The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Philippians 4:8command to think on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise
8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
Paul rejoices greatly that the Philippians have revived their concern for him
10 But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity.
Paul says he knows how to get along with little and how to live in prosperity, in any and every circumstance
12 I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.
Paul recalls that after leaving Macedonia no other church shared with him in giving and receiving except the Philippians, who sent gifts even when he was in Thessalonica
15 You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the Good News, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only.
16 For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need.
Paul says he has received everything in full, is amply supplied, and calls the gift a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God
18 But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
rejoice always, let gentleness be known, do not be anxious but by prayer and thanksgiving let requests be made known to God, and the peace of God will guard hearts and minds
4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Paul's teaching on the humility of Christ and his call to make his joy complete by being of the same mind
1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.
19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.
20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.
21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.
23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;
26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,
30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
used as the closing benediction, prayer that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ would give the spirit of wisdom and revelation and that eyes of understanding would be enlightened, referencing the exceeding greatness of his power toward those who believe
15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,
16 don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from the final section of Philippians, chapter four verses ten through twenty-three. Pastor Ray walked the church through Paul's closing words to the Philippian believers, with the contentment Paul describes and the famous verse about doing all things through Christ as the center of the conversation. The service also included a baptism in the first service, a testimony from elder Steve Baldock, and congregational singing of several hymns.
What was said
Pastor Ray opened by gently correcting a popular misreading. The verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" gets treated, he said, as a kind of supernatural strength booster, something the Power Team guys in the nineties put on muscle shirts while ripping phone books in half. But that reading misses the point. The verse sits in the middle of Paul describing what he has learned about contentment, not a promise of superhuman ability.
To get there, Pastor Ray returned briefly to verse eight, where Paul commands the Philippians to keep their minds fixed on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and commendable. He described this as the most practically helpful verse in Philippians for settling an anxious mind, noting that brain science now shows that neural pathways are shaped by what we habitually think about. You cannot, he said, be both anxious and grateful at the same time.
Paul's joy in verse ten is not sentimental. He rejoices because the Philippians have finally had an opportunity to act on a concern they already carried for him. Pastor Ray was careful to note that Paul is not complaining they forgot him. He is saying that their gift arrived when they finally had a way to send it, and that matters to him deeply.
The contentment Paul describes in verses eleven and twelve is something he learned by going through both abundance and want. Pastor Ray quoted the Shakespeare line from Henry the Sixth, "my crown is called content, a crown it is that seldom kings enjoy," and applied it honestly: seldom any of us enjoy it either. Paul's list from second Corinthians eleven, beatings, shipwrecks, snakebite, stands behind these quiet words. He earned the right to say he knows both conditions.
When Paul tells them in verse eighteen that their gift was "a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God," Pastor Ray pointed out that this is Old Testament temple language applied to a church taking up a collection for a missionary in prison. The purpose behind the giving, the advance of the gospel, is what lifts it into that category. That same logic leads directly into verse nineteen: "my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Pastor Ray was direct that prosperity gospel preachers have co-opted this verse, but in context it is about contentment and God's sufficiency, not material guarantee.
Pastor Ray closed by reading the benediction passage from Paul's own words in verses four through seven of the same chapter, the call to rejoice, to let gentleness be known to all, and to bring everything by prayer and thanksgiving so that the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He connected this to the serenity prayer and to the Ephesians one benediction he read at the very end of the service, reminding the congregation that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is still at work in those who believe.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Steve shared that the Holy Spirit felt like a bolt of electricity when he was a child, and he described it as a kind of 'air tag' that marked him as God's own. How have you experienced the Holy Spirit's persistence in your own life, even through moral failure or wandering?
Pastor Ray said that Philippians 4:8 has been the most helpful verse for him personally in calming his mind, and he described how thinking through what is true, honorable, right, and pure about a hard situation or a difficult relationship can change how we experience it. Has that kind of deliberate thinking ever shifted how you handled something? What got in the way when it was hard to do?
