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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening to everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me for our call to worship this evening a reading from Isaiah 6 uh 62 Isaiah 62 beginning at verse one and reading to verse 7 Isaiah 621 this is the word of God for Zion's sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her righteousness Goes Forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns the Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all Kings Your Glory you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will name you shall also be a Crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God you shall no longer be termed forsaken nor shall your land anymore be termed desolate but you shall be called heila and your land Bula for the Lord Delights in you and your land shall be married for as a Young Man marries a virgin so shall your sons marry you and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall your God Rejoice over you I have set Watchmen on your walls oh Jerusalem they shall never hold hold their peace day or night you who make mention of the Lord do not keep silent and give him no rest till he establishes until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth amen let's stand and sing together our first hymn will be Psalm 121a 121a let's stand and sing my [Music] eyes my Earth [Music] has your keep s behold for he at your right hand your the shall you high for Sun by of the Lord will you all for out and calling in [Music] the let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this Lord's Day evening we Rejoice now with this second opportunity before us to worship the one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit and we thank you that we can gather now in Freedom as the Saints of Christ to worship you and we pray that you would help us to do so we pray for your holy spirit that he would help us to lift our hearts to High Praise of our God and to rejoice in our savior the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ and to reflect with great joy upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation by Amazing Grace we pray that you'd help us to hallow your name a right that we would worship you in spirit and in truth and that you would receive all honor in this place we thank you for salvation by Jesus Christ we know that salvation is not by Deeds of righteousness which we have done uh but rather according to your mercy you saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy spirit and this by virtue of the perfect work of Christ his life of perfection to your law in the place of all who believe and that perfect death upon calvary's cross wherein he secured the salvation of a multitude which no man can number and we rejoice in that resurrection that Ascension to your right hand and in the fact that he now ever lives to intercede for his people uh you have saved us from our sins by the perfect work of Christ and we pray that uh in return we would return much thanksgivings to you uh our precious God for having brought us from out of Darkness into Marvelous Light we do pray that you would be with Pastor Butler as he preaches your word we know that that act of preaching is the central element of worship and so we do pray for that measure of the spirit for our brother to come up here to open his Bible and to preach well the things of your Revelation to the sons of men help us to receive well the preached word uh we do pray pray that Saints this evening would be strengthened uh in worship strengthened by these means of Grace that we might all the more rejoice in our God uh find our dependence uh upon you be resting solely and alone upon the Lord Jesus Christ and that we would be well equipped to go into this world to live uh in light of a perverse generation in light of a wi uh the wickedness and the the evil that besets us all about we do pray that we would be equipped by the spirit and word to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we pray that the ministry of the word this evening would be unto the salvation of Sinners unbelievers uh Among Us presently whether young or old Lord God we pray that by your grace they would leave uh this place singing the Praises of Christ do be with us in worship forgive us aresh by virtue of the shed blood of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ help us to honor you as we sing as we read the scriptures as uh we engage in prayer and in the preaching of the word we pray that you would be honored Saints edified and Sinners saved and all to the praise of your grace we pray in Christ's name amen let's stand together again and sing we're going to sing 48a stanas 1 and3 that Psalm 48a stanas 1 to3 [Music] for our and great to be [Music] prais our C glorious Beauty his [Music] holy in the Lord the C of the mighty the joy of all the Earth Strong by Jo fores [Music] and they stood and [Music] ter [Music] to my in the [Music] sh your ser in our heart what we have see with your C the [Music] Lord ever you can turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua 12 Joshua 12 for our Old Testament scripture reading we find a record of the Kings conquered by Moses and Joshua a testament to the faithfulness of God in executing upon his promises uh his promises to the people of Israel and his Covenant promise with respect to to the land of Canaan it's a a testament to uh ultim while ultimately bringing forth a bit of a uh a bit of an indictment of those who would be marked by faithlessness in not believing the promises of God regarding the Conquering of the promised land uh but also a testament to uh uh to the faithfulness of God a contrast between the the fear of man and the faithfulness of God and bringing about his promises Joshua 12 beginning at verse one the word word of God these are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the Sun from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon and all the Eastern Jordan plain