SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Please take your Bible with me to the book of Philippians, chapter four.
SPEAKER_01: Philippians chapter four.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be part of a local church for long before you hear the phrase, no church is perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that comment is followed by a particular punchline that we think was originated by Charles Spurgeon.
SPEAKER_01: If you find the perfect church, make sure you leave it because you'll ruin it if you stay.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for laughing, some of you.
SPEAKER_01: That sentiment is based on the reality that churches are simply gatherings of sinful saints.
SPEAKER_01: We're at different stages of maturity, struggling to follow Christ as faithfully as we can while still battling the sin in our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: We're battling the spiritual forces of this dark world.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine putting hundreds or maybe even thousands of people ranging from infants crawling on the floor to seniors in high school, all together in the same room and expecting them to form a perfect union of people together, it won't work.
SPEAKER_01: If you've ever read that book, Lord of the Flies, where there's a bunch of boys put on an island, it just it just fails miserably.
SPEAKER_01: It's because we are sinful people, all put together.
SPEAKER_01: And as we in our spiritual lives are striving to move from one degree of maturity to the next, there's there's conflict.
SPEAKER_01: It's impossible to form a perfect assembly of sinful people still fighting sin.
SPEAKER_01: Just as there are sinless people, there are sinful, I'm sorry, there are sinful people, there are sinful churches.
SPEAKER_01: And because all people are sinners, all churches are in one essence or another sinful.
SPEAKER_01: Even the churches the Apostle Paul started were flawed.
SPEAKER_01: Near the end of the first century, the church of Ephesus was criticized by the Lord himself, saying, You're in danger of having left your first love.
SPEAKER_01: The church in Corinth seemed to face issues with various kinds of sin and sinners constantly.
SPEAKER_01: Even the church in Philippi that we've been looking at together faced challenges both from the outside of the church and from the inside.
SPEAKER_01: They faced opposition first to the gospel of Christ in chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: The Apostle Paul told them, Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you, that you're standing firm together in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in any way by your opponents.
SPEAKER_01: He adds that God graciously gave them the privilege of suffering for the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So they're engaged in conflict.
SPEAKER_01: It was the gospel against Roman culture, Christ versus Caesar, the I Am versus the Roman Emperor, it was idols versus the living God, it was Christians against the world, and the church is caught in the middle.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not the end of it.
SPEAKER_01: Because when you pull all of those layers back, you see at the beginning of Philippians chapter 4, well, actually go back to chapter 3 and chapter 4, there's fighting going on inside the church.
SPEAKER_01: There were some inside the church that said they were Christians but were not.
SPEAKER_01: They were idolaters attempting to lead genuine believers in Christ away.
SPEAKER_01: Some were attempting to lead Christians into Judaism.
SPEAKER_01: There was also conflict between genuine believers in the church, two women who had served with Paul.
SPEAKER_01: So, with all of these indications of conflict, one wonders why there is so much emphasis in Philippians on rejoicing.
SPEAKER_01: A whole bunch of sinners in a sinful world, a whole bunch of sinners in a church, all trying to work together to spread the gospel and to get along together, and there's just so much fighting and so much conflict and so much sin.
SPEAKER_01: So why all of the information in Philippians about rejoicing?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're aware of how much rejoicing there is in Philippians, if you're not, the root word for, from which we get rejoice, rejoicing, joy, the root word occurs some 23 times in these four chapters.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot.
SPEAKER_01: So that certainly suggests at least that the apostle Paul was intending to communicate something about joy to this church.
SPEAKER_01: Five of those twenty-three times are structured as commands.
SPEAKER_01: He says in chapter two, verse 18, likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
SPEAKER_01: That word, the three words should be glad, is the Greek word for rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: The root word.
SPEAKER_01: He says it again in chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: He says, rejoice in the Lord with me.
SPEAKER_01: Then chapter 4, verse 4, rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_01: And again I say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Five times in three verses, he gives commands to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord's people in that ancient city of Philippi were commanded to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: But why?
SPEAKER_01: What was he getting at?
SPEAKER_01: Those are the questions I want to uncover with you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Our text begins in Philippians chapter 4, verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: And this section or paragraph is only a couple of sentences long.
SPEAKER_01: So if you want to follow along as I read it, we'll get it into our hearts and minds.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to spend a couple of weeks here in this section.
