Poems & Sermons

From time to time people have requested that I publish sermons and poems, and so I decided to publish them on my website for others to read.

Poems   

In Psalm thirty-eight and at verse eighteen,

King David confessed that he was unclean.

He looked up tearfully into God’s face,

And took a shower in God’s cleansing GRACE!

“For I will declare mine iniquity,”

Said David in repentant honesty.

He said, “I will be sorry for my sin.”

And God forgave him and cleansed him within.

We also need to confess our own lust,

How selfish we are and so covetous.

Our love of money, our envy and greed,

As God’s forgiveness, we sincerely plead.

Our love of popularity, our pride,

Our anger and laziness, hard to hide.

Our sinful condition with which we’re cursed,

Born with the nature demanding “ME-first”!

I need to pray in humble honesty: 

“For I will declare my iniquity;

I will also be sorry for my sin," 

And seek God's mercy to cleanse me within.

Like Psalm thirty-eight and at verse eighteen,

I also confess that I am unclean.

I will look up into God’s loving face,

Cleansed in the shower of HIS perfect GRACE!

SERMONS
The most recent sermon is first, and earlier sermons follow after it.  Since my series in Philippians usually ends with suspense, I will endeavor to provide the next sermon on Thursdayafter I preach it on Wednesday night. That way if you cannot be present to hear it in Chapelon Wednesday night, you can still read it here on Thursday afternoon. 

                   "CONTENTMENT—LIVE OR DIE"

                      #4 in the Philippians Series

                       Philippians 1:21‑30  11/2/2011  

Have you ever been in a situation when

       you didn’t know if you would live to tell about it?

The last time we met, I was telling you about the time when

       I didn’t know if I would meet anyone again on this earth.

Our ship in the South Pacific, the S. S. Australis, was on fire.

I was telling you about my seeing the captain

       up on the bridge of the ship peering through his binoculars.

I wondered if he could see any other ship

       or any help on the way!

The 2007 passengers assembled on the outer decks,

       ready to abandon ship if necessary.

I knew then that if I survived,

       I would be telling about that experience

              the rest of my life.

Most of you guessed that I survived.

What you don’t know is what I SAW

       as I arrived on the outer deck.

That’s because I left you in suspense at that point.

I was in suspense too at that point when it happened.

I didn’t know what would come next.

We saw no ships or airplanes, no evidence of any help.

What I DID see flooded my heart with thanksgiving.

I saw the LIGHT beginning to break over the eastern horizon.

I did not think of Hank Williams coming into Montgomery

       and seeing the lights of the city, and writing the song,

              ♫ “I saw the light!”  J

Sweet Alabama was not on my mind in those days.  J

But I saw the SUNRISE at SEA,

       and I saw the waves, choppy but not TUMULTUOUS.

I believe to this day that

       had there been a storm that morning

              in ADDITION to the fire, I would NOT be here now,

                     unless we could have survived in the little life boats.

It looked like a long way down the side of that huge ship.

I prayed, “Lord, I would really rather not have to go down

       into one of those life boats.”

But if we had to go down into the water,

       I was thankful that at least

              we would be able to SEE because it was dawn

                     and because the water wasn't too rough.

I didn’t see any sharks either, but I looked!

My gratitude that we had light and could see in that situation

       saturated my consciousness, squeezing out fear.

I was simply FULL of thanksgiving.

I was at peace.

I felt what we shall hear the Apostle Paul say in a moment,

       that "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Paul was CONTENT to live for Christ on earth OR

       to LEAVE this life to LIVE with Christ forever.

It is comforting to know that God DOES give peace to His people

       when life itself hangs in suspense.

Tonight we note how the Apostle Paul was thankful

       to go on living on earth, for he had a job to do,

              but he was also willing to die and go to be with Christ.

In either case he would be thankful and content.

The two—thanksgiving and contentment—go together.

I wanted to go on living and for my three children with us

       on the deck to go on to have longer lives than that,

              but I was content with the thought that we would all

                     go up to heaven if the ship went down.

This 21st verse of Philippians, chapter 1,

       is one of the famous verses of Scripture.

              "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

That one dozen monosylables is worth your memorizing.

No big words; just one big truth.

This verse is so fragrant that it is like a flower

       from which we should linger and suck the honey

              before buzzing off.

The NIV doesn’t give you the clue that the KJV does

       even though it uses exactly the same 12 words.

The KJV doesn’t include a comma that the NIV does, and

       the original Greek has only 9 words, not 12.

The KJV shows you what words have been added

       by putting them in italics.

The NIV doesn’t do that for you.

The word "IS" does not occur in the original as God inspired it.

What Paul really said was, “For to me to live / Christ,

                                          and to die / gain."

That doesn't come across clearly in English.

We need the two verbs.

Don’t worry about the math; it is right:

       9 Greek words become 12 English words,

              even though  only 2 verbs are added:

                     “For to me to live IS Christ, and to die IS gain.”

12 words.

The idea here is that we are to live CHRIST.

We need Christ in our life, living HIS life THROUGH us.

In that condition, even DYING is gain.

How?

Well think about that word "GAIN."

If you have a $100 and you make a 100% GAIN on it,

       how much do you have?

Tell me.

I don't want to have to do ALL of the thinking around here.  J

How much?

$200.

Good mathematics!

Now let's see how you are in AGRICULTURE.

Follow me now.

If you raise 100 bushels of CORN to the acre

       (that’s not much, at least not inIowawhere I was born)

              but if you put chemicals on your land

                     and increase the yield by 100%,

                           how much will you raise then?

You say 200 bushels? 

200 bushels of WHAT?

200 bushels of CORN.

Good! -  We’ve got a congregation of

       FINANCIERS and AGRICULTURALISTS.  J 

Now let's see what kind of THEOLOGIANS you are.  J

If you have CHRIST living in you, and you die,

       what is your GAIN?   …….

You know more about dollars and corn than about Christ? L

No, I slid into that too fast for you.

This is what I am getting at.

GAIN always means MORE of the SAME THING.

If you have a 100% gain on a $100 dollars

       you are not talking about more corn or oranges or apples.

You are talking DOLLARS.

If you have a gain on bushels of CORN,

       you are talking about more CORN.

So when we say, "to live CHRIST, and to die GAIN,"

       we are saying that to LIVE Christ,

              then to die is MORE of CHRIST!

Do you see that?

To die is to go to BE WITH HIM, much MORE INTIMATELY,

       to ENJOY Him more FULLY,

              to KNOW Him much BETTER,

                     and for much LONGER—for ETERNITY.

