Ultimately, when we come to worship,
Jesus Christ has said in John, there's only one way to worship.
And only true worship is worship in spirit and in truth. And that
means a lot for us who understand the reality of that text, but
for some, we lose sight of it. But ultimately, one of the things
that we need to be aware of when we hear that is that there is
nothing else There's nothing else needed but Jesus to worship.
There's nothing else needed but Christ, the truth of Jesus Christ. He himself says, I am the truth. So that the those who say they're
worshiping God, the father only worship Jesus Christ, who is
the truth. They worship in Christ alone
or they do not worship at all. And any worship that is not in
Christ for the sake of Christ, from the joy of Christ, is no
worship at all but idolatry. So as we worship even through
songs, we are not worshiping anyone but Christ. We're not
hearing anyone but Christ. We're not seeing anyone but Christ.
And as we've come here today, my prayer is that as you see
this letter to the Philippians come to an end, that it would
not be an end, but it would be a beginning, that it would remind
you of the mercies of Christ, of the power of the mind of God
who sent His Son to die so that we might live, powerfully resurrecting
us from the dead. Our flesh will be made new when
Christ comes back to take His church. As we consider where
we've come from in this letter, it is so hard for me not to just
labor over the entire letter again. Sermon after sermon after
sermon. And so I thank God that He is
faithful. I thank God that He is able to
do all that He's purposed through His Word. I thank God that He
does not need me to expound upon it or remind you of it. He doesn't
need me to drill it into you so that it would become clearer
because He can use any mouth in any eye when His Word is put
forth. And His Holy Spirit, God the
Spirit, works in our hearts to bring us to understanding and
to truth that, as I said last week, when we come together as
His people, we celebrate the unity of faith, we celebrate
the oneness of our minds, we celebrate the absolute perfection
of Christ who brought us to the same mission, to the same vision,
to the same purpose, which is to the praise of His glorious
grace, together as the beloved. Friends, it often frightens me,
not just that it still is this way in our world, but that I
was once a part of it. That every pastor you see and
every congregation that you come from, there's a new vision or
a new thought or a different mission. Friends, there is no
vision except that of God. There is no mission except that
of Christ. There is no gospel except that
Christ be crucified and raised to life. There is no other purpose
for which the church exists except the single purpose, to give praise
to the glorious grace of God, evidenced by the reality that
we are transformed by the power of God to be a people for His
own glory. As the world looks upon in mystery,
we celebrate the majesty of our King, of our Savior, of the one
who has made us in Christ Jesus. And in that same line of thinking,
Anything else that is done, anything else that is taught, anything
else that is lived is not for the glory of God. It is not for
the glory of Christ. And whether we like it or whether
we know it or whether we receive it, even if we reject the truth
that we know is true, friends, all human beings, every person
that has ever breathed life into this world, even those who have
died before they were born into this world, will kneel before
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and they will say forever,
Jesus is Lord. The difference in the reprobate
is that they will do it by force. The saints will do it out of
joy. We can't wait. No person will escape bowing
before Jesus for all of eternity, even those in hell. They will
bow before the kingship of his sovereignty. That's a harsh thing
to think about. And we ought to shudder in three
ways, we ought to shudder in our souls, knowing that if it
weren't for the grace of God bringing the gospel to your heart
and to my heart, we would be in that number. We ought to shudder. Because there are many of us
who claim to be in Christ who are not. We ought to test ourselves
to see if we're in the faith. We ought to work out our salvation
with fear and trembling, trusting in him who is faithful, putting
our faith fully in Christ every moment, not ourselves, not even
the fruit of our faith or the faith of our faith, but in the
faithful one who is Jesus Christ. And we ought to come to the place
of shuddering, thirdly, when we consider the mass multitudes
who do not know Christ. who do not know Christ, who do
not love Him, who do not care about His gospel, who live for
their own fame and their own name, and it's a wasted, garbage
life. And we ought not to see them
with angry eyes. The world is going to do that
which the world is going to do. We ought to see them through
the eyes of pity. We ought to exist through the eyes of prayer.
We ought to live through the eyes of proclamation as we share
the gospel. I saw a cartoon recently, many
of you might have seen it online passing around the social spheres.
There's a man standing in the middle of a highway. And he's
saying something to the nature of like, don't judge me to the
Christian on the other side that said, look out, judgment's coming.
