Today's reading will be in Philippians,
Philippians chapter four. And I'm going to tell you to
keep your finger there because this is where I'll be preaching
from today. Philippians chapter four, verses one to nine. Now the setting here is Paul
is in a Roman prison. And there's probably rats scurrying
around in this prison. And he's in there. Most Roman prisons of this time
were consisted of a hole dug into a ground, a large hole dug
into the ground. But most of the floor was still
there. And there was just a hole there where they would lower
things down to them and raise them up. And they'd be in darkness.
Some of them would be in darkness. They also had cells, too, as
well. We know from the Philippian jailer. But this is the setting. This is a prison epistle that
he's writing here. And he writes these words here
in verses 1 to 9 of chapter 4. Therefore, my brethren, dearly
beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the
Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech thee, Eurydice, and
beseech Synthache, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women
which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and
with other my fellow laborers, look at this, whose names are
written, whose names are in the book of life. Look at that. God's people's names are in the
book of life, from before the foundation of the world too. Look what he writes. He's in
prison. Look at this. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again
I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. And let's let your gentleness
be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful
for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And what
that means there, be careful, don't be anxious. Be anxious
for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. In the peace of God, which passes all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, If there
be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. And that's think there is just
meditate. Just means think about it during the day, meditate upon
it through the week. Those things which ye have both learned and
received and heard and seen in me do. And the God of peace shall
be with you. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
words. Heavenly Father, again we thank
you for allowing us to gather together. Oh, I pray. I pray
that you give me an unction from on high again, fill me with thy
Holy Spirit to boldly proclaim thy gospel, Lord, and that you
give hearing ears and seeing eyes to look and see to Christ
for all who will hear this message, Lord. We pray that if there's
anyone here that does not know you or anyone who does not know
you as the message goes forth, oh, Lord, oh, that you'd save
them. Oh, that you'd give him seeing eyes and hearing ears
to understand the wonderful truths. Reveal yourself to him, we pray,
if it be your will. And we'll give you all the glory
and honor and praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Our text for today will be in
verse 8 of what I just read there in Philippians chapter 4. And
we'll read that verse again. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things. Now, during
the week, during the week and in many times, we often think on different things,
don't we? We think about things that are
good and sometimes we think about things that aren't good. We have
all kinds of thoughts go through our minds during the day. And we can be consumed by certain
thoughts, can't we? We can be consumed by a topic
and just continue to think about it and continue to worry about
it or continue to get anxious about it. And it can consume
our whole day. It can even cause us to lose
sleep sometimes as we think about these things. My mom was a worrier. I call her up and I say, hi mom,
how you doing? Oh, I'm so worried about this and I'm so worried
about that. And I've been thinking about you and I said, well, that
thing's all taken care of. What are you worried about? It's gone.
But she'd stay up at night thinking about some things. And I'd always
tell her, Mom, don't worry about things. You don't have to stress
out about things so much that way. But that was just how she
was. And we all, again, how many thoughts
do we have in the daytime? Through a whole day, it's incredible
to think. And from a wide variety of things,
too. And Paul here is telling us,
He's telling us to think upon things that are true, and things
that are honest, and things that are just, and things that are
pure, and things that are lovely, things of a good report, and
if there be any virtue in these things, think upon them. I'd like us to look at this verse
today in light of the gospel. in light of the gospel. And remember
again the situation here. Paul, he's in prison. He's in
a Roman prison. There's nothing like the prisons
today. Nothing at all. When they were throwing in them
pits I was telling you about, there was no light in those.
Now some cells had light, but those ones that they threw them
in there when it was just a hole in the ground and they had carved
out a cell under the ground for people, those were horrendous. So here's Paul in a prison, a
Roman prison. Again, we don't know if he's
in a jail cell or if he's in one of those pits. But he's writing
these words that we just wrote. Rejoice. Rejoice. And again, I say rejoice. Now,
do you think he got down a little bit? Yeah, he probably did. Like
we humans would. But he's reminding himself, what's
he doing? When you look at these words, this is the amazing thing.
