Philippians 1:3-11

Good morning. Open up your Bibles to Philippians.

So obviously me preaching this morning was a backup for Nathan.

! So I'm sorry, college students.

This will be probably the third time you've heard me in the span of a week.

But when he asked me, I didn't really have too much hesitation.

And the reason is, at our elder meeting last month, or beginning of this month, excuse me,

we were all talking about how Philippians is such a warm and familiar letter.

And it feels like going back to an old friend when you open it.

We started this church a long time ago by preaching through Philippians.

And so it's a very familiar and warm text to go to.

So it wasn't like picking into some obscure text in Scripture.

It was like, oh, Philippians, yes, we got that.

And the joy that is a theme in Philippians, we thought would be especially applicable during our time, during our day,

when so much seems to be focused on the brokenness of the world.

And so much so that it can bring great sorrow to us.

And all of us that are in Christ know that he gives us a joy that is not of this world.

And we can have that by having Christ in our lives.

So we just started Philippians last week.

So if you're new on the scene, you haven't missed too much.

But we're only going to pick up in verse 3 today.

But let's just begin by backing up.

There's only two verses ahead of this.

Our text today is going to be 3 through 11.

But starting in chapter 1, we read,

I thank you, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi,

with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine,

for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart.

For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus.

And that is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.

With the knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent.

And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

To the glory and praise of God.

Join me in prayer again.

Lord, we just submit this time to you this morning.

Pray that you would speak to us through your word and by your Holy Spirit.

Challenge, build up, have your way with us this morning.

May your word be exalted and may we leave here not just being hearers, but doers of your word.

We ask that in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, as we talked about, I love Philippians because there's a lot of cool history just in the idea of Philippi and the Roman Empire.

But I'll spare you all that this morning.

But you ought to go online and look up some of the cool pictures of Philippi.

It actually was named after Philip of Macedon, which is Alexander the Great's father.

And it was called the mini-Rome.

It really was like taking the city of Rome and just making a miniature version of it almost.

But it had an amphitheater, an acropolis.

It had a forum for shopping and all that.

So it was like a mini-Rome.

And it was settled by many Roman legionaries who were discharged from service after the Battle of Actium,

which is where Augustus Caesar defeated Anthony and baby cakes Cleopatra in 31 B.C.

So it was largely a Macedonian population and had a small Jewish population.

So that's the context.

But the occasion is Paul is writing from his imprisonment, as we see in our text, in Rome.

And Paul probably had much worse imprisonments than this one.

More than likely, according to the end of Acts, Acts 28, it was either some form of house arrest

or he had some form of a suitable jail cell because he was a Roman citizen.

He had his own quarters and he was allowed people could come and go as they pleased to talk to him.

And so he said that he shared the gospel unhindered at the end of the book of Acts.

So this is his first imprisonment in Rome, not his second one.

And even Paul mentions that he feels confident that he'll be released from this imprisonment.

He says that in chapter 1, verse 13, and then later on in chapter 4, verse 22.

But he was awaiting trial, hopefully, to be heard by the emperor,

which would have been Nero at the time, but more than likely.

He actually probably wasn't heard, but he was acquitted.

And I could go through all the arguments for why I believe that.

But we can go to the purpose of the letter.

And the letter has a lot of purposes, but I would say the mood or the tone of Paul's letter,

again, is like warm, affectionate, casual, informal.

And it was a type of ancient letter called a letter of friendship.

And he's celebrating his longstanding partnership with the Philippian believers.

And that word partnership in our text today is the Greek word koinonia.

I know a lot of us are aware of that word.

But it's a divinely intimate, holy fellowship, unity among believers with each other,

but also that unity that exists with Christ.

So our unity with Christ, when we become one with him, and by faith, we become one with each other.

We become a part of the same body as believers.

And we're participating together in the grace of our salvation in him.

So it's a heartfelt letter celebrating their common joy in Christ and God's genuine work in them as a church.

You know, in ministry, there's a lot of different people that you get concerned about,

that you always feel like you have to kind of watch.

And then there's those that are always just like refreshing when you're around them.

And they build you up when you're around them.

And you feel like you can just kind of let your guard down and just be yourself.

And that's kind of how Paul, I think, really felt with the Philippian church.

And so we can begin looking at verse 3, just a little introduction here.

There's going to be a specific focus of our time, but I don't want to skip over the rest of it.

But in verse 3, Paul says,

My God, I thank my God.

So his first phrase here is this personal intimate relationship with Christ.

And why is that important?

Luther said a long time ago that Christianity is a matter of personal pronouns.

And if we can't confess that truly, then something is wrong in our relationship with Christ.

So he is my God.

Remember when Jesus said, after he rose from the dead,

he said to the disciples,

I'm ascending to my Father and your Father,

my God and your God.

