in our Bibles to Philippians
chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants
of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at
Philippi with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
my God upon every remembrance of you. Always and every prayer
of mine for you all making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident
of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is
made for me to thank this of you all because I have you in
my heart. In as much as both in our bonds
and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers
of my grace. We looked last Sunday morning
in Acts chapter 16. You will remember as to how God
the Holy Spirit sent Paul and Silas to the city of Philippi
to preach the gospel of Christ. Now, we believe it was about
ten years later that Paul, while a prisoner in Rome, wrote this
letter to the church which God had raised up at Philippi. You know, God doesn't raise up
a church everywhere where the gospel is preached. A missionary
told me just a couple of weeks ago of a place where he labored
for several years, preaching once a week at least. He just
did not please God to raise up a church there. And I know I
experienced that, and I know other men have experienced that
as well. But God was pleased at Philippi
to call out some of his elect, save some of his elect people,
and to form them into what we call a local church, the church
at Philippi. And the members of this church
consisted of saints bishops, and deacons. And Paul wished
the grace of God and from the Lord Jesus Christ to be upon
them all. The division of my message today
will be these three types of people, or three categories of
people in the church at Philippi. Saints, bishops, and deacons. So first, saints. Who are these people? Who are
these people? Now I cannot think of any word,
you may know one, but I cannot think of any word that is typically
more misunderstood by the world than this world saint. How many times do we hear someone
say, well I'm no saint. I'm not going to ask you if you've
ever heard that. I know you've heard that. We've
all heard that. Well, I'm no saint. And I just
wonder if people who make a statement like that, if they were asked
a few questions, how they would respond. For instance, if a man
said, well, I'm no saint, and you responded, do you mean that
you are a lost sinner on your way to hell? Well, no, I don't mean that. Well, I'm no saint. Do you mean
that you are under the wrath of God because you do not believe
on the only begotten Son of God? No, I don't mean that when I say
I'm no saint. What most people mean when they
say I'm no saint They have heard or read about some very pious
person in this world and they compare themselves with that
person and they say, well, I'm no saint. But every, now listen
to me, every child of God is a saint. I'm preaching to the
saints here this morning. Not everyone. And this building,
no doubt, is the saint. But there are saints here today. I think we would find when asked
a question like that by people who say, well, I'm no saint,
they would maybe be offended to think that they are wicked,
wicked, evil, ungodly sinners on the way to hell. A friend
of mine told the story of a lady that attended his church for
years, and her husband wouldn't come. He very seldom ever came.
And he got hurt in an accident at the plant where he worked,
and his wife called the pastor and said, would you come speak
to my husband? And he said, yes, I'll be glad
to. And he went down to the hospital, and the man was bandaged up.
And his wife said, now, he's going to be all right. He was
injured, but he's going to be all right. And he told the pastor, he said,
I'd like to talk to you about being saved. And the preacher
said, well, I'm happy that you called, and I'd be glad to speak
with you. And he pulled up a chair next
to the bed, and he said, now, I must begin where we must begin. And that is, you do know that
you are a sinner, don't you? And the man responded, well,
I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. I've done
some things maybe I shouldn't have done, but no, I wouldn't
say that I'm a sinner. And then he turned to his wife.
Now this woman had been attending for years the ministry of this
pastor. He turned to his wife and he
said, honey, would you say that I'm a sinner? And she said, no, I don't guess
I'd say that. Well, the preacher just closed
up his Bible and he said, well, I don't have anything to give
to you because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And until a person, I don't care
who they are, until they are made to know that they're sinners,
they have no need of a Savior. Sinners need a Savior. Sinners
need mercy. Sinners need grace. And that's
what the gospel is all about. What does the Word of God teach
us about persons being made saints? Now, I want you to turn with
me, if you will, to Acts chapter 26. We're going to read of the words
of the Apostle Paul here in Acts chapter 26, as he was before
King Agrippa. Now this happened, just to put
this in context, the time Paul brought the gospel to the city
of Philippi, and many were saved. And then eventually he was arrested
in Jerusalem and he is taken to Rome. And he writes a letter
from Rome, as a prisoner from Rome, back to the church at Philippi.
