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.
Falls on peace forever.
Away.
From.
Sun.
From the.
Luke, chapter 10.
And verse 38 when it came now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, and she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word.
Verse 42.
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Should we ask the Lord's help from reading the Scriptures?
I'd like to suggest Philippians could take a chapter up in each reading.
I.
You start just the first chapter.
Philippians chapter one.
Beginning of verse one.
The servants of Jesus Christ to all the Saints in Christ Jesus, which are a 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 for joy.
For your fellowship.
In the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is meant for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, in as much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers 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 knowledge and in all judgment, and you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and with our fans until 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 you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. So that 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.
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 it pretends 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 as always, so now also price shall be magnified in my body.
00:05:24
Whether it be by life or by death. For to live. 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 what 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.
Let me 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 we saw in me.
And now here to be in me.
I don't believe the word sin is mentioned in this book.
Joy is mentioned many times and it's really the normal Christian life that we have in Philippians and.
And.
We learn a lot about him.
Of the Lord Himself, especially in the second chapter.
It was a letter of acknowledgment. That's what really caused the writing of it, LED, of course, by the Spirit of God. The Philippians had sent fellowship to him by the hand of Epaphroditus, and he's writing this letter of acknowledgement to the Saints for the fellowship and the funds that they had given to him. And in doing it, he has a number of reasons, a number of things he touches on in the epistle.
The first chapter, as we had read to us, he, he thanks them for their generosity, verse 5 and so on, and he also gives them an update as to the circumstances that he was in. The Lord had put him in, and then he sucked at the end of the chapter to encourage him to carry on in the face of adversity.
He gets back to thanking them in the 4th chapter for their gift to him.
But at the same time, as he gives this update us to his condition, and he opens up his heart to them and gives them his desires, he tells them of his desires and their pure motives. And as you say, it's normal Christian living that he really describes.
Might be valuable to note also that the apostle.
Conscious of all his authority in that sphere being specially called, he speaks as a Christian here and.
What was possible for him is possible for us for certain great privileges he had as an apostle, which we do not have of course, but as a Christian.
As the object before him, Christ as his life in our first chapter and patterned in the second chapter, speaking as a believer, normal Christianity with Christ as the object before him and before us. I remember many years ago it was at a Toronto conference that our dear brother made the remark, Happiness is a state of soul, not a question of circumstances.
00:10:28
Having heard that for the first time.
It took special notice of it, kind of startled. But then as we look at this beautiful 4 chapters, just in general, here we find the apostle Paul in prison. Circumstances were not very, very good, were they? And yet I've counted perhaps some can find more 19 times in four chapters that he speaks of joy, gladness, rejoicing.
And so on. But in that condition of things, it says something very special to our our hearts about the preciousness of Christ.
That in circumstances like this, he found that which fully met his need. Old brother, what a word you know, I think of the how easy it is for us. Maybe we read these things, but to really experience.
That through closeness to Christ.
Christ is everything and in all, isn't it? It says in Colossians and we certainly find that here in this vessel. I just like to say continuing on from John's remarks in the first chapter, you have Christ our life and that's in verse 21. He says for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain to live in such a way that you can save to die.
Me right now with the game. That's the way the apostle lived because Christ was his life. It wasn't his own interests, it was the Lord Jesus Christ chapter 2 Pat mentioned that if Christ our example verse five. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
ETC. So this is the example we have before us to imitate Chapter 3. Christ our object.
Verse.
13 and 14 He says, I cannot knock myself to have apprehended this one thing I do for getting those things which are behind, and reaching forth into those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.
In Christ Jesus Christ as the object to which he was pressing towards.
The end of chapter 3, Christ our hope, verse 20 for our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change.
Our body of humiliation.
Chapter 4.
Christ our strength, verse 13.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. So it's Christ is everything brethren, and those are things we learn. I hope it's just not a pat little saying that we use when we say Christ is everything. I trust it is something that we are learning practically in our lives as we go on trust. I can say I've learned in the Lord Jesus.
Really, truly, He is everything and in the heavens glory, He's going to be the center of it all. And if our minds and our hearts are not set in that direction, now brethren, we've got to learn that the Lord passes us through trials so that we can know there is a person, a man in the glory of God who is everything. Everything to God. He's going to be everything to us as well.
Another way to breakdown these chapters would be to say that the 1St chapter is Christ, our motive.
2nd chapter Christ our model. Third chapter, Christ our mark.
4th chapter, Christ, our might, and each of these things that I speak of are really solutions, shall we say, to the circumstances that he speaks of in each of the chapters? And that first chapter you see that he's in a circumstance that is not favorable, but because Christ was his motive, he rose above it and rejoiced. The 2nd chapter, he speaks about the inroads of the enemy to divide the Saints.
00:15:26
And he brings in the solution there as being Christ, the model.
