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Showing posts with label Book of Philippians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book of Philippians. Show all posts

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Happiness in the High Calling of God

Joy in the High Calling of God

Book of Philippians 3:1-21


We sometimes forget that God has never intended for His children to lead defeated lives and we are no good to God when we do!

Happiness is never about satisfying our flesh!
Happiness is never about having confidence in our flesh!
Happiness comes only when our hearts are right with God, through and by the Lord Jesus Christ!
Happiness can never come from climbing to some imagined spiritual plateau and then looking down on others!

The one thing we can all say about the Apostle Paul is that he was never afraid to show his true feelings about the Lord Jesus Christ nor to share his testimony with anyone who would listen!

The Apostle Paul is also a great example for us to follow but the Lord Jesus Christ is our Greatest example!

*****Php 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.

Finally, means we must consider what Paul has written in Chapters 1 and 2 to understand what Paul is about to say in the remaining words of this epistle.

The Lord did never say that to be a Christian would be easy, in fact the Lord Jesus said just the opposite!

First, no one escapes the trials of life that we all go through. We are confronted with the evils of this world everyday no matter who we are!

The Scriptures put it like this:

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

What do we see in our nation that is causing us to be so divided?

2Pe_2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

This describes those who dividing our nation today!

We must also understand, that as Christians we already have what the Jewish people have been seeking since the time of Abraham!
A close and very personal relationship with Jehovah God that cannot fade away!

It is always good to review the facts.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

These are unchangeable facts to all those who submit to the Lord Jesus Christ! There is great joy in knowing the truth of God no matter what we are going through!

Even knowing these things, we must always be aware of our surroundings.

*****Php 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

It is the Jews who said the Gentiles were dogs who did not know the true God Jehovah.

Mat 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Jesus was just repeating what this woman clearly understood.

The Jews, while they boasted of being the children of God, gave the name of dogs to the heathen.

Paul writes the true dogs of society are those who have rejected the truth of God!

The Apostle John wrote that is those who have rejected the salvation plan of God:

Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Remember what else Jesus said?

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

These are the same dogs, and the evil workers Paul was referring to.

The word concision used here refers to all those such as the Judaizers who insisted that the Gentiles be circumcised but not as intended when God gave this to Abraham.

Circumcision was to be a sign of a people separated to Jehovah God!

The Jewish circumcision had only become a flesh cutting just as the mutilation of those of false worship.

So, Paul adds.

*****Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Remember Paul is writing to the Church. Christianity has become the sign of that personal relationship with Jehovah!

Isa 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

You cannot be a Christian if you cannot worship God in the Spirit.
You cannot be a Christian if you cannot rejoice in the truth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, (God in the flesh).
You cannot be a Christian if you still have confidence in your own flesh!

This is the circumcision that is approved of God and the intent of the sign given to Abraham!

Joh_4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him "must" worship him in spirit and in truth.

Sadly, the Jews have never accepted this truth.

God cannot be worshipped in form, God must be worshipped in truth!

If we cannot give up on our flesh and rest in the strength of the Lord we will never be that true child of God!

We can attend church regularly.
We can pray.
We can be charitable.
We can be baptized.
We can keep the ceremonies of the church.
We can pay our tithes and then make offerings.
We can join the church.
We can do all these things and even more "but this is not worship"!

All worship must be based upon the movement of the Holy Spirit and this will never happen unless the Holy Spirit lives within us!

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

This the place God in Spirit, abides until He returns "in person" to takes us home to Heaven!

If you cannot worship the Lord within yourself, it will never show up when you gather with others who are the same!

If we cannot rejoice in Jesus Christ we will never have any part of the Holy Spirit and we will never know Jehovah God!

We must clearly understand; our flesh is only physical and material and it can only handle physical and material things. God is Spirit!

Our confidence must be in the Lord Jesus Christ who was sent by Jehovah God to solve our flesh problem!

It is obvious that we will battle with this flesh as long as we are alive as Paul describes his own battle.

*****Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ was 100% God and while He was on this earth before He was crucified, He was also 100% human.

After we are "Born Again" into the family of God we are still 100% human but we are also now 100% saved by the power of God through the blood of Jesus Christ which is "spiritual". We must abandon the flesh for what it is, and feed the spirit within us that lives forever!

Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Jesus Christ is the only sign of righteousness that is needed in this world but this world must accept this to be the truth!

