Now, let's go back to Philippians
chapter four this morning. Here are some very instructive
verses for God's children, for God's church. And the reason
that we need such instruction as given here in Philippians
chapter four might shock you. It might really just rattle your
cage. And this is the reason. And I
don't want to, you know, somebody said, well, you like to make
shocking statements. I don't know if I like to or
not, but hold on to your seats. Here's why we need such instruction.
There are no perfect churches. Now that might shock you, but
really it doesn't, does it? There are no perfect churches.
However, There are perfect churches. Now, that might really shock
you. But let me show you what I'm talking about. I'm not being
double minded here or speaking out of both sides of my mouth.
I've entitled this message Grace in Action. And what I want you
to see at the outset here, what Paul is doing in Philippians
chapter four. He is giving them some things
to do because of what they are. things to do because of what
they are. Now, I'm not going to give you
an English grammar lesson this morning, but I used to teach
English grammar. And I thought about this, studying
for this message, and you young people now who are studying English
in elementary and middle and high school, some of you maybe
in college, or at least you need to, but pay attention to this. You know, there's the parts of
speech in the English language. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
and so on. And what you learn about the
verb, there are two kinds of verbs. Now you remember this?
I should have one of you young people stand up and give this.
The verb. There's the state of being verbs. Verbs like are and is. And then there's the action verbs. There's an action verb here in
verse nine. One little word, the smallest word in the verse,
do. do. And what that shows you is
that you can't do anything. You can't perform an action unless
you are first in a state of being. In other words, you can't walk,
run, talk, think, do anything unless you are. Does that make
sense to you? If you are not, then you can't
do any of those things. And that's a basic premise of
what Paul's teaching here. He's talking about the church
in their state of being, their standing before God, and it's
summed up in verse one in three words, in the Lord. Now, that's our standing before
God. That's the state of being. That's
where we are in the sight of God. We are in the Lord. We're in Christ. And in Christ
we are perfect. The Bible teaches that in so
many places. For as he is, so are we in this
world. That's he as our substitute,
he as our representative, he as our redeemer, our justifier,
our savior, our intercessor, our mediator, our surety. All
of those names and all of those descriptions of the glory of
Christ in his person and his finished work is what he accomplished
and did for his church, his people. He redeemed us with his own precious
blood. He justified us. He forgave us
of our sins. He washed us in his blood. He
justified us and clothed us in his righteousness. That's what
we are. That's our standing in the Lord. It's a state of grace. And the
reason it's a state of grace is we didn't work our way into
it. We didn't grow our way into it. We weren't born physically
into it. We were brought into it by the
power and goodness and mercy and grace of God. He chose us
before we were born, before this world was ever created. He chose
us. Unconditional election. He redeemed us on the cross of
Calvary with His own precious blood before you were ever born,
after Abraham was born and died. Our sins laid upon him, his righteousness
given to us, adopted in his family. And then at a given day and time,
we don't know when, most of us, it doesn't matter, he brought
us under the preaching of the gospel and spiritually birthed
us into the kingdom of heaven. And that's what we are. We're
people of grace. That's our standing. But now
grace is not only a state of being. Grace is a dynamic. That means it's a powerful, active
principle of life. Grace is not only what we are,
it's how we think. It determines our goals, our
motives. It determines everything about
us, you see. And sometimes we may not be able
to see it as clearly as others, and sometimes people may not
be able to see it as clearly in us. You say, well, is that
important? Well, yes, it is. Paul said here
in verse 5 of Philippians 4, he said, let your moderation
be known unto all men. In other words, they ought to
see it. Now, we know the unbelieving
world won't recognize it for what it is. Somebody says, well,
they'll recognize grace in you. Oh, no, they won't. Now, they
might recognize kindness. They might recognize morality. But the world doesn't know what
grace is, folks. And I'll prove it to you. That
no one here will argue with me about that. I'll make this statement.
They didn't recognize it in our Savior. They called Him evil. They called Him a malefactor.
