1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,540 All right, so my life has been convincing me it would be good that 10 00:00:27,540 --> 00:00:29,220 I share a little bit more about myself. 11 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:33,180 So I decided I would share with you my testimony of how I got 12 00:00:33,180 --> 00:00:33,700 saved. 13 00:00:34,260 --> 00:00:37,380 I actually grew up in a Christian home. 14 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:42,980 We went to church three times a week, sometimes visitation, sometimes 15 00:00:42,980 --> 00:00:43,260 four. 16 00:00:43,260 --> 00:00:50,140 You know, and I grew up in a home where God was always, the gospel 17 00:00:50,140 --> 00:00:50,980 was always given. 18 00:00:51,870 --> 00:00:53,230 And I can. 19 00:00:53,870 --> 00:00:57,230 Made a profession of faith whenever I was about five years old 20 00:00:57,950 --> 00:01:04,430 and I went down there and made, you know, I was scared to go 21 00:01:04,430 --> 00:01:04,830 to hell. 22 00:01:04,830 --> 00:01:06,270 And that was my main reason. 23 00:01:06,270 --> 00:01:10,270 And that was about the extent of what I knew of salvation. 24 00:01:10,990 --> 00:01:12,910 So fast forward a few more years. 25 00:01:13,310 --> 00:01:18,190 Eight years old again, that fear of hell just was just hanging 26 00:01:18,190 --> 00:01:18,750 over me. 27 00:01:19,250 --> 00:01:20,290 And that's. 28 00:01:20,610 --> 00:01:23,970 I needed some, some something, you know, So I got saved again. 29 00:01:24,530 --> 00:01:32,050 If you can do that, then I lived continually my, my life there 30 00:01:32,050 --> 00:01:33,410 in a Christian home. 31 00:01:33,490 --> 00:01:38,130 But that the, the surface level Christianity was, was what 32 00:01:38,130 --> 00:01:42,050 I had come to find as my salvation. 33 00:01:42,130 --> 00:01:43,890 And that wasn't a real salvation. 34 00:01:44,860 --> 00:01:49,100 I didn't understand the true gospel's true meaning of having a 35 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:50,540 relationship with Jesus Christ. 36 00:01:50,860 --> 00:01:57,180 And so I spent most of my teenage years drinking, doing drugs, 37 00:01:57,260 --> 00:02:00,459 and trying to figure out how to tell my parents that once I moved 38 00:02:00,459 --> 00:02:01,980 out, I wasn't going to church anymore. 39 00:02:02,860 --> 00:02:08,060 And a lot of bad relationships in my high school years led me down 40 00:02:08,140 --> 00:02:11,110 darker paths and darker and harder drugs. 41 00:02:11,590 --> 00:02:21,150 And I remember having a huge addiction and having to consistently 42 00:02:21,150 --> 00:02:25,910 do drugs on a regular basis in order to keep myself from withdrawals. 43 00:02:26,550 --> 00:02:28,870 And this would continue throughout the night. 44 00:02:28,950 --> 00:02:29,510 I would have. 45 00:02:29,510 --> 00:02:33,550 I would go to sleep, wake up midnight and do drugs, go to sleep, 46 00:02:33,550 --> 00:02:35,390 wake up, three o' clock in the morning, do drugs. 47 00:02:35,390 --> 00:02:36,510 And that was just my cycle. 48 00:02:36,510 --> 00:02:40,840 And I remember About October of 2011, I started getting visions 49 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:41,360 of hell. 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,160 And I thought, that's crazy. 51 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:45,680 Why am I thinking like that? 52 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,080 I. I've already said that. 53 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:47,920 I've already done that. 54 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:49,040 I already have. 55 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:50,360 I already, I'm already saved. 56 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:51,280 I don't need to do that. 57 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:59,600 And continuing on down that path, it came about in December where 58 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:05,050 I was my same old habit, going outside midnight, two o' clock in 59 00:03:05,050 --> 00:03:05,450 the morning. 60 00:03:06,090 --> 00:03:11,610 And on my return, I remember I went outside and did, of course, 61 00:03:11,610 --> 00:03:13,890 what I was doing and came back inside. 62 00:03:13,890 --> 00:03:16,890 I would sneak through my window and come back out. 63 00:03:17,050 --> 00:03:19,290 This was after high school had graduated. 64 00:03:19,290 --> 00:03:20,730 I'm still in there with my parents. 65 00:03:21,130 --> 00:03:25,850 And I came back in through, and I thought to myself, you know, 66 00:03:26,090 --> 00:03:29,930 I can probably go to sleep and then maybe I'll wake up a little 67 00:03:29,930 --> 00:03:30,210 bit later. 68 00:03:30,210 --> 00:03:31,890 But I think I. I'm fine. 69 00:03:31,890 --> 00:03:32,810 I can go to sleep. 70 00:03:32,890 --> 00:03:37,290 And I remember on my way to my bed, that was where God stopped me. 71 00:03:37,690 --> 00:03:41,690 And I don't know if it was what you call Damascus Road experience, 72 00:03:41,690 --> 00:03:43,770 but it's the closest thing I have to it. 73 00:03:44,010 --> 00:03:48,170 But I just remember God speaking to my heart. 74 00:03:48,170 --> 00:03:50,490 And he said, ethan, you're not going to do this anymore. 75 00:03:51,210 --> 00:03:55,570 And at that, I froze because, number one, I was hearing the voice 76 00:03:55,570 --> 00:03:58,340 of God, and number two, I thought I was dead. 77 00:03:58,580 --> 00:04:00,100 Ethan, you're not going to do this anymore. 78 00:04:00,100 --> 00:04:01,780 Well, I'm clearly about to die. 79 00:04:02,420 --> 00:04:06,300 And I stopped and I thought to myself, you know, why am I doing 80 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:06,660 this? 81 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:09,780 Why am I, you know, inside out, upside down? 82 00:04:09,780 --> 00:04:10,060 Why. 83 00:04:10,060 --> 00:04:11,180 Why am I so depressed? 84 00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:12,660 Why am I in this life? 85 00:04:13,380 --> 00:04:17,140 And that was when the Holy Spirit spoke my heart, when I asked 86 00:04:17,140 --> 00:04:20,180 that question, because you don't have a relationship with me. 87 00:04:20,740 --> 00:04:22,620 And as soon as he said that, I knew it. 88 00:04:22,620 --> 00:04:23,660 I knew I needed it. 89 00:04:23,820 --> 00:04:27,660 And I remember I got saved right there at my bed by myself. 90 00:04:27,820 --> 00:04:30,940 I didn't tell anyone else that that happened. 91 00:04:31,420 --> 00:04:35,900 I just started reading my Bible and pastors started to see 92 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:36,460 differences. 93 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:41,060 People started to get real confused at some of the things that 94 00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:41,660 I was doing. 95 00:04:41,980 --> 00:04:47,060 And that is the night, September, December 17, 2011, whenever 96 00:04:47,060 --> 00:04:48,620 I accepted Jesus Christ my Savior. 97 00:04:48,970 --> 00:04:50,530 And then, of course, we went. 98 00:04:50,530 --> 00:04:53,370 I went to college the next year after that and met my wife out 99 00:04:53,370 --> 00:04:53,690 there. 100 00:04:54,410 --> 00:04:57,130 And the rest is a little bit of history. 101 00:04:57,770 --> 00:05:04,370 And so now we are serving God as faithful as we can and seeing 102 00:05:04,370 --> 00:05:05,690 him work daily. 103 00:05:05,850 --> 00:05:09,010 Turn your Bibles to Philippians, the book of Philippians, 104 00:05:09,010 --> 00:05:09,770 chapter one. 105 00:05:18,420 --> 00:05:22,180 Philippians, as you know, is a book really of joy, of encouragement. 106 00:05:22,660 --> 00:05:24,180 And one of my. 107 00:05:24,740 --> 00:05:27,340 My big spiritual gifts is exhortation and mercy. 108 00:05:27,340 --> 00:05:32,020 And it just really flows out of the book of Philippians to exhort, 109 00:05:32,020 --> 00:05:33,220 to encourage. 110 00:05:33,540 --> 00:05:37,700 And that's what Paul was doing here to this church at Philippi. 111 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:39,860 This is a church that he loved. 112 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,960 This was a church that he poured his life into and a church 113 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,000 that poured their lives into him. 114 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:48,040 They loved Paul. 115 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,600 They loved to minister to him. 116 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:57,800 And in verse number 27 is where we're going to begin this encouragement. 117 00:05:58,120 --> 00:05:59,160 Paul begins. 118 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,520 He says, only let Your conversation be as it becometh the 119 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:08,100 Gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, 120 00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:11,860 I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, 121 00:06:12,020 --> 00:06:16,180 with one mind, striving together for the fate of the Gospel. 122 00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:17,700 Let's pray again. 