Philippians 4:10-23

We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel, and we do have extra copies.

If you didn't bring one with you and you'd like one to follow along, raise your hand up really high.

Make sure you can be seen, and someone will be glad to drop one off at your uh row, your chair, your aisle.

We're finishing up the book of uh Philippians today.

Last uh few verses there.

Also up on the screen, you'll see the uh Wi-Fi password if you're here in the building and you would like uh to study along with us as uh you use the Bible from online.

You can do that.

Uh we're called our study of Philippians the hope of joy.

Uh and we have commented probably multiple times.

Some of you may might even be able to lip sync what I'm about to say.

This letter was written in 62 A.D., roughly, uh, but to by the Apostle Paul, probably from the Roman prison cell.

Uh he's incarcerated, and yet he is writing this letter to his good friends uh at a church he founded in 52 A.D.

on his second missionary journey, uh, the first church plant in Europe, and of course that uh opening the door, uh, and here we sit, beneficiaries of the fact the gospel was moving and uh God was on the move, and and uh so we uh we sit here as beneficiaries of that.

And in this short four chapters, um we we see as he opened up, he he said to all of the saints in Christ Jesus in Philippi.

So they have two addresses.

They are in Christ Jesus first, and then they are in Philippi.

You are in Christ Jesus if you're a believer and a follower of Jesus, and you are in Nashville, if you're in this room anyway, you're in Nashville today, even if you are just visiting with us, and we're glad to have you here, and we're glad to remind ourselves that we are in Christ Jesus, and that we are also here in Nashville together to answer his call, to respond to his leading and guiding.

There are uh 16 mentions of the word joy or rejoice or some form of that root word in these four chapters.

The phrase in Christ or in the Lord appears 19 times in these four chapters.

There's a connection between joy and rejoicing and being in Christ.

Um and he draws that connection throughout the letter, and it's good for us to highlight that and to see that Jesus himself or Jesus Christ or Christ is mentioned 40 times.

That's an average of 10 times per chapter.

That's really powerful, that's really amazing.

So there's an inextricable tie between joy and Jesus.

He himself, the fountain, the substance, the source of our joy.

And here we find, I think, what we'll call today uh unassailable joy and a secret to uh unassailable joy.

We experience joy when we have our life focused on Christ.

When we have our life abiding in his life and in him, finding our life in Christ Himself, our identity in him, it's then that the life and the joy of Christ is abiding and dwelling within us.

So we'll take verses 10 through 23 there, to the end of the chapter, just make a few comments along the way, and then I have a couple summary points, if you don't mind.

Uh Kim did such a great job with the first part of this chapter last week.

Uh her one of her favorite passages in the entire Bible and reminding us uh last week as well uh of that great acronym that she she used, that therple, that is, that we're to be to uh uh be anxious for nothing but everything with prayer and supplication, to, with thanksgiving, to have our uh prayers offered up to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will start to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

And we're to we're to have our minds focused on whatever is true, therple, whatever is true, honorable, whatever's right, whatever's pure, whatever's a good repute.

Uh, if there's anything of excellence and worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

So he then picks up in verse 10 that says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you've revived your concern for me.

He's writing to the Philippians.

They're the ones who are revived or renewed their concern for him.

Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

They didn't know how to get their encouragement.

They didn't know where he was, perhaps.

Maybe there's been a lack of communication for a while.

Remember, he's not able to just go up and and uh and and you know, he's got some kind of GPS or something, and they can find him on Find My Friends.

That doesn't happen back then.

It might take weeks before they could find out where somebody is.

And so um they didn't have opportunity, but they had the heart for supporting him.

He says, not that I speak from want, verse 11, for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

To be content is something we learn.

It's not something we just flip a switch and now I'm content.

For the rest of my life, it's done.

Most of you know that.

Um, you know that you might every now and then need to nurture or renew your sense of satisfaction and what God has done in your life and what he's provided you with or what he's the situation he may have put you in.

And to find yourself to this precious jewel of contentment is so easily lost.

But he says he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am, and whatever means whatever.

He goes on to amplify on that verse 12.

I know how to get along with humble means, I also know how to live in prosperity.

So when he was riding in a chariot that was a beater, he was good.

When he had the BMW chariot, he was good.

You know?

And so if he has little or a lot, either way, the point is he's content in the Lord.

Okay?

In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

So he's learning all the time.