Confidence is trusting in your own abilities to solve all your problems but we must clearly understand we have no power to deal with our own sin problem!

Most of our world suffers from self-righteousness!

Paul said he was circumcised one the 8th day according to the Jewish law and according to the sign given to Abraham.
Paul said he was a true Israelite and from the tribe of Benjamin which had remained with the tribe of Judah throughout all the years of Israel.
Paul said he was a descendant of Jacob who was a descendant of Eber a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah.
Paul went to the best schools of the law in Jerusalem and studied under Gamaliel and became a Pharisee at a young age.

Act 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

There were the Essenes, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees the 3 sects of Jewish law, the Pharisees being the most accurate and precise in all matters concerning the laws of Moses.

Paul had a zeal and was perfectly sincere in persecuting the church. According to the Jewish law he was innocent of any wrong doing as he murdered and killed Christians in a feeble attempt to stop the Church of Jesus Christ!

We should clearly understand that until we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ in a personal way we all suffer from moral blindness as was Paul who then Saul.

1Ti 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
1Ti 1:14 And the "grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant" with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul became a prime example for us all in the power of God's "Grace".

Before Paul met the Lord on the Damascus Road, Paul, then Saul, was high up in the sect of the Pharisees, could possibly had a seat on the Sanhedrin Court and riches and prestige were certainly in his future!

Paul had strived all his life to be in this position of prestige in the Jewish society of that day and had made it!

But when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ your life can change for the better!

We should clearly understand there should be a change.

Like a wise black Pastor said, "if you are what you were, then you ain't".

Paul did not mean all the things of his Jewish life were evil. The things of the Jews were only evil when they were used as an excuse to destroy the Messiah and the work of the Church.

These things became not only worthless but in reality, they were a loss in the furtherance of the truth!

Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Why is this so true? There is nothing more excellent than the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

We should ask ourselves, what is the meaning of gain and loss in my life?

To gain is to obtain an increase in anything.

What does God say?

Mat_16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

A loss is best described as destruction, waste, ruin, defeat and even puzzled.

A gain list might read, good health, money, comfort and prosperity and such as these.

A loss list might read sickness, disappointment, sorrow, bereavement and such as these.

That word "count" being in the present tense means the Apostle Paul constantly counted these things each day.

To Paul there was only one gain and that was in the Jesus Christ. All other things were loss!

Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

How did Jesus describe the Kingdom of Heaven?

Mat 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

There is nothing in this world that we can compare to the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The "knowledge" of Jesus Christ just overwhelms all the thoughts of gain in this world!

God says: Pro_8:10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

There are things in Heaven that we can only dream of because we have no knowledge except to know it will be far better than anything upon this earth.

Paul clearly understood what the Lord Jesus was saying and we should to!

Mat_6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat_6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

The greatest treasure we can find here on earth is righteousness and that righteousness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

The only means of this righteousness is "Faith" in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

How does the Bible describe faith?

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the substance of our faith.

The object of saving faith is the whole revealed Word of God!

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

God wants us to know all about Him. God has given us the Scriptures that explain everything we need to know about Him and it is from the Word of God where we will obtain enough faith to be set free from the burden of sin!

When we study the Scriptures, we will see all the wonderful things that the Lord has done for us.

*****Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a complete Savior!

The Lord Jesus Christ showed the power of God when He raised Himself from the dead!

In His death, He buried all things that stopped our salvation, in His resurrection, He made all things new, including the new life.

If we are crucified with Christ, then the things of this world will be meaningless and just tools to carry us till the time we can go home.

Gal_2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

To be crucified with Christ is to dead to the things of this world and they will mean no more than "dung".

The Lord Jesus Christ was perfect, yet He had the same desires of any man but He never allowed His desires to turn to lust!

The truth is, the more we know the Lord Jesus Christ, the more we will want to be like Him!

If we know the Lord, we will fellowship in His suffering because it was His suffering that gave us the victory in our own lives!

We will then understand that we will also be persecuted and this too is a victory because in the persecutors eyes, we are seen to be acting like Christ!

1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

To understand all these things is to realize that we also have a resurrection to look forward to one day.

Rom_6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Notice the resurrection Paul is referring to is the resurrection of the believer at the end of the "Church Age".

We may struggle with our faith from time to time but the truth of Jesus Christ will never change!

Luk 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Who are these that have been justified?

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We that know the Lord Jesus Christ on a personal level and trust in His words, are "justified" but we have not yet reached perfection.

