Philippians 3 with Josiah Shipley - Knowing Jesus more and more every day is worth far more

Philippians chapter 3 guys go ahead and open up there Philippians chapter 3

Philippians chapter 3 now remember guys someone put in the comments first one to put in the comments wins how many letters did

Paul write how many letters did the Apostle Paul write of the New Testament there's 27 books of the

New Testament Paul wrote in letters how many letters did Paul write I think the first one to get it right will be

I don't know Jenny probably Sadie's Sadie's is first Sadie's 13 oh look now everyone's moving in and he wrote more than seven so the way the

New Testament breaks down Paul wrote 13 letters unless of course you think he used all the letters unless of course you think he wrote

Hebrews well we're not sure I don't but I could be wrong he wrote 13 letters because remember John wrote five books of the

New Testament and Paul wrote 13 so those two guys combined wrote 18 of the 27 books in the

New Testament okay and Luke wrote two and you know all that kind of stuff yeah he wrote 13 mmm that we have recorded that are inspired by God and put in the

New Testament hey Isha Isha you answered that one right last time we just got through with we just got through with how many letters

Paul right okay guys now there are four ish of his letters that we call the prison epistles now when we say prison epistles obviously mean that he was imprisoned or at least on lockdown real lockdown with armed guards during those whether that's on a house arrest guarded by Roman soldiers where he's not allowed to leave but he can have visitors or in actual prison

Philippians is one Ephesians Colossians see I forget the other ones

I don't think it was Galatians but anyway Philippians is one of those of Philemon Philemon's the other one

Philippians is one of those prison epistles probably and those of you who want to study this later

Philippians was probably written during the events that took place in the last chapter of Acts so Acts I think it's 28 in the last chapter of Acts if you want some context in your head read the last chapter of Acts and during the very last part of those events is probably when

Paul wrote Philippians and probably even Ephesians Colossians and Philemon as best we can tell all right a little bit of summary what we known so far so Paul writes this book to the

Philippians he calls every one of them all believers saints all the believers there he calls saints he addresses it to all believers including the pastors and the deacons the overseers and the deacons okay so so he he writes to all of them and he tells them this was quoted actually this morning in the sermon that God who started the work in them will carried on the completion till the day of Christ Jesus he tells them to live their life in a manner worthy of the gospel even though they were not worthy of her on their own the court

Christ has made them worthy of it by putting his righteousness on them we call that imputation in Philippians is really an awesome study on progressive sanctification so remember what sanctification a little bit of review guys for those you joining there's three stages of sanctification right we have positional sanctification progressive sanctification and perfected or final sanctification your glorification okay

Philippians is mostly about that progressive sanctification it's though okay what do

I do now that I'm in Christ that continually being made more and more holy more and more made in the image of Christ though will never reach perfection this side of heaven

Paul actually says that in this chapter all right 606 one more minute until we actually start reading so that's kind of the baseline guys

Paul is writing to the church at Philippi and he's telling them how to continue he's telling they continue and keep striving and keep pushing for that sanctification couple more points hey sure a couple more points on the context of chapter 3 hey

Johnny Philippians chapter 3 guys so in chapter 3 Paul deals with a couple couple groups of people unfortunately there are those who are teaching because you remember

Jesus is gone he's in heaven now this is in the 60s 30 years after Jesus gone so a whole generation okay the eyewitnesses of Jesus are starting to leave starting to die off and there's a group of people that are teaching that you have to be physically circumcised in order to be saved and Paul is trying to tell them guys you're trying to put the law back on you as a means to attain grace when the law is meant to show you your sin and that you can't do it without God he tells the

Galatians who has in King James bewitched you who has fooled you and tricked you in this and he's trying to tell the

Philippians the people that are preaching this that you have to look a certain way and do this or you're not saved are preaching a false gospel awesome pretty harsh words for them they're trusting in something man can do to save them instead of something that only

God can do so that's one group of people he calls them dogs and evildoers so he's gonna address them in just a little bit with some pretty harsh words and he dresses them again at the end of the chapter so without further ado let's get it we're in Philippians chapter 3

