What Keeps Us Stable?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Keener. And I am going to give a split sermon. We're not going to stop at five today.

We're going to stop far before that, and I failed to correctly state that.

Mr. Crosby's split sermon was certainly very, very wonderful, and I'm just excited to be able to hear that.

So I thank him for it. What I wanted to cover with us today is something I hope can be encouraging that will be uplifting.

Whenever we find that we have difficulties, whenever we have troubles, whenever there is what we might call a crisis, whenever there's a certain amount of distress, and even whenever there is some distrust.

Distrust, perhaps even with the leadership, with the pastor, or with the home office, as far as we're concerned, of the body of Christ, of the church that we're a part in.

What is it, whenever we go through those kinds of difficulties and accusations that we do suffer from time to time, what is it that keeps you stable? What is it that keeps you calm?

Where do you turn? What can give you reassurance and encouragement?

And I just pose the question for all of us, each of us individually and personally, how do we manage?

Just personally, how do we manage despair? See, those, I think, certainly are things that we have thought about, perhaps, over a few weeks now. And I want to point to a particular church congregation in the New Testament.

I want to point to a book that in many ways we're very familiar with, but in other ways I hope it can take on a new meaning to us.

Because in writing to the church at Philippi, Paul had a lot to say.

All of us are familiar with the book of Philippians. It is written to the church that met there in Philippi.

And what you find in this book, and when you read about the background of the church there, it was really a very commendable congregation. It was a highly praised group of people.

And, of course, Paul had a lot of affinity for that church because he had been used by God to raise up the church.

I think he probably was familiar with many of the people who were there.

And certainly they had done a lot of good work, and they were involved in sharing and caring for each other and for others apart from them.

And when you read the book of Philippians, you find that they were mainly at peace.

But see, Paul was writing to them about problems.

He was writing to them because right now the leadership of the church, in this case Paul, was in jail.

He was in bonds. He was imprisoned.

And so the members of the congregation were kind of insecure.

They were wondering, well, what's going to happen?

I'd like for us to look at that here in chapter 1, verse 12.

Because Paul says, I know, or excuse me, chapter 1, verse 12, I would that you should understand, brethren, that the things that have happened unto me have fallen out, they have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel.

So that's my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places.

See, what was happening? Paul was in prison.

Paul was no longer able to move around as he had.

He was not able to come from church to church to try to greet or try to encourage or try to uplift them.

And I'm sure that he was wanting to write to them to try to be encouraging.

He wanted to encourage them to say, you've been doing the right things.

You've been doing, and he actually wanted to verify to them what they had been doing that would make them stable, that would make them faithful, and help them to be loyal and committed to the calling that they had been given.

And so I'd like for us to study those things today.

I'd like for us to see what it is. I think the book of Philippians actually is a pretty familiar book.

There are several verses in Philippians that probably all of us have memorized.

And yet I'd like for us to look at some of the other statements he's making, because he's making these kind of in his defense.

He said, don't be worried about the fact that I'm in jail.

That's what he says here in verse 13.

My bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places.

And I have fallen... or in verse 12, I want you to know that what has happened has rather furthered the gospel.

It has allowed me to have access to people that I would never have access to.

See, now maybe this wasn't exactly who he wanted to have access to.

I mean, doubtful that he wanted to be talking to the jailers or talking to the other prisoners or talking to...

you know, maybe he would like to talk to people in the palace, in the Praetorian courts, who were around the jail that he was now in.

And yet, I don't think that was a part of the design.

It was the fact that he had fallen into this situation and he wanted to encourage, he wanted to pick up, he wanted to uplift the congregation.

So the things that he told them here we can pick out as we study through this book.

I'd like for us to go to chapter 4 to begin with, because in chapter 4 we see mentioned the first of the things that he told them that I want you to be encouraged by.

He said to this congregation, you have been diligently doing the work of God.

You have been diligently preaching the gospel. You have been diligently supporting me.

And of course, in many ways, what they were doing within the Gentile world was, you know, the congregations would help Paul, they would encourage him, they would help others who were helping Paul.

And what we find here in chapter 4, starting at verse 15, now you Philippians know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning the giving and receiving, but you, you alone, were the only one who were supporting me, who were helping me, who were providing so that I could continue to go forward and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, the good news of Jesus Christ and his message.