But this took place here in Acts chapter 26 when he was a prisoner
but not yet carried to Rome. He was going to go to Rome. But
in Acts chapter 26, before King Agrippa, Let's begin our reading
in verse 13, and he tells here how he experienced the grace
of God. He was a religious man, you all
know that. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees,
but he was lost. How many people do you imagine
are in churches today all over our country, yea, all over the
world, who are religious and yet lost? They've never experienced
the new birth. They've never experienced the
saving grace of God. They were born in a country and
maybe in a family where they were taken to church, and maybe
they were sprinkled as babies, maybe they reached six or seven
years of age, and the thing to do was just go down to the front
and be baptized, but never, ever experience the grace of God in
salvation. Saul of Tarsus was a religious
man, and I've often said this, If all that a person needs to
be saved is to be religious, the whole world is saved. There's
no place called hell, not if being religious is all that matters. Paul gives his testimony here,
beginning with verse 13, at midday. You know the story. He's on the
road to Damascus. At midday, O King, I saw in the
way of light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining
round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we
were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto
me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet,
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee
a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things into which I will appear unto thee.
delivering thee from the people, that is from the Jews, and the
Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee." Now, pay careful attention
to verse 18. And as we read this, let us remember
that when Paul saw that vision of that man of Macedonia Come
over and help us. Luke tells us there in Acts 16
that we gathered that we should go there and preach the gospel. Now, Paul tells us or he relates
what the Lord told him that he would do, that is that God would
do as he preached the gospel. As Paul went out preaching the
gospel, things are going to happen. We saw it happen at Philippi.
And I'm saying this this morning because we never want to get
to that place where we do not recognize how God has ordained
to use the preaching of the gospel in the saving of his people.
Whenever a group does that, and there have been some who have,
then you can just write their death certificate because they're
going to die. That group is going to die. God
has ordained that men hear the gospel. How shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher? Paul, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is sending him out to preach. And Paul said, God told him,
this is what's going to happen. Now notice, to open their eyes. Now, who needs his eyes opened? A blind person. This is regeneration,
my friends. Men, by nature, we are dead in
trespasses and sins. We cannot see the things of God. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. He cannot understand. He cannot
perceive. It's just foolishness. This whole
matter of preaching the cross and preaching about Christ and
the gospel of Jesus Christ is foolish to a blind man because
he's dead in trespasses and sins. Notice the next thing, and to
turn them from darkness to light. Now, turning is conversion. Opening their eyes is regeneration,
the new birth. When the Lord opens the eyes
of an individual, quickens him, makes him alive, then he's going
to turn. Repentance. His mind is changed. He's going to turn from something
to something. He's going to turn from his sins. He's going to turn from the world. He's going to turn to God. That's what the scriptures teach.
You can read it in 1 Thessalonians 1, where Paul speaks about what
happened at Thessalonica. They turned from their idols
to God. Repentance is more than just
a change of mind, it's a change of mind, yes, about sin, about
myself, but it's turning from, leaving that lifestyle. And the power of Satan under
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith, that is, in me. I said
that turning is conversion. That includes, yes, repentance,
but also faith, faith in Christ. And when a person believes in
the Lord Jesus Christ, notice what takes place. We receive
forgiveness of sins. Why will God forgive sin? For
Christ's sake. That's the only reason. Do you
remember that verse we quoted quite often in Ephesians 4, 32?
Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. By faith in Christ we receive
forgiveness of sins, then notice inheritance, that's heaven. Inheritance among them and his
which are sanctified, which are set apart. Everyone who believes
in Christ, we have our sins forgiven. We receive an inheritance which
is an eternal inheritance in heaven and sanctification. We are set apart. You see, in
union with Christ, he's in union with us by his Spirit. His Spirit
comes to live in us when we are born of the Spirit of God. His
Holy Spirit lives in us. He's in union with us by his
Spirit being in us, and we are in union with him by faith. He
is our head. And he as our head is our holiness,
our sanctification. Every child of God is set apart,
is sanctified in Christ Jesus. Remember in 1 Corinthians 1,
and this is so, I started to say so plain, but all the scripture
is plain when God gives you sight to see. But of him, the apostle
Paul said, but of him, Are ye in Christ? Who puts a person
in Christ? Does he make a decision? This
is one of the things that probably our generation and the previous
generation and back several generations, we've really missed the boat. Men and women have been told,
you make your decision and you're saved. Salvation is something
that God does. He did something for us at the
cross, yes, and he does something in us in regeneration. And Paul said, but of him, that
is, of God, are you in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom? righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. As it is written, he that glorieth,
he that boasts, let him glory in the Lord. Amen. Who gets the credit? Who gets
the glory, right? Who gets the glory? Well, I want
to tell you something. God will not share his glory
with another. And in your salvation, if you're
saved, he gets all the glory. Now, if you just save out a little
bit more, well, I did something. You know, I made my decision.
I made myself to differ. That's what we're saying. When
you do that, when you say that, what you're doing or trying to
do is rob God of his glory. Salvation is of the Lord. I know every person here this
morning who truly is saved. That's the way it is, and you
like it that way, don't you? You like it that way. I want
him to have all the glory. All the glory, from the first
till I'm safe with him in heaven, all the glory belongs unto him.
