Untitled Sermon

in Genesis chapter 22 as Abraham is taking Isaac and now moving on up the mountain he tells his servants the lad and I are going to go worship and then we will return unto you that's the first place in the scripture that the word worship is used and it was used reference sacrifice but it was used reference sacrifice total obedience Abraham worshipped God by being totally obedient to what God had asked him Isaac worshipped as well by being obedient to his father as unto the Lord in what his father was doing and in that both Abraham and Isaac both fully worshipped God and Sean brought out that worship then is not music or singing that is simply worship simply a demonstration or an outflow of true worship for true worship is really and simply obedience

unto God loving obedience unto the Lord Abraham willingly obeyed God totally and completely even at the cost of his own son and called that worship and so it helped us kind of catch a better idea of what our worship is to be unto the Lord see it doesn't just mean that we worship God it doesn't just mean that we worship God it doesn't just mean that we worship God it doesn't just mean that we worship God it doesn't matter whether you can sing it doesn't matter whether you can carry a tune God took care of that when he said make a joyful noise unto the Lord all you land singing is just an outgrowth of your worship which is obedience to the Lord we are to be living sacrifices unto God holy W-H-O-L-L-Y totally acceptable unto God

so this morning in our lives we're God's fingers of his Holy Spirit is pointing and saying this is something that I want because it's something you don't want to give up as you willingly yield that to him you are worshiping him so it can be in something other than song maybe it's in a habit Sean shared several practical examples in his own personal life his tongue not speaking quickly God wanted him to be slower to speak and as he was obedient to God in that it was an expression of worship to God maybe there's an area of sin in your life you are violating God's principles and God's word it really doesn't make any difference what you sing if you have known sin in your heart David said God you don't consider me you don't hear my prayer

when I've got sin I need to confess that and turn from that and then lay myself at your feet and that is worship the acknowledging of sin and repenting of sin and turning to God is worship that's worship of the Lord and God desires that from each of us Pastor Joe from Wellington shared out of 2 Chronicles in the life of Jehoshaphat and how Jehoshaphat's father Asa was the one who really started revival in the southern kingdom of Judah you see after David died Israel split kind of like the United States almost did in the 1860s Israel split and there was a northern kingdom of Israel or Ephraim and the southern kingdom of Judah Israel had no good king but Judah had several one of them was Asa and Asa started the nation of Judah on an area of repentance

and turning back to God and when Asa died his son Jehoshaphat took over and continued that reform and the people brought their idols and they broke them and burned them before the Lord and offered themselves afresh unto the Lord and then Job brought out in chapter 2 chapter 18 I think it was after a period of time after a number of years of this in chapter 18 it says and Asa made a pact through marriage with Ahab Ahab and Jezebel in the northern kingdom and Job brought out that after this period of time of blessing and growth in the Lord there was complacency that set in and it caused a compromise with the flesh then he pointed out how David was 20 years according to the scripture he was 20 years walking with the Lord

in the abundance of God's blessing when he fell with Bathsheba Samson was 20 plus years in the Lord consecrated to God a judge really of Israel when he fell in disobedience to God with Delilah and Job mentioned that when he first got saved and he heard that he was two months old in the Lord how that just seemed kind of foreign to him because he was so excited about his growing and his relationship with God and now 25 plus years later how he's seen that in his own life and in his own ministry and in the Calvary movement overall how it's so easy for complacency to set in and cause us to compromise with the flesh are you satisfied with your Christian walk where it is right now I pray you're not I pray you never get to that point because when you do

you open the opportunity for God to come to you for complacency to come in things are going fine let's just keep it the way it is God is limitless the only way we will be able to ever see God is when we see Jesus Christ face to face otherwise we'd never be able to see the fullness of God because he is his fullness is limitless there's nothing that can confine it you and I will never be able to see God in our lives we will never ever even in eternity get to a point where we will fully know everything about God that's what makes eternity exciting to me when we first moved to Kansas it was new to me I'd never been here before except with you know and on vacation it was exciting to get to see all that slap landing you know it's, I'm weird okay, but

and then to see some of the stuff over here down in you know, the dimples with him with a bowl of wine There are bumps in the land over here in places, and over at Elk Falls, it's gorgeous. It's beautiful over at Elk Falls and in that area. And so learning the area was exciting, but like anything else, once you learn it, you learn it, you know, and it gets commonplace. And we do that with just about everything that we come in contact with here in this life.

