WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:02.729 So if you have a Bible, you can turn to that book. 00:00:02.729 --> 00:00:09.951 If you don't have one, you'll find a pew Bible in front of you and you can go to page 1040, 1040. 00:00:09.951 --> 00:00:20.371 We're in our series, very deep into our series called Route 66, book by book through the book of books. 00:00:20.371 --> 00:00:28.364 So one message for each book of the Bible, and we started in Genesis and now we're all the way up through the book of Philippians. 00:00:28.364 --> 00:00:48.479 This afternoon, royal and I had the privilege of spending lunch with Brian and Elaine McLaughlin, who recently returned from a trip to Italy, and they were able to show us some pictures and some stories about their time over there, and we got to see some pictures of Rome and how much they got to enjoy in that city. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:01:09.206 They were there in Rome the day after the Pope was picked, elected, chosen, whatever the right word is, and so it was an interesting day to be there, right For them to be in the midst of all of that, as everybody rushed to the city in order to be part of that announcement. 00:01:10.888 --> 00:01:24.126 When we read the book of Philippians, we read a book from a letter from Paul, who was in Rome, and for many years, I'm sure, paul longed to be in Rome but not to see the sights right. 00:01:24.126 --> 00:01:36.629 He actually wanted to go there in order to preach the gospel and even on the day he was converted was told that he would be preaching in some fairly significant places, and I'm sure Rome came immediately to mind when it did. 00:01:36.629 --> 00:01:44.712 And looking at how Paul would approach different places and cities, you could tell he did so in a very strategic way. 00:01:44.712 --> 00:01:47.626 He wasn't haphazard in what he wanted to do. 00:01:47.626 --> 00:01:55.612 Even though the Lord sometimes redirected him in different ways, he certainly had a plan and a purpose for how he preached and where he preached. 00:01:55.612 --> 00:02:02.933 So when he entered Rome, he didn't enter Rome the way he thought he might have done. 00:02:02.933 --> 00:02:05.168 The first time he thought about preaching the gospel there. 00:02:05.168 --> 00:02:16.413 He thought he could walk in, go to maybe some of the major places of meeting and to preach the gospel to people on the street or people, politicians and people higher up. 00:02:16.413 --> 00:02:25.792 Little did he know maybe on that first day he considered preaching there that he'd be entering Rome in chains, which is exactly what he did. 00:02:25.792 --> 00:02:35.325 I don't think that was the kind of strategy that he opted for and it's certainly not the strategy that church planting books talk about today. 00:02:35.426 --> 00:03:04.390 So if you want to go to a place and start a church, get yourself arrested and I don't think that's how that works and yet, in confinement and arguably under house arrest at this time, in the middle of all the uncertainties that faced him personally and were around him in his ministry, in the book of Philippians, we read one of the most joy-filled words ever penned. 00:03:04.390 --> 00:03:07.275 It's a wonderful, wonderful part of Scripture. 00:03:07.275 --> 00:03:22.087 And despite whatever opposition he was facing, despite whatever rumors were rolling around, despite being cut off from the ministry that he believed he should be in, his letter shines with rejoicing. 00:03:22.087 --> 00:03:30.826 Orrin Wearsby has titled a lot of his commentaries with a key little word be and then he would fill in a different word. 00:03:30.826 --> 00:03:32.211 That gave a focus for the book. 00:03:32.211 --> 00:03:37.192 And what do you think his title for Philippians was right? 00:03:37.192 --> 00:03:38.846 Be joyful, be joyful. 00:03:38.846 --> 00:03:39.288 Yeah. 00:03:39.288 --> 00:03:44.471 Well, why was he shining with joy in the midst of all of this? 00:03:44.471 --> 00:03:48.972 Well, it certainly wasn't because the plans were going the way he wanted them to go. 00:03:48.972 --> 00:03:54.549 It came from who he knew Jesus Christ. 00:03:54.549 --> 00:04:03.509 In the middle of these difficulties, his joy wasn't in the fact that he could do things for God, but in remembering what Christ had done for him. 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:16.463 I love the book of Philippians when I first came here in 2013, I prayed long about what would be the first book of the Bible that we would study together as a church. 00:04:16.463 --> 00:04:39.990 I knew that the church prior to Micah and my coming had been through some conflict and loss and quite a bit of difficulty, that it was in a place that was challenged, and in those kind of moments you can sort of close in and think more immediate rather than more expansively, and I was happy for us to join together on Sunday nights. 00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:47.324 A series on the sort of a slow crawl through the book of Psalms had already been started and I said let's continue that for sure. 00:04:47.324 --> 00:04:59.613 But when it came down to Sunday mornings, I prayed and thought and considered, well, what would be a very appropriate book for all of us to study together, and it ended up being this book Philippians. 