapter 4 when he says but a desired fruit that may bound to your account he says that he decides continuous fruit until the final evaluation will be completely assessed on that day when Christ will appear in his glory growth and that would seem to be what he desires here their spiritual growth until the day of Christ a demonstration in their life and behaviour of the fruit of the spirit which he says will be entered to their account and he goes on and he says but
[29:34] I have all and abound I am full having received of the things which were sent from you an order of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God he speaks of their gift under the imagery of a sacrifice and the reference here is to a burnt sacrifice the sacrifices of the Old Testament could be grouped into two kinds there were sacrifices of atonement and sacrifices for thanksgiving obviously this would be a sacrifice of thanksgiving their gift was a sacrifice of thanksgiving which was well pleasing to God how was it well pleasing to God because God who seized the heart knew that it came as a free will offering this was not a sacrifice that was grudged this was not a sacrifice that was done sparingly their heart was in it a sacrifice of thanksgiving a sacrifice that was acceptable and well pleasing to
[30:55] God because he knew that it came from a heart that was willing and so their gift was an odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God an odour of a sweet smell an odour of fragrance when Noah offered a burnt offering on the altar after the flood in Genesis 8 we read and the Lord smelled a sweet savour an exodus chapter 29 Aaron and his sons were instructed to bring a whole ram to burn rather to a whole ram on the altar and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar it is a burnt offering unto the Lord it is a sweet savour an offering made by fire unto the Lord in the New Testament we are told in Ephesians chapter 5 that Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to
[31:58] God for a sweet smelling savour by describing the gift from the Philippians as an odour of a sweet smell he is evaluating their gift to the highest level as sacrifices that are pleasing to God all three expressions that he uses here concerning their gift that it is a fragrant odour to God that it is acceptable to God and it is well pleasing to God can receive no higher value than that Paul writing to the church God challenges believers chapter 12 he says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice only acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and in Hebrews chapter 13 he says but to do good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices
[33:02] God is well pleased the gift can no longer be evaluated simply in terms of the financial value because God's pleasure in a gift it gives it spiritual significance how does God evaluate our gifts in Mark chapter 12 and Luke chapter 21 we are told that one day Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people was casting their money into the treasury and many that were rich cast in much and there came a poor widow and she threw in two mites which make a far thing and he called unto him his disciples and saith unto him verily I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury for they all did cast out of their abundance but she of her want did cast in all that she had even all her living her sacrifice in human terms was not weak but it came from a heart that the
[34:20] Lord knew it came from a willing heart that is why we call our offerings a free will offering an offering that is not grudged or done sparingly but an offering that comes from a willing heart God the giver of the Philippians gave joy to Paul for it was evidence to him of their progress and their faith that they were expressing their faith by giving sacrificially in ways that was pleasing to God I am of the opinion that the spirituality of a congregation can be measured by its financial position a grudging Christian is not pleasing to God a Christian who offers sparingly is not pleasing to God the God who gave his son for us the son who came and died for us the
[35:27] Holy Spirit that applies to us the benefits of redemption surely we cannot offer grudgingly or sparingly to God God and this includes not only our free will offerings to God but also how we relate to each other and to the gospel in general we have already noted how the Philippian church helped with Paul's ministry in Corinth and now they are helping Paul in his affliction gifts to one another are sacrifices to God how much of personal care do we give to one another how do we promote the gospel how do we care how do we show our concern for others how do we show our concern for the gospel
[36:30] Paul cannot return a gift to the Philippians but he does assure them my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus this assurance sprang from his own experience of God's personal care for all his needs and this gives him confidence to assure the Philippians of God's care in the midst of their poverty as we have already noted from 1 Corinthians God will supply all their material needs but reference is not merely for material needs but also their spiritual needs and their spiritual growth he prays for them that they love me abound more and more in knowledge and in judgment or discernment he urges them to be like minded he urges them unity and togetherness he urges them to have the same attitude of mind as was in
