Philippians-Joy Love Letter 01 phil.1: — James K. Boswell

Chapter 1, and those who have found it, there may be a real glory in this wonderful name for servants of Jesus, which are at Philippi, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus to take this of you all.

Joy That Transcends Circumstances

I have you in my heart, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. Unless I pray that you will love me abound, yet on each and in all that you may be sincere and will not offend, till the day of Christ.

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, where, if you're going to call, is a letter filled with love and with joy from beginning to end. It is never mentioned in this lovely little letter.

The flesh is mentioned only in Rejoice there, or in 19 times. This letter is being called the 21st Psalm of the New Testament. It's the evergreen portion of the New Testament. And over the top of this portion, it's still before your heart, I want you to get the background.

A human dungeon, his feet, eyesight fail him, his back is bleeding and lacerating, and yet 19 times he uses the expression, joy, happiness depends upon happenings, or your circumstances. Joy does not depend upon circumstances, joy depends upon our relationship to a person.

You see, if our circumstances are congenial and favorable, then we're happy. But when the north wind of adversity blows in upon our circumstances, then we lose all our happiness, but not for joy. Circumstances will not alter joy.

Circumstances, my friend, will not alter our relationship to Jesus Christ. I'm going to be the bulleting pole of light. ...to Christ the unspeakable gift. And having received the unspeakable gift, with him he receives unspeakable joy.

And even the Lord gave him foretaste of the unspeakable glory. Isn't that just wonderful? And so all of us here this morning, having received Christ the unspeakable gift, with him we receive unspeakable joy.

As you know, he gives us foretaste, as you've had during these days of Conference, of the unspeakable glory. But I think the most precious glimpses of the glory we have is when we're alone with himself.

And there in the Quadrant Sanctuary, he reveals his glory to you. Occupy your heart's affection with himself, and then you're going to cry, If this glimpse of love is so divinely sweet, What will it be about?

Thy gladdening smile to me. But that's still before your heart. Now, in chapter one, you have Christ brought before you as the source of life. The source of life. In chapter two, Christ is brought before us as the standard of life.

In chapter three, Christ is brought before us as the satisfaction of life. In chapter four, Christ is brought before us as the strength of life. Now, may I go back over this whole little essay? Christ the source, Christ the standard, Christ the satisfaction, and Christ the strength.

So you see here, I got the title, Christ is all and is all. Keeping that still before your heart now, let us come to the very first phrase of the Paul and Timotheus. Now, notice, Timotheus means he who honors God.

He who honors God. Now, you get the combination. There's Paul the builder, and he who honors God. Why, what a wonderful combination we have here. Notice Paul does not start off with the authority of an apostle, like he does in some of his other letters.

He starts off, remember, by in some of his letters, Paul, unapostle of Jesus Christ. Not so this letter. This is a pastoral letter. He's writing, you see, he said at Philippi, to thank me for a gift which is sanctioned by the hand of Epaphroditus, and also trying to do a little magistrate.

Paul, Timothy, and Christian Fellowship

Two sisters have had a quarrel. I'm sorry. Sisters don't quarrel with just a slight misunderstanding. There are these two sisters with a slight misunderstanding, and so Paul is writing and trying to put this matter straight.

There's a little fly in the ointment between the odier and syndicate. I am not suggesting what their difference was. In fact, I don't really know what caused the difference, but there was a difference.

Now, sometimes people tell me Paul was a bachelor. Now, if Paul was a bachelor, he knew an awful lot about women. He writes to the saints at Philippi and directs his letter to the odier and syndicate.

Let them be of the same mind. He didn't go to them. What a wonderful combination. Here you've got the older man and the younger man linked together. You've got Paul and all his experience and all his maturity linked together with young Timothy, full of vitality and vigor and enthusiasm.

And there we are. You've got Paul now in the evening time of his career. You've got young Timothy in the morning of his career. You've got Paul there now in the autumn time. You've got young Timothy in the springtime.

And they're both bringing forth the flowers and fruit and fragrance according to their season. Now, I want you to notice something. There isn't any jealousy nor suspicion in the heart of the older man for the younger man.

Nearly you'll find the younger man lacking in respect and esteem and appreciation for the older man. There's a perfect harmonious relationship here. There's a perfect balance here. Oh, I would to God I could see that more exemplified amongst the saints of God today.

The older man and the younger man are moving forward in harmonious relationship. That's when Mr. Wooley and I got our training. With that young and rich and older man to look under the wing and to stop and instruct us and to lead us on in the ways we are pleasing to Jesus Christ.

