Good morning. Open up your Bibles to Philippians.
So obviously me preaching this morning was a backup for Nathan.
! So I'm sorry, college students.
This will be probably the third time you've heard me in the span of a week.
But when he asked me, I didn't really have too much hesitation.
And the reason is, at our elder meeting last month, or beginning of this month, excuse me,
we were all talking about how Philippians is such a warm and familiar letter.
And it feels like going back to an old friend when you open it.
We started this church a long time ago by preaching through Philippians.
And so it's a very familiar and warm text to go to.
So it wasn't like picking into some obscure text in Scripture.
It was like, oh, Philippians, yes, we got that.
And the joy that is a theme in Philippians, we thought would be especially applicable during our time, during our day,
when so much seems to be focused on the brokenness of the world.
And so much so that it can bring great sorrow to us.
And all of us that are in Christ know that he gives us a joy that is not of this world.
And we can have that by having Christ in our lives.
So we just started Philippians last week.
So if you're new on the scene, you haven't missed too much.
But we're only going to pick up in verse 3 today.
But let's just begin by backing up.
There's only two verses ahead of this.
Our text today is going to be 3 through 11.
But starting in chapter 1, we read,
I thank you, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are 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 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 Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart.
For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus.
And that is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.
With the 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.
Join me in prayer again.
Lord, we just submit this time to you this morning.
Pray that you would speak to us through your word and by your Holy Spirit.
Challenge, build up, have your way with us this morning.
May your word be exalted and may we leave here not just being hearers, but doers of your word.
We ask that in Christ's name.
Amen.
So, as we talked about, I love Philippians because there's a lot of cool history just in the idea of Philippi and the Roman Empire.
But I'll spare you all that this morning.
But you ought to go online and look up some of the cool pictures of Philippi.
It actually was named after Philip of Macedon, which is Alexander the Great's father.
And it was called the mini-Rome.
It really was like taking the city of Rome and just making a miniature version of it almost.
But it had an amphitheater, an acropolis.
It had a forum for shopping and all that.
So it was like a mini-Rome.
And it was settled by many Roman legionaries who were discharged from service after the Battle of Actium,
which is where Augustus Caesar defeated Anthony and baby cakes Cleopatra in 31 B.C.
So it was largely a Macedonian population and had a small Jewish population.
So that's the context.
But the occasion is Paul is writing from his imprisonment, as we see in our text, in Rome.
And Paul probably had much worse imprisonments than this one.
More than likely, according to the end of Acts, Acts 28, it was either some form of house arrest
or he had some form of a suitable jail cell because he was a Roman citizen.
He had his own quarters and he was allowed people could come and go as they pleased to talk to him.
And so he said that he shared the gospel unhindered at the end of the book of Acts.
So this is his first imprisonment in Rome, not his second one.
And even Paul mentions that he feels confident that he'll be released from this imprisonment.
He says that in chapter 1, verse 13, and then later on in chapter 4, verse 22.
But he was awaiting trial, hopefully, to be heard by the emperor,
which would have been Nero at the time, but more than likely.
He actually probably wasn't heard, but he was acquitted.
And I could go through all the arguments for why I believe that.
But we can go to the purpose of the letter.
And the letter has a lot of purposes, but I would say the mood or the tone of Paul's letter,
again, is like warm, affectionate, casual, informal.
And it was a type of ancient letter called a letter of friendship.
And he's celebrating his longstanding partnership with the Philippian believers.
And that word partnership in our text today is the Greek word koinonia.
I know a lot of us are aware of that word.
But it's a divinely intimate, holy fellowship, unity among believers with each other,
but also that unity that exists with Christ.
So our unity with Christ, when we become one with him, and by faith, we become one with each other.
We become a part of the same body as believers.
And we're participating together in the grace of our salvation in him.
So it's a heartfelt letter celebrating their common joy in Christ and God's genuine work in them as a church.
You know, in ministry, there's a lot of different people that you get concerned about,
that you always feel like you have to kind of watch.
And then there's those that are always just like refreshing when you're around them.
And they build you up when you're around them.
And you feel like you can just kind of let your guard down and just be yourself.
And that's kind of how Paul, I think, really felt with the Philippian church.
And so we can begin looking at verse 3, just a little introduction here.
There's going to be a specific focus of our time, but I don't want to skip over the rest of it.
But in verse 3, Paul says,
My God, I thank my God.
So his first phrase here is this personal intimate relationship with Christ.
And why is that important?
Luther said a long time ago that Christianity is a matter of personal pronouns.
And if we can't confess that truly, then something is wrong in our relationship with Christ.
So he is my God.
Remember when Jesus said, after he rose from the dead,
he said to the disciples,
I'm ascending to my Father and your Father,
my God and your God.