He said, you've been doing that fabulously. In verse 16, for even in Thessalonica, you sent once and again into my necessity. And he finishes that in verse 17, not because I desire a gift from you, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. He said, I certainly appreciate the fact that you have been involved in supporting the work of God. And I want you to be mindful that that's where you started, and that clearly is what you need to continue to do. And of course, this is a message to all of us as well. You know, as we have opportunity to do the work of God, we want to be wholeheartedly involved in doing that. In chapter 1, as we read in verse 13, Paul said, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places, and verse 14, and many of the brethren of the Lord, many of the brethren in the Lord, are waxing confident by my bonds and are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

You know, here he was saying that, well, even though I'm in prison, even though in a sense I'm kind of contained, even though it looks like I'm not able to do as much as I'd like, many of the brethren are stepping up. Many of the brethren are speaking out. Many of them are more boldly, confidently speaking the word without fear. And so, in many ways, he was explaining something that I think we're seeing today. And we should take encouragement from that kind of instruction, that kind of inspiration. Right now, we are, in a sense, he was saying there's involvement of the brethren at the grassroots level that we've not had up to this point. And so, I want to encourage you by that. And I think all of us can be. You know, we have certainly many, many publications.

We have these public Bible lectures that we are going to be having here as we come up into the summer. You know, that's going to involve all of us. It's going to involve every one of us as we are able, not only to have those programs, but also as we pray for God to turn people's hearts as we bring them into our group, bring them into our congregation with the type of love, with the type of service, with the type of caring and sharing that you would expect to be a part of the Church of God.

I was just thinking, I don't know if any of you saw or maybe all of you did, see the telecast not this past week, but the week before. Well, I think it was this past week. Mr. Petty was talking about the mercy effect. I think certainly the most heartfelt, the most engaging telecast that I have seen. I thought it was fabulous.

And yet, of course, my part of that is to be supportive of that telecast, to be supportive of what publications we can make available. And then certainly on a local level, doing what we can, just as these brethren were doing in verse 14, waxing confidence, even by the difficulties that Paul was enduring. And of course, we are anticipating to be improving in all of these areas. But I just point out the fact that he said, you want to continue to do the work. You want to continue to preach the gospel.

And that's clearly the first thing that we can see. He also pointed out to them, and this again was designed to be a stabilizing factor, that he says, regardless of my problems, regardless of the problems that I have as a leader among the church, and of course those problems, some could have thought were self-imposed. Some may have thought, well, what did Paul do to get thrown in jail? That could be viewed in a rather dim way, as I assume. He was probably thrown in jail for what he was preaching, what he was teaching, how that was being received, or maybe not received by others who didn't want the gospel about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God preached to the world.

People who didn't like that, and he even talks about, well, I'm in bonds because, I'm suffering because of preaching the gospel. And yet some could have thought, well, maybe he did something wrong, maybe he's in jail because of what he did. And yet, in fact, that was not the case. The second thing we can take from this is that apart from just the difficulties that Paul was facing, the members of the church there in Philippi could absolutely trust Jesus Christ. See, they could trust, and they needed to trust. They needed not only be obeying, but they also needed to trust Jesus Christ.

Here in chapter 1 again, starting in verse 4, he says, always in every prayer of mine for you, all making requests with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. See, he was praying about them, he was praying for them, he was praying with them. He felt included with them, and they with him in preaching the gospel. But he said, being confident in verse 6 of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you, now who's that?

He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is me for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. Now, I didn't know that Paul was from Texas, but as I was reading this, he says, you all, over and over and over again.

And I just don't know if that is exactly what the twang is, but I think he was saying, you all, all of you, are a part of this, and the one who has begun that good work in you is Jesus Christ. If we go on down to verse 8, he says, God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere in what thou offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which come where?

Which come how? Which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. See here, he pointed them to the fact that it was God and Jesus Christ who had brought them into their calling, brought them into their connection with God, and that Jesus Christ could be fully trusted to not only begin this process, but to finish the process as they went further. And of course, in verse 11, talking about being filled with the fruits of righteousness. See, he's going to talk about this a little more. And Mr. Crosby was talking about this in his sermon. How do we do?

You know, want to be learning. You know, not only, you know, certain things, you know, that we perhaps have always understood, but we want to perceive more deeply, you know, the fruit of righteousness that does come from Jesus Christ living in us. The third thing we could mention is really in chapter 2, and I think most of you are familiar with this because we actually go over this. Perhaps we should go over this even more so at another time. But I want to mention it because in chapter 2, verse 5, a verse you can probably write down, it says, Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus. He says in verse 2, Fulfill my joy that you be like-minded.