Speaker 1I got the doodad on. Here we go. Alright. Would you stand up? And we're gonna sing Redeemed, hymn number three fifty six.
If you want a hymnal, I'll bring
Speaker 2you one.
Speaker 1How about that? They're up here upfront. But we'll just sing off of the wall. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Anybody want one?
No? Alright. We're good. Alright.
Speaker 2Redeemed how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child, and forever I am. Redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Redeemed redeemed his child and forever I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus. No language my rapture can tell. I know that the light of his presence with me doth continually dwell. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed forever I am. I think of my blessed redeemer. I think of him all the day long. I sing for I cannot be silent. His love is the theme of my song.
Redeem. Redeem. Redeem by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed, redeemed his child and forever I am. I know I shall see in his beauty, the king in whose light he lies, who lovingly guarded my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night.
Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed redeemed by the blood of the lamb redeemed redeemed his child and forever I am.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all sound like you knew that one. Did you know it?
Speaker 2Good. Open my eyes that I may see. Open my eyes that I may see. Glimpses of truth thou hast for me. Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now, I wait for thee. Ready, my God, thy will to see. Open my eyes, illumine me, spirit divine. Will disappear. Silently now, I wait for thee.
Ready, my God, thy will to see. Open my ears, illumine me. Spirit, divine on the last. Open my mouth and let me bear tidings heart and let me prepare love with thy children thus to share. Silently now, I wait for thee.
Ready my God, thy will to see. Open my heart, illumine me. Spirit divine.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I like that. It's open my eyes, then open my ears, then open my mouth, and at the end, it's open my heart. Wonderful.
Sung that song my whole life. It's good. I don't think I paid attention. We wanna see you at Awana, but not this week. Okay?
Not this week. We're not doing Awana this week. Awana is next week. We're following the school calendar. They're off school tomorrow for President's Day, so not doing Awana tomorrow.
If you would like to sign up for a connect hour to make breakfast, Addie Hair is the one that's in charge of it. There's her number. She said February was full. It's been full since the beginning of the month, but March is not full. She needs helpers for March.
(307) 690-3892 is Addie's number. Sisters Saved by Grace is a Bible study that happens on Thursday evenings. On Thursday evenings, they get together and they eat supper, they study. They're particularly, they're doing creation right now. It's a twelve week study.
And that is afterwards, they pray for each other. It's a good time. Jackson Hole Women's Community Bible Study meets here. This is the last one of those this Wednesday. It's the last one.
Ten to noon, for at least for this series. Ten to noon, they gather in here to begin with, then they spread out all over the church in small groups and pray for one another. That's a good one too. Jhwomensbiblestudy.com. And there's a snowmobile retreat that's happening next weekend.
So Friday, Saturday, Sunday next weekend, February twenty third to twenty fifth at Old Faithful Christian Ranch. Richard Largie is the guy to talk to. It's for men and boys, $100 for the adults and 75 for the kids. You will eat well. I can guarantee that.
They do a good job of feeding folks up there and you need it if you're going to be out exerting all of that energy. If you have not received your tax statement from us, this is still in there. If you've received it or have not received it or you feel like it's wrong, would you let us know? We would appreciate it. They should be right, but if you haven't received it.
I don't think we're going to do the musical chairs right now in this ceremony. You all comfortable where you are? You want to all move to this side? We could do that if you want to. Alright.
Let's just pass up on that. But anybody have anything I'm sorry. I feel like I feel like Scott Humphrey sometime when I was up here vamping. This thing stopped working a second ago. So would you stand?
We're going to sing the next song. When that thing starts going, you can be singing with me. But we're going to sing moment by moment. Okay? Moment by moment.
It's hymn number five forty five. And I heard it was someone's favorite song this morning. We're going to wait on or we're just going to go? We know it. Alright.