And so this is all about knowing Christ.
And we only belong to each other through Christ.
But I want to point out just briefly, by way of introduction,
three indications of genuine Christian love.
Maybe how do I even practice koinonia?
Three indications of genuine Christian love.
And the first one is,
Paul has them on his mind.
So if you see verse 3,
I thank God in all remembrance of you.
So we are to think about one another.
We're to ponder one another.
We're to bring each other to mind
and seek the good and welfare of one another as believers.
So we have a lot of different ways to remind ourselves
of all the people that we're surrounded with in the body.
But Paul has them on his mind.
So that's one way.
We have to think about them.
And sometimes we need help being reminded.
But he remembers them.
So that's the first one.
Secondly, he has them in his heart.
You can see that in verse 7.
It is right for me to feel this way about you
because I hold you in my heart.
Then verse 8.
For God is my witness how I yearn for you
with all the affection of Christ.
So Christ gives his people a deep, real, ardent love,
not just for him but for one another.
It's impossible to say I love Christ but I hate his church
or I dislike his church.
And we belong to one another.
And that love, hatred is evidence of blindness to the light.
But love is evidence that sight has been given to the blind.
Like we love one another because of what Christ has done for us.
Indeed, he said, all the world will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.
And it sounds kind of far-fetched.
Like we can't really reciprocate that kind of love.
It sounds impossible.
No, you can't reciprocate it on your own.
This is the miracle that comes from being born again by the Spirit of God.
He gives us his love so that we may love one another.
It's empowered by the Holy Spirit so that we can love as Christ has loved.
So, he has them on his mind.
He has them in his heart.
And then lastly and thirdly, he has them in his prayers.
So verse 4,
Always in every prayer of mine,
for you are making all my prayer with joy.
And then look at verse 9.
It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more
with all knowledge and discernment.
And so, we don't just think about one another.
We don't just have feelings for one another.
But that should lead us to prayer for one another.
And I know that it's a habit of many people,
and I'll put myself in that category,
to kind of pass by and sort of say,
Hey, I'll pray for you.
I'm going to pray for that.
And it's a verse in 1 Samuel 12.
The nation of Israel is pleading with Samuel as a prophet to intercede for them
on their behalf to God.
And Samuel says this,
and it's just convicting.
He says,
Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.
Let's connect that together.
So, it's a sinful response for us to not pray for one another,
to cease to pray for one another.
And, that's verse 1 Samuel 12, 23, if you want to look that up.
But, we have each other in our minds.
We're remembering each other in our hearts.
And He has them in His prayers.
So, those are three ways that we can practice genuine Christian love and fellowship among one another.
But, the main focus of the message today, I wanted to get particularly to verse 6.
And, because I know that many of us are very tired and weary a lot of the time.
Even though we've been saved by God, and we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus,
the fullness of that salvation still isn't fully realized.
And, even as followers of Christ, we face the devastating effects of sin in our lives,
and we see it in the world around us.
We hear Christ calling us to follow Him, to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross and follow Him,
and to love Him, love our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
But, somehow, we just never arise to the totality of that in this life.
And, we lose sight of the gospel promises.
It's easy for us to get weighed down by our own sin and the brokenness in the world around us.
And, a lot of us, including myself to some degree,
have a tendency to focus more on our lacking imperfections,
the things that the remaining sin in our lives,
rather than rejoice at what God has done.
And, so, we fall into a lot of the same sins, temptations, and it grieves us.
We kind of cry out, how long, O Lord, must we endure this?
And, I'm sure all of us have had seasons like that,
where we just wonder, are we going to make it?
Because it's so tiring.
I'm so overwhelmed.
I mean, I get overwhelmed by looking in the brokenness in the world,
and being like, I'm just one guy.
There's nothing I can really do to help.
And, weariness of ministry.
And, due to my own sin and shortcomings, insufficiencies,
I can feel just helpless to even continue on the mission.
And, just beg Christ to come back and end it.
There's even times, you know, that I've sympathized a little bit with Elijah,
when he said, Lord, take my life from me, because I'm no better than my father's.
I've felt that way before.
Where he said, I'm not going to take my own life,
but Lord, if you would take it, I would appreciate it.
We've all been there, or some of us have been there to that point.
And, we just feel like we can't go on, we won't survive.
But, God is faithful to us.
And, I wanted to read this one short quote to you.
But, a Puritan writer, John Flavel,
this is something that has meant a lot to me over the years, this statement.
He says,
And, the main focus of the message today is to look at three different points
to help Paul's joy relate to us,
to have the same joy he had for our weary souls.
And, it's a focus on God's persevering work in our salvation.
We, in Christ, are kept by God's power.
We will persevere.
