Adult Bible Study

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning, I speak on behalf of Ed and Mike it's been a real privilege and joy to Zoom through Philippians.

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We're looking forward to James which will start next week If you would join me, yeah, hopefully you have your handout.

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There's a second handout that we'll give you Michael be passing that out at the end.

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That's a summary that we've put together This is an impossible task There are instructions were to take each of our lessons and condense it to a paragraph

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Just an impossible task, but the guys did a good job. So Michael be handing that out at the end

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You don't get it now because I know what you would do with it You'd read it.

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So put it down. Thank you. Okay So join me in Philippians the final chapter

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We're going to have three basic points as we go through today an introduction an exposition of the verses and then a conclusion kind of summarizing the last

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Chapter as you know from your own reading and as you have noticed as we have shared the teaching time there are

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Artificial breaks in the Bible. In other words, we have chapters We have paragraphs and we have verses and yet especially in the

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Greek and especially the way Paul would write Some of his sentences could go on for 20 verses

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How would you like to have to diagram those? How many of you remember diagramming? I see no hands under the age of 25

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Yeah, okay So What we have to do is we start out is

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I'm gonna have to back up just a little bit and tie in So our first section the introduction We want to look at the five principles of contentment

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That flow from a seemingly mundane conclusion to Paul's letter to the

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Philippians and that actually that section on Contentment starts in verse 10 and it goes all the way down to verse 20

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So as you recall last week Mike taught on that I'm gonna back up just cover it very briefly because I want you to see it's a large section

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It's not just verses 10 through 13 So let me read verses 10 through 13 of Philippians Chapter 4

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I Rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me

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You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity Not that I'm speaking of being in need for I have learned in whatever situation

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I am to be content I know how to be brought low I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.

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I have learned the secret of facing plenty and Hunger abundance and need

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I can do all things Through or in him who strengthens me?

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so the first principle of a contented person we get from verse 10 and that is the idea of Confident in God's providence if you look at the phrase in verse 10,

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I rejoiced in what in the Lord Paul Realized his ultimate contentment was found in the

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Lord that he worshipped and served verse 11 We don't have to read it again.

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The second principle of contentment For a contented person is that they are satisfied with little that's tough to do

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The third is that they are independent of their circumstances. We see that in verse 12 verse 13

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They are strengthened by divine power and we'll kind of conclude our lesson come back and look briefly at verse 13

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And then in verses 14 through 19, which is new for this morning The fifth principle of contentment is that they are preoccupied with concern for others

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John MacArthur makes this Observation those who live only for themselves will never be content

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Because contentment for them can come only when their circumstances are

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Exactly as they want them to be and that will never happen How true is that?

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How far -reaching is that do we live in a contented world? Do we live with all the wealth and things that we have do we live in a contented society?

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No, and I think John MacArthur sums it up quite well. So let's move on then to verse 14 and do a kind of a verse by verse exposition

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So we come to verse 14 and it starts at least in the ESV with an interesting word

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It starts with yet or some translations use the word Nevertheless, and this introduces an important transition verses 10 through 13 again

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Mike Spent a good amount of time and covered those well, but verses 10 through 13 could have sent the wrong message

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Let's go back and look at verse 11 Not that I am speaking of being a need and actually if we go back and look at verse 10

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Paul is basically saying hey, thanks for the gift that you sent me But then he gets in verse 11 and he says not that I am speaking of being a need

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For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content Now think about that He's saying thanks for the gift, but you know,

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I'm content So as I was thinking about this my mind went back to a situation

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I can't remember how old I was Maybe I was 13 14 15 years of age

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You know when you buy Christmas presents or birthday presents for your parents it can be really really tough and So one year

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I think I got this all figured out and I went down to Sears and I bought a big shop vac

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With the two and a half inch hose, you know the big hose and it had all the accessories and I gave it to my dad

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And I was just all excited And what did he say? He said

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I already have one of these Well, I knew he did but it was an old one and he ended up taking it back

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Well, you have to understand my dad grew up. He was old enough to understand the Depression. So that was his mindset

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I couldn't understand that for a while, but it was just like I gave this really great gift to him and What did he say?

