Well may the Lord help us to
continue our meditation in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians.
This evening we'll come to chapter 4 and we'll read the first three
verses. So the Epistle of Paul to the
Philippians chapter 4 and reading verses 1 to 3. Therefore my brethren,
dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, So stand fast
in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Judas and beseech Syntyche
that they bear the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee
also, true yoke fellow, help those women which laboured with
me in the gospel, with Cremant also, and with other my fellow
labourers whose names are in the book of life. So the Apostle really commences
these verses by referring back to the previous ones. He says,
therefore, and I'm sure you know that in the original there weren't
any chapters and there weren't any verses. So therefore he is
referring to the previous verses which we thought upon last week. And he speaks in this way and
he tells us, Brethren, be followers together of me, Mark them which
walk so as you have us for an example. For 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, and whose glory is in their shame,
who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself. And therefore he comes and addresses
the Philippians now in this way, he says, therefore because of
that my brethren and he speaks to them very beautifully he says
dearly beloved and longed for my joy and crown there were of
course many of them those who had been converted under his
preaching and that's why he refers to them as and crown but also
we realize that he loved them dearly beloved and longed for
he wanted to see them And he desired to see them, because
as you probably know, as we've spoken earlier in this chapter,
in this epistle rather, he was writing this from Rome, which
was a long way from Philippi, and therefore we can understand
why he was longing to see them. And he says, my brethren, dearly
beloved, and longed for my joy, the joy he had of thinking upon
them, and thinking of those occasions, when he did preach the gospel
in Philippi and how the Lord graciously and gloriously blessed
that, especially as we know to Lydia and the Philippian jailer
and his household and no doubt many others. So he comes now
and says, he addresses them in this way and then encourages
them to stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Clearly he
didn't want them to wander away from the great truths that he
had been able to speak to them and to set before them. And really
it's very similar to the words that he wrote to the Thessalonians. Because a guy in another church
that he preached at and had been blessed when he preached to them,
he says to the Thessalonians, Therefore, brethren, we were
comforted now over you in all our affliction and distress by
your faith, for now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord." So
clearly he was concerned that they should stand fast in the
truths that he'd been able to preach to them, he'd been able
to explain to them, the glorious gospel, He'd been able to expound
to them the words concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, which
of course we've already gone through in this epistle. And
as we come down to this 13th verse, which tells us, I can
do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. His trust
and his hope was centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. He realized
that without Christ he could not do anything. And so he tells
us, I can do all things, but there was this great and wonderful
secret through Christ which strengthens me. And of course that's exactly
the same today for us to think that we have this gracious God
who strengthens us. As you and I walk on this earth
at this time with many things to cast us down and many things
to perplex us, and perhaps many things to weaken us, and yet
to realize this great blessing through Christ, which strengthens
me. So the apostle addresses us in
this way, so stand fast in the Lord. Nowhere else we are to
remember But Lord, we ought to remember His ways. We should
remember His words and stand fast in what He said, not rely
on anything else or follow any other way, but to be one, a true
disciple who desires to do the will of Almighty God and to follow
Him. To so stand fast in the Lord,
my dearly beloved. And then he comes and addresses
two ladies. The ladies' names are Iudaeus
and Syntyche. And he says, I beseech Iudaeus
and beseech Syntyche. Both of them he was concerned
and he besought them. That means he was most ardent
in his desire for them and in his concern. And what was that? This is what he's concerned about.
that they be of the same mind in the Lord. That means they
didn't have diverse opinions, didn't have different opinions.
He wanted them to be of the same mind in the Lord. And of course that is so vital. It's no point in being the same
mind if it's something which is not in the Lord. But how wonderful
it is if the way set before us and set before them was in the
Lord And therefore his great concern was that they might indeed
be of the same mind. It was clearly they weren't of
the same mind. And yet it would seem that they
were indeed believers, but they weren't of the same mind. And
now he beseeches them individually that they would be. I beseech
Julius and beseech Syndicate that they be of the same mind
in the Lord. And then he also runs on in the
same theme and the same desires incorporating others. And he
says, and I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow. Now we're not
told who this person is. We're just told it's a yoke fellow
and by being a yoke fellow we can make the assumption that
he was yokes to them, he was joined to them, We might say
part of that fellowship. And he comes and says, and I
entreat thee also. You see, he'd been concerned
to beseech the others, and now he says, I entreat. And we understand,
I'm sure, what that word means. It's not something which is a
casual statement. He was very concerned. He wanted
this person to help those women which labored with him in the
gospel. and with Clement also to come to the same view, to
come to the same verdict and to be joined together and not
have differing views. And so he says, true yoke fellow,
I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which
laboured with me in the gospel with Clement also and with other
my fellow labourers. His great concern, as you can
recognize from this, was the unity of the Church. He didn't
want any differences. He didn't want any separation.
And therefore he labors the point, really, that they might truly
be united together, and there might be no room then for any
separation. And again, when he wrote to the
Thessalonians, he said, therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold
the traditions which he had been taught, whether by word or our
epistle. He didn't want them to move away
from those things which they'd been taught, which they'd been
instructed in. Well, it's a blessed picture
we have, isn't it? Of the concern the Apostle had
for the unity of the Spirit And then he also, as we already thought
upon in an earlier verse in this same epistle, in the 27th verse
of this same chapter, this is what he says. Only, only let
your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Nothing
else will do. It's only as it becometh the
gospel of Christ. And 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." Well, the Apostle was very concerned, wasn't
he, for the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. He tells
us that when he wrote to the Ephesians. Those very words,
he says, endeavouring, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. That means to make every effort
to keep the unity of the Spirit, to be together, to be joined
together. Endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And as I was thinking
about these words, I thought of that beautiful verse in Psalm
133. And you may remember what that
is. He says this, he says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And so it is. Well, the apostle was Concerned
for that, wasn't it? Here we can believe that to be
true. And then just finally when he
wrote to the Corinthians, we see this theme really running
through the epistles, the concern for love and unity and joined
together without any schism. And he says, now I beseech you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And of course,
that's the only way where unity can exist. by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing." Don't
have different views. You all speak the same thing.
And there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For
it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them
which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among
you. Well, he wasn't advocating contentions,
he was advocating unity. And he went to great lengths
to speak to the churches that this might be their great concern. And remember, it was centered
in Christ. And that's the only place of
true unity. But what a good place it is.
united to Christ. Well, these then three verses
read, Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for
my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Judas and beseech Syntyche
that they bear the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee
also, true yoke fellow, Help those women which laboured with
me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow
labourers whose names are in the Book of Life. And that surely
is the wonderful blessing that all those who are united together
in Christ have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And
so they will walk together in union on this earth and be joined
eternally together in glory when they come to pass out of time
and indeed when time shall be no more to be found then forever
with the Lord. Amen.