Fully Satisfied in Christ // The Book of Philippians (part 1) // Pastor Drew

[Music]

Amen. Amen. Come on. How we doing today?

Doing all right. Welcome to Millard

North Middle

School. Let's go. Come on. Can we give a

hand to our setup tearown team that made

it happen here?

Man, Morgan wasn't kidding. You guys are

like so far away. I'm about to I'm I'm

gonna This is going to be one of those

Sundays I like trip off the stage. I

want to get close to y'all. Uh but this

is I I mean it. We had about what like

30 people show up and figure out a space

that we've never been in, we've never uh

set up in, and figure out how to make a

church out of a totally different

school. And I'd say it looks pretty dang

good. I'd say it feels like church

today, doesn't it? Let's go. I'm so

grateful for Millard North. Uh I'm

grateful for Millard North Middle. And

uh I'm grateful that we get to do this.

Honestly, the Lord started off his whole

church, his whole nation. He started off

portable. Most of the movements that God

begins, he starts portable. They begin

in homes and then they move into the the

synagogues and the places that were

purposed for other for for Jews and they

were Christians and then they continue

to move into these places until finally

they're able to grow and build their own

facility. But until that time, I'm going

to love the season that God has us in.

Amen. Amen. And this is this is I want

to I want to take time because I believe

that when God moves you, he does so

intentionally. And I believe that God

opened up this door, not just man. Which

means we're in a different neighborhood.

We're in a different school. We're in a

different season in the summer season.

And so I want to ask for all of us. I'm

going to lead us, but I want all of us

to take some time to pray for this

neighborhood, to pray for this school,

and to pray for this season for June and

July that we are here. So, heavenly

father, go ahead in your own words, just

loud enough for you to be able to hear.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would

so bless this neighborhood. God, I pray

that you would so bless this school,

every teacher, God, during summer school

as teachers are here. Lord, I pray that

they would sense your spirit that there

would just be a grace on this school and

the curriculum in the teaching and the

students. God, I pray that the difficult

students that have no spiritual life at

their house, God, that they would come

here and they would sense the

reverberation of the worship that's gone

on here. God, I pray that there would be

a hand of favor and blessing over this

very school. Lord, I pray for this

neighborhood. God, I pray for the homes

that are surrounding that are seeing the

signs, the flags, the banners for the

first time. God, I pray that you would

stir up a curiosity for those who do not

yet know you. For those who are in need

of hope, for those who are in need of

joy, for those who are in need of

purpose, and for those who are in need

of eternal life. Lord, I declare that

you've got life for this city. I believe

that you've got life for this

neighborhood. I believe you've got life

for this school. And I believe that

you're going to do it through this

church. In the mighty name of Jesus, we

pray. Amen. Amen. Come on. This is it.

So, this is I don't know about you guys,

uh we're stepping into another a new

series and this series is on the book of

Philippians. And uh when I think about

when there's that the the book of

Philippians is actually one of the most

joyfilled books that Paul writes even

though he's in the midst of a really

difficult season.

And I think that's a big difference

between

happiness and joy. You ever wonder what

the difference between happiness and joy

is? Because joy isn't just like the next

level of happiness. It's not equivalent

to elated, right? It's not like I'm

happy and now I'm really happy. I'm

joyful.

It's actually this

sustaining confidence in peace and in

like that you might be on the brink of a

smile at at like your average times, but

even in the moments that are really

really hard, it's it looks more like

hope. In the times of chaos, true joy

looks like

peace. When faced with fear, true joy

looks like faith. And it begins to

reveal itself in a lot of different

ways. But this

book is one of Paul when he writes this

book from a jail probably in Rome in

about 60

AD. He is he's writing this and he's

just like you see again and again and

again if you compare it to some of the

other letters that Paul writes and he is

like oh man I love you. I cannot wait to

see you on his missionary journeys that

he makes. He visits the city of Philippi

multiple times, two times in one

missionary journey. He loves this

church. He's overjoyed by the the things

that God is doing in the city of

Philippi. And he's got some very

serious, true, deep reasons why he's

filled with this joy.

And so what I want to do, our goal at

collective is not just to open up the

word of God on Sunday mornings, though

that's a big part of what we do. Our

goal is not just to have an experience

together, though that is massive. And I

believe that it is one of the

lifechanging things in the foundations

of life change in in many of our lives.

