Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Nsnoise.
Hi.
All right.
Our international.
Day after Allahabad of Allah.
And.
It's good.
To me, I I'd like to see you. I'd like to see it's what is.
And during the marketing, waiting for hearts, waiting for hearts to improve.
912, 910097389.
Our loving God and our Father.
We do pray that Thou would lift up our souls and righteousness and joy before thy face.
They'll give us a portion from My precious word to meet the deep needs of our souls, that we might be instructed to walk in that good way.
To receive of Thee the blessings without us, purpose for us for present enjoyment, to set our hearts upon that which is yet to come, and above all, to occupy us with Thy beloved Son, the one who fills thine own heart.
And so we just pray for the leading Holy Spirit of God.
Proportion from thy word and the ministry of it, as thy Son might be glorified, exalted.
And our hearts might be fed with those good things without us, have for us, if there is needed correction, that it would be ministered to our souls, that we would have hearing ears at Thy precious word, might conform us in the power of the Spirit of God more into the image of thy beloved Son.
00:05:11
And so we look to the our God and Father, from whom all blessings flow.
And to the Lord Jesus, Head of the Body, all through ministry flows from thee and Thy grace to each member here. So we ask this, our God and Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I would suggest Brethren Philippians chapter one if it's the mind of the brethren.
Wonderful a Thistle and.
There's so much for our souls in this first chapter would be the, uh, consent of the brethren to.
At least for this reading, take up chapter one, but if some.
Let's read Philippians chapter one.
Philippians chapter one all and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the Saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons.
Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine, for you all making requests with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing.
That he which had begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is, meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, in as much as both in my bones and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. Ye all are particulars of my grace.
For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in the knowledge and in all judgment that ye may be approved things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense.
Till the day of Christ.
Being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that in my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace.
And in all other places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.
What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice? Yeah, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness.
00:10:15
As always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I shall choose. I want not, for I am in a straight betrayed to having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ.
That whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which he saw in me. And now.
Here to be in the.
It's a wonderful epistle of uh.
Joy and devotedness in the life of the apostle. He was in prison when he wrote this, and we know how the gospel penetrated into Philippi, into Europe.
It really started to in a prayer meeting along the Riverside was much opposition. We know that Paul and Silas were.
Incarcerated.
And.
Prayed and praise the praise of the Lord. And what a marvelous deliverance they, they, uh, received. And no doubt there was a small assembly formed there for perhaps in the House of, uh, Lydia, because they visited her when they were released from the prison. But anyway, the, uh, whole epistle breathes that, uh, spirit of, uh, rejoicing.
And love for his beloved Philippians. And although chained perhaps 24 hours to a guard in the in the house, probably under house arrest, still he was fall was rejoicing in the Lord. Not one sign of any depression or complaining. Far from it. And his heart overflows.
In love to the, uh, the Philippians Who?
Were the only ones that ministered to him. Perhaps Epaphroditus, who was the messenger, was the one who brought this epistle back to the Philippian assembly. So it is an epistle that really lifts our hearts up in the, in the things of Christ and devotedness to him. And, uh.
There's much about the spread of the gospel even in this first chapter. First chapter is.
Christ our life. Second chapter. Christ our example, our pattern. Third chapter Christ our object. 4th chapter. Christ our strength.
So Philippians is the wilderness book, isn't it? It's Christian experience as we're on our way home to heaven.
And he takes up in this epistle not only the joys of the pathway.
00:15:00
But the troubles and the difficulties in the opposition that the enemy brings in to seek to hinder our walk with God, it's a little bit like what you have in the 17th of Exodus where Israel in the wilderness met with Amalek, that powerful enemy. And Amalek is a picture to us of Satan seeking to hinder our walk with God through this wilderness world. And so in this epistle we find that there were hindrances and at the end of this chapter.
Is going to begin to bring out those things that were hindering their joy and hindering their testimony in the gospel if they let them develop.
But it's the joys and the ups and downs of the Christian pathway. In the book of Ephesians, we're already seen seated in heavenly places in Christ, positionally.
In Colossians it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. But here it's where the rubber meets the road, its footstep after footstep. It's getting along with one another. It's telling others how they can become pilgrims on their way to heaven. And it's interesting in that regard how he introduces himself and Timotheus to the Philippian brethren, because in verse one where we read, he doesn't speak of himself as an apostle.
He identifies with Timothy, with Timotheus as a servant of Jesus Christ. Why does he do that? Because it's not so much the experiences of Paul as an apostle here, It's the experiences of Paul as a servant of God along with Timothy in the wilderness pathway. And so he presents himself in this way. It has to do, I say again, with us being here in this world.
