Joyful Partnership in the Gospel

Awesome. I'm excited to be in front of you tonight because Sean has let me preach the first message from our book in Philippians.

We've been going through Proverbs. That's been a joy and a help in learning about wisdom.

And now we are moving into Philippians.

So, my prayer is that I do well with God's Word for your encouragement and your growth.

Let's pray before we get started.

Lord, I pray for your help as I preach tonight.

And Lord, I pray for our church as we get to hear from your Word.

As we break into Philippians.

Just a small passage tonight.

But Lord, I pray that you would encourage us.

I pray that we would see more of your glory and your goodness.

Lord, I pray that you would whet the appetite of everyone so that they would come back.

So that as we take this journey through Philippians, we would grow together in joy in our partnership of the gospel for your glory.

God, work your Word into our life.

And help us to work out our own selfishness.

And all the things that we pull in.

All of our sin.

Lord, forgive us.

And make us more Christ-like for you.

We pray these things in your glorious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

There's a lot to talk about.

So I'm going to try to move through it quickly.

Although we're not covering a big passage.

I just feel like there's a lot.

So if I missed something that you wanted me to talk about, bring it up with your community group and discuss it that way.

And I'll apologize in advance.

But Philippians, the theme that we have chosen to put on Philippians is a joyful partnership in the gospel.

And our passage this evening is just the first 11 verses of this book.

And if we had to put a title on it, it would be the same thing.

Joyful partnership in the gospel.

So since that's the case, I would like to take, and since this is the first message of this book, I would like to take that theme.

And just talk about each word real briefly because I think it's helpful for us as we spend the next two months or so looking at Philippians.

Joyful partnership in the gospel.

That phrase needs all of the words.

And if we leave any of those words or the concepts out of the message, it leaves us lacking.

It becomes less than what God intended it to be.

All right, so let's start with joyful.

If we take out joyful, we're left with something that doesn't satisfy.

We're left with a job or a purpose that is just dry and empty.

Lifeless.

Not empty, but lifeless.

You end up with a gospel that doesn't line up with the good news.

All right?

We move to partnership.

If we take partnership out, we have a pretty lonely mission.

A joyful gospel is great for an individual, but if there is no partnership, it falls short.

See, God's building a church, a people, for his own self, for his own glory.

So we need the partnership.

It isn't aloneness.

It isn't, if it's not together for the gospel, it becomes alone for the gospel.

And there's no encouragement in that.

And churches become weak and individualistic.

And I think we see that in a lot of churches today, if we're not careful.

The other word in that phrase is gospel.

Take that out and you're left with a joyful partnership.

That's nice, but there's no depth.

There's no lasting foundation in that partnership.

It's service.

It's a relationship.

And it will satisfy maybe for a time, but if you take God out of it, you're left empty in the end.

I was thinking of the Christmas song, Joy to the World.

There's meaning behind those words, joy to the world.

The joy that came wasn't just a nice child in a manger that made Christmas season really nice and feel good,

but it was lasting, eternal joy that was coming to the world for our salvation.

He came for us.

He knew there was nothing in this world that could satisfy us except himself.

So he made a way for himself to be known and to find that satisfaction.

A lasting, a real joy through Jesus Christ.

So let me ask you something tonight as we begin.

What words in that short theme, joyful partnership in the gospel, connect with you?

What words in there connect with you?

And which ones might be missing in your life?

Are you missing joy?

Are you missing partnership?

Are you missing Jesus in the gospel?

Let me encourage you.

If you are, you've come to the right place.

Because over the next, like I said, two months or so, as we move through Philippians as a church,

I want to encourage you to stay with us.

Because this theme will grow and continue.

And each one of those words we're going to build upon

and see the fullness of this joyful participation in the gospel.

So whether you know Jesus tonight or not,

what we're going to learn from Philippians can change your life.

And if we've learned anything from this year,

it is that we have no control over anything.

We know that things can change instantly.

There's nothing in this world that is going to bring us joy and satisfaction.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Now you cannot believe me and you could waste the rest of your life trying to find those things,

but in the end it will leave you empty.

Or you can go after that which God has for you

and you can live with a satisfaction and joy that nothing can take away.

That's Philippians.

That's what we get to jump into for the next little bit.

Philippians is seen as the happiest book in the Bible,

yet it is written by Paul while he's in prison.

That's fantastic.

