WWUTT 029 Think About These Things (Philippians 4:8-9)

If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

We are to invest our whole mind and our whole heart into the things of God, and the more we meditate on godly things, the less we are going to be entertained by the stuff of this world when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, my name is Pastor Gabe and I have allergies.

I am so congested right now, but I think that I've got enough voice to hold out for preaching for half an hour.

If you can listen to this voice for half an hour, I don't really know how stuffy I sound, but I feel like my face is going to explode.

My wife and I at the same time right now are just struggling with allergies. She's actually already gone to bed because she felt like her head was going to blow up.

But I'm tough in this out because I still want to do my Bible study and I have done so reading through Philippians and then bringing this word to you.

So as long as you can listen, I think that I can speak. We are in Philippians chapter four today and what we're going to read here in verses eight and nine.

The implications of this are so vast that I think that you could make an entire podcast with multiple episodes just based on Philippians four, eight.

There's just some huge things that are being stated here, but we're going to summarize it all in about 20 minutes time and then

I'll be taking another question here toward the end of this broadcast that has to do again with speaking in tongues.

That's been the subject of our last couple of questions. I'm going to take one more again today here, but before coming to the text in Philippians chapter four verses eight and nine, why don't we go to the

Lord in prayer? Our gracious heavenly father, I thank you for the passion to study your word when even when our body might be plugging us in such a way where you know, maybe we wouldn't ordinarily have the strength to want to sit up and read a book for a little while.

It's our love for your word that brings us to it and may that be the case every day.

We desire to read the word of God and that's why we spend time in it. And so Lord guide us in this truth today as we look at Philippians chapter four verses eight and nine and seeing what it is that you have to communicate according to your spirit and in the name of Jesus, we pray amen.

Philippians four, eight 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, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the

God of peace will be with you. We've actually seen Paul say that word finally before it came up in chapter three, finally we're halfway through the letter and he's already saying, finally my brothers rejoice in the

Lord to write the same things to you is no trouble to me. It is safe for you. He has one thought that he is presenting to the

Philippians in chapters one and two or one kind of theme of thought there and then a different theme of thought in chapters three and four.

So this is his closing thoughts and we get to it again here in verse eight where he is saying finally, here's, here's the last thing that I want to impose on you here before we close out is with the lessons that I've shared with you that have come up in chapter four, right?

Rejoice in the Lord. Always. I will say it again. Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

We should be reasonable with one another because the Lord is at hand and because the Lord is at hand, we are not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God with a thankful heart and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And remember the thought that we closed with yesterday. This idea of having peace with God is not simply a relaxation of the body as Christians.

We're just more peaceful. Okay? It doesn't even mean that we would cause less squirmish or squirmish skirmish with another person because we have

Christ in our hearts. So we should be, uh, you know, less confrontational. Okay. That's not even that, that itself is not even what's being implied here.

When we're talking about the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, we're talking about a peace with God that we have because of what

Christ did on the cross before we came to Christ. The wrath of God was upon us.

John three 36. He who has the son has life. He who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

In Christ Jesus, the wrath of God has been satisfied. I think of a, what is said in Romans five, uh, eight and nine in particular, where it talks about that propitiation that Christ is for us.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood.

Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Going on into verse 10 for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.

Much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? More than that, we also rejoice in God through our

Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. So when we were in our sin, when we were dead in our sins and our trespasses,

God did not desire us in that state and we did not desire God. We were enemies of God in our minds.

We were hostile toward God in our thinking, which is something else that it says in Titus three and in Ephesians chapter two, we were hostile toward God, but because of what

Christ did for us on the cross, we have been transformed. God loved us so much that he didn't leave us in that state, but sent his son

Jesus to die on the cross in our place and in Christ because of that transformation that has happened in Christ Jesus.

Now we desire God and he desires us because when he looks at us, he doesn't see our sin.

He sees the righteousness of his son, which has been imparted upon us. So we have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

The wrath of God has been satisfied. And now in Christ Jesus, our Lord, we have peace.

That's peace with God, not merely a relaxation of the body, not merely being a less hostile person.

It is a peace with God in his wrath having been satisfied and now we are subjects of his grace and his mercy and his love, which he pours out upon us lavishly that we might be called the children of God, which is what we see in first John three, one.

