Well, good evening. Turn with
me to Philippians chapter one, once again. And it was my plan
this month to look at the first 11 verses of this chapter. And
so we're going to get there, Lord willing, tonight. Let me just read those first
11 verses again. Paul and Timothy bondservants
of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi
with the bishops and deacons, grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every
remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making
request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel
from the first day until now. Being confident of this very
thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Just as it is right for me to
think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, and as
much as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is
my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection
of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love
may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you
may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being
filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to
the glory and praise of God. Well, in reading over those verses
were reminded again of just the relationship that existed between
Paul and this group of believers there in Philippi. It's clear
that there was a real love and a care and a concern between
them. And it's continued throughout
the letter that Paul writes to those saints there. But as he's
writing, we see he's writing about life issues, I guess, is
a way we could say it, right? Often Paul's epistles start out
with particularly issues having to do with justification, for
example, or things like that. But he gets there in chapter
three, but here he starts out in a different way. And I think
there were reasons for this, of course. But one of them I
think we can certainly say is Paul wanted to bring to their
minds the greatness of life in Christ, if I can put it that
way. And I think that the life of every person saved by the
grace of God has a wonderful life. Isn't that true? It's a
good life. It's a life that's glorious.
It is a life that transcends all the circumstances of life.
And you know I'm not saying that we don't have difficulties, we
do. And Paul is writing from prison. But in spite of all of
those things, in spite of all these circumstances, the life
of a believer finds everything that matters in Christ our Lord.
And this Must be so. It must be so because the life
of the believer is life in Christ. How could it not be? How could
it be anything else? This is a work, as Paul writes
to these saints, a work that God has begun in them. And he'll
complete it until the day of Christ. And there's no question
it's God's will for us to know more and more of the life that
we have in Christ as his people. In writing to the Ephesians,
turn over to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, just
back there a few pages. Paul, hearing of their faith
in Christ, the apostle Paul prays for these Ephesian saints in
a very similar way that he prays for these saints at Philippi.
Look at verse 17 of Ephesians 1. Verse 17. We read that the
God of our, well, let's go back to 15. Therefore, I also, after
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for
all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you. making
mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of the
inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his
mighty power. That's quite a statement, isn't
it? About the Christian and the life that we have in Christ.
This is a life, as he describes here in his prayer, that the
spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom that may be given to them
in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of their understanding
being enlightened, that you may know the hope of his calling
and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints. And that in every believer, there's
this exceedingly great power at work in everyone. A saint of old spoke in this
way about these things. This is the life of God in the
soul of man. And that's true, isn't it? In the epistle to the Philippians,
see a glimpse of this wonderful work that God has done in the
souls of these believers. And turn back there. In verse
nine, well, actually, don't turn there. Turn to Genesis chapter
three. Turn to Genesis chapter three for a moment. But in verse nine of Philippians
one is the beginning of that prayer that I just read. And we see that that the love
of these saints abounds in knowledge and all discernment, is how Paul
puts it. And he prays that their love
would abound more and more in knowledge and all discernment. And why is this of such concern? The Paul makes a point, that's
his first point as he says what he prays
for them. Why is that of such vital concern? And the reason is is because
man in himself has lost all wisdom and all knowledge essential to
eternal life. Essential to his eternal well-being.
And when did that happen? Well, in Genesis 3. Let's just
remind ourselves of these things. Genesis chapter 3, and we all
know this. Genesis chapter 3, and let's,
where are we? Genesis chapter 3 in the first
verse. So let's look for a moment and
consider the fall of Adam, the fall of all mankind. What occurred? When we think of the fall of
man, we, I think, most often think of it in terms of the death
that came in, sin that came in, the loss of righteousness. And
that's all true, all very true. But it's much more than that
as well. It was the loss of wisdom. It was the loss of knowledge.