Who better could write about joy than Paul?

Possessions and obviously circumstances did not bring him joy.

Only Christ brought him joy.

All right, that's our intro.

Let's dig into Philippians.

Just a quick background of Philippians.

Written by Paul around 62 AD.

So we're talking about roughly 30 years after the death of Jesus Christ,

after his resurrection and he goes back to heaven.

Paul's in prison in Rome.

And this book was written while in prison.

It was written as a thank you note to the church in Philippi for their support,

basically for a monetary gift that was sent to Paul while he was in prison.

So Paul writes this thank you letter, but it's not just a thank you letter.

It's meant to be a letter of encouragement.

And we'll look into the encouragement part shortly.

But it's helpful to realize that this letter is different than all of Paul's other letters.

See, there's no correction or discipline in this book.

It's just encouragement.

So we see something special in the church of Philippi.

We see something special in the relationship between Paul and the people in the church of Philippi.

So be encouraged that we're digging into a book that hopefully doesn't leave you feeling like I can't do enough.

There's more I need to be doing.

But hear Philippians as an encouragement for who we are in Jesus Christ.

As we go through these 11 verses,

actually, let me just, let me read the passage first and then we'll talk about this section.

So Philippians 1, verses 1 through 11.

Philippians 1:1–11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

to all the saints in Christ Jesus who were 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 my 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 Jesus Christ.

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

For you are all partakers with me of grace,

both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness,

how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

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

As we move through these 11 verses,

we're going to see three sections that we're going to work out of.

The greeting, the grounding, and the goal.

So let's look at how this letter starts out.

Now we know that Paul has lots of reasons why he can start out with a letter like this.

Paul, leader and church planter, along with Timothy,

my young pastor in training,

we write to you, but he doesn't do that.

We know that Paul's heritage and his training,

his direct calling by God,

his leadership,

his persecution.

All these things give him this ability to boast,

but instead we find Paul

giving this great example of humility right from the beginning.

He says,

Paul and Timothy,

servants of Christ Jesus.

We're who's writing to you,

servants of Christ Jesus.

And then how does he address the people

at the church of Philippi?

Again, it could be,

I'm writing this to the pastors and the elders.

Can you preach this or pass it on to your people?

No, there's this partnership

of all equalness that is happening here.

He says to all the saints in Christ Jesus

who are at Philippi.

He's not favoring out the more spiritually mature

or the most gifted or those who serve the most.

He addresses the saints.

They are saints not because they are perfect,

but because they are in Christ.

That is, they have put their faith and trust in Jesus.

They are the saints.

And then he says with the overseers and the deacons.

The word overseers is,

Paul uses elsewhere

and it's synonymous with elder or bishop.

So by him adding these words,

we're able to see that this church of Philippi

that he started

actually is large enough

to have governance and structure to it.

leadership.

That's encouraging to hear.

And we look at verse 2.

Verse 2 is Paul's greeting

to the church.

He says,

Grace to you and peace

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We've seen this a lot

because Paul uses this greeting

in all of his letters

with very little variation.

So it's easy for us to miss it.

But this isn't just a fluffy greeting,

not meant to be just a nice,

Hey, how you doing?

Sorry to hear your football team's

not doing well this year.

How's the weather?

He's not starting out like that.

Paul writes a greeting

that is meant to encourage

and give hope.

And that's the greeting

that Paul uses

for all of his letters.

Grace to you and peace

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is he saying by that?

Paul is calling down

grace and peace

from God

and the Lord Jesus Christ

to the Philippians.

That is,

he expects grace and peace

from God

to the readers

of this letter.

He says that

this because

God has shown us grace.

Each and every one of us,

God has shown grace.

And because of that,

because of who God is,

we have an unshakable peace

available through Jesus Christ.

Paul wants us

to be reminded of this

so he starts out

his letter this way.

That is his blessing.

A proclaiming of a promise.

A reminder of what is available

to them in God

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So,

that's the first section.

The second section,

that was the greeting.

The second section

we're going to look at

is the grounding.

What do we mean by that?

Let's read verses

three through five.

I thank my God

in all my 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.

I say grounding

because

we're looking at

what grounds Paul

in what he is saying

to the Philippians

because the Philippians

don't want to hear

just niceties.

They want to know

that it's grounded

in something.

And I would hope

we would want

the same thing.

Don't preach something

that just sounds nice

but we want it grounded

in truth.

