Phil. 1:1-5 “Fellowship in the Gospel”

Thirsty without price, we'll take a cup of kindness yet.

All glory be to Christ, all glory be to Christ our

King. All glory be to Christ, His golden reign we'll ever sing, all glory be to Christ.

When on the day the great I Am, the faithful and the true, the

Lamb who was for sin a slave, is making all things new.

Behold, our God shall live with us and be our steadfast light, and we shall e 'er

His people be, all glory be to Christ.

All glory be to Christ our

King, all glory be to Christ, His golden reign we'll ever sing, all glory be to Christ.

Brothers and sisters, we can go ahead and be seated now. I'm just going to do some announcements for us here shortly, and then we'll continue on with our singing.

So this week, for announcements, we continue today for our Adventure Club at 9 .30.

There's some handouts on the table out front in the foyer that I'd really encourage you to take home a few and give to friends, family, anybody that might benefit from bringing their kids to Adventure Club.

It's a blessing to be doing that for the children here in Valley Baptist. Rick, how did today go for Adventure Club?

It was good. It was our first review. Cool. So the kids were earning their pins or memorizing verses for the previous five weeks.

Awesome. Have you already seen in the short amount of time that we've done it, a growth in the children?

I think so. Awesome. It's hard to gauge once a week, but they're excited to learn.

They are memorizing or remembering some of the key things that we learned in each lesson of the week.

So that's good. Good. That's good to hear. That's a blessing to hear those kind of things. I feel like I've seen a little bit of growth even in them in these last few weeks, just discussing little things here and there with them as they're running around.

So it really is a blessing to see that take place. For prayer meeting and Bible study this week, again, we're moving things.

I need to change the billboard out front because it is incorrect right now. It's been incorrect for a little while now, but those letters to get off are a little bit more difficult, and to put the letters back on is a little difficult too.

But we're setting our Bible study and prayer meeting to a set day throughout the week, which is

Wednesday at 6 .30 is when we start prayer meeting. Bible study follows after at 7.

So if you would like to come and join us for prayer and Bible study, we'd really encourage you to do so.

We've chosen those times a little bit later in the evening to help with people that are traveling from Twin, Jerome, anywhere,

Buell, anywhere where they're traveling from to come back home. Hopefully they can make it to the

Bible study. Today we are doing nursery from ages zero to four downstairs. Please take your kids down to nursery after the songs and the catechism moment.

Pick them up after church is finished. If you would like to serve in the church or if you have any questions about the gospel,

I would ask you to please come and talk to either myself, Chad. Zach isn't here today.

They are traveling today, but reach out to those three individuals. And another announcement that's not really on here, just something that I would love for the church to be praying about and thinking about is another person that you can come talk with as well.

But Rick Emerson is feeling the call of wanting to become an elder. He's feeling drawn in this way.

And so we're starting this conversation of what that would look like, figuring out the process. Right now we're reading a book together called

The Supremacy of God and Preaching by John Piper. It's a book I've read before. It's a really, really wonderful book.

I'd suggest anybody to read it. But it's very applicable for Rick and myself.

But just be praying for Rick and considering what that looks like as those conversations continue to develop.

Another announcement is that we have the offering stand in the back of the sanctuary. That has recently changed.

So please, that is where any sort of offering or tithe should go. This month we had a men's breakfast, which was a blessing to partake in and to do.

We are going to have a shared meal today after the service. So please stay. Even if you didn't bring anything, there's always plenty of food.

And it's always delicious and wonderful. And I heard that there's jalapeno poppers here today. I saw them, so we're good.

So it's going to be a good Lord's Day today. A good shared meal. So please join us afterwards for that.

And then on that note, I believe that is all the announcements for today. We're going to continue on in our worship to God.

So let's pray right now one more time before we do that. Lord God, I do just thank you for this local body here in Hagerman, God.

I do just ask, Lord, that we honor you in what we do throughout the week. But Lord, that especially today we would be very deliberate and intentional about what we do.

