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On Aug 28, 2019: Philippians 1 Putting Jesus First In Our Relationships · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. We're going to start out in Luke chapter 6 this evening, continuing to consider foundations for Christian living. And as we began this series back at the beginning of the year, we started here in Luke chapter 6. And so as we finish the book of Ephesians and are now working our way into the book of Philippians, I wanted to take a moment and just kind of back up a little bit and recap and kind of remind us of where we started and what the Lord set as really the foundation for this series, the Foundations for Christian Living, that we would be reminded and be able to understand and look at the scriptures from the perspective that God wants us to focus on. And so here in Luke chapter 6, let's read verses 46 through 49. This is Jesus speaking and he says... But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. Here in this parable, we often call it the wise and the foolish builder, because you have the wise man who dug down deep and laid his house on a foundation so that when the storm came, it was able to withstand the storm. And the foolish man just said, hey, this is a nice beach. I'll just build my house here on the sand or on the dirt. No foundation. And then the same storm came and his house without a foundation didn't last. It immediately fell. And Jesus uses this illustration to paint the picture between two kinds of people. The kind of person who hears the words of Jesus and does them. And the other kind of person who hears the words of Jesus and then does not do them. And I always like to point out, this is not about someone who has heard the words of Jesus versus someone who hasn't heard the words of Jesus. No, this is about us hearing the words of Jesus, and we have two opportunities in our response. Either we hear and then do, or we hear and don't do. And if we hear the words of Jesus and we don't actually let them change our lives, if we don't change our behavior as a result of the words of Jesus, then Jesus says, then it's like we're the foolish man building our house on the dirt. There's no foundation. And so the storms of life will come. And there's going to be difficulties and tragedies and challenges that we face. And because there's no foundation, we heard the words of Jesus. We know the words of Jesus, but we don't do the words of Jesus. Well, it's going to cause a great collapse in our life. But we have the opportunity instead to hear the words of Jesus and And then seek to put them into practice and seek to apply them and to have them make an impact in the way that we live and the choices that we make. And those same storms will still happen. We're still going to experience the difficulties and challenges and tragedies and those things will still come. But we won't be shaken because our house is built upon the rock. And I want to encourage you as we consider the foundations for Christian living that we need to be actively taking the word of God, taking what the Lord is speaking to us and then putting it into practice and seeking to live it out in order to build our house, build our lives upon the rock. And so back when we first started here in Luke chapter 6, I taught the message titled Build Your Behavior on God's Word. And this is what this parable is teaching, that it's not just about doctrine or information or understanding, but it's then the decisions that I make, the actions that I take, that all of this is built upon the word of God, the words of Jesus Christ. Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way, all of us are builders and we must be careful to build wisely. To build on the rock simply means to obey what God commands in his word. And to build on the sand means to give Christ lip service, but not obey his will. And we all have the potential to just give Christ lip service, to put on the front and to put on the show and to pretend and be religious and read the scriptures and know the scriptures and hear the words of Jesus, but not But it's quite a different matter to take those things and to put them into practice. And we're all building one way or the other. The only way to build upon the rock is to read the word of God, to hear from the Lord, and then put it into practice. And so as we went through that passage, now a few months ago, back in Luke chapter 6, build your behavior on God's word. Here was the points that we walked through at that time. Number one, wise people take action that God commands. So in order to build our house upon the rock, we need to take action. God commands throughout his word that we are to do this and we are to do that. There's instruction that he has for us. And so if we're going to be wise builders, we need to step into action. We need to get to work doing what it is that God has said. And then secondly, wise people stop behavior that God forbids. So wise building is not just the things that we do, but it's also about the things that we don't do or the things that we stop doing. And there are things that God has forbidden, that God has said, this is not good for you. You need to stop. There are things that God has said, look, this will destroy your life. This will destroy your family. This will destroy your witness. This will destroy your community. This will destroy your soul. Stop doing that. Don't engage in that. And for us to be wise in our building, we need to learn to stop. We need to let God's word teach us and tell us to stop. There's action we need to take and there's action and behavior that we need to stop. And then it's not just a one-time thing. You know that one time on that Wednesday night where we, you know, started taking action and stopped that action. But number three, wise people keep comparing their behavior to God's word. that this is needed in an ongoing fashion in our