This is the Apostle Paul.

He's still learning.

Are you still learning?

You know?

A lot of times we come to something like this, church, whatever.

I've already heard that before.

I've studied Philippians before.

I know what that's about.

Um we we die, I think, the day we stop learning.

There's a bit of us that dies.

We're all to be students the whole time, the all the time.

We're eager for God to speak to us, to speak to in our hearts, in our minds, to enlighten us, to call us, inspire us, inform us.

And we're always wanting to be open to learning from Him.

I can do all things through Christ, through Him who strengthens me, verse 13 says.

How many of you have ever seen that on a plaque?

Anybody seen that on a plaque?

Okay.

This is one of those verses that you can see, I mean, we we understand just on the face, that that's that's an awesome, pithy statement that would go on a plaque really well.

And yet I think we can all say as well that we probably can think of times when maybe this got misinterpreted or misapplied.

So it's one of those verses as well.

See, all of the guys on one Super Bowl team are saying, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

And then there's like 10 or 12 guys on the other team saying the same thing.

So how does that work out, you know?

Um, what does that mean?

We'll come back to that in just a little bit.

Nevertheless, you, Philippians, you've done well to share with me in my affliction.

You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel back in 52 A.D., remember back in 52, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.

Even in Thessalonica, that's about 100 miles down the road, that's where he went after Philippi in 52 A.D.

You sent a gift, even in Thessalonica.

You sent a gift more than once for my needs.

Three days' journey, three days after he gets out of jail in Philippi, you know, and he checks in on the jailer's house, where they've all become believers, you know.

And then whenever he leaves, he goes to Thessalonica.

It takes about three days to get there.

All of a sudden, there's still coming this support and this encouragement from Philippi, from the believers there, from Lydia, from the formerly demon-possessed little teenage girl, from the jailer, the Roman, the Roman jailer and his entire family.

Go, Paul, go preach the gospel, you know.

And he's in Thessalonica when he receives that kind of encouragement.

More than once, verse 17.

Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

In other words, he's not just looking to get a something for himself for what he can get out of it, but he actually knows how healthy it is for people to be generous.

And so he encourages them in that.

And I encourage you in that as well.

It's always good for us to be giving, giving, giving, giving, giving.

And that doesn't, I'm not just saying that because we have offering boxes in the building.

Um you should be giving, we should be givers all the time.

Um it's it's a good thing for us to be doing that.

And generosity is a beautiful and a wonderful virtue.

I've received everything in full, verse 18, and have an abundance.

This is a guy in prison.

Every four hours he's strepped to a new soldier, a smelly guy named Brutus.

It's this you know, Roman guy.

And uh and and probably the other arm chained to a wall and his feet probably in chains.

And he says, I got everything I need in abundance.

You know, I complain when my computer's slow.

You know?

I complain when the air conditioner breaks down.

I complain when my house gets a little flood from the broken pipes in the ceiling.

I I so easily complain.

I'm not, I have to learn contentment.

Um and he says, You've uh I'm amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus, we've mentioned him before, and great friend that the people in Philippi had sent to Paul in Rome to his prison cell to encourage him, and he's gonna send Epaphroditus back to them.

But he says, having received from Epaphroditus, what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God.

So the generosity of the saints is not just a bottle of men's cologne.

That's not what that's a reference to.

It's a fragrant aroma that's pleasing to the Lord as a sacrifice.

Very much a Jewish kind of mindset concept when they did the burnt offerings, when they did the offerings, and the and the aroma of the smell of the offerings was ascending into the into the sky, that sort of thing.

There was a sense in which there was a good metaphor for the way God was just delighted and pleased with the sacrifices of his people.

And he's delighted and pleased with the generosity of his people as well.

And Paul is just uh saying that same thing to these kind folks in Philippi.

The verse 19 is one that a lot of you know as a plaque also.

My God shall supply all your needs.

He's been talking about his needs and how they've met his needs.

Now he says, My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

I'm so glad that God supplies all of our needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

And everything is in Christ Jesus.

Notice that.

This is not my God shall supply all your wants, but as God understands what I need, if I knew everything God knows, I'd know exactly what I need, but I don't know everything God knows.

But our God supplies all of our needs according to, he never runs out, his riches in glory, which are limitless.

In Christ Jesus, this is all about Christ, it's all about Jesus.

Every bit of this book, Old Testament, New Testament, points to and finds its fulfillment in Jesus.