And that's so before our hearts. Let us think of a picture. Paul and Timothy. Remember, Paul is the builder. Timothy, he who honors God. And notice what Paul does. He puts Timothy in the very same status as himself.

He doesn't say, Paul and Timothy, my shoeshine or my bag carrier or the one who gives up the hymn books. Oh, no. And there's a real glow surging through the heart of the great man. He says, Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ.

The Bond-Slave of Jesus Christ

He gives Timothy the full benefit, the servants of Jesus Christ. There had been a time when Paul had been a servant to Satan as to self and to Satan. But those chains are snapped. Those chains are broken.

The devastating blast of the gospel has set him free as he believes the testimony concerning Jesus Christ. And now he says, I'm a glad battle. I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I found a friend who's such a friend.

He loved me and I knew him. He drew me to the cause of love and nothing bound me to him. Around my heart still closely twine those ties which not can sever. For I am his and he is mine forever and forever.

Yes, those hard chains of Satan himself are now severed and severed forever. He sees himself now bound by the cause much stronger, the cause of love, to his Lord and Master. He recognized now the words, make me a captive Lord and I shall be free.

Force me to render up the sword and I shall conquer thee. He recognized he was a bond slave. Not merely a servant, no, no, but the bond slave of Jesus Christ. Now, you can be a servant, and if you do not like your master or your employment, then you can go to your master or mistress and say, I'm leaving.

I give you two weeks' notice. But if you're a slave, you can't do that. The thought here is that a bond slave means you're a purchased possession and you belong to. And is that not what we do? As a bond slave we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love that. And so this morning early we were praying from our heart, O Jesus Lord and Savior, I give myself to thee. For thou in thine atonement didst give thyself for me. I own no other master. My heart shall be thy throne.

My life I gave henceforth to live. O Christ, for thee alone, isn't it lovely, beloved, to be the bond slave, the glad vassal of Jesus Christ? Do you know that no service so high, I sometimes say there's no calling so high, nor profession so noble, than to be the bond slave of Jesus Christ?

Let me ask you very lovingly, who's slave are you? Who's slave are you? Are you the slave itself of some pet thing? Or can you triumphantly look up and say, Lord, I am thy bond slave. Lord, I am thy glad vassal.

Serving the Lord and Depending on His Provision

Now I was thinking of these words this morning when the Queen of Sheba, she came to Solomon and said, Have ye of these thy servants that continually stand in thy presence? Oh, what a happy people we are.

What a joyful people we should be. Don't you think so? Have ye of these thy servants? And I thought of Gabriel. Gabriel standing in the presence of the Lord. He said, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of the Lord, and am sent to speak and to show.

Is that not your calling as a child of God? Oh, beloved, if you know the joy of standing in the presence of the Lord, it won't be long before you are sent to speak and to show the things the Lord revealed to you.

But then remember too, in 2 Samuel 15 verse 15 it says, Now I like these words, We thy servants are ready to do whatsoever the king shall command. Isn't that beautiful? We thy servants are ready to do whatsoever thy servant the king shall command.

Mary added to the group, John, I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. I belong to him. And because we belong to him now, because we are his servants, and because we recognize that he is our Lord and Master, I want you to notice something here.

Paul said, they are the servants of Jesus Christ. I want you to notice that title. It comes some 200 or 300 times in the New Testament. Jesus Christ. Jesus, he is my Savior. Christ, he is the Anointed.

Isn't that wonderful? Jesus the Savior. Christ the Anointed. Now here's a picture. You'll find Christ Anointed for his service in humiliation. In humiliation. He's the one who came from the heights of heavenly glory.

The perfect servant. And he was ever submissive and obedient to the will of God. And remember, we see him Anointed for his service in humiliation. Remember at his baptism, when the heavens were opened, and the Father said, this is my beloved Son of mine, well pleased.

The Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and abode upon Christ as he went forth into his public ministry at the age of 13. Now keep that before you, and go to the next title now. The same verse.

Born to Moses, the servant of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus. Before I touch this, may I suggest something to you? If this morning I recognize I'm the glad vassal of Jesus Christ, I go to him alone for my blueprint.

I go to him alone for my duty. I go to him alone for the program. If you're in a self-employment, you don't go down to some other employer and say, what do you want me to do today, sir? Well, you're not in my employment.

You go back to your employer and ask him what he wants you to do. Now, we are the glad vassal of Jesus Christ. And morning by morning we should go to him and say, Lord, what is the program? What is the blueprint for today?

And remember, the Lord has a blueprint. He has a program for your life and for my life because we are His own. Isn't that lovely? So let us take time to find out what the blueprint is for your life and my life.