lives. And that's why as we are now in the transition between Ephesians and Philippians, I'm back here in Luke chapter six, reminding us, hey, we need to build our house upon the rock. And it's not just, you know, attending service. It's not just getting through, you know, Ephesians on Wednesday nights. But let's go back to and remember that as we're talking about the foundations for Christian living, that we lay those foundations down By taking the word of God seriously, by receiving it and then putting it into practice, which means doing some things and stop doing other things. And so we began this series looking here in Luke chapter 6, but then went into the book of Galatians and then into the book of Ephesians. Now we're going to be starting the book of Philippians. There was kind of a focus that the Lord gave us for each one. In Galatians, we focused on the grace of Jesus. And then in Ephesians, we focused on my identity in Jesus. Now, all through the book of Galatians, the exhortation that I would give on behalf of the Lord is, do grace. As Paul expounded all the doctrine of grace and all the, you know, dangers of legalism and all of the different things that we went through, there's action that we need to take. If we're going to be wise and build our lives upon the foundation, then we go through Galatians and we don't just understand the doctrine of grace, but we need to then take action and do grace. And how do you do grace? Well, I think very simply, doing grace is drawing near to God consistently and continually, no matter what. That you have relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. Draw near to him. You don't deserve it. You don't, you can't earn it. You're not worthy of it. But draw near to God and walk with God and love God and worship God and call out to God and ask God to work in your life. consistently and continually. That's believing God at his word in the grace that he provides and then living accordingly. And so there's action that we take. We need to do grace. But in order to be wise, there's also behavior that we need to stop. One such behavior that Paul was addressing there in Galatians was legalism. And legalistic practices are crippling for us in our growth and our relationship with God. They destroy our lives. And so And so it's something that must be stopped. It's something that we must put an end to. It's something we must not allow to continue. One way of understanding that is the works-based approach to God. We need to stop that. When we're coming to God and asking God to bless us because here's what I've done. Let that be a red flag for you. And be wise to Be a wise builder when you recognize that, when you see that, when you see that kind of approach to God and say, I need to stop this kind of relationship with God. I need to stop coming to God this way. When I come to God expecting or asking for him to work or for some blessing because of my behavior, I'm in big trouble. I've slipped into legalism. Another way to look at this is stop staying away. I think this is a big one for us as well. There's so many times that, well, we recognize we failed and we feel bad, we feel guilty, we feel, you know, we're messed up because of how we've failed. And so then we stay away from God. We kind of put ourselves on time out. We're in the corner. You know, after we've kind of, you know, put some time in the corner, then maybe we can go and pray again and, you know, seek to serve the Lord and walk with the Lord again. No, no. If we do that, we've slipped into legalism. We've become foolish builders. We're not listening to what Jesus says. Jesus says, come, confess your sin. I'll be faithful to forgive you. Come. Don't stop praying. drawing near to me. Don't stay away because of some failure or some issue. No, be a wise builder. Build your behavior on God's word. And that includes your very approach to God, your very relationship with God. Don't base it upon how you feel. Don't base it upon, you know, what you think or whether or not you feel close or not, but base it upon what God actually says. Hear what he says about grace and the invitation to draw near and then take action and stop the behavior of that is not consistent with what God has declared. And then ongoing, we continue to compare our approach to God with the word of God. Come back to the subject of grace, the doctrine of grace, and understand it. Well, then as we went into Ephesians, the Lord had us focus on my identity in Jesus. And there was the split of doctrine, the first half of the book, and then the focus on application, the second half of the book. The walk that comes from recognizing who we are. So the action to take is pretty clear. Walk, walk in the way that God has called you to. First of all, let God declare who you are. God says you're a new creature in Christ. God says this about you. He says that about you. He has a lot to say about you. which is contrary to what you say about yourself and what others say about you and what society wants you to say about you. What God says is different. Let God be the one who declares, this is who I am. Believe God's word above all else. And then walk. Be the husband. Be the wife. Be the member of the body of Christ. Be the soldier equipped with spiritual armor that God has called you to be which you can be because, well, it's who you are. That's what God says. And so there's action we need to take. There's behavior that we need to stop. As you think about walking in these various ways and all the different types of relationships and things that Paul described, you can look back and go, man, my walk is crooked. What do I do to fix my crooked walk? Husband and wife, I'm not relating, you know, the way that is appropriate, the way that God says. I employee, employer, you know, I'm not fulfilling that role quite right. How do I fix these walk issues? Then the tendency for us is to look at the walk itself