That it would be in such a way that we would want to honor you in thought, in deed, in action.

And even singing praise to you, God. So let us do that with a contrite heart,

Lord, that just honors you, seeks after you, and lifts your name high as it is deserving. And we say this in your name,

Jesus Christ, amen. He is able to keep that which

I've committed. I'll unto Him against that day.

His saving faith to me He didn't part.

Nor how believing in His word brought peace within my heart.

My spirit moved, and then seemed innocent.

That which I've committed. May come at noonday fair.

Avail with Him for me. That which

I've committed. I'll unto Him against that day.

Of sorrow, what a name. For the

Son of God who came. Who in sinners to reclaim.

Hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing rue.

In my place condemned He stood.

Healed my pardon with His blood.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Filthy, vile, and helpless we. The spotless

Lamb of God was He. Full of stone, then can it be.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Lifted up was He to die. Finis, finis was

His cry. Now in heav 'n it's all been high.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

When He comes, our glorious King. All is ransomed, home to breathe.

Then anew this song we'll sing.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Hallelujah, what a Savior. Is any man able to keep the commandment of God?

And we all said no. And we asked if who in here has ever broken the law of God?

And everybody raised their hand. There wasn't a single one of us that didn't raise our hand that day. Which was the right answer.

It was a blessing to see everybody raise their hand, right? So the question for today is, Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

That's a big word, huh? Is every sin that we commit against the law equal?

What do you guys think? You think so? You think they're equally heinous?

You want to answer? God Almighty? Yeah, God is

Almighty, huh? So let's read the answer here, okay? It says, Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

So the answer is quite interesting. It says that, yes, some are more heinous, right?

If somebody goes out and murders somebody, that's worse than just telling a lie, right?

We can look at that, we can see that that's more heinous in that sense. But we also see in Scripture that it also teaches us that if we break a single law of the commandment, this is

James 2, verse 10, if we break a single letter of the law, it doesn't matter if it's the least or the greatest, we're actually guilty of them all.

So even in the most least heinous sense, in the least worst sense, we're actually guilty of the entire commandments of God.

So it's important for us to look where we have faith in. Where do you guys put your faith?

In Jesus Christ. It's important that we put our faith in the one that's able to obey God's law.

So can I pray with you guys now? Let's pray, okay? Lord God, I do just want to echo what

Lydia just said here. God, we put our faith in you, and Lord God, I would ask that these children, through these opportunities throughout this week, throughout catechism moments, throughout times with their family, they would see and experience knowing who you are,

Lord. That they would have faith in you, the man of sorrows.

Lord, I pray that as the parents are in this room, Lord, that they would exemplify this type of behavior to their children, that they would seek to honor you in the obedience of your commandments,

Lord, but that ultimately they would see their transgression of the law upon the cross of Calvary where it is paid for fully.

Lord, I do just pray that these little children can have a good rest of the day today, that you would be with them, that you would look over them, and that your will would be done with each and every one of them.

Lord, we just say this in your name. Amen. Amen. Alright, high five. Good job.

Good job. That was a good one.

Good job. Alright, you guys have a good rest of the day, but I'll see you here in a little bit.

So I'm doing something a little new that I've never done before, which is a little frightening to be honest with you guys.

So normally I typically record all my messages, my sermons, but when I take notes I write it down in a notebook, and that's just how

I've done it since I started. But today I'm doing something very, very strange.

I'm actually, I did notes on an electronic device, so if it's kind of funky it might be because I'm getting used to things today.

So I figured today would be a good day to start this, this new habit. I have a new program to do this, as we're starting a new book to be going through as a church.

We're starting the book, The Letter to the Church of Philippi, the wonderful book that we have in here of Philippians.

This is a wonderful book to be going through as a church. I think the part that I would echo to you, the reason

I think it's so wonderful to go through this book as a church is that we just got done, where?