And I've noticed this in Paul's writings. He's always pointing
us to Christ. He's always bringing us back
to Christ. And that's what I'd like to look
at this verse in light of our Lord. Again, we often think upon things
and they can bring us great worry and stress. But you know what? We can't change them. Sometimes, things that we worry
about, we can't even change. My! And Paul wrote this, meditate
upon these things, give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting
may appear to all. And he was talking about, Paul
was writing Timothy about meditating upon the things of God. Let us take note today of eight
words that describe the gospel in our present text. And I think,
well, how do you preach the gospel of this? Well, let's look at
this. Let's read verse eight again. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think upon these things. Well, true. Whatsoever things are true. What's
unquestionably true. the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is unquestionably true. It's God's gospel. It's sent by God. God's preachers
who preach the gospel are sent by God to preach that gospel,
the one true gospel of salvation in and through Christ and Him
alone. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 3. Do you know
what the gospel declares? Well, in the word of the gospel,
we have the truth declared about sin. And we see here in Romans
chapter three, verses nine to 23, again, written by Paul, who's
currently writing to us in Philippians, writing to the Philippian church.
But now here we are, 2000 years later, rejoicing in the truth
of what he wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. What
he writes here in Romans chapter three, verses nine to 23. What then are we better than
they? No, and no wise for we have before
approved both Jews and Gentiles that they're all under sin. Look
at that. We're all sinners. Whether we be Jew or Gentile,
we're all sinners. As it is written, there's none
righteous. No, not one. Now that text means what it says.
No one is righteous in the sight of God. No one, no one at all.
In our natural state, there's no one who's righteous. And then
look at this. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeks after God. No one seeks God in their
natural state. We did not seek God in our natural
state. They are all gone out of the way. They are altogether
become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. My, what an indictment upon the
human race. This, their throat is an open
sepulcher, with their tongues they have used to see the poisons
of ass upon their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way
of peace, they've not known. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. That's the state of man now, right? That's the
state of man has been that way since the beginning. When Adam
fell, this is what we were plunged
into. Now we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
man may be stopped, and that all the world might become guilty
before God. Do you see that? People who even don't think they're
guilty before God are guilty before God. And this is the truth,
right? This word is the truth. Again,
this is not my opinion. This is what the word says. You
and I are reading it together. And this is what it says, that
all are guilty before God. And look at this. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall be no flesh justified in
his sight. No flesh. man, woman, or child
shall be justified before God by anything we do. That's so
clear, isn't it? And yet there's so many false
religions out there that billions of people are following, trying
to justify themselves by something they do. And the Bible so clearly
states, so clearly states that no flesh, and this is talking
about the deeds of the law, given to the Israelites, the 10 commandments,
including all the Mosaic law. No flesh shall be justified in
this sight, for by the laws and knowledge of sin, it shows us
that we're sinners, because we can't fulfill the law. But who
fulfilled the law in our place as believers? Christ did. Oh, isn't that wonderful? That's
wonderful news, isn't it? That's the best news we're going
to hear. Wonderful. My, see, you read this, that
first part, and man, if the Lord left us there, we'd be in despair,
wouldn't we? Look at the next verses. Verse 21, but now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. And Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. Look at this. Even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all that believe, for there's no difference. There's neither
Jew nor Gentile in the body of Christ. We're one in Christ.
We're one. Nationalities cease to exist
in Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. That which man is trying to achieve
in the world is in Christ. It's amazing. Diversity in Christ,
right? In the body of Christ. It's absolutely
amazing. It's beautiful. My, oh, my. Even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe. For there's no difference. There's
no difference between Jew or Gentile. And Gentile covers all
of us outside of the Israelite nation. It's wonderful. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." And then the gospel declares the
truth about salvation. In 2 Timothy 1.9, it says about
Christ who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
he has given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Salvation's only in Christ. And
then Acts 4.12, a verse which we all know, neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name, excuse me,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. No other name. Salvation's in
Christ and him alone. There's no one else. No salvation
in anything man does. No salvation in anyone but Christ.