You know what a malefactor is? That's a criminal. They called
Him a criminal. They hanged Him on the cross
between two malefactors because they thought He was a malefactor.
A criminal. He's the only perfect man that
ever walked the earth. You want to talk about love?
He's love incarnate, holiness incarnate, and we called him
a malefactor, a criminal, a sinner, a blasphemer. That's right. John said it this way. He said
the world doesn't know us, but they didn't know him. But they'll
recognize things about us, things about us that may have changed.
Grace brings about a great change in a person. I know it brings
about a change in his thinking. It brings about a change in his
heart. And sometimes that change is more pronounced than others,
but it's there. But given all that, that's what
we are, and that's what's within us, there still are no perfect
churches in this world. In Christ we're perfect. In this
world we're not. In ourselves we're not. And in
many ways, this church at Philippi here was a model. A good example
for others, shining lights in this dark world, Paul called
them, over in Philippians chapter 2. But there were problems too,
as there are in any group of people. And now, I want you to
keep in mind now, I'm not just talking about churches in general
as people think about them when you open up the Yellow Pages.
I'm talking about where the truth of the gospel is preached. I'm
talking about the true church, the pillar and ground of truth.
There's still no perfect churches among them in this life. The
Bible says we'll always experience persecution from the outside
world. That was a problem here. Paul
mentioned that in chapter one of the Philippian church. You're
being persecuted, being accused, being attacked by Satan and by
the unbelieving world. There was a problem in this church
with selfishness. He mentioned that in chapter
2. We'll look at that in just a moment. You know why there's
a problem with selfishness in every church? Because there's
selves in the church. There's people there. You've
heard the old saying, you know, if you're looking for a perfect
church, if you ever find one, don't join it, you'll ruin it.
And that's so. There was a problem here with
grumbling and complaining. Well, that doesn't sound like
us. Well, yes, it does. If not today,
then tomorrow. There was a problem with encountering
enemies of the cross, people who brought the doctrines of
the person and work of Christ into question or confusion. That
was a problem. Always be plagued with that here
on this earth. There were factions in this church. There were two
women who apparently may have been able to lead factions that
could have split the church, and they had an intense disagreement,
and others were no doubt party to the quarrel. There are other
problems based on what Paul wrote here. There was a problem of
depression. Somebody says, well, believers
should never be depressed. Well, they do. And I'm not talking
about chemically induced depressions here, I'm not talking about imbalances
physiologically. Unfounded sorrow, some harshness
of spirit, some anxiety, some failure to take prayer seriously
in this church at Philippi. lack of moderation. Some were
troubled in mind, minds filled with all the wrong kinds of things,
who needed to think on the right kinds of things. Some people
who weren't trusting God, some people weren't thankful, just
like every other true church here on earth. And somebody says,
well, but doesn't grace take care of all of that? Yes, it
does. It really does. But it doesn't
change the fact that we're still sinful people while we exist
here on this earth, and we still have problems, and we still mess
up. We mess up. I mess up. You mess
up. I tell you, grace makes us want
to be like Christ. Paul wrote that in Philippians
3. We've been studying on it. Grace makes us sorrowful over
our sins, sometimes more sorrowful than others. We all go through
that period of time that when we're challenged or when we're
caught, we try to justify ourselves. But grace, God's grace will bring
our feet down to earth eventually. The fact that it takes you longer
to get there than me, that's no argument. You all know I'm kidding. But
here's the reality. Now, here's the reality. Basically,
here's what we are. We're a redeemed people, we're
a justified people, but in ourselves we're pretty unstable people
with problems. And you may be today on the downhill
slide with the world by the tail, but just hang on. Just hang on. And I'll tell you what, we'll
always of ourselves try to solve our problems and prop ourselves
up in the wrong way. Again, usually with justifying
ourselves. We live in an unstable world.
