8OpNqQDhwlc

0:57God, you have brought many, many wonderful people into our lives. And we are grateful for them. Lord, we're grateful for the Wallace's, and we ask you to just watch over them as they continue on in their walk with you. Lord, we pray that you'll help Kevin in his new job. And, Lord, allow them to be settled in their new home and make new friends and find a church, Lord, where they can fellowship with other believers there. And God, as we think back over our own lives about the different people that we've met. And ministered with and loved, God, we ask that you'll just help us never, never to forget them. As we'll be learning this morning, Paul had some very special friends in Philippi that he loved very dearly. And Lord, we have those same people in our lives, wherever we've been in our walk with you. God, you brought people into our lives that encouraged us, that have helped us to grow in grace. And God, you've allowed us to do that as well for many people, too.

2:02Lord, help us to look for those around us that need you, that need to hear the gospel. And help us develop opportunities, God, where we can share your love for them, to share the hope that is within us with our friends, our neighbors, our family, and others, God, who need to hear about your grace. Lord, we pray that you'll bless our service today, our time now in the Word. And Lord, may Jesus be lifted up in all that's done here today. And this we ask in His wonderful name. Amen.

2:40If you'd open your Bibles, please, to the book of Philippians. The book of Philippians today is where we're going to start out our study. A few weeks ago, we spent some time in Acts chapter 16, which gave us a unique glimpse into the lives of. The charter members in the church in Philippi. They included a wealthy Asian merchant named Lydia and her household, a Roman jailer and his household, and perhaps a young slave girl who had been freed from the bondage of a demon and her masters. Each one was from a very different social and cultural background, but each one was saved by the grace of God. And there would be many, many more who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved and be added to the church in Philippi. A church that initially met in Lydia's spacious home. And Paul and Silas, Timothy and Luke, as we learn back in Acts chapter 16, were the first individuals who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Philippians. Actually, this was the first extension of the gospel from Asia into Europe. And the church in Philippi is this first place where it was manifested. And in response, the Philippian believers provided for their spiritual needs, for their food, for their lodging, and for other personal items while they were staying in Philippi. And when Paul and Silas and Timothy left Philippi and went to Thessalonica, it says in Philippians 4:16 that the Philippian church sent several gifts to support and encourage. Paul and his companions. And these acts of kindness and mercy brought great joy to the Apostle Paul, and he never forgot them or their generosity. This joy that Paul experiences is mentioned many, many times in this book. As a matter of fact, Paul repeats the aspect of joy and rejoicing at least 12 times in his letter to the Philippians. Many commentaries often refer to the book of Philippians as the book of joy.

5:04And while joy is a dominant theme in this letter, it is much, much more. It is a very personal letter from Paul to the Philippian church about Christian living. Philippians is how Christians should live regardless of their circumstances in life. And that's worth repeating. The book of Philippians is about how Christians should live regardless of their circumstances in life. Let's read together the first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 1. Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and the deacons. Grace to you and peace. From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for all of you, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart. Since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and the confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For God is my witness, how I long for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

7:20Paul wrote to the Philippians to emphasize that Christ is our source, our center, our strength, and our power for consistent Christian living. And Paul referenced Jesus Christ by nouns and pronouns at least 70 times in the 104 verses which make up the letter to the Philippians. Our Christian experience is based upon a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When we too believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved, we will see throughout this book that Paul develops this theme of Christian experience.

8:08Through each of the four chapters in the book, all Christian experience centers on the person of Jesus Christ. So, in a sense, Jesus is the theme of this book. And the characteristics that Paul describes, such as love and joy and peace, are all those spiritual fruits of our lives in Christ. Paul wrote this letter during his first imprisonment in Rome. And as we read this morning in Acts chapter 28, that last section of that chapter talks about Paul's imprisonment when he appealed to Caesar and he was sent from Jerusalem to Rome to be tried. The last two verses in Acts 28, verses 30 and 31, say, and Paul stayed two full years. Years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus with all openness, unhindered.