SPEAKER_01: Philippians chapter 4, verse 4, it says, Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_01: Again I will say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: These are short and direct statements to the point.
SPEAKER_01: And that's led many teachers and commentators to think that they're merely rapid fire statements that God's people need to hear.
SPEAKER_01: Sort of unattached from what came before and what comes after.
SPEAKER_01: They kind of stand alone.
SPEAKER_01: The argument is that chapters 4, verses 4, 5, 6, and 7, you could just kind of lift out and put anywhere.
SPEAKER_01: You could put it at the end of the book if you want.
SPEAKER_01: They stand all by themselves.
SPEAKER_01: That's a possible argument, but I don't buy it.
SPEAKER_01: Paul could be filling out his piece of parchment with some general spiritual statements that Christians everywhere need to hear.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't think that is why these few lines are here.
SPEAKER_01: I think there's more going on here than it might at first appear.
SPEAKER_01: So to help us understand that, I want to begin not in chapter 4, verse 4, but in chapter 4, verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: I want to start with the phrase at the end of verse 5, which is the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Everything that we're going to look at today and next time centers on that single phrase or sentence.
SPEAKER_01: But two questions come to mind about that statement.
SPEAKER_01: The first is, what does it mean?
SPEAKER_01: And the second is, what is it doing here?
SPEAKER_01: Let's think about the first question.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean?
SPEAKER_01: Does it mean that Jesus, the Lord, is near in space?
SPEAKER_01: That is, he's on the front row instead of the back row?
SPEAKER_01: Or does it mean that he's near in time, that his return is closer than it was before, that he's coming soon?
SPEAKER_01: It's very possible that the Apostle Paul may have borrowed from the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: For example, it says in Psalm 145, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: Yahweh is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
SPEAKER_01: We have this sense of nearness being communicated.
SPEAKER_01: Or Psalm 34, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: Yahweh is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Or Psalm 119, 151, you are near, O Yahweh, and all your commandments are true.
SPEAKER_01: So the Old Testament hymn book teaches the people as they sing to trust and believe that God is near.
SPEAKER_01: But even those statements from the Psalms are grounded in the Torah, in the law of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: In Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 7, it says, For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as Yahweh our God is to us?
SPEAKER_01: Whenever we call on him.
SPEAKER_01: God's people in the old covenant knew that Yahweh was near.
SPEAKER_01: For them it meant that he was not far off and distant, but close enough to hear them, to respond to them, to save them.
SPEAKER_01: And his nearness was unique when it was compared to the gods of the nations around them who were far off and distant and not involved personally.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the New Testament doesn't have these same kinds of statements, but there are several statements about God's nearness.
SPEAKER_01: For example, James chapter 5, verse 8 says, You also be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Literally, it's near.
SPEAKER_01: It's drawing near.
SPEAKER_01: James continues there to remind his readers that God is like a judge who's standing at the door, about ready to open the door, come through, and issue judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews refers to the day drawing near.
SPEAKER_01: Peter refers to the end of all things being near.
SPEAKER_01: And Romans 13, 11 says that salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed, referring to the completion, the fullness, the end of all that God is doing in our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, Revelation, the book of Revelation says twice that the time of those events is near.
SPEAKER_01: So God's nearness could be his closeness to us.
SPEAKER_01: Meaning he is able to hear and and respond because he's not far off, he's close to us.
SPEAKER_01: It could also be that his return is near in time.
SPEAKER_01: So which is it in Philippians 4:4?
SPEAKER_01: 4-5, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Can we say both?
SPEAKER_01: I think it's both.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: Look back at chapter 3, verse 20.
SPEAKER_01: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That seems to point to the nearness of his return.
SPEAKER_01: We're looking, we're watching, we're waiting, and we're doing that because it's near, it's soon.
SPEAKER_01: But a few sentences later, in chapter 4, verse 9, we read, the God of peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_01: That seems to be an indication of nearness in space.
SPEAKER_01: That is, he's present with us.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not sure that we can separate these statements of nearness in time and nearness of space in this text.
SPEAKER_01: I think they have to go together.
SPEAKER_01: God is present with us through his spirit, and his return is near.
SPEAKER_01: It's close in time.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to understand as we look at chapter 4, verses 4 through 7, that all of that is centered on the Lord's nearness.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to come back to that.