From the book of Haggai. And we explored and talked a lot about that reasoning there in the book of Haggai, in Haggai chapter 2 verse 9, that the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former glory.

And in this place I will give you peace, says Yahweh, a host. In that Haggai 2 verse 9.

What we're going to read here in Philippians, and we're going to experience, I hope, and we're going to see why it's greater glory to be in Christ than it is to ever be in a physical temple.

Far better it is to be in Christ than anything that is made with the man's hands. So before we read today's text, we're going to be in chapter 1, of course, verses 1 through 5 today.

Let us pray, and then we'll go ahead and read this text. Lord God, I do just thank you,

Lord, for each one of these children that are in our church, Lord. I pray that this would be a place that would be a steward, a buttress of your word, of your gospel, minister of you,

Lord. And that these children that are in this community, in Hagerman, in Bliss, in Gooding, in all these surrounding areas,

Lord, they would seek you, to know you, to understand you, to have peace through you,

Lord. And that by doing this, that we as parents, as loved ones, as family members,

Lord, as neighbors, would seek this for them as well. And that they would come and be a part of this fellowship in these ways.

Lord God, I do want to pray today that through the reading of your word, us, your saints,

Lord, saints that are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, that we would be edified, we would be renewed, that we would see grace and peace,

Lord, and that we would have a remembrance of what was done in us when we were first born again.

Lord, I do pray that the message today would be accurate to what you have here today.

And we just lift these things up to you, knowing that you hear these things. And we just say this in the man of sorrow's name.

Amen. That really was a beautiful song, that last song that we got to sing there.

That one we're going to have to do again, Rick, by the way. That was really good. Rick gave the thumbs up.

That was beautiful. So let us read verses 1 through 5 and let the people hear this text.

It says here, Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God, our

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my

God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

Lord God, I want to lift up another prayer to you today, Lord, that we would see this text and that we would see you in it,

Lord, that we would be encouraged, that we would be remembering the joy it is to know who you are,

Lord, and that we would look to others in this place of worship, this time of honor to you,

Lord, that we would look to others and we would see a great fellowship that we have with one another in the gospel,

Lord, that we would long for this, that we would seek for this, that we would want to honor and know you better through this,

Lord. God, I do thank you, just for the grace and peace it is, that it is to know you, crucified

Lord. And again, we say this in that man of sorrow's name, Jesus the Christ, the Alpha and Omega.

Amen. So to begin today's message, to begin the book of Philippians, we need to understand the context of where this is being written, why this is being written, what's going on in this letter.

Well, I just gave away a little bit of this. This is a letter that is sent from Paul to the

Church of Philippi. It's a letter sent from Paul the Apostle to the

Church of Philippi. This letter to the Church of Philippi shows something that's very, very unique for us when we read this, that we see in other letters from Paul, but it's very expressively seen for us here in this letter, is that Paul shows a large amount of love towards this church.

This is a church that he himself actually helped plant, and we might even read that here in a moment, but it emphasizes the love that Paul has for this church, and it shows to us the joy and happiness that Paul had towards this church, even, this is where it was being written from, even while Paul himself is in prison.

Paul is writing this letter to this church while he himself is suffering and is in torment.

He's suffering. He isn't in any jail right now. This isn't like he's just at a correction facility and he's getting three courses of meals a day and that he's getting his two hours of exercise outside.

That's not the kind of prison that Paul is in right here. Paul is in a prison of Rome, which is known for the terribleness that they've inflicted upon their prisoners.

So when we read in here about what Paul says to the Church of Philippi, you have to remember that that's where it's being written from, and it's going to elevate what

Paul says here when we remember where he's at, this place of darkness, torment, hardship, prison, not a beautiful, pretty place.

So where is this place of Philippi at? Where is this town at? What is this town?

The town of Philippi is an important Roman colony in the providence of Macedonia where the apostle

Paul planted a church. We've read about this in Acts 16 9 -21.

