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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 93 for our call to worship Psalm 93 I'll begin reading in verse one the Lord Reigns he is clothed with Majesty the Lord is clothed he has girded himself with strength surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved your throne is established from of old you are from ever lasting the floods have lifted up O Lord the floods have lifted up their voice the floods lift up their waves the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many Waters than the mighty waves of the sea your testimonies are very sure Holiness adorns your house O Lord forever amen well please turn in your hym books to Psalm 119 Psalm 119 M as and Mike and we'll stand as we sing [Music] together holy are upon your word be Wier for your God are ever be my for and for all your T your might for I desire to follow all your way you have all your I do not turn oh Lord sweet your words are Lord myet is myong through your I [Music] will well let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you for this Lord's Day evening we thank you for the great privilege to gather in the house of God on the day of God with all of God's people we pray that you would be enthroned upon the Praises of your people here that you would be glorified and worshiped and adored and as we come to the father through the son in the spirit we pray that God would be all in all in this place we ask that you would be glorified not only as we gather together in our in our public worship but bless our families bless us as individuals conform us ever more into the image of your your dear son the Lord Jesus Christ and cause us to let our conduct be worthy of your gospel we ask that even tonight you would cause us to approach you with that reverence and that joy and that gratitude that is fitting for the Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ do forgive us now for all of our sin and unrighteousness we know God that you are a holy God that you are a righteous God that that sin is a an an affront to you and we know as well that we are not what we ought to be but by Your Grace we're not what we once were we thank you that we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous and even now we plead his Merit we plead his blood and we pray that you would cleanse us and cause us to approach you with that that proper heart disposition we bless you God for your many mercies to us spiritually we bless you as well that you load us daily with Benefits we thank you for what you're doing in the lives of Brennan and Emily and little salon we just pray for this family we rejoice in your loving kindness to them we pray that they would be able to return home safely you would bless this little one that has been born physically well one day we pray that she by Grace would be born again as a child of the Living God we pray for other ladies in our congregation that are pregnant we thank you so much we know that children are a gift from God we pray for your blessing upon each one that you would strengthen them physically cause them to know the joy of the Lord as their strength and just bless these families very richly and God for all of our children and our young people we pray that they by Grace would remember their creator and their youth that they would look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and that you would just bless them richly Lord God as well our father we pray for other churches and our community we thank you for the the the people of God as they gather together in other churches we pray for other pastors that they would Faithfully minister Minister the word of Truth and that that word would go forth in this land bless our brothers and sisters in Su and in Armstrong be with the brethren in dren and in Medicine Hat and pinoca and as well in Regina we look forward to working together with these churches we look forward to seeking the glory of Christ and to uh increase our our hopeful usefulness in this part of your world God we pray for the situation in Myanmar we pray for a ceasefire there we pray that there would be peace and stability and in the meantime God we pray for your blessing upon Peter It Go Grieves our hearts to see the great trials that man is constantly under we just pray for him physically we pray for him spiritually you would bless and protect him and his family and just enable him to continue to provide that care necessary for these orphans and be with the Saints in Cuba we pray for the blessing of God upon the ministry there we ask that more men would be trained up and we pray that they would continue to Canvas that land with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious gospel Lord bless us now continue with us in this great time of worship and may it be the case that we would know your nearness as our good and we pray in Jesus name amen you can turn with me again in your hym books to number 170 170 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] of his son his eternal all his sh and true [Music] in sast his and hising of the and gra of God the break his chains all the the way [Music] of Bri [Music] be [Music] sh Earth toless gr Us Praise Mighty Lord to and your holy word with receive and His holy PR has well you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Joshua Joshua chapter 16 we'll actually combine the reading tonight both chapters 16 and 17 we're in the section where they're dividing the land remember the book of Joshua is devoted to the theme of Conquest God had promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob uh Promised Land a land flowing with milk and honey of course God delivered his children out of bondage in Egypt LED them through the Wilderness through the pillar and cloud and the leadership of Moses and Aaron and then brings them to the plains of Moab in the book of Deuteronomy there Moses gives them a series of exhortations to prepare them to enter into the promised land of course Moses dies his successor Joshua then and initiates the conquest of the land of Canaan so they enter the land they conquer the land and now they're dividing the land so we'll read beginning in chapter 16 at verse one to the end of chapter 17 the lot fell to the children of of Joseph from the Jordan by Jericho to the Waters of Jericho on the East to the Wilderness that goes up