SPEAKER_01: But why?
SPEAKER_01: Why do we begin there and skip over the elements in verse 4 and verse 5?
SPEAKER_01: It's because that phrase, the Lord is at hand, is like a hinge on which something turns.
SPEAKER_01: So there's what comes before, and there's what comes after, and the hinge point is the place that it swings on.
SPEAKER_01: Both the door and the wall are connected through a hinge.
SPEAKER_01: So the door is not the hinge, the wall is not the hinge, but they're vitally connected through the hinge.
SPEAKER_01: That means that rejoicing in verse 4 is connected to the Lord's nearness.
SPEAKER_01: Our reasonableness in verse 5 is connected to the Lord's nearness.
SPEAKER_01: And so also on the other side of the hinge, our concerns or anxieties in life are connected to the Lord's nearness.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayers in verse 6 are linked to the Lord's nearness and so on.
SPEAKER_01: We've seen then that the Lord's nearness can point to him hearing his people because he's near and he can respond to them because he's near.
SPEAKER_01: We've seen that he responds in salvation and rescue, but it also might point to his judgment.
SPEAKER_01: But it also has this sense of hopefulness because our God is near.
SPEAKER_01: Hope you follow me here because this hinge is the basis for what comes before and what comes after.
SPEAKER_01: So for the remainder of our time this morning, I want to consider what comes before the hinge, which is specifically verse 4 and verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoicing and reasonableness.
SPEAKER_01: Let's start with verse 4 and rejoicing.
SPEAKER_01: We hear the apostolic command to rejoice twice in this verse.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice, he says, in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Always.
SPEAKER_01: In case you missed that, again I say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: He's already said once in this book, to write the same thing to you again is no problem for me, and it's good for you.
SPEAKER_01: So he does that.
SPEAKER_01: But what do we make of this command?
SPEAKER_01: This word for rejoice in a command form occurs 17 times in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: In only 15 verses.
SPEAKER_01: That's not very many times.
SPEAKER_01: There's only 15 verses in the New Testament that command us to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: But that needs a little refinement.
SPEAKER_01: Because in the in the Greek language of the New Testament, that term can be a term of greeting.
SPEAKER_01: Much like our hello.
SPEAKER_01: It can even function as our goodbye.
SPEAKER_01: For example, Matthew chapter 26.
SPEAKER_01: Judas comes to Jesus in the garden the night he betrayed him.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus walks up to Jesus and says, Rejoice, rabbi! It's a greeting.
SPEAKER_01: It's a greetings.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, Rabbi.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same word as rejoice here in Philippians 4:4.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to remove from all of our instances of the command to rejoice those elements that are like hello and goodbye.
SPEAKER_01: The word is used that way six times in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: That means we're now down from 17 times to 11 times in the New Testament, where we're commanded to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Four of those 11 are in Philippians.
SPEAKER_01: Thirty-six percent of the New Testament commands to rejoice are in these four chapters.
SPEAKER_01: That's a big deal.
SPEAKER_01: But I think those other instances of rejoice, the ones outside of Philippians, help us understand what's going on here.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just briefly, quickly consider some of them.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 5, verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: There's a parallel in Luke's gospel as well in Luke chapter 6.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, rejoice and be glad.
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because your reward is great in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's not necessarily what we were expecting.
SPEAKER_01: That's the first rejoice commandment in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice when you are persecuted for the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Later in Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out his apostles on a mission trip.
SPEAKER_01: They come back and they are so glad and excited.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus tells them, Do not rejoice that the spirits, the demons, are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Don't rejoice because you have spiritual power in this world.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice because you have eternal life with your names written in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Another one, Second Corinthians chapter 13.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, brothers, aim for restoration.
SPEAKER_01: No, nope, nope, back up.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, brothers, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Aim for restoration.
SPEAKER_01: Comfort one another.
SPEAKER_01: Agree with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Live in peace.
SPEAKER_01: And the God of love and peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds a lot like what we find in Philippians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: Yodi and Syntheci should agree in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Later on, the God of peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And right in the middle, just rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds a lot like Matthew 6.
SPEAKER_01: Peter pulls a lot from the Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice whenever you share Christ's sufferings.
