The Road Goes Ever on and On: Philippians 1:3-11

Andrew McClure

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Jennifer

Good morning, if you will go ahead and have a seat for me this morning.

If you happened to miss last week, I made a few announcements about some changes coming to our church this year, and I have one more I’d like for you to be aware of concerning cbcKids.

It’s really important to me for you all to understand that cbcKids exists as a supplement, not a substitute in the discipleship of your children.

I don’t want you to view cbcKids as a place to oursource the spiritual nourishment and development of your kids.

Parents are the primary disciple makers of their children. It is a weighty responsibilty given to each of us by the Sovereignty and Grace of God.

But man, as a parent, it is a responbility I just feel so ill equipped for.

Right, I mean I have a seminary degree and 15 years of disciple making experience, yet when it comes to faithful discipleship of my home I am often overwhelmed with feelings of insecurity, shame, guilt, fear, and anxiety.

And I would venture to guess that I’m in good company.

But here at CBC we want to equip you for the work of ministry, including the discipleship of your kids.

And one of the easiest ways to equip you, is by providing Sunday morning kids programming in a safe environment, where your kids can build meaningful relationships and hear the truth of God’s word.

While you get to sit here, undistracted, and attentive to the full counsel of God, hopefully leaving each Sunday a little more equipped to BE THE CHURCH in your own homes.

But what we know is that given the volume of kids in our church, we need somebody to lead and support the supplemntal discipleship of cbcKIds.

And this morning I want to call Jennifer Daniel and her husband Dave up to present her to you as our new full-time cbcKids Director on our staff.

Jennifer has 2 decades worth of kids ministry experience, and has faithfully served as our kids director in a volunteer capacity since May of last year.

But I”m pleased and grateful to offically welcome her to our full time church staff.

Would you join me in praying for her.

Introduction

Good Morning Church. Today we are in Week 2 of our new series of Philippians. Last week we took a some time looking at the context of this book, as well as trying to frame why it is so releveant for us today.

So today we are going to begin moving into the heart of the text.

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Philippians 1:3-11.

Philippians 1:3–11 ESV

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The Fellowship of the Ring

J.R.R. Tolkein’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is a brilliant story that I believe allegorizes the Christian Faith with precision.

If you’ve read the books, or to your loss, only watched the movies, you’re probably aware of the deep similarites that the story shares with the Journey of a Christ Follower.

One example is really easy to miss, but once you see it in the Books, or in the Movie you’ll see what I mean, but its found in a song.

In the Books the Song appears 3 times, and in the movie is included twice.

In the books, the songs first appearance is found when Bilbo, the famed Hobbit begins his journey to the heavenly city of Rivendell. And AT THE BEGINNING of his journey he sings:

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And wihither then? I cannot say.

You see, he sings of a Road. A road he must travel, and is ready to do so with eager feet.

He doesn’t yet know what awaits him at the end, but nonetheless there’s a joy, and excitement to this newfound journey.

But much later in the story, Bilbo sings the song again. But this time it’s little different. He had finally made it to Rivendell, and his journey on this earth is about to come to an end.

So at the END of his journey he sings:

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

There at the end of his journey…

his eager feet, have been replaced with weary ones.

And what the change of lyric is communicating

is that the road has been long, going ever on and on, and the road at times has often been hard.

And when it began, he didn’t really know where it would end, but now at the end of his journey he knows.

A lighted inn,

a place that provides him eternal rest and sleep.

It is a brilliant, and beauitful undertone by Tolkien, and one I believe is extremely accurate as it presents the journey of a Christ Follower.

Because it is a journey, is it not?

And when that journey commences at conversion we usually start traveling with eager feet.

We start reading the Bible, and going to church, and titheing, shoot some of you were so saved you even started driving the speed limit.

At the beginning, you don’t know where you’re headed per se, just excited for the journey. Traveling with Eager Feet.

But be advised:

This Road goes ever on and on.

And like Bilbo, one day your journey will come to an end.

With weary feet, you will finally enter the lighted inn, and find your eternal rest to meet.

But The Christian Life is largely lived in the inbetween.

Between an eager beginning, and a weary meaning.

It’s a journey. A journey with a definite beginning, and a journey with a definite end.

But much of life is lived in the inbetween.

In our text today, I can picture Paul, much like Bilbo, reflecting on his journey.

Remember, Paul is writing the book of Philippians while sitting in a Roman Prison awaiting a verdict of either life or death.

So either his journey will continue, or he will enter the lighted inn.

And remember what Biblo sang,

slide

we follow this path with eager feet, as it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet.

And I can picture Paul sitting and reflecting on his journey up to that point, and remembering all the others that he has met with on the journey.

And in that moment of reflection, he remembers 10 years prior, when he first met the church in Philippi.

And since that first meeting they have journeyed with one another.