We will continue to fight on,
even until the end, until we die,
and go home to be the Lord until Christ returns.
He's going to preserve us, and keep us.
And, that gives us strength to keep going.
And, so, we're going to talk about this in terms of tenses,
like past, present, future.
But, number one,
God started a good work in us.
That's the past tense.
So, look at verse 5.
He says,
Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
And then look at verse 6.
For I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work.
So, from the first day,
when he started the good work,
is the past tense.
Now, I want you to think,
when you came to know the Lord,
what happened?
What were the events leading up to that?
Was it a season of time,
or was it more of a moment?
And, what happened?
Did we just all of a sudden wise up,
and decided to turn over a new leaf,
and live better lives,
and be good Christians,
and, you know,
be moral people?
The truth is, no.
Scripture does not teach that
about our former state
before we were in Christ.
It says that
we were dead in our trespasses and sin.
It says that we were under
the power and influence
of Satan.
It says that we followed
the strong current of this world,
and that we were slaves
to the fallen passions of our flesh,
being defiant and disobedient to God.
It's a situation that's helpless.
Nothing we could even do about it.
But this is all in Ephesians 2.
But, Ephesians 2, verse 4,
there's a change.
It talks about our lost state.
But then it says,
but God, being rich,
and mercy,
because of the great love
with which He loved us,
not that we loved Him,
that He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ.
By grace, you have been saved.
So our spiritual life began
by God's sovereign initiating grace.
In 1 John,
this is mentioned a lot,
1 John 4, verse 10,
and this is love,
not that we had loved God,
but that He had loved us
and sent His Son
to be a propitiation
for our sins.
And in verse 19 of chapter 4,
we love because He first loved us.
So if you look back in your life,
you'll see God working
in His providence
through different people,
different circumstances
to bring you to faith.
You'll see Him
underneath everything
going on.
And He wasn't
just kind of standing idly by.
He was hunting you down.
He was pursuing you.
And we should be grateful for that
because of His great mercy
for which He loved us.
So God started a good work,
past tense.
Second point,
God is continuing
a good work in us.
So, present tense.
Look at verse 5.
Because of your partnership
in the gospel
from the first day until now.
Verse 7.
It is right for me
to feel this way about you
because I hold you in my heart
for we are all
partakers
with me of grace.
Look at verse 11.
They would be filled
with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through
Jesus Christ.
So He's pointing out
present evidences
of grace in them.
Like God is working
in you right now.
We are actively participating
in the grace of God
together.
So, firstly,
He points out
their financial support
that they gave Him.
And to advance the gospel,
the partnership
is synonymous
with almsgiving
and contributions,
heartfelt,
sympathetic cooperation.
And it had been
a while since
their last donation.
I think it might have
been 10 years.
But they finally,
but only because
they lacked the opportunity
to help Paul financially.
But they found a way
and they gave to him.
They also sent
a papertitis
to deliver the money
to Paul
and to care for him
personally.
because being in prison,
as I guess today too,
is a shameful thing
in the ancient world.
But they wanted
to stand by him
and support him
regardless of that shame.
They really wanted
to care for his well-being.
And they wanted
to support Paul
in his defense
and confirmation
of the gospel
where he was declaring
the good news,
seeking to persuade others,
pleading with others
to see the salvation
that's in Christ.
So he expressed that
presently active,
partakers of Christ.
So,
all resorting
to the glory
and praise of God.
So flip over
to chapter 2
really quickly.
Philippians 2.
I just want to read
a couple verses here.
It isn't just,
I used to have
this wrong mentality
a lot of my life
that was
God started this,
God did his part.
He saved you.
Now you've got to do your part.
Go.
And,
like this sort of cooperation
where I'm going to
finish the job.
And Paul's words
in Galatians is,
are you foolish?
Have you,
now having begun
by the Spirit,
are you now being
perfected by the flesh?
And that was convicting.
But in
Philippians 2,
verse 12,
it says,
therefore,
my beloved,
as you have
always obeyed,
so now,
not only in my presence,
but much more
in my absence,
work out your salvation
with fear and tripling.
So,
verse 13,
look at the present tense,
for it is God
who works in you,
both to will
and to work
for his good pleasure.
So not
save yourself,
justify yourself,
adopt yourself,
make yourself
acceptable
to God,
but
bring to completion,
carry out,
in light of what God
has done in you,
continue to press
into that,
good old charismatic work,
press into that,
in the fullness
of who you actually are
in Christ.
He has done this work
in you.
That's who you are.
You've been made
a new creation.
You've been given
a new identity.
It's who you are,
so now be who you are.
Don't,
God has done the work,
right?
And so,
it's this mystery
of sanctification
where it's our responsibility
to work,
labor,
toil,
struggle,
but somehow,
God's,
it's not by our own strength,
but God's strength
that works powerfully
within us.
