WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.400 Well, good evening. 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:23.500 I was thinking as we were thinking about our passage tonight, we're going to start a series 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:27.060 in Philippians tonight, and we'll get to the passage in just a minute. 00:00:27.059 --> 00:00:32.199 But as I was thinking about the passage this week, I was thinking about a conversation 00:00:32.199 --> 00:00:38.159 that I had recently with a young man in our church who has been in a dating relationship 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:44.179 for a while, and things are going well, and he's starting to see that there might be a 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:50.320 finishing point on the horizon for this relationship, and kind of exciting to talk to him about this. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:59.659 But you know, we had conversations last spring about his relationship, and some of the struggles 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:06.659 that he'd been having, because as he had shared, they dated for a while, and then they broke 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:06.900 up. 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:11.560 And part of the reason they broke up is because they were so consumed with figuring out, are 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:13.539 we the best fit? 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:21.760 Like, are we the best partnership possible for us to maximize or to optimize our life 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.219 investment in the world? 00:01:23.580 --> 00:01:27.300 And even for God's kingdom, they were thinking about it in terms of Christian terms. 00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:34.860 They were thinking, how can we be the best optimal team to do the best thing in the world? 00:01:37.580 --> 00:01:41.280 And as they wrestled through that, they broke up, and then they got back together, and they 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:41.740 started this. 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:44.500 And I asked him this fall, I said, so what do you think is different? 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:54.619 He said, well, you know, I think, I think I've stopped trying to figure out how to optimize 00:01:54.619 --> 00:01:58.099 my relationship, because I just love her. 00:02:00.679 --> 00:02:06.000 And we talked for a while about this in his relationship, and I'll be honest with you, 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.280 I resonated with it, because I had done that in my dating life in the past. 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:15.400 But as I was reflecting on our passage tonight, I was thinking that this is actually a more 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:22.760 fundamental human pattern, where we often enter into relationships thinking about, what 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:25.520 am I getting out of it, and what am I putting into it? 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:30.020 We have this economy of, is this relationship worth it? 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:38.800 And we're trying to measure whether it's actually worthwhile to invest in or not. 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.719 It becomes a contractual type of relationship. 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:42.700 What do I get from you? 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:43.660 What do you get from me? 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:45.600 If it's worth it, we just keep going. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:56.319 I think that relationships like this, I've seen this in college students, when I worked 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:01.819 on college campuses, maybe some of you relate to this, but they had to schedule in time. 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.780 I'm going to meet you from 3.45 to 5.15. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:08.379 You're my best friend, and I love you more than anyone else in the world. 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:13.799 And here's the hour and 15 minutes that I have to give to you in all of my commitments, 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:14.979 but it's really worth it. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.299 So let's do that. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.979 It may happen with your family members. 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:26.539 Well, it's too much work to invest in that relationship. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.259 I get drained, so I'm not going to do that. 00:03:29.259 --> 00:03:36.120 I think we love to be in control of our relationships so that we can measure this intake and outflow 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:38.179 in a particular way. 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:48.079 And as I've seen that in my own life, what I've seen is that at the core of all of this 00:03:48.079 --> 00:03:53.060 way that we view relationships is that I am in the center, and I am in control. 00:03:53.399 --> 00:03:57.620 I want to be able to say, how is this going to work? 00:03:57.620 --> 00:03:59.560 Is it going to be best for me? 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:03.680 How am I optimizing my life through my relationships? 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:09.379 Because we think that's how we're going to get the life that we want, a life of fulfillment, 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.360 a life of joy, a life of success. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:20.040 But if you've walked that road long enough, you'll see that you don't actually get that. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:25.639 You sabotage it, and you find yourself alone, and you find yourself scared, and you find yourself 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:27.680 wondering what it's all for. 00:04:31.099 --> 00:04:37.860 And if you're in the church, if you're a Christian, you realize that you've lost much of what God 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:41.019 has for you in the midst of a pursuit of something else. 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:48.120 The good news tonight is that the Christian faith points us to something different. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:53.699 It points to a different center of our lives and a different way to relate to one another. 00:04:54.439 --> 00:05:00.060 And this is my launching into our passage tonight and our looking at the book of Philippians. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:05.899 And so if you want to turn there, page 980 in your pew Bible, we're going to be looking 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:09.560 at the first 11 verses of it tonight. 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:15.319 And as you're turning there, let me just give you a little bit of run-up into what's going 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:16.300 on in Philippi. 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:25.800 Philippi was a city along a major route, a major trade route at the top of the Aegean Sea. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:31.439 And if you don't know where the Aegean Sea is, it's between Turkey and Greece. 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.060 And it was a major route. 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:37.939 And the Apostle Paul had this remarkable journey. 00:05:38.020 --> 00:05:44.000 You can read through it, Acts 15 and 16, this remarkable work where God redirected him from 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.340 where he thought he was supposed to go and sent him over from Asia, where Turkey is, over 00:05:50.339 --> 00:05:57.539 into Europe and to the city of Philippi, where the first time the gospel of Jesus Christ was 00:05:57.539 --> 00:06:00.639 proclaimed in this great city of Philippi. 00:06:01.299 --> 00:06:05.279 And as he went there, God did a lot of amazing things. 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:06.439 Some people were converted. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.719 They started a little group to study who Jesus is. 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:15.579 There was a girl who was walking around who had a spirit of divination who said, these men 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:17.120 are from the Lord Most High. 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.779 And Paul and his friends cast the demon out. 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:26.620 And that got them in big trouble because this girl got her owners a lot of money. 00:06:26.719 --> 00:06:28.139 So they were thrown into jail. 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:33.959 And as they were in jail, singing praises to God, God delivered them. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:39.180 And through the end of it, he delivered them out of the city, giving them favor in the end 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:42.500 by the magistrate in the eyes of the magistrates. 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:49.500 And as Paul went on to the next city in Thessalonica, a report came to Thessalonica saying, these are 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:51.740 the men who turn the world upside down. 00:06:52.660 --> 00:06:58.220 It's kind of a cool way that the Bible talks about what God was doing through Paul in the 00:06:58.220 --> 00:06:59.199 city of Philippi. 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:05.300 He was turning the world upside down in remarkable ways through the gospel. 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:10.199 And Paul is now, later in his life, he's in prison. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:11.519 You'll see this later in the book. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:12.459 He's in prison. 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:18.219 And he's writing back to this church whom he dearly loves, who has given him lots of 00:07:18.219 --> 00:07:24.219 support, both by sending people and by sending material support to him while he's in jail. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:30.839 And he expresses that this whole letter is a love letter to encourage these dear brothers 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:36.279 and sisters whom he loves and who love him to continue on in the faith. 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:45.859 In some ways, the central exhortation, I think, is actually at the end of chapter 1 in verse 00:07:45.859 --> 00:07:48.059 27. 00:07:48.219 --> 00:07:52.500 Only let the manner of your life be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that whether 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:57.799 I come and see you or in absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:01.579 one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:08.139 And then he goes on and he talks about the fact that this will probably include suffering 00:08:08.139 --> 00:08:13.439 for the sake of Christ, that they've been appointed not only to believe but to suffer for Jesus' 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:13.939 sake. 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:19.040 But this, I want you to stand firm in this gospel, is in the center of the whole letter. 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:31.439 And in light of this, then, he begins by talking about and expressing his relationship to these 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:31.819 believers. 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:33.320 And I think we have a lot to learn about. 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.440 So let's look at Philippians 1, 1 through 11. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.559 Let's read it together and then we'll continue. 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:49.479 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus to the saints, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, 00:08:49.719 --> 00:08:52.979 who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:58.379 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:59.979 --> 00:09:06.519 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:08.739 making my prayer with joy. 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:13.000 Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:20.180 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion 00:09:20.180 --> 00:09:21.659 at the day of Christ Jesus. 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:27.480 It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.700 For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:35.520 and confirmation of the gospel. 