00:04:59.613 --> 00:05:10.687 That was the first book that we went through and as I did so, I did so because, like I said, paul writes from prison and yet his circumstances aren't mitigating his joy. 00:05:10.687 --> 00:05:17.324 He still rejoices His joy, though he might have been confined. 00:05:17.324 --> 00:05:33.362 His joy wasn't confined, his joy was unfettered, and I wanted our church then and I still want us to know what it means to be a joyful people, not because our circumstances go well, because we have a Savior who watches over us in every situation. 00:05:34.444 --> 00:05:45.612 And so, as we go through this book, I want to give you a four-point outline, and you can remember it well by the word let's, which is actually a contraction of two words. 00:05:45.612 --> 00:05:51.380 But anyway, for all you English teachers, please forgive me, let's. 00:05:51.380 --> 00:05:54.187 So L-E-T-S. 00:05:54.187 --> 00:06:05.834 Let's look at the book of Philippians, right, and to know that Christ is our life, christ is our example, christ is our treasure and Christ is our strength, right. 00:06:05.834 --> 00:06:37.841 So that's where the L-E-T-S comes from, because, as we go through the book of Philippians, we're going to be able to understand that we can experience a joy that is not crushed by our setbacks, that we can experience a joy that can go through a betrayal, can go through a betrayal, that we can have joy and a song even in the middle of what might be a nighttime experience for us, because joy is not found in the absence of trials, it's found somewhere else. 00:06:39.442 --> 00:06:52.706 Now, before Paul teaches us about joy in content, he teaches us something about how to receive that joy, and this is an important word. 00:06:52.706 --> 00:06:54.850 He uses a Greek word 10 times. 00:06:54.850 --> 00:07:06.478 I believe it is in the book of Philippians, and it's praneo, which means to think, to think, to have this mind in you, to think, to have this mind in you. 00:07:06.478 --> 00:07:22.130 And what he's calling the Philippians to do is to not some passive reception of an emotional experience, but to a determined effort to set their mind on certain things, and if they do, joy will be produced. 00:07:22.130 --> 00:07:42.903 So we think, we set our mind on, we adopt a mindset, we think, because joy is not accidental, it is purposed and it grows in the soil of a gospel-shaped mind. 00:07:42.903 --> 00:07:44.949 That's where joy comes from. 00:07:45.982 --> 00:07:48.519 Now let me just give you two of those 10 references. 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:50.567 First is in Philippians 1.7. 00:07:50.567 --> 00:07:55.831 It is right for me to think this way about you. 00:07:55.831 --> 00:08:05.632 So there is just a perspective that Paul has about the people at Philippi, and his considerations and his mindset about them are geared a certain way. 00:08:05.632 --> 00:08:08.249 It's right for me to think this way about you. 00:08:08.249 --> 00:08:11.701 And then we'll look at another one soon, in Philippians 2.5. 00:08:11.701 --> 00:08:17.730 Let this mind be among yourselves, as it was also in Christ Jesus. 00:08:17.730 --> 00:08:20.574 So there's another use of it. 00:08:20.574 --> 00:08:24.911 It's a way of thinking, it's a mindset, it's a determination of thought. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:33.682 As I said, his kind of joy is not a rush of exuberance that comes from good experiences and circumstances. 00:08:33.682 --> 00:08:41.985 But it's an overflow that comes from us by a reorientation of our mind around the truth of the gospel. 00:08:41.985 --> 00:08:50.245 We don't drift into Christian joy, we grow into it. 00:08:50.245 --> 00:08:55.248 We don't stumble into Christian joy, we seek it with our minds. 00:08:55.248 --> 00:09:09.328 And this is why in Philippians 4.8, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are honorable, whatever things are of good report, think on these things. 00:09:09.328 --> 00:09:11.394 There's three of the ten right there. 00:09:11.394 --> 00:09:18.028 So giving our mind to certain things will have the overflow, production of joy within our hearts. 00:09:18.028 --> 00:09:30.668 So if we want to have Christ's joy, we need to invite ourselves to thinking about Christ well, and that's why Philippians is saturated with Christ. 00:09:31.490 --> 00:09:37.703 Christ is our life, christ is our example, christ is our treasure and Christ is our strength. 00:09:37.703 --> 00:09:40.408 Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4. 00:09:40.408 --> 00:09:42.811 So let's look at Philippians that way. 00:09:42.811 --> 00:09:48.163 First of all, chapter one Christ is our life. 00:09:48.163 --> 00:09:49.346 There we go, thank you. 00:09:49.346 --> 00:09:53.352 All right, let's take a couple of verses here. 00:09:53.352 --> 00:09:55.941 Verse six for one. 00:09:55.941 --> 00:10:07.155 I'm sure this that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:10:07.155 --> 00:10:16.322 So we can see that our spiritual life is begun by God in Christ and that it will be completed on the day of Jesus Christ. 