*****Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

We may have a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ, we may have a perfect knowledge of the power of His death, we may understand His sufferings and most of all His perfection but we will not reach this perfection until He comes to take us home or we go on to meet Him!

It is true that it is only those who have justified who can be made perfect.

Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Knowing all these things then, our goal must be to reach perfection!

We cannot reach perfection as long as we live in these bodies of flesh but it must remain our goal!

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Our own perfection, until we meet Jesus can come only by studying the Word of God and applying it to our lives daily!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Apostle Paul knew he had not reached perfection but he knew he was not going to quit trying as long as he lived!

*****Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

If you are true Christian then you have called of God at some point.

Rom_8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Even out of those who are called most will never accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

Mat_22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Some will say, well why then is it so important to follow the Lord during the "Church Age"?

It is all those saved during the Church Age who will miss out on the wrath of God and those who were called and rejected the Lord will never get another opportunity after the Church Age".

1Th_1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Eph_5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

2Th_2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

It is when the Lord returns to take us home that we will reach perfection, for then and only then will we be as righteous as the Lord has always been!

2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

We may not understand all these things but that is why it is called "Faith" and without "Faith" we simply cannot please God!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Paul said let's just all have the same mind toward the Lord Jesus Christ and the work He has done for our salvation!

*****Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

We cannot be perfect until we meet Jesus face to face but the fact that this is true means that in this sense we are perfect now!

We are no longer "babes in Christ" we understand the true "milk of the Word of God"!
We worship God in Spirit and Truth and we know why.
We have no confidence in our flesh.
We are solidly established in the things of God.
We are in the "race", running the course, the Lord has chosen for us.
We understand the "Mind of Christ" as it is written in the Word of God!
We understand that if we are lacking in anything according to God's purpose for us, that God will provide that also!

We understand that we all have a ministry for God and God will provide all things necessary for our ministry to succeed!

*****Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

One of the most important things we must do as Christians is to not lose the ground we have already gained.

We must continue to walk in Christ all our days! It is the wisdom of the Lord and the wisdom He has passed on to the true men of God that will lead us the remaining days of our life.

It is not the wisdom of this world.
It is not the wisdom of the politicians of this world.
It is not the wisdom of the leaders of this world, including our own president.

1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

We must be examples to each other and our wisdom must be the wisdom of God!

Jas_3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

When we strive to be examples for each other we can be a force in this world for good that this world has never seen.

As Christians, we do not want to dominate this world, we only know that Christ will one day dominate this world, which He already owns!

The strength of Christianity lies in the close fellowship of each believer!

If we follow good and always do good, we will encourage others to do good also.

If we follow bad and do bad, it sets a pattern of bad for all the world to see!

The life we live sets a pattern for those who are around us and if we look like the world then we have allowed the world to influence us more than should ever be allowed!

We must never forget, God has decided that our relationship to Him must be as a Father to His children. We must look up to Him not only for what He says but just as much for what He has already done!

We are not to "judge" anyone but at the same time God says to take a look at your brothers and sisters in Christ and get the closest to those you see walking in the ways of the Lord and be an example for those who don't!

What was Paul's example?

Paul had forgotten all the things of his past because he given them to God and they no longer hindered his ministry!
Paul had reached forth to all the promises of God that lay ahead!
Paul was pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ!

After meeting the Lord on the Damascus road, Paul never looked back on that old life but he also never forgot that he had persecuted the church that he was now trying to build for Jesus Christ, who remains the head of the Church.

The prize is not the rewards we may or may not receive. The prize is the "High Calling of Jesus Christ"!

Jesus Christ must remain as our example of perfection!

We must strive to get our whole congregations to seek the perfection of Jesus Christ!

As we look out over those who gather with us we will also find those who are still seeking their on righteousness!

*****Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Believe it or not, we will find those even in our own congregations who are the enemies of Christ.

They will be opposed to some doctrine of Christ. Whether it be the virgin birth, or the blood of Christ Jesus, or the death, the burial, or the Resurrection, or even the Ascension of Christ or what gets most of them is that "Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh"!

The "Doctrine of Jesus Christ" is an all or nothing truth!

Jesus Christ is indeed the second part of the Holy Trinity or better said, "the Triune God" consisting of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Notice Paul did not write to condemn these unholy deceivers, Paul wrote to warn them.

Until we die, we will have that opportunity to know the Lord as long as we have not extended the Holy Spirit past His calling.

