PHILIPPIANS 1-4 REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 1-4 Rejoice In The Lord Always

And we will be looking at Philippians chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are the chapters that we read this week as we work our way through the Bible in three years. And we will be looking at Philippians chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are the chapters that we read this week as we work our way through the Bible in three years.

The book of Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul. Much like Ephesians, it was written while he was in prison around 62 AD. And he was there, we saw at the end of the book of Acts, he was there in Rome.

in a prison, which was really a house that he was allowed to rent until he appeared before Caesar to state his case. And so during that time, he wrote several letters, Ephesians, we saw last week, Philippians, we're looking at tonight, we'll be reading through Colossians this coming week, which is another letter that Paul wrote during this time.

And then we'll see Philemon in a few more weeks. And so he's writing there from prison to the church of Philippi. And this was a church that he had established back in Acts chapter 16. And spent some time there ministered to the Philippians there. And then now you know several years later he's writing to them this encouragement. The purpose of this letter is threefold. Number one to thank them for their gift.

Apparently when they heard that Paul was there in prison, they sent a financial aid to him to be able to help support him and probably help him pay for that house that he rented for those two years at the end of the book of Acts.

He also wrote them to exhort them to be humbly united. There was some division issues within the church. There was some conflict that was going on. And so he was encouraging them to humble themselves and be united together. And then also to commend Timothy and Epaphroditus to them.

And so he was writing to them about Epaphroditus was a guy from there that they sent to Paul and he sent back. And then Timothy, of course, was his right-hand man who he was going to be sending to them shortly. Now, if we look at the timeline of Paul's letters, again, this is around 62 AD during Acts chapter 28 while Paul is imprisoned in Rome. And he wrote these several different letters to these various churches during that time.

Well, finally, before we get into the chapters this evening, we have the geography of Philippians. Again, Paul was in prison in Rome.

And then he sent Epaphroditus with this letter to Philippi. And he was the one who delivered it to him. Now you might remember Philippi from Acts chapter 16. This is where he first met up with Lydia. Remember there was a, he got the vision, a man calling him over to Macedonia. After he tried to go into Asia, he tried to go into Bithynia. And the Holy Spirit said no. And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

And then the Lord gave him a vision of the man calling him over to Macedonia. And Paul went there and found Lydia and some other ladies praying by the river. This is all in Acts chapter 16. This is happening in Philippi. And then shortly after that, Paul was imprisoned, remember? And then as he and Silas were singing, there was an earthquake and the

the prison doors were, you know, burst open and all the chains were loosed and, and yet, uh, they didn't leave. And so when the Philippian jailer was about to kill himself, Paul said, don't do it. And the Philippian jailer said, what must I do to be saved? And so that was the beginning of this church in Philippi, uh,

Philippians chapter 1.

We'll get started in verse 18 as the key verse. It says,

Paul begins as usual in verses 1 and 2, introducing himself and addressing the saints that are in Philippi. He's writing to the saints or the believers who are there in the church of Philippi. And I have a connection issue here. Let's see if I can get this back. Everybody's looking at the screen like something's wrong. Yeah, almost there. Three, two, one. Here we go. All right.

So verses 1 and 2 here, Paul is writing to the saints in Philippi. And then in verses 3 through 11, he lets them know that he's always praying for them. Says this in most of his letters. And again, we learn from this that Paul had a pretty active prayer life, a long prayer list as he was praying for these different saints all over the world that he had ministered to.

And as we read these things, we got to understand that Paul wasn't just saying these things. You know, sometimes in the parking lot, someone hits you up and says, oh, hey, by the way, I have this situation, pray for me. And you say, okay, and you go on your way and you forget about it. And then you never pray for that person. That's not what Paul was saying. He wasn't just saying like, hey, you know, I pray for you, but then he actually wasn't.

But Paul really spent some time on his knees with the Father. And he was lifting up. And these people were dear to him. The places that he ministered to, the people that he ministered to, they were dear to his heart. And so he lets them know, I always pray for you. In verse 8, he says, I greatly long for you. And so there's this connection that Paul has with the Philippians and a great love for them.

And as he's praying for them, verse 6 is one of those classic verses that we often quote. Paul says,

And so Paul says, here's something I'm confident in. And I'm praying for you, not because I'm skeptical, not because I'm doubtful, but I'm praying for you because I'm confident. I'm confident that God is going to finish the work that he began in you. And I want to be part of that. And so I'm praying for you. I'm agreeing with God and joining with him in bringing you to completion by lifting you up in prayer.

There in verses 9, 10, and 11, it records his prayer, some of the things that he would pray for them. In verse 9, he tells us that he prayed that their love would abound more and more.

