Think on these things

You don't. Nevertheless, I think about what the

Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church. He said, told the

Corinthian church, Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, and yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.

This entire book of Philippians, we're moving toward the end of it. We're only going to read verse, we're going to re -read verse 6 and 7, but we're going to read verse 8 and 9 together in your hearing.

And just going to try to deliver to you, we're going to try to preach on verse 8 and 9.

It's not going to be very long. It's not going to be really a whole lot of detail, but it's important that we look at this.

And what we're going to see in verse 8 and 9, you're going to see the term, whatever things are, repeated throughout this text of Scripture.

And I want to say from the outset here, that I want you to kind of have it in your mind, that the whatever things are that are listed here, these are describing words, true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous, anything, praiseworthy.

These are not subjective terms. These are not subjective or to be understood based upon different periods of time.

But these are objective words that are going to be used, we'll see from the text and the context of this passage, that they are words that describe the very character and the very nature of who

God is. And are going to describe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

From the beginning of this epistle, just to kind of bring us up to speed, we'll give you a summary of chapter 1, 2, 3 and 4 to where we're at.

From the beginning of this epistle to now, the gospel is being the focus. You'll remember that throughout particularly just the first chapter there,

Paul mentions repeatedly the gospel of Jesus Christ. We'll see here in his letter that he reminds the church that he is thankful for them for their fellowship in the gospel.

He wrote concerning his defense and confirmation of the gospel. By the way, as the church of Jesus Christ, we ought every day as a

Christian, you ought to be defending the gospel of Jesus Christ. You ought to be confirming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The apostle goes on in that first chapter and states, all that has happened to him has turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

He writes further in that first chapter, saying that their conduct should be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In chapter 2, he lays out the nature and the character of Christ. He tells the church to expect

Timothy to come on his behalf and that Timothy will be bringing him back a report of the church's state of mind, the church's status basically.

He confirms Timothy's faithfulness to the gospel and to him.

Paul writes encouraging the church to recognize those who are true to the gospel.

We ought today, every week, week in and week out, if you are a member of a faithful gospel preaching body of believers, you need to be thankful for the church that you have.

Amen? You're part of a Bible -believing church. Amen? I was thankful in your flyer.

Jeff's got some flyers and we'll set them up here after the service this morning. But that you are operating under the umbrella of your local church.

That's where you attend, right? That is where he attends. The local church is of the utmost importance.

No Christian has ever been called to operate and to function outside the umbrella of the local church.

But we are called to function and operate through the local church. Remember, the context of Philippians is the local church.

So Paul says that he's going to send Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus is kind of relaying messages between the church and Paul.

And then, moving on to chapter 3, the apostle Paul encourages the church to rejoice in the

Lord. We ought to rejoice in the Lord. He gives direction on doctrinal clarity when it comes to the gospel.

He encourages the Philippians to have no confidence in the flesh. As we move through chapter 3, we see and we read all of these things there.

In other words, he says, do not trust salvation as being a work of the flesh itself.

But rather, salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ. Paul says this,

I do not count myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,

I press forward toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

He was not focused upon the things that he did. By natural means, he very well should have been considered righteous himself.

But he had no righteousness of himself, just like you or I have no righteousness of ourselves.

You must be born again. If you're to see the kingdom of heaven, you must be born again. You must have the faith of Jesus Christ given to you.

You must have it bestowed upon you. That's what happened when Jesus died on the cross, and he ascended to the

Father. The faith of God himself, the goodness and the mercy of God himself, was set in on our account in our place.

It was the death of Jesus Christ, was the death of the innocent for the guilty.

He propitiated for our sins. There you go, that's this Sunday's propitiation. And by the way,

I want to say this, and I want to say it publicly, I think it'd be a good idea that every week, that you ought to hear that word, propitiation, so that you never lose sight of that word.

That you never forget what Jesus Christ has done for you. He took your place on the cross if you are saved, amen?

So, going on, the apostle Paul encourages them not to place confidence in the flesh, do not trust salvation as being a work of the flesh, but as the finished work of Jesus Christ, as it is communicated in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the latter part of chapter 3, he cautions the church to be on guard against those who proclaim a false gospel.

As a matter of fact, he calls them enemies of the cross. Those who proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ any other way as it is laid out in the word of God is a false gospel.

He told the Galatian church, he said, if any man come unto you and preach any other gospel, let him be accursed.