We have a lot of respect for John Calvin

       for the system of doctrine

              he taught us from Scripture.

How did Calvin do when it came time to die?

Do you know?

Just before he died, he wrote these words to a friend: 

"My respiration is difficult, and

       I am about to breathe the last gasp,

              happy to live AND die in Jesus Christ,

                     who is GAIN to all His children in life and death."

I hope I can remember that when

I get short of breath some day.

Verse 22:  “If I am to go on living in the body,

this will mean fruitful labor for me.  

 Yet what shall I choose?  I do not know!”

Joseph Parker, a great preacher who was contemporary

       with Charles Spurgeon, wrote,

"The Christian religion is the best religion to DIE in,

       simply because it is the best religion to LIVE in....

To enjoy the Christian's DEATH

       we must live the Christian's LIFE."

That’s what Parker said, and I say:

       to be able to laugh at the LAST enemy—DEATH—

              we need to learn how to laugh

                     at our PRESENT enemy—the DEVIL—

                           as he tempts us all through our earthly life.

Paul recognized that he had work to do,

       for he was called to be a missionary to the Gentiles.

Consider how the Apostle Paul was a light to the Gentiles,

       yet it was not his OWN light

              but Christ's light that shone through Him.

When Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ,"

       it was like saying, "to me, to SHINE is Christ."

It's not so much that we REFLECT the light of Christ

       as it is that we allow His light to shine out THROUGH us.

Buffalo,New Yorkis lighted by the power

       that comes from Niagara Falls.

Every light at night that blazes in that city says,

       "To me, to shine isNiagara."

Apart from that power it could not shine.

So also apart from Christ neither Paul, nor we, could shine.

Verse 23:  "I am torn between the two:  I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;”
      

One time George Whitefield, the renown Calvinist

       whose preaching caused great revival inEngland,

              was discussing the burdens he was facing.

He was weary, but he was with his friends,

       so he let down his hair so to speak

              (although I hate that expression J ) 

                     and he said he was glad that in a short time

                           his work would be done,

                                  and he could depart and be with Christ.

All of his friends who were present that night

       agreed to having the same feeling, except one.

Whitefield addressed him, "Well, Brother Tennant,

       you are the oldest man amongst us;

              do you not rejoice to think that your time

                     is so near at hand when you will be called home?"

Mr. Tennant bluntly answered that he had NO WISH ABOUT IT.

He added, "I have nothing to do with death.

My business is to live as LONG as I can, and as WELL as I can,

       and serve my Master as FAITHFULLY as I can,

              until He shall think proper to call me home."

It proved to be a spiritual tonic

       for the weary servants of the Lord that evening.

It is a good word for US too.

We are NEEDED by others here, as Paul was needed

       by the Philippians and others of HIS day.

Verses 24-25:  “but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.  Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,”

Paul wanted to stay alive in order to be able to continue

helping the Philippians and others.

This is like a Christian parent who fights some fatal disease

       to stay alive so as to be able care for the children.

It would be EASIER to die, and go to heaven;

       but that parent is still needed on earth.

That's how Paul felt too.

Before we leave this verse, I don't want you to miss the little word

       "joy" that bubbles up here in the phrase, "joy of faith."

JOY is the key word of this epistle.

Paul was cultivating their faith,

       and such faith will produce joy.

I am glad that this congregation

       is not allergic to joyful faith.

I never wanted any church I served

       to be grumpy, long-faced, “severe” people

              who take the fun out of church.

Verse 26:  “so that through my being with you again

your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow

   on account of me.

Surprisingly, the word "joy"

       is not a good translation here!

The word is kauchma, which means "boasting or glorying."

Thus the ESV translates it,

“so that in me you may have ample cause to GLORY

 in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

And the Today's English Version translates it,

"So when I am with you again you will have even more reason to be PROUD of me, in your life in Christ Jesus."

I have known some Christians who have been super‑sensitive

       about the use of the word "pride," and the word "praise."

They think it wrong to say, "I am PROUD of you," or

       "I am PROUD to be an American,"

              and similarly they think it wrong

                     to PRAISE anyone for doing a good job.

They feel that is robbing GOD of HIS praise.

Their MOTIVATION is good, but

       it is simply a case of a LITTLE knowledge

              BLURRING the BALANCE of their perspective.

Of course, the Lord deserves our UNPARALLELED praise.

None of us has anything we did not RECEIVE from God

       except our SINS.

But the plain fact is that the inspired Apostle Paul

       DID speak of the Philippians being proud of him,

              and he WANTED them to be.

And Paul DID write to the Christians inCorinth,

       "I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.”

It isn't wrong to praise people,

       in the sense of expressing sincere APPRECIATION

              and APPLAUDING their worthy endeavors

                     and ENCOURAGING them to continue such work.

It isn't wrong to praise your CHILDREN when they do WELL.

It IS wrong to FAIL to give such

       verbal expression of APPROVAL and ENCOURAGEMENT.

Time was when if I said something good about the choir,

       I'd get a note telling me I shouldn't do that.

I haven't received any such note from folks here

       when I have said something about about our choir,

              but everybody KNOWS that there's not any member

                     of our choir that can SING.... J 

                           APART FROM God's ENDOWMENT.

Let me FINISH the SENTENCE!  J

I'm giving a dose of Biblical antibiotic now,

       lest there be any virus incubating around here—  

              the virus I call "sourpussillus."  J

It's produces an expression on people's faces that makes them

       look as if they had been baptized in LEMON JUICE.  J

We THANK God first and foremost;

       and THEN we can also thank His people.

We PRAISE God first and foremost;

       THEN we can also appreciate His people and tell them so.

We are PROUD of God first and foremost;

       THEN we can also be proud of His people.

All of this is part of a joyful faith.

We don’t assume that God is jealous of His children

       and doesn't want to catch them cracking a SMILE

              or being HAPPY.

Especially not in CHURCH!  J

I don’t like Pharisaical, long-face religiosity

       that drives good-natured people away

              and discourages the lost from coming to church.

27.  “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.”

This is our last verse for tonight.

Paul was exhorting the Philippians

       to remain stedfast in the faith.

Whether Paul could eventually come to them or not,

       they are to behave as CITIZENS of the Kingdom.

Philippiwas a Roman colony, which means that

       it was a bit of Rome on foreign soil.

The people of Philippilived under Roman law.

Some of his readers were Roman citizens.

