Growing in participation Phil. 1: 3-11

As we continue in our study of Philippians, you may remember that last week we looked at the first 6 verses of chapter one and the subject of our message was partnership in ministry.  And this subject of partnership was presented in verse 3, which says, “in view of your participation in the gospel.”  Today we are going to build on that idea as we look at growing in participation.  Participation in ministry is the means of growth, it’s the means to our maturity in Christ, to become all that God intends us to be in Christ. I think that’s what Jesus was referring to when He said, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

In fact, in verse 6 Paul says that God’s plan is to complete in us that work that He began through the gospel.   God will  bring us to maturity through our  participation in the gospel.  In other words, as we are participating in the work of the gospel, God will work in us to complete us, to mature us, that we might bear the fruit of righteousness, until the day that Christ returns for His church, which is His bride. 

So in verse 7 Paul says it is only natural for me to feel confident and joyful about you because of your participation in the gospel.  Because, He says, you are all partakers of this grace with me.  Whether Paul was imprisoned, or defending the gospel, or testifying the gospel, whatever he was doing, the church at Philippi was participating in that as well.

Paul commends the church at Philippi because they are exemplary in their commitment to the furtherance of the gospel.  And so there should be an understanding on our part as we apply this passage to our lives, that this passage is based on the presupposition that the church is participating in the gospel.  Participation in the gospel is a prerequisite for the blessing of an abundant life.   And it was happening in Philippi. 

However, I don’t think that today in the church we are seeing participation in the gospel to the degree that it was happening in Philippi.  Today I feel that many modern churches are so far removed from the truth of the gospel that people in them can hardly even come to an understanding and acceptance of  salvation.  And even when they do come to salvation, then that’s as far as most church goers seem to want to go.

But Christianity isn’t supposed to stop with being forgiven, it doesn’t become dormant after receiving salvation.  Rather, salvation is merely the beginning of our Christian life.  That’s why it’s called the new birth.  We are given new life at salvation but that is merely the beginning.  But a lot of Christians want to stop right at forgiven, stop right at grace.  They want to stay in the breast feeding, new birth stage for the rest of their life. It’s nice and warm there, it’s comfortable there, and everything is supplied for you.  But God doesn’t want you to stay spiritually infantile, living in a world of self fulfillment and self gratification.   

God wants us to grow in maturity, to bear fruit.  And that happens when we  start living a life of sacrificial love towards others.  Participating in His work in the kingdom.  You’ve been given new birth?  Great!  Wonderful!  Now let’s start growing in maturity.  You’ve been saved?  Wonderful!  Now let’s get to work for the kingdom.  Once we are saved, God gives  us a job, a stewardship, He gives us responsibilities and He expects us to fulfill them.  And He has given us the Holy Spirit to live in us, to strengthen us and guide us and equip us in the work that He has given us to do.

Paul says I am only right in feeling this way about you, feeling confident about you,  because you are partakers of grace with me.  The church of Philippi’s deeds showed their commitment to the gospel.  They weren’t just giving lip service to God, but they were putting action to their faith.  And Paul is saying your participation in this grace is evidence that God is working in you.

Paul says these Philippians have given him great joy because of their participation in the gospel.  Paul planted this church in Philippi, and nothing gives a pastor more joy than to see his work, that is the people in the church, walking in the truth. The apostle John said something similar in 3 John 1:3  “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”  Notice, not just knowing the truth, but walking in the truth.  Not just lip service, but showing by their deeds.

See, love should not be just a one way street.  It’s not just God loving us, but us loving God by loving what He loves.  John tells us in 2 John that if we say we love God then we should love one another.  2John 1:6  You say you love God?  “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.”  And the commandment was to love one another as you love yourself.  That’s a tall order by the way.

Many Christians find great solace in thinking that God loves us.  And there should indeed be great comfort in  the assurance of God’s love towards us.  But many times I think we secretly imagine that God loves us because we are in fact so loveable. God loving us merely confirms to us that we are actually pretty lovable people after all.  But actually, the Bible tells us that  God loved us even though we are vile, wretched, unloving, selfish, prideful, hateful people who are actually unlovable.  

Have you ever taken a real inventory of your sins?  If we honestly saw our sin in the way a holy, righteous God saw them, then maybe we would have a more realistic idea of how onerous in God’s eyes our sin really is. God knows everything I have done, and everything I have even thought of.  Things I try to forget.  I know that no one could really love me if they really knew me. But I must remember that God knows me.  It takes a supernatural kind of love to forgive my sin, and yet still love me.