I'm gonna read the whole chapter first now guys if you're not used to someone reading a whole chapter at the beginning listen to me for a second

I get it what the Bible has to say is all that matters what

I say doesn't really matter unless it's based off what this says okay we believe at Witten we believe that the

Bible is the Word of God when we say the Word of God we're literally saying these are God's words written to you remember our example last week from Matthew chapter 22

Jesus told the Pharisees I think was verse 31 have you not read what

God spoke to you I want to reiterate this point one more time forget sermon and lesson all that stuff

Jesus told the Pharisees have you not read what

God wrote to you through Moses wrap your head around the fact that Jesus quoted from a historical document written 1500 years before that but Jesus can look them dead in the eye and said did you not read what

God wrote to you and from a human perspective you might look and say well

Moses wasn't writing to them but God's Word is living and effective okay and just like Jesus held the

Pharisees accountable for not knowing what God wrote to them through Moses 1500 years later even though Paul is writing this to the

Saints at Philippi because we are Saints he is writing this to us does that make sense y 'all follow me on that if I need to reiterate that put it in the comments

I really want y 'all to hear that I want y 'all to hear that because Paul is running to the

Philippians doesn't mean it doesn't apply to us since we are Saints just like it was mentioned in chapter 1 that means this is written to us as well and God will hold us accountable for knowing it all right here we go

Philippians chapter 3 I'll start by reading the whole chapter if you don't listen to anything else what this says is infinitely more important than is infinitely more important than anything

I'll say why did he say didn't you see what I wrote to you oh Jim they were trying to trick him asking a question about divorce and remarriage and Jesus answered them by saying haven't you read what

God spoke to you it's in Matthew 22 31 and he quotes from Moses God's view on marriage and the resurrection of the dead

I think was specifically what they were trying to trick him and it was the resurrection of the dead so Matthew 22 31 you can go check that out okay very good here we go

Philippians chapter 3 I'll read the whole thing finally now of course Paul waits till three chapters into a book to say finally and then goes on for two more chapters sound like a pastor anybody know finally my brothers rejoice in the

Lord threat the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you look out for dogs look out for evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh for we are the circumcision who worship by the

Spirit of God and glory and Christ Jesus and don't put confidence in the flesh though I once had reason for the confidence in the flesh if anyone thinks he has reason for the confidence flesh

I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel the tribe of Benjamin the

Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to the righteousness under the law

I was blameless verse 7 but everything every gain

I had was counted as loss for the sake of Christ indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish as filth as dumb in order that I may gain

Christ verse 9 and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible

I may attain the resurrection from the dead verse 12 not that I've already obtained this or I'm already perfect but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own brothers

I don't consider myself to have made it but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward straining forward to what lies ahead

I press on the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus verse 15 let those of us who are mature think in this way and if in anything you think otherwise

God will reveal that also to you only let us hold true to what we have obtained verse 17 brothers join me in imitating and imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us for many of whom

I have often told you now tell you leave them with tears walk as enemy of the cross of Christ their end is destruction their

God is their belly and they glory in their shame with their minds set on earthly things but our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a

Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who would transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to all right by the way

I'm sorry I should have said I'm reading out of the ESV if you want to follow along I'm reading out of the

English Standard Version all right let's go back verse by verse let's find out what the

Holy Spirit is trying to tell us through Paul verse 1 finally my brothers rejoice my Lord to write the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you having the same repeated over and over is safe for them some of us including myself have to hear things from the

Word of God more than once for it to stick right so fight the temptation if someone reads a verse like oh

I've heard that one before I know it no meditate it on again because to hear the same thing sometimes is safe for you but verse 2 look out for dogs look out for evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh now

Paul isn't talking about his dogs you know his friends he's calling these evildoers dogs notice who these evildoers are guys these evildoers are not atheists they're not agnostics they're not people you know just outright saying there is no

God these evildoers and these dogs are people that are teaching a false gospel people that appear to be in the church but are not really in the church