00:10:16.322 --> 00:10:20.086 So in all ways our spiritual life is wrapped up in him. 00:10:20.086 --> 00:10:24.230 And then also in verse 21, a very familiar verse to many of us. 00:10:24.230 --> 00:10:29.216 For me, to live as Christ and to die as gain. 00:10:29.216 --> 00:10:37.740 So those are two key verses out of several that we could look at in chapter one that speak to this idea that Christ is our life. 00:10:38.140 --> 00:10:56.835 Now, remember, paul is in prison, his future is uncertain, his ministry is limited and there are even people preaching in order for him to gain more trouble while he's in prison. 00:10:56.835 --> 00:11:03.490 You can see this in verse 16 and 17, some preaching out of love. 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:11.892 And in verse 17, others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely thinking they'll cause me trouble in my imprisonment. 00:11:11.892 --> 00:11:16.467 But how does Paul think about this? 00:11:16.467 --> 00:11:21.211 Well, he says in verse 18, what does it matter? 00:11:21.211 --> 00:11:26.961 Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, christ is proclaimed. 00:11:26.961 --> 00:11:33.092 And in this I rejoice, yes, I'll continue to rejoice. 00:11:36.426 --> 00:11:50.615 So we find the root of joy to be the life of Jesus Christ, no matter what his circumstances are, even if people are causing deeper trouble for him, because he is lost up in the life of Christ. 00:11:50.615 --> 00:11:58.673 And this is not denial of reality, but it is a Christ-shaped, defiant joy. 00:11:58.673 --> 00:12:08.619 Despite the hardships, his sense of purpose, his identity and his ministry is wrapped up in Christ. 00:12:08.619 --> 00:12:38.072 And if Christ gets proclaimed when he's imprisoned, because people are out there preaching either sincerely or impurely, then thank God that Christ is proclaimed and so he knows that this isn't going to be a joy of deliverance from prison, a joy of freedom, a joy of greater influence in his ministry, a joy of outcomes that might be gainfully used for his liberty. 00:12:38.072 --> 00:12:39.485 No, it's Christ. 00:12:39.485 --> 00:12:40.427 It's Christ. 00:12:40.427 --> 00:12:48.080 What happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, he says in verse 12. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:56.529 And from that perspective he finds joy. 00:12:56.529 --> 00:13:06.394 And that's why he's able to say for me to live, even in prison, is Christ and to die is gain. 00:13:06.394 --> 00:13:14.951 You just do the math If I live it's Christ, if I die it's gain. 00:13:14.951 --> 00:13:24.957 We might say that's a winning equation right there, because Jesus is his life, his source, his reason for being, his hope in life and death. 00:13:24.957 --> 00:13:28.695 Then he can respond with a joyfulness. 00:13:30.164 --> 00:13:34.817 So a question for us as we think about this is Christ our life? 00:13:34.817 --> 00:13:39.798 Is Christ our life despite our circumstances? 00:13:39.798 --> 00:13:48.339 Are we able to see our circumstances in such a way that Christ is displayed more, either in us or through us? 00:13:48.339 --> 00:13:52.955 And if so, then rejoice in that. 00:13:52.955 --> 00:14:02.510 Rejoice in that I think I mentioned this not too long ago. 00:14:02.530 --> 00:14:06.706 I was going through some difficult times in Northern California and one of the elders asked me a question why are you even still here? 00:14:06.706 --> 00:14:11.957 It was that difficult and he was genuinely wondering what was keeping me here. 00:14:11.957 --> 00:14:20.720 It could have been easy to go anywhere else and I said to him I said I'm learning more about Jesus Christ in this situation than I think I can find anywhere else. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:26.351 That's the kind of mindset that Paul had. 00:14:26.351 --> 00:14:35.373 He said for me to live as Christ, he was learning something about Jesus even when life wasn't all that good, wasn't all that good. 00:14:35.373 --> 00:14:53.955 So when we think about Jesus being our focus, when we speak and when we act, when we respond, we also need to think about Jesus when we suffer, when we suffer Because he is part of our life, no matter what Good times are bad. 00:14:53.955 --> 00:15:03.158 And here, in the face of loss, in the face of uncertainty, in the face of limitations, paul is saying for me to live is Christ. 00:15:07.186 --> 00:15:24.719 If someone asked Paul, if Christ took nothing away from you that was causing you discomfort or pain right now, but gave you more of himself, would you be willing to stay in that situation, and Paul's answer to that would have been yes. 00:15:24.719 --> 00:15:32.818 Yes, because he who began a good work in you will carry it to completion. 00:15:32.818 --> 00:15:39.926 We'll carry it to completion. 00:15:39.926 --> 00:15:42.751 You see, christ is our life and while we live he's still writing his story into our story. 00:15:42.751 --> 00:15:44.695 We're learning more about him day by day. 00:15:44.695 --> 00:15:55.460 Now that brings us to the second chapter and we're going down our contracted word let's, he is our life, he is our example. 00:15:55.460 --> 00:16:01.349 Lets, he is our life, he is our example, he is our example. 