We'll get that when we come to that next meeting in the third chapter. There is a danger of legality and he brings in the solution there. It's Christ, the mark on high.
The 4th chapter he speaks about the circumstances that we are facing, the life, each one of us, and there he shows that he's superior to it all because he says Christ is his might.
Christ, the motive, the model, the mark and our might. That's normal Christian living.
And that first verse of our first chapter.
Has something mentioned there? It's not found in any other epistle, and that is with the bishops and deacons. I think that's put in there because this is normal Christianity that you haven't Philippines and that brings them in too.
Explain. Check what that means, the bishops and the deacons.
Well, a Bishop is an overseer. I like that word better. They he overseas the condition of the Saints locally. A gift is something that is used throughout the whole body. But a but a Bishop and a Deacon Bishop looks after the spiritual needs of the Saints and the deep and after the material needs of the Saints. And this is this is a local situation and it it's here in Philippians, I believe, because those things were not missing. They were they were active in, in that assembly.
Suppose we could say that it really is the essence of Christianity. There's a lot of forms and ceremonies around and rituals and so on. And the Apostle Paul was was very well.
Instructed in all those requirements according to the law, as we have in chapter three, He was at the top of the ladder of legal righteousness. But that's not Christianity. Christianity is the manifestation of the life of Christ.
In the believer, not only possible for an apostle, but possible for everyone of us. I mean, we have that potential, you might say, to manifest. We have the same life as the apostle Paul had and that's what Christianity is. It's not forms and ceremonies and.
Rituals, but it is the manifestation of Christ's life in the believer. That's in fact the meaning of that verse. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit and so on. We know that Scripture, that is not the mystery of God there. It's the the mystery of godliness. That is what is the secret of godliness in the life of the believer. It's the manifestation of Christ in his walk, in his ways, in his pathway.
We have in our in our chapter here.
The verse in Isaiah chapter 33 even in the Old Testament. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He will save us. You want to elaborate on that?
I think it speaks for itself, Jeff. Thank you.
There's a scripture in Proverbs 27 I'd like to bring out in connection with the state, as our brother Larry mentioned, that what is the great thrust of the book of Philippians is conduct and state of soul. It isn't outlining the great truths that we have in Ephesians and Colossians where fallen upon his apostleship, nor is it the great and grievous corrective measures necessary in Corinthians or Galatians, whereas apostleship is necessary, but there was this emphasis on the state of the assembly.
In Proverbs chapter 27.
In verse 23.
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy hers. For riches are not forever, and duck the crown endure to every generation.
00:20:03
Well, if I can put it this way, that there was a day when the Church of God was endowed with great riches.
As endowed with the crown. But the state of things has come in today. Where?
There is much failure and there is much ruin and there is much that has been lost, and certainly in terms of outward testimony of power in that. But the word is that to look, to know the state of life locks. And so perhaps sometimes we think of the overseers or deacons as an official position, but I believe as we see it in the context here, the real burden of oversight in the assembly is to look after the state of the people of God as to their conduct and as to their state. Turn over to the second chapter just for a verse.
Her Paul references Timothy in verse 20.
For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state or to read it in the new translation. For I have no one like minded who will care with genuine feeling how you get on.
This is more than understanding the truth of Ephesians or the great truths of Christianity. This has to do with the state of soul and how we are getting on. And so how intensely practical the book of Philippians is that were brought here to our conduct as it would suggest in verse 27 that our conversation or our conduct because it becometh the gospel of Christ and then the state. Perhaps there is a danger sometimes emphasize so much on the official side of things, the positive side of things.
So we neglect is all important question of state of soul, which is answered so fully in this book. It's Christ himself that's the portion for the pathway.
It's a, it's interesting the way it starts. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, doesn't write as an apostle, but as a servant, other servants. And there were overseas at Sears and deacons or ministers take care of their needs locally. And and that's what we have today, isn't it? It's a, we don't have apostles with us anymore, but we have those that can carry out the function that the apostles.
Bring before us in this wonderful epistle.
All his epistles begin with grace and peace, don't they? Grace be unto you, and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's nice that he would address them as servants of Jesus Christ rather than Speaking of himself in his official capacity as the apostle Paul, because in the epistle he's going to speak of some things that he enjoyed and, and the state that you see him in and, and just rejoicing, one might be inclined to say, oh, but he's an apostle. That's why he's able to do that. But I'm just an average Christian.
So he takes that away, and he speaks not as an apostle, but as a bondsman of Jesus Christ.
Just like you and I, and it's something that each one of us should be able to, if we walk in communion with the Lord to enjoy, we should be, as you said at the beginning, it is normal Christianity, something that every one of us should be able to walk in and live in and enjoy. So he can include with himself in that first verse, Timotheus, all in Timotheus. It's in line with what you're saying. That's good.