So Paul uses this metaphore, as if to say,

"Some of you are citizens of Rome, the imperial city; 

       live, all of you, as citizens of your heavenly country,

              the Kingdomof God."

 Let us never become a cold, dull, joyless congregation.

Keep what you’ve got! 

The world needs what you have.

Dothan needs what God has given you.

Paul spoke of standing firm.

You may say, "Pastor Bob, how can we live

       as citizens of heaven,

              since we are very imperfect people.

We have a lot of faults."

Oh?

God sees you in CHRIST, and declares you

       perfect IN CHRIST;

In ourselves, of course, we are only forgiven sinners.

Let me explain.

When I was an oboist in the Sioux City Symphony,

       I was not a PERFECT musician.

But I was expected, as far as I was able,

       to CONDUCT myself as a MUSICIAN.

If I made a mistake I didn’t to throw my music on the floor  J

       or ask the conductor to play a different piece of music.  J

A student does not become a perfect musician over night

       anymore than an acorn because an oak over night,  

              but there is a PROCESS going on as each

                     holds fast to its purpose.

Paul was urging the Philippians, with or without him,

       to continue to grow in the faith as citizens of heaven.

I close with this.

One Sunday in my former Church my organist had a shock.

I announced the opening hymn, and our pianist

              began the introduction as usual.

Everyone stood up, ready to sing the hymn,

       ♫ "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee."

But a little drama was going on among our musicians.

The organist discovered that the hymn

       was MISSING from her hymnal.

Since she had no MUSIC, she quickly thought of alternatives.

She could get up and go get a hymnal from the pew.

That would be distracting, and people would be watching HER,

       because our organ was in front.

Or she could just sit there like a dummy and do nothing.

The people might wonder why she wasn't playing.

Or she could try to play it by EAR but the mistakes     

       would be even more distracting to EVERYBODY.

Not all musicians can play as well by ear as our John Mark Wilson.

Besides most organists prefer to use their FINGERS and

       their FEET rather than their EARS!  J

A fourth alternative didn’t even OCCUR to her.

She could have stood up and yelled, “Hey!

       I don't have any MUSIC!"

What SHOULD she do?

What DID she do?

She didn't do ANY of THOSE things.

She CONDUCTED herself as a MUSICIAN.

But WHAT she did will probably SURPRISE you.

It surprised ME!

Since our time is up tonight, I’ll finish THAT story NEXT week.

               "GOAL-ORIENTED ENTHUSIASM"

                      #3 in Philippians Series 

D303 Philippians 1v13    September 28, 2011

Philippians 1:12‑21  

Last week when our time was up we were about to read

       the Last Will and Testament of Henry J. Heinz,

              the founder of the famous "57 Varieties." 

That Christian businessman pioneered and promoted

       the Pure Food and Drug Act, which was adopted in 1906,

              and he ran his business as a Christian should.

When he died in 1919, he put his testimony into his Will.

Harold Wiggins used to say that he noticed

       that no matter how softly a lawyer spoke,

              people always listened attentively

                     to the reading of a Will.

Mr. Heinz’s will began like this:

"Looking forward to the time when my earthly career will end, I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will,

as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Saviour.  I also desire to bear witness

to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ.  This legacy was left me by my consecrated mother, a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained."

Mr. Heinz found a way to witness for Christ even in death. 

Tonight we see how the Apostle Paul found a way

       to witness for Christ even in chains. 

He witnessed to his guards who were chained to him,

       a new soldier rotating every four hours,

              and who knows how many different soldiers

                     he witnessed to in the course of the two years

                           he was in that situation. 

Verse 13 is his testimony as to its result:

“As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole

palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.”

The “palace guard” refers to the Praetorian Guard. 

In Acts 28:20, Paul speaks of himself

       as being bound with a chain.

That term refers to the short length of chain

       by which the wrist of a prisoner was bound

              to the wrist of the soldier who was his guard,

                     so as to prevent escape.

Now get the picture. 

Paul had been delivered to the captain of the Praetorian Guard,

       to await trial before Caesar. 

He had been allowed to arrange a private lodging for himself;

       but night and day in that private lodging

              there was a soldier to guard him,

                     a soldier to whom he was chained all the time. 

In the long 2 years of waiting for his day in court,

       one by one the soldiers of the Imperial Guard

              were on duty with Paul.

This Praetorian Guard had been a body of 10,000 picked troops

              instituted by Caesar Augustus. 

They came to be the Emperor's private bodyguard. 

They were concentrated in Rome, the capital of the empire.

These elite soldiers heard Paul talk to his friends day by day. 

No doubt Paul spoke with those soldiers  

       who were chained to him day to day,

              and what else would he talk about than Christ. 

His imprisonment opened the way for preaching the Gospel

       to the finest regiment in the Roman army. 

No wonder Paul declared that his imprisonment

       had actually advanced the Gospel. 

Thus the Gospel even penetrated Caesar's household.

And this in turn gave the brethren at Philippi,

       when they heard about it, fresh courage

              to witness for Christ and preach the Gospel.

That’s what we read in verse 14:

“Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

There is something else about his imprisonment

       that advanced the salvation of souls,

              and that was the time it gave him

                     to dictate what we now call the "Prison Epistles."

They are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. 

Had he been out busily planting Churches,

       would he have had the time

              to write these great portions of Scripture? 

Of course, God inspired those books,

       and God arranged providentially

              for Paul to have the time, while imprisoned. 

Thus doing the will of God where he was,

       Paul was full of joy and deep satisfaction.

I heard a story of a wealthy man

       who wanted to be buried in his Mercedes. 

His wishes were carried out. 

Dressed in tuxedo, and seated in his shiny Mercedes,

       he was lowered by a crane into his final resting place. 

One of his rich buddies at the Funeral was so impressed

       with this display of opulence, that he exclaimed,

              "Man, that's really living!"  J 

I don't think so.  J  Do you?

Tomorrow you will go to your place of work. 

You won’t be in chains, but it may SEEM like it at times. 

Know that God's providence is at work in your life too. 

Go to work for God's glory. 

Do your best work for the Lord.

Heinz did as Pickle King of the nation originally,

       and then as Ketchup King of the world!

And he gave glory to Jesus, His Savior, in life and in death.

So did Paul in his situation.

In Philippians 4:22, as he is closing this letter, he says,

“All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household.”

That is probably a reference to those members

       of the Praetorian Guard whom the Lord

              had drawn to Himself through the witness of Paul.

Paul had another affliction besides being a prisoner. 