Now if you want some good insight, maybe you need to have some fresh life in your prayer time, I would encourage you to take note of these things and maybe use these points from Paul's prayer to pray for the people that are in your life this week. And so first, that your love may abound more and more. Paul prayed that they would grow in their love. Then in verse 10 he said, I pray that you would approve the things that are excellent.

that they would be able to understand the things that are really good, the things that are of God, and that they would approve those things. And sometimes we disapprove of the things that are excellent because we don't recognize that they're excellent. We don't recognize what God is doing. And so he's praying that they would approve the things that are excellent. Then also in verse 10, he prays that they would be sincere or genuine and without offense.

Now these are really good things to pray for Christians. Because there is the potential for us as believers to be insincere. To be, well, not so genuine in...

All things, really, in our relationship with the Lord, in our relationship with one another, that we can start to fake it pretty easily and not be genuine. And so the time of worship is not really worshipful. I mean, we look like we're worshiping. We're putting on the show to pretend like we're worshiping, but there's not actual worship happening. Or we spend time in devotions and

And it's just not genuine. We're not really connecting with God. We're just, you know, going through our routine to fulfill, you know, these requirements that have been established. And there's a great need for us to be genuine, to be really reading and hearing from God and speaking and spending time with Him, connecting with Him, connecting with one another. That genuineness is a great necessity for us as believers. But then also without offense.

And that's another thing that can happen for us as believers. That, you know, well, as human beings, we have a tendency to rub each other the wrong way and offend each other and have those kinds of things in our lives that, well, would cause problems for others. And so this prayer for them to be genuine or sincere and without offense is a great one. And then finally in verse 11, he prays that they would be filled with the fruits of righteousness. Right?

That their lives would be filled with righteousness. Filled with the results of righteousness. That their lives would be abundant and overflow with the result of righteousness. And so not just have a little, you know, a little bit here, you know, a little bit of results, a little bit of fruit. But that they would be filled with the fruits of righteousness. That they would be overwhelmed by, you know, the results of what it means to be right with God and to walk with Him.

And so these are some great things for us to pray as we lift up those that we love. Well then in verses 12 through 18, Paul says, I rejoice that Christ is preached. He says in verse 12, But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. And you can see here that Paul's explaining to them that

Hey guys, I know you're concerned because I'm in prison. Now, if you remember back to the time when we were in the book of Acts,

It wasn't just that Paul spent several years in Rome in prison, but remember before that he was in Caesarea in prison for I think it was a year or two. And so it's been a long time that this has been going on. Several years, you know, it's been happening where he was taken captive in Jerusalem there at the temple, transferred to Caesarea for a while, then now transferred to Rome and all kinds of

things took place in between. And so the Philippians are concerned. They're kind of like bummed out. They're worried about, wow, Paul's over there and he's been in prison for such a long time. And we wish he wasn't. We wish he was set free. And Paul's writing to let them know, listen, I want you to know that this is actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

It's kind of amazing to think about, right? Because Paul the Apostle, I mean, he was the original missionary, right? I mean, he went all over the known world at that time and ministered the gospel. And you would think that chaining him up in a cell would restrict that. The gospel wouldn't go as far because Paul wasn't free to travel. But Paul says, no, here's what you need to understand. Even though I'm chained or in this cell or constricted to this home...

It's actually turned out for the furtherance. The gospel has gone farther as a result of my imprisonment.

So much so, he says in verse 13, that the whole palace guard recognizes that I'm here in chains because of Jesus Christ. Not only that, he says in verse 14, but others have been emboldened now to speak the word. Others have been proclaiming the gospel as a result of me being imprisoned.

Now he goes on in verse 15 to say, well, some of those who are preaching, they were bold to preach. And so now they're preaching. Some of them do it from envy and strife and some from goodwill. And so some of the motivations are in question here. Some of the, you know, the reasons why people are bolden to preach now that Paul's in prison, they're not the best of motivations.

But Paul concludes in verse 18. He says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

And we have such a great example in the Apostle Paul here. As he just settles in his heart, I'm not going to worry about those things I can't control. Those people who are doing whatever they want to do. Their motivations are not right. They're preaching the gospel though. And so I'm just going to rejoice. Even though I would disagree with how they do it or why they do it. I'm just going to rejoice that the gospel, that Jesus Christ is preaching.

And so Paul determines, I'm going to rejoice. And I want you Philippians to know, I'm okay with this. God is using this to further the gospel and I'm going to rejoice in that. Even though I'm imprisoned, I rejoice. And this...

theme of rejoicing you see throughout the book of Philippians. Over 10 times you see rejoice throughout the different chapters we'll be looking at this evening. Joy another four times. And so it's a common theme. Paul is talking with great joy as he writes to the Philippians.

And he models for us the way to have joy. You can break it up into an acronym, right? J-O-Y. So you put Jesus, then others, and then yourself.

And then you have joy. And when you have those right priorities, Jesus first, others second, and yourself third, when that is your heart, when those are your priorities, well, then you have joy. And you see that with the Apostle Paul. He says, I'm in prison, I'm in chains, but

But Jesus Christ is being magnified and so I have joy. I can rejoice in that because Jesus is being glorified. And so he's focused on Jesus all throughout this letter. He refers to Jesus Christ 10 times, Christ Jesus another 10 times, Christ 16 times, and the Lord another 15 times. I mean, there's no wonder there's so much joy in the book of Philippians because Paul is focused on Jesus.