I don't know about you guys, I've had an

experience in a corporate setting that

has changed my life forever.

But our goal is that from the very

beginning, we wanted our Sunday service

to be a launch

pad to a spiritual vitality that you

carry in your own life every single day.

Some of you have discovered this. Some

of you live with this joy. Some of you

live with this abundant joy that you

experience all the time. But but some of

you may not. And what I want to do is

it's rooted. is always rooted in

something greater than me. Because if

it's rooted in me, it's as temporary as

me. And it's as temporary as my

emotions. And my emotions are all over

the place. Depending on whether I

stubbed my toe that day, I rolled my

ankle this last week, that was

automatically a bad day, right? Like I

don't know what like there's all these

things. My emotions can be everywhere.

But I know in the Lord, my joy can hold

fast. So we build this in a foundation.

And so what I want to do if you should

have grabbed on your way

in a reading plan. Did you all get this?

Everybody see this? This is our This is

our reading plan. And so for the for the

next four weeks, we've got a reading

plan that we're going to do together.

It's got little check boxes on it. It's

got like every single day. We've got the

date next to it so that you can see what

date are we on. Did I miss it? Did I

misplace it? Where exactly should we be?

We've got a uh a passage for today and

it's so

short. It's so short that I want us to

really dive in. And we do this

intentionally. I do this intentionally

for a couple different reasons. When we

do churchwide reading plans, we do them

short for two reasons. One, some of you

guys need to start building a habit of

getting in the word. And starting with

an hour a day is probably a bit much.

It's going to be really hard if you miss

a day because you haven't built the

habit and to be able to catch back up,

right? That's really hard to do. And so,

I want to make it approachable for those

of you who are new. And for those of you

who are not, if you've been a believer

for a little bit, you probably have your

own Bible reading plan you're doing.

Please do

that. And so, it's short enough to be

able to be added on top of what you're

doing. I'll do these at at a different

time of the day sometimes than the than

the reading plan that I'm doing. I'll

find a different time when when I I need

multiple times throughout the day to be

with the Lord because I'm just like you.

You're probably holier than I am. I'm

just a mess. And around noon, I get way

too much Drew and way too little Holy

Spirit. And I need to start and I need

to take a little bit of time to go pray.

I need to take a little time to be back

with the Lord. I need to take a little

time to to burn away the flesh that is

starting to rise up again. And so these

are these are different times that I'll

do this. But how do I spend a lot of

time reading a couple

verses? And that's what we've got on the

uh on the back here. We've got a slide

that kind of describes what we've got on

the back here. Can we pull up the the

soap reading plan? This is one of the

best ways if you've never studied your

Bible. We're going to study the book of

Philippians. You can read your Bible and

that's great. You're going to get stuff

out of it. But to study it, to take a

deeper dive, this is how you

study. It's called SOAP. S O A P. And it

stands for scripture, observe, apply,

and pray. S O A P. And what you're going

to see here is you're going to see that

there is a couple different four

different steps that we're going to

take. Five actually. uh that we have

here. So, what you'll see at the very

beginning just scripture. This is

literally just reading the passage. So,

day one today when you get home is going

to be the first two verses, but it's

also it says context and intro. So, I

want I I I want to be able to open this

up because if you guys get yourself a

fat Bible, right? Like there's there's

skinny Bibles that are easy to carry

around with you and then there's fat

Bibles, right? These ones are like study

Bibles. And he's got all this like these

notes on the side. And before I've got

all this stuff over here that like

introduces what's going on in the book

of

Philippians. Why is this? What's the

difference between this and the poems

and the songs that are written in the

book of Psalms? What's the difference

between the laws that are written in the

Torah and the first five books of the

Bible? What's the difference between

this and the historical books in the Old

Testament, between the gospels? I read

it a little bit differently just like I

read Dr. Seuss differently than I would

for like uh G the Great Gatsby, right?

Like I'm going to read these different

I'm going to read totally I'm I'm going

to understand a different book different

than I'd read a poem, different than I'd

read my textbook. I understand based off

and if I just open it up, I don't really

know. And so this is your day to be able

to read through some of those notes. You

can look it up online as well. And uh

and and so you'll you'll just first of

all you just read the passage. Just read

it. Sometimes I'll read through it a

couple times just to be able to get it

in my spirit. And then next is

observe what's the context and the

original meaning. This is your chance to

study it. Study the passage. Look it up.