I guess I probably seem like the most unromantic person in the world to some of you.  I sometimes tend to be  critical of sentimental love and want to focus on the harder, more practical aspects of our relationship to God.  And I admit maybe I’m not as romantic as I could be.  But perhaps my excuse is that in so many cases I think man’s concept of modern love does such a disservice to God’s concept of agape love. 

Paul says in verse 8 that he longs for the church with the affection of Christ Jesus. In other words, Paul loved the church with the same kind of love Christ had for the church. We should all be familiar by now with Christ’s love for us;  He loved us so much that He gave up His throne in heaven, gave up all His glory, to suffer shame and reproach and even a horrific death on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and given new life.   We should all be familiar with that love by now, though we should never take it for granted.  And Paul says he has that kind of love for the church, the kind of love that Christ had, as Eph. 5:25 says “He gave himself up for the church.”  That’s Christ’s concept of love. He gave His life for us, because God loved us so much.

But then Paul gives us the other side of love, our side, what our love for Christ should look like.  It’s not enough that Christ loves us, but in a relationship love should be reciprocal.  Look at what our love is supposed to look like.  Vs. 9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and 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.”

One of the most beautiful love stories in the Bible illustrates the kind of love we are to have I think very well.  It is set in the time of Abraham and his son Isaac.  And when Abraham became old, he took aside his servant and told him to go to the land of Haran where Abraham was from and find a wife there for his son.  And Abraham gave him strict orders on how this should be done.  So the servant traveled many days to Abraham’s homeland and prayed that God would reveal the woman that would become Isaac’s wife.  And according to the prayer of the servant, when he arrived a beautiful young woman named Rebekah came out to draw water. The servant asked her for a drink, and in answer to his prayer the woman gave him a drink and then offered to water his camels as well. 

So the servant knew that this woman was the one that God had appointed for Isaac.  He went through the social customs of meeting the girl’s relatives, and then he stated his business.  He had come on behalf of his master Abraham to seek a wife for his son Isaac, and according to his prayer, Rebekah had been shown to be the chosen one of the Lord.  And so once he had explained how Abraham had sent him and who Isaac was and so forth they asked Rebekah if she would be willing to go with him to become the wife of Isaac. Gen 24:58  “Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go." The next day, the young woman packs up her things, leaves all that she knows,  her home and her family, and goes with the servant to the land of Abraham to become the wife of Isaac. 

And in the evening, Isaac goes into the fields to meditate and he sees the camel caravan coming. Gen 24:64   Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.  She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her veil and covered herself.  The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.”  What I find so amazing about this story is that Rebekah’s love for Isaac wasn’t based on a feeling.  It wasn’t even based on romance.  It was based on a commitment.  And faith in a promise.  Actually faith in God’s promise to Abraham.

It’s a beautiful love story, but there is more to it than just a love story.  Abraham is a picture of God the Father, and He was seeking a bride for His Son.  And so God sent his servants into the world to find the future bride of Christ.  And by the foreknowledge of the Father, a bride is found in accordance to His will.   And the servant, the prophets, the Apostles, the preachers of the Father’s word, present the gospel to this bride and ask, “Will you come to Christ?  Will you forsake the world, all that you hold dear and come to Christ to live with Him and serve Him for the rest of your days?”  And the church, the bride of Christ’s answer was “Yes, I will go.”  I’ll give up everything for the sake of Christ.  I Peter 1:8 says, “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

I hope you are a participant in that love story.  I hope that the truth of the gospel has grabbed hold of your heart, and in faith you have given your life to Christ. I hope you have forsaken the world and the things of this world for faith in another world promised by God for those that love Him.  And though you have never seen Him, you love Him.  And though you do not see Him now, yet you believe in Him, obtaining as the outcome of your faith your salvation of your soul.  And I hope because you love Him, you love what He loves and you keep His commandments. 

Over the years that I have been in ministry, I’ve  seen a lot of people come in and out of the church.  They come perhaps because they reached the point where life has left them cold.  They are in some crisis, or they are lonely, or they realize that there has to be something more and are seeking the truth.  And so they come to church like a person coming up to a campfire.  It looks warm and inviting, and they are cold and in need of comfort.  And so this person stands there next to the fire for a while, and they can feel the heat.  They like the way it looks, perhaps.  They are attracted for a while.  

