0:05 [Music]
0:07 welcome to back to the Bible radio
0:09 featuring best-selling author an
0:11 internationally known Bible teacher
0:14 Warren where's being today we begin a
0:17 series of studies focusing on the joy
0:20 letter of the Bible Paul's letter to the
0:22 Philippians there are so many ways you
0:25 can study this marvelous letter it was a
0:27 personal letter written to thank the
0:29 Philippian church for the offering that
0:32 they had sent to help to support Paul
0:34 while he was a prisoner in Rome it was
0:37 also a pastoral letter because Paul had
0:39 founded the church all about ten years
0:42 before he wrote this letter and the
0:44 church was going through some difficulty
0:47 there was division there was dissension
0:49 in the church and Paul wanted as a
0:51 pastor to encourage them in their
0:54 spiritual unity there's also a very
0:56 practical purpose behind the letter it
1:00 focuses on the joy of ministry oh there
1:02 are so many beautiful truths in this
1:06 letter to encourage us in our ministry
1:09 ministry takes place when divine
1:12 resources meet human needs through
1:15 loving channels to the glory of God
1:19 Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 & 2 Paul
1:22 and Timothy the servants of Jesus Christ
1:27 to all the Saints in Christ Jesus who
1:30 are at Philippi with the bishops the
1:33 overseers and deacons grace be unto you
1:35 and peace from God our Father and from
1:38 the Lord Jesus Christ rather interesting
1:41 that Paul does not introduce himself as
1:43 an apostle sometimes in his letters
1:45 he'll write Paul an apostle of Jesus
1:48 Christ the servant of God but this
1:50 letter opens Paul and Timothy the
1:55 servants the slaves of Jesus Christ in
1:57 other words one of the emphases in this
2:00 letter is on service it's on ministry
2:03 and you know I think what he's saying to
2:05 me in Philippians is this we ought to
2:09 have a joyful ministry my preacher
2:13 friend is your ministry a joy or a job
2:16 my missionary friend is your ministry a
2:18 blessing or a burden
2:21 a schoolteacher trusty deacon elder
2:23 whatever your ministry may be in the
2:25 local church and I trust that you have
2:29 one is that ministry a source of joy to
2:33 you so many times we meet pastors and
2:35 missionaries Sunday school teachers who
2:37 are just greatly discouraged they've
2:40 lost the joy of their ministry and you
2:41 know the joy of the Lord is our strength
2:44 is it any wonder that we find people
2:47 fainting and faltering and falling when
2:50 they've lost the joy of their ministry
2:54 back in the year 1877 the well-known
2:56 preacher Phillips Brooks began to give
2:59 the Yale lectures on preaching and this
3:02 is what he said quote I cannot help but
3:05 bearing witness to the joy of the life
3:08 which you anticipate he was speaking of
3:10 course to ministerial students its
3:12 delight never grows old its interest
3:15 never wanes its stimulus is never
3:18 exhausted let us rejoice with one
3:20 another that in a world where there are
3:23 a great many good and happy things for
3:27 men to do God has given us the best and
3:30 the happiest and made us preachers of
3:33 his truth well not every preacher agrees
3:36 with that right now some preacher is
3:37 saying brother where's but you don't
3:39 know what I'm going through well Charles
3:42 Spurgeon had this to say in his book and
3:44 all-around ministry preaching ought to
3:48 be a joy constant preaching should be
3:51 constant enjoyment Robert Murray McShane
3:54 that saintly presbyterian wrote these
3:57 words if ministers only saw the
4:00 preciousness of Christ they would not be
4:02 able to refrain from clapping their
4:05 hands with joy and exclaiming I am a
4:08 minister of Christ I am a minister of
4:12 Christ I can truly say that I desire no
4:14 other honor upon earth than to be
4:17 allowed to preach the everlasting gospel
4:21 well the joy of ministry now when you
4:23 read the letter to the Philippians you
4:25 discover that there are four sources of
4:29 joy in the ministry and they parallel
4:31 the four chapters in Philippians now let
4:32 me give you an
4:35 overview of Philippians and then we'll
4:37 take each chapter a section at a time
4:39 now we're not going to go into this book
4:43 in great depth we could do this we could
4:44 spend months and months and months
4:46 studying Philippians what I want to do
