through his perfect salvation
to tell. A few greetings first. I talked to Drew Dietz last night. He's a preacher in Missouri.
First time I ever talked to him. Wonderful brother. And he told
me to extend greetings to the brethren here. And also talked
to Brother Norm Wells, who I call Dad. He's my second dad and I
love him dearly. And I got to talk to him and
two of the men that are at the church with him, who basically
are his right arms. We call them the two Mikes. And they're just
wonderful brothers in the Lord. And I got to talk to each one
of them on the phone this afternoon, and it was a real blessing. And
they wanted to extend their love and that they're praying for
all of us. And they're so thankful to the
Lord. So I just wanted to pass that
on. And it's always a blessing to
hear from brethren. Oh, and John Claude said to greet
the brethren. I saw him and I were playing
text tag on Facebook. So, but yeah, just wanted to
let you know, he said, say hi. So tonight we'll be in Philippians
chapter four, verse eight. And the name of the message is
things to think on, things to think on. Now we think of a lot
of things through the day and through the week, don't we? Lots
of things. All kinds of things. Our minds
are always occupied by something. And the scripture before us in
Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 tells us to think on things. It says in Philippians chapter
4 verse 8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, Whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
of a good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things. Think on these things. And I'd
like to look at this verse in light of the gospel. In light
of the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. The good news of the
gospel of Christ is good news for sinners. It's good news for
sinners. And we're comforted by the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ died for sinners. Now, folks, as as we looked at
this morning, folks look for comfort in various things. And
it's all basically they look for comfort or they find their
refuge in in things that they do. But the believer finds comfort
in Christ. and the things of Christ and
the gospel of Christ. And it's good news for sinners. And folks who look for comfort
in many other things never really find it. Never really find comfort
in other things. But if God's pleased to reveal
Christ to them, they will find great comfort. That's what we
found. Those of us who believe, we found
great comfort. Great comfort. So let us meditate on the things
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And let us focus on Christ alone.
You constantly hear me in preaching that it's so important for us
to keep our eyes on Christ. It really is. And basically this
verse is telling us that. Keep our eyes on Christ. Think
on the things of Him. That's where I find, personally,
that's where I find comfort in storms and in trials. And I get
worked up just like everyone else. I'm a sinner. And I'm a
sinner saved by grace. But when I stop and I think of
Christ, and I think of what He's done for me, it brings me great
comfort. And it calms me. Because He is
the only place where I have hope. I don't find any hope in myself.
Only find hope in Christ. Paul tells us this. Meditate
upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them,
that thy profiting may appear to all. First Timothy 4 15. So
we're going to meditate on the scriptures. We're to think on
the things of Christ. So let us look at these eight
words that describe the gospel in our present text. Finally,
brethren, Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there
be any virtue, and that means excellence, and if there be any
praise, think on these things. So the first is true. Turn with
me, if you would, to Romans chapter three. Whatsoever things are
true, Well, the gospel of Christ is true. It's true. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is himself called truth, right? He's the way, the
truth, and the life. The gospel of Christ is true.
And in the scriptures, we have declared the truth about sin.
We have the truth declared about sin. Romans chapter 3, starting
in verse 9. We'll read a rather large portion
here, but we're gonna see that the gospel of Christ is true
and that it declares the truth about sin. What then, verse nine,
are we better than they? No, and no wise, for we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they're all under sin. As
it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one. We looked at that
this morning at Sunday school. There's the level playing field,
right? Everybody, no one's really better
than anyone else. We're all sinners. Rich, poor,
old, young. There it is. We're all sinners. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that understandeth. That means we don't understand
the things of God in our natural minds. There's none that seek
after God. Folks are always saying, you
know, and you hear me say, flee to Christ. Yeah, flee to Christ.
He is the only hope. He is. But God has to make you willing
to flee to him, but flee to him, because he is the sinner's only
hope. But there's none that naturally seek after God on their own.
None. So there again, there's none
righteous. There's none good. There's none that seek after
God. There's none that understand it. So the gospel declares the
truth about sin, right? They're all gone out of their
way. They're all together become unprofitable. There's none that
do it good. No, not one. There it is again. That shows
us the whole depravity of all mankind. So folks, if they think that
they're better than someone else, they're not. By their religious
works or their religious deeds, they're not. Their throat is
an open sepulcher. With their tongues, they have
Use deceit, the poison of Asp is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way
of peace they have not known." Look at this. Is this not society
now? Is this not society today? Is
this not society all along? There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Well, unfortunately, that's where I was at before.