There is one Jesus Christ. He was the unique one, the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth, who was incarnate in the flesh, who lived a sinless life, who died on the cross in place of us, on behalf of us, for our sins.

He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

I am thankful for that today. And here in chapter 4, we read where Paul has called out specific people,

Euodias and Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. He encourages them to continue to rejoice in the

Lord, and then he encourages them to rest in prayer. What a privilege it is that we have to pray.

I know the last two weeks I've said that, but I'll say it for three weeks in a row. It is a great privilege that we have to come unto the throne of grace, to pour our hearts out unto the

Lord, to tell Him the cares and the burdens that we have for.

They are too great for us. There's not one of you who are enduring anything in and of your own power that you're able to stand for any length of time.

You must continually resort to the Lord. Run to Him. Flee to the

Lord. As maybe the old timers would say, Matthew Henry said concerning prayer, that this peace that God promises, this peace will keep our hearts and keep our minds through Christ Jesus.

It will keep us from sinning under our troubles. The temptation to, and when he uses that term, sinning under our troubles, that is such a strong statement there, because the temptation for us as weak individuals is that when we are burdened down with sin, we want to look this way or we want to look that way.

Jeff said it. Let Jesus be your first resort. Let Him be the first place and the first person that you run and that you seek.

Christians, we have this privilege. Matthew Henry said it'll keep us from sinning under our troubles and from sinking under them.

It will keep us calm and sedate without discomposure of passion and with inward satisfaction.

Now, Matthew Henry was very verbose in this term, in this phrase, in this speech that he made right here concerning that.

Without discomposure of passion, it means without getting all bent out of shape in layman's terms.

Have any of you ever been there where you're just bent all out of shape? And it seemed like you can't get no peace, you can't get no rest, you can't get no hope until you go to the

Lord. We have this laid out in the Word of God throughout the Old Testament. Here through the

New Testament, we see this truth concerning prayer. So Paul said, don't be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto

God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard or shall keep your hearts and your minds through Jesus Christ our

Lord. And then in verse 8, we pick up and he says this, finally, brethren, finally, in summation,

Paul is bringing it to a close. You know, when the preacher says, okay, we're going to wrap it up. That's basically what

Paul's saying. Now, Paul don't immediately wrap it up. He's like most of us other preachers who when we say that, we just say that for the comfort of the saints of God.

Hurry up, preacher, we want to get down to, we want to get over to the top house. We want to get down to Ruby Tuesday.

We want to meet the crowd. We don't want to have to wait for an hour to eat. What did

Jesus say? Could you not tarry with me for one hour? By the way, in case you're not aware of a lot of the character and the nature of the apostle

Paul, he was long -winded, a long -winded preacher by nature. You all know the story, right?

He was long in preaching and about midnight, Eutychus, a fellow named Eutychus was sitting up in the window listening to him preach.

He fell asleep, fell out the window and died under the long -winded preaching of Paul. Paul went down, prayed for him, got him back up.

He said, you get back up here, boy. You're going to stay the whole course on this thing. Some of you may wonder why did he have such a funny name?

Eutychus. Well, Eutychus too, if you'd have fell out the window and killed yourself, right? You ain't that holy.

Paul says here, finally, brethren, whatever things, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, think on these things, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do and the

God of peace be with you. He said, think on these things.

Many times this passage of scripture is done like a lot of passage of scripture. It's ripped right out of its context and it's made to say something that it does not say to a people that has not been spoken to, but this text truly does speak to us, but we must understand it within the context of what it is written.

It is in context and it is in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the midst of and to directly to a church that is under persecution and under hardship for the sake of the gospel.

But Paul says this, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, let's look at these words, true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, praiseworthy.

These are all words that describe the goodness of the grace of Jesus Christ in the gospel.

It is without question that the gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself being the chief centerpiece, is the central theme and the objective purpose of this letter to the church of Philippi.

If you read, if you haven't read it, I encourage you this week, read the book of Philippians.

If you've been here week in and week out, this will make about the 180th time that you've read the book of Philippians, but I want to encourage you to read it 181 times.

It'll do you good. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true. These are all things that point to Jesus.

The objective descriptions, remember they're not subjective, they're not based on circumstances that make something so at the time, but they are objective, they are eternal truths concerning the character and the nature of Jesus Christ.

That song that we sung a few minutes ago, Lord you're holy and the attributes of God were listed out.

Omnipotent, omnipresent, righteous and holy. These are not things, these are more than things that Jesus is just when you need them.