IN fact, in our text today Paul will say that they have been partners on this journey with Christ.

And as Paul reflects on the decade of journeying, he begins to pour forth PRAISE.

Praise for this dear church, and their deep partnership in the faith.

But in verse 9, that Praise turns to Prayer-

prayer that they would continue on the Road that goes ever on an on.

So let’s read our text, and we will look at Paul’s Praise, and Paul’s Prayer.

Paul’s Praise

Praise

Our text opens with Paul giving Priase to God for the Philppian Church.

Praise is the joyful recounting of all that God has done.

Oftentimes its a spontaneous response in light of the goodness of God.

Let me give you a few examples

We saw over Advent how Mary burst into Praise when she sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior!”

Or when the shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen.

Praise is what takes place in Revelation when the great multitude of every nation stands before God, and they fall on their faces and cry out, “Priase and glory and wisdom and thansgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.”

Praise is the joyful recounting of all that God has done.

And here in Philippians 1, Paul begins to Praise God becuase he is remembering and recounting all that God has done in and through the life of the church in Philippi.

And the first thing I want you to note about Paul’s Praise, is filled with Joy.

Look with me at verse 3.

Joyful

Philippians 1:3–4 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,”

Ancient Rome, and consequently Philippi was a place saturated with self-indulgence, comfort, and personal security, yet Paul, void of all of these, sitting in a Roman Prison awaiting to find out if he was to be killed, is praising God with JOY.

And I’m sure we’ll revisit the concept of JOY in the coming weeks, but please notice that JOY is uncircumstantial.

It has nothing to do with your job, your income, your family, your health, or anything.

Kent Hughes, in his commentary on Philippians writes, “The secret to JOY is keeping things in this order. J-ESUS, O-THERS, Y-OURSELF.

JESUS—OTHERS---YOURSELF.

Not circumstances. That’s not part of the acrostic.

JESUS-OTHERS-YOURSELF

Paul had his priorities in order.

And as he focsued on Jesus, and remembered the Philippian church, his personal predicament faded into the background and he praised God with JOY.

But what was Paul praising God for specifically?

The answer is found in vs. 5.

Philippians 1:5 “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

Becuase of their partnership in the Gospel

Partnership

That word Partnership is the Greek Word koinonia, and is often translated as Fellowship.

And that’s what it is. It’s a Fellowship. An association, a community, a joint participation, a partnership.

The reason Partnership is used here, is because Koinonia was almost always concerned commercial partnerships.

If you and I were to start a business together, than we would enter into a Koinonia. A fellowship. A partnership.

We would agree upon a shared vision, and spend our energy, our money, and our lives on the fulfillment of that shared vision.

And this is exactly what Paul was joyfully praising God for…

That the church in Philippi had partnered or joined Paul in the shared vision of the GOSPEL.

That they, like Paul, had spent their energy, and their money, and their lives for the advancement of the Gospel in their own lives, and the lives of others.

What we will see throughout this book is that the church Paul founded in 51 A.D. had partnered in their preaching of the Gospel.

They evangelized. This little church that began with Lydia the business woman, the young slave girl who was formerly demon possessed, and the Philippian Jailer grew, becuase they were bought in to the shared vision of the Gospel.

They also partnered in their Prayers

In fact, we’ll see later in chapter 1 that Paul is actually confident that he won’t be executed, becuase of how fervently the Philippians are praying for him.

And they also partnered in their Provision.

They financially supported the advancement of the gospel through Paul’s ministry.

Philippians 4:15 “And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.”

They were bought in. Sold out. Willing to spend and be spent in the shared vision of the Gospel.

So Paul was joyfully praising God for that partnership, for that fellowship.

They had true Christian Fellowship, becuase true Christian Fellowship can only be found in Gospel Partnership.

I’m going to say that again, true Christian Fellowship can only be found in Gospel Partnership.

We have such a watered down view of fellowship.

The word has been hijacked by church pot-lucks, and or Wednesday night dinners.

Listen, I love sharing a cup of coffee with you, but don’t mistake catching up and socializing for true biblical fellowship.

True Christian fellowship and community is found in the trenches not just the table.

It’s found in furthering the kingdom, not just deeping friendship.

It’s getting our hands dirty in the serving of others, not venting for the service of self.

It’s found in the 3 year old class last week when a deacon had to step in, and wrestle 14 3 year old boys.

And he went home exhausted, and probably bruised by my son Denver.

But those workers in that class walked away with weary feet, but refreshed with the experience of Gospel Partnership.

And that’s what Paul had with the Philippians. A Partnership. A fellowship.

And as Paul reflected on their partnership, he joyfully praised God.

But he also Praised God with confidence.

Look with me at verse 6.

Confidence

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

He says, “I’m sure… I’m confident. Unwavering in my expectation that the good work that God has begun, God will finish.

