Bibles this morning to Philippians
chapter 1. For several weeks now we've been
reading the first eight verses and looking at the words of the
Apostle Paul and several times we have read verse 4 in which
he says that he always in every prayer of his made mention of
the saints in Philippi requested for them with joy. Now this morning
I want us to look at his request for the believers in the church
at Philippi verses 9 through 11. In this I pray that your
love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all
judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent, that
you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ,
being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by
Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. I see four requests that we're
going to be looking at that the Apostle Paul made for the believers,
for the saints in Philippi. The first one in verse 9, I pray
that your love may abound. And his second request, yet more
and more in knowledge and in all judgment that you may approve
things that are excellent. His third request that you may
be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ. And his
fourth request being filled with the fruits of righteousness which
are by Jesus Christ under the glory and praise of God. Now before we look at these requests,
let me make these two observations or these two reflections when
I read the Apostle Paul say, and this I pray, this I pray. When I read that, I reflect upon
the first time, the first time in the scripture that we read
of him praying. He was called Saul of Tarsus
at that time. And the Lord Jesus Christ had
appeared unto him on the road to Damascus, And he was blinded
and led into Damascus. And God sent a servant. God sent
a servant by the name of Ananias to Paul. And he was afraid. Saul had such
a reputation. Such a reputation as a person
who hated Christ. Who hated those who professed
to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He was convinced
they were guilty of blasphemy. When he met Christ that day on
the road to Damascus, God sent Ananias to him. God said, behold,
he prayeth. Behold, he prayeth. As a newborn
babe cries out, Even so, a person who is born again of the Spirit
of God cries out and prays, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. You don't have to put the words
in a person's mouth who is born of the Spirit of God. You don't
have to teach a baby to cry, do you, when they come into this
world? They just seem to be born knowing that. And when a person
is born of the Spirit of God, behold, he prayeth, he cries. It's just like breathing, crying
unto God. And the second thing, when we
look at these requests, these petitions that the Apostle Paul
gave, requested of God for these churches, for these believers,
rather, in the church, it is These prayers are recorded. They're
all through the epistles. And we notice a number of things
about them, but one thing I notice about all of them, they're usually
very concise. They're very short. Sometimes
people get the idea that if you really pray, you've got to pray
a long time. You know, some of the prayers
in the scripture that were answered immediately, I think about Elijah. When he confronted those false
prophets, you can read that prayer of his, it'll take you less than
a minute. But God answered, didn't He?
He answered by fire. And when David was fleeing from
his son Absalom, you know, and Absalom had that counselor by
the name of Ahithophel. And the scripture says his word
was like an oracle of God. And all David, when he found
out Ahithophel had stayed with Absalom, was a traitor to him,
all he prayed was confound him. And his counsel was confounded,
wasn't it? Some of the prayers in the scripture.