Repent, believe the gospel. Christ died for your sins. And
he's saying, don't judge me. And up the road is a semi truck
that says the judgment of God. That's how the world looks at
the gospel. They hate it. They hate it. But friends, it
is loving to tell people that judgment is coming and there
is no escape except Christ has set you free. Christ has bought
you out. Christ has snatched you from
the domain of darkness into the light of his kingdom. Friends,
that's what eternal life is. That's what salvation is. that
God has brought the Word to you, and in that Word, He has brought
to life your dark, dead, blind eyes and heart, and you then
have seen the beauty of His glory, have seen the sufficiency of
His mercy, and you have been set apart for Him, to which we
fall on our face, and we believe the fullness of the Gospel, and
we know that there is none but Christ who can save us. And Paul
is written about this to the Philippian Christians. He's shared
with them that that is their mind. He's shared with them that
the power of the gospel is theirs. He's shared with them that the
greatest test of their kinship, of their adoption, of their redemption
is the joy in the Lord Jesus alone. And even so, in their
suffering, there is joy. He has said that not just joy
in Christ, but unity in Christ as a people is a secondary test
and that we don't get our joy from each other. We get our joy
from Christ as we live together. We see Christ in each other.
And friends, if we had to theme Philippians, it would be rejoice. It would be rejoiced in all things. It would be rejoiced in your
prayers. It would be rejoiced in your suffering. It would be
rejoiced in your teaching. It would be rejoiced in your
death. It would be rejoiced in your life. It would be rejoiced
in your abundance and rejoiced in your poverty, rejoiced in
your fullness and rejoiced in your hunger. And it is not an
individual letter to one, it is a letter to all who are in
Christ, in Philippi. And so as God talks to His people,
so is it that He's speaking to us through this letter some 2,000
years later, powerfully, not just in logic and reasoning,
though it's very reasonable and logical to see the arguments,
but in power where our hearts and minds are in tune with the
strength of Christ's majesty, with the strength of the power
that He holds to subject all things under His feet. And as
we get to the latter part of this letter in chapter 4, verse
10, listen to the words of Paul. I rejoice in the Lord greatly
that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were
indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that
I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever
situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low,
and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance,
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
and need. I can do all things through him
who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share
my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning
of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership
with me in giving and receiving except you alone. Even in Thessalonica,
you sent me help for my needs once again. Not that I seek the
gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have
received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received
from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a
sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God, and my God will supply
every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ
Jesus. To our God and Father be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Now, friends, this is too
much to go into all of that, but it is one thought. It is
one focused close to this letter. And what Paul is doing on the
onset is he is now thanking the Philippians, thanking the Philippians
by thanking God. If you notice that, I rejoiced,
let's take out a few words, greatly that now at length you have revived
your concern for me. You know what that would save
for a lot of us? That's really an example of how many of us
think, of how many people in the church of Philippi would
take it, of how many people, if we didn't have the fullness
of what Paul has written, would accept as normative. What are
you talking about? This. We can read this incorrectly
and we can skip over some things like in the Lord and we can see
that there there was probably a worldly gratitude in Paul's
heart. We know it's not there because
he uses the phrase in the Lord. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. He did not say I rejoiced in
you. And so what Paul is showing is he is very grateful to the
Philippians and their concern for him and their gifts toward
him. And you know the story of Epaphroditus. He went there to
give ministry needs, to give money and food and clothing to
Paul and ended up almost dying. And so as Paul, as the Philippians
sent Epaphroditus to stay there and continually minister the
needs of Paul, Paul says that the greater joy and the gift
of Epaphroditus was to send him back now healthy and healed to
the Philippians so that they could rejoice because they were
burdened and concerned for his well-being and so that he wanted
to relieve their burden by informing them of what was happening in
Epaphroditus' life and better yet, bringing him back to fellowship
with them which would bring the fullness of worship in Christ
together. Remember that sermon? That's how the church works.
That's why we're here today. We're not here to get our sermon
and to get our spiritual fix and then to tear out and not
think about each other anymore. And I know it's organic. It grows.
We have to learn each other. We have to get to know each other.
We have to have opportunity for that. And most of us are shy. Most of us are a little reserved,
you know, because you can't have more than about three people
who are outgoing in a church. If you've got more than about
three in a congregation, then nobody gets to talk. Everybody
just listen to those three talk over each other. You know, you
know how that is. And it's sort of spectators. But in time, there's
an intimacy that should develop amongst God's people, especially
we who are the local church. There needs to be a face to a
name. And if you're like me, I forget
my own name half the time. What's my name? And so I have
to really work in the last few years to remember names. I go
through the list of my own children. Katie Grace, Jacob Brick, and
Abigail say, my name's not Katie. I know that. I don't know your
name, but you do this. But it's not about the similarities. It's not about the professionalism
of doing what's right. It's not about etiquette. It's about intimacy. And the
church is about intimacy. The gospel is about intimacy.
First and foremost, that we have intimacy with God. That's what
the word atonement means. That we have come, that we are
separated far from the glory of God because we are sinners.