Paul calls them dogs and evildoers those who mutilate the flesh for verse 3 we are the circumcision who's the circumcision

Paul who who's the circumcision see these are Gentile believers non -jewish blood people and some of them are were converted when they were adults

I want you to picture this now they were converted they were saved if you will in their 40s these men okay and people are coming up behind and saying hey you know if you really want to be saved you got to get circumcised you know if you really want to be saved you got to make sure to wear a suit and tie on Sundays if you really want to be saved you got to make sure to go to seminary if you really want to be saved you got to make sure to get a haircut if you really want to be saved you got to do this this and this and a list of things not listed in the

Bible. Paul says something very similar at the end of Galatians.

I want to read to you. If you want to write it down and study it later. This is Galatians chapter 6 verse 12 through 16.

Galatians chapter 6 verse 12 through 16. This is again addressing people who say that you have to follow man's law or follow the old law or be circumcised in order to be saved.

Galatians 6 12 through 16. Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised, but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

For even circumcised don't keep the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh.

But as for me, verse 14, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The world has been crucified to me through the cross and I to the world. For both the circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing.

Let me say that again. Verse 15 of Galatians 6. Circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing.

What matters instead is new creation. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

That's the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. May peace come to all those who follow this standard and mercy to the

Israel of God. We could spend a whole lesson on that phrase, the Israel of God.

We won't go into it, but notice this time we're not talking about the God of Israel, we're talking about the Israel of God. Notice they belong to God.

It's God's Israel. His true Israel. Not by the flesh, but at the heart.

Just like he said in Matthew, it's not circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart. All right, back to Philippians 3.

So again, Paul is dealing with false teachers who are teaching that you still have to follow man -made law in order to be saved, or that physical circumcision is what saves you, not of the heart.

Paul tells them in verse 3, we are the circumcision, comma. Now who's the circumcision?

Those who worship by the Spirit of God in glory in Christ Jesus, or boast in Christ Jesus.

Those who worship in and by the Spirit of God in glory, boast, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.

Guys, on my own, I can do nothing for the glory of God. But look, how do we worship?

We worship in and by the Spirit of God. I don't even worship right without the

Spirit of God. According to Romans 8, I don't even know how I ought to pray without the

Spirit of God. That's why he intercedes with unspoken gronies, right? I can't serve

God without God. Grace does not stop at your conversion. That's the first time you've ever seen it, is at your conversion.

Grace continues on for the rest of your Christian life. For it is by grace you've been saved through faith, and not of yourselves.

It's the gift of God. There's your conversion. For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God planned ahead of time that we should walk in them.

So in verse 3, we worship by the Spirit of God, and we glory, we boast in Christ Jesus.

We don't boast in anything in the flesh. Nothing, church. Nothing. Constant John 3 30, for our lives,

Miss Vicki. And I love you so much, Miss Vicki. It's good to see you.

For those of you who are gonna watch this and you're not from Witten, I love my church family so much, and when

I see them on this, it makes me long for them. As Paul says here with the

Philippians, I long for them, and I can't wait till I can see them again. We worship by the

Spirit of God, and we glory, we boast, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we don't put a lick of confidence in the flesh.

Not one bit. Every day is a constant. He must increase, and I must decrease.

John 3 30. There is, there is, if you, I don't call them life verses, but look, if you need one for a constant reminder every day to put on your fridge, to write on your doorpost, to put in your car, put on your rearview mirror, write out

John 3 30. He must increase, and I must decrease. What about at work? He must increase, and I must decrease.

What about at home? He must increase, and I must decrease. In any and all circumstances, in whatever you do, 1st

Corinthians 10 31, in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. Verse 4.

4 through 8, or 4 through 6, Paul wants everyone to make sure that if confidence in the flesh, if the flesh is what saved you, then

Paul would be the super Christian. Paul speaks about his unsaved past, his unconverted life in 4 through 6.

He goes, guys, I was the perfect Sunday school teacher. I never missed a day at church. I always dressed nice.

