Okay, open your Bibles, if you
would, to the book of Philippians. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful book, written by the hand of Paul, but inspired by
the Holy Spirit of God, who's the true author of the scriptures,
all the scriptures. This book was written to the
saints at Philippi. It was the first European city,
a Macedonian city, a Greek city, the first European city where
the gospel went to. And this book, think of this,
this book was preserved by our great God. It was preserved by
our great God that we would look at it today. And not only us,
but any of the saints in the future, before the Lord comes
and we're gone, if the Lord tarries, that they would be encouraged
by this wonderful book too. It's amazing. And it's being preserved. You
ever think it's being preserved for our learning? for our learning,
even the book of Acts, when we study that on Sunday morning,
all these scriptures that we look at have been preserved for
our learning, for our understanding, and our instruction as well. And the only way we understand
the scriptures again is by the Holy Spirit of God revealing
them to us. But it's also for our instruction, and we're gonna
hit a section here that's very practical. Very instructive for
the believer, very instructive for the believer. And I don't,
I don't shy away from these portions because we need instruction,
don't we? We need instruction. We struggle
in this world. It's hard. And we face tribulation
in this world and trials and sorrows and sadness. And we need
to be encouraged, beloved, don't we? We need to be encouraged
and we need to be challenged sometimes too, don't we? Yeah.
Oh my. But think of this, this will
be, this book and the whole scriptures will be preserved until the Lord's
second coming. Isn't that amazing? And they
will instruct, they've instructed the saints of old, right? And
encouraged them, bought the saints of old great joy and all through
the New Testament. And they will bring They bring
us joy and encouragement and instruction, and those who come
after us, it'll give them instruction, encouragement, joy, because the
scriptures focus on one person, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's our Savior. That's our Redeemer. He's the
second person of the Trinity who came down to this earth,
sent by the Father to redeem us by the joy. Because we were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And it shed His
blood for us, brother. It's amazing. It's absolutely
incredible. So let's read verses 18 to 26.
Our portion today will be verses 22 to 26 but let's read a bit of
context here starting in verse 18. What then notwithstanding
every way and whether in pretense or in truth Christ is preached
and I therein do rejoice yea and will rejoice. So there was
some preaching Christ to add to Paul's bonds and there was
some preaching Christ to for the glory of Christ, and
for knowing that Paul was set for the defense of the gospel.
Says, For I know that this shall turn to my salvation. We know
that's deliverance. We look to that through your
prayer in the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to
my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life or death. For me, this is
what we looked at last week, for me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet, what shall I choose? I want
not. For I am in a straight betwixt
two. Heavenly desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I
know that I shall abide and continue with you, all for your furtherance
and joy of the faith. That your rejoicing may be more
abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. So last week we looked at verse
21. which is Paul's personal testimony. He says, for me to live is Christ
and to die is gain. And again, Christ is the giver
of life. He's the sum and substance of
life, right? He's the prince of life. And
he's the hope of eternal life for all who put their trust in
him, all who rest in him. And then Paul says, and to die is
gain. When we die, we're released from
sin, we're released from pain, we're released from sorrow, sickness,
sister. All the things that plague us
on this earth, we're released from. And most importantly, Amen. Sister, we'll see him.
Our faith shall be sight. We will see the Lord Jesus Christ
face to face. What gain. What gain. Oh my. My oh my. And do you know we're
released from limited knowledge to a perfect mind? and understanding
even more. Now we see through a glass darkly.
We don't always understand why things happen in this world the
way they do, but then we're going to understand it all. Oh my,
we are going to see that it all worked out for our good and for
God's glory in our lives. Even before we were saved, Charlie,
you were saying there about that car you guys hit in the tree
and you didn't have a scratch, man. And you got out of there,
didn't get involved. Oh my, God was even protecting
you back then. Before you were even born again.