one king was sihon King of the amorites who dwelt in heshbon and ruled half of Gilead from AO which is on the bank of the river Arnon from the middle of that River even as far as the river ja abok which is the uh which is the border of the ammonites and the Eastern Jordan plain from the sea of Chino as far as the sea of arabah the salt sea the road to Beth jeso and Southward below the slopes of pisca the other King was OG king of Bashan and his territory who was of the remnant of the Giants who dwelt at ashteroth and at edri and reigned over Mount Hermon over Sala over all Bashan as far as the border of the gites and the maites and over half of Gilead to the border of sihon king of heshbon these Moses the servant of the Lord and the children of Israel had conquered and Moses the servant of the Lord had given it as a possession to the reubenites the gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh and these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan on the west from bad in the valley of Lebanon as far as Mount hak and the ascent to sire which is Joshua excuse me which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions in the Mountain Country in the lowlands in the Jordan plain in the slopes in the wilderness and in the South the Hittites the amorites the Canaanites the perizzites the hivites and the jebusites the the king of Jericho one the king of AI which is beside bethl one the king of Jerusalem one the king of hebbron one the king of jth one the king of Leakes one the king of eglon one the king of gizer one the king of deir one the king of Gator one the king of uh horma one the king of arid one the king of libna one the king of of adulam one the king of Mada one the king of bethl one the king of tapua one the king of uh haer one the king of APAC one the king of lasharon one the king of maidon one the king of hazor one the king of sim shimron meon one the king of a Asaf one the king of Tanakh one the king of megiddo one the king of cadesh one the king of jnam and Carmel one the king of D in the heights of door one the king of the people of gilgal one the king of tiza one all the kings 31 amen well let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this word of testimony uh as it speaks to your faithfulness in executing upon your promises your covenantal faithfulness to your people uh we rejoice in the fact that you do bring about those promises that we can hold fast our confession without wavering for he who promised is faithful and we do pray that you'd help us now to worship uh you a right once again that we would worship you in spirit and in truth that we would rejoice in you as a God who is faithful in bringing to bear his promises which are true and certain in Jesus Christ Our precious Savior and we pray in his name amen let's let's stand in and sing our final hymn it's 518 in your hym books 518 let's stand and sing together my soul every Jesus L to answer PR to PR he will never turn away he will never turn you are to with you for his gra and Power [Music] ever to us ever to I this Lord of s your BL [Music] for my set my for your to be part take possession of my heart your blood right and our and and with am here love my as are my friend me to my need to my Jour show me what I am to do every my I is perfect good and for is perfect Church in Philippi he wrote this while he was in his first Roman imprisonment uh the book of Acts ends with that imprisonment in Acts CH 28 so about the years a 60 to 62 he was eventually released continued in Ministry then wrote 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus and possibly and likely the book of Hebrews so Philippians is categorized as one of the prison Epistles so I want to read verses 1 to 11 and then our focus is on verses 9 to 11 Paul and Timothy Bond Servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the Bishops and de grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ just as it is right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel you all are partakers with me of Grace for God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment that you may approve the things that are excellent that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory excuse me to the glory and praise of God well let us pray Our Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for these Epistles given to us by the inspiration of the spirit through men like the Apostle Paul we pray that You' grant us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things help us God to make sure that in our lives we are interceding on behalf of others individuals and families and churches and even the Civil State we we see so many examples of that all throughout scripture we know God that this is pleasing in your sight we ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins and cleanse Us in the Precious Blood of the lamb and cause us now to know The Nearness of of God the Holy Spirit as our good and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well as we have looked at this particular section we notice the Apostle expresses his gratitude according to verse three to God for the Saints in Philippi and there in verse four he mentions that he prays for them always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy so in verse four he indicates that he prays for them in verses 9 to 11 he indicates what it is that he does pray for them and again I think this is very instructive for us in our prayer lives these are the kinds of things that we ought to be praying about with reference to the people of God in our church and in other churches so the the apostles intercession for them and basically intercession is just that you go to God on behalf of others you see that in Christ's High Priestly prayer in John 17 he's interceding uh that's a function of the priesthood to both sacrifice and to intercede and we see that example by our lord Jesus but as well that that passage that that cam read from the prophet Isaiah give him no rest till he makes Jerusalem a