I always had my hair cut. I've never, as pastor says, cussed, smoked, or drank, so Jesus is happy with me.

Paul says that he, now look, he says, I am an Israelite, but I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.

I'm not even from the Norman tribes. I'm from the two southern tribes. I'm a Hebrew, born of Hebrews.

I was circumcised on the eighth day. I persecuted the church.

I kept the law perfectly. I was blameless. And then verse 7. I want to read verse 7 through 11 again, guys.

Verse 7 through 11. But whatever gain I had, I counted it as loss for the sake of Christ.

Verse 8. Listen. Indeed, I count everything. Now, what do you think the

Bible means when it says everything? I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord. Now, guys, you might ask yourself, well, didn't Paul already know who

Jesus was? Guys, when Paul speaks about knowing Jesus more and more every day, he's not talking about, you know, who his name is or what year he was born.

He's talking about knowing who he is and knowing that more and more every day, being made more and more like him every day, knowing him more and knowing his word more than you did yesterday.

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, knowing him as Lord, for his sake

I've suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish, as filth, King James says, as dung, so that I may gain

Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Hey, Scott. Those of you watching Philippians 3, 7 through 11 is where we're at right now.

Do you count everything as a loss in view of knowing Christ more and more?

See, Hebrews chapter 12 says, lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us.

Notice, lay aside every sin. Yeah, we get that. Every weight and sin. Even things that aren't even sins in and of themselves, but that hold you back from following Jesus more and more.

Lay it aside forever. Forever. Lay it aside. Laying aside every weight,

Hebrews 12 tells us. Here, same thing. I have counted everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth.

The value of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord more than you did yesterday is worth losing everything.

Let me say that again. Read again. He says, I've suffered the loss of all things and I count them as filth, as dung, as rubbish compared to knowing the surpassing worth, the infinite value of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I've suffered loss of all things in order that I may gain

Christ. Knowing Jesus as Lord more and more is infinitely more valuable, infinitely more value and surpassing worth than everything else.

This is a great test to ask ourselves, how much do we really love Jesus? Do we love him more than anything?

Is it even close? Do you consider everything else as filth compared to Jesus?

And when I say everything, I mean everything. Do you consider everything else, no matter how much you care for it, compared to Jesus Christ, it should be as filth?

That's how much we should love Jesus. That's how much we should love Jesus. Everything else in the flesh should be counted as rubbish compared to knowing him.

If anything, anything gets in the way of you loving

Jesus more and more, cut it off. Get rid of it. Of you loving

Jesus more and more. Well, how do I know? How do I know? Well, Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments.

In other words, you will obey. So, if there is something in your life that is keeping you from Jesus, it's keeping you from obeying

Jesus, thus you are putting it above him. We call that an idol, and we all know what

God does with idols. Don't do that. Don't do that to a person. They don't want that.

Don't put them in that position. Everything else is as filth compared to knowing

Jesus more and more every day. But it says that I may gain

Christ and be found in him. What does it mean to gain Christ and be found in him? Not having, look, it tells us, in order that I may gain

Christ and be found in him, verse 9, what is that? It's not having a righteousness of your own that comes from the law, but having that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God.

Excuse me, notice, yeah, not even a pastor, Vicki. Notice, it is not your righteousness that saves you, but it's

Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed on you. We've talked about the three stages of imputation before.

A lot of these doctrines have three stages, you know. Adam's sin is imputed on all men, Romans chapter 5 verse 12, okay.

Then sin is imputed on Jesus. Jesus takes on the sin in God's wrath, and then for believers, and believers only, guys,

I'm sorry, that's what it says right here, by faith, whoever has faith,

Christ's righteousness is imputed on them. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed on believers.

Notice in verse 9 and 10, it says the righteousness from Christ, and then it says the righteousness from God.

Which is it? Yes. Yes. You know why?

Because as we've discussed all throughout Philippians, Jesus is God. That's why in John he can say, no one can snatch him out of the

Father's hands, and then no one can snatch him out of Jesus's hands. Well, whose hands are we in? Exactly.

