Let us turn to God's Word in
this short passage that we just read, Philippians chapter 4.
And I want really to direct you to the opening verse of the chapter,
Philippians 4 verse 1. Paul writes, Therefore, my brethren,
dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast
in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Of course, in this portion we
have a whole series of exhortations that the apostle is making as
he gives instruction to the church at Philippi. He goes on to address
these two women, Iudaeus and Syntyche, that they be of one
mind, that there might be concords in their relationship one with
the other. He goes on at verse 4 to exhort the believers there in Philippi
to rejoice, to rejoice in the Lord always. And then verse 5
he speaks of the need for moderation in all things, for them to remember
that the Lord is at hand, the coming of the Saviour draws near. And of course verse 6 he says
much with regards to prayer he exhorts in that remarkable verse
that they had to cast all their cares really upon the Lord, be
careful for nothing, he says, but in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. And of course, we gather together
tonight as a church to engage in such prayers as the apostle
is speaking of. So we have these practical exhortations
Previously in chapter 2 we find the Apostle giving some exhortation
to them as he reminds them in that great Christological chapter
of all that Christ is and all that Christ has done and he sets
great doctrine really in a very practical context. Let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind Let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus." And then those words that we're so
familiar with where he speaks of Christ who is equal to the
Father in the doctrine of the Trinity, one God in three Persons. But how Christ lays aside all
the glories of his deity, although of course he is never anything
less than the eternal son of God, but he takes to himself
that human nature in which he will suffer and bleed and die. It's interesting that Paul can
relate great profound doctrine to very practical instruction. But he is quite a remarkable
man, the apostle. We see this throughout all his
writings, throughout all his epistles. We turn to Romans,
we find great doctrines there in the opening chapters, chapters
1 through 11. But then when we come to chapter
12, right through to the end, we have the more practical application,
the outworking, as it were, of all those great doctrines. We
find something very similar when he writes to the church at Ephesus,
the first three chapters. contain tremendous truth, great
doctrinal matters are dealt with. But then after that, in the last
three chapters, four to six, he sets before them the implication
of what it means to really believe those doctrines. And so also
here, as we come to this last chapter, as he gives these various
exhortations in these opening verses. Well, as I said, I want
tonight just to look at the opening verse of the chapter. And the
exhortation is simply that they stand fast. He will have them
to stand fast in the Lord. Therefore, my brethren, dearly
beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand fast in the
Lord. my dearly beloved. And as we
just examine this verse for a short while, I want to divide what
I say into some three parts. First of all, to consider the
exhortation that he's giving, and then to see what the motivation
is that he lays before them, and then finally to see who the
recipients are, who are those that he is actually speaking
to and giving this commandment to. First of all, let's look
at the exhortation. Those words, stand fast in the
Lord. Here is a duty. Here we have
a commandment. Stand fast. It's a verb in the imperative
mood. In other words, it's a word of
commandment. They are to be steadfast in their
commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are to be true to
the profession of faith that they have made. True to Christ,
doesn't the Lord himself say on two separate occasions in
Matthew's Gospel concerning believers, that they that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. It's the same truth here really,
they are to endure, they are to stand fast, they are not to
flinch. There's that hymn of John Newton's,
in which we have the verse, when, any turn from Zion's way, alas,
what numbers do? Methinks I hear the Saviour say,
wilt thou forsake me too? Our Paul will not have these
Philippians to forsake the Lord Jesus Christ, nor thou to stand
fast in the Lord Jesus. And again, We see a similar truth
in what he says previously back in chapter 1 at verse 27. He
says, "...only let your conversation, that is, your manner of living,
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that
ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together
for the faith of the gospel." He's repeating really what he
has given as a previous exhortation there in the opening chapter
of the Epistle. How are they to stand fast? They
are to stand fast for the faith of the Gospel, he says. And here,
in the text, they are to stand fast in the Lord. It's really one and the same
thing. It's the Gospel. It's Christ in the Gospel. It's the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the work that the Lord Jesus
Christ has done. It's his doing, it's his dying. It's everything about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he will remind these churches
as he addresses various epistles to them of the importance of
standing fast. Turn back to Ephesians chapter
4. And there at verse 14 he says
that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive,
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ. How to grow in Christ, how to
grow in grace and in the knowledge of their God, and Saviour Jesus
Christ. We know that there were those
false teachers who were coming into these infant churches. How important it is that those
who have professed the name of the Lord Jesus should stand fast.
Going to the Corinthians, he can say, watch ye, stand fast
in the faith. And of course when we have that
expression faith with the definite article before it, the faith,
it's not the grace of faith that he's speaking of, it's the body
of faith that we believe. It's the gospel. Jude says, doesn't
he, that we're to earnestly contend for the faith once and for all
delivered to the saints. Here then, is that that every
Christian is caused to Every person who professes the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ has to stand fast in the Lord. It is their duty. And yet, in
this, how they continually feel their complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord. How can we stand fast? How can
we stand fast? Well, here we have it. Stand
fast in the Lord. But the Grammatical construction
here could actually be rendered somewhat differently. It could
be rendered stand fast by the Lord. It's an instrumental expression that we have really.
