Jesus + (Philippians 3:1-11)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here grab your Bibles and go to to Philippians chapter 3 uh if you don't own a Bible uh or don't have one with you this morning there should be a blue one in the seat in front of you it's on page 571 if you don't own a Bible take that one home with you we want you to own a Bible uh we're working our way through the book of Philippians.
When you have children there are things that you have to warn them about and then there are things that you you don't have to warn them about there are things that they're naturally scared of um so you might have a kid and you don't really have to warn them about Heights because they're afraid of heights you might be somewhere and there's like a dog pulling against the chain and barking aggressively you don't have to look at your kid and go hey don't pet that dog like they got it they they can tell that that's something they shouldn't mess with it seems scary.
But then there are other things that don't seem dangerous that are like watch batteries and the outlets that are against the wall at you know infant height um for them to to mess with there are certain things like I I've got a son who has an egg allergy and I've had to take pains to help him understand that there are some things that are dangerous to him you know I've had to look at him and be like oh is that a cookie does it.
Look delicious were your little friends eating it yeah that will kill you you think this is nice this isn't nice this is evil you know like good parenting stuff um this past week I handed him some food he's six I handed to him I said try this and he went does it have egg in it and I was like oh we've first of all I should have checked and I was like probably not but let me go look um but well done like he he's got it he understands this things that don't seem dangerous can be dangerous and we've had to use some aggressive language to try to help him understand that.
Because he wasn't going to pick it up on his own Paul is going to issue an aggressive warning in this text he's going to put some aggressive language to a warning and it's to something that actually could seem fine it's to something that might could creep into how you relate to the Lord mik could creep into your understanding of Christianity and it could seem okay and it can be disastrous and so Paul uses some aggressive language to help warn us and warn the Church in Philippi against this.
And so let's go we're in chapter three we're going to start in verse one finally my brothers now that finally there just like any good preachers in conclusion doesn't really mean finally uh it's it's it's like one you know like the sermon has three points but each point has three points and you just like smuggle them in there it's like that when he says finally really what he means is like to the rest to this next concept and he's not really concluding the letter yet.
And so he's turning to the next thing finally my brothers rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you that verse to look out uh to write the same things to you sorry the back half of verse one to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you is he's going to repeat himself something he's already told the Philippian Church he's saying doesn't bother me to repeat this and it's good.
For you to hear it again that's what he's talking about but that rejoice in the Lord is not just a throwaway statement it's the heading for all the stuff we're about to read he's calling us to Joy in Christ to Joy in the Lord to Celebration and rejoicing in the Lord and that in the Lord is very important it's not just hey Rejoice it's it's Anchored In Jesus and so he says rejoice in the lord it's a little bit like if your parent had walked in the house and said hey you need to celebrate your sister we you need to you need to congratulate her the thing you say is why what like you there's.
More to this like what what is it and he says rejoice in the Lord and now he's about to help us see where this Joy is found and one of the things we're going to see is that this Joy is actually at risk because he's about to give them a warning this joy that we have in the Lord is at risk because he says this finally my brothers rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you is no trouble.
For me and is safe for you verse two look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh yeah if those people exist let's look out for them they sound awful look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh that's some aggressive language and it's also I told you he was going to give us a warning but it's a bit jarring where it comes in the text rejoice in the.
Lord what look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh hey we we're going to celebrate your sister tonight why what happened there's a roving band of lunatics murdering people in the City what was she a part of the band I have so many questions did she stop them so he says rejoice in the Lord and then he gives this aggressive warning so we ought to want to know who these people are who are the dogs who are the evildoers who are those who mutilate the flesh what is he talking about.
Well his next sentence tells us look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh for we are the circumcision and then he goes on to explain how we're the circumcision but that phrase for we are the circumcision is key to understanding who he's talking about it's it's odd but that let's focus on that phrase for a second for we are the circumcision it's it feels like what what is he's all over the place.
But if you understand the context this makes sense there's also a play of play on words here in the Greek uh mutilate the flesh is the Greek word catat and circumcision is the word perome so catat means to chop up to to mutilate to chop off parom means circumcision which is a very delicate form of cutting very different from katat but what he's saying here is that there are those who are coming along there was a group of people who were coming to the Christian Church and saying that they needed to partake in the Old Testament Jewish rights to belong to Abraham.
So that the the sign of circumcision was given to Abraham and that was what marked them as the Covenant people that was what told them they were in and then they were given the law to Moses was given to the law and so they had circumcision in the law and that was what marked them as belonging to God and so when he says we're the circumcision what he's saying is we're the ones who belong to God and specifically those who are coming by and telling you you need Jes.
Jesus and circumcision you need Jesus and to follow the law you need Jesus and Judaism to be saved he says no they're not in we're in what they're doing is a mutilation it's a catat it's not a parat it's not bringing you in it's not helping you belong to God it's actually messing it up it's tearing it up that's what he's communicating so there was a group of people coming along and saying yes you need Jesus but you also now have to be Jewish you have to practice the Jewish law you have to be circumcised you have to follow the festivals you have to follow the dietary restrictions you have to follow the sabbaths you.
Have to do all of these things to actually be in this is something we see in the book of Acts it comes before the Church and they say no that's not how it works you just need Jesus so that's the point he's making when he says we're the circumcision he's saying we're the ones who are in but he's going to explain what he's talking about here in a second but when he's saying this y'all this this still exists there's still those who will come along and say you need.
Jesus and something else there's actually those who will still say this exact thing you need Jesus and Judaism when we were meeting at Glen Forest school and renting space there was another group there that was meeting called the gates to Zion and they had Jesus and they practiced the Jewish festivals and the Jewish sabbaths and they had all these Jewish I don't know if they followed the dietary I don't know what they did but they basically were saying that you needed.
Jesus plus Judaism that sort of idea still exists but it exists in a lot of other ways too anything added to Jesus so this can be Jesus and but the real ones the real ones know the real ones who are in on it know that you need Jesus and this sort of political activism that's the real Christians or you need Jesus and this sort of Church structure Jesus and this type of myology this type of Miss Focus this type of service you need.
Jesus and this type of marriage this type of child raising you need Jesus and homeschooling you need Jesus and anything else that adds to it there's a lady in our community group who's come out of a menite background and it was Jesus yes but you need to be menite you need to practice it in these ways and then it becomes more about being menite than about Jesus it's anything that someone comes along and says yes okay Jesus sure but you really need this you can get on YouTube and you can find all kinds of versions of this message yeah yeah.
But the real stuff is here you got to know how to do the Bible math and then we can figure out when Jesus is coming back there's Secrets hidden here we got to get in here the real people know and they're in on what you really need to worry about is this you got to have this you got to have this thing and so it's not you need Jesus it's you oh yeah Jesus but you also really need this and Paul says no and it's tempting and in some ways it prays on something that we have which is this General desire to be in I don't want to mess this up I really want to.
Follow Jesus and when someone comes along and says you're missing something you don't want to be missing something so you say what what is it and they can make some compelling arguments at times but y'all the Bible isn't hasn't set out to trick us and to only let a secret group in the Bible is very clear you need Jes Jesus and that's what Paul says for we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh that's who's in that's what Paul says not them and their added adherence to the to the Jewish regulations.
But those who worship by the spirit of God meaning the spirits that work in us are service is through his work in us what he's accomplished and what he's accomplishing in us it's not through our adherence to the law or our morality it's something that the spirit is doing in us and then it says and we glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh the flesh being ourselves our ability to be moral so it's possible it's your first time hanging out with our Church or the.
First time you've been around a Church in a while and your general picture of what Christianity is is the Bible has some rules do the rules you're messed up get it together chip chop and you'll say things to yourself like you know I would you hear people say this all the time I would come back around Church but I got some stuff I got to straighten out first putting some confidence in the flesh but Paul says that's not who's in that's not how it works it's not about putting confidence in flesh it's glory in Christ my my wife and I won tickets to a Braves game and we went we were at the Braves game.
And we uh saw ay guy wearing a a McHugh Jersey he was sitting in front of us and he had McHugh on his jersey now if you're not a Braves fan you don't know who Colin McHugh is but if you are a Braves fan you also don't know who Colin mchu is you'd have to be like really really a Braves fan to know who Colin m is we just thought probably that guy's last name like spent some extra money pretends he's on the team um we're in the middle of the game and they're struggling and they swap out pictures at like the.
Third or fourth inning and they send out calling me Q he's a real person he's going to come in and Pitch one of these like middle Innings and when that happens there's a guy behind us who starts going hey mugh Jersey M Jersey hey you at the M Jersey and finally the guy turns around he goes do you know him and that guy says yes because that's the only person who wants a mchu jersey someone who knows McHugh they went to school together.
So I don't know Kyu but I did see a guy who does know Kyu one time what Paul's saying is when we glory in something we we put the winners on the Jersey we put who we're proud of on the Jersey you'll see Maddox jerseys and glavin jerseys and Jones jerseys and aunia jerseys you'll see those but we put who we're proud of that goes on the Jersey that's the jersey that sells and what Paul is saying is it just says.
Jesus it doesn't have your last name it doesn't have your little Club it doesn't have your little bonus thing that you want it just it just says Jesus we glory in Christ and we put no confidence here that's the point Paul's getting at so if you're part of something if you're listening to some teaching online if you've been a part of a Church you're coming out of a Church or you're trying right now to figure out what Church to belong to here's the thing I want to help you understand what are they excited about what are they proclaiming what are they pointing you to.
