Philippians 1:1-11 A Prayer of Joy

Key Verse

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Paul and Timothy greet the Saints.

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Saints are those who are possessed by Christ.

Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

I am not talking about demonic possession you know hebie geebie stuff I am talking about you belong to Christ twice. Once because He created you next because He purchased you back on Calvary. You belong to Jesus. But Christ does take up residence in your heart. He leaves you the autonomy of free will, but the longer we know Him the more we yield control to Him. It is the best when we allow Christ to control us.

Christ lives in the heart of the saints.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Have you prepared your heart for Christ. A few weeks ago we talked about the two upper rooms in the bible. Jesus was given no room for him in the inn in bethlehem and then there was the upper room in jerusalem in that room the room was fully furnished and prepared for the LORD that day. Is your heart fully furnished and prepared for the LORD to take up residence. Have you welcomed Him in.

May God grant you Grace and Peace.

Philippians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wants the saints to have grace and peace, that should be what we all want for each other. That is what the church should be about. This group of believers the people that are here should allow you to find grace and peace from God’s Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the source of Grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Grace is God giving us that which we don’t deserve, but I think that Grace is so much more than any of us appreciate. It is the gift of salvation, it is the power of prayer, it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is the hope of heaven, it is the joy found in Jesus. It is the fellowship of the saints. It is all this and more. I am telling you we don’t none of us truly appreciate how good we have it living the age of grace. I don’t think it depends on where or when you were born or what family you have. It’s all about grace. In March there was a terrible earthquake in Myanmar. I read an email from our missionary there and he described the situation in which they find themselves in. COVID (yeah we had that but we whined, the world suffered), a coupe, rapid inflation, civil war that continues with bombs falling all around almost nightly, devasating floods, and then an earthquake that killed 10,000 people. Water part of the day and living on the blessing of solar power that they don’t own which provides them water for an hour or two a day. You want to know his response. We are good because God is good. It makes me want to holy smack myself and all of us when we complain about trivial things. Some people hear that and they think Pastor doesn’t want to hear my problems absolutely not. I am talking about people complaining about trivial things. WHICH WE ALL DO! Myself included. The internet goes down for an hour and it is inconvient. GRUMBLE COMPLAIN! Forget it Embrace the grace don’t grumble GONGYZO is the greek word for complain. And Chuck Swindoll often says that word sounds like what it means to grumble,

Saints should let Christ be their peace.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Grace and Peace. You know what I want for you to embrace the grace the joy of Jesus, and the peace of God that passes all understanding. It has been a rough year for some of you. Have you found the peace of God through it all. Some people get anxious, others let the peace of God rule in their heart. CHOSE PEACE.

I thank God for you.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

What saints are you thankful for. Right them right there in your Bible. Right them on your notes sheet. Let the list go long. Some times it may be spiritually theraputic to just sit down and right out the people that God has put in your life to benefit you and be a source of grace and peace in your life. Look at that list often, thank them often and remember the goodness of God

I am praying for you with all joy.

Philippians 1:4–5 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,

When you look at that list. Pray for them. Think about them with all JOY!!! I hope that when saints come to your mind it fills your hearts with joy. I know that some people are like porcupines. Find joy even in the porcupines and the saints let them fill you will the joy of jesus. You want to know one that comes to mind. Kent Garringer. Man that guy gives hugs! I am not a hugger. I try to be when I need to be, but I am not a good hugger. BUT Kent WOW that guy know how to give a marine hug. I tell you what I could be in a tizzy like I tend to, but then there’s kent. His hug will put a smile on my face and the joy of jesus in my heart. You have to have your own person who brings you JOY! Pray for the list and remember the joy of Jesus that they brought to your life/

God is still working on you.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Are you confident that Jesus is working on you? If you have arrived, why are you here? If you are going backwards or remaining stagnant that is a problem. I don’t think that I am the same person I was a year ago, and I have a long way to go. God is working on you. When is he going to complete it the day of Christ.