00:16:01.369 --> 00:16:05.381 So Paul moves from chapter one broadly to speak about declaring Christ as our life, to presenting Christ as our pattern or our example. 00:16:05.381 --> 00:16:15.311 And he does so largely by singing one of the most exalted hymns of all of scripture, an anthem of descent and of glory. 00:16:15.311 --> 00:16:24.937 And it begins with a statement we'll come back to adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. 00:16:24.937 --> 00:16:34.115 Or another translation would say let this mind be in you Again, a mindset, a mindset. 00:16:34.115 --> 00:16:40.738 And the pattern that's etched for us is the very life of Christ itself. 00:16:40.738 --> 00:16:52.192 He is our example in this pattern, and as we read verse 6 through 11, we can see that it begins with a place of exaltation. 00:16:53.404 --> 00:16:54.812 Who, existing in the form of God. 00:16:54.812 --> 00:16:57.986 God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 00:16:57.986 --> 00:17:14.053 So there he is in the most high realms of honor and glory and praise, receiving all the fullness of the Godhead, and yet he empties himself in verse 7, by assuming the form of a servant. 00:17:14.053 --> 00:17:24.665 Now, he doesn't empty his divinity, but he certainly does divest himself of his privileges and he wraps himself up in humanity, as it says here in verse 7. 00:17:24.665 --> 00:17:51.787 But it doesn't go just to that, as humbling as that might be, it tells us that when he became a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient Obedient to the will of the Father in every regard in his earthly existence, and including an obedience to the cross and to death in verse 8. 00:17:51.787 --> 00:17:53.768 But when we get to verse 9, we see something else. 00:17:53.768 --> 00:18:00.173 This song is a song of descent, but it also is a song of ascent, and verse 9 brings that to us. 00:18:00.173 --> 00:18:07.317 For this reason, god highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name. 00:18:08.159 --> 00:18:10.580 Now, this is not a surprising ending. 00:18:10.580 --> 00:18:12.761 This is the shape of redemption. 00:18:12.761 --> 00:18:25.413 It's the shape of humility before glory, descent before exaltation, of cross before crown, and this rhythm is not found just here in the book of Philippians. 00:18:25.413 --> 00:18:30.180 And for those of us who come on Sunday mornings, I'm giving you a little foretaste of what's ahead of us. 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:45.125 But this is a proclamation that was prophetically echoed in the book of Isaiah in chapter 52 and 53. 00:18:50.316 --> 00:18:52.625 Paul is bringing the melody out of the fourth servant song of the book of Isaiah. 00:18:52.625 --> 00:18:58.323 When Isaiah gave that fourth song, he talked about the descent. 00:18:58.323 --> 00:18:59.145 Listen to these words. 00:18:59.145 --> 00:18:59.727 Talking about the servant. 00:18:59.727 --> 00:19:06.398 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief Isaiah 53.3. 00:19:06.398 --> 00:19:17.361 He poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors Isaiah 53, 12. 00:19:17.361 --> 00:19:18.244 Do you hear the reverberations here? 00:19:18.244 --> 00:19:24.238 The humility, the rejection, the submission to death? 00:19:24.238 --> 00:19:27.913 But listen also to verse 13. 00:19:27.913 --> 00:19:35.633 My servant shall act wisely and he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. 00:19:35.633 --> 00:19:38.971 It's almost a quote. 00:19:38.971 --> 00:19:41.108 It's more than an echo. 00:19:41.108 --> 00:19:43.536 Do you hear it? 00:19:43.536 --> 00:19:45.030 It's the same shape, though. 00:19:45.030 --> 00:19:47.353 It's the same redemptive shape. 00:19:47.353 --> 00:19:51.976 It is the shape of humility before glory. 00:19:51.976 --> 00:19:54.884 It's the shape of descent before exaltation. 00:19:54.884 --> 00:19:57.236 It's the shape of descent before exaltation. 00:19:57.236 --> 00:19:59.265 It's the shape of cross before crown. 00:19:59.424 --> 00:20:11.551 And here we have Christ in voluntary descent to sorrow and shame, a vicarious suffering on the behalf of sinners, and then a divine exaltation by the Father. 00:20:11.551 --> 00:20:20.701 And what Paul is saying here very clearly is that Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 52, 53. 00:20:20.701 --> 00:20:28.499 He's the one who went low so that he might take the undeserving and lift them up. 00:20:28.499 --> 00:20:36.568 He's the one that bore our griefs so that we might share in his glory, our griefs so that we might share in his glory. 00:20:36.568 --> 00:20:43.486 He's the one that's humbled himself to death so that we might, as chapter 1 said, claim Christ as our life. 00:20:43.486 --> 00:21:01.635 But this is not just something to wonder at, to marvel at, a mystery to behold, and it is, of course. 00:21:01.635 --> 00:21:02.862 But it's more than that. 00:21:02.862 --> 00:21:03.384 It's an example for us. 00:21:03.384 --> 00:21:10.388 Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. 00:21:10.388 --> 00:21:12.811 This is something for us to follow. 00:21:12.811 --> 00:21:28.268 This is an example of how we are to conduct ourselves as people in this world and particularly as people within the body of Christ. 