Church, more than anything else you hear today… this is reason alone to pause and Praise God.

First, Paul confidently priases God for what God had begun.

That greek word means- Started, inaugarated, kicked off,

and we must notice it was GOD who jumpstarted this journey for the church in Philippi.

Salvation, or the beginning of a Christian’s journey, is God’s work!

Solely worked by the Sovereignty of God.

The origins of the Philippian church perfectly illustrates this point.

Remember in Acts 16 Paul didn’t want to go to Philippi. Paul was deadset on staying in Asia, and pushing north into Bythinia.

But that night he has a dream of a man from Macedonia, where Philippi was located, saying, “Come over and help us!”

It wasn’t Paul’s idea to go to Philippi it was the Sovereign Grace of God through the working of the Holy Spirit.

And when he gets to Philippi and stumbles upon the women’s bible study taking place at the river we read,

Acts 16:14 “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

Who opened her heart!? Not Lydia, not Paul, but God.

Lydia’s conversion was the work of the Sovereign Grace of God working thorugh the preaching of Paul and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

When he moved on the next day, and was followed by the demonized slaved girl we read, “Acts 16:18 “ Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.”

Whose name!? This girls freedom was wrought by the Sovereign Grace of God.

When Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, and an earthquake shook the cell and all the doors opened and bonds unfastened leading to the conversion of the Jailer and his whole household, who worked that miracle!?

God, driven by his Sovereign Grace.

Church this is the story of the Philippian church, and believe it or not, the story of every conversion

It is HE who begins the good work.

PRAISE GOD for the work that he has begun in each of us.

But what Paul confidently knows, is that if God has begun something he will sovereignly continue it until completion.

What’s important to note is that Paul references the end or the completion, as the day of Jesus Christ.

A fixed date in the Father’s calendar when our journey will end. Our sanctification will be complete.

At long last, with weary feet, we will enjoy the lighted inn of sinless perfection, dwelling in resurrected and glorified bodies. A day when all things wrong will be made right.

It’s fixed. You can be assured, that the day of Christ is real and is coming.

And here Paul is saying, “I’m confident that the Sovereign God who Sovereignly saved you and started you on this journey, will hold you, and keep you, and sustain you, and preserve you on this journey, until at last with weary feet you see Jesus face to face!

Church, that is cause for confident praise.

Because if you did nothing to gain your salvation, than you can do nothing to lose your salvation.

As assuredly as He started it, he will assuredly see it to the day of Jesus Christ.

For you, there is an assurance of salvation!

So your hope and eternal security is secure, but becuase of this, we can have incredible confidence here in the in between.

Because God hasn’t stopped working.

He didn’t save you, and then promise to complete you and somehow take vacation between now and then.

He is always working.

And Paul in Phil 2 will say that it is HE WHO IS WORKING IN YOU both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

He worked, He is working, he will finish his work.

And what this means it that every step of your journey, rather with eager or weary feet, is PREGNANT WITH PURPOSE!

Full of the divine activity of God.

That every day of your life is full of meaning.

Scholar and Commentator J.A. Motyer writes, “Good news, bad news, difficulty, blessing, unexpectd happiness, unexpected trouble— it all has a purpose. Nothing is wasted.

Because in all things God is Sovereignly working to bring the work he began to completion.

Paul’s Prayer

Philippians 1:9 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,”

Paul prayed for their Progress. That they would grow, abound, progress.

This is a prayer of sanctification.

Sanctification is a real churchy word, that simply means a progression in conformity to Christ.

Sanctification is the work of the inbetween.

It begins on the day when it all began.

When you were saved the Bible says you were made alive together with Christ.

On that day of conversion he made you a new creation.

He performed the Great Exchange.

He took your old heart that was dead in its trespasses and sins, and in exchange He gave you His new heart, which EPH 4 says, “is created after the likness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

That was the work that HE BEGAN.

And he did that so that as Romans 6:4 says, “we too might walk in newness of life.”

So that we may journey on this road that goes on and on in a new way a way that leads to life.

But let’s get real for a second! Is this not a HARD JOURNEY!?

It’s wearisome. It goes ever on and on. And as soon as you think you’ve matured, and got it down, or take 2 steps forward, you take another step back.

And let me tell you one of the reasons it’s so hard…

Becuase as the saying goes, “Old Habits die Hard.”

We think that as soon as we’re saved, it should all be easy. That sin should eliminated.

But remember, that’s just when the Work BEGAN.

Let me illustrate this in my own life.

For 18 years I lived every day of my life governed by my flesh. My old heart.

Lying, cheating, cussing, looking, drinking, angry outbursts, pride, selfish ambition, fear, anxiety, all of this was as easy for me as breathing. It was second nature. Unconcious.

But on July 3rd, 2007 HE BEGAN A NEW WORK IN ME, so that I may walk this road in newness of life.