Now, the fear of the Lord's the beginning of knowledge, right?
Oh, boy. But it's not a slavish fear. It's a reverent fear. Oh, my
God is king. He's king. But there's no fear of God before
their eyes. They go headlong into destruction
with no care. Now, we know that What things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
Well, that's everyone. We're all under the law, right?
We're not believers now, but we were at one time. That every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. There it is. That's everyone who's ever lived,
except Christ. All guilty before God, therefore
by the deeds of the law. So, you know, we know, we often
hear folks say, well, you gotta do this. You just got to follow
the Ten Commandments. You got to do this. You got to do that,
right? Trying to yoke people under the
law. Look what scripture says. Verse 19, now we know that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. It can't be justified by the
law. But we saw last week it can be justified by God, and
by him alone, and by Christ. For by the law is an all to sin.
What the law does is it shows us our desperate need for Christ.
Brings us to an end of ourselves. And we go, I need Christ. I must
have him. And we flee to him. But now the righteousness of
God, without the law, that's in Christ, that's in Christ,
is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe." Look at that. For there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. So we have the truth declared
about sin in the gospel. We have also the truth declared
about salvation. Turn with me, if you would, to
Acts 4.12, and I'll read you 2 Timothy 1.9 while you're turning
there. We have the truth declared about
salvation. Second, Timothy, one nine says
is who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the before the world began. So we have the truth declared
about salvation. And look at acts for 12. Now this takes out, I was looking
at this earlier, this takes out Mohammed, it takes out Buddha,
it takes out Mary, who people worship. This takes out anybody
else, because look what this verse declares. It tells us the
truth about the gospel. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There's only salvation in Christ.
So there's not salvation in our works then, right? There's not
salvation in all these other gods, these false gods. Think of the millions, billions
of people in these religions. They're following a false god. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. It's only in Christ. So the gospel declares the truth,
the truth about salvation. It also declares the truth about
Christ. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 45, 21. And I'll read Romans 3, 4. God forbid, yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest be
justified in thy sayings, and thou mightest overcome when thou
art judged. God is true. It declares the truth, the truth. The gospel declares the truth
about Christ. Look at Isaiah 45, 21 and 22.
Tell ye and bring them near. Verse 21, Isaiah 45. Let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from
that time? Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior?" Christ is
both a just God and a Savior. He justified the ungodly, didn't
He? He's a just God and a Savior.
And there is none beside me. Do you remember the text in Acts? Neither is there salvation in
any other. It ties right in, doesn't it? Isaiah 45. And look what he says
in verse 45, 22. And this is this is what we say,
sinner friend to you, because this is this is what this is
what happened to those of us who believe. Look unto me and
be saved. Look unto me, and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. There is only one God. And beloved, He became a man
and died for us who believe. He's a just God, and He's a Savior. So the gospel declares the truth
about Christ. In John 8, 32, I'll read this
if you want to write it down. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
said about setting sinners free. And you shall know the truth.
And you shall know the truth. We didn't know it before. And
you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. what freedom and liberty we have
in Christ. We didn't in religion. I know
I didn't. Oh man, I usually felt worse
coming out of church than when I went in. Oh, but I have freedom
and liberty in Christ. Oh, the truth shall make you
free. I was talking to young Jacob on the phone this week
and he said, oh Brother Wayne, I didn't know anything before.
I was lost. I didn't know anything. And now
I'm free. I'm free in Christ. And we were
just rejoicing. Free. Back to our text in Philippians
4.8. Whatsoever things are honest. Whatsoever things are honest.
The gospel of Christ is unquestionably honest. Tells the truth about
what we are, eh? Tells us the truth about Christ.