And when you're focused on Jesus, you're going to have joy. And you can also think about the opposite of that. If you don't have a whole lot of joy, then you're not focusing on Jesus. And so it's a good reminder. Paul's a great example for us as we read his encouragement to the Philippians to put Jesus first in our lives. And to be mostly concerned that he's lifted up and glorified, that he is preached, that

That his name is known more than our name, more than that we get recognized for what we deserve or whatever we think that we deserve. But that Jesus gets what he deserves, that he gets the glory for what he has done. Well, going on in verses 19 through 26, he says, I desire to be with Christ, but to remain is more needful for you.

He says in verse 21, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I live, I'm going to be living for Christ and glorifying Christ. And I'm going to continue to promote Jesus Christ. And if I die, Paul says, well, that's gain. So don't worry about me. Either way, if I live or die, it's good. It's gain if I die. If I live, well, then Christ is going to be preached and promoted.

He says in verse 23, I am hard pressed between the two. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

Paul here is, I think, kind of feeling the effects of his many years on the road, many years as a missionary, many years working on tents and preaching the gospel and being stoned and traveling such far distances. I mean, he's there in prison. He's been in prison now for several years.

And he's thinking, you know, to die, to go to be with the Lord, that would be pretty sweet. That's a great thing to look forward to. And I'm not so upset if that's what God wants to do as a result of my imprisonment in Rome. But he also says, nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

He's essentially saying, you know, I think God still has stuff for me to do. And so he's going to keep me here a little bit longer because, well, he wants to use me in your life and he wants to use me to continue his work. And indeed, we know from the history of the church or church history that Paul is released from the Roman prison at this time. And then later on, he's taken captive again and then put to death. But

He remains for a little bit longer. He says it's more needful for you. But yeah, it would be really awesome to just go and to be with the Lord.

I think you and I can relate, right? We look forward to the rapture of the church. But, you know, there's still things like, well, to be here, there's some things we could do. There's some things we could accomplish. There's some things we could do for the Lord. There's some movies we could watch and fun times we could experience. Some people want to get married before the rapture happens. You know, those kinds of things. And so there's that balance between them. And that's what Paul is expressing here. You know, it's more needful for me to be here. But yeah, hey, if this results in my death,

To die is gain. I'll be with the Lord and that'll be even better. Well then in verses 27 through 30, Paul tells them to let their conduct be worthy of the gospel. Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, he says. Now this is

something really important for us so he's he's been sharing about himself and now he points to them he says okay guys now this is what i'm doing and and i'm glad i'm rejoicing that the gospel is being preached now what i want you guys to do is live your lives according to the gospel that live lives that match with the gospel message

And you'll notice in these verses that Paul's especially talking about times of suffering. In verse 29 he says, "...for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake." So live according to the gospel or let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, especially in times of suffering.

This is when your true colors get to shine. This is when your testimony gets to shine most brightly. And so make sure that in the times of suffering, that your conduct is worthy of the gospel. That your conduct demonstrates, that your life demonstrates that you believe the gospel message. That you have the eternal perspective. And the question for us to consider is, how well do I handle suffering?

How well do I handle it? The way that I handle problems and issues and struggles in my life, is it worthy of the gospel? Does it reflect the realities that the gospel presents? The realities of salvation? The realities of forgiveness? The realities of eternity? Do my actions, do my attitudes reflect

the gospel message, especially in the midst of suffering. And so Paul says, that's what you guys need to work on. Make sure that you keep yourselves in a place where your conduct is worthy of the gospel, even in the midst of suffering. Well, now moving on into chapter 2, verse 8 is the key verse.

It says, And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. In verses 1 through 4, Paul says, Fulfill my joy by being like-minded.

fulfill my joy Philippians I'm rejoicing that Christ is being preached and you get to also be a participant in my joy so so here's what I want you to do help me be more joyful fulfill my joy how by being like-minded now how do you be like-minded what do you have to do in order to be like-minded to

Or what do we have to do as a church to be like-minded? Well, like, it sounds good, right? Be like-minded. But what do you actually do to make that happen? How do you be like-minded? Well, he tells us in verse 3. He says,

So he tells us to be like-minded and then he tells us how to do it. Here's how you and I as believers gathered together here at this church can be like-minded if we esteem others better than ourselves. So the idea is I care for you, you care for me, and as we do that we become like-minded. So it's not that

We have to all figure out and then take a vote. And then, okay, yeah, it's a democracy, right? So we all vote and then now we're like-minded. No, no, the idea is consider others. Care for others. Don't do things for your own sake, for your own selfish ambitions and reasons. But do things because you care for other people. And as I care for you and you care for me and we care for each other, we become like

Like-minded. And this applies here within the church, but also, you know, if you're having some issues at home and you need to be that like-mindedness in the home, listen, this applies. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Think about the others. Put others first. Again, how do you have joy? First Jesus, then others, then yourself. And if you want to have joy fulfilled, this is the formula. This is the model to put others first. And then we will be like-minded. Well, then in verses 5 through 11, he elaborates further. He says, "...let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."