And if it's not Jesus get out if it's not highlighting his glory and his goodness and his salvation and his hope and his kingship if it's about something else if they say yes we worship Jesus but then all they talk to you is about your morality or your ability to do this certain thing or for you to be this type of wife or this type of mother or this type of husband or this type of Citizen or this type of whatever and it's not about.
Jesus and it's not about his glory and at the end of the day when you walk out there you're going to walk out with some Jersey that says something other than Christ get out that's what Paul's saying we we put no confidence in the flesh and then he's going to do something kind of weird he says we have no confidence there and then he says but I do watch verse four though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also what here's what he's doing he he doesn't want these people coming along to say.
Well of course Paul of course Peter doesn't want to you to practice Judaism Peter was awful at it he was a fisherman he does know anything of course these ragtag disciples they they they're teaching these things but you need Jesus and you need this extra thing and Paul says y'all I can I can whip anybody's tail on the court of Judaism like I I'm the best Jewish man you could find that's what Paul's doing he's about to say I have more Jewish credentials than they do and I'm telling you it's not worth it that's what he's doing here are his Jewish credentials.
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh I have more circumcised on the eighth day not late as an adult after I decided to do this no I was born Jewish on the and I was circumcised on the right day of the people of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin if you join Judaism late you just get to belong to the people of Israel but you don't have a tribe he says I have a tribe I can trace my lineage back he says a Hebrew of Hebrews which is either restating that he belongs it's like another way of saying I'm Tribe of Benjamin in Israel.
So I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews but it's also quite possible what he means is I speak Hebrew because there were a lot of those who were a part of the people of Israel who were in the helenistic Roman Empire who only spoke Greek so he says I'm a Hebrew Hebrew as to the law a Pharisee so if you if you're familiar with the gospels the Pharisees are the ones who would call fouls all the time on everybody they'd walk around and be like ah you're doing that wrong you're not following the rules right they do this to.
Jesus all the time and his disciples it's like anytime Jesus did something it was like Pharisees appeared out of nowhere and were like wrong uh non-stop they would tithe out of Jesus at one point says you tithe out of your spice rack like you take 10% like they were really focused on the minutia of the law but they had missed the point he says I was a Pharisee I was the best lawkeeper I was great at it as to Zeal was I like a like a lazy Pharisee no I was a persecutor of the Church how many people have you arrested.
For Judaism how many executions have you overseen that's what Paul's saying I was getting after it as to righteousness under the law blameless I perfectly followed adherence to the law now he doesn't mean righteousness before God Paul's very clear he didn't have that what he's saying is if it's about following these rules I was great at it verse seven but whatever gain I had so that's his confidence in the flesh that's his resume that's his history he said whatever gain I had I counted as loss.
For the sake of Christ he said I realized that all of this just stood in the way of me following Jesus that if I wanted Jesus I needed just Jesus I didn't need a resume I didn't need something that put glory in me I needed the glory to be in Christ and so it's a loss I got rid of it it's a waste indeed I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord y'all Paul says I had more credentials than they have I have more credentials than they're trying to give you and I I got rid of it.
Because it stands in the way of Jesus either he gets the glory or we do Jesus doesn't share Glory it's either about his greatness or us and Paul says I realized I I didn't have greatness I didn't have goodness I didn't have anything so I got rid of it so that I could have Christ and the surpassing worth of knowing him and Paul has better credentials than you both in his Jewish credentials and in his Christian credentials he's out Christian to you.
If there was a score chart planted a bunch of churches suffered for the name of Christ he's been I mean he listed in other places beaten Shipwrecked like what have you what all these things that are for Christ all these things that he's done and Paul doesn't list that as a thing he just says none of that matters he actually says it really aggressively for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ that word rubbish is.
Well attested to be a an exploitive in Greek it also is a technical word that has a right place that's not an expletive but it's an aggressive word and so Paul here is saying it's filth it's garbage it's trash it's the stuff you scrape off your shoe that's what he's talking about this word here is an aggressive word now that doesn't give us license to just use whatever words we want to use all the time there are other places that say watch how you speak Paul's being very pointed and very intentional here and he's using a word that does have a technically right use.
But it's an aggressive word what Paul says is my whole resume was garbage my whole resume needed to be hosed off my boots before I could go inside now I don't know what you think your resume is but you got to understand it fits in that category it doesn't hold weight compared to the glory of Christ and his work on our behalf now I think it's helpful for us to try to understand where can this creep in where can it show up that we're actually doing this and I'm going to try to give us some help with that in a moment.
But I want us to see something Paul says in verse 9 verse 80 says indeed I count everything as lost Lo because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ verse n and be found in him Paul says I just want Jesus and I just want to be in him positionally I want to belong to Jesus there's a mental picture that really helps me with this it's going to take me a.
Second to make sure on the same page but it's the idea of having a champion in battle there's some historical attestation to this that they would have Champions who would fight on behalf of their whole Army the the biblical picture we have of this the story that we have is David and Goliath Goliath stands and he says he represents the whole Philistine Army he's their champion and then he says send forth your Champion now Goliath is a giant 10 feet tall his spear is massive his shield is massive like he's massive and he says send forth your Champion.
If I win philistia wins and you're our servants if your Champion wins then Israel wins and we're your servants but he's got the whole Army in him he represents the whole thing and the champion that's going to come forth represents so you've got two armies encamped only one Champion's coming forward David comes forward for the Israelites and he wins but all the hopes and all the glory and all the the the whole battle rest on does David accomplish this that's what Paul's talking about Paul says I want to be in.
Jesus I want his victory to be my victory I want him winning to be me winning I want him his righteousness to be my righteousness I it's all on Jesus he gets all the glory what's at stake here is our joy and Christ's Glory he gets the glory we get the joy we get to just stand and watch as he walks towards the battle and if he wins we win well Jesus Christ goes to the cross and he takes our punishment and our debt.
For our sin and Jesus Christ rises again do you know how loud you would have shouted when you saw Goliath fall and David run over and chop his head off and hold it above his hands you know how excited you would be you hadn't shouted that loud at a baseball game I'm telling you you haven't been that excited for your football team you haven't you haven't had a moment like that that you would have been I mean I'd have lost my mind I thought we were going to lose it didn't.
Look like it was going to work out well we win and I didn't do anything he did it y'all Jesus goes forward as our champion and Paul says I'm in him his victory is my victory his win is my win he's accomplished it he gets the glory we get joy because it's not about us that's that's what that's what he's pointing out here that's what he says I want to be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law.
But that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith you don't do work you trust Jesus you have faith and so people will say okay so I have to have faith like that's the thing you do but faith is an anti-work it's a surrendering faith is you not running down theill Hill you watching the champion go and trusting that this is going to work that's Faith so you can't brag about it because it was getting out of the way you don't boast in front of the.
Lord you boast in him you don't Rejoice on your own you rejoice in him you don't glory in yourself you glory in him because he's the one who's gone ahead of us and one for us that's what Paul's saying that he has righteousness but it depends on faith because it depends on Jesus and it's us just saying I trust Jesus so I said I would try to help you figure out where are you doing this and this is where I think it's helpful some of the things that he said is we don't Glory we glory in.
Jesus we don't put confidence in the flesh and then it says that it depends on faith so I would ask you is what do you have your confidence in and what are you depending on and one of the best ways to figure that out is what do you do when you're sad what do you do when you see your sin what do you do when you come face to face with the fact that you are inept and unable to accomplish this on your own.
Because if what you remind yourself of is in this category if you say well I'm struggling now but I'm going to get it together I got a bad resume now but I'm gonna have a better one in the future yeah I'm not doing well and yeah I fell into sin but also I've been doing way better I have been committed to our community group I've been serving in Kid City I grew up in the Church Church if you start listing things to try to help yourself do I really trust.
Jesus and you start saying well I've done this and I've done that and I haven't done this I'm not as bad as those people you're over here putting confidence in the flesh and you're depending on you what if in the midst of your sin you said but I have a champion Jesus Christ the righteous what if you said Lord if you don't save me nobody does if you don't work in this sin it doesn't get fixed if you don't forgive I'm not forgiven.
If it hasn't been accomplished by Jesus it won't be accomplished do you know what that would do to our hearts in those moments when you feel so down and you feel so unable to accomplish things and in those moments when you're going I got to get it together I got to do better Lord I'm such a failure Lord I'm so broken it's not just you hate your sin but you hate yourself because you think it's about you but what if in those moments we turn and said Praise.
Jesus do you know how much joy we'd have this is not about us but it's about him and his glory and his power and his goodness it doesn't matter that Goliath is bigger than you that you would have lost if we're trusting in what Jesus does we don't lose it's not about you so where do you turn what do you remind yourself of how do you encourage yourself do you tell yourself I'm going to get better I'm going to do it I'm going to fix it I'm going to get it going do you remind yourself that you've tried hard in the past and you can try hard again do you put it in this where.
You have confidence in the flesh and you're depending on the Flesh and let me ask you something are you tired are you burdened are you overwhelmed are you understanding that you're completely insufficient to save yourself can I tell you about Jesus who rescues and redeems all those who run to him who gets every ounce of Glory but that we get to re Jo in him and that if we start doing this we lose the joy and he loses the glory let.