What does all this teach us? It teaches us this, that our
only hope now and forever is the grace of God in Christ. I think about that verse in Psalm
130 quite often. Oh, Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? Certainly not me and certainly
not you. And this is why we must be preserved by grace. Not only
must we be saved by God's grace in Christ, we must be preserved. We must be kept. We can't even
keep ourselves. This is why we need God's mercy
to endure forever. You know that psalm that keeps
repeating that, His mercy endureth forever. I'll tell you, that's
where I want to live, under that enduring mercy of God. So that's why we need sovereign
grace. That's why sovereign grace is
important, because if it's not sovereign, it's no good. Not
for me and not for you. This is why we need Christ. This
is why we need the Holy Spirit and his word to constantly keep
us in check. That's right, motivating us,
deterring us. Jude wrote it this way, he said,
God alone is able to make you stable and keep you from falling. We can't keep ourselves. Look
at this chapter here. I can't go through all of it.
You know, I'm not going to try to, but I want to give you some
thoughts here. In verse one, he says, therefore. In other
words, based upon all that he had said before, especially looking
back to the fact of our destiny in Christ, we're going to be
changed. We're going to be glorified. We're going to be glorified.
We're going to be made like Christ. We're not there yet in ourselves,
but we're going to be. I think about that old poem.
I don't know who wrote it. God said, he said, to dwell above
with saints in love will be a wondrous glory, but to dwell below with
saints we know, well, that's another story. That's right,
isn't it? I mean, that's right. It takes
work. And we know it's not working our way into heaven or working
our way into God's favor. It's not working our way to salvation.
It's God who works in us. to will and to do of His good
pleasure. And if God doesn't work in us, there'll be no work
at all worth even talking about. Isn't that right? It's for His
glory. So therefore, because of God's
grace in Christ, because of our state and our standing in Him,
my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown,
Now, you can tell right off, Paul had a special love for and
a bond with these people here. He loved them. He was the first
to preach the gospel in this area. They loved him. He calls them his brethren. Who
are brethren? They're members of the same spiritual
family. They have the same Father. How
do we know we have the same Father? Well, are we looking to Christ
for our whole salvation? Is He our only hope? Is He our
all in all? If Christ and him crucified,
my only right standing before God. Because if it's anything
else, we don't have the same Father. But Paul says, my brethren,
who made you a brother or a sister? Who made me a brother? Christ
did. And that's our only hope. He says, dearly beloved and longed
for. He truly loved them and he desired their fellowship.
In other words, these weren't a bunch of people he wanted to
get away from. He said, I long for you. He called them my joy
and my crown. Their salvation, their perseverance
and fellowship brought him joy, brought him happiness. That's
what that is. And this word crown here, when he says you're my
joy and crown, that's not the kind of crown you give to a king.
It's the kind of crown like a laurel given to an athlete. And what
Paul is actually saying here when he calls them his crown,
he says, you are my reward. That's interesting, isn't it?
In other words, they were the fruit of Paul's ministry by the
power and grace of God. Paul didn't save these people.
He didn't redeem them. But it was through his ministry,
he was the instrument that God used to bring these people to
a saving knowledge of Christ, and they were his reward. He
wasn't looking for rewards in heaven that he earned. He said,
you're my reward. God has brought you to a saving
knowledge of Christ. You're my brother. You're my
sister. You're my reward. You're my joy, happiness. And he says there's several things
here to think about and do. And as I said, I called this
message Grace in Action because none of the things, now let's
go to the action verbs. None of these things in action
are possible apart from the grace of God. You won't do them at
all. I won't do them at all apart
from God's grace. He gives them several things
here. In verse one, he says, stand fast. Just stand. You think if he's going to get
them busy, he'd say, get busy doing something. No, he starts
out, just stand. And then in verse two, he says,
agree. That's an action word. That's
not, in other words, this is not something you just sit around
and wait on. This is something you've got to resolve in your
mind to do. He says, be of the same mind. That's agree. In verse
four, he says, rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. In verse five, he
says, let your moderation be known unto all men, be moderate. And that's not what you think
it is. That word moderate thing, moderation, it's another something
else. He says in verse six, be careful
for nothing. That means don't be anxious. Anxious is what that anxious
cares what he's forbidding there. Down in verse 9, or verse 8 rather,
the last few words, he gives them a long list of things and
he says, think on these things. And that's the action verse.