So be like-minded by putting others first. And if you still don't understand that, think about Jesus and put on his mind. If we all put on the mind of Jesus, we'll be like-minded, right? Because we'll have the mind of Jesus. And so think about how Jesus humbled himself. Paul says he's equal to God. Equality with God, that wasn't robbery. He wasn't proclaiming to have equality with God when he really didn't.

He is equal to God. He is God. And yet, he humbled himself. In verse 8 it says, "...and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

And so Jesus is equal to God. He is God. And yet he humbled himself and became a man. And then he humbled himself yet further and became obedient to the point of death, even humbled yet further to the death of the cross, which was the most shameful death that could be had at that time. And so he humbled himself.

Far greater than you and I can really grasp hold of. Because being God, he humbled himself to the lowest possible place in humanity. Now, this is important to understand because there's a spiritual law that cannot be changed. There's a law in place that cannot be changed that is true all the time, 100% without exception. And that is...

If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled. And if you humble yourself, you will be exalted. Jesus declared this in Luke chapter 14 verse 11. He says, whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. That's the law. Can't be changed. This is the way that God works. Humility brings exaltation, but self-exaltation brings a great humbling. Now think about what Jesus did.

He, being in glory, the right hand of the Father, in eternity with the Father, in glory, humbled himself to the lowest possible place in humanity. He humbled himself to this great degree. So then, according to this spiritual law, he is exalted then to the greatest degree.

And that's why he says in verse 9, Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. Because Jesus humbled himself to that degree, he's been exalted back to, well, the glory that once was his. Where he belongs, at the right hand of the Father. Being equal with God. He has the name above every name because he humbled himself to this great degree.

Well then in verses 12 through 18, he says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for God works in you. Verse 12 and 13 go hand in hand and you get to see he has his part, you have your part.

Not because he's incapable of more, but because he's given you the opportunity to participate in the work that he's doing in your life. And so in verse 12, he says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And then verse 13, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

And so God wants to do a great work in your life. Philippians 1.6, being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ, right? But he also invites you and asks you to participate in that. Engage with him, work with him, that he would be able to do the work in you that he desires to do.

And so we get to see both sides here in verse 12 and 13. God does his part and he invites you to participate in the work that he wants to do in your life. Well then in verses 19 through 24, Paul says, I hope to send Timothy to you. So I want to send Timothy to you. I know you guys are going through some things, but I'm waiting to see how things go here. And then I'm planning to send Timothy here.

But the reason why he wants to send Timothy, Paul declares in verse 20, he says, For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Paul says, okay, you guys, you know how you guys are having some trouble being like-minded, Philippians? And there's some of those issues there. You're not alone, Paul's saying. I have these same issues too. I have guys along with me

But no one is like-minded with me like Timothy is. No one is on the same page with me like Timothy is. I mean, he's right there with me. And what that means is, if I send Timothy to you, I know that he will sincerely care for your state. That he's not going to put himself first, but he's going to put Jesus first and you first.

And he's going to have joy because Jesus is first and he's going to be meeting your needs. He's focused on others and himself is last. But if I send others, I can't trust that their priorities are going to be right. I can't trust that they're sincerely going to care for your state. And so I want to send Timothy to you because I can trust him. I know he's going to really take care of you. He's going to really love you. He's going to really look out for your best interest.

And that's a great exhortation for all of us. That we would be men like Timothy. That, well, the Lord could send. That he could send us to people because he knows we're really going to care for their condition, for their state. Not that we're there to try to get something for ourselves. Not that we're, you know, there if it's convenient or if it, you know, meets our needs. But really that we would care for others. That we would have a heart for people who

So that God could send us. And that's what Timothy had. Well then in verses 25 through 30. Paul says Epaphroditus was longing for you.

Now again, Epaphroditus was from Philippi and he was spending some time with Paul. And Paul says, I'm sending him back to you. They had heard about Epaphroditus, that he was sick and that he almost died. And Paul said, yeah, that's right, he did. He almost died, you know, in the pursuit of the gospel. And so honor him. In verse 29 he says, receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such men in esteem.

Because for the work of Christ, he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service towards me. He did his best. He put Jesus first, even at the disregard of his own life, to fulfill your service, to do what you called him to do, to come and to minister to me. And so receive him, esteem him. He says, hold such men in esteem as they put the Lord first. Honor them.

Bless them and pay attention to those who will have that kind of heart, have that kind of condition, who will put Jesus first in their lives and not regard their own selves.

Well now chapter 3 of Philippians, Paul continues on in verse 12. He says, Philippians chapter 3 has some powerful truths. Great things to meditate on.