from Jericho through the mountains to bethl then went out from Bethel to lose uh passed along to the border of the arites at adero and went down West wward to the boundary of the jaff jaff ties as far as the boundary of lower Beth horon to gazer and it ended at the sea so the children of Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim took their inheritance the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus the border of their inheritance on the east side was adaro Adar as far as upper Beth horon and the Border went out toward the Sea on the north side of MC mcmo then the the Border went around Eastward to tath Shiloh and passed by it on the east of janoah then it went down from janoah to adero and Naro reached to Jericho and came out at the Jordan the Border went out from tapua Westward of the to the brook canaa and it ended at the sea this was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh all the cities with their Villages and they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in gazer but the Canaanites dwell among the uh ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers there was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh for he was the firstborn of Joseph namely for makir the firstborn of Manasseh the father of Gilead because he was a man of war therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan and there was a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh according according to their families for the children of abaser the children of helik the children of asrael the children of shakam the children of heer and the children of shemida these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families but zahad the son of hepher the son of Gilead the son of makir the son of Manasseh had no Sons but only daughters and these are the names of his daughters mea Noah hogla milka and Turza and they came near before Eleazar the priest before Joshua the son of nun and before the rulers saying the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers therefore according to the Commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among their father's Brothers 10 shares fell to Manasseh besides the land of Gilead and ba uh Bashan which were on the other side of the Jordan because the daughters of ma Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons and the rest of manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead and the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to mcth McMath that lies east of shakam and the Border went along South to the inhabitants of an tapua Manasseh had the land of tapua but tapua on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim and the Border descended to the brook canaa uh Southward to the brook these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and it end at the sea Southward it was ephraim's northward it was Manassa and the sea was its border manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the North and isachar on the East and in isachar and in Asher Manasseh had bethshan and its towns IIM and its towns the inhabitants of D and its towns the inhabitants of Endor and its towns the inhabitants of tanak and its towns and the inhabitants of megiddo and its towns three hilly regions yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land and it happened when the children of Israel grew strong that they put the Canaanites to force labor but did not utterly drive them out then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua saying why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit since we are a great people in as much as the Lord has blessed us until now so Joshua answered them if you are a great people then go up to to the Forest Country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the perizzites and the Giants since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you but the children of Joseph said the mountain country is not enough for us and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have Chariots of iron both those who are of bethshan and its towns and those who are of the valley of jezel and Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph to ephra and manessa saying you are a great people and have a great power or have great power you shall not have only one lot but the Mountain Country shall be yours although it is wooded you shall cut it down and its farthest extent shall be yours for you shall drive out the Canaanites though they have iron chariots and are strong amen well the same observation that I made last week obtains for this evening every mention of every city every boundary that is mentioned every territory that is g gone into highlights God's faithfulness to his Covenant promises as I said he didn't just sort of suggest to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that they would receive this land God promised that it would be the case so now they have conquered now they are dividing and every place name encourages the children of Israel with the faithfulness of God there is however a bit of foreshadowing that we see in these two chapters we see it in chapter 16 in verse 10 and then in chapter 17 at verse 12 for the most part the Book of Joshua shows forth a positive view of the conquest in other words they go into the land they conquer the inhabitants of the land and then they take the land and divide up the land the Book of Judges which follows shows the negative involved in what they did not do so notice in chapter 16 at verse 10 they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in gazer but the Canaanites dwell among the ephraimites to this day and to become forced laborers and then in 1712 yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land and it happened when the children of Israel grew strong that they put the Canaanites to force labor but did not utterly drive them out that is going to function to their demise when they get into further into in terms of the their their occupation of the land because they didn't dispossess the land of the Canaanites they then become like the Canaanites God knew all too well that the children of Israel were susceptible to the Idols of the Nations that they were going to occupy and so God tells them utterly dispossess the land of the Canaanites have no political alliances have no social alliances in other words don't marry their children