Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Philippians 2. We'll continue our study. Hasn't
it been a wonderful study? It's just been wonderful going
through this book. And we're in a section now where
Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, is telling us
how we're luminaries in this world. We're lights in this world. And the only light we have is
reflected light. We're like the moon, right? The
moon reflects the light of the sun. The only light we have comes
from Christ. So he's told us in this chapter,
first of all, he's told us about the humbleness of Christ and
the suffering of Christ and how he humbled himself and became
a man. And then last week we looked at how he told us to hold
forth the word of life, which is Christ, to a lost and dying
world. And we do that in a way In the
Greek, that means like offering someone a drink. So we don't
know who the elect of God are. We offer Christ, here he is. Flee to Christ, he's the only
hope. I was listening to Spurgeon this morning around the Wicked
Gate, and he brought forth that about we offer Christ to all. Because we don't know who the
elect are. God knows, right Brian? We don't
know though, right? So when I preach a message, the
offer is come to Christ. Flee to Christ, sinner friend,
because we're all a bunch of sinners. We have to remember
that. Even though we know that God
knows who's going to be saved, we still yearn for the salvation
of souls all around us, don't we? We have a burden for the
lost because we were there. We were there. Oh my. And so Paul in this section has
been telling us that we're like luminaries, we're like lights,
and we hold forth the word of the Lord, which is Christ. We
hold forth Christ to a lost and dying world. How do we do that? Just in our everyday life, living
for Christ, right? Living our life before the world.
People say, what's the secret? There's no secret. Just look to Christ. Rest in
Christ. Trust. Is it not the hardest
thing? I was talking to a dear brother yesterday. He says, man,
I have hard enough time just trying to keep my eyes on Christ.
Amen, I said. Is it so for you? But that's
what we're instructed to do, right? Set your mind on things
above. We can never be too heavenly minded. Do you know that? You
ever hear that? you're too heavenly minded to
be any earthly good. I despise that statement. I want to set, Vicki and I were
talking about, the scripture talks about having perfect peace
by setting your mind upon Christ. You ever notice that? Do you
ever notice, Brother Brian, when things are going on in the world,
that you got peace, right? Because we're looking to Christ.
We never heard that before. We never had that. I talk to
several folks, even my own family members who aren't saved, and
there's turmoil, no peace. But here we are. Okay, Lord,
you're in control. I'm going to just keep looking
to you. One day I'm going to see you face to face, and I'm
just going to reflect your light. Because remember, it's him that's
working in us. We saw that word energized in
the Greek. It's like a battery. He powers
us. to keep going. Isn't that amazing? It's all God the Holy Spirit
working in us, conforming us to the image of Christ. And it's
wondrous. God the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit are all involved, all working. It's incredible,
beloved. And Scripture, Paul says, it's
Christ that worketh in me. Remember last week? Look at Look at verse 13. Let's actually read from 12 to
18. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not only
in my presence only, as in my presence only, but now much more
in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Look at this. For it's God which worketh in
you. Remember, that's energize in
the Greek. That worketh in you is where
we get the word energy from. Right? You plug in a toaster,
and it works. Because it gets power, isn't
it, Brother Kevin? It's energized. But you unplug
that toaster, you and I ain't eating anything. You can put
toast in there, put it down, say, I'm going to make you a
toast. We're going to put it down. But if there's no power, we're not
eating toast, are we? No. Look at that. We're to will
and to do of His good pleasure. God works in it. He energizes
us to do His good will and pleasure. do all things without murmuring
and disputing, that ye may be blameless and harmless as sons
of God, that's by adoption, isn't that amazing, without rebuke
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye
shine, that's luminaries in the Greek there, shine, speaking
of the stars, as lights in the world, holding forth the word
of life, that's Christ, isn't it? That I may rejoice in the
day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored
in vain. Now the next two verses, Lord willing, is what we're gonna
look at today. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For
the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. So Paul's
desire, we see here, the name of the message is poured out
for Christ. We see here in verse 17, Paul desires to pour his life out for Christ. That's what he's saying here,
basically. Look at this, he says, yea, and
if I be offered upon the sacrifice at my death, he's preparing them
for his death. Remember, he's writing from Rome. He's under house arrest. He's
preparing them for his eventual death that they may hear eventually
of his death. And remember this, now he wants
to pour out his life for Christ, but remember how he was before
the Lord saved him. He was just like all of us. We may not have said we hated
the church, but I sure hated being around Christians. I did not want to be, you know
why? Because I felt convicted around them. Because I knew deep
down inside, even though I would not acknowledge
I was a sinner, I knew there was something different about
them than there was for me. Whoa. Hey Charlie, we can relate
to that, can't we Charlie? Look at this. Turn, if you would,
to Galatians. Turn, if you would, to Galatians chapter 1. So remember how Paul was. The
Scripture says in our study in Galatians, we found out that
he went and wasted the church. In the Greek, that means destroyed.