It's indicating their dependence upon the Lord as they would stand
fast in the Lord. The psalmist says, Thy right
hand hath holden me up. And these, how they need the
Lord to hold them up. They are to stand fast in one
Spirit. They are to stand fast by the
Lord. The Lord must be the one who
will help them, as in all things, dependent upon the ministry of
the Spirit of Christ. To the Romans, Paul says, if
ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. If in our mortification, putting to death the deeds of
the flesh, we're dependent on the Spirit of Christ. So, if
we would stand fast in the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to know
that gracious minister of His Spirit. Hasn't God made every
provision for His people? He doesn't just give command. He also gives every encouragement,
and makes every provision that they might heed His precept and
obey the thing that He commands. To that end He has provided believers
with the Gospel armour. Again, think of the language
that we have there in Ephesians 6. Paul says at verse 11, "...put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil." It is the reason why the Lord God has
provided armor for his people, in order that they may be able
to stand. And then when we come to the
end of, or towards the end of that passage where he's speaking
of the various parts, verse 13 he says, Wherefore take unto
you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day. and having done all to stand,
stand therefore he says or how they are to be those then who
would stand firm and sure and persevere in the faith this is
the exhortation that he gives to them but then turning in the
second place to say something with regards to the motivation
What is the motivation? Well, we have to look at the
verse in its context, and we observe the opening word of the
chapter. Therefore, it clearly refers
us back to what he has been saying in the previous verses, the previous
chapter. He's making a deduction. There's
something to be learned from those things that he's already
spoken of. And in chapter 3, we see at least two things that
he is careful to warn them against, that is, they need to be aware
of the legalists and the libertines, those who would seek to come
into the churches and bring in their false teaching and sow
seeds really of destruction in the church. He certainly speaks
of legalists, he does this of course in many of his epistles,
principally I suppose to the Galatians, He's dealing with
those Judaizers who want to bring these believers, these Gentile
converts to Christ, to bring them under the law of Moses. Well, he says back in chapter
3, at verse 2, he uses strong language, beware of dogs, beware
of evil workers, beware of the concision he's referring to these
circumcision, to the Jews. and those who want to make these
Gentile Christian believers Jews as it were. But he calls them
not the circumcision but the concision. A word that really
would refer to illegal cuttings in the flesh. We are the circumcision. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Remember, we often quote those
words in Romans 2 he's not a Jew which is one outwardly but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not
of men but of God spiritual circumcision which is really a reference to
regeneration in many ways and that Church of Galatia was
beset by so many who wanted to make Jews of Christian believers,
Gentile believers. Do you remember what Paul says
there in the opening part of Galatians 5? Stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. They are free from
the condemnation of the law. They are no more under law. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. They are free
from that condemnation. They are free from the commandment. Christ is the end of the law.
They are to stand fast in the law. All those foolish Galatians
How strong the thought is in reminding them of their fallen.
O foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you that ye should
not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently
set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you,
received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? He warns then against those who
would seek to bring them into bondage. Therefore, my brethren,
dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, stand fast
in the Lord. Do not be entangled with that
yoke of bondage. But there's not only a warning
against the the legalists but also the libertines those who
would say that those who are under grace are free to sin and
again he speaks of that previously there in chapter 3 verse 18 he
says in his parenthesis verses 18 and 19 many walk of whom I
have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things." Those who want to live the life of the world and immerse
themselves in the things of this world. And again, it's not just
to these Philippians, we see it now also when he writes to
the church at Rome A much fuller statement there in Romans chapter
6, verse 16, Know ye not, to whom
ye yield yourselves servants to obey, ye servants ye are,
to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made free from
sin, ye became servants of righteousness now those then who are not free
to sin are those who are free from sin they've been freed from
sin they're those who are to withstand sin and withstand satan
they're to obey the precepts of the gospel they're to submit
to the authority of Christ. He says, if you love me, keep
my commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
They will not be partial in Christ. They will delight as much in
his precepts as they do in his promises. That is the way of
the Christian. And so Paul, you see, is warning
against two forms of false teaching.
On the one hand, the legalist. The very opposite of that, the
libertine. It's interesting, in that preface to his hymn book,
there's quite a striking passage that we find in what the hymn
writer Joseph Hart has to say. He speaks of these two things,
he speaks of the legalist, under the title of pharisaic zeal,
and he speaks also of the libertine under the title of antinomian
security, these two extremes. And he says, they are the two
engines of Satan, with which he grinds the church in all ages,
as betwixt the upper and nether millstones. The space between
them is much narrower and harder to find than most men imagine.