[37:30] Jesus Christ to rejoice in the Lord to press forward to the prize of their calling to let their moderation or gentleness be known to all men God God God God God God will supply all that is required as we have already noted in our study work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure all according to his riches and glory by Jesus Christ often one thinks on the riches of God that was lavished on us in Jesus Christ no wonder John Newton wrote amazing grace how sweet the sound Christ is indeed the focus of everything that God has and is doing in this world and the next but God the Father is always the first and the last word in Paul's theology now to God and our Father be glory forever and ever amen everything is to the glory of God the Father in chapter 2 we are told that the exaltation of Jesus is to the glory of the Father and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 we are told for all the promises of God in Him are ye and in Him are men and to the glory of God by us the glory of God is the revelation of His attributes which can be seen in creation the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament show the Sunday work and redemption and the redemption accomplished through Christ who gave Himself for our sin that He might deliver us from the present evil world according to the will of God and our Father to whom be glory forever and ever
[39:26] Amen and in the second coming when all things when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father and then we have the final closing greeting salute every saint in Christ Jesus the brethren which are with me greet you all the saints salute you chiefly they that are of Caesar's household the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen all the saints salute you chiefly they that are of Caesar's household this may surprise us but as we saw in chapter 1 when Paul says so that my bonds in Christ are manifested in all the palace and in all other places and many of the brethren in the Lord works in confidence by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear you know
[40:27] Paul was able to bear a remarkable witness to the imperial guard and they would have been a set of rough and brutal soldiers but this set of soldiers were the official bodyguards of the emperor and here we find that Paul is imprisoned and he's chained to one of the elite soldiers all the time a different soldier taking up the duty every six hours so that in a day he would have had four different soldiers chained to him did Paul complain did he complain that this was unjust no instead Paul saw this as an opportunity to witness he saw the guard at the end of the chain as a person who was a sinner and that needed salvation so he presented him with the gospel how Paul did this we are not told but the guards would have been left in no doubt why Paul was chained and that his imprisonment is neither for crime nor for politics but with his being in Christ with him being a follower of Jesus Christ it was evident for them that his imprisonment has to do with the Christian faith and as we already noted
[41:38] Paul would also be a praying man and the guard would hear Paul pray none of his prayers are recorded for us but what the guard would hear were the words of a man who had a relationship with his God a man whose life was focused on Christ a man who was so content with his situation a man who praised God maybe Paul even prayed for the imperial guards and even prayed for the guard to which he was chained in a very personal way also Paul was allowed visitors so the guard would have been in on the conversation that took place of course Paul wrote letters from prison of which Philippians is one now we believe that Paul dictated those letters and someone else would be writing them down again the guard who was chained to Paul would hear Paul's words so that my bonds he says in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places so we should not be surprised that now he is able to say all the saints salute you chiefly they that are of Caesar's household the letter opens with grace says grace be unto you and it ends with grace with the grace of our Lord
[43:01] Jesus Christ the whole letter and the whole of Paul's life and the whole of Paul's experiences is all down to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the same is true of me and you tonight if we are trusting in Jesus Christ oh that's a great examination for me and you tonight as we end our study on this letter of the Philippians to search our hearts and to know is our life and our experiences down to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ do we know how we experienced the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ his power in salvation the grace of our Lord
[44:05] Jesus Christ be with you all Amen may the Lord bless our thoughts let us pray eternal and ever blessed Lord we give thanks unto thee for thine own guidance and leading unto thy truth since we began our study upon this letter and we pray oh Lord that as we move from this letter that we would often reflect on what we have seen and what we have learned and what we have been instructed from that letter that we would often return to it and meditate upon it more and more for thy word is always full we give thee thanks for the examples that we are given in thy word of how to lead a Christ focused life and grant to each one of us that we may indeed lead a Christ focused life that we may show forth the grace of our
[45:15] Lord Jesus Christ in our walk and in our conversation and how we deal with each other and we pray oh Lord that each and every one of us may know that grace and if there be any who are still strangers to that grace we pray oh Lord that thou would come near to them and that they would be enabled to call upon thee and to come and to experience thy grace in their own lives we ask oh Lord that thou would continue with us may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore Amen Amen