123 00:06:18,180 --> 00:06:20,900 Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the grace that you 124 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:24,220 give us, Lord, the grace that you give us to change us and mold 125 00:06:24,220 --> 00:06:26,100 us into the image of your Son. 126 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:31,340 And Lord, I pray that we would be able to take from this book that 127 00:06:31,340 --> 00:06:32,660 you have given to us. 128 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,520 And I pray that you'd be able to change our hearts with it, with 129 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:37,000 your word. 130 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,480 I pray word that you'd help us to understand it. 131 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,000 And Lord, help us to be led in the path that you want us to go in 132 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:44,960 our Christian walks. 133 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,120 Lord, I pray these things in Jesus name. 134 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:47,720 Amen. 135 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:53,680 So Paul, he begins this letter in Philippians, and he starts off 136 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,880 kind of giving that good old Pauline greeting, grace to you. 137 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:03,070 In this one, Paul and Timotheus trying to give that standard 138 00:07:03,070 --> 00:07:07,270 greeting of him and his, his beloved friend, his beloved son in 139 00:07:07,270 --> 00:07:07,790 the faith. 140 00:07:08,190 --> 00:07:14,430 And in it, he kind of gives them a little bit of a status update. 141 00:07:14,830 --> 00:07:18,990 And of course he's trying to encourage them, but he tells them 142 00:07:18,990 --> 00:07:21,310 of the things that have happened to him. 143 00:07:21,310 --> 00:07:23,790 He tells them, number one, he's praying for them, as he often 144 00:07:23,790 --> 00:07:24,190 does. 145 00:07:24,670 --> 00:07:28,450 He prays for them in a certain way, and he gives them the status 146 00:07:28,450 --> 00:07:29,890 of what has happened. 147 00:07:29,890 --> 00:07:31,810 He doesn't want their heart to be trouble. 148 00:07:32,050 --> 00:07:34,290 He wants their joy to be full. 149 00:07:34,450 --> 00:07:36,770 And he is really trying to encourage them. 150 00:07:37,330 --> 00:07:42,770 From a prison cell, basically, he is in bonds. 151 00:07:42,850 --> 00:07:48,450 He is chained up to a Roman, a Roman guard, possibly at this time, 152 00:07:48,450 --> 00:07:49,490 writing this letter. 153 00:07:49,650 --> 00:07:52,130 And he is encouraging them. 154 00:07:52,660 --> 00:07:56,260 What a testimony to have that kind of attitude when life isn't 155 00:07:56,260 --> 00:07:56,900 going good. 156 00:07:57,620 --> 00:08:02,380 And so he gives them this status update that this has happened 157 00:08:02,380 --> 00:08:02,860 to me. 158 00:08:02,860 --> 00:08:07,660 Yes, the things that are so bad that you are hearing have fallen 159 00:08:07,660 --> 00:08:08,020 out. 160 00:08:08,020 --> 00:08:12,020 They have become something that is good for the gospel of Christ. 161 00:08:12,260 --> 00:08:17,060 All of the palace guard, that is possibly the elite Roman guard 162 00:08:17,540 --> 00:08:19,540 that had such a high superiority. 163 00:08:19,540 --> 00:08:23,140 You think of the places that Paul was getting to. 164 00:08:23,220 --> 00:08:26,800 He was getting to some of the people that were the hardest to get 165 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:27,120 to. 166 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,960 He was in the palace there in Caesar with the special Roman palace 167 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,200 guard, and he was able to preach the gospel to them. 168 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,120 And he is excited when he's writing this. 169 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:38,920 You've heard I'm in prison. 170 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:40,240 It's much better than that. 171 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:46,840 And he tells them, I am in bonds, able to wax eloquently the 172 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,880 gospel and not only that, there's other good news people, because 173 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,510 I am in bonds and in prison, they are preaching the gospel also. 174 00:08:56,310 --> 00:08:58,390 More, they're waxing boldly. 175 00:08:58,470 --> 00:09:01,150 He says, now some of these people, they're doing it thinking 176 00:09:01,150 --> 00:09:03,950 they're going to add affliction to me just because I'm 177 00:09:03,950 --> 00:09:04,230 here. 178 00:09:04,950 --> 00:09:08,990 We don't really know per se who exactly he's referencing. 179 00:09:08,990 --> 00:09:12,670 Was he referencing Judaizers? 180 00:09:12,670 --> 00:09:15,590 Was he just referencing people that were jealous of Paul because 181 00:09:15,590 --> 00:09:19,030 Paul had a big place and he was kind of important. 182 00:09:19,110 --> 00:09:22,100 And so maybe they thought, oh, you know, Paul's in prison. 183 00:09:22,100 --> 00:09:24,140 Now I get a chance to shine, you know. 184 00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:27,260 And then he said, there's people that are preaching the gospel 185 00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:27,900 in truth. 186 00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:33,420 He said, whatever it is, whether in truth or in some malicious 187 00:09:33,420 --> 00:09:36,619 way, it doesn't really matter because the gospel is being preached 188 00:09:36,619 --> 00:09:37,820 and that is good news. 189 00:09:38,300 --> 00:09:40,060 He said, I want this. 190 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:45,420 And then he turns his focus to himself of what will happen to himself. 191 00:09:45,580 --> 00:09:46,540 They're going to die. 192 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,560 Is he gonna go on to be with Christ or is he gonna be free and 193 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:51,760 be able to continue with them? 194 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,200 All of this stuff, who knows? 195 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:56,720 A bunch of what ifs. 196 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,720 Paul's wish lists are, you know, happening here. 197 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:01,520 He's thinking. 198 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,000 And then he comes here to verse number 27. 199 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,480 He says, Only let your conversation be as it becomes the 200 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:09,120 gospel of Christ. 201 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:10,840 Only that, that word. 202 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,930 Only whatever becomes of me, okay? 203 00:10:14,010 --> 00:10:17,170 Doesn't matter if I'm in prison, if I get out, if I don't 204 00:10:17,170 --> 00:10:21,410 get out and I go on to be with Christ, whatever happens to me, let's 205 00:10:21,410 --> 00:10:22,570 turn my attention to you. 206 00:10:23,850 --> 00:10:24,450 Let's me. 207 00:10:24,450 --> 00:10:25,730 Let me turn my attention to you. 208 00:10:25,730 --> 00:10:27,850 Only whatever becomes of me. 209 00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:30,570 Be sure to mind this. 210 00:10:31,370 --> 00:10:36,490 Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. 211 00:10:37,690 --> 00:10:43,980 Now, this, in this word conversation to us means the conversation 212 00:10:43,980 --> 00:10:48,260 maybe that we would have with a friend, the conversation of relatives 213 00:10:48,260 --> 00:10:49,540 as we talk about this or that. 214 00:10:49,700 --> 00:10:53,060 This is a little bit differently in the old King James. 215 00:10:53,060 --> 00:10:55,140 It's conversation mean lifestyle. 216 00:10:55,460 --> 00:10:57,700 How does your conversation like? 217 00:10:57,780 --> 00:11:00,260 What is your lifestyle like? 218 00:11:00,900 --> 00:11:04,860 But this word here, I really love the Greek word that Paul uses. 219 00:11:04,860 --> 00:11:09,300 It's polite to my, which literally means to be a citizen, 220 00:11:10,050 --> 00:11:15,010 to administer civil affairs, manage the state, to avail oneself 221 00:11:15,010 --> 00:11:19,490 of or recognize the laws, to conduct oneself as pledged to some 222 00:11:19,730 --> 00:11:20,770 law of life. 223 00:11:21,010 --> 00:11:24,490 To behave as a citizen, polite. 224 00:11:24,490 --> 00:11:25,010 Who am I? 225 00:11:25,490 --> 00:11:33,290 He says, you are to behave as a citizen as it becomes the gospel 226 00:11:33,290 --> 00:11:33,970 of Christ. 227 00:11:34,930 --> 00:11:38,250 Now, it's very important that you understand how deep this word 228 00:11:38,250 --> 00:11:40,050 and why Paul is actually using it. 229 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:41,320 The, the. 230 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,040 Whenever we Go and we study the Bible. 231 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,000 The most important thing that we are to do is to interpret scripture 232 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:47,880 correctly. 