WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 So we're going to start this evening a new series in the book of Philippians. It's a short break 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:10.500 from the book of Acts, which we'll hopefully return to later. But there is an important theme 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:14.960 at the centre of the book of Philippians, which thinking and praying about where we're up to as 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:19.859 a church, talking to others, I think is really, really important for us. And so my plan this 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:26.000 evening is to give you an overview of the whole letter. And then in weeks to come, I'll just work 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:33.219 our way through it with you. So I'm going to begin by reading the whole book. Now, Alvina told me 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:40.600 yesterday that I read like a, what is it, a freight train. That was it. That was her words. And so I'm 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.799 going to endeavour not to do it like that. I'm going to hopefully read it slow enough so that you can 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:49.200 follow, but fast enough so that we're not still here tomorrow morning reading it. And I just want 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:54.379 you, you're not going to understand every word as I read it, but let's just try and absorb what the 00:00:54.380 --> 00:01:00.880 themes are. And then I'm going to show you four big themes or big observations from the letter. 00:01:00.980 --> 00:01:05.439 So I want to show you, and they're on your handout, I want to show you how Paul loved the Philippian 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:10.939 church, that there's a particular kind of suffering that they're facing, a certain kind of danger for 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:17.760 the church, and also that at the centre of the letter is one big instruction for them. So let me read 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:23.700 it to you, and you'll follow along in your Bible so you can point out my mistakes as I make them. 00:01:25.660 --> 00:01:32.460 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, 00:01:32.460 --> 00:01:39.320 together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 00:01:39.320 --> 00:01:46.240 Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:52.299 joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, 00:01:52.399 --> 00:01:58.000 that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:01:58.619 --> 00:02:03.780 It's right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart, and whether I'm 00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:10.000 in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.819 testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:22.159 that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:27.620 discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:34.560 righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now I want you to know, 00:02:34.659 --> 00:02:39.039 brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.879 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I'm in 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:48.400 chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:55.060 confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. It is true that 00:02:55.060 --> 00:03:01.519 some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:06.579 knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish 00:03:06.579 --> 00:03:10.900 ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:16.460 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:23.080 true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. For I 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:28.300 know that through your prayers and God's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:34.280 me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:40.000 but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:46.379 whether by life or by death. For, to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:51.479 If I'm to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:56.500 I don't know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:02.080 better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:07.439 I know that I will remain. And I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:12.659 so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:18.279 of me. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:23.639 Then whether I come to see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:29.360 in one spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:34.139 any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:39.599 will be saved. And that by God, for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to 00:04:39.599 --> 00:04:45.319 believe in him, but also to suffer for him. Since you are going through the same struggle you saw I 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:52.199 had, and now hear that I still have. Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:57.879 Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:04.240 compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:10.120 spirit and one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:15.800 value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:21.139 the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:26.800 who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:32.840 advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made 00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:39.400 in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to 00:05:39.400 --> 00:05:46.400 death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name that 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:52.120 is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:57.920 earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:04.800 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:11.079 in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:17.480 you to will and to act according, sorry, in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:24.100 grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:30.300 and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:36.319 the word of life. Then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain. 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:41.680 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:48.060 your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:55.400 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news 00:06:55.400 --> 00:07:00.960 about you. I have no one else like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare, for everyone 00:07:00.960 --> 00:07:06.740 looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:12.480 because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope therefore to 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:18.319 send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:24.920 soon. But I think it's necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:31.360 soldier, who is also your messenger whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:37.139 and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill and almost died. But God had 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:43.360 mercy on him and not only on him but also on me to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am the 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:49.100 more eager to send him so that when you see him again you may be glad and may have less anxiety. 00:07:50.020 --> 00:07:54.980 So then welcome him in the Lord with great joy and honour people like him because he almost died for 00:07:54.980 --> 00:08:00.840 the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help that you yourselves could not give me. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.860 Further my brothers and sisters rejoice in the Lord. It's no trouble for me to write the same 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:12.139 things to you again and it's a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:17.620 those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his spirit, 00:08:18.020 --> 00:08:23.560 who boast in Christ Jesus and who put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reasons for such 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:28.040 confidence. Someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh. I have more. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:34.320 circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:40.279 Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee. As for zeal, persecuting the church. As for righteousness 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:46.240 based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:51.379 Christ. What is more I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus 00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:57.659 my Lord. For whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and 00:08:57.659 --> 00:09:02.379 be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:09.019 faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:15.460 Yes. To know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings. Becoming like him in 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:21.500 his death. And so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I've already obtained all 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:28.220 this. Or have already arrived at my goal. But I press on to take hold of that which for Christ Jesus took 00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:34.580 hold of me. Brothers and sisters I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:41.200 do. Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead. I press on towards the goal to win the 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:46.680 prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us then who are mature should 00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:51.440 take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently that too God will make clear 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:56.759 to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join together in following my example 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:01.780 brothers and sisters. And just as you have us as a model keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:07.220 For as often as I've told you before and now tell you again even with tears many live as enemies of the 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:12.500 cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction. Their God is their stomach. Their glory is in their shame. 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:19.180 Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a saviour from 00:10:19.180 --> 00:10:24.040 there. The Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control 00:10:24.040 --> 00:10:31.040 will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore my brothers and 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:37.019 sisters you whom I love and long for my joy and my crown stand firm in the Lord in this way. 00:10:37.220 --> 00:10:43.460 Dear friends, I plead with Iodia. I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:48.720 Yes and I ask you my true companion help these women since they have contended at my side in the 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:53.740 cause of the gospel along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:01.680 Rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:08.000 Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.839 present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your 00:11:13.839 --> 00:11:19.359 hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is 00:11:19.359 --> 00:11:25.000 noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:31.339 excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you've learned or received or heard from me or seen 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:38.259 in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:43.600 last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed you were concerned but you had no opportunity to show it. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:48.080 I'm not saying this because I'm in need for I've learned to be content whatever the circumstance. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:53.240 I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:59.759 content in any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry, living in plenty or in want. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:05.860 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 00:12:06.779 --> 00:12:10.840 Moreover as you Philippians know in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel when I set out 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:15.840 from Macedonia not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.059 For even when I was in Thessalonica you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:27.739 Not that I desire your gifts. What I desire is that more be credited to your account. I've received full 00:12:27.739 --> 00:12:33.459 payment. I have more than enough. I'm amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts 00:12:33.459 --> 00:12:40.799 you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:46.639 your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:52.419 and ever. Amen. Greet all God's people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:57.919 greetings. All God's people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:03.779 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Amen. 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:10.819 There are several just brilliant hallelujah moments aren't there in the book of Philippians and I hope 00:13:10.819 --> 00:13:16.019 it was helpful to you to see where they come in the whole letter. But I just want to draw your attention 00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:21.620 fairly briefly. I'm not going to keep you all night to four things and there are opportunity as well for 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:26.319 questions at the end. So please do be storing those up as we go through. The first thing I want you to 00:13:26.319 --> 00:13:31.779 notice is that Paul loved the Philippian church. I hope that was obvious to you as I read it. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:38.460 Especially when you compare Philippians to some of Paul's other letters like say Galatians or two 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:44.039 Corinthians or one Corinthians. The letter is outstandingly positive all the way through, isn't it? 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:49.379 If you look at the opening verses there in verses three and four, notice all the all's and every's and 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:56.319 always. Every time in verse three that he remembers them, he is thankful for them. Do you have friends 00:13:56.319 --> 00:14:02.699 like that? Every time you think of them, you're thankful for them. Not every person we know is like 00:14:02.699 --> 00:14:07.879 that, are they? But for Paul, the Philippian church was like that. So in all his prayers for all of them, 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:14.360 he is always full of joy. So as Paul is in prison, he remembers and prays for the Philippian church. He's 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:19.879 smiling at his memory of them with joyful thanks. They are dear friends. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:25.460 It comes out later in the letter too when you discover that the letter really is a sort of a thank you letter. 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:29.720 It's a pretty poor thank you letter in comparison to some of the thank you letters you might encourage your 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:34.039 children or grandchildren to write. But it is a thank you letter because they have given him a gift through 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:39.099 Epaphroditus. But then he tells them he didn't really need it. And that actually it was to their gain that they 00:14:39.099 --> 00:14:46.000 gave it anyway. But Paul, probably in Rome, certainly in prison, is dependent on the financial generosity 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:52.360 of others in order to live. And in chapter four, verse 14, you find that the Philippian church are unique in 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:58.679 sharing with him, partnering with him and sending help for his needs or sharing with him in his troubles. And 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:03.899 according to verse 16 of chapter four, it's not the first time they've done it. It's remarkable, isn't it? 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:09.840 Here is a church that is sincere in their love for Paul and Paul is sincere in his love for them. 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:16.379 Now, we don't have time to unpack all the detail of this, but Paul's love for the Philippian church is of a particular 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:22.879 kind as well. So notice that the love that he has for the church in Philippi is a costly love. 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:31.899 In chapter one, you find that he says that it's more important for him to serve the church in Philippi than it is even for him to have 00:15:31.899 --> 00:15:38.939 relief from his suffering. What does he say? Verse 24 of chapter one, it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 00:15:40.079 --> 00:15:46.399 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. 00:15:47.459 --> 00:15:50.559 Paul longs to be with the Lord and relieved of his suffering, 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:55.239 suffering, but actually he is convinced and loves to be with the Philippian church. 00:15:55.379 --> 00:16:00.559 And so he is prepared to persevere. His love for the Philippian church is costing him dearly. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:09.039 Then at the end of chapter two, we find that finding out about them and their progress in the Christian life is worth sending his best man, 00:16:10.219 --> 00:16:13.859 Timothy, at significant risk to find out news about him. 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:20.919 So the Philippian church are loved by Paul and loved at a great cost to himself and to them. 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:25.039 The second observation is that there is a particular kind of suffering. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:31.899 Now, if you're drifting off in the warmth, you're going to have to put your brains in gear because this is a little more complicated, 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:39.600 but I think is important. There's an intriguing line at the end of chapter one about the situation that the church finds itself in. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:44.399 So having exhorted the church to live in a way which is worthy of the gospel of Christ, 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:46.180 we'll talk about that a bit more in a moment. 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:51.860 He goes on to talk about opponents in verse 28 before saying in verse 29, 00:16:52.100 --> 00:17:00.180 for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:02.540 That's not an unusual message, is it? 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.099 Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer. 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:07.700 Yeah, that's in 2 Timothy. 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:10.900 Obviously, the theme of suffering throughout the scriptures. 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.920 But here, there's a particular kind of suffering. 00:17:14.100 --> 00:17:14.960 So verse 30, 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:24.519 Also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle that you saw I had and now here that I still have. 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:32.880 This is a very specific kind of suffering that they watched Paul suffer with while he was with them in Philippi. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.640 And now that Paul still has it, they also have it as well. 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:42.960 So to uncover what that is, we need to jump back to the book of Acts and see how the Philippian mission unfolds there. 00:17:43.020 --> 00:17:49.180 So turn back in your Bibles to Acts chapter 16, to Acts chapter 16, and we will look at it together. 00:17:49.320 --> 00:17:53.320 Acts chapter 16, page 1112. 00:17:53.319 --> 00:18:05.079 If you look down at verse 12, you'll notice that Luke decides to give us a bit of background information on Philippi. 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:12.019 So from there, we travel to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. 00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:13.960 And we stayed there several days. 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:18.940 It's unusual for Luke to include that kind of detail. 00:18:19.340 --> 00:18:24.319 The only other place he does it for is, interestingly enough, Paul's birthplace in Tarsus, 00:18:24.460 --> 00:18:31.799 which combined with Luke starting to use the word we here for his mission might mean that Luke himself was from Philippi. 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:32.420 But we don't know. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:33.799 That's just speculation. 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.480 Really, the thing seems to be that in order to understand what's going on in Philippi, 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:48.539 you need to understand that Philippi is a proud Roman city, a leading city of the district, a colony of Rome. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.940 What happens next, you can read the rest of Acts 16 in your own time, 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:57.819 is that the mission team go down to the river on the Sabbath to meet with a group of people who are praying there. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:02.200 Seems that there's no synagogue in Philippi, and presumably not many Jews. 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:07.160 So the God-fearing Jewish-leaning Gentiles would meet on the Sabbath by the river, 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:10.299 perhaps to go through some ritual washing. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:16.120 Anyway, there they meet Lydia, who is a rich businesswoman who sells posh clothes to royalty, 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:18.220 and she is converted. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:23.539 Then a fortune teller gets converted, and then a jailer also gets converted. 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:28.360 But in the midst of all that, you're told about the persecution that Paul and Silas endure. 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:32.279 So look down at verse 16, and let me read these few verses to you. 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:39.500 Once, when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.259 She earned a great deal of money for owners by fortune-telling. 