Let me tell you something following the rules and having to be good is not a rejoicing spot you can be prideful so there are times where you can feel good some of you right now you feel good about you following Jesus when you're doing well this is going really well but it's just based off of I'm doing really well I'm behaving and so good right now I I bet God was looking around this morning and he was just like look at him getting it done or you can be exhausted.
Because you're one of the ones who's really trying you're one of the ones who's really accomplishing things you're one of the ones who really putting in effort and all these other people around you are messing it up you got a bunch of Scrubs in your group you're the only one who's working signed up to bring cheese didn't bring cheese don't let other's meal needs cheese I'm the only one who really loves Jesus it's like what are you doing you can have pride you can have despair.
But you don't get rejoicing but over here you're free because he's glorious and he's good and he gets the honor and he gets the praise and you get the joy like a child when Jesus says we have to become like children I think some of that is that children have no responsibility they're safe if their parents keep them safe they're fed if their parents feed them they just get to bounce around not worrying about anything I don't bring my boys into the room late at night sit them down at the table and go boys I need y'all to help me figure this out I put them to bed.
If they start worrying about stuff I say that's above your pay grade you don't even have a job shut up you're free go to bed they shouldn't be laying in bed stressing out we get to be free we get to have joy we get to rejoice in Jesus that's what he says not that I be found in him but it's not just that it says that I may know him it's not just that we would be in him positionally but that we would belong to him that we would know him that we would love him that we would cherish him.
Because he's so good and this makes so much sense for this is how God wants the world to work he has not come in and says I need you to be good enough I need you to meet the standard what he did is he came met the standard for us and says I need you to understand how good I am I need you to find joy in me I need you to calm down I need Glory I'm not sharing it with you you don't get the glory I do.
But you get the joy I need you to understand how good I am I need you to participate in my goodness and that's wonderful he says that I may know him that I might participate in him that might love him that I might see how good he is and the power of his resurrection part of the reason why you're exhausted is because you have no power you cannot raise one single thing from the dead not even once ever you have no ability to bring life to your finances to your attitude to your relationship to your marriage you have no ability to bring life in the midst of your sin and your Brokenness you have no.
Ability but he has the power of the Resurrection at work for those who will follow him he says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings becoming like him in his death listen there are things that we do because we're Christians not things that we do to become Christians we don't do things to make us some of the good ones but there are things that we do because we know him and we love him and we follow him there are evidences of Faith that's what Paul says that I may share in his sufferings there are things that we participate in.
But he gets the glory and it's about his name and it's about his goodness so he says that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead that by any means possible May attain the resurrection from the dead that I might get the victory that he's earned that I'll participate I'll follow him I'll go wherever he goes I'll get rid of my whole resume so that I might have him that I might be in him and that I might get the victory.
If your hope is to get good enough to depend on your work and to have confidence in the flesh can I tell you that the Gospel is so much better than that that Jesus is so much better than that that he will not share Glory with you it is not Jesus and something else it's not Jesus and your Works Jesus and your behavior Jesus and your attendance Jesus and your particular little piece of theology that's the really good stuff that only the super smart people know it's.
Jesus to the glory of Christ to the praise of his name it's Jesus and y'all you don't want to run down the hill and fight the giant you've you've put off making a phone call because it stressed you out you've lost your mind in traffic or a te- ball game completely ceased to be a functioning adult just lost your mind you've had to quit interacting with your own children and go outside and take deep breaths you've hurt the people around you you've lied you've stolen you've cheated you've started a diet and it worked until there was food that wasn't on the diet that you wanted to eat near you anybody can diet hidden away from.
All food it came to the first test I've done this I'm a diet I walk in Miss Lou is like I bought donuts I'm like well I'm going diet tomorrow you don't want it to be about you you don't want it based off of your goodness and your work and your labor we want it to be about Jesus and we want him to get all the glory and we're going to sing and we're going to praise His name and we're going to hold him up and we're going to tell him this depends on you my confidence is in you my hope is in you my strength is in you the power is in you the.
Glory is in you and then I get joy and resurrection and victory to the praise of Jesus let's pray father we thank you we thank you that the Gospel is so good help us not to be tricked help us not to believe lies help us not to to Listen to evildoers Who Would mutilate the Gospel but Lord may we worship by the work of your spirit may we boast and glory in Christ and may we put no confidence in the flesh and anywhere where we're doing that anywhere that we've started to Hope in ourselves hope in our work hope in our achievements hope in our goodness hope in our resume hope in our our track.
Record anywhere we've been promising you we're going to do better in the future so that we might feel good now oh Lord may we have the joy of knowing that you have won and that you've won on behalf of all those who trust in you and Lord may you get all the glory may it not be about us may it not be about what we do or how we do it or what we think or how we approach it but Lord may we trust you and your work on the cross and your Victory and the resurrection.
So that we might be made whole and we might have joy in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and we're going to sing in a moment and celebrate that he has accomplished this for us but I want you to take a second I just want you to ask Lord where am I robbing you of Glory where am I trying to accomplish this on my own and I want you to say Lord I need joy and I need deliverance and I need confidence in you and I need to be dependent on you.
So can you do that for a moment can you just take a second and ask the Lord to help you see where you're trusting in yourself just a moment in prayer where you say Lord where am I trusting in me where am I hoping in me some of you have never trusted in Jesus it all depends on you your confidence is in you your hope is in you and you plan to one day stand before Christ and say I'm good enough maybe you have.
Jesus in there but it's Jesus and Jesus tells a parable where he says that on that day there will be many who will stand before him and say didn't we do this in your name didn't we cast out the enemy didn't we Proclaim didn't we do these things didn't we have and all they're doing in that moment he says I'll say depart from me I never knew you but what they're doing is saying look at my resume don't you remember your name was there.
And then I did a bunch of stuff don't you remember I said your name and then didn't you see all the stuff I did and he says I don't know you because that's not how it works that we'll stand before him and say you did it you got me here you redeemed me you're glorious you're good I'm in Jesus I'm going to be found in him and I'm going to have the power of his resurrection at work that I might have hope.
So would you take a moment if you've never said Jesus I Need You I depend on you my confidence is you my hope is in you the glory is in you and the Joy gets to be for me would you do that would you tell him you need forgiveness and you need hope that you don't want to stand in your own power and your own ability that you don't want confidence in yourself the Gospel is so good don't say no to it don't trust yourself.
But trust Jesus and then let's sing like he's won the Victory and we get the joy.
Two Laborers (Philippians 2:19-30)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the big the book of Philippians chapter 2: 19 through3 we're going to finish out chapter 2 today uh but you can go ahead and follow along there it's on page 570 in the blue Bibles that are around you if you want to grab one of those the text will also be on the screen uh so my children watch uh some some kids TV shows and most of them are just not.
Well done they're just they're not well thought out they're not they don't have good stories there's not a good story arc it's just they're poorly written it's just they're just putting you know and children are easily entertained so it's just you just put a cartoon in front of them and and it just it's fine however there are some in particularly one that's just incredible the it's just so well done it's just I mean it is the best that is out there right.
Now and do you know what the one that is that's exactly right it's Bluey it is incredible like there are there are two really incredible great things that have come out of Australia blue is one of them the second is a person and we know who that is that's Hugh Jackman it's just but it's incredible this show is like they're like 12 minute shorts they're just I mean and they're just so well done every time like every now that I'm like I'm cooking and making food.
And then I kind of look and I just I just then I just kind of sit there I'm just like do it do it I know how you're going to finish this it's so good but uh the thing that I love and appreciate the most is uh it's it's about a dog family uh and it's you know Mom Dad these two kids and uh the the person I appreciate the the animal I appreciate the most is the dad his name is Bandit and I watch Bandit and I'm like man he's such a good dad like he just gets in his kids' world and he plays with them and he uses his imagination and he teaches.
Them and Bandit's like the best dad I watch Bandit I'm just like I want to be like Bandit I want a parent like Bandit I want to be a dad like Bandit like look at him with his kids and I've seen people uh comment about this online there's like this mild like real small backlash of just people that are like I you know this just it's really not right that you know Bandit's just too good of a dad and it's Dad shaming which is the stupidest thing the dumbest response you could have to this it's like no like you shouldn't.
Look at Bandit as a dad I'm Bluey and just think he's oh he just Dad shaming it's just too hard no you should see Bandit and be like I'm stepping my game up like I want to be like that that if you see someone that's exemplary like that you should say I'm I want to be like that I want to I want to par parent like that I want to be a dad like that and that's what this text gets to be.
Today we're just we're at the end of chapter 2 and there are two men that are upheld Timothy and apodius as Paul transition transitions into chapter 3 and I just I just it's real simple guys I want to look at how he talks about these two men and I just want to see these two people as Christians and see who they are and then say I know I I want us to be like that I want to see the example of Christ that they display how I want that I want to leave a legacy like that.
So it's pretty simple that's what we're doing today I'm going to pray for us then we're going to walk through the text together and see this so heavenly father I pray that you might help us see uh two men in the text today like many other people in the Scriptures that we get to read about that we get to see uh your goodness displayed through them in a way that should Inspire us to be like them because ultimately we get to be like you and that's the hope that you would help us as we sit under the authority of your word this morning may you mold us and shape us into your image that we.