Yes, heaven is before us, but we're here in this world, and as John said, we have Christ presented in four ways, and it might be helpful in that regard to just notice 4 scripture, 4 verses, one in each chapter that confirm what John has said to us because it's helpful to get this right from the Word of God. Eric and I were talking at breakfast about the scope and context of Scripture, and both are important and it's good to see things.
In its scope, that is to see how everything fits in scripture. No scriptures of private interpretation, it all fits together. And if someone brings out something that doesn't fit with another portion of scripture conflicts, it's a red light. It's it's a warning to us. And then there's context in the chapter of the portion, the book that we're reading. There's proper context and that helps us to keep on track and to get the meaning and interpretation.
Of Scripture. But just notice, as John said in the first chapter, here we have Christ as the believer's life.
Notice what he says in verse 21. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For me to live as Christ. You know the athlete says for me to live is sports, the musician says for me to live is is music and so on. Paul's exercise after he was turned around on the Damascus Rd. For me to live is Christ and what a good exercise for every believer. But then as John said in the second chapter, we have Christ as the believers example.
And that's why he says in verse five of chapter 2, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now the following verses we often read on Lords Day morning.
In connection with the remembrance of the Lord, and rightly so, but again in their proper context.
They're given to us here as an example, the perfect example of the Lord Jesus when he was here in this world.
And glorified God and finished the work that was given him to do. Then in the third chapter, as was mentioned, we have Christ as the believers object.
And that's why he says in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul was running a race, the Christian race. And what is the prize in the Christian life? The prize in the Christian life is always Christ. And then in the 4th chapter with mention, Christ is a believer strength. And that's why in the 13th verse he says I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. So it's all Christ, isn't it? And brethren, if that's what's before our souls, if it's Christ, if it's to live Christ, if it's Christ as our example.
Christ as our object, drawing on Christ as our strength and resource, we too are going to have the joy of the Lord, and we are going to have a proper testimony in the gospel.
00:20:07
Philippians is a letter of thanks for a fellowship that the apostle Paul received from the little meeting there in Philippi and.
And we enjoy too, if there's an exercise to.
Have some fellowship with particular need. And there's a reply that comes back to the meeting. Oh, thanks. And there's words of encouragement. What are rich letter of thanks this little epistle is.
But I wouldn't, you know, as we read through this epistle and we get.
The apostle in prison and he's as much as saying to the Philippians, I can't be there, you're gonna have to stand in my place, I'm not there. You're gonna have to fill my shoes. You're gonna have to be like minded in the defense of the gospel. And even higher than that, we have the path of the Lord Jesus himself. The sufferings of the cross and the hours of darkness aren't part of the subject of chapter 2.
It's this pathway that took him all the way to death, willing to give up everything for the blessing of others.
That's a pathway we're called to Those are big shoes to fill.
We know we can't ever fill them.
And we might read this epistle and say, well, I can never live up to what this epistle has, but yeah, this is normal Christianity. This is the Christian path.
He has marked that path out.
Let's never say that's too big for me. I can't walk there. I can't do that. I've got to settle for something less. Would you want to settle for a Christ that would go along with the disciples and refuse to take the children up in his arms? Would you want to settle for Christ who would refuse to talk to that woman at the well because she was a Samaritan? Would you want a Christ that didn't go all the way to the dust of death?
To give everything for your blessing.
You'd say no. Do you not want the path then that he's marked out? It's the normal path for a believer. Settle for nothing less than that path.
Apostle Paul mentions the fellowship that the brethren had with him several times in this epistle. And as you refer to brother Stephen, verse five, it with your for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. And then a little further on in chapter 2 and umm, verse 25, he says, uh, yeah, I suppose it's necessary to send unto you the faproditis, my brother and companion in labor.
And fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. And then a little further on in uh, chapter 4 and uh, verse 10. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. And now at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein you are. We're all so careful. But he lacked opportunity. And so Paul, as was mentioned, was under house arrest, and he was not able to.
Go to Philippi, he was restrained and by the Spirit of God we have this letter written as a result so we can enjoy the instruction that was given. And I think we little realize in the day that we live in that we have an enemy that will never give up. He never will give up. He's seeking to destroy the assembly, the testimony of those that are gathered to the Lord's name on the ground of the one body, and the two mar the name of Christ to destroy it.
