Joy in the Lord, Whatever Comes
First B Jackson
2024-02-11

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning, everybody. How are you? Let's sing a man from the vestibule. If you'd stand up, we will sing, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, hymn number five twenty six. There are hymnals up here up at the front if you wanna sing a part, wanna see your part, but we'll just sing off the wall otherwise.

There it comes.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest drape, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness seems to veil his face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All of the ground is is When sinking he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, all as to stand before the throne. On Christ a solid rock, I stand. All of the ground is sinking sand. Of the ground is sinking sand.

Oh, y'all just laughing at me

about those hymnals a minute ago, weren't you? No. It's it's fun when that comes up like that, isn't it? Blessed assurance. We're gonna sing blessed assurance.

And that might just get frozen, so seriously, we'll sing it. If you wanna come up and grab a hymnal, you're welcome to it. You know, it might take Blake a little while to catch up with us.

Or maybe not. Assurance Jesus is mine Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his vivid, washed in his blood. This is my story. This is my song praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. Perfect savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story. This is my Praising my savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long. Y'all can have a seat. I have

a few announcements. They're not a ton of them, they're about the same ones you hear most weeks. Awana is happening tomorrow night, that's a kids club, it starts off in this room, 05:45. They play games together, they learn scripture together, really get to be in council time together. It's a good time.

So kids club starts at 05:45, goes to 07:30, Awana tomorrow night. And what's the night tomorrow night? Ice cream. There's ice cream tomorrow night. That's good.

The volunteers for that, if you show up at 05:15, we'll have supper ready for you, for you and your kids and the rest of it will start 05:45 to six. We have a full sheet down there of volunteers who have signed up for the next month, but you can still sign up above and beyond that month if you want to or contact Addy Hair if you want to to prepare a little bit of breakfast between the services, the connect hour, so we don't become two different churches. Sisters Saved by Grace is a Bible study that happens on Thursday evenings here. It's Thursday evenings at six. They read scripture together, pray together, and they have a meal together too.

So that's 6PM, starting at 6PM, Sisters Saved by Grace. There's also the women's community Bible study meets in this room starting off in here on Wednesdays from 10AM to noon. They spread out after presentation from Deborah Buckingham upfront. They spread out into small groups and pray for one another and go over scripture together. It's a good time.

So that's ten to noon on Wednesdays. There's a men's snowmobile retreat that's coming up two weekends away. February twenty third through the twenty fifth at Old Faithful Christian Ranch, Richard Largie is the guy in charge And that's fun. 2 Top Mountain is nearby to Old Faithful Christian Ranch and there's that's a good time. A $100 for adults, 75 for kids.

You can come and go snowmobiling, maybe snowshoeing, cross country skiing, whatever you want to do, but Richard Largie is the guy to talk to. This is just so you can plan. I think we can take this one off for next week when people get it on the calendar. June 17 through the twentieth is the time for vacation Bible school and the theme this year is hometown Nazareth where Jesus was a kid. Sounds like fun to me.

I don't think we need to do the musical chairs either. Tax time. If you have a question about, if you have received or you haven't received or you feel like it's not quite right for some reason, you can contact Nick in the office, assistant at First B Jackson, and he will get you all the documents that you need. They should all be in your possession by now, but he just wanted to double back and make sure. And that's still musical chairs time.

How about we'll go to the next song? Do you all have any other announcements? Admissions, deletions, you wanna confess anything? No. Would you stand up?

Just kidding.

You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I seek. You are my all in all. Seeking you as a precious jewel, Lord, to give up, I'd be a fool. You are my all in all.

Jesus, lamb of God, worthy your name. Jesus, lamb of God, worthy is your name. Is Taking my sin, my cross, my shame. Rising up, can I bless your name? You are my all in all.

Amen. What about the greatest thing? The greatest thing in all my life?

The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you. The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you. I want to know you more. I want to know you more. The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you.