9:14About ten years had now passed since the church in Philippi was established, and this would have been sometime around AD 50 or 51. And in this imprisonment, which Paul was in right now in Rome, that was about AD 61 or 62, so it's about 10 years since Paul was there in that city, preaching to those people, being beaten and put into a prison himself. And during those two years that Paul was a prisoner in Rome, he also wrote letters to the churches in Ephesus and to Colosse and to a Christian brother named Philemon. So, including Philippians, we often refer to these letters as Paul's prison epistles. You may have heard that phrase before, the prison epistles. It's the book to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to the Philippians, and also the personal letter to Philemon.

10:14It's interesting that the Philippian church was established during Paul's imprisonment in Philippi. And then he wrote this letter from yet another prison in Rome. Verses 1 and 2, we see that. That very first introduction, Paul's greeting to the Philippians. And it's just a couple verses, but it actually has quite a bit to say. Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In Paul's day, it was customary for the author of a letter to greet his or her audience with an introduction, to wish them well, which is exactly what Paul does right here in this letter. And when the Philippian church first broke the seal on that letter, when they first opened that piece of wax and they unscrolled that scroll, the very first word that they read was Paul's name. And I'm sure that brought them great joy as well. Paul was to those first-century Philippians what Martin Luther was to the German Christians in the 16th century, what Charles Haddon Spurgeon was to the Baptist churches in England in the late 19th century. He was a respected leader, a teacher, and a friend. And alongside Paul in his name was another name that they immediately recognized, that of Timothy. He was with Paul. When they first came to Philippi. He was there when Paul preached to Lydia and her friends by that riverbank. He was there when Paul cast out the demon from the slave girl. He was there to comfort the new believers in Philippi when Paul and Silas were taken by the authorities to be beaten and imprisoned. Paul mentions Timothy not because he co-authored the letter, but because Timothy was known and loved by the Philippian church, and because Paul hoped to send Timothy to visit them just as soon as he learned the outcome of his legal case.

12:40And Paul, too, hoped to visit those believers in Philippi sometime soon, and we'll see that in just in the next chapter. Paul refers to Timothy and himself as the bondservants of Christ Jesus, we see in verse 1. The Philippian believers may have considered these men as heroes of the faith, but Paul considered Timothy and himself not as celebrities. That was the furthest thing from Paul's mind was to be thought of in that way. But simple, common servants of Jesus Christ. That's all that they wanted to be. Those who were committed to and submitted to their master, Jesus Christ. All that Paul and Timothy wanted to do was to please the one who had called them. And sent them to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul then identifies those to whom he wrote: to the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, to the overseers and the deacons. These saints that he's speaking about are the church members, the called-out ones, or the separated ones unto God. That's what that word means. Believers, Christians, who were there in Philippi that were meeting together.

14:00Paul also addressed the church leaders, the overseers and the deacons, the two biblical offices within a local church. Overseers or bishops, in some of your translations, it may say, are synonymous with the elders or the shepherds or the pastors. It's the same office in the church, but with different aspects, different names. But that same word is used there for all of those different terms, or for that same office, but different terms. Paul then continues in verse 2 with two blessings. To the church in Philippi, using traditional greetings, both in the Greek world and also to the Jewish world, to the Hebrew world. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Greek letters typically began with the word chorus, which means grace or goodwill. And you'll see that in many, many letters of Paul. Uses this. And he also uses the Hebrew word here, shalom. But in Greek, it is irene, which means peace. The grace Paul mentioned is God's free, unmerited favor toward all undeserving sinners. Grace is something that comes to us. Peace, on the other hand, is something that happens in us as a result of receiving God's grace. So God's order is first grace, then peace. It's as if God says to us, simply accept my grace, and I will give you my peace. That's Paul's hello as he starts to talk to his brothers and sisters in Philippi. Secondly, we read of Paul's praise for the Philippian believers. Paul's praise for the Philippians. And we see this in verses 3 through 8. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for all of you, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have. You in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of that grace with me. For God is my witness how I long for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. Remember again where Paul is right now. He's a prisoner in Rome. He may have had a little bit of freedom. People could come and visit with him, but he was still a prisoner. He couldn't just go wherever he wanted to go. He was a prisoner of Rome.

