1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,880 It is so good to be here tonight and I want to thank you for 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,560 being here. It's been 7 years. 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,800 I think that we discovered that the last time I came and it's 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:11,600 cooler this year, which I'm glad of. 5 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,200 But nonetheless, it's great to see many of you who I've not 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,520 seen in many years, some of you I have seen recently, but it's 7 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,960 just good to be back and good to see each one of you and meet new 8 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:23,560 folks as well. I was talking to Frankie and 9 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,720 talking to Terry. There's been some growth in the 10 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,080 congregation. And when I talked to Frankie 11 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,760 about what we might do during this meeting, he mentioned a 12 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:33,320 couple of things. And I said, well, I've got this 13 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,880 little series on Philippians. And he said that might be a good 14 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,600 series. Now, I have to give a little bit 15 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,520 of a disclaimer. I'm a little ADD. 16 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,120 So I prepared a bunch of PowerPoint presentations for 17 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,120 this series on Philippians, and I probably won't end up using 18 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,960 any of them, but nonetheless, we are going to use the Bible. 19 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,080 We are going to use the text. And so if you have your New 20 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,120 Testaments with us or with you rather, I would invite you to 21 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,240 follow along each night that we study, each time that we study, 22 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,920 and we're just going to go through in an expository 23 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,720 fashion, the Book of Philippians. 24 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,640 Now, of course, there's many different ways of perhaps 25 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,360 figuring it out or perhaps, you know, analyzing a little little 26 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,760 bit. But nonetheless, I want us just 27 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,880 to look verse by verse. In fact, one of the things I do 28 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,360 at home is I encourage the teachers at home to teach 29 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,880 expositorily. Now, some people think, well, 30 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,560 that's like the old chapter studies. 31 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,040 Well, it's similar. But in reality, I'm never very 32 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,360 concerned about getting through an entire chapter. 33 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,560 You know, back in the day when I was a child, we would grow up. 34 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,400 And if the chapter had 70,000 verses, you covered 70,000 35 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,080 verses. And maybe, you know, by the time 36 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:47,880 was over with, you were a little worn out. 37 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,600 But you know, in reality, my, my purpose in going through the 38 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,200 Scriptures verse by verse is to just dig out from them things 39 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,080 that are practical and also perhaps at times things that are 40 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,120 technical. And I think the book of 41 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:05,200 Philippians is a great book for that because Paul is writing to 42 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,720 a congregation that he loves very dearly. 43 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,880 And while this book has a lot of technical things in it, and 44 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,360 we'll talk about that as we go through, there are a lot of 45 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,560 practical things in this book that apply to all of us as 46 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,680 Christians. And so whether you've been in 47 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,680 the faith for years and years, whether you're old in the faith 48 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,560 or maybe you've just been baptized and maybe you're a 49 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,680 young person in the Lord, the book of Philippians talks to us 50 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,560 because it's such a practical book. 51 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,440 You know, just to give you a little background about the 52 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,680 church at Philippi, Paul establishes this congregation 53 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,760 and acts the 16th chapter. This is on his second missionary 54 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,920 journey, and he receives what some people call the Macedonian 55 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,760 call. He is in a vision and this 56 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,720 person says, come over into Macedonia and help us. 57 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,520 And so he and his helpers go over into Macedonia and there 58 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,720 they go to the city of Philippi. Now, the city of Philippi was a 59 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,280 very interesting city because first of all, the church that's 60 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,920 going to be established in Philippi was the first church on 61 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:19,800 European soil. It was in Macedonia, but it is 62 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,160 what we now think of as Europe. And so it's a very pivotal point 63 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,800 in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. 64 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,920 And so very interesting things happen as he goes there. 65 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:33,240 In fact, seven years ago, I looked at my old notes. 66 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,640 We talked about the conversion of the Philippian jailer, but 67 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:39,520 there were some things that happened before that. 68 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,520 Paul goes and it begins to preach in that city and he 69 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,720 encounters this woman who is possessed and she is a fortune 70 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,120 teller and she has handlers that take care of her. 71 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,440 And Paul, of course, rebukes that. 72 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,800 And eventually Paul and Silas, who is with him at the time, 73 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,880 find themselves in a Philippian jail. 74 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,280 They find themselves in a Roman prison, and of course, you 75 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,840 remember the story, how that at midnight, having been beaten and 76 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,640 having been chained to the wall, they are singing songs of praise 77 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,320 to God for God allowing them to go through this difficulty. 