WWUTT 030 Friday Review

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Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. When we are filled with the joy of the
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Lord, we lack nothing. We need nothing. We are completely satisfied in our
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Savior Christ, which we've talked about this week as we've been studying through Philippians chapter 4. Today we want to do a five -point review of what we've studied so far so we can know more about what it means to be filled with joy when we understand the text.
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This is When We Understand the Text. My name is Pastor Gabe. A delight to be with you as we continue our study of Philippians.
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We've made it through verse 9 of chapter 4, so I think there's a pretty good chance we will finish up our study of Philippians next week.
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Are you excited that we're coming down the home stretch here, or is it one of those things where you spend so much time in Philippians you kind of hate to leave it?
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I'm like that too when I get into a book of study that I love so much. In fact, I had somebody here in Junction City who's been listening to the podcast here in Junction City, Kansas, say to me, hey, when we get done with this study of Philippians, where are we going next?
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And I said, I think I'm just going to keep right on going and we'll jump into Colossians. So that'll be coming up in the next couple of weeks.
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But first, let's focus on where we're at right now, Philippians chapter 4 verses 1 through 9.
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We want to read through the text here. We'll pray and then go through a five -point review of everything that we've studied in this chapter so far.
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Paul says to his brethren in Philippi, therefore, my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the
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Lord my beloved. I entreat Iodia and I entreat Sintash to agree in the Lord.
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Yes, I ask you also true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.
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Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
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The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the
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God of peace will be with you. Our great God of peace to whom we come in the name of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you continue to work in us these words that we have read work in us as the seed of the sower was cast in good soil and found root and produced a harvest.
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And I pray that's what is happening here. As we read this text, it is producing something in us.
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It is, it is filling us with the joy of the Lord and the confidence in the promises that have been given in your word so that we might take this message, this gospel, this good news, and we share it with others so that they might know life that comes only through Christ escaping from death, which is the wages of our sin against a holy
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God. Lord, I pray that as we look into your holiness, we become more aware of our sin and that need to repent.
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But Lord, we also realize how unworthy of the grace that we receive from you.
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We really are. And that makes us worship you all the more. We pray and ask for this fullness of Christ in our hearts and minds as we come to this text in the
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Holy spirit. And it is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. All right.
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Philippians chapter four at the beginning here where Paul begins, therefore, my brothers who my law love and long for my joy and crown stand firm.
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Thus in the Lord, my beloved, I entreat Yodia and I entreat Cintas to agree in the
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Lord. Yes. I ask you also true companion help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.
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And when we had read this earlier in the week, we talked about how Paul is singling out two women who have labored with him in the gospel, but he says it in such a way.
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And it would have been read aloud to the church in Philippi that if Yodia and Cintas were sitting right there listening to this letter read aloud, they would have gone.
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Oh, boy, our quarrel has made it all the way to Paul in Rome.
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And now the apostle is calling us out for this, but he's not calling them out to embarrass them.
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He wants them to agree. He wants them to come into agreement so that the unity in the body of Christ would be displayed.
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And that's our first point in our five point review today of everything that we've read in Philippians so far.
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Point number one is agree in the Lord. It is necessary for us to be reasonable with one another, which we see in verse five.
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Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. Reasonableness will help to maintain that unity in the body of Christ.
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We need to come to agreement with one another. Now, I mentioned earlier this week when we talked about that section,
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I said that I hate the term agree to disagree because the way that it gets used is often a cop out.
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It's like, yeah, I really don't want to see things from your perspective. Let's just agree to disagree. I still have my view, which is right.
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You still have your view, which is not right. But you know, we're just going to agree to disagree. Okay. All right.
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I don't like the term because of the way that we tend to use it means that we can just make this excuse as to how we don't really need to see eye to eye and we can go about one another's way.
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But there is a necessity for us in the body of Christ to see something from the other one's perspective.
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That's why, as it says in Philippians chapter two, that we need to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.
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Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. So when you come to a point when you have to say to someone else, can we just agree to disagree?
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Are you just trying to avoid the argument altogether? Or have you allowed yourself to come to a place where you're able to see the issue through that other person's eyes?
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Have you set aside your own prejudices and biases enough to consider their point of view?
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And if you're not willing to do that, then your statement of agree to disagree is still maintaining a disunity.
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You've not really tried to come to any unification within the body of Christ. So there is a necessity for us to try to see something from the other person's perspective.
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That's something that I regularly have to discipline in myself because I'm a born debater.
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I went to college debating. I got a scholarship for it. So I have this disposition where I need to stick to my guns and in no way, shape or form, am
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I going to bow to your perspective? So there are times when I need to humble myself and realize
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I may not have actually tried yet to see this issue from that person's perspective.