Not having righteousness of our own that comes from the wall or anything from man, but one that comes through faith, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Faith. How do I know if I really believe? How do I know if I really believe?

Do you love God? Do you keep his commands, and do you feel conviction when you don't keep his commands?

Do you love your brother and sister in Christ? Because Jesus said, the summary of the entire law is to love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. John said, the way that we'll know, or Jesus said, the way the world will know that you're my disciples is by the way you love each other.

Greater love has no man than this, that he laid down his life for his friend. Paul still wants to know

Jesus more. By human standards, Paul knew him better than anyone. He had half the

Old Testament memorized. He knew all the answers. Peter talks about how difficult some of Paul's letters are because they're so in -depth and so theological.

By human standards, Paul would know Jesus more than any of us, and then Paul says in verse 10, his goal is to know him.

Paul, what do you mean your goal is to know him? If your goal is to know him, I'm way out in left field.

Do you know him better than I do? Paul still wants to know him more and more, and Paul's not interested in human standards of intellect on how well he knows

Jesus. Paul understands that knowing Jesus more than you did yesterday is of surpassing value, so Paul in his old age can still say,

I want to know Jesus more. Just like Moses, God, I want to see more of your glory. God, I want to see more of your glory.

Paul is saying, I want to know Jesus more. No matter how long you've been a believer, you should want to know

Jesus more than you did yesterday. Love him more than you did yesterday. Serve him, serve his church more than you did yesterday.

It's of infinite value and surpassing worth. And the power of his resurrection, it says in verse 10, he wants to know the power of his resurrection.

For believers who share in his sufferings, let's pick up their cross daily. Remember guys, a cross is a torture device.

When we say pick up our cross daily and follow him, we're saying we're ready for the slings and arrows of the world.

We die to self every day as he did and then we'll be raised with him. Paul wasn't sure. Remember guys, the writers of the

New Testament did not know the day that Jesus would return, just like we don't. Paul wasn't sure if he'd live to see the end of the resurrection.

He didn't know, but what he said is this, he knew that when he died, he would go to be with the

Lord. He said that in chapter 1 verse 23. If he departs from this world, he will be with Christ.

Like 2 Corinthians 5 .8, he said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The thief on the cross,

Jesus told him, today you will be with me in paradise. We know when we die we go to be with the Lord, but we know our physical body stays here.

But on that day of resurrection, see Paul's body is on earth somewhere right now, scattered, deteriorated, probably on five different countries.

You know, it's been fertilized and it's decomposed. One day guys, one day the

Lord will resurrect the bodies of believers. He'll resurrect the bodies of all the dead and we'll be given a new body.

See Jesus is gonna get everything he paid for. He paid for all of you. He's gonna get all of it. Paul knew that day was coming, the resurrection from the dead.

He talks about it a lot more in other books of the Bible, but he wants to remind the church at Philippi that just as Jesus was resurrected, not just raised from the dead, but he was resurrected to a new body.

I was talking to Pastor Jeff about this earlier. So will we. Verse 12.

Not that I've already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Paul knows he's not perfect in this body, but he still strives, he still strains for his sanctification because, listen,

Christ Jesus has made me his own. Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Guys, I heard an analogy one time that I think misses the mark. And the analogy was, you know,

Jesus is like a boat. If you choose to buy a destination of heaven, then good for you, but if not,

I guess you missed the boat. Guys, salvation is way more intimate than that.

Christ Jesus has made you his own. You're his. You're co -heirs with Christ.

You are sons and daughters of God. Why can

Paul walk worthy of the gospel? Verse 12. Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

I'm his. I'm his and he's mine. That's why

Paul says, my God, right? Because it's an intimate relationship.

Christ Jesus has made us his own. We weren't his own from birth. We weren't his own because of the flesh. We are his own because he's made us his own.

Hey, Brother Marty. Philippians 3, now we're in verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 and 14.