78 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,800 There's a great earthquake, and then, of course, the Philippian 79 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,519 jailer rushes out. He's going to kill himself. 80 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,080 But Paul preaches to him and Long story short, he's 81 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,640 converted. Well, there is a little nucleus 82 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,240 there along with Lydia, who had previously met no doubt, that 83 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,160 begins the church in Philippi. Now, the Philippian church 84 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,120 apparently wasn't a rich church, and as many congregations are of 85 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,640 the Lord's church, we're just common everyday people and 86 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,720 oftentimes there is a mixed bag of backgrounds and interests and 87 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,640 so on and so forth. And so Paul, he nurtures this 88 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,880 group and they then become one of his most ardent supporters in 89 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,120 preaching the gospel. In fact, he will say that at 90 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:04,440 times they were the only ones that supported him in going to 91 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,800 and fro back then. As it is now, it takes money for 92 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,440 an individual, a preacher, to go and preach the gospel to new 93 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,480 territory. And so Paul was always thankful 94 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,920 for the gifts that he would receive from Philippi and their 95 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,640 love for him and their prayers for him. 96 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,080 And so really what you have in the book of Philippians is a 97 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,800 little bit of a thank you letter. 98 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,920 Paul is writing them saying, I love you so much and I want to 99 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,600 encourage you just as you have encouraged me. 100 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:40,080 Now, the city of Philippi was an interesting city because it was 101 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,040 a Roman city. It was named after Philip the 102 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:48,800 2nd, and the Roman city was, shall we say, an emulation of 103 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,680 the city of Rome. There were imperial cities 104 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,640 scattered throughout the Roman Empire, and these cities, 105 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,240 Philippi being one of them, sought to be just like Rome. 106 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,600 Now, of course, Rome was the capital. 107 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,320 In fact, you've heard the expression all roads lead to 108 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,840 Rome. And of course, Rome was where 109 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,320 the emperor was. Rome was where the bigwigs were. 110 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,800 Rome was where the pontificate, you know, the status was. 111 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:19,520 Well, that's what Philippi was on a smaller scale. 112 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,840 And of course the people in Philippi considered themselves 113 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,560 ultra Roman citizens. And that of course will make 114 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,240 Paul's later words when he says, well, your citizenship is in 115 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,520 heaven. That makes that even more 116 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,400 poignant. And of course, in the city like 117 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,200 Philippi, as in Rome, you had the emperor who was believed to 118 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,800 be God. He was believed to be deity. 119 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,600 Now as Rome conquered the ancient world, they didn't 120 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,080 always seem to care about the local gods and goddesses. 121 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:56,280 Not until someone said, well these are exclusive. 122 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,520 As long as you were willing to take a pinch of incense or some 123 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:05,480 money or offer some sacrifice to the emperor as a God, they were 124 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,680 quite happy to leave you alone. Well, of course, Jesus was Lord 125 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,680 to the Christians. There is one Lord Paul told the 126 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,240 Ephesians in Ephesians 4. And so they here at Philippi 127 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:21,480 would not offer that incense. They would not OfferUp the honor 128 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,200 to the emperor as the emperor wanted. 129 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,120 And so they often were set aside to be persecuted. 130 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,200 Now, we don't know a lot about that in Philippi, but we do know 131 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,560 that they were in a city that no doubt was very difficult to live 132 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,320 a Christian life. You know, we are in a world 133 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,600 today where it is difficult to live a Christian life. 134 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,200 It is not easy. In fact, sin and all kinds of 135 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,200 idolatry, maybe not the kind they had, is all around us. 136 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,560 We are being tempted by all kinds of things, from sexuality 137 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,560 to immorality to, you know, greed. 138 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,560 And that is exactly what the Philippians had to go through as 139 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:03,560 well. And they were, of course, 140 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,640 hanging on. They were trying to be the best 141 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,840 Christians that they could be. So Paul encourages them. 142 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,640 In fact, not only that, but as we'll notice as we go through 143 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,760 our study, he sees them as partners with him in spreading 144 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,280 the gospel. You know, sometimes again, we 145 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:22,880 think, well, the world's too bad. 146 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,280 The world is so wicked, we will never get converts to Christ. 147 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,920 Paul didn't see it that way. In fact, the darker the night, 148 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,600 the greater the light shone, the greater Jesus could come forth 149 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,159 and help these people out of sin and darkness. 150 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:42,640 And while indeed our world is getting dark, while indeed our 151 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,200 culture is changing, we are arguably, or perhaps not even 152 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,240 arguably anymore a non Christian society. 