His goal was to stamp out Christianity. His goal was to eradicate the
world of the way, they were called. The followers of the way. Well,
who's Christ? He's the way, the truth, and
the life, isn't he? So his goal is to stamp out the followers
of Christ. Look what he writes in Galatians
2. This is amazing. And remember, he's writing this
as a saved man now. Under inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God. He's been reflecting on who he
was. Look at verse 13. For ye have
heard of my conversations in times past. Conversation there
is lifestyle. Okay? So he's talking about how
I lived in times past. In the Jews' religion, how that
beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it. That word wasted in the Greek
is destroyed, brother Brian. He's telling them, I destroyed
the Church of God. He's remembering how he was.
Can you imagine how much of a burden that was for Paul? Can you imagine
how he felt when he said, When he wrote those words, there's
therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Brother
Charlie, he had Christians put to death. But how he would have
rejoiced that there was no condemnation for those things that he did.
Oh, it's wonderful. Look at this. And profited in
the Jewish religion above many my equals in my own nation, being
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. He was a rich
man. because of religion. He had status. He had honor among
the Jews. He had money. He had everything
that a man would want in this world. And he says, and he was more
exceedingly zealous. Look at this, I love this. Do
you know there's a but God in every Christian's life? Look
at this. But when it pleased God, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Brother
Kevin, this is telling us that we were gods before we were even
born. Paul didn't know it, did he?
He had no clue he was one of the elect of God, but God knew
him. Oh my. And called me by what? His grace. Charlie, he called
us by his grace, brother. To reveal, look what he did,
to reveal his son in me. If we don't have Christ revealed
to us, we'll never know him. Vicki and I were talking today
and Vicki mentioned that until a person sees their need for
Christ. They're never never desire him
You got to see your need and who reveals that to us God the
Holy Spirit doesn't he? Look at this and then to reveal
his son in me that I might preach him among the heathen immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood so God by his almighty
grace had changed Paul. He was a new creature in Christ,
beloved. He one time wasted the church.
Brother Jim, he destroyed the church. Now he's preaching the
gospel to them, and he's rejoicing with the brothers and sisters
in Christ. He wanted to avoid them, and
now he loves being with them. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
happened to all of us as born again, blood washed believers
now? It's wonderful. We love to hear the gospel. We
love to hear. We love the fellowship with our
brothers and sisters in Christ. We love it. Oh my. And remember, remember where
the Lord arrested Paul. And being arrested, I mean, he
revealed himself to her. He was on the road to Damascus,
Brother Charlie, with letters to kill Christians. to go and
seize them. And Sister Barb, God called him
by his grace, saved his soul, born again of the Holy Spirit
of God. It's wonderful, oh my goodness. Paul did not, he's saying, he's
saying when God separated me from my mother's womb, Sister
Carol, he's saying, I didn't know I was one of God's elect.
We didn't either, did we? We had no clue. And now we marvel. I was talking to Eric, Eric Consandius,
I was talking to Eric on the phone, and he's like, we don't
deserve this, do we? No, not at all, do we? We don't deserve this grace and
this mercy. And yet God gives it to us in
Christ. He's on the road to murder Christians,
to have them hauled back, if not murder them, have them hauled
back to Jerusalem and thrown in jail, where, as far as he
is concerned, they could rot for the rest of their lives. But when it pleased God, the exact time that God had planned
and purposed would be the time of love, Brother Charlie, when
he would reveal himself to Paul. by the power of God, the Holy
Spirit. Just like that. And what does he say? He asked
him, Lord, who are thou? He said, I'm Christ. Oh my. My, oh my. And Paul believed, didn't he?