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I'm content with what I have and it kind of crushed me so Paul by saying in verse 14

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Yet or nevertheless it was kind of you to share in my trouble

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Had my dad said gee son. This is great I Already have one, but I'm gonna start using this one

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So he wasn't the wisest in his response to my gift Paul expressed great wisdom

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He wanted the Philippians to know though. He was content. He still appreciated the gift

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So they may have concluded that Paul neither needed or appreciated their sacrificial gift

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So he reinforces in verse 14 That it was

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Kind it was noble. It was beautiful in character for them to share or join in his partnership

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He really let them know that he appreciated their gift. Although was he content?

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He was but he appreciated their gift Verse 15.

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Let me go ahead and read that for you In you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel when

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I left Macedonia No church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving

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Except you only you can really appreciate he's just now he's pouring it on He's letting them know how special they were to him for over 10 years

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Now they have been faithful in their support to him So The clock in verse 15 actually rewinds about 10 years to the first time he preached to the folks in Philippi he reminds them of their partnership and of the giving and the receiving of the gifts

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Verse 17 and we can read 16 even in Thessalonica. You sent help for my needs once again

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So here's two or three verses that are dealing with this I'm content in the

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Lord and yet I really do appreciate over the years what you've done what you've done what you've done for me

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Are we people like that that are appreciative to others? Within the family the church family within our family and within society in general

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Do people realize or do we come across as people who are?

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Appreciative of every little thing that's done for us Could we do more?

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I think we could you'd like to be appreciated. Don't you? And I'm getting all these blank faces.

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Yes, we do. So just an encouragement along this line Looking at verse 17 if I can read that for you

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Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit

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This is an imparable. This is a powerful verse Paul could rejoice over their gift

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Yet still be content in God's sovereign provision for him because he was totally selfless this

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Selflessness of his had led him to write verse 17 Their gift brought

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Paul joy Not primarily because of its personal material benefit to him

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But because of its spiritual benefit to them. Do you catch that?

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What really got Paul excited about their giving To him was that it was for their spiritual benefit

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Even if they didn't mean it that way and hopefully they didn't But Paul realized the more that they were giving to him the love gifts

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Helping them out in this it was being counted to their credit So join me over we're gonna do a little finger exercise

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We're not going to look at all the verses posted in your notes I put those there so that you can look additionally, but let's look at 2nd

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Corinthians chapter 9 verse 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 verse 6 a

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Familiar verse The point is this Paul says to the church at Corinth Whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully so reinforcing this idea that Paul Really appreciated their gifts not for himself, but because of the spiritual

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Benefit for them That was being stored up in heaven so three statements if we're back in Philippians verse 18 three statements summarize

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Paul's joy and gratitude So verse 18 if I read that for you,

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I have received full payment and more I am well supplied having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent a fragrant offering a

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Sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God So looking at those three short phrases

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He has received full payment And then he does this little phrase and more the end more just means it's an abundance

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Not only did they meet his needs That they perceived but it was even way beyond what he even needed and Then the third phrase in verse 18,

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I am well supplied and notice this Paul describes their gifts in Old Testament language again the last part of verse 18 a fragrant offing

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Offering a sacrifice acceptable pleasing to God you do recall that Paul Was a phenomenal

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Old Testament historian. He knew the scriptures We find scripture, oh

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I find it the older I get scripture memory more and more difficult These folks had no problems memorizing

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Chapters upon chapters upon chapters and it was just fresh in his mind So even as he's dealing with the folks from Philippi, he puts this

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Old Testament language Let's go ahead and look at a couple of these a fragrant offering

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So if you would join me back in Genesis chapter 8 And for most of these

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I've given you more than one but I found these to be the Just to blend in so well

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In Genesis chapter 8 verses 20 and 21 The Noah built an altar to the

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Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and Offered burnt offerings on the

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Lord and when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma the Lord said in his heart

