Well, let us turn to the chapter
we've just read in Philippians 4. We've been considering it
now for a number of weeks. In fact, I look back and I think
we commenced to consider the content of this chapter back
in the middle of August. But I want to turn tonight to
the closing verses as we conclude this little study of what Paul
has to say throughout Philippians 4, turning then to the last part
of the chapter at verse 20, through to the end. Philippians 4 verse
20 to verse 23. Now unto God and our Father be
glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ
Jesus. The brethren which are with me
greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of
Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. And so in these few verses we
have Paul's farewell as he concludes the epistle. And you will observe
that he concludes with a double amen. We have it there at the
end of verse 20. and then again at the end of
verse 23 and amen of course literally it means so be it or truly often
in John's gospel it's rendered as verily the truth of all that
he's been stating then throughout the epistle and throughout the
chapter that we've been considering and as we come to look at these
concluding verses tonight I have a threefold theme that I want
to take up and the theme is greetings grace and glory. Greetings, grace
and glory. This is what we find in these
final verses. First of all, the greetings. Paul was always mindful of his
fellow believers and those who were very much his helpers in
the work of the ministry of the gospel. He mentions some by name
when he comes to the end of these various letters. And previously
we have considered that quite long list that we have at the
end of the epistles of the Colossians. There in Colossians chapter 4
at verse 17 through 18 we find various names, often names that
are only recorded there and nowhere else in the Scriptures. But it
indicates to us Now Paul is always concerned for those who are associated
with him in the work to which the Lord had called him. He was
to be the great apostle to the Gentiles. Remember what he says
in Ephesians 3 concerning the revelation of that mystery that
was hid from the foundation of the world When Christ came in
the fullness of the time, the gospel would go forth to sinners
of the Gentiles. No afterthought on the part of
God as the dispensationalists suggest. as if God had intended
that Christ would come to save Israel and they rejected him
and so as an afterthought Christ will save Gentiles. That's a perversion of the word
of God. Ever from eternity God had purposed
that the gospel would go to the ends of the earth and Paul was
called to that particular work. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints is this grace given, he says, that I should
preach the gospel among the Gentiles. But there were others who were
with him, who were helping him in all that ministry. And when he comes to address
the letters to the various churches that he had established under
the gracious hand of God, we see how he makes mention of those
who were his helpers. here to the Philippians. He speaks
specifically of Timothy, Paul, and Timotheus, the servants of
Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. And when he addresses
the Church of the Thessalonians here in the first epistle, he
also makes mention of Silvanus, Paul, and Silvanus and Timotheus
unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ and so he is the apostle but there
are these others who are associated with him and writing to the Corinthians
he says we are ambassadors for Christ he doesn't just see himself
as the Lord's ambassador But he uses that plural, he embraces
others. And here, surely in these verses
at the end, we see his concern for others. As he says in verses
21 and 22, Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren
which are with me greet you, all the saints salute you, chiefly
they that are of Caesar's household. We see then that this letter
to the Philippians is clearly one of the prison epistles because
he makes mention of those who are with him and amongst them
there are those of Caesar's household. He must have been at Rome, that's
where we find him left at the end of the The Acts of the Apostles,
which is, of course, under God, was written by Luke, who was
an associate with the Apostle. He had appealed to the Caesar
when the Jews were seeking his death, laying false charges against
him, and so forth. And so he'd gone to Rome, and
there we find him, at the end of the Book of Acts, in chapter
28. And verse 16, Luke says, And
when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the
captain of the guard, but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself
with a soldier that kept him. And then he's called to give
some account of himself. But then at the end, right at
the end, verse 30, we're told, And Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching
the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." So clearly,
though he's under some restrictions, he's confined in some way, yet
he has a measure of liberty and he's still preaching the gospel
of the kingdom. And what do we read here? Well, in
the opening chapter at verse 13, he says, "...so that my bonds
in Christ are manifest in all the palace." Because he has this
opportunity to preach, his bonds, his imprisonment, his confinement
is manifest, and even those who are in Caesar's palace are aware
of him. And we have this statement, at
the end of verse 22, "...chiefly they that are of Caesar's household."