And this is not a long prayer. These three verses here in Philippians
chapter 1 of the Apostle Paul. But let's look at these requests
and the reason I mention this is that we might learn how we
should pray. Surely that's the reason they
are recorded because our Lord told us to go into our closet
and pray to our Father in secret. But here we have these prayers,
these requests recorded for our learning. Remember in Romans
chapter 8, Paul said, likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. And one
of the ways God the Holy Spirit helps us to pray, in that verse
it says, with groanings, with groanings, when we cannot even
articulate, we can't voice the prayer, but just a sigh. the
groan of the heart. God the Holy Spirit helps us. But another way that the Holy
Spirit helps us to know how to pray as we should is by looking
at these prayers that are recorded. And when we read these prayers,
I have a book written by Arthur Pink. I believe it's entitled
Gleanings from Paul. And the whole book is taken up
with different prayers that are recorded by the Apostle Paul. And what a blessing it is as
we learn how we should pray and then we gauge our prayers. And we look at what we ask for. in comparison to these prayers
which are recorded. So my reflection is that we have
these recorded that we might learn how to pray, to pray for
each other. Now the first petition, he requested
that their love might abound more. Is there any child of God
here today who would say, well, I don't need you to pray for
me in that matter. I've already reached the height
of love and I don't need anyone to pray for me that my love might
abound. You know, to the Corinthians,
the apostle Paul mentioned these three graces. He mentioned them
together. They're usually together because
they come together. They are things which accompany
salvation. Faith, hope, and love. And yet Paul said the greatest
of these is love. Now we know how important faith
is. Without faith, the scripture
says, no man can please God. For by grace are you saved through
faith. We know how important faith is. And also the apostle in Romans
8 tells us that we are saved in hope. Now that word has changed
its meaning, obviously, that English word hope. I think it
would be better understood as expectation. Expectation. We're not just hoping everything's
going to turn out all right. Remember that story of that little
train, that little choo-choo train? I think I can, I think
I can, I think I can. Finally made it up to the top
of the hill. And that's the way some people
understand hope. Well, I hope so, I hope so, I
hope so. No, we have a good hope through grace, a good expectation
because of Jesus Christ our Lord. But here's the point. Paul said,
faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love. And as I've
thought about that over the years, I've come to this conclusion.
The reason love is said to be the greatest, God is love. We never read that God is faith.
We never read that God is hope. But we do read God is love. The greatest of these is love. And in heaven, when we will need
no more to exercise faith and hope shall be realized, love
shall continue forever and ever. Paul said, I pray I pray that
your love may abound. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul also
makes this statement concerning all other virtues. All other
virtues that one might have are of no use, absolutely no use
whatsoever without love. We're like a sounding brass and
a tinkling cymbal. John Gill made this comment on
this matter. He said, where there's not love,
where there's not love, there cannot be that good work. What is he talking about? Good
work. That good work of grace. That good work of salvation.
The new birth. Eternal life given. Where, he
said, there is not love, there cannot be that good work. For
it signifies, now listen, it signifies nothing what a man
says. Our Lord said, many shall say
unto me in that day, Lord, have we not done this, that, and the
other? John Gill said, it signifies
nothing what a man says, nor what he has. Well, you see, the Lord's blessed.
I know I'm saved because the Lord's blessed me. I've got a
new car, and I've got a new suit, and I've got a big house, and
I've got a big bank account. That's the way people think today,
isn't it? How foolish. No, it's not what
a man says. It's not what a man has. It's
not what he does. If love be wanting. The man says he loves God and
hates his brother. John tells us he's a liar. The
truth is not in him. Now you notice Paul doesn't request
that the Philippians be given love. He doesn't ask that they
be given love. They had this grace as every
child of God does. But he asked that it might abound. Now this grace, like all Christian
graces, is capable of growth. Of growth. It has its beginning,
and it has its growth, and one day in heaven it will have its
perfection. Someone says, well, I'm not satisfied
with my love. Well, that doesn't surprise me.
I'd be surprised if you said you were. I'm not, someone says,
I'm not satisfied with my faith. Well, I'd be surprised if you
were. These graces, yes, they are given to us, they're implanted
in us, but they grow. They grow. And you know, as everything
that we think about growing has to be fed, has to have a good
environment, You know, someone told me just recently, you could
have a garden here in Houston year-round. That's what they
told me. They don't live here in Houston.
Yes, we have warm weather, but let me tell you something. The
sunlight. You cannot grow without so many
hours of sunlight. Now, some things you can grow.