So the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

It protects us from false teaching. It protects us from the temptations of this world. And it also fills us with hope in knowing that Christ Jesus is going to return, transforming our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body.

As we read in chapter three, our lowly bodies, which are subject to allergies and congestion and feeling like our heads going to explode.

OK, we won't be dealing with that anymore. Praise God. I am looking forward to that even more today as I am struggling with my allergies.

OK, so our hope in Christ Jesus guards our hearts and our minds with that peace that we have with God through Jesus Christ, our

Lord. So with that in mind, we get to the thought that is given to us in verse eight. 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. There is excellence.

There are things worthy of praise. So therefore, we need to think about these things. And Paul has kind of presented this before to the

Philippians, where he says to them at the beginning of chapter two, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy.

And the Philippians would have been hearing that going, yes, there is. And so Paul says in verse two, saying, then complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

We are to be that way because there is encouragement in Christ. There's comfort from his love. There's participation in the spirit and there's affection and sympathy.

So he's speaking rhetorically in that way at the beginning of chapter two. He speaks rhetorically in that way as well.

In Philippians four, eight, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, there is.

So we are to think about these things. Whatever is true, we are to commit ourselves to the truth of God's word.

This was a very emphatic point that Paul made to Timothy when he says right at the beginning of his first letter to Timothy, do not let anyone teach any different doctrine nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make their confident assertions.

And this only leads to division. It leads to quarrels. He goes on in first Timothy four, seven to say, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths, but train yourself for godliness.

Paul said to Titus that quarrels about the law are unprofitable and worthless, and he warned the

Galatians not to bite and devour one another. And one of the reasons why they were contending with one another is because they were following a different gospel.

When we devote ourselves to things that are speculative, that are not grounded in the solid truth of God's word, it creates disunity.

So there is this necessity for us to commit ourselves to the truth, to know what it is, first of all, and to commit ourselves to it, to upholding it and keeping it.

Peter says this in second Peter chapter three, beginning of verse 16, where it's kind of in verse 15, where he says,

Paul writes to you according to the wisdom given to him as he does in all of his letters. When he speaks of these matters, there are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures.

So the ignorant and the unstable are not devoted to the truth. They twist the scriptures to their own destruction.

Make sure that is not you commit yourself so much to the word of God, be taught by other learned men of God so that you don't fall into that possibility of twisting the scriptures to your own destruction.

We need to be committed to the true word of God. It is understandable, but it is only by the spirit of God that we are able to understand it.

So whatever is true, we commit ourselves to the truth of God's word. That's the first thing that Paul states there, grounding ourselves in the truth.

Whatever is honorable. Now honor is spoken about in different ways throughout scripture. You think of honor your father and your mother or in first Peter three, where it says honor the emperor.

But there's one way in particular that honor is spoken about that Paul has even brought up in this way in Philippians.

And we see this in the Psalms too. And it's honoring those who are faithful to the

Lord. In Psalm eight, David says, what is man that you are mindful of him? You've made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

And we also see that the Lord bestows honor in Psalm 84. The Lord God is a son and shield.

He bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk up rightly.

And it also talks about in Psalm 149 honor for all of his godly ones. And so Paul has spoken about honor in this way also to the

Philippians. We've said this already when we were in Philippians chapter two, when

Paul was talking about Epaphroditus being worthy of honor and also honoring such men, those who have been committed to the service of the

Philippians, to the service of the body of Christ, committing themselves in such a way that they look out for the interests of others instead of just their own interests.

These are people who are worthy of honor. So I think that since honor has been spoken about that way to the

Philippians already, that's the way it should be understood even here when Paul is saying whatever is true, whatever is honorable.

It is those people who are worthy of honor. Think about those things. Think about those who have set a standard of righteousness that you are to follow as men of the faith, as men who follow

Christ Jesus. Whatever is honorable, whatever is just. Our God is a

God of justice. We see it written in the Proverbs. When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers.

That's Proverbs 21, 15, and we also read in Proverbs 31, open your mouth for the mute for the rights of all who are destitute.

Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and the needy.

Since we worship a God of justice, we need to be just in our judgment. So whatever is just, whatever is pure, that's merely holiness that we need to be meditating on holy things.