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:45.519 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:50.220 These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:52.299 She kept this up for many days. 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:56.339 Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.720 In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her. 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.799 At that moment, the spirit left her. 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:05.579 When our owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:10.160 they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:13.140 They brought them before the magistrates and said, 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:14.759 There it is, this is key. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.059 These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:24.259 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:26.140 You notice the problem. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:27.960 Here's the conflict. 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:37.460 They are telling Paul that his preaching is advocating customs that are unlawful for Romans to accept. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:39.340 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.700 They're not saying, listen, Paul is preaching a false message. 00:20:43.100 --> 00:20:43.940 Jesus is a myth. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.340 He didn't really rise from the dead. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.420 No, it's the idea that being a Christian, following the message that Paul is preaching, 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.000 is contrary to Roman culture. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:59.460 If you follow Paul like a Christian, you can no longer be a proud citizen of Philippi. 00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:03.279 If you're going to be a Christian, you're going to cause us trouble in our city. 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:06.759 If you're going to be a Christian, you're not going to be a very good Philippian. 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:09.660 It's really interesting, isn't it? 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:14.359 Their customs are unlawful for us proud city of Philippi, Roman colony, citizens to practice. 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.699 Now, I think that's massively significant in a number of ways. 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:25.039 Firstly, it's significant because it makes the letter to the Philippians massively contemporary, isn't it? 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.000 You could say the same, couldn't you, for life in 21st century Britain. 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:31.960 What are people's big concerns with Christianity? 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:36.240 Aren't people's big concerns with you being a Christian that you will be a bad citizen? 00:21:37.539 --> 00:21:41.920 So if you're going to live the faithful Christian life, aren't you going to be a dangerous citizen? 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:46.920 Shouldn't we limit the church, make sure that there's no conversion therapy going on? 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.079 Should we keep a tight rein on what street preachers say? 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:55.139 Should we make sure that the HR department is really on top of Christianity in our workplace 00:21:55.139 --> 00:21:57.480 to make sure that they're not saying anything that shouldn't be said? 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:00.480 Particularly if you're a doctor or a teacher or a nurse. 00:22:01.139 --> 00:22:06.339 Keep your Christianity to yourself because if you live your Christian life openly here, 00:22:06.879 --> 00:22:10.699 it will make you a bad doctor or a bad teacher or a bad nurse or a bad citizen. 00:22:11.699 --> 00:22:13.039 That's what's going on in Philippi. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.480 But it also explains, if you come back to the letter to the Philippians, 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:22.819 it also explains why the letter is so obsessed, if you like, with citizenship. 00:22:23.559 --> 00:22:25.980 Not of the Roman Empire, but of heaven. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:29.240 So chapter 3, verse 20, what does Paul say? 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:32.620 But our citizenship is in heaven. 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:36.339 And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.740 In other words, I may be jumping about a bit so you can ask me questions on this. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:45.480 But Paul's antidote to the specific kind of suffering that the Philippians are facing, 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:47.759 that he had when he was there, that they're now facing. 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:54.440 His antidote to it is not to downplay the conflict between Christian culture and Roman culture, 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:59.380 but rather to re-emphasize that trusting in Christ gives the Christian a whole different identity, 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:01.200 a whole different citizenship. 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:06.299 This is, if I can summarize, this is massive pastoral wisdom. 00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:14.240 Paul notices that they are being accused of being disloyal Philippian Roman citizens. 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:17.700 What does he do? He doesn't actually answer the problem. 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:21.339 He transcends the problem with a bigger truth, a greater reality. 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:23.220 He says, listen, you are citizens of heaven. 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:27.059 Your citizenship is not, you're not a proud Philippian. 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:29.720 You belong to Christ. You're his. 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:31.879 That is pastoral wisdom, isn't it? 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:36.960 Not resolving every problem, but transcending problems with a bigger truth and a greater reality. 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:39.520 That's what the gospel does all the time, isn't it? 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:41.540 In the ways that we're suffering and struggling, 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.600 it transcends it with a greater truth and a greater reality. 00:23:47.100 --> 00:23:48.780 Thirdly, very much linked to that, 00:23:48.860 --> 00:23:52.180 we find they're a faithful church facing a hidden danger. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.860 There's a theme of faithfulness, isn't there, 00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:57.440 that comes through over and over again, 00:23:57.820 --> 00:23:59.880 linked to the thankfulness that we've already looked at. 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:04.160 But the Philippian church, unlike any other church, had stood with Paul. 00:24:04.540 --> 00:24:07.720 So he calls them partners in the gospel, chapter 1, verse 5. 00:24:07.860 --> 00:24:10.160 Share us with me in grace, chapter 1, verse 7. 00:24:11.380 --> 00:24:14.940 So here you've got a church that's from sort of inauspicious beginnings, 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:18.100 that's thriving, it's outstripping other churches in the New Testament 00:24:18.100 --> 00:24:19.820 in gospel partnership and faithfulness. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.320 But there's a problem. 00:24:23.360 --> 00:24:25.240 There's a hidden danger, if you like. 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:27.800 It's rearing its head all the way through the letter, 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:31.099 and then it gets tackled head on in chapter 4, verse 2, 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:33.200 when he speaks to Euodia and Syntyche. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.619 And it's the problem of disunity. 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:39.279 But it's not any old disunity. 00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:41.139 You can be more specific than that. 00:24:41.419 --> 00:24:43.119 You're given more detail, aren't you? 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:46.639 It's a disunity rooted in envy and selfish ambition. 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:49.500 Let me just wring some of these off. 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:53.619 Chapter 1, verse 17, he points out that the motive standing behind some preachers 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:56.259 is a motive of envy and rivalry, isn't it? 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:58.299 They're promoting themselves. 00:24:59.219 --> 00:25:01.259 It's the backdrop to chapter 2, verse 3, 00:25:01.379 --> 00:25:04.439 where the church are told to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, 00:25:04.739 --> 00:25:07.299 but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:12.619 He says that because they are doing things from selfish ambition and conceit 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:14.839 and are considering themselves better than others. 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:19.720 It's there in Paul's mission team when in chapter 2, verse 21, 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:22.579 he points out to the Philippians that his mission team, 00:25:22.939 --> 00:25:25.839 his team of helpers, all of them, except for Timothy, 00:25:25.939 --> 00:25:28.919 are mostly concerned with their own interests and not the interests of Christ. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:30.119 That's remarkable, isn't it? 00:25:32.059 --> 00:25:34.359 It's obvious again, but more extreme, 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:36.740 when he says in chapter 3, verse 19, 00:25:37.339 --> 00:25:39.319 there are people whose God is their belly. 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:42.500 I don't think he's talking about food there, 00:25:42.579 --> 00:25:45.019 but about a self-filling, selfish ambition. 00:25:46.939 --> 00:25:50.039 Thinking about the context, it's easy to see how this might have worked. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:55.379 Was it perhaps that proud Roman citizens converted to Christ, 00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:57.379 starting to be frowned upon by their friends, 00:25:57.579 --> 00:25:59.599 they lose their status in the world, 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.899 so they're simply trying to swap that out for status in the church? 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:07.259 I might not be able to be the mayor anymore. 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:11.140 I might not be able to be an influential teacher or lecturer or doctor, 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:14.359 but I could be a leader in the church. 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.700 I could get ahead while Paul is out of prison, make a name for myself. 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:24.359 And the New Testament is full of warnings for this kind of behavior in the church. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:25.559 Let me just read this to you. 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:26.180 You don't need to turn to it. 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:27.279 I think it might be on your handout anyway. 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:28.400 James chapter 3. 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:30.799 James writes this, 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.759 Who is wise and understanding among you? 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:36.279 Let them show it by their good life, 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:39.140 by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom. 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:43.900 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, 00:26:44.379 --> 00:26:46.319 do not boast about it or deny the truth. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:48.400 Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:50.480 but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:53.379 Where you have envy and selfish ambition, 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:56.379 there you find disorder and every evil practice. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:59.779 That's the danger facing the Philippian church. 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:04.720 Alec Matea writes this in his commentary on the book of Philippians. 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:05.799 Again, this is on your handout. 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:08.359 Paul does not share the details with us, 00:27:08.379 --> 00:27:11.660 and therefore it's safer to raise questions than to make assertions. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:17.259 The single fact is that new life and new divisions appear side by side in the Roman church. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:21.259 Can we be wide of the mark in asking if Paul is not here giving an illustration 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:22.700 in order to teach a principle? 00:27:23.619 --> 00:27:25.339 We look back to Paul's Rome. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:26.899 We look around today's church. 00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:34.160 We do not see, do we not see over and again that when renewal comes, disunity comes. 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:38.200 We could think of many churches touched today by spiritual renewal, 00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:44.180 only to be at once devitalized by splits, parties and sessions. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:50.519 Can there be doubt that disunity is primary weapon against the effectiveness of the church? 00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:54.100 Now, we're going to come and think about that in weeks to come. 00:27:54.540 --> 00:27:56.080 We have loads of time to spend on it tonight. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:57.299 We'll run down all the applications. 00:27:57.919 --> 00:28:00.759 But needless to say, there are lots of implications of this for our church. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:09.179 Disunity rooted in envy is a disease not so much of a declining church. 00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:14.639 When church is struggling and declining, there isn't much to be envious about. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:18.220 Who wants to be a leader in the church when the church is really struggling? 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:26.319 But when church starts to move forwards and grow and be revitalized and be refreshed by the Spirit of God, 00:28:27.100 --> 00:28:33.319 that opens the door for envy and rivalry and competition against one another. 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:37.839 As people become converted and the church starts to change and develop, 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:43.619 the temptation to pride, positioning and disunity opens up. 00:28:44.059 --> 00:28:46.419 This is super challenging for us, isn't it, as a church? 