WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 I'll invite you to take your Bible and go to the book of Philippians. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.080 Philippians. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.359 We've just completed our Amalgo Day series. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.160 And we're now entering into a study of the book of Philippians. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:20.960 And alongside Micah and me will be several other men who'll be handling God's word as we go through this book. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:25.760 I'm looking very much to hearing their contributions as we do so. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.960 When you hear the word joy, what comes to your mind? 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:48.479 For me, what comes to mind is being with uh my grandfather and grandmother and my uncles and aunts uh in a big farmhouse in Indiana after a long day, and uh a good meal's just been cooked, and everybody's around. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:01:07.200 I'm with my cousins and my mom and dad are with their siblings and my mother's uh father and father and mother, and laughter around the table, um, someone telling a joke, somebody telling a story, and the whole place is warm with with the light of laughter. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:14.239 It's a delightful uh memory of mine many, many times with family like that, and that's joyful. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.000 That's what comes to mind. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.879 And perhaps you might have another type of joy that comes to your mind. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:29.519 Uh thinking about my sons when they were playing basketball, they weren't the best basketball players, and the team that they were on wasn't the best. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:37.040 And you know, losing game after game after game isn't is a pretty hard thing to do for a child and for their parents. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:51.200 Um, but when that final shot goes and it goes in and the buzzers, the buzzer cries out and breaks, breaks it, and you're all like excited they finally won a game, you know, and you're you're full of joy and all of that. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:57.920 I don't know what your mind might have brought to your to your attention and remembrance, but those are joyful things. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.760 We enter into those kind of moments, and it's a it's a great joy to have. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.159 But there's a commonality to at least the two that I mentioned. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:08.879 The circumstances were good. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:17.520 Family together, family having a good time, laughter and stories all around, uh, relatives with one another. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:26.400 A game won, but you change the circumstances, fight around the table, or the buzzer goes off and they lost another one. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.719 What happens to the joy? 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:37.599 Well, this is one of the questions that presses in on us when we look at the book of Philippians. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:39.759 Is there a different kind of joy? 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.840 And Philippians is going to show us that absolutely there is. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.479 There is a deeper kind of joy. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:57.120 There's a joy that is available that doesn't rise and fall with your circumstances, because it's rooted in something your circumstances can't touch. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:04.080 And when you find that joy, you've got a joy that takes you through the rest of your life. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:10.719 What's particularly compelling about this book, it's written by a man who's in prison. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:15.520 Paul is in prison under Roman house arrest. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:26.240 He is chained to a guard, he's facing trial, and it's quite possible that he will be facing even his execution. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:45.199 The churches that he started, they're circulating around in some of those churches that Paul's imprisonment is a sign of his insincerity of being a messenger of Christ, that he's actually not legitimate. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:54.000 And so some of them, for envy's sake, are actually preaching all the more, thinking that it'll press more upon Paul himself while he's in prison. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.599 Nice church members, that one. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.159 Those are bad circumstances. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:21.279 And yet, in the middle of all that, Philippians is one of the most joyful documents that we could read. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:27.680 The words joy or rejoicing are mentioned some 16 times in four chapters. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.639 So we learn a lot about joy from this man. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:39.360 And what radiates from this is this triumphant confidence of joy that can only be explained one way. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:47.279 It can't be explained by the circumstances because they're all troubling and they're all circumstances of loss. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.319 But Paul has found something that his chains cannot take away. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:58.240 And that's why I want us to go to the book of Philippians, not only this evening, but for the next few months. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:05.600 Because as we go through life, all of us will be facing circumstances that will be tugging at our life. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:13.519 And if we put our joy in those good circumstances and they leave, so will our joy. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:25.680 But if we have our joy in things that the circumstances can't touch, then we have found something far richer than any good day that we might have. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:27.439 So let's begin to look. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:40.639 And I want us to read the first couple verses, because what we're going to discover this evening is just that, whether there's a joy available to us in the midst of our hard times. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.720 Let's look at verses one and two. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:54.079 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:00.959 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:05.199 Now notice how Paul addresses the church here. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:10.639 He calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:14.240 And that word in the Greek means a slave. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.560 And Paul's not simply being modest here. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:23.519 Paul's offering a theological argument of his identity. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:28.879 He doesn't open this letter by talking about his apostolic authority. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.439 He doesn't talk about his credentials. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.959 He opens up with a word about his servanthood. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:44.560 Now, in many of his letters, he actually does establish his apostolic authority, but not here, not in this place, not to these people. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:51.279 He wants them to understand the posture of his heart in the middle of his situation. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.959 I am a servant of Christ Jesus. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:58.720 Just hold on to that because we'll revisit that in just a second. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.519 But notice what else he says to them: Grace and peace to you. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:07.759 Two words, one of them with a Greek origin, one with a Hebrew origin. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.920 Grace, unearned gift. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:24.639 Peace, a comprehensive wholeness, not just an end of cessation of hostilities, but a wholeness of life that flows from being at peace with God. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:31.600 And these two words, as we'll discover later, are a compression of the gospel. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:38.959 And notice the source of them from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:43.839 Again, hold on to that because we'll revisit this introduction in just a moment. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.600 And this evening, I want us to go through this whole letter. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:52.319 I want us to be able to see the argument that's found here in all four chapters. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:08:08.480 And as the weeks unfold and as the men begin to present the Word of God to us as we go more slowly through the book of Philippians, I want to give you sort of a framework from which you'll be able to understand all the pieces that come week by week. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.600 The question that stands over this is what does it mean to be in Christ? 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.399 And what difference does that make when my life is hard? 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:20.800 Hang on to those questions. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.040 What does it mean to be in Christ? 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.199 And what difference does it make when my life is hard? 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:32.080 And Paul answers this chapter by chapter with four words. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:34.879 That Christ is a believer's life. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:38.000 That's a good title for chapter one. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:45.039 That secondly, Christ is a believer's pattern, and that's a good title for chapter two. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:51.919 Third, Christ is a believer's treasure in chapter three. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:56.080 And then chapter four, Christ is the believer's supply. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:05.039 So think about those four words: a believer's life, a believer's pattern, a believer's treasure, and a believer's supply. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:20.639 And when you've when you have life, a pattern, a treasure, and a supply from Christ, you have everything that you need for joy, no matter what the circumstances are. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:25.600 Even if you're in chains, like Paul. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.440 So let's look at those. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:28.399 Let's break those down. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.879 First of all, chapter one, Christ, a believer's life. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.639 Verse 21 says it quite clearly. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.840 For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:48.399 Now it's one of the most compressed and one of the most dramatic statements in Scripture. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:53.360 Because it comes from a man who's about to face possible execution. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:59.120 For me to live as Christ and to die is gain. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:05.519 I've never been in the place where execution is a real possibility for me. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.679 But he was. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.120 And he's not looking at that with dread. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.840 He's actually saying, if I do die, that's gain. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:25.759 So what he's saying is that in order to be there, the first part of that has to be a living reality. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.639 For me to live is Christ. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:36.480 Christ isn't just a part of his life, or even a significant part of his life, or perhaps even the most important part of his life. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:37.360 It is. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.320 And by saying that, nothing can diminish that. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:53.840 Nothing can diminish his joy because Christ is his life. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.440 He might be chained, but Christ isn't. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.279 He might be restricted from movement, but Christ isn't. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:09.039 And he's able even to look at his circumstances and to realize that God is with him even in the hardest of things. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:15.279 The reason why he was in prison, the reason why he was in chains was because he was proclaiming the gospel. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:24.320 And the people thought by getting him arrested and bringing him into this sort of place of restriction, they would put him away. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.320 And that the message he was proclaiming would be shut down. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:34.320 But the apostle Paul says all of this has happened for the furtherance of the gospel. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:42.720 That the very reason why they wanted him imprisoned is the very means God has used to advance the gospel. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.519 So even his enemies can't do any harm to him. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:54.879 And so he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:03.279 And that tells us if Christ is your life, you cannot be reduced by the things that happen to you. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:09.440 You cannot be reduced in your identity because of your sicknesses. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:15.200 You cannot be reduced in your identity because of hard financial circumstances. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:22.960 You cannot be reduced in your identity even if you fail if you're in Christ. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:34.799 If your life is hidden in Christ, your life is hidden where no one can put their hands and no one can seize you. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:40.000 Now notice how Paul again started this letter. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:44.320 A doulos, a servant, a slave. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.360 What is he saying when he says that? 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:52.399 Again, it's not just a kind, customary greeting. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.039 It's actually quite a startling one. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.399 He's saying, My life is not my own. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:00.879 I am my master's. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:24.320 And when he says that Christ is his life, he says, My master owns me. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.720 And he will direct me. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:35.840 And because of that, he has nothing he has to feel like he has to protect, because he's given it all to Christ. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:40.480 And Christ is the one responsible for it all. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:46.639 And therefore, as he looks to Christ, he receives instead of trying to manage his life. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.840 And so this is where Philippians begins with this chapter. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.840 We'll break this down more and more as we go through it, but just wanted to give you that nice overarching perspective. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:00.559 The second is that Christ is a believer's pattern. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.720 And this takes us into chapter two. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:10.320 And Philippians 2 contains one of the most magnificent passages of all of Scripture. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:31.440 Paul is dealing with a church that has to be brought into an understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel, toward unity, toward genuine humility, toward deference and preferment of one another, as they would look to one another and place each other as better than themselves. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:37.039 Should have flown out of the gospel that they'd received, but they had been sidetracked. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:44.480 They had been brought into disunity and pride, and they were preferring themselves over one another. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:48.799 But Paul doesn't give them a principle to change all of that. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.399 He doesn't give them three steps to having better humility. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:58.240 What he does is he gives them a person, Jesus Christ Himself. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:05.039 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, verse 5, chapter 2. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.840 Who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:21.759 Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity, and when he had come as a man. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:28.480 I want you to notice a key word in there taking the form of a servant. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:52.080 And also to mention here of what the master himself did. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:11.039 The one who was fully God, co-equal with the Father in every way, took the form of a slave, that he was worshipped by the angels, was glad to take in a basin and a towel and wash dirty feet. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:21.039 That he who had commanded the cosmos and brought them all into existence was willing to be obedient to death. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:30.000 Here is Christ, humbled and later exalted. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.799 Therefore, God has highly exalted him, it says in verse 9. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:42.320 So here's this pattern, this pattern of descent, and then exaltation. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.720 We're in the book of Acts in the morning, and we're seeing the exaltation part of it. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:17:04.559 But you might remember when we were back in Isaiah in chapter 52 and 53, and looking at one of the servant songs, and we saw the servant highly exalted, and yet taking the steps of humility and suffering and death and later becoming exalted. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:10.559 Paul is pulling from that servant song of Isaiah to speak about the Savior here. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:18.480 And he's impressing that upon us by saying to us, Christ is our pattern. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:29.519 It is for us to go down the steps of humility and love for others, just as Christ himself has. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:39.039 No need to try to protect or to project ourselves, because our master himself became a slave. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:47.680 So to call yourself a slave of Jesus is to take the form that the master himself took. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.599 Now, what is the significance of that for us? 00:17:52.240 --> 00:18:01.680 Well, what it does, if you really grab hold of it and understand it, it dismantles every temptation to stand for your rights. 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:14.880 It tears apart every feeling that you have to protect yourself, that it ruins your ability to manage your reputation. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.599 And that's a good thing. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:27.440 Because here we see what the master did with his own rights, he relinquished them in love. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.319 And in that is freedom, and in that is joy. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:46.079 Because a person who is a servant doesn't have to try to be anxious about his status, right? 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.400 You don't have one anyway. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.640 So Christ is our life, Christ is our pattern. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.759 Thirdly, we're going to see in chapter three that Christ is a believer's treasure. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:11.759 A believer's treasure. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.160 Take a look at verse eight. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:26.160 More than that, he said, I also consider everything to be loss in the view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:35.759 And because of him I've suffered the loss of all things, and have considered them as done, so that I may gain Christ. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:40.240 Here in chapter three, Paul does something very audacious. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:54.880 He takes out the leisure, ledger, rather, of his religious resume, of all of his cultural credentials, and all of his spiritual achievements, and he throws it out. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:56.960 Every bit of it. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.039 Circumcise the eighth day, throw it out. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:03.039 The tribe of Benjamin, throw it out. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.119 Hebrew of the Hebrews, throw it out. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:07.200 A Pharisee, throw it out. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.200 Zealous, throw it out. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:12.240 As for the law, blameless, throw it out. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:22.720 I just bought some plane tickets with points that I've been saving up for years so Royal and I could go see our grandchildren at Christmas time. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.599 Our sons too, but our grandchildren mostly. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:34.079 And when I when I emptied those points to get the ticket, you would have thought I was excited because I saved some money. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:37.839 I looked at the points and went, I got to start over again. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:46.160 The Apostle Paul takes all of this that's been built up and he says, just throw it out. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.079 Throw it out. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:55.039 By every external measure, Paul was at the top of the spiritual list. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:03.920 He says, Let's move it away from the acid column and let's put it in the waste basket, every bit of it. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:04.960 Why? 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:10.559 Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:19.519 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.759 And he counted it not only as a loss, but as a worthless thing to throw away. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.519 Something that you wouldn't want to keep at all. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:40.960 And what he's saying is all of those credentials, perhaps not worthless in and of themselves, but certainly worthless in comparison to Christ. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.920 The surpassing value is the key there. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.079 And what does he gain? 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:59.119 He says, My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:08.400 What he gained wasn't just knowledge about Christ, it was actually knowing Christ. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:26.720 Knowing Christ in his death and suffering, knowing Christ in his resurrection, and knowing the gift of righteousness that would come, that he didn't have to try to build. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:51.599 This intimacy of relationship, that is even a fellowship and shared experiences of suffering, and a growing conformity to Christ, that is a conformity even to death that paradoxically produces life as only God could do in the ironies of this existence. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:59.279 What he's doing here in chapter three is telling us where the profoundest, deepest joy is had. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.160 It's found in Christ. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:18.319 You've heard me say this before, but in a very dark, hard, difficult season I was in, in which I had a number of people who would be glad to see the back of me. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:23.359 Someone asked me why I was still serving at the church I was at. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:32.400 And I answered by saying this, I'm learning something about Jesus I don't think I could find anywhere else. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:47.039 In the middle of that suffering, there was an intimacy of fellowship that I didn't know I needed, and I certainly wasn't looking for, but came upon me in a way that was very deep and very profound. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:51.119 And the sufferings, well, they were worth it. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:24:03.680 And so he's telling them here that this is a joy that's not a joy of good circumstances, and it's not a joy of achieved goals. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:12.720 It's a joy despite death, despite failure, despite loss, despite time, despite restrictions. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:16.720 There's a joy there, and it comes from Christ. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:36.000 And this helps us to be able to look at the things that bombard us, that tried to seduce us, to go after them and claim them as gods, and to realize just how actually worthless they are. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:50.160 When you see the surpassing greatness of Christ, even in suffering with Him, there are things thrown at you that you don't have an interest in anymore. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:53.359 Because you see them for what they are. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:59.279 You're not adversely affected either by the loss that comes to you. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:11.200 You're not immune to trouble and you're not immune to temptation, but you're able to account whatever those things are just as they actually are. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:17.119 Lesser things, not worth supplanting and replacing Christ for. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:20.880 And that leads us to our last point. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:30.480 Not only is Christ a believer's life and a believer's pattern and a believer's treasure, but Christ is also a believer's supply. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:37.599 And chapter four is, you know, Micah asked for those verses that we treasure out of the book of Philippians. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.119 And I think a lot of them would come to chapter four from chapter four. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.960 Ones like, rejoice in the Lord always. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.279 And again I say rejoice. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:56.319 Again, appointing to our place of rejoicing, not in our circumstances, but rejoice in the Lord. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:03.440 Find your joy there, not achievements, not even in the good gifts that God gives, but in the Lord Himself. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.440 Or maybe Philippians 4, 6 and 7 might be your favorite. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.920 Don't worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:20.160 Present your request to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:23.759 What is the remedy for anxiety? 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.400 Managing your situation. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.279 No, not at all. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.880 It's about Christ. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:40.799 It's not about gaining the right perspective or the right mindset through the discipline that you might give to your mind and your thinking. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:50.240 It comes through prayer, through being honest and open with God about the weaknesses of yourself. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:27:02.799 But in trust, giving those things and casting the weight of your cares upon him, and thankful that he can handle it when you can't. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:04.559 And the result? 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.599 Well, it's not a solution to the problem. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.079 The result is peace. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:19.440 A peace that doesn't make any logical sense because the circumstances that you're in would not be peaceful. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:23.519 But the peace comes despite the circumstances. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:32.640 The peace that passes all understanding is the peace that can't be explained because your circumstances are still hard. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:36.880 How about this one as a favorite? 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:39.759 I know how to make do with a little. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:41.839 I know how to make do with a lot. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:49.839 In any and all circumstances, I've learned the secret of being content, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:55.839 That may not be a favorite of everybody's, because it shows both sides. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:02.799 I think we would like to say, I've learned to be content, well-fed, and I've learned to be content in abundance. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.920 But Paul doesn't just do that, does he? 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:10.079 Whether I'm hungry or in need, I can be content. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:11.680 But notice what he says. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.640 He learned to be content. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:18.319 Paul is being transparent here. 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:28.079 Because what Paul is saying in that word is that there were there was perhaps many times when he was discontented. 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:33.920 There were times when the situations aggravated him. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:39.359 There were times when the circumstances weighed too heavily upon him. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:51.359 And so what he's offering to us in the book of Philippians, that Christ is our supply, is not just some spiritual principle that he throws out there, detached from the circumstances of his life. 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:56.480 These things he himself wrestled with and entered into. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:11.440 And he's saying, I've learned, as I've gone through life in its abundance and in its want, as I've gone into moments where I've been full and times when I've had to be hungry, I've learned to be content. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:43.759 And in the repetition of submission and pouring himself out in prayer and finding God the supply in those moments as they repeat themselves, he says, I've learned, I've learned to be content. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:58.079 And then one of the great promises of the New Testament, verse 19, My God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:13.759 Now look at that word, according to his riches, not out of his riches, as though he's diminishing the bank account and drawing from it as he's offering things to you, but according to his riches, in proportion to his riches. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:15.440 And what are his riches? 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.839 They're vast and infinite. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:26.720 So according to the vastness and the infinite supply of God's riches, you are being cared for. 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:32.160 And God will supply you all that you need. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.839 So let's go back to the first couple words. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:47.759 We've seen Christ as our life, Christ as our pattern, Christ as our treasure, and Christ as our supply. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.359 Remember what Paul opened up with? 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.279 Grace and peace to you. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:03.039 Again, not a polite reading, but two words that sum up the gospel. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:15.279 Grace, unearned, undeserved, unreciprocal gift granted by God to people that have no claim on Him. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:16.720 Grace. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:18.640 Peace. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:22.960 A comprehensive wholeness that flows from that grace. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:33.599 The end of hostility between the God who created us, the settling of the war that's been raging inside our heart against him. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:39.759 And in its place, a sense of wholeness and fullness. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:42.400 That kind of peace. 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.039 And where does it come from? 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:49.119 From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.680 Not our circumstances. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.279 Not from our spiritual performance. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:59.119 Not from our resolve to be less anxious. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:00.960 From God. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:07.680 And if you're in Christ, these words are yours. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:15.680 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:34.960 So whatever's happening in your life right now, whatever circumstances that you've seen in the past few months, whatever you've been carrying that's made it hard for you to believe, these are your words. 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:43.119 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:48.480 The promise to you is not that your circumstances will change. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:33:03.680 The promise to you is that despite your circumstances, just as Paul's, you will find room to rejoice and to be joyful because of who Christ is to you. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:10.319 Your life, your pattern, your treasure, your supply. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:20.720 And if you're here this evening and you don't know Christ as your Savior, these things are not offered as an exchange for how well you perform. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:28.640 These things are offered freely from a God who gives to those who don't deserve it. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:36.640 And finding the grace of God and the peace of God comes by bringing yourself empty to Him. 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:39.440 I know that sounds scary. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.880 To be before the living God with nothing to offer seems like the most foolish thing on earth to do. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:51.680 But the scriptures tell us that is exactly what we should do. 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:57.440 Because we were designed to live in utter dependence on him anyway, no matter how good life was. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:07.680 Even in Eden, when everything was perfect, we should live with a posture of dependence from his supply and his care and his love. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:24.559 And so here in this moment, when you have nothing to bring, bring yourself just as you are, and find just as many have the overwhelming sense of God's mercy and love and grace in Christ. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:31.199 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:33.199 Let's pray together. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:35:13.840 Father, we thank you for this glorious book that shares so much of the wondrous wealth and treasure that you are, to be able to see ourselves enveloped in you, to be brought into life out of spiritual death, to be shown how to live when sin would have taught us a different way, to count Christ as our treasure when we would have been trying to stockpile our own reserves, and to know that your supply is for us. 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:24.559 We can do all things through you when we realize that our resources are meager and limited. 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:41.679 And that all of us with receptive hearts will hear the message that you have for us here. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:57.440 And that, Father, we will be filled with an abundant sense of joy and rejoicing in you with thankful hearts, despite what we may face, today, tomorrow, or years to come. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:59.760 And we pray this in Christ's name. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:00.639 Amen.