Our very core of our existence is separated from God because
we are filthy. We are undeserving of the presence
of the holiness of God. And yet God in His mercy, because
of the great love with which He loved us, brought us in Christ
to Him. Christ became the at-one-ment
to bring us to the Lord. And in the same way, if we have
intimacy with God, how dare we not have intimacy with each other?
Matter of fact, John would even say that the test of adoption,
the test of salvation, the greatest test is that we have love for
the brethren. We have love for the sisters. Brethren wasn't
a gender issue in that language. It just meant family, siblings. Do we have that? Do you have
that? Paul is expounding upon that
here. I rejoice greatly. But Paul is not saying I'm glad
for you. You gave me joy because I know
you cared for me. He says my joy is in the Lord.
Now that would be speculation because maybe you understand
language a little bit better than me. Or I understand language
a little bit better than you. And maybe we could interpret
it differently. We could if we didn't have the rest of it. So
the assumptions we make are not assumptions at all, but rather
direct statements from Paul. Paul is not saying I'm rejoicing
because you're sending me money. Paul doesn't find any joy in
the gifts. Paul doesn't find any joy in the giving. Paul doesn't
find any joy in the ministry. of receiving the ministry. Paul
doesn't find any joy in the fruitfulness of that ministry. He is not focused
on the things that are done for him. He's not focused on the
fact that people love him. He doesn't find any happiness
or any joy in the fact that people are considering his well-being.
He's not rejoicing because somebody now cares about him. He wasn't
alone and desperate and heartache and saying, oh, if somebody just
cared and now the Philippians come, oh, they care, I'm so happy,
I'm so happy. What about when they don't care?
Or what about when they can't care, which is what Paul said? Paul's saying, I didn't rejoice
in them, I'm rejoicing in the Lord. I'm rejoicing in Christ. I'm rejoicing in Jesus Christ.
And when I see your heart being concerned for me, I rejoice in
Christ, because only Christ does that. You're suffering as I am
suffering. You're dying as we are being
put to death. You are being imprisoned as I am imprisoned. You are running
for your lives and you are preaching the gospel at the cost of death.
And you are doing that every single day. But in your journey
of fighting the fight of faith for the sake of the joy of the
elect, you are thinking about me. That is the work of God,
beloved. That's what Paul is rejoicing
in. That's why the scripture says
that in all things, with prayer and thanksgiving, we bring our
requests to God. Prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving. We're praying for other people
in the midst of our pain because what are we going to do about
our own? It doesn't matter. God is our joy. Christ is our
rejoicing. The gospel is our hope, not the
people, not the stuff. And so when people are there,
we rejoice in the Lord because he's brought them to us. When
people are not there, we rejoice in the Lord because he's sovereign
in it either way. And that's what Paul is coming
to say. I believe that this portion of
the letter, this latter part of chapter 4, verses 10 through
the end, are some of the most important texts in this letter.
It's not a lot of theological stuff. It's not a lot of doctrinal
things. It's an expression of Paul in the sense that he's preached
and taught them throughout this entire writing. Now we see it
put into action. We see Paul showing that his
joy is not in the receiving of the gifts, but it is in Christ
who burdened their hearts to do so. You might think, well, is it
really the theme of the book? Think about this for a second.
In chapter 1, verse 4, Paul says, I pray with joy. In chapter 1,
verse 18, it says, rejoicing that those charlatans who are
out there preaching Christ, why? To hurt me. That's what he says. Verse 18 of chapter 1, he says,
they're hurting me, but I rejoice because they're preaching the
gospel, no matter their motives. Let them preach it. I rejoice
that they're preaching. In verse 25, chapter 1, he says,
I will remain alive for the joy of the faith of the Philippians.
For your joy. I will stay. I know it is better,
far better, for me to go and be with Christ. It's what I desire.
But it is better for your sake that I remain. For your what?
Joy. Paul writes this letter for the
occasion of making sure that the Philippians do not lose their
joy in Christ. Church, you are able to be fulfilled
and rejoice even in death, even as you weep. As we pray for Ben's nephew,
Caleb, who is going to die, five years old, he's going to die.
How do we pray? We rejoice. We rejoice in Christ. And we know that those who love
that child, his parents and his friends and his family, they
will weep and mourn with a great brokenness in their bodies and
in their hearts and in their minds. But that brokenness is
a testimony to the power of God who gives us the gifts of each
other. But even in that seeming hopeless
place, we rejoice. And there will be a day when
there will never be another tear in our eyes. There will be a
day when there will never be death knocking on our door. But
even though it is here now, we rejoice. Because Christ is our
joy. I will remain for your sake.