00:28:46.420 --> 00:28:52.940 This is the sort of stuff that time and again, I'm stopping at my desk and I'm praying through this. 00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:55.920 Especially again in preparing Philippians. 00:28:56.060 --> 00:28:58.660 Lord, help me to do nothing out of selfish ambition. 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:02.120 Empty me of myself that you may fill me with your Spirit. 00:29:02.560 --> 00:29:04.460 May I work for your glory and not mine. 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:06.920 May I not be proud. 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:10.700 Doing things for my own glory and not for yours. 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:13.240 And we all need to be thinking like that and praying like that, don't we? 00:29:15.180 --> 00:29:15.580 Okay. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:17.620 Final thing then. 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:19.400 The final central instruction. 00:29:19.580 --> 00:29:20.740 One central instruction. 00:29:20.980 --> 00:29:26.000 I think there really is basically one go do this in the letter of Philippians. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:28.660 Laila, were you going to ask a question or were you just stretching? 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:30.340 No, that's fine. 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:32.019 Careful as you stretch. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:33.180 It's like being at an auction. 00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:35.400 You scratch your head, you'll buy something you don't want. 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:36.360 Okay. 00:29:37.100 --> 00:29:38.240 One central instruction. 00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:45.799 Hopefully, you can't fail to notice with the letter to the church in Philippi that it is centered around this hymn in chapter two. 00:29:47.339 --> 00:29:54.940 If you want to be a Greek nerd, you can find out that Paul in the letter is using a particular Greek word for mind. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:56.559 It comes a number of times. 00:29:56.579 --> 00:30:00.220 It comes more in the letter here than it comes in any other New Testament book. 00:30:00.299 --> 00:30:01.359 It's there over and over again. 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:03.480 It doesn't mean so much to think. 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.500 It means more like a sort of mindset. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.339 Phronin is the Greek word. 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:11.139 It's a controlling truth, the big reality, the mindset. 00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:18.359 And there's a flurry of that word in the buildup to chapter two, verse five, when Paul is telling us that we should have this mind amongst us, 00:30:18.399 --> 00:30:22.519 or this mindset, this way of thinking, this controlling truth. 00:30:22.899 --> 00:30:23.579 What is it? 00:30:23.959 --> 00:30:27.439 Well, it is the controlling truth, the mindset of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:33.399 The mindset that would give up the glories of heaven for the filth of a Roman cross. 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.259 We are to think like one who would do that. 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:42.220 The mindset that would willingly give itself up so that others might be lifted up. 00:30:42.600 --> 00:30:46.000 It's the mindset that lays down its life for the salvation of another. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:50.820 Ultimately, it's the mindset that qualifies Jesus as the eternal king of God's people, 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:55.899 as the father exalts the son and gives him the name at which every knee must bow. 00:30:56.899 --> 00:30:58.799 Verse nine of chapter two. 00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:06.879 This is the opposite of envy and rivalry that's threatening the church, isn't it? 00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:08.439 And what exactly is it? 00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:15.420 Well, here it is in a sentence, which I borrowed this sentence from the pastor of another church probably about 20 years ago, 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:19.279 and it stuck in my mind, so it must be a useful summary, even though it's not particularly natty. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:26.180 It's this, self-sacrificial service for the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God. 00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:27.820 That's the kind of love. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:30.200 That's Christ here, isn't it? 00:31:30.220 --> 00:31:31.320 That's the big instruction. 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:38.179 Love one another with a self-sacrificial service or the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God. 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:45.559 It's the giving up of one's own rights, privileges, pride, ambitions, not just for the good of others. 00:31:45.659 --> 00:31:46.159 Notice that. 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:48.019 It's not just for their good. 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:50.519 It's for their eternal well-being. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:56.240 Jesus doesn't die on the cross and give himself up for you so that you can live a charmed life, 00:31:56.599 --> 00:31:59.119 get the job that you want, the money that you want, the house that you want. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:04.039 No, he dies on the cross for your eternal good, your eternal well-being, 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:08.739 that you might be rescued from your sin for eternal glory. 00:32:09.619 --> 00:32:12.219 And it's not for their glory either, is it? 00:32:12.239 --> 00:32:13.459 It is to the glory of God. 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:14.679 God is glorified. 00:32:14.939 --> 00:32:19.779 God is exalted by this giving of ourselves for the eternal well-being of others. 00:32:20.379 --> 00:32:25.359 It's how the church is unified as we lay down our own rights for the rights of others, 00:32:25.419 --> 00:32:26.639 that they might be raised up. 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:31.620 Paul is doing this in prison even, rejoicing that others are preaching, 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.540 even when he knows their motives are suspect. 00:32:34.300 --> 00:32:38.040 Or when in chapter 3 he considers everything a loss compared to knowing Christ. 00:32:38.360 --> 00:32:41.740 It's what motivates him to strain forward at the end of chapter 3. 00:32:42.560 --> 00:32:46.400 It's this self-sacrificial service for the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:49.820 that motivates Epaphroditus to almost lose his life, 00:32:49.820 --> 00:32:56.480 to take money from Philippi to Rome to give to Paul so that he may have what he needs. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:00.519 So here's the big take-home of the book. 00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:02.920 If you're going to live the Christian life with joy, 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:05.019 if with Paul we're going to be able to say, 00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:07.480 do you know what, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain, 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:08.559 if we're going to be able to say that, 00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:12.460 then our lives have to be about self-sacrificial service 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:15.559 for the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God. 