Oh my, it's wonderful. I'll tell you, his hand of protection,
grace, and mercy is amazing. And then we'll be released from
a sinful nature to being sinless. My, how's that gonna be, Brother
Travis? We'll never sin again. We'll never have a thought sin.
We'll never have a heart sin. We'll never sin in our mind again. Man, it can be amazing, isn't
it, Brother Jim? It's gonna be incredible. My,
never plagued with sin again. And then we'll be released from
all our trials. There'll be no temptations in
heaven, right? There'll be no trials in heaven. And we'll be taken from this
fallen world to a place of perfect joy, perfect
peace, perfect rest. We'll be released from mortality
to immortality. My! Now you talk about gain,
eh? You talk about gain. Now let's
read verse 22. So Paul's told us all that. He
said, to live as Christ and to die as gay. And then in verse
22, he says, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit
of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want
not. So Paul's bringing forth here,
if it's the will of God for him to live longer, then he will
live longer. Like you said, Charlie, he was
ready to go. He was ready to go and to be sacrificed, right? And he ended up getting his head
chopped off. Paul did when he died, but he was ready. He was
ready to be with the Lord. But he says here, when he says,
yet what I shall choose, I want not. He knew that he couldn't
choose the time of his death. That's what that's bringing forth.
He says, I can't choose when the Lord's going to take me.
I can't choose that, but I know it's better for you if I stay
here. And you know, he was even willing to delay going to glory
for the furtherance of the gospel. That's what he's bringing forth
here. We're going to see the name of
the message is in a straight between two. He's like he's got
walls closing in on them on both sides. He's being pressed. his desire to live for Christ,
and his desire to go home and be with the Lord, and to stay
here and be with the saints, or to be in the presence of God,
which is far better, right? But what a heart he has for people. Remember, this is the persecutor
of the church. Sister, he was going around wrecking
havoc in the church, and now he loves them so much that he's
willing to delay his departure if the Lord wills. To be with
the saints, to preach, you know why? To preach the gospel. He truly was sold out for Christ,
wasn't he? He truly had a heart, not only
for people, but more so for Christ. And this is what all believers,
we have that, don't we? We have a desire to serve Christ.
He's put that in us. It's not natural. And we have
a new heart now that hungers and thirsts for righteousness,
which is Christ. We now hunger and thirst for
the preaching of the gospel. Steve, we love it now, don't
we? We enjoy just to sit and soak in the gospel. Tell me more. Tell me more about what Christ
done for me. I'm a dirty, rotten sinner. Tell
me more how I'm saved by the grace and mercy of God, how I'm
washed in the blood of Christ. Oh, how I have a full pardon
now of all my sins, past, present, and future. Tell me more about
Jesus Christ, my Lord. Oh, my. So he knows that Christ
won't let him live a second past the determined time. Right? He's saying, my life is not in
my hands. And that's what we say, isn't
it? People look at us strange, don't they? When you say, well,
my life's in the hands of my king. He can do whatever he wants
with me. When He decides to take me home,
there's no amount of drugs or anything that the ER can pump
into me that's going to keep me alive. I'm gone. But He also desires, look at
this, to be a fruitful laborer. And He knows, He knows, because
we know this from Galatians, and we know this from Colossians.
In Colossians, He says, it's God working in me. In Galatians,
he says it's the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of Paul's
doing, right? So he knows that any fruitfulness
in his ministry comes from God. He don't glory in himself, does
he? No. We gospel preachers, we're not
looking for a following. We want you to follow the one
we preach. We desire to exalt Christ and say, look to Him.
Look to Him and live. Look to Christ and live. He's
the only hope. My, He's the only one who can
save us. So He's saying it's up to God.
If I live or die, it's up to God. It's not my decision. It's the Lord's. It's the Lord's. So let us walk this way then.
Let us walk the same way in this world, beloved, by the grace
and mercy of God, that when it's time, we'll be gone. Right? We'll be gone when it's
time. But for now, let us labor for
the Lord. And that's just doing what you
did, Charlie, and what you've done, sister, to your friend.