17:07And he was there for two solid years. But Paul did not allow his circumstances to control his attitude or diminish his joy in the Lord. Whatever God allowed to happen in Paul's life happened to further the gospel. Paul even used his Roman imprisonment to the best advantage that he could. Even if he was stuck in that place, he was still going to minister. Whether it was people coming to his door, coming in his home and visiting with him, or writing letters, which is exactly what Paul did. Those two years of house arrest in Rome gave him time to reflect, to remember, and to pray. When Paul and Silas were imprisoned in that Philippian jail 10 years earlier, what did they do?

18:00Did they moan and whine? No. The book of Acts tells us that about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. They knew that God, not those magistrates, had put them into prison. And that's kind of a hard thing for us to think about. That God put them in prison. That God would allow us to go through difficult times. That God would allow us to be in pain for the furtherance of the gospel. And sometimes we might not see that. I'm sure that as Paul and Silas were in that prison with their legs spread far apart in those stocks and the pain that they were experiencing, they're like, what good can come from this?

18:58But yet God brought good things for them. They believed that even in those difficult situations, God was working out all things for their good and for his glory. And Paul's situation in Rome was no different. Despite his chains, Paul thanked God for the Philippian believers. Paul remembered his time with the Philippians. Remembered the prayer meetings by the riverbank. He remembered the salvation and baptism of Lydia and her household. He remembered the face of that young woman after that demon had been removed from her.

19:46He remembered the earthquake in the prison, how the chains fell off, and how the doors fell open. He remembered the salvation of the jailer and his household. He remembered the gifts the Philippians had sent him and his ministry partners in Thessalonica. He also remembered their joyful giving to the needy believers in Jerusalem, even though they themselves were experiencing deep poverty. And you can read about that over in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul remembered everything that these brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi had done for him, and his grateful prayers turned into joyful praise.

20:37Paul praises God. He also thanks them. Thanks, God, for the Philippians. Paul might have remembered Psalm 126, verse 3. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad. We are filled with joy. And we will see later in our study that of In the study of Philippians, that our happiness, there's two things that we want to talk about, and we'll not get them too much today, but happiness and joy. Do you know they're different things? Happiness and joy. Happiness is based upon our circumstances. What's happening to us right now determines our happiness. Sometimes we are happy and sometimes we're not. It just depends on what's going on in our world at that time. But our joy, our joy is based upon a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Something that will never ever change. And the Apostle Paul knew that all too well.

21:49Paul also rejoiced in their fellowship, in their participation, it says in the New American Standard, in the gospel. Their participation or their fellowship in the gospel. And fellowship means a sharing or to have something in common or to jointly participate. Fellowship is a mutual involvement in and a commitment to something that brings people together in working and caring about one another. It is also a shared allegiance or a loyalty while working together towards a common goal.

22:31The Philippians had entered into the pursuit of spreading the gospel with Paul. And this partnership led to a deep and meaningful fellowship between Paul and the church members in Philippi. Fellowship, working together towards that common goal. The Philippian believers could fellowship in the gospel with Paul because God had begun a good work in them. The work of saving them. And Paul expressed his confidence in God, in Jesus Christ, in that continued work in each of them to bring to completion what God had started. We see that in verse 6. This is actually a key verse. Let's read that one again. For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. God saved us by his grace, and he will see his work of grace through to completion.

23:41Again, that's something worth repeating again. God saved us by his grace, and he will see his work of grace through to completion. Paul also wrote in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10, For by grace you have been saved through what? Faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that anyone may boast. For we are his workmanship, something that continues on, not as a result of works again, but we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. We are God's workmanship, something that He started, and He will see it through. And that may be a little different from some of the projects that I have going on in my house. I have little projects going on everywhere. I've been working on a genealogy for my family for the last 40 years. Maybe some of you have projects like that too, and they get set in the corner. And maybe you get back to them, and maybe you don't. Or sometimes you open that drawer and go, wow, look at this. I started this in 1984, and it's still there. I think I might want to throw it away. No, I'll keep that stuff. That's what I do.