Chapter 2, verse 2, he said that the Philippians complete his
joy. 17 and 18 of chapter 2 says he rejoices with them. He sends
Epaphroditus so that the Philippians might rejoice. In verse 28 of
chapter 2, in verse 29, he tells the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus
with joy. 3-1, 4-1, and 4-4. Rejoice in the Lord. Again, I
will say rejoice. Chapter four, verse one, that
they are his joy. The Philippians are Paul's joy.
Why? Because they are the object of Christ's work. Paul sees the heart of the mind
of the Philippians to even work in dealing with Seneca and Euodia
and deal with their conflict because their conflict is anti-gospel. At all costs, you work this out
between these women. They need to lay down their lives
for each other and put all this discouragement and all this discontent
and all this stuff and complaining away. There's no part of it.
It shouldn't be named. And when that happens, we rejoice.
How can you forgive somebody for hurting you? How can I not
forgive someone for hurting you? How dare I not forgive someone
for it? Jesus teaches a parable about that very thing, doesn't
he? Jesus tells us, and this is a review, we did this three
weeks ago, but Jesus tells us that if we are not forgiven,
then God will not forgive us. And that if we have been forgiven,
that we will forgive others. Do you know what it means to
forgive in a nutshell? To treat them and live with them
and love them as if they've never offended us. Does God receive us? Did God
purchase us through the blood of Jesus Christ so that He could
say, yeah, I love y'all, but y'all really are awful. You know,
I bought you, but you better remember, you don't deserve that. That's true, but that's not the
heart of God toward His children. The heart of God toward us, the
church, is that while you were sinners, while you were enemies,
Christ died for you. And now you are the righteousness
of God. So let's put words in God's mouth
because they're there. Let's say what God has said,
not put words in his mouth. Let's say what God has said.
God is saying. You, beloved, are my righteousness. You, my children, are a picture
of my holiness. Yet we look at ourselves and
we know we're not holy, but yet God says we are because we're
in Christ. And we long for the day when
our lives will be perfect. Not now, but later. When Christ,
as he sanctifies us in this life, will never meet perfection in
the flesh, but we will receive perfection. Paul is so certain
of that perfection, of that sanctification, of that glorification, that he
uses it at the end of Romans chapter 8 in the past tense.
Paul says that those who are called by God are glorified. They're done. But yet we're not. But it's such
a certainty that we will be, that He uses it in that way.
What is it to rejoice in the Lord? I mean, we've talked about
this a dozen times in the last few months. We've talked about
it many, many times over. We say it, and it seems so simple
to come off our tongues, but it's so difficult to really put
into our lives, to apply into our minds, and to apply into
the circumstances in which we live. And beloved, I wish I had
the magic sentence. I wish I could say, this is how
you rejoice in Christ and just. But Paul says we think of Christ. We renew our minds when the world's
problems come around, we don't focus on them, but we put them
away and we look to eternity. That we have to be disciplined
to those things. We have to be disciplined. And
then as we're drawn by the word of God, as we learn Christ more
and more every day, we get the ability to be more disciplined,
to focus on Christ in eternity and the mind of Christ rather
than the situation that we're in. And there's no real button
to push. There's no real there's nothing
we can pin on our show. We can't pin a guardian angel
to our lapel and say, look at the Lord's with me. We can't
put a cross in our pocket. I'm like, what is all that? These
are things that came along when I was a kid. The Lord's with
you, put your cross in your pocket. Anytime you're stressed out,
you rub the cross, you know, like the nickel. That's nothing
but like rubbing a rabbit's foot. I mean, focus on the Word of
God. Meditate on it day and night.
Do what's in it. Practice these things that you've
learned from us, that you've seen us practice. Paul says,
I'm hurting. I'm suffering. I'm in prison.
I'm cold. I'm hungry, but I'm rejoicing. I'm praying for you. I'm spending
my time writing letters for your joy. So do what I'm doing. Do
what I'm doing. Joy in the Lord. In a nutshell,
as a reminder, is that Christ brings joy, not the circumstances,
not the relief from circumstances, nor the fellowship in the circumstances.
Christ. And Paul doesn't just say, I
rejoice in the Lord. He says, I rejoice greatly. I
rejoice greatly. And I want to impose something
here that many of you may not agree with, but I study it and
see what you come up with. I believe that Paul, by using
that adjective or that adverb, that he is saying that my rejoicing
is above and beyond anything you've seen. I want you to hear
that for a second. I'm not just rejoicing as you're rejoicing,
O Philippians. I'm rejoicing above and beyond
that joy that you've ever experienced. I rejoice in greatly. I'm rejoicing
in a way that is over and above that which I've already been
talking about. I want you to see that Paul is not just using,
Oh, I love it. Love it. It's superb. He's not
being, he's not exaggerating. He's not coming to the place
of trying to emphasize just, you know, how awesome it is.
