0:05 [Music]
0:07 welcome to back to the Bible radio
0:09 featuring best-selling author and
0:11 internationally known Bible teacher
0:14 Warren where's being one of the major
0:16 messages in the book of Philippians is
0:20 the joy of ministry in Chapter 1 we have
0:22 the joy of the message of our ministry
0:26 the gospel of Jesus Christ in chapter 2
0:29 the joy of the model for our ministry
0:31 the Lord Jesus Christ the servant of God
0:35 in chapter 3 the motives for our
0:38 ministry and in chapter 4 the means of
0:42 our ministry chapter 1 we have the
0:45 message of our ministry and this message
0:47 ought to give us great joy just think of
0:49 the privilege we have of sharing the
0:53 gospel whether you are a Sunday school
0:55 teacher an elder a deacon a trustee a
0:57 church visitor a minister a missionary
1:00 you sing in the choir whatever it may be
1:03 you are helping to get out the gospel of
1:06 Jesus Christ in Chapter one you find the
1:09 Apostle Paul applying this gospel to
1:11 three different groups of people you'll
1:14 notice he talks about the fellowship of
1:16 the gospel in verse five
1:19 because in verses 3 through 11 he talks
1:22 about the fellowship of the gospel he
1:24 applies the gospel to God's people
1:27 that's going to be our subject for today
1:30 you must always look at the people of
1:34 God through the heart of the gospel in
1:36 verses 12 through 26 he talks about the
1:39 furtherance of the gospel and here he's
1:41 applying the gospel to the unbelievers
1:44 how do we get the gospel out and then
1:47 verses 27 through 30 he talks about
1:51 defending the faith of the gospel in
1:54 verse 27 striving together for the faith
1:57 of the gospel we have enemies in nothing
2:00 be terrified by your adversaries so here
2:02 we have three different groups of people
2:06 to whom the gospel must be applied to
2:08 God's people the fellowship of the
2:11 gospel verses 3 through 11 to the
2:14 unsaved verses 12 through 26 that's the
2:17 furtherance of the gospel and then even
2:18 to our enemies
2:22 verses 27 through 30 the faith of the
2:26 gospel now verses 3 through 11 I
2:29 mentioned that the here we're dealing
2:32 with the fellowship of the gospel
2:35 perhaps you've read in the Peanuts comic
2:39 strip where Linus says that one day he
2:42 wants to become a great doctor but Lucy
2:43 says you can't be a doctor you don't
2:46 love mankind to which Linus replied I do
2:49 love mankind as people I can't stand and
2:51 sometimes the people of God are
2:54 difficult to get along with and yet
2:56 here's the Apostle Paul in verses 3
2:59 through 11 explaining to us the ties
3:02 that bind us together now what are they
3:05 I thank my god upon every remembrance of
3:08 you always in every prayer of mine for
3:11 you all making requests with joy for
3:14 your fellowship in the gospel from the
3:18 first day until now being confident of
3:21 this very thing that he who hath begun a
3:23 good work in you will perform it
3:26 complete it until the day of Jesus
3:29 Christ the first tie that was binding
3:31 the hearts of the Philippians to the
3:34 heart of the Apostle Paul I have you in
3:40 my mind he remembered them I thank my
3:42 god upon every remembrance of you that
3:45 means the whole remembrance now there
3:47 were some things about the Philippian
3:49 Church that when he remembered them
3:52 could have brought sorrow for example
3:55 when he was at Troas Acts chapter 16 he
3:57 didn't know where to go he was waiting
3:59 waiting waiting then he had that vision
4:01 well he could say I want to forget about
4:04 that delay at Troas he had a vision of a
4:06 man who said come over and help us and
4:08 so Paul and his team went over to
4:11 Philippi and they couldn't find that man
4:13 but they did find a woman's prayer
4:15 meeting thank God for women's prayer
4:19 meetings a group of Jewish women and
4:22 some Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes
4:26 or Jewish followers were there having a
4:28 prayer meeting by the river and then
4:30 that slave girl came along and created
4:32 problems for Paul Paul was
4:35 thrown into prison he was whipped he was
4:38 humiliated now there was division in the
4:39 church at philippi there were some