It was a problem caused by other believers,

       even preachers of the Gospel. 

We see it in verse 15. 

It’s a sad verse.  Here it is:

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.”

Paul is thankful that Christ is being proclaimed,

       even though some of that preaching

              was not motivated by proper motives. 

None of these people to whom Paul refers

       is preaching a false Gospel. 

They ARE preaching Christ, but they are motivated

       by envy and rivalry. 

There was a Church in Rome before Paul arrived there,

       and certain preachers in Rome had attained

              some prominence among the brethren. 

With the arrival of Paul and the attention he was getting,

       they may have become envious. 

It irked them that people were always quoting Paul.

Also, with Paul in prison, some felt that this was

       a good opportunity to advance their own influence.

This was their chance to enhance their own prestige

       and to undermine Paul's influence, while he was in prison.

And how does Paul feel about this? 

Is he angry? 

No, we will see when we get to verse 18, that

       he is simply glad that Christ is being preached.

There is a second group of preachers to whom Paul refers

       who were preaching the Gospel from the motive of good will. 

They loved Paul. 

They did not resent Paul's authority

       nor were they envious of his gifts and honor.

The next two verses tell about that.

“The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.”

The envious preachers have selfish motives. 

They proclaim Christ, but not sincerely. 

It was not their message that was faulty,

       but their motivation. 

Nevertheless, they did preach Christ,

       and Paul overlooks what was antagonistic to him personally,

              and appreciates that Christ is being proclaimed.

We are about to see another ingredient

       in Paul's amazing happiness. 

Paul had the ability to look at the END

       as well as the BEGINNING of things. 

This is a practical ingredient in our recipe for happiness. 

The bud of our present trouble may not be beautiful,

       but the flower that utimately blooms from it will be. 

The hymn writer expressed that same trust in God's providence

       when he pointed us to the black clouds overhead

              and said that they are‑‑

                     "Big with mercy and will break

                           With blessings on our head."

Paul had this ingredient of happiness in his life

       which we might call "goal‑orientation." 

His goal was the glory of God. 

He looked beyond his present difficult circumstances

       to see how they would turn out to advance the Gospel. 

We see this superbly expressed in the next verse, the 18th.

“But what does it matter?  The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.  And because of this I rejoice.  Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,”

This was Paul's GOAL:  that Christ be preached. 

People are like bicycles. 

They need to be moving forward or they tip over. 

My son Mark even learned to ride a unicycle when he was a kid. 

We had some damaged furniture to prove it. 

He really got quite proficient at it, though. 

I doubt that he could do it anymore, but he IS still goal‑oriented.

And his daughter Jennifer has learned it from him.

She is now in Katmandu in Nepal, as a missionary in training.

Paul was goal oriented. 

This ingredient goes hand in hand with ENTHUSIASM. 

When we are enthusiastic about reaching a goal,

       we will be tolerant of temporary problems along the way.

Jennifer, for instance, spent 40 hours just traveling

       to get to Katmandu.

She could put up with that, for the sake of the goal she has.

You may know the old poem about Katmandu.

There’s a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu,

There’s a little marble cross below the town;

There’s a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,

And the Yellow God forever gazes down.

The poem was was set in Nepal ("to the north of Kathmandu").

It tells the tale of a wild young officer known as "Mad Carew",

who steals the "green eye" of a "yellow god"

(presumably an emerald in the golden idol),

which missing the emerald is why it’s ONE-eyed.

Jennifer isn’t there to learn poetry, or find the emerald,

       but her goal is to proclaim Christ to ends of the earth.

This is the TOLERANCE that is born of ENTHUSIASM. 

Because Paul is so enthusiastic about Christ,

       and about spreading the Gospel to all he can reach,

              he is tolerant of those who don't like HIM personally

                     or who are jealous of him or are glad he is in prison

                           so that they can take over his work. 

He is tolerant of them because

       of his all‑consuming enthusiasm for Christ.

Paul does not begin to pity himself

       because of these jealous preachers. 

He does not indulge in a pity party, saying to himself

       and to his guards to whom he was chained,

              "Here I am a prisoner, and all these jealous preachers

                     can think about is their own popularity." 

What kind of a witness would that have been? 

No, sir! 

He forgets self and thinks Christ. 

What matters for Paul is that the Gospel is being preached

       and Christ is being proclaimed.

I want that kind of attitude in my ministry. 

When I moved to Kansas I served a Church

       that grew to over 1200 members. 

We put in a beautiful pipe organ, with piccolo stops

       and trumpet-enchamad horizontal pipes.

We remodelled the Church to seat over 1,000 people,

       and had more than a 1,000 in attendance

              when we dedicated it.

Later, I came into the Presbyterian Church in America,

       and I had to compete in a way with the very Church

              I had poured so much energy into building up. 

I told my wife, "If I had done less in my former congregation,

       I would have less competitition from that Church now. 

If I hadn't helped them get so many nice things,

       like bells from the tower, new hymnals,

              and preached the Gospel in such a way as to grow

       that congregation into an evangelical, Bible‑believing Church,

              WE woul d now have the only

                     live Presbyterian Church in town." 

But I never regretted building up the other Church. 

I did not consider my years there as wasted. 

That church is still more of a Bible‑believing, evangelical Church

       than most Churches in that denomination

              that fell to the liberals. 

I was glad that CHRIST was still being preached there. 

Although all Presbyterians that came to town then had two

       Presbyterian Churches to choose from, that was not bad.

We are not here to build up ourselves,

       but to lead people to CHRIST! 

We can measure our goal-oriented enthusiasm

       for the glory of God by observing our prayers.

Are they mostly ASKING prayers for what we want,

       or are they prayers for the glory of God,

              about what He wants?

Verse 19:   “for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance”

What does Paul mean by "my deliverance"? 

He was saying that all that was happening to him

       in his difficult situation was the best thing for him. 

It was like saying, "God put me in this situation;

       and God intends that all of its problems and difficulties

              will work together for God’s glory

                     and my usefulness to Him,

                           together with joy and peace.

See why Paul was such a contented man? 

Do you begin to see the secret of his happiness? 

He lived for God's glory.

Paul recognized that he had two strong supports: 

       their prayers and the Spirit of Christ. 

No matter how hard I work, I know that I will see no more

       success here than that for which you PRAY

              and which the Spirit of God PROVIDES. 

So PRAYER is an additional ingredient in the recipe for happiness.

Verse 20:  “ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Here Paul expresses his desire that

       Christ shall be magnified by his life. 

That’s how the KJV translates it.