He is literally saying that the joy he has in Christ is the greatest
joy he could have. There is a great joy and I'm
rejoicing greatly. It's how I am rejoicing. I am
greatly rejoicing in the Lord. And this is why. I believe that greatly could
also go in line with that understanding the peace that surpasses understanding
is the evidence of God guarding his heart, guarding his mind,
bringing joy in his heart, in his life. But the reason he greatly
rejoices in the Lord, he says, that you have revived your concern
for me. The word that there is an indicator
of the cause. I'm greatly rejoicing because
you, that you, I'm rejoicing that you have revived your concern
for me. Now see, oh, but you just said Paul wasn't happy because
of their concern. His joy isn't in their concern.
His joy is in that their concern has been revived. Why? Look what he says. He says, that you have revived
a concern for me, you were indeed concerned for me. He's not saying
you haven't cared for me, and now you care for me, so I'm glad
you care for me again. He says, you've always cared
for me. You've always been concerned
for me. Indeed, you've been concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Now we don't know why it is this way. We don't know what that,
maybe it's because they were all locked up. Maybe it's because
they were sick. Maybe it's because they were
in different places. Maybe it's because Epaphroditus got sick. We don't know, we don't need
to speculate, but everything we do think is speculation. Why
did they not have opportunity? We don't know, but it wasn't
because they didn't have a concern for Paul. It's because they didn't have
opportunity. You ever been in that position where you needed
ministry, but there was no one that had opportunity to minister
to you? You ever been in that position
where, and I've said this many, many times, where you felt like
the type of ministry that you needed was not the type of ministry
that you received? Or maybe from the person that
you thought should have given it? And what does the Bible teach? Where two or more gather together,
Christ is with us. Who do you want ministry from,
Jesus or me? I choose Jesus. How is the ministry of Christ
coming? Friends, you know, I'm no different than you are. Pastors
are no different. Deacons are no different. Elders
are no different. Evangelists are no different than anybody
else in the body of Christ. We've just got different roles, different
responsibilities. Just like we all do in our lives,
in our jobs, in our homes, in our careers, in our hobbies,
in our interests, in our community groups, or whatever we're doing,
we've all got different responsibilities. But our ministry is exactly the
same if we're bringing Christ to people in need. If we're bringing
the joy that is in the Lord to those who are downtrodden. If
we're teaching the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
to those who need to hear Christ, who need to be reminded and stirred
again about the wonderful beauty of the power of the Gospel. We
just receive it. And if I go to your house, we
are all together. If you come to my house, the
church has come. Christ is ministering to His
people. And what's a greater ministry? A cup of cold water?
It's necessary. Jesus even uses that illustration.
But what's a cup of cold water with no Christ? Temporary quenching. Jesus Himself stands and says,
I am, what? The living water. All who hunger
and thirst, come to Me. You'll never thirst again. So what's most important? What
if I don't have any water to give you? What if you don't have
any water to give me? We still have the living water
of Christ. And as we thirst to death and die in just dehydration,
we die in joy. And there's nothing that can
stop it. And I know these are absurd extremes in our culture. We don't see people dying like
that. We don't see people suffering
like that. But just open our eyes for a moment and contemplate
how insignificant our suffering is compared to many people. It
doesn't minimize the fact that it's hard and it hurts. Never
should we do that. But in contrast, we should always
realize that there are people who are suffering just because
they believe in Jesus. And they're dying just because
they got caught with a page out of the Gospel of John. And their
children are being beheaded in front of them because they will
not renounce Jesus Christ. And they're being burned alive.
Oh, this is so macabre stuff. It's Christmas. That's right. If we want to focus on Christ,
we need to focus on the reason Christ came. He came to suffer
the punishment of the wrath of the fury of God, the father,
so that we would not. And there's nothing simple, tasty. Festive about. Christ. is the joy of Paul because he
sees the work of Christ in the hearts of these Philippian Christians
whose ministry to him has been revived. And he sees it and he
goes, wow. And in his mind he's like, I'm
not even taking another thing from them. I don't want it. But I'm
so thankful that Christ is at work in their lives. You see
that? Not because I'm glad you're going
to give me what you are going to give me. Paul's joy is not
there because. You're interested in my welfare
and it feels good to have people love me. Now, these things do
feel good, they're nice, but they're not our joy. Because
they wane. They wane, they fail. They're
not going to be forever. Paul is saying my joy is solidified
in Christ. And he's about to say these words.