Did not Paul say in another scripture, Lord, what also have me to do? Secondly, not only do we go to him for our duty, but we live to him alone to meet our every need. To meet our every need. Now, he is our Lord and our master, and so we live to him alone to meet that need.

We don't look to a church or to an organization. We don't look to a certain group of men. We are looking tawny, deliberately, and distinctly to the Lord himself. For thirty-two years, Mrs. Boswell and I have been in the Lord's work in all different parts of the world.

My home assembly, my home church, only sent me five pounds over the time I have been in the Lord's work. Only five pounds. But you know the Lord has never failed. I do it where I am not the servant of any particular group.

I am the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what liberty! What joy! What power! You know that there is not a face, the most independent man in the world today. Isn't it wonderful to recognize that truth?

And he can move forward in the current of his own sweet will. The joy of it. But then we look to the Lord, too, for the supplies to carry on the job. Isn't it wonderful? You don't live a lot on the job.

Your master gives you the supplies, materials to carry on the job. And so we look to the Lord to give us the supplies. He's given us a wonderful supply in his word, hasn't he? And then we've got the Holy Spirit indwelling us.

And we've got the Lord for us in yonder glory. My, the wealth supply. No less forever can you recognize you are the bond slave of Jesus Christ. Is this your joy? Do you know the thrill and the glow of being the bond slave of Jesus Christ?

Christ Jesus and the Identity of the Saints

But then it says now to the saints that are in Christ Jesus. Now I want you to notice this title. It's changed the other way around, you know this? We are the servants of Jesus Christ. But now we are the saints in Christ Jesus.

This title only comes 47 times. And the first time you find it is Acts chapter 19. You'll never find this title in the Gospels. It's a title given to Christ after his resurrection. Remember, Christ Jesus.

Jesus Christ anointed for his servants in humiliation. But now the cross road is over. The cross is empty. The tomb is vacated. And we see him there anointed for his service in exaltation. In exaltation.

He's there as our unchanging great high priest. He's carrying on at high priestly work today on your account and on my behalf. Is it wonderful to recognize there's not a pan that rends apart, but a man of sorrow shares apart.

There's not a rug nor a crow that my heart could know, but he feels it. Glad you're such an unchanging great high priest who's touched with the feelings of your infirmity. As Jesus, the Son, is humanly, he knows my every need.

But as the Son of God, he is able to meet our every need. No wonder we say the Lord is my shepherd. I shall want. Look at this expression now. To the saints in Christ Jesus. Now, I love this. To all the saints.

Not the church I belong to. I belong to the church of all saints, don't you? All the born again children of God. And we're all members one of another. And we all recognize that that's been baptized in the Spirit into the one body.

We recognize the same glorious hand of our adorable Lord Jesus. We recognize that other dependents run upon the other's members in this living organism, the church of Jesus Christ. Not a dead organization, but a living organism proceeding, robbing with spiritual vitality and spiritual life.

And all because we're in living touch with the living Lord. And then there's this expression here where you're saints of God. It says to the saints. To the saints. Now, we may not look very saintly. I'm talking for myself.

But we are all saints. And you're born again. So you don't need to wait until you've been dead three or four hundred years before you're canonized a saint. You see, that very moment you're born again, you're sainted.

The moment you're in Christ, you're a saint. Isn't that wonderful? A saint is a holy person. A saint is a happy person. A saint is a heavenly person. And that's just what you are onto, eh? You are a saint in Christ.

Because you're in Christ. I love that, don't you? You are in Christ. The picture in Romans chapter 6 speaks then that we have been planted together in the likeness of his death. We have been baptized into his death.

So shall we also in the likeness of his resurrection. Now, this is something I want you to follow me very closely here. And I will slow it so that you can get it. You'll find the Lord Jesus coming through the sea of time.

He comes face to face with the cross at Golgotha. Is he going to evade it? Is he going to bypass it and go to heaven without dying? No. For this purpose he came. And he died upon that Roman cross. Here we are, the sons of Adam's race, coming along the same pathway.

We are confronted with the Christ of the cross. As a only means of salvation and reconciliation to a holy God. Are we going to refuse him? Or are we going to accept him? Thank God this morning we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our very own Lord and Savior.

Now, get this. By the divine operation and the mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit, each and every believer has been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. We are implanted in God directly in the death of Christ.

His death is my death. My history as a child of Adam finished at the cross 2 ,000 years ago. And so each and every believer today are baptized into his death. One when he died. In Christ when he was buried.