That's grace in action. Let's look at these. In verse
1, the first thing he says to do is, so stand fast in the Lord,
my dearly beloved. Stand fast in the Lord. When
I read that, I think about Moses and the children of Israel standing
on the evil side of the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his army approaching
them, ready to kill them, their swords thirsting for the blood
of the Hebrew children. And you remember, God raised
up a pillar of fire as a protection between Pharaoh's army and his
children and Moses. But yet, at the same time, seeing
that great, marvelous work on the shore of the Red Sea, seeing
that great, marvelous work and that protection that God brought
them, it didn't calm them down. They still complained. They still
murmured. And they went after God's preacher.
They said, Moses, why did you leave us out here just to be
killed? Wasn't it good enough in Egypt? And they started to long for
what the Bible calls the flesh pots of Egypt. And do you remember
what Moses' message to them was as he stood upon that rock there?
And they looked at him. And right before God was going
to part the Red Sea, do you remember what he said? He said, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. Why, you ought to be the most
peaceful, calmest people on the face of the earth. Stand fast
in the Lord. That's what Paul's telling these
people here. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
And he went on to tell them, he said, for Pharaoh and his
army, you see them, you shall see them no more again forever. What a great picture in history
of our salvation by Christ at the cross. The Red Sea parted,
they went over on dry land, and when they got to the other side,
Pharaoh's armies came after them, and the Red Sea closed down on
them. The Red Sea was salvation for the people of Israel. It
was destruction for Pharaoh's army. That's the way the blood
of Christ is for us. It's our salvation. It's destruction
for those who trample it under their feet, who count it as an
unclean thing, unbelievers. Stand fast in the Lord like a
soldier at his post defending the most precious thing he has. Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter
6 and verse 10, he said, finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his mind in the Lord. Now, this is
the foundation of our salvation. This is the foundation of grace. Stand fast in the Lord. Stand
fast in His grace and in His power, because I'm going to tell
you something, we're liable to fall. Stand fast in His gospel,
His truth, His promises which are able to save, because in
Him, in Christ, all the promises of God are yea and amen. Stand
fast in His righteousness, for we have none of our own. Put
it to the test. Stand fast in the liberty of
Christ. Look over at Galatians chapter
5. Look there. You remember when those false
preachers came into the churches at Galatia, right? Bringing in
their damnable doctrine of works salvation, self-righteous legalism. What did Paul say in verse 1
here of chapter 5? Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. We are free men in Christ. free women in Christ. We have
full access to the holiest of all by the blood of Christ. Our
works do not gain us salvation or maintain it. Our works are
totally excluded from the ground of salvation and our entitlement
to heaven's glory. It's Christ and Him alone. Isn't
that right? Christ and Him alone. His blood
alone. His righteousness alone. Now
stand firm and immovable and dogmatic in that truth. How do
you do that? You keep your eyes glued to Him.
You run the race, but you run it looking unto Jesus as the
author and finisher of your faith. You rest in Him. All the time
while you're running the race, you're standing. Isn't that ironic?
You're running the race, you're walking, you're doing, but you're
standing firm in the grace of God in Christ. Don't let anyone
come and make you look to the left or to the right and certainly
not behind. You keep your eyes focused on
Christ and Him crucified and what He accomplished at Calvary.
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Christ.
That's how you stand fast in the Lord. And he says, and be
not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. That legalism,
that religion, that works salvation, that condemning salvation, that's
what that is. Salvation by works is a condemning
salvation because it's no salvation at all. It will do you no good. It will just make you guilty,
condemned. It'll make you exhausted, and
it'll make you self-righteous. You stand fast in the Lord. Realize what you are. This is
our standing, our state of being in Him. That I am. I am as perfect as I ever will
be in Christ. As righteous, as holy as I ever
will be. Not in myself, but in Christ.
And that's where it all begins. That's where grace in action
begins. You start anywhere else, you're starting wrong. This is
the starting point. This is the goal. This is the
finish line. This is the completion of it.