4:49 during these days is simply give you an
4:52 overview of Philippians to help to stir
4:56 up within you the joy of ministry I
4:59 don't want you to falter or faint I
5:02 don't want you to fall or fail I'm
5:05 asking the Lord Jesus Christ by His
5:08 Spirit to use the word to Kindle in your
5:11 heart once again the joy of ministry I
5:13 know you get tired we get tired in the
5:16 Lord's work we'd better not get tired of
5:18 the Lord's work I know there is
5:20 opposition there are demands there are
5:23 problems physical and emotional and
5:26 spiritual and financial but my friend
5:27 you're going to discover that in
5:31 Philippians God opens up to you all of
5:35 the sources of joy in the ministry
5:38 chapter 1 the first source of joy in our
5:41 ministry the message of our ministry now
5:44 what is our message the gospel the
5:46 gospel you'll notice in verse 5 he's
5:49 thankful for your fellowship in the
5:52 gospel down in verse 12 he talks about
5:56 the furtherance of the gospel over in
5:58 verse 27 he says striving together for
6:02 the faith of the gospel the gospel is
6:04 the important thing to the Apostle Paul
6:07 and the faith of the gospel the
6:10 furtherance of the gospel the Fellowship
6:14 of the gospel the gospel is important to
6:16 the Apostle Paul it's important to you
6:19 and me because apart from the gospel we
6:23 simply have no message the word gospel
6:26 is used nine times in Philippians six
6:28 times here in chapter one
6:30 now this gospel is the message of the
6:32 Lord Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is
6:36 mentioned 18 times in this first chapter
6:38 and so when you put it all together you
6:40 find out Paul is saying this if you want
6:42 to have joy in your ministry don't talk
6:44 about yourself don't preach yourself tie
6:46 everything to the gospel
6:49 of Jesus Christ now what is the gospel
6:51 the good news that Christ died for our
6:54 sins that he was buried that he arose
6:57 again the third day all of this is
7:00 validated by the scriptures the gospel
7:02 is the good news that you don't have to
7:05 stay the way you are now if you had one
7:07 message to give to the whole world what
7:09 would that message be an economic
7:12 message and ecological message how would
7:14 you help the whole world with one
7:16 message that one message is the gospel
7:19 and you and I have the joyful privilege
7:22 of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ
7:26 Paul points out in Chapter 1 that the
7:28 gospel relates to three different groups
7:31 of people in verses 3 through 11 he
7:34 talks about the fellowship of the gospel
7:37 relating to God's people we as God's
7:42 people must never neglect the gospel now
7:44 we have not rejected the gospel or we
7:45 wouldn't be saved but we must never
7:49 neglect the gospel so in 3 through 11 he
7:51 talks about the fellowship of the gospel
7:54 and he relates it to God's people then
7:57 in verses 12 through 26 he talks about
7:59 the furtherance of the gospel and he
8:02 relates it to the lost you and I have
8:05 the joy of sharing this message with
8:08 lost sinners that they might trust Jesus
8:12 Christ and be saved now it's a wonderful
8:13 thing to have that kind of a message to
8:16 preach Jesus Christ you say well I'm
8:17 only an usher in our church don't ever
8:20 say only an usher because you are the
8:24 first people to give visitors a good
8:26 welcome to the house of God the first
8:28 impression that they get of the church
8:30 comes from the usher and you have the
8:33 joy of preparing the way for unsaved
8:35 people to receive the gospel you sing in
8:37 the choir you teach a Sunday School
8:39 class you're a visitation worker
8:42 whatever your task may be remember this
8:45 we relate the gospel to the lost the
8:48 furtherance of the gospel then in verses
8:51 27 through 30 he talks about the faith
8:53 of the gospel as it relates to our
8:56 adversaries verse 28 in nothing be
8:58 terrified by your adversaries now here
9:00 are three different
9:02 circles of influence and you and I have
9:05 the joy of sharing the message of the
9:08 gospel to the inner circle of the saints
9:10 the fellowship of the gospel to that
9:13 wider circle of the loss the furtherance
9:15 of the gospel and even to our
9:18 adversaries those who try to oppose us
9:22 chapter 1 our first source of joy the