Why? And then it declares the truth
about God's Christ. It says, let's look at Romans
4 there again. It says, God forbid, yea, let
God be true, but every man a liar, as it is written, thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings, and thou mightest overcome when
thou art judged. Salvation's only in Christ. Isaiah. Scripture declares, look unto
me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and
there is none else. Salvation's only in and through
God, God the Son, who became a man and died for you and I.
My. And our Lord said it's the truth
that sets sinners free. In John 8.32 it says, and ye
shall know the truth. Think of that. You shall know
the truth. We didn't know it before, did
we? Before we saved, we didn't know it. Tom, you and I have
talked about that. We had no clue. We didn't know the truth. The
truth shall set you free. It says this again. And you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Oh, my. Isn't that wonderful? Free. Not yoked up in bondage. Free
in Christ. Free. free from the penalty of
our sins, free from the power of our sins. Even though we're
still sinners, we're not slaves to it like we used to be. Free! If the Son shall make you free,
you'll be free indeed. Free, beloved. Ransomed by the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Purchased by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back to our text again.
It says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest. Honest. You know, the gospel
of Christ is indisputably honest. It's honorable. It's truth. It's truth. And when God justifies
the sinners through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ,
my oh my, they are saved. Here in his love, not that we
love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation
for our sins. That's truth. That's honest.
God sent his son to be a propitiation for the sins of his people, to be the sacrifice for our sins. That's truth. That's honest.
God does not lie. My, it's wonderful. And you know,
he justifies the ungodly in his described way that honors his
holy law and satisfies his righteous judgment. In Isaiah 42, 21, it
says, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He
will magnify the law and make it honorable. What did Christ
do in our place? He magnified the law. He did
that which we could never do. He made it honorable, beloved. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter
1. 1 Peter 1. Whatsoever things are honest,
oh, the gospel's honest, isn't it? It tells us the truth about
who we are, and it tells us the truth about salvation, that it's
only in Christ and Him alone. Look at verses 18 to 20 of 1
Peter 1. Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold. Money can't buy salvation. You
can be the richest man in the world. That can't buy your salvation. You know what purchased our salvation?
The blood of Christ. The giving of his life. He purchased
us. And remember, it's a perfect
work. Complete, perfect work. Nothing can be added to it. It's
done by the perfect man. My. So silver and gold can't buy
it. Not at all. And then look at this, from the
vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers.
Church tradition can't save us. Not at all. Some people say,
well, I belong to a certain church. That can't save you. God's people
are the church. The church is not the building.
The churches of the called out ones. The ecclesia in the Greek. The called out assembly. That's
us. That's us. If we didn't have this building,
we could still gather together somewhere and worship. Because
it's we who are the body of Christ. There's no salvation in the church.
And every one of us who's in the body of Christ would proclaim,
salvation's of the Lord. He saved me. He saved me by his
mercy and his grace. But look at this, now he hits,
Peter brings forth what purchased us, but with the precious blood
of Christ, the blood of the God man. The blood of God incarnate
in the flesh. We know scripture says the life
of the flesh is in the blood. So when his blood was spilled,
when it was shed for us, right? That's what purchased our souls.
Because it wasn't the blood of an ordinary man, was it? It was
the blood of God. You know, and remember in Acts
it says God purchased us. We're purchased with the blood
of God. That's Christ. He's the second person of the
Trinity. He's the word of God incarnate. And his blood purchased
our eternal souls. That's how he obtained salvation
for us. By the shedding of his precious, precious blood. And
you can't put any value on his blood, can you? It's priceless. And every believer will say that,
because we say, he saved me. It's priceless to me. That blood's
priceless. But with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb, look at this, without blemish and without
spot, perfect. No sin. He offers himself up
as the perfect Passover lamb. for the sins of all his people,
a number that no man can number. See, even then, how much more
precious is the blood of Christ if he's redeemed a people that
you can't even number? My, that's amazing. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, the sinless spotless sacrifice. Look at this,
look at verse 20, now look at this. Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you. All this salvation was planned
and purposed by God before the foundation of the world and we
were included. Christ was ordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in his last times.