The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. The greatest thing in all my life is loving you. I want to love you more. I want to love you life is serving you. I want to serve you more.

I want to serve you more. You. Alright. Y'all can have a seat. I have a

it's I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward. It's worship through giving time, operatory time. Would you pray with me? God, thank you for Lord, I'm overwhelmed by being a part of the family of God, having brothers and sisters here and on the very other side of this planet. I received news this morning that the Induna chief of Olwasini area in South Africa that I sat with as a brother in Christ died this week.

And to feel a kinship with that brother from this distance is pretty amazing. I've fallen into a family that is worldwide. I pray, Lord, that you'd comfort his folks and his tribe, and Lord, that the gospel would advance in that place. Lord, I thank you that we're here gathered in your name, right here in this little community. In Jesus name, we ask that you would do your will, Lord, in your way, in us, among us, and through us.

Would you do it, Amen.

Can we just let Judy know how much we appreciate her one more time? Really. It's beautiful and a beautiful song. His eyes on the spear, and I know he watches me. My name is Carl Clemmer, and I'm I'm one of the the pastors here and also an elder.

And I just wanted to let you know that in the the weeks ahead, as we as elders want to introduce ourselves and and share just a a three minute testimony before the sermon. And, you know Ray and I pretty well. We're up here, you know, all the time, but it also give you here a chance to hear from from Josh and Berkeley and Glenn and Steve and Brad and our shepherds, our overseers. And with the hope of this, that number one, you'd be encouraged. We want to encourage you.

We really do and love you. And, and also that it would would open the doors that you'd go, oh, I know them now. I I I know more about them, and I I feel like I can come to them. That's that's our hope. And, that's the idea.

If I were to sum up my my testimony in a in a sense, it's simply this, that God saved me and he gave me peace. God saved me and he gave me peace. I grew up in a Christian family. My parents both believers. They raised my brother and I and the Lord, and at an early age, they took me down Romans Road.

Anybody, take you ever take you down Romans Road before? It is I mean, it's true and it's effective. I mean, it really is. And that's when I professed faith in Christ. I absolutely was sure that God created me.

He loves me. Wants a relationship with me. My sin separates me from him. The wages of that sin is death. I learned that in Romans six twenty three, but the free gift of God has eternal life in Jesus.

I profess that Jesus died in my place for my sin, bridging that gap to bridging that gap to God, giving me forgiveness and eternal life. So at a very young age, heard that message. That's why we have Awana. That's why we believe it's so important to share the gospel with our children because at an early age is when most profess faith in Christ. But when it really started to click for me, what that meant was in my late teens, early twenties, I I moved away from home.

I did my best to take a prodigal walk, But you know what? It didn't last very long because the Lord graciously drew me back to himself, and he gave me peace that I did not have before. That's my story. That's my testimony. It was the kindness of God that led me to repentance and gave me peace.

It was the kindness of God that drew me back into the fold, into the church, and surrounded me with loving Jesus followers like y'all. I mean, I can look around this room and go, man, I love to see you each and every week. I really do. And it was it was folks like you who drew me back into the church too, and then on the worship team, and then in full time ministry, and and here I am twenty five years later, a pastor and worship leader. But my my point here is that Jesus gave me peace in Christ.

So God gave me peace in Christ, a peace that passes understanding that we'll hear about in Philippians. And if you if you know a peace that passes understanding, you know a peace that passes understanding. It's that kind of peace that it's no matter what kind of peace where you think, I I shouldn't have this kind of peace, but I do in Christ. It's that kind of peace. Peace of heart and peace of mind.

A peace that the world cannot give where you search and search and search here, but you go, I can't find it here, but you do find it in Christ. I see head nods because you know that kind of peace. Peace with God because we're justified through faith in Christ. That's Romans five one. That that's what gives us peace.

So I know that many of y'all have it. If you don't, know where it comes from, please. It comes from Christ. It comes from Jesus. And all it takes is a yielded and surrendered will saying, God, can't find this peace on my own.