153 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,120 There is room for the gospel. I love the song that we just 154 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,840 sang and I love the theme of some of the other songs that we 155 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,360 sang. You know, we are here tonight 156 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,200 because of the gospel. Now, what is the gospel? 157 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,320 I don't want to get off on a rabbit trail too far. 158 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,080 That's easy for me to do. By the way, I guess I'm a little 159 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,400 ADD and I learned this week on a podcast that I can't help it, 160 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,640 that that's the way we are in our brains. 161 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,040 But nonetheless, that's not my excuse anyway. 162 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:16,920 But nonetheless, what is the gospel? 163 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,680 Well, I think the gospel is a very broad actually a concept. 164 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,640 You know, when Jesus came and John the Baptist came, the 165 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:29,280 gospel was at that moment, repent, for the Kingdom is at 166 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,960 hand. King Jesus is breaking forth 167 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,720 into the scene. And of course, as Jesus 168 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,000 established or began to establish his Kingdom and his 169 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:44,000 church, of course the gospel became more about other things 170 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,160 as well. Death, burial, resurrection of 171 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,560 Jesus, coronation, ascension, you know all that. 172 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,960 And so the gospel is a broad spectrum, but at the core, the 173 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,520 gospel is about our relationship with God. 174 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,240 It's about how that man was estranged, how that we were 175 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,520 separated from God, and yet God sent his Son. 176 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:11,200 John 316 God so loved us, He loved the world that he sent his 177 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,080 only begotten Son. And that's really what the book 178 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,480 of Philippians is all about. It's about this encouragement to 179 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,840 remain faithful in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 180 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,360 Now, of course, the letter that Paul writes is an interesting 181 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:30,120 letter because along with Colossians and Ephesians and 182 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,320 perhaps one or two others, it's known as a prison epistle. 183 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:39,120 You see, Paul had it rough. He would go and preach and at 184 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,920 times he would end up in prison, such as he had at Philippi. 185 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,120 But it's believed that this letter that we're going to be 186 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,560 looking at this week was written by Paul, probably from Rome. 187 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:53,440 Now, some people believe Ephesus, but more than likely it 188 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,280 was from Rome. Paul probably in his first Roman 189 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:59,720 imprisonment. And scholars believe that at the 190 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,600 end of the book of Acts, he's in prison. 191 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,720 But then he's let go and he goes on to preach again. 192 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,160 He is re incarcerated and beheaded. 193 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:12,720 But probably Paul is in a a Roman prison, perhaps under 194 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,480 house arrest, perhaps whatever. But he is writing these letters 195 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:23,520 back to Colossae and to Ephesus and to Philippi, encouraging 196 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,400 them in the faith. In fact, when you read Ephesians 197 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,360 and Colossians and Philippians, you're going to find a lot of 198 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,120 similarities because they're all written about the same time, 199 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,920 maybe about 62 or so AD they're all written while Paul is in 200 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,240 prison. Many times he will repeat 201 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,000 himself and, you know, talk about the same themes like any 202 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:45,720 of us would when we write letters. 203 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,000 And so you can expect when you read those letters or those 204 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,360 prison epistles to find a lot of overlap. 205 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,000 But yet there's also differences. 206 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,080 You know, Ephesus or the Ephesian letter speaks of Christ 207 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,160 and the church. It speaks of the grand scheme of 208 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,320 redemption. It speaks of how Jews and 209 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,000 Gentiles are brought together in the church. 210 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,160 The book of Colossians speaks of the headship of Jesus Christ, 211 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:12,160 and the book of Philippians speaks of the membership. 212 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,920 That's us. Now, of course, the book of 213 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,240 Philippi or Philippians wasn't written to us directly, but it 214 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,040 was written for us. You see, the New Testament comes 215 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,440 down to us today, and it teaches us how we need to live. 216 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,960 It teaches us how we need to serve God and how we need to 217 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,520 please God as well. Now Paul is in prison, so he's 218 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,640 got a problem. He's in prison, but yet he's 219 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:38,720 writing. He longs to see them. 220 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,000 He is praying that he'll be released, and he begins to talk 221 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,680 to them about how he even believes that through their 222 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,560 prayers and through their power and through their piety, he's 223 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:51,400 going to be able to accomplish that. 224 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,840 You know, that's wonderful because if you look at yourself 225 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,200 in the mirror, as we all do, what do we see? 226 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,520 We see mere mortals. We see people who at times, as 227 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,760 we prayed, in our prayer, make many mistakes. 