Each believer can say, for me. That's what Paul's writing to
Christians, right? He says, for you. Christ came into this world
to save us from our sins. He was manifest in the flesh
to save us from our sins. Hallelujah. That's wonderful
news, isn't it? That's good news. Let's look
at our text again. It says, finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are just. You know, the gospel of
Christ is undeniably just or righteous. My, here's a question, a question
of all the ages, really. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? How? How can God be a just God
and uphold his law? Right? So the soul that sinneth,
it must die. We should die, right? How can
God be just, be a just God and show mercy and yet justify his
law? Well, none of us can do it, right?
Not one of us can can justify God by anything we do. Turn back to Romans chapter 3
again, if you would. The only answer found to this
question is, how can God be just and justify the ungodly? The
only answer is found in the gospel, beloved. That's where the only
answer is found for that question. Look at this. And you know, the
scripture says, at the cross, mercy and truth kissed each other. Psalm 85 verse 10 says, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other at the cross. The righteousness of the God-man
and the peace with God for us. My, mercy and truth met there,
men at the cross. Look at this, this is So true,
but the only answer for how can God be just and justify the ungodly
is found right here in Romans chapter three, verses 24 and
26. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
of his in Christ Jesus. Now we just saw that it was his
precious blood that purchased us, right? And that's only Christ's
blood that did that. Being justified freely by his
grace. God is pleased to justify us
in Christ. Why? Because it pleased him to
do so. No other reason. Nothing in us. He's just pleased
to justify us in Christ. That's incredible. How did it
happen? Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Through Christ shedding his blood
on Calvary's cross to redeem our eternal souls. And then look at this. Him God
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. He's our propitiation. My oh my. He's our Passover lamb. He's the one who's extinguished
the wrath of God against us. How? Well, through faith in his
blood. We trust in what he did, don't
we? By God-given faith, we trust that Christ's blood was shed
to redeem my soul, to redeem your soul. We trust in that.
We take God at his word, don't we? We believe what the word
says. So many people out in religion
say they believe the word, but when you present them with truth,
they say, I don't believe that. Well, you don't believe God's word
then. That's what it amounts to. But Norm and I were talking
last week, and Norm said, God's people believe the word of God.
We believe what it says. Again, as we talked about, Tom,
by divine revelation, by God giving us faith to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because otherwise, we'd still
be dead in trespasses and sins. We'd still be wandering around,
groping in the darkness. If he hadn't revealed the gospel
to us, if he hadn't revealed Christ to us, I know I'd still
be out doing whatever I was doing before. And I wouldn't even have
a clue that it was wrong. Because you know what? We didn't
think it was wrong, did we? We thought our ways were right.
Well, if I'm a good person, if I don't do this, if I don't do
that. Meanwhile, salvation's in Christ
and Him alone. It's nowhere else. It's not in
any of our doings. It's only in what He's done.
And it says here, Look at this, to declare his
righteousness. The gospel declares the righteousness
of God, declares him to be holy and just and oh my, for the remission
of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. God is
so long-suffering with us. He's so long-suffering, so long-suffering
with us. And then look at this in verse
26, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that
he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
So Christ fulfills the law in our place. And so God's, he's
a just God, isn't he? Because he's not just letting
us, he's not just saying, well, you guys are all forgiven. He's
only saying we're forgiven because of what Christ did. So his law
is still upheld. He's still a just God, just that
what was due us fell on Christ. My, what a Savior. He came here
knowing he must die, knowing he must suffer the wrath of God
in our room and place, and he did it willingly. Remember on
the road to being crucified, he said, weep not for me, to
those ladies of Jerusalem. Weep not for me, weep for yourselves. Because he's on a mission. He's
like a soldier. He's a captain of our salvation.