The Day of Christ vs The Day of the LORD.

The Day of Christ is the Rapture of the Church.

1 Corinthians 1:4–8 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a day of rejoicing for the church it is what we are looking forward for it is a wonderful day when the bride meets the groom. It is a day of rejoicing when the bride will be ready, the home will be ready and we will the church will finally be united with our Savior

The Day of Christ is for the Church.

John 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

The Rapture is a wonderful day for the church.

The Rapture is our blessed hope.

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

The rapture is for the church, we don’t know when it will happen it could happen at any moment. In a moment in a twinkling of an eye. No warning, but all of the sudden we will be with the Savior.

On the day of Christ we will finally be who we should be.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

I love the verse of that song THAN WE SHALL BE WHAT WE SHOULD BE THAN WE SHALL BE WHERE WE WOULD BE. He’s working on me, but He is preparing the finished product. Our hope is that heaven is coming and we need to keep on sharing the gospel.

The Day of the LORD is for Israel and the World.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

The day of the LORD is something all together different than our blessed hope and glorious appearing. It is similar in the fact that it will come suddenly and as a surprise. I don’t know how considering how often the Bible tells us about it, but it is going to happen that way. All I can say is look at Christ’s first coming when He rose again even though he warned everyone repeatedly and overtly people were still like UUHHH what just happened.

The Day of the LORD is very different than the Day of Christ.

Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

Have you ever read the end of Revelation when Jesus comes riding on the white horse, I like to use Daniels words riding on the clouds and he destroys the nations of the world that oppose him. The Day of Christ is all about heaven, the day of the Lord is about Christ return to earth.

Grace is greater than any chains.

Philippians 1:7–8 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

I have you Christian in my heart. Right hear! CHAINS can’t change that. People who think that things are bad have the worst case of contemporary bias I can think of. We as Christians meet once a week for Pie. Paul wishes he could just touch the hand of the believers in Philippi just for a moment. He has raw wrists and speaks of the greatness of the grace of God. and we complain gongýzō about the person in front of me isn’t dressed right or I don’t like the way they pray out loud. COME ON, EMBRACE THE GRACE! Jesus is coming we have grace and peace. We are going to spend eternity with these people Love them, have the joy of Jesus, OR gongýzō

Dr Bill Lawrence from Dallas Theological seminary said Happiness is based on happenings joy comes from relationships most importantly the relationship you have with Jesus Christ. Paul hasn’t seen these Christians in ten years but the thought of these people brings him genuine real joy. He embraced the grace

Love, Knowledge, and Discernment

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,

Paul prays that you will know these things Love knowledge and discerment that you will have those things in your heart and that they may about.

The Love of Christ should abound in our church.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Real Love Agape Love not a self serving love but the love of God

Saints should strive to gain more knowledge of a Holy God.

2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

What is that Day, it is the day of Jesus Christ and we need to know our God and be persuaded about the power he has in our life

Discernment is the ability to examine or test things that are different.

As the Day of Christ approaches chose excellent things.

Philippians 1:10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,

Think about excellent things.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Think about His grace, think about heaven, let the day of Christ be your motivation. Let the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Until He returns, bear fruit.

Philippians 1:11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

You chose, ripe fruit or rotten fruit.

Galatians 5:19–22 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

What kind of fruit are you producing? If Christ were to call us to glory, what kind of fruit would you offer?

Interesting you remember the story of Cain and Able? Cain offered His own fruit. God said BLAH

Able offered the Lamb, accepted.

At the end of His life Jesus discussed bearing fruit and he said in order to bear fruit you have to be grafted to the vine, you have to be living breathing follower of God not dead in your trespasses and sins

Embrace the Grace!

Romans 6:22–23 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus is coming soon. Are you His saint? Is He working on you? Do you have His joy, peace, grace, and love? Are you bearing Fruit? The day is coming are you ready? Today you can prepare your heart.