It was the loss of holiness. But let's look there in verse
one. Verse one, now the serpent was more cunning than any beast
of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the
woman, has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of
the garden? Is that what God had said? Well,
let's just look back to what God had said. In chapter 2, in
verse 15, chapter 2, verse 15, this is what the Lord said. Then
the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden
to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely Well, Satan comes and he says,
has God said that you can't eat of the trees of the garden? Of every tree of the garden?
We see right away that the attack is focused upon the word that
God had delivered to man. The attack is upon the words
that God had spoken to man through the communion and fellowship
that they had together. In verse two, and the woman said
to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch
it, lest you die. And from those words we know
that the woman has already fallen. She's already questioning the
word of God. She's adding to it and she's
taking from it. Had God said anything about not
touching the fruit, not touching the tree? No. Had God said that
not to lest you die? Notice the note of doubt. Uncertainty, lest you die. Is
that really what God said? No, God had said in the day that
you eat of it, you shall surely die. The woman had already fallen. The devil
and his temptation had cast doubt on the validity of the word of
God and upon the character and integrity of God. And the woman
is tempted by this. And this results in her being
enticed. And both Adam and Eve fell in
sin before the actual action of taking that fruit. We tend to think of sin as the
action. We just do, don't we? Which is
why the word teaches us that it's far more than that. In James
1, we know the word of God puts it like this. Each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and is enticed. Then when desire is conceived,
it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown,
brings forth death. Well, here's the temptation,
verse four. What does Satan say? Then the
serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God
knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. You see, what
the devil is doing here, he's putting forth an alternative
wisdom. A counterfeit wisdom which is
contrary to the wisdom of God. And it's nothing but a lie. Verse
six, what do we read? So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make
one wise. You see that? a tree desirable
to make one wise. She took of the fruit and ate,
and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. What is
this telling us? The woman desired a wisdom in
autonomy from God. An autonomous wisdom, a wisdom
which would make one to be like God. And she's enticed by this
and she believes the lie. And the woman rebels against
God and her husband with her. And we know, we know. They died. They surely died. Immediately they were alienated
from the life of God and the light of God and immediately
they were cut off from the only source of wisdom. divine wisdom, the wisdom of
God. And we see in the scriptures
that spiritual deadness is primarily characterized as being without
wisdom, without knowledge, having the understanding darkened. Let me just show you that in
two places. Again, Romans 1. These are passages we're very
familiar with. Look there in Romans 1, and you
know this is a portion where the wrath of God is revealed
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. But look down to verse
20. He says, since the creation of
the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God,
they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became
futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened
You see, because natural man is alienated from God and from
the wisdom of God, he has this innate desire for wisdom. That's how God has created us.
He has this innate desire for wisdom and search for knowledge,
but it takes strange and counterfeit forms. And that's what's happening
everywhere today. And as we know, the counterfeit
always has to be close to the true, doesn't it? And the better
the counterfeit, the closer it is, and how clever the father
of lies is, isn't he? Counterfeit religion is still,
in essence, religion. If you won't worship and serve
the true God, then you'll most certainly worship a counter for
God. Ultimately, you'll worship and
serve who? Yourself. This was a lie of the great deceiver. This was a lie of the father
of lies. You will be like God. continue there in 22 in Romans,
professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of
the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man
and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore,
God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to
dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie. What a tragedy. Exchanged the
truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the creator. What a fall. What a fall. The loss of all wisdom and all
knowledge. We'll turn over to Ephesians,
Ephesians chapter four. I just want to emphasize this
aspect of this loss of knowledge and wisdom. Ephesians chapter
four. And the word of God here tells
us of the spiritual horror of exchanging the truth of God for
the lie. Look there in verse 17 of Ephesians chapter four.