228 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,880 We see ourselves who are at times so far away from God. 229 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,680 We see ourselves who don't really know where to go from 230 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:17,200 here because we don't have all wisdom and knowledge, you see, 231 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,680 But we're human. And these people here at 232 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:21,880 Philippi, we're human. And yet Paul has enough 233 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,720 confidence in them to say, listen, you are partnering with 234 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:31,000 me in the gospel. You know, I know that if you're 235 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,880 a preacher or teacher leader, if you're just a member, you covet 236 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,840 the prayers and you covet the help of those of your brothers 237 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,320 and sisters. You know, when I go overseas or 238 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,320 when Frankie goes overseas or when someone travels, you know, 239 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,640 they covet the prayers of those who are thinking about you. 240 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,280 And you know, a preacher would much rather have a member or a 241 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,080 leader would much rather have the members who are dedicated at 242 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,760 home to the Lord than $1,000,000 in their bank guarantee you, 243 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:04,640 because that just gives him a strength of purpose and knowing 244 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,560 that they are standing behind him. 245 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,280 Well, that's Philippi as we look at this letter. 246 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:14,160 Now, when we begin, Paul writes, and I hope we don't get too 247 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,160 tedious in looking at details. You know, one of the problems 248 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,920 with preachers is they'll start looking at a passage and they'll 249 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:22,960 begin to analyze it. And pretty soon they're off in 250 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,920 left field. And that is especially dangerous 251 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,960 if that preacher has been maybe writing commentaries or 252 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,360 something, because then you get off into all kinds of things. 253 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,840 But we want to stay with the text fairly quickly, move 254 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:37,960 through it. We won't get very far tonight, 255 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,120 maybe into chapter 1. But let's just see what Paul has 256 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,040 to say to this Philippian church. 257 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,960 First of all, he says Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus 258 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,440 Christ. Now Timothy is the helper of 259 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,760 Paul. He's the young protege. 260 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,280 He's the one that Paul trains. Paul calls him his son in the 261 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,480 faith. Paul is the agent apostle and 262 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,320 they have been travelling. Paul takes Timothy with him. 263 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:06,280 He is learning the rope, so to speak. 264 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,160 But Paul says that he is a bondservant of Jesus Christ. 265 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,720 In the Greek, the idea is Doulos or one who has been slaved to 266 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:20,000 Christ, one who has given up his own rights to be a servant of 267 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,000 Jesus Christ. You know, in reality, when we go 268 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,480 down into the waters of baptism, we are pledging to give our 269 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:32,360 lives to Christ. We are pledging to give up our 270 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,600 will to the will of God. You know, Jesus has always been 271 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:41,520 a person and A and a Savior who wanted will our wills to conform 272 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,000 to him. His will conformed to the Father 273 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,760 in the garden. He would say things like Father, 274 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,880 let this cup of suffering pass from me, but nevertheless, not 275 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,680 my will, but thine will be done. Paul had given himself hook, 276 00:15:55,760 --> 00:16:00,720 line, seeker, whatever analogy you want to use to God, so much 277 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,760 so that he could say, listen, I would rather die now and go be 278 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:10,160 with the Lord, but it's helpful for me to stay and to help you. 279 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,640 Now that is truly an altruistic statement Paul makes, but it's 280 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,240 not one of despair. Paul wants to go be with the 281 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:19,560 Lord because he knows that's better. 282 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,160 And then he says this. He says to all of the Saints in 283 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,360 Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons. 284 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,720 Let me camp out that on that just a little bit. 285 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,480 He says to all the Saints. Now you notice Paul doesn't say 286 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,960 to all the church members. Now you could have said that 287 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,600 these folks at Philippi were members of the Lord's church, 288 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,640 but he says no to all of the Saints. 289 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,040 Now why did he say that? Well, first of all, I think he's 290 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:52,440 telling them, listen, you hold a very high esteem position in the 291 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,640 Lord's body. You know, if you're a member of 292 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,920 the Lord's church, if you've been baptized for the ministry 293 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,440 of sins, you're certainly part of the Kingdom, you're part of 294 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,640 the Lord's church, but you're a St. 295 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,240 Now, you know, when you compare what the world today, even the 296 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,040 religious world, thinks of as a St. versus what the scriptures 297 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:14,040 talk about as being a St. you'll see two very distinct, different 298 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,560 pictures. Now, in the religious world, a 299 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,599 St. first of all, is someone who is usually dead, someone who has 300 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:22,880 gone on. Maybe they have been beatified, 301 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:27,119 maybe they have been elevated, but some organization has said 302 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:32,400 this individual has been such a stellar person that we're going 303 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,040 to knight him, so to speak, as a St. 304 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,440 And of course, a lot of different groups have different 305 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,240 rigmaroles they go through to get that job done. 306 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:45,040 But now in the New Testament, if you're a St. you're a living 307 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,240 person. You are a living sacrifice, as 308 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,280 Paul talks about in Romans 12/1 through 4. 