233 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,720 Before we can ever apply that scripture, we have to first understand 234 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:53,600 what it means to the ears. 235 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:54,760 What did it mean to them? 236 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:56,920 What were they thinking of when they read this? 237 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:00,560 What did, what kind of assumptions, presumptions did they 238 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:00,840 make? 239 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,000 What did it mean to these people? 240 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:08,460 And this little colony at Philippi was a very interesting place 241 00:12:08,620 --> 00:12:15,980 because it was a Roman colony all by itself, surrounded by the 242 00:12:15,980 --> 00:12:18,140 worth by Greek states. 243 00:12:19,580 --> 00:12:27,020 There was other Greek stakes such as boy, this as the Greek island 244 00:12:27,020 --> 00:12:27,420 city. 245 00:12:27,660 --> 00:12:30,220 There was the Neopolis, a port city. 246 00:12:30,780 --> 00:12:33,920 There was the office the awesome that didn't translate. 247 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,160 Whenever I did Google translate, there was a bunch of Greek 248 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,680 cities around this little state that were not really underneath 249 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:41,480 Roman law. 250 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:48,120 And Roman law was a peculiar asset to have. 251 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,960 You were part of the Roman colony, you were part of the Roman 252 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:53,640 state and that meant something. 253 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,520 You were a Roman citizen. 254 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,900 It was a little bit more closely bond than say the way England 255 00:13:01,900 --> 00:13:03,940 treated some of its colonies. 256 00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:09,140 You weren't some separate entity, you were a Roman citizens. 257 00:13:09,220 --> 00:13:12,020 The colonists, their children were Roman citizens. 258 00:13:12,020 --> 00:13:17,780 Think of it as no different than a military child born on a military 259 00:13:17,780 --> 00:13:19,060 base overseas. 260 00:13:19,540 --> 00:13:21,620 They now have dual citizenship. 261 00:13:21,940 --> 00:13:25,380 But in truth and in full, they are American citizens. 262 00:13:26,190 --> 00:13:27,630 That is a similar connection here. 263 00:13:27,790 --> 00:13:30,190 Their names were enrolled on the list of the Roman tribes. 264 00:13:30,270 --> 00:13:34,070 They were governed not by the provincial authorities, this case 265 00:13:34,070 --> 00:13:38,110 being Greek and other powers, but by their very own magistrates. 266 00:13:38,110 --> 00:13:42,270 And the law which they owed obedience was not that of any locality, 267 00:13:42,350 --> 00:13:44,430 but of Roman law. 268 00:13:45,150 --> 00:13:50,110 Now we read in Acts chapter 16 how Paul used the Roman law to his 269 00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:50,910 own advantage. 270 00:13:51,590 --> 00:13:58,390 He was beaten, he was taken out and him and Silas were beaten 271 00:13:58,390 --> 00:13:59,030 openly. 272 00:13:59,270 --> 00:14:02,270 And whenever he made mention that he was a Roman citizen, they 273 00:14:02,270 --> 00:14:03,430 quaked with fear. 274 00:14:03,430 --> 00:14:04,310 Why was that? 275 00:14:04,550 --> 00:14:06,630 Because Roman citizens had rights. 276 00:14:07,430 --> 00:14:14,070 Whenever the Jewish mob was to go and take Paul by force, the Roman 277 00:14:14,150 --> 00:14:15,830 guard came and got Paul. 278 00:14:16,310 --> 00:14:20,460 And that is whenever Paul gave that little nudge of please tell 279 00:14:20,460 --> 00:14:22,060 the captain I'm a Roman citizen. 280 00:14:22,940 --> 00:14:24,580 That was a very big deal. 281 00:14:24,580 --> 00:14:26,220 And then you remember what that captain said? 282 00:14:26,220 --> 00:14:30,940 He said by a very great sum I attained this right he paid to be 283 00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:31,980 a Roman citizen. 284 00:14:32,220 --> 00:14:38,700 By a huge loss he gained his citizens citizenship. 285 00:14:38,940 --> 00:14:42,940 And Paul said I was freeborn, I was born into this. 286 00:14:43,510 --> 00:14:44,870 That was worth a lot. 287 00:14:45,270 --> 00:14:47,750 So Roman citizens had rights. 288 00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:52,950 And no doubt the Philippine Christians possessed these privileges. 289 00:14:53,190 --> 00:14:56,750 They knew what it was like to live in a community in which they 290 00:14:56,750 --> 00:15:00,030 were less closely bound to maybe the cities around them, but 291 00:15:00,030 --> 00:15:01,550 rather to the citizens. 292 00:15:01,550 --> 00:15:02,790 That was across the sea. 293 00:15:03,190 --> 00:15:04,790 That is who they belonged to. 294 00:15:05,190 --> 00:15:08,470 They knew that they were members of a mighty country. 295 00:15:08,940 --> 00:15:12,700 They'd never seen the temples nor trod the streets, but they belonged 296 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:13,340 to them. 297 00:15:14,220 --> 00:15:20,700 Now take this to what it is that Paul says only behave as citizens. 298 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:23,580 They knew they weren't supposed to behave as Greeks, they 299 00:15:23,580 --> 00:15:27,420 were Romans, they had privilege, they were high. 300 00:15:28,540 --> 00:15:32,380 They were high minded about their status and they knew who they 301 00:15:32,380 --> 00:15:32,700 were. 302 00:15:33,980 --> 00:15:37,340 And he takes that analogy, behave as citizens. 303 00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:39,940 You know what it's like to behave as a Roman citizen among these 304 00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:40,460 other countries. 305 00:15:41,420 --> 00:15:44,460 You are a citizen of Christ. 306 00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:48,140 You are a citizen of the kingdom of God. 307 00:15:48,460 --> 00:15:54,220 Let your citizenship reflect that as becometh the gospel Christ. 308 00:15:54,860 --> 00:15:56,020 That is the very first thing. 309 00:15:56,020 --> 00:15:58,140 It is an earnest plea to act. 310 00:15:58,300 --> 00:16:01,420 That is what Paul is trying to get them to do. 311 00:16:02,070 --> 00:16:03,830 You're a Christian, act like it. 312 00:16:04,470 --> 00:16:09,270 That is an enormous plea that he is saying please, please act like 313 00:16:09,430 --> 00:16:12,150 you belong into the kingdom of God. 314 00:16:12,790 --> 00:16:16,710 And that was what the good news of God manifests in the flesh 315 00:16:16,790 --> 00:16:18,230 and in of our salvation. 316 00:16:18,230 --> 00:16:21,310 Jesus does to the life of a believer. 317 00:16:21,310 --> 00:16:25,990 It is a gospel that is not merely believed, but to be obeyed. 318 00:16:26,070 --> 00:16:26,750 Let me tell you something. 319 00:16:26,750 --> 00:16:32,520 There was a huge difference in the day that I said a prayer to get 320 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,360 my fire insurance from hell. 321 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,200 And the day that I entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ, 322 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,840 real change began to happen. 323 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,520 Things that I didn't desire were now a desire. 324 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:51,480 I remember back in November, right before I got saved, my mother, 325 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:53,760 she's trying to encourage me. 326 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,080 You know, she's praying for me. 327 00:16:55,390 --> 00:16:59,950 She gave me a CD of glad hymns, acapella hymns. 328 00:16:59,950 --> 00:17:01,630 I don't know if any of you have ever listened to them. 329 00:17:01,790 --> 00:17:03,150 Acapella hymns. 330 00:17:03,790 --> 00:17:08,430 And you know what I had in the back of my, in back of my truck was 331 00:17:09,470 --> 00:17:16,470 a huge box with very big 12 inch square speakers. 332 00:17:16,470 --> 00:17:20,430 In the box those things were not playing no acapella Christian 333 00:17:20,430 --> 00:17:20,750 music. 334 00:17:21,410 --> 00:17:23,810 I cared nothing for that. 335 00:17:24,610 --> 00:17:29,570 But you know, when I got saved, I started listening to that. 336 00:17:29,650 --> 00:17:34,970 And those big speakers played acapella hymns on that, that radio, 337 00:17:34,970 --> 00:17:35,970 over that radio. 338 00:17:36,610 --> 00:17:37,490 There's a difference. 339 00:17:37,490 --> 00:17:39,570 There was a way that I began to act. 340 00:17:40,050 --> 00:17:45,730 The fruit of the gospel is not something that is a gospel of doctrines 341 00:17:45,730 --> 00:17:50,660 to be investigated, spun into theology, accepted in the understanding. 342 00:17:50,660 --> 00:17:51,540 And that's the end. 343 00:17:51,780 --> 00:17:53,140 That's not Paul's gospel. 344 00:17:53,140 --> 00:17:54,820 That's not God's gospel. 345 00:17:55,380 --> 00:17:59,820 He believed that the gospel which he proclaimed concerning the 346 00:17:59,820 --> 00:18:06,780 revelation of God in Christ his Son would unfold itself into 347 00:18:06,780 --> 00:18:10,900 something more, into a sovereign law life for every true 348 00:18:11,140 --> 00:18:11,860 believer. 349 00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:12,740 A change. 