Marriages, exciting, right? Going together, dating, engaged, wow, can't wait, you know, marriage, yes, wedding day, yes, you're down the road, yes, two years down the road, you know, three years down the road. What happens? We get used to one another. We get familiar with the things of each other's character, things just, unless we work at loving each other and keeping that excitement there, it just doesn't maintain itself naturally.

But God is limitless. And Paul prays in Ephesians chapter 3 that we might just kind of come to begin to know the height and the depth. And the breadth of the love of God, he's not saying that you'll ever find the limits of that, just so you might begin to know the height and the depth and the breadth, how all-encompassing his love is, so that we can come to the point that we realize, what is it that we can ever, ever, ever do that will cause God not to love us? Absolutely nothing.

Because his love is limitless. It has no physical limitations. It has no boundaries. So there's never a point that we will come to where we will know God completely. And you say, what about 1 Corinthians chapter 13? 1 Corinthians 13, first we see in a glass darkly, now we see face-to-face. I believe, if you read that in context, he's dealing with this life and the things of this

life. There are things now that you, God, you know God's moving, you know God's working, but it's like you're seeing through a glass darkly. I know you're there, Lord, but I don't understand this. You know, I don't know why you allow, why did you allow this to happen? I have no idea. I don't understand it. It's like, I know you're there, but I'm just seeing you through a glass darkly.

But I know that sometime I'm going to see him face-to-face. We'll someday be in the presence of Christ. And the things I know limited now, I'll know completely and fully. I'll know. I really believe I'll know those things in my life here as to what God did and why he did it. But I will not know everything there is to know about God. That's going to take forever.

We've talked before about all the times the angels, you read about the angels, Isaiah chapter 6, and the throne room of God is open before Isaiah, and he sees the angels going, holy, holy, holy. That would get monotonous if you knew everything there was, you know. Holy, holy, holy, moly. You know, it's just kidding. But we've talked about how they're just constantly beholding something that they hadn't seen

before in his presence. And they've been there forever, ever since he created them, whenever that was. And it's like they're going, holy, holy, holy. It's just constantly new. And that's the way it's going to be for us. So to ever get to a point where you think you've arrived in your Christian walk, watch it. If you're at a point where you're satisfied with your Christian walk, be careful because

it's real easy for that complacency to set in. It's going to be real easy for Ahab and Jezebel to come along and you make a deal with them to feel better. And you find yourself compromising with sin. And as you do that, you cease to worship because worship defined is obedience to God. Now, it's with that background that I want to bring us back to Philippians, where we

are, because Philippians, our study of it is seeking to help us really in our worship of God. It's to bring us into that area of loving obedience and being able to rejoice as we do that. And I gave. First service, an open book test on this, too. What's the overall theme that we're looking at Philippians under in this study? Learning to rejoice in the Lord. That's why we're doing this this way.

It's not just so that in six months or however long it takes us to get through Philippians, you go, boy, I went through the book of Philippians. The goal in mind is that as we go through the book of Philippians together, we are learning to rejoice in the Lord because it's difficult to keep that joy. And yet Paul is telling us that there is a way that we can do that. There's a way that we can learn to rejoice in the Lord.

And specifically in this chapter, each chapter will have a subheading actually underneath that overall heading of learning to rejoice in the Lord. In chapter one, we're looking at the ability or being able to rejoice in the opportunities to serve Christ, rejoicing in the opportunities to serve Christ. Now, learning to rejoice in the Lord is this overall heading. Which keeps us from being what?

Do you remember? Two words that start with C. Complacent is what they are. It's what we are when we're this way. Circumstantial Christianity. Learning to rejoice in the Lord is to help keep us from being circumstantial Christians. Remember what those are? Things going great? Go God. Things are going bad. Where are you, Lord? You know, we tend to rejoice based upon circumstances rather than on the fact of who God is and

where we are with him. So that's the crux of this whole study in Philippians. Learning to rejoice in the Lord. Learning to rise above, to borrow from way down, learning to rise above circumstantial Christianity. Learning more about the Lord and seeing him. And this is just a part of our worship. This is just a part of our loving obedience to him. This is what he desires for us to do.