don't let them uh marry into this Covenant Community and certainly have no religious alliances because their hearts would go astray from God and that is precisely what is shown Us in the Book of Judges and then the subsequent history through 1 and 2 Samuel first and second Kings right up until the collapse of the northern and the southern Kingdom they went into the land they were supposed to dispossess it of the Canaanites but they did not do that fully and then they ape the conduct of the Canaanites they become Wicked they become those who engage in all man manner of idolatry so then God sends them out God drives them out through Assyria and through Babylon so there is obviously a lesson here we are to obey God we are to follow his directives his commands and we ought to Rejoice that we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous because you know as well as I do we don't follow those commands as we ought we are prone to wander prone to leave the god that we love so it's not that I'm picking on the Israelites here in Joshua simply highlighting that because they didn't dispossess the land of the Canaanites it would come around to bite them well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for your faithfulness as we see in the Book of Joshua this division of the land that you had given them by way of promise and Grace we thank you Lord for your faithfulness we thank you for our New Covenant Joshua that leads us into an even greater rest and even into a greater land that land of blessed eternal life in the presence of God Almighty we ask that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit grant us help and strength and Grace to resist the idols in our own age as John tells us at the the end of his epistle my little children keep yourselves from Idols we know God the sus susceptibility in our hearts so protect us by your grace and For Your Glory and we pray in Jesus name amen we can turn with me again in your hym books to number 22c Psalm 22c as in Charlie you'll notice that we'll sing a new one and then we'll sing it quite a bit for a few months it's kind of by plan and purpose to get it into our repertoire so 22 see we'll stand as we sing [Music] together worship the his PR children of his with his glor and his [Music] he he goodness Jo the where sing his PR will and and they shall live and praise the Lord for his Mercy the of all the Earth take the see the Lord worship king of K Earth [Music] well you can turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 last week we looked at verses 12 to 18 which are something of Paul's present situation remember that Paul writes to the book uh to the church in Philippi uh while he's in his first Roman imprisonment so the book of Acts ends in Acts chapter 28 in the years ad60 to 62 a 2-year imprisonment for the Apostle Paul there in Rome or or that's that's how the book ends and then he writes uh Ephesians he writes Philippians he writes Colossians and he writes philimon while he's in the prison so we call those prison Epistles and the Book of Philippians is similar obviously to those other pron Epistles there's even more familiarity more of a love more of an affection not that it's absent in Ephesians for instance but some have thought that Ephesians was more even of a of a circular letter I mean there are personal references in there but not like we find here in Philippi same with Colossians there are personal references there there's certainly some connection obviously but there's something about Philippians where Paul really opens up his heart to these Brethren so what he does in verses 12 to 18 is given a account or a report of what's going on in his present situation so notice in verse 12 I want you to know Brethren that the things which happened to me that means his imprisonment the fact that he is in bondage he is in Chains he says have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel and now he's going to explain how that can be I mean Paul's in prison obviously he's there because he was perceived to be a threat to the Jews and to the Roman Empire so the idea being throw him into prison and he can no longer be a threat we can silence him we can shut him up we can cause him to not be heard with that message of Jesus the Messiah so notice what he says verse 13 so that it has become uh evident to the whole Palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ The Palace guard was about 9,000 soldiers this does not mean that Paul was handcuffed to each and every one of them but it circulated amongst that petoran guard that Paul the Apostle was there not for the crime of murder not for tax evasion not for Insurrection but he was there for preaching the gospel of a man called Jesus so the palace guard hears that but it's not only effective for the palace guard notice what happens to the church according to verse 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord having become Confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear sometimes a whiff of persecution can actually be a benefit and a boon to the people of God when we see what's at stake when we see what the the CE or Potential Threat is we man up we become men of God courageous and wanting to engage for our savior and that's what happens there then notice that Paul goes on to say that not everybody who preached was necessarily doing it out of proper motive he says some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife again they're not preaching Christ incorrectly they're preaching Christ with bad motives Paul nevertheless rejoices that they're preaching Christ and probably the bad motives are owing to some sort of rivalry that these people had with the Apostle Paul or perhaps they were ashamed this fellow is in prison he can no longer be trusted we're not really sure why he's there so they had that kind of a motivation so some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife some also from goodwi the former preach Christ from selfish ambition not sincerely supposing to add Affliction to my chains horrible people I mean Paul's in prison if they can make it even worse they're going to make it even worse that's terrible but the latter out of love knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel what then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ has preached and in this I Rejoice yes and Will Rejoice so Paul doesn't