Might be a people that uh worship and Delight in you for who you are in Jesus name amen all right so we're going to pick up in verse 19 it says I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you now if you read the New Testament if you're familiar with it Timothy is someone who shows up quite a bit he he is uh he shows up over 40 times in the New Testament there are two letters 1.
Second Timothy that uh two two Scriptures two letters that that Paul wrote to uh to Timothy uh we we know of his background we know of his his mother and his grandmother who left a legacy of faith for him like we we we know quite a bit about uh Timothy and it appears that Timothy is going to be sent to the Church in Philippi to the Philippians and he's going to carry this letter but Paul in this is ask he's he's uh he's excited to send Timothy.
So that he can hear news of this Church because he as we've been in the book of Philippians we've seen this that he loves the Church of Philippi he has a good relationship with this Church and he and he wants to hear how they're doing he's eager to hear how they're doing which embodies the teaching that he taught just a few verses ago when he's looking to the interest of others he cares about the Philippians he wants to know about them and he wants to receive news of them he's excited to hear how they are doing and I just appreciate the love that is bound up in that it's like a good friend that like.
If you're sitting down to catch up with an old friend and they're good friend like they're they're eager to hear all about you they they they they want to know how you're doing they keep asking questions of you as opposed to if you ever been in a conversation with someone who just you can tell they're not really listening and they're just trying to get to them so they can talk that's not this Paul is eager to hear of the Philippians and how they are doing.
And then verse 20 we get some Commendation of who he believes Timothy is and how he should be thought of as he's going to take this letter to them in verse 20 it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare and that's just Paul bragging on his brother on his friend Timothy commending Timothy to the Church at Philippi he's like you don't understand you I've got no one on my team like Timothy he he's a dear brother who will show genuine concern.
For your welfare and I just I mean oh that we might be a people that are remembered for that to be a people that are remembered for having genuine concern for the welfare of others a few weeks ago I was at the funeral from one of our uh oldest members dobass many of you never had the pleasure of meeting dobass she was 103 when she died she uh uh was homebound by the time that our two churches came together but she left the legacy of this of this genuine care and love.
For others and you I'm not got to see this beautiful Funeral Service where her this Legacy of her family which I mean kids and grandkids and great grandkids just got up and spoke of fondly of how she just genuinely loved them how she genuinely would listen and care for them how she loved to make meals for them that she left this Legacy of just deep care for others and it's like I want that we should want that to be remembered as a people that that showed this genuine love and care.
For others that's the kind of Legacy we should want to leave and that's what Timothy is he has this genuine care for the welfare of others and then Paul continues verse 21 he says for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and if you're kind of jumping in here it's like wait what you're bragging on Timothy and he's like Timothy's great he shows so much care for others not like these fools up here and it's like wait what and it's hard we've been in Philippians.
For a couple of months now so it's hard to think back but if you go back to chapter one that that's what Paul's referencing here in chapter one chapter 1 ver1 15 he speaks about some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwi and when we walk through that what we got to see was is that Paul is imprisoned in Rome and he's working with the Church in Rome and there seem to be some people in the Church at Rome who are uh who are preaching the Gospel and ministering.
For their own glory for their own interests for their own good and and and what Paul's doing there which for us has been a couple of months ago but just a few verses when you read the letter as a whole is a few verses ago he's pitting against these people that are not doing it for the right reasons as opposed to Timothy who has genuine love and care for your welfare but he continues verse 22 he says but you know Timothy's proven worth how as a son with a.
Father he has served with me in the Gospel which I just appreciate the depth of the relationship that he has with Timothy you see some of the family language that's bound up in this that he looks at Timothy like a son in the faith which I I appreciate that one of the things we we we speak about often here is Church family that that this is not an event that we do it's not a function that we do it's not a social aspect of Our Lives that we.
Look at each other as the family of God that we have brothers and sisters in Christ mothers and fathers in the faith in this Church we love one another like a Church family and I appreciate the the family that I get to see day in day out in our Church and we should continue to embody that so and and and and that's not the only thing that's bound up in the language of father son here it's both family but it's also both discipleship and apprenticeship.
Because in their culture Fathers and Sons weren't just family the the father was going to pass down his trade to his son so this is apprenticeship this is discipleship he's been pouring into Timothy and he sees him as a son in the faith which is something that we should want to do we should want to pour and give our lives away into others in discipleship I remember years ago when my wife and I we we graduated from college we got married I went to Seminary in Louisville Kentucky we lived there.
For five years we were part of a Church there and I remember at 23 years old just you know excited to learn as much as I could could part of this Church looking up to the different Elders that served in that Church and it's wild to me because many of those Elders I looked up to so much I'm now at their age in stage and and I'm I'm I'm excited that got to be doing the same thing that I get to give my life away and pour pour myself into others and and we have really a lot of older folks in the Church that are ready to do this as.
Well like I one of the things I appreciate it is we have some some older women in the faith that are giving their lives away and I think some of the younger women in our Church see that and I think some of yall love that and and the reality is is the more you press into this family and this discipleship that we get to have in this Church that you're not far away from being able to do that yourself to pour yourself into someone else that they might uh know Christ more.
Because you leveraged your life to give yourself away that's the relationship that we see here with with Paul and Timothy he's commending them to the Philippians in verse 23 he continues he says I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also which we saw this earlier in Philippians but that's this just shows that Paul has this expectation that he's going to get out of his prison sentence that is going to be free.
But he says until then like I'm I'm sending my brother Timothy I'm sending s the son in the faith to go and to minister to you to care for you so that's Timothy the first person that's uphel then we get to the second apodius verse 25 I have thought it was necessary to to send to you apodius my brother and fellow worker and fellow Soldier and your messenger and minister to my need now we know a lot about Timothy because of how much he shows up in the New Testament we don't know who apodius is he didn't show up a lot in the new test he shows up twice once or once right here.
Once later in this letter so only the book of Philippians do a papitis show up so who is he what is he about and the first description that we get here is jam-packed with pictures of who he is the first one I want to point out is is when it's says your messenger so Paul calls him your messenger which means that he's a Philippian that he's from the Church at Philippi and when you get to reading later as we're going to.
See in the book of Philippians that he is he he brought a letter and he brought a gift to help Paul in his imprisonment so he is from the Church at Philippi he's a native of Philippi and also he's not just there to bring this gift he's also there to minister to Paul because as we're going to get some context here in a moment he's been there for quite a bit he's been there for for months and months and months serving with Paul serving with the Church in Rome.
So the first description we get is Messenger the second I want to point out is is this language of brother that we just saw that Paul sees him as a brother in Christ he's a part of the family of God he was a part of the local family of God in Philippi now he's in Rome he's serving there the next description I want to sit in is this fellow worker language this fellow worker Christians are seen as fellow workers and fellow laborers in Christ we're called that throughout the whole new testament that's what.
Jesus in Matthew 9 says the Harvest is plentiful but the labors are few labor worker come from the same Greek root in the New Testament that there is a harvest there are people that need the Gospel and we get to labor on their behalf you also see this later in the book of phiman as Paul is describing a few uh laborers Mark araris Deus and Luke my fellow workers that the way that uh epaphroditus is describe as someone who has given his life away to.
See the Gospel go forward to serve the Church to love others to do the things that Christ calls us to do because the Christian life is not one where we just are complacent and it's certainly not one where we're just passive recipients the Christian Life is one where we pick up a shovel and we work we labor on behalf of our God we do the work that he's called us to do we believe in Eternal things and how eternity matters and we labor in light of that reality.
So he's called a fellow worker he's also called a fellow Soldier a fellow Soldier this is also language that shows up in the New Testament as well in his letter Paul's letter to 2 Timothy in chapter 2: 3 and 4 it says share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus no soldier gets entangled in civilian Pursuit since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him that's picture of being a soldier who's devoted to the king it was the king or the emperor in their time that you serve the king in his interest wherever you are wherever you are sent Isaac to who used to be a part of our Church he's.
Matt Angela's son he's over in Germany right now serving overseas as a soldier for the US military now I I don't know exactly what he's doing there I can tell you what he's not doing he's not entangled in German politics he's not entangled in German affairs that's not what he's doing there he serves on behalf of our country in the interest of our country because he belongs to a different nation and the picture here is that when you are a Christian you belong to a a different Nation you belong to the kingdom of.
God and you serve on behalf of the King you serve on behalf of his interest you take his orders as described in his word and we do the things that he commands us to do serving on behalf of our King and that's what a paer is that's how he's described that he's a soldier on behalf of the king and right now his calling is to serve Paul and the Church in Rome but he is eventually going to go back to Philippi.
And when he gets back he's going to continue his service there he's described as a soldier he's described as a minister which is a language of assistant and servant he's ministering to Paul ministering to the Church in Rome so that is the impressive introduction that we get to epaphroditus this is who he is as a Christian labor a soldier a brother and then we get this picture in verses 26 and for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed.
Because you heard that he was Ill indeed he was Ill near to death but God had mercy on him and not only on him but also but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow so we get this picture of a papitis who gets sick near to death sick and I just I just so appreciate how he's described because he's concerned about the Philippians that at this point he's been there long enough to serve and to get sick.