In the second chapter, he in verse seven says speaks of the Lord Jesus. He made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant or of a slave, and was made in the likeness of men. And so the apostle Paul. There's another sweet theme that runs through the book of Philippians and that is submission. And there was no man like the Lord Jesus who submitted perfectly to the will of his Father. And we find that in Acts chapter 20 that they ceased to to speak with him and said that the will of the Lord be done.
And so here we find in the book of Philippians that the apostle Paul with Christ as his object, bright and fair to fill and satisfy the heart, submits to the circumstances that the Lord has placed him in. And there's a special sweetness in it, because he says in verse 12 of our chapter. But I would that you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. And so it is normal Christianity to submit to the circumstances that the Lord places us in. And perhaps.
There's a course of disobedience or self will and there are results that come out, but the Lord is sovereign and he overrules in it. And in the Apostle Pauls life it brought out a sweetness in this epistle.
00:25:10
Here is the great apostle in prison and yet he says in this last chapter he says I'd have there was number other church that ministered to me and yet he tells them that it wasn't quite sufficient.
But he didn't blame them for that. But.
This is the only one that actually ministered to them as an assembly. And that's a wonderful gift, isn't it? The gift of giving.
God has given the greatest gift that could be given, and then the Lord in turn he he gives the Holy Spirit to us.
You can't go beyond that in giving. You can't outgive. God can.
The first mention of joy is in verses 4:00 and 5:00.
And he speaks of what gave him joy, and he says always in every prayer of mine for you all making requests with joy for your fellowship, It should be because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. That's a, shall we say, a veiled reference to that which they had sent to him fellowship. And it was a joy to his heart to see the Saints communicating with them and valuing what he had from God.
And he was cheered by it. And it is nice to see the Saints having fellowship with the gospel.
It's important, it's normal that we should have an interest in the gospel. We say we just want to get on with the truth, leave the gospel to those gospel preachers. That's a dangerous idea. We should all have a healthy interest in the gospel and the fellowship with it. Even if we ourselves cannot maybe get into the to the mission field, we can in some way have fellowship with those who are there, and that's normal Christian living.
It's interesting how often he mentions the gospel in this first chapter.
Verse 5, like you mentioned the fellowship in the gospel. Verse 7, the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
Verse 12. The furtherance of the Gospel.
In verse 17 he speaks of the defense of the gospel. In verse 27 it's mentioned already. Let your conversation or your manner of life be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, That whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, that one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
Really is a helpful thing to keep a vivid gospel focus. Seems to me, brethren, when we lose that in our local assemblies.
A focus in the gospel to those that are lost around us.
That we sometimes start picking on each other. The gospel puts us all on one front and we need to be exercised in it. Maybe all cannot participate in the same way. Still, there is the fellowship of the gospel, it seems to me. I just suggested that when I see their active interest in the gospel meeting souls where they are in this world.
In all their problems. And let me tell you, we live in a country that is getting more and more bankrupt of scriptural truth and principles. Oh, how important it is to know where we stand in relation to it. And if we don't have that focus and activity in the gospel, we tend to lose that. Brethren, let's be exercised at reaching out in the gospel.
An assembly that has no gospel outreach is not a normal assembly.
It's a strong statement, but I believe that's what Philippians is teaching us.
You know, there's nothing that puts us together to stand together on the street corner and preach or.
Go to a hospital and minister and pass out tracts and sing the hymns and so on. I think of, and I hate to even repeat it, I I'm so opposed to this thought that the brethren stand for the truth of the church and we leave the rest of the gospel. We leave that to the others. That's wrong, isn't it?
That's that's, that's a bad state of soul, isn't it? We should all be gospel minded as well as truth minded of the assembly. They all go together.
00:30:10
Another Hale used to say that. Excuse me, Mr. Hale used to say that. There wasn't.
If there wasn't gospel activity in the assembly, there wasn't blessing in the assembly.
I think that we can all fill that place.
Although we may not be.
Especially gifted as an evangelist, we can all be evangelically minded and there's different ways of spreading the gospel and having fellowship in the gospel. Perhaps sometimes it's behind the scenes, but as our brother mentioned, a healthy Christian is interested in reaching others and if we ever get tired of the gospel, there's something wrong because the gospel is the.
Revelation of the heart of God to us.
In our deep need, and there are thousands, 1,000,000 out there who are on the road to a lost eternity. You don't have to be a member of the fire department of Burbank in order to knock at the door and get someone out of danger. So we all have that privilege and that and that responsibility too.
I was just thinking that our brother mentioned a little earlier about the gentle rebuke that was given in in chapter four of them having withheld.
The giving.
It's an evidence of spiritual growth, isn't it? And so when the giving is beginning to hold back, it's, it's, it's the beginning of noticing that the Spirit of God is not working in the fullness of that liberty.