These are the things that he is constantly and has been eternally.

He is all of those things. So they describe the holiness of God.

Is there any higher thought? And these are some questions I wrote down for us to ask ourselves. Is there any higher thought that a man can think that is higher or greater or more noble or more lovely or more pure or more virtuous or more true or can a

Christian think about anything more praiseworthy than the work that God the Father has done by sending his son

Jesus Christ to die for our sins? Is there anything better? My answer is no,

I can't answer for you, but I can tell you there ain't nothing better, ain't nobody better than Jesus Christ.

So is there any thought that is worth giving a good report of better than the knowledge of the

Most High? Is there any thought better giving a report of than the truth of the Sovereign Lord of Glory who has given unto

His own children the right to become the sons of God? We are entitled to absolutely nothing but death and hell.

We are entitled to nothing but to be under the wrath of an Almighty God. But God is gracious and God is good and God is kind that He poured out

His love on you if you're saved today. Ain't that good news? If you're lost, the gospel is not good news.

The gospel is probably the worst news that any lost man has ever heard when they are rejecting

Jesus Christ. But when the Holy Spirit comes, gives new life to the sinner, makes him able to hear and to receive the things of God, oh my friend, that's when the gospel has become the best thing that you've ever heard.

It is the best thing. Who? He's given unto us, His children, the right to be called the sons of God.

If you would, turn in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament for just a moment. And let's just look a little bit at what we have to praise

God for according to the Scriptures. The book of Exodus, chapter 15.

Genesis, Exodus, the second book of the law.

Exodus, chapter 15. The children of Israel have just been delivered through the

Red Sea. And Moses and the children of Israel, the Scripture says in verse 1,

They sang this song to the Lord, and they spoke, saying, I will sing to the

Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider

He has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise Him. My Father's God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war.

The Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots in His army He has cast into the sea.

His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.

They sank to the bottom like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power.

Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence,

You have overthrown those who rose against You. You sent forth

Your wrath. It consumed them like stubble. And with the blast of Your nostrils, the waters were gathered together.

The floods stood upright like a heap. The depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said,

I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them.

They said, I will draw my sword, and my hand shall destroy them. But You blew with Your wind.

The sea covered them, and they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders?

You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom

You have redeemed. You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.

The people will hear and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.

The chief of Edoms will be dismayed. The mighty men of Moab, trembling, will take hold of them.

All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them by the greatness of Your arm.

They will be as a stone till Your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom

You have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance.

In the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary of the

Lord which Your hands have established, the Lord shall reign forever.

And if you would turn to Psalm chapter 77. Psalm chapter 77.

The psalmist cried out unto the Lord. And again, this is about thinking on things that are pure.

Thinking on things that are noble. Thinking on things that are true. Thinking on things that are just.

Thinking on things that are virtuous. Thinking on things that are praiseworthy.

We have the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative and sufficient

Word of God that God has given to us that we might know who He is and know what

He has done. And to know how we should think. Well, you mean preacher that I don't need to take my advice from Oprah Winfrey?

No. The world can take advice from Oprah Winfrey if they want to.

But as a Christian, you need to take your advice and your counsel from the Word of God. And the

Word of God alone. Who should you trust, John? Amen.

Trust the Bible more than you trust me. Trust the Bible more than Jeff Johnson that stood up here.

Trust the Bible above all. Test what is said according to the

Word. And then if it's true according to the Word, affirm that and roll with that.

The psalmist said, I cried out to God with my voice. To God with my voice.

He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. This is what the psalmist said.

My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing. My soul refused to be comforted.

I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.

The psalmist said, You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night.

I meditate within my heart and my spirit makes diligent search. Will the

Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? These questions sound familiar.

Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore?

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?

And I said this in my anguish, But I will remember the years of the right hand of the

Most High. There is no nobler, no sweeter fault than the fault that you can consider and know and know with a certainty what

God has done. And when you look into the pages of God's Word, it is the truth.

I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember your wonders of old.

I also will meditate on all your work and talk of your deeds. Your way,

O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great as our God? You are the

God who does wonders. You have declared your strength among the people. You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God. The waters saw you and they were afraid.

The depths also trembled. The clouds pour out water. The skies sent out a sound.

Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind.

The lightnings lit up in the world. The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea.

Your path in the great waters. And your footsteps were not known. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

When you go to God in prayer, what goes with prayer? Praise.