and then, you know, try to fix that. But the reality is you're walking crooked because, well, you've let somebody else declare your identity, whether it be yourself, your emotions, your feelings, your upbringing, your parents. your coworkers, your society, your spouse. Somebody else is telling you who you are and you're believing the lies. And so you're walking crooked. But if you will go back to the word of God and let God declare who you are, and if you'll believe him and then walk according to what he says, well, you'll stop that crooked behavior. Stop believing the lies about who you are. Believe God's word about who you are. And so doing grace, and walking in my new identity in Christ. These are things that we need to do, not just understand, not just acknowledge, not just read and listen to, but then to make it happen and to let it make a difference in our lives. Well, now we're going to continue to lay this foundation in the book of Philippians. And so you can turn with me to the book of Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one, we'll work our way through the first 11 verses this evening. And In the introduction to the Philippians, Paul shares a few things and we'll get to see his relationship with the Philippians and what that means for us. So Philippians chapter 1 and let's read verses 1 through 11 and then we'll dive into the message for this evening. Verse 1 of Philippians chapter 1, it says this, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, 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 requests 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, inasmuch 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 with the affection of Jesus Christ. Verse 9. 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 glory and praise of God. Here Paul introduces his letter to addressing the church in Philippi. Now, as we work our way through this book, the book of Philippians, just like there was a particular focus in Galatians and a particular focus in Ephesians, looking at the grace of God, looking at my identity in Jesus here in the book of Philippians, what the Lord will be highlighting for us is the priority of Jesus, the priority of Jesus. And Throughout our time together on Wednesday nights as we work our way through this book, we need to be reminded and encouraged and challenged that what matters most is Jesus. And I pray that you would be refreshed and kind of stirred up and be reminded of this. What matters most in life is Jesus. What matters most in your day is Jesus. I would invite you to consider, is that true of your life? Is that true of my life? that Jesus is the priority. One of the themes that runs through the book of Philippians is the subject of joy, which is always an interesting thing to consider because Paul is writing this letter from prison and yet he is expressing joy. He's instructing believers to rejoice. And yet here he is in the midst of a difficult time there in prison. It's often been noted that the way to have joy It's not an exact formula that, you know, we can follow exactly, but it's a good way to remember the concept of joy or remember how to have joy. And that is to spell it out. J-O-Y. You put Jesus first and then others and then yourself. You put Jesus first, you put others second, you put yourself last, and then your life is set up for joy. We're going to be kind of focusing on that. Not so much the others in yourself and how do you put yourself third or second, you know, that kind of debate. I don't think you need to worry about that, really. I think you need to just focus on putting Jesus first. Everything else will come in line. When Jesus is first in priority for us, when he is what matters most to us, well, the other elements, the other aspects of our life, the other things that are going on, they will begin to line up because, well, we've put first things first. And the priority of Jesus is something that is seen throughout the book of Philippians. Let me give you a couple examples. Philippians chapter 1, verse 12 and 13. Paul says, Let me paraphrase that. Paul says, Hey guys, I want you to know, although I'm in prison, so what? The gospel is being advanced. What mattered most to Paul was Jesus. And if that means prison for me, well, that's okay. I'm okay with that. As long as Jesus, his message, his work is advanced. That's what's important. That's what matters. My comfort, that's not that important. My freedom, that's not that important. What matters most is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the priority of Jesus. Jumping down a little bit further here in Philippians chapter 1, Paul addresses the situation where there are those kind of trying to take advantage and seeking opportunity for himself while Paul is in chains that they're trying to advance their own agenda. In verse 18, Paul says, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached. And in this I will rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. Paul says, look, there's people slandering me. There's people, you know, trying to take my position or ride on my coattails and have my ministry. You know, there's people working out all of these things and I could get all worked up all over it, you know, but whether they have wrong motives or their agenda is different. So what? Jesus is being preached. That's what matters most. Not whether, you know, I get recognized for that ministry or not whether I have that role or that position, not whether, no, no. What matters most is that Jesus is being preached. Jumping over to Philippians chapter three for a moment, Paul talking about his heritage and all that he had in being the Jew of Jews and the Pharisee of Pharisees. All the religion that he had and the heritage that he had, which was great and substantial. But he says in Philippians chapter 3, he says, but in verse 7, but what things were gained to me, these I've counted loss for Christ. 