praise in all the Earth Earth we see it in the life of Moses very often Moses goes to the throne of grace on behalf of the people of Israel so that God will not wipe them out in his wrath you see an example in the Prophet Daniel Daniel in Daniel chapter 9 he knows that things are not well in the nation he knows that things are not well among the Covenant people so he goes to God and seeks Mercy on behalf of the Covenant people and then of course the Epistles of the Apostle Paul you see this sort of intercession he expresses to them what it is that he prays and why it is that he prays those things so I think there are two petitions here in verses 9 to 11 the first deals with the disposition of their hearts and that's in verses 9 and 10 a the second is the actions in their lives and that's verses 10B and 11 so let's take up first the disposition of their heart so in verse 9 he gives the petition and then in verse 10 a he highlights the purpose for that particular petition so notice what he says he wants them to grow in love and most likely this is love to God and love to one another he says in verse 9 and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more if you turn over to the book of First Thessalonians chapter 3 you see that this is not unique in the letter to the Philippians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 specifically at verse 11 now may Our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you so that he may establish your heart's blameless and Holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints so a very similar petition in terms of inter passion for the churches in Philippi and then again in thessalonica now when Paul prays this in verse 9 of Philippians 1 that your love may abound still more and more he's not condemning them for a lack of Love he's not suggesting that there is no love whatsoever he's not calling them to repentance but rather he is asking that God would indeed increase that work in their hearts such that it would be expressed in their lives and that the presence of the love of God and the love for one another is there by the grace of God notice in verse 6 Paul says concerning the Philippians being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ and then notice in verse 7 where he says at the end you all are partakers with me of Grace so God in his grace had saved these these brethren in Philippi Paul recognizes that and so the prayer is not one of condemnation it's not one of rebuke or reprove it is rather that indeed it would grow that it would abound that there would be more and more of it and he absolutely positively relies upon God's grace to make that effectual all good things that come to us or are done by us are according to the perfect plan and will of God in fact look at Philippians chapter 2 specifically at verses 12 and 13 this says much about the Theology of the Apostle Paul in chapter 3 he highlights justification by faith alone we're not saved by our works we're not saved by a mingling of our works plus Faith but we are saved by uh grace alone notice in 3:9 we'll get back to 2 212 in a second but notice in 3:9 and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith so it's that imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone along with the Forgiveness of sins That's the basis of our acceptance with God Almighty and since we've been accepted by God Almighty according to his grace we live the life of sanctification we live hopefully in a manner that is consistent with our gospel calling which is what Paul says in Philippians 1:27 but notice specifically in Philippians 2:12 therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling can only work out what God by Grace has put there he's not saying work for your salvation he's not saying strive to attain peace with God through your own works or your own efforts or your own righteousness no rather you work out that which God has put there by his grace other words justification by faith alone then is uh uh that that instrument of Salvation is faith alone but it's accompanied by all other saving Graces Visa that necessary for the life of sanctification but then note verse 13 He says for it is God who works in you both to Will and to do for his good pleasure so From First to Last and all the way in between we are dependent upon the grace of God so Paul's not condemning them he's not castigating them he's not chiding them or reproving them but rather he is exhorting them to abound more and more in love and I think what he does here as well at least in a couple of instances anticipates things that he's going to address in the epistle itself as I mentioned when I introduced the epistle it's not a condemning letter it's not polemic it's not riddled with the sorts of challenges that Paul addresses and and say First Corinthians but nevertheless it was a church and certainly churches need exhortation and sometimes churches have some some issues and challenges so I think this section anticipates chapter 2 veres 1 to4 where it exhorts the people of God to being like-minded to to to being others minded to being faithful and then again in chapter 4 veres 1 and two therefore my beloved and long for Brethren my joy and Crown so Stand Fast in the Lord beloved I implore uoda and I implore ctii to be of the same mind in the Lord so there was something going on again not at the sort of level that we see there in First Corinthians and not the sort of polemics that we see in Galatians but nevertheless it was imperfect all churches are and so Paul anticipates in prayer what he is going to address when it comes to the body of the letter then notice secondly so in terms of the petition growth in love the second part of it is growth in knowledge growth in knowledge in fact turn to Colossians 1 another prison epistle where you see a similar emphasis Colossians 1:9 for this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and and increasing in the knowledge of God strengthen with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy so again similar emphases to the churches at that particular time and similar emphases that are necessary in churches today he's not reproving them he's not castigating them he's not you know disowning them but he wants their love to grow and notice that that love is to abound still more and more in knowledge the love of Believers is not a emotional the love of Believers is not sentimental and the love of Believers is not selfish the love of Believers is based upon the revealed will of God Jesus says in John 14:15 if you love me you will keep my Commandments turn back to the Book of Romans in Romans chapter 13 we see how love is expressed again not sentiment not emotion and not selfishness but principle obedience to the law of God is the best way that we show love for one another notice in Romans 13:8 owe no one anything except to love one another for he who loves another has fulfilled the law for the Commandments you shall not commit adultery you shall not murder you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness you shall not covet and if there is any other commandment or all summed up in this saying namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself love does no harm to a neighbor therefore love is the Fulfillment of the law you see this emphasis in 1 Corinthians chap 13 again not sentiment not emotion not Hollywood not romance novels not selfishness the specifics in terms of this abounding love it's to be Tethered to the truth of God's holy word not de uh divorced from that word but rather Tethered to it turn over to First John where where the apostle John emphasizes the same reality 1 John 5 specifically at verses 2 and 3 1 John 52 by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his Commandments for this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not burdensome as we go back to Philippians chapter 1 taking a moment this whole idea of an emotionalism or a sentimentalism or a selfishness is absolutely contrary to a biblically defined biblically nuanced love and so Paul says I want you to abound more and more in love in all knowledge in knowledge now sometimes people have the sneaky suspicion that love stands opposed to good theology in fact if you've been around the reformed faith for any amount of time you've probably heard the objections to the reformed Faith well it's it's very cerebral and kids that simply means brainy it it it's you know very theoretical it's it's it's very abstract or sometimes person say things like well you know we we know a lot we know a lot of Bible we know a lot of theology but we don't have a lot of love I think the response to that is so what we get rid of the Bible and we get rid of the ology well no we don't want to do that maybe just a little bit less than that but if you look at the passage he wants them to abound more and more in love in knowledge and all discernment we'll pick up the all discernment in just a second but this knowledge it is the knowledge of God that promotes love for God and it's the knowledge of God that promotes love for one another and when somebody says well we have a lot of theology but we don't have a lot of love I want to just simply remind all of us that it's not the church's task or the elders task to make you love it's just not the providing of the information the data giving concerning scripture and theology the onus is ultimately on the person to love imagine if for 18 years your parents taught you how to budget they taught you how to live within means they showed you electric bills so you wouldn't leave the lights on they showed you gas bills so you'd know what it cost to to heat the furnace and then you go out at 22 and you get married and you plunge yourself miserably into debt do you blame your parents is it their fault are they all messed up no at some point brethren we have to take responsibility and live in light of the Bible and theology that we know now certainly it can be helped by Pastors in good exampling and demonstration to be sure you realize that only Christ is ultimately that perfect example of love to others and love to God but when it comes to these particular things we live in a climate where this idea of Love is somehow opposed to theology but that's not what Paul is saying Paul is saying that love finds its fullest expression as it is Tethered to the word of the living and true God John Gil made the observation some Christians are more affectionate and less knowing others are more knowing and less a affectionate It is Well when love and knowledge Go and Keep Pace together think he's absolutely positively spoton and bang on let me just read it again some Christians are more affectionate and less knowing others are more knowing and less affectionate It is Well when love and knowledge Go and Keep Pace together and that's the precise nature of the petition offered up by Paul for the church and in Philippi that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge Gordon Clark about a generation and a half ago made the observation in his commentary on the Westminster Confession he says Christianity is not a romantic religion where feeling and emotion suffice nor is it an nor is it an aesthetic religion where faith and sermons are unnecessary Christianity is a definite faith it includes the doctrines of the atonement and the resurrection and it requires a knowledge of these doctrines and intellectualist sent to them a faith that can and must be preached in our own generation there's a writing Presbyterian named Carl Truman and he has the ability to to examine culture and church and the various Trends going on and I think he analyzes some things very well and very precisely there's a a reprint of a book that he wrote in 2012 on the on the usefulness of Creeds and confessions it's been reprinted it's uh little updated I think it's called crisis of confidence and he is dealing with sort of the nonverbal emphases that we find in culture political slogan you know words that are words but they have no meaning just you know