Awesome. I'm excited to be in front of you tonight because Sean has let me preach the first message from our book in Philippians.
We've been going through Proverbs. That's been a joy and a help in learning about wisdom.
And now we are moving into Philippians.
So, my prayer is that I do well with God's Word for your encouragement and your growth.
Let's pray before we get started.
Lord, I pray for your help as I preach tonight.
And Lord, I pray for our church as we get to hear from your Word.
As we break into Philippians.
Just a small passage tonight.
But Lord, I pray that you would encourage us.
I pray that we would see more of your glory and your goodness.
Lord, I pray that you would whet the appetite of everyone so that they would come back.
So that as we take this journey through Philippians, we would grow together in joy in our partnership of the gospel for your glory.
God, work your Word into our life.
And help us to work out our own selfishness.
And all the things that we pull in.
All of our sin.
Lord, forgive us.
And make us more Christ-like for you.
We pray these things in your glorious name.
Amen.
There's a lot to talk about.
So I'm going to try to move through it quickly.
Although we're not covering a big passage.
I just feel like there's a lot.
So if I missed something that you wanted me to talk about, bring it up with your community group and discuss it that way.
And I'll apologize in advance.
But Philippians, the theme that we have chosen to put on Philippians is a joyful partnership in the gospel.
And our passage this evening is just the first 11 verses of this book.
And if we had to put a title on it, it would be the same thing.
Joyful partnership in the gospel.
So since that's the case, I would like to take, and since this is the first message of this book, I would like to take that theme.
And just talk about each word real briefly because I think it's helpful for us as we spend the next two months or so looking at Philippians.
Joyful partnership in the gospel.
That phrase needs all of the words.
And if we leave any of those words or the concepts out of the message, it leaves us lacking.
It becomes less than what God intended it to be.
All right, so let's start with joyful.
If we take out joyful, we're left with something that doesn't satisfy.
We're left with a job or a purpose that is just dry and empty.
Lifeless.
Not empty, but lifeless.
You end up with a gospel that doesn't line up with the good news.
All right?
We move to partnership.
If we take partnership out, we have a pretty lonely mission.
A joyful gospel is great for an individual, but if there is no partnership, it falls short.
See, God's building a church, a people, for his own self, for his own glory.
So we need the partnership.
It isn't aloneness.
It isn't, if it's not together for the gospel, it becomes alone for the gospel.
And there's no encouragement in that.
And churches become weak and individualistic.
And I think we see that in a lot of churches today, if we're not careful.
The other word in that phrase is gospel.
Take that out and you're left with a joyful partnership.
That's nice, but there's no depth.
There's no lasting foundation in that partnership.
It's service.
It's a relationship.
And it will satisfy maybe for a time, but if you take God out of it, you're left empty in the end.
I was thinking of the Christmas song, Joy to the World.
There's meaning behind those words, joy to the world.
The joy that came wasn't just a nice child in a manger that made Christmas season really nice and feel good,
but it was lasting, eternal joy that was coming to the world for our salvation.
He came for us.
He knew there was nothing in this world that could satisfy us except himself.
So he made a way for himself to be known and to find that satisfaction.
A lasting, a real joy through Jesus Christ.
So let me ask you something tonight as we begin.
What words in that short theme, joyful partnership in the gospel, connect with you?
What words in there connect with you?
And which ones might be missing in your life?
Are you missing joy?
Are you missing partnership?
Are you missing Jesus in the gospel?
Let me encourage you.
If you are, you've come to the right place.
Because over the next, like I said, two months or so, as we move through Philippians as a church,
I want to encourage you to stay with us.
Because this theme will grow and continue.
And each one of those words we're going to build upon
and see the fullness of this joyful participation in the gospel.
So whether you know Jesus tonight or not,
what we're going to learn from Philippians can change your life.
And if we've learned anything from this year,
it is that we have no control over anything.
We know that things can change instantly.
There's nothing in this world that is going to bring us joy and satisfaction.
Nothing.
Now you cannot believe me and you could waste the rest of your life trying to find those things,
but in the end it will leave you empty.