For a letter to leave Rome and get all the way to Philippi for them to hear about a sickness and his chief concern is oh no how are they must be worried about me cuz y'all if I was very sick and ill and I found out that our Church was was deeply concerned for me there's a sinful part of me that would just go oh man they love me they just they care about me look at them they just I just appreciate the love and the prayer and and and I would repent of that.
And then move to where he is where he's just like oh man I just they must be worried about me they must be worried sick about me his main concern is their well-being and he was in the verge of death this is the kind of selfless friend that you go and visit who's going through chemo and they're going through chemo and you sit down with them and you talk to them and they're just immediately like how are you doing I know this must be hard I know you're worried about me I know and it's just like no no no we don't come here to talk about you no like we're not talking about how this.
Is hard for me I want to talk I want I want to love you want to serve you but your friend who is good as has this heart that's for you that's concerned about your well-being and that's a papitis he hears that his Church back home in Philippi is concerned about his well-being and he's just like oh man I just I want to tell him I want to let him know that I'm okay I mean just the the the concern that he has.
For his Church that sent him it's beautiful and I love the the the commentary that Paul gives here he says he he makes this note that I I Paul's like I'm glad I'm glad that he's okay because if he wasn't and he died I just I would have sorrow upon sorrow and this this picture just it would have deeply hurt Paul it would have been deeply sorrowful to have this dear brother and friend die he just like no I'm glad he was spared.
And then Paul continues in verse 28 it says I am the more eager to send him therefore that you may Rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious and I just so appreciate the genuine concern for others the love that's just displayed all over this like Paul is eager to send a papitis back he's like I I can't wait to send him to you him and Timothy going to go and I can't wait for you to see him.
So for you to be re you for you to be reunited because I have this anxiety about you I have this this worry about how you're feeling it's just he's concerned with their concern and he wants to be less concerned with their concerns once their concerns are lifted it's just this outward just everyone is just so deeply concerned for one another in some ways that are just beautiful this Rich love that you see all around this section and we finish it.
Verse 2930 it says so receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men for he nearly died for the work of Christ it's this picture he he wants to honor Timothy and apodus risking his life to come risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me which can feel like an odd ending to that section because a bad way to read that is I mean because he's he's risking his life doing you know what's what what you should be doing and it's like no no that's not what he's saying there what he's simply saying is is that you can't be here with me my dear Philippian brothers.
Sisters and he's just serving on behalf of you right here so we get these two pictures as we finish that number two of these uh of these two men Timothy and epaphroditus and I look at how they're described and I think man I want that like I just I want I want to be like that I want a legacy that's left like that right this is this is me on a Saturday morning as my kids are watching Bluey looking at Bandit just like just I want that like I I want to be like these men I want to be known.
For what they're known for I want to to uh to I mean goodness for the last 2,000 years Christians have read this letter and they've seen the example that is bound up in these men and and we should want that so what I want to do with just our closing time as I just want to look at kind of three overarching themes I see in these men these Christians and and we should look at this and say I actually want that too I I want to live a life that leaves a legacy that is like this.
So the first thing I just want to highlight is the genuine concern for others that we saw in verse 20 the genuine concern for others it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare this theme shows up all over the book of Philippians a lot of the times I I mean Philippians get descri gets described as the book of the letter of joy and it is there's a lot of joy in it but it's like there's also just this genuine love that shows up all over the place.
For one another and that's a legacy worth leaving that's a life worth living one that is just so deeply concerned with others that's how we should want to live we're the primary concern it's not how am I doing but how are you doing how are they doing that's what we should want which means I mean this what this looks like is is when you have when you hear about someone else in the Church who is struggling when you catch wind that someone else is hurting someone else is in deep need and the Church has got to Rally what this is is not the thought that might come across that says oh man like I know.
I'm not supposed to help this person but I know how much time this is going to take out of my schedule and I know how much money this is going to take out of our budget but I know we're supposed to do this it's like it's it's it's pushing that away and say no I just how are they doing right like they must be so burdened they must be so worried they must be so hurting that our first thought it's just no no no how are they doing it's this outward-looking life that isn't looking to ourselves in our own interest that's the kind of life that we should live and I get to.
See this y'all I got to see Christians in our Church that that love other people one of the things I appreciate so much is over and over again I see Christians in our Church that find a way that get money to someone else and need in our Church but their name not attached to it and it's just that no I just I heard that that they were hurting I heard they had this need and I want to be able to help and it's this genuine outward looking concern this is the kind of this is the kind of discussion that you get have in group where you are genuinely locked in to.
When when someone else is sharing right they're sharing they're pouring out their life there's no cross talk happening over here there's no one on their phone that's not paying attention it's not someone who's just biting their time so they can talk no it's just this no everyone's locked in and listening because I just it's someone taking notes I've had to pray for this brother I pray for this sister I just I get so I get so excited sometimes when I hear I might share something that that's difficult in my life.
And then all 3 or four weeks later some some Christian comes up to me in our Church and just says how's that going I've been praying for that I'm like I love it that's how that's how we should think it's how we should live with thinking about others and loving others so well that we're just we're not thinking of ourselves on a consistent basis we're thinking of others that we should that I mean listen we we should live our days in a way we're thinking about other Christians.
So much so that in the morning we're thinking about our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and and the afternoon and the evening we're thinking about others it shouldn't just be the on our way to group we're thinking about those in our group it shouldn't just be as we're here on a Sunday morning that we're thinking of others that we should live our lives in a way that has genuine concern for others that's a life worth living it's a it's a much better life to give yourself to the.
Second thing I want to highlight is this faithful service that shows up throughout this section this faithful service from a PA from Timothy that were commended here and honored for their faithful service of the mission going forward and that's a life worth living some of you don't know this because you weren't here when we merged together as two churches but when Mill City and First Baptist Church of casy came together there was someone who was integral to the process who was crucial to seeing this happen and it was the interim pastor of the time Dr Ken.
So Dr Ken I mean he's been a pastor for many many decades he was the pastor at First Baptist Church of uh First Baptist Newberry for uh for many decades and then he moved back to Columbia retired and moved back to col he retired and moved back to Columbia and and he served as an interim here he brought two churches together and a pastor who served here for served for for many decades who has more Collective wisdom and experience than our whole Elder team at the time to steep back and he moved to the side in a way that was just beautiful and his membership is still here.
Because but what he does he just he gets getting called in this area to interum he shows up at this Church and then his wife Joyce served for many years Miss Joy passed away a couple of years ago and he's just still serving and he goes from interim to interim to interim I see him every now and then I'm like Dr Kim when you come home he's like I'm hope soon but I know like he'll be here for like a month.
And then he'll go on to the next Church and that's his life giving himself away to others that's a life of service that we should want to embody whether it's as as a pastor as someone who's serving as a everyday missionary and their workplace in their neighborhood like that's that's the life that we should live is one that's consistently giving ourselves away I love and appreciate uh the the missionary CT stud and the poem that he once wrote and the the refrain that shows up in this poem over and over again that's hauntingly good he says only.
When life will soon be pass only What's Done For Christ will last and it's like that's it I life is so short and it's so brief and when you're younger you think you got all the years in the world and then you ask some of our older folks it is gone like that and it's brief and we should live our lives in a way that in this brief life we are giving ourselves away in service to the mission going forward and to others it's a beautiful life to live I want to mention someone she doesn't know I'm going to mention her she probably bother that I mention her.
But miss Louise who served as a secretary in this Church since 1991 she retired in 1991 and she's been serving here for 30 whatever the math is in that three-ish years I got some of y'all weren't even born in 1991 actually probably many of you weren't born in 1991 but she has been giving herself away to this Church for decades for free just giving her time giving her energy caring for others that's a life worth living that's the kind of service we should give to Christ as a faithful Soldier as a fellow laborer we should give ourselves away in service it's worth it.
Because listen you are going to serve something you're going to serve someone you can serve Christ or you can serve yourself you can serve a career I mean there's plenty of Idols that you can that's what service is just worship there's plenty of things you can worship in place of Christ there's plenty of things you can serve in the place of Christ we're created to serve and we have a choice that we can serve Christ and see the joy that comes in that.
See the Eternal dividence that come with that and see uh people that will be standing in the Kingdom of God in the new heavens and the new Earth at the table across from us because we gave ourselves away you can live a life where after many decades of serving Christ there are people who entered the baptism Waters with you because you led them to Christ because you made it awkward and shared the Gospel with them because you loved and served them that's a legacy worth living worth leaving and a life worth living and that's the service that we should seek to embody the.
Third thing I want to point out is that they lived a life where their absence was felt with deep sorrow our absence should be felt not just noticed but felt I I I so appreciate that phrase where he says lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow like the the loss of aitis would have been felt like he would have had sorrow upon sorrow because his absence would have been felt about a year ago the brother and Pastor Tim Keller died I never got a chance to meet Tim Keller just like the many people he impacted.
But he left this Legacy where he his loss was felt across the Church in the west the kind of people that he impacted the kind of pastors he impacted the kind of writings he wrote his absence was felt there was a sorrow for the western Church in America and Europe when he passed that's a life worth living like you if you take a job in another city or you or answer the call to missions and you you go away that that absence should be felt there was a a couple here John and jley Amadeo a few years ago they were here.