My joy is solidified in contentment because I'm satisfied with anything
and I'm satisfied without anything. Look, not that I'm speaking of
being in need. You see that? You were indeed concerned for
me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being
in need. Now, I want you to know something
here. Paul was in need. Listen. Paul was in need. Paul was in need of clothing. Paul was in need of food. Paul
was in need of money. How do you think he got these
letters out? How do you think he got? He had to give money
to people like Epaphroditus and people like Timothy so that they
could travel to get these letters everywhere. But Paul says he
had no need. How does he say he has no need
when he has a need? Because he's okay with having
nothing. He's okay with having Nothing,
because he needs nothing, even though he does need something.
You confused yet? It is confusing. And I believe
that it's one of those things where, as Paul has already preached,
the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding. God is guarding
his heart, and he's able to say in the midst of deep need, I
need nothing. And we go, that makes no sense.
Duh, surpasses all understanding. That's what it means. We're not
going to understand it. We're not going to understand
how Paul has a need but has no need. It's a dichotomy. It's
perplexing. It's oxymoronic. What is wrong
with you, Paul? You're crazy. No, he's not crazy. He's full. He's not crazy. He's satisfied. It's like somebody trying to
offer you Cake after you just ate one. A cake, not a piece. You can eat a cake, a couple
of pieces maybe. I don't want any more cake. Or
let's just say you've had, I don't know what you like, let's just
say you like some really good food. I don't know what good
food, some of us, hot dogs and bologna sandwiches are the best
thing you could ever eat. Some of us like filet mignon or lobster. Some of us like pasta, lasagna. Let me go ahead and give you
a list of what I do like now. And let's just say you have the
greatest food that you could ever consider right there in
your plate, and somebody comes in and offers you a saltine.
And you're like, why would I want a saltine when I've got this
feast before me? That in no way is even comparable, but that's
sort of a picture of, in some sense, in a small way, a comparison
of what Paul's saying. He's got great needs in his flesh,
in his personal life, in his ministry, but he doesn't need
a thing because he's full. He's got the greatest feast he
could ever be offered, the bread of life. He's got the riches
of heaven. He's got the understanding of
Christ. He's got the mind of the Lord.
Why do I need it? I don't even need counsel anymore.
I've got it. My joy is OK. Not that I'm speaking
of being in need, for I have learned. Listen to what he's
learned. Remember, he's already said, learn, put into practice
what you've learned, what you've seen, what you've heard. which he's observed, put into
practice. He is putting into practice what
he's learned. And here's what he's learned.
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger. And I want to stop for a second
and I want you to focus on those two extremes. Look at those opposites
that Paul is saying. Facing plenty Because the idea
of facing means that he's having to deal with the pressure and
the burden and the temptation and all of these things and the
horror and the suffering of plenty. I'm learning to face the suffering
of having too much, of having enough, plenty and hunger. I've learned
the secret of facing this. I've learned the secret of facing,
of enduring the suffering of abundance. The suffering of need. In verse 13, here's the secret,
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You might be confused. But I
think these opposites give us a really good insight on how
Paul puts into practice Christ, because he's learned Christ,
Christ, the king of glory, the creator of the world, the ruler
of it all, who spoke and the cosmos left into existence. and
who continues by the word of His power to uphold the universe.
Think about this. Stepped out of glory into the
womb of a woman He created and became a child and grew and learned
obedience and learned the will of the Father and learned. Learned. Yet He was always God, even as
a zygote. It's the stage for an embryo. He was always God. And in the
incarnation, he was always man. At the very same time. And he did not take equality
with God, something to be grasped, but made himself nothing. Obedient
as a slave and a cross, as a criminal. In the same way, Paul says, I
have learned to deal with facing plenty. I have learned to deal
with facing abundance. Look at this. I have learned
because I know how to be brought low. How are you brought low,
verse 12? By being high. By having it all. by being satisfied, by having
no worries about our money, no worries about our food, no worries
about our clothing or our home, no worries about our relationships,
no worries about our prosperity or our pride or our property,
no worries at all. Paul had it all. And he says, I've learned to
face having it all. And then I've had everything
taken from me and I've learned to face that. I've learned what
it means to be humble. Friends, if you belong to Christ,
and you resist, and you fight, and you walk into the world for
just a season, Christ will bring you low. And if you follow Him
with the fullness of your heart, and you never try to rebel, and
you walk as God has ordained you to walk for your whole life,
He will still bring you low. And He may even give you seasons
of abundance. But Paul's abundance was not as a believer. Paul's
abundance was as a Pharisee. He had it all. He had the authority
to stand, and against the power of Rome, put Stephen to death. That's power. And something sick inside of
our flesh likes that, in our culture. Likes the Godfather
type people. who think they have power, who
think they have money, who think they have rule, and then they
die and face the rule. But God was merciful to Paul,
and God brought him low, made him nothing, took it all away,
put him in prison. Put him in the very prison cell
he was locking people up for believing in Christ. Listen to
that. That some of Paul's very Cellmates were those that he
had had arrested, whose children were sold into slavery, whose
sons were put into the arena and killed for fun. And now he's
there saying, I believe in the same Christ that you were arrested
for. How absurd, how ridiculous. But he has no need. He's content. Things will come to Paul or things
will not come to Paul. And he has been humbled. He's
been humbled and he's been given the mind of Christ through the
gospel, and he says that in Christ he is able to endure all things,
every circumstance. Paul knows the secret of facing
any need and any abundance. Now, let me give you something
to think about in closing. How do we face need? Isn't it easy? Oh, God, help me. I trust in
you. My joy is in you. We satisfy
the need that we have in our flesh with these things that
the Bible teaches us to do. As I've already stated, we focus
on eternity, even though our circumstances may not change.