Or you can go after that which God has for you
and you can live with a satisfaction and joy that nothing can take away.
That's Philippians.
That's what we get to jump into for the next little bit.
Philippians is seen as the happiest book in the Bible,
yet it is written by Paul while he's in prison.
That's fantastic.
Who better could write about joy than Paul?
Possessions and obviously circumstances did not bring him joy.
Only Christ brought him joy.
All right, that's our intro.
Let's dig into Philippians.
Just a quick background of Philippians.
Written by Paul around 62 AD.
So we're talking about roughly 30 years after the death of Jesus Christ,
after his resurrection and he goes back to heaven.
Paul's in prison in Rome.
And this book was written while in prison.
It was written as a thank you note to the church in Philippi for their support,
basically for a monetary gift that was sent to Paul while he was in prison.
So Paul writes this thank you letter, but it's not just a thank you letter.
It's meant to be a letter of encouragement.
And we'll look into the encouragement part shortly.
But it's helpful to realize that this letter is different than all of Paul's other letters.
See, there's no correction or discipline in this book.
It's just encouragement.
So we see something special in the church of Philippi.
We see something special in the relationship between Paul and the people in the church of Philippi.
So be encouraged that we're digging into a book that hopefully doesn't leave you feeling like I can't do enough.
There's more I need to be doing.
But hear Philippians as an encouragement for who we are in Jesus Christ.
As we go through these 11 verses,
actually, let me just, let me read the passage first and then we'll talk about this section.
So Philippians 1, verses 1 through 11.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus who were at Philippi with the overseers and deacons,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
It is right for me to feel this way about you because I hold you in my heart.
For you are all partakers with me of grace,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness,
how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent,
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
to the glory and praise of God.
As we move through these 11 verses,
we're going to see three sections that we're going to work out of.
The greeting, the grounding, and the goal.
So let's look at how this letter starts out.
Now we know that Paul has lots of reasons why he can start out with a letter like this.
Paul, leader and church planter, along with Timothy,
my young pastor in training,
we write to you, but he doesn't do that.
We know that Paul's heritage and his training,
his direct calling by God,
his leadership,
his persecution.
All these things give him this ability to boast,
but instead we find Paul
giving this great example of humility right from the beginning.
He says,
Paul and Timothy,
servants of Christ Jesus.
We're who's writing to you,
servants of Christ Jesus.
And then how does he address the people
at the church of Philippi?
Again, it could be,
I'm writing this to the pastors and the elders.
Can you preach this or pass it on to your people?
No, there's this partnership
of all equalness that is happening here.
He says to all the saints in Christ Jesus
who are at Philippi.
He's not favoring out the more spiritually mature
or the most gifted or those who serve the most.
He addresses the saints.
They are saints not because they are perfect,
but because they are in Christ.
That is, they have put their faith and trust in Jesus.
They are the saints.
And then he says with the overseers and the deacons.
The word overseers is,
Paul uses elsewhere
and it's synonymous with elder or bishop.
So by him adding these words,
we're able to see that this church of Philippi
that he started
actually is large enough
to have governance and structure to it.
leadership.
That's encouraging to hear.
And we look at verse 2.
Verse 2 is Paul's greeting
to the church.
He says,
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've seen this a lot
because Paul uses this greeting
in all of his letters
with very little variation.
So it's easy for us to miss it.
But this isn't just a fluffy greeting,
not meant to be just a nice,
Hey, how you doing?
Sorry to hear your football team's
not doing well this year.
How's the weather?
He's not starting out like that.
Paul writes a greeting
that is meant to encourage
and give hope.
And that's the greeting
that Paul uses
for all of his letters.
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is he saying by that?
Paul is calling down
grace and peace
from God
and the Lord Jesus Christ
to the Philippians.
That is,
he expects grace and peace
from God
to the readers
of this letter.
He says that
this because
God has shown us grace.
Each and every one of us,
God has shown grace.
And because of that,
because of who God is,
we have an unshakable peace
available through Jesus Christ.
Paul wants us
to be reminded of this
so he starts out
his letter this way.
That is his blessing.
A proclaiming of a promise.