care about their bad motives as long as they get the gospel right as long as they preach the truth of the Cross as long as they call Sinners to repentance and Faith Paul has not got some delicate sensitive ego where he feels badly because not everybody in the world loves him he doesn't care as long as the gospels preach that's the main thing so in that section it is a progress report concerning his present situation now what we're going to consider tonight is the future Prospect of the Apostle in verses 19- 26 and again a letter that we would expect from a man who loves a people the way that Paul does with his people and the way that this people loves this Apostle so let's read 19 to 26 I'll pray and then we'll look at this material for I know that this will turn out for my Deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to my Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain but if I live on in the flesh this will mean fruit from my labor yet what I shall choose I cannot tell for I am hard hard press between the two having a desire to depart and be with Christ Which is far better nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you and being confident of this I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again amen well let us pray Our Father we thank you for the written and inspired word of the living and true God we thank you for this in Paul's letter to the church at Philippi we pray that you give us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things may we be encouraged and may we see Paul as a as an example to be followed as certainly he wanted the the church in Philippi to continue to man up and to continue to be faithful soldiers in the service of our blessed Master and King we ask again that you would forgive us for all sin and everything that darkens our minds and hearts guide us now by that Spirit of Truth who gave us the word and we pray in jesus' name amen well as we come to his uh anticipation concerning the future I think there's three sections that we find in this particular subunit first the expectation of the Apostle in verses 19 and 20 secondly the conviction of the Apostle in verses 21 to 23 and then finally the anticipation of the Apostle in verses 24 to 26 again this is what we would expect from a man who's in prison who's looking at the options he's gotten a he doesn't have a crystal ball he doesn't have uh an absolute conviction one way or the other what's going to happen to him there is the possibility that he could be executed there is the possibility that he could be released so he's musing on those two things not in the position of the Sovereign master and captain of his life who's going to Dain to choose what it is that is best in his own interest but he's looking at these options I think ultimately to magnify and glorify Christ and as well to set the Philippians hearts at ease whatever happens to me he's saying to them don't fret if I live that means good things if I die that means better things so please don't fret about me so let's look first at the expectation of the Apostle in verses 19 and 20 note the Deliverance in verse 19 bit of a interesting statement that he makes notice in verse 19 this is essentially job 13:16 from the septu aent the Greek translation of the Old Testament this is what you'll find in Job 13:16 at least this first part for I know that this will turn out for my Deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ in job 13 it's and this shall turn to me for salvation now when we look at that word Deliverance it is the word salvation and some might be inclined to think that Paul's salvation Paul's position with God depends depends upon his time in prison depends upon his performance depends upon how it is he sustains his ministry I don't think that's what's in view here when he says I know that this will turn out for my Deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ it doesn't have to do with his salvation it has to do with his Deliverance or even his Vindication in a whole host of ways it could be the Deliverance of Paul from imprisonment this is going to turn out okay he has that confident hope and expectation according to verses 25 and 26 so we might interpret it that way it could also mean the Vindication of Paul from the pettiness of his Rivals those men described in the former section that have this ill will toward the apostle that preach Christ out of bad motives basically Paul is saying I know this is all going to turn out for my my Vindication it's not the case that I'm I'm here because I'm an evildoer I'm a a mafioso or a dawn or whatever I think ultimately though it's the Vindication of Paul before the tribunal of God again not in a salvific sense but in the sense that he has accomplished what Christ had called him to uh uh Faithfully Paul makes that sort of an overarching concern in terms of gospel Ministry in fact he says as much in 1 Corinthians 4:2 he says moreover it is required of stewards after having just said consider us as stewards of the the mysteries of Christ what is necessary for the stewards of the mysteries of Christ that one be found faithful so as Paul's in a prison cell with probably lots of time and a pen and paper and the holy spirit to guide him he's thinking he's contemplating he's musing he's reflecting and he understands that up until this point he has carried out successfully the mission that was given to him by our lord Jesus Christ in other words he's got a clear conscience before God most high so I would s uh suggest that this turning out for my Deliverance or Vindication through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ could be freedom from jail but it could also be again that clear conscience before God that Paul had successfully and Faithfully carried out his ministry but then notice he acknowledges the means of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit I I love this about Paul Paul doesn't think that he's God's gift to the church Paul knows that Christ is God's gift to the church Paul knows that he is simply a steward of the mysteries of Christ he knows that he is a bond servant he knows that he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus the Lord so with reference to Paul he's not a onean show he's not the celebrity guy that bounces into town occasionally preaches one of the best of his three sermons and then bounces