• And so this morning we pick up in Philippians chapter 1 verse 3....

 

• Paul now finds himself homeless, penniless but not Godless...he is God-full...and oddly enough he is also thankful...

 

• God says that if you want to follow Me then you will have to endure suffering...but it’s for your own good (why?) so many times in the Bible we are given instruction by the Holy Spirit that through our suffering He is proven in our lives...

 

• Turn over to 1 Peter Chp 4 verse 14....
• Turn over to 2 Cor Chp 12 verse 9...and then onto verse 10 (the end of verse 10)

 

• God's ways are not man's ways...you can have much or have little, doesn't matter > your faith sustains you, it doesn't lavish you with material things...that would only take your focus off the spiritual and place it on the physical and the Bible says that no flesh and blood will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven...

 

• What does Paul pray for?   The newest lambs leather chariot?  Food?  Comfort?  Freedom?  No he prays for you all (the Philippians) and that brings him joy!  Jesus first, others second, yourself third....

 

• Who do you have beef with today?  I instruct you to pray for them, sincerely pray for them...and if you do....joy.  Jesus said you have heard it say love your neighbors and hate your enemies but I say love your enemies and pray for them.....why?  Because ITS A BETTER WAY!  Love never fails, hate fails....love never fails, you being right will fail....love never fails...stubbornness will fail...love triumphs...EVERYTHING outside of agape will fail.

 

• Jesus loves (agapes) you...the cross, love, did not fail...you are His child and so He gives you good direction and correction to pray for your enemies because He wants you to be filled with JOY, He wants you to say GRACE TO YOU to those around you just as He has said Grace to you through the cross!!!

 

• Paul thanks God through prayer for the fellowship that he has with the church of Philippi.  Fellowship (koinenia)....simply put....is love.  When you and I come together, we place Jesus first and each other second....just as Jesus commanded....we have fellowship. 

 

• 1 John 1:3 says that truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  Interesting statement from John...you and I hanging out...that’s just us...that’s just the phileo love...but when we are both Christ minded then Jesus comes into the equation...becomes our focus and therefore our fellowship is first with Him and that is the catalyst to the agape koinenia we then have with each other. 

 

• Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

 

• Paul just said that he has fellowship with them in the gospel and now he expands upon that saying that he is confident in their faith and the end of the faith being maturity. 

 

• You know that is part of the gospel..that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes upon Him shall not perish but have everlasting love...and He loves us too much to leave us in the same state in which He captured us....

 

• God is continually working out the wrinkles of your life to one day present you as His bride, perfect and beaming to His Father on that day. 

 

• Paul calls it the Day of Jesus Christ...It’s when all He has done will culminate in all that He did it for. 

 

• Jesus did not defend Himself when He was being interrogated, scourged...even killed > why?

 

• Because the Bible says in the Book of Isaiah that God sees the end from the beginning and Jesus knew His day was coming...God says > speaking to Jesus the Son > in the Book of Psalms...I will make thine enemies thine footstool...Jesus says all judgment has been given Him by the Father in the Book of John...

 

• He will be announced with the voice of the trump as described in 1 Cor and His people will be  gathered to Him to be with Him forever and ever....Jesus had you on His mind as He had lashes across His back...you're worth that much to Him...

 

• And so He is working in you even now...to conform you into His image and therefore bring you peace, love, joy, kindness, long suffering, perseverance, patience, gentleness, meekness, humility, wisdom...but a willing mind as we saw last week...that is required...a humble and contrite spirit...that is required...pride and resistance that is to be abolished.

 

• You know kindness, long suffering, perseverance, patience, gentleness, meekness....All these things are good and the Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights in whom is no darkness and no turning...it’s all from Him. 

 

• What do you have this morning that is noble, what do you have that blesses others > that blesses you...reject the personal credit and give the glory to God. 

 

• What do you have that is not noble...what do you have that so often causes strife...what do you have that you pass off as ministry but is really just something you want to do....stop hoarding the junk...open that part of you up to Jesus and invite Him to work that out in you so that you may better bring Him glory...so that you may better represent Him to a lost, confused, terrified world....