In Christ when he arose. In Christ when he ascended. In Christ now at the right hand of the majesty and high. And that's the sensation of each and every believer here this morning. Oh, what a happy people we should be.

Recognizing this morning we're accepted in the beloved. Near as he is near. Dear as he is dear. There we are now sharing with him the fullness of that throne life. Please don't ask me to explain that.

I'm lost. I can't explain what all that means. They were all raised up in all the fullness that's treasured up in Christ Jesus. Sharing now the fullness of that throne life. Reading with Christ now in life.

Victory Over Sin, Circumstances, and Satan

Over sin. Romans 6 .14. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Oh, what a glorious message. And it's true. God has said it. It must stand. Pass it on. Extend me grand. Sin shall not have dominion over you.

Again it says, reading with Christ in life over circumstances. We have this, remember, Lordy morning. We are more than conquerors over him, Lord God. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Remember it shall.

In death or life, principalities or power, height or depth. No, no. No power in heaven or earth or hell can separate us. And circumstances can alter this, my friend. And today we are reading with Christ over circumstances.

We are more than conquerors through him, the Almighty God. And then Romans 16 .20 says, and we shall bring with Christ life over Satan. All over the Satanic influence. And we shall drag Satan shortly under whose feet.

Let's think on this. See. Isn't that lovely? Isn't that going to be wonderful? For you to see Satan trodden down under the feet of the saints. Oh, the joy of being a child of God. Remember reading with Christ in life over Satan.

Over circumstances. And over Satanic influence. Right here and now in the Park of the Palms. We are there in Ontario, wherever we may be from. The wonder of it all. The value of it all. We are in Christ.

In Christ. I love that. You see, that's why I don't believe in the fall-away doctrine. In Christ I can never be lost. Why? Because Christ can never be lost. That's it. And as long as I'm in Christ, I can never be lost.

Because he can never be lost. The wonder of it all. Now hurry with me quickly, please. It says all the saints in Christ did. Now that is the description Paul is given of the saints at Philippi. He says they are the servants of Jesus Christ, including himself.

Then he says they are the saints in Christ Jesus. But what about the dwelling place? The dwelling place in the heavenly, in Christ, I'm yet at Philippi. Isn't that wonderful? It says all the saints which are in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi.

Beloved, their home address is in the heavenly. Their business address is at Philippi. Have you got the lesson? Our home address, as said, is in Christ, in the heavenly. That's our home address, but we're down here at Park of the Palms to do business for Jesus Christ.

Well, this is our business address. Isn't that wonderful? Now there's the dwelling place of the saints at Philippi. Mr. Miller, when was Paul Baker? Anyone tell me? At Philippi. But Miller, he didn't do it with the bishops and deacons either, did he?

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

Go along. Now go down, please, to the last phrase, the verse number 2. Peace be unto you, and peace from God our Father. And notice now the title, The Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't this lovely? Remember, firstly, Jesus Christ, anointed for His service in jubilation.

Now saved in Christ Jesus, anointed for His service in exaltation. But now notice the full title. And oh, beloved saints of God, ever giving this full title. Remember, He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is thy Lord.

Worship thou Him. Oh, may we ever recognize His sovereignty, His Lordship, and acknowledge this day by day. When we come together in worship especially, remember He's the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't mind the young Christian talking about Jesus.

Jesus is a wonderful name. Thank God for that precious name. And to pray in Jesus' name, we don't mind. But the mature believer ought to recognize that it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here is something.

Jesus, He is my Savior. Christ, He is my Sanctifier. Lord, He is my Sovereign. And there are three little answers I would like to carry with you. Jesus, the Savior. Christ, the Anointed and the Sanctifier.

And then, Lord, He is the Sovereign. Now, there you have it, please. First, the description. Second, in its very place. And now notice Paul's desire for the same at Philippi. What is the same verse number two?

By the way, this title, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes seventy-five times, mainly in Paul's letters. But the Jesus Christ comes two or three hundred times. The title, Christ Jesus, forty-seven times and never in the Gospels.

But now this title, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes seventy-five times. And remember, it's a precious title. He is the Lord Jesus. And then we go back now to Paul's desire in verse two. He says, Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace have their origin. They have their spring. They have their flow from the heart of God that comes to us through the vehicle, the channel, the Lord Jesus Christ. So you see, beloved, the value of this this morning.

Not only are we servants of Jesus Christ, not only are we saints in Christ Jesus, but we are the sons of the Father. All day we look up and say, Father, Father, my own dear Father. And from that Father heart overflows to you and to me this morning through the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace.