This I say, therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no
longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility
of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because
of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given
themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. What a picture of fallen man,
isn't that? Devoid of all wisdom. His mind,
futile, understanding darkness, alienated from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their hearts. As I was reading that, I thought,
it's like a cascade, isn't it? It starts with the lie, and it
just cascades down until you have this horror of darkness. And we see too here as we did
in Romans that coupled with this then is what? A life of walking
in darkness and all that that means. But look at the next verse, verse
20. Look at the next verse. But you, he's writing to the
saints in Ephesus, but you have not so learned Christ. if indeed you have heard him
and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? We, man,
exchange the truth of God for the lie, but what does God do? In his grace, he reveals the
truth that's in his son. What have they heard and what
have they been taught of Christ? Wisdom. They've been taught the
truth as it is in Jesus. Well, where is truth to be found?
In Christ. Turn over to Colossians chapter
two. Colossians chapter two. When you're looking at things
like this, you can't help but just Be amazed at the seamlessness
of scripture. Colossians chapter two. Here
Paul is writing, he has a great concern for these saints there
in Colossae also and he desires that their hearts may be encouraged
and he says, and he's praying that their hearts may be encouraged
in verse two there. That their hearts may be encouraged
being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the
full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery
of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." What a difference,
isn't it? Just think of the language that
he's using here. A full assurance of understanding,
knowledge of the mystery of God. And where are all these treasures
of wisdom and knowledge found, hidden in Christ. Oh! And isn't this exactly what Paul
is praying for, for those saints in Philippi? That their love
may abound still more and more in all knowledge and discernment. Where is wisdom and knowledge
to be found? In Christ. in Christ in whom
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But
then, of course, the question comes, and let's think of this
too. Well, how can, for man, for man,
given what we know of man, how can this wisdom and knowledge
be obtained? How can it come into the possession
of a fallen sinner? For natural man, it's impossible. Since the fall, as we've seen,
there's utter and complete alienation from God. And an infinite chasm
separates man from the wisdom of God. What did Christ tell Nicodemus? Men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds are evil. And more than that, how
could we ever enter into the presence of a holy God? Possessing the wisdom and knowledge
of God requires communion with God, fellowship with God. And
there are these insurmountable barriers, impossible for man,
but not for God. Because of his everlasting love
for his people God gave his only begotten son and in doing that
we know that he provided for every need and provided everything
necessary to remove whatever barrier there might be to secure
a salvation everlasting and full of joy. This is the great promise
of the new covenant. Let me just remind you of it.
Just listen to this as it's quoted in the book of Hebrews. For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind
and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. None of them shall teach his
neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all
shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds. I will
remember no more. Do you see that right in the
middle? That none of them shall teach
his neighbor and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord. Why? Because they know it. All shall
know. They have that knowledge. Isn't
that true? And this is the promise of the
covenant of grace to answer that fall of man in the Garden of
Eden where we lost everything. But he is going to provide us
everything with this knowledge of all riches of wisdom and knowledge
found in his son, and all will know him. The Lord knows his people, as
we saw, was it last week? He knows his people, and he always
has. He knew us before we were saved
by grace. He knew us before we were born. He knew us before the world began. He knew us in eternity, but we
didn't know him. until His Spirit came and revealed
His Son in us. And then we knew Him. The Spirit
makes the difference. And what a profound difference.
We have no need that anyone teach us. And that's true, isn't it? We're taught by God. We're taught
by the Holy Spirit. This is what we've been seeing
as we were looking at how these people were set apart in Christ. There's an absolute differentiation
between natural man and his fallen state and the man who's been
born of the spirit. Remember how Paul exhorted the
saints in Ephesus not to walk as the rest of the Gentiles walked?
How did they walk? Well, again, in the futility
of their mind. The darkness of their understanding
alienated from the life of God. Ignorance, blindness in their
hearts, that's how they walked. But those who are born of God
through the mysterious and powerful working of the Holy Spirit are
what? Delivered. from the power of
darkness, translated into the kingdom of the son of his love.