Brothers, I do not consider myself to have made it my own, but this one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

There's a lot of us here that need to hear that again. Verse 13. Brothers, I don't consider that I've made it my own, but this one thing

I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul knows he hasn't reached perfection. He's only gotten this far because of Jesus Christ.

Paul's response to being bought by the blood of Jesus is to forget everything else and to strain and strive for the upward call of God in us because that's our goal.

Think about this, guys. Paul is saying nothing in the flesh, none of that other stuff, not being the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, doing all the right things, you know, having the right

Bible study None of that. Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

I strive, I strain. That's the Christian life, straining, striving, picking up your cross daily for the upward call.

Now Paul is getting on up in years and he is still straining and running the race.

He is still fighting for that. Why? Because of the surpassing worth of knowing

Christ Jesus his Lord. All that straining and striving, knowing

Jesus more and more every day is worth everything. Everything. Now check out verse 15.

Let those of us who are mature in our Christian walk think this way.

What way? Well, about straining and striving and keep fighting, not being lazy in our sanctification, not taking grace for granted as some cheap parlor trick, but straining and striving for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Well, how do I do that? How do I strain and strive? Love God and love each other. Love God.

Find a fellow believer and serve them. Because Jesus said, if you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me.

Why? Because if they have been put in the body of Christ, think logically, if a believer, now

I'm speaking of believers for a moment, if a believer has been placed in Jesus Christ, remember that positional sanctification, in the body of Christ, where we're all different body parts, the

I can't say to you, all that. If they've been put in the body of Christ, then if you serve them, you are serving

Christ because they are part of his body. Does that make sense? That's why

Jesus told them, yeah, you may have never seen me in prison or hungry or thirsty, but if you've done it to them, you've done it to me.

Why? Because if they're saved, they're believers, they've been placed in his body. So if you do it to them, you're doing it to him.

But let all of us who are mature think this way, and if any of you think otherwise, listen, all of us who, believers who are mature, think this way, and if any of you think otherwise, if you have questions or doubts are on the way, if you're straining and striving now, if you're seeking him with all your heart, if you're straining and striving, seeking him with all your heart, like Pastor Ed this morning from Psalm 137, what happens?

If you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. I have doubts along the way.

I have questions. If you strain and strive and seek with all your heart, God will reveal it to you. Whether he uses whatever method he decides to do it, he'll reveal that to you.

And you will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with your whole heart. Not half of it, your whole heart.

God will reveal it to you. Because his grace didn't stop at your conversion. You only just begun to see it.

Only let us hold true to what we have obtained. All right, verse 17.

Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Okay, continue holding on the truth you've obtained. Now, I want you to think about this.

Paul says, join in imitating me. He said it differently in Corinthians. I think it's 1st

Corinthians 11. Imitate me because I'm imitating Christ. Or follow me because I'm following Christ.

Can you say that? Can you look at a younger believer?

I don't mean younger in age. I mean a new believer. And can you tell them, follow me because I'm following Jesus.

You should be able to. Paul is saying, brothers, join in imitating me.

Imitate me because I'm following Jesus Christ. So if you're following me, you're following Jesus. I'm going that way.

That's what a pastor's supposed to do. Supposed to lead. Supposed to point everyone to Christ and show by example what following Christ looks like.

Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Okay, watch them. Imitate the faith of the leaders God has put in your life, but test everything they say to what the

Bible says. Test everything your leaders say to what the Bible says.

If it matches up, great. If it matches up, then you can follow that example. But Paul weeps, verse 18, for many, there's that word again, scariest word in the

Bible, for many of whom I've told you, and I'll tell you again with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

Guys, when we at Witten, when we say unbelievers, we're not talking just about atheists and agnostics, guys.

There are unbelievers that attend church services. There are unbelievers who have been going to church for 50 years.

There are unbelievers that say, say they love Jesus. Many will come saying that,

Matthew 7. They say they do. You know what Paul calls those people? Look again, not my words,

Paul's, verse 18, they are enemies of the cross of Christ. They're in this destruction, their

God is their belly, and this is why, listen, they glory, they rejoice, they boast in their shame because their minds are set on earthly things.