Stand fast in the Lord. Stand fast in the truth and the
doctrines of Christ. Look at verse 2 back in Philippians
4. Now that's the first one. That's grace in action. If you're
not looking to Christ, it is not grace. And if it is grace,
you're looking to Christ. You're resting in Him. You're
pleading His blood and righteousness. Your confidence is in Him. Paul
already said it. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. If you're looking to the flesh,
if you're looking to self, if you're looking to the preacher,
you're looking to the church or the denomination or the ceremony,
it's not grace in action. It's the flesh in action. Somebody
said, well, what about the Holy Spirit? Well, if it's the Spirit,
you're looking to Christ. It's grace in action. And looking
away from self. Stand fast in the Lord. And then
look at verse 2. Now, here he says, be of the
same mind. He says, I beseech you, Odius, and beseech, I beg
Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Now, what
he's talking about here is agreement. He's talking about the spiritual
strength and unity and growth of the church. has to do with
our attitude and our spirit, how we think. Now, a sinner,
saved by the grace of God, cannot be lost. He cannot be condemned. Because who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. But
I'll tell you what he can be. He can be miserable. Think about
David and his misery. Think about Lot in the Old Testament. He shouldn't be miserable, but
he can be. And this is an act of the heart and mind in following
Christ in his word, this agreement, be of the same mind. What he's
talking about is what we should do in the church is cultivate
harmony and peace and the fellowship of love and truth. And here's
these two women, he mentions them by name, they were divided
over a problem. We don't know what the problem
was, but he exhorts them to settle it in a way that's glorifying
to God and good for the church. and to be united in fellowship
and purpose. Now, let me say this. There are
some divisions that are worth dividing over. Whenever it involves
the doctrine of Christ and the gospel itself, the grace of God,
it is worth dividing over. Not only that, we are commanded
to divide over it. Whenever a person, preacher or
anybody, brings the person and the finished work of Christ into
question, we are to stand firm. and immovable and not budge an
inch. That's right. Whenever they bring
in salvation by works, whether subtly or confusion, don't go
into it, stand firm. Paul said when he went to Jerusalem
to settle this matter over whether or not a sinner had to be circumcised
to be saved, he said, I didn't give them one hour. He didn't
give them an hour message. He said, I wasn't going to put
up with that. Well, Paul, you ought to be more diplomatic.
Not in that area. And I'll tell you something else.
Now, there are some ideas that people have that they think are
doctrinally that really aren't worth dividing over either. There
are places where believers can agree to disagree. The story
is told of a young preachers in a seminary and they were getting
up and preaching and one of them got up and he started talking
about John the Baptist and he said, he said, John the Baptist
said that I am not worthy to unloose the shoes of Christ.
And after the message was over, one of his fellow students come
up and he said, you know, I believe you got that wrong. I don't believe
John said he wasn't, he wasn't worthy to unloose the shoes. I think he said he wasn't worthy
to tie the shoes. Another fellow come up and he
said, no, I think if you'll go back to the original Greek, it
means he wasn't worthy to carry the shoes. So they went to the
old professor and they said, well, what is it? Is it unloosed?
Is it tie or is it carry? And the old preacher said, well,
fellows, you're missing the point. You see, if John was asked to
carry his shoes, he wasn't worthy to do that. If John was asked
to tie his shoes, he wasn't worthy to do that. If John was asked
to unloose his shoes, he wasn't worthy to do that. He wasn't
worthy. And that's the point. So why divide over that? But
you see, people like division by nature. They like that. And they have to put it on some
high plane to make it look like, well, this is a matter of honor.
This is a matter of truth. No. Now, let me tell you, all
believers should seek to preserve the unity of the church and be
of the same mind. How? Well, he says in verse 3,
he says, And I treat thee also true yokefellow. Now, that's
what we are. We're yokefellow. The analogy
there is like the oxen in the field that the farmer has pulling
the plow. He puts a yoke on them so they'll
all go the same direction, pull the same speed. If he didn't
put that yoke on him, one ox will go here and the other go
there, and he'd be like this. And the field wouldn't get plowed.