You can look, there's like uh there's

things like bible stududy tools.com,

blueletterbible.org. There's all these

different things that you can use to

look up and to study. If you got study

notes on your Bible, you can start

reading through that and looking at what

is this actually meaning? What's the

original intended meaning of this

passage and then I bridge this

2,000-year-old text into today and I

apply it. So, what does this mean for

me? And the whole time I've got, you

see, like there's a journal and you can

create a little journal and just write

this down. What does this mean for me?

How does how does this apply for my

life? And all of this is written on the

back of the reading plan. So, you can

see that uh and then you print finish

with a prayer. Finish with a prayer. Uh

at the beginning, this one, I think

there's an updated slide of this uh but

at the beginning uh of each week, this

is different uh what what's written on

here. Oh, here we go. Yep. There's a

there's a uh a day of reading or

listening to the full book. You can

listen, you can audiobook the entire

book on your Bible app, things like

that. And what this does is it gets the

whole context of the whole thing. So I

know what this passage is. And so today

is reading the context and then tomorrow

is going to be just read the whole book.

You don't study the whole book. I'm

going to study the passages. I'm going

to read the whole book. Does that make

sense? So as you see that, you see

chapters 1 through 4. read all four

chapters. If it's audio book, it's about

12 and a half minutes. I saw I think 13

and a half minutes, something like that.

If you're a slow reader like me, it'll

take a little over 15 minutes and then

you'll be able to get through it. But

take time to dive through all of it. And

it also be a good day for catchup. All

right, we good? Can we commit to this

four weeks? Let's do it. Let's do it.

Grab a couple copies in case you want

one at work, in case you want one for a

family member, things like that. You can

grab some on the way out. So, uh, but as

we step into here, if anytime that

you're going to understand the context

of a passage, this is what is going on.

Paul loves this church. It's the first

church. It's a letter to the church in

the city of

Philippi. And he's writing this letter.

It was one of the first churches that he

planted. He goes to the city of

Philippi. He visits it. He goes and he

meets with people in the synagogue. And

then he meets with ladies. And the

ladies were some of the most receptive

there. And so he's and and and there's

these ladies that he then gets to build

up and and there's there's a lot of

female leadership that and influence

highle influence that you see within the

church here. And you'll see this if you

want to look at what Paul and Silas did

in the in Philippi look at Acts 16 and

you're going to be able to see the

context of what was going on and uh

you'll you'll be able to read about some

of these ladies that they have here. But

uh he he just he loves this church and

just the gener the the generosity that

they've experienced. They've given him

gifts throughout his ministry. They've

supported him multiple times. They've

sent people to just encourage him. And

he's just got this powerful relationship

with them. And so this is this is where

you see Paul and Silas when he was with

them in Philippi the first time. This is

when they were singing in the jail and

then suddenly an earthquake shook the

doors open. the chains fell off their

wrists and their ankles and they were

able and they go talk to the jailer. The

jailer gets saved and then everybody

gets mad at them because they're

preaching Jesus and so they get kicked

out of the town. That's their that's one

of their first experiences in

Philippi. And so they see this context

and today what I want to read through is

Philippians

1 19 through 26. So go ahead open up

your Bibles. You can start taking notes

here. I I I like this is a great season

and series to be able to take your own

notes and make a whole bunch of notes

there. So, uh, Philippians chapter 1

Philippians 1:19

verse 19, big number one, little number

19. And here's what it says. For I know

that this, okay, I'm going to have to

stop

there. He was just sharing about how

he's writing to

them from prison.

He's imprisoned in

Rome and it's it's crazy. I'll let you

guys read a little bit about it, but

it's crazy the way that he views it and

how grateful he is for the opportunity

that he has to be a

prisoner. And he talks about how he

ministers the gospel to the jailers and

to the guards and to his fellow

prisoners. And how he's like, "This is

actually great. It is a great gospel

advancing thing that has happened that I

have been arrested and imprisoned for

years. So now here's here he says, "But

I know that this this imprisonment

Philippi loves Paul and they're worried

about him." He says, "Don't worry. I

know that this is going to turn out for

my deliverance. I know I'm going to get

freed. I know I'm going to get out of

here and I know that through your prayer

and through the supply of the spirit

that it's going to end up good.