He starts out in verses 1 through 7 and he says, Now you might remember in the book of Galatians how Paul was dealing with the legalism that had gone in after Paul had left. They were teaching there in the region of Galatia that

They needed to follow the law and that started with being circumcised and then they needed to keep Moses' commandments and they tried to bring the law to add on to the gospel message. Well, that didn't only happen in Galatia. That was a common thread. And so Paul here is reminding them about this danger and warning them against it.

He's warned them about it before. In verse 1 he says, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. And I think verse 1 is really a good verse for us to consider for our own selves and for our expectations whenever we are hearing the word of God. Paul says, For me to write the same things to you is not tedious,

Now sometimes as a teacher, let me just tell you, I have to read this and remind myself that

I need to say the same things sometimes. Sometimes there needs to be lots of repetition, not just in one message, but sometimes there needs to be lots of repetition over several weeks. Or sometimes, yeah, we covered that last year, but this year we need to cover that again. We need to make these same statements and make these same declarations because it's safe. It's a necessity for us

to be reminded of essential truths. Sometimes we get caught up in looking for like some extra special secret. You know, it's like we're just looking for that one thing that's going to solve all of our problems. Like, isn't there a pill I can take

That will keep my weight the super ideal, but I can do whatever I want and I never have to exercise and I can eat as much as I want. Isn't there a pill like that? Can't I just take, like, we're just, in the spiritual sense, we're always looking for that. Well, can't I just, you know, live this way and then still have God bless me and have the abundant Christian life, but not have to do any of the work? Isn't that possible? Many times we're looking for some secret, right?

Some escape, you know. We have these huge issues in our life. Like, isn't there just some button you can push where these things will just go away? Can't you just quote me a verse and then boom, all my problems vanish? We wish it were so. Most of our issues do not come from lack of knowledge, but it comes from lack of application. We got to put those things that we know to work. And so many times we forget the basics, the essential truths. And so Paul says, look,

I know you've heard about this. I know I've warned you before to guard against legalism, but I need to remind you again. It's not tedious for me, Paul says, but it's necessary. It's good for you. It's safe for you so that you would protect your heart against those things. Pastor Greg Laurie, I've heard him say many times, if it's new, it's not true. And if it's true, it's not new.

And we got to catch ourselves when we find ourselves on that chase. It's like after some like, you know, new secret thing, you know, some new revelation, some new thing that's just going to like fix my life. You know what we really need is to practice the old, to practice the things that we do know. There are not shortcuts to holiness anywhere.

Even though we wish there were. There are not shortcuts to godliness. There are not shortcuts to spiritual maturity. We got to put in the work. We got to do the work. Spend time with God. And consistently and be diligent in our time. In our devotions. In our time in prayer. In our time in fellowship. In our time serving one another. There needs to be that consistency. And so it's not tedious. And I'll remind you of those things later.

many, many times in the years to come because it's what we need. We need to be told the same things, to be reminded. And so he says in verse 2, beware of dogs and evil workers. And again, he's warning them against the legalism that is creeping in constantly. The false teachers who come in and say, you must be circumcised. And Paul says, no, we are the circumcision. We who've believed in Jesus, we worship God in the Spirit.

circumcision is the circumcision of the heart it's spiritual it's achieved by faith it's not physical it's not the law well going on in verses 8 through 11 he says i count all things loss for the knowledge of christ talking about the law talking about you know that that legalistic framework that he came out of he says i count all of that loss that didn't help me in a relationship with god

That was all a loss. I wasted a lot of time trying to keep a lot of rituals and things that didn't actually help me draw near to God. And so instead, Paul says, I'm looking to be found in Christ with his righteousness by faith. Instead of trying to come to God with my righteousness by all this great legalistic works that I've come up with,

No, I'm seeking to be found in Christ with His righteousness by faith. And Paul says, instead of focusing on legalism to try to do these things to be pleasing to God, he says, I'm focusing on getting to know Him. In verse 10, he says, that I may know Him, that I may know His power, the power of resurrection, that I may know the fellowship of His suffering. He's focused on knowing Jesus.

In verse 11, he says, I'm focused on attaining to the resurrection. I want to make sure I make it to the end. That's what I'm focused on. Pressing forward. That's what he goes on to say in verses 12 through 16. I press toward the upward call of God in Christ. And so he tells the Philippians some pretty amazing things. In verse 12, he says, not that I've already attained.

He's saying, my focus is that I may know the Lord, His power, His suffering, that I may attain to the resurrection. And guys, I want you to know, I don't say that I've attained. I don't say that I've arrived or have been perfected. Paul says, I'm not perfect. I'm not complete. The work in me is not done yet. Now, this is so important for us as believers because it's so easy for us to get caught up in this complacency where we're

Even though we know better than to say that we have arrived, we behave in a certain way because we kind of feel like, you know, I've reached far enough. I mean, I can look back at my old life and I can think, yeah, I'm glad I'm not doing those things anymore. Look what God's delivered me from. Yeah, I'm not living that way anymore. I've been delivered from that sin. I've broken those habits and my life's pretty good right now.