309 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:55,200 You are someone who is serving God in a holy way. 310 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,360 It's about holiness. Now, the idea of being a St. is 311 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,200 the idea of being sanctified. We use that term sometimes, and 312 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,280 in the Bible they used it a lot. In fact, when you go back to the 313 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,760 Old Testament, you find that often times things were 314 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,840 sanctified that just simply meant they were set apart for a 315 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,880 special service. For example, in the Tabernacle, 316 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,840 in the temple of the Old Testament, you have various 317 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,280 instruments, you had tables, you had, you know, cups and platters 318 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,720 and different things. And in and of themselves those 319 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,960 items were just common, everyday, ordinary items. 320 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,720 But when they had been sprinkled with the blood, when they had 321 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,880 been set apart for holy service, they became extremely important 322 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,080 and they became special. They became sanctified. 323 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:48,400 They became set aside for a very special purpose in the service 324 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,160 of God. When you were baptized, When I 325 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:56,240 was baptized, we were set aside. We were sanctified, we were set 326 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:01,160 apart to serve God. And God looks at us not just as 327 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:05,960 average Joes, although he loves average Joes, but he looks at 328 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,600 those of us who have espoused his Son Jesus and really married 329 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,280 the Lord, if you will, as being sanctified. 330 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,800 Now when we think of being sanctified, we also think of 331 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,880 purity, and that is also a part of it. 332 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,440 You know, in those Old Testament dishes and things that they had, 333 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,720 they would have washings and have ceremonies to, to cleanse 334 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,920 them. Well, of course we have that 335 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,760 obligation today in our lives to live holy lives, to live clean 336 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,120 lives, to live, if we can, as sinless as possible. 337 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:41,160 But a St. is not perfect. Sanctification is not quite the 338 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,760 same as perfection. You know, anything that is 339 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,440 human, anything that touches humanity is going to be 340 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:54,600 imperfect to some degree, but it can still be set apart for the 341 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,000 Lord. And maybe some of you have come 342 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,520 into the Lord. Maybe your past is, you know, 343 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,480 dark, or maybe it's scarred with all kinds of sins and problems, 344 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,120 and maybe you're still struggling to overcome some of 345 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:09,240 those sins. Now that's OK. 346 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,520 It's not OK that we have sin, but it's OK that we struggle 347 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,400 against those. I would much rather have someone 348 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,680 come to me and say I am struggling with this sin, help 349 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,200 me overcome this sin, tell me what the scriptures say about 350 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,800 the sin, then just ignore it and live with it and never address 351 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,320 it. You see, sanctification is not a 352 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,200 one time deal. It's not where we go down into 353 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,440 the waters of baptism. We come up perfect and we stay 354 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,200 perfect all of our lives. No, we still live in a fallen 355 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,560 world and we still deal with a fallen fleshly nature. 356 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,080 And so then we have to constantly work on being 357 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,520 sanctified. So Paul calls them Saints. 358 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,560 He doesn't call them perfect people. 359 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,360 He says Saints now very quickly take a little hiatus here and 360 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,440 look at the next little statement, he says to the 361 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,360 bishops and deacons who are in Philippi. 362 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,960 You know, apparently, by this time, the Church of Philippi had 363 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,200 matured. Now, just recently, Brother 364 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,400 Frankie came over and helped us at 85th and Euclid in Kansas 365 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:14,040 City to ordain elders and or, or, or bishops, or shall we say, 366 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,800 you know, the names of, of the shepherds, if you will, of those 367 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,840 of that congregation. And of course that congregation 368 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,840 has been there for years. And finally we have our first 369 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,160 elders or our first bishops, if you will. 370 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,880 It's all the same same job. It's just different words in the 371 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,400 Greek. But nonetheless, Frankie came 372 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,800 and helped us do that. Well, here there are bishops and 373 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,160 deacons, servants of the Church at Philippi. 374 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,600 So apparently the Church at Philippi, though it had started 375 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,000 with perhaps Lydia and the Philippian jailer, had by this 376 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,560 time grown to have real solid leadership. 377 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,640 And by the way, you know, solid leadership is very important. 378 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:58,520 Now, a congregation can exist quite scripturally without 379 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,920 elders per SE, but it has to have leadership. 380 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,360 In fact, in Acts chapter 13, I think it is you there have 381 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,840 apostles and teachers and prophets. 