Just opening up, and when the Lord opens the door, just tell
them about Christ. What you do with your family too, sister,
just tell them about Christ when the door opens. And it's wonderful
when the door opens, I'll tell you why. It's like floodgates
when it happens. You don't have to push the door
open. The opportunity will come if the Lord wills. And it's wonderful
to testify about our King. Oh my. So let us walk in this
way, knowing that our souls are entrusted to God. Our souls are entrusted to God.
It's God who saved us. Not we ourselves. God the Son,
beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God in eternity,
became a man. The perfect man. and perfectly
fulfilled the law in our room and place. Scripture says he's
the end of the law for righteousness. And what a great exchange. What
a great exchange. Our filthy garments, our sin
placed upon him. And his righteousness placed
upon us. What a great exchange. Oh, my. And only because we are—only
because of what Christ has done for us, that perfect sin-atoning
work, and being clothed in that perfect righteousness, can we
stand in the presence of God. We're going to forever be in
awe, beloved. Paul's in awe. He's been in awe
for 2,000 years. Standing in the presence of the
crucified one. Oh my! And by the grace of God,
we'll be there too. There's nothing else. It's only by the grace of God.
That's the only difference between us and those in hell. It's the
grace of God, the mercy of God. And the more I look into that,
the more I study that, the more in awe. Because I am no better
than anyone else. I'm worse, as a matter of fact. And the only reason we feel that
way, the only reason I feel that way, and you do too, is because
God has revealed to us His holiness, His righteousness, who He is,
and who we are, what we are. Sinners from the top of our heads
to the bottom of our feet, right? But yet, he said, mercy on us
in Christ. So let us walk in this way. Let
us walk, praying that God would make our labor fruitful. Because
only he can. Man tried to make things fruitful.
He was trying, that guy, that fellow was trying to see if you
were trusting in your own works, which is 90% of the world. Trusting in their own works.
But beloved, There's still a lot of sheep out there. We don't know who they are, do
we? Oh my. So when the Lord opens the door,
let us have the opportunity to brag on our King. To walk in this way, knowing
that our souls are entrusted to the very one who controls
and holds all things visible and invisible. Brother Travis,
there's not a maverick molecule that's flying over here. or an
atom. He's got it all under his control,
beloved. That's the one who holds us in
his hands. Why do I worry? The flesh, the
flesh, the flesh. See the battle we have? Oh my. We won't have that in
heaven. We'll never doubt again. We'll
never worry again. We'll never have any sorrow again. We'll never have any sin again. We'll be in the presence of the
King for eternity. My, oh my. And let us pray that if God wills
that he make us fruitful in our labor for him, because he's the
one who we desire to labor for, isn't he? And it's nothing to
do with salvation. It's out of a grateful heart
that we serve him now. And when I say labor, that's
just serving the Lord in whatever place we are placed and in whatever
way we can. Supporting the gospel work, helping
out, doing audio video, all different things, right? My serving as
deacons, you know, serving in the church. However, we can. Let us let us serve him. Let
us serve him, knowing that it's all according to his almighty
power. Think of this before we were
saved. Would we want to have served
in the church? That's the last thing we would
have wanted to do, wouldn't it? And here we are now, gathered
together, rejoicing together in the crucified one, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the one who, brother, gave his life for us. We say,
hallelujah. Oh, what a Savior. What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ our Lord. So with this view, Paul, see
with that view, that's why Paul can say death's loss is sting.
You see? Death's loss is sting now. He
doesn't fear death. It's just a doorway. I love what
someone said, and it's in my notes later on. I love this.