And there's a tendency for us to just kind of be, okay, I can coast now. I mean, like, we're good. But Paul says, listen, I don't count myself to have attained. I don't just sit back and relax and think, well, hey, look, I used to be persecuting the church. Now I'm preaching the gospel. That's good enough. No need to grow anymore. I don't need to be so diligent in my relationship with God. I don't have to be so passionate about spending time with Him and pursuing Him and getting to know Him. I already know Him well enough.

I already read those stories before in the Bible. You know, I read those things. I'm familiar with those passages. I've heard those teachings. I've served in that way. You know, it's, I'm pretty good, you know. And again, we know better than to say these things out loud, but

But what we need to check is our lives. Like, hey, are we living with the same passion and fervency to get to know God? Paul says in verse 13, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All those things that I used to do to try to approach God, I just put those behind me. I forget about those things.

Who cares about how legalistic and all the rituals I used to follow? No, my focus is going forward. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I want to stand before Him having done my best. I want to stand before Him having completed all that He's given to me. And so I'm reaching forward to the things which are ahead. I'm not just sitting there thinking, well, I've served before.

I've preached before. I've prayed for people before. I've, you know, kind of reached that goal. And okay, I don't have to keep on doing that. I don't have to keep on growing. I've read the Bible before. No, but Paul's saying, I'm pressing forward. I'm pushing on. And then notice what he says in verse 15. He says, let the mature have this mind. Let the mature have this mind.

This mentality of desiring, we see this in new believers, right? This like aggressive growth, this like passion to go forward, to hear, to receive, to soak it in, to get to know God. And we were once that way. But the tendency for maturity is, well, I've kind of grown enough.

You know, you think about a child moving into the teenage years, moving into the adult years. There's a tapering off of the growth, right? You kind of reach a point where that's it. You're not going to get any taller. You're just going to get shorter now. You might get wider along the way as well. But that's not how it should be in our spiritual life. We don't get to the point where, hey, you know, I'm an adult Christian and so that's it. I'm just going to be like this the rest of my life.

Paul says, no way. No way, I'm pushing forward. Let the mature, maturity is really realized with the person who recognizes the need to press forward. It's like the idea, you know, the more I know, the more I realize how little I know. The more I grow, the more I draw near to God, the more I realize how far from God I really am.

And so we need to have this constant drive to draw near to God. To not just come to service and think I've sang that song before or that's not my favorite song or whatever. But to come aggressively like really like I want to engage with God. I want to meet Him. I want to sing to Him. I want to praise His name. I want to hear from Him in the Word. To open up the Scriptures with purpose. That I want to hear from You Lord. To spend time in prayer.

To make decisions like, hey, I need to reach out. I need to share the gospel. I need to connect with people. Because I got to keep growing. I got to keep going forward in what God's called me to do. I can't just think, well, you know, I've prayed with enough people in my life. Or this week or this month or last year or whatever. But who cares about what you did last year? Who cares what you did last week? I need to press forward.

This week in getting to know God, we need to have this kind of maturity. And this is what Paul is saying. That's my heart that I would push forward and not live in the past, even if it was just last week. And so in verses 17 through 21, he says, follow my example. In verse 17, he says, brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. Follow my example, Paul says.

Now again, he's already said, I haven't arrived. I'm not perfect. So he's not saying, I'm perfect, so be just like me. But follow my example in pursuing Jesus. Follow my example in pursuing the knowledge of him. Keep on pressing toward the upward call of God in Christ, just like I am. And note those who walk that way. So pay attention. There's others. I'm not the only one, Paul says. Note those who have that heart. Pay attention to them.

You have us as a pattern. So look for those. Use these guys as examples. Use them as models. Now then he gives the contrast in verse 18. He says, because many are enemies of the cross. And so look at the example of the Apostle Paul because there's a lot of people who proclaim to be Christians who are actually enemies of the cross.

And we're not talking about in the political arena. We're not talking about, you know, in the schoolyard or in the neighborhood. We're talking about in the church. There are a lot of people who look like, who proclaim to be Christian, but they're enemies of the cross of Christ. And so Paul says, look at us as an example. We're the pattern. And be alarmed. Be alert. If the people in the church, the leaders in the church, don't have this pattern, don't have this heart.

Don't have this kind of maturity. Verse 20 and 21 he says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our focus is to be there. We're to be eagerly awaiting Jesus Christ.

Because that's where our citizenship is. And he's going to transform our lowly body. It's going to be conformed to his glorious body. We'll have new bodies, glorified bodies. We won't have to deal with sin anymore. That has to be our highest goal. That has to be our biggest passion. That's where our hearts need to be because that's where our citizenship is. And so Paul says, let's set our eyes there.

Let's make sure that that's our focus, that that's what we're looking towards, and that we won't be satisfied until that day comes when we are with him. Well, finally now, Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 is the key verse. He says, "'Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice.'"