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And sometimes it means I'm going to step away from the matter, not saying agree to disagree, but saying, you know what?
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I'm going to study that a little bit more. Why don't you let me have some time to look at it from your perspective?
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And then we'll talk about it again. It resolves the situation better. So even in our trying to understand another person, there's a necessity for us to kind of look at things from their perspective.
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And in at least trying to do that, we come to a better place where we can agree in the
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Lord. Not standing on our soap boxes, refusing to come down, but we find that place in the middle where we're able to agree with one another.
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So that's the first point. And it ties in very much with everything else that comes after it. Rejoicing in the
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Lord. Always let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything.
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Okay. All of these things tie into being able to agree with one another. If we're not agreeing with one another, we're causing strife.
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And therefore there is not rejoicing. There is not reasonableness and we're causing anxiety in the body.
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So point number one, which we started at the beginning of the week, agree in the Lord. Here's point number two.
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Rejoice in the Lord always. You knew that had to be a point, right? That's verse four. Rejoice in the
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Lord always. And I will say it again. Rejoice. When we talked about this, I believe it was Tuesday, we had that theology of thankfulness that we went into.
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This thankful heart and attitude that we're supposed to have for all that God has given us. Now, the joy that we need to display, we shouldn't fake it just because it says be joyful in the
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Lord. Okay. Don't go into the workplace or bum around at home, putting on this fake mask, this facade, not actually being joyful in Christ, but just doing it because you think you have to, well,
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I got to grip my teeth and make it look like I'm smiling because the Bible says I'm supposed to be joyful. That's not genuine joy.
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We're talking about being genuinely joyful in the Lord. So that means that you are so filled with the promises of Christ and the hope that he will fulfill everything that he has promised, that it brings about joy and you need nothing else.
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You lack nothing. You are completely satisfied in your savior Christ. And so in anything you display this joy, we read from Colossians three earlier this week and how everything that we do, we work, not for man, we work for the
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Lord Christ. So even the job that you do is not just to make your paycheck. Yeah, a job is definitely worthy of a paycheck.
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You need to be able to support yourself and your family, but we do it for more than that.
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We do it for the joy of the Lord. We work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.
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So even in our jobs, even in the workplace, we experienced the joy of the Lord. We display joy and your other coworkers who are probably disgruntled with their jobs probably think their pay is unfair.
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They look at you and they're going, well, what's so great about that person? Why is he or she so happy to be here?
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Because you are satisfied in Christ. You need nothing else from this world in order to find satisfaction and the joy of the
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Lord will be displayed. It is necessary for us to express this joy. Anytime that we go out with the gospel, we're not out there to quarrel with unbelievers.
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We are there because we have so been filled with the hope of Christ that we need other people to know it and rescue them from the wages of sin which is death.
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So they might hear the gospel and turn to Christ and the spirit will draw them out of that darkness that they are in because of their sin.
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So this joy needs to be displayed in order to even preach the gospel effectively.
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Rejoice in the Lord always. We are completely satisfied in our Savior Christ. So number one, agree in the
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Lord. Number two, rejoice in the Lord always. Number three, do not be anxious, but be filled with thanksgiving.
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This is verse six. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
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Now we talked about this, but we actually didn't define supplication in your study. Did you look up what that word meant?
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What does supplication mean? The word supplication means the action of asking or begging for something earnestly and humbly.
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So it's simply that attitude of coming to Christ humbly and saying, I deserve nothing, but Lord, I'm asking you for this.
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And Jesus said to us, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you.
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You do not have because you have not asked. And so if we have the spirit within us and we seek the things that are the will of God, which we see that in the
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Lord's prayer. Okay. Think back to the prayer that Jesus gave his disciples to pray the
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Lord's prayer, which we see in Matthew chapter six, our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
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So from the very beginning, we are addressing the Lord as holy, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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So after the address of recognizing God as holy immediately, we're into asking for the
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Lord's will to be done. And then when it comes after that, give us this day, our daily bread, feed us
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God. And that has two different connotations to it. Okay.
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We're talking about physical bread. Give me the necessities that I need for today. It's okay to ask for those things because Jesus goes on to explain in Matthew chapter six, the
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Lord has clothed the lilies of the field. He's given to the birds. How much more important are you than these things?
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The Lord, your God will provide for you. Also, you need not be anxious about anything. So it, there, it, it is okay to ask for material things from God, those material necessities.
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The other application there, give us this day. Our daily bread is that we would be filled with the things of God be filled with the daily bread, his word.
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Give us this day, our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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There is even a humble acknowledgement of man, I'm still in this flesh and I still sin.
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So God, forgive me for that and help me to forgive those who have sinned against me as well.