And it tells that God justifies the ungodly. Turn if you would
to 1 Peter chapter 1. God justifies the ungodly in
a way that honors His holy law. The law of God must be upheld.
and it satisfies His righteous judgment. Isaiah 42, 21 says
this, The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He
will magnify the law and make it honorable. Christ magnified
the law. He fulfilled the law in the room
instead of His people. And then, the gospel is precious
to us. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed, 1 Peter 1, 18-20, For as much as you
know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold, corruptible things, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ, and that blood satisfied the law and justice of God in
the believer's room and place. but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you." The Gospel tells
us that Christ upheld and fulfilled the law of God in the place of
His people, satisfied the justice of God. The gospel of Christ is unquestionably
honest. Our next portion in our text
is just. Whatsoever things are just, the gospel of Christ is just
or righteous. We looked at the question of
all questions last Sunday, right? How can a man be justified with
God? Here's another question which
can only be answered from scripture as well. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? Turn with me if you would to
Romans chapter 3. Again, should have kept us right
there, right? The only answer, the only answer
to the question of how can God be just and justify the ungodly
The ungodly, the only answer can be found in the gospel of
God's free grace. It can't be found anywhere else.
Romans chapter three, verses 24 to 26. Being justified freely by his
grace. If you're saved, it's freely
by the grace of God. by His mercy and grace towards
you, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious
blood, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth In Jesus, he is the just one
and the justifier. He justifies the ungodly. That's
us, sinners. So he's the just one and the
justifier. And think of this, the one who
gave the law fulfilled the law. The one who gave the law fulfilled
the law. What mercy. Psalm 8510 says this, mercy and
truth are met together. Where? At Calvary. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. At Calvary. We're made righteous
by Christ, by his sacrifice. And we have peace with God through
His precious blood. The next word in our text is
pure. Whatsoever things are pure, well, we're saying His perfect salvation
to tell. His perfect salvation to tell.
The gospel of Christ is undeniably pure or perfect. It's perfect. It's all that a sinner needs.
And it completely satisfies God. And nothing but the blood of
Christ can cleanse us from our sin. Nothing. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. And I'll read 1 John 1, 7. which says, but if we walk
in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, I love
this, cleanses us from all sin. And not one left behind. See, I can't pay for one sin,
right? Christ paid it all. And not just for me, but for all the elect. of all
the ages. God incarnate in the flesh. Man,
we can't pay. I can't pay the sins for anyone
else. I can't even pay for my own sin. But I can't pay the
price for anyone else's sin. But the God-man mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ. One sacrifice for sin. Just one. And he paid it all. And he cleanses
us from all sin. This is good news for sinners.
Good news. Look at Ephesians 1, 7. In whom we have. You gotta love
those small little words. In whom we have. We have. Those
of us who believe have redemption. Through his blood. Oh, the great sacrifice of the
great Savior of sinners. Through His blood shed on Calvary's
cross for the remission of my sins and for all who believe. Through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins. The forgiveness of sins. And look at this, according to
the riches of his grace. He's done it all. He's done it all. Pure, perfect
sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his person and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself He did
it all. When he had by himself purged
our sins, I like that word, purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high, Hebrews 1.3. It is finished. The pure, perfect sacrifice of
Christ. The next word is lovely. Whatsoever
things are lovely. Whatsoever things are lovely. Turn, if you would, to Song of
Solomon, chapter 5. The gospel of Christ to those
who believe it's undeniably lovely. It's lovely. Unto you, therefore, which believe
He is precious. But of them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. Back when we were in Oregon,
Vicki mentioned one time when we were talking that how to the
believer the gospel is so precious to us. It's precious. Christ
is precious to us. But to folks in religion or an
unbeliever, it's not. And this is why we can't just
attend anywhere. Because the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace is precious to us. It's precious to us. If it's not being preached, we
won't be there. But we're gladly joined together
with those who preach the free grace of God in Christ plus nothing.
We're rejoiced when we hear that others are preaching the gospel. And we rejoice because the gospel
of Christ is precious to those of us who believe, because it's
the power of God unto salvation. Oh, to the believer, Christ is
altogether lovely. Look at Song of Solomon, chapter
five. My beloved, verse 10, my beloved
is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head
is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy and black
as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves
by the rivers of water, washed with milk and fitly set. His
cheeks are as a bed of spices and sweet, as sweet flowers. His lips like lilies droppin'
sweet-smelling mirth. His hands are as gold rings set
with a burl. His belly is bright ivory overlaid
with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yea,
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. He's altogether
lovely. This is my beloved. This is my
friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, this
is speaking of none other than the King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords. This. Christ is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely to the believer. And why do we love him? Because
he first loved us. We love Him because He first
loved us. 1 John 4, 19. Oh, back to our text. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of a good report. And see how this, it
focuses upon Christ, right? Whatsoever things are of a good
report, the gospel of Christ is a good report. It's a good
report. It's good news. It's good news. Romans 1 16 says, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that will believe. It's a good report. Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5, 6 says this for when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. It's a good report. It's a report of Christ dying
for sinners. Romans 4, 5 says this, But to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. God justifies the ungodly, and
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. To save sinners. But go ye and
learn what this meaneth. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous. He didn't come to
call self-righteous people, people who think they don't need Christ.