I it's almost like he is calling back to

when he was in Philippi for the first

time that through prayer when he and

Silas were praying and worshiping in the

prison and through the power of the

spirit when the earthquake came and the

and the chains fell off and all the

doors became unlocked and opened all of

a sudden it's it's like he's calling

that same

thing. He's calling it out. He's going

like, "Don't you see how prayer and the

power of the spirit has freed me before?

I believe it's going to happen again."

and according to my earnest expectation

and hope that in nothing in nothing will

I be ashamed but with all boldness as

always. So now also Christ will be

what?

Magnified. Magnified in my body, in my

flesh, whether by life or even by

death. For to me to live is Christ and

to die is

gain. But if I live on in the flesh,

this will mean fruit for my labor. Yet

what shall I choose? I can't tell. I'm

having a hard time deciding. Next

passage, verse 23. For I am hardpressed

between the two. having a desire to

depart and to be with Christ, which is

so much better. Nevertheless, to remain

in the flesh is more needful for you.

And being confident of

this, I know that I shall remain and

continue with you all for your progress

and for the joy of faith. that for your

rejoicing for me may be more abundant,

even more abundant in Christ Jesus by my

coming to you

again. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I

thank you for this opportunity to dive

into your word. I thank you for this

chance for your word to truly impact our

souls. God, I know that your word is

living and active. And I pray that we

would only offer a soft

heart, a willingness to receive whatever

you

have, whatever you want to

speak. May it come

alive here in this message, in this

series. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Amen. So this is this is what I want to

talk about. This the whole the whole

idea today. Uh the sermon is called

Fully

Satisfied in

Christ. Fully satisfied in

Christ. And it's this this hidden

message that you see throughout. It's

not going to be really highlighted.

That's why I wanted to hit on it today.

It's not really highlighted in any

specific verse, but you see this thread

throughout the entirety of the book of

Philippians that there is some motive

that Paul has that makes him so it's so

different. He's so joyfilled in this

prison.

He is writing in a miserable

situation and yet he writes with so much

hope. He says, "For me to live, verse

121, this is where I want to focus.

Philippians 1:21, for me to live is

Philippians 1:21

Christ and to die is

gain." This is such a

curious, weird statement. that I want us

to sit on for a little bit. For me to

live is

Christ and to die is gain. I want to sit

on first I want to focus on this this

second part. To die is gain because it's

it's probably the weirder of the two.

Like it's beneficial for me to die. I

think there's a curiosity. I think

there's something that Paul has here.

There's a there's a level of this world

is wretched.

What has got him in prison is the very

group of people that he used to belong

to. He was a Pharisee. He was a

religious leader in the Jewish in in in

a Jewish family, the Jewish sect called

the Pharisees. And they're like the the

strongest, highest religious leaders

there. They are amazing. And he was a

leader of them. And he now is being

imprisoned by these people and by Jews,

by Pharisees, by all these people that

were his family, these people that he

loves, these people that he feels this

deep passion for. And he's called now to

minister to the Gentiles, the

non-Jews. And so it stirs up even more

dissension with his literal ethnic

family, this place of belonging that

he's had. and he's in prison. He's been

beaten. He's got He's writing this

letter with scars on his

back. He's writing this letter after

Jews have come against him. Have he's

literally been stoned to death already

by this

point. They stone him. He He looks like

he's dead. They drag him outside the

town so his body can rot

outside and he comes back alive. I don't

know if he was literally resurrected. I

don't know if he was literally revived

by God or if he was like in so much

trauma that his body shut down for a

second and then he came back out of a

coma or something. I don't but but what

does he do? Then he steps right back

into the city and continues

preaching.

This this is the

life that Paul has been called

to. A life of

excruciating suffering.

a life where he says, "God, I've got

I've got problems. I've got this thorn

in my side. Would you free me from

this?" And God says, "No, I needed to I

need it for you to keep you humble, to

keep you dependent on me." And so, a lot

of this is from the enemy. Some of his

problems and his pains are even from

God. And God has confirmed it. And now

he's in prison. And God has allowed it.

God has ordained it. And he's using it

for God's

glory. But ain't nobody like to be in

prison.

And he's in a season where he says in

verse 23 he

says I am hardpressed for I I have a

desire to depart and be with Christ

which is far

better. That's a holy way of saying I

wish I was dead.