In verses 1 through 3, he says, help Iodia and Syntyche, I know that I pronounced those wrong, but be of the same mind. They're long gone, so they can't correct me. So I'm not worried about it. But Paul calls out two ladies here. And he says, hey, these two ladies, they're having some issues. And so help them be of the same mind.

Paul's not afraid to share the names and says, look, everybody knows these two ladies are having some conflict. The whole church knows about it. And it's an issue. And all the church functions, you know, it comes up. There's this issue. There's this division. And so help these two ladies. Now, you know, here at Living Water, we try our best to follow the scripture and the examples that are given. And so like Paul, I'm going to name a couple names and say, no, I'm just kidding. I'm not going to do that. Okay.

If it was the same situation, then maybe we would need to. But we're not there yet. But he says, help these two ladies. Listen, you all know about it. Now, these kinds of things happen in the church sometimes. Where, hey, you know about issues. Where, you know, hey, this person won't come to first service because, well, they know the other person goes to first service. So they come to second service because the other one goes to first service. And, oh, you're going to have an event at your house. Are you inviting that person? Oh, I can't go if you're inviting that person. You know, like there's that kind of

And Paul says, look, when there's that kind of situation, help them. Help them be of the same mind. Like-mindedness. How do you get that? Help them to put others first. Help them to die to themselves. Help them to love others. Help them to have joy by putting Jesus first, others second, and themselves final. Help them, Paul says. There are going to be times where there's conflict between us and others.

And listen, you might be right in that conflict. Your case, your argument, it might be sound. But being right is not a reason to break fellowship. Something you need to consider. When you're having trouble with someone else and you're insisting that you're right and so it can't be resolved because neither of you will bend. Think about eternity. Do you think God will make them apologize to you in heaven? In heaven, I'm going to stand before God and God's going to say, Jake,

Get over here. Make sure you apologize to Jerry right now, Jake. Apologize to Jerry for what you said. You think that's, no, God's not going to do that. Listen, he's going to make me apologize for not forgiving him. He's going to make me apologize for my disobedience and holding on to the bitterness. And so we need to learn, yeah, there's going to be conflict. There's going to be issues.

But there needs to be like-mindedness. And we have to die to ourselves and learn to resolve these things. And verse 3 says, I urge you also help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. These are my fellow workers. We're part of the family of God. We're part of the church. We're in this together. Help them.

Now one of the things that you'll find pretty much on every channel today is some type of reality show, right? And what we've learned from that is people love to watch drama, right? But we didn't have to have reality shows to know that. We could have read Philippians chapter 4. Because here's these ladies with all this conflict and everybody's just standing around watching. Just like, oh this is going to get interesting. Paul says, look stop watching and start helping.

help these ladies to get along. Help these ladies to be like-minded. Help them resolve the situation. Don't just stand off and let it continue. Don't let it cause division, but help them. Well, then in verses 4 and 5, Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I'll say rejoice. Notice he says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And so...

He's the one that we rejoice in. He's the one that we're passionate about. Warren Wiersbe says, if you cannot rejoice in your circumstances, you can always rejoice in the Lord who controls your circumstances. He may not change your situation, but he will change you. And that's even better. Focus on the Lord. Yeah, you're suffering, but let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. And rejoice in the Lord always.

Trust in the Lord. Rest in Him. Know that He's in control and He will take care of you in the midst of it. In verse 6 and 7, He says, Be anxious for nothing, but pray in everything. So don't be caught up and consumed with worry, but instead, by prayer with supplication and thanksgiving,

Going along with the rejoicing, right? Thanking God. Let your requests be made known to God. And then he says, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And so God will give you peace if you follow Paul's instruction and decide not to be anxious. You get to decide what you think about and what you get it consumed with. Because he goes on in verses 8 and 9 to say, meditate on good things.

Whatever things are true and noble and just and the things that are pure, whatever things are lovely, meditate on these things. Set your mind on these things. Paul says, use this as the filter. The thoughts that you're wrestling with, the thoughts that you're running through your head, do they measure up to you?

It's true. It's noble. It's just. It's good report. There's virtue in it. It's praiseworthy. If it doesn't measure up to those things, then don't meditate on those things. Change the subject and meditate on the things that are from God. Well, then in verses 10 through 20, Paul says, I rejoiced at your gift. He's writing this letter partially to thank them for their financial gift that they had sent to him.

And so he said, I rejoice that you've been able to express your care. Not that you didn't care before, but you lacked opportunity. Now you had an opportunity to give, and so you've given and expressed your care. And I rejoice in that. Now he points out also in verse 11, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. Paul says, I trust the Lord. And this is a lesson we all need to learn. I'm content. If I don't have any food, then okay, I trust God.

To provide for me when he sees fit. When it's the appropriate time. I'll let God provide and I'm okay with that. If he wants me to go without a few meals, I'm okay with that. If I have to move, I'm okay with that. I am content with what God wants to do. But I'm rejoicing in this. Well, he says in verse 17, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. I'm rejoicing in this because I know you've just stored up for yourself some treasure in heaven.