into another town and people write blog posts about how wonderful he is no he understands the prayers of the Saints in Philippi and the power of the spirit of Christ by which eventually he he may be released or by which he'll stand before God being Vindicated because of the ministry that he has carried out Faithfully according to the purpose and plan and the mind of his blessed savior it is a wonderful emphasis the church in Philippi had been praying for Paul Paul knew that the church in Philippi had been praying for him it'll turn out for my Deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ turn to Acts chapter 12 where we have an instance of the church at prayer for a man in prison acts chap 12 while you're turning there I'll just give you a quote from a commentator that I think Nails chapter 12 this man says the chapter 12 opens with James dead Peter in prison and Herod triumphing it closes with Herod dead Peter free and the word of God triumphing such is the power of God to overthrow hostile human plans and to establish his own in their place tyrants may be permitted for a time to boast and Bluster oppressing the church and hindering the gospel but they will not last in the end their empire will will be broken and their pride abased it's John St I think he Nails acts 12 in a way that few have seen the notice in 125 Peter was therefore kept in prison but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church and of course we know how the story turns out Peter gets out there's a jailbreak Peter's free the Geneva Bible explains the prayers of The Godly oh overturn the Council of tyrants obtain angels of God break the prison unloose chains put Satan to flight and p uh preserve the church that is a good emphasis Brethren When We Gather from 9:30 to 10:30 every other Sunday morning or from that time of around 7:30 to 7:50 is on Wednesday night to pray and to intercede for the voice of the martyrs and the various churches that we are in communion with and the various concerns within the life and context of our church that is a vital means of Grace that God has blessed the church with having it is something to be utilized it's a privilege to be enjoyed it's a privilege to be seized upon and taken upon and and and go to that throne of grace boldly so Paul in this uh prison cell is confident not because he's the mighty Apostle Paul but because the church in Philippi is praying for him but not only is the church in Philippi praying for him he's got the spirit of Jesus Christ on his side my Deliverance is connected not to me and how great I am my deliverence is connected to the church's prayers and to the spirit's power and then he calls the spirit the spirit of Jesus Christ I think he's underscoring trinitarian relations there we see in Romans 89-11 the spirit is called the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ yet not two Spirits one Spirit one true and living God who exists eternally as father son and holy spirit the spirit of Christ Motif is trinitarian language to underscore something of the relations and distinctions amongst the persons of our blessed God so Paul is not confident that this is going to turn out okay because Paul's great Paul's confident in his God Paul's confident in his God's Church Paul's confident in his God's spirit to vindicate him to deliver him whether it be from the temporal shackles that he presently finds himself in or on that day when he stands before God most high not to be saved but to be demonstrated as having been faithful to hear that well done good and faithful servant note the expectation of the Apostle according to verse 20 still looking at verses 19 to 20 he says according to my Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by by death the absence of shame to the Apostle I would suspect this goes connect or connects directly to his time in prison I mean when you're a little boy growing up in the Roman Empire and you've been trained at the feet of the rabbi Galo probably prison is not in your thoughts in terms of a happy fulfilled life I'm sure prison back then wasn't looked upon any more well I know it wasn't wasn't looked upon any more favorably than prison today so sitting in a prison cell as I said you probably got a lot of time to Muse to reflect to Think Through could I have done something differently I mean we've got the record in the book of Acts we've got his presentation before each of the Civil Governors we see how he was treated by the Jews no he shouldn't have done anything differently and that's what he's musing on I have no cause to be ashamed Paul's not claiming Perfection Paul's not claiming sinlessness Paul is not claiming Divinity Paul is claiming faithfulness again notice what he says according to my Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death I would suggest that Paul can say what he says in this Roman prison cell in this particular context because he has made it his aim to live that way prior to this time look at second Timothy chapter 4 2 Timothy chapter 4 as preached this before with this particular emphasis and I'm going to repeat it 2 Timothy 4 at verse 8 or verse 7 I'm sorry verse six keep them guessing if you can't convince them confuse them for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand see in Philippi or the church the the letter to the Philippians there's a possibility he he knows he could die but according to 25 and 26 he's pretty confident he's not going to die he's pretty confident that he's going to live on in the flesh and there will be additional fruit that's not the tenor in ver in second Timothy he knows it's it he's going to die this is mid to late 60s uh uh uh just before mid 60s Paul's going to die the the the Empire is nuts uh Nero is nuts it's not looking good and he knows it there's no yeah if I get out there's going to be fruit from my Ministry no bring the cloak the I left in uh uh traz bring the books especially the parchments I want you to move guys you know strategically in the various parts of the Empire to be faithful and ready to he knows he's not getting out and this is sort of that swans song statement verse six I'm already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing the only way that Paul could have ever uttered verse 7 in the 11th Hour was living that way in hours 1 to 10 the only way that you and I are going to be able to stand or sit or be