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I will never again curse the ground because of man for the intentions of man heart is evil from his youth

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So here's the idea of the fragrant offering and I've given you additional ones in Exodus and Leviticus But let's go ahead and move down the second phrase that Paul used back in verse 18

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Was an acceptable sacrifice So for this join me, please in Leviticus chapter 19

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Leviticus chapter 19 in verse 5

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When you offer a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord you shall offer it so that you may be accepted and Then over to Isaiah Isaiah 56 in verse 7

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Isaiah 56 in verse 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and Make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted in my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples and Then pleasing to God if you would look at Psalm 51

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Psalm 51 and I'm going to start in verse 16 and read through the end of the chapter

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For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it you will not be pleased with burnt offering

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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart.

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Oh God, you will not despise Do good design in your good pleasure build up the walls of Jerusalem Then you will delight in right sacrifices in burn offerings and whole burn offerings then bowls will be offered on your altar

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So do you see the condition tucked away there in verse 17? God does not delight in burnt offerings and he does not delight in sacrifice until as we read in the last in verse 17 a

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Broken spirit a broken and contite heart. So if we come with those

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Anything that we offer up will be acceptable. It will be a fragrant offering

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It will be acceptable and it will be pleasing to God so continuing in our notes

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Paul saw the Philippians gift as a sacrificial act of worship to God Was he happy that he had actually received

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Things like money. Yes. He was he said he didn't need them He still appreciate him, but he really viewed it as a sacrificial act of worship to the benefit of the

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Philippians to God Such spiritual sacrifices are required of New Covenant believers instead of the animal sacrifices of the old

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Covenant and that of course is important for us to understand So I want to look at these three passages

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Join me first in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 so Fortunately, we don't have a great big altar up here where we bring in in dead animals every

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Sunday That would get a little we wouldn't have carpet. I can tell you that it would be tiled all the way up big big floor drains

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I mean what a messy system it was But God still demands what of us he demands of us

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Spiritual sacrifices Romans 12 1 I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your

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Bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable or your logical spiritual worship and Then if we go back to Hebrews chapter 13

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Hebrews chapter 13 verses 15 and 16 Which we'll be doing shortly in the worship service

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Verses 15 and 16 through him. Let us then continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name

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Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God and Then finally first Peter chapter 2 in verse 5

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First Peter chapter 2 verse 5 You yourselves

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Like living stones are being built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer

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Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ So back in Philippians, what do we see?

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We see the simple act of the Philippians sending Paul things to help him in his ministry

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Paul views those puts them in New Testament terminology And he also includes the

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Old Testament terminology, but what a beautiful picture that is Okay, Philippians chapter 4 verse 19

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Let me read it and comment and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus Paul knew that the

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Philippians would receive spiritual blessings in heaven for their generosity and Reminds them that God would supply which needs

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Every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus So a hard stop right there.

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We are so familiar with that verse Take 10 seconds and read it quietly to yourself

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Is that a simple concept? It is a very simple concept

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He will supply Every need not want but every need of ours

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According to his riches in glory. They're up in glory

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They're not sitting in the Federal Reserve Bank somewhere. They're up in glory So it's simple in concept, but are his riches beyond comprehension?

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It's kind of like heaven no, it's not bad to think about heaven

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But is heaven beyond our wildest comprehension So sometimes when

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I see a book on heaven or some pastor wants to tear into a series on heaven

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It's kind of like timeout. You're wasting your time We know this much but it is beyond comprehension our

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God's riches in glory beyond our comprehension Yes, and it is from that that he will supply every need

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Okay verse 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.

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Amen So here is another one of these Pauline doxologies and I have this in your notes doxa means glory and logos is word

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So we know Paul used to do a lot of these and it's essentially what it is.