And so Paul was under house arrest. And so he says in verse 12, perhaps one of the characteristic verses of the Epistles of the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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. So they were to work out the salvation of the assembly. And so that's why it speaks in the first verse.
He speaks to, and he addresses his comments to all the Saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons or the overseers and those that, uh, were deacons or I think they're servants in practical service for the Lord. So those that are in oversight among the people of God, even in the day that we live in, are responsible for the state of soul, for the state of the assembly and so.
00:25:20
The epistle here was written to those that were responsible, as well as to all of the Saints were individually responsible, to walk with the Lord in devotion to the cause of Christ, in devotion to Christ himself.
But those that are in oversight are particularly responsible. Let's never forget it.
Many epistles have keywords, don't they? They have key verses and they have keywords, and the keyword in Philippians is joy. In fact, it's been pointed out that joy or rejoicing is mentioned 18 times in this little epistle of four chapters. And that's a great secret, isn't it? We might wonder because you remember that at this time Paul was in prison. He was a prisoner of Jesus Christ under the auspices of the Roman Emperor.
But there was a difference and uh, Mr. Willis, when he wrote his little book about Philippians, calls it Sacrifices of Joy, quoting from the Book of Small.
And there's a great secret there, isn't there? It's often been said, as we've heard, that Flippians is the is proper Christian experience.
And, uh, it's proper Christian experience under trial. Uh, we often, uh, pray as we did this morning. And I think sometimes we have to be careful, but we often pray that, uh, we would be delivered from trial. But we have to remember that it, we have to add, as I know a brother did this morning, if it's the Lord's holy will.
I remember, uh, this was brought home to me, uh, so forcefully. I heard, I heard an interview with Chuck Colson that a number of you would remember he, uh, came down with cancer at a certain time in his life. And he said a number of his friends came to him and said, we're going to pray over you and we're going to get you healed. And, uh, some such language. And he said rather, and he said, don't do that. He said, I believe that if the Lord sends a trial like cancer in his case.
The Lord sends cancer to an unbeliever. He also sends it to a believer so the world can see the difference.
That's really the key of Philippians, isn't it? How do we handle trial? Well, proper Christian experience is that we take the trial from the Lord and to the Lord. And does the world see the difference? It certainly will if we're walking in the Lord's presence. So again, the keyword here throughout the book is joy and rejoicing. What a wonderful testimony. That's proper Christian experience.
To see the context of scripture.
But often the context in which God placed the writer when he wrote what he did.
Because I believe that God placed the writers in situations to give weight and import to what they wrote.
And when Paul wrote to the Philippians about as to joy and rejoicing, remember first of all he had been in a prison right in their city, and he had prayed and sung praises, he and Silas at midnight. When he wrote about rejoicing here, it had moral weight because these brethren could remember a time when he rejoiced in a very adverse situation right in the city of Philippi. But not only that, I've often thought of a little contrasting connection with Solomon in the Old Testament.
And Paul in the New Testament, because let's suppose for a moment that Solomon, who didn't withhold himself from any pleasure, worldly speaking, naturally speaking, was at the on the throne of Israel as at its pinnacle in the Old Testament. Let's suppose he had written rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice, you say, of course he had everything that his heart could desire, naturally speaking. But it was Solomon who wrote all his vanity and vexation of spirit.
Now let's suppose for a moment that the apostle Paul in prison had written to the Philippian brethren all his vanity and vexation of spirit. Oh, you'd say, of course he didn't have anything naturally speaking. But isn't it interesting that it's just the opposite? And so often when you contrast the writers, you see that Paul here with nothing of this world, even his freedom taken away from him, for the most part, he could write of joy and rejoicing. And this no doubt had real impact with with these believers.
00:30:00
Because, as we often say, our joy in the Lord doesn't depend on our circumstances.
But it does depend on the appreciation of Christ in our souls, and it does depend on our understanding and appreciation of the grace of God.
And what it has provided for us and all that is ahead. And I suggest that's why in the second verse, as so often is characteristic with the apostle, he speaks first of all of grace. Because, brethren, it's a sense of grace in our souls that is going to lift us above the circumstances of this world and the circumstances of life and the trials and difficulties that you and I come from in our little local assemblies.
Where we meet from week to week, and so grace meets us in our present need. But there's something else he adds here. And peace. This is the same peace that the Lord Jesus had when he passed through the circumstances of this life. And at the end of his pathway, the Lord Jesus could say, My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
In other words, he said to the disciples, and he says to us this morning.