Listen again. Some of us need to really hear this warning from Paul, not from me, from the Bible. Their minds are set on earthly things.

Set your minds on things above, not on things below. Is your mind set on earthly things? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you.

Paul cries for those who say they love Jesus, but really they're his enemies because they preach a different gospel and their mind is set on earthly things.

Ask yourself, where's your mindset? I don't know about you guys, but my mind needs a constant readjustment back to the cross.

Hey, Brother Rodney. Guys, my mind needs a constant readjustment back to the cross.

If you're not constantly readjusting your mind back to the cross, back to the

Bible, back to God's Word, back to things in heaven, not on things below, you're gonna be out in left field. Their minds are set on earthly things, but our citizenship, verse 20, is in heaven, and from it we await a

Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables

Him to subject all things to Himself. Guys, this is not our home.

This is our workplace. This is our job. This is where we're straining and striving. I want to say about this world, these earthly things, this is our workplace.

This is our job. The weekend is coming. We're in our work week right now, or work week.

We are striving. We are straining for the cause of Christ, but our home is not here.

Our citizenship is in heaven. That's our home. We're at our job right now.

We're at our work week. We're on our nine -to -five right now. We are working, striving, straining for the cause of Christ.

Our home is in heaven. That's where our citizenship is. Hey, Brother Hunter. I'm sorry, guys, I got distracted.

I saw Hunter and I smiled. I love you, Hunter. And from heaven we await a

Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables

Him to subject all things to Himself. What do you think the Bible means when it says all things?

The power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself. What do you think that means?

Is that the type of Lord that you serve? Do you serve that type of God who subjects all things to Himself, who works all things according to the counsel of His will?

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love

God and are called according to His purpose. Guys, that's the God we serve. That's the God we serve.

We serve a God. We serve a God that subjects all things to Himself.

He's waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. Well, why is He waiting? Because that's His plan. He has a purpose behind it.

And at the appointed time, He will come back and subject, finally, all things to Himself.

Okay, that's chapter 3, guys. So, a little bit of a, hey

Micah, a little bit of a summary here, guys, and then a couple leading thoughts. So we're three chapters in, and so far this is what we've covered.

Paul is writing from prison and he's telling people to live worthy of the gospel, even though they're not.

But they were made worthy by the righteousness of Christ through faith, not through works, through faith, everybody.

Faith. Abraham believed, had faith, and was credited to him. Paul believed and had faith, and was credited to him.

We believe and have faith, and it was credited to us as righteousness, accounted, imputed.

Paul's writing to the saints at Philippi and saying the same thing. Now, he tells them to be unified in chapter 2.

At the end of chapter 1, chapter 2, he tells them to be unified. Unified in what? How are they supposed to be unified?

By living worthy of the gospel, and by loving Jesus more than they love anything else, and by having that common goal, they come closer together.

See, guys, that's the thing about team sports. The teams that are the most functional together are the ones that are all focused on the same goal, and all moving that direction, and moving that direction, they come closer together.

It's the same thing with God. The more we all are one -minded and focused on glorifying

God, the more we join closer together. I love my church family. I'm seeing their names, I'm getting distracted when their names pop up here.

I love my church family. Guys, what binds us is, there it is, what binds us is not a chemical reactions in the brain that make us like some people more than others.

Guys, my best friends in the world I don't have a lot in common with by human standards.

They're my best friends in the world because we all have the one thing that matters the most in life in common, and that's that we love

Jesus. We love his word, and it's more important than any of our individual opinions, any of our individual differences, any of our individual...

that's most important, and we all follow that, strive for that, strain for that, and we come closer together.

Chapter four, we'll start next week. Now, chapter four, guys, if you want to read ahead, it's funny how

Paul went about this. He goes three chapters talking about people being unified by loving

Jesus more and more every day, and not worrying about things behind, but reaching forward to things that are ahead.

Chapter four, he names names. There are two women at the Church of Philippi.