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As you have forgiven me, I need to forgive others. What Jesus is giving us in the
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Lord's prayer is a blueprint of what prayer should look like. And we see right after the address, the acknowledgement of God's will and that his will would be done.
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So that's supplication. All right. It is humbly asking of God for his will to be done in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
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Let your requests be made known to God. We are filled with thankfulness when we come to God.
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And that keeps our prayers from being hindered. If we are anxious, if we come to God, we will tend to have this attitude of God.
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Why haven't you done this for me yet? Okay. And that shouldn't be our attitude. We're not coming with the mind of God.
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We're coming with the mind of man. We're coming with a heart that is unfulfilled or thinking that it can't, it can't be fulfilled until I get this.
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But we should know that if we are coming to God in Christ, because that's the only way we can get to God. No one comes to the father, except by me, which
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Jesus said in John 14. So if we are coming to God in Christ, we should already know that he is our full satisfaction and we need nothing else.
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And so by prayer and supplication, that humble asking from God, whom we know gives to us all things, then we know that he will grant us what we ask.
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If we come with humility and with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
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And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus that guards us from temptation.
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So you see the blueprint of the Lord's prayer even appears here as Paul is explaining these things in Philippians four, six and seven.
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All right. You see that blueprint of the Lord's prayer even appear here as Paul is telling the Philippians how to pray.
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Then he goes on in verse eight to say, finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable.
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If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. So that's point number four.
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Point number three was don't be anxious, but be filled with thanksgiving. Know the full satisfaction that we have in Christ Jesus.
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Point number four is whatever is excellent or worthy of praise. Think about these things.
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We need to store our hearts and our minds up heavenward, not storing up the things of earth, because where our treasure is there, our heart will be also.
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So we store up our treasure in heaven. All right. We read this in Colossians chapter three, which we also read earlier in the week.
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If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
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Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
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So we set our minds on the things of Christ, whatever is excellent, worthy of praise.
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Think about these things. And as we are growing in sanctification, so God is growing us in holiness and making us more and more like Christ.
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Then when we try to find satisfaction in the things of the world, it's simply not going to satisfy us.
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We're going to realize how detestable these worldly things really are when we fill ourselves up with more and more of the things of Christ.
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Whatever is true, honorable, just, whatever is pure, lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the
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God of peace will be with you. That's point number five. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will be with you in Christ Jesus.
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And remember how we define this peace with God. It's not simply relaxation of the body.
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It's not simply not quarreling with other people. Okay. All of those things are displays of peace.
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It's true. And if the peace of Christ is in us, that fruit will hopefully manifest itself in those ways.
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But true peace with God means that the wrath of God has been satisfied. We know that in Christ Jesus, God's wrath that was burning against our sin has been satisfied because the price was paid by Christ on the cross.
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We know that with confidence and we have nothing to fear. There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear as the apostle
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John said. And that has to do with judgment. That kind of fear has to do with judgment that Paul is talking about.
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We know that the judgment of God is not on us in that way. If we are in Christ Jesus, because he has paid the price that we owed, a price that was so great that we couldn't pay,
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Christ paid it in our place and now God's wrath is satisfied. So what have we received now from God instead of wrath?
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Adoption. First John 3 .1, how great is the love the father has lavished upon us that we should be called the sons and the daughters of God and that is what we are and knowing that gives us peace and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding because who can fathom how great that peace is even in the heavenly places.
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The peace of God will be with you in Christ Jesus. Point number one, agree in the
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Lord. Point number two, rejoice in the Lord always. Point number three, do not be anxious about anything but be filled with thanksgiving.
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Point number four, whatever is excellent or worthy of praise, think about these things. And point number five, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will be with you in Christ Jesus.
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What beautiful assurances that we've gotten from just these nine verses of Philippians 4 and next week we'll get into that second half of the book of Philippians.
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Our great God I thank you so much for what you have taught us in these scriptures so far.
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Help us to be humble to receive these things as we go and we pray this in Jesus name, amen.
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Well thank you for letting me jumble my way through that. I am still struggling with allergies but I'm on the upswing.
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I definitely don't feel as bad as I did when I recorded the previous episode. I think I was struggling with a little hay fever at the same time.
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So thank you for your prayers and concerns. I'll be nice and clear for next week as we wrap up our study of Philippians.
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In the last third of our episodes we take a question from a viewer, somebody who has watched our what videos and we're also getting questions now from podcast listeners, those who have heard something said in one of these podcast episodes.
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If you would like to have a question answered in one of our episodes, the best way to get a question to us about something you've seen in the what videos or hear on this broadcast, go to our website www .utt
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.com and on the right side of the page you'll see the latest podcast episode. Underneath that is an email link.