9:25 message of our ministry the gospel of
9:28 Jesus Christ now in chapter 2 he gives
9:31 us the second source of our joy that's
9:34 the model for our ministry and who is
9:36 the model for our ministry the Lord
9:39 Jesus Christ when you read the first
9:42 four verses you find Paul hinting to
9:44 them that they need to get together in
9:47 the church there's division they aren't
9:49 like-minded they are not of one Accord
9:51 their strife there's vainglory
9:54 somebody's trying to be important and be
9:57 boss you know sometimes the the churches
10:00 is divided because of a pastor who's
10:02 dictatorial or perhaps a board or a
10:05 deacon or a church member who has to
10:07 have his own way her own way but in
10:09 chapter 2 Paul says if you want joy in
10:12 your ministry let Jesus Christ be the
10:16 model for your ministry now he gives us
10:18 three conditions that we must meet if
10:20 we're going to follow the example of
10:23 Jesus Christ verses 1 through 11 we must
10:27 submit to the person above us even as
10:30 Jesus submitted and became a servant
10:33 verses 12 through 16 we must surrender
10:37 to the power within us it's God who
10:39 works in you both to will and to do of
10:42 his good pleasure submit to the person
10:45 above you surrender to the power within
10:48 you and then 17 through 30 serve the
10:51 people around you now those three
10:53 conditions are difficult to meet but
10:55 they're so simple to understand you say
10:57 I want joy in my ministry then follow
10:59 the example of Jesus Christ what did he
11:02 do he submitted to the person above him
11:05 he did the Father's will he surrendered
11:07 to the power within him the Holy Spirit
11:09 of God and he served the people around
11:11 him and he did it in such a beautiful
11:14 loving way the problem is too
11:16 we have too many celebrities and not
11:18 enough servants there are too many
11:21 pastors and other Church people who want
11:23 to be important they want to be leaders
11:24 but they don't want to be servants Oh
11:27 what we need today our servants who lead
11:34 and leaders who serve the message of our
11:36 ministry chapter one that gives us joy
11:39 the model for our ministry Chapter two
11:42 the Lord Jesus Christ chapter 3 now the
11:45 motives for our ministry oh this is a
11:46 marvelous thing
11:48 why are you ministering why do you study
11:51 and preach why do you visit why do you
11:53 take care of people why are you
11:55 ministering well Paul gives us in
11:58 Chapter three three very wonderful
11:59 motives for our ministry and they'll
12:02 bring joy verses 1 through 11 his
12:05 righteousness becoming like the Lord
12:09 Jesus verses 12 through 13 his reward
12:12 gaining that reward that he has for us
12:15 the prize of the high calling of God in
12:16 Christ Jesus
12:20 and then verses 17 through 21 his return
12:22 looking for Jesus to come again are you
12:24 discouraging your ministry today then
12:27 what are your motives is your motive to
12:29 become like the Lord Jesus his
12:31 righteousness that's Philippians 3 1
12:34 through 11 is your motive his reward or
12:37 the praise of men verses 12 through 16
12:41 are you looking for his return verses 17
12:42 through 21
12:45 now these motives will give you joy in
12:47 your ministry you have any other motives
12:48 and you're going to be discouraged
12:52 downhearted and defeated now we go to
12:54 chapter 4 because I can hear somebody
12:55 saying well brother where's that's all
12:57 very wonderful you talked about the
12:59 message of our ministry and the model
13:01 for our ministry and the motives for our
13:03 ministry but we have financial problems
13:06 we have people problems we've got
13:08 difficulties in our church that relate
13:10 to nitty-gritty things like heating
13:13 systems and roofs and and being able to
13:15 support missionaries well that takes us
13:18 to chapter 4 the joy of the means of our
13:23 ministry God takes care of the means for
13:25 our ministry now what are these means
13:28 well verses 1 2 and
13:30 three God's people God's people are a
13:33 marvelous means for ministry all I know
13:35 they can create problems but they can
13:38 also help to solve problems God's people
13:41 helping you now look at the people of
13:44 God through the heart of love that Jesus
13:46 had in chapter four verses one through
13:48 three Paul talks about his fellow