throwing together 10 words doesn't actually communicate a policy throwing together 20 words doesn't actually get at how we're going to reduce inflation how we're going to reduce gas prices so he notices that particular Trend and see how it has infiltrated the church to some degree or other he says yet we see the impact of Suspicion of words even within the Christian church at the Reformation preaching came to supplant the mass as the central Act of corporate Christian worship underlying this shift was a move toward an understanding of the gospel as promise and of Salvation as being by faith in that promise thus proclamation of that promise in words move to center stage in recent decades however many churches have shifted preaching from the central place in some contexts preaching has not been abandoned rather it has been relativized and now stands alongside dramatic performances candles incense and small group discussion in other contexts preaching has been pushed completely aside for conversational discourse where the authoritative voice of the preacher has been rep replaced by a more democratic dialogue underlying all these shifts in practice if not always in terms of self-conscious planning is a suspicion that proclaimed words are no longer a reliable Authority or perhaps better a plausible Authority given the wider anti- verbal cultural disposition in other words when we survey the New Testament when we ask the question what is worship about what has God purposed in terms of growth and Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it's very simple it's very easy it doesn't take a lot of work we pray the word we read the word we preach the word we sing the word and we see the word in the sacraments what's the common denominator in each of those heads it's the word so when Paul prays for the Philippians and he wants them to abound more and more in love he wants it to be a love that is biblically defined he wants it to be a love that is theologically motivated he wants it to be a love that is absolutely glorifying to God most high even father son and holy spirit Jesus prays in that high Priestly prayer sanctify them by thy truth Thy word is truth and so we need that emphasis in terms of Bible and Theology and of course there is always the tendency and we're going to look at that under all discernment there is the tendency of having a mind filled with facts and having no visible expression of Love whatsoever that's why Paul then says the growth of discernment so he wants us to grow in love he wants us to grow in uh knowledge and he wants us to grow in discernment notice again in verse 9 and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment the knowledge of God must be joined with discernment or what happens is a mind filled with facts that is devoid of any practical application in the day in and day out situations that one finds themselves in and basically this discernment or we might call it wisdom is the Art of Living righteously it is the art of applying that knowledge that we have to the various circumstances that affect us as individuals within the family within the church within Society we need discernment when it comes to these particular things because without discernment a mind filled with a bunch of facts without any obvious discernment is going to be proud arrogant and most likely Loveless and so Paul does not want that in fact there's an entire book devoted to actually applying the things that we know and living skillfully in this present evil age it is the Book of Proverbs you can turn back to First Kings chapter 3 First Kings chap 3 Solomon has ascended the Throne of his father David and God Appears to him and specifically in First Kings CH 3 at verse 4 we read now the king went to gibian to sacrifice there for there or for that was uh the great High PRI uh high place Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar at gibian the Lord appeared to Solomon in a Dream by night and God said ask what shall I give you and Solomon said you have shown great Mercy to your servant David my father because he walked before you in truth in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you you have continued this great kindness for him and you have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day now oh Lord my God you have made your servant King instead of My Father David but I'm a little child I do not know how to go out or come in and your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen a great people too numerous to be numbered or counted therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to judge this great people of yours what a wonderful and Noble request increase my political power increase my triumph over my enemies increase my riches increase my Army increase my capability to balance a budget no it doesn't do that he prays for wisdom and God is pleased with this particular petition now with Solomon you you have to think that living you know under the man that wrote the book of Psalms there was certainly a lot of knowledge passed on from David to Solomon so Solomon isn't sck sitting here as some novice he's not sitting here as a beginner he's not sitting here as a as a kindergartener well I just don't know I think when he uses that language he's showing or highlighting his inability in and of himself to execute the Judgment that is necessary to rule a kingdom but this man had knowledge but what does he ask for he asks for the discernment and he asks for the wisdom so that he can navigate properly concerning the Affairs of the Kingdom notice in chapter he gives an expression of that when the two harlots come to him to give verdict concerning the son that had died and then look at First Kings 45 uh 429 and God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding and largess of heart like the sand on the seashore thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt for he was wiser than all men than Ethan the ezrahite and heeman calal and dar the sons of mayol and his Fame was in