Having the same love, being of one accord, being of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vaingory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves, and look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others.

So let this mind, see, I want to ask for the mind of Jesus Christ to be in me. I want to do that on a regular basis. I want to do that every day, and maybe I need to do that many, many times during the day, to have the mind that Jesus Christ would have. And you see this described as an attitude of humility, an attitude of yieldedness to God, an attitude of love toward other people, but an attitude of service. And that's what is described here. And again, I'm not going to spend a lot of time with that because it is a section of Scripture that we're a little more familiar with, but that clearly was what Paul was telling people in Philippi, that gives you stability.

When you are focused on asking God to give you the mind of Jesus Christ, that helps us a lot. And that, of course, was going to be helpful to the people there in Philippi.

In chapter 3, we also find a section here that I think is really remarkable, because here he tells them, he tells them in chapter 3, remember your Christian foundation.

You know, we all know, and we perhaps are familiar with 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11, where he talks about our foundation as Jesus Christ. But here, he doesn't directly say that, but he does elaborate on the basis of our Christian life. Starting in verse 3, we are the circumcision.

He's talking about we are those who are circumcised of the heart. You know, our hearts are to be circumcised. We are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Jesus Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. To here, he was pointing out to them, you know, brethren, you know, God has called you, he has brought you to a close relationship with him. He says, you never want to forget that. You want to be mindful of that close relationship and that firm foundation that he has given you. And then he goes on to talk about the fact that he had been a Pharisee. You know, he had, you know, he had actually been pretty highly acclaimed.

He was pretty highly accepted. He was, he said he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

He says, I'm really good at what I do. But he's going to point out that that really wasn't what God wanted. He goes on to say, verse 4, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinks that he has, where have he might trust in the flesh, I have more.

I was circumcised on the eighth day. I was of the stock of Israel, of a tribe of Benjamin. He was a of the house of Judah. Benjamin was a part of the house of Judah. He says, I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and as touching the law, a Pharisee concerning zeal. You know what I've been doing in the past. I've been persecuting the church. I've been out killing Stephen. I'm the one who, you know, has created all kind of havoc for the church. Touching the righteousness which is in the law, I am absolutely blameless. Now, he certainly, you know, must have been able to say that because he was, you know, living according to the law. He was familiar with what Mr. Crosby described, you know, many not only of the law, but many of the traditions that the Jews extended to others.

But he says in verse 7, what things were gained to me, those I have counted loss for Jesus Christ.

Yes, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them but dung that I may win Christ. And so here he's talking about the fact that I don't want to rely on my own ability.

I don't want to rely on my own obedience. I don't want to rely on my own righteousness, which he says according to the law, I am blameless. But he does point out something that he wants, something that he asks for, and something he wants the people at Philippi to ask for.

He says, I suffer the loss of all things so that I may win Christ, and that in verse 9, I may be found in Him.

I may be found in Him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. So here he points out, you know, he wants to go beyond just the obedience that he was commonly doing. It wasn't that he was not doing that, even as the Pharisees were told, yes, you should talk. That's the right thing to do.

That is correct. But see, the weightier matters of the law, and in this case, Paul's description of this is a righteousness which comes from God by faith. A righteousness that comes to us because we ask God to fill us with the mind of Christ and with the righteousness that comes through the Holy Spirit. He says that I may know Him in verse 10, that I may know the power of His resurrection, and that I may know the fellowship of His suffering being made conformable unto His death.

See, Paul wanted to closely identify with Jesus Christ. He wanted to have Christ's mind just flowing through Him. He wanted to have the Spirit of God helping Him show love for others, helping Him be encouraging, helping Him being uplifted. He wanted that righteousness that comes from God, which is of God by faith. And of course, he goes on to say, reaching forth unto the things that are before Him, verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. See, he knew that that's what he was doing. That's why, while he's in jail, while he's being, I don't know whether he was being tormented or tortured there. It does talk of him having been tortured a lot of different times and in different ways. And I can't imagine that being in prison was just all that exciting. As we hear about it today, it certainly sounds very bad to be in prison. No telling what will happen in prison, because you're in with somewhat of a rowdy bunch.