I I want your kind of purse, your your kind of peace. Would you take up residence right here? And he will. If he can do it in me, he can do it in you. He's the God of peace.

He's the prince of peace. So that's my testimony. As far as elder is concerned, my spiritual gifts are mercy, encouragement, and service. I love hospital visits. Would you call on me?

Seriously. If you or a family member are going are are are in the hospital, I I love it. And I love hospital lunch, just so you know. And and and and I would love to join you for a hospital lunch. I like to to talk and pray through difficult things, but I also just like to talk and pray when things aren't difficult.

Just just to know you. And I also have experience loading U Haul trailers. So call on me. I'm your guy. I'm one of your elders.

Thank you, Carl. That's good. Each week, he said we're gonna have elders come up, there are less elders right now than there have been. We're down we have kind of thinned down the pack here recently, but we'll have them for the next few weeks. Up there on the screen right now, it says Philippians.

And normally, I put numbers after whatever it is, but no, I really mean it. It's all of it, Philippians. No, I'll probably skip the last few verses. But I am working towards four six and seven, and four eight, and four nine. That's what I'm working towards, but I'm ramping up by using the rest of Philippians.

Last week, I was in Colossians, which is one of the prison epistles. While Paul is in prison, he's writing to the Colossians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, and one dude, Philemon, which I covered last week. Philippians is along those same lines. It's fairly short as books go, it's four chapters long and he is expressing to them all kinds of the same stuff we heard in Colossians, but with different application because it's a different place with a different issue. So Philippians is just beautiful.

While we were in on the field in Mexico, there was a summer staffer that came in and Ashley, I think was her name. She's a short little gal with blonde curly hair and she was so excited about it. She wrote it out by hand over and over until she had it memorized. And I thought, wow, that's a lot. I'm gonna cover most of what she wrote down here.

This is a return address. Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus, that's what they are. And who is it to? Who's it addressed to? Well, to all of the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi.

Now, last week in Colossians, I I thought about it and I thought, you know, we did a little from chapter one, a prayer, a verse from chapter two, verse from chapter three, and then we covered the chapter four. This week, I'm looking at this and I'm going, I like what it said in Colossians last week. Colossians, read this letter aloud in the church, then send it to Laodicea and let them read it out loud in their church. You get the one I sent to them, read it out loud. And so I thought, if I got up there and didn't do anything but read it out loud, it'd be plenty.

But I wanna do kind of a running commentary. To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and the deacons. So, it's for everybody from the newest believer to those who are in charge. Grace to you and peace. Carl talked a lot about peace.

Whenever you see that in any of Paul's letters, he always begins with grace, always. Unmerited favor. He starts off with grace and he always puts it in this order. Grace to you and peace because that's the order. If you get God's unmerited favor, what comes with that is peace.

You know it's not dependent on you. It's dependent upon him. Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ always. If you gotta have an application point in the sermon, take this away. Always start with grace and peace.

Every conversation with anybody, give them unmerited favor at the outset instead of saying, we'll see whether they deserve my time or not. Whether I agree with them or not, start with grace, give them peace, unarmed. He starts off by what he's praying. I thank my God all in every remembrance of you. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

I'm thinking about you. I'm thinking about you. Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for all of y'all. He says all of y'all a lot in this. And I mean, it really is seriously that.

I think my notes page is gone. Here it is. So, I know you can't read it from there, but look at all the yellow places on that. You see the highlight? So that's every place in chapter one that he says all of y'all.

Okay. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Always offer prayer with joy in my every prayer for all of y'all in view of your participation in the gospel from the very first day until now. If you go to Acts 16, you'll learn about Paul's first trip into Philippi. He's on his journey, he tries to go up into Asia, but the Holy Spirit hinders him.

He tries to go up into Bithynia, which is in Asia, Holy Spirit hinders him. Goes to sleep that night going, what are we going to do? And he has a dream. It's a Macedonian man in this service y'all would he heard the Macedonian call today, send the light, right? Send the light.