A reminder of what is available
to them in God
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So,
that's the first section.
The second section,
that was the greeting.
The second section
we're going to look at
is the grounding.
What do we mean by that?
Let's read verses
three through five.
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.
I say grounding
because
we're looking at
what grounds Paul
in what he is saying
to the Philippians
because the Philippians
don't want to hear
just niceties.
They want to know
that it's grounded
in something.
And I would hope
we would want
the same thing.
Don't preach something
that just sounds nice
but we want it grounded
in truth.
We want it grounded
in the word of God.
When you talk about joy
that's real,
that we can live for,
I want it to have
depth and meaning
that we can go after.
That's the grounding
that Paul wants to give us.
So to phrase that section
a little different,
Paul says,
I'm thankful to God
for all of you.
All of you guys
that have brought me
so much joy.
In all of my prayers for you,
I just have joy.
Every time
I think about you
and I pray for you,
I'm just filled with joy.
And for that,
I'm just thankful.
But why?
Why is Paul thankful
for the church of Philippi?
Why does thinking about them
bring him joy?
Verse 5 says,
because of the partnership
in the gospel
from the first day
until now.
in Philippians,
Paul uses this gospel partnership
to refer to
a gospel-centered friendship
and the gospel mission.
So,
as we move through Philippians
and as we see that picture
of joyful partnership
in the gospel,
it's important that we see
both aspects of that.
The friendship,
and we see that
with this church
in Philippi,
and the mission.
They were on a mission together.
He says,
partnership in the gospel
from the first day
until now.
to get an accurate understanding
of what that means
from the first day
until now,
I think it's helpful
that we see
what he's talking about.
Paul has this affection
of this church,
and he says,
from the first day
until now.
So,
I think we need
a little bit of background
on the church of Philippi,
which Paul started.
Okay?
So,
let's jump back
just a little bit.
A hundred years,
Philippi is established
as a Roman colony.
It's governed
by Roman law.
Its citizens
were Roman citizens.
Philippi itself
was modeled
after Rome
as a miniature Rome.
Even its style
and architecture
was laid out
to match that of Rome.
And this is the city
where Paul finds himself
because God directs him
and he starts
his first church.
How did he get there?
Actually,
he got there
from a few failures.
Paul's goal
was to minister
in Asia,
in Bithynia.
Only God closes
those doors
and he points them
towards Philippi.
You can read more
about it
in Acts chapter 16.
For the sake of time,
I just want to
summarize it up for you
so we get an idea
of what this church
is,
what it looks like
and where it is
when Paul is in prison.
So,
Paul
and a small team,
evangelistic team,
on a mission,
they arrive at Philippi.
There's no synagogue
in Philippi
so Paul finds
a women's prayer meeting
down by the river.
See,
in order to have
a synagogue,
there must be
ten or more
Jewish men
in a city
and then a synagogue
can be established.
Obviously,
there's not enough there
so there's women
praying down
by the river.
The kingdom of God
is about to break open
on European soil
for the first time
and it starts
with women
humbly praying
down by the river.
Prayer
is powerful
and it's important.
So,
I'm going to take
a minute
since we're here
to talk about prayer
and its importance
because I think
we need it
right now.
Are you feeling
disconnected?
Are you feeling
like nothing's
happening
inside
spiritually?
then I want
to encourage
you
to check
your prayer
life
because
there's life
that God
has for us
if we keep
that communication
open
with Him.
When we close
that
and we seek
life
elsewhere
then it
fails us
and we really
see that now
because of the
time that we're
in.
God
uses
this
little
humble
prayer
meeting
down
by the
river
to start
a church
in Philippi
to give us
this letter
to encourage
us.
That's
what came
out of
the little
prayer
meeting.
I'll admit
I haven't
gone to
prayer
meeting
very much
in a while
but I
want to
encourage
you
to try
it
if you
have time
in your
schedule
to do
it.