He's got, I'm going there and I'm going to finish that work. All right? He set his face like
a flint to Jerusalem. He knew he must, must accomplish
that which he was sent for. Otherwise, we could never be
saved. Well, praise God. He didn't fail,
did he? Christ is finished. It's perfect. It's complete.
It's completed to perfection. Oh my, that's wonderful, wonderful
news. Look at this, to declare I say
it at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Let's look at our text
again. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, pure. Well, the gospel
of Christ is pure, isn't it? It's pure. And think of this,
nothing but the blood of Christ can cleanse us from our sins.
Nothing else. Turn, if you would, to 1 John.
1 John 1. And I'll read verse 7 of Ephesians. It says, In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. My, oh my. Look at this in 1 John, it says,
but if we walk in the light as he is in light, we have fellowship
one with another. In the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son cleanses us from what? All sin. That's good news for sinners,
isn't it? All sin, not one left behind. All means all, past,
present, and future. Oh, that's good news. That's
good news for a weary soul. And you know, it's Christ alone
who purged us from our sins. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 1. Christ alone purged us from our sins. We had nothing
to do with it. Remember that thief dying on
the cross? He had nothing to do with his salvation. He's dying
there. He's hanging on the cross. He's at the last part of his
life. He can't be baptized. He can't
do anything, can he? Nothing. What does he do? He says, just remember me. And Christ in his weakest point, his weakest point of his humanity,
nailed to a cross, dying, says, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. My, look at this. We talk about Peter, look at
this, Hebrews 1.3, talking about how Christ purged us from all
our sin, who being the brightness of his glory and expressed image
of his person, this is speaking of Christ as God, and upholding
all things by the word of his power. He's not a mere man. He's God in the flesh, and he's
upholding all things by the word of his power. Whatsoever things are, oh I'm
sorry, I jumped to the text. Upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had by himself, look at that, no one
helped him, he didn't ask for counsel, he didn't need our assistance,
he didn't need anyone, he didn't call angels down, which he could
have called a legion of angels, 6,000 angels, he could have wiped
out the whole earth, didn't do it. Salvation is accomplished by
himself, by Christ, by himself. What did he do? Purged our sins. Gone. So far gone that God says,
I don't remember them anymore. I don't remember your sins anymore,
he says, of his people. They are so far purged, so far
covered, so far paid for. that our great God says, I don't
remember your sins. You did what? Bought and paid for. You ever
done that when someone does something to you and you forgive them and
then afterwards they say something and you say, what are you talking
about? Okay. Vicki and I have a thing when
we say we forgive each other that it doesn't get bought up
again. But every once in a while, we each, you know, I'm sorry,
you know, and each of us go, what are you talking about? We
already dealt with that. It's awesome. It's a great thing
to have in your marriage because you just let things go. It's
so wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. My,
He's finished it. So if He's purged our sin, what
did He do? Then He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high. That's where He is right now. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father right now. Will and in power, beloved. Reigning
over all things. That's our God. That's our Savior. He's finished it all. There's
nothing left to be done. Let's look at our text again. It says,
finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely. Well, I'll tell you what. There's
no one as lovely as the Lord Jesus Christ. No one. To the believer, there's no one
as lovely as him. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. He's my everything. And the gospel
of Christ is lovely, isn't it, for the believer? My, to you who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's precious, he's precious, he's lovely. And
Christ is the gospel, isn't he? Scripture declares this in 1
Peter 2.7, unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious,
but unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. My, the
gospel to the believer is precious, lovely for us. Now the folks in religion, it's
not lovely, it's not precious, because they add something they
have to do. But for us, when we think upon
that Christ did it all, it's amazing. And he did it for me. Each individual
can say he did it for me, who's in the body of Christ. No wonder
he's the fairest of 10,000 to us. He's our beloved, isn't he? He's our beloved. And the gospel
to the believer again is precious. And if it's not being preached
at a church, God's sheep won't attend there. They say, that's
not the gospel. I was talking to Steve this week.