“Christ shall be magnified in my body.”

How can we MAGNIFY Christ? 

Can we make Him any bigger or better than He is? 

Of course not.

When you use a magnifying glass,

       do you make the print any larger than it really is? 

No, the print stays the same, but YOU SEE it better. 

It APPEARS larger through the lens. 

So also, when we magnify Christ,

       we make Him APPEAR more glorious to OTHERS. 

That's what Paul was doing.

And the NIV has it right, when it says,

       “Christ will be exalted in my body,

whether by life or by death.”

Christ is already exalted—resurrected, ascended,

       at the right hand of God in heaven, exalted above all—

              but through Paul, Christ would be lifted up

                     and exalted for others to see—like those guards.

One person expresses Paul's attitude this way: 

       "My body will be the theatre

              in which Christ's glory is displayed."

This was quite a contrast with those envious preachers

       to whom Paul had referred a few verses back. 

J. Vernon McGee warns preachers

       about being envious of other preachers. 

McGee tells about the preacher in Texas

       who came home and said to his wife,

"The next town has a church that asked me

       if I would consider a call to their church. 

It's a larger town, a larger church, they pay a larger salary, and

       they are really better people over there. 

I'm going upstairs to pray about it

       and to see what the Lord wants me to do." 

His wife said, "I'll go up and pray with you." 

"Oh no," he said, "You stay down here and start packing!"  J

That wasn’t McGee, that was just the story McGee told.

When Paul used the words "Expect" and "hope,"

       he was connecting the heart to the FUTURE. 

"Eagerly expect" is the translation of "apokaradokia,"

       a freight‑train kind of word

              with an engine, a car, and a caboose. 

The caboose is "APO", which means "away from." 

The middle word is "KARA" which means "head." 

The engine is "DOKIA" which means "looking." 

It means to look away from the head; that is,

       a stretching forward to see

              the very first appearance of something. 

The word is used in Romans 8:19,

       which J. B. Phillips paraphrases as,

              "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see

              the wonderful sight of the sons of God

              coming into their own."

I close with this. 

I remember peering into the dawn at about 4 AM.

Our ship was on fire in the South Pacific.

I looked up at the bridge and saw the Captain holding

       a pair of binoculars to his eyes and peering into the distance. 

Something about that didn't exactly comfort me! 

I was glad he was on duty, and aware of our problems,

       but it struck me as rather desperate to see

              the captain of the ship looking at nothing! 

I HOPED it was with earnest expectation. 

Perhaps he had made radio contact with some other ship.

I am glad that as WE live with eager hope,

       that our Captain is not fretfully searching

              for a solution to the world's problems. 

Our Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not wondering what to do.

Perhaps you wonder what I saw in the breaking dawn

       that morning in 1970, aboard the S. S. Australis. 

I saw…. oh, my time is up tonight,

       so I'll finish THAT story

              when we start with verse 21 next time.

"ON FINDING TREASURE IN UNEXPECTED PLACES"

                          #2 in the Philippians Series              

                                  Philippians 1:3‑12  9/21/2011

I call tonight’s exposition, "ON FINDING TREASURE

      IN UNEXPECTED PLACES." 

When time ran out last week, I was telling you about

      digging in my neighbor's yard. 

The policeman on my left had dug about twice as deep as I had

      into the soft ground where something was obviously buried.  The neighbor was concerned WHO might have buried

      something in her yard and WHAT it might be,

            especially since they had dug up her flowers

                  that my wife Marylu had given her. 

I had seen two men digging there in the flash of my headlights

      as I drove into my driveway at about ten o'clock at night.

We had called the police the next day, and in the daylight

      the policeman and I were digging when      the neighbor lady

            said, "It sounds like you've hit something.” 

I said, "Yes," I have!" 

I had hit a ROCK with my shovel, so 

      I dug around the rock, lifted it out, and no, it wasn't gold! J

But there WAS something valuable down there, though

      it belonged to someone else, and I had not reached it yet.

We kept digging, but both the policeman and I were quickly

      losing interest in the job. 

Our interest in the project was inversely proportional

      to the depth that we dug! 

I began to think, what do I care what’s down there? 

Why did I let the neighbor talk me

      into calling the police in the first place? 

The policeman indicated that the hole

      was not big enough to contain a body. 

That's when the neighbor's eyes looked like saucers. 

She wanted to be sure that the policeman understood that

      she had nothing to do with it.

The policeman finally noticed that

      the hole where her flower garden had been,

            was directly in line with a gas meter

                  farther east on her property. 

I hadn't noticed that at all. 

That's why he was a policeman and I was a preacher. 

But I wished he had come up with that theory before

      we did all that digging! 

If he was so smart, why do all that digging? 

Maybe that’s why he was still a policeman and not detective yet.

He said, "The gas people probably came out at night,

      perhaps looking for a leak. 

They can do that. 

They can dig on your property and they don't have to tell you. 

If you plant flowers over the gas line, you take your chances."  Well, we accepted that solution to the mystery,

      and proceeded to fill our respective holes back up,

            mine not taking as long as his, not because I was faster,

                  but because he had dug deeper!

The neighbor lady was greatly relieved. 

I don't know what she thought was down there. 

I was disappointed that we hadn't found a treasure chest

      of stolen jewels or something equally exciting. 

But people don't usually bury such things

      in OTHER people's yards.  

I told you there WAS something valuable down there,

      and there was, for of course, GAS is quite valuable.  Wouldn't you like to discover GAS on YOUR property? 

THIS gas however belonged to the Union Gas Company in Kansas,

      so we couldn't sink a well!  

We DO find treasure buried in unexpected places in PHILIPPIANS,

      as we shall see presently. 

You wouldn't expect to find treasure in prison, but Paul

      discovered some unexpected benefits of being a prisoner. 

He found something better than gold. 

If my neighbor had found treasure buried in her yard,

      I doubt that it would have brought her as much happiness

            as Paul experienced over his discovery;

                  for Paul, you remember from last week,

                        found the secret of happiness—

                              the lasting happiness that doesn’t rust.

Paul was called by the Bible commentator Hendricksen,

      "the happiest man in the world."

We see tonight that one ingredient in his recipe for happiness

      is his JOY in FELLOWSHIP. 

The NIV translates the word, “partnership” but

that is the word for FELLOWSHIP.

It shows up first in verses 4 & 5: 

“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,”

That word “partnership” is koinonia.

Some of you know that Greek word!

It means FELLOWSHIP, and it is usually translated “fellowship.”