all the surrounding Nations he spoke 3,000 Proverbs and his songs were 1,5 also he spoke of trees from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hisp that Springs out of the wall he spoke also of animals of birds of creeping things and of fish and Men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of Solomon so it was wisdom concerning the special Revelation that he had Visa the true knowledge of God God but it was knowledge in the general Revelation sphere also he was a philosopher he understood animals he understood botney he understood the various things that we find in this world of course in First Kings chap 10 we have an expression of somebody coming to see for themselves all that he had amassed and all that he had orchestrated and that was the Queen of Sheba she's blown away when she sees the kingdom of Solomon if you turn to the Book of Proverbs not every proverb can we go through but just a couple that highlight this discernment that is necessary because Paul wants us to increase and abound in love uh uh uh to uh abound still more and more in knowledge I'm sorry that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment notice in Proverbs 2 at verse uh that's not it Proverbs 5: 1 and 2 Proverbs 5: 1 and 2 my son pay attention to my wisdom lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge there specifically to guard against the immoral woman you you know it's wrong that you shouldn't go into the immoral woman you need that wisdom and discernment to put that knowledge into practice so that you don't go into that immoral woman notice in 147 147 go from the presence of a foolish man when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge go from the presence of a foolish man again we can know that we should do that but discernment and wisdom actuate that knowledge such that will actually go away from him notice in 157 157 the lips of the wise disperse knowledge but the heart of the fool does not do so and then verse 21 Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment but a man of understanding walks uprightly so going back to our text you can see that Paul emphasizes in terms of this disposition of their hearts that they have an increasing love that's growing in understanding of God's word and in the application of that word as well and then he brings the purpose to Bear specifically in the first part of verse 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent that you may approve the things that are excellent I think this anticipates chapter 4: 8 and9 chapter 4: 8 and9 finally Brethren whatever things are true whatever things are noble whatever things are just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things the things which you learned and received and heard and saw and me these do and the God of Peace will be with you he gives a snapshot version of that in his intercessory prayer in 10A that you may approve the things that are excellent and I think the specific emphasis in terms of approval is just what Solomon asked for so that I may know the good from the evil so look at the text that you may approve the things that are excellent approve with a heart-filled commitment to follow the good and to with uh withdra draw from the bad so in order to do that your love needs to abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment I want that to be the case Paul says to the Philippians so that it that you may approve the things that are excellent so that you may not fall prey to the godlessness of the Roman Empire so that you may not fall prey to the godl godlessness of of your own remaining corruption or to the assault of the devil and so that specifically is the disposition of their hearts then notice the actions in their lives in verses 10 B and 11 the petition is there in 10B that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ so I think he specifically wants them to be genuine in their conduct he wants them to be blameless or offenseless toward others and he wants them to be persevering to the very end but with reference to genuiness how do we observe how do we measure how do we know well again it's by the word of God and that sort of objection I dealt with a little while ago well you know we have a lot of Bible but we don't have a lot of love you got to be omniscient to say that Brethren how do you know your brother doesn't have the love that he's supposed to have unless you follow him 247 it's kind of an arrogant statement well we're just not loving as we ought okay but do we understand the the claimant there it's a bit rough the sincerity of one's conduct is measured by the truth of God's word and the sincerity of God's conduct as measured by God's word is going to reflect in God or love to God and love to one another again those concrete illustrations from John 14:15 if you love me you'll keep my Commandments from Romans 138-10 and from 1 John 5 2 and 3 the sincerity of one's conduct is also informed by passages like these and the rest of what you find in the Epistles in the New Testament so genuiness he says that that you may approve the things that are excellent that you may be sincere people can be sincerely wrong people can be sincerely evil we're going to see that next time in John's gospel John 16 there's going to come a time when they're going to kill you and they're going to think they're doing service to God so the whole idea of but he's so sincere yeah but he's a mass murderer that that's not a good thing he's so sincere but he's contrary to the law and will of God it's the law and will of God that dictates what is right conduct that is sincere or genuine and then notice this emphasis on De deference to others and without offense without offense most likely to Brethren that you know family that you dwell with churches that you're a part of in Civil Society we can find New Testament references to each of those areas Paul wants us to live in a manner that is consistent with the gospel not just on Sunday morning and evening when we're in this place but he wants