Okay, now we're reviewing just a bit because we've had a week in between since we were here the last time. So let's look at this. Follow. Follow me as we read the first 11 verses together. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart.

For whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God.

Now, all of this is progressive. And by that, I mean that each thing builds upon the previous thing. Each area that we realize in this is building upon what went before it so that you are literally progressing through the book of Philippians and what we understand and put into practice helps us with the next part. Okay? And it's not just going to be we just read through all four chapters and bingo, I rejoice

in the Lord. I wish it were that easy. John says in the book of Revelation in chapter one, blessed is he who reads this. When you read through Revelation, you get a blessing promised by God. But then he says right after that, and keeps or seeks to do the things written herein. So just to sit down in an afternoon. Sitting and read through the book of Revelation, I mean, God's going to honor his word somehow.

But the blessing comes when you read Revelation and then seek to do the things that are written there. So it is with all of God's word. So it is with this book of Philippians. God wants us to be able to understand so that we can rejoice in anything that's going on so that the circumstances do not dictate attitude. But you have to do the things that are written here.

And so these are progressive things. Now, quickly review. There are three things. There are three things that we saw that we were to be and to understand before we could go on. And it's in verses one and two of chapter one. Paul identifies himself as the first thing. He identifies the Philippians as the second thing and the third thing. So first of all, who are we to be according to verse one?

Servants. Which are servants, which the word is literally bond slaves. So you and I need to recognize who we are. And that is if we're born again, you and I are bought with a price and we are bond slaves of Jesus Christ. A bond slave, as you remember, has no rights. A bond slave gave up his rights when he surrendered himself to become a bond slave and have his

ear pierced and have the ring put in his ear, identifying him as a bond slave to this master forever. No more chance of being released. No more rights. He is subject to his master's every whim. Paul identifies himself as a bond slave. And that's what we need to see ourselves. If you and I are ever going to learn how to rejoice in the Lord, you have to see yourself as a bond slave.

I am yours, Lord. Whatever you want to do with me is fine. You give up your rights to yourself, to Jesus. He can do with as he pleases. As you come to know him, that's a joy because you realize that his word tells us that he is love and everything he does is based upon love. He doesn't do anything spitefully or half. So you can trust him. Absolutely. So being a bond slave is actually a blessing.

But you have you have to know who you are and you're a bond slave. Secondly, he tells us what we are. And that's in how he identifies the Philippians. What are we? Saints. Verse two. The saints at Philippi. The Hagios in the Greek. The set apart ones. You don't have to wait for a council in Rome to declare you to be a saint. The minute you ask Jesus into your heart, he declares you.

A saint. The word Hagios means set apart. You are set apart unto God as the elements in the temple were set apart unto God for a specific service. The shovels of brass were to be used specifically for shoveling the ashes of the sacrifices from the brass altar. Nothing else. You are set apart unto God. Hagios. Holy unto the Lord. To be used to for his righteousness and mercy and love to flow through.

Nothing else. We've been bought with a price. Paul tells us in Corinthians, we are not our own. So the desires need to be brought into submission unto the Lord because we're his. We're set apart. That's who we are and what we are. Thirdly, we need to realize where we are. And that's in the last half of verse two. He says to the saints at Philippi in Christ Jesus.

That's where you and I are. We're at Ark City, but we're really in Christ. So it doesn't make any difference where we're at because we know where we are. That means if things get bad in this country again. And I think that probably if the Lord Terry is going to get worse than they were during the 20s. I think it's going to get real bad for Christians. It won't make any difference.

No matter where we're at because we know where we are. You're in Christ. And that's an area of that brings security and stability to our lives. We know who we are. We're your bond slave, Lord. The world, the people around us, they can't hurt us anymore because we belong to you. You allow and you don't allow the things that happen and don't happen. I can trust you with that in my life.

You can do with me as you please. I'm a saint. I'm set apart unto you for a special service. I want to be your servant to serve as you call me to serve, to do what you want me to do as your servant. I am in Christ Jesus. I'm in the world here now, but I'm in Christ as I am in the world. The world can't hurt me. The world can kill me. That doesn't hurt me. The world can make me sick.