25:08Kim's not here. I can tell you all kinds of things about the stuff I keep. I collect things. Do you collect things? This has nothing to do with a sermon. It's just me. But I collect stuff. And I collect rocks. And I can go through my little rock pile and I can tell you where each of those rocks came from. And Kim goes out in the garage and she sees this pile of rocks and she's ready to throw. In the trash. I'm like, no, no, no, no. I picked this up in Gettysburg right there. It's like, I want to keep this rock. And Jesus, what are you going to do with that rock? I just like that rock, you know.

25:43That's just me. But God is different. When God starts something, he finishes it. And he started a good work in us when we were saved. And he will continue that work through until he takes us home to be with him in heaven. He never fails. The God who saved the Philippians, the God who saves us, would complete what he had started. That's our salvation. By teaching them to be like his son, that's our sanctification. And finally, transforming them to live with him forever in heaven. That's what we refer to as our glorification. Christians are God's work in progress right now. But on that day, on the day of Christ Jesus, when Christ Jesus appears, which we would call the rapture of the church, the next thing on the eschatological timeline is the rapture. When God comes in the clouds and takes us out, snatches us away to be with Him forever. In that day of Christ Jesus, we shall be completely what God intended. When he first saved us, Paul did not know when that day would be, but he did know that God would continue the work he had begun in those believers in Philippi and in us today. What God has begun, he will complete.

27:22However, this does not mean that we should assume a passive attitude concerning God's work in our lives. Remember Romans 8:28 and 29. We quote this many times. We know that how many things work together for good? All things. Why? Verse 29 tells us, so that we may be conformed to the image of His Son. The process God uses to teach, to conform, to transform us into Christ's likeness is not always an easy one. All things may involve pain. It may involve discouragement. In Paul's case, it may involve imprisonment.

28:09Things that Paul knew, again, all too well. And he would tell the Philippians later in this letter that they were, and we are, to actively participate in the process of our sanctification, to work out our own salvation with faith. Fear and trembling, it says in Philippians 2:12, and to put into practice the things that they had learned from Scripture and from the Apostle Paul. The fellowship Paul and the Philippian believers shared went much deeper than common interests or common backgrounds. They shared the same saving and sustaining grace of God. It did not matter whether Paul was under arrest or whether he was free. He still had the Philippians in his heart, it says in verse 7. And he knew that they felt the same way about him because they were partakers with him in the gospel. They sent him gifts, they supported him, they did everything that they could to keep Paul and his ministry going.

29:23They loved Paul, and he knew that, and he loved them. And maybe you've had some situations in your life, some friends that you've come across in churches wherever you might have served before. And when you leave and you go to another place, kind of like some friends here today, do we forget them? No. We love them and we care about them and we pray for them and we call them. And if we go to Cincinnati, we stay in their house. And all these kinds of things happen.

29:55And the same thing happens when folks come from Virginia to visit us. Hey, do you. Still have that bedroom available? You betcha. You come on, you stay with us. We have some wonderful friends that we've made over the years in our different ministries, and many churches have been like that. There's a couple back in Virginia, our friends, their names are Joseph Homer Croyle and Teresa Croyle. And Joseph doesn't like to be called Joseph, so he's Jay. And we refer to him as Papa J. And his wife is Mima. So Mima and Papa J. They have become to us like second parents, grandparents to our kids. They didn't get to see my mom and dad that much because they lived in Iowa. So Papa Jay and Teresa became their surrogate grandparents. And their kids became surrogate cousins. And we just had a big family going on there. It was our church. And we love those people and we still keep in touch with those people. And you probably have those circumstances in your lives as well, wherever you've been. They're people that you love and you care about and you keep up with and you write to. And if there's need, you go and be with them. We just do that because of the fellowship in the gospel, because of our joint participation in a life in Christ. We just do that as brothers and sisters in Christ. And Paul did that as well. He had those Philippian believers in his heart.