But you see, that's what we are. We're yoke fellows. We're supposed
to be in the service of Christ, who is the husbandman, plowing
the field in the same direction at the same speed. And the yoke
that's on us is God's grace, and He put it on us. Now what
he said, come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and
I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you for my
yoke is easy and my burden is light. What he means by that
is this. He's not saying the Christian
life is easy. He's saying that we're not working our way to
heaven. That's impossible. You say. We're working because
we are saved because of the grace of God. So he says, get together,
and he says, he says, help those women which labored with me in
the gospel. Now, whatever they were dividing
over, it was a non-issue. It wasn't, it was something they
shouldn't be dividing over. I know it wasn't the truth of
Christ and him crucified, because if it was that, Paul would say,
now, divide. He did in other epistles. Whenever
the doctrine of Christ was brought into question by men, he mentioned
their name, and he said, get away from them. He said, mark
them. Look over at Romans 16. Let me
show you this. Look at Romans 16. There in verse 17. Romans 16,
verse 17. Now listen to this. He says,
Now I beseech you. Now, you remember he said, I
beseech you, Odius, and I beseech Synthoche. I'm begging these
two women get together. Stop this division. Stop this
faction. It's not worth it. That's what
he's saying. But now look over here in Romans 16 and verse 17.
He says, Now I beg you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned. Mark them means name them. Point
them out. And avoid them. Avoid them, say. For they are
such served not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
their own appetites, their own sinful desires, and by good words
and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the sinful." So when
it's over the gospel, you mark them and avoid them. But these
non-issues, go back to Philippians 4, don't divide. And the church, he says, help
those women. Apparently these women had been really instrumental
in laboring for the cause of the gospel. They labored with
me in the gospel. And he mentions a man named Clement
also. Maybe he was instrumental in
the church as the pastor. I don't know. But he was he was
certainly influential. And he says, and with other my
fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. We're talking
about brethren disagreeing over non-essentials here. And he says,
stop it. And help them. I'm going to tell
you something, you don't help them by taking sides with one
against the other. That don't help. Come together. Somebody said, well, how do I
do that? We'll turn back to Philippians 2. And look at verse 1. Here's how. Somebody says, well, I'm glad
he's going to show us how. I don't know if you will be or not. But
here's verse 1 of Philippians 2. Look at it. He says, if there
be therefore any consolation in Christ, comfort in Christ,
Is He our comfort, our assurance, our confidence? If any comfort
of love, of love of God to me in Christ, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, that means compassion,
fulfill ye my joy that you be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind, and here's what He
said, look at verse 3. that nothing be done through
strife or vain glory." Now what he's talking about is my way,
my way, my way. Don't do it. It's not worth it. When you get your way, it won't
be worth it. I'm telling you, it won't be
worth it. You may have a moment of glory. That'll be it. And he says, but
in lowliness of mind, you know what lowliness of mind is? That's
humility. Let each esteem other better than themselves." Now,
here comes Euodius, and she says, well, Syntyche ought to esteem
me better than her then. Here comes Syntyche, and she
says, Euodius ought to esteem me better. Uh-uh. That's not
the way it works, though. I'm to look at this, and I'm
to look at Bill. Not you. Not anybody else. I'm to look
at me. And I'm to esteem other better than themselves. She's
got a better idea. He's got a better idea. You say,
that's how to do it? That's how to do it. He says
in verse 4, look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others. And then he gives the crowning
motive here. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who humbled himself. You can read
the rest of it. Humble humility. Be of the same
mind. We may not agree on all things
indifferent, but we can be of the same mind in the gospel.
We can be of the same mind in the glory of God and the salvation
of the sinners and in the good of the body. And you say, well,
I don't think that'll be good for the church. Well, I'm going
to tell you what will be worse for the church. Division. That'll
be much worse. Division will be. Factions, that's
worse. That's worse than any idea anybody
can put through. It's factions and divisions. I'll tell you right now, that
is bad for the church. But look here, he says, keep
these things in perspective. What are we here for? We're here
for the glory of God. We're here for the unity of the
brethren, the growth of the church. We're here for the salvation.