We want it grounded

in the word of God.

When you talk about joy

that's real,

that we can live for,

I want it to have

depth and meaning

that we can go after.

That's the grounding

that Paul wants to give us.

So to phrase that section

a little different,

Paul says,

I'm thankful to God

for all of you.

All of you guys

that have brought me

so much joy.

In all of my prayers for you,

I just have joy.

Every time

I think about you

and I pray for you,

I'm just filled with joy.

And for that,

I'm just thankful.

But why?

Why is Paul thankful

for the church of Philippi?

Why does thinking about them

bring him joy?

Verse 5 says,

because of the partnership

in the gospel

from the first day

until now.

in Philippians,

Paul uses this gospel partnership

to refer to

a gospel-centered friendship

and the gospel mission.

So,

as we move through Philippians

and as we see that picture

of joyful partnership

in the gospel,

it's important that we see

both aspects of that.

The friendship,

and we see that

with this church

in Philippi,

and the mission.

They were on a mission together.

He says,

partnership in the gospel

from the first day

until now.

to get an accurate understanding

of what that means

from the first day

until now,

I think it's helpful

that we see

what he's talking about.

Paul has this affection

of this church,

and he says,

from the first day

until now.

So,

I think we need

a little bit of background

on the church of Philippi,

which Paul started.

Okay?

So,

let's jump back

just a little bit.

A hundred years,

Philippi is established

as a Roman colony.

It's governed

by Roman law.

Its citizens

were Roman citizens.

Philippi itself

was modeled

after Rome

as a miniature Rome.

Even its style

and architecture

was laid out

to match that of Rome.

And this is the city

where Paul finds himself

because God directs him

and he starts

his first church.

How did he get there?

Actually,

he got there

from a few failures.

Paul's goal

was to minister

in Asia,

in Bithynia.

Only God closes

those doors

and he points them

towards Philippi.

You can read more

about it

in Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

For the sake of time,

I just want to

summarize it up for you

so we get an idea

of what this church

is,

what it looks like

and where it is

when Paul is in prison.

So,

Paul

and a small team,

evangelistic team,

on a mission,

they arrive at Philippi.

There's no synagogue

in Philippi

so Paul finds

a women's prayer meeting

down by the river.

See,

in order to have

a synagogue,

there must be

ten or more

Jewish men

in a city

and then a synagogue

can be established.

Obviously,

there's not enough there

so there's women

praying down

by the river.

The kingdom of God

is about to break open

on European soil

for the first time

and it starts

with women

humbly praying

down by the river.

Prayer

is powerful

and it's important.

So,

I'm going to take

a minute

since we're here

to talk about prayer

and its importance

because I think

we need it

right now.

Are you feeling

disconnected?

Are you feeling

like nothing's

happening

inside

spiritually?

then I want

to encourage

you

to check

your prayer

life

because

there's life

that God

has for us

if we keep

that communication

open

with Him.

When we close

that

and we seek

life

elsewhere

then it

fails us

and we really

see that now

because of the

time that we're

in.

God

uses

this

little

humble

prayer

meeting

down

by the

river

to start

a church

in Philippi

to give us

this letter

to encourage

us.

That's

what came

out of

the little

prayer

meeting.

I'll admit

I haven't

gone to

prayer

meeting

very much

in a while

but I

want to

encourage

you

to try

it

if you

have time

in your

schedule

to do

it.