It's
easier
now
because
we're
quarantined
because
we're
locked up
because
we can't
meet
together
and
let me
while we're
talking about
it
let me
push
aside
any
temptation
of
thoughts
that Satan
puts into
your mind
about how
you can't
come
because
I have
to get
dressed
up
well
you don't
have to
get
dressed
up
it's
available
online
so it's
easy
to connect
to
you don't
have to
pray
and I
say that
because I
don't want
you to
stay where
you don't
pray
but at
the same
time
there's
more you
get from
a prayer
meeting
by being
there
and hearing
the saints
praying
than you
do by
not coming
at all
is it
difficult
yes
is it
hard to
sing songs
over
zoom
yeah
it is
but it's
there
and it's
a church
on a
mission
trying to
stay
grounded
in the
word of
God
and encourage
one another
so I
want to
encourage
you
to try
to make
it
put a
picture up
if you
don't want
them to
see your
living room
mute it
if there's
noise in
the background
if you
have to
run and
eat
dinner
while
you're
on it
that's
okay
what I'm
saying is
Satan wants
to give
you every
opportunity
not to
connect to
the church
because he
doesn't want
you
connected
to the
church
prayer
is
important
and
Satan
knows
it
okay
so
prayer
meeting
down by
the river
Paul
seeks out
Lydia
is a
prominent
woman
who
sells
purple
cloth
she
is a
God
fearer
which
means
she
worshiped
God
she knew
about
God
but she
doesn't
know what
it means
to be
a
Christian
Paul
starts
to teach
her
and it
says
that God
opened her
heart
and mind
to believe
the gospel
Lydia
gets
saved
her house
gets
saved
next we
see Paul
out of
frustration
he casts
a spirit
out of
a young
woman
because
seems like
she's just
annoying
his
preaching
of the
gospel
so he
casts
out a
spirit
only that
upsets
the owners
of this
young
lady
because
they
were
profiting
off
of her
because
she
was
fortune
telling
there's
something
there
about
fortune
telling
and
the
spirit
that
made
that
possible
just
throw
that
out
there
for those
who
struggle
with that
or are
tempted
to know
about
those
things
anyway
he upsets
the owners
and for
that reason
Paul and
Silas get
thrown into
jail
not the
ideal place
to have
church
and yet
Paul and
Silas
are
singing
and praying
in this
prison
note another
connection
there
they're
having
their
own
little
prayer
meeting
and
an
earthquake
breaks
out
jail
doors
are
open
chains
fall
off
all
the
prisoners
the
guard
is
about
to
kill
himself
because
he
thinks
they're
all
going
to
make
safe
and
Paul
says
hold
up
let
me
comfort
you
with
the
fact
that
all
of
us
are
still
here
and
what
does
the
prisoner
do
he
breaks
and says
what
do I
have
to
do
to
be
saved
that's
how
the
church
of
Philippi
started
those
are
the
first
converts
of
this
church
that's
roughly
ten
years
before
Philippians
is
written
that's
the
history
of
their
partnership
there
were
others
that
came
to
Christ
there's
more
in
that
and
we'll
learn
more
about
that
when
we
jump
into
Acts
but
they're
on
mission
with
him
there's
there
is
genuine
love
for
one
another
this
connection
between
this
work
that
got
started
in
Philippi
their
work
for
the
Lord
and
this
mission
of
sharing
the
gospel
that's
the
partnership
Paul
is
talking
about
look
at
verse
6
he
says
I
am
sure
of
this
speaking
of
God
here
he
who
began
a
good
work
in
you
will
bring
it
to
completion
at
the
day
of
Jesus
Christ
Paul's
confidence
is in
their
partnership
or
Paul's
confidence
in their
partnership
is not
an empty
confidence
it's a
confidence
in God
knowing
that God
is behind
it
and God
will
continue
it
see
what
God
starts
God
finishes
if
God
calls
a
person
and
saves
them
he
doesn't
let it
go
and drop
it
off
but
he
continues
that
work
to
completion
we
are
active
in that
relationship
with
God
it
isn't
that
we
don't