us to live consistently with the gospel when we're in our own place when we're in our workplaces when we're in you know wherever we are wherever we find ourselves we're not supposed to be offensive to others and I think that this again anticipates things that we're going to see later in the book we've got that admonition in Chapter 2 notice verses 1 to 4 therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any Fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my Joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in loneliness of Mind Let each esteem others as better than himself let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interests of others and then he sets forth three examples real life examples of this conduct he got Jesus in verses uh 5 to uh 5 to 11 he's got Timothy in verses 19 to 24 and he's got aitis in verses 25 to30 so this without offens in terms of the people of God is something that we are to be pursuing we're to be sincere we're to be genuine and we're to live in such a way that we're not causing offense now if we're preaching the gospel to god-hating Rebels and they're offended by that that's okay that's the kind of offense that we're supposed to actually engage in no that doesn't mean we Court it it doesn't mean we scream in people's ears with bullhorns to repent because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand you can offend them by being a weird human being we don't want to be weird human beings the bottom line is is that the offense that Paul is speaking of here is with reference to One Another We're to be like Jesus we're to be like Timothy would to be like aphroditus and then notice the perseverance before God so in verse 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent the here and the now presently that's what you're suppos to be about then he turns his attention to the escaton or he turns his attention to the day of Judgment at the end of verse 10 that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ the emphasis throughout the passage is that presently he wants you to to abound in love in all knowledge and discernment he wants you to live in such a way that what you're doing now you're going to be doing 10 years from now you're going to be doing 20 years from now you're going to be doing for the entirety of your life till the day of Christ should you die before that great Judgment Day well you should have been living in a way that is consistent should Christ come next week on the Clouds Of Glory to judge the living in the dead well we should be living that way that's the emphasis he turns from the present to the Future to underscore this perseverance this endurance this not a flash in the pan mentality because we're prone to hear a petition we're here uh prone to hear an exhortation say yeah I need to really do that and by Thursday we Trail off Paul says I want this to be the case that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ and then that brings us finally to the purpose there in verse 11 he says being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God what are the fruits of righteousness well in the book of Galatians we see them as called the fruits of the spirit the good works the good works that people do subsequent to saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Gil summarizes the requisites of a good work is that it should be done according to the righteous law and will of God that it Springs from a principle of Grace and Holiness that it be performed in the name Grace and strength of Christ and with a view to the honor and glory of God that's a good work that's the fruits of righteousness that's what the fruits of the spirit look like I think that's a great sort of encapsulation of that concept but even this notice that these fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ so in other words these fruits of righteousness are not the cause of our acceptance with God they're the effect they're not the the the con uh uh the cause of our of our justification they are rather the consequence of that justification again Paul everywhere teaches justification by faith alone in the life of sanctification the spirit working in us there will be these fruits there will be these good works fruits of the spirit fruits of righteousness but they're by the agency of Jesus Christ even then we don't get the glory for the good that we do remember Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to Will and to do for his good pleasure so the fruits of righteousness follow justification by faith alone the fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ listen to John Gil again he says that Jesus is the green fur tree from whom all fruit as of Grace So of good works is found for all good works which are truly and properly so spring from Union to Christ and are owing to his grace souls are married to Christ that they may bring forth fruit unto God they are created in him unto good works and are engrafted in him the True Vine and through abiding in him and deriving life Grace and strength from him bear fruit which otherwise they could not do without Christ no good work can be performed it is through him strengthening his people they do all they do for they are insufficient to do anything of themselves but his grace is sufficient for them and his strength is made made perfect in their weakness he is the Exemplar and the pattern According to which they do their good works and they are motives drawn and taken from him from his love from the doctrines of Grace relating to him which are the most powerful and do most strongly work upon the Saints to perform these things and which under his grace and the influence of it are directed unto the glory and praise of god notice the end of verse 11 which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God so the good works are not a result of Us coming to ourselves and resolving that I'm only ever going to do good works no it's the consequence of having been Justified freely by his grace having been