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It is a word about glory outburst of praise and Adoration that honors and ascribes glory to God Now, I know that all of you on occasion as you've heard pastor preach or you're hearing somebody else preach and they just say something that really hits you through the

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Working of the Holy Spirit in your heart and you can't help but shout out an amen

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Well, this is what Paul is doing all the time. I mean he's sitting there Writing this down or dictating it for his secretary to write it down and as the truce

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Revealed to him by the Holy Spirit hit his mind and he grasped it. He just blurts out a

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Doxology it's like a super. Amen He does this frequently jump back to we'll look at a couple of these quickly go back to Romans chapter 11

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By The way, this would be a good study for us to do one day just individually find all of these little doxologies that Paul Writes and then read why he wrote it.

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So in Romans chapter 11 verse 33 And hang on a second.

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Why is he doing this? Well in essence has he just gone through 11 chapters of incredibly wonderful doctrine

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And he gets this far along and he just can't contain himself and he explodes with praise

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This is what we see in verses 33 through 6 all the depths of the riches in wisdom and knowledge of God How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways?

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Inscrutable just means you can't Unscrew it. He's got it. So well put together

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For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might?

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be repaid For from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever

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Amen, I would have loved to have been in the room when all of this just hit him and he exploded with praise

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Let's look at one more place Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 in Ephesians chapter 3

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Basically, what's happening is we start in verse 14 and I'll go through this very very quickly

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For this reason he writes chapter 3 14 for this reason I bow my knees before the

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Father and from whom every family in heaven on earth is named That according to the riches of glory

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He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend

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With all the Saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ?

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That suppresses your knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God What happens he goes uncorked again?

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we get to verses 20 and 21 now to him who was able to do far more abundantly than although we ask or think

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According to the power at work within us to him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus Through all generations forever and ever another outburst of Paul because he's overwhelmed with who

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God is so what Paul is basically addressing in this part that we've talked about in verse 20 of Philippians in It is true worship

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So MacArthur says this Worshiping the true God cannot be done in ignorance

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Ignorant worship is unacceptable Because it is a form of idolatry

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Idolatry is not only worshiping false gods But also entertaining thoughts about the true

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God that are untrue and unworthy of him That is a high standard folks

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We can have our all sorts of opinions on all sorts of things, but when it comes to God we really need to know who he is and We do that of course by knowing his word as it's revealed to us through the

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Holy Spirit the truth of it then Tozer In his wonderful book the knowledge of the

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Holy this is a fairly long quote But I think it's so good for us Among the sins to which the human heart is prone

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Hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry For idolatry is at bottom a libel on his character the idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than he is in itself a monstrous sin and substitutes for the true

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God one made after its own likeness Always this God will conform to the image of the one who created it and will be base or pure cruel or kind according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges a

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God begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart Will quite naturally be not true likeness of the true

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God Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration and That civilized peoples are therefore free from it

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The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of him

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That's very very sobering Okay verse 21, please of Philippians Let me read that greet every

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Saint in Christ Jesus the brothers who are with me greet you all The Saints greet you especially those of Caesars household so the use of the individual it individualistic term every instead of the collective term all

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Reveals that every Saint was worthy of Paul's care and affection

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So who are the brothers? these include Timothy Epaphroditus and possibly a host of other well -known individuals as I read different commentators the list

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There was Titicus Philemon Onesimus Aristarchus Mark Luke all of those could have been because all of them probably visited him at one point in time so we don't know how many of there were but the brothers sent their greetings and then in verse 22 all

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The Saints greet you especially those of Caesars household So we go from the brothers we go to all the

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Saints and then it goes to those of Caesars household This is to include members of Caesars family those in his direct employee both slaves high -ranking freemen some of the

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Praetorian Guard Can you imagine sitting in the church at Philippi when this letter is read and They understand that there's going to be a greeting from Paul They understand that it's going to be all the

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Saints which would be the members of the church in Rome But there's also greetings from where?

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this source of evil Caesars in his household And yet they began to realize what

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God could break through From really the source of evil at that point of the

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Roman Empire Right. He could do a work on the hearts of so many folks

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And we don't know how big of a circle that was but so many folks in Caesars household including the

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Praetorian Guard What an encouragement to the Philippian believers and to us the power of the gospel in a hostile environment

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So that brings us then to verse 23 The grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Did we start out verse 1 of chapter 1 with the word grace?