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:41.759 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:49.940 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:53.940 that you may approve, so that you may approve what is excellent, 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.040 and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:02.800 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, 00:10:02.920 --> 00:10:06.160 to the glory and praise of God. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:07.680 Amen. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:09.260 Let's pray together. 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:11.779 God, help us to understand your word tonight. 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:13.679 Speak to us, Lord. 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:16.980 Change our minds so that we would understand you rightly. 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:19.819 Change our hearts so that we would love you more. 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.759 Change our will so that we would do what we are called to do. 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:27.100 For Jesus' sake we pray. 00:10:27.939 --> 00:10:28.340 Amen. 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:34.240 So as we look at this, as Paul launches this letter, 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:39.159 as he launches into this great exhortation and love letter to his friends, 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.580 what I want you to see is that at the very core of it is that 00:10:42.580 --> 00:10:46.639 God has called his people into a partnership. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.939 You see it in verse 6, or verse 5 very clearly. 00:10:50.319 --> 00:10:53.519 Because of your partnership in the gospel. 00:10:54.319 --> 00:10:56.379 Or if you want to think about it a different way, 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:01.240 he's saying God has called us into gospel friendship with one another. 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:05.639 This is the very nature of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:10.159 As we respond to the call to believe and follow Jesus, 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:14.559 he calls us into this gospel friendship with one another. 00:11:14.699 --> 00:11:15.819 Gospel partnership. 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:20.939 And that's what we're going to explore tonight is this idea of gospel partnership. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.259 And in order to do that, we probably need definitions of both of those words. 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.000 First of all, what is a partnership? 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:29.419 The word here, you probably heard it, is koinonia. 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:32.179 Sometimes it's translated fellowship. 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:35.099 Sometimes it's translated sharing. 00:11:35.479 --> 00:11:37.860 It's being in it together. 00:11:38.979 --> 00:11:39.259 Right? 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:47.179 It's saying that in a partnership, you have more than one person who's come together for a reason. 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:48.319 Right? 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.120 So think about a soccer team. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:50.639 Right? 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:54.360 If you've only got one guy on the field and he's trying to do it all, 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:56.279 he's not going to be able to succeed. 00:11:56.439 --> 00:12:00.039 He can't do what he's called to do because he's supposed to be a part of a team. 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.620 Or I don't know if you've ever seen a crew team row. 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:02.919 Right? 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:09.939 Eight guys having to row in perfect unison together to keep the boat moving down the lake. 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:12.899 One guy gets thrown out. 00:12:12.979 --> 00:12:14.000 The boat falls apart. 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:16.599 They can't do it. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.519 This is a kind of partnership. 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:22.919 There are probably lots of other ways in which partnership, you can imagine in your own life, 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:24.579 how does partnership look? 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.439 But it's this sense of being in it together. 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:30.740 But the question is, partnership in what? 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:32.819 Because you could be in a business partnership. 00:12:33.079 --> 00:12:35.620 You could be in a sports partnership, like the examples I've given. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:36.879 What kind of partnership is it? 00:12:37.219 --> 00:12:42.639 Well, Paul says, in the kingdom of God, this is a partnership in the gospel. 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:46.439 And that word needs definition too, doesn't it? 00:12:46.439 --> 00:12:47.599 Because we talk about that. 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:50.519 If I say gospel, you might think a certain kind of music. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:51.319 Right? 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:55.120 Or you might, and it might be different kinds of music depending on where you're from. 00:12:55.719 --> 00:13:00.599 So there's old southern gospel and there's, anyway, I won't even begin. 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:03.159 So there's lots of different things that it could mean. 00:13:03.300 --> 00:13:04.180 So what does it mean? 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:05.279 What does Paul mean? 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:11.019 Well, as we'll read through this book, he uses the word over and over and over again. 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:15.320 Actually, interestingly enough, without giving a really clear definition. 