It's love, which is Christ. That's right. God is love. There are two women at the

Church of Philippi that are causing division. They're arguing amongst themselves, and they're causing division in the whole church.

Okay, now, once you think about this, Paul, from hundreds of miles away, let's see,

I gotta get a map out, from a long way away, is writing to them, and he names names, because that's how big of a division they're causing.

Okay, so Paul spends all this time telling them how to be unified.

How do they unify? Quit focusing on yourself. Start focusing on Jesus. Now, so in chapter four, make sure you read ahead and see what

Paul has. Now, Paul says something very key in chapter four. He talks about the secret to being content.

Read ahead for that. All right, guys. Look, there we are with that, going through Philippians.

We might be able to get through all chapter four next week. I'm not sure, and then, gotta figure out what book we're doing next.

That'll be fun. I'll let you guys help me pick. So, next week, we might be able to finish. We got one more chapter.

Guys, remember, those of you just joining in, or anything like that, please remember, the next day, or sometimes that night,

Andrew, Andrew Cook, our music minister, always goes back and uploads these to the

YouTube page. That's Witten Media Ministry. Witten Media Ministry. Thanks, Jim.

Thanks, Bill. Thanks, Scott. Witten Media Ministry. Now, that's our

YouTube channel. Now, you just go to YouTube, and in the search bar, type in Witten Media Ministry. Go ahead and like and subscribe to that.

And Andrew has done a great job. He has titled all the videos. So, literally, guys, you can go to Witten Media Ministry, and the titles of the videos tell you what scripture was covered.

So, whether it's Pastor Ben's timeouts, or Brother Jeff's sermons, or Vicki and Mercedes and Deborah's wow moments, or whatever it may be,

Jeremiah and Hunter's Wednesday nights, you can see what was covered. A really useful tool. Andrew's also, on the

Facebook page, been making playlists, so you can see old videos. But I think

YouTube, Witten Media Ministries, and the public Facebook page, the video section, has all these lessons we've been doing, including the question and answer thing we did

Saturday night, which was pretty fun. The questions, for those you didn't hear, and they're on Facebook, and I think they're on YouTube now.

Speaking of God's justice, God's judgment, how is God fair, what will

Judgment Day look like for believers, stuff like that. So, all that we want to know.

Thanks, Johnny. I love all you guys. Oh, and Andrew's hymn histories,

Be Thou My Vision, was the one he did tonight. That was cool. Okay, I can't think of anything else I need to mention.

Pastor Jeff will be on shortly. Those you don't know, by the way,

I've noticed some names I don't recognize. My name is Josiah Shipley. I love my church at Witten, and I do this so we can continue learning more and more about Jesus, more and more about God and His Word.

Marty, I'm glad you liked Saturday night. We're gonna keep doing that. We've got some more things coming with that kind of stuff.

Guys, look, here's our method at Witten. Here's how we read. We don't do

Bible studies just to tell opinions. We do Bible studies and we go verse by verse.

We don't skip a single word. That way we can find out what God intends to tell us, because God holds us accountable for knowing this

Word, so our job is to know this Word so that we can follow it and hold each other accountable to it.

I love all you guys so much. I really do. I don't know if this is a public live video, but I don't care.

I love my family and I want you guys to know that. Again, for those of you just joining on, remember you can go back and play it and watch it.

Also, don't forget all the old videos are on Witten Media Ministry on YouTube, and Andrew also puts them in a playlist on Facebook.

So, again, you can go back and watch this.

You can catch back up on all the Philippians. We've done four or five lessons on Philippians. We've got one or two more. Hey, Paul.

Good to see you, man. We're about to sign off, but text me. Rewatch this, or wait till tomorrow when it's on YouTube, but rewatch it, man.

Good to see you, Paul. Love you, brother. Okay. I love all you guys. I can't think of anything else.

Ava's not here. If anyone's got anything else for me, I'll sign off. If not, anything else.

Alright. Well, I hope you guys got something out of it. I hope it was edifying for you. I love you all, and I'll see y 'all next week.