He said one time he went to, years ago, he went to church
with his daughter. And he said, that's not the gospel.
He said, I never went back. He just visited, but he said,
I never went back. I had no desire to even go back. My. But we're gladly joined together,
won't we, where the gospel's being preached. We gladly get
together and rejoice in the fact that the gospel's going forth.
And again, there's only one gospel. There's not multiple gospels.
There's only one, and that's only through salvation through
Christ in him alone by his perfect work alone. We've even seen that
in the text we've looked at today. And Song of Solomon says in Song
of Solomon 5.16, it says this, his mouth is most sweet, yea,
he's altogether lovely. Speaking of our bridegroom, he's
lovely to us. I ask you men, when you saw your bride walking
down that aisle, oh, she's so beautiful, isn't she? Most beautiful
woman in the world. Right? My oh my. That's how Christ looks at his
bride. And that's how his bride looks
at, and you ladies, when you saw your husband standing up
there, he's the one you're looking at. Right? My, he's, we're the bride of
Christ. He's our bridegroom. He's altogether
lovely. In Song of Solomon 5.16, his
mouth is most sweet, yea, he's altogether lovely. This is my
beloved. He's my beloved. This is my friend, O daughters
of Jerusalem. And then the scripture says this,
we love him only because he first loved us. That's the one that
really makes our minds start to fizz out, doesn't it? It's not about how much we love
him, it's him loving us. And how long has he loved us
for? How long has Christ loved us for? Before the foundation
of the world. His love was set upon us before
the foundation of the world. And think of all the ages that
passed. We don't even know, that was an eternity. Think of how,
time wasn't even made until this earth came to be. So think about it, how many ages
went past, and he's loved us. And then time is made, and then
God himself steps into time to redeem us. Because eternity doesn't end,
does it? Eternity is forever. He's loved us from eternity.
My goodness. Let's go back to our text. It
says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report. Well, you know what? The gospel
is a good report. You know, I'm just a mailman. I'm just delivering mail. This
is God's report right here. It's His gospel. Now, people
get mad at the mailman sometimes, and that's okay. That's okay. Just don't be mad
at the one who sent it. This word comes to us, it's so
precious. It's a good report. The gospel
is a good report. It's the best news you're ever
gonna hear, ever. Paul wrote this, there's power
in the gospel of God unto salvation to everyone who believes it.
Paul wrote this, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel preachers and God's people, we're not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, are we? You're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
We embrace it, we love it. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation.
Every believer says amen. I heard the word of truth and
the Holy Spirit regenerated us. It's lovely now. It's the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that believed, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. My, that covers everybody, doesn't it? Because the Greeks
are Gentiles, which is what we are. And you know Christ died for
the ungodly. You know, people say, I don't like
when you call me ungodly. I was ungodly and I'm still a
sinner, saved by grace. But do you know Christ died for
the ungodly? Scripture says this in Romans 5, 6, For when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
That was us. And in Romans chapter 4, verse
5 says, But to him that worketh not, now think of this. God justifies
the ungodly. Listen to this. Romans 4 verse
5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. God justifies
the ungodly. He's justified us, isn't he?
Just as if we've never sinned, but we're still sinners, but
we're justified. Those of us who are in Christ
are justified. God has justified the ungodly. He's justified his
people. My! And you know Christ came to save
sinners. He didn't come to save the righteous. He didn't come
to save those who were supposedly whole or thought they were whole. No, He came to save His people. In Matthew 9.13 He says, But
go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I'm so glad he came to call sinners
to repentance. I'm so glad that he ate with
the ungodly. I'm so glad that he justifies
the ungodly. Aren't you? It's wonderful. Wonderful. Let's look at our
text, the last thing we'll look at here. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things, virtue. If there
be any virtue, well, the gospel of Christ is definitely a virtue. It's excellent. It's excellent.