All the sons salute you as he writes to the Philippians. "...chiefly
they that are of Caesar's household." And Calvin simply makes this
observation that this is worthy of notice. The statement that
he makes at the end of verse 22, the Reformer says is worthy
of notice. Who was the emperor? Well at
that time the Emperor was nearer, a debauched man and a great persecutor
of the Christians and yet there were those in his household who
under the ministry of the Apostle had come to save in faith. We
see so clearly in this that we're seeing about it. Grace did so
much more about it. And so here at the end we find
Paul not only conveying these various greetings from those
who were with him in Rome and sending all their greetings to
the Church of the Philippians, but he also is clearly speaking
of the grace of God. So secondly, to say something
with regards to that grace, look at verse 20 now, rather verse
23, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And so he concludes the epistle
with that sentence. At the end of the epistle we read
of the grace of God, and if we turn back to the beginning of
this same epistle, what does he say in the second verse? Grace. be unto you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The Epistle
opens with grace and the Epistle closes also with grace. We have
it at the beginning and we have it again at the end. This is
the ministry then of the Apostle. He is a minister of the grace
of God in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The
doctrine of grace is a great theme, of course, that we see
in all his epistles. And what is that doctrine of
the grace of God? Well, to the Corinthians he says,
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through
his poverty might be made rich. That is grace. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. All grace centers in Christ,
centers in the person of Christ, centers in the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And now, even writing to these
Philippians, of course, he has spoken so clearly of that grace. In the second chapter, that tremendous
passage from verse 6, Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not right to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Well, this is the doctrine then.
It centers in a person, Grace. And it centers in the person
of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, and all that he accomplished
here upon the earth. And so, time and again, of course,
at the end of the epistles, we find the apostle making mention of that grace. I suppose the
best known of all is what we have at the end of the second
epistle to the Corinthians, that apostolic benediction, the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you all. All the doctrine of grace. But Paul can also speak of the
experience of grace. He had known the grace of God
in his own soul, as he writes in the opening chapter of the
epistle to the Galatians, when he pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me. words, but Paul is speaking very
much there of his own experience. He doesn't just theorize about
that grace which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew it. He
had felt the wonder of it in his own soul. And notice what
that grace is. It is sovereign grace. It's grace
that is according to God's good pleasure. When it please God,
he says. when it please God. And what
is it? It's that grace that is demonstrated
in effectual calling, because he speaks there of how God called
me by His grace. And that grace of God, as it
is sovereign, it's according to God's purpose, so it is also
effectual. God's decree is accomplished
His purpose must be fulfilled. We sing, and we're going to sing
it later, in the words of John Kent, of the effectual grace
of God, the appointed time, rolls on a pace, not to propose, but
called by grace, to change the heart, renew the will, and turn
the feet to Zion's hill. And that was certainly the case
with regards to the apostle. Didn't the Lord Jesus Christ
apprehend him? He speaks of being apprehended. I am apprehended, he says. And the word, according to the
margin there in chapter 3 where we have that statement, verse
12 of that third chapter, we find the word apprehended. The
margin gives the alternative readings of to lay hold or to
seize. He speaks of desiring to apprehend
Christ even as he was apprehended. verse 12 of chapter 3, not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect,
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend, lay hold of that for
which also I am apprehended, have been laid hold of by Christ
Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, or to lay hold of, to seize, but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those things which are before, I pressed toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. Oh, the Lord apprehended, laid
his hand upon him, seized him, arrested him. And we have the
account there in Acts chapter 9. And we sang it, didn't we,
just now in that opening praise, thus the eternal counsel ran,
Almighty love, arrest that man. Old Paul knew what it was to
experience the sovereign grace of God in his own soul. And what
was the outcome? Well, when that happened, he
was sold. and he was a self-righteous man
he was a Pharisee he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees when the Lord
laid hold of him and he became Paul the follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the Apostle to the Gentiles and again he
speaks of it doesn't he there in that great third chapter in verse 5 he speaks of being
and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the Lord of Pharisa
concerning zeal, persecuting the church. And we hated and
despised those who were the followers of this Jesus of Nazareth. How
self-righteous he was, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. He really thought he was blameless.
And yet he had no real understanding of the Lord of God and the spiritual
nature of the Lord of God. He was only concerned with the
externals. And then he discovered the strength
of that final commandment, Thou shalt not covet. And discovered
that his heart was full of all evil desire. His heart was full
of all covetousness. But he goes on, doesn't he, what
things were going to merge. as a Pharisee, those I counted
lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and who
count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith." Oh, this man knew the grace of God in
salvation. By the grace of God, he says,
I am what I am. Christ was revealed to him. Oh, we please God to reveal His
Son in me," he says. It was Christ in Paul. Christ
was all his life. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
I live, he says, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
Jesus Christ. That's how he lived his life.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, he says. how he has such a desire that
others might know that same grace. Again, back in chapter 1 at the
end of verse 7, he says, You are all partakers of my grace. Or as the margin puts it, You
are all partakers with me of grace. That's what he wants.