4:41 people who were fighting one another
4:43 Paul could have had some memories of
4:46 Filipina that would bring him sorrow but
4:48 you know what he says here I thank God
4:50 upon every remembrance the whole thing
4:51 you know what he's saying
4:54 he is saying you've got to see the total
4:57 picture now my preacher friend there are
4:59 people in your church who are creating
5:01 problems for you but you've got to see
5:03 the total picture look at them through
5:07 the eyes of Jesus Christ and the gospel
5:10 Paul said I thank my god upon every
5:12 remembrance of you I'm thankful for your
5:15 fellowship in the gospel I'm confident
5:17 that God is at work in your life maybe
5:19 he's not at work like he ought to be
5:21 that's not his fault that's your fault
5:23 maybe you're not allowing him to do
5:26 everything he wants to do but you must
5:29 look at people in Jesus Christ
5:33 chapter 1 verse 1 to all the Saints in
5:36 Christ Jesus every chapter in
5:39 Philippians begins with in Christ
5:42 chapter 2 verse 1 if there be any
5:45 consolation in Christ chapter 3 verse 1
5:49 finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord
5:54 in chapter 4 we read verse 1 so stand
5:58 fast in the Lord always look at God's
6:01 people in Jesus Christ
6:03 you know whenever you meet an unsaved
6:05 person you can love him because he's
6:08 somebody for whom Christ died whenever
6:09 you meet a Christian you can love him
6:12 he's someone in whom Christ lives Paul
6:15 said I have you in my mind I thank my
6:17 god upon the whole remembrance of you
6:20 missionary friend that person who's
6:22 creating a problem for you right now a
6:24 hundred years from now you'll look back
6:27 and you'll say you know God was taking
6:31 care of that God is at work be patient
6:34 God is not able to work in our lives the
6:35 way he'd like to
6:37 we sometimes hinder him in his ministry
6:40 in our own hearts let's be thankful for
6:44 the fellowship of the gospel let's be
6:45 thankful for the people
6:49 of God I have you in my mind that's the
6:52 first tie that binds our hearts together
6:55 but in verses 7 and 8 there's a second
6:57 tie that binds our hearts together Paul
7:01 says I have you in my heart even as it
7:03 is right for me to think this of you all
7:06 I notice that 9 times he talks about you
7:09 all there was division in the church he
7:11 wants to include everybody in his
7:14 message even as it is right for me to
7:17 think this of you all because I have you
7:19 in my heart
7:21 it's one thing to have somebody in your
7:23 mind and quite something else to have
7:25 them in your heart in as much as both in
7:28 my bonds and in the defence and
7:30 confirmation of the gospel you all are
7:34 partakers of my grace for God is my
7:37 witness how greatly I longed after you
7:41 all in the tender mercies of Jesus
7:43 Christ tie number one I have you in my
7:45 mind is there somebody in your church
7:47 you're trying to forget is there
7:49 somebody in your Christian life you you
7:51 don't want to have them in your memory
7:53 watch out you'll lose the joy of
7:56 ministry secondly I have you in my heart
8:00 this was not a normal natural human love
8:04 this was a divinely supplied love it was
8:06 the love of the Lord Jesus Christ I long
8:09 after you all in the tender mercies of
8:12 Jesus Christ we are taught of God to
8:15 love one another more than that we have
8:17 that gift of love in our hearts the love
8:20 of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
8:22 the Holy Spirit who is given unto us
8:25 we're commanded the love one another now
8:28 God doesn't command the heart to feel a
8:30 certain way he commands the will to act
8:32 a certain way what is Christian love
8:34 Christian love is an act of the will
8:37 Christian love means I treat you the way
8:40 God treats me God is patient with me so
8:43 I'll be patient with you God is kind to
8:44 me I'll be kind to you and you should be
8:47 kind to me God tells me the truth I
8:49 should tell you the truth and do it in
8:51 love the way God does that Christian
8:53 love is not a feeling you say well there
8:54 are folks in the church I don't like
8:56 that may be true you might not want to
8:59 spend a weeks vacation with them or even