Growing in that process of sanctification means that we are growing more and more in holiness, reflecting the image of our

Savior, Jesus Christ, whom we worship. Whatever is lovely, I mean, beauty is in the eye of a beholder, but as we look at lovely things and behold the beauty of God, cherishing that and glorifying him because of the beauty that we see in the world,

I think that's very simply what's being stated there. When Paul says, whatever is lovely, just thank the

Lord for all that he has given to us. The very fact that we can breathe clean air, that's something to praise the

Lord for. Whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

So we commit our heart and our mind to the things of God. Okay. Colossians 3, 1 -4, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And I think when

Paul is saying this to the Colossians, I think that he's quoting something that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 6, where we have the instruction to not be anxious, and we've seen that already in Philippians, right?

I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body.

What you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by your anxiousness can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?

Oh, you of little faith, therefore do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the

Gentiles? Seek after these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So even in Colossians three, Paul is borrowing from something that Christ has said. And then we see this also in Philippians chapter four to not be anxious about anything.

But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And we are to meditate on godly things.

If there's anything excellent, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

And the more we invest our whole heart and our whole mind, okay, our spirit and strength into the things of God, the less satisfied that we're going to be with the stuff of this world and the more we're going to seek after the things of God.

This is sanctification growing more and more. The more you have your mind and heart purified by the things of God, the more you will be detested by worldly things.

Let me give you an example of this. My wife and I, we love to watch movies together. There are certain TV shows that we like to that we like to watch together.

Sometimes when we're searching on Netflix for something to watch, we'll come across one of those old films we remember liking when we were younger and we'll watch it together.

And over the course of watching it, we'll realize, boy, this is terrible. Why did I like this?

What about this was good that I thought was funny? The reason is not because our sense of humor has changed.

Well, it has in a manner of speaking. It's because we've grown in sanctification. We've grown closer to the Lord. And so we've realized how worldly we used to be.

And so sometimes watching those kinds of movies or even listening to music that we used to listen to when we were younger, I was raised on Christian music anyway.

I wasn't ever listening to bad stuff. Tongue planted firmly in cheek. But anyway, so sometimes after this growth of sanctification, when we come back to looking through a window at something that we used to do when we were younger, we get a glimpse of who we used to be, man, that guy that thought that stuff was funny back then.

I'm not that person anymore. And it usually takes a little while, but then she and I are able to stimulate discussion and talk about who we used to be and how much

Christ has changed us and be able to glory in God because by the power of his sanctification, we're no longer that person.

We're being made more and more into the image of Christ. And so therefore being less and less satisfied by the things of this world.

There are many people who have tied in Philippians 4, 8 and 9 to listening to music and watching movies and watching certain kinds of TV shows.

Yes, there are certain kinds of movies and shows and music we absolutely should stay away from.

And I would hope that's obvious, which you clearly should not be listening to because it is not giving glory to God.

But you're not purified because you don't listen to those things. Your heart is being transformed and you'll find those things more and more detestable as you grow in the knowledge of God.

So commit yourself first to the truth because that's the first thing that we have listed there. And the more we commit ourselves to excellence and praiseworthy things in the name of God, the less we will be satisfied with the things of this world.

Paul says in verse 9, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things.

Again, we come back to the witnesses that we have that have gone before us, the godly examples that have been placed around us in the church, where we worship, imitate their faith, practice these things, do the things that they do.

Look up to those godly examples and the God of peace will be with you.

And I've explained that right at the beginning of this discussion, even what that means. The God of peace.

He is a God who brings peace to his children. We can be at peace. We can be completely satisfied in our savior, knowing that we are secure because of the work that Christ has accomplished.

It is finished. He said before he died, then came back from the grave to show that God had received that sacrifice with victory.

Our great God, we thank you so much for the salvation that has been given to us in Christ Jesus, our

Lord, help us to be completely satisfied in that, knowing that the God of peace is with us.

There is no reason to be anxious, no reason to strive for the things of this world that will not satisfy anyway.

We find our satisfaction in Christ alone. We pray and ask these things by the power of your spirit in the name of Jesus.

Amen. So a couple of days ago, we played our what video on speaking in tongues.

I'm going to come back to that video again because our question today has to do with it. When we refer to the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, what are we talking about?