I gotta say it now. When we die, we just switch fellowship. We're fellowshipping with the
church on earth right now. When we die, we switch fellowshipping
with the church in glory. You ever think of that? I read
that yesterday. I'm like, that's marvelous. It's true though,
isn't it? Sister Denise is fellowshipping. She was fellowshipping with us,
and now she's fellowshipping with the church in glory. My, it's wonderful. I'll tell
you why. It's beautiful, isn't it? My. So Paul says, death doesn't have
any terror for me. It's lost its sting. Why? Because
all his sins are forgiven. Remember, the strength of the
law is sin. Right? The law has a demand on
sinners. But if all our sins are forgiven
in Christ, the law has no more demands on us. Hallelujah. Praise be to God. So it doesn't
have, so Paul's saying, All my sins are forgiven. And he's assuring
the Philippians here in this verse to remain on earth with
the hindrance of sinful flesh is probably best for them and
him. Let's read that verse again. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want
not. The word this in verse 22 refers
to the fact of his remaining on this earth. where the fruit
of his apostolic ministry will be bought forth by the Holy Spirit
of God. It can't be bought forth in heaven.
Everybody in heaven's already saved, right? Oh my. And then Paul is assured that his continuing
to live in the flesh is most fruitful for the Philippians. more fruitful for them with respect to his living or
dying. Here's a Greek translation of
this verse by Weist. I love this. But if for me to
live in the flesh be my portion, this very thing, namely life
in the flesh, is that in which the fruit of my ministry will
be involved. So fruit can't be bought forth
when he's in glory. It can only be bought forth in
this world. That's the Holy Spirit working
on us. Always remember that. The fruit is produced by the
Holy Spirit. It is not produced by us. I have to stress that
because people take that stuff and run with that. It's not produced
by us. We cannot produce it at all.
It's God the Holy Spirit working in us. He says, in that in which
the fruit of my ministry will be involved and is the condition
of that fruit being bought forth. Then what shall I prefer for
myself? I do not make known. So he wouldn't
make known his own personal view on whether
it'd be better for him to be in heaven or better for him to
be with them. He just said, it's more needful
for me to be with you. He kept his own feelings and
desires really tight. Now let's read verse 23. Look
at this. For I am in a strait betwixt
two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. See that expression, I'm in a
strait betwixt two? It could be translated according
to the wise as I'm hemmed in on both sides. I thought about,
you know, in the movies, sometimes you see walls start closing. Like that, and a person's stuck
there. That's what it's like. It's like these walls are coming
in. To stay with the saints or to depart and be with the Lord. He also says, or I'm held together
by the two so that I cannot incline either way. So he's in a straight,
he can't go either way. God's got him right where he
wants him, right? Which is true of all of us. Right? And always remember that, that
God's overruling providence is always at work there. Paul's
in the places, he's in Rome because God wants him in Rome. Right? If he gets released, it's going
to be according to the will of God, isn't it? And he knows that,
and he's resting in that. It's wonderful. The word to is
referring back to life when he says, I'm in a straight betwixt
two. It's referring back to life and death as previously mentioned
in the verses above. And then what this also means
that there's equal pressure being exerted from both sides. When
he's being hemmed in, there's equal pressure being exerted
from both sides. So he's caught in a straight.
He can't go this way, and he can't go this way. He has to
go forward. Oh my. And he has a desire for continued
life, and he has a desire for death. And he's caught in a straight. Paul was perplexed, held in,
kept back from decision, Again, there's strong pressure bearing
down upon him from both sides, keeping him standing and motionless. All he can do is go forward.
He's not going to go backwards, is he? No, he says, I press on,
remember? I press on to the high calling.
And see the word desire there? Having the desire to depart.
That's a strong, passionate desire in the Greek. That's really strong
desire that he has. A passionate desire. And then
the words to depart. Now this was interesting. The
words depart was used when they would loosen the ship from the,
from the, the, The more is it? The dock, the dock. They would
take the ropes off the ships, the big ships, and they would
loose them and throw them into the water. That depart has that
same meaning of loosing a ship, letting it go. It also has the
same meaning with breaking down a tent, which I found interesting
because Paul was a tent maker, right? When the soldiers in the
Roman legions would break down their tent, the same word was
used, same Greek word. It's amazing. Oh my. And Paul also spoke of
the human body as a tent, didn't he? Just a tent. So maybe that's what he had in
mind. We don't know, but either way it's the same as loosing
the ship or breaking down the tent. Same thing. And then Paul also brings forth
in verse 23 that it's best for himself to go and be with Christ.