Praise and prayer go together. It is of the Lord's mercies. I believe

Jeremiah wrote that. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

You say, Preacher, you don't know the shape I'm in right now. No, I don't. But I know that you're here. And I know that you have life.

And I know that you have breath in your body. And I know what the Scripture says in the book of Proverbs. That to Him that has joined you all the living, there is hope.

There is hope in the Lord today. There is hope in the Lord. Let me wrap this up.

Let me wrap this up. So I think about how the psalmist there said that the earth trembled and the earth shook.

That the waters even recognized the majesty and the glory and the authority and the omnipotence and the omniscience of God.

They recognize all these things. But my friends, I think about there in the garden. You can go to the

Gospels where they give the account of after Jesus had been crucified, laid on or nailed to the cross, hung between the heavens and the earth.

And for the space of six hours, there was darkness over all the land.

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabatana. There you go,

Kira. Where are you at? Where's Kira? Okay. You think with my glasses on,

I could tell where you was. She was asking me that. Was that an okay saying? Jesus cried, my

God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, gave up the ghost and said,

It is finished. The work was done. He hung his head and he gave up the ghost.

He was taken down from the cross. He was laid in a borrowed tomb. They rolled the stone over the tomb.

The Romans were told to put a seal on the tomb to make the tomb sure. They put guards outside the tomb so nobody could come and take the body of Jesus.

But my friends, the body of Jesus was not for any man, naturally speaking, to have or to take.

He gave his life freely. And he said, freely I give my life and freely

I shall take it up again. And the Bible tells us, gives us the account that when the angels came down there, the

Roman guards fell it down in fright and became as dead man that the earth shook.

The stone was rolled away. And after Jesus had been in the grave on that third day, the disciples came to dress the body of Jesus.

But when they got there, the stone had been rolled away. They went into the face of that tomb and they saw two angels, one sitting at the head, one sitting at the foot of the body where Jesus had lain.

And they said unto them, why do you seek the living among the dead?

For he is not here, he is risen. That's good news.

That's a noble thought right there. That's praiseworthy. That'll make the country preacher say, hallelujah.

And amen. You may say, you don't say amen like that, you say it amen. I say amen.

That's just how I say it. You say it how you want to, I'll say it how I want to.

We can still be brothers over that. That's a secondary issue. Accent ain't a problem.

Praiseworthy. It's praiseworthy. So in conclusion, again, just to repeat that verse 8 and 9,

Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if anything is praiseworthy, think on these things.

Set your mind to these things. Do not set your mind on the flesh.

Do not set your mind on the things of this world. Set your mind on Christ who is seated at the right hand of the

Father. And the things, Paul said, which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do.

And the God of peace be with you. The God of peace be with you.

He is, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Amen. He is the

Prince of Peace. The mighty God. He is the visible representation of God the

Father. In the flesh. Amen. He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

According to the Scriptures. He is the most noble, righteous, true, holy, pure, lovely, virtuous, and praiseworthy thing that you can think about.

So where are your affections today? Stand with us if you would. Lord God, today

I praise you and I thank you for, not for even anything that you have done physically speaking.

But God, I am just thankful that you are who you are. Lord, I can honestly pray unto you right now and say that knowing what we know of the

Scriptures, knowing what we know of your faithfulness, knowing what we know of your character from your holy word, that even if I was in hell right now,

God, I would be able somehow, in some way, to say hallelujah to my own condemnation because I know that I deserved it.

But God, today I say this hallelujah for salvation because I do not deserve it.

I have not earned it. It is not something that I am entitled to, but I know that it is by your grace and by your mercy that we have salvation today.

And for that, I thank you and I praise you for that. And it is our prayer this morning, O God, that the work of regeneration, the work of the new birth is something only that you create and only something that you do in the heart and in the mind of the dead sinner.

And today, God, if there be anybody here today that is dead in their trespasses and in their sins,

God, that if you are awakening them to life in you, God, God, I want to thank you for that.

God, I want to thank you for the remembrance that we have of who we were and who we are in you.

And that is, we have been learning the past couple of weeks in Sunday school, God, that our identity is not found or is not based in what we have done or where we were, but our identity is found solely in you.

God, it's our prayer that those who have a low self -esteem might not find their esteem or their worth at all in themselves, but they may find their esteem and their worth in you, the precious and holy

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of this world. Lord God, I thank you for this privilege and this honor to be here in this place today.