And that causes me to rejoice. How do you have joy? Jesus, others, yourself. Paul says, you are storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven. That brings me joy. I rejoice in that. He mentions here they had been supporting Paul more than any other church.

And he also mentioned in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, we saw as he talked about the Macedonians, this is where Philippi is. And he said that they gave beyond their ability. They weren't wealthy like the Corinthians were. They were poor, but they gave the most.

And they had done this time and time again. And Paul says, this is awesome. You have great reward in eternity. And so I rejoice in that. And then in verse 19 he says, And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And so he gives them a great promise. God's going to meet your need according to his riches.

Now, sometimes we just take that verse all by itself. But this is connected to you gave as God prompted your heart. You gave sacrificially to the work of God. And so God's going to meet your needs. And so that doesn't mean, you know, we just go out and spend frivolously. And then, well, God, you have to meet all my needs according to your riches. You know, that's a different application that Paul is not talking about.

But he's saying, you are responding, you are giving to the Lord, and God's going to take care of you. Well, then in verses 21 through 23, he says, the grace of Jesus be with you. And he closes the letter, as always, with this grace. Well, I want to finish up with just an exhortation based on what Paul is sharing here in this final chapter. And that is, the fruit that abounds to your account.

And just to encourage you, again, not that I seek the gift, like Paul said, but I seek the fruit that abounds your account. Listen, when you give to those who do the work of God, they produce coconuts. It's fruit. And that gets credited to your eternity. And so you need to consider what kind of eternity you would like.

Paul says, I don't seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. As you're supporting the work of God, there's fruit being produced as God is at work. And you get credit for that. That affects your eternity, your reward in eternity. And you know, that's why we receive a missionary offering on Wednesday evenings.

The offering that's received on Wednesdays does not go to pay the electric bill here or to do anything here on this property or pay any of our salaries. It goes to those that we've committed to support. And we're committed to that. And whatever is given, especially, you know, hey, if someone puts on, you know, hey, I want to give this especially to this particular missionary, then we forward that 100%. We send it on because we want the fruit to abound to your account.

That's, well, it's a priority here for us. And I want to encourage you to consider this. What kind of fruit do you want in your account when you enter into eternity? But also, as we continue to consider this idea of fruit abounding to your account, listen, you need to understand that as we pray for our missionaries, that's also another way that we

Have fruit that abounds to our account. In Romans 15 30, Paul asked the Romans to join with him, to strive together with him by praying to God for him. And as we have the time of missions for this is why we have it. This is part of it that we're striving together. That's why we, you know, decided to do the missionary of the month to help us kind of stir us up because we needed to be stirred up.

We were kind of in the routine, like here's a big list of names, you know, just pray for them. And so we needed that exhortation to kind of step it up a little bit. Let's strive together with a particular person, a particular family, and join with them and help them be fruitful. But then also there's an eternal reward in that. As you're part of the work, you're striving together with them in prayer.

But then also we get to store up for ourselves fruit in our account for eternity as we serve those who are doing the work of God.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 verse 41, he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. So that as we have opportunity to serve, so we get this opportunity pretty frequently as we have missionaries come back and visit.

And this is why I encourage you during those times, hey, reach out to them. Minister to them. You know, buy them lunch. Loan them your vehicles. Do whatever you can. Help them out. Serve them. Not for the gift. I'm not asking you, they don't tell me, hey, can you ask, you know, if I can get some benefit, you know, out of my time. No, no, no. This is for your benefit. Listen, serve those who are doing the work of God.

Because as you receive that person, as a result of that, in the name of the work of God, you receive that reward. There's fruit that abounds to your account for eternity.

And then finally, I would encourage you to consider encouraging a missionary. You know, this is why we also are encouraging you and wanting to stir up, like, connect with the missionaries. Like, it's good to pray for them, but also encourage them, refresh them. Paul talks about Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy chapter 1, who refreshed him and was pursuing, you know, and didn't give up, but he sought, he was zealous, he sought Paul out to refresh him.

And he ministered to him many times in many ways. And we get to be participating in the work of God in the lives of those that God has sent out from here as we engage with them, connect with them, and encourage them. And we spur them on and they're fruitful as a result. And well, there's fruit that abounds to your account. And so there's many ways to have fruit abound to your account in eternity. And I would encourage you

pick one and then pick another one and then pick another one and then pick the other one and let's do all of these. Let's have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God as we invest in the work of God through those that He has sent out. Let's pray.

Lord, we do lift up our missionaries. We pray for them that you would bless them, that you would encourage them and strengthen them. Lord, that they would be abundantly fruitful as they do your work. We pray that you would meet their needs and that you would provide for them according to your riches. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to be part of that work in the way that you've called us to.

And Lord, I also pray for us here at this fellowship that you would help us to be like-minded, that we would humble ourselves to put you first, to look out for the needs of one another, and Lord, that we would be content with the place that you have us in. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.