It was the FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL that made Paul thankful.

If you want happiness, you need FELLOWSHIP with God's people. 

A person who loves tennis, wants to play tennis

      with someone else who loves tennis. 

I love to play chess, so on my day off in Kansas,

      I used to get together with a good chess player,

            and we exercised our brains together. 

He was also a retired executive of the Coca Cola company,

      and had a life-time perk of free coke

            which I liked as much as chess!  J

Whether I won or lost, I still got my Coke!

Well, when you love Jesus, you want to get together

      with other folks who love Jesus.

One of the things we can do together

      in expressing our love for Jesus and praising Him,

            is to sing together. 

We also eat and drink together at His Table.

We call that form of FELLOWSHIP, Communion,

      and that is also the Greek word koinwnia.

That’s what it is—fellowship—the fellowship meal.

Sometimes the word is translated “fellowship”

      and other times “communion,”

            but the NIV throws us a curve,      and without warning

                  translates it “partnership” here.

This word is derived from the basic idea of "COMMON,"

      referring to what we have together in common. 

It is a sharing together with God and with each other. 

A Christian who is all alone is going to struggle with loneliness.  Even though Paul was in prison, he was allowed

      to have visitors like Epaphroditus and Timothy. 

He was under, what we would call "house arrest." 

He was a prisoner in his own rented home,

      in the custody of soldiers, chained, and awaiting

            the slow, bureaucratic grinding of Roman law.

Paul was saying that he is thankful to God

      for their fellowship in the Gospel,

            and now he is going to point to something else

                  that gives him joy and for which he is ESPECIALLY                          thankful and which is evidenced BY

                              that fellowship, and here it is—

                                    Divine Preservation.

Verse 6:  “being confident of this, that

He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion

until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Their perseverance in the fellowship of the Gospel

      convinced Paul that God had preserved them.       

We find this same reasoning in I Thessalonians 1:2‑5

      where the believers' day-to-day Christian living

            was regarded as the evidence of their election. 

And for that, Paul gives thanks to God.

Who is it that began the good work of salvation in you? 

God did. 

Paul is obviously talking about God, for he says,

      “I thank my God” and

            “being confident of this, that He (that is, “God”) 

                  who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion.”

God is the One who began that good work in them,

      and Paul knows that God will complete

            His work of grace in their lives. 

His grace had transformed them,

      and His grace would preserve them.

The same grace that saves us also keeps us.

William Cullen Bryant in his poem, "To a Waterfowl,"

      expresses this conviction beautifully in the lines:

            "He who, from zone to zone,

            Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

            In the long way that I must tread alone,

            Will lead my steps aright."

Only a poet talks to birds, but 

      he was addressing the waterfowl when he said to that bird,

            “guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight.”

He compared that to God’s providential guidance of our lives.

Out of the distress of a prison in Rome,

      the message of cheer that Paul sent to the Philippians

            reaches US tonight, so that we you can say to God:

                  "The work Thou hast in me begun

                        Shall by Thy grace be FULLY done."

This work won’t be finished UNTIL the Day of Christ,

      at His coming again. 

So let that truth sink in.

That confident conviction was an important part

      of Paul’s happiness, and it should be ours also.

Verse 7:  “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.”

I’m sorry the NIV throws you another curve there,

      by disguising the word FELLOWSHIP or COMMUNION

            by using the word SHARE instead.

He is still talking about their fellowship together in God’s grace.

They are sharing their partnership in God’s grace.

“Partakers together” is the word, “KOINONIA,”

      but this time it has an intensifying preposition attached,

            that makes it mean "all wrapped up together." 

Paul is saying that he and the Philippians

      are all wrapped up together as partners in the Gospel. 

The Philippians had prayed for Paul and had sent

      their own personal representative to Rome with a gift for him.

Verse 8:  “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Although the NIV has its weaknesses, there are times when

      we appreciate its modern euphemisms.   Here’s one.

It sounds better to our tender ears to hear Paul say “affection,”

      than to read the old KJV with its more literal statement,

            "how greatly I long after you all

                  in the BOWELS of Jesus Christ."  

The Greek word is splagcna,

      which refers to the upper intestines. 

Today we don't locate our tender feelings

      in this anatomical location. 

So it does sound better to us as the NIV paraphrases it,

"I long for all of you with the AFFECTION of Christ Jesus."  It’s NOT what Paul WROTE, but it sounds better and is prettier.

And it is pretty close to what he MEANT.

A psychologist from the University of Southern California

      told Dr. J. Vernon McGee that "the ancients were right. 

They were accurate when they talked about our feelings

      being in the region of the bowels." 

He said, "The average person thinks that everything he does

      is because he has thought it over and that he is very smart."  Then the psychologist touched Dr. McGee on the head and said,

      "You know, very little really takes place up here." 

McGee said, "I really felt that he knew ME when he said that!" J

When I really feel for someone who is suffering in the hospital,

      and especially if they insist on showing me their wounds

            (which I refuse as politely as I possibly can,

                  but if they do it anyway),

                        it isn't my brain that gets queazy. 

Enough said about that!

Verse 9:  “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,”

These are some more ingredients

      in Paul's recipe for a happy life. 

Paul is praying that the Philippians will increase in love.

Knowledge and discernment help love to abound.

J. Vernon McGee tells of leading a man to Christ, he THOUGHT.  The man got down on his knees and prayed to receive Christ,

      and tears ran down his face. 

Then before the man left, he told McGee he needed $7,

            which McGee readily gave him. 

In those days that would probably be like $70 today.

A dollar in 1970 is worth only 16-cents today thanks to inflation.

Six weeks later McGee saw that man's picture in the newspaper. 

The man had been arrested because he had spent

      the past 6 months in Los Angeles living off the preachers. 

His comment was, "They are the biggest saps in the world."  DON'T say AMEN to that!

Love needs knowledge and discernment to guide it. 

The $7 McGee gave that sponger didn’t get used

      for God’s kingdom.

The next verse continues this thought.

Verse 10.  “so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,”

“Blameless” doesn’t mean perfect, for we are still sinners.

It literally means UNINJURED by any obstacles in the road.

It is a word that can mean to be a stumbling block to someone

      OR to stumble oneself because of someone else.

The KJV translates it “without offence,”

       but that can be misleading too, since it doesn’t mean that

            you will never offend anyone.

Christ Himself offended the Pharisees often,

      and there will be times when you offend

            just by your stand for Christ;

                  but if others find fault with you and even say

                        bad things about you, just be sure that

                              those bad things are not TRUE. 