He was born again. My oh my. He didn't know he was
a chosen vessel who would take the gospel of salvation to the
Gentiles, to the ones who the Jews wanted nothing to do with. They didn't desire anything to
do with the Jews. Oh my. And look in chapter 1
still of Galatians. Look at what Paul says after
his conversion. Look at this. Afterwards, verse
21, I came to the regions of Syria and Sicilia. and was unknown by face unto
the churches of Judea, which were in Christ." Okay, they didn't
know what he looked like. They didn't have, like, cameras
now where they're recording sermons and putting them out on the internet,
so we can say, oh, I know that fellow. Like, we can say, oh,
I know Donny Bell. Right? If we saw him on the street,
we'd go, oh, you're Donny Bell. They didn't have that. Look at
this. But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in
times past now preaches the faith which he once destroyed. And
they glorified God in me. Isn't that wonderful, brother
Ryan? They were saying, praise me to God. He who once destroyed
the church is now preaching the gospel. That's a miracle of grace,
beloved. And that same power that was
exercised in Paul to reveal Christ to him is the same power that
reveals Christ to us. It's a power of God the Holy
Spirit, beloved. And who does he reveal, Charlie?
He reveals Christ to us. And he reveals our need, doesn't
he? And we, by God-given faith, flee to Christ. And that's our
hope as the message goes out from here. As I'm preaching to
you, if you do not know Christ, my hope is that God would awaken
you to the state that you're in. My, oh, my. The desperate need of Christ.
And as this message goes out on the internet, we pray that
God would reveal to people their desperate state. Oh my! I was listening to that around
the Wicked Gate, and it was talking about people who are close. And he said, can you imagine
being close and going to hell? Having heard the gospel, having
heard the riches and the richness of Christ, and still rejecting
it. Oh my! and having heard the truth
over and over and over again. Today, beloved, is the day of
salvation. Today. And he was saying, well,
and I was blown away by this. He was saying, well, people are
more interested in their dogs and their cats. This is in the
1800s than their own souls. Is that not true? Their own soul, which is eternal. and be more concerned about things
that are not eternal. Oh my, nothing's changed, has
it? See, this is why we hold forth the word of life, beloved.
This is why we hold forth Christ, isn't it, Sister Barbara? We
hold forth Christ to a lost and dying world. This is what's most important,
your soul. And Christ saves all who come
to him, doesn't he? And we know if you come to Christ,
it's all by his grace. It's all by his mercy. We still
hold him forth, don't we, Brother Brian? He's still saving sinners
today, isn't he? Amen. Oh my. So we say, sinner friend, flee
to Christ. You might not have tomorrow. And I'm telling you,
we might not. We don't know. We hear of children
dying all the time. We hear of young adults dying
all the time. We hear of people in their 20s
dying all the time, in their 30s, in their 40s. When that
time comes, none of us can change. None of us can even stop it.
But there's a time for every one of us. Oh, my. So Paul is holding forth. He once destroyed the church,
and here he is now preaching the gospel to them. And he's
going to the heathens, the very ones that Jesus wanted nothing
to do with. Are you thankful with me? Because
we're Gentile descent. Aren't you thankful that God
sent the gospel to the Gentiles? Oh, my brother Charlie. And as
I preached on on Wednesday, we're now, as believers, we're prisoners
of hope. Do you know that when we're born
into this world, we're prisoners of sin? And how can we be prisoners
of hope? Well, because we're locked in
this body, right, until our time of departure. But we have a hope,
don't we, Brian? Yes, Christ. So we're locked
in this body as born-again believers until the time of our departure.
But sister, we have a hope, don't we, in Christ? And what a glorious
hope that is. Oh my, it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Savior of our soul, who saved us from all our sins. Are you thankful we can't mess
up our salvation? I mess up a lot of things. But
we cannot mess up our salvation in Christ. Because it's not dependent
upon us, is it? It's dependent upon what Christ
has done. Isn't that wonderful, Sister Brown? It's all in Him. It's all, our trust is in Christ. Lord, keep my mind on Thee. Please. Keep my mind on Thee. And you
ever notice the joy that you have, too, when you start thinking
about Christ? You ever notice that joy that
starts to bubble up in you? That's the Holy Spirit working
in us, beloved. And it's wonderful. I can wake
up and be the sorriest guy, or during the day I can be the sorriest
guy. I can get upset just like that,
can you? Let's be honest. Come on. We're all the same. We don't
play religion here, do we? That's what I love about us.