350 00:18:12,900 --> 00:18:18,150 I always tell people if The God of the universe who made everything 351 00:18:18,790 --> 00:18:20,950 comes and lives inside of you. 352 00:18:21,670 --> 00:18:22,790 That's a big deal. 353 00:18:23,910 --> 00:18:27,510 He is literally possessed inside of you, living inside. 354 00:18:27,910 --> 00:18:29,670 There's no change that's going to happen. 355 00:18:29,670 --> 00:18:32,470 No, there is huge change that's going to happen. 356 00:18:33,190 --> 00:18:35,750 And so the gospel changes lives. 357 00:18:35,990 --> 00:18:39,310 And this is what Paul is exhorting us to do, that we would 358 00:18:39,310 --> 00:18:44,520 behave as citizens of the kingdom, that we would behave as 359 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,280 God's children, like the family of God. 360 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,680 That is what Paul is saying. 361 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,800 He says, you know full and well the privileges and the responsibilities 362 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,280 of being a Roman citizen. 363 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,040 You know full and well how even in Philippi, so many miles from 364 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,720 Rome, you must still live and act as a Roman does. 365 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:10,660 Well, then have that higher call now, have that higher duty than 366 00:19:10,820 --> 00:19:13,140 the countries that live around you. 367 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:18,220 Whatever you are, you must live as it befits a citizen of the 368 00:19:18,220 --> 00:19:19,300 kingdom of God. 369 00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:21,780 That was the same exact call to us. 370 00:19:22,260 --> 00:19:28,060 No matter what society, what culture, norm, what is normalized 371 00:19:28,060 --> 00:19:32,580 by people who do not have God, we are to live differently. 372 00:19:33,140 --> 00:19:34,870 That different is. 373 00:19:35,190 --> 00:19:37,590 Is simply controlled by the Holy Spirit. 374 00:19:37,590 --> 00:19:41,310 It is how the Holy Spirit leads us to walk differently, talk 375 00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:43,430 differently, and act differently. 376 00:19:44,470 --> 00:19:49,510 And as he goes through this letter of Philippians, he constantly 377 00:19:49,510 --> 00:19:54,070 references this walk, walk as we walk, have our conversation. 378 00:19:54,150 --> 00:19:57,430 In Philippians chapter three, he says, brethren, be followers together 379 00:19:57,430 --> 00:20:01,950 of me, and mark them which walk also as so ye as you have us 380 00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:02,630 for an example. 381 00:20:03,350 --> 00:20:05,350 And that's an interesting claim. 382 00:20:05,350 --> 00:20:05,750 Walk. 383 00:20:05,990 --> 00:20:07,750 You want to know how Christ walks? 384 00:20:07,750 --> 00:20:11,270 You want to know how you're supposed to behave as a Christian? 385 00:20:11,590 --> 00:20:12,550 Just watch me. 386 00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:14,070 What a claim. 387 00:20:15,030 --> 00:20:18,070 Mark them that are in samples to you. 388 00:20:18,310 --> 00:20:23,910 Mark them that walk as Christ walks, and you walk the way that 389 00:20:23,910 --> 00:20:26,230 they walk, and you will be following Christ. 390 00:20:27,830 --> 00:20:28,630 Number two. 391 00:20:29,170 --> 00:20:33,410 He has an earnest expectation for them. 392 00:20:34,130 --> 00:20:37,570 He says, let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ, 393 00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:44,690 that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear 394 00:20:44,690 --> 00:20:48,610 of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, one mind 395 00:20:48,610 --> 00:20:51,330 striving together for the faith of the Gospel. 396 00:20:51,330 --> 00:20:53,090 It's an earnest expectation. 397 00:20:53,410 --> 00:20:55,890 This is what Paul is praying for. 398 00:20:56,420 --> 00:20:58,740 This is what he begins praying for in. 399 00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:02,900 In the very first few verses there of chapter one. 400 00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:09,540 He is praying that they are growing in their walks with God. 401 00:21:10,980 --> 00:21:14,980 Christianity cannot be a mile wide and an inch thick. 402 00:21:14,980 --> 00:21:16,100 It's got to be deep. 403 00:21:16,180 --> 00:21:18,900 And that's what Paul was longing for in all of his letters 404 00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:19,620 to the churches. 405 00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:24,660 He is longing to impart everything he can so that these people 406 00:21:24,900 --> 00:21:29,740 have such a relationship with Christ that it goes a mile deep. 407 00:21:29,820 --> 00:21:31,420 That's what he is desiring. 408 00:21:31,660 --> 00:21:37,100 You know, he writes this to a church again that he is quite fond 409 00:21:37,100 --> 00:21:37,420 of. 410 00:21:37,580 --> 00:21:41,420 He spends a couple of different visits there at Philippi. 411 00:21:41,420 --> 00:21:42,940 He's invested him. 412 00:21:43,180 --> 00:21:44,980 They send a gift to. 413 00:21:44,980 --> 00:21:48,140 To minister to him when no other church does. 414 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:50,420 Look there in chapter four. 415 00:21:50,420 --> 00:21:53,100 Flip over there for a second Philippians, chapter four. 416 00:21:55,980 --> 00:21:58,140 Look at the investment that they have in him. 417 00:21:58,380 --> 00:22:01,100 He says there in chapter four, verse 15. 418 00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:04,940 Now, ye, Philippians know also that in the beginning of the Gospel, 419 00:22:05,340 --> 00:22:08,780 when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated 420 00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:11,020 with me as concerning giving and receiving. 421 00:22:11,180 --> 00:22:16,220 But ye only for even in Thessalonica, ye sent once and again 422 00:22:16,220 --> 00:22:17,340 unto my necessity. 423 00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:23,270 Paul thanks them for being the only church that supported him in 424 00:22:23,270 --> 00:22:24,790 a time whenever he needed it. 425 00:22:25,590 --> 00:22:26,710 And he praises them. 426 00:22:26,710 --> 00:22:28,550 He said, I am so thankful. 427 00:22:28,710 --> 00:22:30,590 He said, no, not that I desire that. 428 00:22:30,590 --> 00:22:32,230 You just send me gifts all the time. 429 00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:33,230 You know, I know how to. 430 00:22:33,230 --> 00:22:34,550 To abound in the. 431 00:22:34,709 --> 00:22:35,110 The. 432 00:22:35,190 --> 00:22:35,550 The. 433 00:22:35,550 --> 00:22:38,910 The times whenever God is overflowing, and in times whenever 434 00:22:38,910 --> 00:22:39,430 I lack. 435 00:22:39,430 --> 00:22:40,270 I know how to. 436 00:22:40,270 --> 00:22:40,550 To. 437 00:22:40,550 --> 00:22:41,910 To be a base. 438 00:22:42,390 --> 00:22:49,480 He said, but I desired that in your life fruit would manifest itself, 439 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:55,360 that you would show forth fruit, that you would have a changed 440 00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:00,440 life that would manifest itself into that real Christianity. 441 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:06,240 And then that you would have the blessings of that, of being someone 442 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:11,840 who partook and being able to give for God, because God wants to 443 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:13,000 use people to give. 444 00:23:13,860 --> 00:23:17,780 And in this case, the Philippians, they got to be a part 445 00:23:17,780 --> 00:23:21,140 of that, and they got the blessing of being able to give. 446 00:23:22,900 --> 00:23:27,060 He wanted them to know, though, that they had someone to 447 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:28,020 be accountable to. 448 00:23:28,580 --> 00:23:31,700 I don't know if any of you have someone that holds you accountable 449 00:23:31,700 --> 00:23:32,740 in your Christian walk. 450 00:23:33,220 --> 00:23:38,020 It's a very humbling thing and a very good thing for our spiritual 451 00:23:38,020 --> 00:23:41,150 walks because we have a horrible tendency to. 452 00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:42,020 To just coast. 453 00:23:43,220 --> 00:23:47,100 You know, you get a good spiritual victory and you start to 454 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:48,580 just curse and ride on that. 455 00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:50,060 That's pretty good. 456 00:23:50,060 --> 00:23:50,980 Okay, okay. 457 00:23:51,780 --> 00:23:53,940 Your Christian walk will begin to stagnate. 458 00:23:54,340 --> 00:23:58,860 Have you had someone lately ask you personally what have you 459 00:23:58,860 --> 00:24:00,660 learned in your walk with God? 460 00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:06,140 Have you had someone personally ask you, have you been 461 00:24:06,140 --> 00:24:08,500 able to share the gospel with anyone this week? 462 00:24:08,940 --> 00:24:14,060 Have you been able to fill in the blank that accountability is 463 00:24:14,060 --> 00:24:15,180 what Paul had for them? 464 00:24:15,180 --> 00:24:20,860 He had an earnest expectation, and it was an expectation not born 465 00:24:20,860 --> 00:24:25,019 out of you must work, but it was of excitement. 