It's it's just gone. We don't have that one. I'm gonna do a solo here. Y'all just stand and sing with me if you know it. Alright?
Let's hit it. That song I don't know.
Speaker 2Dying with Jesus by death reckoned mine. Living with Jesus a new life divine. Looking to Jesus till glory does shine. Moment by moment, o Lord, I am thine. Moment by moment, I'm kept in his love.
Moment by moment, I've life from above. Looking to Jesus till glory does shine. Moment by moment. Oh, Lord, I am thy
Speaker 1Well, no, before the end of it.
Speaker 2Never a burden that he does not bear. Never a sorrow that he does not share. Moment by moment, I'm under his care. Moment by moment, I'm kept in his love. Moment by moment, I've lied from above.
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine. Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am thine. Moment by moment in war in will, Jesus, my savior, abides with me still. Moment by moment, I'm kept in his love. Moment by moment, I've lied from above.
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine. Moment by moment, oh Lord, I am thine.
Speaker 1What a beautiful message that story. Oh, wow. That's great. What a friend we have in Jesus. That one I know we have the word too on the wall up there.
What a blessing.
Speaker 2What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden? Cumbered with the Lord of care. Precious savior still our refuge take it to the Lord in prayer do thy prince despise forsake thee. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In his arms, he'll take and shield thee. Will find a soulless there.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'll invite the ushers to come forward and would you pray with me? Lord, I'm I'm overwhelmed this morning. We did a baptism in the first service for little Ellie Jordan.
She's a tiny little girl. Thought she was gonna have to stand the steps, Lord, not on the bottom. Such a beautiful thing that we can know you from an early age to be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Lord, I pray that you would persist in her life. That she would consciously pursue you and when she wanders astray, you would so lovingly and gently bring her back in.
In Jesus name, Lord, I'm thankful to be here to be doing this. It's an amazing privilege. In Jesus name, to walk forward in Jesus name. Lord, would you use this church and this community to advance your good gospel, the peace that passes understanding. Would you use us Lord to accomplish the mission you have for us here and to the very uttermost parts.
May we be actively involved in what's going on for the kingdom of God. In Jesus name, we're thankful. Amen. Amen. Before we get to Philippians four ten through 23, I'm gonna invite up Steve Baldock who is acting right now as the moderator of this church.
He's an elder and has been for a while and here's your mic.
Speaker 3Here's your mic.
Speaker 1The mic. Right? Green green light is off. Thank you, Steve. Is
Speaker 3it okay? Yep. Okay. Good morning. Yeah.
We thought it would be a good idea, not so sure it is now, but it would be a good idea for the elders to come out and just give a short testimony about why we're here and whatnot. So I thought I would do that. I'd try to I'll just tell you the same way that I did the early service. That was a busy service. By the way, so nice to have Judy back.
You got more musical talent in your little finger than I got my whole body. But but anyway, so your testimony is just your story. What happened to you? Right? And it's a powerful thing because nobody can argue with it.
You know, it's your story. So I'm going to start mine off this way, as with all good stories. Once upon a time, long time ago, there was a chubby little shy kid that was the youngest of four boys in a family that was back in Virginia. And he went to church one day. And these Baptist churches back then, big red brick structures, had these big white columns and about a thousand stairs going up to the front doors.
So you go up there and then you enter this imposing sanctuary. It's sloped, and I don't know, it looked like it held a thousand people for all I know. You know, I'm probably six, seven years old at the most. And really don't understand everything that happened that day, but as time goes on I do. For some reason, I was in this church service and this pastor at the end said if any of you want to do business with Jesus, if you want him to be the Lord and Savior of your life to save you, you need to come down here up front right now.
And there is no earthly reason for what happened next, but it was like a bolt of electricity went through me and I had to get up front. So I am fighting across my parents and a bunch of old fogies in there to try to get to that that center aisle and you know my parents they were probably going, oh gosh, I hope he doesn't embarrass us, know. And I literally ran down to the front with all these people, and I don't remember what the pastor said, but the gist of it was, do you accept Jesus Christ as lord of your of your life, to be your savior forever? And I must have said yes. So now, then in, I live happily ever after.