He he has a dream of a Macedonian man. Philippi is in Macedonia. It's a Roman colony. They have a lot of old retired soldiers who have come out for favorable weather conditions. It's like Jackson in the summertime.

Not quite as expensive. When Paul hears that Macedonian call, waking up the next morning, hey fellas, this is what we're gonna do. And they go across the Aegean Sea, they go across past Samothrace and they land and they go into Philippi and they meet Lydia, the seller of purple. Very rich woman and she accepts what they are saying about the gospel and she and her whole household are baptized and they're saved. We see a demon possessed slave girl, spiritually opposite end of the spectrum.

Lydia was already a respecter of God. The demon possessed slave girl was earning a bunch of money foretelling the future for her master and she was following around Paul and his running buddies and saying, they're servants of the most high God. And it eventually drove Paul so crazy, he just cast the demon out of her. Spiritually speaking, that's a weird mix. Lydia the seller purple and the demon possessed slave girl, there's not anybody that's too rich for it, there's not anybody who's too poor for it.

Then, they get thrown in jail for spreading the gospel. When they get thrown in jail, God rattles the cage, opens up the doors, and the Philippian jailer, probably a retired Roman soldier, is like, oh my goodness, all these guys are going to escape on my watch. He's ready to fall on his sword, and Paul said, no, we're here. We're here. Don't worry.

We're here. And he goes, fellas, what must I do to be saved? It's first day and then thereafter. It just keeps on happening and so, when Paul is writing to the Philippians, he says, I thank my God on every remembrance thinking about the first day till now. It's amazing how the gospel took root there and is growing up.

I'm confident. I'm confident this very thing that the one who began the good work in you, it was Christ's work. He will complete it. He'll complete it by the day of Christ. For it's only right for me to feel this way about all of y'all because I have y'all in my heart.

Since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, the good news of the gospel works. It brings people peace. It brought it to me and I'm sitting here in prison. I'm sitting here in prison and I'm not complaining about it. I'm excited about it.

I get to write letters finally. You're all partakers of God's grace with me. It's only right for me to feel this way for God is my witness. I long to be back with you. I can't wait to see you again with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this I pray, I'm continuing my prayer and I thank him on every remembrance of you, but I also pray that your love which I already know to be true may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment. Last week in Colossians, it was that you would have knowledge of the will of God And this is all real knowledge, which is knowledge of the will of God, and you'd be able to discern what's good and bad, so that you may discover all of the things that are actually excellent, we'll hear that at the end of the book. That you may be sincere and blameless. There's no hypocrisy there, you know that you are going forward submitted to the spirit of God, blameless for the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness. This morning during a prayer, somebody said that Lord, it is your righteousness that must fill us if we are to be righteous because any other righteousness is self righteousness.

It's gotta be derived. That righteousness, the fruit of it comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and the praise of God. He's the good one. Now, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances here, you all know I'm in prison, you know and I know that because you sent Epaphroditus to me. And he brought me some stuff and he told me news of what's going on in Philippi.

Now, want you to know that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. So that my imprisonment Oh yeah, am imprisoned, you remember that, right? In the cause of Christ, I was imprisoned for this. It's become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard. Caesar's soldiers know the gospel because I'm stuck here.

And everyone else, if you think about last week, Onesimus that he was sending back to Philemon to the church in Colossae, he's sending back Onesimus who became a believer next to Paul in prison. So everyone else too. And that most of the brothers and sisters, they're trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment. Because I'm stuck here and what else am I going to talk about? Right?

I can't wait to tell new people about Jesus. They have far more courage to speak out the word of the of God without fear because I'm here. Now, I know some people are preaching Christ from envy and strife and they're doing it for the wrong reasons, I know that, but some are doing it for goodwill. I mean, I'm in here. The latter are doing it out of love.

The people are doing it from good wills because they love people. They don't have an us and them mentality like they can all go to hell literally and I and my family are fine. He's they love people. So they're preaching the gospel because they don't want anybody to perish. Knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel.