But after a time, they are warm and the crisis passes, and they don’t feel quite so lonely now, and so they begin to drift away.  Once in awhile they feel a need to come back over to the fire and warm up again.  And that seems to be the pattern for their lives.  They come and go.  They sidle up to the fire from time to time and get a little of the glow, get a little of the warmth.  But they fail to recognize that true Christianity, mature Christianity, is not just warming up next to the fire once in a while, but tending to the fire.  Participation in that fire that serves as a light in the darkness, that offers comfort to the hurting, and hope to the lost.  We are called to lay down our lives in service for the brethren.  Even as Christ gave his life for the church, so should we. 

Vs. 9 again,  “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and 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.”  Note that true love for God results in growing in knowledge and discernment.  It comes from subjecting yourself to the teaching of the truth of God’s word.  It doesn’t result in a sentimental, skin deep, goose pimpled spirituality, but as we apply ourselves to the discipline of the gospel, in obedience to the gospel, then God gives us more and more knowledge through the scripture and the Holy Spirit gives us discernment in knowing truth from error.  So we preach a gospel here not based on sentimentality, or what you feel is right, or what I feel is right, or what our culture feels is right, or what society tells us is right.  But we preach the full gospel, which is able to give you discernment.

And as we are obedient, we gain discernment.   Folks, if there is one big, glaring deficiency in the church today it is discernment.  Most churches doctrine is a mile wide and an inch deep. We accept everything today.  We hold no fundamental beliefs anymore.  Like Eph. 4 says, we’re tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.  And the enemy knows we have no firm foundation and that we are ripe for the plucking.  

 Hebrews 5: 12 says  “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”   Notice a couple of important things about this verse.  They are not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  Isn’t that the case today in the church? People don’t know what the word says.  They just arbitrarily decide what’s appropriate or righteous based on what seems right to them, or what they may have seen on TV or a movie or read in a book.  But most can’t tell you what the scripture says.

And note another point.  Because of practice they have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  What does that mean?  It means that the mature are obedient to the things that God clearly shows in his word.  They practice what they preach.  To go back to what John said they walk according to His commandments.  They just don’t give lip service, they don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.  As they are obedient to the word, as they practice obedience, it trains them to recognize good and evil, truth and error.

V. 10, “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.”

You know what blameless means there in this scripture?  It comes from the Greek word “a pos kee poss”.  What blameless means is not causing others to stumble.  Not putting a stumbling block in front of others.  Not leading or causing others to sin.  We need to be practicing discernment so that we don’t cause another person to stumble.  Jesus said, there would be stumbling blocks in this world, but woe to that person whom through stumbling blocks should come.  It would be better for that person to be tied with a millstone around their neck and thrown in the middle of the ocean. 

And I’m afraid I’ve witnessed a lot of stumbling blocks in the church over the years.  Stumbling blocks are going to come, maybe they can’t even be helped.  But some of them come from men and women who should know better by now.  They should have been elders or deacons or teachers or preachers by now, but they are so self centered, so self focused, that they throw stumbling blocks here and there without any concern for how many people might fall because of their testimony.  But God will hold us accountable for being a stumbling block.

In closing, Paul says we are to be blameless, practicing what we preach, producing the fruit of a righteous life which results in bringing glory to God.    See, when we put on Jesus Christ, when we are not only clothed in His righteousness, but we are also practicing His commandments, when we are walking according to the Spirit of righteousness, when we are serving the body of Christ in agape love, then that kind of life brings glory to God.  We’re not to be about trying to bring glory to ourselves. But as John the Baptist said, He must increase, and I must decrease.  And as we learn to live as Christ lived, and love what Christ loved, and participate in His gospel and His church, then one day when we are ushered into His glory as the bride of Christ, we will share in His glory.  I pray that your life produces the fruit of righteousness, for that is the testimony to the unsaved world of our salvation, that leads our friends and neighbors to recognize the power of God to save and give new life. 

Eph 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,  to Him [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Partnership in ministry, Philippians 1:1-6

Well, after some deliberation I have decided to study this small book of Philippians on Sunday morning and I anticipate completing this book by the beginning of our summer season. One interesting thing about the book of Philippians is that it was most likely written when Paul was in prison in Rome.  At the end of the book of Romans, Paul was telling the Christians there that he was looking forward to coming to see them.  And yet I doubt that he had anticipated that God would bring him to Rome in chains.  Yet while he was in prison there, it’s believed that he wrote 4 of his epistles; Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. 