We know how to cry out, right? We know what it looks like to
feel need in poverty, need in hunger. But what does it look
like to face abundance? Let me give this to you for just
a second. Just put yourself in Paul's place. What does he teach
the Romans? What does he say about his own
heart? What does he cry? How does he cry out in Romans
seven? Oh, what? Let's paraphrase it for a minute.
Put it in our vernacular. Oh God, how am I going to escape
this judgment? How am I going to be saved? Look
at the wickedness of my flesh. Oh, what's going to become of
me? How am I going to get beyond this covetousness? I have everything
and I want more. You know that's what covetousness
is? I see everybody else with more power and I want more, more
esteem and I want more, more accolades and I want more. Paul
wanted more and more and more and more and more. He had the
world and he wanted more of it. That's what happens when we have
abundance. And Paul's saying he's learned through Christ to
face abundance. Jesus, in a very clear dialogue
with a rich, young, religious, spiritual, church-minded, pastor-like
ruler, bows before Christ and calls Him God and says, what
can I do to get eternal life? And Jesus says, you give everything
you are away to everybody who deserves it the least. and you'll
have every treasure that has ever been in heaven." And then
he commands him, commands him, look at the text, follow me. And what happened? He turned
his head down and went, there's no way. The idea of dejected
means that there's no way he would give up that which was
commanded of him for that which was presented before him. There's
no exchange in that. And Jesus turns to his disciples
and said, it is easier to shove that animal right there, that
three ton camel, through this little needle that I sew my garment
with, than it is for that rich man or any rich man to get to
heaven. Why? Because they don't know how to face abundance. How do you face abundance? Paul
said you face abundance by just letting it go. holding it, as
my grandparents would always teach me, holding it loosely.
It may always be in your hand, but know that it's God's. And
that's not just material, that's power, that's prestige, that's
honor. That's when people speak well
of you. Jesus even said, be careful. I can face abundance. How? because Christ strengthens
me and allows me to endure all things, whether I have a lot
or whether I have nothing. I am satisfied in the sufficiency
of Jesus Christ. I'm satisfied. Let's put this
into some pragmatic terms. I'm satisfied knowing that if
everything I am ends this moment, I'm in the hands of my Lord. And that if I live well, I will
die well, but I will live well. if I die well. What's that mean? Friends, that's not about salvation,
that's just about contentment. Paul says, I've learned to be
content in every circumstance, to be
content in every situation, to be content if I've got a lot,
like when you Philippians sent me all the ministry and I received
it and I had a lot, I had more than I needed. And I was content. I didn't need any more. But I
also learned to face that by not putting my hope in the ministry
of need, by not putting my hope in the gifts that you give, by
not putting my hope in that you cared for me. That's not where
my contentment came from. But it is a temptation, is it
not? So abundance is not just having the world. Abundance is
having the church. And as long as we're able to
be together and to serve together and to love together, we need
to take advantage of it because it is not guaranteed us tomorrow.
It may very well be that we have to drive for four hours to worship
one day. Would you be here? It may very well be that if you
get caught bowing your head in a public place, they take it
off. Would you pray? Would you learn to pray with
your eyes open like you're talking to the guy next to you? What will we do? We would be
strengthened by Christ. To endure all things. Friends
abundance. Comes when we get what others
provide. And there is a grave tendency. Listen to me. There's
a grave tendency to put our trust in that. There's probably some
of us in the room today that has that one person throughout
our entire lives who we've always had on the back of back burner.
That one lovely person who cared for us so deeply that we know
no matter what need we had, they would always be there for us.
And let me tell you, that person is an idol in front of Christ.