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. Paul says, I had this great heritage. I had all this going for me. But so what? All of that doesn't mean anything because it doesn't help me in my relationship to the Lord. And so I count it all as rubbish that I may gain Christ. So what? This is my background. So what? This is my culture. So what? This is my heritage. So what? I had all this rich heritage, right? I had all this going for me. But so what? It didn't help me to know the Lord. So what? And what matters most is the Lord and knowing him and walking with him. And so I'm going to count all of that as rubbish, Paul says. Jumping to Philippians chapter 4, verse 12 and 13, Paul says, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere. And in all things, I have learned to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Paul says, I've had times of severe hunger. So what? What matters most is Christ, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I've had times of great abundance and full of food. So what? That's not what's most important. What's most important is the Lord. And whether I have nothing or whether I have a ton, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. What I need is Jesus. That's what matters most. And so the priority of Jesus is, is what's going to be the focus and the challenge and the call for us to examine and to consider as we work our way through the book of Philippians. But now, rewinding it back to Philippians chapter 1. To consider a couple thoughts from these introductory verses here, Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 through 11, I've titled the message for this portion, Putting Jesus First in Our Relationships. Now I know I've already taught like two or three messages, so here's message number three for tonight, right? Three points for this third message. But it was important to recap and remember where we're at. This is the foundation. We need to receive these words of the Lord and then seek to put them into practice. And so putting Jesus first in our relationships. Looking at verses one through five, we get point number one, and that is put Jesus first in greeting people. In our first introductions, in our first interactions, in verse 1, Paul says, In these first two verses, Paul mentions the Lord, specifically the Lord Jesus, three times, and the Father once. He is focused on God. As he begins to talk to them, he introduces himself and Timothy as bondservants. But not just bondservants, but bondservants of Jesus. This is where I'm coming from. As Paul begins this interaction, as he begins this discussion, as he begins this in greeting the Philippians, He makes sure to start from this place. Now, throughout his letters, he always had this kind of format. Sometimes he introduced himself as the bondservant of Jesus. Sometimes he introduced himself as the apostle of Jesus. But in either case, his identity, his role, his connection to the Lord was the basis for which he wrote and said the things that he wrote and said in the letters that he wrote. Bond servants. We're bond servants. This is where we're coming from. This is what we are. We're slaves of Jesus. We are servants of Jesus. And it would do us well to have this in mind, to come from this position in the interactions that we have with people. You know, sometimes we kind of forget. We get on our high horse. We need to get knocked off. We forget who we are. we begin to treat people like they're our servants instead of remembering that we are bond servants of Jesus. It's something that goes through the workplace pretty regularly, at least in my workplace, but I don't know about yours, but those personality quizzes and profiles, right? And, you know, everybody does them and then you kind of show the results and now you're supposed to know how to relate to each other better and Mostly it just gives good material for making fun of each other and having a good time. But the idea is, okay, understand this is my personality profile so that, well, now as I come to you, I'm coming to you as an introvert. And I'm an introvert and then you're an extrovert. And so now we know how to relate to each other because I'm coming from this place and I understand you're coming from that place. And so we see things differently and there's some value in that. For us as believers, more important than whatever, you know, personality profile or whatever those kinds of concepts and ideas you want to wrestle with and play with in your head, more important than that. So we need to approach our interactions with people first with the understanding, with the recognition, I'm a bondservant of Jesus. I'm not a customer of a grocery store primarily when I'm in the grocery store. I am a customer, but first I'm a bondservant of Jesus. And so when I'm interacting with the cashier, listen, I could very poorly represent Jesus, but I'm a bondservant of Jesus. When that person is crowding behind me in line, I could easily misrepresent Jesus, but I'm a bondservant of Jesus. That I need to have that as the basis of for my interactions, for my connections, for my conversations, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus. And then he goes on to say to all the saints in Christ Jesus. Now we learned in Ephesians that saints are all believers. And so he's talking to all the believers at Philippi and he's saying, look, you guys are saints. And listen, when I talk to you, I need to keep in mind, I need to be mindful of the fact that you're a child of God. You're a saint in the eyes of the Lord. And I need to relate to you in a way that is fitting to the relating of a saint, a child of God. We need to put Jesus first. Jesus is what matters most in our interactions. Where we're coming from and our perspective and looking at others, it needs to be based around what the Lord has done, what the Lord has said. To the saints, he