8:59 an evening
9:01 with them that doesn't make any
9:03 difference in Christian love it's not a
9:04 matter of feeling it's a matter of
9:07 willing we treat other people the way
9:11 God commands us to treat them I have you
9:16 in my mind I have you in my heart
9:19 the Apostle Paul loved these people oh
9:22 how much he had suffered for them but
9:25 these people were participants with him
9:27 in the work of the Lord verse 5 their
9:30 fellowship in the gospel verse 7
9:32 you're partakers of my grace they were
9:35 not spectators they were partakers they
9:38 had participated in Paul's ministry and
9:41 you know the more you work together the
9:43 more you stand together the more you
9:46 weep together and sacrifice together the
9:49 more you love one another I think one of
9:51 our problems in churches today is we
9:54 have too many spectators we don't have
9:56 enough participants you see when you
9:59 love people then you're concerned about
10:00 the gospel
10:03 why was Paul defending the gospel there
10:05 at the Roman Court because he loved the church
10:06 church
10:08 Paul was paying a tremendous price there
10:11 in Rome he was there to defend and
10:14 confirm the gospel to get the church to
10:18 be an accepted legitimate religion in
10:21 the Roman Empire and oh the price he was
10:24 paying why because he loved God's people
10:28 in the Old Testament the high priest had
10:32 two stones two precious stones one on
10:34 each shoulder and then he had twelve
10:38 stones over his heart on the breastplate
10:41 individual stones they represented the
10:44 tribes of Israel there were six names on
10:47 the stone on his left shoulder and six
10:48 names on the stone on his right shoulder
10:51 and there were twelve stones over his
10:53 heart this is the way it is in ministry
10:56 we bear God's people on our shoulders
10:59 collectively we love them individually
11:02 and those stones over the high priests
11:05 heart were a reminder to him to love the
11:12 tie number one I have you in my mind I
11:15 think about you tie number two I have
11:17 you in my heart I love you tie number
11:20 three I have you in my prayers I pray
11:23 for you nine through eleven and this I
11:25 pray now if you were going to pray for
11:26 the church at Philippi what would you
11:29 ask God to do this prayer would be good
11:31 for all of our churches first of all
11:35 it's a prayer for maturity and this I
11:38 pray that your love may abound yet more
11:40 and more in knowledge and in all
11:44 judgment discernment that you may
11:45 approve the things that are excellent
11:48 you may prove the things that differ
11:50 approve the things that differ that you
11:52 may be sincere and without a fence till
11:55 the day of Christ being filled with the
11:57 fruits of righteousness which are by
12:00 Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise
12:04 of God he prays that they might have
12:07 mature Christian love a developing love
12:11 it abounds more and more a discerning
12:14 love a love that's not blind you I hear
12:16 people say well if you do what you're
12:18 doing love it'll be all right well what
12:20 kind of love you see love without
12:23 discernment could be lust love that
12:25 lacks discernment is blind Christian
12:28 love is not blind Christian love is very
12:31 discerning because we must have the
12:33 guidance of the Spirit of God now he's
12:35 praying for developing love there were
12:37 some problems in the church when you
12:40 read chapter 2 Paul wrote and said be
12:43 like-minded have the same love be of one
12:46 Accord be of one mind let nothing be
12:49 done through strife or vainglory my I
12:50 bet they were having some business
12:52 meetings that were really interesting
12:54 what's the solution for all these
12:58 problems love discerning Christian love
13:01 abounding love and discerning love that
13:03 you may approve the things that are
13:06 excellent mature Christian character
13:08 that you may test the things that differ
13:11 now little children can't tell a pie
13:14 from a mud pie they don't know a tool
13:17 from a toy they use everything in
13:20 confusion but as you get older you learn
13:21 to do
13:23 earn and that's what we need as