For a year one year while he was in school down here and listen they could have just visited a bunch of churches and hung around for a little bit and then just you know we're not gonna be here for about a year and I mean we not as well just we're not there's no Point becoming members no they they came down here they visited they became members and they gave themselves away to this Church for a year and then they left.
Let me tell you something their absence was felt I you asked the people that were in group with them and it's like they miss them and that that that that's that's how we should live that wherever we are whever Christ puts us we give ourselves away so that when we're gone that absence is felt and that's often through the very often quiet work of serving others of of sharing the Gospel with others the things that are unseen but ultimately when you're gone it's like no I I'm I miss that brother I miss that sister.
For the way that they lived out the Gospel and it's not doing it for the wrong reasons it's not doing it for our own Glory it's not doing it for our own good is doing it for the glory of God and obedience to what he calls us to but I just so appreciate how Timothy and AAP are described In this passage and I look at that I say I want that I want that for myself I want that for our Church.
Verse 20 21 says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and what's bound up there is is that you have a choice you have your own individual interest or the interest of Christ our own interest or the interest of Christ and that's the choice that's left before us now the choice is clear right Jesus his interest which ultimately results in the interest of others.
But the problem is that's hard because if you're like me they naturally just self-interested that there's a part of us that's just the the main focus is our individual lives and our individual schedules and our individual activities and and Lasting service is hard right look genuine care for others is hard lasting service is hard it's easy to serve for a moment it's hard to give yourselves away over and over again and it's hard to live a life where your absence is felt.
Because you were so selfless and not self-interested especially because we're in an individual individualistic culture and we're we're Sinners that are part of this culture that are so individualized and this rat race of Life chasing after our own interest so it's hard it's hard to hear the example there and to say Okay I want this and the pro here here's all here's the other problem is that if you hear that example and you go I'm doing it I'm going to I'm going to muscle in and I'm going to be selfless it's like you you can't not by your own power.
But the good news of the Gospel is that we have a savior who was selfless who looked upon us in our self-interest who looked upon us and our own uh concern for ourselves and our savior showed genuine concern for us and he left heaven and he came from Earth came to Earth and he was obedient to death on a cross for self-interested Sinners Like Me And You And His selfless giving himself away went to the Cross to die for that self-interest.
So that we might die to it too and then he walks out of the Tomb to make a way for us to live a life that is new that gives our selves away to others that serves him as King in a way that leaves an impact that resounds into eternity so the way we do this is we look to Christ and we look to what he did on our behalf and we see how much our savior loved Us and how much he gave himself to us and we say I want that that's what Timothy and Aus did they looked at Christ and they said I'm giving my life away to this King the choice is.
Ours and my hope is that you choose Christ let me pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us look to your example to what you did on our behalf that we might live a life that is so outwardly focused that dies to ourselves that we might see the Gospel move forward in the lives of others but that takes for some of us being broken of our own sin in a way that leads to Faith that changes and for all of us it takes repenting of Our Own self-interest by looking at you.
So Lord help us and help us do that in a way that lives a beautiful life with a legacy like these two men that we saw in the Scriptures today in Jesus name amen
Stand Firm
1 Peter 5:12-14
Transcript
Good morning. Everybody have a good Halloween. I dressed up as Anger from Inside Out, thank you, which, I mean, wasn't too much of a stretch. I mean, I had to wear dress pants, but otherwise, pretty straightforward. I hope everybody had a good time, and good to see everybody this morning. So, time changed last night, and who's the person that was like, sweet, an extra hour of sleep?
I know it's really 8 o'clock, or I know it's really 9 o'clock, but I'm still going to bed. Who's the person that was like, a bonus hour? I better stay awake. Like, it's only 9. I better, like, yeah, okay. So, we've got a mix here.
But anyway, we're in our last week of the First Peter series. So, we've been in this series for the past year and a half. No, it's only been about 20 weeks or so. We've been walking through it. Most of this year, we've been in First Peter. And we've just been going verse by verse through the book of First Peter because we believe that all Scripture is helpful.
And instead of jumping around all the time and looking at different things, we actually just want to kind of walk through a book, learn from the book, see everything in context, grow in our ability to study the Bible together. So, we're going to be in First Peter chapter 5. The last little bit is on page 658 if your Bible is one of these. And what we're going to do is just kind of read this and just talk about it a little bit and kind of see how Peter wraps the book up. And so, First Peter chapter 5, we'll start in verse 12. It says, By Silvanus, that's a really sweet name.
It does sound to me like he makes TVs. But, by Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you. So, he most likely either Silvanus actually penned it while Peter talked, dictated it, and Silvanus penned it, or at least Silvanus is the one who delivered this letter. So, he would have traveled around to all the different churches and actually all at once read it out loud to everybody. So, by Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, as so does Mark, my son. And so does Mark, my son. She who is at Babylon is most likely a reference to the church in Rome. So, they would have used Babylon as kind of like a weird cryptic code word for Rome. I don't quite know why. And she just being the church.
So, she who is at Babylon, so the church in Rome also, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark. And that's most likely Mark, author of the Gospel of Mark, my son. Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. So, we're going to spend most of our time today looking at greet one another with the kiss of love. So, we're going to talk about what kind of kiss that is, kind of the best practices on how to go about it, length of time, hand placement, that kind of stuff.
And then we're going to institute. No, I'm kidding. We're not going to spend any time there. Although, cool, kiss of love, great. We're going to spend most of our time looking at where he says, I have written briefly to you exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
So, Peter's finishing up his letter and he says, I've written briefly to you exhorting and declaring. So, declaring means I taught, I said it. And exhorting means I encouraged. I pressed hard into it. But, this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
And so, what we're going to do is we're just going to kind of take a, we've read through the whole book together. We've studied through the whole book together. We're going to zoom out and just say, okay, what is he talking about? What is the true grace of God? How do we stand firm in it? What is his, what's his main point?
What is the true grace of God? What was the thing that he was pressing on the whole time? What was he trying to get us to understand the whole time? And then, how do we stand firm in it? What does that, what does that look like? What's that mean?
And how do we do that? Um, you don't, in life, you don't have to know a lot of stuff. I mean, if you go do trivia nights places, it helps. But, but most people who do really well know one thing and are very good at it. They're, they're really good at it. So like you have a friend who's good at a handful of things.
And so you have like, you call them and you're like, I need, I need help with some plumbing and they can, they can get you only so far. But in certain problems, like you need someone. No, I just want someone who, this is all they do. They plumb. That's it. They are a plumber.
That is it. That's all they do. I just want that person. Not the person who can kind of do half of this. Get in the middle of it, take it all apart and go, yeah, I don't know. I've never seen that before.
Like, like just knowing something and being very good at it. And that's just kind of how life works. So if you know one thing or captivated by it, gripped by it, and really just make that it for you, then that actually can take you much further than knowing a whole bunch of stuff. And I'll give you an example. And this is kind of a rule in business in general. But I want to show you all.
This is Google's homepage. That's it. You've got Google search, which you can also just press enter. And then you've got, I'm feeling lucky. But you're only doing one thing.
Google is a search engine. That's what you're doing. That's why we say things like Google it. It's become a verb because that is synonymous with using a search engine. So we used to have like Ask Jeeves, which was a butler that Googled things for you.
And this happens now. You remember, and some of you are old enough to remember, and I'm in this. You remember before Google and before smartphones when you used to have to sit and think to remember something? You're watching a movie on your VHS. Yes, you would pause it and go, what else has that guy been in? And everyone in the room would go, uh.
And you would sit and think. And you would have to try to remember. And if you were good enough at lying, you could convince everybody. No, he was in Hook. He was in Hook because he was the guy. He was one of the pirates.
And you could like, if you sold it hard enough, you get everybody to move on. And they could never find out. Like lying used to be way easier before Google. But you remember, you just have to sit and think. Now this happens.
And this is a real thing. You will go, ah, who's the head coach there? Or did they win that game? Or what has this person been in? And you'll sit for about seven seconds. And someone will go, this is stupid.
I'm going to Google it. And what they mean is sitting and thinking is stupid. That's the point. It's like, why would we sit and think when we have Google? But Google, that's it.
That's what they do. Don't change that. Do you remember Yahoo? Some people still use Yahoo. I don't know why. Yahoo started off as a search engine.
This is Yahoo's homepage. They're a search engine, I think. There's a lightsaber there. Kendall Jenner wears $1,000 sweatpants to the airport because this is her life. I needed to know that. Yahoo doesn't even know what they're doing.
Look to the left here. Mail, news, sports, finance, weather, autos, fantasy. Weird screen dating, shopping, making parents. Makers parenting, sorry. Not making parents, that's weird. Health style, beauty, politics, movies, travel, tech, TV.
Google? Google? Yahoo. Yahoo. Okay. Having one thing.
That's why we Google stuff. That's why you're never like, I'll Yahoo it. Do that in a conversation this week just for the heck of it. Someone's like, I don't know what he's, I'll Yahoo it. So when we read the book of Peter, the first letter that Peter writes and sends it out to the churches, we're going to see actually as we look at the whole thing that it's way more Google than Yahoo.
That he's got one thing. I have written to you declaring and exhorting that this is the true grace of God. What I have said to you can be boiled down to that one thing. This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. So we're going to pray and then we're going to look at what he's talking about.