Yet if you look at most of the commentaries on Philippians you will notice that almost all of them say that the overriding theme of this book is joy.  And that is kind of ironic, isn’t it?  That Paul is bound in chains in Rome, more than likely continuously chained to a Roman guard, and yet he writes a book from prison the theme of which is joy.  And quite simply, the reason that Paul is able to write a book about joy, is because true joy is not connected to circumstances. 

That’s not necessarily true about happiness, by the way.  Happiness is related to happenstance; something happens whereby you become happy.  Then that circumstance passes and the happiness fades.   That’s one of the unfortunate phrases I think in the Declaration of Independence; “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  The pursuit of happiness can easily become an excuse for hedonism.  And I think that hedonism is a hallmark of American society today.  Yet I doubt that was the idea intended by the founding fathers.

Switchfoot has a song in which they say that happy is a yuppie word.  And I guess what they were trying to say was happiness is about self gratification.  Self serving.  And I suppose yuppies are essentially trying to find happiness in self gratifying materialism, the same way that hippies were trying to find happiness by rebellion against commercialism.  Some of you may have seen a movie the came out a number of years ago called The Pursuit of Happiness, based on a true story about a man who lived on the street in order to become a stockbroker at a prestigious firm so that he could make a lot of money.  And eventually through great sacrifice he did became a stockbroker and he made a lot of money.  But what was never really made clear through the movie was whether or not he ever really became happy.  He sacrificed everything for money, but I’m doubtful that it ever brought anything other than momentary happiness at best.

Joy, however, does not produce hedonism, and it is not necessarily tied to circumstances.  Joy is a state of being that Paul shows is tied to hope in Christ, in spite of adverse circumstances.  Even though he was in prison, Paul had joy in knowing that Jesus was using him for the furtherance of the kingdom of heaven.  He had the attitude that first and foremost, whatever circumstances he found himself in, God was in control and God would use it for good to them that love God and keep his commandments.  (Romans 8:28)  Joy comes from knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.  Joy is believing that there is a future and a hope laid up for you that will endure forever.  Joy is knowing that Christ is in you, He has saved you, and nothing on earth can separate us from God’s love. 

Now if you aren’t familiar with the history of Philippi, then I suggest you do some reading on your own starting in Acts chapter 16.  Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia.  You probably remember the story of Paul and Silas on their missionary journey there and how they were looking for any God fearing people and they found a small group of Jewish women praying on the Sabbath day by the river.  And the church was really started there when Paul converted these women and baptized them and Paul stayed in the home of Lydia. 

 

And then Acts tells us how Paul and Silas were followed around by a demon possessed girl and she constantly was crying out “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." And she annoyed Paul and when he finally had enough he commanded the demons to come out of this girl.  But certain men of the town had been making money off of this girl’s fortune telling, and so they weren’t happy about that and they had Paul and Silas arrested, beaten and thrown in jail.  And you will remember that in the middle of the night, Paul and Silas are chained in stocks, bleeding and beat up and they start singing hymns, and God sends an earthquake and the jail is shaken and the chains fall off and the doors opened.  And the jailor comes and sees this and thinks that the prisoners have certainly escaped and takes his sword to commit suicide, rather than face execution by the authorities.  And Paul cries out, “don’t do any harm to yourself, for we are all here.” Long story short, this jailor and his whole family becomes saved, baptized and are joined to this new church there in Philippi.  That was the dramatic beginning of this church and you can read more about it starting in Acts 16.

So now 20 years later, Paul is writing to this church at Philippi from yet another prison, this time in Rome.  And if we learn nothing else here this morning, it’s that God’s ways are not our ways. God can even use something like prison to bring about His purposes.  Some of Paul’s greatest achievements for the kingdom of heaven came while he was incarcerated.  So when you are facing whatever difficult circumstances that you may encounter, perhaps debilitating, maybe limiting your freedom, maybe painful, maybe causing you to be separated from what you might want to do, in whatever adverse circumstances you may find yourself, if you belong to Christ, then God can use you there in ways that you could never imagine, if you will only trust Him.  And you can have joy in knowing that God sees, and God knows, that nothing can separate you from the love of God, and God will reward your faithfulness.