in prison or be in our a deathbed or whatever the particular eventuality may be gogs whatever concentration camps the only way will'll ever be able to say I have fought the good fight I finished the race I have kept the faith is if we're doing it now if we're not faithful now we're not going to have that confidence then what an impetus to live well for the Savior so that we can die well for the Savior again it's not living well and dying well by which we are saved we're saved because Jesus lived well we're saved because Jesus died well we're saved by grace through faith in Jesus but having been saved by that Jesus don't you want to live for the glory of God don't you want to be able to say I have f the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith there's a crown of righteousness laid up for me he can say that in the 11th hour because he lived it in hours 1 to 10 I think that's the emphasis here in Philippians chap 1 at verse 20 according to my Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed the brother was faithful turn back to the book of Acts acts chap 20 acts chap 20 this is that sort of first pastor's conference where he is in myus he calls or sends to Ephesus and has the Elders of the church come there so he can address them notice what he says specifically Acts 20 at verse 22 and see now I go Bound in the spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations of await me we don't know that do we I mean we get a little freaked out seeing you know the things going on in the world around us the the various odd duck things that are happening in terms of you know minations and and plots and and politics and ethical perversity and the spirit tells Paul this means direct special Revelation the way that God spoke to Moses the way that God spoke to the to the prophets except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me I'm not sure how I'd take that from the Holy Spirit to be quite CED with you oh great let me just go there with gusto and joy bring on the worst look at Paul's response verse 24 but none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I Reed from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God look at F uh Second Timothy chapter 1 second Timothy chapter 1 again just illustrating what I think's going on in this prison cell when when Paul is writing to the Philippians talking about the reality that he may die talking about the reality that he may live but understanding that whatever his situation or his lot is he has St uh striven to be faithful and to not be ashamed in the work of the Gospel Ministry notice in 2 Timothy 1:8 he exhorts Timothy therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of Our Lord nor of me his prisoner but share with me in the sufferings for The Gospel According to the power of God notice that he's telling Timothy not to be ashamed perhaps those guys in Philippians chapter 1 and that previous subsection they were ashamed of Paul he shouldn't be in prison he's the mighty Apostle Paul he shouldn't be there so Paul's writing to Timothy in his second Roman imprisonment not Timothy's but Paul's and he's telling Timothy don't be ashamed we're we're on the right side here we're doing the right thing here it's not bad that I'm in prison I'm in prison because I'm being being faithful to the ministry that God has Comm uh committed to me notice in verse uh 12 for this reason I also suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep what I have committed to him until that day it's that mindset present with the Apostle in this first Roman imprisonment that he's expressing to the church in Philippi in Philippians chapter 1 he is saying I have an Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed and then he makes this glorious statement but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death Brothers I just and sisters I want to I want to reiterate he is not saying he is sinless he's not saying that he is perfect he's not saying that he has no struggles whatsoever in life but he is saying that he is faithful and look at the faithfulness expressed by this brother look at this you know could could any of us ever say something to this degree as uh but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death with reference to magnifying Christ Paul Paul does not think for a moment that he can make Christ better there's no betterment to be had for Christ perfect doesn't get better perfect doesn't get worse one of the beautiful Perfections of perfect is that it doesn't change perfect is perfect so when Paul speaks about Christ being magnified in his body whether he lives or he dies he's not talking about essentially improving the the glory of Jesus but manifesting it demonstrating it declaring it and revealing it in other words if Paul is released Christ is magnified why because Paul's going to go out and preach Christ if Paul is not released and he has his head chopped off by the civil government Christ is magnified why because Paul had his head chopped off not because he was an embezzler not because he was a terrorist not because he was an insurrectionist but because he was a servant of Jesus Christ the lord what does that do it causes the rest of us to magnify Jesus Christ the lord when we read of those brethren in Acts chapter 5 who having been scourged having been beaten having their H having had their backs opened up and then they leave that place and they're rejoicing they're rejoicing that is counterintuitive Brethren if I had my back opened I'd want Sav I'd want ointment I would be whining I would want ice I'd want whatever you could put on it to to alleviate the pain you know what they're doing they're rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus Christ Paul is saying that if I live on in the body Christ's going to be magnified if I die Christ is going to be magnified and how does Paul know that because that's always been the way that Paul has lived as always even so now he has no doubt whatsoever that whatever the circumstances bring Christ is going to be magnified it is a wonderful posture that he assumes it is a wonderful disposition that he has by the grace of God through the Church of Christ and through the power of the spirit of Christ it is wonderful notice he has this boldness that Christ will be magnified and he has this boldness that Christ is going to be magnified whether by life