466 00:24:25,980 --> 00:24:28,620 I can't wait to hear what you guys are doing next. 467 00:24:28,860 --> 00:24:30,300 I've been praying for you. 468 00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:31,660 Tell me a good report. 469 00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:33,300 Tell me my prayers have been answered. 470 00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:35,260 Tell me God has been working in your life. 471 00:24:36,020 --> 00:24:38,220 He Wanted them to know that they had someone to be accounted 472 00:24:38,220 --> 00:24:38,500 to. 473 00:24:38,740 --> 00:24:40,340 But what was on display? 474 00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:43,380 Your affairs, what does that mean? 475 00:24:44,180 --> 00:24:46,020 He prays for some specific things. 476 00:24:46,020 --> 00:24:48,940 There in verse number nine of chapter one, he says this. 477 00:24:48,940 --> 00:24:54,420 I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge 478 00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:58,180 and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent, 479 00:24:58,260 --> 00:25:02,660 that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ 480 00:25:03,220 --> 00:25:06,900 being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus 481 00:25:06,900 --> 00:25:08,820 Christ unto the glory and praise of our God. 482 00:25:08,820 --> 00:25:14,580 So Paul, he prays for them, for abundant love, your love for 483 00:25:14,580 --> 00:25:19,580 others, but yet not blind love, love that's increasing in knowledge. 484 00:25:19,580 --> 00:25:23,340 A love that's not unintelligent, but a love that increases 485 00:25:23,340 --> 00:25:24,820 because of knowledge of God. 486 00:25:25,140 --> 00:25:28,180 Not just mind smarts, but heart smart. 487 00:25:29,470 --> 00:25:35,910 He prayed for that abundant discernment that ye would abound 488 00:25:35,910 --> 00:25:39,470 yet more and more in knowledge and in an all judgment. 489 00:25:39,950 --> 00:25:44,670 He wanted them to love and have a discerning love that would 490 00:25:44,670 --> 00:25:47,390 manifest itself into an abundant holiness. 491 00:25:47,950 --> 00:25:53,230 All of these things are just a growth in the Christian walk, a growth 492 00:25:53,870 --> 00:25:54,510 in their. 493 00:25:55,060 --> 00:25:55,220 Their. 494 00:25:55,220 --> 00:25:59,180 Their theology and their understanding of the doctrine that 495 00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:01,220 God has given in his word. 496 00:26:01,300 --> 00:26:04,340 That they would understand their God more and more. 497 00:26:05,300 --> 00:26:09,060 And that is exactly what we as Christians are supposed to be growing 498 00:26:09,060 --> 00:26:09,380 at. 499 00:26:09,620 --> 00:26:11,219 Where are your affairs like? 500 00:26:11,460 --> 00:26:12,180 Goes back to. 501 00:26:12,180 --> 00:26:14,180 What is our Christian walk like? 502 00:26:14,660 --> 00:26:17,620 What do your affairs look like? 503 00:26:18,020 --> 00:26:20,820 Are you abounding in your walk with God? 504 00:26:21,170 --> 00:26:23,810 Are you abounding in your lifestyle? 505 00:26:24,290 --> 00:26:28,050 Walking as he is in the light, as it says in First John. 506 00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:31,930 In First John, chapter two, he says, he that saith he abideth in 507 00:26:31,930 --> 00:26:36,930 him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. 508 00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:41,170 You know, they were called Christians first at Antioch because 509 00:26:41,170 --> 00:26:43,250 they look a lot like Christ. 510 00:26:44,290 --> 00:26:44,970 That's the. 511 00:26:44,970 --> 00:26:48,730 It was almost a title of making fun of them. 512 00:26:48,730 --> 00:26:50,010 Hey, look at this little Christ. 513 00:26:50,650 --> 00:26:53,290 They didn't realize it would be such an honorary title. 514 00:26:54,090 --> 00:26:55,370 And it truly is. 515 00:26:56,410 --> 00:26:59,130 Is an honorary title to be called after Christ. 516 00:27:00,250 --> 00:27:02,570 And to be called after Christ is. 517 00:27:02,810 --> 00:27:05,170 There's too many people these days called a Christian that are 518 00:27:05,170 --> 00:27:05,930 not a Christian. 519 00:27:06,090 --> 00:27:10,130 That is a title that is reserved for truly following after 520 00:27:10,130 --> 00:27:10,450 Christ. 521 00:27:10,450 --> 00:27:12,090 And that's what Paul wanted to see. 522 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:13,080 He. 523 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,120 He wanted these people to act like Jesus. 524 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:17,480 Imagine that. 525 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,760 That's exactly what God calls us to do. 526 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,240 To act like Jesus in all affairs of our life. 527 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:27,880 That's really hard. 528 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:30,600 That's really hard. 529 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,440 In fact, it's impossible to do. 530 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:39,890 And we as Christians, we find ourselves desiring that walk. 531 00:27:40,850 --> 00:27:47,090 And yet sometimes we are locked in that mode of just not being 532 00:27:47,090 --> 00:27:48,050 able to do it. 533 00:27:48,690 --> 00:27:54,009 And the problem is, is that God is not expecting us to just do 534 00:27:54,009 --> 00:27:55,090 our sanctification. 535 00:27:55,570 --> 00:27:59,490 He is not expecting us to just, you know, put in the time, 536 00:27:59,810 --> 00:28:03,170 do a bunch of work and that's what's going to get you closer to 537 00:28:03,170 --> 00:28:03,490 God. 538 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,360 That's not how that works. 539 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:14,240 There is an effort on our part, but we often think reading 540 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:19,520 our Bible and praying and going to church and maybe telling 541 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,000 others about Jesus, it's almost as if we believe it's building 542 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,280 merit with God. 543 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,400 You ever build merit with God and then something happens and you're 544 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:30,280 like, I don't deserve this. 545 00:28:30,940 --> 00:28:33,100 I've been way too good of a Christian to deserve this. 546 00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:37,020 Or it's the opposite of oh no, what have I done? 547 00:28:37,340 --> 00:28:39,740 I'm being punished for it. 548 00:28:39,740 --> 00:28:43,620 You know, we, we will often work on a works based salvation at 549 00:28:43,620 --> 00:28:43,820 times. 550 00:28:43,820 --> 00:28:45,500 And that's not how it's working at all. 551 00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:53,180 There is work to be done, but it doesn't manifest itself in a person 552 00:28:53,980 --> 00:28:58,260 working as hard as they can, trying to get as close as they can, 553 00:28:58,580 --> 00:29:01,860 just so they can have that merit of good Christian title. 554 00:29:02,660 --> 00:29:06,100 It's much more about a relationship with Jesus. 555 00:29:06,580 --> 00:29:08,100 That is what he wanted. 556 00:29:08,260 --> 00:29:12,020 You know, Paul said something to us over in Galatians. 557 00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:17,940 He said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet 558 00:29:18,340 --> 00:29:20,860 not I, but Christ liveth in me. 559 00:29:20,860 --> 00:29:22,500 And the life which I now live in the flesh. 560 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:26,070 I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself 561 00:29:26,310 --> 00:29:27,030 for me. 562 00:29:28,550 --> 00:29:32,790 I had a guy that the way he explained this verse is you have 563 00:29:32,790 --> 00:29:38,550 to put some lowercase I's in here and keep some capitalized I's 564 00:29:39,030 --> 00:29:39,950 the lowercase. 565 00:29:39,950 --> 00:29:41,510 Is that very first one I. 566 00:29:41,750 --> 00:29:42,310 That's me. 567 00:29:42,310 --> 00:29:45,990 I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. 568 00:29:46,550 --> 00:29:47,270 That's God. 569 00:29:47,430 --> 00:29:50,710 That's an uppercase I yet not I. 570 00:29:51,170 --> 00:29:52,130 That's lowercase. 571 00:29:52,450 --> 00:29:59,090 But Christ liveth in me in the life which I now live, lowercase 572 00:30:00,450 --> 00:30:03,250 I live, capital Christ. 573 00:30:04,050 --> 00:30:07,409 I live by the faith of the Son of God who loves me. 574 00:30:07,810 --> 00:30:08,930 It's by faith. 575 00:30:09,330 --> 00:30:11,810 It's not by frustrating of the works. 576 00:30:12,050 --> 00:30:15,650 It's not the frustrating of the grace trying to get more grace. 577 00:30:16,210 --> 00:30:17,650 As if that could ever happen. 578 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:19,960 God gives you his grace. 579 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,040 Not on anything that we do. 580 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,480 He gives you his grace because he is good. 581 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:27,080 That is why. 582 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,200 And on the days when he blesses you, you don't deserve it 583 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:30,720 anymore. 