31:26It's no wonder that Paul had such a strong desire. To go and be with them. And finally, we read about Paul's prayer for the Philippian believers. Paul's prayer for the Philippians. These are the last three verses. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Paul's prayer for the Philippians. Paul had already told the Philippians that he prayed for them. And we saw that up in verse 3. He prays for them regularly. And here he shares the content, the content of his prayers. And it's interesting that Paul did not pray for their physical needs.

32:32He did not pray for church growth. Not that those things were unimportant to Paul, but Paul focused more on spiritual issues because to him those were of greater significance. Paul prayed that the Philippians' love might abound, it says here in the text, abound in two specific ways: in real knowledge and in real knowledge. All discernment, in real knowledge, and in all discernment. Throughout this letter, Paul uses the word love, and the word that he commonly uses in this letter is agape, the one that we seem to know the best, which is that selfless, sacrificing love. Abounding love grows deeper, it does not fade as time passes. Paul did not want the Philippians to remain at their present level of knowledge of the Lord, as good as it might have been for them at the time. He wanted them to deepen their experiential knowledge of and with Jesus Christ as they continued their Christian walk. Paul also prayed that their love would abound in all discernment, that is, in their spiritual insights and judgment. Discernment deals with the application of knowledge and making right decisions. And as parents, that's what we want to instill in our kids. We want them to have good discernment, to make right decisions, to apply the knowledge that they've learned in our home and learned in church when they go out and do their own thing in life. That brings no greater joy to a mom and a dad to watch your kids make good decisions. Is there an amen in here to that? That's right.

34:31We want our kids to do right. And Paul wanted the Philippian believers not to simply know facts about the Bible, but to saturate their minds with scripture and to apply that knowledge and to think biblically. Again, that's what we want our kids. That's what we want to have in our own lives. We want to think biblically. As something happens to us in our life, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus say? What does the Bible have to say about this situation? That should be our first place to go is to this book.

35:05Not to Dr. Spock, not to pick on him, but there's many others like that. Some of you don't even know who Dr. Spock is, do you? It's a while ago. There's other guys, there's other teachers, there's other places. So many times we flip to them for answers, and yet here in our book, we have the answers. All that we need for life and godliness is here. Think biblically. That's what we want to do. And Paul will circle back to this thought later in this letter when he writes in Philippians 4:8, and many of you have this memorized. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything worthy of praise, think on these things.

36:00Wrap that stuff up in your mind. Let it be the filter of everything that comes into your brain. Use this word to do that and think biblically. Paul prayed that the Philippian believers would approve the things that are excellent. And approving means to evaluate or test something before you accept it. Anyone ever buy a used car? Sight unseen? Trust me, it's a good car. No, don't do that. Always give it a test ride, maybe two, before you invest your money in such things or any such thing that you might buy that you're not really sure about the person who's giving it to you or where you're getting it from. Check it out. Test it out. That's what approving means. Approve what? The things that are excellent. Refer to the things that really matter. Paul wanted his brothers and sisters in Christ to wisely choose the best area in every part of their lives. And we should always choose to do what is right. We should. And turn away from that which is wrong.

37:23And we should also consider: will my choice in this situation bring glory to you? God or help me to become more like Christ. Will my choice in this situation bring glory to God or help me to become more like Christ? If it doesn't, then we may not be approving the things that are excellent. Paul's reason for this was to help them remain sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. And we see that in verse 10 at the very end of the verse. To be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. And in Greek and Roman times, dishonest sculptors or potters would do an interesting little trick. They would take bits of wax and they would melt it in with marble dust. And when they made this little pile of putty, they would take it and they would smear it on the cracks in their pots or on their sculptures. And as they did that, you would look at it and go, yeah, that looks pretty good. And they tried to sell them as perfect pieces. Buyers, though, knew exactly what these guys were doing. So often when somebody would come to their stall to buy whatever they had to sell, they would take that pot or vase and they would hold it up to the sunlight to see if any of that was. Wax was in those cracks. If they did, it was not good, and they would have words with that vendor. You're selling me a piece of junk. It's broken. Even though it looks good, it's really not. It's got a big blemish in it.