But those old habits and propensities came with me.

They didn’t magically disappear. The work had only just began! It wasn’t completed.

So I have to learn how to walk in this newness of life, or as Paul instructs, Walk according to the SPIRIT not the Flesh.

But remember! You’re not alone!

It is he who will bring this walk to completion! It is HE who is Sanctifiying, who is assuring my progress.

Now this isn’t an excuse for laziness. When I have an outburst on the kids, I can’t throw my feet up and go, “well obviously God just hasn’t sanctified me.”

No its not passive. It’s actually an active partnership with God.

We’ll see this later in Philippians 2 but I wante you to look there with me really quickly.

Philippians 2:12–13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

As He works it in… I must work it out.

And this is what Paul prays. That they’d mature. They’d grow. They’d walk this journey and progress on the road that ever goes on and on.

And Specifically he prays they’d progress in love.

Love has always been the surefire measurement of Christian Maturity.

Not intellectual or cognitive knowledge.

INFORMATION alone never leads to Transformation!

For too long, Christians have measured their maturity by the number of Bible Studies, or scriptures memorized, or informational knowledge…

And I hate to say it, but so did the Pharisees.

But the sign of real progress, or sanctification is a growth in LOVE.

John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

But, Paul adds, “with knowledge and discernment.”

Our love must be informed.

And what strikes me here is that Paul doesn’t provide an object?

Like he wants us to grow in love more and more, with knowledge… but knowledge of what!?

Well it’s not a What, it’s a who.

Paul was an OT scholar. An OT Expert, and what he knew is that the whole law could be summarized in two aims:

Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love grows, as our knowledge of GOD grows.

Now the knowledge he’s praying here isn’t intellectual or cognitive. It’s the greek word Gnosko which insinuates a relational or experiential knowledge.

Nobody has every gotten a greater vision, and understanding, and experience of God and became less loving, because God is Love.

But a quick word on discernment.

It’s the word judgement, or insight.

It’s alluding to practical conduct.

Discernment gives light on how to live out our love and knowledge of God.

Discernment instructs us on how to apply love in the humdrum days of life.

Because love is extrordinarly practical. It is not base sentimality. Love is evidenced in obedience, but we need discernment in the face of various situations to know how God would want us to obey.

Love then is the measure of maturity, and Paul prays that they would aboudn more and more in love.

But listen, let me encourage you a moment.

if you do not love as you would like, or as you know God would want, that is not evidence of failure, but of immaturity.

It doesn’t mean you’re a bad Christian. Or unsaved. Or a failure.

It means you’re on the road that goes on and on.

Perfection will come at the lighted inn, on the day of Jesus Christ.

But between conversion and his coming again, we are on the road.

So what we are looking for is not perfection, but progression.

And that is true for me, and true for you. It’s true of all of us.

We are all in process. We are all journeying on the road that goes on and on.

You must accept this.

Because failure to accept this has been the downfall of many travelers.

Eugene Peterson, a lifetime Pastor, and spiritual mentor to me wrote the following:

Many people quit the church because they are impatient. They came to church, because they wanted to give God a try. So they jump in enthusiastically, or as our song says, “with eager feet.” Peterson continues, “But after 6 months they couldn’t see that anything had changed. They still woke up depressed on MOnday. Had spats with their spouses. Their kids had been to Sunday school every week but still weren’t behaving. So they quit the church. They had supposed that the new life would come quickly, suddenly, like a rabbit appearing miraculously out of a magician’s hat. But rarely in scripture do we find illustrations of magical change. The biblical modesl are mostly analogical to the growth of plants and people: slow, intricate, complex, YET SURE.”

How beautiful.

Peterson goes on to talk about sanctification, or abounding in love more and more is like the growth of children.

I can’t see my children growing. But over time, I see that they have grown.

It’s the same with our spiritual progress.

It’s not a microwave, but a marathon.

So don’t be ashamed, or feel condemned or compare yourself to others.

We are all in process.

Peterson concludes, “The bottom step in a staircase is neither better nor worse than the top step: It is good in its own right and a way of getting upstairs. What you are this morning is no occasion for despair or discouragement. It is the very place you are, and the very place God will begin completing the work of progress in your life.” End quote.

Step by step, on the road that goes on and on.

Conclusion

But as you climb those stairs, one day you’ll reach the top.

One day, this road that goes ever on and on will end, and with weary feet you’ll turn towards that lighted inn.

And there at the lighted inn, we will all with unveiled face will see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Paul’s prayer is that on that day, on the day when everything is complete. When we stand before the Lord.

His prayer is that on that day the Philippian church will have traveled well. That they will have progressed

So well that they will be Philippians 1:11 “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

For it all comes through HIM.

And it is all for HIM.

Communion

But as we close today I’d like for us to remember that it was HE who began it, and it is HE who will complete it.