You can walk through this world not with outward circumstances removed. There's not going to be outward peace. But he said, you can walk through this world with the same inward peace and joy that I have had in walking in the path of faith and serving my Father. You can go through the world in that same way. And so Paul says to these Philippians, you've got some troubles in the assembly.
There's opposition from without. There's the ups and downs of the wilderness journey, yes.
You may not see the removal of it all, but you have grace as your present provision.
Grace upon grace. We need more grace. He gives more grace and then he says you can walk through it all with the same peace that the Lord Jesus did.
Might just mention that bishops and deacons are offices which.
Umm, or appointments of the, uh, fossil?
Or his representative.
Their offices, not gifts, but.
We recognize those who have that position administratively in the assembly.
So I triple to see the earnest prayers of the apostle for these Philippians, every remembrance of you.
Uh, always in every prayer of mine, not just, uh, occasionally. But here he was bearing up the Saints continually to the throne of grace and.
We think of the earnest supplications of the apostle, not only for the Philippians, but for all the churches. And here he was, uh, in, in prison for four years, I think at this point.
And yet he was remembering these Saints and bearing them up in prayer, and remembering their fellowship in the Gospel, which was.
A real encouragement to him.
I think it's in Philippians or in Hebrews chapter 13 that he asked the brethren to pray for him and perhaps another passages. But uh, he says, uh, in chapter 13 of Hebrews verse 18, pray for us for we trust we have a good conscience and all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you the rather to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner. And so we know that, uh, the apostle.
Was cared for very diligently, perhaps on the part of these Philippians as much as they could. They cared practically for the apostle Paul. And, uh, so it really brings before us a spiritual application, if I could put it that way, that in the day that we live in, uh, we ought to be dedicating our resources to making sure that Paul's doctrine is propagated in the day that we live in and in defense of the gospel of that he preached now he preached what he says, uh, of.
That is my gospel and we mention this last weekend, but let's look at it in Romans chapter 16 and verse 25.
00:35:09
It's vital for us to know Paul's doctrine if we're going to defend it, and if we're going to appreciate it, we're going to enjoy it.
It says in Romans chapter 16, verse 25. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began. So we know that Paul had this, uh, twofold ministry, as it were. He preached my gospel, those things that have to do with our blessings, which are in heavenly places in Christ.
Are standing before the Lord and all those blessings and umm, so really what you might have in the epistle to the Romans, what God has done for man's blessing is brought out in Paul's gospel. What he says my gospel that but then he speaks of the mystery as well and umm of Christ in the church. Those things that were revealed by the apostle Paul by revelation and those things that God has done for his own pleasure for his own glory, his desire to glorify his son.
In those two spheres of heaven and earth. And so Paul spoke those things. The Philippians had an appreciation for the apostle and for his ministry and they supported it. And so here he speaks of, uh, in very thankful spirit for them. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making requests with joy. They did preach the gospel of the grace of God. And that's another key word, isn't it, in, in Philippians, the gospel.
And we wouldn't minimize the importance of the gospel of the grace of God. It's the foundation, but it's only the beginning of Christianity. We need to go beyond just the gospel of the grace of God and then know our position in this world as those that are heavenly citizens and to walk in the wilderness scene in a path pathway that's consistent with our heavenly calling. And so the Philippians not only had they.
Fellowship with Paul in the gospel of the grace of God, but I believe also in his ministry of upholding the truth of God and disseminating the truth among the Saints in his generation.
So, Robert, let's make this very, very practical then let's go back in our thoughts, first of all, to when things were being revived by the Spirit of God, by the work of the Lord back in England and Europe, what, 170 years ago or so, what did God do? He not only raised up men who searched the Scriptures and Paul's doctrine was again ministered, but he also raised up wealthy individuals.
Who supported the work of the Lord in the printing of good ministry and the collected writings and many of those books that are on our shelves at home? Perhaps we don't read as much as we should, but there they are that bring out Paul's doctrine and the hope of Christianity, and what is our proper standing and hope and so on.
That cost money, that cost a lot of money, and actual trust funds were set up in those days.
And some of that money is still being used to print good, solid written ministry that brings out Paul's doctrine and other portions of the Word of God too. But let's bring it down to our day. I'm thankful for those today who are exercised to take some of that ministry and not to water it down or cheapen it or change it, but to perhaps take it and put it out in a format that's conducive to to today's reader.
And I noticed some of it on the back table as brother Mark has a brother Josh has a little book table there. And there's, there's some of that good, good ministry there that costs money. It costs a lot of money to spend time putting that together to get it printed and put in book form and so on. This is very practical. And this is what Paul was Speaking of. They had been not not only had fellowship with him in the gospel in prayer. That's wonderful.