says... in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi, with the bishops and the deacons. And the bishops and the deacons are calling out those specific roles, the roles of leadership, the roles of service. He's addressing the church with the understanding that you guys are saints. You are servants of the Lord. Grace to you, he says, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace. Paul's common greeting. The common greeting of the day for believers that God would be good to you above and beyond what you deserve, that you would have peace and rest, peace from God, peace with God, and it all comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all focused on, centered around the Lord. Well, Paul goes on in verse 3 to say, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. As Paul starts out recognizing and remembering who he is, bond servant, recognizing and remembering who he's addressing, the saints, he says, look, I'm praying for you guys all the time. And every time I pray for you, I thank God for you. Every time I remember you, I thank God. I just take a moment and praise the Lord on your behalf. Always, he says, in every prayer of mine, with joy, this is what is produced when we put Jesus first. You know, there's a lot of relationships that, well, every remembrance of that person doesn't necessarily spark joy for us, right? That happens occasionally. I would suggest you go back and consider what's that relationship based on? When we relate to people from the very beginning, starting with the greeting, when we put Jesus first, I'm a servant, a bondservant of Jesus. I'm his agent. What he wants and what he desires, what is important to him, that's what matters most. And I'm addressing a saint, his child, imperfect child, sure, but his child. When I have the proper perspective, I can have joy, not necessarily over the conflict that we've had or the issues that we've had, but He says, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. You've participated in the gospel. You've believed in Jesus. We have common ground with every believer because we've believed in Jesus. And what matters most is Jesus. And so we can fight over, you know, which is better, Google or Apple? You know, we can fight over all kinds of things. But what matters most is Jesus. We agree on Jesus, hey, we can be friends. And we can thank God for each other. And we can spark joy in each other's lives because... He's what matters most. Put Jesus first from the very beginning in your relationships with people and your greeting people. Go back to the beginning and I'm coming from the place of I'm a servant of Jesus. And you, you're a saint in the Lord Jesus. And so let our relationship be based on putting Jesus first. What matters to him is what matters most. Putting Jesus first in our relationship starts at the greeting, starts from the very beginning. Our perspective is about ourselves and the people that we're interacting with. Well, moving on to verse six through eight, point number two, put Jesus first in caring for people. As we care for people, we need to continue to hold on to the priority of Jesus. There are ways to care for people that, well, will take you away from the Lord, will misrepresent the Lord, will not be in agreement with what the Lord wants. There's ways of expressing our care that are not appropriate according to the Lord. But here is Paul is addressing the Philippians. He says in verse six, 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 he says, it's right for me to think this of you because I have you in my heart. He's expressing his care. And as much as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all. Notice, with the affection of Jesus Christ. His care for the Philippians is governed by Jesus. He has the affection of Jesus Christ for them. The affection of Jesus Christ instructs him how to care for and love the people of Philippi. And there are ways of expressing care and love that are not in agreement with the Lord Jesus and what he says and what he calls us to. So there's some things to consider there. But going back to verse six for a moment, being confident of this very thing. This is a great verse. One of those great promises that we love to consider and hold on to, right? And Pastor Thomas Constable says it this way. This is one of the most comforting verses in the Bible for Christians. Our getting to heaven safely does not depend on us, on our ability to hold on and to persevere faithfully to the end of our lives. The Lord will see to it that we reach heaven safely in spite of our failures and shortcomings. And there's great comfort that can be found. Great confidence, Paul says... He will finish the work that he began. Now, the series that we're working through here is the Foundations for Christian Living, right? And it reminded me of that challenge that Jesus gave. He says, which of you going to build a tower doesn't stop and count the cost before you begin the work? If you don't count the cost and you just like lay the foundation and then realize, well, I'm out of money. I don't have enough to complete it. Then, well, that's a mockery and you're a fool, right? What Paul is saying is Jesus began the work in you. He laid the foundation. He's going to complete it. He's not a fool. He's counted the cost. He has what it takes. He has the resources to bring you to completion. And so there's great confidence that we can have because Christ has begun the work in us, which means he will see it through to the end. It will be brought to completion. And so there's great comfort, great verse for us to be encouraged by. But here's what I would ask you to consider this evening. We'd love to consider this verse for ourselves, but would you be willing to grab hold of this promise for others? And would you allow this promise, this exhortation, this word to govern the way that you relate to and treat and care for others? We can be so frustrated