382 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:10,480 You don't have elders mentioned, but they're a strong 383 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,000 congregation that is sending out preachers to preach the Word. 384 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,760 So a congregation without elders can certainly do the Lord's 385 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,880 work, but we strive for that greater level of leadership 386 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,520 maturity. And sometimes it takes many 387 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:29,000 years, especially in a transient society like we live in. 388 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,000 But Philippi had the pleasure of enjoying that. 389 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,400 You know, I entitled the, the study initially was, oh, what 390 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,600 grace? And of course, when you think 391 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,080 about grace, you think about God's unmerited favor, and 392 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,800 that's certainly part of it. But I also think Philippi was a 393 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,040 Church of graciousness, partly because of their leadership. 394 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,720 They had people who were setting the example, no doubt for them. 395 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,160 And then he says in verse 2, grace to you and peace from our 396 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,480 from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 397 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,400 This is a very common greedy in Paul's epistles. 398 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,120 In fact, I think all but Galatians, you'll find this 399 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,640 common grace and peace wish and of course grace God's a merit of 400 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,200 favor, peace coming from a proper relationship with God. 401 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,160 But then you notice what he says in verse three. 402 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,840 He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. 403 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,360 From the very moment these folks have been baptized and the 404 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:30,720 church had been established, I have no doubt that Paul thought 405 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,400 of them almost daily. Here was a church that he had a 406 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:38,960 very close relationship with. They were close to his heart. 407 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,960 He thought about them. He prayed for them. 408 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:47,080 He always remember them when he went to the Lord in prayer. 409 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,960 You know, that is so touching really, because sometimes we'll 410 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,240 be in an assembly maybe and we're busy and we leave and we 411 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,640 don't think about our brothers and sisters maybe all week. 412 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,920 Or maybe we don't think about people that maybe we should have 413 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:02,720 thought about because they had special needs. 414 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,200 You know, Paul must have just labored in prayer. 415 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,160 In fact, over in First Corinthians, the Second 416 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,480 Corinthians Chapter 11, he talks about all the things that he 417 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,480 went through and then he says and the care of the churches I 418 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,240 deal with on a daily basis. And you got to know that Paul 419 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:23,480 was praying over and over. He says, I remember you always, 420 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:29,760 verse 4 in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with 421 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,800 joy. He is thankful for them. 422 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,200 He is thankful for that relationship. 423 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,960 He is thankful for their dedication, not just to him as a 424 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,320 person, but to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 425 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,040 Why? Because it is only the gospel 426 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,120 that can save an individual. I can't save you. 427 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,280 No one else can save you, but Jesus can. 428 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,520 The gospel can, His blood can. And Paul understood that. 429 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,960 But notice what he says. He says, I pray for you, making 430 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:05,320 request with joy for you, for your fellowship in the gospel 431 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:10,440 from the first day until now. Now this is interesting to me 432 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,920 because we know from other passages that Philippi wasn't 433 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,160 necessarily a rich church. And obviously when it first 434 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:22,560 began, it wasn't big, but from that great inception, I suppose 435 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,920 when the Philippian jailer came out of the water, there was 436 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:28,160 already this what can we do for the Lord attitude. 437 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,920 You know, that's hard to maintain, that's hard to keep up 438 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,760 because we get discouraged. I tell you, you go be with the 439 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,800 work, you know, that maybe gone on for 50-60 years and you'll 440 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,720 see it decline. I mean, just give you a personal 441 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,560 example. The congregation where I am now 442 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,840 is fairly small, smaller than you all are here. 443 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,720 And, you know, at one point we were sitting out chairs and, you 444 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,000 know, the community was really behind us. 445 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,880 And and then gradually people moved and passed away and all. 446 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,320 And it is hard to keep that fire going. 447 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,360 It's hard to keep that zeal going. 448 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:06,040 And I think Paul saw in Philippi a group of people who were 449 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:10,480 constantly saying, Paul, what can we do to help you out? 450 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,880 This idea of fellowship is the Greek word Koinonia. 451 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,920 It's used of Paul extending the right hand of fellowship to 452 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,280 other men and women. It is also used of the Lord's 453 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,480 Supper. It is used of the collection. 454 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,800 In other words, it's a joint participation. 455 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,360 And so Paul viewed the Church of Philippi as his partners. 