In fact, we would actually see the biblical account of Lydia, which I'm assuming that that's why

Lydia was named Lydia. I'm assuming. That's only a guess there, of course. Well, let's actually just read real quick about this planting of this church.

Acts 16 9. Let's go ahead and read that here. Acts 16 9.

And we'll read all the way to verse 21. I think this is important. The reason that we need to read this today is to understand the whole reason that we're reading about this church in Philippi is that it was planted.

It was strategically planted in this place. Acts 16 9 -21.

Verse 9 says this, And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him and saying,

Come over to Macedonia to help us. So Paul is experiencing this vision that he that that that Paul himself is supposed to go to this place.

Verse 10. And when he had seen the vision, immediately, we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the gospel to them.

So settling or setting, selling from Tetros, we ran a straight course to Samothrace and to the day and on the day following to Nepalese.

And from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a

Roman colony. And we were staying in the city for some days.

And I want to pause there and just remind us and help us understand this. This church that's going to be planted in the city really has a strategic, wonderful means to it.

That by going to this place, the gospel is able to be taken to far further lengths than it would have if he had not done this.

This is this is a good thing that God has sovereignly placed and called Paul to. And Paul is obeying and going to this place to set this church up.

So let us continue here in verse 13. It says, And on the

Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to a riverside where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer.

And sitting down, we began speaking to the woman who had assembled and a woman named

Lydia. From the city of Thretyre, I cannot pronounce it, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God was listening, whose heart the

Lord opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul. Is this a sovereignly appointed place right now for Lydia?

Absolutely. Is this a sovereignly appointed place to have Paul be here? Absolutely.

Now, it says here in verse 15, And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying,

If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us. Now, it happened that while we are going to the place of prayer, a servant girl, having a spirit of divination, met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune telling.

Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, These men are slaves of the

Most High God who are proclaiming to you the ways of salvation. She continued to do this for many days, but being greatly annoyed,

Paul turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave her.

And it left her at that very moment. But when her master saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized

Paul and Silas and dragged them out into the marketplace before the authorities. And when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said,

These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews and are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to observe being

Romans. Now, we're going to pause here and understand that this confusion that has been brought about in this city is the whole point that this whole church has now been planted here in this church.

It results in a planting of a church. Wonderfulness, a proclaiming, a bold proclaiming of the gospel has a huge amount of domino effect to it.

We cannot think that just even even when we when we go out and we boldly proclaim the gospel to somebody, we don't know what the end results are going to be.

That might bring about their salvation. It might bring about not only their salvation, but their family salvation.

It might not only do that, but it might lead to things that we have no clue where these things are going at the time.

And so we need to have boldness when we talk about the gospel with individuals. That's not something that we should ever ignore or look over.

But what we see here in this letter to the Philippians that we have here in chapter one of Philippians is the domino effect, the result of this boldness of preaching by Paul there in Macedonia.

And so when we go back to chapter one, verse one, we understand that this area being

Roman is going to be largely Gentile. It's not one that has a lot of Jewish people in it.

There are going to be Jewish people there, but it's mostly predominantly Gentile.

And to help expand this context even more for us, we can look historically at this city and see that it was filled with cults of every kind in that day.

Egyptian gods were being worshipped. Roman deities were being followed. This is a place of false religions, of idolatry.

Now, immediately, I hope that you can take some sense of familiarity in that sense, right?

We worship the one and only mighty Yahweh, the God of most high.

We worship him. Do we live in a town that has a lot of cults in it? Yeah, we do.

We're surrounded by this idolatry, even those that are proclaiming not a religious affiliation.

They are still worshipping themselves in their own works. They're still very similar to this town of Philippi that we're reading about right now, that we're understanding and learning about.

And so, again, Paul is writing this letter to the saints of Philippi, those that follow

Christ. And he's doing so in prison after even going to this town and being imprisoned the first time he went there.

So this is the second time Paul is being imprisoned here that he's writing about. The first time he was actually imprisoned in this place.