Now my message today is found in these first six verses, and I have titled it “Partnership in Ministry.” Ministry is the calling of everyone here that has been saved.  It is what we were saved for;  to serve as Christ’s ambassadors or ministers to the world.  To serve the kingdom of heaven.  Ministry is not supposed to be just the profession of the pastor, but it’s supposed to be the occupation of every believer.  And as we look at this passage, I want to invite you to partner in ministry, by showing you the Privilege of ministry, the Participation in ministry, and the Plan of ministry.

Now it was typical in letter writing of that day to start off a letter with your name at the top rather than the way we do it today, signing off at the end.  And so Paul opens this letter with a greeting in verse 1, “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.”  And I think it’s noteworthy that Paul includes Timothy in this greeting.  Timothy is Paul’s understudy.  He says in chapter 2 that he hopes to send Timothy to them soon, and that no one else shares his concern for them like Timothy.  He said everyone else is seeking after their own interests, and not those of Christ.  So Paul selected Timothy because he had the right perspective; he was concerned about Christ’s interests not his own.  Contrast that with chapter 3:18.

Phl. 3:18 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”  To set your mind on earthly things is to be in opposition to the gospel of Christ.  Timothy was working for the gospel.  He was more concerned about Godly things than earthly things.  He knew his citizenship was in heaven. 3:20

Timothy understood the privilege of ministry.  He wasn’t grudgingly being obedient to God’s mandate to go out into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples, but he was willingly, even eagerly fulfilling his mission.  And Paul gives us some more insight into that motivation for the both of them.  He describes them as bond servants of Jesus Christ.  And a bond servant captures the idea of willing service.  Not obligatory, not under compulsion.  But willing service.

The concept of a bond slave comes from the OT passage in Exodus  21:5, where a slave was to be released after seven years of service.  And yet there was this provision in the law for that slave who did not wish to go free, but wanted to stay and serve his master because he loved him.  And for that slave, the master was to take an awl and punch his earlobe and place a ring signifying that he was a bond slave, and would now serve him forever.

So what that means is, Paul and Timothy considered it a privilege to serve Christ in ministry.  They had been given their freedom in Christ, but their response was to renounce man’s interests in favor of something far greater, something far more desirable, and that was the privilege of serving Christ.  There is no greater honor, no greater calling, nothing else that will bring lasting joy like serving the Lord. 

God has called you to be His ambassadors.  Imagine getting a call from the President of the United States, and he asks you to consider becoming an ambassador to a foreign country. Regardless of what you think of our present political situation, what a privilege to be considered worthy of representing the United States government to a foreign nation. But though our station may be in France or some other country, yet we are citizens of the USA.  We represent our nation.  That’s why in Romans 12 we were urged to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service of worship.  Considering all that Christ has done for us, we should be eager to serve Him as His ministers of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

And then secondly, Paul addresses his letter to the saints and overseers and deacons of Philippi.  What we should understand is that Paul puts the saints, that is the born again, saved members of the church at Philippi in the same category as the overseers and deacons.  An overseer can just be interpreted pastor, or pastors.  Paul is not making a distinction here between the clergy or the layman.  They are all involved in this ministry.  Everyone is to be included in the participation of this ministry.  There are no spectators in the ministry of the gospel.  We all have a part to play.

Then he says starting in vs. 2, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.”  

 I would like to make mention of a couple of side notes here.  He says grace and peace, and the order there is significant.  This familiar blessing he bestows on them always follows this order;  first grace, then peace.  Without the grace of God, there can be no peace with God.  And another note, this is a very typical Jewish blessing that was used in greetings.  But Paul inserts the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in there on the same level as God.  For a Jew, this would have been shocking.  Paul was stating the divinity of Jesus Christ by making Him on par with God.  John 1 says the Word became flesh.  God dwelt among us as one of us.  When the jailor asked “What must I do to be saved?” Paul answered, “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”  To believe God became flesh and died to take away our sins.  That’s what it means to be saved.  To know that God became flesh to take our place in death on the cross, that we might have life everlasting in Him.

So Paul is commending these Philippians for their participation in the gospel.  He’s saying I thank God for you, praying with joy for you all for your participation in the gospel.  You know, one of the mysteries of the gospel is that God wants us to participate with Him.  God could do it all by Himself.  But He has chosen us to participate with Him in presenting the gospel of the kingdom and making Him known to the world.  It’s a privilege to participate with God. 