39:17So the Greek word for sincere literally means to be judged by sunlight. And the Latin phrase, which is sine sera, means without wax. So it comes along with a very similar concept. Sine sera is where we get the word sincere. So that's what Paul wanted them to be. He wanted them to be without wax. He wanted them to be without spot or blemish. He wanted them to be sincere, which reminds me of what Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 through 27: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water of the word, that he might present to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

40:22Paul also prayed that the Philippians would conduct themselves in a blameless way, without offense. And Paul prayed that their actions would not cause others to stumble. And the phrase until the day of Christ, again, refers to the rapture or the appearing of Jesus Christ. As believers in Jesus Christ, the Philippians were righteous before God. Paul also wanted them to be filled with all the fruits of righteousness, in verse 11. The evidence of a life in union with Jesus Christ and being controlled by the Holy Spirit. We see these qualities listed in Galatians chapter 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As they continued to love abundantly, choose the best, and be sincere, the Philippians would bring glory and praise to God.

41:38This is an incredibly rich preface to the book of Philippians. You can just feel the affection that Paul had for these people and how he wanted to be involved in their lives and help them in their daily walk with Jesus Christ. I remember serving. As the pastor of a church plant back in Virginia, we served in that ministry for three years from its initial founding until we ceased to meet. And that was a very sad day when we decided no longer to meet. It was just the pace of ministry setting up, tearing down every week, and a variety of other factors. The 80-plus people that we were all meeting together in a rented fire hall decided to stop.

42:33And as their pastor, I desperately wanted each family to be reestablished in a new church home. I didn't want them to just fall away. To me, that would be the most horrible thing. To watch somebody like we've been talking about that you've invested in their lives and you love these people. Papa Jay and Teresa, Mima, we love those guys. We didn't want them to fall away. We want them to be in a church. And it's interesting that one by one, God brought all of those families together to a small conservative Southern Baptist church about 15 miles away. It was called Mount Lebanon Baptist Church.

43:13Our church was called Grace Baptist Church. And some of the members from Mount Lebanon referred to us as the Grace people when we first came. And actually, I kind of took that as a badge of honor. I thought that was pretty neat that we were the Grace people. But we all became active members and workers in that local church. And to this day, all the grace people are still like family to us. So I understand Paul's passion for the people in Philippi. They were just like family to him.

43:51So this morning I would ask you: do you have someone in your life right now that you're pouring your life into, that you're spending time with, that you're spiritually encouraging someone in their spiritual walk? It might be your kids, moms and dads, that's your priority right there, is your kids. Pour your life into those kids and teach them what the Bible says. Read with them in the evening from the scriptures. Pray with them. Talk with them about the Lord, as it says in Deuteronomy, wherever you go, wherever you walk, whatever you do, talk to them about Jesus.

44:32Maybe there are friends, maybe there's neighbors, family members that need to come along in their walk with Christ. Maybe you just need to tell them about Jesus point blank and be honest with them. Look for opportunities to be involved in the lives of others. That's what Paul did. That's what Paul did wherever he went and he invested in people's lives just. Just like the people in Philippi, and he loved those people. And he wanted to write this letter to them and tell them that and thank them for everything that they had done for him.

45:17Maybe you're here today and you've never become a believer in Jesus Christ. Maybe that's something you need to do today yourself. And I'd love to talk with you about that after the service. The book of Philippians. We just read the preface. I can't wait to get into the rest of the letter. Let's close in prayer. Father, thank you for your servant Paul. And through the Holy Spirit, God, the letter that was left for us, this letter of thanks, this letter of rejoicing that he had in brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi.

46:04God, it is so evident how you worked in his life and in the life of those people in Philippi. God, it is so evident how you're working in our lives here today. Situations, circumstances, things that happen in our life just don't happen in a random way. You bring all these things into our life for our good and for your glory. And maybe right now, someone here today is saying, I don't see how that's possible. You have no idea what's going on in my life. I might not, but God surely does.

46:46Father, I pray for each one here today. I ask that you would be evident in their lives, that you would be present through brothers and sisters in Christ who would come around them if they have need. Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, and for all that He has done for us. Bless us, Father. Thank you so much for this day and thank you for your word for us. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.