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Sunnyside Baptist Church Dwight Smoot
Only then, that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. To proclaim Christ to Paul was a real joy, and so he desired to stay here and continue to do that.
But by the same token, he wanted to go and be where? With the Lord. Yes. And he said he was just torn between the two. What about you? It would be definitely worthwhile to meditate on that verse. For me to live is Christ.
What does that mean? And to die is gain. What does that mean? What does it mean to me in my life? What does it mean? For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Well, chapter 2, verse 5, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. And the word mind there could easily be translated attitude. The thoughts of your mind, you know, the thoughts of your heart, the attitude that you have in life.
Have this mind, have this attitude among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. And then he gives us the example. Then he gives us the example. Speaking of Christ, who was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, or emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Now, you know, there's a lot of really interesting words in those two, three verses there, but the gist of it, the point of it is this. Listen, he left a very high, exalted place with the Father, and came to earth, and took on human flesh, and lived among us, and then of his own free will gave his life for us.
Now, I would say, okay, in one sense of the word, that's going from a high place to a low place, down, okay. Then, verse 9,. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him a name, the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, that leaves no doubt as what the name is, no doubt as who we're talking about here, every knee should bow.
The word every, you know what that means. And just to make it clear, every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, okay. I mean, what's left? I think he means every, right? Every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue associated with those knees confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now, I would say that is worship. Every knee shall confess before God that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And so, God has highly exalted him. So, I ask you the question, is the way up, down, is the way to glory through suffering?
Put it another way. Are we heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him? That's Romans 8, okay, still the Apostle Paul. Go back to chapter 1, verse 29, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Now, when Paul went to Philippi, the first converts there were a women's prayer meeting, and they invited him to meet in their house. And later, he cast a demon out of a young woman, and that upset the townspeople who were in charge of this woman, who were making money off of this woman because of her demon possession situation, and they got all really upset with Paul, and let's see, who was it, Silas was with him, I believe, at this time, and they took them and beat them, and threw them in jail, so these people knew exactly what he was talking about, right?
They threw him in jail, and of course, what did they sing all night? Rejoice in the Lord always. And then there was what? An earthquake. An earthquake, and all their chains fell off, and apparently there were some other folks in there with them, some other prisoners.
The jailer ran in, and was ready to take his own life, because apparently, you know, if you fall down on the job, the penalty is death, you know, he was ready to take his own life, and Paul yelled out on him, no, we're all here, we're all here, don't take your life.
As a matter of fact, I've got a gift for you that's even better than life, eternal life. And the jailer said, yes, well, what must I do to be saved? Paul shared the gospel, led him to the Lord and his whole family.
So those were the converts there in Philippi, the beginning of the church, you know, this women's prayer meeting, and this jailhouse, and the church grew. Paul was joyful that there was a church at Philippi, and Philippi entered into partnership with Paul as Paul went on through his missionary journeys, okay?
And when he was in jail there, when he wrote him this letter, okay, while he was there, they sent Epaphroditus there, okay, to bring some gifts to him and to encourage him. Now I wonder what he brought.
This is the first century, okay, this is like 61 AD. What do you think Epaphroditus brought to Paul in jail to encourage him and to further his ministry? I mean, this was the church at Philippi. It's just like we do with, for example, Reaching and Teaching, which is Ryan and Dana Powell, okay, down at Fort Worth, okay, you know, every month we send them a gift, okay, and often during the month we pray for Ryan and Dana Powell.
And so the church at Philippi, they prayed for Paul, and they cared for Paul. They sent Paul gifts while he was there in jail, imprisoned in Rome to continue his ministry. So he says, For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Now the suffering he's, specifically the suffering that he's talking about is the suffering for sharing Christ, the suffering for sharing Christ. And this is something, something that we can rejoice in.
Remember the apostles were arrested one time shortly after the crucifixion. They were preaching Christ, and they were arrested and taken to the Jewish authorities, and they said, you know, we don't want you to preach Christ anymore, and they beat them, told them not to preach Christ anymore, and they left, okay.
And when they left, okay, now they'd just been beaten, okay, I mean they didn't just reprimand them, they beat them. And then when they left, what did they say to one another? They rejoiced that they were privileged, yeah, that they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the name, the name of Christ.
They entered into those sufferings of Christ. And so, you know, I encourage you, when suffering comes, regardless of why it comes, okay, you can still claim all things work together for good. I mean, whether the suffering is a direct result of sharing Christ, whether the suffering is even, okay, brought on to yourself by your lifestyle, okay, whatever the suffering is in your life, you can count on Romans 8 28, all things work together for good, okay, because even if you're wandering away, even if you're, you know, in a situation that displeasing God, He's going to get a hold of you and continue the good work that He began in you, chapter 1 verse 6, okay, right, He's faithful to keep it up, right, He's going to finish the work on you up until the day of Christ, right, He's promised that.
And so, no matter what suffering we're going through, okay, somehow it's for our good, and we can rejoice in it. There are some times we come into suffering and it drives us to Christ. If you're leaning on Christ, if you're depending on Christ, trusting in Christ, if He is your refuge, your rock, your high tower, okay, when difficulties come, when suffering comes, when persecution comes, where do you turn, where do you look, where is your dependency?
It's on Christ, and it drives you closer to Him. Remember when Paul prayed about his thorn in the flesh, you know, what did God reveal to him? Did He take the thorn? It gave him something great, He left it, and He said, my grace is sufficient for you, right, my grace is sufficient for you.
So Paul said, when I am weak, because of this suffering, because of this affliction, that's when I'm strong, that's where the power of Christ comes to bear in my life, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
That's in Philippians chapter 4. So when suffering comes, it drives us to Christ, it drives us to our Savior, to the one we trust, to our faithful creator. Let this mind be among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, and then look at the example.
What he went through was pleasing to God, was pleasing to God. It was glorifying to the Father, and the Father highly exalted Him, and He will exalt us, He will exalt us with Christ, okay. In Colossians chapter 3 it says, if therefore you've been raised with Christ, seek those things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth, for you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ who is your life appears, you will appear also with Him in glory. For me to live is Christ.
In chapter 2, the way up is down. We may have to go through suffering, we will go through suffering if we're going to reach glory. No matter what happens, whatever else happens, you will counsel me and guide me, and afterwards you will receive me to glory, and whom do I have in heaven but you, and there's nothing on earth I desire besides you.
That wasn't Paul, that was Psalm 73. Is that a Psalm of David? I'm not sure, I don't remember. Chapter 3 of Philippians, the goal, where are you headed? What's your greatest desire? What are you reaching for?
What do you live for? I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know Him and the power of His love and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not already perfect, but I press on to make my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own. I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine, as another person would say. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
That's the goal. That's the goal. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I set my mind on things above, not on things on earth. That's the goal, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
And then in chapter 4, verse 12, Paul says, I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
And here it is, verse 13, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Contentment in Christ, have you learned the secret or are you learning the secret? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And through it all, you can rejoice. Through it all, you can rejoice. It's a beautiful letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians to tell them that he was praying for them, that he was thankful for them, for their faith, prayed for their love to abound, thanked them for their support, a beautiful letter.
Live for Christ and to die is gain. Christ is our example. He is our goal and we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. And he did pray, since we are going to pray, he did pray for the church of Philippi.
In verse, chapter 1, verse 9, he says, and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Close with that.