He has a yearning and a longing to see sinners being saved by
the sovereign grace of God. He knows the doctrine. He knows
the doctrine. He knows it all centers in the person and work
of Christ. He's had experience of it. And
then there's the evidence of Christ. You see, it's doctrine,
it's experience, but there's also practice. And what of Paul? Well, he has a love for all believers. This is why he just utters these
or writes these simple words. In verses 21 and 22, he wants
peace and love to prevail amongst all these believers. Salute every
saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me
greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of
Caesar's household. And we see a very real expression
of his love in his willingness to send Timothy to them. Timothy who meant so much to
him. Back in the second chapter, verse 19, I trust in the Lord
Jesus, he says, to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also
may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man
like-minded, or as Imogen says, so dear unto me, who will naturally
care for your state? For all seek their own, not the
things which are of Jesus Christ. But you know the proof of him,
that as a son with the Father he hath served with me in the
gospel." It was a sacrifice to send Timothy to them. And yet he so loves them. This
is the evidence of the grace of God in the soul of this man. By these shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, says the Lord Jesus, if ye have love one
to another. And then John, of course, in
that first epistle, how we can deduce the reality of our faith,
that we are truly those who know the Lord. We know that we are
passed from death unto life if we love the brethren. There is
a mark of grace. Do we love the brethren? It's strange isn't it? Sometimes
we feel a union even with brethren who have gone before us maybe.
I remember a man once at some conference speaking about the
communion of saints and saying that he still had communion with
those who had been dead hundreds of years. He'd sit there in his
study and he'd take books off the shelves and read the works
of those gracious men like the Puritans of old. And how they
ministered to him, how he had fellowship with them, how he
loved them. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? The communion
of saints and the love of the brethren. And it's a mark, it's
an evidence of the grace of God. So Paul speaks here of greetings. and of grace and then of course
there is also glory in verse 20 now unto God and our Father
be glory forever and ever amen all the glory of God the glory
of God last Thursday we had that church meeting and we didn't
have a prayer meeting like we're holding this evening, but we
did have a time of prayer at the church meeting and I, previous
to that, did speak briefly from what we have there at the end
of verse 19. God's riches in glory. His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. The glory of God's riches there
are all there in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thought on that
occasion, especially of riches to supply our temporal needs. We have the fabric of the chapel
to attend to and we were having to discuss the matter of what
we're to do with regards to repairs to the roof and so forth. The
tremendous expense it's probably going to be, but we have that
reassurance that God will supply all our needs, temporal needs.
That was especially what we were thinking of last Thursday, last
Thursday afternoon, but principally, surely, there in that 19th verse,
Paul is speaking of the supply of spiritual needs. The great supply of our spiritual
needs is that salvation which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And all that fullness of grace
that we've just sought to say a little of, But then ultimately,
ultimately the riches in glory are a supply to our eternal need. We have never-dying souls. What
are our eternal needs? Well, God has provided such a
place as heaven for his people. And isn't there a connection
between grace and glory? There's two verses, 20 and 23,
end with the word Amen, and there's a relationship, surely, between
each of these verses. Grace, we're told, is glory in
the bud, and glory is grace in full flower. And so, as we know
the grace of God, we are favored to know something of heaven here
upon earth, before ever we enter heaven itself. Here, we see all
the fullness of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
there, when we come to heaven, of course, the Lamb is all the
glory, in a sense, there in Emmanuel's land. But how all the glory there
culminates in glory unto God. Think of the language that we
have there in Revelation 5.13, John says, And every creature
which is in heaven, and on the earth, and unto the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say
in blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Oh, it's grace and glory. It's
all unto the One that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things to whom be glory for ever and ever. I remarked last Sunday morning
on those verses that we have in that great 15th chapter of
1 Corinthians concerning the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the great significance of that that vindication of all
his work, his resurrection from the dead declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead and then His ascension, and then
His coming again, and then the great day of judgment, then the
end of all things, then come at the end, says the Apostle,
when He, that is Christ, shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power. And then at verse 28, when all
things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto him, that put all things under him,
that God may be all and in all. Christ the mediator of the covenant,
and the Father sustaining, as it were, the place of the triune
gods in that covenant. and all ultimately redounded
to the honor and glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now unto God and our Father be
glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ
Jesus. The brethren which are with me
greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly
they that are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. The Lord bless them. These truths to us and to God
indeed be the glory. We're going to sing our second
praise before we turn to prayer. The hymn is 816, the tune Effingham
923. And he speaks, of course, of
the communion of saints. When this is, Christians all
agree and let distinctions fall. When nothing in themselves, they
see that Christ is all in all. 816, Tune 923.