Philippians chapter 4 You know over the years I've had
this reoccurring dream That I'm supposed to be somewhere
and preach and I forget it It's a nightmare and I can't get there
and I forgot and I forgot it, you know, and I'm and I'm just
panicking Vicki called me last night about 10, 30, 11 o'clock.
She said, would you tape the Bible class for me and send it
to me? I said, I completely forgot the
Bible class this morning. I was so engrossed in making
the three messages for the Bible conference, I completely forgot
the Bible lesson this morning. So I got up at 5 o'clock this
morning, came over here, typed out some things, hit print, and
the printer wouldn't work. For some reason, the printer
would not respond. printer that never fails, it's
that PC pencil. And so I just got the pencil
out and wrote out three pages of, scratched out three pages
of notes. But I told her this morning,
she said, were you able to do anything? I said, you know, The
gospel never changes. The message never changes. I said, it's not like I've got
to stand up this morning and work on new material. I've heard Henry preach from
this. I've taught from it. I've preached from it. I said,
I feel like it'll be all right. So with that in mind, the lesson
this morning is things to think on. Things to think on. Here in this chapter, he says,
reaching back to what he had already said in chapter 3, verse
20 and 21, he says, Our conversation is in heaven, whence also we
look for the Savior, 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. Therefore, seeing this as so,
Seeing this as so, my brethren, my brethren in Christ, my brothers
and sisters in Christ, dearly beloved, Paul says, I love you
dearly, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord.
That was a good song. We sang, stand fast. Stand fast
in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Paul is letting them know here
in His absence, that He hasn't forgotten them. They are in His heart. And they are
dearly beloved of Him. And I thought about, when I was
reading it this morning, it didn't dawn on me until this morning,
I thought what an example here, And I can enter into this a little
bit, you know, with Vicki being away for the last two weeks,
she's supposed to be back here in a couple of days. Paul says
here, he says, my dearly beloved longed for her. You know, it's,
I long to see her when she comes back here, you know, after two
weeks being gone, I long to see her, but she's not here yet.
And the best advice I can give her while she and I are apart
is the exact same advice that Paul is giving to the church
there at Philippi. He calls them his crown, his
joy and his crown, but he says this, and this really hit me
this morning, what he's saying. Stand fast in the Lord. I'm not
there with you. I've taught you the gospel. And
in my absence, and I know they had a pastor, but he's saying,
in my absence, and I'm not able to be there with you, this is
the one thing that will keep you safe. Stand fast in the Lord. And I thought about me and Vicki
being apart, and I thought the one thing that keeps us safe
from temptation, to resist temptation or whatever
comes our way, is this, stand fast in the Lord. If we stand
fast in Him, it doesn't matter how far you're apart. If we are centered on Christ,
on the Lord Jesus Christ, stand fast in His power, He's able
to keep you, He's able to keep us. He's able
to keep us from temptations. You know, you and I couldn't
resist one temptation. Listen, Satan knows our weaknesses. He knows human nature. He knows it. This is why Paul
said, I believe it's in Corinthians, Paul was saying, if a couple
need to separate for a while because of some trial, some hardship
that's come along, and they need to give themselves to prayer
and to fasting, he said, but you come back together because
less Satan get an advantage of you. He said, you come back together. You take time for your prayer
and your fasting and your separation, he said, but you come back together
because Satan knows you. Satan knows human weakness. And
that's what Paul is saying here. Do you stand fast in the Lord?