13:25 Christians to test the things that
13:28 differ to have wisdom to be sincere and
13:31 that word sincere means transparent pure
13:35 tested by the sunlight it also means
13:38 tested by a sieve you put the grain into
13:40 a sieve and you were lit a round off
13:42 goes the chaff and through the sieve
13:45 comes the good grain sometimes God has
13:47 to put you and me into the sieve of
13:51 suffering difficulty tribulation why to
13:53 build our character that you might be
13:57 sincere without offence not causing
14:00 other people to stumble until the day of
14:03 Jesus Christ and so we must have mature
14:06 Christian love developing love and
14:08 discerning love we must have mature
14:11 Christian character sincerity honesty
14:16 openness our motives must be right until
14:18 the day of Christ and mature Christian
14:21 service being filled with the fruits of
14:24 righteousness fruit has to come from
14:26 life doesn't it you don't manufacture
14:30 fruit you grow it righteousness by Jesus
14:32 Christ notice please we don't
14:36 manufacture this fruit it comes from the
14:38 power of God at work in our lives now
14:42 here are three beautiful spiritual ties
14:46 that bind God's people together pastor
14:50 do these ties bind your heart to the
14:52 hearts of your people missionary friend
14:54 The Sunday school teacher church officer
14:57 can you say I have you in my mind what I
15:00 think about you I give thanks to God I
15:03 have you in my prayers I have you in my
15:05 heart now you see if we have people in
15:07 our minds and in our hearts we're going
15:09 to have them in our prayers and the more
15:11 you can say to people look I think about
15:14 you and I love you and I pray for you
15:17 the stronger is going to be the bond
15:21 that ties us together in Jesus Christ
15:24 January sixth is the anniversary of the
15:29 birth of John Fawcett 1739 John Fawcett
15:32 was saved under Whitfield's ministry and
15:35 he was pastoring a church in Yorkshire
15:37 and he got a call to a bigger church
15:40 with a better opportunity apparently in
15:43 1772 and he packed all of his goods and
15:44 he was going to move away but he
15:46 couldn't do it he loved his people so
15:49 much that he had to stay with them and
15:52 then it was in 1772 that he wrote that
15:55 beautiful song blest be the tie that
15:57 binds our hearts in Christian love the
16:00 fellowship of kindred minds is like to
16:04 that above my friend are you rejoicing
16:06 in your ministry today are you enjoying
16:09 your ministry or enduring your ministry
16:12 well the Lord Jesus knows because he can
16:14 see your heart and you know and before
16:17 long everybody will know because we
16:20 cannot hide it in Philippians were
16:22 looking at the joy of ministry and in
16:25 Chapter 1 we're focusing on the joy of
16:28 the message of our ministry Jesus Christ
16:32 and the gospel and Paul applies this
16:33 gospel to three different groups of
16:36 people the inner circle of the Saints
16:39 verses 3 through 11 the fellowship in
16:43 the gospel verse 5 he gives thanks with
16:45 joy for your fellowship in the gospel
16:48 from the first day until now
16:51 then verse 12 down through verse 26 he
16:53 talks about the furtherance of the
16:56 gospel but I would you should understand
16:58 brethren that the things which happened
17:00 unto me have fallen out rather unto the
17:02 furtherance of the gospel
17:04 now he's applying the gospel not to the
17:08 believers but to the unbelievers chapter
17:11 1 verses 12 through 26 then in verse 27
17:14 down through verse 30 he'll be talking
17:16 about how the gospel applies to our
17:19 adversaries those who oppose the work of
17:22 the Lord you see if you go through life
17:24 thinking only about yourself you're
17:26 going to be miserable but if you go
17:29 through life ministering because you are
17:31 concerned about Christ and the gospel
17:33 then you are going to be happy you're
17:35 going to have joy we have the most
17:37 joyful message in all the world to
17:41 present good tidings of great joy which
17:44 shall be unto all people for Jesus
17:47 Christ the Savior has died for the sins
17:48 of the world
17:51 father sent the son to be the savior of