I don't know if you've ever been in a

season like

that where the world around you,

everything surrounding you, it just it

genuinely whether it's a feeling or

whether it's like I don't know, I'm

trying to look at this objectively and

it feels like it might just be better

for me not to even be

here. I feel alone. I feel stuck. And

when when when I I I I know I've I've

been able to speak I can speak into

these seasons. I've had seasons like

this myself where it's like,

man, I think it

just I I I don't want to I don't want to

do the act myself, but man, I just I'd

be

okay if I just fell down and died right

now.

I don't know if you've ever had one of

those seasons where it's like, man, I

don't know how to get out of this. I

don't know how to free myself. This

world is so bad. And then when I look at

the word of God and and I see that

there's a heaven that's so much greater.

And so the reality is is

yeah, it's better to be with

Christ. But then Paul has to wrestle

with this. And I want us to wrestle with

this as

well that when I look at to death as

gain and when I'm in a season where it

seems like death is a better option than

the life that I am stuck in right

now. I want us to remember what Paul

continues on to say.

says,

"Nevertheless," verse 24, "I remain in

the flesh. It's more

needful for

you, being confident in this. I know

that I

will. I know that I will." He's

speaking. I don't I don't think Paul was

suicidal. I think he was objectively

going, "It's it's better, and I'm in

prison, so it might honestly happen. So,

I kind of got to come to terms with

death. And as I come to terms with it, I

go, not a bad option right

now. But then he says, I know I feel in

my spirit that there's there's a hope

beyond this

prison. And I know for the sake of

Christ that there's something beyond

here.

And if you've ever been in this season,

if maybe you're in this season right now

where it just where life is

miserable, where the pain and the

pressure and the hurt and the torment,

maybe you've got someone that you want

that that needs to be listening to this

right now in your life that you need to

send this message to. But here's the

reality. I want you to

know the last beat your heart just

took was given to you by God.

And if he doesn't want it to beat again,

he won't let

it. So until his

timing, don't give

up. If God wants to take you, he'll take

you. There's nothing that's going to

stop

it. But if you're still breathing, if

you just took a

breath, if you're still here, if your

heart is still beating, then he's still

got a purpose for you.

He's still got a reason that you're

here. You're not

alone. You're not empty. You're not

purposeless. It's not a shadow in front

of you with no hope. You've got a light

in front of you with incredible purpose,

incredible drive. That's why he says,

"It's not for my sake that I'm going to

choose life here. It is because of your

sake." He's saying God has given me a

divine purpose that is beyond me. That

is greater than me. That's bigger than

this jail cell that I'm stuck inside of.

That's bigger than the chains that are

on my

wrist. I know he's got something bigger.

And in the same way, I promise you, if

he wanted to take you, you'd be gone

already.

I promise you if you're here, he's got

something good for you. He's got a hope.

He's got a future. Ecclesiastes said,

"Why should you die before your time?

This is God's got a time for that. I'm

not created for here forever. Every

single one of us is

mortal." And so I come to terms with it.

And instead, I go, "God, at your time I

will go." And until that

moment, I'm going to

live as

Christ. And that's what he says. That's

what he ultimately

decides. He says, "For me to live is

Christ and to die is gain." when I

choose and I know in my spirit that

God's going to lead me towards life. I

don't think this prison is going to lead

towards death. This was his first

imprisonment. His second imprisonment,

he was

martyed. So it did ultimately lead

towards death and he could feel it in

his spirit. He says, "I can feel my

spirit. My life is being poured out." He

writes in second Timothy. But this is

this is this is what he says here. He

says, "I know it. I can feel that there

is still hope before me, that there is

still life before me. And to live is

Christ. Paul's ultimate

choice is to live as Christ

lived. If you actually look at the

original language here, it just says to

live

Christ, to live out

Christ, to live like Christ. to be that

now that Christ is in heaven and he is

not in the flesh walking here. Now we

are the flesh of Christ walking on

earth. And so now I get to live Christ

out for the

world. For me to live is Christ is me to

be Jesus. The best example, ambassador

and pointer to Jesus that I can be in my

whole life. And so this is he says, "I

want to live as Christ lived, rejecting

all the temporal

benefits for an eternal

reward." And here's what's

crazy. The crazy thing is this is a lot

of times when we when we look at these

high commitments and these high

standards that scripture sets, a lot of

times it's set by Jesus and it's like be

perfect as your heavenly father is

perfect, right? It's like, okay, that's

my aspirational goal. I'm never going to

be perfect. But this is actually an

achieved goal that Paul got

to where he says, "My life is lived as

Christ

lived. And this is and this is what I

have done. I have run. We're going to go

through. I've run the race. I have done.