with people. We can wonder, are they ever going to change? Is there ever going to be any progress? Are they ever going to be better? We can be quick to give up on people. But here Paul is saying, look, as I'm praying for you and I'm thanking God for you and I'm having joy as I remember you, I'm able to do this, not because you're amazing, not because you're so good, not because you're so good looking. No, I'm able to have joy and to thank God for you because here's what I know, God will finish the work that he began in you. And listen, this is something important for us to hold on to. There's a lot of times that we are trying to finish God's work for him. There's a lot of times where we're impatient in the work of God. There's a lot of times where we give up and just think it's impossible task. God's never going to do that. But here, as we consider this, Paul is saying, no, look, I can have this confidence. I'm not suggesting that the Philippians were like a thorn in Paul's side or anything, but But it gives us instruction. It gives us insight to understand that as Paul had this affection and this care, he didn't have to have reservations. He didn't have to like, oh man, I really want to love them. But you know, I don't know, they may turn on me. So, you know, I can't like be all out, you know, and really express my care and be vulnerable and open to that. You know, I really can't. And I was saying, look, I love you guys with the love that God has for you. And I have great joy. And I thank God when I think about you because, well, there's this confidence. The Lord has begun a good work in you. And so I know he's going to continue that work to the day of Christ Jesus, to the very end. Again, notice the focus. The focus is on Jesus. You're going to stand before the Lord one day. And he's working you. He's preparing you. And he's got that under control. I don't have to fix your life. I don't have to like, you know, fix everything and smooth out all the rough parts that bother me and rub me the wrong way. I don't have to worry about that unless the Lord directly calls me to be involved in that way, which just in case you're wondering, like 90% of the time, that's not what the Lord's calling you to, right? We can just have the confidence and go, yeah, there's failures and faults, just like the ones I see in my mirror, just like the ones that we all have. And we come back to this position of trusting God to do the work that he said he would do. Paul says, look, it's right for me to think of you this way because, oh, you're in my heart and in my chains, in the gospel. You've joined with me. We're together in this. He says, God is my witness. How greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. Paul sets a good example here, a good model for us to put Jesus first in caring for people. Sometimes we can care for people in a way that it becomes idolatry, that the people become more important than Jesus. And that's not caring for people any longer. Now that's harmful to ourselves and the people that we're trying to care for. No, having the affection of the Lord for them is what's best for them. But Jesus first, let his promises, let his word, let his parameters govern your care for the people that are in your heart. Well, finishing it up in verses 9 through 11, we get point number three, and that is put Jesus first in praying for people. Verse 9, he says, Here Paul says, I'm praying for you and I'm thanking God with joy every time I think about you. And here, let me just give you a little snippet, a little preview of the kind of things that I pray. I pray that your love would abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment. Now, again, as I just was talking about caring for people in a way that, you know, is not in agreement with the Lord. What he's talking about here is a similar thing, that your love may abound still more and more, but that it would be governed by knowledge and discernment. That there are parameters, that love is not unfiltered, but love comes from what we know about God, what God has said. And there's many expressions of love and acts of so-called love that are not love at all. And so we need to grow in love and have abundant love. coupled with knowledge, understanding the nature of God, the character of God, and discernment, being led by the Holy Spirit, so that, he says, you may approve the things that are excellent. There's some choices that you get to make. There's some choices that you have to make in your life, and some of the choices that you have are not excellent choices. And so you need to be able to identify and approve, oh, that's an excellent choice. That's in agreement with the love of God, and the knowledge of God, and the discernment of the Holy Spirit. That's That's the right way. That's what the Lord wants. That's God's will. It says that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ. Again, the focus is on the Lord. I'm praying for you because you're working your way to your face-to-face with the Lord Jesus. And I'm praying that along the way that you would have love and knowledge and discernment, that you'd be able to choose the right path, that you'd be able to make good choices, that you'd be able to be sincere and not be faking it. but to have a real genuine relationship with God until the day of Christ, that when you stand before him, you're prepared and ready. He goes on to say, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ. So I'm praying that your life would abound with the fruit of righteousness, that your life would be abounding with good things, right things, the righteousness of God. But again, it's focused on, it's centered around Jesus. It's not a righteousness that you produce. It's not a righteousness, you know, that you generate, but it's righteousness, the fruit that is produced by Jesus in your life. So I'm praying that Jesus would produce good fruit and he would