Yes, these graces grow. And you know exercise is necessary
also for growth, isn't it? Not only food and environment
and exercise. As we exercise our faith, as
we exercise our grace of love. The message that the Lord Jesus
Christ sent to the church at Ephesus and Revelation chapter
2, you remember the thing he said he had against them? You
have left your first love. Nothing so dangerous. Nothing
so dangerous. Take it from me. I'm a little
bit older than most of you here. Take it from, nothing so dangerous
as a child of God losing his first love. Now, Paul says that
you might abound. If we are abounding in the love
of God, we won't lose our first love. We are in danger of losing
our first love when we are not abounding, not growing in this
love. And let's be clear about this
this morning, about this request of the Apostle Paul. This concerned
their love to God, first of all. That you might abound in your
love for God. That you might abound in your
love for the Lord Jesus Christ. That you might abound in your
love for God the Holy Spirit. Where would we be without God
the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach us and comfort us? that your love may abound in
each other, or for each other, for one another. Turn with me to Ephesians. Keep
your place here, but I notice in several of Paul's prayers,
Ephesians chapter 3, this matter of love he mentioned. In Ephesians 3, beginning in
verse 14, he said, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named. And before I read on, when our
Lord taught his disciples to pray, our Father. It's a family prayer, isn't it?
We're taught to pray for each other. Our Father, it's not just
me and mine, that selfishness with which we're all born, but
we're praying for one another, that our love may abound, that
our love for each other, for God, for Christ, for God the
Holy Spirit, for the gospel, for those who preach the gospel, and for each other, that our
love may abound. the whole family of God, that He would grant you, according
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by
His Spirit in the inner man. We certainly need that, don't
we? To be strengthened. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. that you being, now notice, rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to
know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Well, if it
passes knowledge, how are we going to know it? We're not fully
going to know it in this life. It does pass knowledge. When
we think about the breadth of God's love, for God so loved
the world. Not just the nation of Israel,
not just the Jews, but God's love is all over the world, isn't
it? He has his people that he's chosen,
he's loved with an everlasting love, he's redeemed with the
blood of Christ out of every nation, and every tongue, and
every language. the breadth of the love of God,
and the length of the love of God. It's an everlasting love.
It has no beginning, has no ending. You say, I can't understand that.
I can't either. But I know it's so. And to know the depth, the depth
of the love of God, that God reached down Reach down and raise
me up and raise you up from a cesspool of sin. The depth of the love
of God and the height of the love of God that one day will
be raised to be with Him in glory. That we might know this love.
This is what Paul was concerned about. And this should be one
of our concerns as we go to the Lord in prayer, that we might
abound in love. Did I read all of that verse?
That you might be filled with all the fullness of God. So that's
the first request. Now here's the second request.
He requested that their love might abound more and more in
knowledge And as the Scripture here says, and in all judgment
that you may approve things that are excellent. Now, do you have
a marginal reading in your Bible? I think most of you do. Let me
point out that that phrase, approve things that are excellent, I
believe another Translation of that is to prove
things that differ. Now it's suggested that the word
in, that you may yet abound more and more in knowledge and all judgment. That
word in, it may be understood either as by or with. This I pray that your love may
abound yet more and more by knowledge or with knowledge. And I bring this out to us because
we all recognize that it is impossible, it is impossible to love that
of which we have no knowledge. And when people say, well, I
love you, you don't even know me. How could you love me? Or I love
you. How could I love you if I don't
know you? Part of love is knowledge, isn't
it? And Paul is praying that their
love may abound more and more by knowledge, by knowing. And
that's one reason it's so important to hear the Word of God, to read
the Word of God, to read good books, to learn about God. I encourage you, because this
has been such a blessing to me, but the attributes, the characteristics
of God, the more we know about God, The more knowledge we have
of God, then certainly our love is going to increase because
He's perfect. He's perfect in every way, and
the more that we know about Him, you can't help but loving Him. The more we learn of Him, of
His grace, of His mercy, of His kindness, of His goodness, of
His longsuffering, of His patience, Aren't you thankful that the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a God of patience? He's been so patient with me. That's my testimony. The more we know about Him, then
certainly our love is going to abound more and more. But it
also may be understood with, not only by, but with. That as