I got my eyes on the prize." And it's

this this different this totally

different way of living. And it's like I

still got this I still got imperfection

but I I'm doing

it. And it's actually a goal that we are

challenged to not to do it as perfectly

as Christ did it but to live as Christ.

Galatians 2:20 highlights this. It is

Galatians 2:20

Galatia. I have been crucified with

Christ. It's no longer I that live but

Christ lives in me. Now the life that I

live in the body I live by faith in the

son of God who loved me and gave himself

for

me. See to live as Christ

lived is this he he he highlights in

here it's about living a fruitful life.

It's about living a life where I see

that is bigger than me. It's bigger than

just I'm imprisoned. It's bigger than

what is the experience that my body is

having right now. And how opposite is

that of our

nation? I don't know if there's anyone

in this room that models this passage. I

don't think there's any there's probably

a very very very few number of people in

our nation that models this because we

are the nation that is the the the

hub of

consumerism of

comfortability where comfort now becomes

a

necessity where things that that that we

look at and it's like oh how easy is

that for me and if it's hard and we

wrestle through things that in our life

that I'm looking

at. Paul's wrestling through totally

different things. It's not, man, should

I get off my game and read the word

today? Oh man, I don't know that that

boy, that girl, they're so cute. Oh man,

I know they don't love the Lord, but

they're giving me attention. I think we

got a little chemistry. I think there's

some possibility that I don't know if I

want to give that I don't know if I want

to give that to the Lord.

Oh man, I know that God's calling me to

things, but I think I'll I'll set that

for later because right now I kind of

want to do it my way and I just want to

see what the world has to offer and I

know that I'm going I'm going to come

back to him at some point. I know I'm

going to do it, but I just kind of want

to I want to have some of these freedoms

that I keep and I want to keep some of

these things it's comfortable and I want

to keep some of these areas of my life

restricted away from God and say you

have all of most of it. Yeah, I get

this. And Paul here is

saying, "No, I die for

this." He's saying, "Christ will be

magnified in my life, whether by life or

by

death." Philippians 1:20. Can we pull

Philippians 1:20

that up? whether by life or by

death. Here it is. There you go. I I

shall but with all boldness as always.

So now always Christ will be magnified

in my life, in my body, in my flesh, in

me, whether by life or by

death. And I go, I don't know if I want

Christ to be magnified in me right now

because I got I got something

uncomfortable that I'm facing. I want to

challenge us in this. This is this is

how Paul introduces his letter. It's

intense and it's passionate and it's

real. If we can get the band to come up,

this is this is this idea. Here's here's

what I want us to get across. The

greatest joy if I want to get this joy

that Paul is writing from in a hard

season, the greatest joy I will ever

have is to be fully satisfied in Christ

Jesus and Christ Jesus alone.

That is the only thing that's going to

last. There are hardships that we're

going to go through that are going to be

way bigger, way harder, way more

difficult than something that we may be

able to bear on our

own. But I can find joy in satisfaction

in every season when I say, "Christ, be

magnified in me."

John Piper, this this incredible

preacher, incred incredible scholar, he

says it this way. He talks about uh this

this concept he highlights. He calls it

Christian hedonism. Hedenism is when you

uh when when I just serve for my own

benefit and I just want the most

pleasure I can and it's usually filled

with sex, drugs, and rock and roll,

right? Like that's the idea of like just

as much pleasure as I can get. That's

what I'm chasing. That's hedenism. And

he says Christian hedenism is this a

Christian a righteous way of looking at

this is God is most magnified in me when

I am most satisfied in him where my

satisfaction the most all my pleasure is

is just wrapped around him and I seek to

be pleased by just the presence of

Christ

alone because why was Paul so joyfilled

in prison? Cuz guess who was with him

there? Why was he so filled with joy in

this season when he was preaching to

hundreds and thousands of people when

people were coming to know Christ?

Because guess who was speaking through

him? Guess whose spirit was living in

him? And guess what satisfied

him?