Do you stand fast in His power? Because apart from that, we can't
stand. We can't stand. Stand fast in
the gospel that you heard, that I taught you. Stand fast in the
gospel. Stand for the gospel. Stand for it. and stand fast
in the liberty that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
let anyone take that from you. Don't let anyone come along and
entice you with big sounding words, because they
were really given to philosophy back then. He said, but don't
let anyone come along and entice you. You stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ has set us free. Don't get caught up in meat and
drinks and holy days and all these type of things. Don't get
caught up in that. And stand fast in the doctrine, the teachings
of the Scriptures, the teachings of our Lord, the doctrine of
Christ. As Paul said, stand fast in the doctrine of Christ, the
teachings of Christ. You know, whatever doctrine we
have, we learn it from the Scriptures. If it's not from the scriptures,
if you and I cannot go to the scriptures and take what we believe and go to the scripture with
it and prove it from the scriptures, let it go. Let it go. Don't hang on to it. And he says here in verse 2 and
3, it's evident there was a couple of women there, a couple of women
who were prominent in the congregation there, they were at odds with
each other. It's sad, but so, that believers
can get at odds with each other. It's sad, but it's so. He said,
I beseech Jodeas and beseech Syntyche that they be of the
same mind in the Lord. Be of the same mind. Be single-minded. Have unity in the body of Christ. Have unity. There's
nothing that Satan would desire more than to divide the brethren. And the world looks at it and
says, well, if you guys can't get along, why would you want me
to believe it? So he says to them, be of one
mind, settle your difference. Listen, settle your difference
before it grows, because it will. A little leaven does what? It
leavens the whole, it just takes a little, it doesn't take much
leaven. Just a little old drop of leaven can leaven the whole
lump. And a little difference between two prominent people,
leaders, considered to be leaders in the congregation. They were
leaders among women. They were examples to the women.
They were helpers of Paul. Paul says, they helped me a lot.
Both these women do. But they got a problem right
now. And they need to straighten it out. They need to be of one
mind. They need to be walking in one direction, that's for
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the good of the fellowship.
Whatever it is that their difference is, let it go. It's not worth
the trouble that it's going to cause. And then he says in verse
4, Well, verse three, he's speaking here to the pastor. I entreat
thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women. I think he's
writing here to the pastor of that congregation. Help those
women which labor with me in the gospel, with Clement also,
with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of
life. Help them, be a helpmate. A helpmate. You know when two
people get married, a man and a woman, they get married. They're helpmates. The wife is
a helpmate to the husband, who God says to be the head of the
house. And she's a helpmate. She's not my servant. Vicki's
not my servant. She's my helpmate. She helps
things go along, get along, move along. You know, that's a big
deal. A helpmate, to me, when I see
this and get this image in my head of a helpmate, I think back
when we first moved on the farm, my dad had a team of horses.
He didn't have a tractor when we first moved on the farm. And those two horses would pull
together. They'd pull that plow, they'd pull the hay baler he
had. Those two horses would pull together.
And to me, that's what it is to be a helpmate, is to pull
together. For the glory of Christ, for the good of the body of Christ,
pull together. And that's why he's saying there
to that pastor there, help these women. Help them. They've been
a real help to me in the gospel. And then he says in verse 4,
"...and rejoice in the Lord," listen, always, In every situation,
you know, it's easy to rejoice when things are going well, isn't
it? It's easy to rejoice when you've got plenty of money coming
in, you know, everybody's healthy, and the sun is shining, it's
a good day. But I tell you what, we ought
to rejoice when our hearts are broken. To rejoice in the Lord,
because it's in His hands. He sinned it. He broke the heart. He did it on purpose, for a purpose.
And we should always, that's why Paul says, rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say, to emphasize this. He says, rejoice,
it's like he's shouting to me. It's like if Paul in writing
this, he just shouts at this, rejoice always, I say again,
rejoice. Now, you have to understand the
persecution Paul was going through. and what the Philippians were
putting up with, what they were going through. And Paul's telling
them that going through these persecutions, going through these
very difficult trials, rejoice in the Lord. Turn your mind. There's a song, Turn Your Hearts
Upon Jesus. It's got those lyrics in it.
That's what you do. That's what we are to do. When
we're going through something, let's turn our minds, our hearts
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn them upon Him. We do this, I know this. But
we are so prone to turn our minds upon the trouble. We are so prone
to turn our minds upon the problem, we can't get our minds off the
problem. Let's turn our minds on the One who sent it. and pray, Lord, teach me, teach
me through this the lesson that I need to learn. Enable me to
go through this trial or whatever it is, enable me to go through
it in a way that your name is honored. And I don't bring reproach on
your name. Enable me to do this. Rejoice
in the Lord. You know that this word rejoice
is used 10 times in this epistle. 10 times Paul uses this word
rejoice in this book of Philippians. And we do have much to rejoice
in. We can rejoice in His grace. Has God saved you by His grace?