We're to be shining lights in this dark world. We're not here
for our own personal ideas and preferences. We're here for Christ
and His sheep. That's right. Look at verse 4.
Here's the next thing. Here's the next action. Grace
in action. Rejoice in the Lord. Verse 4.
Always, again, I say rejoice. Now rejoice, this word rejoice
is used ten times in this epistle. And what he's saying basically
is, you know, psychologists use this, but I know where they take
it. how far they go with it, but
that's not what he's saying. He's saying here that instead
of focusing on the negative and what's wrong, let's be glad and
rejoice in what God has done for us and given to us in Christ. You think about that. We are
the most blessed people on the face of the earth, and can't
any true child of God say that? I'm telling you now, there's
nobody blessed like we are. I know you can look on TV and
you can see all the different celebrities and the rich people
with all their money and all their goods and all that. My
friend, they're not blessed. They think they are, but they're
not. The Bible says we're blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Now, what can you add to that?
Nothing. I mean, that's blessed. We have
a fellowship here where the truth is preached. We have the facilities. We thank God for them. We're
so blessed. And that's what he means. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in His grace. God told
Paul, He said, My grace is sufficient for thee. Rejoice in His blood. It cleanses me from all my sin. All of it. And there's so much
sin, I don't even know, but I know His blood cleanses me from all
of it. Past sin, present sin, future sin, Adamic sin, whatever
sin, His blood cleanses me from all sin. Rejoice in His righteousness,
for He has justified me and entitled me to the whole inheritance of
grace and glory. You see, when I go to meet my
Lord, I don't have to prove myself. That's what I'm saying. I have
Christ as my hope. He's a tried stone. He's already
been proven. And I'm in Him. I don't have
to prove myself at judgment. You know, these preachers, they
talk about grace, and they say, when you stand before judgment,
you know, God's going to bring everything to a... Now, let me
tell you something. They're misreading Scripture there. I'm telling
you. I know sin has its consequences,
and we'll have to suffer those consequences, but when we stand
before God at judgment, we will not have to prove ourselves.
We stand there in Christ. And what does the Bible say?
In Him is no sin. That's right. Now, you talk about
blessed. Do you know yourself? How blessed
are you then that you have His righteousness? Rejoice in His
love. He said this, he said his love
never fails and his love never waivers. Now, our love does,
doesn't it? Doesn't it? Even the grace of
love by the Spirit, we have to cultivate it, don't we? You want
to know how perfect your love is? Well, let somebody come along
and do you wrong. Let somebody come along and do
one of your children wrong. What's going to be your first
thought? Lord bless them? No, sir. That's what I know. You know it too. Lord, we love
you. God help us. Forgive me for my
love. How pitiful it is, but his love
never fails and never waivers. never changes. Listen. Listen to me. Think of yourself
at your worst moment. His love never wavers for you. There are times when I feel like,
Lord, if you gave me what I deserve, you'd stamp me off the face of
the earth. You know what? That's really
all the time. That's right. If he gave me what
I deserve, But His love never wavers. It has no degrees. It's always perfect, full love. And that's what we ought to strive
for. But boy, it's a striving, isn't it? It sure doesn't come
easy. God help us. And we wouldn't
do it at all but by His grace. This is grace in action. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in His providence. All
things work together for our good. We may not see it at a
given moment in time, how this particular thing will work together,
but I know it will. I know it will. I've seen it. I have, and you have too, haven't
you? Things that you would think, man, this is going to be the
end of all of us, and yet it works together for our good and
the glory of God. Hasn't he proven himself all
the way down through history? Hasn't he proven himself in your
short life and my short life? So many times. And then rejoice
in his intercession, his contentment. When we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. And then rejoice that your names
are written in the book of life. Verse three. Oh, whose names
are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again, I say rejoice. Well, I'll close there. I believe
that's enough for today. Lord help us all.