Um, and so verse 20, now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

And you think when he puts the Amen there that that should be the end of the letter, right?

Yeah, I mean you expect that with the preacher saying, and finally.

And don't you hate it when the preacher has three finally's?

So I thought that was finally.

No, this is the last finally, or second to last finally.

I meant, I'm sorry.

Um, he says, Amen.

And then, but he also wants to greet some folks.

He says, greet every saint in Christ Jesus.

There it is again, one of the 19 times.

The brethren are with me, greet you.

So there are some brothers with him, and he doesn't mention them by name, but he is just saying, man, we all here, um, we all here together that trust in Christ.

We send our love and our greetings, our warmest greetings to you, Philippians.

Um, please know we're praying for you.

We want you to know the unassailable joy of Christ Jesus and the hope of joy in Christ Jesus.

And uh, and so we all send our greetings.

All the saints greet you, especially those, and this is awesome, of Caesar's household.

This is just a, you you go right past this.

If you didn't just pay a little attention for a moment, who could that be?

Well, it could mean a couple of things.

It could mean Caesar's own family.

Remarkable.

The Apostle Paul is in Rome, and he is chained as a prisoner, but yet they are chained to him as well.

And if every four hours there's a changing of the guard, every four hours he's got a new audience, captive audience to preach the gospel to, to sing songs to.

You know?

And uh some of Caesar's household, some of the saints, all of the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

In other words, some of Caesar's household, whoever it is, could be his court, could be some of his people on his court or whatever.

Whoever they are, they've some of them become the saints in Christ Jesus.

That's awesome.

It's amazing.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Deep in the heart of you, may you have a fresh measure to overflowing of God's grace surrounding you, sustaining you.

We all need this.

We all desperately need it and want it.

All right, what do we learn here as we close out?

What an amazing letter this is.

It's so wonderful.

Uh, first of all, I I'm gonna, I'll just highlight for you what I think are four of the elements of unassailable joy as we've looked through this entire book and as we see it even in these last few verses here, uh, restated or re-implied, if you will.

First of all, I'll I'll begin with this unshakable contentment that Paul seems to exhibit.

Um, again, not it, this doesn't come naturally for me.

I maybe it doesn't come naturally for you as well.

Uh he was writing from prison, certainly not the best of circumstances.

That would shake my contentment.

Would that shake yours?

You know?

If you were dragged out of your house, if you were dragged away from the stuff you want to do, your agenda, and and for the sake of the gospel, even at that, uh, in jail.

Um, would you be able to say these kinds of things?

I I don't know that I would.

I I I watch this and I'm not gonna make Paul out to be the hero.

He's trusting in Christ.

It's Christ's uh power and strength and mercy and kindness that enable him to have this unassailable joy.

But he's content with little, he's content with much.

Um how much is enough?

For most of us, it's always just a little bit more.

And for some of us, it's always just a little bit more than the next guy.

How much is enough?

Um have suggested contentment is the opposite of covetousness.

Uh that wanting what the other person has, that their stuff, their opportunities, their car, their guitar, their spouse, their lot in life, their children, whatever it might be, the the covetousness is the opposite of contentment.

You know, a lot of people will say in this world in which we live, because they they just remember it in a very nostalgic way, that they live by the oh, I live by the Ten Commandments, they'll say.

And you go, Oh, what's number six?

And they don't know what number six is.

Well, what's number ten?

Well, number ten is about covetousness.

And it's because it's sort of at the bottom of all the other nine, in a way.

I want what I want, and I want it now, and if you got it, I want it.

I want to take it.

I'm jealous, I'm envious, I'm covetous.

And uh we need not be coveting from one another, and to do that, pride has to go, a lot has to go.

Um, we need to find ourselves uh not just settling, because Paul's not doing that.

He's not just settling.

This isn't just you know that that what was that sketch they used to do on the comedy show at uh you know, the lowered expectations thing.

It's just not that.

This is not just coming up with something that you're just kind of tolerating or placating uh yourself with.

No, there's something about him, he's flourishing, he's got an unassailable joy.

That's the guy I want to learn about joy from.

If everything was going great for him and he was writing this from his chalet up in the Swiss mountains somewhere, overlooking the awesome valley or something like that, that'd be one thing, and he still could be true.

But no, he's writing from a prison here.

He's got horrible circumstances.