I'm going to defend the gospel not myself. I'm gonna defend the good news of Jesus. I can't wait to do it in front of the Roman government. I'm stuck here, just wait until I get to have an audience exactly. The former.

The former, those are those who are preaching Christ from men being strife, they're proclaiming Christ and they're doing it for the wrong reason. They want to make a name for themselves. Well, if you're going to make a name for yourself preaching, while Paul's in prison is probably your opportunity. Right? They're going to get to be the most famous presenter.

The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition rather than pure motives. They're thinking that they're causing me distress in my imprisonment like, they're going to get ahead of me. Oh, well, do I say about that? What then? Only that in every way.

The gospel is being preached. I'm happy. The content of the gospel, it doesn't matter whether it comes out of my mouth or somebody else's mouth. Oh, to be forgotten so that Christ may be remembered. In every way, whether it's in pretense, for the right for wrong reasons or in truth, for the right reasons Christ has proclaimed and in this, I'm happy.

It's like you almost can't make Paul mad, right? Not only that, I also am not just gonna not be mad, I'm gonna rejoice for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance. I'm gonna get out here eventually through your prayers and through the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to my eager expectation and my hope that I'll not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ even now, as always, will be exalted in my body. Whether it's by life or by death, whatever happens to me doesn't matter. I have a great hope and expectation of good things.

For me, Paul says, to live is just Christ, it's to proclaim his goodness and to die is gain, I get to be with him. But, if I'm to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, God will give me something to do. I don't know which one to choose, I'm hard pressed from both sides, having the desire to depart from here and to be with Christ, that sounds good, that's that's even better. Eternity with Christ without all the nonsense of the world sounds amazing, but yet, to remain on in the flesh, it's more necessary for you. I'm a little further down the road than you all are and convinced of this, I know that I'm going to remain.

I'm going to continue with all of you all for your progress and for your joy. I'm joyful right here, right now, but I'm going to continue so that you may be joyful in the faith, so that your pride will be in Christ Jesus and it might be abundant because of me and by me coming to you again. I wanna keep on being a good encouragement to you. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy. Now, we covered that in Colossians.

Walk worthily is in Ephesians and it's also in Colossians and it's also Philippians. He's saying, we can walk it out. We can walk out our faith and it'll make a difference. Conduct yourselves in a manner that's worthy of the gospel of Christ. So that whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent, I might be stuck here a while, I will hear about you that you're standing firm in the spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Unity, unity, unity is important. I will hear about you that you're standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and that you are in no way alarmed by your opponents. That's a sign of destruction for them. Together, we cannot fail. Don't let them separate you.

He goes on to say, in no way alarmed by your opponents which is a sign of destruction for them, house divided against itself can't stand, but of salvation for you and this too is from God. For to you, it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only that you believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf. Now, is Paul in prison who is actually suffering whether it sounds like it or not. He's in prison, he's stuck. Not a beautiful place, the Mamertine Prison.

You have been chosen to suffer on his behalf, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me, he got jailed in Philippi, he had been beaten there nearby, Lystra. He had had lots of stuff and you saw that happen, you know that that's what happens. But you've been granted that for Christ's sake. Therefore, Philippians two, if there's any encouragement in Christ, is there encouragement in Christ? Absolutely, there is.

Is there any consolation of love? Yeah. There is consoling present when you know somebody loves you, you can make it through hard stuff. Is there any fellowship of the spirit? When I heard this morning that that Induna passed, the chief in this little South African tribe outside of Durban, I thought, man, was on the other side of the world and I was sitting with a room full of believers and I fell into that just like falling into my own family.

Yeah, there's fellowship in the spirit. Is there any affection? Yeah. Is there any compassion? Absolutely, there is.