But I found that when I am weak, then he is strong. So the world loses all the way around because I know who I am. I know what I am. And I know where. I am now, as I know those three things. And it's very easy for us to learn. So then it's easier to progress on. Then verses three through six show us how by knowing those things, we are to then be cultivating the habit of prayer, cultivating the habit of prayer.

In verse three, we find that we are to be learning to give thanks to God for others, for those around us. And last time I specifically asked us to do that, to just think of someone. That immediately when you think of them, they've been such a blessing to you, you just automatically just thank God for them. But then also to think about someone who may have hurt you at some time.

And to immediately, instead of letting those feelings of bitterness and pain linger there, to just thank God. God, you allowed that to happen through them in my life for some reason. I have no idea why. You do. I'm your bond slave. You know what's best for me. I'm set apart unto you for your works of service. I am holy unto you. I am in Christ. So I thank you for that because you're working it for some reason in my life.

And the only way you can begin to thank God and cultivate that habit of prayer, doing that is to know who you are and what you are and where you are. Verse four, we need to learn that God, learn to pray that God will meet the needs of others and learn that first. It's to where when we pray, the prayer becomes for others first and then for us rather than selfishly. When we do grab snatches of minutes.

Of time to pray, we just use those praying for ourselves. Bless me with this, take away my headache, take away my bills, take away my, you know, landlord, whatever, take away those things that are a pain to me. And then if there's anything else that I have time for that, I kind of remember, I'll pray for that, too. You know, cultivating the habit of prayer becomes another centered activity, praying for others.

Verse five, we learn in that cultivating to pray that God will meet their needs as we pray for others, that God will meet their needs. In verse five, we learn to remember the blessings that God has given us. More than likely through that individual at some particular time, learning to remember the blessings that God's given us. Then verse six, as we cultivate this habit of prayer, we learn the assurance of God's faithfulness that he who began that good work in you will be faithful to perform it, to continue it until the day of Christ.

That's the first part of this. That's what we've gotten to so far, who we are, what we are, where we are beginning to cultivate this habit of prayer. And I review this so that hopefully during the week, as you do sit down to take time to pray, that something will just snap in your mind, the spirit will press that button and it'll say, remember, you know, the example of Paul in Philippians. He prayed for the others first.

Or as you get frightened about a particular situation, that God will just bring to your remembrance who you are and what you are and where you are. And you begin to let those things just settle in your own heart. Now, verses seven through 11, Paul gives us the example of an opportunity to serve Christ. When, as from last time, when do you and I have opportunity?

Opportunities to serve Christ. When? All the time. Every moment of every day. And how often, or what should I say, I guess, how do those opportunities usually present themselves? In the midst of trying times. And where most often do opportunities of serving Christ in dealing with one another, in dealing with people. And we have to learn to love one another.

We have to learn to love the unlovable. And so verses seven through 11 brings us a little more into that understanding. Now, again, this is progressive. So Paul doesn't just jump into loving one another without going through the first six verses first. Knowing who you are, what you are, where you are, and cultivating the habit of prayer. And believe me, that will be the only way that you and I can love other people.

We can tolerate each other. We can tolerate each other. We can coexist to a certain point. But there will come a time when we ruffle each other's feathers. When one of us will do something or say something that causes an offense to the other person. And usually that's where our love stops. And we either coexist at a distance or we totally separate ourselves.

That's the way the world reacts. That's not the way the church is supposed to react or act. We are to rejoice in the Lord through the opportunities that he gives us to serve Christ. And he gives us the opportunities. Most often to serve Christ by loving others. Now, you say, well, that's right. That's the sum of the law has been reduced to these two things.

Love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Well, good. We know the information. But how in the world do you do that? How do I know I'm loving the Lord with all my heart, mind and soul and strength? And how? How in the world do I love my neighbor as myself? Well, that's what Paul's getting to. Look at verse 7.

Paul says, It's right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart. For whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. Paul says, I have the right attitude towards you. It's right for me to feel this way about you since I have you in my heart. It's a continuous. It's a continuous feeling that Paul's expressing that he has for these Philippians.