It is a path which a vulture's eye hath not seen, and none can
show it to us but the Holy Ghost. Here let no one trust the directions
of his own heart, or of any other man, lest by being warned to
shun the one he be dashed against the other. The distinction is
too fine for man to discern. Therefore let the Christian ask
direction of his God. These are the two hideous monsters
that continually worry and perplex my soul." And so he goes on. But he's speaking, you see, of
the narrow way. It is a narrow way. We're not
to be legalists, we're not to be libertine, but we're to follow
in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is how
the poor will time and again exhort these churches, that they
are to follow Him, only as He is following the Lord Jesus Christ. and so the motivation is seen
in what he has been saying to them previously but looking at
the verse we also have this word so before the word of exhortation
so stand fast in the Lord's now it's important that we take account
of little words so often in scripture and the pronoun here as the force
of thus or in this way what he's saying is as you have been doing
so continue to do and what was he said to them previously? in chapter 2 and verse 12 let me see if I can find it oh dear I've got the wrong reference
and I can't find the verse it's that verse where he says wherefore my beloved
as you have always obeyed in my presence and then he goes
on to them obeying also in his absence. I can't find the actual verse
in full but that's what he's saying as they were when he was
present amongst them they were willing to obey what he was saying
so they are to continue even when he is absent to heed the
exhortation that he has given as ye have been doing so continue
to do and Paul can refer to himself as one who is an example of that verse 17 brethren be followers
together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for
an example us for a type and again in this fourth chapter
where we and in our reading verse 9 those things which have both
learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God
of peace shall be with you. Paul wants to give them every
encouragement then to see the importance and the necessity
of the exhortation that he's giving them to stand fast in
the Lord's to continue in the faith of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who are those who are the
recipients of such a word as this? And in this we see something
of the pastoral heart of the Apostle, how he addresses them.
Therefore, my brethren, he says, dearly beloved and liable, my
joy and crown so stand fast in the Lord my dearly beloved five
expressions he uses he calls them brethren that is brethren
in a spiritual sense of course they all have the same father
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named he says of
Christians when writing to the Ephesians the whole family They're
all brethren in the Lord's, but more than that, He refers to
them as His dearly beloved. And He uses that expression twice. We have it at the beginning and
then again at the end of the verse. And you're probably aware
that there are at least three words in the Greek that can be
translated as love. and of course the strongest of
those three is the word agape agape love, spiritual love and
that's the word that he uses here how they are to love one
another the other word one of the other words is philo or also
means to love and of course we can think of the city of Philadelphia
in the United States which literally means love of the brethren love
of the brethren But when Paul speaks of his brethren, he wants
to use a stronger word. He wants to use that strongest
of all the words that are available to him. So he uses his great
words, agape, spiritual love. They're his brethren, how he
loves them. But more than that, he longs
for them. Dearly beloved, he says, and longed for them. And again, he's only echoing
what he has said previously in chapter 1 and verse 8, God is
my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of
Jesus Christ. He loves these people. He was
the one who had first preached the gospel amongst them and we
have the record of all that he suffered when he preached at
Philippi, the records there in Acts chapter 16, why together
with Silas he was cast into the inner prison, and there they
were at midnight singing praises unto God. But his labour was
not in vain there. A church was established and
he longs after them. And then he refers to them as
my joy. My joy, he says. Oh, he has such
a blessed hope of them and their profession of faith. That's why
there is joy. Back in chapter 1 he says at
verse 3, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, being
confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And again, We see why he has
such joy in them from what he says here in the last chapter.
Verse 15, Now ye Philippians, know also that in the beginning
of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated
with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For
even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
They wanted to minister to him. He had ministered to them of
spiritual things and they wanted to minister to him of temporal
things. Oh, they were such a joy to him.
But more than that, he says, they were his crown. My joy and
crown, he says. He could rejoice in the blessed
reality of their conversion, their profession. of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so, in chapter 2, verse 14, he says, Do all things
without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
Holding forth the word of life, And then the reason, that I may
rejoice in the day of cross, that I have not run in vain,
neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon
the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice
with you all. They were a crown to his ministry. His ministry had been so fruitful
to them and they had been so faithful to him, so kind in their
concern for him. but it was the reality of their
profession that was his crown and his rejoicing. And he looked to the day of Christ
when he was persuaded that they would be there, sheep on the
right hand of the Savior. Therefore, my brethren, dearly
beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, So stand fast in the
Lord, my dearly beloved. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. Let us, before we turn to prayer,
sing God's praise. We'll sing the hymn 182. The
tune is Stella 797. of the necessity that we stand
fast. If ever it could come to pass
that cheap of Christ might fall away, my fickle feeble soul alas
would fall a thousand times a day. Were not thy love as firm as
free, thou soon wouldst take it Lord from me. The hymn 182, the tune 797.