And so this is quite a remarkable text that we're reading about. So, Philippians chapter 1, verse 1, it says,

Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, servants of Christ Jesus, is how your translations might read.

Paul, who is Paul? That's the very first question that we need to talk about. Who is Paul? If we are a new

Christian and we never read this text before, that's a good question. Who is Paul? Paul is responsible for a large amount of writings that we have in the

New Testament. Paul, you can't understand Paul unless you first understand Saul. And in fact, in this book of Philippians, we're going to understand a little bit more about Saul in chapter 3, that he was born a

Jewish person. He was a Jew of the Jews, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, circumcised on the eighth day, that he had more to boast about than any other

Jew of that day. He saw himself as a Pharisee of the

Pharisees, is even how Philippians 3 would put it. And we read about Saul in Acts chapter 9, 7 chapters,

I think is how you would do that math, prior to Acts chapter 16, where he gets imprisoned in this place of Macedonia.

In Acts chapter 9, we see that while Paul is persecuting the church, going about trying to murder

Christians, imprison Christians. And let me say that again, murder and imprison

Christians. Where is Paul at now? Imprisoned as a Christian. Paul seeking these things in Acts chapter 9 has this miraculous experience where he is on this road and gets blinded, essentially, is what happens.

And he sees the Lord. And when he then goes into this city, Ananias is what it says. So in Acts chapter 19, verse 17 through 20,

I'll read this here for us. So Ananias departed and entered the house. And after laying hands on him, brother

Saul, Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the

Holy Spirit. And immediately there from his eyes, something like scales, something like scales.

And he regained his sight. So there fell from his eyes something like scales, something that was blinding him.

And he regained his sight and he got up and was baptized. And he took food and was strengthened.

Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus. And immediately he began to proclaim

Jesus. Now, if you were here in this text in verse 20, it doesn't say he just proclaims

Jesus. It says that he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues saying he is the son of God.

Remarkable that this place previously where he was going to rally people to go kill

Christians, he is now there proclaiming Jesus as the son of God.

The Christians that he was seeking to kill, to imprison, he now is numbered with.

That is truly, truly remarkable. That is who Paul is. After this, he receives his name Paul. Who is

Timothy? That's the next question that we see here in verse 1. Who is Timothy? Timothy, his mother,

Timothy's mother was a Jewish descent woman. His father was a

Greek. Now by Jewish tradition, that would make Timothy a Jew. We would see that later on.

And Paul chooses Timothy to accompany him in many, many mission trips because he found the company of Timothy to be that of a good thing.

One of honor. And we actually get two books of our New Testament Bible from the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy, the young pastor and overseer.

That Paul is giving exhortation and advice to this young Timothy. So this letter is being written by Paul and Timothy is being written to whom?

Who is it that they are writing this to? They are writing this to the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the overseers and deacons.

And I want to pause before we make mention of this and take note here in verse 1. Slaves of Christ Jesus.

Servants of Jesus Christ. Where is

Paul's and Timothy's identity now? Their identity is being servants of the most high.

That is how they introduce themselves. They're saying, I am Paul, the slave of Christ Jesus.

Now, when we consider that in the importance of where Paul and Timothy used to be, Saul and Timothy used to be, they used to be slaves of what sin.

They were identified with their own works of their own hands. They were identified as a being.

I am a descent of Abraham. I am circumcised on the eighth day. As Paul would say, that is his identity prior to being converted in Jesus Christ.

But now he's saying, I am a slave of Jesus Christ. I am bound to him.

I am led by him. He is my master. I am to do what he says, and I can do no other, for he has given me a command, and I will follow him through and through, for I am his servant.

This is a remarkable way of introducing oneself, especially in a letter. Now, again, slave of Christ Jesus, who is in where again?

He is imprisoned. He's in prison. Where has Christ Jesus led this man to? To jail.

That is where Christ Jesus has led this man to be. Again, we have to remember this.