And again, it only comes, I believe, by his, what he shared with us in the first six verses of his understanding as to who he is and what he is and where he is and the need to cultivate this prayer. He's praying for them regularly. It's like a monopoly. You don't get the 200 bucks until you pass go. You know, it doesn't come until we follow the rules. Through his prayer for them, he's gotten a soft spot in his heart.

And he says, it's right for me to feel this way about you. It didn't just come naturally. He's been praying. He's been praying for them. God's been developing that in his heart. And he says, for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. And when we were back in verse five, we saw where Paul saw them as taking part in his

ministry. And here he defines the benefits and blessings of that ministry are through God's grace. And he's saying, you guys are partakers with me of the circumstances in which I am in able to share the gospel of Christ. Now, one thing I want you to know. Notice about this verse, the last half of verse seven, are the circumstances. Both policies, both of these circumstances as opportunities for ministry, whether he's

in chains or confirming the gospel, defending and confirming the gospel. What would he rather be doing? Confirming the gospel. He'd rather be in a home study somewhere or in a synagogue somewhere debating who Jesus is with his fellow Jews or teaching, confirming the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what he'd rather be doing. But he's in chains. And rather than seeing that as restrictive, he sees it as a circumstance and that they

are sharing in God's grace with him through either circumstance. And he says, verse eight, God can testify how I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Now, what is that? What's the affection of Christ Jesus? Because that's evidently how he longs for them. And the way I look at it, it's evidently how exampling it to us. We are to long for one another.

What does that mean? How do I know I'm longing for you? With the affection of Christ Jesus? Well, the word that's translated into long for here is in the present tense in the Greek, which means it's something that continually happens. So it's not just something that Paul's writing a letter and says, this would be a nice thing to say. You know, how are you? I'm continually longing for you.

No, it's something that's come out of his feelings, out of where he feels. And that's the next word affection in the NIV. If you're reading King James, it says bowels. How I long for you in the bowels of Jesus Christ. That word in the Greek is literally translated intestines. You see, in a great culture, that's where they experienced emotion. They noticed that.

And we're kind of limited if we fail to notice that. Are you hearing a hum? Would you kill the wireless and I'll just use a handheld? Does that do it? Okay. When you feel any or when you have any particular emotion at all, whether it's a real deep love towards someone else or you really are feeling anxiety, you will feel it here before you understand it here.

If some tragedy happens in your life and you're given the news of it, the shock of it hits you here, just as if someone hit you in the stomach. If someone breaks your heart, wrenches your heart, why do they call it that? Because you feel it here rather than the intellectualizing of it up here. And so when Paul is saying, I long for you, it's a continual feeling that he has with the affections of Christ.

He feels it in his gut towards those people. Now, listen, I believe that's the kind of attitude we are to be having for one another. And if you think about it, that's hard to do. It's going to be hard. It's not going to be easy. But in the Gospels, if you want to see how Jesus longed for people, we turn back to the Gospels and you find that he saw the crowds and he had compassion

on them. For they were like sheep without a shepherd. He saw those who were sick and he healed them. He saw those who were hungry and he fed them. He saw those who, the Greek is harassed, who were harassed. They were harassed by demons. They were harassed through sin. And he had compassion on them to deliver them. And how did that leave him after he had done those things?

He was exhausted. He was, he'd given out of himself and he was literally emotionally and physically exhausted. So that's the heart that Paul says he has towards the Philippians. And I believe it's the kind of heart that God wants us to have towards each other. Now that gets us below surface Christianity and that gets us into deep water. But for you and I to ever come to the point of understanding what rejoicing in the Lord

is all about, that's where we have to go. And that's why we have to know who we are and what we are. And where we are and be cultivating this habit of prayer so that we can get there. Now, Paul, I think, understands that this is going to be hard. He knows that as he writes this to them, this is going to be hard. So verses nine through 11 are his prayer for them and for us who will follow that example.

Verse nine, he says, And this is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God. Now, as you read that, it kind of looks like four different prayer requests that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. And then two, that you may be able to discern what is best.

And three, may be able to be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. And four, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. But really, it's one prayer with everything else coming out of that kind of blossoming like a flower. The one prayer is verse nine, the first part. That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.

That's the prayer. What we are to be is longing for one another with the affection of Christ. That's going to be difficult. So Paul prays that our love might abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. And the rest of these verses actually explain that. They actually help to define that. That your love may abound more and more. We've seen that. In our study in Thessalonians.