Grace and Peace as the Believer's Possession

Grace is love in action. Peace is love in possession. Now, this is precious. Love in action, peace, love in possession. You have here the Western and the Eastern salutations. I like to think of this more than a salutation or a greeting.

I like to think of it as a benediction. Do you know why? Because Paul sees the middle door partitioned, broken down between the Gentile and the Jew, and he sees them all one in Christ Jesus. Isn't it lovely?

He sees them all one. So you have first of all the Western grace, and then you have the Eastern peace, and he brings them together because they are in Christ Jesus. And so this morning he says to your heart, he says to my heart, grace be unto you and peace.

Grace is an attitude. By grace you are saved through faith and not of yourselves. It's the gift of God that any man should burnishment. Paul says, by the grace of God, grace is an activity. Paul says, no longer I, but the grace of God.

Now, did you get those three little A's? Grace is an attitude, grace is an accomplishment, and grace is an activity. Peace? Love and possession? You have, firstly, peace of conscience. Peace of conscience.

That means there is no controversy. Controversy forever. Then you've got peace of heart. There is no condemnation before God. No condemnation before God. Then you've got peace of mind. No anxiety about the present.

Isn't that lovely? And by the way, if you're ever in a fix, ever in a fix, but in everything by prayer, by supplication, thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds true to Christ Jesus.

And then peace is peace of activity, peace in action. There is no grit. No grit in the worship. Peace. See, perfect love casts out all fear. There is no fear in love. And so, beloved, you have grace in action, love in action, and you have peace, you have love in possession, and the love is possessed in your heart, and love personified reigns upon the heart, your heart and my heart, because Christ is love personified, and perfect love casts out all fear.

No worry, no flurry, no hurry, but an inner tranquility, an inner serenity, that comes from the consciousness that loves over all, and that is forevermore. Complex. Isn't that lovely? You know, they found out, not only the psychologists and the psychiatrists, but the medical world too, that inner tension, adult complex, will bring on cancer just as quick as anything else.

I was asked to call Lockheed. I didn't know the man. I knew his wife and family, but I didn't know him. And we got down to brass tacks together, and he began to burn his heart. We got down to brass tacks about the whole thing, and I listened to him talking.

He's a good man. When he finished his story, I looked to him and said, Sir, you may not like me for this, but there's somebody in your life that you hate. There's the jittery and on edge that's causing all this friction within you, and there's somebody in your life that you hate.

He looked at me like that. I can't help that, sir. I was blurted out, I said, yes, I hate my mother. I hate my mother. I hate her for the way she treated my father. Now, that man is a professing Christian.

I said, sir, you must confess that. You must judge it. You must deal with it and put it away. Wonderful. But now you've got love in possession. Peace. And I don't want you to miss tomorrow morning, because tonight comes before tomorrow.

Fellowship and the Conference Prayer

But we'd like you all to stay with us. There's a little room on the campus for you if you'd like to stay over, and I'd be glad to have you two, by the way. But please remember, be much in prayer regarding the meeting tonight, and we'll continue here tomorrow morning.

I want to talk on the word fellowship from verse number five, and how this fellowship is revealed in the context of verses five through verse number nine. Will you please remember that? Be much in prayer regarding the meeting tonight, and come along in a prayerful attitude expecting the Lord to really work.

He will. Will you get these words in? Scripture and his desire. Two hundred and sixty-five. Two hundred and sixty-five. I think that's the number. Sing them a really wonderful verse altogether. Sing, thy greatest conqueror reigns within.

Shall bid the tempter flee. Aren't you glad you're a Christian? Now we're going to sing verse number three, the last verse. Verse number three, complete in me, each want supplied. And after we've sung this, we're going to have a very short word of prayer.

And then after the prayer, Mrs. William will play the verse for the hymn. When she comes to the chorus, you're at liberty to go up. But keep an attitude of prayer while the verse is being played, and I think that's a real estate in all of our lives.

Verse three is the last verse. Complete in me. In him. That we should be made conceptability for this as accepted thy beloved son. Over the reality of this grateful heart, moment by moment, throughout the hours of this day.

Help us, O God, to ever recognize the sweetness and the realization of the Lord's presence with us. Father, now do thy blessing. Keep it in the hollow of thy hand through the hours of the day. Bring us up, O God, in the evening in the spirit of expectancy.

Thy glory and thy power and thy majesty fill in this whole place. We thank thee for this campus. We thank thee for this conference ground. We thank thee for the atmosphere. And for the Christlike spirit that pervades and permeates right through, continually in thy good hand.

And may, Father, this climactic part of the conference be such as shall bring honor to thy precious name.