But prayer doesn't cover the bills. I'm being very, very, very plain. And so Paul rejoiced that the remembrance of these Philippians who reached into their pockets and supported the work of the Lord.
And the propagation of the truth of God in Paul's day in a very, very practical way. And these Philippians were not the wealthiest assembly in Europe at that time, where in the known world at that time, in fact, they were probably one of the poorer assemblies. But they had this joy and exercise in making sure that the apostle Paul was supported and that the ministry could go forth as God had given it.
00:40:27
Fellowship in the gospel can be in different ways.
Uh, uh, we can uphold those who, uh, preach the message in prayer. Uh, as our brother Jim said, we can, uh, also in a practical way, uh.
In the financial sphere, Health.
Visitors can have fellowship in the gospel as he mentions in the 4th chapter. I entreat the also true Yoke fellow help those women which labored with me in the gospel.
So there are different ways of having fellowship in the gospel and uh.
There will be a reward. As David said, those that went down to battle would have a reward. Those who stayed by the stuff, they would share in like manner because they were heart and soul with those who were in the forefront of the battle. So there are different ways to show fellowship in the going forth of the glad tidings. I think of the sisters.
Some brothers too, who in the background prepare, uh, thousands of, uh, laminated texts to be sent all over the world. That's fellowship in the gospel and in, in many other ways as well. It's nice to see here that they were consistent. And it says very clearly in that the end of that fifth verse, the from the first day until now, Now Paul wasn't a very popular guy. He was in prison. He was actually under house arrest. You read that in Acts chapter 28. And I believe he was under house arrest, it says in that chapter for two years.
And later on, in his second imprisoned imprisonment, he wasn't very popular either. And Vanessa Forrest, uh, haunted him down in Rome. And, uh, he's commended for it. But, uh, I just say this, that, uh, in our lives, there's consistency that the Spirit of God desires. And Paul here, umm, valued it in connection with these Philippian Saints. They just didn't, uh, uh, have fellowship with them once.
In connection with the gospel of the grace of God, or in connection with his preaching of what he calls my gospel?
Or in his revelation of those mysteries. But the unpopularity of the apostle Paul didn't, uh, sway their affections not one little bit. And they continued with steadfastness to support him. And so it's a little picture to us. I believe in the day that we live in, Christianity is not popular and it's getting increasingly unpopular. And the religious systems and the political systems of this western world are increasingly rising against in a tide of the.
Dishonor and a tide of opposition to Christianity.
And so we're living in a time when the gospel of the grace of God and Paul's doctrine, what he taught, are going to become more and more unpopular. And let's be resolved, as these Philippians were, to have convictions, not just opinions, but to be convicted of the truth of God and to be established in the truth of God.
The question that I have to ask myself, and I'd like to pass it on to each one, is how much joy and rejoicing do we do or have? We're living in a day of.
Uh, friend of mine says, uh, office of joy, that we start to lack what is joy and rejoicing. I'm glad that we're taking this up because brethren, I have a tendency not to have joy or rejoice as much as I should be. And I do pray that that we may take this too hard, that we may learn the joy of the Lord in the rejoicing.
Has told us here in verse 26 that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ.
We're losing it, brother.
Ohio.
00:45:03
Many years ago.
There was a servant of the Lord and Irene Judson who labored in Burma and it took him quite a while to learn the Burmese language.
But he still was recognized as he walked through the villages.
They would still point to him and say, that's the man with the shining face. So that joy, that inward joy was reflected on his countenance, so that too should be reflected on ours.
Just a little word, praying for the Saints at Philippi the other evening, Invesco. We were taking up Romans one and we noticed there Paul spoke of praying for the Saints at Rome as well. And he speaks of it often in his epistles, showing the importance of not only their prayers for him, but his exercise to pray for them. And it's very interesting that when Paul speaks of praying for the Saints of God.
It is usually at a time when they were going on. Well, I know we mentioned this the other night, but let me repeat what was said because I think sometimes the problem is we begin to pray for someone or an assembly when things are going badly. Maybe we hear of some physical malady with someone. We pray for them, rightly so. We hear of someone who's drifting away and not coming to the meetings, perhaps going on in something in their life.
That is not according to the Word of God. We pray for them, rightly so, but I would suggest, brethren, that we could save ourselves from many things.
If we would use prayer as a preventative measure and if we were praying for the Saints of God.