SPEAKER_01: That you may also rejoice and be glad when he returns.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice always.
SPEAKER_01: Implying that whether or not someone returns evil for evil or good for good, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Encapsulate all of those, put all of those together.
SPEAKER_01: I think we can do this in four short statements.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoicing as a command in the New Testament says that we are to rejoice for suffering persecution, for suffering like Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever we suffer as human beings like Jesus, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice that your names are written in heaven, inscribed eternally.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in restoration and in relationships with others.
SPEAKER_01: And again, whether it's evil for evil or good for good, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice that you have the privilege and the honor of being like your Lord when you suffer.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's forming in you a distinct desire for the Lord's return so that you can rejoice at his coming.
SPEAKER_01: These eleven commands to rejoice in the New Testament all share one or both of two key characteristics.
SPEAKER_01: The commands to rejoice come in the context of unpleasant or painful circumstances, or they come in the context of strained relationships.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: The commands to rejoice in the New Testament come in the context of unpleasant or painful circumstances, or they come in the context of strained relationships.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's return to Philippians 4:4.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in the Lord sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_01: And again, I will say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, we've already heard in chapter 1, verse 28 that our community actively opposes the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So we're supposed to rejoice even in frightening circumstances?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: For great is your reward in heaven, for you suffer like the prophets and like the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, even when my life and my service may be ended in sacrificial offering to you, like the Apostle Paul in chapter 2, verse 17, yes, for great is your reward in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, even when I follow Paul's example and I've lost everything for your sake and I've been rejected by my own countrymen, yes.
SPEAKER_01: For then you know the surpassing worth of Christ Jesus your Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, even when there's division in the church and we can't get along with one another like Yodia and Syntichi, yes.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice as you aim for restoration and love one another.
SPEAKER_01: You can rejoice because, like Yodia and Sinti, conflict doesn't define who you are.
SPEAKER_01: Your names are written in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: At the very least, you can rejoice, not that the demons are subject to you, or not that life goes easy for you, but that your citizenship is in heaven and you can rejoice with Christ at the revelation of his glory.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice always.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, the command to rejoice is counterintuitive in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: It's a shift in perspective and a change in worldview.
SPEAKER_01: The command to rejoice is a command to recognize where your true homeland is and who your true Lord is and what ultimately matters.
SPEAKER_01: It's a command to rise above the present, to lift your eyes to the heights of heaven, and to take on the viewpoint of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's to face life with the psalmist of Psalm 88 to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: When you do that, living moment by moment in the realization that your Lord is near, that his coming is at hand, and that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds, then you can rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: True and lasting joy comes in the presence of Christ, and he is near.
SPEAKER_01: This speaks directly to the Philippians in their trials, to their concern about the potential deaths of Epaphroditus and Paul, and even to Yodia and Syntache in their contentions.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice always.
SPEAKER_01: Again, I will say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: There is no circumstance in which the believer in Christ cannot rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: Reasonableness means something along the lines of gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: It's a synonym for meekness.
SPEAKER_01: It was used in the ancient world often for those who were in government roles or in military roles.
SPEAKER_01: So it speaks of someone who is powerful or who is strong, but who exerts their strength and their power in controlled, reasonable, gentle ways.
SPEAKER_01: So think about it.
SPEAKER_01: When we tell a child to be gentle with a pet, it's because that child has a strength that could hurt or injure the animal.
SPEAKER_01: It takes strength of character to control power.
SPEAKER_01: It takes strength to control strength.
SPEAKER_01: And it's that controlled power, that controlled strength that is spoken of here.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoicing in the Lord enables us to relinquish our desires for self-vindication, for vengeance, and the need to be right.
SPEAKER_01: And so we can rejoice even in painful circumstances because Christ is near.
SPEAKER_01: And his nearness means we don't have to worry about being in control.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, we can be reasonable, gentle, under control.
SPEAKER_01: We can restrain our strength and power because the Lord is near.
SPEAKER_01: Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: That's the character of Christ, my friend.
SPEAKER_01: He is the model of self-controlled strength, the pinnacle of which the gospels tell us while he was hanging on the cross, he could have called legions of angels.
SPEAKER_01: That's power.