00:21:28.268 --> 00:21:34.519 If we want to say that we're followers of Christ among his people, then this example of Christ should be marked on every single one of us. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:42.993 Christ should be marked on every single one of us, and Paul gives three examples of this later in this chapter himself Timothy and Epaphroditus. 00:21:42.993 --> 00:21:45.786 And let's take a look just very quickly at these three examples. 00:21:47.007 --> 00:21:57.421 Paul says in verse 17 of chapter two, even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith. 00:21:57.421 --> 00:22:00.814 I'm glad and rejoice with all of you. 00:22:00.814 --> 00:22:03.263 What is Paul doing? 00:22:03.263 --> 00:22:08.998 He is expending himself for the purpose of building others up. 00:22:08.998 --> 00:22:11.790 Now what about Timothy? 00:22:11.790 --> 00:22:18.207 Paul says in verse 9, he's going to send Timothy to them so that you might be encouraged by him. 00:22:18.207 --> 00:22:19.309 Why Timothy? 00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:27.047 For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests. 00:22:28.409 --> 00:22:35.720 Again, the same pattern self-giving in love for the purpose of someone else's benefit. 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.605 Giving in love for the purpose of someone else's benefit. 00:22:38.605 --> 00:22:40.906 Now, epaphroditus. 00:22:40.906 --> 00:22:47.154 I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker, fellow soldier, as well as your messenger, minister, to my needs. 00:22:47.154 --> 00:22:51.420 He's been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick. 00:22:55.632 --> 00:22:56.355 Who is this man? 00:22:56.355 --> 00:23:23.657 This is a man who loves the people of God and even grieves when they feel a sense of loss about his condition, was willing to be sent out of his home and away from his city to go to Paul and to be a messenger and a benefit to Paul himself, on behalf of the Philippian church, giving himself in self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. 00:23:23.657 --> 00:23:28.112 You see, jesus is not just our life. 00:23:28.112 --> 00:23:34.536 He's also our example, and his humility is not again just something to wonder at. 00:23:34.536 --> 00:23:36.952 It's meant to be part of who we are. 00:23:36.952 --> 00:23:38.810 It's meant to transform us. 00:23:38.810 --> 00:23:56.821 And so some things that we can ask ourselves is this In our relationships, how do we descend rather than defend Right rather than defend right? 00:23:59.144 --> 00:24:03.896 How can we be humble rather than defensive when we are facing people that might be in conflict with us? 00:24:03.896 --> 00:24:09.068 Are we willing to take the lower place, not to be noticed? 00:24:09.068 --> 00:24:21.558 But because that's where Jesus walks, is Christ on display when we stand up for our rights or when we willingly yield? 00:24:21.558 --> 00:24:27.617 You see, god is going to exalt what the world overlooks. 00:24:27.617 --> 00:24:30.330 Right, christ went to the cross. 00:24:30.330 --> 00:24:36.795 He went to the place of death on behalf of others, and it says that the father highly exalted him. 00:24:36.795 --> 00:24:41.472 And so God exalts what the world overlooks. 00:24:41.472 --> 00:24:55.336 He lifts up what the world passes by, and so if you've been striving and joyless, maybe you should try humility and find joy there. 00:24:55.336 --> 00:25:00.115 Look at the servant and look how he freely descended for us. 00:25:00.115 --> 00:25:16.173 He stooped low in order to save us, but he also stooped low in order to show us how to live, and the more your life echoes with the humility of Christ, the more your life will be filled with the joy of Christ. 00:25:17.705 --> 00:25:19.169 Now that leads us to chapter three. 00:25:19.169 --> 00:25:22.234 So he's our life, he's our example. 00:25:22.234 --> 00:25:25.105 He's also our treasure, our treasure. 00:25:25.105 --> 00:25:29.894 And Paul really brings this out in verses seven to 11. 00:25:29.894 --> 00:25:34.990 I consider everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:44.738 And he talks about this glorious possession, a surpassing value, of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, in verse 8. 00:25:44.738 --> 00:26:02.715 Having called all of us to the humility of Christ, he's now inviting us to embrace Christ as our unsurpassing value, to pursue the glory that comes in Christ himself. 00:26:04.905 --> 00:26:14.256 And Paul goes through this discussion here, in which he's not doing spiritual bookkeeping, but rather he's doing a reevaluation of all the things that are worth to him. 00:26:14.256 --> 00:26:16.171 What is a real treasure? 00:26:16.171 --> 00:26:19.108 A reevaluation of all the things that are worth to him, what is a real treasure? 00:26:19.108 --> 00:26:31.626 And so he takes all the things that he had put on one side of the equation as his treasure his identity, his upbringing, his religious fervor and zeal, his attainments in those areas, and he puts it through the fire of grace. 00:26:31.626 --> 00:26:37.356 And as he does so, the only thing that's left at the end of that is Jesus. 