do
anything
but
it
is
God
who
supplies
what
we
need
spiritually
emotionally
physically
God
provides
and
directs
that
so
that
in the
end
we
would
be
complete
and
perfect
like
Christ
not
complete
now
but
at
the
day
of
Jesus
Christ
verse
7
he
says
it is
right
for me
to feel
this
way
about
you
because
I
hold
you
in
my
heart
for
you
are
all
partakers
with
me
of
grace
both
in
my
imprisonment
and
in
the
defense
and
confirmation
of
the
gospel
Paul
is
grounded
in
the
fact
that
they
are
partakers
of
grace
with
him
in
his
imprisonment
in
his
sharing
of
the
gospel
and
his
defending
the
gospel
Paul
is
grounded
in
the
fact
they
are
partakers
what
does
that
mean
that
they
are
partakers
the
grace
of
God
that
is
sustaining
and
protecting
and
securing
and
holding
Paul
they
are
sharers
of
the
church
of
Philippi
is
connected
to
Paul
so
what
sustains
Paul
is
what
is
sustaining
them
that
trust
that
Paul
has
is
the
trust
that
they
hold
on
and
lean
to
the
God
that
is
moving
Paul
along
wherever
he
is
what
is
moving
the
church
along
with
him
so
instead
of
giving
up
on
Paul
when
he
is
sent
to
prison
because
as
you
can
imagine
there's
shame
that
comes
along
with
being
sent
to
prison
I
don't
quite
know
what
it
would
be
like
at
this
time
but
it
feels
like
it
would
be
that
way
now
when
someone
is
sent
to
jail
there's
shame
that
goes
along
with
that
and
so
when
the
planter
of
your
church
is
sent
to
prison
there
is
obviously
some
shame
that
can
accompany
that
had
no
effect
not
on
them
they
were
on
mission
with
Paul
they
knew
why
Paul
was
in
jail
and
they
supported
him
through
it
verse
8
Paul
here
is
calling
God
as
a
witness
in
order
to
bring
emphasis
and
truth
to
what
he
is
saying
the
new
living
translation
says
this
God
knows
how
much
I
love
you
and
long
for
you
with
the
tender
compassion
of
Christ
Jesus
Paul
says
I
yearn
for
you
this
is
not
an
earthly
based
on
my
feelings
yearning
this
is
a
spiritual
yearning
one
with
an
affection
that
comes
from
Jesus
Christ
see
they
are
all
in
Christ
they
belong
to
Christ
they
have
been
found
and
saved
by
Christ
so
that
affection
is
from
Christ
Paul
is
imitating
Christ
and
how
he
has
affection
for
others
who
are
in
Christ
are
you
it's
a
little
confusing
but
are
you
seeing
the
connection
there
Paul
is
imitating
Christ
and
how
he
has
affection
for
others
who
are
in
Christ
and
Paul
has
this
affection
for
all
the
saints
in
the
church
at
Philippi
he
says
so
back
in
the
beginning
if
we
are
united
to
others
in
Christ
like
what
Paul
is
talking
about
do
we
church
have
a
similar
affection
for
them
does
our
spiritual
affections
which
come
from
Christ
imitate
his
affections
for
his
followers
you
see
the
connection
definitely
an area
that
I can
grow
in
I'm
sure
others
can
grow
in
they're
of
Christ
do
I
do
I
care
for
them
do
I
love
them
like
Christ
loved
them
so
what
is
Paul's
grounding
or
foundation
for
this
letter
of
encouragement
it's
their
willful
and
joyful
partnership
with
Paul
in
the
gospel
our
last
section
is
the
goal
verses
9
through
11
cover
that
what's
Paul's
goal
in
verses
9
through
11
or rather
we'll see
the goal
in
9
through
11
about
what
his
goal
is
for
this
passage
as well
as
the book
of
Philippians
Paul's
goal
let's
read
verse
9
I
don't
want
you
to
hear
what
I
think
Paul's
goal
is
I
want
you
to
see
what
the
word
of
God
says
is
Paul's
goal
verse
9
and it
is
my
prayer
that
your
love
may
abound
more
and
more
with
knowledge
and
all
discernment
that
was
Paul's
goal
and
it's
going
to
build
for
these
next
three
verses
that
their
love
would
abound
more
and
more
there
are
two
things
going
on
here
again
Paul
is
encouraging
them
to
increase
their
love
and
we'll
speak
to
that
in
a
minute
but
secondly
at
the
same
time
he
is