Look what he says, having the desire to depart and to be with
Christ, which is far better. Of course it is, isn't it? No
more sin? Now, but look, look, now we're
going to see his heart, his heart for his brethren. Look at this
in verse 24. He's going to reiterate again
in verse 24 that it's best for the saints at Philippi and the
body of Christ that existed. for him to remain and preach
the gospel to them. Look what he says in verse 24.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
Look at that. Look at how he's torn. He says,
he says, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which
is far better. And then here's his heart for souls. Here's his
heart for lost folks. Here's his heart for the church.
Just see it burning in love. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. He sees all that gain. He says,
but it's needful for me to be here with you, if the Lord will. See, he knows that God's in control. He knows that the times of his
life are in God's hands, and he can't do anything to change
it. See the phrase abide in the flesh
there, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful
for you? It means to cling to this present life in the Greek
with all its inconveniences. Oh my. Because there's a lot
of inconveniences in this life, isn't there? There's a lot of
struggles. There's a lot of trials. There's
a lot of sorrow. There's a lot of temptation. And none of that is in glory.
But when Paul looked forward and beheld the eternal way to
glory, which awaited for him at his death, to be with Christ,
he could not but long for that. Right? So we see him. He longs
to be with Christ, and yet he knows it's more needful for him
to be with the Philippians and the rest of the church. Oh my. He longs for his body to be dissolved
and to be in the presence of the Lord forever. That in spirit he might be with
the Lord, but when he looked around and beheld Christ's church,
comforted and refreshed by the preaching of the gospel, Paul
felt a willingness to postpone his own everlasting happiness. For the everlasting happiness
of the Lord's people. My oh my. And hence the apostle
was suspended between these two desires. He thought about the situation
and left it with the Lord in his hands. He contemplated about
it. May we learn from this same truth. From this wonderful passage is
born again blood-washed people. All the faithful of the Lord
in every age desires to be with him. We desire to be with him. We pine for it, don't we? But if the Lord Jesus Christ
has us in his service, we will patiently wait for him, won't
we? We will patiently wait for him to take us home in the presence
where we will be in the presence of God, the Lamb, where everlasting happiness awaits
us, where our blood brothers and sisters await us. Brother
Robin, hi, mom and dad, hi. Singing praises to the King. singing praises to the king and
then and then this is that text or this is that note i was telling
you but think upon this when the lord calls one of his blood-washed
people out of this world it's but an exchange for the church
below to the church above it's wonderful it's absolutely
wonderful do you love being with god's people then you're going
to love being in glory That's why I can never understand when
people say, well, well, I'm a believer, but I don't go to church because
there's a bunch of hypocrites there. You ever hear that? You ever
hear that? Oh, yeah, I've heard that, too. Yeah. Well, if you
don't love being with God's people on earth, then you won't love
being in heaven. Oh, my. See, when you're born
again, you have that love of God shed in your heart. Oh, you'd
be patient with folks. You'll be quick to forgive because
you know how much God's forgiven you and me. My. And you know, we can enjoy God.
We can enjoy Christ while we're here on this earth. We're already
saved. We're already born again. We
can rejoice right now in times of sorrow and sadness. And one
day, we'll be delivered from all that. Oh, it'll be amazing. And think of this, in heaven,
there's no sinners in heaven. There are safe sinners, but there
are no more sin in heaven. And you know, everyone in heaven
knows about Christ. Knows about Christ. Everybody
in heaven loves the Father, loves the Son, loves the Holy Spirit,
loves the Gospel. Everybody loves the brethren. There are no arguments in heaven.