or by death in my body whether by life or by death Paul's service to Christ was total in its orientation everything about Paul was in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ great place for an apostle to be great place for pastor to be great place for all of the people of God to be understanding the the the ability that we bear To Shine the Light Of Glory Upon Our blessed savior in the way that we live and in the way that we die and then notice that brings us to the conviction of the Apostle we're not going to finish the whole section tonight so you don't have to worry you'll get to bed sometime but we want to finish verses 21 to 23 I think this is the heart and soul of what I want to want to bring out here so notice end of verse 20 so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death as if he's anticipating the question what do you mean right what do you mean by that Christ is going to be magnified in your body whether you live or you die could you explain that okay verse 21 for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain the live here is the life in the body of verse 20 for to me to live is Christ I would suggest that emphasizes the present current Union that Paul has with the Savior he's been saved by grace he's been Justified freely his sins are forgiven he's received that imputed righteousness received by faith alone he has Union with Jesus so for to me to live as Christ he says this is a convention that I think we're kind of all familiar with fishing is the life I just love bowling it's it's it's living it it's that which you really enjoy right you might like baking sourdough I mentioned that this morning I don't have some secret yearning for sourdough honestly I don't know where sourdough came from but let's employ it again you may have the best sourdough and that may be life it's whatever makes you happy it's whatever fulfills you it's whatever brings you satisfaction it's what brings you Joy again it's not wrong to fish it's not wrong to bake sourdough it's not wrong to fix cars it's not wrong to play ball it's not wrong to bowl but when you are able to say for to me to live is Christ Union with Christ is everything that that's what I mean if you're asking the question what does it mean that Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life consider the Apostle Paul for him to say for to me to live as Christ is an amazing statement see we don't just have Paul parachute into the scriptures as a as an apostle I I I say that because Elijah the tishbite kind of just parachutes into the into the text you got all these horrible Kings and first uh First Kings 16 1 Kings 16 yeah and just wretched one after another bad bad bad bad bad First Kings chapter 17 and then there was Elijah the tishbite we don't get anything of backstory he was a humble brother he had a farm he had a wife he had a few little elijas we don't get that he's just dropped right into the text and I think the emphasis is when evil flourishes according to First Kings chapter 16 God has his man and he's going to send him to rebuke them and to set things in order in the Kingdom we don't have that with Paul he doesn't just parachute in as an apostle we know what he was we know Saul of Tarsus we know he had papers to extradite Believers that were gathered together in Damascus and Syria he had marching orders to go and lay his hands on men and women to take them from their places of worship take them back to Jerusalem so that they could be punished according to the to the laws of the land in which the the the Christians were looked at as blasphemers we know the story he tried to persecute the church he tried to destroy it he says I was more zealous than all of my for all of my contemporaries I was the one that was animated with this drive and desire and design to eradicate these Christians from the face of the Earth and to get rid of this knowledge of Jesus the Nazarene so Christ comes to him on that road to Damascus and radically revolutionizes his life in fact Paul tells us as much in Philippians chapter 3 you can turn there when Paul says for to for to me to live as Christ this is an amazing statement on the part of a man who at one time wanted to exterminate Christ and everything that Christ had his hands on notice in Philippians CH 3: 2 beware of dogs beware of evil workers Beware of the mutilation for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though I also might have confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I more so circumcised The Eighth Day of the stalk of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law a Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless what he is doing right here and offering us up his religious resume is showing us that that even the most accomplished religious man could not be accepted by God that that's what his purpose is if ever there was somebody that could commend themselves to God based on their resume it was me he says I I ticked all the boxes everything in the checklist for religiosity in the first century everything every job that's what he's saying I had the potential to have confidence in the flesh in fact prior to that Damascus Road experience I'm sure he had that confidence in the flesh I'm a pretty great guy I've done a lot of great things I've got a wonderful resume notice what he says in verse 7 but what things were gained to me these I have counted loss for Christ yet indeed I also count all things loss for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord so everything that at one time was prophet is now loss everything that presently should be profit is loss I don't want any of that stuff I don't want any of that uh attainment or that religiosity some suggest that every you know Paul lost everything Paul lost reputation Paul lost occupation Paul lost everything but we knew he didn't and that's not what he's saying here he's not saying I lost all this and I gave it up for Jesus I gladly gave up all this for Jesus for to me to live is is Christ he says so notice again verse SE uh verse eight yet indeed I also count all things lost for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ 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 that is the sum and substance of Paul's gospel the sum and substance of Paul's message Paul is a very clear teacher of Truth and Paul's truth we do that today my