And it's common in Paul's epistles. Because again, that's the key. Back to Ephesians 3. That you may begin to fathom what is the height and the breadth and the depth of God's love for you in Christ Jesus. That's what we have to come to the point of beginning to understand. So that relates to scope, to the depth. That your love may abound more and more. And in Thessalonians, we saw that that was.

Happening with the Thessalonian church. Because Paul was getting reports of that. They were learning to love one another more and more. And the scope of their love was spreading out. Listen, restrictive love is not biblical. What's restrictive love? I love you. You love me. Just the two of us, you see. That's restrictive love. It's easy to love who we really like.

The family member you came in with. Now, maybe you have some tough times. But I love this individual. You know, and you're really not concerned with anybody else in here. Let me lay out an excellent summer missions project. Okay? Here's a summer missions project. It won't cost you anything. You guys over here, during the course of the summer, I want you to plan on taking a trip

to the far west during break time. And you guys over here, plan on taking a trip to the far east during break. And you guys that are kind of in the midwest and the mid-east here, you can go to the far east. You can go to the far west. You can go to the far east. You can go to either coast. That's okay. But just plan on beginning to reach out to meet those people around here that you have

no idea who they are. Because God is wanting to love them through you. He's wanting to encourage them through you. You are an opportunity for God's love to flow. And God doesn't want us to have a restrictive love. It's to be broad in scope. That our love might abound more. Okay? And more. And you go, well, but I don't know those people. You know, somebody over here may be a maniac serial killer from, you know, they've never

caught. Well, okay. That's why the last half of verse 9, in knowledge and depth of insight, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. The word knowledge there literally means a mature understanding. And so here in this context, it refers to a mature understanding of how real love, understanding, real love operates and what it feels like to receive it.

You see, the world doesn't know that. The world knows a physical love, a love that responds sexually, or a love that responds with some physical kind of gratification. It doesn't know the spiritual agape love. It doesn't know God's love. Only you as a Christian can know that. And depending on how you're living, if you're living a life of worship in obedience to God,

you will regularly be experiencing God's love. If you're experiencing his love, if you live kind of a half-hearted, well, I live my life during the week and I come to God and I sing praises on Sunday, then you're not even receiving or realizing the blessing of God's love, what it means to receive it. So we are to be loving more and more in the knowledge of how God operates, of how God loves us, and that comes through knowing him through his word. First John says that God is love.

He that loves God must know who he is. He's got to know who God is. Love comes only from God. And then he says later, how can you say you love your brother or love God whom you can't say when you can't love your brother whom you can? So this love comes from God. The only way we understand it or come to know it is to know it through the word of God, to see how God's nature is and his character and how he loves through others.

So we begin to develop a knowledge of what God's love is all about. And then the phrase depth of insight there in the last half of verse 9, if you're reading, I think, New American Standard and King James. In King James, the word's discernment. So in knowledge and discernment. That word's used in Proverbs in the Septuagint in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

And it's what fools hate. Fools hate this kind of knowledge. It's this kind of discernment. They like to just blindly jump in and do, you know. Jump in and experience this because it makes me feel good. The if it feels good, do it theme. So fools hate discernment or this depth of insight. This deals more with the ethical considerations of love. Is this the right thing to do?

You see, people have a false concept of what God's love is. They think for me to love as a Christian is just to be openly accepting and just go pour everything I have out to somebody else because they have a need and I'm supposed to go do that. But did Jesus do that? Five thousand he fed. Got in a boat and went to the other side of Galilee. People found out he was gone.

They got in some boats. The rest of them ran around the lake. Met him on the other side. What did they want? Physical bread. Feed me, Seymour. You know. Feed me. I'm hungry. You be my grocery store. We'll follow you. We won't have to go to market anymore. Meet my need. What did Jesus say? He rebuked him. You're seeking me because you want physical bread. Bread that you're seeking.

Bread that perishes. I'm offering you a bread from above that doesn't perish. I am the bread of life. You see? He didn't just always meet the needs. He met the needs because people thought they had a need. And that's unfortunately a false concept that most of the world has of what Christian love is all about. I have a need. You better meet my need or you're not a Christian.