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Click on that. It's the best way to get a question to us. I have taken questions from Facebook and Twitter before but they're kind of hit or miss.
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So the best way to be sure we're going to get your question or reply to it or that it will make its way into one of our episodes is to get in touch with us through the website www .utt
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.com. All this week we've been dealing with questions related to gifts of the spirit or more specifically speaking in tongues and as we're wrapping up the week our last question has to do with that as well.
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This is from Pierce in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He says, Dear Pastor Gabe, I come from a charismatic background and still struggle with assurance of faith.
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The church where I got saved used a lot of fear tactics to keep people in the church and committed to tithing.
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We were also told that if we weren't baptized and if we'd never spoken in tongues before that we weren't really saved.
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I have spoken in tongues but I wonder if it was really the spirit or if I just did it because I was afraid of what it would mean if I didn't do it.
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To make a long story short, I'm no longer in that church anymore and now attend a gospel teaching church.
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I know that I don't need to speak in tongues to be saved but I find myself asking the opposite question.
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If I have spoken in tongues did I do something wrong? Is speaking or praying in tongues wrong?
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Thank you for your question Pierce and first let me encourage you this way. If you are in an elder -led church
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I would encourage you to talk to one of your elders. If not, talk to your pastor or just talk to one of the teachers in the church that you trust and let them know that you struggle with matters of assurance because they would love to come alongside you as a brother in Christ and help to encourage you in that way.
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The best encouragement that you're going to get when it comes to assurance is going to be among the brothers and sisters in Christ that you are worshiping with now.
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So let me encourage you in that first. I do want to answer your question and to do so I'm going to come to 1 Corinthians 14.
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So this week we've looked at verses from chapter 12, we've looked at chapter 13, the love chapter, then we get to chapter 14.
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So Paul talks about spiritual gifts in chapter 12. He tells the Corinthians now let me show you a more excellent way and then we have the love chapter.
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Even if I have all the all of these great gifts of the spirit but I don't have love then it means nothing and I gain nothing.
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So then at the beginning of chapter 14 Paul says pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.
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And again as I articulated yesterday I don't think Paul is speaking in such a way where he's just addressing a generation that experiences spiritual gifts but every generation after that will not be experiencing spiritual gifts.
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I do think that the spirit still manifests himself in such a way that spiritual gifts are exercised but it must be done responsibly.
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It's definitely not willy -nilly and definitely not the chaos that we see spiritual gifts displayed in charismatic and apostolic churches.
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We have it said in 1 Corinthians 12 11 all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
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So in all these things we are still subject to the will of God. But is speaking in tongues wrong?
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Is it wrong to speak in tongues? Well first of all Pierce let me tell you that I think that if you forced yourself to speak in tongues as if to authenticate something then that would be wrong.
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But I think you understand that. I think you've come out of that church environment and you've been shown those things. So now if we speak in a tongue is it is it still wrong even if it's something that we might think would be genuine?
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Well look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 1 and 2. Pursue love and earnestly desire the especially that you may prophesy.
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For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God. For no one understands him but he utters mysteries of the spirit.
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And this verse commonly gets tied into a private prayer language. Okay so if you are praying to God and you are experiencing the spirit and you can't think of anything else to say but you're still in the spirit and then something comes out of your mouth that doesn't make sense but it still is edifying you in that spiritual experience that would be that that private prayer language.
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Okay but I would not encourage someone to share that even in a group with with other fellow believers and definitely not take it into the assembly because Paul is very clear about that as he goes on.
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In fact in verse 6 he says, now brothers if I come to you speaking in tongues how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
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Okay so we need to be striving for gifts that edify others and build up the church not just those things that edify ourselves.
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It is better for us to say things that are understood than things that are not understood. Now I will tell you that I've never spoken in tongues before.
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I don't know why but the Lord has just never gifted me in that and I've heard John Piper say the same thing.
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He's said that he's prayed and asked God to bless him to speak in tongues but he's never done it before and he says why
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I don't know maybe because God thinks that I would get big -headed or full of pride if I ever spoke in tongues. So he's never blessed me in that way but it's not inherently wrong to speak in tongues.
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I just hope that you understand what we should be striving for the most is that which is edifying others and building up the church and see more clearly what it is that Paul says about exercising tongues responsibly when you go on and see the instructions that are written down in 1
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Corinthians chapter 14. I've also talked more about this earlier in the week and you can reference back to those episodes.
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Thank you for your question Pierce. God bless you guys. We'll be back to conclude Philippians next week. You've been listening to When We Understand the
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Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. Our ministry was born out of a local church and we rely on the contributions of our viewers and our listeners to keep this ministry going.
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Give with card or check at our website www .wutt .com. Join us again next week as we continue our study through Philippians rejoicing in God's truth when we understand the text.