He's got knots on his head from where he's been beaten, and people have thrown rocks at him.

He's been run out of town, left for dead, all for the sake of the gospel.

And yet he can write about being content and about having this kind of uh unassailable joy like that.

How would the whole idea of contentment play out in an impoverished or oppressive climate?

Where does contentment fit into the life of somebody who's suffering through a broken relationship?

Or somebody who's beset with chronic pain or facing a lifelong illness or afraid for the future for their children or their grandchildren?

Somebody who's overwhelmed by the chaos in the world that we live in right now.

How is contentment to be found for people whose hearts might be like that?

We've got to make sure we don't miss this guy's authority as he speaks because of his lack of positive circumstances.

He can speak with great authority, and I sit up straight and want to listen to him because I think he's a guy that can say this.

Chesterton, one of my favorite, I quote him all the time, there are two ways to get enough.

One is to continue to accumulate more and more, the other is to desire less.

All right.

But that does sound a little like lowered expectations, right?

So you gotta read Chesterton in context.

Uh he's he's he's really headed in a brilliant uh direction here.

But um I think it's important for us to know that occasionally we might want to look at what we're putting at the center if we're just chronically mad or chronically dissatisfied or chronically fearful.

What is at the center?

What is it you're hoping in?

Where is it you're trying to find contentment in?

In other words, if only this would happen or that would change, or this environment thing, or this this uh set of circumstances would come about in a certain way, then I'll be content.

Well, we're putting something in the center all the time.

And I would argue that the only thing that can bear that weight of being the center for you and for me is an infinite, eternal reality we call God.

Nothing else can bear that weight.

And there might be good things, but they can't bear the weight of being the center, is what we keep getting taught over and over again from the scriptures.

Thomas Watson put it this way: as medicine works disease out of the body, so does contentment work trouble out of the heart.

Holy contentment keeps the heart from fainting.

Contentment is the golden shield which beats back all discouragements.

This is a beautiful jewel, the precious jewel of contentment, it's been called by one of the Puritans, and it's a beautiful thing to have this kind of contentment that we see because it's so much focused in Christ, as we see in this letter.

The second thing I think that's an element of unassailable joy is not only in unshakable contentment, but tenacious trust in God's sovereignty.

And some of you go, Oh, I knew.

When's he gonna come back around to God's sovereignty?

Every week.

I hope we do.

Yeah, you know why?

Because I keep forgetting.

I keep forgetting, and sometimes I keep trying to take the reins myself.

And that's why I'm I'm like, you know, when we used to have dogs, I remember when we used to walk them and I'd have them on the leash, and I and their nose would be going over something here, just walking through there, and they want to go over there and see something.

I have to keep pulling them back, keep pulling them back, keep pulling them back, keep pulling them, and keep pulling them back.

And I'm like that dog, man.

I just, I'm there's something shiny over here all the time.

There's something over here that attracts me, that wants me and my affections to be fixed on it, whatever it might be.

And sometimes if I linger with it, it becomes an idol.

And now I'm putting it at the center and it can't bear the weight.

And the reason I keep bringing it up with all of us is that I myself need to be reminded, we need to be reminded.

And if we're chronically fearful, chronically mad, chronically angry, chronically upset, chronically dissatisfied, it wouldn't be a bad thing once in a while to just ask the question, what's at the center?

What is it you think is going to do it for you?

And my argument would be that if it's not God, it can't bear the weight.

Do you get it?

You see what I'm saying?

And you just occasionally want to look at the results.

Now, the verse that earlier there in verse 13, which I love so much, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I like it that it didn't say I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.

Because that would be a real difference, wouldn't it?

I can do anything, is pretty much saying I can do anything I want.

Whereas contentment is this restful confidence in God's sovereignty.

In other words, that God knows best, that God is the one who is ultimately in charge.

And even in verse 13, I think what he's really saying, because he just started, he just finished talking rather about whether I have plenty or whether I don't have much at all, I can do all things, all of these things, some of your English translations will say, I can do all of these things.

That means I can be content in poverty or riches.

Either way.

And by the way, I know some people that are very wealthy that are not content.

So it's not about how much stuff you have.

I also know some people that don't have much at all, that are amazingly, wonderfully fulfilled and content.