Paul even wept for those he saw doing these things. We must have an earnest desire for the lost to be saved!

Just as any other prayer we must have faith that God can save anybody at any time before their death.

We must realize that it is bad to be mistreated by your enemies but it is a disgrace to be mistreated by your friends!

As Paul looked over these people he wept "because he knew their doom".

This is something we must also realize, they are doomed unless they change their ways. It is called repent!

The result is that they will be destroyed!

If we cannot weep for the lost, then we do not love them enough to try to get them to Jesus Christ to be saved!

It will be just awful to have spent so much time in the house of God and to have never accepted the truth of Jesus Christ!

Notice Paul does never say they will cease to exist because even the lost will live eternally but not in Heaven and there will be only one other place and that is the Burning Lake of Fire!

Who are the enemies of the Cross?

1) They reject the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to be reconciled to God!

2Co_5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

We were all the enemies of Christ at one time!

Rom_5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

2) They do not accept that the death of Jesus Christ paid for their sins.

3) They do not believe the Jesus Christ could have died because He was God.

4) They do not believe their penalty of sin was settled at the Cross.

5) They believe they can approach God in their own righteousness.

6) They claim that there are other ways to get to Heaven.

7) They consider the doctrine of Christ to be foolishness.

8) They intend to stamp out the truth of God.

9) Their god is the god of their belly!

The truth is they will glory in their own shame!

Their conversations are never about Heaven!

The true believer is just the opposite!

*****Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

It is not important to know all the things of this world because this place has never been our home.

Heaven is our home. Our citizenship is in Heaven!

There should never be a time that we will not talk about our home and the Savior who made the way for us to get back home!

We must deny the earth is our home.
We must deny ourselves and give our flesh to the Lord.
We must set our affections on things that are above not the things of this earth.

Our only obstacle in serving the Lord is the flesh that houses our eternal soul.

As nations have their heads, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of Heaven but also the Head of the Church.

If we cannot be loyal to our true home and our Savior who is our God then we do not deserve Him!

What did Jesus say to the Apostles?

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; "but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven".

It is these things that can bring peace to the Christian even as we face the problems of this world.

After salvation, the greatest thing we can look forward to is what will happen when we meet Jesus face to face!

This flesh has weighed us down all our lives but not when we meet Jesus!

If we focus on our salvation.
If we focus on our home in Heaven.
If we focus on our place in the Father's house, which the Lord said had many mansions.
If we focus on our new glorified body.

If we focus on all these things, why in the world would we allow this world we live in to break us down?

The Lord will fashion each of our bodies not like His body while He was upon this earth but like His glorified body after His resurrection!

This will be a body that is permanent, constant, unchanging, and without sin of any sort, a body of perfection, a spiritual body.

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

We must understand that the world hates us because we understand this truth and they reject this truth.

These things are only possible because our Savior is also our Creator!

Jesus Christ is God, who is sovereign over this world and all of creation.
He can control the world.
He can subdue the world.
He can recreate this world.

He can change my vile body into a body just a He has, and He will!

If we cannot realize the happiness and peace and then the benefits of the "High Calling of God" then what does that say about our "faith"!

Let's quit talking about this evil world and talk about our true home of Heaven and the never-ending life with our precious Savior who is our God!

Amen!

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Joy in the Precious Word of Life

Joy in Holding Forth the Word of Life

Book of Philippians 2:14-30


We finished up in our last lesson understanding that to be saved, is to have God come to live within us!

2Co_6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

We are to understand that as believers we must work out our own salvation with the Lord. We must get up close and personal with our Savior.

What the lost world does not understand is that God takes great pleasure in this relationship!

Last week we ended with this Scripture:

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

We all have something we can do for the Lord and if we listen to Him, He will point this thing out to us.

We are always to do our best to follow the Word of God in everything we do and this same Word already gives us plenty of things to do to keep is busy.

The very first thing that we need to concentrate on after the Lord saves us, is obedience!

When the Body of Christ refuse to obey even the basics of the Scriptures, then they will break fellowship with the Holy Spirit!

Eph_4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

If we grieve the Holy Spirit enough we will certainly "quench" the work He will do within us!

1Th_5:19 Quench not the Spirit.

When we ignore and reject any part of the Word of God, we will live a life full of problems. Too much God to be satisfied in the world and too little God to be of use in the Church!