584 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:34,920 On the days whenever you think that you've done the worst things 585 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:35,480 in the world. 586 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,600 And this is what Paul is wanting them to grow, he is holding 587 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,120 them accountable an expectation that they would grow 588 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,920 in their love for God in this way. 589 00:30:47,630 --> 00:30:52,390 Not just a knowledge that says, he saved me. 590 00:30:52,390 --> 00:30:55,830 And I'm just trying to get to know this God who is distant from 591 00:30:55,830 --> 00:30:57,390 me, but a personal God. 592 00:30:57,390 --> 00:31:00,750 That is who he is, trying to get them to understand. 593 00:31:02,110 --> 00:31:08,390 And then finally, he gives here an earnest cry for unity, an 594 00:31:08,390 --> 00:31:13,740 earnest plea to act, an earnest expectation and an earnest 595 00:31:13,740 --> 00:31:14,700 cry for unity. 596 00:31:14,940 --> 00:31:20,700 And he exhorts them to unity in two different ways, but for one 597 00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:21,900 purpose, I believe. 598 00:31:22,300 --> 00:31:25,180 And he gives that purpose right here in this verse. 599 00:31:25,260 --> 00:31:29,420 In the next couple verses, he says that ye stand fast in one spirit, 600 00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:33,900 with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel. 601 00:31:34,620 --> 00:31:37,340 Now, this word striving together is what I want to focus 602 00:31:37,340 --> 00:31:37,740 on here. 603 00:31:37,740 --> 00:31:40,760 This phrase, striving together, that literally means to 604 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:41,400 fight together. 605 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,000 Now, that doesn't mean we're fighting against each other here, 606 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,520 but literally fighting alongside one another. 607 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:53,760 Perhaps in maybe a war, you know, you're standing side by side 608 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,880 with other soldiers fighting a fight. 609 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:57,200 But this is. 610 00:31:57,200 --> 00:31:59,480 This is kind of in the terminology of wrestling. 611 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,200 You're fighting with your. 612 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,920 Your friend, your comrade, wrestling in a wrestling match. 613 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,630 It's almost like a melee brawl, okay? 614 00:32:08,950 --> 00:32:12,310 And that is what is being said here. 615 00:32:12,310 --> 00:32:15,110 To wrestle in company with, to fight together. 616 00:32:15,910 --> 00:32:21,270 And the one danger that threatens every single church, every 617 00:32:21,270 --> 00:32:25,030 single Christian who interacts with another Christian, is disunity. 618 00:32:25,750 --> 00:32:31,230 Disunity is what is what Christ prayed for there in the garden. 619 00:32:31,230 --> 00:32:35,240 In John, chapter 17, he said, Now I am no more in the world, but 620 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:35,960 these are in the world. 621 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:37,680 And I come to the Holy Father. 622 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,400 Keep through thine own name those who thou give me, that they 623 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,720 may be one, as we are one. 624 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:44,240 Disunity. 625 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:46,720 I can't tell you how many Christians are. 626 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:47,040 Dis. 627 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,760 Are in disarray and not in unity. 628 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,080 There are so many different opinions out there that can exist, 629 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,960 so many different things that people can think. 630 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,320 And it is completely different than your brother or sister in Christ 631 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:02,480 sits right next to you. 632 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:08,080 And so disunity is a constant battle that Christians are facing. 633 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,360 And the two cries. 634 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,640 There are two different cries here for unity. 635 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,520 Number one is the cry to unite, to fight together against 636 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:18,360 the enemy. 637 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:19,920 That's what this is all for. 638 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:21,920 He says there in verse number 28. 639 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:22,880 And in nothing. 640 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:27,520 Terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token 641 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:28,160 of perdition. 642 00:33:28,430 --> 00:33:32,830 But to you, of salvation, that of God, he says, you have enemies, 643 00:33:33,230 --> 00:33:39,190 we have enemies, and those enemies are the devil, the forces 644 00:33:39,190 --> 00:33:42,670 of darkness, the world who are fighting against us. 645 00:33:42,670 --> 00:33:47,230 And they would love to see nothing More than or nothing less 646 00:33:47,310 --> 00:33:49,630 than for the church to crumble and fall. 647 00:33:51,630 --> 00:33:55,180 And he says here, in no way alarmed by your opponents. 648 00:33:56,620 --> 00:33:59,740 This is literally describing a stampede of elephants. 649 00:34:00,460 --> 00:34:00,820 You're. 650 00:34:00,820 --> 00:34:02,220 You're getting stampeded. 651 00:34:02,380 --> 00:34:05,780 I think everyone's seen the Lion King in poor Simba. 652 00:34:05,780 --> 00:34:07,020 He's up there in that tree. 653 00:34:07,260 --> 00:34:11,500 And that stampede of buffalo, of wilderbeast, they run them over. 654 00:34:11,820 --> 00:34:14,140 That is literally what's being said here. 655 00:34:14,300 --> 00:34:18,500 It's a stampede of animals about to run you over. 656 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:20,900 That is what the enemy wants to do. 657 00:34:20,900 --> 00:34:23,340 That is what the enemy desires to do. 658 00:34:25,740 --> 00:34:31,340 The Philippian Church was to have boldness in the face of opposition. 659 00:34:32,620 --> 00:34:36,700 Now he's saying all this to have boldness in the face of opposition. 660 00:34:37,180 --> 00:34:38,700 Remember where Paul is at? 661 00:34:39,420 --> 00:34:40,780 He is in jail. 662 00:34:41,260 --> 00:34:47,540 He is probably chained to a Roman guard just waiting for maybe 663 00:34:47,540 --> 00:34:48,420 his next meal. 664 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:52,400 Or honestly, he's waiting for the Roman guard to do something else 665 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:53,960 because he's chained to them. 666 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,440 He has to do whatever they want. 667 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:00,160 He is at the mercy of whatever this soldier wants him to do. 668 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:08,440 As a church, you must have unity with one another because the 669 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:13,760 devil wants to disrupt the work of God in any way that he can't. 670 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:20,940 Why would he want an effective army that is able to arm the battalions, 671 00:35:21,340 --> 00:35:27,340 guard the castle, and make a forward march on his turf whenever 672 00:35:27,340 --> 00:35:33,020 he could, instead have that castle crumble from within is a constant 673 00:35:33,420 --> 00:35:33,820 threat. 674 00:35:34,540 --> 00:35:35,580 If God can. 675 00:35:35,580 --> 00:35:39,100 If the Devil can get Christians to argue with each other 676 00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:46,090 using our own flesh, our own differences, you know, sometimes 677 00:35:46,090 --> 00:35:47,850 the devil doesn't have to do anything. 678 00:35:48,170 --> 00:35:50,090 Our flesh is bad enough as it is. 679 00:35:50,330 --> 00:35:55,370 The lack of transformation that we have experienced in Christ 680 00:35:56,010 --> 00:36:01,370 due to our unwillingness to yield to what God wants in our life 681 00:36:01,770 --> 00:36:04,090 is sometimes some of our worst undoing. 682 00:36:04,410 --> 00:36:07,570 And the devil has to do nothing but just tip the iceberg 683 00:36:07,570 --> 00:36:08,490 for it to turn over. 684 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,400 That is what he is praying for here. 685 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:17,360 And he goes on there in chapter two, speaking again of unity 686 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:22,080 and for good reason for this one thing and nothing. 