He didn't come to save them. He did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Sinners to repentance. He came
to save sinners. Heaven obtained eternal redemption.
Remember we looked at that this morning? He did. He saved sinners. And someone says, well, you don't
know what I've done. You don't know how much sin I committed.
No, I don't. But I know he saved me. I know
he can save anyone. And folks says, well, I don't
know if I'm one of the elect. Well, come to him. If you do,
you know you are. Flee to Christ. He's the only
hope any sinner ever has. for I'm not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance." Our text now says virtue. Virtues
define excellence. The gospel of Christ is definitely
a virtue or excellence. Christ completely provides for
all his people. There's not anything. Christ's sacrifice
was so complete. As I said, it covered the sins
of all the elect of all the ages. Every single one of their sins. Everyone. He provides for us, everything
that God demands, right? What did God demand? Perfection. Perfect righteousness. And what
did Christ provide? He was a perfect sacrifice, wasn't
he? He was without sin. The spotless, perfect Lamb of
God. The just one dying for the unjust. And he purchased us with his
own precious blood. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus, Philippians
4.19. Now the health and wealth guys
like to use that, and they just twist it all to nothing. But
think of it in light of this. My God will supply all your need
according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. All that a sinner
needs is provided in Christ. Everything. There's nothing left
behind. There's nothing left out. He's
provided all our need. In Him are all spiritual blessings.
In Him God is satisfied. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. For
in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's God
in the flesh. God in the flesh. The eternal
God in the flesh. Fully man, but yet fully God. And He willingly goes to the
cross to die for His people. And we are redeemed by His precious
blood. And then the last word we'll
look at is, and if there be any praise, well, it's not hard to find praise
after what we looked at, eh? Christ redeems sinners. He saves sinners. Therefore, the gospel of Christ
is worthy of all our praise and worthy to give God all the glory.
Oh, what a mighty God. What a mighty God. Turn, if you
would, to Revelation 5. And I'll read Psalm 115, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory
for thy mercy sake, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. So
we give him all the glory and honor and praise. We give it
all to him. If he did it all, we have nothing to boast in,
like scripture says. And in Galatians 6, 14, I'll
read this, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We only glory in Him by whom
the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. So we don't glory in ourselves.
We glory in Christ. We glory in what He's done. He's
redeemed sinners from all their sins. Our salvation, our salvation
is wholly dependent upon Him. If you're trusting in even a
pinprick of your works, you're lost. Salvation is all of grace
or it's not grace. This is why we just rest in Christ
and we just trust in him. It's our salvation is wholly
dependent upon him. He's the author and he's the
finisher, right? The author starts a book and
he finishes a book. Christ came to earth to redeem
his people, and he's cried, it is finished, and he was raised
for our justification, and now he's seated on the right hand
of the Father. And we, our whole salvation is dependent upon him.
Revelation chapter five, verse nine to 14. And they sang
a new song saying, thou art worthy, oh Lord, you're worthy. Thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain, he died, he died in the sinner's room and place.
For thou was slain and hast redeemed us. Has, that's, past tense, he has,
he has redeemed us. to God by thy blood, again, by
the precious blood of Christ, out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation. I always marvel at that. God's
people are from every single, every tongue, every kindred,
every nation, and every people. That's amazing. and has made
us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and the number of
them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands. A
number no man can number, just. Saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the Lamb. You see, even in heaven he gets
all the glory. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing in every creature which is in heaven and
on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and
all that are in them, heard I say, in blessing, in honor, in glory,
in power. What are they doing? They're
giving them all the glory, aren't they? They're giving them all
the praise. be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne." We need to underline that. He sits
on the throne. He's ruling. He's reigning. And he will never abdicate that
throne. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And he's
my savior. sitteth upon the throne under
the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said Amen.
And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him
that liveth forever and ever. He gets all the praise. He gets
all the glory. And he gets it all. It all is
due to him. And now let us through the week
think on these things. Think on these things. To God
be the glory.