We don't play religion here. We're real. We're sinners saved
by grace. Right? And at those times when
I get like that, because I do, you just ask my wife. She'll
tell you the good things about me, but I'm not. She really knows what I'm like,
right? And all our spouses are smiling
because they all know the truth. But isn't it amazing how, by
God's grace, we are long-suffering with one another in our faults
and our weaknesses? And it doesn't take long when
I'm in a foul mood, if Vicki says something about Christ and
I start looking to Christ, it doesn't take long for that joy
to start flowing in again. Right? And you realize, I just
want to live my life for Christ. I just want to serve him. He's everything. He's my everything.
He's my everything. Now let's read verses 17 and
18 again. And notice the change in Paul.
So he wasted the church, right? He was destroying the church.
But notice the change by God's sovereign grace and his amazing
grace. And this happens to all believers. He once wasted the
church, now he desires to pour his life out for the church.
Yea, if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also
do you joy and rejoice with me. Now listen to this in the Greek
literal Bible. Paul says in verse 17, but even
if I am being poured out as a drink offering, on the sacrifice in
service of your faith. So when they used to do the heathens,
they used to offer drink idols to their gods and they would
pour it out. He's saying, I wanna be offered
out for Christ. not to gain merit and favor with
God, but because God saved him. He wants to pour his life out
now for Christ. Look at this. But even if I am being poured
out as a drink offering on the sacrifice, that being Christ,
in service of your faith, I am glad and rejoiced with you all.
And likewise, you also be glad and rejoice with me. So Paul
had been the means that God had used to bring the Philippians
to Christ. He preached the gospel to them.
He got to know them. He stayed with them. And they
had received Christ by God's sovereign grace. They had trusted
Christ. as the only savior of sinners.
The Holy Spirit had bought them to Christ through the preaching
of the gospel of salvation, again, of salvation in the complete,
perfect, finished work of Christ by his shed blood, right? That's
the only way that a sinner can be saved. And Paul, he believed
he would be killed for his preaching. Remember all the things we've
been reading in the book of Acts that he suffered? He knew eventually
that something was gonna happen because of his preaching. But
he didn't care. He didn't care. He wasn't out
to impress anyone, was he? Not at all. He wasn't out to
make someone, to please someone. The only one he wanted to serve
was Christ. And he did it out of gratitude.
Don't we serve out of gratitude? Don't we support the gospel work
out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us? It's not a,
oh, I gotta do this again. It's because we desire for the
gospel to go forth. We desire to support and be with
God's people. We desire that as God's people.
It's wonderful. What a change God's brought in
us. So he's saying to them, don't be sorrowful if you hear of my
death. Don't be sorrowful. To me, my death would be like
pouring an offering to Christ. That's what he's saying to them.
And he's saying, I'm ready. And he says, even though I know
you're gonna be sorrowful, don't be sorrowful. Rejoice that I'm
in glory and you'll soon be with me because of Christ. Now, it's always sorrowful when
we lose a dear brother or sister in Christ, but I love what Paul's
saying here. He's saying, set your mind on
Christ. I'm gonna be with Christ. I'm gonna be with-so rejoice
with me. Do you think Paul's rejoicing in heaven? I can tell-I think Sister Denise
is rejoicing in heaven. I think Brother Bill's rejoicing
in heaven. I think Brother Wayne's rejoicing in heaven. Right? Oh, yeah. And we-you guys know
several other people. Sister Sylvia. Sister Marge. Sister Louise, we can just keep
naming people. Brother Calvin, Brother Newell,
oh, I love that man. They're all rejoicing, aren't
they? They were resting and trusting in Christ, weren't they? Oh,
my. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy. Again, this is to bring out the
change that's been wrought in Paul. And as I was reading this
portion this week, I thought, I thought, that was me. That
was me. I was a blasphemer. I was injurious
to the church of God. All of us were. That was our
natural state, right? But marvel at what God's done
for us. And this is why now Paul's saying, I want to be poured out
for Christ because this is what I was. This is amazing. I love
this portion of scripture. Look at this. Look at this, it
says here in 1 Timothy 1, 12 and 13. Note the transforming
power of God. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, who has enabled me, energized me, right? He's the only reason
I can do what I do. Amen, Paul. I'm not sufficient
for preaching. It's only by God's grace and
mercy, right? Look at this, who has enabled
me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.