456 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,760 He wasn't in competition with them. 457 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,760 He wasn't trying to convert people so he could say, hey, 458 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,280 look what I did. No, the glory obviously 459 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:47,040 ultimately went to the Lord, but it was shared among every single 460 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,440 believer in the Church of Philippi. 461 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:54,560 Paul says, listen, that fellowship in the gospel from 462 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,680 the first day to now, you know, whenever this congregation 463 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:01,400 supports a preacher or supports one of their own to go to the 464 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:05,600 Philippines or whatever, you are in fellowship in more ways than 465 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,800 one with that individual. You are helping him, you are 466 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:14,160 sending him, you are helping spread the news. 467 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,560 You see, no one person could ever do it. 468 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,280 Even Jesus chose me to help him. And so when we have 469 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,800 congregations behind us as preachers or leaders who we know 470 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,400 that while we're not perfect, they have our back, it gives us 471 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,840 confidence, it helps us, it encourages us. 472 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:38,560 And we are so glad that despite both of our imperfections, they 473 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,800 are there for us. And then Paul goes on to verse 474 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,400 6. And he says, being confident of 475 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:50,240 this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will 476 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,000 complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 477 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,840 Now this day of Jesus Christ has been variously interpreted, 478 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,240 interpreted, probably the second coming, probably the end of 479 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,160 time. But nonetheless, he's saying the 480 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,960 Lord is going to continue to work in you. 481 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:09,760 The Lord is not done with you yet. 482 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,920 You know, that's a beautiful thought because sometimes 483 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,040 literally I get up in the mirror, I, I mean, I, I mean 484 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,040 this literally. And I think you are a worthless 485 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:20,200 something. I don't know what, you're just 486 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,720 worthless and you don't feel very good today and you don't 487 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,120 have a lot to offer the Lord. And then I think, no, the Lord 488 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:30,280 is not done with me yet. You know, we use that phrase. 489 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,000 He's a work in progress. Well, I guarantee you every one 490 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,800 of us is a work in progress and some are moving a little faster 491 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:38,840 than others. Some of us are a little bit 492 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:44,120 remedial, but nonetheless, the Lord is still using US. 493 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,800 You know, I love it when I see especially older folks because 494 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,760 I'm kind of one of them now. You know, I was out in 495 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:55,280 Kennewick, WA a couple years ago and I just came back just 496 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,960 really, really thrilled because you have seniors converting 497 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,760 seniors out there. You know, one of the couples out 498 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,760 there had met some other seniors at the mailbox and they began to 499 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,800 walk together and talk together. And then right after I left out 500 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,600 there, they were baptized. And I thought, man, this is 501 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:14,320 seniors converting seniors. You know, you never are too old 502 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,640 to be in fellowship with the job or the the work of the church. 503 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,040 You know, again, the Lord is still working in US and I 504 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,560 believe that now sometimes He works on us as far as our 505 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,360 character and our personage, because, you know, we got a lot 506 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,520 of rough edges sometimes. You know, my wife tells me, she 507 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,680 says, well, you know, your tongue is is your curse because 508 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,320 maybe you can speak, but then man, it's sharp. 509 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,080 And that's true. I thought my mind was sharp, but 510 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,880 apparently it's my tongue. But nonetheless, you know, she 511 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,840 cautions me about that. Well, I don't just tell her, 512 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,200 well, I'm a work in progress that that doesn't float with 513 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,600 her. But nonetheless, we are, we are 514 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,960 a work in progress. And so don't ever become 515 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:06,600 discouraged and think because I failed before, I can't succeed. 516 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,080 Don't ever think that because everyone fails, everyone sins, 517 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:16,480 everyone has problems. And yet God is not finished with 518 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,560 us. And Paul very, very, very 519 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:24,440 poignantly says that God is going to complete the work that 520 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,240 he has started in US. You know, the beautiful thing 521 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:32,040 about God is his Providence. I don't know what God has in my 522 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,480 life or in store for my life. I don't know. 523 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,280 I don't know if I'll make it home after this meeting. 