687 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,000 Terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token 688 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:26,560 of perdition. 689 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:31,040 He says, whenever you as a Christian go out into the attack, 690 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:38,700 being attacked, but with great boldness, and you do not allow the 691 00:36:38,700 --> 00:36:44,540 enemy to assail your forces, but rather you are on the offensive 692 00:36:44,940 --> 00:36:46,860 and you are going forward for Christ. 693 00:36:47,420 --> 00:36:49,820 This is the token of perdition. 694 00:36:50,300 --> 00:36:51,340 Destruction. 695 00:36:51,340 --> 00:36:53,260 To them, they see it. 696 00:36:53,500 --> 00:36:55,980 They understand that destruction is coming. 697 00:36:56,540 --> 00:36:58,740 But to you, this is the token of salvation. 698 00:36:58,740 --> 00:37:01,020 This is the work of God in your lives. 699 00:37:01,620 --> 00:37:03,220 This boldness, this. 700 00:37:03,700 --> 00:37:08,220 This desire to go forward and preach the kingdom and preach the 701 00:37:08,220 --> 00:37:13,620 gospel, it's a token of the salvation that God has done in your 702 00:37:13,620 --> 00:37:13,900 life. 703 00:37:13,900 --> 00:37:14,580 The work. 704 00:37:15,060 --> 00:37:20,660 You remember what was said about Peter and John as they stood 705 00:37:20,980 --> 00:37:26,660 before the Pharisees, given an account for their preaching of Christ. 706 00:37:26,740 --> 00:37:31,760 Boldly so they took note that these men had spent time with Jesus. 707 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,520 Being unlearned men, they spent time with Jesus. 708 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:37,040 You can. 709 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:42,000 You can go and do all the degrees that you want, but the one 710 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,320 thing that affects you is how much time as you have you spent with 711 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:47,200 Jesus. 712 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,800 All the learning in the world, all the head knowledge that you could 713 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:55,680 possibly get, what kind of time have you actually spent with 714 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:56,240 Jesus? 715 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:03,120 And so he gives this great cry for unity that they would stand together 716 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:04,880 against the enemy. 717 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:11,280 And understanding that all of this is given to us as Christians 718 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:14,320 in the behalf of Christ. 719 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,200 There in verse number 29, not only to believe on him, but also 720 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,440 to suffer for his sake. 721 00:38:22,810 --> 00:38:30,170 You know, suffering is kind of a taboo principle to us living here 722 00:38:30,170 --> 00:38:31,050 in America. 723 00:38:32,330 --> 00:38:34,130 There is AC in this room. 724 00:38:34,130 --> 00:38:34,970 It feels great. 725 00:38:35,130 --> 00:38:37,609 There was no AC in the restaurant where we tried to go eat 726 00:38:37,609 --> 00:38:38,090 tonight. 727 00:38:38,090 --> 00:38:39,090 That was not great. 728 00:38:39,090 --> 00:38:40,170 We did not eat there. 729 00:38:40,730 --> 00:38:41,210 All right? 730 00:38:41,450 --> 00:38:42,490 That would be suffering. 731 00:38:42,490 --> 00:38:44,890 We weren't about to suffer tonight, okay? 732 00:38:45,770 --> 00:38:47,370 We don't know what it's like to. 733 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:49,920 We don't want that suffering. 734 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:56,320 Some of the poorest Americans are some of the richest people if 735 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:57,440 they were in another country. 736 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,000 We have an excess. 737 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,200 Now, that is not to say that we do not suffer physically from 738 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:04,800 ailments or sicknesses. 739 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:06,320 I know what that's like. 740 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:12,480 That does not mean that we don't suffer the loss of family or 741 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:18,940 loved ones, but to suffer in our lives, that is not something 742 00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:20,260 that you and I pray for. 743 00:39:20,500 --> 00:39:24,340 I dare say that is a taboo. 744 00:39:25,140 --> 00:39:26,500 And it's interesting. 745 00:39:27,700 --> 00:39:30,900 There is a show that talks. 746 00:39:30,980 --> 00:39:31,420 It's. 747 00:39:31,420 --> 00:39:32,700 It's the Chosen is what it is. 748 00:39:32,700 --> 00:39:34,260 I don't know how many of you have watched the Chosen. 749 00:39:34,260 --> 00:39:35,860 I've watched it a couple of times. 750 00:39:36,660 --> 00:39:42,510 And one of the things that I noticed in there is the statement. 751 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:45,630 One statement was made that kind of gave me a good illustration 752 00:39:45,630 --> 00:39:46,110 for this. 753 00:39:46,350 --> 00:39:52,750 But people are so against suffering in their own life that 754 00:39:52,750 --> 00:39:58,110 they actively work as hard as they can to not suffer. 755 00:39:58,510 --> 00:40:00,510 You think about some of our prayer requests. 756 00:40:00,670 --> 00:40:01,390 Pray that we. 757 00:40:01,550 --> 00:40:04,430 Every single day, my daughters pray that we'll have a good day. 758 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:06,920 Oh, that we pray we have a good day. 759 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:09,480 I asked him the other day, what does that mean? 760 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:10,600 What do you mean? 761 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:11,720 Pray for a good day? 762 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:13,040 What are you praying for? 763 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:14,640 What's good about that? 764 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,160 You would like to happen to make It a good day. 765 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,520 What makes it a good day? 766 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:20,999 We pray for that good day. 767 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,920 Pray that God double the work of our hands. 768 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:31,250 Because no one wants to suffer working and it not working right. 769 00:40:32,050 --> 00:40:34,130 You know the, the worst part? 770 00:40:34,770 --> 00:40:38,610 The, the, the worst part of a 10 minute project is probably three 771 00:40:38,610 --> 00:40:40,370 days into that 10 minute project. 772 00:40:42,130 --> 00:40:43,010 We don't want that. 773 00:40:43,010 --> 00:40:45,490 You want the Lord double the work of my hands? 774 00:40:45,650 --> 00:40:47,090 I don't want to suffer like that. 775 00:40:48,450 --> 00:40:50,530 I don't want to suffer any kind of hunger. 776 00:40:51,090 --> 00:40:53,650 Tell you something, if I eat lunch, what's for supper? 777 00:40:54,290 --> 00:40:58,210 Like, let's get this plan, let's have a roadmap to get to that 778 00:40:58,210 --> 00:40:58,530 point. 779 00:40:58,610 --> 00:41:00,770 We're not suffering at all, okay? 780 00:41:01,140 --> 00:41:02,100 We like to eat. 781 00:41:03,540 --> 00:41:04,980 We don't want to suffer. 782 00:41:05,060 --> 00:41:06,260 We don't want sickness. 783 00:41:06,260 --> 00:41:07,220 We pray for help. 784 00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:09,700 We don't want to go through financial burdens. 785 00:41:09,940 --> 00:41:12,820 We pray that God would meet every single one of our needs. 786 00:41:13,380 --> 00:41:15,460 Oh, the world will supply all of our needs. 787 00:41:15,460 --> 00:41:16,980 We take that out of context. 788 00:41:17,380 --> 00:41:20,860 Even though we're giving nothing to God, we pray God will 789 00:41:20,860 --> 00:41:24,020 meet all of our needs and we'll do that to ourselves. 790 00:41:24,980 --> 00:41:30,910 We will, in so many terms, live a prosperity gospel at a time 791 00:41:31,310 --> 00:41:34,310 where we believe God is just going to meet every single one of 792 00:41:34,310 --> 00:41:38,710 our needs and we're not going to have any suffering or any problems 793 00:41:38,710 --> 00:41:39,150 in life. 794 00:41:40,270 --> 00:41:47,950 And Paul, he says it is given to us not only to believe on him, 795 00:41:48,190 --> 00:41:51,390 but also to suffer for his sake. 796 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,360 The suffering is part of the package. 