And so this is all about knowing Christ.

And we only belong to each other through Christ.

But I want to point out just briefly, by way of introduction,

three indications of genuine Christian love.

Maybe how do I even practice koinonia?

Three indications of genuine Christian love.

And the first one is,

Paul has them on his mind.

So if you see verse 3,

I thank God in all remembrance of you.

So we are to think about one another.

We're to ponder one another.

We're to bring each other to mind

and seek the good and welfare of one another as believers.

So we have a lot of different ways to remind ourselves

of all the people that we're surrounded with in the body.

But Paul has them on his mind.

So that's one way.

We have to think about them.

And sometimes we need help being reminded.

But he remembers them.

So that's the first one.

Secondly, he has them in his heart.

You can see that in verse 7.

It is right for me to feel this way about you

because I hold you in my heart.

Then verse 8.

For God is my witness how I yearn for you

with all the affection of Christ.

So Christ gives his people a deep, real, ardent love,

not just for him but for one another.

It's impossible to say I love Christ but I hate his church

or I dislike his church.

And we belong to one another.

And that love, hatred is evidence of blindness to the light.

But love is evidence that sight has been given to the blind.

Like we love one another because of what Christ has done for us.

Indeed, he said, all the world will know that you are my disciples

by your love for one another.

And it sounds kind of far-fetched.

Like we can't really reciprocate that kind of love.

It sounds impossible.

No, you can't reciprocate it on your own.

This is the miracle that comes from being born again by the Spirit of God.

He gives us his love so that we may love one another.

It's empowered by the Holy Spirit so that we can love as Christ has loved.

So, he has them on his mind.

He has them in his heart.

And then lastly and thirdly, he has them in his prayers.

So verse 4,

Always in every prayer of mine,

for you are making all my prayer with joy.

And then look at verse 9.

It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more

with all knowledge and discernment.

And so, we don't just think about one another.

We don't just have feelings for one another.

But that should lead us to prayer for one another.

And I know that it's a habit of many people,

and I'll put myself in that category,

to kind of pass by and sort of say,

Hey, I'll pray for you.

I'm going to pray for that.

And it's a verse in 1 Samuel 12.

The nation of Israel is pleading with Samuel as a prophet to intercede for them

on their behalf to God.

And Samuel says this,

and it's just convicting.

He says,

Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.

Let's connect that together.

So, it's a sinful response for us to not pray for one another,

to cease to pray for one another.

And, that's verse 1 Samuel 12, 23, if you want to look that up.

But, we have each other in our minds.

We're remembering each other in our hearts.

And He has them in His prayers.

So, those are three ways that we can practice genuine Christian love and fellowship among one another.

But, the main focus of the message today, I wanted to get particularly to verse 6.

And, because I know that many of us are very tired and weary a lot of the time.

Even though we've been saved by God, and we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus,

the fullness of that salvation still isn't fully realized.

And, even as followers of Christ, we face the devastating effects of sin in our lives,

and we see it in the world around us.

We hear Christ calling us to follow Him, to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross and follow Him,

and to love Him, love our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

But, somehow, we just never arise to the totality of that in this life.

And, we lose sight of the gospel promises.

It's easy for us to get weighed down by our own sin and the brokenness in the world around us.

And, a lot of us, including myself to some degree,

have a tendency to focus more on our lacking imperfections,

the things that the remaining sin in our lives,

rather than rejoice at what God has done.

And, so, we fall into a lot of the same sins, temptations, and it grieves us.

We kind of cry out, how long, O Lord, must we endure this?

And, I'm sure all of us have had seasons like that,

where we just wonder, are we going to make it?

Because it's so tiring.

I'm so overwhelmed.

I mean, I get overwhelmed by looking in the brokenness in the world,

and being like, I'm just one guy.

There's nothing I can really do to help.

And, weariness of ministry.

And, due to my own sin and shortcomings, insufficiencies,

I can feel just helpless to even continue on the mission.

And, just beg Christ to come back and end it.

There's even times, you know, that I've sympathized a little bit with Elijah,

when he said, Lord, take my life from me, because I'm no better than my father's.

I've felt that way before.

Where he said, I'm not going to take my own life,

but Lord, if you would take it, I would appreciate it.

We've all been there, or some of us have been there to that point.

And, we just feel like we can't go on, we won't survive.

But, God is faithful to us.

And, I wanted to read this one short quote to you.

But, a Puritan writer, John Flavel,

this is something that has meant a lot to me over the years, this statement.

He says,

And, the main focus of the message today is to look at three different points

to help Paul's joy relate to us,

to have the same joy he had for our weary souls.

And, it's a focus on God's persevering work in our salvation.

We, in Christ, are kept by God's power.

We will persevere.

We will continue to fight on,

even until the end, until we die,

and go home to be the Lord until Christ returns.