So, let's continue:

*****Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Obeying the Word of God must be willful and cheerful! To murmur is questioning the truth of God and doubting God's conclusions!

When we ask the Lord Jesus to come into our hearts and save us, we are saying, "I trust the Word of God to be true and my salvation to be real"

The next step is "repentance". Which means we turn away from the things of this world and turn toward the truth of God!

To turn around and reject that truth is then to question your salvation! The Lord is very patient and He will go with us in every step but we must freely choose to go with Him!

Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

These are some of the most important words in all the Scriptures!

It is the Word of God that will light our pathway until the Lord returns to take us home!

So many today are turning away from the Word of God, or rewriting it to suit their own lifestyles, that disputings have entered into the Body of Christ and denominations are even dividing amongst themselves, debating who is right and they have forgotten that God is always right!

Disputings is outright arguments over the truth of the Scriptures!

We must be clear, God said what He meant and God meant what He said! God does not change from one season to the next, He is always the same!

To allow the world to freely take over the Church and dispute the Word of God, has made the Church powerless in our day and time!

When we accept that all Scripture is the Holy Ghost inspired Word of God, then who are we to question what God has said?

As the Body of Christ, God says to not allow these things to go on when we gather together!
These that do such things must be quiet or leave and there will be no disputing the Word of God!

God is not the author of confusion, so murmurings and disputes are not of God!

1Co_14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

No one has the right to further interpret what God says!

2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

When we obey God in this thing, God will hold us blameless and harmless when the Lord returns to take us home.

If you remain a slave to sin, it will cause you to murmur but a true son or daughter of God will not question the Heavenly Father in anything!

All those who are working for the Father, are actually working for themselves and not for this crooked world!

Murmur and disputing usually comes when pride makes one feel more superior than another and this is another thing that has blanketed our world today.

The vile disease of these things spring from an evil and jealous mind and it usually instigated by things outside the Church.

God said we are farmers to plant the seed of God and only some will make it to the good soil but every farmer will weed where he plants his crop.

We must weed out corruption in our Churches!

A body of believers who are not peculiar to this world, will certainly not shine in this world because to act like the world is to be seen just like the world!

1Pe_2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

We must hold forth the Word of Life!

*****Php 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

There is nothing burdensome in the Word of God! There are only Heaven's rewards for being obedient to God!

Do not get caught up in the foolishness of who the God of the Bible is. The God of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

We need to understand that so-called Christians who are inconsistent in the Scriptures have caused more damage to Christianity than anything else in the world and all those who do such things will suffer the "judgment" of God!

Most of those sitting in the pews today, think that only the pastor or a few elders of the Church have a ministry but the truth is we all have a ministry!

We are all to "hold forth the word of life"!

We are to offer it in hope of acceptance by all that hear the Word of Life.

How can we be content Christians if we are not willing to tell others about the wonderful words of life provided by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The lost of this world have nowhere else to go to find the truth! When we refuse to witness for Jesus how will they ever know God called them? Not all or maybe not even many will respond but that is between them and God but some will!

Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

The Apostle Paul knew that the Lord would recognize him for what he had accomplished but we are no different. God will recognize all His children for what they have accomplished (after) they came to know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.

That recognition will come when the Lord comes to take us home. This day is known as the "Judgment Seat of Christ". Only Christians will be there this day and it is a judgment for rewards and not for salvation!

Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

1Th 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

So how can we hold onto the Word of Life and not tell others?

God simply wants us to know that our labor for Him will not be in vain. If we look back on our past and do not see rewards ahead, as long as we are living and breathing God will provide opportunities for those rewards.

God wants to give us His rewards!

I believe this is God's favorite pastime, putting up rewards for us in Heaven.

Mat_6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat_6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

The Lord Jesus would not say this if it were not true!

When Paul says "run" here, he is referring to "effort". We must put forth the effort to get into the army of God, while still remembering we are also to be "fishers of men"!

If we reach just one, that will be more than none and that one could go forth to tell others but our goal should be to reach out to more than one!

No labor for the Lord will go unnoticed in Heaven!

The "Gospel" message is the Word of Life!

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

There are great differences in life and death and there are great differences in eternal life and eternal death!

*****Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
Php 2:18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

Paul continues to show the differences in true life and true death.

To the Apostle Paul, this gathering of believers in Philippi were his offering acceptable to God. It had been Paul who had planted this Church.

In the days of the Levitical Priesthood once a sacrifice was placed on the alter, then "grape juice"(wine), a drink offering was poured around the alter.