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:20.740 But as you read all of Paul's letters, the definition of the gospel that I think would be most clear is, 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:40.279 The gospel is the good news of what God has done in Jesus for us to rescue us from the terrible place of being in our sin without any way of getting out. 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:43.959 God has done something in Jesus. 00:13:43.959 --> 00:13:50.980 Jesus Christ, God who became man, who walked on this earth, who lived a life without sin. 00:13:51.079 --> 00:13:52.879 He never did anything wrong. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.659 He had never disobeyed God. 00:13:54.659 --> 00:14:07.259 And then offered himself up in love as a servant for all of humanity to offer himself up as a sacrifice by dying an unjust death. 00:14:07.860 --> 00:14:15.100 An innocent man dying an unjust death for people like us who are not innocent. 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:26.460 And he did this so that we might be saved from the power and penalty of sin. 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:35.460 So that by being raised from the dead, Jesus then conquered sin and death for us. 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:40.279 And now is able to offer us forgiveness of sin because the penalty is gone. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.740 New life because the penalty of death is gone. 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:45.799 This is the gospel. 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:48.519 This is the good news. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:57.379 So partnership in the kingdom of God is coming around this good news. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:03.519 It is both the good news that we share among us and it is the good news that goes out from us. 00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:05.399 And that's what we'll talk about as we see. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:17.399 As Paul unpacks, unpacks where we're going with, in the rest of this first section in terms of gospel partnership, gospel friendship. 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:21.199 So the first thing, what I want you to do, look at verses 1 through 6. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:22.579 There are three points I want to see. 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:24.740 That there's an affirmation of gospel friendship. 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:27.699 There's an expression of gospel affection. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.379 And there's a direction of gospel agenda. 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:33.759 Well, I'll repeat those as we go. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:39.919 The first thing we see, though, in verses 3 through 6 is an affirmation of gospel friendship. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.279 I thank my God because of you. 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:52.759 Always, in every time when I'm praying, I thank God for you because of the partnership that we share in the gospel. 00:15:52.759 --> 00:16:01.519 And one of the things I want you to see right up front is that as Paul's thinking about human relationships with one another, it is never purely horizontal. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:02.759 Right? 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:05.039 He could have said, I'm so thankful for you. 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:06.860 I'm thankful you're a great friend. 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:10.100 I'm thankful that you've been such a great help to me. 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:21.379 But right away, Paul defines his relationship with them as horizontal in light of a vertical relationship with God around the gospel. 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:24.279 And this is really important. 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:34.980 He's saying, look, our coming together is not just a nice contractual agreement where we can sort of be mutually beneficial to another. 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:37.340 But God has called us together. 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:39.860 God has been the one who's initiated this. 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:44.340 God has formed this reality of two believers coming together. 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:48.539 Of Paul coming together with the believers in Philippi. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:50.300 And God is in the center of it. 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:52.740 And the gospel is the thing that has brought them there. 00:16:55.500 --> 00:17:01.539 And Paul says, not only do we have this that God has given it, but I want to express my confidence in you. 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:03.300 I have seen God at work in you. 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:05.460 I was there when the gospel was preached. 00:17:05.579 --> 00:17:07.440 I saw how your lives were changed. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:12.380 I see how you've been steadfast in the face of suffering and trial. 00:17:13.100 --> 00:17:16.539 I see how you have continued on in your faith. 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:19.140 Friends, stand fast in that. 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.720 Because he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:26.640 The day of Christ Jesus. 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:31.920 Paul could have said all sorts of things about this friendship. 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:32.980 But what does he say? 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:37.860 I am so glad to see that the gospel has continued to be at work in you. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:42.740 And I am confident that because God started it, God will finish it. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:45.140 And so press on, friends. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.819 Keep going in it. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:52.400 He says this is the foundation of gospel partnership. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.980 When we see that God has brought us together. 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:57.420 Think about it for a minute. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:58.740 What else brings you together? 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:03.140 It was the first weekend of NFL season. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:04.579 Some of you might have. 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:06.579 Although I find in this community far less. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.759 But some of you might have found yourselves coming together about rooting for the Eagles. 00:18:12.819 --> 00:18:13.799 Or somebody. 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:14.380 Right? 00:18:15.059 --> 00:18:15.500 Anyway. 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:16.920 The Redskins. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:18.359 That's what my father-in-law cheers for. 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:18.640 So. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:19.380 Right? 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.640 So you could come around things like that. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:22.519 A special interest. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:23.539 A special hobby. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:26.859 Maybe some of you could come together around fly fishing. 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:28.179 Right? 00:18:28.459 --> 00:18:33.339 Or a particular kind of music that you enjoy listening to together. 00:18:33.939 --> 00:18:38.459 It could be an activity that you do together where you need other people. 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:39.699 Like the PTA. 00:18:39.979 --> 00:18:41.019 Or your lab partner. 00:18:41.419 --> 00:18:43.259 It could be all sorts of different things. 00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:46.719 It could be common experiences that you've had. 00:18:46.959 --> 00:18:48.659 We were in a theater troupe together. 00:18:48.959 --> 00:18:51.459 Or again, we were on a sports team. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:55.259 There are all sorts of ways where we can connect with other people humanly. 00:18:55.259 --> 00:19:03.940 But what Paul says is that God has designed his people to have a much more deeper and profound connection. 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:07.420 That centers on God's work in their life. 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:09.680 And the truth of the gospel. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.779 That they come around together. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.299 This is really good news. 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:26.539 Because, you know, you could look around this building and think, how much do I have in common with that person over there? 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:29.440 We come from a different family. 00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:31.019 We're a different race. 00:19:31.419 --> 00:19:33.099 We have a different educational background. 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.039 Different socioeconomic situation. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:38.539 Everything about us is different. 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:48.259 And it would be the easiest thing in the world to simply walk out that door, having connected with the people who look like and have the same interests and common things as you do. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.200 But what Paul says is, no, no, no, friends. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:57.240 God has called us to a partnership in the gospel. 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:04.779 And because of what Jesus Christ has done in our lives, we can come together around that no matter how different we are. 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:11.420 That's one of our prayers and one of our hopes is that that would be real in this church. 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:19.200 And not only for our sake, because we learn more about the gospel from people who are different than us, than people who are like us. 00:20:19.620 --> 00:20:26.019 We see the gospel more clearly when it's the only thing we have in common with those around us. 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:30.220 But it's also a place that God holds up this to be a place of witness. 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:35.440 Because for Paul, the partnership in the gospel isn't just, hey, we all share in this thing together. 00:20:35.639 --> 00:20:41.379 But the partnership that Paul's talking about is the partnership of his ministry of proclaiming the gospel. 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:52.240 And one of the ways we do that is simply by having this gathering of people where if someone walked in off the street who had never been to a church, they might say, what do all these people have in common? 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.839 And the answer is nothing but Jesus. 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:00.460 What a great testimony that is. 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:01.819 It's only the beginning. 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:02.359 There's more. 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:02.960 We'll see it. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:11.940 We're supposed to be also then sent out in the partnership of encouraging one another to tell others of what a great Savior Jesus is. 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:17.460 But one other application point for this. 00:21:18.820 --> 00:21:27.660 As we think about this calling to go out into the world, you're probably familiar with C.S. Lewis' quote that we don't meet anyone who are mere mortals. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.340 We don't meet people who just at the end of their life die. 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:34.400 We meet eternal beings every day. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:45.040 In his great language, it's the people who we snub, the people who we marry, whoever they are, they are eternal beings. 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:56.140 And when we see them at the end, they will either be people in their place of condemnation and sin who will be so horrible that they will be frightening to us. 00:21:56.140 --> 00:22:03.960 Or we will see them redeemed by the blood of Christ and they will be so glorious that we would be tempted to bow down and worship. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:15.140 And so this partnership of the gospel that's meant to be the church is meant to be a partnership that is always inviting and calling people in. 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:24.860 Because everyone we reach, everyone we interact with, is an eternal being and has one of these two eternal destinies. 00:22:27.060 --> 00:22:37.040 So, not only to, so Paul says, gospel friendship is one of the core things that God has called us into. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:43.339 The second thing is that he expresses a gospel affection for them. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:44.359 Right? 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.440 Look with me in verses 7 and 8. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.480 You see this even earlier where he's talking about all of them. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:51.839 I love all of you and I always pray for you. 00:22:51.879 --> 00:22:54.440 And as I'm always praying for you, I'm always thanking God for you. 00:22:54.659 --> 00:22:56.960 But then when we get to 7 and 8, it's even more explicit. 00:22:57.139 --> 00:22:59.220 He says for, where am I? 00:22:59.220 --> 00:22:59.839 Verse 7. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:05.000 It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:11.079 For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:16.119 For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 00:23:17.919 --> 00:23:22.119 Paul is basically saying, I have you in my heart. 00:23:22.659 --> 00:23:26.699 In the very core of my being, I love you. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:33.199 You are partakers with grace with me. 00:23:35.019 --> 00:23:36.679 That probably has two different meanings. 00:23:36.899 --> 00:23:44.599 One is a sense of, you have partaken of the grace that God has shown to you and me both by forgiving our sins in Jesus Christ. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:54.599 But secondly, a partaker of grace because God has given us this ministry of proclaiming this forgiveness of Jesus Christ to others. 00:23:54.599 --> 00:24:04.699 And so, Paul is saying, I love you because we have been in this together from the very beginning. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.480 Right? 00:24:07.699 --> 00:24:09.179 He feels it so strongly. 00:24:09.379 --> 00:24:10.559 Verse 8, he says, 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.679 I call on God to be my witness. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:17.879 How I long for you. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:20.240 How I yearn for you. 00:24:20.659 --> 00:24:23.919 You have stood with me while I'm in prison in this place of shame. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:30.159 You have been with me as I've been out there proclaiming the gospel, the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:33.799 Telling others about Jesus. 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:44.180 Paul has been deeply engaged in this relationship with them. 00:24:46.139 --> 00:24:54.079 This is a far cry from our human heart's tendency to calculated or contractual relationships. 00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:55.240 What do you get from it? 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:56.379 What do I get from it? 00:24:56.639 --> 00:24:57.279 That sort of thing. 00:24:57.379 --> 00:24:58.579 Paul is all in. 00:24:58.579 --> 00:25:03.279 I love you with the fellowship of Christ. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.419 With the affection of Jesus Christ. 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:08.960 The affection that Jesus has for you, I share in that. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.799 He has shown it to me and I'm sharing it to you. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:17.659 Not because I'm getting things from you, but because I have gotten it from God. 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:24.119 I don't know if you think about it. 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:28.000 I get challenged by this because it's so easy for me to be selfish. 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:30.899 It's so easy for me to think, I'm tired. 00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:32.299 I don't want to talk to that person. 00:25:32.919 --> 00:25:33.679 I'm weary. 00:25:34.419 --> 00:25:35.299 What's the point? 00:25:35.399 --> 00:25:36.819 What am I getting out of this? 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:50.439 It's so easy for me to allow my reserve or my tiredness or my selfishness to get in the way of really engaging with other people the way God wants me to. 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:53.980 But this is a picture. 00:25:55.340 --> 00:26:02.279 This is a picture of what our heart investment as a part of the partnership of the gospel ought to look like. 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:04.620 Let me ask you this. 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:06.380 Why do you come to church? 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:12.060 Do you come to get things? 00:26:13.100 --> 00:26:14.540 An experience? 00:26:16.100 --> 00:26:17.820 A fill up for the week? 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:25.259 When you relate to others, what are you looking for? 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:33.579 Paul calls us to look for partnership in the gospel as we relate to others in church. 00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:38.759 Paul calls us together to remember the gospel as we gather in worship. 00:26:40.199 --> 00:26:44.059 Paul calls us to seek to be a blessing to one another. 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:49.579 Pouring out our lives, not because of what we're getting, but because of what we can give as we gather together. 00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:51.519 Because you know what? 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:54.960 When we do that, we actually see the gospel is sweet. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:58.519 We actually see that what Jesus has done for us is so wonderful. 00:27:03.819 --> 00:27:17.600 So not only do we have an affirmation of gospel friendship, not only do we have an expression of gospel affection, but finally 9 through 11, we have a relationship that's directed by a gospel agenda. 