Used to go to uh mission trips uh in Mexico when we were on the road as musicians, and we we would go with like 300 teenagers and go down to the border of uh of Texas and Mexico, go into these uh places where people are literally living in uh cardboarded houses and lean-to boards, and you know, uh and what what what I kept coming home every time I'd come home from those experiences, brokenhearted, uh uh just a whirlwind of feelings and thoughts and all that sort of thing.

But one of the things that sticks with me today is the great joy I saw in some of those people down there.

They have nothing compared to, and yeah, they love Jesus.

We got ministered to more than we than we ministered.

But some of them just so in love with Christ, so focused with Christ at the center, that in even their squaw, their terrible conditions, and some of them have been abused in so many ways, and yet they trusted God.

And they had a joy that ran deeper than happiness.

Happiness depends on happenings, as you've heard a million times, but joy runs deeper than that.

And and they had that, and it was really amazing.

A restful confidence in God's sovereignty.

You've heard this quote before, we use it every now and then, but I just got a new pillow and I thought I would do this because when you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you can lay your head, you can find your rest.

Why?

Because you were designed to find your rest in Him and Him alone, in Him alone.

And if you're unified not at rest, it's good to ask the question: what's at the center?

What is my pillow?

What am I trusting?

What am I resting on?

Um and and Spurgeon is so right here.

Thirdly, a humbled gratitude, one of the elements of unassailable joy.

You see that right here?

I mean, he's just so overflowing with uh uh with both humility and gratitude for the Philippians and for their support of him.

Um I I I won't I want to uh seek to persuade you that humility and gratitude are not natural for us.

Uh I I we have to nurture these things, both of them.

Um I'm uh you can be grateful that you're humble, but then there'd be a problem, wouldn't there be?

You know, I'm just really just I'm just thankful that I'm so humble.

I I'm I'm really glad to be here with you all and and and uh honored that you would have me, you know, be here and everything.

But I'm really grateful that I'm humble, you know.

Uh there's a problem, you know.

And we kind of keep, but he doesn't do that.

Here, he's writing back to this church that he founded, that he has uh uh a great love for.

And he's so overwhelmed by their generosity to him.

Um and and while we don't get a lot of detail about the gift, what we do see is this constant flow of gratitude, you know, and that it humbles him and that it brings glory to Christ.

And I think that's really, really wonderful.

Uh humility and gratitude, I think, go hand in hand.

Neither humility nor gratitude come naturally.

Most of us are too proud and too narcissistic.

Uh you know, uh humility is God's plan A, humiliation is plan B.

How many of you have been in plan B?

Anybody?

Yeah, it's cut.

Okay, you don't have to raise your hand.

Um I've been through plan B a lot, and and but plan A is a good one, and so we we talk about it, we bring it up and we see it here, and it's a good thing for us.

And Christ Jesus humbled himself, um, you know, to leave the comforts of heaven because of his great love for sinners like me and you.

He humbled himself to become one of us and to die in my place and in your place on the cross for my sins, not his, but for my sins and yours.

And uh so he uh beautifully, Jesus beautifully leading the way.

It is fitting, David Mathis uh works with uh Desiring God ministries.

He said, it's fitting for a creature to be in a continuous posture of gratitude toward his Creator.

It's even more fitting for a redeemed rebel to be in an ongoing posture of gratitude toward his redeemer.

The kind of life that flows from such amazing grace is the life of continual thankfulness.

May that flow freely from our lips, but also from deeper than that from our hearts.

May we remind ourselves over and over again to be grateful.

I occasionally do a meeting with a couple that is about to get married.

I did one uh just yesterday, actually.

And I'm always reminding them, the first two things I always remind them is that no matter whom you marry, you always marry a sinner.

And uh so as angelic as she may appear, or as uh as uh as charming as he may seem, you're marrying a sinner.

It's your only choice.

Um uh and then the point number two is always, and it's their only choice too.

So no matter who you marry, you always marry way over your head.

And I'm 41 years in on my marriage.

And and uh and Kim and I both did as it sort of becomes a habit of mind and heart to nurture gratitude.

To every now and then remind yourself, oh my goodness, Kim could have done so much better than me.

I mean, she really could.

I mean, I know this, you know.

And uh and you probably know it too, most of you.

Um but you gotta nurture gratitude.

It doesn't just, it's it's if you put it in cruise control, it erodes.

And and and what it erodes into is ugly.

Entitlement, desperation, despair, anger.

That's it, it decays into all of that.