It's

easier

now

because

we're

quarantined

because

we're

locked up

because

we can't

meet

together

and

let me

while we're

talking about

it

let me

push

aside

any

temptation

of

thoughts

that Satan

puts into

your mind

about how

you can't

come

because

I have

to get

dressed

up

well

you don't

have to

get

dressed

up

it's

available

online

so it's

easy

to connect

to

you don't

have to

pray

and I

say that

because I

don't want

you to

stay where

you don't

pray

but at

the same

time

there's

more you

get from

a prayer

meeting

by being

there

and hearing

the saints

praying

than you

do by

not coming

at all

is it

difficult

yes

is it

hard to

sing songs

over

zoom

yeah

it is

but it's

there

and it's

a church

on a

mission

trying to

stay

grounded

in the

word of

God

and encourage

one another

so I

want to

encourage

you

to try

to make

it

put a

picture up

if you

don't want

them to

see your

living room

mute it

if there's

noise in

the background

if you

have to

run and

eat

dinner

while

you're

on it

that's

okay

what I'm

saying is

Satan wants

to give

you every

opportunity

not to

connect to

the church

because he

doesn't want

you

connected

to the

church

prayer

prayer

is

important

and

Satan

knows

it

okay

so

prayer

meeting

down by

the river

Paul

seeks out

Lydia

Lydia

is a

prominent

woman

who

sells

purple

cloth

she

is a

God

fearer

which

means

she

worshiped

God

she knew

about

God

but she

doesn't

know what

it means

to be

a

Christian

Paul

starts

to teach

her

and it

says

that God

opened her

heart

and mind

to believe

the gospel

Lydia

gets

saved

her house

gets

saved

next we

see Paul

out of

frustration

he casts

a spirit

out of

a young

woman

because

seems like

she's just

annoying

his

preaching

of the

gospel

so he

casts

out a

spirit

only that

upsets

the owners

of this

young

lady

because

they

were

profiting

off

of her

because

she

was

fortune

telling

there's

something

there

about

fortune

telling

and

the

spirit

that

made

that

possible

just

throw

that

out

there

for those

who

struggle

with that

or are

tempted

to know

about

those

things

anyway

he upsets

the owners

and for

that reason

Paul and

Silas get

thrown into

jail

not the

ideal place

to have

church

and yet

Paul and

Silas

are

singing

and praying

in this

prison

note another

connection

there

they're

having

their

own

little

prayer

meeting

and

an

earthquake

breaks

out

jail

doors

are

open

chains

fall

off

all

the

prisoners

the

guard

is

about

to

kill

himself

because

he

thinks

they're

all

going

to

make

safe

and

Paul

says

hold

up

let

me

comfort

you

with

the

fact

that

all

of

us

are

still

here

and

what

does

the

prisoner

do

he

breaks

and says

what

do I

have

to

do

to

be

saved

that's

how

the

church

of

Philippi

started

those

are

the

first

converts

of

this

church

that's

roughly

ten

years

before

Philippians

is

written

that's

the

history

of

their

partnership

there

were

others

that

came

to

Christ

there's

more

in

that

and

we'll

learn

more

about

that

when

we

jump

into

Acts

but

they're

on

mission

with

him

there's

there

is

genuine

love

for

one

another

this

connection

between

this

work

that

got

started

in

Philippi

their

work

for

the

Lord

and

this

mission

of

sharing

the

gospel

that's

the

partnership

Paul

is

talking

about

look

at

verse

6

he

says

I

am

sure

of

this

speaking

of

God

here

he

who

began

a

good

work

in

you

will

bring

it

to

completion

at

the

day

of

Jesus

Christ

Paul's

confidence

is in

their

partnership

or

Paul's

confidence

in their

partnership

is not

an empty

confidence

it's a

confidence

in God

knowing

that God

is behind

it

and God

will

continue

it

see

what

God

starts

God

finishes

if

God

calls

a

person

and

saves

them

he

doesn't

let it

go

and drop

it

off

but

he

continues

that

work

to

completion

we

are

active

in that

relationship

with

God

it

isn't

that

we

don't

do

anything

but

it

is

God

who

supplies

what

we

need

spiritually

emotionally

physically

God

provides

and

directs

that

so

that

in the

end

we

would

be

complete

and

perfect

like

Christ

not

complete

now

but

at

the

day

of

Jesus

Christ

verse

7

he

says

it is

right

for me

to feel

this

way

about

you

because

I

hold

you

in

my

heart

for

you

are

all

partakers

with

me

of

grace

both

in

my

imprisonment

and

in

the

defense

and

confirmation

of

the

gospel

Paul

is

grounded

in

the

fact

that

they

are

partakers

of

grace

with

him

in

his