And so that's the joy that's really connected here, isn't it, that he rejoices and that there's growth in their souls and that they're having fellowship with him in the work, and it's a work of the Spirit of God. So that's the reason for the rebuke, I think is because of his concern that that could be wavering a little bit.
If I may just go back to the Gospel, I was thinking how this may sound fundamental, but often when one thing of the gospel we are familiar with preaching Christ crucified.
When we talked to other Christians, perhaps they don't feel that is important. The gospel is the love of God. But really we have to keep that in mind that we are the preach that Jesus came into the world as the Son of God to save sinners. And then with the preach that one who was crucified on the cross, the one that not only did he died on the cross, but there is also the resurrection on that cross. That is the gospel, isn't it?
Paul probably had the longest prayer list of any of the early Christians. He says always verse 4, every prayer of mine for you all to give thanks, make a request with joy. This was just one assembly. One group of Saints prayed for them all.
Plenty to pray for.
Probably a thread bar, a threadbare remark, but.
We have often been told that there is no gift of prayer.
And it's true.
We do have gifts in the Church of God that we recognize has given to us from an ascended Christ in the glory. But prayer is not a gift you don't want. That is the privilege of every young brother in the.
An assembly to.
Express their dependence on the Lord and confidence. It doesn't have to be long and.
Flowery or anything like that. It's just the expression of.
Confidence in the Lord and bearing one another up to the throne of grace. So.
We need to remember that prayer is the very lifeline of the believer. Sometimes the prayer meeting is the most poorly attended of all meetings, but I think in the early days when they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers, there was just as many present at the prayer meeting as there were at the breaking of bread. And that is really the one of the most important meetings in the assembly.
00:35:21
In fact, it's a meeting in which the Lord has told us He is present, present by His Spirit in the midst. We could take up quite a subject there, couldn't we? To consider how much Scripture has to say to us about prayer. I was thinking of the.
Ephesians chapter 6.
Just for a moment here.
Where we have the armor of God. Just one little thought here that the the 7th one mentioned.
Is in verse 18 praying always?
With all prayer and supplication in the Spirit washing thereunto, with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints, how good it is that we can pray for one another. So I prayed to the God of heaven, Nehemiah said when he was in.
A very serious position. And think of a little poem too.
Prayer or quote Prayer is the heart's sincere desire, utter, unexpressed. When can we pray? Praying always be not weary in well doing for a due season. Ye shall reap if you faint not. But may we be encouraged to pray for one another? What a blessed thing it is to know that your brethren are praying for you. And may we pray for one another, for one another's blessing.
And to think of the to whom we pray, that's the significant thing, isn't it? The one who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. Thankful we had a little prayer meeting this morning before this one.
And I like to say what John said about the younger brother and praying in the affair, me. And that's a good place to start taking part in meetings, in the prayer meeting, be exercised about it. And that saying, that doesn't mean that our sisters don't pray in the prayer meeting. They don't pray out loud, but they pray as well. It's assembly prayer and they're praying when the brother says Amen at the end of his prayer.
We should be following that. We should say Amen, the end. And that is we all have prayed. We're all included in that. Prayer doesn't mean that the sisters take part in an audible fashion, but it's that they are praying just as much as the brothers. So it's a state of soul that we need to be exercised in.
And on a practical notice, we could just add this as well. Sometimes as a younger brother, it may be difficult to open our mouth. And the assembly prayer meeting, Well, specifically for the younger brother, perhaps a good way to start is to be at the prayer meeting before the gospel. You know, sometimes in our local gospel means we come and there may be, there's two or three brothers there. There's a lot more at the gospel meeting. Well, if you say I'm not a gospel preacher, but you can come to the prayer for the gospel and add your Amen. We only come when we're going to give the word. Are we there praying for our brethren?
I've shared this with some brother and justice recently, but you'll forgive me. About 25 years ago, we're at this very conference in a different locality and there was a group of us younger brother and listening to our brother Albert Heyho speak to us, suddenly looked at his clock and he said, excuse me, it's time for the prayer for the gospel meeting. He says if I expect my brother to pray for me, but I preach the gospel, I'm going to be there praying for them.
When they preach the gospel, but just a little word of encouragement for us. You're on your knees. No one's looking at you there. You're just there with a few brother and it's AI believe a nice way in which younger brethren can begin to open their mouth in public. An audible address to God in prayer and specifically that prayer meeting is designed for the furtherance of the gospel.
There's a heavenly singing, the children's hymn book, whisper prayer in the morning. Doesn't have to be on the top of a mountaintop or a rooftop.
00:40:06
His ears are open to hear that whisper.
I like Romans chapter 16, You know, in a practical way. The apostle Paul as an example spoke and mentioned so many names. He speaks of Phoebe in verse one and then he speaks of equivalent Priscilla in verse three. And then he mentioned something about them empanadas of IKEA and then Mary in verse six. We could go on and on. And so he prayed for them individually and how nice it is.