00:26:37.356 --> 00:26:43.992 Everything else is burned up His identity, his upbringing, his religious zeal. 00:26:43.992 --> 00:26:45.154 What are they now? 00:26:45.154 --> 00:26:55.678 Scrap, refuge, rubbish, all the things that he was and some of those things weren't necessarily bad. 00:26:55.678 --> 00:27:05.707 All the things that he was and some of those things weren't necessarily bad they all pale in significance compared to the unsurpassed glory of knowing Christ. 00:27:05.707 --> 00:27:16.400 And so what he sees here is that Jesus is his treasure, the ultimate gain that he's gotten by union with Jesus Christ himself. 00:27:22.976 --> 00:27:25.144 And Paul begins to discuss what that looks like in chapter 3. 00:27:25.144 --> 00:27:36.356 He says in verse 9 that one of the treasures that he has in Jesus Christ is a righteousness that's not his own, not having a righteousness of my own but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:27:36.356 --> 00:27:56.450 And he gladly laid down this law-based righteousness that he once prided himself in in order to receive the perfect record of Christ himself, given to him unearned, given to him unshakable, given to him unending into the heavenlies, unending into the heavenlies. 00:27:56.450 --> 00:28:06.919 He also, in verse 10, talks about here in chapter 3, about a fellowship that suffering cannot break Right. 00:28:06.919 --> 00:28:17.453 So not only a righteousness that's not his own, but a fellowship that suffering cannot break Verse 10, that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings. 00:28:20.185 --> 00:28:24.376 For Paul to know Christ was a lot more than just to study him. 00:28:24.376 --> 00:28:27.771 It was to enter into his life. 00:28:27.771 --> 00:28:38.017 It was to understand his nearness in his own weaknesses, to experience his spirit raising him from the depths of despair. 00:28:38.017 --> 00:28:44.115 And when he felt those things he said I know his fellowship in suffering. 00:28:44.115 --> 00:28:52.973 But he also goes on to say that the treasure of Christ is a hope that death cannot cancel. 00:28:52.973 --> 00:28:55.026 Take a look at verse 10 and 11. 00:28:55.026 --> 00:29:09.053 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, assuming I will somehow reach the resurrection from the dead. 00:29:09.053 --> 00:29:31.489 Paul here is saying that there is a glory beyond death, something that is in union with Christ, in which not only does he feel Christ's life within him and Christ's ministering to him in his sufferings, but beyond that death is a resurrection that he will be a part of. 00:29:33.371 --> 00:30:08.294 So this servant's pattern in chapter 2, this example of Christ, is now internalized into Paul himself and he walks down that same pathway and as he continues to go down, the life of Christ and the example of Christ increase within him, the treasure of Christ, and as he even gets to the very bottom of it all, all he can say is I know that I have a fellowship with the Savior, both in the lowest and even, most gloriously, in the highest, in the resurrection himself. 00:30:08.294 --> 00:30:21.403 You see, paul's not just admiring Christ and he's not just theologically discovering Christ, he is communing with Christ and pursuing Christ. 00:30:21.403 --> 00:30:31.355 And so in verse 12, he says not that I've already attained, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me his own. 00:30:31.355 --> 00:30:38.932 Jesus came to save me, to make me his, and I want to be all his. 00:30:38.932 --> 00:30:50.672 I want to be everything he's come for, to be fully his, and so this desire drives him, even in his sufferings. 00:30:52.520 --> 00:31:11.767 Now, imagine you were walking along a field not many fields around here, but happened upon a field and there in the middle of the field you notice something a little unusual that caught your eye in the dirt and you kind of kicked it around a little bit and you went I think that looks like a ring. 00:31:11.767 --> 00:31:19.208 And you kick a little more and you're like that looks like two rings and a coin. 00:31:19.208 --> 00:31:23.576 And you're like, okay, anybody looking? 00:31:23.576 --> 00:31:27.644 And you start pulling the grass and the dirt aside. 00:31:27.644 --> 00:31:35.986 And the more you dig and the deeper you go, the more treasure you're discovering, what's the first thing you're going to do? 00:31:35.986 --> 00:31:40.320 You know, I wonder who has a deed to this land right here. 00:31:40.320 --> 00:31:43.470 I'm going to go sell my car. 00:31:43.470 --> 00:31:45.115 I'm going to go sell my house. 00:31:45.115 --> 00:32:01.760 I'm going to sell everything I've got because as soon as I buy this property, that treasure is going to be mine, and I'm willing to give everything else up in order to gain this piece of land because of the treasure it is. 00:32:03.282 --> 00:32:14.060 The Apostle Paul is saying that when he saw Jesus Christ and the grace of Jesus Christ, everything that was part of his life before sell it. 00:32:14.060 --> 00:32:15.944 It doesn't. 00:32:15.944 --> 00:32:26.208 The only thing I need is him, is him, and so he doesn't begrudgingly part with his old gains. 00:32:26.208 --> 00:32:31.262 He happily divests himself of those things because he's found a treasure. 