they increase in love, the apostle Paul is asking that they would
also increase in knowledge and judgment now to approve things
that are different, or things that differ. Everything that glitters is not
gold. And believers, God's children,
We need to increase in knowledge so that we will be able to discern
between the true and the false. I read or heard this many years
ago, but a bank teller, when a person's being trained to be
a bank teller, they just handle good money, good money, good
money. They don't throw in any counterfeit
money. No, they want their eyes to become
so accustomed that when they see something that is different,
they immediately recognize it. Paul is asking that these believers
abound in love, that their knowledge may increase so that they may
approve things that differ. Let me show you something, if
you will. Turn to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2 verses 17 and
18. And the only thing that I want us
to see here is that the Jews thought that by the instruction
they had from the law that they could approve things that differ. We have the same word here. In
verse 17, Paul said, But thou art called a Jew, and restest
in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will,
and approvest the things that are more excellent. That's the
same word that we have in Philippians. And the point I'm making here
is that the Jews believed that out of the law, out of the Word
of God, they would be able to discern things that differ. And they were right. This is
the way, as we read the Word of God, as we study the Word
of God, growing in knowledge, we are able to discern things
that differ. Approve of things that differ. Peter said, we are to grow in
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But let
me give us a rule this morning for making judgments, discerning
between things that differ. When you hear something, I don't
care if it's from this preacher or from any other man, when you
hear something, train yourself to ask, does that statement glorify
God or glorify man? And almost every time, If it
glorifies God, it's the truth. If it brings honor and glory
to man, the only way you can do that, the only way anyone
can bring glory and honor to men, because we're all sinful
men and women, is to bring God down. And God has declared that
He will not share His glory with another. Now He's just not going
to do that. The Apostle Paul said, Brethren,
be not children in understanding. We are to be converted and become
as little children. And there are things about little
children which picture a believer. But one thing about a small child
is they can be easily deceived. Why? Because they don't have
the experience, the knowledge that an older person has. Paul
said, Brethren, be not children in understanding, in love, in
forgiveness, in getting over something, in forgetting about
something that just happened. Be like children, but not in
understanding. But in understanding, be men,
be adults. Now here's the third petition.
He requested that they might be sincere and without offense
to the day of Christ. Now we've already seen that the
day of Christ refers to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall
come again. And flaming fire taking vengeance
on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And that day in which he shall
be glorified in his saints. That's the day of Christ. Now
Paul asks that we be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ. In other words, as long as we
are in this world. Now the word that is translated
sincere, that you be sincere, it comes from a word which means
to be judged by the sunlight. And I've read that our English
word sincere, it comes from two Latin words. Sin, S-I-N, and
C-E-R-E, which is the Latin word for wax, without wax. And the word was coined because
they used to make porcelain objects and they would sell them in the
market as porcelain without any defects. But when they would
fire that porcelain, many times there would be a, as we would
say, a hairline crack. You couldn't hardly see it. And
they would take wax and fill in the crack. And so, hold it
to the sunlight. You need some good light to see
this. Be sincere. You know the opposite
of sincere is hypocrisy, isn't it? Our Lord said, beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Wanting to seem to be something
that we're really not. The word hypocrite, I believe
it comes from a word that means a mask. And in those plays they
had back in those days, Today, of course, you go to see a movie
or a play and you've got all these different actors and their
different costumes, but in that day a play might have one actor
and he would just hold up a mask in front of his face when he
was this character and he'd hold up another mask when he was this
other character. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy. Be sincere, sincere. God's people, we need to be sincere
in all things. And also, he said, without offense. Now, this could mean to be without
offense, without offending others. And we try to do that, don't
we? We try not to offend our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There's some things that we may have liberty to do, and yet they
say they don't have that liberty, and we don't do those things. We don't want to offend our brother.
I have a pastor friend who, he's made this clear that he believes
that a pastor, when he stands in the pulpit, should always
have on a white shirt. He'll never wear a colored shirt.