Now, who are these saints in Christ Jesus? Who are these saints? This is a visible church in the Philippines. These are the ones that have proclaimed to have faith in Jesus.

These are ones that have been obedient to the law or to the command of God to be baptized.

They have no doubt taken in the Lord's table as this is an established church.

Now, pay attention to another thing that it says here. It says, with overseers and deacons. This should confirm to us as a church and help us to avoid a folly that many fall into today.

Is the church of Christ one of organization, one of following after what

God has told us to and be established and set up as? Absolutely.

Absolutely. It consists of overseers and deacons. This is not a home group rogue

Bible study that has gone out because they didn't like their church. So many Christians today say, well, I don't like the church.

I don't like to be underneath somebody. I don't want to have the word of God read every day and I don't on Sundays and I don't like to go and be around these other hypocrites.

Right. That's what you hear every single day. Guess what? We are hypocrites. We're sinners by nature. We fall short of that expectation because no church is perfect, brothers and sisters.

But the issue of this is, is that many Christians want to have a saying and saying something like, since the church is full of evil people,

I'm going to go over here as a solo Christian. I'm going to do a Bible study, a home Bible study, and it's going to be this home church.

Is that why Paul is writing this letter to? He's writing a letter to an established planted church that he himself helped organize.

And how is it organized with overseers and deacons following the exhortation of what

Scripture is set up for us? This is important for us to realize. Now, is having a

Bible study at home a bad thing? Absolutely not. But is forsaking the assembly of God so that you can have your home

Bible study a bad thing? Absolutely. Absolutely. This is sent to overseers and deacons who are overseers.

Overseers are elders, leaders in the church, pastors in the church. That is what overseers are.

Overseers are those who watch over, directs, cares and teaches and is, guess what, accountable for the assembly of God.

This is something that is put upon a man according to Scripture, and it is men according to Scripture, and it's something to weigh upon their soul as they will be judged harshly for how they lead their local bodies.

Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 says this, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

I'm preaching to myself right now because this is terrifying. This is terrifying. Give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

This should be a joyful thing. What are deacons then? How are deacons different than overseers? Deacons here, we see

Paul in the organization of the church, also has set up and established what deacons are. Deacons are very similar to that of overseers, but instead of a position of leading and teaching the spiritual truths of God, the deacon is set up as the means of serving the physical needs of the church.

Overseers are more responsible and more looking to the teachings, where deacons are more responsible in looking over the widows, those that are in need of physical help in the church.

That's not me telling you to call Chad or Zach up when you need your lawn mowed, but if you're going through something where you need physical help,

I would hope you reach out to Chad and Zach as those are our deacons in the church. This is an honorable, good position to have.

This is a good thing. We would read about what deacons are in 1

Timothy 2 8 -13. This is where we'd also get what are overseers, just in the prior text.

But verse 2, it says, This is the second time that we get in a short place, in a short proximity to each other.

Here, Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus in verse 1, Jesus Christ in verse 2.

What do you think is going to be a major theme in this entire book? Jesus Christ, as all of Prowell's writings are.

But that's going to be a major theme that we keep on seeing is Jesus Christ, Lord Christ Jesus. Grace to you, and peace from God, our

Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a common way in Paul's day to welcome the fellow

Christian. Grace to you. This is something that when we commonly say God bless, that would have been a common saying back in that day.

Grace to you, grace to you, grace to you. I kind of want to bring that back. Maybe we'll see that today after shared meal. We'll be saying grace to you as we shake each other's hands and give each other hugs goodbye.

Grace to you, and peace from our God and Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to remember in here that Paul, when he's writing this letter, is reminding the people about their salvation.

He's reminding them that there's peace alone in God. That it is by grace that we have been saved alone, not by any works of our hands.

And so he's writing it to them, this church, by the grace and peace. Verse 3, Paul gives his thanks.

Verse 3, it says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Paul is sitting back and thinking about these people that he's met, and the great joy that it is to have fellowship with them.