He's going to preserve us, and keep us.

And, that gives us strength to keep going.

And, so, we're going to talk about this in terms of tenses,

like past, present, future.

But, number one,

God started a good work in us.

That's the past tense.

So, look at verse 5.

He says,

Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

And then look at verse 6.

For I am sure of this,

that he who began a good work.

So, from the first day,

when he started the good work,

is the past tense.

Now, I want you to think,

when you came to know the Lord,

what happened?

What were the events leading up to that?

Was it a season of time,

or was it more of a moment?

And, what happened?

Did we just all of a sudden wise up,

and decided to turn over a new leaf,

and live better lives,

and be good Christians,

and, you know,

be moral people?

The truth is, no.

Scripture does not teach that

about our former state

before we were in Christ.

It says that

we were dead in our trespasses and sin.

It says that we were under

the power and influence

of Satan.

It says that we followed

the strong current of this world,

and that we were slaves

to the fallen passions of our flesh,

being defiant and disobedient to God.

It's a situation that's helpless.

Nothing we could even do about it.

But this is all in Ephesians 2.

But, Ephesians 2, verse 4,

Ephesians 2:4

there's a change.

It talks about our lost state.

But then it says,

but God, being rich,

and mercy,

because of the great love

with which He loved us,

not that we loved Him,

that He loved us,

even when we were dead

in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved.

So our spiritual life began

by God's sovereign initiating grace.

In 1 John,

this is mentioned a lot,

1 John 4, verse 10,

1 John 4:10

and this is love,

not that we had loved God,

but that He had loved us

and sent His Son

to be a propitiation

for our sins.

And in verse 19 of chapter 4,

we love because He first loved us.

So if you look back in your life,

you'll see God working

in His providence

through different people,

different circumstances

to bring you to faith.

You'll see Him

underneath everything

going on.

And He wasn't

just kind of standing idly by.

He was hunting you down.

He was pursuing you.

And we should be grateful for that

because of His great mercy

for which He loved us.

So God started a good work,

past tense.

Second point,

God is continuing

a good work in us.

So, present tense.

Look at verse 5.

Because of your partnership

in the gospel

from the first day until now.

Verse 7.

It is right for me

to feel this way about you

because I hold you in my heart

for we are all

partakers

with me of grace.

Look at verse 11.

They would be filled

with the fruit of righteousness

that comes through

Jesus Christ.

So He's pointing out

present evidences

of grace in them.

Like God is working

in you right now.

We are actively participating

in the grace of God

together.

So, firstly,

He points out

their financial support

that they gave Him.

And to advance the gospel,

the partnership

is synonymous

with almsgiving

and contributions,

heartfelt,

sympathetic cooperation.

And it had been

a while since

their last donation.

I think it might have

been 10 years.

But they finally,

but only because

they lacked the opportunity

to help Paul financially.

But they found a way

and they gave to him.

They also sent

a papertitis

to deliver the money

to Paul

and to care for him

personally.

because being in prison,

as I guess today too,

is a shameful thing

in the ancient world.

But they wanted

to stand by him

and support him

regardless of that shame.

They really wanted

to care for his well-being.

And they wanted

to support Paul

in his defense

and confirmation

of the gospel

where he was declaring

the good news,

seeking to persuade others,

pleading with others

to see the salvation

that's in Christ.

So he expressed that

presently active,

partakers of Christ.

So,

all resorting

to the glory

and praise of God.

So flip over

to chapter 2

really quickly.

Philippians 2.

I just want to read

a couple verses here.

It isn't just,

I used to have

this wrong mentality

a lot of my life

that was

God started this,

God did his part.

He saved you.

Now you've got to do your part.

Go.

And,

like this sort of cooperation

where I'm going to

finish the job.

And Paul's words

in Galatians is,

are you foolish?

Have you,

now having begun

by the Spirit,

are you now being

perfected by the flesh?

And that was convicting.

But in

Philippians 2,

Philippians 2:12

verse 12,

it says,

therefore,

my beloved,

as you have

always obeyed,

so now,

not only in my presence,

but much more

in my absence,

work out your salvation

with fear and tripling.

So,

verse 13,

look at the present tense,

for it is God

who works in you,

both to will

and to work

for his good pleasure.

So not

save yourself,

justify yourself,

adopt yourself,

make yourself

acceptable

to God,

but

bring to completion,

carry out,

in light of what God

has done in you,

continue to press

into that,

good old charismatic work,

press into that,

in the fullness

of who you actually are

in Christ.

He has done this work

in you.

That's who you are.

You've been made

a new creation.

You've been given

a new identity.

It's who you are,

so now be who you are.

Don't,

God has done the work,

right?