Name by name and need by need. When they're going on well, perhaps we wouldn't have to pray for them at a later date when things were not going so, so well. Because Paul understood when he wrote to an assembly where there was joy in the gospel, like here, where there was an understanding and appreciation of the truth of of being in Christ, in Ephesians, where their testimony in Romans had gone out throughout the whole known world at the time, he understood very clearly that the enemy would be right there to seek to trip that up.
Because if the enem if there's one thing the enemy wants to do, he wants to spoil our joy in the Lord, and he wants to divide and weary and scatter the Saints of God in that regard. Another key to understanding the book of Philippians is that Paul has one mindedness, 11 mindedness and oneness of spirit in view as well. Because the enemy was coming in with a wedge to divide to allow little things to spoil their joy.
To spoil their going on together as an assembly, to spoil their testimony in the gospel. And so we need to pray for one another. If you hear of a brother or sister, a young person who's going on well for the Lord, that person needs your prayer. You hear of an assembly going on, well, that assembly needs lots of prayer because rest assured, the enemy is going to be right there to seek to bring in something to hinder and to spoil that testimony. So I think it's instructive to see how often Paul uses prayer.
As a preventative measure, as he's praying for them here, that the wedge that the enemy had got, in, which he'll take up later on in the epistle, wouldn't be driven any deeper than it already had, and that it would be removed altogether.
In fact, that's what the apostle means in the second chapter 12 twelfth verse. Wherefore, my beloved, as she has always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It's really a collective thought. There, uh, no longer was the apostle with them to counsel and advise them and to help them to solve these problems. He was in prison. Now he says you as an assembly have to work this out.
This this problem that has come into the assembly and as Jim says, Satan was right there to divide. You have to work this out and dependence on the Lord, uh, with fear and trembling.
Because the enemy is going to attack and divide. That's his work. Uh, so umm.
00:50:02
This is salvation in the practical sense. Salvation here refers to the problem that that were in the assembly that, uh, the apostle was deeply concerned about that, uh.
Collectively they might be cast on the Lord to for wisdom and direction in this in these matters.
Well, regardless of the enemy's work, the Lord was going to have his way with these Philippians. And Paul recognized the sovereignty of God in that connection. And so he has begun to work. And there was a day where the Philippian jailer, he was quickened by the Spirit of God, and then he was sealed by the Spirit. He was baptized, and he was made a part of that church. And so we know that the there's going to be a future display.
Of every St. of God in that glorious scene above, and it's going to be the day of Jesus Christ, he says in verse 6.
Until the day of Jesus Christ, that's the day of his display in all of his glory before this world. And he speaks of it. I think it's in Second Thessalonians, umm, I can't remember what verse, but he speaks of the day of Christ. It may be, uh, chapter 2.
But he speaks of that day in connection with the Thessalonians as well.
Someone know where it is?
Chapter 2, verse two. Yeah, but it should be day of the Lord there, Rob. OK, so that's the day of the Lord. Yeah, yes, There's two days that are spoken of. Is that true? The day of the Lord really speaks of, uh, uh, his appearing. And it's also, umm, the day of judgment, the day of deliverance for the children of Israel or for the Jewish, uh, remnant. But when it comes to the day of Christ is his display and glory and great honor. And, uh, so we'll have all of the Saints with him.
In that day of glory. And so Paul alludes to this until the day of Jesus Christ.
He's going to finish it, and as M as mighty as the enemy is, as vicious as he is, as unprincipled as he is.
And as much trouble as he causes.
Why the God is going to have his way?
And Christ is going to have the glory and the sovereignty of God, as Mr. Kelly put it. He said that, uh, all would be a total loss in this world apart from the sovereignty of God. And so it's the sovereignty of God if any of us go on for the glory of God in this scene. But it's also our responsibility, isn't it? And so Paul alludes to this, that there is going to be a completion, there is going to be an end. And we need to have a view of the end.
So it's referred to in the end of verse ten of our chapter is the day until the day of Christ.
And as you say, it's going to be the manifestation really of those rewards that are given at the judgment seat of Christ. Because there we find, and I suppose maybe even include the marriage supper of the Lamb, because at the marriage supper of the Lamb you have the display of the results of the judgment seat of Christ. It's the righteousness of Saints. It's the bride having made herself ready. And what is the result? She just reflects Christ.
Reflects the glories of Christ. It's all for him. It's really nothing of of of self.
And So what a day that's going to be. Now, just to carry it a little further, which we don't get here, it does say in the first chapter of Second Thessalonians in verse 10, Speaking of the day of public manifestation, He's coming to be glorified in His Saints and to be had in reverence of all. He's coming to be glorified in His Saints and to be admired in all them that are about Him in that day. What is that day? That's the day of public manifestation. That's Revelation 19, where the heaven opens up.