Christ and Christ alone.

if we can stand. I was on this uh

everybody stand up in

here. I was on a on a trip this last

February. Uh one of my roles in uh

outside of collective churches as a

church planning director for for the

state for the Assemblies of God. And so

a whole bunch of church planning

director, not a whole bunch, six six of

us got together and we had this like

group and we're I'm brand new to this

role. And so we're learning from each

other and and uh and we finish this

cohort, we finish this training, we

finish all this and we go on they they

supplied a trip to Mexico. And so I'm

like, uh-huh, right? Amen. I'm not going

to say no to that, right? Like uh I

believe in suffering righteously for

Christ and I will suffer in Mexico for

Christ. Yes. Uh

but we got together and we said, "How

can we be praying for each other long

term after this? How can we be praying?"

And the church planning director in

North New York, upstate New

[Music]

York, he he says, "I had he begins to

tear

up." And when we when we were talking to

him, he says, "I had a conversation with

this older just spiritual legend

And and I was just talking to him. He he

was talking about endurance in ministry

and and how it can be hard at times and

how do I endure in it? And he says, "Oh

man, I I've found

it because I've I've had the peaks. I've

had the church that's exploding and and

people are calling go, "What are you

doing?" Oh my gosh. And you become like

this like local celebrity, right? And

then I've had these these plummets where

there's a church split and my best

friend leaves and and it's ugly and it's

hard and it's painful. And I've walked

through all this stuff and I've found

that the

secret is not to be satisfied with the

fruit. Do not be satisfied with the

people. Do not be satisfied with the

level of ministry. Yes, God's going to

use you. Yes, those are good things. And

he says, "I just want I just so

desperately want to carry that. where

the only thing I'm satisfied is Christ

and Christ alone. And if I have him and

nothing

else, that's all I

need. I couldn't be

happier. That's what Paul's writing

from. And he says, "I don't have it. I'm

not if I'm honest." And I look at myself

and I'm like, I'm not I

don't I'm satisfied in Christ. And I've

got a couple attachments

there. Got a couple things that I also

like it. And I also believe that like

it's good things. It's all good things.

It's like I'm satisfied with Christ in

my family and I'm satisfied with Christ

in my ministry and I'm satisfied with

Christ in his provision. I'm satisfied

with Christ and all these things. Like,

but what

if everything else was stripped away,

but I had the most intimate, powerful,

deep, real relationship with him? Would

I go praise you, Lord? Would I have the

response of

Job that says, "Naked I came from the

womb. Naked I shall return ashes to

ashes, but yet the name of the Lord be

[Music]

praised." No.

But I want

it. Oh, I want it to be fully satisfied

in

Christ and Christ

alone. And that's his

introduction. That's his introduction to

the book of

Philippians. Whether by life or death,

Christ is going to be magnified in

me because I am satisfied in him.

I am fully at

peace. I'm fully at rest. If he's

calling me to minister to prisoners and

the guards and those who are beating

me, oh, I'm at peace. It's a great

thing. And if he calls me out of here

and I get to go on another missionary

journey and start and plant churches and

build up the church and and raise up

leaders and pastors in these churches to

be able to take over when I leave, oh,

let God be glorified. I am fully

satisfied.

I don't know what it is for you. I don't

know what it is that are the variables

that we like to add, the the asterisks

we like to put on to the side of

satisfied in Christ. As long

[Music]

as if he

also and it may be good things, but if

it's not a God

thing, it won't

satisfy. It'll fail. It'll die. and it

won't stretch into

eternity. And that's my prayer. We got

this song that we're going to go into

and I want I want for us to sing this. I

want for us to get into an attitude of

worship. It's called Christ be magnified

in

me. Can we pull up the bridge the lyrics

here? I won't bow to

[Music]

idols. Keep going. I won't bow to idols.

I'll stand strong and worship you. If it

puts me in the

fire, if it puts me in a prison, if it

causes difficulty, if it causes me to

suffer, if it causes for hard times, if

it causes for judgment, if it causes for

me to lose friends, if it causes for me

to lose relationships, if it causes me

to lose my job, I'll rejoice because

that's the suffering that I'll find

Christ in. Keep it going. I'll rejoice

cuz you're there, too. I won't be formed

by

feelings. I know my I know where my

heart's going to be leading there. I

know what my emotions are going to say,

but that's not going to lead me. I'm

going to hold fast to what is true. For

if the cross brings

transformation, that I'm with you

there. Can we stand up? Can we worship

here? Can we do this? And I want for us

with our whole heart, say, "Christ be

magnified." in me. May I be fully

satisfied in you. Come on.

[Music]

Hey, thanks so much for watching today's

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Yeah. Thanks so much for watching. We're

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We believe that the best days are ahead

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[Music]