To hear the Saints pray for one another individually and ask the Lord for grace, for strength, for preservation. And not only for those that are going on well, but for those, I should say, not only for those that are not going on well, but for those that are going on well too, that there might be just a preservation. Because we have an enemy that desires to destroy the fruit that is Christ. He destroys. He's a destroyer. And so the apostle Paul, I believe it says here that I thank God.
Upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine, making mine for you all, making requests with joy. And so I believe he spoke individually of each one and what particular joy they were to his own heart. And so it's nice sometimes we pray for all of the brethren in the Central America or something like that. I like it when there's a specific assembly, perhaps mentioned Santiago and our dear brethren there and, and perhaps an individual this morning.
Prayed for. So we need to pray for one another individually, not just a broad brush of approach as it were. And so I don't believe that this is how the apostle prayed. He prayed for them individually. There may be someone here who has prayed for years.
For their children for example, or for some loved one and they would say there doesn't seem to be any answer.
To that prayer.
Thinking of specific cases.
That I know about, and yet I know a story that was so encouraging of a young man who had come to know the Lord and none of the family were saved, but he started praying and one after another got saved, except for his sister, who was, She would tell you she's the intellectual type and she had a lot of arguments as to questions about the things of God.
He prayed for, I believe as I remember the story for 37 years and there seemed to be no answer and he said that I it got to the point where I prayed, perhaps just out of habit. One day she got a he got a phone call.
And she said I've come to know Jesus as my savior.
And so may we continue in prayer, dear brother, say this to myself.
Well, they'll continue because they're going to be the the object of the attack of Satan. If you're going on well, he's going to try to change that. And they need our prayers just as much, maybe even more. Isn't that what his prayer here is? He's he's really supplicating. It's earnest prayer. So he's supplicating for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
Being confident of this very thing that he that would be the spirit which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ as the day of judgment. Isn't it where God would give reward Christ would give rewards even that this is it's it's a little bit different than than what's presented here in verse seven. It's I believe it should be I'll stand corrected where where I might make a mistake, but it should be even as it is right or righteous.
For me to think this of you all, because ye have me in your heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and all confirmation of the gospel, ye all are participators of my grace. And so he's, he's giving thanks for the part that they have played and, and their exercise and being a help in the gospel, but he's really earnestly praying that those that are going on might continue on.
Get a taste of that further down, don't we in verse 910 and verse 11. He explained that in a little bit more details because let's let's read that first verse nine he said, and this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment that he may approve things that are excellent that you may be sincere and with our fans the day of till the day of Christ.
00:45:13
Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Now we look at it carefully. He actually, I believe mentioned at least seven different incidents or seven things here. You start by saying that your love may abound. I believe that's something that we've been talking about here, isn't it? That our love may abound. And then he said the second thing here is that.
More in knowledge, what kind of knowledge do we need? We need the knowledge of the Word of God, do we not? And then in all judgment or intelligence, perhaps that would be the third thing that he was in his prayer. And then the fourth thing he mentioned here in verse 10 is that he may approve things that are excellent. And then what else do you say in verse five? That we are to be sincere.
Sincere.
And without a fence till the day of Christ, and then just for gravity. Verse 11 and we're told two to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. And then the 7th one he ended up with by saying all this is because it is unto the glory and praise of God.
Was a manifestation of the divine life in the apostle the divine nature, wasn't it? And we have the same life, we have the very life of Christ. We also have the old nature which needs to be continually kept in the place of death so that it doesn't manifest itself and hinder the the fruits of righteousness mentioned here. But.
Every Christian has all these graces within him, but they're not always developed.
And if we walk in obedience and in self judgment, these fruits of righteousness will surely be manifest to the praise and glory of God. We need discernment, however, because as we all know, there's certain believers that we just cannot walk within practical fellowship. We love them in the Lord, but we meet them every day. Or perhaps those who have been in fellowship with us at one time.
And it's a great grief to us that we can no longer walk with them. We love them. But.
Holiness becomes God's house and assembly principles have been set aside and we we cannot walk with them as we would desire. So we need that discernment that our love may be manifest according to the mind of God.
We need to keep moving if we're going to get through this chapter, do you think?
Keep going.
Verse 12.
For work, he speaks about the.
Things that had happened unto him. We know that Paul was in prison when he was.
A In Philippi, actually the assembly really started by the Apostle Paul's being in prison.
The earthquake that took place and the jailer came out a believing man so.
At this time when he writes this epistle, he is also in prison. You know, they might have lamented that we have brethren that are in prison today in many countries of the world for the gospel sake.
Is that a blow against the gospel? He's saying no. Those things have turned to the furtherance of the gospel. It is interesting to listen to the testimonies you hear from China today, brethren, and the severe persecution that believers have been submitted to, But the result has been that the gospel is growing.