Heaven looks up, they see Christ coming and the heavenly company with him. And rather than what a day that's going to be when we reflect fully to this world the glories of Christ, wherever the world looks, when they look up in that day, they're going to see a full reflection of Christ. But to think of it in connection with His heart and what it's going to be to be be manifest first of all to Him there in the Father's house when the judgment seat of Christ takes place, the grace of God is magnified and we see.
That it was indeed, as He says in the second chapter of our epistle, God that worked in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And it gives him all the glory and praise, and we cast our crowns back at his feet. That's really the day of Jesus Christ, is it not air?
00:55:07
Scripture speaks of that day, of the day of Christ, isn't it? Or the day of Jesus Christ. It's the day of manifestation. There are a number of days. In fact, we can, we can actually trace much, uh, dispensationally by understanding the days. We live in a day now that sometimes called man's day. And 2nd Corinthians 4, we have a reference to man's day. Paul wasn't gonna put himself under the influence of man's day. That's the world of which Satan is the God and Prince. But we live really not in man's day. That's what the world is under. We live in the day of salvation.
Uh, we've all learned that verse, uh, about, uh, the day, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And, uh, that's Speaking of soul salvation particularly, isn't it? And Scripture also speaks of an evil day. Well, we certainly live in an evil day, don't we? There's no question about that. But the time is going to come when God's going to settle accounts. He's going to bring everything, uh, in perfect display.
And, uh, he's going to take his rightful place in this world.
And that's the day of Christ, isn't it? That's the display, as we've been saying, of our measure of faithfulness or otherwise. But we should live in view of that day. The apostle Paul lived in view of that day and encourages us. Is it, we have in our verses here that we live in view of the day of Christ when it's going to be manifested? Uh, how much we prepared ourselves, how well we learned our lessons in this scene.
And of course, the day of Christ is really, we might say coterminous or takes place at the same time as the day of Christ. The day of the Lord has to do with the Lord judging the, and his enemies. It begins when he appears out of heaven and it goes on throughout the millennial period, doesn't it? And then finally we have at the end of the day of the Lord, we have what's called the day of God and that's the eternal state, isn't it? Peter speaks about that. So we have different days and it's a good study. I'd encourage others to, uh.
Enjoy it as I've tried to in the past.
Just to give some verses that would support that this day of Christ referred to here in verse 10 is the same as what our brethren have been saying. Go back to First Corinthians chapter one.
And verse eight he speaks of almost the very same thing.
Verse seven in the middle of the verse, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, you shall confirm you unto the end.
That you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now he speaks about that again to go on to 1St Corinthians, and the next time the days referred to is in chapter 3, and it brings out exactly what our brethren have been saying.
Chapter 3 and verse 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it that's the day he had been referring to, and that they would be preserved blameless until.
And now he's talking about what happens on that day, and that day he says, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall reveal, shall try every man's work of what sort it is any man's work abides which he hath built thereon he shall receive a reward. And if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet so is by fire. I just wanted to mention that to, uh, show versus that definitely established what our brethren have been saying. This is the day of manifestation.
Where there will be reward for that which is done for the Lord. That word manifested is actually used in Mr. Darby's translation in Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 10, might be good to read. Verse nine. Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9. Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him, or acceptable accepted of Him. For we must all appear, or must be, must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ.
That everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And so here we have the manifestation for the purpose of, uh, the review and the reward. And uh, we know that the Lord is going to rejoice with us. It says, then shall every man have praise of God. Those of us that know Christ as Savior will not fear the judgment seat of Christ. We're going to be glad to have those.
01:00:09
The things that we thought were done for the Lord, the motives will be examined and but all that was done for His glory according to the truth of the Word of God, in obedience to the Word of God, and according to his mind will be rewarded, will be reviewed and rewarded. But He's not going to judge us for our sins because our sins have been dealt with at the cross of Calvary. They're done, they're gone, and so they're forgiven. We're forgiven in Christ.
And that's the sense that salvation is used in Philippians, isn't it? Just what you're mentioning. It's not a question of my sins. In fact, the word sin is not even mentioned in this book. Neither is the flesh, interestingly enough, because in the the proper.
Christian experience, the Christian rises above sin and flesh. And so salvation has often been mentioned as in three tenses, individually. And then as we've been mentioning in chapter 2, it's actually collective. And of course, the individual salvation is the basis of collecting salvation, isn't it? We have to be diligent in our own personal lives first. Then they can be a help in the assembly. How important that is. But salvation here is not salvation from sins. It's not soul salvation.