524 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,880 I don't know if I'll go to Africa and be killed by, you 525 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:43,640 know, a lion. I don't know. 526 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,720 But, you know, God knows. But God uses us. 527 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,120 And So what do we do? We place our faith in the 528 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,600 Providence of God and say, God use me. 529 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,240 And I can guarantee you that it when you make yourself 530 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,640 available, God will use you. And it may not be in the way you 531 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,520 want to be used. It may be in something that you 532 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,040 think I'm a little too good for that. 533 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:08,480 No, you're not too good for that. 534 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:12,080 If that's where God puts you, then that's what's going to 535 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:13,440 happen. Now I don't know how all that 536 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,840 happens sometimes, but haven't you had circumstances where you 537 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,560 thought, man, somebody ought to do something about, oh, wait, 538 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:22,800 maybe it's me that ought to do something about this. 539 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:28,240 You see, God is using US and he will use us if we make ourselves 540 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:34,800 open to him. So then he says in verse 7, just 541 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,800 as it is, right, And we'll start summing up here, just as it is 542 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,080 right for me to think this of you all, in other words, this, 543 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:45,000 this exuberance, this happiness, this joy I feel for you. 544 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:50,080 It's, it's, it's justified, He says, just as it is, right, 545 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:56,720 Because I have you in my heart. You see, Paul, and he does this 546 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,240 by the way, with Philemon when he's writing about Onasemus, he 547 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,360 says Onasemus is my heart. That's runaway slaves, remember. 548 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:10,360 But Paul, he, he had such a dear love for his fellow Christians, 549 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,400 and I think others too, otherwise he wouldn't have 550 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,440 preached the gospel. But he had such a dear love for 551 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,720 his Christian brothers and sisters that they were living in 552 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,960 his heart That that that's incredible. 553 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:29,160 Because you see, I tend to categorize and compartmentalize 554 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,680 my heart. The good Christians, the guys I 555 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,720 like, the people I like, they're going to live here, the others 556 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,160 over here. No, Paul says, I love you. 557 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,800 You're in my heart. And he says in as much as both 558 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,440 in my chains. In other words, it is 559 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:50,200 imprisonment. And in the defense and 560 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:56,280 confirmation of the Gospels, you all are, are partakers with me 561 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,840 of grace going to stop there. But what's Paul saying? 562 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,960 He says, he says, listen, you all are in my heart. 563 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,800 You are with me. Whether I'm going through 564 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,800 prison, whether I'm being, you know, baptizing someone, whether 565 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:16,440 things are going well or going bad, you are in, you are with 566 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:17,760 me. We are partners. 567 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:23,720 We are, we're together now, you know, when a congregation feels 568 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,120 that way about each other. And that's one of the reasons 569 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,640 why we have activities we do together and we worship together 570 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,760 and we, you know, keep tabs on each other. 571 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:33,920 It's not to be, you know, intrusive. 572 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:35,800 It's because we love one another. 573 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,440 Or when a preacher, you know, goes, like I said, overseas and 574 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,960 he knows his congregation is praying for him. 575 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,200 It, it, it's, it's something that cannot be described because 576 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,440 you know that others servants of the Lord with as many flaws as 577 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,880 you have, and yet Saints are remembering you and 578 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,920 participating with you in the work of grace. 579 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,360 And so Paul will use that then to go on and encourage them that 580 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,360 their love and their knowledge and their wisdom will abound 581 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:13,760 more and more to the greater glory of the Lord. 582 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,719 So that's part of the 1st chapter. 583 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,800 Paul will get into some other things that we'll notice 584 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,280 tomorrow night. But nonetheless, as we go 585 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,600 through this book, just just follow the follow the train of 586 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:29,199 thought. Paul is so thankful and he's so 587 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:33,679 encouraging to them, although he will point out some things they 588 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:37,480 need to hear later on. And that's the way it is. 589 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:42,840 The gospel is the most precious thing that God has entrusted to 590 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,360 us. His preciousness is our life 591 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,800 itself. And Paul will talk about that 592 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:51,440 when he says, listen, you know, there's nothing more important 593 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,480 than serving Christ. Well, you're here tonight and 594 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,600 you're not a Christian. There's some very simple steps 595 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:02,960 that place us into the body of Christ, obeying the gospel, 596 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,560 hearing the word of God first of all, and align that to to 597 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,280 resonate in our hearts. It's called faith. 598 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,480 We believe it, and then we change our mind. 599 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,680 We turn from our previous life, we repent of our sins, and then 600 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,800 we're willing to confess Jesus as the Son of God. 601 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,840 We're willing to confess his lordship, if you will. 602 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,800 And then, of course, we are baptized. 603 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,000 We have our his blood washing away our sins in the waters of 604 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,360 baptism. It's quite simple, but yet it's 605 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,960 so incredibly profound. So not if we can assist you in 606 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,320 that or anything else in your spiritual walk, we'd be happy to 607 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:42,920 do that. I'll be standing, obviously.