And so,

it's this mystery

of sanctification

where it's our responsibility

to work,

labor,

toil,

struggle,

but somehow,

God's,

it's not by our own strength,

but God's strength

that works powerfully

within us.

Write down

Colossians 1,

29 for that.

But,

what fuels us

is the grace of God.

And,

there was a pastor,

I really respect

the good old

Presbyterian brother,

but he also likes history,

so that's how I got

connected to him.

His name is Harry Reader.

This old guy.

I don't know how old

he is now.

He must be close to 80.

But,

he wrote

this about,

like,

the active work

of God

in our lives.

He says,

when I was 16,

my father bought me

a car

at an auction

for $75.

It was a pink

57 Ford,

which dad insisted

was coral.

I couldn't drive

a pink car

to school.

I then heard

the words that,

in the not too distant future,

my children would say,

son,

a poor ride

is better

than a proud walk.

He just said,

that's probably

in the Bible somewhere,

a poor ride

is better

than a proud walk.

So then he says,

then dad opened

the hood

and to my surprise,

underneath

was a 390 engine

with two

four-barrel

carburetors.

The car

had been

a South Carolina

state interceptor,

a highway patrol car.

Nothing

had more power

under the hood.

Space

and conviction

prevents me

from detailing

all the surprise

that I gave

to Corvettes

on the highway

because he would

pull up beside him

and rev his engine

and he would

just like

beat him.

So he said,

my pink

57 Ford

didn't really

look like much

on the outside

but there was

power under

the hood.

And

same way,

we don't look

like a lot

at all

on the outside

but because

of the work

of Christ

in us,

the regenerating

power of his

spirit,

there is power

under the hood.

thirdly

and lastly,

so

the past,

present,

future

is God

will finish

the good work

in us.

Future tense.

Verse 6,

I am sure

of this,

I am confident

of this,

I am certain

that he

who began

a good work

in you

will bring it

to completion

as a day

of Christ Jesus.

so,

it isn't just

God started it

and now he's

backing away,

he's going to

finish it,

he's confident,

he is sure

of this

and

we have a

promise given

to us

as believers

in Christ

even though

we suffer

greatly in

this life.

Jesus said

again,

familiar verse

John 10,

my sheep

hear my voice,

I know them

and they follow

me.

I give them

eternal life

and they will

never perish

and no one

will snatch

them out of

my hand.

My father

who has given

them to me

is greater

than all

and no one

is able

to snatch

them out

of my father's

hand.

I and the

father are

one.

Imagine you

got a chance

to go on

a dream

vacation,

you saved

for it,

you planned

on it,

and you

finally flew

to your

desired

destination

and

the airport

was far

away from

where you

wanted to

go and

a taxi

came up

and said

hey,

ten bucks

to get

to your

destination

and what

if one

of you

just said

that's

absurd,

I'm not

paying

ten dollars

to get

to go

there

and your

spouse,

probably your

wife would

say that's

crazy,

we've come

all this

way,

ten more

dollars is

no big

deal to

get where

we want

to go,

right?

very

similarly,

do you

really

think

that

God

the

Father

would

watch

his

son

go

through

what

he

went

through

for no

reason?

Do you

really

think

that

it was

to bring

about

some

potential

I hope

this will

work?

Is the

son saying

I died

for these

people,

but the

father saying

well I

just hope

that some

of them

take

advantage

of it.

None of

us would

allow a

loved one

to suffer

in vain,

especially

the way

that Christ

did.

Christ

is going

to see

the work

through.

His blood

will not

be shed

in vain.

He's going

to continue

the good

work that

he started

in us.

God

has a

great

desire

to finish

what he

started.

If you

go to a

lot of

different

shops

throughout the

world,

like a

wood shop

for example,

you'll find

some cool

pieces of

furniture,

chairs,

shelves,

you might

find some

things laying

there that

are unfinished.

I've got

several of

those.

And it's

either because

they lacked

the desire

to finish,

they ran

out of

resources,

and so

they didn't

get to

finish the

job.

But God

is not

the same

way.

God

doesn't

lack

the ability

or the

desire to

finish

what he

started.

And he

will finish

it.

So,

that's

something for

us to

take comfort

in.

He's going

to accomplish

it.

Look at,

this is in

closing,

look at

Psalm 138.

Psalm 138,

Psalms 138:6

verse 6.

Psalm 138,

Psalms 138:6

verse 6.

For though the

Lord is

high,

he regards

the lowly,

but the

haughty he

knows from

afar.

And though I

walk in the

midst of

trouble,

you preserve

my life.

See the

connections?

You stretch

out your

hand against

the wrath

of my

enemies,

and your

right hand

delivers me.

Mark this,

the Lord

will fulfill

his purpose

for me.

Your

steadfast love,

O Lord,

endures forever.

Do not

forsake the

work of

your hands.

Join me in

prayer.

Do not

not