And he's saying, I thank my God because of the remembrance. Because I can't physically visit you, church.

I can't see you, because why? Where is he at? He's in prison. I thank

God for bringing the remembrance of who you are, the fellowship that we have. I thank

God for that. Remarkable, again, when we understand and realize that this is being written while in prison.

How often do we go through sufferings and hardships and are quick, rather very, very quick to not thank

God in the midst of them? Not after them, not before them, but in the very midst of the terribleness that even in today that we might be going through.

Do you thank God in those ways? Do you thank

God for this? Now, this is even more implicitly seen here in verse 4.

Always offering prayer with sadness, with heartbreak, with joy.

Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

Think about this, church. You are in prison.

You are beaten. You have blood on your very hands. You probably haven't eaten in a little while.

Are you in a joyful mood? I get in discomfort when

I don't have my morning coffee. Paul is in here saying,

I am praying with joy. With joy. I think immediately of Christians that I have met in my life.

I mean, even today, Brother Ron. You call him throughout the week and you ask, how is he doing?

I'm hanging in there. God is good. It's a common thing that Ron will do when he answers the phone, even though he has a broken leg, right?

Even though he's on crutches and even though he might be getting beat with Debbie in the background by one of them. He is exuding joy in knowing

God. There's another gentleman here in town. His name is

Rich Baker. And I remember one day I was running with Jared and we were running and we come.

We come up by his house and he's there fixing his bike and he has bolts that aren't meant to be with the bike.

And he's fixing it and he's pumping up a tire. And I say, how are you doing today? Rich? He says, better than I deserve.

We as Christians must remember the joy that we have anchored in Christ alone.

It's not found anywhere else. It's only in Jesus that we have this joy of ours. Now, remember again, where did we just come from?

From the book of Haggai chapter two, verse nine. The latter glory of this house will be far better than the former glory.

Where were the people of Israel in those years in 520 BC? Were they joyful people or were they remorseful because of what they saw before them?

They were remorseful because they saw this temple that had not yet been built. What is Paul in right now?

He's in a prison and he's within the temple that God has built and he has joy in it.

He says, I think my God in all my remembrance of you always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

Again, where is Paul's praying directed to? He's not even he's

I'm sure he was praying for what he was going through. No doubt. I'm sure he was praying for the chains that were around him and all these ways.

But what else is he praying for? He's praying for the church of Philippi at this time.

I think we can model what Paul does here often when we have heartbreak, hardship. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't be praying for our own circumstances, but don't forget your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pray for them always. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15. It says through him. Then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of our lips that give thanks to his name. We are always offer up prayer and we should be in a joyful way.

Now in verse five, this is this is truly beautiful when we consider what's going on in here. Again, verse five, because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

When Paul says this, does he say because of our fellowship that we have in that knitting club that we once attended?

Is it fellowship because of a craft day or fellowship in going and shooting guns? Is that where Paul has this fellowship with these brothers and sisters?

What about in eschatology? Is it that Paul is saying, well, we believe in the same way we have fellowship in this.

Or does he say, well, because we believe in the same way of the sacrament, the Lord's table, then therefore we have fellowship.

Or because we sit at shared meal together, I have fellowship in this writing of this letter. Does he say these things to this church?

No, because of the fellowship in the gospel, because of your fellowship in the gospel, we all live different lives.

We all have different interests. We all have different, different minute beliefs in here and there.

But the reality of it is, is if we are brothers and sisters in Christ, it's because we are equally dead in our sins.

And have been equally risen to newness of life in Christ. And it is because we are in Christ, his perfect life, his death, burial and resurrection, the gospel message itself, that we are equally sat at the table together.

You know, oftentimes in the Thanksgiving table, when we come together as a family, as his friends, we'll have the position of honor, right?

The head of the table. Maybe that's the father. Maybe that's the grandfather. And at the head of the table, he's the one that cuts the turkey or says the prayer, whatever it is.