imprisonment

in

his

sharing

of

the

gospel

and

his

defending

the

gospel

Paul

is

grounded

in

the

fact

they

are

partakers

what

does

that

mean

that

they

are

partakers

the

grace

of

God

that

is

sustaining

and

protecting

and

securing

and

holding

Paul

they

are

sharers

of

the

church

of

Philippi

is

connected

to

Paul

so

what

sustains

Paul

is

what

is

sustaining

them

that

trust

that

Paul

has

is

the

trust

that

they

hold

on

and

lean

to

the

God

that

that

is

moving

Paul

along

wherever

he

is

is

what

is

moving

the

church

along

with

him

so

instead

of

giving

up

on

Paul

when

he

is

sent

to

prison

because

as

you

can

imagine

there's

shame

that

comes

along

with

being

sent

to

prison

I

don't

quite

know

what

it

would

be

like

at

this

time

but

it

feels

like

it

would

be

that

way

now

when

someone

is

sent

to

jail

there's

shame

that

goes

along

with

that

and

so

when

the

planter

of

your

church

is

sent

to

prison

there

is

obviously

some

shame

that

can

accompany

that

that

had

no

effect

not

on

them

they

were

on

mission

with

Paul

they

knew

why

Paul

was

in

jail

and

they

supported

him

through

it

verse

8

Paul

here

is

calling

God

as

a

witness

in

order

to

bring

emphasis

and

truth

to

what

he

is

saying

the

new

living

translation

says

this

God

knows

how

much

I

love

you

and

long

for

you

with

the

tender

compassion

of

Christ

Jesus

Paul

says

I

yearn

for

you

this

is

not

an

earthly

based

on

my

feelings

yearning

this

is

a

spiritual

yearning

one

with

an

affection

that

comes

from

Jesus

Christ

see

they

are

all

in

Christ

they

belong

to

Christ

they

have

been

found

and

saved

by

Christ

so

that

affection

is

from

Christ

Paul

is

imitating

Christ

and

how

he

has

affection

for

others

who

are

in

Christ

are

you

it's

a

little

confusing

but

are

you

seeing

the

connection

there

Paul

is

imitating

Christ

and

how

he

has

affection

for

others

who

are

in

Christ

and

Paul

has

this

affection

for

all

the

saints

in

the

church

at

Philippi

he

says

so

back

in

the

beginning

if

we

are

united

to

others

in

Christ

like

what

Paul

is

talking

about

do

we

church

have

a

similar

affection

for

them

does

our

spiritual

affections

which

come

from

Christ

imitate

his

affections

for

his

followers

you

see

the

connection

definitely

an area

that

I can

grow

in

I'm

sure

others

can

grow

in

they're

of

Christ

do

I

do

I

care

for

them

do

I

love

them

like

Christ

loved

them

so

what

is

Paul's

grounding

or

foundation

for

this

letter

of

encouragement

it's

their

willful

and

joyful

partnership

with

Paul

in

the

gospel

our

last

section

is

the

goal

verses

9

through

11

cover

that

what's

Paul's

goal

in

verses

9

through

11

or rather

we'll see

the goal

in

9

through

11

about

what

his

goal

is

for

this

passage

as well

as

the book

of

Philippians

Paul's

goal

let's

read

verse

9

I

don't

want

you

to

hear

what

I

think

Paul's

goal

is

I

want

you

to

see

what

the

word

of

God

says

is

Paul's

goal

verse

9

and it

is

my

prayer

that

your

love

may

abound

more

and

more

with

knowledge

and

all

discernment

that

was

Paul's

goal

and

it's

going

to

build

for

these

next

three

verses

that

their

love

would

abound

more

and

more

there

are

two

things

going

on

here

again

Paul

is

encouraging

them

to

increase

their

love

and

we'll

speak

to

that

in

a

minute

but

secondly

at

the

same

time

he

is

showing

them

the

importance

of

prayer

see

Paul

is

separated

from

the

church

that

he

started

he

didn't

leave

to go

on

mission

to do

other

things

but

he

is

now

in

prison

and

he

can't

leave

prison

to

go

visit

them

it's

a

church

that

he

loves

very

much

and

yet

he

can't

go

see

them

not

them

or

any

church

while

there's

no

pandemic

going

on

it

is

if

he

is

in

quarantine

unable

to

go

to

church

unable

to

sing

and

worship

and

hear

the

word

from

any

other

church

and

what

do

we

see

Paul

doing

he

prays

for

them

we

see

Paul

praying

for

them

and

encouraging

them

that's

what

he

does

so

what

do

we

do

for

others

in

our

church

do

we

pray

for

them

are

our

prayers

mostly

if

we

have

time

to

pray

consumed

with

our

needs

we

do

have

needs

I'm

not

saying

don't

pray

for

those

but

do

we

pray

for

our

church

that

we

should

be

on

mission

the

gospel

with

all

right

so

let's

go

back

to

the

first

section

we

saw

we

see

prayer

going

on