God, we thank you for how good you are. And we thank you for the time that we've gotten to share studying this book that you authored through Peter. We thank you for how it has helped us. And God, I pray that we would see as we kind of look back over this letter, that we would clearly see the true grace from you. That we would clearly see what the main point is. And then God, I pray that you'd give us the grace to stand firm in it.
In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so what's he been talking about? Flip back to 1 Peter chapter 1. We're going to kind of run through. We're going to jump around a little bit because we've got to see kind of what he's been saying. He starts off by calling them elect exiles.
So it's Peter and the apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles. And then he lists off a bunch of places. Okay, that's kind of one of the main themes he's going to carry throughout the book. Is that he's writing to people who, because they are Christians, because they have placed their faith in Jesus, they are elect, which means they are chosen, they are loved, they are wanted, they are made into a people, they are gods. And they're exiles. Which means that when you became a Christian, you did not disapparate into the air.
Is that not what they do in Harry Potter? Disappear? You didn't get sucked up. You weren't beamed up, disappeared, your clothes became just a pile on the ground. That's not what happened. You're still here.
You're chosen by God. You belong to him. The Bible tells us over and over again that our home is in heaven, but we're still here. And so what he's saying is that you're chosen by God. You belong to him. You're his people.
But you're where you are on purpose. God has exiled you on purpose. Where you are. And then he goes into verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope.
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. So he says, you're elect exiles, and here's why. You've placed your faith in Jesus, and he was resurrected from the dead. He died. He was buried.
And he rose again. And the tomb is forever empty. And he is forever at the right hand of the Father. And you have an imperishable, undefiled, unfading eternity. A hope held for you because Jesus rose from the grave. The first 12 verses in this is one sentence.
It's like a crazy, amazing, run-on sentence of here's how amazing Jesus is, and here's what he's done for you. And here's how you have hope forever secure in Jesus. Hope forever secure in the resurrection. It's yours, and he has an eternity and an inheritance that's kept for you. Verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, thinking clearly, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
So our hope as Christians is set fully on the grace that will be given to us, brought to us, because of the resurrection. So Peter starts off, his main point that he begins with is, your hope is in the resurrection and an inheritance that is forever yours, and set your hope fully there. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus returns. For Christians, when Jesus returns, what is brought to us is not condemnation, is not judgment, is not guilt, is not disappointment. I used to think about that. I used to think, when I actually meet Jesus, is he going to be proud of me, or is he going to be disappointed in me?
When I stand before the throne of God, is he going to be proud or disappointed? I used to think about that all the time. Is he going to look at me and go, I'll let you in, because you trust me. And that's about all I've got to say. Because you didn't, you just... And I used to, I would be so worried that he would be disappointed, but what he says is, set your hope fully on the grace that will be given to you.
That everything, when we stand before God, is unearned. It's not based off of your behavior, if you've trusted in Jesus. It's based off of Jesus' behavior. So that God welcomes us the way he would welcome Jesus. Our hope is fully there. Because of the resurrection.
Because we have an inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us, through the resurrection. And we just trust. We have faith. We're guarded by faith. And we set our hope fully on grace. Okay, so if someone has their hope fully set on the stock market.
If someone has their hope fully set on being a professional athlete, what happens? You pour a lot of energy there. That guides how you think about things. How you walk through life. When I was in college, I played college football. I was mostly on the team, but I kept thinking, like, at some point, I'm going to play.
You know, you wait. At some point. Coach is going to see me, and he's going to think, good Job, in his head, and he's going to say it out loud, and then I'll get to ride on the bus, and I won't get car sick, which I always did. I'd get off the bus and be like, Coach, I need something. This is bad. I used to think that.
And I remember one time before practice, because football for me was, I had set my hope there. So it guided for me where I went to school, what I did with my time, how I made friendships, when I went to sleep, what I ate, what I did with my free time, was mostly set on football. I remember before practice one day, we were all out there before the coaches got out there. We were just on the field kind of hanging out, and I picked up a football, and I looked up a few guys near me, and I said, just a second, think about how much of your life has been devoted to this little leather thing. Like, how many hours of your life, or days when you add the hours up, has been devoted to this little leather thing.
And one of the guys who was an All-American linebacker heard me, his name was Antoine, and he goes, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, shh, hey, hey, shut up. Chet, say that again. And like, now there's like, everybody's listening to me that was over there. And I was like, how much of your life has been devoted? How many hours, and how many, when you add those hours up, how many days? When you think about workouts, when you think about practices, has been devoted to this little brown leather thing.
And it was like, the most profound moment that I think I've ever been a part of on a football field. Because there's not a lot of heavy thinkers out there. And their guys were just like, I mean, really, you could just see their brain like trying to do math. I'm like, how many hours am I going to be out here today? How many days have I done this? Like, people are just like, man.
And for all of us, you might could hold up something. Maybe it's not a brown leather thing. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's, just pull out a dollar bill. How much time has been spent setting our hope there? How much time has been spent setting your hope anywhere?
And so what Peter starts off with is, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. And you have an inheritance, undefiled, unfading, imperishable, kept in heaven for you. Set your hope there. His first sentence, we had to break up into 12 verses because it was just this. I have too many words to tell you how amazing what Jesus has accomplished for us is. Set your hope there, fully, on the grace that will be provided for you.
Then he goes into chapter 2. We're going to look at verse 9, chapter 2. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So what he says, our hope is fully in the resurrection.
Our hope is fully in Jesus. Jesus is above all things, and our hope is in the grace that will be provided. And now, we've been made into a new people so that we might proclaim his excellencies, the excellencies of him who brought us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. that we were trapped, that we were enslaved, and that Jesus came and became enslaved, became trapped, became nailed to a tree, took our guilt, our punishment, our shame, took our beating, took our death so that we could be set free. So he just said, in the chapter before, he said, follow in obedience because you've been purchased, you've been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ.
That we were bought back through Jesus' sacrifice. We were enslaved, we were in darkness, and he's called us into his marvelous light. There's a movie with Brendan Fraser that is called Blast from the Past. And in that movie, he and his family lived in a bomb shelter because a plane crashed on their house, and his dad already had a bomb shelter because he was really afraid of the Cold War. And so he made his whole family get into this bunker. And then at some point, Brendan's like a little kid, and then he grows up, and then he's like, well, we're running out of food or something, so you've got to go out into the world.
And so it's a fairly entertaining movie, which is, you can't say for many Brendan Fraser movies. And there's this one point, though, where he spent his whole life in this little box underground. And there's this one scene in the movie where he sees the Pacific Ocean, and he just stares at it, and then he just runs into it. He's like fully clothed. He just, it just like captivates him. And I just have this picture that that's just a small glimpse of what it means for us to be called out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
The amount of now freedom and hope and massiveness that we just can't even take in, can't even really understand what that means for us to have been enslaved to sin, headed for death, headed for destruction, headed for hell, and Jesus rescued us and brought us into his marvelous light. Okay. Peter says, everything, banking on, hoping in, the gospel, that Jesus died for you, that he rose again, that your hope is secure because of that. And then, he says, so, so obey, even when you don't understand? And so one of the things we talked about when we talked about that was that when we come to something in the Bible that we just, I don't, it doesn't, doesn't give me enough.
Like I don't, I want it to tell me more as to why I should do this thing that it says I should do. I want it to tell me more as to why I should care about this. And one of the things we talked about was that if Jesus really died for us, then he's ultimately trustworthy. So, taken. We talked about this. There's a guy in taken, his daughter gets taken, and he has a select set of skills and he goes and gets her back.
And then she gets taken a whole lot more, I think. So he's not, his select set of skills is getting back, not keeping. But, in the second movie, if he calls her at the beginning, I hadn't seen the second movie, I saw the first one. He calls her, if you hadn't seen it, this is what happens. If you have seen it, this is hypothetical. In the second movie, if he calls her up and says, she answers the phone and he says, you're going to be taken.
Because that's what he says. He doesn't say kidnapped, he says taken. You're going to be taken. I need you to get as much money as you possibly can. I need you to set the house on fire. I need you to head north 50 miles and meet me out of Texaco.
Now, if you're his daughter, what do you do? You don't ask questions. You get as much money as you can. You burn the house down and you drive to the Texaco. Because he's trustworthy. And for Christians, when the Bible doesn't give us enough, we get to walk back to Jesus, the Son of God, who deserves honor and glory and praise forever, went to a cross for me to rescue and redeem me, to make me his.
He is ultimately trustworthy, even if I'd rather he explained this more. So Peter goes, obey. Then Peter goes, submit to authority. Follow the leadership of your country. Submit to those over you. Listen to your bosses.
And you're like, well, my boss is an idiot. He doesn't. Listen to your boss. Whether Trump wins or loses, whether Clinton wins or loses, whether Bernie Sanders, who is also the co-creator of Seinfeld, wins or loses, doesn't matter. Because our hope is not in the political system. Our hope is not in the authorities over us.
Our hope is fully in Jesus. And then he goes, so he goes, submit to authority. Then he starts talking to servants. And so he's basically saying that whatever you do on a regular basis with your job, here's how to do it. And when things don't go well, continue trusting Jesus. Then he goes to husbands and wives.