17:54 the world now is that why you're living
17:56 are you living to get this message out
17:59 now if you are you'll be a happy person
18:03 if you have a single mind for Christ and
18:05 the gospel then you're going to have
18:08 Christian joy you're going to relate as
18:11 you should to God's people and you're
18:13 going to relate as you should to the
18:15 unsaved Paul's great desire was to
18:18 preach the gospel at Rome when he wrote
18:21 the letter to the Romans he said so in
18:24 chapter 1 verse 15 that he had a great
18:26 desire to come to Rome to preach the
18:28 gospel well he didn't come to Rome but
18:31 not as a preacher but as a prisoner you
18:33 remember in Acts chapter 27 you have
18:36 that awful shipwreck described and Paul
18:39 finally it does arrive at Rome and then
18:43 some difficulties appear even in Rome he
18:45 has some needs the Philippian Church
18:49 sent him some material help to assist
18:51 him in his ministry that's why he wrote
18:53 this letter that we call Philippians
18:56 well I should have you understand he
18:57 wrote to them to the things which
19:00 happened unto me have fallen out they
19:02 have worked out rather unto the
19:06 furtherance of the gospel this word
19:09 furtherance means pioneer advance it
19:11 means to move forward in spite of
19:14 obstructions and difficulties it's the
19:16 word that was used for that part of the
19:19 army that went on ahead cleared away all
19:22 the debris got rid of all that was
19:24 standing in the way of the march of the
19:26 army you know the devil puts roadblocks
19:29 in our way right now you may say well
19:31 brother where's be I'm facing that
19:34 roadblock here we are in our church or
19:37 our mission station or our Sunday School
19:39 class or our home and we're trying to
19:41 move forward and serve the Lord and
19:44 right away we've hit a roadblock we've
19:46 hit a blank wall we're on a dead-end
19:49 street oh no you're not when you're
19:51 living to promote Christ and the gospel
19:54 to spread the good news of the gospel
19:56 there is no such thing as a dead-end
20:01 street or a wall or a roadblock along
20:03 your path you see God wants us to take
20:05 the gospel out into New Territories
20:07 that's the problem in so many churches
20:10 we keep sowing the same seed on the same
20:12 soil we keep fishing in the same pond
20:15 but God wants us to take the gospel into
20:19 new territory furtherance the pioneer
20:21 advance God is saying let's move into
20:24 some new territory are there areas in
20:26 your town or city that have never been
20:28 touched by the gospel how are you gonna
20:31 get the gospel in there well the Apostle
20:34 Paul had three very wonderful tools that
20:37 God gave him to get the gospel out to
20:40 areas where it had never reached verses
20:44 12 through 14 his chains so that my
20:48 bonds in Christ are manifest and people
20:51 are talking about this my chains because
20:55 of his chains Christ was known verses 12
20:59 through 14 then verses 15 through 19 his
21:01 critics Oh Paul had some critics there
21:04 in the city of Rome there were some who
21:05 were not preaching the way they should
21:08 preach they were preaching out of
21:10 contention and division and dissension
21:13 but Paul tells us in verses 15 through
21:16 19 that because of his critics Christ is
21:18 preached notice now because of my chains
21:22 Christ is known because of my critics
21:25 Christ is preached and verses 20 through
21:29 26 because of my crisis Christ is
21:31 magnified what was his crisis he might
21:32 be killed
21:34 he says for to me to live is Christ to
21:38 die is gain his great concern was not
21:40 just to spare his life but to use his
21:42 life now get a hold of these three tools
21:46 his chains Christ is known verses 12
21:49 through 14 his critics Christ is
21:52 preached verses 15 through 19
21:57 his crisis he might be killed Christ is
22:02 magnified verses 20 through 26 yes God
22:06 is able to use a crisis to magnify Jesus
22:08 Christ you may be in a crisis today just
22:11 say with Paul I want Christ to be
22:13 magnified whether it's by life or by death
22:14 death
22:18 I want him to receive all of the glory
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