SPEAKER_01: But he didn't.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, you have the capability of hurting, harming, and injuring through your physical strength, through your intellect, through your quick wit, through your convictions, through your perceptions, by the sharpness of your tongue.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of letting others know your capabilities and strengths in those areas, let them know the strength of your character through your gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known only to your family.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoicing and gentleness go hand in hand.
SPEAKER_01: As you face your opponents of Christ, rejoice and be reasonable instead of taking up the sword to fight.
SPEAKER_01: And in your rejoicing, confound them not with the strength of your reaction, but with your gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: This appears to be a finger being pointed right at Yodia and Sintiki.
SPEAKER_01: They too needed to rejoice and show their gentleness to one another, to the church, and to the community.
SPEAKER_01: They needed to restrain themselves and show that they could consider others more significant than themselves.
SPEAKER_01: The primary reason that we do that is not because there's a command to do it.
SPEAKER_01: The primary reason we do that is because Jesus himself is the pinnacle of rejoicing and gentleness.
SPEAKER_01: Consider with me, Hebrews chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: Familiar passage to most of you.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, since we are surrounded by this incredible cloud of witnesses in Hebrews chapter 11, let us also, just like they did, lay aside every weight, every sin that clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
SPEAKER_01: How do we run?
SPEAKER_01: Looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, think about that as you near Good Friday.
SPEAKER_01: He saw enduring the cross as an opportunity for joy.
SPEAKER_01: Despising the shame and seated at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_01: Second Corinthians chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness, same word, gentleness is the same word as reasonableness in Philippians 4.5 of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Meekness and gentleness are both aspects of strength under control.
SPEAKER_01: And so he says, I attempt, I endure, I try to have the meekness and the gentleness that belongs to Christ that he exhibited.
SPEAKER_01: And we've already been told in the book of Philippians and chapter 2, verse 5, to have the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is Christ-likeness, rejoicing always, and having our reasonableness, our gentleness be known to everyone is having the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's living out Christ-likeness.
SPEAKER_01: Your Lord is near.
SPEAKER_01: And his physical return is very near.
SPEAKER_01: So be like him.
SPEAKER_01: Rather than assert your righteousness and rightness and demand your way and trust your way to the Lord who is near.
SPEAKER_01: Show his gentle reasonableness to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice always.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, that requires, right, that we first come to him by faith.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's no way to be able to do these things without first having his spirit within us.
SPEAKER_01: We have to first acknowledge that God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord because he went to the cross and he was buried and he rose again on the third day.
SPEAKER_01: And when we believe in him, when we've done that, the commandment to rejoice and to display our gentleness is not hard.
SPEAKER_01: The commandment is not hard, my friends.
SPEAKER_01: Because our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And our Lord is near.
SPEAKER_01: And he's given us his spirit between now and then.
SPEAKER_01: It's not hard because he is near to us.
SPEAKER_01: He hears our calls for help.
SPEAKER_01: He is ready to give aid.
SPEAKER_01: He is ready to subdue the desires of the flesh and to promote the fruit of his spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's not hard when we entrust God with our lives so that we rejoice no matter what.
SPEAKER_01: It's only difficult when we demand our way instead of his.
SPEAKER_01: And when we do that, it makes it impossible to rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: And the world does not see our reasonableness.
SPEAKER_01: So in these ways, our Lord has designed his people to confound a world that seeks vengeance and seeks retribution.
SPEAKER_01: It takes the emphasis off of us as human beings, as sinful human beings, and it places it on Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoicing and reasonableness are ways that we reflect Christ first to one another and then to a watching world that says our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So we rejoice with him.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we entrust ourselves to you as our faithful creator, knowing that you do all things well.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we are we are weak people.
SPEAKER_01: We know that the flesh is so strong.
SPEAKER_01: Our spirits are willing to rejoice, our spirits desire to be reasonable, to be gentle, to come in line with you.
SPEAKER_01: So we ask that you by your spirit would subdue what is earthly in us.
SPEAKER_01: And that you by your spirit would strengthen all that is Christ-like.
SPEAKER_01: For those who are looking for a new citizenship.
SPEAKER_01: For those who desire the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
SPEAKER_01: May all who are around us look at our strangeness of rejoicing always and be drawn to it.
SPEAKER_01: That they might see you.
SPEAKER_01: May you, as has already been prayed, be our vision in all things.
SPEAKER_01: For it's to you we look, and it's for you we wait.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.