So if that's the fruit, if that's where you're at right now, ask yourself the question: do you need to get back to gratitude or humility or whatever?

Does that need to happen?

Do you need to learn contentment?

Like Paul learned contentment.

Uh, and this is good.

I I appreciate seeing this in the honesty in his life.

Last, the ultimate goal is glory.

We saw that in the passage, didn't we?

And this really, believe it or not, you guys, this is what you were created for.

This is what I was created for.

This is, you know, if we ask the question, why do we exist?

Why would God even take notice of us?

Or why does life matter?

Or the, you know, the great, if you're if you're not even a believer and you're just trying to say, is there meaning or hope or any kind of purpose for human life?

Well, there is, and it's glory, is the answer in a word.

It's this luminous brilliance of who God is that we're supposed to see and experience and to be a part of, you know?

And so we, what happens to us, though, is we we misdirect it.

We think we're gonna find it in the trickle-down categories of money, sexual prowess or power somehow, politics, or whatever it might be.

We're not gonna find glory there.

We're gonna find faux glory there.

We're gonna find an anesthetic there, but it's not the cure that we're desperately looking for.

It's just numbing to us if it does anything.

And and the bad news is that it ultimately these things can't bear the weight of glory.

Because glory is supposed to be aimed at God and it's to be sourced and found in God.

I love the way Swindall says about church work.

He says, How many church conflicts would be resolved if God's glory were everybody's goal?

How many egos would be put in their place if God's glory, not human glory, were at stake?

How much extremism would be avoided if we did all for the greater glory of God?

We have God's glory in mind with every choice, every decision.

It's the first thing that we think about when our feet hit the floor in the morning.

How can I go out into this wacky world, sometimes despairing and dark world, sometimes frustrating world, and bring glory to God?

Like Paul in prison in a very dark day in the world.

How can I bring glory to God?

As he closes out this letter to the Philippians, he's got glory on his mind.

Verse 20.

Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Oh, yeah, I want to greet a couple of you too, P.S.

I want to greet a couple of you, but glory is on his mind.

C.S.

Lewis wrote an essay.

Some of you have read it, it's called The Weight of Glory.

I think it's beautiful.

Uh he says, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.

We're half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.

Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

So I don't know if today where you're at, I don't know if you're here in plenty or in want.

I don't know how it's going for you.

I'm sure some of you are very frustrated right now.

Some of you may be fearful, some of you may be exhausted, some of you may be wondering if God's even real.

Some of you may be wondering if your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling.

I don't know where you're at.

With this many people in the room, and however many may be watching us, we're certainly in a lot of different places.

But let me just put before you the question of where you are aiming for glory.

And I would say fix your eyes on Jesus, as we learn from the book of Hebrews.

He's the author and perfecter of our faith.

He's the object of our faith, but he's also the author of our faith and the perfecter of our faith.

And if you're trying to find glory in anything that isn't him, that isn't God, you will be chronically frustrated, chronically dissatisfied, chronically angry, chronically, and on and on it'll go.

The kind of unassailable joy that I'm looking for and that you're looking for, the apostle Paul says, is in Christ.

And so we'll point you to him over and over and over again.

Why?

Because I'll need to be just like you.

I'll I need to keep being brought back to where I focus on him and focus on finding my hope in him.

Today, if you're here and you're a disciple of Jesus, you are held fast by the love of God in Christ.

You can move in the direction of Christ's calling at the pace of Christ's wisdom within the purview of Christ's will, by the power of Christ's grace, and the comfort of Christ's presence.

We will find our life united by faith in Christ.

We will find our identity in union with Christ.

And we will find the hope of joy in Christ Jesus and in Christ alone.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this beautiful ancient letter.

I mean, think of our older brother Paul and the circumstances he's in, that he didn't rail on and on about that, but actually thought about you first and others second.

Help us, Lord, to adopt that same disposition of heart.

May you be the center for us, Lord.

May the glory be all yours in our life.

May that be our passion tomorrow morning when we hit the floor.

May we actually be considering how we might bring you more glory.

And may we as a church, Lord, do that as well as we collect ourselves together, as we sing, Lord.

May we remind one another of how beautiful you are, how majestic you are, how sovereign you are, how trustworthy and faithful you are, Lord.

I join with Kim who prayed earlier that revival indeed would overflow as you revive your people, it would overflow in this city, and that Jesus might be glorified.

In his name we pray.

Amen and amen.