No. I say that jokingly, and I can I can say it with you guys because you've lived long enough to know, well, that's a lie? But that day, the near the thing I can relate it to is what happens today. We've all got these I don't have them, because I never leave Teton County, but if you do, you get these little things called air tags and you put them on your luggage so that when it gets lost, you know where to find it, right? That day, when I was this little kid, God did something to my heart, and still doing it.
But anyway, it was the Holy Spirit air tag, and it went wham, you're mine. It didn't always seem that way in my life. I've had some pretty cool spiritual experiences. I've done some pretty good deeds, or at least I thought they were. I've also had crushing emotional and moral failure in my life.
If you want to know more, just come get me after the service. But today I'm still here, because where else am I going to go? You alone, Jesus, have the words of eternal life. This is it. And so that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Speaker 1Steve. God, you just bless Steve? Thank you for the service that he's made for this church, for the willingness to stand up, the willingness to take on the role of elder, to be an overseer. I pray that you'd bless him and Susie and their extended family. And thank you for the blessing that he is for us right here today.
Amen. Philippians, last week, I covered all of Philippians up to this point last week. So chapter one, two, three, and the first half of chapter four all in one message. But I'm I wanna get to the end. So 23 is the end of the chapter, four ten.
And I mentioned last week that there are a lot of greatest hits verses in Philippians and there's not any more of a greatest hits verse than I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Right? Do y'all do y'all remember the power team? Do you know who that is? So in the nineties, this is Renzi and Carl's time period.
Right? When they were in youth group. The power team are guys that are like weight lifters and bodybuilders and they wear like muscle shirts with Philippians four thirteen written across the front. And they rip phone books in half and they would take quarters and sit there, and one of them would just rip a quarter in two. And he would say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And I think, I don't think that verse means what you think it means. That that's not what that means. Let's look for some context. I sat trying to rip a quarter and a half for a pretty good while. And I was thinking, can do it.
I can do it. That's not what he's talking about. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let's look for where it is and what it's probably more likely to be about. Last week, I ended with four:nine, but four:eight was really what I was building to.
The whole reason for doing the other chapters, one, two, three, and the beginning of four, is to get to this verse. I have found this verse myself lately to be the most helpful for staying my mind, for getting still, and feeling better about how things are going. I put this little matrix up there last week that if you're struggling with a situation or maybe a friend or maybe an enemy, you're struggling with something, this verse is very very helpful if you find that your mind is just going over the same thing over and over and over and over again. It's a command that says, finally, brothers and sisters from Paul, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, there's anything that's worthy of praise, then be thinking on these things. And it is a command to be thinking about these things.
Brain science, I might have mentioned this last week, brain science is advancing and we're getting to see images of all kinds of stuff and they can see how your brain which cortex lights up and what circumstance. And the verses that precede this is like, don't be anxious but be praying and be grateful, thinking on these things. You know that the neural pathways in our brain are set by what we think on. If that's the case, and you've got a bad situation or a bad relationship with a friend or you just know somebody can't stand you, enemy. If you will think about it, about this situation, what is true right here?
Well, truth is this bad situation. No. I mean, what's true about the situation? If it's a church related issue and you see that there's growing division, Both sides are seeking after Christ. They're not getting along right now, but both sides are seeking after Christ.
Christ is true. Okay. What's honorable? People want to go forward together. That's honorable.
They're having a hard time right now. But what's honorable about it? We want to go forward. What's right? We know humility is right.
Lord, how how can I be showing myself as truly humble in this situation? Instead of wanting to be right, wanting to be righteous. Pure, lovely, excellent, worthy of praise. Now, if you have trouble finding it in a situation or a friend or an enemy, then you can find it in God because God is all those things. Start with that and it'll give you something to be grateful for.
But brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything that's worthy of praise, then be thinking about these things and that is a continuous action verb too. It's be thinking about them. Like, the neural pathways this way. You cannot be both anxious and grateful at the same time. As for the things you've heard and learned and received and heard and seen in me, this is Paul.
This is actually the last verse we did last week but, as for the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, the gospel they saw. They heard. They saw him living it out. He's writing them a letter from prison where he's been imprisoned for the gospel. Ask for the things you've learned and received and heard and seen in me.
Be practicing these things and the God of peace will be with you. Paul says that confidently. He knows that the God of peace will be with them in their practice, in their thinking on those things I just mentioned. Then Paul hits in verse 10, it's kind of a quick change. Anybody who ever breaks down Philippians in between nine and ten, this but is a big kind of, okay, reset moment.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Remember joy? Oh yeah, rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice, that's in Philippians. He said, make my joy complete in chapter two. He mentions the joy of being a part of spirit in chapter one.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last, at last, you have revived your concern for me. You can almost see Paul writing this in his cell and he's gonna close out the letter. He said what he wanted to say. I think four eight is one of
Speaker 3the
Speaker 1pinnacles. Two about the humility of Christ is obviously one of the center point of the whole message. But he gets to the end now, he's signing off and says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you've revived your concern for me. Oh man, that might sound like I'm saying they don't care about me or they just realize they ought to care again. Indeed, now you were concerned before.
I know you're concerned before. But you lacked an opportunity to act. Well, had sent him a gift. They sent him a gift with Epaphroditus. He'll mention it in a minute.
But he's saying that, man, I rejoice greatly because of what you sent. You sent this dear brother Epaphroditus and he's meeting my needs. We'll get to it. Not that I'm speaking from need. I'm not speaking out of need.
I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I'm in. That's verse 11. Now we know four thirteen is, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you've revived your concern for me. Right here, this is the last I've heard and it's wonderful.
I know you were concerned before but you lacked an opportunity to act. When you thought of what to do, you did it. Not that I speak for need for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I'm in. I know
Speaker 2how
Speaker 1to get along with just a little and I also know how to live in prosperity. Do you all remember Henry the sixth from Shakespeare? You remember the the king? He's out hunting. He's out hunting so he doesn't look like a king.
He's in hunting clothes, not in royal robes and not wearing a crown. And there are a couple of guys he runs up on in the woods and they start kind of talking to him and he says, somehow they figure out he's the king, but he doesn't look like you don't look like a king. And he answers back, Shakespearean English here. My crown is in my heart, not on my head. Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, nor to be seen.
My crown is called content. A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy. Seldom kings enjoy. Seldom, if we're honest, any of us enjoy. Right?
Contentment, we hear all the time. The way of the world is if you're not growing, you're dying. You got to be expanding, you got to be growing or you're dying. Well, contentment is something that is worthy of consideration. Godliness with contentment is great gain, Paul tells us elsewhere.
He says, I know how to get along with just a little and I also know how to live in prosperity. This reminds me a little bit too of the Pharisees always complained, right, about Jesus' disciples and they'd they'd complain on either side about how they did things. But they said, so they eat and feast and they're always just going on and on. And he goes, but I'm with them. There'll be a time that's coming where I'm not gonna be here physically with them.
They should be celebrating right now. Those disciples all had a lot for a while and then all of them died martyrs' lives still with the gospel in their mouths. I know how to get along with just a little and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of being filled and I've learned how to go hungry. Contentment is what he's talking about.
This is verse 12. Both of having abundance and of suffering need. This sounds like marriage vows, doesn't it? Does it to you all? It's for better or for worse.
It's acknowledging at the forefront. Things are not always going to be great. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish. I've learned how to get along with a little. I've learned how to live in prosperity.