Far, far more than in the Western countries.
And so the persecution, imprisonment that believers suffer is not a blow against the gospel, it's for the furtherance of the gospel. And he says in verse 13, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and all other places.
00:50:19
There were high men of authority that heard the gospel through the Apostle Paul.
Being a prisoner beautiful in chapter 26 the acts to see how he stands and gives that discourse before agrippa and.
As the freest man in that company, those high up authorities that had under their commands so many people, the freest man was that man that was wearing those chains on him. Tremendous testimony for the gospel. Sometimes we think that we don't like to suffer the brethren. Sometimes suffering is the way that the gospel gets out.
And is furthered.
Isn't it lovely, brother? I was just thinking of these words here. Contrary to the reasoning of man in verse 14 and many of the brethren of the Lord waxing confident by my bonds, it didn't intimidate them. It made them wax confidence. Why?
Those bonds spoke of something that the apostle had learned of value. He learned to value Christ.
The apostle tells Timothy that the gospel preacher may be bound, but the word of God is not bound. God will not be frustrated in his purposes of love and grace by circumstances, will he?
It's nice to see from verse 12 on through it, perhaps the end of the first chapter that.
The apostle has this great care for the Philippians. Again, this is normal Christianity. He is concerned that they don't get discouraged by the fact that perhaps we could say the leading proponent of the gospel is now incarcerated and that they would be wanting to give up because Paul, the one who had encouraged them and so on for so many years, was now not able to get around to the various assemblies.
And so you find him here telling them that let not that be the case, because God is using the strange circumstance that He was in for the furtherance of the gospel. And it reminds me of that verse in Psalm 76 that says He hath made the wrath of man to praise him. God can take circumstances where man may try to stop the work of God, and it only turns out for the furtherance of it. And so you see here the Spirit of Christ and the apostle caring for the Philippians, that they would not be discouraged even though he was.
In these restricted circumstances, I say that the Spirit of Christ, because if you turn over to Psalm 69, you see the Lord Jesus praying on the cross, and you have that similar thought in Psalm 69 and verse six. Praise to God. And he says, let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek thee be confounded from my sake. O God of Israel, isn't this amazing? Lord Jesus was dying on the cross.
And here he was concerned about the little flock that had followed him, that they would not be stumbled by what had happened.
He was concerned for them and he didn't want them to get stumbled or turned out of the way.
Because of what was happening and they didn't understand it. And so we see the beautiful spirit of the apostle here. So to put that to rest, you find him Speaking of the positive things that happened.
There in Rome, where he was in prison, even to the point where summoned Caesar's Palace or Caesar's Court were getting saved.
There were others through four verse 12, it says.
For the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two Ed sword, piercing even through the dividing defender of soul and spirit, and of the joints and morals, and he is a discerner of the thoughts and intense of the heart.
There were others who were preaching the gospel in another way.
And verse 15 of envy and strife, some of goodwill.
00:55:05
But one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds.
The other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel, What then, Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, and will rejoice. What a beautiful spirit of self abnegation there was in the apostle Paul, not thinking of himself, but that Christ was preached. O brethren, we should rejoice to hear Christ preach.
Must say, sometimes you see it preached in ways you don't think about.
I was walking through the main place of Cochabamba, Bolivia one time and there was a group of Christians out of there. They were doing some kind of they had a man on a chain. They were making an illustration out of him and and he was supposedly being auctioned off.
And then at the end of the show part, why this girl comes out, young sister and the Lord, I take it, and she stands up. She didn't have her head covered. She would have been ordered, but she preached. Let me tell you, it was a clear message.
I had to rejoice in hearing the clarity of the message that was going to those people. It wasn't the right order.
But I have to leave that with the Lord.
But I did rejoice in hearing Christ preached. Oh brethren, thank God Christ is preached in any way that He has preached that message. There is only one hope for lost souls in this world. It is the person of Christ, faith in Him that saves the soul.
So the apostle Paul could rejoice that Christ was priest in any way that he was preached.
Moses went back into the camp, as we know from the Old Testament to account there. Joshua was not encouraged to do that. He remained outside of the the defiled system. But we surely can see that God is working apart from the gathered Saints in the Gospel we we certainly acknowledge this. The Spirit of God is in the House of God.
We are not the only part of the House of God, and he is working. And the apostle could rejoice. He wasn't circumscribed with his own activity. But if Christ was proclaimed and souls received blessing, he rejoiced and so should we, although we don't.
Associate ourselves with them and go along with the system they are connected with.
But we can stand with them and support them as our brother mentioned here in telling forth the glad tidings.
What is verse 19 mean?
I read it in Darby's. It says For I know that this shall turn out for me to salvation through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Is he referring to his being released from prison?
Anyone have a thought on that?
She'll turn out for me to salvation, he says.