00:32:31.262 --> 00:32:40.969 So Christ is our life, christ is our example, christ is our treasure, but he's also our strength, and this is the big emphasis of chapter four. 00:32:46.540 --> 00:33:13.391 After climbing to the heights of joy and longing in chapter three, being found with Christ in his resurrection, paul now plants our feet firmly on the soil of daily living, in the middle of all its pressures, in the middle of all its uncertainties, in the middle of all of our anxieties, in the middle of all our needs and yet, with our feet firmly on the ground, again, he tells us in verse 4 to do what? 00:33:13.391 --> 00:33:29.615 Rejoice in the Lord, how often, once in a while, occasionally, when Micah rouses us with a great encouragement to be a little happier, when we sing. 00:33:29.615 --> 00:33:55.380 No, always, always, always, always, like always when anxiety is camping at our door, always Anxiety when peace feels like just a, when peace feels like just a lost notion. 00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:59.609 Always when there's financial needs or family burdens or frayed nerves or exhausted spirits. 00:33:59.609 --> 00:34:02.982 Always, yeah, always. 00:34:02.982 --> 00:34:05.830 Why? 00:34:05.830 --> 00:34:14.210 Because joy is not rooted in circumstance but in the presence of a Savior who doesn't change. 00:34:14.210 --> 00:34:22.387 Because Christ is not just our life and our example and our treasure, he's also our strength. 00:34:22.387 --> 00:34:41.668 And in this chapter he shows us how the life of Christ is our strength, and he does so in very seven staccato-like yet very powerful statements of how our lives can be transformed by Christ. 00:34:41.668 --> 00:34:45.440 Who is our strength, and I'm just going to mention these very, very briefly. 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:54.661 Verse 6, we have a prayer life that sustains us and steadies us In everything. 00:34:54.661 --> 00:34:58.306 By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 00:34:58.306 --> 00:35:04.367 One of the greatest ways that we can receive strength is to realize someone's alongside of us in it. 00:35:04.367 --> 00:35:08.110 But God is more than just with us in the trouble. 00:35:08.110 --> 00:35:12.309 He is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think. 00:35:12.309 --> 00:35:18.007 So we're addressing the one who has the empowerment to do what is impossible for us. 00:35:18.007 --> 00:35:25.606 So we bring our burdens to him, who hears and answers. 00:35:25.606 --> 00:35:33.449 In verse seven we have the strength of a peace that will guard us, and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds. 00:35:33.449 --> 00:35:41.887 You see, peace again is not merely an absence of trouble, it's a shield for us. 00:35:41.887 --> 00:35:43.804 And I don't know about you. 00:35:43.804 --> 00:35:45.266 When do you pick up a shield? 00:35:45.266 --> 00:35:50.018 When you're in battle, right, right. 00:35:50.018 --> 00:35:54.431 The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds. 00:35:54.431 --> 00:36:06.507 You don't need a guard if there's nothing that's coming at you, but when things are coming at you, you have a guard, and that is the peace of God. 00:36:08.501 --> 00:36:11.110 In verse 8, we have a perspective that can lift us. 00:36:11.110 --> 00:36:12.362 In verse 8 we have a perspective that can lift us. 00:36:12.362 --> 00:36:23.130 Brothers, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, if there's moral excellence in anything praiseworthy, dwell, think on these things. 00:36:23.130 --> 00:36:33.976 Anxiety causes the world to fall in on itself and all we see is the immediate. 00:36:33.976 --> 00:36:40.889 And yet here, christ-shaped thinking will widen us beyond those four walls that have closed in on us. 00:36:40.889 --> 00:36:43.842 Verse 9,. 00:36:43.842 --> 00:36:49.389 We have a presence that's around us, and the God of peace shall be with you. 00:36:49.389 --> 00:37:01.748 Now, here we go, from the peace of God in the previous verse to now, the God, who is the God of peace, he himself will be present with you. 00:37:05.061 --> 00:37:18.713 Paul gives personal testimony to another of these strength-inducing supplies that we receive, a contentment that anchors us In verse 11 and 12,. 00:37:18.713 --> 00:37:22.199 I don't say this out of need, for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:24.005 I know how to make do with little. 00:37:24.005 --> 00:37:28.083 I know how to make do with a lot In any and all circumstances. 00:37:28.083 --> 00:37:33.309 I have learned the secret of being content, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 00:37:33.309 --> 00:37:38.003 Oh, the Apostle Paul. 00:37:38.003 --> 00:37:39.610 I could never be like the Apostle Paul. 00:37:39.610 --> 00:37:42.005 He was such a learner. 00:37:42.005 --> 00:37:43.891 Learner. 00:37:43.891 --> 00:37:51.367 Paul had to learn, and this learning wasn't just two plus two equals four. 00:37:51.367 --> 00:37:52.269 Repeat it back to me. 00:37:52.269 --> 00:37:53.313 Okay, you learned it. 00:37:53.313 --> 00:37:55.644 This is a formative learning. 00:37:56.527 --> 00:37:59.472 A contentment doesn't come by a mathematical equation. 