help you do the right things. He'd help you make excellent choices to discern what's of the Lord and what's not of the Lord. So that glory and praise would be to God as a result of your life and your choices. This is a great example of prayer. He puts Jesus first. What's important, what matters most is Jesus. And so as he's praying for them, he's praying for them to know the Lord, to be ready to meet the Lord. He's praying for them in light of the biggest priority, in light of what matters most, and that's Jesus. Pastor Thomas Constable says what an excellent prayer this is. He says, I thought that last line is worth considering. Even as believers, Even as those who have been around the church and known the Lord for a long time, we still need God's supernatural enablement to have the right values, to have the right priorities, to value highly the things of greatest importance. In order to approve the things that are excellent and recognize the things that are good and right and fitting, we can't do that with our own wisdom. We can't do that with our own strength. We need God's help in that. And one of the ways that we receive God's help is by other people praying for us to receive God's supernatural enablement to set our values, to set our priorities the way that they need to be set, that Jesus would matter most. And so here, as we begin this letter, looking at the book of Philippians, focusing on the priority of Jesus, I would remind you what matters most in life is Jesus. There's a lot of other application. There's a lot of other great things that we're going to work through in the book of Philippians, but it all comes back to this. What matters most is Jesus. Is that true in your life? Is that reflected in your day, in your decisions, in your actions? Is Jesus truly first? When it comes to our relationships with one another, we need to put Jesus first. From the very beginning, From before the greeting, where we come with the understanding, I'm a bondservant of the Lord. I'm subject to him. My job is to do what he says, to talk like he talks, to follow his instruction, especially as it comes to relating to his children, the saints. Put Jesus first in greeting people and put Jesus first in caring for people. Our emotions can be stirred. Our hearts can be intertwined. Our care for one another is can take us beyond the boundaries that the Lord desires. We need to put Jesus first. What matters most is Jesus. Not whether my needs are met or not whether they're happy with us or we're their favorite person. What matters most is Jesus in their life, in our life, how we interact with one another, how we care for one another. It needs to be governed by the Lord. It needs to be for the purpose of drawing near to the Lord. It needs to be with the confidence that God is going to finish his work and put Jesus first in praying for people. It's easy for us to pray for the immediate, temporary, physical needs, the kind of obvious things, but Paul sets a good example for us to look beyond the surface. You know what people need most? It's Jesus. So pray. Pray for people according to their real needs, according to what the Lord says. you know sometimes people come and say well i need prayer you know i need a job and of course we could pray that the lord would provide a job but but that's not you know even when you're praying that you're still praying in the background like what what we need most is you what do you want sometimes it's like this specific job i pray that god would give me this specific job it's like cool okay yeah i'll pray for that but but also lord if that's not the best job for them If that job distracts them from their relationship with you, if that job is going to interfere with their walk with you, oh, Lord, don't give them that job. You know, you asked me to pray for that job, but I'm not going to pray for that job. Because if that's not what the Lord wants, ah, that's going to be bad for you. We need to pray for people in a way where the Lord is first. He's most important. Not what we want, not what they want, not what, you know, people would desire, what we think would be comfortable or awesome. What does the Lord desire? Let's put Jesus first. in all things. Let's pray. Lord, we lift these things up to you. And as we consider, Lord, the wise and the foolish builder, Lord, you've called us not to just be hearers of your word, but to be doers, to take these things and then to put them into action. And so God, I pray that you would help us. Lord, even as those who have walked with you for a long time, we need your help to be able to receive these things from you and then allow them to impact our lives. to understand how to put them into practice. And so, Lord, would you show us? I pray, God, for an abundance of reminders and opportunities for each one of us this week. Lord, that we would see ways that we could put you first, that we would seek you first, that we would value you, your will, your desire, your plans, and your kingdom above all else. God, would you draw us near to you and captivate our hearts with you? Lord, that you truly would matter most. So that every relationship that we have, Lord, you would still be the center of it. You would be the focus of it. That you would govern how we relate to one another. Even in the difficult relationships, God, the relationships filled with heartache or conflict, the challenging ones. And Lord, the ones that kind of come easy. where we would maybe relax and not focus on you. Help us, Lord, to put you first, to come back to this reminder. We're bond servants. First and foremost, above all else, we are called to serve you and to honor you in the way that we relate to others. And so, Lord, help us to do that in the way that we care for one another, in the way that we pray for one another. Lord, in all of our interactions, help us to put you first. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.