13:51 workers who were dearly beloved his joy
13:53 in his crown is that your attitude
13:55 toward people resource number one the
13:58 means for our ministry people and then
14:02 verses four through nine God's peace oh
14:04 you need God's peace within you the
14:06 problems are not outside of you my
14:08 friend the problems are inside of you
14:09 the heart of every problem is the
14:12 problem in the heart so we have God's
14:15 people beside you verses one two and
14:19 three God's peace within you verses four
14:22 through nine God's providence around you
14:26 verse 10 and then 14 through 18 God in
14:30 His Providence is at work around you
14:34 God is caring for you then there's God's
14:37 power within you verses 11 through 13
14:41 and there's God's promise before you
14:43 verse 19 my God shall supply all your
14:46 need according to his riches in glory by
14:49 Christ Jesus I want to repeat that now
14:51 you're discouraged today and you just
14:53 don't know where the next check is going
14:56 to come from to pay the bills you don't
14:57 know where the next Sunday school
14:58 teacher is going to come from you're
15:01 wondering why the choir is falling apart
15:03 well let's look at these these marvelous
15:06 provisions now God's people beside you
15:08 verses 1 2 & 3
15:12 God's peace within you 4 through 9 God's
15:15 providence around you verse 10 and
15:19 verses 14 through 18 God's power within
15:23 you verses 11 through 13 and then God's
15:27 promise before you verse 19 you see God
15:32 has all of the means necessary to
15:35 provide everything for your ministry all
15:36 you've got to do is find out what he
15:38 wants you to do remember now you begin
15:41 with the message if you're preaching the message
15:41 message
15:43 he'll provide the means if you're
15:46 following the model the Lord Jesus he'll
15:48 provide the means if you have the right
15:52 motives he'll provide the means but if
15:54 our motives are not right God will not
15:56 provide I want you to have joy in your
15:58 ministry I don't want you to be
16:00 discouraged God doesn't want you to be
16:03 discouraged perhaps you've read in the
16:06 Peanuts comic strip where Linus says
16:08 that one day he wants to become a great
16:11 doctor but Lucy says you can't be a
16:13 doctor you don't love mankind to which
16:16 Linus replied I do love mankind as
16:19 people I can't stand and sometimes the
16:22 people of God are difficult to get along
16:24 with and yet here's the Apostle Paul in
16:28 chapter 1 verses 3 through 11 explaining
16:31 to us the ties that bind us together now
16:34 what are they I thank my god upon every
16:37 remembrance of you always in every
16:39 prayer of mine for you all making
16:43 requests with joy for your fellowship in
16:46 the gospel from the first day until now
16:49 being confident of this very thing that
16:52 he who hath begun a good work in you
16:55 will perform it complete it until the
16:58 day of Jesus Christ the first tie that
17:00 was binding the hearts of the
17:02 Philippians to the heart of the Apostle
17:06 Paul I have you in my mind
17:10 he remembered them I thank my god upon
17:13 every remembrance of you that means the
17:15 whole remembrance now there were some
17:17 things about the Philippian church that
17:19 when he remembered them could have
17:22 brought sorrow for example when he was
17:26 at roie's Acts chapter 16 he didn't know
17:27 where to go he was waiting waiting
17:30 waiting then he had that vision well he
17:32 could say I want to forget about that
17:34 delay at Troas he had a vision of a man
17:37 who said come over and help us and so
17:39 Paul and his team went over to Philippi
17:41 and they couldn't find that man but they
17:44 did find a woman's prayer meeting thank
17:47 God for women's prayer meetings a group
17:50 of Jewish women and some Gentiles who
17:54 were Jewish proselytes or Jewish followers
17:55 followers
17:57 they're having a prayer meeting by the
17:59 river and then that slave girl came
18:01 along and created problems for Paul Paul
18:04 was thrown into prison he was whipped he
18:07 was humiliated now there was division in
18:09 the church at Philippi there were some
18:11 people who were fighting one another
18:13 Paul could have had some memories of
18:15 Philippi and that would bring him sorrow
18:18 but you know what he says here I thank