Right. But that position gets elevated when we're at the table of Christ. We are equal there.

The head of our table is Christ Jesus himself. But we are equally served there by that master.

We are equally fed and satisfied by the one of whom we are slaves unto the one that we are held in bondage to.

Because it is him that has done something that we can't. Christ Jesus, risen from the grave, saved us.

That is where our fellowship is and is alone. This is remarkable, again, because Paul is riding these things in jail.

He's riding these things with chains around his feet. He might not even see.

I can't remember correctly exactly what it was. I know somebody that's actually gone to the prisons in Rome.

Very could much like be the ones that Paul was in himself. And this was not a good place.

It was in the ground, if I remember correctly. No light was able to even get into it. He's writing this letter to these people.

He's saying, I have joy and remembrance of you and the fellowship and the gospel that saved you from the first day until now.

And this is where our fellowship is in, is in the gospel. Where is Paul's joy anchored out throughout this entire text in Christ Jesus?

Where is our hope, our happiness, our joy anchored in? It has to be anchored in the same place that Paul found joy.

Anything else that we anchor our joy into, it is going to fall apart. It's going to be a foundation that is built of sand.

And as soon as one wave comes, one hard wind comes, that foundation will be gone.

We have to be planted in that solid rock, Jesus Christ. I would encourage you

Christian today. If we are going through any hardship, trial, tribulation, bad thing, as there is a numerous of bad things out in the world today.

Hardships that we go through as individuals. Our joy is to only be in Christ Jesus.

From there we can be anchored. We can have peace and happiness even in the worst of the worst conditions.

I see all of us came here without a chain around our leg. I don't know if somebody had a wife drag him in or something like that.

But we are all not in prison today. Hallelujah for that. Amen and happiness for that fact.

But regardless of that, our joy is to be found in the same place that Paul, the prisoner in this text, had joy.

So let us pray. Lord God, I do thank you for the joy it is to know you crucify

God. Lord, I would pray that in any way that this text has failed to glorify you, the preaching of this text has failed to glorify you.

Lord, I repent for this. Lord, I would ask that we would be encouraged today to know who you are.

That we would have fellowship in your gospel. And that Lord God, today would be the day that we would go and boldly proclaim who you are into a world that hates you.

Into an idolatrous nation. An idolatrous city even, Lord. God, I pray that in the midst of any trial and any hardship that we are going through today,

Lord. That we would lean upon that very place that we are saved,

God. Lord, the latter glory of your house is far greater than the former.

Lord, let us have peace in you. And let us remember that saving faith that we had the very first moment that our eyes were open and those scales fell off.

And that we looked and saw our sin there nailed to the cross. Let us remember that enjoyment that we realized then and that it might carry us through to the end,

Lord. And God, I just lift these things up to you and pray that we would sing a mightier song of worship to you today.

And again, in that wonderful way the song put it, Lord. In that name of the man of sorrows,

Jesus Christ, the one whom we are slaves unto. We say these things. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, please stand as we sing our final song today as we glorify our

Christ. Jesus, my

Savior. Vainly they steal again. He arose.

He arose. He arose. Jesus, my

Savior. He tore the bars away. Jesus, my

Lord. He arose. He arose.

He arose. Hallelujah. Brothers and sisters,

I would encourage you please to come and get food. Like I said, if you didn't bring anything, that's okay. Come get a plate.

And be equally satisfied together with this church just like how we're equally satisfied in Christ Jesus, I believe.

Let us pray one more time. Lord God, I do thank you just for everyone here today. Let us glorify you.

Let us think about this text in Philippians as we go about our days this week. And Lord God, just renew our hearts, renew our minds to consider our ways and to look firmly to you and your cross,

Lord. God, thank you again when we say this in your name. Amen. Grace and peace to you all, our

Lord God. Oh, what an opportunity to preach that to everybody.

Get up on the mountain and preach that. I'm so angry at what the national...