Wine and blood were made for heathen gods and Jehovah would never had done the same!

Psa 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

Paul was expressing the fact that he looked forward to being a martyr for the Lord. He knew he would suffer and die for the cause of Christ but we are saved by the blood of Jesus and not by the blood of Paul.

As these of the Church at Philippi were a sacrifice of "faith" to the Lord, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, Paul could be as that drink-offering that was pour out around the alter.

Rom 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
Rom 15:17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

It is the things that pertain to God that must hold the most importance in our lives!

Paul's death would not be a shedding of blood but a sacrifice for the cause of Christ and a furtherance of the Gospel.

It's not so important to remember where we came from, though to look back on occasion is not always a bad thing, but is real important to know where we are going.

When you know, that you know, that you know, you can have personal joy and rejoice with all the Church. Paul knew this was true for him and he also knew this was true for this body of believers. They had proved their faith!

When we know that Heaven is our eternal home, we can rejoice with all those who know the same.

When we give ourselves into the service of the Lord, then it could mean that we may even have to give our life of this body of flesh but this flesh is going to die at some time.

Heb_9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

But as the "Born Again" children of God the death of this flesh can have only one meaning.

2Co_5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2Co_5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Remember how we began:

Php_2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

When we have worked out our salvation and have that personal relationship with the Lord, we will have that desire to be with Him and this desire will increase as we get older but the Lord has a real need for us to remain here until He takes us home!

Mat 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

As long as our Lord is so full of compassion for the lost, we must share with Him in His compassion, making it our own compassion for the lost.

We must hold forth the joy of our Christian life and our "faith" in Jesus Christ is the key to Christian fellowship.

*****Php 2:19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

This Timotheus is the same Timothy we are familiar with. Still a young preacher boy at this time but approaching the time when he will take a church.

We know that Timothy was later ordained to become a Pastor and Church planter.

1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
1Ti 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

We also know that Timothy also spent some time in the Roman jail, just for preaching the Word of God.

Heb 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

It is believed that Timothy finished in Ephesus and became a martyr in the cause of Jesus Christ.

Why did Paul send Timothy to Philippi?

1) To carry the "good news" from the Apostle Paul.
2) That he could preach and be a "Spiritual" blessing to them.
3) Then bring the "good news" of their "faith" back to the Apostle Paul.

Timothy may have suffered along with the Apostle Paul and he could tell so many things and so many stories of how God had shown His "Grace" and "Mercy" to the missionaries that he was certainly a blessing to hear!

We must forget, nothing could stop the Apostle Paul from his calling except the Lord but sometimes it is truly a comfort to know who is standing with you!

We also know that we are to work out our own salvation but it certainly can help to have some young fired up man of God such as Timothy to help us with these things.

This is what we have here at Gethsemane.

As we work out our own personal relationship with the Lord we have a fired-up Pastor who preaches the truth and it makes things so much better, even easier to know what is expected from our Christian life!

3Jn 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.
3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

What was the greatest truth of Timothy? He was for real!

*****Php 2:20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
Php 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
Php 2:22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

When you cannot see things with your own eyes, then it is best to send someone who thinks in the same ways as you do.

Many say that Timothy was so much like Paul that except for appearance, you could not tell them apart.

We also notice that Timothy willingly served in second place to Paul!

Paul was a church planter but He had the heart of a Pastor. Timothy also had the heart of a Pastor.

The greatest difference of the Pastor and the Evangelist and the missionary is, that the Pastor knows God has given him a certain flock to take care of until He returns.

Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Jer 3:15 And I will give you pastors "according to mine heart", which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

We are all to be missionaries in our own place and then there are those God has called to leave their homes and be missionaries to the world.

Evangelist carry the same "Gospel" to the Church but have not been given the responsibilities of the Pastor.

Sometimes these things can change according to the leading of Holy Spirit.

As Paul's thoughts were caught up in a bit of sorrow, he had a great desire to know about the churches he had planted and how they were growing in the "Gospel".

Paul had always traveled with many godly men and had much help with him at all times but most of those did now have the heart of a Pastor.

This young Pastor Timothy not only had the heart of a Pastor, he had the heart of Paul. He had become Paul's most trusted friend and this was certainly not to say those others with Paul were not good men as they were.

Think about if you had a task that you thought only you could do but you were in bondage, how hard would it be to look out amongst those of your Christian friends and choose the one who do the same as you in every situation. It could get very hard to choose the right person.