How do you think he learned both? He went through both. He went through both. I thought this morning of the list from second Corinthians 11 where he says, I'm gonna speak like a madman for just a second here. I was beaten this many times, I was snake bit, I was shipwrecked.
He's been through a lot and he's learned through everything that he's been through. Both having abundance and from suffering need. Both from being the guy that they're all listening to and clamoring over and being the one that was lowered down over the wall having to sneak out of town. This is where that verse is. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
I can go through great adversity knowing that I know Christ and knowing that he is the one who strengthens me. We closed the service this morning in the first service with the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is the same power that is still at work in us. That's pretty good. Doesn't get any better than that actually. Steve's Holy Spirit, he got verklempt just thinking about the fact that the Holy Spirit sealed him at six or seven years old and here he is many years later.
And that same feeling that had him charged down the aisle is still there and still working on him. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I cannot rip a phone book in half. I can take a page out at a time. I can't rip one in half.
Never have figured out that quarter trick. I use tools, you know. If I wanna rip a tool, a quarter in half, I'd use tools. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I know what it's like to be filled and I know what it's like to go hungry and I can do both if Christ is with me and he's with me.
Nevertheless, you've done well to share with me in my difficulty. I I'm I get off track here Paul says. Nevertheless, you've done well to share with me in the difficulty. You yourselves also know, you Philippians, you Philippians, Lydia, the jailer, even that demon possessed slave girl that was had the demon cast out. I remember y'all.
I remember from the very first day, You yourselves also know Philippians that at the very first preaching of the gospel, when y'all received Jesus, after I left and went to Macedonia, after I left Macedonia, that's where Philippi is. After I left Macedonia, nobody else, no other church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except for you alone. So you, Philippi, there's something about the way that you received the gospel that the Holy Spirit led you to be a part of its advance. There in Philippi, but also with me as I went from there. For even when I was in Thessalonica, not far away from Philippi, still it's not it's not Philippi.
For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent a gift to me more than once for my needs. You recognized that what I was doing was important and you wanted to help with that. And it was a spontaneous thing. I didn't ask you for it, but you recognized it and you just when I was in need, it showed up. Not that I seek the gift itself.
Don't think I'm thanking you for the gifts that you gave so that I can get more. I'm not just that's not what I'm talking about, Paul says. Not that I'm seeking the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account. It fills me with great joy. He has been writing for four chapters from prison.
He has not complained one time about being in prison, not once. And he's saying, what overjoys me? It's great that you sent the gift, I get to eat, that's wonderful. But what is great to me is to see that you have a heart of generosity and what that does. He knows what it's like to lay it all out there for God and he's grateful that they are understanding and doing that too.
This next verse in 18, you know, when you get a bill and then you pay it and they send you back your invoice and it has a red stamp on that says paid in full. That's what this says. I have received everything in full. That's that. That would be on the stamp.
I have received every it's paid in full. And I have an abundance and I'm thankful for what I have. I'm amply supplied having received from Epaphroditus what you sent me. I'm so thankful for it. It was a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice.
It was pleasing to God. Now this is interesting because Paul is a guy. Right? He's not a Levi, he's not a priest. There's not a temple system that he's a part of that he would receive from offerings.
But these people spontaneously, maybe they took up a collection formally. It sounds like they probably did. And they sent it with a guy to get to Paul in prison and a church given to a guy is a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God? That's Old Testament language. That's that's what our tithes and offerings were supposed to be for.
That's amazing that what you sent was put in the same vein as a sacrifice unto God because it's the purpose of God. The the spreading of the good news of Christ. I'm amply supplied And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. That to me, when I read it just by itself right there, my God will supply your needs. I know because of experience.
I understand how he works and I understand that people argue over what this means. Prosperity gospel preachers up on the platform will say, and I know that my God will do this for you if you just give me a little seed money. So prosperity gospel has co opted the verse to mean, I know that I know and you listen to me and my God will supply your needs just in this way. But are they physical needs? Is it spiritual needs?