Well, according to Acts 2, tongues are intelligible languages. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles received the

Holy Spirit and went into Jerusalem preaching the gospel and everyone could understand what they were saying in their own language.

But as we read in 1 Corinthians 14, tongues can also be unintelligible languages. Paul says in verse 2 that 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. He goes on to say that this kind of speaking in tongues only edifies the person praying. It does not edify the church, which is what we should be striving for.

Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, he says, strive to excel in building up the church. And that would be sound teaching of the

Word of God. If outsiders come in and see you speaking in tongues, they'll think you're insane. A church acting like zoo animals flopping around on the floor is not somehow anointed by the

Spirit. Quite the opposite, actually. And if they tell a person that they must speak in tongues to show evidence of the Holy Spirit, that's false teaching.

Understand that narrative is not normative. Just because Acts 10 and Acts 19 show people receiving the

Holy Spirit and immediately speaking in tongues does not mean that a person needs to speak in tongues in order to receive the

Holy Spirit. Any more than we should throw ourselves into fiery furnaces or lion's dens to prove we have real faith.

Or pick up snakes. Admittedly, Scripture is not clear that the gift of tongues is ceased. There's nothing inherently wrong with praying in a tongue, in controlled or private circumstances.

But what we should desire most is that which edifies others and builds up the church when we understand the text.

Our question today comes from Grace in Oklahoma, which actually made me stop and have to ask, is there a

Grace, Oklahoma? Is there a town called Grace? So I looked it up and there's not. There is a Grace in Mississippi though.

All right, back to the email. I'm sorry, Grace. I'm just going to chalk this one up to my allergy medicine.

Anyway, dear Pastor Gabe, in your video on speaking in tongues, you say that there is no indication that the gift of tongues has ceased.

Yet my pastor has said that first Corinthians 13, eight is where it says that tongues will cease when the perfect word of God is complete.

Is that what that means? Well, let's go to the text and look at it. First Corinthians 13 is of course known as the love chapter of the

Bible and it begins by talking about tongues. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. So this is right after Paul has talked about gifts of the spirit in chapter 12 and he says to the

Corinthians, I will show you a more excellent way. If all of these gifts, all of these great gifts that you could be given in the spirit, if they are not exercised in love, then they mean nothing.

He says in verse three, if I give away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love,

I gain nothing. And then we get into love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.

It's not arrogant or rude. Okay. Skipping to verse eight, which is the subject of the question. Love never ends.

As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man,

I gave up childish ways. Okay. So I've read through verse 11 here. There's an argument out there that claims that this passage is talking about how when the

New Testament is complete. So when the last apostle dies, which was John at the end of the first century, and the

New Testament is complete, there will no longer be a reason for gifts of the spirit to authenticate the word that was spoken.

So there will no longer be tongues. There will no longer be prophecies and knowledge, which is the revelation of the

New Testament. I don't think that's what's being talked about here. Why do I say that?

I have two reasons. Number one, we use scripture to interpret scripture and nowhere else in the

New Testament. Is there an indication that the New Testament will be complete and then the gifts of the spirit will cease?

We would see that only in first Corinthians 13, eight through 11, if that's what that's talking about.

Here's the second reason. Verse 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. And the then that we are talking about is when

Christ returns. How do I draw that conclusion? Using scripture to interpret scripture.

First John three, two beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.

All right. So those are my reasons for why. I do not think first Corinthians 13, eight is talking about the

New Testament being complete and then the gifts of the spirit will cease. As I said, uh, either yesterday or the day before,

I'm a gifts guy. I think that the spirit will still manifest himself through these gifts of the spirit that he does still give gifts to people.

But we need to remember first Corinthians 12, 11, all these are empowered by one in the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

So we don't go around willy nilly exercising gifts of the spirit. It's still according to the will of God, which we should be subject to.

God will not continue to reveal himself in new prophecies. What we have in the Bible is complete that I do agree with.

If you hear somebody say something that they claim that God revealed to them, if it doesn't line up with scripture, it's a lie.

First John four, one test the spirits because not every spirit is from God and there are many false prophets that have gone out into the world.

Grace, thank you so much for your email. God bless you. Tomorrow, our Friday review. You've been listening to when we understand the text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes.

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We'll continue our study of Philippians tomorrow, rejoicing together in God's truth when we understand the text.