Make my joy complete then, y'all, by being of the same mind. Unity is so important and Paul is saying, when there's division among us, the only thing that can eclipse that is oneness in Christ. Be of the same mind, maintain the same love, united in the same spirit, intent on one purpose. Don't do anything out of selfishness. And he's already said, I know there are people that are preaching for selfish reasons.

The gospel is still being preached, don't worry about them. You all just be together. Don't do anything from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility, consider the other person that is more important than yourself. Three weeks ago, we talked about Romans 12 and it says, outdo one another in showing honor. Both ways, one another.

Both of you try to outdo the other only in this, showing honor with humility consider another as more important than yourself. Don't just look out for your own personal interest which you're gonna do, but also be looking out for the interest of others. In James three, right above the passion that the passage that talks about the wisdom from above, which is a beautiful passage of scripture. It's first pure and it's peace loving. Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

If we are vying for position to be recognized, we're messing up. We're not considering Christ's way. We're jealous and Jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there's disorder in every evil thing. Now, contrasted to that is the attitude of Christ Jesus. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who as he already existed in the form of God, he has always been since before there was light, before there was an earth, Father, Son and Holy Spirit existed.

Although he already existed in the form of God, he didn't consider equality with God as something to be grasped. He set that aside, he emptied himself by taking the form of a bond servant. Paul has introduced himself and Timothy as bond servants at the beginning of this letter and he says, that's what Christ did. I'm following after him when I do this. He took the form of a bond servant being born in the likeness of us men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even, death on a cross.

It's the worst, most shameful and humiliating and for this reason, because he was willing to set aside all of that and take that on for other people. God also highly exalted him and he bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every kneel about of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That passage is a chiasm. This is a Greek thing. It's an x, that's a chi in Greek or chi, depending on who your professor is.

If you see the the way that it is laid out there, it starts off and it ends up in the same place and then it's an a b c d in this case. In the middle is the most important point that it's making. Now, this thing is a hymn that existed before Paul wrote it. He's just quoting to them a song. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.

I've humbled myself to be doing what it is that I'm doing. You should be humbling yourself, all of you. All of y'all, he says it over and over and over again. The point is if we're following after our example, this is what we'll be doing, humbling ourselves. So then, here we get to where the rubber hits the road.

My beloved, just as you always obeyed, when I was there, I saw the gospel took root and you started obeying, not me, but God. Not as in my presence, only I know it didn't stop when I left, but now much more in my absence. I hear all these great things about people who are coming to Jesus and it's because the Philippians have taken the word to them. Y'all, be working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Whatever it is that God has for you along this journey, you be doing it.

For it's God who's at work in you. It's not you, it's him. He's got these steps which he wrote to the Ephesians that you're to be walking on them. Just be paying attention to him. Humble yourselves and be paying attention.

It's God who's at work in you both to desire and to work for his good pleasure. He knows what he's doing, just trust him, walk along. My path and your path may be different, but both of us are following Christ. Now, do all things without complaining or argument. Some translations do without grumbling or complaining.

Oh, you just went from preaching to meddling. Complaining is so easy to do but so far, has Paul complained about the prison at all? So far, he said, joy joy joy joy joy joy joy. Oh yeah, I'm in prison, but it's for good. Do all things without complaining or arguing so that you'll prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent.

Children of God, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you will show up as lights in the world. When people ask me, actually people make fun of me quite a bit back home. Oh, you're suffering for Jesus, the place where everybody wants to go. You're living out there in Jackson. Must be terrible.

Said, in the wintertime it is. Anyway, they they do that a lot. Oh, it's terrible. You just gotta be out there. It's a place everybody wants to live, just get free rent, blah blah blah.

What I described the place as, I said, this is a beautiful place, natural beauty is unparalleled, it's just absolutely gorgeous. Spiritually speaking, it's extremely dark, but with some really bright lights. This is the way I describe this. Among whom you appear as lights in this world, holding firmly to what? The word of life.

So that on the day of Christ, I can take pride because I didn't run-in vain nor did I labor in vain. My work meant something, but even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and the service of your faith, like they tell me, I'm going to die here. I rejoice and I share my joy with all of y'all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in just the same way and y'all share your joy with me. I love to hear news of what's going on in Philippi.