forgiven of our sins having received the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ the consequence to that is the life of sanctification and the bearing of good fruit the bear bearing of the fruits of the spirit bearing good works it is still and always will be by the agency of our Lord Jesus and it is ultimately to the glory and praise of God it's not to the glory and praise of us it's not to the back padding you know uh idea that is in us but it is rather done such that God most high is glorified well in conclusion I think that n uh intercessory prayer is a good thing I don't know of a specific command well I do actually look back up in Ephesians 6 just want to make sure if we're going to Dole out some you know strong exhortations here we better have some biblical warrant notice in Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me so he says pray for all the saints and pray for me Paul that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known The Mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that I that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak other words there ought to be intercession on the behalf of God's people husbands should be praying for their wives wives should be praying for their husbands children for their parents parents for their children brethren for one another Paul in 1 Timothy 22 tells us to pray for kings and and all who are in authority intercessory prayer is a great means given by God for us to call upon his name and to bring the needs of our fellows before him as I mentioned we've got Moses is a wonderful example we've got Daniel we've got the prophet Isaiah give him no rest till he establishes and till he makes jerus uh Jerusalem a praise in the earth now obviously in inter in intercessor uh intercessory prayer there's benefit for others it's good when we pray for others it's good for them right it is have you ever been encouraged when somebody said oh I was praying for you today that's nice I don't know that anybody's ever said oh don't do that that's terrible don't ever think about me before God and ask good things for me no it's just not the way it happens it's got benefit for others but it's got benefit for ourselves what's kind of one of the biggest remaining sins that all of us have it's attachment to the Unholy Trinity me myself and I we're like that horse leech that has two daughters give give that Solomon speaks of praying for others gets the eyes off of self at least for 12 seconds that's got to be a good thing I thought about myself 12 seconds less today that's a an accomplishment that's great there's going to be rewards for that it is a benefit and it is commanded by God in the context there in Ephesians chapter 6 I would suggest secondly the necessity of growth in love we've seen that in the Gospel of John by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another in that section before he gets to the world hating the believer in John 15:18 the previous section is Christ's love for his people their love for Christ and their love for one another this is an absolutely crucial aspect in terms of our growth in Grace and then I would suggest thirdly the necessity of growth in knowledge and wisdom we need the Bible and we need theology we need the discernment so that it's not just a bunch of facts rolling around our brains with no expression in our lives it needs to be knowledge and all discernment we need to have the heart of Solomon that says God I've got the knowledge just give me the wisdom so that I can administrate this particular Kingdom in this particular situation there's the necessity of the son the agent by which we actually Bear good fruit there's the agency of the Holy Spirit as we're learning throughout the upper room discourse he's the one who teaches us he's the one who guides us he is in fact the spirit of Truth so if there is a lack or an absence of love in our hearts even though we know a lot of Bible and a lot of theology the first recourse seems to be to cry out to God lord send the spirit may it not be just a bunch of random facts rattling around my brain but may you give me the wisdom to apply that may you give me the desire to apply that may you give me the grace to apply that and then of course the necessity of the Father which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God we live in light of Westminster Shorter Catechism number one what is the chief end of man man's Chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever what should motivate the saint it is the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ it is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and it is the praise and glory of God the Father May that encourage us to pursue an increase in love growth in knowledge growth in all discernment and those sorts of things that Paul commends here in terms of life in this present evil age that you may be sincere and that you may be without offense till the day of Christ well let us pray Our Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for these petitions that the Apostle prayed for the Philippians that are recorded now by the power of the Holy Spirit help us God to meditate upon such things and other places in scripture and cause us to receive the truth and not only to have that knowledge but may it always be mingled with discernment and wisdom so that we may put it into practice we ask that you would go with us now watch over all of us as we p uh enter into a new week we thank you that many will be able to spend time with family tomorrow and we have every day should be Thanksgiving Day to give all praise and glory and honor unto you for the many manifold blessings and gifts that you have conveyed to us both spiritual and even temporal the psalmist said you load us daily with benefits and as Paul says you blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ so we give all praise and glory and honor to you and we pray now in jesus' name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation e e e e e