What's viewed as salvation at the end of the road, isn't it? But it's, I think I, I was going to ask actually that question because I understand he's not really asking that you pray to, to help me get out of prison, but that through the work and, and through prayer and the supplication of this, I mean, the supply of the spirit of, of Jesus Christ, it's, it's viewed as salvation at the end of the road. And it's, to me, it's been rather a little bit of a difficult thing to see clearly. And I was going to ask.
Exactly how does it fit in this context?
But verses 24 and 25 help in this respect.
01:00:01
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. For having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all.
For your furtherance and joy of faith.
That's very helpful. Yeah. I think that in the measure that Christ was preached.
Even those who opposed in an outward way of the apostle, but preaching Christ, the result would be so evident that they would come to the point where they say this man, we should release him. And I think it does have reference to that probably.
But he says in verse.
Through 23 says I'm in a straight betwixt 2 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. He's looking again. He's looking past what he might want for himself to what his presence remaining here would be for the Saints.
He was very unselfish man.
Always thinking of others and not of himself.
It's because he had Christ before his soul. That's what does that.
To a person because he was an insolent, overbearing man before. What a transformation. But I love the verse 20 here, brother, and I think there's so much to be said here. According to my Ernest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness as always. So now also Christ may be magnified in my body.
Whether it be by life or by death. In other words, he's saying it really isn't that important whether I live or whether I die. The thing that is important is that Christ be magnified. Oh, what a beautiful desire that we should have as well. Brethren, living or dying, This world is very.
Quickly passing, how many lit years can we live? Live up to? Some get up to 100, like brother Dave's father got up to 106. Was that right, Dave? That's right. And but what's 106 years in comparison with God's eternal day? I mean, it goes so tremendously fast. What is important? It's not how long we live or when we die, what is important.
Is that Christ the magnified? And brethren, the more Christ is magnified, you know, you put a magnifying glass. When I worked at Bible Truth Publishers, I noticed that sometimes those that do printing, they put a magnifying glass on the printing that they've done and it shows immediately the defects there. Are there anybody put a magnifying glass on any human being in this room, you're going to see defects. You put a magnifying glass on the Lord Jesus.
You will only see perfection. Oh, what a wonderful thing to have him magnified. And the Lord grant that desire in US. Brethren, there's not a desire to magnify any human instrument that that Christ be magnified.
So that he could say to me to live is Christ, to die is gain. It really is that way for a person who lives with Christ before his soul, to die is gain. If you have an object to earn $1,000,000, have $1,000,000 in your bank account, you get up to 500,000.
And death meets you, takes you away. You're not going to gain your objective. That would be lost to you.
Live in such a way that if death comes at any moment, it can only be gained to you. That was the way it was for the Apostle Paul.
I'd say what is the secret of the Apostle Paul's strength and all that he accomplished? I think verse 19 is one of the answers to that. It's just dependence. It's just dependence. Well, he was a strong mind, yet a good mind, and he was an energetic man. Is that what carried him through? No, it's dependence. So it is with us. He says in verse 20 he didn't want to be ashamed. Here is a man with all, you might say, the tools.
01:05:12
He could have been ashamed if he had not been in a place of dependence in that's prayer. And he's depending too on his brethren for this, their prayers for him, and so are we.
If we could just keep in mind that to live is Christ. To live we live Christ.
That's right now ties going up there, but we can live Christ down here.
To give us further example in the remaining of the chapters, actually we'll find out often when he put things in there and put them in point forms and often in seven points. We'll find that in verses 26 to to the end of the chapter, there is 7 things that we should live for Christ for verse 26, we find that he said that you're rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ or how precious we can live with that being able to think of that that are rejoicing.
Not just rejoicing, but here it says be more abundant in Jesus Christ.
For me by my coming to you again. And then in verse 27 it says that let your conversation. So here's our walk being mentioned there only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent. I may hear of your affairs. Now then he mentioned the third thing here, what he wants to hear about our affair.
That you want to hear here is this, that ye stand fast in one spirit. And then it goes on the fourth thing here, with one mind striving together for the face of the gospel, And to go on and mention the fifth thing in verse 28. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them in evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation.
And that of God. And then at the end of verse 29, perhaps I read that verse. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, and then one more point here in that latter part of that verse, but also to suffer for His sake.
Just before we go on, I'd like to mention verse 23. There I am in a straight betwixt to the words. He was in a place where two things, two possibilities were before him.
Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is.
Far better.
I don't think there's any question anybody's mind, but that is far better. There's quite a few brethren that have gone to be with the Lord since last conference here.
They are far better.
Scripture doesn't say a whole lot about that state, but here is one thing that is said about those that have departed.
Far better.
So there were two things to stay or to depart and the apostle seemingly even though he recognized it and his heart was drawn in that direction to depart. He says in verse 24, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. So in a certain way in his fellowship with the Lord, he had a sense in his soul that he was going to abide. Verse 25 and having.
This confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. What is the purpose of standing here any longer? Is there something to be gained?
Rather than to be a blessing to others, should be, if there's a need, a particular need in souls that are around us, there should be a desire to be a blessing to them in any way possible.
01:10:06
And that is true of each one of us. Brethren, the Lord has left you here for a little while longer. Perhaps you've been in an accident and the Lord allowed you to be spared. Why did He spare you? He has a purpose in your being spared, not to live for your own advantage, but to live for the blessing of others. So the apostle Paul wasn't thinking about his own benefit, but the benefit of the Philippine believers.
If he had been taken home much earlier, we wouldn't have Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Timothy wouldn't have those epistles. So he remained that he might be a blessing to all the Saints, and we're profiting from that right now.
So it was better, but it wasn't best.
The best is in chapter 3.
The last two verses last verse last two verses I suppose we could say we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change your vile body or body of humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body or body of glory according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself. What is best is the glorified state. That's what we're hoping that's what we're looking for. But if it is the will of God that.
One should be called through the article of death into what we might call the separate state of the unclothed state.
They are with Christ and it is far better, but the best is yet to come. Eric Smith used to put it to us in those simple words.
In, with and like. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. That's the gospel, which in that new creation in Christ those have departed as Merle and brother Bill.
Or with Christ, but that's not the best.
Like Christ, we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That's the best.
And every Christian has that course in a way, in Christ first, some good to be with Christ before he comes. And it doesn't matter. We'll be like Christ, they'll be like Christ. There's no time for those who have been called to heaven.
Abel doesn't know he's been dead for 6000 years. I'm sure that there is no time there in the heaven.
In width and light.
What a comfort though for those who have been left behind now to be able to say that those that have departed.
Are far better we we live here in this world, brethren, and we enjoy natural relationships and they are formed, they are made of God and they when they are severed, we feel it. That is proper, but to realize that they are far better. What a comfort.
Into I often think of it, if we would see an experience, their present portion, we could never really wish them back. It's far better where they are now.
2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6 knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
You're willing rather to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord.
Some would teach us that the souls of believers who die are unconscious.
How could that be far better?
The apostle here was torn between two desires. One was to remain and serve the Lord and his people. That was a joy to his heart, and the other was to go to be with Christ, and that was far better. So how could that be? The sleeping of the soul, the unconsciousness of the believer who's gone on before?
There's something that should be said in verse 27 before we get to the end, brethren.
Let your conversation or your manner of life be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.
Our lives should commend the gospel. Sometimes that is not so. We act in such a way that we are hindered in giving out the gospel. That is not proper. Our lives should commend the gospel.
01:15:10
Still remember the story I heard of a sister, not in this section of the country someplace else, but she was a very timid person and did not speak much to people. But one day somebody else that worked in the office with her came to her and said, you have something that I want.
What is it you have? And she was able to give her the gospel, and that person was saved is another secretary. So our lives can commend the gospel. And that's the way it should be. Brethren, we should realize that not only what we say, what we say is important, but what we do is.
A preaching of the Gospel.
Both areas in Gideon, he had two things he used in his war. One was a trumpet and the other was a lighted torch in the earthen vessel. That is both areas. Not only what we say, that's the trumpet, but what we are, we should be a lighted torch for Christ. It's a solemn thing, isn't it, when we've heard this little expression many times?
Your actions speak so loud I can't hear what you say. I was thinking about that in connection with the Word to my own conscience here too, very much. Driving along in a car with a nice gospel verse on the back. I better drive in a way that would be becoming to the gospel and all of our actions, how they do things. Our lives are epistles, known and read of all men.
I wanted to ask a question here if we have a moment. I don't I say our time is up, but I was thinking of Second Corinthians chapter 12, perhaps a little bit in connection with the subject of the intermediate state.
Could we learn something, Brother Dave you were speaking about along that line, Brother Graham, if you have a thought on that too, or somebody?
The apostle describes an experience without bringing in his own name even, but perhaps it was him.
The apostle was caught up into paradise, wasn't he?
To the 3rd heaven doesn't say he was. He entered into the 3rd heaven, which is that scene of uncreated glory.
But he was caught up into paradise. He knew what was ahead of him. When he speaks here in our epistle, that is far better to go to be with Christ. He knew whereof he spoke because he had been there. It had been his own personal experience. He couldn't express it, but mortal language for mortal ears.
But he knew what it was and he could pass it on to us, you and myself, that it's far better.
18 in the offending.
01:20:30
Thy glory, Lord.
Why?
AM.
My.
Right and.
Crying.
Thy soul.
Read 2 little phrases from John 21.
Feed my lamb.
And feed my sheep. Give thanks.
Our God and our Father, we just do. Thank you for the open Scriptures.