It's absolutely excellent. And why do we say that? Well,
because Christ provides everything for the sinner. Everything that's
needed for us to be justified, everything that's needed for
us to be saved, is provided in Christ. Everything. Everything. Turn, if you would,
to Colossians chapter 2. And you know, Paul wrote these
words, Word of faith people have taken this and warped it when
it says in Philippians chapter 4, but my God shall supply all
your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now
the word of faith people say that and say, see God will provide
his people all these riches, but it's awful what they do. Do you know that I'm the richest
man in the world and so are you in Christ? I'm looking at rich
men and women in Christ, richer than Bill Gates. I'm looking at them right now. In spiritual blessings, in what
matters, in things that are eternal. We saw that all that money Gates
has couldn't buy him salvation, right? He can't be redeemed with
silver and gold, and we saw in Peter. You have all the money in the
world and die and go to hell. My! For what shall profit a man
if she gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? Nothing! There's nothing
we can give in exchange for our souls. We simply rest and trust
in Christ and Him alone. Look at this in Colossians. You
talk about excellent, you talk about complete. Look at this
in Colossians chapter two, verses nine and 10. Speaking of Christ,
for in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now look
at these next words and think of this. Paul's writing to Colossian
believers, right? And he doesn't say, and you will
be complete. Look what he writes. in verse 10, and ye are complete
in him, right now. Right now, by the mercy and grace
of God, we're complete in him. Right now, it doesn't say, well,
when you die. You know why it says right now? You
know why it says those words? Because he finished the perfect
work by the perfect man. And he finished that work perfectly.
Look at that, and ye are complete in Him. Right now, beloved, rejoice
in that this week. We're complete in Christ, right
now. We're still sinners in this body, but there'll be a time
when we'll go to glory and we won't sin anymore, but as far
as our salvation in Christ and all the spiritual blessings which
we have in Him, we're complete in Him. It's done. It's done. What a place to come
for assurance, eh? And then it says, which is the
head of all principality and power. We're complete in him
who is all power. Can he lose us? Nope. Can anything we do wrestle ourselves
away from him? Nope. And ye are complete in
him right now. Rejoice in him. That's a precious,
precious truth. My. I actually have one more
word to look at, is praise. It says, finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things, praise, if there
be any praise. Do you know the gospel of Christ?
The gospel of God's salvation causes us to praise him, doesn't
it? Causes we who are born again to praise his mighty name. And
think of this, he alone is worthy of all our praise. There's no
one else in this world who's worthy of our praise. Only God
and him alone. Let's turn to Revelation chapter
five, and we're finished with this. Revelation chapter five,
if there be any praise, Psalm 115.1 says, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and
for thy true sake. We're to praise him, give him
all the glory. In Galatians 6.14 says, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
Now, look at this, Revelation chapter five. Who's worthy of
all our praise? God's worthy of all our praise.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb that was slain for the salvation
of our souls. He alone is worthy of our praise.
And look at this in Revelation 5. I love this portion of scripture.
Look at this. You know, I would say that about
every scripture, but this is really, this is something here.
Revelation chapter 5, verses 9 to 14. And we get a little
glimpse into heaven here. And they sang a new song. Who's
the one singing the new song? All the redeemed of the Lord. And they sang a new song saying,
thou art worthy. You're worthy, Lord, to take
the book. You and you alone, Lord. Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain.
Who was he slain for? His people. For all those who
are singing that praise song to him. and has redeemed us to
God. See, they know that it's Christ
in Him alone that's redeeming them. Saints in glory know this. By thy blood, and look at this,
I love this, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. Look at that. Out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation. and has made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld
the voice of many angels." Now here's the angels now. "'Round
about the throne and the beasts and the elders, and the number
of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands.'"
You can't even number them. And what are they saying? They
sing with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. Worthy is the Lamb. Oh my, that's
our Savior, beloved. Even the angels are singing. And every creature which is in
heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. That's our King. That's our Savior,
beloved. And then the four beasts said,
amen.