You really don't love me. That's not in there. That's not what Christian love is all about. That's why we have to learn how to love more and more with knowledge and discernment to see wisely how God will want to love in this particular situation. You see? What people are expecting is love. Sometimes when you tell your kids, No. I can't do that right now. No, you can't have that right now.

You're not being mean to them. You know what that will do to them. You're restricting that because you love them. They don't understand but you're expressing love. And that's how God is. That's what God does. And you and I have to learn how to love each other that way. And that's tough. And there's been all kinds of things that have formed outside of the church that seek

to do that. Tough love. Why? Because the church hasn't learned to love. We're a restrictive loving group. We love our four, no more, shut the door. We don't get deep. We don't learn how to confront. We don't learn how to hold accountable. We don't learn how to walk with and bear one another's burdens. We don't, see the world says, in their area of love, give it to me now if you love me.

But God says love is patient and love is kind. The world says, you've really hurt me bad. And I remember 47 years ago when you hurt me the same way. I could even tell you what you were wearing the day you hurt me 47 years ago. And God's love in 1 Corinthians 13 says love doesn't keep an account of when others do it wrong. You talk about a hard one. That's been hard for me over the years.

You mean I have to forget that, Lord? God is saying, yes, it's under the blood. You're a bond slave. It's my responsibility. You just are to love. That's hard. But there's a way you love in that. And that comes from understanding how God loves in that way. And so he wants our love to grow more and more, abounding more and more in knowledge and discernment, this depth of insight.

Verse 10, so that you may be able to discern what is best. Now that word discern has the idea of, it's used elsewhere with the reference of testing metals to see what they are made of. To see what metals are made of. And so here is this careful examination of God's word as to the principles of guiding us to the best expression of love in this situation. How do I best display, Lord, your love in this particular situation?

How can I respond in this situation that demonstrates your love, Lord? Because ultimately that's what we want to do. And again, if we don't know who we are or what we are or where we are, and if you're not cultivating that habit of prayer, you're going to be blank when it comes to this particular situation. And especially if it's in our households, we tend to respond with worldly love because we know it better, right?

Slam doors, throw glasses, you know, crash, crash, yell, bad words at one another because that's something we've just developed. But he says, no, so that we may be able to discern, to test what is best. The word best there means excellent, and it's from a word meaning to bear. And the idea is that the things that bear through the testing of God's word. Are the things that we approve so that we discern what's best so that I discern in the midst of this situation how to best express God's love that will bear through the rest of this situation so that when we come through the emotion of the situation, the thing that still remains recognizable is the fact of God's love.

That God loves you. And then the last half of verse 10, and that we may be pure and blameless, he says, until the day of Jesus Christ, depending on how we love. Again, and I've shared a little bit already, it's either going to be pure. The word there is sincere. We saw it in Romans chapter 12. Those that were with us years ago, we went through the book of Romans.

Love must be sincere, siniseris in Latin, without wax, no hypocrisy, no mixture. Literally, the word in the Greek means not mixed. It's used in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 dealing with unleavened bread, not to be leavened, not to be mixed. So we're not to have this mixture of worldly love and God's love in a situation like I shared before. About, well, the world says we're to love this way, but God says we're to love this way.

Gentle and kind and patient. We're supposed to have a pure love for one another. That pureness, that patience, that gentleness, that kindness. And you and I know that doesn't come easy. It's going to take some work. It's easy, and maybe I shared this already. I shared it at first service. I can't remember if I've already shared it at this service or not. Bear with me.

Humor me in this one. It's easy, especially where these things are concerned. To realize that as Christians, one of the most difficult things we have to do is to develop this kind of a prayer life with the Lord and to have the desire to do this because it takes some effort. And it's easy to look around and realize we're all having trouble with prayer. Oh, good.

We're all having trouble with prayer. That excuses me now from really dealing with that because we're all having trouble with prayer. I'm okay because they're having trouble with prayer, too. That means I don't have to really worry about it. I'll pray when I can because they're all having trouble with prayer, too. Wrong O. The Bible says that that's where we get into trouble.

The fool, Paul says, is the one who measures himself against himself. You know, measures himself against others thinking he's doing okay when our true measure is Christ. And you say, well, we'll never measure up to Christ. You're getting there. Behold, verse 6, He who began a good work in you is going to continue it. He's bringing you into the image of Christ.