I'll skip the next part, graciously I hope. Timothy and Epaphroditus, he's gonna send them back to the Philippians. He's just gotten word from Epaphroditus and they brought a gift from the Philippians to Paul in jail. Finally, chapter three, my brothers and my sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Be rejoicing in the Lord.

To write the same things again is no trouble for me and it's a safeguard for you. Scott Eichen used to say pretty regularly, we are leaky people. We leak. We need to be filled regularly with the joy of the Lord, with the peace of God. It's not a big deal for me to encourage you again, it's a safeguard for you.

Oh yeah, beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers there are, those folks, beware of the false circumcision that happens. You all know that we're the true circumcision, we're the ones who worship in the spirit of God and take pride in Christ Jesus and him alone and put no confidence in the flesh. Although, I mean, if we were going to talk about that, Paul says, I I could boast as having confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he's confident, I have even more reason. I did everything just right.

My parents had me circumcised on the eighth day. I'm of the nation of Israel, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin, the best. Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, was a pharisee, there wasn't anybody that was more into it than I was. As to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As to the righteousness which can be obtained in the law, I was found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things that seemed like they were good little marks of a great little Jewish boy, whatever things were gained to me, these things I have counted as just a loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all of these things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, really knowing him. As Peter would say, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Really knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And you know what?

I count all that stuff as just rubbish. Actually, the word there is scubula. Look that up sometimes. It's a filthy word. It's a dirty word for excrement.

He's saying it it doesn't mean anything to me. Rubbish. So that I may gain Christ and so that I may be found in him. Not having any righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death.

I'm laying down my life, following after him. If somehow I'm gonna attain to the resurrection from the dead, this is gonna be the way. Now, not that I've already grasped it all, I'm not a 100% sure of everything, I'm not alright in all points, but I haven't already become perfect. But I know this, I'm pressing on. If I also may take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, I don't regard myself as having arrived, having taken hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, I'm putting the past in the past and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all of y'all who are mature, all of you who are mature, let's have this attitude together and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will get you that. He'll he'll reveal that as well. If you humble yourself before him, he'll show you the right way, I trust that.

Let's keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. Keep on following after Jesus. Brothers and sisters, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us, me and my running buddies, you saw how we lived. For many walk of whom I've often told you and now I tell you even as I weep, that they're enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their appetite, their glory is in their shame.

They have their minds on earthly things. That exists. I'm not denying the truth of what you see around you, but think about this. Our citizenship is in heaven. We've been called out of every tribe, tongue, nation and into the family of God and our citizenship is there from which we also eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with his glorious body by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself.

Sounds like Colossians. Therefore, chapter four, I'm getting close now. My beloved brothers and sisters, y'all who I long to see. He's already said, I long to see with the same affection that Christ has for you. I thank my God in every remembrance of you.

I long to see you. You're my joy and you're my crown. Y'all, be standing firm in the Lord. Be standing firm in the Lord and in this way, my beloved. He's pointing back to the humility of Christ.

Stand firm in the Lord in this way. Now, it gets really specific right here. People say, this is the whole reason you wrote the letter. Other people say, nah, it's a support letter. It's a missionary support letter.

He's just fluffing them up so he can ask them for stuff at the end. Not true. He says, read it all. It's about humility and unity and joy during difficulty. It's also about unity, getting along.

I urge Euodia, that's a female name, and I urge Centichi also a female name, to live in harmony with the Lord. To live in harmony in the Lord, to come together in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also help these ladies who have shared in my struggle in the cause of Christ. They're both believers. I'm not doubting anybody's salvation.

Oh, how often do Christians look at somebody they disagree with and say, I don't even think they're saved. He's saying, both of you are saved, both of you are good, both of them you are good for the gospel. Struggle together in the cause of the gospel together with Clement as well as the rest of my fellow workers, all of whose names are written in the book of life. He says it again, rejoice in the Lord always and again, I'm gonna say it, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all people.