If left to myself, I'll perish eternally. Now, in virtue of trusting in
Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are addressed in the New Testament
as saints. Now listen to this. Religion
tells people to live a holy life in order to become a saint. But the gospel, the scriptures,
teach us live a holy life because you are a saint. Not in order
to become a saint. But because you are a child of
God, then live as a child of God. I think of that jailer we
talked about last Sunday at Philippi. Can you imagine maybe a more
coarse person in the world, I don't know, a hardened man, when he
took Paul and Silas and thrust them into the prison? But I tell
you, when he experienced the grace of God, He was a new creation. He was washing their stripes,
wasn't he? Sirs, he's speaking differently
now. He's been humbled. They tell us today that a person
may be made a saint after it can be proven that he has or
she has worked two miracles at least. But let me tell you, the
Bible teaches us that a saint is a person who doesn't work
miracles, but who has experience of miracle of miracles, and saved
by the grace of God. All right. Well, I may have to come back
here next Sunday. Let me give us some evidences
of the new birth, that we are saints. Some evidences from the
scripture. Look with me, if you will, in
1 Peter, just a moment. 1 Peter, chapter 2. I believe that
we can see here in this passage two evidences. You may be here
this morning and you may say, well, I'm not sure. Have I been
born of the Spirit of God? Am I a child of God? Well, look
at these two things which are true of those who are born of
the Spirit. Therefore, laying aside all malice
and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings,
as newborn babes," that's what new birth, a babe. We're not born full grown, are
we? We're not born knowing. We advance
in knowledge. But we're born babes, but notice,
as newborn babes. Here's a baby just come into
the world, and you've seen it. On film, maybe an animal just
born and how they can get up on their legs even though they've
just come into the world and the first thing they're looking
for is their mother's milk. And some of you ladies, you know
by experience your child being born. It's just as natural as
it can be, that a babe wants to nurse. They don't have to be taught.
They don't have to send them to school, a class on nursing. I know some maybe have a harder
time at first than others, but it's just something that's natural.
But when a person is born of the Spirit of God, Look what
he says. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. A person is born
of the Spirit of God. He has a love for this book.
It may have gathered dust. It may have been an old book,
an old book of fables. Yeah, I don't believe that old
book. Let a person be born of the Spirit of God, my friends,
and he'll be in this book. I've seen men who had no interest
at all. I mean, I'm not talking about
halfway sinners, I'm talking about sinners. I've met some
and have known some over the years who did not know how to
read. I'm thinking of a couple that I knew up in another state,
you remember. When God saved that man, he'd
been raised as just thrown out there as a throwaway child, they
used to call him. Told me he was raised in a chicken
coop, chicken pen. Never learned to read, never
went to school. But when God saved him, he learned to read. Why? He wanted to read the Bible. He wanted to read the word of
God. It was just natural. All right, we'll read on here
in 2 Peter. Desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow by, if, now note, if, if so be you have tasted that the
Lord is gracious, have you tasted? Have you tasted the grace of
God? Well, then it's just natural
you're going to want to get in the book that speaks to us of
the God of all grace. But look at this other thing,
to whom coming as unto a living stone. You know, we're just,
to whom coming, that's present tense, isn't it? Someone said,
well, I made my decision. I took care of it. I settled
that long ago. Now know, a person that's born
of the Spirit of God, to whom? Coming! Yes! We came, we are
coming, we continue to come to Christ. We continue to look to
Christ. I feel my need of Christ more
today than I ever have. To whom? Coming! That's not an old
experience. Well, when I was seven years
old, I walked down the church aisle and I took care of that
matter. I settled all of that. Really?
Really? And you have no interest? I'm
not saying God doesn't save children. I know he does. But even children
who are saved are saved as adults are saved. There's only one way
God saves sinners. That is to show us that we are
sinners, that we need Christ, and we trust in him as our Lord
and Savior. And we have a love for his word, if we've tasted that the Lord
is gracious. To whom coming, we're still coming,
as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious. You also, as living or lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood, offer
up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore,
also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, leg precious, and he that believeth on him is not
confounded. Under you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. Now, there's three evidences
we just read, right? A person's been born of the Spirit
of God. He loves the Word of God, the milk of the Word. He's
coming. He came, but he's still coming.
And Christ is precious to him if he has believed. Now the Apostle
John in 1 John, he gives us several, I believe there are about five
in 1 John, about five marks of the new birth. The one that I quote the most
often is this, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God. But there are others there also,
and one I remember is Love of the brethren. Love of the brethren. God's people love each other.
Now, the first group of people here
are saints. And I don't have the time, and
I'm not going to try to go through these other two. The Lord willing,
we'll take that up next time. But I want us to see who the
bishops are. and who the deacons are. We're going to sing a hymn and
be dismissed in prayer. I know this is a short message,
but I've never heard anyone complain about a short message yet.