It's not a works-based relationship. But it is an area where you realize who you are and what you are. You're a Christian. You're a channel for God's righteousness. And where you are, you're in Christ. You're fit for His service. And you work at setting aside. We sang about it this morning. Let's lay aside every weight and sin that besets us. Looking unto Jesus.

That takes effort to set those sins aside. Paul said, Forgetting what's behind, I press, I strain, I agonize towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. It takes effort to reach towards that. It's no easy little thing to do. But God has equipped you with the Holy Spirit and with His Word. But you can't just walk around going, I got the Holy Spirit and I got a Bible at home.

It's got to, let's cultivate the habit of prayer. Let's keep remembering who we are and what we are and where we are. That we might be pure here. That our love might be pure without the mixture of the worldly kind of love. And blameless. That word simply means that we don't cause somebody else to stumble. So our love has to be such that we're not going to stumble somebody else in their walk with Christ.

And that's hard. Easiest thing to do is just ignore them. Maybe they'll go away. Maybe that situation will take care of itself. I'll just ignore it. I've been made aware of that, Lord, for a reason. And maybe it's just to go and tell them that I love them and I'm available and that God loves them and they're going through a hard time and I'll be there to pray for them and help them walk through that hard time.

Or maybe, Lord, it's an area where you want me to come by and gently say, You know, brother, I know you're having a hard time. Do you realize that God's Word says that you shouldn't be unequally? Or in this business deal. And so maybe you shouldn't go into that. Or if you're living together, you know, God's Word says that's not what you should do. You know, not coming down heavy handed.

You're going to burn, you unrighteous heathen. But this is what God's Word says. We do it in such a way so as not to stumble them in their walk with the Lord. And that's tough and that needs prayer. That's why Paul's praying for us where that's concerned. That we might be blameless until the day of Christ. Again, that has to do with the rapture of the church.

Soon. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus is coming and it's all going to be completed. But until that time, we are to let our love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Verse 11, that we might be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God. As you set your heart to do that, as you set your heart to walk that way, to love that way, to be obedient to Christ in that, to cultivate that habit of prayer.

God, I want to love that way. He will. He will fill you with his righteousness. That's the fruit of the spirit. You're abiding in the vine that way. And it's the vine that brings forth the fruit. All he asks you to do is bear it. Did you ever realize that? God never asks you to bear fruit or to produce fruit. He just asks you to bear it. You will bear that.

He's the vine. He produces the fruit through the branch. You just have to hang on to it. So he'll bring the love through you. He'll bring the kindness through you. You just need to bear it. Let him do that. Let his righteousness come through to the glory. And see, that's the ending. To the glory. To the glory of God. That's why we live. That's why we're to love.

It's not so that we'll feel better. You see, the ultimate heading in this is learning to rejoice in the Lord. In the opportunities that he gives us to serve Christ. Now, as I'm obedient to that in just loving you, he's going to be glorified. That's why I'm doing it. So that he'll be glorified. But I get to rejoice. That's the byproduct. I get to rejoice in the meantime.

It's a blast with the Lord. If my heart's doing this the right way. That's what's ahead. That's what God has in store for us. If you're willing. Let's stand together.

Father, we desire to be able to rejoice. It's something in your word you've told us to do. To rejoice always. And again, I say rejoice. You've given us this epistle of Philippians. Where Paul was in the midst of prison. And yet rejoicing. And seeking to encourage the Philippians. And us. As to how to rejoice in the Lord. And to learn to do that. And so God, we want to do that.

So help us keep before us who we are. And what we are. And where we are. And to cultivate that habit of prayer. And see that that leads us to the point of loving others more and more. And that's scary to us, Lord. But you've told us that we can do that. As we come into the understanding of how to do that maturely. And with discretion. With discernment. That we might be pure.

In our love, Lord. And blameless. That we might love as you would love. And not stumble anybody else. And continue that, Lord. Until the day of Jesus Christ. That your righteousness would flow through us. God, we want to be that way. I know it's hard. It's going to mean sacrificing some things in our lives. That we're holding on to. That are sin. But it means not being satisfied with our walk where it's at.

Realizing there's so much more, Lord. Help us, we pray. In Jesus' name.