Now you've seen me, I like these colored shirts. And sometimes
I'll wear them. But I wouldn't, knowing his feelings,
if I ever preach in his pulpit, I'm not going to wear a colored
shirt. Anything wrong with wearing a colored shirt? I don't think
so. But he thinks for a pastor, for a preacher, he should wear
a white shirt. And so he does and always has,
and I guess always will. They'll bury him in a white shirt. But my point is, we don't offend
our brothers without offense. We try not to offend. We try
not to put a stumbling block in the way of a brother or a
sister. If we know this will offend someone,
then it's best for us. Paul said, if eating meat make
my brother to offend, then I'm not going to eat any meat. I'm
just not going to do it. My love, my concern, my desire
for my brother in Christ, this is what Paul is saying, is much
greater than any meat that I might eat or not eat. That we be sincere and without
offense, and not only that we not offend others, but that we
take no offense. You know, some people, they just
seem to look for something to take offense at. And if you are
that kind of person, believe me, you're going to find it.
You say, well, I just believe the preacher. No. Listen, if
you come here looking for something to be offended about, you'll
probably find it. You probably will. And we're all guilty of this.
We have, you know, we have brothers and sisters in Christ who are
so faithful and so committed and they're such a blessing and
then you have one or two that maybe not so committed. And what
is our tendency? To complain about the one that's
not rather than to be thankful and pray for those who are. The squeaking wheel, right? Always
gets the grease. Always gets the attention. We've
got so much to be thankful for. We not offend others and we not
take offense. You know, the Galatians, Paul
wrote to them and he said, you did run well. Who did hinder
you? Who hindered you? You started
off. He's talking to God's people, isn't he? Believers. You did
run well. You started off and you were
going for the finish line, but somehow or other you've been
put off course. Who did offend you? You did run
well. Who did hinder you? that you
should not obey the truth. And we know in that case those
people were hindered by listening to false doctrine. By listening
to men who try to mix grace and works together. They just will
not mix. Salvation is either all of grace
or it's all of works. But you cannot mix them together. And the scripture says, it is
of grace that it might be sure to all the seed, all the chosen
of God. Now here's the last request,
number four. He requested that they be filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ under
the glory and praise of God. We have the negative. Be without
offense, now the positive. We are to be filled with the
fruits of righteousness. You say, well what are the fruits
of righteousness? Well, look back to Ephesians
2. Ephesians chapter 2 and Titus
chapter 2. Let's read here in Ephesians
chapter 2. Beginning with verse 8, For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It
is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
The fruits of righteousness are these good works. Look in Titus
also, Titus chapter 2. That is chapter 2 and beginning
with verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodly On godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the
blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, now notice, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. What made these people peculiar?
What makes us peculiar? God's people. It's not the way
we dress. It's not the way we speak, thou,
and use this old English, you know, thou and thee and all of
that. What makes a believer God's people
peculiar, we're zealous of good works, fruits of the Spirit. All of the fruits of righteousness
spring from being in Him, in Christ. That's what the apostle
prayed. Being filled with the fruits
of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. You look at a grape
vine, for instance, and you see that big cluster of grapes there. Did you know those grapes originally
were in the root It came from the root. And these fruits of
righteousness come from the root. Christ is the root. They all
spring from Christ, from being in Him. Remember he said this
in John 15, he said, I am the vine, you are the branches. And
he also went on to say, without me you can do nothing. That's
so obvious, isn't it? In that object lesson of a vine,
you take a a vine, and you just pull off a branch and put it
over there by its side. You say, well, I'm going to come
back and see if there's going to be any fruit on that branch. You're
wasting your time. There's not going to be any fruit
on that branch. Why? Because it's separated from
the vine, and Christ is the vine. And the fruits of righteousness
all spring from being in Christ. And remember our Lord in that
same passage said, herein is my Father glorified that you
bring forth much fruit. Abide in me and my words in you
and you shall bring forth fruit. How do you abide in Christ? I
think we abide in Christ by having his word abiding in us, living
by his word. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless these words to us here today and help us to learn how
we should pray and to pray for each other as we should. We're going to sing hymn number
51 now, and we'll