Write down
Colossians 1,
29 for that.
But,
what fuels us
is the grace of God.
And,
there was a pastor,
I really respect
the good old
Presbyterian brother,
but he also likes history,
so that's how I got
connected to him.
His name is Harry Reader.
This old guy.
I don't know how old
he is now.
He must be close to 80.
But,
he wrote
this about,
like,
the active work
of God
in our lives.
He says,
when I was 16,
my father bought me
a car
at an auction
for $75.
It was a pink
57 Ford,
which dad insisted
was coral.
I couldn't drive
a pink car
to school.
I then heard
the words that,
in the not too distant future,
my children would say,
son,
a poor ride
is better
than a proud walk.
He just said,
that's probably
in the Bible somewhere,
a poor ride
is better
than a proud walk.
So then he says,
then dad opened
the hood
and to my surprise,
underneath
was a 390 engine
with two
four-barrel
carburetors.
The car
had been
a South Carolina
state interceptor,
a highway patrol car.
Nothing
had more power
under the hood.
Space
and conviction
prevents me
from detailing
all the surprise
that I gave
to Corvettes
on the highway
because he would
pull up beside him
and rev his engine
and he would
just like
beat him.
So he said,
my pink
57 Ford
didn't really
look like much
on the outside
but there was
power under
the hood.
And
same way,
we don't look
like a lot
at all
on the outside
but because
of the work
of Christ
in us,
the regenerating
power of his
spirit,
there is power
under the hood.
thirdly
and lastly,
so
the past,
present,
future
is God
will finish
the good work
in us.
Future tense.
Verse 6,
I am sure
of this,
I am confident
of this,
I am certain
that he
who began
a good work
in you
will bring it
to completion
as a day
of Christ Jesus.
so,
it isn't just
God started it
and now he's
backing away,
he's going to
finish it,
he's confident,
he is sure
of this
and
we have a
promise given
to us
as believers
in Christ
even though
we suffer
greatly in
this life.
Jesus said
again,
familiar verse
John 10,
my sheep
hear my voice,
I know them
and they follow
me.
I give them
eternal life
and they will
never perish
and no one
will snatch
them out of
my hand.
My father
who has given
them to me
is greater
than all
and no one
is able
to snatch
them out
of my father's
hand.
I and the
father are
one.
Imagine you
got a chance
to go on
a dream
vacation,
you saved
for it,
you planned
on it,
and you
finally flew
to your
desired
destination
and
the airport
was far
away from
where you
wanted to
go and
a taxi
came up
and said
hey,
ten bucks
to get
to your
destination
and what
if one
of you
just said
that's
absurd,
I'm not
paying
ten dollars
to get
to go
there
and your
spouse,
probably your
wife would
say that's
crazy,
we've come
all this
way,
ten more
dollars is
no big
deal to
get where
we want
to go,
right?
very
similarly,
do you
really
think
that
God
the
Father
would
watch
his
son
go
through
what
he
went
through
for no
reason?
Do you
really
think
that
it was
to bring
about
some
potential
I hope
this will
work?
Is the
son saying
I died
for these
people,
but the
father saying
well I
just hope
that some
of them
take
advantage
of it.
None of
us would
allow a
loved one
to suffer
in vain,
especially
the way
that Christ
did.
Christ
is going
to see
the work
through.
His blood
will not
be shed
in vain.
He's going
to continue
the good
work that
he started
in us.
God
has a
great
desire
to finish
what he
started.
If you
go to a
lot of
different
shops
throughout the
world,
like a
wood shop
for example,
you'll find
some cool
pieces of
furniture,
chairs,
shelves,
you might
find some
things laying
there that
are unfinished.
I've got
several of
those.
And it's
either because
they lacked
the desire
to finish,
they ran
out of
resources,
and so
they didn't
get to
finish the
job.
But God
is not
the same
way.
God
doesn't
lack
the ability
or the
desire to
finish
what he
started.
And he
will finish
it.
So,
that's
something for
us to
take comfort
in.
He's going
to accomplish
it.
Look at,
this is in
closing,
look at
Psalm 138.
Psalm 138,
verse 6.
Psalm 138,
verse 6.
For though the
Lord is
high,
he regards
the lowly,
but the
haughty he
knows from
afar.
And though I
walk in the
midst of
trouble,
you preserve
my life.
See the
connections?
You stretch
out your
hand against
the wrath
of my
enemies,
and your
right hand
delivers me.
Mark this,
the Lord
will fulfill
his purpose
for me.
Your
steadfast love,
O Lord,
endures forever.
Do not
forsake the
work of
your hands.
Join me in
prayer.
Do not
not