They're brought into union with Christ and brought into fellowship
with the father and with his son. And they're given the spirit
of wisdom and knowledge. The eyes of the understanding,
the eyes of the heart, the soul are enlightened to see Christ
and to know him. The word of God sums it up all
in this way, also in Ephesians, where he says, you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. But then the words immediately
follow. Walk as children of light. And that's exactly what these
saints at Philippi are doing. Look back to Philippians. When God has begun this good
work in the soul, it's a work that can't be hidden. The love,
Paul says in that prayer of his, the love of these saints abounded. It abounded in knowledge and
all discernment. And there's every reason for
Paul to thank God upon every remembrance of these saints,
as he says in the beginning. Let's just consider some of the
things that Paul mentions just in these few verses. Look there
in verse five. What does he say about these
saints? He says, well, let's go back
to verse three. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for
you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first
day until now. from the first day that the Lord
began a good work in them until now, these saints had continued
faithful, faithful in the gospel. They'd believed and they'd embraced
the gospel delivered to them by Paul, and they're not about
to let it go. It doesn't matter, he speaks
about the persecutions that they're facing later in the chapter.
But these saints are, faithful in the gospel. And not only that. The Lord had worked
in them a great concern for the furtherance of the gospel. And
this is the thing that's notable about those saints of Philippi.
The Paul brings out multiple times in this letter, but they,
look in verse seven. He says, just as it is right
for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart,
inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, you are all partakers with me of grace. When difficulties arose and Paul
faced persecutions and imprisonment, their zeal for the gospel was
undiminished. In fact, they'd sent Epaphroditus,
one of the men from the church, I would think one of the bishops
or deacons, to Paul and imprisoned in Rome. to take the gift and
to encourage him and help him. And as you know, traveling those
times, this was an enormous journey. But as Paul expresses to them,
they have this deep concern for him, but not just a personal
concern. He's saying that they have a
concern for the defense and the confirmation of the gospel. They're
so involved in the ministry of the gospel that Paul speaks of
them sharing with him in all these things, even in his chains. Do you see that? He writes, you are all partakers
with me of grace. And how generous they were, Paul
says from the very beginning in their sacrificial giving. And towards the end of the epistle
he commends them for these things. Let me just read a few of those
verses. He says, nevertheless you have done well that you shared
in my distress. Now you Philippians know also
that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia
no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you
only. For even in Thessalonica, you
sent aid once and again for my necessities. But note, he's quick
to say, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds
to your account. Indeed, I have all that abound.
I am full having received from Epaphroditus the thing sent from
you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing
to God. It is evident that their love
abounds. And Paul's prayer and desire
for them is that their love will abound more and more in knowledge
and all discernment. That they might, what does he
say? Approve the things that are excellent. Well, what is the most excellent
thing? We'll finish here. What is the
most excellent thing? Well, these saints in Philippi
know, and you know, and every believer knows. Why? Because of this anointing of
the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in chapter three,
As you know, he says, but what things were gained to me, these
I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all
things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. There's the most excellent thing,
isn't it? for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness that is of God by faith, that I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being conformed to his death. Well, Paul approved the things
that were excellent, didn't he? And so did these saints in Philippi.
Paul, from the moment the Lord revealed Christ in him, didn't
walk in the light. He ran in the light. He was given
such a sight of the unsearchable riches of Christ that he ran
and was never out of breath. That verse in Isaiah just came
to my mind. They shall run and not be weary.
This was Paul, wasn't it? Because of this sight of Christ
that he had. The fruits of righteousness,
like every excellent thing, are by Jesus Christ. That's what
Paul prays. They're by Jesus Christ and it's
in knowing Christ and being united to him that the spiritual fruit
is brought forth. We see him and we know him. And
the more we know him, the more we love him. And the more we
love him, the more we grow in the grace and knowledge of him.
And it's in this that the fruits of righteousness are brought
forth. Brought forth, what does Paul pray? To the glory and praise
of God. This is what he prays. And this
I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge
and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are
excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.