797 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,000 Suffering is what draws us closer to God. 798 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:05,800 For if we did not know sorrow, how can we ever know true joy? 799 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:12,320 If we did not know loss, how could we ever know whenever God meets 800 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:13,000 our need? 801 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:24,410 You know, in the past 12 years since becoming a Christian and being 802 00:42:24,410 --> 00:42:29,650 put in place to not necessarily have everything that 803 00:42:29,650 --> 00:42:33,689 I'm needed, I've seen God work in many different ways. 804 00:42:33,689 --> 00:42:34,970 I made mention of this on Sunday. 805 00:42:34,970 --> 00:42:37,810 Every single thing that we got at the beginning of our marriage, 806 00:42:37,810 --> 00:42:42,530 me and my wife, we received at the hands of someone else who gave 807 00:42:42,530 --> 00:42:43,130 it to us. 808 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:43,520 Us. 809 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:48,480 And through time and time again, God has met many, many different 810 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:48,920 needs. 811 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:50,760 And I like to remember those things. 812 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:56,040 Not necessarily to ride on the, the, the encode on those spiritual 813 00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:01,560 blessings, if you will, but to remember the, the state that we are 814 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:06,120 in, the, the humbleness of where we have been, what God has 815 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:07,840 done, not what we have done. 816 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:13,320 And I remember talking to someone and speaking about a need 817 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:18,520 that we were having and it was something that just felt impossible. 818 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:23,400 And I remember they started talking to me about a situation in 819 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:30,040 their life that they Saw God work through and this person was 820 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:31,800 an older person and they. 821 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:35,840 It was a situation where God just really showed himself and came 822 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:36,520 through for them. 823 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:40,220 But it was what they said that startled me and really can made me 824 00:43:40,220 --> 00:43:40,460 think. 825 00:43:40,460 --> 00:43:44,020 They said, I've never seen God do that. 826 00:43:45,140 --> 00:43:47,780 I've never seen God work in such an amazing way. 827 00:43:47,940 --> 00:43:51,940 And I just thought to myself, you're how old? 828 00:43:52,500 --> 00:43:54,420 You're your 50s, 60s? 829 00:43:54,980 --> 00:43:57,380 And you've never seen God work? 830 00:43:58,420 --> 00:44:01,860 How can you, if you have all of your needs, how can you, if you're 831 00:44:01,860 --> 00:44:04,180 not even asking for needs to be met in the first place? 832 00:44:04,750 --> 00:44:10,470 Number one, but going through suffering, lacking that is how we 833 00:44:10,470 --> 00:44:11,230 see God work. 834 00:44:12,910 --> 00:44:16,630 You want to see God change your life, you want to see God come 835 00:44:16,630 --> 00:44:20,550 closer, that you want to get closer to him, that you want to see 836 00:44:20,550 --> 00:44:22,910 God provide in some miraculous way. 837 00:44:23,710 --> 00:44:26,990 You have to go through an impossible situation and suffer first 838 00:44:27,150 --> 00:44:29,510 to see God work in the miraculous way. 839 00:44:29,510 --> 00:44:31,790 If there's no need, there's no miracle, right? 840 00:44:34,230 --> 00:44:38,390 He says, I pray that you would be unified. 841 00:44:39,350 --> 00:44:41,750 Then there in that chapter two, he says, if there be therefore 842 00:44:41,750 --> 00:44:45,190 any consolation in Christ being come through a mercy, if any 843 00:44:45,190 --> 00:44:50,510 fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels of mercies fulfill ye 844 00:44:50,510 --> 00:44:53,830 my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being 845 00:44:53,830 --> 00:44:58,630 of one accord, of one mind, Let nothing be done through strife, 846 00:44:58,770 --> 00:45:02,770 vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better 847 00:45:02,770 --> 00:45:03,450 than themselves. 848 00:45:03,450 --> 00:45:06,410 Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the 849 00:45:06,410 --> 00:45:07,410 things of others. 850 00:45:08,610 --> 00:45:12,450 This is what living the Christian life is like. 851 00:45:13,170 --> 00:45:20,570 It is having a life that looks as if you are actually a citizen 852 00:45:20,570 --> 00:45:21,730 of the kingdom of God. 853 00:45:21,730 --> 00:45:24,210 You behave as a child of God. 854 00:45:24,740 --> 00:45:26,740 It's a real gospel change. 855 00:45:27,380 --> 00:45:34,340 It is an expectation, an earnest expectation that we would 856 00:45:34,580 --> 00:45:39,420 be continually growing in that Christian, that we would be continuing 857 00:45:39,420 --> 00:45:43,780 to abound in our love for God, in a knowledge and a discernment 858 00:45:43,780 --> 00:45:44,500 for other people. 859 00:45:45,060 --> 00:45:51,230 That we would, as he says here at the end, be unified for the cause. 860 00:45:51,790 --> 00:45:56,790 That we would strive together, that we would literally fight alongside 861 00:45:56,790 --> 00:46:02,910 one another, fight together, unified in one church, fighting for 862 00:46:02,910 --> 00:46:05,950 the cause and the purpose of the gospel. 863 00:46:06,510 --> 00:46:09,710 That is what God calls us to do. 864 00:46:10,750 --> 00:46:13,070 You are a citizen of heaven. 865 00:46:13,950 --> 00:46:17,160 You are a child of God. 866 00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:18,680 To live like him. 867 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:23,000 That is what is the call whether anyone is watching or not, 868 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:27,760 whether you're seen, whether you're unseen, to live worthy of 869 00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:28,440 the gospel. 870 00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:30,920 And Paul would repeat this theme through his letters. 871 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,960 Live worthy of the vocation that you've been called. 872 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:36,840 Live a life worth reporting. 873 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:38,760 Live a life worth reporting. 874 00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:43,120 That whenever someone hears about you, you, you can report that 875 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:48,200 yes, God has been doing this or this with striving together with 876 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:48,520 others. 877 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:53,280 And then remember you're not called to live this life in your 878 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:58,600 own strength, but rather to yield to Christ who is living it 879 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:00,280 through you. 880 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:04,600 That is what we are called to do as citizens of heaven. 881 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:05,320 Let's pray. 882 00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:10,170 Father, thank you so much that we could be adopted into the family 883 00:47:10,170 --> 00:47:15,530 of God, which it feels weird to be able to belong to. 884 00:47:16,010 --> 00:47:18,810 Lord, you and your grace and mercy. 885 00:47:19,370 --> 00:47:24,930 You saved us, called us into your family, Lord, and now you're 886 00:47:24,930 --> 00:47:26,450 changing us into the image of Christ. 887 00:47:26,450 --> 00:47:29,450 Lord, I pray that we would be transformed into your image. 888 00:47:29,770 --> 00:47:32,970 I pray that you would do a wonderful work of sanctification 889 00:47:32,970 --> 00:47:33,770 in our hearts. 890 00:47:34,350 --> 00:47:37,670 Lord, I pray that we would look like Christ and that we would 891 00:47:37,670 --> 00:47:40,030 behave as citizens of the kingdom of God. 892 00:47:40,030 --> 00:47:41,950 I pray this down, Lord, in Jesus name. 893 00:47:42,190 --> 00:47:42,830 Amen. 894 00:47:46,590 --> 00:47:49,190 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 895 00:47:49,190 --> 00:47:49,790 podcast. 896 00:47:50,030 --> 00:47:52,430 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 897 00:47:53,150 --> 00:47:55,350 You would like to find out more information about our church 898 00:47:55,350 --> 00:47:58,830 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 899 00:47:58,990 --> 00:48:01,720 or or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 900 00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:06,960 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 901 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:07,320 Com. 902 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,320 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 903 00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:14,120 along for future podcast and updates. 904 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:15,800 Thank you so much. 905 00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:16,680 God bless. 906 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:18,200 Have a wonderful day.