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:19.079 Look with me at 9 through 11. 00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.420 Paul said, hey, every time I pray for you, I'm so thankful. 00:27:22.420 --> 00:27:26.779 And then in verses 9 through 11, he says, and this is the content of my prayer for you. 00:27:27.560 --> 00:27:29.900 This is the thing that I really want for you. 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.259 And friends, I want you to recognize how remarkable this is. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:38.400 Because I just, if you stop and think, what do you pray about? 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:40.700 You pray about your circumstances. 00:27:41.140 --> 00:27:44.820 You pray about the people who you love who are in hard situations. 00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:50.100 You pray for things to be easier and better in your life. 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:57.259 You pray maybe for global problems to be solved or mitigated. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:59.759 There are all sorts of things that we can pray about. 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:00.299 And you know what? 00:28:00.299 --> 00:28:02.059 It's not bad to pray for those things. 00:28:02.459 --> 00:28:07.000 But what I want you to see is when Paul prays, he has a gospel agenda for us. 00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:08.119 Look at it again. 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:15.419 My prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:17.539 So that you may approve what is excellent. 00:28:18.019 --> 00:28:21.759 And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ Jesus. 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:27.359 Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. 00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:30.019 That could be a 10-week sermon series. 00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:31.919 What an awesome prayer. 00:28:32.179 --> 00:28:33.959 And so rich in so many ways. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.019 But let me, I want you to walk through it. 00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:45.779 But he's saying, I pray ultimately that you may pursue God's best in your life. 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:51.980 That you may approve and see what is excellent and live according to it. 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:59.759 What God has planned for you in your life as he has rescued you from sin and called you into his kingdom. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:04.799 And this is what he longs for the Philippians to have. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:11.339 And so working back from that, the excellent is expressed, right? 00:29:11.819 --> 00:29:14.259 Through living for God. 00:29:15.339 --> 00:29:18.720 And so things like moral purity, right? 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:20.240 Blamelessness. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:23.940 That could be translated in a different way. 00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:29.980 Single-minded and not doing anything that would be offensive or stumbling to others. 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:37.299 Being single-minded in your pursuit of not trying to live with, God, what can I get away with and still be okay? 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:43.940 But saying, God, how can I put all of my energies into living a life that is for you? 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:52.279 With the focus of an athlete who says, I'm going to cut everything out of my life that doesn't help me be the most excellent athlete. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:06.440 God calls his people to have this focus on, is everything I'm doing displaying and showing Jesus Christ? 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.039 Do I see it in how I use my money? 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:11.240 Do I see it in how I use my sex? 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:13.559 Do I see it in how I use my power? 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:16.559 Do I see it in how I relate to other people? 00:30:17.139 --> 00:30:21.799 With kindness, gentleness, or with demanding self-centeredness? 00:30:25.679 --> 00:30:30.480 That you may pursue God's best in all of these different ways. 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.200 This is the fruit of righteousness that God has given us in Jesus Christ. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:42.460 That we have a standing before God that doesn't just put us in a position, but it actually has the power to transform our lives. 00:30:42.460 --> 00:30:44.840 So that we have something new to live for. 00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:53.500 And then working backwards from that, he says that your love may abound more and more with all discernment and knowledge. 00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:57.279 And this is part of how we see what God's best is. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:30:58.279 Right? 00:30:58.900 --> 00:31:03.200 That we would pursue a life of love, which sounds really good. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:08.599 But you know, friends, it's so easy for us to have a life of love that has nothing to do with the biblical picture. 00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:19.480 Because we either want to love without truth, which just is, I unconditionally accept you and you can do whatever you want, no matter how destructive or ungodly or unhelpful. 00:31:19.619 --> 00:31:22.919 And I'm just going to accept you because that's what love is. 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:31.320 Or we can have the opposite in the church, particularly this can be dangerous, where we have just truth. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:32.500 I have knowledge and discernment. 00:31:32.560 --> 00:31:35.200 I'm going to tell you exactly what's wrong with you all the time. 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:37.840 Every time I see it, I'm going to point it out to you. 00:31:38.620 --> 00:31:46.320 And what Paul is saying is, no, I want you to have a love that is filled with knowledge and discernment. 