Is it contentment? Context says it's probably contentment. My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He has it to give. The same power that raised Jesus from the grave is at work in us.
My God will supply all your needs. And it really felt us and them to me, but the very next verse, Paul is a rhetoric guy. So he's not going to leave it with my God and your God. He says, my God will supply your needs. And now he says, now to our God.
He's called us into the same family. The whole of Philippians is about unity in the body of Christ even during difficult situations. Now, know there are a couple of ladies that couldn't get along, Euodia and Syntyche couldn't get along. Paul says, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, be unified like Christ, imitate his humility. Now to our God and our Father be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. Nice benediction. We still got three verses left. Greet every saint. It's interesting here instead of greet all the saints, it's it's individual.
It's each or every. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. I think that we still denominate and we still split apart and maybe that's part of our American Protestant heritage where we do and we can greet the saints that are with us in this little fellowship this morning. But he's saying it so specifically, greet every saint. Calvinist, grab hold of an Arminian and greet them.
Okay? Catholic and Baptist. Oh, really? Yes, really. Come together, greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
They were called we are called out of and into. Out of every tribe, tongue, and nation, and political persuasion into the body of Christ. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. My favorite service of the year here is our Christmas Eve service. I love it.
The music's wonderful, Carl does a good job. Y'all are singing out. Everybody knows the songs. We all know the story and we're gathered in one place. But my favorite service is Ash Wednesday.
Tanya and I get to sit together at church and we go and it's the litany of penitence moves me to tears every time. My brother, Jimmy Barts, the pastor at the church over there, I love him. Love him dearly. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. If we miss that one for whatever reason, we go to the Spanish Catholic services like 08:00 in the evening, and we sit together over there.
It's like, is that my normal practice? No. Do I feel like I gotta do it? Absolutely not. But man, it's so good to come together.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus, encourage one another. The brothers who are here with me greet you. Now, some of those were not in prison with Paul, Epaphroditus was there, right, bringing the gift. And then, there are others where he's sending them out as emissaries with all these letters to Colossi and to Philemon and he's sending out from there, but he's saying, the ones who are stuck here in prison with me without saying they're stuck, without complaining. The brothers who are here with me, they greet you.
Captive audience, listening to Paul, going and on about the gospel. The brothers who are with me, they greet you though they've never even met you before. I said this morning, hey, do you all have you ever been to a church where they bring greetings? You know what I'm talking about? So at the beginning of the service, it's a formality.
A lot of times they'll say, are there any greetings? And then people speak up if they're visiting. I don't see any visitors right now. There may be some. But in the first service, there was a couple in the back too right there.
He says, Hawaii, Kentucky. And they were just kind of hollering out where they were from, bringing greetings from this place. It is so cool. The brothers who are with me greet you. All of the saints actually greet you.
We are part of one big family. And then he says, especially those of Caesar's household. Now earlier he mentioned the Praetorian Guard. Now I want you to know brothers and sisters, chapter one verse 12. I want you to know brothers and sisters that my circumstances, I know you all think it's awful.
They've turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. Being here, my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard. Caesar's household is coming to know Jesus to think that this little ragtag band of disciples and then Paul one as untimely born, that they are able to in three hundred years be the established religion. Like they're suffering through in prison, but they have joy in the journey. The Praetorian Guard is like, why would they do that?
All they have to do is renounce this guy and that's it. And then when he starts sharing with them, they come to Jesus. All of the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. Now, Philippi is a Roman colony and it's a place where a lot of ex military guys live and it's something where they had a very a big pride of being Romans in Philippi. Cross the Aegean, cross the sea, but they have this pride of Roman citizenship.
And he's playing on that. He's talked about citizenship being in heaven and then when he says those of Caesar's household, he's saying this is taking root. It's something that is growing and they're greeting you too. Then he closes out with simply, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Be encouraged that God's grace, he starts with grace and he ends with grace.