00:37:59.472 --> 00:38:10.530 Contentment comes by being pressed into situations and then discovering, wonderfully, somehow God is so operated in your heart that you're okay with it. 00:38:10.530 --> 00:38:19.860 And so he said I've learned to be content. 00:38:19.860 --> 00:38:27.844 And then he understands that he has a power to uphold him here in verse 13. 00:38:27.844 --> 00:38:29.967 I know how to make do with a little and a lot. 00:38:29.967 --> 00:38:33.512 He says in verse 12, I've learned the secret of being content. 00:38:33.512 --> 00:38:43.795 Whether well-fed or hungry, I am able to do all things through him, who strengthens me. 00:38:43.795 --> 00:38:48.217 This is so often misquoted. 00:38:48.217 --> 00:38:56.673 I'd like guys who wear this t-shirt to go to the gym and stack up the bar with a bunch of 45s on both sides and say, okay, you can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you. 00:38:56.673 --> 00:38:59.061 Let's see what your bench press is going to be today. 00:38:59.061 --> 00:39:03.865 This is not an I can do all things of ambition. 00:39:03.865 --> 00:39:09.092 This is an I can do all things of endurance. 00:39:09.092 --> 00:39:14.577 I can do all things with a contented endurance. 00:39:16.262 --> 00:39:27.211 The context shows us that Paul has just talked about learning to be content, and the strengthening he's received is a strengthening to be content. 00:39:27.211 --> 00:39:35.813 And then, last of all, a provision that sustains him, and he mentions this in verse 19. 00:39:35.813 --> 00:39:42.972 My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 00:39:42.972 --> 00:39:50.393 In the economy of grace, there's no empty spot the Lord can't fill. 00:39:50.393 --> 00:39:55.157 There's no empty spot the Lord can't fill. 00:39:55.157 --> 00:39:57.286 And so here we are. 00:39:57.286 --> 00:40:04.909 Christ is not a crutch, but he is the ground beneath our feet when everything else feels like it's caving in on us. 00:40:04.909 --> 00:40:08.748 He's not a parachute we pull as a last resort. 00:40:08.748 --> 00:40:23.141 He is the atmosphere in which we live and breathe, he is our life, he is our example, he is our treasure, and we will find that he's also our strength In the middle of all of this. 00:40:24.864 --> 00:40:52.251 And so the invitation of the book of Philippians is not for us to pretend, not for us to act like none of it matters, not to sort of give up and in just absolute passivity and think well, no, this is something that's much more purposeful and intentional and much more focused, focused on Christ, not on the joy itself. 00:40:52.251 --> 00:41:12.166 But when you think about Jesus as your life and you think about Jesus as your example, and you start thinking about Jesus as your treasure and you start thinking about Jesus as your strength, lo and behold, joy will come trailing along, as it will, because it is the joy of Christ himself. 00:41:12.166 --> 00:41:32.333 So you might feel weary, you might feel stretched, you might feel like you're walking through fire, but you won't be without Christ's power and you won't be severed from Christ's hope, and you won't be severed from Christ's presence and you won't be severed from Christ's presence, because he will be with you always. 00:41:32.333 --> 00:41:46.954 And that's why this letter written from prison is one of the most delightful, rejoicing letters you can read, because this man learned, and he wants us to learn it too. 00:41:46.954 --> 00:41:52.527 So let's pray together. 00:41:52.567 --> 00:41:56.213 Father, we thank you for this short look at the book of Philippians. 00:41:56.213 --> 00:42:14.454 Thank you for helping us understand the kind of joy that is different than what we typically think of about floating along on a pleasant day, but rather a joy that will anchor us even in a stormy, stormy situation. 00:42:14.454 --> 00:42:22.067 We thank you for showing us that Christ is our life, that Christ is our example. 00:42:22.067 --> 00:42:44.590 He shows us that joy comes from giving rather than gaining, that Christ is our treasure, that everything else fades in relationship and in contrast to him, and that Christ is our strength, even when pressures don't let up, that he will give us more and more of himself. 00:42:46.862 --> 00:43:02.164 And so, father, I pray for all of us that we might say honestly before you may Christ be my life, so I might be able to say what does it matter If Christ be praised? 00:43:02.164 --> 00:43:05.351 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:43:05.351 --> 00:43:17.606 May we be willing to step into the steps of our Savior, who lowered himself in self-giving love, even to the point of death. 00:43:17.606 --> 00:43:25.730 And so, father, may we gladly embrace humility and sacrifice and service. 00:43:25.730 --> 00:43:36.791 Father, may we be happy to own Christ as our treasure, even if it means letting go of something that we've prized. 00:43:36.791 --> 00:43:52.172 And I pray that you would bring us, father, to the place where, in the middle of burdens and anxieties and hardships, that we would know that we have a sevenfold cord of strength in you. 00:43:52.172 --> 00:44:13.369 Help us to understand that this is not some theory or abstraction, but can be every beat of our burdened and loved life, because you are ours and we are yours, and we pray this in Christ's name, amen.