And he says, wives, even if your husband is terrible, submit and follow because your hope is not in your husband, but in God. And he says, husbands, realize that you need grace too, that both of you have to be rescued by Jesus and lead well, serve well, love well. Then he goes into suffering. And he talks about suffering for a long time. That in the midst of pain and heartache, we can trust in Jesus. That when people don't like us and when we're ridiculed and when we're made fun of and people say, oh, I didn't know you were into superstition.
Oh, you really believe what was written in a book. Haven't we grown past that? Aren't, isn't that so backwards? You're going to be on the wrong side of history. It's one of my favorite ones that I get to hear. And over and over you hear this and you keep thinking, are we?
And Peter's saying, no, in the midst of that, continue to trust, continue to believe, continue to hope because of the resurrection. Then he talks about what we get, how do we relate to each other in the church. So really, Peter says, everything's about the resurrection. Our hope is in Jesus. And then he just talks about all kinds of stuff. And it's like, I feel like maybe you lost your point, Peter.
Like, you talked to wives and you talked to husbands, you talked about submitting to authority and then you were like, honor the emperor and love God and then you were like, if you suffer, and he just kind of goes all over the place. You brought up Satan, just out of the blue. What's his point? Why does Peter start off so heavy here and then just talk about all kinds of stuff? Normal everyday life stuff, being married, doing your job, living in a country, having governors and people over top of you. Like, why does he do that?
I've heard recently people talking about asteroids hitting earth. So I don't know if y'all know this. We're on a rock that's on an angle. It spins really fast. And then it's constantly hurling in outer space in like an oval shape around the big yellow one and that's the sun. And there are other rocks doing this too.
And as far as we can see, there are other big yellow ones and other rocks swirling around and the more we look at it, the more we're like, there's more stuff out there. They pointed a telescope into nothingness and it was just a little, like a little tiny black thing and then they let it just soak up light for a really long time and then they were like, there's a whole bunch of stuff there we didn't even know about. Like, you can get on the internet now, I encourage you to Yahoo it, and you can, you can see all of these beautiful pictures of all of this stuff that's going on. And so we're spinning on this oddly shaped rock in an oval and there's these other rocks just like whizzing around.
All the time. Now they're not as big as us, but like, I don't know, stuff blew up somewhere else and then like gravitational pools like throw it and it's just whizzing around and so there's this potential for us to be spinning on our little rock around the big yellow one and then this other little rock just come flying in and our gravitational pool will be like, come on in! And then this rock just smack into us. Now, NASA's paying attention to these things and so they're most of the time being like, we're good, we're good right now, like I think you can ask NASA, anything going to hit us? And they're like, nah, not anything big, nothing to worry about, but they're doing studies and trying to figure out what would happen if it did.
And so I read a study that they did in New Mexico and they, I think it was like a mile sized rock if it hit, if it smacked into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And what they said was that all the coastal areas would just be destroyed. One of the quotes is this, it says, the coastal lands would be devastated, not by the actual impact, some 1,500 miles away, 1,500 miles away, but by a relentless succession of colossal waves traveling at the speed of a jet aircraft and towering much higher than the Empire State Building. That if a giant asteroid smacks into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there would be a colossal succession of massive waves bigger than the Empire State Building traveling as fast as an airplane that would just start pounding everything.
I've also read that if that happened, there would be enough dust and enough debris and enough problems that the whole climate would change and everything would be different for everybody if this happens. Regardless of where one of these big ones hits, everything is different. And Peter is saying, you're the Earth and the Gospel is that asteroid and nothing is the same anymore. If you are a Christian and you have placed your faith in Jesus, your little thing you had going is not the same anymore. There is nothing that is untouched by this. And whereas this is destructive, the Gospel brings life and meaning to everything.
And so Peter goes into all of this random, normal stuff because the Gospel goes into all of this random, normal stuff. That colossal wave after colossal wave of the Gospel has begun to wash over your life. And so some of you are struggling with a particular issue, you are hurting in a particular area and you went to Jesus and you said, help me. You saw the Bible said, yes, he helps marriages. Yes, Jesus works in relationships. Yes, Jesus works in the midst of brokenness and the pain and loss.
Yes, Jesus died for us and he suffers alongside of us and he understands and so you trust in Jesus and then you begin to realize everything is different. So first it was just, I realized I can't go to work the same way and then it's, I actually can't even view work the same way. I can't even view what my goal in life is the same way. I can't view my money the same way. Or I realized that this relationship, I can't think about it now without having the gospel wash over it. But then it actually affects how I relate to everybody.
People I like, people I don't like. It affects my marriage. You see, the gospel permeates every aspect of our lives and that's why Peter says, here's the gospel. Now, work, submission to authority, relationships, marriage, because the gospel impacts everything. Nothing is left untouched by the fact that Jesus Christ died for us. Do you know what we're saying we believe as Christians?
That we were rebellious against a holy, righteous God. That we were trapped in our sin, destined for destruction. That hell and heaven are real. I can go, I preach, I read the Bible and stand up and say things. I can go weeks without thinking about heaven or hell. In any kind of real way.
But what we're saying we believe is that there is a real place of eternal joy in relationship with God and there's a real place of eternal torment. And that Jesus came because he loved us so much and he didn't want us to get away from him. Didn't want us to rebel. Didn't want us to be destroyed. That he took our rebellion on himself. That he took our pain.
That by his wounds we are healed, Peter says. That we were ransomed, bought back with the precious blood of Christ. And that our hope is forever secure through the resurrection. And that our hope needs to be set fully on the gospel and fully on the grace that will be provided for us. That that is the one thing that should be the overarching thing for every person who says they believe in Jesus. That your hope is fully set on the gospel.
And that impacts everything. That's the true grace of God and it comes into every ounce, every bit of your life. There's not a second of your day when you were at work that does not now matter. There's not a millisecond of time while you travel down the road a mile that you go. There's not a conversation that you have that is not now infused with absolute importance and meaning because the gospel is real. Peter doesn't say exit the normal.
He says you're exiled into it. He doesn't say have set apart special times. He says no. Working. Marriage. Friendship.
It all matters. It's all important now because the gospel touches everything. The gospel impacts everything. And then he says stand firm. Don't forget. Don't forget where your hope is.
When you lose your job don't forget where your hope is. When you're at work and people don't recognize how hard you work and how important you are and how much you pour in and when your boss doesn't acknowledge the fact that you're working harder than anybody around you don't forget where your hope is. When you're in your marriage and it does not seem like there's any possible way that this could work out and your husband is not following Jesus and he's not repenting of sin don't forget where your hope is. Stand firm in the grace. Put your hope fully in the grace that will be provided for you.
Stand in it. Remember. Keep going. Keep remembering that your hope and your eternity is set secure in the resurrection of Jesus and so everything matters and all of the things that we chase after aren't as big and as important as they used to be. In light of the gospel everything matters and then all the things that we would say matters most no longer do. that we get to be normal Christians in normal life set free from the gospel by the gospel to follow after Jesus and have that be the thing the main thing for us where our hope comes from where our joy comes from and then we're untouchable in the midst of suffering then we're untouchable when work isn't going well then we're untouchable when marriage is hard.
Do you know why he covers all the difficult things? Because we need to remember in those moments that nothing has been taken from us that our hope stays secure when we're anxious we have someone who's rescued us redeemed us bought us back when we're worried when we're tired when we're sick when we're suffering when everything looks like it's not going to work out we get to remember that we've already been taken from darkness into his marvelous light and we already have our hope secure. Stand firm. Don't forget. Don't lose focus. Don't get caught up chasing after something so much smaller and so much more insignificant.
Stand firm in the true grace of God which is that Jesus has already done everything for us. Matt's going to come back up and we're going to we're going to celebrate by taking communion together and communion is a tangible reminder of Jesus' work on our behalf. So Jesus before he died before he went to the cross the next day he says this is my body that's broken for you this is my blood that was spilled for you and so one of the things that we do as Christians is we if you are a believer if your hope is in Jesus if your hope is fully set on the grace that will come to you we get to remind ourselves that all we need is Jesus. That our hope is there forever and so there's bread and there's juice and you take the bread and you can dip it in the juice and you can partake in communion which is a reminder a tangible reminder we need the gospel we need Jesus my hope is here forever and so I would just ask as we do this if you are a Christian and you go to take communion that you would just remind yourself of how good Jesus is and how much we need him and that you would ask God to help you by his grace and by his spirit to stand firm to not be caught up in smaller things to not be knocked off our guard to not be pushed around by normal life but to realize that the gospel applies to everything that there is not one square inch of your life that is not impacted by the fact that your hope is fully in Jesus forever and stand firm and praise Jesus that he's already done everything that needed to happen to rescue you to redeem you to bring you back and take communion I'm gonna pray and then we'll take communion together and then we'll sing God we thank you for your grace we thank you for your love we thank you for the hope that is ours fully and forever through Jesus and God I pray that the gospel would continue to wash over us would continue to permeate every single moment that there wouldn't be a moment in between heartbeats that was not affected by the gospel was not claimed by you and that God in all the normal things of life shopping exercising celebrating Halloween that God the gospel would be active that your Holy Spirit would be at work and that we would follow after you help us God as a church to stand firm in what's most important to not lose focus to not be knocked off our guard to not forget we praise you and we thank you that our hope is fully and forever in Jesus not in our abilities our goodness are mortals in Jesus name Amen