It doesn't say your persuasive speech or your impeccable theology. Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Now, don't be anxious about anything. Is this a message for our time or what?

Because there's plenty of anxiety inducing stuff going on. And if there isn't, people are fear mongering to make you think that there is. There's never a space that you can just be alone with your thoughts without somebody trying to poke you and scare you about something. Don't be anxious about anything, but instead, in everything by prayer and by pleading with thanksgiving, there's a lot of brain science that's going on today, know, they hook this encephalo graph up and they get your brain all hooked up and they're monitoring it and they say that it is impossible to be anxious and grateful at the same time. Duh.

Have you read Philippians? That's exactly what it's saying. Be grateful. Ephesians, Colossians, all of them say it. Don't be anxious about anything but instead of that, by everything, prayer.

Plead with thanksgiving and let your request be made known to God. You're not almighty, he is. He loves you. He cares. Let your request be made known to God and this is what Carl was talking about.

And the peace of God, that peace which surpasses all comprehension, it'll guard your hearts, it'll guard your minds in Christ Jesus. Trust him. This is what I've been working towards. Finally, now this is Paul. He said finally three times already.

Did you notice that he's a preacher? Golly. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, If there is any excellence, at the beginning he said, so that you may know what is actually excellent. If there is any excellence and there is, and if there's anything worthy of praise and there is, then be thinking on these things. Don't get sucked into the anxious vortex of the persecution that really did exist in Philippi at this time.

This situation, it's just awful. Is there anything that you can recognize in your situation as true? Then think on that. Instead of the things that are uncertain, there's plenty of uncertainty around us. But is there something that's true?

Well, far as the church goes, we've come together with a purpose. It's the advance of the gospel. It's Yeah. That's true. We really are.

We might be struggling over how best to do that, but we have a noble goal, a noble motive. What is honorable? What is right? What is pure? What is lovely?

What is excellent? What's worthy of praise? If you have trouble finding that in the situation, even if you have trouble finding that in people, go to God. You can find what's true in him, you can find what's honorable and right, and then work backwards from there to people. If you're arguing with somebody and you just think, I just hate them.

Is there anything that's true about them that you can recognize? Affirm what you can. Is there anything honorable, right, pure, lovely, excellent? There is. If you're not seeing it, you're blinded to it.

Just be thinking it through. Go to God, think on these things Paul says and this is the last verse I'll cover. As for the things that you have learned and you have received, you have heard, and you have seen in me, Paul says, y'all be practicing these things. I'm in jail and it's fine. It's fine.

I'm having a ball. The gospel is going forward and I'm stationary. If you've seen what God has done in me, just be doing what he's done and the God of peace will be with you. There is no doubt in my mind, the one who started a good work in you, he said in chapter one, is gonna keep on completing it till the day of Jesus. Don't let yourselves be sucked into the vortex of anxiety and fear.

Lean into what God is doing. In Jesus name. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna invite Judy. I think we're gonna sing have thine own way, Lord.

I grew up in Southern Baptist Church in rural Georgia and I have hung heard this song and sung this song probably a 100,000 times. Seven or eight verses at a time, although there are only four in the hymn book. We're going to sing all four of them, but would you consider the words as you sing them and make this your prayer.

Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting. Yielded and still.

Have thine own way, Lord. Surely is thine. Touch me and heal me. Savior, divine. Have thine own way, Lord.

Have thine own way. Hold o'er my being absolute sway. Fill with thy spirit till all shall see. Christ only always living in me.

Amen. I'm gonna go back to six, seven, and eight here. Y'all, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and by supplication that's asking with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God will accompany that. It'll surpass all of your comprehension. It'll guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, repute, If there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, be dwelling on those things. Lord, would you fill us with your peace and let us overflow with it onto the people around us. Inexplicable peace is what we're praying for so that we may share it with others. Amen.