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:49.720 So that you may be able to see God's best. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:58.500 And as you're coming alongside one another, as we're pursuing, running this race together of life in the gospel and for the gospel. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:10.299 That our hearts may be captured and transformed by the work of God in Christ, by the gospel itself. 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:19.740 And then it may overflow in a changed life where we actually are able to live differently because of what God has given us. 00:32:20.299 --> 00:32:25.019 Friends, this is what Paul longs for, for his friends in the gospel. 00:32:26.399 --> 00:32:31.200 It's not okay for Paul to say, hey, I'm glad you're in the camp. 00:32:31.399 --> 00:32:32.180 Good enough. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:38.619 Paul says, I long that you will increase more and more, that you will grow more and more. 00:32:38.619 --> 00:32:40.859 Don't, don't stay where you are. 00:32:40.939 --> 00:32:44.939 A gospel partnership doesn't allow people to say, ah, it's okay. 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:48.039 Yes, there's lots of room for struggle. 00:32:48.179 --> 00:32:53.699 There's lots of room for progress and even sometimes dramatic failure in the midst of that. 00:32:53.979 --> 00:33:01.159 But the, but the agenda and the goal is growth and Christ-likeness and reflecting these things. 00:33:01.160 --> 00:33:06.420 And ultimately, the glory and praise of God. 00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:08.920 Which is where we begin, right? 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:12.920 A gospel partnership begins with God bringing us together. 00:33:13.360 --> 00:33:20.560 And its, and its end is that as God does this work in us, we are to the praise and glory of God. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:25.519 That we encourage one another by our lives, by our partnership together. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:30.279 That God is proclaimed to the world together by how we do this. 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:37.099 And friends, we're freed from a life of contractual relationships. 00:33:38.139 --> 00:33:41.119 We don't come to church thinking, what am I going to get out of it? 00:33:41.139 --> 00:33:42.599 And if I'm getting enough, it's worth it. 00:33:42.639 --> 00:33:46.500 And if not, I don't know, maybe I'll stay home and watch Seinfeld reruns tonight. 00:33:46.500 --> 00:33:53.880 But instead, you're coming because this is the partnership of the gospel. 00:33:56.559 --> 00:34:00.559 And you know, if you're here tonight and you're exploring Christianity. 00:34:01.019 --> 00:34:03.779 And you may have had some really bad church experiences. 00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:08.900 All I can say is, this is what God's design is. 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:11.000 And this is what we want to be. 00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:13.079 And this is what he's called us to be. 00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:18.099 And the very center of it is God's work for us in Jesus. 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:23.579 Because you know, friends, this kind of partnership in the gospel where we're freed from selfishness. 00:34:23.759 --> 00:34:25.059 To just love. 00:34:25.699 --> 00:34:29.039 To just love, not because we're getting anything, but to just love. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:34.699 The only way we do that is because of the one who has worked in us already. 00:34:35.159 --> 00:34:38.139 When we get to Philippians 2, we'll see it so clearly. 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:43.179 Jesus had every privilege of divinity. 00:34:43.699 --> 00:34:48.019 Every privilege of being the second person of the Godhead of the Trinity. 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:50.079 He sat in heaven and throne. 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:52.559 And yet he humbled himself. 00:34:53.319 --> 00:34:54.940 Submitted himself to his Father. 00:34:55.339 --> 00:34:57.000 Took on human flesh. 00:34:58.859 --> 00:35:00.199 Made himself a servant. 00:35:02.059 --> 00:35:06.099 And then went to the cross for us. 00:35:06.099 --> 00:35:09.440 He wasn't selfish. 00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:14.559 He gave of his very life for us. 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:23.739 The very beginning and the end of the gospel partnership is because we have a Savior who has done this for us. 00:35:23.739 --> 00:35:28.919 He calls us to walk in those footsteps as we relate to one another. 00:35:29.219 --> 00:35:34.859 Because he who brought us together is the one who has shown us how to do it. 00:35:35.619 --> 00:35:37.579 And given us the power to do it. 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:50.319 And so as we begin this series on the book of Philippians, as we talk about what does it mean for Christ in me to be the most important thing. 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:53.819 To count all things as lost for the sake of knowing Christ. 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:57.960 So that we may stand firm in the gospel. 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:02.280 Part of where Paul begins is gospel partnership. 00:36:02.460 --> 00:36:03.539 Let's do this together. 00:36:03.960 --> 00:36:07.080 Let's pursue this together for God's glory. 00:36:07.340 --> 00:36:07.840 Let me pray. 00:36:08.300 --> 00:36:10.820 God, we love you. 00:36:10.820 --> 00:36:15.120 Lord, we thank you for the work of Christ. 00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:19.740 Lord, we pray tonight that you would unroot our selfishness. 00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:23.700 Lord, and our self-absorbed relationships. 00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:32.500 Lord, that you would help us to know what it means to engage in this gospel partnership. 00:36:32.500 --> 00:36:37.539 Lord, and to do it knowing that we can't do this in our own strength. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:42.480 But to know that you can do this in us as we trust and rely on you. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:48.360 Lord, we pray that you would do this, Lord, for your praise and your glory. 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:50.840 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:51.679 Amen.