You're in with, as you find all kinds of horrible descriptions of jail and prison offenses that go on. And yet Paul said, you know, I don't have anything to worry about. I want Jesus Christ to live in me. I want the mind of Christ. I want, as it points out here, to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection, and I want to share. I want to share in His suffering. See, He didn't mind suffering for Jesus Christ. He didn't mind the distress, and He didn't want the people in Philippi to mind either. He said, you can be upset or you can be unsettled, but I don't want you to be that way, because in Jesus Christ there is tremendous power. See, when it mentions the power of His resurrection, you know, all of us, you know, are aware of that. We're aware of His death for our sins, and we're aware of His resurrection from the dead. What kind of power did God use in causing Him to once again ascend to the throne of God? Now, what kind of power is God able to provide if we simply yield ourselves to Him? Now, this is just fascinating to see the way that Paul strives to be encouraging, tries to be uplifting, tries to help the brethren see, look, you've been doing the right things. You need to continue to do those things, and you need to trust, and you need to remain faithful and consistent with the foundation for your Christian life. The last thing I'll mention is what we find here in chapter 4, and then this again is a chapter that in some ways we are familiar, and yet it is a chapter, you know, that is really uplifting. I think he wrote this wanting to uplift, wanting to leave them on a very high note, and actually I think it's extremely encouraging to see what he says. He says, you know, starting, you know, in verse, let's start in verse 3. No, let's start in verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. So he said, I don't want you to be down. I don't want you to be encouraged. I want you to be uplifted. I want you to rejoice, because the Lord, Jesus Christ, has bought you with His blood. He has brought you to a point of where He is involved in your life.

So rejoice. And verse 5, let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known to God. See, here He says, you need to be praying fervently.

You need to be praying and thanking God for what He has done for you. The mercy that He has extended.

And He says in verse 7, as we do that, as we do that, the God of peace, or excuse me, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through Jesus Christ.

Dear brethren, I want to be kept. I want my heart and my mind to be kept by Jesus Christ.

I want that close connection, and I think all of us can agree. We want that. We ask for that. We yearn for that. And that's what God is wanting us to grow in. And certainly, Paul was encouraging them, the peace of God that passes all understanding is going to be with you. And your hearts and minds will be empowered and motivated by Jesus Christ. And he says, finally, brethren, in verse 8, whatever things are true and honest and whatever things are just and pure and lovely and of good report is there if there is any virtue if there is any praise this is what you should think about this is what you should be concerned about this is what you should be thinking about he mentioned earlier and I didn't read the verse but he says don't get caught up in murmuring and disputing or arguing you know that's actually you know an easy thing to do it also was an easy thing to avoid when we see that it has no good outcome and what he tells us is to think on the positive things as we see here in verse 8 he says think on those things in verse 9 those things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace will be with you but I rejoice in the Lord greatly in verse 10 that now at the last your care for me is flourished again wherein you were also careful but you lacked opportunity he said you know you've been really helpful to me you've been encouraging to me in the past you haven't had opportunity right now but or up until this time and yet now you know I want you to be uh excited I want you to be thrilled about the work that I am doing even the preaching that I can do even here from prison says I want you to be lifted up by that and he says in verse 11 not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content to hear Paul's writing from prison he's writing from you know what might be a rather dismal environment and yet he said I'm content and I want you to be content I don't want you to feel insecure I don't want you to feel upset I want you to be stable and he says I have learned that in whatever state I am therewith to be content I know both in verse 12 how to be a based and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need see Paul had a very stable outlook on his life and on his situation on how it was that God was working with him and how it was that God would also be working in the same way with this church in Philippi he was encouraging to them he was uplifting them he was pointing them to how Jesus Christ need to be the focus of their life he needed to be able to look beyond Paul beyond whatever it was Paul was having to suffer at the time and look to the real source of power the real source of encouragement that they could depend on and as we all know perhaps in verse 13 he made this statement under these circumstances I can do all things or he said I can endure all things I can suffer all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me see that was a statement that Mr.

Luecker made at the conclusion of our conference he applied that to us as a group he applied that to us as a congregation to us as a group of church members that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us so I hope that this can be encouraging to us I hope it can be uplifting and certainly what the message was that Paul was giving to the people at Philippi and it's a message that I extend to all of us as we go forward from right here as we continue to do the job that we have to do as we continue to encourage one another as we lift each other up and as we then reach out to others as we have opportunity to do so that we can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us