That's something to continually rejoice in. We can rejoice in
His righteousness. Thank God there is a righteousness
by which we can be saved. Because without it, no man will
see the Lord. Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Well, thank God there is a righteousness that exceeds their righteousness.
It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's ours. It's ours
freely. It's given to us freely. We don't
work for it, it's freely given to us. And then we can rejoice
in Himself, who He is. Actually, I think the very foundation
of rejoicing is in who God is, who Jesus Christ is. And we can
rejoice in that He is our Savior, He's our Lord, He's our God,
We can rejoice in that, and we can rejoice in His providence.
Everything going on right now, everything going on everywhere
in this world right now is providential. Everything. You know, the things
that I look at, you know, I look at Washington and it aggravates
me. But yet, providentially, God's working out His purpose
The unbelieving world, the wicked, they don't know this. They don't
have a clue. Do you think Pharaoh had a clue
that God raised him up? He thought he was born in a right
family. You know, he's bragging about
his family tree and here I am on the throne. God said, I raised
you up. I put you on that throne. Why?
To show my power and just demonstrate my power in you. Every generation
from that time has read about that story. They've read about Pharaoh and
what God did there in Egypt in delivering Israel. God said,
I raised you up on purpose to demonstrate my power. We can rejoice in God's providence. And then he says here in verse
5, "...let your moderation be known unto all men." The Lord's
at hand. It's almost over. It's almost
over. Now whether He comes today or
whether He comes a hundred years from now, it's almost over for
us. Even for the youngest ones in
here, life's short. I'm telling you the truth, it's short. What
is 70 years? My dad's 90 years old. What is
90 years compared to eternity? It doesn't even register. But listen here. Let your moderation. He's not talking here about your
eating and your drinking. He's not talking about that.
This is important. This is what Paul's saying to
them. Let your attitude, your conduct, your conversation be
such that it adorns the gospel which you claim to believe."
That's what he's saying. Let all who are in the church
and let all who are outside the church, let them see your humility,
let them see your selflessness, Let them see your spirit of forgiving. Let them see it." He said, that's the way you walk.
That's the way you walk in the church, among each other, and
out there in the world. Let it be seen that you are the
Lord's. That's why He's saying, let your
moderation, that is, let your attitude, your conduct be witnessed
by the church and the world. And then he says in verse six,
now be careful for nothing, be anxious over nothing. You know, when the Lord tells
us over in Matthew, it says, don't take anxious thought, that
doesn't mean live carelessly. He doesn't mean for us to live
carelessly, or not give attention to detail, not give attention
to our life, and where we're going, what we're doing, and
the work we have been given, because it's His vineyard, we're
working in His vineyard, but don't be given to anxiousness. I mean, I know people who profess
to believe God, and I have good reason to believe they do. But
they're just so anxious. They have such a personality
about them. He says, don't be that way. It's
unbecoming for one who claims to believe God to be anxious
all the time. Be careful for nothing and don't
hold back either when you go to prayer. Don't hold back. God
knows your heart, doesn't He? You think you're going to hide
it from Him? Just let it go. Let it go in
prayer. Speak to Him like you're speaking
to a friend, reverently. You know, Job, he did all that
I could come before him and lay out my case before him. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer, oh, that we should make a lot of prayer.
Supplication with thanksgiving. You see, thanksgiving shows the
right attitude. It shows the right attitude in
prayer. You can't be thankful in prayer and not have a right
attitude. It's not possible. And let your request be made
known unto God. Mention it in detail. Make your
request known in detail. And the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus." The peace that we have with God in the Lord
Jesus Christ who made peace for us. He is our peace. And then
there's peace of God in the heart, which comes from the first peace
of God made by the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not going to have
peace in the heart Unless you know the Prince of Peace. Unless
you know the foundation of peace. Unless you know how God can be
at peace with you. Now that gives you peace of heart.