This verse contains the second reference to "the day of Christ." 

We saw that day mentioned in verse 6 also. 

Living with an awareness that Christ is coming again

      is also a way to live with joy. 

The Christian should live with this glorious hope. 

Christ could come tonight, or tomorrow,

      or before the Service is over.

Verse 11:  “Being filled with the fruits of

righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ,

unto the glory and praise of God.”

Here is the ingredient of RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The FRUITS of righteousness are its results.

We receive the righteousness from Christ. 

It’s HIS righteousness imputed to us,

      like money deposited into our account from HIM.

This righteousness comes FROM God and glorifies God. 

Christian goodness is not meant

      to draw attention or praise to OURSELVES. 

It is meant to win praise for GOD.

Lord Radstock of England was on a train one day

      which was ready to pull out of the station,

            when when a young army officer ran up to the window,

                  which in those days was an open window.

The officer asked Lord Radstock, "How can a fellow keep straight?"  The train began to move. 

How was this Christian going to teach this young enquirer? 

Lord Radstock pulled a pencil from his pocket

      and laid it on the palm of his hand. 

"Can that pencil stand upright?" 

"No," said the officer. 

Lord Radstock grasped the pencil in his hand, and held it upright. The soldier said, "But you are holding it now."

"Yes," said Radstock, "and your life is like this pencil, helpless.  But Christ is the Hand that can hold you." 

As the train rounded the curve,

      the last thing the young officer saw

            was Lord Radstock's outstretched hand

                  holding that pencil upright. 

25 years later, the same officer met Lord Radstock in India,

      and told him that all those many years,

            he trusted his life to Christ

                  who had upheld him and kept him.  

We can no more live upright

      than the pencil can stand upright by itself. 

The RIGHTEOUSNESS must be of Christ,

      as He holds us upright, as God tells us in Zechariah,

      "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,

            saith the Lord of hosts."

Our last verse for tonight is verse 12.

“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”

It SEEMED that Paul's missionary work

      was curtailed by his imprisonment. 

Paul the MISSIONARY was bound,

      and the GOSPEL was bound, it SEEMED. 

But Paul now assures them that the Gospel was STILL going out.  He sees the hand of God in these events of his life. 

That’s called "PROVIDENCE," and that is another ingredient

      in Paul’s recipe of antioxidant happiness. 

Paul rejoiced in the providence of God.

God produced results from events that

      on the surface seemed rather discouraging.

Yet these events resulted in glorifying God.

Those heavy chains on Paul’s wrists did not prevent the Gospel

      from going out, nor did those guards.

He witnessed even to them, and the Gospel was not bound.

I close with the true story of another believer in the Lord Jesus

      who overcame discouragement and found a way

            even in death to extend the Gospel.

The man who lived in Pennsylvania specialized in horseradish, but

      went bankrupt when the price fell too low to make a profit.

Then he branched into celery sauce, pickled cucumbers,

      sauerkraut, and vinegar.  But he was no sour-puss!

He soon became the world's largest tomato processor,

      even calling himself "tomato-obsessed."

The company eventually provided more than half

      the ketchup in the world, all based on his original recipe. 

By now you may begin to suspect who that man was.

He created the slogan of “57 Varieties” in 1896,

      when he already had over 60 varieties, but

            for reasons unknown, he liked the number 57.

As you may know, Teresa Heinz Perry, wife of Senator John Perry,

      inherited a 500 million dollar fortune from her first husband,

            Henry John Heinz, III, who died in an airplane crash.

Henry J. Heinz, the First, was motivated by his Christian faith.

He served as a leader in the World Sunday School Movement.

He built Christian principles into his business.

He blessed those who worked for him,

      giving them regular breaks in a rooftop garden,

            a privilege uncommon in his day.

He believed the biblical truth that you reap what you sow.

He seemed to know that if you don’t want monkeys

      working for you, don’t pay them peanuts!

Henry Heinz strived to bring pure foods before his consumers

      and a pure self before his Lord.

But he wanted to perpetuate his witness for Christ, and

      he found a way to do it, beyond the grave,

            in his Last Will and Testament.

What do you suppose was in his Will? 

We will read that portion of his Will

      NEXT time, for my time is up tonight. 

              "ON FINDING TREASURE

               IN UNEXPECTED PLACES

            #2 in the Philippians Series

                     Philippians 1:3‑12  9/21/2011 

I call tonight’s exposition, "ON FINDING TREASURE

       IN UNEXPECTED PLACES." 

When time ran out last week, I was telling you about

       digging in my neighbor's yard. 

The policeman on my left had dug about twice as deep as I had

       into the soft ground where something was obviously buried.  The neighbor was concerned WHO might have buried

       something in her yard and WHAT it might be,

              especially since they had dug up her flowers

                     that my wife Marylu had given her. 

I had seen two men digging there in the flash of my headlights

       as I drove into my driveway at about ten o'clock at night.

We had called the police the next day, and in the daylight

       the policeman and I were digging when the neighbor lady

              said, "It sounds like you've hit something.” 

I said, "Yes," I have!" 

I had hit a ROCK with my shovel, so 

       I dug around the rock, lifted it out, and no, it wasn't gold! J

But there WAS something valuable down there, though

       it belonged to someone else, and I had not reached it yet.

We kept digging, but both the policeman and I were quickly

       losing interest in the job. 

Our interest in the project was inversely proportional

       to the depth that we dug! 

I began to think, what do I care what’s down there? 

Why did I let the neighbor talk me

       into calling the police in the first place? 

The policeman indicated that the hole

       was not big enough to contain a body. 

That's when the neighbor's eyes looked like saucers. 

She wanted to be sure that the policeman understood that

       she had nothing to do with it.

The policeman finally noticed that

       the hole where her flower garden had been,

              was directly in line with a gas meter

                     farther east on her property. 

I hadn't noticed that at all. 

That's why he was a policeman and I was a preacher. 

But I wished he had come up with that theory before

       we did all that digging! 

If he was so smart, why do all that digging? 

Maybe that’s why he was still a policeman and not detective yet.

He said, "The gas people probably came out at night,

       perhaps looking for a leak. 

They can do that. 

They can dig on your property and they don't have to tell you. 

If you plant flowers over the gas line, you take your chances."  Well, we accepted that solution to the mystery,

       and proceeded to fill our respective holes back up,

              mine not taking as long as his, not because I was faster,

                     but because he had dug deeper!