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:17.279 That's what it's about. 00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:19.899 And where are you going to get that? 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:21.639 How are you going to love like that? 00:33:22.259 --> 00:33:23.839 I can't give you that as an instruction, right? 00:33:23.879 --> 00:33:26.720 Go away and try really hard to sacrifice yourself 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:28.599 for the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God. 00:33:28.700 --> 00:33:29.539 Go and do that. 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:31.859 That's an impossible ask, isn't it? 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:33.960 But it's not self-generated. 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:37.279 Self-generated motives are envy and selfish ambition. 00:33:37.879 --> 00:33:40.379 This is Holy Spirit generated, isn't it? 00:33:40.419 --> 00:33:42.619 This is the mindset of Christ. 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:45.779 This is Christ living in us and working through us. 00:33:46.199 --> 00:33:48.639 Christ at work so that we may lay down ourselves 00:33:48.639 --> 00:33:52.959 for the eternal well-being of others to the glory of God. 00:33:53.739 --> 00:33:55.779 And that is what Philippians is all about. 00:33:57.679 --> 00:34:02.679 Questions, comments, observations. 00:34:03.539 --> 00:34:06.179 I'll give you a minute and then we'll pray together. 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:28.420 Yes, okay. 00:34:29.339 --> 00:34:30.019 That's a good question. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:31.199 So for those of you on Zoom, 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:34.259 is Philippians addressed primarily to the church 00:34:34.259 --> 00:34:35.380 or to individual Christians? 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:39.019 So it is primarily to the church, 00:34:39.019 --> 00:34:41.179 but the church is made up of individual Christians. 00:34:41.179 --> 00:34:41.759 Isn't it? 00:34:42.419 --> 00:34:45.239 The quality of our corporate church life 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:48.279 is dependent upon our individual commitment 00:34:48.279 --> 00:34:49.919 to live for Christ Jesus, isn't it? 00:34:51.899 --> 00:34:53.759 See, and we've said this before, haven't we? 00:34:53.819 --> 00:34:55.899 I remember preaching this a year ago, 00:34:55.980 --> 00:34:59.179 but the most important way you can serve 00:34:59.179 --> 00:35:00.619 the life of our church together 00:35:00.619 --> 00:35:02.460 is by making sure you're growing 00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:03.940 as a Christian individually, isn't it? 00:35:05.779 --> 00:35:08.399 But then it's a sort of feedback loop, isn't it? 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:10.200 Because I can't grow as an individual Christian 00:35:10.200 --> 00:35:12.660 without engaging with others, can I? 00:35:12.720 --> 00:35:14.360 I can't self-sacrificially love 00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:15.639 for the eternal well-being of others 00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:17.500 if I'm not around others. 00:35:18.200 --> 00:35:18.300 Yeah. 00:35:18.720 --> 00:35:21.139 No, I need the church in order to live the Christian life. 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:21.920 Yeah. 00:35:23.200 --> 00:35:23.480 Yeah. 00:35:26.360 --> 00:35:27.220 That's a great question. 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:27.800 Thanks, Lola. 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:29.240 Yeah. 00:35:29.240 --> 00:35:29.320 Yeah. 00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:36.220 When you sit down in the morning 00:35:36.220 --> 00:35:37.440 and you read your Bible and pray, 00:35:38.380 --> 00:35:39.059 you can think, 00:35:39.600 --> 00:35:42.000 I'm serving the church right now. 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:42.539 Yeah. 00:35:43.120 --> 00:35:45.600 Because I'm not, 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:47.280 I mean, you can be praying for the church, 00:35:47.340 --> 00:35:49.340 but you're praying that the Lord will help you 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:50.519 with this kind of stuff. 00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:52.480 And you're serving on me. 00:35:52.720 --> 00:35:52.980 Yeah. 00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:55.900 Yeah. 00:35:55.900 --> 00:36:00.200 Any other questions or comments? 00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:07.539 Come on, Lola. 00:36:07.639 --> 00:36:07.960 It's all right. 00:36:08.019 --> 00:36:08.280 It's fine. 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:16.680 Okay. 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:20.480 Right. 00:36:23.800 --> 00:36:24.240 Right. 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:27.900 Yeah. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:31.059 So to be, 00:36:31.619 --> 00:36:32.059 yeah, 00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:32.680 but I guess, 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:34.059 so you would have said 00:36:34.059 --> 00:36:36.119 that the central instruction in Philippians 00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:37.519 was about being a citizen of heaven 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:38.579 and not a citizen in this world. 00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:40.099 Yes. 00:36:40.160 --> 00:36:42.780 But the expression of that citizenship of heaven 00:36:42.780 --> 00:36:45.320 is my membership of a local church 00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:46.780 where I'm loving others 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:47.940 for their eternal well-being 00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:49.340 at cost to myself. 00:36:50.380 --> 00:36:50.519 Yeah. 00:36:53.139 --> 00:36:53.539 Yeah. 00:36:54.539 --> 00:36:55.300 So, yeah, go on. 00:36:55.900 --> 00:36:57.280 And it's still the mindset. 00:36:57.660 --> 00:36:57.940 Mm. 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:01.619 I just want to say thank you very much. 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:06.139 Right. 00:37:07.139 --> 00:37:08.320 So I don't know if they think 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:09.860 it's a wonderful attitude 00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:12.059 and the mindset 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:14.400 that we need to have. 00:37:15.800 --> 00:37:16.740 Because if we're modelling, 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:18.900 I can use the word wrongly, 00:37:19.059 --> 00:37:19.480 but normally, 00:37:19.700 --> 00:37:20.480 if we're modelling 00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:21.700 quite so far, 00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:22.220 we're taught 00:37:22.220 --> 00:37:24.180 to be like that part. 00:37:24.179 --> 00:37:25.179 Yeah. 00:37:25.179 --> 00:37:26.179 Mm. 00:37:26.179 --> 00:37:27.119 It is having that mindset 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:27.879 of community. 