There's where you really get peace of heart. And the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, the natural man can't understand this. You
know, the natural mind can't comprehend when a believer is
going through a heavy, heavy trial and yet they got peace. Job said, the Lord giveth and
the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This peace will keep your hearts
and minds through Jesus Christ." Now, he says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, gospel
true, true to the Word of God, true to the character of God,
whatsoever things are honest, they're honest in God's sight,
And you provide all things honest in the sight of men, whatever
things are honest, whatever things are true and honest, whatever
things are just, that is, giving to God the honor due unto His
name, and dealing with men in a just way. with integrity, honesty, and
justly. That's how we deal with one another.
That's how we deal with the world when we deal with them. We deal
with them the same way. We don't deal with the world
as the world deals with us. Because we stand before God.
We represent Him. We are ambassadors of Him. Whatsoever things are pure in word or deed, in your conversation, things that are pure. When you talk, when you're having
a conversation, you're not beating up on someone. You're not beating
up on anyone. Actually, your conversation is
pure. It's from the heart. You want
the best for them. Don't you wish, I would to God
that I and you could always think the best of someone first. I
wish we could do that first. We have a natural tendency to
think the worst first. Well, I know what he wants. If we could, by God's grace,
think the best first, I'd rather, I'm serious, I'd rather think
the best first and be disappointed. They'll think the worst first
and be embarrassed, because that brings reproach on Christ. The first doesn't. It doesn't. Think the best first. And whatsoever
things are holy, that it's agreeable to the character of God. This
is how we look at things. Is it pure, holy, just, honest,
true? agreeable to the character of
God, lovely, whatever things are lovely, and that has to do
with kindness, gentleness, meekness. Go over to 1 Corinthians 13 and
read it. There you got it. Lovely, whatever
things are lovely. And good report, whatever things
are a good report. If you know something bad on
somebody, don't repeat it. Seriously, don't repeat it. That's
talking to me first. Give the good report. Just keep
the bad one to yourself. Whatever is good report and the
gospel. That's a good report, isn't it?
For me this morning to preach the gospel is a good report to
you. He says here, now, whatsoever
things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there
be any praise, give your minds to this. Don't give your minds
to... You know, your mind is your mind. It's not like something
out of control after running around like a loose cannon. It's
your mind. Reign it in. Think on these things, things
that have virtue in them, real spiritual virtue and praise that
brings praise to God. Give your mind to thinking on
these things. And that's something you have
to work at. That's something you have to grow in and put effort. You do have to put effort in
this because we have a nature about us that wants to go the
opposite direction. Think on these things. How many times have I been driving
down the road and people say, what are you thinking about?
Have you ever had that? Normally what you say is nothing. Nobody thinks of nothing. You're
thinking of something. Well, think on these things.
I'm hoping the next time she ever asks me, what are you thinking
about? I can say, I'm thinking about whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are honest. Usually it's not that. That's being too honest, isn't
it? I guess there's some things you just keep to yourself. But
those things which you have learned, both learned, those things which
you've learned and received and heard and seen in me, do them. Listen, do them and the God of
peace shall be with you. Do them. Put them into practice. That's the way of saying it.
Put them into practice. You know, salvation is free. We don't work for any of it.
But in this matter of growth in grace and in knowledge of
Christ, there's effort. Read the Word of God. You come
here. You put forth an effort to come
here. To what? To listen. That you might grow in grace
and in knowledge of Christ. Pray. I don't find praying to
be easy. But we are to pray. And there's
effort that goes in these things. And in doing that, we are promoting
our spiritual welfare, our spiritual good. And we are to do that. We are to put forth an effort
in these things. Because that's what Paul is saying
here. Do them. Do them. Put them into practice. I've always said this before,
when you fall off the wagon, jump back on. I mean, you know, you think,
I'm going to read the Word of God more. And then you start. And then a little while later,
things come along and you get distracted and you don't do it.
Well, when you fall off the wagon, you jump back on it. Just jump back on it. All right, I hope that's