But what does it mean to participate?  How do we do this?  Well, first of all, the example of Paul is that prayer is participation in ministry.  Praying for one another is commanded throughout the NT.  It is essential for the ministry.  It is essential for the other parts of the body. 1Ti 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Pray for one another and for the ministry.  This is another mystery.  We don’t know how it works or why it works, but we know God works through prayer.  So we participate through prayer.

And then another way we participate according to the example of the saints in Philippi is through provision.  Particularly, Paul is speaking of the many gifts that they had sent to him for the furthering of the gospel. Look at chapter 4:15 “You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”

Their participation that filled Paul with joy was their giving and sharing financially, their provision for his needs in the furtherance of the gospel.  Listen to what Paul has to say about these Philippians over in 2Cr 8:1 “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.” 

I want you to notice a couple of things about this giving and sharing.  First of all, it wasn’t because the Philippians had a bunch of extra cash laying around and wanted to get rid of some.  Rather Paul says it was out of the deepest poverty that they gave.  It reminds me of the widow Jesus spoke of in Luke 21:2 “And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them;  for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."  God doesn’t depend upon millionaires to participate in ministry. God depends upon everyday, ordinary, obedient people who will give even in their poverty, trusting in God to provide even beyond their physical ability. 

These Philippians, Paul said, looked at participation through giving as a privilege.  They eagerly participated.  The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver.  You know, we deliberately don’t talk much about money here because we want to avoid looking like that is all we care about.  Far too many churches make too big a deal out of giving.  We’re not going to pass an offering plate in front of your nose and watch  you to see what you do. We don’t want to lay a guilt trip on you. We would rather suffer if necessary than to make you feel like you’re obligated to give. 

 But let me tell you something;  it should be an honor to give.  The Bible says it is better to give than to receive. You should be looking for ways to participate.  And to the degree that you do, it is an indication of your spiritual worship.  Look at what Paul said in chapter 4, their gift was an acceptable sacrifice.  Yeah, it cost them something.  But God was pleased.  It’s the same language Paul uses in Romans 12; present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable act of worship.  Same idea.  Giving is a form of participation in the gospel. 

And then finally, consider God’s plan for your partnership in ministry.  Vs. 6; “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.”  Many of you may consider Jeremiah 29:11 your life verse.  It says, 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

God has a plan for your partnership with Him.  And He plans to bring it to completion.  That is what perfect means in vs. 6.  Not that we are going to be walking around as perfect Christians here on earth.  But that we are going to be completed according to the plan of God.  That as we are obedient to the call of God on our lives, as we are obedient to this ministry that He has chosen us for, He will conform us to His image.  As it says in Jude 1:24 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” 

That’s when our joy will be full.  When we stand before God and Jesus says, “I paid the penalty for this one Father with my blood.  He has been a faithful and true servant.  Welcome to the joy of your Master.  Enter into all that the Father has prepared for those that love Him.”  That’s going to be joy that will never fade away.  It will be worth it all, all life’s trials and disappointments.  All the sacrifices of the world’s kingdom  will be forgotten when we see the rewards in the kingdom of heaven. 

This promise gives us joy right now as we labor for the Lord in His kingdom.  We participate in ministry as partners with Christ.  What a privilege!  What an honor!  God will use my obedience and my service to Him to complete me, to sanctify me.  To mold me into the image of Jesus Christ.  And so I should eagerly seek participation in this ministry of the gospel.  The zeal for God’s house should consume me.  All that I counted as significant in my life here on earth, Paul said, I now count it as loss, count it but rubbish, that I might gain Christ. 

Yes, happiness may be a yuppie word.  But joy is a godly word.  And there is no greater joy than serving Jesus.  I urge you to follow the example of Paul and Timothy and serve the Lord as a bond slave for the rest of your days here on earth, praying for the ministry, concerned for the saints,  joyful in the privilege of serving the Lord.  And I urge you to follow the example of the Philippians, as they begged for an opportunity to participate with the furtherance of the gospel, giving out of even extreme poverty and difficulties.  I urge you to yield yourself to the plan of God, fully and completely giving yourself as a living sacrifice in partnership with God’s ministry, knowing that God will complete you, perfect you, and establish you in His kingdom and in the day of Jesus Christ, present you faultless with great joy before God the Father.  Amen.