00:37:28.319 --> 00:37:28.599 Yeah. 00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:29.019 It's having a mindset 00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:31.259 of saying, 00:37:31.379 --> 00:37:32.480 you know, 00:37:33.219 --> 00:37:35.179 self-sacrificial living, 00:37:36.299 --> 00:37:37.139 which is hard. 00:37:37.279 --> 00:37:37.500 Yeah. 00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:38.099 Yeah. 00:37:38.099 --> 00:37:39.420 And so, 00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:41.219 and it is being 00:37:41.219 --> 00:37:42.260 a citizen of heaven 00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:43.659 because that's 00:37:43.659 --> 00:37:44.639 what Jesus 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:45.519 has done 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:46.039 to us 00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:47.940 and that's what 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:48.480 our father is. 00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:48.659 Yeah. 00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:50.260 So it's, you know, 00:37:50.300 --> 00:37:51.219 from the news all around that, 00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:52.239 but I found what you said 00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:52.900 was very helpful. 00:37:52.900 --> 00:37:53.159 Yeah. 00:37:55.380 --> 00:37:55.940 Yeah. 00:37:55.940 --> 00:37:56.019 Yeah. 00:37:57.619 --> 00:37:58.719 That's really helpful. 00:37:59.079 --> 00:37:59.119 I, 00:37:59.219 --> 00:37:59.519 I, 00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:01.800 someone illustrated like this. 00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:01.980 I, 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:03.519 I'll screw up the illustration. 00:38:03.820 --> 00:38:04.039 So, 00:38:04.680 --> 00:38:05.640 but basically saying, 00:38:05.860 --> 00:38:06.539 if you, 00:38:07.620 --> 00:38:08.880 if your job is, 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:09.320 is to, 00:38:09.560 --> 00:38:10.500 is to give out, 00:38:10.680 --> 00:38:10.860 I think, 00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:11.700 I'm trying to think what he's, 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:12.560 what was his illustration? 00:38:12.620 --> 00:38:13.060 It was like, 00:38:13.200 --> 00:38:15.460 it was Maltesers or something 00:38:15.460 --> 00:38:16.140 he was giving out. 00:38:16.220 --> 00:38:17.220 It was a wedding talk, 00:38:17.460 --> 00:38:17.720 isn't it? 00:38:18.440 --> 00:38:19.720 So he gave out, 00:38:19.860 --> 00:38:21.480 if your job is to give out Maltesers, 00:38:21.539 --> 00:38:22.580 you've got like a little store 00:38:22.580 --> 00:38:24.300 of five bags of Maltesers 00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:25.880 and your job is to give out Maltesers 00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:26.260 to other, 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:27.060 to other people. 00:38:27.160 --> 00:38:27.580 This is your, 00:38:27.700 --> 00:38:28.660 this is your service, 00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:29.000 right? 00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:30.320 You're always looking back 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:30.960 in your bowl and thinking, 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:31.099 well, 00:38:31.139 --> 00:38:32.659 I actually got very many here 00:38:32.659 --> 00:38:33.119 to give out, 00:38:33.240 --> 00:38:33.400 right? 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:34.360 But, 00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:35.619 and that, 00:38:35.619 --> 00:38:37.780 that feels like great sacrificial service, 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:38.119 doesn't it? 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:39.619 But actually what's the dynamic 00:38:39.619 --> 00:38:41.840 in Philippians is that behind you 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:44.059 giving out these bags of Maltesers 00:38:44.059 --> 00:38:45.159 is the Lord Jesus Christ 00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:47.460 pouring them in to you. 00:38:47.980 --> 00:38:48.599 And so that actually, 00:38:48.720 --> 00:38:49.019 of course, 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:50.820 that the fuel for our sacrificial service 00:38:50.820 --> 00:38:51.760 for others is the fact that 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:53.500 at the center of our Christian lives 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:54.699 is the fact that the Lord Jesus 00:38:54.699 --> 00:38:57.260 at great cost to himself 00:38:57.260 --> 00:38:58.519 has served us in the way 00:38:58.519 --> 00:38:59.179 that we really need. 00:38:59.240 --> 00:39:00.559 So he is pouring into us 00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:01.039 and we're just, 00:39:01.299 --> 00:39:02.880 we're just pouring out. 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:03.320 Yeah. 00:39:03.719 --> 00:39:03.960 Yeah. 00:39:03.960 --> 00:39:05.139 So we will never be empty. 00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:06.500 Yeah. 00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:09.519 Yeah. 00:39:12.940 --> 00:39:13.340 Great. 00:39:16.759 --> 00:39:17.500 Shall I pray? 00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:19.139 And then we'll sing as we please. 00:39:19.139 --> 00:39:24.500 Heavenly Father, 00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:27.359 we can't look at a book like this 00:39:27.359 --> 00:39:29.960 without rejoicing in all that Christ 00:39:29.960 --> 00:39:31.039 has done for us. 00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:34.639 We want to say with the Apostle Paul 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:36.000 that whatever was to our gain, 00:39:36.099 --> 00:39:37.779 we now consider loss for the sake 00:39:37.779 --> 00:39:39.099 of knowing Christ Jesus. 00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:43.980 We'd willingly lose all things, 00:39:44.339 --> 00:39:46.159 consider everything as garbage 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:47.579 that we may gain Christ, 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:49.119 being found in him, 00:39:49.279 --> 00:39:50.799 not with the righteousness of our own 00:39:50.799 --> 00:39:51.859 that comes through the good things 00:39:51.859 --> 00:39:52.379 that we do, 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.399 but that which comes through faith 00:39:54.399 --> 00:39:55.659 in Jesus Christ alone. 00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:57.179 Oh Lord, 00:39:57.179 --> 00:39:58.000 we want to be like this, 00:39:58.059 --> 00:39:59.019 not only individually, 00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:00.619 but also as a church. 00:40:01.420 --> 00:40:03.699 We want to know Christ, 00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:05.420 the power of his resurrection, 00:40:06.319 --> 00:40:08.159 participation even in his sufferings, 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:10.259 so that we may attain 00:40:10.259 --> 00:40:11.759 to the resurrection from the dead 00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:12.820 and on that day, 00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:14.560 be full of joy. 00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:15.960 Lord, 00:40:16.020 --> 00:40:16.900 we know that we've not already 00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:17.780 obtained this, 00:40:18.760 --> 00:40:20.860 so we press on, 00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:22.980 forgetting what is behind, 00:40:23.540 --> 00:40:24.660 straining to what is ahead. 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:27.060 Press on to the prize, 00:40:27.200 --> 00:40:28.480 the goal for which Christ 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:29.580 has called us heavenwards. 00:40:30.180 --> 00:40:30.360 Lord, 00:40:30.420 --> 00:40:30.740 help us, 00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:31.300 we ask. 00:40:31.700 --> 00:40:32.900 Be merciful to us, 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:33.360 we pray. 00:40:33.500 --> 00:40:34.280 In Jesus' name. 00:40:35.040 --> 00:40:35.400 Amen. 00:40:36.240 --> 00:40:36.640 Amen. 00:40:36.640 --> 00:40:36.820 Amen.