showing
them
the
importance
of
prayer
see
Paul
is
separated
from
the
church
that
he
started
he
didn't
leave
to go
on
mission
to do
other
things
but
he
is
now
in
prison
and
he
can't
leave
prison
to
go
visit
them
it's
a
church
that
he
loves
very
much
and
yet
he
can't
go
see
them
not
them
or
any
church
while
there's
no
pandemic
going
on
it
is
if
he
is
in
quarantine
unable
to
go
to
church
unable
to
sing
and
worship
and
hear
the
word
from
any
other
church
and
what
do
we
see
Paul
doing
he
prays
for
them
we
see
Paul
praying
for
them
and
encouraging
them
that's
what
he
does
so
what
do
we
do
for
others
in
our
church
do
we
pray
for
them
are
our
prayers
mostly
if
we
have
time
to
pray
consumed
with
our
needs
we
do
have
needs
I'm
not
saying
don't
pray
for
those
but
do
we
pray
for
our
church
that
we
should
be
on
mission
the
gospel
with
all
right
so
let's
go
back
to
the
first
section
we
saw
we
see
prayer
going
on
there
but
the
big
part
is
the
encouraging
the
encouragement
for
them
to
increase
their
love
he's
praying
that
their
love
would
grow
and
abound
more
and
more
but
also
realize
he's
not
just
talking
about
growing
with
no
direction
and
no
limits
just
aimlessly
growing
in love
we all
just
love
each
other
no
he's
specific
in
saying
with
knowledge
and
all
discernment
as
I
hear
that
knowledge
and
all
discernment
I'm
reminded
of
wisdom
and
what
we
just
went
through
in
Proverbs
he
wants
us
to
abound
in
our
love
using
wisdom
why
pray
for
love
to
abound
more
and
more
Paul
verse
10
so
that
you
may
approve
what
is
excellent
and
so
be
pure
and
blameless
for
the
day
of
Christ
that's
why
he
prays
for
our
love
to
abound
so
that
we
may
approve
that
is
that
we
would
accept
or
agree
with
what
is
excellent
now
in
order
to
approve
what
is
excellent
we
have
to
know
what
excellence
is
so
there
needs
to be
some
knowledge
of that
not
just
knowledge
as in
facts
but
experience
see
as we
learn
to
live
like
Christ
we
learn
to
love
others
more
excellent
because
we
all
know
that
sometimes
when
we
love
others
it's
mixed
with
sin
and
sometimes
we
say
things
or
do
things
that
don't
come
out
right
they
mess
things
up
but
we
don't
turn
and
stop
loving
we
just
fix
what
we
did
we
work
it
out
we
talk
to
that
brother
that
sister
and
we
move
on
because
we're
called
to
love
them
and to
grow
in
that
and we
can't
become
more
excellent
in our
love
unless
we
keep
doing
it
and
learning
from
the
mistakes
that
we
make
and we
will
make
mistakes
stupid
and
not
or to not cause offense.
So that's why we want to grow in our love
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
It is important to remind us again,
because we often get wrapped up in the world,
but Christ is coming back.
We need to be living in that truth,
because we need to reorder our priorities at times
in light of the knowledge that God is coming back
for his church, for his people.
Jesus gives us a parable about this that is helpful
in Matthew 25.
I'm not going to read it.
It's a marriage scene.
The groom is coming,
and everything is being ready.
Everything is being done.
Everything is being scheduled and set up
for that big event.
The groom will arrive,
and there will be a marriage and a celebration.
For that to happen,
things have to be in place.
Plans have to be made.
Schedules have to be set up.
Priorities set, maybe readjusted.
And for those who are not prepared,
they're left out.
And Jesus' parable is talking about those
who don't prepare and are left out
and are not part of the kingdom of God
and are left behind.
So we look towards the day of Christ,
and we plan for that.
We look forward to being made complete
and whole and perfect
when we see Jesus' face.
perfecting our love for others
as that day draws near.