Because we put our joy and our hope in that. We put our joy
and our hope in knowing there's always somebody that's going
to love me and care for me. And I know who they are, let
me call them. Nothing wrong with that type of, I'm not saying
that's wrong, but our hope can't be in them. Our hope cannot be
in our children, in our grandchildren, in our spouses. Our joy cannot
be tied up in the tidiness of our lives. Our joy must be completely
bound to Christ alone. Not our health, not our friends, not even the
body of Christ. Because friends, we could all
die today. Heat stroke. Then who would you have? Christ. The ultimate outcome of Paul's
peace is that Christ is his joy and Christ is his hope. And his
joy comes from seeing when other Christians see that and live
it. and evidence the fact that Christ
is working in their lives as they do the things that God has
ordained for them to do. And as we see the latter part
of this letter next week and the week after, you'll see that
Paul really points this whole thing to one focus reality. Yes, it's about joy, but it's
about having joy together as a people. being a people, this
is going to sound really familiar for you, with you, by God's grace,
for God's glory. We are a people who have been
purchased by Christ and Christ's work is revealed among us when
our joy is full in Him. So what's that mean for us this
day? That means that our relationships in the church, Or the epitome
of the gospel. As we have joy together. And as we have joy apart. We ought to be concerned with
the well-being, with the needs. That's a command we've already
seen in the other chapters of this letter. To have an interest in
other people's interest. Complete my joy, Paul would say,
by having the same mind. Do not do anything out of rivalry
or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves. That is inclusive of our needs. And friends, that's
hard. That is antithetical to our way
of life and to our very mind, to our very culture. We also need to know that this
lands for us is that we are the example of Christ's mind. Our
mind and our mission and our focus and our lives together
as the Church of Jesus Christ is an example of Christ's mind.
And so we can't get the credit. When someone says, how do you
deal with this? We don't have a worldly life lesson on how
we're so happy. We just have Christ as the answer.
Because nothing else makes sense. And finally, there's a unity
of the faith. You know, sometimes we hear the unity of one faith,
one mind. We think that it's all about
just the doctrinal stuff or the theological principles, and that's
inclusive of it. But most importantly, listen,
most importantly, that our lives live a unified faith, that our
faith is alive in Christ together in unity. Is that who we are? Yes, it is. No matter how far away we might
be from where we think we should be, we are where God has us to
be this very day. And as we hear these words, God
quickens our hearts, the Spirit of the Lord works in our minds,
and He brings us to correct things, to walk in certain ways, to become
more intimate, more prayerful, more focused on being the people
that He's called and created us to be every moment of our
lives. We're never going to be to the place where we get it.
and that we're experts in living the Christian life. We're always
going to be in the place where we're dependent upon the Spirit
of God and His Word and each other to continually walk together
in a one and a unified faith for the sake of the name of Christ. And that's why I believe that
in the next year, for a few weeks, I need to focus on how to live
that out. So we can see it. So that we can be the people
that God has called us to be. and celebrate His work in us.
What about when we fail? What about when we fall? What
about when my mind changes? We celebrate it when God brings
it back. We celebrate Christ and our joys
in Christ even when people run from the gospel. Christ, if He
is His, will bring Him back. And when the person comes, we
celebrate. When we treat each other wrong, we celebrate Christ.
And the gospel that is powerful within us brings us to reconciliation.
And we celebrate Christ and His work and His power. All the while
knowing that we are indeed His people. And as His people, as His body,
each of us has a very significant and important and vital role
with each other. Most importantly, that we pray
for each other. If we don't pray, nothing else
is really going to matter. That's why that, if you weren't
here, this is so odd to do in a sermon, but if you weren't
here at the beginning of the service, don't leave today without filling this
out. I want everybody's information updated so that I can keep everyone
abreast of prayer minutes. We're not getting it out to the
whole of our community. I want to be able to have everybody
the opportunity to pray for everybody else. So please put this in my
hands today if you can. Most importantly, put your trust
in the hands of Christ. Put your faith and your joy in
the person of Jesus Christ that you know that there is no other
that will bring you satisfaction and fullness. Let's pray. We praise you, our Father. for sending us your son. Thank
you so for this great rich word, for this great rich reality. Jesus Christ has bought us, has
saved us, that your spirit indwells us, empowers us and protects
us. And that you have ordained that
we would be together as we are sanctified every day. As we love
each other with all the affection of Christ. As we pray for each
other's joy, discernment, wisdom and ministry. And as we provide
for each other as God, you have empowered us to in all those
ways. But all of our joy is not even
in the fruit of those things, but our joy is in your son, Jesus,
who makes it certain that they will be there. It's in Jesus
name we pray. Amen.