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So, what do we see in Philippians? from grace to grace

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So, let's do some conclusion with this Three factors helped

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Paul to master his circumstances Notice what these are they're underlined

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Christian generosity Christian discipline and Christian trustfulness, so let's conclude with this first of all

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Christian generosity We need as we said earlier we need to recognize this and be a part of this

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Are we as Christians? Known individually and corporately to be a generous people

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That goes against the grain of so much of society So verse 10 it we won't go back and read this.

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You can reference this on your own They the church or the individuals at the

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Church of Philippi had a continuous concern that's from verse 10 They were swift to grasp opportunities to be generous

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Their giving as we looked at talked about their giving was another means of Christian fellowship

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Number four their generosity laid up treasure in heaven Paul tells them this in verse 17 and it was acceptable to God a fragrant offering

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The second thing that helped Paul to master his circumstances was his own

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Christian discipline He had and we need to have a good attitude towards our circumstances

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If we believe in the providence of God nothing comes into our life that doesn't pass through the filter of his providence and his sovereignty

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So this is a discipline of self whereby one understands that we seldom need more than we have

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This is so contrary to our culture just it is just astoundingly

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Again the year that we were The year that we were in Africa and then we came back.

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I believe And this is a goofy thing to remember but it stuck in my mind when we got back the first week

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We didn't even fill a garbage bag with stuff Now we're back up to the normal thing of filling one or two

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Containers and you think you're strange. Well, I know but it was the idea of Just we didn't waste anything when we get back

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And so much of the world is like that and we're just not too content. We just have to have more and more and more

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So We must decide not to covet let's look at that verse again very very briefly verse 17

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Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment.

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I am well supplied He just is content Because Paul had freed himself from a covetous spirit

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He was able to ride or get through every sort of circumstance back in verses 11 and 12

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Which Mike talked about in depth last time? What does it say in verse 11? I have learned

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I Have learned this is the idea of the Christian discipline contentment doesn't come easily

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We have to go through it. We have to work on it with the power of the Holy Spirit and be content therein

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So contentment verse 11 is something that is learned Paul purchased it at the price of exacting discipline

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So to paraphrase Paul, this is basically what he said in those verses I have made my way up from the things of the world its comforts and its discomforts alike and Finally I have reached maturity in this point.

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I know the secret Circumstances can never again touch me No, he's not being arrogant.

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He's saying by the grace of God. I have learned to be content That is spiritual grace an inner adjustment to outer circumstances

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And then finally as we conclude Christian trustfulness Paul learned to be content because he learned to trust in first Personal experience verse 12.

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I know how to be brought low I know how to abound in any and every circumstance

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I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need

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So personal experience No circumstance could ever arise that would be too much for Paul's God and Therefore no circumstance could ever beat

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Paul. It is the power of victory over the demands of every day this power

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This Christian trustfulness arises from another sort of power Not inherent in Paul, but derived from somewhere else and that's in verse 13

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The one that is God who strengthens me now Do you see the

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Greek word that I've jotted in there in the parentheses? Dunamu or doing a mouse from which we were get our word dynamite

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Paul is able Only when he is operating

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Again in verse thing 13. I can do all things in him who?

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Strengthens me So when he is operating within the power of the

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Lord He can do all things including be content

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So Moitra closes with this The key to it all is in Christ Jesus.

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He mediates to us all the benefits and blessings of God More than that.

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He himself is the sum of all the blessings For the preposition in verse 13 is not through but in He is not a channel along which they flow but a place in which they are

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Deposited it is finally because of Christ that Paul is contented and it is

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Christ whom he offers to us as the means and guarantee of our contentment

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For Paul the person who possesses Christ Possesses all Let's pray

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Father we are so thankful for the truth of Philippians as the

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Holy Spirit gave it to Paul And that you have preserved these truths down through today for us so father help us to be a generous people help us to be a content people and Even in those two venues that we will be a more effective witness to the world around us