Who was before, this is, I can look at this and go, this was
me. A blossomer and a persecutor and injurious. But I obtained
what? Mercy. Oh, praise be to God,
brother Brian, we obtained mercy. Because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief. And you know what, if you're
a believer in Christ, we can look at this and say, I obtained
mercy. I obtained mercy in Christ. Praise
his mighty name. Marvel at the truth set forth,
beloved of God. This is true of all believers.
We can say with Paul, I've obtained mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul's saying, I obtained mercy
even though I was a persecutor of the church. Even though I
was not content to blaspheme Christ, I still put his people
in jail, and yet I received mercy. He says, I obtained mercy. Even
though I was injurious to the church of God, I wasted it. I wreaked havoc in the church,
he was saying, through force and violence, and
yet I obtained mercy. Oh my! Sinner friend, this is
why we say, flee to Christ! He's the only hope of sinners,
and this is just one safe sinner telling other sinners where to
find bread. I was a blasphemer, but now I've
obtained mercy. I was a persecutor, but now I've
obtained mercy. Oh my! I was injurious to people,
but now I've obtained mercy. Isn't it wonderful, beloved? God had mercy on us. Unasked, undeserving, unmerited
mercy in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. That's wonderful. It's
wonderful, beloved. And after the Lord saved Paul,
he wrote these wonderful words in Ephesians. Turn, if you would,
to Ephesians chapter 2. We'll read verses 3 to 9. Paul's a saved man, right? He's
writing this letter to the Ephesians. And remember all those things
we just read. We're not gonna get done in these verses today.
That's okay, though. I got a little excited and got
off track a pinch there, but that's okay. But look at this.
Look what Paul writes. This is why he wants, do you
see now why he wants to pour himself out for Christ? Because
he's received mercy, hasn't he, brother Kevin? He did all these
things, and God had mercy on him still. Is it not the goodness of God
that leads men to repentance? My, oh my, it's wonderful, isn't
it? Look at this in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 3 to 9. He talked in the first couple
verses about being dead in trespasses and sins, having no hope, being
ruled by the lust of this world, and that's just us in our old
nature, right? dead in trespasses and sins.
Look what he says in verse 3, among whom also we all had our
conversation. That's lifestyle again in the
Greek. In times past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. You could not tell God's
elect from anyone else in our natural state. That's what he's
saying there. And we did everything that an unsaved person would
do in our natural state, because we weren't saved. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, he tells us in verse one. Just like it, that's how we're
born into this world. God's elect are born into this
world just like everybody else, dead in trespasses and sins.
And we see, we're led by the same cravings of the world in
our natural state, right? Look at this though, it gets,
but God, look at verse four, but God, praise God for, but
God, who's rich in mercy. You can't exhaust his mercy. You can't plumb the depths of
his mercy. For his great love, that's his everlasting love,
wherewith he loved us. Look at that. That's speaking
past tense. That's speaking from eternity.
That's wonderful. Even when we were dead in sins,
right? Dead there in the Greek, it means
dead. It doesn't mean mostly dead.
It means dead. It means graveyard dead. That's
where God found us. Remember Lazarus? Come forth.
That's where we were. Hath quickened us. You're born
again. Together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. That's
the first time he mentions it there. Look at that. By grace
you're saved. And hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For,
here it goes again, for by grace are you saved. Just in case we
didn't get it in verse 5, right? Isn't that wonderful? The Holy
Spirit reminds us again. I'm a slow learner. Right? Look at that. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God. Remember the offering? It's a
gift. Oh, it's wonderful. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. So Paul's saying the fact that
I did all these things in ignorance and unbelief was not the reason
he obtained mercy. He obtained mercy because God
had purposed and planned it to be so in Christ. Oh my, do you know we've been
pardoned? We can never be bought up on
our sin ever again. It's washed clean in the precious
blood of Christ. We've been fully pardoned. So
much so that God says, I don't remember your sins no more. You know, you hear about the
presidents give out pardons, right? And they may give out
a pardon, and somebody still says, but that fellow's guilty.
That can't be said about us, even though we were guilty of
doing that. Isn't that wonderful? Because
we're justified by God. So no wonder Paul wants to pour
his life out for Christ. Oh my. Isn't that wonderful,
beloved? Praise God for his saving grace
and mercy. In Christ Jesus our Lord. My,
oh my. He's so good to us. Brother Kevin,
can you close us in prayer?