It is unmerited favor. It's not something that we deserve. It's unmerited favor of God. Paul always starts with it. He always closes with it.
In this case, I think because it's Philippians and he talks about joy in the first chapter, talks about it again in the second chapter, mentions it again in the third and fourth chapter, rejoice, rejoice, again I say rejoice, that is the benediction I had chosen for today. I'm gonna go ahead to it. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. If you look up joy in a theological lexicon or if you look it up in the BDAG, the Bauer, Danker, Artengren, Gingrich, you look look it up in that lexicon, it'll have some sort of connotation that is joy is graced accepted or realized. When we realize that God's unmerited favor has fallen on us, the response to that is joy.
Rejoice in the Lord always, even if you're in prison, even if going to work right now is the worst thing you can think of. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I'll say, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all of the people. It doesn't say let them know how smart you are.
It doesn't say let them be blessed with your elegant and wonderful words. Just let your gentleness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything. Well, thanks Ray.
That's Don't be anxious. That's like just saying, stop it. What good does that do? Well, there's a replacement for it right here. It says, don't be anxious about anything.
But, instead of that, like I said, you can't be both anxious and grateful at the same time. We know gratitude is going be in there somewhere. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, every situation you're going through, every relationship you're in, everything by prayer. Okay. Lord help me.
That's a good prayer. And pleading with thanksgiving, I'm thankful Lord that I have a relationship with you. I can start right there. I'm grateful for that. I'm confused by everything else going on.
I don't know why it's so hard to get along right now. But I'm grateful that I know you and I'm grateful that there's one center point. Would you allow me to pull closer to you? Let your request be made known to God. Now, I mentioned the marital vows.
I do a lot of premarital counseling and a lot of marriage counseling too. But in the premarital counseling, I will ask because I'm gonna say it in the service. So I'll ask them. Okay. Do you believe that God put you together?
And when the premarital counseling are all
Speaker 2like, yes.
Speaker 1Occasionally, I'll have somebody in just regular marital counseling and they'll say, I'm not so sure. I might have missed that one. But I like to get it at the front side and say, do you believe that God Almighty put you together? And they'll say, yes. I'll say, do you think he can keep you together?
He's Almighty. His power is greater than our power. Same power that worked Jesus up from the grave is at work in us. Don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and by pleading with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. He is almighty, you are not.
And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This always reminds me of the serenity prayer. Right? The serenity prayer is that, Lord, help me. Starts off there.
That's good. Help me to have the courage to change the things that I can. Help me to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. I know what it's like to be in want. I know what it's like to be in plenty.
Help me to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I think I'm gonna close right there. We're gonna go to where he leads me, I will follow. Would you stand with me?
And we'll close out with this song.
Speaker 2I can hear my savior calling. I can hear my savior calling. I can hear my savior calling. Take thy cross and follow. Follow me.
Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow. I'll go with him, with him all the way. I'll go with him through the judgment.
I'll go with him through the judgment. I'll go with him through the judgment. I'll go with him, with him all the way. Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow.
Where he leads me, I will follow. I'll go with him, with him all the way. He will give me grace and glory. He will give me grace and glory. He will give me grace and glory.
And go with me with me all the way. Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow. Where he leads me, I will follow. I'll go with him, with him, all the way.
Speaker 1For a benediction, I think we're gonna use Ephesians one. Is that one still there somewhere? Nope. Hey, I've got a Bible right here though. I hope I remember the citation.
The last time I tried to do this on the fly, I ended up doing a baby dedication and saying I'm a worm and not a man because I picked Psalms instead of Proverbs on the fly. Let me see. No pressure. That's right. I should have this one memorized.
Ephesians. There it is. One. I should just call it out. Y'all are so smart.
Y'all probably know this. How about this? Therefore, after I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I don't cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. I pray I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. That the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of his glory, of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward those of us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.
Lord God Almighty, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen.