But rather salvation of life have a saved life. And of course the third type of salvation is.
Now, is your salvation nearer than when you believe? That's body salvation, isn't it? So for the individual, again, we first want to become Christians, uh, our soul is saved. Then as Christians and what we have in Philippians, it's a question of our life being saved. Do we walk as a Christian? We're speaking about rewards. Rewards are not on the basis of whether we're a Christian or not. Of course we have to be a Christian, but it's a question of grades for how we did as Christians.
That's what we have in the book of Philippians. That's what's manifested at the day of Christ, isn't it? And then finally, we know someday the Lord will take us home and that our bodies will be saved. So it's good to get those things straight. I I appreciated a comment Mr. Kelly made I was reading recently. He said most times when we read about the word salvation in Scripture, it does not have to do with soul salvation. This is where so much confusion has come in, hasn't it, among dear believers as they think that it's speaking about soul salvation.
And when we read verses like we read in this this book, they say, well, see, you can lose your salvation. But that's not true at all, is it? He's speaking about salvation of our life, salvation of believers. He's writing to believers and how their lives can be saved and honor the Lord. I want to mention too, brethren, it's so important to for us to recognize that in the Millennium we're going to we are heirs of God and Co heirs with Christ.
Now, there's a twofold part to being an heir of God. Of course we have an inheritance. Now that's a spiritual inheritance. We're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places and we can enjoy that as Christians and we do. But we're looking forward to the day of manifestation when we're going to inherit this world with Christ. I know I, a brother actually told me once. He said, and I don't know why he said this, but because he'd been gathered for many years, but he said, oh, I'm not interested in prophecy.
Doesn't have anything to do with me. And I said, brother, first of all, it has everything to do with Christ. That should touch my heart first of all. But secondly, we're heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. We're going to reign over this world with Christ.
And the degree to which we appreciate that is being formed now, is that right, John?
And so this is what the secret here is, that salvation is if we care about those things, we want to be formed for it. When we go to college, we want to get an education so we can do well at our occupation. If I'm lazy and slothful and going through school, I won't be very well prepared. We don't want that to happen to us, do we? So that's what the apostle is speaking about, being prepared to take our inheritance and then finally, even for eternity.
But that inheritance goes on for 1000 years and where heirs of God and Co heirs of Christ, this world is our inheritance, this world and the heavens too. But we're going to inherit it with Christ as his bride for out for that thousand years. What a wonderful truth that is. And he's preparing us for that right now. We need to be diligent students, don't we?
And this is part of the work in us. We, we most of the time when we speak of the work of Christ, we speak of the work that was accomplished outside of us before we were born on Calvary's cross. And through faith, all the value of that work flows down to us. And we receive a position that is we are washed, we are sanctified, we are justified, and so on. But there's also, as it says in this sixth verse, being confident of this very thing.
01:05:29
That he which have begun a good work in you. And so there's the work of Christ in US and we don't want to discount this or ignore it because he's very committed, if I could put it that way, pledged and committed and engaged in the spiritual growth of every one of us. Sometimes when you visit a really aged person, say in a nursing home or something like that, and they feel like, well, I don't know why the Lord keeps me here and and you know what, what's the point? I just want to go home well.
We can't necessarily see what's going on in that person's life, but there's a purpose, and it's a continuation of that work begun perhaps in that person long ago, but that work in them still continuing. And so by the work of Christ, each believer is sanctified. We have this position that can't be taken away from or added to. But then the apostle writes to the Thessalonians and desires their sanctification. In other words, that they would practically grow.
And learn how to possess their vessels in sanctification and honor. So there are these two aspects. 1 can't be added to or taken from. One is day by day that work in our hearts. Our hearts are like the garden of the Lord and He's very interested in them. And we should be too. Not to be self self occupied, but to dig into the word, to ponder things, to meditate upon things and to process our experiences that He allows in our life.
For our spiritual profit and good with a view to that day.
#25.
Father thy name.
Of.
Children's life while I pray.
Nsnoise.
Commend yourself, Lord Jesus, we pray that we might live in light of another day, the day when you'll be glorified in this world. Thank you for this meeting that we had. We learned so much of the different types of salvation about the coming day of Christ and that we might have in our hearts just the yearning to be with the Lord Jesus and that it affects our lives down here below. We asked all these things, praying for blessing on the rest of this day in the image you as you pray, Amen.