The neighbor lady was greatly relieved. 

I don't know what she thought was down there. 

I was disappointed that we hadn't found a treasure chest

       of stolen jewels or something equally exciting. 

But people don't usually bury such things

       in OTHER people's yards.  J

I told you there WAS something valuable down there,

       and there was, for of course, GAS is quite valuable.  Wouldn't you like to discover GAS on YOUR property? 

THIS gas however belonged to the Union Gas Company inKansas,

       so we couldn't sink a well!  J

We DO find treasure buried in unexpected places in PHILIPPIANS,

       as we shall see presently. 

You wouldn't expect to find treasure in prison, but Paul

       discovered some unexpected benefits of being a prisoner. 

He found something better than gold. 

If my neighbor had found treasure buried in her yard,

       I doubt that it would have brought her as much happiness

              as Paul experienced over his discovery;

                     for Paul, you remember from last week,

                           found the secret of happiness—

                                  the lasting happiness that doesn’t rust.

Paul was called by the Bible commentator Hendricksen,

       "the happiest man in the world."

We see tonight that one ingredient in his recipe for happiness

       is his JOY in FELLOWSHIP. 

The NIV translates the word, “partnership” but

that is the word for FELLOWSHIP.

It shows up first in verses 4 & 5: 

“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,”

That word “partnership” is koinwnia.

Some of you know that Greek word!

It means FELLOWSHIP, and it is usually translated “fellowship.”

It was the FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL that made Paul thankful.

If you want happiness, you need FELLOWSHIP with God's people. 

A person who loves tennis, wants to play tennis

       with someone else who loves tennis. 

I love to play chess, so on my day off inKansas,

       I used to get together with a good chess player,

              and we exercised our brains together. 

He was also a retired executive of the Coca Cola company,

       and had a life-time perk of free coke

              which I liked as much as chess!  J

Whether I won or lost, I still got my Coke!

Well, when you love Jesus, you want to get together

       with other folks who love Jesus.

One of the things we can do together

       in expressing our love for Jesus and praising Him,

              is to sing together. 

We also eat and drink together at His Table.

We call that form of FELLOWSHIP, Communion,

       and that is also the Greek word koinwnia.

That’s what it is—fellowship—the fellowship meal.

Sometimes the word is translated “fellowship”

       and other times “communion,”

              but the NIV throws us a curve,  and without warning

                     translates it “partnership” here.

This word is derived from the basic idea of "COMMON,"

       referring to what we have together in common. 

It is a sharing together with God and with each other. 

A Christian who is all alone is going to struggle with loneliness.  Even though Paul was in prison, he was allowed

       to have visitors like Epaphroditus and Timothy. 

He was under, what we would call "house arrest." 

He was a prisoner in his own rented home,

       in the custody of soldiers, chained, and awaiting

              the slow, bureaucratic grinding of Roman law.

Paul was saying that he is thankful to God

       for their fellowship in the Gospel,

              and now he is going to point to something else

                     that gives him joy and for which he is ESPECIALLY                                  thankful and which is evidenced BY

                                  that fellowship, and here it is—

                                         Divine Preservation.

Verse 6:  “being confident of this, that

He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion

until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Their perseverance in the fellowship of the Gospel

       convinced Paul that God had preserved them.           

We find this same reasoning in I Thessalonians 1:2‑5

       where the believers' day-to-day Christian living

              was regarded as the evidence of their election. 

And for that, Paul gives thanks to God.

Who is it that began the good work of salvation in you? 

God did. 

Paul is obviously talking about God, for he says,

      “I thank my God” and

            “being confident of this, that He (that is, “God”)

                  who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion.”

God is the One who began that good work in them,

       and Paul knows that God will complete

              His work of grace in their lives. 

His grace had transformed them,

       and His grace would preserve them.

The same grace that saves us also keeps us.

William Cullen Bryant in his poem, "To a Waterfowl,"

       expresses this conviction beautifully in the lines:

              "He who, from zone to zone,

              Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

              In the long way that I must tread alone,

              Will lead my steps aright."

Only a poet talks to birds, but J

       he was addressing the waterfowl when he said to that bird,

              “guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight.”

He compared that to God’s providential guidance of our lives.

Out of the distress of a prison inRome,

       the message of cheer that Paul sent to the Philippians

              reaches US tonight, so that we you can say to God:

                     "The work Thou hast in me begun

                            Shall by Thy grace be FULLY done."

This work won’t be finished UNTIL the Day of Christ,

       at His coming again. 

So let that truth sink in.

That confident conviction was an important part

       of Paul’s happiness, and it should be ours also.

Verse 7:  “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.”

I’m sorry the NIV throws you another curve there,

       by disguising the word FELLOWSHIP or COMMUNION

              by using the word SHARE instead.

He is still talking about their fellowship together in God’s grace.

They are sharing their partnership in God’s grace.

“Partakers together” is the word, “KOINONIA,”

       but this time it has an intensifying preposition attached,

              that makes it mean "all wrapped up together." 

Paul is saying that he and the Philippians

       are all wrapped up together as partners in the Gospel. 

The Philippians had prayed for Paul and had sent

       their own personal representative to Romewith a gift for him.

Verse 8:  “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Although the NIV has its weaknesses, there are times when

       we appreciate its modern euphemisms.   Here’s one.

It sounds better to our tender ears to hear Paul say “affection,”

       than to read the old KJV with its more literal statement,

            "how greatly I long after you all

                  in the BOWELS of Jesus Christ."  

The Greek word is splagcna,

       which refers to the upper intestines. 

Today we don't locate our tender feelings

       in this anatomical location. 

So it does sound better to us as the NIV paraphrases it,

"I long for all of you with the AFFECTION of Christ Jesus."  It’s NOT what Paul WROTE, but it sounds better and is prettier.

And it is pretty close to what he MEANT.

A psychologist from theUniversityofSouthern California

       told Dr. J. Vernon McGee that "the ancients were right. 

They were accurate when they talked about our feelings

       being in the region of the bowels." 

He said, "The average person thinks that everything he does

       is because he has thought it over and that he is very smart."  Then the psychologist touched Dr. McGee on the head and said,

       "You know, very little really takes place up here." 

McGee said, "I really felt that he knew ME when he said that!" J

When I really feel for someone who is suffering in the hospital,

       and especially if they insist on showing me their wounds

              (which I refuse as politely as I possibly can,

                     but if they do it anyway),

                           it isn't my brain that gets queazy. 

Enough said about that!

Verse 9:  “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,”