truth his truth Paul's truth actually matters and Paul's truth is quite simple God's holy God is righteous God is pure the prophet said his eye is too pure to approve of any evil whatsoever but Paul goes on to tell us that man is sinful man is wretched man is wicked man's heart is foul it's polluted in fact spiritually speaking man's not even alive he's dead in his trespasses and sins well if you're following Paul at this point you're going to conclude that this isn't good news God's holy and I'm a wretch how am I ever going to stand in his presence well the good good news is is that God's son takes on our Humanity lives a life of perfect obedience to the law of his father and then goes to the cross and dies not as an example but as a substitute as penal substitutionary atonement the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and of course because sin had uh death had no dominion over him he's raised the third day he ascends on high he sits now en throned at the father's right hand so basically Sinners you and I dead in our trespasses and sins by the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit we pray comes to the preaching of the word opens the heart causes us to see God's holiness causes us to see our sinfulness and then causes us to see Christ's Beauty so when we believe on Jesus we get the benefits of jesus' death he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world it's blood atonement the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin so we're forgiven we're wiped clean we are now able to stand in the presence of God in that respect but we also need a righteousness we need to have a positive move mement toward God of course we don't because we're wretches but Jesus did and does because he's the son of God who took on our Humanity the 33 years of Christ's righteous life are not simply an example for us they are actually for us we need that righteousness we need to stand in the presence of God cleansed in his blood clothed in his righteousness look at what Paul says in 3:9 this is his emphasis and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is from the law that stuff he just described in Verses 2-6 that religious resume the Pharisee the this The Tribe of Benjamin the circumcision on the Eighth Day the Zeal persecuting the church I had all of that but notice what verse 9 says I am gaining Christ 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 that's how Paul has life it is Christ this is the emphasis it's a union passage but then he points forward to the glory that he will have in his death and we'll stop here we're not going to even go past 21 but in 21 notice how he ends that verse for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain what does he mean by that well in his current life everything about his orientation is in Christ if he dies how is that gain simple he gets more Christ right what's Jesus say to that thief on the cross today you shall be with me in Paradise what's Paul say in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 to be absent from the body is to be what present with the Lord so Paul says for to me to live is Christ right now presently Union with Christ in a Roman prison cell but if I die I get more Christ I get to go be where he is I get to be be near him in in proximity not that Union with him presently spiritually is bad but to have more Christ This is why he says for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain now Brethren that's a powerful statement it's a powerful way to approach death death is scary death is supposed to be scary because death is unnatural death is the wages of sin it wasn't the case in the original creation or God's intention in creation for death and dying that's a consequence of sin and Rebellion it is the murky Waters that we don't know a lot about and it certainly strikes fear into our hearts but as God's people we have this knowledge that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so that whether we live or we die Christ is magnified in our bodies if we live on we Faithfully serve him if we die we're in his presence We join the the the the voices of the multitudes there that cry out salvation Belongs to the Lord and to the lamb who sits upon the throne the Apostle Paul understood that in Life or in death his only hope and his comfort was the Lord Jesus Christ that shaped him that moved him that affected him that benefited him it stabilized him and it steadied him when he's in a Roman imprisonment possibly facing death he is not wondering oh what's it going to be like he says and he knows that if I die I gain more Jesus what do you do with Paul if you're his persecutor you're his Punisher your task you got him on your desk you've got a few files in your in your F in your inbox and you're the guy that has to make life miserable for Paul Roman soldiers were good at making life miserable for for prisoners and and and and such how do you threaten Paul we're going to let you go great I get Christ we're going to kill you great I get more Christ the man cannot be kept down the man cannot be hindered the man cannot be stopped or sway why because he's great no because his savior is great the way of verse 21 the way for any of us to be able to say for to me to live as Christ and to die as gain is to look unto Jesus in faith that's what Paul does that's what Paul did he looked to Christ in faith he received the Forgiveness of sins and he received that righteousness he gained Christ and for him that was everything for us who have him that is everything and may God indeed increase our hearts in the supply of the spirit of Christ so so that we can live like Paul so that we can die like Paul magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for these wonderful words of this man that you use so mightily for the good of the church we thank you for the Savior that he served and that savior that is ours and may we say it with absolute conviction for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain may you be glorified in our lives may you be glorified in the salvation of more and more s siners may you indeed bring many to a to a saving knowledge of our blessed Lord Jesus go with us watch over us in this coming week look with favor upon all of your people and their various needs and we pray in jesus' name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation e e e for