That's what Paul wants to encourage us to do.
But wait, Paul is not done with this goal
that he has
so we can grow in our love wisely,
so we can approve what is excellent,
so we can move towards being pure
and blameless before Christ.
In verse 11,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ.
Paul's talking about having righteous fruit.
That is, fruit of the Spirit
that grows from our relationship with Jesus.
Galatians chapter 5 talks about
all the fruits of the Spirit,
love, joy, peace.
Those things don't grow
outside of a relationship with Jesus.
They grow
as a result of the Spirit's work inside of us.
Paul doesn't want to just leave us here
thinking all these things
are things we have to do
on our own power.
Living towards purity,
growing in righteousness,
our love abounding,
becoming more perfect.
These things are not of us.
We play an active part
in pursuing those things,
but it comes through Jesus Christ.
We aren't to do it on our own strength
because we're going to mess it up.
We're to do it
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly,
Paul brings us to
the very end of verse 11,
the ultimate goal,
to the glory and praise of God.
Paul ends his prayer
in thanksgiving
with this reason,
that God may be glorified.
There is no purpose.
There is no goal in life
higher than glorifying God.
We don't glorify God
so that we can do something else
or so that we can get something.
That is the end goal of all things
is to glorify God.
This lines up with Paul's,
he has a few other similar prayers.
One is in 2 Thessalonians.
He says,
To this end,
we always pray for you
that our God may make you
worthy of his calling
and may fulfill
every resolve for good
and every work of faith
by his power
so that the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ
may be glorified in you
and you in him
according to the grace
of our God.
This also lines up
with what Jesus taught.
Remember how Jesus taught
his disciples to pray
in Matthew.
He says,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
God our Father
is to be honored
as holy
and set apart.
Also,
Jesus says this
in John 15, 8,
By this my Father
is glorified,
that you bear much fruit
and so be proved
to be my disciples.
The end,
the goal of it all
is to glorify God.
So in summary,
Paul is praying
that the church
would grow
in love and wisdom,
that they would be pure
and blameless
and bear fruit
for the glory of God.
As we spend
the next two months
or so in Philippians,
I want to encourage you
to look to Christ.
Study Paul,
one of the most joyful
people in the Bible
and yet one of the most
persecuted.
Hear what God has to say
and see how he works
through Paul
as we study this book.
I had this thought
while I was preparing
the message.
If we could think
of the journey,
our journey
through Philippians
as a picture
that is being painted.
A painting
of that theme,
joyful partnership
in the gospel.
what that painting
looks like
describes
what that partnership
looks like
in your life.
You see where
I'm going with this?
So there's a picture
that as we walk
through Philippians,
I want you
to allow the word
of God
to start to paint
that picture,
that description
of that partnership
in your life.
Now that's going
to look different
for different people.
For some of us,
that painting
right now
is blank.
For some of us,
that painting
might be very colorful.
For some of us,
that painting
might be dark
and lonely.
For some of us,
maybe there's
some missing parts.
Maybe it's hard
to tell what color
that used to be
in that area.
of our joyful
partnership
in the gospel.
But I want you
to be encouraged.
I don't want you
to leave the painting
there.
Because from now
until when Jesus
comes back,
that painting
of that joyful
partnership
in the gospel
can always
be progressing
and made
more beautiful.
So let's allow
God to work
through this book,
this book of Philippians
as we study it,
and let's allow him
to paint for us
what that picture
should look like
as we are
growing
in that
partnership.
Brightening
the spots
that are
hindering joy.
Putting new color
over the faded
hues of
discontentment.
Maybe filling
in the white
areas
that are
empty
with
self-centeredness
and worldliness.
I don't say
this to condemn,
I say this
because there's
hope
to be found
in Philippians,
in Christ,
as we are
in joyful
partnership
from the gospel.
the goal
when we're
done Philippians
is that we
would have
this beautiful
picture
of joyful
partnership
in the gospel
that God
has painted
for our lives.
It's for
our joy
and it's
for God's
glory.
Take a moment
just to think
about that
quietly
and then we'll
have a time
a prayer.