Timothy was that person for Paul.

We should remember that when the Lord was in His passion, He also craved to have such a friend but He had been abandoned by all His friends.

We must all understand that in our calling from the Lord we are all not suited for every mission. Timothy was the one that met what Paul thought to have the qualifications for this special mission.

What is it to care? Timothy was not without carefulness. He was vigilant in guarding against evil and providing for the safety of the church. Things he had learned from Paul. It also seems that this young man had a fear of the Lord much greater that the fear of men!

The thing Paul was most assured of is that Timothy would do the task Paul had given to him and he would then return with what Paul was seeking, whatever it was. If this church was lacking in anything of the Lord. Timothy would provide that also!

1Co 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

Timothy was willing to lay down his own life for the Church of Jesus Christ!

*****Php 2:23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
Php 2:24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

It is probable that Paul had defended himself before the high court of Rome at this time and was waiting on the outcome of the Roman legal process. We already know that Paul was an innocent man have only been locked up for false charges of Judaizers.

It was easy for Paul to prove his Roman citizenship so this was not an issue.

Paul was a mighty man of God but he could not foresee his own future.

Paul's thoughts were not on these things because his thoughts were always on the "Church" the "Body of Christ".

Since it is evident that Paul did not travel with Timothy we can be certain of only two things.
1) Paul found that he would not be released at this time.
2) Or, Paul found that he was scheduled for execution.

Paul's faith did not allow him to linger on these things.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Paul and Timothy were bound together in all these things as Paul was in bondage to Rome but also to his circumstances that only God had total control over!

Paul also knew that there is never a good time to quit on God!

1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

We see that Paul was certainly not alone at this time.

*****Php 2:25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
Php 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
Php 2:27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Epaphroditus was an elder of the Church in Philippi who had traveled to Rome to assist the Apostle Paul in any way that he could. In fact, he had work so hard at this, that it had affected his health and this thing had been heard back in his home church.

Notice again the powers of an Apostle were never to be used for private matters but only for public matters in connection with the "Gospel".

It is a fact that those who preach the Cross of our Lord must also bear the cross of our Lord.

Luk_9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

The words of the Lord do not ever change!

Once Epaphroditus knew his brothers and sisters in Christ had heard of his sickness, he knew they would also be more worried about him then they needed to be.

Once we place our life in the hands of God we are certainly at the "Mercy" of God. We should keep this thought in mind, "God does not begin a work and then suddenly quit until His will has been accomplished.

We should understand the thoughts of Paul.

Epaphroditus was of a great value to Paul. He had been a complete man of God and Paul did not want to harm his Christian testimony in any way.

Paul did not want this brother to be seen as a quitter. He was a fellow soldier. We have many problems in Christianity and one of those is we will leave our fellow soldiers on the battlefield without our help.

Paul, even not knowing his own outcome, was still concerned for the Body of Christ!

The Church in Philippi would not be the same until they could see the face of their brother Epaphroditus!

He would never forsake Paul.
He would never forsake his own church.
He would never forsake the Lord Jesus Christ

*****Php 2:28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Php 2:29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
Php 2:30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

Many of us serve in the cause of Christ but not everyone is a true "fellow laborer" or "fellow soldier"!

What is the truth of a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ? We know who the true enemy is and we concentrate on his demise!

Eph_6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We must endure some things to continue in this battle.

2Ti 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldiers.

These are the thoughts of Paul and Epaphroditus was such a soldier and these Philippians should treat him as such.

We must honor those who survive the battles with evil and go on to serve another day! We honor them when we accept them for who they are in the work of the Lord.

We are all in the battle but the battle is the Lord's!

1Th 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

There is great joy in holding forth the Word of Life but we stay in the battle till the Lord comes!

When Paul was on the road these Philippians had supplied the needs of Paul so that he could be in places like Corinth where Paul refused any help.

Epaphroditus had not only ministered to Paul in spiritual needs but he had worked and anything else that he could do to supply Paul's physical needs.

We already know of human necessities but the supplies of writing material and other things probably came by this brother soldier.

Paul expressed that he had been completely satisfied with what this brother had been able to do.

We should never tear down our brothers and sister in Christ but rather build them up!

We should always remember these words of Jesus as we deal with one another in Christ:

Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Sometimes we are more concerned for our own welfare rather than the welfare of the Church!

Amen