18:20 God upon every remembrance the whole
18:22 thing you know what he's saying he is
18:24 saying you've got to see the total
18:27 picture now my preacher friend there are
18:29 people in your church who are creating
18:31 problems for you but you've got to see
18:33 the total picture look at them through
18:37 the eyes of Jesus Christ and the gospel
18:40 Paul said I thank my god upon every
18:42 remembrance of you I'm thankful for your
18:45 fellowship in the gospel I'm confident
18:47 that God is at work in your life maybe
18:49 he's not at work like he ought to be
18:51 that's not his fault that's your fault
18:53 maybe you're not allowing him to do
18:56 everything he wants to do but you must
19:00 look at people in Jesus Christ chapter
19:03 one verse one to all the saints in
19:06 Christ Jesus every chapter in
19:09 Philippians begins with in Christ
19:12 chapter 2 verse 1 if there be any
19:15 consolation in Christ chapter 3 verse 1
19:19 finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord
19:24 in chapter 4 we read verse 1 so stand
19:28 fast in the Lord always look at God's
19:31 people in Jesus Christ
19:33 you know whenever you meet an unsaved
19:35 person you can love him because he's
19:38 somebody for whom Christ died whenever
19:39 you meet a Christian you can love him
19:42 he's someone in whom Christ lives Paul
19:45 said I have you in my mind I thank my
19:47 god upon the whole remembrance of you
19:50 missionary friend that person who's
19:52 creating a problem for you right now a
19:54 hundred years from now you'll look back
19:57 and you'll say you know God was taking
20:00 care of that God is at work be patient
20:04 let's be thankful for the fellowship of
20:07 the gospel let's be thankful for the
20:09 people of God
20:11 I have you in my mind that's the first
20:15 tie that binds our hearts together but
20:17 in verses 7 and 8 there's a second tie
20:20 that binds our hearts together Paul says
20:23 I have you in my heart even as it is
20:26 right for me to think this of you all I
20:28 notice that 9 times he talks about you
20:31 all there was division in the church he
20:33 wants to include everybody in his
20:36 message even as it is right for me to
20:39 think this of you all because I have you
20:43 in my heart now it's one thing to have
20:44 somebody in your mind and quite
20:45 something else to have them in your
20:49 heart in as much as both in my bonds and
20:51 in the defence and confirmation of the
20:54 gospel you all are partakers of my grace
20:58 for God is my witness how greatly I
21:01 longed after you all in the tender
21:04 mercies of Jesus Christ Tigh number one
21:07 I have you in my mind is there somebody
21:08 in your church you're trying to forget
21:11 is there somebody in your Christian life
21:12 you you don't want to have them in your
21:15 memory watch out you'll lose the joy of
21:18 ministry secondly I have you in my heart
21:22 this was not a normal natural human love
21:26 this was a divinely supplied love it was
21:28 the love of the Lord Jesus Christ I long
21:31 after you all in the tender mercies of
21:34 Jesus Christ we are taught of God to
21:37 love one another more than that we have
21:39 that gift of love in our hearts the love
21:42 of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
21:44 the Holy Spirit who is given unto us
21:46 we're commanded to love one another
21:49 now God doesn't command the heart to
21:52 feel a certain way he commands the will
21:54 to act a certain way what is Christian
21:56 love Christian love is an act of the
21:59 will Christian love means I treat you
22:01 the way God treats me God is patient
22:04 with me so I'll be patient with you God
22:06 is kind to me I'll be kind to you and
22:08 you should be kind to me God tells me
22:10 the truth I should tell you the truth
22:12 and do it in love the way God does that
22:14 Christian love is not a feeling you say
22:15 well there are folks in the church I
22:18 don't like that may be true you might
22:19 not want to spend a week's vacation with
22:22 them or even an evening with
22:23 them that doesn't make any difference in
22:25 Christian love it's not a matter of
22:28 feeling it's a matter of willing let's
22:30 be thankful for one another I have you
22:35 in my mind I have you in my heart I have
22:39 you in my prayer thanks for being a part
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