Paul and Barnabas, they never argued again after they both
died. They're best friends. They're not, but you know, they're
brethren, like I said. They love each other. Tim James
said to me one time, he said, they ain't fighting no more,
Brother Wayne. Isn't that wonderful? But here
on earth, there are thousands, thousands of our Lord's own redeemed
ones. Here on earth, there are thousands
in an unregenerate state of their Adam nature. There's thousands
of lost sheep here on earth to whom the Lord could make us useful.
Maybe useful in speaking of his greatness and his wondrous salvation
to them and in his loving kindness and mercy and saving sinners.
That's why I get so excited as the gospel goes out. We don't
know what the Lord's doing with it, but we know it won't return
unto him void, will it? My, oh, my. Now, in relation
to ourselves, the charge in every sense is amazing for the believer.
The change in every sense at our death is amazing for the
believer. In heaven, the believer's faith
becomes sight. We enjoy a real personal communion
and fellowship with our King. just like we enjoy fellowship
with one another. We enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we'll glorify God forever. Now let's read verse 25. And
having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue
with you all for the furtherance and joy of faith. The word confidence
in the Greek means to persuade there. It's in the perfect tense. It speaks of a settled conviction.
A settled conviction, which is a result of, listen to this,
a past completed process. The work of Christ is done. Paul's
resting in that. He's trusting in the crucified
one. And it also has a meaning of it being turned over in one's
mind and contemplated. That's why it's such a persuasion,
because he's turned it over in his mind and contemplated. this
confidence that he has. Paul had turned over in his mind
the need of the Philippian saints, head of his ministry. He had
come to a settled conviction that they needed him more than
he needed to go to heaven. Isn't that amazing? That's amazing. That's just like Paul, isn't
it? That's just like Paul. We've studied his books. That's
just like Paul. He lived a crucified life, dead to self, setting his
desires aside in order that he might serve others. And having
come to this settled conviction, namely, that they needed him
more than he needed to go to heaven, right then he tells them
that he will remain on earth with them until the Lord desires.
Until the Lord desires, I'll be with you. Even though he had
no active choice in the matter, you ever think of that? We don't
have any active choice the day we're gonna die. We'd all choose
to die in our sleep or something, right? But we don't have any
choice in how. And that fact would indicate
that he's not gonna die yet by the hand of Rome, but that he
would be released and thereby be able to minister to their
spiritual needs. The word continue in that verse. is a translation
of a Greek word having a special sense of remaining alive. Furtherance
is the same Greek word that we saw further up about the furtherance
of the gospel. It's a pioneer aspect. A pioneer
aspect. Pioneer advance of the gospel. Oh my, now look at verse 26.
that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Christ Jesus, for
by my coming to you again. The growth in which the saints
would make in their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ would result
in growth in their Christian experience. See, the more we
hear about Christ, the more we hear the gospel preached, that's
how we grow. We keep hearing about Christ
and what he's done. And the Holy Spirit takes those
words and makes them effectual to us. My, oh, my. And therefore, what happens?
Our joy abounds, right? Look what he says, that your
rejoicing may be more abundant. We rejoice. The more we hear
the gospel, the more we rejoice. Oh, my. And only in the Lord
Jesus Christ can these blessings be enjoyed, and all through the
shedding of his precious, precious blood. That's how it comes to
us. by which he saved his people, sinners, from all their sins.
The word coming in that verse, for by my coming to you again,
is from a Greek word which means to be beside. I'm gonna be beside
you. I'm gonna come and see you and
I'll be gonna be beside you. And thus has come to mean personal
presence in our language. It is the word used of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, too. Do you know that? Same Greek
word. Used speaking of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Both are the reference to his coming for his church,
his first advent, and his second advent. Same word. May God, the
Holy Spirit, fill we who are the redeemed of the Lord with
joy at what we've heard today. And may we marvel at the wondrous
salvation that Christ has wrought out for us all according to the
will and purpose of God. My oh my. Brother Charlie, can
you close us in prayer, Brother Charlie?