 

• Turn over to John chp 2...lemme show you something...look at verses 13 – 16...now compare that to John chp 6 verses 1 thru 13....do you see the difference?

 

• Even the animals deemed to be perfect, since they were not glorifying God were not acceptable and Jesus commanded them to be thrown out!!  He once also said what good is salt that has lost its flavor?  ...Turn over to Matthew 5:1
• Compare with the food provided by the Father...gather up even the crumbs...let none be lost...quite a difference...

 

• Verses 7 and 8 are Paul just really telling them how much he truly loves them to the point that even in his chains, the thought of them comforts him.  We all have pictures of our families at work and pictures of our families on facebook...why?  Because when we look at them the world calms...our hearts calm...our hearts well up and stress for a moment is defeated...This church in Philippi...Paul's family.

 

Verses 9-11

 

• To know Him is to love Him...the more you grow in your knowledge and experience of Jesus you will just be taken with how completely righteous He is, how completely holy He is, how completely compassionate He is, how completely unlike you He is....

 

• The reason why Jesus Himself said “Learn of Me” (He said in Matthew 11) is that He wants us to know how much He loves us and if you continue in Matthew 11 you will find that Jesus says “...that you may find rest for your souls.” 

 

• There is R E S T in the love of Jesus.  Learn of His love that you may discover mercy, grace, power and deliverance.  He wants you to know how much He loves you...The more we know how much He loves us, the more response we will have to Him in every detail of our lives. 

 

• “Sincere” is from the Greek “Sincere” which literally means without wax.  Artisans making mistakes in marble statues would fix them with ground marble mixed with wax.  It would cause the flawed statue to look nice and sell well but first hot/sunny day and the wax would wither and melt...and so sincere...no phonies...why?

 

• Well Paul says be sincere and without offense...let me amplify that for you....if you are a phony, a fruit faker then you will cause others to stumble and fall...you will cause others pain...you will cause yourself pain, failure, destruction...I call this vain pain.  Pain for no reason other than as a result of the destructive nature of sin....

 

• Pain for the Lord...suffering for righteousness sake is very precious in the sight of the Lord,  the place of secret sorrow is that place where God dwells and El-Roi...

 

• Vain pain as a result of pride...as a result of a fake that says they know God but deny Him in their actions...vain pain.  Useless, pointless, damaging, and Paul says “till the Day of Christ”...it’s going to end when Jesus comes to take His bride why?  Because the fakers will be left in fake land while the real deal followers/disciples of Christ go with Him to the Father!  Paul would say comfort each other with those words....

 

Verses 12-18

 

• Paul, arrested in Jerusalem and held in prison in Caesarea for two years until he appealed to Caesar.  Now he has been taken to Rome and he is chained 24 hours a day to a Roman guard and here he has been for 2 more years. Tradition says that he was in a place called the Marmertine prison which was actually underground...so buried alive, in chains...

 

• Many times we just don't understand why God allows certain things and from our viewpoint sometimes we feel forsaken or that God has made a mistake....my circumstances, my condition, surely there is a mistake here but even in times of personal disadvantage God is at work. 

 

 

 

 

• It is marvelous to see the hand of God working but we may not always...that is precisely why faith is required...faith is strength...faith is power...faith is a gift...1 Cor 12...Jesus is the author and the finisher of your faith...do you have the strength to trust Him through this...whatever this is....God is seeking those that will be faithful to Him...and let me show you a bit about faith.....and I'll end here....

 

• Faith is not belief...it is action....faith is not believing that God exists...it is conducting your way in a manner that is pleasing to a living, holy, just, loving and righteousness God....are you faithful to your wife?  Does that mean you believe she exists?

 

• How well God equips us to overcome.  How well He equips us to live an abundant life...not predicated on our outward circumstances but anchored in His unwavering love and promise of that Day, when all will once again be made perfect.  His desires are in your heart, align your will with His through your conscious decisions and find yourself content in the den of the lions, find yourselves cool and calm in the midst of the fiery furnace.  That is God's desire for you today.